Designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company. Additional support has been 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 at Lincoln Center in new york, hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan good evening and thanks for joining us. The nations Largest Insurance Companies are rejecting the senates latest bill to repeal and replace president obamas Affordable Care act. The current bill includes an amendment by texas senator ted cruz to let insurers sell plans that dont comply with obamacare regulations, alongside plans that do. Supporters say this could lower insurance premiums and increase Consumer Choice over obamacare, which has lifted the number of americans insured above 91 . Americas Health Insurance plans, a leading Health Insurance lobbying group, and blue cross blue shield, the nations largest provider, said the cruz amendment is unworkable in any form. In a letter to senate leaders, the insurers said the amended bill would undermine protections for those with pre existing medical conditions, increase premiums, and lead to widespread terminations of coverage for people currently enrolled in the individual market. In his weekly address, President Trump urged republicans to rally behind the bill expected to come up for a vote next week. The legislation working its way through congress provides the choice and control people want, the affordability they need, and the quality they deserve in healthcare. Sreenivasan Six High School girls from afghanistan, stymied by visa issues, finally arrived in washington today to compete in a robotics competition that starts tomorrow. U. S. Officials had twice denied the allgirls team visas to travel to the u. S. , apparently due to concerns they might not return to home. Then, this week, President Trump asked National Security officials to clear their travel. The afghan girls will compete against kids from 150 countries. The pioneering, iranianborn mathematician miryam mirzakhani has died of breast cancer. She was the first and only woman to win the prestigious fields medal, in 2014, for her contributions to complex geometry. A Stanford University professor, mirzakahni was 40 years old. In china today, the family of Nobel Peace Prize winner and political prisoner liu xiaobo held a funeral controlled by the Chinese Communist party. The government let the family scatter his ashes into the sea, ensuring no gravesite would ever become a hub for protesters. The 61 year old liu died of cancer this week after eight years of imprisonment for subverting state power. That followed his publication of a manifesto calling for an end to chinas oneparty rule. Lawmakers are calling for action on Invasive Species after an asian carp was caught near lake michigan. Learn more at www. Pbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan one year ago today, our top story was the failed coup attempt in turkey by renegade soldiers trying to topple president recep tayyip erdogan. Since his Security Forces stopped the coup, erdogan has cracked down on perceived opponents with tens of thousands of Civil Servants losing their jobs or going to jail. Today, his government fired 7,000 more. As erdogan attended a National Unity march in the capital of ankara and unveiled a memorial to 250 turks who died in the coup. In the past year, erdogan officially expanded his executive powers in a referendum approved by a majority of voters. Soner cagaptay, from the Washington Institute for near east policy, has written a new book called the new Sultan Erdogan and the crisis of modern turkey. He joins me now from washington. So, in this one year period, whats happened to turkey. Turkey has actually not become more democratic unfortunately although the coop was presented. It has become more authoritarian and less democratic and that is primarily because initially going after cu coup plotters,erd one ered gun used the powers to go after them. Half of the country is you dooringered gun and the other half lets him and they targeted anyone in that drew group that lets hiloathes him where he isd with the coup vas vas listen, im in rough neighborhood, people in parts of my country who want to split off. Ive had terrorist attack happening in my own soil. I need this power and consolidated. That message has sunk . With his supporters. It has. And of coursere of coursered o. E owe has a dark side. The problem is half of the country loves him, the other half of the country dispease never falls under him. The risk for him is he knows as i explained, he knows he cannot governing turkey the way he likes so long as its democratic and thats why it looks to me and other analysts hes staking steps to democracy in turkey. For example he just said state of emergency put in place after the coup will be extended until theres fees an peace and welfan turkey. How do you measure peace and welfare. Its basically permanent. And for those who oppose him its not accept. I fear if he ends democracy theres a risk for that half that opposes him who will now think they cannot vote him out. Some elements of them, maybe used elements of them might be radicalized so turkeys polarization could get worse as a result of these policies. Sreenivasan how much offereoferdogans position is cn the fighting in syria and the middle east. It seems theres some pretty huge allies counting on turkey support. I think erdogan basically knows the United States and nato allies need turkey to continue to fight isis and he basically gets a hall pass in that regard despite his transgressions, hes still invited to summits and meetings. Theres only so much turkey can continue when this polarized environment, even though erdogan might receive open arms from outside dignitaries because of the fact some of the opposition groups are violent and radical and in fact terrorists such as the Kurdish Groups and therefore Going Forward hes going to have a violent challenge coming from the right. He has ad adversary ease includg russia which has links to Kurdish Group which could undermind. Sreenivasan the author of the new book, the new actualson erdogan and the crises of modern turkey. Thank you for joining us. Sreenivasan all week the newshour, with the support of the Pulitzer Center on crisis reporting, has featured stories in our series inside putins ssia,nd we bring you our final installment tonight. Vladimir putin is serving a third term as russias president and is expected to seek a fourth next year. He has been widely popular since first coming to power as Prime Minister in 1999. But this spring saw the largest antigovernment demonstrations inside russia in years. In tonights signature segment, special correspondent Nick Schifrin and producer zach fannin introduce us to the growing Opposition Movement and one of its key leaders. Reporter this is the season of russias discontent. Under president vladimir putin, theres been a tacit agreement that people enjoy their lives and stay out of politics. Now, Many Russians are deciding that bargains no longer worth it. translated until recently, people were thinking politics were somewhere far away. But now, people understand politics hits close to home. Reporter 38yearold Alexey Kotorov and his neighbors had considered themselves apolitical, but they launched these protests when the city of moscow planned to evict them from their apartments to knock them down and build high rises. As always, Police Presence was strong. But some russians fear of their state seems to be fading, and faith in themselves, rising. Do you think you can make a difference . translated we can change things if we stay together. We need to stay active. Its very important right now to recreate Civil Society. For the last five years, Civil Society has almost disappeared. Reporter in the 1960s, the former soviet union built kotorevs apartment complex as inexpensive housing. So, this is your home . This is my home. Reporter . For people like him to have their own space. Inside, its nice, with a view of the moscow river. Kotorev accuses local officials of wanting to seize valuable land to get rich. translated now is a very important moment. The people are starting to unite to show the government their point of view. Reporter the man most responsible for creating that unity is alexei navalny. The 41yearold lawyer is the countrys most prominent opposition politician on a crusade against corruption. He calls the ruling united russia party, the party of crooks and thieves. In march, he posted an hourlong youtube expose about mansions, yachts and land that he says were corruptly acquired by putins Prime Minister, dmitry medvedev. translated medvedev can steal so much and so openly because putin does the same, but on a greater scale. The system is so rotten, theres nothing healthy left. Reporter navalnys been fighting putin for six years. In 2011, he sparked massive protests ahead of a parliamentary election he called rigged. translated its very simple power to the people. Reporter two years later, he ran unsuccessfully for moscow mayor against the putinbacked incumbent. Today, by using youtube, navalny circumvents staterun media and maintains a huge following. This video has 23 million views. translated this is our country, and these swindlers are stealing our money. Everyone should fight however he can. Reporter tens of thousands of people answered his call. On march 26 and june 12, russians launched the most widespread unsanctioned protests in a quarter century. They were held in 185 cities. Nearly all the protesters were young and motivated to speak out by corruption. Putins a thief, they chanted. Police, join the people, they say. Dont serve the government of monsters. Police declined their invitation and arrested 1,700 protesters across the country, including navalny. He was sentenced to 25 days in jail for organizing an unsanctioned rally. He was also arrested and jailed in march. And back in 2014, he was convicted of a felony defrauding clients of a shipping company he helped his brother, oleg, start. Oleg remains in prison. Alexei calls his brother a hostage and the charges fabricated, but his conviction means legally he cant run for office. That hasnt stopped him from campaigning for next years president ial election. translated we do not owe the government anything. It is the government who owes us. They build an authoritarian regime that doesnt give anything back. Reporter his rallies are unusual in a country where retail campaigning is almost unheard of. The crowds are young, and he talks like them. translated they think we have no right to ask questions, that we have to shut up and listen. They tell us, bleep you, and we have to say, oh, okay, were very sorry. But no, we have gathered here to say were going to ask these questions, and well obtain the answers. His anti. Anticorruption message resonates with me, and i think that hes a very charismatic politician. Reporter 23yearold Kiril Kozlovsky and anyone in the crowd who wanted one got a photo with navalny. Kozlovksy promptly posted it to his profile on vk, russias equivalent of facebook. Koslovsky acknowledges that putin has brought relative prosperity to russia. Hes not even old enough to remember the political and economic chaos that putin helped end when he came to power in 1999. What would you say to your parents or grandparents who say, look, things were a lot worse for us before president putin . In the 18 years that have passed, he and his team could have done a lot more to help the situation, a lot more to make it better. And he didnt. So, hes to blame for this. Reporter in cheboksary, 375 miles east of moscow, the local government made sure no one in the city center would rent space to the navalny campaign, so his gatherings take place on the edge of towns, like this apartment complex. Semyon kochkin is the local campaign manager. translated we were rejected by all the landlords, by all the hotels, even the international hotels. Even construction fields rejected us. Reporter kochkin says hes been targeted personally. Last year, on vk, he posted a clip from comedian john olivers hbo program, last week tonight. Scamming isis is the best thing anyone did on earth this week reporter the video shows banned isis symbols, and kochkin was arrested for extremism. He took a selfie in the back of a police car. He accuses the government of exploiting antiterrorism laws to silence navalnys campaign. translated we are constantly fighting with the authorities, and its always onesided. Because when it comes to election season, they make it impossible. Reporter local Police Also Arrested 35yearold andrei usipov. Hes the local orchestras first violin. On march 26, he joined the navalny protest, and, a week later, police interrupted a rehearsal to take him to jail. I asked him if he thought hed be arrested for protesting if navalny were president. translated i am absolutely certain this would not happen because, under alexei navalny, the country will be more open. Alexei is for transparency, and only with transparency can we overpower corruption. Reporter arrests are only one way the russian establishment pushes back. State tv portrays navalnys protests as an existential threat to russias stability. Listen to what the countrys most popular anchor said last month translated they use people to provoke the crowd and make the situation spiral out of control, achieving chaos. First, in one square in one city, and then they plunge the entire country into poverty and im afraid to say civil war. Reporter governmentrun high schools force students to watch a video comparing navalny to hitler, accusing him of being a fascist trying to undermine the state. But for the first time in a generation, young people are rejecting the governments talking points. In a classroom 2,000 miles from moscow, students posted a video of themselves challenging a governmentfunded School Teacher who called navalnys supporters freaks and defended corruption. Reporter the pressure on navalny himself is sometimes physical. Last year, members of the pro government cossacks doused navalny with milk and beat up his staff. In april, a state tv channel showed an assailant after he sprayed navalny with green dye and chemicals. Navalnys right eye needed surgery. Navalny accused the kremlin of organizing the attack. translated even if i look like this, does that mean that we will accept moneys been stolen and used to buy yachts . I dont think so. Reporter navalnys poll numbers remain low, but hes changing public opinion. Twothirds of russians now identify corruption as the countrys number one problem. President putin avoids responding to navalny substantively. But the navalny effect means at a town hall in moscow, where questions are usually screened in advance, this teenager dared to ask putin about corrupt officials undermining the publics faith in government. translated how are you planning to solve this problem . Reporter putin responded translated you read your question. Did you prepare it yourself, or did someone put you up to it . translated life prepared me for this question. laughter and applause reporter while hes inspired the younger generation, some fellow putin opponents criticize navalny for being a nativist. Six years ago, he released videos comparing immigrants who work in russia to cockroaches. Navalny stands by the videos and says he wants to appeal to nationalists, which is why he rarely criticizes putins muscular and popular Foreign Policy in ukraine and syria. Navalny turns down interview requests including ours and tries to keep the focus on corruption. You save your harshest criticism of the president for his domestic policy, obviously, not his Foreign Policy. In fact, you dont talk very much about his Foreign Policy. Is that because you agree with most of it . translated i dont talk a lot about Foreign Policy because here everyone is interested in wages, income and bad roads. Reporter he tries to feed populism to an audience thats hungry. He highlights government corruption to people who feel they have nothing to lose. And hes trying to convince a generation and perhaps the country that politics requires participation. Sreenivasan you could have o catch immigrants overstaying their visas. But as the president , pansdz, it will take photos not just of foreigners but outs citizens as well. This raises security, accuracy and privacy questions. Joining me now from houston to discuss this is Associated Press reporter frank bajak. Lay out what that is doing for us. Its not really an experiment dawes the department of Homeland Security intends to go ahead with this, all high volume airports beginning in 2018. Now this is a program that started out as applying only to what they call nonimmigrant foreigners. And thats 50 Million People who visit the United States annually to make sure theyre not overstaying visas and to keep better track of that. Congress has not explicitly approved this for u. S. Citizens, but customs and Border Protection which is part of Homeland Security says that they can only do this if they do it for everyone including outcitizens. Sreenivasan what happens to this, do the airlines take my photo . Where does it go . First of all every u. S. Citizen now has in their passport a little chip that has the biometric information, it has their biographical information, where they live, etcetera, their birth date. And its got a photo which isnt coded in that chip. It can use that information to compare it against say outstanding arrest warrants, basically if someone is want for a crime. The government says its not going to retain this information, its not going to keep record of this information but the Border Patrol official i spoke to said that theyre not precluding that in the future they could retain that information. Sreenivasan what about the accuracy of these images, these image recognition. Lets say you get caught in kind of a face scan trap and theres a flag but its a case of mistaken identity. Well technology has is steadily improving over the years. And its now, the best of it is at 90 to the 5 accuracy. However, the experts that i talked to said that there are apt to be mismatches. If there is a mismatch what can happen. First of all it can cause travel delays if youre boarding an International Flight of 500 passengers, youre looking at up to 50 people who are going to get stopped and go through a manual check. But the issue is also on that mismatch, what if ive got an identical twin who is a wanted fugitive. Well are you going to flag me. Sreenivasan i know in the past there are some concerns these algorithms arent very good at identifying or misidentifying women or people of color. Indeed thats true. Theres a Research Error at m. I. T. Media lab looked into this and says there is a bias against people of color. Because of the selection in tests thats been used. But i think that the bigger question that concerns the privacy experts is, its very easy to quickly now compare these two, the face prints of tens of thousands of people from other databases instantaneously and i think this is the worry. Sreenivasan frank bayak joining us from houston today. Thanks so much. Thank you. This is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. Containing its most sacred shrines. Thats the new archaeological discovery, including some of the finest aztec gold ever found is currently being unearthed. The remavens of a young wolf covered in gold is being excavated in the reporter the remains of a young wolf covered in gold is being excavated in a site in the heart of mexico city. Archeologists have found 22 complete pieces of gold, including a chest plate and pendants. The eightmonth old wolf was sacrificed by the aztecs before being buried with the gold, flint knives, and sea shells in a stone box more than five hundred years ago. The wolf represented the aztecs war and solar god, and was believed to help guide fallen warriors in the afterlife. Project director Leonardo Lopez says the discovery of the remains and precious objects is exceptional. The wolf was added to these goldlaminated pieces as joint symbols of death, war and sacrifice. Reporter the discovery was made in april near the steps of the most sacred aztec temple after two buildings that once covered the site in downtown mexico city were demolished. In 1900, the box that contained the trove of gold was damaged when a sewer line was installed directly next to it. But archeologists working on the site believe the workers must have not noticed the cache, leaving the contents undisturbed. While the site has been studied for more than four decades, lopez believes that this area could still yield more archeological finds in the future. We are convinced that that this is the area where they buried their rulers because in recent years we have kept finding altars, but the problem is that we are surrounded by buildings which are colonial jewels and we cannot and we will not demolish them. Sreenivasan on pbs newshour weekend sunday, the largest financial crisis in puerto ricos history sparks tough austerity measures. Thats all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. Thanks for watching. Im hari sreenivasan. Good night. Captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org pbs newshour weekend is made possible by bernard and irene schwartz. The cheryl and Philip Milstein family. Sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. The Anderson Family fund. Rosalind p. Walter, in memory of abby m. Oneill. Barbara hope zuckerberg. Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Provided by upport has been and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Each california Channel Island has its own heartbeat. Each island has its own dynamic, its own size, its own orientation, its own very intimate personal history. Well, this is the final frontier of our continent, at any rate. Theres eight islands off the coast of california. The four northerly ones are kind of in a line just off of Santa Barbara here. The southern four islands are more widely scattered, but to just say that theyre a group of islands is to completely misrepresent what they are. They are the trace of a vanished world. I do this interview with a little hesitation, and im a little nervous about what were doing here. If you love this island, for god sakes, dont come here
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