A look at where our relationship with Mexico stands, the official announcement to bring the Olympics to LA in 2028, how to stay alert against stories with no basis.
How the US relationship with Mexico has reached a breaking point
After Hurricane Harvey ripped through Houston, officials from Mexico reached out and offered to help relief efforts in any way they could.
But when Mexico was hit with an earthquake that killed nearly 100 people last week, how did the U.S. respond?
Cue awkward cricket sounds.
As well wishes from other world leaders poured in, President Trump was notably silent.
Then there's the issue of DACA being phased out and the possibility that hundreds of thousands of people will be deported. And the wall the president has repeatedly said Mexico will pay for.
All this — and more — has put a strain on an already fragile relationship between two nations with a long history of distrust.
Former Mexican diplomat Jorge Guajardo served as ambassador to China from 2007-2013 and now lives in Washington, D.C. where he's a strategic consultant. He recently wrote an opinion piece for Politico and the title serves as a warning: "You won't like Mexico when it's angry."
He talked to Take Two's A Martinez, and here are some highlights from that interview:
In this piece, you write about a Mexico that has always been deeply suspicious of the U.S. and how recent events have only amplified those feelings. How would you gauge the relationship between our two countries right now?
The relationship is still good, it's still salvageable. It's probably at a breaking point and we know how that would happen. If President Trump continues tweeting, attacking, humiliating Mexico the way he's prone to do, there is no question about it.
Why write that op-ed now?
Since everything works between Mexico and the United States, you sort of take it for granted. No, that is not the way it has always been or will continue to be. If you have an angry neighbor, all this cooperation will come down and you'll start noticing it.
You mentioned the lack of response to the earthquake in Mexico. If Donald Trump had send out some condolences, would it all be OK?
No. We didn't need anything from the United States. But would it have killed him to express solidarity or concern like most every other world leader did? It's the type of the thing that makes you say "This country is not our friend." In a time of need, they can't even pick up the phone and say "Hey, how are you? Is everything OK?" And the response would've been "Thank you, no, we got this. But thank you for calling." That's it. That's all we're asking for. When we can't get that, we realize this is not a friendly country.
You mention it's at a breaking point. Is there one particular thing that could take it in that direction?
Yes. We are going through the process of renegotiating NAFTA. Apart from being a trade agreement between Mexico, Canada and the United States, NAFTA has been a key instrument for bringing Mexico and the United States together. The thing to keep in mind is Mexicans, we have it in our DNA to mistrust the United States. It's a country that stole half of our territory. It's a country that invaded us. However, due to NAFTA, the Mexican people have been convinced that it's better to be a good partner with the U.S. And right now, we are going through renegotiations. The problem is that while we're doing that, Trump has taken to Twitter to either attack, humiliate, offend Mexico and that may lead Mexico to the position of just having to step away from the negotiating table and say we will not reach an agreement with someone who continues offending that.
There was always a chance that NAFTA could be dissolved, but you think that it might be Mexico that starts that process?
I live in Washington D.C. and every time Trump goes out and says "Build a wall. Mexico will pay for it" or "Mexico is a crime infested country" and all those things he likes to say about Mexicans. People in Washington tell me, "Oh, don't pay attention. He's just pandering to his base." Every foreign leader also have bases they have to tend to. And in Mexico, the entirety of the population is saying to not subject us to humiliation by the United States. Not again, not ever. Our national dignity is at stake and we will not trample it for a deal, no matter how good or beneficial it is.
What kind of relationship change would occur if NAFTA goes away between the United States and Mexico?
Mexico has sort of cracked down on its southern border to stop the flow of migrants from Central America to reach the United States. In essence, we are doing the United States' dirty work. Why? We decided it's best to cooperate with our trading partner who's our good friend than to be antagonistic. You take away the good partner and there is no reason why we should be cooperating. That's one example. Another example: terrorism. Mexico has detained and handed over to U.S. authorities more than 200 people suspected of terrorist links that were thought to be plotting something in Mexico to end the United States. Thanks to cooperation, we've been able to work closely with them and stop them in Mexico. You take away the "we're in this together" and there is simply no political appetite in Mexico to cooperate. If that country is humiliating us, no matter how much political leaders want to continue that cooperation, it just won't work.
Click on the blue play button above to hear the entire interview.
Mexico would welcome DACA recipients with open arms, expert says
More than 600,000 of the young people covered under the DACA program are natives of Mexico. The initiative protected them from deportation, but now their future in the U.S. is uncertain.
That concern extends past the southern border, where the prospect of receiving and re-integrating thousands of young people born in Mexico but raised in the U.S. has some on alert.
Rafael Fernández de Castro was a presidential foreign policy advisor in Mexico who now directs the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at UC San Diego.
Fernández says Mexico would gladly welcome so-called Dreamers, should Congress fail to find a lasting solution:
Dreamers are a very special group of migrants to Mexicans because we know they came here when they were children. They have worked very hard. Most of them are very well-educated, and they're doing extremely well in U.S. society. I'm sure they will be welcomed in Mexico, and Mexican society is prepared to welcome them.
Fernández adds that Mexico's institutions have begun preparing, in case Congress fails to act:
Dreamers are waking Mexican society. I have never seen private and public universities very interested in getting the Dreamers. Every single Mexican university is saying, "I will have scholarships for them."
Press the blue play button above to hear more about how the Trump administration's recent decision about DACA is being taken in Mexico.
Anaheim declares homelessness emergency
Here are some ways to prevent being faked out by 'fake news'
Late last month, during all the chaos of Hurricane Harvey news, sensational photos and stories of the devastation spread fast, including this one:
Watch Jesse Watters get duped by the fake shark photo on national television pic.twitter.com/sbDLuavvzS
— Eric Koch (@EricDKoch) August 29, 2017
That's Jesse Watters of Fox News. The only problem is, that photo he saw of a shark swimming on a flooded Houston highway? It's not real.
So-called "fake news" like this often spreads quickly on social media. In an effort to counter this, Facebook is now flagging stories they think are unfounded.
However, a new study out of Yale found that might actually only make things worse.
Alexios Mantzarlis is head of Poynter's International Fact Checking Network. He told Take Two's A Martinez that "this study is only the first of many on this pilot," so there's still work to do. In the meantime, he shared these tips to stay vigilant.
1. Be aware before you share
See something sensational that's really juicy? Take a beat and analyze it.
"If you see a story, that you're not sure or that you think looks a little too good to be true, don't retweet it. Don't share it. Don't comment on it.
It doesn't take that much time for the worst stories. And we need to remember as social media consumers, that we are actually also producers, right? Every single like, share, retweet, affects an audience that goes much beyond us."
2. Tell a friend if they're wrong (but be nice)
"Another interesting story that came out last week that we found on Twitter, people who share hoaxes or misinformation are more likely to accept correction from friends than from strangers.
So, that's a sign to say that, hey, if your crazy uncle is sharing stuff that you know to be false as messy as complicated as it's going to get ... please comment with a correction underneath."
But keep in mind, you have to be careful when calling someone out on something that challenges their world views.
"We need to remember that we are predisposed to believe things that go along with our world view and explain away things that do not. And so, any correction needs to be mindful of seeming like an attack to who we are."
3. Reverse image search
"This is something in 2017, that really everyone should be able to know how to do. You can reverse search an image on Google and find all previous instances of that photo.
So, if you see a photo from a breaking news case, in this case from Irma, for instance. And you reverse search and you find that it's been around a month, two years, five years ... then you can be sure that it's not from today."
And if you don't know how to reverse image search, it's pretty easy. If you're using Google Chrome it is as simple as opening the image in a new tab, right-clicking it and selecting "Search Google for this image."
If you're not using Chrome, you simply save the image to your desktop and then drag it over to the Google image search bar.
To hear more about the study as well as Mantzarlis' work as head of Poynter's International Fact Checking network, click the blue play button above.
K2 Sports: Dodgers squeak to the post season and the Lakers honor Kobe Bryant
Every week we get the latest sports news with
for our segment, K2 Sports!
And this week, we start with the Dodgers. For only the second time in three weeks the Dodgers won a game, holding on to beat the Giants.
And yesterday the Lakers made a pretty big announcement regarding one of the greatest of all time ... Kobe Bryant, aka the Black Mamba
We'll honor
's illustrious Lakers career by retiring his #8 & #24 during a halftime ceremony on Dec. 18th
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers)
We'll honor @kobebryant's illustrious Lakers career by retiring his #8 & #24 during a halftime ceremony on Dec. 18th https://t.co/Qm9nPfH1Um
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) September 12, 2017
That's right, the team will retire both his jersey's - number 8:
And number 24:
We talk about that and a lot more. Click on the blue arrow to hear the entire segment