California Governor’s Debate - Full Broadcast

[0:00] it's debate night in california the race for governor turned upside down as the front runner [0:06] withdrew in a scandal now for the first time the new leading candidates square off and who will [0:11] separate themselves from the pack a republican steve hilton everyone can see things have gone [0:17] off track life is impossible chad bianca i see the dysfunction in sacramento and somebody has [0:23] to do something about it or a democrat tom steyer i want to make sure we're on the side of working [0:29] people katie porter people know that we're going to need someone who's going to be strong who's going [0:33] to be tough who's going to be a fighter javier becerra listen i've been confident i can get [0:38] those glitters since the day i jumped in about a year ago matt mayhan this race is wide open more [0:43] more than ever we are live statewide from san diego to chico and everywhere in between and broadcasting [0:50] across the country on news nation debate night in california this is inside california politics [0:58] governor's debate good evening i'm your host leland vittert it is the debate everyone is talking [1:05] about after a plot twist which shook the california governor's race to the core eric swalwell's departure [1:11] led next our media group to take the unprecedented step of repolling and restaging the debate in just [1:18] a few days two new candidates have been invited onto the stage after that repolling there's a lot to [1:24] get to here's the debate moderators frank buckley of ktla and nikki lorenzo of inside california [1:31] politics thank you leland and good evening welcome we are live from san francisco this is debate night [1:39] in california we would like to welcome you at home and welcome the candidates to the stage right now we [1:44] begin with the rules each candidate will get 60 seconds to answer a question if there's a follow-up [1:50] or rebuttal necessary the candidate will get 30 seconds and 15 seconds for clarifications if needed [1:57] we will be reminding the candidates of those times throughout the night the sound of a bell will ring [2:02] when their time is up the candidates will answer the questions with the first order determined at [2:07] random and their position on stage was determined by polling our first topic tonight is the cost of [2:13] living in california and that includes the high cost of gas we pay one of the highest gas taxes in the [2:20] country about 61 cents per gallon that money goes to pay for road repairs and public transportation [2:27] mr sire the first question of the night goes to you should we cut the gas tax you have 60 seconds [2:34] let me say that the reason that gasoline is so expensive that our president donald trump has started [2:39] an insane war in iran and driven up the cost of gasoline for everybody in california that has put [2:47] 70 billion dollars into the pockets of the oil companies who actually put him in the presidency [2:54] californians are suffering across the board the biggest problem in california is that the californians [2:59] can't afford to live here anymore the answer on this is not a to give up the gas tax but actually to [3:06] have a windfall profit tax on the oil companies who have been ripping us off for decades let's that's on [3:14] the books we can activate it right away we can get the money and we should send it directly back to [3:20] california citizens the problem we have here is a president who's out of control who's driving up [3:26] costs across the board and we actually need to take on the special interest oil companies who are taking [3:31] advantage of california's and making 70 billion dollars more because of this mr steyer thank you [3:37] miss porter what is your position on the gas tax you have 60 seconds affordability is not a buzzword [3:44] for me it's been my life's work sitting across from families who have been pushed into bankruptcy [3:50] by bills they couldn't pay helping families avoid foreclosure or eviction when they were cheated by [3:55] subprime lenders it is too expensive to live in california and i get that i'm a single mom of three [4:01] i push a shopping cart and i fill up my minivan which has nearly 180 000 miles on it i absolutely [4:08] feel these pressures and i think we need to do something about it but i also want to be clear 82 [4:13] percent of californians don't breathe clean air today and when we look at what that's costing our [4:20] health care system what that's costing people we have to continue to make investments in having the [4:25] cleanest fuel that we possibly can so i absolutely think we ought to be thinking about how to [4:31] move away from fossil fuels and that means moving away from a gas tax and replacing that with the [4:36] general fund taxes miss porter thank you mr mahan you support temporarily suspending the gas tax [4:44] some including the candidates on the stage tonight have called that proposal unserious what's your [4:50] response you have 60 seconds well nikki frank it's great to be here with you this evening i'm the only [4:54] candidate on this stage who has called for suspending the gas tax and reforming it so it no longer is the [5:00] the most regressive tax in california that's putting an undue burden on working families like the [5:06] one i grew up in look i'm in this race because we deserve better answers we deserve better answers than [5:12] we've been getting from the other candidates on this stage we don't need a billionaire who made his [5:19] money in private prisons and oil and gas that he's now supposedly against or trump's hand-picked candidate [5:25] or a dc insider who the sacramento establishment is now rallying around let me tell you who i am [5:31] i grew up in watsonville working class family my mom was a teacher my dad was a union mailman [5:37] i know what it means when gas prices go up a dollar or two unnecessarily i'll reform the gas tax so it's [5:44] no longer the poorest hardest working people in our state who are paying an unfair share to maintain [5:50] our infrastructure mr mahan thank you frank mr becerra you have said you don't support suspending [5:57] the gas tax why you have 60 seconds frank we need to make sure our roads our highways the potholes [6:04] we take care of business because every day people get in their cars they take transit they need to get [6:09] to work they need to come home the last thing they need to see is a infrastructure for roads and [6:14] transportation that doesn't work i remember when my parents would tell me the stories when they came [6:18] with 12 in their pocket they had to make a life here they needed to make sure california could work [6:23] for them let's make sure donald trump is not starting reckless wars to keep the prices of gasoline down [6:29] by up to two dollars a gallon we could reduce the price if that war in iraq that donald trump started [6:33] would go away my parents looked at things like this and said hey help me make a living here in [6:39] california that's why they were able to at the end of the day send my three sisters and i to college [6:44] buy a house make it so that they could retire here in california we need to bring down those [6:48] prices but we have to do it the right way i'll make sure as governor i tackle these crisis because [6:53] i've been through these crisis before and had to handle them we need someone with experience someone [6:58] who doesn't need on-the-job training the moment they get into the governor's office mr becerra thank [7:02] you mr bianco you have said you want the total elimination of the gas tax how would we fund roads [7:08] and bridges you have 60 seconds so funding roads and bridges is a fundamental responsibility of [7:14] government we need to get rid of the rest of all the waste fraud and the abuse of the rest of [7:19] government which all of the democrat policies over the last 20 years 30 years have created [7:24] we only have the highest gas price in the country because of democrat policies that are absolutely [7:30] destroying the oil industry the automobile industry and forcing those prices up forcing our refineries out [7:36] of the state forcing our oil companies from drilling in our state when you when you send oil make it into [7:43] gasoline and send it to across state lines and it miraculously becomes two dollars cheaper you know [7:48] that your state is the problem it is democrat policies for the last 20 30 years that are driving [7:55] the cost of not only gasoline but the cost of living in california up we have the highest cost of living [8:00] in the country because we have had one party democrat progressive rule for decades that is destroying [8:05] the state mr bianco let me ask clarification one more time how would we fund roads and bridges if you [8:11] eliminate the gas tax you have 15 seconds we eliminate all the waste the fraud and the abuse [8:16] that's going on where our money is being spent now the number one responsibility of government [8:20] is public safety number two is infrastructure and if you look at where california spends its money [8:26] infrastructure is way down the line don't say that the gas tax is funding our roads because we have [8:31] the worst roads in the entire country mr bianco thank you mr hilton you support permanently cutting [8:37] the gas tax in half and eliminating carbon climate policies with the super majority of democrats in [8:43] the legislature how would you as a republican governor make any of these changes into law you have 60 [8:50] seconds we have to make these changes because californians are being crushed by the gas prices by [8:57] the gas tax we have the highest gas tax in the country for the worst roads in the country and across [9:03] the board we have the highest taxes for the worst results and you know who's really suffering it's [9:09] working californians it's small businesses most of my career has been in business i know what it's like [9:15] to try and run a business the costs that are being imposed on our businesses and our workers in california [9:23] is just too much and one way or another all the democrats here are part of this system that obviously [9:30] isn't working we need common sense solutions we need practical solutions why are we importing oil [9:38] from 7 500 miles away in iraq rather than using the oil we have here in california that's the kind [9:47] of common sense change that as governor i will be there to persuade the legislature to do because they [9:54] in the end want to help californians too and just to clarify the question again how would you as [9:59] a republican governor make any of these changes into law with a super majority of democrats 15 seconds [10:05] the first point is that to open up california oil production doesn't need the legislature because [10:11] it's through executive action the way that they've been closing it down is through an agency of the [10:16] executive branch called cal gem the california department of geologic and energy management i would [10:21] replace the people in there and give them a clear instruction to issue permits to our oil industry to [10:28] produce oil here in california so we can cut gas prices for california families and businesses thank [10:34] you very much nikki this next question is a follow-up question it is for all of you should electric [10:39] vehicle drivers pay a mileage-based road tax to fund infrastructure mr steyer we'll start with you [10:45] you have 30 seconds so let me say this i think it is critical that california get off fossil fuels [10:54] electric vehicles starting cost is too high and i would triple the credit so that people can afford [11:00] to buy electric vehicles and no longer be subject to the fossil fuel costs and the fossil fuel control [11:08] should they be paying the equivalent of a gas tax yes but the truth is electric vehicles are cheaper [11:15] that is our future and we need to move to it as fast as possible mr sire thank you miss porter same [11:20] question to you you have 30 seconds i think all taxes should be progressive the very wealthy the [11:27] billionaires should pay more the problem with a gas tax or a vehicle's mild travel tax is that it does [11:34] the opposite it punishes lowest the lowest income californians those who have the longest commutes to [11:40] work and can least afford fancy vehicles so i think it's important that we fund this as i've said [11:45] out of the general fund we do need to move toward electric vehicles over time but the reason they're [11:51] not getting purchased isn't range anxiety it's pocketbook issues miss porter thank you mr mahan same [11:58] question to you you have 30 seconds i would reform the way we're funding infrastructure by issuing a flat [12:06] fee on all vehicles whether they're evs or gas powered right now gas powered families disproportionately [12:12] lower income families people living in rural communities are paying three times more to maintain [12:18] our roads the way to achieve our climate goals is to invest in innovation infrastructure smart [12:24] targeted subsidies not to punish working people who can't afford an ev mr mahan thank you mr [12:30] becerra same question to you and i'll repeat it should electric vehicle drivers pay a mileage [12:34] based road tax to fund infrastructure you have 30 seconds well let's think about our commuters and [12:40] what they would want to see i know that they want to see roads bridges highways that work for them [12:47] that let them get to work that let them pick up their kids they don't want to have potholes that ruin their [12:51] vehicle tires and wheels they want to have roads bridges highways at work so i would say let's take [12:56] a look at all of the above whatever works i'm not going to let our transportation infrastructure crumble [13:02] we have to make sure it's working for all of us and so let's consider anything that works that the [13:06] public can get behind that's how i would do it specifically though just to clarify here would [13:11] you support a tax for electric vehicles 15 seconds if we see that that's one option that people support [13:18] i would make sure that we are funding our infrastructure we can't let that go because [13:23] what we have is when we let the our roads and our bridges crumble people suffer commuters suffer and [13:29] we pay a higher price so we will fund our transportation infrastructure mr becerra thank you mr bianco [13:34] same question you have 30 seconds let me make this very very clear california doesn't have a money [13:41] problem we have a money spending problem by decades of democrat failures every answer you've had so far [13:48] for the california public they're raising your taxes they're taking more and more of your money because [13:52] they refuse to stop their spending no i will not support a tax on mileage no i will not support a gas tax [14:01] it is a government's responsibility to have priorities and infrastructure is an absolute [14:06] priority we are getting rid of all the waste and we are doing what government is supposed to do mr bianco [14:11] thank you mr hilton same question to you you have 30 seconds no we cannot keep going in this direction [14:18] with democrats constantly going for their insatiable appetite for more and more taxes for their bottomless [14:26] money pit and now the mileage tax they want to track you everywhere you drive no i would veto that [14:32] we need to cut spending and cut taxes so that we can give relief to families and businesses my plan is [14:39] for three dollar gas and your first hundred grand tax free that's what we need to do to make our state [14:46] cal affordable mr hilton thank you frank our next question tonight is about an issue we all see every day [14:52] in california homelessness there are 187 000 people experiencing homelessness in the state right now [15:00] in a recent inside california politics poll 86 of those surveyed believe the homeless problem has stayed [15:07] the same or is getting worse we want to ask a question about governor newsom's performance on [15:12] homelessness what letter grade would you give him on handling the issue and what if anything would you [15:19] do differently miss porter we're going to begin with you you recently gave the governor a solid a minus [15:25] when it comes to his overall job performance what grade would you give him on homelessness and what if [15:31] anything would you do differently you have 60 seconds i'm a notoriously tough grader but i would [15:36] probably give him a b on homelessness i don't think this has been an easy problem to solve but i do give [15:42] him a lot of credit for calling attention to the problem when he campaigned eight years ago he was [15:47] talking about housing when nobody else was our homelessness problem is a direct correlate of our [15:53] housing problems we're not going to solve homelessness without bringing down the cost of [15:57] housing that's why housing has been my number one issue since the day i launched this race over a year [16:02] ago what i would do differently than governor newsom is fund homelessness prevention it is so much more [16:08] cost effective and so much more humane to prevent families from becoming homeless in the first place [16:15] and making sure that if they do lose their home that they're able to land in an interim housing or [16:20] shelter situation we can't solve this problem because the problem keeps getting worse for every [16:25] person we put into permanent supportive housing somebody else loses their home and takes their place [16:29] that's why californians don't feel like we're making progress despite spending significant money [16:34] miss porter thank you very much mr mahan you've given governor newsom grades ranging from a to d depending on the [16:41] issue what grade would you give him on homelessness and what if anything would you do differently you [16:46] have 60 seconds well frank look the assessment does depend on the issue and i'm going to leave the letter [16:51] grades to you and all the pundits out there let me tell you what we've done in san jose because we've [16:56] created a model for the rest of the state we've increased trust in local government by 40 percent [17:02] primarily because we have moved thousands of people indoors i had to take on the establishment within my own [17:09] party to change the way we were spending our money we were spending a million dollars a door and taking [17:14] years to build alternatives to the streets instead we built basic dignified shelter invested in [17:20] prevention and when shelter was available we required that people come indoors we've reduced [17:26] unsheltered homelessness in san jose by nearly one-third over the last four years that's why trusting [17:32] government in san jose has increased it's why fewer people are outdoors and it's part of the reason [17:37] that our streets are safer and cleaner i'm proud of what we've done all demand results from every city [17:43] and every county in california as governor i'd like to clarify and ask you one more time to give a letter [17:48] grade to help voters understand your assessment of governor newsom's job on this issue you have 15 [17:55] seconds all right frank since you insisted look i'll give him a b on care court and prop one and many of [18:04] the important initiatives that he championed where i've been proud to stand with him i'm going to give [18:08] us all though a d on implementation san jose has led the way a few other places have but we have not [18:16] delivered the results people deserve thank you very much for the letter grades uh mr becerra we haven't [18:20] seen you issue a letter grade on governor newsom's overall performance what grade does he get on [18:26] homelessness and what if anything would you do differently you have 60 seconds frank i would say [18:32] that the governor has made efforts we've seen him come down to los angeles actually go out and try to [18:37] clean some of the streets uh on effort i would give him an a here's what i would do that's different [18:43] though i would focus on accountability i would make sure if we're sending billions of dollars down [18:49] to the local communities to our our cities and our counties that we would demand accountability for [18:54] the dollar that they're we're going to give them we need to see results and results are what you see [18:58] on the streets we need to pull folks up help get them back on their feet and that's what i would [19:03] do but what i will tell you is my principal job as governor and i'm glad to hear other people are [19:07] saying this is i'm going to keep you housed if you are in a home right now renting or owning if you're [19:13] you lose your job unexpectedly or you have a medical emergency and now you're about to become homeless [19:18] as a result of that now unaffordable expense tell me what you need how can i help you keep your home [19:23] because it costs me so much more money to pick you off off the streets provide you with the [19:28] assistance in the shelter than it does to keep you in the home that you're already paying mr becerra [19:32] uh let me ask you a follow-up question uh you're you're saying that anyone who needs housing assistance [19:39] you will help them that means the government will help them how much is that going to cost [19:43] and where does that money come from you have 30 seconds yeah frank we spend billions tens of [19:47] billions of dollars right now to try to pull people off the streets do you think it's working i it [19:51] would cost us a fraction of them that amount to help someone who temporarily lost their job stay in the [19:56] home if they for two or three months fall behind on the rent they don't get kicked out because we'll [20:00] try to support them a zero interest loan you can keep them in their home i save a lot more money by [20:05] keeping them in the house than watching them hit hit the streets and then try to find them and pick [20:10] them up far more expensive mr becerra thank you nikki mr bianco you have been very critical of governor [20:16] newsom what grade would you give him on homelessness and what would you do differently you have 60 seconds i think [20:24] we've just learned of the failure of the california education system too if we can't even realistically [20:30] assign grades to failure it is an absolute dismal failure and anyone that says it's not is fooling [20:36] themselves or trying to fool voters we are not dealing with homeless so stop calling it homeless [20:44] it has nothing to do with homes this is drug and alcohol induced psychosis mental illness causing the [20:49] other it doesn't matter but these people are suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness [20:55] we would have fixed this problem probably already had the democrats in california in state legislature [21:01] and our governor funded prop 36 to give us the treatment that we need i am on the front lines of [21:06] this i've been on the front lines of this for 33 years this has nothing to do with the home until we [21:12] actually start caring about these people you have compassion to look them in the face and tell them [21:17] that you're going to walk by them and ignore them if that's what you're going to do you're just a part [21:21] of the failure of government we are going to deal with this for what it is it is not homes mr bianco [21:27] i just want to clarify here the second part of the question if you're elected governor what would [21:30] you do differently you have 15 seconds every single bit of the money going to non-profits and ngos for [21:37] homeless ends the day i take over and a small portion of that will go to the funding of the drug [21:43] and alcohol treatment centers that they need the mental health treatment centers that they need and [21:48] then more importantly the combination mr bianco thank you mr bianco thank you mr hilton you've [21:54] given the governor an f on his overall performance when it comes to homelessness has he done anything [22:00] right you have 60 seconds well by the way i'd love to be in your class katie if you get a b for [22:05] what gavin newsom's done on homelessness my goodness of course it's an f it shames our state the situation [22:12] with homelessness we have about 10 percent of the u.s population around 50 percent of the country's [22:18] homeless population and as for javier praising gavin newsom for the photo op where he tried to [22:24] pretend he was cleaning up a homeless encampment literally gavin newsom did that three times in [22:30] a row nothing changed and nothing will change if you have one of these democrats in power it will be [22:35] more of the same my plan is a common sense three-point plan number one it is illegal to live and camp on [22:42] the streets we need to enforce the law number two we need to get people into the drug treatment that [22:48] they need and it cannot be a choice number three we need to get people the mental health care that [22:54] they need instead of the barbaric situation we have right now in california as a result of these [22:59] democrat policies where the main place where we're treating people with mental health problems [23:04] is jail mr hilton has to change mr hilton thank you miss porter mr basera i'll let you respond but i [23:09] just want to clarify the second part of my question do you think the governor has done anything right [23:14] on homelessness no everything has taken us in the wrong direction that's why we spend what is it [23:20] state auditor found 24 billion dollars of our money spent on homelessness they have no idea where it went [23:27] because it's going into these non-profits and crony developers that are instead of solving the problem [23:33] they are profiting okay mr hilton thank you your time is up thank you miss porter i'll allow you to respond [23:38] you have 15 seconds if you were in my class mr hilton you would learn in my bankruptcy and consumer [23:43] protection class that the majority of homeless people in california are actually working they're not [23:49] just people on the streets it's not just people with mental illness or people with drug or substance [23:54] use problems it's also families who are fleeing intimate partner and domestic violence it's people [24:00] who are double and tripled up it's people who are living in their cars on our college campuses [24:05] homelessness comes in a lot of different forms and if we don't see the whole problem if we demonize [24:10] them from one perspective we'll never be able to solve this problem miss porter thank you mr becero [24:15] allowed you to respond to to mr hilton there you have 15 seconds well it's interesting to watch someone [24:20] who has served as a talking head on a fox news program telling us how government should run when he [24:26] never has run any government in his life and it's fascinating to see that he can do all these things when he's [24:32] talking about not collecting any revenue to be able to do any of this work it doesn't add up the [24:36] math doesn't work but then that's what happens you can be a talking head and not worry about the [24:39] consequences of what you do mr becero thank you mr steyer the last time you were asked to grade governor [24:46] newsom let me ask this question we know you have a lot to say tonight and we have a lot to get to so [24:50] let me ask you this question here mr steyer the last time you were asked to grade governor [24:54] newsom you passed saying that you hadn't followed his record closely enough are you ready to give [24:59] him a grade on homelessness and what if anything would you do differently you have 60 seconds so i'd [25:04] give the governor a b-minus on this and i want to start with a simple statement which is no one gets [25:09] well on the street what i would do is make sure to keep as many people off the street and if they're on [25:17] the street to get them off as fast as possible because only one in seven people who becomes homeless [25:23] starts with a serious mental health problem either bipolarism or some sort of substance abuse but [25:29] being on the street itself is such a stressful vulnerable dangerous place that it creates mental [25:36] health problems for many people that's why i'm in favor of emergency interim housing getting people [25:42] into one room with a key shared laundry and food you don't have to be clean and you can bring your animal [25:50] we need to get people off the street and let's remember this we want our cities to be walkable [25:56] and safe we want kids to be safe walking down the street cleaning up this problem gives us a chance to [26:01] rejuvenate our inner cities to make them vibrant and a place where we're going to build more housing and [26:07] put more people and mr sire i just want to clarify that last part when you said get people off the [26:12] streets and into housing is that something that you would force them to do let me say this the point [26:16] about emergency in interim housing is this people want to go to it this is something that actually [26:22] is designed to meet their needs as opposed to the huge shelters or waiting seven years to get them [26:29] into permanent housing which costs uh matt mahan was saying it costs a million dollars a key and the [26:34] numbers i've heard of between 750 000 and a million dollars being homeless for seven years is an incredibly [26:42] dangerous thing to do and it's the most compassionate thing we can do is to [26:45] provide the interim housing that gets people to places they want it mr steyer thank you mr may [26:50] help you response since he uh invoked your name and called out the figure there yeah thanks well [26:56] look it has cost a million dollars a door i can show you the receipts from projects that have been [27:00] approved across the bay area it's worth keeping in mind uh you know the only housing tom steyer's [27:05] built has been private prisons and nice detention centers here's the truth the reality is when you build [27:11] interim housing and what tom's pointing to is the san jose model we've built interim housing dignified [27:17] alternatives to the streets 70 80 of people have been willing to come indoors there's also a share [27:23] of folks who are out there who are unwilling or unable to come indoors mr may have to be able to [27:28] manage mr mayhan thank you mr sar i'll give you 15 seconds so let me say this my wife and i started a [27:34] non-profit bank to basically go in and support the people who can't get financing from normal banks [27:41] we have financed 17 000 low-income housing units we have made sure that every loan is measured only for [27:49] its impact on the community either in terms of economic growth or environmental sustainability and [27:54] we don't make a dime out of it and we absolutely never will mr steyer thank you now we would like to [27:59] ask a question about each of your individual campaigns you will have one minute to answer [28:05] this question mr mayhan we will start this round with you artificial intelligence is replacing jobs in [28:11] every industry your campaign is supported in part by billionaire tech executives how can voters [28:17] concerned about ai trust you to work for them and not the tech industry you have 60 seconds thanks nikki [28:24] i'm the only candidate on this stage who has direct experience with deploying ai and government [28:31] and regulating it we created the playbook in san jose that hundreds of other cities and counties use [28:38] to put restrictions on how technology is used being the mayor of the largest city in silicon valley [28:44] i am at the forefront of these technological changes i know that these tools can be harnessed [28:50] to do great good to make government more efficient and more responsive we've sped up buses and improved [28:56] language access but i also understand the risks to privacy misinformation and manipulation job loss [29:04] which is why we've put strict regulations on our use of technology that other cities are following [29:10] we've created the first ai upskilling curriculum for our workforce so that they aren't displaced by [29:15] technology but they can use it to enhance their work i am not afraid to regulate big tech [29:20] or any other industry and as governor i'll make sure we protect the people of california mr mahan [29:25] thank you mr becerra you were chair of the democratic caucus when eric swalwell was elected to congress [29:32] you said in a recent interview that quote many of us heard the rumors what rumors did you hear and [29:37] should you have pursued the rumors as a member of democratic leadership you have 60 seconds thanks nikki [29:43] yeah you hear rumors all the time about all sorts of things rumors are not facts and the uh the caucus the [29:49] democratic caucus is not a place that adjudicates those things it's law enforcement that does if [29:54] someone had come forward we could then have investigations i say that as the former attorney [29:58] general for the state of california when i was attorney general we did go after sex trafficking we did [30:04] go after those who abuse of young women and take advantage of them we did prosecute people there was [30:10] an individual who was a religious leader who was taking advantage of young women we prosecuted that [30:15] individual today he is in jail for his his crimes we have gone after people but we go after them based [30:21] on evidence and based on facts unfortunately we have a president today who would go after someone [30:26] based on rumors that's not the way we do it in america we have to have the facts rumors are one thing [30:32] but getting the facts really gets you to move and i let me just applaud those courageous survivors [30:38] who stood up and told america what the truth was and today eric swalwell is facing accountability [30:45] mr becerra thank you frank mr bianco you took an unprecedented action recently seizing 650 000 [30:52] certified ballots by your own county election officials as part of an investigation into election [30:58] fraud because of an allegation by one group the california supreme court has ordered that [31:04] investigation paused for now do you believe california elections are secure and would you [31:10] consider taking the same action after the primary election if you don't believe the results you have [31:16] 60 seconds well we're never going to know if our elections are secure because when law enforcement [31:21] does legitimate investigations into the allegations it's stopped by our current democrat one-party rule [31:28] in california particularly our embarrassment of an attorney general so this was a very very basic [31:35] normal investigation the allegation didn't come from a group it came from reports that our own records [31:43] county records from the registrar of voters that do not match the output of votes counted so a very [31:49] simple investigation would have counted those ballots to see if they match the votes but we we now have [31:54] a massive political outcry from our attorney general using political lawfare to stop a lawful investigation [32:04] and it wasn't stop the investigation was not stopped by the supreme court it was stopped so we could [32:09] argue these ridiculous allegations from the attorney general about whether or not he has authority to [32:15] stop that investigation in the first place and to clarify would you consider taking the same action [32:21] after this primary election if you don't believe the results you have 15 seconds i have you you made that [32:27] assumption that that's why this happened that that is that is absolutely horrific that you you basically said [32:33] that i did that because of how i felt if we get information i've been 33 years in law enforcement [32:39] investigating crime do i do you want me to start doing that with murders i mean it this is ridiculous [32:45] this is an absolute ridiculous question this is a ridiculous topic because we have an allegation of [32:51] voter fraud and californians are sick of voter fraud they're sick of politics and they believe there's [32:58] voter fraud but when we try to fix it it is stopped all right mr bianco thank you mr hilton you [33:03] said you were deeply honored to recently receive president trump's endorsement that's despite the [33:09] fact that 62 of californians disapprove of the job he is doing are those californians wrong you have 60 [33:16] seconds one of the proudest days of my life was the day i became an american citizen it happened in a [33:23] ceremony right here in san francisco so it is a deep honor for me to be endorsed by the president of the [33:30] united states and here's the thing that's going to help every californian when i'm governor is that we [33:38] will have a constructive relationship and partnership with the federal government which would be the [33:44] case i would hope for any party in that situation so that we can make things better in california work [33:53] with the president and his administration to manage our forest better to harvest the timber so we can build [34:00] the single family homes we need for young families to work to increase california energy production [34:07] as he wants to do so we can lower gas prices to fight the fraud in our government so we can cut [34:13] spending and cut taxes to work to enforce our immigration laws in all these areas and more it [34:20] will benefit every californian to have a governor mr hilton is a partner on these issues mr hilton with the [34:28] president thank you very much nikki mr steyer you are the only billionaire in this race according to [34:34] reports you and your wife paid 5.4 million dollars in federal taxes in 2024 you have said repeatedly quote [34:41] tax me more how much more should you be paying and there's nothing preventing you from paying more [34:47] have you so you have 60 seconds so let me say this i'm the only billionaire on the ballot nikki but i'm not [34:53] the only billionaire in this race the billionaires and corporations are spending big in this race to [34:59] oppose me and to support the other people on this stage in 2024 corporations spent 540 million dollars [35:08] to lobby in sacramento they are literally spending tens of millions of dollars against me i'm the [35:15] billionaire who wants to tax other billionaires i'm the billionaire who's taking on the electric [35:19] monopolies and trying to break up their power i'm the billionaire who wants to tax the oil companies [35:24] and make polluters pay so when you say i'm the only billionaire in the race yes but i'm the person [35:30] who is the change agent in this state i'm the person who's taking on the funded corporate interests [35:36] who are driving up costs for californians in every place no one wants to take them on i'm doing it [35:42] they're spending tens of millions and let me say this on earth day the oil companies dropped five [35:49] million dollars today against me to fight me on earth day thank you very much mr sire thank you [35:55] and i just want to clarify for people watching this right now two parts of the question you said tax me [36:00] more how much more and there's nothing preventing you from paying more taxes have you my wife and i have [36:06] said that we will that we will give the bulk of our money away while we're alive and in the process of [36:12] doing that but me paying more taxes is not the answer i've said i believe you can say that again [36:19] no no mr hilton mr hilton i said one person putting more money into the system mr hilton if you guys are [36:27] both talking people at home won't be able to hear you if one person puts more money into the government [36:31] that doesn't solve it we need structural change and in every one of the places where californians [36:36] are being ripped off where it's impossible for them to make rent at the end of my mr sire i'm taking on the [36:42] special interest and they're fighting back mr steyer the person who's coming after me because i [36:46] they're scared of me mr steyer thank you frank ms porter you've acknowledged that your interactions [36:51] with an aide and with a reporter captured on videos which went viral uh were in your words a bad look [36:58] and that you could have done better what have you done to address those concerns and as a person who [37:04] frequently speaks about being a parent on the campaign trail what would you tell your own kids if they [37:09] ever faced a boss like that you have 60 seconds i apologized that day to that staffer four years ago [37:16] and i took responsibility then and i have taken responsibility since acknowledging that it was not [37:23] the right way to treat someone and that is a big contrast to what we have seen other candidates do [37:28] when they have been called out for misconduct i'm proud that that staffer in that video and i continued [37:34] to work together for four years following that incident and it speaks to how i addressed it [37:39] i work hard with my team to deliver for californians things like free covid testing in the first days of [37:45] the pandemic first weeks of the pandemic things like cracking down on pharmaceutical price gouging [37:50] calling out a bank ceo for the fact that their employees couldn't pay for housing all of my [37:56] accomplishments have come from my team and i would say that if somebody is treating you rudely you should [38:02] speak up and that's what i would want my children to do and that's what i did when i was being pushed [38:07] again and again and again to cow to kowtow to give in and defend donald trump when he was engaged in [38:15] despicable actions i wasn't going to do that for that reporter and i'm i will not do it as governor [38:20] miss porter thank you very much and with that we're going to take a short break when we come back [38:25] we're going to ask the candidates about an exclusive report that shed new light on a battle between [38:31] california and the trump administration you are watching debate night in california welcome back [38:54] to debate night in california the race for governor coming to you live from san francisco all right [39:00] let's move on to our next question in an exclusive cron4 report a california highway patrol officer [39:06] was recorded giving a roadside english proficiency test to a commercial truck driver let's take a look [39:13] at the video do me favor tell me what this sign means so what do you what does this mean what is [39:25] it telling you what does this sign mean this video is captured following the u.s department of [39:37] transportation withholding 40 million dollars in funding saying california is the only state in the [39:43] country that refuses to ensure big rig drivers can read road signs and communicate with law enforcement [39:51] mr becerra we begin this round with you should the chp be giving english proficiency tests to truck [39:57] drivers and if not would you as governor push back against the trump administration on this policy [40:03] you have 60 seconds i would definitely push back on the trump administration and again a reckless policy [40:08] i would make sure that that officer understands that he cannot discriminate against any driver without [40:14] having a basis to do so uh i understood a little bit of what that individual was trying to say [40:18] i don't i couldn't see the signs but it certainly sounded like he was trying to describe what that [40:23] particular sign was trying to represent and so we have to be very careful that we're not profiling [40:29] consumers in california drivers in california it is against the law and our police officers while they [40:34] try to do the best job of keeping safety have to understand they have to abide by the rules and treat [40:40] everyone every motorist the same way and so if that officer had some basis to be qualified let's take a [40:45] look at that but let's not find that people are being discriminated against because of what they [40:50] look like is that officer asking everyone he pulls over to to explain those uh road signs or is [40:56] he asking only people who look like me and if he's doing that then he's violating the law and i just [41:01] want to clarify do you think chp should be giving english proficiency tests as far as i know the academy [41:07] does not train chp officers to be giving uh english proficient proficiency exams so that officer has some [41:14] explaining to do mr becerra thank you mr bianco you are the only law enforcement officer on the [41:20] stage tonight should this type of roadside testing become standard practice across california and what [41:26] should happen to drivers if they do fail you have 60 seconds well we have to first off acknowledge that [41:32] we actually do have rules and we actually do have laws and if they are not abiding by those laws and [41:38] california is giving them driver's licenses when they do not qualify for those driver's licenses and we're [41:44] sending them out onto the streets we also have seen several horrific accidents that were attributed [41:50] to people that did not understand english or that did not could not comprehend the road signs that [41:56] were the the street signs that they were supposed to be abiding by so we don't know the context of [42:01] this this is the this is what's super important especially in law enforcement you have to know the [42:05] entire context of this entire stop in this entire video not just a little the small section but if he is [42:11] verifying whether or not someone can read signs my guess is he was stopped for violating a sign [42:17] and he's trying to verify that he could and and let's stop with this whole racism thing and racial [42:22] profiling and all of this garbage we have to get over this you either violated the law or you didn't [42:29] end of concert end of story consequences for bad behavior mr bianco thank you mr hilton would you [42:34] require full compliance with the federal language standards for truck drivers you have 60 seconds [42:39] so i've discussed this with uh someone called marcus coleman from bakersfield his beautiful daughter [42:45] delilah was put into a coma by someone driving a truck an illegal immigrant didn't speak english and [42:55] his daughter now disabled for life that's what we're dealing with here it is completely ridiculous [43:02] that we have people driving on our roads who can't understand road signs and can't speak english so [43:07] yes of course and i've discussed this with my friend sean duffy the transportation secretary [43:13] we will not be issuing commercial driver licenses when i'm governor to people who are illegally here [43:18] and who don't speak english that is obvious common sense mr hilton thank you frank mr steyer where do [43:26] you draw the line on this should language proficiency for truckers be strictly enforced even if it [43:32] means that some of them will probably lose their jobs you have 60 seconds look i agree with um what [43:38] was said which is we don't know the context of this stop but what i can say is this racial profiling [43:45] is illegal and in fact picking on people based on the color of their skin in the state of california [43:52] is illegal i've i have a program for ice that involves prosecuting them for racial profiling [43:59] prosecuting them for violence against californians and the supervisors studying you know investigating [44:05] their detention centers um having legal defense funds for people who've been kidnapped and put in [44:11] those detention centers and a know your rights pr campaign listen what we're talking about here is [44:16] whether um police officers and the criminal justice system treats people fairly based on the color of [44:23] their skin i will say this donald trump posted against me last week because i said ice has to [44:29] obey the law in california the head of ice posted against me but i'm not going to step back because [44:34] the truth is racial profiling is illegal violence is illegal and we need the governor of california [44:41] needs to stand up for californian citizens every time mr steyer thank you miss porter same question do [44:46] you believe that english proficiency uh language proficiency should be strictly enforced for truck [44:51] drivers you have 60 seconds i would absolutely fight the trump administration because the job of [44:57] the california governor is to protect californians and right now that includes protecting them from [45:03] donald trump protecting californians also includes enforcing traffic laws and we've seen sometimes a [45:10] need for oversight in california for example we have seen that the department of motor vehicles was [45:15] not enforcing rules around duis and drivers who had convictions for that i am stunned that mr [45:21] bianco would say to black and brown californians and immigrants who are being terrorized and racially [45:27] profiled that you have to get over racism it's not something that you get over it's something that [45:34] you fight and if he doesn't understand the importance of that he has no business representing [45:38] a state with the diversity of california miss porter thank you very much mr bianco i'll give [45:43] you 15 seconds to respond yeah again that's not even close to what i said what i said is we're [45:47] californians and i'm speaking for them especially from law enforcement when i deal with persons of [45:52] color every single day californians are absolutely sick and tired of our politicians making race the [45:58] basis of everything it is not and this racial divide that they are pushing between law enforcement [46:04] and the public or democrat and republican absolutely has to stop and i'm telling you we are sick of it [46:12] mr bianco thank you mr mahan as a mayor of a city in which 42 percent of the residents are foreign born [46:19] do you believe that english proficiency tests for truckers are necessary you have 60 seconds no frank [46:25] the right answer here is clearly to hold the dmv accountable for ensuring that every driver on our [46:31] roadway meets the qualifications for the license that they have that's the appropriate entity to do this [46:37] and as the mayor of not only one of the most diverse big cities in the country but the safest big [46:43] city in the country let me tell you what creates real public safety it's rooted in trust when people [46:50] trust the law enforcement officers who serve the community it means that residents are more likely to [46:56] report crime to serve as witnesses to provide evidence we made san jose the safest big city in the [47:02] country by building that trust between law enforcement and the community that they serve [47:07] that will be my priority as governor but we should never lower the standard that agencies like the dmv [47:13] enforce as governor i will also ensure that every state agency lives up to its responsibility [47:18] clarification english proficiency 15 seconds exams the dmv has exams and it's not about whether or not [47:26] you speak english i represent one of the the most diverse cities and the safest city with the dmv [47:32] is responsible for doing it's not testing how how good your english is it's whether or not you're a [47:37] safe driver who understands the rules all right mr mahan thank you nikki this is another round where [47:42] you will all be getting the same question we're asking for a yes or no answer here if you do not [47:48] finish in the top two on june 2nd will you endorse your party's nominee mr steyer we will start with [47:54] you yes or no yes do you want me to go to elaborate or is it just yes yes or no yes i said yes thank you mr [48:02] steyer miss porter absolutely yes we i guess we're going we are going to let you elaborate so i'll [48:07] go back to you mr steyer i'll give you 15 seconds let me put it to you this way if there's a republican [48:12] in the race that republican will be um supported by and also supporting donald trump donald trump [48:20] is raising our gas prices donald trump is kicking one to three million people off um medi-cal donald trump [48:27] is um he is trying to punish california every way he can and the people who are supporting him are [48:34] also supporting ice that is an organ is a legal organization that is terrorizing and victimizing [48:40] how can i support that thank you miss porter i know that you said yes your response yes absolutely and [48:47] i have a track record of supporting other democrats mr steyer likes to talk about his giving pledge but [48:53] what he's done with his own money is more give me an opportunity to be the governor i think it's [48:59] really important that we support other democrats i've can i've campaigned for other people in purple [49:03] seats i've raised money for other people i was a successful fundraiser and a successful campaigner [49:09] and i've used that to beat donald trump everywhere we can and i would do the same thing miss miss porter [49:14] miss porter thank you mr mahan we'll come to you if you don't finish in the top two on june 2nd will you [49:18] endorse your party's nominee you have 15 seconds well we don't have party primaries but assuming [49:23] there's a democrat and a republican i'll endorse the democrat but i will make very clear to them [49:28] and everyone else that the best resistance to donald trump is delivering results in people's lives [49:34] just as i've done as the mayor of the third largest city in the state where we're building [49:37] thousands of homes mr may have reduced crime and reduced homelessness mr mr mahan thank you mr becerra [49:44] same question to you what we need is the best person who can fight those who are attacking california [49:49] like donald trump someone who's actually taken on donald trump not just fought but won not someone [49:55] who just wants to fight to do more for housing but has and can improve the lives of so many people [50:00] has fought for better health care i will support that democrat mr in the run mr becerra i'm hoping i'm [50:06] the one that's there mr becerra thank you frank i'll ask the republicans now we've heard we've heard [50:10] from the democrats mr bianco if you do not finish in the top two on june 2nd will you endorse your [50:16] party's nominee 15 seconds the only person people who are hurting california are democrats it is not [50:25] donald trump they keep saying donald trump because democrat policies are a dismal failure in california [50:30] they have nothing to point to if i'm not going to support my opponent because it's going to be he and [50:36] i going to november if so okay uh thank you very much uh mr hilton if you do not finish in the top [50:43] two on june 2nd will you endorse your party's nominee yes yes i will because we've had 16 years of one [50:51] party rule by these democrats it's given us the highest poverty rate the highest unemployment rate [50:57] the highest cost of living in america it is obviously desperately time for change in california [51:04] it's time for some balance in our system we have to elect a republican as governor this year [51:10] thank you very much now we are going to go to our closing statements but that does not mean the debate [51:16] is over we will continue to be live on our last half hour of our digital channels and on youtube to [51:21] get there quickly just scan the qr code on your left side of your screen mr mahan we will begin with [51:26] you closing statements you have 30 seconds thanks nikki i'm running for governor because californians [51:32] deserve better we deserve a government that is accountable for delivering results in people's [51:37] lives as mayor of the third largest city in the state i've delivered the biggest decreases in crime [51:45] and homelessness we have thousands of homes under construction i know what it looks like to take [51:49] on the establishment within my own party to make government deliver results for working people [51:55] we don't need maga but we also don't need more of the same that's why i'm offering something [51:59] different mr mahan thank you ms porter you have 30 seconds california this election is about who you [52:06] can trust to fight for you one candidate is a billionaire who got rich off polluters and ice [52:12] prisons and is now using that money to fund his election another candidate for nearly 40 years cashed [52:18] corporate checks and then locked the courage to take them on i'm not like them i have never taken [52:24] corporate money that's why i have always stood firm against donald trump and special interests [52:29] i'm like you a mom fighting for a better future for california miss porter thank you mr baseri you [52:36] have 30 seconds california is going through a crisis and we need someone who knows how to govern in crisis [52:41] not someone who's going to need training wheels the moment they walk into the governor's office [52:45] this is a time to have someone who's actually fought those crises whether it's the man-made crises [52:49] coming from washington dc or with whether it's the cost of living crisis that we face here at home [52:55] we need someone who's actually fought and won beat back donald trump to save the affordable care act [53:02] all the way to the supreme court beat back donald trump in preserving the daca program for dreamers [53:07] been able to do that and win for the people mr becerra thank you mr bianco you have 30 seconds yeah we [53:13] have all heard their platform now it's more taxes and a complete complete lack of responsibility i have [53:20] 33 years of dealing with the consequences of their poor decisions and of their poor policies in the [53:26] democrat agenda for the last 33 years i am running for californians because california do californians [53:33] do deserve better they deserve someone with honesty transparency integrity and most importantly proven [53:39] leadership if you want the status quo keep the status quo if you want a better california i'm asking [53:44] for your vote mr bianco thank you mr steyer you have 30 seconds the people raising the cost for [53:50] california don't want me to be governor i'm the change agent here and they don't want change [53:56] and in politics it's pretty easy to figure out who you are by seeing who opposes you and who supports [54:01] you let me tell you who opposes me the oil companies pg and e the realtors the drug companies [54:06] donald trump and the head of vice let me tell you who supports me progressives environmentalists [54:12] organized labor including teachers and nurses none of these people are fighting anybody else of these [54:21] on no one else on this stage is having these corporate special interests oppose them they want [54:26] to stop me mr steyer thank you mr hilton closing statements you have 30 seconds we obviously need [54:32] change in california the system is not working i'm the only one here who has never run for office [54:40] before i'm not part of this system these democrats can't get it done matt mahan talks about his record [54:47] in san jose actually homelessness and crime are going up javier becerra talks about his time in [54:52] government he thought it was a good idea to put masks on two-year-olds we need real change in california [54:59] we need to think different we need to vote different my plan to make our state cal affordable [55:05] is real and serious and we can get it done if we just vote differently this year [55:09] mr hilton thank you all right with that that wraps up the first hour of our debate tonight we want to [55:15] thank all of the candidates first of all for being here we hope you will join us for another half hour [55:20] of the debate including your viewer questions we're streaming live on your local next door stations plus [55:27] channel you can also watch it by scanning the qr code on your screen we will see you right back here [55:33] on your digital channel in two and a half minutes welcome back uh thanks for joining us on your digital [55:55] plus channel we want to continue with the next question and it's this one the median home price [56:01] in california right now is nine hundred thousand dollars this is the question what is your plan to [56:07] lower the cost of housing mr mahan we're going to start with you you have 60 seconds thanks nikki in san [56:14] jose we were approving thousands of housing years 20 000 housing units over the last seven years or so [56:20] that weren't getting built i led us through a process of looking at the data and recognizing [56:26] that we in government are often in the way we did hard things we sped up permitting we've used new [56:34] technology to make it easier to apply and most importantly we reduced one-time fees that look [56:40] good on paper but we're blocking the very thing we need housing and opportunity for people we now have [56:46] thousands of new units under construction that's a template for the state that's how we'll move [56:51] forward i know what's at stake i grew up in a household that was paycheck to paycheck i remember [56:57] my family my parents arguing about how to make the mortgage payment solving this problem is the most [57:05] fundamental way to expand economic opportunity and upward mobility in california and i will get the job [57:10] done mr mahan thank you mr becerra same question to you what is your plan to lower the cost of housing [57:16] you have 60 seconds well we have to give those who build the homes the incentive to do so that [57:21] means streamlining the regulations and the fees that make it impossible to believe that they can [57:26] make these these projects pencil out once we do that we want to build smart we want to build in the [57:32] places where it makes sense by transportation so it's easy to get to and from work make it so that [57:37] we don't have commutes that are hour and a half long we want to make sure that we help those who want [57:41] to buy a house get in a house most californians who are renting are essentially playing [57:47] monthly uh a monthly mortgage except it's called rent i would convert them into homeowners by [57:52] helping them with their down payment we have down penis down payment assistance programs where we will [57:57] expand the opportunity for a renter to become a homeowner and the next thing i will do is in the [58:02] first 100 days i will make sure that we get all those projects that are essentially shovel ready ready [58:08] to go and there are some 40 000 housing units that are shovel ready they just need a little kick over the [58:15] finish line i would make sure we do that whether it's the small tranche of money they need or getting [58:19] rid of some of the licensing requirements they need mr becerra thank you mr bianco same question to [58:23] you what is your plan to lower the cost of housing you have 60 seconds we're going to all be honest [58:28] about the problem the problem is california state government california state government created this [58:32] housing problem it is not that we can't afford a house it's that builders can't afford to build a [58:37] house because of the over excessive regulations on our building industry along with every other [58:43] business and industry in california on day one i remove all of those regulations from our building [58:48] building industry that will allow more as much as a third sometimes more depending on location [58:55] to a third of the price of a home to be removed off of that nine hundred thousand dollar price tag [59:00] just by getting rid of the government red tape instead of three to five years it's going to take [59:05] three to five months to build a house we will encourage our builders to build when we take the [59:09] restrictions away builders build homes we do not have a land problem in california we have a [59:16] management problem we have a government problem that we absolute must take away the restrictions the [59:22] big ones all the regulations but sequa coastal commission carb all of those on our building and [59:27] building industry will be removed mr bianco thank you mr hilton same question to you you have 60 seconds [59:33] well if san jose is the template for housing affordability in california god help us it was [59:40] just rated the least affordable city for housing in the world that is completely the wrong answer the [59:47] right answer is my plan which was the first plan that i put forward in this campaign number one we have [59:54] to end this outrageous hidden tax on housing they call it impact fees it can add up to 20 percent [1:00:01] to the cost of a home secondly we have to reduce the extreme environmental regulations that make [1:00:07] it three or four times as expensive to build the exact same home in california as in neighboring states [1:00:13] number three we have to end the exploitative union lawsuits that are filed to block housing that extract [1:00:21] project labor agreements that make the cost so much higher and number four we have to end the war on [1:00:27] single family homes so that we can build the housing we need for young families we need more starter homes [1:00:33] in california mr hilton thank you mr mahan i'll give you 15 seconds to respond to mr hilton thanks san [1:00:39] jose has been the most expensive city in the country since before i was born because of all the jobs [1:00:43] created there i know that because my parents had to move 50 miles away even though my mom grew up there [1:00:49] just to afford to buy a home what i did as mayor though was take ownership of the problem unlike all the [1:00:54] talk you're hearing on this stage we reduced fees sped up permitting and now we have thousands of [1:00:58] homes under construction mr mahan thank you mr steyer same question to you what is your plan to lower the [1:01:03] cost of housing you have 60 seconds look the biggest problem in california is that californians [1:01:07] can't afford to live here and the number one problem there is housing and i've seen people who have full [1:01:13] time jobs who are still having to live in their car but if we're going to solve the housing problem [1:01:18] i've said we'll build a million units it's not a silver bullet the way some of these people are [1:01:22] suggesting it's silver buckshot yes we have to shorten permitting and make it less expensive [1:01:28] we made a first step on it last year we'll make more two we have to redo zoning so that we build [1:01:33] denser and around public transportation three we need to actually drop the cost per square foot of [1:01:39] building there are ways to do it industrial construction away from site and then putting [1:01:44] it together on the site drops the cost per square foot by a third and lastly one of the biggest reasons [1:01:50] it's hard to build houses here is the cities and counties don't want it because they can't afford [1:01:54] to take care of the people who are in the houses i've said on day one i'll call for a special election [1:01:58] to close a corporate tax loophole that will fund it that will get the cities and counties on our side [1:02:04] the realtors are mad at me they're fighting me but that's the only way we drive down housing costs [1:02:08] for the people mr steyer thank you miss porter same question you what is your plan to lower the cost of [1:02:12] housing you have 60 seconds housing is personal to me i've sat across from thousands of californians who [1:02:19] are facing eviction or foreclosure when i served the state of california for three years under then [1:02:24] attorney general now vice president former vice president kamala harris and i held the big banks [1:02:29] feet to the fire for predatory lending i've also questioned ceos of big banks about how the the slice [1:02:36] the huge slice that housing takes out of their paycheck housing has been my number one issue since [1:02:41] i launched this race and i have the deepest background in housing policy of any candidate on this stage [1:02:47] the key is to build faster if we build at the same speed in california as states like colorado we [1:02:52] could take 10 or 20 percent off the cost of housing that's a that's real money back in families pockets [1:02:59] it's not a couple bucks it's hundreds of dollars i just want to comment mr becerra you have all these [1:03:05] lovely plans but there are never any numbers any revenue plan any details anything that pushes on the [1:03:12] status quo it's just all due but the how the why the how much it's all missing miss porter thank you [1:03:18] mr becerra i'll give you 15 seconds to respond to miss porter's comments it's very rich to hear from [1:03:23] someone who's never had to actually run a government i have had to balance four budgets over the course of [1:03:28] my time as secretary of health and human services a budget by the way that was larger than the budget of [1:03:33] the state of california when i was attorney general of the state of california i had a fight whether it was a [1:03:38] corporate uh attempt to try to take advantage of uh californians or whether it was the trump [1:03:43] administration i got in and i filed lawsuits they weren't frivolous lawsuits i won most of my cases [1:03:49] because i knew how to put down the details and the facts so it's it's easy to say you haven't done [1:03:54] this it's easier to prove that you actually have may respond mr mr becerra miss porter we have to [1:04:00] move on we have a lot of questions that our viewers uh have for us next and frank is going to [1:04:04] move on to those because we have a lot to cover in little time we want to turn to some viewer [1:04:09] questions that we assigned at random to each of you in a random draw mr becerra we're actually going [1:04:14] to begin with you ashley from paris wants to know one what is one specific cost gas groceries utilities [1:04:23] child care that you will you will lower in your first year and exactly how will you do it you have 30 [1:04:29] seconds ashley one of the things that i will do immediately is i will freeze utility rates and i [1:04:35] will freeze home insurance policy premiums because i believe it is time that californians had an [1:04:41] understanding of why so many of them are paying so much for both of those charges that they have when [1:04:47] they have a home it is time for us to get behind the curtain and understand why these industries are [1:04:53] charging californians so much and in some cases dropping californians from their insurance policy without [1:04:58] explanation charging twice as much it is time for us to freeze those so californians benefit mr becerra [1:05:04] thank you mr bianco you get the next question this is greg from placerville who wants to know what is [1:05:10] your position on automatic license plate readers flock safety systems and broader issues of mass [1:05:16] surveillance you have 30 seconds and so i'm i'm a huge proponent of flock camera systems and not flock [1:05:24] but the type the the the alprs for law enforcement they have been a game changer for law enforcement [1:05:29] it's not about the the misconception i want to ensure him we don't know you're driving the car from [1:05:37] those license plate readers they read license plates that's it and we are able to find criminals who use [1:05:43] vehicles for that mr bianco thank you mr hilton you get the next question this is carlos from los angeles [1:05:49] who wants to know what are you going to do for california schools you have 30 seconds it's an [1:05:54] absolute scandal that we have uh just under half of our students can read at grade level for math it's 35 [1:06:01] percent here's the plan we're going to learn from what works in other states and around the world the [1:06:06] best way to teach kids to read phonics we're going to have that in every school the most important thing [1:06:12] is that you learn to read by the end of third grade just as mississippi has done we're going to make [1:06:17] sure we're going to give you help over this summer if you can't but if you if you don't meet the test [1:06:22] you repeat the grade and then you can move forward and we're going to hold teachers and schools [1:06:26] accountable mr hilton for their performance thank you very much nikki mr steyer sophia from folsom [1:06:32] wants to know what is your stance on remote work you have 30 seconds so remote work is enabling people [1:06:40] not to make these huge commutes and it's very it is a way for us to save money it is a way to keep people [1:06:47] off the roads so i am a supporter of remote work period but let me say this as someone who has run [1:06:54] lots of organization and lots of teams there's reasons to be in the office that involve human [1:06:59] interaction that involve mentoring that involve the growth of young people so when you're running [1:07:04] an organization yes you have to take into account costs but more than that you have to account for [1:07:09] mr steyer mr steyer thank you miss porter toby from costa mesa wants to know do you agree with [1:07:16] schools not notifying parents if their child identifies as a different gender you have 30 [1:07:21] seconds it is between a parent and a child when a child chooses to have that conversation the job of [1:07:29] our educators is to teach to teach them to read by third grade that is a really important benchmark to [1:07:35] help them make the jump from algebra one to algebra two which opens the door to higher paying jobs these [1:07:41] are conversations for kids and parents to have with each other and their health care their health [1:07:46] care providers this is not a role for schools to be policing personal decisions ms porter thank you [1:07:52] mr mahan john carlo from los angeles asks this how would you communicate with donald trump if he [1:07:58] attacks you directly or policies valued in california you have 30 seconds well just as i've done as mayor [1:08:05] of san jose when the trump administration threatens california's people our funding our values i'll fight [1:08:12] back we'll use the courts in san jose we've sued this administration over a dozen times we've funded [1:08:18] legal services for our immigrant neighbors we have used every tool at our disposal but i will also find [1:08:24] ways to invite federal agencies to help us rebuild la reduce fire risk we need a partnership and we need [1:08:32] to find common ground with this administration on certain issues mr mahan thank you frank we'd like to [1:08:38] move on to our next question many californians cannot get home insurance anymore or their premiums [1:08:44] have skyrocketed insurance companies blame wildfire risk and catastrophic losses many have left the state [1:08:52] california's fair plan a last resort option is being swamped and is becoming a crisis for the state [1:08:59] mr bianco this round begins with you what is your plan to attract private insurance companies back to [1:09:05] california you have 60 seconds again we're going to be honest about the problem the problem is our [1:09:10] california state government is our california state regulations that are affecting the insurance [1:09:15] companies various regulations affecting the insurance companies but particularly they told us why they [1:09:22] were leaving they told governor newsom for five years in a row that they were going to leave if he did [1:09:27] not change the environmental policies and protections that prevented our fire agencies from creating [1:09:33] defensible space around our homes our cities and our buildings they told him they were going to lose [1:09:39] cities and they couldn't afford to cover it so they were going to have to leave so the answer is remove [1:09:43] the regulations let the fire agencies create that defensible space we are being absolutely controlled [1:09:49] by environmental activism in this state that runs every single regulatory board and as governor i will [1:09:56] remove that special interest from california state government mr bianco thank you for that mr hilton what [1:10:04] is your plan to attract private insurance companies back to california you have 60 seconds we have to be [1:10:09] clear about why they left they left because of democrat policies and wrongheaded regulation now some of those [1:10:17] mistakes have been corrected the ability for insurance companies to price in future risk the ability of [1:10:24] insurance companies to account for reinsurance costs but we still have wrong regulation and this is the [1:10:31] three-point plan that i've announced to fix this absolutely massive problem that is crushing so many [1:10:38] families across california number one we've got to get people off the fair plan it was designed for about [1:10:43] a hundred thousand people now you've got over six hundred thousand we've got to work proactively to get [1:10:49] those people onto commercial insurance number two we have to stick to the regulatory framework that [1:10:55] was in the original proposition that set up the insurance department 60 days to make to approve rate [1:11:01] changes sometimes now it's over a year and number three we have to stop these nuisance lawsuits often [1:11:07] filed by private equity from out of state that are increasing the cost of insurance all right mr hilton [1:11:13] thank you mr steyer what is your plan to attract private insurance companies back to california you have [1:11:19] 60 seconds well skyrocketing home insurance is one of the huge problems facing california homeowners [1:11:24] and it's a result of catastrophic fires and houses being burnt down and therefore insurance companies [1:11:31] wanting to get paid for that risk what california needs to do is reduce that risk we need to reduce [1:11:36] the risk of catastrophic fire what does that look like on a macro basis it looks like controlled burns [1:11:42] reducing dry timber on a micro basis it means hardening houses keeping vegetation five feet away and other [1:11:49] things we can reduce the risk of houses burning and catastrophic fire by 90 percent the point is [1:11:55] going to be at that point we need the the insurance companies to start writing home insurance based on [1:12:01] the reduced risk and it's the job of the governor to insist that they take into account the reduced risk [1:12:08] insurance companies are lazy they like to drive by a house and make a decision when we're hardening [1:12:13] houses and reducing risk by 90 percent the governor's job is to make sure that they do the work that they [1:12:19] take into account and that housing insurance goes way down mr steyer thank you nikki miss porter what [1:12:25] is your plan to attract private insurance companies back to california you have 60 seconds first i just [1:12:30] want to acknowledge that so many who have been affected by wildfires have not received the federal aid [1:12:36] that california deserves from the federal government because of donald trump i also want to say as a consumer [1:12:42] protection advocate i would absolutely hold insurers feet to the fire to make sure [1:12:47] they pay out damages when homes have been burned i think the solution is to have more insurance [1:12:53] companies and more competition but they're going to do that when we have reduced wildfire risk [1:12:59] we cannot afford to not act to reduce wildfire risk we all lose families who lose their homes more [1:13:07] than others when we face these kinds of catastrophic wildfires so fighting climate change is in fighting [1:13:12] wildfire risk is ultimately how you reduce the number of people who are forced onto a fair plan [1:13:18] that is unstable and and not substantially sustainable for taxpayers miss porter thank you mr mahan same [1:13:25] question to you what is your plan to attract private insurance companies back to california you have 60 [1:13:30] seconds well nikki i've walked through the palisades and altadino with families who have lost everything and i've [1:13:36] seen firsthand what's broken as governor i will take responsibility for ensuring that we better [1:13:43] manage our public lands we have to reduce the fire risk at the edge of our urban areas so we're not [1:13:49] putting homeowners at risk and when you have those catastrophic fires it pushes up costs for everyone [1:13:55] we need to bring the private insurance market back force them to compete with one another on value [1:14:01] allow them to appropriately price risk and when they play games as we've heard in some cases of [1:14:06] switching adjusters and dragging out the process of paying out claims they must be held accountable [1:14:12] by the state and i'll make sure we do that mr mahan thank you mr becerra what is your plan to attract [1:14:17] private insurance insurance companies back to the state of california you have 60 seconds i won't be as [1:14:22] lenient as some of the responses you've heard i believe that it's time that we get behind the curtain and [1:14:27] find out how these insurance companies are operating because there are still people in altadena and pacific [1:14:32] palisades who have not been paid on their claims from back in january 2025 that is ridiculous every [1:14:40] month they paid their premiums some people had never filed a claim yet they when they finally filed this [1:14:45] claim for these wildfires they still can't get a an answer to the question how much they get and when [1:14:51] they'll get it that is not right we should hold their feet to the fire i'll make sure that we take on [1:14:57] all the issues of wildfire mitigation sure you have to harden your home should we have to make sure we [1:15:01] don't have developers building in high risk areas we'll do all those things but first and foremost [1:15:07] insurers owe those consumers those rate pay i'm sorry those pay people who paid their premiums responses [1:15:14] they paid their premiums they are owed a response on their claims it's ridiculous that people have had [1:15:20] to wait more than a year that is not the way you treat a customer mr becerra thank you frank we're going [1:15:25] to move on to our next topic and that is social media and our children a california jury [1:15:30] found meta and google negligent ordering them to pay damages or for designing addictive social media [1:15:38] that contributed to mental health issues would you support a law that bans social media usage for kids [1:15:45] under 16 years of age this is going to each going to go to each one of you mr hilton you will go first [1:15:52] you have 30 seconds so as the father of two teenage children i know this issue very well but actually [1:15:59] it's an issue that i've been thinking about and advocating on for many many years 11 years ago [1:16:06] in my book more human 2015 that was published i made the argument that it's not just the apps it's [1:16:13] not just the platforms it's the screens themselves and that we should set a social norm that children [1:16:19] under 16 should not have a smartphone that is my position now i think that every parent in their heart [1:16:26] knows that it's wrong kids do not need smartphones and we shouldn't allow it so just to clarify though [1:16:33] on the social media side yes or no banning it for kids under 16 i think it misses the point honestly i [1:16:40] think that we've got to get to the heart of the problem and that's the devices and the screens all [1:16:45] right mr hilton thank you mr steyer would you support a law that bans social media usage for kids under [1:16:53] 16 years of age you have 30 seconds yes i would i've said that publicly i think it's been clear for [1:17:00] a long time that young people have significant mental health issues as a result of social media [1:17:06] and we have counted on the companies to police themselves and that has definitely failed and let [1:17:12] me say that as ai is here artificial intelligence that is something else which very much threatens the [1:17:19] safety and health of our children and it's going to be that is something which absolutely threatens [1:17:25] them and young people are addicted to their artificial intelligent friends more than their real friends [1:17:32] and so we are going to have to regulate these companies and have the courage to do it mr steyer [1:17:37] thank you miss porter would you support a law that bans social media usage for kids under 16 you have 30 [1:17:43] seconds yeah as a mom of three teenagers i will say that every kid is different i definitely have [1:17:50] a kid i won't name him here who's doing a good job with moderating social media using it occasionally and [1:17:56] in ways that have been helpful i have another kid who's constantly told to put her device down and when [1:18:02] needed i take it away i do think we need to hold companies accountable when their products produce harm [1:18:08] if they're producing addiction if they're failing to moderate inappropriate conduct then we absolutely [1:18:14] should hold them accountable but those problems affect both kids particularly but also adults [1:18:19] and just to clarify and forgive me if i missed it but hold accountable or uh ban the usage for kids [1:18:26] under 16. i would not ban under 16. i might consider a different ban but i also want to recognize that [1:18:32] as a parent there's it's an opportunity for families to make choices and have conversations about [1:18:36] technology that these kids will see their whole lives miss porter thank you mr mahon would you [1:18:41] support a law that bans social media usage for kids under 16 years of age you have 30 seconds what i [1:18:47] would do is require parental consent for children under 16 to be able to use social media i would also ban [1:18:55] cell phone use during the academic day in public schools all the way through high school i think it's [1:19:01] destructive to give kids products that their brains aren't fully developed and able to use safely and [1:19:09] so i would put those restrictions in place i think parents should have ultimate control in this situation [1:19:16] i'm raising my wife and i are raising two little kids they're eight and six years old we limit screen [1:19:21] time mr mahon same clarification you you say require parental consent are you yes or no on banning it [1:19:28] under the age of 16. the reason i would require parental consent under 16 is that there are lots [1:19:35] of educational tools that may have social components that might connect students there could be [1:19:40] applications that make sense but parents should have control over those decisions mr mahon thank you [1:19:45] mr becerra would you support a law that bans social media usage for kids under 16 30 seconds [1:19:52] addiction is dangerous yes i would absolutely work with legislators to make sure we can enact [1:19:58] such a law kids have died as a result of their use of social media kids are going into this this [1:20:06] spiral downhill where they're not doing anything but working playing with their phone it is time [1:20:11] for us to act and i will tell you as a former attorney general i will enforce that law to make sure we [1:20:17] are able to manage our children's development over the lifespan and what i will tell you is this we also [1:20:22] have to help those families that are trying to manage their kids use of these types of devices mr becerra [1:20:27] thank you mr bianco would you support a law that bans social media usage for kids under 16 you have 30 [1:20:34] seconds no that's up to their parents i i think it's interesting that drugs create mental illness too [1:20:40] and yet california democrats have made drugs legal in california but now we're going to ban social media [1:20:46] because it creates a mental health issue for kids under 16. we know it creates mental health issues for [1:20:51] adults social media is not a good thing for us to be spending 12 hours a day on but it is up to [1:20:58] parents what they want to do with their kids it's not up to the government to tell them what their kids [1:21:01] are going to do and i agree there are far too many educational benefits to these platforms then there [1:21:08] are dangers but it's up to parents all right mr bianco thank you nikki time's winding down so as we [1:21:14] like to say in tv we're going to switch gears and ask a bit of a lighter question so people watching can get [1:21:18] you know to know you on more of a personal level keep your answers a bit short here but since we're [1:21:23] on the streaming platform now we want to know what was the last streaming show that you watch mr steyer [1:21:29] we'll start with you i think the last streaming show i saw was probably marshalls marshall streaming [1:21:35] joe marshall okay yeah miss porter last streaming show that you watched i took a lot of heat from my [1:21:41] kids for this but i was watching heated rivalry okay miss porter thank you mr mahan last streaming show [1:21:47] that you watched it's the one with kerry russell i think it's called the diplomat or something the [1:21:52] diplomat yeah it's pretty good mr mahan thank you mr becerra last streaming show that you watched i [1:21:57] wish i could tell you that i have time to watch streaming shows i can't tell you that i'm much of [1:22:03] a tv watcher all right mr becerra thank you mr bianco last streaming show that you watched yeah i don't [1:22:08] stream and i don't watch tv okay mr bianco thank you mr hilton last streaming show that you watched [1:22:14] we're in the middle of it right now it's reacher uh one of my sons really enjoys that um probably [1:22:19] more than than the rest of us in the family but it's been good fun to watch together mr hilton thank [1:22:24] you thanks to all of you thanks to our candidates for being here uh this evening and we want to say [1:22:30] that uh oh i'm sorry did we not did we not ask someone yes okay we're ready to go i thought we [1:22:36] missed someone we want to make sure we know what you're streaming uh that wraps up wraps up our debate [1:22:42] for tonight we want to invite you to stay tuned uh for the spin room that's happening right here in [1:22:48] the studio live after the break uh so stay tuned for that and we want to remind everyone at home [1:22:55] uh ballots for the california primary election they start going out very soon on may 4th [1:23:00] uh and of course election day is on june 2nd we thank you for watching