hello and welcome to "kqed newsroom." i'm thuy vu. on our show today, uc berkeley was once again a flash point in the fight over free speech when a conservative radio host spoke on campus. and we talk to the co-directors of the national pbs series "the vietnam war," ken burns and lynn mill vic. plus a performance that tackles american history with drag queen flamboyance. we'll get a sneak peek from artist taylor mac. but first we look at the week's big political developments from d.c. to sacramento. president trump does a seeming about-face on daca, dangling a potential deal with democrats to protect hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants against deportation. meanwhile, senator bernie sanders unveiled a plan for single payer health care, which has gained backing from

california senator kamala harris. and in sacramento, it's a mad scramble to get key bills onto the governor's desk during this last week of the legislative session. here to break it all down are kqed politics and government reporter marisa lagos and political consultant tim miller. welcome to you both. so, marisa, what is the deal with the daca deal? what is the agreement between president trump and democratic leaders chuck schumer and nancy pelosi? >> well, it's sort of a deal to work on a deal. i mean i think at this point they have gotten a promise from the president that he wants to revisit this issue, that he may support stand-alone leths although it could be paired with something around border security. we've heard sort of mixed messages about the border wall situation. but i think the idea is they got in a room. they agreed that, you know, on principle they would like to fix this problem. i think the question really now comes down to what republican leadership is willing to do and whether or not they'll even let a bill get to the floor.

there's a bill in committee. they could put it up in the next couple weeks. republicans are saying they will not go along with democratic plans to actually pull that, you know, sort of over the wishes of the republican leadership. so the votes are there, but will this help like having trump on board when he is sort of feuding with republicans? i don't know. >> tim, weigh in on that. you're a republican strategist. this came as a big surprise to republican lawmakers. >> it really did because it went against what president trump promised on the campaign trail with regards to daca. as far as i'm concerned as a jeb bush republican, i think it's a good flip-flop to a position i think is the right position. the question as marisa said is how does this get passed? there's this old rule in congress called the dennis hastert rule where half of the majority party needs to support a bill for it to come up. ip don't see half of republicans in congress supporting a clean daca deal without the wall or

something to go with it. so the question is will president trump put his thumb on the scale and actively campaign for this like he didn't on other obvious issues to get it done. possibly i think it's because he's liked the press coverage he's gotten out of this. >> what's the likelihood this could get done? congress goes to recess in early october. nancy pelosi is saying -- >> it's largely semantics. they like saying d.r.e.a.m.ers. they don't want to say amnesty. nobody wants to say amnesty. i mean to me the more interesting thing is what tim brought up, which is this question of like why is trump doing this. i think he's totally right, right? he loved the good press he got. he hated the bad press he got when he decided to rescind daca. he loves the good press he got when he made that first budget debt deal with the democrats, which is really a minor thing. you know, i think it's an interesting political calculation if he's actually thinking through that far, which

is his base hates this, right? the make america great again base hates this. but on balance, daca is very popular. so is it worth losing, you know, that part of your base? >> it comes down to the details and whether they can jam it through. i think the fact they made a deal to have the budget cliff happen at the same time, at christmas, is it possible that, you know, there's enough political pressure to force it through then? yes, i think so. i'd be shocked if there's anything before that. >> also let's talk about another issue that's making national headlines this week, and that's bernie sanders' latest proposal to expand medicare to cover all americans. senator kamala harris has already signed on as a supporter. marisa, any chance at all, though, that this will actually pass? it's been brought up many, many times. >> now? no. i think this is party of sanders' overall strategy. it is interesting. a couple years ago this was a hot potato that most mainstream democrats didn't want to touch. now you have rising stars like

harris and quite frankly almost every democrat who has been sort of whispered as a potential 2020 candidate is co-sponsoring this legislation, not just supporting it. so, you know, could this move the needle? i mean clearly the health care conversation has shifted dramatically since, you know, even a few months ago when it was all about an aca repeal. but with a republican congress and president, i mean there's no way. >> i have to put on my conservative hat here and say it's insane how far the democrats have moved left on this so this is like an entry-level position to be considered for 2020. that's why you see harris supporting it. a video was unearthed this week by ntk network that had bernie sanders himself about 20 years ago saying medicaid for all would bankrupt the country. so bernie is a socialist at that time, thought this was too far lef left of a piece of legislation. now it's the mainstream view in the party. so what does that mean? when the democrats do take back over congress if they're able to -- >> in fact, anthony rendon set

aside a single payer bill not too long ago that was bashed by the nurses union because they didn't think it was enough funding. i want to talk about this being the last week of the legislative session. there's a mad scramble on to try to push bills through. i know there's one targeting prescription drug costs. what would that one do? >> so, yeah. this is senate bill 17 by dr. ed hernandez. he tried this last year, and it got gutted beyond recognition by democrats. but i think the conversation around health care has shifted, especially around prescription drugs. like people were really angry about the epipen and some of these other drugs spiking. >> this bill would make it more transparent and give notification of when those prices go up. >> right. it's not the whole apple is what i would say to folks who want sort of complete transparency from drug makers, but this is a move in that direction. it would require them to give more advance notice and more disclosure of why drug prices are the way they are. i think it will be interesting to see where the governor lands. >> part of the reason it's not the full apple is because it's

backed by the insurance industry so it doesn't include any transparency on the insurance industry side. a lot of times the drug costs come up because the insurance industry buys the generics and mark them up before they get to consumers. for transparency to work, it has to happen across the board in the health care system. >> what other closely watched bills are making their way to the legislature, hoping to get to the governor's desk? >> the big one last night was the bill with regards to housing, sb-2. they had to keep the vote open for a couple hours. i think it 'twas over was over get the votes they needed to get it pass. as a new california transplant, i've seen the problem for housing, but it's particularly acute obviously for lower income folks. >> this is a package bill that would provide $4 billion in bonds that would go on the 2018 ballot. >> this was actually a real estate transaction fee, so if you refinance your house, there would be a $75 fee on that. that's why it needs two-thirds,

but there are other ones that are seeking to lower regulations and force cities that aren't willing to build under their own plans to do so. and i think that will be interesting. >> the lower regulations package will get support on the republican side, i think. the one with the increased, no go. no go. >> in ten seconds, sanctuary state bill. how is that doing? is that going through? >> probably because there's so many liberals here, but it should. >> you've got the last word on that, mr. republican. >> thank you. >> thank you, marisa lagos and tim miller. hundreds of protesters gathered at uc berkeley last night to speak out against the appearance of conservative author and radio host ben shapiro. the former breitbart editor tackled issues including abortion and affirmative action in front of a sold out crowd. the event remained largely peaceful thanks to beefed up security. they said they spent $600,000 on security which included

barricades, checkpoints and extra police officers. shapiro is the latest in a chain of speak. joining me is a member of the group who invited ben shapiro to campus. we thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. >> last night's event was largely peaceful. what was your group's objective in having ben shapiro speak, and did you think you achieved that? >> we did. ben shapiro is a conservative commentator and our goal was to provide a perspective on campus that's usually not heard in uc berkeley classrooms. it was an alternative viewpoint and one not traditionally heard at uc berkeley. there's definitely a conservative void at uc berkeley. our last three events were canceled, so we're happy this one went through and i'm glad the police took a stand against these left wing thugs. >> what do you mean? last night was largely peaceful. >> there were still several arrests made that day and we saw them throwing items and objects

at united states last night. they're still there but the police did a great job ensuring there was infrastructure in place to prevent them from storming campus. >> there concrete barriers, metal detector, a new policy for police to use pepper stray if needed if violence breaks out. it sounds like you're pleased with the way campus officials handled it. >> i was pleased by the police presence. i was not pleased by the way the administration handled our event. they first said there was no venue open for him. at the end of the day, there is a venue open. throughout the planning, they were not great persons. there was bureaucratic stone walling. so it was a difficult fight to ensure mr. shapiro had an opportunity to speak on campus. funny enough, the last minute, the event had its seating

slashed. originally it was 1984, but the university slashed it to 1040 because of the instances in charlottesville. the first question is what does ben shapiro has to do with charlottesville or the berkeley rally. the question is did they slash seating in half when bill clinton spoke? >> in the end, they did allow the event to proceed and they spent $600,000, an estimated amount on security costs for your event. how much of that cost did your organization pick up? >> our organization picked up about $10,000 for security fee. >> so the bulk of it, the university spent out of the university coffers. >> they provided protection within the building. >> okay. critics and even some republican students at cal have said that your group intentionally invites provocative speakers hoping to provoke left-wing extremists so you can get publicity, so you can amplify your message, and they cite the violence surrounding the milo yiannopoulos event back in february as an example. how do you respond to that?

>> just being conservative is considered controversial. it's considered being provocative and it's simply not true. every event we offer the students an opportunity to ask the speaker a question, debate the speaker. i always invite these left-wing groups to come to our events, to bait shapiro instead of protesting because it's not productive. >> how many members does your group have? >> initially back in 2016, we only had about 10 to 15 members. we've grown substantially since thn. we have about 60 members on average coming to our meeting. >> so for you, what is it like to be a republican on a campus that is viewed as very liberal, has a strong tradition in that? >> it's incredibly difficult being a republican on campus. students and professors in the berkeley community see me as a boogeyman. one time i walked down campus and there was flyers posted calling me a fascist and the posters had my face on it.

every day we're constantly harassed and there's also video documented. again, the university never provides us adequate protection. >> but yet you invite people who put out very bigoted messages, very racist messages. ann coulter, for example, you invited her. the event did not take place. this is a who has called islam a car burning cult with a predilection for violence. those are the kinds of people you've invited. can you see how there are those on campus and in the city of berkeley as well and throughout the bay area who feel like there's a lack of sensitivity there? >> well, rioting is not the solution. the slutolution is more speech. if you have a problem with ann coulter, debate her. her viewpoints are incredibly relevant under the trump administration. her book resulted in direct policy platforms within the republican party that were adopted and as well were the backbone of trump's campaign policies regarding immigration. that's what our event was

focused on. again, she's incredibly relevant under this administration. >> we know that free speech week is coming up. your group is not involved in putting that on. a different group is. we will see more conservative speakers on campus if that event happens. thank you for being here. >> thank you for the opportunity. this sunday is the premiere of the national pbs series, the vietnam war, an 18 hour documentary directed by ken burns and lynn know vic. it tells the stories of soldiers and civilians on both side of the deeply divisive war that played out on the battlefield and here at home. scott shafer spoke earlier with the filmmakers. >> ken burns and lynn knowvic, welcome to "kqed newsroom." congratulations on completing this epic documentary. it's been more than 40 years now since saigon fell, the war ended. ken, why now? what's important about what happened back then to tell today in 2017? >> you know, very simply we've now got the distance, the

perspective that allows us to understand more clearly what had taken place, the passions have not cooled down. but you're able to, with new scholarship, with aging of the veteran population, with the aging also of the protest population, an opportunity to revisit this really, really difficult period. >> lynn, i think you've said -- i read that the vietnam war has been poorly understood. what do you mean by that, and what are you hoping to clarify? >> there's a lot happening in different places at the same time, and it took a long time for us to even understand how to tackle it. we went back to the beginning, which you have to go back to the 19th century to understand colonialism, world war ii, the cold war. political dynamics here and what it was like for ordinary people in vietnam and here. and we felt it was important to see this not just from an american perspective but also from a vietnamese perspective. we had wonderful connections, people who we could explain to them we want to tell the human story of the war. we found out that people wanted to talk.

they wanted to share their stories in the way they don't ordinarily speak about this terrible tragedy that befell our country and also hear from us what it was like for americans who came there to fight. between the winners and the losers there's a lot of reconciliation left to do. >> it's only been four decades. it shouldn't be surprising. but what is it that's left raw, that's still unresolved? >> we lost. nobody, particularly americans, want to dwell with that. so the tendency is to bury those experiences, and that can be convenient in the short run. but in the long run, it's toxic. the country was divided, passionately divided, violently divided by the vietnam war. and those angers and differences still kind of fester. you have soldiers who returned home unsure of their status, which had never happened to soldiers before in wars that we were -- >> people who fled the country. >> there were no parades.

you also have a huge group of people who felt it necessary to leave the country. so you had all these different factions and all these different opinions. >> lynn, what's an example of something that you heard from one of the people you interviewed or that you found out that really -- sort of like a light bulb went off, like i hadn't really thought of it that way? >> one of the things i think we investigated in a deep way is what does it mean to be a citizen, what does it mean to be a patriot, what does it mean to be brave. over and over again we were challenged in our assumptions of what those things mean. there are several that come to mind where you have to think, okay, here's a guy, for example, who is drafted. and he wrestled with what to do because at the time this happened he had come to the conclusion the war was wrong. from a small town in the midwest, he felt that if he didn't go to the war and went to canada, his family would be os tra sized. the community would call him a coward. he went so far as to get his

passport and think about deserting the army and going to canada, but he didn't. for him, that is the most painful part of this whole story. it was not going to vietnam and being in combat, seeing friends day. it was the decision to go to the war. >> how common was it for people in the military to have those kinds of conflicts? >> this is a central question for this war is it was so unsettled and so unsettling that basic ideas of what it means to be a brave soldier were challenged. you have to walk through a rice paddy, and you could get blown up at any minute, that's terrifying. that's not what you go to war to think you're going to be brave to walk across a landscape. you're going to do a brave act. and just a sense of sort of endurance and carrying on and putting one foot in front of the other is a profound act in that situation. >> you did talk to many then north vietnamese people who were in the military at the time. one of the things that struck me in the documentary in the segment i saw was how little

information they had as the war was going on. >> somebody used the analcy that for the north vietnamese, they were like frogs at 89 bottom of the well looking up and thinking that little circle was the whole sky. there was complete control of the narrative. >> in some ways that was an advantage. >> for the government. >> you know, because it made the premises of the revolution pretty simple and straightforward. when you have the messiness that a democracy, even at times a corrupt democracy at the south vietnamese were, somebody said they were filthy and free. 500 newspapers and magazines in saigon alone and protests and all this sort of stuff when they were permitted. but it was this simplistic message of the communityissts a the control they exerted over their followers made them much more adapted to winning than the other side, which was chaotic, at times corrupt. >> and that message did resonate with people in terms of veeietn

being liberated and the language they used was very effective because it spoke to people from hundreds of years of a yearning to be their own country. >> you interviewed many more people than you could include in this documentary. talk about what it took to find the right voices, especially in vietnam. >> so, you know, all of these projects, the end result, even at 10 episodes and 18 hours represents only a tiny fraction of the material that we've collected. and a lot of it is just accidental and ser endip tuesday. you meet somebody. you might read an unpublished memoir and talk to somebody, and say, i'm not sure they'd be good or even want to. many people have and exhibit understandable reticence. >> i think memories are so close to the surface for the people who lived through them. that was the thing we took away most from getting to know people and hearing their stories was you didn't have to go very far into an interview before these feelings and memories are

flooding back and kind of overtaking people in the moment. >> people would start a sentence not knowing that they'll be at a certain brand-new and sometimes extraordinarily painful or joyous emotional state at the end of that sentence. so that they begin to talk about something, and then suddenly their throat catches because what wells up in them is the significance of that memory in their lives. >> thank you and congratulations again. we so very much look forward to seeing this. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. and now for a different, lighter take on history. ♪ what does a hip song say about our culture and times? well, a daring cabaret show tackles american history through our most popular songs. the show, titled "a 24-decade history of popular music" shines a light on everything from slavery to gay activism. it was created by stockton native taylor mac. the production also brings new meaning to the term period

costumes as our editor found out. >> here we are on the stage in san francisco. i'm here with taylor mac, the creator of the show, the chief performer, and his co-creator. thank you for being here. it's great to chat in the costume shop as all this stuff is going on. ♪ so your show tells the history of the united states of america in 246 songs. and it all begins with a smashing, ball-busting rendition of "amazing grace." ♪ why that song? >> i wanted to set up this kind of s of concept that we're here to worship the act of creation, not the creator. so we take that song and talk about grace. and what is grace to me is the act of creation. ♪ >> and what inspired you to tell

the history of this country through song? >> i wanted to use a form that best represented how you use kind of imperfection as a way to rally people. i think of classical music as you're reaching for the hem of god. you're reaching for perfection. you're striving for virt wosity. and a popular song is something that is reaching the people. ♪ reaching them in order to rally them to a cause, to celebrate together, to mourn together. >> you guys also tell the history of this country through costumes. ♪ >> i like to look at what was happening at the time, what was -- you know, what was new at the time. what were people do something what was invented at the time? these are the opening shoes. and just turn those ideas and inventions into costumes. >> my favorite ribbon. >> as weird as it sounds, it's

redesigning backstage during the show. >> i always need to add to and change things. now that's a shoe. ♪ one of my favorite costumes that i've made for taylor ever is the crazy jane costume. ♪ crazy jane has a wig made out of champagne corks, and she lives in a barrel. when she takes the barrel off, it's like she has everything in there. her toiletries, her bedroom in there. >> so wearing a barrel, not to mention high heels for 24 hours. >> sometimes women will say to me on the street, if i'm dressed up, wearing the high heels, women will say, how could you wear those heels? i could never wear heels like that. i always say, for you, it's oppression. but for me, it's liberation. ♪ i mean i get to wear the art.

and it's not just costuming. you know, they're little art pieces. the fact that you get to bring your own personal art into somebody else's art and they get to commingle and make something bigger than both together is energizing. >> have you ever had a wardrobe malfunction? >> it is the genius of performance. there is no failure. >> we don't call them malfunctions. we call them, you know, the opportunity. not acts of god. the point is to incorporate calamity. ♪ in fact, the show was inspired by the very first aids walk in san francisco. >> to which you were -- >> which i went to when i was 14 years old, and it was the first time i'd ever seen an out hoe e

homosexual and it was thousands of them at one time. it was the first time i ever saw a drag queen. that event is what makes me want to make theater. in making the show, i wanted to make a metaphor of the rentat n representation of that event. >> you can use your pillows as shields if you want to. >> you're performing six-hour chunks of the show here in san francisco. why are your performances so long? >> well, sometimes it takes more than a 90-minute intermissionless play to kick somebody out of their 40-hour work week. >> you understand how it goes? let's do it. ♪ >> i think there's real wonder in just making things go on longer than people expect, longer than they think they're capable of handling something. so i really like to put people through it. >> well, thank you very much, taylor mac, for joining me today. >> thank you so much. >> thank you.

and the show is playing at san francisco's theater now through september 24th. that will do it for us. you can find more of our coverage at kqed.org/newsroom. i'm thuy vu. thank you for joining us.

captioning sponsored by wnet >> thompson: on this edition for sunday, september 17: the florida keys re-open to residents forced from the their homes by hurricane irma. and later, big business and climate change. american companies change their ways, without government mandates. next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. the j.b.p. foundation. the anderson family fund. rosalind p. walter, in memory of abby m. o'neill. barbara hope zuckerberg.