d"comunidad del valle." and welcome to, i'm damian trujillo, and today we have an exclusive. the secretary of state, alex padilla, is in our studio on your "comunidad del valle." male announcer: nbc bay area presents "comunidad del valle" with damian trujillo. damian: we do begin with the honorable alex padilla. he's here in our studio for a very special message to all the voters. welcome to the show, welcome back to the show. alex padilla: yes, thank you for having me back. damian: thank you for being here. you're kind of a trailblazer because when you were first elected, you were the first latino elected to statewide office. and now there's what, three or four? alex: yes, so we have attorney general xavier becerra, who was first appointed to the position by governor brown, and recently re-elected to a full term. we have insurance commissioner ricardo lara,

now at the helm in that statewide position. and also tony thurmond, half panameño, and now the superintendent of public instruction. so, you know, more latinos being elected to office, which is a great milestone to celebrate, but more importantly now comes the work, right? so, what do we do with these positions to make life better for all californians? damian: and you've had your white knuckles on a steering wheel as you've taken the helm because of what's happening with our election system. you're here in silicon valley because you're talking at a symposium about cyber security. this week, the director of the fbi was in silicon valley, and he said that the threat is still there, it happens daily. we're not talking about the structural integrity of the system that you run, but just the convincing, the coercing of the vote. tell us what you've seen. alex: right, so there's a couple of things. you know, the nature of the position of secretary of state or just the world of elections has changed dramatically in the last couple of years. you know, once upon a time, we had the luxury of just

focusing on how can we get more people to register to vote, and that's still remains important. or how we get more people to actually cast their ballots, and that's still important. but now we're very well aware of, you know, threats to the integrity of our elections, both foreign and domestic. so, we need to be very cognizant of the process and the infrastructure of elections to make sure there's no, you know, hacking or alleged rigging involved. we need to make sure we're securing against that, and so we can talk about the safety measures we have to make sure that votes are counted and counted properly, but also what people are doing to influence public opinion, correctly and incorrectly, right? we know because of our federal intelligence agencies that, among others, the russian intelligence officials have been conducting massive disinformation campaigns to try to influence american politics. and that is a disservice if it undermines confidence in the elections that voters deserve to have.

damian: is director ray correct that there is a daily, continuous, nonstop? alex: oh, absolutely, and we see it every day. thankfully, the infrastructure in california has been able to safeguard the integrity of voter registration, voter--you know, people being able to cast their ballots, and how the votes are counted and reported out. but the efforts are there constantly. you know, we see scanning activity among other things on our state infrastructure. we're also seeing increasingly with political candidates and political parties. and while they're not officially under our jurisdiction, you know, if somebody's a victim of a cyber attack on the political front, again it just feeds into the potential doubt or concern that voters have on the integrity of the process. we're also trying to be proactive in how we direct people to obtain their voting information, right? every election cycle, there's effort--you know, there's people trying to put out wrong information about, well, you know, maybe it's democrats or republicans that

vote on tuesday or democrat, republican votes on wednesday, and mislead people or give wrong information about where to vote, how to vote, how to register. you know, do provisional ballots get counted? and so, we're both playing defense on that information, and trying to go on offense with the proper, reliable, official information of when, where, and how to vote. we launched a vote sure initiative last year through our office that will build up going into 2020. damian: when you were first given the keys to the secretary of state's office and you were given classified briefing, if that's what it was, did you sit back and say, "oh my goodness, i had no idea it was this bad"? alex: yeah, well, it's, you know, interesting if you sort of take a step back and see what's happened. you know, for many years, elections officials at all levels, you knew that, well, you have an it person kind of taking care of that side of it, but you don't worry about it too much. meantime we have, you know, our federal intelligence agencies with tremendous, you know, cyber security expertise and experience, but never did they apply that really to the world

of elections. well, given the threats that we encountered in 2016, boom, we had no choice but to get to know each other real quick and to begin to work together. and that's exactly what's happened over the last couple of years. you know, california, people say, "well, you're not going to be a target because you're not a battleground state or a consequential state in a presidential election." i see it differently, right? we're california, right? if somebody's successful in undermining our elections, you know, we're the big enchilada, we're the big prize. so, we are a big target. and look at how many house seats, for example, were swing seats in the last election cycle. you know, all it takes is one to be undermined for it to really be a big problem. so, i have to treat it as if we are, you know, a big, big target. damian: is your message to those crooks-- we have about 30 seconds. is your message to them you can try all you want, but you're not going to succeed? alex: you know, my message is not to the crooks, it's to the voters of california. we're doing everything we can to ensure the security

and integrity and the accessibility of our elections. and maybe in the next segment, we can talk to some of those specific measures. damian: yeah, absolutely. well, the secretary of state is making a swing through silicon valley, sending that message. there is the number and web address for more information. we'll be back with the honorable alex padilla, stay with us. ♪ your favorite restaurants now it doesn't matter dash. where you are. ♪ it doesn't matter what you're hungry for. it doesn't even matter how many you are. ♪ restaurants come to you. delicious at your door. download doordash. first order, no delivery fee.

and because redfin.com is america's #1 brokerage site our agents get more eyes on your home so you sell for thousands more than the one next door. don't get stuck in the past. sell with a redfin agent. than the one next door. alwould you like a desk chair, weekends off, or the bathroom code? yes, please! which one? it's time to get more. lower fares. better service. sweeter rewards. alaska airlines. alex padilla. the election, the primary comes early this coming election cycle. alex: yes, big changes starting in 2020. first of all, we're going to have record registration yet again, i'm very confident in that prediction with the ongoing success of voter registration through dmv. 2020 also marks the new earlier primary for california, so it's a presidential contest here. californians will go to the polls on march 3, early in the primary schedule for the country, right after iowa and new hampshire,

nevada, south carolina. so, a big say for california voters in the presidential nominating process for all parties frankly, and an opportunity for california issues to be on the forefront of that national political agenda. damian: and you made-- you issued a challenge to all the registrars of voters across the state, you get your machinery, your infrastructure fixed or updated by such date? alex: yeah, so, you know, we talked in the last segment about security. so, already policies that have served california well are the requirements that our voting systems be tested and certified that they meet our security standards before they can be used by any county in the state. you know, we prohibit internet connectivity for those voting systems. we make it impossible to systematically hack or rig an election. we require post-election audits by every county after every election. and one of the big pieces for us is paper ballots. paper ballots, paper ballots, and a voter-verified paper trail so that we can, you know, count, recount,

and audit to ensure the integrity of the vote. but the reality is a lot of the equipment in california is old. you know, the last time there was a significant investment in elections infrastructure was after the 2000 presidential election. you remember the butterfly ballots and hanging chads in florida. and so, even the newer equipment in california is older. and so, we have taken the steps to decertify the old equipment just 'cause a lot of it's beginning to fail. and are working with counties, and we have state funding on the table to help them modernize, either upgrade or replace their voting systems, so that the equipment statewide is meeting more current security standards. damian: here in santa clara county, we're still filing in the bubble, we're drawing the line on paper. alex: and you know what? it's impossible to hack that piece of paper. so, there's a multitude of initiatives that we're advancing that make it easier to be registered and keep that secure, easier to cast your ballot and keep that secure. so, paper ballots i think is great,

and we're going to maintain that requirement for a long time. more and more people are choosing to vote by mail, and so it's a paper ballot that comes to the home. and you can mail that ballot back or walk that in if that's your preference, but we still have the technology behind the scenes to accelerate how we count and report out the results with the audits and check just to make sure that votes are counted and counted as cast. damian: we can't say this enough, camera one is yours, if you can address the voters and tell them about how cautious you need to be when reading facebook posts, twitter posts, anything in social media that they might think is true, but is not. alex: absolutely. so, with an upcoming march 3 primary next year less than a year away, a couple of important bits of advice. first of all, check your registration status. you can go to voterstatus.sos.ca.gov and make sure all your registration information is accurate and up to date. if you need to make any changes or if you need to register for the first time, you can go to registertovote.ca.gov.

so, those two important measures before next march's primary election. and for official election information, visit the secretary of state's website at sos.ca.gov. damian: all right, and when you visited the silicon valley leaders this past wednesday, what was your message to the silicon valley leaders? alex: well, i think that the main purpose of the convening is if you're paying attention to elections and you care about election security, you hear a lot about what's going on at maybe the state and at the federal level, but ultimately elections are administered at the local level, right? it's the county that mails out ballots, collects ballots, counts ballots, et cetera. so, how are we including counties in all these security steps that we're taking? and you know, my office has been working hand in hand with all 58 counties in california, seeking additional funding from the state and the federal government for modernization of our equipment, cyber security training of our staff, and then again directing voters to the official sources

of information, whether it's the county elections department or the state secretary of state's office. damian: all right, i've asked you all the questions. any topics that i haven't touched on that you think our voters should know? alex: well, again, the helpful tips, check your voter status if you want to register to vote or update your registration. but frankly, be on the lookout for potential changes and options for how voting is changing in your area. this--the bay area is pretty big. you had tremendous success in san mateo county, for example, with the voters choice act, where everybody automatically received their ballot in the mail and could either mail it back or utilize a vote center. imagine as a voter being able to go to any vote center in the county convenient to you over the course of 11 days, not just that one single election day. it's those packages of reforms, together with same-day registration, that i think are going to spread amongst other counties not just in the bay area, but throughout the state. damian: all right. well, again, election day is less than a year away, it's happening on march 3, the early primary here

in california. you can log on to the website of the secretary of state's office in sacramento, there it is. any final thoughts, mr. secretary, before we let you go? alex: look, it's the measure of our democracy is obviously how inclusive our democracy is. so, we're seeing record registration, we saw record registration in 2018, record turnout in 2018, highest turnout for a midterm election since 1982. but as we get closer to 2020, everybody will know it's a presidential election year, the level of enthusiasm and engagement is only going to increase. i firmly believe we're going to see record registration and turnout again, both in march and in november. so, let's all do our civic duty, and let's turn out and vote. and that's the best way, frankly, to push against those who are seeking to undermine our democracy. let's show them that we're not going to buy it and we're going to participate. damian: all right, thank you for stopping by. alex: thank you, damian. damian: appreciate it, gracias. and we'll be back with more here on "comunidad del valle." stay with us.

of an upcoming health fair here in san jose. with me on "comunidad del valle" is chris boyd. he's the senior vice president of kaiser permanente santa clara. welcome to the show, sir. chris boyd: thank you, it's very good to be here. damian: thank you, thank you for coming. so, i was at this event where the hispanic foundation of silicon valley unveiled these numbers. and the numbers were, for lack of a better word, horrific. even the mayor--former mayor ron gonzales said if that was his report card, he'd hide it from his mom. chris: wow. damian: when it comes to latinos in health, we're not doing too well. talk about your reaction when you first read the numbers from the foundation. chris: well, you know, they were alarming. and you know, the report that you're referring to, silicon valley latino report card 2018, you know, it wasn't all bad. there are--you know, over the course of the study between 2007 and 2016, the rate, the insurance rate of coverage actually increased.

but then when you get into the other--the details, one in four latino adults now report having diabetes. that's a 200% increase over 2007. and then you look at the body mass index, that has gone up by 48% over the same time period. and you know, the body mass index is going up at the same time the access to fresh fruits and vegetables has remained constant. so, it is reason for alarm, and that's why we're holding the tu salud healthcare-- health fair at eastridge mall on the 23rd, so. damian: so, what will be happening there at the fair? chris: well, we're going to have physicians there to talk a lot about specific healthcare topics. we're going to have nonprofits there, they're going to be delivering, have available a lot of information about the things that they do. and you know, and telemundo 48 and kaiser permanente are going to be the sponsors. and i think it's going to be a really a very,

very worthwhile event. it's free, and it's on may 23 from 10 to 2 in the afternoon at eastridge mall in san jose. damian: and one thing is saying to the community, "you need to come in; we need to check you out." the other thing is going to them to where they are, to where they congregate. and that's what you do at eastridge. chris: you know, kaiser permanente has a long history of community involvement. and the latino community is very, very important to us, and we have a very strong history of our commitment to cultural sensitivity and responsiveness. and we're all about preventive medicine with kaiser permanente. and for over 70 years, we've been doing this in the community, so we're very proud of our heritage of what we do for the community, and this is just another example of that. damian: are we at a loss as to how this is happening, the increase in diabetes cases and the increase in body mass? chris: well, i think our physician colleagues will probably be able to tell you more, but i think in general, we don't get enough exercise,

and we don't eat correctly all the time. so, i think those are two-- probably the biggest variables that we have. you know, and this report was so important because it didn't just focus on one aspect, you know? it covers, you know, everything from health, to education, to finances, the housing, to the environment. damian: and it kind of all-- chris: yeah, everything goes into this. so, this isn't just, you know, one specific topic. it covers really the waterfront, and so, very comprehensive. so, we need to pay attention to that and respond, and i think the event that we're hosting together is a good way to start. damian: i don't want to say that maybe the community just doesn't care about body mass and what not. i think it's maybe access has a lot to do with it. you mentioned all the other indicators that have a lot to do with it. it's not just one thing that you can point your finger at. chris: no, these are all part of what we call the determinants of healthcare, you know? access is a huge part of it. you know, lifestyle certainly plays a part,

there's just a lot of things. finances, we got to make sure we're affordable, have access. education, you know, is probably the foundation for a lot of this. damian: and so, at the fair, you'll be able to have your blood pressure checked i would imagine. chris: yeah, we're going to have all of those things available. again, march 23, be there. it's going to be a very, very good session. damian: and again, this has been the mission of kaiser permanente for decades. chris: seventy years. seventy years we've been in the community providing these kinds of services. damian: all right, well, it's happening in the heart of the community, it's at eastridge mall there in san jose, it's from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. it's on march 23, put on by telemundo 48 and kaiser permanente. any final thoughts before we let you go? chris: no, i just look forward to seeing everybody there. it's really going to be a very, very good session. damian: all right, thank you, ms. boyd, appreciate it. chris: thank you. damian: and up next here on "comunidad del valley," chicano commencement. stay with us.

remember the way we used to do things? hey man... like connect with friends? dig it! or get in shape? or sell a house and pay a real estate agent a big commission. [crash] at redfin, we charge you a 1% listing fee. and because redfin.com is america's #1 brokerage site our agents get more eyes on your home so you sell for thousands more than the one next door. don't get stuck in the past. sell with a redfin agent. than the one next door. is right around the corner again. it's at the end of may. with me on, "comunidad del valle," two members of the organizing committee this year. we have cynthia delgado velazco and also

manuel hernandez zavala. welcome to the show. manuel zavala: damian, thank you for having us. damian: well, we're going to show you a quick picture because i feel that you guys should see this. these are the founders of chicano commencement. they were here at san jose state a couple of months ago. and so, who can tell us what kind of an inspiration these folks are still to you and to your committee? i mean, they're the ones who founded chicano commencement, what does that mean to you guys to be able to know that there were founders out there who started something that you're now continuing? manuel: so, we're happy that these--they're the ones that stood up for us at the ceremony, and we carried on the traditions for us. being a chicano and knowing that they didn't really get recognized at the time, i'm glad that we can still carry that now. it's going to be 50 years of the walkout this year. damian: that's pretty awesome. and so, anything special happening at chicano commencement this year? i mean, you guys are here because obviously it costs a lot of money to put on something that you all want to make your parents proud of. but what are the special events that are happening there

for this? cynthia velazco: so, chicano commencement, what it comprises of is we basically spend all this money for a keynote speaker to come talk to us and give us a speech to congratulate us and tell us how meaningful it is for us. . and we also have performances in between. tubla aztec dance, folklorico dance, what else? damian: well, you know that it doesn't end after chicano commencement, right? i mean, for you guys, it's probably, this is where it starts. because once you get involved in chicano commencement, it means that now your work as community contributors begins. how ready are you to take on that task? manuel: i'm more than ready. as chicano commencement has helped me reach out to the community as it is to help the community out as community service, as well as reaching out to community for donations as well because, like you said before, it does take a lot of funding for chicano commencement

to happen. so, i feel like this is the first step once we get into career world, but it takes to involve the community as a whole. damian: a lot of us went through chicano commencement, and i think everyone talks about the family and the parent contribution, and talk about what that sacrifice meant, your family sacrifice for you to be able to walk that stage on that day. cynthia: so our--the ceremony is also--is not only for students who are graduating, first generation students with a bachelor's degree or master student's degree, but it's also to recognize the parents for helping our students with the sacrifices. damian: same thing. i mean, i wouldn't have been able to be there without them. talk about your experience. manuel: i'm glad the chicano commencement will be a bilingual ceremony. i am part of the business-- college of business, and that's going to be in english. i'm glad chicano commencement is going to be in spanish so my parents understand, especially myself being from southern california and having my parents come all to san jose state,

to come to a beautiful ceremony is what all of our goals are. damian: and a lot of graduates this year, right cynthia? cynthia: yes. damian: how many, 70? cynthia: yeah, we have 77 members right now. damian: and how hard is it to be able to coordinate something as big as that at the student event center at san jose state? i mean, it's not-- it's not an easy task. cynthia: no. no, at first, we had like almost 80 members, but as members get really busy throughout the year, they start to notify us that they can no longer participate. so, right now having 77 members, it's still hard for us because we have to keep track of how many community hours they are doing or fundraising events that they are doing. and we also have to keep track of those who are not doing anything, which hurts us. damian: i mean, at a certain point, there comes a time when you're going to have some chavalitos also there who are watching, and so you're kind of-- you're kind of up there for them at the same time, right?

talk about that, your little brothers and little cousins. manuel: so, as well as having our families there that are going to see us graduate, we also have the junior rep program. so, junior reps are the people that are going to be seniors next year. so, they're going to overshadow us of all the contributions we've done, all our meetings. so, when it comes to their time when they come--become seniors, they're going to take over the chicano commencement. damian: all right, any final thoughts that you all have? i mean, this is a pretty big event. just come on out and join and support, huh? manuel: yeah. cynthia: yeah. damian: yeah, well, it is happening over at san jose state university, it's chicano commencement. and there is their crowdfunding site. for more information also, you can log on and see if you can contribute the aspect, the familia aspect i think is one thing that i got out of mine and in subsequent chicano commencement that i've gone to. talk about that familia aspect and how it becomes

a family celebration, not just for the 77 graduates. manuel: so, it becomes this family celebration 'cause each member gets a table. and at that table, you have ten of your closest family members there with you, as well as we open it up to the public. so, we'll have our tias, tios, you know, cousins, everybody's going to be there. so, it becomes a big celebration to congratulate us and we're glad that that's why we have folklorico, dance azteca. and at the end, we have a banda. you know, it's banda-- damian: there's always a banda. manuel: yeah, there's always a banda. and it symbolizes celebration and happiness, so that's a good experience that we can experience it with our family. damian: well, congratulations. and then remind your fellow graduates that this is where it begins. all right, good luck. manuel: thank you. damian: all right, and now here's what's happening in your comunidad on que pasa. ♪ ♪

♪ damian: and our saludos to those celebrating a special day, felicidades. and here's our contact information. you can also follow me on twitter, my handle is, @newsdamian. also pick up a copy of "el observador" newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. you can also watch us on telemundo canal 48 every sunday morning at 11 a.m. we thank you for sharing a part of your sunday with us, we'll see you again next week. pasa usted, buenos dias. ...

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right now at 4:30, a bizarre scene at the oakland airport as a man with a knife walks up to officers and threatening them. >> plus, president trump wants more money, the whopping amount he's asking for now. >> the first wild day of weather in the bay area, what will the rest of the evening and your upcoming workweek will look like. >> the news starts right now, i am vickie nguyen. >> i am terry mcsweeney. we have been closing out on a wild note. this is what some of the hail looked like earlier today. am i right