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tv   PBS News Hour  PBS  June 25, 2020 3:00pm-4:01pm PDT

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captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i judy woodruf on the newshour tonight, covid runcerns-- cases of corona surge across the u.s. even as partial return of restrictions and closings. then, in the room-- i ask former trump adviser john bolton about the dramatic accusations in his new book, including that the president solicited election inteerence. and, as more people usfood delivery apps in light of social restrictions, questions remain about whether the business model is sustainable. >> the price that we p to these services to make this happen, it takes all of our profits. there's really minimal left over for us. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.
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>> carnegie corporatioof new iork. supporting innov in education, democrac engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like yo thank you. >> woodruff: the surge of new spreading wider and faster throughout the country.29 tates are reporting notable increases, many of those in the sun belt and the west. the head of the c.d.c. also said today that it's believed that at
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least 23 million americansave been infected, ten times higher the number of cases that have been reported. women to the list of high risk groups. amna nawaz gets a breakdown on these trends and the concerns over the pace of reopening. >> nawaz: judy, texas governor greg abbott annound today he would pause reopening and free up more hoital beds as the state is struggling to contain outbreaks. in florida, governor ron desantis urged older residents to stay at home, and young residents to avoid crowds. but these governors and others have resisted new restrictions until now. and a number of states are seeing record numbers of cases over the past week. to help us understand more about all of this, we're joined again by dr. aish jha, professor and director of harvard university's global health institute. dr. jha, welcome back to the "newshour", and let's start with the numbers we're seeing, the surge in infections in a number of states. they have increased oesting. ma these states. but what about reopening? what rule did reopening play in
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contributing to those new numbers? yes, so thank you fohaving me on. i think there's really little doubt that, in maroy states the country, we reopened too early. the evidenceid not suggest that they were safe to ropen, and then they opened up too aggressively. what we're seeing now is the surge in cases that, unfortunately,any of us worried about, and they're happening in large parts of the country, and it really quite worrisome, and i think we have to act boldly to try to get this under control. >> reporter: one to have the questions people have, though, is that a numr of states have been moving to reopen. we're seeing the huge surges in some states like t, h-h- and florida but not in other states who also have moved are reopen. so how do you reconcile that? i >> it's trs not happening everywhere in the country. different tactics in terms of how aggressively they've opened. fferent states have taken different approaches in terms of
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how many cases they had when theyheopened, and then tere's always a little idiosyncrasy to all of this. none of this is perfectly predictable. that said, in my mind, there's no question about it we're seeing large increases i infections largely because we've opened up too quickly and too much. >>ter: i want to ask you, too, about the role of nssks because there has been a lot of conversatround this. i share analysis from state data that looks at the last two weeks in the states that recommend but don't require mask wearing, that was 16 states, new cases in the last two weeks went up 84%, and in other states -- that's 11 states total -- that mandated mask washing in public, new cases fell 25%., dr. jha, those numbers are strike but we know the's a difference between causation and correlation. what do we kno dwefinitively about masks and their ability to stop the sprd of the virus? >> this is an area where the
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evidence has shifted substantially overohe last tw months, and the study you point to is only one data pointand if that was the only one we had, i would say that may t be as definitive, but as part of what are now zens of studies now coming out, i think we feel verm confident thks are a really important part of getting this virus under control. i unto itselis not enoug but as a part of a broader strategy, i think it's pretty critical that we get into mandatory mask wearing whenever people are out and about. >> there are a lot of questions, though, people have concerns, you're seeing a number of theories circulating on social media that wearing a mask can actually be bad for your helth. people say you can breathe back in the carbon diouxide y're breathing out and that could be bad for your health and oth cs say uld increase your chance of getting the virus if you wear a mask. what are you saying to people reading those and who are concerned? >> i understand the reason for concerns, but i think thety evidence is prlear that
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wearing a mask is not harmful.it worth remembering doctors and nurses often wear masks for , 14, 16 hours a day, we haven't seen them get sick from wearing a mas wk. otherkers wear masks for long periods of time. the concns about breathing back in carbon dioxide and other thingsre not rooted in medical science i i understand it's incoenient but it's perfectly safe to be wearing mask. >> reporter: back to the news that the texas governor says they're now going to pause reopening at this stage whene they a amidst a huge surge in numbers. what kinuof impact is a se like that going to have? is it enough to slow the spread? >> so, you know, i welcome the texas governor recognizing that there is a problem, but this response is wholly inadequate for the size of the problem that they have. by the time r hospitals are starting to get full, you've got two eks of rising infections already baked in.
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over the nex t two weeks,i expect the number of cases in texas to continue climbing, and just puttisg a pause ot enough. they have to really think hard about mandated mask-wearing. i think you have to pull back on large public gatherings, rea wy wondether it's safe to have indoor restaurants. there's a lot that theovernor has to do to bring this virus under control, a pause is not enough. >> reporter: dr. jha, we can't remind people enoughundreds of americans are dying every day. when you look at the states and increases, what steps coulds the governors take today to help slowpread and prevent some of those deaths? >> the snggle biggest thi think governors have to do is recognize how serious of ath proble is, and i still don't see that sense of urgency. we have to get ahead of this virus, and that means mandatory maskwearing,ans canceling any large indoor dwat rings, including rethinking restaurant bars, nightclubs,
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and ramp up testing and tracing. this we can we heard fthe president that the problem is we're testing too much. no, the problem is we're not testing enough and not isolating cases when we find them. so until we do those things, we're not going to be able to bring these large oubreaks under control. >> reporter: dr. ashish jah, director of harvard's global health institute. thank you so mucfor joining us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other. news, th house of representatives moved toward a sweeping overhaul of policing. the democratic bill would press state and local police to ban chokeholds or risk losing federal funds. d, it would end qualifie immunity for officers facing misconduct lawsuits. the debate illustrated a clear, partisan divide.>>
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ut america is not only burning, america is al w weeping she ping for the victimsor of excessive by those sworn to protect and serve. leadership to man up, to meet this moment and to write in ise laws of th country that once and for all that black do lives matter. >> we need reform, but h democrats have delivered a bill that is designed to keep cops in the car, and when you do that, when you do that it makes our communities less safe by preventing good law enforcement officers from being able to do their job that's what this bill is gonna do. >> woodruff: in the senate, democrats yesterday blocked a republican policing bill. we'll take a closer look at all of this, after the news summary. the u.s. supreme court has upheld t trump administration's use of quick deportations for asylum seekers who fail initial screenings. vetoday's 7-to-2 decision ed a lower court's ruling.
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it had said asylum seekers must first have access to federal deurts. since 2004, quicrtations have applied to those picked up thin two weeks of entering the country, and within 100 miles of the u.s. border. the 2020 presidential race played out in battleground states today.p president traveled to wisconsin, trying to shore up support in one of several key states where pls show he is lagging. he addressedhipyard workers in marinette. >> under this administration you know that american workers like you are a national treasure, you i understand i have an aptitude for manufacturing, and it's t to come back and will come back and we'll do great ad even >> woodruff: the president's democratic opponent, former vice president joe biden, campaigned in lancaster, pennsylvania. he blasted mr. trump's response
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to the pandemic and his attempts to abolish the affordable care act-- obamacare. >> mr. president: drop the lawsuit, stop trying to get rid trying to take away people'sstop healthcare and their peace of mind. now more than ever, stop trying to steal their peace of mind. administration is widely expected to join with a number of states, urging the u.s. supreme court to strike down obamacare. the president's niece, mary trump, won a round today in her legal fight to publish a tell- all book about the family. the president's brother, robert, haargued the book would violate a confidentialityag ement signed decades ago. but, an estate court judge in new york rried he has no iction in the matter. constitutional changes that on could let president vladimir
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putin stay in power for two more polls opened today week. if voters approve the changes, putin could stay in wer until 2036. he has already ruled russia for more than two decades. in u.s. economic news, unemployment claimrose again last week, by nearly 1.5 million. but, the total number receiving benefits fell below 20 million, as employers rehire worker meanwhile, wall street ralliedte the federal reserve and other agencies agreed to ease limits on banks investing in hedge funds and the like. the dow jones industrial average ogained nearly 300 points close at 25,745. the naaq rose 107 points, and, the s&p 500 added 33. and, the grammy-winning country
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trio dixie chicks will now be simp "the chicks." the group said today it is changing its name to "meethis moment." the name "dixie" is closely linked to southern states that joined the confederacy. still to come on the newshour:fo s at a bipartisan police reform bill stall in politically divided congress. i ask former trump adviser john bolton about his dramatic accusations against the president much of the arctic circle suffers the dire consequences of an unprecedented heat wave. anmuch more. >> woodruff: after weeks of nationwide protests following the death of george floyd,
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democrats in the u.s. house e set to pass a comprehensive police reform bill later tonight lisa desjardins has more. >> desjardins: led by theio congressnal black caucus, the house bill, named in honor ofge geloyd, would create new federal bans on some police practices, and make it easier tc punish os for misconduct. tonight's vote comes a day after democrats blocked a republican led police reform bill from passing the senate. joing me now to discuss th house effort is congresswoman karen bass, she is the chair of the congressional black caucus. thank you for joining us, congresswoman. first, tell me about your approach and, also, how is it different thaublicans' approach so far? >> well, actually, if you'rel going to tk about republican approach, you probably are
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referring to senar scott's bill. senator scott mimics parts of our bill, so he addresses chokeholds, he addresses the federal registry, he addresses no-knock warrants, but he doesn't really have any teeth in his bill. so we don't need to study iookeholds, we don't need to have data collen about no-knock warrants. we don't need to have a federal registry nobody sees. it needs to be public, chokeholds need to benned and no-knocks in federal drug cases need to be banrtd. >> re: you and the congressional black caucus clearly disagree and think that not going far enough, but you took the step of urging senateno colleagues teven open the republicans were og a though chance to amend the bill in the senate. obviously, in the sene, 60 votes,a bipartisan measure is needed to pass. why not even begin to begin
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debaten the senate bill, whi is what you're saying? >> let me be clear -- that's the process in the senate, and, so, our focus is on the house. what we issued was a statement in support of our two senators, which is senator harris and senator booker. you know, they offered the sme bill that we had in the house. but, you know, this is just the sausage making its part of te process, so we're going to pass the bill out of the house in the next couple of hours, and negotiations will begin. i've had several discussions is senator scott, i plan to call him later tonight. m talking to my republican colleagues. i will tell you what is interesting and threason why i'm hopeful is that any republican colleagues over here in the hou o who arepposed to the bill, in the debate, they talked about everything under the sun except for the bill, which makes me feel like there are grounds for us come together. sometimes, this is just how the process works, and i will tell
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you, this is hyperspeed for congress. george floyd was killed 30 days ago, and, so, for uscome up with a comprehensive piece of legislation in 30 days, if we had started with negotiation instead of moving forward with a clear signal as to what we believe should be done to lead to transformative change, there's no way we woulde voting on anything now. so, the process will continue, believe that we will be able to deliver for the american people a bill on president trump's desk. >> reporter: let me follow up on that. senator lindsey aham and his republican colleagues today says he thinks the issue is essentially did in the senate.at tell me ou think the way forward is here. >> well, let me just tell you, l he's tht one that should say he thinks the bill is dead. he's up in a tough reelection
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with an incredible african-american candidate, so i posturing, political posturing. i think that's all that that isw wh come up with a bipartisan agreement, i'm sure senator graham will be the first one to putis name on the bill. >> reporter: i'm going to talk about one to have thughest issues you face going ahead. that's police immity, the idea at courts have essentially kept police officers immune frof lawsui anything that happens on the job. your bill would change that. some republicans say that's dangerous because i would discourage people from becoming police officers and harm families. why do you think that needs to change? >> well, let me just tell you, you go bac and lok at that video of george floyd's beinged murdand that's exactly why i think it should be changed. that officer who took ght minutes to slowly kill that man was looking at the camera with his hand in his pocket because he felt he could dohat wih
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straight impunity. he did not expect to get arrested, he did not expect to get fired, and tht's the mentality that absolutely has to change. you know, i don't believe that good officers want to work wit brutal officers. they bring down the professn. another part of our bill also calls for lifting up the profession with accreditation and national standards. you go get your ir done ad your beautician has to have national standards and accreditation. why wouldn't the pron that has the power to kill haveon na standards? we have 18,000 police departments in the country and we essentially have 18,000 ways of providing policing.t so that's wh're trying to do. now, the immunity and the idea that officers could be sued, at the end of the day, in cities where ofiticers are sued's the insurance of the city that pays for it, but we have to be
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able to prosecute officers, so, in addition to removing qualified immunity from police officers, welso lower the standard in which you can charge an officer. right now, it taso be willful intent, meaning we have to get inside the mind of an officer. we want to lower it to reckless so that, if an officer -- you can be reckless and nobody looks at what was in your mind, you were just reckless in how you behaved, these are tools that we have to have in order to change the culture of policing in the united states. >> repdorter: a one quick question, you're under consideration, i understan to a potential vice president running mate with joe biden. do you care to comment on that? >> well, let me just say that anything in that regard needs to be referred to the campaign. i have on singular focus right now, and that is to pass the george floyd justice andli ng act and i am so honored and privileged to be able to
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have the responsibility of working on this now. >> reporter: congresswoman karen bass, thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: ambassador john bolton has worked in every republican presidential administration since ronald reagan.is but duringost recent government stint as president trump's national security advisor, he saw a different -ind of commandchief and the differences he says are "stunning." he stepped down from that post last september and is now outes with his lbook, "the room where it happened" a white house memoir," and he joins us from washington mr. bolton, thank you very much for being with us. i want to start with something that actually happened after you left the white house, and that is the coronavirus and its effect on this country. you do lay blame, in the book,
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on the cdeinese lehip, but you also say president trump, every decision driven by his desire for reelection, do you think he hs put his reelection ahead of the country's interests in ths e way hndled this pandemic? >> well, i think that's certainly true at the beginning. ck in january when key people around the government, on the aff to have the national security council, the centers for disease control and other places were signaling that this could be a pretty terrible medical incident, i don't think the president wanted to hear that news. hdon't think he wanted tear anything bad about xi jinping, r didn't want to heaout chinese efforts to conceal the nature and extent of the disease in china, he didn't want to see e trade deal with children in jeopardy, and, parti clarly, in thuntry, he did not want to hear anything about a negative effect on the economy that might jeffrejeopardize his reelection.
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i think we waste add lot of time that could have been used to mitigate the effect of the pandemic. impeachment. let's turn to in essence, in the book, you lay charge that was the basis for impeachment that the presidentus the powers of his office to try to get d ukrainians him in detail exactw thatu lay out happened, and yet you decided not to testify when you wer asked by the house of representatives. i know you've made the argument that you don't think you could have cmnged minds, but what hearing from a number of people on the hill is if they d know last year before the impeachment hearings that it could have changed mindst why dou believe so? >> because i thinkhey know at the impeachment effort was a massive failure and i think they're looking for excuses.fa th is we have a model in this country of how to conduct a successful impeachment process, and it's obviously what happened
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at wat.erga nixon wasn't convicted by the senate, to be sure, but he did resign. that model was the watergate committee chaired by a democrat sam irvin, but working cooperatively with leading republican howard baker, to ouild a kind of bipartisan base. you know, when run a partisan process, which is what the house democrats did, it has cons -- consequences, and in into a parcorner in thelicans house. they literally pushed away republicans who might havbeen sympathetic to a truly nonpartisan approach, and they had the sam ie consequenthe senate. and there's one other point, i think, that's important that i think demonstrates whatever i haato say woulde just been lost in the turmoil is that many bought the white house argument that, no matter what the president did as described in ukraine, that his conduct, even if i was reprehensible, did not
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rise to the level of an impeachable offense. that's why republicans voted overwhelmingly in the senate not to call any new witnesses. so i think, when the democrats jump off a cliff and they're halfway down and look up and say to me and others they could ha said to, why don't you join us, it rilongs hol >> woodruff: i've got a number of other things i do want to ver, mr. ambassador, one is the president and what happened with china and with russia. you lay out, again, in detail how the president pannedderred chinese leader xi jinping, that he went easy, if you wi on the chine human rights repression of the uighurs, all so that he could get the kind of trade deal that he wanted. inu say that vladimir put played presint trump like a fiddle. how concerned are you that the chinese and the russians may try
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to interfere in this yer's election in order to help president trump? to interfere in this year's try election. i don't know who they'd tryo help. i think their main objective, for some time, is to so mistrust in the united states about our nstitutional structure i think anytime they can get us goinat each other's throats, they're successful, and i thinkh 've done a pretty good job about it. i think if you look at what vice president pence said in a speech last yeaabout chinese efforts, it goes well beyond mply interfering in the election, that's bad enough. the chinese, even more than the russians, i believe, are trying to influence american public opinion more braadly. this i very significant part of the reason why we need a comprehensive strategy to deal with the chinese threat across the board. it is a mistake. it's also a mistake in the case
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of russia toimit our concern to interference in the election. i'm not downplaying that, i'm saying this is a part of a much bigger picture. >> reporter: you criticize a numberf top officials in the book, aside from president trump. former defense secretary jim mattis, secretary of state mike pompeo, the treasury secretary steve mnuchin, the former u.n. ambassador nikki haley.i read "washington post" columnist david ignatius write and i'm quoti, you are the hero of nearly every anecdote. what about the criticism that this is a book about self-agrindizement of john bolton in criticizing a lot of other people? >> my focus is on the president. i tried to tell what hppened in the range of issues we covered. some people come out better than others. i try to make sure i admitted in the book mistakes that i made and i'm sure i made my share and maybe more.
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i was trying to tell this as honestly as i could. obviously, it's a memoir. i told it from my perspectit . m not questioning their integrity or patriotism. they'll writwhat they want to write, they can tell their side to have the story, god bless 'em. >> woodruff: a few other questions, ambassador bolton. in the white house right now, who do you believe would stand up to president trump? >> you know, if i answer that question, i'm going to get somebody in trouble, so iill just say this, i think there are people who remain in the administration who have the correct view of how to defend american national interests, i doink they are striving to that. i certainly have been criticized, so have other people like jim mattis, john kelly, others who have left the administration, criticized from two sides, one, why didn't you resign three days after you got there or even the more extreme criticism, youer nevhould have
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joined up. other criticism is you should have stayed longer, fght harder, you shouldn't have given up so early. look, it's a very persal decision. i think a lot of people joined e trump administration i part perhaps they believe i did tat it could not be as bad as some of the outside critics said. we al a lasted as lo we could. that's not a decision anybody can second guess until you walked in the kind of shoes we've walked in. but i think there were a lot of trying to make a contribution to the well fair of the country -- welfare of the country by serving and that the what i tried to do, but so did many others. >> woodruff: let me k you quickly about the president's hoson-in-law jared kushner came from a real estate background. he has played a huge le in the white house in foreign policy. halls that been a constructive role? >> well, i don't think that it has been. i don't think you should tre the white house or the u.s. government as kind of a small mily business.
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i'm not on a moral high horse about antinepotism statutes. it's not a qustion of advancing somebody. but i think the's a difference when your famils deeply involved in this kind of cision-making. i'll go back a little bit in history. i don't think it was a good situation when john kennedy made his brother atrney gener. i think that was a mistake. that's just how i feel about it. >> woodruff: finallout this election coming up, you say throughout the book you think the president driven by his desire to be reelected. right now he's running behind in the polls. there are a couple of polls that have him 12, 14 points behind both fox and the "new york times." what do you believe -- i mean, if this president is focused observe getting reelected, whatt do you believe he's capable of dog in order to stay inod shape that he would get
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reelected? >> firf, i'm not putting any real weight on the polls. it's four months until the election. a lot can change in the economy with respect to the coronavirus. famously, in 2016, let's just say it aga so everybody remembers it, hillary clinton was substantially ahead, and sho because we don't have a purely popular vote system, we have oran ele college. so before anybody gets hyperthyroid about what trmp may or may not do, let's just remember, this election, i think, is still a coin toss. i haven't seen any evidence that he would do anything unconstitutional, and i think trump critics make a mistakea when they exerate the nature of the threat. if we saw any evidence of some kind of extra-constitutional effort, i think wehould all, as a nation, stop it, particarly the conservatives in the republican party have an obligation to stop it, and i think thewill. >> woodruff: john bolton,er fohite house national security advisor. the new book, "the room where it
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happened: a white house memoir." thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. >> woodruff: there's a heatwave of historic proportions occurring in the arctic right now, a region that is already the fastest warming place on earth due to the increasing buildup of greenhouse gases. william brangham talks with a scientist who's worked in the region for decades. it is summer in thic right judy. now. so somewhat milder temperatures would be expected. but this heat wave, which has siberia and increased melting of the permafrost, are likely the warmest temperatures ever corded and now are only going dr. merritt turetsky is thee. director of the institute of the university of colorado,at boulder, and she joins me from a cabin in canada.
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dr. turetsky, thank you very much for being here. >> thank you. >> brangham: can you please help us understand what is on in the arctic right now? what is driving this intense heat wave?et >>e start with an analogy. so when we come down with an fever, wr bodies spike a temperature, we stop, we realize th there's a problem and w provide care. and that's exactly what's happening today. the arctic is feveri with temperatures spiking above 100 degrees fahrenheit in multiple locations. reso these extreme tempera are very unusual. they are record breaking. but this is part of a longer term trend. in fact, last year, last summer was a very warm period in the arctic and siberia and parts of russia experienced the warmest winter on record. and it's part of trend that we anticipate will become more frequent in the arctic because c mate change. >> brangham: so i understand
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there's also there's a high pressure system, i guess, over the arctic, which is making this particular issue, but you're saying that the longer term trend of a warming atmosphere is really being felt in the arctic >> that's exactly right. so this is part of a persistent warming trend. but at the same time, the best tools that we have at our disposal in the scientific c community, omate models, predict more extreme conditions. and this is true all around the world. we're seeing more extremend ions in storms, more extreme conditions in precipitation. an arctic.the same in the we're seeing more extreme temperaturchanges and this is consistent with our predictions >> brangham: so wh some of the impacts of that? i mean, for people who might dolook at this and think, t live in the arctic, the arctic is very far away from me. what are some of the consequences of this warming trend in the arctic?
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>> these arctic changes will affect everyone on the globe for a number of reasons. the first is that when the arctic iwarm, it changes weather patterns all around the world. the heat wave is triggering very rapid wildfires and the arctic is literally and figuratively on fire. and this is likely to get worse as this heat wave continues through the summer. the emissions from those wildfires, of course, release greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. the entire planet through thef greenhouse gas effect. but the emissions from wildfires also affect air quality. these smoke plumes don't stay in the arctic, they drift globally e st summer, when the arctic was set on fire beca warm conditions, smoke plumes reached the western united states and
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affected air quality for llions of people. so these impacts in the arctic there are many peoo live in the arctic who depend on stable frozen grou. they, of course, are impacted. >> brangham: i mentioned also that there is the warming and melting of the permafrost for people who may not be familiar with wt permafrost is and why it's melting could impact climate change as well. can you expln? >> the permafrost is the glue of arctic ecosystems. it is literally the backbone upd which all of the soils the vegetation and the animals in the arctic depend upon. permafrost is frozen ground. so it can be frozen rock, frozen soil, frozen sediment. it's defined by its temperature. and the arctic today ishaped by permafrost. but we are seeing widespread
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evidence on multiple continents in the arctic that permafrost is thawing as a result of climate change. and in many places, this can cause catastrophic impacts on the landscape.li lakes carally disappear in the period of a few weeks.th e are lakes that have been used as fishing grounds for generations and they simplybe disappeause the permafrost thaws and it's like pulling theg ut of a bathtub. all the water is allowed to drain away. permafst is very important not only to supporting life in the i arctic, but itortant for storing carbon. o's been keeping carbon o the atmosphere and benefiting thousands of yearsnds and its fate iunknown and scientists are trying to figure out just how much of tt carbon
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will wind up in the atmosphere and what impacts it will have on our climate. >> brangham: all right, such an important topic. dr. merritt turetsky, thank you so much for yo insight. >> thank you. >> woodruff: hopes for peace are stalled 70 years to the day after the start of the korean war the continent remains divid. spite efforts by the south to ease tensions, in recent weeks the north has returned to an aggressive poster. special correspondent bruce harrison has our report from seoul. >> reporter: under the cover of night, activists in south korea release large balloons into the, oping the winds take them north across the demilitarized zone. this activist exclaims it's
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their 20th balloon launch. beneath the balloons have infuriated north korea north korean defector park sang hak is the head of fighters for freeorth korea. he's agreed to meet in a park. he shows o the leaflets he attaches to the balloons. they call north korean leader kim jong-un a devil who had his own brother killed. >> ( translated ): the people in north korea don't know about this, and i want them to know. they think of kim jong-un as a god and they look up to him like some sort of deity. if they know the truth about him, then they won't think he's a god, and that's kim's biggest fear. >> reporter: park says the truth, as he sees it, will eventually break kim's grasp on power. thter that same day, park's group launched a round of balloons.a the south kovernment now plans to introduce a law that would punish the activistsin a ve widely seen as trying to prolong diplomacy with the north. north korea has lashed out at
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seoul for not stopping the propaganda launches sooner. pyongyang started by severing all communications with the south, and then in a very dramatic move, blew up an office building just north of the demilitarized zone t sides f usor talks. kim's sister, kim yo-jong, also threatened to use north korea's military, though north korea's state media has since reported kim will be lding off any military action, for now. under president moon js peace initiatives, south koreans had heard little criticism of seoul from north korea for more than two years. and people had even discussed the possibility of kim jong-un traveling down this road in a him to seoul.er moon had invited that now seems like a distant possibility. special advisor to the president chung-in moon says the leaflets may have been a step too far for pyongyang as kim struggles domestically. >> north korea could have become
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very angry because these kinds of things are happening when north korea is facing the fear of coronavirus as well as economic difficulties. >> reporter: the special advisor also suspects kim is frustrated after multiple summits with president moon and u.s. president trump that haven't led to eased economic sanctions. kim met trump in hanoi last year to cut a deal-- he'd ease up ona his nuprogram in exchange for sanctions relief. korea offered to dismantle part of its nuclear weapons complex but washington wanted pyongyan to dismantle all of it a new book by trump's former naonal security advisor jo bolton suggests a deal onwa disarmamennever possible. bolton writes that trump put u.s. interests at risk for photo ops with kim jong-un. and president moon prioritized improving ties with north korea but lacked a serious strategy.
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south korea says bolton's accounts are inaccurate and distort reality. u.s. ambassador to south korea harry harris says he hasn't discussed the book with south korea, and the r.o.k.-u.s. alliance is strongerhan ever. >> and it's important that we celebrate together our achievements over the past 70 years. and that we honor the sacrifice of the koreans, the americans, and the forces of the other sending states for their sacrifices during the korean war. >> reporter: and across the country this week, ceremonies have been held to remember the sacrifices. r some who served in the brutal war, there's still bitterness. >> ( translated ): all these provocations from north koreaar over 70 we can't solve this by just talking. what did we get out of the u.s. president the north?mmit with
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this shows that they are still a bunch of and savages. >> reporter: kim is among south korea korean war veterans participating in the sae eden25 church's jun verans ceremony. every year, the church hosts korean w veterans from all over the world to thank them foe theiice and remember those who died in the conflict.d- the co pandemic prevented foreign veterans from traveling this year, including american, canadian, filipino and thai veterans. but they're still on stage, streaming live into the event with family and friends. retired and active members of the military rembered the fallen and sent in video messages expressing their gratude. the atmosphere is one of hope, despite the war that continues to divide a nation and a people.
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>> woodruff: more americans are ordering take-out these days as restaurants limit dine-in service during the coronavirus pandemic. th means more customers an restaurants are relying on food delivery apps.re paul solports on whetherth e apps' business models have long-term staying power. part of our weekly economicsse segment, makine. >> reporter: grubhub, doordash, uber eats and more, all competing to deliver restauranth food t-in consumers. so restaurant owners like desmond reilly of chicken and whiskey in d.c. are ecstatic right? >> the price that we pay to these services to make this happen, it takes all of our profits. thesmnumbers are anywhere fro 22 to 30%, depending on the provider. there's really minimal left over for us.
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>> reporter: chef/owner of the high-end d.c. restaunt xiquet, danny lledo, actually stopped using the services entirely. >> right now we are the ones that are delivering. i've delivered quite a bit, one of my employees has a car, but essentially the other apps weren't doing anything in terms of marketing for us. >> reporter: so, not great for restaurants. but don't these apps at least provide work to delivery drivers during the jobless pandemic? we met mostafa mukled last year, iving for uber in san francisco. but now... >> there is not that much people requesting uber since everyone is just staying at he and the only thing that is like more busy is just food delivery. >> reporter: so he switched. the >> it's like half of what we used to make, so after expenses
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likeour hour might be like somewhere between five dollars to ten dollars an hour. and that in a city like san francisco doesn't ever like living expenses. >> reporter: now wait: uappy restaurants; unhappy workers. okay, but how about the customers? >> i have very mixed feelings about it. >> usually the only reason that we would use uber easo is if there' sort of discount or promotion. >> i think we'll sort of get away from e apps again and just start going out either to pick up s directly or to actually go in and sit in a joint. >> reporter: well, but some group must unequivocally benefit from this indury, right? its investors. >> we should start by acknowledging that today uber eats does not make money. >> reporter: janelle salinev is head of uber eats. >> we've been very public about the fact that it's not yet profitable. >> reporter: and neither are her competitors. >> the platforms themselves lose a ton ofoney in the hundreds of millions of dollars, billions
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collectively. >> reporter: ranjan roy writes a tech industry blog. count him a skeptic. >> customers complain the fees get too high and the drivers and couriers are underpaid gig labor. question that motivated this story, which i put to investor vitaliy katsenelson. so why does this business even make sense? they are still trying to figure out how to make money at this even today. >> reporter: that is, after years of trying, in a market that just doesn't get any better than this. but then how could venture capitalists have poured in a billion bucks? i asked ranjan roy. >> everyone's searching for yield in some capacity and finding...rying to find any opportunity they can. >> reporter: what roy means is that, with historically low interestates for years now, those with money have been desperate for gher returns. veteran venture capitalist randy komisar has seen it first hand. >> finding opportunities to invest large checks in
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potentially big outcomes has outweighed the ability for us to sort of discern good from bad returns on capital. >> reporter: so there's too much money chasing, too few opportunities? >> yes.a that's in tshell. that's it. >> reporter: so investors are tawilling to take risks on- ups that might seem, well, daffy. >> i can remember one that came in that was a robotics pizza delivery business.>> eporter: a funding pitch for a start-up called zume, spelled z-u-m-e. >> it was going to use a.i. to understand the desires of its customers. and they would have the trucks drive through the neighborhoodsy at exact the right time to deliver exactly the right pizza sitting in the back of therobot truck. and ultimately, i said has ybody tasted the pizza?an we ordered a pizza and it was the worst pizza i had ever had. >> reporter: komisar argued against backing zume.
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but the japanese/sdi giant investment fund softbank plunked down nearly $400 million. the business went bust in just over a year. but look, says komis, taking a flyer on wild ideas sometimes pays off. >> hundrs of millions of dollars gets poured into failures all the time. and on the other side, there are always these extraordinary phenomenons that come out of nowhere. l reporter: so back to th basic question ot time: is there any hope for these firms? >> these companies have to consolidate. >> reporter: whittle the industry to a single player or two, says investor vitaliy katsenelson. which is why grubhub sold itself to the dutch food delivery company just eat takeaway last. week and as for the remaining players, they're offering ever- steeper discounts, to lure customers and run the weaker firms off the track. but even if there wind up being a "winner" or two, says investor katsenelson...
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>> they will only make money ifr oner picks up orders from one restaurant and delivers them to different customers at once. >> reporter: but fedex or amazon drivers deliver toell over 100 customers a day. who can deliver thaty meals, though, relying on undpaid drivers. and on restaurants so unhappy th the commissions. that some cities have put temporary ceilings on what the apps can charge during the pandemic, ceilingssihat make the ss even more unprofitable. small wonder the industry opposes them. >> even though these policies might be well-intentioned, that that these policies arey intending to help. >> reporter: max rettig speaks for doordash. >> when prices go up, that means there are going to be fewer orders into the system. and when there are fewer orders in this system, restaurants are earning less. >> reporter: finally, should the caps become permanent, saysea janelle of ube... >> it would be a fundamental rethink of the entire business model. that, at the moment, seems kind
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of shaky as it is. paul solman for the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: throughout the pandemic we have been highlighting courageous front line workers, who have kept this country running. in tonight's brief but spectacular, we hear from bridget rhodes, who works as a ,911 dispatcher in portla oregon. she's been the calm voice on the other end of the line r many suffering with covid-19. >> i live in portland, oregon. and i'm a 9-1-1 dispatcher. s, dispatch police officerpa firefightersmedics, we walk people through c.p.r., we deliver babies. basicay anything you can think of that needs a police response or a fire medical response, we're there. we're considered ess mtial
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employeenly because without us, no one's going to necessarily receive the help that they need. you can't just call an officer on the phone or a firefighter om the phone or alance to come and get you. you have to go throu us. i came into the 9-1-1 spatching by accident. but it's the best accident that i probably had, career-wise. i wouldn't change this career for anything. my favorite thing that i enjoy about the job is helping people. whether it's from saving lives, to maybe assisting thaelderly rson that just isn't aware of what to do right now. especially during this covid-19 viru we get a lot of resourc referral calls. community as best as i can, even though i'm just on the phone.ou whenave somebody that's calling in and frantic, we go through a lot of training where you have specific questions that you need to ask. and i think just havinow and being confident in the questions that we're asking, i think that helps direct the caller on where we want them to, to be and help bring them down a level to be able to answer those questions for scene safety. just being able to be that
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calming voice on the other endr, of the line ot only callers, but your officers or your firefighters at might be in an intense situation. the flu-li symptoms is probably the number one type of call, medically, that we're getting right now for the shortness of breath.t when we, as fisponders, or call-takers,robably the worst part is talking to that one rerson who thinks that the feeling okay, and you're talking to them on the phone and they're describing the symavoms that they and two minutes during that one call you realized th they passed while on the phone with you. you just try to be there for somebody. if you realize that they might not make it by the time yourrs responet there, you just try to stay there with them and lklm them. if they want to o you, talk back and communicate with them until they're ready to not talk to you anymore. i have told people in the past that their life matters. my ne is bridget rhodes, and this is my brief but spectacular
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take on being a 9-1-1 dispatcher. >> woodruff: and you can find all of our brief but spectacular segments online at: pbs.org/newshour/brief. and that's the newshour for tonight. i' woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. >> major funding for tas pbs newshoureen provided by: >> since our beginning, our business has been people, and their financiawellbeing. that mission gives us purpose, and a way forward. today, and always.
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>> and with the ongoing support of these institions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from vwers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.w
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hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. building back better while s tackling the climate criis at the heart of a more just and equal world. the former head of the epa, kristin thompson joins us. plus, what political party will meet the hope for change. what the primaries mean for democratand republicans. and mass unemployment and structural poverty because of racism and the coronavirus. an economist tells us he has a plan to fix it.