hello and welcome to kqed newsroom, i'm thuy vu. coming up on our program, a look at one entrepreneur's efforts to bring sophistication to the candidates. >> and what two comedians have to say in podcast. >> and mcarthur genius gene yang. >> presidential race. hillary clinton and donald trump square off in first debate monday night in new york. state stakes are high. recent polls show a tight race. expected to draw a huge audience. what do we expect to hear from

the candidates about issues that have resonance in california? here to discuss the race is lisa desjardins, political correspondent with the political news hour. >> thanks for having me. >> in the wake of the shootings, both candidates trying to take a stance on policing and community, how are they received? >> i think there's a contrast in the way they've approached the issues until now. one point of similarity, this week in tulsa both donald trump and hillary clinton said there were problems with the way the police handled the shooting of the unarmed black man there. first time donald trump criticized police action in any of the shootings. significant departure. but at the same time donald trump generally has said he's the law and order candidate, spoken about standing up for

police, called protesters thugs in the past. hillary clinton on the other hand says the protesters have something that needs to be listened to. this week said wants to help white voters understand something they haven't been talking about until now. two very different approaches to the conversation and will see the sharp divide come out in the debate monday night. >> despite what trump says, a few hours later he supported expanded use of stop-and-frisk which a federal court said is unconstitutional. is he trying to have it both ways? >> yes. that's a good summary. donald trump's reachout to the african-american community is happening at the same time as he is supporting policies many in the african-american community think target them and stop-and-frisk is a prime example. he said talking to sean hannity on wednesday night he supports stop-and-frisk as way to calm

things and attack crime. speaks regularly on the campaign trail about high crime especially in african-american communities, said gone too far and doesn't recognize vansz and coloring them as prices of places of crime and poverty and not what they are. but donald trump is staying true to his idea we need to beef up law enforpt as solution. many in the community think it's problem. he's trying to reach out and unify with african-americans but some of the policies leaders don't like. >> also talked about immigration, polarizing in the election, huge issue in california, 25% of the nation's immigrants. clinton and trump have distinctly different views. can we expect to sharpen in the debate? >> i don't know about sharpen but clash absolutely.

i would expect immigration to be a significant chunk of time in the debate. for one reason, that's what launched donald trump to begin with, the first issue he spoke about. premier pledge of his campaign is to build a wall with mexico and something that recently hillary clinton and her campaign have tied into what we're talking about with the issues with the black community. just today heard tim kaine say we want to build bridges, not walls. they're trying trump's policy on the southern border also to his policy of law enforcement. how he's dealing with communities of color here in america. i think she's going to push that again and we know that one of her strongest groups supporting her are communities of color. donald trump has said he wants to sway those voters, going to be a contest to see who can do it more. >> also seen gender politics.

trump criticized clinton for not looking presidential, and carped on other things. past data from other elections shown that women voters tend to vote more democratic than men. can we expect trump to soften his approach in the debate to court more women voters? >> think you've hit on something important to watch for. we know that trump, campaign sources tell me women voters are key for him, especially white women. wants to win over undecided, thinks a large group. one of the new campaign chiefs kellyanne conway, that's her specialty, pay close attention for that. thanks lisa desjardins for joining us. lisa desjardins with pbs newshour. >> continuing coverage of cannabis at a cross roads, considering to legalize

recreational marijuana, tonight we get look at transforming hum bolt into the napa valley of cannab cannabis. >> reporter: in hum bolt county, 300 miles north of san francisco drive to barn where blue bunburys once harvested. marijuana or cannabis. strauss is the ceo of northern emeralds, produces indoor grown cannabis. >> i created it because one of the biggest problems in the cannabis industry is having consistency in product. one of the hardest things to do as cannabis farmer is creating consistent product from yield to

yield. >> reporter: a keen eye and nose for detail also must be developed catering to connoisseurs. >> it's good nose and little bit suffocating because the room is running hot. smaller formation, not as dense as we'd like, thinking a lower end of the gold. >> reporter: straussen is calling brian, and grade the cannabis. platinum grade can be $70 for about three grams at dispensary. >> nose tells you everything up front. first tool we can use. can tell if cured improperly, tendency for mold and mildew. >> there's similarities to wine country, each strain a profile and unique smell. >> great opportunity to bridge the gap in all the details uncharted territory in cannabis,

wine and coffee have a long history. right now is new beginning for cannabis. >> reporter: but making the county top shelf is leap of faith. >> it's a gamble to be involved in industry not quite set yet. it's danger. you know somebody that's been busted, livelihood taken away from them. >> reporter: cannabis has been legal for medical conditions since 1996 but took nearly 20 years to overhaul the rules to allow cannabis to profit. this became the first california county to get permits for cultivation. >> we went because we want to be professionals, we're compliant, legal and our goal to open up to the world in way that's safe.

having a permit is first step. >> reporter: meanwhile green rush is taking off in the forested hills to grow this prized plant which can sell for more than $2000 a pound in california. >> inundated with people coming from all over the nation to grow marijuana. had 1,000 to 2,000 grows within the county, now it's gone up to about 12,000 grows. >> reporter: to fight environmental impact of the green rush, new rules require growers to get state permits to legally take water from rivers and streams. indoor growers also have to mitigate carbon footprint. >> source from renewable sources, capture up to 85% of all the water we feed in the plants in the rooms and use for following feeding. >> reporter: even with a permit to operate openly, success is

far from guaranteed in biggest pot growing county in the state. >> challenges, one is having prejudice against us to start with. every step along the way there's a premium for services rendered to us, payroll costs, taxes, insurance, workmans comp and what we can and can't write off. people think we're raking in the doe and its not that way, struggle to be where we are. >> reporter: each week meets with team to discuss strategies. >> getting into more clubs, bay area and ak mento, how is it working out? >> have sto start upping the order every two weeks. >> 50 to 100 pounds a month of cannabis and can't produce enough. hoping to wrap up production as soon as possible. >> reporter: inside one of the climate controlled grow rooms

lights help them flower and produce buds that have thc, the chemical that generates a high and affects potency. then the plants are ready to harvest and cured for up to a month to remove moisture. trimming team can now get to work spending six hours a day to man cure the buds. >> we have a two part quality control procedure, starting with manicurist, who is trained to notice imperfections in the bud, look for mold and milldew and cut it out. after trimmed i see a second time and sort into categories, based on size, structure, color and potency. >> reporter: 40 dispensaries in california sell cannabis produced by northern emeralds.

but still illegal at federal level, earnings can't be deposited into federal banks. counting cash is a big part of the industry. >> safety measures we have to put in, costly to handle large quantities of cash. requires strategy and care and trust. >> reporter: despite the risks some are seizing the opportunity right now to turn the fields of green into a crop they can more safely and openly bet on. >> the gold sapphire we created earlier. >> put to the test. >> see how she burns. >> exciting time to be in the cannabis industry, it's exiting prohibs and i feel like pulling out of the adolescence into adulthood. >> tastes good. >> i forgot how good the sapphire tastes. >> it's relief we have the opportunity to come out of the

shadows. lot more work but big relief and i think people that do with will be happy with the results. this political season has been tumultuous with plenty of material for comedians. kamau bell teemed up with hari kondabolu for edgy talk on the time. podcast. scott shaeffer takes it from here. >> joined by the hosts of politically reactive. w. kamau bell, he currently serves as aclu celebrity ambassador on racial justice and hari kondabolu, a self-described killjoy who does comedy. >> former intern to hillary clinton? >> i guess so. >> get immunity?

>> i was 19 or 20. 2003, i don't know what -- >> you meet. >> i met her once in one interaction. five minutes in the history of her life? >> 13 years ago. may have been open miking it dins then. >> hitting the mikes. >> obama is naturally funny. has good timing for a president. >> could do a tour. >> i don't think funny for president, just funny. when he did the correspondents dinner, one that larry will more hosted. comics after that in the green room, he made us all look bad. he's really good. and it's not fair. natural timing. improvise, facial expressions, it's like he didn't need to learn that, just knows how. >> talk about the podcast, "politically reactive."

what were some of the names you tossed around and decided not to use? >> i would like politrix. knocked down quickly. >> sounds like public enemy song from the '90s. >> what does the hyphen mean? i thought it was good but google says it was wrong. shouldn't have put p it in. >> what do you say on the podcast that you couldn't say in another venue like tv. like now. >> right. we talk about -- great thing about the podcast is we can talk about things with a great deal of depth which we can't do on television or stage. restricted to limited time or expect laughter immediately. with the podcast can share things and go longer and analyze a topic and don't need to worry if there's a laugh every 30

seconds or minute. it's organically funny but really about the topic. >> is it hard to do something funny without hearing people laugh? don't have the cues. >> came out of phone conversations, like we're tapping our phone conversations. nsa was already doing it. now we do it. >> making money. >> we laugh and have difficult conversations about political or cultural things and goes from super serious and goofy and back and forth and invite a third person, whoever we interview. >> race is hot topic for a long time. >> dawn of the america. >> the original sin. but we're seeing what is happening this week in north carolina, curious what you make of colin kaepernick, the 49ers quarterback and take a knee thing he started quietly. no one noticed at first and now people are -- he's a walking

rorschach test. >> as a bay area resident and kind of famous guy, colin e-mail me, what is going on man? dm me an twitter, follow me back. super proud of him. i know people in touch with him. good people around him. more intelligent than people knew. maybe he doesn't care that much about football, just good at it and cares about racial justice. i kneel about kaepernick. can i kneel right now. >> athletes take political stances forever. people forget. throughout the '60s you saw that. he's needed right now and stepped up to the plate. in the beginning it was silent, did for himself, and when people noticed, now talking about. people are trying to stump him and he always has an answer.

he's well-read. everyone is like do you have a plan now? and he does. >> he's grown in the course. >> people point to things he did in the past, no the in the best light but grown. as i said on stage a couple of times. even the afro has grown. >> black lives matter movement, he's coming on heels of that, it's a presence in the bay area. i was at rnc at cleveland and people said to me that black lives matter movement is a hate group. you spent time with the klan kamau, what do you make of that interpretation? >> said by somebody who has done no research into black lives matter. if you haven't clicked on one website or twitter feed. nothing points to that. nothing defined as hate group. that's somebody buying into the rhetoric of fox news. >> and idea they have no power

to persecute not in position of power as black people, people murdered by police. how can you be a hate group if you have no real weight in. >> in the midst of crazy presidential election. what is funniest thing about donald trump? >> i think he stopped being funny a few months ago when he go the the nomination. way less funny. >> for a while focused on hair. that's weird. right now i just can't. so scary. >> at point ready to go into medically induced coma, wake me up at inauguration. look who won, jill stein, who knew. >> why do you think hillary is having a hard time with young people, millennials and millennials of color? >> not brought up in we love

clinton era, but after. i voted for bill clinton. >> it's ironic that tony morrison called him first black president. >> yeah. probably didn't imagine barack obama then. >> more in context than given credit for. don't think automatically supposed to vote for clinton like older folks do. >> what do you learn from each other's prejudices? african-american and indian-american. >> is that a gotcha question? >> i think people don't think that you're african-american, there's biases against asian-americans. every group has them. >> i feel like we certainly expand our boundaries by being friends but don't think in terms of -- >> i think one thing that people think because we are politically

aligned in a lot of ways we get along all the time. there's things we disagree about, disagreement s that almost broke our friendship but he changed a agreed with me later. >> ah. >> there's times we disagree and then we share information, i think you're getting this wrong but over all it's an ongoing conversation. >> minute left. if you could ask one question at debate, what would it be? either of you? >> a minute to figure this out? >> donald trump, i have a question, would you please go away? >> i mean, i think i would do rachel maddow is our guest this week and ask what she suggested, would you take this written exam of questions about america? and if you fail, will you leave the presidential race? i think we know how that's going to go and i have a feeling he's

not going to say yes. >> what about hillary? >> will you meet with the members of black lives matter to have a thorough conversation and not just tweet about it. >> and finally talk to me. didn't talk during the internship. >> kamau bell and hari kondabolu, podcast politically reactive. be at comedy club. thanks for coming in. thanks. announced recipients of the prestigious mcarthur scholarships. on the roster of 23 fellows, 10 from california, four from the bay area. include sculptor vincet secretaryto, biologist, and graphic novelist yang. >> i talked with yang after

named labor raer of congress ambassador for youth literature. often take on questions of identity and ethnicity from chinese-american perspective. >> what have books done for you and your life? books formed me as human being, cartoonist. one of the examples i share in these speeches is how books have been ambassadors for me. explained worlds that i never understood before. for instance, i don't know if you can tell, but i'm kind of a nerd. which means i grew up terrible at sports and never had interest in sports, especially basketball. for some reason whenever i played, ball always hits me in the head. i tried to sty away from the world. eventually got interested in basketball partly from books. read "outside the paint" and

it's about the chinese basketball scene in the 1940s. >> as a kid what did you want to grow up to be? >> really little, disney animator. that's the first time i realized you can stel stories by drawing. always loved both. >> at what point did the writing part come in? >> in fifth grade i started reading comic books. mom bought me the superman cometic and mind was blown. you could convey things through still pictures on a printed page in emotional and effective ways. >> this book "american-born chinese" is the one that catapulted you to national fame. won awards, first graphic novel to accomplish this award. >> that book got so much support

from librarians and teachers and readers in general and really marked a turning point in my career. before that every time i put out a comic book i would lose money. this was actually when i could finally tell parents this is making a little bit of money now. >> you can be proud now. parents are immigrants from taiwan and hong kong and you actually majored in computer science at uc berkeley partly to please them but wasn't your passion. >> i do love computers for sure but my dad's practical wishes for me played a role. >> are identity and culture the themes you like most in your works? >> seems like i return to that over and over again. my friend marcia is a young adult author as well, says at heart of every young adult book is this equation, power plus belonging is equal to identity.

i really feel that describes my work. about how young people find power, voice, sense of belonging and how that adds up to their identity. >> and in fact that is one of the reasons you were drawn to superman right? you saw it through that lens. >> i've been a superhero fan in general for a long time and superman the first superhero, established the conventions of that genre, created by sons ouj like they put a piece of the immigrant experience into that character. he's an immigrant from a different culture and comes to america and has to wrestle with the two yurlts. kipt ownian and america. >> what is next book? >> another for d.c. comics, new superman, a chinese kid who

grows up in shanghai and inherents some of the superman's powers. pleasure to have you. >> thanks for having me. >> i'm thuy vu, that does it for us. for kqed news coverage go to kqed news.org.

captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, september 25th: great expectations for hillary clinton and donald trump on the eve of their first presidential debate. reactions to the police video of the shooting death of keith scott in charlotte, north carolina. and in our signature segment, the c.e.o. who slashed his salary and guaranteed a $70,000 a year minimum wage to his employees. >> and so therefore a business is really missing its potential, if it sees its purpose as creating money. >> sreenivasan: next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen gss