The Issue Is: Jerry Brown, Steve Garvey, Christina Pascucci

Next week, California Governor Gavin Newsom will be in China, for a week-long trip that includes stops in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong, as he holds a series of meetings on climate cooperation, economic development, tourism, and strengthening cultural exchanges between the Golden State and Middle Kingdom.

Ahead of that trip, which FOX 11's Elex Michaelson will be joining as the only television reporter in the traveling press pool, Michaelson was joined on "The Issue Is" by former California Governor Jerry Brown. Brown,  who himself traveled to China to meet with President Xi in 2017, previewed the trip and its objectives, he also discussed global tensions and the U.S.-China relationship. All this, before reflecting on the life and legacy of his friend, the late Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Those reflections on Feinstein come as her recently-appointed replacement, Senator Laphonza Butler, announced this week that she will not be seeking a full Senate term in 2024. That announcement, surely a relief to the field of candidates already running for the seat, including Democratic Representatives Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, and Barbara Lee, and Republican attorney Eric Early.

Meanwhile, two new entrants to the race each sat down with Michaelson on this week's show to make their case to voters:  former Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey and journalist Christina Pascucci, who, just prior to announcing her campaign, left her reporting and anchor job at FOX 11.

While Garvey is running as a Republican and Pascucci as a Democrat, the two opponents provided similar reasons for entering the crowded field: reviving California.

Garvey told Michaelson the Golden state was once the "heartbeat of America, now it's just a murmur," Pascucci, meanwhile said that after 15 years covering California, "I increasingly do not recognize the state that surround me," adding that once she found out she was pregnant, "there was this fire ignited within me that said 'I cannot accept how things are anymore'... I want to fight like hell for [my daughter's] future."

The Issue Is is California's only statewide political show. Watch FOX 11 Los Angeles Fridays at 10:30 p.m. and Sundays at 9 a.m. For more showtimes and information, go to TheIssueIsShow.com.