High wind and difficult terrain. At least five people have now died. In santa cruz and San Mateo County alone more than 64,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. The air quality in the bay area is now among the worst in the world. The Northern California wildfires expected to burn for several more days. And possibly weeks. Visit kqed. Org for uptodate airquality maps and evacuation information. Earlier today postmaster general lewis to joy testify before senate lawmakers. He was called to controversial changes to the Postal Service. Changes which have led to widespread delays and warnings that mailin ballots may not award on time to be counted for the november electio those changes would be suspended until after the election. Also this week ana bipart port saying ed a that russia interfered to help donald trump rten. The realso laid out tensive contact between Trump Campaign advisors and russian operatives. Me nowbuy skype from burbank is democratic Concert Congress member and chair of the House Intelligence Committee adam schiff. Thank you so much for joining us. What is your respon to the testimony in front of the senate today . I am profoundly concernehe thatPostal Service does not have the resources that aree needed to sure that we carry out the solution properly. But also that the changes they already put in pla need to be reversed. It is not enough the sorting machines need to be installed and figure out where they are to make sure at we can handle the volume which is going to be higher than weve ever seen rei be notwithstanding efforts to discourage and disenfranchise people. I think you should step down. There is a reason why others have chosen people who have experience to run the social Postal Service. In this risa my donald trump chose a donor instead and that is because the president wants to politicize everything including Postal Service and as we have seen amply the t presidnts to do anything he can to icke it dit for anyone during the pandemic to cast votes. And that is ju unconscionable. At do you expect will come from the postalservice here . I know it will pass. And it will provide 25 billion for the Postal Service. Aninit will st on the restoration of the equipment that the postmaster neral took o. The question asic well repu support it . Or the going to continue to enable the president s attas on thePostal Service and on peoples rights to vote . So are republicans going to continue to enable this craven president and his efforts to tear down the democracy . Youre pointing again to the during the democratic r Country NationalConvention Joe Biden made a plea for unity. Do you think that is a drpipe m given the state of politics in America Today . I dont think this is a pipe eam. I think the esident has a profound ability greater than any other american to set the tone and part of rethe on is become so divided is cause we have a president whose tone has been one of bitter tsdivision. He up in the morning after stoking himself on right wing news anhe tweets bio for much of the day. And in his public dress he never tries to reach out to people that did not originally support him. Joe biden has a very fferent philosophy like he said. He wants to be the president for all americans. He will r work hard all of their support including people who didnt vote for him. And thats the way it should i be. Anthink is much as anything character is really on the ballot. And they can really help to bring us together. Someone of poor character just drives us apart. Turning to the ws of the week now. Steve bannon who is President Trumps former advisor and Campaign Manager was indicted and arrested on fraud charges this week. He and some of hiassociates raised money for a border wall project. And now he is accused of siphoning off hundreds of thousands of dollars from ectha prto pay off his ow personal expenses. What are your thoughts about steve bannon with the arrest, his indictment and would you support an investigation in the house into this alleged game . Donald trump promised the uld pay for this wall. Co fraud and a con. D it was a and now you have steve bannon at promising people who donated to this private organization that all of their money would go to building the wall. And that was also a lie and a fraud ana con. Thats who these people are. Its never enough for them. Theyre both very wealthy. But they are still intent on ripping people off. Donald trump was trying to use his power of position to move the british open over to his own golf course. Its just never enough. It and neveabout the american people. And i think this is why we are in such terrible straits in terms of dealing with the economy. And whether or not theres a Rolling Movement in congress that wouldnot be in Intelligence Committee matter. But i think certainly the Law Enforcement and Southern District of new york are doing what they should invest getting criminality no matter who perpetrates it. Lets otturn to r case of big news this week. A Bipartisan Senate report came out which targets the links between the Trump Campaign and 2016. Ssian intelligence in the report detailed several points of contact tween the two. But it stopped short of saying there was a coordinated conspiracy. What is the bottom line for your. The republicans were not going to go to the same place. Bl democrats and reans agreed with what we found in the house they welcomed and encouraged interventn to help the campaign. They built it into the Campaign Plan and made full use of it. The ump Campaign Paul manafort secretly was meeting with an agent russian intelligence providing that agent with internal polling data to help elect donald trump. These are really profound acts of corruption. A crime or not is one question. But they are clearly unethical, immoral and wrong. Do you think these acts of corruption are in the past . Do you belie there are current links between the Trump Campaign the trump president ial campaign and russian intelligence now . You know i cant say that the corruption in terms of trying to get foreign help to this campaign is in the past. As we insaw after ting russia to help him in 2016 he then went on to try to force ukraine p to hm. According to john bolton he also begged enchinas pres to help his campaign. So whathe and others may be doing right now i cant say. But you can certainly conclude that there is nothing about his character that would preclude him from corruptly seeking foreign help again. Everything about his character would suggest that kind of unethical conduct will continue. I do want to talk about imth us package which has been stalled out. Can you tell me if you or any closer to a bipartisen agreement it comes to the next round of coronavirus for the funding . I certainly hope so. I was here with project angel food. A great nonprofit in my d district. Met someone who told me that she had 500 in unpaid utity bills because shhad to choose paying rent or utilities. She s basically using a fan and its been in the hundreds here in los angeles. This is what people are experiencing. They need help right now. The challenge politically is that Mitch Mcconnells republican conference for the senate at least half of them dont want to do anything more. So he is just sat on the sidelines. They need to come to aney agreement e been sitting on a bill for three months. They need to can negotiate in good faith because we need to get this done. This week president trum ulster the legitimacy of a copiracy group the ys he is battling double worshiping pedophilesnd cannibals were linked to democrats. And he said these are ople who loour country. Theyalso recently won a support race ingeorgia and will in up in congress. Are you worried about the influence in our government . Solutely. In the fbi has warned about the dangers of the extremist conspiracy theories. Either the subject has been here myself. Or someone who attempted or wanted to make a citizens re and did not attempt to thankfully. But did try to make one to someone else. And ended up shooting and killing him. This is dangerous stuff. And the president needs to stopf cking in it. The Republican Party i think is playing with fire. By encouraging people to run for fice. It just shows how the gop s lost anmoorings. But it is a real danger and they need to stop amplifying this extremist content. Thank you for joining us. Democrats wrapped their all democratic National Convention this morning. Governor gavin newsom appeared briefly to warn about the dangers of Climate Change as hundreds of thousands of acres were burned. Calirnia junior senator and Vice President ial running mate Kamala Harris was highlighted throughout. And of course House Speaker nancy pelosi and another hometown figure also rally the faithful. Joining me from skype in San Francisco discuss this is guy maserati. Joining us frew mountain is Hoover Institution fellow lawn he chen. Thank you so much for joining us. Okay lets touch brieflon the wildfires in the state enforcing so many people to flee their homes in the midst of this pandemic. How have the changes the governor has put place to contain the pandemic impacted the resources that we had to fight the fires . Even in the ye of th pandemic stricken budget weve seen massive cuts to universities and courts among other things, firefighting is an area in which theyve recreased spending. Than 85 million in the last years budget. Millions more spent in hiring more. Were still seeing the tescope and ity around Northern California stretching resources. So what was the co message that stood out to you the democrats this week . It had to be a message of a big party. That is the message that they wanted to put forth on e first night ofthis convention with glthem talking ingly about organized labor and autoworkersl immediately followed by john case in the republican who battled with organized labor during his time in e governors seat. And we dont kn if thiswill translate to electoral success. But it is clear that the virtual format was a politil strategists dream. Allowing them to control the message really hone in on a few hours of programming every night. And i think with the maexceptio of harriss speech on wednesday which is oddly formatted i thought for as much it is and we were able to control that message. So you advise republican candides for the white use including mitt romney and marco rubio. As they just mentioned, several prominent republicans were also featured during the dnc this weekend. Noonly meg whitman and john casey but colin powell as well. How are those presentations leceived in republican ci productively those speeches were perceived as ing delivered by republicans in name only. This derisive term that has been applied to people like governor case eric it was part of a cosive strategy. Their goal was to speak to independent voters who they believe ey can win back. Even those who supported donald trump in 2016. So the goal of having john casey and meg whitman and others picking at the convention was not to convince the republicans to support joe biden. But was in fact intended to convince those may be in the middle or whmaybe those consider themselves still republican but are unsure about the president and that sense it was a strategy that did make a lot of sense. And Governor Newsom was scheduled to give a larger address but becae the wildfires he sent in a prerecorded message. Before the coention night even really began. That was broadcast. And in his place alex padilla spoke along with michigan secretary of state jocelyn benson. Lets talkabout why he was chosen to speak. Is it cause of hifocus on voting security . Bs utely. Across the countrtheres a vote by mail here. And that is somethingth theyve been pursuing for years as far as the voters choice act. Shifting counties to defend all registered vors to the ballot. It also doesnt hurt that the short list should they become Vice President. Is also on the short list of possible appointees. Next week is the republicans turn in front of everyone and the nation in the limelight. What do they need to accomplish xt week . Rst of all they need to articulate what presiden trumps accomplishments have been in the first term. For a amlot of icans this is the opportunity to encapsulate what is going here. So what is it that donal has accomplished. The rent flow ofthe last few months is not been positive given the coronavirus and racial strife that we haveseen in america. This is their opportunity tell f the story the trump record. But more importantly they have to present a vision for what prdoident trump would in his second term. That has been something that has been noticeably absent r so om the campaign trail. And this is an opportunity for them in this next week to demonstrate that there is some things that President Trump shwants to accompwith the policy and other issues. And i think this the uninterrupted opportunity to do so because while this is the case that you do have a bunch veof people that decided theyre going to vote for or against President Trump there is still a persuadable middle that have taed about in that persuadable middle will be difficult to move i think without concrete plans that thwi presiden present for the next four years. He spoke and often how he likes to speak in fronof large crowds. You expect this virtual format to present an obstacle for him . Its not his favorite venue for sure. He drives energy from the crowds. Thats a big part of his campaign presence. So i think we will have to see how he does. Ch the same way as the nk in democrats being able to control the message an environment that is the mostimportant thing. You dont want surprises. You may recall in 2012 Clint Eastwood gave a speech at the republican National Convention and that was the surprise. We didnt coknow the ent of his speech fore he gave it. We are not going to have that problem this timearound if youre the republicans and 2020. They need to control that environment as much blas pos lets move forward to election day. Youve been doing cellent research into issues of polling places. Governor newsom has signed an order allowing fewer in person polling ples encouraging mailin voting. Do you expect an accurate vote count here in california shortly after election day . Or will there be a significant dela accurate ye but quick thats nothing new in california. The midterms wefa conducted ly and the state. But because of mailin ballots being dropped off later toward election day while still allowing people to mail their ballots in on election day it will lead to a longer vote counting period. There is a new state law on the books this year that i would say postal proves the state and allow 17 days for ballots to be received and counted. Expect that process to play ou through november. I do think a bigger challenge is actually going to be the in person voting. Ive heard fr Elections Officials theres been a real scramble to find poll workers and locations. Theres going to be huge shift to mailin voting but it going to be everyone. Theres a big question mark on whether not they ll be ab to have a safe and efficient election experience. I wanted to ask you about a poll that was released this month. 90 of democrats favor expanding mailin ballots. But rely 20 of blicans feel the same way. What is the resistance to mail in ballots in the Republican Party . O there are factors here. Theres a traditional concern about the integrity of mailin ballots. The integrity of the process and whether in fact votes that are coming in a properly counted and valid. Properly cast by the person thid they were being cast by. Nd those to be something thats been in the water. More recently heard the president s rhetoric from the white house podium and Campaign Events what he has done. Casting doubt i think on the validity of mail in voting processes. They have the availability that has been brought here he tries to draw a distinction between absentee ballots saying one is okay and what is not. That nuance is lo on a lot of voters. Saying i dont like to mailin ballot. He is someone that is in influential voice with Republican Voters right now. Th when you hear casting doubt that is something that repurtican voters in ular take note of. And i think that is driving the negative aspects towards the thyou both. Is week marked 100 years since women gave the right to vote. Weve used it in increang numbers ever sense. Fo in fact the past 40 years more women have voted in ery single president ial election then me despite a Record Number of women in Congress Today along with the selection of Kamala Harris on a history making president ial ticket women still face challenges. Joining me from sacramento is manny romero. The founder and directorof the center for inclusive democracy at the university of southern california. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. Earning the right to vote did not necessarily mean was easy to vote. Especially women of color. Can you describe the hardships that women face are in the early years . Sure. Just because we have the right to vote doesnmean it was a done deal. So women still faced quite a significant pushback from society. Really strongly discouraging them to vote. Women itfelt wasnt appropriate. To participate the ball boxes and as you alluded to of course women of color african americ women did nohave access. Not for very long time. So right now women hold 24 of their National Elected office. Does the quality mean getting to 50 . I think that is rt of th quality. Numbers matter. Having representation matters. But its also the quality of the representation. And i dont mean specifically te credentials of the candidat but that you want women to be elected. You want 50 representation but you also want thwomen in positions of power. Both of d them will up at the state level as there are key policy committees that won are not represented on. And key decisions at are being made for everyone. Where women are ju not atthe table. Lets turn to california. Here is the progressive state. Weve had strongfemale leaderships such as Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris you about the state of women in politics in california . We have strong dleaders. Nancy pelosi is the speaker of the house of representati s for the u. But we are still underrepresented amongst elected officials. At the state legislative level. But is important to note at cat level as well. And local supervisory districts and City Councils positions of a power like being mayor. For instance. All of these cal positions make a difference in terms of local policy. It impacts people on a daily basis. And we ill have a ways to go. And certainly california and across United States you see that here. You see it changing ov time. Women e starting to emerge in local leadership . It is changing and fluctuating certainly. There ws some good to talk about in terms of the growth of representation. But you still want to ehasize that there is still a ways to go. And part of that isthe pipeline. We still dont have a rong pipeline for womeas we do for men. Into getting into those local statewide and national filevel s. What barriers do you see that exist in voting in the u. S. . Particularly that impact women . As you ntioned at th outset women to vote more than men. The 2016 general election is four percentage ints more. Understand those numbers. Ve to disparity amongst women are still quite significant. So just by age younger women go with larger numbers than older men. For the most part they still vote in smaller numbers. So our mothers generation as the support there. As we look out with the breakout womens vote, women of color lt much lower mbers than white went women. 2016 they had a turnout rate of 17 Percentage Points less than white women. Africanamerican women had three Percentage Points. That might sound not so bad. But if we look at midterm elections and special elections the gap widens significantly between African American women and white women. So that quity of the promise of the Suffrage Movement is not there fully. Within the womens vote. So the isr es around vo id laws resonate particularly with women in any sort of disproportionate way. Women often find themselves in groups that are more likely not to have a state issued id. Women of loand those from low income backgrounds dispportionately will d also just having knowledge that it maview havebeen required is something that not everyone has that information il reavailable. So access to Political Capital in terms of fundraising and in terms of influence, it can still be a major hurdle for women who are working to get intou lected office, can talk us through the issues women face as they are trying to get ected and hothose can be overcome . Sure. Okay so there is still a lot of bias for women in our society en it comes entering into public life. First vault many women dont t eve that leap because they are so discouraged in their personal life and professional networks from doing so. Wobun are ambitious maybe theyre not encouraged to do so. When it comes to money and funding, they are less likely to be connected to those big donors. And those other Funding Networks that are absolutely necessary physically in todays time to run a successful campaign. Manny romero with University Southern california. Thank you for joining us on the show tonight. You can find more of our coverage kqed. Com the ed newsroom. You can reach me on twitter, facebook and instagram at you can reach me on twitter, facebook and instagram ericleeclemens. Com. For all of us here thank you for watching and good night. Captioning sponsored by wnet sreenivasan on this edition for sunday, august 23 a look ahead as the republican National Convention is set to get underway this week. More wildfires in california a wild weather in the gulf. And concerns over international aito beirut in the wake of the port explosion. Next on pbs newshour weeken pbs newshour weekend is made possible by sue and Edgar Wachenheim iii. The Anderson Family fund. Bernard and denise schwartz. Ls the cheryl and philip in family. Ra hope zuckerberg. Charles rosenblum