Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240713

With former secretary of Homeland Security, kirstjen nielsen, about her tenure. And finally, rethinking college. The Airline Industry is booming. But the cockpits are empty. How Community Colleges are tackling an unprecedented Pilot Shortage but preparing by preparing students to take flight. It has been very competitive and theres only so many so as this shortage increases and the pool gets smaller and smaller, you can imagine it is going to be more enticement and more bonuses. All the Airlines Want to grow. Judy all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by consumer cellular. Whether you are a talker, texture, browser, photographer, or everything. The are here to find a plan that fits you. Go to consumercellular. Tv. Bnsf railway. 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. Judy the congressional impeachment inquiry has critical new evidence tying President Trump to possible abuse of power. It came today from the man running the u. S. Embassy in ukraine. The White House Correspondent begins our coverage. A new day, a new startling witness in the growing impeachment inquiry. This time, it was bill taylor. Taylor delivered a 15 page Opening Statement that stunned the room. He said the u. S. Ambassador to the European Union had been told by President Trump that he was not asking for a quid pro quo, but President Trump did insist that president zelensky go to a microphone and say he is opening the investigations of biden in 2016 election interference. He called taylors testimony disturbing. All i have to say is that in my 10 short months in congress, it is not even noon, and this is my most disturbing day in congress. Taylor had been ambassador to the u. K. A decade ago. He agreed in june after the ambassador was abruptly removed. In text messages, taylor voiced his concerns. He called it crazy to withhold security assistance. He then replied the president has been crystal clear. No quid pro quos of any kind. And i suggest we stop the back and forth by text. Today, House Democrats said those messages in taylors deposition are central to their impeachment inquiry. Meanwhile, there was bipartisan backlash to President Trump comparing impeachment to lynching. Earlier today, President Trump tweeted that all republicans must remember what they are witnessing here. A lynching. The blowback came quickly. House majority whip jim clyburn. To have the president classify a constitutional remedy to an unlawful, egregious as lynching is beneath the dignity of the office of president of the United States. Tim scott also spoke out. Tt there is no question that e impeachment process is the closest thing of a political file. I get his absolute ejection of the process. I would not use the word lynching. Gop leaders distance themselves from the president s language. Given the history and our country, i would not compare this to a lynching. But lindsey graham, a close ally of President Trump, defended him. This is a lynching in every sense. Hogan gidley said this. He is not comparing himself to those dark times. Whether you are white, black, brown, red, it does not matter. His policy have lifted all the boats in this country. Reports suggest the russian president and hungarys farright leader negatively influenced President Trumps feud with ukraine. Both countries view ukraine as hostile to their own inrests. Judy even as this story continues to develop. It is clear that ambassador taylor, what he had to say, startled lawmakers in what he had to say about the administration in exchange for information about what happened in 2016 and Going Forward about joe biden,en that the ambassador was saying the administration clearly withheld military aid, but what more did we learn about what he had to say today . Bill taylor, the top u. S. Diplomat in ukraine, came to capitol hill and delivered stunning testimony. I spoke to several people who were in the room and they told me there were audible gasps and people were surprised by the fact that bill taylor was laying out we believed was a pressure campaigby President Trump and his personal attorney to pressure ukraine to investigate democrats for his own political gain. I want to walk through some of thatth 15 page opening statemen. It was stunning, even as bill taylor spoke for hours. Some of the things he said was that he is the e. U. Ambassador to the European Union and he spoke to president zelensky and a top aide of president zelensky and told them that even though there was not a quid pro quo, if president zelensky did not clear things up, we would be in a stalemate. Ukraine would not receive muchneeded military assistance. He went on to say that anything was everything was dependent upon such an announcement, including security assistance. We saw bill taylor walking lawmakers through whatth he thought was a pressure campaign. It is stunning to put in that statement that bill taylor says he pushed back and said why is president from doing this . President trump doing this . Said esident trump is a businessman and he needs to get what is owed to him. He said President Trump is not owed anything from ukraine. He said the president needed to get what he wanted to to get before this military aid would go to ukraine. Given that, how does this how does this fit into the overall impeachment inquiry at this point . Democrats say bill taylor is now a central part of the impeachment inquiry. They say his testimony is evidence that President Trump was engaged in this quid pro quo. A number of lawmakers came out and praised bill taylor for his words. He talked specifically about the president s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. He said his involvement shows how the official Foreign Policy of the United States was undercut by the irregular efforts led by mr. Giuliani. So essentially, he is saying mr. Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani, the personal attorney, his work was intertwined and that was troubling toim. That dovetails and goes in with what all the people have been saying to lawmakers. The ambassador to ukraine, the former ambassador to the ukraine that was removed, said the same thing. We are seeing a clearer and clearer picture to the fact that Rudy Giuliani was doing the president s bidding. This is really the beginning of this and bill taylor will be possibly leading to gordon sondland, the ambassador to the European Union, being called back to congress. They might accelerate the impeachment inquiry. We will have to see how these developments continue as till taylor might just be the beginning of other people being called back to congress. Judy separately, you did refer in your reporting on the reaction to the presint inquiry to a mention. We heard what some members of congress had to say today about that. We have been talking to the white house. What does this say about how they view this impeachment inquiry and how they are dealing with it . President trump understands what a lynching is and he really was trying to use the strongest language he felt possible to explain the fact that he feels as if he is being wronged. He did not n to compare himself to the mass murder of africanamericans, which is what lynching refers to, but that said, there are a lot of people including members of the president s own arty who are up in arms with his use of the language of lynching and we should explain to people that lynching is something that happened between 1882 and 1960 eight according to the naacp and 4700 americans were lynched and the vast majority of them were africanamericans. There are people who are still alive whose family members were lynched, who were killed because they were africanamericans. This is really painful history that President Trump was talking about. There are democrats who are saying this is more of the same from President Trump, that he has been someone who has been using racist language and other things that have been making Race Relations harder and harder. There are republicans who say the president should be wrong to because they feel as though the impeachment inquiry is unfair. Judy interesting to hear the different reactions from the republican u. S. Senators from south carolina. Tim scott and lindsey graham. Reporting from the capital today. Thank you. Thanks so much. Judy the ceasefire between turkey and syrian kurds expired earlier today but was quickly replaced by a new agreement brokered by vladimir putin, not the United States. Now, the fragile truce will continue, and as Nick Schifrin reports, raising the question where does this leave the u. S. And its kurdish partners . With cameras flashing, syrias top two powerbrokers met to discuss and divide northeast syria. In the russian resort of sochi, president erdogan sat down with president putin. After a six hour meeting, erdogan said turkey, russia, and the Syrian Regime together would evict kurdish fighters known as the ypg. Ypg terrorists and their arms will be taken further than 30 kilometers from the border. Their fortifications and poeitions will be destroyed. Joint patrols will begin. Nick that is not what the u. S. Expect it to last week, the u. S. And turkey negotiated a buffer zone 18 miles deep and 75 miles wide, where Turkish Forces in blue entered and Kurdish Forces retreated, and this is the area turkey and russia agreed to. Strategically important towns. An expansive more than 300 miles across. After six days, the turks and russians promise joint patrols indefinitely within six miles of the border. Russian forces have backed and saved the syrian president s regime. Today, the russian president called the agreement a permanent solution. In my opinion, these decisions are very important. Maybe even momentous, and will allow it to resolve the situation. Nick tu today, assad met with hs forces in idlib. He called the agreement and illegal annexation. Erdogan is a thief who stole the factories, stole wheat, stole oil in collaboration with isis, and now, he is stealing the land. Nick the u. S. Also objects. Ambassador James Jeffrey told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the russian turkish agreement increased instability. The process has undercut our efforts against isis and brought in the russians and the Syrian Regime forces in a way that is really tragic for everybody involved. Nick the administration promised to impose new sanctions on turkey. Jeffrey did not follow through on those threats and called the Russian Military paper tigers. The ability to patrol with the russians 10 kilometers deep in a commitment to get the ypg out of that area, so turkey has not really gained all that much from this. Nick it is not clear the u. S. Can do anything about it. U. S. Troops crossing from syria into iraq were daft traitors by kurds who called them partners. The pentagon said u. S. Troops would move through iraq to fight isis, but iraq said those troops do not have permission to stay in the country. Mark esper promised not to keep them there forever. The aim is not to stay in iraq interminably. It is to poor soldiers out and eventually get them back home. Nick the white house authorized 4. 5 Million Dollars to help the group known as the white helmets, who tried to protect civilians from assad and russian bombs but while millions have already fled the regime, nearly 200,000 more civilians have fled the turkish incursion. Some have already left for iraq. Others, like this group in eastern syria, weight across the border. The future wait to cross the border. I came here so we can save these children. Nick it is too late to save many Kurdish Forces who fought against isis and were killed by Turkish Backed troops. More than 700 have been killed. Judy nick joins me here and with us from northern iraq, special correspondent Jane Ferguson. She is on assignment near the syrianiraqi border. So jane, tell us. You have been talking to people there. How are people who live in that area affected by all these changes . Jane as we heard from makes peace nicks piece, up forces be as deep across the border as erdogan initially wanted. Those six miles are still host to many kurdish families. It is still part of the kurdish heartland, so we are likely to see more people fleeing both within syria, being internally displaced, but also across the border here in iraq. He has seen families arriving every day, and they are not just fleeing the fighting, they are fleeing therospect of a potential Turkish Occupation of their homelands. Judy one of these what do these changes mean for the United States . The things that the u. S. Is focusing on including isis prisoners who were being held by kurdish fighters . Nick 10,000 are being held by kurdish fighters and for the first time today, we saw a senior u. S. Official, jim jeffrey, who we saw in that piece admit dozens of isis fighters have been released, and the syrian observatory who tracks pretty much everything that happens in syria says 800 isis family members have already been released. Jeffrey admitted the u. S. Has no way to track any of the isis fiters that have been he expressed confidence that the kurds who are still guarding these persons would still continue to do so but he said some of the prisons are inside the new turkish russian safes down and he said he did not know what was going to happen to those prisons and it is just a good reminder that isis remains of threat. The pentagon itself, the Inspector General a few months ago said there were 18,000 is members across syria and iraq, and in syria, still establishing resurgence cells, trying to become an insurgency again. Judy separately from this, back to that news content they with turkish president , erdogan, and bladder mayor putin ladimir putin of russia. You were hearing some of the finer points that were being made. What were you focused on . Jane what was interesting was what was not said. Erdogan has had extremely Strong Language in recent days, talking about cracking skulls of the terrorists. What we heard today was this push to get the kurdish fighters out of the 20 mile buffer zone. He was very specific about saying fighters. He was not specifically saying kurdish civilians. That is likely in response to a huge amount of concern, global concern, and fear over ethnic cleansing of those areas, over a potential plan by erdogan to dekurdish the area, so to speak. In the background, the context to all of this is erdogans plan that he has talked about to resettle several million syrian refugees, most of whom are arab, in those areas, in what is the kurdish heartland, so that has caused massive concern about whether or not matt would clarify or qualify as ethnic cleansing. By saying they want the kurdish fighters out, they have not clarified what would happen to their families, communities that come from, that live in those areas. They have not talked about having any kind of peace deal or any kind of deal for the kurdish fighters to put down their weapons. Instead, they said they just want them to leave that entire area. Where that leaves the many, many other kurdish families and civilians who are related to those fight ts is not clear at this stage, and there is still a concern that there could be a huge ethnic shift in that area as result of the organization of this deal and how it pans out in the coming months. Judy it is so important, nick. As jane is saying, the turks are saying we are only concerned about the kurdish fighters, but some are interpreting that as they are being they are being opposed to all people of kurdish heritage paid what i want to ask you about is how the map is changing. The u. S. Believed it had an understanding with turkey about how far turkey was going to go into northern syria. Now, it appears that the turks may be going farther. What is the u. S. Reaction going to be . Nick the russian turkish safe zone is four times the size of the u. S. turkish safe stone. Today, kurdish fighters and leaders said the turks were attacking them outside the agreedupon u. S. turkish safe zone. Both of those are aggregations abrogations of the deal. The u. S. Has vowed to sanction turkey if turkey acted beyond that deal. This morning, a few hours before jim jeffries testified, a senior official reiterated that, saying that if the turks violate our agreement, we no longer have an agreement to lift our sanctions and freeze our sanctions, so there is a u. S. Threat on the table that was made before the russia turkey deal was announced and we will see if the u. S. Follows that up. Meanwhile, on the ground, assad has more control over territory today. But turkish gains have been cemented. Russia has more influence. It is not clear if the u. S. Can do anything about it. Judy although they will say that we had this understanding, it is not clear. Nick it is up to the u. S. To follow through on his threat to punish turkey for this, ande will see if they actually follow through on that threat. Judy it is not only russia winning diplomatically, if you will. It is the Russian Military. Along the border between syria and iraq, you were telling us, as soon as the u. S. Troops leave, it is the Russian Troops coming in. Jane it has been a remarkable turnaround. In just about a couple of weeks, since we have seen the announcement from President Trump that the u. S. Troops will be pulling out, to now seeing Russian Troops negotiating this deal in sochi, but Russian Troops will soon be patrolling the entire border area up and down all the way here to the iraqi border, and it has been a massive turnaround. It cannot be stressed enough how much of a reversal that is. We have seen images of Russian Troops entering into hastily evacuated american bases along the border, and now we will see russian boots along the ground, along the entire stretch of it. It really solidifies that military presence along an extremely strategically important area in the middle east that cuts between iraq and lebanon. We will see russian boots on the ground, potentially indefinitely. There has been no mention on when they should leave if ever. Judy Jane Ferguson reporting from the iraqi side. Nick schifrin here with me in washington. Nick thanks very much. Judy good evening. I am stephanie with the latest headlines. An update to what is happening in syria. Clearing the way for those russian rkish patrols pig turkey said that kurdish fighters have completed their withdrawal from the socalled safe zone. The Defense Ministry says, at this stage, there is no need for turkish troops to launch another offensive againsthe syrian kurds. Staying in the region, protesters in lebanon were out in force again, rejecting a promise of economic reforms. Security forces in beirut and elsewhere tried to persuade demonstrators to clear the roads, but thousands still turned out, demanding the government resigned here in afghanistan, taliban fighters stormed a checkpoint in the north, killing at least 15 policemen. The attackers struck late last night and set off an hours long done gun battle. They have been fighting in the surrounding region for several weeks. Lawmakers in britain voted today to back a brexit plan in principle for the first time, but they demanded more time to consider the legislation that would allow the plan to actually go through. Britain has already asked to again delay leaving the European Union past october 31. The European Council head, donald toast, says he supports the delay. Fresh off his victory, canadas prime minister, justin trudeau, took a congratulatory phone call from President Trump. He won a second term in office, but his party lost its majority in parliament. Trudeau and his wife greeted a cheering crowd in montreal last night. To those who voted for our party, thank you for putting your trust in us. Thank you for having faith in us, to move this country in the right direction. And to those who did not vote for us, know that we will work every single day for you. Trudeaus Ruling Liberal Party will need support from at least one other party to form a Majority Coalition in parliament. American consumers will have more choice under obamacare next year, and in some states, premiums will drop. The Trump Administration says 20 Additional Health Insurance Companies will participate in the Affordable Care act. Even as the Trump Administration has been actively trying to dismantle the law. A Police Officer who drew a gun at an unarmed Pregnant Woman Holding a baby has been fired six months after the confrontation. Video of the incident surfaced andrew outrage as he and a group of officers we responding to a shoplifting complaint. The couples fouryearold daughter had taken a dull from the store doll from the store in phoenix, arizona. He said the suspension did not go far enough. In this case, a two hundred 40 hour suspension is just not sufficient to reverse the adverse effects of his actions on our department and o community. A second phoenix Police Officer was fired because of inappropriate social media posts. The Officers Union opposed both firings. New charges piled up against parents accused of participating in a scheme to gain their children admissions to college. A grand jury in boston indicted Lori Loughlin and her husband as well as nine other parents on federal bribery charges. They previously pleaded not guilty to other charges. Former president jimmy carter has been hospitalized in georgia after falling at home last night meand function his pelvis. The injury is minor and mr. Carter is in good spirits. At 95, he is the oldest former u. S. President ever. And the u. S. Postal service annound a new stamp today paying tribute to our late newshour colleague gwen ifill. It honors her trailblazing decades career in journalism. The stamp will be available next year as part of a black heritage series. Gwen ifill died in 20 of complications from cancer. Still, the newshour with judy woodruff, her conversation with 2020 democratic hopeful senator kamala harris. Kirstjen nielsen on her controversial tenure at the top of the department. And learning to fly at Community College. Students take on the Pilot Shortage. This is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washingtonas and the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. With just over 100 days from the first votes being casin the 2020 democratic president ial primary, 18 candidates are competing for their partys nomination. One of the california senator, harri. Senator kamala harris. Welcome to the newshour. And i am going to start with a goquestion good to be with y. I will start with a question i posed to every other democratic hopeful we have interviewed, and that is why you . What do you say to voters who want to know why you are the most qualified to be the next president . Sen. Harris i think that there is no question that justice is on the ballot in 2020, and justice is on the ballot when n talk about health care justice, reproductive freedoms justice, economic justice, criminal justice. You know, justice in terms of equal pay for women. L of these things are on the ballot including the fact that we have probably the most corrupt and unpatriotic person that has ever occupied the white house, and i he a career and a background and a history of working on each of these issues and fighting in the name of people, and when i stand in a courtroom, when i stand before the United States senate, when i stand before the people of iowa city, where i am right now, it has always been for the people. Understanding that harm against anyone of us is a harm against all of us. And also fighting for the people with the spirit and the understanding that it is all the people regardless of race or gender or the party with which they are registered to vote or the language their grandmother speaks. Judy so much to ask you, senator. Lets start with health care. You were an original supporter of senator bernie sanders, medicare for all. There have been some exchanges with you about whether you thought that should or should not include private insurance. Uryou are coming out of the plan you are calling medicare for all but it would keep private Health Insurance. I want to say senator Sanders Campaign is saying this is not really medicare for all. They say you have folded to the interests of the Health Insurance industry. Sen. Harris well, they are wrong. I have always supported medicare for all. I was very happy to sign onto bernies bill and i give him a lot of credit for moving the conversation to where it is now. But i thought we could do better. And in particular, i traveled the country, and there are lots of folks out there who want medicare for all, they want to know everyone is covered, that we bring costs down, that preexisting conditions will not be a ban to access to health care, but also people do not want us to take away their choice. The current form of medicare, people have a choice to get private plans in addition to the public plans that are available, so when i am proposing is medicare for all. And in my plan, as distinguished from bernie and warrens plan, yes, people do have a choice of getting a private or public plan, but it is going to cover everyone. It is going to bring down costs. I am not going to increase taxes on the middle class families. Judy let me ask you about that. Jillouidens campaign has taken a look at your proposal and what they are saying about it is that it pushes this medicare for all 10 years into the future and they say it is going to create a huge tax increase on the middle class. Sen. Harris they are wrong. They are wrong. First of all, even kathleen sebelius, the architect of the Affordable Care act, says my plan is the most effective in getting coverage for everyone. I gave a 10 year window, yes, because in particular, our friends in organized labor says we negotiated down our wages or we did not take an i trease in wages so we can have a Better Health care plan, and those are usually negotiated over a four year or five year basis to do medicare for all plan offered by some others on the stage would do a four year transition, which would not be enough for folks in labor to be able to renegotiate. I said lets do ours as a 10 year, but the fact remains that in our plan, over half would be in the plan for the first five years. We do give a longer span of time for those who need to renegotiate such as folks in organized labor. The realities right now, 30 Million People do not have access to affordable healthea care, and doing nothing is absolutely not an option. Judy let me ask you about a story that is one of our headlines tonight. That is what is going on in syria. President from deciding to pull u. S. Troops out of northern syria. They have come across the e rder. I know you have been critical of the president s decision, but my question to you is what would you do differently . Once theeader of turkey says we are coming across the border, what do you do . Sen. Harris ok, first of all, i am the only person on the debate stage that serves in the Senate Intelligence committee and i am in the Senate Homeland security committee, and i will tell you there is no question in my mind. I think most would agree that donald trump taking this unilateral action based on apparently a phone call has now delivered four wins. Russia, iran, syria, and isis. It has put our National Security at risk based on his you know law uniteral action. Each day, it changes because he has basically played into the hands of the russians who are now dictating what turkey will do in terms of the kurds at the border. I frankly believe that judy what would you have done differently . Once you have that conversation with the president of turkey and he said we are going across the border, do you get into a war with the turks . Sen. Harris well, i think that we have to understand there are many interpretations of that conversation. There is nothing that was a changed circumstance. If the United States of america and the commander in chief of the United States of america since we are not going to abandon the kurds who stood with us lets remember, that was a counterterrorism mission. That was not a humanitarian mission. We are in syria because of the threat isis poses to our National Security. The kurds stood with us and by the tens of thousands by some estimates, died in battle, in a battle with eskimo fighting isis. In that conversation, to your point, judy, there had to have been and should have been from the commander in chief of the United States some backbone to say youre not going to abandon our friends. We are not going to stand back and let this border be opened up so you can massacre the people who stood with us. So yes, i absolutely would have handled that conversation tiffany. Judy conversation differently. Judy you would have left the troops there. Sen. Harris no, no, no. Thats not what im saying. We need to end these endless wars paired we need to bring our troops back. Endless wars. We need to bring our troops back. And not because erdogan has said i want to claim that territory. Putin knows that it is in his besteresntand has always been part of his longterm plan to increase his reach into the middle east. And this is the problem with the way that donald trump conducts Foreign Policy. It is transactional based on a phone call instead of understanding that there are longterm not to mention shortterm consequences for every act and every word he speaks. Judy i want to cover a uple of other things while we have you, senator, and that is the impeachment process. Do you agree with the approach by the house of representatives to focus narrowly on the president s dealings with ukraine, the leader of ukraine . Or should this be a broader inquiry . Sen. Harris i am not going to secondguess what they are doing, but i do believe that, as i said, justice is very much on the ballot, and there has still not been any real consequence or accountability as it relates to the findings and the mother report. We all know that bob mueller in that report were very clear. It is saying that a sitting president cannot be indicted, that donald trump would have probably been indicted. But i think that it is rit also for the inquiry to focus on the matter at hand, which is that there is clearly, and we know that from the testimony we are hearing about today, there was clearly quid pro quo, and the president of the United States committed a crime, it appears, committed a crime even by his own confession when it comes to soliciting assistance from a Foreign Government the way that would benefit his campaign and benefit him personally and politically. Judy concerned about whether this impeachment inquiry interferes with the 2020 contest among democrats. It takes attention away from what your message is. Sen. Harris i think we can walk and chew gum at the same time. I am here in iowa city. The concerns that people have when i am doing the town halls and the meetings in living rooms that i am doing are varied. People are concerned about whether their democracy is being undone by donald trump. They are worried about whether their system of justice still has any integrity. Does the rul iof law matter . They are concerned about the fact that almost half of American Families cannot afford a 400 unexpected expense or that a 500 medical bill will bankrupt them. These two exist as priorities. Is i think we need to be able to never underestimate the intelligence othe american people, to be concerned about the integrity of the government, and that concern is born out of a love of country. They want to know tey Government Works for them and giving them medical care, giving them their children and adequate if not a superior public education, and a number of other issues. Judy thank you, senator. Sen. Harris thank you, judy. I appreciate it. Thank you. Judy the Trump Administrations policies on separation of families, migrant children, border security, and immigration have been some of the most controversial and criticized policies throughout the president s tenure. Former Homeland Security secretary Kiersten Nielsen was known for specifically executing and defending those policies when she headed the department between december 2017 and april of this year. In a rare interview, she sat down this afternoon with our at the Fortune Magazine most powerful womens summit in washington. So you had a chance to talk to her. Tell us more about the circumstances. How did she happen to be at this event . This was her first interview in many months. It is her first since leaving the administration for affair. She resigned in april of this year. She basically sort of went silent. We have not heard much from her. Even when she was head of Homeland Security, she rarely gave interviews but this was a private summit. People had to register and pay in advance to attend. It was hosted by fortune. It is called women in power. Her presence at the summit. A lot of outrage. Based summit got a lot of outrage. People were saying she should not be given a platform. People who were booked on the panels backed out because nielsen was going to be there, including a filmmaker, singer, and even hillary clinton. She cited a scheduling conflict but a source close to her told reporters it was actually because she did not want to share the bill with nielsen. Judy there is a lot of controversy around what happens during her tenure. One of the things that got the most attention was the administrations policy of separating families at the border, especially children. You ask her about that. In her role as head of Homeland Security, she had to sign off on that policy of separating children from their parents at the u. S. Southern border. I asked her, knowing everything she knows now, looking back, does she regret making that decision . Heres what she had to tell me. I do not regret enforcing the law because i took an oath to do that. We do not make the laws. He asked congress to change the law. Congress reviewed the law in 2006 and decided to make it cross in that manner. What i do wish i had worked a lot better is that the coordination and information flow were simply insufficient for that number of people coming. It is heartbreaking that any family felt at any time that they had to cross the border illegally. This is a terrible, dangerous journey. Its terrible. When i regret is we have not solved it. What i regret is that information flow and coordination to quickly reunite the families was clearly not in place, and that is why th practice was stopped during an executive order. It is somewhat remarkable to hear her saying she does not regret the decision. It is easily one of the most controversial policies under the Trump Administration we have seen so far. She stuck close to the same talking points she had when she was running the agency and all they were doing was enforcing the law. There is no federal law that mandates the separation of children from their parents at the border. We know this was done because of a doj policy change saying everyone had to be prosecuted, so nielsen had to sign off on those families being separated. Thousands of parents were separated as a result. The authorities are trying to figure out exactly how many and how to reunite them all. Judy still trying to figure out how many. Separate from all of this, you ha been reporting on this, the recen concerns that have the concerns that have since been raised about the effect that this is having on children. You talked to secretary nielsen about that. Theres been a lot of scrutiny since the policy has ended. A lot of people called to testify about what they knew and when they knew it. They said we were raising red flags. We knew this would be traumatic for children. We did not want them to do this. There were people within dhs, nielsens agency. Did any of those concerns reach you about the harm to children . Heres what she had to say. Did people ever specifically raise to you the concern that children would be traumatized as a result of this policy . Not during that. You never heard those concerns . Not from staff, no. Child where for welfare experts . This was nothing new, to be clear. From a staff perspective, i think there was disbelief that enforce the law would encourage trafficking,ould encourage children to be used as pawns, and Law Enforcement officials had taken an oath, which is why the operation recommended we choose to enforce the law. We never enforced it 100 . Two parents coming across, we chose specifically not to refer both parents and that one parent could stay with the children. We did try to limit as much as possible any tender age situation but it clearly was not working. We stopped at during an executive order and we have been hopeful that congress will look at this and really take very seriously what is the best way to do this. I mean, the debate is very false. We know now, contrary to what secretary nielsen was saying, that tender age children were never separated. We know dozens of those children under the age of five were separated. We know it took the administration several weeks after putting the policy into place before they ended it with an executive order, and there is still concerns about ongoing separations at the border. Judy there was another ongoing discussion about whether this was a new policy or not. While she was in office, she said there was no policy. What did she have to say today . This has been the line from the ainistration. This is not a new policy. We have to continue to remind people about the facts of this. This was a policy enacted by this administration. It was not done by previous administrations. They changed the psecution law, which made them change separation. It is a bit of a semantic arment. It was definitely a new practice. Judy did you ask her about why she left . She was in the administration 16 months. It was tumultuous p what did she say . Thomas was. What did she say . President trump wanted her to go forward to try to stop the large numbers of people we saw coming across the southern border and her being unwilling to do that. We know that he tweeted back in april that he wanted to go in a tougher direction when it came to immigration. Within 72 hours, she handed in her resignation. Here is what she had to sing about why she left this administration. What led you to resign from this administration . What led me to resign was there were a lot of things that there were those in the administration that thought we should do. Just as i spoke truth to power from the very beginning, it became clear that saying no and refusing to do it myself was not going to be enough, so it was time for me to offer my resignation. That is what i did. We should remind people that the agency remains in a bit of turmoil. Kevin mcaleenan took over. He has been the acting secretary since then. 10 days ago, he announced he is resigning as law. He has a few more days left on the job but we do not know the next person will be to lead this 240,000 person agency. That will be the fifth person to fill this role in the administration. Judy no permanent choice and we do not even know who is the acting choice. Thank you very much. Judy and now, to a critical issue facing the Airline Industry, and that is an unprecedented Pilot Shortage. Pilots are retiring in droves, as it turns out, and not enough new pilots are being trained. Boeing says the global Aviation Industry will need 800,000 new pilots over the next 20 years. Special correspondent cap wise recently traveled to bend, oregon, to visit a Community College. It is part of an effort to better prepare students for the workforce. Part of our regular education segment, making the grade. Today, i think we will do some steep turns. On a recent morning, Beverly Taylor and Adam Mitchell headed to a small plane at the bend, oregon, airport. Parking brake set. Documents, check. Taelor winds are her went through her preflight checklist. It is called i know it. After nearly 70 hours in the cockpit, she earned her private pilots license earlier this month. The first step on what is often a timeconsuming and expensive journey to become an airline pilot. Growing up, taylor never thought she would be where she is today. I grew up kind of poor, single mother, trailer park, and none of my family members went to college. They all had kind of nothing on my no huge jobs, so i never pursued it. After high school, taylor spent six years in the navy. When she found out, got out, she realized she could use the g. I. Will to pay for training. She wanted to get her new career started as quickly as possible. I am 27 years old, which is not old. But i am not fresh out of high scope yet i dont want to have to go through the whole bachelors system, so this is a Good Opportunity for me. Taylor is six months into a twoyear Pilot Training program at the Central Oregon Community College in bend, one of 70 similar programs at Community Colleges around the country, gaining in popularity as word spreads about opportunities in the Aviation Industry. This is an unprecedented time to be interested in aviation. Karl is the director of the program, which began 13 years ago and currently has 200 students enrolled, learning to be airplane, helicopter, and drone pilots. 70 who attend the program get in. Graduates walk away with an Associates Degree in aeronautical science and all the flight hours and ctifications needed to be a commercial pilot. The price tag for airplane students, about 80,000 for tuition, fees, and flight time, a fouryear aviation bachelors degree can cost more than double that. Atmany of the students, like taylor, our military veterans, using their g. I. Benefits for launch into new careers. Taylors instructor is also a vet. We like to showcase this. It is when they are becoming a pilot. The 37yearold is a former enlisted medical specialist for the navy and marines who completed both helicopter and fixed wing Pilot Training. For the past eight months, he has been teaching to build up his flight hours, but he is about to move on. I just hit 1000 hours. Todays flight put me over 1000 hours. I just got picked up by a regional Corporate Airline up in seattle. Mitchells quick move into the new job probably would not have happened just four years or five years ago. Back then, new pilots would typically spend several years teaching and flying commercially before earning enough hours to become a corporate or eventually an airline pilot, and starting salaries at the Regional Airlines were about 25,000 a year. Now, because there is a big demand for flight instruction time, recent pilot grants like mihell grads like mitchell and getting their required hours done faster. Because of the Pilot Shortage, the airlines are ready to snatch them up. Today, the difference is that after 15 months to 18 months as an instructor, the airplane pilots can move directly to the airlines. The Regional Airlines will take them right on and those airline salaries have essentially doubled. The Pilot Shortage is leading to greater competition between the airlines for new talent and some companies are now recruiting student pilots while they are still in school. How yall doing . All right. Super jazz. Brian mccune is the manager of Pilot Development for alaska otairlines. We are probably the top place to work. He visits the Central Oregon Community College campus and 22 other Aviation Programs twice a year to recruit students for horizon air, alaskas regional carrier. How you doing . Many of the other Major Airlines have similar recruiting efforts. Keep us informed of your hours. I have been getting emails about that. Students accepted into the Competitive Program receive a 7,500 stipend for school costs and a job after they graduate and meet the required flying hours. We dont want to end up in a situation where we do not have planets. It has been very competitive and theres only so many. As this shortage increases and the pool gets smaller and smaller, you can imagine it is going to be more enticements and more bonuses. All of the Airlines Want to grow. How much the industry grows will depend in part on efforts to diversify and expand the workforce. I am goinggo to turn off the fasten seatbelt sign at this time. 5 to 7 of pilots are women. One of the goals in his program is to improve those stats. I think it is important to actually market ourselves to women to show that this is absolutely viable career path for them. It is important to be able to employ women faculty, instructors, as mentors, remodels, examples of what u can achieve in this industry. It is also an effort underway to recruit future pilots while they are still in high school. The Central Oregon Community College Aviation Program recently donated a used faa certified Flight Simulator to a nearby schl in sisters, oregon. 35 juniors and seniors are enrolled in a unique program, teaching them to become pilots before some of them even have their drivers license. Cheryl yeager isthe schools flight science instructor Cheryl Yeager is the schools flight science instructor. It is a career waiting to happen and its a really good career. At the bend airport, student Beverly Taylor is perfecting her takeoffs and landings. Terdi she completes her training next year, she plans to keep her options open, but she would not mind becoming a test pilot for nasa one day. For the pbs newshour, i am in bend, oregon. Judy and on the newshour online, conventional wisdom has long held that organic products are healthier for you and better for the environment. But a new study challenges that assumption, predicting that more organic farming could actually lead to higher Greenhouse Gas emissions. We consider the implications of these findings on our website. Pbs. Org newshour. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and we will see you soon. Aj fding has been provided by bnsf railway, consumer cellular, the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the frontlines lines of social change worldwide, Carnegie Corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security, at carnegie. Org, and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. ] this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. This is pbs newshour west, from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the Walter Cronkite pati narrates what if i told you i found the perfect beach . Soft sand for miles rm water, warm people, and the oh so fresh seafood. At if i told you about a fishing village dreams to host the world . Would you come . Will it lose its charm if i tell you about it . Can a pearl remain hidden once the oysters opened . Altata is an idyllic beach town on the sea of cortez, 45 minutes west of culiacan. This fishing village has got the weather, the beaches, and the food for a life in paradise. But theres a problem, the fish have been depleted and so too a way of life