Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20151210

Annually to its rides, rinks, ifill all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Carnegie corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. 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 geneva, switzerland, went on high alert today over new warnings of possible terrorist attacks. Officials said a search was on for 2 to 4 suspects with possible links to the Islamic State group. It was unclear if the alert was tied to last months attacks in paris. Police stepped up screenings at border crossings, and there was heavier security deployed outside the u. N. s European Headquarters and other sites ifill the u. S. Military is attempting to explore expanding its ability to fight Islamic State forces beyond iraq and syria. The New York Times reports the pentagon wants to build up bases across east africa, Southeast Asia and the middle east, for special operations and intelligence. At the pentagon today, defense secretary ash carter said, that kind of network would help cut down the militants reach. This tumor is metastasizing or has metastasized. Thats the reality the recognition of that behind the concept of linking together american counterterrorism and military nodes in the region and around the world. Ifill the plan is subject to president ial approval. Woodruff republican president ial candidate donald trump has postponed a december visit to israel. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been singled out by many israeli politicians for inviting trump, after the g. O. P. Frontrunner called for banning muslims from entering the u. S. Today, trump tweeted that hes putting off the trip because i didnt want to put netanyahu under pressure. He said hell reschedule after he becomes president. Ifill meanwhile, leaders of arab states in the Persian Gulf Region condemned verbal attacks on muslims and syrian refugees. Meeting in riyadh, the heads of state warned against what they called hostile, racist and inhumane rhetoric. None directly named name donald trump. Woodruff back in washington, the senate has approved a short term funding bill to keep the government operating through next wednesday. The house is expected to follow suit tomorrow. Negotiators still have to nail down agreement on longterm tax and spending measures, totaling more than a trillion dollars. House Speaker Paul Ryan said this morning he remains optimistic about getting it done. I think our members understand the situation quite well. Look, were not going to get everything we want in negotiations. The democrats arent going to get everything they want in negotiations. Not everybody gets what you want when you negotiate in divided government. But i think we will complete this. Woodruff congressional leaders aim to complete the omnibus bills next week and adjourn for the year. Ifill commercial truck and bus drivers are going to have to Start Recording their driving hours electronically. A new federal rule released today aims to keep tired drivers off the road. It requires devices that automatically log engine hours and other data. Since 1938, operators have kept paper logs, but accident investigators say those are easily doctored. Woodruff wall street recouped some of its recent losses today. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 82 points to close near 17,575. The nasdaq rose 22 points, and the s p 500 added four. Still to come on the newshour a firsthand account from Bowe Bergdahl. A sophies choice for yazidi refugees weighing the risk of a journey to europe. The end of no child left behind, and much more. Ifill the controversy over the Prisoner Exchange that freed Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl from the taliban last year, reignited today, as afghanistan struggles to fight back against the resurgent militant group. We start with this report from chief Foreign Affairs correspondent margaret warner. I had this fantastic idea that i was gonna prove to the world that, you know, i was the real thing. Warner its the first time Bowe Bergdahls version of his experience has been heard publicly. The Army Sergeant tells his story in a new episode of the wildly popular podcast serial. He says he left his post in afghanistan without permission in june 2009, hoping to raise concerns about leadership his unit. All i was seeing was basically leadership failure, to the point that the lives of the guys standing next to me were literally, from what i could see, in danger. Warner but he was captured by taliban fighters and remained a prisoner until his release last may. This morning, i called bob and Jani Bergdahl and told them that after nearly five years in captivity, their son, bowe, is coming home. Warner in the rose garden, president obama announced hed been freed, in exchange for releasing five taliban inmates at Guantanamo Bay, who were sent to qatar. The swap sparked criticism by republican lawmakers, who blasted its legality some calling bergdahl a deserter. And by some of the soldiers who served with bergdahl, who also charged him with deserting. Combat is difficult. The only thing you can count on in combat is the commitment of your fellow american. Knowing somebody you needed to trust is already in war and did so on his own free will is the ultimate betrayal. The president defended his decision a few days after bergdahls release. We do not leave anybody wearing the american uniform behind. We had a prisoner of war, whose health had deteriorated and we were deeply concerned about and we saw an opportunity and we seized it and i make no apologies for that. Warner that wasnt the end of it. Today, republicans on the House Armed Services committee released a 98page report, finding the taliban swap violated several laws, requiring 30 days notice to congress, and the committee was misled about the extent and scope of efforts to arrange the transfer. Democrats called the report an unbalanced, partisan, and needless attempt to justify a predetermined position. Bergdahl was originally charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, but the armys investigating officer recommended his case be treated as a misdemeanor. Bergdahl is awaiting a decision on whether hell be courtmartialed. As the case plays out, the taliban are again on the offensive. An attack on kandahar airport this week killed 50 people. And, in september, the militants seized the Northern City of kunduz for three days. Meanwhile, theres turmoil in kabul, where the head of afghanistans Main Intelligence Agency resigned today. He had opposed president Ashraf Ghanis efforts to renew peace talks with the taliban. Ifill for more on the continuing debate surrounding Bowe Bergdahl we get two views from members of the House Armed Services committee. Representative Vicky Hartzler, is a republican from missouri. Shes also the chairwomen of the subcommittee on oversight and investigations, which co authored the report we just reported on. And representative Loretta Sanchez is a democrat from california who also serves on the Homeland Security committee. Representative hartzler, was Bowe Bergdahl worth rescuing, in your opinion . Well, thats not to be determined by our report. What we were looking at is actually the circumstances relating to his transfer and if it endangered americans and if the law was violated and, clearly, we determined this administration violated the law which says they need to notify congress at least 30 days before any transfer from Guantanamo Bay and, in addition to that. We found much evidence how this administration misled Congress Every step o t way. The taliban 5 notified they were going to be transferred two days before congress was even notified and this is very, very concerning. Concerning. Ifill it sounds like your conclusion is the taliban 5 were not a worthwhile exchange for this soldier. Whats more important is whether this administration followed the law or not. Certainly, as representatives of the people, we should know if the five most dangerous taliban leaders that we were holding should be released and the circumstances of those released. Talking about the deputy minister of defense, the deputy minister of intelligence, military commanders, friends of osama bin laden, these are five of the most dangerous individuals that we had in Guantanamo Bay, and yet they were released, going around Congress Without us even being notified of the nature of their release, if it posed a Security Threat to our nation and whether the country who would be accepting them would be able to detain them and keep them from reengaging in the fight, and that is a clear violation of the law and its very concerning because we know from media reports that at least three of these individuals have tried to reengage again, and we have soldiers still in afghanistan, and we fought hard to capture these individuals, to take them off the battlefield and now, potentially, they are being released without congress being involved in that decision. Ifill let me ask the same question of representative sanchez. Given what we know the nature to have the exchange was, was Bowe Bergdahl worth rescuing . I believe there is one thing all americans can agree on and that is we never leave a man or woman behind that is in uniform for our armed forces, and i think we can agree on that. So the president , in his role as commanderinchief, did what many have done before, negotiated to get our p. O. W. Back. Now, we as the Congress Passed a resolution a few months ago that already said, hey, you didnt give us a 30day notice. So i do not understand why we had to spend precious resources that we have on our Armed Services committee to basically do what came out a political report, a politicallyminded report, something with a predetermined end to it. Ifill but is it possible there is a deduction to be made between the circumstances of that exchange and the unsettled state we now find afghanistan in . Look, these actually these five that were released were not the worst of the worst and we did not choose these in. The report, the republicans indicated that somehow we had chosen these because we wanted to get them out of gitmo, and the reality is that we were negotiating for the life of a fellow american. Thats what the president was doing. Now, could he have talked to congress in some way . Well, the administration said, look, this was so important to keep under wraps because his health was deteriorating and we were trying to get him out and we didnt know whether the deal was going to go and we were afraid it was going to break. I believe there could have been a way for the president and his administration to talk to some of the ranking members of the different committees of jurisdiction, those that, you know, deal with this, but he chose not to, and i think weve already passed a resolution that said that. Ifill let me ask representative hartzler about the Guantanamo Bay connection that representative sanchez just raised, this idea that there is a goal behind all of this to be able to resettle Guantanamo Bay detainees elsewhere, close the base down, close the detention facility down. Do you see a connection . Well, im not sure about that, but do i know the president promised in his campaign that he was going to release people from Guantanamo Bay, that it was his goal to close it, and he has continued in that path. His goal is to continue to close the facility. So here he released five individuals, and we were not able to determine if we in the negotiations ever authored one for one or two for one. All that information was and still is hidden from us. They refuse to give us that information. It took over a year and a half to carry out this investigation primarily because the administration continued to stonewall and provide us with emails and documentation and when we got the documentation, they were redacted out. It was very difficult to determine what we have determined and it is clear and i think the American People once they read this report will be as concerned as i am that the president violated the law plus he misled congress over and over again, even to the extent that secretary hagel came over to the Armed Services committee and denied that they were negotiating with the taliban when, in fact, we know he was. Ifill let me let representative sanchez respond to that. What do we know and at this stage, in your opinion, about this episode. What i know is what a shame we spent a year and a half of resources and time on a report that was in essence prewritten, being, yes, the democrats on the task force for this did sit in the interviews, they did sit in the hearings, but theyve received the first draft of the report and they had no input into it right before thanksgiving. Then they received it yesterday, the final draft of the report yesterday at 11 00 a. M. In the morning, and then it was released today. So we have what we call a minority report, the democrat side of what we think is wrong with the report and, again, we believe it was politically motivated, that its a prewritten report, if you will, that it doesnt talk about the real issues that we might raise, that it makes a lot of assumptions that are just not true and that it goes after the president unnecessarily. Ifill representative sanchez, what we have here, i want to ask you about one other report that we see today, reported you said on larry king in the context of the questions we have been having this week about muslims and america and whether they should be here and their role in terrorism, your quote is it could be from 5 to 20 of the people i speak to that islam is a religion that have a desire for caliphate and you link that to terrorism where do you get that, 5 to 20 of muslims interested in caliphate . A book i read published by the harvard press. But think about this, what im talking about is muslims around the world, and i think that that is a high number. And if you see the rest of the interview that i have, i say that. I think thats a very big number, between 5 and 20 of muslims who have this idea to build a caliphate and, yes, a few muslims are willing to use violence. We see it, whether its in afghanistan, whether its i. S. I. S. , whether its in iraq, wherwhether its in the philipps and other areas around the world with this whole idea of pushing forward their ideas. We need to take that into context and say, you know, how is this that we will fight these terrorists, these extremists . Reporter ifill representative Loretta Sanchez of california, representative Vicky Hartzler of missouri, thank you both very much. Thank you. Woodruff the plight of the yazidi religious sect in iraq was a major factor in pushing the United States to war against the Islamic State group last year. Last month, their homeland in and around sinjar, iraq was liberated, but thousands have no intention of staying. Special correspondent jane arraf brings us the story of some trying to leave for europe. Is family is planning to leave any day to be smuggled across the border to turkey. By boat from greece is the cheapest way to get to europe. The mother and two sons could drown, as so many have, trying to reach europes shores. How many thousands have risked that Dangerous Passage this year. Its a perilous journey. Maybe more so by winter coming. Many yazidis are going to back to sinjar where i. S. I. S. Captured and killed many of them. I. S. I. S. Vowed to either convert or kill them. She faints when she even thinks about this. Its dangerous but what can i say . I have to take my family and my kids. Thats the way to get out. Were not going to return to sinjar. Its dangerous either to stay or to leave. We might not survive, but we have to try. A backlash in europe with refugees, and now after attacks in paris, europes open doors are closing. Border controls made it much more difficult to get to western europe. Thousands are still trying. For 2,000 each, amirs family will be smuggled to europe for what they hope will be a new start. Perhaps he will be one of his first five brothers to go but not the last. My brothers collected all the money they have and gave it to me so i can make the journey. All the brothers have given me their money and once i get there, i can help them. They say almost everything has been destroyed by the fighting, it is i. S. I. S. Controlled. The yazidis lived peacefully with the muslim neighbors in iraq for years but thats over. A lot of people died and drowned at sea. Its still better than living among the arabs. Its leave or face death. Many arabs are joining i. S. I. S. And killing their people and stealing their homes. Some say in revenge to what was done to them. As long as we can breathe and have a drop of blood, no matter how far they run, we will chase them. Were not going to abandon our land or mountain. Reporter its a temporary refuge while they wait to return home. For many, this construction site has become a weigh station on their journey to europe. Almost everyone here is from sinjar. They turned this empty field into essentially a village. But even though u. S. Airstrikes and Kurdish Forces have retaken the town on sinjar mountain, almost no one here plans to go home again. A lot of the younger people are trying to raise money to leave. They say if they had money, almost everyone would be gone by now. Hassan is one of the smugglers getting people to europe. Over the last two years, he says hes delivered more than 1,000 yazidis and kurds to turkey where his connections get them to greece or eastern europe. There is no lack of business, but its a little harder for smugglers. The prices right now in the last four or five months are the cheapest. Previously it was 12,500 per person and had to walk part of the way. Now since we hand you over to an organization, its 4,000. Until they seal off the borders, people just go. Reporter he says he never smug also anyone he didnt know and he doesnt smuggle arabs. At one of the biggest bus companies, two buses a day take passengers straight to istanbul. Money and a passport will get you a seat. For many, its a oneway trip. This boy is 18 and travels with his brother. He will stay in turkey and paid the 8,000 they agreed on. He arrives in austria. Another brother now an austrian citizen waiting for him there. I want to build a future for myself. I can see myself learning their language. Its a very beautiful thing for people to learn different languages and to go to school. I want to get an education because it wasnt good here. I. S. I. S. Came and we couldnt cope. Reporter the bus pulled up to the start of their 22hour trip to istanbul. He heard of doors in europe closing for refugees, but he says he thinks people will welcome them because they know of the tragedy of what happened to the yazidis. This woman is taking her nieces and nephews to istanbul to be smuggled to germany. Her husband and relatives are already there. Everybody else is going. Were going, too, she says. They dont look back. Many tearful goodbyes from the relatives and the moss. Most are confident they will see them again in europe. For the cbs newshour, im jane arraf in ike. Iraq. Ifill you can watch our woodruff after years of criticism and debate over the federal law known as no child left behind, the president and congress have finally agreed on a new education law, one that aims to shift some of the federal governments influence over 100,000 public schools. A christmas miracle, a bipartisan bill signing right here. Woodruff president obama praised the new bill called the every Student Succeeds act as he prepared to sign it into law at the white house. It still requires annual testing of students between third and eighth grade, as well as once during high school. But unlike the prior law signed by president george w. Bush in 2002, it does not give the federal government power to impose penalties on under performing schools. The president , who had waived those penalties but had backed many features of the law for years, acknowledged the shortcomings of no child left behind. It didnt always consider the specific needs of each community. It led to too much testing during classroom time, it often forced schools and School Districts into cookie cutter reforms that didnt always produce results we wanted to see. Woodruff the new law passed with unusually large bipartisan margins in the senate and the house, a point made yesterday by one of its sponsors, republican senator Lamar Alexander of tennessee. Not many things this important pass the us senate 85 12. This is a Big Christmas present from the senate and the house and its going down to the president and i hope he wraps a big red ribbon around it and sends it out to 100 million students, 3. 4 million teachers, 100,000 pubic schools. Woodruff states and School Districts will now have more responsibility for judging how schools are doing and how to utilize testing. Teacher evaluations, long a subject of intense debate, will not necessarily be tied to tests. But there remain many questions about the Practical Impact will states take action when needed . And will some districts return to a time of ignoring the needs of struggling and minority students . Lets take a closer look at what this law changes and some of those questions and criticisms of it. Alyson klein who has been covering this was at the white house signing today. Shes with education week, an organization we collaborate with on education stories. She was at the white house today for the president s signing. Thank you for being here. What are the main ways that this new bill is different from the old one . So, as you mentioned at the top, this new law would really broaden the authority of states when it comes to turning around lowperforming schools, evaluating teachers and deciding what exactly to hold schools accountable for. States, as you said, will still have to test students in grades 38, and once in high school, but they will have more say on how much those tests count in gauge ago schools performance. Woodruff so is that a significant change in the testing thats going to go on . Yeah, the testing will continue, but schools will also be asked to focus on other factors, things like school climate, teacher engagement, student engagement, access to advance course work. So those things will be looked at engaging the schools rating or performance alongside test. Woodruff what about teacher performance . We mentioned that will not now necessarily be tied to how the tests go. What does this new law say about teachers . This law gives states the authority to decide exactly how to evaluate their teachers, and states may decide to kick that responsibility to School Districts. States certainly could continue to hold teachers accountable for student growth and test scores, but it would be up to them and not the federal government. Woodruff is there a since, alyson klein, that it will feel different in terms of a federal mandate in schools . States will need to take much more ownership, i think the sponsors say, of their systems. So how much change well see in schools will end up being up to the state and district level. Certainly, teachers unions, governors, state chiefs are expecting to see a more holistic approach to education loing forward. Woodruff now, we mentioned this passed by a very big, unusual bipartisan margin, but we still hear criticism, for example a number of conservative members of congress did not vote for it. One of their main air games, they say, it still has too much a federal presence despite changes. Obviously there are some running for president , trkd, for example, who opposed the bill who would like to see there be no department of education. So even though this would constrain the department of education, some say it would put a straitjacket around the secretary, it doesnt get rid of the department altogether, which some folks would like to see. See. Woodruff so there clearly spill are federal mandates connected to the money. Yes. Woodruff the other criticism you hear, i guess you could say its from the left, but its those saying there is not enough in here to require schools to do something for students who are academically struggling, those students in underperforming schools. How do the proponents defend it from that criticism . Senator patty murray, a lead sponsor of this bill, and representative bobby scott, both democrats, noted there are guardrails is the term they use in this bill that would call for states to look at their very lowestperforming schools, schools where less than a third of kids graduate and schools where certain groups of students like english language learners, students in special education, racial minorities, are not performing as well as their peers. So they say those guardrails are in place and were not going to see any slide back. Woodruff but there still is leeway for states on what to do about the lowestperforming schools . Yes, absolutely. Woodruff final last question, alyson klein common core, does this affect that . So this would turn control of standards completely over to states. The Obama Administration through its no child left behind Waiver Program has required states to either adopt common core or instead of standards that their institutions of Higher Education sign off on its kind of technical but this law says you need to have challenging academic standards that get students ready for Higher Education but takes the federal government out of the picture, meaning states can continue common core but nothing says they have to. Woodruff alyson klein with education week, thank you. Thank you. Ifill earlier this week, we examined how a littleknown Immigration Program is being used, and some say abused, for jobs and development in certain communities. Congress must decide whether to renew the 25yearold program next week. Tonight, economics correspondent paul solman has the second of his two reports about it. Cases in the country, all part of our Series Making sense, which airs every thursday on the newshour. Just four miles from the canadian border, surfs up at the j. Peak resort, part of the half Million Development project to transform the economically depressed northeast kingdom as this corner of vermont is called with foreign investment. The developer is bill stanger. In the last seven years weve constructed three different hotels, a beautiful indoor water park, ice arena, conference center, wedding facility, and weve had a tremendous impact n our local economy regionally as well. Reporter a local economy that for most of vermonts history has been at the very bottom but now leads the state in job creation. So the northeast kickedle wins, tourists win and so do the foreign investors, not only with a promised return on their investment, but and heres the novel incentive of the socalled ebb five program with green cards, permanent resident vies as for them and their families in exchange for forking over 500,000 to private companies to create at least ten jobs in areas of deep unemployment. You dont have to live in vermont. There are a number of people from around the world who love florida, arizona, california, warmer weather. Reporter beside the rule of sunny climb parents oftentimes will gift their son or daughter an investment, they can complete their studies here and if they can find a job in the United States, the green card will allow them to accept the job and within five years they will be able to apply for citizenship and it will be granted. Reporter some may have a problem with citizenship for a cool half million deal even if it is creating a winter wonderland. Is it fair rich people get to come to the United States when there are so many truly desperate immigrants from, say, syria, as we speak . Im seeking capital from a legal source thats been in existence since 1990 that is promoted by our government, helps us and, yes, those people are successful and theyre contributing to our economy. Reporter well they certainly seem to be improving life in and around j. Peak. Before the eb5 renovation began in 2008, this was a ski slope going downhill. Its now a yearround resort attracting customers to its rides, rimption, restaurants. Dining revenues alone now top 10 million, doubling what the resort took in preeb5. This is immense and priceness. Reporter for mike and bob, Economic Growth has meant Career Growth as well. Somebody like myself who is just maybe cooking steaks, but because it is growth, it gives me opportunity where i can move up and become a supervisor. Reporter it even benefited the local quilting bee. There were 33 people in the old hotel. Reporter kay was the organizer. By j. Peak opening this wonderful conference center, were able to expand and have 115 people here this year. Reporter including a nurse from nearby. I volunteered because i wanted to thank him. A lot of the farms are going out of business, there wasnt much opportunity for the youth in this area, and youve come here and its like this big enterprise and there is building and construction going on and students are employed in High School Reporter as lifeguards, ski patrols, desk clerks. No wonder in neighboring ne newport, bill is treated like man to have the year if not the millennium. Newport is where stanger and his partner have half a dozen new eb5 projects pending, most ostensibly a manufacturing associated with a biotech firm. Manufacturing artificial organs such as kidneys, heart and liver. Reporter i understand why you would build up a resort but a Biotech Center in the northeast kingdom . Its a great idea. We are at the right place at the right time with capital Patient Capital and a great business plan. There is going to be enormous opportunity in the construction trades. Reporter remember, stanger is a promoter and if all this sounds too good to be true, well, some say it is. Most notably some of the investors. Tony sutton was among j. Peaks first eb5 investors in early 2008 but now back home in England Running a large car dealership. Started back in 2014 where the exit strategy of j. Peak is completely opposite of what they promised would happen. Reporter sutton is one of a group of 35 who put up half a million each to build the tram lodge at j. Peak. Some complained to the state that stanger and kiros promised their money back in five years. But they didnt do that . No, they gave us all i. O. U. S. If we look at the company we run against, our Research Suggests that company j. Peak management, inc. , has no assets, no income and no Service Force any of the investors. Reporter you dont think you will ever get your capital back . No, not from j. Peak. There is no obligation to pay the investment back. Reporter stanger maintains the loan is garn feed by the entire resort and, besides we want to pay them back. We want to exit them, but what this gentleman would have liked for us to give him a 500,000 check on year five in one day. The markets crashed. We needed a little more time. Reporter it sound liked a reasonable defense and, besides, i said to investor sutton, you got four green cards for yourself and your family. So why should anybody sympathize with the fact you didnt get your money on time or might not ever even get it . Its not about sympathy and not about the return on the investment, its about the program we bought into and the way the program was sold to eb5 investors. Reporter thats a real concern says journalist ann galloway. People in these countries are investing in something they have put faith in, and that faith is lost, and that has a Ripple Effect across all of these projects. The stories have a chilling effect. Reporter galloway founded investigative reporting web site vermontdiger. Org, and dig she has. For the last two years on bill stangers various projects among the largest in the country fund bid eb5. I know from the documents ive collected, hundreds of pages of emails and contracts and so on that there are very Big Questions about how the upony has been handled. Reporter there is a concern out there investor money is being siphoned off by individuals. That is a question thats come up, in particularly the bio project and the statement wanting to know where did 15 million go to. Reporter the investor says hes suspicious. Hundreds of families are relying on me and my team to implement what we do and do it right. Reporter were in no position to tell whether or not financial ledger has been going on. We leave that to the state and federal agencies reviewing the matter. But reporter galloways concern is broader. I think if the United States is going to promote a program that attracts people from universities, it ought to be well regulated. Reporter in the end, thats why investors like tony sutton are raising a ruckus. We have one last wee question about bill stanger and partners. One interpretation is theyre trying to do something good for the depressed part of vermont, you can rob a bank and build a hospital and everythings fine. Reporter economics correspondent paul solman, reporting from north kingdom, vermont, for the pbs newshour. Woodruff now, a spectacular new Wilderness Park in chile and the man who helped create it. Earlier this week, douglas tompkins, the founder of the Outdoor Equipment company, the north face, died in a kayaking accident in chile, the country where he spent much of his time. Tompkins and his wife, kris, have long been dedicated to acquiring natural wilderness areas and then turning them back to countries in south america. The latest the Patagonia National park in chile is opening this month. Special correspondent mike cerre reports from patagonia. Reporter imagine a National Park with the best of yellowstone, yosemite and grand teton National Parks, without the traffic or wait lists for campsites. Chiles new Patagonia National park will be the size of rhode island when its combined with two adjacent national reserves. Complete with snow capped mountains, wild rivers and sweeping grasslands. As the these ultra marathon runners discovered on their 100 mile fundraising run the length of the park, sponsored by the patagonia company. Since weve moved to chile, weve been fortunate enough to have acquired 2. 4 million acres. Between chile and argentina, all of which, we hope will become part of a National Park system in either country more before theres a reason that people come from all over the word here, and they stay because there is something alluring about it. After 24 years working for the company patagonia, i thought there must be something to this and im going to go see it for myself and i fell in love. Reporter kris tompkins, the patagonia Outdoor Clothing companys first c. E. O. , also fell in love with Doug Tompkins, the founder of north face and esprit companies, who moved to patagonia after exiting the Business World in the mid 90s. This is a lot more satisfying than selling a lot of clothes that nobody needs and being part of the problem rather than attempting to be part of the solution for this immense eco social crisis were all immersed in. Reporter Doug Tompkins and yvon chouinard, the founder of the patagonia clothing company, first discovered the patagonia region while making a movie of their infamous 1968 road trip to the tip of south america in a van, surfing and climbing mountains the length of chile. Im kind of half chilean at this point. This is where ive been living and working for a long time now. Reporter the road less traveled to patagonia and the new park and their home away from home is still unpaved. It took us eight hours to get there from where doug picked me up at the closest commercial airport in the aysen region on the chilean side of patagonia. Nearly a thousand miles south of santiago and nearly as many miles north of Tierra Del Fuego at the tip. Valle chacabucco, the original land for the park, was one of south americas largest sheep ranches until it went into serious decline due to severe overgrazing. So it was really a diminished landscape. And in some places, the land had been eaten down so consistently and for so many decades that it really wasnt going to come back. Reporter the tompkins, along with the help of other conservationists, bought the nearly 200,000acre ranch in 2004 for 10 million. Over the past 20 years, they have invested another 55 million of their and other conservation foundations money to restore the grasslands and local fauna, including the nearly extinct huemel deer and pumas, which had become quite scarce. With the help of local and foreign student volunteers, theyve removed over 500 miles of fences and created hundreds of miles of trails. They designed and built the parks infrastructure to make it more accessible and accommodating to visitors from chile and around the globe. Before too long we step out, we are donating this park, these lands, the whole story to the chilean people, and through that the chileans will develop their sense of ownership. We choose the National Park idea because its really the highest form of protection for landscapes that exists under current law, especially in chile and argentina. Reporter the idea of privately funding parks and turning them over to the government for National Parks might be new to chile, but not in the u. S. Some of our more famous parks started with private donations and citizen stewards. From Teddy Roosevelt preserving a California Redwood forest donated by a local couple, to john d. Rockefeller jr. s land donations that were the catalyst for creating maines acadia National Park and our National Park system, which many believe to be one of americas greatest ideas. National parks system is a great combination of public and private effort, and certainly is the case in everything that were working on, so you cant separate out the necessity, the urgency, the private sector, individuals. And i dont care if they have a lot of money, if they have a little money, that is not the point. Reporter like the conservation versus development battles in the u. S. And elsewhere, not all chileans have shared the tompkins conservation vision. Over the years theyve been buffeted by shifting political winds. Many of them generated by opposition rumors that they were trying to divide the country in half, and the ones about creating a doomsday refuge and an American Nuclear waste site. It was a prodevelopment plan to dam the local rivers and run hydroelectric power lines through their parks and the length of the country that finally turned chilean Public Opinion in the tompkins favor in order to protect the future of patagonia. The controversy turned Doug Tompkins, the mysterious american conservationist, into a local and national hero. The biproduct of the main thrust to protect the biodiversity of a given place is that you get especially young people out to the parks. It will have to be future generations that value these landscapes and ecosystems and make sure nobody is changing the law. This park is going to be a good thing for chile. I think that the peoples that work here transmit all the knowledge about this park about the nature to other people and this site its going to be a huge Economic Resource for the country. Reporter if they build it, will the people come . And will ecotourism help the local economy as much or more than other types of development . Its about to become much clearer this Summer Season in chile starting december when most of the park will finally be open to the public. You are seeing what you might have seen 150 years ago here in the United States. People are starting to go and really learn about the country they were born into and enjoy it. Reporter for the pbs newshour, this is mike cerre reporting from patagonia, chile. Ifill now we return to brief but spectacular our occasional series where we ask interesting people to discuss their passions. Among this years Kennedy Center honors awardees is an actress and singer who made her debut on broadway at age 13, and is perhaps bestknown for playing anita in the film adaptation of west side story. Rita moreno originally struggled with being typecast, but fought industry pressure, and went on to become the first latino to win an oscar, a tony, an emmy and a grammy. This fall, she released her first all spanish album titled, una vez mas. Being the house ethnic was destroying my life and my sense of myself because i had been assigned to play every desky role. I spoke with an accent still, but i was really trying to improve things. Nobody gave a damn. Middl. Moving to los angeles, i was about 16. I was under contract to m. G. M. Studios, the studio of my dreams because thats where all the great musicals were made. I did a story about an actress in hollywood in 1954 and i made the cover, and i remember that the fellow who was doing the story on me said, listen, kid, i just wanted you to know, if eisenhower gets the code, were off the cover. I auditioned for west side story like everybody else and i nearly had a heart attack because i hadnt danced in about 15 years. I got a friend of mine who had played anita in the role in west side story to teach me some steps but she warned me no one always teaches the same steps. To my astonishment, the first part of the audition, the dance director said, let me teach you these steps from america. I said, okay. It was the steps this girl taught me. When i was nominated for the oscar, i was almost positive judy garland would win for judgment at nuremberg, and then they called my name and i was poll axed. I remember walking down the stage and told myself, dont run, its not dignified. I got up there and said the following unbelievable. applause i cant believe it oh, my gosh, the things i could have said, just killed me. There is something about sex that always brings out the funny in me. I guess because we make such fools of ourselves over it. Get laid, oh, my god, people do just about anything. People get won over, too, by a womans kind of sexuality. That was what i was trying to achieve. I really had a hard time not laughing. Ive always wand to sing and dance all my life, but there is one song that absolutely captures the essence of who i am. As i approach the prime of my life i find i have the time of my life willing to explore at my leisure every single pleasure and, so i happily concede im rita moreno, this is my brief but spectacular take on me ifill ive always wanted to be her when i grow up. Shes the whole package. And she has a birthday which makes her 83 years old. Happy birthday, rita. Ifill and thats the newshour for tonight. On friday, judy sits down with britains defense minister as they join the fight against isis in syria. Im gwen ifill. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Join us online, and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your life and become youre own chief life officer. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention. In the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. 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 this is bbc world news. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newmans own foundation, giving all profits from newmans own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs, and hong kong tourism board. Want to know hong kongs most romantic spots . I will show you. I love heading to repulse bay for an evening stroll