Liz wagner good evening, and thanks for joining us. Tonight, we investigate, and hold the powerful accountable. State investigators are looking into what sparked a series of Deadly Wildfires in wine country last month, including links to pg e power lines. Right now, in gold country, more than 2,000 plaintiffs are suing the utility for another deadly fire that started when a single tree fell into a power line. A judge already found pg e responsible. Now a jury will determine if the company disregarded safety. Tonight, we investigate pg es treetrimming program and why critics say its putting your safety on the line. Liz september 9, 2015, a ferocious wildfire in the sierra foothills chases thousands from their homes. Janet lucich it was horrible. Liz janet lucich was out of town when she got a call. Her husband and kids were caught in the middle of it. Janet you stop breathing. I thought if they were dead, my heart would break. Liz with flames nearly on top of them rick lucich fire is coming this way. Liz rick lucich and his sons had only one way out. Rick it was a lifeanddeath situation. Liz they cut their way through thick brush and hiked down these hills to safety. Liz the area where were standing now, did this all burn . Rick oh, yeah, everything burned. As far as you can see, everything was burned. Liz janet and rick retired on 40 acres near a town called mokelumne hill, 60 miles east of sacramento. The butte fire, as its known, destroyed everything they own. Janet oh, it was lot of memories. Liz the fire burned 70,000 acres and leveled more than 500 homes, and it all started when a single tree, a grey pine, a hit a power line. Mike pg e knows about the risks. Liz attorney mike danko represents the lucich family. He says a pg e contractor should have cut down that grey pine. According to cal fire, a contractor inspected a cluster of trees and marked two outer trees for removal. The agencys investigation found taking out those trees weakened an inner tree, causing it to lean onto the power line. Cal fire concluded, pg e or its contractors failed to identify, the risk, and it sparked the butte fire. Mike their staff does not have the training and the qualifications that are required to do the work. Liz in this deposition, attorneys asked the contractor who did the inspection if she was trained to identify trees that become unstable, or if she knew the grey pine could pose a threat. She says, no. Just one tree led to a catastrophe. According to pg e, 55 Million Trees are at risk of hitting power lines. But in court documents, we learned about a pg e program that pushes contractors to work on fewer trees every year. The company sets targets and pays bonuses to contractors who meet those goals. Pg e says in court papers the Program Encourages contractors to, work the right trees more aggressively. Instead of continuously trimming trees, the company incentivizes contractors to remove them and reduce the work load in the future. Frank pitre this is like playing russian roulette. Liz frank pitre is one of the attorneys working the case. He argues the Bonus Program might cut costs, but it increases risk. Frank saving money is generally a good thing for a company, but you never try to save money by shortcutting safety, so thats, in my view, thats ugly. Liz pitre points to this deposition. Attorneys ask a manager at the same Contracting Company if he believes the bonus system incentivizes his people to not do their job. He answers, that is a concern. Though he says he never brought it up to pg e. Kevin eckert properly designed and implemented, i think a wellmanaged Incentive Program could work. Liz arborist kevin eckert has 40 years of experience designing Vegetation Management systems for utility companies. He may be called as a witness for the plaintiffs in this case. He says when Incentive Programs fail, its because of unqualified people. Kevin ive seen trees missed. Ive seen trees improperly pruned, such that they grow back even faster. Liz two years after the butte fire destroyed their property janet so, this is home. Liz the luciches are still waiting, waiting to rebuild, waiting for their day in court, waiting for answers from pg e. Janet do i have knowledge of what they do on the inside . Of course not. I only know how it affects me and how it has affected me. And now, hopefully, it wont affect people in the future. This is just horrible. Liz the judge in this case doesnt believe pg es Incentive Program contributed to the fire, but it remains controversial. The utility says its reinvesting the money it saves from trimming fewer trees into safety programs but we found that beefing up those programs also beefed up executive bonuses. Announcer its spillway collapsed back in february, but we uncovered other problems that experts say go beyond the spillway to the dam itself. The results of our 6month investigation into the oroville dam next. Collapsed in february, it forced nearly 200,000 people from their homes and prompted us to start digging. We found issues with the entire dam, not just the spillway. Our 6month investigation uncovered warning after warning that the dam itself needs serious attention and repair, problems that two former state insiders tell us are being kicked down the road and not being fully addressed. Stephen all summer and into the fall, work on orovilles collapsed spillway has forged on at a furious pace, as Californias Department of Water Resources races the clock to repair the milelong spillway before the next rainy season. But its whats not currently getting all this attention that concerns several engineers we spoke with. Don they dont know what to do. Stephen state Water Project engineer don colson retired 20 years ago after working on many facilities, including oroville dam and its spillway. Don i think it has failed. It just hasnt collapsed. Stephen we examined two decades worth of federal and state inspection reports, engineering studies, consultant letters, and memos, nearly 10,000 documents in all. They repeatedly identify safety issues which concerned several engineers we spoke with, issues such as a 15foot long crack in the concrete at gate 8 in the dams headworks, or a Flood Control structure, that appears to be growing; spalling or deterioration of concrete in other areas; cracking tendon on trunnion rods that help move the 20ton radial gates which control the flow of water through the dam; and failure to come up with a longterm plan acceptable to inspectors which would monitor the amount and flow of water that naturally goes through the earthen dam. If that water comes out at the wrong place and at the wrong speed, it could wash the dam away. Mark my driving force is out of concern for the public. Stephen this recently retired high level dwr administrator, who asked to be called mark, also worked as a field engineer on the state Water Project. Mark and theyre not addressing issues that have been raised, pointed out, documented in Previous Division of safety of dams inspection reports. Stephen mark joined another retired dwr engineer, tony, who worked on state Water Projects, including oroville dam. Both wanted to share their knowledge from the inside about how dwr runs, manages, and maintains its dams. Tony they have a tendency to reduce, try and reduce their maintenance costs by trying to do things themselves and not getting adequate technical help. Stephen they asked us to conceal their identities because both fear their pensions could be taken away for speaking out publicly. Tony here youre gonna have a catastrophic structural failure thats gonna not allow you to operate that facility the way its supposed to. Joel ledesma were pretty confident that, you know, the dam is safe. Stephen joel ledesma serves as Deputy Director on the state Water Project. He was there helping call the shots when oroville dams spillway began to fail. Joel ledesma well, we lose that and its uncontrolled, and we knew that that was a problem not only for public safety, but the environment safety and the dam structures. Stephen this is ledesmas first extensive interview since that spillway failure back in february. Stephen is the rest of the dam safe . Joel ledesma yes, i think from, you know, todays assessments, inspections, weve had high, you know, Structural Engineers lookin at those cracks. So, today, yes, obviously, we need to keep monitoring. We need to improve our maintenance programs. Stephen critics such as the engineers who used to work at dwr say these issues must be addressed now. Issues like that crack, which this report shoes in red paint, and says is growing in length. Tony cracks like that could really weaken the structure to the point where it could lead to a failure. Joel ledesma well, i think thats probably a miscommunication on its been growing. cause i had conversations with our dam safety engineers, and it has not grown. Stephen the cracks in the tendons, or trunnion rods that support the Flood Control gates, worry engineers we spoke to even more. Initial tests show 28 of those rods have cracks 1 32 of an inch or bigger, 6 of the cracks are larger than 1 16 of an inch. The reports also indicate that more comprehensive and precise tests are called for. Tony back ten, fifteen years ago when we were looking at it, these bolts were cracking and failing. If this gate fails, youre not going to be able to control the releases out of oroville. Stephen when i show you that, what does that say to you as an engineer . Don it tells me weve got a problem, and it tells me that were lucky that it hasnt manifested itself to a great problem and a crisis. Stephen but what draws the largest critical questions from the half dozen engineers we spoke to was this, dwr has failed to develop, quote a plan for long term monitoring of water that naturally leaks through the earthen dam, whats known as the phreatic surface. Inspectors raised this concern repeatedly in report after report over the last 5 years. It was listed on the most recent inspection report as the top issue to address. The reason . To keep the dam safe, experts say dwr must know with certainty how much water is coming out of the dam and where. Because if water flows out of the dam face instead of at the dams toe, erosion can occur and the entire dam could wash away. Stephen clearly, federal monitors are concerned about this issue. Joel ledesma we have a Monitoring System today. Obviously, dsod and ferc want us to improve that. Stephen but forgive me, the fact they keep repeating and pointing it out and pointing it out means it hasnt been addressed yet. Whats takin so long to address these issues . Joel ledesma you know, that i cant answer, and so, thats somethin that i could get back to you on on why so long. I dont have an answer for that. Stephen now, they never did get back to us, but after our investigation first aired in september, dwr announced it would conduct a comprehensive safety review of the entire oroville dam. They say the review was prompted after consultations with state and federal agencies. Dwr said the review is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. Announcer coming up next, as more transgender teens come out, which schools are prepared, and which are not . We investigated why some say its time for schools to educate their educators about transgender issues. The reuben is back for a limited time at subway. So much reuben. Who openly identify as transgender is expected to rise, in part because of new medical guidelines that allow trans kids to begin changing their bodies at younger ages. Gender clinics here in the bay area tell us they provide counseling to at least 550 transgender kids, so the total number of trans students in the area is likely higher. We spent months collecting data from School Districts all across the bay area to find out how teachers are now adapting to a changing student body. Bigad cals life has been filled with long and difficult journeys, but running was one way to fit in. Cal Cross Country was one of the only sports that the girls and the boys practiced at the same time and it was the same season. Bigad cal is transgender, and identifies as a mix of male and female, but didnt know how to tell friends or teachers in high school bigad you felt alone . Cal yeah, i felt alone. I felt scared. I felt i was in a really dark place. I would just cut myself under the desk because, as weird as it sounds, cutting gave me a sense of control. Bigad what made it so challenging . Cal a lot of times teachers didnt know how to treat me respectfully. Like, oh, man, are you gonna, you know, change your genitals . Thats not something you ask a high schooler. Bigad so, as a student, you felt like you had to educate your educators. Cal there was no training. Teachers didnt have any training on how to deal with trans people. When you dont really have anyone at school respecting and reassuring a really basic part of who you are, its horrible. Bigad our investigation revealed gender training for educators varies widely. We surveyed the 20 largest School Districts in the bay area. Each told us they provide training on transgender issues to at least some of their staff. But only 13 districts offer that education to all of their teachers. At Cupertino Union in vacaville unified, training is only held if a transgender student is enrolled at school. Joel baum by giving educators the language to understand the diversity of gender, it creates better conditions for our trans kids, but it also creates better conditions for every kid. Bigad joel baum has traveled the country over the past decade, teaching close to 30,000 educators about gender. Joel baum i know im gonna say the wrong thing. Anyone ever had that experience . Bigad hes a former teacher in the bay area and lead instructor with the group gender spectrum. Joel baum you would think that the only young people that have gender are trans, and apparently, they spend a lot of time going to the bathroom. Like, thats apparently what we bigad his session shed light on an evolving issue. Female gender identity, biological sex, gender expression bigad from vocabulary female mtf, ftm, mtm, ftf, transgender versus transgendered [fastforwarded audio] nonbinary, and probably much more. Bigad to stereotypes. Joel baum which color is the quote, unquote boy color . Bigad the teacher training here at fremont unified is a first for the district, and its in part thanks to cal, who spent high school advocating for it. Cal i was bullied in elementary school, called a, he she, by peers, and harassed in bathrooms from the time i was very, very young. Bigad whats at stake here . Bigad dr. Kim wallace is the districts superintendent, and started the new training. Bigad is there a danger on just staying silent on the issue . Dr. Kim wallace i think theres always a danger in staying silent. I really do stand by my belief that we are an educational institution, and what were doing is were educating people about an issue that hasnt really been talked about. Bigad four the bay areas largest School Districts told us training courses on transgender issues are not offered to teachers. The livermore district was the only one to agree to an interview. Chris van schaack its new to us, and i will be the first one to say that this is an area in which im not an expert. Bigad Chris Van Schaack is deputy superintendent. He says teachers can rely on administrators who are trained each year to support trans students throughout the district. Chris gender biases and pronoun usage and thinks like that, those are things that we need to become more comfortable with. Bigad should that be taken as a sign that the district is in need of more education . Chris yeah, i mean, i wouldnt if you asked me that question about anything, is the district in need of more training . On anything, i would say, yes. I do think its necessary. I will say we havent done that yet. Bigad do you think thats something you might consider in the future . Chris absolutely, yeah. Bigad even as cal packs for college, the 18yearold is still trying to unpack the emotional baggage of high school. Cal says educators need to stop running away and join others in moving forward with more training. Cal all it really takes is a couple of people in your life to say, we got you, to not feel so alone. Bigad to find out if educators in your community receive training on transgender issues, just log on to our website and search for your school district. There you can learn whats being taught to teachers, staff, and students. Thats all at nbcbayarea. Com weinvestigate. Announcer coming up William Johnson white people cannot say that theyre proud to be white, or theyre called racist. Announcer William Johnson calls himself a White Nationalist. Up next, we investigate the politicians taking Campaign Cash from johnson, and other donors who lead groups with extremist views. Its a hotbutton issue sparking national protests. The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit based in alabama that keeps a list of organizations it calls, hate groups. We uncovered some politicians who denounced discrimination took money from leaders of these groups. William white people cannot say that theyre proud to be white, or theyre called racist. Vicky like most political activists, William Johnson wants to transform america. William i personally would like to have a white ethnostate, a place where we can have our own country, our own language, our own heritage. Vicky this selfproclaimed White Nationalist william we live in an era of antiwhite indoctrination vicky and chair of the American Freedom party believes that whites and minorities dont belong in the same country. That view earned him a spot on the Southern Poverty Law Centers hate map. Vicky youre absolutely right, there is racial strife in the united states, but