Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20151003

Sound. Yes. If you Pay Attention to these things, you go into it and its very calming. Woodruff plus, david brooks and e. J. Dionne are here with thoughts about the oregon shooting and analysis of the rest of a very full week of news. All that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. 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. Woodruff multiple guns, multiple shots, and multiple questions. Investigators in oregon filled in more details today about the mass shooting that left nine people and the shooter dead, and wounded nine others. But they were still trying to figure out the why. Special correspondent cat wise begins our coverage. Reporter by this morning, police tape was up at this apartment complex in winchester, oregon, as investigators hunted for clues and a motive. The man identified as the gunman Chris Harper Mercer had lived there before he opened fire at Umpqua Community college in nearby roseburg. He was killed in a shootout with police. Federal Authorities Say he had body armor and six guns with him, including pistols and a rifle. They found seven more guns at the apartment. All had been purchased legally but Douglas County sheriff john hanlin suggested the number is not so unusual. In oregon, i mean, this is a hunting state, and firearms are popular in most households, yeah. Reporter as Police Search for what sparked the shootings, a picture of the gunman has begun to emerge. Neighbors in this complex describe him as reclusive, and very close with his mother. His online social profiles show a fascination with guns and the irish republican army, and an apparent hatred for organized religion. Witnesses at the shooting scene said the gunman demanded to know each students religion before he shot them seeming to single out christians. He was also interested in Mass Shootings, writing in one blog post seems the more people you kill, the more youre in the limelight. With that apparently in mind, Sheriff Hanlin made clear today he wont utter the killers name. I continue to believe that those media and Community Members who publicize his name will only glorify his horrific actions, and eventually this will only serve to inspire future shooters. Reporter meanwhile, the people of roseburg, in the heart of oregons timber country, were plunged into mourning. Hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil last night, including the colleges interim president , rita cavin. Its a small community. Many people have been here for multiple generations. Its very closeknit. So when word went out that we needed help, the network just surrounded us. And its a blessing of being in a small town. Reporter Governor Kate Brown visited today, to lend support. Oregon has worked continuously to prevent these kind of tragedies, but they continue to happen here and across the nation, and it is going to keep happening until we decide we want them to stop. Reporter the killings also brought new calls for gun control from president obama again today. The majority of people who have Mental Illnesses are shooters. So we cant sort through and identify ahead of time who might take actions like this. The only thing we can do is make sure they cant have an entire arsenal when something snaps in them. Reporter and the u. N. Secretary general ban ki moon said he hopes the United States will take the necessary action to reduce gun violence. Im cat wise for the pbs newshour in roseburg, oregon. Woodruff this evening, authorities identified the nine dead including students and one teacher. Well turn to the broader issues of gun violence and Mental Illness after the news summary. In other news, the economy turned in a subpar showing for september. The Labor Department reported today that employers added 142,000 jobs less than expected as oil drillers and others cut back on hiring. The Unemployment Rate held steady at 5. 1 , mainly because more people stopped looking for work. Wall street reacted negatively at first, but then shrugged off the jobs report, as Energy Stocks rallied. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 200 points to close above 16,470, the nasdaq rose 80 points, and the s p 500 added 27. For the week, the dow and the s p gained 1 . The nasdaq rose half a percent. The bahamas took the brunt of Hurricane Joaquin today. Heavy flooding, torrents of rain and howling wind destroyed homes and tore up trees, but there were no reports of casualties. At the same time, the u. S. Coast guard reported a cargo ship missing, with 33 people on board. The real challenge is this vessel is disabled basically right near the eye of Hurricane Joaquin, right where the strongest winds are. So up to 140 miles per hour. The challenge is trying to get our assets as close as possible to try to find the vessel. Woodruff the hurricane began to weaken slightly this evening, and forecasters said its likely to curve out into the atlantic, and away from the u. S. East coast. Word came today that the u. S. Secretary of education, arne duncan, will step down in december, after six and a half years on the job. Hes one of the longestserving members of the obama cabinet, and at todays white house announcement, he said hes going home to chicago to spend more time with his family. I love this work, i love this team, i love the president , i love the chance to serve the only thing i love more is you guys. And i cant wait to come home, and see a couple more track meets and maybe get to coach ryan a little bit. And maybe have a few more dinners, maybe go to a movie someday thatd be pretty amazing. Woodruff the president named john king, jr. A Senior Education Department Official to serve as acting secretary for the remainder of his administration. That avoids a confirmation fight with senate republicans, whove accused the administration of dictating policies to local schools. In afghanistan, sporadic shooting echoed around kunduz, a day after Government Forces recaptured most of the city. The taliban had held the provincial capital for three days, and today, the militants new leader hailed it a symbolic victory. Meanwhile, residents reported ongoing firefights, as afghan troops swept through the city. Theyre trying to dislodge militants who are hiding in peoples homes. translated the security situation is not good in kunduz, we are really concerned about this situation. We are not able to get out of our homes. We have no food to eat, we are really in trouble. Woodruff meanwhile, the taliban scored another advance overnight, seizing part of a Northeastern Province in afghanistan. In iraq, the top shiite cleric called today for widening the war on the Islamic State group. Grand ayatollah Ali Alsistani issued a statement, saying and the vatican has distanced itself from a kentucky county clerk who met with pope francis last week, at the Papal Embassy in washington. Kim davis had been jailed for refusing to license samesex marriages. She says the pope praised her courage, and told her to stay strong. But today, vatican officials played down the meeting, and said it was not an endorsement. First of all, the meeting took place as the farewell greetings as the pope was leaving the nunciature in washington. The nunzio invited a number of guests, his own choice, to greet the pope. Very brief greetings and in the popes characteristic kindness and his warmth and hospitality, he shook peoples hands and gave them rosaries. We should understand it as that. Woodruff instead, the official said the pontiffs only real audience was with a gay couple that francis knew from his years in argentina. Still to come on the newshour the latest on russias foray into syria, is germanys welcoming attitude toward migrants wearing thin, analysis of the weeks news from david brooks and e. J. Dionne and much more. The shooting in oregon has again provoked many discussions about what can be done to prevent future tragedies. Since the shootings in newtown, connecticut, in december 2012, there have been more than 985 Mass Shootings where four or more people are injured or killed. This year alone, the crowd sourced mass shooting tracker reports there have been more than 295 shootings. You can see where these have happened on a map on our website. For all of the discussions, little has changed. And tonight we explore this with todd clear, a professor and former dean at Rutgers University school of criminal justice. He has written widely on gun violence. And jeffrey swanson, a professor of psychology and behavioral science at duke university. We welcome you both to the program. Professor swanson, im going to start with you. You told us today it may be the case these Mass Shootings are growing more common but you said that doesnt mean they are easier to predict. What did you mean by that . Well, here we are again, judy, talking about a horrifying mass casualty shooting, and its just appalling. Were asking ourselves the same question, is this about Mental Illness . And let me just be clear, you dont have to be a psychiatry professor to know that this is not the act of a healthyminded person. It is the act of a deeply disturbed person. Its appalling. On the other hand, its also an atypical act. Its atypical of people with Mental Illnesses, the vast majority of whom are not violent and never will be and atypical of perpetrators of gun crimes, most dont have Mental Illness. These are factors that act together and are difficult to predict and prevent. Woodruff professor todd clear, every time we have one of these Mass Shootings, there are calls to do something about the availability of guns to people who have mental problems. Has it become harder in any part of the country for people with emotional problems, mental problems to get hold of a gun . Well, there have been attempts to put new legislation in place in various locations, but the politics of this is very difficult because its hard while most americans and many people would think sensibly that having some kind of screening for gun availability is valuable, its hard to get this movement on this politically because the people who are opposed to gun regulation are so strong and organized that the Political Movement on questions like this are difficult. But there is a lot of variation in drug laws locally in the states, but the fact adjacent states have different drug laws, they can end up in states that have stronger regulations. Woodruff do you think its difficult for anyone in the country for someone with a Mental Health problem to get access to a gun . The problem with firearms in this country is theyre very prevalent and highly lethal and constitutionally protected, so it is, unfortunately, too easy, still, for people inclined to harm others or themselves to obtain a firearm. The criteria that we have are both too narrow and too broad at the same time. They identify lots of people who arent dangerous and fail to identified some who are. We did a study last year showing approximately 9 of adults in this country have impulsive angry behavior, who smash and break things when they get angry and have access to a firearm and probably 1. 5 have impulsive angry behavior thats pathological and carry a gun around with them. The vast majority of those individuals will never be involuntarily committed and thereby prohibited from a firearm and dont have a criminal record. So we need to think about having more accurate criteria for preventing the purchase of a gun and think about what to do about the existing guns that are out there. Woodruff professor clear, we heard president obama at the white house refer again to the fact that the difference between the United States and other advanced countries around the world, i think highincome countries where people have access to a good education, is that there is such a wide access to guns in this country. Is there that much difference between the u. S. And other countries on this . Well, yeah, absolutely. The United States has a very stronglyestablished culture of gun availability, and the markets that deliver the guns are more widely spread, both the legal and the illegal markets, than in most other countries. It is true that in countries that have a lot of strife going on and wartorn countries, guns have a different pattern, but in western democracies, we stand out. Woodruff professor clear, we know polls show most americans, on the one hand they say there should be stricter background checks, but on the other hand they say they dont think the gun laws should be stricter in general. I mean, there is a contradiction out there. How do you understand and read the public on this . Well, i think there is a couple of things going on. I think there is a deep distrust thats broadly spread particularly across people who would be more likely to own guns, a deep distrust of government and particularly of Government Intervention and government control, and that distrust leads people to think that any regulation of guns is at the expense of personal freedoms, and the first step is really is first step, and there will be many, many steps if you let something happen. By the same token, large, large numbers of people really recognize that guns are a risk factor, and most americans would support what they would call sensible gun regulation, but what sensible means tends to fall apart when you start to look at the details. And it is really true that we have so many handguns in america and so many guns of other types that reasonable policies that would begin to restrict those are very tough to imagine politically in a feasible way. Woodruff professor swanson, how, as somebody who looks at this all the time and looks at the issue of violence, how should we as a country begin to think about doing something about this intersection between access to guns and Mental Illness or mental disturbance . Well, its not a onething problem and not a onething solution. We certainly need to think about getting upstream and addressing the social determinants of violent behavior, having healthier communities with fewer kids exposed to trauma who grow up to be perpetrators, but we need to do something about limiting access to such an efficient killing technology at the time when people are at risk. There are times we know when people are at risk or elevated risk. For example, if theyre brought into a hospital in a shortterm voluntary hold and dont progress to an involuntary civil commitment, there are ways people could be prohibited temporarily from firearms and also there are some innovative legal purchases in states like connecticut, indiana and california that allow family members of la Law Enforcement to take steps to remove firearms from people they might be concerned about who are at risk of harming others or themselves. The gun violence restraining order in california was passed after the Elliott Rogers shooting, and i think all of those things together may help us in the long run. Woodruff professor todd clear, professor jeffrey swanson, we thank you both. Its a conversation a lot of people are having tonight all over this country. Thank you. Thank you. Woodruff russia again launched airstrikes in syria today in a bid to bolster the regime of bashar alassad. But in washington, president obama said the u. S. Will not cooperate with the russian campaign. And he insisted he will not turn the syrian conflict into a superpower proxy war. Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Margaret Warner reports. Warner day three of moscows air campaign and the Russian Military said its planes hit 18 Islamic State positions across western syria. But the u. S. Led coalition charged again that, in fact, the russians are not limiting their strikes to isil. This was president obama this afternoon but what was very clear and regardless of what mr. Putin said was that he doesnt distinguish between isil and a moderate sunni opposition that wants to see mr. Assad go. From their perspective theyre all terrorists and thats a recipe for disaster. Warner overnight, members of the u. S. Led coalition demanded the russians stop targeting other groups. The newshour spoke today with two Free Syrian Army fighters, backed by the u. S. They say theyve been hit, even though the Islamic State, or daesh in arabic, is long gone from their areas. Captain walid is a communications engineer and an f. S. A. Commander in talbiseh, north of homs, on a strategic road that runs from the capital damascus north to aleppo. translated there is no warner sheikh abdulrazak is also with the f. S. A. In talbiseh. He sent this video of a reported russian attack, and says its clearly aimed at punishing opponents of president bashar alassad. Warner and, captain walid warns, that day of reckoning may be fast approaching. Warner at the United Nations today, syrias foreign minister seemed to confirm coordination between russian air power and the syrian army. translated air strikes are useless unless they are conducted in cooperation with the syrian arab army, the only force in syria that is combating terrorism. Warner meanwhile, russian president Vladimir Putin was in paris, for a meeting ostensibly about ukraine, but he reportedly spent an hour discussing syria with french president francois hollande. Russian officials suggested today their air campaign could run three to four months. For the pbs newshour, im Margaret Warner in washington. Woodruff refugees from across the middle east continue to flee civil wars and the threat of isis. Germany among the european nations has been welcoming them. But in this report from munich currently in the midst of oktoberfest we learn that attitudes are changing. Matt frei of independent Television News has that. Reporter you could with be excused for thinking youd landed on a strange planet, especially if youre a syrian refugee and you walk into this, in the center of munich, and there are beer bottles thrown from the train station. The annual oktoberfest. It is the very celebration of excess. Beer is served in something bigger than a flower vase and pork is king on the plates and on the walls. A few weeks ago the city authorities briefly flirted with the idea of canceling oktoberfest out of respect for the refugees who had been given Standing Ovations at the train station. That would have gone down very badly, and since then the mood here shifted against the visitors from another world. A retired math and physics teacher teacher the rest of the world is impressed with germany for its hospitality to outsiders. Im not sure about that. There are 89 million of you. Every year, 300,000 germans and 400,000 more. Reporter you think there is a danger muslims will take over in this country . Yes, im very sure. Reporter what would you do about this refugee problem then . I dont know. I wouldnt vote for mackle again because of this. Reporter and still they come. Despite the fact germany reimposed border controls with austria two weeks ago. This is pasa, germanys economic miracle in the form of newly minted jeeps screeches by. The refugees line the platform waiting to be processed. The restriction a there is friction amongst the newcomers, the police step in before a brawl can arise. This is an english teacher from aleep o his 6yearold and only son died in a barrel bombing. He documented every step of his existence on his smartphone. We need a solution. Killing is not a solution. Reporter so putin getting involved is not a solution . Yeah yeah. In old time russia helps but now more bombs. Reporter it means more war. More war. Reporter more refugee. Yeah. Reporter so whats your future going to be . I dont know. Reporter 17,000 refugees were welcomed in one week alone, a third of the entire population and almost as the whole of britain were accommodated in four years. It is said attend of the train line, Angela Merkel is using refugees to turn germany into a superpower but shes worried about backlash. Here opinions are divide, in this case in one family. A lot of people standing at the railroad station with the signs saying welcome to germany, et cetera. I also dont see any people saying please go away again. Reporter what do you think . Yes, far too many. We have no idea how to cope with these numbers. Reporter Angela Merkels moral exceptionalism regarding refugees stems in part from germanys exceptionally dark past, and nowhere is this more poignant than here. This was the main camp, one of the first and most infamous camps built by the nazis, they killed more than 40,000 prisoners here. And heres the bitter irony, such is the lack of accommodation and space for the refugees flooding into germany now that quite a few of them have been put up by the authorities in another part of the camp just across the road. The s. S. Called this piece of hell the herb garden and used the camps prisoners as slave labor to help develop a nazi brand of homopathic medicine. These are the original greenhouses. Its a go desk notion lost on javed and chaffe, both refugees from afghanistan who call this place home. Inside all traces of the past have long been erased. So how do they feel about the history of this place . He doesnt really care that this was a concentration camp which he use now staying in because its better than sleeping on the street and there are no rooms or flats available in germany because there are simply too many refugees like him, so hes happy to have this place and doesnt mind too much that its in a rather creepy location. Reporter both are relieved germany has offered them refuge but theyre also sick with longing for the country they lost. Woodruff stay with us. Coming up on the newshour. Cooking with acclaimed food writer ruth riechl and trying to end the School Dropout crisis. President obama expresses frustration and anger in the wake of yesterdays mass shooting in oregon. But is there anything he can do . Will there be a battle among House Republicans to replace Speaker Boehner . And what does russias involvement in syria mean for the u. S. . We turn to the analysis of New York Times columnist david brooks and Washington Post columnist e. J. Dionne. Mark shields is away tonight. Welcome, gentlemen. Thank you. Woodruff so here we are yet again, another mass shooting. They seem to be happening every few weeks. David, the president said yesterday at his News Conference that he thinks the countrys grown numb, that these are happening so often. Is he right . I dont think so. The reaction of people i have spoken to is one of impatience and growing frustration. I dont think weve grown numb to them. I dont think weve take an practical and pric pragmatic aph to trying to prevent them. Obviously as we said earlier, theyre hard to prevent. Im for gun control laws as ive said so many times. Weve gone through a ritual on this program, and i dont think theyll do much good. They might do a little good because there are 250 million guns in this country, its very hard to control, but they might erect a barrier. There is obviously probablematics with getting a list of people who have had Mental Health issues to run against a registry, thats obviously a problematic thing to do. Ive emphasized the make believe function that the profile of these guys is very similar and it is in this case and we have a young guy with loneliness issues and if we looked around for young men like that in our society, maybe we could do something there. I would invite people to think pragmatically about the many steps we can do to make a dent, but its going to be hard to make a dent in this. Woodruff it is hard, e. J. , and, yet, as the president said, something has to happen, something has to happen. What is the something . I loved seeing his anger about this because i think he reflected the anger of a lot of people. I actually liked it when he said this is something we should politicize because the barrier deiologizing it isnt going to work. As ben carson said, gun control only works for the normal law abiding citizens. All laws only work for normal law abiding citizens. Same with marco rubio, gun crime is committed by criminals. Yeah, thats an argument against all law, though. We have to try some things. There are no free and democratic and wealthy countries in the world that have our rate of gun violence. You know, david is quite right that we have to worry about loners and alienated people, we have to do better on Mental Health, but were not the only country in the world with loners and alienated people, and i think we have to be able to take steps on guns and i dont know whats going to shake us to get there, but the president is saying we cant just sit here anymore. I think there is an anger thats growing out there that may at some point get conservatives in particular who ought to be in a different position than they are on this issue. Woodruff as with we heard from the two guests we talked to a few minutes ago, it is hard and, yet, maybe there is a way to identify some of these young men, most of them are young men, who are deeply troubled and try to prevent them from getting access to them. Maybe, and i think if we have any political process, its to come up with a comprehensive package of reform, so would include some gun control things and Mental Health things and other things policymakers could come up with. On gun control, im not against them. Most of the guns these guys get they get legally. Woodruff oregon is the place this time. Oregon has pretty tight gun control legislation. People in criminal gangs, they get the guns illegally, but there are so many guns, were not going to deport 12 Million Immigrants or get rid of 250 million guns. Australia had a massive gun buyback program, 700,000 guns, translated into about 40 million here, which is a start. We right now cant do a thing. Im all for doing more on Mental Health. I dont think there is a problem with that. The ideological part is on guns. One in three american households has a gun. This dates 300 years going back so this hits such a nerve and we have a legacy of a lot of guns in this country and thats because to have the nature of the settlement of the country. Woodruff if history repeats itself, we talk about it for a few days and move on. I agree with that. Woodruff well, lets talk about some big news that happened a week ago today and that was Speaker John Boehner announcing hes stepping down. David, its been assumed the majority leader whos number two, Kevin Mccarthy, had a lock on this but then he did an interview this week and said flat out that the investigation by republicans into Hillary Clintons benghazi incident was politically motivated, that you could measure the success of it by her dropping poll numbers. What does it say about him as a perspective speaker . Well, there are a couple of things we know about him. First, hes a very social and friendly guy. I still think he has a lock on it because hes so likable. These races tend to be very personal. Second, hes not anybodys idea of a ideological fire brand. Hes not particularly philosophical, hes social. Hes a nice guy. A lot of people are wondering will he be ideological enough because thats not particularly in his nature. Third, hes not used to being near the top job and he said something true and stupid, which was true, that the investigation into the democratic potential nominee is a political act and theyre trying to bring her down, of course, but youre not supposed to say that. Third, he is an embodiment of whats wrong with washington with that statement, which is the gap between campaigning and governing, which used to be something that was honorably upheld has now been erased, so governing is the same as campaigning, or more precisely campaigning is everything. So congressional investigations have become political tools. Woodruff so is there any price for him to pay on this, e. J. . I mean, there was a story today in Associated Press reporting that jason should we move on . We should say champagne corks were popping at Hillary Clintons Campaign Headquarters because they had been trying to get them to say outfront that this is a political investigation, now long than the watergate, which is astonishing the investigation into benghazi and he did the classic gaffe, telling the truth about something. Chafitz is most upset because he knew political cost of. This i think he is probably the strongest candidate the widened of the caucus can come up with. You have to say that that caucus is still split in a way, but mccarthy pulls it out. In the last few days, there have been doubts among republicans not only because of the Hillary Clinton matter but hes not the best spoken person woodruff mccarthy . Right, Kevin Mccarthy. He is a great social guy. I dont think anyone can hold this caucus together because as long as barack obama is president , the House Republicans and most conservatives arent interested in governing. Woodruff thats my main question about him is whats going to be different with Kevin Mccarthy . Will it be easier for him to corral House Republicans . He gave Speaker Boehner a bminus for his performance as speaker. Youve got to give your friend an a laughter do you think he called him up to apologize and say i have to do that to get elected. I think the caucus will try to change the rules and they go to regular order. Basically the changing of the rules lessens the power of the speaker and leadership, and that means more bills from the rank and file can get votes on. They nominally want the committees to elect their chairmen, to devolve power down where the Freedom Caucus is. I think the changes would make the house complete lo ungovernable, like the senate where they could stop everything. They really want to democratize the house to make it easier for party caucus but you could pass bills if they were governor being democrats. Woodruff new fundraising numbers where the president ial campaigns came out. We dont have all numbers but we learned bernie sanders, e. J. , raised almost as much money as Hillary Clinton did, but his money came mostly from small donors. How much of a threat does he pose . Is this what you would expect . I think to win in iowa and new hampshire, he has ant proven he can break into constituentsies. I dont think anybody knows how much joe biden knows. Woodruff a story he picked up some Hillary Clinton donors. I think it is wonderful to see candidates and i think ben carson picked up a small number of done,s, not by talking to a small number of very rich people but by reaching out to a very large number of citizens and i hope there is more of that in this campaign. Three cheers for bernie if only on the money. Woodruff why doesnt that mean people should take him more seriously, david . I think the renegades on the right like the trumps, i think they will fade. But hes different. His support is not because hes a crazy man, its because hes ideologically closer to the heart of the party right now and i think the money is a reputation of that. I dont know, if he wins iowa and new hampshire, doesnt the whole psychology of the country will be very different around Hillary Clinton and historically unprecedented for her to lose those two and get the nomination. I think her husband did it. Shes going to seem even more vulnerable than now. Who knows. Im beginning to take him a little more seriously. Ive always taken bernie seriously, and i think the other piece of it is we see a lot of authenticity in politics, he is authentic authenticity. Woodruff hes still drawing big crowds. We dont have time the talk about the other republicans except you brought it up, carbs carnes raising a lot of money and, again, small donors. So were watching. David brooks, e. J. Dionne, thank you very much. Weve all heard about the solace eating comfort food can bring. Now a wellknown food writer gives her take on the healing powers of cooking. Jeffrey brown recently helped ruth reichl prepare a meal in her new york city kitchen. Brown spicy tuscan kale, pork and tomatillo stew, and, yes, cake that cures everything, just some of the recipes that ruth reichl says saved her life and are now collected in her new book part cookbook, part memoir my kitchen year. That year came in 2009 when gourmet, the nations oldest food and wine magazine was suddenly shut down by its publisher, conde nast, and reichls ten year reign as editor abruptly ended. Shed been one of the countrys most Prominent Food writers since the 1970s, as a critic at the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, and in her best selling memoirs. Now suddenly jobless, what to do . She hunkered down, started whipping up recipes, and tweets about them, gaining a large new following. In her new york apartment recently, we talked about life changes and the Simple Pleasures of cooking. So im getting the tuscan kale . Thats what you picked . Thats what i picked. You sound like a vegetable guy to me. This is one of my favorite vegetables. I love tuscan kale. I think its beautiful. And its kind of emblematic of what i like about vegetables that are seasonal. This is very easy to work with. I mean, this is how, then you just pull it apart with your fingers. Brown so this is an example, and you call this, the subtitle is recipes that saved my life. Its a dramatic title there. In what sense did it save your life to come back to the kitchen . This was a very dramatic time in my life. I was the editor of gourmet magazine. And this venerable institution, i get a call one day, meet with your staff. Boss comes down and says, magazines done. Its dead. Pack up your stuff, youre all going home. I was devastated. I revered this magazine. Ive revered it my whole life. I never saw it coming. Brown you had a lot of employees as well. I had a lot of employees. I had more than 60 people, all of whom lost their jobs. And here was a 69year institution that closed on my watch. And i felt like the worlds worst failure. Brown so you wrote about coming back to the kitchen as the place that you retreated to. But a place that you had not been in for a while . Because like most of us, youre a busy person . What is it . I had always cooked. I wrote a cookbook when i was 21, so i started as a cook. I had a restaurant when i was in my 20s. And then i went into the world of journalism and i was a and i would do the kind of cooking that everybody else did. At 7 00, your husband calls and says, when are we going to eat dinner . You put on your coat, you rush home, you dont even take your coat off, you Start Cooking dinner and you get dinner on the table. Brown which is in fact what most of us have to do. Which is what most people have to do. Now i had the leisure to go in and out of stores, talk to butchers, talk to farmers, pick up ingredients i didnt know what to do with exactly, take them home and play with them. Cooking for me is a real meditation. That if you allow yourself to be in the process, instead of worrying about the results, im going to get dinner on the table. But if you stand here and you come, smell the scent of onions and garlic when theyre cooking in a little bit of olive oil is, its a wonderful scent. The feel, just the feel of doing this, the sound. If you Pay Attention to these things, you go into it and its very calming. Brown you know, i think, too, about the proliferation of cooking shows and the chefs, star chefs. But in some ways, does that teach us that things are harder . That you have to be one of those top chefs . I feel like we in the media have a lot to answer for because i think weve made people afraid of cooking. Brown afraid of cooking. Thats what i was wondering. I mean people love those shows, but does it help them or does it in some way hurt them . I think, if you think you have to be a chef at home, youre instantly worried about the performative aspect of cooking. When what you should be thinking about, i think, is the adventure of cooking. And you know, if you make a mistake, big deal. Its one meal. I love making breadcrumbs. I mean this is what you do with leftover bread, you just turn it into breadcrumbs. And so i decided i wanted a little crunch in there. Brown and you have, i know you have said that food tells a lot about a culture, right . Oh, absolutely. Not only about a culture but about people. Brown what does it tell us about us today . When i was growing up, people who came to america wanted to forget where they came from. They wanted to assimilate as quickly as possible. And so when i was going to ps41, everybody came to school with Peanut Butter jelly sandwiches. And it didnt matter what your background was. Today, you look at what kids are bringing to school, and they are proudly displaying their heritage, and i think that says something very good. Yes, were americans, but that doesnt mean that we have to reject that place that we used to be. The other thing is, i mean there was a long time when people would go to the supermarket and not want to accept the fact that steak that was wrapped up in a piece of plastic had ever come from a living creature. And the not thinking about it meant that you also didnt have to think about the conditions in which they were raised. And today, we know what it means, the difference between factory animals and animals who are humanely raised. We are really starting to understand that eating is an ethical act. Personally . Brown what about for you, personally . That book is my kitchen year, but its a few years later now. Youre still in the kitchen. Im still, you know, i love to cook. I feel like cooking grounds me in time and space. It grounds me in the seasons. Its pure pleasure for me. Brown so now can we eat. We can eat as soon as this blini is done. Brown alright, ruth reichl, thanks so much. Thank you. Woodruff this saturday, public tv stations across the country will air american graduate day 2015, a National Public Media Initiative to help communities address the School Dropout crisis. Tonight, a preview from cleveland about a schooltowork program that leads to work in local steel plant. Amy hansen from wviz pbs ideastream in cleveland reports. Like many midwestern cities, cleveland was built on a foundation of manufacturing. Today clevelands largest steel mill is operated by arcelormittal who continues to employ many throughout the area. Arcelormittal in 2007 was faced with a huge problem. They were worried a number of skilled crafts people, electricalmechanical, eligible to retire would leave in the next five years and we didnt have the backfill to be prepared for that attrition. Well, i am 61 years old and, yes, retirement has come into mind and a lot of my coworkers are of the same age. Were all in the same category. We are projecting at arcelormittal to lose over 200 electricians and mechanics per year for the next five years, so when we lose 200 people, its imperative that we find either within our current workforce people who want to become mechanics or electricians or we go outside the workforce. Arcelormittal reached out to five Community Colleges and plants to create a program to provide an inclass curriculum with an internship to create steelworker for the future. The idea is to grow students who have an interest in mechanical handson type work to enter u. S. Manufacturing and basically fill our needs. I wanted to be an engineer, and when i started doing more research and taking engineering classes, i realized that the majority of engineers actually are doing designing, they dont actually get to work too much with their hands. And im the kind of person, i want to do the work with my hands. I want to be a part of what im doing. I dont want to just design it and hand it off to someone else. After hearing about the steelworker for the future program through a friend, 18yearold keihen kitchen enrolled in Community College in cleveland and is training to become an electrician. In high school, many students are pushed towards a fouryear degree to become engineers and doctors and lawyers and the whole need for u. S. Manufacturers to have electricians and mechanics has kind of been lost. You go into high school and everyone is talking to you about well, youve got to go to college to be successful and you have to go to a fouryear university, you will be nothing without a bachelors degree, it really puts so much pressure on your shoulders to do well at everything you do. In high school, that was a really hard thing to deal with. Connecting the lights together hard to deal with because keihen face add host of other obstacles outside the classroom. I had a mother very sick, diagnosed with cancer when i was 7 years old. I had a biological father who wasnt in my life, so my brother and i really had to take care of our mom. She was on disability so we were really on the low end of poverty. It makes you scared, you know, whats going to happen in the future . What about when im done with high school . Thats some questions a lot of people have. The steelworker for the future program opened up my eyes of going to school where you would have a job attend of the program. Has a history of lasting five years. We change it right before that. Okay. I have been down here for 41 years. 38 years as an electrician, done a lot, seen a lot. The flames were shooting open. Wow. Something different happens every single day. My first mentor was john pawloski. He explained to me stepbystep what and why he was doing which was an amazing experience to really get to take what im learning in school and apply it to a real career, this is how im going to be using what im learning in school. This way, i can share my experiences with the new generation. You feel kind of proud. I did my first internship this summer, and every day i wish i could be coming back to work here. Just hold it down, turn it on and let it go . Back at cuyahoga Community College, keihen is even closer to her wish. This will be my final semester before i get my associates degree. I have been working in customer service, everything from retail to the Restaurant Business ever since high school. So its exciting to be looking at a real career where im working one fulltime job. Im very excited to start at arcelormittal. Woodruff the sevenhour amgrad broadcast can be seen this saturday, october third on this and other pbs stations. On the newshour online right now a look at what could be the single biggest trade dispute in history. The three Biggest Airlines in the u. S. Allege that rival airlines in the persian gulf are receiving unfair subsidies from their governments. Learn more on the latest edition of our shortwave podcast. All that and more is on our web site, pbs. Org newshour. Before we go a news update. We are learning the gunman who killed nine people in a shooting rampage at an oregon Community College yesterday was a student at the school and enrolled in the class where the shooting took place. Be sure to tune into Washington Week later tonight on your pbs station and pbs newshour weekend tomorrow. And join us again on monday when the u. S. Supreme court begins a new term. Thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Have a great weekend. Good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. 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 newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org announcer this is nightly Business Report, with Tyler Mathisen and sue herera. Big disappointment. Fewer jobs than expected were created last month, raising concerns about the economy and changing the conversation at the fed. Reversing course. Stocks fell sharply, then staged their biggest upward reversal in four years as investors tried to figure out how to invest in todays market. Doing good. Meet the entrepreneur who had the bright idea to grow his business while giving back, one pencil at a time. All that and more on nightly Business Report for friday october 2nd. Good evening, everyone, and welcome. A setback for the job market and an unusual day for the stock market. Todays employment report came as a surprise and not in a good way, snn