Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20170317

With author neil gaiman to discuss the stories of norse mythology in his new book. From my perspective, it was the joy of just going, this is part of the heritage of the human race. Let me give it to a new generation. 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. Our tradition has been to take care of mother earth, because its that that gives us water, gives us life. The land is here for everyone. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. 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 the veteran german leader, the new american chief executive. Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Trump met today at the white house in what many thought would be a moment to smooth relations after a rocky start. Its far from clear that was the outcome. Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Margaret Warner has our report. Warner chancellor merkel was greeted warmly outside the north portico of the white house. Yet minutes later, an odd scene in the Oval Office Merkel offering to shake hands, but getting no response. Do you want to have a handshake . Warner in a joint News Conference later, they did exchange compliments in prepared statements. Our alliance is a symbol of strength and cooperation to the world. It is the foundation of a very, very hopeful future. translated we had a very good First Exchange of views so im very much looking forward to the talks we will have over lunch. Warner but the body language between the two leaders at their first meeting was not warm, perhaps reflecting their sharply different styles and views. Mr. Trump, the businessman turned politician, who campaigned on america first. And merkel, political veteran, now europes most vocal defender. Its been a touchy longdistance relationship up to today. Last year, candidate trump accused merkel of ruining germany by accepting hundreds of thousands of syrian refugees. I dont know what went wrong with her. I dont know what went wrong. Angela, what happened . What happened angela . Warner today, the chancellor was asked whether she had any reservations about the president s combative style. translated people have different abilities, different characteristics, traits of character, have different origins have found their way into politics along different pathways. Well thats diversity, which is good. Sometimes its difficult to find compromises but thats what weve been elected for. Warner two of those areas of difficulty nato, and the european union. Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized nato states for not paying their share of the common defense. He said today he had pressed merkel to boost defense spending to two percent of economic output, the alliances stated goal. Many nations owe vast sums of money from past years. And it is very unfair to the United States. These nations must pay what they owe. Warner merkel repeated bonns pledge to get to 2 of g. D. P. Within the next seven years. translated nato is of prime importance to us. It was not without very good reason that we said during our summit meeting in wales, that also germany needs to increase expenditure. We committed to this two percent goal until 2024. Warner the president has also criticized the e. U. , germany specifically for running huge manufacturing trade surplus with the u. S. Today, he said and the United States has been treated very, very unfairly by many countries over the years. Thats going to stop. But im not an isolationist im a free trader but im fair trader. Germany has done very well with its trade deals with the United States. I give them credit for it. Warner merkel noted that any trade agreement has to between the u. S. And the e. U. translated will it be of benefit to both countries, or not . Let me be very honest and very candid. Free trade agreement with the United States of america has not been all that popular with germany either. Warner merkels dealings with President Trump may affect her own popularity at a crucial moment. Shes seeking a fourth term as chancellor in elections later this year, and faces challenges both from the left and the right. For the pbs newshour, im Margaret Warner. Woodruff in the days other news, President Trump defended the white houses handling of his claim that president obama had him wiretapped. His press secretary, sean spicer, had quoted a fox news analyst who suggested British Intelligence handled the wiretapping. The british flatly denied it and complained to the white house. But, at his News Conference today, the president dismissed the furor. All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television. I didnt make an opinion on it. That was a statement made by a very talented lawyer on fox. And so you shouldnt be talking to me, you should be talking to fox. Woodruff fox news issued a Statement Today saying it has, no evidence of any kind that mr. Trump was surveilled at any time. But, with german chancellor merkel looking on, the president then connected his own claim to allegations in 2013 that the Obama Administration monitored her phone calls. As far as wiretapping i guess by this past administration, at least we have something in common perhaps. Woodruff meanwhile, the Justice Department said today it has complied with congressional requests for any information on surveillance during the campaign. It gave no details. Theres new trouble for the secret service. Te agency confirmed today that someone stole a laptop from an agents car in new york, yesterday. It was parked near her brooklyn home. The secret service says the laptop has multiple security layers and does not contain classified information. A week ago was on the ground nor 16 minutes before being arrested. He did not inter the building but he got close. President President Trump today ramped up his push for the obamacare replacement bill. He met with conservative republicans, and said hes 100 percent behind the measure. Later he predicted it will pass pretty quickly. Other Lawmakers Said changes to the bill are in the works, and House Speaker paul ryan said the process is going well. There are people from middle and right who have various concerns. And were trying to make sure that we address as many of these concerns as possible without destroying the bill. And without losing votes but adding votes. Were really doing well were feeling very good. Woodruff in the senate, four republicans have now come out against the bill, leaving it short of a majority. In yemen, 42 Somali Refugees were killed last night when they were under attack at sea. Survivors said they were trying to flee yemen to sudan, when a naval vessel and a helicopter gunship opened fire. Shiite rebels in yemen blamed a saudiled coalition. The coalition had no immediate comment. The pentagon denied today that a u. S. Air strike targeted a mosque in syrias aleppo province. Activists and a powerful rebel group said the attack killed nearly 50 people, mostly civilians who had gathered for prayers. But a u. S. Military photograph showed the mosque still standing, while a building across the street was destroyed. A pentagon spokesman said the strike killed dozens of alqaeda fighters, not civilians. The International Energy Agency Reports that worldwide Carbon Emissions remained flat in 2016. Emissions fell in the United States and china, the two largest emitters, thanks to greater use of renewable, nuclear and gas power. Still, the agency says its not enough to prevent the continued rise of global temperatures. And, wall street finished the week on a soso note. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost nearly 20 points to close at 20,914. The nasdaq rose a quarterpoint, and the s p 500 gave up three. For the week, all three indexes gained a fraction of a percent. And, nobelwinning poet Derek Walcott died today, at his home on the island of st. Lucia. His work focused on the caribbean and earned him renown as one of the greatest writers of the second half of the 20th century. He won the nobel prize for literature in 1992. Derek walcott was 87 years old. Still to come on the newshour the secretary of state talks tough about north korea during his first trip to asia. A major Physicians Group speaks out against the Republican Health care plan. Mark shields and david brooks analyze the weeks news. An authors inspiration from norse mythology, and much more. Woodruff secretary of state Rex Tillerson at one of the tensest places on the planet the border between north and south korea. Its the second stop on an important, threecountry whirlwind tour of asia, where allies and adversaries are both close at hand. Hari sreenivasan has that. Let me be very clear the policy of strategic patience has ended. Sreenivasan from south korea, secretary of state Rex Tillerson signaled a tougher line on dealing with north korea, including the possibility of a preemptive military strike. Certainly we do not want to, for things to get to a military conflict. If they elevate the threat of their Weapons Program to a level that we believe that requires action, that option is on the table. Sreenivasan tillerson spoke in seoul after visiting the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two countries, and the truce village of panmunjom; north korean soldiers looked on, snapping pictures. The secretary arrived at a time of mounting tensions. North korea has testfired Ballistic Missiles twice in the last three weeks, as u. S. And south korean troops conduct elaborate, annual joint exercises. The north also carried out two Nuclear Tests last year. Yesterday, in japan, the secretary said 20 years of attempts to curb pyongyangs Nuclear Ambitions have failed. In the face of this ever escalating threat, it is clear that a different approach is required. Part of the purpose of my visit to the region is to exchange views on a new approach. Sreenivasan this morning, President Trump weighed in. Via twitter, he wrote north korea is behaving very badly. They have been playing the United States for years. China has done little to help the chinese have condemned north Koreas Nuclear and missile tests. But they also oppose deployment of the u. S. Ballistic Missile Defense system, known as thaad, to south korea. Tillerson answered today in seoul, before heading to beijing tomorrow. While we acknowledge chinas opposition, its economic retaliation against south korea is inappropriate and troubling. We ask china to refrain from such action. Sreenivasan the south Korean Foreign minister underscored the u. S. Argument that the Missile Defense system is not aimed at china. But the recent ouster of south koreas president , in a corruption scandal, could change the landscape. The liberal candidate favored to win the presidency in may says hell review the thaad deployment, and consult with china. For more on the secretarys trip to asia, and the significance of what tillerson had to say in south korea, we turn to veteran diplomat kathleen stephens. She was u. S. Ambassador to south korea during the Obama Administration. Shes now at stanford university. How significant were the secretarys remarks . Well, i think they were very significant and closely listened to and heard throughout the region as well as here. In fact i think first extensive press conferences as secretary of state. It was indeed a very tough message but i think he picked his words pretty carefully. A lot of what he had to say was a inforcement of what had been the Obama Administration policy, but an indication that he wants to toughen it up. Is this our chief diplomat that is saying talking hasnt been work. There hasnt been much talking with them over the l eight years. One thing that did strike me about secretary tillersons remarks was that he was quite specific and categorical saying now is not the time for talks. I actual lie would have liked have seen him keep the door a little bit ajar on that because i think when you do have a new administration in washington, there will soon be a new administration in seoul theres a good argument for trying to climb that mountain one more time and seeing whats possible diplomatically. At the very least it helps you build the coalition you need to increase the pressure of diplomatic approach. Hes advocating tougher sanctions will they work . Sanctions are a very blunt instrument. And they have been against north korea a have been toughened and broaden through security and bilateral action by the United States, actions by south korea and japan, china has also participated although theres never been satisfaction i think with china doing or as much is it possibly school. But will sanction work, i think they can bring pressure on the regime, they are bringing pressure. Will they lead kim jong un to make a choice that hes ready to trade his nuclear and Missile Program for lessening of sanctions for other benefits. I think that the chance of that working are far less promising perhaps than they have been. But it doesnt mean you give up on sanction. But has to be only one part of your approach. Sreenivasan given what we know and dont know about north koreas leader does this prod him to come to the table or just anger him more at times his actions have not been predictable. Well, i think what we know about him who has now been in power for five years that priority, his priority has been to accelerate and consolidate his Nuclear Weapon and Ballistic Missile capability. To date, the sanctions the isolation, the for that matter of carrots that have been offered to do otherwise have not been sufficient. So, i am pessimistic about them. But i think that continued pressure is important because you dont know what the timeline is for getting somebody to the table. And i think secretary tillerson is right, indeed it was something that the Obama Administration emphasized that china also plays a very important role. But i think sanctions have to be combined with some kind of exit ramp are that has to be into something that allows him to start to make some adjustments, given where he is in the program we have to her our sights of what he need to do to get into talks. That is one part of mr. Tillersons presentation that concerned me a bit. He stated perhaps for tactical reasons, was long been his approach that basically north korea need to give up everything before we get to a diplomatic process. I do think it has to be a process probably a slow process but certainly the principle which was held by Obama Administration which mr. Tillerson reinforced there need to be readiness to say they are prepared to move toward is important. That is one chinese have also agreed to need to reinforce. Sreenivasan something of interest in south korea is not who mr. Tillerson met been, didnt seem to meet with any of the opposition leaders he talked to an administering that is lame duck. How significant how much likely to change after south korea has a new election . Right. Its a tricky question in the middle of an Election Campaign how go you can manage those meetings. I have some sympathy with the diplomatic nuances of trying to do that. But certainly, less than two months time, south korea will have a new president. The election is on may 9th that new president will take care, i guess immediately. And it is dark dash looks now that its going to be most likely a president from the part of the political spectrum that has tended to lean toward trying a little harder on the engagementing a well north korea. In any event any new south doreen korean from the will want to look at that, very important not to close off too many options, before that new government gets in place. Then to see with seoul as well as with beijing what along with deepened pressure, deepened sanctions, more countries participating and pressuring north korea what might be possible in terms of a fresh diplomatic approach, some kind of grand bargain that address our core interest in seeing all of the peninsula with no Nuclear Weapons in north korea but find a way to get into talks on if that basis. Sreenivasan thanks so much. My pleasure. Woodruff President Trump and the Republican Leadership in the house are working to pass a healthcare bill later next week. But theres still criticism and concern about the impact of this bill, including among lawmakers, governors and, of course, among voters themselves. There are also a number of powerful Interest Groups who are directly involved in healthcare and are expressing reservations. Tonight, Jeffrey Brown hears one of those perspectives. Brown in 2010 the american medical association, the largest Physicians Group in the country, lobbied for the passage of the Affordable Care act. Fast forward to today the group is publicly opposing the proposed house Republican Health plan. Doctor Andrew Gurman is its president and he joins me now. Welcome. Thank you, delighted to be here. Can you boil down the essence of the op sick, what is wrong with this plan . We know that people who dont have Health Insurance are sicker and die younger, it is a basic principle that people who has insurance shouldnt lose it and dont have Health Insurance should get it. Were afraidnd this bill that wouldnt happen. Take parts of it. The tax credit emphasis. Why wouldnt that work or who would that not work for. Were concerned that the poorest and sickest among us would be the ones most affected. Ill give you an example. These are numbers from the kyser family foundation. Someone who is 60 years old under Affordable Care act might get subsidies of up to between 9,000 and 13,000 to buy insurance depending where he or she lived. Under the proposed legislation that subsidy would be 4,000, in the across the board, it is virtually impossible to purchase insurance at that age for 4,000. Do you see an impact on your own patients . Are you hearing the worries . The worries that my patients have, have to do with high deductibles and availability of insurance. I can give you example of someone i saw last week in my office, a carpenter, makes between 2030 in a good year, he need to have surgery on his hand. He has a 6,000 deductible. Thats a big problem. To push back a little bit many doctors have complained about the aca, right, about too many regulation, gets in the way of the doctorpatient relationship, takes away choices on patients. You are also getting push back from the white house about that you and other Interest Groups are opposed because it hits you financially, you doctors, financially. How do you respond . There was no question, there are things in the Affordable Care act that need to be fixed. There are various ways that that could be done, repeal and replace is one of them but we dont know what the replacement is. The ama clearly stated that we think that the American People should see what the proposed replacement is so that we can have effective discussion regard knowledge whether its better or worse than what we have now. There are many things in the Affordable Care act that could be fixed rather than replaced. The repeated claim behind this of course is that obamacare is collapsing. Do you see that . Well, theres no question that the markets which were created under the Affordable Care act need to be stabilized. Finally is president says were going to get through all this, were going to get a new health plan. Do you think that will happen . With will it take to get the ama on board . The ama stands ready, willing and eager to work with congress in order to get this right and to make it work for all americans. Again, do you think it will happen . I hope so. You do hope so even though you oppose what is on the table . Iope at the end of this process we have a Health Care System that works for everybody in america. Its already just need to make it work for us. Dr. Andrew gurman, president of the ama, thank you. Thank you for having me. Woodruff and to the analysis of shields and brooks. Thats syndicated columnist mark shields and New York Times columnist david brooks. Welcome, gentleman. Lets pick up on the conversation, david, that Jeffrey Brown was just having with the head of the american medical association. President trump is saying again Health Care Overhaul is moving along very well. Hes going to move through the house, what do you see as prospect . Im amazed that they did it first. Of all issues to tackle health scare probably the hardest one. And so every four or eight years some president , lets did health care first. It hurts them every single time. Whether the prospects of this bill are good i tend to doubt. It has very few fans in the senate. It has two wings of opposition which are in contradiction. What we call the coverage caucus who want more expensive bill that will cover more people. The Freedom Caucus wants less expensive bill to cover less. They have to win both of these groups. How do you do this when they are mutually contradictory. The senate is very daunting, youre asking the house members to vote for something that will take away coverage that already exist for a bill that probably doesnt have great prospects in the long run. I personally bet they get flew the house because its so hard to go against sitting president as his first major thing. I wouldnt want to bet on the event passage. Woodruff the main argument they are use knowledge gets closer to the vote is the political vote, you want go against your president. Its an argument that used in 1993, the democrats and bill clinton and his major budget and tax increase. Which, by the way, included a btu tax that house members voted on, it passed the house, very difficult vote and died in the senate. Several conservative democrats walked away from it left the house members with a vote that they really couldnt became politically mortal, tabling. I think the same thing is true here. And for good reasons, judy. The republicans, pledged in 20 2010, they pledged in 2012 and 2016 that was the one pledge they had, repeal obamacare. Really did take on almost a moral imperative or political imperative. But, judy, this is going to radically overhaul the Affordable Care act and medica medicaid. You heard dr. Gurman with his interview, reality is, providers are not going to provide coverage. Theyre not going toake on as patients people under medicaid because they wont have the money to pay for it. They are talking one figure that jumps out beyond all the questions of deductibles, 24 million 24 million americans, thats the congressional budget office, estimates. Republicans just recoil. That is the number that going to lose coverage. Lose coverage. That just is that is truly unforgivable. Its more indefensible i think politically indefensible. Woodruff youre talking about the bill as it sits in the house, in the senate almost certain to see changes. But which direction . First on the 24 million its a neat trick to do that because simply repealing obamacare would have taken coverage from 23 million. The replacement subtracts a million. Which is interesting trick. Republican party just hasnt figured out where it sits on this issue. I think you could have a very good flea market system modeled on switzerland, a lot of individual markets, pay people pay for their health care and cost and supply and demand pressures to get costs down, but you have to spend more to make it universal. You actually have to make it univsal. Republican party hasnt gotten it there. Probably would be extensive. Some of the wanted to go sort of in that direction, ted cruz, rand paul, want to go in the other direction. They just dont think its the governments job to be in the field of distribution. And this aca was very distribution is. The Republican Party hasnt figured it out or donald trump hasnt figured it out. He ampaigned as a populist, id be handing things to my people. And what this bill does is it takes things from the trump voters. The middle age people, 50 to 64 get hammered just above medicaid threshold. Working class they get hammered. So what is the one piece of the bill that has been there in all the versions is the tax cut for making over 250. Its a weirdly antidonald trump bill that he has gone along with because i think the House Republicans led the way. I cant argue with any point that david made. I just say, inconceivably, donald trump changed the face of the Republican Party, he carried 403 counties that voted for been barack obama. They were considerably more white than the country is, they were considerably less educated than they were struggling, working class. He has turned his back not simply on the health care, this bill does, but on the budget. It takes the have nots and it takes from the have nots and have lesses gives to the have mores, it is absolutely a robin hood in reverse budget. I just really to use davids word, hammers the very people who voted for him especially in rural areas in america. Woodruff what about the budget n. Just some things are mystifying. Why they eliminated the an matchian regional development. Why they severely cut the great lakes region, michigan, wisconsin. Why have to put those specific cuts in the budget, fine, republicans will try to get rid of cpb corporation, but why they have put those things, its mystifying. It seems to go in direct contradiction to everything he stood for in the course of the campaign. Theres a theory going around in Political Science has some resonance today, you have moments where you get Political Party has knows what they believe and they are all on board. Then periods of disruption where they are internally divided. The argument is jimmy carter was an example. The democrats shift away from old style liberalism, they were in ii nally divided. Donald trump is like jimmy carter he comes at a time when the Republican Party, that he himself is internally divided you get these weird contradiction of campaigning one way then governing in very opposite way. Woodruff both of you are saying the same thing, about the budget. No point in wrapping. Just as david, a congressional reporter in politico, they are turn their backs on republican endorsed programs. Jerry ford with Community Development grants. Bob dole pushed and champion of food aid, theyre going to cut that. It was Ronald Reagan found the money for heating cities tans for poor people. Its amazing. Same budget, that paul ryan passed in 2013, but then he was negotiating with democratic president because he wanted to get cuts in entitl entitlement h towards taming the budget deficits. But now hes got republican president , passing the same constant. I dont know where the pick up is. I was looking for the political philosophy that might be inherent in a budget. Some of them are just weird evee National Institutes of health. That is a an advance in scientific growth. Doesnt seem republican. They are investing in everything that is hard power. Theyre investing the military, homeland security, everything that is about threat and fear. They are disinvesting in everything that has to do with compassion, care, thinking, innovation. Its almost like emotionally consistent, just hardness and toughness and fear. And everything just just has to. Woodruff even some republicans are saying this is just the first shot from the white house. Well have our own crack at it. In the few minutes that we have left, mark, lets talk about the president continuing to double down on his intention that he was wiretapped by former president obama. He said it, he said it again today, his spokesman, sean spicer has come up with evidence they say at least cited news stories, British Government pushed back on one of the claims that sean spicer made yesterday. What does this say that this is something the president wont let go of in the face of almost universal lack of evidence. It is universal. When you lose president nunez the chairman of the woodruff republican. Been Donald Trumps apologi apologist, explained that donald trump was actually a political neophyte. This is a man who ran as you might disagree with him, judy, but you know what he says. He says what he believes and he believes what he says. He tells it like it is. And now were down to figuratively, literally, i dont care about he said this about the president of the United States. He cuesed the president , said it was a fact that the president of the United States did this. It was wrong. It was unfair. It was unjust. As unjust when he charged ted cruzs father had been involved in the assassination of president kennedy. First African American president was not an american, but now the president. Now hes president. It doesnt matter of the macho or vanity, when the president of the night states reassures allies, confounds the world, reassures the world, alarms people. I said last week, i do not believe when the crisis comes that theres going to be credibility for this man. Woodruff how do you explain . One thing that struck me this week donald trump is most talked about american in the history of our country. Wherever you go, people are talking about donald trump. And people abroad thats all anywhere in the world people talk about that. He does it in part through this. Through saying things and making criticized and but he is the center. The second thing he demonstrates through this, again im just trying to illustrate why y he got elected president , why these things dont seem to kill him. His first center of attention. Woodruff figuratively. Right, exactly. And the second is that force, he shows force. I was listening to talk radio today there is a lot of support for donald trump through that guy, is tough enough to stand against everybody and be forceful. He never withdraws, he never backs down, just force, force, force. Remember when Jeff Sessions recused himself from that investigation on the russia thing, trump report thely blew his top because it was withdrawal, legitimate step back but partial withdrawal. Trump is always forward, forward. Woodruff no sign of any change on that. David brooks, mark shields, thank you both, have a great weekend. Thank you, judy. Woodruff now, a new work from neil gaiman explores deities, dwarves and giants. Jeff is back with this otherworldly addition to the newshour bookshelf. Brown the mighty thor god of thunder, as portrayed by jack kirby in his 1960s comic book series. Oneeyed odin, highest and oldest of the gods, from Roger Lancelyn greens myths of the norsemen. I would have been six years ol i first encountered the, just the idea of these norse gods. The mighty thor and i looked, i remember looking at them and going this is amazing. brown these stories of the norse gods were read and absorbed by the young neil gaiman. Now 56, gaiman has sold more than 15 million books, as one of todays leading writers of fantasy and Science Fiction the clash of the very human and the otherworldly. The britishborn gaiman first gained fame for his comic book series, the sandman. He would go on to write much more in many genres, including novels such as neverwhere, american gods, and the ocean at the end of the lane. And hes now done his own retelling of the old tales, titled norse mythology. We spoke recently at scandinavia house in new york. Id encountered the stories of the greeks, even of the egyptians. You look at the supreme gods, the top gods. You look at zeus, you look at ra, and they are powerful and all wise and to be aspired to and yet here is odin and if he turns up at your house, hell probably turn up in disguise and you know, leave with half your cutlery, possibly having seduced your daughter. Yeah. These are unreliable people. When i started writing the stories and i started working on this book about four years ago, from my perspective, it was the joy of just going this is part of the heritage of the human race. Let me give it to a new generation. Brown so tell me what youre doing in this book, youre youre not, youre rewriting the myths, are you trying to i suppose i think about them as if im taking old folk songs and then perhaps orchestrating them, arranging them for modern ears. Im going back to the icelandic versions of these stories, that remain to us written in a post christian world. Picking the versions of the stories that i like, not changing things. Not creating in the sense of retelling. Retelling as if you were telling a joke you love but telling it for modern ears. Brown so you had some fun with this . I had a lot of fun with it. But what i didnt do is invent stories. Brown you write about these gods as though they are still with us to some degree and of course in your writing, thats a motif. Yep. Brown do you feel that . That the gods are with us . I feel like the gods are ours. And we are allowed, we created them. Human beings get to create gods and human beings get to tell stories with gods. We carry our cultures around with us. We carry our background around with us. We carry our histories and our families histories and our ancestors histories around with us. Brown gaiman himself has long been a kind of cult hero to his fans, who follow him and his work in progress on his blog and on twitter. Hes reached broader audiences with adaptations a film version of his novel, coraline. An Upcoming Television series based on american gods. And much more to come. For me its all part of the giant, same thing, which is storytelling. What fascinates me, what drives me is the urge to tell stories. What then drives you is going, where is this story best told . How can you tell this story as one thing . Sometimes how can you move this story from one medium into another . Brown you wrote about when you achieve some success the fear that youll be uncovered as a kind, what your wife called the fraud police, right . And you refer to it as the imposter syndrome, where this is all too good to be true. Absolutely, fearing that it will be taken away from you at any moment when people notice that you are simply making it up. And i guess its worse for a writer because you are simply making it up. Brown yeah, you really are. You know, you look around and you go well doctors, theyve at least learned things and you know, architects must know how to architect. But im just a guy who makes stuff up and people happen to like it and maybe tomorrow they wont like it and maybe there will be that knock on the door and there will be that guy in the suit with a clipboard saying right, were onto you. You have to go and get a real job now. Brown in the meantime, look out t norse mythology ends with ragnarok, the apocalyptic end of the world. One of the things that i love about ragnarok is yes, its the end of all times, its terrible, all of the people are killed. Everything is destroyed and yet, even as ragnarok finishes, youre told but, there are two human beings whose names are life and lifes yearning, who are still hiding successfully and they will repopulate the world. And yes, the sun is destroyed but a new sun with come up, fresher and brighter than the old one. Brown until then, from new york, im Jeffrey Brown for the pbs newshour. Woodruff and well be back shortly to hear a writers thoughts on how stories influence our beliefs. But first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. Its a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. Woodruff roughly 70 of the nations lettuce is grown in a california region known as the salad bowl of the world. Special correspondent cat wise traveled there last fall to see how farmers are using some new hightech innovations. Heres a second look. Reporter as the sun rose over the fertile land of Salinas Valley, california, one recent morning, a group of farm workers waited to sign in for their shift. Not on paper, as they normally do, but on an ipad, where an app has their name and job assignments already programmed in. They are using heavy connect, a new mobile communication app designed to help farm managers keep better track of equipment and personnel. And the team that developed it were out bright and early to check in one of their newest customers, farm manager sam brigantino, who works for a large grower called tanimura antle. Cofounder Jessica Gonzalez walked him through a new update. They see the times they worked, and if they had any breaks or meals, it would be in there. The jobs they did, here, the legal statement. I like the pull downs much better on this one. Basically, the functionality and flow are all the same. Its just an update to the u. I. Reporter an apps u. I. , or user interface, is not a typical topic of conversation on most farms. But scenes like this are becoming more common throughout salinas. Thats because theres a effort underway, by many in the community, to make this valley a bit more like a certain, hightech valley to the north. A very visible sign of that effort is this new silicon valleyesque office space. Its an incubator for agfocused startups that opened last december in downtown salinas. And its where heavy connect and a number of other Small Companies are now coding away, hoping to break into the 50 billionayear Fresh Produce industry. And thats just in california. We believe when it comes to agtech, if you can make it in Salinas Valley, youre going to be able to have a product that will be adopted globally. Reporter heavy connect cofounder Patrick Zelaya is a former john deere Sales Manager who has spent a lot of time with farmers. He says he started the company because he saw big need for a product that would help farmers get back something they have very little of time. In large scale farming, the job is 14 hours a day, six days a week. Whats not commonly known is that farmers spend more time on the administration, managing the operation, than they do farming. So, heavy connect provides farmers the ability to know whats going on in their farm, operationally, without having to be there. Reporter other companies here are working on a host of new products for soil testing, food safety, and crop monitoring. And on the day we visited, water was the focus. Good afternoon and welcome to western Growers Association for innovation and Technology Tech talk, with our guest, swimm system. Thank you, lisa. Reporter kevin france is heading up a company that aims to help farmers monitor and manage their water usage. Water management is a hot area for innovation, given californias ongoing drought. So what is swimm . We are your onfarm water accountant. We are like the quickbooks for ag water. Reporter dave puglia is an executive with the western Growers Association, a large trade group which is funding, and running, the new center. He says farmers want these innovations to succeed as much as the developers do. Farmers have been innovative from the dawn of time, but our own members recognized that the collision of forces that are impacting their ability to stay in business the regulatory pressures, the resource pressure, we have less water available, we have less of a workforce available to us. So this center is designed to bring the best of silicon valley, the best minds in technology and innovation, closer to the best farmers in the world, and speed the innovation that can solve those problems. Reporter the scenic Salinas Valley is less than an hours drive south of silicon valley, the Innovation Hub of the country. But in many ways, the two areas could not be more different. Unlike the high income, mostly white and asian population of silicon valley, Salinas Valley is about 75 hispanic. Many here work in the fields or packaging plants, jobs that are often hourly and lowpaying. There are pockets of extreme poverty, high crime, and poorly performing schools. And for the areas many young people, there are few economic opportunities. There arent the jobs yet for them. But we want to create that opportunity. Reporter ray corpuz is the city manager of salinas. He and other Community Leaders are very supportive of the new focus on technology, but he wants more of it to be home grown. Were looking for our citizens, our community, the people that live here to actually run the machines, provide the new applications, to make technological innovations. So we have to have a skilled workforce. Reporter that future, tech savvy workforce, is now being developed in this classroom. Binary search, remember, is that searching algorithm. Reporter these College Students are enrolled in a new, unique program. They will be earning a Computer Science degree in just three years. Half of that time is spent at the Salinas Community college, only 6 of the computer industry is women, only 3 are hispanic. Our classrooms . Majority hispanic. At least 50 of our students are women. Reporter zahi atallah is a dean of Academic Affairs at hartnell. Many of those students are the farm workers themselves, or kids of farm workers. Imagine what theyre bringing to the table, having the background of farming, having lived it themselves. Because they can create and innovate faster and more effectively. Reporter one of those using her past experiences in her career is heavy connects rivka garcia. Garcia was born and raised in salinas, and she worked in a produce processing plant, before graduating earlier year from the c. S. In 3 program. Shes now using all her skills, including coding, to help make the companys app more intuitive for those who will be using it. I work with a lot of people that didnt understand how to use technology. And creating an app that is easy to use, that wont confuse them and will get the job done, and will be really similar to what they do on paper, but is more efficient, is, i think, a big thing i bring to the table. Reporter the heavy connect team is now working on a new app feature that will allow farmers to monitor their equipment using bluetooth sensors, and garcia is leading that project. For the pbs newshour, im cat wise in salinas, california. Woodruff finally tonight, atlantic magazine writer derek thompson, author of the recent book hit makers, looks at how stories help us understand and even change the way we see the world. Its the latest installment of in my humble opinion. Have a listen. One thing i learned writing a book about pop culture hits in entertainment is that stories are weapons, for good or ill. Movies like frozen can teach us inclusiveness. Movies like 1915s the birth of a nation can teach us prejudice. For example, take one of the most ancient and universal myths vampires. For hundreds of years, people didnt understand death or disease. Why did people get sick in bunches . Why did people often die after friends . So, all over the world, different civilizations made up the same story death comes from the dead. Before the 1800s, the belief in vampires stretched from transylvania to china. Albanian vampires ate intestines, while their indonesian brethren drank blood. In eastern europe, they discriminated against people they thought might become vampiresincluding the disabled, atheist, and even seventh children. Today we know germs exists and vampires do not. Its tempting to say it was just a stupid story. But the truth is that vampires were a perfect story. It didnt just explain the mystery of death. Even more, it explained the chaos of life with a spectacular tale that empowered villagers by telling them that everybody had the capacity to fight evil with potions, garlic, prayers, chastity, stakes, swords, and fire. Weve come a long way since vampires. Or have we . Even today, society is bound by the stories that we tell each other. In an office, loud women are bossy, but loud men are assertive. An outspoken white friend is authoritative, but an outspoken black person is threatening. Are men smarter than women . Or whites smarter than other races . There is no scientific basis for these ideas. They are stories that had to be invented, constructed, told, and believed. From the time we are children, we hear stories about the way the world ought to workwho should we trust . Who should we fear . These are social narratives, passed down like bedtime stories, across generations, telling us how to live and what to expect. Science finally killed the folk belief in vampires. But how do we drive a stake through misogyny and prejudice . History is full of men and women who successfully championed justice and equal rights. Empathy and equality are powerful stories. They need equally powerful storytellers. Woodruff on the newshour online right now, its a startling image that has spread quickly across the internet a syrian man sitting in his bombedout bedroom in aleppo, listening to music from a record player. We talked to the photographer who captured the moment of reverie. Find that on our web site, pbs. Org newshour. Later tonight on washington week, the white house sparks an International Incident by suggesting British Intelligence helped the Obama Administration wiretap trump tower. Why is the president doubling down on his unsubstantiated allegations . Find out tonight on washington week. On pbs newshour weekend tomorrow, an interview with the director of newtown, a documentary about resilience after the mass shooting at a connecticut elementary school. Woodruff thats tomorrow thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Have a great weekend. Thank you and good night. Its hard not to feel pride as a citizen of this country when were in a place like this. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. 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