PBS NewsHour full episode February 9, 2018

JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.
I'm Judy Woodruff.
On the "NewsHour" tonight:
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: It's an obviously tough time for him.
He did a very good job when he was in the White House.
JUDY WOODRUFF: President Trump defends one of his closest White House aides, who stands
accused of domestic abuse.
Then: Congress passes a deal to keep the government open, but concerns about the budget deficit
remain.
And sports diplomacy.
The politically charged Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, have begun.
Plus: arts and economics in Appalachia -- how a creative hub continues to promote development
despite dwindling funding.
ADA SMITH, Program Director, Appalshop: We can tell you, day in and day out, how many
young artists have been told, if you really want to be an artist, you have got to leave.
So, you know, on that level, I feel like Appalshop has proven that other things can happen here.
JUDY WOODRUFF: All that, including Mark Shields and David Brooks, on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."
(BREAK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: Wall Street's worst week in two years is finally over.
Stocks endured another day of sharp swings, but rallied in the end.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 330 points to close at 24190.
The headquarters rose 97 points, and the S&P 500 was up 38.
All three indexes were down 5 percent for the week.
That's the most since early 2016.
The federal government opened for business today after a budget deal ended a brief overnight
shutdown, the second in three weeks.
It happened when Republican Senator Rand Paul stalled a vote on a $400 billion spending
bill to protest spending hikes.
The Senate and House finally approved the deal early this morning, even as supporters
and opponents argued over the effects.
REP.
PETE SESSIONS (R), Texas: This two-year budget agreement begins to repair our military, and
frees our armed services from the harmful spending caps and the devastating practice
of funding our troops in stopgap spending bills.
REP.
JARED POLIS (D), Colorado: This body is descending down a fiscally irresponsible path, a path
to trillion-dollar deficits, a path to mortgaging the future for my children and yours.
JUDY WOODRUFF: President Trump signed the bill into law this morning, but he put the
blame for ballooning deficits on the opposition.
In a tweet, the president said -- quote -- "This bill is a big victory for our military, but
much waste in order to get Democratic votes."
We will examine the deal's effects on the deficit after the news summary.
The president today praised former aide Rob Porter, who resigned over domestic abuse allegations.
His two ex-wives say he physically and verbally assaulted them.
Today, at a meeting with campaign supporters, the president called it very sad and said
he hopes Porter has a great career.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: We wish him well.
He worked very hard.
I found out about it recently, and I was surprised by it.
He says he's innocent.
And I think you have to remember that.
He said very strongly yesterday that he's innocent.
So, you will have to talk to him about that.
But we absolutely wish him well.
Did a very good job while he was at the White House.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Meanwhile, top White House staffers faced more questions about their
handling of the Porter case.
The Washington Post and others reported that White House counsel Donald McGahn was told
some of the accusations in January of last year.
Other reports say Chief of Staff John Kelly learned last fall that the allegations were
delaying Porter's security clearances.
This evening, Kelly denied that he has told officials he's willing to resign from his
post.
Separate, there is word that the Justice Department's critical number three official, Rachel Brand,
is resigning, after nine months on the job.
It is widely reported that she is leaving for the private sector.
Brand is next in line behind Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
She would be overseeing the special counsel's Russia probe if President Trump were to fire
Rosenstein.
The Winter Olympics have officially begun, with opening ceremonies in PyeongChang, South
Korea.
Pomp and pageantry was on full display this evening, with more than 2,900 athletes from
92 countries taking part.
Hours earlier, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected a last-ditch appeal for 45
Russian athletes to take part.
They have been banned for doping.
Two people have been killed in a winter storm that moved across the American Upper Midwest
today.
Total snowfall is expected to measure a foot in some areas by tonight.
Treacherous conditions hit roads from Minnesota to Indiana overnight.
By this morning, seven inches of snow covered parts of Chicago, closing schools and canceling
1,000 flights.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the city is bracing for more.
RAHM EMANUEL (D), Mayor of Chicago: We have always done this as a city.
I want us to continue today, tomorrow, Sunday, throughout, responding, taking care of not
only yourself and your family members, but checking on your neighbors.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The storm is expected to weaken as it moves eastward over the weekend.
Back in this country, or in this country, public defenders in New York are protesting
against immigration agents arresting their clients at routine court appearances.
Dozens of the attorneys protested outside a Bronx courthouse yesterday.
They were joined by civil rights and immigration advocates.
And still to come on the "NewsHour": what the budget deal to fund the government means
for the mounting federal deficit; tense diplomacy against the backdrop of the Olympic Games
in South Korea; what's behind the worst flu season in nearly a decade; and much more.
Now back to the president's words of praise today for a top aide who resigned over accusations
of domestic abuse.
Seven million women are raped or physically assaulted by a current or former intimate
partner each year.
That's according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
With me now is Beth Meeks.
She is the director at the National Network to End Domestic Violence.
It's a nonprofit group that works with survivors and their advocates.
Beth Meeks, thank you very much for being here.
So, we were just listening again to what the president said.
Among other things, he complimented Rob Porter, said that he's done a fantastic job, said
he wishes him well, and reminded everyone that Rob Porter says he's innocent.
How are those words likely to be received, do you think?
®MD+IT¯®MD-IT¯ ®MD+IT¯®MD-IT¯ BETH MEEKS, Director, National
Network to End Domestic Violence: Well, I think that it's very difficult to bring yourself
to believe that someone that you like and respect is capable of very bad things.
So, that's not necessarily uncommon, that people defend abusers.
It does have a chilling effect on victims.
It's very difficult for a person to come forward and talk about domestic abuse.
And, in this case, you have women, multiple women, who corroborate each other's stories,
who have court orders and photographs and are hearing from very powerful people, that's
not enough, that's still not enough to make your voice as valuable or more valuable than
what he has to say.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, what's coming through from what the president said is that there
are two sides to this story, two ex-wives, and then there are also reports of a former
girlfriend alleging that Rob Porter was abusive.
And then you have the president saying, but he says he's innocent.
There are often the two sides.
Is that right?
So, in the community that you work in, how do women, how do victims deal with that?
BETH MEEKS: Well, again, it can be very difficult, especially if there aren't -- you know, if
there aren't pieces of evidence.
So, it's very unusual to find a case where there are multiple victims who can share similar
stories who have photographic evidence, who have court orders.
That takes it beyond he said/she said.
There is some volume of information that's not typically available in a domestic violence
case.
JUDY WOODRUFF: How often do women make up stories of being assaulted?
BETH MEEKS: The FBI estimates that about 4 percent of all crime reports are falsified,
and that that rate is no different in domestic violence cases than it is in any other type
of crime.
So, in the vast majority of cases, when women are telling us that these things have happened
to them, they're telling us the truth.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, you -- as we were saying, you work with these women all the time.
How do they -- how do they go about being believed?
You were saying it isn't always the case that you have the physical evidence, that somebody
has take an photograph right after something happened.
So how hard is it to make the case?
BETH MEEKS: It's pretty difficult.
Many of the women aren't believed.
We talk a lot about people encourage victims to come forward, but there's a lot of risk
in doing that.
The offender is further angered.
You put yourself at more risk for physical violence.
You put your children at risk.
And so when a victim tells her story and someone says, there's not enough evidence to do anything
or, you know, we will charge him and take him to court later, or maybe he's convicted
and gets community service, but not substantial intervention, the risk that the woman took
didn't pay off for the safety that she needed.
JUDY WOODRUFF: One of the other aspects of this story about Rob Porter is that he was
carrying on in a high-profile job in the White House and had significant jobs in Washington
before this at the same time this alleged activity was taking -- was happening at home.
How common is it for men or others who are guilty of this to be carrying on that way
with an intimate partner at the same time they seem normal at work?
BETH MEEKS: Absolutely, totally normal.
It's more common than not.
Most domestic violence offenders know that their behavior is not approved of in society,
by their spouse, by their employer, and so they're very invested in showing a different
side of themselves at work, with their friends, with other people in their family.
In fact, even when they're courting new wives and girlfriends, they're very careful to present
a different image, because they know that some of the things in their history about
how they treat women aren't welcome.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, it's such an important perspective to have.
Beth Meeks with the National Network to End Domestic Violence, thank you very much.
Last night's brief government shutdown may not have had much of an impact, but the wide-ranging
budget deal signed today by the president is expected to add around $300 billion to
the deficit over a decade.
With the additional money for the military, for domestic programs and disaster relief,
the Congressional Budget Office forecasts next year's deficit, not the total national
debt, to climb to $1.2 trillion.
This, of course, comes after the tax cuts signed into law in December.
With me now, Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and Jared
Bernstein, a former economic adviser to Vice President Biden.
He's now at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
And we welcome both of you back to the "NewsHour."
So, Maya, people are running all over town today pulling their hair out -- at least a
lot of people are -- saying, this is a lot of money.
Should they be concerned?
MAYA MACGUINEAS, President, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: Oh, absolutely.
This is a fiscal free-for-all, where what is happening is, no longer are there any constraints
in the budget process, where lawmakers are basically saying, we want this, we want this,
we want this, and we will trade it to you for whatever you want, as long as nobody pays
for anything.
And we are doing bad fiscal policy, where we are increasing our national debt that is
already at near historical levels, and it's going to be bad economic policy in the long
run.
And I think it reflects a broken political process as well.
So there's a lot that this reflects poorly on.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Jared Bernstein, you don't -- you think deficits do matter.
JARED BERNSTEIN, Former Chief Economist to Vice President Joe Biden: I do.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But you also believe there's some reasons for some of this spending in
this bill.
JARED BERNSTEIN: Absolutely.
I agree with a lot of what Maya just said.
I want to make a distinction between the long run and the short run.
In the short-term, there is a lot that's good in this bill that is actually very good for
constituents who have really been shortchanged by fiscal policy for a long time, expanding
the Children's Health Insurance Program, community health centers, disaster relief, infrastructure,
VA hospitals, college affordability.
That's all in there.
Also, in the near term, I think some of this fiscal stimulus could actually help people
who are still left behind in this economy.
It's very unusual to do this when the unemployment rate is already low, but there is a chance
that it could go lower and actually help some folks.
Now, in the long term, though, I'm pretty much where Maya is.
There is a disjunction between what we collect and what we spend, and eventually that is
going to be definitely problematic.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Maya, some of this spending, in other words, there is a rationale behind
this.
There are people in need.
I mean, some of the programs Jared mentioned have a serious constituency behind them.
MAYA MACGUINEAS: Absolutely.
There's no judgment on whether these spending priorities are good.
Many and probably most of them are.
In budgeting and in governing, when something is worth doing, it's also worth paying for.
And what's happened -- and I think this really started with the huge unpaid-for tax cuts
-- is we have thrown off the fiscal constraints.
And now the argument is, we don't have the pay for anything.
And when it came to tax cuts, there was an argument that wasn't true that the tax cuts
would pay for themselves, and they won't.
This time, no one even made the argument.
It's just that paying for things is hard.
And I think there seems to be political agreement between both parties that nobody talks about
budgetary trade-offs or how to pay for things anymore.
And Jared said this might be good for the economy, but it might be bad for the economy.
There is some real risk in the short-term this will not pay off well.
I would argue it's almost certainly not going to.
And certainly in the long-term, it's going to have negative effects.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Jared, what about holding people accountable for what they have said in the
past?
There are number of, we know, not just Republicans, but some fiscally conscious Democrats who
have been saying for years, this country has got to slow down the spending.
JARED BERNSTEIN: Well, first of all, a lot of those supposedly fiscally responsible people,
they say that, and then they vote for policies that increase the deficit and the debt repeatedly.
Bob Corker is the most recent example.
And so I do think that the political incentives are all wrong here.
There's really no consequence to voting for increasing deficits and debt, and, in fact,
it probably goes the other way.
If people did vote more responsibly to raise the revenues they need, to raise taxes, because
eventually that's what we're going to have to do if we're going to square these difference,
they would probably be politically punished.
One quick point.
What Maya is suggesting is that this extra spending is going to make the economy overheat
this year.
That's definitely a possibility, but if you look at the indicators of overheating, like
inflation, they're actually very tame right now.
And I suspect that this stimulus will be helpful if that regard.
JUDY WOODRUFF: What about that, Maya?
And I also do want to ask you about those Republicans who have been saying for years
there has to be cutback, that the spending increases can't continue.
And, again, this is on top of, what, $1.5 trillion almost in tax cuts that were enacted
by the Congress, that the president signed just two months ago.
MAYA MACGUINEAS: Absolutely.
The loss of any real fiscal responsibility is very negative in a lot of ways.
So, we have added to the debt at the time when the debt is the highest relative to the
economy that it's been since we came out of World War II.
We're about to have trillion-dollar deficits.
Last time that happened, we were in a huge recession, and it was understandable.
This is self-imposed, and it's very damaging during a time when the economy is expanding,
and we won't be as ready for the next downturn.
And it's made a lot of hypocrisies come to the surface, I'm afraid.
And that means it's harder for when people are talking about things that are necessary.
We do have to deal with more revenues, and we do have to deal with fixing our entitlement
programs.
But everybody has lost the credibility to make that case, which means we will continue
to kick the can on this.
JARED BERNSTEIN: So, here's where I would come in on that.
The world that Maya is describing is the world that we really should be in, where people
are much more fiscally responsible, both voters and the people they vote for.
That's not the real world.
That's not the world we live in.
So we can decide to wait until we arrive at that world and disinvest in children's health
care and infrastructure and helping folks who still have been left behind in this economy.
That's an unacceptable trade-off to me.
I think we have to walk and chew gum at the same time.
I think we have to make the investments that are so critical to this country, especially
in an era of inequality, and, at the same time, really work hard to put revenues back
on the table, because that's the key to solving this problem.
(CROSSTALK)
MAYA MACGUINEAS: And controlling the spending side.
I think the key in fixing this problem is on both sides.
And I think walking and chewing gum at the same time doesn't mean putting everything
on the national credit card.
What we need is a set of rules and constraints that both parties can actually agree to.
And we go back to what budgeting is.
If something is worth doing, you have to figure out how to pay for it, and there are actual
trade-offs.
The Republicans and Democrats will continue to fight about the size of government, but
if we just come up with a bipartisan agreement that we're just not going to pay for anything,
that bodes very, very poorly for the long-term sustainable situation in the economy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But, in any event, we're not there yet.
We are where we are.
We are not at place where people are looking...
MAYA MACGUINEAS: We're not in that world.
JUDY WOODRUFF: ... at the bottom line.
Jared Bernstein, Maya MacGuineas, thank you both.
Appreciate it.
MAYA MACGUINEAS: Thank you.
JARED BERNSTEIN: Thank you.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The opening ceremony is over, and PyeongChang Winter Games are about to
begin in earnest.
But, as John Yang reports, among the most closely watched early Olympic events is global
diplomacy.
JOHN YANG: Fireworks opened the Olympic Games in PyeongChang, but competed for attention
with a diplomatic spectacle, a historic handshake between South Korean President Moon Jae-in
and North Korea's nominal head of state, Kim Yong-nam, at a welcoming reception.
The greeting served to underscore the apparent divisions between Washington and Seoul.
Vice President Pence made a brief appearance, too, alongside Moon and Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe, but he avoided the North Korean delegation, and left early.
The Wall Street journal's Andrew Jeong is covering the Games.
ANDREW JEONG, The Wall Street Journal: The conservative media here are interpreting this
as a snub.
Other outlets are being careful, because it still isn't really clear what message the
vice president was trying to put out there.
JOHN YANG: During the opening ceremony, Mr. Pence sat just feet away from Kim Yo-jong,
the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
She's the first member of North's ruling family to set foot in South Korea.
Mr. Pence again kept his distance, but South Korea's Moon greeted her as the two countries'
athletes marched side by side under a single flag.
Later, a North Korean hockey player was among the Olympic torchbearers.
It was a striking show of unity after a year of rising tensions over Pyongyang's missile
and nuclear programs.
The Olympics are often an escape from world affairs.
This year, the geopolitical subtext is hard to avoid.
South Korean President Moon sees the Games as a chance to thaw relations with the North.
He met with Vice President Pence yesterday.
MOON JAE-IN, South Korean President (through translator): I would like to make efforts
by using this opportunity as much as I can to bring North Korea back to the dialogue
table.
I always emphasize that the most important thing in this process is the airtight cooperation
between South Korea and the United States.
JOHN YANG: Mr. Pence has emphasized the Trump administration's harder line, warning against
what he calls the North's charm offensive.
He used his own symbolism today, meeting with defectors from the North, along with Fred
Warmbier, whose son Otto died last year after imprisonment in North Korea.
The vice president reinforced the U.S. view of North Korea in an interview with NBC's
Lester Holt.
MIKE PENCE, Vice President of the United States: We're going to make it crystal-clear that
our military, the Japanese self-defense forces, our allies here in South Korea, all of our
allies across the region are fully prepared to defend...
LESTER HOLT, NBC: Military options?
MIKE PENCE: Well, to defend our nations and to take what action is necessary to defend
our homeland.
JOHN YANG: Andrew Jeong of The Wall Street Journal says Japan is also taking a tougher
stance than the South Koreans.
ANDREW JEONG: President Moon is saying, yes, it's kind of the time for talks, because,
otherwise, denuclearization is never going to happen.
But Japan is saying more pressure.
I think that is more aligned to what the Trump administration is thinking.
JOHN YANG: The split will be evident again tomorrow, when President Moon hosts the North
Korean delegation for lunch, and Mr. Pence will be in Seoul, preparing to return to Washington.
We now get two views on this Olympic diplomacy.
Anthony Ruggiero worked in the State Department and the Treasury Department.
His focus was on fighting the financing of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
And Frank Jannuzi, also a State Department veteran, he was part on the U.S. delegation
for talks with North Korea during the Clinton administration.
Gentlemen, welcome to you both.
Thanks for being here.
Mr. Jannuzi, let me start with you.
Did Vice President Pence miss an opportunity by not engaging with the North Korean, even
just pleasantries?
FRANK JANNUZI, President and CEO, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation: He did.
His behavior was boorish and politically tone-deaf.
If President Moon Jae-in can shake hands with Kim Yong-nam, if our close ally Shinzo Abe,
the leader of Japan, can shake hands, surely, the vice president can do the simple courtesy
of not essentially showing up to the party and then sulking.
JOHN YANG: Mr. Ruggiero, boorish and tone-deaf?
ANTHONY RUGGIERO, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies: Yes, I'm not sure I would
go that far.
I think that we have to keep the focus here on North Korea and its nuclear weapons and
missile programs.
And they have no interest in talking to the United States, so whether the vice president
really shakes his hand is really immaterial.
The issue here is that North Korea is the one that really wants to take over or hijack
these Games to legitimize its regime.
FRANK JANNUZI: But I think it's precisely because we want to keep the focus on North
Korea, its horrendous human rights record, its poor record in response to U.N. sanctions
for their missile and nuclear programs, that the president -- the vice president made such
a grievous mistake.
He's made himself the story.
He's made himself and his treatment of our South Korean ally the story.
The South Koreans held these Olympics.
They're holding these Olympics with an aspiration of peace and really beginning a process of
reconciliation and dialogue with the North.
And for the United States to in any way obstruct that effort, I think, is really doing a disservice
to our alliance.
JOHN YANG: Mr. Ruggiero, you say that the North Koreans are trying to hijack these Olympics.
Should the South Koreans have said when Kim Jong-un said he was going to send his sister,
thanks, but no thanks?
ANTHONY RUGGIERO: Definitely.
She's a sanctioned person.
She's involved in North Korea's propaganda to its own citizens.
I mean, she is complicit in this regime's horrible human rights record.
And, frankly, the North Koreans shouldn't even be participating in these Olympics.
During apartheid, South Africa wasn't invited to the Olympics.
North Korea shouldn't be given the same courtesy, or it should be subjected to a ban as well.
It's not clear to me why we would want to invite a country like this to the Olympics.
FRANK JANNUZI: I strongly disagree.
Again, Anthony, sanctions are a means to an end.
They're not an end in and of themselves.
And the only reason we have sanctions on North Korea, it's not just to punish them.
It's to change their behavior.
So when you have an opportunity to engage, when you have an opportunity to use the leverage
created by sanctions to possibly explore openings to address the hard security issues and the
North-South issues, we should seize it.
ANTHONY RUGGIERO: Well, I agree we should change their behavior, but let's not forget
they did a military parade only two days ago.
That hasn't changed their behavior.
And even though they're not doing nuclear or missile tests, their missile and nuclear
programs continue even as we speak today.
So, they have not changed their behavior at all.
And I would just say, things like prohibiting South Africa from the Olympics are what eventually
got the change in behavior we were looking for.
FRANK JANNUZI: I think what got South Korea -- South Africa to the table were severe economic
sanctions.
And I certainly support those efforts to impose tough economic sanctions on North Korea.
But a military parade in Pyongyang is not a threat to us.
JOHN YANG: And Mr. Pence also took with him Fred Warmbier, the father of Otto Warmbier,
the college student imprisoned in North Korea, came home to America in a coma, and eventually
died.
He took him to a meeting with North Korean defectors.
Do you think that was too aggressive, Mr. Jannuzi?
FRANK JANNUZI: Well, look, when I was at Amnesty International, I led efforts here in Washington
to try to shine a spotlight on North Korea's horrendous human rights effort.
And I celebrate President Trump's efforts to put the human rights issue on the table,
but there is a time and place for everything.
And if we're going to nurse grievances at the Olympics, rather than try to seize this
opportunity to create a mood for reconciliation, I think that is a mistake.
The timing of it is wrong.
The sentiment is, I think, very well-intentioned and laudable.
JOHN YANG: Mr. Ruggiero, bad timing?
ANTHONY RUGGIERO: No, absolutely not.
We should be focused on North Korea's human rights record.
And bringing Fred Warmbier, I think, is the right approach by the administration.
We need to continue to shine the spotlight.
It's disappointing that South Korea's own president, who is a human rights -- former
human rights lawyer, is not as focused on this as President Trump is.
So, I think it's admirable that President -- Vice President Pence did that.
JOHN YANG: Mr. Ruggiero, you say that you feel the North Koreans are trying to drive
a wedge between South Korea and the United States.
How real do you think that wedge is and what are the consequences?
ANTHONY RUGGIERO: Well, the conversation we're having here.
This is what Kim Jong-un wants.
I think they want a wedge between the United States and South Korea.
The other thing that they want is to sabotage the sanctions program.
It's finally showing some success.
I think Kim Jong-un has felt that pressure.
And he knows that if he is talking to South Korea, that it will be harder for the United
States to go to countries and ask them to do things above the letter of the law, which
is really what we need on the sanctions parameter, what we have seen so far.
FRANK JANNUZI: I agree, Anthony, that the sanctions are beginning to show some traction.
And that's precisely why we should be pursuing the opportunities that may exist to pivot
from the sanctions, explore what's possible, see if the North Koreans have changed their
attitude.
If not, that's fine.
Keep the pressure on.
JOHN YANG: Frank Jannuzi, Anthony Ruggiero, thanks so much for joining us.
ANTHONY RUGGIERO: Thank you.
FRANK JANNUZI: Thank you.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Flu season is not easing its grip on much of the United States, and the
outbreak is reaching levels not seen in nearly a decade.
Hospitalizations for it are higher than normal, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported today that roughly one in 13 visits to the doctor last week were for flu-like
symptoms.
It has also claimed the lives of at least 10 more children this week, putting that number
at 63 for the season.
Tens of thousands of deaths are often associated with the flu annually.
Dr. Anne Schuchat is the acting director of the CDC, and she joins me now.
Dr. Schuchat, welcome back to the program.
So, how widespread is the flu right now in this country?
REAR ADM.
DR.
ANNE SCHUCHAT, Acting Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: This is a
very difficult flu season.
And this past week, we got more bad news.
The doctor visits for flu are as high this week as we have seen during the peak of the
2009 pandemic.
We're not having a pandemic right now, but we have a very, very difficult flu season.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Why is it so bad this year?
REAR ADM.
DR.
ANNE SCHUCHAT: Well, there are a couple reasons that we know of, and there are probably some
more reasons that we need to learn about.
One thing is it's an H3N2 influenza season.
That's the strain that's dominating.
There are a couple other strains circulating.
H3N2 seasons tend to be more severe.
The other thing is that influenza vaccine doesn't work as well against H3N2 strains,
so that's probably a second factor.
And the third factor is that the vaccine is probably working even less well than usual
against the H3N2.
We had an early start to the season, and it's continuing full force right now.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Are there particular parts of our population that are more vulnerable
than others?
REAR ADM.
DR.
ANNE SCHUCHAT: Anyone can get the flu, and it can be serious.
But the people who have a harder time with flu are the very old, the very young, pregnant
women, and people with heart disease, lung disease, and other medical conditions that
can make it harder for them to take on a lung infection.
We recommend that those groups in particular, if they present with flu symptoms, they can
benefit from antiviral medicines that may convert a relatively mild illness -- that
may prevent a milder illness from becoming a hospitalization or worse.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Is there enough, Dr. Schuchat?
Is there enough vaccine available this year to prevent the flu or at least prevent it
from being more severe?
Is there enough of the drug Tamiflu, which I know is prescribed for many people?
REAR ADM.
DR.
ANNE SCHUCHAT: More than 152 million doses of influenza vaccine have been distributed.
And the coverage is about -- overall about what we saw last year in terms of how many
people have gotten vaccinated by this time in the year.
It's not too late to be vaccinated, for those who haven't already gotten vaccinated.
There may be some benefit to still getting the vaccine.
We're seeing more requests or prescriptions for Tamiflu or the other antivirals against
influenza than we have seen in past years.
There's a lot of demand for that because of the intense season.
It may be hard to find locally, so we expect that people may need to call around to the
pharmacies.
But the past couple weeks,we have been working closely with the manufacturers, the pharmacy
chains, the insurers, the distributors to try smooth out that supply, to take care of
those spot shortages.
We do think that prompt treatment with antiviral medicines can be very important in people
who present with severe symptoms or people who are at risk for complications.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, I have to ask you, what is your advice for people who have not had
the flu and for people who have it?
REAR ADM.
DR.
ANNE SCHUCHAT: Well, if you are feeling well, keep washing your hands, cover your cough
or sneeze.
And if you do get sick, please stay home from work or school, so that you don't spread the
flu.
What's a mild illness for you could be something severe for one of your co-workers or your
classmates.
If you have the flu and you are pregnant or elderly or have heart or lung disease, we
hope that you're seeking medical care, because prompt treatment with antivirals can be lifesaving.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Dr. Anne Schuchat, acting director of the CDC, we thank you.
REAR ADM.
DR.
ANNE SCHUCHAT: Thank you, Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Now we begin a new series, taking us to all corners of the country to
see artists at work.
We start with a look at a group that has been serving rural communities in Eastern Kentucky
for nearly half-a-century.
Originally dubbed the Appalachian Film Workshop, now just Appalshop, the group has dedicated
itself to spotlighting the rich cultural history of Appalachia.
Now it's giving residents, many who have long looked to leave the area, new reasons to stay.
Jeffrey Brown brings us the first of an occasional series, American Creators.
JEFFREY BROWN: A cold winter day in the tiny coal town of Hemphill in Letcher County, Kentucky,
hard-hit by the closing of nearby mines.
But on this Friday, residents have gathered in the basement of a shuttered-school-turned-community-center
for free food, music, and a celebration of a tiny, but empowering catering business run
by Gwen Johnson, whose mining family has lived here for generations.
GWEN JOHNSON, Founder, Hemphill Catering Company: I was raised in a coal mine family, where
the pride was in the job, but you didn't really own what you made.
But with Hemphill Catering Company, we own what we make.
The community will.
JEFFREY BROWN: The business was made possible through the support of Appalshop, based in
nearby Whitesburg, an arts and culture institution that, from its very beginnings, has made economic
development part of its mission.
ADA SMITH, Program Director, Appalshop: We have been so inundated with, this is the way
your life is, these are the options, this is what you're going to do if you stay here.
JEFFREY BROWN: Ada Smith is a program director at Appalshop, and grew up in Whitesburg.
ADA SMITH: We can tell you, day in and day out, how many young artists have been told,
if you really want to be an artist, you have got to leave.
So, you name it.
If you want to be an engineer, you have to leave.
So, you know, on that level, I feel like Appalshop has proven that other things can happen here.
(LAUGHTER)
JEFFREY BROWN: Appalshop dates back almost 50 years, created with the help of federal
funds during the so-called war on poverty of the 1960s.
It was a time when Appalachia was thrust into the national spotlight.
MAN: Beside these roads, the shacks of tar paper and pine, which are the homes of a million
permanently poor.
JEFFREY BROWN: Appalshop had two big goals: to foster new skills and jobs and to give
local people a way to tell their own stories.
Herb E. Smith, Ada's father, was a founding member of Appalshop.
His father, grandfather and brothers all worked in the coal mines.
HERB E. SMITH, Filmmaker: He began here in 1952, about when I was born, and he worked
here until '73.
JEFFREY BROWN: But coal jobs were going away, and so were local residents.
HERB E. SMITH: I graduated from Whitesburg High School in 1970.
There were 170 of us graduated.
By the end of the summer, less than 50 of us were here, with no hopes of ever returning.
Generations of people, thousands and millions of people leave mining areas, and the people
who remain miss them.
Miss them bad.
JEFFREY BROWN: Trained at Appalshop and armed with cameras, Smith and others took on a new
kind of work.
HERB E. SMITH: It was a way to be a part of the solution, and to kind of understand the
place that we were a part of.
And, of course, we learned all kind of things that we had no clue about.
And we kind of fell in love with the place.
JEFFREY BROWN: They produced scores of films, documenting in frank detail the region they
called home.
HERB E. SMITH: One of the ways I like to say it is, we make films about the things we like
here, and we make films about the things that are challenging.
WOMAN: The same system that brought prosperity to some impoverished others.
Some filmmakers wanted to show that contrast to help bring about social change.
Others mined the images the way the companies had mined the coal.
HERB E. SMITH: And then we want to make films that hold out people like Ralph Stanley, people
who have drawn from the wealth of the culture of the region and made a living from it.
JEFFREY BROWN: And Appalshop expanded well beyond filmmaking.
Its Roadside Theater, captured in this 1991 "NewsHour" report, continues to present plays
about life in the region.
Its radio station, WMMT, offers a range of music and news, with the help of some 50 volunteer
deejays.
Local musicians offer after-school lessons for kids learning to play bluegrass.
Downstairs, Appalshop's film vaults hold virtually every minute of film and video from the last
50 years, and now house historic photography collections.
The filmmaking continues with a new generation; 24-year-old Oakley Fugate grew up in a nearby
town with a population of just 20.
Without Appalshop, he says, his options were limited.
OAKLEY FUGATE, Filmmaker: When it comes to artistic dreams and stuff like mine, they're
just kind of like, no, you need to do something serious.
Like, they don't -- they don't even consider the possibility of you actually doing it.
JEFFREY BROWN: But after a training program, he's produced several documentaries, including
a recent film spotlighting a transgender student in Whitesburg.
STUDENT: I'm not scared to the trans anymore.
I'm not scared or ashamed of it.
JEFFREY BROWN: Most important, says Ada Smith, Appalshop continues its focus on how art and
culture can stimulate a local economy.
ADA SMITH: If people want to come downtown for things.
If there's music, if there's events, if there's things to do, then, all of a sudden, there's
more businesses.
If people have an opportunity to try some different things, then all of a sudden they
are like, whoa, I could start a record store, I could start a tattoo parlor, I could start
a bar.
Like, your mind just opens up from an initial nugget of trying something different.
JEFFREY BROWN: Appalshop relies on federal funding, including the NEA, foundations, and
private philanthropy.
And all that, Smith says, only goes so far.
ADA SMITH: I just really believe that there's been a long history of only seeing rural communities
and economies as places to take from, and not places to invest in.
JEFFREY BROWN: And Appalshop says otherwise, huh?
(LAUGHTER)
ADA SMITH: yes.
We feel like there's a lot of wealth and talent and ideas that need to be given a chance.
JEFFREY BROWN: Like those of Gwen Johnson at the community center in Hemphill.
Her work is now part of an expanded support network that Appalshop has helped build, with
more than a dozen businesses and organizations in the area.
Her site faced closure when funds from coal taxes dried up, but with encouragement and
support from Appalshop, including $5,000 in seed money, Johnson was able to start a catering
company to help pay the bills.
GWEN JOHNSON: They're friends who kind of stepped up to the plate and began to think
outside the box, and sometimes they think bigger than some of us have ever been allowed
to think.
JEFFREY BROWN: She now employs local residents, including recovering addicts from the Letcher
County Drug Court.
BRADLEY JOHNSON, Hemphill Catering Company: And our applications, when they see our background,
it just goes to the very bottom, you know?
And Gwen overlooks that and gives us a chance to prove ourselves.
And I really appreciate the opportunity.
JEFFREY BROWN: And now, with another $15,000 from Appalshop, Johnson plans to build a brick
oven and open a bakery to serve healthier breads to the community.
She's calling it Black Sheep Bakery.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in Letcher County, Kentucky.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And now to the analysis of Shields and Brooks.
That's syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.
Gentlemen, welcome.
So, I'm sorry, Mark, to go from that great music in Appalachia to talking about the budget.
But that was the big thing that passed in the wee hours of this morning.
The president signed it today.
Both parties somehow came together.
What does it say about their priorities?
MARK SHIELDS: Well, first of all, Judy, step back.
And Edmund Burke, who was a friend of mine...
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
MARK SHIELDS: ... conservative, said all government is compromise and barter.
And this was.
This was a compromise and barter.
Each side got some things they wanted and other things they didn't.
So that is sort of -- it evokes echoes of an earlier era in this city.
At the same time, it was...
JUDY WOODRUFF: You mean because they agreed?
MARK SHIELDS: Because they agreed.
And the parties were split.
It wasn't unanimous on one side or anything of the sort.
But, that said, I think it's fair to say that the deficit itself is now dead as an issue.
All of us have gone to Republican Conventions where it was solemnly sworn that they would
be for a constitutional amendment to balance the budget.
That's over.
Maya MacGuineas was on the show earlier today.
And she has been very conscientious, very effective.
But there is no move now.
The debt is out of control.
We went from were borrowing $436 billion more this year than we did last year, and that's
even before this latest agreement.
So, Republicans -- Bill Clinton did balance the budget.
Nothing since has been remotely approaching that.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, David, red ink as far as the eye can see forever and ever?
DAVID BROOKS: It was a compromise, but it's the kind of compromise we always see.
Ever since we came, or since our segment started -- maybe as Burke and Paine in the 18th century
-- it was...
(LAUGHTER)
DAVID BROOKS: They have been able to compromise when it comes to expanding the deficits.
And that's consistently been true over the past many years.
If you're just -- if every side gets to spend on what they want to spend, that's the way
they can compromise.
They have never been able to compromise when both parties have to take some pain.
And so that's the kind of compromise they can't do.
What strikes me as special about this is that everyone is a hypocrite on the deficits.
They're all for cutting red ink when they're in the minority and they're all against it
when they're in the majority.
But there is a shift in tone in the Republican Party that seems interesting to me, which
is, it used to be a party that talked the language of economics first.
Its native language was economics, an economic language, and so the budget really did sort
of matter, and the budget really mattered, and tax cuts mattered.
Now economics is a secondary language for the Republican Party.
Immigration is the first language.
It's an identity party, not an economic party, right now.
And so they're willing to compromise on a lot of spending if they can win on immigration.
And that's sort of where the party has gone.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And because immigration wasn't part of this deal, Mark, as David, that's
how the Republicans were able to sign on.
MARK SHIELDS: It wasn't.
It wasn't a part of this.
JUDY WOODRUFF: That's what I said, that it wasn't.
MARK SHIELDS: No, no, and that -- I think it's fair to say, though, Judy, that if the
Senate were determinant, I think there's at least 60 votes in the Senate, and maybe even
a solid veto-proof majority, for immigration reform that provides relief for these young
people who were brought here as children and who have been contributing members of our
society ever since.
But it's the Republican House, and it's in particular the anti-immigration caucus that
paralyzes Paul Ryan.
But I just -- I do want to point out one thing on the deficit itself.
We went through two World Wars, the Civil War, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Great
Depression, and ran up a total indebtedness of $1 trillion.
And the Democrats were accused of being the tax-and-spend party.
And then we got the tax cut and spend.
The debt quadrupled, quadrupled, under Reagan and Bush, and that really set the pattern.
It was successful politically.
Bill Clinton, for all his failings and all his foibles, in eight years went from the
biggest deficits in our country to the biggest surpluses.
So, now we have had 17 years of war financed by three tax cuts, I mean, which I think does
reflect what David was talking about.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So is one party or another more responsible for this, David, or is there
blame to go around?
DAVID BROOKS: I do think there is blame to go around.
Deficits tend to come down when we have divided government.
When one party has control, deficits go up, because they can spend on their priorities.
And the Democrats like spending.
The Republicans love tax cuts.
You get a little of both.
I'm not a big believer in third parties, but if there is a third party movement, I suspect
the debt will be a big part of that.
Remember how powerful that issue was for Ross Perot.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes.
DAVID BROOKS: And so we can say deficits are going away as an issue, but deficits aren't
going away as a reality.
And as interest rates go up, the burden of paying just down the debt begins to swallow
more and more of the budget.
It cuts out of the defense spending.
It cuts out of domestic discretionary spending.
And you just become a government that just pays bankers.
And that could be a gigantic issue, especially as interest rates rise.
MARK SHIELDS: And I would just point out, for those who think about deficits at all,
the borrowing on the interest rate, Judy, and the payment of the debt to bondholders
is a transfer from people of ordinary income to the wealthiest Americans.
It's an absolute anti-decency transfer of wealth to people who have to pay their taxes
in order to pay off bondholders.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Now let's talk about the -- we could talk about the debt for our entire conversation.
MARK SHIELDS: Yes.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And the deficit.
But I do want to bring up, David, the saga that unfolded in the White House this week.
A very high-ranking person, in the staff secretary, Rob Porter, has been accused by two of his
ex-wives, both ex-wives, of being physically and verbally and emotionally abusive.
He stayed at the White House over a year without a permanent security clearance.
The president today is still defending him, saying he did a great job, we wish him well,
remember, he says he's innocent.
What do we make of this?
DAVID BROOKS: Yes.
I think what most people do, they see the evidence, which is pretty strong, against
him, and they have a moral abhorrence, and they react with an instinctive abhorrence.
This is a man who allegedly, and with a lot of evidence, punched his wife in the face.
And, normally, you just recoil.
And yet, either with Kelly or Trump, we don't see a recoil.
We just see: There's an honorable man.
And what it reeks of is sort of an archaic 1940s, 1950s idea that we have the world of
men, and we play in the world of men, and whatever you do off in that other world back
at home, outside the workplace, that's sort of not our business.
And that was, I think, an ethos that existed decades ago, but it shouldn't exist now.
And I don't think it exists in most workplaces now, that if you behave morally abhorrent
in your private life, it should reflect extremely poorly on you in your professional life.
And Trump and Kelly don't seem to have felt that just as an instinctual moral disgust.
JUDY WOODRUFF: What does it say, Mark, about the values at the White House, the judgment
of the White House?
I mean, how are we to look at this White House after these...
MARK SHIELDS: Well, every White House and every presidency is eventually and inevitably
a mirror reflection of the president.
I don't care who it is.
And thus it has always been.
And it is now.
I mean, this is a man, Donald Trump, who defended Roger Ailes, the late president of FOX News,
who was accused, believably, of having sexually harassed 24 different women, of being a very
good person.
He defended Bill O'Reilly of FOX News of the same charges, I mean, more serious charges,
of being a very decent man, and not having any need to apologize.
And, most recently, Judge Roy Moore in Alabama, the Republican candidate for the Senate, who
was accused and it was alleged that he had, as a grown man attorney, had actually sexually
-- was involved and not abused, then certainly taken advantage of teenage girls.
So I think there's pattern here of defense, of perhaps rationalization, or whatever.
And it is absolutely unacceptable, Judy.
It truly is.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And there's a lot of discussion right now, David, about the role of the chief
of staff, and even the White House attorney, the White House counsel, Don McGahn, John
Kelly.
And there was one report John Kelly had told the president he was willing to resign.
Should heads roll over something like this?
Do we just figure this is just another week at the White House or what?
DAVID BROOKS: Well, I think when we learned -- we have learned a couple things about Kelly.
He had the earlier comment that some of the DACA people were lazy.
And then he -- but the guy who allegedly beats his wife is honorable.
I mean, that's a contrast.
We have learned that he -- a guy who signs up to work with Donald Trump that closely
shares a lot of the views of Donald Trump.
I guess it shouldn't surprise us, but he also has had a bit of a stabilizing influence.
And so I think both those...
JUDY WOODRUFF: Kelly?
DAVID BROOKS: Kelly has.
Both those facts are true about Kelly.
Whether he should go or not, I mean, I would just like to see him issue a statement that
he's morally disgusted by this behavior.
There is a continual drama, there's a continual chaos, the chief of staff threatening to resign,
Rachel Brand, today, the number three official in the Justice Department, all my Republican
friends, they -- their eyes went wide when she got up, because she was the lone voice
of credibility around there.
And so -- but there's just always this thing of perpetual unraveling and the cycling through
of staff at this White House.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Do we hold -- do we hold the president -- yes, we hold the president accountable,
Mark, but should -- would it make a difference, let me ask it this way, if the president were
to put different people in some of these positions?
MARK SHIELDS: Judy, increasingly, from my reporting and everything I learn, this White
House is resembling nothing as much as East Berlin, in that there's more people trying
to get out than there are trying to get in.
And it's not -- they have not been able to, either based on their false sense of loyalty
that one had to have been a total Trumpite from the begin, whatever, they have not been
able to attract and hold a talented administrative staff.
The one saving argument for John Kelly is that Rob Porter was the exception.
He was able.
He was the de facto deputy chief of staff that Kelly did not have.
I think it's fair to say that Kelly's judgment has been seriously called into question here.
DAVID BROOKS: It's about just being a gentleman.
The MeToo movement, everything we have seen over the last six months, it's, are men -- do
they know what it's like to be a gentleman and just behave decently like a gentleman?
If you look through the history of our political leaders, Teddy Roosevelt, Barack Obama, Mitt
Romney, they were gentlemen.
It's not hard.
And yet those once -- you lose the social standards of how a man is supposed to behave,
you have got a lot of bad stuff that comes out.
(CROSSTALK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: We have to leave on that note.
We will let you save it for next Friday.
MARK SHIELDS: OK.
All right.
I was going to come out against gentlemen.
JUDY WOODRUFF: OK.
MARK SHIELDS: I mean, I'm just tired of them.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Can't imagine.
Mark Shields, David Brooks.
And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.
I'm Judy Woodruff.
Have a great weekend.
Thank you, and good night.
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