hello and welcome to kqed newsroom. i'm thuy vu. coming up on our program, we'll look at a bay area startup with an app that gets excess food from businesses into the hands of those who need it. also remembering pioneering television anchor and reporter gwen ifill, who passed away this week. but first as president-elect donald trump continues forming his cabinet, there is much division over his choices and the direction of the country. here in the bay area, there have been reports of racially motivated incidents in public and at schools. protests have erupted, and some are preparing to join in a women's march in washington, d.c. one day after the inauguration. tonight we'll talk about how to move forward with three people from different backgrounds, generations, and political

affiliations. our guests are matthew del carlo, chairman of the california young republican federation. sameena usman, from the bay area chapt chapter of the council. and bianca ramirez. matthew, we want to begin with you. why did you vote for donald trump? >> well, the two options, we had hillary clinton and donald trump. you know, obviously this was a very contentious election. there was a lot of things being said on both sides. but in the end, my decision was one of those two, so i voted for donald trump. the vision, i believe that the direction where he wants to take the country. i might have some disagreements on certain things, but overall i wasn't happy with hillary clinton and what she was bringing to bear as her agenda. >> what are some of the key components of this message that resonated with you? >> i think how he was talking about a large group of america that's been disenfranchised or more importantly ignored. we've had this massive globalization that's been occurring in large swaths of america, even in our central

valley have gone untouched in the sense of finding them jobs. you know, you have migrant farmers that are being affected by water policies by the fda and e.p.a. you have people in the rust belt that are being affected by globalization and trade and they've been forgotten. i think he has a recognition of that. you could also see that on the democratic side of things. bernie sanders and donald trump hit three issues. global trade, special interests in washington, d.c. were screwing around with middle america. the third component is you've been ignored. washington doesn't care about you anymore. >> those are the economic issues but certainly some of the issues that civil libertarians are having is the way the administration is shaping up, there have been some questionable appointments according to civil rights advocates, including steve bannon who a lot of people view as a leader of the alt-right

movement. we also have heard now that senator jeff sessions is in line for an attorney general post. he's been selected for that, and he's made some racially insensitive remarks in the past. are you concerned about that? >> i think we're kind of limited in a very hyperbolic environment right now. jeff sessions voted for former attorney general eric holder. he voted for the civil liberties act. he's voted for various other things. yes, there's stuff in his past, but we also have senator byrd and others in the democratic party that made unfortunate statements in the past. i think we have to see what the administration folds out. yes, there's some issues that have been taken out of context, i believe. i think there is concerns about immigration that a lot of people on both sides are very concerned about. i think we need to tone it down a little bit and give both sides of each issue to sit down and talk about how that's going to be affecting them and how we can work together on getting meaningful immigration reform

through. >> sabina, your thoughts? >> what's really concerning is you have four out of five of the appointments donald trump has made or proposed, they have made demeaning comments to african-americans or both. and to have these appointments, it's very scary for a lot especially given some of the proposed ideas would be either to create a list for muslims to have to register for or muslims not be allowed to stay in this country as well. and of course to ramp up the surveillance that already is high in mosques. the threat to america -- there's more of a threat posed to america not from american muslims but actually white soup recommendist groups as said by the fbi. so why is it that the focus is on american muslims? that's what's really of concern and that has what led a lot of people to fear and encouraged a lot of the hate crimes that have

happened around the country and in the bay area. >> what are you seeing happening in the bay area in terms of hate crimes? >> we've seen a number of hate crimes happen. the three most public ones were where a muslim woman attending a state university, she was choked with her hi jab, and it was a trump supporter. you have somebody in u.c. berkeley as well. you had another person who was not muslim but was wearing a head scarf because she had lupus. she had her car broken into and a note saying hateful things. >> and she's not even muslim. >> exactly. so we have received a number of calls and messages and, you know, care has found 111 cases around the country. and that's a very small number compared to what is actually happening because people don't want to either come out, or they don't know where to come out to. >> 111 cases over what period of time? >> this is just within the election time. >> just within the election

time. bianca, as a young student at fremont high school in oakland, and you're hearing these stories. you've heard matthew talk. you've heard samina talk. how are you understanding what they're saying, and how does it hit home for young people like you? >> well, talking as a young latina female in a very urban area and very diverse, honestly, we are all terrified what can happen just hearing based on her stories, you know. i am terrified of all the ze xenophobia that is going around, all the misogyny that is being spread, of all the hatred because of the color of my skin, because of who i look like, because of my nationality. and all that coming for students where we are not privileged at all. we are privileged. we wake up. we have beds.

we have that privilege, but we do not have that white privilege where people look at me and they look down at me. not only because of me -- i'm sorry. not only at me, but the rest of my folks as well. >> you helped organize a walk-out at your high school. what were you hoping to accomplish requewith that? >> with that, i'm just going to start out with i'm under 18. i do not have the right to vote, right? and with this, we all did it because we can because it's in our bill of rights. and we had to vocalize ourselves. we couldn't vote, but let me show you something real quick. so, yeah, we did that. our main goal was to come together, unite as a community, as an oakland community, and to show others that we are not what we have been targeted as, right, because we have all been marginalized, and we want to show them that we are more than that, right? regardless of what it is we do, we are seen as monsters because

we are not white, because my skin is not white, because my hair is not straight or blond. >> so we have matthew here. he voted for trump. y so do you feel like you've been demonized by people who did not vote for trump? >> i think we have to all take a step back and understand that we're all americans. and i think on both sides, we've cast aspersions on groups. i mean we don't -- i think it's completely wrong to look at one group in a monolithic way, right? it's wrong to look at muslims and say all muslims are terrorists by some people who have made outrageous statements like that. at the same time, people are making the same aspersions about trump supporters. everyone is a sexist, homophobic, misogynist. that's not true either. there's plenty of people that voted for trump, the majority that are concerned about the direction of the country. they're concerned about their families not working.

and it's not an immigration issue. they're not afraid of mexicans. they're not afraid of muslims or other groups. they just wake up one day, and they got a premium hike of 30%, and they're wondering how we're going to get together to pay for living for my family. >> do you understand their views, though, and please correct me if i'm wrong in understanding what you're saying. they see where you're coming from, yet you still voted for a man who holds all these views. and so, a, i think some people feel like if you still voted for trump, that, arrang you either with some of those very right-wing racist views, or it doesn't bother you. so, therefore, you still voted for him. >> i don't think he -- you know, he's a guy from queens. so he doesn't speak the queen's english here. and i think some ways he got taken out of context. if you looked at certain statements, it wasn't as bad as the media said.

he's being labeled as an anti-semite. kushner, his son-in-law, is an orthodox jew. his daughter as converted to orthodox judaism. it was a very contentious and heated election. both sides lobbed things at each other. i don't consider hillary rodham clinton supporters a criminal but i think we all have to take a step back. i think it's perfectly appropriate for people to protest. that's america's right. but my hope is people have to go through the degrees of, you know, grief. but i hope that those protesters, if they are concerned about various groups in various communities, i suggest, hey, why don't you help out those communities and volunteer? if you're concerned with women's issues, kwowork with a women's shelte

shelter. >> can i actually say something? >> of course. >> i'm going to take your word of advice. let's take a step back. yes, donald trump is not that special. our protest was not only about him t. was about his values, his principles. his ideas that he held that goes against me and oppresses me and the rest of my folks. and i'm going to just say this. i do not identify as an american. that's not me. i'm a mexican. that's who i choose to identify as. and, yes, protest right is not only about protesting. it's about standing up for what i believe. and it's not only donald trump. it's that now that he's the image of america, he's the leader for this country for the next four years, people are going to have those who are -- you know, those who do come again with, okay, yeah, those who fit in the races who are xenophobic, who are sexist, all

these stuff, are going to have that freedom to act upon what they believe is best. i know it's true, and i've seen it. there's been a lot of hate crimes towards people of color. and now i'm going to disagree with you. he has made some statements, and it has been televised, and it has been put up there. and they just make me sick because i am no more human or less human than anyone else on this earth. and to me, i feel that does not give others the right to look at me and already, you know, put me in this box, right? >> i agree. >> and if i step another step further, like you said, i'm also human just like us all in this room and everybody else in this world. >> samina? >> i would give that free license to somebody who is an actor or somebody on a tv show. but when somebody is going to be the leader of the free world, somebody who is going to be leading, you know, what is it, are we 400 million strong now?

we have a large population. in terms of our economy, this is a global economy. every word that the president says will impact even the stock market. even if you just want to talk about money, that's going to impact the stock markets in terms of if he says one thing one way, in a nuanced way. then low and beloeld it's going to impact that. it's going to impact our relationship with countries around the world. if he says something a little off, then you know what? that might lead to a war between one country over another. so i am very frightened about having a leader who is very loose with his lips because not only will that impact us domestically, but that is going to impact the world markets. it's going to impact our national security, and that has definitely got me scared, and it's gotten the whole world frightened because of that. and i'm not trying to, you know, trying to be -- i'm trying to think of the word. but i'm not trying to just -- >> scare people. >> yeah. but it's a reality that

everything that he says is going to make an impact. >> what i do find encouraging with the conversation we just had is that with thanksgiving around the corner, it is possible to have a very civil discourse about the differences and where we stand even though we have opposing viewpoints. i appreciate all of you coming in and expressing your opinions and your thoughts on the election. so matthew del carlo with the california young republican federation, samina usman with council of american relations. student bianca, thanks to all of you. >> thank you. well, thanksgiving is around the corner as families make plans to gather and share food. there are many in the bay area who don't know where their next meal is coming from. bay area innovator cue mow ahmad has a startup with a mission to end hunger. the approach is straightforward. redistribute excess food from restaurants or hospitals to

those in need. her startup is part mobile app and part on the ground logistics. ceo and founder of copia, como ahmad joins me now. so nice to have you here. >> to nice to be here. thank you so much. >> how did you come up with this idea? >> yeah. so a few years ago i was walking down telegraph avenue in berkeley. i was a student there. i encountered a homeless man begging for food. and something about him compel med to stop and i invited him to join me for lunch. during lunch he sat down across from me scar offing down his food. in between bites he shared his story. he said, my name is sean. i came back from my second tour in iraq i've been waiting weeks for my benefits to kick in. because they haven't, i haven't eaten in three days. that really hit home for me. this is a veteran, someone who had given the most selfless sacrifice for our country, only to come home and face another battle of hunger and homelessness. right across the street, berkeley's dining hall was throwing away thousands of

pounds of edible food. it's a stark reality. these two people right across the street from one another. what i realized is that's emblematic of a much larger problem. over 365 million pounds of perfect edible food is wasted. the paradox is 1 in 6 americans don't know where their next meal is coming from. clearly it's not a lack of food. it's an inefficient distribution of it. it's a logistics problem. >> you figured out a way to solve that logistics problem. how does copia work? >> imagine if you have a bunch of food at the end of the day. you would take a picture of the food, and you would say we need it picked up by this time. it's autoly geolocated. we will match that amount and type of food to the nearest nonprofits that can accept it, and they'll dispatcher to come pick up that food and drop it off. as a full circle, we'll send back the food manager's photos

and testimonials so they can see the impact they made along with data and an listics that will help them. as well as a receipt so they can also see the financial savings that it made by just doing good that had the impact on their bottom line. >> how many businesses have signed on now, and how many people have you fed? >> so we're on our way to feeding a million people. we have hundreds of nonprofits and businesses that work through our platform. we're in 40 cities across the bay area. and we're always looking for more businesses, whether you're a grocery store, a corporation, tech company, whatever you may be. everybody that has excess food. and then nonprofits as well. so we serve, you know, from st. anthony's, saint vincent depaul, boys and girls club, a whole gamut of people we serve. >> what about the practical realities? are there liability issues? is it hard to convince businesses to sign on? what if someone gets sick from eating their food? >> great question. that's the 90% of the reason why

businesses don't already donate their food is because of feared liability. so there's five different ways we protect businesses from liability. number one is all nonprofits that work with us sign hold harmless agreements. it also puts the responsibility to accept, reject the food on to them. congress in 1996 passed the bill emerson good smar ton act that protects all donors from any liability. since 1996, the number of claims and lawsuits that have been filed against any business or organization or individual has been zero. we also have a $5 million insurance policy that protects every donation that happens through our platform as well as all of our drivers -- no one is a volunteer. >> you've employed a lot of veterans. >> exactly. a lot of the recipients of our food has come on as drivers, so it's not just a hand out but a hand up as well. >> copia started out as a

nonprofit. you're now a profit. why did you decide to make that move? >> you know, we're solving the world's largest and dumbest problem, we believe. we are for profit for scale because we want to scale incredibly fast. this is the first time in human history that we can solve some of the world's largest problems, and with technology, we can do it better and faster than ever before. for us to spend 90% of our time fund-raising, it just doesn't make sense. and to continuously like go and, you know -- it makes more sense to use technology to develop and put those resources behind it to actually solve this. and right now we're moving the most perishable resource there is, which is food. we're developing our technology to be so much more sophisticated that it can then redistribute medicine, medical supplies, books, clothing because it's not, you know, a lack of any resource. it's just an inefficient distribution of it. so our logistics team and technology team can work

together to make this happen. >> how do you make money? >> just like you would pay for com posting or disposal, you would pay for us. it's a volume fee. then in turn we also provide you like receipts that actually give you, you know, 200% to 400% return on your bottom lines, which is a cash benefit that you get back after our fees for businesses that do work with us. so it's basically you're getting money that you would have otherwise left on the table or, worse, in the trash. >> can anybody download the app? >> anyone can download the app, and any business, grocery store, company, kqed, are all encouraged to participate. >> have people outside the bay area contacted you as well in terms of how to bring this platform to their countries because hunger, as you say, is a worldwide problem. >> yes. thousands. i mean so we've received over 60,000 requests already for global expansion and from, you know, senior government officials in germany and austria who are like, we want this platform. we'll pay for its expansion so

we can help distribute food and other resources to the syrian migrants. when i was in college, i couldn't have possibly fathomed a case like that. but you take that, disaster relief, hurricane sandy, hurricane katrina, there's so many resources that people need in realtime that's already there. it just needs to move quicker and faster. so we're really excited to see how this is going to expand and how it's going to evolve to really solve a problem that has existed since the beginning of time. >> we did not have time to get tiny this, but como, you're just 26 years old. you already spoke at the white house and at the united nations this year about copia. congratulations. >> thank you so much. >> much luck to you. really a wonderful idea. >> thank you so much. thank you for having me. >> thanks for being here. on a sadder note, this week we lost a beloved colleague in journalism, gwen ifill. she was managing editor and co-anchor of the pbs news hour. >> how do we as a nation cope with race, conflict, and our

inability to see each other? >> and she was a regular presence here on kqed, airing before our show, kqed newsroom. she died monday at age 61 after a battle with cancer. she was an inspiration to me in my work, and i'm joined now as well by another kqed colleague who worked with her over the years, belva davis, long time anchor of this week in northern california. belva, so nice to have you back here in your home. it was your home here for 20 years. >> it's your home. >> well, thank you. >> the pressure of being here is still here when you walk on the sets with the lights, yeah. >> well, i hope there's not too much pressure now to talk about gwen ifill. such a wonderful woman. when did you meet her? >> well, i met her long distance like a lot of people, but it was because in my early years in television, i was one of the first blacks to do blah blah blah, so i was permitted to go to washington to campaign for more minorities in media. and of course she was working in

various jobs, the post, and so on and finally on tv. so i became known to her as this person from the east coast. and my admiration grew and grew as she expanded and became the wonderful icon that she became in our industry. >> she worked at all of the key places that you and i would have loved to work at, right? the top newspapers, the top organizations, nbc news as well. >> right. >> how did you think she viewed journalism, her role in deciding what stories should be covered and how they should be covered? >> well, i don't think i've talked to judy woodruff, her co-anchor as you know on nightly, when they were more happy, than when they were made managing editors of their own show. they really felt the weight of what the responsibility they'd been given, but they were so happy about it. and they were -- they are both -- they were women who really valued this business for what it does to make america

truly the place that it is today. one informed well about real facts. she had such respect for the truth, and that is really the latchkey for being a good journalist. >> in numerous interviews over the years, she has said how important it is for her to hear all voices and to hear all perspectives. and i know that you and i have had the wonderful privilege of actually meeting her in person, which not a lot of people have had the chance to do. when she came here that day to help launch our show three years ago at kqed, i also had the pleasure of interviewing her at an event later in the day. and what shone through, which not many people get a chance to see because she covered such serious news, was her incredible sense of humor. she is quick-witted, good with the one-liners, and incredibly generous and warm to everyone she meets. and i really appreciated seeing

that humanity side of her. >> you've named some things that made gwen gwen. she was quick at everything, in discerning when you weren't quite giving her the whole truth, and discerning when you turned a curve or corner or shaved off a fact here or there. she just had a way of looking you in the way and knowing and almost saying to you without opening her mouth, now tell me the truth. i admired so much -- i mean she had all of the traits one could hope for. she was smart. she was inquisitive. she was compassionate. and more than anything, she wanted her business career not to seem like a business, but to look like a commitment to doing good for others. >> how would you describe her legacy? >> her legacy is something i aspire to still, and i'm not in the business, because she was the kind of woman that we all strive to be, one who can be true to themselves, one who knows themselves, one who know what they want, one who takes a

chance and is willing to move from one high point to the next high point, not worried as to whether the last one was the place i should have been. i used to cheer always the joy of having a program that was coupled with hers, and i used to jokingly say, you know, we have the colored girls hour. probably the only one in america. and we would laugh because tli was in california, and she was doing the world. it was wonderful. >> i know for me being a vietnam he's immigrant, she was the daughter of immigrants so i admired her from afar. proes president obama said she not only informed today's citizens, but she also inspired tomorrow's journalists. that's what she did for me. so the door is open to us women of color in the news business just a little more because of her. and we continue her journey. >> listen, it's not a little. she made a record that has not been made before. >> thank you for that correction. >> i admired her so much. >> yes. belva, so nice to have you back here on set.

>> it's great to be here. >> thank you. >> good luck. i'm thuy vu. thanks so much for watching. next week, tune in for an encore broadcast of the kqed newsroom special, stand up, san consequent in. for coverage, please go to kqednews.org. we wish you and your families a wonderful thanksgiving week.

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