captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodrf: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. the newshour tonight: scott pruitt is out. the environmental protection chief resigns after a cascade of allegations about his ethical conduct. then, as the u.s. government says it plans to reunite families, meeting the imposedt coadline, lawsuits over the mistreatment of children in anstody. "behind rebel lines," in yemen. just who are the rebels, and why are some members of congress so concerned about the war? >>n fact, this war is unauthorized, and it is in factn ufconstial. >> woodrf: all that and more, n on tonight's pewshour.

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security at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station fromiewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: scott pruitt, the controversiaand embattled head of the u.s. environmen l protection agency, is out. president trump announced his resignation this aftnoon. in his departing letter, pruitt said he was leaving because of "unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family" that "are unprecedented and have taken ato sizabl on all of us." he also praised mr. trump for

the agenda they had jointly pursued to "get results for the american people, botwith improved environmental outcomes as weltol as historical regu reform, at an unprecedented pace." as william brangham explains, pruitt's agenda was the source of deep debate, bu increasingly, so was his personal conduct in the office. >> brangham: for months, scott pruitt survived one scandal after another. he brushed off calls froms memb both parties for his firing. but just a month ago, the presiden his e.p.a. chief.ked >> scott pruitt is doing a great job within the walls of the e.p.a. i mean, we're setting records. outside, he's being attacked very viciously by the press. and i'm not saying that he'se' blameless, but see what happens. >> brangham: that was before the mo recent controversies emerged, which included allegations that pruitt asked an aide to find a high-paying job for s wife. pruitt was under at least a

ezen federal investigations-- by t.a.'s inspector general, by congress, and the white house-- over questions of extravagant spendingrity practices and potential conflicts of interest and abuse of power. one probe is looking into ho a pruitt secur50-per-night deal on a bedroom in a capitol hill condoo-owned by the wife of an energy industry lobbyist. he drew scruti for luxury travel during his first year in office, with trips totaling over $100,000, including many first- class flights. pruitt also was criticized for giving some of his aides unauthorized pay raises, which pruitt initially denied. >> i found out this yesterday and i corrected the action, and we are in the process of finding out how it took place and correcting i >> brangham: when some staff at the e.p.a. questioned his practices, pruitt allegedly retaliating against them with demotions and reassignments. in congressional testimony this spring, pruitt pushed back against his critics. t se who have attacked the e.p.a. and attacked me are doing so because they want to derail the president's agenda.

i'm not going to let that. happ >> brangham: on the policy front, during his tenure asdm e.p.a.istrator, pruitt spearheaded the president's prnised agenda of deregulat of key industries like oil, gas and chemicals. in his first year in o pruitt reversed or started the process of undoing at least 40 relations, and was instrumental in urging the president to withdraw from the paris climate accord. according to the president, former coal lobbyistand current deputy administrator of the e.p.a. andrew wheeler will take over as acting ad of the agency on monday. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: now, for more on pruitt's resignation and his impactjuliet eilperin of the "washington post" has been breaking several stories about the e.p.a. adminstrator and is t the "post" newsroom. welcome bathe program, juliet. so there have been so many accusations about scott pruitt. do we know what finally made the

differencewa >> i think ia combination of the fact two of his top aides testified behind closed doors, two staffers before the house oversight and government reform committee, and really confirmed much of what "the washington post" and other outlets have been reporting in terms oftt mr. pr approach in terms of spending, management decisions, so that was reallynt instru. white house chief of staff john kelly had been pushing for months as well as other white housofficials to try to get mr. trump to replace his e.p.a. administrator, and that coupledu with the storst posted by the "new york times" this afternoon detailing alterations to the calendar, expanding on something that other outlets had reported earlerier in the week, really contributed to his departure. >> woodruff: quickly remind us, paint a portraiof what he did as e.p.a. administrator. >> in terms of policy or management? >> woodruff: in terms of manageent. >> so ins of management

there's a whole slew of thingsid mr. pruitt first, he really spent lavishly the taxpayers funds on his own -- you know, his own purposes including consistently traveling first class, staying in high-end hotels, eating at fancy restaurants, and expanding his security detail to the extent that, again, that and, you know, retaining higher-end suvs for his transportation, a whole slew of expenses relat to his own operations. on top of that, h he entered into, for example, a controversial rental arrangement for the rst six months of his ten your with the wife of a lobbyist, herself a lobbyist on capitol hill where he only pai $50 a night on the nights he stayed there and that really raised questions especially asit over timmerged that the husband of this lobbyist who was e chairman of the w firm williams and jensen haded

repe contacted the e.p.a. on official business, raising questions about conflict of interest. there were other expenses, including the fact that . pruitt installed a $43,000 soundproof phone booth in his office, and there were charges of a retaliatiinst both career and political aides who rafed concerns about some these decisions. so it really was a combination of all of tse factors that ultimately put him in an oruntenable position with than a dozen investigations on capitol hill, within e.p.a.'s inspector general's offe and elsewhere. >> woodruff: but through all of that, until today, he maintained the confidence to have the president. the president still sary favorable things about him in extending his resignation. why did the presidick with him for so long? >> the two men had a pernal rapport, something mr. pruitt cultivated over time. you know, usually, the e.p.a. administrator is not one of the most influential cabinet members, but mr. pruitt was

quite skillful in tms of reaching out to the president, carrying through with many of the policy items he wanted, but also just spending time with him. he wou eat frequently in the white house mess so that he could swing by the oval office criodically. miserated with president trump about staffers who leaked and the problems in the media ande russia investigation and how that was unfair. so the fact ihas tt the two, they actually hit it off when they fhst met and wen mr. trump decided he should be his e.p.a. administrator and, over time, that tie deepened, which is what really sustained him until today. >> woodruff: when all of said and done what work of his is long-lasting? what is his legacy? what portion of it may be up to be changed because it's being challenged? >> mr. pruitt as e.p.a.ad nistrator set in motion a series of policy rolebacks onyt evng including, you know, a slew of climate policiesby

enactehe obama administration, as well as other things having to do with how -- you know, what happens with o regulatiwater bodies and other air pollution and pestices and you name it. all of these policy proposals, some of which werite rushed, are being challenged in court bi nmental groups and others, and the jury is really out on how that litigation is going to play out over time. so i think we won't know for several months, maybe even a year or so, in terms of what is the actual policy impact that scott pruitt will have rceed as e.p.a. administrator. >> woodruff: and the man who has been named as his acting -- the next acting administratorpr ty much follows along the same line of views. >> absolutely. he emplaces all the same priorities in terms of the regulatory rollbacks. andrewheeler is a former e.p.a. employee as well as a top aide for senator james enhoff of oklahoma and a former lobbyist

for coal companies and other firms, andso, there's no question he's equally committed to the policy agenda that scott pruitt and presipunt trump have ued, and he's quite skilled in terms of being a policy expert, so there's no question that e.p.a. will continuicon the same p trajectory and how it plays out over time is something th we'll be covering. >> woodruff: juliet eilperinel doing exnt reporting for so many months now. juliet, da thank you, judy. >> woodruff: in ths other news, the trump administration says it is working to reunite families separated at the border, ahead of a court-ordered deadline. the department of health and human services says it now has fewer than 3,000 children in its custody, including 100 under the age of five. meanwhile, president trump repeated his calls to send people who cross the border back without a trial. we will take a closer look at the president's immigration policies, right after the news

summ in california, a district judge rejected president trump's request to block two state laws at protect undocumented immigrants, but put part od a thnctuary law on hold.up the judgld one law that limits police communications with federal agents when an inma is about to be released the other requires the state to inspect immigrant detention facilities. the judge blocked part of the law that says immigration officials must have a warrant to enter premises. president trump said he has narrowed down his short list of candidates to be his supme court nominee. speaking to reporters aboard air force one, he said, "of the four people, i have it downree or two." he plans to make his announcement monday ght. mr. trump also voiced support for republican congressman jim jordan. the lawmaker is accused of knowing about alleged sexual abuse at ohio state university, when he was the assistant

wrestling coach decao. jordan denies all charges. british investigators are searching for answers, after two people fell critically ill from exposure to the nerve agent sbvichok. it happened in ay, just miles from where a former russian spy and his ughter were poisoned by the same substance in march. dan rivers of independent television news has our report. >> reporter: she looks just lik any otopper, browsing the wine on a summer's afternoon, ahead of a friday night out with fries. dawn strugess looks relaxed and happy, and pays for it in the shop just a few hundred meters from the spot where a russian spy seregei skripal and hiser daugere found overcome by a nerve agent. hewn sturgess is completely unaware that soon,oo will be incapacitated by the very same chemical weapon. less than 24 hours later, shwas being loaded into an ambulance in a critical conditio having been exposed to a nerve agent.

a few hours later, her boyfriend, charlie rowley, had so collapsed. both suffering from the same symptoms of disorientation, breathing difficulties and eventually a loss of consciousness. both charlie and dawn are now in a itical condition in salisbury hospital. today, even the police seem to be dismayed that, once again, g.lisbury is at the center of a nerve agent poison >> put simply, it is unbelievable that we are here today to talk about anotherok novierve agent incident that has happened across our county. >> reporter: officials stressing the risk to public pualth is minimal, but the home secretary was noing any punches in his message to the russian government today. i is completely unacceptable for our people to be either deliberate or accidental targets, or for our streets, our parks, our towns to be dumping grounds for poison. a>> reporter: as the areaund charlie rowley's flat continued

to be secured, the russian government issued a statement saying t u.k. should not get involved in dirty political games. we're told the risk of further contam there are still so many unanswered questions abbot how dawn and charlie ended up fighting for their lives. >> woodruff: that report from dan rivers, of independe television news. in northern thailand, rescuers continued their efforts to free the 12 boys and their soccer coach who have been trapped in a cave for almost two weeks. more thai navy seals arrived at the mouth of the cave to pump out water in hopes of clearing an escape route. if that fails, the team may have to stay in the cave until the water recedes-- as long as four months. more heavy rains are expected this weekend. in southwest syria, russian air strikes bolstered a government fensive against oppositi forces. rebel negotiators agreed to resume stalled peace talks with russia to end the fighting.

as the bombings intensified, syrian ground forc are massing near the border with jordan. f the campaign hced more than 320,000 syrians from their homes.at the unitedns has appealed to jordan, to open its borders to those fleeing the violence. china ys the trump administration is "opening fireo rd beijing, as the u.s. ieepares to enact punishing new trade ba. tariffs on $34 billion worth of chinese imports are set to go into effect at midnight. a spokesman for china's commerce department promised immediate countermeasures. >> ( otranslated ): this ki trade bullying, by raising up ble big stick of tariffs to kmail others around the world, is against the trend of the times. china will not bow in ce of threats and blackmail, nor will it waver in its ination of safeguarding globalization and the multilateral trade system.

>> woodruff: china says it plans to target american products like soybeans andhiskey. president trump has threatened additional duties on up to $450 billion worth of chinese imports if beijing retaliates. the department of homelanden security has ed temporary protected status for yemenis who sought safety in the u.s. after fleeing a brutal civil war. the 18-month extension applies to some 1,250 people who leftye n since 2015, but no new applicants will be accepted. special corresndent jane ferguson has our third and final report on the war in yemen, later in the program. former fox news executive bill shine has a new high-level job at the white house. he will serve as the president's deputy chief of staff for communications. shine resigned from fox news last year, after he was accused of mishandling sexual harassment s andals at the network. the white house en without a communications director since the departure of hope hicks in march.

in colorado, firefighters struggled to battle one of the largest wildfires in the state's enstory today. 200 miles south ofr, the largely uncontained fire has destroyed more than 100 homes and forced over ev000 people to uate. at least 60 wildfires are roaring through e western u.s. amid tinder-dry conditions. and on wall street tode dow jones industrial average gained 182 points to close at. 24,3na the aq rose 83 points, and the s&p 500 gained 23.on still to come the newshour: details on the federal government's plan to reunite imigrant families. u.s. officials check in on north korea. are the country's nuclear assets expanding? "behind rebel lines." a rare look at the militants fighting the saudi-led and u.s.-backed coalition. and, much more.

>> woodruff: as we reported earlier, u.s. secretary of health and human azar, said today that the trump administration is working tomp with a federal court order to reunite immigrant families who've been separated at the border. on a press briefing call today, lisa desjardins asked the secretary about the children still in the government's care, and can report what we have learned. lisa, you were on the call. what did you learn? >> i think there were to headline herone the trump administration is saying it will comply wh the latest cou order saying children who have been separated must be reunited with parents within 30 days or 14 days ifr they're unde five. the 14-day deadline is next tuesday. h.h.s. says, in some cases, the way they will do that, however, is to sd children to parents who are in detention and detain em together.

the other thing we learned is, in some cases, h.h.s. is no sure about whether a child was separated from a parent or came on their own.e that's a ral breakdown in the process and a problem for reunitin>>the families. oodruff: lisa, separately from all that, there's a set ofs legal documlegal filings from a number of states. they're suing the federal goabment. tell ut what you see there. >> right. this is an extraordinary trove of firsthand accounts from people who have experienced this policy. first, let's talk about that lawsuit. 17 states and the district of columbia have filed a lawsuit. they wt a few ings, a court to order the policy is unconstitutional and stop permanently, and thatlum seekers be processed and go through the border undetained. as the process works out the state filed nearly 1,000 pages of documentation of people who have experienced this process or have knowledge about it, porin through those documents is the firsthand accounts of things we

have been trying to get our hands on so long and we see many parents separated with little or no notice they would be separated. sometimes they were taken away to a hey, returned to filed their child had been taken. >> woodruff:hat are thein families sa >> first, we learned a lot about what these families in this legal documentation says how the physical situation was for them. first of all, 15 by 15 size ults, with 30 to 50 a sometimes children in with them as well with one toilet for those people to share, usually.o usually, privacy, however, it's in the same room, and children and adults sharing the space. they're called iceboxes. many people refer them as so cold they had to huddle together on cement floors. we also have gripping an frankly difficult to read personal testimonies. i want to point to one of them. this ifrom a mother whose 14-month-old child was separ from her and from the father. they were reunited after 85

days. she wrote, the child continued to cry when we got home and would hold on to my leg and not let me go. when i took off his clothes, he was full of dirt and lies. it seemed like they had not bathed him the 85 days he was away from us. she went on to she thought her child being so young, he would not have significant effects from the separation, but she's worried now actually he is really feeling and has chnged because of the separation. >> woodruff: 85 days without bathing. >> this is her accusation, and that's the imt.portant par we asked all the government agencies involved to respond, and they said thearen't going to respond now to this ongoing litigation. h.h.s. secretary told me on the phone, he said, hey, be careful, you know, we don't know if these are all h.h.sfacilities. we checked in this case, and the location that this mother named does sync up with the place where there had been an h.h.s.

shelter for childre >> woodruff: lisa, amidst all this, troubling alegations of psychological and verbal abuse. >> throughout this we see allegations of racial slurs, guards calling some of these immigrants stupid, and some vera icularly troubling accusations like this one from this mother, she wrote, one of the officers asked me ingu emala larks her home country do, they celebrate mother's day? when i answered yes, then he said, then happy mothers' day because the nedat sunwas mother's day. i lowered my head, she wrote, so my daughter would not see the tears forming in my eyes. that particularly act of cruelty astonished me. these are dozens of stories, all .ery difficult to read we just pulled out a few. these are selected by the tates. they are trying tke a case that this is a bad system. this is just 1% of the total people who have been affected by this. many of the stories you may never hear because these are folks who have been deported. it's important to say these are

cases selected by those who oppose the system, but they are very gri lisa desjardins, thank you. >> woodruff:ko.s. and north an officials will soon be stlking again at the highest levels, following onth's historic meeting between president trump and north korean leader kim jong-un. john yang has the story. >> yang: judy, secretary of state mike pompeo left washington early this morning for an asian trip that is to include a day and a half in north korea. he hopes tbegin to flesh out details of kim jong-un's broad summit commitment to "work toward denuclearization of the korean peninsula." but, recent reports cast doubt on north korea's intentions. analysis of sate the country's nuclear and missile facilities have led some to concle that they are continuing to improve their capabilities, and, according to reports, the u.s. intelligence

community has concluded that north korea is concealing some of its nuclear proam and that the country has no intention of giving up its nuclear weapons. arel wit was on the team that negotiated a nucgreement with north korea during the clinton administration. shhe's the founder and pub of the website 38 north, which focuseon north korea. thanks for joining us, joel wit. some groups like the middlebury institute of international studs look at the satellit images of construction going on at the nuclear research facility at i don'atand they conclude noa has no intention of ging up its weapons and capabilities. when you look at the satellite photos, what d do do you conclu? co i conclude that north korea, like any othentry, is continuing to improve its weons capabilities until they have a detailed agreement with the unit states on

denuclearization.wr i think it'ng to expect them to stop doing that before they have that kind of agreement, and their beh like any other country -- the united states, the soviet union -- we all continue to build while we were negotiating. >> conceivably, the building capabilityou're willing to negotiate away. >> that's exactly it. what we're doing or what we did ring the cold w, what north korea is doing now is building up leverage and, secondly, negotiations may failr so north doesn't want to be caught short if the negotiations fail and it stopped doing all its weapons programs. >> in these negotiations,, thouuld one side ask the other to stop, to halt, to sort of freeze operations as a confidence building mesure >> well, they could, and, in fact, as you know, the ednorth koreans have sto

testing their missiles and stopped testing nuclear weapons, so they have done that unilaterally. >> what are the limitations of this analysis of satellite emagery as opposed to huge intelligence on round? >> well, you know, all of these means of intelligence analys have shortcomings, so if i was in the u.s. government, i would have a variety of sources of information. i would put them all toogether t come up with a conclusion. the problem with the satellite imagery we use is we don't get it every day and sometimes we don't even get it for long priorities. so we have to surmise from the snapshots what's going on. >> there's also been a difference in voices from the administration abota the tie for all of this. within the past week, we heard slightly different ver from the national security advisor john bolton and from theid prt himself at a rally in north dakota. let's take a listen and talk about it on the other side. >> with north korean

cooperation, with full disclosure of all their chemical and biocalo nuclear programs, ballistic missiles, physically, we would be able toe dispant mthe overwhelming bulk of their programs within a year. >> so we have things cooking now. you'reoing to be so happy. but when people rush it, it's like rushing the turkey out of the stove, its not going to be as good. r.e longer we take, the bet >> how do you reconcile those two things? >> well, you know, this isn't capitulation, it's negotiation, and john bolton, i think, would like capitulation and, in that sense, it woue ld tyear. >> capitulating from the north koreans. >> the north koreans wou capitulate. they would tell us about everything they've gotten and built and we would disable and dismantle it. the president is being morec realisre, there's going to be a negotiation and there's got to be give and ce between the two sides, it's going to take time and that's all something we

need to understand. >> and john bolton also mentioned chemical and biological weapons in addition to nuclear weapons. is that expanding the feld a little bit here? >> it's definitely expanding the field. the agreement reads that the sulit doesn't include a of those different types of weapons, so he's looking for everything, and he wants to do it all in one year. so that's not possible. >>nd with mike pompeo nowin your judgment, what are the chances the broad commitment of singapore translates into an evein sven chiewl dinuclearized korean peninsula? >> it may translate into that, but it's not going to translate into that as a result of one trip for two days to pyongyang. this is going to be a process. it's going to take time to a negotiate eement. you need negotiators, but you also need the secretary of state and the president to be actively

involved throughout the process. >> joel wit, founder and co-editor of "38 noth," thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: this week, we brought you a rare, disturbing, and important ok at the desperate situation behind rebel lines in yemen. but just who are those houthi how closelyn aligned are they to iran? it is that question that hasca driven ameinvolvement in the war, supporting a saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels.ec l correspondent jane ferguson smuggled herself across the frontlines in yemen, and here, in the third and final report of the series, we looanat these impoquestionsld behind the w wst humanitarian disaster. ( chanting )

>> reporter: in the streets of yemen's capital, sana'a, chants ofuddeath to america" are lo and clear. the anger here is runs deep. ( anting ) these rebels, known as houthis, seized control of sana'a city and much of the north of the country in 2014. they are of yemeni's zaydi sect closest to shiite islam. their growing power caused alarm across the border in sunni saudi arabia, so the saudis formed a coalition of arab countries to defeat them, a coalition backed by the united states. over the lasthree years, a campaign of intensive air strikes and a ground war has brought the country h its knees, bn't pushed the houthis back. america's he with that campaign has driven bitter resentment here. >> ( translated ): the weapons, they come from the unitedat . mr. obama or the other president said, okay, we will help saudi arabia for the war in sanaa. and the new one, trump, he said,

we will support our iend. what does it mean? he is supporting them to kill us. u >> reporter: t. sells the saudis and their coalition partners billions of dollars worth of bombs and provides intelligence and logistical support. saudi jets are refueled mid-air by american planes between bombing missions. thsaudis, and the united states, say the houthis are puppets for tehran, a proxy form of iranian military power right on their dootep. the houthi supporters fervently deny this. the saudis and the americans say, iran is here. is this ue? >> it's not true. where is iran? he is yemeni, he is yemeni. all of uyemeni. where is iran? iran is a country. let them to go to iran and start here, yemen.ran. >> reporte politically, the houthi's most closely aligned

reflect with iran's proxy force in lebanon, zbollah, and share an intense hatred for israel. the group denies any formal partnership. since taking control of the capital sana'a, their extremist slogan can been seen everywhere, including here on the ancient walls of the old city: "god is great, death to america, death to israel, curse the jews." hatred of saudi arabia also bonds the houthis to iran. the houthis regularl long- range ballistic missiles across saudi arabia's southern borders and towae saudi capital. the saudis say those provided by iran and have imposed a tight blockade on all pra and air surrounding houthi- controlled areas tent missiles from coming in. the uthis told the newshour they took the missiles from yemen's military arsenal when they ctured sana'a. salim moghalis is a member of the houthis' political wing the >> ( translated ): it's known

the yemeni people and army have missiles from the past. and the army and experts were able to improve anupgrade these missiles, which is necessary. we are able to producell sorts of arms so they can upgrade the old weapons to have longer ranges.or >> rr: beyond the politics, this war has created the world's worst humanitarian disaster.ll ns are on the brink of starvation, and the worst cholera outbreak in modern history rages on. after three years of war here, people are weary of the air strikes and the blockade, but they also tell us, they believe america could end it. in sana'a's market, people are hopeful for an end to the crisis soon. >> ( caanslated ): since ame has the biggest position in the u.n., it should have pushed forn politicaeconomic resolutions to the conflict. look, now the ople are almost ad. poverty, hunger, disease, death, injuries, the waplanes hitting us. >> reporter: meanwhile in

washington, efforts by some to end the u.s.'s support for the saudis continue. a bipartisan group of senators, including vermont independent bernie sanders, failed to get a resolution passed in march, which aimed toimit the white house's authority to get involved in this war >> we think that, in fact,his war is an authorized, and it is in fact unconstitutional. article 1, section 8 of the constitution is pretty clear. it's the united states congress that declares war. the president cannot do whate wants unilaterally. the president does not have the authority. >> reporter: president trump enjoys warm relations with the saudis, especially the country's powerful crown prince mohammed bin salman. the white house is currently pushing for further arms sales of precision guided missiles to the kingdom. some fellow republicans arguees the saudisve america's support in this war. idaho republican james risch sits on the senate foreign

relations committee. >> t iranians are in there a they are causing the difficulties that's there. if the iranians would back off, i have no doubt that the saudis will back off, but the saudis have the absolute right to defend themselves. >> reporter: to others, it's not america's job to defthd a nation doesn't reflect its values? >> i don't know that i've evera participated ite which says that the united states must be an ally to saudi'smb militaristicions. and this is a despotic regime which treats women as third class citizens. there were no elections there. they have their own goals and their own ambitions. >> reporter: american suort for saudi arabia is major propaganda tool for the uthis, who frame their war here as a form of jihad against the u.s., a religious battle. but it's a battle that neither side is winning, regardless of who america helps. instead, the conflict is defined most clearly by those who are losing-- t civilians,

struggling to live with its consequences. for the pbs newshour, i'm jane ferguson in sana'a, yemen. n woodruff: now, the rising cost of visitingergency room. health care costs remain a big issue for many americans, and e.r. prices are onpart of the problem. in fact, a new analysis found the cost of going to an e.r. has nearly doubled in the last eight years. william brangham looks at a special reporting project that's chronicling the impact of e.r. prices on individuals and families. e stories surrounding some g. these e.r. bills are st a man in texas with a broken jaw ends up in an e.r., stuck with a nearly $8,000 biou even th they're reer in his insurance

network. parents took a daughter in with a cut on her toe, innd out three hours later, treated with ant bottic ointment, $900. or a $629 bill for a band-aid for a babrl in connecticut. these are some of the 10 anecdotes vox is collecting, part of a big reporting project blocking at the 140 million e.r. visits americans make each year and why they cost so much money. sarah cliff is the journalist behind the project and joins me now. welcome back to the ewshour". >> thanks for having me. you collect 1300 so far, maybe nor, e.r. bills from people all over the wasn't and you're trying to discern a pattern in all these bills. what, brog,ly speakave you found thus far? >> i would say there are threebi findings from this reporting project. the first is basically every emergency room visit has socthing called a faility fee, the price of walking through the door, seeking care. most people don't know about this. i didn't know about this until i

started this reporting project.e we know acility fees are really high. they're usual through majority of the bi in the ces you were mentioning, and we also know they vary a lot one hospital across the street from another hospital, mayve facility fees that look nothing like each other but it's hard to find information about that. whyou don't usually knot the facility fee is before you receive the bill. >> you can't call ahead and ask. no, these are privately negotiated between hospitals and insurance companies. so it's a difficult market to be a patient in to actually know how much youing to pay when you do go to the emergency room. >> that's one to have thbig findings. what were some of the others? >> we've seen a lot of issuesut withf network building in network emergency rooms. one of our stories looked at this man in texas who wakes up after being unclonscioust in a texas -- >> this is the broken jaw story. e broken jaw. he wakes up with a broken gorks googles is my hospital i we ok in in network, he finds out it is and feels relenieved.

t turns out the surgeon who does his jaw surgery is not in network and h receives an $8,000 bill and turns out this is pretty common, especially in texas, to have out of network providers workings at in-network emergency rooms and, againit's really difficult for patients to find that information. you might think you're safe like this patient did and get a bill a few months later which shows you really weren't safe. >> have these sts been the same all along and we're just now paying attention to it or are they changing over time? >> they have been ing up much faster than general inflation and the economy. one dee factor is the deductibles are rising quickly. most of us who have insurance at work have a deductible above $1,000 and that means we see our healthcare costs, instead of the insurance kicking in everything, we're expecting to pay for more and we heoar frm more patients who are paying the facility fee who miffed their insurance covet n the past. >> in one of the stories in the series, you feature several

analysts who argue e.r.s are acting like monopolies. >> it means patients have oftenh little choic they go to the emergency room. a lieutenant of the cases i write aboutoare people wh, you know, it's late at night, the weekend, the holiday, everything else is closed and the emergency room is theiren only oion, so they're kind of held, you know, hostage a little bit to whatever prices the emergency room wants to charge for the care. they don't really even have another option. one of the cases you mentioned earlier about this little girl oio gontment on her toe and ended up with al$900 bill, that was a case at hapened on the weekend when the pediatrician was closed, urgent care said it wouldn't see a pediatric patient so the e.r. bcomes the only place you go. you can't shop at all when there's just one option. >> with all the dif types of costs, obviously knowing what your insurance does and doesn'te and what your deductible is part of it, but are there

otor things consumers can to protect emselves from having this incredible surprise when the bill shows up? in the ma >> i think asking a lot of can be pretty intimidating to be in these situation t asking what is the facility fee. ergencying in the room >> if you're capable of it. there are people unconscious and dealing with severe medical situations, but if ibit is po to ask the questions, i aculd say not to be afraid to do so. ng out to the hospital after you receive the bill to ask questions about, well, why s it coded this way, why am i having these fees to protest the bills? doing a lot in writing can be helpful so you actually have a cord of tho interactions. but i think one of the frustrating things i've seen for a lot of the patients i've covered, a lot of times there aren't good ways to protect yourself, it is veryvery hard to put this on the soo cnsumer s their responsibility to be a good shopper in this cas

>> in your series, you quote people who argue this is large properties profit seeking and this is why the costs are going up. what are t hospitals arguing in term? i assume they say, no, we're not just trying to make monmore money for ourselves. >> what i hear most from hospital executives is it'sun expensive ton emergency room. they have to be open 24-7 to be readfor stroke victims, gunshot victims, and they are required by federalaw to see everybody and get everybody to stable condition. they can't have someone die at their doorstep. they argue we have lots of unpaid bills. we hs e to keep the lign and things running in case of emergencies. i certainly do think there is truth to that argument thater ncy rooms are expensive places to run, butthe persons i've talked to who have becom skeptical is all of the fees are high. they're charging facilityee to come in the door, $800 for the ear drops$8,000 for the oral surgery. doctors, are you know, it's not

that you pay this fee and that you're in, but tht there's really high charges even after you pay the fee that's supposedly there to keep the emgency room up and runing. >> sara cliff of vox, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: online retail giant amazon, which was foded 24 years ago today, plans to announce its pick for a second headquarters later this year.se thch for what has been dubbed "amazon hq2" launched an unprecedented bidding war between cities and s ttes. the scalhe project is massive: a proposed eight million square foot campus that wost $5 billion and promise up to 50,000 new jobs. last fall, economics correspondent paul solman lookee atosts and the benefits of landing amazon hq2. a reprise of that story is part of our weekly series, "making sen$e." >> alexa, where should amazon

locate hq2? >> frisco, texas. ca reporter: city officials across north ameri have come up with quirky, some might say desperate, ways of g the attention of amazon, the country's fourth largest mpany. birmingham, alabama boosters built giant delivery boxes around the city. southern arizona promoters sent the company a cactus. while other places touted traits lley're not usually known for. >> las vegas is ositioned to be a catalyst for the most advanced smart city technology in america. >> reporter: dallas' pitch: livability.>> lavor, vibe, margaritas, culture, because it's great for kids, it's great for your homes. >> reporter: detroit's case: make a difference. >> move here, move the world. >> reporter: in january, amazon narrowed the list of cities and regions in contention to host its second headquarters from 238 to 20. the company focused on finding assets, like the tech talent that drew it to seattle.

t , no surprise that was p wil reynolds' pitch: >> great university system with a great group of millennials. it's a growing population here, great arts and culture, affordable. >> reporter: reynolds founded an internet marketing fm here in 2002. not much tech where he was back then. >> today, people have tons of options if they want to work in tech industry, and that's just been in the last 10 years. >> reporter: reynolds is pushing one of the 20 finalists: philadelphia, which has even branded north 3rd street, where reynolds founded hisny," nerd street." >> i think the biggest thing that philly has over most other cities is our diversity. it's really big right now for silicon valley and tech start- ups to be focusing more on what they're doing in the communityw and ey're key to becoming more diverse. >> reporter: but philadelphia already is. and that's a huge plus, says reynolds. >> amazon sells stuff to all kinds of people, so you go blacks, whites, rich and poor. >> reporter: a diverse customer

base is best served, according to reynolds, by a diverse workforce. but wait! amazon has also made it clear it wants downtown real estate, easy access to public transportationr "your prare answered," says the city's professional booster. >> we are on market street, market west, 30th street station. right here it's the third-t busiesil station in the amtrak system. it's adjacent to bus terminal, trolley stop, and just behind us is university city. >> reporter: as head of select greater philadelphia, it's matt cabrey's job to hawk the city of brotherly love, ich is why he's pushing the 14-acre skookill yards, supposedly primed for amazon. >> everything from the size of population to the transportation infrastructure, and the mass transit, this particular with fits perfectly. >> repter: so "perfect fo amazon," he alleges, and of course, not too bafor philadelphia. rois this the biggest suchct ever? >> we have not been able to find

another project that comes near it. >> reporter: site selection consultant jay biggins, whose own coany is based in new jersey, says the economic benefits amazon would bring to a philadelphia are ginormous. >> you have $5illion in payroll that drops into your market now that wasn't there before. you're creating contractor opportunities, the coffee shop and the hair salon, and miions of others that are all generating more activity to themselves. they're all spending more because ey're making more. >> reporter: but in any transaction, there are also the costs. forever bidding against each other for new business, cities and states dangle not just prime real estate, but money, mainly in the form of tax breaks. case in point: former new jersey governor chris christie's newark bid: >> all of the economic incentives put together from the city and the state would realize $7 billion in potential credits yainst amazon state and c taxes. >> reporter: so what's the cost/benefit bottom line? >> these tax incentives are nota

good for trs. >> reporter: brookings scholar amy lew studies regional economic development. >> the bulk of job creation in n statcity, comes not from business attraction deals-- they only make up 3% of all the jobsc created inmunity. real job creation comes from entrepreneship, start-ups, helping scale new firms and helping existing comparow. >> reporter: lew argues that investments in affordable hoing, infrastructure, and education would do a local economy more good than t lures. >> it creates a perverse incentive of doing the wrong thing. t. there's really nothing at all perverse about t we revere competition in all other aspects of american economic life. in fact, we insist on it as a matter of law. the only way to really think about incentives in this context is that it's a pricing tool. >> reporter: so how much are up to 50,000 jobs worth?ph ly's tax bid: a reported $3 billion.

and it offers less obvious enticements as well. >> one of the things that's often under-recognized is, it's not just the city where it's located, it's where the c.e.o. or c-suite want to live. >> reporter: well, jeff bezos has a connection to washington d.c., owns the "washington post," has a house down there as well. >> he does, and he's a princeton grad and he has family connections in greater philadelphia region, so those kinds of factors might be part of that decision making. >> reporter: but wil reynolds admits there will be drawbacks if his city wins. >> i'm going to have more competition. >> reporter: they are going to compete for talent? >> absolutely. >> reporter: and they're going to drive up prices of houses like yours. >> absolutely. iflou look at the capitol h d ighborhood of seattle, where one of my really giends lives, he can barely afford to live there now. sohere's definitely some gatives spillover. but i think the positives outweigh the negatives so much in terms of what it would do for this city,or the kids of our

city, i'm willing to take the r ct that my job is going to get a little bit harr what's good for the whole city, and to me, it's the whole city. >> i do think there's a silver lining in this bid for amazo hq2, and that is that amazon essentially has given every single city a playbook on what matters to survive and prosper in this digital economy. >> reporter: to survive and prosper with or without seducing the biggest prospective catch in corporate history. this is economics correspondent paul solman reporting from ever- loving philadelphia. >> woouff: finally, another installment of our weekly "brief but spectacular" series. morgan dixon and vanessa garrison are the founders of the non-profit girltrek,lth movement whose mission is to prild community and reduce the leading causes oentable death among african american yimen.

>> black women are faster and at higher rates than any other group in american fromte obesity-rediseases. we carry the trauma in our bones from systemic racism, we carry the trauma in our bones from serving other people before we serve ourselves, and that has to stop now. so girltrek asks women reclaim 30 minutes a day to their own personal self-frre and to be dom fighter for themselves and their communities. >> that. ( laughs ) >> i am grateful, like many black women in this country, tis have been by a village of black women. my grandmother and my aunties stepped in when my mother was not available, to care for me. and in that steppi in, they sacrificed so much. and i lost my grandmother at 66 years old to a heart attack. i've lost two aunts before the age of 60. the crisis is taking the women irom my family at an age that just feels very uno me. >> girltrek is the largest

mealth organization in the country for black we are reclaiming the streets of black neighborhoods, one woman at a time. our goal is to rally 1,000,000 black women to walk to save their lives. >> 80% of black women are over a healthy body weight, 53% areor obese,than two-thirds of black women get little to no leisure time, physical activsty, and the eartbreaking of tel, one in two black girls born in 2000 are projto get diabetes unless levels of activity or diet changes. >> you know there's a hashtag, o ust black women, and i would encourage you toat, because black women from alabama who climbed the flagpole, all the way back to anita hill, have been like charting the forward for social change. for the record, black women love the way they look, and black women are exaordinarily beautiful, and we come in all shapes and sizes. but black women are oftentimes hiding from a lot of the things that they have experienc, and

our bodies have experienced a lot of trauma, and we do not have lot of extra time in ou lives to exercise. it's not a woman's individual decision to wake up every day and say, "i don't want to exercise." it's actually, i'm working twopu jobs to food on the table, i'm being a loving mother, i want to give love to my spouse, and then in all of that, where do i then find the time to prioritize myself? so girltrek, for those women, is instructional. every single day, we give women, first the permission, second the language, and third theru practical inions: how do you carve out time for yourself every day? how do you communicate to your ?riends and your family that you should be a priori what do you do when you have the 30 minutes for you, for l urself? how do you knit those things together so that it benefits you, your family, and your community? >> my name is vanessa garrison. >> and i'm morgan dixon. >> and this is our "brief but spectacular" te... >> ...on mobilizing black women to save their own lives.

>> woodruff: and that is the newsur for tonight. we thank you, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> knowledge, it's where innovation begins. it's what leads us to scovery and motivates us to succeed. it's why we ask the tough questions, and what leads us to the answers. at leidos, we're standing behind those working to improve the world's health, safety, and efficiency. leidos. >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin. >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> babbel.

language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more.15 babbel's ten tinute lessons are available as an app, or online. more information on babbel.com. >> consumer cellular. >> and with the ongoing supporti of these itions >> this program was made possible by the corpation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

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