Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20150911

Moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. 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. Sreenivasan americans looked back today on a day that changed the world 9 11. Crowds were somewhat smaller for the latest anniversary of the attacks, but many brought renewed determination never to forget. Its become a tradition on this day of remembrance. Bells tolled in new york, washington, and shanksville, pennsylvania, the sites where nearly 3,000 people died at the hands of alqaeda skyjackers 14 years ago. The day began with a moment of silence at the white house 8 46 a. M. , when the first of two airliners hurtled into the twin towers in new york. And hundreds of families and survivors marked the moment there, at ground zero, near the new one world trade center. The pain and emotions from 2001 were again visible on their faces. And in the voices of relatives who read out the names of lost loved ones, along with personal messages. I know youre looking down smiling and shaking your head saying that im nervous, but i am. So god bless son, love you. Keep smiling. Dad, thank you so much for your memories. And i really wish you could meet your granddaughter because she reminds me of you so much. Sreenivasan somber ceremonies played out at the pentagon, as well, where the Navy Brass Quintet played and a giant American Flag marked the site where a third plane struck. Defense secretary Ashton Carter took aim at attackers then and now. Terrorists who hope to intimidate us will find no satisfaction and no success in threatening the United States. Sreenivasan a short time later, in shanksville, crowds turned out for a second day at the new memorial to the united flight that went down in an open field. It was also a day for honoring the sacrifice by u. S. Forces in iraq and afghanistan since 9 11. President obama met this afternoon with soldiers at fort meade, virginia. In turn, american troops in kabul marked the First Anniversary of the attacks since u. S. Combat operations in afghanistan formally ended. Sreenivasan the flow of refugees and migrants across austria turned into a mass march today. Hundreds of people gave up waiting at the hungarian border, after Austrian Officials stopped running special trains. Instead, they started the 40 mile walk to vienna. More than 10,000 arrived at the border in the last 24 hours alone, bound for germany. And United Nations officials appealed today for humane treatment. Refugees welcoming to europe looking for protection suffered so much and risked their lives to come here to find safety, should be treated in a humane way. They should not be received with Police Batons and with tear gas and with barbed wire. Sreenivasan meanwhile, video from Human Rights Watch showed Hungarian Police throwing food at crowds in a border camp. The group said the refugees are being treated like animals. In turn, hungarys Prime Minister, viktor orban, praised police, and said they face an open rebellion. And in brussels, European Union diplomats worked toward a critical monday meeting on resettling 160,000 people. Well take a closer look at families making the journey to europe, after the news summary. Disaster struck in saudi arabia today when a construction crane collapsed in mecca. At least 87 people were killed, and more than 180 hurt. The crane plunged into the east side of the grand mosque complex, the worlds largest. The site had been buffeted by high winds and rain as crews prepared for the annual muslim pilgrimage to mecca. President obama is warning russia that its military buildup in syria is bound to fail. Moscow has been sending more troops and weapons to bolster syrian president bashar al assad. And, the kremlin called today for military talks with the u. S. To avoid unintended incidents. But at fort meade, virginia, mr. Obama said any talks should have a different goal. We are gonna be engaging russia to let them know that you cant continue to double down on a strategy thats doomed to failure. And that if theyre willing to work with us and the 60 Nation Coalition that weve put together, then theres the possibility of a political settlement in which assad would be transitioned out. Sreenivasan russia says its buildup is designed to battle Islamic State forces in syria. The u. S. Has been conducting air strikes against isis targets there for a year. House republicans staged symbolic votes against the nuclear deal with iran today. They first rejected the agreement, then voted to delay lifting sanctions on iran. But theres little chance the house actions will matter. Thats because democrats have blocked the senate from rejecting the nuclear deal, meaning no such bill will ever reach the president s desk. Republican rick perry has become the first major candidate to drop out of the 2016 president ial race. The former Texas Governor announced his decision this afternoon in st. Louis. It was his second bid for the white house, but hed struggled to raise funds and was polling near zero. In india, a judge has convicted 12 islamist militants for the 2006 bombings in mumbai, after a trial that lasted 7 years. 188 people were killed and more than 800 wounded in the evening rush hour attack. Seven bombs exploded in a span of 10 minutes. The trial concluded a year ago, but it took the judge a year to write the verdict. The defendants could be sentenced to death by hanging. The Flood Disaster in japan intensified today as more rivers overflowed their banks. Three people have died and 23 others are still missing since a Tropical Storm touched off the deluge. Many of the homes destroyed in the hardesthit areas northeast of tokyo are still being inundated by muddy water. Disaster experts assessed the devastation today. Sreenivasan some parts of japan got more than twice the normal amount of rain for all of september, in the span of just 48 hours. The government of indonesia promised action today to disperse a thick, smoky haze. Officials said theyre sending more than 10,000 troops to fight fires in southern sumatra. The smoke has made thousands of people sick, and delayed flights across the region, including in neighboring singapore and malaysia. The fires in sumatra are set in part to clear land for Pulp Companies and palm oil plantations. Cuba says it is releasing more than 3,500 prisoners, ahead of next weeks visit by pope francis. They include a mix of women, young people and the sick, but, apparently, no political prisoners. This is the third time that cubas communist government has freed inmates ahead of a papal visit. And, wall street closed out the week on a positive note. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained more than 100 points to close above 16,430. The nasdaq rose 26 points, and the s p 500 added 8. For the week, the dow and the s p gained 2 . The nasdaq rose 3 . Still to come on the newshour the many faces of another great migration, and the u. S. Decision to open its doors to more refugees. Then, the analysis of shields and brooks. And much more. Sreenivasan the numbers of people on the move into western europe by foot, by road, by rail are staggering, and still growing. On that new and exhausting journey, our William Brangham met several families, from all over syria. Tonight he reports from austria. Its midday in budapest train station. Hundreds of refugees and my grunltses are waiting for hours, waiting for trains to austria and then on to one of the european nations who laid out the welcome matt. The kids here despite standing for hours unable to move a foot seem to be taking it all in stride. Theyve been on the road too for weeks and months so today is nothing new. While shes waiting, she tries to get some shut eye on her dads head. Her family have traveled over 3,000 miles so far, by car, by boat, on foot and now by train. Her parents are palestinians. They lived in syria their entire lives. After four years of brutal civil war, staying in syria became impossible. We left two months ago. The countrys situation got worse. The area we standing in, we decided to leave and start preparing for our trip. Her husband designed Metal Fabrication tools. She worked as a hair stylist and also went to school. When they left syria they traveled into turkey and crossed the awe jean sea. From there they went to macedonia, serbia and hungary where we met them. As mom and dad tried to sleep, their first sleep in a couple days, they all seemed anything but tired. While the rest of the train is passed out she was a bundle of energy playing in the aisles and chucking her dinosaur so often i had to play along. Its hard to know what this twoyearold makes of all this upheaval in her life. Do you think she understands whats going on . No. What do you think she thinks is happening with all this travel and trips and boats and. The journey is byebye. She dont know anything. Do you think its better that way that she doesnt know . I dont know. I dont know. Shes happy. If we scare 35 miles north a senior refugee has been traveling seersyrian has been traveling wh their kids. They tried but it hasnt worked. For my kids because when the bombs coming near our house, only my daughter, are shes too much afraid. They dont want i go outside. Because she afraid ill not come back. But she knows the bombing, land, everything. Back on the train to austria we met another refugee who has a reason to fear for his familys well being. Hes a syrian kurd. He fought isis. Even though we could barely chait witcommunicate with each e says why he fought isis. Because they filled his mother. My mother was killed. My mother killed. Suicide bomber. Several hours and another train ride later, the family is told theyve got a two mile walk to the austrian border to a bus station to transfer to vienna. She particulars her position over her takes her position over her dads shoulders. They heard from friends its the best place to recreate the life they had before all hell broke loose in syria. Before the war . Beautiful. Good, beautiful. And your husband was working and you were raising your daughter. Im working and my husbands working. We cant live there. We want our house. This family also wants to go to germany. Theyve got books written in german so the children can learn the language. He says this isnt the right way to move to another country but he says he has no choice. Her future. Yes. As were talking, a horn sounds for the buses. Everybody scram bledz t scramblp their belongings to get in the line. The crowd bills up fast, people start pressing in and things start to stop. The buses are slow coming. As the sun goes down, people get impatient and mad. Hundreds are pushing and shoving from behind. With her hanging on his shoulders, he lashes out. Over an hour its gotten to be too much for them. Even though they were so close to the front, they decide to give up and go back inside. Theyll sleep tonight on the concrete floor of this huge warehouse. Their trip north held up for another night at least. Theyll try to make it to vienna again tomorrow. I want to sleep now. We wait, we wait what for the pbs newshour, im William Brangham in nickel store, austria. Sreenivasan for some refugees, the United States will be the final stop on that exhausting journey. Yesterday, the white house announced that 10,000 syrians will be resettled in the u. S. Over the next year. For more on how those 10,000 will be screened and selected, im joined by daryl grisgraber, Senior Advocate for the middle east at refugees international, and juan zarate, former Deputy National security adviser for combating terrorism. Well start with you. How does a refugee get from some of those scenes that weve seen in this program and so many others to a country like the u. S. Well, its a fairly complicated process with quite a lot of steps. When a person first for example from syrian for example flea syria, you get an interview, get a lot of biographical information, history that sort of thing and try to decide if that persons eligible for resettlement and if thats the appropriate tool for that person. Not everybody gets resettled. Its quite a small number. From there the u. N. Will make referrals to various countries that accept refugees like the u. S. And they go through another huge process of vetting those people to make sure its okay to let them into the u. S. It takes about two years on average sometimes longer. So its quite a slow process, yes. How do you do that for 10,000, a hundred thousand or whatever the final countries are for the countries. Now were talking about 10,000. Its an exponential increase in the numbers. In terms of screening for security purposes, you have an entire additional process in the u. S. Context where refugees receive the highest level of Security Check of anyone traveling to the u. S. In that context, the syrian refugees, the highest level of scrutiny. So that is biometric data thats checked, by graphic data thats checked. Interviews from the homeland security, Intelligence Community are looking at whatever information they have around that individual, their family, their networks to determine whether or not theres a Security Risk in that person resettling to the u. S. So that is time intensive. In the context of syria where the u. S. Harchlt ha hasnt beene ground, so were grasping in the dark to determine what the risk is bringing some of these people to the u. S. So what are the agencies involved . Who pays for all this. Within the government, the state department is involved. U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services which is within the department of homeland security. The office of Refugee Resettlement which is health and Human Services and there are a number of voluntary agencies involved as well. So theres some private Public Partnership once people reach the United States. I think the concern also is these Security Checks especially considering isis and how dominant it is in syria, what is the likelihood of a bad actor getting into this system. We already heard direct clapper talk about the Intelligence Communitys concern about precisely that. The es lammic state could use refugees to implant operatives into the United States. And the challenge of course not unlike other challenges they have to face is that were not talking about huge numbers. You can talk about just a handful or dozen among that population that youre letting in. That could be problematic, hitting soft targets and presenting other problems. So the Intelligence Community is incredibly conservative as part of its vetting process you have the National Counterterrorism center looking at as much data as possible. At the end of the day its about risk management. How much risk are we willing to take given what is likely to be a lack of clear information about who is actually coming in. We know terrorists in the past have tried to use this process. We have a few cases in the u. S. Populations within refugees supporting terrorist groups. Not a lot but the risk of just one or two is considered high for the Intelligence Community. So considering that theres going to be this many layers, it could take this long, how do we deal with this kind of volume. Well, get it going as quickly as possible. 1500 refugees that juan mentioned, a very small number for the u. S. Addressing an emergency situation like this. Were talking about four million syrians who potentially need. Only a small number will be resettled. Its important to get the flow of the process going as quickly as possible because the Security Checks in particular take quite a long time as you know. And sometimes it has to be done more than once, sometimes medical checks of security clearance has expired while other processes is going on. Theres a lot of stopping and restarting in many cases so all of this needs to be addressed as quickly as possible. Were dedicating the finances, resources and machine power to it will make a lot of difference. During this time the people are not in the United States, that sort of first country where they registered. Theyre staying in that country and theres a protection tool. People are looking for settlement because theyre vulnerable and need to be relocated for their own safety but how slow the process is sometime they will stay in that vunerable situation for a couple years at a time until the resettle process is done. What about the increased threat level when, i guess it depends on how theyre received in these different communities. Even in the place where theyre waiting or in the country where they finally get to. Its a great point. Its a perfect storm of the humanitarian crises but also security crises short and long term. Short term is what we looked about is the Islamic State probably not a high likelihood but perhaps high consequence. But you do have the challenge of displaced communities and populations being radicalized, falling prey to the war, the ideology that has brought others to the forces of the Islamic State. And a real challenge i think for all of the receiving countries to make sure theres welcoming environment, re10ersz an resoure bill at thawe ability to reg. One factor, not the factor leads to rays cullization, leads to individuals going to fight abroad is not being integrated, not finding a way into the society which theyve moved. Thanks so much. Thank you. Thank you. Sreenivasan stay with us, coming up on the newshour looking back at the creations of a towering architect. And, its an upset Serena Williams quest for tenniss grand slam is dashed. Joe biden grapples with possible president ial bid. The field is set for next weeks republican debate. And is the Iran Nuclear Deal a done deal . But first, to the analysis of shields and brooks. Thats syndicated columnist mark shields and New York Times columnist david brooks. We just had a segment where we laid out in painful detail how difficult it is for a refugee to gain asylum in the United States. And there are several people who say do you know what, if it wasnt for the United States Foreign Policy, perhaps disbanding the iraqi army, creating a tremendous amount of regional instability that perhaps in fueled isis destabilized syria further and has caused this migrant crises. Is the United States responsible or should they be more responsible in taking more asylum seekers. Im one of those people all the things you mentioned and a couple years ago we had a debate about syria if we should be helping the moderates such as they were in syria and should we arm them. Essentially the Current Administration did arm them with very little much too late. So you have this war between assad forces and isis. And so i do think it was partially our, the vacuum created by the u. S. And the west when they were still some sort of moderate solution possible to help create this crises and therefore we have a responsible to take in the refugees. Most on this pipeline are the people on the receiving end. There are many people in syria. Are they all going to come. What about that syria there and creating safe havens or islands of stability inside these two evil forces. I agree a hundred mers perced 50 percent what david said. It began with the United States invasion of iraqi and created destabilization of the reggie. Region. Sectarian violence was encouraged and yet destabilization. As far as the United States commitment to syria, its certainly been haunting that part of that has been lack of any domestic political sort as a consequence of what happened in iraq. And it was just an unmitigated disaster. But the reality is that the world leadership of the planet at least of the western world right now has become embrail emd in stockholm and germany and sweden stepped up. It is in the self interest of germany to take talented able committed people who have the resources, the initiative and the strength to get out. But the tragedy, david makes the point, four Million People have left the country. I mean thats a stain on us and a stain on the civilized world that we allow that to continue. Sreenivasan lets take a look at the iran deal and machinations on both sides of congress. One side saying heres this opportunity for you to pass this up or down, the other one saying how did you block and not pass this. Its just one of those moments where you realize what are you really voting for and how often is this going to come up. Is this going to become like the Affordable Care act where republicans will continue to try to figure out ways to stop any progress on it. Its first of all bizarre that you pass something with a minority. Especially when you pass effectively a treaty with minority. Its supposed to be passed by two thirds but now we got 42 or whatever it was. Thats the way the situation was set up. Once the republicans agreed that the own administration only needs a third of the votes in the senate to pass the thing it was going to be a done deal. And so they have to have a little more. So the republicans are going to hang on whatever happened in the middle east on this treaty. And not only whether iran gets a Nuclear Option or cheat or fudge with the inspectors but the most immediate effect and whether it post moans an iran nuclear, yes it probably does. But theres an immediate negative effect and youre enriching the power of hezbollah. For example syria and as hezbollah gets stronger than the Iranian Regime will be funding it more and more and that will be an op ed. So the republicans will be usable to use that. Its something the administration did that at least in the short term destabilizedr3 the middle east. Two to three months away from nuclear capability. Its the best estimate of people i Pay Attention to in addition to leadership. The reality is now they are at least ten years away. And their own capacity that iraq will in fact be decommissioned. But the politics here are entirely different. Davids right in that the legislative office, you can never get covered by voting against something that passes. You can say well i was going to make it better. Voting for something that doesnt pass. The same thing because its your responsibility. This was a mirror vote of the iraqi war vote. Ever since that vote people who voted against it said blue light and the people who voted for it and supported that war have been under the census. Lindsey graham says its all the democrats now, its theirs. And its everything that happens, the whole deal. I happen to think its a good step, its a positive step. I agree with camden and agree with chancellor merkel. This is the best step. The information that no war from their own peoples experience and their own home front. So i do think its the reality politically here is that the by a partisan overrunning support of israel has been politicized and i think basically by Prime Minister netanyahu, who endorsed mitt romney in 2012 and who has a Campaign Event and stunt himself an invitation from the Republican Congress to come and speak to the congress and use it as a Campaign Post basically to criticize the policy of the president of the United States. And i think that theres been a wedge now between what had been overrunning white partisan support for israel and i think quite frankly the responsibility lies with met new. New netanyahu. I agree. If we concede the there was a Nuclear Weapon and we couldnt stop them maybe this was a good treaty to sign. I dont think it was important necessarily to concede that. I think we conceded a defeat basically too early when the sanctions could have avoided that defeat. The issue here with both the syrian and iranian thing is sometimes when you lean in and do something, you get blamed for it, the iraq war. Sometimes you lean out and dont do anything, you get blamed for it, syria. You got a Foreign Policy that is very tied to the circumstance at hand. Its a smart move in this particular place. With respect to the bush administration, they were like leaning all the time, and the Obama Administration is leaning out all the time. Its neither context specific and its a lesson we learned from the last two administrations. Sreenivasan shifting gears now to Vice President biden. On monday he seemed to make on labor day almost a campaign rallylike speech and then he had an appearance on the late show with steven cobear last night. Lets take a look. I dont think any man or woman should run for president unless number one they know exactly why they want to be president , and two, they can look at the folks out there and say i promise you, you have my whole heart, my whole soul, my energy and my passion to do this. Coal anand id be lying if i sai knew i was there. Sreenivasan cynical side of folks, is hes a politician hes got a great opportunity here and theres the other side hes in the midst of incalculatable grief. Today in 2015 joe bidens weakness is he says what he thinks off the cuff. I urge which i have never done before in this broadcast everybody to watch that exchange, that interview with stephen colbert. Stephen colbert in my judgment proved himself to be a National Resource last night. I was like eavesdropping on a very intimate personal conversation between two people and subjects of great and intense importance to them emotionally. I just thought it was phenomenal in the sense that he was just as open, as emotional, accessible, however you want to put it. I mean, it was great strength of his what has been sort of joe spoke last night and in this campaign with positioning and forks groupfocus groups and reat was refreshing. It was a beautiful moment and what a beautiful man he is. Surprisingly he revealed maybe he does have a opening. The newspaper earlier in the week had a story that Hillary Clinton has a plan to become more spontaneous. And but joe biden is ensear down to the bones. Hes always sincere sometimes to a fault. That may actually play this year, its counterpolitical to be that sincere but thats who he is so that may actually work. Also hes become more disdent. Usually he would give a great speech and follow with a second speech, third speech and forth speech and get climbingly good forbad. But hes more dissident about the Vice President y. Im beginning to think theres an opening and a testament to men who had severe losses in their lives. Sreenivasan finally the debates, the platforms are set for next week. Fiorini moves up to the marquis event and not the warm up show but somebodys dropping out. We talked about rick perry today. I want to pull a utility out of hills concession speech or departure speech. Domaining people of hispanic heritage is not just ignorant but be strays the example of christ. Hes referring specifically to donald trumped here. We need to our deby the with sound bites and solutions. Yes there were harsh words between teet men. Rick perry spent the last two years preparing for this race. But it comes down to sadly a Second Chance to make a first impression. And the department he was going to abolish, thats the solution. On the way out he certainly gave mr. Trump a salute. He ran a much Better Campaign this time. A good speech offered to the americans, good speech on hispanics. Much Better Campaign. Its too bad. I think jeb bush this is a debate where hes weak. I think the pressures on him more than anybody else. I agree. I would say this. Everybody knew donald trump in the fourth grade. I mean the bully. If you criticize him in any way, youre stupid or youre dumb, youre ugly is what he chose to say about carly fiorini. I think he stepped one step beyond. She should be disqualified because of her looks but what would donald trump say about goa meier. What about mother teresa. He cruz tried to be his best bodiy fell flat on his fast. Jeb bush decided he will take on the bully and Chris Christie is on his way out. Its not going to be ball room dancing, its going to be a slug fess. Sreenivasan mark shields and david brooks, thanks so much. Sreenivasan an iconic architect with an inventive style, whose buildings almost seem to move, and are known for sweeping curves and unusual materials. Jeffrey brown catches up with frank gehry, now in his ninth decade, but still breaking new ground. An exhibition all about his work is opening in los angeles this weekend. This is city hall. A visit to the studio of frank gehry is a bit like the world wind tour of the globe. With a tour guide whose help create what we see around us. You got cities all over the world here. Toronto where i was born. Part of his motivation is that so many buildings are just plain boring. Anybody i talked to agrees that maybe 2 of the building environment since the war would be called architecture. And the rest you call nothing . Junk. So gehry now adds a bit of tblair that you could call art. Really the Foundation Building in paris wrapping sales of glass. Are you better at this than you were at a young man. Probably more secure about it. This is sort of healthy insecurity that i think is necessary. If you think you got everything, forget it. Hes been the worlds most famous architect since he graded the guggenheim in 1997. There are plenty other eye catching building. The house in prague, the owe limbic dish in barcelona and many more. Its working with very expensive material. It actually started out at home, his own home in santa monica where he still lives. A 1920s bungalow he reimagined using corrugated metal and chain link fence. Building merlz and elements of his future work are there. I found material people hated the most and used the most. I was going to try and see if i could play with it sculp sculptureally. Its how they do it and interact with them. Now gehry is being honored in his long time home town by an exbase by Stephanie Baron with the Los Angeles County museum of art. We visited during the installation. Here are the drawings, photographs and most of all, models of myriad projects. This is one of the models for the newest residents. One of the most important baron says started out as a small addition to the home of peter lewis. It was never built but turned into a fantastical playground of ideas that gehry would later develop. Look at the roof for instance. It draiptz th drapes the buildis like fabric that has not moistened and carefully connects it. It becomes the connector. On the far side you see very kind of constructivist very linear kind of simple geometric norms and bringforms and bringsr sometimes and ideas and this is the project where he began to see what the Computer Technology could do. The Computer System was based on an eeri an aerospace programg his team to work out its elaborate designs and giving contractors a map for fabricating them. As a designer we can clearly understand where we need to focus. They showed us the program used to develop the bumpy facade or curtain of a recent 76story new york apartment building. Having the computer work out the technical specs reduced the time and cost for the contractors to build it. If you were to do this by hand you might get two or three tries within the allowable design period. Weve got thousands of iterations and because of that were actually able to hone the thing down to such great efficiency that we could essentially reduce the cost of almost the same as a flat curtain wall. The proof in this is there were no change orders and thats a pretty unheard of result for 76 story tower. Its like an old friend. The Computer Program helped him build what is certainly one of his most iconic work. I was trying to express movement with the shape of these walls. And juxtaposing two walls that are both moving. Disney hall in Downtown Los Angeles opened in t 2003 and quickly became a landmark for tourists and even models come to take photos of the stainless steel walls. It gets most of the attention but gehry wanted to take us inside to explain his first concern as all was a practical one, the acoustics. In the concert hall the orchestra has to hear each other. They play better when they hear each other. Thats a. B is then were not to communicate with the audience. If you connect with the orchestra and they love it and people like coming here, bingo, im happy. Everything else is, you know, extra. Gehry was so into the audience experience he insisted on narrower arm rests to increase the seat sides. The arms are thick all the way down which takes one . Off oone one inch off of the seat so people of larger weight so to speak are happier. Hes at times been knocked for creating showy buildings that overwhelm their surroundings, for being a starkatech more than an architect. He insists function comes first than the artful expression. There are ego trips in the negative sense. You see a lot of socalled architecture part of the ego trip overpowers the functionality and the budget and all that stuff. So its the essence, its finding an essence. Why be expresser on the outside because everything around isnt. Its a simple wall. In addition to the retrospective, gehry is the subject of a new boggity by paul goldberger. The blue one is one we did in new orleans. Later this month, hell receive a Lifetime Achievement award from the l. A. Based getty trust and hes now developing a master plan to revitalize the 51mile Los Angeles River sure to be controversial. Why are you still doing this. I dont know what else to do. Is that true . I love doing it, i love working. I dont know what the word vocation means. All in all, its a major moment for frank gehry in los angeles. And thats australia. And well beyond. From l. A. , im Jeffrey Brown for the pbs newshour. Sreenivasan theres news out from the National Institutes of health today that could change the way we deal with Blood Pressure. Researchers found that for many patients over fifty, Blood Pressure far below the commonly recommended targets can drastically reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and deaths. Doctors said the top line of a Blood Pressure reading should be below 120 for many. Prior recommendations put the number at 140. In fact, the n. I. H. Announced the end of a major Blood Pressure study a year early, saying it was potentially lifesaving information. Dr. Gary gibbons is director of the national heart, lung and Blood Institute at n. I. H. , which sponsored the trial. He join us now. Dr. Gibbons, first of all, break this down for us. Why is this significant . Well, you know how millions of americans have high Blood Pressure. It predisposes to the leading causes of death such as Heart Disease and stroke. And we knew for a long time that treating high Blood Pressure was important to prevent these complications. But theres a lot of uncertainty as to how low doctors should go and bringing that pressure down. Systolic Blood Pressure intervention trial was designed to ask and answer that question. And now we have those results that make it very clear that being aggressive an intensive treatment below 120 millimeters of market reshow mercury shows s heart attack, stroke and saves lives. Sreenivasan when you say heart Blood Pressure it becomes a concern for the elderly for whom low Blood Pressure can lead to dizziness or fainting. How do you figure out if 120 is right for you. With all things, we must balance the benefits against potential harms and thats why its important for each patient to consult their care provider to see whats the right target for them. But its important to note that this study included individuals 50 and over. And indeed included one fourth of the study sample with age 65 or older. So it was inclusive of the elderly. Indeed our preliminary analyses suggests that the benefit were seeing the cost in a Diverse Group of people in the study 1578 pull includinsample includ. We think those would be applicable to no, sir 50 and oardz whoardz those 50 and o. Sreenivasan the seem the guide lienldz went in the opposite direction taming them from 140 up to 150 and bringing it back down again. What is to say this target doesnt change, there rows some element of debate about what the target should be and indeed its because of that uncertainty the trials at sprint were so important to conduct. Indeed now that we had the data, now we have more definitive evidence, this brings clarity to within that fog of uncertainty. We look forward to the publication of the full results and we anticipate it will inform those organizations that develop Clinical Practice Guidelines that should provide patients and care providers with much clearer guidance about what the right target is. And were confident that the definitiveness of this study will provide that clarity. Sreenivasan finally a lot of this in your studies was brought down by medications. But if you add more drugs to the mix, dont they have perhaps side effects that counter what youre doing . Well as you point out, its very important as clinicians to again recognize the benefits of potential side effects. Its important to recognize that what this study shows is theres a combination of therapies to get to the target goal of 120. That is well tolerated by individuals. Again across the spectrum of ages and degrees of renal disfunction, kiz knee kidney dyn suggesting these regimens can be done thats safe and effective and reaching targets in a way that saves lives and indeed pre vents heart attacks and strokes. Sreenivasan all right, dr. Gary gibbons from the National Institute of health. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Sreenivasan when Serena Williams took to the court this afternoon, her match was expected by many to be one more victory on the road to a spectacular grand slam triumph. Williams had won all three prior major titles this year the french open, Australian Open and wimbledon. She defeated her sister, venus, in a tough match earlier this week. But her opponent, unseeded Roberta Vinci of italy, dashed the hopes of the 21time major champion in a stunning upset. Serena was going for history and trying to become the first woman to win a grand slam all four majors in the same season since steffi graf last did that in 1988. Christine brennan of usa today, and a commentator for abc, joins us now. We were all watching. What happened . Yes, exactly, what happened. Well vinci happened and one of the biggest upsets we have ever seen in sports men or womens any sport around the world happened. One of the biggest. Im not saying its the biggest but douglass beat mike tyson in 1990. Weve had up sets in golf, the u. S. Beating the soviets in hockey in 1980. Thats always going to be the biggest. But in terms of a Story Building not just for the last week andahalf or almost two weeks of the u. S. Open but all summer as weve been looking at the stories of americans, and jordan steve talking grand slams and triple krownlz and here comes saw rea know jusserena just bla. No one saw this coming. Sreenivasan why did that happen. Did she play poorly and then better. In the third set she was able to play better and stand up to serena and not let serena do what she always does which is come back in the end. Serena had an emotional run by hitting 120 mile per hour serves. But in terms of having her emotions, shes a smart woman, she gets it. We talked with venus trying to beat her sister but this moment winning the grand slam first man or woman to do it was wit waninn her. We saw it on the third set. She needed to muster and pull out that energy and be able to do it one last time and she couldnt. All credit to her opponent but this also was serenas loss no doubt about that. Sreenivasan were taking a long look at this stick loss but where is she in the pan theme of pantheon of tennis players. I think shes the greatest tennis player and female athlete of all time. That doesnt change what happened today. It was the power and the strength and the durability. Theyll be 34 in two weeks. Steffi graf we thought was old. She retired at 30. Heres serena playing her best tennis almost 34 years oval. That is remarkable. The toughest sports in women sports is hard and thats why i think serena is all time sreenivasan va thats why we likyoirks. Sreenivasan thate like sports. You have to love her. She didnt wake up thinking she was going to win. No chance. She said sorry, apologizing to a whole nation for the story line. The old adage is this is why they play the game and this is absolutely it. And its the best realtyity v showing going, the greatest escape we request have and today proves it. Sreenivasan all right. Thank you so much. Sreenivasan on the newshour online it was once an Amusement Park fixture, roaring with the sound of screaming passengers along the jersey shore. But months after Superstorm Sandy hit, the jet star roller coaster lies wasting in the atlantic ocean. Thats where photographer Matthew Clark found it, only first he had to make his way past a barricade, and a security guard. He explains his story behind the photo. Its part of our new series on art beat called parallax, and its on our home page. Thats pbs. Org newshour. And a reminder about some upcoming programs from our pbs colleagues. Gwen ifill is preparing for washington week, which airs later this evening. Heres a preview ifill the twists and turns of 2016. As Hillary Clinton slides, joe biden deliberates, donald trump attacks, and the rest of the field tries to decide how to react. Plus, the white house scores a big victory on the iran deal, even as new questions arise about how far the u. S. Will go to help relieve the migration crisis in europe. Well cover it all, tonight on washington week. Hari . Sreenivasan on pbs newshour weekend saturday, stopping the cycle of incarceration for young girls in trouble. Everybody had an attitude of, youre not going to make it anyways. So, i started believing it. Back then i was like, i aint got nothing to lose. Im going to get locked up anyways. Doing stuff i wasnt supposed to, because everyone made me feel like thats what thats all i was worth. Sreenivasan thats tomorrow night on pbs newshour weekend. And thats the newshour for tonight, im hari sreenivasan. Have a great weekend. Thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by Carnegie Corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org this is bbc world news. 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