nbc bay area political analyst larry gerson rejoins us.ere some of the early moves that governor newsom made to get into this place. >> biggies really. three major policies for sure come to mind. one moving water north to south. decades, really decades. former governor brown touted shifting melted snows to southern california and the valley. the peripheral canal, if you remember that way back, and more recently through tunnels. in either case the water would have circumvented. it would bring relief to environmentalists. another area, another major shift that came with the high-speed rail program connecting southern and northern california. once priced at $39 billion, the price has soared to over $80 billion for a shorter system. newsom will limit the route. he hasn't ruled out completing the project but will do so only if there are funds. he dealt with capital punishment saying it is prohibitively costly and erroneous. he declared a moratorium on executions as long as he is governor. voters have twice rejected ending capital punishment. bu

. >>> still ahead on "today in the bay", larry gerson talks about the rise in bay area housing costs and the reason it has become so expensive to live here. >>> but first the warriors now have an opponent for the nba finals. we'll show you next. ♪ i've slain your dreaded dragon. for saving the kingdom what doth thou desire? my lord? hey good knight. where are you going? ♪ ♪ climbing up on solsbury hill ♪ grab your things, salutations. coffee that is a cup above is always worth the quest. nespresso. tis all i desire. did thou bring enough for the whole kingdom? george: nespresso, what else? will face in the nba finals. it )s the >>> the stage is set. we know who the warriors will face in the nba finals, the toronto raptors. they will host game 1 on thursday marking the first time the nba finals will be played outside the united states. we will have live coverage from toronto starting on wednesday. you can also go to nbcbayarea.com for complete warriors coverage. for the rest of the sports news, here's nbc sports bay area. >>> i'm annika karagakis at the infinity sportsdesk. they have

nbc bay area political analyst larry gerson is back with us. i had to pause on that date. of a sudden i was thinking, what month are we in? the weather is confusing me. >> decision making, all of that in government, never goes as fast as you want it. >> yeah. we have a while to respond. how much of a speed bump do you think this is in the development for california's high-speed rail? >> this is no fun. there is no question about it. no fun. you are talking about a loss of a billion dollars. that is problematic. it really is. now, it would hurt even more, kira, if the federal government is able to claw back, claw back its contributions of $2.5 billion during the obama administration. >> and what led -- i mean, i know that we're saying this claim by the trump administration. but what do you think led to this reversal? >> it's hard. there's no easy answer to that question. but we do know this. president trump has long opposed federal funding for california's high-speed rail system. last july, that's how far back we go. the official agency in the department of transportation s