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tv   PBS News Hour  PBS  June 14, 2024 6:00pm-7:01pm PDT

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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. amna: good evening, i'm amna nawaz geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. the u.s. supreme court strikes
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down a federal ban on stock bumps. amna: the police department routinely discriminated. used forts and violated civil right. geoff: and a look at the failure to supply running water to many of itself 22 million residents. >> all that hung that politicians spend on putting up banners, tv ads and all that. the fair thing would be to spend it on these neighborhoods so that we could have water. ♪ announcer: major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the "newshour, including jim and nancy bildner and the robert and nancy shiller
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foundation. the judy and footer bloom-kovler foundation. >> cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a bridge with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations and immersive experiences. a world of leash your and british style. all with cunard's white star service. >> the john s. and james l. knit foundations, fostering engaged communities. more at kt.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions --
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and friends of the "newshour. this program was made possible but the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the ""newshour." another big day at the u.s. supreme court as the justices handed down a decision with major implications for firearm regulations. in a 6-3 ruling the conservative majority found that the government exceeded its authority when it issued a ban in 2018 on bump stocks. that's a gun accessory used in the deadliest mass shooting in u.s. history. >> a bump stock is used only the back end of a semiautomatic rifle. it allows the user to reengage the firing continually.
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macchia, our supreme court analyst, hash following this case closely and joins me now. amna: this federal bump stock ban was approved back in 2018 by then president trump and it was in response to that 2017 las vegas outdoor music concert shooting. 58 people were killed. a bump stock was usinged in that. how did this issue get before the supreme court in the first place? >> the way so many cases do, oipoimoipoim. michael cargill, who was a gun shop owner in austin, texas, filed a lawsuit challenging the bureau of a.t.f.'s ban on bump stocks. he won before the u.s. court of appeals for the fifth circuit. it was the biden administration that bought brought the case, the appeal, to the supreme court. amna: aleado, writing in his concurring opinion said this --
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there can belittle doubt that the congress that enacted this law wouldn't have seen any material difference between a machine gun and a semiautomatic rifle attached with a bump stock. i-organizea said this -- it casts aside congress's definition of machine gun and ceasing on one that is inconsistent with the or their meaning of text. when i see a duck that walks like a duck, quarterbacks like a duck i call that bird a duck. what does this tell us? >> this was very much a case of statue torrey interpretation. and it tells us almost immediately in the vote that the justices looked a is the clang and saw it very differently on the left and the right. justice kagan said at one point during arguments, yes, textually
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is fine but it's not inconsistent with common sense so she believed the court should be looking broadly in terms of what the statute was designed to do but you can look at it two ways. it is about peace with the conservative rulings in recent years in which gun restrictions were lifted and it's also a piece w-9 conservative justices' concerns that freshman agencies have gained too much power and are overreaching. amna: it's been reported there are about 520,000 bump stocks in circulation -- circulation and we asked chip brownie, a reporter with an organization called the trace that covers gun vinals about the potential impact of this decision. >> we saw these devices used this the deadliest mass shooting from american history. if you have someone else who is
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intent on committing a crime like that and gets ahold of one of these devices, they can potentially take a gun that shoots 60, 70, 80 rounds per minute to one that shoots 600, 700 rounds per minute. amna: did that succumb up? >> certainly during oral arguments, the justices were keenly aware, i believe of the impact of bump stocks and what they can do. again, they were focused on the text, the language of the bureau of a.t.f.'s rule. amna: there are a number of female firearms cases working through the courts. one of the biggest is united states vs. rahimi. what's at stake there? >> that is a federal ban on the possession of guns by anyone who is under a domestic violence
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protective order. it's going to be a fascinating case. it is a second amendment case. lower freshman court said using justice thomas's new test for second amendment, that there was no historical analog or anything in history that allowed such a ban to go guard so that could be decided this next tweak, anytime before the end of the term. amna: there are a number of key issues on other cases still before the court. what other kinds of issues and rules could we see that term? >> one of the knost closely watched cases and donald trump's claim of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution and there are two social media cases involving the first amendment and also several big cases involving federal regulatory agencies and their power, their authority. the court is a little bit behind right now. usually it tries to wrap up the
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term by the end of june but there's still a lot left to decide. amna: our supreme court analyst macchia coyle joining us. always great to see you. >> my pleasure. ♪ geoff: to the day's other news. south florida is hoping for a break from the rain after several days of downpours that have led to flash flooding. there's more rain in the forecast tonight and tomorrow but it's not expected to be as bad as what the region's seen this week. oipoimoipoim has the details. a. amna: south floridaians started the day cleaning up from torrential rain and navigating streets, as they braced for more storms ahead. >> hopefully it's knot approaching the levels it was but we have a lot of resources
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staged and we'll be able to offer the state assistance. amna: dumping almost two inches of rain in some areas. >> looked like the beginning to a zombie movie. cars hitterred everywhere. on the sidewalk, in the middle of the street, no lights only. craziness. abandoned cars everywhere. amna: this native floridian was struck by how fast the water surged into her home. >> flew in from both entrances. i was not overwhelmed. however, i'm from the keys, i've been through it a lot. >> water logged rhodes forced south floridians to find other ways to get around. at the airport more than 900
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flights were canceled or delayed as of thursday night and a state of emergency for five counties remains in place. geoff: nato defense ministers approved a plan to provide long-term aid and military training to ukraine. the goal is to protect against disruptions in aid for ukraine's war effort. meantime in moscow, president putin said russia is ready to end the war in ukraine but only if coach ends its bid for nato membership. he also wants kyiv to hand over four provinces claimed by the kremlin. they said the peace offer is not realistic. >> this is called a peace proposal. this is a proposal of more aggression. >> putin has illegally occupied sovereign ukrainian territory.
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he is not in any position to dictate to ukraine what may must do to bring about peace. geoff: this all comes ahead of this weekend's ukraine peace summit in switzerland. at least 100 delegations are due to attend. russia was not invited. muslim from around the world have started their annual pilgrimage to mecca in called rain. more than two million people are expected to participate. this year it comes against the back develop drop of the israel-hamas war. palestinians in gaza were not able to make the journey because of the closing of the rafah border crossing in may. in new guidelines for ministering to indigenous catholics, they wrote the church
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recognizes'9" has played a part in the issue. the were reports of widespread sexual abuse at 22 such schools and a separate report found that 500 children died in these institutionings starting in the 19th century. pope francis became the first pontiff to ever address a group of world leaders. he addressed the threat posed by artificial potential in a speech to g7 leaders. >> decision making should always be left to the human person. we would condemn humanity to a future without hope if we took away their ability to make decisions. geoff: president biden, who's a devito catholic, had a brave
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exchange and the two also met behind closed door. the justice department said it will not prosecute attorney general merrick garland for contempt. they said his actions did not congress constitute a crime. on wednesday the house of representatives voted to hold garland in contempt over his refusal to turn over audios of president biden. south african president has been re-elected by lawmakers after a dramatic late deal with the country's main opposition party. the agreement gives him a second term in office. the 71-year-old's hold on power, comes two weeks after the a.n.c. lost its 30-year grip on control of parliament. the parties will now co-lead
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south africa. in florida, demolition began today on the site of the parkland school shooting where a gunman killed 17 on valentine's day in 2018. crews started tearing down the building at margerie stoneman douglas high school. the structure was frozen in time to serve as evidence in the shooter's trial. he's now serving a life sentence without parole. officials hope to finish the demolition by the time students return from summer break. on wall street, the dow jones flipped 57 points. the nasdaq extended it run of record highs. the s&p 500 ended the week virtually flat and the u.s. cricket team is bowling over fans after securing a spot in the second round of the t20 world cup. those heavy rains in florida watched out team u.s.a.'s match against ireland. that cancellation combined with
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cricket powerhouse pakistan left the u.s. with enough points to advance. it also means that this year's co-he'ses qualify for the next world cup in 202. still to come, the retire commander of u.s. special command discusses his new book. david brooks and e.j. weigh in. and an art exhibition offers a new way of thinking about the mythical creature noun as sasquatch. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from weta studios in war and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state uniform. amna: a sweepling new report areveals a pattern of racism and excessive force at the phoenix police department. just one of 11 investigations
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nationwide since 2021. the three-year probe into phoenix followed a series of high-profile incidents of misconduct and one of the highest rates of officer-involved shootings. joining us is taylor. before we get into some of these findings, tell us more about what spurred this investigation in the first place. we saw a spectacular probe in police departments in other areas. what happened in phoenix? >> it was actually a string of trophies that garnered public attention and we believe eventually led its way to the attention of the justice department. in 2018, phoenix police department was one of the most lethal -- actually was the most lethal police force in the currently and in years past and years since then, we have continued to remain a department that has a substantially high number of officer-involved
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shootings and there have been a string of other trophies as well. amna: let's begin with the finding of a pattern of essentially racism and excessive force. what does the report detail only that front? who was the worst impacted there? >> on that front they had a lot of filings but when it came to racial discrimination. they looked at low-level offenses like traffic stops or trespassing citations. officers were given a broad level of discretion and black drivers were 144% more likely to be stopped. hills panic drivers, 40% more likely in other cases you saw indigenous people were substantially more likely to be stopped. amna: there are a number of shocking allegations in this report but did nibble in particular strike you? >> yeah, this investigation has gone on for three years and we
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knew the five sunday areas the justice department would be looking into. scwha we did not release is that we would find serious interactions and treatment with the children. police officers contract with children the same way they do with results. also not reading them the miranda rights. amna: there's one portion of the report that says the fat earn of citing, arresting on -- was so widespread that 37 of all police department arrests were of people experiencing homelessness. the report says many of those actions were unconstitutional. what has the phoenix police department said in response to
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that and all the findings? >> our police chief michael sullivan told investigators in the report that he did not believe phoenix should have strong interaction said with the homeless population but nonetheless phoenix policy de faults to officers having so many interactions with homeless individuals. whenof i spoke to him yesterday, he was surprised. he believed phoenix was a model city for interacting with people experiencing homelessness so i think it took him by surprise. >> anymore response on the allegations of racial discritical face? >> no, at this point our city has been cautious and measured in their response. they said this is a large report, 136 pages so we want to take our time, read it
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thoroughly. until that point we may not hear what they're thinking. amna: essentially a court order overseen by an independent judge to romp the police department. what do you think about whether or not that will go through? >> my reporting has shown our mayor and top leaders are not in favor of a dissent decree. they have concerns over independent monitors and what if the independent monitor looks at our progress and says it's not enough and then they keep finding new things to stack into our compliance reports. it's a dissent decree when the justice department and city would mutually agree upon and it
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could go to litigation eventually. amna: how are these findings going down with the people of phoenix? >> i'd say i've been somewhat surprised. people who were protesting the streets four years ago demanding change in our city say they're not surprised at all by these findings. they're disgusted and heartbroken but we've not seen the levels of the protests at city hall as in years p past and i think that surprised me. amna: thank you so much for your time, taylor. great to see you. >> thank you. geoff: the u.s. military has divided up the world into different regional commands and put a general or admiral in
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command of each. for the past two and a half decades, the middle east has been the busiest. nick shiffrin talks to one commander who was in charge during the time. if u.s. killed the head of the force in baghdad, the head of isis and withdrew from afghanistan and the commander during that time has written a new book. high command in war in the 21st century. that retired general is frank mckenzie who joins me here. thanks for being here again. >> good to be with you. >> you wrote about the former head of the force and you point pointed out that at the time iranian proxies were firing off
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across the region and you believed that iran coward act with impunity. >> this was in laith december, 2019. we had good intelligence that he was going to coordinate nate attacks on our embassy. embassy beyond baghdad. for me the risks of inaction were greater than the risk of acting. if we didn't act, certainly americans would die. it becomes a baning test and that was my recommendation. i tilled not regret the decision at the time. >> the strategic consequences of that strike. do you believe it had the desired effect. we look at an iran that has targeted israel directly. we're seeing attacks off of yemen and hezbollah launch strikes into israel.
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do you believe that his depth has long-term cons queenss you'd hoped for? >> we saw him as an immediate problem that he was going to be responsible for the deaths of americans. at the same time we were also very much aware of what removing him from the battlefield would mean in the long term for iran. he was their best ex kiter and leader. he's gone now and as a result iranian plans are not as good or effective as they would have been had he lived. >> some believe that today the proxies are more coordinate nateed than they were in the past. do you see that? >> i do not. particularly inner,st -- iraq, it's difficult to get them on in the same direction. his successor has not done as well. i think we're in a better
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situation now. >> in the planning that led up to the strike, you actually rejected many details that were in the book. wide you reject certain of to easy? >> we always try to mine miss civilian casualtys in these kinds of strikes. it happened to be mount irish which is interesting because he was responsible for manyth deaths of americans on route irish. >> when you see how israel conduct itself in gaza and the challenges that hamas has a group integrated into gaza and of course holding not only hos stages but creating a terrorist infrastructure of tunnels underneath. what do you see? >> hamas has fully integrated itself into the civilian population. not only the israelis hostages but actually the population of gaza is a hostage held by hamas
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so israeli commanders are on the horns of a phlegm tai every time they need to take a strike or advantages. which makes for very difficult decision making for the israelis. >> israel has used 2,000-pounds bombs to target hamas tunnels that go deep underground. there's been a lot of criticism in the use of those bombs. and the secretary of defense said you might have a technical victory in certain aspects. with regional partners of israel who might respond israel. have there been strikes that you believe israel has taken? >> i do not know about the strikes israel has taken. but i would agree with the secretary. sometimes the price is not worth it but that's a decision israel
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is going to have to weigh. >> you talk about iran's missile inventory in the book, which is the largest in the region and you write by 2019, iran had 50 or so ballistic missiles capability of reaching tel aviv. in april iran fired more than 300 drones and caused very little damage. what do you think about that attack? >> i thought they would be more effective. iran now has many hundreds of missiles that can reach israel but they can't fire all of them at once. a lot of things went right for israel but they're in a central region. they're in place to receive information and there is a path forward here. >> finally afghanistan. you have said publicly and you write in the book that you
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argued against a full u.s. withdrawal and that the u.s. would not be able to conduct counterterrorism if they fully withdraw from afghanistan. and the counsel in response said we have demonstrated we do not need a permanent presence in harm's way. do you believe in that? >> i do not. our ability to see into afghanistan is very limited. ible we've taken one strike since 202 into afghanistan. i believe the intelligence officials who have testified to the fact that isis-k is growing. they do aspire to attack us here6 c1 the attack in russia, moscow recently, is indicative of that. i just have a different view. i understand others may take a
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different view and i appreciate that. >> thank you very much. >> thanks. ♪ ♪ amna: we turn now to the water crisis gripping north america's biggest city. the mexico city area is home to some 22 million people and solutions to keep water accessible have been elusive. there are a number of factors complicating the situation. >> this has become a daily routine for 53-year-old teresa vasquez. to clean the dishes and wash clothes she ladles murky water from a barrel. it has been 10 years since a single drop came from her taps. >> it is very hard living without running water.
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we have to wash our clothes with very little water, shower with very little. it is hard to live without the water we need. >> vasquez lives in the largely impoverished mexico city neighborhood. every day, she has to buy bottled water for drinking and bathing her grandkids. this water, she says, is to dirty. >> the water is not clean, but we needed, so we have to take it how it comes. there is no point in complaining. when we do complain, they sometimes don't even bring it. it is dirty, but yes we do have water. >> once a week, a city truck delivers water piped into a tank outside her home. this is the reality for hundreds of thousands of residents in the sprawling metropolis running out of water. residents in this community, one of many like it in the city, tell us they were like on these trucks for water consumption.
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as the situation worsens, tensions rise in these communities, as neighbors of five what litter water -- little water there is available. that means every drip comes with risks, from navigating narrow, bumpy alleyways, to violence. >> we get sent to an address to deliver the water, but sometimes on the way, desperate residents diverted to another location and basically demand we give them water instead. if we refuse, they can verbally and sometimes physically attack us. >> mexico city has faced water shortages for years, but never like this. most, if not all of its key reservoirs, are less than a third fall. some media reports based on statements from the country's water commission warned mexico city was nearing a day zero. when it can't provide any water to its people.
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experts say that is unlikely, but the situation remains dire. the crisis has been exacerbated by climate change. hotter, drier conditions and lower than normal rainfall. there is a more immediate problem. >> this water crisis is not a crisis of water resources, but rather a crisis of management of resources. >> a self-proclaimed water nerd runs an environmental consulting firm in mexico city. spanish conquistadors drained the region of water to build the city on lake beds. >> the mismanagement of the water in the city has caused this wonderful water city is not visible at the moment. >> today, mexico city draws about 30% of its water from a
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collection of reservoirs, pipes, and plants over 75 miles away. the rest comes mostly from underground aquifers tapped by hundreds of wells. but the network that brings water to residents is in shape. 40% of the city's water is lost in leaks. even though mexico city gets about 30 inches of rain a year and frequent flooding, its ability to hold onto that water is practically nonexistent. the city also rarely uses practices like wastewater treatment. >> fixing a network so old as the network of mexico city requires a series of resources, such as will for starters, to fix the network and avoid this 40% being lost. >> the newly elected president, the former mayor of mexico city, defended her record on this issue on the campaign trail. >> as mayor, we did carry out
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works and we do have projects which we will carry out in the greater mexico city area when we reach the presidency so we can have water supply in the long term. we did things and we do have projects. >> part of the reason the crisis has received so much attention is because of who it is affecting. >> throughout the years, the vulnerable communities of the city, the poor areas of the city within marginalized communities where the ones facing the water crisis. strangely, within this water crisis, we have been seeing that some of the richer areas of the city are facing this day by day continued evidence of the water crisis. this has brought a lot of attention. >> teresa vasquez and her family
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feel it firsthand. brenda hopes politicians fulfill their promises this time around. >> all that money that politicians spend on putting up banners, tv ads and all that, the fair thing would be to spend it on these neighborhoods so we can have water and be a bit more comfortable and experience what other neighborhoods do, which is opening their tap and getting their water and being able to wash their dishes or take a shower. >> a basic need that more and more residents can no longer take for granted. for the pbs newshour, mexico city. ♪ ♪ geoff: the supreme court is in the spotlight again as controversy surrounds its latest ruling and some of the justices themselves. on that and the other political
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stories, we turn to the analysis of brooks and beyond, new york times columnist brooks, jonathan kay part away this evening. >> great to be with you. geoff: the supreme court struck down this trump arab rule that sought to ban bump stocks, devices that allow semi automatic rifles to fire like fully automatic machine guns. this was not a case about the second amendment or gun rights. but this ruling was a rejection of the government's few steps, one of the government's few steps to regulate and address of violence in this country. what are the implications? >> i should say i'm again -- against gun stocks and i would get rid of these things in a heartbeat. congress should eliminate them. this is about who gets to decide these things. machine guns are banned and they are banned with the definition of machine gun that a machine gun is a single function of the trigger.
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hold your hand and a bunch of bullets come out. bump stocks are not quite that technically. under the obama administration, the atf and justice department looked at the law and said, can we ban bump stocks? they said the law is sitting right there, we can't ignore the language. then vegas happens and everybody's mindset changes, trump gets rid of them. then it up through the courts. what we have is who gets to decide what is a machine gun. the ideal thing would be congress would say, this is clearly a machine gun and they would pass a law. they are not going to do that because they are congress. is that the agencies who gets to decide this? or is it the courts? in my view, the courts should decide the big things. the student debt thing seemed to be too much use of executive power. but interpreting something relatively minor, what is a machine gun? it seems to be the experts are
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the ones to best make the decisions. i understand where the conservative majority is coming from. the obama administration was right there with them. i think in general the agencies should make the call. geoff: you said, liberals are regularly accused of being too ideological and technocratic. this is a ruling of right wing ideological technocrats utterly indifferent to the consequences that flow above reality. no one can accuse you of being settled. [laughter] build on that. >> first of all, i urge everyone watching to go to youtube or somewhere and just watch a gun with bump stock on it shoot. and ask yourself, how is this different from a machine gun? it is not and that is what justice sotomayor are said so powerfully in her dissent. when i read justice thomas's decision, it was the decision of somebody in a drawing room
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arguing about the word function. he went to three different dictionaries to look up the word function. then all of this technical language, as if he is an engineer. as david said, people at the atf i think can be trusted on guns. but then also to overlook the real-life impact of this decision. that is why i talked about technocrats and ideologues. why did the atf change its mind? because of the experience of what happened, with las vegas being the final straw, 58 dead and more than 500 injured. people said, these bump stocks are machine guns and they fit pretty well into the language of a ban on machine guns. i think it is appalling that a conservative court would seek to override an agency on something like this in the most narrow, technical way at such a high potential cost of human life. geoff: let's talk about that. justice alito in his concurrence
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said, congress should amend the law. we all know that that is unlikely. >> i'm not sure. this was a trump thing. the nra was supporting trump in banning bump stocks. >> i'm not sure that's true. >> they were less nra-ish then they typically are. in any case, it is the job of congress, the job of elected officials to take these decisions. i understand that people are ideological opportunists and say they are just following the law. i do think that is the judges' jobs. we have people whose job it is to say, this is horrible, let's make a change, and we call them elected officials. judges in the ideal, that is not their job. their job is to say, what is the law say and how should it be applied? it is not what is good or bad in society. >> i think two things are true.
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congress should ban bump stocks and assault weapons, but i think judges have an obligation not to engage in the most hairsplitting language when you are dealing with something that has worked, has an effect, and was decided on by reading language quite clearly. i thought justice sotomayor won that argument hands down when you put those decisions back to back about what is a machine gun look like. geoff: speaking of justice alito, he was in the news again after a liberal activist secretly recorded him. she posed as a catholic conservative in conversation with him. she captures the justice apparently saying one side or the other is going to win the nation's polarized politics. he is heard endorsing horror view -- review that the country needs to return to godliness. we have not been able to
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independently verify this audio. what do you make of this coming on top of the controversial flags seen flying outside his home? >> we are journalists. there are certain things we do. we interview somebody and make it clear, i work for the new york times, the newshour, we make it clear who we are. we don't lie or misrepresent ourselves. we don't hide a tape recorder somewhere. we don't lead people on with a bunch of ideological rants. this person did all that. it is a complete breach of the basic form of journalistic ethics. i was frankly stunned that all of us in our business just reported on it straight up. to me, this information is so doctored by her attitudes, the way she is leading on alito and his wife. it is unfair to them, frankly, to treat this as some major news story. we should be treating it as a prankster. there is a right-wing version of the skull project veritas, where
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they lie too. geoff: there is this argument that there is nothing about alito's world that was revealed in this surreptitious recording that wasn't already evident based upon his very public on the record ruling send opinions. >> am i a big fan of surreptitious reporting? no, i'm not a big fan of somebody pretending to be someone other than who they are, but gosh i reserve far more outrage over the setting of this. this is where people can give big contributions to this perfectly fine historical society around the supreme court. geoff: the supreme court historical gala dinner. >> they give privileged access to these justices and we don't know anything about what happens or very much unless reporters go at it, which is i think what motivated this reporter to try to get some information.
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i also reserve far more outrage for the fact that the supreme court of the united states, nine people on the court, are the only people who work for the federal government who are not subject to any enforceable ethics rules. if you work at dod or social security or epa, you have to live by certain ethics rules, including lower court judges. here you have people who have powerful, enormous power over our lives without having any -- having to live up to any ethical standards. so i think these events are symptoms of a real problem the supreme court has right now. put aside that i disagree with the direction of this court. but the ethical issues that have come up over the last six months or so, if they came up in any other agency, there would be an outcry, and other is for ethics rules and there should be ethics rules. geoff: let's shift to the hunter biden guilty conviction. he was found guilty on all three
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felony gun charges. has the gop's argument the gop's argument that joe biden is ordering prosecutors to target political opponents been undercut by the fact that his justice department successfully prosecuted his son? >> i guess so, yes. a couple things. i don't think you would be having these trials if his dad wasn't president. he was in a terrible mess, he was addicted to drugs, he signs a false document. that's bad. but the guy was leading a very sad and pathetic life he is trying to find his way out of. i just felt so much sadness reading all that he went through and all that he did. i don't think if he didn't have a heart -- high-profile father he would be suffering this increased conviction of a felony. i think they would have said, let's wrap it up.
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i think he is in some sense a troubled guy who is the victim of politics, frankly. geoff: how do you see it? >> in terms of the tragedy, i see it very much as david did. it was a little dispiriting to see republicans on the one hand say we've got to live by this case, respect the jury, we found him guilty, and then when asked about a certain jury in new york with a certain other person, well that is totally different. yes, i suppose they could argue if they want about the case that was brought, but the case was very clear, it involved some real crimes that were committed linked to a cover-up. yet it is ok to prosecute hunter biden, not to prosecute donald trump? merrick garland's justice department went after hunter biden with a prosecutor appointed by donald trump. that sure doesn't look like politicization to me.
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geoff: thanks so much, have a good weekend. >> grade to be with you. ♪ amna: the legend of bigfoot has captured the public's imagination for decades. a recently opened art exhibit in oregon is offering visitors that new way of thinking about the mythical creature also known as sasquatch. a report for our olshan culture series canvas. -- arts and culture series canvas. >> it is said they dwell in the mountains and forests throughout north america, large, hairy creatures who walk upright. while bigfoot has proven elusive in the wild, you can find him just about everywhere in urban environments. on t-shirts, business logos, toy
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shelves, and of course the big screen. [screaming] from the 1980's harry in the andersons. >> it a major discovery. >> to this year's "sasquatch sunset." ♪ sometimes funny, often feared, now a different way of knowing sasquatch is on display at the high desert museum in bend, oregon. >> the sasquatch lives in many different landscapes, not just the mountains and forests, but all across the plateau. >> this artist helped cure the exhibition called sensing sasquatch. the deep connection between sasquatch and native people of the region and beyond is revealed. >> through our experience, we do know and understand it to be a revered being who essentially
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watches over our community as a kind of protector. that kind of information is not widely known. >> visitors are asked to leave preconceptions behind. they learn sasquatch, which comes from the first nations people, has many names. >> being a scholar of language, i was able to develop a data set of about 16 names from the various communities of the northwest. our language, we say -- [ speaking for language] --in reference to this being nona sasquatch. >> groups of schoolchildren were enjoying the feel of charlie moody's art, one of five indigenous artists featured in
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the indifference -- in the exhibit. she is a member of the confederated tribes of warm springs and has lived on the reservation an hour from the museum most of her life. >> look how tall and big this creature is. >> her mixed media installation includes a lifelike sasquatch wrapped in buffalo hides and brightly painted panels depicting basket designs. >> i want to honor our basket weaving because it seems like a lot of times when we do have these encounters with sasquatch and bigfoot, it is when we are huckleberry picking in the mountains in remote areas. >> she says many people she knows have had an experience with sasquatch and she has too. she has passed those stories onto her children as her relatives did when she was young. >> growing up in warm springs, my grandmother would tell me stories of be respectful because
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there are things out here that aren't people. in california, they would tell legends of bigfoot, about how he became and everything like that. and going into the yosemite area, i always had to stay close to a parent. >> mystery and reverence converge in the artists' depictions of sasquatch. a carved mask, a striding sculpture, futuristic work next to art that is ancient. art for the exhibit as well. phil, tell me about your piece. >> we harvested a large cottonwood branch and it had to be a fork. and i suspended between the fork these naturally shed deer horns. and the idea is that the sasquatch being would hold it and rattle and make the noise with the horns being the sound. >> we are not asking for people to believe. >> dana whitelaw is the
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executive director of the museum. she and her colleagues changed their original vision after conversations with indigenous advisors. >> he started sharing some sasquatch stories after hearing we were doing a sasquatch exhibit. and we were transfixed. when we start hearing something that made us say, i never thought of it that way, that is our catalyst for knowing that we have hit on something that needs to be part of the exhibit. >> she says art can play an important role in expanding public understanding. >> if we can push people farther to think outside the realm of knowing, what a gift when that happens, when you can just escape our parameters of our perspectives for a moment to see something. and art does that. there is beauty, wonder, and awe that evokes curiosity and that is when you know we have
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created a path for curiosity. >> they are working to bring tribal youth to the exhibit later this year. >> the world is bigger than we know. there are an abundant set of mysteries that we all may come to know someday. >> sensing sasquatch will be on display until january 12, 2025. for the pbs newshour, i'm kat wise in bend, oregon. ♪ geoff: and there is much more online, including pbs newsweekly on our youtube page that looks at the cease-fire talks in gaza in the wake of israel's rescue of four hostages. amna: and be sure to tune into washington week for a deep dive into the fierce political fight
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over america's justice system. geoff: on pbs news weekend, how the city of philadelphia is working to protect birds from deadly window collisions. that is the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: i'm on none was. have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. including kathy and paul anderson. and camilla and george smith. the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change, so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of
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these individuals and institutions. ♪ and friends of the newshour. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ ♪
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♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪ ♪ >>
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>> this week, the politics of justice. president biden vows he won't interfere after his sun son is found guilty on federal gun charges but republicans hold

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