Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20170605

Woodruff also ahead, our politics monday team is here to talk about the new storm President Trump has kicked up over his proposed travel ban and its fate in the courts. 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. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff 18 victims still in critical condition. The numbers headline the days developments in the London Bridge attack that killed seven people saturday night. Malcolm brabant is in london, and filed this report. Reporter police were in action in east london again this morning, raiding an apartment complex and a tire shop, detaining more people in the wake of saturdays attack. We have hundreds and hundreds of officers engaged in trying to piece together whether anybody else knew about the attack or planned or supported it in any way at all. Reporter the three attackers were shot dead saturday night, minutes after they drove a van into people on London Bridge, and went on a stabbing spree. Today, officials named two of them 27yearold Khuram Shazad butt was a british citizen born in pakistan. Rachid redouane claimed both libyan and moroccan nationality. Butt was known to the authorities as an extremist. Last night the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, campaigning for britains thursday general election resumed today. Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn called for conservative Prime Minister theresa may to resign. May fired back, in an interview. Weve given increased powers to the police to be able to deal with terrorists. Powers which Jeremy Corbyn has boasted he has always opposed. Reporter london mayor sadiq khan, also a labor party figure, criticized may for downsizing Police Forces when she was home secretary. We have had to close police stations, sell Police Buildings and weve lost thousands of police staff. Reporter khan himself drew criticism from across the atlantic. Yesterday, the mayor told londoners theres no reason to be alarmed by the increased Police Presence in the city. President trump then fired off a tweet that said at least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and mayor of london says there is no reason to be alarmed theres history here khan criticized candidate trump last year for his proposed travel ban, and the candidate challenged him to an i. Q. Test. The mayor did not respond to sundays tweet, but many argued the president took him out of context. Mr. Trump followed up this morning, saying pathetic excuse by london mayor sadiq khan who had to think fast on his no reason to be alarmed statement. Main stream media is working hard to sell it a white house spokeswoman followed up there is a reason to be alarmed. We have constant attacks going on not just there but across the globe and we have to start putting National Security and Global Security at an all time high. Reporter forensics officers carefully searched for evidence again today, but some semblance of normalcy returned. Pedestrians and cars were allowed across London Bridge. But around three of the citys iconic bridges, the stepped up security was unmistakable. On westminster bridge, where tourists line up to take pictures of parliament and big ben, overnight, they installed steel barriers between the road and the sidewalk. There was resistance to the move, but officials moved quickly to get the protection in place. At lambeth bridge, next to westminster, its still a work in progress, as theres only one barrier in place on the north bound side. At least one former high ranking security official said islamic extremists should be placed in internment camps. But maajid nawaz, a leading anti radicalization expert warns against them. Internment is a prepestrous suggestion. And in fact will only make the problem worse. If we recognize this is a jihadist insurgency then we have to recognize that we have to succeed in being able to isolate the jihadist insurgents from the communities they seek to recruit. Reporter and moderate muslim spokesman mustafa field also believes in Community Based deradicalization programs. Its these low level cowardly attacks that are now seeping through. There is nothing sophisticated about what they are doing. We need to make sure that our polities Bring Community together and that we Work Together to confront this evil ideology. Reporter this evening the city of london held a vigil to honor the People Killed in the attack. This vigil which has been designed to send a message of solidarity and love from londoners is breaking up right thereve been about 5,000 people here. Theres been a minute of silence. And the atmosphere right now appears to be calm and relaxed. But nevertheless the police are on high alert and right behind me theres a man being frisked. For now, the threat level in britain remains at severe. That means an attack is still highly likely. For the pbs newshour, im Malcolm Brabant in london. Woodruff in the days other news, saudi arabia and other arab states cut all ties with qatar, sending the Persian Gulf Region into a new crisis. They accused the tiny oil state of supporting terror groups and embracing iran. U. S. Military officials said the crisis will not affect the 10,000 american troops in qatar. Well take a closer look, right after the news summary. President trump will not invoke executive privilege to block former f. B. I. Director james comey from testifying before congress this week. A white house spokesman said today mr. Trump decided he wants to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts. Its been reported comey will say the president pressured him to stop investigating campaign ties to the russians. The president today endorsed a push to privatize the nations air Traffic Control system. He said he wants an independent, organization to oversee operations and upgrade technology, separate from the federal aviation administration. At the white house, the president said millions of u. S. Travelers stand to benefit. Were proposing reduced wait times, increased route efficiency and far fewer delays. Our plan will get you where you need to go more quickly, more reliably, more affordably. And yes for the first time in a long time on time. Woodruff democrats quickly rejected the plan. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called it a tired republican plan that both sides of the aisle have rejected. Tragedy today at an awning factory outside orlando, florida. The local sheriff says a man whod been fired from the plant in april shot and killed five people, then killed himself. John Robert Neumann was armed with a handgun and hunting knife. Investigators say he slipped into the giant factory through a rear door. In mexico, the ruling party held a slim lead today in the race to control the countrys most populous state. The p. R. I. s candidate for governor of mexico state narrowly led a leftist challenger, with nearly all the votes counted in sundays election. A victory could boost president enrique pena nieto, who has singledigit approval numbers, and faces reelection next year. The u. S. Supreme court agreed today to hear a major privacy case involving cellphone data. At issue is whether police need a warrant to access data about a phones location. Wireless carriers receive thousands of such requests each year. So far, lower courts have ruled for the police. And on wall street, the Dow Jones Industrial average lost 22 points to close at 21,184. The nasdaq fell 10 points, and the s p 500 slipped three. Still to come on the newshour diplomatic relations cut off between qatar and several middle east nations. The implications for the u. S. On the ground in venezuela with an economy in freefall. Our politics monday duo on the president s travel ban, and much more. Woodruff for more than 35 years, the socalled gulf cooperation council, or g. C. C. Has united kuwait, saudi arabia, bahrain, qatar, the United Arab Emirates and oman. The goal to put the wealthy, predominantlysunni nations of the persian gulf behind common cultural, political and military objectives. But overnight, longsimmering tensions between qatar and several of its fellow members, and other regional states, burst into fullfledged diplomatic crisis. Saudi arabia, bahrain, the u. A. E. And egypt, among others, broke off diplomatic contact and suspended commercial ties with the qatari government. For more on these dramatic developments im joined by joyce karam, the Washington Bureau chief of alhayat, an International Arabic daily newspaper. Joyce, thank you very much for being with us. Why did this happen . Well, as you said, judy, this is a very dramatic escalation. We have been covering tense relations between qatar and saudi arabia and the u. A. E. For a while, but its never gotten to the point where theyre not only closing embassies, sealing off the border, blocking airspace and maritime access to qatar. Qatar, as you know, is a country smaller than the state of connecticut. Its a completely dependent for its Food Supplies for 40 of its food splice come from saudi arabia. So this is dramatic, unprecedented escalation. It comes at a time wit when we e told both the saudis and the emirateys have had enough. Almost every alignment in the region, there are two camps today, if you want to say. Theres the pro Islamist Movement camps where qatar is now boxed in, and the more closer to this administration, the saudi and the emirate and the egyptian camp, and this is where things are going from here. Woodruff were hearing these five countries are saying qatar is too extremist, that its been sponsoring terrorism. The cathe qataris say thats no. Whats really going on . This asliement in the region was arab spring in 2011. Qatar today is seen leaders from hamas, taliban and will be host ago wellknown extremist in the region for an islamic cleric. So, in that sense, qatar is seen as scrr closed, has boxed itself in with these Islamist Movements and this has been a problem with its relations with egypt, with saudi arabia and with the emirates, and is perceived as a clash within the g. C. C. Whether forward or counterterrorism or other. Woodruff we know the countries ac suing qatar have themselves at times supported some of the extremist Opposition Forces in syria, for example, so is it so clear that qatar is doing Something Different from what these other countries have been doing. I think syria is a very complicated battleground, but if you look at syria itself, the main group is affiliated with al quaida and is supported by qatar. Its the head of a group that gives interviews on aljazeera that qatar might have indirectly paid a ransom of 1 billion that went to extremists on and in surria. So this has become problematic within the g. C. C. They do feel bolstered after the trump visit to do more on that front. Woodruff because its true this happened just a week or two after President Trump was there insaudi arabia. But lets quickly talk, joyce, about how this affects the region and relations with the u. S. Going forward. This is a very tense time in the region. This is an almost arab cold war happening within the gulf cooperation council. I think the u. S. Tried to distance itself today. The pentagon related hits defense relations with qatar, an air bass thats active, a counterterrorist will be not pim acted by this. The kuwaitis are trying to mediate and find a Common Ground in the coming hours. If they can achieve a breakthrough, you know, given the list of demands that saudi arabia and the u. A. E. Have put together, maybe that means the citizens of qatar will not be expelled from this country. Woodruff is there fear this could lead to allout war . I dont think any side at this point is in order a military confrontation and i think qatar, given its a small country, and most of qatars strategic depth is within the gulf region, i dont think qatar has an alternative but to fix this with its neighbors. A saudi official tells me the only way there would be an exit is if qatar went away and, you know, forgot its old habits. So were looking theyre looking at a change of behavior from qatar, not just demands as it happened in 2014. Woodruff joyce karam, tough subject. Very tough subject. We appreciate it, with al hayat. Thank you so much. Wooduff after years of recession, skyrocketing inflation, and hardship, the oilrich country of venezuela is spiraling into social and economic collapse. Many of its people have been taking to the streets, on an almost daily basis for the last two months, to demand that president Nicolas Maduro step down. With the support of the Pulitzer Center for crisis reporting, special correspondent nadja drost and videographer Bruno Federico went to caracas to find out how the wave of uprisings is creating a political crisis. Reporter venezuela today an economy in freefall. Tripledigit inflation. Dire shortages of nearly everything, from food to medicine. The social and economic crisis that started intensifying after president Nicolas Maduro took over from his iconic predecessor hugo chavez is tailspinning into a political one, as Anti Government protests rock the capital, caracas. Chavismo, the populist form of socialism branded by chavez that provided services for the poor paid for by profits from the Worlds Largest oil reserves, is teetering on the verge of collapse. Behind us is a sea of angry venezuelans who have been taking to the streets since early april, protesting the government and its handling of this countrys deepening crisis. But now that president maduro is pushing ahead with his controversial plan to convene a Citizens Assembly and write up a new constitution, opposition protesters say that a new constitution will consolidate government power and severely shrink the political space for the opposition, making the translated we need a solution to problems that venezuelans confront every day, like shortages, insecurity, reporter but the streets have turned violent. Since early april, over 60 people have been killed and 1,000 injured as a result of protestrelated violence. Most protestors march peacefully, but a violent minority has prompted the government to call them terrorists. An intensifying crackdown has led to more than 2,500 arrests. Many of them are represented by attorney jorge ramos who runs a Legal Assistance group called the venezuelan penal forum. Ramos says theres a benefit for the government to detain people and the benefit is intimidating these specific groups of society, why . Not to demonstrate, not to say things about the government. Reporter but even intimidation tactics cant seem to quell the discontent of so many venezuelans, as the crisis bleeds into every aspect of life. Lisbeth vieras has worked for nine years as a taxi driver shuttling passengers to and from the caracas airport to support herself, her son and daughter glorybeth. She was never a fan of chavez nor maduro, but now that tourism and Business Travel has plummeted, she blames the government for sending the economy down the tube. translated there are a lots of changes. Two years ago, we could make three to four daily runs. Today, only one. Reporter now, vieras can barely cover the cost of food and her daughters law studies at university. But her daughters still studying, luckier than others. translated i have peers who cant pay for University Tuition and have to withdraw from their studies. Its more important to eat in this situation, than to study. Reporter as venezuelas crisis deepens, the chorus of voices calling for change grows. Michael penfold, a University Professor in caracas and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson center, says that chavismo is failing to understand that political and Economic Conditions have changed. But the problem is that this revolution which right now holds a minority is running the country as if they still held a majority and as if they still had this hegemonic sort of impulse of Controlling Society and controlling institutions. Reporter opponents have protested delayed Regional Elections and the attempt to strip authority from the oppositionheld congress. But maduros decree to create a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution, a move they fear will favor only his priorities, was the last straw. This resident of a caracas barrio says it is yet another political distraction. translated you see a lot of problems here, and we know that this man is inventing fictions, instead of looking for solutions, hes looking to entrench himself in power. We dont want this, what we want are solutions in my family, five people have left the country. Fleeing what theres crime, you dont know when you leave when youll come back, i spent 18 hours to buy four pounds of cornflour, 18 hours. Thats not human. Reporter it isnt, but she has a roof over head, which is more than this group of people who find themselves living on the streets, scavenging for food amidst the garbage. It is a desperate, but organized activity they know the schedule of the garbage truck, and wait at restaurants exactly when the garbage is taken out, carry the bags over to the riverside, and comb through it. Pedro, who didnt want to be identified by his last name, used to work as a graphic designer, but cant find work. translated i found myself short of money when i was renting a room, and the solution was the streets. Reporter he says more and more people join them everyday. translated everyone who comes here arrives skinny, and gains weight because in reality, we eat. People may say that we eat garbage but now, many of them envy us because we have something in our stomachs, and reporter as more venezuelans find themselves in dire situations, more are pulled towards political groups in the opposition coalition, in search of a response to the crisis, like the voluntad popular party. At its helm, is freddy guevara, one of several young opposition members of congress who are playing a key role in organizing the antigovernment marches. translated weve reached the point where all constitutional doors have been closed on us. And thats pushed everyone to head out into the streets. Reporter for guevara and other hardline government opponents, it all comes down to one central demand that maduro leave. translated there is no way to solve all these problems with Nicolas Maduro at the head. Reporter at home in a high rise complex of free housing built under chavez, Darwuin Hernandez fears a new government would turn their back on the interests of the poor, in particular. translated what has the revolution and socialism given me . Well, this humble home where i am, thanks to god first and to chavez. And to maduro. Its what i always wanted, a decent home. Nothing else. Reporter professor penfold says the opposition should not underestimate the power of chavismo. I dont think that you can move out of this situation without an important fracture happening within the government coalition. Reporter guevara and the opposition hope to weaken its also a country, and i have to say this, with horror, that can not stay in the situation it is for a longer time. Reporter taxi driver can hardly cope with reporter taxi driver vieras can hardly cope with worries over the chaos and insecurity, and her kids. translated she, for example, she escapes and goes off to marches. mama, if i tell you im going to the protest, you wont let me go. reporter vieras knows that when her daughter runs off to marches, she always takes her cap, its become her way of checking in on her daughters whereabouts. translated i call her brother and say, go to her room and see if the hat is there. translated i understand her as a mother how it would be to receive a call that your daughter is dead or your daughter was attacked. but even so, sometimes i go to the protests. Reporter in fact, she goes several times a week, helping her university peers who are often injured on the front line. translated here, he who tires, loses. And were going to keep going until were able to get out of this. Reporter for the pbs newshour, reporting with Bruno Federico, im nadja drost in caracas. Woodruff stay with us, coming up on the newshour, Comedian Bill Cosby heads to trial. And a man who has learned to live a full life, without limbs. But first, to a part of the trump agenda that the Administration Still cannot implement his travel ban. The revised version of the ban remains on hold, by federal court order, and the president , this morning, aired out his grievances once again. John yang reports. Yang this afternoon, the White House Deputy press secretary said it doesnt matter what President Trumps executive order on immigration is called. I think that the president isnt concerned with what you call it, hes concerned with National Security, and protecting people in this country. Yang this morning, the president was very concerned, stating people, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want but i am calling it what we need and what it is, a travel ban in fact, it his own aides who refused to call it that. Its not a travel ban. Its a its a vetting system to keep america safe. Thats it, plain and simple. Its not a travel ban, remember. Its the travel pause. What the president said, for 90 days, we were going to pause in terms of people from those countries coming to the United States that would give me time to look at additional vetting yang mr. Trump also slammed his own Justice Department, saying it should have stuck with the original executive order, not the watered down, politically correct current version, even though it was the president himself who revoked the original version when he signed the new one. Mr. Trump has asked the Justice Department to seek a Quick Supreme Court hearing to reinstate the order after lower courts blocked it from taking effect. Now, its up to the justices to decide how quickly theyll act. For the pbs newshour, im john yang. Woodruff separately theres word tonight the f. B. I. Has arrested a federal contract employee on charges of leaking a secret document on Russian Election hacking. Ncb news reports a georgia woman allegedly gave the National Security Agency Document to the intercept, an online magazine. It says it shows Russian Military intelligence engineered a cyberattack on at least one u. S. Supplier of Voting Software last year. Hackers also tried to dupe Elections Officials into handing over login credentials. Its the first evidence moscow tried to go beyond swaying Public Opinion and interfere in election machinery. For more on all this and more we turn to politics monday and amy walter of the cook political record and tamera keith of npr. So, amy and tam, this is a story that has just been breaking literally within the last hour. We learned about this online magazine, amy, a few hours ago, but now were learning about the arrest. If it is the case that the russians were able to in some way interfere or get close to interfering with the machinery of an election, what does that mean . Well, thats just one more piece of what has been this neverending puzzle called the russian impact on this election, and whats difficult about sifting through all of this, judy, its a little bit like one of those games where theres a picture made up of a lot of different tiles. You dont know what that picture is until you flip over all the tiles to get the picture. All were getting the one tile here and there and over here, so we have little pieces but we dont know what th the big picte is and i dont know well ever find out. Then put on top of it the politics, whether its the president saying he doesnt know if the russians interfered in this, the push by democrats to politicize a lot of this, including Hillary Clinton who says that the russian interference cost her the election, and, now, of course, we have james comey the f. B. I. Director coming to the hill to talk more about this thursday. Woodruff speaking of which, tam, the white house announced today, as we reported, that the president is not going to step in and exert what we call executive privilege to prevent james comey from doing that. No, there was a question as to whether they could actually assert that privilege and whether theyd succeed but, yes, theyre saying the president will not do that. Theyre also saying there is a question politically whether it was a good idea to prevent comey from testifying because it would cause poem too say what is he hiding. Woodruff and people are saying if the president did that, it would be explosive. Absolutely. Let me him testify and respond to it. If you block him from testifying in the first place, the first place is, of course, the white house has something to hide, thats why they dont want him to testify. Woodruff lets go back to the storm of tweets you heard. Yang reporting on. Doubling down on the original travel ban, i dont care what anybody calls it, i dont like the travel ban and i dont like what the Justice Department did and so on and so on. Duds he hem himself with this or is there some risk . Many lawyers would say stop talking, those lawyers include George Conway who is somebody who was up for a highlevel job in the Justice Department, pulled out last week, happens to be the husband of kellyanne conway, said in a series of tweets, basically, the president s tweets may make people feel good but they are not helping his legal case. Also the lawyer who is representing hawaii in one of these cases that has led to the travel ban being blocked essentially said, wow, thank you, President Trump, youre certainly helping us. Didnt realize you were going to be cocounsel. And part of the reason the courts did not enact the travel ban in the first place was based on statements that trump made on the campaign trail. So it is clear his own words have made this hat much more difficult, that the actual text of the ban is as much an issue as what he said in his campaign about wanting to ban muslims and now going to twitter and also making the case against himself. So he has made it that much harder to get beyond just the text of this. Woodruff and on top of all this, at the same time, kellyanne conway, who we mentioned a moment ago, because her husband was tweeting criticism of the president , was telling reporters this morning just dont Pay Attention to the tweets, that you should with focused on what the president is getting done. Why focus on the tweets, she says . Well, because they are statements of the president of the United States and, when the president of the United States says something, it matters. Now, sometimes his statements come on letterhead from the white house saying this is an official statement of the president of the United States, but the reality is often he goes on twitter and contradicts things that are reason the official letterhead, and really his tweets are this unprecedented access to what is in the mind of the president of the United States. It is unfiltered. His spokeswoman was asked today are these tweets being vetted yet . Are lawyers vetting the tweets . She said, i dont think so. So actually, this is what the president thinks. Would it be any different if he says it on twitter, in a press conference or official letterhead . Woodruff and i should say we at the newshour view the tweets as another form of statement from the president at the white house. There are official statements, executive orders, a number of other ways they can give interviews and make speeches and twitter is another way of those methods. And when he was a private citizen, its very different than when he is president of the president of the United States. Doesnt matter what he says or the venue, it carries the weight of the president of the United States. It carries the weight of being the leader of this country. I think he considers the tweets to be sort of a direct message to his base, whereas the more official statements are to a wider audience. I think he sees the tweets with as going around the media and directly to the base. Everybody is watching including leaders around the world. Woodruff everybody is watching who focuses on this administration. Tam, meantime, the white house was trying to today to regroup. They said this was going to be infrastructure week. They had a briefing for the news media where they said well focus on a plan to pour a lot of effort and money into rebuilding the nations infrastructure. Its not clear about the details or cost but theyre trying to change the ujts. Irvegdz is going well. It started with the president tweeting at 6 00 in the morning about something completely unrelated to infrastructure, but they did announce a proposal on privatizing air Traffic Control. The president sent a memo to congress saying these are ideas he supports. That is a memo signing, not a bill signing. Woodruff so regrouping. And for President Trump, this should be his biggest, most powerful statement, he with was elected to congress as a businessman, a dealmaker, a builder of things to put together an infrastructure bill that democrats, republicans can agree on, that he can promote. This should be one to have the easiest things for him to do. Yet by his own tweet and this bill as it stands is not going to get support from democrats. Its app infrastructure bill an infrastructure bill at this point. Woodruff well keep watching. Amy, tam. Thank you. Thank you. Woodruff the trial of comedian and Actor Bill Cosby got underway in pennsylvania today. Cosby, who is now 79, has been accused by more than 40 women of Sexual Assault over the course of decades. His legacy has been under heavy attack in recent years. But the charges are old and in many cases, the statute of limitations has run out. The pennsylvania trial is the only one to go to criminal court. If convicted, cosby could face prison time. William brangham has the story. Brangham this case dates back to 2004 when cosby is alleged to have assaulted Andrea Constand, who was then an employee at temple universitys basketball program. Prosecutors say cosby drugged and assaulted her at his home. Cosby has said he had a consensual, extrmarital relationship with her, and has denied all the allegations of assault by numerous other women. Cosby, who starred as a father and family man in his popular 80s sitcom, arrived at court today with actress Keisha Knight pulliam, who played his daughter on the cosby show Maryclaire Dale of the Associated Press has long been covering these charges. She filed the motion that unsealed an older deposition cosby gave in a civil suit thats a key piece of evidence in this trial. She joins me now from outside the courthouse in norristown, pennsylvania. Maryclaire, thank you very much for being here. Uh wonder if you could tell us, first off, from the prosecutions stance in Opening Statements today, lay out the case they laid out against cosby today. Right. The case opened very strong today, lawyers on both sides came out swinging. The prosecution started by talking about the key issues in the case drugs, sex and the issue of consent. They said that the accuser in this case, Andrea Constand, could not have given consent in the case given that cosby by his own words in his own deposition acknowledges giving her three blue pills before he went with her on a couch and molested her, in her words. Of course, he says they had consensual sex acts on the couch that night, but the prosecution says she was frozen, paralyzed by the pills he gave her, unable to stop him, resist, refuse or give consent. Brangham and from the Opening Statements on cosbys defense, whats the sense on how theyre going to try to rebut these allegations . Theyre pointing out discrepancies if the womens various statements over time saying the details have changed, the dates have changed. In fact, for example, in the constand statement to police, she initially recalled the incident occurring in march of 2004 but later told investigators it was january of 2004. So theyre pointing out, you know, time disprepcies, other details, and theyre saying that those women had consensual relationships with cosby. They said that cosby and Andrea Constand had a romantic relationship that spans at least several evenings, that she had gone to the casino in connecticut with him on one trip, had been with him on several nights for various social occasions and, again, it was a romantic, consensual relationship. The prosecution says there is no way she could give consent after taken these bills. Brangham Andrea Constands case is echoed by dozens of women over the years who said bill cosby did several similar acts to them. Todays case was one of these other women. Can you tell us what she testified to today . Yeah, the first witness called by prosecutors was what we call a prior bad act accuser. Her name is kelly johnson. She works for cosbys agency at the William Morris agency in the 90s. She describes where h she was beckoned to cosbys bungalow at the Bel Air Hotel in about 1996 and says he forced her to take a white pill and that she says left her, again, dizzy, falling in and out of consciousness. She says she later woke up, hours later, perhaps the next morning, on a bed with cosby where he was forcing her to do a sex act. But she says she tried to resist the pill, put it under her tong, only to have him look under her tong and force her to swallow it. She said she thought she would lose her job. The defense questioned her timing. They say there is a deposition that exists in a Workers Compensation lawsuit she filed where she said show went to the hotel with cosby in 1990. So six years apart open that. They questioned her on other details. For instance, they said, didnt cosby give you 400 for your grandmothers doctors appointment . She did not testify to that. She says she never remembers him giving her money, though she remembers him referring her grandmother to a doctors appointment. So theyre pointing out inconsistencies, some small, maybe less small in their statements, while the prosecution says youre going to have to focus on the man and the actor on tv and the roles he created. Brangham i understand cosby wont be testifying but in an earlier deposition he gave you helped unearth i understand will be a key piece of evidence. Can you tell us what is in that deposition . Right. It was a deposition he gave in 2005 and 2006 when Andrea Constand filed a civil lawsuit after prosecutors, at the time, decided not to charge cosby in the case. So in that deposition, cosby says he, again, acknowledges having a long series of relationships with young women, actresses, waitressesserring flight attendants, various women. He says he considers them to be consensual. Many of those women now have come forward to say they believe they were dugd and molested. One of the big highlights from the deposition was cosby acknowledging that in the 70s he got quaaludes, a very powerful sedative the u. S. Banned, he says he obtained them from his doctor, at least several prescriptions, got them in his own name but collected them to give to women before sex, and that was one of the things that led prosecutors in 20 is a, when this came to light, to reopen the case and realized they still had time to charge cosby. They arrested him days before the statute of limitations ran in late 2015. Brangham Maryclaire Dale of the Associated Press. Thank you so much. Woodruff and well be back shortly to kick off a series on living with disabilities, starting with the inspirational story of a man who has learned to drive, swim, and fly airplanes, all without arms and legs. 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 for those stations still with us, opera lovers were shocked when a New York Times profile of renowned soprano Renee Fleming suggested she was nearing the end of her storied career. In fact, her life in the music world is far from over. Just this past weekend, fleming partnered with the director of the National Institutes of health to explore the connections between music and health during an event at washington, d. C. s Kennedy Center. Its one example of the many projects fleming plans to take on in the coming years, as she recently told Jeffrey Brown in new york. Brown it is perhaps Renee Flemings most renowned role the marschallin, a beautiful but aging noblewoman who loves and loses a much younger man, in Richard Strauss opera, der rosenkavalier. This has been my home house since 1992, and. Brown its a pretty good place to be. People ask me, well, when people said where do you like to sing the most i always said the met, because it was my home. Brown this may be the last time Renee Fleming sings this opera, after some 70 performances over more than two decades. But lets make one thing clear this diva is not departing. No, no, no. Thats a very exciting headline, and certainly im saying goodbye to the marschallin and to the bulk of the repertoire that ive sung at the met. So thats already a sad farewell, and a timely one. But it doesnt change my schedule very much. Im in great voice. Im a lifelong gregarious experiencer of new things. Brown now 58 and the mother of two adult daughters, fleming will continue to perform in concerts on stages around the world. And shes eager to work with composers writing new works, including one by kevin puts with words drawn from letters of artists georgia okeefe. Shes even stepping onto a new stage this fall, making her Broadway Musical debut in carousel, which she sang for president obamas first inauguration. But shes also taken on new off stage roles, including as creative consultant to the lyric opera of chicago, and toi polyphony, a Group Bringing together jewish and arab children in israel through music. And shes participating in a project with the National Institutes of health and the Kennedy Center to study the influence of music on the brain. When you start out, the ambition is powerful, and its a driving force, and you have a lot to accomplish to get there, just to get to the top. And at this point i think its a really wonderful place to begin to think about, okay what do i want to do now . How do i want to spend my time . Brown the daughter of two music teachers in rochester, new york, fleming first gained attention in the late 80s, and then widespread fame in the 90s, performing a variety of roles in leading opera houses around the world. She also became the rare classical singer to crossover into popular culture. Singing David Lettermans top ten list, performing the National Anthem at super bowl 48, and, of course, serving as host for pbss great performances. welcome too our premiere performance. Brown age, she told me, does bring changes. One is the dearth of roles for her voice in the opera repertoire. Im a lyrc soprano. Theyre young women. Theyre sort of between the ages of 17 and 25. And so even if my voice can still sing these roles really well, which some of them i can still sing, its sort of, does it really make sense in the day of hd broadcasts, in the day of people really expecting a visual experience as well. Brown what happens to your voice as you get older . You dont have the resilience, the physical resilience. So if i sing a big performance i dont want to do it again the next day. Its like we are the weight lifters of singers, and so. Brown the iweight lifters means . We are, because its power imagine 4,000 seats, an orchestra, and a chorus, and we have to be heard over that. No amplification. Youre young you can keep doing it, and doing it and doing it. Brown so part of it is just the sheer physicality of. Absolutely, the power, exactly. Brown shes experimented with different kinds of music, making a rock album, dark hope. And shes curated festivals celebrating the diversity of american voices. So many projects, so much presence. So it was striking to hear, as she showed me costumes from der rosenkavalier, how several bouts with stage fright almost derailed her career. That same voice that drives you to achieve, and to get better, is also sometimes telling you youre not good enough. Brown doubts. If you dont feel that you can do it, or you feel that people are judging you too harshly, it can quickly spiral into a situation where you dont want to be on stage at all. Brown and now when i watch you, you dont feel that anymore, do you . I love it. I love it, because getting through that the last time i just said, no, i am grateful to be here. Brown now, Renee Fleming says, she wants to use her celebrity to impart lessons shes learned, including the value of the arts for all americans. As we looked at portraits of some of the mets greatest stars, including fleming herself, she showed me a photo a fan had given her, of the would be diva in a 7th grade theater production. This was my first musical, i was Eliza Doolittle in my fair lady. Brown do you remember that girl . Yeah, yes, and partly because she looks so much like one of my daughters. Thats sort of a shock. But its interesting, because i see the shyness is there, and that need to sort of somehow get out of myself, and i think performance was a way of doing that. Brown one last performance in this role, with many more to come. For the pbs newshour, im Jeffrey Brown at the metropolitan opera. Woodruff this week were going to take a look at a special series about living with disabilities from our network of Student Reporting Labs around the country. The series, called limitless, includes more than 30 stories written, filmed and edited entirely by middle and high school students. Tonight, we learn about ryan hudsonperalta, a web designer in detroit who was born with congenital limb deficiency. The video was produced by his son, noah and the Student Reporting Lab at frederick v. Pankow Center High School in clinton, michigan. We kind of figured he was here for a purpose. Everyone in the world is going to know his name. He is different than anybody else. Theres no better word than inspirational. So he inspires everyone. He inspires me. Ryan has taught me how to not worry about the past, dont focus on the future, but enjoy every moment of the present. My name is Ryan Hudson Peralta. I was born with a disability called congenital limb deficiency which is basically the shortening of the arms and legs. And in my case i was born without hands. When i was born the doctor told my parents that i would never drive a car or go to a regular school they said id never have a family so yeah everyone pretty much doubted me when i was a kid. Well after ryan was born the doctor wouldnt show me him and all of a sudden they covered up the mirror and they told my husband hey mr. Peralta please leave the room and i didnt understand why. I said why wheres my baby and i wanted to see my baby and i kind of went into shock and they told me something was wrong with his arm and then something was wrong with his leg. I said well well let you see him in a little bit. I just looked at his face and said, hes a fighter. I think i saw Ryan Hudson Peralta before i heard about him and i asked somebody is he working for us whats he doing and somebody said well hes a designer and the first thing you ask yourself well how does a man who doesnt have limbs design stuff on the computer. Well, thats really just the first question because then you see Everything Else he does and you keep asking how does he do that, how does he do that and sooner or later you stop asking the question because he just figures out a way to do it and its truly remarkable to me and very shocking and also inspirational at the same time. Ive never heard him complain about nothing and he has to work twice as hard to do daily tasks, like to send a text message or just anything and he never complains about that, at all, nothing. As a kid i started to draw with my pencil between my feet and then i really realized one day that its going to be pretty tough when i go into a bank and have to hop up on the counter to sign the sign the deposit slip so i moved the pencil from my feet to my chin and shoulder and is started to draw that way. 2013 i started working for quicken loans and their family of companies as a web and Internet User interface designer and about nine months after working there i got an email from dan gilberts team for me to speak at these events he has about every month. We wanted ryan to talk about his philosophy and how that plays out through him and his story and he does a great job because again for everyone in the audience its probably the first time seeing ryan and hes such a unique individual that every time people see him and see hes just a regular normal guy who just gets it done, just you know different kind of challenges, i think that inspires everybody in a big, big way. He is a testament a living testament to that, with the way he interacts with people, the way he approaches work, the way he builds Community Around him, he understands the power of relationship and he understands the power of people. Bad things are going to happen to you everyday in your life. And no matter what if you stay positive youre gonna get through them. I mean, i could look at every day in my life as something negative. Being born without hands is not the greatest thing to happen to someone. But i have a choice everyday i wake up, i can either look at myself as a poor guy with a disability or someone that can go out and inspire people. Woodruff you can see more of these stories from young journalists across the country at studentreportinglabs. Org. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org rose welcome to the program. We begin this evening with politics. We talk to dan balz, chief correspondent of the the washington post. There are certain things that he believes that have to do with kind of the economic status of the United States and the role of global agreements, whether theyre a draid trade agreement or an environmental agreement, and hes had a longstanding view that i think predates his arrival into politics formed years ago and im not sewer exactly sure sure how and why they were formed, but the the idea that, in one way or another, we have been taken advantage of. I think it is fundamental to the way he sees the world and he sees his role as president. Rose we continue with the director, playwright and cast of the broadway play a dolls house, part 2. I think he wantha