Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20140813

Tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by at bae systems, our pride and dedication show in everything we do; from Electronics Systems to intelligence analysis and cyber operations; from combat vehicles and weapons to the maintenance and modernization of ships, aircraft, and critical infrastructure. Knowing our work makes a difference inspires us everyday. Thats bae systems. Thats inspired work. 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. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. 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. Ifill recordbreaking rain left detroits suburbs soaked today. Mondays deluge dumped more than six inches in some places. This morning, parts of major interstates remained closed, as cars and trucks were lifted from the flooded roads. Authorities warned people to stay off the roads if possible, and dive teams checked deep areas for any missing people. One woman died of a heart attack after her car was stranded. Flooding also shut down General Motors tech center outside detroit, where about 19,000 people work. Woodruff in the middle east, a temporary truce in gaza held for a second day, but it was unclear if israel and hamas were making progress toward a lasting ceasefire. The two sides were meeting separately with egyptian mediators in cairo. A previous threeday ceasefire ended last week. Ifill the government of russia dispatched a mileslong humanitarian aid convoy toward Eastern Ukraine today. But ukrainian leaders insisted it would not be allowed to enter under Russian Military control. Lindsey hilsum, of independent television news, filed this report. Reporter an orthodox priest sprinkles 280 aid trucks with holy water to help them on the 600 miles journey from moscow to the ukrainian border. Baby milk, wheat and other supplies, 2,000 tons in total. No question that those trapped by fighting need help but the Ukrainian Government fears that the russians have ulterior motives. You dont need tanks and artillery to bring food and medicine for civilians. Stop the aggression, stop the russian terrorists. Reporter this is what hes talking about. Western governments say the russians have been transporting armor to the border, while russian officials have talked of sending peacekeepers to ukraine. President putin was showing the egyptian president round one of his warships today. The aid convoy is a new tactic in his battle to control Eastern Ukraine. When the bombs are very loud, we sit here and lean back. Theres a hole so we try to stay away from the ceiling. This week has seen the fiercest fighting to have the conflict. Proukrainian volunteers launched mortars in sunflower fields like those where flight mh17 was brought down. International teams hoping to salvage wreckage and investigate can tot operate in such conditions so theyve left. The ukrainians wont let up because they think the russian sponsored rebels are around the back. Explosions through donetsk as Ukrainian Forces press their advantage. People shelter in basements. Water is short. Electricity intermittent. If the aid conflict gets through, president putin will look good. If the ukrainians block it, they will look bad. Whatever happens, the president wants to retain his influence in what he sees as his backyard. Ifill the convoy could arrive at the russianukrainian border in several days. Woodruff looming famine in south sudan brought new action today. The United States pledged 180 million of food aid to help nearly four Million People who face starvation. Thats a third of south sudans population. Fighting between rival factions erupted in december. Since then, at least 10,000 people have been killed, with more than a million displaced. Ifill in economic news, u. S. Employers advertised nearly 4. 7 million jobs in june, the most in 13 years. And on wall street, the Dow Jones Industrial average lost nine points to close at 16,560. The nasdaq fell 12 points to close at 4,389. And the sandp 500 slipped three, to 1,933. Ifill still to come on the newshour what can be done to stem the Ebola Outbreak . Political turmoil and a raging insurgency in iraq; more riots and unrest in ferguson, missouri over the Police Shooting of a teen; remembering comedian and actor Robin Williams; and the real reason an unpopular Congress Gets reelected anyway. Woodruff the size of this Ebola Outbreak, and its spread, is challenging Public Health workers and governments as the disease never has before. Health officials are warning its toll will continue to get worse for now. And researchers and doctors are grappling with how they can get a better handle on an urgent problem. Woodruff its a desperate measure for a desperate time. As the outbreak spreads, an ethics panel of the World Health Organization today officially approved using untested drugs to fight the disease. Speaking in geneva, the groups assistant director general says the decision was unanimous, but, with caveats these include transparency about all aspects of care, informed consent, freedom of choice, confidentiality, respect for person and preservation of dignity and with the involvement of the community. Woodruff the decision came as the number of ebola deaths reached 1013, out of 1,848 confirmed cases. Most have been in three countries guinea, where the illness was first detected, as well as liberia and sierra leone. And officials in nigeria now say ten cases of ebola have been confirmed there, in the sprawling city of lagos. Two american aid workers, recently flown back to atlanta from liberia, received the experimental u. S. Made drug, zmapp. Doctors say theyve shown signs of improvement. But in spain today came word that a priest who was given zmapp has died. Officials in liberia announced theyve been promised a shipment of zmapp later this week. But that may be the last of the medicine for some time to come. The wall street journal reported today the drug maker, mapp biopharmaceutical, has now distributed all of the doses it had. That leaves as apparently the main option for officials throughout west africa stepping up awareness campaigns and screening measures to quarantine the virus. Several states ivory coast, gambia and zambia, have now banned all flights from ebola infected countries. Woodruff given those problems with the Health Systems and a lack of drugs, what more can be done, and should be done . We ask two people watching this all very closely. Lawrence gostin is professor of Global Health law at georgetown law and the director of the World Health Organizations center on Public Health law and Jonathan Moreno is professor of medical ethics and Health Policy at university of pennsylvanias Perelman School of medicine we welcome you both to the newshour. There is some late breaking information thats come out. Ill start with you dr. Gostin. Canadian Officials Say they have about 1500 doses of a vaccine that can be used on ebola. What do we know about this and can it be used in this crisis . We dont know much. We dont know if its undergoing rigorous and effect cassy testing. But we know a vaccine would be a blessing come true. Heretofore, most experts had not predicted a vaccine coming on board this quickly. All we can do is keep a very watchful eye on it. Woodruff dr. Moreno, is it a surprise the canadians have this . It just broke this afternoon. Its a surprise to me. Its hopeful the masses are trying to respond to the crisis. Whats disheartening is weve gotten to this point at all. The global infrastruck char in west africa has been neglected so it was predictable and more hobble than those of us watching would have thought. Woodruff what about the time line for the canadian vaccine . The vaccine different than the drug used to treat a very few people. That would have been given them to prevent them from getting ebola. Do we have a time line on it being available . Testing needs to happen. A real Clinical Trial will take a year and a half, in my estnation, and that means you have infrastructure and the number of patients with whom to do that . Woodruff dr. Gostin, you have the World Health Organization voting unanimously to make the drug available. Is that something a vaccine, could it also be made available without extensive testing . Well, i do think that given the urgency of the situation that as long as it had fairly good safety data and promising effectiveness that we would want to have some kind of an Investigational Use of it, and i would roll it out as quickly as we could, given those two preconditions, but continue to evaluate it because both zmapp, the drug to try to treat this, and this vaccine are still at very, very early stages, and we want to make sure it doesnt do harm, and we want to make sure it hems. Sure. There are so many questions here being asked. Dr. Moreno, part of what the World Health Organization is addressing is not only how quickly but who gets this, and we know liberian officials announced today the two doctors will be among the first recipients. Is it Health Officials who should be first in line . There is an argument of the benefits to people on the front line to get them better again so they can work again. It was also an argument about reassuring other healthcare workers to make sure that their more rail stays up when theyre exposed to these very difficult conditions. So there are those arguments. And also perhaps physicians might be able to have a better understanding of the uniform consent issues involved in this highly investigational and i would say experimental serum. So there are arguments to doing Doctors First but, still, how many doctors and how do you decide which doctors . Other triage arguments could be had, do you give it to the sickest or those most likely to benefit. So there are subcategories of questions that the w. H. O. Hasnt addressed so far. Woodruff i agree. And you were going to add. One of the things that really troubles me and i think troubles people on the ground in west africa were the first people who got thismation were white european foreign aid workers. Woodruff two americans. Two americans and a spanish priest. And they werent involved in the decisionmaking process. The healthcare workers are on the front line. Its very dangerous to work in sierra leone and other places like that because you dont have protective equipment, you dont have Infection Control and theres a high rate of illness and death from ebola. Woodruff at this point we know the manufacturer of zmapp, the serum, is saying theyve exhausted their supply. Both of you talked to us earlier about what else needs to be done urgently, dr. Moreno. What are the kinds of things governments and Healthcare Organizations need to be doing now . Well, 50 very courageous c. D. C. People are in the region now, i understand. They are. O try to bulk up the infrastructure in those countries. Isolation is something thats going to have to be improved, as far as i can tell. You worry about immigration, two airports in lagos lagos and mil. And when people go to the doctor with symptoms and the doctor cant figure out whats going on the first Year Medical Student question is where have you been . So there are nonrocket style measurers that need to be taken. Im thinking the magic bullets, the vaccines and so forth, are distracting from what needs to be done now. Woodruff what needs to be dismoan. Let me begin by saying this was a completely preventible tragedy. We got surprised by it. There was no reason to be surprised because ebola pops up in aftercan a lot. We have very fragile Health Systems. If it happened anywhere else, we would know. You want to have protective equipment for the hospitals, face sterile isolation, and you want to find the contacts and put them in isolation, treating them in a dignified and humane way. Woodruff and you were telling us the other day a lot of money, in fact tens of millions of dollars have been spent internationally in the developing world on other diseases. Yeah, i have been really calling for a dedicated fund at the World Health Organization which would be peanuts compared to what we give to aids, t. B. , malaria, that would be dedicated to building up the Fragile Health System and do it in an endurable and sustainable way. We can prevent the next one. Right now, i foresee that it would take at least six months for us to contain this. Woodruff do you agree with the six months . Im afraid i agree thats likely. Woodruff well, on that sobering note, i know the two of you will continued to work hard on this. Dr. Lawrence gostin, dr. Jonathan moreno, we thank you very much. Thank you. Ifill in iraq today, an aid helicopter on a mission to help stranded members of the yazidi religious minority crashed. Meanwhile, the man chosen to succeed iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Almaliki gained Critical International support. Ifill on the streets of baghdad today, iraqis tried to keep track of the political battle over who will be Prime Minister. The incumbent, Nouri Almaliki, was warning military commanders not to intervene. Instead, the shiite leader urged them to focus on defending iraq against the Islamic State group and its sunni allies. translated what i am scared of is that alqaida gangs, the Islamic State group and insurgents might try to make use of the current tension. Therefore i would like you to draw your attention to carefully checking all the convoys and the armed men, in order to see if they are Law Enforcement or not, because there are those who will take advantage. Ifill maliki, who has condemned the new president s choice of haider alabadi, to succeed him as Prime Minister, is a deeply divisive figure. Even though abadi and maliki share a political party, he has shown no sign he will step aside. Yesterday, he deployed loyal troops in baghdad, but few are rallying to malikis cause. Many in baghdad reacted favorably today to the naming of abadi. translated we hope that the new Prime Minister will provide us with security and stability and all humanitarian necessities. Ifill and International Leaders have also praised the selection of the new Prime Ministerdesignate. A representative of irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said iran supports the Legal Process that has taken its course. Iran favors a cohesive, integrated and secure iraq. Ifill on the military front, the u. S. Again struck Islamic State fighters in northern iraq. This time, a drone destroyed a mortar position threatening kurdish forces. And secretary of state john kerry, visiting australia, said more u. S. Support is possible. We are prepared to consider additional political, economic and security options as iraq starts to build a new government and very much calculated to try to help stabilize the security situation, to expand economic development, and to strengthen the democratic institutions. Ifill for now, much of the effort involves air drops of food and water to members of the yazidi religious minority. Thousands of them have fled the islamist forces, taking refuge on mount sinjar. Some yazidis have been evacuated through rescues by helicopter like this one, mobbed by refugees yesterday. On a similar mission today, the overloaded helicopter crashed, killing the pilot. New york times journalist alissa rubin and several others on board were hurt. Woodruff three days after a fatal Police Shooting of an unarmed black teenager outside saint louis, tensions continued to flare between police and crowds demanding answers. Woodruff for a second night, protests boiled over into violence in ferguson, missouri. Police said they fired tear gas and beanbag rounds after some in the crowd started throwing rocks. At least five people were arrested, making a total of 50 since saturday, when 18yearold Michael Brown was shot and killed by a policeman. Browns family and civil rights leaders appealed for calm again today. This family none of these individuals not Michael Brown senior nor leslie, the mother and father, have asked for anybody to be disrespectful, to be irresponsible, to be violent to do anything at all we have not asked for them to do anything like that. It is important to them and their name and their child that we call for calm and we call for everybody to be responsible. Woodruff demonstrators did he said it should be expressed in a way that healed, not in a way that wounds. Demonstrators did stage another peaceful march and rally in ferguson, a city with a largely black population and a mostly white police force. There was little new information on the shooting investigation. The police chief said today the police chief said today he wont publicly identify the officer involved, for now, because of death threats. The f. B. I. Is also investigating the incident for possible civil rights violations. Woodruff for more, we are joined by jim salter of the Associated Press in st louis. Jim salter, we just reported on what happened last night. What about today . What happened in the aftermath of that . So far today things have been pretty quiet, judy. There have been peaceful protests in ferguson but nothing dangerous has broken out, although the previous two days the violence has occurred after nightfall so police a on high alert anticipating what might happen tonight. We can probably expect road blocks on the main thoroughfare of west floriscent, a Huge Police Presence and they will be moving to keep people off the street and to keep them from congregating in large crowds and urge them to stay home and avoid violent activity. Woodruff on that point, we just reported on president obamas statement that came out late this afternoon from the white house saying the death was heartbreaking, calling on people to remember Michael Brown. He said talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. Have you talked with anyone either in his family or in the community to see what the reaction is . We havent talked to people about the reaction to the president s comments but certainly the president is echoing thing that both Community Activists and folks like the reverend al sharpton has said that its dishonoring this young man to loot stores, create violence and burn buildings. The best way to honor him would be peaceful protests, to affect change in a peaceful way and not to be creating this violent activity. Woodruff well, what are people in the community saying today, now that were a few days past this shooting . What kinds of reactions are you hearing from people who live there . One thing people are saying is they want justice to move quickly, and that could be problematic, as you can imagine. These sorts of investigations take a lot of time. Police are using eyewitness testimony, reaching out to anybody who might have a cell phone video, and there are certainly a lot of different reports of what people said they saw that vary from what police have said was the official, you know, report from the officer. So its going to take a lot of time. Theres going to be toxicology tests and ballistics tests and people are going to have to be patient. It could be several weeks before we know exactly a little closer to what happened there. Woodruff so the police are being pretty visible in the way theyre investigating this . Theyre trying to be very visible. The ferlgson Department Almost immediately turned it over to the st. Louis county police and the f. B. I. Has joined a separate investigation. So theyre trying to be as transparent and open as possible, but they are also urging theyre going to have to move cautiously and be as thorough and diligent as they have to be. Woodruff what would you say, jim salter, the forces are for calm right now in the community, and what would be the forces of folks who are still angry and not accepting the explanations of the police force . Youre right, those are two very competing forces. It was exemplified sunday night. There was a candlelight vigil at the site where michael was shot, involving several thousand people crowded under a narrow street and it was very peaceful with people lining teddy bears and remembrances of michael, then a couple of blocks away people were burning down the Quick Trip Convenience store and looting several stores up and down that street. Certainly some people have used this as an opportunity to commit crimes. The vast majority of people, though, are heart broken about whats happened in ferguson and the leadership of the community, the congressmon, th congressmant are all urging people step back and take a peaceful look at. This there are two Community Meetings tonight both along that line to urge caution and peace and well see how long that holds once the sun goes down. Woodruff just finally, quickly, how does this fit into the history recent history of racial relations in the Ferguson Community over the last several years . Well, ferguson is a near suburb to st. Louis. It was once a mostly white, middleclass suburb. As urban sprawl has occurred, it became a mostly black community with about 67 of the community is black. There is racial tension there as there is in much of north st. Louis county, but most of the fergusons are middleclass community, and there are pockets of poverty and the pockets of poverty are the biggest concerns. Thats where a lot of the Police Incidents happen, and those are the areas where the outbreaks have occurred. So its a community that certainly has been changing over the years and well see how that continues to change. Woodruff jim salter with the Associated Press reporting from st. Louis. Thank you. Thank you. Ifill a fasttalking space alien, a manic genie with a gift for improv, an inspirational teacher with a love of literature, and a blazing stand up comedian, all just a handful of the roles that propelled Robin Williams into the entertainment stratosphere. Jeffrey brown has our look at the work of the oscarwinning actor. Brown this afternoon the Marin County Sheriffs Department said that Robin Williams had died by asphyxia by hanging. Mr. Williams personal assistant became concerned at approximately 11 45 am when he failed to respond to knocks on his bedroom door. At that time, the personal assistant was able to gain access to mr. Williams bedroom, and entered the bedroom to find mr. Williams clothed in a seated position, unresponsive, with a belt secured around his neck. Brown word of his death broke yesterday evening and led to an outpouring of shock and sadness from fans, friends and colleagues. On twitter comedian steve martin wrote i could not be more stunned by the loss of Robin Williams, mensch, great talent, acting partner, genuine soul. Friend and colleague Billy Crystal wrote simply no words and president obama released late night host conan obrien appeared shaken as he announced the news during his show. Sorry to anyone in our studio audience that im breaking this news. This is absolutely shocking and horrifying and so upsetting on every level. And president obama released this statement, saying williams made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most. Robin williams began his career in standup comedy and was known from the beginning for his almost outofthisworld improvisational wit, speed, and energy. Im melting, im melting. Help me youre not going to help me are you . Nanoo, nanoo brown his big break, in fact, came in the late 70s, playing an alien on the television show, mork and mindy, where his character would often check in with his outer space superior. A spaceship from the planet necloton landed on earth. Oh no, not the necrotons. Our arch enemies . No, theyre a hockey team. Of course theyre our arch enemies good retort, sir. Thats one for you, eight million for me. Brown williams moved to film, sometimes combining his frenetic comedic style with more serious subject matter. As when he played a rebellious Armed Services dj in the 1987 movie, good morning, vietnam. Is is is rock ant roll time to rock it from the delta to the dmz brown in 1989s dead Poets Society he was an unconventional english teacher at a boarding school attempting to inspire his students. Medicine, law, business, engineering. Now these are noble pursuits to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. More hits came in the 1990s, in a variety of roles, including mrs. Doubtfire, where he played a father pretending to be a british nanny in order to see his children. Euthagenia doubtfire, dear. I specialize in education and entertainment of children, surprise brown and williams won an oscar for his supporting role as a south boston psychiatrist in 1997s good will hunting. Brown through the years williams returned to standup comedy, performing for u. S. Troops overseas, winning a grammy for a comedy album in 2002 and appearing multiple times at the Kennedy Centers annual mark twain awards. Enjoy the evening. Yet throughout the many highs, he struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, and with depression. And would make reference to it in his comedy routines. Just this summer he checked himself into a rehab clinic to help maintain his sobriety. And today, the coroner said a preliminary investigation revealed he had been seeking treatment for depression. Robin williams was 63 years old. Brown and were joined now by budd friedman, hes the founder of the Improv Comedy Club in hollywood, where williams often did his standup comedy act as a young man. And a. O. Scott, who followed his movie and television careers as the New York Times chief film critic. Budd friedman, what do you remember of those early performances . What did you see in the young Robin Williams . I guess what is memorable, ive never forgotten his first time on stage. He knocked me out. He went all over the place physically and mentally. He was a joy to behold. He became a regular at the improvimprov from the first time set foot on stage. He would tear the audience apart. Brown was the show different every night . Did he look like he was working at it . He never looked like he was working at it. My favorite story, i was courting this young lady about 34 years ago, i was crazy about her, i thought, shes got everything i need and shes not in show business. Our first date, we went to see robin at the club, and she watched him and she said, you know, i think i could do this. I said, be a standup . She said, yes. I said, oh god. The next night, she came with me and watched robin, and she said, maybe i cant do this. She made it look so easy that anyone thought they could do it. Obviously not. Brown a man of many voices and characters all at once, it seemed, yet he involved into an actor that could take on a role and create a character. How did he do that . It was fascinating. It was like turning on a faucet or a fire hose, all of the voices and the ideas and the jokes that would just come out seemingly effortlessly. I was watching on youtube earlier today some of his Johnny Carson appearances where carson would be just feeding him cues and he would do impressions and improvs and ideas. I think what you see in some of his serious roles including some very, very dark ones, playing a killer with insomnia with al pacino, or the serious and sensitive psychiatrist in good will hunting is that you feel some of that exuberance and manic held in check. So the actor himself has this enormous vitality and liveliness that is just under the surface and you never know from scene to scene whether its going to peak out or pop out. So part of the pleasure of watching him in those more serious, more restrained roles is that feeling of that spirit in there that could burst out at anytime. Brown you also wrote in your appreciation he often played sly, sad or surprising versions of himself but he was rarely insincere. There was a lot of self awareness. If you listen to his standup routines that you can get on the internet or, you know, watch some of the specials, theres a lot of commentary on what hes doing, on how the comedy is working, which is, you know, what we like to call these days meta, a sort of selfawareness. But it was never cynical, never arch, never any distance from the material. There was a kind of exuberance and sweetness and generosity always in what he was doing. He was just really watched and performing, you got the sense of someone who was having fun and inviting you to have fun along with him. So it wasnt a kind of satirical or a pointed or a harsh kind of humor, it was just he had all of this energy, all of these voices, all of this inventiveness that he almost couldnt help but share. Brown budd friedman, speaking of how he did it, youve watched a million comedians, i guess. What did the great ones have . What did he have . Well, you know, he was able to transform himself, talking about movies, into the part. Even though i knew i was watching robin, i believed he was that person, the psychiatrist, the deejay in vietnam. He always made it real. You really cant compare him to anyone else. Perhaps the improvisational skills of Jonathan Winters who was his minimu mentor, his idolt jonathan couldnt do the movie or overlay robin could. So i think robin sat there out by himself as far as allaround performers are concerned. Brown but he also still battled depression and now we have this very sad ending. Theres the trope about the comedians being sad underneath, about feeling doubt all the time. Yeah. Brown did you ever see that in him . Do you think thats real or overplayed . I never saw it in robin. Granted, i didnt see him at all in the last year, but i never saw him depressed. If he was you know, if after a show he might have a little letdown, but then, boom, hed pop up again. But the idea of all comics being, say, suicidal or dark, i just dont agree with that. I think there are you know, unfortunately this will certainly add to that thought, but i dont think all comics are like that at all. Brown were remembering that, the tragedy but also the generosity for, say, the troops. He played for Jonathan Winters in the last few years. Yes, he was generous and he worked a lot. He showed up on louie, on homicide. He was in movies, some good, some bad, big hollywood movies, and the sense that one always got was not of a soul in torment but of a person who just really enjoyed what he did, who got and gave enormous pleasure from the imputs to perform that he had. Brown scott, do you have one that you go back to to remember him . There are a few. I would go back and look at clips on the tonight show performances, guest appearances. I think he was the greatest late talk show guest in history. Im familiar with him and nathan lane as a gay couple where hes playing the more uptight person in the partnership and the two are wonderful together. And also a movie Paul Mazursky most recently, moscow on the hudson, playing a russian emigrant, a sowferl performance and you believe for the entire movie hes russian. Brown a. O. Scott and budd friedman, on the life and work of Robin Williams. Thank you so much. Thank you. Ifill weve listed Robin Williams entire filmography in the order they were ranked by movie lovers. See if you agree and let us know your top ten, on our art beat page. Woodruff well be back with a look at how american politics are shaped by the way Congressional Districts are drawn. But first, its pledge week on p. B. S. This break allows your Public Television station to ask for yo ifill no matter what the polls tell us about how unpopular congress is, 90 of them are reelected every time. Its no accident, their districts are drawn that way. For proof, look no further than the state of florida. Last month, a federal judge said two key districts there, designed to protect the incumbents representing them, were illegal. So yesterday, the state legislature came up with new maps, less than two weeks before the next round of primary elections, and even though a million voters have already cast early ballots. Florida is not the only state where lawmakers from both parties have stretched the limits of geography to create politically homogenous districts. Here to explain whats up and why, is newshour Political Editor domenico montanaro. So much of what happens, d doest have to do with how the voters vote. So much of it is set before voters go to the polls. You think youre voting directly for your congressman. Whats happening is the cake kind of gets baked over the last couple of decades and its gone back to our Founding Fathers in certain instances but really over the past decade or so both sides have really perfected the game, perfected an art, almost, of how to draw some of these districts to either pack in a lot of voters of one party, in order to keep districts safe outside of that or exclude them in other ways. Ifill i want to make the point you just made which is both sides are engaged in this interest of preserving the status quo. Right, we look at the third Congressional District in maryland where you see almost what looks like a rorshak test of districts. Ifill a judge said about the map its reminiscent of a broken winged teridactil lying across the center of the state. Hes very poetic about that. Democrats did this to draw out one republican and pick up enough votes through the corridor of baltimore and d. C. To get enough democratic votes in order to district out their one republican that was in one part of the state. Ifill one republican representatives of the district. No a democrat to give him enough votes to get out of republican in another district. Ifill right. But the big picture is not just to see how odd this looks, its because democrats are so underrepresented because of the districting. If you did the map, it would mean they have 220 elected members of congress. How many do you need to get something passed . 218. So you would have Speaker Nancy Pelosi not Speaker John Boehner and a lot of that is because whats happened over the last decade is republicans, yes democrats have done it in certain places, but republicans have put a lot of time and effort into legislative and governors races and really cleaned up and were able to redraw a lot of the districts in their favor. Ifill lets go back to florida where in fact democrats have done their share of this, and this is the district, we were just looking at it. Looks like it was a toothpaste tube and now its expanded for corin brown whos a democrat in the district. So republicans, the judge there said republicans had to redraw these districts, and still theres a lot of drama to play out with this because even though these districts have expanded slightly, what was happening with corin browns district, this is a majority africanamerican district, 50 , now its about 48 , and thats what republicans felt the judge was getting at was this was an unconstitutional district, so they took some of the black voters out, put them elsewhere to try to change the landscape of it. But august 20th, next week, well see if the judge even accepts this, and the judge could send it back and it could wind up in the Supreme Court like other cases. Why thats complicated is august 26th is when the primaries in the state are supposed to be. Already 1. 2 Million People cast early ballots and were not sure how this will play out, whether special elections for seven of these districts or. So its really a big mess. Why does it matter at all to anyone who doesnt live in these affected districts . Why is it of any National Significance at all . Like i said, you could have the house Speaker Nancy Pelosi, if that were the case. Most people may not care who the House Speaker is. Will it affect the franchise . It affects the legislation that gets through. Frankly, for people who sit there and say congress doesnt get anything done and they ignore these things, oh, these districts look weird and the redistricting sounds funny, but what wind up happening is important legislation winds up getting stuck or not getting through or passing on a partisan basis because you really do have a lot fewer competitive districts all throughout the country. Ifill but is it in either partys interest to change that . Well, its in the partys interest to retain power and they do squiggle all these lines to try to get their own power, you know, increased. You know, i think there are some states where they do do it well. I mean, iowa, for one, they look like four quadrants. Nevada. Indiana, even, has a fairly decentlooking map. I think that a lot of people are starting to move toward wanting to have maps that look a little bit more normal. Ifill okay, well be looking for normal maps the rest of the year. Domenico montanaro, as always, thank you. Thank you. Woodruff again, the major developments of the day. There was word this evening that more than 100 additional u. S. Military advisers are headed to iraq. President obama called for calm in ferguson, missouri, after a second night of violence over the killing of an unarmed black teenager. And authorities in marin county, california, ruled actor comedian Robin Williams committed suicide by hanging himself. Ifill on the newshour online, one minnesota artist saves old books by cutting them to pieces. Julia strand carves into out dated encyclopedias, cookbooks, and science books to highlight the illustrations. You can see her book sculptures and hear how she discovered her craft on art beat. All that and more is on our web site, newshour. Pbs. Org. Woodruff and thats the newshour for tonight. On wednesday, well look at what can be done to stabilize iraq. Im judy woodruff. Ifill and im gwen ifill. Well see you online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. 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. Captioning sponsored by Macneil Lehrer productions captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org . This is nightly Business Report with Tyler Mathisen and susie gharib. Retail read, walmart, macys, j. C. Penneys and kohls, what to expect when the earnings are released. Why a wall street darling may have a little tarnish on the gold seal of approval. Healthy diagnosis, is the Health Care System ready for ageing baby boomers . The second part of the ageing in america series tonight on nightly Business Report for tuesday, august 12th. Good evening, everyone. Welcome. We begin with more signs that americas economy, while not humming for everybody in all regions and income levels is nonetheless on better footing than its been in years. Just today, we learned july