Transcripts For KQED KQED Newsroom 20140510

Good evening. And welcome to kqed newsroom. Im thuy vu. President obamas threeday swing through california this week taps Campaign Cash in Silicon Valley and hollywoodd. The goal, helping democrats hold on in november. In the south bay, long time congressman mike honda is facing stiff competition from a fellow democrat with hightech ties. And two republicans are among the challengers vying to stop jerry brown from winning a fourth term as governor. Scott shafer takes it from here. Primary elections are often unpredictable. In particular, because so few people tend to vote. Early voting with mailin ballots already landing this week. Joining me is carla marinucci, josh richman, and scott detrow joip joining us from the capitol. Well, folks, the president was in town this week. The last thing he did was an event at a walmart in Mountain View. He was touting green energy. Really didnt go down well with some of the liberal groups. Well, yeah, he use the the walmart in Mountain View to rollout a new Energy Initiative hes going to be pushing. Some new things, new Energy Standards for businesses. Mentioned a lot of businesses that are signing onto some existing programs that already are there. Its pretty significant. But the the venue. The dust up was the venue. He went to visit walmart which is the sworn the very symbol of whats wrong with American Income inequality as far as labor unions and stuch a such are concerned. I think hes willing to take that heat in order to have a company like walmart, the Worlds Largest employer, worlds larmest publicly largest publicly traded company in his corner. Labor was upset. So many different groups and bob rice put on his Facebook Page today, what thats exactly what i was hearing from democrats there and around the bay area who said that this sort of underscored the lack of connection of communication between the white house and some of the grass roots people. They said they didnt have a heads up about it. When they finally heard it was walmart, hoe, he might be talking about wages, minimum wage and issue with walmart. Instead, to come to the bay area, the center of some of the protests with regard to labor and to basically throw it in their face did not go down well. And they said, if he wanted to make points about solar and other things, could have done it in other states. So the main point of him being here was to raise money for democrats. The senate is in the hands of democrats. That could change in november. Whats the message that obama had while he was here . I think significantly here in Silicon Valley, you saw some of the younger hightech entrepreneurs get into Political Fund raising in a very prominent wait signaling almost sort of the passing of the torch, new generation. His message is still the same, which is midterm elections matter and democrats have not been turning out at them. Got to motivate them. And speaking of elections, weve got one coming up in june. The governor this week had a bit of a victory standing with republican and Democratic Leaders announcing a deal on this Rainy Day Fund. What did they get out of it in agreeing to change whats going on in november . Polywise, republicans got basically everything they wanted. They wanted to make sure the fund would be getting new revenue every single year. And the second one was making sure that it wasnt too easy to get money off the fund. They were concerned they would declare a fiscal emergency in order to tap the fund. The way that the deal was constructed, republicans are able to make sure that moneys going into it every single year and that it has to be a budget that has lower revenue than the last three budgets in order to tap into it. Politically you could argue maybe they should have held out a bit longer. What does it say that they folded pretty quickly . Does this indicate that they know hes going to be around another four years . I think thats one way to look at it. There was a telling legislative hearing about the issue where the governor came and testified. A couple of them said, we trust you, but we know youll be here for four more years and thats it. I think that says it right there. So scott, when you talk about the optics for the election coming up in november, this was just taylor made for jerry brown . I think so. Whats the message out of sacramento, a part san gridlock and budget dissas ters. Meanwhile, we do have a couple of republicans who was thought to be a mainstream republican, just the kind of person the establishment gop would like to lead. We have the Tea Party Favorite doing quite well. What would it mean to have him in the rup off. I think the Republican Base is more comfortable with tim donly. I think he got an early start on rallying that bates. He has a legislative track record they can look to and that they generally like. Donnley made a questionable judgment call this past week when he implied that neal was in some way suck coming to or embarrassing sharia law by covering that topic in a seminar. Never mind that hes hindu. Coming back to the race down there in Silicon Valley, a lot of the new tech money is backing mike in the race. The chronical now have come out. Whats going on down there . This is one of the issue issues that mike honda has to deal with. Hes facing a younger challenger who knows the Tech Industry that has like 300 tech leaders behind him. So honda is challenged in trying to show what hes done for tech. And this is where were seeing money coming into the race and a lot of look, the mercury news endorsement, both are things hes going to have to deal with. Before we wrap up, what impact would you say that this top two primary is having in sacramento . Is it evident yet that its bringing more moderates . I think there are a lot of questions. We will be seeing this play on the local level. This will be the first stayed wide time its in play. All right. Scott december troe, josh richman. Thanks so much. Fasten your seat belts. Jose Antonio Vargas was just 12 years old when his mother sent him froth the fill fens. After graduating, his journalism career took off including stints at the Washington Post and the new yorker. But he kept a secret, he was in this country illegally. In 2011, vargas disclosed his immigration status. Now in a film, he chronicals his imbrags journey. I spoke with him, but first a clip from the film, docume documented. The only thing thats happened so far since coming out is my drivers license got revoked which is kind of a big deal because its my only form of governmentissued id. So thankfully the philippine em pacy here in new york gave any a passport. This is a passport i can use as a form of id. Problem is, theres no visa in the passport which means that once i show this to the tsa people at the airport as id, if they see theres no visa in it, they can actually call Border Patrol and they can, i guess, detain me. So i guess well just see if that happens. Jose Antonio Vargas, thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. Obviously a very personal documentary revealing intimate details. Why did you decide to make the film and what do you hope it will achieve . The hope is to how do i humanize an incredibly political issue that has been played political football with for decades, right . The goal of the film is to make it personal and human. I was just kind of hoping it wasnt me. Originally i was directing the film. I was going to document on young undocumented people. Like a journalist. Like a journalist. And then the film became more personal. Once it went down that route. It was all in or dont go at all. Theres an emotional scene in the film when you see your mom for the first time in 20 years. On film. Because you havent had the papers to travel. Yeah. And so youve had to see her for the first time via skype. Yeah, so she cant come here. Shes on a 16year waiting list to come legally. Thats why she cant come here and i cant leave because i wont be able to come back. So she and i meet on skype. Which was a very painful, almost kind of liberating thing to do. You know, because i mean, how do you explain not seeing your mom for 20 years. Like, i could not have written that as a writer. How do you think these personal moments will affect the immigration debate . A thousand people get deported every day. I make a film. Im trying to humanize the issue and expose the complexity of it and whats really at stake. Immigration has always been about families. Its also about being legal, about having documents. Absolutely. Immigration reform is stalled in strong right now. You have attracted a lot of critics. To many, youre illegal, you repeatedly broke the law, they think you should be deported. Actually, im glad you brought that up. To be in this country without papers is actually a civil offense and not a criminal one. So calling me illegal is actually factually inaccurate. More so than that, what other issue in this is there any other issue in which we refer to a group of people as illegal . This is the only issue, right . So theres that. Of course, i understand that im here illegally. Im a student of american history. Sometimes i wonder when the irish after the potato famine came here and crossed the border, they didnt have any papers. Did we call them criminals too, right . Whats the difference . I mean, again, this is a question that ive been asking americans since i travel around the country. And this is a question that is partly exposed and asked in the fi m. Another question people might be asking also is how are you still in this country . Youre several months too old to qualify for the policy of deferring deportation to undocument immigrant whose came here as children. How are you still here . When i did this, i had talked to like 27 lawyers. So i like any reporter, i reported it, right . Which then i prepared myself for the worst. I prepared my family ft. Worst. I was prepared to be deported. What i was not prepared for was silence. And thats mostly what a got from the government. I called ice, i said, i havent heard from you, what are you planning to do with me. There was the federal government rejecting californias undocumented imdprants next year. Florida is expected to join 19 other states allows undocumented immigrants to get instate college twugs. Do you think this is how it will happen . Well, i mean i think given the congressional dysfunction and partisanship were seeing its an election year, so i think there is going to be a lot of waiting still to happen. And i do think that states, especial especially states with huge immigrant populations, like california, texas, we need to figure out how are these other states going to actually alleviate the struggles happening with all the undocumented immigrants in their own states. You say youre now shifting from the politics to the culture of the debate. What do you mean by that . So i have done about 200 events in 42 states, visited a hundred or so krej colleges. The conversation on this issue has been stuck in the u. S. mexico illegal border conversation. My job as a film maker is how do i unpack that and make it about peoples stories. Well be working with the Writers Guild of america in l. A. And try to figure out how can we better integrate immigrants in television and films. Thats really the goal. How do we help people do that. And change the conversation through pop culture. Pop culture, media, absolutely. Okay. Thank you, your film opens in bay area theaters may 15th in san francisco. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. California air National Guards man ed drews job as a gunner on combat search and rescue help k079ers is one of help continuers is one of the most dangerous in the mail tear. He was inspired to make something lasting while he was there in case he didnt return. By reviving a long lost art, he would end up making history. Scott shafer narrates our story. When i grew up, my life wasnt easy. My mother worked all the time. I really had to learn on my own how to hold myself up. Photography is one of those things that i used as a vehicle for selfexpression because felt in my heart i was an artist. Working out of a makeshift darkroom, ed drew is putting his own spin on a 19th century art form. I like ten types because its not something simple. You have to set it up and be really physical with it. You cant just click. Youre basically making a photo on a piece of metal. Youre expoedsing it, developing it and fixing it all right then and there. The portraits reached the height of their popularity during the american civil war. Inexpensive, durable and relatively simple to make, they were the first portraits available to the masses, including hundreds of soldiers heading off to battle. Sometimes these are the last images that their friends and families would ever see of these individuals alive. Ed is no stranger to the risks of combat. He searched in the military since he was 18 years old and is currently an aerial gunner for the California Air national guard. When he was deployed last spring, he brought his camera along. The whole idea came from the faculty was going to afghanistan. I wanted to record the people i worked with in the most humanistic way possible. I wanted to focus on these combat rescue individuals. I would do it in between mission. Sometimes i would get called out, so i would have to drop everything and immediately sprint out to the aircraft to do my job. Drews were the first to be made in a combat zone since the civil war. This is my copilot. My ten types for afghanistan were about the timelessness of war. How its followed us and will continue to follow us. My purpose is not to glorify anything. Its to celebrate people because were all essentially just human. Its usually cloudy out here, right . When i came back from deployment i was a little frustrated because i had purpose over there. I got back and i kind of had to fill that void. How i did that was i had very specific idea that i was going to use by art to show the beauty of people. I wonder if that would be a better tool. Now hes working with atrisk youth at the garden project. Katherine directs the program. Her students learn job and life skills through organic farming. Young people that work with us every day are the people who live in areas of the city where theres a lot of crime, a lot of poverty. They manage to overcome all that. They are understanding that they have a future. Right about there. Yeah. Thats perfect. The reason i chose these young adults is because theyre making something of themselves. Theyre going to college, but theyre also learning money here. He hopes he can help shatter negative stereotypes that often follow young men of color. Hows that . I wanted to capture them this way to show other people that theyre not what you think they are. Tell me about yourself, man. Me, honestly i go to school right now. So im taking business classes. And on my free time, i write music. Nice. What do you do . I do it all. I like to hear his story. Its not just about me taking a photo and walking away. Its also, what do you like to do, the ease in which he feels around me is whats going to make a strong portrait. Thats nice. Do you like it . Yeah. Good, good. Im glad. Yeah, were going to do it. This is where you have to be a statute, man. Theyre really reflective. Its a really slow process. They have a really good way of evoking peoples humanity. Theyre exposing themselves. The kind of photography that ed is doing with us is particularly meaningful because it has that historical reference. After the experience of slavery, many folks have said, oh, gardening isnt for me and i thaik that eds taking pictures of us using this older way, its come full circle. The garden is now a place that can uplift and not just hold you down. And hopefully his pictures can depict that in a way that touches people to help them see it. I think the imperfections of it is what i really enjoy. And i think its a great analogy for life. Lie life is not perfect. Whether they have a little spec on. T5n them or a streak of sil. You accept the image just like you accept the person. Joining me now for a look at whats coming up on kqed news is scott schaeffer. Governor jerry brown reach add deal this week with the gop to put a rainy day proposal on the ballot. Hes going to put up the may revised. Whats the connection there . The connection is this is budget season. We got a report this week from the state comptroller who said we have 2 billion in extra heavy knew. So the Rainy Day Fund is almost a good will thing, the governor and republicans and democrats coming together talking about fiscal responsibility. Just sets a tone for the budget negotiations that will begin in earnest. And also this really gives the republicans something good too. They can come in and say, hey, this is one of our achievements as well. Absolutely. This is one thing theyve been talking about. Theres another report that came out this week that said that california has 340 billion in liabilities for retiree pension and health benefits. So the rainy day deal is part of that agreement to deal with that. Yeah, its something in it for everybody. Also looking ahead to next week, monday, is Silicon Valley mowing l is expected to testify in court in a lawsuit over his decision to close Public Access to a pri teen beach. Martins beach. Its been a hidden gem along the coast there. Surfers like it. Theres always been a path way down there that people could access the beach. When he bought it a few years ago for 38 million, i think, he put up a gate and prevented people from going down. So the only way to access is by a boat essentially. So theres a lawsuit that Surf Rider Foundation documentation is putting forward saying its a violation of the California Coastal act. In california, the coast is public property, no matter where it is. So this is going to be in court. He will be testifying. Hes scheduled to testify monday at 3 00. Its this bill anywhere versus the sdr billionaire versus the surfers. And hes the cofounder of sun mike systems. It comes in the discussion were having about the haves and have nots and so it becomes a focal point in the way like the google buses did. Its an important statement this judge is going to make about who is the coast for. It will be interesting because its the first time he will actual have to testify in court. Hes avoided it for quite some time. All right. Thank you. For all of kqed news coverage, please go to kqednews. Org. Thanks for joining us. Im thuy vu. Have a good night. Announcer funding is provided announcer funding is man its like holy mother of comfort food. Ion. Woman throw it down. Its noodle crack. Patel you have to be ready for the heart attack on a platter. Crowell okay, im the bacon guy. Man oh, i just did a jig every time i dipped into it. Man 2 it just completely blew my mind. Woman it felt like i had a mouthful of raw vegetables and dry dough. Sbrocco oh, please. I want the Dessert First [ laughs ] i told him he had to wait