tonight on "kqed newsroom." th the new democratic majority in the house. what a li ahead for the russia investigation? we'll talk with adam schiff. the expected incoming chair of the house intelligence community. in beaut county firefighters are battlingdeadliest wild fire in state history. hoat's described a the new ab normal and feature fires can be prevented. former san francisco mayor george moscne on the 40th anniversary of the his death. a film h honor life and legacy. welcome to o "kqed newsroom." we begin with politicalve igations and stand offs. after months of negotiation, trump prepared his written answers to questions from rober mueller his russia probe.

a bill to protect mueller from being fired is a stand off the senate. democrats are intensifyin their stance for whitaker to recuse himself from over seeing the russia probe. california congressman adam schiff wrote if he tried to obstruct the investigation, quote he will be called to answer his actions will be exposed. schiff is in line to bcome chair of the house intelligence committee. in january. >> he joins me now. by skype. and other political developments. nice to have you back. >> thank you. good to be with you. >> i want to ask you about the y.ws conference that president trump held to he has prepared his answers to special counsel robert mueller questions. what's your action? >> well, i think what is really called for heres an in person interview. these maybe some of the questions thatspan be rded to in writing. when you get questions answered witness, ing from a

it's really more of the lawyer testimony. than the witnessmo tes. and particularly on an issue of obstruction of justice. wch was not part of the subject matter of the questions. and whether the president intent is so important. whether he had acorrupt intent as he said about the firing of james comey and wanted to influence the russia investigationoe you need to the questions and ask the follow up questions in which you can't do in writing. i hope mueller will persist and make sure ghets the answers he needs and in person. >> all right. i want to ask you about something else that is coming out today. that has to do with the justice department. apparently secretly filed or will file criminal charges against wikileakss founder. e-mails stolen anom democrats used by russian intelligence official ins the 2016 presidential election here in this c. how do you think this will

effect special counsels investigation into election interference but the russians? >> it's hard tosa because we don't know the nature of the charges. we don't know if ts report accurate. whether that indictmentvo ies the wikileaks actions in pushing out the rlesian s information or whether it involves the prior information that wikileaks put out. or other information wikileaks put o that was reported to be property of the intelligence community, it's hard to evaluate. but i will say this, i don't think asang is a reporter. and certainly if you look at some of the conduct during the pushing out of the stolen e-mails and communications with people associated with the trump campaign. he wasn't acting like a journalist. he was a partisan. someone who wanted to help bring about one outme and of course the effect of what he did was designed toring an

out come and tear down and harm the clinton camrdign. >> reg the justice department it issued a legal whitakers t appointment is as acting attorney general is valid. other presidents in the past have been stalled. without senate approval. yodisagree with that. why? >> there is a succession statute directly in place. designed for exactly this contingency. when someone at the top level is fired. attorney general is fired or pushed out. they are relying on a general and when there's a conflict between something specific and the general statute. the specific wins. and what's more when the plain language of the constitution ist involved ass here. and says you must be senate nfirmed if you're a principle officer.

clear language of the tus applies. >> you and other democrats have said mr. whitaker should recuse himself. what are you worried will happen if he doesn't step a way from the >>vestigation? his is the ethics question. he auditioned for a role in the justice department. he acknowledged. by going on tvsi and blly slamming the mueller investigation. talking about how you can cripple itre if you in charge of it. my fears are that he will flow through. with what he proposed and talking about this on tv. that is take actions outside the public view to scuttle the work. nd he could serve as back channel to the president to provide coidential case specific information. to donald trump or his lawyers about the investigation. if bob mueller produces a repors for congr or the american people. he could try to bury that report in the justice department. there's a number of actions he could take that would be to the

spres of justice. >> the democrats have taken control of the house. you welcome the chair. set to become chair of the house intelligence committee in january. what steps will you take regarding the russia probe? >> the work we were able to do previously. the minority. and the avenues of investigation that the republicans sh. do because they consider concerned it would lead to incriminating investigation. the republicans wouldn't allow us to look into t is whether russians were laundering money through the trump organizatern and whehe russians have financial leverage over the president of the united states. that might explain the othwise unexplainable conduct in or generally the president's pro-russia policies. there are any number of investigative threads we were not able to pursue.d important matters first. >> republican congressman newly ected house minor ity leader.

from the central vae lee how do you plan to work with him? >> it could a good opportunity for california. in which the speaker of the house nancy pelosi is from california. and the minority leader is from california. i'm not sure we have had that circumstance for any state in the past. not to mean with issues that arl d important to california. we are at a drivers whseat. so we have the president of the united states threatening to with hold fughing to fit wild fires in the worst wild fire disaster in our state history. the congress will be well positioned to push back and make sure the state gethe resources it needs to meet the disaster >> do you think mcart. >> i hopeso, it will depend on whether he puts the interest of

calia and citizens above the often president of the united states. even durin tragedy. as we saw with the fires. yes, there will beimes where because the president and hiser ints are so -- to us in california. mcarthur will be in difficult position. ffe president wants to drill the coast. california doesn't want that to happen. what's the minority leaderto gog do. i hope had e will sign with constituents his on that and issues important to the state.ig >> all. congressman adam schiff. thank you for your time. >> thank you. we turn our attention to californ deadly wild fires as of this morning the beaut county campfire has burned 10,000 homes. destroying the mountain community of paradise. 60 people have died in the blaze. many were still in their homes as the flames raced into town.

600 people remain missing. the campfire is the most destructive in state history and increasingeries of north us fires from the bay last fall to the fire tornado in redding this past emergency responders, public health are scrambling to cope with what is called the new ab normal. >> orununately the best science is telling us,that dryness, gharmth, drout all those things, they're going to intensify. >> pacific gas and electric is once again faci questions about whether the power lines ght have sparked the fire. president trump plans to visit emorrow. and now with more on this, morning news ode edor and politics and government editor. welcome toou both. ted, there's so many lives lost. so many homes a destroyed i think one of the things that people want to know is whatau

ed this? you broke the story about one possible origin. for the fire. possibly connected to pg&e. and investigars say there a possible second cause sfi. >> thet clue was thursday afternoon pg&e filed an incide report. it said on this major transmission line in the areaonf of the small resort towns in beaut county. there was an and that took place a few minutes before the fire started. anou then like said, last night cal fire announced there might be a potential second origin of the fire. unclear if that second spot which is on con cal ifroad. ou have been following the coverage it comes up a lot. peopleiving there were pushed out and hurt. and also unclear to ne that was a new fire that started there or somehow spot fires that were expanding from the major fire. soadar innce that was

actually a new spot fire in cal fire hasn't clarified that. they emphasize the t cause o fire is still under inves agation. thes clues at this point. >> meanwhile the head of the io commi miker picker is saying he'll expand an existing probe into pg&e safety structure and safety practices. at the same time he doesn't want the company to declare bankruptcy. so what does this mean? will pg&e be allowed to exist in its current form. >> that will take months maybe years to untangle. this is a roller coaster of a week for pg&e. when it comes to the stock market. the shares cut in half. since before the fire. up unt midweek. and plummet on thursday. even then michael picker the head made a comment on a call to investors saying on this private call we don't want pg&e to bankrupt. he followed up with the public tatement aboutooking atd their structure.

this speaks to the real seriousness of the situation. that you have regulators actually even voicingea this i that we should have assessed sort of the heart of the company. i think that what ultimately picker o trying is shore up pg&e. nobody wants to see it go bankrupt. even the harshest critics don't want that to hpen. >> is there an inherent conflict of the interest in you r the risk of having investors focussed on the bottom line than safety. >> that's been really a tension since 2010. when the neighborhood blew up. pg&e gas line w at fault. and we see this again blamed for 16 firesin 2017. that is a question that critics have been asking for a while. this is unprecedented territory. i was talking to wall street analysts about that. they have never seen anything like it. pg&e has been in existence for 1

over years. they have been a private company. you're right. we get our water in california in most cases from public li u. the sort of hybrid of a wall street traded company with the shareholders. and customers who ultimately have bourn the cost of thes thiit is an inherent conflict. >> th is fwoingoing on this is unfolding. some residentshe think know who is to blame. they already filed a lawsuit aginst pg& what are the grounds for the complaint? >> they're accusing pg&e ofne igence. they said it and they actually have focussed on the fact they beadeve that pg&e has done a job of maintenance and making sure the structures are safe and und and to your point about whether or not it's appropriate to have a profit driven company in charge of utilities, state senator hill has told us that he's looking into possibility of legislation at will break up

the company or turn it public. so -- >> the explosion happened in hill district. >> indeed. >> it's similar lawsuit to the 2017 fires. it's important to note we don't know if th are responsible for the tubs fire. the biggest in 2017. they are around $13n. bill far less than any one of the fires caused damage of. tgs an open uestion. >>ted, we have the fire is obviously still burning. what are the resources the state is bringing to bear on this and striing to put the fre out? >> we have heard the story several times in the last few years. cnia brings in a huge amount of resources. not only are thereds thousa of cal fire firefighters but bring in firefighters from the u.s. forest service. from the state corrections department. about 1,400 inmates who are helping the fires. there's also a resources from out of state. this isthe situation where you have thousands of thousands of

people fighting these fires. not just here. but obviously the big woolseye fin southern california. and who knows we could have another big fire. the thomas fire took place in the winter. >> any idea on whene this will contained? >> it's 45% contained. and the estimated time it should be fully contained is at the end of the month. those dates i notice change from lime to time. >> sometimes f containment is important. but it's not -- the qution is are homes threatened where's the fire burning. >> what about airit qu? we're seeing it all over the bay area. schoolsre closed today. ins repo out on just how bad it i it's ranking up there witwothe pollution levels in the world. >> i was looking at the bay area air quality on the site. they have classifications for how bad the air is. there's actually one near the station on arkansas avenue. and that is one of the highest in the region. the air quality in places like san b low are reaching into

hazardous levels. they haven't yet. we have never experienced anything like this. we're seeing people with masks everywhere you go. in san francisco and oakland the city is trying to reach out and provide masks toople in the street. there's only so much you can do. i'm surprised we have talked to county health officials and there's not a number of people entering the emergency room. >> estite on when the air levels will be get better? ng theht now we're expect possibility of rain by midweek. next week. it's possible that this smoke could push out by wednesday. i remember speaking to a meteorologist earlier this week and said itthwill be next following day. these get extended. these are just predictions. >> let's talk about who's going pay for the damage from all the fires? we have the horrible human toll. soe many peo lost homes. and lives. earlier this yearrown signed a law. that protects utilities from

bearing full liability costs for wild fires they may have been caused by equipnt. and allows a company to issue bonds and pass on the liability costs to rate payers. that law applies to 2017 fres. it doesn't apply to 2018. what does this mean for the i firfuture fires? >> again it'sthunclear. whe legislature convenes in january and the governor sworn in we'll see a better picture emerge pick picker indicated clean up legislation could extend it t 2018. we'll see if there's a political appetite. >> it sounds like a bailout. >> that's what critics willt ee. about w the future of the utility broadly. they cannot afford theo if you factor in this fire and last year. maybe this fire alone. they have insurance up to $1.4 billion through next july.

at's a fraction of the avstruction. we't talked about the housing crisis and what are the people goingo do. there are not other options the way there were. for people who are displaced. >> and aside from the enormous economic toll. we'r talking about. there's the environmental dilemma. if u have acompany like pg&e and it's strapped for cash. stock market pces plummet. billiony worth about $9 now. way less than it was before. if they are struggling for finances how will they help alifornia of the renewable energy and continuing vegetation management? that's the key question. there's two issues here. which is the question of have they been done goodob of upkeeping their equipment. and the bigger question o the climate change issue. lawmakers will have weigh that. and regulators.

thanks to you both. >> thank you. now a look at the legacy soft a former san francisco mayor viewed by many as the champion of the people. george moscone. he was an early proponent of gay rights and worked to create city overnment that reflected diversity 40 years ago this month he was shot and killed in city hall. by former supervisor dan white. his life and leadesuhip are the bject of a new document tear. a legacy of the change. here's a clip from the film. the first truly modern mayor of san francisco, he pushed an inspired city government to become more inusive. diverse and tolerant. his life was cut short by the assassin who murdered gayt ist harvey milk. the darkest day in san francisco police cpolitical history. he left a legacy that endured.

>> joins many now to talk about the film is producer and director. and george moscones son. who is featured in the fil nice to have you here with us. >> thaerk you. >> the years a lot has been written and said about that very awful dark time in 1978. when dan white shot and killed your fath along with harvey milk. this film covers those events really through the lens of your father's life. why was that so important? >> well, we know how the story ends.an the story has been by the ending. what made my dad so powerful wat not jis mark in history as someone who died for what he believed in. a someone fr childhood of no privilege whatsoever. made it through the system. and changed a lot of it. and had a lasting lasting effect. including his relationship with

milk. an amazing man himself and whose story hasn't been eclipsed because of the great movie milk. and we needed to tell geory.s st >> like you said. harvey milk an icon. fiyt opeay elected official in california. do you feel that his iconic tatus sort of over shadowed your fathers legacy? >> i thk intentionally it did. the gay community at the time and still does, needs hero and needs someone to push their identity and voice forward. hat became an urgent call to action but that unintentionally left my ads story sort of over to the side. and so a lot of friends andfa ily really got together and my dad led by my brother christopher, to change that. and bring my dads story back to the center. >> that he used the word hero.

milk was a hero to many. but moscone was a hero to many. he worked hard to make sure he was inclusn the way he built city government in san francisco. he was a state senator before he became mayo can you talk about his role as trail blazer? what set him apart from other politicians at that era? >> several things. and as you said hed two functions in politics. he was a state senator for a long time. and mayor for three years. as a senator his role was in passing legislation. very progressive legislation. and a lot of it. and that's an important partf the legacy. that we san franciscoen sometimes over because he was the mayor. when you see the mayor that's an executive. >> as senator he suppored by lingual -- he did i things.

>> one of the interns made a reference to this. ine was d research. on the legislation that geoade moscone hand in passing. she was taken by something about mattress safety. it was an early bid of consumer protectionism. part of a long list of things he was involved inin sacramento. during his career. i would add when he became mayor, it was like a swch was turned. in the city the halls of power in the city had previously been white men. and within months of mayor moscone being inaugurated, power was distributed among people of all sorts. women, minority. gays. everything that reflected the diversity of the city of san francisco. it happened so quickly. that's what impressed >> where do you think that frame work for yourhe fs believes and inclusiveness and diversity

came from? >> i don't know. that's a goodquestion. i have an imaginative mind to guess what happeneed he was ra by a single woman. he talked about how his mother really struggled very hard make it and be respected for the work she did. to be paid. he grew p on the streets. player. basketball he knew the neighborhoods and a field.evel playing his father was a prison guard. and he just saw the world. and he was like sometimes you wonder how did shakespeare write everything. he was a creative person who saw he world an could change it. he talked to people across the aislend across t political spectrum. and get them to really listen to said.he had to he had power and built his privilege and used it for good. >> as his son when you watch the suilm, whatrised you the

most? >> there was a pictnre of us hawaii. that surprised all of us. we forgot it existed. uis voice. his voice a great voice. he loved the way he walked down the street. and just with his hands in his pocket. he talked with gravel, sexy voice. i don't understand where it came from. except the 3,000 cigarettes a week. i just loved his swagger. boloved it. i know him, but i don't remember the swagger. seeing the film andei that again brought it back. >> there were some interesting things in the film that i hadn't known before i watched it. many actually. oneof them was when former state assembly speaker and mayor brown talked about how he met george moscone.ey when t worked as janitors at a college law. what are some other interesting dbits that are very little known that the public should

know about him? >> it's hinted at. it wasn't a point of emphasis. i was fascinated about how he could be someone across the aisle. in the cocuext ofent politics a man who had friends in the republican party.e who can m deals. who got ronald reaganhe governor to sign an awful lot of bills that were passed by the legislature in the years. it s a degree of sophistication. and honor. and we had some footage that isn't all in there. there's little bit from former governor. that talks about how they got together even when they were on pposite sides of thing. >> it's a wonderful film. people.d together with a legacy of change the will air next friday at 8:00 p.m. right here. and in the meantime, thanks to

you both. >>u. thank >> and that will do it for us. next week tune if for a "kqed newsroom" special. featuring interviews with authors.provocative find more coverage online. thank you for joining and have a wonderful thanksgiving.

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