political analyst larry gerston joins us live. gasoline prices in california have been climbing in recent weeks but remain much >>> time is 7:46. gasoline prices in california have been climbing in recent weeks but remain lower than two years ago. yay has the highest gasoline prices in the nation and some of the worst roads. how do we account for the vexing combination? larry gerston is here. begin with the high cost of gas. talk about the factors behind this. >> what a combination, right? highest prices and the worse roads. something is wrong here. the answers are both economic and political. look, on the economic side, california has only 12 refineries. that's down from 30 refineries just 30 years ago. because of environmental regulations here made it hard for companies to operate. there's the beginning. >> okay. we can obviously ship in refined gas from other states. are we not doing enough to keep up the demand? >> not so easy. we can't use gasoline from other states. first, of our extensive pollution reducing refinery. when a

larry gerston joins us live to discuss why teachers remain a power player in state politics.hank you so much. did you say honey? hey, try some? mmm that is tasty. is it real? of course... are you? nope animated you know i'm always looking for real honey for honey nut cheerios well you've come to the right place. great, mind if i have another taste? not at all mmm you're all right bud? never better i don't know if he likes that. yeah part of the complete breakfast >>> you're watching "today in the bay." >> two recent court decisions on california-based cases have fueled the already contentious public education environment. one case preserves unions as bargaining agents for all teachers. the second preserves teacher tenure. but these decisions impact more than education. nbc bay area political analyst larry gerston joins us. let's take these cases one at a time. start with the bargaining agent challenge. >> the plaintiffs, the ones bringing the case forward, that's what we call them, they argue that nonunion teachers should not be required to pay a service fee. and that's curre

nbc bay area larry gerston believes trump can clinch it june 27ing. >> it's possible he can walk away after california with enough delegates. it's also possible with so 'states still out that he may not have enough and in that case, it would be an open or what some people call a contested convention. >> larry gerston thinks clinton will wrap up the democratic nomination. santa clara registrars office is expected record turnout this year. it has purchased four mail-in ballot counting machines. >>> counteding the hours. it was a few hours ago, san jose city council members voted to do something the city hasn't done in almost 40 years. set limits on rosieing rents. >> they were late up into the night signing it. the decision came down in a packed meeting as well. it didn't end still until about 2:00 this morning? >> reporter: it didn't end until about 2:00 this morning, lawyer. >> reporter: before that one city council member was quoted as saying we do not make our best decision at 1:30 in the morning, yet here we are. it was crowded with hundreds of renters, landlords, in the end, no on

nbc bay area political analyst larry gerston thinks he can win. >> it's possible he can walk away with california with enough delegates, it's also possible with so many states out, he wouldn't have enough. in that case it would be an open or what some people call a contested convention. >> 1237 is the magic number of delegates for the republican party. gerston thinks clinton will wrap up the nomination before the golden state votes t. registrars office is expecting record turnout this year. it's purchased four new mail-in ballot machines to determine that. >>> another major aftershock rattles ecuador. the 6.1 struck offshore, 4:00 a.m. local time. there are reports of minor injuries. no major damage has been reported so far. look at that they have enough damage there, they're trying to clean up from the after math of saturday's 8.2 magnitude quake t. death toll has risen to 525 people. president obama assures the u.s. will provide help to thousands of victims located if that quake zone. >>> back at home, pacifica house is on the move. yesterday, work crews began lifting the home from i

larry gerston is here, and larry, show us the money here. >> you know, for once it does. historically, we're not used to this kind of thing. the candidates raise money here and spend it elsewhere. that's how it goes and in 2012 for example, democrat barack obama raised $63 million in california, republican mitt romney raised $41 million and guess what? virtually all of it went away to other states. why? because everyone knew obama would carry california. no reason to spend it here. >> different this time around. what about the spend thing time around? >> amazing. so far republican candidates have taken very little from california, again, because the state just hasn't been in play. so here is what has been erased so far. $3 million for example for ted cruz. $750,000 for kasich. $210,000 for trump. you know, these are small amounts of money and the fact of the matter is, you know, it doesn't include the other think and that is funds that have been raised by super pacs because they are not broken down state by state. not talking about a lot. >> we talk this money big or smal

. >> reporter: nbc bay area political analyst larry gerston say it's not just candidates but hot button issues of the time. in the '60s it was civil rights and the vietnam war. >> the real issue that people want to address are two, race and globalization. >> reporter: this election could mirror 1968 when richard nixon won the white house. >> looking ahead, one might think about whether the republicans will be so divided hopelessly divided as democrats were in 1968 and have the same kind of outcome. >> our coverage continues on our website where you can find more video from today's protests. just go to nbcbayarea.com. >>> amidst the republican hoopla, hillary clinton is planning her next trip to the campaign area. campaign organizers announced a short time ago that mrs. clinton will host a public event next week on may 5th and 6th. bernie sanders is still campaigning at a rally in indiana today. he blasted corporate america. the senator spoke to a large crowd protesting a manufacturer's decision to relocate 1,400 jobs to mexico. >>> it is the first death in the u.s. attributed to the zik

larry gerston joins us this morning. it's been a long time since we've seen an opening in the u.s. senate seat for california. >> not since 1992. not since 1992! at that time diane feinstein was elected to fill the last two seats -- last two years that turn into a seat vacated by pete wilson. remember him? the seat was held briefly by john seamore, and barbara boxer was elected to an open seat six-year term vacated by alan cranston. these are ancient names in california politics. most people won't remember them. the retirement creates the first u.s. senate vacancy in a quarter century. >> think about what you were doing in 1992. it was a long time ago. >> a long time ago. >> okay. what do we know about the candidates now and how competitive do you expect this race to be? there seem to be a lot of people in the ring. >> everybody but you and me. okay. on the surface it looks like incredibly competitive. in fact, there are 31 candidates. 31 candidates for the offices. okay. there are 10 democrats, eight republicans, six third-party candidates, eight candidates with no political party