> tonight on "kqed newsroom," voting today in california on june 5th. it's the warriors and cavs again for the fourth consecutive year in the nn fis. plus a star-studded comedy festival retuns to the bay area. from dozens of performers to interactive exhibits. welcome to "kqed newsroom," i'm thuy vu. a new poll out on the governor's race s showsan diego republican john cox advancing to second place among likely voters. democratic lieutenant governor tovin newsom remains in the

lead, according he poll. a crowded fieldon of congressi candidates in california and the state's top two primary system could handicap democrats' efforts to challenge republican incumbents. joining me now are wilson walsh consultant sean walsh. reporter marreese is an lagos. and christine mai duke. we ome to all ofyou. sean, how significant are these latest poll numbershowing republican john cox in second plagues in t place in the governor's race? >> incredibly significant, not just for california but nationally. cox in second place may actually mean the rouublican tu for the congressional seats that nancy pelosi is counting on, those five seats in california ho turn the se, goes out the window. so it's really, really important. >> how did this happen? did trump's endorsement play a big role? >> i think it helped.

cox has been ettingpport from republican establishment folks for the last few months. he did succeed in getting, you know, support from kevin mccarthy who is the hoful house speaker. he's been working very hard to get a lot of tsendorseme and i think a couple of tweets from trump is going to help, especially in a race where you have travis allen, state assembly men who are not well-known statewide. and christine, you're in southern california you've be covering the congressional raises. sean alluded to this, if sean cox is in the top two, could bring out more gop voters. what are some of the most ngcompetitive and interes congressional raises that we should be looking at in june and down the road in november? >>ah, absolutely, i think that sean definitely touched on something that has been an issue hat republicans are concerned about in california, and that is, you know,ith this overwhelming level of energy on e democratic side, what can

republicans do to ensure their voters turn out in june and november to miake sure they maintain this edge thathey usually have in midterm years. and so having a republican candidate at the top of the ticket in californian the governor's race could be a major key to sustaining that level of enthusiasm and therefore helping republicans reallyin main that edge in turnout that they usually do have. so i think that it w l make tougher for democrats for sure. if it's john cox and gavin newsom in the's governace in the fall. >> the democrats have made it very clear the road to retaking the house needs to run through california. whe are s the most competitive raises that you're seeing that we should keep an eye on? >> yeah, absolutely. nationwide, democrats need to win abou twoozen house seats to flip control of the house. they have targetedven in california and three others actually for the full field that they're looking at as ten.

and seven of those districts are districts where there's a republican member of congress yet hillary clinton won in 2016. one of the epicenters of that activity right now is orange county where there are four congressional seats there that are held by rublicans that are really competitive in their eyes. and t of those actually belong to congressman ed "roseanne" and congressman darrell issa, both of whom have announced they're not going to be running again, they're actually retiring. often seats are much easier to win than those who run against incumbents. i would say that orange county, the 39th district, the 49th district there, are open seats. the 45th, rohrabacher's district in the 48th, are major ones to watch. >> that' important too, because orange county is changing. you know, if you look at some of these districts, tom mcclintock near sacramento, those are still pretty red. but orange county has been becoming more diverse, a younger

population. and so a lot of people i talk to who study these n tbers sayat even if republicans can win in those districts this year, it's gong to be a tough road in 2020 and 2022, which may be why "roseanne" a royce and issa are stepping down. >> there are three that are coming to light. the unemployment number is out tay, 3.2%, rock bottom. 200,000 plus jobs. >> the biggest number of gains since february. >> it is. the country isan feeling it california is feeling it. number two, the democrats ran everybody including the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maken maker in these races, they tend to cancel each other out. there are so many democrats that are so disparatll the split the vote.

republicans are feeling good about tha gavin newsom's efforts to get john cox as his running mate have had significant impact. the business community did a poll or a survey where they figuredothat if there was a republican on the top of the ticket, that the high propen ty ofpublican voters coming out in the fall election wouall about 55%. if there's a republican at the top of the ticket, it's 85%. those numbers, with the multiple democrats running in those races, make the difference. >> christine, you're in southern california. how big an issue is immigration and will that issue drive op itional gop members, voters to the polls, especially when you have all this debate now over california's sanctuary laws and there is a bit of resistaofe coming from a lo the cities and counties in southern california? >> yeah, i think immigration is always an interesting and crucial issue in california, and especially southern california. it's also a very big issue for

central valley rublicans who kind of have taken a different road on that issue and they really have to walk that fine lineo becauseny of their constituents are immigrants, kids of immigrants. that being said, think that a lot of the focus recently on the sanctuary state policy and the local cities opposing sanctuary state policy in california has really been on the republican side in terms of a base motivator. there's been a very real political calculation that republican voters in orange county and san diego county, that these folks really disagree with this idea o the sanctuary state policy and therefore a lot of the republican candidates, pecially in the primary, incumbents as well as challengers, have really stepped up and taken a strong stance supporting the opposition to same thi sanctuary state policy, essentially. i think that one of the thingsve strategists cautioned about

is that immigration in general can be an emotional issue. and that type of issue as well as taking strong stans on sanctuary policy may motivate mocratic voters. >> immigration can cause the undoing of a republican, too. look at governor pe wilson and prop 187. >> immigration and illegal immigration. with democrats there is a belief that yes, we favor legal immigration, but uncontrolled, unregulated illegal ismigration problem. i will tell you, this is an issue across the country. sanctuary cities and sanctuary state factors into other states. in the last 42 midterm elections, the party that was not in powern g seats only twice in 80 years has thatha ened, where that trend didn't happen. that may affect this year, with the economy and these issues driving voters. and not just republicans but mo ats. it's a fundamental fairness issue. >> i disagree a little bit. i thinkanctuary state is a

great issue for republicans in other states to run on,n some districts it's a good issue, it divides people. but if you go out and talk to doters in big cities, their concerns are aro housing and homelessness, quality of life issues. i think immigration of course for a subset is an issue. but if we talk the governor's race statewide, i motivate thell republican base. but john cox will run into trouble in the generallection en he's trying to get moderate voters. >> let's talk about the race between dianne feinstein and kevin de leon. most legal experts think dianne feinstein will definitely come occu out the winner. how has kevin de leo changed the tenor of this race? >> i think she's been pued to the left, although she would dispute that. she's come out in favor of recreational marijua

medical marijuana. she's really i think moved to the left on some of these issues that previously she's been a more moderate emocrat. so i think the recent poll friday morning is interesting, she's only at 36%. that's only 6 percentage points more than wherevi gnewsom is polling. she's been in office 25 years. she's well-kwn. the question is can kevin de leon get into the top two. i don't think he can win against her. it will make a different race and keep pushing dianne feinstein towards theleft. >> christine, from your vantage point at "the los angeles times," how is the senate race playing out? >> i think that it iseally notable that she is polling at that low of a number, having been in office, an incumbent for so long. one thing you're going to have to watch is that dianne feinstein has a lot of money in if the bank, almost $7 million difference between her and kevin de l an.

sheeady spent a lot of that money and still has so much moree in bank. kevin de leon has struggled witi fundraising, is essential in a statewide race to get your message out. we'll have to watch that november if he makes it into the top two. >> there were some interesting numbers out this showing the republican party is sort of now a third party in california. there are mo independent voters than republican voters. how do you expect -- what do you anticipate this, what effect it will have on the june election november?er in >> we're number three, we try harder. >> i wish you luck. >> there's been a trend line, we've been analyzing this, it seems to have happened two years soon than what the actual projected timeline. it's not just a republican phenomenon. you're seeing democrats going into this category as well. >> noerarty prce. >> no part preference. the issue is, i think there are still rlying substantive policy issues that people align

to. they just don't want to align with party labels. the democrats are going to face at as well. so the real interesting thing is,teve poysnor is insurance mmissioner with no party preference. he was a republican in the past. if he can break through, because normally look at people look at the ballot designation and vote on that, might see a crack in the dam weore othere can run as an mpp. >> other moderate republicans who are frustrated with the trump message and what we're seeing from the republican party are really hoping that poysnor does ope a new path in california. independent voters, what's interesting is th not third party voters. they generally go democratic republican, they just don't want to be aligned with eithery, par which of course makes it harder for politicaonsultants like john to do their job. >> money in the bank, they need us more. >> quick comment? >> yes, i think thatis m is

right, it really makes the jobs ofampaigns and local consultants a lot harder. not only are you not surees wha thege is to go to certain voters. you're also not sure in terms ot get o vote. if you have a democrat on your walk list and you're walking through precincts and neighborhoods, you can say this person is probably somebody tt supports 24 and we'll target them to get out to the polls. a larger chunk of these folks fall into the nonaffiliated category,t makes these campaigns harder. >> a lot to watch between now and tuesday. maria, sean, and thank you so all of you. >> thank you so much. urning now to sports. last night the golden state warriors beat the cleveland cavaliers in overtime ine gam 1 of the nba finals.hu trsday's game delivered high drama with golden state winning 124-114. rocleveland's ln james carried his team with points. cavsos were ce to winning but

for a few epic mistakes. is thatnough to help the warriors clinch their third championship? 95.7 the game co-host vante hill, and reporter for cleveland.com, joe varten. so nice to have you both here. you must be a little tired after, wow, what a game last night. >> it was a wow time atorle arena for sure. i didn't get home 'til late. but it was worth it. t i'm stilling to comprehend what happened. >> prior to game one, some people athought, yetther final matchup between the warriors and cavs, four years, n a ro boring. did last night's game shatter that, joe? >> yeah, i think so. i think what you saw is not only a cavs team but some emotions, these two teams have fought for titles for three straight yearse this is ourth year. you've got draymond mocking the

cav and lebron and steph -- >> trading words. >> this is somethi going on and on. the more you put these two teams into a room together, the tenser it's going to be. >> the game itself wasn't boring, by all accounts it was one of the most exciting game one of the finals. but is the matchup itself exciting enough? been ports fans have griping, four years of this, it's taken all the excitement out of basketball. >> yeah,no, i think you have one of the greatest teams of all ime in the golden state warriors. and what they've done over the last four years. and on the other side you have one of the greatest players in nba history. you have lebron james trying to stars.r this team for all the golden state warriors know ,each othhey like each other. some of the cavaliers feel they should have won because of the injuries. and the warriors feel they should have won because nick

adla started getting hobbled. it's not a boring matchup. you have the orylines, the star power. and leading into game one, i kind of wanted to see the boston celtics, bu once the ball was tipped, i was like, ay, these teams hate each other and the drama reflects that. >> how does lebron james -- like what's the dynamic of that as he approaches the season? >> i think both he and his teammates understand the dynamic. in the first three matchups, lebron had a running might in ng kyrie ir who is as good as they come, and he's no longer with the cavs. now they're set up to play entirely through lebron andhi throug role players to play theirles some o. for the most part in game one you had players playing well ly defensimoving the ball, rebounding. those are the kinds of thags he needs his teammates to

do. they only had two other players score at least ten points. they probably need one or two more to start windowing games. >> if you're coach steve kerr, what changes woulyou make to slow down lebron james in future games? >> you may need to start sending more double teams atn leb james. he's such a good passer, you have to pick your poison.u i think yve to live with what lebron james is shooting. he did make three three pointers last night. he's shooting the ball so much here it is, year 15, and you've seen it, his shot is s good. you can't really stop him. a cold hope he h night. they also need andre gedala, he's out with soreness, he's out for game number two. he defends lebron james long, he can move his feet, he's smart. the warriors without andrel gedala w struggle to slow down lebron james. >> joe, is there a perfect tora

lebron james? what would that look like? >> he's always wante to be on teams were shooters are placed around him. to a large degree he's had that incl eland. what no one envisioned was kevin durant joining a warriors team already built to win titles. these two teams were supposed to duke it out. no one saw durant coming, that sort of changed the dynamic. what lebron has this year around h is not ideal, just because he doesn't have that other playmaker. and you could even argue there are fewer shooters on the team year. but lebron has been so good, and the other guys have done just enough to get them back to this point. >> so what's at stake now? there are some individual legacies at stake, foram king , for curry, for durant? >> i think lebron's legacy is pretty s well in stone. he's got three titles. he won one in cleveland.y he p well this year when it looked like the team may retreat. so i think his legacy is ere.

steph is looking for a finals mvp, i think. >> >>right. and the same goes for durant. i think durant, durant i don't believe will reach l'sebr level in terms of legacy but he will be a multi-time champion, a former mvp. it should be all rosg >> ie with joe. lebron james has been an underdog in all but one or two nba finals. nobody expects the cavaliers to make this a series. by him taking the cavaliers team to the finalss an accomplish. they lose their first game to indiana, get blown south, play a boston team, they were tough.d they he home court advantage and lebron james goes to the parquet floor and wins game number 7 in boston.re i with joe, lebron's legacy is submitted. kevin n durantds to win another ring. last year everybody said the ju warriors, it' an unfair advantage, nobody had time to

prepare for them. kevin durant and steph curry need this more. >> i'm going to ask this to both you guys, 30 seconds each. who do you think is going to win the series andwhy? joe. >> i think it will be the warriors, just because they are theorst possible matchup for the cavs. everything that the warriors do well are things that the cavs have been struggling with all season. >> righ warriors in 5. lebron james will winme a g probably in cleveland. they just have too much talent. they're deeper than the cleveland cavaliers. it will be a fun five-game series but i have the warriors winning the championship. >> good stuff.nk t so much, you guys, fun to have you on. >> good to be here. >> good to be here. comedy central's colossal cluster fest kicks off this weekend in san francisco. the three-day festival will

ature performances from mre than 70 comedians and musicians, including salt and peppa. festivalgoers will get a chanct selfies at interactive exhibits including a south park thed county fair and a presidential library comprised of tweets. kqed caught up with "daily show" correspondent roy wood jr. >> where are we today? >> this is the donald j. trump presidential twitter library. everybody at "the daily show," we sat around and started looking closer at the president's tweets over the last couple of years, everyone in our digital department started looking at ones. you start noticing certain patterns. there's a lot of tweets whe he's arguing with celebrities, trying to end people's careers, a lot of contradictions, stuff about policy. when you startooking at all the president's work, you see,

oh, this is an exhibit, you know. barack obama is all books. our president is all about twitter. we felt like the best way to give people therience of walking through the brain of our commander in chief is to just put it out on the wall. this is all thepeople he's argued and talked trash about. talked trash about jeb bush, about rob pattinson. somehow they still persevered. i'm not sure whether you leave thisel library fg better about the country or more horrified. you should definitely f.l somethi >> earlier this week abc canceled "roseanne" after "roseanne" sent a racist tweet about valerie jarrett, comparing her to an ape. what was your reaction? >> i was shocked abc made a decision to cancel "roseanne." i feel like the mistake we make performers sometimes is making jokes off the stage. this goes for any comedian. i feel like the safest place, if yowant say something that has some edge, that really was a

didn't at you really intend to be taken that way, the safest place to say its on the stage. twitter is a trap. you're at the mercy of other people's interpretations. you have no vocal inflection. it doesn't matter whether i agree with roseanne calling ape.one an i don't agree with that. but the least safe place to do twitter. twitter chews up careers. >> what will you tell your son when he's old i about what's like to be a black man in america? >> my son has to understand that being black is a gift and i sometimes a burden. everybody goes have you had the big ta a. when you going to have the talk. they're talking about the birds and the bees.to me the big talk is how to deal with the police. it's something i think about all the time. because, you know, being black is a job sometimes. and my son has to know he's on

the clock 24/7. >> we heard about the march for our lives in d.c. but there was another march going down all the w out in hall elena helena, montana people wil taking a stance for the real victims of gun violence. guns. >> when the march for life was taking place, yoere at a pr pro-gun rally in montana. what did that teach you about people who oppe gun restrictions? >> there are a lot of people who oppose gun restrictions who are levelheaded. everybody thinks just because someone wants the second amendment t gt they eight guns and 12 ram boo bbo bazooka their back pockets and they're all luneatics. there are af lot people who y opinion n, who in are out there.

any time you take a kid that got shotat at a high school and think he's a paid actor, there's somethi wrong are you, period. people who will call a parkland kid a crisis actor overshadow the levelheaded people who say, let's tiptoe intoat legin, i'm open to legislation, let's figure out a way to legisla b thore it gets out of hand. it was dope to go to montana. >> what's the tactic toackle these issues through comedy, is there a risk of belittling the issue? >> we would never tell a joke about someone getting shot. the joke is how do we keep this from happening and who are the people keeping this fromag happening n. i think that's where the humor is. and i think if we can laugh about it, you're more willing to talk about it. if you're willing to talk about it, then you're closer to a solution. so i feel like the jokes have to happen. >> how do you decide what

stories to cover on "the daily show"? >> that's a whole other world. if we can say somethng we lieve is different from what other shows are saying, we'll say it. sometimes it's abou out what issues are important to us. not 's issues where it may be national news. i covered a story about some uff that's happenedn the mississippi river with a boondoggle with the army corps of engineers. not a big newsstory. but it's something that affected people. it's something that economically and environmentally was ruining the country. thankfully right before president obama got out of office, he changed it. ike to believe my story is the reason. your welcome,ri miss that's what i tell myself at night before i go to bed. >> roy, thank you soea much, talking with you, thank you. >> colonssalfe cluster standards friday in san francisco. tickets are still available at clusterfest.com. as always, find more of our

coverage at kqed.org/newsroom. i'm thuy vu. thanks for joining us.

robert: it's backn. president trump will head to singapore to meet witthe north korean leader. i'm robert costa. we discuss the diplomatic drama and new tariffs spark trailed tensions. president trump: i've never said it happens i one meeting. you're talking about years of hostility, years of problems. years of really hatred. and i told him today, take your time. nbert: a week after canceling a summits withorth korea, president trump announces the meeting with kim jonun is back on. president trump: we'll be meeting on june 12 in singapore. robert: both the president and secretary of state say they are confident talks with north korea

over nuclear weapons are moving