Transcripts For KQED PBS 20240702

Israel expands ground operations, plunging the territory into an internet blackout. 18 victims killed by a mass shooting. Its friday, so david and Jonathan Jonas to see if the new House Speaker can get congress functioning again. Join us to see if the new House Speaker can get congress functioning again. Major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by. The ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. And friends of the newshour including kathy and paul anderson. This is what i love doing. Early Stage Companies have this energy that energizes me. These are people who are trying to change the world. When i volunteer with Women Entrepreneurs its the same thing. Im helping people reach their dreams. Im thriving by helping others every day. The john s and James L Knight foundation, fostering an and engaged communities. Informed and engaged communities. 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 contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Welcome to the newshour. Israeli Ground Forces are making larger incursions into gaza and officials are again warning of a wider invasion. Israels punishing air campaign on gaza is not letting up. On negotiations over the fates of more than 200 hostages held by hamas have faltered. Nearly three weeks after the october 7 a hamas terror attacks, an israeli official announced that quebec begins tonight. Just behind me is the northeastern corner of the gaza strip. Payback begins tonight. Just behind me is the northeastern corner of the gaza strip. And advisor said hamas would feel israels wrath tonight. This after punishing airstrikes since the attacks. Earlier, israels elites naval unit pounded gaza from the water. Ground forces conducted a preliminary raid but it remained unclear if this was the full invasion forecast for days. A Telecommunications Company said the bombardment has cut off phone and internet service. An airstrike in gaza earlier today blew the roof off a mosque. They mourned to a 14yearold killed in the blast. We have been invaded through ground and air. Is this a life . This is not a life. Is released defended their targeting, citing evidence they say shows hamas hides resources behind humanitarian centers. Hamas is using it for their infrastructure. Raising the political pressure for a ceasefire. The white house said 10 aid trucks entered gaza today, put you and aid workers on the ground called for more help. The fuel trucks are nothing more than crumbs that will not make a difference for the 2 Million People in the street. As the region boils, yesterday the Iranian Foreign minister cautioned against any further american involvement. We do not welcome the expansion of the war in the region. If the genocide in gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire. That is a threat iran is apparently acting on. American troops in the region have weathered multiple attacks from militant groups they say about by iran. Pentagon Officials Say troops brought down a drone near a u. S. Base in iraq. I made unrest in the region, the u. S. Hopes to deter further attacks. Tonight as israel sends more Ground Troops into gaza, its all eyes on the attacks on that front line. You spend good time on that area just outside of gaza tonight. Tell us more about what you saw. About 7 30 this evening we started getting reports that inside gaza there was no longer any phone signals or internet signal. That is an indicator that something is about to happen. Reports from the Israeli Military that they were extending their ground operations. A huge amount of artillery fire, constant airstrikes. Many more jeeps rolling into that area. We could see the flash of the artillery, helicopters, drones everywhere. Full military action. Its difficult to know whether this is the invasion they have been talking about. Tonight there are troops and tanks inside gaza. We have had reports that the area on the northeastern border just inside gaza, tanks were seen there and troops as well. Our Foreign Affairs correspondent joins me now. What are your washington sources telling you about what this means . Its not publicly clear with the israelis are doing, whether this is the fullscale invasion, the goals of which are to uproot hamas physically and politically, or if this is what the u. S. Military calls shaping operations, incursions ahead of a large invasion. There are certainly people here who believe this is the start of the invasion and there are u. S. Hopes that if this is the invasion, the israelis have decided to do it a little fferently, a little bit more measured even though these images do not suggest any kind of measurement. The idea is that strategically, if there is less of a gigantic invasion announced publicly and that we can see literally rolling over gaza, strategically that doesnt preclude progress and the other areas they are trying to make, most notably hostages. Also it doesnt erupt the region as military officials have concerned about. A large invasion would actually yield even more attacks. The u. S. Is hoping to get some 600 american citizens out of gaza. Technically, the u. S. Has been advising israel to use less artillery and tanks and more Smaller Special forces teams to try and eliminate or at least reduce civilian casualties as much as possible. Theres a lot of domestic pressure from families on the Israeli Government to prove they are doing everything they can to get the hostages out in the fear was that a giant invasion would stop any of that progress. The israelis were looking for a large release. Its not clear how close or far they are. Any kind of large invasion would preclude some of that momentum. We just dont know. The hostages a key part of it. In the context of what you have been seeing in the last three weeks, how are you seeing this moment . The idea the idf has said from the beginning they are trying out the ground here. To see what happens. They dont want to say whether this is the invasion. They havent been in this scale to gaza before. Some military experts say if they suddenly sustain lots of casualties, this isnt the full invasion. What this means for gazans is utter horror. One activist tweeted, they are going to murder us in the dark. The Prime Minister was putting out lines today about these hamas holds they think there are tens of thousands of people sheltering under the hospital. That could be a humanitarian disaster. Gazans terrified tonight. Thank you to you both. The community in and around lewiston maine is mourning the loss of at least 18 People Killed in wednesdays mass shooting. Another 13 people were injured. The suspect still has not been found and a massive manhunt continues, keeping residents on edge. The hunt for the suspected gunman in lewistons deadly shooting rampage is intensifying. David st. Pierre is the citys police chief. I want to assure all that a tremendous amount of manpower is being utilized aroundtheclock in every effort to apprehend the suspect as well as to safeguard this community. Hundreds of police and fbi agents are searching the area for traces of robert cards whereabouts. He had been treated for two weeks at a Mental Health facility this past summer. He is believed to be armed and dangerous. Every minute this goes on, we are more and more concerned. Theres no question in my mind that we will bring this individual into custody one way or the other. Divers are searching the waters of the river near a boat launch where the suspects car was found. Heavily armed law officials surrounded his home but didnt find him. Tens of thousands of residents in and around lewiston have been sheltering in place and living in fear. Stores and schools remain closed. But seek scholarly was killed at the shooting. Joshua seal was a sign Language Interpreter and member of a deaf corn hole team. You read about these things happening in other places and feel so proud and protected in maine. Having it happen in your backyard and knowing somebody personally that has been killed is traumatic. She said joshuas death is a tremendous loss for the community. It was clear that he made his mission about helping the deaf and hard of Hearing Community here in maine. It is not often you get to meet people who are so gifted and committed to helping others in a way that is going to move the needle and that was really evident that that was his superpower. Brian cassidy cofounded the Corn Hole League joshua played in. Three of his friends were killed. Walker was a good friend. He would give you the shirt off his back. He would help anybody. Ron, that guy was a shining ray of light. He made everybody smile all the time. Billy brackett, part of the Deaf Community. The guy was a kind soul. Normally, cassidy would have been there. We just decided to get groceries that night. It killed me because if i was there, i could have helped stop that. How long do you think its going to take the community to recover from this . A long time. I dont see how we are ever going to come back from it. Rob young cant believe he will never see his brother and nephew again. We are all broken. We woke up this morning hoping it was a nightmare. It still doesnt feel real. 14yearold erin loved bowling. A sweet and smart kid, the family had big dreams for him. He tried out karate, did not like hitting people, so he stopped. Turned to bowling. Ron also wants answers. How would you describe the way state officials have handled . It was chaotic. Theres obviously no plan in place. No family should have to wait 17 hours to find out if their loved one is in a hospital, dead or being interviewed as a witness. The weight was just as bad as hearing the news. Family shouldnt have to wait that long. The community is preparing to hold vigils for the victims of the shooting in the days ahead. Lewiston is the second biggest city in maine, but people say it truly is a small town with less than 40,000 People Living here. The entire community is feeling this loss. Whats it like as the suspect remains at large . Roughly 48 hours since the shooting and the shelterinplace in lewiston and all of the other towns has been lifted. Local authorities said that doesnt mean the situation is not dangerous. They say it is still dangerous, the town is still in crisis and they urge people to remain vigilant. They wanted to allow people to go to doctors, pharmacies and school. To give you a sense of how its been feeling, i spoke to a clinical director at a statewide organization in maine that provides Mental Health services. He said their helpline, typically they have one person manning it, they have had to have three to four to help with Trauma Services and counseling. The reaction has been grief, anger and frustration. What have they told you about specific actions they want to see in response to these shootings . Democratic congressman Jared Goldman of maine says he now supports a ban on assault weapons. He had voted against it in the past. Local state representatives told me they want to see a red flag law put in place. Currently, maine has a yellow flag law. It allows family members and Police Members to position a judge petition a judge to take away guns from someone they may deem a threat. The yellow flag law requires police to first seek a medical evaluation before they can go to a judge to petition to temporarily take away a persons guns. We want to take a moment to remember those killed in the shootings. Authorities released the name of all 18 People Killed this afternoon. They range in age from 13 to 76 years old. They include advocates in the Deaf Community and a father of five who just minutes before was playing pool with his own dad. Here are the names of the 18 people lost. Im stephanie sy with the latest headlines. Estate judge in new york ordered ivanka trump to testify in her fathers civil fraud trial. He ruled she has relative relevant information on whether trump overstated his wealth to secure loans and deals. The judge also said november 6 for mr. Trump to begin giving his own testimony. Sam bankmanfried denied today that he defrauded anyone with his cryptocurrency exchange. He began testifying in federal court in new york and acknowledged key mistakes before the companys collapse. Now under oath, he said we bite we thought we might be able to build the best product on the market. The devastated resort city of acapulco, mexico is still largely cut off in the aftermath of a powerful hurricane. People trudged through flooded streets to find food and water. Residents and stranded tourists are increasingly desperate and blame and a sluggish government response. I went to the naval base because they said there was a shelter there, but the soldiers told us to go steal from a store so we could have something. Hundreds of people still looking for missing friends and relatives. The fatigue of war was felt across ukraine has hundreds of families demanded a cap mandatory military service. On mandatory military service. They said service should be limited to 18 months, which was ukraines policy before the war. Im here because my husband has been a volunteer since the beginning of the fullscale invasion. I live in constant fear for his life. Its nerveracking for me. The new speaker of the house mike johnson said the u. S. Is not going to abandon ukraine, but said House Republicans want aid for israel to come first. Republican representative George Santos plead not guilty to new fraud charges in new york. He left a federal courthouse on long island after a brief hearing this morning. Prosecutors say he used Campaign Donors credit card numbers to make purchases without their approval. President biden has a new challenger for the democratic president ial nomination. A three term minnesota congressman, dean phillips announced his bid today in new hampshire. He spoke at the statehouse in concord and said hes got good reasons for running. I do so not in opposition to President Biden who has my affection and my gratitude, rather with two core convictions. That i am the democratic candidate who can win, and second, it is time for the torch to be passed to a new generation of american leaders right here, all around the country and all around the world. Author Marianne Williamson is also in the race. The Robotaxi Service owned by General Motors suspended its driverless operations across the country today after california regulators revoked the companys license, saying the vehicles posed an unreasonable risk to public safety. The Driverless Service operated in san francisco, phoenix, houston, austin and miami. Still to come, the u. S. Response to attacks on American Forces in the wake of the israel hamas war. David and jonathan weigh in on the weeks political headlines and a young conduct or chooses to serve his Kentucky Community using music as his mission. We are going to shift our focus back to the israel hamas war. We are joined by john kirby, coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security council. Welcome back to the newshour. Thanks for having me. Israels military announced an expansion of ground operations. Gaza has been plunged into darkness. I know youre limited in terms of what you can say about israels military operation. Is the administration confident that israel has considered the full range of repercussions of a stepped up ground assault . We are certainly confident that we have had the ability to share our perspectives in urban warfare. We have had more blame more than ample opportunity to talk to them about Lessons Learned and they will have to speak for their decisions about what they will do. We will keep making sure theyve got the tools and capabilities to be successful in this fight against hamas. You have said the u. S. Welcomes a pause in the war to allow more time to get humanitarian aid in and hostages out. There are american hostages being held by hamas. Whats the latest on this effort to get hostages released . I will let israelis speak for their military operations, but what impact it might have on the ability to get hostages out, its just too soon to know. We still stand by our strong desire to see all those hostages released and hamas should do it immediately. We have to work on negotiations to try to see that outcome and we are doing that with our partners in israel and throughout the region. We still think thats a task worth pursuing and if that requires some sort of humanitarian pause, we are in support of that as well. Does it undermine the chances of a humanitarian pause . It remains to be seen what happens on the ground. I dont want to get ahead of where we are or where they are in the execution of their plans. The u. N. Secretary general said the humanitarian system in gaza is facing a total collapse. Thats a direct quote. 500 trucks were getting into gaza before the hamas attack on israel, about 12 trucks per day have entered since these hostilities started. Kind of pressure is the u. S. Applying . As much pressure as we can bring to bear, we have our special envoy for humanitarian affairs on the ground working with regional partners and aid organizations to get the aid accelerated. We have had 84 trucks total go in since the conflict started. Thats not enough. We have to get more in and we are working it very aggressively. Why not make u. S. Military aid to israel conditional, as some analysts have suggested, on pausing the Bombing Campaign to allow time to get hostages out and more humanitarian aid in if that is a priority of the administration . That question almost presumes that the israelis dont care about the hostages either, and they do. They want their citizens back. They share our concerns about that. Its just too certain to tell too soon to tell whether thats going to have an effect one way or the other. We have been nothing but concrete and nothing but clear to continue to prosecute this fight against Hamas Terrorists who slaughtered 1400 people in a single day. I want to ask about the u. S. Retaliatory strikes carried out in Eastern Syria against militant groups believed to be responsible for more than a dozen rocket and drone attacks that injured 21 service members. How does the administration ensure that the strikes wont further inflame tensions with iran or in the region has the u. S. Is really seeking to contain this war . We are going to do what we have to do to protect our troops and facilities. We suffered 20 some odd rocket attacks. Our response last night was direct to the Iranian Revolutionary guard corps because they are the ones they have a choice to make. We dont want to ask dudley we dont want to escalate. We will protect our legitimate mission on the ground in iraq and syria to go after isis and we are going to continue to make sure we have the capabilities to do both. Was the intention of those strikes to kill iranian backed militaries . To go after their ammo and weapons storage, the depots that they were using to supply these militia groups. Degrading their military capability in syria. Two to defer deter any future rocket attacks to send a clear signal that enough is enough. Its got to stop. John kirby, thank you. Gazas humanitarian crisis becomes more direct every passing moment. With constant bombardment and dwindling supplies, its a struggle to find fuel, food and even water. Before communication lines went dark, i spoke with yusuf who works for the Norwegian Refugee Council about life in the besieged territory for his family. The killing machine doesnt stop. Yusuf is the gaza advocacy offer for the norwegian counsel. A former journalist, he has been documenting this war for the past three weeks. He moved his family of four including his fiveyearold and threeyearold to southern gaza. Taking shelter with limited connectivity, he could only speak to me via phone. We have a responsibility to find water. If you needed water right now, what would you do . I couldnt find it and this machine takes me five dollars. Everything is almost impossible. Five hours just to try to get water for your family one day. I have to buy water through other sources. We have more than 30 people in one apartment. We take showers once a week. We consume less because we want to make it last more. We are trying to protect our children. What do you tell your children about whats going on . He understands whats going on, but with the 3yearold, sometimes i say its raining, its a thunder strike. Its not only the sound of the bombing. Its an earthquake. How are you doing . I dont think there is a support network in this planet that will help me with what i have seen here. Its a really awful situation when you feel useless as a father in front of your children. You cannot even protect them and keep them safe. Im sure you have seen the headlines, President Biden said to my colleague that they have reasons to doubt the death toll as reported by the Gaza Health Ministry because it is run by hamas. I just wondered what you think about that. Its not acceptable that they are arguing about the number of people who were killed. And trust me, this number is not accurate because it is way more. We have more than 1500 people missing. Its way more. The bombardment doesnt stop. Every night we pray that we will see the daylight again. Lucky we have another day to live. This weeks shooting in maine has put another spotlight on americas gun violence epidemic. On that and more, we turn to the analysis of New York Times columnist david brooks and jonathan k part of the washington post. Lewiston the latest community to suffer mass gun violence. I want to play this piece of sound from jared golden who reversed his position on assault weapon bands. The time has come for me to take responsibility for this failure. Which is why i now call on the United States congress to ban assault rifles like the one used by the sick perpetrator of this mass killing in my hometown of lewiston. This was a remarkable reversal and very fast. Why do you think we saw that . I think we saw that because that congressman now has a situation in his hometown in his backyard that communities around the country have been dealing with for years now. I dont know if his lone voice is going to be that part of the wave and the momentum that is needed to turn into law what he called for and that is an assault weapons ban. He is in maine which has very loose gun laws, lots of people have guns. At several state. I understand the traditions in maine. And yet i still, unfortunately the people of lewiston are now grappling with the fact that a weapon of war, not a weapon of animal hunting, that at this point these weapons have been used to hunt people and they are lethal. Had there is nothing being done at the federal level to ensure that anyone or that no one gets their hands on a weapon of war, the loan someone like the alleged shooter who apparently and allegedly had Mental Health issues. This is something when those children, those babies were slaughtered in newtown and Nothing Happened after that, that is all i needed to know about the will of american legislators to do anything to stem gun violence in this country. You know these numbers when it comes to where the American Public is. 50 say they favor 58 say they favor strict gun laws. 64 favor banning assault style weapons. Of course there are partisan differences in all of that. Is there any chance in this congress around consensus . Maybe. We have this conversation every time and nothing seems to happen. If there is anything different about this one, first, the cops got there so fast through a series of lucky breaks i guess and he was able to do remarkable damage in a little bit of time and thats the result of an assault weapon. It really highlights how this time it really did make a difference what kind of weapon the guy was using. This guy was sending off signals left and right that he was institutionalized, his family was sending out warnings and they have a yellow flag which is a watereddown red flag law in maine and still he fell through the crack. It feels much more preventable than many of the horrors that have happened and how did nobody pick up on this guy . Maybe people will think practically, is there anyway we can prevent some of these . But if past is prologue, probably not. Im sure we will be having this conversation again sometime soon. You have paid close attention to , we have a new House Speaker. It took several rounds of voting. The house gop elected mike johnson of louisiana. How did mike johnson, who carries a pretty low profile in congress, succeed where so many others had failed . I guess he succeeded because the republican conference is playing its own version of survivor. You had mccarthy, scalise, jim jordan. Who am i missing . A merchant who lasted four hours as speaker designate. It is so unsettling about the fact that congressman mike is now the speaker mike johnson. Speaker johnson is the person whos got the gavel is, we dont really know who he is. Democratic members of congress have said to me on and that they had to go to google to look him up to find out more information about him and the more information the American People find out about him, the more i think theyre going to be uncomfortable from his pushing for a National Abortion ban to introducing legislation for a federal socalled dont say gay bill. His comments on homosexuality and samesex marriage, he said that legalizing samesex marriage was a dark harbinger of chaos that could doom even the strongest republic. I had no idea nick and i were that powerful. Heres this man who is the speaker of the house two heartbeats away from the presidency and he has far right views that make former speaker Kevin Mccarthy look like a moderate. You know your husband loves it whenever you mention him on air. This is a man who has only been in congress for six years. He has never chaired a committee. He is not nearly as prolific a fundraiser. Its fair to say there is a real learning curve ahead. We can all rise to great power by being innocuous and unseen, apparently. The wing of the evangelical world he emerges from. David barton has a powerful block in the subculture of the evangelical world that has been arguing falsely that our founders never believed in the separation of church and state, that Thomas Jefferson was an ardent christian who wanted to make this a christian nation. He is coming from a world where Christian Nationalism is very much in the air and thats got to be concerning if hes coming from this world. On the good side, his comments on the first day were exemplary. He talked about extending ukraine aid, he talked about working with hakeem jeffries. You look at matt gaetz and a lot of these jokers, they dont have any respect for the institution of the congress. Johnson went out of his way to talk about his deep love of the institute of the congress. If you respect the traditions and manners of that institution, you want it to work well, thats an improvement on what i was expecting. Maybe he wont be able to do this, maybe he doesnt believe in this stuff. He did play a key role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results. That is concerning as well. If hes going to be hard right trumpy, thats where the party is. If he can be mega mike and not shut down the government, that will be something i can take away. Can he avoid the government shutting down . There is another deadline looming in a matter of weeks. Could he faced the same fate as Speaker Mccarthy for reaching across the aisle . Yes. I am so fixated on the calendar. It is weeks between now and november 17. The house is only supposed to be in session for four legislative days. That is no time to get anything done. Politico is reporting that there are republicans in his conference who are upset by what the speaker said last night on sean hannity, which is he is open to a continuing resolution that could go through january or april he says with conditions. Already theres rumblings within the conference that they dont want to go for that and the person who has a problem with this is if i can find his name, congressman andy biggs from arizona said there are at least five republicans who would go against the brandnew speaker if he were to come up with a deal that would extend the continuing resolution through january or april. We are headed to some really rough waters with a speaker who has come from out of nowhere, has never chaired a committee, we have no idea how hes going to lead this raucous caucus to a resolution that will keep the government open. I need to ask you about the news out of new hampshire, dean phillips announcing he will run against President Biden. I just want to get your reaction to the announcement and what kind of impact you think it could have. Come on, man. Joe biden is the president of the United States. The best way to win the presidency is to already be in it. The power of incumbency is incredible. In a race thats already going to be razor thin, why is congressman phillips, from the great state of minnesota. I love minnesota. An election that is going to be decided on the margins, why is he jumping in the race to try to weaken the president of his own party who he used to support and used to be a fan boy of. I dont know why he is undertaking such a useless, futile and dangerous exercise. Now we are all talking like joe biden. I think joe biden is the democrat strongest nominee. On the other hand, he wont be hurt by beating somebody. And if he can go when, he looks like a little stronger case. His numbers are just not picking up. If im a democrat to have some sort of escape hatch, thats not the end of the world to me. He will go out and campaign and look like a guy who beat somebody. Good to see you both as always. At a time when many Classical Music and other traditional arts organizations are facing major challenges are facing major challenges, a young conductor is combining musicmaking with Public Service and orchestrating community in every corner of the state. Jeffrey brown followed along for our arts and culture series, can this. In the mountains of eastern kentucky. For an appreciative audience, members of the louisville orchestra played George Gershwins rhapsody in blue. A short time later, Chris Giannulli offered a bit of what he called rhapsody in blue grass. The connector here, teddy abrams. Parttime pianist, fulltime music director and conductor of the louisville orchestra. A man on a mission. Its our responsibility to find the places where other parts of the population are comfortable. We can be guests in their town, Community Center or school and forge that relationship from scratch. Its this Human Connection that people are drawn to. Its human to human fundamentally. Ive got to do that. The orchestra has got to do that. Teddy abrams lives it personally. Many nights he will him conducting the standard repertoire in whitney hall, a traditional performing arts space. Hes already nearing his 10th year in the city, having arrived in 2014 at just 27, the youngest leader ever here. Filled with energy and ideas about how to transform the orchestra. But you are just as likely to find him at a place like this, a louisville church. This group mostly congolese. Trying to bridge gaps including language with music and dance. Its just one of many efforts to bring the orchestra and the music into the community through such projects as a rep school. A latin American Music festival. And in intro to Instruments Program for children. My job is to be a Public Servant in louisville. Do you define it at way . 100 percent. I have a civic role. You literally build community by using the power of this art form to convene people. Thats the power of what we do. Abrams himself comes from californias bay area. He studied conducting starting at age 10 and was mentored by one of todays grades. When he got the louisville job, he went all in. That may sound routine, but its not always the case in the Classical Music world, where globetrotting conductors might spend just parts of the year in the cities where they lead orchestras. Why did you choose to do so . I think its necessary. You have to be here to meet people. Its the act of living in a place, getting into the rhythm and flow and listening to people and spending time with them. It also sends a signal to my neighbors here in louisville that i believe their city is a great city. Im telling them that i believe in this place. Its a city that promotes its urban industry and its horses at churchill downs, the home of the kentucky derby. But the louisville orchestra has its own place in music history. The vast majorities of these are lps because they had to create a label to handle the massive volume of music they were recording. He has shelves of recordings from the 1940s on, when this relatively small orchestra prompted by the music loving mayor punched way beyond its weight in commissioning new works including from the likes of Elliott Carter and aaron copeland. This is the box set that you would get from the louisville philharmonic society. I love that they put the seal of the city on it. Abrams himself a composer of a rep oratorio based on the life of muhammad ali is renewing the commitment to new music through a program that brings composers to live and work here. Your role would be both curatorial and oppositional. Each composer develops a communitybased project. A tour of the state bringing the orchestra to some 50,000 people in 28 rural towns. The performance included yoyo ma. Republican state senator Robert Stivers helped shepherd state funding to the louisville orchestra for this project. You always hear of the ruhr inurban ruralurban divide. With this group has tried to do is bridge those gaps. Musicians feel it, too. Megan casper is a 12 year veteran with the orchestra. You understand more fully. You are part of the stewardship of the community and of your art and that is just as important as how well you play. Brian thacker joined the orchestra three years ago. I have neighbors who have never been to a concert and they know the work hes doing. There is an energy that is infectious and its exciting. It forces you to recalibrate your whole perspective on what we are doing in a good way. None of this changes the very real world pressures on arts organizations around the country. Abrams offers one model to take those on directly that can border on a cult of personality. Saving Classical Music, even saving the world. You are not going to solve issues of Racial Division and deep historical divides and demographic challenges with a single orchestra concert. Thats not what we are talking about. But we all have to try. If americans dont step up and try with whatever talents they have, then we are lost. One concert under the moon and stars under the kentucky mountains is not a bad place to start. After a massive manhunt in the last few days, the suspect robert card has been found dead tonight. Multiple Media Outlets are reporting he died of a selfinflicted gunshot wound. He was suspected of killing 18 people and injuring 13 others at a Bowling Alley and restaurant in lewiston, maine. We will continue to update the story at pbs. Org news hour. Im stephanie sy. On behalf of the entire team, thanks for joining us. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. Moving our economy for 160 years. And with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. The Walton Family foundation. Looking for solutions to protect water during climate change. Advancing ideas and some porting institutions to promote a better world. And with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. In furtherance of the news. And friends of the newshour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. This is pbs newshour west from w eta studios in washington and from our bureau at the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. A pro trump election denier wins the speakers race. We could go barely anyone in washington knew his name. People are curious, w what ds