Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240622

Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff a raft of consumer, business and Government Spending pushed u. S. Economic growth into betterthanexpected territory. Gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 3. 7 from april to june, according to the commerce department. Thats more than a percentage point higher than initial estimates. For comparison, japans economy shrank and germany and the u. K. Grew by less than a percent for the same time period. Ifill stocks in china rebounded today and shook off a sixday slump triggered by concerns over the health of the chinese economy. The two Major Chinese indices surged by more than 5 , snapping a losing streak that had rippled around the financial world. Other asian and european markets followed suit. Woodruff the asian rally extended to wall street, helped along by the encouraging u. S. Economic numbers. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 369 points to close above 16,600. The nasdaq rose 115 points, and the s p 500 added 47 points. For oil it was also a good day, the biggest oneday rally in nearly seven years. U. S. Oil rose by nearly 4 a barrel, more than 10 , to 42. 56. Ifill in iraq today, an Islamic State militant killed two generals and three soldiers in a suicide bombing. A vehicle filled with explosives hit the troops as they advanced towards the isiscontrolled city of ramadi, in anbar province. A funeral procession for the generals passed through baghdad this afternoon. Iraqi Prime Minister alabadi walked behind the coffins and vowed to defeat isis. The Islamic State claimed the attack was revenge for the recent killing of a senior militant fighter. Woodruff police in austria today discovered the decomposed bodies of as many as 50 refugees piled inside a truck on a highway from budapest to vienna. It came as a summit on europes migrant crisis began today in vienna. Lindsey hilsum of independent Television News has this report from the scene of the discovery. Reporter we were on our way to the balkans summit in vienna, where leaders were to discuss migration, when we saw police around a truck at the side of the road. The stench of death blew in through our car window, the consequence of european governments failure to deal with the tide of refugees and migrants was right here at the side of the motorway. The police first noticed the vehicle around 11 00 am. They thought it was a breakdown and looked and they found no driver and they saw blood comes out of the car and the smell was like, yah. Then they call alarm. Reporter forensic teams worked on the outside. Its believed the people inside may have been dead for several days. The lorry had the logo of a slovakian chicken meat company but the license plates were hungarian and the vehicle was reportedly bought by a romanian last year. Police are investigating the network of people smugglers that brings refugees and migrants into austria. The families who climbed into that truck must have thought they were heading away from death, not towards it. This then is what its come to people suffocating to death at the side of a motorway in one of the richest countries in the world. Todays summit was overshadowed by the tragedy. Only germany is responding to the crisis, accepting 800,000 Syrian Refugees this year. translated and we are, of course, all shaken by the appalling news that up to 50 people lost their lives because they got into a situation where these traffickers didnt look after them, even though these people were on the way to look for more safety and protection. And then had to die such a tragic death. This reminds us that we must tackle quickly the issue of immigration and in a european reporter the e. U. Leadership knows its failing. We understand very well that we cannot continue like this, with a minute of silence every time that we see people dying. Yet rich e. U. Downtries, country, including britain, are refusing to accept refugees. Its everyone and no ones problem. Woodruff just yesterday, authorities in nearby hungary detained more than 3,200 refugees at its southern border with serbia. Thats the highest number so far this year. Ifill authorities in china have detained 11 people for their role in the massive warehouse explosion that killed at least 145 people. Theyre accused of negligence and abuse of power in the countrys worst industrial disaster in recent years. The august 12 explosion at a chemical site devastated the port city of tianjin and left 115 police and firefighters among the dead and missing. Woodruff a cloud of smoky air hung over much of the northwestern u. S. Today from about 50 large wildfires that are now burning. The National Weather service imposed air quality alerts for parts of washington, oregon, idaho and montana. A fire in okanogan, washington has now grown to almost 438 square miles, making it the largest fire ever recorded in the state. Fire officials are working hard to contain it. Containment remains at 17 and we have nearly 1,800 people from 33 states here supporting the firefighting efforts on the ground. Our priorities have not changed in terms of our objectives. The safety of the public and our firefighters remains our number one concern. Woodruff a contingent of firefighters from australia and new zealand were deployed today to help battle the washington wildfire. Ifill new data released today shows that although the vast majority of American Children are vaccinated, those who are not still pose a big threat to public health. A centers for Disease Control and prevention study found that less than two percent of parents nationwide asked for vaccination exemptions last school year. But in certain states the number is much higher, as high as 6. 5 percent in idaho. The report follows a Measles Outbreak in california that sickened more than 100 people earlier this year. Still to come on the newshour how video of a disturbing crime spread. Wall street rallies after the Federal Reserve hints hesitation on raising Interest Rates. Extending minimum wage laws for more workers in seattle. And much more. Ifill for a second day, a shocking, televised murder is raising a wide array of questions about the perpetrator, and about how quickly horrific images can infect the national bloodstream online. Well have our own conversation about some of this in a moment. But first, more of this days reactions to the virginia shootings. Please join us now for a moment of silence. Ifill wdbj in roanoke, virginia paused this morning to remember cameraman adam ward and reporter Alison Parker at the exact moment the two were shot and killed yesterday during an onair interview. Their killer, 41yearold vester lee flanagan, was a former reporter for the station. He was known onair as Bryce Williams and was fired from the station in 2013. He was an angry man. We didnt know that when we hired him. Ifill wbdj president jeff marks when something was amiss in his performance, he would deflect it onto others and blamed other people for all of his issues. And then he blamed back by making these wild accusations about racial insensitivity and all of that and its just not true. Ifill in the hours that followed the attack, flanagan faxed a 23page document to abc news. In it, he said his actions were triggered by the apparent racism of dylann roof, a white man who has been charged with the murder of nine black worshippers during bible study at a Charleston Church this june. Flanagan also claimed he had been subjected to racial discrimination, Sexual Harassment and bullying at work. Using his onair moniker, lanagan posted footage he filmed of the shooting to facebook and twitter. Both accounts were later taken down. After fleeing the scene, police said flanagan committed suicide yesterday afternoon on a virginia highway. Today, Alison Parkers father, andy, pledged to work for stricter gun control. Im going to do everything i can now to make sure her life has meaning. That people remember her and that we dont have another newtown, we dont have another movie theatre shooting, that we dont have another charleston. The politicians have got to stand up to the nra and close some of these loopholes so that crazy people dont get guns. Ifill at one point flanagan was sent to an employee Counseling Program because of performance and behavioral issues. Even as he spoke, a makeshift memorial continued to flow nearby as friends, viewers and coworkers paid tribute to the murdered journalist. We look at what made this latest shooting sadly familiar and shockingly different with Lance Ulanoff, chief correspondent editoratlarge at mashable, the Digital Media website, Barry Rosenfeld is a professor of psychology and director of Clinical Training at fordham universtity, and Deborah Potter is the founder of newslab, a nonprofit journalism resource center. She is also a former Television News correspondent and anchor. Lance ulanoff, was it only a matter of time before someone live tweeted something so horrific . Yeah, unfortunately, i think thats true. We are never without our technology. Its around us. It permeates our lives. We have powerful computers in our pocket, and we have been, you know, we are training our children from the youngest age the use social media, so its something that comes very naturally to us, and what i noticed as part of this, this horrifying crime, is that the use of social media seemed to be kind of a natural act happening as i was doing these things. I did not feel that part of it didnt feel particularly premeditated. Ifill well, not only his act but that people instinctively shared what he put up online. It is, but its funny, because i look at this guy, flanagan, and i think to myself, this is a person who committed a heinous crime, who was not in his right mind, and used social media in a way thatter the that terrifies me. The people who reshared what they saw, i understand the impulse because you see something, its newsworthy, that is what we do in this modern age, but i am surprised that they didnt stop for a moment and realize and think about what they were doing. And thats kind of where i think we probably have to take a closer look. Ifill Deborah Potter, lets pick up on that. Given what we know about technology and the ease with which we can disseminate this kind of information, what is the responsibility for coverage . The point has been made that journalists are not the only one sharing information anymore. So for news organizations, there were very detailed conversations yesterday. Should we air this video . What should we do with it . Ifill it was in our news rooming. But it doesnt really matter because people are going to be able to find it in their own twitter stream, on their own facebook page. Other people are sharing it. I think for news organizations, were having the same conversation weve always had. Whats the responsible thing to do. But that horse is already out of the barn. Ifill the difference this time is we have to adjust to karnage that seems to happen in real time. How do you even anticipate Something Like that . You cant. Thats the problem. This crew could in no way have anticipated they were going to be in danger. There was a lot of talk today about should we have armed guards go out with correspondents and cameras when theyre going to go live somewhere. Thats not going to happen. Should we have fewer live shots . Yes, i think we should. I think that would be a really good outcome if we didnt do so many empty live shots. But at the same time, this is how we present the news. And thats what television does. It goes to places where things are happening. Should newsrooms talk more about the safety of their people and make sure people are aware of the dangers that they face even when you dont think it could possibly be dangerous . Absolutely. Ifill its one thing to go out and cover a riot and expecting something to happen, another when youre talking the a chamber of commerce leader. Barry rosenfeld, i feel like we ask this question every time, but what are the signs we should be on the lookout for in these kinds of cases . Were there signals . Everything we know so far about Vester Flanagan that should have tipped somebody off . Well, you know, this is the hardest question there is. Because it is easy to see signals with hindsight. So there are posts apparently on twitter about him being a powder keg. Hes had this history of animosity and paranoia toward people he worked with. Is it surprising that this is a workplace related shooting given what we know about him . No, i dont think so. But of the countless people out there who have a beef with their workplace, who feel like theyve been mistreated, who feel like theres racial ininjustice, can we identify the sliver that theyll potentially become violent, not without a much more detailed approach, not without really taking things seriously when someone is brought to our attention, and i dont think anyone brought him to our attention. I dont think any clinician. I dont think any Mental Health person saw him with the question of should we be concerned about him. Ifill in general, are targeted workplace shootings like this different in in the ae should assess them than random Movie Theater shootings, random Mass Shootings . Well, theres a different profile of who that person might be. So the Movie Theater shooting, thats a much more sort of psychoticlike offense. And the workplace shooting is usually somebody who has been or feels like theyve been pushed to the breaking point, somebody who is. Their ego, their selfesteem has been squelched by problems in the workplace. They see other people as the source of their problems. So its a different profile. But, you know, i dont want to use that from file to imply that we can go out there and find these people, because again, its that need until a haystack problem. Ifill Lance Ulanoff, i want to circle back to the tech part of this, because i wonder whose responsibility it should be when the technology has outpaced our ability to stop awful things from happening, if we were ever capable of it. Is it the responsibility of the twitter and the facebooks of the world to not make that possible, or is it the responsibility of the disseminators or the consumers of the information . I try and explain the people, technology is super smart and also completely dumb. It doesnt know what youre putting on there. It works almost in an automated fashion. The idea of twitter and facebook is that you put something in, you press a buttahon and it goes to the people you have already set it up to share with. Facebook has over a billion users. Twitter has well over 300 million users. This was a remarkably savvy psychopath to be quite honest, because as hi was driving, he was sharing this thing to his social network. What happens on the other side is people who were either already following him or as many in the media at that moment were doing, including me, who were looking for him to find traces of who this person is and what theyre all about, basically stumbled on his live blog of his. Of these murders. And he put them up there so quickly while he was on the road, using his smartphone, and as soon as facebook and twitter were aware of what was happening, they pulled them down. It was approximately seven minutes, but as your other guests said, cats out of the bag. It was already out there and it was being shared all around, people had pulled the video down. It is not. I dont think its the responsibility of them. But there is one caveat here, one very important caveat, something new that was added fairly recently to twitter and also exists on facebook and its auto play, meaning that the videos play the moment they have the focal point on your screen. And i think thats a place where you suddenly cant get away from it. The video is playing, and i saw this video, and you cannot look away, and you dont even realize exactly what youre seeing until it happens. Ifill that happened to me as well. I figured out how to stop that from happening. Let me ask Deborah Potter about that, which is what is our responsibility as news gatherers not only to protect ourselves but also to protect the people who read and view what we watch. I think the point lance is making with new technology, the whole question of ought to play. That can be disabled at the producers end and should be disabled as soon as possible. And also i think its important for newsrooms to talk to their audience about what it is theyre doing and why. So if smbs, as they did, decided to show the video that was shot by the perpetrator from his perspective and stop it at the point where you see him pointing the gun, they need to explain why they did that. Why is it so important for us to show that to the public . And if were not showing it, why are we not showing it . Ifill Barry Rosenfeld, i started this by saying it was sadly familiar but shockingly different. Do you agree with that . Was this very different from everything weve seen before . Well, its. I guess i wouldnt say its very different. Its not what the last couple of Mass Shootings have been, but its a Workplace Violence incident. What makes it different is the twitter feed, the live broadcasting of it. I think that is just a sign of the times, that people are savvy with technology and had this technology been around 15 years ago, the columbine would have been on youtube just as quickly. If i could just go back the a comment that your last guest made, you know, the other place where i guess i would hope people would maybe feel some responsibility is when a post is put on facebook or on twitter that im a powder keg, maybe thats a place where friends or family could jump in or could say, whats this about . Have you talked to somebody about this . I think there are other avenues other than the media necessarily or the government surveying our post. But there are some opportunities here for people to notice that he is at his withs end basically. Ifill weve probably just scratched the surface on, this but i thank you all for helping us. Deborah potter and Lance Ulanoff and Barry Rosenfeld, thank you all very much. Thank you, gwen. Woodruff the good Economic News out today adds yet another layer of complexity to a crucial decision that could affect millions of american households. Will the fed finally raise Interest Rates next month . Its a much debated question, one thats taken on new urgency given the market turmoil of late, worries over china and more. Its also the subject of much attention at the feds annual retreat now underway in jackson hole, wyoming. Greg ip follows this all closely as the chief economics commentator for the wall street journal. Great to have you back, greg. Great to be here. Woodruff there are all these arguments every day, raise rates, dont raise rates. Yesterday william dudley, an influential man, said new there is a lesscompelling argument. What is he talking about . Well, it really is a crucial decision moment for the fed. Theyve had Interest Rates at zero for basically seven years now in an effort to try to get a badly beaten up economy growing normally again. When you look at things like the unemployment rate, they succeeded. Its down to 5. 3 . That looks normal. You have these abnormally low Interest Rates. So almost all the officials on the fed have felt all year that the time would be right by the fall to start raising Interest Rates up from zero. What changed in the last few weeks . Well, one of the things thats not normal is the inflation rate. Its still too low for the feds taste. What weve seen, we know a couple things. The price of oil has fallen. The dollar has gotten stronger and some things will get cheaper and inflation will go even lower. So it looks like a tender time in the financial markets. Those two factors suggest its too soon to start moving Interest Rates higher. Woodruff you do have the argument, i saw this just today, the Kansas City Fed president Esther George said because the u. S. Economy is fundamentally strong the fed shouldnt hesitate to go ahead and raise rates. You had those new g. D. P. Numbers we cited earlier in the prac, strong growth earlier this year. Absolutely. If youre just looking at the situation of the u. S. Economy alone, this would be a nobrainer. We had very good g. D. P. Numbers for the second quarter, 3. 7 annualized growth. Weve seen data for the month of july and we know factory activity was quite good. Moment was very strong. Youve even seen housing sales. All these tells us that the economy is doing just fine. Whats going on in the market is market event. So if they can somehow put that aside, then really they shouldnt feel that nervous about starting that process. Woodruff how do you see the fed dividing on this. Obviously theyre not talking openly about this, greg, but what kind of conversation are they going to be having . You can divide fed officials, 17 or 18 now, into three groups. The hawks always think they should raise rates. George could be considered one of those. You have doves who think the fed should always be slow to raise Interest Rates. And there is a group in the middle that is always looking carefully at every last data point and theyre in the sure. Xd that group of people led by janet yellen is undecided. If you look at where the markets are, they believe that the odds of a rate increase at their meeting next month have gone from well over 50 to now around 25 . I think theyre betting that when janet yellen looks at the troubles in the market out there, the likelihood that inflation will go lower rather than higher, shes going to say, maybe not now, maybe well think about this in december instead. Woodruff shes not attending this fed conference at jackson hole. Her vice chairman, stanley fisher, is there. There was a story today that he was walking past some of these protesters. Theres a liberal group called the center for popular democracy thats holding protests all weekend out there. Is that something that can influence these fed governors as. Or do they just look the other way . Theyve heard arguments both from groups on the liberal side who have felt strongly the fed needs to do more to get the economy growing faster, unemployment lower. This would be good for peoples wages. Weve even heard larry summers, who isnt exactly a bleedingheart liberal making that case in the oped pages that this is the wrong time the raise Interest Rates. But people on the other side of the argument, in fact, some of those people will be out there at jackson hole offsetting the cries the stay at zero saying, no, no, no, now is the time to move rates up, youre doing more damage than youre helping. So they have pressure on beth sides. Woodruff we have a few weeks to go before they meet the make this decision, but its never too soon to Start Talking about it. Absolutely not. What else do we have to talk about . Woodruff greg ip with the wall street journal, we thank you. Thank you. Ifill stay with us, coming up on the newshour the actor Wendell Pierce moves to help rebuild his native new orleans. And, innovation and inventions from a rising class of entrepreneurs in rwanda. Woodruff but first, we continue our weeklong series on how the gulf coast is faring after katrina. We start with president obamas visit to the area today. 10 years after the costliest Natural Disaster in american history, president obama today declared new orleans is moving forward. He spoke at a newly opened Community Center in the lower 9th ward, one of the citys hardesthit neighborhoods. You are an example of what is possible when, in the face of tragedy and in the face of hardship, good people come together to lend a hand and brick by brick, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, you build a better future. And that more than any other reason is why i have come back here today. Woodruff mr. Obama was in his first year as a u. S. Senator when katrina struck louisiana in august 2005. It devastated the gulf coast, from texas to florida, while breaching the levee system built to protect new orleans from flooding. More than 1,800 people died and a million were displaced. Damages reached 150 billion. Aside from praising the citys resilience, the president also acknowledged the failure of government to look out for residents of new orleans. What that storm revealed was another tragedy, one that had been brewing for decades. New orleans had long been plagued by structural inequality that left too many people, especially poor people of color, without good jobs or Affordable Health care or decent housing. Woodruff as a candidate in 2008, mr. Obama sharply criticized president george w. Bush for his administrations handling of the storms aftermath. And today, a cheering crowd greeted the president as he toured treme, one of the countrys oldest black neighborhoods. It was badly flooded in the deluge that swamped new orleans. After meeting with residents, mr. Obama emphasized that much work remains. Just because the houses are nice doesnt mean our jobs done. This is a community obviously that still has a lot of poverty. This is an area where young people still too often are taking the wrong path before they graduate high school. This is a community that still needs resources, still needs help. Woodruff the city as a whole has seen positives, like a near return to its prestorm population. But new orleans is still plagued by severe income inequality and a rising crime rate. Ifill now we look at one historic neighborhood, before and after katrina. Its the home of actor Wendell Pierce, who tells his story in the forthcoming memoir, the wind in the reeds. Jeffrey brown recently spent a day with pierce in the neighborhood he grew up in, ponchatrain park, in the gentilly district of new orleans. I played on this golf course every day. Brown you played football, tag. laughs everything but golf and my game shows that. Brown a place for a child to play. For neighbors to enjoy green space and a sense of community. Can a golf course embody so much . Yes, says actor Wendell Pierce. That and much more. This is our anchor. This was the only place that black golfers could play. This was the epitome of what the Civil Rights Movement was all about. This is Hallowed Ground. Brown the golf course is in the heart of ponchartrain park. In an enclave built in the 1950s as a separate but equal, suburbanstyle development for middle class blacks. Pierce, who trained at juilliard, is best known as detective bunk moreland from the hbo series the wire. And then as a downandout musician in postkatrina new orleans in the tv series treme. These are our first 2 model homes. Brown but perhaps the role he relishes the most these days is that of a community builder, or rebuilder, trying to bring back the neighborhood where he got his start. Pierces parents amos, a janitor and althea, a School Teacher moved here in 1955 to provide a better life for their three sons. Listen, that is the heart and soul of the american dream. Home ownership, the idea of being able to buy a house and start to build your family. Brown it was a secure and happy home for the pierces. Until, with katrina, it wasnt. As floodwaters rushed into ponchartrain park, the family escaped in time. And 3 months later, pierce returned with his elderly parents and took this home video. My bedroom. What used to be my gorgeous bedroom. Brown debris. Mud. A life overturned. 90year old amos pierce told us of that moment. I started crying. My wife started crying. The water line was a half foot from the ceiling. I saw not this elderly couple. I saw a young couple with all their hopes and dreams in 1955, buying a house and seeing all their dreams destroyed. Brown Wendell Pierce made a vow to rebuild so his parents could return. He fought so long and hard, my mother too, to make sure we had a decent place to grow up and a decent life. I wanted to make sure they got back here no matter what. Brown and they did. 16 months after the storm. Althea pierce lived there until her death in 2012. In the aftermath of katrina, pierce also felt called to respond through his art. It was on this road that i saw the lights of the cars. I thought, is it possible that theyre coming to see the play . Brown the play was waiting for godot, the absurdist classic written by an irishman, samuel beckett, in 1949. This was the corner. This was the corner where we did the play. Brown but that somehow took on a powerful new resonance when staged in 2007 in the neighborhood hardest hit by katrina, the lower ninth ward. I knew it would be special because the play spoke to what we were going through so perfectly. Brown is that why you wanted to be a part of it . Absolutely. I knew that it was going to be the best display of power and the role that art plays. Recognize this place . Recognize . What is there to recognize . Two characters waiting in desolation in a void on a road waiting for something outside of themselves to save them or to give meaning to what theyre going through and they cant remember what their purpose in life is. What are we doing here . That is the question. Brown in the middle of the performance, pierce says, he felt a new call to action. I turned to the audience and, almost breaking character, i said let us do something while we have the chance. At this moment, at this place, this Hallowed Ground where so many people died, we owe it to them. Lets do something while we have the chance. Brown pierce formed the ponchartrain Park Community development association, a Non Profit Group that builds Affordable Homes on abandoned properties. So far hes built 40, including one for himself, with plans for another 85. Hes also opened four Convenience Stores around the city. But an attempt to start a full sized market in an area considered a food desert failed. The margin is very thin in the Grocery Store business. I think it was a difficult location, but we havent given up on it. Im going to keep going you know. Brown youre an actor whos learning to be a business man, huh . Yeah. Brown with the success and sometimes failure that comes with that. Absolutely. Listen, when you succeed, it is sweeter when you know you have failed. Brown the learning goes on. And pierce cites continuing battles with what he sees as the bureaucracy, inefficiency, and even corruption of various government entities. Still, ten years after katrina, his old home, pontchartrain park, has seen a resurgence. What was great about this neighborhood is back. Which is families, churches, homes filled with homeowners. Schools. All the stuff that makes for a wonderful life and gives people a shot to build not only finances, but love and family and a sense of community. Brown a community that has survived. And even thrived. From ponchartrain park, new orleans, im Jeffrey Brown for the pbs newshour. Woodruff now, raising the today the National Labor Relations Board ruled a Large Company could be held responsible for labor decision held by a contractor it hires, even if it doesnt directly supervise the employee. That could mean unions may be able to negotiate directly with mcdonalds corporation, for example, instead of just its franchises. That win comes after another recent victory over a wage hike at washingtons Seattle Tacoma International airport. The States Supreme Court ruled last week that employers must pay workers 15 an hour. Airport businesses had challenged a 2013 referendum. Our economics correspondent paul solman has updated his report. Heres a reprieve of his emmynominated story. Its part of our weekly story, making sense, which airs every thursday on the news hour. Reporter a lot was at stake last november in seatac, washington, home of the Seattle Tacoma International airport, as local citizens decided the fate of a proposition to jack up the minimum wage there to 15 an hour. For thousands of workers, the promise of a huge pay hike, 63 if they were making the state minimum of 9. 19 an hour, plus paid sick leave, which promised to be a benefit for the flying public as well. Every employee that i work with comes to work sick because they have to put food on the table. Imagine youre flying on an airplane. The worker who clean up the airplane before you fly, he was sick and hes cleaning the airplane. Imagine you eating on that table, you know . Reporter but higher costs would boomerang against low income workers, business spokesman Maxford Nelsen insisted. The workers who retain their jobs might be better off, but an increased number of other workers lose their jobs entirely. Reporter a bitter, costly campaign ensued, a recount, and, in the end, the ayes had it by 77 votes. But, on decision day, Alaska Airlines, the main opponent of the 15 minimum wage proposition, filed a lawsuit in county court, arguing that a city cant set ordinances for an airport operating within its borders. Unfortunately, a county judge agreed with Alaska Airlines and took away the benefits for about 4,700 workers at Seatac Airport. Reporter Heather Weiner is spokesperson for the pro 15 minimum wage side. Im being a little cheeky when i say this, but its like a minibangladesh over there right now. You know, we have got highend products and airfare, and people with high income flying in and out of seatac, 30 Million People a year. And yet the people who are moving the bags, pushing the wheelchairs, serving the food, selling the magazines arent able to support their families. Its really a tragedy. Reporter just outside the airport, at seatacs Larger Hotels and parking lots, some 1,600 workers did get their raises. But for the 5,000 or so workers on airport property, the court decision, which was being appealed, was a body blow. Hearing this, my heart just sunk. I feel that now i can never get ahead. Reporter jenay zimmerman, who manages taxis at the airport, still made just 11. 90 an hour. Baggage handler joshua vina of menzies aviation, which services several airlines here, including alaska, still earned a mere 9. 50 an hour. It was actually going to help me pay a lot of things off. It was going to help me have a lot more things to give to my wife and my son. And im barely supporting them right now with this. Reporter a decade ago, Alaska Airlines ramp workers had a Union Contract paying over 20 an hour, plus benefits, if you had worked there a few years. But when we visited, we saw some current workers on a free food line at church. Heather weiner was eager to tell us why. In 2005, Alaska Airlines fired 500 people. They just laid them off without any kind of notice, and replaced those people with lowwage jobs at menzies aviation. Menzies aviation is now the corporation that handles more than half of the bags and other services for alaska and at Seatac Airport. And, meanwhile, Alaska Airlines profits are way up. They reported 500 million in profits in 2013, and the way they did that was in part by making sure that the people who work for them dont make any more than minimum wage. Reporter the connection between wages and profits is pretty obvious, says seattle venture capitalist nick hanauer, an outspoken advocate for the 15 minimum wage. Clearly, the c. E. O. And senior managers of Alaska Airlines, and their board of directors, and their shareholders would prefer that most of the value created by that enterprise goes to them, and almost none of the value created by that enterprise goes to their workers. Reporter Alaska Airlines declined our interview request, but sent a written statement alaska is profitable now, but the past decade has been the most challenging in the history of airlines. In order to survive, we turned to airportbased contractors that work for multiple airlines and provide economies of scale. While we cant dictate the Labor Relations practices of our business partners, we do strive to work closely with them on pay rates that reflect the job market. We tried to reach alaskas business partners, and other Seatac Airport contractors, 21 companies in all, none of which agreed to an interview. I appreciate the call, but were going to pass. Reporter even the off airport employers complying with the law took a pass, though some lamented it to local reporters. The Cedarbrook Lodge said that they were going to have to lay off employees, and instead theyre doubling their room capacity and hiring. Reporter union leader david rolf was a prime mover behind proposition one. I think there was a lot of rhetoric designed to scare people leading up to that election, and so far all of the doom and gloom has not proven correct. Reporter meanwhile, as both sides awaited the state supreme courts ruling on appeal, some Seatac Airport workers werent waiting around for judicial relief. Workers like hani osman, a driver at Seatac Airports avis budget rent a car, which the teamsters recently succeeded in organizing with the help of this somali refugee. We dont get vacation. We dont get sick call. We dont get nothing, and thats why we fought for the union. Reporter we met osman at the seatac teamsters hall, where she and others were voting on their first Union Contract, which would guarantee health care, retirement, vacation, sick leave, a grievance procedure, and 15 an hour if the Lower Court Decision were overturned. Are you really excited about the fact that you have now gotten a union . Were so happy about it. Everybodys so happy about it. And now were getting some results. Reporter what kind of results . For example, if we hit a car, we used to get suspended. You move like 100 cars a day. And if you scratch a little car, you get suspended for two weeks without pay. Reporter really . Yes. And now we dont have to see that again. Reporter which brings us to one final note the company that directly employs hani osman and colleagues isnt avis budget. Its the g. C. A. Services group. G. C. A. Is a contractor that has 30,000 employees around the country. They are owned by blackstone, which is a major wall Street Investment group, which is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Reporter that prompted a last question for multimillionaire investor nick hanauer about his fellow one hundredth of the one percenters. How do you personally feel when you hear that a company like blackstone has taken workers who used to work for avis and budget back to minimum wage, subcontracted . On the one hand, i feel like its a moral abomination. But the truth is that they may have felt that they needed to do that because their competitor had already done it and they wouldnt be able to compete on price if they hadnt. Reporter the seemingly inexorable pressure of competition, in other words, which is why the workers of seatac had organized, they explained, to counter with pressure of their own. This is economics correspondent paul solman, reporting for the pbs newshour from seatac, washington. Ifill twenty years after its genocide, which saw the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, rwanda has by many accounts seen a remarkable recovery. Tonight, we take a look at the new generation leading the charge, using new technology to help the east african nation move beyond its scars. The newshours p. J. Tobia has our story, produced in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center on crisis reporting. A warning the story contains some graphic images. Reporter bringing milk the market in rwanda, harder than it sounds. Farmers milk their cows and hand it off to middlemen. Next stop, the local collection center, usually on the back of a bicycle. From there its off to factories, processors and other wholesale buyers. At least thats how it is supposed to work. ni sometimes they deliver the milk to the transporter, the transporter may not take all the milk he collected from the farmer to the collection center. Reporter this man runs a milk cooperative in northwest rwanda near the boarder with uganda. Sometimes middlemen fudge the numbers, while other times a portion of the milk may get lost in transit. We have the ask who took the milk, where is the milk . Where did he put it . Reporter back in the capital kigali, walter citizen in k lab, one of rwandas First Technology hubs, with a solution. Armed with an i. T. Degree from one of rwandas top university, the 26yearold runs a Software Development company. My grandfather was from a farm family. Reporter last year the government asked for tech solutions. He heard the call. To help make milk collection more efficient, he created a text messagebased system that allows farmers to keep better tabs on their product. When their milk arrives safely at the collection center, the farmer gets a text. Farmers can also use the platform to order feed or check disease alerts all from their phone. Reporter our system is helping the whole chain get information. If they can get information when needed. Reporter he works with about 2,000 farmers. He dreams of reaching millions more across africa and turning a profit along the way. He charges for each text message sent and every gallon of milk registered. We are looking at expanding and we hope within two months we will start making enough money for supporting our overhead costs. Reporter sarah leadham directs the business ing baiter in kigali. She works with dozens of young rwandan entrepreneurs, from pig farmers to developers. No place strongly equates entrepreneurship with patriotism and nation building. The first thing out of almost any Young Persons mouth is i want to contribute to the growth of rwanda. Reporter the 1994 genocide devastated rwanda. For 100 days ethnic hutu militias brutally targeted the tutsi minority. An estimated one Million People died in total. The 1994 genocide still affects many people. Reporter today downtown kigali is home to highrise buildings and highspeed internet, but young people are entering the workforce much faster than rwandas economy can absorb them. Today we can only employ 4 . Reporter john st. Claire is a minister of youth and technology. The rise in entrepreneurship was planned. By 2009 classes were mandatory. 2 government also promotes entrepreneurialism. Entrepreneurship, a mindset and a entrepreneurial environment is not present ever by anyone that decided to make it available. Well find a way the translate that idea into a business. Reporter a fifth point, itsen clear how many people are actually benefiting. The average rwanda home still lives on less than 2 a day and only about 20 of homes have electricity. In short, the entrepreneurship pipeline in rwanda is full of kinks. Back at k lab, walter plugs away. The cooperative recently agreed to adopt his system, and hes got a group of new farmers to train. This woman owns three cows and is excited about the milk tracking system. Reliable data might even help her get a bank loan. translated were going to know how the cows are doing, the quality of the milk and do some sort of account with how much money were making. Reporter its the type of impact he hoped for. When someone tells me thank you, i see theyre more motivated, thats the best reward you can expect when youre a entrepreneur. Reporter well, that and a healthy return on investment. For the pbs news hour, im p. J. Tobia. Woodruff now to our weekly feature brief but ifill coverage of Hurricane Katrina continues later tonight on pbs with the documentary katrina 10 years after a second life, a second chance. Produced by Louisiana Public broadcasting and narrated by Wendell Pierce, the film takes a looks at the recovery of new orleans, by focusing on Grassroots Efforts by residents who are trying to rebuild their neighborhoods. I came here many, many years ago to visit. The minute i set foot here, i knew i was home. The culture, the people, the food, theres no other place like it really. I just remember back in 05 when katrina happened, my family had some real hardship, and it was devastating. I mean, it was terrible. But now coming back, its like the city is rebuilt. Its rebirthed. Its a whole brandnew city. Its amazing. In many ways the people of new orleans have achieved what seemed almost unimaginable a decade ago. The resurrection of one of americas most beloved cities. In 2014, tourists spent 6. 8 billion dollars in new orleans, more than any other year before or after Hurricane Katrina. But new orleans isnt just place to visit. For the people who live here, ten years is not very long and the socalled road home to new orleans has been rougher for some than for others. I just went everywhere trying the get help. It seemed like there was no help anywhere. Many of katrinas survivors will never return to new orleans, but others, both longtime and new arrivals, have come here together, determined to rebuild their city. It may be better than before, if they can, because its home. It was really necessary for us to rebuild our lives to do the things that would make it home again. Well, basically everything after katrina is a second life. Its not about what we went through in ten years, its about the fact that im here ten years after and i can still celebrate and i can still be happy. Ifill love the music. You can tune in to watch the full documentary later on pbs. Thats the newshour for tonight. Im gwen ifill. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Join us online and again right here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. Moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention. In the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org this is bbc world news america. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newmans own foundation, giving all profits from newmans own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs, and mufg. Build a Solid Foundation and you can connect communities and commerce for centuries. That is the strength behind good banking relationships, too. Which is why, at mufg, we believe financial partnerships should endure the test of time