Today on the show, we discuss Obama's recent comments that he would accept 'piecemeal' immigration reform. Then, a new Pew study shows Americans are burnt out on disaster relief, kids in Baldwin Hills schools get their iPads, the fight over Gore Vidal's estate and much more.
Obama OK with 'piecemeal' immigration reform
President Obama has long favored sweeping immigration legislation that would legalize many of the undocumented people in this country. But yesterday, in front of business executives at a conference sponsored The Wall Street Journal, the president said he'd be OK with "piecemeal" legislation.
Basically getting it done bit by bit.
For more we are joined by Colleen McCain Nelson, White House Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal.
Update: Fwd.us hosts immigration 'hackathon' in Mountain View
Updated, Nov. 22:
Earlier this week, the advocacy group Fwd.us, led by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, paired leaders in the tech industry with young immigrants. Their task was to develop new ways to advocate for solutions to the immigration debate.
On Wednesday we checked in with one of the young dreamers who was taking part in the project, Justino Mora. Mora's team won the Best Advocacy Award at the hackathon, and he joins the show to explain what happened during the hackathon.
Earlier:
Politicians seem to have reached an impasse when it comes to immigration reform, so some young tech types are moving ahead without them.
Earlier this week in Mountain View, the advocacy group Fwd.Us, led by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is hosting what they're calling an immigration hackathon. Leaders in the tech industry will team up with young immigrants to develop new ways to advocate for solutions to the immigration debate.
As LA schools committee scrutinizes iPad expansion, students delighted
The LA Unified School District iPad pilot program is wrought with complications. It came in millions of dollars over budget, and there have been security issues.
IF the board votes to give every student a tablet, it'll cost more than a billion dollars. But none of that matters to the thousands of kids putting aside the pencil and picking up iPads this year.
KPCC's Annie Gilbertson visited the last classroom in the pilot phase to get them.
Michoacan's vigilante 'el doctor' stands up to Mexico's Knights Templar cartel
There's a standoff happening between a rag tag group of townspeople in Mexico's Michoacan state and the violent drug cartels that wield power there.
Over the last year, there's been a growing movement of ordinary citizens defending their towns against the influence of gangsters.
McClatchy reporter Tim Johnson recently wrote about one of their leaders, a fascinating man known, simply as "El Doctor."
Could you become a Bitcoin millionaire?
Bitcoin, the anonymous cyber currency, has had a wild few weeks. It's gone from less than $300 per coin to more than $900 just a few days ago back down to just over $600 today.
On Monday there was a congressional hearing on the currency for the first time, which gave it just a hint of legitimacy. It's technically possible to become a Bitcoin millionaire, but what's the likelihood?
Tess Vigeland talks to Ashlee Vance from Business Week about investing in Bitcoin the currency's ups and downs.
Sports Roundup: Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Drew Brees and more
The Black Mamba returns to the court, a Jacksonville man courts a new quarterback, and Richie Incognito in the court of public opinion. It's time for our weekly sport segment. We're joined by Andy Kamenetzky for all the latest.
We start with Kobe Bryant, back on the practice court for the first time since he tore his Achilles last April. How's he looking? When might we see him back in the game?
There are reports that Lamar Odom may be re-signing with the Clippers, but hasn't he had a lot of problems this offseason? Why would the Clippers want him back? And is Odom looking at any other teams?
Let's go to football and USC's victory over Stanford last weekend. We talked about this a little bit on Monday, the Trojans are now 5-1 since interim head coach Ed Orgeron took over. What's the likelihood that the "interim" will be taken out of his title?
During last Sunday's, 49ers-Saints game, there was some controversy over a hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees. What happened? Why so much drama around this?
Speaking of quarterbacks, let's turn to Tim Tebow. A Jacksonville golf pro has bought ads urging the Jaguars to sign Tebow. Who is this guy?
Finally, we can't go a week without talking about Richie Incognito and the Miami Dolphins. What's the latest there?
California public employees win big with $13 billion JP Morgan settlement
Yesterday, banking giant JP Morgan Chase agreed to a $13 billion dollar settlement with federal and state authorities.
The settlement, which is the largest ever between the Department of Justice and a corporation, is in response to claims over sales of mortgage backed securities that collapsed during the US housing crisis.
One of the big winners is California's public employee and teacher pension fund, commonly known as CalPers, who'll receive nearly $300 million.
We talk to Don Thompson from the AP about it.
Obamacare: When canceled health insurance leads to a better policy
Much of the recent public debate over the Affordable Care Act has focused on the millions of people seeing their health insurance policies cancelled because they don't comply with the federal law.
President Obama's call to extend those policies for another year has met resistance in California and elsewhere. But the story is more complex than cancelled policies and higher premiums.
KPCC's Stephanie O'Neill reports a number of those losing their policies are finding something better.
RELATED: Full report from Stephanie O'Neill on health insurance cancellations
Pew study of Typhoon Haiyan finds Americans burnt out on disaster relief
In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, the U.S. is leading the international relief effort in the Philippines, but the American public seems to be already tuning it out.
RELATED: Pew study finds Typhoon Haiyan stirs less interest in the US than other disasters
According to a new Pew study looking at the aftermath of the disaster, only about 32 percent of Americans say they are following it closely. That's much lower than the number of people who said they were engaged at this time after the tsunami in Japan or the earthquake in Haiti.
It's perhaps even more surprising because more than 30 percent of Filipinos living abroad call the U.S. home. The Pew study's lead author, Carol Doherty, joins Take Two to explain his findings.
Study: Typhoon Haiyan's long-term effects include increased mortality rates among infant girls
Here's one more reason not to tune out the aftermath of the typhoon in the Philippines.
Researchers from UC Berkeley and the University of San Francisco recently published a study on the long-term effects of such natural disasters. Focusing on the Philippines, they discovered the devastating toll these annual storms take on the area goes much further than initial casualties and loss of property.
They also found these typhoons significantly increase the mortality rate of infant girls for up to two years after the initial disaster.
Dr. Jesse Anttila-Hughes is an assistant professor at the University of San Francisco and the co-author of the study, joins the show to explain.
App Chat: Digital tools to make gift-giving a breeze
Hanukkah kicks off the holiday season next week. If you dread the idea of poring through catalogs or braving the mall, we've got just the thing for you -- shopping with your smart phone. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's Wednesday which means it's time for App Chat.
Here to talk us through gift giving in the digital age is Devindra Hardawar from Venture Beat.
Recommended Apps:
Bond Gifts
This is a gift giving app focused on strengthening your relationships with people. It offers around 100 hand-picked products ranging from $15 to $15,000, but the kicker is you don't need to know someone's address to send a gift. Instead, you plug in their phone number or email address, and Bond follows up with them to confirm their addresses. Bond also forces you to write a short message to the recipient, which is then written "by hand" with a robot. It doesn't look like a font. You can also use Bond just to send "hand written" followup messages.
The Find
This is an e-commerce shopping site that's been around since 2005, its main goal is to crawl as many shopping sites as possible to dig up exactly what you want, along with any relevant deals. The company launched Shopping by the Find for the iPad earlier this year, which contains all of its e-commerce filtering smarts. You can browse for items and purchase right from within the app.
RetailMeNot
This one helps you find and organize coupons for online shopping sites, as well as retail stores. It's especially useful if you like to shop at specific retailers, you can set up the app.
ShopSavvy
One of the first mobile shopping apps to take off, it's still useful as a way compare prices of items online and offline. When you're in stores, you can use your phone's camera to scan barcodes. Its iPhone app was recently designed to focus more on product discovery, so now it can also help you think of good gift ideas while you're looking for good deals.
The fight over Gore Vidal's estate, and how to plan for your own
Writer Gore Vidal died more than a year ago, and according to his will, he left his estate to Harvard University.
His family, however, says he was senile and in no state of mind to make legal decisions when he drafted his last will. Take Two's Alex Cohen speaks about the case with Tim Teeman, author of "In Bed With Gore Vidal."
Mexico's El Tri qualifies for 2014 World Cup after beating New Zealand
The national Mexican soccer team, known as El Tri, has played its final match to qualify for the World Cup. Fox Sports soccer commentator Dave Denholm joins Take Two to discuss the results of the game against New Zealand and the complex set of rules governing these qualifying matches.
LA Auto Show 2013: New connected cars won't displace the radio
The global car industry is gathered in Los Angeles this week for the L.A. Auto Show, which opens to the public on Friday, and on Tuesday, a daylong event focused on the "connected car."
Auto manufacturers are packing more digital electronics into their vehicles, providing drivers with basics such as navigation and offering friendly ways to connect your mobile phone to your dashboard display. That means that drivers can access their favorite music apps, such as Pandora, iTunes or Spotify.
It also makes one wonder if the car radio may soon go the way of the cigarette lighter.
RELATED: LA Auto Show offers a view of the future at the Connected Car Expo
Not likely, say auto execs. Their customers still want the AM/FM, but they also want a way to easily connect their smart phone to their car and display and use their favorite apps via the dashboard display.
That creates some issues for car companies, who worry about driver distraction, and have to comply with federal safety regulations.
It's also leading to some challenging partnerships between old-line auto firms, and digital age tech companies. Both sides seem to agree they will need to learn to work together as consumers demand app-like experiences in their cars.
Pairing your smart phone with your car is only a start. Some companies, including GM, think the car must become an internet appliance, one that is constantly hooked to the grid. That would make it possible to remotely start your car on a cold morning, or find it easily when you've lost it in the mall parking lot.
According to GM's Chief Infotainment Officer Phil Abrahms (yes, that's really his title), connecting your car to the internet means it's more connected to you.
"Your car will be your friend," Abrahms says.
Friends have benefits, but they sometimes come at a cost. In this case, that will be yet another monthly bill for internet access for your friend, the car.
Remembering legendary philanthropist Diane Disney Miller
Diane Disney Miller passed away yesterday at her home in the Napa Valley.
Diane was Walt Disney's eldest daughter who was born here in Los Angeles. The next day the LA Times ran this headline, "Mickey Mouse has a daughter." Given her father's long hours at work, she didn't get to spend much time with him, but on weekends, he would take her to Griffith Park.
It was there, watching Diane and her younger sister Sharon ride the carousel, that Walt Disney got the idea for a place where families could enjoy such rides together. An idea which later became Disneyland.
Diane's love of the book Mary Poppins inspired Walt Disney to make a film about the beloved governess. His quest to get the rights from the book's author is the subject of the upcoming feature film "Saving Mr. Banks."
Tom Hanks takes on the role of Walt Disney and had the chance to talk with the animator's elder daughter to learn more about the family and the time they used to spend together. Diane Disney went to USC where she met her future husband, football star Ron Miller.
In the '80s, they left Southern California for wine country where they operated Silverado Vineyards, but her presence was still felt in LA. A patron of the arts, Diane Disney Miller played a key role in the construction of Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Deborah Borda, president and CEO of the LA Philharmonic, joins the show with more on Diane's legacy.