nation's large e utility has filed for bankruptcy. lawmakers are change. for plus, a look ahead at next week's state of the union speech, amid a divided government in washington, and the rising prominence of bay area lawmakers in congss. oakland catching hollywood's attention with the oscars around the corner.oo we'll at how movies with oakland roots have becomebi hits. hello and welcome. we begin with a high stakes bankruptcy ofpg&e, on tuesday the utility giant fi fd chapter 11 bankruptcy. tens of billions of dollars for deadly california wildfires in 2017 and 2018. this is the second time in less

than 20 years in a pg&e has declared bankruptcy. in a statement pg&e expects no disruption in services and it will keep helping wildfire affected communities recover and rebuild. but the bankruptcy filingow puts on hold lawsuits filed by wildfire victims who could wait yearsg before gettid. stay lawmakers are now seeking ways to have more control over what happens next. joining me now to discuss all of ts are kqed politics and government reporter marissa lagos and jerry hill, he chairs the senate subcommittee on gas, electric and transportation safety, and mark tony, executive director at term, the utility reform network, welcome to you all. maria, this bankruptcy filing leaves a lot of people in legal limbo. what's going to happen with liability payments to wildfire victims? $30 billiothe question right now. it's the amount of liability

outstanding. that's what we'll watch here at kqed and others, is how much do these folks get a seat at the table. we know that's not inherently the strucre in bankruptcy courts. creditors are first in line and concerned with basically bringing the compan of bankruptcy. that's the way the law is stctured. iet the sense that things may be different this time. we saw on friday the governor sent a letter to the u.s. trustee in charge of creating those committees asking that rate payers be considered asf parts ose committees, not the case in the first pg&e bankruptcy. >> hoping they won't fall in the back of the. >> yeah. he's awati of the sit here, already let public comment happen, which is not something thatap everns in courtrooms, bankruptcy or not. i would assume he's ate pg&e r payer a san francisco paced judge and i think that he's wthl aware o public discussion here. so i think there's going to be -- it's going to be up to people like mark tony and

senator hill and also the ldfire victims and their lawyers to make sure that they don't get forgotten. but i do think that's a key part of the discussion already. >> senator hill, you've been ae fie critic of pg&e ever since the san bruno explosion in your district. what would you like to see happen in the expected o restructuri pg&e? >> i think the main thing in thd restructuringt the end of the day as it comes out of bankruptcy court, we want to make sure the rate payers are protected, we want to make sure the victims have the compensation they need to get their lives back in order and that we contractsth labor are preserved too. but i think what we have to loot carefully is the conclusion i came to before early on they're just too big to succeed. they're very cumbersome, bureaucratic organization, they don't -- one end doesn't know what the other end is doing. we've seen evidence of that over the years. restructuringan perhaps bre them up into a gas and electric division, that's been said a lot.

>> unions have made it clear they don't want to see itnt bron up little pieces. what do you think of all this, mark tony, do they ne to be broken up? i think. >> i think the most important thing right now is that there needs to be new leadership at pg&e and it needs to happen really quickly. a federal court judge has the opportunity toppoint a receiver, which is what we're recommending to take charge of the company, make sure that the safetyegations are being carried out so that we can stop more wildfires from happening. >> i should point out that judgealsop is the judge overseeing the probation case out of the san bruno explosion. is that really the best option? you have said that you thought pg&e should declare bankruptcy, that that was the best option. >> it's the best option for this is the bankruptcy out of convenience, not of necessity.ba ruptcy for them will provide them the opportunity touc

restre and really they come out the winner and we come out the loser. but it may be the opportunity for us to look at some opportunities for public power as they're in bankruptcy. the may be some municipalities that are inrested in purchasing their infrastructure, interest,sco shows an san jose. i heard other cities are interested as well. tet may determinant. >> that does get to the big challenge here which is that, you know, t procurement of the power is not the problem. right? pg&e has been up front or helping the stateet to its climate change goals. we know infrastruchure the llenge here, that is both the most expensive part of really their sort ofer ion, their capital operation there, but it's also the part that we've en fail repeatedly. and so whoever takes that over, whatever the company or a co-op or a public utility looks like they're still going to have theseceeferred mainten problems, these challenges with just the size of it. and so, i mean, what i think is really interesting is how thers

conion is changing. in some ways jerry hill's beens out by h kind of screaming into the wind in san bruno and the capital and there's been a t of deference to pg&e and i heink that has shifted and i think you've seen sort of way that lawmakers and this new governor areac appng this. gavin newsome is one to watch, it's different. >> how much power do lawmakers have in this? youn't really have a say in the bankruptcy proceeding. how do you ensure that you have a voic what emerges out of this, in whatever shape or form pg&e might be? >> we do have a say at the end. as the public utilities commission has to' approve any reorganization or structuring or rate structure that's put into place after this, we asi lators can, through statue, kind of direct the puc and take some of that authoritylv our and perhaps approve whatever the restructuring plan is at the end. i think that's where t legislature needs to exert itself. i'm planning to do that. >> you mentioned the jud

earlier, and judge allsop in a doubt earing expressed about pg&e when they id safety was their number one priority. he also suggested he doesn't think the utilities commission has been too lax in its oversight. do you have confidence that the cpuc will bable to provide adequate oversight of this restructuring as it happens in bankruptcy? f we're talking about wildfire safety and making sure that the trs don't come into contact with lines, which is what's causing the fires, we have to give the cpuc the resources that it nds to put inspectors on the ground to make sure that pg&e is doing what they need to do. but other thing is, i feel very strongly that we need new leadership at pg&e and that if judge allsop appoints a receiver he will have somebody thatill be accountable to him to make sure that his orders are carried

out. right now simply telling pg&e over and over againo comply with the law doesn't seem to bew king. they have a record and history of not colying, not trimming the trees. and recently, of falsifyin tens of thousands of pipeline inspection records. the call before you dig 811. there's no excuse for that. >> would y suppo having pg&e become a public company? >> i thinkhehat's one of options that we should look at. would i want to be careful about is that we don't end up in a situation where the densely polated areas get -- get covered and the expenses, rural areas, get left out and get stuck with very high costs. we want to make sure that we preserve a ystem, even if it's public, where we can spread the cost and the risk among a large

number of customers. and not just have a two-tier system, good, cheap service in the cities and poor, expensive service in the rural areas. >> what are some of the challenges, marissa? >> welk, i th first of all it's sort of -- it speaks to where we're at with the cpuc,e that need a federal receiver. we saw thatn the san bruno case too, the feds came in and did this investigation. i think his point about a more robust, well funded puc is a good one. i think that we did see a lot of ethical iitues come out their connections to pg&e through that san bruno case. some of them do seem to have been addressed. you know, i think that when talk to people who have worked at pg&e they feel like a lotemo the proas been in the leadership, not in the sort of rank and file. i think most people agree with that. but it is a really hard estion, and i mean the is cture of them, i think, something that is worth looking at because there is this

perverse incu tive when yre trying to answer to wall street on one hand andserveustomers on the other. the water department -- yeah. y >> it absolut. but it works and the other utilities have been able to do that and balance that pg&e for some reason after the bankruptcy in 2001 they changed their focus. their ceos are cfos, they come from the financial industry. they're looking to please wall street, >> senator hill, what are the broader issues here too? let's take pg&e out ofthis, t bankruptcy out of this, the broader concerns about where utility lines are located. doto we need put legislation in place to force them underground? does there need tbe additional legislation on home construction in fire prone areas? >> that certainly is an issue right now in sacramento iso whether areas should not have, in the middle of the forest you should be uilding, underground and the utilities sounds good, it's a great idea, there, k would be right it's a very expensive proposition to do that. and it may not be necessary.

you can harden the grid, harden it in a loof ways that does not include undergrounding the >> what are some of those ways? >> as san diego gas and electric did after major fires in 2007el they have soles now, they don't have wooden poles that wrel collapse or burn in a and fall over in the wind. they have hardened andte insu conductors through the system. they've protected their infrastructure. and made it strong enough so that it won't be falling. as we know in pg&e, at least from what's been reported, the transmission towers are 100 years old in some cases. you can't succeed when you have that type of infrastructure. >> ihave to agree w senator hill on this. ere are ways to cost effectively make the system much more safe. we need to do that, and we need to do it quickly. undergrounding in addition to being extremely expensive takes way too long to be able to deal

he fire risks that are upon us every single summer. so we need to do as w much as can now before the next fire season that is rsonable and that will make a difference. >> all right. well, thank you. on that note, mark tony with turn, marissa galagos and state senator jerry hill, thank you all. >> thank you very mu now to politics. president trump says the theme for his state of the union address on tuesday is unity. tting behind him at tha speech will be house speaker pelosi, whose maneuvering led the president to back down from funding the wall. assigning bay ar lawmakers to several key house communities, including homeland secity and government oversight. meanwhile in california a fight is brewing betweentate officials and cities over affordable housing. javier baaer a is suing huntington beach. joiniis me now toss all of

this are kqed senior editor of politics and government scott shaffer, lon he chen. welcome back, gentlemen. the president is giving this speech amid tensions over keeping the government open, b over theder wall, over the russia amid that backdrop how confident are you that he ll be able to liver a unifying message, which is what he's vowing to do? >> well, it wouldn't be consistent with what he's been like soen far as pres i would think there's two different path ways to take, one is o look issues where there is common ground with democrats, prescription drug pricing, infrastructure reform, are where the democrats would potentially work with the president or he can go into the tissue teat his base c about, like immigration. so far that's been his play, been bhere he'sen most comfortable and the frankly the politics of this dictate, i think, a speech that's less unifying, as he thinks about

202ioand his reele campaign he really needs to consolidate that base and the issues that will consolidate the base are not the same issues that democrats want to talk about in termsor ofng together with republicans. >> i don't think he's ever tried to unify his inaugural address was focusing on crime. >> very dark. >> very dark. and that seems to be his only play in his playbook. d 't think he's tried to reach very far beyond his base. i agree that he could. i'm also going to be looking at how he treats nancy pelosi, does he call her madam speaker, or is it nancy, he could be gracious and extend an oliveth branch. 's just not in his nature. he'll, you know, have a new play for the state of the union. we just haven't seen that. >> immigration is a very big issue in california, 's a key issue for him. and among those in the audience will be an undocumented immigrant who worked at one of his golf courses. she was invited by a democratic congresswoman. scott, how will that affect any

messageh the president delivers on immigration and border security and protecting jobs for americans? >> it reminds me o what steve bannon did during a debate with hilla women that had accused clinton of sexual assault to a debate. it's a dis traction, meant to burow him off his game a little bit. i think that the concern that democrats have, and some republicans frankly, is that t he's goi declare a national emergency in the speech and therefore try to go around congress to get the money from the pentagon or other places in the budget to build this wall. but, you know, i think thate th a way to talk about a wall of security that would include fencing and technology and beefing up the public border access points and the coast guard. y butu know, i think that things like inviting somebody worker an undocumented that got, i think, fired from his company is really ot going elp. >> it will be interesting to see the tone and approach the president takes to immigration because recall, this is happen tg while

congressional committee that was convened after the shutdown to discussmmigration policy is continuing its deliberation. the president can s the to for where that committee goes. he's already tweeted, by the way, that it almost doesn't matter. he thinks it's a waste of time what this committee does, which suggests that he'sea a got his mind made up. >> he told "the new york times" he's going to build that wall anyway. do you think he will national emergency? >> i think that's the most likely outcome at this point. i mean, it's unlikely- look, this committee that's been formed to discuss immigration io made up people who are relatively moderate overall on ammigration. you don't a lot of hardliners. even if they a come to agreement that 80% of americans would agree on, is that committee going to get agreement from the hardline democrats and conservative republicans and president trp, unlikely. we're not going to have another shutdown, but we're going to end eup with pres trump exercising unilateral authority, i think. >> california's congressional llgation. when he delivers this speech it

will be in front of a congresso where cala has the largest number of house members, 53 in all. nancy pelosi hasamed bay area congressmen to key areas.lo barbara le her race, but assignment fro nancy pelosi anyway. >> she wanted that position, and she lost to hakeem jeffries, an new yoromer from state. ba barbara lee is one of the most liberal members of the house, but she's also a conciliator, she brought together the bernie sanders supporters with hillary clinton supporters at the democratic convention in philadelphia in 2016. so i think in this role, t ons committee where they're trying to bridge the differences she's a good choice. >> do you think she'll use the position, though, to, you know, build more p progressiver in the house? >> on this committee, y mean? >> yes. >> i don't think so. nancy pelosi, i think, chose people who were not in it for

themselves, but were in it to try to come to some kind of an agreement that everybody,g include president, can live with. you know, democrats have been forin fe they've put lots of money toward border security. there is a way. the qilstion is the president take yes for an answer, i think. it will be ean, interesting to see and also the california delegation you've got thi interesting mix of people who are quite progressive, people particularly elected in the 2m8 cycle who come f that part of the party. but you've also got potentially more moderate elements, how those all mix together and that looks likeill be an interesting subplot as nancy pelosi continues her speakership. let's move ton to something really interesting happening on the housing iue in california. and that is attorney general javier bacerra suing hundredsinon beach, compelling it to construct more affordable housing. scott, explain to us the laws the attorney general thinks huntington is violating. >> ther was a law passed la year, i believe, that allows the

state to sue local governments thet aren't g their housing goals are activy ying to avoid meeting the housing goals. the governor and then attorney al got together and have been talking about this for quite some time, before gavin newsome got there, huntington is one of those places that's been blocking housing, a lot of-- do there. so newsom is making housing in general a priority. i he p$2 billion in his budget. it's a carrot and stick situation. he's firing a warning shot across the bow of huntington beach. down there theyec ed some democrats for the first time in a while to the legislature, and they're nervous that it's sort taking away local control is going to hurt them. they didn't get elected by biggi ma. >> are there other cities in the cross hairs, particularly in the bay area? >> well, i wonder about marin county where the governor lives, it's been notoppouslyed to building more housing. we've heard about brisbane as

well. >> what do you think about all this. n the conflict betw local control and what the state responsibility is, is going to play out in this area, as it has in many other issue areas. fundamentally the question on o's in the best position to do it? the localities will continue to argue we should have control and obviously the governor and the attorney general feel differently. >> all right, lon he chen, with the hoover institution, and yor podcast issing lining. and scott shaffer with kqed, thanks to you. >> thank you. oakland is having its allywood moment right now with threeclaimed films set in the city, including "black panther," first super hero to be nominated for best picture. it's brought global attention to oakland. the city's long been a hub fort and activism. it's now dealing with gentrification and a struggle for its identity. the threevi mu s touch on these themes in their own way.

the black cast wased ha as an important cultural moment. "sorry to bother lsu" t the story of miserable telemarketers trying to survive. and "blind spotting," a dark comedy about police violence act the interseion of class and race. >> bro. >> stop. stop. don't shoot. don't shoot. >> and joining me now is car vel wallace, a contributing writer for the "new york times" magazine. hso nice e you here. >> happy to be here. >> so i saw "blind spotting"nd it covers so many complicated things, race, class, police brutality, oakland's gentrification, what is it about the movie's treatment ofse t issues that went so well with

audiences? >> the film represented a more modern take on the intersection of race and class. i think that ever since, if you look at music, er since t invention of the ipod you've started to get a lot more mixing of ideas and culture, people metal up listening to and rap and that kind of thing. i think that the generation that's grown up with that aesthetic has found its voice. i think the blind spotting is part of that. oakla and berkeley has sort of been ahead of the curve tfor a lome on that. the rest of the country is now catching up on where those ideas becom>> political. 2018 was such an extraordinary year for oaklan right, besides blind spotting, there was "sorry to bother you," and black panther" part lyset-- does this say about the kinds of movies and film makers coming out of the city? >> i think it means the rest of the country is on some level

catching up with some of the things that have made oland unique. a lotof what what's made it unique is the mix of culture and race. >>nfhat's whatms the film makers. ne teacher that was a black panther, one teacher that'sthe ph.d. a cal, one cousin that was both, an aunt that was a hippie. kids are growing up working influenceh all these the intellectual, urbane, politics. you might have a family member affected by police brutality. >> yes, and the rest of america has caught up to the idea that th that's the newer definition of an american citizen. and i think the bay area has been ahead of the curve on that. >> does this signal a lasting shift in hollywood regarding what snds of and story tellers are supported or is it more of a blitz? >> i think itin re to be seen. i think that the good thing about the sternet is that i

allowed artists to validate their high pop sis publicly before gate keepersagree. you can make content, as a result of the content, go to a studio, and say there's a million likes and tweets and followers. wean guarantee this works. that has permanently changed the tace of hollywood. whether or not t continues to mean oakland gets representation, or rather that reutresentation spreads kind of remains to be seen. >> we have the commercial success of movies like "black panther," and razy rich asians" which used the internet for auditions b movies featuring non-white rare.s are what else needs to happen athe decision making level to make that more common place? >> there needs to be more diversity. big difference between building a platform online and getting,

youknow, $20 million funding for a movie. it's hard to do thon line. i think that what we're seeing is the rise of some decision makers, some people who own networks, who own big ough bank accounts that they can really make decisions about feature films, we're seeing more diversity in those ranks. that's the main thing that will make it happen. >> the movies we talked about, the three movies that came out the works were i well before the 2016 presidential election. sorry to bother you, blind spotting, aen year pronlt. how did the political environment affect the final product and howthe public perceived them? >> i think the current political climate m hase -- has affected the way those projects are received. i think whenever, you know, the part of what art does is i validates the humanity of the people about whom the art is made. that's why representation has always been important because more representation means more alidation of humanity. and so i think that after trump

and after the election there were a lot p ofple in this ountry who felt like it was now even moreimportant, more vitala toate the humanity of women or people of color, of queer, lgbtq, et cetera. that has been reflected in the way people have shown up for theseprojects because they know the power that those projects hold in the face ofwhat we're seeing politically. >> you've lived in oakland 20 years. how do these changes you're talking about right now, the current political climate, as well as the gentrification affecting the work of film makers and other art who live in oakland? ? >> in order for there to be artistic movement in a place, it has to be affordable t artists ha work at the beginning of their careers not making a lot of money. those three mill am makers had to essentially leave oakld to get their projects funded. the producers, where the money comes from, "black panther" is a marvel project which is not based oakland.

gentrification makes it harder for people to live here and stay here. we'rpp seeing theng of oakland as a brand, but simultaneously we're kind of seeingthe diminish of oakland as a place where artists can live and work and still afford to pay rent. >> and that's certainly the ongog struggl car vel wallace, contributing writer for the "new york times," thanks so much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. and that will do it for us. as always, you can find more coverage at kqed.org/newsroom. thank you for joining us. ♪ ♪

♪ robert: president trumppl dos disagreements over intelligence and declares no wall, no i'm robert costa. welcome to "washington week." president trump t ls his intelligence chiefs to go back to school. following their stark assessment of thats from north korea. >> north korea will seek to retain its wmd depainlts and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear production capabilities. isis is intent on resurging and still commands thousands of fighters in iraq and sia. robert: which -- and russian interference. >> not only hav the russians continued to do it in 2018 but receive wenal -- seen indication that they're continuing to ada