steve lopez is a columnist for the "l.a. times" who recently published a four-part series on child poverty in l.a., focusing on the stories from telfar elementary school, where nearly a quarter of the student body is homeless. many live in motels and garages. they have little to eat and nowhere to do homework. they're victims of rising housing costs. we sat down with steve lopez, continuing our ongoing initiative about poverty, jobs and economic opportunity in america called "chasing the dream." >> steve lopez, you did a four-part series on child y?ol.nt months looking at one >> i was curious about how it could be that california could have the fifth largest economy, in the world, not in the nation, but in the world, yet about 20% of the population living in poverty and when you break those numbers down, it means there are about 2 million children in california living in poverty. and one day i bumped into the superintendent of los angeles unified school district. and he was new on the job and i asked how it was going. and he

"los angeles times" reporter steve lopez on hiseporting and the surprising reader response.

one minute i am free and the next minute i am being told i cannot leave stop georgy lopez and steve gilbertnced life sectioned under the mental health act. georgie had an eating disorder when she was 16 and was detained forfour and disorder when she was 16 and was detained for four and a half years. the mental health act is used to ca re the mental health act is used to care for people when they pose a risk of causing harm to themselves oi’ risk of causing harm to themselves or others. and it gives stop is control over their patients treatment. at times georgie was restrained, fed through a tube and forcibly sedated. she describes it asa forcibly sedated. she describes it as a mixed experience which at times left her and her family feeling powerless. my parents tried endlessly to stop the restrained, to stop the medication, i could barely say my name, speak to them when they came to visit stop not only is that damaging, it's not a productive state to be in recovery either. the book from ethnic minorities are four times more likely to be sectioned, steve has periods of mania and depression f

applause ] ♪ >> steve: from studio 6b in rockefeller center in the heart of new york city, it's "the tonight show starring jimmy fallon." tonight, join jimmy and his guests -- jennifer lopezrobert klein, musical guest j balvin, and featuring the legendary 7-ots crew. >> questlove: 9- austin! >> steve: and now, here he is, jimmy fallon! ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: oh that is a hot crowd. that's a beautiful hwd tonight. welcome, everybody. welcome, welcome, welcome to "the tonht show." [ cheers and applause ] you made it, you're here. you guys, tonight was the big results show of "the voice" right here on nbc. it's pretty intense. singers with the most votes advance to the finale. while e singer with the least votes has to be white house chief of staff. it's a very interesting twist. [ lahter and applause ] a new twist they did this year. yeah. that's right, president trump is still looking for a n chief of staff. he says he wants someone that he likes that will gossip with him. [ laughter ] and his aides were like, "mr. presint, what you are describing is called a friend." [ laughter and applause ] "tell me more about these things called friends." but trump's hav

one minute i am free and the next minute i am being told i cannot georgy lopez and steve gilbert havehe mental health act. georgie had an eating disorder when she was 16 and was detained for four and a half years. the mental health act is used to care for people when they pose a risk of causing harm to themselves or others. and it gives doctors control over their patients treatment. at times georgie was restrained, fed through a tube and forcibly sedated. she describes it as a mixed experience which sometimes left her and herfamily feeling powerless. my parents tried endlessly to stop the restraint, to stop the medication, i could barely say my name, speak to them when they came to visit. not only is that damaging, it's not a productive state to be in recovery either. people from ethnic minorities are four times more likely to be sectioned, steve has periods of mania and depression from his bipolar disorder, he was detained after shouting at a friend in the street. two female police officers saw someone who looked like me screaming at a white middle—class woman. i think they thought i

steve: he's a delight. >> jimmy: oh, plus -- we love her. she is starring in the musical "rent" on fox and in the new film "second act" with jennifer lopez. pping by. >> steve: oh. [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: and we've got great new music from grimes, everybody! >> steve: whoa! [ cheers and applause ] "we appreciate power." hey, guys, earlier tonight was the semifinal round on "the we love the people on "the voice", adam levine, kelly clarkson -- sure, give it up. blake shelton. [ cheers and applause ] jennifer hudson. but we wanted to do something fun with them. so the roots and i teamed up with the cast of "the voice" to sing an a cappella medley of some of their biggest hits. it was a lot of fun. check this out. ♪ bop bop bop bop bop bop bah buh dabba ♪ spending every day in the pouring rain ♪ with the broken smile ask her if she wants to stay a while ♪ ♪ well i go like ♪ this love has taken its toll on me she said goodbye ♪ ♪ baby if you treated me right then you won't y ♪ ♪ she's got a way she's got a way with words ♪ ♪ you can park your car in the driveway i'll park my truck in the grass ♪ on the front porch kiss my country ass

steve will object. [laughter] kennedy's just defend terms. kennedy says in lopez that regulating guns in school zones, regulating guns and a specific way, this is not a traditional matter of state concern. but you can't say the same thing about the effort to control drugs nationwide, whether it is a product of the war on drugs or not. drugsl efforts to control that flow easily across state lines is something the federal government has been trying to do for a long time. youou are looking at -- if define it super specifically, maybe the provision of medical marijuana as a traditional matter of state concern, maybe you cause a problem for kennedy. otherwise, it flows naturally from what he says in lopez that he will not interfere with the federal government, at least as long as they stick to their previous knitting. i would add,nt, with respect to accountability, i think the public generally understands who it is that is making their marijuana illegal. in that case in particular, the sheriffs were there with the feds until they realized that rach and munson were poss

applause ] ♪ >> steve: from studio 6b in rockefeller center in the heart of new york city, it's "the tonight show starring jimmy fallon." tonight, join jimmy and his guests -- jennifer lopez

steve coogan in "stan and ollie." >> i already got one of those. >> not like this one you don't. >> reporter: that trident, those pants. "aquaman "aquaman.." >> my parents made me what i am >> reporter: jennifer lopez in "second act." >> thank you for coming in, maya. >> okay. thank you. >> reporter: set in 1987 with haley stein feldstein again displaying true grit, this transformers spin-off is cute as a bug called "bumblebee." steve carell in "welcome to marwen." >> i've created a world where i can heal. >> reporter: and sandra bullock battles horror in "bird box." meanwhile oscar minded audiences can check out "if beale street could talk." a different look at stardom with natalie portman. >> i'm worried about you, mom. >> you'r me? >> reporter: on the animation side a fresh take on a familiar superhero in "spider-man: into the spider-verse." for "good morning america," chris connelly, abc news, los angeles. [ applause ] >> great movies out there. a lot of options. we have a magical holiday performance when we come back. [ applause ] >>> merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> hey, everybody, i'm garth brooks and happy holidays. [ applause ] >> i'm jessie j. and me and everyone here is wishing yo

lopez gets some careeecd t. you for com >> yeah, okay.87 with hailee steinfeld again displaying some true grit, this "transformers" spin-off is cute as a bug called "bumblebee." director robert zemeckis helped stevel say "welcome to marwen." >> i created a world where i can heal. >> reporter: and sandra bullock battles unseeable horror in "bird box." meanwhile, oscar minded audiences can make a point to seek out director barry jenkins' "if beale street could talk." "vox lux" a different look at music stardom with natalie portman. >> do you mind if i get a quick picture with you? >> mom, i'm worried about you. >> you're worried about me? >> reporter: on the animation side a fresh take on superhero in "spider-man." chris connelly, abc news, los angeles. >> and "aquaman" is on a roll, made more than $11 million mas eve surpassing $500 million globally. >> big movie. >>> hi there. good morning. it is wednesday, december 26th. thanks for joining us. we hope you had a lovely christmas. >>> yeah. we are back in action. we have the full crew. you are never more than 7 minutes away from the accuweather forecast. >>> yeah. don't show me another piece of food. >> i know. >> my goodness. i can't wait to get

lopez in the title role. no word on who might be cast as selena or when it might be released and steve carrell sat down with ellend most recently he was hit by a car. listen to him retell the experience. >> i was riding and it was pretty fast road and i made a turn and i didn't see the car behind me and they hit me from behind. so i went up over the handlebars and it's a weird experience because everything just slows down and i just -- i thought, well i'm going to tuck and roll and i rolled and i got up and i was fine. and the woman who was driving the car jumped out. she was distraught, obviously. and i went over to her and my bike was sort of stuck under the front of her car. she's saying oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, it's steve carell and she was so excited that she hit me. >> i wonder if she got an autograph after that. ellen gifted him with a special safety vest and helmet to ensure that he can be seen when out riding properly. >> thanks. let's get a check of the weather. >> quick show you what we have going on. milder afternoon in the southeast and mountain snow as this front comes in and low pressure di