Political Breakdown

Barbara Lee is running for mayor of Oakland in next week’s special election. If she wins, it would be the capstone of a long and storied political career that took her from the East Bay to Sacramento and Washington D.C., where she spent nearly three decades in Congress. Lee joins Marisa and Guy in studio to discuss why she wants to lead Oakland now, as the city faces a significant budget deficit and ongoing challenges related to public safety, homelessness and more. 

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President Donald Trump is going after big law, slapping sanctions and punishments on firms whose past work or lawyers he doesn’t like. Although several big firms have capitulated to Trump, others are fighting back — including San Francisco firm Keker, Van Nest & Peters. 

Marisa joins the firm's co-founder and partner John Keker at his San Francisco office to discuss why the law firm is willing to put its own business at risk to take on the president. 

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The debate over transgender athletes was the focus of a heated hearing in Sacramento this week. California lawmakers rejected two bills sponsored by Republicans that would have limited trans high school athletes from participating in girls' sports. The San Francisco Chronicle's politics reporter Sophia Bollag joins Scott and Guy to discuss the "Capitol showdown." 

Plus, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced his bid to become California's first Latino governor. Becerra sued  the Trump administration 120 times as attorney general of California and enters an already crowded field of Democratic candidates. 

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On April 15th, Oakland voters will elect a new mayor to finish out recalled mayor Sheng Thao's term.

One of the leading candidates is former city councilmember Loren Taylor. Taylor narrowly lost to Thao three years ago and faces former Congresswoman Barbara Lee in the special election. Scott and Guy are joined in studio by Taylor to hear why he thinks he has what it takes to lead Oakland at a time when the city is facing some tough challenges, including serious budget problems and concerns over public safety. 

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President Trump is promising that tomorrow will be “Liberation Day” when he rolls out another round of tariffs. California, a major trading partner with Mexico and Canada, is right in the cross hairs of the tariff tumult. Scott is joined by Christopher Thornberg, an economist and founding partner of Beacon Economics, to unpack the impact on California industries. 

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As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency guts the federal workforce, Tesla’s electric cars have a major brand problem, triggering protests at Tesla dealerships and reports of vandalism of Tesla cars. Scott, Marisa and Guy discuss the fallout and the Trump administration's response. 

Plus, Democrats are buzzing over journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's book "Abundance," which spells out how liberals have become their own worst enemy.

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Democrats are trying to figure out a way forward after their bruising ballot box defeat last fall. Some in the party are pushing for a new generation of leadership, saying the current gerontocracy hasn’t kept up with the political reality.

One such person challenging the party establishment is Saikat Chakrabarti, who announced he's running for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's seat in 2026. Chakrabarti made his fortune as an engineer at the payment platform Stripe, before leaving the tech industry to enter politics. He worked for Bernie Sanders' 2016  presidential campaign and helped get Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez elected to Congress, briefly serving as her chief of staff.

Chakrabarti joins Marisa and Scott to offer his take on how Democrats can find their way out of the political wilderness.

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 As Republicans avoid town hall meetings with their constituents, Democrats are happily filling the void. Silicon Valley Congressman Ro Khanna visited three Republican congressional districts this past weekend, warning that Republican cuts to Medicaid will hit them especially hard. Scott and Marisa are joined by Guy, who is in Bakersfield where he attended one of Khanna's town hall gatherings on Sunday. 

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Silicon Valley Congressman Ro Khanna has emerged as a leading voice in the Democratic party. Khanna was elected to Congress in 2016 and his district covers parts of Silicon Valley including the headquarters for companies like Elon Musk's Tesla factory. Khanna has emerged as a different kind of Democrat: an economic populist who criticizes his party for losing touch with its core principles while offering a path forward after last year's election. 

As he prepares to hold town hall meetings in three Republican congressional districts in California, Khanna talks with Scott and Marisa about his party’s future.

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Former Orange County Congresswoman Katie Porter is running for governor in 2026. The populist consumer advocate and law professor made a name for herself in Congress, grilling CEOs with her famous "Whiteboard of Justice." However, Porter lost last year's U.S. Senate race. Porter joins Marisa and Scott to share her pitch for governor.

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