Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20161121

The limelight, and so hes basically saying im here for you don, and i want to give you some sound advice. Woodruff 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. Love me tender we can like many, but we can love only a precious few, because it is for those precious few that you have to be willing to do so very much. You dont have to do it alone. Lincoln financial helps you provide for and protect your financial future because this is what you do for people you love. Lincoln financial youre in charge. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. Promoting the wellbeing of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. More at rockefellerfoundation. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. 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 president elect donald trump continued his very visible process of meeting with people who may play top roles in his administration. The auditions werent public, but the comings and goings were. John yang has the story. Yang from the president elect today, this statement of priorities, his first since Election Night. Hes obviously going to take my application or interest under consideration, im glad that he called. I think im the best person but there are some tremendous people out there. And i dont look at it as a competition. Anybody who takes that job, which i believe is the toughest job in the cabinet because it has really so many problems and that its so visible. Yang others, like oklahoma governor mary fallin, were more mentioned as candidate for interior secretary. I was offered a position, initial meeting, a wide range of topics. Others like former Texas Governor rick perry were former rivals. He once referred to trumpism as a toxic mix of demagogue riand nonsense. Now hes talked about as a possible defense or energy secretary. Mr. Trump also sat down with a prominent House Democrat hi wa yis telkie gabbard, critical of both president obama and Hillary Clinton. In a statement she said they discussed Foreign Policy issues. With visitors coming and going at a but with visitors coming and going at a rapid clip, trump aide Kellyanne Conway made clear not every meeting is a job interview. You have people flying in from all over the country meeting with him to give their advice, council, sharing their vision with the country, some which will re result in placements, some which want to be helpful. And news anchors also met withal president elect trump. Im pbss john yang. Woodruff in the days other news, several cities are on edge after a series of attacks on police. In san antonio, texas, theres a hunt underway for a man who ambushed an officer in his cruiser on sunday. The suspect visited Police Headquarters hours before the shooting. The police chief says its the worse nightmare for members of his force. Absolutely they feel targeted. I feel we were targeted. I think that the uniform was the target and anyone who happened, the first person who happened along was the person he targeted. Woodruff another officer in st. Louis was critically wounded in a similar attack. And, two more were shot and wounded in missouri and florida. Overall, the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund reports 60 officers have died by gunfire this year. Thats up 67 from 2015. Theres been more trouble near a north dakota camp where people are protesting the Dakota Access pipeline. Last night, Police Used Tear Gas and water cannon, in sub freezing weather, when a crowd tried to cross a blocked bridge. Officials say protesters threw rocks and burning logs. Protesters gathered again today. They say the pipeline will threaten Water Supplies and desecrate land sacred to the Standing Rock sioux. The death toll has hit 146 after sundays train disaster in northern india. More than 220 people were injured. It happened in a village southeast of new delhi, as most of the trains passengers were asleep. Today, the rescue effort was officially called off, and cranes and bulldozers cleared the mangled wreckage from the tracks. Investigators are now trying to determine what caused the accident. In syria, no respite today in the fierce new bombing of rebel held, eastern aleppo. Dan rivers of independent Television News reports that hospitals are now high on the hit list. Reporter after a four week pause the bombing of aleppo has resumed and this last week has been more intense than ever. This morning once again there were repeated attacks. Fear and confusion in the east of this city. The streets cloaked in a manmade cloud into which rescuers ran unable to make out anything. Hospitals were apparently frequently the target. The dust permeating every ward and every bed. Leaving the dwindling number of doctors dazed in the horror. Tonight not a single major trauma facility is left open in eastern aleppo. On friday, cctv captured an air strike on a pediatric hospital. From multiple angles it shows the moment a busy Reception Room was suddenly plunged into darkness as patients and staff then tried to escape. This is a ward in aleppos m1 hospital last tuesday full of injured children. And this is same ward today after it was hit by an air strike. You can see there is big remains apparent. All the rooms smashed. Reporter in a city where it seems there is nothing left to bomb the planes are still finding targets. A concerted effort to deny the people the most basic medical care when theyve lost everything else. Woodruff turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the u. S. Today to set up a nofly zone over syria. In afghanistan, the Islamic State group has claimed a suicide bombing that rocked a shiite mosque in kabul today. At least 32 people died and scores more were injured. The attacker struck as a large crowd of worshippers had gathered. Its the second major attack on the countrys minority shiites in just over a month. Pope francis is extending a policy that lets rankandfile catholic priests offer forgiveness for abortions. It will continue beyond the holy year of mercy, which ended sunday. A papal letter today says abortion remains a, grave sin under Roman Catholic doctrine. But he goes on to say there is no sin that gods mercy cannot reach and wipe away. A top vatican official says thats allencompassing. translated technically everyone who is involved in an abortion, that is the woman, nurses, the doctor, whoever supports this matter, the sin of abortion involves all. Thus, the pardon of the sin of abortion equally covers everyone, involves everyone who has played a part in this sin. Woodruff until last year, only a bishop could grant absolution for abortion, or allow priests to do so. President obama has reaffirmed his backing of the transpacific trade deal, as it faces an uncertain future. President elect trump has called it a job killer and campaigned on a promise to pull out of it. He spoke sunday evening in lima, peru, as an asiapacific summit ended. Mr. Obama said retreating from global trade is not the answer, and other leaders vowed to push ahead. Some 500 workers are going on strike at chicagos ohare airport, but not until after thanksgiving. Their Union Announced today the walkout will start on november 29 to avoid messing up travelers holiday plans. The workers are looking for union rights and a 15anhour wage. Theyre mainly baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, janitors and wheelchair attendants. And on wall street, oil prices surged amid talk that opec will cut output, and that, in turn, sent all of the major stock indexes to record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 88 points to close at 18,956. The nasdaq rose 47 points, and the s p 500 added 16. Still to come on the newshour outlining priorities on the trump agenda. Whats next for senator Bernie Sanders under a trump presidency. Our regular monday duo on the week ahead in politics, and much more. Woodruff we take a closer look at what we know at this moment about the trump transition with two reportings following the process jennifer jacobs, National Political reporter for bloomberg poltiics, and Michael Schmidt of the new york times. And we welcome both of you back to the newshour. Jennifer, let me start with you. It has been a parade of people over the weekend to the golf club in new jersey, today back at trump tower. Whom are we seeing . Is every one of these people a serious contender . Probably not every single one, but the trump aides have told me they are really bringing forward as many different people of different perspectives as possible. Theyre very serious about getting a range of different conservative views in front of mr. Trump so he has all these options to pursue instead of just turning to his inner circle during the campaign who are part of his comfort zone. They want to bring in fresh perspective. So you have everybody from michelle ree who isation, coming in to education. Hes had men, women, black, white come in, thats part of their strong to present a si Diverse Group of people for him to choose from. Woodruff what are we to make of the steady stream of diverse battleground and both parties . I had a chance to be at the country club in new jersey where mr. Trump was. It was a pretty cold event as we stood outside. He really did turn it into a spectacle. He would bring folks in, greet them, take pictures in front of an american flag, address the press, go inside, interview them, come outside, see them away. Talk to the press. This went on all weekend. It did have an apprentice filet. Woodruff do you think most are under serious consideration . He has many positions to fill and much to learn. It seems like there is a lot of policy he doesnt understand and he wants to get different people in front of him. But previous president s havent had a such a public spectacle for interviews. An suv would drive up, mitt romney would be dropped off, photos. Like the apprentice, they were not in the room, but mr. Trump would answer questions about s l, hamilton, about Rudy Giulianis finances is he concerned, he wasnt. So it went on and on. Woodruff were trying to understand how much of this is a learning process as michael was referring to and how much of it is maybe to throw us off either in the public in the media because, as you say, its deliberately diverse. Were trying to sort out what is real and what isnt. Some people called it speed dating and Kellyanne Conway, one of his strat scwises today, said he has a voracious appetite to get more and more people i in to see him. Its like his craving for his rallies. Hes got that same appetite now. He wants more and more meetings to hear from people. Its also to hear ideas. These are very smart people, very pluggedin people and now is his opportunity to grill them, get various counsel and ideas for his administration he can either steal or use. Its part about vetting people and part about getting ideas. Woodruff Michael Schmidt, we learned today the kansas secretary of state chris kobac who went to the golf club was carrying a sheath of papers under his arm, Television Cameras were zoomed in. We think mr. Kobac is being vetted for moarkt. There was conversation about doing away with all syrian immigrants. The lang was was pretty conservative views on Homeland Security issues and tracking foreigners in the country as we did in years after september 11. What we see from plump is mes following what he said on the campaign trail. He has not tacked to the middle. He stayed far to the right, tough on National Security issues, relying on someone like mike frin who has been harshly critical of the muslim religion and even, you know, talking to a lot of generals, a lot of guys in uniform and taking mike pom ao to run the c. I. A. , you know, somebody who has gone along with the harsh tactics that the c. I. A. Used in the past few years. Woodruff so the trump transition folks in the last few minutes released this video of mr. Trump speaking about his priorities, about two and a half minutes long and we have about a minute we want to share with all of you. On trade, i am going to issue a notification of intent to withdraw from the transpacific partnership, a potential disayser for our country. Instead, we will negotiate fair bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back on to american shores. On energy, i will cancel jobkilling restrictions on the production of american energy, including shale energy and clean coal, creating many millions of highpaying jobs. Thats what we want. Thats what we have been waiting for. On regulation, i will formulate a role which says that, for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated. So important. On National Security, i will ask the department of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff to develop a comprehensive plan to protect americas vital infrastructure from Cyber Attacks and all other form of attacks. Woodruff so jennifer jacobs, you have been covering donald trump for a while. How much of this is new . Does this flush out what he has been saying before . No, remember his gettysburg address where he laid out what he would do in the first 100 days, 28 points he called his contract with the American People and said i will do all these 28 things, this is a handful of the 28 things. Woodruff Michael Schmidt, are these the first things hes going to do . How do you read that . Even though he lost the general popular vote by 1. 7 million voters he clearly thinks he has a mandate and hes clearly going after the issues he thinks are important and he campaigned on and his hardcore base really want to. Some members to have the Republican Party towards the center, theyre really not going to like that and certainly democrats, i cant see Chuck Schumer going along with a lot of things mr. Trump laid out in that did video. So you could see real gridlock because mr. Schumer has a way of stopping things in senate so seems like it will be heading the direction of his campaign. Woodruff i want to ask you about questions, kerns raised about donald trump meeting in recent days with Business People she doing business. With he met with a group of japanese businessmen. Hes met with and were learning today his New Washington hotel soliciting business from foreign diplomats. Jennifer, is the Transition Team answering questions about this . What are they saying . Not really. We heard reports of an envoy from the philippines being in meetings at least in the room when she was choosing of various cabinet posts. So seems to be strange conflicts of interests here. But Kellyanne Conway, one of his strategists, assures us he has the best interest of americans at heart and we need to trust he will do what he says, to follow through with the pledges he laid out on the campaign trail and wont or enrich himself by passing legislation to line his own pockets. A lot to trust. Woodruff Michael Schmidt . There is a notion he could put it in a blind trust but, at the same time, his businesses, hotels and golf courses are everywhere. Sort of a blind trust is not really that blind. He knows where these things are and foreign leaders know that as well. So there is a Real Movement of him to divest of everything he owns. That would take a very long time and would have a considerable impact on his bottom line. But for people to say there would be no conflict, he would have to do that, so that would be a huge step. Woodruff Michael Schmidt, jennifer jacobs, we thank you both. Woodruff this weekend Jeffrey Brown sat down with senator Bernie Sanders at the Miami Book Fair to talk about his new book, our revolution, to discuss the president ial election and get his take on the future of american politics. Jeff began by asking sanders why he thought Donald Trumps message attracted so many voters. I think he understood that there are many millions of people in this country, the working middle class, who are really hurting. They are in pain. They are working longer hours for lower wages, cant afford child care, and are really scared about retirement because they have no money in the bank. They have seen decent jobs in their community go to china and mexico. And he said, i, donald trump, am going to take on the entire establishment. Im going to take on the political establishment. I am going to take on the Economic Establishment. Im going to take on the media establishment. And i think a lot of people responded positively to that message. brown i was telling you that i was in iowa, North Carolina seeing a lot of the things that you were seeing. People around the country and the desperate shape that they were in. But why then would donald trump become that champion . Yeah. How many hours do we have to discuss that issue. Thats the question that needs a lot of discussion. I think it speaks to a large degree to the failure of the Democratic Party. Brown failure . Yup. Thats something im trying to deal with right now. The Democratic Party has been very strong in a lot of areas in fighting to make our country a less discriminatory country. And that is enormously important. And by the way, on that issue there cannot be any compromise. Trumps language has been atrocious. His behavior toward women. We cannot go back to a racist, sexist, homophobic, islamophobic type of society. But on Economic Issues i think there are many people in the the working class who say that. You know what, maybe we are better off than we were eight years ago but i am still working two or three jobs, my kid cant afford to go to college, i cant afford child care, my real wages have been going down for 40 years. The middle class is shrinking. Whos standing up for me . The Democratic Party are they going to take on wall street . Are they going to take on the Drug Companies that rip me off . And the perception was, no they will not. Brown but when you look at the election and you think about those issues as drivers in the election, did you feel do you feel you could have won if it had been you and donald trump . I have been asked that question about 48 million times. Brown i know, so make it 48 million plus one. The answer is who knows. I mean what we can say is that the polling when i was running against secretary clinton during the. During the primary process had me doing better against trump. And some recent polls suggest i would have won. But you know, you dont know what a three or four Month Campaign is about. But i will say, i would very much have loved the opportunity brown whats you reaction to his first nominations of Jeff Sessions as attorney general . General flynn . Its not good. Not good. Not good. And not surprising but not good. But look at best we would have hoped he would have been a center right president. But at least his initial appointments are moving very far to the right. Mr. Bannon comes from the extreme right in american politics. And im not comfortable at all that a person with these politics. With these beliefs is sitting right next to the president as his advisor. Brown i think before Election Night most people thought that it would be the Republican Party in disarray trying to figure whats next for it. Now democrats have lost the presidency, and not only that but throughout the country. The bottom line, jeffrey, to me is you cannot be a party that takes money from wall street, that is not strong on the pharmaceutical industry, which is ripping us off every day, which is not strong on health care and taking on the insurance companies, which has not shown the desire to stand up and fight the Economic Establishment and then tell working families you are on their side. People see through that. So i think the Democratic Party has got to make some fundamental choices. It goes back to the old Woody Guthrie song, which side are you on . And i believe the Democratic Party has to be firmly on the side of working families and taking on the big money interests. We can to a very significant degree control our economic and political lives. Brown in the immediate term though what should be the stance vis a vis donald trump. You have said that you will work with him in some areas, perhaps. But youve also said youre ready to fight against him. Well look. Of course were going to be fighting against him. For example, on the issue of Climate Change donald trump believes that Climate Change is a hoax. Now this is not just a stupid expression but it is terribly dangerous. The other area where there is no compromise is on bigotry. We have struggled too much, too long as a country trying to overcome racism, sexism, homophobia. We cannot go back to a more discriminatory society. So those are the issues where there is no compromise. On the other hand, as somebody who has fought my entire political life about a disastrous trade policy if mr. Trump wants to work with us to make sure that trade works for the American Worker not just c. E. O. s and corporate america, youve got a partner. Brown what do you say now to protesters who are in the streets, including some who sa not my president . Well, we can say what we want to say but he is going to be inaugurated. I think what we have to be going to the streets, protesting in any every way, makes sense. But we need a strategy. And the goal is to bring millions of people. If at the end of the day millions of people come together and say we are not going to be part of a xenophobic society; we are not going to be throwing millions of latinos out of this country; we are not going to be a racist society; were not going to be a sexist society; we will prevail. But our job is not just to raise our voices, and thats fine. It is to bring millions of people around a progressive agenda. Brown but he won. He comes in saying i won. Heres what i said i was going to do and im going to go ahead and do it. Well, he won and so do 100 of us in the United States senate who also won elections. And so do 435 people in the house. And so do governors all over this country. Brown but again, how can you feel, how can you still feel you have a vast number a vast majority of americans with you if donald trump won the election . Well, first of all as you know, Hillary Clinton got a million and a half more votes than donald trump. Second of all, 46 of the American People didnt vote. Thirdly, on every issue that i mentioned, whether its raising the minimum wage, pay equity, making public Colleges Universities tuition free, dealing with Climate Change. Yes, on all of those issues and far more the majority of American People are with us. Absolutely. Brown and you personally, what is your role Going Forward . Do you see yourself as the de facto leader of this opposition . Or one of them . So i am going to work with people who hold similar views to me inside of congress and outside of congress to make certain that we come together to stop trump from making some of the ugly things that he has talked about doing. And when he is prepared to work with us and we can Work Together on raising the minimum wage, taking on the Drug Companies, and on rebuilding the infrastructure. Trump talked about taking on wall street. Well, we are going to hold him accountable. He says he wants to reestablish glasssteagall legislation. Well, thats a good thing. Can we do it . Well, who knows. But we are going to. We have a list of everything that he said. And we going to bring forth legislation around those issues and say, mr trump, this is what you promised the American People. Keep your word. Brown alright, and the book 6is our revolution. Senator Bernie Sanders, thank you very much. Thank you for having me. Woodruff tomorrow we look at the future of the Democratic Party with ohio congressman tim ryan, who is challenging nancy pelosi to be minority leader in the house of representatives. Woodruff stay with us, coming up on the newshour Henry Kissingers view of Foreign Policy in the age of donald trump. And a female entrepreneur finds success in an unexpected business. But first, its time for politics monday. Im joined by tamara keith of npr and amy walter of the cook political report. And welcome to both of you. Thank you. Woodruff so we just a few minutes ago saw this video, the trump Transition Team, released telling us what donald trump plans to do in the early part of his administration after hes inaugurated. He talked about trade, he talked about energy, investigating people who abuse their visas, trying to make sure people arent here taking jobs away from americans. Amy, this is unusual, isnt it . I mean, the election is almost two weeks ago. He has not had a News Conference yet. Hes done some tweeting. Weve seen them greeting people coming to trump tower, and now this. The only thing interestingly he said in the video were things he was going to do by executive order. Not here is what im going to work with congress in the first days. Hes come in to roll back the previous administrations executive orders because theyre not a rule of law as if they were passed by congress to. Your other point about this being unusual, we have to stop treating donald trump like this is just a traditional, normal, political candidate whos now going to be a traditional, normal president. The fact that he did tweet out this weekend, get in something of a fight with the cast of hamilton as well as the cast of saturday night live, this now as president elect, not just as a candidate, the fact hes using video instead of having an actual press conference. So the role that donald trump carved out as a candidate is the same role that hes going to play as president. Woodruff what does it tell us, tam, about how he relates to the pliblg and news media . So he hasnt held a press difference since july. This goes way, way back to the campaign. And he has not related to the press or the public in a traditional way ever. Hes had an incredible skill at distracting, at creating. There was this movie up, and there was a dog who gets distracted, squirrel, squirrel thats what happens. Every time there is a story that is not favorable to him like settling the Trump University lawsuit for 25 million, suddenly there is a twitter fight. Meanwhile, he has skillfully avoided sort of the type of environment that a press difference creates, the environment where you get asked a question and somebody else asks a question and somebody else asks a question, it build on it, and you really cant escape. There is nothing like a press conference, and his Transition Team is saying, well, you know, dont tell him whats traditional and conventional. This is donald trump. Woodruff meanwhile, amy, a million eyes, a million pairs of reporters eyes and the public paying attention here, not knowing whats forecas next. Hes keeping us on the edge of our seats. Its a candidate who said i like being unpredictable. Its a candidate who said you will have to wait and see if i accept the results of the election during the debate. So this isnt surprising hes continuing this as president. This is what we learned during the course of the campaign is every day we would come in and say, well maybe now is the time hes going to pivot, maybe now hes going to look more like a traditional candidate. That is not going to happen. So as hes parading these people through, you can argue hes bringing a lot of different faces and voices, but the people hes picked are the people we should be focusing on and right now the people hes chosen in his administration are very much out of the trump cloth, i guess, that he has you know, these are his aco lites. These are not a team of rivals hes putting together. They supported everything he stood for in his campaign. Woodruff what are we to make of the choices . Personnel are policy especially in his case because he doesnt have very welldefined policy positions he campaigned on. He doesnt have strong positions on a lot of things and husbandent have the government experience. So what we have so far are people very much of the trump party. They are not traditionalrooms. Now, hes met with people like mitt romney, but he hasnt picked them yesterday and, so, at this point, its really not clear, aside from who he has picked like steve bannon or Jeff Sessions, other than those names, we know who hes taking to but we dont know who hes actually listening to or choosing. Woodruff but its giving us these names, though, amy, have given us something to look at, the names hes picked and if Jeff Sessions has a record, steve bannon as a private sector record. And it alliance with the donald trump we saw on the campaign trail. Their views and visions aligned with what we talked about on the campaign trail and all were active on the campaign trail as surrogates. If you bring in a general maddox very well accepted in the military as well as political establishment, thats bringing in a new voice. Now, its unclear whether he wants to have new voices giving him new advice or whether hes more comfortable being surrounded by the voices that have surround him the last year. The people in his campaign were loyal and hes rewarded them by bringing them in. Woodruff but hes talking to people like mitt romney, they were very tough on each other during the campaign, and theyre saying hes under consideration to be secretary of state. And tulsi gabbard, who endorsed Bernie Sanders. Its a wide range of people hes talking to. Its not clear at this point what philosophy is guiding trumps choices other than loyalty thus far in the picks that hes made. Woodruff amy, do we just get used to this . You have to just get used to all of this, as i think tam said perfectly, there is a lot of distraction here. Im trying to focus juanon what hes done and doing as opposed to all the other stuff floating out there. If he picks a tulsi gabbard, a general maddox, a mitt romney, then well have a different conversation because we know there is part of donald trump that does like to have internal tension around him, that he likes to have people around him competing for his attention. So we may see Something Like that, but the team of rivals sort of idea doesnt seem to be something that donald trump likes. Woodruff well, we need to talk about the democrats, too. We just heard from Bernie Sanders, and next monday thats what well talk about. Amy walter, tamera keith, thank you. Youre welcome. Woodruff earlier this year we reported on atlantic Magazine Editor Jeffrey Goldbergs article, the obama doctrine. The lengthy piece gained widespread attention, including that of former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, who quietly let it be known hed like to share some thoughts of his own about president obamas Foreign Policy. So Jeffrey Goldberg paid him kissinger a visit. This report is part of an Ongoing Partnership between the newshour and the atlantic. Hes still really the most influential Foreign Policy thinker in america in a lot of ways. And so in my experience with him theres always something to learn, even at the age of 93, maybe especially at the age of 93, theres always something to learn from him. And so we wound up spending hours talking about not just the obama doctrine, we talked about the order of the world currently, and we talked a lot about the election. He, like a lot of people, thought Hillary Clinton was going to win. We talked about both candidates, and, well, here we are. Woodruff so the news right now is the election of donald trump, and were going to talk about that, but lets go back to how your conversation with Henry Kissinger came about, what does he think about the legacy of Barack Obamas Foreign Policy . He thinks that the president is too passive in his approach to Foreign Policy, that the american president has responsibility to make more order in the world, especially as it relates to the other great powers, russia and china in particular. He also thinks that the president is too burdened, by the alleged sins of the past, kissinger would think of them more as alleged sins, of american behavior during the cold war, in various places, including vietnam and cambodia. But mainly it has to do with a kind of passivity that he sees in the present, and a lack of strategic thinking, a lack of assertion. And obviously the president , when i was interviewing him on these subjects, kissinger was almost sort of a specter in the room at various points. Because the president would talk about the red line in syria for instance and talk about how one of the worst reasons to bomb someone is to prove that youre willing to bomb someone. And i felt as if he were addressing Henry Kissinger, and kissingers role in cambodia, using bombing to enhance american credibility at the negotiating table. So i found, it was a totally fascinating process for me, because i was moderating, non chronologically, an argument between president obama and the most important, and most controversial Foreign Policy statesman of the modern era. And so, and so there was that piece. The other piece of this, the other piece is that obama, in some ways, resembles Henry Kissinger. Kissinger, recognizes this to some degree, i think the president recognizes it to some degree. Neither man particularly obsesses about human rights as a key issue in the way america organizes its relationship with other countries. Woodruff when it comes to cambodia and the bombing during the vietnam war, and connecting that to whats happening . In syria, yeah. Woodruff right now in syria. Kissinger is still defending the decisions that were made during the early part of the Nixon Administration in the vietnam war. And i dont think hell stop defending them, he feels as if his Decision Making is misunderstood in the country, or and academic elites, and he wants to make his point. And the interesting thing, if i may, is on syria, he noted to me that john kerry, the secretary of state, guy who has the job that Henry Kissinger had, who started his public career as a vietnam protestor, had been arguing to the president that we have to bomb the assad regime, in order to focus their attention on the necessity of negotiations. And so you see these very interesting echoes throughout history, these unsolvable problems, these challenges that are in front of policy makers, i have a feeling that john kerry and barack obama, today, have slightly more understanding for the decisions that nixon and kissinger made in vietnam. They might not agree with them, but they have a little bit more understanding. Woodruff the other point that you make, where you see some connection between kissinger and obama is the fact that human rights is not at the top of their list of priorities. One would not expect that to be the case, would you . In obamas case . Woodruff in obamas case. Well, thats one of the interesting things. Hope and change is limited to within american borders in a lot of cases, he is, this is, you know, i dont think that president obama would appreciate being called a neoHenry Kissinger, but obamas view is i as president have to manage my relationship with china, and me spending a lot of time lecturing them, and punishing them, quote unquote, for their human rights violations, thats not going to advance my immediate and long term National Security interests, and economic interests. Woodruff and in fact, you spend a good bit of time with Henry Kissinger talking about president obamas approach to china, what was right about it, and what kissinger finds falls short. First of all, i asked him what grade he gives obama for managing the china portfolio, and he said b . And i said thats a pretty high grade, thats not a bad grade. And he said yeah, its a b on tactics, its lower, probably, on strategy, on thinking through strategy. Kissingers focus in Global Affairs has always been what are the needs of the great powers, how do those needs align with our needs, how do we organize that, the opening to china, of course, was the apogee of this theory. Woodruff you really cannot, i think, overstate the importance that kissinger places on china, and on chinau. S. Relations in the world Going Forward, can you . No. Well, it was his greatest achievement, and it was a world historical achievement. Woodruff in 1971, when kissinger was National Security advisor to president richard nixon, he made a secret trip to the peoples republic of china, which had not had relations with the u. S. In over twenty years. Kissingers diplomacy paved the way for nixons so called opening to china in 1972. It was the beginning of chinas emergence as a world power. China is going to be the worlds biggest economy, if things keep going in the way theyre going. Our future, our economic future, the American Economic future, is in asia. China believes itself to be the most powerful country in the world, the central kingdom, and so hes saying that president s have to have a strategic view, and understand how to manage that aspect of chinese relationships, without coming to war. The stability of the entire world depends on a constructive relationship between the United States and china, if that relationship deteriorates its bad for the u. S. , its bad for the entire world. So it should be the number one priority of american Foreign Policy, but theres chaos in the world, too, and american president s have to deal with the chaos at the same time that theyre thinking about 10, 20, 30 years out, how theyre going to deal with china. Woodruff so how does he view donald trump, and Donald Trumps approach to Foreign Policy . In our most recent conversation i said, so do you think that donald trump has matured, do you think hes become smarter, or more studious and he said im not having that conversation, hes the president elect of the United States, and so what we should do is, essentially, im paraphrasing now, but we should wish him well, and be available to help him study, and help him understand the challenges before him. Obviously Henry Kissinger is a person, even at 93, who doesnt like to be out of the game, doesnt like to be out of the limelight, and so hes basically saying im here for you don, and i want to give you some sound advice. And last thursday afternoon, kissinger was able to do just that in a meeting with trump, after which the president elect said in a statement, i have tremendous respect for dr. Kissinger and appreciate him sharing his thoughts with me. Kissingers basic rule, i think, is that, you know, know what you want to do, and know what things are unacceptable to you, you have to know going into the presidency what things you cannot accept as the leader of the United States, and you have to reverse engineer the problem, what could china do in the South China Sea that is not acceptable to u. S. National security interests. What could happen in the middle east that is not acceptable. So first you have to decide what your, to borrow a phrase, what your red lines are, and then you work back from there. Woodruff does he believe that someone who hasnt had experience in World Affairs and Foreign Policy can make a determination like that, about what the red line should be . He was very assiduous about not providing his opinion on where donald trump is onthe learning curve right now. I think its a universal truth that if youre not willing, or able, to take on board new information, new analysis, have long involved conversations about these important issues, then youre going to be operating at a real deficit. Woodruff much, if not most of the Foreign Policy establishment in the United States, has not been on board with donald trump. Quite the opposite. Woodruff how can he move ahead making decisions that are good for the country, when he hasnt had these relationships with people . Well hes going to have to do something that might be out of character for donald trump, which is to say bygones are bygones, pick up the phone, and say to colin powell, say to madeline albright, say to all these people come in and talk to me about what you know. And at the lower level, hes going to have to be open to the idea that people who disagreed with him, disagreed with his candidacy, that they should come back into government and help. And the flip side of that is that all of these people who were so nervous about donald trump becoming president now might have to say to themselves, well, donald trump is president , president elect, and so id better make myself available to go back into government, because better me than some guy nobody ever heard of with no experience. Because these are not unserious challenges, these are life and death issues. You want people to understand the global isis threat really well to be sitting next to donald trump when he actually has to make decisions. Woodruff what are you worried about right now, do you have expectations for this administration, or not . Im worried about everything, for starters. Woodruff are you ready to be president . Im worried about a willingness to hire the best people, im worried about temperament, im worried about his attention, his focus. I am not entirely worried that hes actually going to carry out all of the things he said he would do. Im worried about accidents. Who do you want in the white house when the c. I. A. Director comes over and says the North Koreans now have the ability to deliver one of their Nuclear Weapons by Intercontinental Ballistic Missile to the american mainland. What do you want to do about it, mister or madame president . And i want somebody in that job, obviously, who can make reasonable, rational decisions, and take in the best advice. Woodruff the number of femaleowned businesses in new york city is growing at four times the rate of maleowned businesses, becoming a key part of the citys expanding economy. And many of these companies are beginning to stand out for work being done in fields that have historically been dominated by men. Hari sreenivasan tells the story of how one female entrepreneur has built success in an unlikely place. Sreenivasan theres just not many women on construction sites . Theres not too many women, though youll find more now than you wouldve when i first started. Sreenivasan Nellie Torres was just 17 when she got her first job in construction as an accounting intern. Today, more than 20 years later, shes the c. E. O. Of projectspan, a brooklynbased Construction Company that she started in 2003. Torres is known for her work on some of the citys most sought after projects the center field lights at yankee stadium, west manhattans new subway station, new yorks first in 25 years. And her current job lighting the massive kosciuszko bridge that connects brooklyn and queens. It couldnt have been easy getting here . It was not easy getting here, no. Sreenivasan the most difficult part for torres . Breaking into constructions old boys club, and overcoming stereotypes that women like her dont belong. As a woman of color did you feel like you had to do twice as much work, be twice as good just to be considered equally . Absolutely. I had, in my view, i had to be better. I had to be earlier. I had to be on point. My numbers had to be perfect, maybe not perfect all the time, but most of the time, definitely more than my male counterparts. Sreenivasan it was a different bar. It was a much higher bar. Sreenivasan torres grew up in a rough section of east new york, the sixth of seven children of puerto rican immigrants. She put herself through college and earned a masters degree by working days, studying nights all while raising a son. East new york has made me what i am. And i spent a long time trying to pretend that i wasnt from there and pretend that my childhood wasnt in the ghetto growing up. And eventually ive noticed that, no, thats made me exactly who i am. Its made me have the ability to knock on walls and break down walls. Otherwise, i dont think i would have been where im at. Sreenivasan where torres is at is starting to become more common. Nationally, according to the latest census data, there are nearly 10 million womenowned businesses, an increase of more than 25 since 2007. And a recent report by the center for an urban future found women started more than 60 of all new businesses in new york city between 2002 and 2012, according to Jonathan Bowles who authored the report. We actually did an analysis for the 25 largest cities and there has been major growth across the board. The number of Women Entrepreneurs are growing not just in new york but in all major cities in the us. Sreenivasan however, construction remains an industry that lags behind. Only 15 of all private construction firms in new york city are owned by women. Theres a lack of role models. Thats really changed but a lot of times women didnt see people in their families or in their friendship networks that had started businesses. Fortunately that really is changing but getting access to those role models and mentors is a big deal. Sreenivasan torres, who oversees a team of 17 fulltime employees, is trying to set an example for female staffers on how best to climb the ladder in an industry that has not been very open. You have to be very, very very tough, have very tough skin, and not be willing to take no for an answer. Youll hear no a lot. Youll hear you cant a lot. You will hear, you dont belong here. And you just need to recognize that, yes you do belong here. You need to get educated, you need to get experience, and you need to forge ahead. Sreenivasan even now, despite being the boss for years, her employees see discrimination outside. Willie grulon is projectspans safety manager. When we go to job sites, and sometimes she shows up, electricians and construction workers, when they first see her and she start asking questions, they assume shes a project manager. When they come over, you guys got a new project manager . Im like, no, shes the owner of the company. I get a kick of their expression, the surprise they get. Sreenivasan successful women in construction may still be a rare sight, but torres is participating in a new York City Program to mentor minority and femaleowned businesses, and pave the way for similar entrepreneurs. For the pbs newshour, im Hari Sreenivasan in new york. Chattanooga, tennessee, are reporting multiple deaths in an Elementary School bus crash but did not conn firm an exact number. They confirmed 23 were sent to the hospital with injuries after the bus overturned. Authorities are questioning the driver about what went wrong. And in san antonio, texas, police have arrested a suspect in the Fatal Shooting of a Police Officer yesterday. Hes charged with murdering a veteran officer who was sitting in his cruiser during a traffic stop. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. 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