add the wealth. the new documentary exploring the guaranteed basic income movement and its major proponents in the bay area, including former stockton mayor michael tubbs. but first, pressure to impeach. what's behind? house speaker

kevin mccarthy's move to open a formal impeachment inquiry into president joe biden. is he pursuing justice or politics? the house speaker has been hinting at this for weeks. under pressure from the far right end of the gop that's been threatening to dispose him as leader. the american people deserve to know that the public offices are not for sale and that the federal government is not being used to cover up the actions of a politically associated family. the white house calls this extreme politics at its worst. joining us live now to talk about the impeachment inquiry and what happens now. cal state, east bay communications professor nolan higdon. professor higdon, thanks for your time. >> thanks for having me. >> what does an impeachment inquiry mean? what's the process ? is as far as i understand, the process, the inquiry will make a determination of whether or not they recommend to move forward with the impeachment and if they

indeed do, and decide to impeach the president, they would move over to the senate where they would wrestle with the question of whether or not to remove the sitting president from office. >> all right. which we saw with president trump and played out with former president clinton as well. >> i want to ask you, is there a threshold to be met, to open an inquiry or is that just at house speaker's discretion? >> it's ultimately at the speaker's discretion. the impeachment is a political process. it's not a legal or judicial process. so even getting impeached doesn't necessarily mean that you did something illegal. it means that the political powers that be of the day determine they didn't like whatever it is that you did. and so those seeking to make legal arguments, it's an interesting conversation of legal arguments. but that's not what impeachment is all about. >> right. and in terms of this one, it centers on whether president biden engaged in wrongdoing relating to his son, hunter biden's business dealings. hunter's federal plea deal, of course, on tax and gun

charges fell apart this summer. can you give us the alleged conflict or accusations by republicans? that is? >> well, i think, you know, it's kind of really, really tough to tell. they've sort of been all over the place. but what from what i've gleaned, they seem to be insinuating that either joe biden directly profited from these deals that his son engaged in and or that hunter biden profited by using his father's name and that his father was a willing participant in those endeavors. now, that has not been proven yet, but this seems to be what the inquiry is insinuating. >> right. and of course, hunter biden is a private citizen in president biden. that's a different story as vice president, did he change his policy in any way? right. to benefit? hunter that is the question they are asking. and although there's been no evidence of it, but i want to ask you, was the trump family looked at the same way their business dealings? of course, much broader. >> i think, you know, there was

, especially during the trump years, largely because his son in law and daughter served in his administration. i think they were held up to a lot more public scrutiny than we've seen. hunter biden receive, at least initially. i think, you know, more right leaning media has certainly gone after hunter biden, but i don't think it was to the degree in which we saw, you know, constantly on the news about the trump children. but again, i think that's because trump had his son in law and his daughter in his actual cabinets where hunter biden has not served in joe biden's cabinet. >> okay. and as part of the impeachment investigation, what might be revealed and how? >> who knows? but i mean, you know, this is this is the republicans look at what can they do? >> what lovers do. they have to pull for my understanding, they can subpoena whatever, you know, evidence they think is related to the case. >> but, i mean, this is their chance to put up or shut up. it's one thing to make accusations, but now they've, you know, set a precedent where

they claim they're going to find evidence and make the case to the american people that whatever joe biden supposedly did is worth impeachment. so i think really, prior to the impeachment, the emphasis was on joe biden to prove that he hadn't done anything or to quell these questions about his son's business relations. now it's really up to the republicans is it's on them to make the case, the american public that they have evidence to prove some wrongdoing. >> and of course, the timing, we're 14 months from reelection, election day next year. right. president biden, of course, going for once again. so how does this timing work out in the sense that, you know, how long will this continue and could this end up in a way that actually backfires on republicans as it absolutely could backfire? >> you know, we've seen this, especially in the 1990s. it's tough to tell if this was the case during trump, but certainly in the 1990s, the public had, you know, really had a disdain for the party that went for

impeachment. republicans in the 1990s didn't fare too well in the midterms after impeaching bill clinton, and the public seemed to believe that it was a waste of time. and i would wager that that's generally the case with impeachment trials unless you have the evidence and the votes to convince the public that a president has done wrong and then remove the president. this is largely kind of a futile political exercise. it turns a lot of voters off because regardless of how they feel about a joe biden or a donald trump, usually impeachment of the president is very low on people's priority lists when it compared to things like economic or climate change or racial justice. things like that tend to be a more important focus. the average voter, than whether or not we're going to impeach one president or another. >> i mean, these days, you have to wonder if even indictments will influence your vote or because you look at trump right. who is the likely opponent next year for president biden in indicted four times federal and state right now doesn't seem to have a dent on his polling.

>> no, no. yeah, trump is very yeah, a unique figure. and indictments actually seem to help his campaign. he's really in the polls spread himself far away from the competition since his indictment began. it remains to be seen whether or not that will be done with with joe biden. i think, you know where donald trump frames the indictments as an attack on him and his supporters. i don't think biden will do that with impeachment. i think biden instead will probably point to this impeachment as an example of how republicans are not serving the public in congress and try to use that to his advantage in the 2024 election right. >> look, this comes at a time when mccarthy is under tremendous pressure from his own party to get deep spending cuts that will force a government shutdown at the end of the month. why is that significant? are these related in any way? >> well, i think it's usually a government shutdown is hugely significant. it affects the entire economy. you know, there

are some international organizations that have talked about and taken steps to downgrade the united states credit rating simply because they don't have faith in our economy due to the fact that we have so many shutdowns or threats of shutdowns. so it's very important in that sense. having said that, mccarthy is in a very precarious situation. in order to get the speaker of the house position, he had to make concessions and one of them was that all it takes is one member of the house to raise a motion to remove him from power and then a simple majority can remove him from power. and so mccarthy's always looking over his shoulder. he can't afford to anger one republican, or it could lead to the end of his speakership. and so i think that's why you see him. you know, giving in to any concession that that comes across, whether it be an impeachment inquiry or some of these economic demands. >> yeah, he is in a precarious spot himself. if look, i want to zoom out for our last question here and just ask you to take a look at where you think we're at politically in our political process that here we are at

right now. oh, yeah. >> it's a it's a great question. i think a lot of americans are and have been and wrestling with and think that one thing, you know, if you take that long view, you don't just focus on biden or this one inquiry, but you look at maybe the last decade or so, i think it speaks to how out of touch a lot of people in washington, dc have have become. i think in dc they think this stuff plays well and that the public, you know, cares about these impeachment trials. but really, again, polls show the public does not want to send people to govern and then have them spend their time in these political fights. instead, they want to see actual policy changes. they want to see their lives changed in positive ways. and i think if we really wanted democracy and take a democracy democracy seriously, then we need to take steps to make sure we have people in dc who are trying to uphold the will of the voters and not get into these hyper partizan fights. >> all right. cal state east bay communications professor nolan higdon, thank you so much for

your insight today. thank you. would you like a check each month? no strings attached. it's called guaranteed basic income and one of the leading proponents of the idea will join us next to talk about a documentary he helped create. it's called it's basic. the movie has its oakland premiere tonight, and rsv can be a dangerous virus... [sneeze] ...for those 60 and older. it's not just a cold. and if you're 60 or older... ...you may be at increased risk of hospitalization... [coughing] ...from this highly... ...contagious virus. not all dangers come with warning labels. talk to your pharmacist or doctor... ...about getting vaccinated against rsv today.

city with 125 people. and now we're at 80 mayors in the city of providence. >> austin here in long beach. the city of new orleans.

>> guaranteed income helped me get back to work. you put a little gas in my tank. i'll show you how far i can go. >> joining us live now to talk about this film and movement is former mayor tubbs. thanks for joining us. good to see you. >> great. thanks so much for having me. great to see you. >> i didn't lie to our viewers. right? i mean, the public is invited to the premiere at grand lake theater. there's still tickets. >> absolutely. the more the merrier. we're trying to pack the thing out. >> all right. that's good to hear. look, a lot of people had never heard of gbi or the broader ubi, if you will, universal basic income until presidential candidate andrew yang made it his main campaign platform in 2020 to give every american adult, i think, $1,000 a month. you piloted a program in stockton on a more limited level as mayor. tell our viewers what you did there. >> yeah. so in 2017, my first year as mayor of stockton, i announced that we were going to give 125 families $500 a month to test this idea of a guaranteed income. and the rationale, even before covid 19,

even before the child tax credit, even before mr. yang's campaign was very clear, that went into americans could not afford one $500 emergency. and we spent so much time as a city talking about homelessness and educational attainment and crime. when you really what we were talking about was poverty and pervasive economic insecurity. so for two years, we gave $500 a month to 125 people. and what we found was that people didn't stop working. in fact, there were two times more likely to move from full time to from part from full to full time work, from part time work, and two times less likely to be unemployed. and they spent money the way you and i and the viewers spend money on food on their kids, on bills, and on doing all they could to better their economic situation. >> so is it a few of the recipients stories that we see in its basic so since i launched a pilot in stockton through the group mayors for a guaranteed income, i found it. >> we now have 150 mayors across

the country doing the same thing. and in this film, we catalog mayors in cambridge, massachusetts, saint paul, minnesota, los angeles, california, and even former mayor schaaf makes an appearance to show how this move has gone national. and we're chronicling how sort of a guaranteed income, particularly during the pandemic , was a real lifeline for folks, not just in stockton, but again , across this country. >> yeah, and we've talked to former oakland mayor schaaf about that right. each of these cities you mentioned, they have a slightly different version. sometimes it's for underrepresented minorities, sometimes it's for single moms, sometimes it could be for the trans community. but i wanted to ask you, regardless of who it's for, you know, do you think it could be implemented on a broader level? right. which is what i assume. you u wanted to get to. it's one thing to do it on a limited basis for 100 people, but when you go, let's say, federal, how does that work in terms of the cost?

right. would you have to cut social service programs which have to raise taxes to be able to pay for all that? >> well, the beauty about the federal government is that a deficit spends so the federal government deficit spends in 2017, when they provided to $1 trillion in tax cuts to the richest americans, and that same amount, $2 trillion, which has already been spent, could be used to provide a guaranteed income for everyone in this country, making 60 k or less. and we also saw during the pandemic the child tax credit, which isn't everyone, but it's a guaranteed income for families. and we saw that cut child poverty. we saw that it was a good thing in a time where people were storming the capital wall and protesting everything. no one protested the child tax credit checks. no one even protested the stimulus check. so it's really a question of political will. but the child tax credit is a will be a huge first step to a guaranteed income. and again, the point of these local pilots is to build the political will and to show what's possible. but the federal government has to step up and provide what i think will be considered this generation, social security, which can happen without major, major cuts

to entitlement programs, but maybe a redirection of defense spending, for example, or maybe looking at doing things like a data dividend or legalizing cannabis at a federal level and using some of that taxes to fund something like a large scale guaranteed income program. >> you mentioned the checks that went out during the pandemic. that was also at a time when inflation was really going rampant. some economists worry that this could lead to more inflation. right, without driving up productivity to a company that is that a worry for you? >> i think that the economists are split because i've talked to many economists, both in america and around the world, that actually talked about inflation during covid 19 times because of monopolies and because of a lack of competition and because so few people control the goods and that they're able to raise prices without a competitive balance and if inflation is an issue, that's another reason why we have government government has tools to mitigate adverse impacts on folks. but again, from all the economics research

i've seen from the economists i've talked to, stimulus checks weren't the main driver of inflation, but actually sort of monopolies and corporate consolidation more so. >> all right. mayor tubbs, the movie is part of a national tour. tell us about this tour and what you hope to accomplish . >> i am tired. we've been around the country already with many more stops to go, so we were in new york where we premiered at tribeca. we were in saint paul, minnesota. we'll be in oakland tonight area. then we're headed to cambridge, massachusetts. and over the next 18 months, we're going to cities throughout the country who are doing guaranteed income programs and allowing the community and the public to kind of look and see what this could mean for them, what it's meant for their community members, and really have the conversation we're having now. let's figure this out. yes it's a good thing. how do we get it done? how do we pay for it and what do we need to do to get there? so looking forward to more plane rides and even less sleep. >> look, you exited politics when you lost reelection for mayor of stockton, but many people wonder if that's just

temporary. will you run for office again? >> i am 33 years old, so i think it would be foolhardy to say the next hopefully 70 years, i will never run again. but i think right now i'm just laser focused on doing what i can and whatever position i am to make sure we don't have poverty in california and in this country, and that everyone has a floor and that we really are truly what we say on paper, that we live in a country with opportunity. so right now that's not in elected office, but 50 years from now, who knows? >> all right. it's basic premiering tonight. and i think you can register on eventbrite right? >> yes. and you could go to mayors for george org slash tour and register or my team is going to hate me for saying this but if you show up, i'm sure you won't be turned away. >> oh, okay. yeah. your team is going crazy pulling their hair out now. thank you. former stockton mayor michael tubbs. appreciate it. thanks so much for having me. yep next, drug dealers in san francisco. watch out soon you may be prosecuted, not in local courts, but

possibly federal courts. san francisco's new partnership with the feds to fight its drug overdose crisis. our media partner, the san francisco standard, will join us with their new scoop. we'll

plan to ramp up, prosecute texans. joining us live now to talk about what he's found, the standard senior reporter josh cain. hey, josh. >> hey, kristen. how are you? >> good, good, thanks. so you say federal prosecutors are planning to take a more aggressive approach. how did this come about? >> yeah, so actually, it's not something that's been formally announced, but it's actually probably going to be a few weeks to about a month until the all authorities get together and actually make this formal announcement. but talking to some of my sources, i got a tip that basically, hey, you might want to be looking out for

something down the line because with all of the coordination going on with local officials and federal law enforcement, there is going to be a marked shift in the way that drug dealing cases are prosecuted in san francisco, as you know, the overdose crisis from fentanyl and other drugs has been out of control this year at an unprecedented rate. and so it seems like this is going to be a so-called new strategy that they employ for the last half of the year to really try and get a handle on these drug dealing cases. >> how bad have things gotten? i think you have numbers in your article now. >> yeah, right now there's i believe, been roughly around 460 overdose deaths in the first half of this year. by comparison, it was in the mid six hundreds last year. so you know, we're looking at well over 900 pace for this year, i believe the highest on recent record was a little over 700. and so what we've seen in the first half of 2020, 2023 excuse me, is just an unprecedented

rate of deadly overdoses. and there's new drugs on the streets that are just more deadly. there's a drug called tranq that actually rots people's skin. it's really you know, grim stuff. and so when we look at these numbers, you know, it's not that they have started charging drug users actually to try and get them into treatment and get them off the streets. very, very few people are accepting treatment. so they're looking now how do we get to disrupt the drug trafficking markets and doing that with federal prosecutors, with federal cases they believe is going to be a new strategy that really disrupts operations. >> right. okay. so i know they're still working out the details and they're not ready to announce it yet. but what do you know about which agencies are involved and what exactly it will entail in terms of just getting, you know, the prosecutions into federal court and why that might be more effective? >> yeah. so this is a absolutely multi-agency operation. the us attorney's office is obviously

going to be a very lead role in this because they are the ones that prosecute federal cases. the drug enforcement agency, more commonly just referred to as the dea. they are absolutely deeply involved in this. but it also then drills down to the san francisco police department, the district attorney's office, even the mayor's office. they've been meeting for weeks trying to get all their ducks in a row and make sure everyone's on the same page, which is something actually district attorney brooke jenkins said in a statement. you know, she's really happy to hear that. san francisco. we're happy to see. i should say san francisco is not operating in silos like they have in past years where, you know, not everyone's swimming in the same direction, which you know, hard to say if this is really going to disrupt drug trafficking in san francisco, which is an entrenched issue over decades. but at the very least, you would expect that there's no way to get success if agencies are actually opposing one another in their priorities . >> yeah, look, san francisco has a complicated history of working with the feds, right? sometimes

it's over. cannabis or maybe it's over sanctuary city, things like that. in this case, any concerns about getting the feds involved in investigating and charging, you know, drug cases here? >> yeah, there's definitely concern. i spoke with the san francisco public defender's office and they absolutely feel like this is just kind of like window dressing on past operation that attempted and failed. and there's also concerns that, you know, people who are undocumented could be swept up in this. and that maybe federal court is being used as an end around to get around sanctuary policies for san francisco. the people i spoke with who are involved in this operation that's going to be announced suggested that that is not necessary sarily the case. but there's no doubt that actually the there is a belief that many of the drug dealers in san francisco are undocumented and we have seen in recent history, just in 2019, there was a federal operation in the

tenderloin and it led to dozens of undocumented immigrants being deported. so there's a question of whether or not this new operation is going to employ some kind of tactics that basically get people off the streets or maybe, if found guilty, put in federal prison, and then potentially deported, or if this may be just acts as a deterrence and basically sends a tougher signal to people that are involved in these illegal drug markets for. >> fascinating. josh, thank you so much. i invite folks to check out your article on the sf standard website because you also talk a lot more about a national strategy to infiltrate drug markets. and you talk about the da prosecutor more. and why haven't drug overdoses gone down? so a lot to check out. thank you. thank you. and folks at sf standard.com has a lot of other stories that abc7 news will continue to bring you. these segments really feature city focused journalism so check that out twice a week right here on getting answers.

tonight, the new and dangerous turn in this manhunt in the northeast. 1 1kw50 this. opening fire on him, authorities say the suspect got away. trevor ault standing by in pennsylvania. the breaking headline from washington today, under pressure from hard right members of his own party, house speaker kevin mccarthy is now launching an