Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20141205

Afford to live there. Ifill those are some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your life and become youre own chief life officer. 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. Ifill racial tensions and police use of force dominated the nations agenda today after the latest high profile caase involving a white officer and a black victim. This time, it happened in new york. But new calls for calm, and new cries of anger, echoed across city after city. Around the country, protests built as the day wore on. In pittsburgh, people laid down in the street, blocking traffic. And in new york city, with more rallies starting this evening, mayor bill deblasio again urged calm. We will not tolerate violence or disorder. But we think by showing respect for the democratic process is one of the right ways of setting a tone that keeps the protests peaceful. Ifill 83 protesters were arrested last night in new york, but as in many cities and on many college campuses, the demonstrations were largely peaceful. They began after a grand jury decided against indicting Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the killing of eric garner last july. Viral video showed police stopping garner on Staten Island for suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes. I did nothing were sitting here the whole time, minding our business ifill when garner balked at being arrested, pantaleo wrapped his arm around garners neck, wrestling and holding him down. Garner, who had asthma, pleaded that he was suffocating. I cant breathe i cant breathe ifill garner died later at a hospital. A medical examiner ruled it a homicide by a banned chokehold. But today, the head of the citys police union called pantaleos action a textbook maneuver. This was a Police Officer who was sent to that location to do a difficult job. Had to bring a person to the ground that said im not going and was resisting arrest. While bringing that person to the ground, yes, they said, we cant breathe. but the Police Officers and the ems did what theyre supposed to do at that time. If youre speaking, you can breathe. Ifill mayor diblasio disagreed. He said today hes ordering a retraining program for the citys police. And civil rights including reverend al sharpton, focused on the Legal Systems handling of the cases in new york, and ferguson, missouri. We need to centralize and make clear that we want the Justice Department and federal government to deal with the fact that grand jury systems on state level are broken and seem to lack capacity to deal with police. Ifill attorney general eric holder has already ordered a civil rights investigation in the garner case. And today, in cleveland, he announced findings that that citys police use Excessive Force far too often. I think we certainly see patterns that have emerged through the investigations that we have done, where you see inadequate training, where you see resource deficiencies, where you see cultural problems that exist within police deptartments, and so i think the ifill the review began even before an officer shot and killed a 12yearold boy who turned out to be carrying a toy gun. A new agreement calls for a courtappointed monitor to oversee reforms in the Cleveland Police force. Civil rights figures are laying plans for a march and summit in washington later this month. We will delve deeper into the tensions involving race and justice after this news summary. A white police chief was indicted in utahville in 2011 when two men argued over a traffic ticket. Ex chief richard combs said he shot and killed Bernard Bailey in selfdefense. Combs had been charged with misconduct in office. Ifill House Republicans pushed through a bill today aimed at president obamas executive actions on immigration. Last month, the president shielded up to five million undocumented immigrants from deportation. But by 219 to 197, the house declared that step null and void. House Speaker John Boehner insisted that the Senate Follow suit. For the Outgoing Senate democrat majority, to do anything less would be an act of monumental arrogance. The American People elected us to heed their will and not to bow to the whims of a white house that regards the legislative process established by the constitution as little more than a nuisance. Ifill despite that demand, theres little prospect of the bill advancing in the senate. The immigration issues recognized are ones that generate a lot of passion, that it does not make sense for us to want to push talent out rather than make sure theyre staying here and applause considering this. Ifill the president made no mention of a white house detail but threatened one if the bill ever reached his desk. The house also passed a defense spending bill today authorizing 585 billion dollars, and expanding operations in iraq and syria. 5 billion of the money will go for the fight against Islamic State militants. The measure also gives u. S. Troops a one percent pay raise, and it again bans moving terror suspects from guantanamo to the u. S. Mainland. President obama will name his choice to be secretary of defense, tomorrow. The white house announced that today, without confirming that former pentagon official Ashton Carter is set as the nominee. If confirmed, hed succeed chuck hagel, whos leaving after two years. Hagel would not say today if he felt pressured to resign. Instead, he called it a mutual decision. In yemen today, an offshoot of al qaeda threatened to kill american hostage luke somers. The 33yearold photojournalist was abducted more than a year ago, and had not been seen until todays video message. The white house confirmed that u. S. Special forces had hoped to find somers during a raid in yemen last month. As soon as the u. S. Government had reliable intelligence and an operational plan, the president authorized the department of defense to conduct an operation to rescue mr. Somers. Regrettably when the operation was executed, luke was not present, though hostages of other nationalities were present and they were rescued ifill the alqaeda group today gave the u. S. Three days to meet unspecified demands, and save somers. Gun battles rocked the capital of russias southern province, chechnya, today. Unknown attackers stormed a building in grozny, killing 10 policemen. Ten of the attackers also died in the ensuing clashes, while the building burned. Islamist separatists in chechnya have been fighting to break away for more than a decade. Back in this country, thousands of lowincome workers in the fast food, home care and Airline Industries staged protests, demanding a 15dollaranhour minimum wage. Organizers said rallies and strikes were being held in at least 190 cities, making them the most expansive yet. The demonstrations were backed by major labor unions. Average premiums on healhtcare. Gov will increase five percent on average next year. That according to a report released today by the health and Human Services department today. But Obama Administration Officials Say more insurers will participate in the online marketplace. And they maintained customers should be able to save money if they are willing to shop around. On wall street, the dow jones average lost 12 points to close at 17,900; the nasdaq fell five points to close at 4,769; and the s p 500 slipped to two to finish below 2,072. Nasas first test flight of the new orion spacecraft was put on hold this morning. Gusty winds and a valve problem in the rocket that carries orion scrubbed the launch attempt until tomorrow. Plans call for the spacecraft to eventually ferry people to mars. The unmanned test flight is slated to last fourandahalf hours in earth orbit. Still to come on the newshour, race and justice in Staten Island, and across the nation. The rise of reports of Sexual Assaults in the military. How the kremlin uses reality tv in russia to promote politics. Silicon valley moves south, as more Tech Startups set up in los angeles. Plus, poet Claudia Rankines urgent verse on race and politics. Ifill the uproar over another grand jurys decision not to indict is making itself felt coast to coast. We start in Staten Island, where eric garner lived and died, and where members of the grand jury reside. The borough is also home to many of the citys Police Officers and fire fighters. Newshour correspondent William Brangham takes us there. While protests of outrage emerge across the country, and in different parts of new york city, Staten Island, where eric garner died, is relatively quiet. Thats because this borough of nearly half a million residents is not like the rest of new york. James cohen teaches criminal law at Fordham University in new york. Staten island is part of new york city, but in many respects it is unlike the other boroughs. It is the most conservative of the five boroughs. It is the most demographically the same. Reporter Staten Island is also home to a large percentage of new yorks active and retired firefighters and Police Officers. And having those Public Servants as friends and neighbors might influence how people here feel about police and the garner case, even compared to the rest of the city. According to a recent quinnipiac poll, while only half of new yorkers approve of Overall Police performance in new york, nearly 80 of Staten Islanders do. In the garner case, 65 of new yorkers felt there was quote no excuse for the Police Actions seen in that video, but only 45 of Staten Islanders felt that way. When asked whether criminal charges shouldve been brought against the police for garners death, 65 of new yorkers supported the idea, but only 42 of Staten Islanders did. I would think justice would prevail. We actually have it on tape doing the maneuver, and it seems like justice isnt giving them that. I dont understand how its, like, possible for that to even happen. Like, remove the badge, youre a human being. You should be charged just as much as anyone else. The Staten Island District Attorney daniel donovan, jr. Up for reelection next year stated he conducted a thorough investigation into garners death and presented the information to the grand jury. He said yesterday i assured the public i was committed to a fair, thorough and responsible investigation into mr. Garners death and would go wherever the evidence took me without fear or favor. According to james cohen, d. A. S across the u. S. Are too close with local Police Forces and prosecutors have a conflict of interest trying to fairly judge police behavior. There is something inces incestuouss in a way about that and that is a principal explanation for why these cases ended up with no true bill, no indictment. Jurors usually get it right, and you have to be in the system a lot to see it, but it does work. It does work. Staten Island Defense attorney patrick paroda says he believes the system works fairly and has seen instances where Police Officers get punished for wrongdoing but, according to him, the garner case just wasnt one of them. These cases that evoke a lot of emotional response are very difficult, and the result of them is certainly unpredictable sometimes, and sometimes are paltaable, the result, but i havent lost faith in the system. Ifill for the viewer from new york city hall, were joined by zachary carter, advisor to mayor bill de blasio. Wasnt city hall bracing for this outcome, mr. Carter . Because it was anticipated that the grand jury would be taking action in this case, obviously we were prepared that, depending on what the outcome of the grand jurys investigation and process, that there might be a response and, so, we certainly prepared ourselves for a response. Brown part of the response the mayor announced today was retraining the entire police force. How does one go about doing that . Its a pretty big police force. First of all, i think there was acceptance immediately after the garner incident that retraining was necessary. The Police Commissioner bill bratton stated immediately after the incident that he believed that, based on his review of the video, that any legal choke hold prohibited by the Police Departments policy apparently had been used. There was a determination to embark on making sure that the policy prohibition was reinforced through directives and training, and that has been done. But the commissioner was going further and is embarking on a very am a bicious retraining ambitious retraining program that reaches every single officer in the department to focus on the use of force, the avoidance of unnecessary use of force, and constructive ways of engaging with the community. Brown as you know pardon me. But as you know, commissioner bratton has come under fire himself for what is called the broken windows policing policy where he brings Police Action to bear on the most minor offenses. Representativeee vet clark in washington yesterday called it just a cousin to stop and frisk. Actually, i dont think that is true. First of all, with respect to stop and frisk itself, the mayor and Police Commissioner bratton made it very, very clear and by their action ended the abuse and overuse of stop and frisk as an enforcement tactic, and the statistics bear that out. But with respect to the broken windows theory, the issue isnt whether or not the broken windows theory makes sense in policing in urban settings because all the broken windows theory simply says is there should be attention to lowerlevel offenses so there is a sense of order, even in our most empoove richard communities that are overrepresented by people of color. But how you address those minor offenses is critical, and in the wake of the eric garner incident, there was a close reexamination of whether or not the use of the arrest power was a necessary part of addressing minor offenses, and the mayor and the Police Commissioner concluded after this review that there were broad categories of minor offenses in which arrests were not necessary and that alternative means of securing the attendance of persons before the court, like summonses, were available and were the wiser course of action in order to avoid unnecessary confrontations. Brown im sorry to interrupt. Interrupt. Ifill let me ask you bluntly, do you agree this decision of the grand jury is a just one . Do you agree and does the mayor agree . I think without having an opportunity to review all of the evidence that was presented to the grand jury, i dont think it would be responsible to judge whether or not those grand jurors reached a reasonable decision. Obviously on the basis of what was Public Record and, obviously, that most prominently was the videotape, it would be puzzling for, im sure, most residents of the city and even those like me who grew up in Law Enforcement as to how they could necessarily come to the conclusion that they came to. But again, there may have been much presented before the grand jury of which we are not aware. What i think is important in our system and in any system of justice is there has to be both a reality and the perception of justice and, obviously, those perceptions, to a large extent, were formed by a videotape that appeared to provide a fairly full account of what occurred. Ifill thank you zachary carter, chief legal officer for the city of new york. Ifill now for a broader look at how this latest intersection of race and justice, we turn to. Candace mccoy, a professor at John Jay College of criminal justice in new york. And jelani cobb, director of the Africana Studies institute at the university of connecticut. We have a split screen of law and emotion. Was the grand jurys conclusion a surprise to you, jelani cobb . No, it was not. I was in ferguson up until last week and beyond that, you know, its well known its very difficult to get indictments against police and we also know the history of failure to indict or failure to convict people who are guilty of offenses against africanamerican citizens. So its difficult to hear the previous desk mr. Carter kind of ramble through that bureaucratic doublespeak and say the video attempts to show something but we dont know what the grand jury experienced. We all have eyes and know the person use the add maneuver banned by the nypd and culminated in the persons death and no one said the grand jury was supposed to have convicted mr. Pantaleo for this. Simply was there enough evidence that theres a trial warranted. And the fact it didnt warrant a trial is a muse carriage of justice. I dont know why he couldnt just say that. Ifill let me ask Candace Mccoy the idea of intent. One of the questions is whether the Police Officer intended to murder or to kill the suspect, whether that is a valid reason for the grand jury to decide not to indict. Thats right, gwen. We are talking about intent, were talking about what is in the officers mind. If youre going to convict somebody of manslaughter, you have to show that the person intended or at least recklessly allowed a death to take place. In this case and, of course, the grand jury standard is probable cause, more probable than not that this is the case, probably not. In fact, the officer himself said i did not intend this, i did not intend him to die. What we have here is a really terrible mistake and probably negligence, but thats a civil lawsuit and not a criminal prosecution. Ifill let me ask jelani cobb to respond to that but also i want to ask you to respond to this idea the mayor put forward today about retraining the police force and whether that will have some sort of effect. Well, i mean, heres the difficulty people have known since anthony baez, certainly if not before then, the plain logical deduction that if you cut off someones air supply it tends to culminate in a fatality, or at least this is a possibility. So instead of this being a simple mistake, there were four or five officers atop mr. Garner, and, so, what exactly would qualify . I was wondering if we could be clear about the parameters, what exactly is Law Enforcement not allowed to do . Ifill so does the training speak to that. Im not sure the training does. If people were retrained and this maneuver was already banned but they dont follow the training and theres no consequences for failure to follow the training weve accomplished nothing. Ifill let me ask Candace Mccoy to weigh in on that. Yes. Lets remember that there was a medical examiner report here, and the medical examiner of the city of new york took very careful note of what had happened. There are two parts of that report and they seem to be forgetting the second part. The first was that there had been pressure and compression on mr. Garners throat. Whether it was a choke hold or some other kind of hold i think is basically immaterial. It was a bad thing. Secondly and this is what people are forgetting is that there was compression on his stomach. This is a classic case of what is known as positional asphyxia. Viewers in los angeles will remember in the late 90s there was a series of cases in which overweight people, many of them with asthma problems, were killed when they were arrested by police using these bad tactics. So its bad tactics, but this is not a crime. Ifill theres a lot of conversation with the Cleveland Police department, the effect that used Excessive Force, body cameras part of the conversation, federal civil rights investigations. Does this kind of scrutiny, the protests we see tonight, jelani cobb, do you think that change what happens or ultimately happens next and should it . I mean, it should. Its possible the only hope that we have. When people have no recourse, they take to the streets in protest when the system doesnt actually provide them with justice. Thats the only hope people have that, by organizing, they can create enough pressure to force institutions to not behave in the way they typically would. Okay. One brief response from Candace Mccoy. I agree completely with professor cobb. I think we have to change our focus from criminal prosecution. One more body behind bars is not going to work. But he is right, there are systematic changes we have to look at here and we can do that. Ifill Candace Mccoy, John Jay College of criminal justice in new york and jelani cobb, director of the Africana Studies institute at the university of conecticut. Thank you both. Ifill the u. S. Military, under heavy fire in recent years over its handling of Sexual Assaults, released its latest report today on how its managing the problem, drawing criticism from some. Hari sreenivasan has the story. Afternoon. Sreenivasan defense secretary chuck hagel laid out the new numbers at the pentagon, based on a survey of the ranks by the rand corporation. Estimated cases of Sexual Assault fell to about 19,000, down 25 from two years ago, but actual reports of assault increased 8 from last year. Hagel said the findings show both progress and the need for much more work. After last years unprecedented 50 increase in reporting, the rate has continued to go up. Thats actually good news. Two years ago, we estimated about oneinten Sexual Assaults were being reported. Today, its oneinfour. These crimes, however, are still heavily underreported, both nationally and in the military, so we must maintain our focus throughout the ranks and continue to earn the confidence of survivors. Sreenivasan 43 of the assaults reported by women and more than a third by men were penetrative Sexual Assaults. Those include rape and penetration with an object. The survey also found more than 60 of victims said they faced retaliation after they reported assaults. But missouri senator claire mccaskill, who sponsored a new law on military Sexual Assaults, suggested a different way of looking at that result. I would be much more concerned about flat retaliation if we were getting numbers back saying i dont have confidence in the command, the climate has not changed, were not getting the support, and i wouldnt recommend other people coming forward. But we got just the opposite numbers. High levels of satisfaction with command climate, high levels of satisfaction with their special victims counsels and victim advocates. Sreenivasan the pentagon report does call for additional enforcement procedures to prevent retaliation. It also recommends increasing unit leaders knowledge and understanding of the issue. But new york senator Kirsten Gillibrand branded the study a failure of leadership. Shes pushed to take Sexual Assault investigations outside the chain of command. What we have today is not zero tolerance. We have zero accountability. And if they continue to retain all Decision Making in the hands of the smallest number of commanders, theyre just. Theyre not recognizing the flaws in their own system. Theyre trying to cover it up, theyre trying to shove it under the rug, theyre not seeking justice, and theyre not protecting the men and women who are being raped. To have retaliation be unchanged, untouched, is an egregious failure. Sreenivasan gillibrand said she and other senators will try to amend the Defense Authorization bill this month, to make Sexual Assault investigations independent of commanders. Ifill russian president Vladimir Putin delivered his annual state of the nation speech today. Defiant in the face of international sanctions, he boasted of his countrys incursions into ukraine and the annexation of crimea, reiterating that it belongs to his nation. translated for russia, crimea, ancient korsun, chersoneses, sevastopol have a major civilisational sacred meaning. The same as temple mount in jerusalem for those who confess islam and judaism. And this is exactly how we will treat it from here for ever. Ifill for many observers, the speech was classic putin, using television to assert his view of reality to his own people and the world. Putins use of the medium is the subject of a new book, nothing is true and everything is possible, by peter pomerantsev, a russianborn british writer and television producer. He returned to moscow to work in the kremlins vast television apparatus, creating russian reality tv shows. Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Margaret Warner spoke to him yesterday. Reporter thank you for joining us. Youve described television as the Nuclear Weapon of politics in russia. Yes, it is the core of the political system. You have to imagine a country that is absolutely huge. Its about a sixth of the worlds land mass and sews logically varied. So you have contemporary towns like moscow and mere fuedal villages and the only thing to bring them together is the television. Reporter at the center of all of this is the president himself as performance artist. What do you mean . Putin was no one. He was this guy wearing horrible suits everywhere he went. He was a no one and they took him and created him. And p. R. Tv producer guys who were close to the k. G. B. , this incredible mix of secret services and television produces, and they made him into a hero for all seasons, so that he could be the ideal lover, matcher guy and the first thing Vladimir Putin did in 2000 was to take over television and get rid of the oligarchs. Reporter at a very young age you got a chance to get in on the inside. You describe one organization that essentially controls everything on television, entertainment and news. Thats the kremlin. There was a television to all the major tv channels but it was coordinated by the kremlin itself. Reporter you started out as a producer for one of the networks in that big apparatus called t. N. T. Doing reality shows. Around 2000, tv started making money and they wanted to get producers from the west to come make the russian apprentice or housewives of new york. Thats why they needed people like me. The kremlin is very, very aware they have to make tv entertaining nowadays. They will synthesize political manipulation and entertainment. Very soon i found entertainment had an insidious element of social control. Policy has become reality shows. You have debates on russian tv scripted from the kremlin. Off pup pet right wing and left wing opposition and they shout at each other and they think, oh, my god, putin is in the middle and the opposition is mad. The population becomes almost incapable of critical analysis. So thats a deeper form of manipulation. Reporter this has much broader international implications. This isnt just a problem for russia. Increasingly, the cremely thinks about information as a weapon, a tool to distract, demoralize the enemy, to be used as a decoy in a military operation. So now you have a Huge International sort of broadcasting arm set up by the kremlin whose aim is to do psychological operations against russias enemies, ukraine and increasingly the west. Reporter weve seen it play out in ukraine. In ukraine its been total. Theres a smooth military operation and 98 propaganda. They use freedom of information to do disinformation. Russia today spits out tens of conspiracy theories of why the airplane crash happened. They dont do it out of a search for the truth or a passion or journalism, theyre doing it to muddy the water as quickly as possible. Reporter one of the great mysteries in the west is why, as the sanctions tighten around russia, as oil prices drop, as russias headed into recession next year, putin remains widely popular. In russia, when 80 say they love Vladimir Putin, theyre seeing they fear him. Reporter is there something about him that touches something in the russians soul . I think theyve manipulated it to make people through its something in them that touches souls. They started a war to get his ratings up. Like bush and iraq. The question is how will they hold this . Russia isnt in a war with ukraine according to russian propaganda, it is with america. America is barely paying attention to russia. Russia, if you watch tv is now at war with america. Reporter thank you so much. My pleasure. Ifill next, replacing surf shops with startups as tech titans move to catch some rays and some waves. Steve goldbloom reports. In san francisco, computer programmers are like rock stars. Here in los angeles, the rockstars are the rockstars. But now, thats starting to change as more entrepreneurs are trading in the high costs of bay area living for sunny space right here in venice beach. They even have a name for it silicon beach. But as is the case in san francisco, the tech boom brings with it both prosperity and its share of problems. Were a marketplace for auto, sport, and hobby enthusiasts. Its awesome to be by the water and working at the same time. 365 days a year, i can walk to work. Its gonna be great, its gonna be sunny, its gonna be 70 l. A. Times tech reporter paresh dave covers silicon beach. The west side of los angeles has always been sort of a young, hip district with things like the weather and being close to the beach, to some that was attractive and i think thats what got it started. Entrepreneur erik rannanla decided to relocate to l. A. From the bay area. He cofounded mucker capital, the first Startup Accelerator to arrive in silicon beach. They nurture and invest in young startup companies. Ive seen a lot of these buildings switchover from you know, not Tech Companies to Tech Companies. Heres c. E. O. Farbod shoraka this is only 1,500 square feet but we have almost 17 people in this office. So youre growing. Yeah, hopefully were going to a new office space. Its going to be exciting for us. But good problems to have, were outgrowing our Current Office space. Reporter dont you need to be where the money is and isnt the money in Silicon Valley . The money is coming down here now so its exciting. We have even investors coming today to visit us that are from palo alto and chicago. One of the pioneers here of silicon beach is snapchat. Its the enormously popular app among teenagers that lets you share photographs that Self Destruct shortly after they arrive. They occupy a full city block right off the beach here in venice. Last year, they turned down a three billion acquisition offer from facebook to try to make it here on their own. I think that was sort of a big turning point and since then, people are like, oh well if snapchat can build a global brand here in los angeles, why cant we . Three years ago i used to hear people pitching scripts in coffee shops, now theyre pitching Business Plans and Business Ideas for startups. This is the offices of epoxy. Which doesnt really look like an office, but im going to. Hello there hello. Welcome to epoxy epoxy tv is a social platform for online video creators. They make youtube stars go viral by leveraging every social media platform under the sun. Its run by juan bruce and jason ahmad. So this is your home or your office . This is our office. Its got a little bit of an interesting history in that its actually part of dennis hoppers former compound. And this particular building is a frank gehry building from the 1980s. Now the funny thing is a lot of startups have these buildings now. Theres two startups behind us. So the startups are taking over. Yes. As the startups movein, some longtime venice residents are moving out. World renowned artist laddie john dill was the original owner of the frank gehry building now occupied by epoxy tv. I moved to venice in 1968. I was forced to leave my studio of 28 years because the rent was raised to 42,000 bucks a month. Things really started to go sour when google moved in, so its now silicon beach. The landlords just turned around and raised the rent to the point where now the artist just cant afford to live there. The rise of housing costs has lead to big business for tami pardee owner of pardee properties. Shes the highest selling Real Estate Broker in silicon beach. Business has definitely picked up. Over the last two years weve had 20 gains each year and its almost completely due to the tech sector. When did this go on the market . It just went on yesterday. And how long will it be on the market. I think its already sold to be honest with you. Its really creative, the technology sector, and venice is known for its creativity in the art world. So its actually a great meshing of cultures. Theres been a little gentrification issues, you know not issues, but just gentrification going on i would say and thats difficult. Were here inside a live in workspace in venice. The resident wishes to remain anonymous but he has been showing us around. Hes been living here since 1967. There are a few other artists here and they are going to have to leave at the end of february because they received a notice from the owner. The family has decided it is time to develop the lot which unfortunately means eviction. I must have everyone out by the end of february 28th. Heres juan bruce again of epoxy tv. Venice has always been an experimental and Artistic Community and so startups pretty much fit perfectly in that ethos. Originally, this was an artists in residence livework loft and now its still very much a live work loft but were living a startup life. Its clear the tech scene gravitates towards counter cultures the hippies of san francisco, the rockers of austin, and now the artists of venice. But as tech brings with it high paying jobs and rising home prices, ironically it makes it difficult for those counter cultures to persist. For the newshour in los angeles, im steve goldbloom. Ifill as protesters return to the streets tonight, well continue our look at race and justice through the eyes of a poet. But first, its pledge week on pbs. This break allows your Public Television station to ask for your support. Ill last month, t. Attorney for utah dropped charges against one of the protesters. A trial for the other four is set for december 22. Ifill finally tonight, personal reflections on the recent upheaval involving black men and white Police Officers in new york, ferguson, cleveland and beyond. They come from poet and playwright Claudia Rankine her book, citizen was a finalist for the National Book award. Im Claudia Rankine. A poet, a playwright. I also teach at pomona college. I see myself as a citizen, walking around, collecting stories. And using those stories to reflect our lives through poetry, through essays, creating these hybrid texts and plays that reflect back to us who we are. In my most recent book citizen, i wanted to try to track the moments that disrupt interactions, especially between people of different races. The book contains two kinds of aggressions. What is often called micro aggressions or small moments. But then i wanted to begin to understand how we get to these major moments, the murders of black men. These kind of moments in 2014 when you think how did that happen . And i wanted to track it back and say people in their daily lives by believing and saying these small things, they will add up to major, major aggressions against people just because of the color of their skin. So the book tracks the small to the large. In line at the drugstore its finally your turn and then its not as he walks in front of you and puts his things on the counter. The cashier says, sir, she was next. When he turns to you he is truly surprised. Oh my god, i didnt see you. You must be in a hurry, you offer. No, no, no, i really didnt see you. The occasions of Police Violence is something this book turns on. Police violence against black men. I feel like in 50 years people will look back and say how could we let this happen . How could we let an entire country warehouse black men, shoot them and no one would object . So i feel like its my personal mission to keep those stories as present as i am possibly able to keep them present. Trayvon martins name sounds from the car radio a dozen times each half hour. You pull your love back into the seat because though no one seems to be chasing you, the Justice System has other plans. For a few years now ive been working with my husband, the filmmaker john lucas, on situation videos. One of the situation videos entitled stop and frisk we shot here in claremont, using pomona students, because we wanted to look at what it meant for young black men to just be walking and trying to engage in their dailyness and having the police and the threat of the police hovering about them. Everywhere were flashes, a siren sounding and a stretchedout roar. Get on the ground. Get on the ground now. Then i just knew. And you are not the guy and still you fit the description because there is only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description. I went to ferguson a week after Michael Brown was shot six times, twice in the head. And when i went to his neighborhood. People would come up to me and say things like would you like to take a picture of my toddler with his hands up in the air . And one young man said to me i look just like him. That could be me. And both things disturbed me, the sense of black bodies inside a dead body. Since ive been to ferguson, the only thing ive done so far is written a small haiku. It goes because white men cant police their imagination black men are dying. And i thought that would be the beginning of something and i would keep going. But i havent been able to write anymore. And i think i just need to keep thinking about it. As much as id like to think that ferguson could be a Game Changing moment, its hard for me to put faith in that. This perpetual, aspirational hope of justice that keeps not happening. It builds up in the self. And its fascinating to me that i keep having the hope and keep knowing its not going to happen. Ifill again, the major developments of the day. Thousands of americans marched in cities nationwide, pouring out frustration that a white policeman in new york wont be indicted in the death of a black suspect last summer. And the u. S. Military announced reports of Sexual Assaults in the ranks rose eight percent this year. And, more than 60 of women who filed reports said they faced retaliation on the newshour online right now, capturing the people and places of the deep south. A nashville photographer uses images to open dialogue about Race Relations and southern identity. See works from her series, southern route, on art beat. All that and more is on our web site, pbs. Org newshour. And thats the newshour for tonight. On friday, president obama announces his pick to head the pentagon. Im gwen ifill, 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. Lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your life and become youre own chief life officer. And with the ongoing support of these institutions 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 report with Tyler Mathisen and susie e gharib. Funded in part by thestreet. Com and action alerts plus where jim cramer and fellow Portfolio Manager stephanie link share their investment strategies, stock picks and market insights. You can learn more at thestreet. Com nbr. When mario speaks, the markets listen. Today, there were some sharp reaction and confusion when the head of the European Central bank didnt say what investors wanted to hear. From russia with love, a defiant Vladimir Putin addresses parliament as the country and economy fall on hard times ncht and bringing it home. What all the global head winds could mean for the u