Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20170808

Announce uhuru, i see war. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by 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. Woodruff north korea may have taken a fateful step forward on the path towards being a Nuclear Weapons power. The Washington Post reports that u. S. Intelligence officials have concluded the north korean regime has developed a Nuclear Warhead small enough to fit inside its missiles, which are believed capable of striking not only south korea and the immediate region, but also the United States. Speaking in new jersey this afternoon, President Trump had tough words for pyongyang. North korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening beyond a normal statement and as i said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before. Woodruff joining me now to dissect these latest developments are wendy sherman. She served as undersecretary of state for Political Affairs from 2011 to 2015 under barack obama and helped to negotiate the iran nuclear deal. She was also part of the Clinton Administration team that negotiated with north korea over its Nuclear Program in the 1990s. And Melissa Hanham works in the east Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of international studies. Melissa hanham, im going to start with you because you work on issues like this. Tell us, what exactly is this capability that it now appears is confirmed that the north koreans have . Sure. For some time weve tracked north koreas missile and weapons capability in the open source. I work at middlebury where we only have access to open source information, that is whats not classified, but even in the Information Available to us through photographs, through video, and through public statements, weve been able to see that theres a strong possibility that north korea already had a warhead that could fit on the tip of actually several of its missiles. We do that first by looking at the images to see if there is any fakery or photoshop being done, and then by measuring objects inside the photos. The thing we couldnt prove is whether the warhead that north korea showed off in 2016 in march was real or not, because we cant see into the inside of it, and while that sort of silver orb had some realistic features, there were other things that were kind of strange. But the fact that the development i. A. The g. I. A. Says they have this capability, it confirms what we had been suspecting. Woodruff so it doesnt like this is a complete surprise to you. If this is the case, if this is confirmed, what does that mean the north can do in terms of striking another country . Well, so, just this past month theyve launched an icbm, an intermediaterange missile, and in their test they use whats called a lofted trajectory, which means they loft the missile a very high trajectory and had it come down not too far from its origin point, but the total distance traveled demonstrates that it could reach most of the u. S. States and may indeed actually put new york and washington, d. C. , at risk depending on how heavy its payload was. So if they can indeed put a kind of compact warhead on the tip of this missile, probably what theyre doing is making a weapon to deter the United States from coming to the aid of its allies in the region, south korea and japan. Woodruff ambassador wendy sherman, assuming this capability is what it looks like it is, what does that mean from a strategic standpoint . Well, its very concerning for sure, but not unexpected, judy, whether the d. I. A. Is correct, because this is not a community. Woodruff the Defense Intelligence agency. Yes, the Defense Intelligence agency, whether they are correct or not, its not a Community Assessment yet. It doesnt really matter because we knew that sooner or later they would be able to create small warhead which could go on the icbm that melissa talked about. They still have some guidance issues probably of that missile. They probably have a reentry problem with that missile, but theyre making progress at quite a rapid pace. It is right for the u. S. Government to be concerned. It is right for americans to be concerned. It was a very good step that was taken at the u. N. To have a 150 unanimous vote of the u. N. Security council to impose more onerous sanctions on north korea, but that wont with enough. There are many other pieces to this puzzle to get them to come to a negotiating table in seriousness, and it will probably take quite a bit for us to get do that point. Woodruff is it possible, wendy sherman, to know what the intentions of the north are . I think we have all known that the intention is to survive. Kim jongun wants his regime to survive. They want to deter the United States. They believe the United States is the only country capable of really doing them in because not only do they have Nuclear Weapons now, but they also have a very real conventional army and conventional artillery, which could pose catastrophic damage on our ally and partner in soule, south korea, and in japan. Woodruff is there any consensus on what the norths intentions are . Well, measuring their capabilities is a lot easier than measuring their intent, and intent can change. One remark that i do find interesting is in recent kcna statements, when they discussed the intercontinental ballistic missile. Woodruff this is a news agency in the north. They made a statement, and im paraphrasing here, they would inner give up their Nuclear Weapons or missiles unless the u. S. Stops its threatening behavior and definitely removes the Nuclear Threats from north korea. I may be hanging a lot on that word, unless, but its possible theyre leaving a crack door open. The u. S. Has been responding to north korea primarily with sticks, sanctions, strategic action, these kinds of things. It may be time, and i can say this because im an academic and i can put farout there. I can put ideas out, there but it may be time to give them a small nudge. I thought Rex Tillersons statement that the u. S. Was not out to overthrow the regime might have been a good start, although with todays trump remarks, that may all be out the window again. But i would prefer to see them at the negotiating table. Woodruff and thats what i was going to ask ambassador sherman about. It was just a few days ago that the secretary of state, rex tillerson, said, were prepared to sit down and talk to the north, but then you just heard President Trump saying, if they do anything more threatening, they will be met with fire and fury. Right. I think we dont have a coherent policy here that were seeing implemented. Wewe have the sanction, as melia pointed out. Its good to have sticks. Its important. It wont top their program, but it might say, you have a choice to make here. You can either get on the path of negotiating or you wont be able to survive as a regime because your economy will go to hell in a hand basket, because you will be a pariah in the world, because you will not get what you want out of this, you wont get safety and security. But that also means you have to signal that you will have an open channel, which secretary tillerson did. But today the president of the United States comments have really quite literally blown up that possibility for the moment because the north will not be able to back down from its position when they hear the president of the United States say, in fact, we do have a hostile action coming your way. Woodruff wendy sherman, i know weve had discussion after discussion on this program about what are the possibilities between the United States and north korea, and the question comes now, now that we know they have this capability or it appears that they have this capability, what are the mechanics even in place for the two sides to have a conversation, to talk to each other, to try to climb down from this place that it appears where we are . Well, i think there is a possibility and a way to get there. China is certainly a critical player in that, in their conversations with north korea. That may be true for russia, as well, and i think it was very important that china and russia were on this u. N. Security council resolution, that the Chinese Foreign minister really implored north korea to stop its behavior and to get back to the negotiating table and Prime Minister lavrov said the same thing. Judy, we have to use all of our tools at our disposal. The carrot, the stick, Everything Else we can think of, including working very closely with south korea and japan because they are already at risk today in ways that we are not yet at risk. Woodruff we are going the leave it there, but, of course, everyone is left with many, many more questions. As we sit here this evening. Wendy sherman, thank you. Melissa hanham, from the Middlebury Institute, thank you. And in the days other news t in the days other news, theres word President Trump has exchanged private messages with robert mueller, the special counsel for the russia investigation. Usa today reports mr. Trump has sent messages of appreciation through his attorney to mueller. The president has publicly called the russia probe a witchhunt and was said to be considering firing mueller. At least seven people are dead, after a powerful earthquake rocked southwest china. The quake struck near a National Park in sichuan province. More than 80 people were injured. Separately, further south, rescue crews worked to find survivors of a landslide caused by heavy rains. At least 23 people were killed there. In south africa, embattled president jacob zuma survived yet another vote of no confidence today. Zumas been dogged by allegations of corruption and a sinking economy. He would have had to resign if the motion had succeeded. Members of parliament voted in a secret ballot. Afterwards, zuma celebrated with supporters. Ive just come to say thank you to all of you. Those comrades, those comrades who were in parliament needed the support from the membership and supporters. Woodruff president zumas term continues until elections in 2019. His party is expected to replace him as its leader in december. The u. S. Says an unarmed iranian drone came within about 100 feet of an american warplane today. It happened in the persian gulf, as the plane prepared to land on an aircraft carrier. The pentagon says it was the 13th unsafe or unprofessional interaction between u. S. And Iranian Maritime forces this year. Venezuelas Constitutional Assembly appeared to literally take the place of the countrys Oppositioncontrolled Congress today. The order bars congress and other agencies from taking actions that would interfere with the bodys laws. Meanwhile, Foreign Ministers from 14 countries meanwhile, Foreign Ministers from 14 countries gathered in peru to address the crisis. But venezuelas foreign minister said they were just pawns of the u. S. translated that persecution of venezuela, the constant siege, the constantly attempting to topple the legitimatelyelected government, well its become common but it has entered a much stronger phase. Now they meet in subgroups to provide the political groundwork to us imperialism to keep pushing, in this particular case venezuela, today it is venezuela but tomorrow it might be any of our countries. Woodruff meanwhile, a u. N. Report released today says venezuelas armed forces were responsible for 46 deaths since april. Back in this country, the Justice Department is now backing ohios method for purging voter rolls, a reversal from the Obama Administration. The matter is before the u. S. Supreme court. In a filing yesterday, the government said ohios system for removing inactive voters is legal. But Civil Liberties groups say the process unfairly blocks eligible voters. Google has fired the engineer who wrote a memo criticizing the companys gender diversity program. The note, which sparked an uproar, suggested men may be more biologically suited for tech jobs than women. Googles c. E. O. Denounced the memo in an email yesterday. On wall street, the president s comments on north korea sent stocks lower today. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 33 points to close at 22,085. The nasdaq fell 13 points, and the s p 500 dropped six. And, two passings of note in the arts world. Country music icon Glen Campbell has died. He sold more than 45 million records and won five grammys. Famous for hits like Rhinestone Cowboy and wichita lineman, campbeecame a fixture at the top of music charts and on radio and tv in the 1960s and 70s. In 2011, campbell announced hed been diagnosed with alzheimers. He died today in nashville at the age of 81. And, broadway star barbara cook died today. She was known for her prolific career in musicals and cabaret and her soprano vocals. Barbara cook was 89. Still to come on the newshour a government report details the impact Climate Change is already having on americans. Kenyans head to the polls in a divisive election. President trump ramps up the fight against opioids, and much more. Woodruff now, a look at a yettobereleased Climate Change report making headlines for what it tells us about the current state of science and politics. The New York Times, which acquired a draft of the document, reports today that among its key findings are that evidence for a changing climate abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans. And that many lines of evidence demonstrate that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are primarily responsible for recent observed Climate Change. The times also reports scientists are expressing concerns that the Trump Administration has yet to indicate how or whether it will act on the findings. For more, we turn to New York Times reporter Lisa Friedman, who wrote todays article. Lisa friedman, welcome to the news hour. We should say that late today the white house put out a report saying that it didnt understand why the story was necessary, that it hasnt made a decision on the release of this report, but setting that aside for a moment, who commissioned this report . Where did it come from . Sure. Thanks for having me. This report is part of whats called the National Climate assessment. It comes out every four years. Its congressionally mandated. And the larger report, this National Climate assessment, will presumably come out next year. This special report started under the Obama Administration, and it was designed to be a state of the science report, to tell us what we know about Climate Change, what we know about Climate Science, what we know about how its affecting us here and now in the United States. Its important to note that hundreds of scientists have commented on this study, but the white house has until august 18th to decide what to do with it. Woodruff and i just cited a couple of the key findings i guess from this report, but what would you say the significance of it is . Whats in there thats new and that matters that we hadnt heard before . I think a couple big things. One of which is that this report finds that half of the temperature rise that has occurred in the past four decades can be linked to human activity. You know, thats something that directly goes against what we hear from many members of the administration. Weve heard many members of the administration say that Climate Change exists, the climate is changing, even saying that humans have a role to play but that the science is unclear about how much humans are contributing to Climate Change. This reported, done by scientists at 13 federal agencies and outside the government, as well, says effectively, no, we do know how much humans are affecting Climate Change pardon me, how much humans are affecting temperature rise. Woodruff so there are significant findings in here, and what i think is also interesting is a number of the scientists you talked to who contributed to this report or are aware of it have a concern about whether it is going to be released. Tell us what their concern is. Sure. Like i said, the White House Office of science and Technology Policy has until august 18th to decide whether or not this goes forward. If it does go forward, it will publish some time this fall. You know, what ive heard from a number of scientists is that as the date approached, there was increasing concern that the report would either be suppressed or changed. So far there has been no evidence of that. So far many scientists tell me that there has been very little direction, in fact, from the white house about the report altogether. In fact, our reporting also notes that people who do not believe in the established Science Behind Climate Change are also worried that this report and the broader National Climate assessment will come out because they fear that there are not enough people paying attention to this at the white house. Woodruff and for those in the first category, and ill ask you about the other ones next, is the concern that there wont be actions taken at the federal level . What is the main concern if its in the made public . Sure. This report does not offer policy prescriptions. This is not political in any way this report. This is a study of the science. And, you know, what ive heard from the scientists is that the real worry, if its in the made public, is that it wont be useful to people on the ground. They tell me that the people who really use this report are city planners, are people in places like florida who are trying to figure out how to best assess Sea Level Rise around myrtle mii beach, people who design building codes to make them more resilient to extreme weather. Those are the folks who use this kind of report the most, and the concern overwhelmingly was that its not widely shared, these folks would never see it. Woodruff was that a widely held concern . I spoke to several scientists, yes, who are concerned that this report would not get out. Woodruff and so when the white house issues this report today and says this is a draft, its still in the internal phase, we have days to go, it is the case that they dont, as you said several times now, they dont have to make a decision yet. Thats right. Drew but by your report being out there and these scientists speaking through it, theyre making their concerns known. You know, a lot of people talked to me about this being a test case. This is the first major federal Climate Science report that has been issued under the Trump Administration. And all eyes are on this administration to see how they handle it. Woodruff all right. Were going the leave it there and continue to watch this story as i know you almost Lisa Friedman with the New York Times. Thank you. Thank you. Woodruff a Record Number of kenyans voted in their countrys general elections today. Battling it out for the presidency the incumbent, uhuru kenyatta, and the veteran Opposition Leader, raila odinga. Both men are the sons of the countrys first president and first Vice President , respectively. And both men were leaders when postelection violence rocked the east african nation a decade ago, raising fears today that the country could see a return to fighting. From nairobi, special correspondent colin cosier reports. Reporter at machakos bus station in nairobi, people are leaving town. We are afraid of electoral violence. The outcome of the elections are known. So us guys are just playing it safe, we dont want to risk our lives. Reporter theyre heading back to tribal homelands. And it seems a good number of those leaving are opposition voters. We want change, surely we want change. We want our country to be, to remove impunity, you see. Reporter this is a problem for the opposition, who fear supporters are moving away from where theyre registered to vote. Even if we stop them, they will go and book another bus. Reporter but not everyone is leaving. Just across town, the opposition was out in force for its last big rally on saturday kenyas election has become a surprisingly close race. The opposition believes its the strongest its been in years. And you really get the sense here, that they think theyre in with a chance. The man inspiring that hope of the moment here is raila odinga, the veteran Opposition Leader whos competing in his fourth, and perhaps last, president ial election. Reporter he faces tough competition from president uhuru kenyatta, leader of the ruling jubilee party. Lets compete on policy grounds and not hatemongering of our people against each other. Reporter kenyan politics tends to align along tribal lines. After allegations of rampant fraud, the 2007 elections erupted into widespread ethnic violence. Over 1,000 people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced. Raila ran for president that year, and uhuru, a young leader, backed the thenincumbent, were in the heart of nairobi lies kibera, one of the largest slums in africa. The violence that tore through here ten years ago is fresh in the minds of some residents. translated when the fighting broke out, i had a young child called obama. The main problem i experienced was that my child ate more teargas than food because we couldnt get food. Life was hard. Reporter this election, shes worried again. translated the way i see it now, if things change and raila becomes president , i dont see people fighting, but i see that if they announce uhuru, i see war. Reporter but not everyone fears history repeating itself. Murithi mutiga is a Senior Analyst with the International Crisis group. What are the chances of seeing a repeat of violence this election . Its understandable why so many are concerned but its also worth pointing out a lot has changed since the last outbreak of violence in 2007. The new constitution that came into place spreads power and resources much more evenly. Reporter in 2013, uhuru was facing charges in the International Criminal court over the 2007 violence. He won that election against raila, and the charges were later dropped. This year uhuru is campaigning as the development candidate. While raila promises to reduce the cost of living. In the park outside of the opposition rally, two young men from uhurus kikuyu tribe, peacefully show differing loyalties. Twentyyearold john mugo is voting for uhuru. My tribe doesnt impact on what i do, on what i vote. Im a kikuyu yes, but i dont vote for a tribe. Reporter while 25yearold Vincent Kimani is backing raila. My vote, its not about tribe. Its about a better nation. Because i believe when you work together, good things can happen. Reporter a Record Number of kenyans registered to vote in this election. And with the opposition warning of vote rigging, the question is, will either candidate be willing to concede defeat . Long lines and a cold drizzly morning didnt stop nairobis voters from turning out early and in large numbers. It was good, everything was good. It is disappointing because we came here very early in the morning, the wee hours in the morning, almost like five hours in the line. Im glad i voted and i hope were going to have a peaceful election. Reporter kenyas history of alleged electoral fraud means all eyes are now on the voting system. The integrity of that system took a blow last week when a top electoral official was mysteriously murdered, allegedly tortured. International observers are watching closely. Former secretary of state john kerry led one such monitoring group. Given whats happened in the past and given the stakes for the future. Its a very, very important election and clearly the citizens of kenya are taking it very, very seriously. Reporter kerrys former boss, president obama, whose father was kenyan, released a statement calling for a peaceful and credible election, and to reject violence and incitement. Opinion polls have the candidates in a very tight race, but the only poll that counts is this one, the vote. The challenge for kenya now, is to prove that the system is free and fair. For the pbs newshour, im colin cosier in nairobi, kenya. Woodruff the nations opioid crisis. President trump addressed the issue today with a team of advisors meeting in new jersey. Its a problem touching all corners of the country. As the mayor of nashville, tennessee, megan barry has dealt with an increase in the number of Overdose Deaths in her city. Last month, it took a very personal turn. Lisa desjardins has more. Desjardins mayor megan barrys 22year old son max died after an apparent overdose. She spoke about her sons death publicly for the first time yesterday when she returned to work. Shes encouraging families to have frank conversations about addiction. And mayor barry joins me now. Thank you for joining us and our very sincere condolences for your loss. Lisa, thank you. This open owed epidemic is so often told in statistics, but id rather hear about your son. Can you tell us about him . Sure. Max was a wonderful kid. He was full of energy. He just grng waited from the university of puget sound and was looking forward to the rest of his life. Youre right there. Are lots of sta testics out, there but when it happens to your own child, its not a statistic. Im wondering, youve been in civic life far decade, mayor for two years now. You have a personal story for you here. When did it first come to your attention that the Opioid Epidemic was indeed a broad crisis in your community and in your life . Weve seen those numbers in our own community ticking up over the last several years. In fact, in this last year we equipped with all of our First Responders with narcan so they can have that drug available when they find someone experiencing an opioid overdose. Weve also been focused on trying to make sure that we have more education by hiring some folks with our Public Health department to address this opioid crisis. But again, all of these issues and these things that were dealing really hit home for me two weeks ago saturday when it was actually my own family that was impacted. Looking at this crisis nationally, you can really see the lives in recent years. Going back from 1999, from then until 2015, the centers for Disease Control say the amount of opioid prescriptions in this country quadrupled, also during that same time period, you can see the aim of Overdose Deaths from opioids similarly quadrupled. Its ticked up even more in recent years because of the addition of fentanyl. This is a very complicated question of access to addictive drugs and also overdose. How do you deal with that, and what are the gaps . What are the resource needs that you have in nashville . Well, one of the things we definitely need are more resources. We need treatment beds. We need access for individuals who are experiencing addiction to have treatment options. And thats one of the conversations on a national level. My son did go into rehab last summer. He was able to go because he had health insurance. One thing some people have called for is the declaration of National Emergency and allowing more communities to use medicaid is. That something you think a National Emergency could help in your community . I think a National Emergency declaration would absolutely help in our community, because it is National Emergency. Tennessee was number ten last year in the amount of drug overdoses, so its not just about nashville, its about all of our communities. This is an urban and suburban and rural problem. It crosses all families, and it crosses all economic spaces, and it is just a crisis. President trump today is focused on this issue. Thats the only reason were talking about it today. He declined to declare a National Emergency, but he talked about police and enforcing longer jail sentences. Do you think that sort of lawandorder approach is something that would help in your community . I dont think were going to arrest our way out of. This i think it has to be much more broad and comprehensive, and that means treating this like what this is, a disease, giving people access to the help and giving them access to treatment beds. I notice you are trying to hire an addiction specialist in nashville. We are. Is it hard to find one . I know there are shortages. Youre right. We need more folks and more resources. We look forward to filling that position, and more positions as we need them. I wish i could say youre in a unique position, but i think more and more of our lawmakers have personal experiences like you do. Im wondering what your experience and what your sons experience has given you in terms of how you look at this crisis. Well, we decided right away that we wanted to be trarns parent and honest about maxs death. We dont want his death to define his life, but we also have to have an honest conversation about how he died. Youre right, this has impacted my family, but it impacts a lot of families. I cant tell you how many people have shared their grief story with me when they have never talked about how their son or daughter died before, but now they feel like they can. And thats part of it. We have to have these frank conversations with our kids. Has it helped you to talk about this this last few days . Im not sure what helps. All i know is that if theres a parent or a friend out there who is seeing something in their own child or a friend, make sure they are reaching out to them, because that is going to be the best way to get them into treatment. These conversations have to be had. If i can spare one family the pain and grief that were going through, i hope i can. Mayor megan barry of nashville, thank you for join us. Lisa, thank you. Woodruff next, we turn to one of the most controversial issues in Higher Education today campus Sexual Assault. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos is considering changing her departments guidance for how colleges and universities should handle Sexual Misconduct investigations. Its a move thats dividing school administrators, survivors and even the accused. Thats the topic for our weekly education segment, making the grade. Our William Brangham has more. Brangham this issue revolves around the interpretation of title ix thats the 1972 civil rights law thats meant to prohibit sexual discrimination at federally funded schools and colleges. In 2011, the Obama Administration issued new requirements for how schools should handle investigations into Sexual Assaults on their campuses. Survivors and advocates had long argued that administrators werent doing enough to deal with an epidemic of these assaults. A 2016 Justice Department survey showed that oneinfive women said theyd been sexually assaulted in college, and the Obama Administration wanted to address that. Today for the First Time Ever the administration is releasing guidance under title ix of the education amendment of 1972 explaining how schools and colleges should deal with Sexual Violence. Brangham one of the more controversial changes was the Department Urged schools to now use a lower standard of evidence in investigating these cases, using a preponderance of evidence that a sexual attack had occurred. Schools began changing their policies those that didnt were threatened with the loss of federal funding. Victimadvocates, like fateema gossgraves of the National Womens law center, celebrated the new guidance saying it 45 years after title ix first banned sex discrimination in education, you finally have colleges and universities paying more attention, trying to take the steps that are necessary to have campuses that are safer and to ensure that Sexual Assault isnt an issue thats just swept under the rug. Brangham but others, like Cynthia Garrett of families advocating campus equality, argue that the increased pressure on schools tipped the scales of justice against the accused. I think that the guidance that obama, the Obama Administration issued, went too far the other way. And, as a result, there are colleges terrified to rule in favor of accused students or find them not responsible. Brangham taking a fresh look at the rules, last month new education secretary betsy devos convened listening sessions with Sexual Assault survivors, school administrators, and even students whod been accused of Sexual Violence. No student should feel the scales are tipped against him or her we need to get this right. Critics rallied outside the departments headquarters, demanding she not rescind the title ix guidance from the obama years. Adding to the controversy, candice jackson, devoss acting head of the office for civil rights said that nearly all Sexual Assault allegations fall into the category of we were both drunk, we broke up, and six months later i found myself under a title ix investigation jackson later apologized for her comments. Survivors and their advocates fear this sentiment signals that the department will rescind the 2011 guidance, or simply not enforce it. If betsy devos resids the 2011 guidance, campuses are left adrift about how to respond to the mandates of title ix and campuses need that guidance in orde to perform effectively, in order to respond to the needs of students. Brangham theres no sign yet as to what the department of education plans to do. For more on all this, we turn to Anya Kamenetz, shes the lead Education Writer for npr. Welcome back to the news hour. Thank you. Brangham before we get into the nittygritty of this, the cases were talking about here, the assault cases, an allegation one student has made against the other student, and its the schools, not Law Enforcement that are ajute kateing this. A lot of people feel like thats the heart of the issue. The Obama Administrations guidance was attempting to get schools, colleges to take a stronger stance in adjudicating these claims. A lot of people might say, shouldnt that be Law Enforcements problem . But their argument is under title ix, this is a civil rights matter because it has to do with female students and other victims ability to have equal access to educational opportunity. Schools might say, well, we dont have the infrastructure to necessarily investigate these claims or the fact finding, and then some critics of the policy as well from outside say, yeah, theres not necessarily the same standard of evidence when a school looks at a claim as when Law Enforcement does. Brangham the criticism of the Obama Administration is by tying these investigations to federal money and by lowering the evidentiary standard, youre basically making a very strong incentive for schools to convict someone who is accused. Right. So with this statement, the Obama Administration created a National Standard of preponderance of the evidence. Some colleges have used that standard before, but theyre forcing a compliance mentality on the colleges by saying, we think in order to be good colleges with regard to Sexual Violence, you have to follow these rules, one, two, three. Some victims advocates were very much in favor of that, and others, including some legal scholars, said this is overreach by the federal government. Thats certainly the position that devos and the Trump Administration seem to be taking. Brangham currently are schools and universities happy with this circumstance . I think there are a variety of opinions. Unfortunately Sexual Violence is endemic on campuses. So the feeling among colleges is nobody wants to be singled out. So some might say that having a single standard of investigation and what the federal government considers to be a strong standard, then colleges can point to that and say were in compliance with doing the right thing. Other colleges might resent having this thurst upon them. Its hard to say where colleges might fall upon that. Brangham so we dont know what betsy devos and the Current Education Department will do, but kids are going to start going to college pretty soon now. What will this whole conversation mean for them Going Forward . I think the messaging around this is really important. Because ultimately Sexual Violence, it claims victims. Its a common situation, unfortunately common on campus, but its also a school climb issue. It has to do with how a young woman and even a young man feels about what party theyre going to go to, if theyre going to be doing a certain activity after hours, can they walk alone, and i think those safety issues are going to be on students minds as they go back the campus and certainly on parents minds, as well. Brangham all right, Anya Kamenetz of npr, thank you so much. Thank you. Woodruff and our week of books continues in a moment with an interview with rachel cusk, author of the transit, which takes a unique approach to storytelling. But first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. Its a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. Woodruff for those stations still with us, we take a second look at an unlikely innovation from an unusual innovator. Special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has the story of one man who has made it his mission to bring affordable Hygiene Products to women in india. This story originally aired last spring. Reporter Arunachalam Muruganantham was a born tinkerer, obsessed with figuring out how things worked from toys to bicycles. He grew up in poverty after his father died young. Muruganantham dropped out of school and became a welder, a lower middle class occupation in india. To support my mother i quit my schooling. Reporter but his natural curiosity apparently knew no bounds. Years later it took him into a strictly taboo area in indias traditionbound society menstrual hygiene. That is why we are able to break the taboo. Reporter hes become known as indias pad mad. Your goal is to have every woman in this country use sanitary pads, if they need it . Yes, im building a movement. Its a movement, yeah. Reporter a Movement Begun by a man who knew almost nothing about the female body until after he was married. You did not even know what menstruation was, is that correct . Yeah i dont know how it is happening, when it is happening, even where it is happening, i dont know. Reporter and, he says, his wife shanti wasnt particularly interested in discussing it. Its the biggest taboo. Wife never talks to husband, mother never talks to daughter, reporter that comes at a high cost in Public Health. Some experts say millions of girls across the developing world miss school during their periods and remain susceptible to infection throughout adulthood. Sanitary pads are widely advertised in india but surveys suggest only about one in ten women uses them. At first muruganantham suggested them to his wife. I asked simply, there is some products in the market. Why youre not using that . She instantly told we have to cut our family milk budget. Reporter milk budget . Then i find its a matter of affordability. Reporter he could afford one package of sanitary pads and gave it to shanti as a gift, partly to find out how they were made and why they had to be so expensive. The white substance inside used is cotton. Reporter over the next few years, he tried, using local cotton, to replicate the commercial pads. His wife suffered through early prototypes that didnt work and went back to using a rag. Muruganantham then coaxed some female medical students to try his subsequent models, figuring the future doctors would be less shy. And he even began wearing a pad himself, creating an artificial uterus and rubber bladder, coaxing a local butcher to provide the raw material and testing it out. Filled goat blood, animal blood in it, i tied on my hip. There is a tube connection to napkin and bladder. translated everyone in the village was saying hed gone off his head. She asked me to drop her at her parents home for a few days. She never came back. And third month i got a divorce notice from my wife. Reporter she filed for divorce . Yes. Reporter his mother, who lived in the home, also left him. But his curiosity did not leave him. He called an american supplier posing as an industrialist looking to branch into feminine Hygiene Products, and asked for some samples. I claim myself im a mill owner in coimbatore, im going sanitary pad, please send some samples. Oh, my god, i saw his secret, the fiber, you can see the fiber. It reporter it was cellulose, he discovered, that when scratched vigorously, becomes spongelike and highly it took two years to perfect a machine to fluff up the cellulose, he said; a modified food blender in which the blades have to be angled just so. It got prestigious award from i. I. T. Best innovation. Reporter its simple, easily replicated and can be modified to work without electricity, he says. The pads can be made and sold for a fraction of the commercial varieties. This is the model for how muruganantham would like to see his product distributed. Thousands of small factories run by groups of women producing these sanitary pads at very low cost and selling them directly to women. Women are far more comfortable buying the pads from women directly, rather than from a store, muruganantham says. Feminine hygiene is not discussed in open company. Our own questions elicited nervous laughter from the very women making them, even as they praised their product. Reporter helped by awards and his own advocacy, more than 4,000 small factories have started making his sanitary pads across india, each with its own local branding and language this is tamil, it means flower, this is hindi. Reporter he gets no royalties from any of this. His workshop does sell the machines, enough to earn him a modest living. But nothing is patented. He wants others to copy or even improve the machines and the world has a shortage of solution providers. Everybody they want to be in the forbes list, hundred, two hundred. Nobody want to be a solution provider. Reporter in the end, shanti decided her husband was a solution provider. She returned after a fiveyear separation, somewhat sheepishly, she admits. translated they had his interview on tv, that he had discovered sanitary napkins. So i called him and then i came back. He was angry. I told him i did not want to get in his way, thats why i stepped aside. Now we are happy. Reporter if any man doubts this, he says, see how long you can endure a sanitary pad in your daily routine. For the pbs newshour, this is fred de sam lazaro, in coimbatore, india. Rose welcome to the program. We begin tonight with kurt andersen, a novelist with a new book called fantasyland. Its about truth and whatever happened to truth much lets an excerpt in atlantic this month. Jeffrey goldberg and scott of the atlantic was part of my story this lodges hundred year journey what happened that 1960s. These things that happened in the bohemian left, the countercultural left and the left in academia of you cant judge and the relativism and the find your own truth which came out of that world in the late 60s and 70s, has empowered the far right and empowered donald trump. And isnt that ironic. Rose we continue with