Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour Weekend 20150202

Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tisch wnet studios in Lincoln Center in new york, william brangham. This is pbs newshour weekend. Brangham good evening. Thanks for joining us. Im william brangham. Hari sreenivasan is off. The government of jordan today renewed its offer to release a woman bomber its held for nearly a decade, if the Extremist Group known as isis frees a jordanian pilot its holding. Jordananian officials have demanded proof that the pilot is still alive before any deal can be struck. At a News Conference today, the pilots father begged for his sons life. All this, a day after isis beheaded a japanese journalist who was also being held hostage. Egypt today freed peter greste an al jazeera journalist who had been imprisoned there for more than a year. Greste and two of his al jazeera colleagues had been sentenced to terms of 7to10 years on charges they spread lies to help the recently outlawed muslim brotherhood. One of the other jailed journalists, mohamed fahmy, is also expected to be released from a cairo prison within days, according to an Egyptian Security official. In nigeria, the islamic Extremist Group boko haram have launched yet another attack on maiduguri, the largest city in the northeast of that country of more than 170 million people. According to press reports Nigerian Army troops repelled the millitants after they entered the city on armored cars and on tanks. Boko haram hopes to make the city the capital of a breakaway islamist state. And violence continues to escalate in eastern ukraine, near russia, after peace talks between the government and russianbacked separatists broke down. Government Officials Say 13 ukrainian soldiers and about a dozen civilians were killed in the last 24 hours. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the now ninemonth long conflict. In asia today, in hong kong, the largest prodemocracy demonstration in seven weeks. Thousands of protesters staged a peaceful march, demanding fully democratic elections for the territorys next leader in 2017. Last summer, chinese legislators approved a plan that would allow beijing to screen the candidates first, a move which prompted prodemocracy protests that shut down parts of the city for almost three months last year. Former secretary of state james baker, who served under the first president bush and helped elect the second, was critical today of House Speaker John Boehners decision to invite israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress Without consulting the white house first. Is that a significant breach of protocol . Yes. Reporter how significant is it . Well i dont, i cant remember an incident where its ever been done. Now let me say this, the speaker of the house can invite whoever he wants to speak to the house, its a coequal branch of government. But it is best done, our Foreign Policy is best done, when there is at least cooperation between the legislative and executive branches. Brangham president obama will ask congress to increase corporate taxes, and taxes on the rich, as part of the budget hell submit to congress tomorrow. A white house official told reporters that the president will ask lawmakers to approve a onetime 14 tax on 2 trillion worth of corporate profits earned and held overseas. This, to help pay for a series of proposed big public works projects. The president also wants to close what he calls the trust Fund Loophole by requiring highearners to pay Capital Gains taxes on some inherited assets that have appreciated over time. Paul ryan the new republican chairman of the house ways and means committee, said today he opposes that idea. So what i think the president is trying to do here is to again, exploit envy economics. This topdown redistribution doesnt work. Weve been doing it for six years. Look, it might make good politics but it doesnt make for good economic growth. Brangham theres been another shooting by a very young child. Police in albuquerque new mexico say, with a single shot, a threeyearold boy shot and wounded both of his parents yesterday with a handgun he found in his mothers purse. Authorities say the parents, who are recovering from their injuries, could face negligence charges. This incident comes a month after a similar incident in idaho, where a twoyearold reached into his mothers purse and discharged a handgun, killing his mother. More than 2,400 flights scheduled for today and another 1,300 scheduled for tomorrow have been cancelled after a major snow storm dumped about a foot of snow in and around chicago and other parts of the northern midwest. The storm is moving east and is expected to leave significant snowfall there as well. Carl djerassi, a chemist Whose Research led to the development of the Birth Control pill, has died. In 1951, he and two colleagues got a patent on a synthesized hormone that became the key ingredient in the pill. He also held a patent on the first antihistamine. Djerassi, an austrian jew, fled europe with his family at the start of world war ii. According to the New York Times they were swindled out of their last 20 by a new york cabbie. But djerassi later wrote first lady eleanor roosevelt, asking for help, and later was given a college scholarship. During his career, he wrote 1,200 scientific articles. Carl djerassi died in San Francisco friday. He was 91. Brangham a new study conducted by the Pew Research Center found a large gap between what the public believes is dangerous and what scientists believe. For more about this, we are joined now from washington by lee rainie. He is the organizations director of internet, science and technology research. Your survey showed some really dramatic gaps between what the general public and scientists believe about things like Climate Change and vaccines and scientific research. Lets talk about some of those gaps. Specifically about the food that we eat. You posed a statement that its quote safe to eat genetically modified foods or gmos. 37 general public says its safe whereas 88 of scientists said it was. On the statement, quote, its safe to eat foods grown with pesticides 28 of the public agreed those foods were safe while 668 of scientists said they were. How do you explain that seeming chasm there . One of the striking things that has happened in our culture in the past couple of years is that food through politics, food policy food is just a part of social life has been much more elevated. And i think people are perhaps more tuned in to sort of food issues now in a way they werent before. But it also makes them more sensitive about food issues. So theyre skeptical about the safety of genetically modified food. Theyre also not sure that scientists are aware of all the safety dangers that are connected with it. On the pesticides question it was much more a case of people just being wary of things that are going into their bodies and a little less sure that the food we are eating might be as safe as scientists think it is. Lets talk about one of the survey questions about the growing population of people on earth. You posed the statement that quote the growing population will be a major problem. 59 of the general population felt it will be a problem while 82 of scientists said it would be. Some of our viewers might remember paul ehrlich in the late 60s, there was a population bomb raising concerns about the growing population on earth. Since that time our population has doubled and yet it seems that the general population doesnt seem to see this as an issue. I think that people are a little less concerned in part because they since the time of ehrlichs book even since the time a couple of centuries ago that thomas malfus was writing about these issues weve seen large growth in the population, and yet the amount of cat chrism that you might connect with population growth like famine and things like that hasnt seemed to be on the rise. The other thing that might be going on from the scientist perspective here is that they are worried about what they call wicked problems. They see issues like Climate Change global warming. And they worry that some of the human contributions to that is making a big problem. And yet the public isnt nearly as close to where scientists are and the solutions to global warming. You asked a question about the value of animal testing. And you said do you favor the use of animals in research. 47 of the general public favored it. But 89 of scientists approved of it. What dow make of that gap . I think theres a real value clash thats going on here. Women are much less likely than men for instance to believe that animals should be involved in scientific research. In addition the people who have Higher Education degrees, a College Degree or graduate degree are much more likely to support the Scientific Community and its use of animals and research than people with a high school diploma. So there are a variety of factors that tie the peoples values as well as their knowledge about what is going on. Lee rainie, thank you very much for joining us. Thanks. Brangham and now to our signature segment. A new idea designed to tackle an old problem americas declining savings rate. Several states around the country are now experimenting with programs that have worked overseas boosting personal savings by linking savings accounts to lotteries. Heres the hook you might not win, but you cant lose a penny. Newshour special correspondent karla murthy updates her report that first aired in november of 2013. Tonights megamillions jackpot is an estimated annuitized 149,000,000. Reporter its a moment that millions of americans wait for each week. Now, lets see if we can make you a millionaire tonight. Reporter the chance to win a huge, lifechanging amount of money. But now some states are experimenting with a different kind of lottery. One where you wont necessarily win, but you cant lose. Its something called a prize linked savings account. And twentyeight year old crystal rose hudelson was intrigued by a poster for one when she walked into her local credit union in seattle in 2013. It had this girl she was really cute, too, cute clothes and cute hair, and she had this sign up and you just need 25. And i thought to myself, well, what is this . Reporter it was for a Savings Program called save to win. For every 25 a member puts into their account, he or she is entered to win a small monthly prizes of 50, but also the chance to win one of four bigger prizes of 5,000 each quarter. Even if you dont win, you get to keep the money, plus interest. The prize money is put up by the Credit Unions and their Regional Association as an incentive to get members to save. The idea is new to the u. S. , but it has been around for decades all over the world. At least 18 countries have prizelinked savings options, including the u. K. Theyd found theyd won five thousand smackers. And gleefully did shout, thats mine, its mine, no mine, no mine. The moral buy premium bonds, win something worth really arguing about. Reporter back in Washington State, crystal signed up for save to win. Im not going to lose anything, so why not . And i keep telling everybody its my version of gambling. laughs reporter what crystal found in Washington State is also offered in three other states. In nebraska, more than 1,400 savers are competing for 25,000 in annual prize money. In north carolina, 1,900 savers are vying for three grand prizes of 10,000. And in michigan, where the program has been around since 2009, 11,000 savers are entered into a chance to win six grand prizes of 10,000 each. Starting this year Credit Unions in connecticut and new york will also be offering save to win and seven other states have laws that would allow prize linked Savings Programs. Its all meant to remedy americas dismal savings rate, which has declined by nearly twothirds over the last four decades. In fact today, more than a quarter of all americans have no savings at all. But derek kilmer has been working to change that. The problem with not savings is it can often mean youre a crisis away from, as weve seen in some cases, living in your car or losing your home or having your lights shut off. Reporter as a Washington State senator, kilmer sponsored legislation in 2011 to allow Credit Unions, which are regulated by the state, to offer save to win. Why isnt just the reward of compounding interest enough to make people save . I mean, why do you actually need this prize to get people to save . Why do people play the lottery or why do people gamble, period . You know, its with the hope of of of winning something more. Theres a sense that this actually makes savings fun. Reporter crystal rose hudelson, who recently graduated from a program to become an aircraft mechanic, had struggled to save. She paid her own way through school and is working fulltime while also doing a mechanical internship program. But since starting save to win, crystal is convinced that shes been able to save more money, especially after she got some surprising news a few months after her first deposit. So have you won anything yet . Yes, i won 50. laughs i was so excited about it. Reporter what did you do with the money that you won . I reinvested it. Because every 25 increment you get your name put back into the drawing. And i would be an idiot if i didnt put it back in to get my name put back in the drawing two more times. Reporter sharon hall is the c. E. O. Of express credit union, where crystal is a member. They are one of six Credit Unions offering save to win in washington. When you first heard about this whole idea, what was your reaction . My reaction was yes, yes yes, yes, yes, i want to play. I want to play. Reporter since launching in april of 2013, express has signed up more than 100 save to win accounts, which are structured as 12 month cericficates of deposit or cds. Hall says even though the accounts arent profitable for the credit union, shes encouraged by the results so far. The save to win accounts average 358, which is more than 20 higher than the average savings balance at the credit union. Do you really think this is going to change behavior or teach people the value of having a savings account . I think its forced behavior which is really i hate to say that, but the reason why theyre cds is because you have to keep it in there for 12 months. So if youve learned that you can live without that 25 for 12 months, its a behavioral change. Reporter do you think the prizes are big enough to draw people in . Yeah, i think that the grand prize is. And the more Financial Institutions that participate the bigger the prize is. You know, its not going to be a million dollars, but you know, its enticing enough to draw new new people into your financial institution. Reporter most members at express credit union are low income. Melissa kearney thinks that prized linked savings accounts will particularly appeal to low income americans, who spend a disproportionately high share of their income playing lotteries. Its often thought that people are irrational when they play the lottery. But i would challenge that assumption. If youre a low income individual, how else can you potentially win enough money to buy a house, or really change your life . Reporter kearney is an economist at the university of maryland and director of the hamilton project at the brookings institution. Shes thinks these lotterybased accounts help people save by leveraging their desire to win big. If you have low savings deposits, which many low and moderate income individuals do, youre only accumulating a few dollars every month, or even every year. And it will take them ten years to accumulate enough Interest Payments on, lets say, a low deposit checking account, to make any sort of down payment or big purchase. And this changes that. Reporter but does prize linked savings actually help people save more money . Kearney helped design an experiment to find out. The results were quite striking. What were able to say at the end of the day is that for a given amount of Interest Payment a credit union can actually entice a lot more deposits, and more savings, if they structure the interest to have some lottery or prize link component to it. The results were consistent with whats been seen in michigan where the average amount saved with save to win has grown dramatically since being launched in 2009. Reporter so why hadnt prized linked savings swept across the us . Turns out, the biggest obstacle to expanding these types of savings accounts was federal law. Unlike stateregulated Credit Unions, banks, which are federallychartered institutions, could not participate in lotteries. But that changed last fall, when a bipartisan bill, cosponsored by derek kilmer, who is now a u. S. Representative, passed congress. The legislation, called the american savings promotion act, was signed by president obama in december and announced in a White House Press release. Advocates are hopeful that the passage of the bill will lead to dramatically more access to prizelinked Savings Programs across the country and in turn, help boost savings rates. At the end of the day is it really teaching people to be better savers . Or is it just teaching them to do this just because you might get a prize . So, to to some degree this is you know, this is inter basically intermittent positive reinforcement. As someone saves more money they earn more chances and thats positive reinforcement to save more money. And i think thats a good thing. I mean, weve just gone through some of the most difficult financial years a nation can go through, and so i think theres an appreciation for the value of of a tool like this to to help people save. Brangham today, of course, is super bowl sunday. In the days leading up to the game, fans debated which team will win, and economists debated the wisdom of cities trying to host the big game. Yesterday, Hari Sreenivasan spoke with mina kimes, a Senior Writer for espn, the magazine. Srennivasan so each year we see cities compete for the super bowl as if it is the olympics as if it is going to bringtons of money, energy and excitement. Is it worth hosting the super bowl . Well so for glendale which is where this years game is, it might not shall. The city hosted the game there 2008 and i read that they actually said oh, we lost money which was surprising. So i called the mayor who told me not only did we lose money then we are totally going to lose money this year. Which is an absolutely stunning statement from a public official. How is it losing money. The game is in glendale many of the events are in scotts dale and so many people will come in and leave, the city has to spend money on security. Srennivasan this also happened last year with the super bowl in new york right, i said new york. The actual game was in new jersey but everyone remembers that it was in new york super bowl. So as a result new jersey felt kind of spurned in a way by the game. Srennivasan okay s so how did the nfl owners feel in these towns is there tension between the mayors and owners . There definitely is in arizona. The owners, they want game there are huge benefits to have it at the stadium, for the team. The cardinals owner mike bidwell has publicly clashed with the mayor of glendale about his we say lack of enthusiasm over hosting the game this year. And cities and towns put a lot of money into building stadiums. Yes. Srennivasan so that they can get events like this. Glendale being a perfect example of where that has gone wrong. This city has contributed money to three major sports facilities over the last ten years and now its absolutely mired in debt. Srennivasan there are economists it that are going to say or i should say maybe even the nfl will say look at all the money that comes in with all the tourists. Dont they spend a couple etion tra bucks here or there, so you are saying the mayors is saying it doesnt make up for the cops they put on the beat. The nfl says economists say they dont. Economists who are independent will come out and say actually the benefits of these games and especially stadiums are incredibly overblown because a lot of cases you are displacing our tourists that would normally be in especially a warm plates like phoenix in the winter. And often times it is indirect spending publicity thins you cant really put a clear number on. Srennivasan and i would imagine that the nfl is also going to say that what about the sort of brand that you build and the exposure argument, that you are getting all this free air time. Everybody is talking about the super bowl in your town. And yet you just said the super bowl in new york, a perfect example. Really what branding, in america and new york, are people going to remember the super bowl was in glendale. Some people will but i guess think a lot of people will just say phoenix. Srennivasan and all the celebrities celebrities, its traffic goes to phoenix, they dont come out to glendale except for the game there for the game and then they leave. Much like new york. I dont think most of these celebrities were staying in new jersey last year. Srennivasan minka kimes, thanks for janing me. Brangham not a football fan . Try a podcast instead. See a list of podcasts you could listen to in the time it takes to watch the big game visit pbs. Org newshour. This is pbs newshour weekend, sunday. Brangham poachers have all but wiped out the northern white rhino. There are only five of them left on the planet, and theyre all too old to breed. Now, test tube fertility treatments are the breeds last hope. Itns africa correspondent, john ray, reports from kenya. Reporter sudan is his name, the last man standing, two tons of forlorn and frustrated masculinity. He can fight the females with which he shares his twilight years, but not much else. Hes too old to breed. And they can no longer bear young. Sudan is guarded day and night from poachers who prize the rhinos horn more highly than the living creature, but for the northern white that battle is lost. Instead, the men who might save this species come armed not with guns but with science. The plan is to harvest sperm and eggs from these survivors, in the hope that some Day Technology will allow them to find a surrogate mother. Which would could be liking at these animals for reintroduction back on to planet earth seem in the future that is definitely a possibility. 20 years ago we reported on the struggle 20 years ago we reported on the struggle to save the last white rhinos in the wild by tagging them with trackers. Part of that team was dr peter morkel. 20 years on he hasnt entirely given up. Can the world afford to lose creatures like this. I dont think so. I think the world will be a much poorer place without them. For sudan for the sudan, it is a minute to midnight. No one can turn the clock back. But if science can perform miracles, his kind might just might have a future. Brangham some late news before we leave you tonight the Justice Department is reportedly investigating the Credit Ratings firm moodys investors service. The probe centers on moodys decision to give triplea ratings on the Residential Mortgage securities that later collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis. The wall street journal broke the story. Join us on air and online tomorrow. Im william brangham. Have a good night. Captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org pbs newshour weekend is made possible by Corporate Funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. I was sitting there in tears in my living room watching it. We learned the truth about america. Ed asner white actors were willing to break each others legs to be in the show. I mean, these novels were just the best stuff ever. I do love you, meggie. I always will. And i found myself in the biggest melodrama of all time. The saga of an american family. Now, you listen to old fiddler if you wants to keep alive. You in america now. But i think the responsibility of television is to lift up its audience intellectually spiritually, and emotionally