Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240712

And, hitting the road. Covid19 complicates the lives of an increasing number of Older Americans traveling the country to find seasonal work. Theres a Huge Population of us that are still in limbo, wondering if there is a next job to go to. Woodruff all that and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. With fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. Thats fidelity wealth management. Consumer cellular. Johon johnson. Financial Services Firm raymond james. Bnsf railway. The kendeda fund. Committed to advancing Restorative Justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. More at kendedafund. Org. 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 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 the United States president ial race is focused tonight on a potentially critical question will President Trump accept the Election Results if he loses . He wont say. And that, in turn, has sparked criticism across the board. Amna nawaz has the days developments. What country are we in . Nawaz democrats, including former Vice President joe biden, in disbelief. Look, he says the most irrational things. I dont know what to say. Nawaz . After President Trumps latest remarks about the election, responding to this question in the Briefing Room yesterday do you commit to making sure that that theres a peaceful transferal of power . We want to have get rid of the ballots and youll have a very trans well have a very peaceful there wont be a transfer, frankly. Therell be a continuation. The ballots are out of control. You know it. Nawaz following mr. Trumps failure to commit to the constitutional standard for every American Election since the countrys founding, the Senate Passed a resolution committing to a peaceful transfer of power, and lawmakers, including House Speaker nancy pelosi, weighed in. That a president of the United States would place in doubt the idea of peaceful transition of power is well, its no surprise. Nawaz a number of republicans also spoke out, to quiet concerns. Every single republican up here, i believe, is absolutely behind a peaceful transfer when when a sitting president loses. Let me put it all to rest for all of you, it will be a smooth transition, no concern on the outcome. Nawaz other members of the president s party took to twitter to respond. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell insisted there will be an orderly transition, just as there has been since 1792. Florida senator marco rubio pledged to peacefully swear in the president in 2021. And utah senator mitt romney dismissed anything other than a peaceful transition as unthkable and unacceptable. Former wisconsin Governor Scott walker, however, backed the president , tweeting smart candidates never concede anything before an election. They focus on what it takes to win. Its not the first time President Trump s called into question whether hed accept Election Results. During a 2016 president ial debate, candidate trump was asked this by fox news Chris Wallace do you make the same commitment that you will absolutely accept the result of this election . Ill look at it at the time. Im not looking at anything now. Ill look at it at the time. Nawaz wallace asked him again this summer. Can you give a direct answer . You will accept the election . I have to see. Look, i have to see. Im not going to just say yes, im not going to say and i didnt last time, either. Nawazas he left the white house this afternoon, the president doubled down on that message, returning to his unfounded doubt of mailin ballots. We want to make sure that the election is honest. And im not sure that it can be. I dont know that it can be with this whole situation, unsolicited ballots. Vote him out vote him out nawaz earlier at the Supreme Court, the president drew strong public reaction while paying his respects to the late Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg. The president has said he intends to announce his pick to replace ginsburg this weekend. For the pbs newshour, im amna nawaz. Woodruff in the days other news, officials in louisville, kentucky appealed for calm over the Breonna Taylor killing. There were new protests overnight, and two officers were shot and wounded, after the decision not to charge police with taylors death. Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor has our report. Alcindor last night in protesters demands for justice for Breonna Taylor gained new urgency. They came soon after a grand jury brought charges against two officers who fatally shot taylor in her home. The officers were attempting to serve a drug warrant in march. A third officer, who has already been fired, was indicted for recklessly shooting into a nearby apartment. Taylor, who was sleeping before officers shot her, had no criminal record, and no drugs were found in her apartment. Angry and distraught, hundreds took to the streets for protests across the nation, from los angeles. protests . To new york city. What happened today, its definitely going to be in the history books, because if we do nothing, the police are going to continue to commit genocide on my brothers and sisters. Alcindor . And washington, d. C. This young, amazing woman, who was contributing to her community, gs shot down because they went to the wrong house looking for some ex boyfriend . I mean, the whole thing is so infuriating. Alcindor demonstrations were largely peaceful. Say her name Breonna Taylor alcindor . But in louisville, two Police Officers were shot. Officer down, officer down. Take cover. Alcindor both are expected to recover. One suspect has been charged. Its unclear if he was a protester. In washington, President Trump commented on the violence as he left the white house. I also think its so sad, whats happening, with everythingbout that case, including law enforcement. So many people suffering. So many people needlessly suffering. But with respect to breonna, we give our regards to the family. Alcindor today in louisville, more protests geared up. Mayor greg fischer, who announced Police Reforms and a 12 million settlement with taylors family last week, said he undstood the disappointment. The question is, what do we do with this pain . We never had control over what an attorney general or grand jury would do. We dont have control over what the f. B. I. Will do with its investigation. We do have control over what happens next in our city. Alcindor a curfew in louisville remains in effect for the next two nights. For the pbs newshour, im Yamiche Alcindor. Woodruff another 870,000 americans filed for Unemployment Benefits last week. That was a slight increase from the previous week, but down from the peak of the pandemic. Overall, unemployment remains at historically high levels. Those jobless numbers came as treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin talked up the recovery today. At the same time, democrats pressed the Trump Administration to negotiate a new relief package. They spoke at a senate hearing. America is in the midst of the fastest economic recovery from any crisis in u. S. History. The august jobs report showed that the economy had gained back about 10. 6 million jobs, nearly 50 of the jobs lost due to the pandemic. I hope that you and the president dont dislocate your shoulders by patting yourself on the back, saying good job. I know you think the economy is doing well, if youre talking to your wealthy friends on wall street, but things are pretty bad for most working americans, and are going to get worse unless you come up with a package. Woodruff House Democrats now plan to offer a pareddown relief bill, in a bid to jump start negotiations. President trumps niece, mary trump, is accusing him and two of his siblings of cheating her out of millions of dollars. She already published a tellall book. Now, her lawsuit, filed in new york, claims fraud and conspiracy. It alleges that she was deprived of her share of familreal estate holdings. State prosecutors in florida today dropped a misdemeanor sex charge against robert kraft, owner of the new england patriots. That came after courts blocked the use of video that allegedly showed kraft paying for a sex act at a massage parlor. On wall street, the Dow Jones Industrial average gained 52 points to close at 26,815. The nasdaq rose 39 points, and the s p 500 added nine. And in australia, wildlife crews have rescued 88 pilot whales so far, after the largest Mass Stranding ever recorded there. Crews in western tasmania are working to move surviving animals back out to sea. At least 380 whales have die and their carcasses will have to be disposed of. Still to come on the newshour we look at the ways americans vote by mail, and the extensive verification systems already in place. The Trump Administrations response to the pandemic raises questions about preexisting conditions and the future of american healthcare. Covid19 complicates the lives of many Older Americans who hit the road in search of seasonal work. Plus, much more. Woodruff the president s outright refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power ties directly to his criticism and false statements about mailin voting. Mailin ballots are expected to hit a record level in this election. But, the president insists that they cant be trusted. Many state Officials Say otherwise. Were going to discuss President Trumps unprecedented statements shortly. But first, miles obrien has a report on how mailin voting really works, and what past experience shows. Obrien its august 14 in ocala, florida, four days until a primary election, and most of the ballots have been cast. They roll in every day in bins from the post office, rit past the office of wesley wilcox, supervisor of elections for marion county. If youd asked me ten years ago, if youd asked me five years ago, or if youd asked me five minutes ago, am i a proponent of votebymail . I am. I like votebymail. Obrien and so do most floridians. The state that became infamous for antiquated, ambiguous punchcard voting during the disputed bushversusgore president ial contest 20 years ago has fully embraced early voting, and absentee ballots for anyone who asks, including palm beach resident donald trump, who votes by mail while repeatedly trashing the process, suggesting it is rigged and rife with fraud. All these ballots come in. These mailed ballots come in. The mailed ballots are corrupt, in my opinion. And they collect them, and they get people to go in and sign them. And then they theyre forgeries, in many cases. Its a horrible thing. Obrien the rhetoric is not supported by reality. The conservative Heritage Foundation maintains an online database of documented Election Fraud cases in the United States. It lists 204 cases of absentee ballot fraud, with 143 criminal convictions over the past 20 years. On average, thats one case, per state, every seven years, representing about 0. 00006 of total votes ca. A lot of the things that people talk about votebymail is just not reality. You know, you cant run down to the wawa or the circle k and pick up a handful of voteby mail ballots. Its just not there. Obrien Amber Mcreynolds is c. E. O. Of the National Vote at Home Institute and coalition. He reason its exceedingly rare is that theres multiple steps and checks in the system that prevent it, and would identify it if it were to occur. Obrien mcreynolds was director of elections in denver when the state of colorado left traditional election day polling behind in 2013. In colorado, every active registered voter gets a ballot in the mail automatically. They can return ballots by mail, at drop boxes, and a few choose to vote in person. Jocelyn bucaro is Amber Mcreynolds successor. We only had about 1 of our voters in the state primary vote inperson. So, that tells us that and we hope will be repeated in november that voters will vote that ballot at home and use one of our secure methods to return it. Obrien bucaro and her team showed me how they do it. Ballot envelopes here are imprinted with an intelligent mail barcode, a number unique to each voter, which allows tracking through the mail. The envelopes are run through a customized mail sorter that is connected to the registration database. Drake rambke is a project coordinator here. So, anytime i run this machine, its got the most uptodate information. So, if somebody voted in person an hour ago, and then we get their mail ballot that comes through, its going to be kicked out as void, because they voted in person already. Obrien so its real time. Signatures are initially checked with software. About 20 are automatically accepted that way. The rest are verified, along with 2 of the machine choices, to doublecheck its performance. We do extensive training, both internally and then we bring in a handwriting expert that has worked with the f. B. I. Prior to every election, to give more tips. Obrien the envelopes are opened by machines, to maintain the secrecy of ballots. Then they are fed into high speed scanners to be tallied. Voters are instructed to carefully fill in the ovals. But on some ballots, 1. 6 in the last election, they dont fill them in completely or use xs, checks or other markings. And in that case, the software will ask humans to take a look at that and say, is this a mark or not . And we have bipartisan teams of election judges who do that ballot adjudication, where they can look at the image and say, obrien colorado is among six states that vote almost entirely by mail. But the covid19 pandemic has prompted others to consider ways fopeople to vote without spending a lot of time in line with strangers. I started getting a lot of calls, like, what would this look like . Could we scale this nationally . Obrien she says yes, but not without difficulty. The june 9 primary in georgia was a case in point. More than a Million People voted by mail. The previous record was 35,000. This created chaos and confusion. Many voters didnt get their ballots in time, and were uncertain that their votes were received and counted. That prompted waunda hayes to try a beltandsuspenders approach. I met her waiting in a long line to vote in person. Did you try to vote absentee . I sure did. Obrien what happened . I received my ballot and i sent it in, but i dont know if it was received or not. Obrien you want to make sure . Yes, right. Obrien secretary of state Brad Raffensperger says 1,000 georgians doublevoted in the june primary and august runoff. The announcement gave some traction to President Trumps critique of mailin voting, and his suggestion to supporters to try and vote twice. But, raffensperger warned the public that what the president is encouraging people to do is a crime. Doublevoting is a felony that is a minimum of one year in prison, up to ten years, up to a 100,000 fine. And we will prosecute. Obrien back in florida, wesley wilcoxs team is taking this unprecedented Election Year in stride. They didnt break a sweat sorting, processing and scanning ballots in the august primary. By election day, they only needed to push a button to tally the votes. But elsewhere, things are not running so smoothly. In tennessee, the w prevents election workers from even opening envelopes containing ballots until election day. Several other states, including michigan and pennsvania, have similar constraints. Wilcox hears a lot from his counterparts in places where they are struggling to answer the mail. This is this is an extraordinary election. Are they all kind of freaking out . Short answer is probably yes. But theres the election administrator prayer, lord, i dont care who wins as long, as they win big. Thats a reality. Obrien the reality is, Election Night will likely be more like election week, while we all wait for the envelopes, please. For the pbs newshour, im miles obrien in ocala, florida. Woodruff and now, to discuss the security of our election, and the president s failure to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, im jned by Kathleen Hall jamieson, director of the university of pennsylvanias annenberg Public Policy center. Kathleen hall jamieson, welcome back to the newshour. Before we get to that, i do want to follow up on miles obriens reporting just now. By the way, President Trump again denigrating mailin balloting voting and called it a scam today. Tell us in brief, what is your sense of the reality of mailin voting . The amount of problematic voting is so extraordinarily small that barring an extraordinarily unusual circumstance, an election will not be so close any of that could make any difference. Woodruff lets move on to talk about what President Trump has been saying the last few days. Casting doubt, raising questions about whether he would accept the results of the election if he loses. How would you sum up and hes been making these statements ju in the last day or so but how would you sum up what he said over the time of his entire presidency . The assumption that if the president were to lose it would mean that the election is rigged is an extremely problematic statement as was the statement in 2016 that suggested that he would wait to see whether or not he should concede. Theres also another element thats problematic in this chain of statements across time, and thats the statement that says, in cases more political than it should be, and this is the outcome, it is important to have a ninth justice. That assumes we cant trust the independence of the judiciary, that the justices dont follow the constitution and the law, that the four justices nominated by republicans would side with the republican and nose no, nominated by a democrat would side with joe biden and the ninth justice would automatically side with the president. That calls into question another of the fundamental assumptions we mate about our systems of government. Its checks and balances that are protected across time. Its the ingenuity of the founders that gave us the three branches and those are there to protect us from executive overreach. Woodruff have we ever before, Kathleen Hall jamieson, heard a president connect the number of justices on the court in connection with whether or not his own reelection may be accepted and may have to end up in court . Have we ever seen this kind of connection drawn by a president . No, we have not. And because it was the Supreme Court that guided us through the 2000 outcome, which, as you know, was an extraordinarily closeout come, we have in our history the ability to say to nations across the world, when it was extraordinarily close, our three branches of government worked. Our constitutional checks and balances structure and our willingness to grant the independence of judiciary made it possible for the country to accept the outcome but never did anyone call into play the assumption, bring up the possibility that there would not be a peaceful transfer of power. Al gore who actually called to congratulate then houston president elect bush withdrew and once it was acknowledged by the superior courts he acknowledged in a concession speech and we had a transition. We can say to the world in that extremely close election edecided over a difficult period of time, our system worked. The nations across the world are looking to us now and i assume wondering if all these years when weve said free and fair elections, persons votes actually counted, paceful transfer of power, if Vladimir Putin isnt just laughing saying this is a propaganda coup for russia woodruff finally, what is the harm done in the president himself is the one saying, well, im not sure im going to accept the results. We have to see what happens . Why does that matter . We need to have confidence that the process of campaigning and the process then of voting as a result, observing the campaign and calling on your experiences, your partisan dispositions and cast ago vote is going to yield an outcome that is determined by we the people and by our electoral system including the Electoral College structure. And to the extent that someone suggests theres Something Else at play, that is the ability of a president potentially to decide whether the election is free and fair, whether its been rigged or not, calls into question the suppositions of our system of government, that is deeply problematic. Woodruff and we should point out that a number of republicans, even those who typically are right there at the side of the president , were there today saying, as far as theyre concerned, there will be a peaceful transfer. Kathleen hall jamieson, thank you so much. Youre welcome. Woodruff with just 40 days until election day, health care is becoming a bigger issue in the campaign. That is due in part to the death of Supreme Court justice ginsburg, and the possibility that the fate of the federal healthcare law could be argued before the Supreme Court just one week after the election. Today, President Trump tried to broaden his appeal on his healthcare record. William brangham checks the rhetoric against the record. Brangham judy, President Trump today said he would issue two new executive orders. One pledges to limit surprise medical billing, which can leave patients with huge, unexpected debts. The second says the u. S. Will make sure that insurers dont discriminate against people with preexisting conditions. But these orders dont change any laws, and require congress to do so. All of this comes as the president is trying to repeal the Affordable Care act, which already protects preexisting conditions. For more, im joined by Paige Winfield cunningham. She covers health care for the washington post. Paige winfie cunningham, very good to have you here. So todays event was billed as the ericafirst healthcare plan, but there wasnt really a plan per se, the longpromised plan from the president , this was the signing of two executive orders. As i mentioned, one deals with preexisting conditions. I think we have about a quarter of l americans have what would be considered a preexisting condition. What is this order and does it help protect them . Right. Well, this is really clearly an effort by trump, six weeks before the election, to try to look like he is on sort of the winning side of this issue. But theres a lot of dispute over whether he can even legally use the executive authority, use an executive order to extend these protections and almost certainly this would be challenged in court. A lot of people are questioning this, already. And, of course, you know, the a. C. T. About the passed in 2010 pioneered this, was the legislation that extended these protections to americans and E Administration has refused to defend that law, and the case will be heard by the Supreme Court, of course, on november 10th, and its really been remarkable, i would say, last year and this year, especially, as youve seen President Trump and republicans try to completely rewrite the record on who has been in favor of these protections. It plays really really well with voters, and democrats have successfully leveraged it against republicans in the 2018 eltions. So theres a blaisent attempt by trump to make it look as he has been a champion of this all along, though behind the scenes hes done a lot of things to undermine those very protections. Reporter if the Supreme Court were to do awawith the a. C. T. Atics and congress, as this executive order orders them to do to try to address this issue, if this does not happen, theoretically, a quarter of americans could face some kind of discrimination with regard to their coverage . Right. So what would happen if we saw these protections fall and i should add, we arent certain of that. Theres a lot of different scenarios that could play out and theres a simple fix congress could do to all of this to make this lawsuit go away, but if they were toppled, this would kind of go back to the lay of the land before the aclu was passed before 2010 to regulate this and you saw a variety of approaches. Some of the more liberal states tended to be run by democrats would, you know, put restrictions on what insurers could discriminate based on. Other states had very few restrictions. Arizona was an example of essentially iurers could discriminate against essentially anything and, not only that, but they could refuse, if they knew that someone had had a particular condition in the past, they could refuse to cover treatment in the future that was in any way related to that condition that someone had had. So it was really the wh wild, wd west in the individual market for these folks. Reporter so lets turn quickly in the last half minute we have before we have to go, the second executive order addresses surprise medical building. Are there eat in this executive order and will this solve this serious problem . This is an extremely tricky legislative problem. Congress struggled through the nitty gritty details of exactly how to do this. All of last year, we had different legislation in the house and the senate, different opinions about how to tackle this, its very complex. The only thing this executive order does is it basically instructs congress to keep working on the issue, and then if they donto produce legislation by january 1, then h. H. S. Should then try to figure out how they can tackle this administratively. But, again, it is a very complex issue. This is why congress hasnt yet been able to unify around a single bill, and, so, trump just coming out today and claiming that hes solved surprised medical billing is extremely far from the truth and a very misleading thing to tell he american people. Reporter all right, Paige Winfield cunningham of the washington post, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff the pandemic has spurred a surge in camping and r. V. Travel, as social distancing has become the catchphrase of covid19. But, its not all fun and vacations. One group of americans has long since adopted a selfsufficient lifestyle, living fulltime in motor homes and working seasonal jobs to support themselves. Our economics correspondent paul solman has the story. Its part of our making sense series, unfinished business. And a note some of this story was shot before the pandemic began. This is the couch that turns into a bed. Reporter to darla mclain, 64, and husband bill, also 64, former biker and hellraiser, this is home sweet home. Our whole bedroom is done all in levis. These are all my old pants. Reporter the mclains have been living in an r. V. Since 2010, after the Great Recession sank their l. A. Motorcycle repair shop, and their home. We had a 700,000 house that we owed about 200,000 on. That sold for 131,000. On the auction block. Reporter broke, the mclains sold what was left and hit the road. It was that or rent an apartment and get jobs locally. But there were no jobs. Reporter so they drove to where the work was. Our first job was amazon in coffeyville, kansas. Reporter a twomonth stint in the warehouse, holiday rush. It was it was pretty rough. They expect certain numbers, and you have to hustle. Reporter bill overhustled. He blew his knee out. I dont normally walk at 60 miles an hour, pushing a heavy cart, going around 90degree turns. Reporter amazon was the first of some 20 seasonal gigs. When we first met them last fall, the mclains were parked across from a Las Vegas Ikea to peddle pumpkins, and then christmas trees. We have what we call wheel estate. We just we just take the covers off, lift the levelers, and we go where the economy is good. Reporter tens of thousands of retirement age americans are migrant laborers, or workampers, driven by economic necessity and wanderlust. This is judy arnolds fourth year workamping. Shes been tending a store in Yellowstone National park since june. It wasnt very busy at first, but as time went on, it got busier and busier, until we have more people now than we have had in regular seasons. People were just tired of being cooped up at home and they thought, lets go to the parks. Reporter more sightseers drawn away from covid and back to nature means a lot more work for a workamper like arnold. Im doing the work of three people right now. Reporter the pandemic has driven an awful lot of americans onto the road, but the number of mobileliving, gighopping workampers has been growing for years. Every january, hordes convene in quartzsite, arizona, the site of an annual r. V. Show. Thats where we met 66yearold susan otteros. You end up in these really neat places, like yosemite. Reporter otteros works as a camp host. Main tasks . Checki in campers and, if youre up for it, cleaning. I dont do the bathrooms, my boyfriend does the bathrooms. I collect the money. Reporr Mitch Craighead drafts camp hosts for thousand trails campsites. How many 75yearolds do you recruit . More than youd expect. The pool of woers that were hiring for is growing dramatically. Baby boomers are retiring. Reporter that was in january. The company declined to give us specifics, but mitchell says campgrounds are busier than these days. Weve always looked at ourselves in the camping industry as the original social distancing. And a lot of our new customers are telling us just that. Weve seen a significant spike in reservations for the remainder of the camping year this year. Reporter at the r. V. Show, workamping veterans rick and Tammie Womack moved into their motor home nine years ago, after their son died by suicide. We started out with what we call our journey for joshua, which was to honor our son. But the reality after that three years was, its expensive to live on the road. You need new tires, maintenance costs are high. Reporter and big campers get just seven miles a gallon. So for the past seven years, theyve worked the nor dakota sugar beet harvest. I didnt even know what a sugar beet was. I thought sugar came from sugarcane, because where i come from, it does. But instead, 55 of our sugar comes from sugar beets instead of sugarcane in the country. Reporter muddy 12hour shifts at 14 an hour, plus overtime, until the beets run out. Some nomad gigs pay a lot more than that. Ms. J transports r. V. S from manufacturer to dealer, and sees the country. I can pick my jobs. So if theres an r. V. That needs to go to florida which, i have done this, delivered in miami i went on over to key west. Reporter and how much do you get paid for that . I would say somewhere between 60 and 75. Reporter thats 60,000 to 75,000 a year, driving four days a week. These days, r. V. S are selling like hot cakes, but ms. J is sitting out the pandemic in a tiny house in georgia until next year. The cases are up, especially for, you know, certain communities, communities of color, the cases are up. And i know quite a few of people who have been affected by the pandemic, and so i just kind of choose to lay low until things kind of, you know, simmer down a little bit. Reporter can you afford to . I can. Ive been doing this pattern over a number of years where i was able to finaially prepare myself for the whatifs. And this is one of those what ifs. Reporter back in january, in the big tent, there were hawkers of tire pressure monitors, r. V. Windowcleaners, orthotics. We reconnected with bill and darla mclain, whod driven here from mexico, where they go f Affordable Health care. Shrimp tacos are killer. laughs we have a great pharmacist down there. We get glasses, and our teeth worked on, and everything else. I dont know how they can charge so much for stuff here that you can go right down there and get the same thing for a fraction of the price. Reporter but the mclains were at the r. V. Show for a gig to sign up other workampers as oilfield gate guards. You have to man the gate 24 hours a day. They pay 150 a day for that. Reporter now look, workamping obviously isnt for everyone, even here. Does this interest you . No, not at all. Reporter and why is that . Because i retired for a reason. I dont want to go back to work. Reporter but bill and Sandy Collins liked what they heard. They workamp, in part, to fund their travel. We work adventureland, then we go to jcpenneys, and reporter doing what . Working in the warehouse at jcpenneys. Reporter even in bankruptcy, jcpenneys warehouse is still running. And, as at amazon, you have to step lively. On thursday i walked 23,355 steps. Reporter according to 72yearold bills smartphone, that is. And as long as i keep doing it, then i think my health is going to stay a lot better than i would if i sat down. Reporter thats one of the appeals of workamping to george stoutenburgh. I cant do nothing. What is nothing . You sit around and what . Wait to die . Thats not me. Reporter but he also needs the money. Its not like were broke, but were certainly not millionaires. We cant afford to just travel the world and do whatever we want to do. Reporter judy arnolds current yellowstone gig has kept her more than busy, but when it ends in october, she isnt sure what shell do. Theres a Huge Population of us that are still in limbo, wondering if there is a next job to go to. And a lot of my coworkers, where they normally go, there arent places arent open. Im definitely worried because i definitely need an income. Reporter as for bill and darla mclain, theyve been parked outside their daughters housin arkansas for several months, making repairs to the r. V. I think for the most part, weve been surviving and trying to get through this like most people are. It is a little weird for r. V. ers. I know that for a fact. Its not the easiest tng in the world to find a ace. Its not really that we cant travel, its just once you get where youre going. Where do you stay . Reporter but this weekend, theyre getting back on the road, headed to a new job, working, and hoping to find places to camp. For the pbs newshour, this is paul solman. Woodruff today in a House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing room, there was an empty chair for michael pack, the c. E. Of the u. S. Agency for global media. Pack ignored a subpoena from lawmakers who today expressed bipartisan concern that he has politicized, and mismanaged, Media Outlets that helped the u. S. Win the cold war, including voice of america. Heres nick schifrin. Schifrin valdya baraputris career at voice of america ended with a oneway ticket. crying she didnt want to leave the u. S. , but she and fellow v. O. A. Indonesia service journalist Rafki Hidayat had to take a plane home after v. O. A. Wouldnt extend their visas. Being thrown out of a country in the middle of a pandemic feels very cruel. If you heard whats coming out of the voice of america, its disgusting. Schifrin President Trump has made it clear hes unhappy with what he calls voice of ameca bias, as has the new c. E. O. Of v. O. A. s parent company, the United States agency for global media, or u. S. A. G. M. , michael pack. Ronald reagan apparently said that, you know, if you let go of the wheel of the car, it veers left. And theres something to that. The media, undirected, goes left. It has a leftwing, leftward bias. Schifrin in audio interviews, pack also cites national security. He says the foreign journalists on u. S. Visas werent properly vetted, leaving the organization vulnerable to espionage. Journalism to be a journalist is a great cover for a spy. Its just a great cover. And from the beginning, from the cold war and even earlier, theyve been penetrated. These are the same slurs that are hurled at them by the kremlin. Schifrin jamie fly led Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, which is funded by u. S. A. G. M. , before heas fired by pack. Its incredibly dangerous for a u. S. A. G. M. Head to start basically writing a press release that the kremlin can then turn around and use next week against u. S. A. G. M. Journalists. Schifrin pbs newshour spoke to a halfdozen of the more than 70 v. O. A. Journalists whose visas werent renewed. None would go on the record, but one provided this document confirmation they filled out a standard u. S. Government background check used for Many Administration officials. Its more than 100 pages long. Mr. Pack is making it seem Like National security is at risk here. Schifrin grant turner was the c. F. O. Of u. S. A. G. M. Until he was fired by pack. I think its just pretext, and a good cover for taking some abhorrent actions. The courier, a ship without guns, goes into battle with the greatest weapon of all truth. Schifrin voice of america was created by the u. S. Government to broadcast behind the iron curtain, to promote american ideas by presenting objective news, including about this is Radio Liberty, an schifrin alongside v. O. A. , u. S. A. G. M. Provides grants to independent corporations that are supposed to be independent Media Outlets Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, radio free asia, the middle east broadcast network, and open technology fund, which funds tools that help evade government censorship and surveillance. Pack fired their leaders and replaced their bipartisan boards with partisan ones. Today, the witnesses said that degraded the media organizations credibility. Amanda bennett was fired by pack as v. O. A. President. The very fact that v. O. A. Is provided outside any party in power is what gives v. O. A. Its own power. Schifrin today, v. O. A. And the her agencies broadcasts in more than 60 languages, to an audience of more than 350 million. I will end the muslim ban on day one. Schifrin v. O. A. s urdu service came under fire for broadcasting, without context, a campaign ad from joe biden. Senior v. O. A. Journalists later removed the video from its platforms. But if that shouldnt have aired, heres what aired more recently on v. O. A. Spanish channels, before journalists called for its removal speaking spanish schifrin thats Trump Campaign official Mercedes Schlapp telling viewers, the Joe Biden Campaign will destroy hispanic families. There has been past criticism of u. S. A. G. M. Funding, morale, and structure. Even some republicans criticize pack. Top House Foreign Affairs republican mike mccaul. Make no mistake, i believe there is some reform that needs to be done. But i dont think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. This undermines the very things were trying to achieve. Schifrin connecticut democrat tom malinowski. If china, russia, north korea, or any of our adversaries had in fact infiltrated u. S. A. G. M. , they could have not possibly done more harm to americas interests than mr. Pack has in fact done on his own. Schifrin and with me now is jamie fly, the former president of Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, who was fired by michael pack. Hes a former top aide to republican senator marco rubio, and is now at the german marshall fund. Jamie fly, welcome to the newshour. You are a republican. Do you believe that what pack is doing is partisan . Im not even sure its parts partisan. We learned at the hearing there appears to be a lotted of gross mismanagement of the agency underway right now. There were democrats and republicans fired en masse and hes putting these nawrgt tools, these tools of american soft power at risk, and im not even sure it has a lot to do with politics. Why does it matter that an organization like yours, rferl are not seen as perhaps independent dure michae under m. Theyve gained a following in closed societies such as russia, china, belarus, which sin credible as a bel bell russian people. Thats journalism is being threatened by mr. Packs actions, by the removal of the Network Heads, by some of his attempts to and the people who are working with him to influence the coverage of Networks Like voice of america. You mentioned ice of america, the federal news you service. Usagm which is a federal entity. Radio free europe Radio Liberty is a diddle lmpt, known as the grand t because the federal agencies give money, grant money to your organizations, the organizations you used to lead, what are you worried about these supposedly independent organizations moving forward under michael ck . Mr. Pack has used his powers not just to remove Network Heads like myself but he also replaced the corporate boards. He made himself chairman of the corporate board, he appointed his chief of staff to the corporate board, and hes filled the rest of the board slots with mostly Trump Administration officials. It is de facto federalizes these entities which, for decades in the case of Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, have operated as governmental nonorganizations and been able to be truly independent in their reporting that start to become threatened once you have federal officials sitting on their board. Reporter jamie fly, thank you very much. Thanks, nick. Woodruff even with so much attention focused on the pandemic, the threat and toll of cancer remains enormously important. In the u. S. , Breast Cancer remains the second deadliest cancer for women. Estimates suggest that more than 42,000 people will die from it this year, and more than 275,000 new cases of invasive Breast Cancer will be diagnosed in 2020. But there are more than 3. 5 million women in america who are survivors, meaning they have been treated or are still being treated. A new book focuses on those very issues, how to battle and live with Breast Cancer. Its written by our own ali rogin, a producer here at the newshour, about her own experience and tt of other women. Its called beat Breast Cancer like a boss 30 powerful stories. I spoke with her earlier this week. Ali, welcome. Its very good to have you with us. Congratulations on the book. Youve written this illuminating and and really personal book, personal story about what happened with you, and with so many other women. And it all started, in your case, with your getting the results back of genetic testing. And you were just a college senior. Thats right, judy. I tested positive for the brochuone genetic mutation, which is now better known as the Angelina Jolie gene, following that actress becoming very public with it several years after my experience. This is a genetic mutation that increases a womans risk of breast and Ovarian Cancer exponentially over the course of their lifetime. And at the time i was going through this, there werent a whole lot of resources out there for me. It certainly wasnt as mainstream as it became once Angelina Jolie went public. So i had a hard time figuring out what to do. I stressed out a lot. I debated my options, and i ultimately decided to have a preventative double mastectomy with Reconstructive Surgery right before i graduated. And that was the right decision for me. Ive never looked back. That was about ten years ago. And what i realized, though, when angelina went public with her story a few years later, is how how much of a sense of solidarity i felt, that she was using her platform to speak out publicly. I felt a lot less alone than i did when i was going through my experience. And in retrospect, as i thought about how i could use my experience to help other people, i figured that if i lt that way following reading angelinas story, other people might feel that really great sense of comfort when they read the stories of other women who we all admire, who have gone through Breast Cancer or a related experience. Woodruff and you do write, ali rogan, about the importance of community, having people there with you. I want to ask you about that, because the first person you profile here is somebody many of us know. She was Cokie Roberts, abc, of courseand npr correspondent for many years, asomeone we all looked up to as a journalist. And she sat down wh you and talked about her own experience. Thats exactly right. To me, the late, great Cokie Roberts is someone who really embodies the entire message of the book. Its called beat Breast Cancer like a boss. But i want to make very clear that beating Breast Cancer doesnt have to look one way or the other. I think were all too limited by our definition of talking about beating Breast Cancer as becoming cancerfree and living cancerfree for the rest of your life. That is a far too limiting definition. Cokie roberts, when i interviewed her, she had gone through a very public Cancer Battle earlier in her life, and she had talked quite a bit about it and had become a strong advocateor other women battling Breast Cancer. What i didnt know when i interviewed her was that she had recently found out that her cancer had returned, and it had come back worse. And the fact that she was so willing to speak to me about her earlier experience and talk about how she lived her life and the importance of being close to family, doing the things that make you happy, even as she was back in the fight actively, was a lesson that i didnt really fully learn until she passed away, because she did not tell me that she was back actively in the fight. So i think when you talk about beating Breast Cancer, nobody embodied that more than Cokie Roberts, who i believe beat Breast Cancer every single day of her life. Woodruff and, ali, you went on to talk to several dozen other women about how they made decisions about their own treatment. Some of them wellknown women sheryl crow, congresswoman Debbie Wasserman schultz, but others we dont know as well. But your point all the way through, is that each one made her own decision about how to handle this terrible thing and that she was dealing with. Absolutely. Its such a critical point, judy. There is no right way to deal with Breast Cancer. There is no single way to deal with Breast Cancer. Every Single Person dealing with Breast Cancer or any other type of cancer deals with it in their own way, and they are entitled to deal with it in their own way. Lots of people, for example, like to have friends and family come visit them when theyre getting treatment, although, of course, in the time of the coronavirus, that isnt always possible. But there are, of course, many people who say i want chemotherapy or radiation or whatheyou to be my time. I dont want anybody there. And they use that time to have some moments to themselves. Many people chose not to inform anybody but their closest caretaker or their spouse until after they were done with their treatment because they didnt want to have to deal with the emotional burden in many cases of having to deal with other peoples reaction to your own diagnosis. That can be something that is just as draining is dealing with your own feelings about a diagnosis. Woodruff well, you have performed such a great service, ali rogin, in telling these stories and going and collecting these stories and sharing them with us, as i said, from women who names we recognize and other women we dont. But every single story here is worth reading and worth sharing. Ali rogin, its beat Breast Cancer like a boss 30 powerful stories. Thank you so much. Thank you, judy. Woodruff and coming up later tonight, a pbs newshour primetime special on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg. We will assess her impact on american society, and look at the issues at play in the battle to replace her. Heres a first look. Ruth marcus chged the law. She has compiled a truly historic record. Woodruff che changed the court. We are certainly here to stay. Woodruff she changed america. She was the moral beacon. Woodruff we look back at her life and ahead at the battle to replace her. Fill that seat. This fight has just begun. Woodruff r. B. G. , her legacy and the courts future, a pbs newshour special thursday at 8 00, 7 00 central. Well talk to Supreme Court Justice Stephen breyer among others. We hope you will join us. And that is 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, please stay safe, and well see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by consumer cellular. Johnson johnson. Bnsf railway. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. Fidelity wealth management. The alfred p. Sloan foundation. Driven by the promise of great ideas. 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. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org hello, everyone, and welcome to amanpour co. Heres whats coming up. Six months after the Fatal Shooting of Breonna Taylor by police, a grand jury in kentucky indicts one of three officers. We have reaction from reverend william barber. Then more than 100 of her law clerks act as a guard for a lion of the Supreme Court, ruth bader ginsburg. How long will her law of fight for equality and her rule of law be shaped for the next appointment . How are the migration rules any different . Ill speak to someone from oxford university