We'll discuss whether U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice is a good choice for Secretary Of State. Rice has come under fire following comments she made after the terrorist attacks in Benghazi. Then, a Pasadena Council OK'd the use of the Rose Bowl for NFL games, but not everyone's happy about the decision. Then, how the NHL lockout is affecting local businesses and the Kings' fanbase momentum, stolen petroglyphs shock archaeologists in Bishop, and much more.
Would UN Ambassador Susan Rice be a good choice for Secretary of State?
One of the people most often cited as a replacement for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice.
Yet doubts are being raised about Rice due to comments she made following the terrorist attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
We'll speak with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), a senior member of the U.S. Intelligence Committee, who has been a supporter of Rice. He'll also give us an update on the ongoing violence in Gaza and Israel.
Pasadena clears the way for NFL games at the Rose Bowl
If there's an NFL team interested in moving to Southern California, they now have a place to call home... at least temporarily.
At a packed meeting that went late into the night yesterday, the Pasadena City Council made a decision doubling the number of large events allowed each year at the Rose Bowl. This would allow a professional football team to use the stadium.
Some Pasadena residents aren't happy with the decision, arguing that an NFL team would bring traffic jams, noise, and rowdy football fans.
KPCC's Brian Watt was at the meeting and he joins the show to give us a rundown of what happened.
NHL lockout threatens LA Kings fan-building momentum
It’s fair to say LA has not been a hockey town. Fans here have been all about the Lakers and the Dodgers and have had little love leftover for the Kings. But when the team won the Stanley Cup last year, fans here learned to embrace the sport.
But what’s happened to all that excitement now that the NHL season is in its second month of the lockout? Jed Kim brings us this report.
When Chris Tsangaris and his brother opened the Redondo Beach Café eight years ago, they decided to make their place into a hockey-fan hangout. For years, they’d get a small, but steady base of hardcore fans coming in to watch the games. And then last year, the Kings made the playoffs, and suddenly they were packing the place out. They even had to buy new TV’s just so everyone could watch the games.
“They’d spill out over here, so we had to put in the flat screens over here, and we put in a projector," said Tsangaris. "See this projector here, a giant-screen projector? So everybody in this part of the dining room and out in the patio looking in were able to see, because the patio – we had tables on the sidewalk. It was pretty incredible.”
And then on a magical night in June, the Kings won the Stanley Cup for Los Angele for the first time in their 45-year history.
"There was champagne flowing everywhere. It took us a couple days to clean up for sure. It was electric. It was incredible," said Tsangaris.
The party continued when the Stanley Cup came to the restaurant.
“We had the line up started about six in the morning, and it literally spanned all the way down to the beach. People were waiting in the sand to get their turn for a picture with the Cup that was held in our parking lot," said Tsangaris.
NHL Lockout Drains Fan Momentum
Today, the Redondo Beach Café’s pretty empty. One reason for the slower business is the NHL lockout means there are no hockey games playing on the TVs.
“There’s absolutely a big impact on the businesses. It’s absolutely a big hit for us," said Tsangaris.
And all that excitement? It’s feeling like a missed opportunity to people who study the business behind sports. See, there’s no better time to build a fan base than right after a championship.
Courtney Brunious is the assistant director of the Sports Business Institute at the USC Marshall School of Business. He says the momentum from a championship is crucial to keep newer fans who may have latched on when the team was winning.
“Oh, championships are huge. Not only do you have your core fan base – your fans that have been fans for five, 10, 15, 20 years – you have those fans that get excited because they follow a frontrunner, or they follow a team that’s popular, or they follow a team that there’s excitement building around," said Brunious.
In other words, bandwagoners. In Los Angeles, where hockey has largely been an afterthought, there are going to be a lot of those fans. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because they evolve.
“They follow the team the next year, you know, they know the players, they get excited, they want to watch a little bit more, they tell their friends, you know, it becomes more of a ritual to them, then they’re not really a bandwagon fan anymore. And they become part of that hardcore base," said Brunious.
And that means a lot of money. Last year, the NHL pulled in a record $3 billion in revenue. Franchises with strong fan bases can sell a lot of merchandise and season tickets. Forbes published a list of the most valuable NHL teams after last year’s season, and the Kings were in 10th place after established franchises like Toronto, New York and Detroit. This season was a chance to climb up the list, but unfortunately for the Kings, the lockout’s already kept them from capitalizing.
"Opening games, the raising of the banner, you know, everybody having the excitement about seeing the Stanley Cup again – all of that leading up into the season was washed out by the lockout," said Brunious.
I reached out to the Kings to learn how they’re feeling the effects, but they wouldn’t comment in light of the ongoing lockout.
Back at the Redondo Beach Café, Chris is no fair-weather fan. He’ll be there if and when the season starts. He also wants a dynasty.
“I can’t wait for them to drop the puck again," said Tsangaris. "I can’t wait to be a part of it, to watch them move forward, because it’s special.”
There is one bright side to all of this. If you’d like to jump on the Kings bandwagon, now is a rare opportunity. Years from now you can say, “I became a Kings fan during the lockout.” Just don’t say which lockout – this is the third one in less than 20 years.
PHOTOS: Petroglyphs sacred to Paiute-Shoshone tribes stolen in Bishop, Calif.
Thieves allegedly armed with power tools recently carved out ancient petroglyphs etched into a stone landscape in eastern California, removing six and damaging dozens of other carvings.
While the value of the petroglyphs has not been determined, they are sacred and priceless to the Paiute Native American Nation.
To explain more about the theft, we're joined by Greg Haverstock, archaeologist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Bishop, Calif.
KCET's Artbound highlights Tanya Aguiñiga's public crafting revolution
The KCET multi platform arts journalism project Artbound searches near and wide throughout Southern California to bring to light people creating extraordinary art that goes unseen by the mainstream.
One artist highlighted by the series is LA-based furniture and craft designer Tanya Aguiñiga. Trained as a furniture designer, Aguiñiga has a special interest in crafting, often covering pre-existing chairs in felt, or weaving her own textiles and creating handmade accessories.
Artbound recently followed Aguiñiga as she demonstrated what she calls "Performance Crafting," bringing the creation of indigenous craft into the public, urban sphere.
"I'm known for making furniture and doing a lot of craft-based processes, so I came up with this thing called performance crafting, doing it public and doing it in a very participatory way," said Aguiñiga on Take Two. "One of the things that I did a few years ago was i spent time in Chiapas in southern mexico working with Mayan artisans, Mayan women who do backstrap weaving."
The process of backstrap weaving involves the whole body, not a loom, to create beautiful textiles. Aguiñiga explains the the weaving works by tying a belt around one's waist, then tying the other end to a pole or other sturdy surface. The weaver then must move his or her body back and forth using the resistance from the other object.
For Artbound Aguiñiga and editor Drew Tewksbury, who is also a regular Take Two music critic, headed to Beverly Hills to introduce passers by to this crafting process. Only, they weren't exactly welcome.
"I tied myself to a parking meter, so I thought that for paying for a parking space that you're essentially renting real estate out in Los Angeles, so I thought I would be able to sit there and do this ancient way of weaving fabric and it was right in front of YSL (Yves Saint Laurent)," said Aguiñiga. "We quickly realized that the city of Beverly Hills does not like people in parking spots."
Within 30 minutes of setting up shop, Beverly Hills Police were on the scene threatening to hand out tickets.
For her next Artbound project, "Felt Me," Aguiñiga embraced her love of the wet felting process, or rather it literally embraced her. "I was head-to-toe completely covered," said Aguiñiga.
Wet felting works by covering an object in raw wool, then rubbing it with soapy water until the object is seamlessly covered in fabric. You then let the fabric dry and it fuses itself to the object. Aguiñiga decided she'd like to try and place herself in the position of the many chairs or other sculptural objects she's felted throughout her career.
"We wrapped my whole body with raw wool then they sprayed me with soapy water and they rubbed me down," she said. "Part of it that was very difficult for me and I think for a lot of people involved as well … was that I was naked, so the process was covering my head, my entire body, my feet and my hands and felting me."
You can see video of Aguiñiga's "Felt Me" project below, and be sure to check out the Artbound website for more interesting portraits of art in Southern California.
New Music Tuesday: K'Naan, Alex McMurray and Godspeed You! Black Emperor
It's New Music Tuesday, the day our steady stable of music journalists and critics introduce you to what's new this week in music.
Today, we talk to freelance music writer Steve Hochman talks with us about new music from K'Naan, Alex McMurray and Godspeed You! Black Emporer.
Tracks from K'Naan's new album "Country, God or the Girl:"
Alex McMurray performing a track off new album " I Will Never Be Alone In This Land:"
Track from Godspeed You! Black Emporer's new album "Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!:"
Can Egypt help broker a truce between Israel and Hamas?
We may be close to seeing a ceasefire deal in Gaza. A Hamas official tells Reuters that the ceasefire will be announced an hour from now, and go into effect at midnight local time.
However, an Israeli spokesman and another Hamas spokesperson say that the deal is not yet finalized. Integral to trying to reach temporary peace has been Egypt: the country's been central to the truce efforts between Israel and Hamas. But will the truce last?
The Israel military reports there was a direct hit on a residential building south of Tel Aviv, and two journalists for a Hamas-owned TV station were killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Joining us from Cairo via Skype is independent journalist Noel King.
Feds arrest 4 SoCal men for plot to kill Americans overseas
Four Southern California men have been arrested and charged with plotting to kill Americans overseas and join al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
An FBI complaint unsealed in U.S. district court in Riverside yesterday said that one of the men had already traveled to Afghanistan and three others were planning to join him.
KPCC's Steven Cuevas is here to tell us more.
PBS doc traces David Geffen's journey from mailroom to mogul
The PBS documentary series American Masters looks at the lives of some of the most influential artists in American culture. The latest installment, "Inventing: David Geffen" focuses on the man behind some of the most famous and successful musicians and artists.
For those who need the cliff notes on Geffen's long career, here's the long story short: He ran two record labels, developed artists like the Eagles and Jackson Brown, co-founded Dreamworks and much more.
We're joined by "Inventing David Geffen" director by Susan Lacy.
Watch Trailer: Inventing David Geffen on PBS. See more from American Masters.
Watch Inventing David Geffen: Focus Focus Focus on PBS. See more from American Masters.
Pilar Marrero on how the anti-immigration movement is 'Killing The American Dream'
One thing is clear after President Barack Obama's electoral victory earlier this month, Latinos have become key to winning elections. That means that for both parties, immigration remains a crucial issue.
We speak with Pilar Marrero, a senior political writer for La Opinion and author of the new book, "Killing the American Dream, How Anti-Immigration Extremists are Destroying the Nation."
Interview Highlights:
On how immigration has become purely a political issue:
"They have made real immigration reform impossible for about 20 years now, because immigration has turned into a purely political and opportunist issue for many politician and we haven;t looked at the real interest for the country this whole time. We have put together a series of policies that do nothing to advance the interest not just of immigrants but the economic future of this country. Politics is something that needs to be involved, but when its the only thing that's actually happening it brings bad policy…it became about using the issue to win elections, to move ahead for certain politicians. There have been some politicians that moved from being a mayor of a small town to being in Congress using the immigration issue."
On how immigrants benefit American society:
"The conventional wisdom that these extremists use is that immigrants are bad for Americans because they take jobs…but the research actually does not support this. There is plenty of research out there that show that immigrants create jobs and allow the companies to be more productive and there are many many things that immigrants are giving to America that is actually very positive."
On how America's policies and law have been hostile to immigrants:
"I don't think America is hostile to newcomers, what I said was in the last 18 years, policy and the law has been hostile. All throughout our history immigrants have had to overcome difficulties and work really hard at really bad jobs, but never before in our history of our nation, with the exception of maybe the Chinese exclusion laws, we have had immigrants that for so long have been kept from integrating and kept from society in legal terms. All these immigrants who have been here for 15 or 20 years without papers. Many of them have businesses, sons and daughters, many of them have homes, they're an integral part of our economy, but we don't want them to be legal because we have some idea that they're bad for the country."
On how the Romney Campaign was viewed by Latinos:
"The Romney Campaign had very little interest in reaching Latinos. We were never able to get an interview with Romney and many other outlets were never able to do it even though it was common for us to interview Republican candidates in other elections."
On how Republicans can reach the Latino immigrant voter base:
"It's a matter of tone, it's a matter of inclusion, it's a matter of having the party talk to different communities. They can keep their conservative principles, they don't have to move left, there are plenty of Latinos who are conservative in different ways…what they don't vote for is a party who doesn't want to talk to them or talks about immigrants as if they are expendable, as if they are evil."
On the issues most important to Latino immigrants:
"All issues are important to Latinos, the same as to the rest of the country, but of course ... the economy, the ability to have a job. Immigrants are very focused on this because if you're an immigrant and you come to this country, it's because you think there's an opportunity to move ahead and have a better job and a better career and a better future. Education is a huge issue for Latinos, it used to be the number one issue for Latinos before the recession."
On whether the American Dream will survive:
"The American Dream will never die because there's somebody somewhere thinking about that dream. But if we close the border and say no more immigrants like some people are arguing, that would actually hurt America economically and that would actually hurt the American Dream and I think we need to be aware of that."
Killing the American Dream; How Anti-Immigration Extremists are Destroying the Nation
Kevin Clash resigns as Elmo amid new underage sex allegations
Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who created and voiced Elmo, has resigned. Last week a man accused Clash of having sex with him when he was a teenager, but recanted his story a day later.
On Tuesday, TMZ reported that a second accuser has filed a lawsuit claiming that he and Clash had a sexual relationship beginning in 1993 when the two met in a telephone chatroom when Singleton was 15 and Clash was 32.
Sesame Workshop says the controversy was a distraction that led to Clash's resignation:
"Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street. This is a sad day for Sesame Street."
Clash released his own statement on his resignation:
"I am resigning from Sesame Workshop with a very heavy heart. I have loved every day of my 28 years working for this exceptional organization. Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work Sesame Street is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer. I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately."
Jeff Bercovici from Forbes Magazine joins the show to talk about the details of the story.