Update on the alleged FBI bribery sting of Sen. Ron Calderon; The pressure's on California House GOP members to act on immigration; Calif. prison realignment: Many women are serving more time in custody (photos); Football coaches hope 'Heads Up' tackling technique will make the sport safer, plus much more.
Update on the alleged FBI bribery sting of Sen. Ron Calderon
What if the film "Argo" and the TV show "House of Cards" had a baby?
The plot might look something like the reports surrounding an FBI affidavit about alleged criminal behavior by California state senator Ron Calderon.
RELATED: Update: Calderon targeted in Hollywood bribery sting; leak under investigation (timeline)
This week, the TV network Al Jazeera reported on what it said was a sealed — and leaked —investigation in which undercover agents sought Calderon's legislative clout in return for nearly $60,000 in bribe money.
The sting also reportedly involved the creation of a phony Hollywood movie studio and Twitter account.
So far no one has been able to verify the affidavit, and Calderon has denied wrongdoing through his attorney, Mark Garagos. For more on where the investigation stands, we're joined by former federal prosecutor and Loyola Law professor Laurie Levenson.
Then, John Myers, political editor of News 10 in Sacramento joins the show with how the political implications of this news.
The pressure's on California House GOP members to act on immigration
Time is running out for the House of Representatives to vote on immigration reform this year with only about a dozen work days left in this year's calendar.
KPCC's Washington Correspondent Kitty Felde says GOP members from California, in particular, are feeling the pressure. And some of it is coming from sources who usually are Republican allies.
Friday Flashback: NSA spying, healthcare.gov woes and more
Fasten your seatbelt, power up your electronic devices, because it's time for our weekly analysis of the news, the Friday Flashback. Joining the show today is James Rainey of the LA Times and Alex Seitz Wald of National Journal.
Everybody spies on their friends, right? That's one excuse, but it sounds pretty junior high. Let's start with you Alex. I guess the real problem is here is that the NSA violated the cardinal rule of spying: Don't get caught.
California Senator Dianne Feinstein heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, and she's generally be supportive of the spy agencies. But this week, she was shocked. She claimed she didn't know about this program to spy on allied leaders, and she called for a total review of all intelligence programs. How could the chair of the Intelligence Committee not know about this program? How could the President not know?
What curbs could Congress realistically put on the intelligence community?
It's pretty clear that Edward Snowden is going to continue to drop bombshells. Should the White House consider making some kind of deal with him? Maybe promising to end some of these practices, if he promises to stop putting out the dirty laundry.
Forget Angela Merkel. We also learned this week — thanks to Snowden — that the NSA managed to tap into data centers run by internet giants like Yahoo and Google, without their knowledge. Is this going to make life difficult for American-based companies to expand their global businesses?
If spy-gate wasn't enough of a problem for the White House, there's that whole healthcare thing. And the big problem for the President is all those cancellation notices going out to people who bought personal insurance coverage. Many of those people feel like the President lied to them.
It should have been clear to everyone that many people who had plans who didn't meet the minimum requirements of the health care law would get these notices. How did the administration not anticipate this?
There were also allegations this week that personal data people enter into the healthcare.gov site might not be fully secure. Is this a real worry, or just a political attempt to scare people?
The President chose to go to Boston this week, where he tried to compare his healthcare plan with that of his former rival, Mitt Romney. The administration is noting that Romneycare got off to a slow and rocky start, but now it's widely popular. Can you really compare the two programs?
More problems for the President in the Senate. Yesterday, Republicans blocked the nominations of two Obama appointees. What's going on there.
Seems like this doesn't bode well for negotiations over the budget. Remember, the government runs out of money again just after the first of the year. Was last month's experience with the government shutdown not quite painful enough to make everyone play nice?
Looking ahead to the future of LA's water
The completion of the L.A. Aqueduct in 1913 was hardly the end of our city's quest for water. It now provides only a third of the supply for LA.
So how will we continue to slake our thirst in a future of water scarcity? From the aqueduct cascades in Sylmar, UCLA historian Jon Christensen tells us what L.A.'s water will look like in the next hundred years.
Mexico's 'Nosotros los Nobles' becomes a box office hit
The new film "Nosotros los Nobles" has no high speed chases, no explosions and not a single high tech special effect. But the film has become a blockbuster hit in its home country of Mexico.
It brought in record box office returns and is currently the most successful Mexican movie of all time. It's a simple parable about a family of spoiled aristocrats — the Nobles of the title. They're cut down to size when their father decides to teach them a lesson.
Alex Cohen talks to the film's writer and director, Gary Alazraki.
Roosevelt and Garfield high schools prepare for East LA Classic
Think of high school football and what comes to mind? Texas, right? "Friday Night Lights" maybe?
Here in LA we've got our own version of high school gridiron iconography: the East LA Classic.
It's a huge rivalry game between Roosevelt and Garfield high schools. Since 1925, the two schools have battled it out in one of the biggest games west of the Mississippi. Garfield won the last three match ups, but Roosevelt is ahead in the all-time record books. This year, to up the ante, Nike jumped in and sponsored the two schools' equipment for this game.
For some perspective from both sides of the field, we first welcome in Chris Campos, the senior middle linebacker and a third generation player for the Roosevelt Rough Riders.
How to celebrate Dia de los Muertos
Now that you've washed off all your fake blood and gorged yourself on Tootsie Rolls, it's time to get ready for another holiday.
Dia de los Muertos, Or the Day of the Dead, which is actually celebrated over several days in Mexico and much of Latin America. Traditionally, this commemoration of the dead revolves around creating decorated altars to departed loved ones with brightly colored papel picado, sugar skulls and marigolds.
You can certainly find some traditional celebrations around Southern California this weekend, as well as some not so traditional celebrations.
Here to talk about how we celebrate Dia de Los Muertos is Evonne Gallardo, executive director of Self Help Graphics in Boyle Heights. They've held one of the longest-running celebrations in the city, now in it's 40th year.