Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20170717

Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. 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. Woodruff russia is stepping up pressure to regain two diplomatic compounds seized in new york and maryland. President obama ordered them seized in december, over russian meddling in the 2016 election. Today, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov called it highway robbery, and his deputy held a highlevel meeting at the state department. Nick schifrin has been following the story, and joins me now. So, nick, why are the russians so interested in these two compounds . What officials are talking about is bilateral irritants, so these are the compounds, these are the Russian Diplomats who were expelled last year as part of the u. S. Response to the russian hacking, and these are not the major issues, these are not syria and ukraine, and the idea is the fewer issues you talk about the more likely you make at least a little progress. Woodruff what are the prospects they can reach any kind of agreement . Thats what the Trump Administration is trying to find, any kind of agreement. There are huge head windows politically in this country if you give back the compounds, but u. S. Officials are worried about retribution. Russia says if theres no deal in the near future, three dozen of your diplomats will be expelled and life for your diplomats in russia will get worse, and weve already seen a campaign of intimidation against u. S. Diplomats, in russia in june 2016 we saw a u. S. Diplomat in russia get beaten up and thats not what the u. S. Wants to see. Woodruff where do you see this going . Chicken and egg problem, you hack, we responded. If russia said, no, we didnt hack, you seized the compounds for no reason, we retaliate, the u. S. Says this is a new retaliation, and yet another response. No telling where that would end. The u. S. Is trying to say, look, the big issues, keep that aside. Maybe we can make some progress and save a bad relationship from getting pores. Woodruff a new aspect of the u. S. Russia relationship. Nick schifrin, thank you. Thanks. Woodruff in the days other news, officials at Princeton University insisted a chinese american grad student, jailed in iran, is innocent. Iranian courts announced sunday that xiyue wang was sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying. He was arrested last august. Princeton says wang was conducting research for his doctorate. Separately, iran announced that president Hassan Rouhanis brother, has been arrested on allegations of financial misconduct. In jordan, a soldier was sentenced today to life in prison at hard labor for killing three u. S. Army green berets. He said he fired on the military trainers last november, because he thought his base was under attack. After the sentencing today, relatives of the americans condemned the sentence, which could let the killer go free in 20 years. He gets out the day he gets out. My daughters will serve another 30 years after that without the love of their brother, and thats outrageous. I would kill him myself if i had the ability to do so, and i wish they had hung him. Woodruff the families were shown Security Camera footage of the attack. They say it shows the jordanian soldier firing for six minutes, even after the americans identified themselves. The United Nations reports the war in afghanistan is killing more civilians than ever. A new report says more than 1,600 died in the first half of this year, and some 3,500 others were wounded. It also says deaths and injuries from taliban suicide bombings rose by 15 . The taliban dismissed the report as propaganda material. The United Arab Emirates flatly denied today that it hacked into qatars state News Agency Web sites in may, and planted false stories. Four arab countries severed ties with qatar after its emir was falsely quoted as praising hamas and iran. The Washington Post reported the hack, but in london today, the u. A. E. s foreign minister pushed back. Our embassy in washington has put these denials in place, and i think this is a crisis and is a lot of rumors, a lot of false news and stories. This is going to die out. It is not true. Woodruff the f. B. I. Is working with qatar to investigate the incident. Authorities in arizona searched again today for one person still missing after a flash flood killed nine people on saturday. Cell phone video captured the deluge as it swept through Tonto National forest, 100 miles northeast of phoenix. The water at the swimming site rose as high as six feet, triggered by a heavy thunderstorm. All of the dead, including five children, were part of an extended family. The Trump Administration says it will let an extra 15,000 Foreign Workers into the country this budget year, on temporary, seasonal visas. Homeland security secretary john kelly calls it a onetime extension. The announcement came today as the president promoted made in america week, showcasing domestically made goods. On wall street today, the Dow Jones Industrial average lost eight points to close at 21,629. The nasdaq rose about two points, and the s p 500 gave up a fraction. And, a video of a young model wearing a miniskirt is causing an uproar in deeply conservative saudi arabia. A video over the weekend showed her Walking Around a Historic Site north of riyadh. State media report she could face legal action. The countrys dress code for women mandates long, loose fitting robes. Still to come on the newshour the Republican Health care bill in limbo. We break down the sticking points. Inside the iraqi city of mosul liberated from isis but left in ruins. Ivanka trumps record on making fashion products overseas, and much more. Woodruff even as Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell has been forced to delay a vote on a Republican Healthcare plan, theres no letup in the battle behind the scenes. Lawmakers, governors, Interest Groups are all working furiously. A handful of key questions may decide its fate. Among them how many fewer people will be covered . And will cheaper insurance make it more affordable . Or too skimpy for too many . Dr. Ezekiel emanuel is one of the original architects behind obamacare. Hes the author of the new book, prescription for the future. And avik roy is cofounder and president of the foundation for research on equal opportunity, a think tank based in austin, texas. Hes been a Health Adviser to republican president ial candidates, including mitt romney. And we welcome both of you to the program. Avik roy, let me start with you. We dont have an analysis of the new senate bill by the congressional budget office, but there was an analysis done by the health care firm, forecasting the bill leads to medicaid federal reductions ranging from 29 to 37 in all 50 states. Doesnt that make it understandable why even republicans are still strug chingling to support this bill . Judy theres a bit of misunderstanding as to exactly what the sources to the changes are. First there is the repeal to obamas expansion of the Medicaid Program, replaced by a robust soism tax credits for enrollees to buy private coverage. So thats about 95 to 95 of the money youre describing. Then a small component which is per capita reforms a bill clintonen proposal from 1994, to make the longterm Medicaid Program more fiscally sustainable, and thats the piece that really matters to those governors particularly in the states that didnt expand medicaid because thats going to be a gradual but important reform to make the Medicaid Program sustainable. So the first big piece, replaced by tax credits to make it affordable by the individuals and the second piece a bipartisan approach to the medicaid reform. Woodruff youre saying the cuts are not as draconian as they sound . Exactly. Woodruff all right. Dr. Ezekiel emanuel . I dont know, with when you cut 170 billion dallas out of a program over years and 15 Million People will use Medicaid Program the working poor, the ablebodies people who are generally working twothirds to threequarters of them work jobs, just that their employers dont provide insurance were going to give them a subsidy. The subsidy they give are less than the obamacare proposal gives and go to a much, much smaller level. The insurance they cover is much less. It is not comparable. You cant cut 770 billion and say, oh,ettes not going to affect anything. 22 Million People are going to lose coverage because of this bill. Woodruff avik roy, how do you answer that . The c. B. O. Estimate, the 22 million number ezekiel is talking about is driven by erroneous aspects of the congressional budget offices methodology. The c. B. O. Believes 18 million of the 22 million is driven by a lack of a fine forcing people to have coverage, so its not driven by a lack of funding you dont like the message, attack the messenger. No, this is a fundamental problem with the c. B. O. s methodology. Its the reason obamacare doesnt have a plan in the first place. In 2008 he opposed having an individual mandate in the bill and c. B. O. Told him 16 million of coverage would be affected by that. Woodruff i dont want to spend the whole time on the c. B. O. But a Quick Response to that. Again, i think hes attacking the messenger buzz he doesnt like the message and the fact is the c. B. O. Is the independent arbiter. Their methods arent universal, they dont get it necessarily exactly right but youre not going to go from 22 million uninsured to a more tolerable number. Its seems unconscionable that senators could vote to throw 22 Million People off insurance and now we have the irony that john mccain is delaying the boat, a guy who needed surgery that cost 30,000, he certainly couldnt afford it just out of nowhere, insurance has to pay, and were going to get 22 Million People with less insurance. Woodruff another aspect of this avik roy is in an effort to make insurance more affordable, we see a National Offering altentives that lower premiums but they do this by cutting back on the amount of coverage, on what is covered. The criticism is that youre creating two markets, one for people who can afford to continue to get good medical care and those who would be left out because they cant. How do you defend this part of the legislation . Well, judy, i would challenge the accuracy of the description you just gave of the measure, i think were talking about the ted cruz amendment to the Senate Healthcare bill. What that amendment is trying to do is say, okay, sick people will have much more expensive coverage because they consume more healthcare. So lets have direct taxpayer subsidies in this regulated market to ensure they can find affordable coverage. But the fact is tens of millions of americans who cant afford coverage cant afford that coverage not because theyre kick but because theyre healthy and insurance costs too much. Obamacare over the last four years doubled or trip bled premiums. H. H. S. Researchers estimated premiums increased for that population by 100 in the last four years. So ted cruz is saying lets make sure coverage is affordable for healthy and sick people and you do that by focusing on covering people who are already sick which requires a different kind of insurance and people who are healthy and need lower premiums as a result. Three quick points, first of all, the subsidies the republicans will give will be much less and smaller, driving up what people have to pay and especially their deductible. They dont do anything about affordability in this bill at all, they dont change the longterm trajectory of healthcare costs one bit. Second of all, the fact is that every medical organization has come out against this bill and says its going to be bad for patients and the Health Insurance industry says what avik roy is basically false. You will segment the margaret, youre going to take healthy people, youre going to separate them, youre going to put the sick people in a market and reduce the subsidies you give them to buy insurance because the insurance is paying at a pump skimpier package. That is not a recipe for having people have good insurance and decreasing deductibles. Its going to do the reverse of what the president pledged. Woodruff do you want to respond. I would challenge a number of things that zeke said there,ni s you would expect. The first is the chief axe chew ware, the centers for medicare and medicaid services, an obamaappointee, published a report that said the bill would bend down the cost curve and make the Health Care System more responsive and efficient. And the tax increases would help those who need more coverage able to afford the coverage they need. This bill would provide trillions of dollars over the long term for people who can afford the coverage. nr youre talking about giving more money when the bill is cutting back the money its putting into the healthcare system. Cant have it both ways. Woodruff dr. Ezekiel emanuel, we know many counties under the Affordable Care act, a lot of people have been priced out of the market and this is opposite of what the republicans are trying to do. I would disagree. The uncertainty theyve created in the market, the republicans, marco rubio removed the risk corridors and the reinsurance proposal, theyve also created uncertainty about whether they will pay the cautionary subdzties, social subsidies to families making less than 70,000 to pay their deductibles, that actually drives premiums up. There are simple solutions, put the risk corridors in, guarantee you pay the cost sharing subsidies and give Insurance Companies a tax break, refund them the tax from the Affordable Care act if they go into counties that have one or fewer insurances. That will actually stabilize the Insurance Markets and states that run their insurance exchanges like california and idaho are actually running pretty well. Its the federal side thats not running so well and the federal side is run by mr. Trumps associates. Woodruff were going to have to leave it there. Big subject, much to talk about. Well continue to come back to it. Ezekiel emanuel, avik roy, thank you both. Thank you for having us. S, judy. Woodruff one week ago, iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi proclaimed victory over isis in mosul. But reality on the ground is different, as the fight continues in parts of the old city, against isis holdouts. As special correspondent marcia biggs, and videographer Alessandro Pavone report, the human toll of the fighting is becoming apparent. And it is horrific. A warning many viewers may find images and accounts in this story disturbing. Reporter this is what so called liberated mosul looks and sounds like. explosion in a small pocket of the old city, the war against isis seemingly ongoing. And this is the old city from ground level, a scene of utter devastation entire neighborhoods flattened by coalition airstrikes. Leaving the few survivors to search for the remains of their loved ones. Bashar and alis families were together in this house hit by an airstrike 28 days ago. Ali names the dead one by one. translated my mother, three brothers, three sisters, my father, two sisters in law, and two nieces. Reporter and youre the only one left from your family. Yes. Reporter shu bedak tamel, what are you going to do now . translated what can i do . I just want to take the bodies out and bury them. Reporter mosul is the capital of ninevah province and it is the men of ninevahs Civil Defense unit that are responsible for pulling the dead out of the rubble. They arrive with their crude tools. An ancient jackhammer, a broken sledgehammer, and when all else fails they use their hands. One of the Family Members is adamant that the family is under this spot in a washroom. Just open the hole this Family Member says but trying to drill through over a foot of concrete proves impossible and one of the relatives finds another way into the house. So we enter the ruins in the dark. So this was the washroom they were talking about. Hes saying theres a baby inside. In total, they are looking for 18 bodies. There were two families in the adjoining houses that night. Bashar lost six members of his family, including his wife and four children. translated we tried to escape the day before, but isis shot at us. We ran back to the house and the army told us stay inside we will evacuate you when we make the area safe. But the next morning, the airstrike hit our house. There were two bombs. Reporter were you in the house when the explosion happened . translated yes, but i was near the front door of this house. I was the only one who didnt get injured, along with my neighbors family. And my youngest daughter was rescued by the army. Shes still alive. Reporter the remnants of life that night are frozen in time. Food sits uneaten on the kitchen counter but the clock still runs. Then finally a breakthrough. Its a skull. So theyre telling me they have no idea who this little girl is. There were six or seven little girls in that room, and the body is so decomposed, all there is, is a skull. The search for remains lasts all day, with relatives waiting nervously. God protect them, one says. They found four bodies, they are still looking for 14 more. The smell is unbearable. For mosuls Civil Defense unit this is just an ordinary day. Yesterday, they pulled 19 bodies from the rubble. Rabih mishaal mohamed is a sergeant with ninevah Civil Defense, all of whom are working without pay. translated the hardest part is when you see a child under the rubble because he is innocent, he is a child. He has nothing to do with the army or isis, or anyone. Reporter why do you do this . translated it is very difficult for us, but they are like family, our brothers our fathers, mothers, friends. If we dont take their bodies out, who will come and do that. So we withstand it, we have to withstand it. Reporter withstand it they must its a scene that will play out again and again in the days to come. A tiny sliver of comfort to the families, clinging to what little they can find. For the pbs newshour, im marcia biggs in the old city, west mosul, iraq. Woodruff it is made in america week to leak light President Trumps goal ofxd boosting u. S. Manufacturing and job creation at the white house this week. However, it is against sparked questions about mr. Trump and his familys businesses, particularly about where their objects are manufactured. John yang has thenr story. Yang today, the south lawn was turned into a showcase for products made in each of the 50 states. Not on display today merchandise sold by the Trump Organization or ivanka trumps fashion line theyre all made overseas. Here to talk about how ivanka trumps clothing is made is matea gold of the Washington Post. Shes part of a team of reporters that investigated the ivanka trump Brands Manufacturing practices. Matea, thanks for joining us in. Your story, you said the ivanka trump fashion line had retail sales of about 100 million last year. What does she make and where does she make them . The ivanka trump brand which the first daughter still owns but does not control on a daytoday management makes clothes, handmaid shoes and an array of overseas factories, we found ease cleeksively in foreign factories. We traced her current line of products to five specific countries bangladesh, china, yaind, indonesia and vietnam. In 2013, some of her shoes were made in eat open. Open ethiopia. The brand said they dont feel its possible to bring the brand back to the United States on largescale fashion. Yang we learned the trump product made in 12 Different Countries including bangladesh and china, how does this compare with the rest of the industry . The reality is the American Apparel industry is very firmly grounded in globalization and overseas production. About 97 of the clothes and shoes sold here in the United States are made abroad, and Industry Experts say it is going to be incredibly difficult to reverse that trend. So the focus in the industry right now is not on bringing manufacturing back in a largescale fashion, but rather trying to give consumers a sense of confidence that their goods are not being made by workers overseas who are being exploited for their labor. Yang . Yang how does the ivanka trump line measure up in policing Labor Conditions in the factories they use . We found the ivanka trump lags behind many in the apparel industry, both large and small companies, when it comes to having oversight of their foreign production. Up to now, theyve really relied on their suppliers to certify they comply with their code of conduct, a code theyd not publicly disclose, i should. Note. They are taking measures to do greater oversight of measurers other companies have such as writeburying in a group to independently audit factories and provide programs on the ground, to support some of the women who make their clothes. Yang and what did the trump people say to you . Today sean spicer was asked today about in a meeting and said it would be inappropriate for him to talk about a private business at the white house podium. What did they tell you . A representative of the ivanka trump brand said one of the reasons they had not taken the measures other companies have is theyre a newer and smaller brand and that theyre looking now to really live their mission of women who work, which is the model ivanka trump developed at her country throughout their whole supply chain and said is something they will continue to strive to do. Clem told us the goal of bringing manufacturing back to the United States for their company is unrealistic, that there isnt trained workers who work in the apparel industry here anymore and the machinery doesnt even exist to do this kind of production. Yang let me ask you about Something Else you have been reporting on for the post. The financial spending records for the Trump Campaign said they paid fees to donald trump, jr. s lawyer before the latest story broke about the meeting with the russian lawyer and also they reimbursed the Trump Corporation for Legal Consulting fees. Whats this about . We dont have a lot of answers from the Campaign Committee which declined to answer questions about the payments. In the recent Campaign Finance filing, we found the legal fees paid by the Campaign Committee skyrocketed in the last quarter including a 50,000 retainer paid to a criminal defense attorney who is now representing donald trump, jr. This came in late june before President Trump himself said he knew about this meeting in which there were several russian or russianlinked people involved. So desirees questions about whether this payment was specifically quectd to the russian probe and there were also reimbursement to the Trump Corporation for legal fees which is the first time weve seen trumps company reimbursed for these kinds of service. Yang what about Campaign Funds used for legal fees . Campaigns have leeway to spend money on legal fees as long as the payments are directly connected to the campaign. So if the expenses would not have been incurred all but for the Campaign Committee, they can pay them. But if they are expenses that arent related to political activity, theyre beyond the purview of the committee. The fact that the payments were made through the Reelection Committee suggests they are connected to some sort of legal investigation or legal work connected to the campaign. Yang matea gold, legal fees paid by the campaign and ivanka trumps businesses. Thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff on capitol hill, Senate Republicans continue their internal fight over the healthcare bill, as polls show strong disapproval of the republican plan. And polling in the past week indicates historically low appralorhe president , at this point in his first term. Multiple polls have President Trumps approval in the 30s or at 40, and his disApproval Rating in the 50s. For all that, its time for politics monday with tamara keith of npr and amy walter of the cook political report. Woodruff so its time to talk about polls again. We save them for special occasions. Amy, seriously, there are a group of three or four polls out taken in the last week or so that do show some slippage for the president in the last few months, particularly among ents. Theres a the Washington Post poll that shows what a 6point slippage since april. In general among independents. Woodruff right. Hen we first started talking about the president after his inauguration, we said this is a president who is starting with the lowest Approval Rating of any president thats been inaugurated, lets see where he goes with. This instead of starting with deep will and a honeymoon which most start, with he started with a deep he didnt have that rears voir of god will, will he be able to fill the well . And hes now 14 points lower than where he was. Hes draining it more and hes draining from independents. Thats a danger point not just for the president but for members of congress up in 2018. If youre a republican you know the base is still behind you, democrats have never been with you, but independents are the folks, especially for members who sit in swing districts, those are the people they cant i a ford to be losing by this percentage that the president s losing by. If he only has a 30, 31 Approval Rating among independents, it makes it kilt for republicans in 2018. Woodruff we know the trump folks have the Campaign Committee up and running for reelection. How do they look at this . Its not clear what the campaign is doing in terms of reelection and rallies. President trump tweeted over the weekend he thought it wasnt that bad, that he thought this poll was not so bad. You know, the best thing the president could do to improve his Approval Rating, i guess two things, one, maybe focus on some of the people who didnt support him in the beginning and maybe tried doing something, anything that would not be seen as strictly partisan. And the other thing would be, you know, like start winning. He has you know, he promised you will be so sick of winning, but, you know, he hasnt had the major legislative accomplishments. The healthcare bill has gotten totally bogged down and supposed to be done maybe by april, and thats something his base really wanted. But he just has not done a lot of things. He did the executive orders the base liked that turned off the independents and others. Woodruff and we even you and i, we were just talking a moment ago, amy, about when you ask people even about impeachment, 41 in a monmouth poll support impeaching the president. You say for Richard Nixon at this point, it was much less. For Richard Nixon going into the summary of 1973, his overall Approval Rating is basically where Donald Trumps is now. The difference is the intensity of the opposition or the dislike of president nixon among partisans. He had 25 Approval Rating among democrats, nixon did in july of 1973. President has about 8 of Approval Rating among democrats. So the intensity of opposition to the president has always been an issue. As tam points out, hes not getting the intensity of support among his base, and he made that decision when he came into office, instead of trying to grow that base, he had a very narrow base of support, very narrow support among all kinds of voters, except for republicans, so instead of trying to grow it, hes focused and doubled down on the small group of people who supported him all along. Woodruff youre talking about ways where the president could put wins on the board. Healthcare reform is one of the issues he has been focused on. This was another question in the Washington Post abc poll. This cant be considered good news for the administration. People were asked what they think about obamacare versus the republican plan by 2 to 1. They prefer obamacare. Which is pret the remarkable. Obamacare has seen you know, its having better days than it ever had when president obama was president. You know, i was out many kentucky last week talking to voters. Just a few little anecdotes, one woman i talked to supported President Trump, doesnt like obamacare, but is deeply concerned about the Republican Healthcare bill, in particular the medicaid cuts. Another voter i talked to basically said whats the rush . Why are they hurrying . Why dont they slow down and do this together . He was also a republican. One other republican i talked to said he didnt know what was in the bill but was glad it got rid of the individual mandate. Thats the big problem, there is nobody selling this bill. Were talking a lot about process, a lot about members who are supporting or not supporting it. There is nobody really championing this vote. The president is tweeting, i sure hope you guys vote for it, we have been saying were going to vote for it. Hes not holding rallies. I looked at the amount of money spent since the end of may on ads that talked about this healthcare bill, 6 million advertising, 5. 8 million on negative attacks or urging voters to vote against it. Without a champion, its not surprising the Health Care Bill republicans are putting forward isnt popular. Woodruff similar to the ratio of obamacare when it was being debated. With the delay of the vote, the opponents are worried. The folks who dont want this are saying it gives them time to build up more opposition. Mitch mcconnell did not want to take a lot of time to let this bill stew. He wanted to hurry and get a vote on it. The longer it hangs out there and people have to look at the congressional office, which is not just yet, but the longer governors have to put pressure on their senators, the longer voters have to call into their Senate Offices every single day, the harder it gets to make this happen. Its always easier to fight something than it is to support it. Having said this, amy, your point about so much of this has been done behind closed doors. Thats right, and, again, without a real champion supporting it. But youre right, this has not been done with committee. There hasnt been a lot of public discussion or even within congress a lot of public debate about this. Tam is right, mcconnell wand to get this done, move on to Something Like taxes. Woodruff i promise we wont talk about polls for a whole other year. Tam and amy, thank you. Youre welcome. Woodruff as a candidate, President Trump called for the largest expansion of the navy since the reagan administration, but his latest Budget Proposal contains more modest shortterm increases. Still, it would boost business in the u. S. Shipbuilding industry, which despite serious safety violations in the past decade, continues to win billions of dollars in contracts to build navy and coast guard vessels. Aubrey adenbuie of reveal, from the center for investigative reporting has the story. I love you, baby doll. I love you, too. Reporter Wanda Williams life changed forever when her sisterinlaw rushed to her house in 2014. She got out of the car crying. And she said that john got hurt and he was hurt really bad. Reporter wandas husband john nearly died in an accident at the shipyard where he worked. We would have never thought that this would have happened to him, because this is things that he did every single day. He went to work as my husband and he came home as a child. Reporter wanda now takes care of her husband 24 hours a day. The accident happened three years ago at a v. T. Halter mississippi shipyard. A surveillance camera recorded as williams crane lost balance and suddenly tipped over. His coworker, willie horne saw it happen. The boom pulled back and it just bounced back all kinda ways and he was just messed up. His head was crushed. That stuff like that, its just something you just cant forget like that. Reporter the accident crushed williams skull and left him blind. For months before the accident, he had complained about the cranes broken load sensor. V. T. Halter reinstalled the sensor two days earlier, but the Occupational Safety and health administration, or osha, later determined it wasnt fully operational. There is a history of serious accidents at v. T. Halter. A few years earlier, two workers were killed applying paint thinner inside a tugboat. In this crawlspace, while working with insufficient ventilation and without explosionproof lights, vapors built up over 600 times the legal limit, igniting in a flash fire. Joey pettey barely escaped the blast. The explosion when it happened, it blew doors and hatches and electrical panels. Boom, boom, boom. When that third one hit, it blew it up. Reporter osha investigated and called that accident horrific and preventable, and fined the company over 800,000. But a month following the explosion the navy awarded v. T. Halter the contract to build this ship, worth 87 million. The contracts are pretty hefty amounts and the fines is really low. It seems like a slap on the wrist when you got that kind of money rolling around. Reporter we repeatedly reached out to v. T. Halter, but they declined to comment or to be interviewed. Theyre one of seven major u. S. Shipbuilders that contract with the navy and coast guard. Our review of federal contracts, court records, and osha files found that since 2008, the federal government has awarded more than 100 billion to these companies despite serious safety lapses that have endangered and killed workers. In neighboring mobile, alabama, austal usa is building some of the countrys newest naval vessels. Huge aluminum modules are assembled into warships on the banks of the mobile river. But dozens of its workers have been injured by a power tool used to cut through metal. Their own topsafety manager dubbed it the widow maker. The day of my accident, i was using the miller as it is called at austal. Reporter Martin Osborn is a welder at austal. I was up in a boom lift, as we call it, or a man lift, up in the air about 40 feet, cutting a lifting lug off the side of a module. And had a violent kickback, it kicked out of my hands and went across my left hand, cutting me pretty bad. I didnt take my glove off because i knew if i did that id have blood everywhere. Reporter before osborns accident, austal modified the metabo grinder by replacing the standard disc with a sawtooth blade made by an outside company. This made the tool more versatile, able to cut through aluminum more quickly. But the manufacturer of the grinder specifically warned against using these blades saying they cause frequent kickback and loss of control. Ive seen pictures of people getting cut in their face, in their necks, in their thighs. Its the most dangerous tool ive ever put in my hands. Reporter does austal know that the tool is as dangerous as it is . Yes, maam they do. Reporter Company Emails among austals managers obtained by reveal show that even before osborns accident, they called the modification lethal, and the grinders an accident waiting to happen. Yet, according to osborn, austal workers still use the grinder daily. Ive had numerous supervisors tell me that you know if you dont want to use the tool, go get a job at burger king. Reporter despite repeated requests, austal declined to comment for this story. The company has received more than 6 billion in navy contracts since 2008. But when osha concluded the saw exposed workers to amputations, severe lacerations, and other injuries, they fined the shipyard just over 4,000. Austals own records show at least 50 workers were injured by the tool in four years. Why would any manufacturer or any company continue to use a tool after dozens and dozens of people have been injured . Reporter attorney brian duncan is representing osborn along with eight others in a lawsuit which he hopes will bring more than just compensation. I hope when there are companies out there that have intentionally, knowingly violated safety standards, that somebody will come in in that scenario and will hold those people accountable. Reporter david michaels, the head of osha under former president obama, was until recently in charge of enforcing Workplace Safety laws. He acknowledges that oshas maximum penalties are insufficient, capped by federal law. Theyre tiny compared to the contracts that many of these Companies Get from the government and from the private sector. Reporter he says that the real power the government holds is in awarding the contracts themselves. The biggest fine is a million dollars, two million dollars. That is petty cash for these companies that get 100, 200, 300million dollar contracts from the Defense Department to build ships that are protecting the United States. We need to be protecting our workers as much as protecting our shores. I know navy puts a high priority on safety, as do our shipyards that are building those ships. Reporter president of the Shipbuilders Council of america, matthew paxton, says the government does consider safety records when awarding contracts. I think they take that into a whole lot of considerations that they have to figure out on their contracting end. And theres many requirements that go into that beyond safety. But safetys in there. Reporter yet the navys history of awarding contracts to companies with repeated violations suggests that it places little emphasis on safety records. Navsea, the Naval Command responsible for shipbuilding contracts, declined an oncamera interview, but a spokesperson said in an email that its up to osha, not the navy, to enforce federal safety laws. They added we are not the overlords of private shipyards when it comes to Workplace Safety. The navy has the power, they can easily say that if workers are hurt, if you dont follow the basic common sense safety rules, you dont get any more contracts. That would have a huge impact. Reporter former president obama signed an executive order that required companies to disclose three years of safety violations when vying for large federal contracts. But a federal court blocked that order. And this spring, congress drafted a resolution to overturn it altogether. Regulations arent issued in a vacuum. They have real economic consequences that can harm the middle class. They can kill jobs, raise prices, depress wages and lower opportunities. Reporter President Trump signed the resolution into law, meaning companies dont have to disclose their safety records when competing for contracts. That same month, senator Elizabeth Warren asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into v. T. Halter. We want to get to the bottom of why people have died and what kind of responsibility the company itself has. Reporter warren wants the navy to scrutinize safety records when granting contracts to all shipbuilders. In the same way that they look at how much is it going to cost, they also need to look at whether or not this is a contractor who injures and kills employees. Reporter at austals shipyard, Martin Osborn still frequently uses a sawtooth blade, like the one that cost him his finger. He says nothing will change unless shipyards are made to pay a price for putting workers at risk. Were not worried about if you get cut or the next guy gets cut. We just put another guy in your place and move on down the road. Reporter for the pbs newshour, im aubrey adenbuie in mobile, alabama. Woodruff finally, remembering filmmaker George Romero, the master of the zombie movie. And a man whose influence in the business went further than many moviegoers realize. Jeffrey brown has our look. Medical examination of victims bodies show conclusively the killers are eating the flesh of the people they kill. Brown with a 100,000 in 1968, George Romero brought the undead back to life in american culture. His night of the living dead became a cult classic, and launched a modern zombie industry of soulless ghouls with a taste for human flesh, popping up everywhere today. For romero, his films were about more than just blood and graphic violence. This series of films have been, sort of, my platform. Its ripe for metaphor and the zombies to me always represented the people that are just unwilling to stand up. You know, there are a lot of living dead in america. Brown night of the living dead, starring an African American actor, who was was seen as a kind of social commentary on racism and the paranoid mood of its time. A decade later, romeros first sequel dawn of the dead played on the excesses of american consumerism. Roger ebert dubbed it one of the best horror films ever made. Savagely merciless in its satiric view. Romero followed up with many other films, including four more in the dead series, with varying degrees of box office success. But the zombie world he unleashed took on a massive multibillion dollar life of its own, in blockbuster films like world war z, with brad pitt, and amcs the walking dead. That, in turn, led romero to sour a bit on the genre he helped popularize. Its all of a sudden, you cant make a little zombie film anymore. Has to be special effects and bigbudget, and im not im just not interested in that. Brown later in life, he shifted to different media, teaming up with marvel in 2014 to publish a comic book series. George romero died sunday in toronto after a brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer. He was 77 years old. And for more on romero and his impact, im joined by justin chang, film critic for the los angeles times. Welcome to you, justin. Zombies, who would have thought . What explains the impact of those early films . Well, i think when you have a film like night of the living dead, which is one of the great debut films any director in or outside the horror genre has ever given us, you have to look at the context, you know, vietnam, Martin Luther king, jr. s assassination, the recent assassinations of the kennedy brothers, it was a time of obviously great social unrest ad George Romero found, unwittingly or not, a perfect metaphor for that unrest, and i think it was about the primitiveness of the filmmaking, the very raw technique. It was shot on a 114,000 budget which is about 800,00 800,000, still very small budget, and he achieved almost a documentary nightmare that captured, i think, a sense of rage and a pointlessness, kind of senseless, arbitrary killing that was really unsettling for audiences at the time and still enormously unsettling today. Brown his films, of course, largely done on the cheap but somehow the cult thing grew into a large, cultural phenomenon. As we heard, he wasnt so crazy about what followed . Absolutely. I mean, we live in a culture where zombies are proliferating on screens, whether world war z or he walking dead which is still hugely popular or the remake of dawn of the dead about 13 years ago and terrific spoofs like sean of the dead which professor romero processed to liking. In a way, he was understandably disenchanted with the way hollywood really mainstreamed the zombie film and video and took out the political subtexts he was so good at putting in there and i think he especially resented things like the walking dead because it made it very difficult for him to get his own zombie movies financed on an independent level, and he was a consummate independent filmmaker, and something of a hollywood outsider and skeptic, i think all his career, which makes his success all the more remarkable. Brown for a lot of people, the stuff goes too far, the graphic violence, thats part of our society and entertainment culture. Did he help create that for better or for worse . I dont think its entirely fair to lay that as George Romeros doorstep, and i say that as someone whos on the more squeamish side of the spectrum as far as horror movie goes. I think you have to look at his films like dawn of the dead which is as great a master paste as night of the living dead. There is just something more than the violence, if youre just there for the splatter and viscera, he gives you that, but wes asking you to look at whats going on and see who the zombies represent and who the real monsters are, so i dont think its entirely fair to say hes responsible for the exploitation of violence in our culture. Hes exploiting violence in his own way to brilliant and provocative ends. Brown i want to mention the passing of another movie figure the actor Martin Landau known on television, mission impossible, films and best actor. Lets look at crimes and misdemeanors, woody allen. Youre going to hold on to me with threats, stupid threats and slander. This is your idea of love, right . I will not be tossed out. I want to speak to miriam for christs sake what the hell are you doing to me . Please brown justin chang, a brief thought on Martin Landau. Martin landau is a wonderful actor and that scene captures his elegance and gravidas, his ability to play a silken villain that we feel for. In that film, hes an adulterous husband who contemplates the murder of his lover and its, you know, im reminded, too, of his great performance many decades earlier in Alfred Hitchcocks north by northwest and took a villain and mate it memorable. He had a real talent for playing morally ambiguous characters and doing it suburbly. Brown justin chang of the los angeles times, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff and thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Supported by the john d. And 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. 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 welcome to the program. Im Jonathan Karl of abc news, filling in for charlie rose. We begin with politics talking to mike allen, megan murphy and yoni applebaum. Some of the things that are happening, the antics that are happening. This is the personal lawyer of the president of the United States. We talk all the time about the president s tweets and whether theyre appropriate or not, whether were dealing with mika or some of the other things. I do get worried that we are becoming so inured. This is something in the next 24 news cycle, the next event, the next thing we brush off. Are we becoming inured as