. tonight on "kqed newsroom," a startling op-ed from inside of the trump administration. and contentious hearings for supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. and safrancisco is pushing for a controversial approach to the opioid crisis. plus a new adampaign reignites a debate over politics and sports. hello and welcome to "kqed newsroom." i'm scott schaefer in forthuy vu. politics.with president trump's pick for the supreme court brett kavanaugh aced three days of tense an contentious questions on capitol hill. at stakere his opinions on gun rights and control and whether the president could be protected from prose in office. meanwhile an explosive op-ed but an unnamed senior official in the trump administration claims the president's own staff have

been trying to stop hi from acting in, quote, a manner that is detrimental to the health of r republic. to discuss all of this and more, i'm joined by kqed politics and vernment reporter marissa lagos and professor of lawleory lind political strategist w witlsh consulting. well kind of ran out of superlagives but let's with the op-ed piece. that the author saying president is anti-democratic, amoral,ld erratic. she be reassured or scared to death having read that? >> well, i guess the bottom line is if you are concerned about the president, people in there that are trying t drive the administration one way or another, with regard to brobaer d policy, i think it is a fear tactic. i mean you have general mattis at d.o.d. aoeo at state and this is one person who had an ax to grind and wants to be

the deep throa ten or 20 years from now and say i was the guy o gal. >> i wonder if it is one person or a concerted effort. we've hear the rumors, and the bob woodward book came o and with the op-ed. if you are worried about someone unstable and feeling like tl tlar -- feeling likein they are undermined is the best way to stabilize the white house. it is not. >> throwing gasoline on a fre. >> and a bit of self serving, don't worry there is adults i r them and trust us, it is all going to be okay. if it is that bad, why aren't you standing up and saying i'm out of here. >> i think this person is a hero in some sense. this is not something who waeis to lose job. they are trying to do the right thing for the country. they are not runnhe country, just exerting whatever influence they have -- and they're probably lose their job and soor or later and identify and why would they quit because somebody se put in place will be worse. >> what the president of course

is calling thisso tr and iswa cowardice, is patriotic thing to do? >> there is a certain level of cowardice, i've served two presidents and two governors and if you have a problem and don't like the wa things are going, put your papers in and resign try so if you think the co is in that much peril and you have the huberous that you are thone person to save the day. >> but it sounds like there are multiple people involved because it said ma of us. >> so many of us. so you sit around the table and oh, god this tweet just came out today and you have a kibitz in the executive coffee shop. >> this is a continuing narrative throughout the presidency.at this is not thocking because we've been hearing the stories. and again the woodward book exposed them but this is stories dripping out for months and months so of course it clearly somebody who is not happy with things. to ry point it is interesting because what -- i haven't seen are the people who tually do leave the

administration speaking out either. so at that point -- >> they ve to sign their agreement -- >> so let me tell you who is really not happy. the leaders in the republican ou caucus and the and the senate. so the unemployment numbers came out today, another 200,000 jobs added. african-american and latino unemployment numbers at record lows. the economy is zooming along and people are feeling really good and yet you got an election coming right around the corner and you may ste the tide but yet you get this kind of noise in the background. >> you worked in administrations, you worked in the white house. what is something likethis, although it is unprecedented, do you imagine something like this dong to moral in the white house. >> i think moral is terrible. because now you hav the presidelling and screaming, let's find who he or she is.'t and you d want a jihad going through each , offio leaked what and when. and in the white house, people leak all of the time f policy goals and objectives and if you want to get caught up in who is the leaker game. you don't want people c the office and grilling you.

it is terrible moral. >> andth woodward book came out and does it strike you that it came out in a week where the confirmation hearings. >> i think the editorial was -- wasrten by woodward. there was an intermediary through woodward saying similar things and it seems to me advancing the sales of that book, i'mic a little c about that. >> interesting. it is a parlor game in d.c. as to who might have written this. sean, what -- you have heard seen anything, read anything that you think makes you focuspe on oneon in particular. >> i believe it came from the office of the vice president, from the senior speech writer or another speech writer or someone in the communications -- the way it was written and laid out. the tact that they tuched part of thes of the elephant, the tail or the trunk but not all of n.e administrat so someone who is close -- but the question is what is a senior official. that is kind -- >> that is a term. >> it seemed to me like somebody

portfoliotheir included national security, foreign affairs. writer u have a speech you cover foreign affairs and domestic policy. that in'my gut. i want to cast aperhuns on these folks. >> we'll find out -- and every reporter in d.c. and the president's staff is this person. >> and if it is a vice president, if things crash -- >> i don't think -- >> i don't think he had any knowledge. if it came from that office, i th -- think i this is somebody that decided we could make some efforts there and i coulbe the president's speech writer rather than the vice president's speech writer. and the cavanaugh hearings, what did we learn about thi nominee we didn't know at the beginning of the week. >> i'm not sure we know anything that we knew before. i think maybe our suspicions is concerned and i think he is

hostile to roe v. wade and perhaps that is confirmed by the documents and learned more about the prose -- the process broken down nature of the process. thffact of two and a hal years of documents while serving the president in a close position are not revealed even one page. the idea that the national archives was kept out of the process and that it was accelerated so that a private attorney is doing >> and it makes you think they are hiding something and one or two or several e-mails were released. one on racial profiling a another one on roe that really didn't --s mo smoke than fire i think. >> look, this is a foregone conclusion. as we've talked about on the show before, he was going to be confirmed going into this and will be confirmed now. the oaty thing tould have detailed it is if something explosiveappened. mr. booker tries to came i am sparticous and kamala harsz and he will be confirmed but the

question is how many democrats come across the aisle -- t>> let's talk abo process. regardless of where you sit politically, i think we can all this is a very serious matter. lifetime appointment to the supreme court. and i do think there are valid questions nowthey were raised and what we would have found out, maybe nothing or wouldn't hav changed anything but i think there is a valid argument the american people should have a good sense of who a nominee is it given he has come a fr different background that he did work for the bush white house and in a very partisan manner. >> you are saying they should have released -- [ technical difficulties ] [ no audio ] [ no audio

>> what did you think of their style. this was the prosecutor week. >> they're both running for president - >> both dianne feinstein. >> booker and kamala harris. d booker's pumper sticker is i'm sparticous and kamala, i have 53 people in my pocket and who in the law fir you talk to. why didn't you say you talked to joe smith or susie q. in that law firm and it is allte th and the complaints of we need more documents and they went in there saying we will not vote foye for the guy and so why need more documents. >> she asked questions that he wasn't prepared to answer, cany think of a law that restricts in any way men's reproductive rights for example. >> a medical procedure. this is typical to the style. kamala harris is coming in hot

and heavy and a more progressive rising ar and wants to burn -- nd she was prosecutorial and she brought that cross-examination and dianne feinstein is decorum and the old school nation -- or sitting next to the chairman because she is the rankingember and they have a relationship and trying to maintain that. she got attacked by her opponent in that senate race for her style. but no surprises. and i think that -- the bottom line is kamala harris may not have brought any independence to her side but s certainly helped with the progressive -- >> both senators, i thinke we'r nly state with two senators on that committee and i think they carry californi well. i thought they represented well. and they actually provided a nice contrast as a duo -- >> what do you think her seniority got her this week. >> you mean feinstein. >> feinstein. >> i think her seniority is valuable. she does have the ability to speak to th chair and get him to pay attention a little bit.

they decuss together, how d we -- handle these unprecedented protesters in the back of the room. she is preferential and she gets to go first and make decisions on this document thing and they will have new rules and maybe the aanking member the chair will form the rules. >> we're almost out of time. last quest aon. is theetter way to do this? it seems like theater and real highly scripted -- >> i defer tomy eliriend here. there were not hearings until the 20s when just is brandis came forward and he said you my writing and didn't answer any questions and then potter stewart with civil rights and the same thing so the modern eater is relatively new and with the hearings that turnedto political theater and spectacle and this was a sect acle. i think it was embarrassing. >> perhaps an argument for keeping cmeras out of the courtroom. >> thanks very much rory little, sean wals maris lagos,

fascinating conversation. crazy stuff going on. san francisco could become the first u.s. city to facilitate the use of hrd drugs like heroin under medical supervision. a bill passed by the california legislature last week would allow the city to set up a three-year pilot project of so-called safe injection sites. supporters including san francisco mayor lonn breed say it will help reduce overdose death and get used syringes off the streets. but the facilities like that are illegal under federal law and a recent op-ed rod rosenstein lashed out against the proposal and threatened, quote, swift ani aggressive acon against their hepening andwould only worsen the opioid crisis. for more on this issue i'm joined by scott wiener, the co-author and dr. scott steiger, the deputy medical director of dhe opi treatment outpatient program at san francisco general hospital. entlemen, thanks for being here.

this is a very scottish setent. e begin with you, senator wiener. this bill is not a panacea for the problems around opioid abugs but what would you hope and expect it would accomplish. >> safe injection sites are a ublic really applying a health approach to injection drug use as opposed to criminalizing people who are addicted to drugs. andcknowledging that peop are going to inject whether or not we have a safenjection site. so instead of having them inject on your front doorstep or in front of a neighborhood store or a park, let's get them inside in safe and healthy and clean environment where they could get access to recovery services and health care and ultimatel we want to get them into recovery and health care seheices, get healthy and reduce the number of overdose deaths. >> what would you add to that, dr. steiger? >> i would just add that it is not a new thing. right.e ths over 120 sites like this around the world. it is justhe that tunited

states hasn't adopted it as a strategy for reducing morbidity srtality for injection drug use and the evidence ong from a public health and medical perspective this is an appropriate intervention. >> what do you mean? what does it show. >> so i like to think about it as who would be -- whoorhould be in ff these things. if you are like me and you ha nd treatpatients people with drug abuse problems, you lik it because it gets people into treatment as the senator mentioned. more over it reducing the contracting of hepatitis andke s people alive longer and reducing the overdo deathsn the area of the facility. >> is it good policy, though, to allow somebody to shoot up in a safenvironment and then let them out on to the streets? >> yeah, so the sheucture of -- of these things is such that people get to hang out after they use. and have soeriod of monitoring by their peers and by

other peop that are there. if they have a bad reaction to the drug that they use, they wille able to be taken care of and swiftly dealt with in a edical fashion if necessary. it is not something that ends up with people o are then intoxicated in such a way they won't be able to care for thn mselvese street. >> scott wiener, as an elected official, i think you coulde apate this. if somebody leaves a facility and goes out and commits a crme, is the city liable? >> no. i don't think believe so. and justo be clear, if someone is going to get hgh and then commit a crime afterward, they're going to do it whether or not they're in a safe they will shoot up on the street, or shoot up insidei and they are shooting in one of the centers, i think they're going to be more likely to be stable and not do problematic things afterwards. >> this bill only covers san francisco, it will allow the county -- the cit and county to set up this pilot project.

were there other counties that wanted to be part of this. >> the original bill -- this bill is around for a few years. itd star out giving every countries in the state the option and then it was limited to i believe seven or eight counties. but in the end, san francisco is the onlyounty that is prepared right now to move forward. i think los angeles is probably the next closest. and -- >> when you say prepared, plitd cally. >> and operationally. a we wanted to get bill passed to do a pilot in california, thehe first one in u.s. showed that the sky doesn't fall, that it could be successful and itd then be a model and i think mygu coll agreed that allowing san francisco to try it because we like to try new things here els yearrybody else m down the road that it is a good idea to let us try it out here. >> and dr. steiger, is there money for education treatment in the bill but are you hoping

once ey are in these -- this facility get to them without outreach workers. >> yeah. theres not many designed for that in the bill but we already have in san francco a huge network of harm reduction working with people who use drugs that are unstable -- and so we already have the people and the know-how to do this right and it is just a matter of ving sort of legal protection to make it so that people will actuay be able to implement it. >> and senator wiener, the governor hasn't decided whahe will do. what do you think his concerns are? >> well i don't want to speak for the governor. what i will say is that the governor has spoken his concerns about open erin je -- injection abuse in san francisco. >> in the context of this bill. t>> no, in j talking to him in general. when i talk to him, sometimes we talk about san francisco. heas born here. and spent part of his youth here as he cares about the city.

but this governor has been a very public health oriented governor. r haslly signed some progressive forward-looking bills fro public health community. so i think he'll have an open imind to >> to what extent do you think he would be concerned about the threat fom the deputy attorney general that the feds could come down a have another sanctuary city situation where federal funding could be threatened. i'm sure he'll take that into account and this governor is used to threats from trump and his they threatened us over our immigrationrotection law and the governor signed it any way e will beat -- and them when they try to come after us. they are gng after ou auto emission status -- they go after us all of the time. don't think jerry brown is going to be stoopedobecause rosenstein publishes a -- what could only be characterized as

an ignorant an -- an ignorant op-ed full of false hoodsyoin "the ne times." >> and dr. steiger, if this bill is signed and becomes law, what is your hope and howil you be assessing whether or not it is working. >> great qouestion. a e of things. one would be we get to open multiple sites because the truth s that people who are -- who are desperate toru use aren't going to travel across town to use one of these facilities and so my hope would be we would open multiple sites. and my hope would be that people in the community notice less -- fewer syringes on the street, less exames of peop injecting in front of them on we the street anet more people into treatment. so if we -- those are metrcos we ld track and i would expect within a relatively short amount of time we'd be able to see those improvements. >> and we'll know by the end of september whether or not the governor signs this.ha you both very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. urning now to sports.

this week nke released a new ad campaign that reignited debate over the roll of politics in sports. the ad features former 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick and reads belie in something ev if it means sacrificing evenithing. kaeper triggered a furious backlash from donald trump and others in 2016 when he refused to stand during the national anthem. kaepernick said he was raising awareness of police violence against african-americans, while many pported kaepernick, others saw it as unpatriotic. now not surprisingly the response to the campaign has alsobeen polarized. joining me now to discuss this and more just as the nfl season kicks off, is san francisco chronicle sports columnistain killian. very controversial and a lot of attention. gutsy move on the part of nike? >> a multi-billion dollar company doesn't do gut out -- andn they have a edge

advertising. they were criticized back in the jordan backing michael and making him a face of the campaign because that was unusual for an african-american athlete, it is hard to imagine that but they've always liked that edge -- >> pushed the envelope. >> pushed the envelope bit.tle this is in keeping with them. and i think they obviously spent aprobably months months analyzing it and breaking everything down and in terms of what the financials were, what the market segme a was,d i think that they realized that the demographic that teayly want to sell the shoes to, the young demographic, the ones that buy multiple pairs of shoes and all of the time and for all er sorts of dit sports, they are going to appreciate this. whereas maybe the other demographic that is going to hate it -- maybe they won't get them or a huge not part part of the segment -- market segment. >> i want to go back to the ad for a minute. because it doesn't show anything

about colin kaepernick kneeling. there is nothing controversial in the ad. >> it is inspiring, all athletes that we care about and -- >> yeah. so let's take a quick look. >> believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. when they talk about he greatest team in the history of the sport, makeure it is your team. and if you are a girl from compton, don't just become a tennis player, become the greatest athlete ever. so don't ask if yourreams are crazy. ask if they're crazy enough. >> so ann, that played on last night's season opener on the philadelphia versus a falcons. they are in business with

nike. nike is the official uniform creator, all of the -- almost all of the cleats. i thi players have so discretion over what cleats they use. but most of them are nike. there is a swoosh on pretty much everything you see related to the nfl. et colin kaepernick is -- has filed a grievance and niz lawsuit was just allowd to go forwd the nfl lost in an early round with an arbitrator complicated ry thing and i'm sure that nike would have had to have said to them, look we're going to do this and the nfl probably isn't crazy about it, but -- ve it would been worse to try to stop it. >> right. i mean, the nfl has made a lot of miss steps on this whole issue from the very beginning and so i thinkobably they avoided a misstep by trying to o ock it. >>e nfl season is underway, 49ers play the vikings thisek wd. jimmy garoppolo the quarterback phenomenon who did so well at the end of last season, excuse me, are the expectations forat e can do for this team too

high, do you think? >> yeah. tht is kind of the way the 49er fan base operate. toast m-- most fan base --ve theeen hungry to have a savior type quarterback. colin kaepernick at one point wased suppo be it and that didn't happen. and i think that there is just so much excitement because after mea couple of -- s of the worst years a team could ever have, it feels like they're on the right track. and it is not ju garoppolo but obviously he came in and wowed people and he's got the look, he tutored under tom brady. he's kind of looking like the whole package. >> good pedigree. >> yeah, we'll have to see. but they appear to have a very art young coach in kyle shanahan. and an adult in the room in john lynch as the general manager. and so there is a very good feeling about this team overall. nowhehaven't had a winning season since moving to levi so

we'll see. raiders a the bay, the different story perhaps. this is the last season in oakland -- >> maybe. >> perhaps. and they of course traded their elitpass rusher khalil mack and you wrote this week that makes it more poll -- palatable to leave the city. >> i think people are done with them. there certainly the die hard fans and people who will buy season ticket n- las vegas. but i think that -- they made it very clear bye trading of the elite players in the league who by the eed to be traded way, he was -- he was still under contract for another year. they made it t clearat winning this year in oakland is not a and i think a lot of fans had hoped with the arrival of joay gruden that they would have a chance to win and maybel win it in this one last final season in oakland. that appears to notbe on the table any more. >> staying in oakland to wrap up here, the oakland a's are red

hot. >> yes, they are. >> they just took two of three for t f the yankees who they may face in the playoffs. what accounts for the. succe >> they are young and talented. they came up through the system and really want to be here. they're not stopgap kind of players. they have a good manager in bob melvin who just had set the right tone and i think because they're in oakland, because they have such a -- aus lstadium and aren't expected to do anything, and they are just playing free and not have this and come in with the expectations and you see them start t ingwn the astros and the yankees. maybe they could make some noise in the post-season. >> and they've over come adversity and injurie >> a lot of injuries. they basically don't have a starting rotation which is tough in october but it makes it interesting. >> and the fans are taking attention. >> and that will do it for us. as always find our coverage at d

rg/newsroom. i'm scott schaefer in for thuy vu, thanks for joining us. t

>> presidentmp at odds with his own white house and a supreme court nominee moves a step closer to nomination. m pete williams. robert costa will join us from the road. welcome to "washington week." president trump: the so-called i ance is angry because their horrible ideas have been american people and it's driving them crazy. pete: but the resistance is oirmenting from inside the trump administration according to a blistering op-ed said to be from a senior official. they said the root of problem is the president's amorality. president obama warned that a resistance inside white house, even with goodio inte, should concern all americans. id