Le Show; 2013-03-31

Rachel Martin. Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and from DomTar, the sustainable paper company, creating recyclable, renewable paper for today's workplace and home, more at paperbecause.com. From Harriet at Richard Gold to help extend the breadth and depth of NPR news programming and coverage of global events. And from Lindemood Bell Learning Centers, providing innovative programs for reading, comprehension and math online at LindemoodBell.com. This is NPR. That is so weird. I have a mood bell. You are listening to member supported 89.9 KCRW Santa Monica Los Angeles. KCRI Indio, KCRU Oxnard. Doctors.

From global politics and public affairs to entertainment and the economy, dive into programs you rely on to tell you the story behind the headlines. KCRW always informative, always interesting, weekdays beginning at noon on 89.9 and worldwide at KCRW.com. It's almost 10 o'clock. News from NPR right there from KCRW. Now stay tuned for the La Show program. It's next from Santa Monica to around the world at the sound of the tone, 10 a.m. Pacific daylight savings time from deep inside your radio. Ladies and gentlemen, where would you say is the wettest spot on earth? I don't mean where you've been sitting. I mean, you know, geographically, the wettest spot on earth. Your travel agent will not tell you this, at least mine didn't.

So I found out the old fashioned way took a 20th anniversary trip there. You want to get? No. What is this? NPR? Kauai. Ladies and gentlemen, Kauai, the wettest spot on earth. And what's the coldest month of the year in the wettest spot on earth? It's right. It's March. Okay. Your travel agent wouldn't tell you that either. You don't need to thank me, but you will. So what happens in Kauai, the wettest spot on earth, the coldest month of the year? Well, if you're very, very lucky. Next is your leaving. The nice TSA guy asks you, is your checked bag locked? And you say no. And when you get home, you discover that apparently you didn't trust you, tried running the combinations on the lock and locked your bag.

And you've never had a combination because you've never locked your bag. And so your significant other spends a day at the airport in this end, at this end, trying to get the bag opened. And you're welcome again. Hey, everybody's welcome. And to the lovely TSA guy at the Kauai airport, I say, Aloha and Mahalo. I say it in the New York sense of the word as in, go Aloha and Mahalo yourself, sir. Those gentlemen follow the dollar, two stories to share with you, and one distinct difference. So for the first story comes from Politico, and it's about why you can't use your electronic gadget on the plane. Airlines haven't been eager to jump through the hoops and red tape or pony up the money for the testing that would let their customers use their devices because the FAA says as long use the airline control, the FAA that the devices are safe to use on its planes, you can

use them. Questions remain about how to let passengers use their favorite devices while protecting safety, the basic concern is that a signal, you know why. Although interestingly enough, I've had the opportunity once or twice in my life to fly on a private plane, you can use your electronic devices during takeoff, during landing. No problem. But they got special electronic thing, no, I don't think so. Regulators and researchers also insist that while one errand signal, such as from a pilot's iPad, yes, the pilots are allowed to use iPads now, probably wouldn't be enough to down a plane, 150 different devices bombarding the plane's equipment is another matter entirely. Says one senate aid, 300 iPads, we're not sure what that means on a mix of devices for an additive effect, that could be a problem. So the additive effect ladies and gentlemen is one of the major reasons why you are inconvenienced. But that's just you.

Now on the other hand, another additive effect, from science daily, throughout our lives wears exposed to an enormous range of man-made chemicals. As a request to the European Union, researchers in Sweden have looked at the risk of chemical cocktails and are proposed a number of measures that need to be implemented in 2005 in American studies show that newborn babies have an average of 200 man-made chemicals in their blood, including pesticides, dioxins, industrial chemicals, and flame retardants. And so your baby won't catch fire now, don't get upset. In a Swedish study, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences found 57 different pesticides in Swedish rivers and streams, many of them occurring simultaneously. But the effects of chemicals on humans and the environment are evaluated for regulatory purposes on the basis of single substances, chemical. To commemorate the passing of a major league record producer called Phil, one multiple

Grammys for working with a lot of big-name artists and never had an actress in his house with his gun in her mouth. From the edge of America to the world, from the home of the homeless, I'm Harry Scherer, welcome you to this edition of the show and now, yes, the movement continues. You can't stop a movement, you can only interrupt it, news of the Olympic movement, I say. This by Jim Ebersall, Jr., Arkady Rothenberg, the boyhood friend and former judo partner of Russian President Vladimir Putin is already collecting his winnings from 2014's Winter Olympics. Rothenberg's companies have been awarded at least 227 billion rubles, 7.5 billion dollars

worth of contracts for the Sochi Winter Games. This is more than the entire budget for the last winter, no, for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Yeah, that is the last winter Olympics, though it represents just 16% of Russia's latest estimate for the event, which promises to be the most expensive ever. The contracts, which number at least 21, include a share of transport link between Sochi and ski resorts in the Caucasus, a $2.1 billion highway along the Black Sea, a $387 million media center, and a $133 million stretch of tarmac that will link various venues and double this Russia's first Formula One track. This is a monumental way to public money, says somebody who doesn't want to live very long in Russia, Stefan Zimansky, a sports economist at the University of Michigan. A small number of people at the top have control of resources and there's no accountability, says Russia is the most corrupt of the group of 20 economies according to Berlin-based transparency

international. Roddenberg told the Financial Times last year that while he values Putin's friendship, he'd never abuse it for personal gain. It beats Putin's enemy, I'll tell you that. Based on recent developments, Kami is a friend. Some small companies worked on the London Olympics have been left bitter and cynical because they're still unable to discuss their involvement for fear of breaching sponsorship rights. Parliament was told this week. Companies are traveling to Rio to bid for work in the games in 2016, but they feel they still could not promote their involvement in London 2012. Matthew Griffiths, chief executive officer of a trade association for people who saw apply technologies and services to the event in entertainment industries, said businesses understood the importance of protecting sponsors when they signed up, but he said what no one thought would happen was that post-teal Olympics that ban would stay in place or there wouldn't be a relaxing of that ban. Post-teal Olympics would seem only fair and right that companies that took part would

be able to say that they took part. It's ridiculous, he says. The company that built the iconic Olympic rings the win-up, they're not allowed to talk about it. The more the companies now feel bitter and cynical about it, he said adding they've given up and from down Rio way, the stadium in Brazil was due to host athletic at the next Olympics, has been closed indefinitely because of structural problems with its roof. The show of a launch stadium in Rio was built way back six years ago. It is an embarrassment for Brazil that it prepares for the Olympics.

Authorities have acknowledged delays and work on another stadium and a funding problem it's still a third, we just set to host the opening match of the World Cup, the Olympics, it's a movement, and we all need one. Well, thank goodness that's over. Ladies and gentlemen, the leaks of the week, the Department of Transportation has find Exxon mobile $1.7 million over pipeline safety violations relating to an oil spill in the Yellowstone River. What could be wrong with that? Exxon's silver tip pipeline, which carries about 40,000 barrels per day of crude in Montana. It does get crude in Montana, leaked about 1,500 barrels of oil into the river a couple years ago after heavy flooding in the area. Exxon has previously said the accident caused the company about $135 million, please give.

The risk of flooding on Yellowstone River was a known threat that could cause the pipe in the river support and potentially rupture. Said the US pipeline and hazardous material safety administration this week. It said the spill would have been about two-thirds smaller had company workers responded quickly. But Exxon is polished for slowly, isn't it? Well that shell shut a 170,000 barrel-a-day pipeline this week that moves Gulf of Mexico crude oil to Homo, Louisiana. That's Homo, Louisiana. After the pipe leaked in Terabon Bay, shell shut the 16-inch pipeline at about 5 p.m. March 23 after a light oil machine. You remember him? No, it was observed near a pump station, according to a spokesperson for shell. Shell plans to inspect and repair the pipeline as soon as possible.

And authorities are working to clean up an oil spill in central Arkansas after a pipeline ruptured. Police chief of Mayflower, Arkansas says an Exxon mobile pipeline sprang a leap Friday afternoon in his small city about 20 miles northwest of Little Rock. You know where that is. He says the pipeline has since been shut off. The spill forced authorities to evacuate dozens of homes, oil spilled under the road, and lawns. It's unclear exactly how much. Exxon mobile says it's investigating and working with local authorities and cleanup efforts. It says it was a pipeline that originates in Illinois and carries crude oil to the Texas Gulf Coast. The leaks of the week later, isn't it? So, you know, because it's not all, it's not all, um, it's not all anything. And now, ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to present, let us try a ballot of the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Well, Soledad O'Brien, in her farewell to CNN this week, uh, was proud of her role in reporting big stories, she, uh, noted the standing ovation she got at New Orleans Airport for CNN's work on Hurricane Katrina, as she called it. Here's the latest part of that story, which I don't think you'll see on CNN. This is from the New Orleans nonprofit news site The Lens, full disclosure, I help support them.

By Bob Marshall, a great environmental writer, formerly with the sometimes pick you him. He asks, what do you call an navigation gate in a hurricane protection wall that was plugged into the system because it could be built faster and cheaper than a more proven design that was installed after research showed it could not perform as originally planned, it might not be able to close unless another distant gate is closed first and that now after almost a year of trial still has not been operated successfully. The US Army Corps of Engineers calls it the barge gate on the Gulf Intra Coastal Waterway and quote, a system they have confidence in. But Bob Turner Regional Director of the South Louisiana Flood Protection Authority, is another name for it, just two months before hurricane season begins, insomnia, it's the thing that keeps me up at night the most as Turner an engineer whose sense of worry is heightened by the knowledge that many lives and livelihoods depend on this gate working properly. It's an incredibly complicated design that will take nine hours to close effectively

and that the Corps still can't operate successfully after repeated attempts, he says. I keep seeing us trying to close that hole in the wall with a storm coming and having nothing but problems, unquote. The barge gate gets its name from its main element, a mammoth concrete barge, 190 feet long, 70 feet wide, 44 feet deep, you paid for it. It is not so much a gate as an emergency dam to be used on a temporary basis during storms. The design calls for the huge barge to be swung into a 190 foot gap in that beautiful wall. You probably have seen the Corps spent years showing animated versions of the artist's renderings of that wall and you probably saw it last June when it was dedicated and when the Corps bragged about it. Once in place the barge is filled with water and sunk to prevent storm surge from pouring

through the main defense of the city. Even as a temporary fix during Hurricane Isaac, members of the Flood Authority spent anxious days worrying that it might fail. Corps officials say there's nothing to worry about. All gates have bugs and they're working them out. Modern fellow members of the Flood Protection Authority don't share that confidence. Barge gate has become a four liter word as the Corps prepares to hand over the keys and responsibility for operation and maintenance of its $14 billion system by June 1st. Complaints are numerous. The Corps backed off the operational parameters originally promised for the barge gate, closing it takes too long and is too complicated and by the way, it has never been closed without breaking. You know, gates do that, they break. Other than that, Turner said with a roofal laugh, we love it.

The story of the barge gate goes back to, back when CNN was covering this story, admitting that its own catastrophic engineering failures caused more than 50 ruptures in its levees and flood walls killing more than 1,500 people and drowning 80% of the city. The Corps promised to do better. The answer was the hurricane storm and damage risk reduction system, $14 billion worth which was supposed to have been finished ahead of the hurricane season two years ago. A key was protecting the confluence of the Mississippi River Gulf outlet which the Corps built in the 60s and the intercoastal waterway from funneling storm surge into the heart of the city, right by the lower ninth ward where it did flood in 2005. The answer was this massive surge barrier, a 26 foot 1.8 mile long concrete wall stretching across the intersection of the two waterways, permanently shutting the mouth of those waterways was not feasible because there's a navigation thing going on there.

The solution was a main gate that would be kept open unless storms were approaching and a secondary gate that would remain closed except when the main gate needed to be shut down for maintenance. Before the bypass gate, Shaw Group, a Baton Rouge chose the rarely executed barge gate design. The Corps's senior project manager for the upgrade says he knows of only one other barge gate under construction or in use in the entire United States. He said the barge gate choice was based on budget and speed. Regular gates cost about $33 million, the barge gate $26 million. They saved $7 million, ladies and gentlemen, to have a thing that doesn't work. Shaw, the contractor, got to make the choice, but the Corps insists they wouldn't have had it any other way. The flood protection authority didn't object at the time either, Turner said because the original plans called for the barge gate to remain closed except when repairs to the

main gate would be required, that would be about once every 10 to 15 years. So it's not a problem then because it wouldn't be open during storm season. It became a problem when the Corps announced a change of plans three years ago the barge gate would have to remain open all the time and then would be closed only for hurricanes or other emergencies. That was based on two new pieces of research, the speed of the title currents, caused safety concerns and the Corps's environmental section finished research showing the opening was not large enough to show adequate passage of fish larvae. So all this came up in the design phase. Corps spokesmen said he did not know why the environmental concerns were not raised earlier. So both problems could be solved. The Corps decided by leaving the nearly 200 foot wide barge gate open full time. The alternatives were considered because quote, we were too far down the design path to actually change.

This is the same process ladies and gentlemen that led to the defects in the system that failed catastrophically in 2005. The gate has to be closed 96 hours, four full days before storm in the Gulf is expected to begin affecting conditions within the water way. We're listening to the show or just letting it play unheated in the background, whichever ladies and gentlemen, the new F bomb for closure, a national survey found 301,000 almost 302,000 zombie properties dot in the US landscape. No wonder the walking dead is so popular in which homeowners, you see in foreclosure have

moved out leaving vacant properties susceptible to vandalism and degradation floor. We had the story from Reuters earlier this year on the problem of zombie properties is the first time we know how many or at least some idea of how many there are floor to tops the list of zombie properties. Some might say it figures with 90,000 more than 90,000 vacant homes in foreclosure, according to realty track Illinois and California rank second and third respectively. The number of homes over on foreclosure are bank owned rose by 9% to one and a half million properties nationally in the first quarter of this year compared to a year ago. Another 10 almost 11 million homeowners nationwide remain at risk because they owe more than their property is worth. Yeah, looking good. Realty track analyzed data on zombie properties after that Reuters special report in January. Reuters revealed the plight of people who walked away from their homes not realizing their

names remain in the deed and they were still financially liable for taxes and other bills related to the abandoned property because the banks refused to take possession. They didn't want the maintenance and the tax responsibilities in some cases, home object of the new F bomb. The Inspector General weigh in on the new F bomb for your listening pleasure. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the FHFA, is neglecting to ensure that banks selling federally backed mortgages follow consumer protection laws. That's according to the agency's Inspector General in its second report in a week blasting the agency for being a wall and it comes to overseeing home mortgage lenders.

You might ask at this point, why do we need the federal government backing mortgages? The best I can find out, ladies and gentlemen, is from people who supposedly know about this, that if the federal government didn't back home mortgages, about 90% of them at the current rate, nobody would lend money for people to buy homes. No. As for mortgage giants, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are supposed to make sure their loan sellers and services are complying with prohibitions against unfair deceptive or abusive practices. That's according to the Dodd-Frank Act. The banks are also bound by federal anti-discrimination equal credit opportunity and borrower privacy laws. Does Freddie Mac enforce those rules? Well, in a way, it relies on these sellers and mortgage servicers self-certification that they're following the laws, according to the IG.

Wouldn't you like it if you could self-certify? No, you go blind if you do. Freddie Mac has no formal monitoring program. The report says Fannie Mae has no written procedures for monitoring the banks. Certify yourselves, banks. Fannie and Freddie's contracts warn the loan sellers and servicers that they must comply with state and federal consumer laws, but neither institution backs up its words with guidelines, monitoring, or enforcement, according to the IG. Of course not. They're banks. And following that raft of abuse in the home mortgage industry, including improper foreclosures, Freddie Mac and its federal regulator agreed two years ago to require loan servicers. Those are the people who, well, those are the companies who collect the monthly payments after you've gotten the mortgage. And the bank has sold the mortgage to somebody else. The loan servicers to report borrower's most serious complaints and resolve them within 30 days.

It's Freddie Mac and its regulator agreed to do that. One year later, neither Freddie Mac nor the Federal Housing Finance Agency FHA was enforcing the rules, according to the Inspector General. That's the other report this week. That's because they were put in place without any penalties for failure to comply. Nice system. And because no one was paying attention. Banks largely failed to report the complaints. The Inspector General found and some even said they didn't know about the reporting rules. Neither Freddie Mac, the nation's largest dispenser of government-backed home loans, nor the FHFA noticed. The numbers point to a near total lack of compliance with the rules between October 2011 and November 2012, the period evaluated by the IG. Looking at data provided by four Freddie Mac's largest servicers, the IG found they'd handled $20,999.999. Serious consumer complaints during this period.

Not even Herman Cain was informed. Yet they did not report a single one of the FHFA. In fact, a staggering 98% of participating banks didn't report any serious complaints over the 13 month period. No where near the $20,999.009. They can't say it wasn't an easy number to remember. News of the Inspector General ladies and gentlemen, a copyrighted feature of this broadcast. So it's a holiday week. President did some traveling just before and right before he left the country and supposedly after he comes back, there will be a continuation of it. The president changed tack, not tacked, tack, look it up, regarding his way of dealing with his Republican opposition. It was a big, big topic of discussion in Washington for about the first three weeks of the month.

The president's so-called Charm Offensive in which he invited Republican leaders to the White House for dinner. Now it seems sort of commonplace and normal, except he hadn't done it during the entire first term. And so after the latest in this endless series of budget wrangles, apparently the decision was made for him to have John McCain, Mitch McConnell, some of the House leaders are a counter and John Boehner to dinner at the White House, and apparently that's not all he and Senator McCain be doing. Well John, glad you could make time in your busy schedule to accept my invitation. Morning, I'll be happy to come see you.

Thanks. I'm sure, at things been a little bit different, you would have done the same thing for me. Of course I would, but we're looking forward, right. And now the apologies of the week. There's a bullfake's names in the apologies this week, but first, facing a growing chorus of Republicans urging him to offer a more full apology for his use of a racial slur, Alaska Republican representative Don Young has obliged. It's pardon me, quote, I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan Alaska, young said, there was no malice in my heart or intent to offend it was a poor choice of words. That word and the negative attitudes that come with it should be left in the 20th century and I'm sorry this is shifted over our focus away from comprehensive immigration reform. And quote, in a radio interview Thursday, young called Latino ranch workers on his father's farm, wet backs, deadline New York CBS analyst Doug Gottlieb got coverage of the NCAA tournament

suite 16 off to an awkward start saying he was there to bring the white man's perspective to the network's pregame shows, speaking on a panel with four African American men, Gottlieb made his comment Thursday during a pregame segment. I don't know why you guys asked me, I'm just here to bring diversity to this set, give kind of the white man's perspective, he said during the show, fellow analyst Greg Anthony made a face after the remark, Kenny Smith said he had jumped right into it. Gottlieb was still in the set Thursday night and unavailable for comment, but he issued a statement through CBS. It was a smart, not a smart thing to say and I apologize. Charles Barkley said he made a joke earlier tonight and people are going crazy. All those idiots on Twitter, which I would never do, all you people at home have got no life and are talking bad about God, the Gottlieb get a life, it's over with, it's no big deal. Now boldface name for your listening pleasure, former CIA chief David Petraeus has apologized

to those he hurt and let down in his first public speech since resigning over an extramarital affair. Petraeus said at USC, his actions had caused pain for family and friends, so to speaking at USC. And he said he hoped his fall would teach others that life doesn't stop with such a mistake and must go on. He quit after his affair with biographer Paula Broadwell was discovered during an FBI investigation. Petraeus said he was also, quote, keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing, so please allow me to begin my remarks by reiterating how deeply I regret and apologize for the circumstances that led me to resign from the CIA, unquote. So what led to our journey into a rock and afghanistan, Dave, oh, you CBS under fire from veterans for last week's episode of the amazing race that featured a segment in Vietnam filmed at the site of a crash American B-52 opened last Sunday show with an apology read

by the program's host Phil Kiegan apologizing to veterans, a note apologizing to veterans, especially those who served in Vietnam for being insensitive. All of us here have the most profound respect for the men and women who fight for our country, he said. Ford India, the Indian unit of Ford Motor Company has apologized for advertisements described as demeaning to women, including one depicting Italy's former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, the trio of bound and gagged women in the trunk of a car. Ford India spokeswoman, see, they have a spokeswoman, what's your problem, said the company is investigating whether anyone of the automaker ever saw the print ads, which were never used commercially but appeared over the weekend on a website showcasing creative advertising. Smaller ads, oh sorry, similar ads featuring parents, Hilton, apparently kidnapping reality television rivals, the Kardashian sisters, all three sisters tied up in one in a bikini, those appeared as well.

Ford said it regrets the incident, calling the image as contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford. The parent company of the advertising agency WPP Group said we deeply regret the publishing of posters that were distasteful and contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within WPP Group. I know those standards, they are amazing. Matt Lauer has apologized to a former NBC intern on Twitter for not being a nice guy. The in battle today's show anchor has been the subject of many rumors and reports over the past few months. His situation became even more complicated when a former intern said on Twitter that Lauer wasn't very nice to him during his stay at the network. Although Lauer doesn't generally respond to folks who reference him on Twitter, he soon issued an apology to Mark Zinney if he did do something to offend him. The BBC has apologized unreservedly to the family of a reporter who is believed to have killed himself for the way complaints he made about harassment at the network were dealt with.

The broadcaster admitted some aspects of the handling of complaints made by Russell Jocelyn were, quote, not good enough. The US Embassy in Chile has apologized for a tweet indicating it was bored or irritated by former Chilean president Michel Bachelet's bid to run in November presidential elections. An embassy bored, really. The Hollywood reporter admitted to stealing code from Penske Media Corporation, parent company of rival publication Variety as part of a recent settlement that two companies reached and the reporter also apologized. A Yuma school, you may Arizona school is considering hiring armed guards after an influential state senator barged into a classroom and verbally threatened to teacher over dispute involving his teenage grandson. The name of the state legislator, Republican state senator Don Shooter, that's right, a shooter barged into the classroom. Senator Shooter. He called the school principal this week and apologized.

Senator could not be reached for comment. Shoot. The apologies of the week, ladies and gentlemen, a copyrighted feature of this broadcast. And now this news, the godly in a ceremony conducted by the Archbishop of Turin, the Shroud of Turin was shown on television over the weekend for only the second time in its history. The 14 foot long three and a half foot wide cloth is normally kept in a bulletproof climate controlled case in Turin's cathedral. It's rarely opened to the public. The last time was in 2010, more than two million people lined up to pray in front of it. And then Pope Benedict visited. The latest display coincided with Holy Saturday. A few hundred people, many in wheelchairs were invited inside the cathedral for the service provided over by the Turin Archbishop.

It was only the second time the Shroud has gone on display specifically for a TV audience. The first was in 1973. Apparently, it won't be the last. This time, the fabrics the same. It's the most famous fashion relic, decide of Coco Chanel's original little black dress. And the designs are as different as you are. I surrounded it in a cloud of magenta, wow, because that's to the mystery. Not that you need any more, and the tensions even higher. I think Spangles framing the face, or whatever it is, are just the right kind of catch. Designers out there in 15 minutes. Oh my god, the Spangles still aren't here. The latest in a couple of attempts by television networks to ease out marquee talent, rumors surfaced at NBC was trying to slide Matt Lauer out of the day show that asked perhaps Anderson

Cooper to take over. And rumors surfaced that from ABC, the Barbara Walters was quitting, even though she's maintained she's staying at the view, just leaving the news division, the news division. Barbara Walters, Carson, no stranger to controversy, a couple of years ago, another news person sang a humorous diddy at a dinner, a legend. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's going to conclude this week's edition of the Show the

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