>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news. ♪ answers" on abc7. every day, we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area and we get answers for you in real time. today with california's clean slate law ready to take effect and a few weeks, leaders are spreading the word that formerly incarcerated people can have their conviction records sealed. what is the process and the impact of the individual and? society? ? -- individual and society? we will talk to professor david harding. and charging for rides in robotaxi. we have the video of a test ride

to show us of it is really safe. first, san francisco's i national spotlight today and not in a welcome way. after the city is grappling with, here is an interview with phil matier. >> dekeing, a crime-ridden hellhole, no one is safe in san francisco, and failed city. is san francisco a failed city? >> it is no longer at the top of the class but it could become a failed city, a city that made too many wrong turns. kristen: not at the top of the class? ouch. phil joins us not to talk about the cnn special and the reaction and impact. if you are on read it like i am,

you see the reactions all over the place, even from locals on the san francisco subreddit. it was a hit job by the new cnn, or i'm glad somebody is talking about what's really happening here, what is your reaction? >> to which part of it? kristen: it is such a wide range, right? >> let's roll the tape back just a little bit. abc7, kgo has been taking a hard look at san francisco and the bay area for many years. some of our stories and footage were used in the spirit is not that we are putting the city down. but we were just saying, what is going on? what's happened now is that is getting out. part of it has to do with the fact that donald trump is not president anymore. before, we didn't mention a lot of things because it was somehow reinforcing the trump that is what some networks would say. now it is joe biden and people are taking a look at it. san francisco was once the city everyone loved to come to and

come back to. including the reporter who did this report. now the more common scene we are seeing is the theft walgreens captured by leon melendez here on abc7 and gone worldwide. was that a head job or was that affect? kristen: that was a fact, it happen. that showed this worldwide reaction. >> it set off a worldwide reaction because there was a powder keg sitting right next to it when it started to spark. the fact is you've reported it, how many times, the soaring amounts of death by fentanyl in the city of san francisco. the open drug dealing. the mentally ill. more recently the vacating of office spaces because of remote work. the emptying out of retail stores in some of the vital core of the city. all of this has been happening. and we have been reporting it and we put it together and now the nation is putting it together as well. and unfortunately everybody i hear more and more say san francisco used to be my favorite

city. it bothers me, as somebody -- it used to be. the question is, can we bring it back? the other question is, could it get worse? the answer to both is yes. kristen: i wanted to also get your opinion because this was interesting to me how you yourself kind of made headlines because of comments you made in the special. let's listen to this one. >> you put homelessness, mentally oh, and fentanyl together -- ill, and fentanyl together, and that is worse than the third world because it is right under the shadow of the rich and the powerful, and it is not only tolerated, until recently, it was almost ignored. kristen: of course, fox news, their headline says, "reporter called san francisco worst in the third world due to drugs, almost problems -- homeless problems."

there you are. first of all, does that represent what you actually were trying to say and the point you were making? >> it was part of what i was saying. the shock is that, how can a city that is so wealthy, so intelligent, so creative, the history of that, wind up like this? we have to be honest about it. how people take that message and conform it to whatever it is they want to say is what we live with in the world of newspapers and in television. what you report today could be on somebody's commercial -- political commercial tomorrow. once we have said it or put it out there, as long as we are not misquoting, the context, we surrender when we go public. that is the same thing with everybody else. kristen: the right has its way of looking at it and the left has its own way of looking at it. the wealthy, their debt tech will contribute to some way to what is happening -- did tech debt contribute to so much of

what is happening? large part because it was a beautiful city and we had tourism, wells fargo, transamerica. we went right through that. now we are having our reckoning. isa francisco, drug problems, financial problems, environmental problems, the mentally ill, the homeless, but i've never had them all at once. and that is a concoction we are seeing now. and that is what leads to the question of a failed city and part of it is because we chose to either ignore it or to tolerated, saying, that is the way things are, we will come up with a perfect solution or no solution, but in the meantime, that's what we are going to live with. kristen: is there a policy fault? i don't want to say --

for a long time we were able to rest on our doors and say that they will come anyway. we are still in the place of the gold rush and all that. >> and we had money. money papered over a lot of the underlying problems. but we also had ideology. it wasn't enough you came up with a solution. i had to be the politically correct solution -- it had to be the politically correct solution. we see that across the country whether it's with guns or drugs were violence. in our case, we looked at problems on the street and said, we can't have a return to war on drugs. what are we seeing there? ose weavar on drugs whher weikno what are we going to do about it? it has to be their choice. you can't put a mentally ill person and an institutionalist they want to be there. what is that, a solution or saying, we have an ideology and we are going to go by that? if it doesn't work, we were ignoring it or saying, it's a bigger problem, we came up with excuses. we are running out of course. kristen: are we had a tipping

point where ideology will take a backseat to what is practical, running afoul of people's political values and ideals? >> it's very difficult. gavin newsom says, perfect is the enemy of good sometimes. unless it's not perfect, we are not going to do it. will we be victims of that? we already are. will it continue? that is the big question facing san francisco right now. where do we go from here? kristen: mayor willie brown was also in the special, the former mayor, talking about how the homelessness problem, we have not made a dent. >> it's gotten worse. kristen: he seemed surprised by that, dismayed. >> willie brown said, there nothing we can do about it, it is not solvable, let us push positives. . he was at fault for that. other mayors have come in that have tried solutions. we have belief that it's not the fault of the person who was there or they have a right to be there. and the courts are reinforcing it.

situation. san francisco's fundamental problem with the homeless is, it's one of the best places for a homeless person to be and if i was homeless and had mental issues, i would want to come here. kristen: every society faces the struggle of individual versus a collective. >> but other places say, what did new york do? new york said, these are insurmountable problems. historic problems of homelessness and mentally oh. but we are going to have the problem but we are not going to have it in manhattan. we are not going to have it in the core of the city where we make our money and tourists come. that is a decision that san francisco has not made. we have allowed it to be in that area. kristen: is this something that is going to drive them to think a little differently or do you have optimism that san francisco is moving in fact towards not being a failed city? >> it was a sad story but it was a good story and that it wakes up. whether or not san francisco's

politicians wake up depends on one thing and that is the people of san francisco. they don't listen to anybody but them. and then the last couple of elections, we have seen a move to the middle, where it goes from here, i don't know. but so far we have not seen a solution. but that doesn't keep us from reporting on the problems. whether we like it or not and whether it looks good or not. kristen: we will try to continue to build a beta b area here on abc7. that's for sure. coming up next, there is a new state law that has is being called historic that allows almost all old convictions on a person's criminal records to be permanently sealed. we will talk with a uc berkeley sociology professor to learn where the clean slate law will have an impact that reaches far beyond the formerly incarc

kristen: a rally is being planned at san francisco's city hall tomorrow where supervisors and the public defender will urge those eligible to permanently seal their old criminal conviction records under a historic new state law that will become effective from july. over one million californians could be affected. many may not know how to get there record sealed -- their records sealed. joining us is uc berkeley sociology professor david harding. thanks for joining us. what exactly will the clean slate log to? -- law do? >> the clean slate law will expand opportunities for record ceiling -- sealing. what record sealing means is keeping your record privates only the courts can see your record and people in the public cannot see your record. the expansion is on a number of

-- a number of dimensions. lower level felony convictions will be sealed automatically after a certain amount of time. people with more serious or violent crimes will have the option to petition their records be sealed and the petition will have to be reviewed by a judge. kristen: are there exceptions, such as sex crimes for example? >> that's correct. people on the sex offender registry cannot have the record sealed. kristen: what is the rationale behind this law? >> this is an attempt to make it easier for people who have criminal records to reintegrate back into society. so when you have your records public, it can be very hard to find a job, to find stable housing, even to go back to school. so the idea is, once you time, that should be the extent of your punishment. our criminal justice system has imposed a punishment like prison or probation on you and that

should be the end of your punishment and you should be able to go on and participate in our economy and our society. kristen: i see. how do we compare to other countries on this practice? >> other countries, especially european countries, are far ahead of us in terms of record ceiling -- record sealing the need comes from our public information laws which are of course otherwise a cornerstone of our democracy. a byproduct of those means court records and police records have been largely public. so european countries tend to do these record sealings much more than we do and california has really a leader now in our country. kristen: i did read that maybe one million californians could be eligible. as you mentioned, it's not automatic, it's for the more serious crimes. you do have to apply. walk us through the approval process. >> those kind of details as far as i know have not exactly been worked out. it will probably be worked out

court by court and on a county by county basis. kristen: in general, what criteria might you have to meet? who would decide? we know that -- do we know that? >> it has to have been four years since your conviction. you have to have completed any prison time and any parole or probation time. the people who are eligible are those who have -- whose convictions were after january 1, 2005. and then the judge will decide at the end of the day whether the records can be sealed. kristen: the law does have its critics. some say, is it responsible for landlord or employer the background of those they are letting into their homes? >> certainly it is easy to emphasize -- to empathize with employers and landlords. but the academic research actually shows after a certain amount of time has passed,

people with criminal records are in more likely than anybody else to commit a crime. given that research, it seems reasonable that we should not allow employers and landlords to hold that against him. -- against them. kristen: did you see the research didn't show how many years later? >> it depends a little bit on the type of crime, it can range from four years to seven years. those probabilities basically equal out. kristen: that's why there's a waiting period. >> exactly. kristen: there are benefits for the formerly incarcerated being able to reintegrate and get a job, depend on themselves. but what is in it for society? >> we all benefit when people become members of our contributive members of our society and are able to work and go back to school that support their families and they don't have the turn back to crime in order to make ends meet.

kristen: i see. last question, because this law has got me thinking about all the applications i have filled out in my life in which you were asked the question, have you ever been convicted of a crime? i don't know if college applications still have that. are all those going away? what do we still have left in california? >> we have already largely gotten rid of those questions on job applications in california. that's not really changing here. and, you are right, many colleges do also ask those questions. kristen: rig i'm justht. -- right. i'm just wondering if there's a movement afoot to tackle that next. >> yeah. i think this is actually part of a larger movement that we've seen over the last two decades. the kind of unwind a lot of the very harsh criminal justice policies we have in this country. ones that we have seen have been actually counterproductive for

many people. particularly impacting racial and ethnic minorities. kristen: david harding, thank you so much for joining us today to talk about the clean slate law. >> thanks for having me. kristen: one of those autonomous car companies you see driving around san francisco has a new safety feature designed to protect both passengers and pedestrians and cyclists. our producer went for a ride in one of here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. the three what? the three ps? what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54 and was a smoker, but quit.

what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65, retired, and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80 and i'm on a fixed income. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. that's less than 35 cents a day. you cannot be turned down because of your health. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. options start at $9.95 a month, plus you get a 30-day money back guarantee. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner.

use this valuable guide to record your important information and give helpful direction to your loved ones with your final wishes. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. kristen: if you live or work in san francisco, you have seen driverless car is owned by google's parent company, alphabet. it will soon start operating robotaxis and charge for rides. is waymo ready for prime time? ready for san francisco's challenging terrain, traffic, and whether? -- and weather? our producer recen

test drive. thanks for coming on the show. for those unfamiliar, what is waymo and where is it operating? >> it is on autonomous car service owned by google's parent company, alphabet. operating in san francisco and in phoenix and now rolling out in los angeles, too. think of uber or lyft, you would he'll lay right and the writer will show up in the scenario you would hilly right and a car will pull up with nobody in the driver seat. you tell it where you want to go and it drops you off and it is just you in the car. kristen: wow. we have video of you because you took it out for a ride. tell us what you were trying to discover there. >> this was my first time riding in a fully autonomous car. it was fascinating. i wanted to see what it felt like to be in a car with nobody in the driver seat, as a do you feel safe, does not car -- does the car know what it is

doing? it felt all right. you just do the wheel turning by itself. which is a very bizarre experience. -- see the wheel turning by itself. which is a very bizarre experience. if you live in san francisco, you know there are a lot of ways to get around, bikers, buses, what safe exit does is because there is no driver to tell you when you are about to exit the vehicle, if there's a car coming or a pedestrian or cyclist, what this feature does is it alerts you if there is somebody approaching so that you don't door them, if there's a biker, they -- it will tell you. kristen: does it tell you by voice and doesn't not let you out until the pedestrian or cyclist has passed? >> it tells you with voice and there's also little screen in the front seat and the back seat. that screen will show you exactly where that person is and show you that alert. but there's a ds also warn th.

people outside like the cyclist and pedestrians? >> it does. ttle screen on it. what that does -- out. if you look at the top of the car in that little screen and you are on the outside of the car, it'll show you a little image of a person getting out of the car. that is your way of knowing somebody's about to exit the vehicle, be careful when you approach, so everyone is aware you are about to cross paths. kristen: have so many questions. -- i have so many questions. how does it do what surprises, if somebody jumped out in front of you, a car somebody stops or makes a turn unexpectedly? >> absolutely. that's what i was curious about, too. at one point, we reached a four-way intersection with a stop sign, and there was a car whose right of way go, and they didn't. . they kind of hesitated. and the car waited.

a car waited for them to do what they needed to do. it and you not to go even though it was technically our turn to go. -- it kne goit was techn o turto tarios n trickand imes. uses al to unnd and predict movement. pedestrians jumping in front of the car or something they've been training to try to avoid. so if somebody's about to a lot of people are understandably uncertain about getting in a car without a driver in it. so you have to make sure the passengers feel safe and people outside feel safe as well. kristen: depending on which driver you talk to, sometimes they say, you've got to be a little aggressive to avoid the accidents. how did the car do here? >> this did not feel aggressive at all. this felt very much like, i'm going to be on my best behavior, i'm going to drive the speed limit and be very careful. it'll be interesting to see how, as these cars rolled out, how

other people feel about that. if you are trying to get somewhere fast and trying to break the speed limit behind the way mo car, i don't know what to tell you. it finds a designated pickup and drop-off spot so it finds a curb and that is will it will pull over and pick you up. that's where it will drop you off. at does that very ooth.y ario where it has to squeeze between other i'intit something can we expect they will get people lik rl raxe to ride themn >> and really comes down to permit. right now these cars are rolling around without drivers. in terms of charging, that is something waymo's still waiting on permission to do that. i'm sure they are eager to do that with competition already on the road charging people. it could be a matter of time but

there is no clear timeline just yet. kristen: overall, not as scary as you thought it would be? >> not as scary at all. i would highly recommend it. we are so lucky to be in the hub of it and try it out. i felt incredibly safe. hopefully you will, too. kristen: thank you so much. really appreciate you sharing that ride with us. >> thank you for having me. kristen: you can get our live newscast, breaking news, weather and more with our abc7 bay area streaming tv app. available on apple tv, google tv, fire tv, and roku. just search "abc 7 bay area" and download it now. we'll be right back.

kristen: thank you so much for

joining us today for "getting answers." we will be here every weekday at 3:00 p.m. answering questions with experts from around the bay area. "world news tonight" with david muir is next. >> david: tonight, a deadly mass shooting. the images coming in at this hour. at least three people dead. gunman taken dowinmes and vehicy hit by gunfire. schools across the city placed on lockdown. the attack of eight u.s. congressman's office in virginia. authorities said the suspect armed with a bat looking for the congressman. after a 4-year investigation the trump era special counsel and three and a page report on the fbi's russia investigation deeply critical of the fbi. pierre thomas in washington. the newest warning from treasury secretary janet yellen making it clear that the u.s. could default as soon as june 1st