loss al tonight o kqed newsroom, how a small city has kiff a wave of resistance to the stole's sanctuary city pcies. and carl pope lays out a vision for how every fern, city and busess can fight climate change plus political analysis of governor brown's decision to deploy national guard troops at the border. hellond welcome to kqed newsroom, i'm thuy vu. we begin with immigration battles. thiswe the city of los alamedos in declared itself exempt from a state-wide law's th drawing criticism from president trump. that law sb-54, also known as the california values actpr ohibits state and local police agencies from helping federal

authoriti with immigration enforcement in many cases. since the los alamedos action, a wave of otherie cou have also voiced opposition to sb-54. they have voided to join the trump administration in suing california over laws aimed at protecting undocumented immigrants. and joining me now via skype to discuss all of this, troy edgar. mr. edgar, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. vithanks for me on. >> the vote was 4-1 in favor of exempti los alamedos from the state sanctuary laws. you voted in support. why? >> well, for me personally, it was a constitutional issue. as a u.s. navy veteran and city council member and may for the city over 12 years, i took an oath to support and defend the u.s. constitution and for me, i just really felt this law basically i could not comy with and h like-minded city council member and we put it on the agenda and we ended up voting 34-1 to

exempt ourselves from sb-54. >> your wife is an immigrant from iran. what is your personal stand on immigration policy? >> i thin of a misnomer is it's absolutely not about immferation. my eing from iran basically at 18, the shah was overthrown, she was a christian. tre was a minority and really their family lost all of her prrpty. she ended up get going to paris and waiting for two years to get into the united states. you'll find that in a lot of persian community in the asyrian community is a lot of folks wha went way. i have a lot of hispanic friends, same type of thing. they waited their turn. from my perspective, when i say i love immigrants, i absolutely mean it. it's because my wife is an immigrant. if you lk at our city council, probably 4/5 of our council are married to immgrrants or imts themselves. again, this has nothing to do with that.

immigrants jus have to do with basically criminals that are illegally in this country and whether our ci should be working with the ice authorities or the federal governments to be able to take care of this issue. >> according to the los alamedos police chief, there hasn't been a federal iigration raid in your city in over ten years, how many undocumented immigrants are there in los alamedos? >> i'm not too sure what rt of accounting of the illegal or undocumented workers there are in the city. but this goes back to a bigger picture. our city is one of the safest cities in orange county. half of our budget goes towards police. we're known for being very proactive and making sure that we make the right decisions to have the highest -- or the best respons for police, the lowest crime rate. so being proactive, you when we go through this process, we just want to make sure as policymakers to our city, whether it's the police chief or

anybody in this organization is from the of our city, we want our folks working with u.s. federal officials when it comes to immigration. we don't know why there would be any other reason why the state would compel us to do otherwise. >> the american civil liberties union and several other immigrants rights groups are basically suing and asking the courts to declare what you did, the new ordin ceillegal. your reaction to that? >> well, obviously from being able toy comment specifica a case, i can't, because it's pending litigation. but the reality is the au from the very beginning has been trying to bully us through theo s. they sent is two demand letters on one before the first vote march 19th. the second one for the april 16th vote just threatening us. from my perspective, i'm representing the people of my community. half of our base is military -- or half of our cryy is a miliase. and, you oknow, being a er councilmefor 12 years, i feel like i fairly represent our tcommunity and thees of

actions that we should be taking. i'm unphased by the aclu lawsuit. i think over time we'll have to engage that more when we find bout it. >> how do you feel about immigration communities who fakl this could los alamedos less safe to make imgrants feel less safe to come forward aesd report cr >> if you talk to the police chief, that really is not the sase. there would be of unintended consequences. if somebody is a criminal and they'te undocum and they actually do get released out in the community, one of the biggest issues is those people go back to the community where they victimize people in the past. if those people are people that are actualundocumented and the situation goes down around them, that is a chance that something like that could happen. but i think for the most part, this is not about tryin fto put

a fetor into people who are undocumented. i tell people the example is look, if to you have a party at your house an you invite people and some people come that are uninvited and they start doing bad stuff, you don't want them there, they nd to g. and that really -- what we're trying to do, this is something that's local issu it's about local control for us. and it really is a u.s. constitutional issue is that we should not have to make a choice for our police whether they have to work with u.s. custom fficials -- or immigration officials or whether they're going to work with the state. >> we have about 20 seconds remaining. have you gotten calls from other california cities now interested in doing the same thing that los alamedos has done? >> absolutely.s ce we' done the first vote, we sent50off over letters to mayors and councilmembers to everyity in california. i spend two to three hours a day talking to mors and councilmembers interested in moving this forward in our city.

and i get calls from active citizens and folks in the community who want to try to figure out how to work with their city council to get this item on their agenda. you would be surprisedhe in cities up in northern california that are very interested in being a part of this. >> mayor troy edgar, we thank you for your time. >> thank you. appreciate it.>> > staying with politics, this week governor jerry brown announced that up to 400 national guard troops will be sent to the u.s./mexico border. the governor says the troops will fight criminal gangs, human traffickers and drugn and gu smugglers. they will not, however, help with immigration enforcement or buildg a new border wall. the i announcement sparked criticism from president trump. he called the otployment, charade. publican political consultant sean walsh and senior political

ryan jared garifoli. wictor, let me begi you. we just got done talking to the of los alamedos. it certainly isn't the only cite to going against the state sanctuary laws. we've seen orange county itself and san diego county have voted to join the federal lawsuit against the law. where do youee all of this ing from here? >> it may not go much farther than hereun because orange y, especially in the south and san diego county are probably the hot bed of resistance to is this state sanctuary law. i do think it's a very big issue there. it's a mobilizing issue tr republicat could affect house races and turnout. it's attracted the attention of presint trump. i think you'll see other cities around the state and counties. but i think this is the most significant area where this is going on. nce this is where the big house races are in november.

thec couldde control of the house of representatives. >> jody, do you agree with that kristen gaspar, a sis diego supe who voted for this, some have accused her of law iting the sanctuary controversy to help boost her profile in her race for darrel iss a seat in san diego county. >> this issue gives some voice.s they found their voice. call it the resistance to the resistance. i believe i came wit term. ar>> that's where i first it. >> i'm claiming credit for that. but what it does is it allows folks, republicans, to sort of embrace trump's agenda withoutb cing trump. trump in california is toxic. they don't want to do this. but this is one of trump's re issues. this is something that appeals to the law andrd suburban crowd, which is the orange county districts. they're largely that. and it also -- it allows republicans t and get out the vote.

they're not going to have a senate candidate andey may not have a candidate on the ballot for governor. >> you're raising your eyebrows. >> i time after time, nancy pelosi anticipate some of the activists in the democtic party run into walls. they think that their values and their approach is the rest of the country shares. and think almost 2,500 people demonstrate that it's not just san diego, it's not just orange county,it's not just los alamedos. but all over the state, people have very serious concerns about legal immigration. it's an issue not just for republicans but it's also an issue for democrats. >> swing voters, too. >> the study thatus you referred to, the haas study, you found that nearly half of the people rveyed support president trump's travel ban and more deportation of undocumented immigrants. but i know that you have some concerns about how that study was conducted. >> oh, it's a good study. i guess my c cerns are howit's portrayed. i made some calls to lo at

some of the data. i don't think the study shows quite what sean is saythg .i k it shows overwhelming support for more of a progressive position on immigration. and th on some ambiguously worded questions about things like the muslim ban and deportation that's gotten highlighted in the news coverage. one of them asked, how is the goal of deporting undocumented residents. and that got support. then the next question gets over 70%. it's kind of hardrt to de people and give them citizenship at the same time. i think it's a goodey, but i think it's getting a little overestimated. even though i dohink shaup is right, there is a base of opposition on the democratic position on immigratt n. i doink it's coming from democrats, though. >> i disagree. you're showing 50% of people in ae bay a actually have these positions. i think there's the old s ing there's a right way to come to

the country and a wrong way. the country and particularly california embraces legal immigration and legal immigrants. but they have a problem with people who havegaome here ily. and they have thsoft spot in r heart for daca kids. that's completely understandable. but when you see mayor libb libby schaff whoay we'reoing to alert people when they're trying to deport criminals in oakland d other parts o california, it makes people angry. they think that's a wrong alpproach from the fede government. the it doesn't surprise me at all that this rvey, you see the link between legal immigration and right versus wrong. >> talking t republican pollsters in southernif cnia who are tabbed into these races, the intensity of these issues is off the harts. republicans and to nonpartisan swing voters in the suburbs. this appeals to them, if you hecast it -- if republicans can cast it as supporting law enforcement. because that's what people in

the suburbs can relate to. they may not relate to an immigration issue, but if they're relating this to i'm supporting my local law enforcement officer, then the republicans might have some traction. the gas tax -- you know, the republicans had envisioned tat as something to get the voters to come out. it doesn't have the intensity, the emotional connection as this issue does. >> what about from a legal stand poi point? you talked about the emotional connection, jo is this a case of the state overreaching? going back to the sanctuary laws. is it a case of overreach by the snat. >> iidn't go to law school. so i try to law off those. i'm a political scientist.pe justing politically, i think the state sanctuary law, while it was a very lly designed law, it was certainly in a political realm, opened the door for localer gents where republicans are strong, to become a resistance to a ste w as opposed to just

another -- i do agree with joeh thatis the animating issue in the republican party and it's t president.ump became just as democrats sometimes dream that everybody agrees. i don't think the general public has that same feeling. what helps gin up republican turnout in these races will also gin up democratic turnout. the gas tax hasn't really gone awhere. there's not enough republican candidates statewide. this is it, this is the one key. and midterm elections as all of our guests know are not about persuasion, they're about motivation and mobilization. >> and meanwhile, we have the deployment of the national guard troops. governor jerry brown said he

ion't do it. but they won't bolved -- he will do it, but they won't be involved in immigration enforcement of wall construction. the federal governmented has ago pay for this. the edadministration is staking some issue with that. >> trump said no, we're not going to do it. is thenhen the same day, i believe it was, the national guard saino, we just got pentagon funding to do this. ewe're talkg about 400 troops. this is mostly both brown and the president appealing to their bases. you know, we're talking these are not major movements of troops. it's a political thing. and they're bh appealing to eir base. >> just further poisoning relationship between california and washington? >> well, i think the if the is itching for a fight with california. and not just the fact that this is going to effect those four seats th are targeted by the democrats in southern california. but this ha national salience.

so this isn issue president trump in large part got elected based o his immigration stance. so ithink, as he said, you need motivation to get your voters out.at strong motn on the democratic side for the women's movement and the pink hat wrowd. so you' got something that makes people equally as c passionate te out on the other side. and a lot of these races are decided by a couple hundred votes in many areas. l is could be a very, very important polititeth motivator. >> can i jump in about governor bro for just a second? >> absolutely. go ahead. ve some credit to what jerry brown did here. it was rather clever. every democratic candidate for governor said absolutelyheno to deployment of the national guard. republican governor said absolutely yes. and jerry brown in his

philosophical way found a way to put president trump in a bad spot. he said maybe, let's look at it. said since i'm the commander of the national guard, unless you federalize it, they're going to do what i want to do. it was a reasonable proposal and the pentagon suppord it. and the president goes to his base and overturns yet anotheri ca secretary. previously it was nikki haley on russian sanctions, leaving them out there hanging. but what brown did was not for his base. his base wanted him to say flat no. and i don't know any other democrat who can take that kind credibilin with the that jerry brown can get away with. >> and meanwhile, making a speech that inflammatory football that low-life politicians like to exploit. jerry brown gets away with saying stuff like that. but i want tomm move off ration for a moment and also ask about this other item that just happened today. the democratic national mmittee filed a multimillion

dollar lawsuit against russia, the trump campaign, and also wikileaks, alleging there's a conspiracy to disrupt theia016 presideelection. what do you make of this? can russia, for example, be sued? don't they ha immunity? other nations have immunity from most u.s. lawsuits? >> might as well sue assad and syria for all the effects that will do. this is pure politics, nothing more and nothing less. i think there's some concern that mueller could rap up his investigation early and this could keep it going from t primaries into the election. speak of course lawsuits, the's better standing for bernie sanders to sue the democratic national committee for colluding with hillary clinton. it's all politics. it doesn't have any standing. >> the demochould be careful. don't pin your hopes on being anti-trump. you have to have a message along with being anti-trump.

the people who are anti-tremp are y there with you. you have to get something else to get their voters to come outt ditionally, their voters have not come out in midterm elections. they need to do something positive to get their voters out. or else you're not going to do it on bashing trump. that group is already with you. >> on that note we're going to have tond it here. i want to thank all of you. thanks so much for beinwith us. sean walsh, republican strategist and also san francisco chronicle senior political writer jerry garali. thank you, gentlemen. >> turning now to climate change. we talk to the former head of the sierra club, carl hope. his new bhook is titled "climate of hope." he co-authoredic it with mhael bloomberg. pope lays out a vision for howi viduals, businesses and

local governments can battle climate change even when state and national governments won't. and carl pope joins me now in the studio. nice to have you here. >> great to be here again. >> in your book you say it's time for a new conversation about climate ange. what do you think is wrong with the way it's being discussed mao? >> we talked about climate change as this enormous problem which requires phenomenal hecrifice. and conversation is, who's going to pay for the bill? that use used to be true. it' not true anymore. q testion is, who's going to take the lead? that's a different kind of conversation. >> a lot of it talks about long-term consequences. not something that people can eare late to now. taing about how to make money, not sacrifices. and focusing on polar bears,hiot asthmaticren. >> that's exactlyght. people don't realize many of the states who have done the most to reduce theirriarbon foo are states like oklahoma and

texas which did it not because they have governors who cared about climate change. they didn't. but because they h utility customers who wanted cheaper power and wind is cheaper than coal. >> so it was money-making incentive there. >> and it was immediate. the utility rates of texas have been coming down.xa rates in have been coming down significantly because we're retiring coal and replacing it with natiol gas, wind and lar. >> much of the climate change centers around doom and gloom scenarios. you point out in the book that those sharing ta-- scaring tacts n't really work with people why not? >> if you're a rock clicoing ch and trying to get somebody to dotch they've never done before, you don't do that by saying oh, my gosh, it's going to be really hard. i don't know if you can do it.

the person you're coaching, you say hey, this is like somethi you've done before, and i know you can do it and you're going to have 'r stretch and y going to have to work and be on. and that's what we need to tell people climate change. not that it's a catastrophic awful the numbers are so bad. you say wait a minute, we got rid of a class of refrigeration chemical that was destroying the ozone layer. we know how to replace them with better stuff. se replaced the first set, wive can replace thi >> so let's expand on that. you also write in the cok the majntributors to global warming are buildings, the electricity we use in our homes and offices. also transportation and the stuff we make, steel, toys, there are so many complex layers here, so what can i, as an individual, do? what are the top two things i can do tg help climate

change? >>it depends on who you ar everybody has a different set oi instial connections. everydy is -- people are part of family, they're part of communities, they vote for school boards, they work for companies. they may teach students. and in all of those roles, you have an opportunity to focus the conversation on how can we simultaneously make tomorrow better and do better today? and everybody h those opportunities. you just have to look around you and say ere do i have connections to other people and how can i work with those people to speed up the rate of progress towardsbetter outcomes for the climate, which are also going to be better outcomes for making us healthy or unhealthier. >> we have several things going onight now. the american lung association report that came out this week that saidut of the top ten u.s. cities with the most ozone pollution, 8 of them are in california,inclutding los

angeles, sacramento, and fresno. d at the same time, we have a feral government that is rolling back quite a few provisions of the clean air act. what do you see the trump adminisation having on federal policies regarding climate change. >> the trumpn adtration is making federal policies horrible. nit durns out, that do have to matter that much. let's talk about air pollution in colorado.o i've been on this problem for 40 years. for 40 years, california has been trying to clean up the internal combustion engine. we've done a remarkable job. and for most of those 40 years, washington was resistant. so most of the progress california made in cleaning up the car, which is now translated into nationalp gress, was made by california, not washington. we nowecognize we can't do the job with gas power. we need to electrify vehicls. and that's how we're going to solve california's collusion

orproblem and cala can take the lead and is taking the lead on getting that done, even though donald trump wants to pretend that electric cars aren't better than internal combustion ca. they are. >> must be some impact, right? how do the administration's viewpoints affect the way that environmentalists are doing their work? >> what really matters is, is it affecting the wayrimerican elety consumers behave? is it afbting the way american drivers he or american manufacturers behave? not so much. they all look at the trump administration and say he's going to be there for a while, he's going to be gone. we're investing in the future. when trump announced i'm going to bring out coal. aun one of the consulting firms said is this changing in what you're investing in. and only one company out o 42 said that it would change their

investment strategies. the rest id we're not investing for the next three years. we're investing for the next 20 years and the next 20 years is solar. >> just quickly, in terms of strategies, local governments, even colorado this week are now taking the strategy of suing oil and gas companies over the cost of climate change. good or bad strategy? >> that's a good strategy. thatas now been joined by a conservative libertarian think tank inwashington. we're beginning to see people coming in from the other side and saying well, government is not going to hold the oil industry accountable, individual citizens can. >> nice to have you here. >> nice to be here wyou. >> that's going to do it for us. you can find more of our coverage on kqed/newsroom. i'm thuy vu. thanks for joining us.

>> president trump confronts new memos from former f.b.i. director james ceey. and brings a trusted ally onto his legal team. i'm robert costa. inside the latest on the russia probe. plus the looming challenges and opportunities in north korea. tonight on "washington week." >> there was no collusion and that's been so found, as you know, by the house intelligence tmmittee. >> presidentmp expresses confidence that special counsel robert mueller's investigation into rusan meddling in the 2016 election will not find collusion by the trump campaign. in a news conference with japanese prime minister shinzo abe, trump contests reports that mueller and deputy attorney general rod rosenstein's jobs >> they've been say'm going to get rid of them for the last three months. four months. five months. an t