nbc bay area political analyst larry gerston joins us now. taxes.at's people who are for or against it, you can't argue more money for the state. >> more money for the state. that's the good news, right, that we didn't really think about. once proposition 64 becomes legal this coming january, consumers of marijuana will pay a 15% ex tax on any purchase in this state. in addition local governments may attach another 15%. most estimates find local taxes will vary between about 8% and 12%. that's tacked on now. like liquor, tobacco this is a user tax. some call it a sin tax. it's not a judgment on my part. the fact is all those people purchasing are the only ones paying for the tax. simply put a surcharge. a surcharge for weed but it will be legal at least to have and use. >> right, so people who are not drinking wine don't pay taxes on wine. we all know there's no secret there's this it robust underground economy happening where people illegally grow marijuana and then illegally sell it. so making this legal, what's to stop that from continuing? >> lo

larry gerston joins us next. >>> i'm scott budman at at&t park. coming up, we take you behind the scenes at a new way to broadcast baseball games. in virtual reality. ♪ ♪ isaac hou has mastered gravity defying moves to amaze his audience. great show. here you go. now he's added a new routine. making depositing a check seem so effortless. easy to use chase technology, for whatever you're trying to master. isaac, are you ready? yeah. chase. so you can. to scare a crowd of protesters in san francisco. we just showed it to you a few minutes ago. complete coverage... continues online. ==reveal== and on twitter check out our aerial video of san pedro )s "sunken city." it sits in the coastline cliffs >>> on twitter check out the arial video of san pedro sunken city, the remains of an old bungalow set up in 1920. >>> republican leaders appear to be moving ahead with what many call a vote on a health care reform bill. a protest outside over the health care bill being secretly crafted inside. at this point we don't know exactly what is in the bill but leade

political analyst larry gerston joins us next to discuss the controversial move, next.he bathroom. when things go wrong here, you remember. quilted northern is designed to work so well you can forget your bathroom trips. but sir froggy can never forget. "i used to be a prince. but no princess would kiss me now." would pull ou t >>> welcome back. last thursday, president donald trump announced that the united states would pull out of the paris climate accord. an agreement by 195 nations to voluntarily reduce carbon emissions. he took a quarter of a century in the making and an attempt to limit the global temperature rise to less than three degrees fahrenheit over the next few decades. nbc bay area political analyst larry gerston joins us to help explain, why did the president do this, and a lot of people are wondering if it's because he denies climate change. >> this is lot trickier than people believe. many see trump's move as that slap in the face to climate change proponents, but he's been inconsistent on that topic for years. his decision here really has a deeper mea

bring in the political analyst larry gerston, larry 190 nations are in. we are out. it was pretty career president trump appealing to his base campaign promise. is his base happy about the decision. >> appeal to the base is exactly it. that's exactly what this is about. we talked about competitiveness we talked about the ask the conservative jobs we've heard about the loss of the business with other places around the world. no, no, no he needed to appeal to the base. here is why before he was elected the president promised to get out of nafta. he promised to diminish the roll of nato. he promisinged to call china a currency manipulator none of those has taken place. so he had to win one for the base. because already things are getting a little shaky. yes appeal to the base is what this is about. >> but he is betting oochlt criticism governor brown he with heard from tech leaders in silicon valley criticizing his decision do you think the backlash grows. >> weaver got 300 major leaders andrew the country, manufacturing, automobiles, oil, all of the things you might th

political analyst larry gerston next with why president trump prefers to use twitter oifr news conferences a senate intelligence committee. the president's message for james comey. right now at 6-30: former f-b-i director james comey is on deck this week. we )re waiting to hear what he says on the stand >>> right now at 6:30. former fbi director james comey on deck for this week. we're waiting to hear what he says on the stand about about how much he knew about the russian hacking investigation. now comey's testimony comes as classified information about russian hacking has been leak leaked to the zbloomd the alleged source of the leeks now behind bars. nabz blaine alexander has more from washington. >> reporter: and janelle her attorney is casting her as a 25-year-old part time yoga instructorer being used as a political scapegoat but officials say she broke the cardinal rule of the intel community. the trump administration's fight against intelligence leaks now has a face. reality leo winner an nsa contractor arrested for leaking to the press top secret documents about russian election h

political analyst larry gerston says this could be monumental which is why it caught the attention of people not usually into politics. >> this situation is not an instant turn on and turn off like your television set. this is more what we would call a drip, drip, drip. unfortunately, all the drops right now are going the wrong way against the president. >> they're going to want to watch what's going on and we'll have it on for them. as long as everybody is behaving themselves and having a good time, we'll keep the sound on. >> across the country, interest in comey's testimony has touched off drinking games in some bars. well know of one bar if washington, d.c. that promises to buy a round of drinks every time president trump tweets about the hearings. online, a comey hearing bingo game has been created based on anticipated key phrases. reporting live from san jose, bob redell, today in the bad ni >> thank you very much, bob. >>> you can watch comey's testimony without interruptions on nbc bay area. our live coverage begins at 7:00 a.m. on the "today" show. savannah guthrie will be in