Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20140904

When you hit it with a boat, it actually slowed you down. It was that dense. Woodruff plus, as the n. F. L. Season kicks off, we look at what pro football is doing to protect its players from concussions. Those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by 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. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org 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 nato convened a summit today, confronting the war in ukraine and the sharpest tensions with russia since cold war days. But there was new hope for a possible peace accord. translated tomorrow, the meeting will take place in minsk. I will address and give an order to the military headquarters for ceasefire. Woodruff word that a truce is in the offing came from ukrainian president petro poroshenko, as he joined nato leaders in wales. They convened a day ahead of the minsk meeting involving ukraine, russia and ukrainian rebels. Ukraine wants peace, ukraine never wanted a war and is tired of it. And well do Everything Possible to bring peace to our land. The first step for peace is a ceasefire. Woodruff in ukraine, fighting continued, even as the head of the main rebel group, in donestsk, said he, too, is willing to declare a truce. To the south, Ukrainian Forces were on high alert around the major port of mariupol amid reports of explosions on the city outskirts. Ukraine has stood by nato. Now, in these difficult times, nato stands by ukraine. Woodruff back in wales, nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen made clear the alliance will resist russian pressure on ukraine. Russia must stop its aggressive actions against ukraine, withdraw its thousands of troops from ukraine and the border regions, and stop supporting the separatists in ukraine. Woodruff ukraine is asking to join nato, but in moscow today, Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned any such move could derail peace efforts. translated the outburst of antirussian rhetoric, that we observe at the very moment when the most active efforts are being made to find a political settlement, means only that the war party, which is situated in kiev, receives active support from the outside, in this case from the United States. Woodruff along with ukraine, the summit nations also mean to address the threat posed by the Islamic State group in iraq and syria. In a joint times of london guest article today. President obama and british Prime Minister David Cameron wrote if terrorists think we will weaken in the face of their threats, they could not be more wrong. Countries like britain and america will not be cowed by barbaric killers. Nato chief rasmussen said the International Community has an obligation to stop the militants from advancing. And he said allies would seriously consider an iraqi request for help. He also warned time is running out for a deal keeping u. S. And other troops in afghanistan, past the end of the year. Nato allies and partners stand ready to launch a new non combat mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan Forces from next year, when the required Legal Framework is in place, but we stand ready. Without a signature, there can be no mission. Woodruff whoever becomes president of afghanistan will have to provide that signature, but a contested election has left the country without a clear leader. Abdullah abdullah and ashraf ghani promised again today to achieve a National Unity government. Meanwhile, taliban insurgents attacked a government compound in eastern afghanistan, killing at least a dozen. And in a statement the militants taunted nato and proclaimed its Afghan Mission a historical shame. The nato summit concludes tomorrow. A federal judge ruled today that b. P. Oil company bears the lions share of responsibility for the gulf of Mexico Oil Spill in 2010. 30 of the legal blame went to the oil rig owner, transocean, and three percent to cement contractor halliburton. The ruling could mean b. P. Will pay four times the Civil Penalties it was originally assessed or, up to nearly 18 billion. The energy giant said it will appeal. A federal Appeals Court in washington will reconsider a challenge to tax credits under the president S Health Care law. A three judge panel from the court had limited the subsidies to the 14 states that run their own Health Insurance exchanges. The administration appealed, and the full Appeals Court has now agreed to take up the matter. The government of india placed parts of the country on alert today after al qaeda announced its expanding into the subcontinent. The groups leader, ayman al zawahri, issued a videotaped message. translated my muslim brothers everywhere, i announce to all muslims in the world and especially in the indian subcontinent, the founding of a new branch. This is to help raise the flag of jihad and the return of the islamic rule in the subcontinent. Woodruff alzawahri charged muslims in india have long been subject to injustice and oppression by the hindu majority. Al qaeda has recently been overshadowed by the Islamic State, an offshoot that broke ties with the main group last year. Fast food workers across the country walked off the job today. Staging one of the biggest protests yet over pay. They demanding hourly wages be doubled to 15 dollars. Organizers said employees and supporters were taking to the streets in more than 150 cities. From new york to detroit to las vegas, dozens of people were arrested, largely for blocking roadways. International monitors are calling for cutting the catch of juvenile bluefin tuna in the pacific by half to save the species. The western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission recommended the move today. It also endorsed new catch limits on adult tuna. The move will likely hit hardest in japan, which consumes 80 of the worlds bluefin tuna. Google agreed today to refund at least 19 million in charges racked up by children paying video games on mobile devices. The federal trade Commission Said currently, children can run up hundreds of dollars on their parents credit cards without permission. In some surprise economic news, the European Central bank cut Interest Rates and announced a new Stimulus Program in a bid to stave off a new recession. But that european rate cut didnt boost stocks in this country today. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost eight points to close at 17,069. The nasdaq fell ten points to close at 4,562. The s p 500 dropped three points to close at 1,997. Comedian joan rivers died today in a new york hospital, a week after suffering a heart attack. Rivers gained fame in the 1960s for her biting but funny insults, and by the 80s, she broke through the maledominated world of latenight talk shows. In later years, she transformed red carpet runways at the oscars, emmys and golden globes, firing away at celebrities for their bad fashion sense. Joan rivers was 81yearsold. Woodruff still to come on the newshour. The Justice Department launches a new investigation of the Ferguson Police department a Maryland College decides to accept two minute video applications. Two big political stories from virginia and kansas. Scientists search for ways to prevent toxic algae in our Drinking Water. And, assessing the n. F. L. s new safety regulations designed to prevent concussions. Woodruff u. S. Attorney general eric holder announced today that the department of justice is launching a full blown federal civil rights investigation of the entire Police Department in ferguson, missouri. Following the Fatal Shooting of a black teenager by a white officer. Theres cause for the Justice Department to open an investigation to determine whether Ferguson Police officials have engaged in a pattern or practice of violations of the United States constitution or federal law. Woodruff attorney general eric holders announcement came just short of a month since the death of Michael Brown, who was 18 and unarmed. The killing sparked weeks of protests in ferguson, and often violent clashes with police. Holder went to the st. Louis suburb himself on august 20th to meet with Community Leaders and browns family. When i visited ferguson two weeks ago, i promised that the United States department of justice would continue to stand with the people there long after the National Headlines had faded. Woodruff the Justice Department is already investigating the confrontation that led to the shooting of brown at least six times by Police Officer darren wilson. This new probe will examine recent Police Practices in ferguson, for any patterns of racial bias, excessive use of force and other problems. The vast majority of peoples who are in law enforcement, vast majority of Police Departments do their job in a way that we would expect. But to the extent that there are problems, i think we as a society need to have the guts to say, you know, were going to identify this as a problem. This is a deficiency in our country and were going to make it better. Woodruff Ferguson Police chief Thomas Jackson met with federal officials yesterday, and said he would welcome the investigation. He said his department has no intentional policies that lend themselves to discrimination, but there is a broad Racial Disparity between the force, and the city it polices. Ferguson, with a population of 20,000, is twothirds african american. The Police Department has 53 officers and only four of them are black. A 2013 report, by the Missouri Attorney general, found Ferguson Police stopped and arrested black drivers nearly twice as frequently as they stopped white drivers. In recent years, the Justice Department has stepped up its own investigations of police agencies. Thereve been 20 such investigations in the past five years, including highprofile probes in new orleans and albuquerque. That is more than double the number in the previous five years. We get some insight on how this investigation might play out with robert driscoll, a former Deputy Assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the department of justice during the george w. Bush administration. Hes now a partner at the firm Friedlander Misler in washington. And Tracie Keesee, cofounder of the u. C. L. A. Center for policing equity and a 25 year veteran Police Officer. We welcome you both to the newshour. Robert driscoll, to you first, how is an investigation like this different from the other investigations that are underway on what happened in ferguson . This investigation wont look at any individual instance. Theyre really looking for policies and procedures and patterns of possible unconstitutional behavior by the Ferguson Police department. So theyll be looking at data and looking at scores of incident reports and reviewing that with policing experts filtering in to reach conclusions about whether there are unconstitutional practices that can be changed. So theres no risk of anyone going to jail at the end of the investigation and no money damages paid. What the department of justice will be seeking is reforms of the Police Department if they find a pattern and they will get that through a memorandum of agreement or forced court degree. Woodruff i took notes at the attorney generals News Conference today and they said they will be looking at several things excessive use of force, stops, searches, arrests, treatment of detainees in jail and discriminatory practices generally. Can you flush out for us what exactly they are looking at at the department . Are they looking at police records, whether interviewing people . How does this work . Its a combination of those things. As stated before, you have to look back. If youre looking for patterns and practices, you have to look back a way. Sith wont be what just happened in the last year. Youre trying to determine if any of the policies are influencing the way officers on the street make their decisions. They look at use of force, training, looking at the community, discussions internally in the organization. So they will look at a myriad of things to get a good picture of whats going on in regards policing in ferguson. Woodruff im curious, robert driscoll, to see how it works. You have the big Justice Department in washington, d. C. Investigating a 53person Police Department in the little city of ferguson, a suburb of st. Louis, and were trying to get arms around how this works. Did they send a fleet of people in there over a period of years to do interviews . How does it work . It wont take years but certainly weeks and well into months. Theyll send in a team of maybe four to five or six d. O. J. Civil rights attorneys and maybe a lead expert and maybe a second expert to look at the jails and interview command staff at the Police Department. This is a very small Police Department for one of these investigations, so it will be a little challenging to find patterns and practices. This isnt a Department Like detroit, new york city or new orleans that you have enough data to see trends. With 53 officers, it will be a little more challenging. But they will look at how the officers are trained and look at policies and see what they find. Woodruff Tracie Keesee, what would you add to that in terms of what theyre looking at and how this will work . These things will be critical but they will also speak with the community which is another piece. What they have in a lot of small departments is turnover. So ho how many officers come through there. What weve talked about since ferguson began was diversity, the ability to recruit and retain. All those things will be on the table. What are the recruitment policies, how do you hire people, so that will be another aspect as well. The Community Component will really added a Additional Information to that investigation. Woodruff i was actually surprised at this News Conference today. They said hiring practices were not something they were going to initially look at. Why would that be . I think thats likely an internal Justice Department matter and a separate section of the Civil Rights Division that happened also employment and Public Employment and they will have to open up a separate matter to do that. They certainly have the authority to do that broadly when looking at the d. O. J. As a whole. The attorney general as a whole could direct an investigation at some point if they get unemployment data they dont like. But this unit of lawyers likely wont be looking at the employment aspect of it directly. They could be looking at racially biased policing and maybe get at it that way but the direct Employment Matter would be different. Woodruff Tracie Keesee. I would add that part of the Community Conversation will be about the type of policing that the community should have and i think that will be critical as well. To me, thats what you look at when youre trying to hire people. Woodruff will there be overlap, ms. Keesee, with the grand jury investigation already underway and the other investigations underway in what happened last month in the death of Michael Brown . From my understanding, this is separate. This is beyond whats going on with the criminal investigation. Youre looking at the operations and the policies of the department. Those are two separate things. Woodruff we know, robert driscoll, i think you were suggesting a minute ago its not intended to lead to criminal prosecution, its to reforms in the Police Department. We know this Justice Department has already investigated other highprofile Police Departments in the country. Do those investigations change the way these departments work . They can over time. Its a long process. This is not its a long process. The investigations take a while. They can take over a year to reach findings and then negotiate a resolution with the city. It depends on what they find. We cant forget theres a possibility they wont find that the Ferguson Police department they have to tie what they want to do in unconnsle acts to the department and have to find enough for a pattern and practice and negotiate a settlement. So the reforms take time and once implemented take time to take hold because were talking about changing a culture if they have a parent of unconstitutional conduct. Woodruff Tracie Keesee, how do you see Something Like that unfolding . We dont know what they will end up recommending, but if there is a memo of ouncing, is that what its called, at the end of this process . How does that work . Absolutely and especially if the organization is cooperative and they can come to an agreement. For most agencies, thats the best way to go. I think weve heard during the interview that ferguson p. D. Is more than open and willing to look at what they have going on and make changes that will help their form of policing. As stated, these things take time, and the problem with that is often the community doesnt have the patience for the time that it does take for those investigations and those initial implementation of the changes of policies. And its not just the changes. They do have to take hold. So you have to have some sustainment there over a period of time. Woodruff the Justice Department announced this investigation just a month after the initial shooting. Thanks to you both for joining us, Tracie Keesee and robert driscoll, we appreciate it. Thank you. Woodruff so imagine you have two minutes to make your case for why you should be accepted to a college. And to do that, all you have to do is submit a short video you recorded on your cellphone. Thats been unheard of until now. Today, a liberal arts college announced its plan to do just that. Jeffrey brown has the story and looks at how this move fits into a changing landscape of admissions in Higher Education. Reporter if youre applying to Goucher College in maryland, you wont have to put together that traditional and sometimes daunting application packet. No transcripts. No recommendations. No list of extracurricular activities. And none of the usual academic scores. Instead, goucher, a small liberal arts college, announced it will accept a two minute video submission. Its a radical change. And the school put together a video of its own to explain the thinking. Heres a clip. Thats it no test scores, no transcripts. Were more than just a number. Im more than just a number. A number. At goucher, youre more than just a number. Thats why weve created the gouchers video app, a brandnew and totally unique way to apply for college. Brown that was jose reporter Jose Antonio Bowen is the new president of Goucher College. He joins me for more about whats behind the change and the questions being raised about this option. Thank you for joining us. Youre saying youre doing this in a context in which the admissions model is broken. What does that mean . Broken how . Sure. Well, the College Admissions process is broken in two fundamental ways. The first problem is called undermatching, so we have thousands, tens of thousands, even, of highachieving but usually lowincome, often minority students who actually have the grades and have the credentials to go to a selective liberal arts college like Goucher College but, instead, they dont apply to any, not one, zero. They apply to no liberal arts colleges. They might go to community college, they might not go to college at all. So were missing to pensionle there. But were missing potential in a second way, too. So test scores and grades are predictive and Goucher College will continue to accept those. So if you want to use your test scores and grades in the common app, we do that. But there are students, like me, who miffed other concerns during high school. Life sometimes intervenes, and test scores are not a perfect way to predict whos going to be successful in life. There are lots of people who dont test well, the parents got divorced. I had a great gig the night before the sats, and i didnt actually veals the sats were that important to the rest of my life at that point. I thought this gig was more important and was out until the wee hours of the morning. Brown theres immediate skepticism to your move. One person at uscs says without the transcript, how do you know the capabilities a student has . Theres a risk in every process. Test scores do predict one thing and test scores is one way to do it. We want to give students an alternative, again, for students who either have the grades but the c freshman year bothers them and theyre not sure if they can get into college, i want to invite them to apply for college. For students who dont have a great transcript but have a passion for learning, they should have a chance to go to college. This is about finding potential. College should not be based on just past performance but future potential. Brown when you say a great video, what is it because this will be the other area of skepticism or question, what is it that you could actually learn in a twominute video . First, you know, as a journalist, lets not trivialize the difficulty of putting together a story in two minutes and telling it as a digital thatnarrative. Brown all right, fair enough. This is now a currency that students understand. Everybody has a laptop, everybody can write an essay for college. Well, no, actually not everyone has a laptop and not everyone had a great english teacher or great a. P. Courses at high school or a tutor that could help them. A twominute video can level the Playing Field and most 18yearolds have seen some, made some, and everybody has a phone. Its hard to write a College Essay on a phone if the phone is the only device you have. But you can use the phone to make a video of yourself and a kind of authenticity. Remember, i cant tell that you actually wrote your essay. There are plenty of tutors and teachers. If youre sending the essay to dozens of colleges, youve probably worked on dozens of iterations for other people. This is just a video for Goucher College. No points for production quality. I just want to see you and you telling me why you thinkeere a great fit for grouper college. Brown we look at a lot of Higher Education issues in the program. Are there sort of a twotier system in which you have some schools overwhelmed with application and pick very few and many more, especially liberal arts colleges, that youre familiar with including groucher thagoucher, that have r applicants. How does this fit into that . First it is true the common application has made it easier to apply to multiple colleges. You can check a box which means everybodys yield has gone down because students are applying to more colleges. But at Goucher College, we have plenty of applications. We have 8,000 applications a year for a class of 400, so there are plenty of students. Again, well continue to take transcripts and the common app and all that, but we wanted to get into a conversation with more students and different students. Goucher is a place that values diversity of thinking in every way and we have a long tradition of that. So i wanted to find a way to invite students who might not think they have the test scores or grades or the background for liberal Arts Education to think we really want you to apply to this and all you have to do is send us this twominute video. Its the first step. Its not the complete picture, but it is a way to say, this is good, youre accepted to college, you can come. Brown Jose Antonio Bowen, president of Goucher College. Thank you so much. Thank you. Woodruff to politics tonight, and two very different stories. First, a jury today found former Virginia Governor Bob Mcdonnell, a onetime rising star in the republican party, was found guilty on eleven corruption related charges. He could face years in prison. Mcdonnells wife, maureen was also on trial and found guilty on nine of forteen counts. Bob holtz worth, we welcome you to the program. First of all, remind us what governor mcdonnell and his wife were charged with and what are they being found guilty of. Well, they were charged with 11 counts of conspiracy to obtain goods under the color of official right. They were charged with essentially bribery and fraud. They were also charged with two counts of bank fraud. They were found not guilty on the two counts of bank fraud but on all the key charges dealing with public corruption, fraud and bribery, the jury found governor Bob Mcdonnell guilty and found Maureen Mcdonnell guilty of most of them. Woodruff some of us were following the reports of the trial as it went along. What happened to the defense argument that the mcdonnells were simply doing what every governor does, that he meets with a lot of people, does favors for people, only in the course of being governor . I think what happened here is that the jury rejected every element of the defenses argument, and on the point that you just made, judy, what they suggested was that, first, Bob Mcdonnell, according to jury, basically took a bribe from Johnnie Williams who came into the Governors Office and offered him a loan at sweetheart terms. Said he would give him 50,000, wouldnt have to repay until four years later when he left the governorship and after that 2 , and after that he said there is going to beo documentation at all, we can just do it on a handshake. When Bob Mcdonnell did that, i think that started the course where the jury eventually reached its conclusion today because what it then suggested is that simply by concealing that, the prosecution suggested, and the fact that Bob Mcdonnell took some actions that, even if they were relatively routine, after he had received that bribe from mr. Williams, he should be found guilty of taking an official act on his behalf after receiving that bribe. The defense time and again suggested Bob Mcdonnell did nothing unusual for mr. Williams, but when the judge instructed the jury, he said an official act didnt have to be something unique or unusual, it could be something taken in the normal course of events, and once the jury connected that act to what they considered to be the bribe, Bob Mcdonnell found it very, very difficult to withstand the jurys today. Woodruff what about the story we were hearing from the dk donnell defense that basically the governor and his wife were having marital difficulties and, therefore, couldnt possibly have worked together to try to arrange favors from this businessman . Well, it seems very clear that the jury rejected this defense absolutely uniformly, that they simply didnt believe that it was the case. The prosecution argued that it didnt matter, they said they certainly communicated enough to act in concert and, in some elements of the case, the prosecution demonstrated that. For example, in one of the key emails Maureen Mcdonnell sent to one of governor Bob Mcdonnells closed a visors, they were able to prove that email was sent while maureen was sitting next to governor Bob Mcdonnell in his suv. Woodruff and someone whos watched virginia politics for a long time, bob holtzworth, what are you making of this first time a Virginia Governor has been found guilty of a felony . Well, its certainly a day of infamy in virginia. Its a day over infamy for Bob Mcdonnell in that it hurt his reputation in a way unimaginable a couple of years ago and a dynamite charge in the culture of virginia politics because we have very strict laws about gift and those kinds of things and Bob Mcdonnell in his trial noted he did not break any virginia law, that he was very careful in how he parsed things not to go beyond the bounds of any virginia law. And what this shows in that he was convicted today is that these lenient virginia laws actually provide not much protection for political figures who might engage in lone and gift taking and the in loan and gift taking and the lying and that Bob Mcdonnell was seen by a jury as violating federal laws on a Services Fraud and taking property under the color of official right. And so i think this is going to have a dramatic impact on every elected official in virginia in terms of how they think about accepting gifts or loans or trips that theyre likely to receive from lobbyists and other Interest Groups in the state. Just a remarkable comedown story. Bob holtzworth, we thank you for joining us. Thank you. Woodruff woodruff the other big political story of the past 24 hours is from kansas. The senate race there grew much more interesting late yesterday after democratic candidate chad taylor abruptly announced he was dropping out of the race. That leaves independent greg orman to face off against veteran republican incumbent pat roberts, who last month survived a tea Party Primary challenge. And all of it could have farreaching consequences for control of the u. S. Senate. For more on what the developments could mean, i spoke to Jonathan Martin earlier today. Hes National Political correspondent for the new york times. Jonathan martin, thank you for joining us at the newshour again. Why did this democratic candidate chad taylor suddenly pull out two months before the election . Well, because, quietly, there has been pressure on him to get out because there is a wellfunded, independent candidate who democrats think may actually have a shot to beat senator roberts this fall. Pat roberts is someone whos never really had a race. Hes been in washington since 1980 when he first came to the house, to the senate in 1996, never received below 60 . Why is it different now . Because he is somebody whos been attacked from the right for the entire year, a tough primary from a tea party opponent, made a few gaps on the campaign trail that are connected to the fact that he does not have a home of his own in kansas anymore. His primary home is in alexandria, virginia, in the washington suburbs. So he was vulnerable to a primary challenge, won his primary in august but only got 48 of the vote. There was polling in the weeks after that that showed this thirdparty candidate who, again, has been on tv because he has money, was competitive with roberts and democrats believe that if their own nominee was to get off the ballot and they could make the independent the de facto democratic nominee, they would have a shot to pull off one of the biggest upsets in Senate History and beat pat roberts in kansas, a state which has not sent a democrat to the u. S. Senate since 1932. Woodruff it would be historic by political standards. Republicans, though, are saying chad taylor of the democrats that theres some corruption involved, that something that may even need to be investigated. What do we know about that . Well, the big news today, judy, is the secretary of state in kansas republican crisco vac who oversees election law is saying mr. Taylor the democrat cant come off the ballot because the kansas law indicates you can only do so if you have shown the inability to perform the duties of office and secretary of state kovac has saying mr. Taylor has done no such thing and will be capable to serve and cant come off the ballot, so that brings the question is the democrat himself actually going to be on the ballot. Keep in mind, they have to print the ballot soon because they have to issue absentee ballots for overseas voters. So we may see litigation in the days ahead and we you can have a democrat on the ballot who is not campaigning, basically saying dont vote for me its a remarkable scenario. Woodruff senator roberts may be vulnerable now. This independent candidate greg orman, how would he vote . He says hes independent. Would he vote democratic if he were elected . What are his position on the issues . His politics seem to be sort of centrist politics. His consultants are democratic consultants. Hes obviously somebody democrats think could caucus with them next year if he wins. Keep in mind there are two independents currently in the senate both who would caucus with democrats and indication is he would cast his vote with harry reid democratic leader. Woodruff but overall, this is a huge headache for republicans, i hear you saying. They want very much to become the majority in the senate and this makes it harder. Theyre on a doorstep of retaking the senate. They need six seats, three of people probably in the bag, and now they have a complication here because, in a year where theyre mostly on offense, the republicans are, they now have to play defense in the most unlikely of states, kansas, which again has not had a democrat in the senate since the hoover era. Woodruff a story we will be watching. Another two months to go. Jonathan martin, new york times, thank you. Thank you, judy. Woodruff the algae bloom that turned part of lake erie toxic just a few weeks ago is bringing a new level of attention to runoff and several other troubles in the great lakes. Yesterday, the e. P. A. Announced it will provide twelve Million Dollars to the region to help address those problems. Reporter Christy Mcdonald of Detroit Public Television has our story. Reporter lake erie has long been considered the canary in the coal mine for the great lakes system. The southernmost, warmest, and shallowest of the five lakes, erie provides an ideal habitat for an unwelcome summer visitor, algae, particularly the toxic kind that caused Drinking Water problems for toledo, ohio, several weeks ago. And that makes it an ideal place to look for solutions to that problem. Here at the stone lab in putin bay, ohio, theyve been studying algal blooms since the 70s. At that time, significant improvements were made to Sewage Treatment plants ushering in 30 years of improved health for lake erie. But in the early 2,000s, large algal blooms started to re appear, with the worst on record occurring in 2011. For jeff reutter, director of the Ohio Sea Grant College and stone lab at ohio state university, that algae bloom was like nothing hed seen before. The bloom in 2011 really got everybodys attention. That bloom was twoandahalf times worse than anything wed ever seen before and it was really a bloom like id never experienced and ive been working on lake erie since 1971, and ive seen these before but id never seen a bloom where when you hit it with a boat, it actually slowed you down. It was that dense. Reporter he believes that bloom and others like it are caused by excess potassium, nitrogen and other byproducts of fertilizer run off from the farms and towns that surround lake erie. The algae are very much like the grass on our lawns. You know, you put fertilizer on it. Its gonna have nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus. Its gonna make your grass grow. We put it in lake erie, and we get algae. Reporter reutter says those ingredients can be coming from a variety of sources. When we look at different places around the country where theyre having harmful algal blooms some of them are going to be driven by agricultural loading but some of them are going to be poor Sewage Treatment plants or a bunch of failing septic tanks but in lake erie its primarily agriculture. Reporter and Climate Change is proving to be an aggravating factor. Most of the phosphorus that comes into the lake probably over 80 comes in during storms. Climate change leads to more frequent severe storms. And if we have most of the phosphorous coming in from agricultural run off, combined sewer overflows, runoff off our lawns, if most of thats coming in during storm events and you have more storm events youre simply going to get more phosphorous, its that simple. Reporter and more phosphorous encourages the growth of a form of algae known as cyanobacteria. It produces microcystin the main toxin of concern on lake erie. And although toledos recent bloom was actually quite small, the densest portion of the harmful algae clustered right over the intake for the citys Water Treatment plant turning the tap water toxic. Justin chaffin, Research Coordinator at the stone lab, tests samples from surrounding Water Treatment facilities to monitor whether the water is safe for drinking. If you look at some of your known toxins that youre familiar with, microcystin is about on par being toxicity with Something Like cyanide and its just below dioxin, so its a really potent toxin. Reporter the United States has no National Standard for these toxins, but ohio has adopted the standards of the World Health Organization which recommends one part per billion for Drinking Water. On august 2, 2014, the toxin levels in toledos water came in at 3 parts per billion. Yet, the most alarming aspect of that toxic bloom is that it arrived in early august. It was much earlier than we had anticipated seeing a really bad bloom. Scary for all of us because we know this bloom is going to stay around here until well into october, maybe the end of october and it probably wont reach its peak until september. The big concerns are the worst is likely still yet to come. Reporter chaffin has also been studying the toxic algae on a molecular level. His findings provide some clues into how we may be able to stop these blooms from spreading. During that summer of 2011 we did a molecular study where we tracked the cyanobacteria, the microcystis bloom, throughout the lake and throughout time. Now that cyanobacteria bloom that started in maumee bay in mid july was the same microcystis that ended up off of cleveland in october. With that molecular study we know that if we stop a bloom in maumee bay well stop a bloom by cleveland or by sandusky. If we stop it in maumee bay the rest of the lake should be good. Reporter currently, the only way to stop a bloom from moving is to stop it from forming in the first place. And the only way to accomplish that is to reduce the amount of phosphorous coming into the lake. I dont think anybody thinks that were gonna make it colder real soon. So we cant address Climate Change to say well the solutions Climate Change, all we gotta do is stop it. The only thing that we can control is phosphorus load, and that means we have to change our behavior. Our goal has to be to reduce the phosphorous by about 40 . But thats not something that i think anybody believes is gonna happen real quickly so the first thing that we have to do is arm our water Treatment Plants with the right technology, the tools, make sure that the people understand, the people that manage the plants understand how to take the toxins out that come into the plant because clearly toxins will come in. We are now entering into prime algal bloom season, some Water Treatment facilities are testing for the toxins, but those tests arent mandatory. Municipalities can only look to Scientific Research from places like stone lab to understand and to prepare for the possible threat to their water supply. Woodruff finally tonight, the most popular sport in america tries to come to terms with one of its biggest problems, concussions and the impact of violence on its players. But will changes in the game be enough . Jeff is back with that. Reporter earlier this week, the super bowl champion Seattle Seahawks practiced for tonights kickoff of a new n. F. L. Season. One that will no doubt come with spectacular thrills, and, inevitably, the injuries of a violent game. The league is introducing several new rules aimed at preventing head injuries. Including tighter regulation of illegal contact between defenses and Wide Receivers and a prohibition of handtoface contact. In fact, the n. F. L. s health and Safety Committee reported overall concussions were down 13 last season from the previous year. And the number of concussions specifically suffered from helmettohelmet contact decreased 23 . But thousands of athletes and family members allege that for decades the league hid information linking head trauma to an array of neurological diseases like dementia. Last year, the n. F. L. While admitting no wrongdoing reached a proposed 765 million settlement with more than 4,500 former players suing over concussions suffered on the field. In july, a federal judge gave preliminary approval. A final decision is expected after a november hearing. Former players and families can also elect to opt out of the settlement. And yesterday, the family of late San Diego Chargers star junior seau did just that, saying it would pursue a wrongful death suit against the league. Seau committed suicide in 2012 at the age of 43. Posthumous tests showed he suffered from c. T. E. , a degenerative brain illness caused by repeated blows to the head. Lets take a look at some of these changes and the questions with two people intimately involved with the game. Demaurice smith is executive director of the n. F. L. Players association their union. Dr. Matthew matava is Team Physician for the st. Louis rams and president of the n. F. L. Physicians society. He does not speak for the league itself. We did ask the league to join us tonight, but they declined our invitation. Demaurice smith, lem start with you. What are the most meaningful changes your players will experience that fans will see tonight aimed at preventing head injuries . Give us an example. Hopefully, it will be nothing fans see because the best likelihood or result we could hope for is none of our players are in headtohead or headtoground contact that could cause a concussion. I do think most of the telling or important changes will be things that might be imperceptible to fans. For example, having neutral sideline concussion experts on the sideline, increased doctor accountability to the players, increased guidelines that limit contact, as we have for the last three years during training camps, those are the things that are most likely going to have an impact on decreasing concussions by decreasing exposure to things that might lead to concussions. Brown dr. Matava, there has been so much talk over the years about the Team Physicians and teams themselves didnt do enough to get players off the field, didnt take this seriously enough. Were teams and physicians too lenient in the past and are there now specific rules and norms that will change that . Like all areas of medical science, the Science Behind concussions has evolved significantly. I have been taking care of the st. Louis rams for the past 14 years and the Science Behind Concussion Management and treatment and prognosis changed considerably during that time. Used to be several years ago when a player would be diagnosed with a socalled bell ringer, the standard of care was to let them go back to play without any longterm consequences. We now there are milder concussions that could be linked to problems down the road or higher risk of concussions. With this increased research on concussions, there has been a vast change in the way physicians approach the injury as well as the management and the league and the Physicians Society take it serms. Probably the biggest change this year on the field you wont even see. There is about 27 medical people in the n. F. L. Sideline or in the stadium to evaluate and manage any medical problem a player might have. Theres an independent neurosurgeon on both sides, home and away team, and each team has an unaffiliated neurosurgeon who has to clear the player to play even when released by his own physician. Brown the culture is there you have to be bigger, faster, hid as hart as you can. Your Young Players must feel immortal. How do you tell them to tone it down or change the way they play . Well, i think part of the key and the doctor talked about it is you dont really tell them anything. You make them a part of the process where they can actually impact the health and safety that is a part of their workplace. And what we have been able to do with the league and many of the things the doctors talked about, those were collectively bargained. Those were things where the union sat down with management and said those were the conditions that we want for our players to play safely. So the things that have changed over the last few years have been Great Strides in football, especially when you measure it against sort of the arc of history and football over the last 50, 60 years. Im happy to say many of the things were the result of collective bargaining. Bargaining. Brown i just wondered demaurice smith, do you think it would be easier to get players off the field . Because the culture, of course, is still not to come off the field. And what will happen when there are suspensions, which will be inevitable, there will be some suspensions of players who want to fight those suspensions. Well, every player is entitled to their due process and thats something we will jealously and rightfully protect, but i do think that the real goal here, is one, making players a part of the system to make the game safer, making sure there are protocols that doctors and players follow to remove concussed or players who might be concussed from the field, and i think one of the biggest changes, again, was the league and the Players Union coming to a conclusion that referees on the sideline can actually be involved as first responders, that if they see a player who could be hurt, that they can actually step in and ask that player to step to the sideline for the mandatory concussion protocol, those are things that are going to make this game safer. Brown dr. Matava, as you said, the science of concussion has changed awareness and our culture has changed. The game remains incredibly popular now but is there a fear that perhaps more parents will not want their kids playing, that there will be a growing awareness of the kind of violence and repercussions, that the game may suffer . Certainly theres an increased awareness from parents. I see it at my practice in Washington University all the time, parents asking about football risk not only for the concussions but for parts of their body, but they also asked me would i let my son play and i did let my son play, but i never tell a parent what they should do as far as the management of the kids. I tell them the game is safer than ever before. I had high school football. I had three concussions and we didnt even diagnose them in those days. I reassure parents Great Strides have been made not only in football and concussion but Sports Medicine through mri, arthroscopy and tests in general. Brown we leave it there. Demaurice smith, dr. Matthew matava. Thank you both so much. Thank you. Woodruff again, the major developments of the day. The Justice Department announced a civil rights investigation of Police Practices in ferguson, missouri. Former Virginia Governor Bob Mcdonnell and his wife maureen were convicted of public corruption. And comedian joan rivers died at 81. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff, well see you online, and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks. 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 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. 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