On Thursday Take Two addresses the state of immigration, controversy over how Mexico's president got his mansion and the polar bear population in the midst of climate change.
Immigration: A timeline leading up to President Obama's executive action
President Obama will go lone wolf on immigration reform in an announcement Thursday night that could protect millions from deportation.
The move isn't popular with everyone on the Hill, and the threat of this presidential power move has played out like a TV political drama.
Niels Frenzen, USC law professor and director of the USC Immigration Clinic, walks Take Two through the timeline of important moments that led up to Thursday night's announcement.
* June 2013 -- Things seemed hopeful when the Senate passed an immigration bill. Republicans called on their colleagues in the House to pass it, too.
* Fall 2013 -- House Republicans refused to vote on that bill, calling for a series of bills that would have tackled separately issues like border security and a guest worker program. No action is taken by the time Congress recesses for the holiday, killing the issue in 2013.
* September 2013 -- President Obama on Telemundo rules out executive action to halt deportations, saying the move is "not an option."
* January 2014 -- Republicans come forward with their own principals for what immigration reform should have, stressing that border security comes first and that "we must enact reform that ensures that a President cannot unilaterally stop immigration enforcement." At the same time in a sign of losing patience, President Obama opens the door to taking executive action on immigration.
* April 2014 -- President Obama tables the idea of an executive order on immigration for now.
* Summer 2014 -- A surge of unaccompanied minors from Central America creates a humanitarian crisis in the U.S. It also adds pressure to the reform debate, pushing President Obama to shift focus away from any executive action.
* November 2014 -- Republicans win a sweeping hold of the House and Senate, changing the make-up of Congress and dimming the President's hopes of finding lawmakers who will be cooperative to any of his plans.
Immigration reform: What are the President's plans?
We don't know exactly what the President will be saying Thursday night, but it is sure to set off a political fire storm.
Obama has said repeatedly that he needs to take action due to Congress' lack of movement on immigration.
Republican leaders say the president is going too far.
Joining Take Two to give the latest from the nation's capitol is Kitty Felde - Southern California Public Radio's Washington Correspondent.
Community Leaders in Oakland, LA prepare ahead of Ferguson Grand Jury decision
There were arrests on the streets of Ferguson Wednesday night - the first in about a week.
They come as a grand jury nears a decision on whether to indict police officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown back in August.
The impact of the decision will be felt beyond Ferguson, including here in California.
For a glimpse at Oakland, where "healing centers" are being opened, Take Two is joined by Pastor Raymond E. Lankford, the Founder and President of Healthy Oakland.
In Los Angeles, there are also calls for calm. Also joining Take Two is Pastor J. Edgar Boyd from LA's First AME Church, which is working with police and other civic leaders to prepare for the reaction to the Grand Jury's decision.
Mexican president, first lady respond to controversial mansion deal
In Mexico, a soap opera star and her powerful husband are embroiled in some serious daytime drama.
Actress Angelica Rivera and her husband, Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto, have landed in hot water over a sprawling $7 million mansion known as "The White House."
Reports have surfaced that the couple didn't pay a dime for it.
Rather, they say, the house was gifted to the First Couple by a wealthy entrepreneur who has been awarded some very big public-works contract.
Tracy Wilkinson, LA Times Bureau Chief in Mexico, reported on the latest here.
The Wheel Thing: LA Car Show has mini-SUV's, a cool Chevy concept and dirt-defying paint
The international auto business is focused on Los Angeles this week, as the LA Auto show gets ready for its public opening on Friday.
But all week, auto makers have been hyping their latest innovations to the automotive press corps.
Take Two's car critic Susan Carpenter has been taking it all in, and she says although companies claim to be "premiering" 30 cars, there are really only a handful of truly new vehicles.
Among the most interesting, new sub-compact crossover vehicles from Mazda, Honda and Fiat. Car companies expect these "mini-SUVs" to be big sellers.
Auto shows always feature concept cars - manufacturers' blue-sky visions of the future. But this year, Carpenter likes a vehicle that has its genesis rooted firmly in the past. The Chevy Chaparral 2X Vision Gran Turismo is a modern take on the Chaparral vehicles that dominated racing in the 1960's.
And here's something for everyone concerned about the drought and water conservation. Nissan showed a version of its all-electric Leaf, treated with a special paint that repels dirt and grime. It's a matte finish that features something called a superhydrophobic surface - water rolls off it, and dust and dirt blow away. The company is billing it as The World's Cleanest Car, because it produces zero emissions and never gets dirty. Nissan couldn't say when the anti-dirt paint might be available, but it expects it to be introduced as an after-maker product that will be applied over the standard factory finish.
Susan Carpenter is auto and motorcycle critic for the OC Register. She joins Take Two each week for The Wheel Thing.
Gustavo Dudamel on LA Phil's new concert series and making classical music come alive
This year, the organ at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles turns 10 years old.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is celebrating with a concert Friday evening, featuring several pieces for this monumental music-maker, including Symphony No. 3 by Camille Saint-Saens:
Leading the performance is a gentleman celebrating his fifth birthday* with the Phil this year, conductor and music director Gustavo Dudamel.
Friday's show also marks the debut of a new series titled "Inside the Music." The orchestra bills the series as a chance to empower audiences to have "connected" concert experiences. There are pre-show and post-show Q&A sessions to learn more about the music, and even an online game that concert-goers can play.
Gustavo Dudamel says the series is part of a larger goal, to make classical music more accessible to a wider audience, and especially to young people.
“I know that the young people feel like maybe this is music for a funeral, this is music that smells very old," Dudamel says. “No, it’s not old music. It’s always alive, you know, it’s always something that’s happening in the present.”
After five successful seasons with the L.A. Phil, Dudamel says he wants “to keep growing up and to keep bringing more people to listen to enjoy their orchestra, because it’s their orchestra...The doors are open to everybody to enjoy music.”
*To clarify, this is Gustavo Dudamel's sixth season with the L.A. Phil.
State of Affairs: Undecided races, new head of LA labor, and the first Vietnamese mayor of Garden Grove
It's been three weeks since the mid-terms and there are still some races in question here in Southern California. There's also a new head of the L.A. County Federation of Labor, and the city of Garden Grove gets its first Vietnamese mayor.
Southern California Public Radio political reporter Frank Stoltze and regional desk editor Chris Knap join Take Two for the latest in Southern California politics.
Ivanpah solar plant generating less electricity than expected
Earlier this year, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System opened up in the Southern California desert near the Nevada border.
It did so with great promise - operators said it would produce enough electricity to power a city of 140,000 homes.
But things haven't quite gone according to plan.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Ivanpah is generating only about half as much electricity as expected for the year.
Joining Take Two to explain what's happening is Chris Clarke, who reports on environmental issues for KCET.
Polar bear population declining, new numbers show
When the status of the majestic polar bear makes headlines, people concerned about climate change take notice.
Now new numbers are out on a group of bears living off the coast of Northern Alaska -- and it's not good news.
For more, Take Two is joined by Jeffrey Bromaghin, a researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska Science Center.
To hear our interview with Bromaghin, click on "Listen Now" above.
Food insecure Navajo Nation receives grant
One out of every five people on the Navajo Nation in Arizona don't know where their next meal is coming from.
That's the finding from a survey conducted by public health researchers at Johns Hopkins.
They say it's the highest rate reported to date in the U.S.
Scientists call this "food insecurity."
A community on the western edge of the reservation has just gotten a grant to help.
From the Changing America Desk in Flagstaff,
reports.
New exhibit shows how immigrants fled Nazi Europe and created film noir classics
Let's go back in time to an older, golden age of Hollywood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46pQwwF8uww
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKdcYnlkhx8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMTT0LW0M_Y
Those were scenes from "Casablanca," "Double Indemnity" and "Sunset Boulevard."
These movies share more than just the distinction of being great films.
All three were made with huge contributions from European immigrants - many of them Jewish - who fled their home countries as the Nazis rose to power.
Their stories are the subject of a new exhibition at the Skirball Cultural Center titled "Light And Noir: Exiles and Émigrés in Hollywood, 1933–1950."
Alex Cohen recently stopped by for a tour.
Phil Klay's 'Redeployment' wins National Book Award
A couple of weeks ago Take Two brought you an interview with U.S. Marine Corp veteran and author Phil Klay about his book "Redeployment."
It's a collection of short stories about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that explores the everyday experiences of soldiers, from the combat zone to the home front.
And as of Wednesday night, it's also a winner of the 2014 National Book Award for fiction.
Phil Klay joins Take Two to talk about winning the award and what's next for him.