tonight on kqed newsroom we keep on testing because another variant of covid-19 is sweeping the state . we speak with doctor bob walker to talk about it. i urge all of you living in florida to join the fight. join us in california. why is governor newsom running ads in florida? plus, we lookat other california top stories. coming to you from kqed

headquarters this friday, july 8, 2022. hello and welcome to kqed newsroom. i am priya david clemens. we woke up this morning to the shocking news of the assassination of the former prime minister, prime minister kqed.org/newsroom abe. he led the country for about 10 years and over the course of josh and joining us not to discuss the prime minister is michael oslo and. michael, thank you, for joining us. >> thank you, for having me. >> what was your first thought when hearing about the assassination. >> like everyone, shock. gun crime and murder in general is very rare in japan. there has not been an

assassination of a leading politician since 1960 so this is not something that you really even think about so, terrible shock of the fact that this happened. and many who work on japan and asia issues, i did meet him a number of times in washington, d.c. as well as in tokyo. who was a very genuine person and with a sense of being interested in talking with people. he was interested in ideas and wanted to interact. it was a sense of personal shock and then finally, a great sense of shock over what this means. he was the most important, influential politician in japanese history in the last century. >> abe was a proponent of japan becoming more militarily inlved in world affairs.

that has significant implications for the united states. how do you see his assassination shaping that discussion in the months to come. >> he was an advocate for japan getting more involved across the board, globally. so when the united states pulled out of the transpacific partnership in 2017, when then president trump took office, he rescued the largest free trade pact and pushed it through with the remaining partners. he was central to creating what we call the quadrilateral security dialogue. which is the japan, united states, india, and australia. he came up with the idea of a free and open indo pacific. and that is what the white house uses to describe our policy. he was in favor of expanding the military but doing with allies and doing it to maintain regional norms and international law. it was controversial in some

ways but in other ways it was a reaction to the world in the neighborhood that japan lived in. and dozens of territorial disputes so, the fact was, he was supported by a majority of japanese and that is why he was the prime minister for eight years. >> california has strong ties to japan and asia more broadly. how are the japanese and japanese-americans respoing to his assassination? >> i think they are processing it like everyone else. he was the first japanese prime minister to come to silicon valley and meet with technology heads to talk about cooperation. japan has world-class technological capabilities. there was a pride among the japanese-american community that this was a world leader who was very friendly with leaders around the world. he had mastered the art of working with social media and

working with e entertainment side of politics. and always for a serious purpose and that was to make japan a more effective regional leader and world leader for the liberal causes and the values that we all care about. >> michael, thank you. it turning now to pandemic news, i have been out for the last few days because my family caught covid-19 and was sick for some time and thankfully without severe consequences. as it turned out we had plenty of company. covid-19 positivity rates have spiked and officials say many of the current infections are due to the new and contagious sub variants, ba.5. we have doctor bob walked her here to talk about this.

now, you have not have this, is that right? >> i have never been more proud of my immune system. >> we called this latest covid- 19 strain, ba.5, a different beast. what makes it that? >> i am medium worried. it is different in, since the original omicron we are now on our third or fourth sub variant and each one is about 20% more infectious than the one before. that is why we are on this long plateau that does not seem to come down but this one evades immunity from vaccines, boosters and prior infections. your family, if they got infected a month or so ago, you might feel like they got immunity superpowers and they don't have to worry for a while. we are seeing people getting

reinfected as soon as a month or two after being infected. >> so what is changing in the virus? >> just the structure of the spike protein. that is the part of the virus that invades ourselves and is also the target of vaccines and antibodies. if the configuration of the protein changes enough, then the antibodies that would have been really good at attacking úthe prior variant may not latc on nearly as well and block the virus from doing its thing. so it's not that the prior immunity antibodies count for nothing but they do not guarantee the kind of protection that we would have had with prior variance. if the virus is becoming 20% more contagious every time it morphs, what is the trajectory here? and what can we be doing in the future to defend against this box

>> we have all learned that predictions are not that helpful in covid-19 because the virus keeps on surprising us. but this is now the fourth sub variant of omicron and each one has been a bit better than the one before. it would be hazardous to say this is the last one. we may be in this for months and months where the normal surge goes up and then back down but, then a new variant comes along that is better out of infecting people than the one before it. the hope is that we come up with another vaccine that is better at preventing infection. it is important to distinguish between -- they working credibly well to protect you from getting sick and dying. so i highly recommend vaccination and boosting and if you are over 50, get that second booster because it does protect you from getting super sick. but the protection from just getting sick is nowhere near as

good as it was before. that is why there is still so much covid-19 around. >> so, the hope for the future is in a new vaccine. it is not mandatory masking or lockdowns. there is no other way to stop what is happening then to hopefully get a new vaccine that will hopefully work against a new variant? >> yes. the, there are three main arms. one is, i am still wearing a good mask when i go to a crowded indoor space. i am not eating at indoor restaurants. that is part why i have not gotten in fact did. so it is important to just continue to be careful. part of the answer might be antiviral and maybe we need to get better antivirals. the real answer is going to be

continuing to hone vaccines and boosters so they not only work against the original virus but also work more broadly against all of the variants . but are better at protecting you from getting covid-19 and that will ta more research and work and that will be a continued work in progress. >> your concerns about getting covid-19 are really the risks of long covid. since the risk of dying has dropped so significantly. >> yes. vaccinated and boosted. if you just had two vaccine shots and your last one was a year ago, you are minimally protected. so, i would go today and get your first booster and get your second if you are eligible. but, if you were vaccinated and boosted. i am 64 years old and pretty healthy. i have had two vaccines and two

boosters. i'm not super worried i will get sick and die from covid-19 but, my wife is 10 weeks out from covid-19 still takes a nap every day and doesn't feel quite right. long covid is a real thing. there is a higher risk of diabetes and heart attack. even though i don't worry about dying from covid i would still like to avoid getting it. >> the strains often start in other countries and then make their wa around the world. many countries are slowing restricting travel to slow the spread. are we just too tired of restrictions? what comes our way? >> i think that there is so much virus around and it is so ubiquitous that the kind of things that we did early on like lockdowns and mandates are probably not in the cards and probably not all that useful

now. if you see a massive surge and hospitals filled with patients again, we will have to go back to mandates but for right now everybody has the capacity to keep themselves safe. get vaccinated and get boosted. and then we have to keep our fingers crossed and hope at some point we see the last variant. >> let's talk about another virus that has crept onto the scene in the recent weeks. monkeypox. can you give us a snapshot? >> i think because of covid-19, people are a little frantic about that. it is a very different threat. mostly, so far, in the gay community. it does have a different motive transmission. but it can cause a significant

outbreak. there is a vaccine available for it that people who are risk should take but it's not like everybody with covid-19 should take it or you can catch it from being in thsame room with someone. you need to have much closer contact than that. >> doctor bob wochter, thank you , for your time. on top of dealing with covid-19, for many of us in the past several weeks have been exceptionally difficult. watching the overturn of roe versus wade and understanding its impact on access to reproductive health care. hearing testimony from the january 6 commission abt former president trump and his actions. before and during the insurrection. and, taking in mounting news of an impending economic recession. it has been hard to process all of the news. we have a full panel of reporters are to unpack all of the news.

jeremy owens and the senior political writer for the san francisco monitor. thank you, for being with us. where do we begin? let's start this week. the prop one campaign officially kicked off. this is to enshrine constitutional rights and access to reproductive services. let's take a look at with this is. so, a yes vote would support amending the constitution regarding reproductive freedom. that includes abortion and contraceptives. so, you went to a protest against the overturn of roe v. wade and you spoke with people on the ground. what is the sentiment and the feeling that you were hearing out there?

>> i was out there on friday, the day that the decision dropped and the mood was incredibly somber. i took the bus to one of the protests and the woman sitting next to me was telling me that she actually got an abortion the year after roe versus wade was decided. she was talking to me about how grateful she was that she had that option and how to terrified she was for what the future looks like. i spoke with so many people that were angry and worried about what was to come. but there is also a sense that we live in california where our elected officials have said that they want to enshrine this right. so, we will definitely see, i think, a lot of movement towards the end of november. >> why it so important to have this right in the constitution? our leadership has certainly said over and over again they support that. joe, why this particular

constitutional amendment? >> because as a backstop to the national law from the supreme court. 76% of likely voters in california support roe. the concern is that republicans and the white house in 2024. one of the first priorities will be a national abortion ban. that would supersede the california laws. just because there is a constitutional amendment does not mean game over. >> you took a look at the filibuster. >> yes. she has been very fuzzy about her position and whether she would overturn the filibuster to protect abortion rights. we challenged her on it and hours after the story ran she

said she will bypass the filibuster to protect abortion rights. so democrats still do not have enough votes to protect the law right now. >> so, let's turn to gun violence. we are in this place where we are really from the shock of the assassination of the former prime minister of japan, shinzo abe. that appears to have been a handmade gun in japan has very strict gun laws. we are dealing with it here in america is a much more widespread problem. we have the highland park shooting in or just outside of chicago. jeremy, you, yourself, had sort of an near experience. >> it is just a specter. alameda had its first fourth of july parade since 2018. i found out about the highlands park shooting and told a friend

of mine that i was with and he had friends in chicago. i had a wonderful night and me home the next day and found out that people were shooting guns in the air and people inside and outside the coliseum were being hit by bullet fragments. it is really hard to enjoy those things with the potential specter of violence. >> there have been new gun laws in san jose and they have been creative about how they put these into place. tell us about these. they are in effect right now but not with enforcement. >> it is a very complicated situation. earlier this year, san jose said that it wanted to do something pretty revolutionary when it comes to local politicians trying to take on gun violence. the city council said they wanted to pass an ordinance that would require gun owners

to get insurance and pay an annual fee that would go to towards offsetting the cost of gun violence. and as expected, it was really inflammatory and people got upset about it. this wk, the city council is trying to enforce it of the can't because there are so many lawsuits because, as we know, it is really difficult to pass gun control legislation. >> so, governor newsom has been stepping up and speaking to the public through twitter and other means on many of these topics. one of the very unusual steps that he took was to run an ad in florida over the fourth of july weekend. let's watch that and then come back and chat about it. it is independence day so let's talk about what is going on in america. freedom is under attack in your state. republican leaders are making it harder to vote. restricting speech and criminalizing women and doctors.

i urge all of you in florida to join the fight or join us in california where we believe in freedom to choose, freedom from hate and the freedom to love. to let them take her freedom. >> so, that has come out. jeremy, you took a look at some polling. when you look at this, you think, he is running for president. this is the governor angling for the presidency. >> a poll this week said he would perform well against trump and santis. he pulled even better than kamala harris. this is really just trying to reclaim that. we have seen this from the opposite side of red states using their lesser regulations and lower taxes to try to lure businesses. and the blue states are reversing that insane, you are putting a lot of restrictions on your p well and maybe they

prefer to come here. i think that is a fun tactic from governor newsom. even if he does not run for president. >> so, let's go to joe. where is your money? >> here is what i think newsom is doing. he is warming up in the bullpen for 2024. if joe biden does not run, and he likely will but if he does not, gavin newsom will be one of the people running. but, what about kamala harris? i talked with three major democratic donors and they say that governor newsom definitely be able to run the money to raise the ney to run a credible campaign. if he doesn't he comes back to his job as the governor of the state of california. if you miss the column by joe, you need to check that

out. we need to keep moving here. let's talk about the stimulus money that is coming out that is going to be coming in the next few months. will you just walk us through the details of the stimulus package? >> it 23 million californians will receive up to $1050. this is a $17 billion inflation relief package. $9.5 billion of that goes towards the stimulus payments. >> and that is part of the overall incredible amount of funding that we have in overage. what is the term? >> budget surplus. >> and we have $92 billion in surplus this year. jeremy, with this money going back, will that help with the inflationary concerns? >> the stimulus payments that the feds gave us are thought to have been a huge factor in the

inflation that we are dealing with right now. and this is giving out more money that could exacerbate inflation. this is the problem we are dealing with in the community at large. trying to combat inflation while not causing a recession. we are seeing the fed do this as well. fight inflation while realizing that doing it may cause a recession. and it is possible we are in recession right now. >> but there was a jobs report that seems to ease those concerns. >> the top line number was really good but there were a lot of other signs moving forward that fit with like, what we have heard. a lot of countries are saying, úwe are trying to hire right no realizing we are going to be cut off. there are hiring freezes being put into place across silicon valley and a lot of this hiring

that happened in june, may, and even now is trying to close out positions before the money disappears. >> i do want to touch on the new san francisco district attorney that was sworn in today. what can you tell us about brooke jenkins. >> voters are going to be voting on her in november. she is in a really complicated position. she was in the office of the dea and she quit her job because she had philosophical differences with jason aldean. she has to walk this line and it is a very complicated one. >> and she might be running against jessica. >> and she only has five months to do something and show that she is making progress. >> former prosecutor, your thoughts? do you think she will be able to make a difference? >> is she has to clean up a lot.

the challenges, she is a progressive prosecutor but there is a demand to crack down on low-level crime like that. so, that is going to be tough. and now, mayor breed owns the crime problem in san francisco. she can't hide from that anymore. jeremy, dt, joe, thank you, for being here. we will see you again soon. >> thank you, so much, priya. for tonight something beautiful, we take you to a public garden that opened in 1937. the berkeley rose garden provides unique views of the city and the bay and features more than 100 varieties of this floral delight.

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i can almost smell the roses from here. that is the end of our show for tonight. you can find it kqed newsroom online and on twitter . you can also email us. you can reach me on social media at priya david clemens. have a great weekend everyone.

nick: good evening. i'm nick schifrin. geoff bennett is away. tonight on “pbs news weekend,” delicate diplomacy. president biden balances human rights and middle east reality in his first trip to the region. then, disinformation proliferation. how finding accurate facts about abortion has become more difficult in post-roe america. and, our weekend spotlight. geoff bennett talks to afghan war veteran jason kander about coping with post traumatic stress. jason: the clinical social worker at the va said, okay, let me get this straight. you were in the most dangerous place on the planet. you were gone for hours at a time, often just you and a translator, so you had no backup. and you were meeting with people who may want to kill you. d