hello and welcome. coming up on our program, los angeles mayor weighs this on what democrats need to do to stay nationally relevant and we'll talk about the third time rematch between the golden state warriors and the cleveland cavaliers. plus we get a sneak peek at the clusterfest, a comedy festival in town this weekend. but first, president trump announced thursday he would withdraw the u.s. from the climate saying it would benefit the economy. >> it's time to put youngstown, ohio, detroit, michigan and pittsburgh, pennsylvania, along with many, many other locations within our great country before

paris, france. >> the decision was praised by some pro business interests and conservative lawmakers but here in california governor jerry brown greeted the news with alarm, calling it a misguided and insane course of action. >> the world is not waiting for donald trump. he has given a body blow to the environmental sustainability, but we'll take it and we'll respond. we're on the field of battle and we're going to overcome. that i can promise you. >> for more perspective oven how california is react k to this i'm joined by former senator barbara boxer who represented california for 24 years and stepped down earlier this year. thank you so much for joining us, senator. >> of course. >> so the governor is defiant. i'm cure youiocurious, how real this defiance? what can california do right now? >> i think the people have to be defiant because whatever donald

trump says -- he says he's helping pittsburgh and youngstown or whatever he named, he's hurting those places because the entire world except for syria, nicaragua and i'm embarrassed to say america is standing together for clean energy, for getting that carbon, that excess carbon out of the atmosphere so that our children are protected so that we don't lose half of our species, so that we don't see people struggling with extreme temperatures, extreme weather, rising seas, storms, he's not helping the people, donald trump. he's just slapped us all in the face. especially our kids. >> well, it seems like folks like governor brown and really leaders around the state and nation are stepping up and saying we're going to fill this void. i mean, i guess, do -- does paris need the u.s. or are state and local governments going to be just as good? >> the paris accord was voluntary. that is why this is so

ridiculous. this is jump a statement that we all know we're facing a problem and we're going to do everything in our power to fix it. to reduce the effects of runaway climate change. so what trump does by leaving it is he's making a statement. he could care less, but he does not speak for the majority of americans and i have to say, good for jerry brown, so proud of our great state and other states that are joining with him. washington state, new york state, there will be others and when you look at the size of our state, we'd be about the sixth 7th nation in terms of our gross domestic product. so this isn't a small point. so yes, we need to resist trump and we need to replace the republicans in congress who are absolutely standing in the way of common sense goals such as making sure that we attack the issue of too much carbon pollution. >> so you talked about the

president sort of talking about these cities but really you think they will be the victims of this decision. >> yes. >> and he really casts this choice between america and the rest of the world but i think last year's election results show us that a lot of people do feel like they're being left behind. i know you have a commit cal action committee you're working with. what do democrats need to do to capitalize on that message that trump's road to victory and can they relate? >> it's a great question. we took for granted we democrats, that people knew we were for them, working people. we've always been for thechlt we're the party that brought social security. medicare, obamacare, raising the minimum wage. weave always stood with them. good jobs, sound pensions. we made a mistake. we thought as a group that trump was so impossible, no one would go in that direction. we're paying the price and the people are paying the price. i started this political action committee a long time ago and now i've expanded it and anyone

that wants to know about it you go to barbara boxer.com. it's free to join and what we're doing through our big list, about 750,000 people in our list is directing people to those candidates that are fighting against these trump policies. and this latest slap in the face of america, that trump has been the self-inflicting wound by turning us against our allies, by taking american leadership out of the equation, arming environment, by saying that scientists don't know what they're talking about when 98% of them say we know that human activity is impacting the climate. so he is -- he's hurting us. he's embarrassing us and worse than that, he could be consigning our grand kids to a really difficult life. >> well, you talked about targeting candidates and congress people that are supporting trump. i -- and i think that there's a lot of chatter about impeachment and other things. a lot of criticism coming from

democratic quarters but it doesn't seem like there's been a strategy completely settled. what do you think democrats really need to do to win back the house, to win back the white house in 2020? >> i think it gets to your other question you asked. are we getting our message out? we've got to do better at not taking people for granted, at explaining to people, we are on their side. if they work for a living, we are fighting for them. if the if they're women in the work place we're fighting for women in the work place. we're fighting for civil rights. so i think what we need to do is marry the hillary clinton message of standing together and the bernie sanders message of populism, economic populism, there is no problem between marrying those up. yes, we stand together and we stand together for all the people and we stand against the polluting special interests. so i think we can do it. and i'm very excited about my political action committee which i'm volunteering for.

i keep saying that because i want people to understand this is from my heart. we have some great candidates out there. women and men who are willing to put themselves on the line because somewhere, somehow we got lost. hillary got 3 million more votes than trump we should never forget that. but we took certain states for granted. we shouldn't have. >> quickly, i just want -- you mentioned bernie and hillary and i know we've seen these schisms between the party both at the state and national level, is that concerning to you? >> sure it is. and i've lived through times where we've seen that before. what we have to do is understand that we the democrats are very big umbrella. we simply are and we shouldn't throw people out from under that umbrella. we should embrace them and come together, find a sweet spot where we all agree and when there's disagreement around the edges, don't turn on one another. the stakes have never been higher. you know, we have a president

who is doing things that go against the interest of the american people. it's frightening. standing with tyrants like putin, this is unheard of. we've never seen anything like it. so we better unite. we have to unite and i'm going to do everything that i can to help us unite. >> doesn't sound like you're retiring. >> oh, no way. not at all. >> well, thank you so much for coming in, senator. we appreciate it. >> it's a pleasure. >> for the third straight season lebron james and steph curry go head to head in the historic 2017 nba final. in 2015 the warriors claim the trophy for themselves but last season the cavaliers made a comeback to capture the team's first ever nba championship. the long awaited matchup started thursday with the warriors taking game one. bryan watt is next. >> joining me now are bay area news group sports writer marcus thompson and cavs' beat reporter

for cleveland.com joe varden. gentlemen, thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> we saw in game one why the warriors are heavily favored to take it all. but joe, i'll ask you first. what can cleveland do to get in the competition and come back? i mean, we know they can do it. >> right. i mean, the cavs were awful in game one. for as good as the warriors looked, for as great their talent is with kevin durant now on board, the cavs were abysmal in so many ways. they've got to combine three points from four players they rely on. 20 turnovers. lebron had 8 of them. defensively they are losing kevin durant on the court. you just -- there are things that can't happen. >> the guy just -- the red sea parted so many times. the guy went straight to the hoop uncontested. >> the cavs got their coverages backwards.

so again, for as good as the warriors are, they're great but the cavs were rotten and they can be better. >> so marcus, you wrote that the cavs are going to have to play to perfection. is that -- you stand by that? >> absolutely. >> this is not last year's warriors. right? kevin durant changes everything. first off they can't leave lebron by himself like that. where was j.r. smith? where was thompson? he got locked up. that's the guy that the warriors are scared of. look, maybe it's going have to be one of those situations where lebron and kyrie do something magical and then when they goat home where role players tend to play better you've got thompson getting offensive rebounds. jefferson looks like he's 22 again and you get all that together to win in cleveland but they can't play like that and have a chance. >> what's the historical significance of these finals?

>> first off, you could feel it in the ararena. right? that first quarter was so intense. you felt like we're watching history and they do the in between, the time-out, nobody's paying attention until the jumbo tron, everybody's trying to catch their breath because it's that intense. you can feel that we're part of something here. >> absolutely. you're talking about three mvps, seven all stars, two teams that have been in the finals now three years in a row. that's never happened. i think we'd all agree they're heading for a fourth finals next year. >> so if you've got a guy in lebron james who's been to seven straight nba finals, they haven't done that. >> 1966 was the last time that anybody had done that. >> the celtics. how many hall of famers are there in this series? >> five hall of famers. >> so for the cities, oakland, cleveland, what's at stake for the cities? and joe, i'll ask you about

cleveland. i mean, there was a long drought, no championships in anything. you won one. is that enough? >> yeah, i think so. from the standpoint of when you're talking about the importance for the cities, cleveland got what it needed last year. this is not about that now for the cavs or for the fans in the city at large. this is just about winning again. there were historical -- there was historical significance last year that it's almost hard to fathom when you talk about no championships in five decades. this is just about basketball. >> can you feel that? >> no question. you know what this is? this is about two cities that kind of get overlooked becoming elite. right? we're past the part of hey, give us a little bit of due. now it's like cleveland, oakland? we're with you l.a. we can do this every year. we can be in the mix. you're going to have to consider us great cities. right? and i think that's what's at stake because by the end of all this whenever this ends in four

or five years whenever lebron retires there could be three or four champions between these two cities and that may -- that's the difference between like a one and done. now you've got to talk about cleveland or oakland like this is a championship city. >> i wanted to follow up on that and ask about oakland proper. it's lost the raiders. found out it's losing the raiders this year, the warriors obviously building a facility in san francisco. do these championships mean that much more? >> i think so. you know, what would be great for oakland fans? if they won all the championships in oakland and then went to san francisco and couldn't win. i think it does meater and keep in mind like the raiders are in the mix for super bowl, you know, they're good enough to be in that mix, so if they win a super bowl in the last year in oakland it's almost like a farewell shot, a parting shot. we'll take care of you on the way out. leave a little money on the

dresser. >> let me ask you act the villainy of the warriors mpl it's hard for anyone in the bay area to see the warriors as villains given how long they've struggled. but that's -- you see stories, the new york times tried to do a piece. i didn't hear a lot of people say these are straight up villains. can these warriors be a different kind of villain? >> i used to cover politics and so i was watching the game last night thinking about steph curry's popularity among white suburban moms in northeast ohio. they were going to pull -- his pulling numbers would be terrible. he's absolutely a villain and i think throughout the country so many people still embrace the warriors. but in cleveland, you know, curry is very unpopular. they hate that mouthpiece, you know, the strut that he did after the threes and you know, adding durant, i mean, they are -- they are to cleveland in

a way what lebron's miami teams were not -- not to cleveland, but elsewhere throughout the league. in cleveland, lebron's miami teams were, you know, certainly public enemy number one. >> and when you guys traveled to other nba cities what is your sense of how the warriors are really -- >> oh, they are hated. it's odd too, because this run started in 2012 and the warriors were darlings. right? 2013, they beat denver. everybody loved the warriors steph curry is a sensation. 2014 was the donald sterling series, so many warrior jerseys in that arena and even on the run coming up to the first championship people loved the warriors and all of a sudden it went from we love you, they're so cute, they're adorable to we hate them. it was just like wow, people really do hate the warriors. it's really interesting to see it. >> are either of you in the business of predictions? >> we have to be. right? >> all right.

let's have it quickly. >> i'll have the warriors in five from the beginning with the caveat that lebron might do something ridiculous and win this thing. >> i thought the cavs could win. i had the warriors in seven. th >> marcus thompson, thanks very much. joe varden, thank you. cavs beat reporter for cleveland.com. thanks guys. >> he's a rising star within the democratic party. in 2015 los angeles mayor was the first to raise the minimum wage of a major u.s. city to $15 an hour. he's also leading the charge for l.a. to host the olympics again. editor of politics and government caught up recently with the mayor. >> thank you so much for talking to us. >> pleasure to be here. >> in some ways for democrats this is the best of times and the worst of times. here in california, best of times. all staitd statewide officers

held by dems. two thirds majority in both houses of the legislature, but yet in washington, not going so well for the party and for the country. what does the party need and what does the country need from leaders in the democratic party right now? >> well, i think the party needs to be less obsessed with an agenda for the democratic party and more foe cushioncused on th for the american people. we might be registered as democrats. a few of us might be activists and elected officials but more people are concerned with the debt that they have. the public school in the neighborhood. we can't be a party of opposition or we'll permanently be a party of opposition. we need to have a proactive agenda while we fight defense on those attacks on our values. >> does the party need to reposition itself? to appeal to these people that you're talking about, working class folks and who are worried about their lives? they're not thinking about party politics. >> you have to connect. it's not repositioning because if you have the wrong messengers

or you can't articulate it well, you can have the best ideas many the world. you can show them you're a good person, but i think people are hungry for do you have the gut to take the risk to get things done? even if it means pushing back on your political and personal interests and donald trump i don't think people would have said had the greatest heart or the greatest head in terms of ideas he was putting forward but a lot of people took a risk because they said at least he's got the guts and if the democratic party doesn't recognize that's what elections are about at least for president and do a lot of the organizing that we got outorganized on don't take certain states for granted, continue to register people to vote. don't look at running the ads but actually put the money into what howard dean did. >> california is setting itself up to be the resistance to the trump agenda. are you saying that's either not enough or that you know, there's some risk maybe for the party and the state being identified in that way? >> i don't believe there's a risk. there's only risk if that's all that we do. it is critically important.

it is morally necessary to resist and to show that we can persist, but we also have to go further and actually put forward an agenda and show that we're in los angeles making the largest municipal utility coal free if we believe that climate change is real and we know it is. if we go to amar'e for women, the next day we need to get a woman who's a survivor of domestic violence living on the tent on a california sidewalk back into housing and to heal her. there's things every single day that if we're just yelling at our television all day long we're not doing. >> do you think that the election of donald trump who's had no experience in government or the military, i think he's the first president to have experience in neither. we see in france, you know, mac ron getting elected. he was wasn't part of the party that was organized before the election. are voters looking for something -- are they open to something at least completely different? >> people are frustrated that you have to build a resume in a particular way. but i would flip that on the other side and say experience

really does matter. i think we're seeing that in the white house. there's a prejudice that what i do is very different than what you do as a jourgeinalist, but elected life is just good judgment. you can come in from being a ceo and hey, don't worry, you don't have to sweat the details. government is highly complex as any of those professions. i'm better at it today than i was yesterday and i think we need to remind people, having some experience really counts. it doesn't have to be in a prescribed way, but you have to know what the constitution is about, what the courts will say, that there's a bureaucracy, how to work with people in congress. it's not a talk down kind of job as ceo. you can be a strong leader but if you can't bring people with you, if you demand it your way or no way we're seeing what's happening in the white house today. >> i know l.a. is making a push to get the olympics again. >> a lot of the cities have dropped out. >> a lot of cities are smart to drop out because it can be

expensive to build the infrastructure, the sports venues, the transportation. l.a.'s case is not dissimilar to 1984 when we had the most profitable modern day olympics, showed that a private sector model could get it done, turn a profit, invest that back in a city and use sports and other things that have been the legacy. my emotional pitch was that i was 13 years old in 1984. i went to those closing ceremonies. i watched carl lewis in the american 4 x 100 team set a world record and the world came to my city, loved los angeles, but also saw the america that was good, that could get things done, but that could also stand for everybody being welcome. and what better city than the most diverse city in human history, a place where 39 countrys have the largest population outside their own country. so come on home. >> thank you for your time. >> great pleasure to be with you. >> comedy central's clusterfest

premiers in sfraan francisco. there will be music and food and even a recreated sets from the beloved shows. ever heard one of a kqed reporter walking into a bar? >> for those that don't know, what is the clusterfest? >> it's the first immersive comedy driven festival. it will take place over three days here in san francisco and we felt like there was nothing like this that existed. right now we're at a recreation of patty's pub and this is the pub and the set from it's always sunny in philadelphia and then there's an exact replica of the set and it's one of three immersive experiences that we have at the festival. so there's this one, there's the south park activation that's out side, and it basically captured 14 seminal moment from the history of south park. >> and then we also have a recreation of jerry seinfeld's

apartment from the show and a lot of food that's related to that show as well. >> what are the highlights this weekend? >> there's an incredible mix of both standup comedian from really established stars, you know, like jerry seinfeld and kevin hart, sarah silverman and it's a mix of people that you would be aware of, but also sort of emerging tall lenlts and we have a mix not just standup but different genres. so we have sketch comedy, improve, pod casting here and we also have music as well. >> comedy has been tackling controversial issues for a long time. what do you think is the role of comedy today in tackling racism and challenging people's stereo types or perceptions. >> a good comedy has been an essential part of society and it's one of the most pure unfiltserred ways that society has to reflect back on itself so i think comedy has served a very important purpose in our society through the ages and it goes all

the way back to, you know, the court jester who was the only person who had permission to speak truth to the king and with that freedom, you know, comes knowledge. and so i think that no matter what time you're living in, the best comedy and the comedy that really rises above and elevates is comedy that has a very strong point of view and something to say and i think the times we're living in, it just continues to heighten, you know, the importance of comedy in our culture. >> do you think that comedians still have a responsibility to know when a joke has gone too far or when they've crossed the line? >> well, i think it's a very delicate equation and i think that no comedian will ever know when they cross the line until they cross it, until they get close to it and i think that part of the social contract that we have with comedians is i believe that they should have a very unfiltered point of view and i think the good comedians are very savvy about that because their intention isn't

about offending people. their intention is to try to really go at some truth. it go all the way back to our own families when you grow up. you know, comedy can be born of saying the thing that no one is comfortable enough to, you know, the unspoken thing at the dinner table. and why do we laugh? we're breaking the tension. that's the essence of what comedy is. so to me by nature, good comedy often is controversial because it's tapping into potentially uncomfortable truths whether it's social, cultural or racial, political. >> for those that done know the clusterfest is only going to be performed in san francisco. why did you choose san francisco as the venue instead of new york or l.a.? >> we started looking at different places around the country. we went all over and we quickly settled on san francisco as a great opportunity and we feel like it really combines a great comedy tradition, you know, robin williams and many others have come through here that have made it really big and then there's all the history of, you

know, the bill graham auditorium. we didn't know when we set out that we would be lucky enough to get this kind of a venue and the plaza outside it's an incredible environment and location and once that all came together we realize had we struck pay dirt. >> i'd be remiss if i didn't ask you. what is your favorite seinfeld episode. >> that is a tough question. there's so many great ones but one that has a special place in my heart is the soup nazi episode. >> just forget it. let it go. >> when i worked on tv nation our office was near the soup nazi kitchen when it first opened. >> no soup for you. >> he was very intense about how you ordered and where you stood and if you kept things moving and he would refuse service to people who didn't get with the program and conversely, he would reward people who were really on top of it with extra food and we used to have a competition, the writers and i tv nation to see who could come back with the biggest bounty.

>> and people can test their luck because he's going to be here this weekend. >> correct. he'll be here and happily insulting anyone who comes by. >> thanks so much for taking time to talk with us. >> thank you for having me. >> that's it for tonight. for more of our coverage, go to kqed.org/newsroom. thanks for watching.

robert: the art of ditching the deal. president trump walks away from the historic paris climate accord and embraces his america first world view. i'm robert costa. the politics of climate change and the expanding russia probe. tonight on "washington week." >> this agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the united states. >> president trump makes good on his campaign pledge and pulls out of the paris pact. president trump: we're not going to buth put our businesses out of work. rob: -- robert: but the decision has drawn criticisms from world leadsers, saying the