tv KQED Newsroom PBS October 7, 2018 5:00pm-5:31pm PDT
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. tonight on kqed newsroom, the countdown to a supreme court vote. plus federal investigators uncover widespread health and safety issues in a california immigration facility and the mat behind onion," takes on big tech and elon musk in his new book. we begin with the showdown over the supme court. theed the senate moved to clear th last oceedural hurdle before a final vote on to the supreme court. that vote will come saturday, despite the sexual assault
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allegations fbi investigation was sd to be not thorough. after pressure from a,arizon gop center jeff flake, the white house relented to a limited f probe. the fbi wrapped up the five day investigation earlier this week. they're d wcuss it at lies ahead for judge kavanaugh, i'm joined by eric swallwell, nice to have you back. >> it's nice to be back. >> three key senators, all said they were going to support judge kavanaugh, when the final vote takes place thiweekend. w it appears that he has enough votes to be confirmed, what is your reaction to that? >> well, i'm concerned about the future of the court for its integrity, and for the precedent of important cases like roe v. wade that it could be ne
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overt it's not one senator who did it, and i think senator collins is unfairly being targeted. she is one of 51 who i think have voted in the wrong direction and i he people remember that as they evaluate, you know, what the decision means to em. n the house, you know, we are not helpless, and what i think we cando, in a democratic majority house is to first demandhat the fbi reports are made public. so we can see ift's a thorough investiga ion. >> that if you win the house in the november. >> yes, and if there's gaps, and witnesses not contacted and eictims who c forward and could not reach the fbi or did not have phone calls returned, we should decide if we want to interview and investiga them to see if kavanaugh did commit perjury. we cannot have question marks around any justice sitting on the cot. >> and he is saying he will call
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for an investigation o sexual misconduct and perjury allegations,ow do yo interview brett kavanaugh the e is sitting on the u.s. supreme court. >> you have to interview the 40 wi witnesses that said they acied to conthe fbi and were not heard because there was a loosh on t -- leash on the investigation. there was questions if kavanaugh waseing truthful as he was describing their drinking. usually not relevant what people do in high school, and in college. but the fact that he was saying he was always aware of his surroundings. we want s to if that can be contradicted. a> the process has divided the nation. lot of people contacted their congress members over this. what have you been hearin from your constituents? >> it's very emotional. andst i will ay that i have
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in back and forths with very good fries of mine. and you know, have regretted some of the things that i have sai and tried to take a step back to not make it personal. o u know, the stakes are high, and the allegation is serious. i was a prosecutor for about seven years now in aleda county, and working with sexual assault cases, i saw that every sexual assslt victim co forward in a different way. they are not given aanl on how to be a survivor and what you are supposed to remember at the tiav, you may to recount it later. i htrrd different rings oh from dr. ford as she testified. when i hear people say, it was not kracorroborate ratd, she isy piece of evidence. a lot of times crimes occur when there's one victim and one perpetrator. and no one else around. >> democrats ar saying t in ing
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investigation was a sham. how does it refle to legitimacy of the process? >> the original sin was the failure to give merit garland a hearing years ago. when mitch mcconnell did that, he made the procef having a supreme court nominee go through a confirmation very, very partisan, and it deinvolved since then so where we are now. where a full and thorough investigation was not conducted olsit f like it was just rushed through to meet a deadline. i fear wt that can mea for the future. >> republicans also, accused democrats of playing dirt politics in all of this, right? that you wanted an fbi investigation and you got one and now that the n result is what you wanted, you are attacking the fbi investigation. >> yeah, what we wanted, was an fbi investigation. and we wanted them to pursue all leads. o hear that people called an fbi tip line -- again, it's
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so disappointing that this president has gone after the fbi over and over and over, these past two years. particularly for what they did, now, he puts them rht in the box, a couple of weeks before another election. that hurt hads tsed credibility well. if democrats win the house, will you call for an investigation of president ump's taxes inight of the new york times investigation that says, h got the bulk of his money from his father, fred trump, and that henged in tax fraud. >> to me in, this is about credibilitca and the ame people should know if their president, is ax eat and the new york times went to great length in a years long investigation, eight pages laid out in the newspaper, to detail the president's fraud. and theff number of erent ways that he sought to avoid paying taxes like the rest of us.ou >> would call for an
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investigation? >> yes, we will call for his taxes. whiche has refused to release, despite promising it and also, v yes, antigation in to whether any money is owed to the u.s. government. it looks like new york is pursuing the own investigation as to whether any money is owed to the new york governmernt. s a lot of investigations that the republicans never conducted. wheth it was on russia, taxes, the president cashing in on e oval offi and it musting conducted in a way that -- and it must be conducted in a way that is fair to everyone. no one is above the law. >> you serve on the house internet subcommittee, and facebook is based here in the bayarea, the company recently revealed thathere was a hack. and it affected 50 million users, plus thefotolen mation could be used to gain access to many other siteo wheree use their facebook log-ince credentials to those sites. do you think that, that tech companies, like facebook, have
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growno big, that there needs to be legislation to reign them in? >> i do. and i think a key piece of legislation that we need to pass is congress is to have a national breech notification law. right now, companies td to follow the state laws. there's 49 different laws on how you noti consumers of a breech. i think because yofacebook know, they know no state lines, there should be national standards for when it's uix or target or facebook, different companies that had brooech there's a standard. so people can defend their own identity against otherio inv that could occur. >> all right, congressman, always a pleasure to have you, thank you for taking the time. >> thank you. moving oo immigration, a new federal report has uncovered dangerous and disturbing conditions at an immigration detention center this southern california. the facility is run by the geo
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group, a private company under a contract with u.s. immigration and customs enforcement or i.c.e. and inspectors with the office of the inspector general paid a surprise visit there and found nooses made from bed sheets in 15 cells ande detainees being deni from timely adequate medical and dental care. the trump administration was blocked from endingro aam that gave protected status to hundreds of thousands of immigrants. joining me now to discuss it is our news reporter. and michael kaufmann, a aclu staff attorney. let's start with the ruling that block trump from denying protected status to immigrants. what happens now, t arey still
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subject to deportation? >> well the trump administration decided to end the protected status for immigrants from the four countries that you mngz mentioned. so the first batch of sudan were set to lose the permitwo to live andk in the u.s. in november. so it halts the deprotection from them. >> these are people who have been in the country for deckade. they have families and businesses osre. >> and of the people were from he wiel salvador many have lived here for over 20 years. they own homes. they have u.s. citizen children, so, yes, a long time in the states. >> are they still subject to deportation in the future though? >> well, what the judge did was a preliminary injunction, so the ld on the end of temporary
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protective status stays for as long as the judge decides the >> okay. and michael, one of your colleagues at the aclu represented the plaintiffs in thisca . and in judge's ruling, he pointed to disparaging comments that against immigrantsi. why did the judge think those comments were relevant in making his decisions? >> one of the claims we bought the case is that the rescission of this protection by the trump administration was motivated against the animous goodnig against brown and black people. along with other statements from other officials made cear that e administration's efforts here were motivated in part by the rational animus, and violates the protection clause. >> the trump administration has
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not said they will appeal the decision as i understand it. let's move to the inspe ror generalort on the immigration facility. and that report contains aost alarming findings. what were the key problems that they noted? >> well, inspectors with the department of homeland security which oversees immigration authorities found serious violations to i.c.e.'s own standards for detention. they found a disabled man in a wheelchair who had been confined to his wheelchair for nine days and nights, without being a io believeleep in a bed. -- without being ableee to sl in a bed. and a blind man with limited nglish proficiency in solitary confinement and people having to wait weeks and months to see a doctor and longer to see a dentist. over a yr. >> and nooses in cells? >> and nooses in ce these are made from bed sheets
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hanging from vents in the cells that they v and that particularly alarming to the inspectors, this is a facility that has a track record of seven people wouldaveried to commit suicide there, since 2015. and one person who actually died because he hung himself. >> michael, you have m fentione thility dozens of times going over the past three years. what did you hear from the deta detainees that youke with? >> the documents on this facility has been around a long time. there's been reports of serious medical care, routinely denied necessary treatments and care, or having them delayed to the point that the conditions were sn significantlyne word. >> when you saw the inspector general's report, what was your reaction, michael? >> well, avlook, we known about the problems for a long time, but i have to admit, i had my breath taken away by some of the allegations in the report. some of the commts from
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officials at the facility demonstrate a complete disregard for detainees well being. for example, an official that referred to people who attemptec suicide as se failures. >> and thear was also antly remarks for people that needed floss, that we don't have floss, so just use the string from your socks? >> exactly. that was a comment from dentists, referring to the fact that the detaidetainees did n h the things to take care of themselves. the disregad of saying hey, use the string from your socks, shos from t to bottom at the facility, they do not care about their health and well being. >> other reports in the past have poited out deficiencies, a has the aclu or any organizations challenged the federal government on the systemic issues, michael? >> well, back in 2015, we along with number of other advocacy
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groupsiled a written complaint with i.c.e., outlining the concerns about sub s medical care at the facility that led to tragic consequences, there's been a number of deaths at the facility, as the oag noted, resulted inpart, due to sub standard care in the facility and after we filed the complaint, other congressional members followed up with i.c.e. for more concerns. despite the documentation ofc. problems, had taken no meaningful steps to address the medical care and the dental care at the facility. >> and geo is the company, the private company that operates the facility. you spoke with them, you contacted them. what did they have to say about the findings? >> they say they take the findings seriously and they are already taking steps to correct them. they are going to comply we h ll review that i.c.e. said will do of the facility, due to the report by the office of the inspector general.
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>> do you think that, that this will lead to any because there have been other reports pointing out other reports in the past? >> that's right, it remains to be seen. and geo runs more than 100 he ilities throughout country. and we have heard from immigration attorneys, and others that thers probls at other facilities in california, and throughout th country as well. >> and michael, there are hunsereds of t detention centers in the u.s. what is going on at those facilitie and how is the detention now different than from pvious administrations because president obama, his administration also detained immigrants? >> absolutely. and a lot of the problems dat back, you know, five, six years and they are nothing new. we have seen conditions worsening under the trump administration. look, it's an administration that made it clear they will
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make it as painful as possible for people to go through the immigration system. they are detainingeo moree than ever before, and in conditions like this that we have found. th are tearing familie apart and separating children and parents and canging the rules to make it as difficult as possible for people to fight their deportation cases., rom top to bottom, the administration is going to try to make detainees and immigrant ves as painful as possible. >> and who is held at this it faci? are they political asylum applicants or c peopleught during i.c.e. raids? >> yeah, i think that is important to remember about all this. that most of the peofe held at thilities like these, they are fighting their immigration, they are theretheir immigration case is ongoing. it could be asylum seekers. it could be people fighting deportation. many many pple do not have a criminal record and they are not suppose to be held in very
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punative conditions, but the report makes it, gives us a very detailed inside look at what ma be going on in there. >> and michael, you have met with some undocumented mmigrants who gave up their cases to live legally in the u.s. even some with strong cases, why did that happen >> absolutely. i have had clients who have told me that they can't bear to stay in detention for the months years it takes to fight their cases,pnd give winnable cases because of the terrible circumstances under which they are detained. and aigger question we should be asking, why are we detaining e people in places like this. this is a civil detention system. people are n being held because they are being punished for something they did wrong. they are simy being held so that they will be available to show up for their immigration cour hearings. and yet, with he know the federal government has available
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to it, other mechanis in ensuring that they show up, by placing them on supervise org puttem on ankle bracelets or other conditions of release, and so, why are we keeping people lobbed up when the government is -- people locked up when the government has equally good ways to ensure thper court ance. >> thank you very much and also, thanks to our reporter. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> turning now to something lighter, scott dicdickers is th founder of "the onion," it has never shied away from taking jabs at public figures. and now,e is aiming his wit at elon musk, in a new book, "welcome to thefuture, which is mine," musk is known to be the out spoken ceo of tesla and space-x, now scott i with us in the studio, nice to have you. >> nice to bre. >> there's a lot of tech giants
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you could have chosen for the book. why elon musk? >> he is t funniest and the weirdest and the most postpone ima -- the most pub a lot of them hide in their billion dollar lairs. th is out e, he is tweeting and doing stuff. i figure, you know, if you are n the public sphere, you will get mocked abut. >> in your book, you include a number of what you call inirational quotes fro elon musk, and one of them is, the key to success is to a yourself, what is the most ludicro ludicrous, most futile thing i can do and make it happen. you don't like any of his ideas? >> oh, no i think his ideas are cool. on some level, you have to know that you satyrise, and you have to fin ridiculous. if it's too mean spirited, it's not funny. >> have you heard from him?
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>> e, but has been poaching writers from the onion to create a secret comedy enterprise or something. i know a lot of the people who he has poached. and i can see, like the project, what is going on? radio silence. >> he is writing a book about you. everyone knowsbout . he is shoveling them to his private island, and he will hunt them for sport. >> first, he will shoot them there i a -- >> or maybe he will take them to a private planet and there's a human hunting -- a human hunting ground there. wherer he and o billionaires like the trump sons for example, can hunt the most dangerous game. >> i think you have a sequel in e making, you poke fun at mark zuckerberg, your book has a foreword for him. if you par take in the book, you must equote, give all of your personal information. it's kind of a funny line, until you think about, you know, the
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day that breach they had, affecting 50 million users. sdpr yea sd >> yeah, so many times you think it's abs sd and thenething in real life happens and it's not as absurd after all. it's a great opportunity to makn of elon musk and all of the tech billionaire scelebrity is what they have become. we made fun of basos, and richar branson gets couple of hits. it's fun. >> do you think big tech is a big mono culture now? >> i don't know much about it. i don't live here and i don know, you know, anymore than, a common width westerner would know about it -- common midwesterner would know about it. it strikes me as amusing and g people liv the cusp of the future and wanting to make the future basically, with their inventions and with their m tne andt is just fascinating. to me. >> andside from tech, we live
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in politically turbulent times right now, does it make it easier? you have no shortage ofaets now days. >> that is a hard questio. you are questioning me more than the f questioned brett kavanaugh. i likbeer. i just like beer. let's be just treat me fairly. i like rubbing up against peopl so, no. it's easy. always. because there's always terrible people. there's always awful things going in the world. and the point iso point it out with humor. and sometimes it seems like thingsrare morey and absurd, i think that is just really, a surface like you no, underneath humans are going to be pretty awful to each
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other, so there's going to be plenty to talk about. and you know, what is worse, is when things are so absurd that what you writeust comes true all the time. you think you are writing something crazy and aabsurd, then it comes true in realon li. i know, it's the gold standard for me when it happens. >> you have aays written that good satyr afflicts the comfortable tnd comforts afflicted. how do you decide who or what to target? >> if y go after an oppressed group or someone down and out, it's notnn nobody wants to see that. if you go after authority figures or billionaires or whatever. everyone wants to see them brought down a peg. yeah, it'sndretty simple a lot of times stuff i have done, especially stuff for "the onion" has been perceived as edgy and inappropriate or whatever. lod that is when, you know, you may get c to seeming like you are making fun of the wrong target or whatever. b the subext is always going after the right target
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hopefully, like if you do it right. >> something true injustice and something is legitimately wrong. >> i'm a good guy. >> are you? >> no. i'm terrible. >> well, what ishe difference between humor and satyr?ot >> anr great question. so, humor is just funny. aunt slipping and falling in the backyard, everyone loves that or a funny piecey dave ber about how i cannot believe i'm 50. or i hate taking out of the trash. that's humor. it's fun. you know, it's good and it's good jokes. satyr is when sou findething wrong with humanity or the world, some kind of injustice and you point it out through humor. there's a secret nugget. nobody wants to be preached to. nobody wants to be told what is wrong with them.
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but they all want jokes. so the jre the honey on the spoon and the satyr, is the sub text and it's the medicine they are gettin with the honey. >> is your goal to create something that is more enrich are and lasting, when the injustice is so horrible, something that may be potentially? heal >> that's the other thing about humor, it's an underrated coping mechanism in times of tragedy. it's the thing that reminds us n.that we are hu when there's a tragic, we convert to lizard brain or whatever. so, yeah, i think it's super valuable. >> quickly,nly thursday seconds left can -- only 30 seconds left. was there a moment or event thats was so dark you could nota builr from it? >> no, there's almost a good tar tt. that whol soon thing, if your target is right, it's never too soon. when you aren a funeral and you start laughing and it feels inappropriate. again, it's like a natural healing mechanism that we all
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captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, october 7: after a divided confirmationtt le, brett kavanaugh is sworn in as the newest supreme court justice. brazilians head to the polls as the far-right candidate for president widens his lead. and in our signature segment: john waters, pushing the limits with h new retrospective:" indecent exposure." >> i was never frightened to-- to try new stuff because that's what people would expect if they come to see my show.ey ant to be taken sometimes into a world that they might feel uncomfortable with. >> sreenivasan: next on pbs newshour weekend. >>s newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the cheryl and philip milstein family. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t.
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