Judy all that and more on pbs newshour major funding for tas pbs newshoureen provided by n a cruise with american cruise lines,le tra experience the Maritime Heritage and culture of new england. Our fleet of small cise sps explore american ldscapes, seaside villages, and historic harbors. Where you can experience local customs and cuisine. American cruise lines. Proud sponsor of pbs newshour. Before we talk abt your investments, whats audrey is expecting. Twins. We could get closer to twins. Changing plans. At fidelity, a change of plans is part of the plan. Bnsf railway. Consume your consumer cellular. Carnegie corporation of new york , supporting innovations in education, democratic entgement, and the advancem of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these individuals and instutions. 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 evidence is mounting tonight that an Iranian Missile knocked a passenger airliner out we the sky thi near tehran. Iran denies it but t United States and several other. Overnments say it is highly Like Foreign Affairs correspondent Nick Schifrin begins with this report and a warning, some of the scenes in the story could be disturbing to viewers. Nick there were no survivors. 176 lives lost, lving behind only family photo scrapbooks, charred shoes, the remnants of a plane and now, western Officials Say the ukrainian passenger jet thatent down was shot down. At 6 12, a. M. Local wednesd the flight tk off from tehran down for bound for kiev. Contact was lost. S. Intelligence officials and a Senior Administration official tell pbs newshour the u. S. Assesses iran fired a russianmade Missile Defense system, mistaking the jet for a u. S. Military jet. Five hours before, at 00 a. M. Local, irans military launched more than a dozen Ballistic Missiles that u. S. Forces in iraq. Intelligence officials assess after this attack, iran was on high alert, fearing u. S. Aircraft could attack inside iran. U. S. Officials say the assessment that iran shot down the plane is based on photos, radar data and satellite information including infrared detection ofhe missile launch. More than 60 passengers were canadian, and Prime Minister justin trudeaume benron. We have intelligence from multiple sources, including allies and our own intelligence, the evidence indicates the plane was shot down by an iranian surfacetoair missile. This mayell have been intentional. Nick President Trump hinted it was iran but talked about the human toll. It is a trac thing. But somebody could have made a stake on the other side, could have made a mistake. Nick irans Civil Aviation authority deni the accusation, saying it was physically impossible for a missile to have hit the plane. Theme dealed tonight of what appears to be a misle hitting wne plane and other videos show the plane going nd the impact caught on a cctv camera. The ukrainian Prime Minister didnt blame iran but called for an international investigation. Undoubtedly, the priority for ukraine is tusidentify the of the crash. We will find out the truth. Judy nick joins me along with our aviation correspondent. Hes in florida. To both of you. Next, you have talked to experts. What did i say . Nick there were questions about the system iran was using and user ever. The u. S. Intelligence assessment is that this was an old russian short range missildefense system. The hardware on the system is abconsidered relatively re, but the Computer Software is not as sophisticated as that ftware. It is about knowing which plane is in the sky. The experts i spoke to, and they are experts, outside the government, they said maybe the software couldnt determine which kind of plane it was and that is where you get user ever. The time user error. The time the operator had to do this was second hours after the major iranian attack on u. S. Bases in iraq, fearing there could be u. S. Jets, military jets in the sky, this is the fundamental nature of conflict. Thisti calcu miscalculations can happen and it happened to the u. S. 1988, the u. S. Warship was skirmishing with iranian boats in the persian g actually accidentally entered iranian waters when it bought it ryscovered an iranian mili jet coming towards the ship. Civilian jelly a it didnt know what it was so it fired 298 people died in that mistake the u. S. Made. Judy from a civilian aviation perspective, what are the questions that are being asked about this . An important question is, iran w on high alert in the wake of the missile attack in iraq. A prudent thing to do would have been to make it a nofly zone for civiln or liners at least in the immediate aftermath of that. You have a system that is old already. We do not know how well maintained it was, how the software was working or what it was doing. We dont know how well trained the crew was but we know they were on hairtrigger alert. Theivilian or craft has a transponder and it would have kicked out crucial information on what it was and what it was not, but the civilian and military system, wherever you go in the world, is notatel inte. That can cause trouble on a good day. This was not a good day. Judy nic, what is iran saying and doing . Nick iran denied thngaccusation cout of u. S. Intelligence. The head of the Civil AviationOrganization Called them illogical rumors. That is what he said. Ai theyother civilian airliners were in the air at the same time and the plane didnt go down immediately but it was hit or some kif chanical failure, that is what iran is saying, and tried to rn back to the airport. Iran said it was willing t work with ukrainian authorities but this is crucial, iran said it is not willing to han over the black boxes to u. S. Officials. Judy help us understand why those black boxes matter in understanding how this could of happened. The objecve data in the black boxes would be able to settle that dispute. The iranians say it was impossible for them to shoot it down. That is patently not true. The aircraft was 4000 feet above the ground, well within range of surfacil to air mi. That is wrong on the black boxes will settle it because there may be cockpit voice recordings that could be ccial and it is important those boxes end u oin some kinective hands so the world can make an assessment. Judy the question of nofly zones, for both of you, people are asking in retrospect, why were passenger planes, civilian aircraft flying in a place where basicallthere was war . Ck good question. We know u. S. Officials were saying avoid that airspace. They were saying that in the days leading up to this accident , as we believe this was an t we dont know why iran hadnt decided, why not create a nofly zone . As miles was saying, it would have beea prudent effort and obviously would have saesd lot of l judy do i hear you saying if iran had done that, civilian rcraft would not have been flying . Wrecks correct. Correct. Look at the u. S. After 9 11. There was a nofly zone. It is the prudentnd to do in a situation where everybody is on hairtrigger alert. Thatasidnt happen in this and the fog of war took over. Judy such a tragedy. brien, Nick Schifrin thank you both. Judy it has been just a week since President Trump orderea drone strike that killed a rainy in general iranianse general soleimani. Congress is reexamining the president s authority in ordering attacks. Lisa is here to address this, and what we know about upcoming impeachment in the senate. Lisa, welcome. The houses voting on whether to sidents ability to take military action against iraq. Whctly does this measure do and how much teeth does it have . Lisa a this is norge resolution, only just over four pages long, but it is powerful. The house asserted its war powers, voting to limit, i is worrying the engagement of hostilities in or against iran, this resolution would say the president cant engage with iran unless two things happen. There is a declaration of war by congress or there i an imminent threat. Both of those are in this. Onquestion, it is a concurrent resolution. That is a special resolution the president doesnt sign it onl has teeth of the senate also passes a concurrent resolution that is not the current plan in the senate. Those who tnk the president needs limits on the engagement with iran, like tim kaine of virginia, they are going a different route. They will n proposemal resolution that the president would have to sign it would limit his powers. That is because it would get a fast track in the senate. That kind of resolution has an easier vote. That kind of vote as soon as next week in the senate. Both chambers are moving right now in dcussing, debating the president s war powers. Judy this raises questions about the role of congress in u. S. Military to deployment overseas. What did President Trump say about his justification for doing this on his own without congress . Lisa Nick Schifrin reported on the night of the strike, what we were hearing from the department of defense. The administration has since told congress it has two justifications. Number one, the article to power of the president from the constitution as commanr in chief, his power to protect u. S. Forces from imminent threat. The other rationale is that 2002 authorization of military force, which was about iraq and Saddam Hussein and fighting terr, talking about Saddam Hussein having protected al qaed leading up to 9 11. It was primarily about Saddam Husseint. The argum, this happened on iraq must territory iraqs territory although it was a strike against aitiranian authlabeled a terrorist. Judy what is the thinking in ngress . Lisa there is concern that congress has let many president s go too far and not expressts own oversight of war powers. Right now there is a divided over whether this justification legal. Lets hear from a leading republican and democrat on the issue, especially the 2002 a umf. There is a clear Legal Authority going back were the president has the ability to take action against terrorists in iraq. Presidenobama used that authority, which we supported. President trump used that authority to take out soleimani. That auation never intended, even as bad as it was then, given weapons of mass destruction, never authorized the use of force against any country, any hostile country or any country that had personnel or officials or a presence in iran or any other country. Is a debate over th authorization of military force. That applies, but i want to point out imptant reporting out the idea of immanence and article two powers. E des differ on this. Republicans think there was an imminent threat. I talked to republicans and democrats who we t briefed. Thd me that evidence is publicly available evidencso the idea thaimani and those who backed him and those he directed had been increasingly hostile to america, that there was a trend leading to certainty by some, a debate by others, thate was going to act again. It wasnt necessarily a special kind ofio attack or notific it is what he had been doing in public that the president is arguing led to an imminent threat judy that is a larger question, but the bigger question, u. S. Engagement overseas going back many years. Give us the historic context. Li everyone agrees that congre has been seeding more and more power to the president s because how the system is designed. Th constitution says congress can declare war. However, the president is the commanderinchief and has mood usedor broad powers. Congress is divided, and when they have been, les talk about conflict not congressionally approved, the korean war and vietnam war. This is where we have seen president s flex this military power. World war i and world war ii, the gu war led by president george h. W. Bush, the response to 9 11, have been approved. Back to 9 11 and terror proval, that is what has been stretched since then to apply to all of these conflicts. Yemen, syr, niger, all around ldthe w both parties have a real question about whether that authorization needs to endnd perhaps a new one begin or congress flex more power. Judy finally, aside from all of this, there is the question of an impeachme trial in the senate. Remind us where that stance. Lisa it mcconnell dsnt have any special information, but did tell republicans today, senate republicans, that they should fe rea a trial to begin as soon as next week. We are waiting to see how House Speaker pelosi transmits the e ofcles as well as the n her managers. She said today she will probably do that soon that we dont have anything on that timing. I think it wont be this weekend, but next week, everybody shoulde ready. Judy looking like next week. Lisa it is up to Speaker Pelosi but that is when mcconnell tells senate republicans. Judy thank you, lisa de chardin. Desjardins. Stephanie good eveng, im ephanie sy. We will be back with Judy Woodruff after this. Inrst, an update to our top story, the iranianted investigators from the u. S. And canada to join the probe of the jet crash. Canadas Transportation Safety board accepted, and is planning on sending an investigator to thcrash site in iran. As we reported, 63 canadians were on board the plane. The u. S. National Transportation Safety board issued a statemen tonight, saying it has designated a representative to the investigatn, and is evaluating its level of participation. Sastaying in iran, mixed ms tiover cing followed from continuinge fallout from u. S. Killing of general qasem soleimani. President Hassan Rouhani warned of a very dangerous response ifs the u. S. Strgain, but a top revolutionary guard commander took a harder line, saying the missile attacks on heses in iraq hosting u. S. Troops were onlyeginning. This slap by iran was a sign for another operation. The next actions must be taken by resistance cells in the region, and those actions will be taken. Stephanie meanwhile, President Trump said there is no need for. Furthe action, but he suggested he could order new strikes if circumstances change and he said, quote, i wouldnt even mind doing it. Boeing sent Congress Hundreds of pages internal messages tonight that reveal damaging conversations between employees mocking the fedel aviation ministration. Boeing said they regret the content of the communications and will take disciplina action against those involved. In britain, the house of commons gave final approval to leang the eu on january 31. That followed the sweeping victory by prime minisr Boris Johnson and his ruling conservatives in last months elections. The bill becomes law once the house of lords gives its pro forma consent. Officials in southeastern australia ordered new evacuations before a new round of high winds and extreme heat. T tempes could top 110 degrees tomorrow. In new south wales, firefighters have been using controlled burns this week, in hopes of denyingfu for the approaching flames. The fires have killed 27 people so far. The Trump Administration proposed a Major Overhaul ofta environmassessments for a wide range of projects. It would eliminate or limit reviews for oil pipelines, some roads, and other construction. President trump and transportation secretary elaineh said too often, crucial work is hampered by red tape. We all care about the environment. What we are talking about are cumbersome, unnecessary, overly burd outdated regulations. Many of these regulations have not been updated, modernized, in decades. Stephanie we will look at the details of the proposal later in the program. White house officials said today construction on a southern border wall will now resume. A federal Appeals Court wednesday allowed t use of 3. 6 billion in military Construction Funds to p f wall sections. Separately, migrant detentions at the borderai fell in december to 40,600. That is down from 144,000 last may. California could become the first state in the country to make its own brand of prescription drugs under a proposal governor gavin newsom is expected to unveil tomorrow. In an effort to drive down rising healthcare costs, the Governors Office said the state would contract with generic drugmakers, increasing competition d lowering prices for everyone. Facebook reaffirmed today that it will notct ban or check political ads. The social media giant said it will add socalled transparency features to give users slightly more control about how Many Political ads they see. In contrast, google impose limits on political ads and twitter has banned them out right. Still to come with Judy Woodruff, why this weekend arens in taiwan arm about more than just the future of the island. The environmental implications of a major white house policy shift. Making sense of the success of la vegass powerful culinary workers union, and more. This is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at university. Judy er vin taiwan and elect their next president saturday. Her decades, their status has been a contentious issue between the u. S. And mainland china. The communist government in beijinconsiders taiwan a breakaway province natds to come under its control. The u. S. Considers the island a real democracy, and pledged to defend it against the mainland attack. The election could determine the fate of taiwan and have major impacts on u. S. China relations. Special correspondent debbie ago pollan our special correspondent has the story. The chinese president the taiwanese president is welcomede re the polls open. One party is by and for closer ties with the u. S. , the other with china. Safeguarding our aonomy and democracy is what i have been doing for the past four years. Pulling away from china, taiwans powerful neighbor and biggest trading partner, has been the cornerstone of the president s campaig lets expand our tourist base so we wont have to rely on visitors from china. Her stance infuriated beijing. I think she is courageous and she has been a prence for the road map of taiwans future. Do you wantedo be rul by china echng impossible. China has never had sovereignty over the island, a japanese colony until 1945. Beijing keeps calling for its reunification, a suggestion the Democratic Party rejected. There is a festive atmosphere. It is hard to believe less an a year ago, manyff wrotehe president getting a second term. This is due to her administration pushing through unpopular reforms. In the past few months, events outside twan, like the u. S. China trade warndong kong protests, boosted her popularity. The prospect of another thai term doesnt sit well with beijing. Under her tenure, countries have broken diplomatic aves with taiwan. G only 15 nations recognizing the government of. Aipei even the u. S. Doesnt have full diplomatic relations with taiwan. Washington is taipeis most important ally due to longstanding agreement to defend the nation against attack or invasion. Shington passed multiple bills to enhance relations last year and approved 2. 2 billion in ar sales. Aligning with taiwan is a strategic way for washington to counter chinas rowing influence in the region. We view the chinese threat as real. They have been gearing up, the military preparations against taiwan. You have seen military exercises navd their oseph is taiwans foreign minister. The chinese built up their missile capabilities. We understand the chinese also have the ambition to take taiwan over and we need to be prepared for that. The minister says there is concern china is trying to intervene in the the chinese are using modern technology, going through facebook or twitter or a telecommunication mechanism. They try to infiltrate into these mechanisms or plrms by creating fals information to make the public believe the current government is not trustworthy. A social me platforms are a battleground, with 90 of taiwans population active online. The government passedt a law agailitical interference bid foreign infiltration. Whiler Companies Like google and facebook agreed to police their platforms, Civil Society groups have joid the raceo expose misinformation. The cofounderf an information siteays information is highlighted by volunteers. She sa the website has been awash in misinformation about the president. The posts mostly originate from china. She points out one of many trying to discredit the president s doctorate from the London School of economics. She has no personality ande cant be ader. Shame on the country. Please forward to your friends. Chinas preferred candidate has been described as taiwans nald trump. The taiwanese people are no longer happy. Million people in taiwan feel heavy and suffocated. We are confused about our future. Young people are left behind by the International Community and the world has gradually forgotten about us. The 62yearold blames the ruling party for deteriorating relations with beijing and scribes himself as the president for the common people. Bring all ting to poor people to upgrade their living staard. China has become a superpower now. We can help each other, we will both rise up. He represents the oy osition partwhich favors closer ties with beijing, arguing it would bring more economic benefits and security are taiwan. A view supported by much of the older generation. On average, there seems to be a big generation gap. Why do you think that is . Shelley is a visiting scholar at the National Taiwan university. F e has been holding focus groups as partr research on the Political Attitudes of taiwanese youth. Le believe a lot of old pe think that it is important to focu on economy morthan identity. All in their early 20s, the participants are students or Research Assistant at the university. This really gives to the taiwanese people in new hope for rejoining the global society. That is somethingfo excitin us, especially for the younger generation. Topics covered include international relations, identity issues, and the hong kong protests that have impacted the elections. We have this kind of connection with those protesters. Not only emotionally, but y. Practicall hong kong has been rockedy b seven months of protests. The demonstrators are calling for democracy end less interf from beijing in hong kongs affairs. The city operates under chinas one country, two systems model which aging touts as an examp for taiwan beijing touts for taiwan if it comes under chinese control. Any originally politically apathetic young people are voting. We see videos from hong kong protests, police violence, and that makes many people think, would we want this kind of lifestyle if we are possibly invaded by china . The candidate has been vocal om sport for the demonstrators and taiwan has ba safe haven for those who fled hong kong, like this 20yearold former student who wand to remain anonymous. He arrived before the new year. I think of suicide sometimes. The other protesters with me were arrested oney one. It is very painful. It is torture for me. The upcomingct ens are adding to his anxiety. At the oppositio wins the elections, they are lik the prochina politicians in hong kong. I would probably have to go back to hong kong. Adding to chinas ire, the government capitalizing on the u. S. China trade war. A professor of thers uniy of virginiaas opted a book. The rivalry between the u. S. And china has accelerated some of these manufacturers moving usbe of policy incentives to leave china and moved to taiwan. A different kind of trade war has been brewing in bubble teash s. Consumers of the drink, frustrated by those sympathetic to protesters, are boycotting outlets seen as pandering to china. Some brands a claim they from taiwan, china. They imply taiwan is part of china. We avoid those places. I dont normally boycott but shoill choose bubble tea that support hong kong protests. Chinas growing might and americas expanding influence left those on the island voting not just for their futur c but alsoting ballots for the interests of the worlds to c mt powerfntries. For the pbs newshour, im in taipei. Judy as we reported earlier, the Trump Administration wants to roll back part of a bedro environmenta law to make it easier to build certain , liastructure projects roads, mines and pipelines. As william reports, industry has long pusd her these changes to reduceth wha argue are endless delays. Environmental groups call the proposal a betrayal of the law orinal intent. Environmental reviews can seem arcane to many but they can also be quite consequential. Perhaps the most famous case in recent yrs was the keystone xl pipeline figdr. That battlged out for years and the Environmental Reviews were a crucial part of the debate. The Trump Administration is proposing to overhaul the rold law that requires those reviews. It is know as the National Environmental policy act. Some of the biggest proposed changes would smaller projects from these reviews at all, project that dont use significant federal money would also be exempt. Rsmiting the length of many reviews to two y and allowing agencies tcuo ignore te lative impact of proposed projects, which could include a projects potential contribution to Climate Change. Amy covers energy and climate for axios and she joins me. Thanks for having me. Ask before we get to the administrations proposed change remind us, this law was signed 50something law years ago by richard nixon. What was the original intent . This was signed in 1970 along with the creation of the epa itself by president e nexen. Rpose was to make sure everything the government has a handy and is good to the environment. Whetr it is a road orridge oil pipeline, there needs to be an Environmental Review and that is why backers and detractors of the law say it is one of the mostitigated laws in america. For 50 years, the law has been in place. If you want to build a bridge, dig mine, you need to prove on paper, w here ist the impact of the project would be. They are called Environmental Impact statements. If you followed the keystone xl fight closely, you would know that fight was all about the eis and supplemental eis there were multiple of those written. That is the argument, that trump and others have cited for reasons why this law needs overhauled. The Trump Administration comes along and has been hearing plaints, that thi causes endless delays, paperwork, really not, it is gumming up the wks. What are they proposing to change . As you said, one ofes the bichanges is to exempt certain projects, the one that that donte ones require lots of government funding. Experts are going through the weeds of what this will mean but that could likely mean things like the keystone not be subject to Environmental Reviews at all. There is no federal money or federal role in that beyond permitting it. Keystone was a project by a private company. All they needed was government approval. That could change, that could be a sea change for oil and Gas Pipelines across the country and other energy projects. I should emphasize with the announcement today, the president and others didnt focus on oil and gas at all, they focused onther things i think people care more about, like highways or schools and things like that, that i think people realize and notice more than others more than a pipeline. One of the changes, they are saying reviews dont have to necessarily look at the longterm downstream consequences of a project, aning if i want to put a bridge across a wetland or a pipeline across parts of kansas, i am looking at what the pipeline would do to the literal nearby territory, t t what it mian five years down the road or what it might mean for t Community Next county over. Correct. Administration officere careful to say that. The words Climate Change arent in the proposal et al. The courts have traditionally interpreted cumulative effects to include Climate Change. Th are essentially excluding Climate Change, but that doesnt preclude companies from going above and beyond in doing consideration of Climate Change. I think some cpanies will, but a lot of the Smaller Companies and those whoy think t dont need to, they wont and the government wont be there to tellhem to do that we have seen environmental groups across the board decry these proposed changes. Wh is their principal concern with this . There are a couple of them. The first one, this could exempt him entire Environmental Reviews things like pipelines. Fighting pipelines across the country have been anm key envital tactics since the middle of the obama administration. While trump and others didnt focus on pipelines, that could a big impact to this law, so it could leave environmentalists and others hamstrung in ty ms of what tn fight. The other one is the consideratioe. Of climate cha some worry that if you dont consider you build a pipeline where flooding happens regularly . Onagain, that rebility will fall, the burden of the corporation pushing the project. Will the corporation do it . Selfregulation is a confirmation controversial thing that hasnt proved out well in thet. P can you help us fact check the concerns industry has said all along that this law reay does gum uphe works . The administration pointed to an example of a bridge in North Carolina that they argued took 20 years to build. Is it trues that tw really does getn the way of Major Projects . Things, itot of depends. In someefases,itely, the law has been on e books for 50 years. Other than a 1986hange, there snt been a lot of reform or reexamination. The administration is very much in the right to say that there have beenmp es where bureaucracy has run amok. Does that mean you do away with the entire law and make it so hoojects that dont get government fundingdnt have to be reviewed critics would say that would be going too far. But as th a lot of things in washington, middle ground isnt always where things end up. You do extreme one w or the her. Today, we are seeing the pendulum of this type of regulation review being swung far more to wear industry wants it. As with all things, this is not the final word, these are proposed changes. What happens next . The next step is to have public hearings, then a final regulation by, before the election. If a docrat wins, you can be sure this will be swiftly repealed, but longer termthis could invite m be more lawsuits. Thank you very much, amy. Thank you. Judy stay with us. Coming up on the newshour, investigative journalist ronan farrow gives his brief but spectacular take the importance of listening to survivors of sexual abuse. The heyday of unionization and the American Workforce is several decades old. Unions are sti struggling to gets more work join. Many Companies Remain opposed. In nevada, there is a case study of a union that has broken through. This weekend, several president ial candidates will be participating in a town hall with those workers. Paul looks at what the union has done differely, part of our series on economics and business making sense. Bathroom cleaning. Kitchen prep. D makinur that is theculum at the Culinary Academy of las vegas. A school runo by 32 cas hotels and local 226 of a thriving union, the culinary workers. Who learns what and why . Ho bus orakes 35,000 per year can take a course to be a waiter who makes 60,000 a year, then take a course to ycome a bartender and make 90,000 perr. These courses are free. For years, the New York Times laborr repor, stephen is the author of a book about the past, present and future of the american labor. Hias union membersp has plummeted, by two thirds since the 1980s, local 226 has more than tripled its membership to 60000 and has become a tch for the longmoribund labor unions. There are models the unions should look to o fanizing. Flex this professor has been studying the union. That have thegaost actively d membership of almost any union in the country. They do that by involving the membership in everything they do. We are not just a union that sits in a building and collects dues. The Vice President n. Of the un the people downtown at city hall screaming about, wed we want better s, they are culinary members. We want better infrastructure, culinary members. We ha a rank and file union. We are in on negotiations. Deborah has been f the rank and file for 40 years. She got more involved in the mid1980s when she objected to her casinosnsistence that cocktail servers lik hher where hils. We did all the research, how many miles we walk per night, 812 miles in an eight hour shift. We list five lift 515 pound trays. We beat the issue. 30 years later, 95 of Hotel Casinos are unionized. As for the remaining 5 the only reason some hotels pay is to prevent them from becoming union. T we offer job sec bity. He isl captain at the paris hotel. As massive protests inea the paris have shown, workers have a lot more heft the old countries. Steve was stationed in paris. Unions in europe are stronger. 90 of workers are covered by Union Contracts as only 12 are in the u. S. 6 ithe private sector. The reasons are familiar, from globalizationo esident ronald reagan, who in 1980 one broke the air Traffic Controllers union that supported his campaign, firing all o mf is strikibers. They forfeited their jobs and will be terminated. The culinary workers go beyond. Pick a sign. Gioas active in the 1. Ontier hotel strike that began in 199 how long did the strike last . Six years, four months, 10 days. There was a picket line 24 hours per day . Seven days a week. Nobody crossed the picket line. People stick together. They fought. Ywhen the sold the place they went back it was the ongest strike in u. S. Labor history. The union won. The frontr was torn down and on part of the property, Trump International was built. It was nonunion when it started. In 2015, says steve the culinary launched a unionization drive against t trump hotel. The workers voted for the union thetrump wouldnt recognize union. I will lend my vce Hillary Clinton joined the protest. Trump, facing a president ial campaign, sued for peace rather than continue his war against the union. More striking is the unions success in nevada, a right to work state, meaningll workers get whatever benefits a Union Negotiates without needing to join thenion at all. Hat do you say for a worker who says i will get b tefits anyway, i will not pay the dues . I say. Bless youll weve s got you. Most of them come around. D safety in the workplace, pension, guaranteerk week. Most of all we have a cadillac plan, health and welfare that is. Phenomen we are free of outofpocket costs for our medical insurance. Health insurance is the main reason why tracy helped organize the palms casino, newly part of the antiunion stations chain. If we have to go to the emergency room we have to pay 1000 out of pocket. That can take years to pay. Workers recently renovated to the ne of more than half a billion dollars and voted in the union 84 . The Parent Company is challenging the vote. It is harder and hardero get a contract. It haseen a fight. Lets not romanticizeons. Over the years, many earned their negative repations for corruption, especially when las vegas was built. For gold baking, shirking on the job, protecting unneeded workers, a pracce known as featherbedding. As i learned at the Culinary Academy, you smauldnt icize the work, either. This is physical. It is. Up is one personsed to do this . In six minute or less. How many beds what i have to do in one shift . X sometimes 30. What happens if i dont finish in time . He will pbably get a warning, a suspension and maybe you would get terminated. More challenging than the work maye the future of it in the face of technological disruption. Oin the academythe service sector. Every job is under threatchy tenology. They have a machine that will make drinks. They have a machine that will deliver stufto the rooms. Every contract says when you come up with aew technology, union work will be involved and you will train them to help facilitate what that is going to be. The new contracts to include such provisions. The union reached a contract with caesars in which omesars e to work with the union to retain workers rather than have them replaced and bldozed by new technologies. This union is not in a decaying city or industry. But lasonegas is in th labor Success Story venue this hese days. Look in new york, new york. The real one. A union in new york represents janitors and window washers and doormen and elevator operators and they added more than 10,000 airport workers. Making tse who work at new yorks ports of entry a littla less tired olot less poor, if not as well head as the visitors who broke book the ellis isla suite. Why dont more unions copy local 226 . Kate suspects she knows why. It is a lot of work to engage the members constantly. Numbers one more say in e union. Involved members are threat to the uni leadership . Es. Yet, says steve people are tighter tired inequality. We are seeing a ton of people unionized. We are seeing adjunct professors, graduate students, nurses. Whether that will be enough to turn around the decline is another question but there is mething percolating now exit is on full boil in las vegas. Fantasyland for visitors, the workplace f those who serve them. This is pbs newshour. Judy tonights brief but splar features journalist ronan farrow. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on Harvey Weinstein, the movie mogul who is for rate this week in new york. Here, he reflects on his experience listening to the survivors of Sexual Assault by looking inward. His own sister has accused their fodder, their father, woody allen, of assaultwag her when sha child. I g asked a lot how you create a safe space for sources as an investigative reporter. The answer is, its really down to the bravery of the sources. At the mercy of a pers deciding whether to do it and incredibly personal, difficult to come and you cant rush that. My mom to me integrity. She adopted kidspe withal needs and i grew up in a family with people the world left behind. In my siblings i understood what it is like to have painfulou conversations hard truths. In the case of the weinstein story, i was able to call my sier, who raised in a is asian of Sexual Assault in her own , lid say, what is that process like . What can i do to empower these sources . You never want to be the story as a reporter but sometimes when you work on a story for a long time, it becomes personal. I worked on a story where i lost my job, where my future career path changed. Reporters get legal threats. They get honeypots sent after efforts andckmail fake sources using false identities. There is an underworld just waitingto to bubble up the surface of the illicit tactics ed to shut down reporters. For all the symbolism of hvey weinstein walking off in handcuffs, the reality is, that is an example of a powerful and wealthy person who posted 1 million bail and continued to live comrtably in lavish mes. There may yet be accountability in that case but it was another illustrationhi of the way in the criminal Justice System is very different depending oth how we and how connected you are in this country. He will talk about believing all survivors people talk about believing all survivors and i dont think we should e,tomatically believe survivors of sexual violeut i think we need to listen to them. I got to see i my own life how my sister, who had a claim of Sexual Violence against a powerful guy, ran headlong into a machine of private investigators, high paid lawrs who are willing to gaslight a child. As an adult, later realized what survivors are up against. I was once one of those gs come approximately woman with a claim like this, saying why dont yojust shut up about it . It would be easier. Why are you bringing grief upon you when the family . She would say, this is somethiit i liveeveryday and i am being shut down by this system commanded by powerful men. In the end, io camealize she was right. When you look at the high profile, high paid lawyers who shielded Harvey Weinstein through the years and allowed him to allegedly continue his edion, when you look at Public Relations operatives that shielded people like Harvey Weinstein, bill cosby, woody allen, they are doing something that is incredibly damaging to ae culture and directly at odds with kind of accountability in the criminal Justice System. If you are wealthy enough and powerful enough, you can literally wipe away a claim of a one of the dynamics you encounter when you reportgh on rofile people is often, to have a constituency that feels deeply that they dont want the image of this person tarnished. If v you allow tue someone creates in other areas to be a shield for criminal activity, you allow something dark to fester. It can then have all sorts of other negative effects for the culturs that why accountability and transparency is important. My name is ronan farrow and this is myef bhat spectacular take on interrogating the truth. Judy find more brief but spectacular eays at pbs. Org newshour brief. Online rightow, legal analyst and newshour regular marcia coyle explores the major cases that will come before the Supreme Court this year. You can find that on our webse, pbs. Org newshour. That is theniewshour for t. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening for all at pbs, thank you and we will see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been prided by fidelity investments. American cruise lines. Bnsf railway. Consumer cellula and by the Alfred P Sloan foundation, supporting science, technology, and improved performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. And with the ongoing support of these institutions. And friends of the newshour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. This is pbs newshour west from weta udiosn washington and from our bureau at the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university