Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses the audience during a campaign event at Trask Coliseum on August 9, 2016 in Wilmington, North Carolina. This was Trump's first visit to Southeastern North Carolina since he entered the presidential race.; Credit: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is blaming faulty interpretations and media bias for an uproar over his comments about the Second Amendment.

He's insisting he never advocated violence against Hillary Clinton, even as undeterred Democrats pile on. Trump made the remarks at a rally in North Carolina yesterday.

Claiming that Clinton wants to revoke the right to gun ownership guaranteed in the Constitution's Second Amendment, Trump said there would be "nothing you can do," if she's elected, to stop her from stacking the Supreme Court with anti-gun justices. Then he added ambiguously: "Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is - I don't know. But I'll tell you what: that will be a horrible day."

Was Trump making an off-color joke? Was he suggesting gun owners take matters into their own hands if Clinton wins the White House? Or was he musing about the influence of the gun lobby? If so, wouldn't that undercut his argument that there's "nothing you can do" about gun-control judges?

How should Hillary Clinton's campaign react to the comment - exploit it or let it play out? Former CIA Director Michael Hayden suggested Trump could be arrested for the comments. How does that square with that other Constitutional Amendment?

With files from the Associated Press.

Guests:

Paris Dennard, Republican political analyst and former staffer for President George W. Bush and the Republican National Committee

Tamara Draut, Vice President of Policy at Demos - a public policy organization focused on equity; Author of the brand new book, “Sleeping Giant: How the New Working Class Will Transform America” (Doubleday; April 2016)

Eugene Volokh, constitutional law professor, UCLA School of Law, where he specializes in the First Amendment

USA's Lilly King (L) poses with her gold medal next to silver medalist Russia's Yulia Efimova after she won the Women's 100m Breaststroke Final during the swimming event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 8, 2016.; Credit: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

It seems every Olympic year the games arrive hand-in-hand with a doping scandal.

This summer is no different with Russia’s track team almost being banned, and many teams including, the U.S., bringing athletes with sullied pasts - but there is a difference in the way that clean-record athletes are speaking publically about those who’ve previously served doping suspensions.

On Monday night the 100-meter women’s swim meet was more tense than usual after 19-year-old U.S. swimmer Lily King commented on her Russian competitor Yulia Efimova’s history with performance enhancing drugs. Efimova, 24, recently served a 16-month suspension for doping and was only cleared for the Olympic games last Saturday.

Is it unsportsmanlike for Olympic athletes to call out competitors with doping histories, or are their comments justified?

Guest:

Paul DiMeo, a scholar at the University of Stirling in Scotland, whose research focuses on sports policy and drugs in sport. He is the author of “A History of Drug Use in Sport: 1876 – 1976: Beyond Good and Evil” (Routledge, 2007)

This picture shows the Pentagon building in Washington, DC. ; Credit: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

As generations progress, pinpointing the responsibilities of the United States military has become hazy and increasingly unclear.

In addition to the “defending and retaking territory,” Rosa Brooks delves into the ever-growing list of military duties. “How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon,” also reintroduces readers to the term “war” and clarifies what it means today, at a time when much of what we do is performed online.

From cyberattacks to drones, and ongoing wars in Afghanistan to the cultural divide between military and civilian agencies, Brooks sheds light on this new era by giving readers an inside look at her discoveries during her experience working as a high-level Pentagon official.

What are your questions surrounding the military and how it operates? Have you noticed an increase in military involvement?

Guest:

Rosa Brooks, Author of, “How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon (Simon & Schuster, 2016);” Associate dean and law professor, Georgetown University Law Center; and Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation 

This combination of file photos shows Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton(L)on June 15, 2016 and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.; Credit: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Political polling can be unreliable every presidential election, but there are several unique factors making this year’s polling especially perilous.

There are historically two periods when polling has the potential for creating confusing scenarios: before conventions and August, because so many people are on vacation, away from internet access and not working. But this presidential election, conventions were earlier than usual and most polls are asking not about two but about four candidates.

Half of the country is also now unreachable via landline.

We talk with a polling expert about why we should all be wary while watching the horse race.

Guest:

Kathy Frankovic, former CBS polling director and analyst at YouGov, an international internet-based market research firm

An assistant studies marijuana/cannabis leaves in a laboratory.; Credit: Michel Porro/Getty Images

The DEA again refused to declassify marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug today, which it defines as having “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

This comes just a day after the New York Times said that the Obama administration plans to allow more universities to grow pot plants for research. Currently, only the University of Mississippi has that privilege.

While the DEA’s announcement disappointed marijuana advocates, the Obama administration’s decision to allow further research came as good news for those who hope that the federal government will  loosen its stance on pot.

Until now, there’s been a bit of a catch-22.

The DEA won’t declassify marijuana until the FDA confirms its medicinal qualities, but the FDA won’t do that until there is more substantive research. Mississippi's monopoly on growing pot has limited research, but that could change soon.

While marijuana’s current classification in no way affects Prop 64 -- the ballot measure that could make recreational pot usage legal statewide -- many Californians are still following the DEA’s decision closely. Marijuana’s Schedule I classification imposes a steep tax burden on those in the cannabis industry. Some think that it could prevent the recreational marijuana industry from really taking off if Prop 64 passes in November.

Should be classified as a Schedule I drug? Do you think the federal government should allow increased pot research?

Tune in next Wednesday at noon for a broadcast of “CA Counts Town Hall: The pros and cons of legalizing recreational marijuana.” Larry Mantle and Capital Public Radio’s Beth Ruyak will moderate a panel of experts in Sacramento as they debate the merits of Prop. 64.

Find out more and RSVP here.

Guest:

Chris Ingraham, Washington Post reporter with a keen eye on marijuana news; he tweets from @_cingraham

Fans of the St. Louis Rams hold a "Los Angeles Rams" sign against the San Diego Chargers during their NFL Game in San Diego, California.; Credit: Donald Miralle/Getty Images

When the Dallas Cowboys come to the Los Angeles Coliseum this weekend to play the newly-minted Los Angeles Rams, it will be the first time the famed venue has hosted a professional football game in 22 years.

Formerly based in St. Louis, the Rams have returned to L.A. and revived a fan base that has long been told that the NFL would return to Southern California.

What are you most looking forward to seeing? How will the new Los Angeles football team affect the local economy?

Guests:

Jack Wang, reporter covering the Rams for the L.A Daily News; he tweets @thejackwang

Ben Bergman, KPCC senior reporter covering business and the Southern California economy who has been following the Rams’ return to L.A.; he tweets @thebenbergman

Construction next to the Staples Center sports arena continues, spurring a flurry of construction of high-rise loft buildings nearby in Los Angeles, California.; Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

There was a hearing at Los Angeles City Planning Commission today over the future of a proposed Mega-development in South Los Angeles. Earlier this week community members and activist groups from L.A.’s Historic South Central District protested outside 9th District Councilmember Curren Price’s office, opposing his support for the project.

Just South of downtown, the Reef development is planned for an empty parking lot at 1900 S. Broadway, only a few blocks from the Staples Center. Spreading across almost 10 acres, it would include a hotel, stores, restaurants and more than 14 hundred market rate units. 

Residents and activists are upset the mega-development’s plans don’t include any affordable housing units. Clemente Franco from the South Central Neighborhood Council wants to know why at some of the new units can’t be for the community that already lives there. 

Franco asks, “Why is the land good enough for them, but the people not good enough to be their neighbors?”

Mark Vallianatos, co-founder of Abundant Housing Los Angeles - a group that advocates for more housing in Los Angeles, says it’s unfortunate that profit-seeking developers of market-rate housing are the only way to alleviate the city’s growing housing crisis.

“Ironically putting in new housing is one of the best ways to shield existing residents from any inevitable, or upcoming, gentrification,” says Vallianatos. He suggests there’s a silver lining in this case: at least the Reef would be built on empty parking lots - a rare chance to add housing without directly displacing anyone.

The project developers continue to promote the roughly 600 new jobs it would bring to the area, plus all the construction work while they’re building. The Reef is also offering $15 million to the affordable housing fund and to supporte community organizations in the area. 

Local activists aren’t impressed. In Franco’s opinion the money being offered is “chump change” compared the the billion dollar project and the looming shadow of displacement.

Franco thinks the gentrification of other neighborhoods, like Echo Park and Atwater Village, has made South Central a last bastion for low-income residents in L.A. 

“So once you bring in these developments and you drive up the rent, where will they go?” he says. “We’re going to have a Manhattan. We’re going to have a San Francisco. And I don’t think that’s good for the city.”

Guests:

Clemente Franco, treasurer of the South Central Neighborhood Council, which opposes the Reef development; he joins us from outside the LA City Planning Commission meeting

Mark Vallianatos, Co-founder of the group Abundant Housing Los Angeles; he tweets @markvalli

This story has been updated.

Gov. Jerry Brown answers a question concerning his proposed 2016-17 state budget at a news conference, in Sacramento, Calif.; Credit: Rich Pedroncelli/AP

In the wake of a Stanford student convicted of raping an unconscious woman only getting a six month sentence, two bills have been proposed in the California legislature. 

One bill, Assembly Bill 2888 would require mandatory minimum sentencing for anyone convicted of raping an unconscious and intoxicated person and removing probation as a sentencing option. The other, Assembly Bill 29, would require that anyone convicted of committing such a crime serve a full sentence without getting any time off for good behavior. 

However, this measure appears to be in direct conflict with a measure on the November ballot, Proposition 57, which allows offenders convicted of a “nonviolent felony offense” to be up for parole after they’ve served the full term for the primary offense. Trouble is, there is contention about the definition of what a “nonviolent felony offense” is and should be, as Prop 57 does not consider the rape of an unconscious person to be violent.

After Brock Turner -- the student convicted of the crime -- was given what many perceived to be lenient sentence, public opinion has begun to shift around the controversial issues of mandatory minimums and sentence shortening.

In 2014, the public voted in favor of lighter sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, passing Proposition 47. Mandatory minimums have long been out of vogue, after tough-on-crime legislation like the “determinate sentencing” bill Gov. Jerry Brown signed in the 1970s led to prison overcrowding. Prop 57, spearheaded by Brown, is an effort to walk back on the same legislation he previously endorsed.

AirTalk asked two California lawyers to break down the bills -- Stephen Wagstaffe, the District Attorney for San Mateo County, and William Weinberg, a criminal defense attorney from Orange County.

Wagstaffe is the president of the California District Attorneys association. He supports AB 2888, as does his organization. The California District Attorney’s association has no official stance on AB 29, though Wagstaffe personally is not in favor. 

Weinberg, who is based in Irvine, is suspect of both bills. He emphasized that sentencing discretion must remain with judges, and that public outcry can often lead to rushed -- and haphazard -- lawmaking.

Interview highlights

On mandatory minimums:
Stephen Wagstaffe: Nobody wants to [have mandatory minimums for everything]. Even prosecutors. We don’t want to go there. Because we do believe discretion is appropriate for a judge. But we’re talking about the rape of a person. That one is in what we view is in the higher level of crimes that should be dealt with the most harshly. We certainly don’t believe that we should be going back to minimums like that for the nonviolent lesser offenses.
 
William Weinberg: A probationary sentence on the rape of an unconscious person is very rare...You don’t want to overreact and take that discretion away from the parties. It’s not just taking the discretion away from the judge, by the way. It’s taking the discretion away from a prosecutor who’s sworn to uphold the law. Not to always seek the maximum, but to seek justice.

On legislating after public outcry:
SW: It’s always a concern. But it’s not new. I’ve been a prosecutor for 39 years, and this has been going on from the day I got into the business. So often the legislature reacts -- and the public reacts -- to an individual case. And that’s why we have the system of the legislature evaluating it and making sure it’s not just on that and then a governor who acts as a safety net to make sure that we are not simply overreacting due to one particular case.

WW: There’s a very old phrase. “Hard cases make bad law.” The idea behind that maxim is that in high profile cases like the Stanford case it lit up so many people with anger that they launched several bills in the Assembly to tighten up the law or increase the penalty. That’s obviously within the ambit of the legislature’s authority to do that, and that’s great after a careful debate and consideration. One thing I’ve learned after practicing law for almost a quarter of a century is that each case rises and falls on it’s own merits -- both from the prosecution’s side as well as the defense’s side -- and there are many many nuances that are lost in the shuffle. If you eliminate the ability of a judge to sentence somebody under very specific circumstances to probation, you’re taking the power away from the people who are closest from the set of facts, and essentially handcuffing them and preventing them from doing their job as they are sworn to do it.

These interviews have been edited for clarity.

Guests:

Stephen Wagstaffe, district attorney for San Mateo County and president of the California District Attorneys Association

William Weinberg, criminal defense attorney based in Irvine, CA

This story has been updated.

Los Angeles Police Department officers from the 77th Street division detain a twenty-year old "Street Villains" gang member on April 29, 2012.; Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

The CalGang database is one of the sources police departments rely on to check a suspected gang member’s affiliations, but a state audit released on Thursday has found the system riddled with mistakes and has called for a drastic overhaul.

The database contains over 150,000 names of suspected gang members. But the review finds numerous instances of inaccurate information, and names that should have been taken out but have nonetheless remained.

Furthermore, the report questions whether some of the information included might violate the privacy of those individuals.

Guests:

Peter Bibring, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California and director of police practices for the ACLU of California

Wes McBride, A retired sergeant at the LA County Sheriff’s Gang Unit who co-founded the CalGang database. He is currently the executive director of the California Gang Investigators Association.

A photo of Pitzer College, a member of the Claremont Colleges, where controversy has been brewing after a roommate wanted ad posted by students specified "[People of Color] only."; Credit: Flickr/www.campusgrotto.com

The Claremont Colleges are once again facing racial and ethnic discord, this time over an incident at Pitzer College.

You might recall last year's heated exchanges at Claremont McKenna, in which some African-American and Latino students claimed they felt excluded from the campus community. The Pitzer incident stems from a posting on the Class of 2018 Facebook page. It highlighted three students who were looking for a fourth to join them in renting an off-campus house. The posting added "POC only," that stands for Person of Color.

Needless to say, the racially-limiting posting was extremely controversial and led to condemnation from across the country. Two days ago, Pitzer President Melvin Oliver sent a message to the campus community describing the post as "inconsistent with our Mission and values." But there've also been defenders of the post. They hold to a view that whites can't understand what non-white students go through, making them less desirable as roommates.

Is it understandable, and acceptable, that three non-white students would want to limit the pool of roommates to another non-white student? The Pitzer President who questioned the posting is African-American. If a white college President offered the same critique, would that be tolerated by students of color? If you feel under siege, as it sounds like these students are, is it in their best interests to avoid living with white people?

Share your thoughts with us at 866-893-5722

The downtown skyline is enveloped in smog shortly before sunset on November 17, 2006 in Los Angeles.; Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

Angelenos who've lived in the area for many years probably remember the “smog days” of the ‘70s and ‘80s, when air quality was a regular topic of discussion. Now, unless there’s a wildfire, the L.A. Basin is a place where folks feel free to breathe easy. On Wednesday however, the L.A. Times reported that the Southland has more than 2,000 people dying early every year from breathing polluted air.

But what exactly is causing Southern California’s air to be the most polluted in the nation?

Southern California has the nation’s highest levels of ozone, the corrosive gas in smog, according to the Times. The region doesn't meet federal standards for fine particles, harmful soot and chemical-laden specks of pollution that can negatively affect lungs — especially for people living in the Inland Empire.

In the past, the drought affected particulate matter levels, the South Coast Air Quality Management District's Phillip Fine said — but ozone is summertime's smog problem. High temperatures and stagnate weather contribute to elevated levels of the gas.

“Our biggest issue over the last month or two has been the ozone levels,” he said.

Though most SoCal residents tend to overlook the constant haze that looms over the city, Bonnie Holmes-Gen of the American Lung Association of California said it’s important to remember that it’s more than just brown air — it poses risks to our health.

“Breathing ozone and particle pollution or soot, as we call it, can literally shorten lives and create emergencies,” Holmes-Gen said. 

The corrosive gas in smog can cause burns in lung tissue, which paired with the effects of particle pollution can contribute to asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, she said.

Fine said the levels of pollution are nowhere near those in the ‘70s and '80s — they’re more similar to those in 2009 — but the district still issues advisories when there’s going to be elevated levels of air pollutants.

You can download the South Coast Air Quality Management District smartphone app here to be kept up to date on the air quality in your area.

Guests:

Tony Barboza, L.A. Times reporter covering air quality and the environment

Phillip Fine, Deputy Executive Officer, South Coast Air Quality Management District

Bonnie Holmes-Gen, Senior Policy Director for the American Lung Association of California (ALAC) in Sacramento; her organization puts out a yearly air quality report, which you can check out here

Freelance Iraqi photographer Wathiq Khuzaie, 32, working for Getty Images, shoots a photograph of poor Iraqis who live among the garbage dumps June 30, 2004 outside of Baghad, Iraq. Khuzaie has received eight national and international awards for his photojournalism work over the years.; Credit: Brent Stirton/Getty Images

With social media filters redefining our expectations in photography, it can be tempting for photojournalists to compromise their organization’s integrity by over processing an image.

From Time’s darkened O.J. Simpson cover in 1994 to more recent controversial alterations, including  a former Associated Press freelancer erasing a camera from a photograph of a Syrian opposition fighter, manipulated photos are problematic because they don’t accurately represent the facts. Though it’s sometimes difficult to identify a doctored photo, a digital trail, including metadata and a RAW file format, can usually confirm authenticity.

How much editing is allowed in photojournalism, and how much editing should  be allowed? Tell us by commenting, or voting below.

Guest:

Sara Quinn, President of the Society for News Design and a Poynter visual journalism affiliate faculty member; she tweets from @saraquinn

An abandoned fishing business is seen next to the North Shore Yacht Club at the Salton Sea, California. California's largest lake is facing major environmental problems with a decreasing water level, increasing salinity and algae issues.; Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

The Salton Sea, the state’s largest lake, was born by accident when an engineering mistake sent a flood of water from the Colorado River into a salt sink. But more than a century later, it might be human inaction that causes its death.

At the height of its allure in the 1950s and 1960s, the Salton Sea was surrounded by resorts and visitors. But the lake has been shrinking rapidly as the drought worsens and water resources are diverted away from the region. A 2010 plan approved by California lawmakers was supposed to jumpstart restoration efforts, but according to the Los Angeles Times, funding for the project has not come through until June this year.

Environmentalists are fed up at the delay, and want state officials and regulators to step up their game. Meanwhile, the Salton Sea’s ecosystem is dying, which was home to many species of fish and wildlife. And dust blowing from the dry lakebed has posed serious health threats to neighboring communities.

AirTalk spoke to two experts to find out the consequences of inaction for the Salton Sea, and how the state is trying to avoid ecological disaster in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys.

Timothy Bradley is the director of the Salton Sea Initiative at UC, Irvine. He emphasized that if the Salton Sea dries up, the biological and public health consequences for Southern California will be dire.

What would happen if the Salton Sea was  allowed to dry up?

Timothy Bradley: There would be two consequences. One is biological. The Salton Sea is the most important feeding ground on the Pacific Flyway for many many species of birds. Although it is only 100 years old, previously those birds fed in the marshes in the Central Valley, which are now gone. Or, marshes along the coast, which have been developed, or at the delta of the Colorado river, which is now completely dry.

There’s another problem in addition to the biological ones, and that’s public health. If the Salton Sea should dry up, and even if it begins to dry down, there will be beaches along the shore which will be the source of toxic dust. This is an immediate problem for those who live in that area and California [as a whole].

It’s toxic because of the material that’s associated with the dust, which includes heavy metals, agricultural chemicals, and of course the salt. These tiny dust particles, carry these toxic particles deep into the lungs, and it’s well recognized that this dust is going to be a very serious problem for that part of California.

In January of 2018, the Quantitative Settlement Agreement, which is a contract to remove water from the Imperial Valley and carry it to coastal regions, will lead to the sea declining much more rapidly. So that’s a critical deadline that we need to be conscious of. That’s just a year and a half away that a very serious public health and environmental problem is going to be exacerbated in Southern California.

Bruce Wilcox is the Assistant Secretary at the California Natural Resources Agency, and he is the point person for Salton Sea policy for the state. He said the state has short-term fixes in the works, but they are still working on a comprehensive plan to protect the future of the lake.

What’s California’s plan for the Salton Sea?

Bruce Wilcox: Our plan is to start building habitat around the edges of the sea in an incremental manner that will provide stable habitat for the fish and the birds moving forward using agriculture return flow water. That plan is probably a 5 to 10 to 15 year plan. We can continue to build that habitat for that length of time. There also is a perimeter lake plan that’s finalized in that.

The longer term plan hasn’t finalized yet, but the plan is to have a draft done by  the end of this year. That draft will outline what we think we need to do at the Salton Sea.

TB: The State needs to recognize the urgency of this. For example, we don’t have good data about what’s going on [the lake’s tilapia population]...Cal Fish and Game could be providing this information. With regard to the dust problems, Cal EPA needs to be involved...Think about hundreds of thousands of people in the Coachella and the Imperial Valleys whose public health is at risk. [Bruce Wilcox] is doing a great job, [but] the entire state apparatus needs to really realize that this is a very serious problem that needs to be addressed.

How will California pay for this?

BW: At the state level, the legislature has recognized the problem and is moving forward. One of the issues we have is that there are so many well deserving projects across the state of California that need funding and money, that the funding doesn’t go as far as it should.

One of the tasks that the [Salton Sea Task Force] gave us is develop a funding plan to pull these projects all together. One of the components of that is dealing with the federal government and seeing where we can find additional funding. Maybe there is private sector funding available. The Salton Sea Authority is an example. It’s looked into an incremental financing district that might be able to help fund restoration or management at the Salton Sea.

It’s a complex problem that’s going to cost a lot of money, and it’s a long term problem that’s going to cost money for quite a few years.

How much will it cost?

TB: The price of this is going to be in the billions of dollars, no matter what we do. There’s been a study by Michael Cohen that if nothing’s done the cost to California would be $40 billion. So, the 3 or 4 billion that we’re going to spend there is money well spend.

The $40 billion is the cost of doing nothing -- that would be the environmental costs, the public health costs, the economic costs to land values. It’s a huge huge burden. By stepping in the state can actually save a great deal of money and help the state out.

Guests:

Timothy Bradley, director of the Salton Sea Initiative at UC, Irvine. He is also a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the school

Bruce Wilcox, Assistant Secretary at the California Natural Resources Agency, in charge of Salton Sea policy

A photo shows decorated Belgian waffles sitting on cooling racks.; Credit: Mark Renders/Getty Images

A research team at Columbia University is developing a 3D-printer that can cook food using infrared heat.

The printer is designed for home use, and would use cartridges of ingredients to make each food item. The device is about the size of a blender, and would easily fit on a kitchen counter.

Columbia engineers have been working with the International Culinary Institute in New York to experiment with different tastes. Things like chocolate, cheese and cookie dough have been used in combinations to make spiral-like pastes, but savory items like pesto and fish have also been combined to create additions to entrees.

New high-tech specialty restaurants are already using 3D food printers as a selling point. But a device for at-home use, especially one with a cooking mechanism is something new. Aside from a Star Trek-like convenience factor, the food printer is also said to have the perk of customizing food for maximum nutritional value.

It would ideally be able to mix ingredients which are programmed to make a meal unique to your body's needs. But will this be a modern innovation akin to what TV dinners did in the 1950s?

Guests:

Hod Lipson, professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University; he leads the team at Columbia that is developing the at-home 3D food printer

Francine Segan, Food historian and author of six cookbooks

A proposed project would turn the historic Julia Morgan-designed Pasadena YWCA into a luxury hotel. Pasadena City Council is holding a meeting tonight to decide whether to to allow the renovation to move forward.; Credit: Flickr/Floyd B. Bariscale

Tonight, the Pasadena City Council will decide whether to move forward with a proposed hotel project in the area around the City Hall.

The city-backed project would allow Kimpton Hotels  Restaurants to convert the old historic YWCA building on Marengo Ave. into a 150-room hotel.

Critics say that the proposed hotel would take away precious green space in the area. But city officials say that this is a fiscally sound way to preserve the historic building.

The Pasadena City Council will convene a meeting tonight at 7:00pm at the Council Chamber in the Pasadena City Hall (100 N Garfield Ave, RM S249) to consider the fate of the project.

Guests:

Eric Duyshart, Economic Development Manager at the City of Pasadena

Marsha Rood, Former Pasadena Development Administrator, and vice president of the Downtown Pasadena Neighborhood Association

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds up a placard while addressing supporters during a campaign rally at Silver Spurs Arena, inside the Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida.; Credit: GREGG NEWTON/AFP/Getty Images

AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable will preview the week ahead on the campaign trail and take a look at the history of Donald Trump’s truthiness with Washington Post reporter David Farenthold, who recently wrote a piece detailing Trump’s history of embellishing the truth (read: lying) based on a 170-page deposition of Trump after he filed suit against a journalist who wrote a book about him, claiming the author fabricated things about his life and business.

Guests:

Matt Rodriguez, Democratic strategist and founder and chief executive officer of Rodriguez Strategies. He is also a former senior Obama advisor in 2008; he tweets from @RodStrategies

Lanhee Chen, research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and former policy director for the Romney-Ryan 2012 presidential campaign

David Farenthold, reporter covering the presidential campaign for the Washington Post; his latest piece is titled “Trump: A True Story;” he tweets from @Fahrenthold

Josh Gerstein, POLITICO senior reporter; he tweets from @joshgerstein

Host Larry Wilmore appears on the debut episode of Comedy Central's "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore" at The Nightly Show Studios on January 19, 2015 in New York City. The program was canceled Monday.; Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for Comedy Central

It was announced Monday that Comedy Central has canceled “The Nightly Show” with Larry Wilmore.

The show will be temporarily replaced starting this week, with host Chris Hardwick’s “@Midnight.”

Wilmore’s show took on an unique perspective that focused not only on topical satire, but issues of race played heavily in his comedy. Prior to hosting “The Nightly Show” he was a correspondent on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart.

During its two-year run, Wilmore’s show took over the spot on Comedy Central “The Colbert Report” left behind. In the end, it wasn’t just lacking in conventional live ratings. According to Comedy Central President Ken Alterman, it also failed among social media platforms, which ultimately sealed the show’s fate.

And in an age when a digital presence can make or break the longevity of a program, what does this mean for the landscape of late-night television?

One criticism that comes as a result of Wilmore’s departure is the continuing lack of diversity in the entertainment industry. In an article for “The Hollywood Reporter,” he is quoted on what he calls the “unblackening” of his time slot on the network. So is late-night becoming even less diverse? While white, male late-night hosts are still dominant, comedians like Trevor Noah, Samantha Bee and Chelsea Handler are still standing in the fight for ratings and are making waves both with live audiences and on social media.

Guest:

Brian Steinberg, senior television editor for Variety

Swimmer Maya DiRado of the United States poses for a photo with her four medals on the Today show set on Copacabana Beach on August 13, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. DiRado is from Sonoma County and attended Stanford University.; Credit: Harry How/Getty Images

Both the U.S. Senate and House are considering legislation that would eliminate taxation on Olympic medalists' winnings (a similar bill in California failed to advance this week).

Currently, any athlete that medals earns upwards of $10,000 plus the value of the medal itself.

Despite the fact that Nobel Prize winnings and Pulitzer Prize winnings are taxed, the lawmakers argue most Olympians spend years in grueling training to bring glory to the U.S., leaving over little time to build careers and salaries.

The advocacy group Citizens for Tax Justice disagrees with a special exemption: "There is no moral or economic case for exempting the earnings of Olympic athletes over other categories of workers. Is the work done by athletes really more important than that of computer programmers, doctors, firefighters, or soldiers?"

In a press release, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) counters, “Most countries subsidize their athletes; the very least we can do is make sure our athletes don’t get hit with a tax bill for winning. After a successful and hard fought victory, it’s just not right for the U.S. to welcome these athletes home with a tax on that victory."

What do you think?

Guests:

Assemblyman Brian Jones (R - Santee), Jones’ California version of this bill failed to advance this week

Matthew Gardner, Executive Director, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy - described as a non-profit, non-partisan research body

Patty Hearst's mugshots upon her arrest in 1975. Jeffrey Toobin's new book 'American Heiress' uses previously unavailable documents to dig deep into Hearst's crimes and the sensational court case that followed.; Credit: Flickr/Simon Murphy

In 1974, Patricia Hearst, granddaughter of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped from the student apartment in Berkeley she shared with her fiancé.

A group of pseudo-Marxist radicals calling themselves the Symbionese Liberation Army were responsible, hoping to exploit her family’s fortune and clout to further their revolutionary cause.

What followed was one of the most bizarre sagas in modern American history. Hearst joined her captors in their criminal activity, robbing banks and firing a machine gun outside of a sporting goods store in Inglewood before being captured in 1975. She even gave herself the pseudonym “Tania” during her crime streak.

But why did she do it?

Jeffrey Toobin, author of “American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, and Trial of Patty Hearst,” told AirTalk the lesson that Patty Hearst teaches is: “you can’t always predict who will be radicalized or how.”

The following interview has been edited slightly for length and clarity.

Interview Highlights

Was she someone who was simply trying to find a way — after she was kidnapped — to rebel against her parents, as any young person might do, or was she a weak character in this conversion?

You know, this is the central issue of my book: Why did Patty Hearst do what she did? Was she coerced? Was she a prisoner? Was she acting against her will, or did she genuinely become a member of the SLA? This gets caught up in terms that are very much associated with this case, like brainwashing, Stockholm syndrome. My view is, I try to avoid that jargon, and just look at what Patty Hearst did. When you look at how many times she could have left the SLA in the year-and-a-half and how many times she acted independently to join with them in an astonishing number of crimes — three bank robberies, several bombings, shooting up a street in Los Angeles — my view is that she did in fact join the SLA — at least while she was with them — and was in fact an “urban guerrilla,” as she described herself when she was arrested.

Patty Hearst’s switch from kidnapped heiress to SLA member happened to some extent through girl talk. Was this a political conversion or a sense of, ‘Well, I’ve never met these people before, but they’re kind of making sense?’

I think it’s hard to pinpoint each individual reason. All of these things were factors. In part it was Angela Atwood, the woman who befriended her, one of the kidnappers. It was also another one of the kidnappers, Willie Wolfe, who according to the survivors of the SLA she fell in love with — and in fact that evidence of her relationship with Willie Wolfe wound up being crucial in her criminal trial two years later. The fact that she was 19 years old, and impressionable, and restless and unhappy in the life she was leading as Steven Weed’s fiancé. I think it all came together in an opportunity for her to get outside her life, get away from her family, and at least for a time, become an actual revolutionary.

This is a very well-known case, but you did find some new material?

I did, one of the things that was particularly meaningful for me is that when she’s arrested in September 1975, she is living with her other SLA boyfriend. Her first was Willie Wolfe, who died in the shootout in May of ’74. But later she’s living with Steve Soliah. Steve Soliah is also arrested the same day, and I have letters that had not been published before that she wrote from her jail cell to Steve Soliah in his jail cell, talking about how, “We’re going to keep fighting in the revolution,” and “We’re not going to let the oppressors bother us.” These letters where she’s by herself are the letters of an urban guerrilla. That’s why I reached the conclusion, this and many other things, that by the time she’s arrested, she’s a committed member of the SLA.

Was the Patty Hearst case an anomaly? Or are there some symbolic issues that are with us to this day?

Oh, I think that there are many symbolic issues, and many topical issues. You know, we are living in a moment where we wonder how a kid from the Minneapolis suburbs decides to join ISIS; we wonder how a kid in Brussels or Paris decides to become a terrorist. Why people decide to change their lives and move in a terribly violent direction is a question that is very much top of mind throughout our society. I think the short answer is: We don’t know, and it’s different for different people. When we try to say, “That person would never do that,” we can’t be sure. I think the lesson of the Patty Hearst story is that people become radicalized in different ways, and you can’t always predict who will be radicalized or how.

Guest:

Jeffrey Toobin, staff writer at the New Yorker and author of “American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, and Trial of Patty Hearst;” he tweets from @JeffreyToobin

Republican candidate for President Donald Trump holds a campaign event at the Kilcawley Center at Youngstown State University on August 15, 2016 in Youngstown, Ohio. In his address, Trump laid out his foreign policy vision for America, including an "ideological screening test" for Muslim immigrants. ; Credit: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Donald Trump was challenged Monday with taking a U.S. citizenship test by Khizr Khan, a Muslim- American man who made waves with his speech at the Democratic National Convention last month.

Khan is the father of a Muslim-American war hero who was killed in battle, fighting for the U.S.

This comes on the heels of Trump’s foreign policy address in Ohio. The GOP presidential nominee is calling for a new test for visa applicants as part of a vetting process.

It is uncertain if Trump will accept the challenge. A long-standing argument with the naturalization test is whether U.S. citizens born in the country could pass it.

Patt Morrison speaks to a civic engagement specialist today, to weigh in on the test’s standards and find out the likelihood of the average American passing the U.S. Naturalization test.

Take the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services practice Civics Test here.

Guests:

Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Ph.D., Director, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University

Ted McConnell, executive director, Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, a coalition of over 70 national civic learning, education, civic engagement and business groups committed to improving the quality and quantity of civic learning in American schools