>> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc7 news. i'm kristen sze on "getting answers." we ask experts every day at 3:00 to get answers for you in realtime. so today, we have a very special guest. w. kamau bell. he needs to introduction but do it anyway. see how i'm getting funny by osmosis? no, thank you, thank you very much for that courtesy laugh. he's born in palo alto, social activist, comedian, author and host of the emmy award winning "united shades of america," welcome to the program. >> happy to be the kelly to your regis.

>> i thought you were the regis and i was the kelly. >> no, it's your show. i'm the kelly. >> that's true. you're lovely, kelly. >> we have a lot in comment. i'm surprised we didn't scare you away after two months ago but so happy you're back. we can talk about anything, right? >> i think so. we'll see what happens. >> so we will. tackle that in the next half hours. >> i'll see what i can do. i can't promise what the viewer thinks. >> you are such a trusted voice and perspective, that part written by my producer. by i do think that's true. and let's start with the hottest question in the presidential race right now. so joe biden, the presume democratic nominee expected to

name his running name any time now in the next few days. do you agree with those who say biden must pick a black woman? >> yes, yes, i do. i think that by not picking p black woman, it would be more about who he's picking than not picking. the base of the democratic party, black people, one of the strongest bases, doesn't mean we agree everything with the democratic party does but the base of the democratic party. has made it clear we want a black woman to be picked. weird racial things. a black woman next to him, might go like this, hey, joe, don't say that. >> i want to get to some of the comments in just a little bit. i want to know who's your pick. we have several black women on

the short, short list. kamala harris from oakland, of course, but we also have val demings, susan rice, keisha lance bottoms and stacy abrams, also on the list. but also non-black candidates still on the list. elizabeth warren, tammy duckworth, veteran, formidable and half thai. who would you pick? >> you know, they all have their strength. i like stacy abrams because she's from the south and one thing with a vp candidate, you want them to bring something that you don't have. she's a black woman and in the south, which means we can speak to southerners of all ralss in a way that joe biden may not be able to. black people from south carolina but stacy abrams being a black woman from te south adds something significant to the ticket. and also stacy abrams.

>> i apologize for forgetting karen bass. a lower profile and that is part of the conversation. but you know, quietly, a lot of people also support her as well. i want to switch to kanye. >> let's be clear, hold on. nobody thought obama was going to pick joe biden. that was like, i know it seems like it's a million years ago, but i don't remember joe biden being on the top of anybody's list. that pick came out of nowhere. so i think that, in the same sense, a lot of times, remember when dick cheney picked himself, the committee to pick george w. bush, i think i found the right guy. >> i put you in charge. who'd you come up with? >> staring me right in the mirror.

>> several republican governors trying to help him get on the ballot in the states. what do you think is the kanye effect? can he really steal away black votes? >> all kanye can do is be a distraction. i don't really believe anybody's going to get him on the -- he's missed a couple of deadlines. i don't think the work is going to be done to get him on the ballot. i think it becomes a distraction and talking point and that's all they need him to do. it makes sense some republicans push him in that direction. he was recently, not long ago, wearing the maga hat. his wife has been open about mental health struggles. someone who's clearly having mental health issues publicly, and why it's probably not the best idea for the person to run

for president. i think we have to have a better way to talk about mental health. >> absolutely. i agree with that. when you mention kanye, that's full proof, the african-american community is not monolithic. >> the only people who think the black vote is monolithic are white people. every black person related to a maga supporter or a conservative uncle, every black person knows a conservative in their family. only outside of the black community they think it's monolith monolithic. >> in this week, as you know, you referred to a joe biden comment. in fact, just going to play it for you first and then talk about it. >> when you all know, unlike the african-american community with notable exceptions, latino community is an incredibly diverse community. with incredibly different attitudes about different

things. >> biden said that in a group of hispanic and black journalists. what do you make of it, what do you think he really meant? your head shaking. like why? >> i think it's how he's defining diversity and i think he's defining, what he was probably meaning to say is that latino people come from all different countries and can be all different shades. i think he probably meant country of origin is a point of diversity, but either way, that's not how you say it or diversity is defined. as i've said before, two other people, the thing with joe biden right now is that a little bit of joe biden goes a long way, and i understand why they're being careful with his public appearances. if he just starts riffing, things like that fall out. like what he said to the black reporter, are you a junkie?junk?

no, joe. joe biden is like ointment, don't want to put too much ointment on it because it gets over everything. >> so you can rip, that's what you do. but how do you know it's racism? you've done that show, do you think it was racist when the oakland a's bench coach ryan christi christi christianson made the gesture that looked like a nazi salute when players came back to the dugout, hum? >> we're all being watched, especially in a privileged position, ten times as much and especially with sports, that's one of the only things on tv you have to be aware at all times. whatever's in your head, you have to be aware how it's received. we're in the 21st century. especially if you're going to put your hands up in the air, like, just be aware of how you're doing it, and you may not

have meant to do it but doesn't mean people don't have the ability to be offended by it and be able to apologize and explain when people receive you as messing up. people get away with so much if they say oops, but we're afraid of oops. we want to dig in. >> not you, but that's another story all together. we know that, you and me. education, defunding police, and over on the live stream, i want to help me figure out if a

we're back with w. kamau bell, host of united shades of

america. father of three kids. that part is important. i want to talk about education. we focused on back to school distance learning in the bay area. we look like simpatico. we're like obama and biden to each other because your most recent united shades episode was about social inequity and education. do you think covid worsened the inequity you already saw and showed us in such, you know, depths? >> yeah, i mean, i think, like, this is, again, things can be two things at once. i understand how parents who have privilege and resources would go, i'm going to set up perfect learning environment for my kid in my house, order desks, strengthen my wi-fi, find other kids that we can team up with, part of my kids, learning pod. i get where that comes from. what it inevitably does,

to keep up with their education. the inequities with across acrs american society, some covid pods, learning pods are sort of going, wait, we need to make sure we invite kids into this, so we can take care of our community while we take care of ourselves. >> angel investor on our show yesterday said he was going to do that. he got a lot of flak for saying, we'll match whatever salary offer you get and also offer the scholarship spots, don't widen the gap, because we've been to public school, private school, predominantly

white school >> my experience between public school, when i was in public school, sometimes depends on what the smarter classes, because i've been to the private schools. i knew i had to take a standardiz standardized, and what i found was that, the expectation of success that is not always in public schools. every kid stays on track. and they don't generally make as much as the public school teachers but generally have more resources.

therefore you need to give every school teachers sure as we start with distance learning, that we don't widen the gap. okay. i want to move to ethnic studies. california is moving to require that in college and governor newsom deciding what form would take. that's a huge positive step? >> all about who's teaching the class. >> you? you want to volunteer? >> i'm a little bit busy, but i think a lot of that stuff is like, it sounds good in theory, but who's teaching the class? are you giving that to a math teacher? hiring staff who are studied and degreed in these subjects

who knows, let's debate. >> both sides. both sides. >> it's like, are you going to let somebody be an approach that actually makes way for new history and new stories, shows america what it is, very flawed country from the beginning. >> it's in the execution. we talked about ally ship a lot in the news. what's your idea of allyship? >> at this point, allies, one of the co-founders of black lives matter, also lives near the bay. our past allies, time for co-conspirato co-conspirators. allies stand on the sideline like this, and then literally get arrested with you, get some dirt on you. you can't just be, i change mid avatar to black lives matter.

it has to be i donated with black lives matter, marched with black lives matter, actually called my neighbors out who are against black lives matter. i've engaged in conversations. actually, you have to do the work. that's the thing. get the windows or the, that would have been a revolutionary act when trayvon martin was killed by george zimmerman years ago. if immediately, the nba and nfl wrote black lives matter in the court, you'd be like, what? and then it's great now, but also, what else are you doing? it has to be a continuing conversation. >> i hear you. i'm pretty sure you've done comedy shows on this topic too, but what are things people should not say to their black colleagues, friends or strangers. >> you're black but you're not

black black. not like the others. articulate. it's just bottom too loaded. dropping the n word. >> is the implication the norm is not articulate? >> it's been used for years to say, you're exceptional because you speak in clear sentences, which i'm not doing right now. and i think you're somehow different, but the expectations you wouldn't be articulate. so that's the problem with that. i think those are things, my favorite is, a friend of mine, i haven't seen him in years. you're black but you're not black black. >> okay. not that i'm thinking you're being inarticulate but if you were, i'd blame it on too much sugar-free red bull which you have in front of you. take another sip as we take

and we're back with w. kamau

bell, host of "united shades of america" on cnn. lots of comedy specials, activists and provocateur. i just threw that word in because i like it. >> i like that one. >> we're getting questions from viewers from denise on facebook here. do you think black lives matter is making a difference or is it actually bringing out more of the closet racist? >> no, trump brought out the closet racist. we can firmly say that's who brought out the closet racist. even still referring to coronavirus by a racist term. so i think black lives matter is making people, some people uncomfortable. it is uniting some people and making some people uncomfortable who should be uncomfortable with the idea because why are you uncomfortable with it? i think black lives matter on the whole is absolutely a good thing. and the first time we've been able to get america really focused on the small parts of white supremacy and not just somebody who was killed. >> all right, dawn is kind of

turning my question around. he wants to know, what should blacks not say to whites? have you given that any thought? >> i think it's all about respect. the reason we get caught up in what should white say to black people, there's a history in this country of a caste system where black people are below white people and white people who don't mean, the harm.mean, . ultimately, this is about respect but usually black people are not in positions as a group where the lack of respect can actually lead to other harms, like institutional structural harms. >> they recently voted in oakland not to defund the police, but in san francisco, across the bay, they are taking away some funding from police. where do you stand on this issue?

>> i definitely believe in defund the blispolice. we spend too many resources and those should be put in other areas. they shot him saying, are you okay? and said, yeah, i'm fine. using the police the wrong tool for the wrong job. means taking money away from militarizati militarization and putting it in other areas and education. that's one way you can make the school better by taking money from the police and putting it in schools. >> also sticking close to home. al mee meeda county, you county

your thoughts on this. your kid is excited? what is this? >> like your kid is excited they just solve ad a math problem bu got the wrong answer. the idea of, we figured out the coronavirus. we're going to pay people with the virus to stay home and it's like, no, you pay everybody to stay home. not trying to be the new dr. fauci. >> the gig workers we're so reliant on in the bay area. >> a lot of people, we think of something people do for extra

money, a lot of people use it as a full-time job in and of itself or as we learn as a second full-time job. so they work the full-time job that doesn't pay enough money. they get in the car and do the second. people who work for major tech companies, independent contractors of the multimillion dollar tech companies and also drive for a ride share service afterward. it doesn't make any sense that we would allow it to happen. >> we got to play a quick game. i posted on twitter. it's ckamau versus kristen. quick quarantine picks. >> favorite book?

>> "autobiography of malcolm x". >> favorite movie. >> matrix. >> tv show? >> alone on the history channel. >> wrong answer. abc7 news at 3:00. >> trick question. abc7 news. getting your answers questions. >> favorite music album. >> i'm a '90s guy. >> podcast? >> favorite podcast is mine, denzel washington is the greatest actor of all time period/political. >> last one, restaurant? >> that's not fair. i'm going with, it's not really even a proper but bake sale beth beth bethlyty. >> best fried chicken sandwich and amazing pies as well?

>> yeah. bake sale betty, a beautiful person who does good work for social justice. she was a coconspirator before it was cool. >> we should get takeout in the park and discuss these issues over bake sale betty. can't wait to see the next episode. you're welcome to come back any time and let's do this regis and kelly thing again. >> i'm down. thank you. >> all right, take care. we're going to

that's going to do it. thank you for joining us on today's interactive show getting answers. today, we had the fabulous w. kamau bell with the 2020 election to everyday racism in our neighborhoods and the best

ways we can reopen safeliment we'. every day here at 3:00 answering your q tonight, breaking news. the nation's largest school district getting the green light to reopen with children in the classroom. at the same time, the cdc reveals a grim new estimate about how many americans may die by december. the death toll here now topping 160,000. u.s. cases approaching 5 million. the constant concerns over some of the nation's hot spots. in hard-hit mississippi, the teacher and football coach losing his covid battle. a 7-year-old in georgia dies. he had no pre-existing conditions. this just in, the new headline about that mysterious illness in children linked to covid-19. and tonight, we take you to what may be the nation's biggest gathering since the pandemic began. 250,000 bikers at the annual

sturgis motorcycle rally, moving forward even after the town