Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240714

Census Citizenship Question and more. Htall that and more on ton pbs nshour. P major funding for the newshour has been provided by text night and day. Catch it on replay. Burning some fat. Sharing the latest viral cat you can do the thgs you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. With talk, text and data. Consumer cellular. Learn more at consumercellular. Tv l. Bab a language app that teaches reallife conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. Financial Services Firm raymond james. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. 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 President Trump said he is considering issuing an executive order to add the Citizenship Question to the 2020 emnsus. This, after the sucourt ruled last week to block the government from adding that question. Mr. Trump spoke to reporters g this morning before leavr a weekend at his new jersey golf club. I just spoke to the attorney general. We have a number of different avenues, we can use all of them or one. Were doing very well on that issue. Were spending 1520 billion on a census. Were doing everything. E finding out everything about everybody. Think of it. 1520 billion and youre not allowed to ask them if theyre a citizen. Woodruff in the meantime, the Justice Department said today it will continlook for legal grounds to include the wtizenship question. Well take a look re things stand with the census ter the news summary. A powerful 5. 4 magnitudeho afte rocked Southern California before dawn today. There have bn some 80 smaller aftershocks since the quake n struck yesterdr ridgecrest, northeast of los angeles. The quake left enormous fissures in the earth, near its epicenter in the mojavdesert. Emergency officials are remaing on high alert. Were trying to make sure were ahead of the curveaff we do get arshock. Obviously, we just had an aftershock. We want to make sure to get enough resources awe can possibly here to make sure that we take care of the communities that are gonna be affected. Woodruff more than 20n millople felt thursdays temblor, from los angeles to las vegas. T only several minor injuries were reported. Authorities in the bahamas are investigating what caused a Helicopter Crash that killed seven americans late thursday. The chopper was found in the water off grand cay island. It was bound for fort lauderdale, florida. Officials said there were no survivors. Billionaire coal magnate and republican donor chris cline was among the dead. There was celebration in the s streets an today after the Ruling Military Council reached an agreement with the countrys prodemocracy movement. It settled a power dispute by creating a joint council to rule the country for the next three years. Scores osition protesters have been killed in a violent crkdown since president omou albashir waed in april. Ouusra elbagir of independent Television News hareport. Reporter the sounds of ululation, usually heard atce weddings. Lebrating an unlike union a fresh start for sudan, this man says, following the long awaited agreement between the mitary junta and the opposition. In the late hours of last night, they announced the formation of a civilian government headed by a prime minister. And a Sovereign Council with 5 11 members confirmedo be civilian. translated this agreement opens the way to transitional bodies that will bring reform, in all aspects. The first of which is the issue of peace and the independent tranarent investigation and punishment of the killers of the martyrs. Reporter and the are the martyrs hes referring to thect ims of the deadly dispersal of sudans mass prodemocracy sitin by the troops of this l man, mileader Mohamed Hamdan dagalo, known as hemedti, notorious for warcrimes in darfur and now the face of the military council. We would like to say this agreement will be comprehensive, not exclude anyone and reach out to the ambitions of the sudanese people and its revolution. Reporter in an act that can only be described as political theatre, 235 prisonersref a darfuri bel group were pardoned. And this morning, the streets of the capital celebrated but unrneath the euphoria is a undercurrent of mistrust. translated the official opposition is the leadership. But the real leadership is the street. Today they formed a council. If we like it,hen fine, but if we dont like it then. Our tools of protest are still in place. We are ready to activate, escalate and start over. At the end of the day, our government will be a civilian one, no matter what. Eporter eyes will now be on the military to fulfil their end of the bargain, and to the dethroned islamists that have been sidelined in this process, the agreement has yet to be signed and the future of sudan is far from sealed. Woodruff that was Yousra Elbagir of independentsi tele news reporting. Back in this country the u. S. Neb market shattered expectations in the Labor Department reportedom the us ecadded a net 224,000 jobs last month. E, meanwhhe Unemployment Rate rose slightly to 3. 7 . Thats up from 3. 6 the previous two months. And wages rose 3. 1 over last year. Stocks fell on wall street today, over fears that the betterthanexpected jobs report would ke the Federal Reserve less likely to lower interest rajos. The dos industrial average lost 44 points to close at 26,922. The nasdaq fell eight points, and the s p 500 slipped five. And iconic mad magazine will leave newsstands this fall, ending its 67yearlong run. The satirical magazine with its gaptootd mascot alfred e. Neuman influenced generations of readers with its subversive humor. At its peak in the early 1970s, it attracted more than two million subscribers. But its circulation declined in recent years. Still to come on the newshour, the Trump Administration struggles for a legal reason to include in the u. S. Census; we examine President Trumps history of political statements in militars settina group of diabetic women travel from the u. S. To canada to purchase more affordable insulin; and much more. Woodruff as we reported earlier, the trumpti administ is still exploring how to add a Citizenship Question to the 2020 census. Yamiche alcindor is here to explain the options being considered by the white house and Justice Department. Hello, yamiche. Rned in more have you lea your reporting about what the administration is doing, why its doing this and, frankly, how they see the jonustifica for it . The president s strategy when it comes to the Citizenship Question on the census is to push forward and try to find some way to get it on the census. I want to play for you what his justification is from earlier today outside the white house. You need it forany reasons. You need it for congress for districting. You need it forppropriations, where are the funds going . How many people are there . He are y citizens, are they not citizens . You need it for many reasons. Even the president is saying there are many, many reasons why you need the question on the census, the supreme last week simply said that the government had a contrived reason for having the Citizenship Question on the census, so there haees nota real reason to pass the courts. So the president though hes spelling this out is still scrambling for a reason. Woodruff h clearly pitted Strong Political opponents against one another. What are the politics of this . Well, the qstion about the citizenship, whether or not it gets on the census, is really at political tle. Its over the Electoral College. The census is used to determine congressional delegations, and that also, of course, reflects on the Electoral College and, of course, how we elect the president of the united states. So the president intially saying we need to know all the people that are in the united states, we need to know if theyre citizens or not. Opponents say this is about forcing undercounting people across the country. They worry that immigrants who are not citizens will be scaredo and wont fiut the census and as a result will have congressional de are smaller than the actual populations. It really is going to be a political fight beuse democrats feel strongly this should not be on the cens while republicans seem to be backing the president in this fight. Woodruff so, yamiche, we know today is a day a federal judge in maryland, they said 2 00 today the administration has to ener a written agreement that confirms its no loger pursuing the Citizenship Question on the census. Whats the status of this legal case . The status of the legal case is that lawyers are stll scrambling for a way to give the president what he wants which is a reason to put the Citizenship Question on the census. They told judges the situation yre tryingcause th to look at all options on the table to figure out a way to give the presihent wha wants, but essentially they have not come up with a path forward. So what re seeing is the government saying, look, we want to come up with a reason, were not sure yet at thas going to be. The government also said that theyre going to go straight to thsupreme court. Essentially this is going to play out in the courts and the president said he might take execute action and that aga might end up in the court. Woodruff as you have been reporting, thesident seems committed to this. So what happens next . What happens next and now is the census is being printed as we speak thout the Citizenship Question. Theres a deadline of roughlyom reports he New York Times and npr saying october 31 is a drop dead deadline. People are suing the government saying they dont want the nquestion on the cesus. They asked for a drop dead deadline and one wasnt provided. So there is a ticking time to try to get this done. The present said this might be some sort of attend dumb so there might be an extrsheet of paper people get with their honsuses, but right now its Going Forward wit it. Woodruff theyre printing it without this question. Yes. Woodruff we will see. Yamiche alcindor, thank you. Thanks. Woodruff the troops are baca in bs, the military jets have landed, and the fireworks smoke has cleared after President Trumps salute to america last night. But as William Brangham tellsma us, questions about mr. Trumps relations with the military, and the role politics play. S reporter it lled as the show of a lifetime by the president , who cast himself as its star. Flanked by military hardware outse the Lincoln Memorial a with jets overhead, President Trumps salute to america heaped praise on the u. S. Med forces. Through centuries our soldiers have always pointed toward home proclaiming this well defend. Ey re the greatest soldiers on earth. cheers and applause reporter but some critics just across the mall said the event was a wae of millions of taxpayer dollars, and another move by the president to coopt the military and to make patriotism political. H i dont think the fou july should be politicized like it has been this year because its a national holiday, and reporter after president at trumnded frances grand bastille day parade in paris two summers ago, he said he wanted to do the same back home. Because of what ive witnessed, we might do somethine hat july 4th in washington down pennsylvania. Reporter the president s supporters point out this isnt the first Time Military armaments have rolled through the streets of washington. President roosevelts 1941 inauguration had tanks on the mall. In 1957 president eisenhower celebrated his second presidency with missiles and war planes. And president kennedys 1961 inaugural parade brought troops down pennsylvania avenue. Spectators watched on ockets roed by. The last time americans saw a parade like this was 28 years ago, at the end of the 1991 gulf arr. In the largest milparade since world war ii, president george h. W. Bush, with throngs in the streets, welcomed homed the armed forces. Bu some analysts argue this is different, saying trump has politicized the military to a dangerous level. St may during a visit to japan, some in the white house reportedly told the u. S. Navy to move the uss john mccain, named for the late senator and his father and grandfather, out of sight for fear of angering mr. Trump; he denied any knowledge of the effort. N to me, john mccain, i w a fan, but i would never do a thing like that. Reporter then acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan later sent a departmentwide memo reiterating pentagon standards on political activity. I call on leaders at all levels in the department to reinforce the apolitical nature of military and civilian service and professionalism. In january 2017 President Trump while standing in the pentagons hall of heroes a Space Dedicated to the those decorated with the medal of hono announced histr controversial el ban against seven mostlymuslim nations. Td as president , he upend appointing general james mattis to theob. His first naonal security adviser was retired Lieutenant General michael flynn; and his second, general h. R. Mcmaster remained on active duty while in that role. His second chief of staff john kelly was a retired fourstar marine general. The president has also has a habit of using the possessive when describing the u. S. Military. I see my generals, those generals are going to keep us so safe. And what i do is i authorize my military. My generals, and my military, they have Decision Making ability. Reporter to discuss theon relaip among president s, politics and the military, we are joined by peter feaver. Hes a profeor of Political Science at duke university. He served on the National Security Council Staff under democratic and republican president s. And, mike lyons is a nonel residentw at the modern War Institute at west point. He served in the gulf war as an my officer. Gentlemen welcome to you both. Thanks for being here on the newshour. Peter feaver, to yo first, do you think President Trump is stepping over the line . No. I think i know what he was trying for. He perhaps didnt hit the mark foat he was aiming for, but what he was lookinr was a celebration of america, a celebration of things that bring us together, probably Something Like the movie, if youve n to the World War Ii Museum narrated by tom hanks which really desib america in ngroic terms and you leave the movie feeery proud to be an american, i think thats what he was aing for, but because of the baggage he brings to the table and its not his strong suit giving these speeches, it probably didnt hitthe mark, and probably inadvertently politicized something that would have been better off left untouched. Reporter mike lyons, you heard theiticism that the president is politicizing the military in some way, not just yesterday but in prior events. My sense is you tnk thats a lot of temp estin a teapot, is that right . Yeah, it is. The hysteria built up even weeks or months before, uld go so far to say the pentagon almost undermined themsees. Ey didnt want to do. This the mission came out very early on as to what the expectations was going to be and i think they used the media unfortunately to get a lot o disinformation out with regard to how the thing was going to go, the general officers werent happy about it. Their mission was to execute onr what thesidents vision was. As it turns out, they saw the benefit of it, because the president became the recruiter in chief perhaps inspiring and influencing someone to join our great military, which would be worth everpenny spent on the event for that one thing to happen. Reporter speaking e issue of what you would have referred to the pentagon to do with regards to last night. You said they let out a false narrative. What would you have ratherred they would have done . Well, i think this whle thing how the vehicles were going to get to the national tmall, they could have that expectation out earlier on. You had famous people and analysts talking about they were going to be marching down pennsylvania avenue, Tiananmen Square and all, the pentagon said if it was only going to be a display of some tanks andrad lis, it would have quelled the his tearnd beforehand aade this more palpable from the beginning. Reporter peter feaver, whats your sense of the down side . Lets say i appreciate what you said about the president s actions yesterday, but theci polition of the military, what is the down side of that, symbolism aside . Et be clear, in the president had announced what actual w happenedas what would have happened from thebe nning, there wouldnt have been much a fuss, but it wouldntent have been at exciting either. It was overhyped by the white house and footg draggom the pentagon, i think blame on both sides. But t third party is to blame is parties and critics of the president who seized this oppounity, releasing tshirt off the u. S. S. Mccain trolling the president because of his stormy relationship with the former senator mccain. This is fierghting he carcass of the u. S. Military, which is supposed to be independent, nonpolitical servant of the entire state and not just of the political party. When u bring i it politicization and youre raising counts about the reliability that the military will obey lawful orders when givennen, that they will not inject their own partisan preferences into their job, we depend on that. But when you bring them into parts upfood fights as in the last several weeks, yore chipping away at the nonpartisan status and thats not good for anyone. Knighter the republin or democrat wins if the military takes on aarty caste. Reporter mike, do you see that as danger . Do you see this administration or prior ministration do that chipping away . No, i think it is a danger and, clearly, other administrations have done it, even oneoff situations. But i think the danger is retired general officers, retid litary analysts come in, pick a side, make it feel like they think this is the worst thing for democracy, they bring this incredible source and make a problem a loe than it actually is. The fact that you had people complaining about troops working ngon the weekend, worn holiday away from families, where was that same pushback from general officers about keeping troops deployed overseas and going on seven, eight, nine deple ments . Every the soldiers there were likely volunteers. They loved to talk about the equipment, want to usit as a recruiting tool, want to inspire those to serve as well. tis partisan critics in this case are on full overdrive, heated white hot and itth tarnisheevent based on a lot of things that they said. Reporter peter feaver, in terms of scale, isnt sending armed forc overseas for wars that seem to have no end, repeated deployment, isnt that a much greater tax on the military tha arade, a little bit of political posturing. Posturing . No question thats a greater burksd but thats the wholee reasonve a military is to defend our National Interests if its challenged at home or abroad, so thats mission one. And the kind of civic photo op being the garden gno on stage next to a political rally, thats not mission one of the military. I expect there are fos who would have said i would have ratherred spent the day with family and friends at a barbecue. But lets be clear that the d milita the right thing about executing the lawful order the president gave. E president ordered soething like this. The president that is right to do that and the military was right to implement the order. I put the more burden on this white house to be more sensitive to the politicization char theres a number of steps that the president has taken over the last several years and, yes, previous administrations have crossed the line as well, but this administration neo be more attentive to selfcorrecting when they cross e line and not putting the militarylaw enforcement, intelligence community, all our National Security apparatus, not putting them in that awkwa position of appearing to be politicized. Mike lyoth, do you think e is a good way, an easy way for the military to wall its off . Because on some level, you cant change how a political actor operates. Is there a way for the military to protect itself from these concerns . Its difficult and challenging. We have been bessed with goo military leaders that know where that boundary is and i think what would put that boundary out there if aatn adminisn continues to cross over it, one to havthe lessons i leaed in the military was dont confuse moral courage with loyalty, an i think the military will always come back to the president saying, look, we shouldnt do Something Like this. But the military is a reflection of society. The army and navy in particular tu over individuals all t time of its own people, its also a subculture of itself. The military picks and chooses sometimes when it co and out of these kinds of situations. But i think its all about leadership and making s that the right message is sent. I thought that the chairman ofth joint chiefs and others dhere on stage last night set the right tone, hood poker faces on, werent trying to politicize it and the predisidet t bring up a lot of things people were concerned about. Repe orter mons, peter feaver, thank you both very muce for g here. Woodruff stay with us. U comion the newshour david brooks and Karen Tumulty break down the president s july four speech and the weeks political news. Plus, a new documentary details the life and legacy of nobel prizewinning author Toni Morrison. But first, lets turn to the anger over the skyrockcost of insulin a lifesavin7. Drug for somemillion americans with diabetes. The Trump Administration has vowed to rn in drug prices, but when it comes to insulin, the cost remains an enormous burden for some patients. Special correspondent sarah varney joined a group of diabetics and parents who crossed the midwest to b insulin in london, ontario the birthplace of the drug. Our story was produced in collaboration with Kaiser Health news. Reporter its Early Morning in Downtown Minneapolis and Quinn Nystrom is scrambling to arrange last minute logistics for the trip to canada. I got a little nervous there you and me both reporter the caravan h drawn the medias eye to a vexing problem that threatens her diabetics in the u. S. The exorbitant cost of insulin. Theyll cross five states, picking up passengers along the way, all to buy insulin in canada, where it costs 90 lessd s everyone have their passports . Reporter for nys, this quest began years ago, when she was growing up in rural baxter, minnesota. E she was diagnosed with tat 13 and hated being different from other girls at school. But when her parents sent her to s,camp for kids with diabe she learned she wasnt alone. I didnt get the choice to get diabetes, but i rtainly had the choice of how i was going to react to getting diabetes. Reporter she had dreams of finding a cure for diabetes. But about five years a she was starting her career in public relations, she realized the real crisis the price of insulin. It started costing me 200 out of pocket. Then 300 out of pocket. So i just started posting that on my social media and started to get a lot of responses. Reporter so nystrom, once her senior class president and selfdescribed rulefollower, took a different path. She now expedites transfers of black market insulin. Thank you so much. This is perfect. Reporter in her refrerator is a drawer of insulin donated by good samaritans. Even with insurance, nystrom herself pays up to 600 a month for 23 vials of novolog. I dont care if somebody steals my tv, but if they steal myou insulin im in big e. Reporter between 2012 and 2016, the cost of insulin nearly doubled. Nystrom meets people online whol cant afford i, likeye abigail hansmer, who turned to this blackca market a dede ago. And with a special nee daughter and a tight budget, a trip to canada isnt an option. Theres costs for gas, food. You know, if youre needing to stay overnight at the hotel. Its not a solution for everyone. Pe le that work full time, have children. Itsot a feasible thing. And this is certainly a bandaid on the problem. And its not even a bandaid for everyone. Reporter in washington this year, lawmakers have grilled executives from the three main producers, eli lilly, novo nordisk and sanofi, and investigated price fixing. But, so far, no bills have passed. In may, colorado became the first state to cap monthly insulin copayments at 100. And in minnesota, people like nicole smithholt have pushed for legislation to provide free or lowcost emergency insulin. Her son, alec, a type 1 diabetic, died because he couldnt afford the drug. We met smithholt on the second anniversary of alecs death. Her familys made a memorial in their backyard. When alec turned 26, he was noll longered on his mothers insurance plan, and the restaurant he worked at didnt offer any. L test plan that we found was 450 a month with a 7,600 deductiblely so its realot affordable. Reporter instead, he decided to pay for his insulin over the counter at list pric but the pharmacist told him a months supply would be 1,300. With only 1,000 in his bank account, he left empty handed. When did you first get word thd something hagone terribly wrong . I rec actually my mother, who received a phone call from hi girlfriend. Hi wasnt answering his door and he wasnt answerinphone. She could hear the phone ringing in the apartment. And she just happened,ou know, checked one of his windows that happened to be unlocked and shea able to climb in through his bedroom window and she found him on his floor, cold and responsive. Reporter alecs official cause of death was diabetic ketoacidosis, or d. K. A. , when, without insulin, acid hedangerously builds up in bloodstream. D. K. A. Can occur when diabetics ration their insulin. A study found one in four do so because of cost. I went through a stage where i felt extremely guilty, like i couldve prevented it somehow, or i should have seen something, or i shouldve known something. It wasnt long before, you know, my sadness turned into anger. Reporter in the wake of alecs death, smithholt bstan sharing hey. Did you think at that point that alec unique, that this just happened to you . Yeah, i thought we were, like, the only ones. And i was reluctant to share the story at first because i was like, why would people want to hear, ow, our sad story about alec passing away . And now i ow why. Every single type 1 diabetic in the world can picture sethes in alecs situation. Rorter until prices come down in the u. S. , people with type 1 diabetes, and activists like smithholt, are ming these trips to canada stock up on insulin and call attention to the dramatic price difference. Unlike in the u. S. , the canadian government, and many other countries, negotiate insulin prices with manufacturers. So they traveled throu wisconsin. Illinois. Indiana and michigan, adding riders and cars to the caravan. Their reasons for joining were all personal. When i was tenyearsold i remember going to the pharmacy and we bought a vial of insulin for 3. Now im paying 380. Im going for my son, hes 11, had type 1 diabetes for three years. Reporter the trip is both practical and symbolic. I dont think anybody on ths uld have chosen to go on an 817mile ride today, but were being forced to do this because were in a crisis in america. I reportestatements to the newshour and in public testimony, eli lilly, novois prdk and sanofi blame high deductible insuranns and payments to pharmacy middlemen for the outofpocket costs borne by patients. For example, sanofi said, we believe loweringe ist prices alll not necessarily result in lower outofpocket tcosts for most patients pharmacy. This is why we have not dropped the list pricef our insulins. The companies all say they offer couponand discounts to help defray the price of insuli the patients we taed to said it was difficult to qualify for these assistance programs. Some 16 hours later, the bus crosses the border to canada, arriving well after midnight in london, ontario. We made it reporter the next mornin the logistical problems continue for nystrom. Multiple pharmacies have turned the group away, not wadiing the meattention. The insulins here, lets go and get it reporter the Group Finally loads onto the bus and heads off to a local walmart. At a pharmacy inside, one by one, they fill their prescriptions, some filming on their cell phones. Buy nine vials offor less than one vial. The group spent about reporter the group spent about 2,000 for insulin. The same haul would cost almost 24,000 in the u. S. To mark the end of the trip, they head to a spot revered by diabetes activists. It was here in london, ontario, at this house, that Frederick Banting first had the idea that led to the discovery of insulin. Th was almost 100 years ag he sold the patent for just 1 to the university of toronto. Pharmaceutical Companies Began manufacturing the drug and the price remained low until well into the 20th century. And in canad insulin has stayed inexpensive. Nicole smithholt says if she only knew she cod have come here for alec, she would have walked, crled, done anything to save her son. And in a quiet, painful moment at the banting house, she left some of alecs ashes. For the pbs newshour and Kaiser Health news, im sarah varney in london, ontario. Woodruff President Trump may have kept his july 4 speechs last night fo largely on the u. S. Military but doesnt onan it was free of political fallout. Story in a busy holiday week to discuss with brooks and tumulty, thats new york tim columnist david brooks and woes Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty. Mark shields is away. An was focusing last night most mostly on militarywove it into his story of america. How does his story of america comport with teal story of america . I was up on the mall early in the afternoon and there was a rally of gold star moms and wives, people who had lost a son or a husband in ira and there was a great military feel to that, and they took the sevice in which they were so proud of and what theyve suffered and tied it to the fight on socialism and struck me that ereally is trump story, he goes to the military as a source of American Values and then ontrasts that to the hostile world outside, anats one story of america. I dont think its the rea story. I think its the story of rome, frankly. We have military pow thats really not what the american story is about. Most americans who are in an immigrant country who proabvide sociity and reliberation for people who come from pressed lands cant be the trump story because he doesnt believe in that story. Id say were a story that believes in democracy which is the belief ofhe universal dignity of all people. We have a Strong Military to realize the promise of democracn dignity. Trump gives us a basic pagan,n ro story. Woodruff karen, how close do you think he is to the true story of this country . Well, nobody would mistake this speech for winston churchill, but he did weave in a lot of threads of the american d story. He talout the student who sat in at lunch couers during the civil rights movement, he mentioned harriet tbman, frederick douglas, talked about the Wright Brothers and ingenuity. All the threads with you in the speech. Where it was in congruent was with the rest of his presidency. Its graded on a curve thawe are surprised to see him stand in front of a big crowd and noto start hants of lock her up and not start railing about, you know, witch hunts. It was sort f a one off. I think the speech itself did what it should have done. Love the flyovers, i love the blue angels and we see thin a lot of other contexts, they fly tver the super bowl, so tha part really didnt bother me. Again, it was just very jarring to see th again the context of the rest of Donald Trumps presidency. Oodruff how, david, do you think this affects him litically . You were saying it helps him with his base, the people who already like him. Does it add . Do people look atis and say, mmm, i want to feel better about my country . Yeah, well, his political strategy, i remember back, like, 15 years ago, there are a lot oo ervative books coming out and the publisher sar job is to arrange liberal reviewers, not please readers, and once wee the other side the people will rally to us. When i think back, thats probably Donald Trumps political strategy, how can i anger liberals, if i can get them attacking, my people will be for me. A lot of the stuff with the tas, for example, i thoug there was a lot of over the top, frankly, trump phobia, kind of fascism in the streets. Bu a lot of president s had tanks and rallies. People like to see tanks. I like seeing tanks. So what he attemptto do poke something and then generate a response and then his people rally to his side. I think that is the trump genius, the maketing geius that he knows how to pick fights that will cause the otheside to be offended and his people to be loyal. I will be interested to see what he does next year becae next july we will be in the middle of a president ial season. We will know who the democrat minee is at that point. It will be very interesting to see whether he tries to do this again next year and if he takes a different kind of tone when he is in the middle of a campaign season. You know, one of the things were struggling with as a country is whats our national rrative. We d a narrative that left a lot of voices out. Maybe we have no narrati, were just a universal country with a lot of different narratives. T i at least like way trump started the conversation, not meaning to, better than just we watch fireworks and go home. It was a moresubstantive event than all past years except when the beach boys played. laughter woodruff karen, do i hear you saying its not clear whether its aolitical plus for him north . Whether he has to try to again . We are living in trump warp speed. I think by this time next week, this will feel like it happened five years ago, and thre will have been ten other controversies. Woodruff probably e, or 25. Immigration. We had morage imes, troubling images this week from the border, pictures of crowded Holding Cells foreople who have come across. You had a Democratic Congressional delegation go down there and say that isthis inhumane. Many of the you know, much to tave the same criticism tha weve heard before, you had the president coming back, karen, and saying, well, what weve go to dis tighten up our asylum laws because thats the only wa were going to get this under control. Is there a way through on this immigration . Or do we just have this, you know, weekly combat, political combat over it from now on . S well, you alo have the president today saying thate thnters are beautifully run and clean and really that, you know, the administration is doing a terrific job. A federal judge has given them until july 12 to come with some kind of plan for fixing the problems down thre. Its going to require a lot of imsources. Not only iproving the conditions in the centers, but also in hiring hundreds and hundreds more onmigraudges to deal with a backlog of over 800,000 immigration cases. Soheres not a real shortterm solution, but until the administration is willing to regnize that there is an mead problem, that there is a crisis down there, its really hard to imagine that they aro going t move to solve it other than to just blame this on the democrats. Woodruff david, react to that. I just kp coming back to the republicans keep saying we need to tighten up the asylum law so whats the answer to that . Is there a legislative remedy somehow to this . Well, maybe. A couple of things, one, you know, weve these great jobs numbers, we could be feeling good about ourselves, but a lot of us look at these centers and think im ashamed of my country, and s such a drag on our National Morale that our government is sponsoring essomething that mas feel embarrassed and ashamed. Thats the first thing. The second thing ise deterre doesnt work. The idea of the Trump Administration that we could be so cruel and make it so hardo get here and cause people so much pain that they will stop coming, well, theyre still coming. The third thing is president s used to appoint czars. You get a problem, pick somebody super confident and administering programs and say figure out what to do, you know, build more centers, get more judges, do all the things one needs to do to just manage e problem. But we take mix these issues asl cultbstract battles and not as concrete things that we could actually address. So t becomes a philosophical piece of the culture warather than lets build more centers and hire more judges. Upwoodruff both sides end making the same arguments over and over again. I do want to come back to the democratic president ial candidates. We mentioned immigration, clearly thats an iss, but were now a week, karen, past joe biden faltering in the first democratic debate in that encounter with kamala harris. So he tried t of explain this week what he meant when he answereder challenge on busing. How is he doing . Is he still on hist . Back foo what do we see . Well, if you look at the polls that came out this week, this is sudvdenly y, very fluid race for the mination. Both joe biden and Bernie Sanders have fallen significantly in the polls. Joe biden is still ahead but mun more rowly, and the two women who i think were the standouts of the two nights of the debates last week, Elizabeth Warren and kamala harris, have really seen a surge in their numbers. I dont think that you can overstate the amunt of pressure that is going to be on joe biden at t next round of debates at the end of this month. Hes really got toco back and show that he got the message in these first debates and that he is, in fa tct, who democrats want to have on the stage a year from now agauinst donald mp. Woodruff pressure on joe biden . For sure and hes still on his back feet. He cant really hit back, yet he cant pivot either. Thats what mistfies me. Were talking about busing, pens in thehat h mid 70s, and were talking about tell me prance next . Why cant he just say i had a very dominant majory position back then that said we have to integrate and bus. Lets talk about now. He could say heres my plan for that and reacting with a much more gressive posture a saying this is my plan now, what do you think of this, kamala, that tohtme is the ri thing to do, because he tried to rise above the fray, andhoe tught he could coast as the transcendental candidate. He has to come back with a plan. I think thats the way to hold the motored part of the partoty ther which is right now his only strategy. Woodruff its almost as if what they doand say between now and the next debate doesnt matter because when hes on the stage its going to be a bigger wotional audience hanging on everybodys everd. Yes, and he made the argument in an interview with cnn today that, you know, im the kind of guwho would just go ch out a bully like donald trump, but then, at the same time, he says, but i didnt see those questions coming from kamala harris. It was f woodrbecause she was a friend of our family. But it was like how could they notave anticipated . I mean, these were questions that came directly out of the news the week before the debate, and, so, i think youre right. Hes going to have to realize and show that hes realized that hes not just sitting there waiting for the nonation to come to him. And that itself was an obsolete answer. I mea were n in the relative politeness of 1992 anymore. Its 2019 and people play by much harder rules. When kama harris said to him i dont think youre a racist, thats really going somewhere, so he has to be ready for that and understand the way politics are right now. Talking about punching people out. David brooks,aren tumulty, thank you both. Woodruff finally, she is a master of the written word john yang talks to the director of a new documentary aut taking the power of a Nobel Laureate from the page to the big screen. It is part of our canvas series on art and culture. Reporter Toni Morrisons readers know the power of the written word, now a newcu ntary gives film audiences to hear the power of her spoken words. In Toni Morrison the pieces i am, she walks about being a working single mother, the disdainful attitude of critics toward her early works and the zey of winning the nobel pri for literature. Timothy greenfieldsanders is the director of the film which is playing nationwide. Thanks for joining us. Theres so much of the delight of this film is just toning morrison speairectly to the viewers. Youve worked with her, youve known her, was there a moment where youve thought this is what i want toand how i want to do it . Yeah, ive known toni for 38 years and i think the toni that ismes through in this film the one i know very well in a way tha tt therei morrison and chloe wallford, her real name, and this is a bit of chloe here, a really intimate look and a feel from her. Reporter she talks in thee film about action to her second model, sula. Shes a Pulitzer Prize winner, a nobeprize winner, but, at the time, the New York Times was a little condescending, they said she was too good a wrter to restrict herself to the provincial world of black characters. Hodid she talk about that . She was appalled, of course. Today we read that and its so shocking, but in those days, in the new yk times, it kind of was a perfectly normal thing to say by a rewer. Tonis whole mission, really, has been to kind of eliminate the white gays, and talks about the little white man signature on your shoulidr. It want to speak for black people, i wanted to speak to and to be among. Its us. So the first thing i hado do was to eliminate the white gays, used to talk about the little white man that sits on you shoulder and checks out everything you do and say, so knock him off. Yo knowand youre free. Now i own the world. I mean, i can write about anything, to anyone, for anyone. Reporter she also talked about black writers, ralph ellison, Frederic Douglas who wrote assuming their audiences,r their readers white. Right. Reporter she mentioned James Baldwin there. Were there other writers who she felt did what she was doing got that white gaze off her shoulder . I think there werent really. Andstwhen tonited to write in the late 60s and her book was published in the 70s, there was no writing like that. She broke the canon, in a sense. Reporter she talks about she didnt want the whi gaze looking at what she was doing but she chose to have her sty told by a white man. You know, we have a long friendship, and im honored, of course, that she chose me to do it and allowed me to do it. Toni was really a very private person and when i first as her a few years ago if she would let me do a documentary about r, she didnt say n, and i took that as a yes. Reporter how didthe relationship started . She came into my studio in 19p smoking a e for a portrait for the soho news. I was a very young photographer. I had read thue blest eye, and we kind of had a friendshipng starthere, and over the years i bam her goto photographer. I did a lot of her book covers and press andshe was the inspiration for us, a whole series i did on identity called the blck list. Reporter when she won the nobel prize, you qted a critic who you didnt identify in the film but i went back and find out it was Stanley Crouch saying, i hope this prize spires her to write better books. Its appalling. Its a i didnt put his name in or kind of identify him because i didnt want to give him any more agency s. An he its about toni and what i was owying to show there was h disgusting some of the remarks were about this black woman who had just won the nobel prize in literature, and here are the kind of remarks about it, and in the Washington Post. Reporter there are also some things i didnt know that some people may not know, for inance, her career as an editor at random house and the way she helped other black writers find their voices. Muhammad ali published hisea book, toni, angev dais, so many people that were kind of marginalized and toni said, no, no, no, this is going to be opened up ere, were going to bring in other voices, and she really was kind of the scholarship that we read today in schools, really the scholarship we real in schools today came out of a lot of random house publications. Reporter she talked about the the world of publishing, largely white males, as a black woman raising two children on erown. She said they werent interesting, i was more interesting than they were. Reporter and not afraid to show it. Exactly. That confidence is what i remember from her when i first met her, tht there is a kind of amazing person who always felt secure in who she is. Reporter so the people whove read Toni Morrisons words can hear Toni Morrisons words. Thfilm is Toni Morrison the pieces i , timothy greenfieldsanders the director, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff and tonight on the pbs newshour online, its mmer and the sun is out. How do you know what to look for in sunscreen and wh exactly should you wear it. Inddive into the science beh which ingredients are safe and which arent, at pbs. Org newshour. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Have a great weekend. Thank you and good night. Major fding for the pbs wshour has been provided by kevin. Kevin kevin. Advice for life. Life wellplanned. Learn more at raymondjames. Com. Consumer cellular babbel. A language app that teaches reallife conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. G. The william and flora hewlett foundation. For more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote better world. At www. Hewlett. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. D by contributions to your pbs station from viewek like you. Thu. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by ss group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org youre wching pbs. Hello, everyone, welcome to amanpour and company. Tothis week were dipping the archives and looking back at some of our favorite interviews of the year. I dont think theres ever been a a negotiation that wa more difficult than this one. Hours withlmost no sleep. People dying. In a world where personality often trumps policy, we dig deep into one of the biggest characters in american diplomacy, rhard holbrooke. Writer George Packer takesn us o a sweeping tour through the eyes of the globetrotting diplomat. Ageing in america. Rethinking employment as peopl live longer and longer. Plus time to listen