Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20160901

Sreenivasan all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future. Is and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and financial e literacy in the 21st century. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. On promoting the wellbeing of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. More at rockefellerfoundation. Orgn. Support also comes from s Carnegie Corporation of new york. A foundation created to do whato Andrew Carnegie called real and permanent good. Celebrating 100 years of philanthropy at carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation foro public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. An yo sreenivasan the Campaign Spotlight stayed on donald trump today, and what he will or will not do about immigration, deportation, and a border wall. The republican nominee faced fallout from a fiery speech las night hours after he had taken a more moderate tone with mexicos president. De well have a full report, after the news summary. Ifill in the days otherhe news people along floridas gulf coast braced for a direct hit tonight by a hurricane the states first since 2005. Hermine is projected to make landfall with winds of 75 miles an hour or higher and drive across the state toward thed atlantic. As it approached today, rain caused minor flooding, and people filled sandbags. Governor rick scott warned against taking the storm for granted. Were going to see big storm surge. Were going to see a lot of rain. Were going to see flooding. Were going to see down power lines. Theres going to be a lot of risk if we dont do our job. Everybody needs to be prepared. We are blessed we have the best Emergency Management teams ines the country at the state and local level. We have a Great National guard, but you have got to take this seriously. Yo ifill many cities in the storms path, including the capital tallahassee have not been hit by a hurricane inen decades. Sreenivasan state lawmakerss in california are expanding a Climate Change law thatsch already the most aggressive inst the nation. Majority democrats agreed last night to regulate methaneth emissions from landfills and dairy farms for the first time. It came over the objections of o industry and farming interests. Ifill a huge explosion rocked a spacex launch pad today at cape canaveral, florida. The Unmanned Falcon rocket blew up as a test for a saturday launch was under way. The blast also destroyed a Communications Satellite on board, but no one was hurt. Spacex said there was a problem in a fuel tank, but gave no details. Sreenivasan in Eastern Ukraine a fragile, new cease fire took effect at midnight between Government Troops andn prorussian rebels. Both president Petro Poroshenko and the rebels said the truce appeared to be holding. Fighting had flared in the contested Donetsk Region over the last month, after an earlier ceasefire collapsed. Ifill back in this country authorities in florida have found zika virus in three groupu of mosquitoes in miami beach. Its the first time thats happened in the continental u. S. The insects were trapped in the small area thats seen active zika transmission. Officials said today the finding will help them fight the virus. If there are positive traps,e we know when, we know where. All right . We can identify where this transmission is occurring. Wh typically what happens is that transmission occurs in mosquitoes in a limited area. And so we can intensify what we do in those areas. We can do more active surveillance, we can do surveys, we can do more active mosquito control. Ifill the control efforts could be complicated by the hurricane coming ashore tonight. Its heavy rain will leave new breeding pools for mosquitoes. Sreenivasan in Economic News major auto makers reported u. S. Sales slumped in augustmp as a surge in business begins to cool after six years. And on wall street the Dow Jones Industrial average gained 18 points to close at 18,419. The nasdaq rose nearly 14 points, and the s p 500 added a fraction. Sreenivasan still to come on the newshour Donald Trumps immigration speech in context, both president ial candidates make their appeals to veterans, where clinton stands on international trade, and much more. Ifill the talk on the campaign trail today focused largely on one issue immigration. And the new words from one candidate donald trump. Ca Lisa Desjardins reports. Reporter the scene today was southwestern ohio. Dont worry, were going to build that wall. Bu that wall will go up. Reporter but the big applause lines for donald trump were the same as last night in phoenix talk of a Mexican Border wall and fighting illegal immigration. That speech was trumps most comprehensive yet on his signature issue. Let me tell you about my plan. Reporter tell he did for an hour and 15 minutes. Much was familiar but on the topic of deportation, something new i am going to create a newin special Deportation Task force, focused on identifying and removing quickly the most dangerous criminal illegalim immigrants in america. Reporter thats an important shift, as in this speech in i florida last year, previously trump pledged to deport every undocumented immigrant. Were going to take people that are here illegally, and were going to move them out. Got to move them out. Reporter but last night, ths republican nominee said he would target only some those who commit crimes and those who overstay their visas. There are at least two million criminal aliens now inside the country. We will begin moving them out day one. Reporter this leaves the question of what happens to everyone else millions of others here illegally who havent committed crimes since arriving. Trump answered the question two ways. First, he said, those who stay,h will remain outside the law. For those here today illegally who are seeking legal status, they will have one rout and only one route to return home and apply for reentry. Reporter but later, near the end of the speech, trump indicated that someday thatth could change. In several years, when wehe have accomplished all of our enforcement and deportation goals and truly ended illegal immigration for good including the construction of a great the construction of a great wall then and only then will we be in a position to consider the appropriate disposition of those individuals who remain. S that discussion can only take place in an atmosphere in which illegal immigration is a memory of the past reporter trump also launched a new plan to limit all legal immigration, proposing aro commission with these goals. To keep immigration levels, measured by population share, within historical norms, to select immigrants based on merit, skill and proficiency and to establish new immigration controls to boost wages and tod ensure that open jobs are offered to American Workers first. Reporter the speech brought repeated, thunderous applause in the arena, but in the aftermath multiple members of trumps Hispanic Advisory Council resigned from the group. Today, democratic Vice President ial nominee tim kaine slammed the speech as anti immigrant. It is a deportation nation and theyre all criminals ande theyre doing terrible things that is not going to make our country great. Reporter kaine also charged that trump choked in yesterdays meeting with mexican president pena nieto by not repeating his demand that mexico pay for a border wall. For the pbs newshour, im Lisa Desjardins. Ifill Digging Deeper into the politics and policy of thehe immigration debate, we turn to kris kobach, the kansas secretary of state who helped author Donald Trumps immigration policy, Marielena Hincapie, the executive director of the National Immigration lawo center, and karthick ramakrishnan, associate dean of the school of Public Policy at university of california riverside. He writes extensively on immigration issues. Ramakrishnan, how did immigration end up being or at least appear being central to this politicalei debate right n . Well, it all started with the launch of Donald Trumps campaign. It was a signature issue. It was a thing that got him a lot of attention, some would say a lot of negative attention int the beginning, but he used that publicity and notoriety to jump to the top to have republican heap and has never looked back sense. Ifill Marielena Hincapie, how do you interpret Donald Trumps approach . I think donald trump is atrd very smart man who knows how to use the media and hes using immigration as a wedge issue. U he understands that there are lowwage, white voters, for example, who are feeling a lot of economic distress and a lot of economic pain and, rather than focusing on the true issues, which is that those workers deserve a living wage, collective bargaining, safety net programs, he instead is using their fear of the other, their fear of immigrants and scapegoating immigrants and fear mongering in order to get elected. Ifill kris kobach, she said a lot of things there. I want to start about the part about who he is speaking to. Who is his audience . You know, i think hese speaking to northwestern people generally. Last night in his speech, he was talking about putting american interests first, whether talking about resource or crime, and to the point that was just maded about speaking to individuals who are competing with illegal labor for those jobs and are seeing wage depression in their workplace. Illegal immigration, the impact of it falls disproportionately upon africanamerican u. S. Citizens and hispanic u. S. Citizens and legal immigrants of hispanic ethnicity. Ic so, you know, really, hes talking in terms of the wage depression effect of illegal i immigration h hes talking to individuals who are often not white, and i think this is part of broadening the base, making the point that you know your wages have suffered becauser of illegal immigration, i want to do something about it. Ifill professor ramakrishnan, how often is an immigration debate about economics and how much is it, as Marielena Hincapie was saying, is about fear mongering . Its a little of both. Its important to correct the record kris kobach laid out. The National Academy of sciences in a consensus report among social sciences its very difficult to get a con ecensus among social scientists found no evidence this was back in a report 20 years ago and also a more recent report last year no evidence that there is any significant wage depression effect. More generally, when we talk about america being strong, its important to remember that immigrants are americans, too, and, in fact, when youve seen instances like riverside new jersey, for example, whichi passed a law trying to cut down on undocumented immigrants in the city, they actually lost economically. You have cities and states throughout the country that aret trying to get immigrants, including lowskilled immigrants, because they are so vital to sectors like construction and agriculture. Ifill im going to let kris kobach respond to that and then ill get to you, Marielena Hincapie, in a moment. The wage depression effecte has been well researched by economists who look specifically at it and i would note George Borjas overharvard university. Anyone familiar with Industries Like meat packing or hotel Janitorial Service knows those wages have gone down not only in real terms but absolute dollars because of illegal immigration. The point about the economies of places that crack down on illegal immigration, look at arizona and georgia, two states that have cracked down on illegal immigration at the statt level and have everify requirements in place, their economies are booming. So clearly pushing illegal labor out of the labor market does not mean a states economy collapsel and the same is true for the country. Ifill Marielena Hincapie, lets talk about one ofy. The specific proposals in Donald Trumps speech last night where he talked about deportation. Seems like he was talking about eventual, maybe selfdeportation which sounds like something we heard from mitt romney four years ago. How different is his deportation plan, assuming there arehe 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country, how similar is it to what is already in place and what other republican candidates in the past have proposed . I think there are a couple ol things to what trump said last night. One, before the speech yesterday, he appeared to be toning down the rhetoric but, in fact, yesterday he made very clear that not all is 1 millions will be deported on day one. He said within the first hour of his first day of the presidency, he would immediately push to have all individuals and i think he referred to the number 2 million individuals, anyone whos been convicted of crimes and bad people is the way hee refers to immigrants, that theyh would be depored. What that really means in practice, gwen, one, its abextreme position and its an expensive position. In order to deport and have a Deportation Force that would result in the deportation of 11 million immigrants, were w talking about over 60 billion. One of the things in terms of the current policies that many people dont understand is current administration, obama administrations policy is to deport criminal individualsrt with criminal convictions and, in fact, here in los angeles, organizers are fighting the deportation of a grandmother convicted of shoplifting as a misdemeanor over 30 years ago. Rs is that really who donald trump thinks are bad people thatt should be deported . Shes the grandmother of four u. S. Citizen children, shes raising, helping support her family. Ifill let me ask kris kobach about what that happened today. T after his speech last night, several of Donald Trumps Hispanic Advisory Council resigned in disappointmentdi saying they would no longer support him. Are they justified in leaving and what was happened in mexico when there was so disagreement about what was said . W im not familiar with what theyve decided to do. As far as the visit to mexico, you know, i think that was a shrewd move by mr. Trump. He was given an invitation. So his Hillary Clinton. She declined it, at least for the time being. E he took it and said, look, im going to go and talk to the president of our neighboring country and, you know, they hadh an interesting meeting by all accounts. We dont know exactly what was said, but one of the interesting things i take out of it is theye came out of the meeting and both recognized that Border Security is important and the mexican president seemed to be suggesting that he, too, thought a wall was justifiable. So, you know, thats really interesting. Obviously mr. Trump was in no position to ifill i think everybody agrees about Border Security, democrats, republicans, but we dont have time to debate all that. I want to ask professor ramakrishnan, what is it about a zerotolerance argument thatth seems so effective or at least keeps coming back in our debates about immigration . Well, its important to recognize, gwen, that Donald Trumps position sacksly a minority is actually a minority position not only in the general electorate which he needs to win but even in the republican party. Its apu bit surprising he doubd down on the kind of rhetoric he did early in the primary season. This was a real opportunity for him to potentially pivot and maybe not go as far as many of his advisors were thinking about, but he used the kind of language, and we know in our research on framing, we have a book coming out on framing, and as it involves immigrants, with we know frames using words like amnesty, were talking about thu criminal aspect, which is all the evidence shows, immigrants are much less likely to commitm crimes than the native born, but using that kind of language can fire up the base. He needs to grow that base and im not sure h he did that last night. Ifill professor ramakrishnan, kris kobach and Marielena Hincapie, thank you, all very much. Thank you, gwen. Ifill our analysis of Donald Trumps stance on immigrationgr continues online, where Lisa Desjardins explores his plan, and finds six new, key points from his speech. Thats at pbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan and now we turn to another voting block in the president ial election, veterans. This week the candidates who are vying to become the nextto commander in chief courted that vote. Both Hillary Clinton and donald trump briefly paused theirus debate over immigration this week to address to the American Legion. As the daughter of a veteran, as a proud american, i am grateful to you all. The men and women of the American Legion represent the absolute best of america. Strength, courage selfless devotion. Sreenivasan the candidates voiced their commitment to veterans and their families, and also took the chance to go after each other. But what do the men and women that served in uniform think of their options for president . Bob simpson is a marine corps veteran who served in vietnam. I voted for trump all the way. Case amongst all of us veterans, not every one of course, but most of us probably pull to the trump side. Sreenivasan gene miller, a former marine, also served twice in vietnam. I believe that donald trump. Is the one thats best suited over hillary. I believe that mr. Trump has several attributes that is on record as far as knowing the military. Hes up to speed on the s military. He talks a tough game. Reporter two recent pollsr found that trump holds a significant advantage among veterans 14 in one poll and 11 in another. But when asked who they feel would be the most supportive of veterans, overall likely voters feel the candidates are even. Navy veteran kia hamel says clintons support is strongest with recent veterans. Younger veterans, differentra ethnicities, females, l. G. B. T. Community are coming out for secretary clinton, because shes more of a progressive candidate. Reporter hamel one of the first women to serve on the carrier the u. S. S. Nimitz supports clinton. She is not going to be a person thats going to be very careless and want to use Nuclear Weapons just because shes insulted. And thats the kind of person we need at the helm. E reporter both candidates have stumbled in dealing with veteran issues. Last summer trump responded to senator john mccain calling his supporters crazies he lost, he let us down. But, you know, he lost. So i have never liked him ashi much after that, because i dont like losers. But frank, he hit me. But hes a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured. Okay . Reporter and when the father of a Muslim American soldieric killed in iraq in 2004 condemned trumps rhetoric att this years democratic convention, trump attacked the khans on television and social media in the days following. Clinton upset some veteransup answering questions last october about negligent medical care in certain v. A. Hospitals. Overall, veterans who do get treated are satisfied with their treatment. More so than people in the regular system. Thats exactly right. But nobody would believe that from the coverage you see and the constant berating of the v. A. , in part in pursuit of this ideological agenda. But in part because there has been real scandal. There has been, but its not been as widespread as it has been made out to be. Reporter veterans like bob simpson and gene miller say theyre also concerned about clintons response to the attace on the u. S. Consulate in benghazi and her use of a private email server whileai secretary of state. If that had been any one of us with the computers, with benghazi, wed have been in the jail and they wouldve thrown the key away. Ay reporter for kia hamel, the biggest concern about donald trump is what she says is a lack knowledge about world affairs. I think that hes more of ahe danger, because of the fact that he doesnt know enough about the situations to make an educated decision. Sreenivasan for the pbs news hour im Hari Sreenivasan in washington. Ifill stay with us. Coming up on the newshour a massive protest sparked by venezuelas growing economic crisis, Georgetown University sets out to make amends for its history of slavery, and lemony snicket explains how he got his pen name. But first if immigration is one of this years big policy debates, the other is freeba trade. And when it comes to the future of how the u. S. Does business abroad, the two major candidates are not sounding that far apartr last week correspondent paul solman spoke with economist Peter Navarro about donaldrr trumps approach. Tonight paul talks trade with ohio senator Sherrod Brown, one of Hillary Clintons biggest supporters. Su its part of our making sense series, which airs every thursday. Denise . Reporter Sherrod Browns been buying suits made ins brooklyn, ohio for years. The democratic senator has longn pushed made in america, long fought free trade agreements which, he says, have shafted blue collar workers. Senator brown is calling for action against cheating china. They dont play fair and weve gotta fight back. Reporter the message carried him to reelection four years ago in a state thats bled somee 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the last 20 years. We have lost millions of decent paying jobs. That has got to end reporter leftwingers like Bernie Sanders have long shared browns stance on trade. But opposition to trade deals has gone mainstream in 2016. Were letting our jobs go to mexico as president , i will stand up to china and anyone else who tries to take advantage of American Workers and companies. Reporter the big switch is clinton, Long Associated with free trade agreements. Brown threw his support behind her early on because, her insists, she now gets it. She is someone who understands trade, who understands we want more of it, but we want it under a different set of rules. Reporter brown brought us to the keystone suit plant in thet cleveland suburbs to elaborate. What she wants to do on enforcing trade policy, she wants to triple the number of trade enforcement officers,en which will really matter in trying to level the Playing Field fighting with south korea and china, and other countries that dont play it straight. D she wants a special trade prosecutor, directed specifically at china, where we have by far our largest bilateral trade deficit. We lost five million jobs from 2000 to 2010, 60,000 plants closed, this one almost closed, in large part because of unfair trade practices. Reporter two years ago, hugo boss said it would close this factory. But brown helped facilitate its sale to keystone tailored manufacturing. The workers here have been making Hart Schaffner marx suitc ever since. These are not highpaying jobn but theyre Good Union Jobs with good union benefits. It no surprise then, the senior senator is something of a hero here. Brown says he walks the walk on trade. Donald trump does not. I have a number of suits thao were made in, on this shop floor. Donald trump outsources his suits to mexico, he could have bought them here. He could have had them made here. He outsourced, outsources his ties to china, he outsources this ties made in the u. S. Ah, donald trump talks a good game on trade, but hes never lived it. Hes lined his pockets by outsourcing jobs to lowwage countries, and now hes talkingk about trade as if he actually means it . Ive been engaged in this fightt for 25 years, against bad trade policy, ive never seen donaldi trump stand with us. Ive never even heard Donald Trumps name or voice while were working against bad trade policy. Li reporter well, you havent heard Hillary Clintons voice on this issue, either th i, absolutely trust Hillary Clinton to stand strong on these trade agreements. When she was in the senate, she voted against some, she votedag for some. Reporter clinton has taken plenty of heat for changing hera mind about the transpacific partnership. P. As secretary of state, she said this t. P. P. Sets the Gold Standard in trade agreements. Reporter but candidate clinton has reversed course i will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages including the Trans Pacific partnership. I oppose it now, ill oppose it after the election, and ill oppose it as president. Reporter you understand whyr people would say shes absolutely done an about face on this issue, right . And, that she might well go back on the position she now has ifw she, becomes president well, she supported t. P. P. In the early days, because she was the, she worked for the president of the united stateshe and his cabinet, and so did everybody else in the cabineter support t. P. P. As a candidate, she understands it, and she looks at t. P. P. In a different way. Lo fixing rules of origin, fixing currency issues, fixing investorstate dispute settlement, which undermines environmental and worker safety standards. Reporter in nearbyne cleveland, at the former site of premier manufacturing, we met economist susan helper, a progressive democrat who also supports Hillary Clinton. When a plant like this closes down theres substantial economic damage. Reporter yeah. The people in the plant lose their jobs. People working in restaurantsau nearby lose their jobs, home values fall, et cetera. Reporter this steel wire plant which moved most of its work to mexico, exemplifies the migration of u. S. Manufacturing. The decline of unions and th figuring out by management of strategies to avoid unions in the u. S. , and then a movement particularly after nafta was signed to mexico, and even lower wages there. Reporter the north American Free trade agreement was signedw by bill clinton in 1993. But his wife has become a critic. For good reason, says helper. I think that one of the things now we have greater experience. We can see what, whats happened as a result of some of the trada agreements. Theres some very excellent work that suggests that workers who were displaced by trade or othes reasons, but particularly by trade, dont easily find new jobs. And particularly in the case of a lost manufacturing job, a new job that somebody gets doesnt equal their previous wage. Reporter but many economists argue robots, not trade deals, are the real job robbers. So i asked Sherrod Brown. Isnt it technology thats actually replacing jobs asla opposed to unfair trade . Well, its all of the above, its its unfair trade practices, its technology. About five miles from my home is a Company Called Arcelor Mittal. That plant was the first plantat in, in World History where close to one person hour of labor produces one ton of steel. Thats technology, thats efficiency, thats put some steelworkers out of work, because theyre so efficient. Ca reporter right. But unfair trade practices is have also put a lot ofal those workers out of work. Reporter moreover, susanor helpers Research Suggests that technology can actually add jobs at Arcelor Mittal or anywhere else. When your productivity goes up, your price falls so more people are gonna want to buy things made out of steel. We looked at Manufacturing Industries over the last couplee of decades, and found that those industries that had the greatesa productivity growth actually had the most job gains. Th reporter but why . Because they found new markets, they were able to expand into new markets and find new uses for the technology that they had innovated. Reporter even so, Sherrod Brown believes candidate clintons tougher stance onug trade is a welcome one. Im glad we have the most efficient steel plant in the world, less than ten miles fromo here, but weve got a lot of work to do to make sure tradeo enforcement is done the way secretary clinton wants it done. And that, that will ultimately provide jobs, it will save jobs, it will help manufacturing rebirth. Reporter this is economics correspondent paul solman, in and around cleveland, ohio. Sreenivasan hundreds of thousands of venezuelans turnedd out to protest against president Nicolas Maduros government and calling for an end to his rule. L the country has been plagued by a deepening economic crisis, corruption, crime, all of which have contributed to a worseningt food shortage. Nathan halverson, of reveal from the center for investigativeti reporting, recently visited caracas. Si well before sunrise, Hungry Venezuelans are waiting outside Grocery Stores praying for foodr trucks to arrive. By mid morningo with streets crowded with anxious faces, there is little hope. There is only butter and oil. We need them to send us more food. When did you get here . At 4 00 a. M. I got here at 8 00 p. M. Last night. As venezuelans watch their country crumble and their desperation and hunger spill into the streets, their anger with president Nicolas Maduro and his party has become explosive. This is whats happening in venezuela, were starving, were struggling, thanks to this government. Its the maduro diet. Police now guard groceryce Stores Across the Country Holding back the hungry and volatile mobs. Why are you take meg out of line . I was here i recallly. Li i also need food. 90 of venezuelans report food is too expensive to buy. Hungry mobs are rioting and looting bakeries and food trucks. This has forced everyday people to try and calm desperate crowds. Like this Grocery Store manager. We dont produce the food. Everyone is waiting for something to arrive. If it doesnt arrive, we cant create food. O people blame the socialist government tore its one article of food per person and you have to wait eight days because if you try to buy more, theyll stop you. The result is hunger, and a country increasingly turning against president Nicolas Maduro. My friends have lost weight, 15, 20, 25 pounds even. Paula jirrad is a journalist who writes a food blog about the countrys rapidly worseningni situation. Im afraid there will be although the government doesnt want to see it and i dont either, a social explosion of immense proportions. Usually her only meal for an entire day some one egg. Only one egg, no more. And she has to share it with her dog. The impacts are widespread. School children are fainting from hunger. In my house, there is no food. School principal says some students dont even have the energy to attend. And you were absent from school. Why didnt you come . Because i had nothing to eat. The school now provides whatr is sometimes the only meal these children eat. Food has become political. O in august, the Opposition Party started this school lunch program, winning the gratitude of a hungry community. But for others, food still remains hard to find. I have a job, but whats the point . My salary is worth nothing. Right now you cant even get rice or corn flour. For everything, you have to wait in line. After work, men gather on street corners to scavenge for food rather than skip work to wait in line all day. These workers shopped at government subsidized groceryve store like this one once, but now the shelves are completely empty. But for some wellconnected people, there are still reliable sources of food. Government employees receive Privileged Access at this warehouse, these are government workers and friends carting off items most venezuelans can no longer afford or file fined on the shelves. Paula said the government is using the food to control people, to buy their support and was outraged by what we filmed. Every week in the country, the hunger increases. The shortages increase and the corruption increases. I thats what millions and millions of venezuelans are enduring. For the country, the societal explosion ehat many fear seems to be inching closer every day. For the pbs newshour, im Nathan Halverson in caracas. Sreenivasan in recent years, a number of prestigious collegeo and universities have had to acknowledge their past ties and history to slavery in the u. S. Today, Georgetown Universityun became the latest to say it will apologize for its past and take new steps. More than 200 years ago, the original Georgetown College operated plantations in maryland that worked with slave labor. Then in 1838 and facing deep debt, a pair of priests who each served as president of georgetown sold 272 people to help pay the bills. The slaves were sent to plantations in louisiana. To help atone for its past the university announced it woulded give a special preference in admissions to applicants who are descendants of georgetowns slaves. Its also renaming a building in honor of one of the slaves, erecting a public memorial, and creating an institute to study slavery and its legacy. University president john degioia spoke at a News Conference today. So many were surprised, even shocked s by the revelation of jesuit slave holding and the benefit we received from the 1830 sale. As a community and as individuals, we cannot do ours, best work if we refuse to take ownership of such a critical part of our history. We must acknowledge it. Sreenivasan im joined from new york sreenivasan for a closerfo look at this, im joined from new york by craig steven wilder. Hes a professor of American History at Massachusetts Institute of technology, ande author of ebony ivy race, slavery, and the troubled history of americas universities. Mr. Wilder, put this in context for us. How crucial was this transaction of people to keep georgetown alive . In 1838, georgetown sold the the president of georgetown helped negotiate the sale of about 272 people to louisiana, and from what we understand, about 15 to 20 of the money, the proceeds actually was used to pay down georg georgetowns debts. s so i think its actually quite crucial to the continuedl survival of the university. Ni this is about the time that the university imposed tuition for the first time. So it was helping to meet a number of financial needs. Sreenivasan what about your thoughts on there universitys actions today . I thought the report was thorough and quite thoughtful, but the real meaning to have thi report, im cautiously optimistic, i think the real meaning to have the report will get revealed over the next several years and decades as we see georgetown implement these promises, and it will depend on how fully those get institutionalized on the campuse so we can see them really get achieved. Sreenivasan so today thereo was a clause about admissions preference. Explain that. I think theyre looking at the descendents of the 272e people sold in 1838 and seekingn to bring them to campus and to give them preferential admission to georgetown, actually like a lot of populations of students do. Fors instance, children of alumi often get preferential treatment in admissions, so this would extend that to the children or descendents of the people sold in 1838. Sreenivasan how does this compare to what other schools are doing these days . That step actually takes theh response to slavery further than any other institution has gone. The other actions inside the report actually are fairly similar to what other institutions have done. For instance, the renaming of two of the buildings on the georgetown campus, the decision to create a memorial to slavery on the campus, and the decision to establish an institute forte the study of slavery. One of the dangers, this almost creates a checklist for universities that says, fine, i have a memorial, im going to do this, check, but the longlasting change that youre talking about could take years to get through the student bodyd and the entire campus. And i think thats the keys to. This a report doesey not bring closure to the story of georgetowns relationship to slavery. What will ultimately begin to, i hope, heal and repair the relationship between georgetown and the Catholic Church and the descendents of the people sold in 1838 will be, in fact, georgetown fulfilling these commitments in a really quite holistic way. Sreenivasan does this blaze the trail for other universities, considering there are already some who are already tackling this . It does. I think you will see a continued conversation about the legacies of slavery on our campuses and also the thing thats has kept much of this discussion alive for the past several years, student activism on campus, which has, in fact, been the instrument for keeping thispi conversation alive. L sreenivasan has georgetown taken steps to track down the descendents. 272 people from the 1800s80 could be thousands of people by now. Right. One of the sort of remarkable things about the georgetown situation is that the records that the jesuits kept of the sale are actually quite complete. In many ways, with the alumni sort of pushed this conversation, members of the Alumni Community of georgetownf and actually helped to both fund and encourage the process of reaching out and going out to louisiana and helping to track the genealogies of the families who are related to those 272 slaves. And were talking a lot about georgetown today and a few other schools but, really, when you look up and down the eastern seaboard for hundreds of years, all the early, early colleges likely had some of this in their past. Yeah, every collegele established before the American Revolution, there are ninere colleges established before the revolution in the british colonies, theyre all established by slave traders and slave owners. After the American Revolution we established 17 colleges, one every year until 1800, those colleges have close ties to slavery because theyre founded with the recovery of slave trade after the war. In theaf decades before the civl war its the rise of the cotton economy that drives the expansion of higher education. R so the story of american higherh education in particular is the story of american slavery. Sreenivasan craig steven wilder, thank you so much. Thank you. N sreenivasan sreenivasan online, the discussion of race continues. Milwaukee was rocked by riots last month after a young man waa killed by police. We talked to Community Leaders and city officials about the citys history of segregation and what hope there is for future generations. Ifill now to another of our brief but spectacular interviews, tonight we hear from daniel handler, a name you may only recognize if we identify him by his alias lemony snicket. As when i was researching my first novel, basic eight, i was, umm calling up right wing religious organization and political groups in order to make fun of them in my novel. I thought to myself i better not tell her my real name or ill be on their mailing list forever. Is so she said, what is yourwh name. And i thought dont, Say Something else Say Something else and so i said lemony snicket. And then there was a pause. A and i thought during the pause i thought out of all the thingsse you could have said that was the worst one. And then the woman from the rightwing organization said, ii that spelled how it sounds . When i was five years old someone asked me what i wanted to be when i grew up and i said that i wanted to be an old man living on the top of a mountain giving advice. I dont remember it. All i remember is wanting to be a writer. B i would read on the bus. I would miss the bus because i was reading. The first book that i bought with my own money was the blue aspic by edward gorey. In fact, when the first twohe volumes of a series of unfortunate events were readyfo to be published i sent them to edward gorey with a note saying how much i admired his work and how much i hoped that he would forgive what id stolen from him shortly after i sent it he died. So, i like to think that i killed him. Im so much of childrens literature is about enforced fun or enforced morality. Surely you will be rewarded ifif you behave this way or arent you having a wonderful time reading about this and you neved are and it never goes that way so part of a series of unfortunate events was an acknowledgment of the bewildering state of affair that is childhood. Reporter do you have a notebook on you right now . I do. I do have a notebook on my right now. This is my notebook. I think of things or i read them and then i write them down in the notebook. I type it onto a document on my computer and print it out. I paste them onto or tape them or paste onto index cards and i move all the index cards around. I write it on a legal pad, long hand and then i type up the legal pad onto another document and then i print it out. It makes me look largely like a serial killer when i work in public. Thats what it looks like. I see people clutch their children tighter because theyre walking by a man sipping an espressor moving pasted index cards arounp and writing on a legal pad. That mans not to be trusted. Reporter you say dont. Worry im writing a childrensdo book. Yeah, i say, im in narrative prose a writers relationship with rejection is like that of a fish to water. Its all thats there. I think you should feel it and feel utter despair and then move on. I was going to Say Something about technologys influence on reading but the i gotta text and i just have to answer it can i just ill be right back. Its a triumph of finding specific things and an utter failure of finding something that you didnt know you were looking for. I think i exist in a state ofin bewilderment almost all of the time. Am i grasping at the hem of some large idea that is worth investigating . And i mull this over all day long whether this thing im pulling is a thread that will lead me through the labyrinth or will dismantle the sweater. My name is daniel handler, aka lemony snicket, and this is my brief but spectacular take on a bewildering world. Ifill you can watch additional installments of brief but spectacular on our website pbs. Org newshour brief. Sreenivasan and well be back shortly. But first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. Its a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. Sreenivasan for those stations still with us dogsll have long been used inve classrooms for children with special needs, as visitors in Senior Citizens homes, and as comfort for patients in hospitals. But tonight we take a second look at how dogs are also helping crime victims cope witht the aftermath of violence ande abuse. Special correspondent Kathleen Mccleery has our story. Ee hey, youre here, too . Wow, okay. Come here, buddy. How are you . I hear you have been busy in b court, huh . Reporter in san bernardino, california, two black labradors are regulars in the district attorneys office. Threeyearold dozer and two andahalfyearold lupe are among da Michael Ramos newestwe staff members, part of a speciat victims canine unit. Last august, they werey officially sworn in, paws on a california criminal law book. The dogs job is to reduce fear and help some of the most vulnerable victims, many of them children, feel comfortable inf court. They have never been in a courtroom, you know, in their lives, and add on top of that, theyre going to have to discuss, and tell a jury about how they were either physically abused, sexually abused, and have to relive those horrible moments in their lives. Reporter dozer was detailed to a case in Juvenile Court late last year. My daughters were a victim of abuse. Reporter pearl curiels daughters had to testify. T i felt nervous, because the judge is like right there, and you just look up at the judge and you think, im going to freak out. I felt kind of scared, but once i saw dozer with me, i wasnt scared anymore. I couldnt be right there, where the mom is supposed to beo i couldnt hold my daughter and rub her back while she talked, you know . But he was. He was able to say, you know what, im not going to leave you. And im going to sit right next to you, and you can pet me, and you can talk to me, you know . I dont know if they would have made it through without him. Its so silly, because its like its just a dog, you know, itsu just but he is a superhero. Like, for my girls, i know hero is. Reporter dozers handler, child advocate yesica cioli, believes the dogs support wills have a longterm effect. Whenever a victim gives theim testimony, they feel empowered. So, i think the girls getting up there, and telling their story, and telling what happened is thl first step in them being able to overcome the situation and become survivors. Reporter the other lab, lupe, was tasked with calming two young boys; one allegedlyy abused by a relative. In april, the dog accompanied a them on a mock runthrough ahead of the actual trial. The dogs have their own office. Like humans here, they work a ninehour day, and then go home with their handlers. It cost about 80,000 to start up the Facility Dog Program in san bernardino. That includes a specially equipped van with windows that roll down if the temperature inside gets too hot and water bowls that wont tip over. Officials expect the dogs to remain on the job for about nine years. Judges have to approve before a dog can come to court. The jury is told in advance that the dog will be sitting here in the witness box, sight unseen. And Defense Attorneys have the chance to object. Do you ever hear that the dog might be able to create some t sort of sympathy for the victim . Is that a concern . Is you know, that was a concern. In fact, there have been briefs written and motions written by attorneys, by district attorneys offices when that issue comes up. Once everybody gets comfortable with this whole new process, iw dont think youre going to have that issue, because even the defense bar, all they want is the truth as well, and so do the courts. Reporter Assistance Dogs of the west in santa fe, new mexico, breeds and trains the, dogs. They have placed 15 in judicial districts, and have at least eight more in the pipeline. They also provide dogs to individuals and organizations, but courthouse work is growing, says executive director linda milanesi. Ve we realized that this was an area that was really exploring something new, that had the potential to reach a lot of people, and that was really making a new map in the world, in the world, in the judicial system. Reporter most courthouse dogs are labs and golden retrievers, bred for good health and an even temperament. Intensive training starts early with lots of handson attention. Professionals work with them one on one, often in public places. The dogs learn about 90 complex tasks. Children ages 818 teach them commands, too. High school sophomore natalie longmirekulis has been training dogs since she was nine. The dog learns patience. They also learn how to bear touched in different ways, because, obviously, nineyear old hands are different from 18 yearold hands, and so they pet different ways, and they cuddle different ways, and their bodies are different. T. So it really just allows the dogs to get used to different body types and different ways of handling. Having the dogs being trained by students, one of the outcomes is they all learn to listen to little voices. Reporter jill felice founded Assistance Dogs of the west. Og she says the key to instilling calm and trust is simple science. Dogs actually help us release oxytocin, which is the calming hormone and the bonding hormone, and when you are able to have that hormone going through your body, as opposed to the stress hormone, cortisol, its much easier to tell your story. Reporter after nearly two years of study, the dogs move on. Love story actress and animal lover ali macgraw presided over this years Commencement Ceremony celebrating 12 four 1 legged graduates. Macgraw believes the Courthouse Dog Program uses compassion to promote justice. Im so moved, especially in this crazy, often negative sounding world that we fear driven that were in now, when i see that a few people can change the lives for the good of everybody involved, and i think it gives me hope. Reporter for the pbshe newshour, im Kathleen Mccleery in santa fe, new mexico. Sreenivasan and thats the newshour for tonight. Tomorrow a return to joplin, missouri, five years following the devastating tornado there. Im Hari Sreenivasan. Ifill and im gwen ifill. Join us online and again herene tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks. For all of us at the pbsal newshour, thank you and good night. 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