Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Xq institute. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention. In the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions 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 a Jewish Cemetery near st. Louis won an outpouring of support today, from Vice President pence on down. More than 150 tombstones that were toppled or damaged over the weekend, part of a spate of antisemitic attacks and threats nationwide. The Vice President visited suburban st. Louis this afternoon, and made a stop at the cemetery. He got a firsthand look at some of the damage and briefly joined the cleanup. There is no place in america for hatred or acts of prejudice or violence or antisemitism. I must tell you, the people of missouri are inspiring the nation by your love and care for this place, for the Jewish Community in missouri. And i want to thank you for that inspiration, for showing the world what america is really all about. Sreenivasan Online Fundraising has brought in more than 92,000 to repair the damage. Muslim groups launched the effort, in a show of solidarity. In germany, the government is making it easier to deport rejected asylumseekers. Germany took in nearly 900,000 people in 2015. Today, chancellor Angela Merkels cabinet approved a plan that speeds up expulsions of those who dont gain asylum. Merkels coalition has come under increasing domestic critisism over the tide of migrants, and it faces a general election in september. Sreenivasan the United Nations warned today that nearly 20 Million People face starvation in four countries, if help doesnt arrive before april. The secretary general said south sudan, nigeria, somalia and yemen are on the brink of catastrophe, and he called for 4. 4 billion. Jonathan rugman of independent Television News reports on south sudan, where civil war has brought on disaster. Reporter parts of south sudan are in famine. The worlds first since 2011. Over a quarter of a million severely malnourished children, says unicef. Almost three million forced from their homes because of ethnic conflict here. Massacres and widespread rape as weapons of war. And all the aid agencies admit that this famine is manmade. Those men are salva kiir, the president wearing the hat, and riek machar, his former deputy. Listen to this former minister on how south sudans leaders outsource starvation as an issue for us, rather than them. I met one of the finance ministers for south sudan at the u. N. In new york and i said, look, if this war continues, you are going to find your people are starving, because youre diverting all these resources. He said, you, you will feed the people. I said, what do you mean, we will feed the people . He said, i dont believe countries like britain will walk away whilst hundreds of thousands of people starve, so well carry on fighting the war. Reporter but confronted with this suffering, doing nothing is not an option, and for those arguing that aid needs to be tied to political reform, what an appalling example south sudan is. Woodruff back in this country, federal officials shut down a protest camp close to the Dakota Access pipeline. About 150 people left voluntarily, but others were arrested. Earlier, protesters torched their tents and teepees near the Standing Rock sioux reservation in north dakota, in what they called a ceremonial act. The army corps of engineers ordered the site closed before spring floods. Other protest camps have sprung up on private land, as construction resumes on the last stretch of the pipeline. Sreenivasan the Trump Administration is moving tonight to revoke federal guidelines on transgender bathrooms in public schools. They were issued under president obama, and called for letting students choose a bathroom based on gender identity. Administration Officials Say mr. Trump is acting because he believes states should set their own policies. 13 states sued to block the guidelines last year. Woodruff the organization that oversees the s. A. T. College Entrance Exam is beefing up security, after a rash of cheating. The College Board announced today it will cut back testing dates overseas, to reduce opportunities for stealing the exams. Its also increasing the numbers of audits at sites where the s. A. T. Is administered. The changes follow highprofile cases in asia where students obtained copies of tests in advance. Sreenivasan and, wall street had a mixed day, after oil prices slipped and took Energy Stocks lower. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 32 points to close at 20,775. The nasdaq fell five points, and the s p 500 slipped two. Woodruff still to come on the newshour california braces for flooding after years of drought; newspaper editors from the heartland share their readers views on the early days of the trump presidency; Syrian Refugees who would prefer not to move to the u. S. , and much more. Sreenivasan lets turn our focus out west to northern california, where rain and flooding have wreaked havoc on a oncedroughtstricken region. Officials in san jose ordered some 14,000 people to evacuate overnight. Floodwaters did stabilize today, but neighborhoods were inundated. Officials said they dont yet know when residents will be able to return to their homes. Were now joined by the mayor of san jose, sam liccardo. Mayor liccardo, you have 14,000 out for sure, another 20,000 encouraged to leave. All of them want the information you cant give them yet which is when will they be able to go back home. Yeah, the Important Message is were not out of. This although the waters are receding, we have other storms coming in. Its not safe to go into the neighborhoods yet. We have a lot of contaminated water and we dont want folks going in if theyre in peril. Sreenivasan do you have any idea of how significant the damage is . Not yet. Were focusing on caring for the families and their immediate needs. Well have an opportunity to get building inspectors in there to make sure the housing is safe and will have a better sense in the days to woman. Sreenivasan why did it take to long to evacuate these folks . We were reporting on this on the east coast. Yet we see late last night police were pounding on doors saying, come out, its too late, youve got to move. Its fair to say we were preparing for a storm but what really flooded these neighborhoods was the overpouring of a dam, anderson dam, which released a torrent of water that exceeded our 100year flood estimate. Essentially the glad maps, the data we were relying on wasnt preparing us for this. And, so, we are clearly learning very hard lessons here and weve got a lot to fix going forward. Sreenivasan anderson dam which feeds the coyote creek area, engineers say it could take nine weeks to bring it down to the safe levels 68 , or whatever the capacity of the reservoir, and now its up to 100. Is there going to be a huge volume of water that floods through the creek and keeps this the status quo in parts of san josee and other parts of the neighborhood . Much depends on the rain dom. We expect another storm this weekend. We hope it wont be substantial because we need to get some sun on this reservoir to get some of the water evaporated. Sreenivasan has the city requested aid from the state or federal government . I had a conversation with the Governors Office a couple of hours ago. Were working with them collaboratively. So far, we have been able to manage this on our own. Really an incredible work by a lot of firefighters, First Responders who are working many overtime shifts to safely evacuate hundreds of residents by boat. Really, great testament to their hard work, but we know were probably going to need help in the weeks the come and were working now with the state to figure out how we can do that. Sreenivasan how many people do you still have in emergency shelters . Is that number decreasing . We have more than 300 in shelters right now. The good news is really the overwhelming majority of the displaced residents were able to find help with friends or family members nearby. So were going to do everything we can to help folks who are displace and see how we can help them get back on their feet. Whats been a remarkable thing is to see how the community has reached out in various ways to help these families. Volunteers, a lot of contributions and donations were seeing pouring in rights now. Its a real testament to how the community is pulling together in tough times. Sreenivasan is there anything else if city of san josee needs . We appreciate contributions through the local Community Foundation to help families get back on their feet, but, noorn anything, beyond a big bottle of draino, we could use some sun. Weve got some sun today and we hope the good weather will persist as soon as possible. In california we get 300 days of sun a year and were in years of drought but we need more sun. Sreenivasan mayor sam liccardo of san josee, thank you so much. Thank you. Woodruff now that were one month into the Trump Administration, we wanted to get a sense of how different parts of the country are assessing the president s time in office. To do that, we asked newspaper editors from three states to tell us what theyre hearing from readers in their communities. And they join us now. Lee ann colacioppo is the editor of the denver post; david haynes is the Editorial Page Editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in wisconson; and David Bradley is the editor of the st. Joseph newspress in missouri. Missouri is a state that went heavily for donald trump. He won by Something Like 20 points. What are you hearing from your readers about how hes doing . I think people are fairly well satisfied with what donald trump is doing now. I think hes done a lot of things he said he would do. Hes made a few misstatements over the last few weeks, but what hes done, i think has been pretty impressive. Woodruff Lee Ann Colacioppo, what about your readers in denver around colorado . Were getting a lot of really mixed results, mixed phone calls. Weve got people calling up really upset, angry with the Trump Administration, angry with us when weve editorialized in the vein of hes lying, and then weve got a lot of people so were really hearing from both sides. Woodruff okay, weve pursue that. David haynes, what about in milwaukee . What are you picking up from your readers . Well, judy, it always depends on who you talk to. Liberals in our state dont have much use of donald trump. Independents are a little bit divided, although they are concerned about what has been reported as some of the chaos in the white house. Conservatives in wisconsin did not support donald trump in the primary. They went for ted cruz, so theyre still a little wary and worried the agenda of paul ryan who is from our state may not get past in the way theyd like. But what i hear from trump supporters, mostly, is you and the media need to let him get his administration organized. I often hear him saying, you know, bill clinton didnt exactly have an easy transition either, but in the same breath they often will say, but, gosh, i wish he would stop tweeting at 3 00 in the morning. Woodruff what about that, David Bradley, in st. Josephs, missouri . You mentioned a few misstatements, but is that just a small part of what youre hearing . What are people saying about the tweets and the other some of the controversial statements hes made . I think people really are getting turned off by all the protests and all the antagonism going on, and i think they would just like people to sit back, relax, let him try to run the country and work with congress and try to get some things done that h he said. You know, hes done 24 executive orders, hes done hes appointed a Supreme Court justice for the congress to approve. He has met with several foreign leaders, four foreign leaders. He has talked with a lot of Business Leaders and labor leaders in this country, and hes gotten the pipelines opened up so they can finish the pipelines. Hes done quite a few things, appointed 15 members of the cabinets. I know its been delayed, but hes trying to get those through. So hes done a lot of things, i think, that are going in the right direction. H hes made a mistake on his order on immigration from those seven countries. Hes correcting that now. I think hes doing everything he can to try to keep the country safe. Woodruff Lee Ann Colacioppo, in denver, again, are you hearing some of the same sentiments where you are . I would say that we are probably hearing more people who are concerned about the direction of the administration. We are getting a lot of protests. Seems like almost every day. Woodruff we should say that colorado is a state that Hillary Clinton won by about five points. So let me come back to you, david haynes, in wisconsin. You were saying theres a mixture of reactions to the president there. What about on the immigration order, the tightening announced this weeks and then the sevencountry travel ban . Well, immigration, as in many states, is an issue that cuts both ways. We have a Large Population of recent immigrants in the milwaukee area mostly from mexico. There was a big day without latinos rally here. But when you get out into the state, out into the rural areas where donald trump won by large margins, he won our state by about 10,000 votes, small margin overall but piled up votes in the rural areas. Thats where dairy farms are in wisconsin, 40 are immigrants, the hands, many undocumented. You have a situation where a farmer has undocumented immigrants work for him and a neighbor chanting dont build the wall, so its quite a dichotomy. Woodruff David Bradley, st. Josephs, how much is an issue how much an issue is immigration and the president s attempt to tighten enforcement many in the immigration laws resonating there . I dont think people are against immigration in our part of the world. I think they would like to see it done legally and they would like to go through the regular legal channels. We have a lot of immigrants working at our beef packing or pork packing houses in missouri, and a lot of them are great workers, but we would like to see them go through legal channels and, really, the main concern of people in our area, they want more and better jobs. They want a more pro Business Environment and not have so many regulations so we can grow the number of jobs and good jobs in our community. Woodruff Lee Ann Colacioppo in denver, how much are you hearing from people about that, about, you know, kind of like what David Bradley said a minute ago that some people just want the president to get on with it and start to do something about creating jobs . You know, i dont seems like from the job creation standpoint, that is not one of the subjects that we are hearing a whole lot about. I think were hearing more about concerns about the Health Insurance has been big in the discussion, immigration has been big. I havent heard as much from people discussing the economy. I have heard the bigger part has been wishing so much of the kind of National Talk wasnt drifting in to say the state legislature and City Councils and other parts of the political spectrum. Woodruff do you mean they think more should be done in washington or less . More that the nastiness of the National Debate has worked its way into legislative bodies here that are usually more civil. Woodruff well, david haynes in milwaukee, is there a sense that the National Debate has gotten rougher in the last couple of months . Well, its been going on in wisconsin for six years. Weve had were one of the most polarized states in the country, but i dont think there is any question that the National Debate is more fractured and tougher. Our newspaper, in fact, just hosted last night a community conversation, first of several were going to do, in which were trying to bring people together face to face across that divide and talk about it, but its a tough its a tough thing to do because weve kind of retreated to our echo chambers. There is a great deal of tribalism in terms of people are kind of locked into positions. Woodruff David Bradley, back to you in missouri. What would you say, finally i want to ask all three of you what are people youre hearing from wanting most to see from this president . I think people in our area would like to see a better form of taxation thats progrowth, that helps us grow our companies and our jobs in our area. I think people will like to see less regulations, hopefully, that bogged down businesses from growing and adding more jobs and good jobs, and i think they would like to see a better sense of communication between all sides so they can talk to each other in a civil manner and get together and Work Together, not just a antagonize each other and just wind up trying to delay everything, and there is an attitude that anything he does is not right today, and that kind of attitude is not going to work if youre trying to work with a president and a legislature to Work Together. Woodruff David Bradley, are they putting the blame on republicans or democrats or everybody . I think both sides are pointing to each other and i think they wound up i think there is a way to get together and talk and hopefully try to work things out. I dont think trump is determined to get everything he wants, and i dont think the congress is going to get everything they want, but there is got to be some form of compromise there and we can make some headway to get this country off its stagnation. Woodruff very quickly to the other two of you. Lee ann colacioppo, hopes for this administration from people in your area . I hear a lot of very similar to what he was just saying, i hear a lot of people just wishing that the nasty tone would come down and there wouldnt just be a stalemate in congress and that they would all be able to Work Together to get something done that would incorporate the thoughts of both parties compromise, basically. Woodruff david haynes, finally, in milwaukee, what are the hopes . I think one of the hopes is that the white house can be less chaotic and more professional. It seems hob amateur hour right now, and for both conservatives there is concern that its hard to get anything done if there isnt good leadership coming from the white house. Woodruff we want to thank all three of you for joining us. LeLee Ann Colacioppo, the denver post, David Bradley, the news press in missouri and david haynes, the milwaukee journal sent nell. We appreciate it. Thank you. Enjyed it. Sreenivasan stay with us. Coming up on the newshour a newlydiscovered solar system sparks hope for finding alien life; and, an Industrial Town putting its hopes in president trumps promise to revitalize manufacturing. But first, nearly five million syrians have fled their homeland for relative safety in surrounding middleeastern countries. Some hope to emigrate to europe and elsewhere, and undergo processing at United Nations centers throughout the region. Those hoping to come to the u. S. Have an uncertain future ahead of them, amid the Trump Administrations orders on immigration. From jordan, special correspondent mike cerre reports. Reporter the long roads for refugees hoping to settle in the u. S. And other countries, all start at a Processing Center like this one, run by the u. N. Refugee agency, u. N. H. C. R. , always a tedious and emotional process, recent changes in u. S. Immigration policy added new levels of anxiety for many, many refugees, whose final security screenings and departure flights were abruptly cancelled, while u. N. H. C. R. Officials could sort out the implications of the executive order on again off again u. S. Immigration ban. Paul stromberg is the Deputy Director of the u. N. H. C. R. Refugee resettlement Immigration Office in jordan. The process doesnt allow, really, to speed up or slow down the people who are traveling, have completed this very thorough screening process that has lasted, for each of them, between one and two years. Reporter for many families, the ones who were about to leave at the end of that very extensive process had to be rebooked on flights. After six years of war, the vast majority of the nearly five million Syrian Refugees are living less than 200 miles from their homes here in neighboring countries, like here in jordan and lebanon and turkey, with fewer options of ever going back or going forward, as more western governments shut their immigration doors. But, as we discovered in the along the turkeysyria border, settling in the u. S. Has never been refugees first choice, for geographic and cultural reasons. Most Syrian Refugees have preferred staying close to their homeland and relatives, rather than immigrating to europe, let alone the u. S. Look, they have syrian coffee here, and all the trademarks are syrian. Reporter rana, an English Literature professor back in syria, is now a social worker, helping fellow Syrian Refugees get food and housing. She believes many refugees cultural ties to the region are whats keeping most refugees from going abroad, as much as the financial and geopolitical obstacles. Reporter with no end of the war in sight, neighboring host countries closed their borders with syria last year. The overwhelming strain on their economies and delays in foreign aid pledges have forced them to reduce social services, prompting more syrian and iraqi refugees to choose the immigration route, no matter how long it takes. There are over 650,000 registered syrians in jordan almost 10 of the population. So many would like to go to other countries. But first of all, those spaces have to be made available. They cant apply for them and get in line. They dont come here and demand anything, but wait for space that is made available by resettlement countries. Reporter the u. S. Takes far fewer per capita than the other 30 resettlement countries, fewer than 18,000 compared to canadas nearly 40,000 and germanys more than 600,000. The u. S. Also has an additional vetting process not required by the others. As a refugee, you are dealing with several different security agencies, different security databases, Biometric Registration at different checks, at different points of the process. Facetoface interviews at different points, to verify what you are telling authorities. Reporter refugees stay abreast of the latest immigration developments on local news channels and through regular contact with relatives and friends already in the u. S. This Syrian Kurdish refugee family from kobani sold the last of their family jewelry to pay the rent for their apartment in an unfinished building. They are living here until they know where their future will be. translated i just wish i could go to kobani and die. Reporter even if the immigration ban is permanently overturned or substantially changed, its had a Chilling Effect on many refugees, who are now not sure if they still want to go to the u. S. If and when they get another chance. For the pbs newshour, mike cerre reporting from amman, jordan. Sreenivasan now to this weeks edition of leading edge. There is new excitement tonight about the search for possible life in a solar system beyond our own. Astronomers have identified seven earthsized planets orbiting a star, just a mere 230 trillion miles or so from our own planet. That sounds like a mindboggling distance, it is. But researchers say the idea of life on one of these exo planets, as theyre called, is tantalizing. Astronomers, using ground and space telescopes operated by nasa and the european southern observatory, made the announcement. Our own miles obrien is here to guide us through the news. First of all, if something is so far away this is maybe a basic science question how do we know what we know and what we saw . Its a good question. You know, think about it for a minute if its trillions of miles away, how is it even possible . So imagine the technique is called transit photometry. Imagine youre a mile away from ahead light and a mosquito goes across, the head light is slightly dimmed when it goes across. The planet goes in front of the star, dims ever so slightly and with a lot of complicated and sensitive instrumentation, you can determine thats in fact a planet. They discovered three this way. They said, hmm, this is an interesting ultra cool brown dwarf to look at. Lets put more instrumentation on it and sure enough there ended top to be seven earthlike planets, about the size and mass of earth, orbiting this jupiter size ultra cool brown dwarf. Sreenivasan its not a cold sun, just not as big as ours. About like jupiter. Sreenivasan when we talk about the habitable zone, how do we know there are planets within the group that exist within that range . They can measure the radiation off this cool brown dwarf and figure out the zone in which water would remain liquid. Thats a key. Everywhere we find liquid water, we find life, doesnt matter where we go. In the hunt for potential alien life, the thought of finding places where there is liquid water is what really intrigues scientists. So these planets are a lot closer to tr apist1 than we are to our son, but remember its smaller and dirm, but they have thighs these tight orbits and its likely there might be water on some of them. In the few weeks we have been watching this particular system, what do we know about what it would be like to stand on one of these rocky and prabs inhabitable planets . We believe they are tidal locked. These planets face their star all the time. So youve got a sunny side and youve got a nighttime side. If youre buying real estate, id go on the sunny side of one of these planets. If you were to stand there you would see almost perpetual sunset kind of idea and these other planets would be perhaps larger than our moon in the sky, it would be a very interesting place to be. Sreenivasan and it wouldnt take 365 days to go around. No, the one closest is about a day and a half around, the farthest out about 20 days. So if you live out there, youll get old quickly. Sreenivasan this the first look we have. What do we hope to learn the with perhaps the satellites coming up . Exoplant researchers are excited about this. Lets listen to sara, m. I. T. The great news is we can observe in the near future. We no longer have to rely on what we think and speculation because nature is usually snarnt we are and if there is any way for life to get a foothold we like to believe it will. Sreenivasan the super bowl for exoplanet researchers. It is indeed. Were looking ahead toward a big improvement in the space telescope. James web is finally slated for launch in october of 2018. It will have spectroscopy equipment on it to analyze the atmosphere of the planets and identified the key Building Blocks of life whether oxygen, hydrogen, methane or carbon and make a determination as to whether there is potentially hyphon these planets. Sreenivasan miles obrien, thanks for joining us. Youre welcome, hari. Woodruff now to our series on the economic concerns of trump voters in a few hardhit areas of the country. This week, were listening to them describe their hopes for mr. Trump, now that he is president. Jeffrey brown is here with more. Brown our colleagues at frontline traveled to regions that once voted democratic but voted for donald trump in this election. Last night, we heard from miners in West Virginia coal country. Tonight, a profile of a couple in erie county, pennsylvania. Its part of how the deck is stacked, the newshours collaboration with frontline and marketplace, in conjunction with the corporation for public broadcasting. Okay, im joe orengia, and this is my business joes gym, erie, pennsylvania, current World Champions. Im a veteran, im on social security, and im a businessman. Ive been undefeated World Champion since 1993. I teach people how to get their life back. The only way youre going to get your life back is to get your strength back. I want to see erie the way it used to be. Weve got to get our manufacturing back. For the sake of my children and grandchildren, i hope something happens. So, erie has lost nearly one in three manufacturing jobs, you know that, all you do i flew over. Youre looking at the plants, but you see em theyre falling over the rain, the sleet, the snow, the wind. These are great buildings, that are falling apart. I promise, we can fix it so fast. Were going to bring it back. Were going to bring back our jobs, were going to bring back our companies. 50s and 60s, when i was a kid, it was awesome. My dad raised seven of us kids, as a coal miner, worked his butt off. They moved up here when i was oneyearsold to go to work at g. E. My brothers and my nephews, they all worked at g. E. , they wanted me to go down to g. E. , but i said, i like this physical stuff. cause i was a bridge builder, ironworker and bridge builder, at local 348 union. I was one of their best climbers, so i always got the job of puttin the buildings together, which was fun; you climb up the column, big piece of steel comes up, you bolt it up, you walk out, unhook the cable and stand there and wait for the next piece. Everybody had good jobs, everybody had goodpaying jobs, you know. I needed a car, i had the money to go buy one. I was making my house payments, feeding the family. Even when i when i retired from the ironwork i didnt have to retire, they didnt want me to retire. I says, i want to run a gym, i want to get my gym going. I put up the big buildings for the hammermill paper company, tenstory buildings in erie, i put them up. I was the connector, i put these ahhh i would have fun, i loved it theyre gone. And, the people are gone. It seems like about the last 15 years, things have really sucked, cause a lot of people are leaving the area because the manufacturing jobs have left. Theres no work. And i used to see all these guys walking down the street with their lunch bucket in their hand, going to work. Now you see em walking down the street with food stamps. I had a lot of members here from g. E. , i dont anymore. I think i have two. A lot of them left erie, theyre not even around erie anymore. My wife runs a business. She owns custom audio, right up the road here. The minimum i put in here is eight hours a day last night, i was here 14 hours. My wife puts in a minimum of 60 hours a week, and sometimes 80. We have to. So, im sondralee orengia, ive owned an Electronics Store for 33 years. A couple of years ago, i really cut back on the staff and were just, were really lean right now, and i think a lot of Business Owners are treating their businesses that way. Whats happening to erie is, g. E. Is transitioning to, down to texas and mexico, so those really goodpaying jobs will be leaving. Some of the other shops cant afford those higherpaying jobs. They can pay well, but not as well as what some of the other workers, you know, g. E. Are used to. I love people, all kinds of people. I want to see the american patriots, the American People that love this country, be happy and healthy. When your health goes, this goes. Ive been knocked down thousands of times in my life, in everything ive done, and i came back stronger than ever. Coming up you got it, you got it mmkay. Is that nine or ten . Thats 10. 10 . Okay shes an animal i was actually a democrat way back, cause my family was. Back when democrats made more sense to me. The democratic partys so strong here, and then you get someone like donald trump who is really a very different candidate. I mean, weve never seen anything like him before, and i think that scares people, but i think the people who voted for him, they are hopeful. So that night during the election, i sat up until the local news came on. He won erie, which has not been won by a republican since the 80s. If things get a little, even just a little bit better, okay, lets give him another four years, cause maybe they will get a little bit more better. If things get worse, no. Ive got to give him a chance. Im still prob im still probably going to go back to independent cause i dont, still dont agree with a lot of either one of them, and i have my own ideas, and i try to go with the best person, not the best party. And thats it for today. Brown we asked two economists whove served in past administrations to watch these reports. Douglas holtzeakin served in the george w. Bush administration. Hes now with the American Action forum; and, Jared Bernstein worked for Vice President biden. Hes now at the center on budget and policy priorities welcome to both of you. Jared, let me start with you. Theres no denying the problem that we just saw. What struck you watching these videos . I saw considerable despair, but i also heard a great deal of hope there, and it was a kind of hope that has been very much amped up by Donald Trumps rhetoric around the campaign, the kind of jobs and sectors hes arguing he can bring back to those communities and, man, they really need those jobs and sectors. My concern, my fear, really, is that h he cant deliver on that hope and despair met with hope that doesnt end up being delivered, thats a problem. Brown let get a First Impression from douglas holtzeakin. What did you see . What did you hear . I think a lot of the things jared heard. Number one, these are stories of great distress. Its real, pallable and unmistakable. There is also a longing for a past that its not realistic to expect to return. Eerieerie pennsylvania is closey hometown. Its no longer the hub we had when we had the canal and were a central part of the u. S. Economy. Coal is not the same when western coal or natural gas competes with it. A realistic assessment talks about what can the future b not with their past. Brown doug, help us think about what a president can do and look at some of the things donald trump is talking about, at least. Tax reform, for example. Tax cuts. I think there is an enormous amount that the president can do on tax reform. We have a tax code that, broadly speaking, favors foreign production over domestic production. A good reform would neutralize that and shift things back to the u. S. When theyre driven offshore by taxes. Thats a great tap. Doesnt mean they will land in erie or coal country but its something that should be done. Brown jared, would those kinds of things have an impact on the workers we saw . Perhaps at the margin, but i think we put way too much weight on tax reform as economists. Weve had very different tax regimes while globalization has been ongoing, and youve seen whats happened in these communities, so i dont think we can count on tweaks in the tax code and doug and i could probably agree on very good ones because the tax code is pretty messed up and hope this globalization toothpaste will somehow go back in the tube which is what i hear donald trump promising. I agree with doug. What needs to happen is the communities will have to adapt to globalization which doesnt mean you can get back jobs that are gone but you can make a play for new types of manufacturing and energy. I dont hear that coming out of this administration. Brown you can push individual companies to stay and not move jobs offshore. Thats a public relations, not a systematic economic plan. I kind of like it when the president takes the bully pulpit and says we need to keep jobs here. It raze naidz with me. Its old school but brown old school liberal. Yes, but its not a strategy to help deliver the kinds of goods to the community were talking about. Brown douglas holtzeakin, what do you think about that kind of move and the deregulation he talks about . I think the bully pulpit is fine but businesses follow economic incentives. Unless you change them, over the long haul, the results will be the same. Bully pull pill great, but following through and changing the incentives they have and the kind of things that get produced in this community is the key. I think that, taking a good hard look at the regulatory state makes sense. Weve seen a dramatic decline in the startup of new businesses in the united states. Its something thats happened across sectors. Its not just in manufacturing or just in retail. So theres something going on there. We know that when you start new businesses, thats when you get the job growth, thats when you get the new opportunities, and thats something i think any administration should look closely at. Brown jared, you brought up the wordhope. The woman in erie says the people who voted for donald trump, theyre hopeful. How important is this psychological factor is this. I think its important but also omnipresent. I have been to places like this and you constantly run into folks like that who really have hope for the future and what it is is they want to participate in the economy. Structural changes, globalization, these kinds the loss to have the unions, the kind of labor standards kind of eroding, theyve really hurt these folks and what they would like is a chance to apply their trade, like the guy who said im a hard worker and hard work is good. Again, that resonated with me, but he doesnt have the employment opportunity. So what we really ought to be talking about is how hes going to get that. One idea is infrastructure. You can look at those films and you see these places really need infrastructure. This is something that the Trump Administration talked about but he doesnt seem to be getting anywhere. Thats a concern of mine. Brown whats a thing, doug, if you could wave your magic wand, you would like to see . The reality is you can only have the infrastructure if you have businesses that are going to use it. That becomes an issue. In the reality is in the Manufacturing Sector its been automation. It takes ten percent of workers to create t same things in the u. S. And export them so there are fewer opportunities. So you need to be the worker who can take advantage of those opportunities. It is unsurprising people with a College Degree have an Unemployment Rate of 2. 5 . Thats the magical elixir in this economy and these communities have too many people who have not had the Educational Foundation to take advantage of that and were missing the programs to get people who want to work hard but do not have the skills up to speed. So here i have kind of flipped the politics a bit. Im completely for people getting the skills they can, but you can get b all educated and still not have a job that will suffice for you in your community. So here is where i think donald trump has said something important and useful and its not just about education or infrastructure, its and trade. Its actually the case. Hes right that these communities have been hurt by our large and persistent trade deficits. So we need to take steps to reduce those as well. Again, i dont hear them really talking about it other than some tariffs which are bad ideas, but there are good ways to do that, also. Brown doug . I think the trade piece is vastly overblown. I dont think thats the source of the problems. The tape on erie, the problems began in the 70s before nafta and the entry of china. These are deep, structural trends in the economy, places that had valuable resources, coal and transportation access that no longer have those as their economic playing card. They need to create a new one or the people who stay there simply arent going to have an opportunity. Brown douglas holtzeakin, Jared Bernstein, thank you both very much. Thank you. Thank you. Woodruff and for a look at the extendedlength videos in our series betting on trump, go to the newshour website at www. Pbs. Org newshour. Woodruff the Trump Administration today announced that it would soon make a major change regarding the contentious issue of transgender youth and which bathrooms they use at school. William brangham has that story. Brangham the departments of justice and education are expected to roll back obamaera guidance that advised schools to let transgender kids use the bathroom that correspondes with their gender identity, not necessarily the gender they were born with. But if that guidance goes away, what does this mean for schools . Evie blad from Education Week is back to help us sort it out. So lets do this chrnologically. Last year the Obama Administration put out these guidelines, they said if you schools have transgender students in your schools, let them use the bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. Whats the rationale for that argument . Well the obama straiks argued the sex discrimination protections in title nine, the federal law, applied to gender identity rather than merely biological sex, and they had heard from many districts and states and some educational groups that there was a lack of clarity at the state and local level, so they put out this federal civil rights guidance to say not only do you have to allow these children access to facilities that match their gender identity, you have to respect that on forms, you have to provide a Safe Learning environment free from bullying based on this identity, and you cannot disclose their transgender status if they dont want it to be disclosed. Brangham a lot of states welcome the guidance and said theyre already doing the practices. A lot of states resisted, about a dozen or so sued. What was their argument against this guidance . Right, well, so there is actually two big multistate lawsuits, so more than 20 states are litigating the issue. The argument are several things. Some made a student privacy argument suggesting that it violated the privacy of students who arent transgender to share facilities with students who are, and some made a states rights claim this was federal overreach and abuse of the power of the department, that they werent actually interpreting federal law but rather creating new policy through a back door. Brangham if we expect the Trump Administration to pull back the guidance, what does that mean tomorrow or next week if im a transgender kid in the school or country . 15 states have antidiscrimination laws that cover transgender students, so students in those states, their reality would remain the same. There are districts around the country who made the decision on their own long before this guidance to put rules in place that largely mirror what it requires. But for states and districts that dont have those kinds of rules, theyre kind of on their own to interpret the federal law and to make their own determination on what they think they should do for these children. Brangham of course, this is happening in the backdrop of a very big Supreme Court case where a transgender boy in virginia sued his School District to say let me use the boys bathroom. Does the withdrawal of these guidelines do anything to his standing in the Supreme Court . To this point, many transgender students who have won in federal courts have won over the argument the court should defer to federal interpretation of title nine so that does take one argument away. The student from virginia can still go forward his attorneys say arguing about the fundamental meaning of title nine, what was implied when written and should that apply to him today. Brangham one of the arguments that undergirds a lot of this is the fear some people expressed that if you allow a transgender student to use the bathroom according to their gender identity that you might have men masquerading as women, in effect, to get into a bathroom and somehow get up to no good. Is there any evidence thats really something thats going on . I dont believe so. In the districts that have had these rules for a long time, they said they have had very little problems with them. They say students requests to use them are pretty rare. The most recent estimate on transgender students say that transgender children between the ages of 13 and 17, they make up about. 7 of the population, so were talking about a very small number of students here. But there is some argument on the other side that it can be difficult to implement and interpret these rules for such a confusing thing as gender identity, especially when it can be in flux for some children. Brangham evie blad of Education Week, thank you so much. Thank you. Woodruff on the newshour online right now, a conversation with a photographer who captures the theater of american political life, from Campaign Rallies to protests. All that and more is on our website, www. Pbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan tune in later tonight. On charlie rose ambassador omar ghobash of the United Arab Emirates and his advice to young, moderate muslims on how to navigate the modern world. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im hari sreenivasan. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and well see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf railway. Xq institute. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. Promoting the wellbeing of humanity around the world, by building resilience and inclusive economies. More at www. 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. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org youre watching mason welcome to theprogram. Im ant a president of cbs news filling in for charlie rose. We begin this evening with a look at the economy, with henry blodget, joe nocera and catherine rampell. We have full employment in the country. The problem is the jobs dont pay well enough. You have to ask what sort of policies would improve the pay for lowwage service jobs. The most efficient way is to raise the minimum wage which certainly isnt on the table. Infrastructure spending would be great if we had a trillion dollars suddenly reinvested in our infrastructure, but talk about that has gotten a lot quieter since the election phase. I would argue regulation is not whats slowing the economy. Whats slowing the economy or not allowing us to have the growth rate we want is there isnt enough money going to the