Transcripts For KGO ABC7 20240703

First, the head of education in california is setting his sights on the Governors Mansion. Youre watching getting answers. Im kristin zee. The Gubernatorial Race is still three years away, but the field of candidates is already getting more crowded. Yesterday, state school superintende Tony Thurmond officially announced he is jumping in. Im tony thurman and im running for governor to be a voice for those who need one, because california may be working for millionaires and billionaires, but for the rest of california, we need real change. Thurman joins two prominent democrat who announced earlier Lieutenant Governor eleni kounalakis, former state controller and current California Democratic Party Vice Chair betty yee. Abc7 has invited them to join us in conversation in the near future as well. Joining us live now to discuss his entry into the race to replace Governor Newsom when newsom turns out is superintendent Tony Thurmond. Tony, good to see you. Good to see you, kristin. Thank you. I guess this is not a surprise, at least to me, because last time you were on, you implied you were thinking about it. So youve decided now, obviously. Why do you want to be governor . You know, i love this state and its been good to me. But our state is going through many challenges and i think we have to address them head on. You know, homeless illness, a lack of Affordable Housing and the crime and safety and ive been on a mission and service here for 15 years. And i believe that i have the experiences necessary to help our state get better. And i hope that the voters will give me that opportunity to do so. But why you are there are things in your personal experiences, in your life story that you think brought you to this moment as the person most suitable . Yeah, i think that ive had more experience than any other candidate that will in working on things like building out housing programs. I also have a number of accomplishments that i would appoint to, but at the end of the day, i do feel that my personal story is someone who has had to overcome hardships, like losing my only parent to cancer when i was six. You know , growing up without my dad, who was a vietnam vet who never came home from the war, and being raised by my cousin, who i didnt know until i showed up on her doorstep and being raised when we didnt have food in our household, you know, on government cheese and food stamps and free lunch, all those things, and getting a great education propelled me to becoming a social worker to help others and to serve in politics. And i want to make sure that we provide the opportunity for all californians, you know, who are struggling. And so i do believe that my personal experience, the accomplishments that ive had and my experiences working in government will allow me to serve the people of our state. Well, do you see any real substantive differences, though, between you and the other democrats . Like so far, its Lieutenant Governor kounalakis and former comptroller. Ye. But many people expect state Senate Pro Tem toni atkins or attorney general rob bonta to jump in as well. So substantive differences or do you think its actually pretty similar . Its just a style issue. Theyre all great people and we probably would vote the same way. But this isnt about voting. This is about providing leadership on very difficult issues. And next month, im leading a program thats focused on how do we reduce crime and safety in our communities. You know, were seeing young people and a spike in juvenile crime in the communities in the bay area, for example, in other parts of the state. And im leading a program where well use things like paid internships to give young people an alternative to engaging in that. I would also say a big difference is im the only candidate whos actually worked in a city to increase the number of police who serve our communities to make them safer and have plans for how we can do that on the state level. You know, ive launched programs to provide housing to Homeless Youth and ive built Affordable Housing in my time as a legislator and a state superintendent. I think these are all experiences to build on. At the end of the day, im asking the voters to say were not just looking for someone whos a friend, but were looking for someone who demonstrates a track record of accomplishments, who shows the grit and the leadership to help lead our state Going Forward and can bring people together. Our state and our nation is so divided right now, and i want to bring people together in ways that will help us help the 40 Million People who live in our state. I want to talk about that Division Just a little bit. But i do want to ask you a little bit more about some of the issues. Right. Because obviously, youre the schools chief. Never before has the Governors Mansion been occupied by someone who came from that role. And you mentioned having touched on housing ing homelessness, right, in your prior and current roles. But what about other things that involve a governors leadership, like the economy stimulating businesses, bringing them in, working with other countries even, and also climate initiatives, very important as well. You know, i have very strong track record of environmental accomplishments. You know, Climate Change is real and the legislation that i authored closed idle oil wells and got polluters to pay big fines so that they could take care of the environment, much of that benefiting the bay area in particular as it relates to the leadership aspects of it. You know, ive already reached out to a number of Business Leaders across the state say lets Work Together. Yes, we need revenue for programs, but we also need to make sure that we can create a climate to keep business here, because keeping business here means jobs. And thats the way we will close the lack of Affordable Housing challenges that we have by making sure that people can afford to have housing. And then, of course, ill work to say, lets streamline permitting so we can build more units and get our working class and our middle class folks into housing. Ive actually done it. Kristin and i have a blueprint for how to expand it. I want the opportunity to keep doing it. Its a great state, but were facing big challenges and we have to come together and ive spoken to Business Leaders, to labor leaders and so many have said, were excited to work with you to tackle the big problems that our state is currently facing. But i want to ask you, why should people all entrust you with running the state . Because there are those who might point to, for example, pandemic learning loss. Right. That hasnt been rectified. And others will point to californias student test scores in math and english. And theyre far below the targets they are. And im not ducking that. Our children suffer during the pandemic. But, you know, i stepped in right away when we discovered that there were Million Students without computers. How could that be . When we have Silicon Valley and so many technological advances and so im not someone who just talks about things. I go out and i do it. I secured a million computers. I secured 6 million for broadband that we are now building out all across the state. So in all over the country have impact, have been impacted by learning loss. But california is doing more than any other state to get them in a better place. Were providing, you know, preschool for every three and four year old universal meals, a secured funding so we can recruit 10,000 counselors to help our students whove experienced depression. An were working to make sure our students get access to steam education. An and things that will prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow. Im saying that lets move forward and find a way to support our students and you know making sure that they learn to read by third grade. And im providing initiatives to help make that happen. And were excited to work with our business communities, our parent groups, our educators to continue the work that our students need to overcome whats really been decades of lack of achievement. Im putting it on my on my shoulders and saying that we will get this done in my remaining three years as state superintendent, and id like to then move into the governors role and continue that work because were overcoming what has been decades of lack of achievement for many of our students. Im not going to make excuses about it. Im saying we can get it done for our kids, but there are certain things that we need to be able to do and i hope to be able to do so from the seat of the governors office. You mentioned the division that were currently facing right now, and anyone, even in the governors role will have to be able to balance the values and the opinions and the hopes of different groups of people. Right lets talk about the culture wars that were seeing. How would you balance the needs of parents and students, conservatives and liberals on issues such as gender identification or gender neutral bathrooms . You know, ive reached out to many, even those who have a different view than me, to say we can create balance when it comes to meeting the needs of parents and meeting the needs of our students. I wanted to set the record straight. There is no effort underway in any California School to subvert the right of parents. The board majorities that are bringing these policies to force our students have made up an argument, and its really just to disguise that theyre bringing a bigoted, you know, agenda, a kind of a maga, extremist agenda against lgbtq kids. Its heartbreaking. And its sad because people have lost their lives. In our state. Weve had someone killed because she put up a pride flag that doesnt reflect the best of what our state has to offer. Ive been clear in my message that we have to come together to support young people, even when we disagree. And everything about my career demonstrates that ive been bringing people together to work on tough issues. And this is the same what i wont do is i wont stand by silently when there are those who are threatening young people and putting them in harms way. And the reality is these force outing policies have been shown to contribute to higher suicide rates for many of our lgbtq plus students and higher runaway rates for students who are rejected at home because of their gender identity. Im bringing forward a policy that protects students but says, lets work with parents. Of course im a parent. I support parent rights and i know that we can all Work Together as as education leaders, parents and students to find balanced policies to support our students. Please work with me here because i know i only have about 30s left. But and this may be a bit of an unusual question, but i would like to ask it of each of the candidates that we have the pleasure of chatting with who should not vote for you, well, i think that id like to have the votes of everyone in the state. We dont have to agree on every single policy, but were all californians. And that means that we should come together. And i would ask those who are beginning to think about who they might want to support to say that this is a candidate who has experience, who has passion, who has overcome personal obstacles and wants to bring everyone together to provide great support for folks in the bay area, bay area, and for 40 million californians in our great state. All right, superintendent Tony Thurmond and candidate for governor in 2026. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Many people trying to get drug treatment in San Francisco are being turned away. The intake rate is around 50 for the citys largest detox center. Our media partner, the San Francisco standard, tells us why thousands of women with Metastatic Breast Cancer, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. Ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for adults with hr her2 Metastatic Breast Cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole. Ibrance may cause low white blood cell counts that may lead to serious infections. Ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs. Both of these can lead to death. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening chest pain, cough, or trouble breathing. Before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are or plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding. For more information about side effects talk to your doctor. Be in your moment. Ask your doctor about ibrance. Ingrids proposal is clashing with the complex realities of San Francisco drug crisis and this emotional issue is leading to outbursts at city hall. But you get believe no ones asking you to leave, to stop until you and the board of supervisors begin to handle how black people are dying in San Francisco. And you always that at a hearing today. Meantime, a new article out today in the San Francisco standard is exposing some of the obstacles to connecting drug users with treatment. Joining us live now is staff writer for the standard, david jostad. Hey, david. Hi. Thanks for having me. Yeah, absolutely fascinating. Your article uncovers an issue involving San Franciscos biggest drug detox center. What was the headline there . Yeah, the headline is that for a long time, the department of Public Health has touted these data points that show how the wait to get into the citys detox programs is roughly one day, which would, you know, be pretty good if somebody could show up in that day that theyre getting into to detox programs. But critics have for a long time suspected that maybe the department wasnt quite tracking everyone who maybe wasnt making it through that intake process. The data that we got yesterday day shows us that about half of the people who are walking into the door never actually end up getting admitted into the program. What are some of the factors for that . Yeah, some of the factors are that for one, these intake processes are are long and when people are coming in, theyre often desperate. They could be having cravings for whatever drug theyre addicted to. You know, maybe they dont have all day to spend at at the detox and it may be hard to conceptualize for people who havent dealt with that. You know, this is such an important thing. You should be there. Take care of it all day. But people arent necessarily in their right mind and they might, you know, decide halfway through or 90 through or, you know, theyre almost there and they might decide to just leave, to go get their last high or to, you know, return to the streets. And so thats one reason. Another reason is that some people might just not qualify. Theres a lot of different reasons, allegations around whether people can come in with psychiatric conditions if they have other Outstanding Health issues, then theyre usually transported to a hospital, which then can complicate things further. So theres just a bunch of different ways that somebody can get caught up even after theyve actually presented themselves to this treatment program. Yeah, and i guess some of those seem more solvable than others, right . You could hire more staff, for example, to get the intake paperwork. All that done sooner. But the requirements, you know, changing them or, you know, that could be a little more difficult. But regardless, a lot of people who had the intention of seeking treatment arent getting it. So did you talk to, i guess, health right 360 about this to see what they think the solutions are . Yeah. You know, theyve been saying for quite some time now that they didnt feel they had enough Staff Members to meet the demand. If you look on the citys website right now, theres zero beds available for men and i think eight beds available for women in the program, which considering the scope of this crisis, is not a lot but health right based said that yes, its a staffing issue, but its also an issue that we need to be able to actually hire a new type of employee that can kind of advocate and stick with patients throughout the intake process. So say somebody wants to do, you know, even go get that last high, maybe that person goes with them and tries to, you know, make sure that once they do that, theyre then , you know, coming back to the program and the program is not losing them at that point. We have about 30s. But id like to know if youve talked to city leaders and if theyve offered up some solutions or things that they want to look at . Yeah i mean, it sounds like theres going to be a hearing come end of next month and were going to get some more answers on exactly how the city can, you know, improve this process. And when i talked to supervisor rafael mandelman, he said thats about his only recourse at this point. All right, david acosta, thank you so much for that really, really interesting article. Appreciate it. Thank you. And you can check out davids story and more of the San Francisco standards other original reporting on their website. Sf standard. Com abc seven. Well continue to bring you more segments featuring the Standard City focused journalism. Look for that twice a week right here on getting answers at 3 00. All right. When most people think of ballet, they dont think of oakland. But a poignant movie combines both and tackles some of the biggest issues impacting the bay area. Up next, a renowned ballet dancer joins us to talk about her not as prima ballerina, but as the star and producer of a new short film that shines a light on the homeless crisis in oakland. Television news for you, everybody. I got disconnected. So there we go. Now i can hear again. Super excited. Sorry about that, folks. The star and producer of flower, Misty Copeland, who in 2015 became the first ever africanamerican woman principal dancer in the history of the prestigious american ballet theater. To see now i have to embarrass you on camera because i ran out of time on video. But joining us in the studio is Misty Copeland and the director of flower, lauren finerman. Lauren and misty. Welcome thank you. Thank you. You guys just landed right . Just flew in for the premiere tomorrow in oakland. Yes. Yeah, but its so exciting to be to be back in the bay, to be able to show it to the community that we made it for. I know, i know. Can i just ask you, the premiere tomorrow night, is that something youre still inviting people to come see it . Okay. So paramount theater, brown theater, and its in conjunction with oakland ballets season opener, right . Yes. What a great ballet company. They do great stuff. But this documentary, its not a documentary, but it is actually based a lot on your own life with the protagonist. Right. Tell us about it. The story. Yeah. I mean, i think that there are some similarities, but that wasnt really with the idea in mind. You know what we wanted to do was to take this structure and concept of what a ballet is , is what movement and the power of dance and movement is in storytelling without any dialog. And so we thought, okay, we want to do this in a contemporary way, focused on an issue thats important and relevant to so many communities. And my husband is born and raised in oakland, california, and so i spent a lot of time here and have fallen in love with the community and just felt like there were important issues that we could really dive into. And i grew up experiencing experience being, you know, not how housing insecurity. So its definitely something that i could relate to and draw from with my character in the film. You know, i didnt know that, and i think that was surprise. A lot of people who follow your ballet work, how do you train and become so excellent in this field when you are experiencing the insecurities . Yes. I mean, this is why we wanted to make this film, because its about opportunity, access, showing whats possible. I was given scholarships. I started out at a boys and girls club. Thats where i took my first ballet class. But this you know, what better way to bring in, you know, the access than through film, you know, for people to be able to see it in this way. And its not in a theater. And not that were taking away from that experience, but its an introduction to kind of whet the appetite. So this is the first project of your production company, right . Yes. Life in motion. Amazing. Lauren, the only voices in flower are actually those of three unhoused individuals. Tell us why you made that artistic choice and what theyre able to tell us. Its a part of the film that we get the most incredible feedback for because i think that you dont even notice that the film is silent as youre watching it because theres so much happening both in dance and physical acting. If you think mistys great on a ballet stage, you should see her in a movie. Shes a really incredible acting and we made the choice to give a voice to the voiceless and it felt really important that we showed authentic stories and that we didnt cast actors to try to tell a story, that we were making guesses on or not able to tell authentically me. And we worked with a really wonderful organization and were able to bring their voices to the center of the story. Theres a lot of amazing dancing, not just by misty wright in the film, like by amazing bay area talent. Yeah, it was really important that we that the community was telling the story. I mean, even lauren, she spent many years living in oakland and we, you know, we wanted it to be, again, like the community telling the story. Raphael saadiq composed the music from oakland, rich and tone, who are incredible, you know, world renowned choreographers from richmond, baba johnson, who is, you know, dances with alonzo kings lines and has lived in the bay for a long time. And then the turf dancers that, you know, are really, i think, bringing the oakland vibe and, you know, and helping to tell the story of what oakland is going through now. Yeah. And shine a light on the problem and get some attention and hopefully a lot of folks rolling up their sleeves right by the way, i think youll be back in december after this premiere back in the bay area for holiday heroes. Thats the annual party here at oracle park to fundraise and give joy to underserved kids in the bay area. And youre getting the inspiration award for your social activism and storytelling through dance. December 12th. Folks who want to go can check it out. Wonder. Org. But i want to ask you about that social activism and being recognized for it as an artist. What does that mean to you . You know, to me, this has been my lifes work to exist in a company where youre the only, you know, i spent the first decade of my career as the only black woman. And then to reach this incredible height of becoming a principal dancer, to me, like that wasnt enough. You know . Like, to me, its about using my voice and my platform in the best way that i could. And, misty, youre doing an amazing job. Youre an inspiration. Im sorry. We got to go. Were going tonight, several breaking stories as we come on the air. The fighting behind closed doors. No signs of an agreement tonight. The potential Government Shutdown now two days away. Millions of americans, including military families and Border Patrol officers and their paychecks at stake. In new york city, the major storm moving in. And the fentanyl discovery just blocks from that day kafr. First, the countdown to this looming Government Shutdown tonight. Two days. Abc news learning federal agencies will begin