next on kqed newsroom, counting down to the june primary. while president obama wraps up a visit to hollywood and silicon valley. journalist and undocumented immigrant jose anthoonio gar ga shares his story. >> i'm trying to humanize the issue. >> plus a bay area makes the first combat zone ten types since the civil war. >> they were about the timelessness of war, how it's followed us since civilization began and will continue to follow us.

good evening. and welcome to kqed newsroom. i'm thuy vu. president obama's three-day swing through california this week taps campaign cash in silicon valley and hollywood'd. the goal, helping democrats hold on in november. in the south bay, long time congressman mike honda is facing stiff competition from a fellow democrat with high-tech ties. and two republicans are among the challengers vying to stop jerry brown from winning a fourth term as governor. scott shafer takes it from here. >> primary elections are often

unpredictable. in particular, because so few people tend to vote. early voting with mail-in ballots already landing this week. joining me is carla marinucci, josh richman, and scott detrow joip joining us from the capitol. well, folks, the president was in town this week. the last thing he did was an event at a walmart in mountain view. he was touting green energy. really didn't go down well with some of the liberal groups. >> well, yeah, he use the the walmart in mountain view to rollout a new energy initiative he's going to be pushing. some new things, new energy standards for businesses. mentioned a lot of businesses that are signing onto some

existing programs that already are there. it's pretty significant. but the -- >> the venue. >> the dust up was the venue. he went to visit walmart which is the sworn -- the very symbol of what's wrong with american income inequality as far as labor unions and stuch a-- such are concerned. i think he's willing to take that heat in order to have a company like walmart, the world's largest employer, world's larmest publicly -- largest publicly traded company in his corner. >> labor was upset. so many different groups and bob rice put on his facebook page today, what -- >> that's exactly what i was hearing from democrats there and around the bay area who said that this sort of underscored the lack of connection of communication between the white house and some of the grass roots people.

they said they didn't have a heads up about it. when they finally heard it was walmart, hoe, he might be talking about wages, minimum wage and issue with walmart. instead, to come to the bay area, the center of some of the protests with regard to labor and to basically throw it in their face did not go down well. and they said, if he wanted to make points about solar and other things, could have done it in other states. >> so the main point of him being here was to raise money for democrats. the senate is in the hands of democrats. that could change in november. what's the message that obama had while he was here? >> i think significantly here in silicon valley, you saw some of the younger high-tech entrepreneurs get into political fund raising in a very prominent wait signaling almost sort of the passing of the torch, new generation. his message is still the same,

which is midterm elections matter and democrats have not been turning out at them. >> got to motivate them. and speaking of elections, we've got one coming up in june. the governor this week had a bit of a victory standing with republican and democratic leaders announcing a deal on this rainy day fund. what did they get out of it in agreeing to change what's going on in november? >> poly-wise, republicans got basically everything they wanted. they wanted to make sure the fund would be getting new revenue every single year. and the second one was making sure that it wasn't too easy to get money off the fund. they were concerned they would declare a fiscal emergency in order to tap the fund. the way that the deal was constructed, republicans are able to make sure that money's

going into it every single year and that it has to be a budget that has lower revenue than the last three budgets in order to tap into it. politically you could argue maybe they should have held out a bit longer. >> what does it say that they folded pretty quickly? does this indicate that they know he's going to be around another four years? >> i think that's one way to look at it. there was a telling legislative hearing about the issue where the governor came and testified. a couple of them said, we trust you, but we know you'll be here for four more years and that's it. i think that says it right there. >> so scott, when you talk about the optics for the election coming up in november, this was just taylor made for jerry brown? >> i think so. what's the message out of sacramento, a part san gridlock and budget dissas ters.

>> meanwhile, we do have a couple of republicans who was thought to be a mainstream republican, just the kind of person the establishment gop would like to lead. we have the tea party favorite doing quite well. what would it mean to have him in the rup off. >> i think the republican base is more comfortable with tim donly. i think he got an early start on rallying that bates. he has a legislative track record they can look to and that they generally like. donnley made a questionable judgment call this past week when he implied that neal was in some way suck coming to or embarrassing sharia law by covering that topic in a

seminar. >> never mind that he's hindu. >> coming back to the race down there in silicon valley, a lot of the new tech money is backing mike in the race. the chronical now have come out. what's going on down there? >> this is one of the issue issues that mike honda has to deal with. he's facing a younger challenger who knows the tech industry that has like 300 tech leaders behind him. so honda is challenged in trying to show what he's done for tech. and this is where we're seeing money coming into the race and a lot of -- look, the mercury news endorsement, both are things he's going to have to deal with. >> before we wrap up, what impact would you say that this top two primary is having in sacramento? is it evident yet that it's

bringing more moderates? >> i think there are a lot of questions. we will be seeing this play on the local level. this will be the first stayed wide time it's in play. >> all right. scott december troe, josh richman. thanks so much. fasten your seat belts. jose antonio vargas was just 12 years old when his mother sent him froth the fill fens. after graduating, his journalism career took off including stints at the washington post and the new yorker. but he kept a secret, he was in this country illegally. in 2011, vargas disclosed his immigration status. now in a film, he chronicals his imbrags journey. i spoke with him, but first a clip from the film, "docume

"documented". >> the only thing that's happened so far since coming out is my driver's license got revoked which is kind of a big deal because it's my only form of government-issued id. so thankfully the philippine em pacy here in new york gave any a passport. this is a passport i can use as a form of id. problem is, there's no visa in the passport which means that once i show this to the tsa people at the airport as id, if they see there's no visa in it, they can actually call border patrol and they can, i guess, detain me. so i guess we'll just see if that happens. >> jose antonio vargas, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> obviously a very personal documentary revealing intimate

details. why did you decide to make the film and what do you hope it will achieve? >> the hope is to how do i humanize an incredibly political issue that has been played political football with for decades, right? the goal of the film is to make it personal and human. i was just kind of hoping it wasn't me. originally i was directing the film. i was going to document on young undocumented people. >> like a journalist. >> like a journalist. and then the film became more personal. once it went down that route. it was all in or don't go at all. >> there's an emotional scene in the film when you see your mom for the first time in 20 years. >> on film. >> because you haven't had the papers to travel. >> yeah. >> and so you've had to see her for the first time via skype. >> yeah, so she can't come here.

she's on a 16-year waiting list to come legally. that's why she can't come here and i can't leave because i won't be able to come back. so she and i meet on skype. which was a very painful, almost kind of liberating thing to do. you know, because i mean, how do you explain not seeing your mom for 20 years. like, i could not have written that as a writer. >> how do you think these personal moments will affect the immigration debate? a thousand people get deported every day. i make a film. i'm trying to humanize the issue and expose the complexity of it and what's really at stake. immigration has always been about families. >> it's also about being legal, about having documents. >> absolutely. >> immigration reform is stalled

in strong right now. you have attracted a lot of critics. to many, you're illegal, you repeatedly broke the law, they think you should be deported. >> actually, i'm glad you brought that up. to be in this country without papers is actually a civil offense and not a criminal one. so calling me illegal is actually factually inaccurate. more so than that, what other issue in this -- is there any other issue in which we refer to a group of people as illegal? this is the only issue, right? so there's that. of course, i understand that i'm here illegally. i'm a student of american history. sometimes i wonder when the irish after the potato famine came here and crossed the border, they didn't have any papers. did we call them criminals too, right? what's the difference? i mean, again, this is a question that i've been asking americans since i travel around the country.

and this is a question that is partly exposed and asked in the fi m. >> another question people might be asking also is how are you still in this country? you're several months too old to qualify for the policy of deferring deportation to undocument immigrant whose came here as children. how are you still here? >> when i did this, i had talked to like 27 lawyers. so i -- like any reporter, i reported it, right? which then i prepared myself for the worst. i prepared my family ft. worst. i was prepared to be deported. what i was not prepared for was silence. and that's mostly what a got from the government. i called ice, i said, i haven't heard from you, what are you planning to do with me. >> there was the federal

government rejecting california's undocumented imdprants next year. florida is expected to join 19 other states allows undocumented immigrants to get instate college twugs. do you think this is how it will happen? >> well, i mean i think given the congressional dysfunction and partisanship we're seeing -- it's an election year, so i think there is going to be a lot of waiting still to happen. and i do think that states, especial especially states with huge immigrant populations, like california, texas, we need to figure out how are these other states going to actually alleviate the struggles happening with all the undocumented immigrants in their own states. >> you say you're now shifting from the politics to the culture of the debate. what do you mean by that? >> so i have done about 200

events in 42 states, visited a hundred or so krej colleges. the conversation on this issue has been stuck in the u.s./mexico illegal border conversation. my job as a film maker is how do i unpack that and make it about people's stories. we'll be working with the writers guild of america in l.a. and try to figure out how can we better integrate immigrants in television and films. that's really the goal. how do we help people do that. >> and change the conversation through pop culture. >> pop culture, media, absolutely. >> okay. thank you, your film opens in bay area theaters may 15th in san francisco. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you so much for having me.

california air national guards man ed drew's job as a gunner on combat search and rescue help k079ers is one of -- help continuers is one of the most dangerous in the mail tear. he was inspired to make something lasting while he was there in case he didn't return. by reviving a long lost art, he would end up making history. scott shafer narrates our story. >> when i grew up, my life wasn't easy. my mother worked all the time. i really had to learn on my own how to hold myself up. photography is one of those things that i used as a vehicle for self-expression because felt

in my heart i was an artist. >> working out of a makeshift darkroom, ed drew is putting his own spin on a 19th century art form. >> i like ten types because it's not something simple. you have to set it up and be really physical with it. you can't just click. you're basically making a photo on a piece of metal. you're ex-poedsing it, developing it and fixing it all right then and there. the portraits reached the height of their popularity during the american civil war. inexpensive, durable and relatively simple to make, they were the first portraits available to the masses, including hundreds of soldiers heading off to battle. >> sometimes these are the last images that their friends and families would ever see of these individuals alive. >> ed is no stranger to the

risks of combat. he searched in the military since he was 18 years old and is currently an aerial gunner for the california air national guard. when he was deployed last spring, he brought his camera along. >> the whole idea came from the faculty was going to afghanistan. i wanted to record the people i worked with in the most humanistic way possible. i wanted to focus on these combat rescue individuals. i would do it in between mission. sometimes i would get called out, so i would have to drop everything and immediately sprint out to the aircraft to do my job. >> drew's were the first to be made in a combat zone since the civil war. >> this is my co-pilot.

my ten types for afghanistan were about the timelessness of war. how it's followed us and will continue to follow us. my purpose is not to glorify anything. it's to celebrate people because we're all essentially just human. >> it's usually cloudy out here, right? >> when i came back from deployment i was a little frustrated because i had purpose over there. i got back and i kind of had to fill that void. how i did that was i had very specific idea that i was going to use by art to show the beauty of people. >> i wonder if that would be a better tool. >> now he's working with at-risk youth at the garden project. katherine directs the program. her students learn job and life skills through organic farming.

>> young people that work with us every day are the people who live in areas of the city where there's a lot of crime, a lot of poverty. they manage to overcome all that. they are understanding that they have a future. >> right about there. yeah. that's perfect. >> the reason i chose these young adults is because they're making something of themselves. they're going to college, but they're also learning money here. >> he hopes he can help shatter negative stereotypes that often follow young men of color. >> how's that? i wanted to capture them this way to show other people that they're not what you think they are. tell me about yourself, man. >> me, honestly i go to school right now. so i'm taking business classes.

and on my free time, i write music. >> nice. what do you do? >> i do it all. >> i like to hear his story. it's not just about me taking a photo and walking away. it's also, what do you like to do, the ease in which he feels around me is what's going to make a strong portrait. >> that's nice. >> do you like it? >> yeah. >> good, good. i'm glad. >> yeah, we're going to do it. this is where you have to be a statute, man. >> they're really reflective. it's a really slow process. they have a really good way of evoking people's humanity. they're ex-posing themselves. >> the kind of photography that ed is doing with us is particularly meaningful because it has that historical reference. after the experience of slavery,

many folks have said, oh, gardening isn't for me and i thaik that ed's taking pictures of us using this older way, it's come full circle. the garden is now a place that can uplift and not just hold you down. and hopefully his pictures can depict that in a way that touches people to help them see it. >> i think the imperfections of it is what i really enjoy. and i think it's a great analogy for life. lie life is not perfect. whether they have a little spec on .t5ñ them or a streak of sil. you accept the image just like you accept the person. >> joining me now for a look at what's coming up on kqed news is scott schaeffer. governor jerry brown reach add

deal this week with the gop to put a rainy day proposal on the ballot. he's going to put up the may revised. what's the connection there? >> the connection is this is budget season. we got a report this week from the state comptroller who said we have 2 billion in extra heavy knew. so the rainy day fund is almost a good will thing, the governor and republicans and democrats coming together talking about fiscal responsibility. just sets a tone for the budget negotiations that will begin in earnest. >> and also this really gives the republicans something good too. they can come in and say, hey, this is one of our achievements as well. >> absolutely. this is one thing they've been talking about. there's another report that came out this week that said that california has $340 billion in liabilities for retiree pension

and health benefits. so the rainy day deal is part of that agreement to deal with that. yeah, it's something in it for everybody. >> also looking ahead to next week, monday, is silicon valley mowing l is expected to testify in court in a lawsuit over his decision to close public access to a pri teen beach. >> martin's beach. it's been a hidden gem along the coast there. surfers like it. there's always been a path way down there that people could access the beach. when he bought it a few years ago for $38 million, i think, he put up a gate and prevented people from going down. so the only way to access is by a boat essentially. so there's a lawsuit that surf rider foundation documentation is putting forward saying it's a violation of the california coastal act. in california, the coast is

public property, no matter where it is. so this is going to be in court. he will be testifying. he's scheduled to testify monday at 3:00. it's this bill anywhere versus the sdr billionaire versus the surfers. >> and he's the co-founder of sun mike systems. >> it comes in the discussion we're having about the haves and have nots and so it becomes a focal point in the way like the google buses did. it's an important statement this judge is going to make about who is the coast for. >> it will be interesting because it's the first time he will actual have to testify in court. >> he's avoided it for quite some time. >> all right. thank you. for all of kqed news coverage, please go to kqednews.org. >> thanks for joining us. >> i'm thuy vu. have a good night.

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