The whole entire riverbed started taking fire from the high ground. Announcer this is the cbs overnight news. Welcome to the overnight news. Im elaine quijano. President trump continues his assault on the process thats led to an impeachment inquiry against him. The president again demanded to know the name of the whistleblower, whose complaint about his controversial call to the leader of ukraine started the whole investigation. Democrats in the house have not called the whistleblower to give a deposition, fearing for his or her safety, but the whistleblower has now agreed to answer questions from House Republicans in writing. Here is natalie brand. The whistleblower should be revealed. Reporter President Trump sunday intensified his calls for the whistleblower to be identified some five weeks after their complaint triggered the impeachment inquiry. It was like a big antitrump person, hated trump, and they said terrible things. Reporter but the whistleblowers identity remains protected, and the individuals attorney expressing concerns about his client safety, has extended a new offer to House Republicans. Attorney mark zaid said his client is willing to answer Gop Committee questions in writing and under oath, adding being a whistleblower is not partisan job, nor is impeachment an objective. Its a whole cam. Its an impeachment scam. The whistleblower gave a very inaccurate report about my phone call. My phone call was perfecto. It was totally appropriate. Reporter but House Democrats say closeddoor depositions corroborate the whistleblowers concerns that the president pressured ukraine to investigate a political rifle in exchange for releasing u. S. Military aid during that july phone call with ukraines president. There is no question now whether there was a quid pro quo. Reporter house intelligence member Jackie Speier told face the nation transcripts from closeddoor depositions could be released within the next five days as the inquiry enters a new public phase. Theyre going to be very telling to the american people. We have one more week of interviews that will take place, and then im pretty confident were going to move into a public hearing setting. Reporter but first, House Democrats want to hear from several more key witnesses, including the president s former National Security adviser john bolton, who expressed alarm over the trump administrations ukraine policy. Its really up to the lawyers. I like john bolton. I always got along with him. But thats going to be up to the lawyers. Reporter now the president did not answer our question about which witnesses he would like House Republicans to call once public testimony begins, but the Top Republican in the house Kevin Mccarthy said t first person he would call is adam schiff. Natalie brand, thank you. Today marks one year until the next president ial election. 2020 running through iowa first, several democratic hopefuls made the political rounds there this weekend. Our ed okeefe is in des moines. Reporter polling released this weekend shows that nationally, the democratic race for president is a threeperson race between former Vice President joe biden and senators Bernie Sanders and elizabeth warren, but here in iowa, where the candidates are paying more attention to the voters and the voters to the candidates, its indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg who has slipped up into third place ahead of biden. Buttigieg managed to irritate some other candidates in the field this weekend by suggesting that its quickly becoming a twoperson race between him, the moderate, and liberal senator warren. He backtracked a bit on that on sunday, but not before some of his opponents, including california senator Kamala Harris pounced. Well, i think that thats just its naive for him to think that at this point that the fate of this election has been determined. Just look at history. Might need to review past elections to know that whats happen right now is not necessarily determinative of the outcome. Reporter now harris is the first of what we expect to be several candidates who arent in the top tier but have to downsize their campaigns in the coming weeks as they focus in on the race here in mustwin iowa. She has laid off most of her staff in New Hampshire, vowing to do well enough here in iowa to continue on. Thats not a sign that the end is near. Its just a good example of recalibrating. Back in 2003 when he was in the single digits, john kelly did much the same here in iowa before winning the caucus and the nomination. And in 2007, with the skeleton staff, republican john mccain did it in New Hampshire before turning his Campaign Around and winning his partys nomination. Sunday marks 92 days until the iowa caucus and exactly one year until election day 2020. Elaine . Ed okeefe, thank you. Fire crews in california helped by Better Weather are gaining ground on those wildfires. Red flag warnings have been lifted. The maria fire burning northwest of los angeles is about 50 contained. Thats allowed some people who evacuated to return to their homes. And north of san francisco, the kincade fire, currently the states largest wildfire is now more than 75 contained. President trump today renewed his threat to cut fire aid to california. He accused governor gavin newsom of doing a, quote, terrible job of forest management. Now to a murder mystery in texas. A vigil is being held tonight for james and Michelle Butler. The navy veteran and his wife had been missing for weeks when their bodies were found buried on a texas beach. But their rv was seen being driven into mexico. Here is meg oliver. Reporter after missing for more than two weeks, authorities recovered the remains of james and Michelle Butler in a shallow grave on this texas beach. The autopsy ruled both deaths as homicides. Deborah van loon is james sister. Thats exactly where they were parked on the beach. That was right we have pictures of them parked right on that spot. Reporter the New Hampshire couple started their dream trip a year and a half ago, traveling the countryside in their silver truck and rv. They were last seen kafiring on this Corpus Christi beach october 16th. They were very good at staying in touch with everybody. They were awesome at sharing their daily adventures. Reporter their family filed a missing persons report a week later, and neither vehicle has been recovered. Authorities have Surveillance Video of the truck and rv crossing the mexico border on october 21st, but the driver isnt james butler. Police are still searching for a suspect. You never think it will be you. And then it is, and its hard. Another horse has died at californias santa anita racetrack. It happened during the last race of the breeders cup saturday. Mongolian groom pulled up lame about halfway. Officials say the animal fractured its left hind leg and was later euthanized. Mongolian groom i announcer this is the cbs overnight news. The worlds most Profitable Company is about to go public. Sawed aramico confirms its plans to list shares on the Riyadh Stock Exchange in december. It could be the biggest ipo ever. The stateowned oil giant pumped in up to 111 billion in profit last year and is valued at about 1. 2 trillion. Thats more than exxonmobil and apple combined. The russian agent accused of trying to infiltrate the nra and other conservative organizations has gwynn her first u. S. Television interview since her arrest to lesley stahl of 60 minutes. In 2018 maria butina pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent. She spent 15 months behind bars before being deported. Reporter her introduction into the nra was facilitated by this man, aleksandr torshin, a russian official who she had admitted in court papers directed her activities in the u. S. Butina met him, she says, when he attended one of her gun rights rallies in moscow. We obtained thousands of private twitter messages they sent each other over 2 1 2 years. Was he close to putin . I dont think so. So you wrote him a message and you said you are an influential member of putins team. Your words. It doesnt suggest he is close to putin in any way. Was he an influential member of putins team . I dont know. Well you wrote that. You know, in reading through your messages, it reads as if hes your intelligence case officer. Look, this is i think its an american very old saying that suggests that wolfs have teeth, but not all animals with teeth are wolves. You cannot judge a person based on appearance. A slow motion drama is unfolding at one of north americas most famous tourist sites. Its happening at Niagara Falls upriver on the canadian horseshoe side of the falls, where an old iron boat has been stuck on the rocks. Its been rusting there since 1918, 101 years. But a powerful storm that roared through the region on halloween night whipping up strong currents dislodged it, moving it down river about 150 feet. Authorities now fear the current could send the old boat over the falls. The rumble of thousands of sneakers was heard on the pavement of all five new york city boroughs today. It was the 49th running of the new york city marathon. Kenyan runners dominated. Joyciline jepkosgei won her very first marathon. She finished in two hours, 22 nus and 38 seconds. Geoffrey kamworor was the fastest man. He crossed the finish line in just over two hours and eight minutes. Coming up, their addictions nearly cost them their children. One familys reckoning with opioids. Why automatic braking systems in some vehicles are going rogue. And can this new road help curb the worlds epidemic of plastic . They are staggering numbers. A government study out this past week says the nations Opioid Epidemic cost the economy 696 billion from 2015 through last year. And more than 2. 5 trillion over the last three years. Then there is the human toll not captured by dollars and cents. Lives lost to overdose and families torn apart by addiction. But as Dean Reynolds reports, there is hope. Reporter joe and Nicole Murray are drug addicts, but both are now in recovery. Every day is a work in progress. Weve came a long way in our recovery. Further than we had ever imagined. Reporter joe, who is 36 and nicole who is 30 have five children between them, all of them removed by Child Welfare authorities more than aea ago. What would have happened if your children had been taken away permanently . Honestly, like i would have gave up. R ou given up. Uhhuh. Reporter which means you would have died . Eventually. I definitely wouldnt have quit using. Reporter what about you . Im right there too, absolutely. My addiction wouldnt have slowed down. Reporter the murrays joined a state program called s. T. A. R. T. , short of sobriety, treatment and reducing trauma. It tries to keep Families Together by basically giving parents a choice. Either quit drugs and get treatment or lose your kids thinking is a struggle and a battle we have to continue to fight. The safety of the child is always the most important thing. Reporter Ohio Governor mike dewine introduced the program. We try to save that family, deal with the childs trauma, at the same time get selp to the parent. Reporter as for the murray, giving up their drugs was extremely difficult, but they got so much more in return. Would you agree that your kids may have saved you . Oh, yeah. Most definitely. Reporter their journey is long, but at least theyre on the right path. Dean reynolds, cbs news, morrow, ohio. 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Some drivers are hitting the brakes on what has been called revolutionary new safety technology. Were talking about automatic emergency braking. It will be standard in most cars in 2022. But as kris van cleave reports, there have been some sudden stops for apparently no reason at all. Reporter fatal pedestrian crashes like this one in july are up 53 since 2009. New Insurance Institute for Highway Safety testing looked at 16 midsized sedans equipped with automatic emergency braking systems aimed at preventing those types of crashes. They are designed to sense a collision is eminent, warn the driver, and if necessary, hit the brakes. Six cars, including the Nissan Maxima and sukru outback earned top marks, a superior rating. Among the six scoring advanced were the honda accord and toyota camry. But the ford fusion failed to earn a rating at all. The kia optima and Hyundai Sonata also performed poorly. This is a first step. There are obviously things we can improve on, that automakers can improve on. Reporter the testing involved cars driving at 12 to 37 Miles Per Hour during the day. A recent study from aaa found sedans are more likely to fail at faster speeds, after going around a turn, and especially in the dark. Forward Collision Avoidance systems with emergency braking will be standard on most cars by 2022. Federal regulators are investigating the system on the 2017 and 2018 nissan rogue, after learning of more than 850 complaints, a false activation of the automatic braking system. That includes reports of 14 crashes and 5 injuries. Cindy walsh says it happened to her three times. The first one i was driving down a fourlane highway, going about 55, and it completely came to a complete stop. Reporter how do you feel about driving the car now . Im scared to. I dont drive it. Reporter in a statement, nissan acknowledges some rogue drivers may experience false activation on unique conditions like railroad crossing, bridges and lowhanging traffic lights but says its committed to the safety and security of our customers and has made a Free Software update at car dealerships. Walsh won a right to return her sleep this amazing . Thats a zzzquil pure zzzs sleep. Our liquid has a unique botanical blend, while an optimal melatonin level means no nextday grogginess. Zzzquil pure zzzs. Naturally superior sleep. Your colds gonna make you a zombie tomorrow. Wrong. New mucinex nightshift fights my cold symptoms so i can sleep great and wake up human. Dont eat me i taste terrible. Fight your worst symptoms so you can sleep great and wake up human. New mucinex nightshift cold and flu. When your vneck looks more like a uneck. Thats when you know, its halfwashed. Downy helps prevent stretching by conditioning fibers, so clothes look newer, longer. Downy and its done. Plastic is one of the planets most pressing environmental problems. Most of it ends up in landfills or polluting the worlds oceans. Now there is an effort to reseibel it fresieb ib le recycle it for roads. As Roxana Saberi shows us, its happening in scotland. Reporter nearly 90 of the worlds waste ends up as litter and landfill. Now a Scottish Company is turning tons of this rubbish into roads. Macrebur machines grind up hard plastic into flakes. This is our cheetos bags, bolts . Bottle tops, you name it. Reporter ceo Toby Mccartney says are mixed with his secret oil bitumen. For every ton we replace we save a ton of emissions. There are no toxins and no microplastic present in any of the roads is that go down. Reporter more and more roads are going down, and so far holding up. From this street in san diego, where macrebur is also opening a new factory, to this driveway in england at Christopher Boyles 17th century estate. So this looks like regular asphalt. Yep. Reporter but its not. Dsike regular asphalt. It feels like regular asphalt. Its made of the equivalent of 750 plastic bags and bottles. I feel we have done a significant bit in terms of helping the environment, by using beneficially something that would otherwise be waste. Reporter to environmentalists, these roads are not a longterm solution to the worlds plastic epidemic, but mccartney says for now plastic pavement can curb the problem. Roxana saberi, cbs news, lockerbie, scotland. Next, a green finally tonight, a true american hero. The medal of honor was awarded this past week to a special forces soldier who saved lives during a sixhour battle in afghanistan. David martin has his story. Reporter Master SergeantMatt Williams and his team of green berets choppered in to a remote afghan valley in the spring of 2008. Their mission, part of which was recorded, was to capture or kill a senior terrorist leader. But nothing went right. To begin with, it was too rocky to land. There was about a 10foot or so drop straight down to these giant boulders and rocks everywhere. Thats how the day started. Reporter and then it got worse, much worse. The whole entire riverbed started taking fire from the high ground. Reporter what kind of fire . Rpgs, heavy machine gun fire, small arms fire. Reporter the enemy was shooting down on them from a village overlooking the valley. We didnt really understand the amount of enemy that were actually in the village at the time. Reporter the lead element was pinned down and taking casualties. So what was going to happen to them if somebody didnt get to them . Nothing good. They definitely probably would have been killed if nobody was able to get to them. Reporter according to the medal of honor citation, williams braved intense enemy fire to lead a counterattack across a valley of icecovered boulders and fastmoving icecold and waistdeep river. He helped save the lives of four critically wounded soldiers, although he gives credit to the pilots who flew air strikes on the village. I hit it. Target effect, target. Do you think you would have made it out f there without air cover . No, sir, not at all. Reporter the medevacs that came in to pick up the wounded also took fire. Hey, im hit. I think im hit. Reporter williams was notified he would receive the medal of honor more than a year ago but said the honor would have to wait. We had a deployment to africa. I wanted to make sure i was able to continue serving with the guys. Reporter so let me get this straight. You were too busy to receive the medal of honor . I guess you could say, that yeah. He has completed five tours in afghanistan. Reporter now that he has received the medal, the army is not likely to let him go in harms way again. Are you okay with being held back . Im not okay with it. But if its ultimately safer for the team, i understand that. Reporter which is why for williams and others who have received the medal, it is as much a burden as an honor. David martin, cbs news, ft. Bragg, north carolina. And thats the overnight news for this thursday. Monday. For some of you, the news continues. For others, check back with us a little later for the morning news and cbs this morning. From the Broadcast Center in new york city, im elaine quijano. Announcer this is the cbs overnight news. Welcome to the overnight news. Im elaine quijano. President trump continues his assault on the process thats led to an impeachment inquiry against him. The president again demanded to know the name of the whistleblower whos complaint about his controversial call to the leader of ukraine started the whole investigation. Democrats in the house have not called the whistleblower to give a deposition fearing for his or her safety, but the whistleblower has now agreed to answer questions from House Republicans in writing. Here is natalie brand. The whistleblower should be revealed. Reporter President Trump sunday intensified his calls for the whistleblower to be identified some five weeks after their complaint triggered the impeachment inquiry. He was like a big a big antitrump person, hated trump, and they said terrible things. Reporter but the whistleblowers identity remains protected, and the individuals attorney expressing concerns about his client safety, has extended a new offer to House Republicans. Attorney mark zaid said his client is willing to answer Gop Committee members questions in writing and under oath, adding being a whistleblower is not a partisan job, nor is impeachment an objective. Its a whole cam. Its an impeachment scam. The whistleblower gave a very inaccurate report about my phone call. My phone call was perfecto. It was totally appropriate. Reporter but House Democrats say closeddoor depositions corroborate the whistleblowers concerns that the president pressured ukraine to investigate a political rifle in exchange for releasing u. S. Military aid during that july phone call with ukraines president. There is no question now whether there was a quid pro quo. Reporter House Intelligence Committee member Jackie Speier told face the nation transcripts from closeddoor depositions could be released within the next five days as the inquiry enters a new public phase. Theyre going to be very telling to the american people. We have one more week of interviews that will take place, and then im pretty confident were going to move into a public hearing setting. Reporter but first, House Democrats want to hear from several more key witnesses, including the president s former National Security adviser john bolton, who expressed alarm over the trump administrations ukraine policy. Its really up to the lawyers. I like john bolton. I always got along with him. But thats going to be up to the lawyers. Reporter now the president did not answer our question about which witnesses he would like House Republicans to call once public testimony begins, but the Top Republican in the house Kevin Mccarthy told cbs news the first person whoa call was house chair adam schiff. Natalie brand, thank you. Today marks one year until the next president ial election. And with the road to campaign 2020 running through iowa first, several democratic hopefuls made the political rounds there this weekend. Our ed okeefe is in des moines. Reporter polling released this weekend shows that nationally, the democratic race for president is a threeperson race between former Vice President joe biden and senators Bernie Sanders and elizabeth warren, but here in iowa, where the candidates are paying more attention to the voters and the voters to the candidates, its indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg who has slipped up into third place ahead of biden. Buttigieg managed to irritate some other candidates in the field this weekend by suggesting that its quickly becoming a twoperson race between him, the moderate, and liberal senator warren. He backtracked a bit on that on sunday, but not before some of his opponents, including california senator Kamala Harris pounced. Well, i think that thats just its naive for him to think that at this point that the fate of this election has been determined. Just look at history. Might need to review past elections to know that whats happen right now is not necessarily determinative of the outcome. Reporter now harris is the first of what we expect to be several candidates who arent in the top tier but have to downsize their campaigns in the coming weeks as they focus in on the race here in mustwin iowa. She has laid off most of her staff in New Hampshire, vowing to do well enough here in iowa to continue on. Thats not a sign that the end is near. Its just a good example of recalibrating. Back in 2003 when he was in the single digits, john kelly did much the same here in iowa before winning the caucus and and in7, with the skeleton staff, republican john mccain did it in New Hampshire before turning his Campaign Around and winning his partys nomination. Sunday marks 92 days until the iowa caucus and exactly one year until election day 2020. Elaine . Ed okeefe, thank you. Fire crews in california helped by Better Weather are gaining ground on those wildfires. Red flag warnings have been lifted. The maria fire burning northwest of los angeles is about 50 contained. Thats allowed some people who evacuated to return to their homes. And north of san francisco, the kincade fire, currently the states largest wildfire is now more than 75 contained. President trump today renewed his threat to cut fire aid to california. He accused governor gavin newsom of doing a, quote, terrible job of forest management. Now to a murder mystery in texas. A vigil is being held tonight for james and Michelle Butler. The navy veteran and his wife had been missing for weeks when their bodies were found buried on a texas beach. But their asg driven into mexico eporter aftissing f more than two weeks, authorities recovered the remains of james and Michelle Butler in a shallow grave on this texas beach. The autopsy ruled both deaths as homicides. Deborah van loon is james sister. Thats exactly where they were parked on the beach. That was right we have pictures of them parked right on that spot. Reporter the New Hampshire couple started their dream trip a year and a half ago, traveling the countryside in their silver truck and rv. They were last seen camping on this Corpus Christi beach october 16th. They were very good at staying in touch with everybody. They were awesome at sharing their daily adventures. Reporter their family filed a missing persons report a week later, and neither vehicle has been recovered. Authorities have Surveillance Video of the truck and rv crossing the mexico border on october 21st, but the driver isnt james butler. Police are still searching for a suspect. You never think it will be you. And then it is, and its hard. Meg oliver, cbs news, new york. Another horse has died at californias santa anita racetrack. It happened during the last race of the breeders cup saturday. Mongolian groom pulled up lame about halfway. S e animal fractured its left hind leg and was later euthanized. Mongolian groom is the 37th horse to die at santa anita since december. Slow motion drama is unfolding at one of north americas most famous tourist sites. Its happening at Niagara Falls upriverton canadian side of Horseshoe Falls where an old iron boat has been stuck on the rocks. Its been rusting there since 1918, 101 years. But a powerful storm that roared through the region on halloween night whipping up strong currents dislodged it, moving it down river about 150 feet. 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Geico proudly supporting the military for over 75 years. Announcer this is the cbs overnight news. Welcome back to the overnight news. Im elaine quijano. Homeowners in california who have managed to dodge the flames this fire season still have a problem. Its now nearly impossible to find affordable Fire Insurance. Carter evans reports. Reporter when the wind starts to blow like this, do you get concerned . Always, yes. Reporter she is among at least 350,000 californians whose Fire Insurance policies have been canceled. She had the same coverage for 18 years. Ive paid thousands and thousands of dollars in premiums in insurance and never gotten a cent back. Reporter nowshes scrambling to find coverage, as is pat youve never here many years. Have you ever had trouble getting Fire Insurance before . No, not at all. Reporter theyve paid more than 24 billion in claims in just the past two years. Can you understand it from the insurers perspective . Last year they paid out almost double what they took in on premiums. Thats why youre in the insurance business. Sometimes you rake in the dough and sometimes you pay people that have invested their income in you for years. Reporter Fire Insurance is still available, but at an exorbitant price. Just under 19,000. Reporter a year . A year. Reporter 19 thousand dollars a year, and you were paying 3800 before . Correct. Reporter rising premiums a pricing people out of their homes, despite efforts to fire proof their properties. Ocoffey even installed water. They gave us an aplus rating but wouldnt even pull that out of their file. Reporter the insurance commissioner series its time for action, except we dont have an authority yet. Reporter many people are receiving cancellation notices right now. And this is the peak of fire season. Theyre terrified. Without expressive Statutory Authority from the legislature, our hands are tied. Reporter youre the insurance commissioner. You should have some power to do something. We are asking for that power. Reporter until then, homeowners like francis feel powerless, one fire away from financial disaster. Where are you now . Looking. Still looking. Reporter do you feel betrayed by your company . Absolutely betrayed. Reporter this weeks fires will bring a new flood of claims. And for rebuilding, its required if you have a home with a gaand jumane to sell a home a high fire risk area that is virtually uninsurable. Californias largest utility, pg e, declared bankruptcy after it was blamed for sparking last years devastating paradise fire. The company has taken to shutting down power lines when the wind gets whipping so it doesnt happen again. But thats been leaving millions in the dark. Jonathan vigliotti reports. Reporter meant to save the state from deadly wildfires, the scope and size of pg es power shutdowns is astonishing. But for richard strain, the blackouts are literally breathtaking. Your throat collapses, and its hard to breathe, and you gasp. Reporter strame needs propane to keep a generator and cpap machine running so he can sleep at night. I cant sleep without the machines. Reporter he lives in one of the areas that pg e has cut power to in recent days because of the threat of high winds that could break power lines and spark fires. Company serves 16 customers over 70,000 squire miles, half of that in high fire threat areas. Diana contreras is a spokesperson for pg e. Is this system ready to run in a wildfire . The system is safe. This is a step were taking to prevent wildfires. Reporter this is the safe turned off . The pg e system is safe. Our goal is to provide safe, reliable affordable power to our customers in california. Reporter pg e resorted to widespread blackouts after its equipment was blamed for several blazes, including last years deadly camp fire in paradise in which 86 people died. While some support the move, saying it could save lives and property, others are critical, including california governor gavin newsom, who isornia utilities spend 5 billion in improvements. Weve had decades of mismanagement, decades of greed. This cannot and will not be the new normal. Governor newsom has been a little critical lately saying pg e has been asleep on the job as wildfires have become more dangerous. Are you asleep on the job . We assure the governs commitment to safety that is our commitment, to safety. And we appreciate feedback from the state, from our legislators, from all legislators and stakeholders. Reporter pg e says theyre doing accelerated safety informations on about 50,000 transmission structures, installing more than 7,000 miles of stronger poles and covered lines, and adding 1300 new weather centers. The company says it doesnt know how much future upgrades will cost, but Governor Newsom told cbs news hell fight to prevent that cost from being passed on to the communisters. Its a new day of accountability, transparency, and were going to hold them to account in way. Candidly we havent in decades. Reporter frequent heartburn . Not anymore. The prilosec otc twoweek challenge is helping people love what they love again. Just one pill a day. 24 hours. Because life starts when heartburn stops. Take the challenge at prilosecotc dot com. Whether your beauty routine is 3or 57,. Make natures bounty hair skin and nails step one. Its the number one brand uniquely formulated for silky hair, glowing skin and healthy nails. Natures bounty, because youre better off healthy. You dont let a cold ruin your day. You take dayquil severe liquicaps and crush it. Fer, sore throat, power through your day, medicine. Rolling stone ranks the Red Hot Chili Peppers flea as the second greatest rock n roll bass player of all time. It turns out he is a pretty good writer as well. Anthony mason sat down with flea to talk about his new autobiography, acid for the children. This is what you call technical exercises. Reporter by the lake in the back of his l. A. Home, flea likes to practice. Its a rare tranquil moment in whats been a monumental year for the bass player. In march, his band, the red hot chili pepper, played the pyramids in egypt. Its like the wonders of the world, thats one of them, right . Reporter and just last month, flea was married to designer melody assani. Congratulations yeah, thank you. Ive been twiddling with my wedding ring for four days now. I find this incredible woman. Reporter this is your place . Now he has published a memoir. So long i didnt want to write a book about myself because i thought what an arrogant thing to do. Reporter but acid for the children is not a tale of rock star glory. Its a reflection on a vulnerable childhood. You were a lonely kid . I was. Reporter was it hard to write about that . The writing wasnt hard, but when i would read it out loud, i would break down in tears all the time. I mean, im 57. I stopped doing drugs, Drinking Alcohol when i was about 30. And then i started feeling everything. And sometimes it was a river of pain. Reporter he was born mike balsory in melbourne, australia. In 1967, his father, who worked in customs for the government, was posted to new york and took the family. They lived an ordinary life in the suburbs, until his mother left his dad and moved in with her guitar teacher. We go to live with a junkie jazz musician who lives in his parents basement. Reporter thats quite a change . It was a massive change. Reporter as dysfunctional, imposing and wounded as walter was, flea writes of his future stepfather, he was also my angel. One daywalter urban invited his jazz musician friends over to jam. That day awakened something in me. That changed my life forever. Reporter you still feel it now . Its such a powerful moment when i think about it. The first time i saw it as a kid, i couldnt believe it, man. I just was taken over by the spirit. They were magicians to me. It was magic. Reporter you have a stepfather who causes an enormous disturbance in your life. He was terrifying. Reporter but also gives you this gift. Yeah. But he was taking that pain and what is alchemy, turning pain into something beauty which is what all art is about. Reporter in 1972, the family moved to l. A. , where flea would run wild. When i was 12 years old, id go out until 4 00, 5 00 in the morning, running the streets of hollywood, looking for hustles, doing little crimes. Reporter but at school, he discovered the trumpet. You were in the band . Yeah, yeah. Marching band, orchestra, the musical production band, jazz band, any band coy be in. Reporter and in seventh grade competed for the National Orchestra award. Played Joseph Haydns trumpet concer concerto. I won and got private lessons on the trumpet. That was a big win for me. Reporter at school he would also find perhaps the most profound relationship of his life. You met anthony in a fight, basically . Kind of, yeah. Sort of a fight. Reporter it was 1976, and he was wrestling with a classmate. And here comes up this kid. Hes got a crew cut, a hard buzz crew cut. And he is big and muscly, comes up to me, lay off him. It was anthony. And he had just moved to l. A. Himself. Reporter the universe gives us the ones we need, flea writes, and the ones we deserve. Anthony keides would become the things, both outcasts in a way. And if you want these kind of dreams, its californiakation. Reporter we rubbed against each other wrong ways. Maybe he understands it. I dont understand it. I know i love him deeply. Reporter you also say that theres almost no one who has had as much power to hurt you. Yeah. Reporter . Youre opposite sides of the same coin. One is concave, the other is convex. I think that has a lot to do with how our band ended up being, having the power it does have. Reporter the next piece of the original chili peppers would come together when the duo met helel slovak. We see him driving down the street. Reporter in his datsun. His 510, cranking his stereo it in. Ill never forget. He was playing la vida st strangeiata. Mto play tass. E head to flea i felt just so, you know, loved. Reporter why did that make you feel so loved . Because he, you know, he picked me. Reporter yeah. I never played the bass before. I never played the bass. I knew that being in a rock band meant everything to him. His band was a sacred thing to him. Its a special thing. This is us, you know. And he invited me in. Reporter and that meant everything to you . It meant everything to me. And, you know, i never would have played it had he not asked me. I never would have played the bass. Reporter fleas bookends just as the chili peppers begin. Is there a sequel . Im on the fence about it. Reporter youre on the fence why . I got records to make and tours to do and kids to raise and a wife to love. There are only so many hours in the y. This is National Adoption month, the time of year when a lot of kids in foster care hope to get permanent homes. Steve hartman found a single father in buffalo doing his part. Reporter when 48yearold Lamont Thomas became an empty nester, it was the end of a parenting legend. Back in 2001, this divorced father of two took on a foster kid named michael perez. He was a good young man. I just hated to see him in the system. Reporter eventually, lamont adopted michael, who now works as a nurse. I dont believe that i would be the person that i am today without the morals that he instilled in me, the extended family that i have now. Reporter how extended is that family . I tell you, if i had enough fingers and toes to count. Reporter it turns out michael was just the beginning. Thats marcus. Reporter over the next 15 years, lamont fostered more than 30 kids here in buffalo, new york and adopted five of them. And jj. Reporter and again, he did this all on his own and with all of his heart. Every child that i have had, it was my goal to make a difference in their lives. Reporter you fell in love with these kids, huh . Yeah. Proud of them. Reporter and you retired from fostering . I did. Reporter go fishing . Oh, yeah. Did plenty of of that. Reporter of course, we wouldnt be here today if that was still the case. Yes, sir. It really was a shocker. I didnt expect for him to restart and to do it all over again. Its just amazing. Reporter today, lamont is back in the game in a big way. Not long ago, he took on five siblings, all under the age of 6. Major, are you eating books . Reporter lamont, who works as a caterer said he did have other plans for these years. But those plans have now been shattered with mayhem. When is the last time you went fishing . It was good summer. Reporter lamont decided to foster all five after finding they were going to be permanently split up. And to guarantee they stay a family, last month he adopted them. Theyre good. You are hereby adopted. I had to help them. They deserve to be raised together. Reporter fortunately, lamont has a great support system through church and friends, and hes not opposed to adding a wife to the mix, should such a saint exist. Dont lick my mirror please. Reporter but if not, he is also fine going i alone, for as long as it takes to make the difference. Have you calculated when the last one is going to be out of high school . We got a lot of years to go, but its all right. Its all good. Reporter Lamont Thomas, definitely all good. Steve hartman, on the road in buffalo. Thats the overnight news for this monday. From the cbs broad st center in new york city, im elaine quijano. Its monday, november 4th, 2019. This is the cbs morning news. Moving the impeachment inquiry into public view. House democrats plan to release transcripts of closed door testimony as early as today. Meanwhile, President Trump is shifting his attacks back to the whistleblower whose complaints helped spark this entire investigation. Its official were less than one year out from the 2020 election. New polling data shows a shifting democratic leader board. And escape. Two murder suspects on the run after breaking out of a officials are warning the men officials are warning the men are a threat to the public. Captioning funded by cbs go