Inspires. Sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. Barbara hope zuckerberg. Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support has been provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tisch wnet studios at Lincoln Center in new york, hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan good evening, and thanks for joining us. In an effort to restore party unity, last night, republican president ial nominee Donald Trump Endorsed House Speaker paul ryan in his primary race this coming tuesday. Trump had previously hesitated to back the speaker and several other highprofile republicans, but, after a rough week in the polls, he called for a return to the reaganera big tent republican party. I support and endorse our speaker of the house, paul ryan. We may disagree on a couple of things, but, we mostly agree, and were going to get it done. Sreenivasan during the rally in ryans home state of wisconsin, trump also endorsed the reelection campaigns of senators john mccain in arizona and kelly ayotte in New Hampshire, and softened controversial comments he made last year about senator mccains military service and years as a prisoner of war in vietnam. I hold in the highest esteem senator john mccain, for his service to our country in uniform and in public office. Sreenivasan even as trump tried to make amends with fellow republicans, he turned up the attacks on his opponent, hillary clinton, calling her, in his words, a monster, unhinged and unstable. Trump continues his campaign with a rally in New Hampshire tonight. Clinton has no scheduled events this weekend but starts off monday with two rallies in florida. The food and Drug Administration has approved a controversial plan to release genetically modified mosquitoes in the florida keys to fight against the spread of zika. Under the plan, the biotech firm oxitech would release male mosquitoes modified with synthetic d. N. A. These modified mosquitoes are the same species as the ones spreading zika, but, when they mate, their offspring die before reaching adulthood. The geneticallymodified mosquitoes will not be launched until after the november election, when local officials will hold a nonbinding vote on the proposal. 16 cases of nontravelrelated zika infections have been confirmed in the miami area. The party that has governed south africa since the end of apartheid, the African National congress, has suffered its worst Election Results since taking power 22 years ago. Voters in two key urban areas turned away from the party of Nelson Mandela in favor of the Opposition Democratic Alliance party. While leading the vote nationally, the a. N. C. Lost majority control in cities including the capital, pretoria, largely the result of widespread anger over corruption and a stagnant economy. With all the votes from wednesdays election now counted, Officials Say the a. N. C. Has won in johannesburg, the countrys largest city. The party says it will try to form coalitions in the cities where it fell short of a majority. Local authorities in belgium say two female Police Officers were attacked and injured by a man with a machete outside the Central Police station in charleroi, south of brussels. Witnesses say the man was yelling god is greatest in arabic. He was shot and killed by a third police officer. Both injured officers are said to be out of danger. Charleroi is also the city where belgian officials discovered a safe house used by the plotters of the november paris attacks that killed 130 people. An american teenager from virginia has won the first gold medal at the rio olympics. 19yearold virginia thrasher defeated chinas du li with an olympicrecord performance in the tenmeter air rifle event today. The medal ceremony was the first following last nights colorful opening ceremonies in a rio soccer stadium, all to the relentless beat of the bossa nova, samba and funk. But not all brazilians are board. Joining me now via skype from rio is dom phillips of the Washington Post. Dom, were not going to ask you sport scores. I know the Washington Post has a big team covering that, but lets talk a little bit about what else is happening outside. From the lookses of it, the opening ser ceremonies went off without any major calamities and thats a good start. It is and i wonder if the Opening Ceremony might mark a change in the mood in rio. The mood before the gaims of quite negative for a lot of reasons the financial problems in the state of, concerns about zika and concerns that promises on cleaning up polluted waters havent been met. The response to the Opening Ceremony was hugely positive by many, many brazilians. It may have even restored a little bit of their bruised national pride. Sreenivasan lets talk a little bit about some of those problems. Several of the athletes competing, especially in the waterrelated events are concerned for their own safety. They are concerned for their own health as they have to swim or sail on these waters. Ere are going to be anythat measures taken between now and the end of the game that could improve that situation . Theres very little they can do to improsecute situation. For instance, when were talking about the sailing, the sailing events, four of the seven races in the bay, the best they can do is clear up the floating rubbish that they have in bay. The problem with floating garbage, and they have a squad of echoboats doing that. In terms of the quality of the water uthe big problem is the amount of raw sewage that flows into it and that raw sewage is coming from a whole bunch of towns in the metropolitan area of rio that dont have sanitation. Theyre not going to be able to put Sewage Systems in, in the next few days. Sreenivasan tell us a little bit about the security infrastructure. Ive seen photos and video. It seems there are armed guards posted in lots of different places throughout the city. Im assuming there is some heightened alertness, just for the possibilities of a terror attack, possibilities of anything going on. Thats correct. What you see is a very, very obvious, large military presence throughout rio on streets, on main highways, metrostations. Youll see armed soldiers standing around outside the athletes village, along the beach. Youll see soldiers everywhere, one reason being theres been rising Violent Crime in rio in the last few months, and another being that a government policy pacify favellas lowincome communities which for years has been dominated by drug gangs, has been sort of crumbling. So at the entrance you will see soldiers stationed. Stewart economy was supposed to get a big shot in the arm with the new money, the new investment, tourives coming in. What you have seen on the ground . Economy is struggling, has been struggling for a long time, and a lot of people have lost their jobs. And whether there has been a big sort of input from the olympic games, theres probably been some in rio, and what we are hearing recently from economists is the economy is beginning to show some signs of a recovery. But thats going to be theres a counterbalance to that which is going to be as soon as the games are over a lot of people are going to be made unemployed. Sreenivasan all right, dom phillips from the Washington Post join us via skype from rio, thanks so much. Okay. Sreenivasan learn about a suburb in the florida keys that has become a testing ground in the fight against the zika virus through the use of genetically modified mosquitoes. Visit us at www. Pbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan in tonights signature segment, we turn to florida, where one of the nations largest waterways is in peril. Pbs newshour weekend special correspondent lisa desai and producer Yasmeen Qureshi traveled to the Indian River Lagoon on floridas east coast to look at the impact that septic tanks are having on its fragile ecosystem. This story was supported by the Florida Center for investigative reporting, the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute and the Economic Hardship reporting project. Reporter the Indian River Lagoon stretches for 156 miles along floridas east coast. The estuary, where the river meets the sea, is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, and scientists consider it one of the most biodiverse waterways in north america. But, as beautiful as it looks, this ecosystem now struggles to survive. Brian lapointe is a scientist at Florida Atlantic universitys Harbor Branch oceanographic institute. Were having a crisis in the Indian River Lagoon from excessive amounts of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus that are causing harmful algal blooms. Some of these are toxic, and some are not toxic but still cause ecological damage. Reporter those nutrients in the water come from sewage and fertilizers and can spur algal blooms when algae grows out of control, blocking sunlight and starving the water of oxygen. The blooms destroyed over half the seagrass in the lagoon during the past five years. In march of this year, they caused one of the biggest fish kills in the estuarys history. It killed millions of fish but also just caused dieoff of a lot of the biological diversity that we have in the lagoon. Reporter in may, the st. Lucie river, which is part of the Indian River Lagoon, became so polluted that the Florida Department of health warned residents not to touch the water. This toxic bluegreen algae smothered parts of the river, suffocating endangered manatees. Pictures and videos of the contamination are all over social media. In this one, a manatee swims through the thick sludge, desperate for relief, as Good Samaritans hose it down with fresh water. Scientists say the river is heavily polluted by water released from nearby lake okeechobee, which is drained regularly to prevent flooding. The drainage dumps excess algae and agricultural fertilizer runoff into the river. Last month, officials curtailed the discharges to help keep the toxic algae under control. However, the water from lake okeechobee isnt the only culprit. We have two major problems that discharge from the lake is bringing a lot of freshwater into the system, and then all the septic tanks that are also draining into the system with fecal coliform bacteria. And it really is like the perfect storm coming together, creating a big, big problem in this area. Reporter in the last 60 years, the number of People Living in the five counties around the lagoon has doubled. Many of their homes use septic tanks to treat sewage, and lapointe says thats a big part of the problem. The problem is, septic tanks really dont treat the sewage to a very high level. They are not engineered to remove nutrients, and they dont disinfect. So, today, we have upwards of 600,000 septic tanks leaching into tidal creeks and canals that flow into the Indian River Lagoon. Reporter lapointe and his team regularly test the water. He says traces of human pollution from septic tanks are everywhere artificial sweeteners; acetaminophen, the active ingredient in tylenol; and fecal matter. There are 800 to 1,000 dolphins living in the lagoon at any given time. Many are infected with e. Coli and antibioticresistant bacteria commonly found in human sewage from septic tanks. The once clear, sandy bottom of the water is now full of dead algae. You can see the other thing that happens with septic tanks is the buildup of muck over time. As the algae blooms and dies, it forms this black muck. Reporter according to the Environmental Protection agency, more than one in five homes in the United States relies on septic tanks to treat their sewage. The tanks work best in rural areas with dense soil and where homes are spread out. The tanks are installed underground and receive waste from bathrooms, kitchens and laundry machines. Inside the tank, solid waste is separated from liquid waste. The liquid then flows into the ground. If the soil is dense enough, it can filter out bacteria and viruses, naturally cleaning the wastewater before it reaches a drinking supply or body of water. One septic tank by itself isnt a problem, but when you have high densities of septic tanks thousands, or, in some cases, tens of thousands in poor soil conditions, close to a sensitive water body like the Indian River Lagoon, then youve got a big problem. Reporter in areas like cape cod, massachusetts, and long island, new york, scientists are also seeing increased algal blooms. Last year on the east end of long island, new york, algal blooms spurred out of control, killing hundred of thousands of fish in the Peconic River estuary. Scientists said that the 360,000 septic tanks near the water contributed to the problem. Lapointe believes there should be stronger government oversight where septic tanks are built. People, they get their permits legally permitted by the state agencies and the health departments. They think its working just fine. Its like this magic box underground. Reporter three years ago, bethany and sean quinn moved into their home just across the street from the st. Lucie river. Its the same house bethany grew up in. They now think that part of whats hurting the waterway is the septic tank buried in the front yard. Theirs is one 30,000 septic tanks in floridas Martin County suspected of seeping into the water. If i had my preference, id much rather have it be something that goes and is treated, and the waters reclaimed and, you know, turned into something useful. Reporter the quinns say the water isnt as healthy as it used to be. They dont swim in it anymore, and they wont let their two daughters go near it. Now, people arent catching as much fish. You dont see any of the seagrass. You rarely see shells. I mean, its just, you know, its changing right before our eyes, in our generation, that weve seen. I just dont see. I just dont see how it can come back. But enough attention, and maybe well be successful. Reporter one county trying to do something about it is Martin County. Commissioner doug smith is spearheading a 138 million project to clean up the river. The plan over the next 20 years is to connect over 10,000 houses that rely on septic tanks to sewage lines. So, this is ground water . On the side of a road a quarter mile from the river, smith says this puddle of groundwater is a sign of why septic tanks dont belong in these kind of neighborhoods. The groundwater is right there, and youre only 23 feet below the surface of where we are standing. And so, all of these homes have both their septic systems and their drainfields sitting right on top of that. Reporter why were developers allowed to build so many septic tanks close to the shoreline . So, the development community, for a long time, it was a lot about how can we get the most units built as quickly as possible . Time has moved on. Theres a lot more awareness, theres a lot more consciousness now as to how we deal with life. Its not. Its not proper to have a septic system on the edge of a water body anywhere in the United States. Reporter with a goal of having homeowners convert from septic tanks to sewage over the next 20 years, many Martin County residents will be mandated to replace their septic tanks and pay around 8,500 per household to connect to sewage lines. People who cant pay up front will be allowed to pay in installments over 20 years, added onto their property taxes. And just last month, Florida Governor rick scott called septic tank runoff a major contributor to the pollution in these water bodies. He also said he would propose new funding for a 50 50 matching grant to encourage residents to move from septic tanks to sewer systems in order to curb pollution and to meet the increased demand for wastewater services. People want to have good, healthy water. They want it to be clean water, and it really should be. Generations ago, it was. And so, everybodys hope is that we can get back to that. Reporter suzie debartolo is one homeowner who was eligible to connect to sewer lines. She signed up right away and paid thousands of dollars to get rid of her septic tank. I was so excited to do it, i started saving in advance for this. And it was just like night and day. Ive never had another worry or concern since, and everything works perfectly. Reporter debartolo moved to Martin County 40 years ago, to this house overlooking the st. Lucie river. But she has sold her boat, and her kayaks stored away. Okay, lisa, you see how that is just totally dead . You dont see any sign of life down there. I wouldnt dare get in here. Reporter debartolo says she misses the flourishing lagoon, and life in her neighborhood isnt the same. Its just a very sad reality. Life changes and people are. And im hopeful that something can be done to improve it where we could get back out on the water. Sreenivasan according to the centers for Disease Control and prevention, Overdose Deaths involving prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999, as have the sales of such drugs. In 2014 alone, more than 14,000 people died from overdoses involving drugs such as methadone, oxycodone and hydrocodone. And today, at least half of all Overdose Deaths involve a prescription opioid. There is another drug in that group that may be lesserknown but perhaps even more lethal. Its called fentanyl, and joining me now from boston to discuss the growing concerns over its impact is David Armstrong of the science and Health Reporting news outlet stat. David, thanks for i dont think us. Put fentanyl in perspective for us. Really, since the death of prince, that word has kind of crept into peoples psyche, but how significant is this drug when were talking about these overdoses . Well, its significant because two main reasons. One is its potency. Fentanyl is anywhere from 50 to 100 times more powerful, more potent than heroin, which is already more potent and powerful than other opiods people have been abusing. And the the other thing thats frightening about fentanyl is that it is being mislabeled or counterfeited, in essence, as other opiods. So people think theyre taking heroin. Theyre actually taking fentanyl. And, also, were now seeing a big increase in fentanyl being labeled as pain killers, you know, regular prescription pain pills that people buy on the streets thats actually fentanyl. So thats where the danger comes in, these two things its potency and the fact that a number of people are unaware that theyre taking this drug. Sreenivasan help us understand on the sort of arsenal of pain killers where does fentanyl stack up . I mean, its really at the top of the heap. The difference between fentanyl and heroin, for instance, is fentanyl is synthetic. Its made in a laboratory, and its made in a way that is so much more potent than heroin, that people really dont understand or comprehend it on the street. Sreenivasan all right, so if its made in a lab, arent there ways to restrict the inflow of the labs that are producing it and how it gets on to the streets . Well, obviously, not tow far, because its flooding the marketplace in this country. A primary source of fentanyl is china, and so far, the efforts by the d. E. A. And customs and other agencies have been really futile in trying to slow the arrival of this drug here. Sreenivasan tell us a little bit about the street economics of the value of this drug, basic economics, as the supply increases of something, the price would go down. The supply of, say, lot of pain killers on the market. So how is it that fentanyl is making these inroads . Were talk. A factor 10, 15, 20 times more profitable for a drug dealer to use fentanyl, whether its, you know, sold as heroin, cut into heroin, or sold as a prescription pain killer, than those actual products. And the high that it provides is on par with heroin or even better. So its really these two things coming together that have helpedes to cause the explosion. Sreenivasan and is this explosion uniform across the country . Are there pocketses . The heaviest pockets so parhave been the northeast, throughout the midwest. Ohio has been particularly hard hit. Since the 4th of july in akron, there have been nearly 300 overdoses and two dozen deaths that the police there believe is linked to a form of fentanyl called car fentanyl. And the the legal use of carfentanyl is to sedate elephants. Yesterday, in lafayette, louisiana, the police there warned of a huge increase in deaths from fentanyl. California, florida its everywhere now. Its expanding, and at a rapid pace. Sreenivasan all right, David Armstrong from news site sta, thanks for joining me. Thanks for having me. This is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. Sreenivasan at the 2008 summer olympics in beijing, china, the home team led all countries with 51 gold medals, a measure of success they hope to repeat over the next two weeks in rio. And as i. T. N. Correspondent debi edward reports, the difficult path to making the team can begin as early as age four. For up to 10 hours a day, these young girls and boys are put through regimented traeng routines that are designed to make them olympic champions. whistle many have been plucked from rural villages, moving away from their family. Others have their progress watchedded by eager parents willing their child to succeed. translated its good for her body beauty. She started from Nursery School and has been training for four years now. Reporter china has rejected criticism of its intense coaching methods. These kind of techniques have been condemned as archaic and cruel. There are almost half a million chinese children being trained in these elite academieses, and only 10 will ever make it to national or olympic level. He was once bound for the olympics. Now hes homeless and sells bracelets in the beijing subway. translated i was precruited when i was six years old and trained like a professional. I have no education, no job skills. We should be treated like those leaving the army and get some sort of support. Reporter china has thousands of former athletes like him coping with a shattered olympic dream. But, still, every year, hundreds more enter a schooling system where only gold is good enough. The death of pete fountain, who was a mardi gras fixture and owning a club there. He appeared on the Johnny Carson television show, but he always returned to his musical roots in new orleans. He died today. He was 86. Thats it for this edition of newshour weekend. Im hari sreenivasan. Have a good night. Captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org pbs newshour weekend is made possible by bernard and irene schwartz. Judy and josh weston. The cheryl and Philip Milstein family. The john and Helen Glessner family trust. Supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. Sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. Barbara hope zuckerberg. Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. And by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Mike hes an iconic american figure, and as chance would have it, my next door neighbor. For part of the year, newton minow and his wife josephine, or jo, live in a suburban chicago condo building that overlooks my backyard. A backyard that served as an extension to my home office, where i wrote most of the 1,000 or so stories during my 32 years as a Network Correspondent for nbc news. Not long ago, as a neighborly favor, i conducted a series of oncamera interviews with newt, knowing that the personal reflections and anecdotal accounts of his remarkable life would be a treasured addition to the minow family archives. To expand the scope, jo was also interviewed, as were the three highly accomplished minow daughters nell lawyer, author, shareholder activist and movie critic
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.