KQED NEWSROOM: Inside Death Row, Death Penalty, Health Care Consolidation, El Niño

Inside Look at Death Row California has nearly 750 inmates on death row, more than any other state in the nation. The vast majority are at San Quentin State Prison. For the first time in over a decade, KQED and other media were recently granted a rare look inside San Quentin's death row. Death Penalty Ballot Initiatives It's a pivotal time for California's death penalty with two proposed ballot initiatives in circulation. This week's Field Poll shows California voters evenly split over capital punishment. Guests: • Professor Rory Little, UC Hastings College of the Law • Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo County District Attorney • Scott Shafer, KQED California Politics and Government Desk Senior Editor Health Care Consolidation Some of the Bay Area's biggest health care systems are continuing to consolidate to expand across the region. A new report by the Oakland-based California Health Care Foundation examines some of the key consolidations. The region's health care market is changing as proposed mega-mergers among the nation's health insurance giants are attracting scrutiny. Lisa Aliferis, editor of KQED's State of Health blog, joins Thuy Vu to dissect what impact this will have on health costs. El Niño This month's powerful storms have dumped snow and rain across California -- welcome news for a state in its fifth year of a historic drought. But will the projected storms be enough to bring the state out of its dire conditions? Meteorologist Jan Null from Golden Gate Weather Services joins Thuy Vu.