We begin with an issue thats been a real drain on our states resources, water or lack thereof. You see, california farmers had had to cut back, and the impact is huge. More than half of the countrys fruits vegetables, and nuts are grown right here. With fierce competition over a finite resource fingers are being pointed. Enter the one crop thats taken the brunt of the blame the california almond. Sam for california farmers, you can say that life has been well, kind of nuts these days. Plants in fields are thirsty without much water to go around. So it makes sense for critics to start searching for a scapegoat. But is americas numberone snack nut shown here in video provided by the almond board of california really as bad as its cracked up to be . Lets look at a recent report from the bay areabased Pacific Institute that draws on years of numbers from the department of water resources. It shows almonds and pistachios are actually tied for fourth in water intensity, the best gauge of water use for the states thirsty crops. They average about 4 feet of water. Above almonds on that list, rice, alfalfa, and pasture. Rice and alfalfa average around 5 feet of water although alfalfa can get all the way up to 6. Take one look at the data, says uc berkeleys Dennis Baldocchi and youll see that almonds are unfairly getting a bad rep. Dennis baldocchi these trees produce very valuable crops, both economically and also nutritionally. And so, this is why almonds, i think arethey shouldnt be demonized as they should. I guess the biggest question we need to ask our society is, how many acres and how many tons of almonds do we need given the precious water that we have statewide . Sam the number of almond farms has steadily increased nearly doubling in the past decade. But other waterintensive crops, like alfalfa, take up far more real estate in california. Alfalfa feeds livestock to support californias number one agricultural commodity, dairy products. Or it gets shipped overseas to countries like china and japan. Bottom line, there are far more egregious water wasters among californias crops, but almonds still rank as californias number two agricultural export. And california is the worlds leading producer of almonds. Not a bad bang for the buck, says baldocchi who would like to change the script on these popular nuts. Dennis solutions to these problems are more complex than simple bromides, almonds are bad or almonds are good. We have to really think more carefully about what crops you want to grow, and how much water theyll use and what are the true costs of this. Sam the almond board of california says that when you account for factors like soil type and rainfall the crop really only needs about 3 feet of water per acre, not 4. Either way, almonds do require a lot of water theyre just not at the top of the list for california crops. In a very similar vein state leaders want to preserve more than water. Theyd also like to protect our air quality. Governor brown has set his sights sky high for california matching the most aggressive carbon cutbacks in the world. Is this plan achievable, or is the governor setting us up to fail . Jerry brown ive set a very high bar, but its a bar we must meet. Sam governor jerry brown is taking california into rarefied air, or at least cleaner air. Lets roll the tape back. There were 10 million fewer people in california in 1990 and yet despite that big bump in population were aiming to get back to 1990 carbon emission levels in the next five years. In fact, that goal is already state law. Now governor browns widening the scope demanding california slash those 1990 levels another 40 within the next 15 years, matching the most aggressive standard in the world. Is this madness, or muchneeded faith in californias climatechange policy . Daniel kammen this is basically saying we need a new Industrial Revolution. The last one took about 150 years. Now, we need to do it between now and 2050. Sam dan kammen is a Global Expert on Energy Policy who says california can meet this goal but getting there means majorly increasing our use of wind solar, and other Renewable Energy sources and then figuring out how to maximize them. Daniel finding ways to do these things together is really kind of the magic of california innovation on the technical and policy side, like electric vehicles charged up by solar wind, and other renewables. That means that you win twice over. Thats literally a winwin strategy. Sam californias already plucked some lowhanging fruits to bring carbon levels down, things like cleaner cars and stingier fuel standards. And the reality is those measures have had an impact. Check out these numbers. According to the air resources board, californias Carbon Emissions were 493 in 2004. Thats million metric tons, or mmt, how its measured. Skip ahead to the most recent data in 2012 and it shrunk to 459, or more than half the distance we need to go to actually beat the 2020 benchmark of 431. So, california is ahead of the climate game, at least for now. But as abby young with the bay area air Quality Management district is quick to point out it gets a lot tougher from here. Abby young we are already starting out as a fairly clean state. We have fairly Clean Electricity production. Were good at conserving water and conserving electricity. Now it means to get that additional reduction, we have to start turning over a lot more stones and really digging down. Sam and thats where you come in. Most energy is consumed in buildings. And the bay area has plenty of older homes and offices that stretch back centuries and arent exactly energyefficient. Hitting the governors mark, a National Precedent starts really in your living room. What can you do . Set up solar panels, retrofit your homes, and take advantage of rebates. The reality is we are on track to meet our first cleanair benchmark. But getting to a new Industrial Revolution in the next couple of decades, that would require every person bay areawide, doing something to move us along. We are just Getting Started right now on this edition of reality check. A recordbreaking feat, or was it . We ask the experts if steph curry really deserves the crown for most consecutive threepointers. And later. Female of course, the first thought right away is ew, yuck. Sam local Water Districts are touting recycled sewer water as a great way to tap new resources during the drought. But is that water safe to drink . We test the claim. [music] hey foster farms looks like you left these two west coast birds behind foster farms chickens california grown. You guys arent from here. Wrong we love yoga and sunshine and stuff. Well foster farms chicken has no added hormones. Well i wish you didnt have any added negativity ha high five yeah hes not going far. Theyre local. Introducing fresh and natural chicken. California grown with no added hormones. From foster farms. Simply better. Recently with comments about mexican immigrants and crime. Then, a San Francisco shooting made it a national conversation. Is there a link between immigration and crime . And if so, what is it . We dug into the data to find out. Donald theyre bringing drugs theyre bringing crime, theyre rapists. And some, i assume, are good people. Sam in a stunning sequence, donald trump struck a nations nerves with remarks on immigration and crime, then localized the pain after a bay area woman died in what police termed a random shooting linked to an undocumented immigrant. Donald were talking about crime. You saw what happened the other day with the young lady in San Francisco, its a disgrace. Sam while the Community Grieves for kate steinley, many latinos question the connection between the pier 14 incident and immigrant crime. Angela franco theres great businesses theres hardworking people, and making such a generalized comment reallyi dont think its respectful. Sam do trumps criticisms contain any truth . We consulted close to a dozen studies many that looked at 30 years of u. S. Census data. Sure, the leftleaning groups found lower crime rates among immigrants, but so too did the nonpartisan pew research center, which concluded firstgeneration immigrants have much lower crime rates than nativeborn citizens. One study from a university of Chicago Crime Lab expert pinpointed migration patterns and then crime data. His findings . A one percentage point rise in immigrants led to a 13 drop in rape, a 2 drop in murder, and a nearly 20 rise in aggravated assault. So what does it mean . Aaron chalfin when we think about whats driving crime we definitely dont think about immigration on a list, like, thats pretty wellsettled. Sam stanfords Robert Weisberg agrees. He points out a spike in immigration that began in the early 90s had a surprising result. Robert weisberg that period maps perfectly onto the most dramatic Crime Reduction in modern american history. Sam trump might be talking up immigrant crime but the facts suggest one does not drive the other. Many in the Republican Party are singing a softer tune, nationally and locally. Howard epstein i think he should have toned it back. You know, wetheres a problem along our border we need to seal our border. I dont have any problems with mr. Trump saying that. But its the way he said it. Sam we move now to a lighter note. It has been a banner year for this guy and the warriors. Star guard steph curry has the hardware to prove it a league mvp award and a championship trophy. But currys legacy has also grown with feats like this recorded at practice video of him making 77 consecutive 3pointers. Now, his teammates say that that video is authentic. Assuming thats true, is it a record . Whatever you do, dont sleep on this guy, thats fred neumann. Hes a 60yearold Computer Programmer and an amateur shooter who sunk 209 3s in a row back in the late 90s. Heres that video. Now, its almost three times as many as curry made. Allworld shooting expert Ed Palubinskas and a fellow member of the National BasketballShooters Association says marksmanship like this is not about luck or athleticism, it is straightup science. Ed palubinskas that takes that little blink of selfmastery because none of us are built perfect shooters. Were not robots, but we can become robotic through the mental process. Sam robot or not, neumann did something historic. But palubinskas revealed a catch here. Neumanns 209 consecutive 3s came from the highschool 3point line, a whopping 3 feet shorter than the nba line which means curry is still 3ball king. And oh yeah, hes mvp too. As these athletes work up a sweat with the basketball, the rest of us regular joes work hard for our money. Coming up next. Male we have kids children, and Health Insurance and Life Insurance we need more money. Sam a new overtime pay law could impact more than four million middle class employees nationwide so says the president. But will it have any impact here in Silicon Valley . And water down your drain and back into your faucet. Is the local proposal to turn recycled water into Drinking Water a safe one . Eeeeohmumohweh hush my darling. Dont fear my darling. The lion sleeps tonight. [snoring. ] hush my darling. [snoring. ] dont fear my darling. The lion sleeps tonight. [snoring. ] take the roar out of snore. Yet another innovation only at a sleep number store. Well, you should get paid. The president rolled out a new overtime policy aimed at qualifying more middle class workers for more money. But how many people would actually benefit here in the bay area . Sam tucked into the hills of Silicon Valley sits the golden land of opportunity, trademarked by Companies Like tesla, twitter, and the rest of the technology titans. Silicon valley rocks the perception of being, well, rich. So when president obama trumpeted a new plan to boost overtime pay for millions of middle class workers, some here might have rolled their eyes. I mean, how many people could the proposal really affect . We did find some optimism. Layla sabourian i worked a lot of overtime hours to put myself through school and things like that and so im glad to see there are laws like that protecting people. Omar bashir i think its great. I mean, people are going to spend money. I mean, you know, we have kids, and children, and Health Insurance and Life Insurance. We need more money. Sam but whos getting all this newfound money . Heres white house domestic policy director cecilia munoz. Cecilia munoz under this rule, if you earn 50,000 or less and youre a salaried worker, you would be eligible for overtime. Five million workers will receive the benefit of this in the first year of its implementation. Sam okay, fact check time. In the u. S. , the white house highlights 4. 7 Million People that would become eligible for overtime benefits under its proposal. California boasts the highest number of any individual state 420,000 people. Well, thats odd. We had russ hancock and our friends at joint venture Silicon Valley crunch some numbers for us. And california has 4 Million People who make between 23,000 and 50,000, or the salary you need to qualify. And only a tenth of them would actually get more money. Sam is that a significant change . Russ hancock its not significant, no, its not. Our president s trying to help people, we understand that. This is not going to make a significant dent in the situation of california, certainly not in Silicon Valley. Sam ah, yes, Silicon Valley. What about workers here . Thats the second part of our fact check. In Silicon Valley, joint venture found 157,000 people who make the necessary salary to qualify for ot. After you discount for hourly workers contract workers think about uber drivers and those who already receive overtime how many would you be left with . Likely only 15,000 people. Sam when you talk about 15,000 people if we keep the same ratios that are going to see 15, 20, 25 more per hour of overtime that they work, is that enough to give a jolt to the local economy . Russ no, absolutely not. Youre talking about the most rarefied economy in the United States you could say the world. I mean, this is a prodigious regional economy. Its the epicenter of the tech phenomenon. Sam the reality here, only a fraction of workers in Silicon Valley stand to benefit from the president s policy. But plenty need the help. The median wage in Silicon Valley is almost identical to the national one, but our average wage is much higher because there are a lot of hyperrich people and a vanishing middle class, the same middle class the president is trying to reach. Well, in another national issue, kentucky senator rand paul said he was advocating for everyones privacy rights when he took the senate stage for ten and a half hours back in may calling his performance, quote, a filibuster aimed at pushing back on nsa power. Was it . Heres the reality. Rand paul i think we can obey the constitution. Sam rand pauls twitter timeline helped fuel the hype for a heartpounding filibuster. Theres plenty of standwithrands, calls to end nsa illegal spying, and this introductory video. Rand ive chosen to filibuster the patriot act because the patriot act is the most unpatriotic of acts. Sam at 1 30 paul tweeted, quote, ive just taken the senate floor to begin a filibuster of the patriot act renewal. Rand my voice is rapidly leaving. My bedtime is long since past. Sam and paul did speak for ten and a half hours. He just didnt hold up any legislation before a vote, the very definition of a filibuster. Larry gerston he could have talked about the colors of the rainbow. It didnt really matter. There was no bill up for the senate to consider that day. Sam according to accounts from journalists present like this one from the daily beast, he addressed, quote, a nearly vacant room. All those empty chairs you see behind rand paul look a lot like the empty chairs that you dont see. Larry he was talking to tv cameras and he was talking to those people interested in knowing more about rand paul. He was talking about those people who might be interested in voting for him downstream. Sam pauls goal, to force the government not to renew several portions of the patriot act that would continue to give the nsa broad power over collecting your personal information. Rand i relinquish the floor. Sam and paul achieved his goal. The u. S. A. Freedom act recently became law, only after lawmakers stripped out the nsas ability to collect bulk phone data. Senator paul basically dictated the terms of negotiation. He just didnt use a filibuster to do it. Okay, coming up next after the break. Female its cleaner than whats coming out from our sinks right now. Sam would you drink recycled water . We take a sample straight to the lab to find out if its as safe as billed, next on reality check. Talking about water. The drought has local leaders searching for ways to recycle, and the idea of toilettotap could soon become reality. But is that water as clean as advertised . Silicon valleys regional wastewater facility probably looks a lot like how youd picture such a plant. Big vats of swirling water, mechanical bridges, winding hoses that hold the key to our water future. The rushing green tide coming from our drains sinks, and yes, toilets, in all 110 million gallons of wastewater per day, repurposed and returned to the San Francisco bay, and eventually, sooner rather than later into your drinking cup. I know what youre thinking. Dawn ross of course the first thought right away is ew, yuck. Randy drabman i think its very important to be proactive especially when were in a crisis. And were in a crisis now. Elenia hofler i guess if its treated and properly processed, it probably isnt a problem. Sam the reality is most people we spoke with raved about recycled water as a tremendous resource if its treated properly. So is it . Thats our fact check. All that wastewater that we just showed you that went to the wastewater facility . Were going to politely call that gunk. That gunk water has gone through a primary process and a secondary process that lasts 10 hours long and removes 99 of the impurities. This is what youre left with after that. This water then goes to an advanced Water Purification center. Were going to take you there right now and show you how it works. Pam john we want the public to come see this technology. Sam pam john of the Santa Clara ValleyWater District is guiding us through whats basically a public fishbowl, the largest Water Purification center in Northern California in san jose. Pam john 0. 1 microns. Sam so its tiny . Pam very tiny. Sam john shows us microfiltration where fibers block out viruses and bacteria. Sam so, microfiltration is the first step . Pam correct. Sam reverse osmosis pam second step. Sam which people joke about all the time, but apparently thats a real thing. And thats the second step right here. Pam thats right. Sam reverse osmosis clears away the salts and smaller viruses. And ultraviolet light treatment disinfects the water without using chemicals. What youre left with is a product that looks immaculate. But we wanted to know for sure. So, the Water District provided some samples, packed it up in ice, and we rushed it to an independent lab, testamerica in pleasanton. We cant show you the delivery. The company asked not to be filmed inside. But the results . For the primary test, e. Coli and fecal bacteria, the lab found a most probable number of less than two, which is basically undetectable. The other exam, for total organic carbon or contaminants, yielded an nd, no detections. What do the results mean . That water purified at the Santa Clara ValleyWater Districts plant would be more than suitable to drink if you can get past your initial gut reaction. Sam is that end product as clean less clean, or cleaner than whats coming out of our sinks right now . Pam its cleaner than whats coming out of our sinks right now. Sam because its gone through so many processes . Pam correct, correct. Sam and we will continue to follow that story as we move closer to drinkable recycled water. If youd like to see more indepth stories like these, check out our webpage, nbcbayarea. Com realitycheck. We tackle issues every day that affect you. So, please email your tips to sam. Brock nbcuni. Com. That will do it for this edition of reality check. Thank you for joining us. Dont forget to check out our 6 p. M. Newscast during the week to see more stories. Im sam brock, have a great night. [music] cc by aberdeen captioning 18006886621 www. Abercap. Com ben adventure in babysitting ben adventure in babysitting. Welcome to access hollywood, Weekend Edition im liz. Us weekly cover story claims ben is dating the family nanny that Jennifer Garner had fired. Is there any truth to this or is it all nanny nonsense . Is this the new woman in bens life. Us weekly head license dating the nanny claims the apartments is yes. Meat christine 28yearold allegedly hired by ben and jen this spring after the couple was already separated. Unnamed sources say the atrack started right away and she was there for him when ben and jen finally anuns the split publicly. Our sources say no romance ben coming out guns blaze blazing denying the story. Its complete garbage full of lie we are told and shouldnt be able to hide behind blind sources and attemp to destroy family going through difficult time. Its like story time in kindergarten. Shameful. We are considering legal options. We read the full statement to us weekly entertainment director ian drew. We had the denial if our story. We, its very clear to reach out to them and give them