Transcripts For KQED PBS 20240703

Hsiaowei lee were having to choose between families that are hungry and and those who are starving. How do you tell a mother whos asking us for assistance and holding a hungry child that her child may not be hungry enough . Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour, including jim and nancy and kathy and paul anderson. Consumer cellular. This is sam. How can i help you . A pocket dial. I want you to know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage, no contract. Thats kind of our thing. Have a nice day. The john s. And james l. Knight foundation. Fostering informed and engaged communities. More at kf. Org. And with the ongoing support of these individuals and 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. Geoff welcome to the newshour. Extreme weather is hitting europe, with catastrophic consequences. At least eight people have died there after severe storms. Amna in brazil, at least 31 more people died from flooding. And here in the u. S. , more than 80 million americans are living through blazing temperatures and yet another heat alert. It all comes as the planet reached an alarming milestone this summer. William brangham has the story. William in southeastern europe, torrential rains brought havoc. Flash flooding in Central Greece has destroyed entire streets, flooded homes, and destroyed cars. In some greek towns, over 20 inches of rain fell in just ten hours. Vasilis this has never happened before here. There was a lot of water, and for many hours. For 24 hours, it was nonstop, the amount of water was unbelievable. William greek Authorities Say this storm, dubbed daniel, brought the most extreme rainfall on record, up to nearly 30 inches in one day, in some places. In turkey, rescuers on boats had to save people stranded by the floods. Officials say the city was pounded by one months worth of rain in less than six hours. Like toys in a bathtub, peoples vehicles floated through the streets. One mans furniture shop was destroyed after water swept cars into his store. Erkan we came here after our neighbors called us. When we got here, there was water up to the ceiling of our store. There was nothing we could do. We were helpless. William in neighboring bulgaria, an Overflowing River wiped out a campsite, sweeping trailers into the black sea. And in south america, where its winter now, a storm in southern brazil brought deadly flooding that inundated entire towns. Joseline i was able to climb to a neighbors apartment. It was frightening. People on roofs were asking for help. It was like a scene from a horror movie. William its all part of a larger pattern of meteorological extremes, disasters that climate Scientists Say are becoming more frequent and more intense as the earth continues to warm. Just days ago, greece saw the end of weeks of deadly wildfires, and western europe is in the midst of an unusual september heat wave. The u. N. s Weather Agency says this is the hottest summer ever recorded in the northern hemisphere. It reported that august was 2. 7 degrees fahrenheit warmer than preindustrial averages. So lets delve a little deeper into this extreme weather and its calamitous impacts. For that, were joined again by climate scientist Gavin Schmidt. Hes the director of Nasas Goddard institute for space studies. Gavin schmidt, very nice to have you back on the newshour. In addition to these extreme weather events we are seeing, we are getting a better understanding of how our world is harming human health. There was a recent analysis by the Washington Post that indicated that in just seven years, half a billion people globally will be exposed to extreme heat for at least one month a year, even if they can get out of the sun. Another study found the number of heat related deaths of elderly people rose by 68 in recent years. It seems that we are making life on earth increasingly hazardous, and ways we are not at all prepared for. Do you think that is overstating it . Dr. Schmidt no, i think that is exactly right. We have systems and infrastructure in place that help us deal with the climate that we had, but climate is changing. We are pushing our living space into areas, into temperatures that we have never experienced. We are seeing that this summer, particularly. We are seeing this kind of in the long term trends. We are moving out of societys comfort zones, and that means places that were prepared for a certain spread of temperatures, a certain number of extremes, are now being hit with larger extremes. They are being hit with higher temperatures, more intense rainfall, and the infrastructure that we have is just not being able to cope with that. But what we are seeing now is that those things that were one in 100your events are now one and 50year, one in 30year, once a decade, and soon could be, conceivably, an every couple year event. Thats the difference. It is not that this has never happened before, its not that we never had a heat wave, strong rainfall, or droughts, but the frequency and intensity of these is increasing, and we can see that in statistics around the globe. William i want to ask you about our understanding about the role that Climate Change plays in all of the state as you are saying, we had hot summers, forest fires, flooded areas well before Climate Change came along. We know a warming world is increasingly complicit. How do you people to understand those connections . Dr. Schmidt well, we have that noise, the weather noise that has always been there, a function of atmospheric dynamics, a function of el nino events in the tropical pacific, but we have a shifting baseline, every decade for the last 50 or 60 years, the planet has warmed. And we have been talking about this, scientists have been talking about this for many decades, so we are talking increased intensity and frequency of heat waves, and greece intensity rainfall events , when we have a drought, we are talking about ever drier soils because the air is taking on more moisture from the soils, we are talking increases in sea levels, because we are melting ice around the world, and that is adding to the total mass of the ocean. So, slowly but surely, and acceleratingly, we are seeing sea levels rise, nuisance flooding, storm surge damage. William given all that it does seem that cutting oil, coal, and gas is critical. There is a revolution underway in grenoble energy globally that is going on. Do you think, even if we hit our projections and controlling emissions and warming, how much of this damage is still baked in . Dr. Schmidt good news then, if we stopped in meeting carbon into the atmosphere tomorrow, which obviously is not going to happen, then temperatures would not rise any further, right . So that means that any further increases from where we are now are really under our control. We have agency and what we choose to do as a society, makes a difference to how much warmer it is going to get. Unfortunately, it is very hard to go back, right . So it is very hard to now suddenly go back to where it was in the 1980s or in the 20th century. So what were seeing now, in some sense, may be baked in, but we are not baked into further increases, further acceleration in that system. William Gavin Schmidt of the goddard institute, thank you very much for being here. Dr. Schmidt thank you very much for having me. Geoff in the days other headlines, a growing challenge to keep former President Trump off republican primary ballots next year took a step forward. Six republican and unaffiliated voters in colorado filed suit to bar him from that states primary ballot, citing the u. S. Constitutions 14th amendment. The postcivil war provision says, quote, no person shall hold any office, civil or military, under the United States who shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion. The suit cites mr. Trumps attempts to overturn the 2020 Election Results and his support for january 6th rioters. A federal judge in new york ruled today that mr. Trump defamed the writer e. Jean carroll a second time. Carroll already won 5 million after a jury found the former president sexually abused her and falsely claimed that she lied about it. Now, the judge says other trump remarks were also defamatory. So, a second trial will focus on additional damages. A federal judge in texas has ordered the state to move a migrant barrier in the rio grande back to the riverbend. In july, the state placed large buoys along the stretch of the river where margaret migrants frequently crossed. The state says it will appeal todays order. Russia has carried out one of the deadliest attacks in months in eastern ukraine. A missile strike today killed at least 17 people. It happened in the Donetsk Region and came as secretary of state Antony Blinken visited kyiv. Ali rogin has our report. Ali in broad daylight, this quiet street became the latest scene of russian carnage. The blast left a trail of horror, damaging about 30 market stalls, including shops and a pharmacy. Diana is an employee who survived. Diana i only saw a flash and then shouted to my colleagues, lie on the floor. Then everything was covered in smoke and the fire started. Ali the fires victims, ordinary civilians, carried from the market and body bags. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy terrorism. Those another area can clearly say it is civilian infrastructure. Ali ukraines main roofer exporting route for exporting grains pullout of a deal using the black sea. A romanian town across the danube. It would be a serious violation, romania and nato. Ali back in kyiv today, a surprise visit from u. S. Secretary Antony Blinken. Sec. Blinken we need present putin to understand that he cannot outlast ukraine, he cannot outlast ukraines supporters. That ukraine is actually going to grow stronger. Ali blinken addit announced more additional military aid. Ukrainian troops continued their grinding counteroffensive. Since june, ukraine has liberated more than a dozen villages on the march to a city close to russianoccupied crimea. In the meantime, back in kyiv, a different type of victory, a celebration of a uniquely western icon. For the pbs newshour, im ali rogin. Geoff the u. S. Aid announced today is part of a package already approved by congress. The United Nations now estimates that months of fighting in sudan have uprooted more than five Million People. Clashes between the army and a rival Paramilitary Force in khartoum erupted in april and show no signs of abating. The u. N. Says most of those displaced remain inside sudan. In nigeria, an Appeals Court today rejected three challenges to president bola tinubus election win last february. Opposition parties argued he was ineligible to run because, among other things, he is actually a citizen of guinea. Tinubu denied the allegations. Nigerians anxiously awaited the results at a time when high prices and hunger have left many people desperate for stability and relief. Gbemisola we cannot say the government is not trying, but things are tight. We beg them to attend to the needs of the country, so that everything will be fine for us, because since they assumed office, everything has been difficult. They should please have mercy on the poor ones, have mercy on the country by fixing it. Geoff the courts decisions can still be appealed to nigerias Supreme Court. Abortion will no longer be a criminal offense anywhere in mexico. The countrys Supreme Court imposed that standard today in a sweeping decision big 12 of mexicos 32 states have already decriminalized abortion as part of a broader trend across latin america. Spanish Soccer Player Jenni Hermoso is accusing the nowsuspended president of the Spanish Soccer Federation of sexual assault. Luis rubiales kissed her on the lips after last months womens world cup final. Rubiales maintains the kiss was consensual, a claim hermoso has denied. Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell said today he intends to remain in that post and finish his senate term. Mcconnell froze up in public twice in recent weeks. But on tuesday, the capitol physician says he does not have a seizure disorder and has not suffered a stroke. Today, the Kentucky Republican dismissed any talks of calling it quits. Do you have any plans to retire anytime so . Sen. Mcconnell i have no announcements to make on that subject. Im going to finish my term as leader, and im going to finish my senate term. Geoff mcconnell is 81 years old. And on wall street, big tech stocks led the Broader Market lower. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 198 points to close at 34,443. The nasdaq fell 148 points. The s p 500 slipped 31 points. And theres a new hole in the great wall of china, thanks to two construction workers who wanted a shortcut. Police say the pair used an excavator to carve a dirt road through a brokendown section of the wall. They say the damage is beyond repair. It happened hundreds of miles from restored sections of the great wall near beijing. The two workers have been arrested. Still to come on the newshour, alabamas republicanbacked congressional map is rejected for a second time. Historical records reveal more instances where indigenous children were separated from their families to attend boarding schools. A major rise in nearcollisions of airplanes prompts investigations. Plus, an elite school of music works to increase access for students with disabilities. This is the pbs newshour, from wepa studios in washington and in the west from the Walter Cronkite school of jen journali. Amna for the first time, we are seeing inside the courtroom for a hearing about one of the indictments of donald trump. The former president was not in the georgia courthouse today. He and his 18 codefendants pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges last week. Prosecutors laid out a timeline for a potential trial, one they say could last four months and rely on more than 150 witnesses. And the judge ruled at least two defendants trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell will be tried together, likely in october. Stephen fowler is a reporter for georgia public broadcasting. He was following todays hearing and joins us from atlanta. Good to see you. Attorneys wanted to separate them from each other and from the 17 other defendants. Why did they want that and how did that request go over in court today . Stephen first and foremost, the two of them wanted to request speedy trials, other georgia state, they are allowed to request to have a trial start after certain amount of time after indicted, and the request was granted. They will have a trial october 23. Each one of them made the argument that they should be tried separately, arguing that the things they were charged with, under the sweeping 98 page indictment, were part of a bucket of alleged crimes that did not overlap with each other. The judge was not convinced, and he did allege today that the two of them will face trial together. We do not know if the other 17 will join as well. Amna when you take a look at the timeline, as he mentioned, the judge did seem to stay with that october 23 trial start date for kenneth chesbro, maybe for Sidney Powell as well could they would like to try all 19 defendants together, but the calendar had is getting very crowded. I want to take a look at the calendar, as weve mapped out some of those cases. Theres a civil rod trial before that georgia trial for mr. Chesebro, the e. Jean carroll case, that a federal trial, the hush money trial in new york, and the trial mr. Trump is facing, handling of classified documents. How likely is it that this georgia trial for all 19 defendants actually goes through and starts in 47 days . Stephen well, it is potentially likely f the two who requested a spee trial. Many of the rest of the defendants have argued that they should be separate, because they don want a speedy trial, and there are several dfent things playing out acro Different Court rooms that could you have several of the. Defendants, including trumps former chief of staff mark meadows, arguing that the case should be made moved to federal court and ultimately dismissed. At the same time, you have the Fulton County d. H. s office arguing it will take at least four months, not include not counting jury selection, and a couple floors down the fu Fulton County courthouse is another racketeering case, in the young fellow ysl case, without a finger young thug ysl case, without a single juror being selected. Amna unlike mr. Trumps federal trial, this trial in georgia is being livestreamed. It is truly historic in that way. Our people in georgia, are they actually tuning in . Are they paying attention to the . This . Stephen well, it is still early, there was a spectacle of the motorcade, trump turning himself into the Fulton County jail, but all of the legal wranglings happening right now guarantee that when the trial does come, that could come in 2024, in summer, or even in the fall, you can have the televised trial of a former president and the republican nominee for president , if he wins the primary, coming at the same time the voters in georgia, arizona, michigan, and the rest of the country are deciding whether or not they should send him back to the white house. So this historic, unprecedented access is certainly going to dominate the 2024 discussions, no matter who sets the trial win. Amna we mentioned some of the defendants are trying to move the trial to a federal court. Theres also additional severance motions to be considered by this court, filed not only by former President Trump, also john eastman, david schaefer. Theres todays hearing and the judges decision on these two cakes, that i that have a bearing on the other motions cases, does that have a bearing on the other motions . Stephen the judges incidents to the fact that there are 19 different defense strategies, and all these different motions coming into play is going to be on a next but i did timeline on an expedited timeline. Most of the motions were for defendants saying we dont want a speedy trial, dont lump us into october 23rd. But the Fulton County District Attorney argues that all 19 need to be tried together, because this is a massive conspiracy, and that of having a jury hear the same defendants, the same witnesses, the same presentations multiple times over multiple months, to knock it all out at once. It is a tight timeline, a complicated case, and one that we should have more answers by the end of next week, including for former President Trump. Amna stephen fowler, georgia public broadcasting, joining us from atlanta, great to see you. Thank you. Stephen thank you. Geoff in a growing pattern across the south, key states have come under legal fire for drawing congressional maps that discriminate against black voters. Laura barronlopez has more. Laura delivering a harsh rebuke of alabamas lawmakers, federal judges struck down the stapless new congressional map, after being ordered to create a second majority black district, republicans in the state instead chose to defy the u. S. Supreme court, violating the law under the Voting Rights act alabama is just one of a handful of Southern States that are litigating congressional districts. Maps in florida, louisiana, and georgia have all been challenged for diluting the power of voters. Black voters. Joining us is nprs conseil along. Hansi lo wang. The judge came down hard yesterday, saying that the law requires the creation of an Additional District that affords black alabamians, like everyone else, a fair and reasonable opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. The 2023 plan plainly fails to do so. You have followed this closely. What happens next now that this has been struck down . Hansi now that it is shut down, the court has come up with experts, with three proposals, congressional maps, and they are due later this month, and the judges will review those maps, and all the sides in the case will be able to bring out objections, there may be a hearing in early october, and the court will decide which map used next year for the 2024 elections, but there might be a potential complication because the state of alabama has also said it is waiting to appeal this ruling to the u. S. Supreme court, and so there could be a request here that we are respecting expecting soon from the state of alabama, asking the Supreme Court to pause the ruling, that could pause this mapmaking process. But something to keep in mind is this alabama case has already been reviewed, has already been weighed in by the supreme. The Supreme Court weighed in in june and issued a ruling upholding the lower courts ruling, calling for this Additional District that will give black alabamians realistic opportunities to select their preferred candidates for the u. S. House. It is an open question whether the Supreme Court would be willing to revisit this case again. We will have to see what happens. Laura do alabama republicans think that somehow the outcome is going to be different when they take this back to the Supreme Court . Hansi thats what it looks like, based on their court filings, based on a multiple citations, filed by Supreme Court Justice Brett kavanaugh, one of the two conservatives who joined the three liberal justices in upholding the court s ruling earlier. They are thinking potentially that they could potentially flip the vote of Justice Kavanaugh and maybe get a different kind of relay from the u. S. Supreme court about what this Alabama State legislature can do in this congressional map. Right now, the Supreme Court has ruled it needs to have an Additional District. Laura now under the states proposed map, alabama was keep his one friend black majority district, which was represented by a black majority member. How has it impacted black voters ability to be represented equally in that state . Hansi when we are talking about redistricting, we are talking about the power of each voters vote. In the section two violations under the Voting Rights act, voters of color can cast their ballots, but it may not mean much, because the districts they are drawn into by mapmakers, often state legislatures, really takes away their power. As a result, the outcome of the election are sort of redetermined predetermined. What is the power of black voters in alabama . There is a finding here that the power of black alabamians is diminished, the voting power. That there should be at least two big districts where black voters make up the majority or something close to it, black alabamians, so they have a real shot at taking their preferred candidates to represent them in Congress Paid right now they dont have that. Laura alabama is not the only state that may need to add a majority black district to the map. Louisiana and georgia are also being confronted with Voting Rights violations. What implications could that have for 2024 . Hansi there is a trial going on in georgia this week. That is up in the air. If the way things are playing out continue the way they are playing out and the Supreme Court is not change his mind about what it believes, how the Voting Rights act should be interpreted, likely they will be more majority black districts in Southern States in time for the 2024 elections, and that means they are likely to elect democrats. So more democratic. Pickups could change who controls the u. S. House after next years elections. Republicans have a very thin majority. Republicans could take back the house after 2024. Laura conseil along conseil hansi lo wang, inc. You for your time. Amna the largest humanitarian organization in afghanistan is scaling back just as hunger is rising to record levels. Nick in eastern afghanistan, a mother has nothing to offer her 11 children if the one meal a day of tea and bread, and her husband, of dual, struggles to repair a light he calls freight, since the World Food Program cut them off. Abdul when we receive assistance, we lived a better life. Now we dont get anything, and i we only eat once a day. The World Food Program not only needs to continue his assistance but increase it. Hsiaowei lee 15 Million People do not know where their next meal come from in afghanistan. We are only able to provide 3 Million People with emergency foods assistance. Nick hsiaowei lee is the countrys director. Hsiaowei lee were having to choose between families that are hungry and and those who are starving. How do you tell a mother whos asking us for assistance and holding a hungry child that her child may not be hungry enough . And it comes to just very difficult conversations, conversations we should not have to make and choices we should not have to make. Nick theres no shortage of military crisis. The war in ukraine has produced more european refugees than any moment since world war ii. Just today, u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. , thomas greenfield, is visiting sudans border, calling for more funding. That 50 has pushed the funding short fall to 1 billion. Particularly challenging when they have been reducing the numbers of acutely hungered hungry and are now meeting to proportionately before the winter. Hsiaowei lee people who find themselves without any food in the winter, by then it is too late for us to be able to help. We need to avert children from being malnourished and having to seek malnutrition treatment that they cant even access in the winter. That is a catastrophe we need to avert. Nick years of drought and economic crisis means afghanistans catastrophe is not only a lack of food. 29 million, nearly 3 4 of the country, need assistance, and those who are most powerless are the most hungry. More than one million mothers and children are malnourished, including those treated at this supported clinic. Women who come here say their husbands dont have jobs. They are poor and vulnerable and say they cannot afford to be more than once a day. They have to send their children into the streets. Nick the taliban continue to erase women from society. Afghan women are barred from secondary education, visiting National Parks and amusement parks, and most jobs. The only reason wfp has afghan female workers is a temporary exemption. What you say to the taliban leaders who are supposed to be deciding whether these exceptions can be . Hsiaowei lee half of the people that we serve our women and girls, and it is absolutely critical that we have female staff who are able to engage, who are able to understand what is needed. Nick going back to how we started this conversation, what is your message to the international community, as you have to make the decisions . Hsiaowei lee the people that we serve, the women that i serve from a that i meet, they are teachers, shopkeepers who have lost their job. They are girls who have dreams to be pilots, to be doctors or even journalists, and they have lost their dreams. The emptiness that they feel should not be exacerbated by the pain of a hungry stomach. Nick and without more help, that pain and hunger will extend to the next generation. For the pbs newshour, i Nick Schifrin i am Nick Schifrin. Geoff for more than a century, hundreds of thousands of native American Children were forced to attend boarding schools, many of them supported by the federal government in the name of assimilation and tied to land possession. Those schools stripped children of their identities and cultures. And they suffered abuse, neglect, beatings, and forced child labor. Deaths are estimated to be in the thousands. Stephanie sy focuses on new findings about the role of churches and religious groups. Stephanie a federal probe into native American Boarding Schools has been underway since 2022. But recently a Nonprofit Group identified even more schools. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition has found. 523 boarding schools operated across 38 states, including 115, previously unidentified schools that were largely run by christian churches. The largest concentration of schools were in oklahoma and the four Corners Region of the southwest home of the navajo nation. The nonprofits deputy chief executive officer is Samuel Torres, and he joins me now to discuss this new research. Samuel, thank you so much for joining the newshour. So i understand your latest Research Found dozens more boarding schools that were operated in hawaii as well as oklahoma. Talk about that and the other significant findings youve uncovered. Samuel well, were grateful for the opportunity to continue to work on this type of project, and building on top of that 408 federally funded or supported schools identified in collaboration between the department of the interior and ourselves at the Healing Coalition. We felt it was really important to build off of that and really make sure that were including the scope of those 115 institutions, where evidence has not been shown to connect the federal government to those boarding schools. Its really important for those institutions that weve identified in oklahoma and alaska and hawaii, among many other states, where there are an increased number of those institutions where really were starting to scratch the surface on how to identify the role of those christian denominations of the federal government, of the administrators and the operators of those of those schools. Stephanie christian denominations involved, which include the Roman Catholic church have begun their own investigations into the boarding schools they ran. What do you expect to come of that . And do we have a full picture of any abuse that occurred at the schools . Samuel i think its important to state initially that while there is much more known about what happened at those federal indian boarding schools than the privatelycontrolled ones, i think its this is where those archival records are really profoundly important be accessed to be able to understand what the depth of those details looks like. What we do know, though, is that the treatment and methods for operating indian boarding schools largely utilized a lot of the same strategies. Towards a central goal of assimilating native children, by what weve heard so often in our own work, individuals being deprived of the influences and connections of their families, their communities, of their tribal nations, often being punished for speaking their own language, practicing their traditions, and at times, even experiencing severe punishment. Sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, and even death. So we really just are continuing to still asking the same kinds of questions on what has happened at these institutions. We are told and hear the stories of our relatives, our friends, those that were connected with at the Healing Coalition about how they were treated in these institutions. Whether they be in federally operated institutions are in privately controlled ones. And quite honestly, the time is now for us to be able to look into what that treatment was like from those records source, because we have those stories, and its not that these stories havent been told. It is that they havent been listened to, and if they can be coupled by the access of these documents, we can start looking at in a more comprehensive effort, a fuller scope of what happened at these indian boarding schools, whether they be federally controlled or privately run stephanie it was back in 1969, from what i understand, that the u. S. Senate issued several 100 pages of a report on the native American Boarding School system , and that did lead to some reforms. I just wonder, samuel, what you would like to see happen now, as more and more of this comes to light. Samuel what weve weve never seen to this point is a comprehensive investigation nation that actually in a culturally responsive way, bring in boarding School Survivors and ask them to share their testimonies. So were calling for a the Healing Coalition is calling for a truth in Healing Commission on u. S. Indian boarding School Policies act currently passed out of committee and waiting for a senate floor vote. Senate bill 1723. We are hoping for the bill to be introduced and passed out of committee in the house of representatives as well. Were looking for a multiyear commission process that does more than just brings these questions to the table. It asks communities, native leaders, tribal leaders to come in to help support this process and ultimately will publish a series of calls to action that will provide a blueprint for how do we restore that which was disrupted . Stephanie Samuel Torres with the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. Thank you so much. Samuel yes. Thank you for your time. Geoff there has been an Alarming Number of nearmiss collisions between airplanes, a problem thats more common than previously understood, according to a recent investigation by the new york times. In a review of faa reports and a nasa database, the times found there were at least 46 close calls involving commercial flights in july. And runway incursions that could lead to accidents are 25 higher than a decade ago. To help break down whats behind this and what can be done, im joined by our aviation correspondent miles obrien. Miles, is always great to see you. What does the faa mean by near miss her close calls . Miles well, theres a bubble around every aircraft, geoff, and the bubbles size varies depending on where that aircraft can be. It can be anywhere between 3000 and 6000 feet, distance between two aircraft, that are arriving and departing at an airport, and any time you get inside the bubble, that is technically considered an incursion and something that should be reported. There are degrees of severity within that. You can imagine something within 6000 v, which is more than a mile. If it is just inside the bubble might not be a big a deal, but if it gets more close than that, the attention level goes up, as it should. Geoff what would account for the apparent uptake in these events . What is the faa saying about that . Miles well, statistically the faa says it does not bear itself out. If you level of these statistics, based on the number of arrivals and departures, over one million arrivals and departures, there have been 31 incursions this particular year. Now that actually is on a little bit of a decline from the peak right after covid, it was 34 per million. Having said that, there has been a flurry of activity, which has a lot of people, the aviation world, and little worried. The light is flashing yellow, maybe read, and when you look at some of the issues here, at the part of it is the flying public is back with a vengeance, and the airline industry, after the pandemic, lost a lot of people both in control towers and an cockpit and has not been able to respond quickly enough to this surge in air travel. Geoff you mentioned the shortage of air Traffic Controllers. I remember reporting on that decade ago. Why is this so persistent, and why is it happening now . Miles it has gotten worse during the pandemic for sure, and it has been a persistent problem, staffing these air Traffic Control towers and facilities. During the pandemic, a lot of controller training, well, it was pretty much eliminated because of, you know, distance, spacing requirements, due to the pandemic. And any given time, 20 of controllers are training for either to get started or get a new position. So that caused a huge training backlog once the pandemic was over. Then you had several controllers who had been, you know, taking early retirement, because of the reduced staffing inside these facilities. They are working long hours, they are working overtime hours, their working strange shifts, and to say this is a stressful job is a bit of an understatement. So the faa is trying to hire, but, again, they are behind the power curve here, hiring 1500, 1600 controllers, it will be four or five years before they are up to speed. Geoff theres also a pilot shortage, too, right . Miles yes. Theres a lot of reasons for this. After the last Fatal Airline crash in the u. S. , which was in 2000 9 that is a remarkable 14year Safety Record by the way, geoff. Its worth pointing out. Congress increase the number of hours required for pilots to fly commercially to 1500, and that has, you know, raised the bar for young pilots to get in the game. The military is producing fewer pilots for the airlines. The airlines kind of got free training over the years. The airlines are trying to respond by training more young people themselves, but also, during the pandemic, a lot of pilots took early retirement, so theres a big gap right now, and it takes a long time to fill those cockpits with fully qualified pilots. Geoff what about technology . The faa is often accused of being slow to adopt and incorporate new technologies. Is that part of this as well . Miles it is. To their credit, there are technologies out there that are really important, including Collision Avoidance systems on board aircraft, which helps save the day as a last resort. But not the end of the day, this is a system that is built around spinning radars, kind of 1950s technology, and that is actually that separation bubble, those separation bubbles i was telling you about. You could reduce them if you had a more advanced atheists a more instantaneous system. As a pilot, one of my biggest complaint as we rely too much on talking on the radios, vhs radios. Vhf radios. Miscommunication can lead to problems. Geoff aviation correspondent miles obrien, thank you so much. Miles you are welcome, geoff. Amna in a series of reports, Jeffrey Brown has looked at the intersection of arts and health. Recently he traveled to boston to see a program bringing music into the lives of people with disabilities, for our arts and culture series, canvas. Jeffrey 11yearold ashton kiprotich on the cello and the ukulele. Ashton, i saw you play the cello and i saw you play the ukulele. Which is your favorite . Ashton both of them. Jeffrey both of them . Ashton i would never say that i dislike them. Jeffrey 24yearold shania ward on the keytar, her mother donna gibbonsward watching. Every time i see you performing, youre smiling. You have a beautiful smile. Shania thank you. Jeffrey why are you smiling so much . Are you happy with the music . Shania yes, im happy with the music. Donna yes, music is her thing. She listens to it all the time. Jeffrey why do you think music became her thing . Donna i think it helped her to shania helped me to learn. Jeffrey music for learning, for connecting, for sheer joy. Shania and ashton are students at the Berklee Institute for accessible Arts Education, part of the Berklee College of music in boston. Founded in 2007, it started small with a focus on autism, but has expanded to serve more than 300 people of all ages with disabilities of all kinds. Dr. Bernard every person can learn in the arts, can grow in the arts, can create, can, in this case, make music. So i think you have to start with that belief. Jeffrey Rhoda Bernard heads the institute, which she says is the only such program offered at a college or university. The goal to develop and share new ways to reach and teach this community, while expanding the field of Arts Education. Dr. Bernard arts educators are generally trained to teach the way they were taught. There are longstanding traditions in how the arts have been taught, and those jeffrey meaning what . Dr. Bernard like the conservatory tradition of what a private lesson looks like. Often the arts can be more of a teachercentered kind of approach, where the teacher is showing what they want, and the students are responding. And to make it more accessible means providing more entry points, providing students with more ways to engage with material and more ways to show what they know and are able to do than just the conventional. Jeffrey that means meeting the individuals where they are, incorporating aspects of special education into teaching music and the arts, in private lessons and also in group settings. The Institute Holds a wide variety of classes every saturday, including many ways to play together rock band, chorus, an ipad ensemble, and more. Theres also a twoweek summer camp. Dr. Bernard were creating a place where theyre accepted for who they are, where they belong. A place of yes. These are folks who hear a lot of no. This is a place where its, yes, you can. So theres a constant assetbased belief in all of the students who hear so much deficit language. So, thats the first, but then jeffrey that goes to who they are and how theyre accepted in the world. Dr. Bernard absolutely. And creating that environment and then providing them with what they need and watching them flourish. Jeffrey ashton kiprotich, diagnosed with autism when he was nearly two years old, didnt speak until he was 7. He still has difficulty processing thoughts into speech. But here, his mother Kelly Phillips says, teachers like miles wilcox really get it, offering love and patience, as well as aining in how to hold a bow. And music somehow brings out Something Different in her son. Kelly he still, he struggles with processing, Auditory Processing disorder. And so its really, theres a lot of delay in getting answers from him. So we still see that. With music, i dont see that happen at all. Its just there. He is very spontaneous. He plays in different keys. Hell sit down and play something hes heard that hes never seen the music for. Jeffrey did that surprise you . Kelly very much. I have to say school has not really been easy. Language acquisition has been exceptionally difficult. But then you see, in music, he will sit down and be part of an ensemble, knows where to come in, knows timingwise, knows it all. And its a little baffling to me, you know, when you compare those two things. Jeffrey ashton, does music, is music easy for you . Easier than other things . Ashton yes. Jeffrey why do you think . Why can you play music so well . Ashton because i can. Purple rain, purple rain jeffrey shania ward, diagnosed with mild intellectual delay, also takes full advantage here, singing in the rock band, taking lessons with her teacher, Nadia Castagna morin. Shanias mother, donna gibbonsward, says the institute has given her daughter greater confidence and autonomy. Donna i wanted her to be among her peers and for her to be free. And for her to also gain, you know, she loves music. So being here, youre free. Jeffrey you mean free in a way that shes not as free in the rest of the world . Donna you know, society always judges us and looks down on people and, you know, other kids point fingers and laugh at you when youre different. Here, you can be free, thats what i mean by free. You can be yourself and, you know, just express yourself however you want and, you know, that makes her happy with the music, so shes happy. Shania music always makes me feel happy. Sometimes like when i feel like im upset or like getting mad or frustrated, i usually listen to music. I always, like, take a break and listen to music and calm myself down, put my headphones on. And then i listen to it. And in here i definitely like to learn music. I definitely, i listen to my music teachers. Jeffrey in fact, shania, whos about to enter a specialized college program, wants to be a music teacher herself. Why is that important for you . Shania because i want to be a teacher to help younger kids and older kids learn how to be smart and be like me. Jeffrey a big part of the mission here, says Rhoda Bernard, is training a new generation of arts educators in accessibility practices. In addition to offering a masters program, she and her team run professional Development Training programs around the world. But it remains a work in progress. If this is so obvious, as it is to you, why isnt it everywhere . Dr. Bernard i think its taken the education profession, and particularly the Arts Education field, a long time to understand the wide range of difference in how people learn, in what people bring into the classroom. And then, because there are established frameworks that dont allow for that, theres a struggle. And were in that struggle now. And its, its moving. Even in the 20 years or so that ive been doing this work, ive seen a lot of movement. And im really excited for what the next generation is going to bring. Jeffrey for the pbs newshour, im Jeffrey Brown at the Berklee Institute for accessible Arts Education in boston. Geoff and, as always, theres a lot more online, including a look at new guidance that outlines the links between long covid and mental health. Thats at pbs. Org newshour. Amna and join us again here tomorrow night, when well speak with republican president ial candidate asa hutchinson. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im amna nawaz. Geoff and im geoff bennett. Thanks for spending part of your evening with us. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by the ongoing support and additions, and friends of the newshour, including jana nancy bi jim and nancy bilner and kathy and paul anderson. Consumer cellular. How can i help you . A pocket dial. You get nationwide coverage, no contract. Thats our vein. Have a nice day. And with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. ] this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station by viewers like you. Thank you. Wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. Its to die for. Now you wont miss a thing. This is the way. The xfinity 10g network. Made for streaming. Hello, everyone, and welcome to amanpour co. Heres whats coming up. Russias attempt at building an empire hasecome dependent on north korea. The American Ambassador in japan, rahm emanuel, tells me any arms deal with north korea should be an embarrassment for russia. Then i solemnly under take on my honor to do my utmost. Reporter correspondent David Mckenzie reports on the