Navy SEAL Trial Starts, Susan Davis' Green Deal, Antarctica's Ice Melt Affecting Local Sea Levels

Speaker 1: 00:00 The trial of a decorated navy seal accused of war crimes during our 2017 deployment to Iraq got underway in San Diego today. Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher has pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder for allegedly stabbing an isis fighter in his care and attempted murder in the shooting of two civilians. The trial follows months of speculation and debate over whether Gallagher's should be allowed to retire as quote a modern day war hero as his brother describes him or face life in prison for murder. You're in studio. To bring us up to date is Steve Walsh gave UBS military reporter. Thanks for joining US Steve. So after all these months of delay, what can we expect as the trial and volts this week? Speaker 2: 00:44 So all of this has been preamble. Up until this point, we've had, uh, the president, uh, intervening or, or, uh, alleged to have intervene talking about pardoning Eddie Gallagher, along with other people that have been accused of war crimes. We've had allegations by the defense that the prosecutors were spying them by sending these email trackers to them to try to identify the source of leaks in the case media leaks. And there have been a hundreds of pages of documents leaked in this case. But all of that is preamble now the trial begins. So there are seven seals who were set to testify in this case against their, their commander at a Gallagher. Speaker 1: 01:25 Do we know anything about those seals? Speaker 2: 01:27 Well, they are undercover as a seals are. We know that it took almost a year before this, these charges surfaces and the investigation began into um, these alleged war crimes by Eddie Gallagher. Uh, we know that, um, they have been granted immunity to testify against him. There has been, uh, the defense has though they have been saying all along that some of these seals are beginning to change their stories and that they may not say what prosecutors expect them to say. Speaker 1: 01:58 What kind of evidence are prosecutors expecting to be made public at this trial? Speaker 2: 02:02 So what he's accused of doing is killing a wounded teenage isis fighter in his custody. There is a a photograph of him posing with the body. There is a text that where he says basically I got in with my hunting knife. Uh, and then we're going to see in the next couple of days while starting probably at about Wednesday after opening arguments, we are going to start seeing these seals testified. This first week is going to be the bulk of prosecutor's case against Lee Gallagher. So after all of this preamble, we're going to really hear what these seals have to say. Speaker 1: 02:36 So the jury is being selected today and uh, the, the military court Marshall Process does differ from the civilian criminal court process. Right? Speaker 2: 02:44 There are a couple of different things that are different from military court and civilian court. There's something called a convening authority, which is basically the commander for naval base San Diego that that person decides whether or not somebody is actually going go to court marshal. I'm, that person could also decided to dismiss this case entirely if they want to. And yes, the, this will be a jury that is made up of, of, of officers. And because Gatto Gallagher is an enlisted person also about a third of the panel will be enlisted members. Speaker 1: 03:18 So now the military judge has already reduced the possible sentence that Gallagher faces if found guilty, tell us what does he face now and, and why did the judge reduced that penalty? Speaker 2: 03:27 So it was reduced because of these allegations of spine, this email tracker that was sent to the defense and to Carl [inaudible], the reporter at Navy Times. So because of the, these allegations were proved true that this in fact did happen. They removed the prosecutor, Christopher Chap Black, he was the one who actually sent these email trackers to the defense team. And the judge then I was further mitigation before trial allowed Eddie Gallagher to go free to help aid in his own defense. And, and one of the last things he did before seeing that the trial will continue is that he decided that he, the death penalty would no longer be part of this case. So he faces life imprisonment for these charges Speaker 1: 04:11 and he also dismissed the prosecution. Right? Speaker 2: 04:15 Indeed. He dismiss Christopher Chaplain. He was determined to be the one who had actually sent the uh, the email trackers and that he had worked with MCIs to actually create the email tracker that he sent out all part of this leak investigation. They've replaced them with the new prosecutor, a commander Jeff, and I hope I have this name pronounced correctly. Pastrick Uhh, he replaced chap black. Uh, there was a junior prosecutor that was in there with chap black and he remains on the case. So they really only delayed it just a little while longer, but it seems to be full steam ahead. Speaker 1: 04:50 How much of a handicap do you think that would be the prosecution that they were replaced as soon before the, Speaker 2: 04:55 well, you have to imagine this case has been going on. I mean, originally Gallagher was taken into custody on September 11, the 2018 the investigation had been going on long before that and now just a few weeks before trial, your lead prosecutor has been removed. I would imagine that would be a somewhat of a handicap. Speaker 1: 05:13 Any sense of how long this trial is expected to last year? Speaker 2: 05:16 Yes, indeed. Indeed. So we actually know that the judge wants this to wrap up by July 5th. He's, he's ex, he expects this to take three weeks and then after that it will go to the jury. But, uh, as I was saying earlier that this week is going to be significant, that not only will there be opening arguments going on, but that all of these seals are expected to testify. So by the end of this week, we should have a very good idea. We've, there's been a tremendous amount of media speculation all the way up to the president. Uh, we are going to know what those seals say in court soon. Speaker 1: 05:50 Thanks for the update. Steam. Thanks Alison. That's KBPS military reporter Steve Walsh, who is going to be covering the trial. Thanks. Speaker 3: 05:57 Ah. Speaker 1: 00:00 Congresswoman Susan Davis will become the third member of San Diego's delegation to sign on to the green new deal representatives, one Vargas and Mike Levin had both already signed the framework for responding to global warming. Davis announced her support this weekend at a forum she hosted on climate change as part of the coverage from the KPBS climate change desk. Democrats who's in Davis joins me now to talk about why she now supports the green new deal. Representative Davis, welcome. Speaker 2: 00:28 Hi, how are you? Good morning. Speaker 1: 00:29 Good thanks. The green new deal framework was announced in February and you didn't sign on then. Why do you support it now? Speaker 2: 00:36 Well, as my constituents know, I'm pretty deliberate about how I made these decisions and I really wanted to have a good sense of what it really contained. Um, but to compare that also with my job at hand, uh, and all of our jobs in the congress, which is to legislate, to be able to take ideas and policy policy proposals and really turn those into legislation so that they can be enacted. And that's an important thing that we need to do around the issue of climate change because as we know, um, we're almost like the game right now. We need to move forward as quickly as we can and we need to put forward proposals that really will have an impact. The one of the greatest ones, uh, the that has been proposed in the past and is being proposed now of course, um, is putting a tax on carbon, um, that everyone agrees, all the scientists agrees we'll have the biggest impact. Speaker 2: 01:34 What I have learned and seen, however, um, from a lot of the enthusiasm and really the fear, the concern that is out there is that we also need to rally our troops. And so I think what the green new deal allows is that kind of rallying effort, the idea that all hands have to be on deck for this. We have to do everything possible at local levels, at state level, and at the federal level. Regulating as you know, what we can that's achievable and it's really going to have the best impact. There are many different ways we can do this. So I welcome all those ideas and, and, and I came to, to feel that, um, the green new deal, while it is not legislation, it does provide the motivation and the desire for people to be involved to see this as all connected in some way. Uh, our national security, which we talked about yesterday, the economy of course housing issues, uh, oh, that, that really is so much a part of our lives and I think that the green new deal touches on that. It inspires, it is aspirational, but it is a part of everything that has to happen Speaker 1: 02:54 end. Speaker 2: 02:54 That's, that's why I did it. Speaker 1: 02:56 You've mentioned the carbon tax. Is that something that you're in of? Yes, I am. And you were asked whether or not you supported the green new deal by audience members at the event. Am I right to conclude that, that you didn't plan to make this announcement on Saturday? Speaker 2: 03:10 Well, you know, we had been planning to have this, this forum on, this is the fifth one we've had, uh, that really brings to the community the important concerns of the day. We did one on North Korea. We did modern Russia, China, and cyber, and this is the next one that we were doing. And Planning on doing was, was really on, uh, these urgent issues around climate change. And so we were gonna do this regardless. And I didn't know if I would be in the place that, to see everything in this big picture. And, and I felt that we had gotten to that point. What I did ask the people there, um, was the, I want them there when we're working on legislation to, I want them there when we're doing some of the really hard work around how we balance the needs of our community with the urgent needs, uh, of lowering emissions and how we see that in, in, in a really a global context. So I did tell them that I, I was counting on them because many of them are the foot soldiers behind this effort right now, and we want them with us. Um, beyond the green new deal. Speaker 1: 04:25 Do you, I mean, do you have legislation you intend to introduce that would fall under the green new deal? Speaker 2: 04:30 Well, I think I've actually introduced over the years, uh, and been part of legislation that speaks to some of the elements. Um, whether it's new jobs in the economy, how we train, uh, our, our workers, how we make sure that students are getting the kind of education they need that helps them to ask appropriate questions about how we move forward. I think so much of what I've done, I'm in the education field speaks to this. I also think in national security, uh, because my interest has always been whether it's here on our basis or others, we have real concerns about how this is impacting national security and that's going to affect all of us for the future. So I think you can find something in there, um, for what we do today. But more than that, what we do in the future, I think the, the key really is, is in not having a sense that, well, we did that. You know, we talked about it. Um, we have a proposal, but it's got to be translated into legislation that is impactful. And I think what's happening here in California and certainly in San Diego, but across the country in some states, far more than others because of where they are and their needs is in thinking more about how they build out communities today. Speaker 1: 05:54 Right. And so do you have ideas for legislation going forward specifically? Speaker 2: 05:58 Oh, absolutely. Um, and I'm working in an area is actually even a, along with, in higher ed around apprenticeship, you know, how we bring young people into fields, how we introduce them, how will you expose them to some of this because that's what's important. You know, we need to be sure that we have, uh, uh, a huge cadre of people for the future that know what they're doing and that asks the right questions. And I think that we can do that. Uh, I'm thinking a lot more long term in some of this. Um, but I also believe that as we work on what is the way that, that this actually makes a difference in terms of bringing down ambitions. And everybody talks about that, you know, the carbon dioxide, how it, how is it that we're going to do that? We know we're not the only ones out there. Speaker 2: 06:45 And, uh, you know, we could say, well, you know, if India doesn't do this and if China doesn't do this, but we have an obligation, we have a responsibility. And so I think that that all comes together. Uh, and I, and I, as I said, I don't think the green new deal stands alone by any means, but I do think that we need to be mindful that all hands have to be on deck. We've got to have a, an environment that is encouraging people to be as entrepreneurial, as innovative as possible. And I think that changing kind of economy that we need, um, is going to be, I hope that with the work that we all do, that it will be very respectful of where our climate change, uh, could bring us, uh, to a very bad place in the future. Um, or to a place that we can moderate, we can mitigate and that will be better for all generations to come. Speaker 1: 07:40 I've been speaking with representative Susan Davis. Thank you, representative Davis. Sure. Uh Huh. Thanks for checking. Speaker 1: 00:00 The southern California coast is facing some potentially drastic changes as the level of the ocean rises in coming decades from a climate change desk. KPBS environment report at Eric Anderson, fines that are warming climate is already affecting change and San Diego's ocean waters as researchers have found at the end of script's pier. Speaker 2: 00:24 Yeah, Speaker 3: 00:24 once a day for more than a hundred years. Someone on this day, Sean Bruise has come here, opened the door and dropped us sample tube. So right now we collect two samples into the water below you take a sea surface sample and a bottom sample temperatures taken here last summer where the highest ever recorded an oceanographer. Melissa Carter says that isn't just a seasonal elaboration. What we've found is since 2004 we've actually had quite a bit of warming. A warming ocean is changing the underwater environment. Some species that used to thrive here are having a tougher time and Scripps Institution of Oceanography Researcher Helen Fricker says it's also one of three main causes of sea level rise. Speaker 4: 01:09 The temperature of the ocean, the average temperature of the ocean is increasing. And because of that, the entire ocean volume is expanding and there's only one way for that to go because the basins are all fixed and so it just rises up. Speaker 3: 01:23 Water from melting glaciers in the world's highest mountain ranges is another source pushing up sea levels and sea levels are going up because two great reservoirs of ice in Greenland and Antarctica are melting. Fricker has studied the Antarctica ice for 25 years and she surprised at what's happening there. Now Speaker 4: 01:42 the changes that we're seeing in, um, in the untaught take and Greenland ice sheets have really kicked in in the last decade or two. We are now seeing signals that appear to be starting to accelerate. We're getting an increase in the amount of mass coming off the ice sheets Speaker 3: 01:59 and the potential impact is massive. The frozen continent holds enough eyes to push up worldwide sea levels by about 180 feet. Think of the kissing statue sculpture near the USS Midway, seven of them stacked on top of each other are just under 180 feet. Add the ice on Greenland and sea levels could rise another 20 feet. Scripts or researcher [inaudible] Studies, Greenland, which is much warmer than the southern continent. Speaker 1: 02:27 Greenland is changing faster right now and target accounts are about 10% of global sea level rise. Greenland is about twice step 20% but in terms of potential longterm contribution and tired Tikka holds about 10 times as much ice or water. Speaker 3: 02:47 Strange. No. Says the pace of change is a surprise for researchers. Glacial change no longer means very long time scales and that has scientists in a race to catch up. She says tracking and those changes can be dangerous work. Speaker 1: 03:01 What we really need is measurements as close as we can get to where the ice meets the ocean, but that's probably one of the most challenging places where to get observations on the planet. The edge of these glaciers that flow into the ocean is a really dramatic place. Big icebergs breaking off. Speaker 5: 03:21 Let me take the cap off. Yeah. Okay. Speaker 3: 03:24 Stray. No, and Fricker and scientists around the world are working to understand the changing conditions and the pace of change. They want to know how warmer air and warmer ocean temperatures are contributing to the situation. Speaker 4: 03:38 That's the big sort of holy grail question about both of these ice sheets. It's how much ice are we going to lose and how fast or how quickly are we going to lose that ice? Because when you start to think about half a meter, one meter of sea level rise over the next several decades, it really matters how many decades we're talking about and how many sort of tens of centimeters we're talking about. Because if you think about cities and planning and people living near the ocean, um, it's going to affect a lot of communities and we need to know for planning purposes how quickly we need to start making these changes. Speaker 3: 04:13 Fricker says even a change of a few feet can have significant economic impacts. Coastal properties can be swamped and low lying airports in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, all face threats from rising ocean levels. Erik Anderson, KPBS news, Speaker 1: 04:32 joining me now is Fiamma Australia, the Scripps Institution of oceanography researcher who is studying the ice sheets in Greenland. Thanks for joining us. Fiamma thank you for having me. So we heard you say in Eric story that Greenland holds less of the ice. It could potentially lift sea levels, uh, than the Antarctic does, but then it's warmer so it's melting faster. Why is it warmer up there? Uh, so two reasons. One, the atmosphere, the air temperatures over Greenland are warmer, uh, in part and, and, and the ocean waters around Greenland or warmer, it's just because of the layout of the continent and how they would set pathway for warm ocean water carried by the Gulf stream and towards the Arctic in Europe to reach pretty close to Greenland. And this, this has an impact both on the air temperature and the ocean temperatures, whereas an tire tech is like its own little island surrounded by very cold waters and, and a system of ocean currents that keeps it cold throughout both the atmosphere and the ocean. Speaker 1: 05:40 Oh, understand sea level doesn't rise uniformly planet wide. What, why is that? And this southern California sea level affected more by Antarctica then Greenland ice melt. So, uh, sea level, it's the regional sea level, the local sea level. The one we really care about off of our coast is a influenced, not just by how much water there is in the ocean and what the volume of the entire ocean is, but also by ocean currents that can cause sea level to rise on one side and lower on the other. Or what's happening now is as we're losing ice from the ice sheets, um, you can picture a nice sheet as a big mass and it attracts water to it, much like the moon attracts a water. And, and uh, we get tides, so it's the ice sheets melt this gravitational attraction that they had on the ocean waters, it's decreasing. Speaker 1: 06:42 And so we're going to see sea level drop near Greenland and near Antarctica as the ice melts. And it tends to produce sea level rise just by changes in the gravitational attraction on the ocean waters in the [inaudible] band, all the way up to the mid latitudes. So these patterns make it such that even if we know how much extra water is going into the ocean or how much the ocean has expanded, there's bulges that are different all over the ocean. In, in response to sea level rise. So should San Diego sons be paying more attention to what's happening in the Antarctic or in Greenland? I think to both because both ice sheets are contributing to sea level rides. Um, but the, the, the way the, the patents of discreditation of attraction are changing and tired to guys likely to have a slightly larger effect on sea level rise off the coast of California, then Greenland, um, but not just the ice sheets. Also, the system of current and the atmospheric patterns, um, are really going to effect exactly where sea level rights happens or how much sea level rise happen. Now the world from Pri has been running radio stories from reporters who traveled to Greenland and the Antarctic, uh, where the ice is melting and we have a piece of sand from Amy Martin who recorded this, a noise of the ice melting by holding a microphone too, Speaker 6: 08:16 provides in the ice sheets in Greenland as listen. That's a pretty ominous kind of a sound. Have you heard that sounds Yama. Speaker 1: 08:27 I, I've seen, I've heard, um, the sound of of ice melting over the ice sheets. I've been on the Greenland ice sheet and especially at its margins and not only are the sounds amazing from the ice melting, but also from the pieces of ice breaking off and, and the sides. It's, it's something, the scale of what is happening, it's difficult for all of us to imagine unless you're actually, and you can put it in perspective, when you see icebergs that are a mile long Rolan break off. Um, it, it sounds like funder, it's, it's incredibly loud. How are you going about measuring the rate of ice melt up there in Greenland? So the measurement of the rates of ice, the rate of ice melt, our best measurements are from satellites that in different ways can tell us either about the change in volume by looking at what, where the surface of the ice sheets or, um, how the gravitational attraction, again, changes in you can reconstruct a, the mass loss. Speaker 1: 09:38 Um, what I do is actually, uh, take ships to the margins of where these glaziers, uh, from the Greenland ice sheet flow into the ocean. And we are studying the impact of warming ocean temperatures on these glade suits. So we're looking at the melt that is happening underneath, below the sea surface, uh, that is driven by the ocean, which we think is one of the drivers of changes both in Greenland and Antarctica. And is it true that even if we take radical steps to reduce carbon emissions and slow global warming, this process you're describing of ice melting will continue for years based on what's already in the atmosphere? That's, that's right. But the warming that the planet has already experience will have an impact on the ice sheets, uh, for a long time. But, but at the same time we see that it's speeding up. Speaker 1: 10:35 So we're seeing sea level rise, the rate at which it's happening, increase over time. And, uh, this is something we should really be worried about in terms of trying to reduce the rate of sea level rise, trying to stay away from feedbacks, positive feedbacks that can really enhance the rate of melt of ice sheets. So it will keep happening for, uh, tens and hundreds of years. But if we do not act to reduce greenhouse gases, we're going to see much greater changes ahead. Fiona, thanks so much for the work that you're doing. Thank you for having me. That's fiamma strong neo of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Speaker 7: 11:22 Oh. Speaker 1: 00:00 The search for new leadership at Lincoln High School is now underway. Just one day after graduation last week, the schools top administrators were removed from their positions. The principal and three vice principal positions are now vacant as a committee in national search firm work to fill them. So what is happening at Lincoln High? Doctor Sharon Whitehurst Payne, president of the San Diego Unified School Board spoke to KPBS evening edition Anchor Ebony Monet about the shakeup. How much of the decision too Speaker 2: 00:31 remove the school's administration at Lincoln High School had to do with academics? Well, I think it's the total package. Um, we just wanted our students to be supported overall in every aspect. And that was a big part of it. But you know, it's just a total package. Um, folks look nowadays at what's going on school at schools, period. And if you think about it, the nation, the state of California, the city of San Diego, we all have to increase our expectations and our support for schools. That's why we're constantly asking for more moneys to help support the schools because we realize we're competing internationally. It's no longer just San Diego or just America. We're competing with countries all over the world, even smaller countries and they're doing better in some of the areas. So we, we just want to increase the standards. Overall it's been reported that there have been five principles in the course of 12 years. Speaker 2: 01:30 So five principals in the, in the course of 12 years. What's being done differently this time? I th I think for the first time since I've been here in San Diego or just doing it a total wipe out to say let's just bring in a totally new team with one responsibility to get it right. This is the first time we've done that. Um, we did close the school down, but at that time when it was closed down, the enrollment was down to 500 some kids. So it was a very small school. Now where we're beginning to climb again, we're close to 1500 hundred students. The district is launching a recruitment effort at this point. What are you looking for in a principal and vice principals that you didn't have in those positions before? We're looking for someone who is a veteran, principal, veteran high school principal. Speaker 2: 02:26 I've had even folks in the community to stress that fact. We need someone who's familiar with CIF or with athletics, with all the elements that go into, uh, high school. Uh, and then one of the things is a single subject credential understanding and knowing what it is that teachers go through in the classroom, teaching math as a single subject teacher, etc. So we're looking, first of all, for a veteran, not someone who is learning how to be a principal at the same time, dealing with all the other issues are related on that campus. And that's what I'm excited about. I felt that we needed that in the beginning. A veteran principal who knows what it is and the challenges that go along with being on a senior high campus. And then the next step is we're looking for someone who can pull together that school community, not just pockets, but the entire school community to focus on the needs of our, our children. Speaker 2: 03:27 And I want to really stress that because I think some of the children even didn't understand what I was saying at their graduation. This group of students at Lincoln that just graduated is by far the on toppest group I've ever seen. The perseverance, the just sheer grit. If you were just determined to succeed, they had it more than any group I've ever seen. But from my perspective of having seen a lot of high schools, not just here in San Diego but in Orange County, etc. I know that there are some elements that would help them to do even better. And whenever they went for an interview and were compared to other schools, that was a comment that kept coming out. These kids are just stars, but they need that support to help Polish them. And with more than 200 students graduating from Lincoln, still more students drop out of Lincoln High School compared to other schools in the district. Speaker 2: 04:24 Whose responsibility is that? Is that the principal? Uh, it's a team. We need a leadership team that can lead the school and can identify areas where we're weak and then support in that area or even request support from on the district of necessary. But without that team on the campus, that's going to be that supporter, supportive environment, um, provider there and then communicate with the central office is not going to work. So we've got to have a team that flows throughout the other side of the coin. Is it, is it fair to put so much pressure on a principle considering the, the obstacle that the obstacles that any principal coming to the Lincoln high campus would face? Um, statistically 87% of the students at Lincoln High School are considered disadvantaged socio and economically disadvantage. Um, can we talk about the obstacles that these principals face? Cause it's a, it's a tough job. Speaker 2: 05:25 It's a very tough job. But on, on the other hand, we are offering an additional level of resource. We've had three vice principals and a principal. Now we're placing a director there who's going to be working this year exclusively with Lincoln high school. So we're going from four administrators, two, five on that person will be on the ground with the principal and that team to ensure that students are getting what they need, what staff members are getting, what they need. And that person will also be interfacing with the high school. A couple of years ago when we brought on Mr. Soto has a principal, we have the superintendent on the ground every Monday morning working with them along with the chief of staff and the area superintendent work with him. Then the next year we had the area's superintendent and others coming in to support him. But we need an experienced person who is not learning what it is to be a principal. Speaker 2: 06:24 All the issues that go into that standing up for yourself. Um, just the whole ambiance of being a senior high principal. That part of it, we're excited about getting someone in who can traverse all of those pitfalls and then move forward with, um, bringing in the students and given them the support that they don't even know that they're missing. And, uh, I want Lincoln to be number one and I know that it can be, and that's what I'm excited about. Just waiting to see Dr Whitehurst pain. Thank you so much. Thank you for this opportunity to share. And she was speaking to KPBS evening edition Anchor Ebony Monet. Speaker 3: 07:04 Ah. Speaker 1: 00:00 Customs and border protection used to make travel arrangements for asylum seekers when they released them from detention. That stopped several months ago. Nonprofits have been picking up the slag, including churches. Kcrws Benjamin Godttlieb recently spent some time at one church in the southern California desert that's become a de facto migrant processing center. Speaker 2: 00:22 What'd he can hear me loud, roughly? It's lunchtime. Our Lady of Solidad Catholic Church in Coachella, just south of India, that two dozen people sit patiently as volunteers. Makeup plates of Chicken Salad, tostadas student Turkey and Pasta with Marinara sauce. I believe with the spirit to Santo. For most of the people at the table, this is the first real meal they've had in days like Alberto Chubby. Speaker 3: 00:50 Oh, I Miss Cynthia [inaudible]. Speaker 2: 00:59 [inaudible] say Chubby says he didn't eat because he spent what little money he had on his daughter Isabel. They are seeking asylum in the United States and their journey began in El Salvador. Speaker 3: 01:15 [inaudible] Speaker 2: 01:18 Chubby says, yeah, he needs a silent because in his hometown, a local gang told him he had to join. He refused. His story echoes those of tens of thousands of central Americans who have been processed by US officials since December of last year. Customs and border protection says it can't manage all the needs of all the people requesting asylum. And so the agency has turned to busing folks from the border to inland California, including our lady of Solidad in the Coachella valley. Father Guy Wilson is the pastor here. We receive mothers who have little infants and they hold on to him so tight, and the reason is they're fearful that the government's going to take their children from them. Wilson says he's received more than 4,000 asylum seekers since last October, dropped off by county officials or by volunteers. The church feeds them, close them, and then helps them by a bus or plane tickets. Most of the asylum seekers here are headed to the east coast where they have relatives that includes shabby and Isa Bell Speaker 3: 02:22 [inaudible] [inaudible]. Speaker 2: 02:27 He's headed to Manassas, Virginia to stay with his brother in law as he awaits his immigration court dates. It could be waiting anywhere from six months to several years. Speaker 1: 02:37 That was kcrws Benjamin Godttlieb reporting.