Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20170928

Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention, in the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. 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 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 new appeals today, to do more for puerto rico. The island is still reeling from its worst storm in a century, and there are calls to cut red tape and get more relief on the ground quickly. John yang has the story. Yang a full week after Hurricane Maria hit puerto rico, patience, like so many other things, is in short supply, especially over federal disaster aid. translated he, President Trump, has the power. If he could show his power in puerto rico, things would be different, very different. Many people dont trust him. Yang for a second straight day, President Trump defended his administrations response, saying the government is doing everything it can. Massive amounts of food, water and supplies are being delivered on an hourly basis. Its something nobody has ever seen before from this country yang today, Governor Ricardo Rossello said the u. S. Territory needs a sweeping aid package. The proud u. S. Citizens who live in puerto rico want to work. Our ask is that we treat puerto rico equally. And if we do that, we avoid a humanitarian disaster in the United States. Yang at a senate hearing, acting Homeland Security secretary elaine duke said efforts are hampered by the condition of the puerto rican government. The capacity of the puerto rican government is severely diminished. Both because of hurricane irma, their prior existing financial situation, and the devastating wracked by the direct hit of maria. Were using the d. O. D. To now help with distribution. Thats generally something the commonwealth would do itself. Yang senators of both parties pushed duke to waive longstanding shipping restrictions, known as the jones act, to help get supplies to the island. That waiver was requested for the jones act waiver for puerto rico. That waiver was given to houston, was given to florida. Its a week to be even able to get a vessel to them. Yang much of the aid that has reached the island has not made it much farther than san juan. translated they have not evaluated the real level of damage, and they are doing what they can, however they can. But since there isnt communication, people dont know what to do or how to do it. Yang with help like a u. S. Navy hospital ship still days away, individual states and municipalities have sent help on their own. Even individuals like n. B. A. Player j. J. Barea are pitching in. He borrowed the Dallas Mavericks team plane to fly aid into his native puerto rico earlier this week. For many on the island, it remains a doityourself recovery, with a patchwork of desperate fixes. Well take a closer look now at the situation on the ground in puerto rico. For that, i spoke a short time ago with Camila Domonoske of npr. She joined me via skype from the capital, san juan. Camilla, i know youre in san juan now but i understand you have been out into some of the areas around, especially the mountains, what are conditions like there . People have absolutely no power. Most people dont have any running water. The water situation, in particular, is quite dire. Where there is bottle water available in grocery stores, the line are incredibly long. When yo up in the mountains, wew people gathering water from mountain streams to drink, to cook with, clean with, waiting in line for nonpotable water that had been sitting stagnant in municipal tanks for days, and going to rivers to take baths and wash laundry. Many of these people, their homes were completely destroyed or partially damaged in the storm and a lot of people say they havent seen any aid whatsoever reaching their communities. I spoke with the mayor this morning and said the sum total of aid tis municipality received was five pallets of water which is nothing compared to the need young you say people are seeing very little aid. How does that compare with san juan. San juan is somewhat better off. Its somewhat difficult to find resources. The lines for cash and gas are very long. Ive talked to people who have driven all over the city looking for generators. I talked to a family whose generator was destroyed in the storm and there is none to be found. But the food and water availability in the city is better off, people can buy things when they need them which is not the case in the more isolated communities. Yang is it the case is getting aid into the city but they cant get it out beyond it . Is that the situation . Thats the frustration i was hearing from people in the communities and the mayor i spoke to in san juan who are petitioning for more resources. That said, they are getting out, but very dangerous and slow. Conflicting reports of how much ad is actually being distributed out of the ports here, but there are certainly people who say they havent seen any fema trucks, dropoffs or the only help theyve seen has come from local communities, neighbors helping each other and mayors serving communities. Yang do you get a sense of what that is . Roads blocked . No drivers . No trucks . Whats the problem . Ive heard reports of not enough drivers. A man who runs a Logistic Company says people arent available for work. Ive heard there isnt enough diesel and lines for fuel are hours long. Officials with the puerto rican government will tell you distribution is happening, not a gas shortage and resources are getting out there but on the ground, its not visible. Yang Camila Domonoske of npr, thanks so much for your on the ground reporting. Thank you for having me. Yang the pentagon said today its shifting its response to a provide longterm support to fema in puerto rico. But, critics say the military could have done more, a lot earlier. To answer that, we are joined by Phillip Carter is a former army officer who was a Deputy Assistant secretary of defense in the obama administration. Hes now a senior fellow at the center for a new American Security and adjunct professor of law at georgetown university. Mr. Carter, welcome. We just had an interview with a reporter on the scene in puerto rico. She said as the Trump Administration has been talking about, how much aid has been delivered to puerto rico, she said a lot of that is not getting out of san juan, its having trouble getting into other parts of the island because they cant find truck drivers. Is that something the military could have helped with . Absolutely. Puerto rico is a fairly large island, about 100 miles wide, 40 miles deep. Its got mountains that are almost 5,000 feet high and the population is not just in san juan but its all over the island. Its another thing to get the supplies to people throughout the island that need it and military units have a unique capability to do that because theyre used to pushing supplies in areas like this. Reporter what else could the pentagon be doing in puerto rico . Puerto rico is unique. Its an island in the sense you cant rely on adjacent states or mutual states when disaster strikes. The military can pick up and move by air or sea to anywhere in the world and thats the kind of capability Puerto Rico Needs now. It needs power, clean water, food, medical care, and the types of support the military provides its own troops in combat can be lifesaving in a place like puerto rico after a disaster like maria. Yang you talked about medical care. The pentagon announced this morning that the hospital ship the comfort has been requested to get underway but will not get underway till friday and will take five days to get to puerto rico. Thats right. In the interim, ground crews and others can plug the gap and do things so puerto ricos existing infrastructure can continue to function. The pentagon said roughly 50 or 70 hospitals are still operating but need fuel for generators, medical supplies, clean water and other supplies and those are things the military can help with, too. Yang should the pentagon have been asked to do more earlier in response to the hurricane . Thats a hard judgment call. Fema and the Defense Department were stretched already by harvey and irma and for them to move forward into the maria response might have been too much, theyve now underdone it and thats a judgment call. Yang . Are they stretched in terms to have the domestic response to things like this . Yes, and part of the problem is a lot of the logistic units necessary for the Puerto Rico Mission come from reserve components and its harder to call them up and deploy them than simply snap your fingers and say the ma and send the marines or air divisions to puerto rico. Those units take days or weeks to mobilize and deploy and pulling them off their current deployment can be also be taxing for the pentagon. Yang Phillip Carter. Thank you very much. Thanks, john. Woodruff in the days other news, the storm that devastated puerto rico returned to hurricane strength today off the outer banks of north carolina. Marias sustained winds of 75 miles an hour pushed water into dunes and eroded large sections of beach. The surge also flooded the only road through hatteras and ocracoke islands. More than 10,000 vacationers were forced to evacuate earlier this week. President trump and Congressional Republicans proposed a sweeping tax reform plan today, that could total 5 trillion. It would lower the top tax rate for corporations, double the standard personal deduction, and reduce the number of personal income tax brackets from seven to three. We will explore the plan in detail, after the news summary. Senate republicans have put aside their effort to replace obamacare, but the president insisted today, they will be back. Party leaders acknowledge they cant meet fridays deadline to use the socalled reconciliation process. It would allow a bill pass with just 51 votes. Still, during his tax speech today, mr. Trump said its not over. We have the votes on graham cassidy, but with the rules of reconciliation, were up against a deadline of friday, two days. But early next year, as soon as reconciliation kicks back in, well before the november election, were going to have a vote. Woodruff the president also said hes willing to negotiate with democrats on health care. On another subject, the president said today he is not happy with reports that Health Department secretary tom price billed the government for expensive charter flights. Mr. Trump said today that he let price know he is disappointed. As to whether prices job is in jeopardy, he said, well see. Defense secretary jim mattiss arrival in afghanistan today was followed by a barrage of taliban rockets. The militants fired on kabuls airport hours after mattis arrived, and they claimed they targeted his plane. He had already gone to a meeting with president ashraf ghani, where he urged the taliban to stop fighting. I want to reinforce to the taliban that the only path to peace and political legitimacy for them is through a negotiated settlement. We support afghanled reconciliation as the solution to this conflict, and the sooner the taliban recognizes that they cannot win with bombs, the sooner the killing will end. Woodruff afghan Officials Say that one woman was killed, and 11 other civilians were wounded in the attack. In iraq, the outcome of an independence vote by kurds is now definite. The Election Commission there announced today that more than 92 of voters approved the move in mondays referendum. That word came as iraqi Prime Minister Haider Alabadi ruled out using force to keep the kurds from breaking away. But, he insisted he will enforce baghdads authority. Back in this country, the university of louisville placed basketball coach rick pitino on unpaid leave. It came after news that the mens Basketball Program is part of a federal investigation into alleged bribery of recruits. Louisville is already under n. C. A. A. Sanctions over separate allegations that strippers were paid for sex with players and recruits. And, on wall street today, the Dow Jones Industrial average gained 56 points to close at 22,340. The nasdaq rose 73 points, and the s p 500 added ten. Still to come on the newshour Congress Prepares to move on from health care to tax reform. Why President Trumps pick for alabamas senate seat lost. Using social media to fight hateful extremism online. And, much more. Woodruff the president launched a Major Campaign today to pass big tax cuts, and perhaps the most sweeping overhaul of the tax code in more than three decades. Many key details are not yet decided. Whether he can succeed is very much an open question. But, the president and congressional leaders said today they have ambitious plans, which include cutting the Corporate Tax rate to 20 ; reducing the number of individual tax brackets to just three, with rates tax rates of 12 , 25 and 35 ; and doubling the standard deduction for individuals and families. President trump told supporters in indianapolis, the current tax code is a relic that must be simpler. Americans waste so much money. Billions and billions of dollars and many hours each year to comply with our ridiculously complex tax code. More than 90 of americans use assistance to prepare their taxes. Under our framework, the vast majority of families will be able to file their taxes on a single sheet of paper. Woodruff for more on what we know and what we dont know about the republicans tax proposal, we turn to greg ip, who writes on economic and financial matters for the wall street journal. Greg, welcome back to the program. What is the core idea . What are the president and republicans trying to do . There are two core ideas in the proposal. First, lower Corporate Taxes so american businesses will have a higher innocentsive to invest, raising Economic Growth and wages for everybody and makes the United States a more competitive place to locate head offices and businesses. Right now the u. S. Has the highest Corporate Tax rate in the developed world. After this reform, it would have one to have the lowest. The second big piece is something that donald trump has been very emphatic about from the campaign trail and now, that is a big middle class tax cut. Woodruff so then who are the winners and the losers, based on the information theyve provided so far . Well, right now, first of all, they havent put out a fully, you know, detailed document, so its impossible to say for sure. But we know right now the business side is very much a winner. They see the corporate rate drop from 35 to 20 . They get to write off the cost of all their new equipment right away instead of taking several years to do it. We move to a socalled territorial system which means instead of taxing them on their profits no matter where they earn it, we only tax them on their american profits. On the individual side, its a little harder to tell. There are some things clearly good for the middle class. For example, some of the tax rates are lowered. Instead of seven brackets, we have three. The standard deduction is doubled. On the other hand, a few things are negative, for example itemized reductions are reduced or eliminated altogether. For example, state and local taxes. Even though the president is framing this as a middle class tax cut, there are provisions that benefit the wealthiest, the repeal of the estate tax and the repeal to have the alternative minimum tax. Woodruff the cost of doing all this, a few trillion dollars. How do they make up for that or will they try . One to have the drawbacks is there arent enough details to know how much it will cost. Some estimates suggest over 10 years it will be over 2 trillion of additional borrowing. Weve heard republicans in congress and the president basically say theyre willing to borrow a lot of money to finance this tax cut, somewhat ironic considering they spent eight years bashing barack obama and democrats for the big rise in debts they presided over. There is a budget resolution in the works which will limit the debt impact to 1. 5 trillion over ten years. That still leaves a lot more socalled revenue raisers that they need to find. Woodruff in a few seconds, political prospects better for healthcare reform which has still been a problem. Its still tough. They still have the same intentions in the republican caucus. Deficit hawks dont like the fact this might addo the deficit. Some positives, first because they are essentially paying by borrowing from future taxpayers youre giving away instead of taking away as in healthcare. Most important, President Trump was always leaving the details to congress on healthcare. O here youve seen a if yo unifd effort and the president so far fully engaged. Woodruff its only beginning. Sure is. Watch this space. Woodruff woodruff sticking with politics, alabama republicans voted yesterday to nominate firebrand candidate roy moore for a u. S. Senate seat, a rebuke to President Trump and the g. O. P. Establishment. William brangham begins our coverage. Ill certainly support President Trumps agenda. Reporter roy moore took a cable tv victory lap today. The alabama g. O. P. s newly minted Senate Nominee celebrated his win from yesterday, and even promised to support the president who campaigned against him. Well, i dont think the president knew me. And i think that when he gets to know me, hell understand that i do support a very conservative agenda for this country. Reporter for his part today, President Trump suggested he was encouraged by the prospect of a senator moore coming to washington. Well, we have a man whos going to be a great senator. And im very happy with that. I spoke to him last night. I never met him, i never spoke to him. Im very happy with him. Reporter last night, moore prevailed in a primary runoff against Luther Strange, the incumbent. Strange had the backing of not just mr. Trump, but also Senate Majority leader mitch mcconnell. But, alabama voters had a different idea. Im telling you, those seas the political seas, the political winds in this country right now are very hard to navigate. Theyre very hard to understand. Reporter strange had only been in the seat since february. He was appointed to replace jeff sessions, when sessions was named attorney general. Moore, meanwhile, is wellknown in alabama as a staunchly conservative, christian evangelical. He served as the former chief justice of the alabama supreme court. But, on two different occasions, was removed from his duties. The first time was in 2003, when moore refused to remove a Ten Commandments display from the lobby of the state courthouse. And then last year, he was suspended permanently after urging other judges in the state to defy federal Court Rulings on samesex marriage. Moore also faced criticism earlier this month, when he used crude, derogatory terms to describe certain minority groups. Now we got blacks and whites fighting. Reds and yellows fighting. Men and women fighting. Reporter the runoff between moore and strange pitted some Top Republicans against one another, each side claiming the mantle of President Trump and his agenda. Are you ready to tell them, here comes the judge . Reporter stumping for moore were former Vice President ial nominee sarah palin. The loudest message to the swamp are you ready to tell them, here comes the judge . Reporter and former chief white house strategist, now breitbart c. E. O. , stephen bannon. Youre going to get an opportunity to tell them what you think of the elites that run this country. Reporter stumping for strange not just the president , but Vice President mike pence as well. However, while the president was in alabama last week for strange, he admitted in passing that his endorsement came with some hesitation. And i might have made a mistake. Reporter it was a moment one outside group immediately seized on. I might have made a mistake. I dont know him. I dont know him. I dont know him. The president supports me. But i dont know him. Reporter in the general election, moore now faces democrat doug jones, a former federal prosecutor with a strong record on civil rights. That vote will be held in december. For the pbs newshour, im william brangham. Woodruff we take a closer look now at roy moores win, at the republican push for tax reform, another failure to repeal the Affordable Care act, and what all of that means for the future of the g. O. P. , with tom davis, a former member of congress who headed up the committee in charge of electing more republicans to the house. And matt schlapp, hes the chairman of the American Conservative Union and the former white house political director under president george w. Bush. And for the record, we note that matts wife, mercedes schlapp, is a Senior Communications adviser to President Trump. We welcome both of you back to the newshour. Tom davis, im going to start with you. What happened in alabama . The candidate, the president , the republican establishment was backing loss to roy moore who may be the most conservative candidate to run for a senate seat in this modern era. Hes certainly an exotic candidate, but there were some alabama characteristics to this race i think that were peculiar to alabama. The way senator strange was appointed by a governor who they felt hed underinvestigated, i think that blew up on him. I think Luther Strange run not as an opponent you would have had a different result, i think. I wouldnt read too much into this election. Woodruff what do you mean. This was a very alabama dynamic. Woodruff matt schlapp, do you agree, that it may not have a wider meaning and what do you think it means for the general election there . Well, to continue this full disclosure, i also have to let you know that tom davis son used to work for me, so i dont know whats going on here. But hes a great young man. But i think that this election in alabama actually is indicative of a very big trend thats going on within republican politics. I agree with tom completely, that there are reasons why this election went the way it did, and it did have to do with what was seen as a corrupt bargain about the former governor and the fact that strange was an appointed candidate and he got so imprinted with the leadership in the senate, none of those things were positive. I think the big trend that we have to understand is that republicans, its not that ideological, its not really moderate versus conservative now. Republicans out there in the country, theyre just so frustrated that on the big, central issues, they dont see republican majorities in the house and the senate fulfilling the promises starting, number one, with obamacare, and theyve got to get taxes done. If they stub their toe on that, we are going to be in a very, very bad situation as a party because its going to look like were not delivering on the promises weve made. Woodruff well, how big a setback, number one, tom davis, is this for the president , for mitch mcconnell, and what is it potentially going to mean for other senate races . Its a shot across the bow of the Republican Leadership in both the house and senate that they better get their act together, exercise teamwork and get things passed. What hasnt been talked about, there were a couple of special elections, they lost a house seat in florida andmon new hampshire. Youre finding the republican vote being depressed. Republicans are kind of down on their party and democrats are really have a lot of excitement. If republicans dont pass some of the things they were elected to do, theyre in trouble. Woodruff how big a setback its big. Once again, i dont think its as ideological as some like to portray it. Yes, roy moore is a very conservative guy, a strong christian conservative, but really the dynamic in alabama was who could with closer to trump, both Luther Strange and judge moore, they were running as each one was running as the trump candidate even though trump endorsed Luther Strange. So thats not really the dynamic here. The dynamic thats problematic across this country is that if the republican majority is seen as failing to deliver, were going to have more losses, and i agree with what tom is saying which is i really think this is a critical moment for the Republican Party. They assume that all these republicans across the country are going to stand with them even when things are tough, but they will not, if they see us unable think about this, judy. On these reconciliation votes which is what all the healthcare votes within so far and what this tax vote will be, what reconciliation means is they could do it if they want are with the republican vows in the senate. Even in those votes they pulled it together in the conference to get to 50. Thats a problem when youve run seven years attacking the obama agenda. Woodruff is the message for republicans to move farther to the right or work with democrats . I think matt made it clear they need to get things done. Woodruff how . Look, i was in the house when we had five and sixseat margins in the house and we were able to pass legislation. It was almost as polarized as today but we functioned as a team. I think now some of the outside groups, some of the outside media get involved and members arent feeling a part of the republican team. They either hang together or separately. Republicans have to pass tax reform, and that is a must or i think theyre doomed. Woodruff and whether its tax reform or anything else, matt, is the answer for republicans, again, to lean more to the right, to bring in more roy moores, or is it to work across the aisle . The president said hes prepared to work with democrats on tax reform. Judy, i obviously chair a group of conservatives and the title. I want to see the republican conference in the senate be conservative. Im also a strong republican. Conservative first, republican second. I want our Republican Party to be a National Party and be able to win in red and blue states, and the only way were going to accomplish that is if we can be competent and having the majority. If you really think about it, republicans do great. Were the antigovernment party. We do great when were out of power and criticize those trying to grow a government and raise taxes we, are great at that, we excel at that. We prosecuted the case on obamacare for seven and a half years and got our message out. We werent so good at coming up with what our alternative was and that is the moment we are in now. We have to talk about our alterntist, and we have to be able to show that at least on these republican votes that we all stand together on it. Think about this, we actually cant stand together even on replacing obamacare. Thats quite a stunning statement. So is the answer to elect more roy moores to the senate . No, the wakeup call for republicans is they need to Work Together as a team to get these passed. If not, theyll have to work with democrats and thats going to make some republicans happy. Woodruff roy moore coming in, as someone who likes to go his own way. I think roy moore will part of the team on issues like tax reform. I dont see him being the problem on those issues. But the senate is like a herd of cats and they just added another cat to the bag to herd, but i think roy moore will be supportive of the president on most of these issues. I agree with you, judy. I want to answer your question is the fact is alabama is a conservative state. Both Luther Strange and roy moore match up with the philosophy of Republican Voters in the state and thats what the Republican Party will be made up of. Some more, some less conservative. But on the central issues are taxes too high and is government playing too big a role in your life, we should be able to unify on the questions. For people like Susan Collins who have not been there, actually the politics in her state are getting tougher because even moderate republicans back home in the states are antsy over the facts were not getting things done. The cat herding is underway and well continue to watch it with matt schlapp and tom davis. Thanks, guys. Thank you, judy. Woodruff stay with us. Coming up on the newshour two americans with differing responses to the vietnam war find Common Ground in healing. And, a debut novel receiving rave reviews. But first, the dangers of domestic terrorism, extremism and efforts to counter its use of social media. The attack in charlottesville underscored just how real it is. As miles obrien explains, experts who study the psychological and technological underpinnings of extremism say neonazis and islamic terrorists are cut from the same bitter cloth. It is this weeks leading edge and a coproduction with pbs nova. Reporter at the university of illinois chicago on this summer morning, a small group of determined people gathered in a classroom to figure out what they can do about terrorism. My name is humera khan. And your name . Reporter humera khan was schooled as a nuclear engineer. She holds four degrees from m. I. T. But now, she is doing something perhaps more complex, and most certainly less predictable, than splitting atoms. In sessions she calls viral peace, she tries to find ways to battle extremism online using social media to counter the narrative. The idea is, teaching them how to recognize when they are being manipulated, and then teaching them the skill sets for how to respond, should they respond, when should they respond, and using social media to come up with their own campaigns. Reporter she thinks stories effectively told on social media can motivate people to turn away from violence. Participants identify flashpoint issues and underlying causes of extremism. The problems are posted, sifted and prioritized, then they work on their own campaign. The winner gets 1,000 to implement the idea. But this is not just about islamic terrorism, its about all kinds of hate and extremism. My name is Christian Picciolini. Im the cofounder of life after hate. Reporter Christian Picciolini is a former white supremacist skinhead, the lead singer in a racist heavy metal rock band. He ran an organization focused on identifying White Supremacists who might be convinced to walk away. Deradicalization. I think its tough for us as a country to hold a mirror up to ourselves, to address a problem thats inherent in our own population and our own citizens. Reporter the ugly scene in charlottesville made it difficult to avoid that mirror. President trump was reluctant to blame White Supremacists and neonazis for the violence, and offered support for their protest march to save a statue of robert e. Lee. Former ku klux klan grand wizard david duke said he was thrilled by what the president said. Whats scary about donald trump and whats happening, is not that hes creating racists. I dont believe that. I believe that these people existed. Hes created a safe place for them to now vent. Reporter and he has retweeted messages from neonazis, giving them a global audience. J. M. Berger is a fellow with the International Center for counterterrorism. If you are somebody who believes that white people are being subjected to genocide, and you know, that Desperate Measures are required to preserve the existence of the white race, and you get donald trump to retweet your content, then suddenly, you have an audience of millions of people that you didnt have before. Reporter berger studies the links between extremism, terrorism and the internet. He has carefully tracked the rise of online recruitment and propaganda created by islamic terrorists. Social media has inherent advantages for extremists that mainstream movements dont have. And isis is only the first group to realize this, and were going to see many others. I think were in for a decade or more of significant instability, that can be attributed to the interconnectedness of the world. Reporter social Media Companies have had some success thwarting the online threat from isis, because the message is so extreme and so violent. It is easier for these companies to step on them. White nationalists, while they are marginalizing our society, they are still very much embedded in our society. And they are currently enjoying a pretty good run of mainstreaming some of their beliefs. If they are not advocating for violence directly, theres a much harder problem. Until we can classify white extremists as terrorism, it wont have the same resources, wont get the same priority, and wont get the same funding to fight it. Reporter the Trump Administration has gone in the opposite direction, killing a 400,000 grant for Christian Picciolinis life after hate group. It was part of a broader effort to cut Financial Aid for campaigns against domestic terrorism. But, should white extremism be treated differently . Not according to university of maryland psychologist arie kruglanski. Theres a universal process that prompts people to the extremes, prompts them to deviate from the mainstream and move to the fringe. And the same process applies to neonazis in germany, sri lankan tamil tigers, moslem extremism, or the militia, the farright in the United States. Reporter kruglanski says extremist groups thrive during times of uncertainty, by offering simple, blackandwhite answers in a world filled with many shades of gray. Their messages, transmitted via twitter, facebook and the like, offer something they crave certainty. The psychological term is cognitive closure. At the psychological level, its the very same dynamic that gives us isis because isis also thrives on a very clearcut ideology that promises the world and promises order and fame and structure, and thats what trump promises as well. Reporter terrorism expert j. M. Berger believes the internet is hastening the polarization of our society, and he says there is no easy way to stop it. I dont think that theres a solution is going to come around soon. I think its going to take quite a while, and i think that identitybased extremists are going to get the most benefit out of these technologies. And i think that were going to see the things weve seen with isis, with other groups. Reporter but the proliferation of the internet and social media cuts in both directions. And that is what has brought these people together in chicago. While there is a lot of misinformation and a lot of recruitment to extremism happening online, it also serves as a wonderful platform for counternarratives, for people to reach others with an alternate message to what the extremists are proposing, and also to link the facts so people can do their own homework. Reporter humera khan strongly believes in promoting a counter narrative, stories that can motivate people to turn away from violence. We are talking about a minuscule, less than a percentage, which means we have the numbers on our side if we can actually mobilize them to actually do good. Not just watch but actually step up and say, okay. I have a role and i will do it reporter extremists have always been among us, and they have always been small in number, but these days everyone owns a global megaphone. In chicago, miles obrien for the pbs newshour. Woodruff now, how two men hear and are driven by the echoes of their time in vietnam. One, a marine combat veteran; the other, a Conscientious Objector who went to help the people of that country. They are bound together now, working to help a new generation terribly affected by a war that ended before they were born. Special correspondent mike cerre reports. gunfire reporter at the height of the vietnam war in 1968. Before the parade, mass draft card burning was urged. Reporter and the protests against it that divided the country, two Young Americans made very different decisions that would make vietnam parts of their lives for the next 50 years. After i graduated from texas a m, i went to the marine corps basic school. And then when i got out of that, it was a few months later, we were off to vietnam. I was just wrapping up my acting studies at boston university, and at that time i was pretty concerned about the war, upset by the war. So i decided to do two things that i would go down and take my physical, in for the draft, but i would refuse induction. Reporter larry vetter, the volunteer, ended up serving two tours of duty in vietnam as a marine infantry and recon officer, much of the time on the front lines. You believed all that you were being told and what you read, and you were pretty gung ho about going over and serving your country. And thats what we all did. If youre concerned about something, you do something about it. And the way i do things, that means going to the center of where things are happening. Reporter dick hughes, the draft refuser, ended up in vietnam that summer of 68 as well, by paying his own way to saigon in search of some kind of alternative service he could do. Confronted by bands of Street Children orphaned by the war on his first day in country, he helped them find food and safe shelter with money from cashing in his return plane ticket. Dubbed the shoeshine boys project, it grew into eight safe houses dick ran in saigon and danang until after the war ended. Are you saigon cowboy or saigon v. C. . These kids slept in the streets, shined shoes and washed peoples motorbikes and things like that, to have money to live. And i think over the course of seven years, probably in the area of 2,500 children went through the project. A person being a Conscientious Objector, i think thats perfectly valid. At that time, i would have said something more like, well, find a way you can serve your country, and if you dont want to be in the military, maybe you can be in something else. Reporter two americans with very different perspectives on the vietnam war and sense of service in the 60s, now find themselves on a Common Mission a dangerous legacy of the war that continues to plague a new generation of vietnamese. I got diagnosed with a cancer that was listed on v. A. List as being caused by agent orange. And so, that was one of the reasons why i asked to meet people in vietnam that had agent orange diseases. Reporter most american tourists passing through danang airport dont know its been one of vietnams most contaminated agent orange sites, with dioxin levels in some areas 350 Times International safety standards. Nor did i, when i was flying out of the Danang Air Base as a marine aviator in the 70s. The agent orange defoliant was used during the war originally to make enemy positions more visible from the air. While it was stored in danang and other airbases, it leaked into the surrounding areas, and is believed to have contaminated local water sources, according to a study done by canadian scientists. In this area next to the airport, you have people with dioxin levels in their blood, 100 times the safe levels, and you have women whose breast milk is four times the safe levels. Reporter originally stationed in danang during the war, larry moved here in 2012 after recovering from prostate cancer, one of the many presumed agent orange related illnesses nearly 250,000 american vets are being compensated for. Hes using his v. A. Disability benefits to help two vietnamese brothers severely crippled by those presumed agent orange illnesses. Toan, age 25, has been in intensive care for the past two years, no longer able to move or swallow on his own. By the age of eight, he was seriously showing symptoms, stumbling, not having the strength to pull himself up. They saw some american doctors. The american doctors told them that they thought it was likely a disease caused by agent orange. Reporter the family larry is helping camps outside on the hospitals walkway, because vietnamese families are responsible for feeding and bathing their hospitalized relatives. The mother, hoa, works very hard trying to hold the family together. Her husband is paraplegic and two boys quadriplegic. I also feel a little bit of National Guilt for what we did here in vietnam to so many people. I need to, in my own little way, try to help. Reporter the agent orange problem has also drawn dick hughes back to vietnam, where some of his former shoeshine boys are helping him work with another generation of children still at risk from the war. We decided to form something called loose cannons and try to get some assistance to people in vietnam who had been exposed to dioxin and who needed some help. Most people think agent orange was something that happened in the war. They dont realize that the byproduct of agent orange, dioxin, is still in the soil and the vegetation and the fish, and that people today are being born with deformities and illnesses. Its also being passed down in the genes. The red cross estimates theres three Million People in vietnam today suffering with agent orange. And it wouldnt take so much, really, to help them, but they are a constituency very far away. Reporter while larry tries to generate support for his and other agent orange families through his children of war social media campaign, dick has taken his loose cannons mission to washington to persuade legislators to include funding for agent orange victims assistance programs in the Defense Departments budget. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse first met dick in saigon in the 70s while visiting a shoeshine boys house with his father, who was serving there as the deputy u. S. Ambassador to vietnam. Talk about a full circle, that now informs what were we started off on different sides of that, but now we ended up at the same place. I think its interesting that those who served in vietnam in different ways have come together to help in solving the last of the wounds of the vietnam war. Reporter for the pbs newshour, mike cerre, danang, vietnam. Woodruff now, a first time author has written a gripping but disturbing novel. Jeffrey brown has this latest addition to the newshour bookshelf. Brown a 14yearold girl nicknamed turtle lives in the woods of Northern California with her father. She knows how to forage for food and hunt, but little about normal social interactions. Her father is charming, protective, but also a monster who abuses her, psychologically and physically. The new novel, my absolute darling, is a story of survival, a powerful tale that is getting enormous attention and acclaim, and it is the debut novel by author gabriel tallent, who joins me now. And welcome to you. Im glad to be here. Brown i called it a story of survival. I wonder what you set out to do, and is that how you came to see it . I set out to tell the story of a young womans fight for her own soul when the odds are murderously against her. You know, when im out with friends, talking, the stories that i value most is when they tell you something that they went through, and they walk you through every strategy, every thought, sort of, each tactic that they employed and how that worked. I love those stories. They make me feel less alone in my own, thinking about my life, and i love that entrance into a character. And so, i set out to do that here. Brown where did this character, turtle, come from . Was she fully formed, or did she come through as you were writing her . She was a glimmer, she was an intuition that was pursued draft after draft, and each draft saying, is this as complex, is this as difficult as a real person . Am i treating this character with integrity and honesty . And so, no, she was arrived at through a process of compassion and hard work. Brown this also means youre writing from a perspective of a teenage girl. Is that difficult to do . Were you worried about taking it on . Were you worried about how others would look at you for taking that on . Yeah, im writing across a gap of privilege, that must be acknowledged, and i took it very seriously and tried to engage in those problems with attention and integrity. I felt very seriously the responsibility of writing that character. I will say like, i think that turtle is just a girl who is lost and who is searching for the way forward. And if you start there, shes not as alien as she seems to some people. Right . I think that occasionally, we make people in turtles situation out to be more difficult to understand than they really are, and i think that has more to do with our desire to put them out of mind than it has to do with the actual limits of our compassion. Brown this goes to some very difficult places. The father, martin, who is the one big factor in her life, a kind of survivalist himself, protector, but also tormenter including sexual abuse. Was there a point when you kind of realized what you were writing and perhaps had second thoughts, or, what am i doing here, where am i taking this . Yeah, so i set out to write about some of these themes and, because im very interested in why we destroy like, problems about feminism and environmentalism seem intricately linked to me. Like, these seem like human rights issues, like social justice issues. Brown how are they linked . How are they linked . They are linked in the fact that we destroy things that matter to us. Like, they are linked because we are not taking women seriously in culture. They are linked because we are not taking the environment seriously as something more than a stage in which we play out our human dramas. And i think that when we fail to do that, everyone suffers. Like, this culture of callousness and destruction and hatred of women is common to us all, and a grievous issue that we need to take on. So i was interested in writing about those issues. Brown you know, i mentioned this is your first book, and it came you seem to have appeared out of nowhere for many of us. But this book came with outof theworld praise and blurbs. Stephen king calls it a masterpiece, compares it to to kill a mockingbird and catch22. Now, thats pretty heady stuff, right . It has been incredible, you know. I wrote a challenging book and i was aware writing it that it was a challenging book. Right . And i sort of knew no other metric but than to follow what i thought was true. Like, my ambition was, i thought i had good observations, i thought i knew some true things about this predicament and i wanted to put them in fiction so that someone might feel less alone. But i knew that the book was going to be challenging because of that because of what the project is. And i have found allies. And that has been amazing, and it has been so incredible that people like mr. King and celeste ng supported the book when they have no stake in my career. It has been profound to witness those sort of acts of literary generosity, and it has made for an eyeopening entrance in this community. Brown all right. The new novel, my absolute darling. Gabriel tallent, thank you very much. Woodruff and thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and well see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf railway. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. Promoting the wellbeing of humanity around the world, by building resilience and inclusive economies. More at www. Rockefellerfoundation. 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. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh Media Access Group at wgbh Media Access Group at wgbh pati narrates is there anything more beautiful than a thriving mexican market . The smells. The sounds. The history. In oaxaca, the markets are like a culinary time capsule where you can taste the roots of the cuisine everywhere. Tejate. Tamales. Tlayudas. Today, im exploring that history with some of the best cooks and chefs in oaxaca. Oh, this is so beautiful pati in my kitchen, my good friend joe yonan joins me for a vegetarian meal inspired by those delicious oaxacan dishes. Avocado and pecan salad with a mindblowing vinaigrette. And a sweet potato and black bean tamale so good it might just be my new favorite. Its like really good. That is ahmazing i didnt oversell it . No