Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20161226

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. 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 foundations. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Brangham more fallout tonight from that u. N. Security council vote condemning israels building of settlements. The israelis confirmed today theyve suspended working ties with 12 of the nations that backed the resolution. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not meet with their foreign ministers, and the Israeli Foreign minister will not receive their ambassadors. Meanwhile, president elect trump tweeted his own criticism of the United Nations this evening. He said it has great potential, but for now its just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. And he added so sad. Mr. Trump had urged the Obama Administration to veto the israel resolution, instead of abstaining. This has been a day of mourning in russia for the victims of a military plane crash that killed 92 people. The plane went down sunday morning, just minutes after taking off from the Southern City of sochi, en route to syria. Today, divers dragged fragments of the plane out of the black sea, and a massive search operation continued as investigators searched for a cause. translated as we know, the main causes so far do not include an act of terrorism. So we think that the reason for the crash could be a technical fault or a pilot error, but i repeat it will be clarified by the investigation of a ministry of defense special technical commission. Brangham the Russian Intelligence Agency f. S. B. Said today it has found no signs pointing to sabotage or terror in the crash. In syria, Russian Troops say theyve uncovered mass graves in eastern aleppo, since its recapture from rebels. The Defense Ministry said today that several dozen bodies were found; victims of torture and mutilation. The russians sent military police into eastern after helping the Syrian Government retake the city. And theres word that chinas first Aircraft Carrier group has sailed past taiwan, into the contested south china sea. The chinese warships passed islands controlled by taiwan, in a show of force. Beijing says its a routine exercise, but it comes amid rising tensions over taiwans status. The philippines faced widespread Power Outages and evacuations today, after a powerful christmas typhoon. Typhoon nockten made landfall overnight, killing six people and forced nearly 400,000 to flee. Five provinces lost power completely as winds of more than 100 miles an hour tore through power lines and damaged homes. translated the water from the streets became so strong it came into our house. translated i told my family to evacuate and leave our belongings behind. We needed to save our lives first. Brangham the typhoon disrupted christmas celebrations in asias largest catholic nation, and stranded some 12,000 holiday travelers. Blizzard conditions in the dakotas kept major highways closed today and knocked out power through nebraska and iowa. Heavy snow, ice and winds moved in over the christmas weekend, forcing authorities to post no travel warnings. Forecasters expect the storm to move into the northeast later in the week. Still to come on the newshour the constant push and pull between the current president and the future one. Rising tensions on a greek island thats welcomed thousands of refugees. A deadly christmas weekend in chicago, and much more. Brangham it seems politics didnt take much of a holiday break. From the ongoing turf war between outgoing president obama and soontobe President Trump on sensitive issues, to a new pledge to dissolve the Trump Foundation to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest. Theres plenty to talk about this politics monday. Joining me are amy walter of the cook political report, and stu rothenberg of the rothenbergandgonzalez political report. Welcome to you both. We have seen, over this weekend, and in the past week or so, president elect trump inserting himself very overtly into american policy on israel, on taiwan and china. Hes negotiating government contracts. Im curious, amy, is this as unprecedented as it seems . It is unprecedented. Of course, weve never had a president elect coming in the age of twitter, either. So theres that piece of it. And i feel like a broken record, but every time were together, i say the same thing, which is we have to expect that this is going to be an unprecedented presidency. He ran an unprecedented campaign, hes shown no signs of being a different president elect as he was a candidate, but i think hes also showing us the kind of president that hes going to be, especially on an issue like israel where hes going to move much closer to where the hardliners, especially Benjamin Netanyahu, want the u. S. To be than where obama was. This is a relationship between israel and the u. S. In the obama years that hasnt exactly been the friendliest. Brangham stu, is this your take . This is the way its going to be . Yes, a man with huge ego and lots of opinions, and unlike previous politicians, he has a different kind of filter or no filter and he thinks, when he has an opinion, he should offer it and people should be interested and they are interested. I agree entirely, id expect this throughout the presidency, at least in the next couple of years where he likes to interject himself, solve problems, make points, and he will continue to do that. And if there is not a distinctive line between Foreign Policy and other policies, right, that when youre negotiating trade, you can also negotiate Foreign Policy and defense contracts and thats all part of a big package. While politicians use diplomatic language and are concerned about the words and phrases they use, donald trump is never concerned about the word or phrase. He wants to get a point across and says it bluntly if he wants to, and he usually wants to. Brangham do you think in the end any of this affects policy . I understand the appearance of having an arm chair president in waiting. Does it change policy in any substantive way . It will when hes no longer the president elect. Tats the question were all waiting to see. Right now he sends out his opinions and tweets. Sometimes there is a reaction, nothing particularly substantive, in part because we have a president now. When he becomes the president and sends a tweet out and lets sea warships move based on that tweet, then well have a very different conversation. Unless and until that happens, though, we have to just sort of expect that this is the way hes going to conduct himself, and well know a lot more once the people he hired, secretary of defense, secretary of state, how they perform and whether they have a greater influence on policy but also on his behavior. I would say for the near term, those of us who read the tweets and hear his opinions take a deep breath, whether journalists or political analysts or international leader, but there is a sense of lets wait until after january 20th to see where the policies are. We know where the opinions are. Maybe the policies will or will not follow that. Brangham lets talk about the conflict of interest issue. We saw over the weekend the trump administrationtobe announce they did will close the trump family foundation. Do you think that will start to put to rest some of the questions about his potential conflicts . Well, its a start but i dont think it will be the finish or is the finish and i dont think hell be able to deal with all the potential conflicts of interests he has and will continue to have. Hes not going to sell all his properties. His properties are in many countries, rising questions about Foreign Policy, relationships, economic issues. I just dont see it. Is this a significant first step . I guess so. He didnt indicate during the campaign he was willing to do this, but i dont think that solves the fundamental problem which is hes got a lot of interests around the world. I absolutely agree. It also takes another political headache off the table. Remember through the campaign the Washington Post had been reporting on a lot of issues with that foundation, where it was getting its money, what it was and wasnt doing with it. There is an actual open investigation by the new York State Attorney general. So it takes, at least if the short term, this political headache, takes that off the table and gives him the opportunity to say, unlike the clintons, when it looks like there could be something play for pay or there is a problem with my foundation, ill just close it down rather than raising these questions about conflicts. But to his point, there are still too many other conflicts that are out there, and the question is ultimately, we know reporters will be interested in this and tracking this down consistently. How focused will voters be on this and how long will they see each and every one of his decisions impacting his business. That always does seem to be the ongoing question. The a. P. Had an interesting piece looking at several things trump criticized Hillary Clinton for during the campaign that he himself is now doing, things like having members of Goldman Sachs in his circle and not having press conferences, do you think those matter to his constituency at all sphnchts i think they matter to Trump Supporters because they can explain that away, its media, misstatements bioponents, liberal democrats. So i dont think thats a problem. Members of the media will continue to be interested in that, and will continue to ask. We can even have a press conference. But to Trump Supporters, no, i dont think its a big deal. We were sitting in a focus group of voters in ohio last week that voted for trump. They werent all solid republicans, many voted for bill clinton or obama in the past, but when you ask about conflict of interest, the way they help process this is they say he comes in already very rich so he cant be bought off. You heard that on the campaign traivment what they were frustrated about with the Hillary Clinton and other traditional politicians is they came to washington and then got rich as opposed to they were already rich when they came to washington so cant be corrupted, well, you cant be corrupted if you already have all this money and are not looking for the money. Well see how long it lasts. Great in theory, but to steves points once its january 20, youre president of the United States and youre making decisions, the lines will get much darker and clearer. Amy walter and stu rothenberg, thank you both very much. Youre welcome. Brangham 18 months into europes migration crisis, tension has surfaced on the greek island of lesbos. It wasnt so long ago that the islanders were being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize for their welcoming of refugees at this main entry point to the continent. But income from tourism, on which many islanders depend, has plummeted this year, and hostility towards refugees and the volunteers helping them has grown. From lesbos, special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports. Reporter Skala Sykaminia, a small fishing village in northern lesbos. A tranquil dawn is about to get busy. The first raft of the day has been spotted about five miles away. Volunteers from refugee rescue, an irish charity, are scrambling to help. The raft is intercepted by a coastguard cutter after leaving turkeys shore and entering greek waters. When it comes to the fact that many of these people arriving are muslims, we are supposed to love everyone. Reporter waiting for them is californian orthodox priest father christoforos, who has lived in lesbos for 15 years. At a time when europe is becoming increasingly anxious over the influx of muslim refugees and economic migrants , christoforos doesnt waver from his creed. Theologically, we are supposed to see every human being as god. And now we treat that person is how we treat god. This a sacred ideal to love the foreigner. It is the exact opposite of xenophobia. This is something which is sacred. Heres mama. Reporter mission accomplished. 55 souls saved, including 15 women and seven children. Most, from subsaharan africa. Where are you from . Comoros. The comoros islands . Thats a paradise. Yes. Why did you leave a paradise . It is a paradise but its poor. Reporter like most other greek communities, Skala Sykaminia has endured seven years of economic hardship, but the selflessness of the nobel nominated villagers is one of the reasons why refugee rescue is based here. Coordinator baz fischer. There have been tensions in other places definitely. And if we can wed always like to bring them here. If every village along the coast was like here, it would make things a lot easier. Reporter this footage was shot by activists at the nearby port of petra in the summer as local people blockaded the jetty in an attempt to stop the coastguard from transferring refugees in front of their tourist beaches. As a result of alleged intimidation, including vandalism of their vehicles, volunteer groups avoid petra and molyvos, five miles away. With its magnificent 15th century citadel, molyvos is the architectural jewel of lesbos and is almost entirely dependent on tourism. But, according to mayor athanasios andriotis, income was down by 70 this year as vacationers stayed away because of the refugee crisis. He acknowledged there was some tension. translated the people are annoyed and worried about the future because this situation seems to be becoming permanent and its one which is no good for the people of molyvos nor unfortunately for the refugee migrants who come here. Reporter there are some people who say that the coastguard has not been allowed to drop people in molyvos because there is such hostility now towards the whole situation. translated the figures here for tourism have dropped to almost zero because of the refugee issue. This cant go on. They have to understand that okay they have arrived here but they have to go somewhere else more secluded to disembark. Reporter the consequence is it takes longer for the coastguard or volunteers to take them to ports where theyll be accepted. This angers British Volunteer and lesbos resident eric kempson, who we first met 18 months ago and have since encountered on several occasions. He and his family have repeatedly been threatened because of his outspoken pro refugee stance. This is very dangerous. We are going to lose people. It took so long to come here and theyre sitting on the boat, theyre soaking wet, theyre freezing cold, the temperature is close to zero. When you have a few People Holding two towns to ransom because they dont want refugees in there, thats absolutely disgusting. People are going to die here this winter because of these few people. Reporter dimitris drakolias, has been on the receiving end of antimigrant hostility. He runs a hotel in the small resort of petra. Local hardliners blockaded the village and whipped up an Internet Campaign after he agreed to provide temporary accommodation for 22 refugee children in the small resort of petra. People got afraid that we were supposed to bring refugees here and stay for two, three, four months. Its a very uncomfortable situation. Nobody came up to me and did anything, but i understand that they didnt like that, that i hosted 20 kids inside the hotel. Reporter did you feel intimidated . A little bit. A little bit. Reporter the hotelier says the Internet Campaign was orchestrated by a Tourist Organization called the other aegean. We arranged an interview with the other aegeans chairman nikos molvalis, who only wanted to discuss the tourist industrys 70 losses and other problems. Weve been talking to the owner of the clara hotel who says your organization was responsible for blockading the place to make sure refugees didnt turn up there. Can you explain that please . Reporter why dont you want to talk about that . Because hes already answered the question. Reporter offcamera, molvalis claimed to have intervened on behalf of the refugee children, otherwise he said there would have been bloodshed. This is not true. Theres no two ways about it. I see people are affected. Theyre hurting and want to find somewhere to put the blame. At the same time, all these same people will not only blame the refugees or the organizations, but they also blame the government just as much for not doing more. Brangham the numbers of people arriving on the island are fractions of the thousands landing daily when the crisis was at its peak. But there is a steady trickle o, and slowly, slowly, the islands are filling up again. Theres a serious shortage of accommodation for these people. And theres genuine concern here is that europes deal with turkey will break down, and once again the islands will be inundated with refugees and migrants. The influx increases the pressure in moria, the overcrowded and tense camp in the south of the island, visited by the pope earlier in the year. Frustrated migrants, angry at conditions and the time it takes to process asylum claims, have, on occasions, set fires inside the camp. A Muslim Charity has established a feeding station just outside moria, claiming the camp caterers are cheating the residents. Food in moria, they recook it three times, two to three times, its not edible and they say its dirty. Reporter not everyone is enduring spartan conditions. Along with 200 other vulnerable people, five members of the nikzad family are living in a Holiday Hotel run by the Catholic Charity caritas. Sahil is desperately missing regular school. But in three months, he has made Good Progress with english. The explosion, the bomb, we want to go to some good place, good country because there we go to school, we have a good home. Every new arrival who survives the perilous crossing shares the same ambition. As the numbers mount, their chances of success diminish. The warm welcome of Skala Sykaminia goes cold as soon as they leave the village. The buzz word in europe is deportation. Especially after an islamist terrorist used truck to kill 12 people in berlin. This year more migrants than ever before died trying to cross the mediterranean to europe. Yet still they come. Father christoforos may be a light house. But much of europe wishes his beam would be extinguished. For the pbs newshour, im Malcolm Brabant in lesbos. Brangham stay with us, coming up on the newshour, the legacy of pop star George Michael. A conversation with israels best known novelist. And a saxophonist describes what he calls the music of freedom and wonder. But first, it was yet another bloody Holiday Weekend in chicago. Five more people were shot this morning bringing the toll since friday afternoon to nearly 50. 11 people were killed, and the city is set to pass 700 homicides for the year, a level not seen there since the late 90s. Police said much of the violence was located in areas with historical gang problems on the south and west sides. And Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at a News Conference today that the nature of those disputes is changing. Heres the bottom line. Now, with the technology we have in place, social media drives a lot of our gang disputes. Theyre on facebook, instagram, twitter, disrespecting each other. When they disrespect, they go out there and look for them and get them. So its not just drugs anymore. Brangham that problem was one of several big challenges in the neighborhoods that john yang heard about when he reported on the epidemic of violence late this summer. For some context, there were roughly 200 fewer homicides in chicago at that point. Heres a second look. Reporter on this busy Street Corner in englewood one of the hardest hit neighborhoods on the citys troubled south side it looks like a party. Kids are playing. The grill is fired up. In the past though, 75th and stewart felt like a war zone. This corner is a corner where a man was killed. Well, several men. A woman was killed, and a child was killed a nineyearold girl was killed washing her dog in broad daylight. And if men and women and reporter but for two summers, mothers against senseless killing, known as mask, led by tamar manasseh, has been out on this corner and there hasnt been a single shooting. Volunteer Laura Lambert comes from nearby hyde park. And 91yearold Edwina Knight crosses the street every day from the house shes lived in for 57 years. Show up, grab a lawn chair and pair of sunglasses and you can do this. You can change the world with that. Reporter but the moms of mask are only on one corner, in a city of 2. 7 million people. Killings have spiked this summer. Chicago has already recorded more homicides than it did in all of last year. Thats what were seeing here, is the epidemic nature, Reporter University of illinois at chicago physician gary slutkin says epidemic is exactly the right word. He argues that violence is a contagious disease. Youre exposed to flu, youre more likely to get flu. You dont actually get flu without being exposed. Same thing for t. B. , cholera and violence. I mean, why does someone who was exposed to child abuse, abuse their own kids . Thatd be the person who youd think would be least likely to do it, because he knows how bad it was. But in fact, hes picked up this contagious set of behaviors. Reporter so dr. Slutkin treats gun violence as a contagious disease. He founded cure violence, now an International Effort that trains former gang members and felons to stop violence in its tracks violence interrupters. They are always in the community, aware of whats going on, and asking families and people, you know, whos upset . You know, who is somebody slept with someones girlfriend, someone was disrespected, someone owes somebody money. And we can reach those people with these health workers. They know how to cool people down, know how to buy time, reporter chicago violence interrupter Chico Tillmon knows how to cool people down. He drove us around the south side last week, where much of the violence happens. We had a situation, maybe in early january, where two individuals or two cliques were arguing, so one clique went into another cliques neighborhood and got on Facebook Live and was like, eff you all, were in yalls gas station. Within 30 minutes on that walk from the gas station back to the house, two were dead, one was wounded. Reporter its not like this is a gang war over turf, this is just, sort of interpersonal. I said something you didnt agree with, you responded negatively, it ended up in gun violence. Reporter violence interrupter ulysses u. S. Floyd was a leader in one of chicagos most notorious gangs, the gangster disciples. I know i helped start this mess, so i wanted to help clean it up. Reporter he told us gangs are very different now than in his day. One or two men control everything. Now youve got a lot of cliques, different little, you know, gangs, split all over. They, they, they offsprings of the major gangs, what they call cliques. And they just do what they wanna do, aint nobody really in control, no structure, no rules. Reporter the number of neighborhoods where chicagos branch of cure violence operates varies based on funding. But a Justice Department study found at one point, the group helped reduce violence by 40 to 70 in some of the areas where they were operating. Today, they are in only five of the citys 77 neighborhoods. Reporter what are you thinking about when you see kids that age . Man, im praying that they survive through this epidemic thats going on in the city. Its not a woodlawn problem, its not a southshore problem, its everybodys problem. And we dont understand that until the disease hits home. Until one of our loved ones is killed by gun violence. Then we want to get involved. Reporter police have siezed nearly 6,000 illegal guns off the streets about one per hour. Chicago cops are feeling the heat. Public trust at a breaking point after last years release of dash cam video showing a white officer fatally shooting a black teenager 16 times. After another deadly weekend superintendent Eddie Johnson threw up his hands. Its a society issue. Impoverished neighbors, people without hope do these kinds of things. You show me a man who doesnt have hope, ill show you man who wants to pick up a gun and do anything with it. Uh i see this as a social problem. Lance is a professor and inner city youth advocate. This is not a Law Enforcement problem. Youre not going to solve the problem with all the police. These young men are acting in alignment with their cultural value system. They need a cultural retooling process. Reporter williams says its a culture thats developed in the absence of working institutions and in the midst of crushing poverty. One big cause of much frustration nearly half of black men in chicago aged 20 to 24 are not in school and are out of work, far higher than the National Rate of 32 . Theres a lot of rage, theres a lot of, of, of anger. They just see their lives, you know, just passing them by. They dont, they havent been to school; they cant, theyre, theyre not, you know, qualified for jobs. There are no businesses, viable businesses in their neighborhood, so theyre really depressed, and then theyre selfmedicated, through drinking and drugging. And the only individuals around them are other Young African american males like themselves, who have these, these same forms of depression. Reporter another structural factor playing into the violence chicago is one of the nations most segregated cities. All of the poor blacks live way, way, way, way away from affluent people, from the, the, the business district, from the tourist district. You know, you have some kids in these neighborhoods far south, that have never been downtown and you have folks, in the White Communities that have never been to the south side. So, what happens is, you have an out of sight, out of mindkind of deal. I was 23 when i went to prison. Reporter for Chico Tillmon, the violence is never out of sight or mind. Turning other peoples lives around came after he turned his own around. And being able to see all the violence and chaos in the community that i once was a part of, and that i once helped produce, pushed me or gave me an obligation to make a change in that, in that situation of chaos reporter since you got out of prison yeah. Reporter you got your bachelors degree. Yes, sir. Reporter you got your masters degree. Yes, sir. Reporter youre working on your phd. Yes, sir. Reporter how long, how many years are we talking about here . Five years. Reporter pretty determined. Yeah. Reporter pretty motivated. Yes, sir. I, i got out with a purpose, and i got out trying to not only do something that was beyond what i believed i could do, but to inspire hope within all the people that i left behind in prison. Reporter and back on the corner of 75th and stewart, tamar manasseh is also determined that change will happen. Its going to take a lot of people all doing something not saying something, but doing something to fix that problem. And the doing something is the sitting here, having a conversation. I live on this block with you, i live in this city with you, in this country with you and were all affected by the same things. And sometimes when we dont talk to each other, we miss that. On one corner a small effort in response to a big problem. For the pbs newshour im john yang in reporter for the pbs newshour, im john yang in chicago. This weekends shootings brings the overall total to 4,000 people shot in 2016. Also there have been an additional 2,000 guns confiscated by the police since johns report. The the rate is about the same, averages a little less than one gun confiscated every hour this year. Brangham fans are mourning the loss of George Michael and paying tribute to him as one of pops biggest stars in the 80s and 90s. Michael shot to fame as a member of the duo, wham, and then embarked on a successful solo career. His friend, elton john, called him the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. For all of his success, michael faced personal struggles as well. He died on Christmas Day at his home in oxfordshire, england at the age of 53. Lets begin with this remembrance by angus walker of independent television news. Reporter his songs, his voice, his stunning success George Michael singer, writer, producer, perhaps the perfect pop star. Just 21, he wrote whams breakthrough single, topping the charts in the u. K. And u. S. He and Andrew Ridgely had met at school near watford, their brand of bouncy pop was carefree, colorful. Wham soon sold more than 25 million records, world famous, their crafty manager secured a 1985 tour to china, the first glimpse of western pop culture for a country emerging from a brutal cultural revolution. His solo career began with another number one hit, multiple awards, 100 million records sold making him one of best selling artists of all time. But it wasnt just his music attracting attention after being arrested for a so called lewd act in a Public Toilet in l. A. , he responded with a cheeky, defiant video. He came out as gay speaking openly about having hundreds of lovers. I have not cheated or lied about my sex life. He also admitted heavy drug use, arrested after crashing he also admitted heavy drug use, arrested after crashing his car while intoxicated near his north london home, he was sent to jail for eight weeks. Five years ago he came close to death, spending ten days in hospital, suffering from pneumonia. 2016, another superstar leaves us, but for many, none shone brangham one of michaels important legacies over time was how he eventually came out and dealt with his sexuality and identity. Tim teeman wrote about that and more on the daily beast. He joins me now from new york. Tim, before we get into that issue of his sexuality, i wonder if we could talk a little bit about George Michael as a musician. You look back at his career, where do you pit him in the pantheon of pop stars . Personally, i put him right up there. If you grew up in england, im sure he was very famous over here with wham. But if you grew up in england in the 70s and 80s as i did, he along with duran duran and ballet and culture club, these were big cultural figures and wham, as angus described if his report there, almost the harbingers, the heralds of thatcherrism himself. The group was antithatcher, but the aspiration and the brightness of that pop was radical and revolutionary. Britain in the early 80s emerging from a period of late 70s grey industrial decline, this was the pop at heralded the brash 80s. Look at georges hair and clothes at that time. The songs, you either hit the dance floor and you flail like a windmill dancing crazily, and the slower songs, still, theyre at weddings, the last song of the night, people weeping on each others shoulder, they are slow dances, the they are remai. If they were considered cheesy and they were back in the day, theyve stood the test of time look at last christmas. Last christmas is right up there with have yourself a merry Little Christmas as a christmas cultural classic. Brangham as we heard in the report, George Michael was rather rudely forced out of the closet by this arrest in the 90s. Up until that point, he had been rather quiet about mise sexuality. I wonder if you had a sense of why he wanted to keep that to himself . I think sometimes, especially now with the acceleration of cultural change, antiacceptance, as its known, we forget what the times were like in the 80s and 90s before he was forced out of the closet. These were not times of large numbers of celebrities out of the closet at all. You might remember in the late 90s, ellens coming out over here was a big, big cultural moment. So sometimes i think we forget how in those days coming out of the closet if you were famous or anybody was a brave, wonderful act. The wonderful harvey milk had it exactly right when he said the most important wonderful thing an lgbt person could do was come out. It was the most powerful statement they could make. The interesting thing about George Michael is he kept it quiet, though i remember growing up in the area of tabloid, bait and insinuation around stars like George Michael and his sexuality, he did play quality concerts, he donated and sang at hiv aids benefits. While he was in the closet, he fell if love for the first time and his first lover died in 1993 of an aidesrelated brain hemorrhage. So he had a gay life and was coming to terms with something himself in that period. He talked later on about the plexty of his own sexuality. Maybe he wasnt ready. Maybe there were commercial concerns. But then in 1998, came this arrest in los angeles, and George Michaels completely fantastic, wonderfully defiant mischievous response to that which wasnt the usual contrite, yes, i have been bad, i have a few personal issues, it was to release a pop song which proudly celebrated sexuality and also this was outside. Absolutely. Not only proudly celebrated his sexuality but proudly and defiantly aimed itself squarely at Law Enforcement which famously for years and years in your country and in britain as well would entrap gay men in public lavatories just to arrest them. The use of pretty policemen we called it in britain. In this, george skewers it all and celebrates defiantly his own sexuality which he spoke about in later years. He liked having public sex. He spoke about it openly. He had lovers, commitment issues, he was horny, he talked about all the things in his song and occasionally in public which i talked about. Reporter you say the culture has changed quite a bit since that notorious arrest. Do you think if the next George Michael is come along and knows his sexuality that he could be more comfortable today being who he is . Thats a very interesting question. I have been talking about that with colleagues today. I think we like to think things have moved on and i think for a certain level of celebrity i think things have moved on and i think careers are continuing. Neil patrick harris, you look at inial, and some people are excelling and its wonderful and its a demonstration of how far weve come and how far we like to think weve come. Then you look at the top tier of the Music Industry and hollywood, and it remains at that very top tier fear, prejudice, selfpatrolling closet on the part of celebrities and their presentation, and i think weve yet to breech the top, top alist film star, music star moment. Its happening, more stars are out than ever before and we should be happy about that. I would hope in the future, with the example of George Michael and the openness and fierceness and the defiance and the mischief and the big smile and the joy he took in some parts of his life and what he tried to convey to us in music and how he spoke about it, i hope that younger stars and even establish stars who havent felt able to come out will look at thad think, he did it and with such style, fierceness and such grace, lets do it. Tim teeman of the daily beast, thank you for this rovely remembrance. Thank you so much. Brangham now to the newshour bookshelf for a novel about israel by its internationally renowned writer, amos oz. He joined Jeffrey Brown at the center for jewish history in new york, in a conversation recorded before the recent u. N. Vote on israeli settlements. Brown the 1950s, the early years of the state of israel, a time of hope for jews whod seen a dream come true, and fear about what the future might bring. This is the period of my own youth. These were, in terms of israeli history, the years of the morning after. Brown so the countrys still young, but the question is what now . or what next . the question is what now, but the question is also have we gone wrong somewhere . Have we taken the wrong turn some place . reporter amos oz was born in jerusalem in 1939, spent many years living on a kibbutz, served in the israeli army, and, eventually, became his countrys best known writer. His new novel, judas, his first in more than a decade, is set in jerusalem in those early years; the story of three people at very different stages in their lives and attitudes toward the new state. I wanted to explore first and foremost how three totally different human beings lived for three months in the same rooms change and almost reshape one another. Brown do you start with the notion of going back to this period of what might come next or do you start with the characters . Always characters first. Brown always . And i walk around pregnant with the characters for a long time before i write a single sentence and when, inside my head or inside my guts the characters begin to do things to each other, what they do to each other is the plot and then i can start writing. What do we do to one another . Its the one and only subject of literature, if you really have to squeeze it in a nutshell. Brown betrayal is a key theme in this book in the ancient sense through one of the characters studies of the biblical story of jesus and judas and in modern israels founding. Yes, but also out of huge growing resentment to the ugly story about judas, about the 30 pieces of silver and of the most notorious case in history about the killing. He was obsessed with the story. He writes about judas hanging himself. The first and last christian, the only christian. Its a very provocative sentence. It doesnt come from me. It comes from the protagonist, but its trying to reconsider the worst story ever told by anyone in human history. Hes been a strong brown oz has been a strong critic of israels occupation of the west bank and a longtime advocate for a twostate solution with the palestinians. Thats made him a traitor in the eyes of some of his countrymen. I wear these as a badge of honor because it puts me in wonderful company. Many, many great men and women in history prophets, statesmen, intellectuals, artists, were accused of treason by many of their own contemporaries. Brown what is the job or role of a writer in a country like israel . No, i resent the very term role of writers or role of literature. Im sorry, i think the right term should be the gift of literature, not the role of literature brown a gift. Yes, makes us look one more time at some things which we have seen a million times and we see them afresh. Or sometimes it makes us reconsider things that we were sure we knew or we were sure we were convinced of. Brown but is it different in a country such as israel . I dont think so. I think literature is based on the deep human need to hear stories and to tell stories. It doesnt have to serve any other purpose. Brown ozs most famous story may be his own, the 2004 autobiographical novel a tale of love and darkness, which has now been made into a film by the Actress Natalie portman. Its a tragic family story of a mother who commits suicide, leaving behind her young son. And also a story of a country in its early years of statehood. You have advocated a two state idea long before it was a diplomatic solution, right . Is that two state solution dead . I dont think so. I dont see any alternative to the two state solution. It is 50 years now since i, a few of my colleagues first advocated the two state solution. 50 years is a long time in my life, but its a very short time in history. Look, its very simple. There are two nations rightly claiming the same tiny land. They just dont trust the other. There is a lack of courageous leadership on both sides. You know, its like a patient knowing that he has to undergo a surgery. Wanting to postpone it because its painful, but the doctors are cowards. They dont have the guts to tell the patient, lets do it now, the sooner the better. Brown you still have hope for it . Of course, because i see no alternative. Brown all right, amos oz, the new novel is judas. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. Thank you very much. Brangham finally tonight, another in our my music series. Jazz musician Charles Lloyd plays the tenor saxophone and recently caught up with newshour producer frank carlson. In my minds ear, ive always heard a beautiful souped, and i keep, all my life, practicing and playing, trying to get close to it. And sometimes the creator will let me get just so close, but its like the street dance, not yet, charles. And Charles Lloyd, i have been drunk with music all my life. I was born in memphis, and i heard this beautiful music. I would walk down the street in the neighborhood and come out of every house, i could hear billie holiday, lester young, charlie parker, on and on. So the music is fueling the atmosphere. Why jazz . Its the music of wonder. Freedom and wonder of. And played by the great players, the individual truth, a personal truth becomes the universal truth. What i have been doing all my life is making a parallel between the beauties of the tones that come through the music and spirituality. I think what we do is we come through here, we sing our song, nobody knows us, and were gone. But in the music, i can get up there and find this paradise that im trying to describe. Brangham on the newshour online right now, 2016 was a year of much turmoil, loss and division. But as we prepare for another trip around the sun in 2017, enjoy our list of undeniably good things that happened over the course of the year. All that and more is on our web site, pbs. Org newshour. And thats the newshour for tonight. On tuesday, we have the first in a series of conversations highlighting some of the best in the arts in 2016, including television, movies and books. Im william brangham. Join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. 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