i think he was doing that to his own children. >> coming up next. good evening. i'm belva davis. welcome to "this week in northern california." joining me tonight are lisa krieger, tom vacar, ktvu news. and rachel gordon, san francisco chronicle, city hall reporter. rachel, i want you to explain the scope of the hospital deal and what caused it to fall apart. >> this is a huge hospital deal. $2.5 billion. it was supposed to be the rebuild of two hospitals in san francisco. building a 555-bed hospital for the medical center. cathedral hill at van ness and gary. also to rebuild st. luke's hospital in the mission district. one of the only acute care emergency room hospitals on that part of the city. mayor lee said he came together with a big deal with the hospital in spring. he was ready to go forward with it. money for housing and transit. then the board of superiors got a hold of it and said hold on, not so fast. we have a lot of concerns here. a couple of the concerns, how long would st. luke's be left open? it is used by a lot of poor people. what kind of money would there be for community benefits? huge project will have an impact on the central part of the city. one of the sticking points is how long will st. luke's stay open? the city wanted the guarantee to keep it open for at least 20 years. the memos were leaked if the money is not too good for the hospital chain, they are looking at keeping it open as little as four years. the deal started to unravel. we cannot forget the politics here. one issue is the health care workers and what happens with them. the california nurses association, which we know is one of the most powerful unions in the state, does not like sutter and the national health care workers is not happy with this. >> belva: it is being done because of the risk? >> if you talk to sutter and they say you will put the patients and workers at risk for a very important hospital system and health care system in the bay area. under state mandate, they have to get it rebuilt. they were hoping to break ground in september. that deal at the start of the show was put off until november. the board of superiors is on recess in san francisco for the month of august. they come back and start negotiating and come up with a deal. they might get to the board of superiors as early as november 20th. it may be pushed off later. we have to look at the november 20th date that is after election in san francisco when a number of members of the board of superiors opposed to the deal will be on the ballot. they will probably get reelected. it takes the election-year politics out of the election. >> is there no way they can renovate and build a new hospital there? >> they are planning to rebuild the new hospital for st. luke's. will it be economically feasible for sutter to keep the hospital open? is it needed? if you think about a 555-bed hospital, that is huge. the question is in the health care climate, will that hospital be needed? don't be surprised if sutter comes back and says we have taken the months to recalculate this and do we need the facility? they have the hospital that is the children's hospital at california and cherry and the other hospital up from the filmore district. those are the two hospitals that are vulnerable. they have other sites they operate as well. that will be part of the big development plan. it is a huge deal. it is potentially a black eye on mayor lee if he doesn't get a deal going forward. everyone is taking a breather. >> the reality is, the state mandate is real. you go to the east bay and you see kaiser building hospitals everywhere. if they don't have this built by 2020 and have improvements by 2016, a lot of the hospitals will disappear. this is not some idle threat on the part of the state because of the seismic safety thing is great. they do mean this. >> they do mean this. sutter has to decide if they want to operate the hospital in san francisco. do they have do that? does that help the bottom line? we have a lot of hospitals in san francisco. ucsf is a major player here. san francisco's general hospital and affiliate hospitals. the dignity. >> the number of doctors per resident is very high. >> it is very high. people might want to come to san francisco to get the medical care instead of income a smaller city in the peninsula. >> belva: isn't the whole health care bill to keep people out of hospitals? why would one want to build a hospital if the government's direction or the obama health plan survives is to diminish it? >> people will still end up in hospitals. i have been a kaiser patient for a long time. they do a good job of making sure you keep healthy. people end up in the hospital for a number of reasons. there is another issue at play as well. the city wants to see how they can use their negotiating power to try to contain costs. because cpmc is a big player in the city, it can control health care costs in san francisco. behind the scenes, city officials have been working with them to try to make sure they keep the costs down or keep the costs level so it doesn't put the city's hospitals out of service. there are so many elements at play. land use, labor issues, health care costs. it is all coming together on this one big project and you are right. it is something that kind of tumbled down quickly. >> belva: and then we have the set up and the company that owns them that have different ideas about it. you are talking about how much do we need something added to our hospital beds. >> i want to bring in quickly what they are doing. this is different. what they did when the superiors said put it on hold, they said let's bring in a mediatomediato. you do the hail mary to go to a marriage counselor when you are looking to get divorced. they are looking to see if that person can come up with a solution. >> belva: tom's story will take us to healthy food and we are now in a situation where we have droughts that are threatening the food supply. is that right? >> very much so. as of today, more than 1,500 counties, that is half of the counties in the united states are federally declared disaster zones. this is a big, big event going on across the united states. not in every corner of the united states, but very key places where corn, for example, is grown. corn is not just used for food, but ethanol. since the beginning of the year, the production of ethanol, which is a key ingredient in fuels, is down 20% because there isn't the corn to support that. the national weather service is forecasting the droughts are likely to persist for some time to come. that's why it is now believed that next year we'll be paying as 3% to 4% more for our food. in the processing time it takes to get the corn to the finished product, it will take that long. 3% to 4% more for food likely by this time next year. it is a very significant event. of course, it is raising all kinds of issues. it is directly related to global warming? is it something and aside or difference between weather, which is variable and it gets hot and cold or is this something about the climate? a lot of people will say this is the result of human intervention in the planet and we are heating up the planet about 1.25 degrees from years ago. there are a lot of issues that are involved here. the bottom line, there will be very, very practical consequences in the short-term and long-term because of what is going on. >> tom, what are the practical consequences in california? we have not experienced the severe drought the rest of the country. >> take into account raising the temperature one degree. that has a lot do with dry forests. that has a lot to do with how those fires will get out of control and rage and all that stuff. we have seen more fires this year than we have seen last year and the year before. electricity. you think how does electricity work? when you need more air conditioning, you use more electricity. we have to put more fuel in the power plants which contributes to global warming. it is natural gas that contributes to that. power lines are about 7% or 8% less efficient when temperatures are really high. the other thing that is amazing is and a lot of people don't know this, in major forest fires, while smoke is not a solid, it has solids in it. if it is really thick, it can cause the major power lines to short out and cause very large-scale blackouts. it is believed that by the year 2100, we will have to because of all of this, increase our power output in the state by 38%. that is a huge amount of building power plants and solar plants to fulfill that need. >> this is something we can anticipate and prevent? >> there are two ways to do it. one way to deal with it or the other way is to lead to global cooling or no more increase in that. again, that's somewhat aside and off the subject of the drought, which is a very real thing going on right now. for example, you get very hot weather. what happens? less snow pack in the mountains. less hydro electricity. less water for the fish and farmers and the 25 million people in southern california who depend on that water. those are practical short-term things going on. >> tom, we have had water wars for decades in california. no one seems to come up with the answer. what should we do about it? i know there are demands on congress going you have to do something about that. it has to do with conservation. new technology to harvest the water we have and make better use of it. is there a unified force to say this is serious? will there be political fighting on how to proceed? >> when you talk about individual farmers saying they don't have enough water to do what they need to do, they will fight for that. if you have big cities in southern california that are saying we need this water in order for people to drink and to have some kind of life and that stuff. they will fight for that. this is setting up to be a very large war. that is not to say it cannot be dealt with. it is to say that some of the most powerful forces in the state will be going against each other because there is only so much water out there. >> belva: farmers are the immediate losers. the impact of the loss of crops and the impact of the purchase of feed. all of those things have not hit california yet. >> they are starting to. >> belva: congress had trouble getting through a farm bill this year. >> and insurance is a part of the farm bill to help farmers. >> at the end of the day, you have to say there is a need for so much food and so much water. there is only so many dollars to go around. we have to look at this thing for the serious thing it is. when you have half of your counties in the country that are in a disaster situation, that tells you that this is not just a wake-up call. if you don't heed it, you wonder why food is not costing 3% more, but 30% more. if we don't get lucky and get better weather, which is to say rainy weather and more snow in the mountains. >> belva: listen, we will turn to space. complications down here. maybe we can find something else. >> some place really dry. >> we're looking for water on mars. if we find it, we'll let you know. >> belva: what is the excitement in the scientific community? >> building a pipeline. it is very exciting. thank you for asking and your interest. 10:31 sunday night pacific standard time, we will find out whether our robot that is going there makes it successfully or crashes and smashes shattering the dreams of scientists. what this is doing is carrying some elegant scientific tools to tell us in detail and analysis of what is up there. what is the geology? could it sustain life? mars used to be a very wet place. we now know. there were oceans and currents. there were flood planes rich in minerals. what are the minerals? can we analyze them and come up with a history of mars? in its better days. it is not what it was. >> it is amazing when you think of mars. so many people have imagined what mars is. the green martians. it is red. you look up in the sky. this is the first time. >> it is our closest cousin. it is the most likely place to look to see what may have been there. what we're finding are a lot of the chemical elements and building blocks of life which could be there. liquid water would be critical. there is no sign that is on the surface. where did it go? we need to find out. is it underground? so many questions waiting to be answered. very much hinges on the success of the giant robot. >> belva: tell us about it. the seven minutes of terror. >> thank you. anyone who hasn't seen the video, google it. it is put out by jpl in pasadena. we have this robot hurdling through space at 13,000 miles per hour. it weighs one ton. it is the size of a mini cooper. the pathfinder was a microwave. this is big. headed through space. the atmosphere of mars is very thin. it is not as soft and gentle an entry as it would be here on earth. within seven minutes, it needs to go from 13,000 miles per hour to zero and land gently and this elegant sequence of events need to happen perfectly to land successfully. it involves parachutes and rockets. pretty marvelous feat of engineering. a lot has been invested. i talked to scott harber today. he used to be the lead researcher. he said the mood is of confidence, but tension. a blanket of tension over the confidence. we tested all these tools as much as we can. it is time to get on up there and give it a try. it is really high stakes. >> will this actually scoop things up and get it back to us or it will collect data? >> it will collect data and transmit back to us. how we will find out if it is successful or not is a data stream. it is very hard to get specimens back because you need to build a launch pad or you need to get the robot back which creates its own challenges. there is a lot the data can tell us. they will have a laser that is exploding rocks and do analysis of that. out of nasa, david blake, an engineer in los altos will do chemical analysis. >> belva: how soon will we see images, lisa? >> they say within two hours. we will get some pixels. it will not be lovely initially. we want to know it got there safely. over the next couple of weeks and months, on prettier images, one mega pixel and beautiful panoramas with color and all that. >> belva: a big crowd expected on sunday? >> yes. huge. go to nasa ames. shenandoah mountains. i heard 5,000 people were coming. i'm sure there are more now. >> belva: thank you so much, lisa. wow, what a story. >> a lot of fun. thank you. >> belva: this week marks five years since the murder of oakland journalist chauncey bailey. he was shot and killed by members of your black muslim bakery while investigating the organization. the violent saga is now legendary. many suffered at the hands of yusuf bey sr., the group's leader. one provided testimony of sexual abuse and violence and welfare proud fraud which led to bey's arrest. previously known only as jane doe number one, kowana banks has gone public. her story was released by louise rafkin. now a clip from a web documentary produced for the new youtube channel, the ifiles. ♪ >> when i was 10, my father got arrested and my stepmom could not take care of us. we ended up at the bakery. >> belva: i'm joined by kowana banks and louise rafkin. welcome. >> thank you for having us. >> belva: start by telling us how you ended up at foster care and the bakery? >> i ended up there because my father was arrested for whatever charge, he was arrested. he couldn't take care of us. he took us to the bakery so yusuf bey and his wife could take care of us. >> belva: who was us? >> my sister and brother. >> belva: i see. louise, how did you become involved in the story? >> i watched the story like everybody did. i also live in the neighborhood and i own and run a martial arts school in the former school where yusuf bey had his bakery. kowana told me more about that when we met. >> belva: tell us what happened when you were placed in foster care there. >> let me see. it was a grueling environment. pretty strict. i wasn't allowed to go to school. i wasn't allowed to go outside of the bakery's environment at all. i was somewhat held captive like a slave. i worked from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 at night. i had to do what i was told to do. >> belva: weren't you a child? >> i was a child. a child who reached out to the foster care system. actually the worker and let her know what was going on to see what she was going to do about me not going to school and me working long hours. i never saw a social worker again. >> belva: did she know about the abuse that was going on there? >> she did not know. i was waiting to in fact see what she would do about me not going to school and working long hours. i wanted to see if i could trust her. i already reached out to some of the bey wives and did not get any help. >> belva: explain the bey wives. >> i went to a couple of the wives and told them that yusuf bey was trying to do things to me. nora bey, the foster mom, said he would not do anything to me that he hadn't done to anyone else. basical basically let him know i was reaching out for help. >> belva: at what point, louise, did you learn what was going on behind the scenes? >> well, i think i had read what i had seen in the papers, but i felt in the reporting about the mayhem and murders that the women's stories were really lost. so, i talked to kowana on the phone after a chance meeting. from there, we talked for hours and hours. you know, really learned a lot more about the situation. i think it was clouded in the media as wives and children, but not really given a face. when i met kowana, she was inspiring and positive. i could not believe her story hadn't really been told with a face attached. i was really honored to meet her and be able to tell the story. >> belva: how many years were you the subject of abuse there and what happened to you during those years? >> i was there from the age of 10 until 20. in those years, i gave birth to three children. starting at the age of 13. the second at 15 and the last right before my 18th birthday. i was really settled there because i had no family to fall back on. people asked me, why didn't you leave? i asked them where was i going if i did leave? where was i going? i was a child myself with children. once i started having children, i realized that i had to taper down how i felt about living there because i did not want them to do anything to my children or harm my children. >> belva: did you go to authorities? do you know why there was no police or social service involvement? >> actually i did. i was in the neighborhood. i talked to my beat cop and they told me you see nothing, you know nothing. partially, i think they wanted to protect me from the violence that was really around us. i understand that, but i was a little bit shocked that nobody chased that down. >> belva: were you afraid then and are you afraid still? >> yes, ma'am. i was afraid then. if i wasn't afraid, i think i would have come out a lot sooner. it was because of the fear of me living there and seeing things take place there that i knew i wasn't safe. i did try to stress that with the oakland police department just how dangerous it was in there and what would happen. once it all started happening, was i surprised? no. >> belva: what now that you have come out? what is ahead? do you think something will happen with the officials in oakland? what is ahead for you personally? >> for myself, you know, i am publishing a book and writing a book and looking for a publisher. i opened up a foundation for jane and john doe foundation for abused children and looking to make that grow so when another child like myself is in a predicament like i was in, they have a place to go to get counselling and where they can get housing and help with pursuing the person that hurt them. >> belva: i thank both of you for joining us. >> thank you. >> belva: to see the full documentary of kowana banks, please visit kqed.org/thisweek. we close with images of some of the u.s. olympic winners. i'm belva davis. good night.
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United States , Mission District , California , Oakland , San Francisco , Nora Bey , Lisa Krieger , Jane Doe , Yusuf Bey , Chauncey Bailey , Scott Harber , Rachel Gordon , John Doe ,
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