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. There is a Huge Population of us that are still in limbo wondering if there is a next job to go to. Judy 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. That is fidelity Wealth Management. Consumer cellular. Johnson johnson. Financial Services Firm raymond james. Bnsf railway. The candida fund, committed to justice through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. More at candida fund. 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 ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and for contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Judy the u. S. President ial races focused on a potentially critical question, will President Trump except the Election Results if he loses . He will not say explicitly and that intern has sparked criticism across the board. On none of oz has the days developments. Amna democrats including former Vice President joe biden in disbelief. He says the most irrational things. I dont know what to say. Amna after President Trumps latest remarks, responding to this question in the Briefing Room yesterday. You commit to making sure there is a peaceful transfer of power . Pres. Trump get rid of the ballots and there will not be a transfer, there will be a continuation of the ballots are out of control. Amna following mr. Trumps not committing, the Senate Passed a resolution committing to a peaceful transfer of power and lawmakers including nancy pelosi weighed in. That the president of the United States would put into doubt the peaceful transfer of power, it is no surprise. Amna a number of republicans spoke out to quiet concerns. Every republican up here i believe is behind a peaceful transfer 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. Amna other members of the president s party took to twitter. Mitch mcconnell insisted there will be an orderly transition just as there has been since 179 2. Marco rubio pledged peacefully swear in the president in 2021. Mitt romney said anything but a peaceful transition would be unacceptable. Scott walker however backed the president saying, smart candidates never concede anything before an election. They focus on what it takes to win. It is not the first time President Trump has called into question whether he would accept Election Results. During a 2016 president ial debate, candidate trump was asked tothis by fox news chris wallace. What you make the commitment that you will serve, absolutely accept the result of this election . Pres. Trump i will look at it at the time. I am not looking at anything now. Amna wallace asked against again this summer. Pres. Trump i have to see it. I will not just say yes. Amna as he left of the white house, the president doubled down on that message, returning to his unbounded doubt on mailin ballots. Pres. Trump we want to make sure the election is honest. I dont know that it can be with this whole situation, unsolicited ballots. Amna earlier at the Supreme Court president drew strong public reaction while playing his respects to the late Justice Ginsburg. The president has said he intends to replace ginsberg this weekend. For the pbs newshour, i am on none of oz. Amna nawaz. I am stephanie sy with newshour west. Officials in louisville, kentucky bracing for a second night of protests over the Breonna Taylor killing and have extended a nightly curfew through the weekends. Two officers were shot and wounded last night after the decision not to charge police with taylors death. Yamiche alcindor has the report. Yamiche last night in louisville, kentucky, demands for justice for Breonna Taylor had more urgency, after a grand jury brought no charges against two officers that fatally shot taylor in he home. They were trying to serve a drug warrant in march. A third officer who was fired was charged with recklessly shooting into a nearby apartment. Taylor had no criminal record and no drugs were found in her apartment. Kentuckys attorney general said officers acted in selfdefense after taylors boyfriend fired the initial shots. Angry and distraught, hundreds took to the streets for protests across the nation from los angeles to new york city. This will be in the history books. If we do nothing, police will continue to commit genocide on my brothers and sisters. Yamiche in washington, d. C. This young, amazing woman contributing to her Community Gets shot down because they went to the wrong house looking for an exboyfriend . The whole thing is so infuriating. Yamiche demonstrations were largely peaceful, but in louisville two Police Officers were shot. Both are expected to recover. One suspect has been charged. It is unclear if he was a protester. In washington, President Trump commented on the violence as he left the white house. Pres. Trump i think it is so sad what is happening with everything about that case, including law enforcement. So many people suffering, so many people needlessly suffering with respect to breonna, we give our regards to the family. Yamiche today in louisville more protests geared up. The mayor announced Police Reforms and a 12 million settlement with breonnas Family Express disappointment. What do we do with this pain . We never had control over what the grand jury would do. We do have control over what happens next in oucity. Yamiche a curfew in louisville remains in effect for the next few nights. For the pbs newshour, i am yamiche alcindor. Stephanie another 870,000 americans filed front Employment Benefits last week. Secretary 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 the economy gains back 10. 6 million jobs, nearly 50 of the jobs lost due to the pandemic. I hope 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 you are talking to wealthy friends on wall street. Things are bad for most working americans and will get worse unless you come up with the package. Yamiche there is a bid to jumpstart negotiations. Firefighters battling a destructive blaze in the hillsides of los angeles have gained the upper hand. The bobcat fire is 50 contained. Evacuated residents are being allowed to return. 20 large fires are currently burning in california. The pac12 will kick off this fall, reversing an earlier decision to postpone play until spring, due to covid19. The conference set a november 6 start date foa seven game. The decision follows the big ten announcement last week they will start play next month. In australia, wildlife cruze rescued 88 pilot whales after the largest Mass Stranding ever recoed. Crews in western tasmania are working to move surviving animals back out to see. At least 380 whales have died. Still to come on the newshour with judy. Look at the way americans vote by mail and the extensive verification systems already in place. The Trump Administrations response to the pandemic raises questions about the future of American Health care. Covid19 complicates the lives of many Older Americans who hit the road in search of seasonal work. Plus much more. This is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the Walter Cronkite university in washington arizona. Judy 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. The president insist they cant be trusted, but state Officials Say otherwise. We will discuss President Trumps unprecedented statement shortly, but first, miles obrien has a report on how mailin voting works and what past experience shows. Miles it is august 14 in ocala, florida, four days until a primary election. They roll in every day in bins from the post office, right past the office of wesley wilcox. Supervisor of election for marion county. If you hadsked me 10 years ago, five years ago, five minutes ago, and my a proponent of vote by mail, i am. Miles so do most floridians. The state that became known for ambiguous punchcard voting during the bushgore president ial contest, 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. Pres. Trump all these mailed ballots come in. The mailed ballots are corrupt, in my opinion and they collect them and get people to sign them and there are forgeries in many cases. It is a horrible thing. Miles the rhetoric is not supported by reality. The conservative Heritage Association has documented electi fraud cases in the u. S. It lists 204 cases of absentee ballot fraud with 143 criminal convictions over 20 years. On average that is one case per state every seven years. Representing about 0. 0006 of total votes cast. A lot of the things people talk about for vote by mail is not a reality. You cannot run down to the wawa or circle k and pick up a handful of vote by mail ballots. Miles the reason it is exceedingly rare, there are multiple steps and checks in the system that prevents it and would identify it if it were to occur. Miles Mick Reynolds was director of elections in colorado. They left traditional polling behind in 23. In colorado every active registered voter gets a ballot in the mail automatically. They can return them by mail, drop boxes, and if you chose to vote in person. They only had about 1 of our voters vote in person. That tells us and we hope it will be repeated in november that they will use one of our secure methods to return it. Miles she and her team showed me how they do it, ballot envelopes are imprinted with an intelligent mail barcode, unique to each vote, which allows tracking through the mail. They run through a customized mail support sorter, connected to the registration database. Jake is a project coordinator. It has the most uptodate information. If somebody voted in person an hour ago and we get there mail ballot, it will be kicked out as avoid. Miles signatures are initially checked with software. 20 are automatically accepted that way. The rest are verified along with 2 of the machine choices to double check its performance. We do extensive training. The fbi has given more tips. Miles the envelopes are open by machines to maintain the secrecy of ballots and they are fed into highspeed scanners. Voters are instrted to carefully fill in the ovals. But in 1. 6 , they do not fill them in completely or use xs checks or other markings. The software will ask humans to take a look and say is this a mark or not . We have bipartisan teams who do that ballot adjudication. Miles colorado is among six states that votes almost entirely by mail. But the pandemic has prompted others to consider ways for people to vote without spending time in line with strangers. I started getting a lot of calls like what would this look like, could we scale this nationally. She says yes, but not without difficulty. Georgia was a case in point. More than one Million People voted by mail. The previous record was 35,000. This created chaos and confusion. Many voters did not get their ballots in time and were uncertain their votes were received and counted. That prompted wanda hayes to use a belt and suspenders approach. Did you vote absentee . Yes, i received my ballots and sent it in, but i dont know if they received it or not. Miles the secretary of state says 1000 georgians double voted in the june primary and august runoff. It gave traction the President Trumps critique of mailin voting and his suggestion to get voters to vote twice. They warn with the president is encouraging people to do was a crime. Double voting is a felony, a minimum of one year in prison, up to a 100,000 dolr fine. We will prosecute. Miles back in florida, wesley wilcoxs team is taking this in stride. They did not break a sweat sorting, processing ballots in august. By election day they only needed to press a button to tally votes. Elsewhere things are not running as smoothly. In tennessee the law prevents election workers from opening envelopes containing ballots until election day. Michigan and pennsylvania have similar constraints. Wilcox is hearing a lot from his counterparts in areas where they are struggling to answer the mail. Are they all freaking out . Short answer, probably yes. But there is the prayer, i dont care who wins, as long as they win big. That is the reality. Miles Election Night will likely be more like alexion week while we all wait for the envelopes, please. For the pbs newshour i miles obrien in ocala, florida. Judy now to discuss the security of the election and the president s failure to commit to a peaceful transfer of power i am joined by kathleen, director of the university of pennsylvanias annenberg Public Policy center. Welcome back to the newshour. Before we get to that i want to follow up on miles obriens reporting. President trump again denigrating mail in voting. He called it a big scam today. Tell us in brief, what is your sense of the reliability of mailin voting historically in this country. The academic evidence is clear. The amount of problematic voting is so extraordinarily small that barring unusual circumstance,n election will not be so close it can make any difference. Lets move on to talk about what it is casting doubt, raising questions over whether he would accept the results if he loses. How would you some up he has made these statements in the last day or so. How would you sum up what he said over the time of his entire presidency . Kathleen the assumption that if the president were to lose would mean the election was rigged is problematic, as was the statement in 2016 that he would wait to see whether or not he should concede. Another thing is problematic, the statement that says in cases more political than it should be, it is important to have a ninth justice. That assumes we cannot trust the independence of the judiciary, that the justices do not follow the constitution, that the four justices woodside automatically with the republicans and those nominated by a republican democrat would automatically side with joe biden. That calls into question the fundamental assumptions we make. It is checks and balances that protect us across time. The ingenuity gave us three branches, which protect us from executive overreach. Judy have we ever heard a president can act the court in connection with whether or not his own reelection may be accepted, have to end up in court . Have we seen this connection drawn by a president . Kathleen no, we have not. Because the Supreme Court guided us through the 2000 outcome, and extraordinarily close outcome, we have in our history the ability to say to nations across the world when it was close, our branches of government worked, our constitutional checks and balances made it possible for the country to accept the outcome. Never did anyone call the assumption that there were not be a peaceful transfer of power. Al gore called to congratulate bush, waded through the proce and as soon as the outcome was decided by the Supreme Court, he acknowledged that in a concession speech and we had a peaceful transition. We could say to the world under that election during a difficult time, our system works. Nations across the world are looking to us and i am wondering if all these years when we have said free and fair elections, peoples votes mattered, if Vladimir Putin is not laughing saying this is a propaganda coup for russia and all the statements they made saying the u. S. Was not founded on any of that. Judy i know that is something you have done a lot of reporting on. Why does it matter . What is the harm done if the president himself is the one saying i am not sure i will acce the results, we have to see what happens. Why does that matter . Kathleen we need to have confidence that the process o campaigning and calling on your experiences and casting a vote will yield an outcome determined by we the people and our electoral system including the Electoral College structure. To the extent someone suggest there is Something Else that play, the ability to decide whether it is free and fair, whether it is rigged or not, calls in the place the suppositions of our government. That is deeply problematic. Judy we should point down a number of republicans were saying as far as they are concerned there will be a peaceful transfer. Kathleen, thank you so much. Kathleen youre welcome. Judy with just 40 days until election day, health care is becoming a bigger issue in the campaign. Due in part from the death of Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg and the possibility the fate of the federal Health Care Law could be argued before the Supreme Court just one week before the election. Today President Trump tried to broaden his appeal on his health care record. William brangham checks the rhetoric against the record. William President Trump signed today what he calls two key executive orders. One pledges to end what is called as surprise medical billing which can leave patients with huge unexpected debts. The second says the u. S. Will make sure insurers do not discriminate against people with preexisting conditions. These orders do not change any laws, congress has to do that. All of this comes as the president is trying to repeal the Affordable Care act which already protects preexisting nditions. I am joined by Paige Winfield coming cunningham. She covers health care for the washington post. Todays event was billed as the american First Health Care plan, but this was not really a plan. This was the signing of two executive orders. One deals with preexisting conditions. I think we have a quarter of all americans have what is considered a preexisting condition. What is this order and does it help protect them . William this is an effort by trump six weeks before the election to try to look like he is on the winning side of this issue. But there is a lot of dispute whether he can legally use executive authority to extend protections and almos certainly this would be challenged in court. A lot of people are questioning this already. The Affordable Care act passed in 2010 pioneered this and was the legislation that extended these protections to americans and the administration refused to defend that law. The case will be heard by the Supreme Court on november 10. It has been remarkable. Last year and this year especially as we have seen President Trump and republicans try to completely rewrite the record on who has been in favor of these protections. It plays well with voters and democrats have successfully leveraged against republicans in the 2018 elections. It is a blatant attempt by trump to make it look like he has been a champion of this all along even the behindthescenes he has done a lot of things to undermine those protections. William if the Supreme Court were to do away with the Affordable Care act and congress as they order them to address this issue, if that does not happen, theoretically a quarter of america could face discrimination with regards to their coverage . Paige what would happen if we saw these protections fall, and i should add we are not certain, there are a lot of different scenarios that could play out. There is a simple fix congress could do to make this lawsuit go away. If they were toppled, this would go back to the lay of the land before the was passed where it was up to states to regulate. He saw a variety of approaches, some of the more liral states run by democrats would put restrictions on what insurers could discriminate paste on. Other states had very few restrictions. Arizona was an example of insurers could discriminate against anything and not only that, they could refuse if they knew someone had a particular condition in the past. They could refuse to cover treatment in the future that was in any way related to the condition. It was the wild west in the individual market. William lets turn quickly in the last half minute we have to this second executive order. It addresses surprise medical billing. Are there teeth in this executive order . Will this solve this very serious problem . Paige this is an extremely tricky legislative problem. Use our congress struggling through the nittygritty details of how to do this all of last year. We had different legislation in the house, senate. Different opinions, it is complex. The only thing this executive order does is instructs congress to keep working on the issue and if they dont produce legislation by january 1, hhs should figure out how to tackle this administratively. It is a very complex issue. This is why congress has not been able to unify around a single bill. Trump is coming out today, claiming he solved surprise medical billing is far from the truth and a misleading thing to tell the american people. William paige, thank you very much. Paige thank you. Judy the pandemic has spurred a surge of camping and rv travel as social distancing has become one of the catch phrases of covid19. But its not all fun and vacations. One group of americans has long since adopted a selfsufficient lifeste, living fulltime in motor homes and working seasonal jobs to support themselves. Our economics correspondent paul solman has the story as part of our making sense series, unfinished business. And no some of this story was , shot before the pandemic began. This is a couch that turns into a bed. Paul to darla and her husband bill, 64, former biker and hellraiser, this is home sweet home. The mcleans have been living in an rv since 2010, after the Great Recession sank their motorcycle repair store and home. We had a 700,000 house we owed 200,000 on that sold for 131,000. Paul broke, they hit the road. It was that or get an apartment in a job, but there were no jobs. Paul they got a job at the Amazon Warehouse during holiday rush. It was rough. They expect certain numbers and you have to hustle. Paul bill over hustle. He blew his knee out. I do not normally push a cart going 90 Miles Per Hour around 90 degrees turns. Paul amazon was the first of some 20 seasonal gigs. When we first met them last fall the mcleans were parked across from a Las Vegas Ikea to peddle pumpkins and then christmas trees. We have what we call well we estate. We just we just take the covers off, lift the levelers, and we go where the economy is good. Paul tens of thousands of retirement age americans are migrant laborers or workcampers, driven by economic necessity and this is judy arnolds fourth wanderlust. Fourth year. Shes been tending a store in Yellowstone National park since june. It was not busy at first, but as time went on a got busier and busier. People were tired of being cooped up at home and thought, lets go to the parks. Paul more sightseers drawn away from covid and back to nature means a lot more work for a workamper like arnold. I am doing the work of three people right now. Paul the pandemic has driven an awful lot of americans onto the road. But the number of mobileliving, gighopping work campers has been growing for years. Every january, hors convene in quartzsite, arizona, the site of an annual rv show. That is where we met 66yearold susan otteros. You end up in these really neat places, like yosemite. Paul otteros works as a camp host. Main tasks checking in campers and, if youre up for it, cleaning. I dont do the bathrooms. My boyfriend does. I collect the money. Paul Mitch Craighead drafts camp hosts for thousand trail campsites. How many 75 yearolds do you recruit . More than you would expect. Baby boomers are retiring. The pool of workers we are hiring is growing dramatically. Paul that was in january. The company declined to give us specifics, but mitchell says campgrounds are busier than ever. We have always looked at ourselves in the camping industry is the original social distancing. A lot of our new customers are telling us that. We have seen a significant spike in reservations for the remainder of the camping year this year. Paul at the rv show, work camping 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. The reality after three years was, it is expensive to live on the road. You need new tires maintenance , costs are high. Paul and big campers get just seven miles a gallon. So for the past seven years, theyve worked the north dakota sugar beet harvest. I did not know what a sugar beet was die thought sugar came from sugarcane. Instead, 55 of our sugar comes from sugar beets in the country. Paul muddy 12 hour shifts at 14 an hour plus overtime until the beets run out. Some nomad gigs pay a lot more than that. Ms. J transports rvs from manufacturer to dealer and sees the country. I can pick the jobs i want to take to see various destinations. If there is an rv that needs to go to florida, which i have done , delivered in miami, i went over to key west. Paul how much you get paid . Somewhere between 60 and 75. Paul that is 60,000 to 75,000 a year driving four days a week. These days rvs are selling like hot cakes, but she is sitting out the pandemic. The cases are up for certain communities. I have known quite a few people who have been affected. I choose to lay low until things simmer down a bit. Paul can you afford to . I can, i have done this pattern over a number of years where i was able to financially prepare myself for the what ifs. This is one of those what ifs. Paul back in january in the big tent there were hawkers of tire pressure monitors, rv window cleaners, orthotics. We reconnected with bill and darla mclean whod driven here , from mexico, where they go for Affordable Health care. Shrimp tacos are killer. We have a great pharmacist down there. We get glasses and our teeth worked on. I dont know how much they can how they can charge so much for things here when you can get the same thing over there for a fraction. Paul but the mclains were at the rv show for a gig to sign up other work campers as oilfield gate guards. They pay 150 a day for that. Paul work camping is not for everyone. Does this interest you . No. I retired for a reason. Paul but bill and Sandy Collins liked what they heard. They work camp, in part to fund travel. We work adventureland and go to jcpenneys, working in the warehouse. Paul even in bankruptcy, jcpenneys warehouse is still running. And as at amazon, you have to step lively. On thursday i walked 23,355 steps. According to 72yearold bills smart phone, 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. Thats one of the appeals of work camping to george stoutenburgh. I cant see myself stopping work. What is nothing, sit around and wait to die . That is not me. Paul but he also needs the money. It is not like we are broke, but we are not millionaires. We can afford to travel the world and do what we want to do. That would be a wonderful thing. Paul judy arnolds current yellowstone gig has kept her more than busy but when it ends , in october, she isnt sure what shell do. There is a Huge Population of us that are still in limbo, wondering if there is a next job to goo. A lot of my coworkers where they normally go, the places arent open. I am worried because i need an income. Paul as for bill and darla mclean theyve been parked , outside their daughters house in arkansas for several months, making repairs to the rv. 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 rvers. It is not the easiest thing in the world to find a place. It is not that we cant travel, but once you get where youre going where do you stay . Paul they are 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. Judy today on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing room, there was an empty chair for michael pack, ceo of the u. S. Agency for global media. Pack ignored a subpoena from lawmakers who today expressed bipartisan concern he has politicized, and mismanaged, Media Outlets that helped the u. S. When the cold war, including voice of america. Nick schifrin begins our report with another action by pack, foreign voa journalist being forced to leave the u. S. Nick his career her career valdya baraputris career at voice of america, ended with a oneway ticket. She didnt want to leave the us. But she and fellow voa Indonesia Service journalist Rafki Hidayat had to take a plane home, after voa wouldnt extend their visas. Being thrown out of a country in the middle of a pandemic feels very cruel, very cruel. Pres. Trump if you heard whats coming out of the voice of america, its disgusting. Nick President Trump has made it clear hes unhappy with what he calls voice of america bias, as has the new ceo of voas parent company, the United States agency for global media, or usagm, michael pack. Ronald reagan apparently said that, you know, if you let go of the wheel of the car, it veers left there is something to that. The media undirected goes left. It has a leftward bias. Nick in audio interviews pack also cites national security. He says foreign journalist on u. S. Visas werent properly vetted, leaving the organization vulnerable to espionage. To be a journalist is a great cover for a spy. 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. Nick jamie fly led radio free Europeradio Liberty which is , funded by usagm, before he was fired by pack. Its incredibly dangerous for a usagm head, to start basically writing a press release that the kremlin can then turn around and use next week against usagm journalists. Nick pbs newshour spoke to a half dozen of the more than 70 voa journalists whose visas were not renewed. None would go on record, but one provided this document confirmation they filled out a , standard u. S. Government backgroundcheck used for Many Administration officials. It is more than 100 pages long. Mr. Pack is making it seem Like National security is at risk here. Nick grant turner was the cfo of usagm 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. Nick voice of america was created by the u. S. Government to broadcast behind the iron curtain, to promote american ideas by presenting objective news. This is radio liberty. Nick alongside voa, usagm provides grants to independent corporations that are supposed to be independent Media Outlets. Radio free Europeradio 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 theireaders and replaced their bipartin boards, with partisan ones. Today the witnesses said that degraded the media organizations credibility. Amanda bennett was fired by pack as voa president. The very fact that voa is that our news is provided outside the control of any party in power gives voa its own power. Nick today voa and the oer agencies broadcasts in more than 60 languages to an audience of more than 350 million. I will end the muslim ban on day one. Nick voas urdu service came under fire for broadcasting, without context, a campaign ad from joe biden. Senior voa journalists later removed the video from its platforms. But if that shouldnt have aired, heres what aired more recently on voa spanish channels, before journalists called for its removal thats Trump Campaign official mercedes schlapp, telling viewers the Joe Biden Campaign will destroy hispanic families. There has been past criticism of usagm funding, morale, and structure. Even some republicans criticize pack. Top House Foreign Affairs republican mike mccall 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. Nick connecticut democrat tom malinowski. If china, russia, north korea, if china, russia, north korea, or any of our adversaries, had in fact infiltrated usagm, they could ve not possibly done more harm to americas interests than mr. Pack has in fact done on his own. Nick joining us now is jamie fly, Foreign Policy advisor to mark o rubio, former aide to president bush. Former president of radio free europe, fired by michael pack. You are a republican. Do you believe what pack is doing is partisan . Jamie i am not sure it is partisan. What we learned at the hearing, there is a lot of gross mismanagement of the agency underway right now. There were democrats and republicans fired en masse. He is putting America American tools at risk. Nick why does it matter an organization like yours, voice of america, these other organizations, are seeing seen as perhaps not independent under michael pack . Jamie over the decades they gathered a loyal following in closed societies like russia, china, iran belarus, which is relevant right now as they are out in the streets trying to topple lukashenko. Their credibility stems from their independence and adherence to the highest professional standards of journalism. That is what is being threatened by mr. Packs actions, by e removal of the network heads, by some of his attempts and people working with him to influence coverage for voice of america. Nick you mentioned voice of america, a federal new service and usagm, and radio free Europeradio Liberty is different because those other agencies give grant money to your organization, an organization you used to lead. What are you worried about the supposedly independent organizations moving forward under michael pack . Jamie mr. Pack has used his powers not just to remove network head like myself, but replace the Corporate Boards. He made himself chairman of the Corporate Board, appointed his chief of staff to the Corporate Board and filled the rest of the slots with mostly Trump Administration officials. It is de facto federaliz these entities, which in the past operated as nongovernment organizations and have been truly independent in their reporting in ways that start to become threatens once you have federal officials sitting on their board. Nick thank you very much. Judy 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 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. 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 that of other women. It is called beat Breast Cancer like a boss 30 powerful stories. I spoke with her earlier this week. Congratulations on the book. You wrote this illuminating and really personal book personal , story about what happened with you and with so many other women. It all started in your case with your getting the results back of genetic testing and you are just a college senior. Ali that is right, judy. I tested positive for the brochu one 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 which increases a womans risk of rest and breast and Ovarian Cancer exponentially over the course of their lifetime. There were not a lot of resources for me. It was not as mainstream as it became once Angelina Jolie went public. I stressed out a lot, i debated my options and ultimately decided to have a preventative double mastectomy with Reconstructive Surgery right before i graduated. That was the right decision for me. I never looked back. That was 10 years ago. What i realized when Angelina Jolie went public with her story was 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 when i went through my experience. As i thought about how i could use my experience to help other people, i figured if i felt that way following her story, other people might feel a 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. Judy 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 course, and npr correspondent for many years. Someone we all looked up to as a journalist. She sat down with you and talked about her own experience. Ali that is right Cokie Roberts. The late great Cokie Roberts is someone who really embodies the entire message of the book. It is called beat Breast Cancer like a boss. But i wt to make very clear that beating Breast Cancer doesnt have to look one way or another. We are all too limited by our definition of talking about beating Breast Cancer as becoming cancer free and living cancer free 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 advocate for other women battling Breast Cancer. What i cancer. What i did not know when i interviewed her was that she had recently found out that her cancer had returned and it had come back worse. 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. When you talk about beating Breast Cancer, nobody embodied that more than Cokie Roberts, who i believe beat Breast Cancer every singleay of her life. Judy 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 debb wasserman schultz, but others we dont know as well. Your point all the way through is that each one made her own decision about how to handle this terrible thing she was dealing with. Ali absolutely. It is such a critical point. There is no right way to deal with Breast Cancer. There is no single way to deal with Breast Cancer. Every Single Person with Breast Cancer or any other type of caer deals with it in their own way, and they are entitled to deal with it in their own way. Lots of people like to have friends and family visit them when they are getting treatment. Though in the time of coronavirus that is not always possible. There are many people who say, i want chemotherapy or radiation or what have you to be my time. I dont want anybody there. They use that time to have moments to themselves. Many 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. Judy you have performed such a Great Service 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. Every single story is worth reading and sharing. Ali rogan, its beast beat Breast Cancer like a boss, 30 powerful stories. Thank you. Ali thank you. Judy we are so proud of ali for writing that book. It is a gift to so many women and men who might be dealing with Breast Cancer. Coming up later tonight pbs , newshour prime time special on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg. Well assess her impact on American Society and look at the issues at play in the battle to replace her. Here is a first look. Ruth Bader Ginsburg changed the law. She compiled a truly historic record. She change the course, she changed america. We look back at her life and ahead at the battle to replace her. Fill that seat. This fight has just begun. Judy rbg her legacy and the courts future, a pbs newshour special. Judy we will talk to Supreme Court Justice Stephen breyer among others. We hope you join us. That is the newshour for tonight. Join us online and again tomorrow evening. For all of us, thank you, stay safe and we will see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by architect, beekeeper, mentor. Raymond James Financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. Life, wellplanned. Consumer cellular. Johnson and johnson. Bnsf railway. The ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. 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. This is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. You are watching pbs. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc this progm was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. In behalf of the women of this country, she has compiled an historic record of achievement. I, ruth baderinsburg, do solemnly swear i will support and defend the constitution of the United States. It has been a basis for unjustified assumptions, that help keep women in their place. They call her notorious r. B. G. This president decided to jam