Thursday Take Two will discuss Obama's recently laid-out plan to combat Islamic militants, improving relations between African Americans and the police, the latest on a compound creams investigation, why LA is a center of drug cartel money laundering schemes, improving Watts with architecture, The Wheel Thing and Jessica Chastain's role in the unique film "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby."
Obama says no U.S. boots on the ground in expanded fight against Islamic militants
President Obama addressed the nation Wednesday night to outline his strategy for confronting Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria.
The President laid out a four part plan to defeat the militant group that calls itself the Islamic State in his speech. It includes air strikes, humanitarian assistance, and counter-terrorism efforts to cut funding to the militants and stop the flow of foreign fighters in and out of the region. But President Obama also said the U.S. will support, as he put it, "forces fighting these terrorists on the ground."
For a reaction, Doug Ollivant joined Take Two Thursday. He's a Senior National Security Fellow with the New America Foundation.
Ollivant explained that President Obama's strategy is to create a broad coalition in the region, which will include Saudi Arabia -- the key actor, as Ollivant puts it -- and other gulf states like Turkey, Jordan and Kuwait. Even Iran, which is considered a wildcard, "could have an important role to play here."
Ollivant asserted that the President's insistence that no U.S. ground forces will be deployed in this fight will hold. "Having U.S. troops on the ground has severe negative political consequences," he said. "We're going to rely on local forces even though militarily, they're immensely inferior to a U.S. ground force, but politically, much better in the long term."
Obama's Islamic militant plan: What is the global response?
Now that the president has laid out his plan to deal with Islamic militants that call themselves the Islamic State, what do nations around the world think of his strategy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7130A1kva7I
The plan, which President Obama shared Wednesday night in a televised address, includes air strikes, humanitarian assistance, and counter-terrorism efforts to cut funding to the militants and stop the flow of foreign fighters in and out of the region. But President Obama also said the U.S. will support, as he put it, "forces fighting these terrorists on the ground."
Related: Obama pushes military campaign against Islamic State militants
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus shares more on the global response.
Beyond Ferguson: What is the role of bias in police shootings?
In Ferguson, Missouri the City Council met earlier this week for the first time since a police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown. It was a heated affair.
Council members tried to work their way through city business but often found themselves drowned out by protestors yelling "Shut it down!"
How can the town of Ferguson heal after what has happened? What can the nation do to improve relations between African Americans and the police?
One important step is to examine something known as "implicit bias" and how it affects our actions, said Joshua Dubois, whose recent article in the National Journal is titled, "Beyond Dialogue."
"Implicit bias is the deeply held beliefs and assumptions that we have about the people around us, the beliefs that we may not even be fully aware of ourselves," said Dubois.
Those biases, left unexamined, can contribute to tragic results, such as fatal police shootings, said Dubois. But it's also something that can have profound effects on our daily lives -- and something that people, not just law enforcement, must take responsibility for.
"It's easy to respond to situations on the news and feel bad or feel guilty or not feel guilty," said Dubois. "It's much more difficult thing to look at ourselves and about how bias works in our lives and affects the people around us and then take steps to address it."
Compound creams: Huge case alleges massive workers comp scam
This week, Southern California Public Radio has been reporting on the lucrative business of compound cream pain medications.
Compound creams are the custom-made pharmaceutical creams intended for use by those who can't take traditional pills.
Southern California Public Radio's Investigative Producer Karen Foshay has traced the increase in their use - and their cost - especially in workers' comp cases.
Now she looks at possible crimes. Foshay has the story of what prosecutors say is one of California's largest ever workers' comp scams, involving over 20,000 exhibits, 15 defendants and more than $100 million in alleged overbilling.
Related: The price of pain: Indictments allege a massive compound cream scam
This is the third in a series on the compound cream industry. You can read Part One here and Part Two here.
Why LA is the epicenter of laundering schemes by drug cartels
At least $90 million -- $70 million of it in cash -- was seized Wednesday in a sting to shut down an LA-based laundering scheme centered in downtown's fashion district.
Related: What $70M in cash looks like: Feds raid alleged drug cartel money launderers
Nine people were also arrested by authorities, who say Los Angeles has become the epicenter of narco-dollar money laundering like this.
They say a network of local businesses were being used to launder drug money for Mexican cartels.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Dugdale explains why these kinds of operations are on the rise in Southern California.
The Wheel Thing: Why bikes with big, fat tires are the new big thing
This week, everybody who's anybody in the bicycle world is in Las Vegas for the annual Interbike show--the largest bike convention in the nation.
And bikes are big business. Americans bought 16 million cycles last year and the industry generates more than $6 billion in annual revenue.
Our Wheel Thing correspondent, Susan Carpenter, spent the early part of the week at the bike show.
She says fat bikes, with super-wide tires and hefty (but often very light) frames have been around for a while, but they've really come into their own this year, with mainstream bike manufacturers showing fat models that challenge boutique brands, such as Surly, who've specialized in the corpulent bike category.
Then there are electric powered bikes. They've been selling well in Europe, but so far, Americans haven't really gone for them. That might change with some new models that can help riders get up hills and features such as regenerative braking that extend the range of the electric motor.
Whatever the choice, biking is becoming more popular in America's cities and many states, including California, have enacted laws to help protect riders. California is the latest of a score of states to adopt a Three-Foot Rule, which essentially requires drivers to give bike riders at least a yard of leeway.
The law goes into effect in California next week.
State of Affairs: Paid sick leave becomes law, races for LA city council and sheriff
In this week's State of Affairs: a stunning admission, some key endorsements, and why a gubernatorial candidate hasn't been invited to his own party's party.
Southern California Public Radio political reporters Alice Walton and Frank Stoltze join Take Two to discuss the latest news coming out of Los Angeles and California:
Eight weeks away from the election, let's talk about the woman who will be running the show: Secretary of State Debra Bowen. She recently revealed to the Los Angeles Times that she has been battling what she called a "debilitating" depression which has kept her away from the office. What's been the reaction to this?
A report that came out earlier this year from The Pew Charitable Trusts ranked California 49th in election administration, citing its high rate of unreturned mail ballots and other factors. How much can Bowen be held responsible for this?
The big news in the city of Los Angeles this week is Gloria Molina will run for the L.A. City Council, almost 25 years after she left City Hall to join the county Board of Supervisors. What's behind this move? And what does this mean for incumbent Councilman Jose Huizar?
Mayor Eric Garcetti endorsed Jim McDonnell this week for sheriff. The endorsement was not much of a surprise, in part because McDonnell's opponent Paul Tanaka has all but disappeared from the race. What's the latest on the race?
This week, California became the second state in the nation to require paid sick leave for employees. Workers in California will receive three paid sick days under the bill signed by Governor Jerry Brown. This seems like a win for Democrats and labor, no?
And now to the man looking to replace Jerry Brown, Republican Neel Kashkari. Turns out he is not invited to his party's own party! Kashkari is not listed as a speaker on the GOP's state party convention agenda. Why?
This week Alice reported on the Department of Water and Power and how much it pays out in claims related to water main breaks. Turns out it's actually cheaper to clean up floods than to prevent them in the first place. Alice explains the numbers here.
This week, Sheila Kuehl, who is a candidate for the Board of Supervisors, received a major endorsement from SEIU Local 721. That union represents 90,000 public employees in Southern California, which could translate into a lot of campaign volunteers and voters. But what about money? How is she faring there?
Ray Rice NFL investigation: What's next?
The NFL has opened an investigation into how the league handled the Ray Rice domestic violence incident.
Former FBI director Robert S. Mueller will lead the investigation and NFL owners John Mara of the New York Giants and Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers will oversee it.
The big question is whether or not league officials saw the elevator video that captured Rice hitting his then-fiancee, who is now his wife.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell claims he asked for the tape multiple times and did not receive it or see the footage of inside the elevator until Monday, USA Today reports.
For more on how this will play out, USA Today Sports Columnist Christine Brennan weighs in.
TMZ Sports and their place in the media landscape
This week a division of TMZ played a huge part in the national discussion.
TMZ Sports scooped every other news outlet when they released the violent footage involving football player Ray Rice attacking his then fiancée, Janay Palmer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbwTMJroTbI
But it’s just the latest in a line of scoops the division has made, with stories earlier this year of Donald Sterling and a sexual assault case involving Heisman trophy winner Jameis Winston.
Jonathan Mahler, media reporter with the New York Times, has been writing about the organization and spoke to Take Two about it.
Frank Gehry to design new social service campus in Watts
There's long been a struggle over how to improve the most run-down corners of Watts in South Los Angeles.
Now, one social service agency is taking a page from the Watts Towers and using architecture to bring change.
Related: Frank Gehry designing new social service campus in Watts
Southern California Public Radio's Deepa Fernandes examines plans for a service center that caters to small children.
Is China trying to take control of South China Sea?
Is China trying to take unilateral control of the South China Sea?
That's what the Philippine government thinks and the U.S. government is also worried.
Last month, Chinese fighter jets challenged a U.S. surveillance aircraft flying -- in international air space -- over the South China Sea.
Related: China warns US over surveillance flights
And recent aerial photos show China building a series of artificial islands -- more than 600 miles from its own southern shore -- in an area known as the Spratly islands.
The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes has been investigating.
How Jessica Chastain got 'Eleanor Rigby' director to shoot 2 versions
The new film "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby," starring James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain, is actually three films in one.
Writer and director Ned Benson made a film about a married couple, Eleanor and Connor, whose relationship deteriorates in the wake of a tragedy.
He made one film called "Her," about the relationship from Eleanor's perspective. And another called "Him," showing Connor's side of things. Then he combined footage for the two for another movie called "Them."
But it wouldn't have happened that way had it not been for Jessica Chastain's input early on.
When Benson first showed her the script, it was from Connor's point-of-view, and Chastain says while it was a beautiful film, her character Eleanor "felt like a prop. A little bit like she was only there to move along the male point-of-view. And I wanted to know what she was up to. Where she was going."
So Benson decided to write the same story from the female point of view.
"I read scripts all the time where female characters are not given equal space as male characters," Chastain says. "And now I get to be in this film where I have scenes with all these incredible women ... and everyone has their own stories and we don’t always talk about men in the film."
"Them," which combines both their perspectives, opens on Sept. 12, and Chastain says this version is probably the closest to the true story: "You know the saying, 'Your version of the truth, my version of the truth, and the truth?' 'Them,' I guess, would be the truth."
But if you're interested in delving deeper into the story, the two films "Him" and "Her" will be released as a double feature on Oct. 10.
"In this day and age when people, including me, are binge-watching 'Game of Thrones' or 'House of Cards' in a day, I'm excited by the prospect that people can sit through James McAvoy's story as he plays Connor and my performance as I play Eleanor," says Chastain.
More from Take Two's interview with Chastain:
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
How was this, as an actress, knowing you were playing the character from different perspectives?
I saw it as though I was playing two different characters. In "Her," I'm playing Eleanor Rigby, but in "Him," I'm playing Connor's perception of Eleanor Rigby. Which means that a scene I'm in is more about how do I participate in telling Connor's story? So sometimes that could mean my character is more mysterious, more inaccessible, she could be cold. There's a lot of questions she brings up because in his film she is inaccessible.
Your character in 'Zero Dark Thirty' was almost the total opposite of Eleanor Rigby. Is one tougher or more enjoyable to play?
"Zero Dark Thirty" was the toughest role I've ever done, for many reasons. Probably because the character is so different from me. I was raised in Northern California, I'm vegan, I've kind of like come from this very — in a beautiful way — hippie-dippy background. And with "Zero Dark Thirty," I'm playing this woman in the CIA that was trained to be unemotional. And I've spent the better part of my adult life learning to be free with my emotions. The subject matter was very dark for me. We were filming in Jordan in active Jordanian prisons in the middle of nowhere. It was an intense experience on all sides.
This — thank God I had James McAvoy — was a big lesson for me. Working with James, it's such a lesson in no matter how deep or difficult an experience may be that a character is going through, when there's joy and comedy or easiness on set it will filter into the acting. So even though, of course, there are very dark moments for Eleanor, having James as a partner in that freed me in a way that hasn’t happened before.