Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240713

Eventually, the population could extinguish. And when baby boomers will retire, you know, youre going to have a small amount of individuals taking care of a larger amount of old people. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Consumer cellular. The william and flora hewlett foundation. For more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. At www. Hewlett. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff a federal judge in washington this evening ordered President Trumps former white House Counsel don mcghan must obey a subpoena and appear before lawmakers. He had been called to testify about the mueller report. The ruling has implications for trump aides who refused to testify at impeachment hearings. Separately, the chair of the u. S. House Intelligence Committee, democrat adam schiff, now s panel will have a report schiff said today the report conclusively shows that the president tried to force ukraine to aid his reelection campaign. The president today defended his handling of the Edward Gallagher case. The navy seal was acquitted of murdering an Islamic State militant, but convicted of posing with the body. Last week the president rejected forcing gallagher out of the seals. Instead hell retire from the navy. Today, meeting with bulgarias prime minister, mr. Trump said he is sticking up for gallagher and those like him. He was a great fighter. He was one of the ultimate fighters. Tough guy. These are not weak people. These are tough people. And were going to protect our war fighters and ive been given a lot of thank yous. Woodruff amid the uproar, the secretary of the navy, Richard Spencer was fired on sunday. Today his boss, the secretary of defense mark esper, accused spencer of dealing secretly with the white house in the gallagher matter. Well discuss all of this after the news summary. The u. S. Supreme court refused today to order a new trial for a baltimore man featured in the hit podcast serial. Adnan syed was convicted of murdering an exgirlfriend in high school. He is serving a life sentence. Syeds lawyers had argued the podcast series found new evidence that warranted a new trial. The high court rejected the appeal, without comment. A chinese woman convicted of trespassing at the president s maralago estate now faces up yujing zhang was sentenced in a Florida Federal Court today. She illegally entered the palm beach resort in march and lied to federal agents. The head of irans hard line revolutionary guard threatened the u. S. And others today over last weeks protests in his country. Hossein salami accused the United States plus britain, israel and saudi arabia of fomenting demonstrations over a fuel tax hike. He spoke at a rally of tens of thousands of government supporters in tehran, and he warned that the regime will answer its enemies. translated wait for our response. If you cross our red lines, we will destroy you. We will not leave any move unanswered. We will not remain indebted to any superpower and will settle scores with all of them. Just wait. Woodruff Amnesty International says at least 140 people have died in a crackdown on the protests. Tehran has not given an official number. The concentration of greenhouse the World Meteorological organization found that the increase of Carbon Dioxide in 2018 was above the average for the last decade. Current efforts to reverse the trend are simply not enough. Russias athletes may be facing a fouryear ban over doping. Russias athletes may be facing a fouryear ban on major events, including next years summer olympics, over doping. Instead, they would have to compete as neutrals. A committee of the World Anti Doping Agency made the recommendation today. It said hundreds of positive drug tests are missing from russian lab data. A final decision is due next month. Back in this country, the newest entry into the democratic president ial race made his First Campaign appearance. Former new york mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on sunday. Today, the 77yearold billionaire was in norfolk, virginia. I will be the only candidate in this race who isnt going to take a penny from anyone and will work for a dollar a year just as i did for 12 years in new york city hall. For years ive been using my resources for the things that matterto me. I was lucky enough to build a successful company. It has been very successful and i used all of it to give back to help america. Woodruff bloomberg becomes the 18th candidate vying for the democratic nomination for president. Mcdonalds agreed today to pay 26 million in a settlement with employees in california. A longrunning Class Action Lawsuit alleged the company denied overtime pay and timely breaks, among other things. Nearly 38,000 people would be compensated if the settlement wins court approval. The ridesharing giant uber has lost its license to operate in london for the second time in recent years. City officials said today that unauthorized drivers got past uber security, and carried out thousands of rides. The company will appeal todays decision. It says facial Recognition Technology is addressing the problem in britain and the u. S. Charles schwab is buying rival t. D. Ameritrade for 26 billion in stock. On wall street today, that buyout and hopes for the china trade talks pushed stocks higher. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 190 points to close at 28,066. The nasdaq rose 12 points. And the s p 500 added 23. And, a u. S. Military dog named conan got a white house welcome today. The Belgian Malinois starred in the raid that killed abu bakr albaghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group. Today, President Trump presented a medal to the animal he called probably the worlds most famous dog. Conan was injured during the raid, but has since recovered. Still to come on the newshour, hong kongs protestors go to the polls what does it mean for the prodemocracy movement . The military clashes with the president over an accused war criminal. Amy walter and tamara keith are here to break down the latest political headlines. Plus, much more. Woodruff after months of protests in hong kong, yesterday brought an extraordinary rebuke of Chinese Authority by hong kongs voters, in local elections, and another startling revelation about Chinese Government persecution of uyghur muslims. Amna nawaz takes a look at both sides. Reporter newlyelected pro democracy legislators walking today through debris from last weeks fiery clashes at hong kongs polytechnic university. Sundays landslide election made clear the grassroots protesters have the overwhelming support of hong kong voters. Prodemocracy forces won control of 17 of 18 District Councils in the first election since the unrest began, six months ago. It is a genuine referendum of the people in hong kong. The candidates from the democratic government allies won this election. Democratic party hope our chief executive mrs. Carrie lam receives the message that the votes make a clear voice of the hong kong people. Reporter the increasingly unpopular lam is backed by beijing. She said in a statement that the government will seriously reflect on the results. The District Councils have little power, but hong kongers calling for democracy say the outcome is a turning point. translated i am happy about the election result. The victory in the District Council election is the first step for hong kong democracy. I am still reasonably optimistic about hong kongs future. Reporter but in beijing, chinas communist government insisted today that its one country, two systems policy remains firm. translated the resolution of carrying out one country, two systems is firm. Hong kongs affair is purely chinas domestic affair. The Chinese Governments resolution of protecting chinas sovereignty, development, reporter hong kong activists say the election with record voter turnout exceeding 70 was a resounding rejection of that policy. Reporter meanwhile, in washington, the bipartisan hong kong human rights and democracy act awaits action on President Trumps desk, after easily passing both the house and senate. The bill would impose sanctions on hong kong officials who abuse human rights, but the president has suggested it could also affect trade talks with china. Lets explore the stakes at play with susan shirk. Shes the chair of the 21st Century China Program at the university of california, san diego. She returned from a trip to china this week. Susan, thank you very much for being with us. There is no doubt, we heard, about where the public sentiment in hong kong lies. From the perspective of the Hong Kong Government and the Chinese Government in beijing, how does this change the calculus for what they do next . Right before i came to the studio, the official media in china had not yet reported the outcome of the election. They did finally report there was the election, but they really havent reported the results, and theres some indication from people on the ground ive heard from that they have been talking to journalists, chinese journalists who say that, in fact, the chinese leadership was surprised by the outcome of the election and then they are now scrambling to figure out what to do about it. Its really remarkable that, despite these large scale protests that have gone on for months, they still were surprised by the outcome of the election. So how do you think these Election Results changed the dynamic . If carrie lam resigns to kind of take responsibility for the outcome, that might diffuse the protests for a while as people wait and see what more beijing will do to meet the other demands, including some progress toward more direct elections, and, of course, if carrie lam has to be replaced, then that also raises the issue of how you select the chief executive. You heard in the piece there some people were referring to this as a turning point. Do you believe that it could be that . Pchange . Ld bring about some real well, you know, its a test of xi jinpings pragmatism. Is he really very dogmatic . Did he really believe his own propaganda . Did the internal channels from the Liaison Office in hong kong actually fearing to give him bad news give him an unrealistic view of what was happening in hong kong . If hes pric pragmatic, then its to me hes likely to do try to find a way to respond to some of the protesters demands, at least by getting rid of the very unpopular carrie lam. Really, this is kind of a fork in the road for xi jinping. Is he going to double down on control and indoctrination, or is he going to be flexible and give a little bit in the direction of more direct democratic election of hong kong political leaders . And that is the latest from hong kong, but i do want to get your take on a different topic were also covering today. I want to shift now to Mainland China where leaked communist party documents show the internal workers of internment and reeducation camps used to detain a Million People. The china cables are the First Official glimpse into the structure and ideology behind these camps in northwest Chinas Xinjiang province, where one million muslim uighurs, and members of other minority groups, are detained on industrial scale. The documents show that the Chinese Government officials designed the camps as brainwashing centers on a massive scale, with multiple layers of security. Among the other revelations camp inmates could be held indefinitely, camps are run on a points system where inmates earn credits for compliance, weekly phone calls or monthly video calls are the only contact allowed and preventing escape is paramount. The Chinese Foreign minster said documents leaked earlier this month by the times were fabricated. translated they are also sensationalising these internal documents by using poor tactics like taking them out of context and grafting them onto another, to undermine and tarnish chinas efforts on antiterrorism and depolarization in xinjiang. Reporter Foreign Affairs correspondent Nick Schifrin sat down with National Security advisor robert obrain over the weekend, at the Halifax Security Forum we have over a Million People in concentration examples, thats an outrage. President xi has the power of writ in china, what he says goes, and those camps should be closed, dismantled, but its not just the camps, its the surveillance infrastructure thats been built in the region. Susan shirk, as we reported, that is the second trove of leaked documents to be published in over a week, the previous backed by the New York Times. Going through the documents, what do we learn in terms of the vovment of president xi jinping in these camps and these efforts . Well, the New York Times story makes explicit that theres no evidence, no statement in these documents, that xi jinping actually ordered the establishment of the camps. What he did is start a campaign to try to crack down on terrorism in 2014, after a number of terrorist attacks in xinjiang and terrorist attacks outside of china as well. And he so he launched this very harsh campaign of indoctrination to try to undertake thought reform of uighurs and other ethnic groups in xinjiang. So he himself, we dont have the document yet in which he ordered the camps, but certainly the establishment of the camps which was done by provincial officials, at least thats what the documents tell us, was a response to this Campaign Launched by xi jinping. And whats really remarkable about the campaign is it shows that xi jinping Still Believes in this malace notion of thought reform. He really believes that this kind of intensive brainwashing can change the way people think. What does it say to you that these documents are even being leaked at all . The fact that these are seeing the light of day . Well, it shows that not everybody in the chinese bureaucracy and the party and government burke bureaucracy ags with this h heavyhanded, oppressive, police state approach to governing china. In fact, the documents from the standpoint of a china watcher are really fascinating because they show that some of the local officials objected to this approach and, in fact, some officials released people from the camps because they wanted to make sure that th met their Economic Growth targets, and without the labor power, they werent going to be able to do that so i think, you know, from outside, china looks so monolithic, but, in fact, i think there are a lot of different points of view and not everybody agrees with the direction she is taking the country. That is susan shirk of the 21st Century China Center at the university of californiasan diego. Thank you for being with us. My pleasure. William brangham hack the story. Reporter at the center of all this is the case of reporter at the center of all of this is the case of chief petty officer Edward Gallagher, a navy seal. Previously, he was accused of murdering a wounded isis militant in iraq in 2017 and of shooting at civilians. A Court Martial acquitted him on those charges, but did convict him of posing for a photo with the militants body. Gallagher was demoted. But the controversy since has been over whether the navy should mete out any further punishment like whether he should keep his status as a navy seal. This past weekend, while civilian and military leaders the president said he would not allow the navy to punish gallagher anymore. Last night, secretary of navy Richard Spencer was forced out of his post by secretary of defense mark esper over his handling of gallaghers case. Here to walk us through the controversy the nanc nancy yousf with the wall street journal. Rear admiral green who oversees the nav navy seals decides he ws gallagher out of the service. Pick up the story. He wants to say the military should review whether gallagher should have the distinction or honor of being called a navy seal after this case. He called to a review board, thats where peers come forward, look at the case, and decide whether he should wear the trident pen that says youre one of the most elite forces in the United States military and i think thats what admiral green was trying to get at with the review process, and that after the president restored his rank and brought back his pay was sort of the last outstanding issue visavis this case. Reporter explain the process by which the secretary of the navy is out. There was really concern within the United States military leadership about the prospect of restoring chief gallaghers rank and pardoning two other Service Members also accused of committing crimes in iraq and afghanistan. The feeling is once you did that and had an outside intervention, it potentially threatened the sanctity of the order and discipline that is so critical to the military, and the other fear is if the u. S. Didnt prosecute those accused of killing civilians in places like iraq and afghanistan, it would send a negative message to key partners. And, so, he was pardoned excuse me his rank restored, and secretary spencer was among those who was against the outside intervention. So the Navy Secretary is pushed out by the ssht of defense and, in his letter acknowledging his resignation, he says, i cannot in good conscience obey an order i believe violates the sacred oath i took. But the secretary of defenses problems with the secretary of the navy was something other, was it about a back channel he was doing with the white house . Can you explain that . Sure. The secretary of defense mark esper came out today and said the u. S. Military leadership had agreed that they would allow the process over his tridents pen to proceed, and that he learned two days ago that secretary spencer had tried to come up with a back channel deal in which the chief gallagher would be allowed to keep his pen regardless to have the findings of the panel, and secretary esper says that he lost confidence in secretary spencer because he was usurping the existing process. Reporter and in the middle of all this, of course, Eddie Gallagher goes on fox news, which has been his champion all along and championed his case back when he was in the brig through his Court Martial, and gallagher is remarkably very critical of some of his superiors. This is all about ego and retaliation. It has nothing to do with good order and discipline. They could have taken my trident at anytime they wanted. Now theyre trying to take it after the president restored my ranchts. Reporter late lather he went on to specifically by name criticize his superior officer rear admiral green. How unusual is it for a sailor to say those things about his Commanding Officer . Its extraordinarily unusual because theres a chain of command and youre not allowed to criticize your superior in a oneonone setting one your company and unit and let alone on fox news, but i think it really gets at how much this case depended on him to kind of become a celeb on fox news, john henry had taken a personal interest, but before that its not clear if this case would have gotten the attention it did. Reporter what are you hearing amongst the military community more broadly about this case . Does this have Lasting Impact or is it one and done . No, i think it has a Lasting Impact. Like most things around this case, its very polarized. You look at people look at chief gallagher as a war hero or criminal, you hear about what happens when the military Justice System can be undone by outside intervention, there are perhaps other Service Members who will ask for outside intervention and seek to undo the rulings of the military court system, so theres a real weight and fear in terms of what the aftereffects there are, there is an expectation they will happen, and yet there are those who will think this was the president s prerogative, his right to do and all falls within the proper chain of command. And, so, like most things around this case, it has led to polarized actions within the pentagon. Nancy youssef of the wall street journal, thank you so much. Thank you. Woodruff stay with us. Coming up on the newshour italys birthrate falls to historic lows is this the end of the big italian family . The newshour bookshelf the american story conversations with master historians. And how art can help fight the isolation of alzheimers. Will the latest entrant to the crowded race for the democratic nomination shake up the standings as impeachment looms above it all . Our politics monday duo are here to break it all down. Amy walter of the Cook Political Report and host of public radios politics with amy walter. And tamara keith from npr. She cohosts the npr politics podcast. Hello the both of you. So we have a little bit of news this evening on the impeachment, the tug of war between the president and the congress, and that is the Federal District judge ruled the president s former Legal Counsel don mcghan should, must testify before lawmakers, before the congress. We assume there will be an appeal, tam, but this could set a precedent for other white house and Administration Officials to be required to go testify before the congress. We dont know. We havent heard what the Intelligence Committee report is, we know the Judiciary Committee is next, but all this raises, again, the question of the publics perception of this, and where do we go. So, amy, to you, what are we seeing in terms of the needle moving at all and how the public is reading this . Weve had two weeks of hearings which produced a lot of fireworks and a lot of coverage, but it really hasnt produced a lot of movement in the polls. Basically, where we have been since well, october, basically, since before these hearings began, if you go and you look 538. Com has a great tracking measurement of all the polling thats been done on tissue of impeachment, and if you go back to the day before the public hearings began, support for impeachment was at 48 , 45 said they didnt prove approve of impeachment, today its 4646, which is essentially in the world of numbers very Little Movement to statistical around the edges. So what were seeing, i think its folks who are already deeply engaged who are paying attention to this are paying attention to it because they were already committed to whatever outcome they would like to see. So, familiar, how much does this matter to members of the house of representatives who are back in their districts, presumably this week . May be heading toward a momentous vote . If they are hearing about it from their constituents, then that could affect behavior, but what we saw right before they left town is someone like will hurd, hes a congressman, or retiri is like what i like to say, republican retiring has sort of the freedom of a retiring republican, and hes been more moderate and also fairly outspoken about his concerns with President Trump. As the hearings were winding down last week, he came out, hes on the Intelligence Committee, and he said he wasnt persuaded this was impeachable, certainly proper. If william hurd is there, members of congress are not feeling pressure. Stephonic has charted a moderate course, allied with paul ryan who had his issues with President Trump, well, she became a star for the hearing for sort of pushing President Trumps viewpoint and position in these hearings. So these are two public examples of republican members of congress who are not persuaded and if house members, if these sorts of republicans are not tempted to vote against the president , then theres no way that senators are going to feel pressure. Quickly, looks like the two sides are growing growing farther apart or maybe they are just feeling more committed to their position or just as committed as they were before this began. The republicans, though, who should be concerned, and probably are concerned right now, are in the senate, on the senate side where you have republicans up for reelection in blue states like colorado and maine and increasingly purple arizona. Woodruff and theyd come into play after the house voted on impeachment. So to the 2020 democratic race, we have a new entrant, as of this weekend. He is none other than the former mayor of new york city, Michael Bloomberg, and hes out with a splash, tam, 31 million in ads across the country. Heres an excerpt of the first ad theyre running. And now hes taking on him, to rebuild the country and restore faith in the dream that defines us, where the wealthy will pay more in taxes and the. Middle class get their fair share. Everyone with Health Insurance can get it, everyone who likes it keeps it, and jobs will help you get ahead and on all those things bloomberg intends to make good. Woodruff theyre running that ad, a short version of it in 46 of the 50 states, weve got a map here. Every state thats yellow on the map theyre running and speding 2plus milln in new york city, 1. 6 million in los angeles. This is 1. 9 million. This is huge. This is going to test some things, some ideas in politics. One idea in politics that emerged after President Trump won with far less money than Hillary Clinton was, oh, well, maybe money doesnt matter. I guess well find out whether Money Matters because he is in the process of trying to buy some love and attention. The other question, though, is, traditionally, you cant skip the first few states and think that youre going to somehow have momentum after that. Mccanned, the chairman b of the rnc, said people who plant their flag in states after those first few states often find momentum overtakes them. Woodruff hes counting, amy, on money overcoming a lot of this. Hes counting on a couple of things. Its good you pointed out donald trump because he also went against conventional thinking because even in the primaries he didnt spend that much money, he was counting on his name i. D. And his ability to dominate the media landscaped. He was being covered by cable news and took up all the political oxygen and the traditional ways of campaigning, go and organize, host the meet and greets with voters, it didnt matter. It was called free media, he just sucked all of that up. The youre Michael Bloomberg, its different, youre paying for media, and the theory being, if you spend an amount ofoney like weve never ever seen before in american politics, that by the time that we hit postsouth carolina, so from the very beginning of march, the theory being the process has so just sort ofo whether it traitd field, right, nobodys really a frontrunner, everybody has this baggage, and they can turn to somebody whos just been on their air waves and smartphones for the last couple of months telling them how great he is. All these other candidates look bad, the democrats have gotten beaten up, lets turn to Michael Bloomberg. Thats whose theory, its a big, big gamble, but thats what hes counting on. Woodruff but is there history of somebody coming in late and making it work . Not in modern woodruff not since weve had these early primaries. Thats right. Woodruff 31 million in one weeks and there are a couple of weeks and months to go before we get to the postearly primaries. We will watch. Amy walter, tamera keith, thank you both. Youre welcome. Woodruff family sizes have been steadily shrinking around the industrialized world for decades. The decline has been particularly dramatic in italy. Just a generation ago it was common for italian mothers to have more than four children. Today, the average family has fewer than two. Newshour special correspondent Christopher Livesay reports from sicily. The shrinking population could drag the country into an unprecedented economic crisis. Reporter little saverio is just 13 days old, born here in the sicilian town of nicosia. Its special to the hospital, and very, very special to us. Reporter special to them, because its their first child. Special to the hospital, because hes the only newborn here. The birth rate here is so low, the Maternity Ward has risked closing, says dr. Maria rosaria vena, who oversees it. translated its a bit sad to see all these empty beds, because when there arent any births, we feel like were wasting hours of our time. Reporter how many births were there last year in total . translated about 200 births. Whereas when i started working here 20 years ago, there were about 400 every year. Reporter so just in the span of 20 years half of the births have gone. translated yes. Thats why theres always the risk they could shut us down. To justify a Maternity Ward, you have to have a minimum 500 annual births. But the nearest other hospital is a verlong and difficult drive away. If they close this hospital, some mothers would end up giving birth on the side of the road. Reporter across the hall i meet 20yearold lorena scriffignano, the only expectant mother in the ward. translated i dont have any friends who are pregnant. Its really hard to raise a family. I dont have a job, and the father has to drive for an hour and 30 minutes to work. So hes going to be away a lot. And my child isnt going to have many friends his own age. Reporter its a scene repeating itself across italy. Census figures show the National Population is steadily shrinking the first time thats happened in 90 years. Due in large part to the declining birthrate. The average italian family today only has 1. 2 children, says angelo mazza, a professor of demographics at the university of catania in sicily. Theres that idea of the italian family with lots of kids. I mean, what could be more italian than that . Fertility rates have been going down from the mid60s. To replace the population every woman should make at least two babies during her life. I mean, thats logic. And 1. 2 is kind of far from two. Reporter so why are italians just not having as many children as they used to . Well, it is not because they dont want to. They feel that conditions are not good enough to have two babies. Because you need to get a job, a proper job. And it may happen that this does not give you enough time to fulfill your wishes, your reproductive wishes, you see. Reporter italys economy has been reeling since the 2008 Global Economic crisis. The youth Unemployment Rate stands at a staggering 35 , prompting young people to both hold off on starting a family, and leave in search of work. Last year, more than 150,000 italians emigrated abroad. Factor in the plunge in pregnancies, and you have the only major european economy with a population forecast to decline even further over the next five years. Take, for example, the town of Acquaviva Platani in sicily. Today it has only 800 inhabitants, down from roughly 3,700 in the 50s. Founded four centuries ago, the towns narrow streets and position high atop a hill once made it difficult for invaders to pillage. Today, young people find it difficult to live and work here, says mayor salvatore caruso. translated theres hardly any industry. A number of young people have gone to live in the north or abroad, either to study or to work. Its hard to imagine young couples coming here if they dont have work. Today the majority of the population is elderly. So there are hardly any births. Its the same in towns of our reporter how many births are we talking about . translated i believe last year there were five or six, and well have around that this year too. Reporter over the years, he says, vanishing families has meant shrinking class sizes, forcing them to combine age groups, and in some cases close schools. But if people arent having children anymore, does your town run the risk of eventually dying . translated theres a gap of 1015 people every year, between births and deaths. So its certainly possible. Reporter walking the empty streets, i meet some of those few young people still living here. They all share the same part time job, one of the few left in town caretaking for the elderly. It would be nice to raise a family in my hometown. But i dont know if i have a future here. I really think ill have to leave. I dont want to see my town disappear, but in the end, we have to look out for ourselves. Reporter italy is second in the world only to japan for having the highest concentration of senior citizens. If more young people leave, its a vicious circle for the town and the country. If we have less children today were going to have less parents tomorrow and even less children and so forth. Reporter so what are some of the problems that we might run into . The population could extinguish. And when baby boomers will retire, you know, youre going to have a small amount of individuals taking care of a larger amount of old people, you know. Things are going to be even worse in the next 10 or 20 years. Reporter only 10 or 20 years . Thats right around the corner. Thats the emergency. Reporter its an emergency . Yes its a real emergency. Reporter but solutions exist, he says. The government could incentivize childbirth, much as neighboring france has done by investing more in daycare, longer parental leaves, and Tax Exemptions to parents. They have now almost the same population that italy does. You know that they have 65 more children every year than in italy. Reporter in france . Yes. 65 more. Reporter the other solution migrants. Mostly from subsaharan africa, the middle east, and south asia. Theyve been steadily arriving in italy for years, offsetting much of the decline in population. Last year, however, italy began to ban migrant ships, and enact other measures to lower immigration to the country. If italy continues to block migration from outside europe, then half of the population will die out by the end of the century, according to the e. U. s statistics agency. Back in Acquaviva Platani, Alessia Boscarini manages a cafe, where shes recently given her shrinking town a bump of hope. translated hes due in just a few weeks. His name is alessandro, our first. Its very exciting, because there are so few babies born from our town every year. This will only be the fifth this year. Its such a big event that the town rings the church bells every time a baby is born. Reporter but with that birth several weeks away, the bells remain silent, as they have for most of the year. For the pbs newshour, im Christopher Livesay in Acquaviva Platani, sicily. Woodruff in 2013, billionaire investor, businessman and Philanthropist David Rubenstein set out an ambitious plan to moderate a series of conversations with prominent historians, in front of an audience of bipartisan lawmakers. The goal to make members of congress more knowledgeable about the past so they could better deal with the countrys future. Rubenstein is now sharing the best of those conversations in a new book, the american story. A note David Rubensteins philanthropy includes public television, and the pbs newshour. I began by asking him if this work with lawmakers and historians has achieved its goals. We have republicans, democrats and people from both houses coming. We get about 250 to 300 people participating in each interview. They have a reception. We ask them to sit with people from the opposite party in the opposite house so they get to know people they dont otherwise know or get to talk to. Theres no press there so theres not pressure to do anything, and they have an interview that they can watch and participate in the interview by asking questions and theyre like any other audience, they bring dog eared copies of the books and want them autographed like anybody else. So the reason is not the era of good feels, but the thinking is people who make the laws should know our countrys history and it should be known by everybody in the country, particularly the lawmakers. Right now we dont teach history or civics in the United States much anymore, and you get surveys that threequarters of americans cant name three branches of government and some cant name one branch of government. Woodruff its a sad situation, when you see the statistic. From this book, you talk to historians from ten different president s but then to other Great American leaders. There are so many things that stood out to me. Talking to historian jack warren about George Washington and how he was the right man for the moment, why . Remember, George Washington three times turned down power, after he won the revolutionary war as the leading general, he went back to mt. Verner, said i dont want to be the leader of the country. Second time he provided over the Constitutional Convention but he didnt want to lead the country, he went back to mount vernon and the third time he was elected president , he didnt want to be but he served and he said i want to do what i can for my country and was indispensable. Had we not had George Washington, im not sure we would have won the revolutionary war. Woodruff franklin roosevelt, you pressed jay wenic on why roosevelt didnt intervene to stop the holocaust sooner. The answer was stunning, it was roosevelts decision not to intervene any sooner. I think it was a combination of many things going on in the war. I dont think he knew how much impact he had would he have been willing to bomb the railroads going to auschwitz. I tried to say here are some of the interviews of some of the greatest historians in the country. Dont read the books alone. Read the books themselves. Im digestin digesting the inted i think theyre readable but you should read the entire book. Most of the great leaders you write about, of course, are men. In the chapter where you interviewed cokie roberts, dear friend who passed away not long ago, because shed rine several books about the founding mothers, what did you take away from that, David Rubenstein, about why women havent gotten more attention . In the early days of our country, women were not allowed to vote, they werent allowed to own property. If you were married, you couldnt own property and obviously you couldnt be an office holder. How did they exercise influence . They tended to do it p through their husbands. The letters between john abigail and adams, maybe a thousand of them, and she had a second grade jairks and theeducation and shes educated and literate sounding as her lawyer husband. Cokie dug through these and you saw the women had a lot of influence on the men. Woodruff David Mccullough telling you, he said the best and most effective people in public life without exception have been the people who had a profound and very often lifelong interest in history. Do you make a connection with today and President Trump . I think many people who understand history are at an advantage, but because of stem, we have taken physics and history out of it. Woodruff focused on science and math. People are concerned about competing with the chinese, thats a legitimate concern, but i dont think people should take stem courses and not history courses. In the last eight years, history majors in the United States have gone down by 34 . Very few people major in history and the result is very few people know about the history. Woodruff have you thought about which great historian will be in a position to write about trump . It takes about 40 years for a historian to get ahold of the documents and come up with a judgment. So i think its too early. The person who will be the great historian and will write about the president is probably in grade school. I think people your age and my age will not be the great historians to write that, but i think its too early to say and we dont know whats going to happen with his term. Most president s are judged as suctions if they get reelected even if the second term is not that successful and many second terms are successful. It will be difficult to say whether his first term is successful unless he gets elected. Woodruff two, maybe three billionaires running for the president of the United States. President trump running for reelection, tom stier, maybe Michael Bloomberg, what about David Rubenstein . What do you think about running for office . Right now, im doing the best i can in what i do. I think the country haves enough people who are billionaires running for president. I know many of them. They are very qualified in some ways to be president , but i think my best use for the country is doing what im doing now and what i would rather do more than anything else is talk to you about this book. Woodruff David Rubenstein, the book is the american story, conversations with master historians. Thank you very much. My pleasure, thank you. Woodruff nearly six million americans are living with alzheimers disease, and the number continues to soar. For many, this diagnosis is the start of a life with limitations. But, as an art program in minneapolis shows, a life that can still hold great joy and meaning. The story comes to us from Kate Mcdonald of twin cities pbs in minneapolis as part of our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. Welcome to the Walker Art Center. We have a Beautiful Day today. We are going to explore the Sculpture Garden together. Reporter taking a tour of Outdoor Sculpture would not have been a normal activity for most of marv lofquists life. But when the retired chemistry professor was diagnosed with alzheimers disease seven years ago, he began to appreciate art in a new way. I like the contrast between the dark coat and the whiteish face. If i got upset every time i didnt remember something i would be upset all day. I cant remember what i said five minutes ago, but i think then you turn around and say, just enjoy what is there, right now. I can look at things and appreciate them in ways i never thought i would. Reporter lofquist is among more than 1,000 people who have participated in contemporary journeys, a Program Designed by the Walker Art Center for people with dementia and alzheimers. Along with a partner, often a Family Member or friend. This artist loved to collect bones, wood pieces, stones, rocks. Reporter Ilene Krug Mojsilov helped found the program in 2009 and leads the tours once a month. Mojsilov says that people with dementia are uniquely open and without inhibition when interpreting what they see. Oh, marv, you are demonstrating, very good. Oh, yeah, shake your hand, give me your hand. laughter one thing i learned from this group is theres always someone that contributes something fresh and new that i havent considered before. This group is totally in the moment and it, it makes me more sensitive to the world at large what is missing from that coat . A hat a hat cool, cool laughter reporter tour guides make adjustments for the needs of the participants. They discuss only the artwork that is right in front of them, and keep conversation in the present. Thats whats so cool about art. What you each bring to the sculpture is important. Your ideas are important. Reporter but does art therapy work . It is not as easy as determining if a drug is effectively working. We asked Public Health Professor Joseph gaugler to assess the project. Youre talking about outcomes of quality of life, wellbeing, kind of more humanistic outcomes that sometimes you cant always measure with a scale. Art therapy approaches can really help enhance the personhood of the person living with dementia. People with memory loss can still continue to express thoughts, feelings, and emotions in a healthy way. Reporter in addition to looking at art, the program engages participants in making their own art, inspired by artworks theyve seen on the tour. The art making, i think, amplifies the experience. Its a way to activate cognition, and its what, what jazzes me, too. Im looking for meaning in life. And i think Care Partners and our participts are looking for meaning, too. Reporter artmaking can also decrease the stress, agitation and isolation often associated with memory loss. Elaine lofquist is marvs wife and care partner. They met in highschool and have been married for 53 years. Doing something with just marv and i just alone is fun and we enjoy doing that. But having an activity that we can go to with other people is even more beneficial for us in terms of not feeling isolated. I think self isolation is one of the worsthings you can do in any situation. But especially with memory loss. I dont want to be sitting there and not, not feeling like i cant participate. Cannot contribute. Getting a group like we had together to look at some art work or talk about some things thats what i still want to keep doing is, you know, what can i find enjoyable . But what can i find to do . What can i find thats meaningful . As more people unfortunatel get alzheimers disease, youre going to start, i think, seeing the seeds of a really an Advocacy Movement of people with memory loss stating that, im still here and my values, my opinions, my thoughts, preferences matter. How can we turn some of the negativity around alzheimers and say, lets just get on with it and accept it and deal with it and enjoy in what we can . And that is what art does. Its for the people no matter where you are in your walk of life. For a chemist, not too bad. applause reporter for the pbs newshour in minneapolis, minnesota, im Kate Mcdonald for twin cities pbs in minneapolis. Woodruff and thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf railway. Consumer cellular. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh hello, everyone. And welcome to amanpour company. Heres whats coming up. We also spoke to some children who had some really disturbing stories to share with us. Confronting a priest accused of abusing some of the worlds most vulnerable children. We have a special report. Then. The minute you see an average of 8 people getting killed every night, that is what our reporter was coming home with. Thats off the scale. The journalist going toe to toe with filipino president rodrigo duterte, rappler ceo maria ressa joins me. The experience itself, what to ask for it. The Oxford English dictionary makes Climate Emergency its word