Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20170927

On tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by 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. Woodruff puerto rico, prostrate. The u. S. Territorys cries for help grew louder today, and echoed all the way to the white house. P. J. Tobia begins our coverage. Reporter the desperate plea of an island in distress, painted on a rooftop. Nearly a week after Hurricane Maria ravaged puerto rico, most people dont have enough food or Drinking Water and few have electricity. Today, under pressure to do more, President Trump defended the federal recovery effort so far. We have shipped massive amounts of food and water and supplies to puerto rico and we are continuing to do it on an hourly basis. But that island was hit as hard as you can hit. Reporter the president announced hes expanding the aid, and will visit the territory next week. I grew up in new york, so i know many people from puerto rico. I know many puerto ricans. And these are great people, and we have to help them. Reporter the hard part is, how to get the help there. The white house sent out brock long, head of the federal Emergency Management agency, this afternoon. We dont just drive trucks and resources on to an island. So with the damage, you had extensive damage to the air Traffic Control systems. Which meant sequencing life safety flights into the area, into the one airport that we could get open, san juan, initially, is incredibly difficult. You cant mobilize ships and just send them in because there has to be port space, the port has to be safe, theres all types of things we have to bring in. Reporter but six days into the recovery, more than three Million People are struggling from one day to the next. Grocery stores that have managed to open are rationing supplies, with no way of knowing when they might be restocked. translated we hope to receive more merchandise soon so we can provide to all our clients, we are restricting so we can give something to everyone, to extend what we have left. Reporter in this battered town in southwest puerto rico, volunteers have been handing out food to hardpressed police. Medical care is also spotty. At this san juan hospital, emergency tents are set up outside to handle the influx of people seeking help. translated there has been a growing number of patients coming to our emergency room because other services arent available to the public, as people take to the streets to perform Recovery Efforts and suffer accidents or other incidents. Reporter the hospitals resources are being stretched to the brink. And, badly needed medical procedures are delayed. translated my brother had an accident two days before maria visited us and he is waiting for surgery. He injured his back, his spinal cord, he is waiting. Because of electricity issues and other systems they are slower. Reporter satellite images show the extent of the electricity issues above, before the storm hit, in july, and below, an island plunged into darkness. Many who can leave, are doing just that. Planes carrying passengers from puerto rico arrived in new york and family members who had waited days for any news, tearfully embraced them. They left behind a mammoth job of recovery, compounded by a longrunning financial crisis. The president tweeted about the problem last night, saying the islands huge debt will slow efforts to rebuild. That drew fire from some democrats. If you dont take this crisis seriously, this is going to be your katrina. The people of puerto rico deserve better from our government. Reporter after mr. Trumps remarks today, puerto ricos governor said he believes the president does care about the island for now, fema the federal Emergency Managment Agency says its coordinating a response by some 10,000 government workers across the caribbean. For the pbs newshour, im p. J. Tobia. Woodruff the speed and adequacy of the federal response was indeed under more scrutiny today. Fema is coordinating much of it. And for more on that, i spoke with daniel kaniewski, femas deputy administrator for protection and National Preparedness earlier today and i started by asking about reports that fema is not doing enough. Well, this is a disaster response, and were very focused on the current needs of the population there, which for right now its still very much an active response for lifesaving and lifesustaining missions. Woodruff what were hearing, mr. Kaniweski, is that its not just matter of getting around the island, getting to the island, its just that theres not enough help there. We have nearly 10,000 federal responders on the ground there, and millions of meals and other types of commodities that are there for this lifesaving mission. We have active rescues under way right now. Were providing commodities to those people in areas that might not be easily accessible. Its taken several days to get to some of these outlying areas, and to the extent we still cant access them, today we have helicopters overhead dropping in supplies, including food and medicine, to make sure that these people who are in need are getting the help that they deserve. Woodruff was there a delay getting ships and supplies to the island in the first place . I wouldnt say there was any more delay than a situation pmiles away from the u. S. 1,000 mainland. Before the disaster, before the hurricane came, in we prestaged those types of assets, whether it be equipment, commodities and ppersonnel, in the area, so thee would be a fast response. Obviously that response needed to grow over time, and demands are not shrinking. Theyre increasing. So today weve taken very Decisive Action with our federal partners, including the department of defense, to make sure that we have a robust, sustainment effort under way, that we know well be here for the long haul, providing this assistance that frankly here in the continental u. S. Might only be for a couple days. Its going to be for weeks given the location of this disaster on the island. Woodruff welk were hearing and seeing reporting on so many different aspects of this crisis, not just the leftover damage from the flooding, people not having homes, but were hearing hospitals, only 11 of 69 hospitals on the island are open. How long is it going to take to get them reopened, and what about the patients . Yeah, again, right now were focused on that lifesaving, lifesustaining mission. We have disaster medical assistance teams that have been deployed there by the department of health and Human Services that are providing medical services whether or not the hospital is open. These medical teams are using to working in austere environments. Theyre providing that medical care to those in need. Woodruff part of that story, and im sure youre aware of it, are patients who rely on dialysis machines. Correct. Woodruff for frankly to save their lives. Some of them are in places where the generators have run out of diesel fuel. How are you addressing that . Well, were using a combination of approaches. One is evacuation. We have already evacuated a number of dialysis patients and other critical needs patients that our medical experts on the ground felt it was in their best interests to be moved out. For those patients we cant move or dont have the ability to move because they might be in remote areas or its in their best interest to stay there. Some critical patients you dont want the move, you want the keep, there but they need proper support, they need obviously electricity and medicine and proper medical care. Were doing everything we can to make sure that those in need are getting that care. Drew what is your main focus right now . You were saying this could take weeks, even longer, and frankly some people are saying months. Before this island is even close to getting back to a place where people are safe. What is the greatest need . So right now our priorities are, one, people, making sure were getting Emergency Responders on the ground. We have 8,000 on the ground right now, closer to 10,000 now. We also need eqimentd. We have to have generators. We need fuel, we need commodities like food and water. All of those are there. In fact, as far as food goes, we have over four million meals and water over 6,000 liters, but just because its there doesnt mean its in peoples hands. I think thats an important distinction. Weve pushed as many commodities and as much support as we possibly can, now we need to work with the local officials and our responders on the ground to get that distributed to those in need. In some cases they can only be reached by helicopter, and it might involve us air dropping that in. Woodruff deputy fema administrator Daniel Kaniweski on the dire situation in puerto rico, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff lets hear now from one of those voices concerned about the federal response. Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez is a democrat from new york. She traveled to puerto rico after the hurricane and she joins us now from the u. S. Capitol. Congresswoman velazquez, thank you so much for talking with us. You were quoted today as saying the response in puerto rico has been totally inefficient. What did you mean . Well, it has been six days since Hurricane Maria hit puerto rico, and i was there on friday with the governor of the state of new york, and what we saw was pure devastation and destruction. The entire island is without electricity, without water. Diesel is running out. Gasoline is running out. Food is running out. And so they are in a very dire situation. We didnt know until now that there have been 16 deaths. Up to this weekend there were up to 10. There is no way for the government, the local government, to reach remote areas. So we dont know the type of devastation that has taken place in those areas, because there is no communication, there is no transportation. People cant just drive through those roads to reach those devastated areas. So the kind of response that has taken place from the federal government is people, the fema employees are there, but what i found is that we have not been able to understand the severity of the situation right now. And so we need a topnotch three or fourstar general to oversee the interagency response. Otherwise what were going to be facing is a humanitarian crisis. Woodruff what did you see of fema, of u. S. Government assistance on the island when you were there . Well, the assistance, business r basically they were assessing the area. They were assessing the devastation. But they didnt have enough people to go to remote areas in puerto rico, and they were, yes, distributing some water, but the situation was such that it requires the full presence of the military. One of the most basic needs that the island has right now is the restoration of the power grid. The entire island is basically without electricity and without water. The hospitals this not have electricity. So we have to bring the army with all the tools and all the equipment that is required to be able to restore electricity in puerto rico and to be able to distribute water. People are going to some of the streams to get the water that they need, so the situation is really very critical. Woodruff i was going to say, what we heard from people yess deputy administrator is that they now have 8,000 fema people on the ground. He said it took them longer because of a distance of 1,000 miles from the mainland u. S. , but he said we now have people there. We know the crisis. We are taking it very seriously. He said were aware of the hospital crisis, the fuel crisis. So is it your sense that in the days since you left that the federal government is now taking this more seriously . Well, i think so, because of the media coverage, but let me just say we need the presence of an Aircraft Carrier in puerto rico stationed in puerto rico like we did right after irma with miami. We need to have helicopters. We need to have small planes. Those are the type of things that we need that puerto rico doesnt have right now. Yes, the presence of 8,000 people from fema is great, but they dont have the capability to reach the most remote area. They dont have the capability and expertise to restore the power grid in puerto rico. This is why we need, when there is a strike in foreign countries, we send the military, we send experts from the department of defense. Thats the kind of help that we need. Woodruff and i assume you told the Trump Administration this. Whats the answer been . Well, im sending a letter. I requested for a matching Fund Requirement to be waived and the president announced today that that is ging to happen for 180 days. Im asking for a whole year. Today we are sending. I am sending a letter with 100 colleagues of mine, democrats, asking the president to appoint a senior military official to oversee the whole operation in puerto rico. We have been asking for an extension, a waiver for the jones act so that we could get help from other foreign countries. Woodruff congresswoman Nydia Velazquez of new york, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff in the days other news, President Trump called for the world to act in concert to rein in north korea. And, he said again that military action is still an option. Meanwhile, the top u. S. Military officer said theres no sign that north korea is gearing up for war. But at a senate hearing, marine general joseph dunford, the chair of the joint chiefs, said the norths missile threat is real. There are some technical elements of the program that havent been fully tested from a reentry vehicle to some of the ability to stabilize a missile in flight, but i view all those as Engineering Solutions that will be developed over time, and frankly i think we should assume today that north korea has that capability and has the will to use that capability. Woodruff well return to the war of words between north korea and the u. S. Right after the news summary. Senate Republican Leaders threw in the towel today on the latest Obamacare Repeal effort. The grahamcassidy bill was pulled in the face of certain defeat. Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell said the senate is moving on, but republicans are not abandoning the idea of repeal. We havent given up on changing the American Healthcare system. We are not going to be able to do that this week, but it still lies ahead of us, and we havent given up on that. We do think its time to turn to our twin priority, reforming the tax code. Woodruff the tax reform effort formally kicks off tomorrow, when President Trump unveil proposals for a major overhaul. Republicans in alabama voted today in a primary runoff for a u. S. Senate seat. Interim senator Luther Strange campaigned with strong support from President Trump, against challenger and former state chief justice roy moore. Meanwhile, republican senator bob corker of tennessee announced today he will not seek a third term. Hes been highly critical of President Trump. Theres word that the acting head of the federal drugs enforcement administration, chuck rosenberg, is stepping down. The Washington Post reports he will leave on october 1st. Rosenberg was a holdover from the obama administration. Hed been at odds with President Trump over treatment of criminal suspects and on other issues. In iraq, the president of the kurdish region claimed victory for supporters of independence, in mondays referendum. Kurds had celebrated through the night after early returns showed overwhelming approval of breaking away from iraq. Both iraq and turkey opposed the vote, and today, turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to block kurdish oil shipments. translated when we start imposing our sanction, well be left in the lurch. It will be over when we close the oil taps. All revenues will vanish and they will not be able to find food when our trucks stop going to iraq. Woodruff erdogans government fears the vote will embolden turkish kurds in their bid for autonomy. A palestinian man shot and killed an israeli policeman and two private guards near a west Bank Settlement today. Police said the gunman opened fire with a handgun, at close range, before he was killed. In addition to the dead, a fourth guard was wounded. In saudi arabia, staterun tv has announced the end of a longstanding ban on women driving. The conservative muslim kingdom was the only country in the world with such a policy. The new policy will not take effect until next june. Back in this country, Health Officials report a new record for three sexually transmitted diseases. The centers for Disease Control says there were more than two million new cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis last year. All three are treatable with antibiotics, but cases have been rising for several years. And, a quiet day on wall street today. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 11 points to close at 22,284. The nasdaq rose nine points, and the s p 500 added a fraction. Still to come on the newshour is the war of words between north korea and President Trump reaching a breaking point . At least six white house staffers for President Trump are caught using private emails, and much more. Woodruff the rhetoric between north korea and the United States has been bellicose and acrimonious. But over the past couple of weeks, its escalated even further, and gotten more ominous. Nick schifrin has the story. Reporter for decades, north korea has rallied its population with propaganda calling u. S. An existential threat. This weekend more than 100,000 North Koreans, scripted, staged and suited, pledged allegiance to leader kim jong un. The banner reads, if the u. S. Attacks us, wipe them out forever. The Propaganda Machine goes even further. Videos show north korea targeting the white house and destroying the capitol. Up until recently, the u. S. Has tried not to match bombastic threats with threats. But today, namecalling brinskmanship is mutual. Rocket man should have been handled a long time ago. Reporter and a kim jong un Statement Read by a north korean tv presenter translated i will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged u. S. Dotard with fire. Reporter the war of words has been escalating all year. On january 2, President Trump tweeted, north korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a Nuclear Weapon capable of reaching parts of the u. S. It wont happen by july, the North Koreans crossed that line, testing an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile capable of hitting the u. S. The next month, the president added an additional red line. North korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. Reporter north korea crossed that line 24 hours later, threatening to envelop u. S. Territory guam. translated sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy, bereft of reason, who is going senile. Reporter the tit for tat continued at the United Nations General Assembly rocket man is on a Suicide Mission for himself and for his regime. translated its an absurd reality a person like trump, a mentally deranged person full of megalomania and complacency holds the nuclear button. Reporter over the weekend, President Trump tweeted that if north korean officials repeated specific threats, they wont be around much longer and the north Korean Foreign minister responded translated since the United States declared war on our country we have every right to take counter measures, including shooting down the United States strategic bombers. The question of who will be around much longer will be answered then. Reporter today, the president said a military option isnt preferred, but would be quote devastating for kim jong un. Hes saying things that should never ever be said, and were replying to those things, but its a reply, not an original statement. Its a reply. Reporter to talk about whether the president s rhetoric really is a reply, and whether the war of words increases the chances of war, we get two views. Kathleen stephens was a career diplomat and served as Us Ambassador to south korea and as under secretary of state for Public Diplomacy and public affairs. She joins us from stanford university, where she is a fellow. And Balbina Hwang was a special advisor to the assistant secretary of state for east asia and pacific affairs, and is now a visiting professor at georgetown university. Ambassador stephens, let me start with you. Do you believe that President Trump might be reducing u. S. Options, perhaps bringing us either closer to war or moving u. S. Threats meaningless . Well, i am really baffled and very concerned about this engagement for the first time i think by an american president in this kind of tit for tat rhetorical i think you called it brinksmanship with the north korean leader. I think this is beneath us. I subscribe to Teddy Roosevelts speak softly and carry a big stick if youre a great power like the United States. There are a lot of things about the Trump Administrations policies toward north korea which i think have been very sound and being pursued by secretary mattis and secretary tillerson, and this war of words is undermining those efforts. Its going to make diplomacy more difficult. Its confused our allies. Its strengthened i think. Kim kim jonguns assertion to his own people. In fact, this is what he said in reply the President Trumps u. N. Statement about totally destroying north korea. He was right to pursue Nuclear Weapons and hes not going to stop. I think this is complicating the administrations own efforts ironically, and more immediately its making it very, very difficult to manage that situation on the korean pins last, because this is always been about managing and preventing escalation and preventing misunderstanding. We have been close to war many times on the Korean Peninsula in the past years, and weve had to work very quietly i think to manage that. This kind of war of words between two leaders makes it much more difficult. Reporter professor hwang, are the threats ineffective, or could they be effective . Well, i actually think rather oddly that they are being effective. We have to remember, its not so much that i disagree with ambassador stephens, but i do think that president obama, for example, for eight years, did take the high road. I think he was being firm and he did try negotiations. He essentially had a policy of tough where he needed to be, but carrying the soft sick didnt work in the sense that it did not deter north korea. It did not bring north korea to the negotiating table. And so of course going down to sort of schoolyard level in this kind of matching rhetoric may not necessarily help, but on the other hand, it does set very clear what u. S. Intentions are and what this president is not willing to tolerate. Thats not the worst thing as far as north korea is concerned. Reporter what about that, professor stephens . Perhaps these threats are effective deterrents . Im not for a soft stick. Im for a hard stick. I think that. I do support the steps both the Previous Administration has taken and that President Trump has take on the strengthen deterrents. To strengthen defense, to demonstrate a determination to defend our allies as well as our homeland. But were a big country. Were a great power. And i think we need to. Our words matter. One thing that strikes me from many, many years in asia is the words that an american president says, the word that any american official says are poured over and analyzed, whether its in seoul or tokyo or pyongyang. I hear there are units of bright young diplomats in both pyongyang and seoul whose sole task is to Read Everything President Trump tweets and said, particularly in relation to the region, and try to figure out what it is hes saying. It seems so completely at odds with things that are said sometimes by himself the day before and the day after and certainly by secretary mattis and secretary tillerson who have outlined a strategy of maximum pressure, maximum engagement. What President Trump is doing in this very ad hominem tit for tat with someone who is way beneath us is demeaning i think his own position, the position of the United States, and the efforts of his own diplomats and military leaders. Reporter are these threats undermining some of the other members of the administration, Balbina Hwang . There does seem to be some confusion about that. On the other hand, yes, a president s words matter, but taken in the context of what this president says and does in terms of tweeting, i think again even our foreign audience does understand that every single statement that comes out of the president may not necessarily need to be taken so seriously and, in fact, the confusion might also convince the north korean leaders that they need to act with more caution. I think the more important point is what is behind the actions. What actions are we taken and what actions are north korea taking . And right now there are no actual military actions that indicate that either is on the brink of waging war with the other. Thats actually more important. Reporter ambassador, to that point, could these threats be effective where frankly a lot of the diplomacy in the past was not . I dont think the threats are effective, and i think as the discussion before we started this talk demonstrated, the problem with threats and certainly red lines is if you draw red lines, and its not just the Trump Administration thats doing this but others, and then the North Koreans cross it, what happens . Its a problem of credibility. Its a problem of. I think there is a big problem if the words of our president are not taken seriously. It really reduces our ability to influence and shape events. That said, i do agree with balbina that my own assessment is that neither side wants a war. Im worried about the inadvertent miscalculation that can happen in what is a highly militarized environment, one in which President Trump for the first time and even putting aside the kind of childish ad hominem attacks on each other, but where he has trade, well, he has demonstrated no awareness of the kind of traditional clarity of deterrents, how we deter each other, how we signal intentions. I dont think uncertainty is a good thing. No one perhaps the president himself knows is he really talking when he talks about a response the world has never seen before. Is he talking about a Nuclear Response or not. We dont know. Yes, i think that gives pyongyang pause, but that doesnt give me any comfort because i think it also says to kim jongun, i was right to try to develop my own nuclear deterrent. I think the challenge now is to find a way the move forward. Reporter giving kim jongun pause, isnt that the point . Uncertainty does make us anxious, but uncertainty is what drives north koreas insecurity. I think insecurity is what is going to push north korea back to the negotiating table if anything. Reporter professor hwang, thank you very much. Ambassador stephens, thank you. Thanks to you both. Woodruff private emails are back in the news this week, after multiple reports claim at least six advisers to President Trump have used them to discuss government business. Of course, Hillary Clintons use of a private email server was a frequent point of attack for the Trump Campaign in the 2016 election. People have been. Their lives have been destroyed for doing onefifth of what youve done, and its a disgrace. Honestly, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. This is bigger than watergate. This is bigger. Than watergate, in my opinion. Its a serious matter, and we commend the f. B. I. For reopening the case and following the facts, because in america, no one is above the law. Woodruff joining me now discuss the latest revelations is richard painter. He served as the chief ethics lawyer for president george w. Bush. Richard painter, welcome back to the program. We should say an investigation by the Justice Department was closed with regard to Hillary Clintons use of a private email server. But now with regard to this new information, what does the law say about the ability of people working in the white house to use their own private email accounts . Well, they are not supposed to. Thats a violation of white house policy going back to the Clinton Administration and their white house staff manual, and in our after the manual, we made it clear, i made it clear, the bush white house, that youre not supposed to do it, but people did. A number of political people are using Republican National committee email, and we got in trouble for that, got a lot of grief from the House Oversight committee over that. There was a big flap. None of it was criminal. No one brought in the f. B. I. Then Hillary Clinton made the same mistake, had her own personal email server. I think that was a stupid mistake. It wasnt criminal. That was blown way out of proportion, the c inton situation. Some people sent some classified stuff to her, and thats the risk you take when you use a personal email. But once again, no precedent for prosecuting somebody. And that was foolishness to blow that that far out of proportion. I dont know why the f. B. I. Took so long with it. And now, of course, we see whats happening, and the Trump Administration, its the same thing. Its a foolish thing to do. This is not something that calls for criminal investigation, but it really is atrocious that we went through a whole election season trying to make a highcrime or something out of what Hillary Clinton had done with her email, which everybody else in the administration is well aware of, because they were receiving emails from a personal server. Its a very bad idea. They shouldnt be doing it, but we shouldnt be accusing people of crimes or saying, lock her up, and these political rallies where theyre screaming and yelling as if theyre in nuremberg germany in 1933 or something. It really is embarrassing for our country how far this has been taken. Woodruff richard painter, remind us why these rules are in place, saying to government officials, white house officials that they should not use their private account . Well, there are two problems. One, you could lose the records. The president ial records require the records to be retained. Since 2014, if you do use another account, you must copy an official United States government account so the record is retained. That was after the clinton episode. Thats one problem. The second problem is that someone might send you something that is classified. Its very foolish to send somebody something thats classified. It never crossed my mind that that would have happened in the case of karl roves email or any of the email situations we had at the bush white house, where pers or Republican National committee emails are used. Thats a big risk you take if you are doing official business on the personal email server. Woodruff the point youre making among others is this is not a criminal act. Its not a legal problem. So given that, how serious are these disclosures do you think . I think it shows the continuing disregard for standards of good judgment in this administration. There are. There is evidence of some serious crimes in this administration, obstruction of justice and lying about contacts with the russians that im a lot more worried about than Jared Kushners email, but once again, i think that the attack on clinton, particularly after the election, what happened at that rally in huntsville, alabama, last week, thats fundamental threat to our democracy, abwe ought to be thinking about that and the totalitarian rhetoric rather than worrying about the email. Woodruff youre referring to the investigation into alleged acts that are under investigation by the special counsel, robert mueller. It looks, richard painter, as if this new information has come out because mr. Mueller and his team are asking the white house to turn over all communications, all the documents they have that could in any way be connected the this russia investigation. If it werent for that, do you think its possible this could have stayed secret for a long time . Oh, it could have. I mean, as i say, weve had people use their personal email in prior administrations, no matter how many times the ethics lawyers tell them not to do it, they go ahead and do it. And despite all of these risks. But i have to say, once again, on the scale of things, this is not the big deal in terms of potential criminal activity in this administration. I think the sheer hypocrisy of it is important to note, but once again, i dont think hypocrisy is anything new in politics, and its certainly not new for this administration. But the Mueller Investigation is i think going to uncover a lot. They have consistently lied about collaboration with the russians, and its clear they were collaborating with the russians. We just need to find out whether it was reel or illegal. If theyre using personal email, by the way, to cover up their illegal activity, thats a whole other ballgame. But we dont know at this point that thats what they were doing. Woodruff again, all this is under investigation. Just finally, do you think this should be covered by a law, that it should be against the law to use private email communications once someone works in government at any level . I think we should probably tighten up the law even further inch 2014, after the clinton episode, they did require you to copy the government emails. So that is the law. Its not a criminal law once again, but it is the law. Thats what they are supposed to do. Hopefully these six people did that, copied the United States government email at the time they sent the email. But we perhaps ought to tighten up the law even further, although i could continue to emphasize, the whole email thing for the past couple of years has been turn entered a lot bigger deal than it ought to be. Woodruff richard painter, thank you for joining us once again. Thank you. Woodruff for some parents, its a heartfelt and ethical dilemma should they have to vaccinate their children to send them to school . The American Academy of pediatrics believes so and says a Measles Outbreak that started at disneyland a few years ago shows how fast childhood diseases can resurface if not enough children are protected. California and several states have since tightened their immunization requirements. But some parents are pushing back. Pbs special correspondent lisa stark, of our partner education week, reports from vermont about the vaccine fight there, part of our weekly series, making the grade. One, two, three, eyes on me. Reporter sevenyear old merin blake is a second grader at champlain elementary in burlington vermont a school her parents picked for her back in kindergarten, not because of class size, or test scores, but based on how many students had all their vaccines. When i took a look at the immunization rates for schools in burlington, and also, though, the private schools in the area, i was really aghast about how low they were. That made me really, really anxious. Reporter mom mia hockett was anxious because merin was in the midst of treatment for childhood leukemia, diagnosed just before her 4th birthday, the intensive chemotherapy compromised her immune system, making her vulnerable to diseases. School nurse nancy pruitt worked to keep merin safe. In her classroom, we made sure that the kids were vaccinated, we cant always do that, but we made sure she had a classroom with kids that had been vaccinated. Reporter vaccinated against preventable illnesses, such as mumps, measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, and polio, which would have been especially dangerous for merin. I know that a lot of people think that we dont have these diseases, so we dont need to be afraid of them, but in that situation, when were kind of thinking about, you know, our child. Reporter hockett isnt just a mom, shes also a doctor. She wanted a school with vaccination rates of at least 90 to 95 , which public Health Officials say is required to protect those who are vulnerable or cant be vaccinated. Christine finley runs the Immunization Program for the state of vermont. When children are in school, theyre in a setting where they are interacting broadly with one another. If you dont have a large percentage of the children vaccinated then basically your shield isnt going to work, because youve got places where a disease can begin to spread within a school. Reporter finley says by 2014 vaccine rates had dropped to alarming levels at some public schools, as many as 20 of students without all their required shots, and at a dozen private school, 50 not fully vaccinated. All done okay. I didnt feel it. Reporter vermont, like every state, requires vaccines to attend school, but like all states, allows exemptions. In every state, children can get a waiver for medical reasons. 47 states permit families to skip vaccines for religious beliefs. 18 also allow for personal or philosophical exemptions. Some states are moving to tighten their laws, chief among them california, which in 2015 did away with all waivers except for medical exemptions. Kindergarten vaccination rates have jumped to the highest levels in more than 15 years, nearly 96 . The problem is, in many states its easier to get an exemption than it is to vaccinate your child. Reporter easier, says daniel salmon, with the institute for vaccine safety at Johns Hopkins university, because parents simply sign a waiver request. Much less effort than getting children vaccinated. So this one is for you, and this one is for the school. Reporter while nationally most people vaccinate their children and thats clearly the norm, were starting to see communities where more and more parents are refusing vaccines. Reporter low vaccine rates in some communities are blamed for three large Measles Outbreaks in the past four years. One in ohio, one that began in disneyland and spread to seven states, and another, this year, in minnesota. Are your children vaccinated . No they are not. Reporter Ariel Brewer Louis is a vermont mom of three. We caught up with her during an event for those who question the safety and efficacy of vaccines. She told her story onboard a bus thats traveling the nation to promote an antivaccine documentary and record vaccine testimonials. I have three girls. Reporter brewer louis recalled that decades ago her brother mayve had a serious reaction to a vaccine, according to their mother. It must have planted a seed because when my first was born i just i just opted out, i said no. Reporter parents say they forgo some or all vaccines for their children for a variety of reasons. Theyre worried about the number of doses, the crowded vaccine schedule, and past claims of a link to autism, which have been discredited. Jennifer stella runs the Vermont Coalition for vaccine choice. Are you antivaccine . I think ive been called antivaccine a lot, havent i. You know, im prochoice. I think that everybody should have a choice. Reporter stella says her two children reacted badly after receiving several immunizations. Her son cried incessantly, stopped nursing and seized in her arms, and her daughter had headtotoe rashes. I dont think vaccines are safe enough for my children. Reporter pediatrician Jill Rinehart says vaccines are extremely safe, and effective. I mean theres not much i do every day for children that saves lives. Immunizations are something that i do every day that i know makes a huge difference. Reporter rinehart and other doctors helped push the state to tighten vermonts vaccine laws. So did hockett, with mia in tow. In 2015 lawmakers eliminated the states philosophical exemption. Parents can still optout for religious or medical reasons. Partly because of the change in law, brewer louis is homeschooling her eight year old. But she is relying on the religious exemption to send another daughter to preschool. What is your religious objections to vaccines . I dont have a religious objection to vaccines, but thats my only option. The way i see it, i have done my research and theres no way i am going to vaccinate my children to send them to school. Reporter what do you say to people who say to you, i should have the right not to vaccinate my child . I absolutely agree with that but none of this legislation actually forces someone to get immunized. What is says is, if youre opting out of your right and responsibility to vaccine, then you also have to bear the burden of opting out of the benefits of organized education. Reporter here in vermont, parents now have six months from the start of school to either make sure their child has all the required vaccines or claim an exemption. If they dont their child is no longer welcome at school. School nurse pruitt says no student has been excluded from her school yet, but some have come close. She believes the new law has had an impact. So we had a 2. 3 increase in our student body being fully vaccinated. Reporter and do you think thats because of the change in the law . I do. I do. Reporter as for hockett, shes focused on a return to normalcy. Merin is considered cured of leukemia, and in august, was deemed healthy enough to resume her vaccines. And a wonder woman bandaid reporter so this school year, merins parents hope she can count on her own immunity, not just others, to stay healthy. For the pbs newshour and education week, im lisa stark, in burlington, vermont. Woodruff finally tonight, yet another scandal has rocked the world of College Basketball, and this time its caught up some of the sports biggest names. Jeffrey brown has that. Brown big money in College Sports thats no surprise. But todays charges expose a large web of allegedly illicit connections. A total of 10 people assistant coaches, agents, financial advsors and a Top Executive at sportswear giant adidas, were charged with bribery involving hundreds of thousands of dollars to influence studentathletes. One of the accused is chuck person, an assistant coach at auburn and former n. B. A. Player. The school suspended him without pay. Charges were also brought against assistants at three other big basketball schools oklahoma state, the university of arizona and the university of Southern California. At a press conference this afternoon, acting u. S. Attorney joon kim said the case lays out the dark underbelly of College Basketball. Month after month, the defendants exploited the hoop dreams of studentathletes around the country, allegedly treating them as little more than opportunities to enrich themselves through bribery and fraud schemes. Fraud, abuse, and corruption of the type alleged in the charges brought today con am the contaminates all this is good and pure around it. It has no place in College Sports. Brown im joined now from detroit by dan wetzel, a National Columnist for yahoo sports. Dan, first, fill in the picture about these accusations and bribes. What kind of actions are we talking about . Well, the system is basically this you have a shoe company, a sports agent, a financial planner, and they are paying money to High School Recruits and their families to attend a certain school, in this case ones that are associated mostly with adidas. Then when those players get there and when theyre at that school, the same group was paying bribes to assistant basketball coaches so when the studentathletes turned pro and went to the nba, the assistant coaches who had earned their trust would steer them to adidas and this particular Sports Agency and this financial planner. So they were basically trying to put seed money out there to get potentially lucrative clients in the future who would be big money nba players. Brown thats the web i was talking about. These are big schools, right . These are big names in the world of sports. Of course a big company in adidas. Absolutely. Four universities had assistant coaches arrested today. In the grander scope, too, you have ncaa violations, which may not be criminal, but the ncaa can come in and punish. You had the university of South Carolina and the university of louisville among others that will find out are already mentioned in that. So the scandal can be a sports scandal as well as a legal one. Brown how big is it . Because as i said, its not that big of a surprise for people that follow sports that there is a lot of money involved, but these are blockbuster charges. The situation is significant because College Basketball has operated for generations with a wink and a nod understanding that this stuff goes on, but its very hard to prove it. The ncaa doesnt have subpoena power. It can only do so much investigation. The fact that you have the f. B. I. , undercover agents, wiretaps, Financial Data analysts and the department of justice coming in and saying, this is an ongoing investigation, this is just the first series of arrests, and they can now lean on these people involved to try to get more dirt. It can expected out to dozens of universities. The adidas executive alone, if hes willing to flip in an effort to get some kind of leniency or hes willing to tell the truth or everything he knows, would have stories and implications at least at the ncaa level, if not federal law, on dozens of universities. This could be certainly the biggest scandal in the history of College Basketball in terms of the sheer number of schools in trouble. Brown one wonders about the assistant coaches. Some names were withheld in the dimes today. I know that sports, knowledgeable sports people are putting together two and two to figure out what other university, what other names might be implicated. Well, the university of louisville is the biggest one implicated today. And they have acknowledged that they are in the investigation. And they are linked to a 100,000 payout to a recruit that was signed by louisville. Thats obviously significant. Rick patino is hall of fame basketball coach. Theyve won Numerous National championships at louisville. Theyre currently already on ncaa probation. So again, these allegations are extremely serious, not just legally with the feds, but with the ncaa, and thats why this could be a very, very big story. Brown very briefly, what kind of responses have come from the universities . Some have already launched internal investigations, Southern California hired louis freeh, the former f. B. I. Directors law firm to investigate it. There is no question all over College Sports there is considerable nervousness and an intensity to find out whats going on, because this is no longer an ncaa case. Its a whole other level when the f. B. I. Comes knocking on your door. Brown dan wetzel of yahoo sports, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff on the newshour online right now, on its way to an asteroid, nasas osiris rex probe took some photos of earth as it flew by. Take a closer look and read up on the latest Space Mission on our web site, pbs. Org newshour. Tune in later tonight on charlie rose actor Harrison Ford on the return of rick deckard in bladerunner 2049. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by the ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. Carnegie corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. 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 so you dont think the Senate Majority leader mcconnell will have to resort to the socalled Nuclear Option . Last year you seemed to be reluctant to get involved or the intervene in syria directly. Is that one thing thats changed after yesterday . Youre saying this really does have a major impact on the species that live here . Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org on todays show were going to travel to chiang mai in northern thailand to visit a friend of mine, andy ricker. He owns a bunch of pok pok restaurants here in america. And we started with a restaurant tour, and we went to a great grilled chicken place where they marinate the chicken overnight and serve it with really a terrific sauce. We went to andys house a little bit later the next day, and we made a bunch of recipes, including a great thaistyle fried rice. My takeaway was in thai cooking you start with really bold, big ingredients,