The fate of some Vietnamese refugees hangs in the balance, LA's city libraries aren't as safe as you think, Santa's Village returns.
California Senate will revise how they deal with sexual misconduct allegations
The California State Legislature on Sunday announced it will use outside investigators from now on to examine internal complaints about sexual misconduct.
It stems from harassment allegations leveled against State Senator Tony Mendoza; Two women have now come forward to say Mendoza behaved inappropriately.
The Senate Rules Committee agreed to these changes, and who will handle issues in the future.
Take Two talked with Katie Orr, KQED's politics and govenment reporter, for more.
Listen to the full interview. Click the audio player above.
Local Filipinos disappointed Trump didn't push Duterte on drug killings
President Trump met this weekend with the controversial president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. There appeared to be plenty of goodwill between the two leaders. The President even said that the two had a "great relationship."
But very little was said about human rights violations, stemming from thousands of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines as part of Duterte's war against illegal drugs.
To find out what Filipino Americans are saying about Trump's visit, Take Two spoke to James Zarsadiaz, assistant professor of history and director of the Philippine Studies program at the University of San Francisco.
"There's disappointment across the board," Zarsadiaz tells Take Two.
Filipino Americans — especially many here — are concerned about this. The United States and the Philippines have had a longstanding relationship and had strong alliances and ties for decades. Essentially, this was seen as something not very positive as a result of the summit.
Press the blue play button to hear more about what Filipino Americans were hoping to hear from President Trump. after his meeting with Rodrigo Duterte.
Vietnamese immigrant hopes Trump will protect others like him from deportation
President Trump was in Vietnam over the weekend, on the final leg of his Asia tour. It was a trip that Vietnamese immigrants here watched closely — especially those with criminal records.
In recent months, the Trump administration has ramped up deportations of Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrants. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained more than 200 last month. Roundups like these disturb immigrants like Tung Nguyen, who fears deportation for a crime he committed more than two decades ago.
When Nguyen had to check in with immigration officials last month, he says he was afraid.
"The two weeks before the check-in was a total deep depression for me," Nguyen says. "Everything I was trying to plan to do around the house, it was almost like the last time I'm going to be able to touch it."
At age 16, Nguyen was convicted of murder and robbery and sentenced to life in prison. He served just 18 years. Nguyen was granted an early release in 2011 by Governor Jerry Brown after he helped protect 50 people during an inmate riot.
He’s now an activist who helps Asians and Pacific Islanders with life after incarceration.
Nguyen says he used to think he was safe from deportation, but now he's not so sure.
"The only reason I was able to stay in the country is by — thank God — the protection of the MOU," Nguyen explained to Take Two.
The MOU or "Memorandum of Understanding" is a repatriation agreement between the US and Vietnam that extended deportation protections to immigrants who came to the US before 1995. Nguyen has been in the country since 1991.
Immigration advocates have said, however, that the MOU protects some of the 200 persons detained last month.
"That's one of the reasons I'm begging the government to consider honoring the MOUs until the negotiations are complete," Nguyen says.
Press the blue play button above to hear about how Amerasians — children of US servicemembers — could be affected by stepped-up deportations.
Responses have been edited for clarity.
On the Lot: As awards season kicks off, how will Hollywood address sexual misconduct scandals?
The Governors Awards, often regarded as the unofficial opening bell of awards season, took place over the weekend. Though the harassment scandals dominated many of the cocktail hour conversations, they were absent from the evening’s public comments. Is this a preview of what's to come this upcoming awards season? Vanity Fair's Rebecca Keegan was there, and she reminded us that last year's award season hot topic was Donald Trump's election:
"So, people took on a topical issue last year during awards season, this year the issue is right in their own backyard and I think it's going to be really fascinating to see if people feel compelled to speak at these upcoming award shows or if, as at the Governor's Awards, everybody's talking about it behind the scenes but on a mic nobody will say a thing."
Just as the limo traffic cleared from the Governors Awards, a rally got underway at Hollywood and Highland. Sexual assault survivors rallied together to target Hollywood's complicity culture.
And although he's no stranger to scandal, it seems Mel Gibson is having something of a resurgence. "Daddy's Home 2" secured the No. 2 spot at the box office this weekend, begging the question, can Hollywood men come back from anything?
Plus, Louis CK's allegations and admission to sexual misconduct. How his response is rocking the networks.
To hear the full segment, click the blue play button above.
Identifying with the accused makes people more likely to defend them
With so many allegations of sexual misconduct coming to the forefront, a lot of beloved personalities are falling from grace. For many fans, it can be difficult to accept that someone they admired has behaved so poorly. But others go a step further, defending the accused.
That may be due to a psychological phenomenon called "in-group bias." Take Two's Josie Huang spoke with Jerry Jellison. He specializes in social psychology and how people resist change.
Interview Highlights
What is in-group bias?
We tend to put ourselves into groups. People that we align with, people that we feel we are similar to. It can be your family, the school you attended, the company that you work for, especially in contrast to the company that you compete against, your religion versus another religion.
In general, the groups that we identify with, we like those people, we try to support them, and we defend them. Whereas ‘out groups,’ we tend to dislike them, we don’t support them, and in some cases, we attack them.
How in-group bias affects how we process allegations of sexual misconduct?
We’re in multiple groups, so let’s say that I can be a Republican in Alabama, I can be a mother, and then I could have been a victim of harassment, or a predator in the past. The sum total of those, I would feel that part of me is in group with the candidate and part of me is different. So, you have to calculate that as how much weight do you give to each one of those factors?
How does in-group bias work internally?
It’s pretty much a snap judgment, and we come along and rationalize it later. We respond to something because it’s in our interests or it’s not in our interests, and then we come up with a rationalization to support whatever position we have taken.
What’s the opposite of in-group bias?
It’s called out-group bias. There, you dislike the person. You tend to seek out information that defames the person or derogates them in some way, and you avoid information that is supporting them.
How can you resist falling into in-group bias?
It is difficult to do, especially if you have a strong affiliation with the person. The main thing to do is just give yourself time and say, 'Let me just slow down, let me look at both sides of this.' Let me seek out information in unbiased ways to try and make yourself an unbiased observer initially.
And then, better yet, is to actually spend time talking with, or being around people who are in a group that you consider an out group.
To hear the full interview about in-group bias, click on the media player above.
LA public library: Books, DVDs and illicit activities
In L.A.'s public libraries, you expect to find books and DVDs, but a new investigation by KPCC media partner KNBC 4 found a lot more than that.
Illicit drug use and illegal activity are happening in and around certain branches. In some cases, the station's undercover TV producers were offered substances like crystal meth.
Take Two guest host Josie Huang sat down with reporter Joel Grover to talk about what he witnessed during the three-month investigation. The full report debuts tonight Monday on KNBC at 11 p.m.
Interview Highlight
What the reporters saw
Every single day, we saw people buying drugs, smoking crack, snorting crystal meth, shooting up heroin. A lot of this going on inside the library bathroom, where reporters are not allowed to film. But often this would go on outside of the library, too. There wasn't a single day where we didn't see two incidents of drug use.
The head librarian's reaction
John Szabo, the head librarian, wasn't surprised when we mentioned the reporters saw illicit activities, but he was surprised at how frequently they took place. Szabo said this is not acceptable in our library place, and we will do something about it.
LAPD and its role in library security
The LAPD is responsible for the security of LA's public libraries. However, we saw one officer snoozing while someone was snorting crystal meth right next to him. The officers on duty clearly know what's going on, but often they decide to turn the other way. We have been in touch with the LAPD, trying to contact the chief for a solution.
Highlights have been edited for clarity. Click on the blue media player above to hear the full conversation
A new office in Riverside aims to end, not reduce, homelessness
Homelessness is an issue throughout Southern California, including Riverside.
Earlier this month, the city introduced the Office of Homeless Solutions, and it has a big goal.
It doesn't just seek to reduce homelessness, but to end it.
"They think that [the office] is going to help them streamline what they're offering, be more efficient and reach more people," says Ryan Hagen, Riverside reporter for the Press-Enterprise."
Listen to more of what the city has planned through its new office. Click the blue audio player above.
Santa’s Village has all the whimsy, wonder and bungee trampolines of the season
Most theme parks are all about the rides. The rollercoasters, the trains — stuff that moves by itself so visitors don’t have to. Not SkyPark at Santa’s Village, where clusters of mountain bikers arrived by the truck full this past weekend.
For its second holiday season, which opened late last week, it’s all about being active. There's a new mountain bike park that has 10 miles of trails, a bungee jump trampoline, an archery range and two new zip lines, one of which whizzes along between the pine trees, high in the San Bernardino mountains near Lake Arrowhead.
"The purpose of the park is to redefine what a theme park is," said Bill Johnson, general manager of SkyPark at Santa’s Village, which reopened last December after almost two decades of being dark.
The original Santa’s Village had opened its doors a couple weeks before Disneyland did, 62 years ago, when everything was about the ride, Johnson says. But times have changed. Today, he says, "The way people look at our environment is different than how we looked at it in the 1950s… There wasn’t a lot of thought put into a carbon footprint for instance… so now most of our features are pedal powered."
Back in the day, Santa’s Village offered horseback riding on a trail system that is now used for a fantasy forest hike and mountain bike riding.
"The twist is, how do you create something that’s good for families, gets them outside, makes them recreate, and has something for all ages? So that’s the idea," Johnson said.
It was an idea that was mostly unrealized when SkyPark at Santa’s Village opened last year. The bike paths and zip lines and bungee trampoline — they weren’t up and running. This year, SkyPark has doubled the number of attractions.
And now that they’re reality, it’s an idea that seems to be working.
"I’ve just done one run, I’m making a few adjustments and then we’re gonna hit it again," said Neal Bloser, an avid mountain biker who drove with a few friends from Laguna Beach to check out the new trails. "So far, it’s really fun."
There are four trails, ranging from beginner runs appropriate for preschoolers to double black diamonds better suited for the pros.
"Neverland I think has 40 jumps from top to bottom, and hence the name, because once you start it’s just jumps, jumps, jumps all the way down," Johnson said.
Gravity does most of the pulling. Rudolph is nowhere to be found. In fact, the only animal on site is Santa’s dog Arrow – who’s part timber wolf, part malamute, 100 percent pettable AND photogenic – plus various forest creatures unique to SkyPark at Santa’s Village, including Santa’s brother and someone named CJ Cufflebug.
"They say I’m the spirit of Christmas," she said. And she just might be, with an evergreen wreath tied into her hair, and a skirt trimmed with holly. "But I’m named after the Cuffle family, who originally homesteaded the land."
About 200 acres of it, 15 of which are used for the family-friendly theme park.
"I have three kids," said Javier Lozano, who drove from San Fernando Valley with his 11-, 9- and 8-year-olds. "They like to run around and drive me crazy at home, so I thought this would be the perfect place for them to let out all the energy… They love the zip line. They love the rock climbing … all the fun physical activities this park has to offer."
Those activities are set to expand again next summer. That’s when SkyPark at Santa’s Village will repurpose its monorail, letting intrepid cyclists pedal as fast as they can from a bicycle dangling from its elevated track. There will also be a fly fishing pond and a solar-powered campground — with showers – so people can stay overnight.
But what does any of this have to do with Santa? I mean, this place is called Santa’s Village.
"All of it has to do with Santa," Johnson said. "Santa, as everybody knows, is the big jolly guy eating the cookies. We're trying to get Santa in shape."
Which is difficult, with Santa’s house just around the corner from Kringles coffee shop and St. Nick’s café serving up burgers and fries.
But we thought we’d find out from the source. With all the new activities just outside his front door at Santa’s Village, is the big man getting his exercise?
"Only at night," Santa said. "That way I’m not embarrassing anybody, especially me."