A supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a sign during his campaign rally at the Orange County Fair and Event Center, April 28, 2016, in Costa Mesa, California.
; Credit: DAVID MCNEW/AFP/Getty Images

Protesters and conflict are no stranger to Donald Trump rallies. Such was the case last night in Orange County, where police and protesters briefly butted heads in the wake of a campaign speech in Costa Mesa.

20 people were arrested as rocks were thrown and windows were broken. Trump has shown in the past that he’s able to shake off these brief instances of violence, sometimes even using them to play to his supporters.

It makes sense, then, that Trump could see this kind of conflict as free advertising for his campaign, because the media is going to cover it. On the other side, what if a tipping point is reached in the protesting and a line gets crossed. Would that damage Trump’s chances of winning California’s primary?

For more on last night’s rally in Costa Mesa, click here.

Guests:

David Mark, CNN politics editor and author of the book “Dog Whistles, Walk-Backs, and Washington Handshakes"; he tweets @DavidMarkDC

Bill Whalen, a research fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He has served as a media consultant for many policy leaders, including former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former congress

Seats in the jury box sit empty during a hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court.; Credit: Pool/Getty Images

If a juror shows racial bias during jury deliberations, then is a defendant being robbed of his or her Sixth Amendment right to trial by an impartial jury?

That question will be debated at the Supreme Court in the fall. The case stems from Colorado where a Latino man was charged with attempted sexual assault.

After he was found guilty, two jurors told the defense lawyer about a fellow juror's racist statements against the defendant. They claim the juror known as initials H.C. made several racist comments during jury deliberations, including: "I think he did it because he's Mexican and Mexican men take whatever they want."

The high court has considered bad behavior by jurors in the past, but in narrow decisions has found verdicts cannot be nullified due to what happens during jury deliberations.

Where do you stand on this case?

If the justices overturned the verdict against Miguel Angel Pena Rodriguez, what would be the impact of that precedent?

Why did the defense lawyer fail to identify a racist juror before it was too late?

Guests:

Lisa Kern Griffin, Professor of Law, Duke University; Griffin drafted an amicus brief submitted by a group of law professors

William (Bill) Otis, Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University; Otis has worked in the criminal division at the Department of Justice and served as Special Counsel to the President (George H.W. Bush)

Republican Presidential candidate and business mogul Donald Trump talks to media from his car wearing a, "Make America Great Again," hat during his trip to the border in Laredo, Texas.; Credit: Matthew Busch/Getty Images

In reviewing national media coverage of this frenetic campaign for president, many voters are mad as hell.

Indeed, as foreshadowed in the 1976 film "Network," television executives are wickedly gleeful over the high ratings driven more by personality and tropes than policy and civics. Referring to the Donald Trump phenomenon, CBS President and CEO Les Moonves admitted: "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS."

As former CNN anchor Campbell Brown reports in Politico magazine, "I know from personal experience that it is common practice for TV anchors to have substantial bonuses written into their contracts if they hit ratings marks. With this 2016 presidential soap opera, they are almost surely hitting those marks. So, we get all Trump, all the time."

In the eyes of many voters, the media is repeating memes on a loop: Hillary the Queen of the Establishment, Cruz the creepy Zodiac guy, Sanders the loveable loser, Trump the megalomaniac, and John "who?" Kasich.

What are your critiques of the coverage? How has the media covered your favored candidate?

Guests:

David Folkenflik, Media Correspondent, NPR (National Public Radio); @davidfolkenflik

Hadas Gold, Media Reporter, Politico; she tweets from @Hadas_Gold

The Central Library was constructed in 1926 and designed by Architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue with ancient Egyptian and Mediterranean Revival influences.; Credit: Todd Johnson/KPCC

The Los Angeles Central Library fire of 1986 was declared one of the most challenging structure fires of its time.

The library, built in 1926, was set ablaze 30 years ago last Friday, April 29, wiping out 20 percent of the library’s holdings.

To save the building that day, the Los Angeles Fire Department worked for more than seven hours along with 60 firefighting companies to extinguish the flames. The fire was later found to be an act of arson.

On the heels of the fire’s 30th anniversary, Patt Morrison speaks with author Susan Orlean about a new book Orlean is writing on the incident, what the city nearly lost and the impact of rebuilding the historic structure.

Guest:

Susan Orlean, New Yorker writer who’s been working on a book on the Los Angeles Central Library fire

US Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz addresses the California Republican Party 2016 Convention in Burlingame, California.; Credit: GABRIELLE LURIE/AFP/Getty Images

The Indiana primary should offer some political intrigue after GOP candidates John Kasich and Ted Cruz brokered a deal in which Kasich would stop campaigning in Indiana and in return Cruz would clear the path for him in Oregon and New Mexico.

All of this is part of an effort to stop frontrunner Donald Trump from getting the delegates he needs to secure the GOP nomination by the convention this summer.

Speaking of conventions, the California Republican Convention happened this weekend. We’ll take a look at some of the highlights.

Guests:

Reed Galen, Republican political strategist and owner of Jedburghs, LLC., a public affairs and campaign consultancy firm in Orange County; he tweets from @reedgalen

Ed Espinoza, director of Progress Texas, a political communications firm based in Austin, TX. Former Western States Director for the Democratic National Committee in California and a superdelegate in 2008; he tweets from @EdEspinoza

James Corner Field Operations with Frederick Fisher & Partners; Credit: James Corner Field Operations with Frederick Fisher & Partners

In an effort to freshen up Pershing Square Park in downtown Los Angeles, the city of Los Angeles commissioned a design contest and has whittled the finalists down to four.

The winning design will be chosen in May and the redesign project will be led by City Councilmember Jose Huizar.

Read more on the redesign, look at each finalist’s design, and vote in our poll here.

Guests:

Nate Berg, a journalist who’s covering the design competition process for the Pershing Square redesign for a forthcoming issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine

Christian Brown, KPCC reporter who’s been covering the story

Visitors inspect the work "Spazio ad attivazione cinetica" by Italian artist Marina Apollonio at the Schirn Kunsthalle museum in Frankfurt/M.T he museum shows large-format paintings, objects and environments by artists fascinated by the physical laws of light and optics who dedicated their work to the study of visual phenomena and principles of perception.; Credit: THOMAS LOHNES/AFP/Getty Images

In the 1999 sci-fi dystopian film, “The Matrix,” the character played by Keanu Reeves is presented with two pills. The blue pill would keep things the way they are. The red pill would usher in an entirely different universe.

The idea that “reality” is actually nothing like what we perceive it to be is not new, particularly in the realm of film, literature, or conspiracy theory. Turns out that trippy notion might really be true.

Instead of some larger evil force trying to pull the wool over our eyes, though, a neuroscientist at UC Irvine who’s studied perception and artificial intelligence says that it is our senses – touch, smell, taste, etc – that are doing the cheating.

Guest host Patt Morrison speaks with Hoffman about his research.

Guest:

Donald Hoffman, Professor of Cognitive Science, University of California, Irvine

Research coming out of UC Irvine shows that humans have finite neural resources that are depleted every time they switch between tasks.
; Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Multitasking in the workplace is typically lauded as an ideal capability for workers. But, how much work do the multitaskers get done?

Is there a lack of focus, making people more susceptible to making errors? Is there value in concentrating on one task at a time?  In today’s fast-paced, multi-gadget, omni-connected social world, maybe there is.

Research coming out of UC Irvine shows that humans have finite neural resources that are depleted every time they switch between tasks. This can lead to distraction and sluggish progress.

How comfortable are you making the choice to zero in on one project at a time? How much time can you let pass before you check your email or twitter feed? Can you ignore a text?

Guest:

Gloria Mark, Professor of Informatics at UC Irvine

The new iPhone 5S with fingerprint technology is displayed during an Apple product announcement at the Apple campus on September 10, 2013 in Cupertino, California. ; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Should the federal government be allowed to get a search warrant that compels someone to unlock a phone using their fingerprint?

It’s the issue at the center of a legal case that was going on as the world watched and waited to see whether Apple would buckle to the FBI’s demand that it help unlock the smartphone that belonged to Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the suspects in the San Bernardino mass shooting. The girlfriend of an Armenian gang member was compelled, through a search warrant, to use her fingerprint to unlock a phone that police had taken from a Glendale home.

The case is raising larger questions about how high the bar should be set when it comes to law enforcement obtaining biometric data, like hair or fingerprints. Some think that compelling someone to use a fingerprint to unlock a phone could be a violation of one’s 5th Amendment right not to incriminate oneself because the data on the phone is all about the owner. Therefore, forcing that person to open the phone could be self-incrimination. Others say that so long as the proper legal channels were used to obtain the search warrant, there is no violation.

Should the bar for obtaining biometric data be higher for law enforcement?

Guests:

Randy Sutton, retired police lieutenant with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and author of multiple books on policing, including “A Cop’s Life” (St Martin’s Press, 2006)

​​Susan W. Brenner, a law professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio. She specializes in cybercrime and cyberterrorism law

George M. Dery III, a lawyer and criminal justice professor at California State University, Fullerton

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign stop at the Douglass Park Gynasium in Indianapolis, Indiana.; Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Without definite winners of the Republican and Democratic primary battles, the campaigns are gaming out a potential fight over delegates and platforms at the conventions using new technology.

Marketing companies that mine data are promising they can profile individual delegates in a matter of seconds to find out their soft spots and figure out who might change their vote, as reported by the LA Times’ Evan Halper. The 2008 Barack Obama campaign is legendary for exploiting digital profiles of donors and voters to get every last dollar and supporter into the fold.

How will the digital campaign play out in Cleveland and Philadelphia?

Guests:

Evan Halper, Politics reporter, Los Angeles Times; he tweets from @EvanHalper

John Nichols, national affairs correspondent for The Nation; he tweets @NicholsUprising; Nichols reported on platform debates coming to the DNC in Philadelphia.

Casting director Marc Levine explains the process to the crowd of well over 500 people waiting during an open audition to be on the popular TV show, "The Biggest Loser", season #10.; Credit: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

Reality television shows like “The Biggest Loser” can be motivational in kick-starting our own journeys, but is diet and extreme exercise the most effective way to lose the weight and keep it off?

It’s been said a million times – if you eat healthily and exercise regularly, the pounds will melt right off. A new study published Monday in Obesity, a research journal, found that our resting metabolic rate greatly influences our ability to keep the weight off. Resting metabolic rate is important because it determines how many calories a person will burn while resting.

The study followed 14 former participants of “The Biggest Loser” for six years and found that participants’ metabolic rate slowed as they regained the weight.  How effective are low-carb, gluten-free, paleo and vegan diets? How much does biology matter when trying to lose weight? What are some of your best and worst weight-loss experiences?

Guest:

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, M.D., Medical Director, Bariatric Medical Institute in Ottawa; Author, “The Diet Fix” (March 2014); Board-Certified Physician by the American Board of Bariatric (Obesity) Medicine; he blogs at weightymatters.ca

A new report from the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation shows great disparities when it comes to the location of the county’s parks.; Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

A new report from the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation shows great disparities when it comes to the location of the county’s parks.

The LA County Board of Supervisors is meeting today to consider asking voters to approve a parcel tax to pay for parks. If the Supervisors approve, we'll see it on the November ballot, The measure requires two-thirds approval.

Supervisors are also looking at whether the tax should be three-cents per square foot of a house or five-cents. The smaller tax would be about $45 a year for a 15-hundred square foot house and raise $191 million annually. The larger one would cost $75 a year for that home and bring in $309 million a year. But how will projects be prioritized? And is this the best way to fund the parks?

Guest:

Zev Yaroslavsky, former Los Angeles County Supervisor, and is now affiliated with the UCLA’s history department, and the Luskin School of Public Affairs; he tweets from @ZevYaroslavsky

Jack Humphreville, a columnist with the CityWatch blog; he tweets from @Jack90020

Students clap after Kathy Duritza, a pre-school teacher at the North Hills KinderCare Learning Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.; Credit: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images for Knowledge Unive

Despite high-profile advocates like Caitlyn Jenner and reality shows like "I Am Jazz," it can still be difficult for many parents to know what to do when a child identifies as trans. 

We talked with Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, an adolescent medicine physician specializing in the care of gender non-conforming children and transgender youth at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and Devi Borton, mother of a nine-year-old transgender girl, who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

How can parents best support their child? What conversations should parents have with school officials? With other parents? How can parents prepare their children for a world that isn't always welcoming? 

If you are a parent of a child who identifies as trans, let us know how you've handled these issues.

Interview Highlights

Have you seen growth in the number of families who have gone into your practice to talk about this?

Olson-Kennedy: I have seen a huge growth, especially over the last five years. Particularly in kids who are presenting concerns around their gender at younger and younger ages.

What are some of challenges you help parents navigate?

Olson-Kennedy: There are a lot of decisions parent have to make, especially if their child is younger. And there are very different responses that our society has towards children who appear to be little boys doing little girls things, versus little girls who are doing little boys things. 

You think there’s more acceptance of the so-called tomboy?

Olson-Kennedy: I think it’s sosocially acceptable, that sometimes young people are not identified in childhood as having a gender different from their assigned sex.

How do parents work through trying to figure what’s going on?

Olson-Kennedy: I think that’s a great question, and certainly, different parents approach this in very different ways. Some of it is cultural and some of it is geographical. I think the best, most important change that’s happened over the last decade is that parents are listening and having conversations about how to figure this out.

I think prior to 15 or even 10 years ago, parents might have shut this down and said, “This is what you are because of these body parts and we’re not going to talk about it anymore.” But now people are spending more time having conversations with their child to listen to what they're telling them about their gender and their experience of their gender.

Devi, how did your then-son approach you about this?

Borton: When I get asked this question, I have to answer that it was really a puzzle that took a long time to put together; it didn’t just happen one day. It really happened gradually over time.

Our child was never attracted to typical girl toys; she was always attracted to her sister’s clothes — and my clothes — and would dress up in them. Also, she never wanted to pee standing up, she always wanted to pee, sitting. Things like that just started to emerge and they were consistent. My child was persistent about her preferences in the way she expressed herself, and she was insistent. I suppose I'm very lucky that I have a child that’s so fiery that she would not let us ignore it. 

How old was she when she started verbalizing this?

Borton: I would say 3-and-a-half was really the age I first heard her talk about it. Around that time, she had a very intense fear of death, which I thought was really unusual for a 3-year-old. Our Montessori teacher gave us a Buddhist book about death called, “Mountains of Tibet.” It’s about reincarnation. The wood cutter, who dies, is given an opportunity to have another life and has to make  choices about which universe he wants to live in and who his parents will be, and the last question is, “Would you like to be a girl or a boy?” The wood cutter responds, “I’ve enjoyed being a boy in my last life, but I’d like to see what it’s like to be a girl.”

My child turned to me with a really intense look in her eyes and said, “Momma, I wish I was a girl.” That’s really the moment where I stopped being in denial about what’s going on.

Given the fluidity of sexuality, for example, was this something you thought was a phase, or did you feel pretty convinced this was foundational for your then-son, now daughter?

Borton: That’s a great question. When you talked about sexuality earlier, I thought, I got a lot of feedback from our society at age 2 saying, “Your son is going to be gay.” I thought, that’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard, how could you know that?

But i think that’s the box that a lot of us grow up in. we don’t really have a box for thinking in a more mature way about gender and the fluidity and spectrum of that. Most of us are privileged to not have to think about gender for most of our lives. I think that I did fall into, “Oh ok, I have a feminine son and he’ll probably be gay.”

But something really nagged at me because this was an expression of self that came from really deep inside. And when she became old enough to start talking about it, it was these three important things you hear about: insistent, consistent and persistent. She eventually said, “I am a girl. Why are you making me wear boy clothes? Why are you calling me by this name?” We finally got hit over the head and paid attention, thank goodness.

Caller Tanya in Westwood: I’d just like to know if there are resources we can discuss with our child to help them figure out if they’re confused about their gender or where they belong. How can you help a child know they’re not alone?

Olson-Kennedy: : Luckily in Los Angeles, we have some really great resources. Certainly people are welcome to contact us. Another really good contact is the Los Angeles Gender Center, a collection of therapists who work with a lot of gender non-conforming children and transgender youth, but they’re also good places to bring young people and have a forum to talk about their gender.

They do this professionally all day, every day, and  know the kinds of conversations to have to help people move forward and get clarity.

I do want to add that in many situations, it’s usually the people around the young person who are confused about the young person’s gender. I think when you’ve been told your entire life, whether it’s the first 3 years,  fifteen years, or forty years, that you are one gender based on everybody else’s impression , it’s difficult to assert that you might have a gender that’s different than that.

Isn’t there also potential confusion for the child because they see their own anatomy, but feel so different than what is considered typical for someone with that anatomy. Would there not be some confusion in that?

Olson-Kennedy: I think so. I think a lot of young people, especially once they've passed that early age of 3 to 5, go through a process of trying to figure that out. And quite honestly, most of the time it’s done online. Young people who use the internet and find their community or other people with a similar experience, do a lot of what I call the “coming in” process. They’re coming in before they coming out. They’re  trying to explore and figure out what’s happening for them with those feelings.

Caller Glenn from Pasadena: I’m a parent of a trans child. When our child first started dressing up in girl clothes and playing with girl toys, we were worried it would reflect badly on us because we’re both gay and people would think it’s because of our parenting. But once we got over that and decided it’s not about us, it’s about our kid, we embraced it.

Our child did not choose to transition or identify as girl for a couple of years, she was happy to identify as transgender but wanted to keep the male pronouns and a male name. She’s 6 now and it’s really only been a few months that she’s decided she’s a girl and we’re going  with that. She’s transgender because she says she is, if that changes in the future, then we’ll go with that.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Budget cuts in the government’s airport security agency have meant staffing shortages at major airports across the U.S., and lines at TSA checkpoints are getting longer and longer.; Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

If you’re planning to fly this summer, you’ll want to budget hours, not minutes, for getting through TSA.

Budget cuts in the government’s airport security agency have meant staffing shortages at major airports across the U.S., and lines at TSA checkpoints are getting longer and longer. Some are even suggesting that the TSA be eliminated and that airports be made to contract their own security and set their own policies.

What would airport security look like without TSA? Is privatizing airport security a viable option in a post-9/11 world? Would Congress buy in?

Guests:

Benjamin Powell, senior fellow at the Independent Institute, an Oakland, California-based think tank and the director of the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University; he recently wrote an op-ed for the New York Post called “The only solution to TSA’s problems: Get rid of it”

Kip Hawley, former director of the Transportation Security Administration and co-author of the book “Permanent Emergency: Inside the TSA and the Fight for the Future of American Security” (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2013); he tweets @kiphawley

The Puerto Rican Capitol building is seen as the island's residents deal with the government's $72 billion debt.; Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

On Sunday Puerto Rico missed its deadline to make a $422 million (m) bond payment for its Government Development Bank.

That increases pressure on Congress to intervene and stabilize the island's finances.

Looming is a July first deadline for a $2 billion (b) bond payment. Over $805 million (m) of that are general obligation bonds. It's a big deal if the U.S. territory defaults. Congress is expected to take up Puerto Rico legislation when it reconvenes next Tuesday.

On AirTalk today, Treasury Secretary Jacob "Jack"  Lew talked about finding a fix, the political will, and the consequences facing Puerto Ricans.

Guest:

Jacob Lew, United States Secretary of the Treasury

A large hillside home is seen next to a more traditionally-sized home in the Castellamare area of Los Angeles, one of the areas that could come under the jurisdiction of a new mansionization ordinance for hillside areas in the city, seen Wednesday, April 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon); Credit: Reed Saxon/AP

Across Los Angeles, homes are being torn down and replaced with bigger houses, called "McMansions" by some. Now the city is considering a plan designed to keep the number of supersized homes in certain areas in check.

To prevent some new homes from blocking views and changing the look of neighborhoods too dramatically, the L.A. Department of City Planning has proposed changes to a 2008 citywide "mansionization" law.

The amended law would scale back or eliminate certain building bonuses and exemptions that could lead to overly large homes. For example,  homeowners could no longer get a bigger space allowance for including energy-efficient features. And certain patios and porches larger than 150 square feet would count toward the size of the house, the current limit is 250 square feet.

Read the full story here

Guests:

Tom Rothmann, principal city planner for the City of Los Angeles

Tony Braswell, president of Valley Village Neighborhood Council

Shelley Wagers, board member of the Beverly Wilshire Home Association and a longtime anti-mansionization advocate

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announces the suspension of his campaign as wife Heidi Cruz looks on during an election night watch party in Indianapolis, Indiana. ; Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

We knew yesterday's Indiana primary was important but we didn't know it would wrap up the Republican Presidential race.

Donald Trump garnered more votes than Ted Cruz and John Kasich combined. To the surprise of many, Cruz chose last night to suspend his campaign, effectively eliminating the voice of California Republicans in deciding whether Trump would reach the threshold for a first ballot nomination at the convention.

There'll be no open convention in Cleveland. On the other side, Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton by five percentage points and vowed his campaign was not over, prolonging the race on the Democratic side. What he does is further establish the superior passion of his supporters and that he intends to be a big voice at the convention.

Where will Republican donors put their money now? If you are a Republican who won’t support Trump, who will you vote for now? If you are a so-called “closet-Trump supporter,” do you now feel like you’ll be more open about your preference?

Guests:

Zachary Courser, research director of the Dreier Roundtable and visiting Assistant Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College

Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC and adjunct faculty at USC Annenberg School

Pilar Marrero, senior political reporter at La Opinion and other ImpreMedia Newspapers; she tweets from @PilarMarrero

Luis DeSipio, Director, Center for the Study of Democracy, UC-Irvine

Steven Shepard, campaigns and elections editor at POLITICO; he tweets @POLITICO_Steve

Homeless women sit amid their belongings on a street in downtown Los Angeles, California. ; Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Homelessness in Los Angeles County rose by nearly 6 percent to 46,874 people over the past year, according to new numbers released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Wednesday morning.

The population of unsheltered homeless, meaning those living on the streets, in makeshift shelters or in cars, rose 11 percent in the city of L.A. over the last year.
According to LAHSA, the overall homeless number rose largely because for the first time they included homeless youth, aged between 18 and 24, in their overall count. About 2,400 youth were added to the overall homeless number, which was 44,359 in 2015.

Homeless youth are also driving the increased proportion of homeless people going without shelter.

Click hereto read the full story.

Guests:

Naomi Goldman, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which conducted the count

Adam Murray, Executive Director, Inner City Law Center, a nonprofit law firm focused on housing and homelessness based  in Downtown LA

Va Lecia Adams Kellum, Executive Director of St. Joseph Center in Venice, which works with working poor families, and homeless men, women and children

With only three candidates remaining in the 2016 presidential race, we want to take a look at the possible head-to-head matchups we could see this fall in November’s general election. ; Credit: DOMINICK REUTER/AFP/Getty Images

And then there were three.

Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders are all that remains from the big candidate fields that began election season. While Donald Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are still fighting it out on the Democratic side.

Senator Sanders has said that he knows the road to the nomination is narrow, but he feels good about his chances to win in upcoming states.

What would a Trump vs. Clinton election look like? What about a Trump vs. Sanders election? How would the candidates strategize for themselves and against their opponent?

Guests:

Jeffrey Lord, a contributing editor to The American Spectator, a former aide to Ronald Reagan and author of "What America Needs: The Case for Trump" (Regnery Publishing, 2016)

Nomiki Konst, Sanders campaign surrogate, political analyst, and founder/executive director of The Accountability Project; she tweets from @NomikiKonst

Ed Espinoza, director of Progress Texas, a political communications firm based in Austin, TX. Former Western States Director for the Democratic National Committee in California and a superdelegate in 2008

Exterior view of Craig's Restaurant in Los Angeles, California. ; Credit: Valerie Macon/Getty Images

Some Starbucks in the Los Angeles area have closed their bathrooms to the public.

This could be due to the growing homeless population in the area, who are patrons of the coffee shop.

Homeless patrons may use the bathrooms to shower, occupying the room for a prolonged amount of time and leaving a difficult clean-up for Starbucks employees. A recent piece on NPR cites the business as an alternative for some to shelters, as the coffee shop opens early and offers free WiFi.

But Starbucks isn't the only business facing tough choices with a growing Los Angeles homeless population. Small businesses also deal with having to decide how to be delicate about the human rights aspect of serving transients and maintaining an atmosphere that's welcoming to the rest of the public.

If you’re a business owner, do you see the homeless patrons as problematic?

We’d like to hear your thoughts? Call us at 888-893-5722.