the latest on breaking the impasse of the capitol hill for new round of federal economic relief. democrats and their national conventions republicans prepare for their turn at bat nexteek. women won thright to vote. ince we dive into issues that still face california's won at the ballot box and in elected office today. welcomto kqed wsroom. i am david clemens. so we plunge fiin the season with hundreds of fires burning

more than 500,000 acres across northern and central california. firefighters are battling main fires whilcontending with high wind and difficult terrain. at least five people have now died. in santa cruz and san mateo le have been ordered to e64,000 evacuate. the air quality in the bay area is now among the worst the world. the northern california wildfires expected to burn for several more days. and possibly wks. visit kqed.org for up-to-date air-ality maps and evacuation information. earlier today postmaster general lewito joy stify before senate lawmakers. he was called to answer for controversial changes to the postal service. changes which have led to widespread delays and warnings that mail-in ballots may not award on time to be counted for the november eleion. those changes would be suspended until after the election.

also this week a bipartisan group released a report saying that russia interfered to help donald trump when. thidreport also out extensive contact between trump campaign advisors and russian operatives. me now buy skypk from burb is democratic concert congress member and chair of the house intelligence committee adam schiff. thank you so much for joining us. >> what is your response to thet ony in front of the senate today? >> i am profoundly concerned at the postal service es not have the resources that are needed to thmake sure we carry out the solution properly. but also that the changes they already put inlace need to be reversed. it is not enough the sorting machines need to be installed and figure out where they are make surethat we can handle the volume which is going to be higher than we've ever seen it before.

notwithstandg efforts to discourage and disenfranchise people. i think you should step down. there is a reason whothers 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 cl ing postal service and as we have seen amply the pranident wants to do hing he can to make it difficult for anyone during the cast votes. and that is just un nscionable. >> what do you expect will come from the postal service here? >> i know it will pass. and it will provide 25 billion for the postal service. and it will insist on the restoration of the equipment took off. ostmaster general the question as well publican support it? or the going to continue to enable the presidents attacks

one he postal servand on people's rights to vote? so a repuicans going to continue to enable this craven president and his efforts to tear down the democr >> you're pointing again to the split that exist in our country . during democratic national convention joe biden made a plea for unity. do you think that is a pipe dream given thstate of politics in america today? i don't think is is a pipe dream. i think the president has a profound ability greater than y other american to set the tone and part of the reason is become so divided is because we have a president whose tone has been one of bitter division. in gets up the morning after stoking himself on right wing news and ethe t bio for much of the day. and in his publ address he never tries to reach out to people that did not originally support him. joe biden has a veryildifferent

ophy like he said. he wants to be the president for all americans. he will work hard for all their support including people who didn't vote for him. and that's the way it should be. and i think much as anything character is really on the ballot. ca and theyreally help to bring us together. someone of or character just drivesus apart. >> turning to the news of the week now. steve bannon who is president trump's former advisor and campaign manager was indicted re and ed on fraud charges this week. he and some of his associates raised money err a bowall project. and now he is accused of siphoning off hundreds of thousands of dollars from that project to pay off his own personal expenses. what are your thoughts about steve bannon with e arrest, his indictment and would you support an investigation in the house into this alleged game? >> na trump promised the american people that mexicofo would pay this wall. that was a lie and it was a

fraud and con. and now you have steve ban promisg that 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 and a con. ho that'sthese people are. it's never enough for them. 'r thboth very wealthy. butthey are still intent on ripping people off. donald tru was trying to use his power of position to move the british open over to h own golf course. it's just never enough. d it's never out the american people. and i think this is why we are in such terrible straits in wi terms of dealin the economy. and whether or not there's a rolling movement in congress that would not be in intelligenmmittee matter. but i think certainly the law

enforcement and southern district of new york are doing what they should invest tting criminality no matter who perpetrates it. >> let's turn to another case of big news this week. a bipartisan senate report came out which targets the links between the trump campaign and the russian intelligence in 2016. rtthe redetailed several points of contact tween the bu two. it stopped short of saying there was a coordinated conspiracy. what is the bottom line for your. >> what's great here is that the republicans were not going to go to the same place. democrats anrerepublicans with what we found in the house ey welcomed and encouraged intervention to help the campaign. they built it into the campaign plan and made full use of it. the trump campaign paul

manafort secretly was meeting intelligence providing that agent with internal polling data to help elect donald trump. these are really profound acts of corruption. whether they are enough to prove 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 believe there are current links between the trump campaign the trump presidential campaign and russian nintelligen? >> you know i can't say that the corruption in terms of trying to get foreign help to this campaign is in the past. as we saw after inviting russia to help him in 2016 he then went on to try to force ukraine help him. according to john bolton he also begged china's lpesident to his campaign. so what he anothers may be

doing right now i can't 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. stimulus package whichas been stalled out. can you tell me if you or any agreemt when 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 district. and i met someone who told me that she had $500 in unpaid utility bills because she had to choose paying rent o utilities. she was basically usg a fan and it's been in the hundreds here in los angele this is what people are experiencing. they need help right now. the challenge politically is that mitch mcconnell's

republican conference for the senate at least half of them don't want to do ytng more. so he is just sat on the sidelines. they need to come to an agreemint they've been si on a bill for three months. they need to can negotiate in good faith because we need tois get done. >> this week president trump ulster the legitimacy of a conspiracy group the says he is battling double worshiping pedophiles and cannibals were linked tode crats. and he said these are people who love our country. they so recently won a support race in georgia and will iup in congress. are you worried about the influence in our government? >> absolutely. in the fbi has warned about the dangers oft the extrem conspiracy theories. either the subject has been here myself. or someone who attempted or wanted to make a citizens arrest and did not attempt . thankful 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 stop trafficking in it. the republican party i think is playing with fire. by encouraging people to run for office. it just shows how the gop has lost any moorings. but it is a real danger and they need to stop amplifying this extremist content. >> thank u for joining us. democrats wrapped thr all moatic national convention this morning. gopernor gavin newsom ed briefly to warn about the dangers of climate change as hundreds of thousands of acres were burned. california junior senator and vice presidential running mate kamala harris was highlighted d throughout. course house speaker nancy pelosi and another

hometown figure also rally the faithful. joining meinfrom skype san francisco discuss this is guy maserati. joining us from mountain view is hoover institution fellow lawn he chen. thank u so much fojoining us. okay let's touch briefly on the wildfires in the state enforcing so many peoe to flee their homes in the midst of this pandemic. how have the changes the governor hasput in place to contain the pandemic impacted the resources that we had to s?fight the fi >> even in the year of this pandemic stricken budget we've seen massive cuts to oniversities and courts other things, firefighting anis area in which they've increased spending. more than $85 million in the last year's .budg millions more spent in hiring more. were still seeing the scope d intensity around northern california stretching resources.

>> so what was the core message that stood out to you most from the democrats this week? >> it had tobe a message of a big party. that is the message that they rst night of this convention with them talking glowingly out organized labor and autoworkers all immediately followed by john case in the republican who battd with organized labor during his time in the orgove seat. and we don't know if is will translate to electoral success. but it is clear that the virtual format was a political e ststs dream. allowing them to control e the messally hone in on a few hours of programming every night. and i think with the exception of eekamala harris's on wednesday which is oddly formatted i thought for as much it is and we were able to control >>at message. so you advise republican

candidates for the white house including mitt romney and marco rubio. as they just mentioned, several prominent republicans were also featured during the dnc this weekend. not only meg whitman and john casey but colin powell as well. how are those presentations received in republican circles? re perceived as being speeches name only. y republicans in this derisive term that has been applied topeople like ca governor eric it was part of a cohesive strategy their goal was to speak to independent voters who they believe they can win back. even those who supported nald trumin 2016. so the goal of having john casey and mewhitman and others picking at the convention was not to convinthe republicans to support joe biden. but was in fact intended to convince thosy be in the middle or maybe those cowho

ider themselves still republican but are unsure about the president and nsin that it was a strategy that did make a lot of sense. >> and governor newsom d s schedu give a larger address but because the wildfires he sent in a prerecorded message. before the convention night even really began. that was broadcast. and in his place alex padilla spoke wialong michigan secretary of state jocelyn benson. let's talk about why he was chosen to speak. is it because of his focus on voting security? >> absolutely. across the country there's a vote by mail here. and that is somhing that they've been pursuing for years as far as the voters choice act. shifting counties to defend all registered voters to bathot. it also doesn't hurt that he's on the short 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 thwhlimelight. do they need to accomplish next week? >> first of all they need to articulate what presidsht trump's accompnts have been in the first term. for a lot of americans this the opportunity to encapsulate what is going on here. so what isit that donald trump has accomplished. the recent flow of the last few months is not been positive given nae corus and racial strife that we have seen in america. this is their opportunity tell the story of the trump record. but more importantly they have to present a vision for what president trump would hido in second term. that has been something that has been noticeably absent so far from the campaign tra. and this is an opportunity for them in this next week to demonstrate that there some things that president trump wants to accomplish with the policyand other issues. and i think this is the uninterrupted opportunity to do so because while this is the

case that you do have a bunch they're going to vote for or against president trump there is still a persuadable middle that we have outalked in that persuadable middle will be difficult to move i think without concrete plans that the present will present fothe next four years. >> he spoke and often how he likes to speak in front of la e crowds. you expect this virtual format to present an obstacle for hi >> it's not his favorite venue for sure. he drives ener from the crowds. that's a big part of his campaign presence. so i think we will have to see how he does. but for republicans i think in e much the way as the democrats being able to control the message an environment that is the most t importing. you don't want surprises. you may recall in 2012 int eastwood gave a speech at the republican national convention i was part of. and that s the surprise. we didn't know the content of his speech before he gave it. we are not going to have that problem this me around if you're the republicans and

2020. they need to control that environment as much asossible. >> let's move forward to election day. you've been doinexcellent research into issues of polling places. governor newsom has signed an order allowing fewer in person polling plac and is encouraging mail-in voting. do you expect an accurate vote count here in california shortly after election day? or will there be a significant delay? >> accurateyes. but ick that's nothing new in california. the midterms were conducted fairly and thstate. but because of mail-in ballots being dropped off later toward election daywhilstill 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 theh book year that i would say postal proves the state and allow 17 days for ballots to b received and counted. expect that process to play t through november. i do think a bigger challenge is actually going to be the in person voting. i've heard from elections

officials ere's been a real scramble to find poll workers and locations. there's going to be huge shift u to mail-in voting it's not going to be everyone. there's a big question mark on whether not they will be le to haa safe and efficient election experience. >> i wanted to ask you about a poll that was released this month. at 90% of demofavor expanding mail-in ballots. but only 20% of republicans feel the same way. s whate resistance to mail- in ballots in the republican party? >> there are two factors here. there's a traditional concern about the integrity 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 that said theywere being cast by. thbee tend to something that's 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 votg 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 lost on a lot of voters. saying i don't like to mailbain ot. he is someone that is in influential voice with republican voters right now. when you he them casting doubt that is something that republican voters in particular take note of. and i think that is driving the negative aspects towards the ballots. >> thank you both.

this week marked 100 years since women gave the right to vote. we've used it in increasing numberever sense. in fact for the past 40 years more women have voted in every single presidential election then men. nu despite a record er of women in congress today along with the selection maof harris on a history making presidential ticket women still face challenges. joining me from sacramento is manny romero. the founder and director of the center for inclusive democracy at the university of southern california. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> earning tothe right vote did not necessarily mean it was easy to vote. especially women of color. can you descri the hardships that women face a early years? st because we have the right to vote doesn't an it was a done deal. so women still facequite a significant pushback from society. really strongly discouging them vote. women felt it wasn't appropriate.

to participe at the ballot course women of color african american women did not have access. not for very long time. >> so right now women hold 24% n of their na elected office. doe quality mean getting to 50%? >> i think that is part of the quality. numbers matter. having representation matters. but it's also the quality of the representation. and i ifn't mean spally te credentials of the candidate. but that you want women to be elected. you want 50% onrepresentaut you also want women in the positions of power. both of them will and up the state level as there are key policy committees that nowomen are represented on. and key decisions that are being made for everyone.

where women are just not at the table. >> let's turn to california. here is the progressive state. we've had strong female leadership's such as dianne feinstein and kamala harris. what is the data revealing to you about the state of women in politics in california? >> we have strong leaders. and nancy pelosi eais the r of the house of representatives for the u.s. but we are still elected officials. ongst at the stat legislative leve but is important to note at the local level as well. and local supervisory districts ncand city cs positions of power like being a mayor. for instance. all of these local positions make adifference in terms of local policy. it impactpeople on daily basis. and we still have ways togo. and certainly california and across united states you see that here. you see it changing over time.

women are starng to emergein local leadership? >> it is changing and fluctuating certainly. there is some good news to talk about in terms of the growth of representation. but you still want to emphasize that there is still a ways to go. and part of that is the pipeline. we still don't have a strong pipeline for women as wedo for men. into getting into those local statewide and national level offices. that exist in voting in the u.s.? particularly that pa women? >> as you mentioned at tsth women to vote more than men. the 2016 general election is four percentage points more. but if we break that we have ton understand thobers. disparity amongst women are still quite significant. so just by age younger women go with larger numbers than older for the most part they still

vote in smaller numbers. so our mother's generation as the support there. as we look out with the breakout women's vote, women of color felt much loweannumbers white went women. 2016 they had a turnout rate of 17 percentage points less than white women. african-american women had three percentage points. but if we look at midterm d. elections and special elections the gap widens significantly between african american women and white women. so that a quality of the promise of the suffrage movement isnot there fully. within the women's vote. >> so the issues around wsvoter id resonate particularly with women in any sort of dispr >> women often find themselves

in groups that are more likely not to have a state issued id. women of color and those from low income backgrounds disproportionately will disadvantage them. ju and also having knowledge quired is something that not everyone has that information readily available. >> so access to politipil l in terms of fundraising and in terms of influence, it can still be a major hurdle wof n who are working to get into elected office, can usyou talk through the issues women face as they are trying to get elected and sure. se can be overcome? okay so there is still a lot of bias for women in our society when it comengto enteinto public life. first vault many women don't even take that leap because they are so discouraged in their personal life and professional networks from doing so. women are ambitis but maybe

when it comes to money and o so. funding, they are less likely to be connected to those big and those otfunding networks that are absolutely necessary physically in today's time to run a successful campaign. >> manny romero with university southern california. thank you for joining us on then showht. you can find more of our coverage@kqed.com/the kqed 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 here thank yo for watching and good night.

♪ >> democrats unite and sound a warning. a virtual convention concludes with urgency. >> all elections are important. we know in our bones this one is more consequential. senator harris: donald trump's failure of leadership has cost enpresidt obama: good evening, everybody. >> and a plea from a former president. ent obama: don't let them take away our democracy. senator sanders: nero fiddled while rome burns. trump golfs.

president trump: the only way they are going