tv PBS News Hour PBS October 28, 2019 3:00pm-4:01pm PDT
3:00 pm
captioning sponsored by newshour productions, ll >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, as the leader of the islamic state is killed by u.s. forceswhat future and americaole in thep's region. then, one on one. a conversation with vice president mike pence on what happens now in the fight against isis and the impeachment inquiry into president trump. >> i don't take it as the foregone conclus house will vote to impeach president donald trump. >> woodruff: and california burning. as wildfires rage across the golden state, thousands evacuate, while others struggle to deal with forced power shutdowns. >> they are notorious fort sending us a tying, "hey,
3:01 pm
we're going to cut your power, prepare a plan," to which i keep responding, "hey, yohe big wealthy utility. you prepare a plan." >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 1 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.
3:02 pm
>> consumer llular. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> thiprogram was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. station from viewers like you.bs thank you. >> woodruff: the leader ofhe islamic state group is dead. what that means the end of isis is still very much a live question.
3:03 pm
abu bakr al-baghdadi died saturday in a u.s. raid in northwest syria.al offisaid today his remains were buried at sea, under muslio ign affairs correspondent nick schifrin takes it from there. >> reporter: today all that's left of the house where abu bakr al baghdadi hid, is pulverized stone. u.s. military ts destroyed the compound late saturday night after special operations forces attacked and baghdadi himself up. today u.s. officials revealed new details on his arrival here, in barisha, near the turkish he was protected by an al-qaeda offshoot, and had transited through the area oft and u.s. intelligence tracked him down with the help of syrian kurds. for five years the u.s. has been working with those kurds to fight isis. earlier this month president trump ordered the u.s. to withdraw, and then said u.s. troops would stay to protect syan oil fields. moving forward, u.s. soldiers all provide that protecti
3:04 pm
continue the five-year-old strategy. defenssecretary mark esper said today at the pentagon: >> our mission in syria remains same as in 24: to enable the enduring defeat ofsis. our recent repositioning of rces within the countr intendedo posture us to continue this mission and give the president options.s >> reporter:rt of that mission, u.s. officials confirmed today u.s. and kurdish troops killed isis spokesman abu hassan al-muhajir, considered the group's mber two, behind ghdadi. baghdadi wasne of the most successful terrorists in history, self-declaring a caliphate across syria and iraq. tens of thousands of his radical territory that at its peak was as large as england. they spread a violent and pervse brutality across the region. >> living in the west, i know how you fe, in your heart you feel depressed. >> reporter: and they created an unpreced that attracted thousands of
3:05 pm
westerners. baghdadi's most famous speech took place in the al nuri mosque in mosul, iraq. today, that mosque is back in iraq's control, but is in ruins, a relic of the u.s.-ledmi campaign, and er of the challenges that remain. >> he's dead. he's dead as a door nail. >> reporter: today in chicago, president trump praised the ,ldiers who killed baghda and he said isis prisoners feared to have escap turkey's recent incursion into syria, were secure. >> we have now tens of thousands of isis prisoners under tight supervision. and now we want the countries in the region to police own borders. >> reporter: but u.s. troops will remain in syria, and even the pentagon admits isis remains a threat to both syria and iraq. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin >> woodruff: we'll delve deeper into all of this later in the program. in the day's other news, the
3:06 pm
representatives will vote this week to formalize thenq impeachment ry and procedures for open hearings, the word from nancy pelosi in a letter to fellow democrats. meanwhile, former national security official charles kuperman refused to testify until a federal judge says he has to. that sparked new partisan jousting. >> if they fail to appear they will be building a versepowerful gainst the president for obstruction. an article of impeachment based on obstruction. >> when you get direct evidence this president is not only innocent, but has certainly has not done anything impeachable and its time that we bring this charade to a close. >> woodruff: meanwhile, the u.s. justice department appealed a federal judge's order to let impeachment investigators see the full mueller report. official visit to o todayfirst and called it "embarrassing to
3:07 pm
us as a nation." he claimed police superintendent eddie johnson let the ci become a haven for criminals. johnson shot back that the president ignored a double digit drop in violent crime in the last three years. firefighters in california were out in full force again today. in the los angeles area, crews sonoma county's wine country t threaten town of windsor. in all, some 200,000 people in the area have been ordered out. in the los angeles area, crews battled a pre-dawn fire near the getty center. officials ordered evacuations for some 10,000 homes and business. we'll return to this story later ou the program. in iraq at leastmore people were killed, and nearly 160 wounded in protests against corruption, lack of jobs and poor services. more than 70 have died since friday in street battles with today, crowds in baghdad ran
3:08 pm
from security forces firing tear gas.er several peope killed there, and one more in kerbala. in najaf, university studentsjo ined in, demanding that the government resign. >> ( translated ): this is a message to the politicians. have an idea stronger than theld former regime. is their idea?to ask them, what is their idea militias? is their idea to steal the country's money? so, we call on them to step down.dr >> wf: later, authorities declared a curfew in baghdad from midnight to 6:00 a.m. lebanon saw a 12th day of demonstrations, targeting political elites accused of corruption. some protesters slept on the streets in beirut after hearing that troops might try to reopen main roads. they insisted they will continue to block those roads until the government steps down. hong kong has now plunged into a recession, after five months of anti-government protests. the territory's financial
3:09 pm
t secretary says the unress new clashes broke out sunday when demonstrators again confront police. some set fire to a rail station. sed tear gas and rubber bullets. britain's request to delay its exit from the bloc for another three months to january . iteame three days before th current deadline october 31. but, prime minister boris johnson told parliament the delay was "unwanted" and he called for an early election to break the "brexit" deadlock. >> without that hard stop of an election, without that moment of truth, the electorate will, i'm afraid, have a sense that they are all, we're all like charlie brown endlessly running up to kick the ball, only to have parliament take it away, whisk that ball away, t again. >> woodruff: johnson lost that vote, but said he will try again, later this week back in this country, oregon congressman greg walden is n
3:10 pm
the 21st house republican to announce he is retiring. he said today he wants to pursue new opportunities. walden has served in congress since 1999.an fresongresswoman katie hill has announced her resignation amid allegations of an affair with a male staffer--r something by house rules. the california democrat denies that claim, but she acknowledges an "inappropriate" relationship with a female campaign aide. form congressman john conyer of michigan died sunday, two years ter being forced from office over sexual misconduct. conyers represented his detroit- area district for more than 50 years and was a founding membero of theressional black caucus." he resigned in 2017 amid sexual harassment accusations, which he denied. john conyers was 90-years-old. and wall street began the week with a rally. the dow jones industrial average gained 132 points to close at 27,090.
3:11 pm
the nasdaq rose arly 83 points. and the s&p 500 added almost 17, closing at a new high. still to come on the "newshour," a conversation with vice presidt pence on the u.s.' role in syria and the impeachment inquirinto the white house. what the death of the leader of the islamic state means for the future of the terror organization. the wildfires in theest-- californians evacuate as the power is cut. plus, amy lter and tamara keith on the political effects of the president's announcement of the death of al-baghdadi. this is the "pbs newshour" from washington and in the west frm the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> woodruff: from the raid this
3:12 pm
weekend that ended with the death of the top lea isis to the planned withdrawal of u.s. troops from syria, vice president mike penceas been at the center of u.s. policy in the region. he and secretary of state mike pompeo met with turkish president recep tayyip erdan and announced a temporary cease fire in syria. and then on saturday, the vice president was seated next to president trump in the situation room watching as u.s. special forces tracked down abu bakr al- baghdadi. that raid is where we began when i sat downith vice president pence at the white house earlier today. we spoke beforthe house democrats announced plans to vote on thursday to formalize their impeacent inquiry mr. vice president, thank you very much for talking with us. >> good to guy, judy. the news this weekend, andwith there's been praise from all corner force the u.s. military intelligence community, the president, since he announced this successful raid in syria,
3:13 pm
killing al baghdadi, the leader of i.s.i.s. my question for you is does this an the threat from i.s.i.s. and the ideology it represents is now lessened? >> well, we believe it does. but let me begin by saying, as the orld lerned sunday morning, this weekend was great weekend for america. the most wanted man in the world, al baghdadi, is dead, and it's a tribute to the courage and professionalism of our special forces, the armed forces of the united states, our intelligence services, but let me also say, jud it's a tribute to the decisive leadership of our commander-in-chief, president donald trump. >> woodruff: so you say it's less of a threat, i.s.i.s. and the ideology behind i.s.s. does that mean the decision to move the u.s. troops out of
3:14 pm
northern syria is now justified? >> let me say first, we think the elimination of al baghdadi, the active leader ofhai.s.i.s., wile a terrorist organiz on that that being said, let me address your question secifically. the president's made it clear syria, in combination with into syrian democratic forces, they went in for the purpose of defeateeadeng the i.s.i.s. calie and they accomplished that in march of this year with grat sacrifice of syrian kurds and great sacrifice of our forces,ea professionalism and courage on both sides. the last inch of territory controlled by the i.s.i.s. caliphate was captured, and with the kling of al baghdadi, we believe that fight has gone on and will continue. but the president's decision to move forces out ofhe borr region was, in a very real
3:15 pm
sense, it was a reflection of the fact thaour troops went in to syrth to defeae i.s.i.s. caliphate, but they had evolved into being troops simply patrolling the border between traditional kurdish syria andrk . and the president said we didn't need to be in that mission, hee announced weving our troops out, our troops are moving out and, now, because of that, we've achieved a cease fire in the region and we're calling onto european countrie make that safe zone a reality. >> woodruff: sorry to interrupt but there are a number of questions i want to ask. the reason i'm asking is it has been pointed out as the irony ia this raid carried out successfully because american troops were there and now the president decided to move them out. if the troops hadn't have been there, there couldn't have been a raid. nde other point made is this raid was coted with the help of america's kurdish part theres. the u.s. has decided to leave
3:16 pm
those kurdish partners to the will of turkey, who doesn't want them there, so there's a lot to square that cicle. >> first, let me take the issue with the suggestion that if we no longer had americans patrolling the border of turkey in syria that we wouldn't have been able to accomplish this mission. we have troops elsewhere in syria, we have troops in iraq. all across the region, judy, we have nearly 40,000 american forces deployed. the special forces, i can't say precisely where, but the special forces in the region would have the president made to move them out of the border area. >> woodruff: they didn't defly ploy from that area? >> i can'tay where the troops deployed from but the president's decision to movetr ps patrolling the turkish border hadno mpact on the capability as we demonstrated
3:17 pm
this weekend ofth movinis incredible successful assault that brought the most wanted man and, yet, what is being seen now is that, after the meeting that you and secretary pompeo had with president erdogan and e agreed on a safne, not long after that president erdogan meet with president putin in russia, theyled on a much larger safe zone, the, too went after at l hundreds kill, talks in the u.s. of war crimes being a success when thrks gotis truly what they wanted in first place? >> woodruff: president trump sent our delegation to turkey to save lives, to stop the militar incursion by turkey into syria and to bring a cease fire to the section of forward to that turkish military were patrolling hat the time. >> woodruff: but hundreds of kurds were killed. >> there was fighting along the border, there's no question, and
3:18 pm
even after the temporary cease fire took effect, the were some limited skirmishes. but as general told me, what president trump was able to secure was a commitment to allow our allies and the syrian democratic forces to safely withdraw from that 20-mile area along the border, and reports are today that syrian democratic forces are now in th process of withdrawing from a similar section alo the turkish border in syria, that is frankly controlled by russian forces and by the forces of syria's al-ba sad. >> woodruff: but did the turks break the promise they made to u to respect this safe zone, to go on and create a much larger safe zone, which, in mucharger area than what youf a had originally negotiated? >> you know,ur focus was to
3:19 pm
end the fighting in the area that turkey's military was present. the discussions that they had with russia and with syria itself about creating a buffer zone along the brder is something that, frankly, has this whole notion that we would essentially have a demilitarized zone that would be without syrian and kurdish militia forces, not kurdish people, but kurdish people live there now and will continue, to, but, also, eventually it would beth withoumilitary presence of turkey in that area as well, that we would create a demilitarized zone, and we're in consultation right now judy, with our european allies to bring resources to bear and maybe well personnel to bear to monitor that area. the only thing president trump made clear was that u.s. forces would no longer be deployed alonthe border between
3:20 pm
traditional kurdish syria andey tubut the united states is fully prepared to work with and enlist the support using our diplomatic and economic power for other nations to maintain a safe zone. > woodruff: sorry to interrt. so it's a success for russia celebrating this, iran es com out ahead and the syrian regime has come out ahead. that's a victory forhe united states? >> no, when president trump sent our team, he intent us with one mission, judy, and this that was to stop the invasion, to end the killing, and we accomplished that in a freive-day cease fi that literally allowed thousandl of our as in the syrian democratic forces to safely withdraw from the area that ws under control of the turkish military. but then let's think about it, to yr poi, president trump has made it clear that american forces will remain in syria and, particularly, that we will be deploying forces to ensure the security of the oil fields all
3:21 pm
across northern syria, and we're going to be working very closely with our syrian kurdish allies to make sure that the revenues from the oil don't fall into iran's hands, regime's hands or russia's hands, but they rein focused o ensuring the security and the stability of those hard-fought gains where our syrian democratic forms literally won back a their country from the scourge of i.s.i.s. >> woodruff: let me tu ukraine and the impeachment inquiry underway in congress by the house of representatives. the president, as you know, sayn er pressured ukraine's president zelensky to investigate joe biden, but there's now a reporting by a number of news organizations including the associated press that as long ago as may, after the president's first phone call with president zelensky, that he was straeg string, anxious,
3:22 pm
worried with his staff about how to deal with this pressure from esident trump. well, that's not what president zelensky hasaid. he actually has said there was no pressure -- >> woodruff: but the people around him -- he said that to the president and in discussions that i had with him that theo pressure. i think any american who takes time to read the transcript of president trump's call with president zelensky will see the presideng did nothong. there was no quid pro quo. >> woodruff: but in the transcript." mr. vice presiden, the president mentions joe biden to look into this with reference to what happened to vice president's son. did you thk it was appropriate
3:23 pm
for the president of the united states to bring up a political rival? >> i think theresident was clear that his discussion in that matter was all about looking into t t past. president's call, if the american people take time to read the call, which is greatly distorted by the way it was characteriebd in the whiswer's report. the whistleblower spoke about eight different references to mr. biden specifically, but the her distortion, judy, frankly, was when the chairman of the intense committee rinto the record before the committee a fab ricated version of the phone call -- that's why anytime this topic comes up, i always tell people, make sure and sit down will see there wa no quid proou quo, the president did nothing wrong, and i can assure people that, in all my dscussions with president zelensky on the president's behalf, we were focused on restoring the
3:24 pm
integrity of ukraine, standing with them against russianl aggression, ping them deal with corruption in the country and enlistingrtore sup >> woodruff: excuse me for interrupting but to bring up e biden's time, the man who is likely, may well be the democratic nominee for pesident next year, did it raise a red flag with you? and by the way, it's not just the whistleblower, it's william taylor, long-time respected diplomat appointed by president bush, reappointed by president trump o said, based on everything he was told by people who talked to the presiden that the president was withholding military aid for ukraine and the promise of a white house mee bticause they weren't committed to investigating the bidens. this was in the transcript. you read that transcript. does bill taylor, william taylor have cedibility, farce you're concerned? taylor's testimony before the committee? >> woodruff: his testimony,
3:25 pm
rars we know. >> we canlly count on that because all we have from the committee are leaks. judy, the process that's going on in congress today is a disservice to the american people, and 's a disgrace. i mean, to haveimpeachment hearings taking place behind closed doors, and the only thing the american people heard about are piecemeal release leaked apparently by the democratic leadership on the committee to ise press. >> woodruff: thiis opening statement, 15 pages. >> it's just unacceptable, judy. the committee ought to release the entire record of all their witnesses, how they responded, how they clarified points that t they made eir testimony, and the american people deserto now that. >> woodruff: again, it wasn't leaked. it was in his statement he releed to the public. >> look, the american people have a right to know. impeachment is a great and this nation, and the way thef
3:26 pm
democrats are conducting this so-called impeachment inquiry on capitol hilndl behi closed doors is wrong, and they should open this whole process to the life threateninlightof day s, thouldl transcripts, the due process right of the president of the united states. inquiries, you know, judy, there were rules that were established where counsel could be in the room, where due process rights of the president and of the administration were respected and that's civilly not the case now -- that's simply not the case now. and i thi, as i tavel around the country, it's why so many americans are so fteustwith this congress because, frankly, for the last three years, congress has been spending most of its energy try overturn the will of the american people in the last election.
3:27 pm
nnd despite the fact we have been able to get enormous amount done when we had a republican majority in rticular, and this weekend's extraordinary military success and the defeat and the killing of the most wanted man in the world in al baghdadi shows we're continuing in the fight to keep this nation secure. the s&p standard set a record today, the economy is booming, 6.5 million jobs, and the american people look at this congress and its endlyig inveion and the so-called impeachment inquiry, the american people are saying engh is enough. they want to see the congress focus on issues that matter most to them, to their public safety, to pro>>sperity -- oodruff: by the way, you mentioned previous impeachments. lindsey graham in the houseri the bill clinton impeachment process said the daa nixon iled to answer the subpoena is the day he was subject to ieachment because he took the power from congress,
3:28 pm
the point being congress does have a right to invte the president, it says so in the constitution. c >> welgress has this >>thority, and, so, the question is -- oodruff: and they're asking the administration to cooperate -- >> no, judy, i was in the congress for 12 years. the congress acts by vote in the majority. even that hasn't ha here. the speaker of the house unilaterally initiated an impeachment inquiry. there's been no vote. members of congress have taken no position on this inquiry, and most members of congress have no access at all to what's happening behind closed doors. e american people just deserve better. i mean, if congress wants to pursue an impeachment, then they ought to do it in a way that respects the american people, gives the american people allth facts and ultimately
3:29 pm
respects the history andad ion of the house of representatives as well as the due process rights of the president. >> woodruff: they say the three committees will wrap up their work in a couple of weeks and turn to open hearings. if the house goes ahead and votes to impeach the president, what do you believe will happen in the united states senate? do you believe they will conrvit thesident and remove him from office? >> well, let's be clear, first, that i don't take it as a foregone conclusion that the house will vote to impeach president donald trump. the american people take a look at the facts in this case, they reathe transcript, it was so mischaracterized by the whistleblower and grossly mischaracterred by chairman adam schiff in his fabricated version of the phone call that hea red into the committee. but when people read the transcript, they will see, despite the reckless allegations of many in the media, there was
3:30 pm
no quid pro quo. president zelensky himself said there was no pressure, it was a perfectly good phone call, the president did nothing wrong. if the facts come out, i think othe american people wille to understand that and i expect they will let their voice be heard on cthitol hill. buother reason is i really think the american people really want to see this congress come together and work with thiids prt in ways that will make our country more secure and more prosperous. >> woodruff: mr. vice president, thank you very much. thank you, judy. good to see you. >> woodruff: as you heard from vice president pence, the trumpi adnist believes the death of abu bakr al-baghdadi will have a easurable impact" on isis. but the u.s. mission in syria will continue, despite president trump's initial order to withdraw.
3:31 pm
nick schifrin is back with that story. >> reporter: what is the future of u.s. policy in syria? and how will baghdadi'h change isis? to discuss that i'm joined by hassan hassan, the co-author of "isis: inside the army of terror" and a director at the center for global policy. and mike leiter, who directedth national counterterrorism center for five year beginning at the end of the bush adminiration. he is now a national security partner at the lawfirm skadden,s b welcome to yh. welcome back to the "newshour". hassan hassan, let me start with you. you wrote today al baghdadi's death might be more signtnifi than osama bin laden's death. why is that? >> i do think soc beause, when -- you know, by the time n laden was killed in 2011, he had already en far remed from the day-to-day reality of al quaida. he wasn't as relevant as baghdadi before he was killed.
3:32 pm
baghdadi was commanding an organization that was determined to return an vive its savage caliphate, and he was pretty much on thground, meeting his lieutenants. and he was basically hands-on. so the impact of his killing could be far more -- more far reaching than the killing of osama bin laden in 2011 which happened a decade after 9/11. >> reporter: mike, bagadi not only ran i.s.i.s. inside iraq and syria but i.s.i.s. became synonymous with global rrorism. does the risk of global terrorism change at all now that baghdadi is dead? >> i thie it may b in the short term. i think hassan makes an excellent point that baggedy unlike osama bin laden in 2011 iseeply -- was tied deeply to s.i.s. operational plnning.
3:33 pm
so there will be a hiccup there. but i don't think the threat of violent extremists really changes at this point. the fact i.s.i.s. had already lost its physical caliphate andt became a global network of inspiration and loose coordination across many nations and into the west and baghdadi, as important as he was, doekesnt way the same basicin iration. attacks i think postill the same risk as before. >> reporter: we've sen more from a caliphate from a controlling territory back to an insurgency in iraq and syria and further splintering, programs, all warv the world, so can baghdadi's dth neent continues into further snrinterring around controlling and keeping things unified? >> yeah, that's the big question. i'm to about this because, o one hand, baghdadi, unlike any
3:34 pm
other leader that would folwilow hithin i.s.i.s., he built a legacy. but wayor befhe announced the caliphate in 2014. he led the organization for nine years. he broughthe organization up from the ashes, the defeat in 2008. he managed to actually bri it back from the dead, essentially. he panded theganization from being in iraq, turned the organizaon into iraq and syria and turned it into a global organization before he announced or declared himself to be a calif in 2014. he noongd create the brand that will survive his death. but the timing of his killing is very sensitive and that's why i say the unitedtates has a small window, perhaps, to keep the pressure and keep theow organizationand prevent it from becoming a large organization in the future,
3:35 pm
prevent it frm sically reviving itself. >> reporter: let's use that to turn to u.s. policy in syria, mike. we have be focusing so much on president trump's decision to withdraw over the last couple of weeks, but we heard secretary else peesper say specifically t. in syria has not changed and remains the same since 2014 and the official says the goals of u.s. policies in syria remain, the samber one, defeat i.s.i.s. so it seems that, despitehe president's rhetoric in the last couple of weeks, the strategyma s the same. >> and very interesting from vice president pence's interview, removing the u.s. troops from one s, ctit fundamentally the mission not changing, and i think that's quite good because as hassan knows, tere's a strategic point i.s.i.s. with baghone andk there are tactical opportunities from the information that was garneredrom the successful raid. so i hope that that is the cas .
3:36 pm
thexactly the time to accelerate operations againsts. i.s.so it can't recuperate quickly from this win agast baghdadi. i think the challenge we face, of course, is some of our ability to now collect intelligence, to have a reliable partner on the ground in the kurds is sti diminished by the president's decision to withdraw from that area. and with that, has also come the release of some previous i.s.i.s. detainees. so at exactly the time whethre i k we should be most practical and challengingme very consequences from our withdrawal of that region and' how its affected the kurds.at >> quickly, ould happen if the u.s. is not able to keep this pressure that you guys are both talking about on i.s.i.s.? >> i think i.s.i.s. would be reinvigorated again. i think i.s.i.s. will be galvanized by the sense of revenge and want to take f advantage of tt that everyone is angry with the
3:37 pm
organization, and that runs the danger, the risk of i.s.i.s. quickly seizing on the vacuum in syria and iraq to emerge. remember, syria and iraq have always been and will always be the center of gravity for i.s.i.s. if we take the pressure off i.s.i.s. in those two countries, i.s.i.s. will be back. o reporter: mike, you ught up the kurds. senior admistration official told me today that they played a "very important role, no one should estimate their importance in baghdadi's death." after baghdadi's death the u.s. and kurdish fight rlings killed the folksman of i.s.i.s., trump administration vowing to maintain the strategy, is that enough to maintain what is clearly a vital relationship? >> we have to invest in the department of defense. the kurds have been with the united states for decades now. i think we have a practical feed
3:38 pm
to work with them but we also iv ew have a true moralve imperati to stand by those who stood by us. >> reporter: mike and hasan, thank you very much. >>hank you. >> woodruff: california is under a state of emergency with multiple wildfires burning at both ends of the state, threatening thousands of homes. and all of this comes as more than two million customers have been dealing with power outagesh ughout the weekend-- and possibly more again tomorrow. stephanie syas more from our newshour west bureau. >> reporter: that's right judy, we spent some time talking to people in northern california over the weekend about tsei but firsnt to bring in jacob margolis who has been covering a new fire that broke out this morning in los angelesr jacob is a rr for kpcc. jacob, two things stick out atir
3:39 pm
me with this it's close to a major freeway and it's close to populated neighborhoods. rhow dangerous is this fiht now? very dangerous. k i mean, ked off at about 1:30 this morning, and some residents had absolutely no notice. they had to leave right aw. it's basically tearing its wayro h a mountainous area that's kind of a hard area to fight fires in,ut also th fire is driven by really strong winds coming over the mountains across the valy from this one area, and they're slamming into and there was a concern it would burn all the way to the ocean. there are neighborhdds tuc into these hills. the more we built in, theore could be possibly be impacted. fires are not uncommon in this area, but the more building that we've done, you know, we've
3:40 pm
come more aware. >> reporter: any idea how this fire strted, jacob? >> the mayor said they're oking into it at this point. usually, it can take time before we actually kno, butu know, we're going to have to wait and see. >> reporter: a there were 10,000 evacuations in thea. are so this was a pretty populated area. >> yeah, there's a lot of places kind of like homes tucked int these mountains. there are also a lot of very narrow rds to get out, so they had traffic issues as well up there. i actually s ait on trail overlooking area recently and i was thinking ths area is primed to burn because there's a lot of brush up there. even though we've had a lot of res here, you can tell the areas that are ready to go because a lot f vegetation is year this past year and thenwet dryness, so everything was ready to go, especially it's so dry by
3:41 pm
the time we hit october. hopefully the rainy season will come along soon and that will be really wonderful. >> this is called the ge get the er, the getty center is an architectural masterpiece in a los angeles. is the center threatened by this fire? >> the center is not threatene by this fire. last year, or two years ago, there was the skurball fire that came to the getty as well. the getty is designed to withstand fires. they have a special irrigation it's made out of a lot of stone and a lot of vegetation so as fires burn up the hilside the art will be safe. there's an air filtration system that's supposed to protect the art frommog b i iagine works for wildfires so my understanding the art safe. >> reporter: jake margolis, reporter for kpcc.
3:42 pm
jacob, thank you. >> reporter: even as fire crews are working to contain blazes in the southe part the state, northern california is dealing with mass evacuations and larger fires. the kincade fire in sonoma county has burned an area nearly twice the size of san francisco. more than 2.5 million customers lost power over the weekend in that area with planned blackouts because of the risks of fi. i spent the weekend looking at disrupted lives and livelihoods. across wide swiahs of califohigh danger and high emotions. >> it's a little p.t.s.d. from two years ago. >> reporter: as the kincaid fire in wine country rages, a dire forecast calls for winds that will blow embers into more towns and ignite more blazes starting early sunday morning. just in the last hour, we' gotten two different mandatory evacuation orders. within minutes of thtext alerts, going out to 44,000 residents ofhe towns of windsor and healdsberg, traffic is snarled and gas lines snake through streets. >> we got the evacuation order this morning and we didn't think anything of this woulde happening last night.
3:43 pm
here we are. >> reporter: residents, including dana and robert naples were given several hrs to evacuate. >> it's very disjointed to pack everything up, but i'm glad they gave us enough time to think about it, and do so mindfully. >> reporter: people gathered their precious things. for the naplesheir wedding album and dog. damian herrera made sure their gaming consoles were packed, you have some important stuff there. so you guys got the evacuation order this morni. what have you been doing? >> packing, and looking the news, it's scary, you know. >> reporter: people acted fast-- so many had been directly affected by the tubbs fire in 2017 that killed 22 people and burned more than 5,000 ructures, including dana naples. >> my school burnt down in the last fe. >> i saw it coming over. we just got the old highway and my house was gone. lost their home over there ind
3:44 pm
wikia. t we've beough this. >> reporter: now, they are seeing simitar weather cons-- and aren't taking chances. that fire two ars ago tore through these hillsides fueled by winds like these.ou here, they're called diablo winds, spanish, for devil. >> we're notetting a lot of rain. it's just dry, it's like kindling out there. it takes o. >> reporter: anthony solano picked up a generator to prepare for what is becoming another new normal her planned power outages. in bankruptcy and facing a reported $30 billion in liabilities, the state's largest utility, pg&e, started cutting off power in risky weather preemptively this month. it's aontroversial move that's affecting millions of pele and an untold number of businesses. restaurant owner jentt and executive chef shaun mcgrath sat
3:45 pm
li the empty patio of their restaurant in castoga saturday afternoon, planning for their >> we've been closee times this month for periods of two or three days a time. shaun drives back and forth to santa rosa picking up dry ice every day to keep our walk-in closed, but we are unable to open. 21 employees without work. obviously loss of income and a lot of perishables on theiway out. >> reporter: they cancelled 67 reservations this night. nnett calculates the losses, including wages, at nearly $14,000 for last week's blackout. >> i'm pretty angry as much as anybody else. try not to let it get to you. >> reporter: what are you angry about? >> just the shutoffs in general and the lack of maintenance they've had. >> reporter: most of downtown calistoga is fortunate enoerh to have a gor that kicked on a few hours after the outage, but threstaurant lovina's is out of its range.
3:46 pm
as are these residents in this mobile home park for people over 55. >> no one wants a repeat, but is this really the only way? could be done better?u think >> gotta get better on the brush control.or >> repr: for tiffini horton, it is pretty bad. >> it's been extremely difficult. between a mom who has dementia, a husband who is an iraqi vet that can't use his c-pap, that needs it, my sleep is almost non-existent, between her d ndering around not knowing what's going on m not being able to breathe. its been rough. -y reporter: to make matters worse, horton's r-old mom, elai is still recovering from a fall during the first blackout.
3:47 pm
can you understand why they're doing the outages? >> yes and no. i think there's a lot of covering themselves. >> right. i believe that, um, you know,, it's a risk to the so outages plus evacuations makes a lot of sense. there are so mevacuations, there are firefighters throughout the anifwhile pg&e tries to just its "safety shut-offs" to millions of people without power, it can't explain whulthe faty transmission tower that it suspects started the most destructive fire of the year was left on. i'm stephanie sy,. >>
3:48 pm
oodruff: we turn back to the top story of the night, the death of one of the most wted terrorists in the world. this time, through a political lens. that's amy walteof "the cook political report" and host of public radio's "politics with amy walter." and tamara keith of npr. she co-hosts the "npr politics podcast."h hello to b you, "politics monday." so, amy, thelead is -- we heard the announcement yesterday -- is the u.s. troops went in, in ti raid, and killed the leader of i.s.i.s., al baghdadi. cl nrly, there areational security implications here, but, politically speaking, what does this mean for the pre >> politically, this is a win for president trump, but a moment where he hasn't had a lot of wins, where every day, he is getting a drip, drip, trip of bad headlines related to the
3:49 pm
impeachment inquiry, and where he was taking a lot of pete from members of hievown partyen, on his syria policy, so now he has this thing that isort of universally sort of a positive. now, is it the kind ofhing that is broadly sway public opthion? yoknowway the white house is treating this, it's like they want it to be hi bin laden moment. they sent out this picture of president trump in the situation room that was very reminiscent of the picture of president obama in the situation room in the bin laden raid. but it's different. i.s.i.s., though frightening and concerning to people, it's not 9/11, and it didn't affect the american public on american sol in the same way. so with bin laden, youhead an outpouring, you had people going to the streets to celiebrate death. with baghdi, it was a s cycle. >> woodruff: with the white
3:50 pm
house reminding everybody about the death of journalists and the others at his had. >> of course, and this is a president who campaigned in his tenure has talked about pushing back i.s.i.s., eradicating i.s.i.s. he has focused as much about makipr that campaigmise and checking the box on that campaignnromise, which he now say he's had two big suctioning with i.s.i.s. there's a lot of controversy over the pullout in syria and whether or not we will see a return of i.s.i.s. to this area, but, at this moment in time, is was a very big success. to tam's point, too, abut osama bin laden, you know, when that happened at the end of april in 2011, when president obama sawt which was n a pretty significant bump in his approval rang about five moints points, and by the time june rolled around, late april, may, he got
3:51 pm
a bit of a bum by the time june rolled around, his approval was backe s before the obama bin laden raid. the polarization today is as significant as 2011.en e think about game changing events, the assaination of osama bin laden did very littleo move public opinion for very long. >> woodruff: may have a temporary effect. and the timing is ineresting because it is as the house of representatives continues tpee hment inquiry. today they reportedly announced they are going to take a vote this week on thursday. i interviewed vice president mike pence who said youeard him, i think, say that the american people don't care about this impeachment inquiry, they want the congress and the president to focus on what matters to the american people. does he ve a point? >> this move by house democrats is the next phase in the
3:52 pm
impeachment inquiry, a part of what they will be voting on is plearg havineargs, making evidence public. and, s, part of pence's argument is true, that american public is not speinevery day checking every headline. when this goes from being closed-door depositions to witho know, some leaked details, but it's a little complicated, to public testimony, very much have an effect on publict could opinion. >> that's a vey good point becae i have talked to a number of candidates and incumbent members of congress asking them what is it like when you are going arund your district, are people asking you about this? this includes democrats and time and time again, even among democrats, they say i's not an issue people in my district are talking about. they're more focus oened their bread and butter issues. but what i think is reallyou interesting this decision by pelosi to say, okay, we're
3:53 pm
going to open this trocess, wha she was essentially saying to republicans is you all have made this process argument now for a few eks, saying that this impeachment inquiry isec illegitimatese it's been behind closed doors, because we're not following the same rules and procedures t have been there in previous impeachments. well, okay, now we're going to do that. we're going to take a vote on thursday. now will we see republicans, in kind, reond with allowing more of the folks in the executive branch to testify? will they comply with subpnas, et cetera? >> woodruff: which, so far, they've resisted. >> spoiler alert, i can't imagine the white house suddenly saying, oh, great, you've vod on this, now we're totally going to cooperate, we aren't going to have any concern about eecutive privilege. on frid there was this move by the white house to ask someone who had been in the
3:54 pm
administration not to testify, and they cited an immunity for tolevel aidso the president not to have to give congressional testimony. do we thnk that the white hou is going to reverse that position just because there's an impeachment inquiry officially? no. >> i mean, i talked to a member of the house intelligence committee a couple of weeks ago and asked him that very question, all right, do you take this vote authorizing impeachment inquiry in the way that repubcans would like you to do. you do that, call their bluff. and he said, well, unfortunately, they're moving the goalposts as we speak. i think they just move it agn. so i am curious to see the reaction of individual members a to this votd what they are going to do with this going ufrward. >> woo interesting because, again, as you heard talking to vice president penoc, wi their arguments is this argument has been blind clo, sed doow it will be out in the open and we'll see how the argumentichifts. "pol monday," so much going
3:55 pm
on. amy walter, tamera keith, thank >> thank. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff.join us on-lie tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular >> and by the alfred p. sln foundation supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundati b. committed lding a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting.
3:56 pm
4:00 pm
♪ welcome to the program, everyone. hello everyone and welcome to "aman "ur & co." here's what's comimi up. the evidence is powerful some more powerfwh already tha t we saw in the impeament of richard nixon. >> former secretary of state john kerry on impeachment,e e trail in syria and the climat ergency. plus -- , star of stage and screenbrian cox dissects his roles of f e moment. president ndononohnson on broadway and the ruthless di murdoch mogul on the hit show "succession." >> when we shine a light in a dark place, not everybody is
135 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
KQED (PBS) Television Archive Television Archive News Search Service The Chin Grimes TV News ArchiveUploaded by TV Archive on