Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20161102

Sreenivasan all that and more, on tonights pbs newshouru major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by xq institute. Bnsf railway. Lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. 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. Ik thank you. Woodruff six days to go, and the candidates are trying toes navigate a president ial election map thats still shifting. That had donald trump trying today to nail down one mustwin state, while Hillary Clinton tries to deny him another. My second home, you know that, im here all the time. Woodruff that was donald trump today, back in voterich florida, a state hes visited often in recent weeks. Today, in miami, he sounded newly confident the polls have just come up, were way up in florida i shouldnt say that, because i want you to go vote applause well pretend were down, right . Well pretend were down nah, we gotta win, we gotta win big. Woodruff the race in florida is, in fact, neckandneck, and Hillary Clinton started off her day less than an hours drive away, visiting an early polling site in fort lauderdale. Clinton, afterward, flew west ta campaign in nevada. And tonight, shes in arizona in past years, a republican stronghold. Her running mate tim kaine and his wife, anne holton are on the hustings, too, of course, as are president obama and Vice President biden, former president bill clinton and daughter chelsea, plus senators Bernie Sanders and elizabeth warren. Theyre fanning out to election battlegrounds from ohio to nevada. If hillary wins North Carolina, she wins. Woodruff the most prominent surrogate of them all spent his time campaigning for clinton in chapel hill, North Carolina. When i said the fate of the republic rests onn you, i wasnt joking. Young people here, its not often that you know your voice will have an impact. M dont let it slip away. Dont give away your power. Woodruff earlier, on the social media platform now thisi news, the president called Hillary Clintons use of a private email server as secretary of state an honest mistake. He also addressed the f. B. I. so review of newly discovered emails. He did not directly criticize director james comey, but he did say i do think that there is a norm that, when there are investigations, we dont operata on innuendo, we dont operate on incomplete information, we donn operate on leaks. We operate based on concrete decisions that are made. Ci woodruff meanwhile, donald trump is devoting his whole day to florida, while his surrogates spread across the electoral map as well running mate mike pence; trumps children, donald jr. , ivanka, tiffany and eric with his wife lara; former new york mayor rudy giuliani; and former House Speaker newt gingrich. Pence was dispatched to arizona, ahead of clintons visit there tonight, trying to keep the state in the republican column, where its been 11 of the last 12 president ial election years. C sreenivasan in the days other news, investigators around des moines, iowa, are lookingok for a motive in the ambush killings of two policemen early today. The 46yearold suspect, Scott Michael greene, was arrestedee hours later. Authorities say both officersic were sitting in their police cars when they were shot toli death. The killings happened less than two miles apart. What we can tell by looking at the scene, is that it doesnt appear that either officer had an opportunity to interact withn the suspect. It doesnt look like there was an exchange of conversation. It doesnt look like there was an opportunity there definitely wasnt an opportunit for these officers to defend themselves in response to the attack. Sreenivasan police say they believe the gunman acted alone. Woodruff South African president jacob zuma faced increasing public pressure to step down today. A state watchdog report found signs of corruption at top levels of the government. The report came out after zuma abandoned efforts to block it. He also faced thousands of protesters in the streets of pretoria, demanding he resign. They pointed to a series of scandals, including spending millions in state funds on zumas rural home. Zu he is under siege now even from his own quarters. The a. N. C. Is speaking out loud against him and society, iso think, has come to realize thatt we have come to the end of the road for him. Woodruff the corruption report also calls for a judicial inquiry into new allegationseg that zuma engaged in influence peddling. Sreenivasan back in this country, the Federal Reserve finished its latest meeting, with no change in shortterm interest rates. Instead, policymakers said they want to see further gains in the job market and economic activity. They hinted a rate hike could come at their next meeting, in december. Woodruff on wall street today, election jitters and ad drop in oil prices sent stocks lower again. The Dow Jones Industrial averago lost 77 points to close at 17,959. The nasdaq fell 48, and the s p 500 gave up 13. Sreenivasan its doordie tonight for the chicago cubs and the cleveland indians, in gamet seven of the world series. Fans in both cities are hopingie their teams put an end to e decades of waiting. The cubs havent won a world series since 1908, and the indians last claimed a title in 1948. Woodruff and theres a new king in the world series poker. Qui nguyen won the tournaments main event early today in las vegas, after nine hours and 364 hands. Hes a native of vietnam, whos applied for u. S. Citizenship. He says he plans to donate a portion of his 8 million in winnings to poor families inn vietnam, and the Wounded Warrior project. Sreenivasan still to come on the newshour which president ias candidate appeals most to voters with disabilities; from marijuana to the Death Penalty, key ballot issues in next weeks election; turkeys growing crackdown on journalists, and much more. Woodruff no matter who winst next weeks president ial election, the party that controls the balance of power in the u. S. House and senate will play a Critical Role inl determining what gets done in congress. Key issues such as healthcare, immigration, trade and the makeup of the federal courts will all be affected. We explore that now with gerald seib, the Washington Bureau chief for the wall street journal; and norman ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise institute. And we welcome both of you back to the program. So, jerry, im going to start with you. Ou there are, what, six or seven senate seats that are literally up for grabs right now. Where are those races how do they look . Y its interesting, a couple of weeks ago the democrats got fairly confident they wereey pulling away and were going to have the margin and several of those races have narrowed downe in the last couple of weeks, sort of like the president ial race, and not by coincidence. O so if the democrats can hang on in nevada, where harry reid is retiring, which is a little iffy, and if they pick up a seat in illinois, which seems likely, then theyre going to have to find three or four seats in indiana, missouri, North Carolina, new hampshire,ne pennsylvania and wisconsin. Ia in each of those states, the republicans trying to hang ong have done a little better than donald trump in their states,t which is why republicans have some hope that they can hang on. To me the most interesting one in the laste few days has been wisconsin, which looked as itit was kind of moving away from ron johnson, the republican incumbent. Now its tightening up, and all of a sudden theres money pouring in from both parties into wisconsin. Woodruff we could seein changes but the point is, its hanging in the balance. We dont know. No its hanging in the balance. The democrats, if hillaryf clinton wins the white house, need four seats. If they win four its a tied senate, and the Vice President casts the tiebreaking vote. One caveat here is that if thatt does happen and theres a tie, the seat in virginia, whichhi would be advocated by the thenVice President elect tim kaine, would be filled by Governor Terry mcauliffe. It would be a democrat. D but only for a year. Ea then theres a special election, and the majoort would be in jeopardy if that happened. Woodruff and were off to the races again. Well, were here to talk about, jerry what, difference does it make whether lets start out assuming Hillary Clinton expwins well talk in a minute aboutut donald trump. M if she wins and she does not have a senate in her party with the majority democrats, whatwh does that mean for what she wants to do . S well, you know, at some level, if somebody is in control of the senate by 51 to 49 seatsa nobody is in control of the senate. Nobody has a working majority. Ma it does matter who has the 51. You form the committees. You name the committee chairman, you set agenda. You decide what gets considered and what doesnt. And however that mix works out, i think one of the things thatgs happened that would be problematic for a president Hillary Clinton, many of thef republicans who hang on are going to hang on because theyve gone to the voters and said, vote for me because i will be a check on Hillary Clinton. Ry harry going to come to town and their manitate is going to be blockto the new president clint, and not work with the president clinton. Whatever the math, is i thinkhe thats a serious problem for her. Woodruff norm what, arer the initiatives . Lets talk about the most important element and why winning the senate is absolutely crucial fore her for governing, and that is the senates unique power to advise and consent on executive and judicial comominations. Thats where vehicle the 50 or 51 matters the most. If getting to jerrys pointn if theres a republican majority, the republicans from mitch mcconnell, the leader, on down have, made clear that theyre not going to confirm her judges and weve now had a number of senators includingg richard burr in North Carolinah whose one of the seats that is in jeopardy, and ted cruz and others say we wont confirm a Supreme Court justice for four years, for the entire term. They can keep a vote from even taking place. Ac now, in the democrats have the majority, even by a narrow margin, all the judgeship bez low the Supreme Court level cann be confirmed without a filibuster with 50 votes, and you could change the rules, if need be, to deal with the Supreme Court. Other than that, were not going to see much legislation going through, jeweledy, because evenn if they have the senate they, dont have the house. But having that initiative, having the ability to frame an agenda, to bring up an infrastructure bill, which woulw be a top priority, to bring up a fix to the health care plan, h thats critical if Hillary Clinton is going to make any progress through the normalno process, the regular order, the slef process. Ro woodruff jerry what happens say the democrats do eke out a majority in the senate. What is she then able to do, if shes elected . Well, you know, i think, as norm says, the first thing is you can get your people in place to run the government. Th and thats not a small thing. Before we even get to that stage, one of the things the clinton team would really like is merrick garland, the Supremer Court nominee, to be confirmed woodruff who president re obama has nominated. Whose nomination is sitting there. They would like that out of the way soth it doesnt take all the oxygen out of the room. Then i think you could move on to at least attempting a few basic things and i think the number one thing on the agenda would be to get a bill that spends a bun of money on infrastructure in this country. T that is actually a bipartisan idea. Donald trump has proposedse spending more than can hill on infrastructure. Business likes it. Republicans like it. Republican governors in the t country would like that infrastructure money. O maybe theres a path, even in this partisan environment, in this divided world were talking about, to get Something Like that done. But i agree with norm. Rm its not going to be an ambitious agenda, least at first. Woodruff were not talkingfi so much about the house of representatives, norm, becauseiv we assume, given what were seeing out there that it will not change hands. It will remain in republican control. Democrats need 30 seats to win the house and that is a steeply, steeply uphill climb. Our expectation is theyll pick up seats and reduce the republican majority. Ri it might go down to even 10 seats expect that will, by the way, be an enormous challenge to paul ryan if he decides to try to continue as speaker because leadership advocates, those who are loyal to him, are going to be reduced in number, and with a smaller number, those who are antithetical to him, the Freedom Caucus from his radical right, are going to be stronger. Thats a challenge to him and its a challenge to her if she wins the presidency. Woodruff lets quickly, jerry, talk about donald trump, if he wins, were assuming the senate and house would remain republicans. What could he get done . Well, in that case, the presumption that republicans in congress have is that theyreca going to step forward and fill a policy gap that trump president ial campaign has beenn policy light. Cy i think they believe the policy making for the Republican Party would move down pennsylvanialv avenue to the capitol, to the, congress and im not sure donald trump will agree with that. Ha i think the problems are key issues, immigration and trade, being chief among them, where the republicans in congress are not in agreement with donald trump the president ial candidate. I dont know how they resolve that. So we know the one thing they can all agree on which is a great big tax cut, particularly for the rich. Republicans in congress and donald trump have that in common. Almost nothing else will move very far in part because democrats will filibuster almost all of the initiatives. He the most interesting one, though, jeweledy is the health care. You know, theres talk of repeal and replace. Ep they dont have a replace plan. If they all take the majority, it will be like the dog take the bus who catches it. What do you do then. H woodruff ift looks likeuf there are a lot of questionti marks of what can be done. Gerald seib, norman ornstein, we thank youn, woodruff we turn now to an often overlooked, but growing, political constituency people with disabilities. Politics werent much of a discussion at the breaux household in fairfax, virginia, until i was upstairs, and he was in i was upstairs, and he was in the basement with a very trusted therapist, and i hear him screaming. And i came down and i was like, what . And i look, and trump was on the television, and he he has this guttural scream. And i grabbed the boards and i said what is going on . And thats when he actually said seeing this actually gives makes my stomach hurt. Woodruff he is saras son, ben breaux, a 16yearold with nonverbal autism. Ben cant speak out loud so he communicates by spelling out his thoughts, letter by letter. I saw i saw . Woodruff after seeing a lot of donald trump on tv, many of those thoughts are now about the president ial election. T. I saw t r u. Woodruff a minute later i saw trump on tv, and it really u p s e t. And it really upset. And it really upset me. Woodruff what was it that he said, or that he did . H e. He s a i d. He said he said things that were so mean and disrespectful to so many. Woodruff ben is too young to cast a vote this year, but hes part of a growing demographic. More than 35 million americans with disabilities will be eligible to vote, accounting for almost onesixth of the electorate. All told, almost 63 million voters either have a disability or live with someone who does. Thats a quarter of all eligible voters. And those figures are only projected to grow, as the population ages. In the past, a third of people with disabilities have been democrats, and a third have been republicans, and a third have been independents. So were the ultimate swing voter group. Woodruff Jennifer Laszlo mizrahi runs respect ability, a nonprofit that promotes disability rights and employment. She says voters with disabilities arent a monolithic group, but there is Common Ground on one issue inclusion. People with disabilities dont want anybody to look down at us. We want, really, these opportunities to be included fully, and we want to be included in school, we want to be included in our faith community, we want to be included in everything, including in Political Campaigns. Woodruff unlike in past president ial contests, disability is something both campaigns have addressed this cycle even if inadvertently. Last fall, trump drew outrage from the Disability Community and beyond when he mocked a News Reporter with a congenital condition. You ought to see the guy uh, i dont know what i said. I dont remember. Woodruff Hillary Clintons campaign quickly seized on the moment, with National Tv Ads like this one donald trump doesnt see people like me. He just sees disability. I honestly feel bad for someone with so much hate in his heart. Woodruff clinton had already addressed people with disabilities in her campaign platform, calling for more job opportunities, and tax credits for their caregivers. Weve got to build an inclusive economy that welcomes people with disabilities, values their work, treats them with respect. Woodruff trump does not address disability issues in detail on his website. He discusses the issue mostly through the lens of military veterans and p. T. S. D. A shocking 20 veterans are committing suicide each day, especially our older veterans. This is a National Tragedy thats not talked about. That is why we must increase the number of Mental Health care professionals inside the v. A. , while ensuring that veterans can Access Private Mental Health care as well. Woodruff Laszlo Mizrahi says the clinton camp is aware of the contrast its very clear that the campaign understands that, when it comes to the sort of Product Differentiation between herself and mr. Trump, that this is an issue that plays in her favor. Woodruff maybe so, but the lack of a full platform on disabilities has not deterred conservatives like melissa ortiz, who took part in early voting in washington, d. C. She has spina bifida, and she uses a Service Dog Annie oakley to alert her when a seizure is coming on. Ortiz is an activist who was allin for texas senator ted cruz in the primary. But now, she backs trump. It was not an easy decision to come to, and pulling that but im going to do it, because its i believe in his vision for our country, more than i believe in her vision for our country. Woodruff . Especially when it comes to disability policy. I do think she will create more dependency under the guise of creating independence. Because, again, her idea is, it takes a village to raise a child, and the government needs to do for you. And, thank you i can do very well for myself. And most other people that i know with disabilities believe that they can do well for themselves, too. They need they need a little help. They dont need to be taken care of. Woodruff ortiz says her vote for trump put policy above personality. Do i like the way he talks about women . No. Do i like some of the things that hes said about people with disabilities . Absolutely not. I dont vote with my lady parts, and i dont vote with my wheelchair. I vote with this and i vote with this. Woodruff meanwhile, back at the breaux household, mom sara says she agrees with her son when it comes to issues affecting individuals with disabilities, do you have a clear sense of which candidate is better on those issues . Yes i think Hillary Clinton is. The biggest concern for all of us is not just today, which is a concern, but the future. What kind of programs are there, for when were not the support system . And, that is something she has addressed. Woodruff candidates aside, after 18 straight months of campaigning, ben adds what many of us have been thinking y e a r. Year is too long, to have to deal with this. Sreenivasan lets focus on a different election story Ballot Initiatives and measures at the state and local level. Its a big year for it there are more than 150 at the state level this year. John yang has the story. Yang next tuesday, legalizing marijuana for medical or Recreational Use is on the ballot in nine states. And voters will also decide other contentious issues, including gun control, health care and Prescription Drugs, the Death Penalty and the minimum wage. We take a look at some of them with two people who are following them closely. John myers is the Sacramento Bureau chief for the los angeles times; and josh altic tracks ballot issues for ballotpedia, a nonpartisan online political encyclopedia. Josh, john, thank you both for joining us. John, let me start with you. California, as usual, has a long list of Ballot Initiatives that voters have to decide next tuesday. Lets start with marijuana. California voters approved marijuana for medicinal use in 1996, and rejected it for Recreational Use in 2010. Why is it back . And whats different this time . Yeah, i mean, its a good ye question. Why is it back . Were the largest state in the country and i think there is a sense there is a sea change in the way californians view this, i think in some ways mirrored in other parts of the country as well, and certainly efforts in colorado and Washington State have gotten a lot of attention here in california. This measure, i will tell you, is drafted much differently than the measure that failed in 2010. Its more detailed. It has more details about taxes that are imposed at the state and local level on marijuana, and its backed by a couple of very big people, the Lieutenant Governor of the state, gavin newsom, and sean parker, the impresario, a wealthy financier, have both gotten behind it. It has a lot of Institutional Support and the polling shows it is doing well. How you get to legalization, i think california is watching other state, but at this point it it looks voters are probably going to say yes. Yang, we see often time ballot initiates leading the way for federal law, its ill illegal at the federal level. Could this be the Tipping Point this year . There has been a lot of discussion about whether this is the year that we really push towards the removal of federal prohibition. You have it so, 80 Million People live in states this year where marijuana laws could be basically made more accessible to every person. So you have Recreational Marijuana in nevada, arizona those are the big ones maine, massachusetts, and, of course, california. And while california stands kind of above the rest as really significant landmark for the Tipping Point idea, the fact that you have five other states, more than weve ever seen on the ballot at the same time considering the issue, is an indication that this could be a really key year for the policy. Yang another big issue nationally on the state ball, health care and drug prices. John, tell us about what california voters are being asked to decide on Prescription Drug costs. You know, i think, you know, what most people should need to know about the ballot measure here in california, its prob sition 61 on the statewide ballot next week. It is, in a lot of ways, i would argue, a bit of a symbolic fight about the cost of Prescription Drugs. It is simply a measure that says that the state of cannot pay a price that is higher than what the federal government pays the u. S. Department of Veterans Affairs when it is the buying Prescription Drugs. You know, the backers of it say it will bring some realistic bringing down, perhaps, of prices and some transparency. The opponents, which is really the pharmaceutical industry, says its going to raise the cost of drug prices. It could for veterans and it could for others. This is more than a 100 million political fight here in california. The television ads, the billboards i was driving on the highway, there was a yes on 61 billboard and then a no on 61 billboard within a mile of each other. It is a knock downdragged out fight. I see it as a fight that would be a proxy war for a National Discussion on the cost of Prescription Drugs. Yang and, josh, in colorado, voters are being asked to decide another big issue that is being talked about again with the rising obamacare, a single pair system. Colorado carrot ballot here, thats not nearly the nailbiter you see in prop 61. You dont have the support money that you kind of see in california. That one is not very likely it topaz. All the polls kind of point towards it failing but its unique and significant because its the first of its kind to propose a statewide, single pair Health Care System like that through the citizen initiative. Who knows kind of what doors that could unlock for future initiatives. This one didnt seem to get the support from key democrats and didnt seem to get the money it needed to pass. And you have the Insurance Companies spending enough to make it look like its not going topaz. But the fact that you have it on the ballot, its significant. Its a firstofitskind measure for sure. Yang gun control a perennial issue. John, in california, voting on ammunition, on magazine size. Yeah, i mean, california already has pretty much more gun control laws on the books than any other state. Were seen by that nationally. This ballot measure, also backed by the Lieutenant Governor, gavin newsom, who wants to be governor in 2018, and i suspect thats part of why hes out there proposing these, but he says he cares about them. Proposition 63 is what youre talking about. It would require background checks for buying ammunition. It would ban the sale of large ammunition clips. It somewhat mirrors what the state legislature did this year. It has become a very big issue. Certainly a lot of gun violence incidents we have seen across the country i think have played into this campaign. And interestingly enough, you have opposition from the gun industry, the nrare, as well, but you do not see a large opposition Political Campaign this election season. In some ways, maybe theyve read the polling numbers that californians appear poised to do this. There have been new and i think interesting policy choices about looking at ammunition and not just the weapons themselves. Yang and, josh, of course, former new york mayor mieblg bloomberg trying to make a push nationally on this. What other states are we seeing gun control ooshtz ballot . Yeah, hes spending a lot of money this year in nevada and maine and washington to sort of promote measures, likewise, that would increase the amount of control the State Government has over guns. And interestingly, you dont see the n. R. A. Fighting back as hard as you might expect. In maine and in nevada, support is outspending opposition about five to one. And theres more money being spent in nevada. But, really, this is kind of a big national fight between bloomberg and the n. R. A. , and so far, more money has been put forward in support of these measures, which is a bit of a surprise to some people. Theyre doing pretty well in the polls as well. Youre look at between six and 10 points in the most recent polls. Its looking pretty good for the passage of those measures. And that could be a reason why you dont see as much money being spent by the n. R. A. Yang josh and john, lots of issues to talk about, and lot of issues that we will be talking about next week and for the days to come. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Woodruff online, its been 589 days since the president ial campaign began, and to get you through this last week, Lisa Desjardins has written an election survival guide. You can find that on www. Pbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan stay with us. Coming up on the newshour protests over the Dakota Oil Pipeline near a boiling point, and new insights into some the oceans smallest creatures. But first, its been more than three months since a coup sought to depose the turkish president. The attempt failed quickly, but the crackdown in its aftermath continues, alarming many of turkeys allies. Readers have opened turkeys main opposition newspaper to find blank columns this week a protest against jailing its editorinchief and a dozen staffers. Their arrests monday were part of an ongoing purge against perceived opponents by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan since a failed coup last july. On tuesday, his Prime Minister brushed off european criticism translated today, somebody from the European Parliament says the detention of journalists from that newspaper is a red line. Brother, we dont care about your red line. Its the people who draw the red line. What importance does your line have . Sreenivasan across turkey, some 170 news outlets have been shuttered since july, leaving 2,500 journalists out of work. The u. S. State department has raised its concerns repeatedly, as it did again monday. Suppressing speech and opinion and the press does not support the fight against terrorism and only encroaches on the fundamental freedoms that help ensure democracies remain strong. Sreenivasan but silencing turkeys media is only one facet of a crackdown on anyone suspected of supporting fettulah gulen, the islamic cleric whom erdogan accuses of fomenting the coup attempt. Gulen lives in exile in pennsylvania. A staggering 100,000 Civil Servants have been fired, including 10,000 more just last weekend, and 37,000 people have been arrested. President erdogan has even voiced support for reinstating the Death Penalty, though it would dash hopes for turkeys European Union membership bid. Meanwhile, as he consolidates his internal power, the turkish leader is waging war along his borders. This week, turkish tanks massed at silopi, near the iraqi frontier, to press the fight against the kurdish separatist group known as the p. K. K. ; southeastern turkey is a largely kurdish region, and the p. K. K. Maintains bases in northern iraq. In ankara, the defense minister said there is no obligation to wait for threats to rise. translated we have important developments in the region. There is a serious struggle against terrorism inside turkey. And on the other side of the border, turkey is in the position of making preparations for all kinds of possibilities. Sreenivasan and in syria, Turkish Forces are looking to retake the city of albab, north of aleppo, from the Islamic State. Success would also bar the city to the kurds, who hope to close a 45mile gap between their enclaves and create a contiguous, kurdish zone along the turkish frontier. Turkey also insists that Syrian Kurdish forces not be part of any campaign to retake the Islamic States selfproclaimed capital of raqqa, in syria. All of this has strained relations with washington. The Obama Administration regards the kurds as among its staunchest allies against isis. We take a closer look at this recent crackdown with Amberin Zaman. She is a turkish journalist and author, and serves as a fellow at the wilson center, a think tank in washington. 10,000 more civil servant, just in the past week, that have been fired. Right after the coup, the government said this was to try and root out all the gulenists at the time. Why now . Why is this happening . Well, as you pointed out, the government has justified these moves on the grounds that its weeding out the gulenists who they say have penetrated the entire government, the judiciary, the army, academia. But at this point, when you look at the scale of this, you have more than 100,000 people now who have either lost their jobs or who are in jail. I think around 30,000plus now in jail. And you look at the number of journalists, also in jail, the number of Media Outlets, over 100 well over 100 now shuttered. Its becoming very clear that this is just not about the gulenists but more an effort on the part of the government to stifle all dissenting voices. Sreenivasan so as these journalists and their publications are affected is there even a vehicle for people to express dissent . Very good question. One of the newspapers that was just sort of raided on monday was pretty much the only opposition newspaper that was still around. And now its facing this court case. 15 journalists from the newspaper, including its managing editor, are now in prison. So actually, theres practically nothing left, just a hand full of online Media Outlets that still struggle to offer an alternative view. Sreenivasan whats the mood on the street like . How are turkish people reacting to this act what theyre witnessing over a period of months now . Well, when we talk about this massef crackdown, pressure on the media, et cetera, what often isnt mentioned is the fact there are a significant amount of people who actually support the government, who support president erdogan. I just saw a recent opinion poll that showed that his popularity, if anything, is rising, that some 54 of the people approve of the way hes running the country. So that needs to be, you know, said. So the country is deeply polarized between those who, you know, almost adore, lets say, the president. Theres a cult of personality around him. And then those who, you know, bitterly oppose him but who also happen to be bitterly divided amongst themselves cwhich is why theres no really effective opposition against the government, against the president. Sreenivasan so while he might have great support internally, externally, forces like the u. S. And the e. U. Are finding concerns with some of these action. How does this affect his standing in nato or the e. U. , or potentially in the eu. . At the moment, people in brussels and the capital washington, are observing turkey with increasingly alarm because turkey seems to be increasingly erratic, unpredictable in its actions. As you know, turkey is talking about intervening militarily in iraq. Its already done so in syria, admittedly to fight the Islamic State, and it has, indeed, clooerd its borders of the Islamic State. But at the same time, in syria, its attacking the United States most effective ally in the fight against the Islamic State, and im talking about the Syrian Kurdish group called the w. P. G. So thats complicating efforts to sort of, you know, destroy the Islamic State in syria, and at a time when, you know, theres now this critical operation under way in mosul. Turkey is now talking about going into iraq. Hes engaged the president in a very public spat with the iraqi Prime Minister, alabaldy. Circky moved several hundred troops into iraq, saying they were there to train sunni militia, but, also, to act as a deterrent against shia militias. And this is making everything a lot more complicated. Sreenivasan all right, Amberin Zaman from the wilson center, thanks for joining us. Thank you. Woodruff in north dakota, the standoff over the controversial Dakota Access pipeline keeps growing, as riot police cleared protesters blocking the pipelines construction. William brangham has the latest. Brangham in the past week, at least 140 people were arrested while occupying land in the pipelines path. Native americans and environmentalists say the pipeline will destroy sacred sites, and threatens to pollute the Standing Rock sioux tribes main source of Drinking Water as it crosses the Missouri River. Energy transfer partners wants to build the 3. 8 billion pipeline to bring 500,000 barrels of crude a day from the Bakken Oil Fields across four states. Yesterday, president obama urged both sides to show restraint, and hinted he may order the pipeline to be rerouted. He spoke with the wesbite, now this news. Theres an obligation for protesters to be peaceful. And theres an obligation for authority to show restraint, and i want to make sure that as everybody is exwer sizing their Constitutional Rights to be heard that both sides are refraining from situations that might result in people being hurt. Brangham and joining me now is Seattle Times reporter lynda mapes, whos just back from north dakota. Lynda, thank you so much for being here. Could you just tell us, what has it been liking . You were there receipt. What has it been like . What did you see . It was scary. I was there with a photographer and we were truly wondering minute to minute if someone was going to get killed. We were in camp the night before with tribal members singing their death songs. They were very worried about the possibility of violence. Who wouldnt be . You sue Law Enforcement marshaled from six states, armored personnel carriers, hundreds and hundreds of Law Enforcement officers with concussion grenades, mace, tasers, batons. And they used all of it. I mean, it was frightening to watch. Brangham when you say they were using this, can you describe the situation in which we tend to see images of riots or protests, and we think of an equal clash between both sides. What kinds of things did you witness . Well, the demonstrators are vastly outnumbered. Theres no question about that. And in many cases they were literally sitting, arms locked, praying when they were arrested. This changed as the standoff went on. It all started on thursday morning around 10 30. It went on all through the day, all through the night, into the next day. And by the next day, friday morning, demonstrators have burned two trucks on a bridge and ad eretted a makeshift plywood barrier. They had a pile of rocks. Meanwhile, the Law Enforcement officers had advance behind 100 yards with five armored personnel carriers side by side, hundreds of Law Enforcement officers advancing on them. And it finally took an elder to actually walk by himself in between the two lines, stand there, face his people, and say, go home. Were here to fight the pipeline, not these people, and we can only win this with prayer. Brangham a lot of people have been making the comparison in recent days with what happened with the armed white militiamen who were just acquitted recently of taking over a federal wildlife refuge in oregon. And they say white protesters with weapons are acquitted while largely peaceful indians protesting are not. You were there when the jury of that acquittal came down. What did you hear from people there . People were stunned. They were shocked. They were hurt. They were confused. I heard awe lot of how can this possibly be . And the subtext being, well, of course, were indians. People were very, very hurt by the juxtaposition of these two events. Brangham as we heard also, president obama weighed in on this, asking everybody to cool down, and also suggesting that maybe the pipeline should be rerouted away from the Standing Rock tribe and the Missouri River where they get their Drinking Water. If that were to happen, if the pipe was rerouted, do you think that would settle things down . The chairman of the Standing Rock sioux tribe said days ago, look, theres a peaceful outcome to this that could make everyone happy. Dont bring it right to our reservation. Dont put it within 10 miles of our Drinking Water intake. Move it. And, meanwhile, put all these outofwork people back to work, retrofitting the existing pipelines underneath the Missouri River. He was very clear that theyre not against energy and development. What theyre worried about is pollution of their Drinking Water source, and the Drinking Water of millions of people downstream, as well as desecration of their sacred sites. Brangham do you have any sense of where this goes from here . Obviously, president obama has weighed in on this and made his point known. But we have an election coming up. We dont know just give me a sense of what do you you believe is going to happen going down the road . Boy, i honly think anything could happen. Its a very scary situation. The police and the demonstrators are going at it, as you and i sit here, the demonstrators this morning were building a little wooden bridge across a creek to get back t treaty camp to defend that land from the pipeline. I talked to a tribal member who was coming in from bismarck, and he saw two apache helicopters on the ground at the airport and more and more Police Coming from all over. The president has said he wants this to play out for a couple more weeks. I dont know. I mean, i truly wonder what will happen next. Tensions are very high for the energy company, theyve said that their contracts were inked in 2014, when oil prices were still good. Theyve since dropped, and if they dont get this thing built by the end of the year, the contracts expire. And in january they would have to take a whole other look if this things pencils. It could effectively cancel their project which is why theyre push sewing hard to finish this thing and the tribe and all of their supporters, tribal and non, are pushing back just as hard because to them it is literally a battle of life and death. Brangham all right, lynda mapes of the Seattle Times, thank you so much. Thank you. Sreenivasan now, a new effort to shed light on a mystery that has long baffled scientists who study the worlds oceans and waterways. Researchers are using some very sophisticated robots to understand whats happening with microscopic marine life. Special correspondent cat wise has the story, part of our weekly series covering the leading edge of science and technology. Reporter at the Crab Cove Visitors Center in alameda, california, the Main Attraction is no surprise. Crabs. Its pointed, so that means its a . Male. Reporter on a recent afternoon, a group of children on a field trip at the center headed outside to the nearby beach with naturalist morgan dill for a talk on the creatures of the cove. Weve got clams, weve got oysters. Would you like to see a crabs baby picture . This is the cute little baby crab. So this is their larval stage, and they go through this stage and theyre out there, but we dont actually know too much about them, but this is their baby picture. Reporter dills lesson highlighted a gap in her and other scientists otherwise detailed knowledge of the crabs life cycle. Sometimes when you flip them over, theyve actually got eggs on their abdomen. And theyre holding them there, and theres hundreds of eggs. And so often the kids will say, okay, so where do they go from there . We tell them they go back out into the bay, but we dont really know how long theyre out there, when theyre coming back, and are they at the whim of the current or not. Reporter the answers to those questions have long been a mystery to those who studythe oceans. But its not just the whereabouts of baby crabs thats perplexing. More than 70 of all marine organisms start out life as tiny microscopic larvae. Creatures like sea urchins, anemones, lobsters, shrimp, and a wide variety of fish. Many look like little aliens. We know so little about this life stage, because its so incredibly difficult to study. Reporter Steven Morgan is a professor Marine Ecology at the university of california, davis. Morgan has spent most of his career trying to figure out what happens to marine larvae before they become adults and are easier to track. On land, we can radio track mountain lions by putting collars on them and their offspring, and so we know exactly whats happening to populations. But in the sea imagine trying to follow this microscopic larval stage for weeks and months in the plankton while its developing. We cant do that. Reporter the conventional wisdom in his field, says morgan, has been that the larvae float passively in the big turbulent ocean, and its sheer luck if they are able to stay near shore, or at certain depths that are preferable habitats. People tend to think of them as larvae being carried by currents, much like dandelion seed on the wind, and they have little control over where theyre going. Reporter but morgan never bought into that theory, and in recent years he and a small number of other scientists around the country have done tests in labs that show the larvae can in fact control their movements more than previously thought. It turns out they are pretty good at swimming up and down in the water column. But what do those up and down movements mean for them when they are in the ocean . Are they showing us they do have some control over their fate . To figure that out, morgan has enlisted the help of some cute, but very sophisticated, robots. For the past two years, morgan and his colleagues have been deploying swarms of these devices, affectionately called larvae bots, off the coast of northern california. They are programmed to mimic the larvaes up and down behaviors as the float freely in the water. Their buoyancy is controlled by an internal bladder filled with oil. And they are packed full of instruments and sensors and a g. P. S. Tracking system. The goal of this research which is funded by the National Science foundation, also a newshour funder is to find out where the larvae bots are going, and how they manage to get there. This is a new information that hasnt really existed up until now. So were sort of cracking the black box of larval behavior. Reporter in fact, data coming back from the larvae bots shows that they stay remarkably close to shore when programmed to go up and down at certain times of day. And thats what morgan thinks many of the larvae are doing too they seem to know how to use currents and tides to go generally where they want. The one way that they can actually have some control over where theyre going and their destinies is actually to move vertically between currents that are stratified, moving in opposite directions. So if they can simply just regulate their amount of time in surface and bottom currents, and that will determine how far offshore and along shore theyre actually going. Reporter the concept of larvae mimicking robots actually came about more than 20 years ago from two, now retired, professors at North Carolina State University tom and donna wolcott. Steven morgan met them and at a conference and a partnership ensued. The robots are assembled back in North Carolina, and then shipped to the u. C. Davis marine lab in bodega bay, where principle Marine Electronics technician grant susner gets them ready to go to sea. These robots are made their external housing is a fire extinguisher. We recycled and repurposed some old ones. Reporter fire extinguisher. Wow. And you may have noticed, they arent exactly the same size as microscopic larvae. But susner says it doesnt actually make much of a difference. The key feature of this robot is that it moves we programmed it, its behavior, to mimic the speed at which the larvae travel as well. So this isnt going to travel any faster than larvae does. Reporter while robots seem to be revealing clues about the larvaes behavior, the question remains why does it actually matter if, in fact, the larvae are better navigators . I posed that question to a man who would really like to know where larvae are going. Knowing that information is a big deal. Thered be a lot of benefits to us from a science standpoint, as well as from a management standpoint. Reporter bill douros is the west coast regional director for n. O. A. A. s office of National Marine sanctuaries. Douros says its difficult to manage and protect diverse populations of marine life, without knowing where the youngsters are. The state of california and federal fishery managers have made decisions about where to place nofishing areas along the coast of california. Many of these are inside National Marine sanctuaries. And the scientists that advise on that make their best educated advice. But they dont know precisely how big the marine protected areas should be. If we knew better where the larvae go after theyre released, we might better design and may shrink even some nofishing areas and notake areas that are set up to protect abalone and crabs and other parts of the ecosystem. Reporter he also says larval movements can impact much larger species. The larvae which are part of this plankton food chain ultimately predict where whales are going to be. If we knew where the whales were going to be in the next three days, we might reroute ship traffic, to separate whales from ships, so that they dont get struck by ships. Reporter for his part, Steven Morgan knows that his research and conclusions might still be a tough sell for many of his fellow marine scientists. Im hoping that these robots, where were actually doing experiments in the ocean, will convince some of the skeptics and get more people, more investigators and marine scientists, to think that way. Because its a hugely important question. Reporter back at crab cove, naturalist morgan dill and a group of curious kids are hoping they can soon get some answers for their important questions. For the pbs newshour, im cat wise in california. Sreenivasan cats report is also part of our breakthroughs coverage of invention and innovation. Sreenivasan and thats the newshour for tonight. Im hari sreenivasan. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. 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 financial future. Xq institute. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. 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. 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 america. 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