Soledad im soledad obrien. Welcome to matter of fact. When one of the deadliest wildfires in history raced through the tiny town of paradise, california, last november, it killed 85 people and burned nearly 15,000 homes. The town lost about 90 of its population in the aftermath. It was once home to 26,000 people. Now its estimated between just 2,000 to 3,000 remain. So the question is now is paradise lost forever . Our correspondent Jessica Gomez traveled to paradise and found a community of people resilient and ready to rebuild. I mean, everybody has seen a burnt down house, no one has seen a burnt down town. I think if you watched a movie about the end of times, thats what this town feels to me like now. Like the apocalypse happened. Its just horrific. Jessica paradise, california, a town stopped in its tracks last november 8. The sounds of charles and Rachel Rogers life, crunching under their feet. Like most here, they lost everything. Wow, the ipod. Jessica with no renters insurance, theyre starting from scratch in yuba city. Charles its the simple things now. Our walls are bare, we have no pictures, we have nothing. Jessica most here now are cleanup crews. From above, their work seems insurmountable. Miles and miles of ash and rubble. Six months after the fire, fewer than 4,000 of the 11,000 properties have been cleared, and thats just the first step. Daniel you have to clean their property, you have to sample their soil, you have to make sure they have water, that their sewage system is still operating, theyve got power, before we can even think about putting people back on their property. There is my old sleeping bag. Jessica maureen curtis, finally moving into a new femailer a nearby campground. Shes one of the lucky ones. Hundreds more are on the waiting list. Maureen imagine moving 14 times in four months when you have lived 23 years in the same spot and you have nothing because everything burned. Debbie coming up here again today, its not easier. Its devastation. Its heartbreaking. Jessica woody and Debbie Stearns say they dont have the time to wait for the remains of their dream home to be hauled off. Theyve already bought a new house in red bluff. Woody i couldnt live here again just surrounded by those memories and the way it used to be, because its not going to be there anymore. Jessica for those left behind, daily struggles. The water in paradise, still not safe to drink. Tammy spillocks home was destroyed. Her mothers, one of just a few in her neighborhood untouched. Tammy i call it being in the bubble. But as soon as you go outside, reality hits that you know this is where we live now, so its difficult. Jessica tammy, a realtor, bought the burnedout lot behind her moms house and plans to build there once its cleared. The state says that could take up to 18 months. Tammy it takes nine months to build a home. So 18 months plus nine, so we are at 2 1 2, three years, thats a long time to be in limbo. Number one is safety, they want it safer. Jessica at town listening sessions, concern those who want to move back, wont be able to afford the cost to rebuild. Surveys, permits and talk of new, safer building codes, many here were underinsured. You have to keep going. You have to. Jessica but mayor jody jones acknowledges, paradise will never be the same. Mayor jones we are trying to do everything we can, but we cant build peoples homes for them or give them the money to build their homes, and i know that is hard. Very hard. Not everyone will come back to paradise. Jessica jones says the town is applying for federal grants to help subsidize some of the rebuilding costs, and every day, more paradise businesses are reopening. Thomas sinclairs auto body shop is up and running. Thomas as long as i can pay the bills and not go under, i will stick it out. Jessica sticking it out. Surrounded by reminders of what was lost here and finding optimism in what paradise could one day become. When you think about this twobedroom place youre going to build right behind your mom, do you feel hopeful and optimistic that paradise will come back . Tammy i think it will come back one home at a time. It will be beautiful again. And i think if you, you know, have a little hope, youll see it. Jessica in paradise, california, for matter of fact, im Jessica Gomez. Soledad california fire investigators say the states largest utility provider pacific gas and electrics powerlines sparked the deadly fire. Next on matter of fact a dire warning for our way of life. Governor brown weve got to stop the Global Warming or else its going to be the end of civilization as we know it. Jerry brown led the nations fight against Climate Change. Is anyone listening now that hes retired . Plus, with the world at war their romance was unthinkable and illegal. Alexis he approached her and said you should know my name. Im the man whos going to marry you. How this africanamerican nurse and german priso nurse and german priso upbeat musieverything was so fresh in the beginning. [sniff] dramatic music but that plug quickly faded. Upbeat music luckily theres febreze plug. It cleans away odors and freshens for 1200 hours. [deep inhale] breathe happy with febreze plug. Your but as you get older,hing. It naturally begins to change, causing a lack of sharpness, or even trouble with recall. Thankfully, the breakthrough in prevagen helps your brain and actually improves memory. The secret is an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Oh, come on. Flo dont worry. Youre covered. dramatic music and youre saving money, because you bundled home and auto. Sarah, get in the house. Were all here for you. All all day, all night. dramatic music great job speaking calmly and clearly everyone. Thats how you put a customer at ease. Hey, did anyone else hear weird voices while they were in the corn . No. No. Me either. Whispering voice jamie. What . My bladder leak underwear. Orried someone might see so, i switched. To always discreet boutique. Its shapehugging threads smooth out the back. So it fits better than depend. And no one notices. Always discreet. Soledad in 1989, california got a wakeup call about Climate Change. A call it didnt answer. The California Energy commission issued a report saying the build up of heattrapping gases in the atmosphere would likely bring more droughts, more floods, more fires, more heat waves to the state. Fast forward 30 years and those projections feel prophetic. Former governor jerry brown became a force fighting Climate Change during his time in office. And since leaving office in january, he says he still plans to bring awareness to the issue. I recently had to chance to sit down with the former governor. So governor brown, nice to have you. Governor brown well, really nice to be here. Soledad nice to see you. Many years ago, i think its 25 years ago, we ran around lake merritt like jogged. You and i when i was a reporter in oakland and you were a fast runner and i was not. It was a very short run for me at least. You were the youngest governor the state elected at age 36 in the 1970s. And also youve left the oldest governor and state. People sometimes refer to those different eras as jerry 1. 0 and jerry 2. 0. What did jerry 2. 0 know that jerry 1. 0 didnt know . Governor brown well, heres the key point. If you live long enough and youre making decisions you can see a decision five, 10, 20, 30 years later. So it gives you a sense what works and what doesnt. So i had a more sure sense both of seeing problems finding solutions and picking people early picking people to work with me but also knowing how to treat people, get along with people. Well, i can tell you this 16th year as governor, i knew a hell of a lot more than the first year. Its just its just a fact. Soledad youve been out of office since january. What do you do with your free time . Governor brown well, its all free time supposedly. Well, i have a ranch. Ive built a home off the grid. And were planting corn and tomatoes and cucumbers and i have an olive orchard. Were getting ready for our third harvest of olives to make olive oil. Its called Mountain House olive oil. So im doing a lot and i was also working on the Nuclear Threat initiative and the bulletin of atomic scientists to try to get russia and the United States to reduce their nuclear arms and forge some intelligent agreements and im working on climate with china. China and the university of california. So between Climate Change and nuclear soledad and your tomatoes and olives. Governor brown my tomatoes, and my corn and my olive oil. Actually its busier than being governor. Soledad do you think a progressive stance on Climate Change impacted the economy in california in a big way . Governor brown in a positive way. Well, we have Renewable Energy , Renewable Solar and wind and other renewable sources of electricity, power over 30 of our homes and our businesses. It will go to 60 in 10 years. So we have to help california but whatever the impact on other states, weve got to deal with Climate Change or the rising temperature, the increasing disruptive storms, the fires, the Infectious Diseases will be far more costly both in human suffering and just in plain old ordinary business failure. Soledad california today has a much bigger surplus, is doing far better than we were doing in the 1990s. Governor brown the side of our Economic Growth is the affordable housing. Theres so much money circulating around in so many different ways of getting a mortgage that people bid up the price of housing. So its off the charts. Now having said that, weve funded our schools so we direct more funding to lower income schools, and i would say the highspeed rail, that that will happen. It may take a couple years. We may have a few more bumps in the road. Well, when people wake up to the fact that america is going down a path of being a secondrate country that cant build Renewable Energy facilities and highspeed rail, we have to clog our freeways with gas guzzlers, people i think will wake up in californias effort at trying to build this thing for the last 40 years will be fulfilled. Soledad do you miss politics . Are there days on your farm that youre like, you know what, id like to put a suit on and go into sacramento and have some meetings and me running stuff . Governor brown i didnt mean to put this suit on, i did it for you. Soledad we appreciate it. You dont miss it, not one minute . Governor brown no. But we are facing existential threats the danger of nuclear blunder, accident catastrophic. The same thing is happening with Climate Change. Weve got to stop the Global Warming or else its going to be the end of civilization as we know it. The big threats are bigger than ever. Their probability is not by any means zero. So its real. Now, are we going to get through it . I think its a hell of a challenge. Its very exciting and im working on various aspects of it. So i get a very good one. A lot of energy. Lets get at it. Soledad governor brown, nice to see you. When we come back, enemies in love. An africanamerican nurse and a german p. O. W. Could their illegal love last a lifetime . Plus, is this government approved design for new airplane seats really an upgrade . Soledad today one in six newlyweds marry someone outside of their race. Thats a steep rise since 1967, which is the year the Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage in the landmark case loving vs. Virginia. But two decades before that,there was another forbidden love story that would test the boundaries of americas tolerance. Elinor powell was an africanamerican and a nurse during world war ii. Because of her race, she pulled a secondclass assignment, which was working at a german p. O. W. Camp in arizona. Army leaders put the black nurses with the p. Ow. S to avoid the risk of romance. They didnt think the prisoners would find the africanamerican nurses attractive, but an unlikely love story did unfold. Frederick albert, a soldier in hitlers army, fell in love with elinor. Journalist and author alexis clark uncovered this story. I sat down with her to talk about her book, enemies in love. Its so nice to have you with me. Alexis thanks for having me. Soledad so how did they meet . Alexis they met in the mess hall at the prisoner of war camp and frederick was a cook at the time and this was during one of the lunch or dinner. And so elinor enters and frederick said that it was like he was under a spell. He approached her and said you should know my name. Im the man whos going to marry you. Soledad so you write about this book and one of the things thats so strange and thats very, very romantic. But lets remember frederick is fighting in hitlers army and elinor is a black woman and were talking about the 1940s, so sort of everything is wrong about this in every which way. Was frederick not ideologically aligned with the nazis . Alexis so he just was a soldier drafted like anyone else who had to be drafted. So he didnt hold those views. Soledad how did they grow their romance and their relationship while one is a p. O. W. And one is working under pretty not great conditions . Alexis he was kind and they basically started to fall in love when he volunteered in the hospital and through their own flirtations or sometimes he held classes, baking classes, she would attend. And he made her feel very desirable and wanted. And they actually just fell in love and then would be together in secret. Apparently word got out that he was seeing her and he was punished severely, beaten. So that was the irony. That it really wasnt about that he was being with an american. He was being with an africanamerican. Soledad once the war ended. They were able to make their relationship, uhm, struggling for the word because its not really official, because alexis of course not soledad interracial marriage would be illegal until 1967. Alexis correct. She becomes pregnant and hes deported after the war ends just like all the germans, p. O. W. S, they are sent back. And so she returns to her native town of milton, massachusetts, as an unwed mother pregnant with a german prisoner of wars baby. But that was their plan because they knew hed have a greater chance of being able to return to support his child. And thats exactly what happened. Soledad eventually they moved back to germany. Alexis yes. Yes. Soledad why . Alexis he was the son of a very prominent engineer who had a company. So he was being positioned and groomed to take over. And because they struggled for housing, to find jobs as a mixed race couple soledad in the United States. Alexis in United States. So they moved back to germany and his parents. Large, beautiful home. And it was a terrible experience soledad i was going to say elinor was not welcomed. By his family. Alexis by his family and just even the town at large. They just were so unfamiliar with blacks in general. I mean they saw the black g. I. s who were, you know, in the occupation. But as far as this white german from a very wealthy family bringing home a black wife, i mean, it was just unheard of. Soledad the book is a great look at that chunk of time in american history. Its called enemies in love a german p. O. W. , a black nurse and an unlikely romance. Alexis clark, so nice to have you. Alexis thanks so much for having me. Coming up next is the Education Department breaking the law when it comes to Student Loan Debt . Plus, can this seat new sichuan hot chicken. For a heart breaking limited time only at panda express. Soledad now to a weekly feature we like to call were paying attention even if youre too busy. More than 180,000 applications for loan forgiveness are piling up at the Education Department, and no one is doing anything about it. Back in 2016, the Obama Administration announced a program to forgive the loans of students who attended fraudulent forprofit schools. The rule was supposed to take effect in july, 2017, but by then President Donald Trump was in office. His education secretary betsy devos repeatedly pushed back the repayments and rejected about 99 of applications. And the few applications she did approve were already deemed forgivable under the Obama Administration. So she included a note to the borrowers that she approved the cancellation of the loans with, quote, extreme displeasure. Last year, a federal judge ruled the delays were illegal. But still, no borrower has had their request approved or denied in more than a year. So whats the hold up . Education Department Officials say lawsuits are slowing down the process. Last month, the American Federation of teachers filed a lawsuit against devos for mishandling the program and violating borrowers Constitutional Rights by rejecting applications without due process. Theres no timeline yet for when the department of education will start reviewing the 180,000 pending applications. When we return standby for an upgrade, to the middle california phones offers free specialized phones. Like cordless phones. phone ringing big button, and volumeenhanced phones. Get details on this state program. Visit right now or call during business hours. And accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. Like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. phone ringing get details on this state Program Visit right now or call during business hours. Soledad finally, you may get a little more elbow room if youre stuck with a middle seat on your next flight. The f. A. A. Recently approved a design featuring a wider seat. A startup in colorado called molon labe is behind the s1 space seat. Instead of being side by side, the seats are staggered. With the middle seat a few inches lower and slightly behind the aisle and window seats. The company says this arrangement will give passengers about three more inches of space. Oh, three whole more inches. Doesnt sound like much, but the seat offers more elbow room because people in the middle row use the back end of the armrest while folks in the aisle and window seats use the front end. Of the arm rest. The f. A. A. Approved the upgrade to the middle seat in june. But will have to sign off on how each carrier incorporates the seats into its cabin. The company says one airline has already placed an order, and its in negotiations with two other airlines. Theyre not disclosing the names. So were on standby get it for the news. Thats it for this edition of matter of fact. Well see you next week. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] robert handa hello and welcome to Asian Pacific america. Im robert handa, your host for our show here on nbc bay area and cozi tv. Today we are featuring some fun entertaining events that celebrate the diversity of our bay area community. We start with a unique global event happening here in the bay area. Check out this combination the World Buddhist womens convention, partnering with the yerba buena gardens festival present american bon dancing. Those of you who have been to a bon festival know what kind of dancing that were talking about. The event also celebrates the introduction of bon dancing in the us 88 years ago by reverend yoshi iwanaga and today his daughterinlaw, bay area obon dancing legend, reiko iwanaga, will join us. And then we go on to the big upcoming Silicon Valley pride