Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20140627

The social services are in another, thats what were really trying to address. Woodruff and its friday. Mark shields and Ramesh Ponnuru are here to analyze the weeks news. Those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Ive been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. The ones getting involved, staying engaged. They are not afraid to question the path theyre on. Because the one question they never want to ask is, how did i end up here . I started schwab with those people. People who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. United healthcare online at uhc. Com. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the head of syrias moderate opposition made a renewed plea for american help today. Ahmad aljarba met with secretary of state john kerry in saudi arabia. The white house called yesterday for 500 million to aid al jarbas forces. Kerry said its vital to bolster the group, given the rise of islamist militants known as isil. Obviously, in light of what has happened in iraq, we have even more to talk about in terms of the moderate opposition in syria, which has the ability to be a very important player in pushing back against isils presence. Woodruff meanwhile, syrias military captured more territory near the border with lebanon, cutting off more supply routes for the rebels. Government forces are now advancing toward zabadani, a Mountain Resort that the rebels have held for two years. The u. S. Special envoy to the middle east is resigning after a year on the job. The state Department Said today that martin is returning to his previous job at a washington think tank. His departure was widely expected after peace negotiations between israel and the palestinians fell apart. In afghanistan, thousands filled the streets of kabul today, protesting alleged fraud in the president ial Runoff Election two weeks ago. Candidate Abdullah Abdullah joined supporters as they chanted death to fraudsters. They accused the current president , hamid karzai whos barred from running again of trying to rig the race for abdullahs opponent. translated we dont accept fraud in any way or by any means. Millions of people sacrificed to reach this point and achieved this victory. And thousands, hundreds of thousands and even millions are ready to sacrifice again to defend it. Woodruff initial results from the runoff are due next week. For the first time, a top representative of the pope has been defrocked for sexually abusing children. A vatican body convicted polish archbishop jozef wesolowski of assaulting teenage boys when he was the Vatican Ambassador to the dominican republic. He is barred from performing any priestly duties, pending an appeal. W president obama today brushed aside House Republican plans to sue him for abuse of power. He told abc news that the lawsuit is a stunt, and he insisted hell keep using executive orders on issues like the minimum wage if congress refuses to act. He emphasized the point later in minneapolis. We cant afford to wait for congress right now. Thats why im going ahead and moving ahead without them wherever i can. Im not sure which of the things ive done they find most offensive, but theyve decided theyre going to sue me for doing my job. Woodruff republicans charge the president is effectively rewriting laws on health care and immigration, and, in so doing, violating the constitution. Police in mississippi say that a tea Party Official embroiled in a hotly contested senate race apparently committed suicide today. Mark mayfield was found shot to death at his home outside jackson. He had been charged with conspiring to photograph senator Thad Cochrans wife, who suffers dementia. Republican cochran defeated a tea party rival this week in a runoff. San franciscos Golden Gate Bridge is now a big step closer to installing an antisuicide net. The bridge board of governors approved a funding plan today, costing 76 million. The net is designed to stop people from jumping to their deaths. More than 1,400 people have done so since the famed span opened in 1937, including a record 46 last year. On wall street, the Dow Jones Industrial average gained five points to close near 16,852. The nasdaq rose almost 19 points to close just under 4,398. And the s p 500 added three, to finish near 1,961. But for the week, all three indexes fell a fraction of a percent. Still to come on the newshour mounting pressure both inside and outside iraq on Prime Minister Nouri Almaliki; ukraine clinches a new trade pact with the European Union, over russian objections; addressing the challenges for those who qualify for both medicare and medicaid; new statistics on the dangers of drinking alcohol; plus mark shields and Ramesh Ponnuru on the weeks news. Woodruff the pentagon confirmed today that the u. S. Is flying armed drones over baghdad to protect u. S. Civilians and military forces in the iraqi capital. Also, Human Rights Watch released a report alleging that isil militants conducted mass executions of more than 160 men after seizing control of tikrit earlier this month. The uncertainty and violence in recent weeks has many iraqis running scared. Lindsey hilsum of independent Television News reports on the growing apprehensions of every day iraqis. Reporter its the last friday prayers before ramadan, but fear is stirring beneath the surface calm of this sunni mosque. Yesterday, a suicide bomb exploded in a shia area in baghdad, killing 19. And sunnis say some of their young men have been taken from their homes by groups of unknown men. The day before ramadan, everyones minds are on religion. But what sunnis fear most now is a return to the bad old days when the men would disappear and wind up in a ditch with a bullet in their head. And there are some reports that its already starting to happen. Sunnis in baghdad fear the government will make them suffer, because sunnis further north are cooperating with isis rebels. translated ramadan is the holy month, so, in this month, god forgives the people. I ask god to save iraq and all iraqis. translated i feel unsafe even just going the mosque. Theres no security. Im afraid whenever i go out in case i never get back home. All iraqi families are suffering because of this situation. Reporter Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki was meeting military officers today. His mind was on the security of baghdad, too. translated we will not pardon anyone who makes troubles and he will be brought to account severely and strongly punished. Baghdads safety should be secured and cannot be under any danger. Reporter this is what everyone in baghdad dreads. Back in 2007, car bombs exploded every day as sunni insurgents tried to destabilize the government. Unseen, Government Secret Police would torture and kill sunnis to intimidate them and create a climate of fear. The tigris flows under the bridges past the government quarter, so spectacularly destroyed by shock and awe 11 years ago. The square in front of the mosque where the americans pulled down saddams statue is neglected and overgrown, and baghdad is on the brink of war again. Woodruff earlier today, iraqs top shiite cleric stepped up pressure on politicians to agree on the iraqs next Prime Minister by tuesday, as Nouri Almaliki continues to lose the confidence of former allies in the fight against isil militants. Rod nordland has been reporting on the Political Developments in baghdad for the new york times. I spoke to him a short time ago. Rod in orderland thank you forejoining us. We heard about the population there. Give us a sense of the play. Its just a few days until the country has to choose its leaders. The anybody emerging as an alternative to maliki. I think a lot of people feel from many different sides of the Political Parties here that they are all kind of marching toward a cliff and theyre going to go straight over it and not be able to agree on a leader to replace maliki and not being able to agree on maliki in some kind of formulation joined with sunnis and kurds that would bring the country together again to fight this threat from the extremists. Woodruff you wrote today however that even some members of malikis own party are saying he should not continue office. Thats right. And thats new. I mean, he does have the biggest number of seats from the election 92. Sounds like some of them may defect. But still the next Largest Party has 33 seats. And they would have to join with a lot of other desperate groups both sunnis and shias and kurds in order to defeat mr. Maliki and people dont they are it can be done and particularly it cant be done in the next couple days which is what certainly the shia religious leaders have been pushing them to do. Woodruff what role is the United States playing in all of this. We know secretary kerry has been in the region for a number of days. He has spent time in the kurdish part of iraq. How is that being seen. I think[ur÷ hes been doing pretty much what sistani is doing, is United States like the shiite leadership would like to see maliki go, without actually saying so. About in his actions and even in the statement of president obama, is saying that they need a government of unity and mr. Maliki certainly hasnt been able to form oneaofx over thest years. Mary making it clear than altery hard because they think thats the only way to get a government that might possibly bring sunnis and kurds back into the fold. For his trip to kurdistan and his meeting, its alarmed a lot of shia leaders here in certainly mr. Malikis government because it gave kind of approval to what the kurds have done just by mr. Kerrys presence there. And mr. Barzani, the kurdish leader took advantage of that opportunity the to repeat his demands for an independent kurdistan and for them to hold on to the oilrich city that theyve taken. Thats upset a lot of people here and increasingly theres a feeling that kurdistan are lost and the countrys that much close to dismemberment. Woodruff what about the iraqi army . Is it seen as any better equipped to hold off the advance by the isis sources. I dont think so. I dont think anybodys seen a dramatic change. Most people are putting their hopes in these tens of thousands of shiite, mostly shiite volunteers. So who have joined in response to a call from the shiite leadership to buck up the army. But theyre untrained, unproven. The iraqi army has had very little success in the field against extremists insurgents who are far, far less numerous than the army, far less well e quaipped. Training morale. Its also a big problem of corruption. Theres a lot of corruption in the military that under minds the confidence of the soldiers and the confidence of the public and the arm army. Woodruff what about the armed drone flights that the u. S. Has gone over iraq. What are you seeing about both of these. Well, we havent heard much from them aside from the announcement 180 of the advisors are here and theyve begun armed Drone Missions over iraq. Theres already been Drone Missions but theyre flying ones that haveyfvl missiles and thato protect protection for the advisor. Thats more likely to be symbolic, symbolic show of support for the government here. I would think tha ucn they would bevery careful ad take their time to make sure they have assets on the ground that can direct the targeting and make sure they dont make what could be in this situation a really really disastrous mistake if they were to say as theyve done so many times in the past, hit a funeral or wedding or a group of civilians in a sunni area. That would just play into the hands of the extremists. So i think it will be a while before we see any definitive action from drones or air strikes. Reporter ron nordland we thank you very much for talking with us again. Pleasure. Woodruff in a move angering moscow, ukraines new leader signed a deal bringing his country closer to europe today. Jeffrey brown reports. Ukraine paid the highest possible price to make her european dreams come true. Brown ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko came to brussels to sign the pact that had sparked the crisis in his country. It is a symbol of faith and of unbreakable will. It is a tribute to people who gave their lives and health to make this moment happen. Brown last november, poroshenkos kremlinbacked predecessor, viktor yanukovych, balked at signing the trade agreement to further integrate ukraine with europe and move it away from russia. That triggered a Popular Uprising in kiev, and yanukovych fled in february. Of course, all of us would have wished to sign the agreement under different, more comfortable circumstances. On the other hand, the external aggression faced by ukraine gives another strong reason for this crucial step. Brown that aggression russias invasion and annexation of crimea in march; major troop buildups on the russian border with ukraine; and accusations of moscows support of separatists in eastern ukraine. Today, president Vladimir Putin said a longterm cease fire needed to be guaranteed before peace talks among warring parties in ukraine, and he had tough words for poroshenkos government. translated the anti constitutional coup in kiev and the attempts to artificially impose a choice on the ukrainian people between europe and russia have pushed society towards a split and a painful confrontation. Brown but in washington, state Department Spokesperson marie harf applauded the ukraine deal and dismissed putins complaints. I think its noteworthy that what putin was trying to prevent from happening in ukraine has now happened. And on top of that, he has a lot of baggage to go with it. Brown the baggage comes in the form of u. S. And european sanctions, and there could be more next week. Hoping to head that off, russias parliament has rescinded authorization to take military action in ukraine, at putins request. Still, Russian Military exercises restarted yesterday near the ukrainian border. Meanwhile, poroshenko had declared a cease fire last friday, but that has been largely in name only; fighting continued sporadically through the week, with each side blaming the other. Today, the ukrainian president renewed the cease fire through the weekend, and a top separatist leader agreed to honor it. translated the cease fire has been so far very unsuccessful. The fire has not stopped, but nevertheless it was a certain pretext to continue dialogue. Therefore, we confirm on our side the extension of the cease fire for the same duration. Brown thousands have fled the fighting. The United Nations reported today that more than 100,000 ukrainians have crossed into russia this year, seeking safety; and 50,000 others are displaced in their own land. And for more, were joined by matthew rojansky, director of the Kennan Institute at the wilson center, where he focuses on u. S. Relations with former soviet states; and nikolas vos dev is professor of National Security studies at the u. S. Naval war college. Hes written extensively about russia. Welcome to both of you. Matthew let me start with you. The trigger for so much last november and now its signed. How important is it and what impact will it have. Theres no question its important but actually its role as a trigger is probably the less important role. I would say much more important is what it means now. Its a massively important symbol that poroshenko was able to accomplish something that young vention was unable to accomplish. Yanukovych could have signed it but unable to implement and thats what the ukrainians and russians expected. It was a surprise he walked awas signed a piece of paper. He has to do extremely painful, costly and difficult things in order to make ukraine a competitive economy that rather than drowning in the deep end of the european pool can actually succeed. Brown nikolas, how do you see it. From the russian side is it likely to cause president putin to take any action . Well first, let me agree with matt that this is only the beginning of a process, not the end. Its not simply the ukrainians have to move forward, European Countries having taken on this agreement how much they plan to fund ukraine, what they plan to do in terms of offering concrete mechanisms. Remember turkey has had in the session agreement with the European Union for decades, and turkey has not advanced any further. The russian side is very interesting. I think the russians see this essentially now as a game of political chicken. Theyre waiting to see who is going to blink first. Are the europeans having gotten ukraine up to this starting point of signing this agreement, are they going to do more to actually help ukraine. And well see in the comingaqt months, theres still contentious talks about the energy flow. Ukraine right now is not receiving natural gas fromerer are russia. The russians have threatened theyre going to, from this point onward treat ukrainian imports on a much different way than they were done before. Before they had preferential trading relations with russia. I think some of the russiancalcn to ukrainian problems with theyre going to have some sectors in ukraine that find that they dont like having access to the russian markets cut off. And that could lead to political pressure down the road. Brown how do you read the russians especially the events on the ground right now. We refer to a ceasefire its not really a ceasefire. How much control does russia have over the events on the ground. I have to believe russia has more control than thus far it has exercised. It doesnt necessarily mean mr. Putin is orchestrating the action. For example he makes a phone call and a ukrainian airplane or helicopter gets shut down. Thats very unlikely. What he has done is sent plenty of weapons into the region. He a loued that to happen, he allowed russian volunteers to go intohe has not her metally seald the border but limited operations so the yew crannian forces could surround. He hasnt done that yet. If he were to do that, though, and this is the key, it might be necessary but its not sufficient to end the conflict. And this is where we have the problem with the western position. The western position judges mr. Putins compliance based on the results in the conflict. Does the conflict end, is peace restored. And that depends much more at this point. Brown he may not control that. Its a genie out of the bottle problem. He has done things at this point which now potentially put local leaders beyond his ability to reel them back in. Brown nikolas, there were talks going on. Theres not a real ceasefire yet. What is happening . Well the problem from the Ukrainian Government side is they really dont want to have to deal with the separatist leaders as if they represent neo political conconstituencies in east yeah crane. They dont want a legitimacy sitting at the same table as ukraine government representatives. Ukrainian government has been for months trying to avoid that scenario. From the russian side, the russians realize theres pressure coming in from europe and theyve been calibrating what they do on the border with ukraine what would be most likely to tip sanctions from being imposed on ukraine but they dontbadvantages the separt movement give them. As long as theres a viable separatist movement in the east means there cant be a political settlement unless the russians are dealt in and unless russian interests are considered. So the russians are in this odd position, they need to do enough compliance with these requests to stay off further sanctions from the west, but they cant as matt has already indicated. Hermetically seal off the border for fear they might lose some of the influence that they currently possess. Brown that says matt sides are in a strange position, both russia and poroshenko. This is the stand off. On the one hand poroshenko has to continue with european integration which he knows is the pathway that under minds puttens vision. Ukraine is the big prior in the former soviet space by taking ukraine to europe really damages putins position. Putin, if he gives you as nick said the influence he has in southeastern ukraine then his leverage against poroshenko really atrophies. This is not a trust based negotiation this is like a mafia gross. You keep your gunudwhile you tap the turf. Brown nikolas you brought up the sanctions. What about the prospect for new sanctions from europe, from the u. S. , would they be effective at this point . It depends what thosesanctio. It was very interesting that the europeans today again delayed a unified sanctions response. Theyve put it off now until next week and again its based on these vague compliance indicators. It gives those countries in europe which really dont want to see further sanctions placed on russia enough room that if they can show that russia has made some steps then they can argue a process is in place and we dont need to impose new sanctions. Reporter nikolas vosdev and matthew rojansky, thank you very much. Woodruff next, another in our ongoing series about long term care. Providing that care at a reasonable cost especially for low income americans and those who are elderly or who have disabilities has long been a challenge. California is trying to tackle that problem, as special correspondent Kathleen Mccleery reports. Mccleery 85 year lydia cornel has diabetes, congested Heart Failure and suffered multiple strokes. She lives with her daughter elsa who cares for her and manages her medical problem. My mom is have doctors who manages her diabetes and cardiologist. My mom also shes a nephrologist now because shes been a long time diabetic as pel as a podiatrist. Mccleery cornell exhausted her financial resources. Her low income allows her to receive medicaid. California calls it medical and she gets medicare too. Shes one of more than a million californians, and nine million americans who qualified for both. Its an especially Vulnerable Group says attorney and long time consumer validate can you tell greg knoll. Ceo of the Legal Aid Society in san diego. The population is our most infirm, our poorest. These are folks that are qualified by income for medicaid. They also because of their age or disability are qualified for medicare. Mccleery healthcare costs for this group are sky high. Far more than those on 0 medicae alone. Plus the two programs federally run medicare and state run medicaid operate separately with different benefits and rules. The meeting directs aging and independent services for the county of san diego. If you can imagine destroying a system where everything that happens on the health sidel,ones are in another, the two never to meet and talk, thats what were really trying to address. Mccleery california is one of 18 states trying pilot projects to fix that disconnect. All part of a provision of Affordable Care act. The state launched a one stop plan called cal medi connect this spring. Toby douglas overviews it. What were doing is combining all of these different programs under one umbrella, one coordinated system where individuals dont have to do it and navigate multiple systems on their own. They will have one card,system r care. Mccleery san diego is one of eight california counties taking part in a three year test of the new program. And here, most participants will be automatically enrolled in one of four managed care plans. Im callingmy5de this morning healthcare. Mccleery they handle needs by phone and in person often in a variety of languages for this diverse community. They work with a team of doctors, nurses and social workers. Medical director dr. Nora faine says one aim is to keep members out of the hospital and out of nursing homes. It is going to help themnc÷ee a Higher Quality of life. Because they are now going to know what the services are that are available to them to be connected to them. Sometimes there are transportation issues that are very significant and people cant get to both the physicians, the primary care physicians, their appointments, their specialists. And so having transportation available to them so that theyre not missing any of their appointments. Making sure that if they haveg  modifications that are needed in their home glad bars, can get into their home if they use a walker or wheelchair. All of these services are part of coordinating their care. Were really trying to make sure people are able to stay in the community as long as possible. Mccleery another waywxstayr individuals tocinursing. They can come, theres transport available to them. Theres therapy to keep them limber and more functional. The Care Coordinator takes a look at the individual and together they say the day program would be a wonderful opportunity. Thats something that the health plans cannot. So previously that coordination might never have occurred. Mccleery integrating the two Health Systems hasnt been easy. Its a great idea on paper but the reality of it is its not quite there yet if i experience. Mccleery social worker liz landram spends hours helping those who are confused and worried about the changes. Many people are getting turned away from their doctors saying your insurance has changed and we cant see you and this is a patient who has seen this doctor for 30 years. Mccleery that was Patricia Delvecchio experience. She waited eight months for knee surgery only to learn that her doctor wont take the new managed care plan. I thought i was going to get my surwbi called up and iynwr l whats happening, why am i not getting surgery. And he says oh were sorry, we dont take hmo. So im very disappointed, very frustrated. Mccleery the program isnt mandatory. Delvecchio decided to opt out and keep her doctors who take traditional medicare. Thats a decision many other san diegoians are making. Greg knoll runs a call center that fields question about the fledgling program. In san diego, we are told their opt out wait is in the 40 range. But you cant prove that by me. When our advocates talk to people that are called who are confused, even though we go through all the virtues of having a Care Coordinator, weve had virtually 99 immediately sa9aq opt out. Most consumers are going to say im going to stay with the devil i know. When i got problems i go to the devil i dont. Mccleery betting the state wont succeed and her mother is now enrolled. Even their nrns price says its like going to the doctor and showing heres medicare, heres medical, heres the supplement card. So now she only carries one card for both medicare and medi cal. Its a lot simpler. Thats whats going on. Mccleery california officials acknowledge the new program is an ambitious one. They are hoping to enroll 450,000 people statewide by the end of 2015. Woodruff test your knowledge of this online; take our quiz to see how well you recognize the costs and the impact of long term care. Thats on our health page. Woodruff now, a new report from the federal centers for Disease Control and prevention shines a light on the dangers of overindulging in alcohol. Hari sreenivasan, in our new york studio, has that. Sreenivasan the study ranks excessive Alcohol Consumption as the fourth leading cause of preventable deaths in the u. S. , accounting for one in ten deaths among working age americans each year. Its effects also cost the u. S. Economy roughly 224 billion annually. And it is not just the alcoholic drinker who is at risk; partying, bingeing and daily drinking all take a toll. For a closer look, we turn to dr. Robert brewer. Hes head of the Alcohol Program at the c. D. C. And coauthor of the report. First of all weve known excessive drinking has different costs on society, its often a tragedy for the family and loved one of the disease but what surprised you about these problems i youre right. Weve known that excessive alcohol use is a Huge Public Health problem for a long time. What surprised us in this study was the extent to which that Public Health impact was focused on working age adults. As you noted in your opener, we estimate that about one in ten deaths among working age adults, age 2064 years are attributable to excessiventhats a huge numb. And certainly indicates to us that we need to redouble our efforts to prevent it. Sreenivasan so the study also said that the statistic that reach out was the fourth cause of leading death attributed to excessive. How do you define excessive. Thats sort of an umbrella term that we use for those patterns of Alcohol Consumption and certain high risk groups. Under the umbrella we would include binge drinking for a woman including four drinks on occasion within a short period of time. For men five or more drinks within an occasion that is again within a short period of time. Drinking to the point of acute intoxication. We would also include high average daily Alcohol Consumption, which would be greater than one drink per day on average for women, greater than two drinks per day on average for a man. And then any Alcohol Consumption by groups that we know to be particularlyt ,ec high risk of Alcohol Consumption. Specifically under age youth, that is youths under age 21 and pregnant women. So collectively, there is four different groups will be under the umbrella of excessive alcohol use. Now of those, binge drinking is by far the most common of excessive drinking. Sreenivasan what are those faxes that influence that, more among males, more among young people. There are important differences across different population groups. Yes we know that men tend to binge drink more than women. The prevalence, the importance of people that report binge drinking higher and younger age groups 1824 but alsonq;j 2534. Its important tosdf recognizet this really is an important Public Health problem across the life span. But again, a lot of the Public Health impact that we see related to excessive alcohol use in the case of our study were looking at deaths in particular, are really concentrated in that group of working age adults between 20 and 64 years. And thats a huge tragic loss to the of course the individual and to society. But its also a very expensive problem for all of us. And as you noted in your opening, we estimate the Economic Cost of excessive drinking at about 224 billion a year. A large proportion of that cost, about 2 out of every 5 is provided by government. Essentially all of us are paying the cost of excessive alcohol use. Sreenivasan the results of this survey are self reported so is there a possibility that the numbers youre talking about could even be higher . Absolutely. The estimates that we reported in our study which again are deaths that are attributable to excessive alcohol use are calculated in a lot of differene reported by individuals and they significantly under report their Alcohol Consumption. So yes we believe that for that reason among others, the estimated total number of deaths that we reported which is 88,000 per year, the lives who die is 30 years is probably significant under estimate. Sreenivasan what do we know about policies that change alcohol behavior. What works. There are a lot of similarities in the policies and other services that can affect drinking parallels between that and smoking. So we know for example that peoples drinking behavior is very much affected by the price of the alcohol. Alcohol is more expensive people tend to drink less. We also noxz m know that alcol consumptions very much affected by the availability of alcohol. So for example if you have a very high concentration of bars or other establishments selling alcohol within a particular area, people are more likely to drink more as well. So from a Public Health perspective, policies that relate to the price and the availability of alcohol are among those that we think can be most impactful in reducing excessive Alcohol Consumption. There are also thing that can be done in a Doctors Office as well vawps sreenivasan dr. Robert brewer from the cdc. Thanks so much. Thank you for your interest. Woodruff and to the analysis of shields and ponnuru. Thats syndicated columnist mark shields and Ramesh Ponnuru of the national review. David brooks is off. Gentlemen, welcome. And lets start about talking about last tuesdays primary, mark a good stay for establishment republican, not so much for the tea party. How do you explain what happened. Well certainly oklahoma was very good for i think not good for the tea party where the speaker of the house African American, indian american. Kind of just gravitated towards sarah palin, ted cruz, mike and jims, the very conservative congressman, two term. In that sense i would say it was very good. The big one was mississippi and ted caulk reign upset history, tradition. Everything else beingui,  the incumbent who was forced outxvo. And he won quite frankly by turning out reagan democrats, native americans. But most interesting and impressive of all African Americans who one could say provided the margin of victory and it was a victory particularly credit goes to haley barber the former governor. Haley made the stakes known to voters that this was going to be a case of electing somebody, they elected Chris Mcdaniels who in the slogan he can do less than mississippi. That would have been a first in american politics. And cochran had been very successful in delivering goods to the state. Woodruff ramesh what do you think happened in mississippi. I think thats the overall exception to the story over this these primaries not just the establishment beating the tea party. Its the establishment and tea party converging. If you look what happened in oklahoma for example, jim lang ferred was the congressman who was considered the establishment guy al he thou when he first ran for congress he was a Tea Party Guy and he got the votes of most very conservative oklahoma republicans. Woodruff compared to this other man. Thats right. The interesting thing its not a question of Tea Party Voters getting outvoted. The Tea Party Voters backed Mitch Mcconnell in kentucky, backs the candidate in north carolina. In nebraska a lot of these differences were transcended by ben. Mississippis the great exception where you had a bruising slug fest and it was a very tight race. Woodruff and they spent a lot of money. They spent a lot of money and said all kinds of things about each other. Woodruff we had this cross over. Theres good evidence democrats voted for contact run the incumbent republican and a number of African Americans. I think theres no question. If it had been a closed primary just with republicans cochran would have lost. If it had been a closed election in 1980, Ronald Reagan would have lost. The ability to reach out and that is an argument political scientists have had should it just be a pure primary election and just restrict to the party members. I would say that this was a civil war at the 19th hole in the country club. I mean you had millions of dollars being spent by the pro Business Chamber of commerce against the antitax clubgrowth. And conservative groups put more money in against cochran in Mississippi Tea Party groups, tea Party Affiliated groups than was spent in his behalf. Woodruff first time ive seen Something Like that where you have African American voters crossing over and voting in the republican primary. I have never seen it before and to me it only argues good things for mississippi, it really does. And the democrat who after this, hes in a great position to challenge cochran debate every week of this campaign. Woodruff you just mentioned civil war. Lets talk about another kind of war and that is ramesh escalating, i dont know what else to call it, war between Congressional Republicans and the president. Theyre saying he is abusing his position as president. He is air gating powers to himself he doesnt v the speaker of the house is suing, is about to sue the president and the president himself yesterday he talked about this as a phony scandal. How do you explain whats going on here . Well, the lawsuit or the threatened lawsuit is about whether the president s faithfully executing the laws that the constitution says hes supposed to and a lot of Congressional Republicans have been fuming at sort of an increasing volume over the last several months about how the administration has in their view rewritten law in healthcare, rewritten the law on immigration and other matters. The problem with the administrations framing of this, this endeavor you look ate Court Decisions against the administration saying the administration is overreaching. Obviously that is something that the democratic appointees, the liberal justice, the obama appointees are all agreeing obama has overstepped. Woodruff mark. The Supreme Court has given a cautionary note, no question on certain appointments and epa regulations. But i think it struck me this week that the house, this is a week in which it was announced the worse possible Economic News for the country and certainly politically for democrats. The economy shrank by 2. 9 the first quarter. What is the republicans response . Is there anything on the passage, do they want to talk about the economy . No, were trying to talk about an absolutely bogus suit that theyre going to bring to the president which we know is going no where. It l feeling the pressure from the his own caucus weve got to do something. We provide the impeachment thing before. Some 16 years ago that didnt work. Woodruff bogus suit, is that what it is, ramesh. Im not so sure if the court will view it the same way. Who knows how its going to proceed. I would say if you look at the reasoning that the decisions the Supreme Court is making about the administration where they think the administration has been grabbing power from the other branches, i think you have to have some worries here if youre one of their lawyers. They better develop a single argument against barack obama. Hes weak, hes absolutely docile in Foreign Policy and yet hes a tyrant, this despot, this powerrzdomestically. I mean, you got it one way or the other, hes either one or the other. At this pointed president reagan had 182 more executive orders than when he was president than barack obama has ever issued. George w. Bush issued 110 more executive orders, and reagan had eight times as many recess appointments. And i never heard this criticism made before. Woodruff its been debated de its been about the sheer number and i dont think you have anything comparable in the previous administrations to prick saying im not doing anything gfk lateral. Thats beyond my powers. Woodruff well, we could talk about that but i want to ask about another aspect of war going on between the congress and the president. And mark, that is the irs. The commission of the irs, John Kaufmann has been called before congress now a number of times in the last few days. Theres this question about missing emails, hard drive computers by top ranking irs officials that are destroyed. A lot of questions about what happened. How do you read this and where is it headed . Full disclosure, john has been someone ive known and respected for 35 years and hes taken on nothing but thankful assignments as a public servant, somebody who has done very well and could retire, play golf and play with his grandchildren. Instead hes come back to answer this call just as he did on y2k, the closing of the government in 1995. Hes just deputy mayor of the district of columbia, hes taken nothing but tough assignments. And this one is probably the most thankless of all. Irs is unpopular. Its unpopular across the board. They demand your records with the idea that their records are missing, theres a story line that is very difficult to defend. But i see absolutely no connection. I have watched the hearings carefully, and i will say that i just think this is a case of a committee run amuck. I think darrell issa is truly out of control. Woodruff the committee. The committee. The vying between ways and means and government reform. I just think its a question of public service, i really do. And were going to get to the answer, going to get to the bottom of it. Woodruff ramesh how do you see that. Theres no type of story that reflects well of the irs or how its been run. I think if you have a 1. 8 billion information technology5n budget as the irs does each year you ought to have better recordkeeping practices than it has. Weve got a story of Pretty Amazing incompetence. Woodruff do you think, at this point republicans are asking for more emails, more information to see whether the whitehouse, i mean is this going to continue. I think that there is a great deal of skepticism that we know the full story. I do think republicans are making a mistake if they talk about it as though they already know the conclusion and they already know its going to lead to the whitehouse but i think absolutely its important to keep asking these questions. Woodruff last thing i want to ask both of you about is someone who was a giant when he served testify United States senate, howard baker, the Senate Majority leader. He died this week at the age of 88. A remarkable legacy. A remarkable elect see. Judy, before twitter and texting and news cable there are about three dozen people who used to come to National Politics and late at night over drinks in the campaign trail when people let their hair down, this leftist press corps almost overwhelming, certainly the majority would say if they could pick a president it would be howard baker. He was an intellectual, honesty, a man of incredible demeanor. He had no enemies list, he liked politics. He was very good at it and he had a core. And i just, i think he would have made a terrific president. He was just a remarkable public servant. He saved Ronald Reagans presidency. Woodruff as whitehouse chief of staff. After he retired. Woodruff ramesh he made a name for himself during the watergate hearings during 1970s but then went on to serve for so many years after that. Thats right. He did come into the Reagan White House at the time it was having a Successful End to that administration. But the watergate hearings so refreshing looking back, its totally used to the Opposition Party going after a president based on a scandal. But here you had somebody from the president s party holding him accountable and thats something you dont see. Woodruff he was a remarkable man. A giant. What did you say. A five foot seven inch giant. He truly was a giant. Reporter thank you both very much. Mark shields and Ramesh Ponnuru. Woodruff again, the major developments of the day iraqs top shiite cleric pressed for agreement on new government leaders to battle a sunni insurgency; and ukraine signed a Political Economic agreement with the European Union over russian objections. On the newshour online right now, web prodigy aaron swartzs suicide last year left many to wonder what could have been. The story of his short but profound life is the subject of a new documentary. Jeffrey brown talked to the filmmaker on art beat. All that and more is on our web site, newshour. Pbs. Org. And a reminder about some upcoming programs from our pbs colleagues. Gwen ifill is preparing for washington week, which airs later this evening. Heres a preview. From thad cochran in mississippi to Hillary Clinton on the road we dissect the policy of the week. The fallout of the supreme Court Decisions and the political collapse in iraq tonight on washington week. Woodruff tomorrows edition of pbs newshour weekend looks at the deals cut by some generic drug manufacturers with brand name pharmaceutical companies that can result in higher prices for consumers. Heres an excerpt from megan thompsons report. Marcus meyers heads the federal trade commissions antitrust division for healthcare. He says fighting these socalled pay for delay deals is one of the ftcs top priorities. So if you can keep the generic out, the brand can continue to make all the sales at the monopoly price and still pay the generic to make it worthwhile for them to stay out of the market. What does ftc say is at stake for consumers. Billions of dollars. We done a study of this back in 2010 where we study this very carefully and we estimate it costs American Consumers about 3. 5 billion a year. Woodruff and well be back right here on monday as the Supreme Court winds up its term with a decision expected in the hobby lobby case, the legal challenge to the Affordable Care acts contraception coverage mandate. Thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Have a great weekend. Thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by when i was pregnant, i got more advice than i knew what to do with. What i needed was information i could trust, on how to take care of me and my baby. United healthcare has a Simple Program that helps moms stay on track with their doctors and get care and guidance they can use before and after the baby is born. Simple is what i need right now. 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