tv PBS News Hour PBS March 14, 2023 6:00pm-7:01pm PDT
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>> evening and welcome. >> a russian jet forces down a u.s. drone as it conducts surveillance. >> the president signs an executive order to increase background checks on gun purchases. >> as the fallout from two bank failures ripples to the markets, inflation eases but stays high, complicating the federal reserve's response. >> and an american manufacturer is accused of -- of violating sanctions by doing business with the russian arms industry. >> the reason it is so important is because they can taken on refined hunk of metal and turn
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it into this mortar. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour. has been >> provided by. >> for 25 years consumer cellular has been providing plans provided to help people do more. it can help find a planet fits you. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour including -- >> these are people who are trying to change the world. startups half the energy, i am driving by helping others every day. people who know no bdm.
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there is a new flashpoint in the worsening relationship between the u.s. and russia. >> an american drone was harassed on the black sea and bumped by a russian fighter jet forcing it into the waters below. our foreign affairs correspondence has been following this enjoins us here. what more do we know about exactly how this collision occurred? >> u.s. officials say this drone this drone left its position in eastern europe, routine surveillance flight over the black sea. the u.s. sends these drones into the black sea because they can see into crimea and depending on where they are, into russia itself. and reminder mk-9's are big, 35 suite long -- 35 feet long. a military official says that this drone was unarmed, these drones have been harassed intermittently by russia before but never what we saw today. never has a u.s., sorry, russian
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jet harassed a drone for 30 minutes and -- and dumped fuel on the drone and ran into the drone. let's listen to pratt rider -- to the brigadier general earlier today. >> while intercepts are not uncommon the fact that this type of behavior from these russian pilots, that is uncommon and unfortunate and unsafe. >> the u.s. official who watch the video of the incident goes much further telling me this was not a controlled tap. the russian pilot was barely -- barreling towards the drone and tried to pull away and that is when the jet had the back of it. this person tells me "this was not something you would see a professional pilot do." called it amateur. >> how serious is this latest incident in light of the tensions between the u.s. and russia? >> it doesn't happen. this is the first incident of physical contact between u.s. and russian military since the
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invasion of ukraine but believed to be the first contact in decades between the u.s. and russian militaries. this is not a manned aircraft, not a russian jet threatening a u.s. pilot. the administration is trying to keep it with the diplomatic lane. the russian ambassador to the u.s. has been summoned. the u.s. ambassador to moscow visited the ministry of foreign affairs in moscow this afternoon. the nsc staff spokesman said if the message that russia is sending is trying to deter us from flying over the black sea, that will fail. if there was a consequence to pressure right now the u.s. will not say what that is. >> thanks so much for that reporting. >> thank you. ♪ >> i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. inflation shows fresh signs of easing but prices are still well above where they were a year ago.
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the labor department's report for february finds consumer prices rose .4% from january, prices cmbing 6% down from the peak of 9% last june. the failure of a silicon valley bank has triggered two investigations. reports say the justice department and the securities and exchange commission have opened parallel probes. regulators are looking to sales of stock in the days fore the collapse. millions of americans bore the brunt of foul wther today from atmospheric rivers to nor'easters. heavy snow and fresh rounds of rain brought new disruptions and dangers. >> the wrath of winter is once again bearing down on both sides of the country. in the northeast, a wet snowy storm moved in, low visibility making it dangerous for drivers to get around parts of new england as well as upstate new
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york, northeastern pennsylvania, and northern new jersey. >> the drive was like pretty crazy. there were some power lines down. >> it is why massachusetts governor healey cautioned drivers to stay put. >> we ask people to stay safe, stay off the roads. this is a long, sustaining storm and so, we're not out of it. >> hundreds of flights were canceled, the majority of boston and new york city area airports. hundreds of schools had to be closed, too. forecasters say the storm will last through wednesday with snow accumulation predicted to reach two feet in the highest elevations. meanwhile in the west ,crews rushed to repair a broken levy on t central coast of california as more rain started falling. the levy break has led to flooding in the agricultural community. where this mother had to evacuate her family. she says he needs to get back -- she needs to get back. >> the only thing we want is to
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pass the bridge to get our things because we do not have closing, many parents left there -- how are we going to work? >> monterey county officials are warning of a similar fate for the salina's river. at risk of flooding in the coming days. california has been hit by 10 atmospheric rivers this winter. i tropical cyclone has killed 219 people in mozambique and malawi. freddie is the strongest cyclone ever recorded unleashing mudslides and massive flooding over the southeast african nations. tens of thousands of people are living in shelters. authorities expect the death toll to rise. back in this country the state of ohio is suing norfolk southern railroad over last month's train derailment. the federal lawsuit aims to make norfolk southern pay for cleanup, environmental damage is an economic losses. the state says it does not yet
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know what the total cost will be. facebook's parent company meta announced it is cutting 10,000 more jobs this year and won't be feeling 5000 positions that were already vacant. meta slashed 11,000 jobs last november. alaska's iditarod dog sled race has a new champion. ryan reddington, claimed victory in the 1000 mile race, his 16th attempt. he's the grandson of one of the races cofounders. and a passing of note. a former congresswoman, pat schroeder, died overnight. the colorado democrat had suffered a stroke in celebration, florida. starting in 1973, pat schroeder served 12 terms and made a name with her sharp wit. >> when the 47th reporter asked me how i could be a mother and a congressman, i said, " because i
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have a brain and a uterus and they both work and let me tell you i was in trouble for a very long time." >> pat schroeder was frozen out of key committee assignments but she still managed to push through. the family leave act in 1993. pat schroeder was 82 years old. still to come, the epa announces new rules to limit toxic chemicals and ranking water -- drinking water. australia buys american-made submarines. a theater in virginia works to rise above stereotypes. >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> the president traveled to monterey park california where i mass shooting in january killed 11 people.
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while there he announced an executive order to tackle gun violence. building on the bipartisan safer communities act he signed last year. already this year, there have been at least 110 mass shootings in the u.s. and 8000 gun deaths according to the nonprofit gun violence archive. our white house correspondent rings us up to speed now. tell us about the president's announcement today. what exactly did he announced? >> president biden announced an executive order on guns that will take a number of steps that gun safety advocates have been calling on his administration to do since he took office. this gun violence executive order, what it would do is it directs the attorney general to clarify who sells firearms, in effect expanding background checks, preventing some form or federally licensed gun dealers from selling firearms, gun dealers who had their licenses revoked, and also encourages the federal trade commission to
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issue a public report on marketing to minors and tasks agencies to create a federal system for shooting response. in addition to this, as you noted, the president spoke today announcing these executive and -- actions, and he admitted that his hands are tied when it comes to bigger steps to curb gun violence and he called out congress like this. president biden: let's be clear, not only this -- none of this absolving congress's responsibility, from the responsibility from acting. to pass universal background checks, eliminate gun manufacturers limited liability. i'm determined once again to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. >> in addition, he also called out republican, some republicans he says are calling to ban, to abolish, excuse me the bureau of
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alcohol firearm and -- as well as the fbi. >> tell us more about background checks because we hear a lot about that in gun safety debate. what is the potential impact on that -- . that part of the executive order. >> there is no federal data on how many guns are purchased without background checks, but there was a 2017 study by harvard at northeastern university and that study found that one in five gun owners bought a gun without a background check. and, again, what the president is doing today with this action is trying to get as close as possible to universal background checks without legislation by congress. >> what are gun safety advocates long calling for the president, for congress to do more, what are they saying about this today? >> overall, gun safety advocates
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i spoke to praised the president's actions, in particular they were happy about this one effort we arealking about that would more clearly define which businesse qualify as fire arms dealers. and president obama tried to do this in 2016, but ultimately it did not have much effect. i spoke to chris brown, the president of the brady campaign, and she had this to say about how president biden's actions would be different. >> the lesson is that we have to have a very clear role -- rule from the department of justice of what it means to be in the business of selling firearms. we want that to mean selling more than five firearms in a year. it means you are in the business of selling firearms. if doj comes up with that definition, which we are pushing
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very hard, we can effecvely close this loophole in the law. >> you heard what chris brown wants the definition to be, but a white house official told us that the language of this possible regulation will be decided upon by -- attorney general merrick garland. >> have you been talking to your law enforcement sources many of themselves find themselves on the front line when it comes to gun violence in america? what did they think about the announcement? >> there is something for law enforcement specifically about the national integrated ballistics information network known as niben that helps law enforcement match cartridge casings to the guns that they are fired from. i spoke to jim pascoe, the executive director of the fraternal order of police and he had this to say about the presidents action on that list is information network. >> niben is purely an anti-criminal tool.
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and in terms of solving crimes, which is second only to preventing crimes in the minds of law enforcement officers, nothing is more valuable than to put the gun in the hand of the shooter and show where it came from. >> so, what this executive order does is it updates the requirements for law enforcement to more speedily report this ballistics data. so, they will report it faster and more efficiently into this nationwide network. >> that is our white house correspondent reporting for us tonight. thank you. good to see you. >> thank you. ♪ >> days after the collapse of silicon valley bank and signature bank, tre are plenty of questions being asked about the health of our banks whether
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it is in the industry, among lawmakers or everyday americans who want to know about the security of their banking accounts. sheila bair is focused on these issues as a former chair of the fdic. sheed the agency from 2006-2 011, working to keep the system stable. thanks for being with us. the collapse of silicon valley bank and signature bank, it is raising questions about how the banking system is regulated and how it's supervised and there are those who say that rather than tightening this crews -- the screws on wall street that regulators should focus their attention on smaller firms who have not really faced the same level of scrutiny. what is your view? >> well, first of all, i think the smaller firms, the regionals and the larger community banks, most of them are just fine. they did actually very well during the financial crisis. they remain stable and solid.
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the traditional ones, the ones that have been around for a long time, have diversified the cost basis, good asset quality. so, i think we had some unusual situations, especially with silicon valley bank. that should not be extrapolated to the entire midsize segment of banks. that is not to say we cannot do things better but i do not think there are any widespread problems with regional banks. so, i think we need to be thoughtful and i think most of them -- >> was at the right call for government agencies to announce what amounts to a bailout for customers of those collapsed banks -- ensuring the deposits well belong -- beyond the $250,000 threshold? >> i don't think so. silicon valley was a $200 billion bank. it was not systemic by any imagination. and most of this
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uninsured depositors were wealthy venture capital. -- capitalists. they made the argument that they had some startups that needed to access payroll. i think that was a very small subset of the uninsured depositors who were rescued. i think most of them were quite, quite able to withstand some haircut on their deposits. >> the administration makes the argument that that extraordinary rescue action was necessary to avoid a run on the banks that could've collapsed the banking sector and tanked the overall economy, do you buy that? >> no, i don't. this is an extraordinary procedure. the super majorities of the fdic, the treasury department andhe president and each time one of these banks gets in trouble, the smaller banks will do this, go to this process? i really don't see that happening. i think the fed's -- lending facility did calm the market,
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and that is immediately available to everybody an they are not giving favorite attention to one or two bks. so, that will provide a lot of liquidity to banks that have not,j like silicon valley bank, did not -- measure risk very well. they will be able to get a loan using the collateral at full face value. >> a question about how we got here because lots of people are pointing to the role back of the dodd frank act under former president donald trump as playing a role. do you see it that way? >> there so many different narratives going on. i think there were some things in some things that happened in 2018 with that, the law you are referring to as well as some of the things that fed did, the tiering, different regulatory regimes for different size institutions and some of that is
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ok. but a couple of things were not ok. one is banks need an annual stress test. they just do. you can have a similar test for the smaller institutions. right now they need to be stressing those securities, the securities they hold that have lost market value. if they had to sell them, how much trouble would they be in? i think that was a mistake. i also, the revised regulations lack these midsize and smaller banks -- even if they had the securities, we have been talking about, they intend to sell, they do not have to recognize the market losses. they do not have to deduct from their capital market losses on securities. that was a mistake, at least for those that they think they might sell, they should be deducting them from capital to make sure they have enough capital to absorb losses. those are two mistakes. there again, i do not think we
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need an overhaul of regional banks. most of them are just fine. it is a teachable moment maybe perhaps reminding people how banks work, how deposit insurance works. >> the federal reserve meets next week to consider another in a series of interest rate hikes. how do the collapse of these banks combined with the latest data showing inflation cooling only slightly, how does that affect their decision-making? what do you think they should do? >> the reason he secured his loss value is because of raising rates. the fed needs to raise rates to fight inflation but they can only go so far so fast. if i were -- and assess the stability of the banking system, and its ability to absorb these rapid, very big interest rate increases, i think it would be good to measure the impact on the real economy. i'm very worried about the labor market. >> sheila bair is the former chair of the fdic. >> thanks for having me.
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♪ >> for the first time, the federal government is on the cost of regulating a class of deadly so-called forever chemicals out of america's drinking water. the epa's proposal applies to six chemicals known as p-fast compounds and would require utilities to clean any detectable level out of their systems. doing so could cost billions. thousands of chemical cousins would remain on regulated. annie schneider covers this for politico and she joins me now. welcome. let's back it up a little bit. there are thousands of these chemicals. water is just one place that they are found. where else do we find them? >> they are common. they have been in widespread consumer use since the 1940's. they have anxtremely strong chemical bonds that makes them
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very useful for commercial purposes. they have been used in nonstick cookware. you're not supposed to use your knife in a teflon pan because of thesehemicals. they been used in stain resistant carpeting's, firefighting foam sprayed at basis of installations around the country and at airports. they are ubiquitous in the environment and because of that very strong bond that makes them so useful, they are extremely difficult to break down in the environment. they typically stay are, and they bio-accumulate not just in the environment in rivers and streams but also in american blood. we breathe them in and we eat them in our food and get them to write drinking water -- drink them through our drinking water. >> what we know about the negative health impacts? >> as we mentioned, there are 12,000 of those chemicals. many of them we know virtually
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nothing about but we do know something about some of them. the best studied chemicals, the two that were in production since the 1940's have been clearly linked with cancer and other health ailments. things like high blood pressure, development impacts, birth defects. and also immune system effects. one of the more interesting effects at low levels is an impact on the immune system that makes vaccines less effective. >> so the epa is saying they will be regulated up to detectable levels. does that mean lower levels are considered safe? >> not exactly. epa's proposed regulation here would limit six chemicals, two chemicals that are the most well understood and are actually no longer in production would be limited to detectable levels. epa has said that levels even 1000 times lower than detected are still dangerous to health, can cause negative health
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impacts. but practically speaking, all that they can require is -- if they find them, treat them so thoroughly they are below detectable levels. the other thing that epa did is include limits for four other types of chemicals. some are chemicals that are still in commercial use. two of them are the ones that the chemicals industry turn to when they faced out those two older chemicals and for those epa is taking an innovative approach which acknowledges the chemicals may have more severe health effects in combinations than individually. >> some states have proved to regulate these compounds to some degree. but this is a proposed federal standard. how easy would it be for water utilities to meet new standards? what would it take? >> technologically speaking there are absolutely -- technologies that water utilities can install that could treat for these chemicals that
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are well proven. we have granular activated carbon and the technologies are there, but they are not cheap. they are very expensive to install the first place and they also have ongoing operational costs. the way that our law is set up those costs uld be borne by customers and they would be showing up on people's regular monthly water bills. they would would not be paid for by the polluters who put the chemicals there in theirst place. >> annie, when you step back, how big a deal is it that there could be a federal regulation for those, knowing what we know about the potential impact and this compound, the chemical compounds? >> it is an extreme leasing to begin step a little bit of context. the u.s. has regated a new contaminant in drinking water in 30 years. the congress overhaul water -- to safe drinking water act made
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it more difficult, and if this rule is finalized, and this is a big if, it would be the first upgrade to the safety of drinking water in 30 years. those same technologies that can treat for these chemicals would also in many cases remove other contaminants from water as well. so, it could have some very significant improvements to the nations drinking water overall. >> annie schneider from politico. thank you so much. >> thank you. ♪ >> you have likely heard how russia's economy depends on revenues from oil eerts and have probably heard how u.s. sanctions have been ramped up to choke russia's war effort against ukraine. but there is one area equally important to the kremlin's
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military output that has so far avoided scrutiny, and it involves a high american manufacturer that may be flouting export controls with the support of the pulitzer center, our special correspondent has this exclusive report. >> this is the factory floor of a weapons manufacturer in russia that is part of the -- holding, which has been subject to u.s. sanctions since 2014 when russia first attacked ukraine. it produces guidance systems for antiaircraft systems used by the military and builds them using equipment made by california based industrial manufacturing giant haas automation. we've learned it is one of several sanctions enterprises in the russian arms industry that have been supplied with precision machining tools manufactured here at the facility in oxnard, california. what may represent a breach of american sanctions.
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that's according to documents filed with the treasury and the department of commerce late last month. >> we were surprised that even now, after the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion, haas automation is continuing its direct shipment to russia. >> dennis is an expert consultant with the economic security council of ukraine or escu, the group that filed the paperwork with a u.s. government that overseas sanctions compliance. >> [speaking russian] >> it alleges that haas is doing business with the russian arms industry through a company in russia that is its official distributor in belarus. >> [speaking russian] >> russia was publishing the
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actual public procurement conducted by, for example, russian military plans. we saw that -- ty had a lot of customers within the russian military industrial complex, including the sanction entities. and we even can see the description of the actual products that were shipped to russian sanctioned enterprises. and we see that haas equipment -- brough directly bump -- brought directly by the u.s. were sold to russian sanctioned entities. >> it spent months combing through databases and customs records to establish that hass, -- haas, supplies multiple russian weapons manufacturers with sophisticated equipment known as numerical control machines. >> those tools are very
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accura, because military industry nee very high accuracy and high precision in the production of different pas. it can be the parts for the ships, the parts for the aircraft, the different equipment and parts for missile systems, or even radio, electronic equipment. >> they are so good that the u.s. also uses -- u.s. military also uses machines made by haas. russia relies on imports from other countries to keep its factors feeding the war machines. >> the reason the machining tools are so important is because they can take an unrefined hunk of metal and turn it into something eful like this mortar round.
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notably both sides of the front line have access to this equipment. this plan in ukraine uses haas machine-tool to make parts for tractors. this dual use technology could be -- make almost anything including weaponry. >> but, still -- >> b we need t-- we made this for a tank mounted machine gun. we had planned to make these mortar safety's, too. >> haas's vice president denied the company was still doing business in russia. in a written statement, he told newshour haas cut ties on march3 last year a week after russia's full-scale invasion of ukraine began. the e-mail reads "haas no longer supplies machines or parts to any companies in
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russia. statements to the contrary are false.:" " bout our investigation puts that into doubt. customs shows that shipments continued after russia's invasion began, 18 shipments were made to pressure from haas worth $2.8 million from march 4 through october of last year. russia's arms industry depends on technology developed in other countries. the head of the sanctions department of the national agency on corruption prevention -- the ukrainian government body told newshour the problem was much wider. germany's seaman -- siemens's and a japanese company -- that ukraine believes that is key to the russian arms industry. >> 70%, 80% of russia machine
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industry as western nations, is imported. you have no guided missile, you have no tank, you have no rifle, simple rifle if you have no -- >> according to her, two sanctions entities have displayed haas equipment in their own promotional materials, including the vector research industry in st. petersburg that helps manufacture satellites used to track ships, aircraft and ground vehicles during russia's invasion of ukraine. another is the scientific research institute of electrical carbon products in moscow which makes satellites and electronics. that's in addition to the footage we showed the beginning of this report, which a russian television channel first broadcast three months ago. the ukrainian authorities believe haas continues to maintain the equipnt already sold to russian defense firms with spare parts and software updates. >> legal experts believe that
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the company is aware or should have been aware of its equipment being used by russian military plans. if our organization is able to trace the links between -- this company and the russi sanctioned military plans that it is surely possible for such a big company, such a corporation as haas automation. >> we are sure that they can check which country, what entities will be the end user. if these companies cannot control i think that they, that they have no right to supply these products and to produce these products because these products can kill people. >> now the big question is whether the u.s. government will step in to investigate one of
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its own leading suppliers of manufacturing technology? ukraine's escu say they hope a penalty would service a warning to others to continue doing business with russia's arms industry. ♪ >> beijing said today that the united states, the united kingdom, and australia had embarked on a " dangerous path" after they announced an historic submarine agreement yesterday in san diego. it's known as aukus. nick schifrin is back with this look at how it will extend one of the most important american weapon systems into waters that china claims as its o. >> military officials call it one of their crown jewels, the nuclear powered attack summary. =-- submarine.
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the technology has not been shared and 65 years until now. >> it has one objective -- to enhance the stability of the indo specific amid rapidly shifting dynamics. >> the president made the announcement yesterday alongside the british prime minister anas trillium prime minister. -- the australian prime minister. >> one of the vessels we see behind me is a nuclear powered submarine, uss missouri. the vanguard of u.s. naval power. >> as we saw for ourselves late last year aboard the same uss missouri. the navy commander martin asked walked me on board. it can stay underwater longer and travel farther than conventionally powered summaries -- submarines. >> weapon, two. fire. >> besides torpedoes that can attack ships, they conduct
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surveillance and can carry crews middles to attack targets on land. it is the one system that experts agree is most difficult for china to detect and can sail through what for china are the most sensitive waters. >> if the operational commander tells me as a ship that he wants me to go to a certain area via a certain route that is international waters, that is within our rights. >> the international waters are available for navigation. >> the deal with australia and the.k. and the u.s. develops in stages. this year, australian sailors will embark with american and british sailors. in 2027, one u.k. astute class submarine and four u.s. virginia class submarines will rotate through weern australia. in the early 2030's, the u.s. we'll sell australia five virginia class submarines. meanwhile australia and the u.k. will build a new submarine call the aukus, ready in the u.k. by
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late 2030 and in austral by the early 2040's. designed to complicate china's military plans. as beijing tests more missiles than the rest of the world combined and has launched one of the fastest military modernizations in history, richard -- is australia's defense ministry. >> -- minister. >> we are witnessing the biggest military buildup that we have seen since the end of the second world war. and we need to respond to this. a failure to do so would see us be condemned b history. >> the agreement as part of the biden administration'slan to confront china by strengthening relations with allies especially in asia, last week xi jinping for the first time accuse the u.s. of trying to contain china. to discuss aukus and the american drone forced down over the black sea we turn to mark -- welcome back.
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>> thanks much for having me tonight. >> what consequences will russia face for helping down a u.s. drone over the black sea? >> this was a routine operation nothing nq-9 an uncrewed aircraft was performing in international airspace. what we saw by the russians was unprofessional. it aws in competent-- was in incompetent and unsafe. our colleagues from the state department are engaging the russian government now, but it is unfortunate to see them take such steps. >> will there be direct consequences? >> our colleagues at this department will speak with them about what happened but i want to underscore, it is international airspace. we know how to operate in safe and professional ways and that is not what we saw from the russians. >> let's turned to aukus. you said this agreement is not aimed at any one country but does i the u.s., australia
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and the u.k. half nlear power attack submarines complicate beijing's plans if it were decided to go to war? >> it is not about any one country, it is about stability and security in the into pacific and about delivering deterrence at all four phases. >> all four phases of the agreement? >> all four phases of the agreement. having three very close allies -- knitted together will be important for ensuring that this region, the into pacific region can maintain-- the indo pacific can maintain its prosperity and security going forward. >> is china more deterred by australia having a nuclear powered attack submarine than by the united states having yet another nuclear powered attack submarine/ -- submarine? the united states is lucky to have -- three allies with these
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capabilities strengthening our defense industrial bases does show we are willing to work together in any number of challenges. look, the u.k. and australia have stood by the united states and together we have dealt with no shortage of challenges around the globe and now we are specially focused on the io pacific. >> you announce that a stroller will purchase both new and older virginia class submarines. will the u.s. ship building industry have to build extra submarines for austria or will australia get to cut the line and get a sub that was supposed to go to the u.s. navy? >> australia will be getting a mix, purchasing a mixture of submarines that are in service,, so the u.s. navy has been using them and newer ones. the first will be in hand in less than a decade which is really fast given just the significance of this capability. our submarine industrial base has needed a lot of investment. the biden administration has
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pushed for that and congress has delivered. the defense budget was unveiled yesterday. there's $4.6 billion in increasing our production and our maintenance of our submarine industrial base, so that is really important. a stroller will also be contributing a proportional amount to that -- australia will also be contribute. we're going to work with the australians to make sure as we have throughout the last 18 months of developing this massive clan that the heads of ste had devised, and ensuring that they are getting what they need and we are doing so as well. >> but will australia get toccata line -- get to cut the line? >> it is not an issue of cutting the line. we have a lot more submarines, we have a maintenance backlog and we can increase that -- to make sure our submarines are ready and out and about and to increase the production. look, we have put in, thanks tonight congress, extra funding in the industrial base. that early investment have an outsized effect.
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i think we are going to see that we have the facilities and we have the talent that we need to make all of this reality. >> you've acknowledged, there has been maintenance issues and huge production issues. the congress has funded two virginia class submarines per year, but there is only 1.2 on average being produced and you don't -- you cited the $4.6 billion but republicans say that is not enough. listen to the statement from the top republican in the senate arms services committee. the biden administration has never asked congress for the type of investment of resources authorities and political capital in our submarine industrial base to meet our own navy's requirements, let alone additional requirements and this is in favor of aukus. what is youresponse? >> i'm pleased to see the tremendous bipartisan support for aukus. it is a generational leap, a game changer and a big play. in terms of the comments on the
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need to invest in submarine industrial base, we are working very closely with congress to be able to max the investment that the industrial base can absorb. we're also studying hard to see what effect the investments are having going forward. >> and the effect that aukus, could have, do you believe it will tax the industrial base? >> i believe it will lift up the submarine industrial base for us and united kingdom and for australia. >> because australia will invest into the american industrial base just like u.s. is investing. >> they are indeed. but i would underscore the recognition that we as a country have in our spectacular undersea capabilities and the need to ensure we can maintain that competitive advantage. thanks for having me. ♪ >> barter theater born out of
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the depression is thriving 90 years later. now known for bringing regional themes to its rural stage. we show the changing face of the area for our arts and culture series campus. >> i said, isn't it tragic? he fell over. >> the rehearsal of a new play about a group of women and a small factory town. >> what's wrong with mes mama? >> experiencing loss and grief, friendship and family ties. >> the intensity is way off the charts. >> what i'm trying to do is to articulate without condescension the interior world of working-class people of this region. there are a lot of preconceptions and myths and stereotypes out there. and i'm trying to dispel what i can with truthful characters
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from an honest perspective. >> her play " trouble at the vista view mobile home estate" is one of six featured at the annual appalachian festival of plays, offering writers a a to fine-tune their place. -- their plays. >> it's so fun. [laughter] >> and to see how audiences respond during a staged reading. here in one of the two theaters. >> there is something about bein among writers who are all devoted to the same goal, which is to elevate voices in the region from whence they came. >> it is about our audience. to develop these plays that reflect their lives, that reflect their values or challenge those or explore them. >> so good to see you all back
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here in person. >> the associate artistic director is also the director of the 23 year old festival, an opportunity for local audiences to see new stories and for regional writers. at least one othese plays will receive a full production. >> we have the possibility of changing a playwrights career. >> once it's gone into production, other theaters throughout the country are looking at, we look at each other seasons and see what other theaters are choosing and what their audiences are interested in. >> this is a ecosystem of theater and the u.s. >> barter is located in abington, town of 8000 in the sternmost tip of virginia, wedged between west virginia, kentucky and tennessee and north carolina. the theater has a special role, according to henry joy, longtime supporters who drove an hour
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from home in johnson city to see the festival. >> it is not just an artistic magnet, but it is an economic engine for not only abington, in particular but for the entire southwestern, east tennessee region. it is the place to go. >> it is also filled with history. 90 years of it. barter is one of the longest running professional theaters in the u.s founded during the great depression and the price of a ticket was 40 cents or a bartered equivalent in farm products. trading ham for hamlet. the founder managed to salvage equipment and furnishings including these balcony seats from a new york theater going out of busins. in order to build his own gorgeous theater. he also brought in actors from new york which the theater still does. and legends like gregory peck, ernest borgnine and patricia neal have performed here as they were starting out. today the theater fuels the
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local economy through tourism but also by employing actors and stagehands and craftspeople part of the local community. >> have come to the greatest theater in the world if you ask me. >> and has continued to fuel the dreams of people like -- who grew up three hours away in harrisonburg virginia. ♪ hoot and holler, the fable of a boy who saves. countrymusic is -- it is a chance to do a different kind of storytelling. >> it is the only way i can scratch the itch is bywr -- is by writing it. ♪ >> i wanted to talk about the authenticity of the originators of country mesic. -- music.
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this landscape is a soulful pplace. -- place. it is no surprise that so much of the music comes from this place. >> barter, an historically white theater in a white town has made a commitment to tell stories of black appalachia and promoting black playwrights. >> how di i henry brown escape slavy? >> a transporter man was part of this year's festival, written by russell nichols who joined as actors gathered for the first rehearsal of the play. >> donovan and geo are going to enter from house right. >> it tells a story of henry brown who shipped himself from virginia to freedom from slavery. he says things were different
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then 10 years ago when he came here from florida. >> it was difficult at first to try to find my place, especially back when i first started. it was not a lot of people who looked like me were about in the community, and especially at the theater. >> jackson and others are trying to change that through full-length pla, including one in the appalachian playwrights festival. and community events focusing on black stories. >> my dream for us at the theater is that -- no one would be shocked to see a black person in the audience and no one will be stuck, including other black people. i want to create a space for people feel comfortable at all times, whether they are white, black, anybody. i think it is important because we need representation and we need our stori told. >> for this playwright the festival gave her a chance to represent the working class people she grew up around in northern alabama. >> every writer that i know of
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that writes stories in this region is dying to have a space here. so i feel very lucky to be here. >> for his part, he adds this. >> this is a big stop on the tour of what makes our country unique. >> how do we feel about bourbon? as a verb? [laughter] >> later this evening, on pbc frontline presents a film looking at efforts to revive the economy in the wake of the great financial crisis. the age of easy money examines the story behind the headlines focusing on the unintended consequences and the gap between main street and wall street. >> facing the growing possibility of recession, wall street spent another day in turmoil. >> you re filling it in those - -you are feeling in those 401
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k's. >> it was the worst year since the great financial crisis in 2008. in 2022, we had this very unusual situation whereby you've made double-digit losses on both risky assets, stocks, and risk free assets, u.s. treasuries. that's not supposed to happen. but there's there has been apsley no where to -- absolutely nowhere to hide. >> it premieres tonight at 9 p.m. eastern on pbs. and that is the newshour for tonight. >> thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in
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education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption ntent and accuracy.] ♪ >> this is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ ♪ >>
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-mariachi music. it's one of the things jalisco is most famous for. and jalisco's food, i think you're going to love it more with each and every bite. music and food come together when i share a classic lunch with angel martinez, leader of one of the most famous mariachi bands, not only in guadalajara, but all of mexico. [ conversing in spanish ] -back in my kitchen... mmm! the heat. yum. ...sami will join me as i re-create a tapatío specialty... and add a twist on the familiar... now we need a lot of whipped cream. -oh, boy. -...starting with that classic lunch i eat with angel, carne en su jugo... nobody outside of guadalajara that i know has heard of carne en su jugo. yeah? -until now. -mm-hmm.
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