PBS NewsHour full episode August 24, 2017

JUDY WOODRUFF, PBS NEWSHOUR ANCHOR: Good evening. I`m Judy Woodruff.
On the NEWSHOUR tonight:
A house divided. President Trump continues his attack on Republican leaders in Congress.
What this public split means for the administration`s agenda?
Then, an unlikely key to the U.S. fight against ISIS. Ethnic Kurds are a driving force on
the battlefield, but will they be able to claim their political rights when the fighting
stops?
And, in our second look at the retail revolution. How brick and mortar stores are finding a
way to challenge their e-commerce counterparts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Think of it as an amusement park for an adult -- a reason to come to experience
something new and different.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOODRUFF: All that and more on tonight`s PBS NEWSHOUR.
(BREAK)
WOODRUFF: From President Trump today, more not-so- friendly fire, aimed at his own political
party. He lambasted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan
for not raising the nation`s debt ceiling before now. He also attacked McConnell, again,
over the U.S. Senate`s failure to replace Obamacare. We`ll have a full report after
the news summary.
The California Supreme Court has upheld a ballot measure to speed up executions. The
state`s voters narrowly approved the initiative last year. It calls for expediting appeals,
and granting extensions only in rare instances. The court did rule that a five-year deadline
for carrying out an execution is only advisory, not mandatory. California has not executed
anyone since 2006.
The Texas Gulf Coast is now bracing for a major hurricane, late Friday or early Saturday.
Harvey powered up today in the Gulf of Mexico, and could have winds of 125 miles-an-hour
when it comes ashore. Already, people in coastal communities, like Corpus Christi, have flocked
to grocery stores. The mayor says those in flood-prone areas should leave, before it`s
too late.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JOE MCCOMB, CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS: At some point in the storm let me reiterate,
there will come a time that rescue operations will cease and everyone has to go in an protect
themselves protect their own lives. And so, please don`t put our public service people
in that type of jeopardy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOODRUFF: The storm now shapes up to be the first major hurricane to strike the mid-Texas
coast in nearly 15 years.
Southern China is reeling after its strongest typhoon in 50 years killed at least 16 and
scores more injured. Eight people died in Macau after the storm slammed the gambling
hub yesterday. It brought widespread flooding and winds over 80 miles an hour. The southern
province of Guangdong reported eight more deaths.
Separately, seasonal monsoon rains have now killed nearly 1,000 people across southern
Asia. Disaster officials said today that overall, almost 40 million people are affected in northern
India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Widespread flooding, as seen here in India, has also triggered
landslides that damaged roads and washed away thousands of homes. The monsoon runs from
June to September.
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis sharply criticized Russia`s actions in Ukraine today,
during a visit to Kiev. Mattis said that the Trump administration is actively reviewing
whether to send heavy defensive weapons to aid Ukraine against Russian-backed rebels.
He watched a Ukrainian independence parade with President Petro Poroshenko, and he pledged
that the U.S. will be a steadfast ally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES MATTIS, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We do not and we will not accept Russia`s seizure
of the Crimea and despite Russia`s denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international
borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOODRUFF: The Obama administration had argued that giving heavier weapons to Ukraine would
only provoke Moscow. President Trump has not yet taken a position.
The U.S. Navy today called off the search at sea for nine sailors still missing after
a wreck off Singapore. The destroyer John S. McCain and an oil tanker collided on Monday.
The navy found the body of one sailor, in a search that lasted 80 hours. Divers have
also found some remains in the destroyer`s flooded compartments.
The U.S. interior secretary is recommending that President Trump downsize at least three
national monument areas. Ryan Zinke reviewed 27 sites after the president charged many
were a, quote, federal land grab. "The Washington Post" is reporting that Zinke proposes reducing
the scope of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, and a separate site in Oregon. He
did not call for eliminating any of the areas studied.
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 28 points to close at 21783.
The Nasdaq fell seven points to close at 6271. And the S&P 500 slipped five.
And, a Massachusetts woman claimed the Powerball jackpot today, worth $758 million. It`s the
largest ever won in the U.S. by a lone individual. Mavis Wanczyk of Chicopee is 53 years old.
She`s a long-time employee at a local hospital, but she said today: I called and told them
I will not be coming back. Wanczyk will take a lump sum payment. After taxes, that comes
to $336 million. Congratulations.
Still to come on the NEWSHOUR: Growing divisions between the president and Congress, the Kurds`
dual objective, to defeat ISIS and gain independence, and much more.
(MUSIC)
WOODRUFF: As the Trump White House and the Republican-controlled Congress look forward
to an ambitious agenda for September, tensions between the president and congressional leaders
are spilling out in an unusual public display.
John Yang starts as off.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leader McConnell, leader of the U.S. Senate.
(APPLAUSE)
JOHN YANG, PBS NEWSHOUR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a breakfast with Kentucky farmers this
morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was upbeat.
SEN. MITCH MCCONELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: This new administration and this Congress
is interested in getting America growing again.
YANG: But he was taking friendly fire from President Trump, who slammed McConnell`s and
House Speaker Paul Ryan`s strategy on raising the nation`s debt ceiling: Could have been
so easy. Now a mess.
And Mr. Trump hit McConnell on a major irritant: The Senate failure to repeal and replace the
Affordable Care Act. That should never have happened.
That late-night Senate vote appears to have triggered the intraparty feud.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Repeal and replace of Obamacare should have
taken place, and it should have been on my desk virtually the first week that I was there,
or even the first day that I was there. I`ve been hearing about if for seven years.
MCCONNELL: Our new president has, of course, not been in this line of work before, and
I think had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen.
YANG: "The New York Times" reported the president`s public criticism of McConnell escalated to
the point that Mr. Trump berated him in a phone call that quickly devolved into a profane
shouting match.
Today, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tried to play down the friction.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think the relationships are fine.
Certainly, there are going to be some policy differences. But there are a lot of shared
goals and that`s what we`re focused on.
YANG: Meeting with Boeing workers in Everett, Washington, Ryan also emphasized common ground
with the president. But he seemed to have trouble answering a question about their relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you confident you that you can influence the president?
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It`s a day-by-day deal. I`m kind of choking.
First, you control your own actions and you lead by example.
YANG: With big fiscal deadlines looming and the White House and Congress still hoping
for their first big legislative win, Mr. Trump said McConnell could still get in his good
graces.
TRUMP: If he gets these bills passed, I`ll be very happy with him. I`ll be the first
to admit it.
YANG: But passing those bills could be complicated by the public sniping.
For the PBS NEWSHOUR, I`m John Yang.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: We explore that infighting in the GOP now with two people who know Congress
well. Michael Steel, he was press secretary for former House Speaker John Boehner. He`s
now a political consultant. And Brian McGuire, he served as chief of staff for Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell from 2014 to May of this year. He is now a lobbyist.
And welcome to both of you. We appreciate your coming.
Michael Steel, how serious do you think this split is between the president and Republican
leaders in Congress?
MICHAEL STEEL, FORMER PRESS SECRETARY FOR HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: Well, I think
you have the look at it differently than almost anything we`ve seen in American history. President
Trump is unique. He`s the first American president who nerve served in elected office or in high
military office. And so, we shouldn`t expect his relations with congressional leaders to
be the norm.
That having been said, these attacks, this tension is stupid. It is counterproductive.
It doesn`t help get big things done for the American people.
So, at this point, I know congressional leaders are continuing to work, to do the hard work
on things like tax reform and infrastructure to get those things done. The president right
now simply isn`t helping.
WOODRUFF: Brian McGuire, how serious, how real is this split, do you think?
BRIAN MCGUIRE, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF FOR MAJORIYT LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL: I think Michael is
right. It is counterproductive and self-defeating. But I think that it`s also not ultimately
going to define these relationships. I think both Republicans in the House and Senate and
in the White House, including the president, have a lot of shared goals, and that they`re
going to come together ultimately to achieve them.
WOODRUFF: How much -- how serious do you think the president is about these criticisms? Do
you think he`s doing this because he believes -- because he`s angry about what happened?
Or is there something else going on here?
MCGUIRE: It`s hard to say why he tweets what he tweets. Nobody knows but him. But I do
think ultimately that he is a constructive partner on the issues that he and congressional
Republicans agree on.
And I expect when everybody gets back into town that they`re all going to be locking
arms and trying to focus. I thought it was encouraging at the end of the day today that
the White House issued a statement saying that they were going to be focused next week
on tax reform pretty exclusively and pretty vigorously. So, I expect that that`s what
they`re going to do and I think that that`s a good sign.
WOODRUFF: Michael Steel, you`re both saying that this is counterproductive, but is it
justified? I mean, is the president right to criticize Leader McConnell to, criticize
the speaker and other Republicans?
STEEL: There are always tensions between a president and congressional leaders, even
if they`re of the same political party. I think that people in the House and the White
House are frustrated that the Senate was unable to complete the repeal and replace of Obamacare.
At the same time, we need to be focused on the future, not the past. Leaders have to
be focused on what comes next. What needs to come next is actual accomplishments like
tax reform, like infrastructure, and, let`s not forget, raising the debt limit and keeping
government open.
WOODRUFF: But my question, is and I`ll turn to you, Brian, for this -- I mean, is the
president -- I mean, is he justified in criticizing Leader McConnell, who you worked for for a
long time?
MCGUIRE: I understand that the president is anxious to get his agenda through. But Republicans
in Congress are no less anxious to get it through. There are a lot of arguments as to
why things have passed and have not passed, but the important thing, as Michael said,
is to continue to look forward and to focus on the things that they can do together.
And, clearly, tax reform is one of those things. It`s something that not only unites Republicans
in Washington. It`s something that the public supports overwhelmingly, and it`s something,
frankly, that Democrats could potentially support. So, that`s something that I think
the president should focus on and be very constructive for him to do so.
WOODRUFF: Do Republicans in Congress, Michael Steel, have something to fear from this president?
I mean, we`ve seen him. He went after Dean Heller, the senator of Nevada. He`s been very
critical of Jeff Flake and of John McCain.
STEEL: Well, I think that, one, it would be much more helpful if the president were to
train his fire on Senate Democrats, the people who, for example, the 10 or so Senate Democrats
who face -- who have to be elected in states that he won in 2016.
To the extent that he`s attacking Republicans, there isn`t a lot of indication that it`s
going to be terribly effective. His endorsements haven`t worked out very well in the past,
and particularly in the Senate. The House is a different creature because every member
of the House Republican conference will face both a primary and general election opponent
next year. Senators with their longer terms and greater public profiles in their state
are relatively immune to that kind of attack.
WOODRUFF: What do you mean? I mean, how do you see that?
MCGUIRE: Yes, the Senate, the terms are six years. So, an attack now doesn`t have the
staying power that it would for somebody who is always in cycle. Senators who won last
year, for instance, aren`t too worried about hits they might be taking right new because
they`ve got a long runway between now and their next reelection.
WOODRUFF: But politically, for example, Jeff Flake is up in Arizona next year. Do the president`s
constant criticisms of him after he, in fairness, has been candidly critical at times -- he
votes with the president, but he`s been critical of the president at times. Does it hurt Jeff
Flake or the president --
MCGUIRE: I think that the only thing that truly hurts both the president and Senator
Flake is being unable to point to something that they`ve achieve legislatively, which
is why I think the president would be much -- well-advised to start focusing on the legislative
agenda rather than on which members he may not like on any given day.
WOODRUFF: Michael Steel, how well do you think this president understands the legislative
process? And does it really matter where the president does or not?
STEEL: I think that the president and the people around him, the president has people
around him who have an intimate understanding of the legislative process. The vice president
was a House member, very experienced, very talented.
We don`t need the president to engage on a granular level in these policy disagreements.
But we need him to use the bully pulpit to make the case for important policy priorities.
Look at what Speaker Ryan is doing over the month of August. He`s having events all the
across the country talking about the benefits of tax reform for middle-class families, higher
wages, more jobs.
President Trump is promising to get involved in that fight starting next week -- but let`s
remember, leading up to the vote on healthcare in the Senate, his primary focus was denigrating
his own attorney general. That doesn`t help get results.
WOODRUFF: How do you -- at this point I know both of you still talk to folks you know very,
very well on the Hill. Is it their sense that the president`s going to continue as he is
now, or is it just every day is a jump ball?
MCGUIRE: I think it`s everybody`s expectation that whenever everybody gets back into town
at the end of the month, that there will be a lot of common cause, and that people will
work on the important things that they have to focus on. And staffs have been working
on those things all throughout the summer.
WOODRUFF: How much of this -- and in connection with that, we talked about whether the president
can hurt a senator or House member politically -- how much of this helps the president politically
in that he can be seen as running against a Congress that he can argue isn`t doing what
it`s supposed to be doing?
MCGUIRE: It`s hard to see how this could help the president, frankly. The only thing that,
again, I think the president has to fear is nothing to show for his time in office. And
the people that he needs to help him enact his agenda are in some cases the very people
he`s attacking.
So I think it would be much better for him and for Republicans in Congress if they focused
on their common agenda and I think that`s what they`re going to do when everybody gets
back into town.
WOODRUFF: Just a quick comment, any way you see the president benefits from this?
STEEL: No, of course not. This does nothing but further inflame the 25 percent to 35 percent
of the country that`s with him already. It doesn`t help with moderates. It doesn`t help
with Democrats. It doesn`t help with many Republicans.
It`s not a helpful strategy. I hope he`ll knock it of.
At the same time, I think congressional leaders are intent on getting things done whether
or not he does.
WOODRUFF: Michael Steel, Brian McGuire, we thank you both.
MCGUIRE: Thanks for having us.
STEEL: Good to be with you.
(MUSIC)
WOODRUFF: In the war to drive ISIS from northern Syria, an unlikely group has emerged: the
stateless Kurdish people. Split across territories of four Middle Eastern nations, ethnic Kurds
have long endured repression, discrimination, even genocide. But today, they form the backbone
of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. It`s a group American leaders call the greatest
warriors fighting the Islamic State.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. JOSEPH DUNFORD, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: They are the most effective force
we have right now and a force we need to go in Raqqa.
GEN. RAYMOND THOMAS, U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND: That`s the ghost force, that has
just taken, you know, is half way through Raqqa and has taken every march objective
we`ve had so far.
BRETT MCGURK, SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY: They also have never lost a battle.
WOODRUFF: Their unusual mix of Marxist ideology, local governance and military prowess has
made them a sort of political Rorschach test. Labels describing them span the political
spectrum: pro-Western fighters, radical leftists, hardcore Marxists, atheists, revolutionary
feminists, among others. Not open to debate: their central role in defeating ISIS.
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GAYLE TZEMACH LEMMON, PBS NEWSHOUR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Klara from Raqqa, the only name
she`ll use, has spent years in battle, leading soldiers and devising strategy. But now the
world is watching.
KLARA FROM RAQQA, SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC FORCES (through translator): The fight is very hard
but we have hope that we will win.
LEMMON: But now, the world is watching, as the fight against ISIS closes in on its makeshift
capital, Klara`s own hometown of Raqqa. She is part of the Kurds` own all-women fighting
force, known in Kurdish as the YPJ. They have fought and died right alongside their brothers-in-arms.
And some of the most celebrated fighters, including snipers, come from their ranks.
She took us to Raqqa`s front line, to the site of a still- smoking is car bomb attack.
She described a brutal fight: landmines and booby traps, snipers and suicide attacks.
KLARA FROM RAQQA (through translator): They know they are surrounded and can`t survive.
LEMMON: Her forces, she says, draw strength from the unique and turbulent history of the
Kurdish people.
KLARA FROM RAQQA (through translator): It`s revenge, for the atrocities and injustices
that the Kurds suffered in the past. Out of our experiences grew a soul of resistance
and struggle to achieve legitimate rights and fight against injustice.
LEMMON: It`s a deeply personal fight for these young women soldiers.
ARVEEN, YPJ SOLDIER (through translator): Raqqa was the capital of ISIS. They bought
and sold Kurdish women here. And we want to tell them that the Kurdish women can protect
themselves. And YPJ will take revenge, for all Kurdish women.
CANFIDA, YPJ SOLDIER (through translator): All the fighting and liberating we are doing
now, it is for the new generation. It is not only for the Kurds. It will strengthen our
identity and history. We are writing our own history, now.
FAWZA YOUSEIF, DEMOCRATIC FEDERALISM OF NORTHERN SYRIA (through translator): The Kurdish revolution
is a women`s revolution.
LEMMON: Fawza Youseif works for the leading Kurdish party in Syria. For them, this is
more than just a war. It`s an opportunity, to lead and to govern after years without
their rights.
(on camera): Have you been waiting for this moment?"
YOUSEIF (through translator): Syrian Kurds from the beginning were more organized and
politically conscious. When the revolution begun, Kurdish society was ready.
LEMMON (voice-over): But other actors have also sought advantage in Syria`s civil war
vacuum. Not least, from the north: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKEY (through translator): If our allies are sincere in
their fight against the Islamic State, we are ready to act together with them.
LEMMON: Embroiled in decades-long conflict with his own Kurdish population, Erdogan sees
Syrian Kurds as one and the same enemy. And Kurdish ties across the Syria-Turkey border
are strong. In northern Syria, the streets are flush with posters of Turkey`s president`s
main opponent: Abdullah Ocalan. The Kurdish leader jailed in Turkey is a hero to Syrian
Kurds, the founding father of their socialist ideology.
Fearing rising regional influence for the Kurds, Turkey`s president has launched air
attacks on Kurdish forces in Syria -- forces the U.S. is backing -- and he`s threatened
to do more, clashing specifically over the northern city of Manbij.
ERDOGAN (through translator): Manbij belongs to Arabs. It does not belong to Kurdish leaders.
We relayed this to our American friends. We told the Americans that Kurdish fighters must
not stay there. The Americans always reply: they have withdrawn, or they are withdrawing,
but they haven`t withdrawn yet.
LEMMON: And it doesn`t stop there. The Turkish government has also built close ties with
Kurds in Iraq, dividing Kurds among themselves. In a controversial referendum scheduled for
next month, Iraqi Kurds will vote on an independent state. The Kurds in Syria hope not to be left
behind.
Cementing political gains is what Syrian Kurds say must come next for them. They have long
sought to govern themselves. And finally, Fawza Youseif says, they may have that chance.
YOUSEIF (through translator): The Kurds had a dream, to have freedom and rights in their
own land. And now to have a chance at this land, where we can live together, with freedom
and democracy, it`s a very big chance.
LEMMON: She spends her days planning the future of local governance. Kurdish language, Kurdish
and Arab leadership together, local decisions; all are part of what they call a new secular
and democratic project here.
SIPAN CHATO, ROJAVA UNIVERSITY (through translator): It`s opened our eyes. If a rock is on a flower,
it will take time to grow. But if you take the rock off, it will flourish. The war allowed
the people to raise their head.
LEMMON: And allowed them to take their revolutionary ideas into government, says Sipan Chato, vice
dean of the faculty of science at newly established Rojava University.
Government offices already have both male and female leaders. Representation of ethnic
minorities is a priority, and local councils are responsible for making local decisions.
But despite the lofty rhetoric, opponents have leveled heavy charges. Some say the Kurds
now in power tolerate little opposition. That it`s their way, or no way.
ABDULKARIM HUSAIN MUHAMMAD, KURDISTAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF SYRIA (translated): We cannot live
under their democracy.
LEMMON: Abdulkarim Husain Muhammad leads a Kurdish opposition party. We met him in his
office in Erbil, Iraq. He`s been jailed three times he said, by leaders of Yousief`s party,
on charges he calls false and politicized.
MUHAMMAD (through translator): Their room is the room of the jail cell. This is where
the opposition meets. Everything is forbidden when you say no to them. Everything must be
their color, their ideology, their philosophy.
LEMMON: Others charge that Kurdish fighters have furthered ethnic divisions, even pushing
Arab civilians deeper into ISIS territories. What`s more, many today accuse the Kurds of
a de-facto, if uneasy, alliance with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. While
Assad leaves the Kurds to govern themselves, critics charge, the Kurds have avoided directly
confronting him.
In the Kurdish city of Qamishli, in far northeastern Syria, Assad`s flags and posters still hang.
In Kobani, a war-torn city on the Turkish border, we met a proud military dad.
Muhammad Abdi`s daughter Miriam has been injured twice fighting ISIS. And she`s back on the
frontlines today. He said he hopes that all his daughter`s friends, lost in battle, will
not have died for nothing.
MUHAMMAD ABDI, FATHER (translated): This is a critical moment, because we`ve already lost
so many. If we don`t get our rights after losing all these people, then when we will
get them?
LEMMON: And how many more lives will be lost on the way to an answer?
For the PBS NEWSHOUR, I`m Gayle Tzemach Lemmon in northern Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: Stay with us.
Coming up on the NEWSHOUR: What it takes to launch a U.S. nuclear bomb, rebooting retail
to appeal to online shoppers, and a black man`s brief but spectacular take on finding
courage after Ferguson.
But first, the pace of the news cycle feels like a blistering swirl recently. North Korea
and Charlottesville have bumped the Russia investigation out of the headlines. And President
Trump`s latest attacks on Republican congressional leaders, as we`ve been hearing, have overshadowed
his very public criticism of his own attorney general.
But as our Lisa Desjardins reports, behind the scenes, at the helm of the Justice Department,
Jeff Sessions is taking action, making significant and controversial changes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And that I will well and faithfully discharge
the duties --
JEFF SESSIONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL: And that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties
--
LISA DESJARDINS, PBS NEWSHOUR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That was February, when Attorney
General Jeff Sessions was just starting out in his new post. In the months since, while
headlines focused more on his meetings with Russians and the criticism hurled at him publicly
by President Trump. But behind the scenes, Sessions has been one of the key forces executing
the president`s agenda.
SESSIONS: So, today, I have this message for our friends in the intelligence community:
the Department of Justice is open for business.
DESJARDINS: In the past month alone, the attorney general has launched multiple changes to shake
up how his agency works. Sessions stepped up leak investigations, tripling the number
of cases. And he started a review that could change the rules for subpoenaing reporters.
Next, he flipped the department`s position in a major voting rights case, from opposing
Ohio`s removal of thousands of names on its voter rolls, to supporting the state`s decision.
Those are just the recent developments, bringing Sessions praise from the right and concern
from others.
Chiraag Bains is a former justice official who served under President Obama.
CHIRAAG BAINS, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: The attorney general has put a stamp on the
department and shifted the priorities in a way that I don`t even think even some of his
greatest critics or skeptics would have expected. On civil rights enforcement, on crime policy,
on prioritizing immigration, it has been fast, it has been dramatic, and I expect it will
continue.
SESSIONS: I have empowered our prosecutors to charge and pursue the most --
DESJARDINS: It is a law-and-order push. Sessions has ordered tougher sentencing, including
for non-violent drug offenders, and a clampdown on so-called sanctuary cities, cutting grants
to places that offer safe harbor for undocumented immigrants.
He also reopened the possibility of using private prisons long-term, reversing the Obama-era
policy.
And on police powers, Sessions said he`s reviewing the binding agreements, called consent decrees,
the agency uses to force police in Ferguson, Baltimore and elsewhere to reform their practices.
Under Obama, those were seen as a way to limit abuse. Sessions indicated they hurt the police.
SESSIONS: This Department of Justice will not sign consent decrees that will cost more
lives by handcuffing the police rather than handcuffing the criminals.
LISA KRIGSTEN, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: But it`s too early to say there has been a
dramatic shift.
DESJARDINS: Lisa Krigsten served at Justice under former President George W. Bush, and
she highlights the incoming staff at the agency, whom she sees as steady professionals.
KRIGSTEN: These people are not firebrands. Certainly as with every election, this one
has consequences and there may be different activity that`s spotlighted. But I think that
we`re going to see through these hires, a very traditional, consistent enforcement effort
through the department.
DESJARDINS (on camera): There`s also the question of how some of these changes are playing within
the agency, which is made up of longtime or career staff and political appointees.
Something unusual has happened under Attorney General Sessions. Contrary to common practice,
no career attorneys at the Civil Rights Division signed on when the agency flipped positions
in the Ohio voting rights case. And separately, none signed on when the agency argued that
anti-discrimination laws do not protect gays and lesbians in the workplace.
(voice-over): Krigsten says changes in policy are not unusual -- a new administration brings
a new view on the law.
KRIGSTEN: But when a new leader comes in, such as Attorney General Sessions, he and
his team will bring a certain interpretation of what that statute means, or what the best
way to enforce a particular statute is, and that is within the purview of an attorney
general.
DESJARDINS: But others fear a growing rift between the political and the non-political
staff.
Again, Chiraag Bains.
CHIRAAG BAINS, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: To work on a case for years, pushing forward
your best view of the case based on the facts and the law, and then to have it all switch
because of an election, because of new political leadership coming into place, is, I think,
a major blow to morale, and I think disturbs people`s notion of -- that these cases are
actually governed by the rule of law.
JEFF SESSIONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We are going to meet our responsibility to enforce the
law, with judgment and fairness.
DESJARDINS: A former prosecutor, Sessions has long had outspoken thoughts on justice.
Now, he`s turning them into action.
For the PBS NEWSHOUR, I`m Lisa Desjardins.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY WOODRUFF, PBS NEWSHOUR ANCHOR: During the Cold War, the U.S. military built an elaborate
system to control the thousands of nuclear weapons in this country. There are many checks
and balances, no officers who work with intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear armed aircraft,
or nuclear submarines can launch missiles alone. They always work in twos, or sometimes
entire teams.
But there is an exception to that. The entire system is designed to respond to the sole
decision of the president.
This week, after watching President Trump`s campaign rally in Phoenix, the former director
of national intelligence, retired General James Clapper, said on CNN that the president
could be a threat to national security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. JAMES CLAPPER (RET.), FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Having some understanding
of the levers that a president can exercise, I worry about, frankly, you know, the access
to the nuclear codes. In a fit of pique, he decides to do something about Kim Jong-un,
there`s actually very little to stop him. The whole system`s built to insure rapid response
if necessary. So, there`s very little in the way of controls over, you know, exercising
a nuclear option, which is pretty damn scary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOODRUFF: So, what are the procedures for controlling the United States` nuclear weapons?
Who else is in the chain of command besides the president?
For that, we turn to Peter Feaver. He`s the author of "Guarding the Guardians: Civilian
Control of Nuclear Weapons in the United States." He served on the National Security Council
staff during the George W. Bush administration. He`s now a professor at Duke University.
Peter Feaver, welcome back to the program.
Let me start by asking you, from a technical standpoint, what has to happen before the
United States launches a nuclear attack on another country?
PETER FEAVER, PROFESSOR, DUKE UNIVERSITY: Well, the president has to give a lawful order,
and that order has to be authentic and be seen as authentic, because it`s validated
by a code that he has carried with him or near his person at all times. And that order
has to pass through the chain of command, down to the subordinate elements where the
nuclear weapons and the nuclear-tipped missile, the nuclear capable bombers, the submarines
are. And that command would receive that authentic order and then launch accordingly.
WOODRUFF: How many people are involved, and at what level are they?
FEAVER: Well, it depends on the scenario, but it`s true that the president doesn`t have
to have his order OK`d by another person, that there`s not a two-man rule at the very
top. The president alone makes the decision.
But the president alone cannot carry out the decision. That has to -- that decision has
to be carried out be many, many people further down in the chain of command.
So, for the question raised by General James Clapper`s concern, context matters. There`s
ample opportunity for the rest of the system to put pressure, change the president`s mind
under scenario of say preventive war, where the president and his team is trying to decide,
do we launch an attack against a country before they cross some proliferation threshold. That
was a decision that would take weeks or months, and they have plenty of opportunity for the
president`s advisers to shape that decision.
WOODRUFF: You`re saying there are checks and balances in the decision-making process leading
up to the point where the president makes the decision, but after that, less so?
FEAVER: After that, the system is designed to move very, very quickly, and the decision
is designed to respond in the extreme case where the president is woken up in the middle
of the night, he has 30 minutes to make a decision because he`s told by his advisers,
if we don`t act now, such and such a country will be about the launch a missile against
the United States that will cause untold destruction, say, to the city of Los Angeles. Mr. President,
you must decide now.
The president would have limited time to make that decision. Once he made the decision,
then the system is trained to implement that very quickly.
But what critics worry about, and when you hear them talking about particularly what
I call the bar man scenario, when you`re talking to folks over a drink at a bar, to say, what
if the president wakes up in the middle of the night, gets angry, gets in a tweet storm,
and then tries to launch a nuclear weapon -- the system is not designed to respond quickly
in that case. He would issue the order, but as he is issuing the order, he would also
be alerting the chain of command that he`s just come up with this crazy decision. And
that chain of command, while not legally required and while not technically required to agree
with the president, in practice, the chain of command would have ample opportunity to
walk that decision back.
If the president is banging on the table in anger with no provocation, I don`t think the
system would respond the way the critics worry about. If the president reaches the decision
after conferring with his advisers and then makes the decision, then the system will carry
out the order.
WOODRUFF: So, is General Clapper right to be worried is my question? And how much concern
is there in the nuclear expert community about this?
FEAVER: Well, there is a division of opinion, and some of the experts point out that the
system would be safer if we added a two-man rule at the top. Not sure that would be constitutional.
Or if we added more technical limitations that would require more sub-elements of the
chain of command to be consulted, technically require them to be consulted. I think that
would be -- reforms that would be worth considering.
But the idea that the president could wake up without any preparation of the national
security team and then order a launch, just bang on the table, accidentally hit the button
and send the missiles flying, that I don`t think is a reasonable worry.
I believe what General Clapper was talking about was that middle scenario, the president
has only 30 minutes to decide, the system will carry out his decision in that moment,
and I think General Clapper was asking questions about how good a decision would the president
make under those conditions.
WOODRUFF: Professor Peter Feaver, we thank you very much.
FEAVER: Thank you for having me.
(MUSIC)
WOODRUFF: Now, the second of a two-part look at the transformation and troubles of retail.
The Federal Trade Commission has cleared the way today for Amazon to take over Whole Foods
starting next week. Meanwhile, Sears announced it plans to close even more of the K-mart
stores that it owns. While each company has its particular story, there`s no question
the retail sector is going through a major transformation.
Our economics correspondent, Paul Solman, reports on how companies are trying to reboot
and adapt to a most challenging environment. It`s part of our weekly series, "Making Sense."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL SOLMAN, PBS NEWSHOUR ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More store closings this year
than any since the Great Recession, retailers filing for bankruptcy at a record pace, countless
others teetering on the brink. And so, the obvious question:
(on camera): Is this Armageddon for retail?
MARK COHEN, RETAIL PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: The retail industry is fine but the legacy
players are facing Armageddon.
SOLMAN (voice-over): Columbia University retail professor Mark Cohen.
COHEN: You know, back in the day if you wanted almost anything you could think of, you had
to go to a department store. Now what`s happening, the Internet is hollowing out the great American
shopping mall.
SOLMAN: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos predicted as much to me almost 20 years ago: unless
brick-and-mortar stores do something different, they`re toast.
JEFF BEZOS, AMAZON FOUNDER: To put it in the extremes, the category that`s most threatened
is the strip mall --
SOLMAN (on camera): Because?
BEZOS: -- because that`s no fun.
SOLMAN (voice-over): This outside a Borders Bookstore which, of course, went bankrupt
12 years later.
So, what`s a retailer to do now?
COHEN: The traditional retailers that survive this paradigm shift are going to have to create
a physical presence that`s far more attractive and engaging than what they`ve got.
SOLMAN: More engaging or else. Earlier this summer, Hudson`s Bay, which owns Lord & Taylor
and Saks Fifth Avenue, slashed 2,000 jobs. Now, an activist investor is pushing the company
to sell its stores for the real estate. The Saks flagship in Manhattan alone is reportedly
worth $3.7 billion. To Hudson`s Bay CEO Jerry Storch the challenge is clear:
GERALD STORCH, CEO, HUDSON`S BAY: How do we give the customer that extra reason, beyond
simply consummating a transaction to buy some merchandise to come to a store.
SOLMAN: Lord & Taylor`s answer: The Dress Address. At 30,000 square feet, it`s the largest
dress floor in the country, with a rotating pop-up space that spotlights a new designer
every eight weeks, a restaurant and shopping suites with space for you and a bevy of buddies.
LIZ RODBELL, LORD & TAYLOR: I bet this is going to be a bestseller. And I love --
SOLMAN: Lord & Taylor`s Liz Rodbell is betting on custom service, too.
RODBELL: We have a concierge on the floor that will help connect you with a stylist
immediately to really put you together to look terrific.
SOLMAN: Lord & Taylor is also testing lifestyle shops curated by makeup maven Bobbi Brown.
At Saks Fifth Avenue, they`re selling health and fitness.
STORCH: Think of as an amusement park for an adult, a reason to come to experience something
new and different.
SOLMAN: Hudson`s Bay CEO Storch met us at The Wellery. You can buy stuff here, or get
a manicure, practice your golf swing, work out, sample dry salt therapy to improve lung
function.
Saks president Marc Metrick.
MARC METRICK, PRESIDENT, SAKS: I think when people leave this area, leave this floor,
and actually leave the store after visiting here, I want them to think, wow, that`s not
the Saks I thought. When they bump in to somebody, when they see someone a few weeks later and
someone says, oh, what`s going on in those department stores? Somebody could say, wow,
have you been to Saks lately? There`s a lot going on.
So, that`s the goal.
DAVE GILBOA, CO-FOUNDER, WARBY PARKER: We don`t think retail`s dead. We think mediocre
retail is dead.
SOLMAN: Dave Gilboa is cofounder of eyewear monger Warby Parker, an e-retail success story.
His answer to Armageddon is to combine online with brick-and-mortar.
GILBOA: We just want to give customers options. We like to say that we`re experience focused,
but medium agnostic.
SOLMAN: The online retailer had been in business three years when it opened its first store.
GILBOA: We found that there`s still a lot of demand for people walking into physical
stores.
SOLMAN: So, Warby Parker has opened 55 stores with plans to add 25 more this year.
GILBOA: There are certain customers that probably will never feel comfortable buying glasses
online. There are other customers that even if we open up a store right next to their
house, they`d prefer the experience of ordering online.
SOLMAN: Yes, e-commerce grew 16 percent last year, but most purchases are still made in
person and Warby Parker wants a piece of that action.
So, its stores have photo booths for trying on glasses and sharing photos of them with
friends. Not feeling the specs? You can buy or just read books here too.
And Gilboa says the company uses data it collects online to offer personalized service in its
stores.
GILBOA: If you`ve bought a pair of sunglasses or prescription glasses from us online, and
you walk into our store, any of our retail advisors could pull up your customer record.
They could see your preferences. You could even go on your phone or on our Website and
create a list of favorites and then come into our store and one of our advisors can help
you find those frames.
SOLMAN: Indeed more and more e-commerce players are merging technology with physical retail.
Case in point: Amazon`s recent ventures in grocery stores, and actual bookstores, where
your Amazon Prime account gets you an automatic discount.
Meanwhile, other retailers are re-conceiving the store entirely. Story in Manhattan`s Chelsea
district creates retail narratives -- themes that change every three to eight weeks, like
a magazine. The theme when we visited was fresh story -- founder Rachel Shechtman`s
37th completely different narrative.
RACHEL SHECHTMAN, FOUNDER, STORY: If a magazine tells stories by writing articles, and taking
pictures, we tell stories through merchandise and events. And then, magazines have advertisers,
and we have sponsors.
SOLMAN: The sponsor of fresh story, Jet.com, an e-commerce upstart bought by Walmart that
ventured into grocery delivery last year.
SHECHTMAN: We created a wall out of jet boxes since and we`re telling a story about them
shipping fresh groceries, and so, this is a stasher and it`s a storage bag that`s, you
know, plastic-free and reusable. We`re really using merchandise as a narrative storytelling
tool.
SOLMAN: Story has two revenue streams sponsors like jet.com pay to promote. In this case,
fresh produce and their delivery of it.
SHECHTMAN: Would you like a banana to eat?
SOLMAN (on camera): I would. I haven`t had my banana today yet, actually.
(voice-over): The other revenue stream: sales, here of fresh-food themed merchandise.
SHECHTMAN: That`s a flask.
SOLMAN (on camera): A banana hip flask!
SHECHTMAN: Yes.
SOLMAN (voice-over): Now, admittedly, some items were more fresh than others.
(on camera): But still have the vegetable theme here. I strategically placed the salts.
SHECHTMAN: Yes, you did.
SOLMAN: So, this is public television.
SHECHTMAN: It is public television.
SOLMAN (voice-over): But unlike traditional retailers, Shechtman doesn`t worry much about
sales per square foot.
SHECHTMAN: What we`re focused on is experience per square foot. Frankly, if there`s subscription
retail and you have all these new business models online, why the heck is no one reinventing
the business model offline?
SOLMAN (on camera): This is offline?
SHECHTMAN: We are offline. We are in a physical world.
SOLMAN: I never thought of that. My life is offline.
SHECHTMAN: Your life is offline.
SOLMAN (voice-over): Shechtman believes retailers must pay more attention to offline experience,
because that`s what human beings still want. To that end, every story has themed events
-- classes, workshops, panel discussions. And at fresh story, fresh-baked cookies.
SHECHTMAN: Someone doesn`t just need to go to a store to buy something, right? So, here
you can taste something, you can learn something, you can do something with a friend. And so,
it`s not just commerce, it`s content and community.
SOLMAN: That`s also true at Warby Parker, says Gilboa.
GILBOA: Humans are social animals and are always gonna value face to face interactions.
So, I don`t think that`s going away.
SOLMAN: It`s a view shared by the CEO of stores like Lord & Taylor, Saks, and others.
STORCH: There will always be physical stores. Until they invent the transporter, like on
"Star Trek", there will be a reason for stores. It`s still the only way you can touch merchandise
instantly, feel it, try it on.
SOLMAN (on camera): Very nice.
(voice-over): Or, for that matter, eat it.
SHECHTMAN: I`m breaking my diet for you.
SOLMAN (on camera): I`m breaking my diet for you!
(voice-over): For the PBS NEWSHOUR, this is ever expansive economics correspondent Paul
Solman, reporting from New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: Now to another in our brief but spectacular episodes, where we ask people
to describe their passions. Tonight, we hear from Damon Davis, who co-directed the documentary
"Whose Streets," which follows the protests in Ferguson after the fatal shooting of Michael
Brown. The film premiered at this year`s Sundance Film Festival and is currently playing in
select cities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON DAVIS, FILMMAKER: There are there are things that you must think about to survive
daily being black in America. The neighborhood you`re in. The clothes you got on. The way
you talk to people.
Being black is a weapon, you understand? The weight that you carry and the darker your
skin is, is so terrifying, that, like, you`re just walking on eggshells your whole life.
And the level of anxiety that comes along with that, I don`t know any black person that
doesn`t know what I`m talking about.
I had been harassed by police. I had been pulled out of cars, sat on the curbs, humiliated.
There`s a huge chunk of the population that this is everyday life for. And think about
how, how privileged you must be to not be afraid, every day you walk out of your house.
To not be worried about, I`m driving and one of my tail lights is out. Or I`m driving in
the wrong neighborhood.
This tally list you have to go through being black in America. I hope people that are finding
out about this that actually care, try to use that privilege that they got to do something
and make it a little more even for everybody else.
Over the last few years, the trajectory of my life has changed monumentally. And the
events of Ferguson and Mike Brown changed my entire life I can honestly say.
"Whose Streets" is a call and response chant that was used out in the streets in St. Louis
and in Ferguson. It`s also asking whose streets is it? The police are working for the people,
and your rights are to assemble, says the Constitution, whose streets actually are they?
In the trajectory of American history I don`t think things have changed much from three
years ago, or 30 years ago, 300 years ago. We`ve been talking for about 200, 300 years.
It`s time to take some responsibility, some culpability, and really get uncomfortable.
Think about the everyday role people play in racism. Whether it be locker room jokes
that, Thanksgiving dinner jokes, down to systematic and systemic racism in the jobs and roles
that people play in it.
You know when they talk about being an alcoholic, the first step to recovery is, acknowledging
you have a problem. Well, America has a pretty big problem with doing that, you know? It`s
like, why don`t y`all just get over it, you know.
It`s like, but you had a 280-year head start. It`s kind of hard to get over it when people
run around the track and then they shoot the gun for you to start. I think until we start
talking about that the conversation is a waste of time. You know what I mean? I think it`s
-- I think it`s, and it`s -- and it`s patronizing at this point. It really is. Yes.
My name is Damon Davis and this has been my "Brief But Spectacular" take on courage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: And you can watch additional "Brief But Spectacular" episodes on our Website,
http://ift.tt/2dZkIkh.
And now to our NEWSHOUR Shares, something that caught our eye that may be of interest
to you, too. After more than seven decades, the remains of one of the worst disasters
U.S. naval history have been found, thanks to a wealthy philanthropist, a Navy historian
and a state-of-the-art research vessel.
The NEWSHOUR`s Julia Griffin explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s it, Paul. We`ve got it. The Indy.
JULIA GRIFFIN, PBS NEWSHOUR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With those words, a 72-year
old mystery was solved, and a historical treasure rediscovered on the bottom of the Pacific
Ocean: the wreckage of the World War II naval cruiser, the USS Indianapolis.
On July 30th, 1945, the Indianapolis was at sea, having just completed a top-secret mission
delivering key components of the atomic bomb Little Boy to a naval base in the Northern
Mariana Islands, when it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Just 15 minutes later,
the ship that survived the Pearl Harbor attack was underwater.
Eight hundred of her 1,196 sailors are thought to have initially survived the sinking, but
with the U.S. Navy unaware of the loss, the men were forced to float. For four days in
shark-infested waters before being spotted by a patrolling bomber plane.
Ultimately, only 317 survived the ordeal. For decades, the final resting place of the
Indianapolis was lost to the ocean.
RICHARD HULVER, NAVAL HISTORIAN: All the paperwork is lost. There was no signal that went out.
So, basically, we had nothing but the recollections of the crew, the survivors. So, it was really
imprecise location at the beginning.
GRIFFIN: But last year, naval historian Richard Hulver discovered naval landing craft LST
779 had passed the Indianapolis just hours before the attack.
HULVER: So, about 11 hours before Indianapolis was sunk. If you can figure out where LST
779 was, that gives you another point on that, another data point on that route that can
give you a better idea.
GRIFFIN: With the new data point in hand, a civilian research team led by Microsoft
co-founder Paul Allen took up the search again.
PAUL ALLEN, CO-FOUNDER, MICROSOFT: We try to do these both as really exciting examples
of underwater archaeology and as tributes to the brave men that went down on these ships.
GRIFFIN: This time, the research vessel turned it`s attention west of the original location
estimate and hunted through a new, 600-square-mile patch of the Pacific Ocean. Ultimately, one
of the team`s remotely-operated underwater vehicles spotted the ship, its anchor and
other paraphernalia, more than 18,000 feet below the surface.
Naval History and Heritage Command Director Sam Cox hopes the discovery will underscore
more than just the ship`s demise.
SAM COX, DIRECTOR, NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND: Even in a great tragedy like this
one, there is valor, there is bravery. And in the case of this crew that made the ultimate
sacrifice, you know, what they did needs to be remembered and not just for getting torpedoed
and sunk. They were heroes.
GRIFFIN: Only 22 crew members of the Indianapolis are still alive today.
For the PBS NEWSHOUR, I`m Julia Griffin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: And on the NEWSHOUR online right now, we share a remembrance of Swedish journalist
Kim Wall, who disappeared while reporting a story in Denmark and whose remains were
found this week. One of our NEWSHOUR producers pays tribute to his friend`s life and work
on our Website. That`s pbs.org/newshour.
And that`s the NEWSHOUR for tonight. I`m Judy Woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow
evening with Mark Shields and David Brooks.
For all of us at the PBS NEWSHOUR, thank you, and we`ll see you soon.
It’s time to really get uncomfortable and talk about racism, says this filmmaker PBS NewsHour full episode August 10, 2017 PBS NewsHour full episode, August 24, 2017 Here’s what goes into a president’s decision to launch nuclear weapons He was a witness in Charlottesville. Then the death threats and conspiracy theories began. Deweni Inima | Episode 144 24th August 2017 Rhythm City Episode 2644 Thursday 24 August 2017 Why tensions are flaring over Trump's Phoenix rally How attacking GOP leaders could be hurting Trump’s agenda How the USS Indianapolis, WWII Navy ship with a dramatic history, was finally rediscovered

PBS NewsHour full episode August 24, 2017

Latest Posts