>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news. ♪ i'm kristen sze. you are watching "getting answers" on abc7. on this memorial day, thanks for joining us. every day, we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area and we get answers for you in real time. today one of the largest insurance companies in the country will no longer accept

new insurers in california for homes and businesses, and they blame it on our natural disasters. we will talk with the insurance information institute to break down what this means for you. also it may be a public but then nevada legislature's meeting in an hour on a financing bill for the ballpark the a's want to build in las vegas. we will talk with a columnist from the las vegas review journal. there's a lot of politicking going on this memorial day. republican front runners are ratcheting up their attacks on one another in the wake of a pulled showing a seismic shift and popularity within the party. in the meantime you the details are being reported on the amount of support california senator dianne feinstein needs to do her job and it is causing a rift within the democratic party. joining us to talk about all things politics is insider phil matier. nice to see you. >> politics never takes a break, even on a holiday.

kristen: that's why we don't take a break either be let's start with people done by the institute of governmental studies by uc berkeley. walk us through this we are looking at here. >> we say donald trump for starters at 44% and ron desantis at 26%. some people might take a bit of a shock at that because just three months ago in may, the same polling group found the opposite, desantis was in the lead and trump had fallen behind. now what we see is a shift of about eight points. what is that attributed to? it depends on who you talk to. it's clear that desantis -- the concept of the census is not necessarily matching up with the reality of the census, but trump's -- of desantis, but trump people are trump people. it shows him to

continue to be the clear front runner the republican nomination. things are ratcheting up, but donald trump was telling everybody else now, come on in, the water is fine, the more candidates, the merrier. kristen: that is a lot of strength and surge in three months' time, did anything happen in those three months i could influence people's opinions about desantis or trump -- that could influence people's opinions about desantis or trump? >> let's think of the headlines we've seen. we had donald trump accused of sexual battery. he lost that case in a civil proceeding against the author in new york. we've had ongoing questions about donald trump indicted in new york city for supposedly money laundering and hiding money during the campaign. to pay stormy daniels. we have allegations about ongoing documents in mar-a-lago. on the other hand we have

ron desantis with his crackdown on drag queens and shows in miami involving -- in front of kids and what books can be shown. and what race books can be shown in public schools. neither one of them i would say he is writing some positive stories but donald trump seems to be getting in -- getting better and better no matter what they are hit with. april found a -- a poll found republicans believe the proceedings against trump are politically based not actual wrongdoing.

they are not necessarily helping him. so what we have is people looking at what they know versus what they don't know. and meanwhile other candidates like nikki haley and tim scott and the republican senator from south carolina, chris christie, asa hutchinson from arkansas may get in. all of that could help donald trump, because as long as there's other people in the race, he just has to be better than the others. he doesn't have to break 51%. he just has to do better than the next group. the more people in, that would split up the anti-trump vote more and leave him with his core and he could wind up getting a nomination without a majority of even his party. kristen: none of the people you mentioned have really made a dense at all and the recent polls -- in the recent who else can still get into the republican race that could actually move the needle? two, is trump the guy that biden wants to face? >> number one, it doesn't appear that anybody or anything is going to move the needle on donald trump. this is early still. i don't know what is around the bend for donald trump. every time we've seen them, we

say, this is going to be his end, this is going to be catastrophic. he has consistently jumped over those hurdles. here's the thing, that would have to be -- somebody would have to get in that could unite the anybody but trump a of the republican party. and already donald trump is taking swipes at that idea saying anybody that runs against me is basically from the elite wing of the republican party, of those people back east that run banks and things like that. i am the candidate of the people. and he has held that percentage. as far as the democratic the igs polls earlier, they are not great news either. we have a whole lot of democrats even in the state of california who don't think joe biden should run for reelection at this point. but he is going to be probably the candidate on the democratic side. as far as moving the needle right now, everybody is kind of going, what is new here? what can change?

how can we get excited about a race that seems to be a rematch? kristen: kind of stuck in a situation that a lot of polls show americans may not necessarily want. but that is a reality right now. >> this is american both on the state and national and local level. i've never seen so many people sort of saying -- everybody thought there was going to be some big change, and we are going, we are still here, this is going to be divisive or even more divisive than ever. kristen: i do want to touch on this as well, senator dianne feinstein, the 89-year-old senator who continues to battle both the aftermath of shingles and stories of cognitive decline. how damaging do you think where the revelations in yesterday's new york times report that feinstein was confused why kamala harris was the tiebreaker in the senate last year when she came in, accounts that she is from a piece of paper that an aid has to hand her before voting recently, what you make of that? >> this is a continuation of the

sad saga of dianne feinstein's clearly last term in office. what we have upcoming right now is the debt ceiling talk. that is a very tough one for the biden administration and they are literally going to need every vote they can get in the senate and dianne feinstein is key there. everybody is waiting to see what happens after she casts that vote. right now is not the time for anybody to make a move. speaking of moves, no matter what the new york times reports or we report, the bottom line is that dianne feinstein under the constitution has the right to say when she lives. that is the way it is. she's not accused of any crime, she can't be taken off the senate or expelled from the senate. it is up to her. there is no provision in the constitution that says anybody's physical or mental incapacitation is grounds for removal. so everybody is just waiting to see what happens next, and the

dominoes going to be big. because if she does not finish out her time, odds are we open on that, it is going to be up to gavin newsom to appoint a successor in the middle of the senate race to replace her. kristen: i want to point this out, however, that same berkeley igs bowl that we referred to also finds here that a lot of people want her to actually resign, two thirds agree with the statement in her latest illness underlines the fact that she is no longer fit to continue 42% think she should resign and give governor newsom the chance to appoint a replacement. what do these numbers tell you? >> they tell us that is what the california public wants, that is with the california voters want. but it's not necessarily -- they don't have a say in this. they've got their say when she ran for reelection, and they will have their say when the people run to replace her. in between, it is 1%' -- one person's call, and that is hers.

it could have an effect on the state and the democratic party. people say do something, and the fact is they can't do anything right now. i'll be honest with you. i don't see gavin newsom right now eager to name dianne feinstein's interim replacement. it's not a real rush -- there is not a real rush for that. kristen: right. because before, he had said he would appoint a black woman and congresswoman barbara lee really was at the top of that list. but now that she's officially candidate, along with adam schiff and katie porter, it would certainly be seen as newsom trying to set the scale. he kind of has to roll her out. if he does, who is he going to appoint? a lot of people were saying, oprah, really? >> we did live in a world with arnold schwarzenegger as governor. celebrities weigh big in california. there might be others. one might be maxine waters. another might be secretary of state shirley weber.

who has had a distinguished career in the state legislature and is now secretary of state. she could be a prime candidate. the question would be whoever gets appointed, with a sort of wink and nod, saying i'm not going to seek reelection? stay tuned. this soap opera whether it is on the national level or the state level or here in the bay area, it is a page turner and we are going to have to keep watching it because some of the answers are, we just have to wait and see. kristen: that's got more twists and turns then "general hospital," which comes on before our show. bill, thank you -- phil, thank you. state farm has announced it will no longer sell insurance policies to california homeowners and businesses. we will talk to the strategic director

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kristen: another blow for california. one of the largest insurance companies in the country says it will no longer accept new applications for homeowners and business insurance. they blame it on our state's wildfire risk. joining us live to break down what that means for us is janet ruiz, director of strategic communication for the insurance information institute. thanks for your time. >> thanks for having me. kristen: explain exactly what state farm is doing and saying. >> what i can explain is wh happening in the insurance industry right now. we are facing catastrophic risk with wildfire like we have never seen before. starting in 2017 until we have lost all of our underwriting profit for 20 years with the catastrophic wildfires.

on top of that, inflation, the cost of building has just skyrocketed. so insurers are having to regroup and adjust. we are working closely with the department of insurance in california to make sure that we can charge the appropriate rates to be able to pay the claims. we want to be in california. we are also helping people mitigate their properties, learn how to clear their lands. and all the things that will make our communities more resilient and make it more available for insurance to be a competitive marketplace in california. kristen: in the meantime, janet, has this policy started already? effective immediately? >> what state farm is started on the 27thth. they are not writing you

homeowner's insurance -- new homeowner's insurance. all the policyholders that still with them are still insured. people who are shopping right now, say you've got any home and you need to get insurance, there are still insurers that will ensure them. we also have the california fair plan -- fare plan for anyone who can't get insurance and that extreme high risk area for wildfire. that can be purchased through insurance agents or the website. it is a fire only policy. usually by a separate policy for liability, theft, etc. kristen: let's explore the cost part a little bit more. you are saying the cost of paying out has been so high because of the wildfires and the construction costs, as the industry looking at the forecast in california and climate change and kind of predicting what is going to come?

is that part of it? >> kristen, we do look at that. we work with modeling companies. they are high-technology and able to look forward. we are not at this use that when we work with the department of insurance on setting our rates. but we are working together to talk about that and hopefully that will be included in the future. we also buy green insurance. any company would insure up to a certain amount and we by reinsurance. that cost has gone up for us. that traditionally is not a part of our ratemaking process in the state of california. most states do allow that. california's average insurance premium is only around $1300,

compared to a state like florida where it is up t $4000 -- up to $4000. other states are in the $2200 a year average premium cross estate. kristen: why this dramatic departure altogether? why wasn't raising premiums and option? >> it is a slow process. you have to file your to raise your premiums with the department of insurance. then they go through and decide if they are going to allow that are not. there's also an intervener process, where the public can come in and delay the so companies are doing different things. some are non-renewing risks wildfires. it is all across the board. but the insurance industry is

looking at their business and we are working toward solutions that will make more insurance available. kristen: alright. that's where i want to end our conversation. exploring what are some of the solutions you are talking about exploring. i think california already lost aig, correct me if i'm wrong, that they also pulled out in terms of home insurance in california and businesses last year. generally, the way it goes, it is less competition, less choices, means eventually higher prices at some point. nobody wants that. what are some of the potential solutions in the time we have left? >> well, the potential solutions are mitigation at the individual properties as well as community mitigation. the department of insurance has asked us all to actually give discounts when people do the appropriate mitigation. it is -- if less

burning, more insurance will be available. as building costs, come down, that will help some as well. then allowing us to really look at the future rather than base our costs, etc. on what happened in the past. all of these things coming together will make more insurance available. kristen: thank you so much for joining us today. >> thank you. kristen: today's holiday is not keeping lawmakers in nevada from hearing the a's funding bill. we will speak to a columnist from the las vegas review journal next.

kristen: in about 40 minutes, the a's park funding bill will be heard they relist renderings of their $1.5 billion 30,000 seat stadium at the tropicana site of the las

vegas strip just hours before the ballpark funding bill was actually introduced. joining us live is a columnist with the las vegas review journal. john, thanks for your time. and what you expect to actually happen. >> well, we are going to have the public chime in on the $380 million piece of the $1.5 billion ballpark proposed for the corner of tropicana boulevard on the las vegas strip. officials think about this and we will go from there. this is the first kind of public debate about this proposal that we've seen. it came about as you said friday. here we are on memorial day. it's going to be heard at 4 p.m.. what is going to happen is an

interesting question. there have been conflicting results and folding results -- and polling results. the response on the have created on the website has been primarily opposed to public funding for this project in our state. not a scientific poll, but still, it bears examination. this is an early step in this entire process. from what i hear, it is not as well supported in our region as the raiders were, as t-mobile arena. those types of sports related projects. kristen: interesting. so the public appetite might feel like $380 million is too much. which by the way, that is less public money than the would've gotten here in oakland. -- the a's would've gotten here in oakland. >> when you start crunching the

numbers, we were fighting to keep the a's in oakland. it's been very interesting to hear, we have not had a huge outpouring of public support from our civic leaders necessarily, our resort industry about this. we know what mark davis has said about his ownership group. you are not going to get support from the raiders about this. our attention is split right now in las vegas, divided among a lot of folks supporting major league sports issues. we've got the golden nights playing tonight. we've got jimmy garoppolo's foot to worry about. the formula one race coming in november. we have a lot. the a's have just got their championship rings for winning the nba. there's a lot to consider when you look at this. right now it's $1.5 billion total and we are going to be footing the bill in our state,

for $380 million of it, a lot coming from clark county, where we live as las vegas residents. kristen: i wonder if it has something to do with the fact that yesterday they became the first team in the modern area to lose 45 of the first 55 games. [laughter] >> it doesn't help. when i think about las vegas, we bet on winners. let's put it that way. we like betting on sure things. we are the house here. one of the worst teams league baseball coming in here and asking for public funding is kind of a tough sell. really, it is. tough cell. really, it is. joking aside. we've got a product that is right now highly inferior to the competition. so that doesn't help.

you're going to the public for money. kristen: it sounds like it's not at all a sure thing. when you think about the renderings at the ballpark released quietly on friday night hoping nobody would notice, it's not really met up was too much admiration, looked like -- some people said it looked like the colosseum and plopped it down with the las vegas strip behind it. >> i went to a lot of a's games. the first thing i thought of when i saw the field was the foul territory looked a lot like the open colosseum. i've been joking for years in las vegas i want to create an art gallery with renderings that never came about in our city. things ever came to fruition. i don't know. i think this is something that is what it might look like. it is not binding or anything in its design. it's not nine acres. it's not a big footprint for

a ballpark with parking. that's the one thing i'm flipping out about. kristen: we are out of time. thank you. ♪ ♪ every day, businesses everywhere are asking. is it possible? with comcast business...it is. is it possible to use predictive monitoring to address operations issues? we can help with that. can we provide health care virtually anywhere? we can help with that, too. is it possible to survey foot traffic across all of our locations? yeah! absolutely. with global secure networking from comcast business. it's not just possible. it's happening.

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kristen: thanks for joining us today for "getting answers." >> tonight the investigation underway in a apartment building collapse in davenport, iowa. 80 units damaged or destroyed. the building with a history of complaints. what we're now learning authorities are planning to do next. alex perez i