Much is given, much will be expected. And trump took military action against syria. It is in this Vital National security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. But opposition to his agenda continues on capitol hill, in the streets, and in the ports. Tonight on kqed newsroom, the first 100 days of the Trump Administration ask its impact on california. Hello. And welcome. Im thuy vu. Tonight on newsroom, a special onehour program about the first 100 days of the Trump Administration. Well talk with californians who voted for trump to get their assessment. And well get a snapshot from different parts of california from kqed reporters around the state. Wus well here from people who have become politically active for the First Time Since trump took office. First i talk with california congressman adam schiff, ranking democrat on the house intelligence committee. He played a key role in calling for an impartial probe into russias hacking of the president ial election. Leading to this revelation by fbi director james comey. I have been authorized by the department of justice to confirm that the fbi, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 president ial election. And joining me now is congressman adam schiff. Congressman, welcome back to the program. Thank you, great to be with you again. Well, russia connections are continuing to make headlines in the first 100 days of the Trump Administration. Particularly about Michael Flynn, President Trumps former National Security adviser. Do you think he broke the law by not disclosing payments he received in business dealings with russia . It certainly does look like an apparent violation of law. Think there are three legal clouds now hanging over general flynn. The first is whether he was legally entitled or even able to accept the payments that he did from foreign powers, from russian entities, from the turkish government. The second is whether he violated the law by not reporting the receipt of these payments so when he submitted his forms for his Security Check where you are required to report contacts with foreign powers. Then finally a question about whether any of the false statements he may have made also subject him to legal liability. So i think there are a lot of legal concerns in terms of the generals conduct. That may go into why the general has asked our committee for immunity. That is something that we wouldnt consider until we had reviewed all of the other witnesses and documents and determined, based on a proffer from general flynn, whether his testimony would add value. Wed obviously want to talk with the Justice Department to make sure that their equities were considered. But i think there are a lot of legal questions now swirling around general flynns conduct. How would you assess the performance of the Trump Administration so far in the first 100 days, insofar as its impact in california . Well, you know, to be candid, its hard to imagine an administration off to a worse start from the California Point of view. An administration that is running in the wrong direction when it comes to issues like climate change, where california has been the leader. The administration has been repealing the obama clean power plan. Wants to go backwards in terms of fuel efficiency standards for vehicles. May walk away from the Global Climate agreement we reached in paris that United States helped lead that global effort. So on environment, its been disastrous 100 days. Hes also thinking about repealing the establishment of some of the national monuments. When it comes to the immigrant families in our district and breaking up families, the far more aggressive deportation policies are a disaster. When it comes to our relations with our southern neighbor, a wall proposal is a disaster. The Health Care Plan the republicans have and the president supports would cut more californians off of health care than any other state. So in each and every way, whether its tax cuts, immigration, the wall, the environment, this administration couldnt be more hostile to the values that our state embodies. President trump this week released his texas reform plan. It includes massive tax cuts for corporations. What is your reaction to that plan . Well, i have a couple of reactions. You know, its certainly good for people like the president that have a big business and would benefit from that kind of a major tax cut for corporations and for very wealthy americans. But the biggest problem is, none of it is paid for so its all pie in the sky. Its all, well, we can give everybody a tax cut, we dont have to cut anyones services, and we dont have to worry about our deficits and debt. Well, we already have a substantial deficit, a very substantial national debt, this will add 7 trillion to 10 trillion to the national debt. So its not so much a tax plan as it is kind of a wish list of what the president would like to do to his wealthy benefactors, for his wealthy benefactors, and for his own family. But it doesnt offer much for americans and for people in california in particular, it would really hurt us. In a couple ways. It would hurt us because theyre going to do away with the deduction for state and local taxes, meaning states like california that provide a lot of services will have to cut those services because the states wont get that kind of benefit anymore. And when you add that to the Health Care Reform proposal republicans have, it means wed be cutting millions off of medicaid in california. Wed be cutting millions out of the exchanges that have preexisting conditions who couldnt afford coverage. And the states would be in even worse position to provide any backfill support because of this tax cut plan of the president s. So for california, terrible news all around. Also wanted to turn to Foreign Policy with you and ask about north korea and the rising tensions there. What tools do we have in our diplomatic arsenal right now to contain the north korean threat . The most important one that we have is our ability to use our leverage with china. We dont have that much leverage anymore with north korea. We already sanctioned them, at least directly, in as many ways as we possibly could. But there are other steps that we can take to impress upon china, which provides this lifeline, the safety valve, for north korea, to clamp down on the north if its going to continue with its Nuclear Missile program. So theres a lot the chinese can do that they havent been willing to do. And to the degree we impress upon china that, look, if you dont take these steps, were going to have to do things for our own National Security and that of our allies that youre not going to want to see. Were going to have to increase our military and nato presence in the region. Were going to have to be more aggressive in terms of our implementation in Missile Defense which were starting to implement in south korea. Were going to impose secondary sanctions meaning were going to sanction chinese banks for doing business with north korea. These are kind of steps that the chinese do not want to see happen but i think if we explain, these are going to be necessary, it may motivate the chinese to do a lot more. Its still no guarantee that the chinese can get north korea to back off but we do need to explore every lever we have, because the military options are just so awful. All right. Congressman schiff, thank you so much for being with us. You bet, thank you. Still ahead, we will hear from people who have become politically active for the First Time Since trump was elected. But right now, for a different look at President Trumps first 100 days in office, we turn to kqed Senior Editor for politics and government, scott shafer. Joining me now are Republican NationalCommittee Woman from california, harmit dillon. Long dive time republican political consultant sean walsh. San Francisco Chronicle politics reporter joe garafoli, welcome. Something we heard adam schiff talk about, that is the california penalty. Noting that a lot of the president s policies on the environment, health care, immigration, the new tax plan, seem to be singling out california for additional punishment. Sean, what do you think of that notion . I dont think its singling out california for punishment, but california always wants to have it kind of my way. They almost act like theyre an independent state. So i remember when governor wilson was governor, you had a number of folks who said, well, california cant have its own immigration policy, the federal government has that exclusive right and responsibility. Now its 180 degrees different. So the truth of the matter is california wants a lot and asks for a lot and acts like its its own independent state but its not being punished, it just has policies out of the mainstream and policies donald trump articulated when he was running for office. Is there an element of payback to any of this in terms of, you gave Hillary Clinton 4. 3 million votes than i got . Not at all. Every republican i know and a lot of state voters and democrats are very much anticipating and looking forward to law and order returning to california. The immigration failure to enforce our immigration laws is a big problem for safety and security what about the tax plan . That in particular, and i realize its just a onepage piece of paper and not implemented. A recently floated onepage piece of paper. I seriously doubt there was a lot of analysis that went into it with regard to that one aspect, the deduction of the state income taxes. Im sure there will be a number of refinements. We have a lot of members of congress from california from both parties who will have a lot to say about that. So its a draft. I dont see it as some kind of penalty. Joe, just politics . Californias treating it like its a penalty. Setting up their own sanctuary state. Even talking about setting up their own Sanctuary Cannabis state. So california can have its own cannabis laws and push back on the federal intrusion to those. So its definitely politics. You know its good for politicians thats the way the states and the south acted with regard to the slavery issue as well. And so there are limits to the concept of federalism and the federal government does have exclusive jurisdiction over some areas of our laws. And california needs to respect that. So scott what adams not saying is, so california, Huge Companies that have hundreds of billions of dollars offshore. Apple, google. If we repatriate that money to the United States, apple, google, those companies are going to bring that money back to california and california is going to have a windfall of tax benefits. Taking a step back, big picture, almost 100 days of the Trump Administration. One word for you that encapsulates the first 100 days . Gorsuch. Gorsuch, okay. Slow, steady progress. Not one word thats not one word. Joe . Chaos. So im wondering, certainly the Gorsuch Nomination, big success, everyone would agree. He has done a lot of the things he said he would do on immigration, environmental regulations. Yet his Approval Ratings are very low. Im wondering why do you think he hasnt been able to move beyond his base in terms of what people think about him and whether they support him or not . He doesnt hes not yet learned that governing is different than campaigning. Fantastic campaigner as we saw. But he didnt come in with he makes these pronouncements but there hasnt been the policy behind them. Whether it be syria, which was well received on both sides of the aisle. Whats our syria policy . He violated politics 101 by bringing the Affordable Care act vote or halting that was that him or paul ryan . Both. He has to own that too. Reince priebus should know better, paul ryan should know better. He has both houses of congress. This is his time to act and were not seeing it. Joe said he violated all the rules. Hes been doing that all along and people keep waiting for the laws of gravity to apply and they dont seem to apply to him. My abuse of the oneword rule, number one he only has his cabinet secretaries in place. Ive been back in california the past two weeks. Its almost a ghost town around the executive offices. The assistant secretaries and deputy secretaries have been appointed but not confirmed and put into place. I think youll see progress on that issue. The one area i think that i have concern about is mr. Trump is going to have to work with the members of congress on the republican side and get legislative successes. It is critical those two elements work together. Because the clock is ticking. When you go into next year, you are going to be looking at a reelection cycle. Everything changes. Has he squandered the honeymoon . Typically the first few months you can get a lot done because your popularity is high, people are giving you the benefit the doubt hes not playing by any traditional rules. I agree with both the other speakers here that hes if it could come from his mouth and directly to his base and sign it like the executive orders, then thats gone very well. That part where hes able to exert his will over the jurisdiction that he has. But where dealing with congress is a predicate to getting things done, i think thats where the team has got some ways to go. On the executive orders, the first travel ban was struck down. The second one was as well. And he didnt run it really by the agencies that were affected. Homeland security, so on. Even i think linreince priebus didnt read it. That is a failure of just being coordinated . Rookie mistake . His temperament . What accounts for that sort of beginning . What accounts for that beginning is im not sure how many people actually thought mr. Trump was going to win. He ran an Unconventional Campaign that was very small so he didnt have very large teams in place that then get pulled up and put into an administration. Even his white house team. I dont think he had the personnel and people around him to implement what he wanted to do and i think he rushed to try to execute things he said im going to do on day one. You say day one but you need to have your act together, your policy in order, and your fact sheets done. They just threw it all out there and it was easy to get mashed up in a blunder. Day 100, he doesnt have number two, number three, number four, number anything in the department of justice. S so the lawyers who are arguing and processing the defense of all these important issues are either legacies from Obama Administration or career officials who dont share the views of the president. And that shows in the lawyering. But hes also, like in the state department, said theres a bunch of jobs im not going to fill at all. Because we dont need them. That appeals to the base. Less government is more. And but you have to also have enough team players to get stuff done. The thing is, he played 103 promises during the campaign. Hes kept six so far. And none of them had to do with the cooperation of congress. So he has to link arms. And but lets face it, heres a guy whos come from spent his career in a familyowned business with no board pushing back against him. Theres nobody whos pushing back against him now. And he has to learn to play in the sand box with other people. He hasnt been doing that. You mentioned california at the beginning with adam schiff. And whether or not is he taking it out on california . There was also a 650 million grant for cal train electrification that got yanked back. What about that . Is that not punishing the state or punishing jerry brown . It got more yanked back, actually, from republicans in congress who dont think we should have the highspeed rail and thats effective use of the money. I wouldnt conflate that as punishment for california, they just dont like that policy, they dont want to see the federal government on the hook for tens of billions of dollars which will probably be over a 100 billion train all said and done. Its exposes regional differences in california. Devin nunes told us at the quenlgs, why doesnt Silicon Valley pay for that . All those rich guys there. Why is that incumbent on the federal government to pay that . Theres regional pay back he ran on infrastructure, we havent seen any plan which presumably would include rail. Theres legitimate concern by any sane person looking at the way california has run its finances, the uc system slush fund for example, can you trust california for money . I give them money for this, maybe not looking at the fine details, and will it go into some other pocket of pie in the sky project like the high speed rail project that democrats and republicans a lot of them have concerns about. Go ahead, sean. Well, and to further add to that, california is part of their health care put 4 Million People on medical. 4 million. So they are now putting its also a very stable exchange. Well lets see. When the bills come due and the fact that the federal government as it phases out or ramps down how much money were going to give to the state of california. Putting forward a single Payer Initiative . Last time mr. Leno put a similar bill forward, department of finance scored that a 250 billion cost. Jerry brown has indicated hes not going to sign that. Also those folks on medical, the expansion, a lot of those folks are in trump counties that he won. He could be his own political seed corn if they lose their health care and theyre like, wait a minute, what happened, i voted f