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Life & Times Transcript
10/26/06 Coverage of Town Hall Los Angeles speakers on Life and Times is made possible by a grant from the Boeing Company. Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- How did an election in Orange County become a referendum on illegal immigration? Allan Mansoor>> People are here illegally. What can I say? It's breaking the law. Mike Schaefer>> It's not our issue. It's a federal issue. Kimberly Edds>> It's had a chilling effect on the Hispanic communities, illegal and legal. Val Zavala>> And then, a disturbing scenario imagines the world if the president were assassinated. Is it inflammatory or good filmmaking? It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> How is it that a local city council race is drawing national attention from political pundits? Maybe it's because beneath this local election is a hot-button issue: illegal immigration. The town is Costa Mesa and Roger Cooper takes a look at the issue that is dividing this normally quiet town. Roger Cooper>> On the surface, it looks like just another race for City Council in a southern California city, but there is actually much more at stake in this local election. Chris Bunyan>> Nationally, you know, it's put us on the Lou Dobbs show. Roger Cooper>> Costa Mesa has become ground zero in the debate over illegal immigration and the race for City Council has become a referendum on immigration policy. Chris Bunyan>> You've heard Lou Dobbs talk about Costa Mesa and you've heard -- you know, if you want to Google in Costa Mesa, you'll see a lot of immigration names tagged on to our city. Roger Cooper>> It began last December. That's when the current City Council approved a tough immigration proposal, one promoted by Mayor Allan Mansoor. The mayor's plan, still to take effect, would train Costa Mesa police to help enforce federal immigration laws. The plan, which is still in development, would have police officers check the immigration status of certain suspects who could then possibly be deported. If the plan goes into effect, Costa Mesa would be the first city in the nation to adopt such a practice. The proposal has sparked a heated debate. Among those in favor are members of the Minuteman Project, the group that does its own border patrol. Steve Nelson>> "It's about the crime that's committed against American citizens in our country by people who didn't come through the proper channels. If you're here illegally and you're a criminal and you're victimizing people, see you." Roger Cooper>> But others call it a terrible idea. Coytl Tezcatlipoca>> "I know that this is not about gang violence or whatever. This is you being a racist pig! That's what it is about, okay?" >> "Sir, if you would please stop with the --" Coytl Tezcatlipoca>> -- "I'm calling things the way they are. You are a racist pig!" Roger Cooper>> But now election time has rolled around and, as voters prepare to fill two seats on the City Council, the police immigration plan is a key issue. Reporter Kimberly Edds is covering the race for The Orange County Register. Is the council race kind of a referendum on this? Kimberly Edds>> I think that's a good way to put it, that people are thinking the candidates that they select are going to lead the city towards immigration enforcement or away from immigration enforcement. Roger Cooper>> Six candidates are running for the two positions. Only the top two vote getters will join the Council. Kimberly Edds>> It's what everyone is talking about. The line at the grocery stores, at school parties, over coffee klatches, everything. This immigration policy has really made people come out and think about going to the polls and voting and making a decision on where their city is headed. Roger Cooper>> If you are re-elected, you fully plan to press for the police immigration policy you advocate? Allan Mansoor>> Oh, absolutely. Roger Cooper>> Mayor Allan Mansoor is seeking re-election to the Council and, with it, the chance to advance his immigration plan. Allan Mansoor>> People are here illegally. What can I say? It's breaking the law. Again, the focus on what I've put forward is to enforce our laws. When someone commits a major crime, if they're here illegally, it's not going to involve the police, it's not going to go after victims. Roger Cooper>> The police immigration plan is also supported by candidate Wendy Leece. Wendy Leece>> This proposal is very commonsensical and it just deals with illegal alien felons and repeated offenders so that when they get out of jail after serving their time, then if they come back to commit more crimes, this will give us the ability to have them deported, which is very reasonable. Roger Cooper>> But some Costa Mesa citizens, unhappy with the police immigration plan, have formed a political action committee called Return to Reason. Mike Schaefer>> I'm just not willing to sit back and let Costa Mesa continue to be divided and continue to denigrate itself. Roger Cooper>> One of the candidates the group supports is insurance agent, Mike Schaefer. Mike Schaefer>> And what it's done has polarized several factions within our community and torn the community apart. We have a small community. It's a big city, but a small community, and it's tended to put people on both sides of the fence over the immigration issue. I think the first thing we need to do is remove this immigration proposal that the Council majority has voted on. It's not our issue. It's a federal issue. Roger Cooper>> The Return to Reason pack is also backing Planning Commissioner, Bruce Garlich, in his bid for a Council seat. He says the police immigration plan would have only minor impacts. Bruce Garlich>> Our chief estimated that this program might produce eight to ten, maybe a dozen, people a year that would be eligible to be deported as a result of it. That's a very small number when you trade it off against the cost of close to two hundred thousand dollars plus the time that it would take, a half shift almost of a police officer who was doing that work, to do what's basically a clerical job. Roger Cooper>> The two remaining candidates also oppose the mayor's immigration plan. Mirna Burciaga>> Yes, I am originally from El Salvador and I immigrated to California in 1981. Roger Cooper>> Mirna Burciaga, an immigrant herself, owns a Costa Mesa restaurant. She says that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. Mirna Burciaga>> I am against illegal immigration. I am against criminals. But I am against the way that the mayor wants to approach the issue. I believe that illegal immigration has to be approached from the federal government side and not really from the local police. Roger Cooper>> And the sixth candidate, Chris Bunyan, says the mayor's plan would burden the city's already understaffed police department. Chris Bunyan>> I think the bottom line is that it's going to help curb illegal immigration here in Costa Mesa. That is not the way to go about it. The analogy I would use is it's like trying to sink a battleship with a pellet gun. It's barely going to put a dent in it. What it's going to do is bring a bad name to Costa Mesa. Kimberly Edds>> I think it's been very divisive. It's definitely been divisive and it's had a chilling effect on the Hispanic communities, illegal and legal. A lot of people have moved out of the city specifically because they're afraid of this policy. Roger Cooper>> The council races have also divided the city's major economic powers. Supporting the mayor is Orange County businessman, George Argyros, a former Ambassador to Spain under George W. Bush. He hosted a fundraiser in support of Mansoor and Wendy Leece. Supporting Schaefer, Garlich and Return to Reason is Henry Segerstrom's company. He is the power behind South Coast Plaza and the Performing Arts Center. Kimberly Edds>> Both sides side state that immigration is not the issue for them. It's business reasons. They're willing to put their money where their needs are, so we'll see how much of a factor that has on voters. Roger Cooper>> The city of Costa Mesa has plenty of other needs, a shortage of police officers, more athletic fields for young people, potholes that need repair, but these issues have been overshadowed by the immigration controversy. And it's clear that the outcome of this race will be watched and analyzed by political pundits on the national stage, eager to draw conclusions about the immigration question from a very local election. [Film Clip] Roger Cooper>> In Costa Mesa, I'm Roger Cooper for Life and Times. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> If California were a country, it would be the tenth biggest producer of carbon dioxide in the world and, as you know, carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas. That's just one of the reasons why Senator Dianne Feinstein is making global warming a legislative priority. Senator Feinstein spoke recently at Town Hall Los Angeles. That's where I got a chance to talk with her about how she plans to approach global warming, as well as her views on the war. Senator, Dianne Feinstein, first thank you for making some time for Life and Times. Senator Dianne Feinstein>> You're welcome. Val Zavala>> You laid out an agenda that puts global warming and climate change toward the top. Why now and how exactly do you hope to tackle the problem? Senator Dianne Feinstein>> The reason is because I think it's the greatest environmental threat there is. It's not just a threat to the United States. It's a threat to the entire planet. The irony about global warming is that the longer we wait to address it, the worse the problem will be. I think the science has come together now to indicate that the planet is, in fact, warming and that we can't stop it from warming because of our dependence on fossil fuel. That's oil, gas, methane. These gases are global warming gases and, particularly carbon dioxide doesn't dissipate in the atmosphere. It remains there decade after decade after decade. Consequently, the only thing we can do is slow it down and there's a big difference between whether the planet warms one to two degrees or five to nine degrees. Five to nine degrees is catastrophe. It's the seas up twenty feet. It's the Antarctic melted. It's Greenland gone. It's catastrophe and the planet changes forever. One to two degrees, we can adapt to it. Therefore, we've got to begin to take the action now. Second point is, if I can just make it, there is no silver bullet. There is no one thing that's going to do it. It's a combination of factors and it's everything. It's the electricity sector, it's the industrial sector, it's automobiles, it's you, it's me, it's all of us making changes in how we use energy and the kind of energy we use. Val Zavala>> So you're hoping to find a political solution to a scientific problem, environmental problem, yet this administration and many politicians have trouble with science. They don't accept it. They subject it to a lot of ideology that undercuts solutions. How do you get through that? Senator Dianne Feinstein>> You're right. That's true, and that's the problem and that's what makes it so difficult. In the meantime, the warming continues. But there's one thing that's happening. As weather patterns become more volatile, as raindrops become bigger, as there are more catastrophes and hurricanes and tornados and that kind of thing, people are going to see and make it impossible for the ostriches to keep their heads in the sand. You have to come out and recognize it. There's another huge problem: China. China is on the rise. China builds a dirty power plant a week. By dirty power, I mean pulverized coal. We have a lot of pulverized coal in the United States. Forty states have pulverized coal as their source of electricity. It is very dirty. It's got to change. So we've got to exert national leadership and we've got to exert international leadership, but first we have to get our own house in order because we're four percent of the world's population and we use twenty-five percent of the energy. Therefore, you can't say, you know, do as I say, don't do as I do. You have to do, set the example and then encourage others to follow. Val Zavala>> So is the answer just setting hard caps on carbon dioxide gases? Because it's really a private sector industry problem. So what can government do? How do you hope to tackle it? Senator Dianne Feinstein>> Well, the seven northeastern states have come together in a regional cap and trade system whereby they will trade credits. A company would have a cap, would have some time to achieve that cap, but would be able to trade credits back and forth. What we are proposing, we would involve agriculture, forestry. We would give credit if you grow cellulosic ethanol, switchgrass, if you change your tilling habits. We are working with a group called the Clean Energy Group. These are big utilities, PG&E, Florida Power and Light which is in twenty-four states, Entergy, Calpine and others. They provide the power for about a hundred fifty million homes in America. They've been working with us to come up with a cap and trade system that they believe is achievable. We're very close to an agreement and that will be the formula that will be in my bill. Val Zavala>> Is the oil industry a tough obstacle? Senator Dianne Feinstein>> Oh, yes. Oil is always tough, but we also need incentives for bio-fuel. You know, with a hundred dollar change in an automobile, that automobile can use a bio-fuel, ethanol or something else, and not produce carbon dioxide. So we also would have a bill that would mandate those changes by a certain time. We could say that every car would have a green gas cap which says that car can accept ethanol and we would require that every major oil producer put at least one bio-fuel pump in their gas stations so that people would have a chance to buy fuels that are not oil-derived and do not produce global warming gases. Val Zavala>> We're going to change topics now to the war in Iraq. You have spoken out very forcefully lately about the war. But I have a basic question and I hope the answer is not "I hope not." Do you think American troops will still be in Iraq five years from now? Senator Dianne Feinstein>> (Laughter) "I hope not" is a good answer. Val Zavala>> (Laughter) I know. Senator Dianne Feinstein>> I actually don't know that the American people will stand for it. I think public opinion is changing very dramatically on the war. I think increasingly people are seeing that this sectarian civil war that's going on is not going to be stopped with military. It's only going to be stopped with a political accommodation between the Sunnis and the Shiites. Val Zavala>> Final question. Do you think Rumsfeld should leave? Senator Dianne Feinstein>> Yes, I do. I think he's failed. I think he went in with too few troops. That was his choice. He maintains that it was enough. Everybody sees there weren't enough. He had no real follow-on plan, that we saw the purchasing, the appropriations that we have appropriated for Iraq are filled with fraud and graft. He has failed. I think he's stubborn. I think he's arrogant. I think he does not listen, so, yes, I believe the president would be well-served by putting in a new leader of the Defense Department. And think of this. The average time served is about two and a half years. Rumsfeld has served a lot of time. If the president wants a new strategy, he ought to have a team in there that's capable of producing that strategy. Candidly, I don't believe Rumsfeld is. I don't believe that General Pace is. If they were, they would have already. Val Zavala>> Senator Dianne Feinstein, thank you so much for giving us part of your valuable time. Senator Dianne Feinstein>> You're welcome. Val Zavala>> Senator Feinstein was a guest of Town Hall Los Angeles. If you would like information on future speakers and events, you can go to their website at townhall-la.org. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Larry Mantle>> Welcome to FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC. Our first film this week is "Babel" starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The film is directed by Alejandro Inarritu. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> I'm joined this week by critics Scott Foundas of the L.A. Weekly and Peter Rainer of the Christian Science Monitor. Scott, what did you think of "Babel"? Scott Foundas>> Well, I won't even try to describe the plot of the film, Larry, because we'd be here all day. But it's one of these movies like "Crash" about a bunch of unrelated characters who are sort of all brought together by, well, of all things, a traffic accident, in this case involving a bus and a stray bullet and people from three different countries speaking four different languages and, over the course of the movie, you find out how they're all inter-related. It's the latest film by the director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and the screenwriter, Guillermo Arriaga, who made "Amores perros" and "21 Grams". This is their standard bag of tricks. The movie has a very reductive way of looking at human nature, but it does have some powerful performances in it and some surprisingly anti-American sentiment for a movie that's financed by a major Hollywood studio. It's not without interest, but I would hesitate to call it a success. Larry Mantle>> Peter, what did you think? Peter Rainer>> Well, the four stories that supposedly coalesce seem like four different movies really. Three of them are related fanatically. One doesn't really have anything to do with the others until the very end. But it seems like these filmmakers want to make four different movies and then put them all together into one movie, which is how I felt about "21 Grams", their previous film as well. The resonance that you're supposed to get in the interaction of all these stories, to me, just wasn't there, so it seemed like these various entities was sometimes, you know, drama degenerating into melodrama, Brad Pitt trying to win an Oscar definitely. Cate Blanchett gives the best performance of the movie and she's semi-comatose. Larry Mantle>> Our second film this week is set in South Africa. "Catch a Fire" is directed by Phillip Noyce and it stars Derek Luke and Tim Robbins. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> Peter, what did you think of "Catch a Fire"? Peter Rainer>> I think it's a pretty good film. It's an anti-apartheid drama set in the 1980s about a real-life character, Patrick Chamusso. Derek Luke gives a strong performance in it, but I think the movie overall is marred by sort of typical Hollywood thrills in what is overall a sort of hard-driving socially conscious drama. It keeps lapsing into these, you know, Hollywood shenanigans that, for me, sort of took the bottom out of the true intent of the film. You know, it has good straight-ahead momentum. Tim Robbins is scary as the apartheid police chief. It has a lot of virtues. It just didn't really lift itself out of the ordinary for me overall. Larry Mantle>> Scott? Scott Foundas>> I like it too and I think what does set it apart a bit from the other films that we've seen about the apartheid and anti-apartheid movement and South Africa is that it has a contemporary resonance to it. If you wonder why they tell this story now, well, the main character is a character who, you know, starts out having nothing to do with politics and ends up becoming a freedom fighter or, in the eyes of some, a terrorist. The movie sort of questions, well, what is the line between those two designations? What's particularly interesting is that he only resolves to become this freedom fighter after he's been mistakenly accused of being a terrorist and arrested and tortured in prison. That sort of transforms him. The very agents who are trying to suppress terrorism in essence create a terrorist. It's quite relevant to the global discussion at the moment. Larry Mantle>> And finally, a film with a highly controversial theme. "Death of a President" tells the story of the fictional assassination of current President George W. Bush. It's written and directed by Gabriel Range. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> Scott, "Death of a President"? Scott Foundas>> Well, this was probably the most over-hyped movie in the Toronto Film Festival this year. The president in question is President Bush. The movie is a mockumentary fake docudrama about the assassination of President Bush, which supposedly happens in the year 2007 in Chicago. The first part of the film in which these events are being shown to us, the supposed documentary footage of this protest that leads up to the assassination, is actually quite skillfully done in a rather standard documentary fashion. The movie recalls the films of Peter Watkins which are vastly superior to it. The second half of the movie, which is a sort of whodunit and mistaken identity and someone who's accused who may be really innocent, is the total retread of something we've seen a thousand times in movies about the JFK assassination and whatnot. It's quite turgid. Larry Mantle>> Peter? Peter Rainer>> Well, it is skillfully done, but I think, you know, to show the assassination of a sitting president, a president I do not in any way admire, for the purposes of essentially setting up what I think is a political agenda in the second half of the film when the Cheney administration takes over where there are much more Draconian homeland security laws set in place, there's lot of profiling of Muslims unfairly targeted, I think that that's a political agenda that could have been made in any number of other ways besides setting it up through the assassination of President Bush, which is essentially just there, I think, for sensationalism. Larry Mantle>> That's FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC joined by our critics Peter Rainer of the Christian Science Monitor and Scott Foundas of the L.A. Weekly. Please join us again next week for the next edition of FilmWeek on Life and Times. Val Zavala>> You can hear the hour version of FilmWeek Friday mornings at eleven a.m. on KPCC 89.3. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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