Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20160922

Convener, that can bring anybody and everybody into a conversation around race. Woodruff all that and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by love me tender love me true we can like many, but we can l love only a precious few. Ew because it is for those precious few that you have to be willing to do so very much. But you dont have to do it alone. Lincoln financial helps you provide for and protect your financial future, because this is what you do for people youtu love. Lincoln financial youre in charge. Bnsf railway. Xq institute. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. Supported by the john d. Andd catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. Le and by contributions to your pbp station from viewers like you. Fr thank you. Ifill its an alltoo familiar story, in a newar setting. This time, the city of charlotte is on edge, awaiting a second night of protests over the Police Killing of a black man. The drama began with a tuesday confrontation that sparked aat night of trouble. William brangham begins our coverage. No peace reporter protests boiled over in North Carolinas larges city, within hours of the fatal shooting. The victim was 43yearold keith lamont scott, and his sister who did not give her name sai hed been unarmed. They said, hands up he got a gun , he got a gun pow pow, pow, pow thats it he had no gun reporter another woman, claiming to be scotts daughter, went on facebook, saying hed had a book, not a gun, and also had an unspecified disability. In short order, a crowd blocked traffic on interstate 85, throwing rocks, and destroying police cars. Some looted a tractor trailer and set it on fire, and others broke into a nearby walmart. Police eventually used tear gas to quell the violence, but 16he officers were injured. This morning, police chief kerrs putney urged people to step back, and be calm. I can tell you from the facts that the story is a little bit different as to how it has been portrayed so far, especially through social media. Reporter as putney told it, officers had been at an apartment complex, searching for a suspect, when they saw scott get out of a car. They say he did have a gun, andi refused to put it down. In spite of the verbal commands, mr. Scott exited his vehicle armed with a handgun, as the officers continued to yellti at him to drop it. He stepped out, posing a threat to the officers, and officer Brentley Vinson subsequentlyey fired his weapon, striking the subject. Reporter the officer who is also black was placed on administrative leave, standard procedure in such cases. Meanwhile, local activists and ministers called for an economic boycott of charlotte. Across the country we are being shot down. D shot down. Very few cops go to jail for that. N. Reporter the incident cameid just a day after graphic video from tulsa, oklahoma that showed an officer shooting an unarmed black man. Ifill well hear from the mayor of charlotte, after therl news summary. Woodruff in the days other news, the Federal Reserve held fast on keeping a key, short term Interest Rate near record lows. Fed chair janet yellen said Economic Activity has picked up but theres no need yet to put on the brakes. Were not seeing strong pressures on utilization, suggesting overheating, and myrh assessment would be, based on this evidence, that the economy has a little more room to rune than might have been previously thought. Thats good news. Woodruff yellen did suggestg an Interest Rate increase is likely before years end. Ifill the feds action sent wall street higher. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 163 points to close at 18,293. The nasdaq rose nearly 54 points, and the s p 500 added 23. De woodruff the crisis in syria took center stage today at the u. N. Security council. The u. S. And russia clashed over the failure of the latest cease fire, and mondays deadly attack on an aid convoy. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov denied responsibility,re and offered other explanations. But secretary of state john kerry shot back, this is not a joke, and he condemned what he called word games. Now, this attack has dealt aa very heavy blow to our efforts to bring peace to syria, and it raises a profound doubt about whether russia and the assad regime can or will live up to the obligations that they agreea to in geneva. Ne it also raises questions not woodruff kerry called for grounding all aircraft flying over routes for humanitarian r deliveries. Meanwhile, another air strike hit a mobile medical unit outside aleppo overnight. Activists reported at least 13 people died. Ifill president obama and israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a final meeting today at the u. N. , after years of testy relations. This time, the two leaders were all smiles. The president said a new 38 billion military aid package will let israel cope with enormous uncertainty in theno region. Woodruff the cost of the emergency allergy shot, epipen, and the company that makes it, drew bipartisan scorn today from congress. At a house hearing, heather bresch, c. E. O. Of drugmaker mylan, defended raising the price more than 500 since 2007. It now costs 608 for a two pack. She said mylan will soon introduce a generic version ata half the cost, but lawmakers were unimpressed. A mother would cut off her right arm to get that dose of drug. F you decided to charge 600 instead of cutting off her arm, and now youre saying youre s dropping it to 300 and that should make us all feel better, when in fact, thats probably a about ten times what the drug should cost. Congressman, we want everyone who needs an epipen to have an epipen. Es all the programs we put in place, from the generic, to the higher patient assistant program, to trying to address every facet, is what we will remain focused on. Woodruff bresch said the Company Makes 50 dollars profit from each epipen. Ifill and outside the capitol today, construction crews started work on the platform for januarys inauguration of the 45th president of the United States. Republican and Democratic Leaders hammered in the ceremonial first nails for the massive 10,000square foot structure. 1,600 people will have to fit on the stage. Woodruff still to come on the newshour we sit down withwi libertarian president ial candidate gary johnson; Donald Trumps foreign business dealings as potential conflictss of interest; Police Robots being used to detonate and defuse bombs, and much more. Woodruff we return to the Fatal Police Shooting in charlotte, North Carolina late yesterday, and the violent street protests that followed. Here with me now is the citys mayor, jennifer roberts. Welcome, mayor roberts. Thank you. Were hearing two different versions upon what happened. Is there any new information to come forward late today that lends credence to either version . Well, we have heard from our police chief that we do have video footage of the incident. I they are still analyzing it. Its from different angles. Nt we have heard that a gun was found on the scene. S there was no book found on the scene. And that we are corroborating different witness views as wella to make sure that woe have all the facts in hand. N but we are hearing a very different story from within the city. Woodruff you mean from within the community, from the relative, or apparently the daughter of the victim, and from an eyewitness who said she saw a book fall out of his lap when he got out of the car. C we want to make sure that we have a thorough investigation. Ug we have a history in charlotte of being very transparent, andd we absolutely want the communitm to know that this investigationv will have the highest integrityt we want to of the community to be patient as we put together all the facts. We know there are different versions of the story out there. And we are calling for a peaceful protest while we put everything together,pu and while we get the evidence clear. Woodruff will gun that was found be publicly released . Li will it be shown to the public . And will that video that we understand thats available be shown . Well, i have asked to see the video footage as soon as possible. Chief, at his discretion, can show it to leaders in the community. We are working with our officers to help get that information to some key people. And absolutely evidence. Once the investigation is completed and that we are sure we have all of it, and it is accurate, i want us to be as transparent as possible. We absolutely need to show folks that this is an investigation that is transparent with the highest integrity. Woodruff so does that mean that all of this material will ultimately be made available . A well, there are some legal issues around that. Our policy has been that while the investigation is still active that, that is not made public. But once the investigation is concluded, whatever that conclusion is, then it will be accessible in terms of what extent, again, there are somee legal procedures to go through. But my goal is to make it as clear as possible as soon as possible. Woodruff do you have any more information, mayor w rober, about who the victim was . We know that the the woman who said she was his daughter said that he had a disability. D do we know any more about that . T i have not been able to confirm any more information about the victim. V i know that there are many folk in Addition Community who are stepping up our faith leaders, our Community Leaders who are calling for peace, who are calling for patience, absolutelo want people to express their views, express their frustration, perhaps, with the t slowness of noaks coming out. But we are calling for peace and hope people will wait until all becomes clear and we can get that information out. I woodruff we reported a few moments ago that there appeareda to be demonstrations formingfo this afternoon in charlotte. C what is the state of whats going on in the community right now . We have had some gatherings. We have a small gathering of people in the uptown area, people very peacefully, very quietly, holding up signs, black lives matter. We have a gathering of the Faith Community and some faith leaders who are gathering in a park who have made it very clear this is peaceful. They want to express their concern with a story that, again, has played out all around the country, and folks are very skeptical, to be honest, of soms of the investigations that have happened. But weep people to express that frustration. We want to work with our community. We have a long tradition of our faith business, of our business and Community Leaders comingde together to work through these things. And we have had numerous dialogues. We have a Community Relations committee that the city has that has a process where we can have theseav constructive dialogues. R woodruff and finally,y, quickly, we understand president obama telephoned you today. T is that right . T what did he say . Absolutely. I have spoken to president obaba obama, and he certainly offered anyly help the federal governmet could provide. There are folks in the justice department, others who have worked with Community Policing strategies who know how to workr with communities. H i was grateful for the call. Clearly, this is something our country is facing, and we absolutely do need to know thath there are Racial Disparities still in our country. And it is in our best interests and in our communitys best interest to Work Together, to continue to be a country that is more equal and where everyone iy the treated with dignity and respect. And we pledge to do that here in charlotte. Woodruff mayor jenniferuf roberts, the mayor of the city of charlotte. C thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Ifill issues of race and justice were also the candidates focus on the campaign trail today. John yang reports. And a warning it includeswa language that may be offensive. Reporter donald trump the selfproclaimed law and orderf candidate raised questions today about the actions of a white Police Officer whoseli shooting of an unarmed black man last week is being investigated by the justice department. I must tell you, i watchedhe the shooting, in particular in tulsa, and that man was handswa up. That man went to the car, hands up, put his hand on the car. I mean, to me, it looked like he did everything youre supposedou to do. And he looked like a really goo and this young officer, i dont know what she was thinking i dont know what she wasas thinking but im very, very troubled by that. Reporter trump was speaking during a conference of pastors at a black church in a cleveland suburb. He was introduced by boxing promoter don king. King recalled counseling Michael Jackson about the realities of how blacks are viewed in america, and appeared to accidentally use the nword. If you rich, you are a rich negro. If you are an intelligent intellectual, you are an intellectual negro. If you are a dancing, sliding, and gliding nigger i mean negro chuckles you are a dancing and sliding and gliding negro, so dare not alienate because you cannot assimilate. Reporter in orlando, Hillary Clinton weighed in, too, on race and policing. We have two more names to add to a list of africanamericans killed by Police Officers in these encounters. E its unbearable. And it needs to become intolerable. We need to come together, Work Together white, black, latino, asian, all of us, to turn the tide, stop the violence, build the trust. Reporter as the campaign heads into the homestretch, clinton has a big financial advantage over trump. In august, she raised 60 million, her biggest onemonthne haul yet. Trump raised just over 40 million. Much of clintons money has been going into tv ads. Since midaugust, according to one analysis, clinton is outspending trump on tv by more than 21. For the pbs newshour, im john yang. Ifill only five days until the first president ial debate,rs but libertarian nominee gary johnson wont be on the stage after saying it was his onlyr path to victory. Thats where governor johnson and i began our conversation, earlier today. Interestingly, something that i did not know is that i am polling higher than ross pero was polling before he was admitted into those debates. Ifill the rules were different. The rules were different, and, of course, the rules were really adopted to make sure a third party would never be on the stage again. A ifill so what do you do . O . Well, you just keep plugging away. I mean, im representing, i think, the majority of voters in this country. The majority of voters in thiss country dont know that, but, b you know, thats my task. And speaking broadly, fiscally conservative, socially inclusive, skeptical when ithe comes to our military interventions, regime change, and free market, devoid of croapy capitalism, kevoid of pay to play. Ifill you have just described between a rock and a hard place. Get known, youu dont get the debate stage. Ta its a catch22, totally a catch22. Ifill we have seen polls, p there are voters out there who dont much like donald trump, dont much like Hillary Clinton, who are curious about you. How do you get them to find out . I have never had an issue with 15 . Ifill when is the barrier to get on the debate stage. S but here it is my name has never appeared in one nationalat poll as the first question, johnson, trump, or clinton. Not one. Ifill why should it . T . Im on the ballot in all 50 states. And im the only third party on the the ballot in all 50 states. I have meanted, tongue in cheek, if mickey mouse were the top name, mickey would be at 30 . 3 mickey is a known commodity, but mickey is not on the ballot in all 50 state, either. Te ifill how do you capitalize on the unpopularity u of the other candidates, ands, maybe make the support which you have, which might be soft, if it doesnt look like youre going to be on thelo debate stage, how do you harden that up . Well, actually, think the support is really hard. H last night, there was a poll released that im number onee among independents right now, and thats something i want to point out, also, is. , the Largest Group of the voting population is independent atnt about 45 now of the population. Wheres their representation . R well, as of last night, im leading in that group, which i think speaks volumes. Sp ifill im going to give you an opportunity on get past polls and talk about exworching and leadership. L so this week weve seen a serier of attacks in new york, in new jersey, attempted attacks in minnesota. It never seems to go away. You have advocated eliminating the department of Homeland Security. Somewhat something you would still do, giving what we. Are facing . Yes, i think its an added layer of bureaucracy that really hasnt accomplished anything. Is but talking about governing, this is what i really enjoyed being what i really enjoyeden being governor of new mexico was really being at the center. In this case if i were presidenp of the United States, clearly,es what were doing is working up to a certain point, but clearlyc right now, theres a breakdown. And im talking about shooter in orlando, the fact that they did know about this guy in new york, at least you know, he was on the radar screen. Is it an issue of more resources . I have found those in Law Enforcement, you know, they really do know their jobs. Ir ifill but you would break apart the department of Homeland Security. That wouldnt make ourho ability to fight these people or track those peopleos keep in mind, these are 22 agencies that were broughte together under the department op Homeland Security. In my opinion, they left their homes that they had existed in for awe long time, and that right now we just have an added layer of bureaucracy that really isnt plushing anything. G i dont know what armed Homeland Security officers, uniformed officers armed walking the t street are doing in this country. I have no idea what theyre doing. Ifill how about the unarmed people who actually track these terrorists . The unarmed people. Sreenivasan ifill unarmed people. Ed these are agencies who were doing this prior. P nothing new is created with the deps of Homeland Security. La i think this should be a furchtion of the f. B. I. I mean, this should be f. B. I. F ifill lets talk a little bit about leadership again, as we have seen this week in charlotte, in tulsa, and around the country, unrest, racial unrest. How would you lead on that issue . Well, in this case, black lives do matter. Blacks getting shot at six timee the rate of whites. T i have been more outspoken than any politician in the country with war on crugz, recognizinggn if you are of color and you are arrested on a drugrelated crime, there are a four times more likelihood that you will any to prison than not. No ifill i want you to focus on what is alleged to be police misconduct, though. What does that have to do with the the war on drugs . Ru i think it has its roots in the war on drugs . I think roots of discrimination does exist in thef the war on drugs. When it comes to police recognizing that this is happening, that when im pulled over, im not im not pulled out of the car. I am not provoked to point that i get angry, and i have cuffs c put on me because im white. Ifill what ask a president do . The president , number one, recognizes it, and is able to engage in the dialogue. Secondly, the president controls the department of justice. What are the the threads thatha exist in community wheres thert is the least amount of discrimination . What are threads that exist in communities where theres thee least amount of police violence. Conversely, the worst, president of the United States being able to articulate this, being awbl to bring about change. Highprofile shootings in albuquerque, my state, my albuquerque, my where i grew up department of justice camem in, made recommendations. They were good reporteddations. Theyre being followed. Look, thats a role that theha federal government can and should play in all of this. Ifill gary johnson, libertarian candidate for president , thank you very much. Gwen, thank you very much. Ifill why do thirdparty candidates do better in certaini election cycles . We take a look at history to explain americas onagain, off again love affair. Find it on our website, www. Pbs. Org newshour. Woodruff turning to the Republican Party nominee donald trump, he highlights his Business Record as an important reason to vote for him. T but a number of his dealings reach beyond the borders of the United States, and questions have been raised about whetherns any would present conflicts of interest if he becomes president. Im joined now by newsweeks Kurt Eichenwald, whose recent cover story details trumps Extensive Global business connections. Kurt eichenwald, welcome. First of all, tell us how exactly did you gain access to informationtl about donald trumu Business Holdings . H because we know he hasnt released his tax returns. Ax its not easy. I mean, a lot of it came down to calling business people, financiers all over the world, tracking down people who had done business with crump, finding the names of entities disclosed in his Financial Disclosure but that have no description of what they are. Ar and from that figuring out who partners were, what their entities were, who the peopleop were in charge, and then linking everybody together. Yb woodruff so you write that never before has an american candidate for president had so many financial ties with americas allies and enemies. How extensive is it . Its its huge. Ug i mean, it basically traces into virtually every major noneuropean yawr of the world. When you have someone who has conflicts of interest in india and azerbaijan, in russia, in cheena, in turkey, in you know, the list just keeps going on and on and on in the philippines. I mean, there was a point wheret i just had to stop because i couldnt keep you know, i only had 5,000 words to tell this story, and the number of conflicts would go on fill ana entire issue of newsweek. Woodruff whats an example of a w conflict . Among other things, you sayr donald trump is not a builder. B you call him a licenser. What does that mean . Decade oror the last so, donald trump hasnt been building anything. Il hes been on the apprentice and hes been selling his name, sort of like Hilton Hotels sells its name. And so hes been basicallyly selling his name out to people who will pay him without, apparently, a lot of Due Diligence into who these people are. I mean, a great example is he has a deal right now with a fellow in azerbaijan whose father is a major Government Official who has been identified by american intelligence as Money Laundering for the iranian military. So you have now donald trump, if hes president of the United States, hes got conflicts in azer pijohn, and azerbaijan, and he has somebody, whose Business Partners father, is linked to some pretty bad things. What does he do . Whats his interest . How doess he approach it . Woodruff you also right about a businessman in turkey who is very close to turkeys president , erdogan. Yes, and that created a serious problem because that developer was able to bring erdogan out for a dedication of the Trump Building trump was there and then donald trump got up and insulted muslimste around the world. W there was basically protests in turkey. The turkish president , who was already on the verge of facing a coup, was getting pressured. P he came out, condemned donald trump. Heed condemned the person who ws doing business with him. That individual has been indicted. And what i have been told is t that the turkish president is saying that if donald trump is president , the United States,ni because of this whole episode, the United States will not be allowed to have access to a turkir airbase thats a major staging area for the bombings of isis. Woodruff now, the trump, Campaign Says and you make note of this in your updated story they say if he becomes president , hes going to cut all ties with the trump organization. Why doesnt that aleavate any concern about a conflict of t interest . Trumps too smart a businessman mott to know thatha hes lying on this one. O you know, you start off, hes had three explanations. D one is that hes going to put the company in a blind trust. A blind trust is something where you take a portfolio of investments, give to an independent person, who then handles your trading and your transactions, exu never knowu whats in it. Well, trump is saying, i will put this one company in a blind trust. He knows whats in it. Its that one company. Theres nobody independent managing it. Its his children. When he says hell sever all ties to it, you cant have a company where youre getting financial benefits, your children are getting financial benefits, and your children are running the company and say, i have severed my ties on it. Third, trump is going into this hes not going to suddenly lose all his memory. Trump knows who his Business Partners are. Pa the rest of the world doesnt,s but trump knows who all his Business Partners are. Ar he knows what the conflicts ares and if he gets into office, he h will be sitting there fully aware of every conflict that exists and what decision will lead to profits for his family, even to the detriment of the o United States National Securitya woodruff well, assuming all this still exists, if hes elected, what would he have to do then to eliminate a conflict of interest . The the only option is you have to sell the trump organization. If he if he is truly dedicated to what hes saying, he can sell the trump organization. His family can take the money and start a new real estate empire, should they choose, ands all the conflicts are gone. Go but they have made it very clear that they are not going to do that. In fact, trumps daughter, who is now going to be a major official there, has said, you know, well decide not to make deals that might present National Security or Foreign Policy problems. P which, of course, raises the question, how are they going to know . Is donald trump going to share classified information with his family . Is he going to share Foreign Policy plans . And even worse, are they saying they could have fuggured out that their Business Partner in azerbaijan was connected by family to Money Laundering in iran. Of course they can. Theyre not going to knowir whee theyre having problems and where they arent. Woodruff well, it is a significant piece of reporting, Kurt Eichenwald from newsweek. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Ifill stay with us. Coming up on the newshour how to parse truth from lies in the digital age; and an inside look at the brand new National Museum of African American history and culture. But first, in the aftermath of this weeks bombings in new york and new jersey, scienceey correspondent miles obrien looks at the ways Police Departments are coming to rely on bombdisarming robots. Its part of our weekly leading edge series. Reporter as the pipe and Pressure Cooker bomb plot unfolded and unraveled in new york and new jersey, Police Deployed some remotely operated tools aimed at saving the lives of civilians and bomb squad technicians alike. In new jersey, a reminder of the hairtrigger risk that they face in harms way. explosion at n. Y. P. D. Bomb squad headquarters on city island a few years ago, lieutenant mark torre gave me a demo using the same robot, the Remotec Andros f6a, built by northrop grumman. Its primary mission is to put distance between our technicians and something of a hazardous nature, because distance in this business is always your friend. Reporter in this scenario,o, it is believed there may be an explosive in this car. And it is much more than a hypothetical. Its what happened in times square on may 1 of 2010. A Street Vendor discovered a smoldering, abandoned car filled with propane tanks, fertilizer, gasoline and firecrackers. It was a saturday evening. In the busiest time of the week, in one of the busiest, and most iconic, intersections in the world. Between the theory, and the symbolism, the congestion and it would be just the Media Central for new york city. You cant get much better of an background for a terrorist. Reporter mitch silber was n. Y. P. D. s director of intelligence analysis at the time. He shudders to think what wouldve happened if the car bomb, built by pakistaniwo american faisal shazad, had not been a dud. It would ripped the car in half, and this is a very busy intersection. Depending on the congestion of people right around the car, certainly, it would kill people, injure many others. And it would have been the first big terrorist attack in new york city since 9 11, since 2001, nine years earlier. Reporter so, if he was justs a better bomb maker, it would have been a horrible event. Absolutely. Reporter in fact, a few months later, the f. B. I. Built an identical car bomb and detonated it, to see what could have happened. explosion a scary thought. Instead, in times square, the n. Y. P. D. Bomb squad deployed its andros robot and did pretty much what you are about to see. Bomb squad is called, a perimeter is set up, and we are now going to use this robot to approach this vehicle and take a look at whats inside. Reporter detective james r schutta operated the robot from a safe distance. We are not in sight of the vehicle. The key to successful robot operation is that he can do the entire job without ever seeing what the robot is actuallyei doing. Its all done remotely via use of the cameras. Reporter but this robot is more than just a remote controlled eye. It is able to get inside the car to take a closer look. The robot fired a 12gauge blast through both windows. And thats what we call a perfect shot. W now it becomes a game of manipulation where hes going to maneuver the robot until we get a better view of whats inside. He took out both windows. Now we have an opportunity totu look in both sides. Reporter in this scenario, the robot discovered there is indeed a bomb inside the car. We try to put ourselves in the mind of the bomber. The bomb itself really hasal remained the same throughout the years. Its what sets them off that set them apart. The more sophisticated triggering systems, theyre difficult to defeat, and thats a concern to us, but again, we a always try to stay one step ahead. Reporter remotec robots are also used by the military to defuse bombs, but also to kill insurgents hiding in alleys. In dallas in july, that same tactic was used by police. A robot blew up a cornered sniper who had taken aim at white Police Officers, killings, five of them. F it was unprecedented in u. S. Law enforcement history. But Dallas Police chief david brown told cnn he had no regrets. Id do it again. D id do it again to save your officers lives. Reporter but experts who track the evolution of Technology Used by the military and Law Enforcement worry that an important threshold has been crossed, without a National Debate on the ethical issues. The question is, is it going to be viewed as an anomaly, or isis it a precedent that will be followed more widely . Peter w. Singer is an expert on unmanned and robotic weapons systems. He says it is inevitable local police will increase their useea of robots. The question is not, are police going to be using robotic systems . Em its, how . In what manner . How will they be trained to use them . How will they be regulated . Will they be armed or not . If theyre armed, will they be lethally armed or with non lethal weapons . W the issue has to involve not just the police, but also the populace, the people that are to be protected and served by the police and the tools, including the robotic ones, that they use. Reporter the devices used in new york, new jersey and dallas all still have human beings in the loop, driving the robot, making the decisions. But as robots become moreot autonomous, defining some clear rules of engagement will become a more urgent concern for Law Enforcement and the public. Miles obrien, the pbs newshour, new york. Ifill online, how worried woodruff we are inundated bb data, whether we are at work, school, home or play. But how to make sense of it all . That is the focus of the latest addition to the newshour bookshelf. S Jeffrey Brown leads the way. Brown it aint what you dont know that gets you into trouble, its what you know for sure, that just aint so. Mark twain said that. And imagine what he mould make of the internet, whereer everything is available and were sure we know so much. But do we . The can Daniel Levitin, a neuroscientist and bestselling author of books, including thii is your brain on music, and the organized mind. Dan, welcome to you. Ou your starting point, were bombarded with information. But its harder than ever to know whats true. S were making more and more decisions every day. I think a lot of us feel overloaded by the process. As you say, its getting harder and harder to know when you find things on the internet what youn can believe and what you cant. And there isnt really anybody doing it for us. U brown and you see this everywhere. You go through both data, numbers, and well, everything, right . Yeah. I mean, its its in facebook and in statistics and in thingsi that politicians say. An and its in headlines. Its in representations that a salesman might make to you. Its everywhere. Brown its clearly annoying you as a scientist. You just dont like this word. W i like a world where each of us has tools to be awbl to make able to make our own decision. I dont think im always right but i empower people to come to sound conclusions using a systemic way of looking at things. Brown you give a bunch of examples. A very simple one is the pie chart, right, of a polling, were hit with for a the lot of times. This happens to be fox news. Ew in 2012, it could probably be from any time, any network. N tell us what were seeing here. H the first rule of pie charts, jeff, is youre taking a pie. Ie youre dividing it up into pieces. The pieces have to add up to 100 . Brown right, thats the idea. And as you see here, they dont. You can imagine how this happened. The kind of people who become graphic artists may not be mathematically inclined. So you end up with things like this. Brown you can also look at that and say im trying to imagine what maybe people were asked they were told they could they could favor several candidates, right . Well, thats right. Brown somehow thats not shown in what were looking at. Who would you support in the upcoming election, and youre allowed to name more than one. You get Something Like this that add up 100. In that case, you shouldnt use a pie chart. Its visually deceptive which might lead you to conclude the wrong thing. Brown another example, onee truth hiding another, a lessfavorable truth. This is showing apple, and tim cook, the c. E. O. , talking about sales that actually went down, right . Yes. Brown but he didnt want us to know that. This is one of my favorite. What do you do when you have something a case like this when the thea sales have goneon down and a graph would clearlya show it . Well, you create a cumulative sales dpraf, with as long as you sold only one unit, the graph is anything to appear to go up. But if your sales the quarterua are down, you can hide it this way, and thats what he did. Brown now, the biggeste source of information, of o course, in all our lives now isw the spirnt, right . H and you right about i think you call it an antiskepticism bias. We believe so much of what comes to us on the internet. Now, i wonder why. Youre youre a neurosift. I mean, whats going on to make us not skeptical enough . , you know, i dont really know. I mean, part of it is that when weve learned something, theres this thing called belief perseverance. Having learned something, woe tend toso cling to that belief, even in the face of whping evidence to the contrary. New information comes in all time, and the thing we ought to be thinking about doing is changing our beliefs as that new information can comes in. Es brown thats what Critical Thinking means. I think so. We need to take a step back, and realize that not everything we encounter is true. You dont want to be gullibly accepting everything is true, t but you dont want to be cynically rejecting everything is false. You want to take f your time to evaluate the information. Brown at the end of the day, dont people dont we have to trust institutions or trust somebody . Well, we do. D of course, science is based on this. Ive never seen a proton or electron spinning around it. Ar ive never actually seen a chromosome. I trust that they exist because people who i trust tell me they do. Brown yeah. It does come down to that. T but we can be skeptical, suitably skeptical. And we can trust news out wills some more than others. I mean, society functions because we trust one another. I trust that my plumber knows what hes doing, right. , i think we need to be armed with the Critical Thinking skills that lawyers, scientists, and journalists such as yourself have, and we all need those to make our way through the day. And theyre not that hard to acquire. I think they can be acquired in a couple hours. E brown before i let you, i, want to go back to the mark twain quote. I read it. I started the segment. And you tell us at the end of your book and im going to tell our audience. That was not said by mark twain. T right. The quote aint so. And its a wonderful example of how we believe things thathi arent so. I agree with the sentiment that its probably more dangerous to believe some things that arent so, than to not believev something you know, to believb in a lie. And in the Fact Checking for the book, i went to find as you do i went to find the original source. But testify nowhere to be foundn in any of twains writings. W brown so mark twain didnt say it. Ay Daniel Levitin lied. The the newshour lied. Ie but butt weve now set the record straight. Which is how things move forward. Brown the book is a fieldl guide to lies. Daniel levitin, thank you very much. Toit. Thanks for having me. Ifill finally tonight, the jewel of the Smithsonian Museum opens on the nations mall thisu weekend. President obama will dedicate the National Museum of African American history and culture, which has been some 100 years in the making. I took a look at how the a unprecedented collection came to be. Joyce baileys legacy turned out to be worth more than money. Her mother, Lois Alexander lane, left her a treasure trove from the museum she created, the harlem institute of fashion costumes dresses sewn and worn by slaves, celebrities and byby civil rights icons. One of the things i think people are surprised to know, or to remember, is that rosa parks was a seamstress. Yes she was. She was actually carrying theg dress that the museum now has, on the day that she was arrested. Its a beautiful yellow with brown stripes in it. And its really beyond belief. You really just have to see it. Ifill beginning this weekend, thousands of peopleus will stream into the brand new National Museum of African American history and culture to see elements of baileys collection and countless other priceless artifacts. There is this an airplane flown crosscountry to the museum, once piloted by the all black tuskegee airmen; the casket of 14yearold emmett till, lynched in 1955 for whistling at a white woman; the writings of abolitionist frederick douglass; shackles discovered on a sunken slave ship that brought hundreds ofds slaves to america; and, from a South Carolina plantation, a fully restored slave cabin. The dress Marian Anderson wore when she sang at the lincoln memorial, and costumes from the wiz, the allblack Broadway Musical based on the wizard of oz, donated from joyce baileys collection. On this is as an amazing place chockfull of the expected. And the expected. Pe one thing missing major artifacts from civil rights leader Martin Luther king, jr. , whose family apparently decidedh to hold on to some of his mosts famous memorabilia, including the bible that president obama used to take his oath of office in 2013. In any case, it fell to Museum Director lonnie bunch and hisdi band of curators to sort through what turned into a rush of donations. When i saw them, i said, wehe are going to tell that story. And i just love, from the wiz, i just love how they look; iw just think theyre so s distinctive. They obviously speak volumes about geoffrey holder. Ifill the designer. The designer. Plus, theyre just so beautiful. Ifill it was a big moment at the time. Absolutely. Ifill from sobering memorabilia like rebellion leader nat turners bible, to 20th century musical memories, like chuck berrys cherry red cadillac, and Parliament Funkadelics iconic mothership here lit up and sheathed in plastic in preparation for the opening. During concerts, it would come down, and George Clinton would get out, so itd be this notion that he was from anothere planet. Ifill which he kind of was. Which he still is. Ifill the 540 million project a century in the making, and the first green museum on the National Mall captures the sweep of African American history. So what do we have here . This is one of my great treasures. What i love is what my staff is able to find. And this is a playbill from newcastle, england in 1857 that is from ira aldridges career. Ira aldridge, the great black thespian that couldnt get jobs in the United States as a great actor, classical actor, had toss go to europe. Ifill othello, who everyone now thinks of as a character always played by a black actor. Exactly. But it was always in blackface. Ifill galleries are devoted to breakthroughs in sports, and performance. The joy of prince, and i love the Michael Jackson fedora, just capture that. And obviously the soul train costume. Ifill soul train costume is a little alarming. I it is. Because we thought that was cool. Ifill we, i dont know aboul we. Speak for yourself. Bunch, a former president of the Chicago Historical society, shepherded the project to completion, wooing congress for half the money, and soliciting private donations from millionaires like Oprah Winfrey and philanthropist david rubenstein. But he also appealed to individuals, families, churches, fraternities and sororities, who handed over gems like james baldwins inkwell, and malcolm xs tape recorder. M advance tickets flew out the door 5,000 of them in 18 minutes, one day. In this journey you have been to get to this point with this museum, what has been the Biggest Surprise for you alongt the way . I think ive been stunned by the excitement and the way people really care. There are times ill walk in an airport and people will just sort of give me the thumbs up, or ill walk down the street and Church Ladies will come to me and say theyre praying for me. So i think the fact that this means so much to so many peoplea has been the Biggest Surprise for me. Ifill as with other Smithsonian Museums, one building cannot begin to hold its collection. Conservator Antje Neumann has helped preserve the collection at the museums facility in a washington suburb. Theres always the balance between preservation and exhibition, and allowing the public to see the national treasures, and then also balancing that with preserving it for future generations. Its lovely to have a place to highlight the struggles, the causes and the progression that many people and the contributions that many people have done in this country. Ifill it falls to neumann to repair Shaquille Oneals size 20 shoe, to prepare a stool from muhammad alis gym, to restore worn pages of the first book off black poetry, and, to spiff up funk singer Bootsy Collins bright yellow leather costume. It just needs a little bit of cleaning in order to make it ready for presentation, as it has been used a lot on stage. Ifill collins outfitll occupies a place of honor inside the new building, which is a work of art itself. The corona, the signature exterior feature is made of 230 tons of bronzecolored aluminum panels, 3,600 in all. Lead architect phil freelon oversaw the buildings striking design w many of the buildings on the mall are marble, granite, concrete, lighter in color. This building has a variation in how it appears. On certain days, on certain lighting conditions, it can be very vibrant and bright. And other times of the day or evening, it is darker. So there is this interesting dynamic of changing appearance of the building. Ifill within view, the Washington Monument and even a glimpse of the white house, which First Lady Michelle Obama famously noted was itself built by slaves. Bunch says this makes race an integral part of the american experience. But in this country, we are so nervous about talking about race, about engaging. Ab we keep having National Conversations about race, and ie seems that this building itself is a big conversation. Do you did you encounter along the way, any resistance to the notion that we talk about americans only by race . I think there was fear that we would be a place that mighte be divisive. That people wouldnt want to talk about race, and that wee would force them to talk about race. I think there was a great concern that, would this just bo a museum by black people, for black people . And i think we had to counter that, both by the kind of stories we told, by the way we tried to say, this is a story of america through an African American lens. Ifill joyce baileys mother could not have foreseen thisn day, but she did see the value of preserving black history. Lois alexander passed away in 2007. Le leaving her daughter with a window into history. Nd ifill but werent you a little emotional about letting it go . A i was very happy about letting it go, because i knew my mothers legacy would continue. Ifill curators think about legacy too. Lonnie bunch is still looking ahead. Ea i want to make sure that curators 50 years from now can tell the story of today, if thats what they want to tell. So i hope this museum willis continue to evolve, continue to change, because it really has to be a place that is the great convener, that can bring anybody and everybody into a conversation around race. Ifill from Ground Breaking in 2012 there are few things as important and powerful as peopll in the nation steeped in its history. Ifill to open doors this week. America preserved. America celebrated. Right in the nations front yard. Ifill online, you can watch our full, extended interview with Museum Director lonnie bunch. All that and more is on our web site, www. Pbs. Org newshour. Woodruff and thats the newshour for tonight. S im judy woodruff. Ifill and im gwen ifill. Join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. To for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and goodk 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 takete charge of your financial future. Xq institute. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. Po promoting the wellbeing of humanity around the world, by building resilience and inclusive economies. More at www. Rockefellerfoundation. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org with Tyler Mathisen and ness most participants do expect that one increase in the federal funds rate will be appropriate standing pat. The fed refuses a hike, but only for now. And some investors are wondering if the central bank is creating a crisis of confidence for the ma were supposed to feel good because youve taken a drug that youre overcharging six times what its worth and youre going to drop the price to 300. Playing defense. The ceo of epipen maker mylan defends her company in front of a very angry congressional committee. And Insider Trading charges. A highprofile Hedge Fund Manager the target of new s. E. C. Allegations. Th stories and