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tv   PBS News Hour  PBS  July 13, 2023 6:00pm-7:00pm PDT

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>> good evening, i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on "the newshour" tonight, the food and drug administration approves an over-the-counter birth control pill for the first time amid increasing restrictions on reproductive rights. geoff: president biden visits finland in a show of support for the expanded nato alliance but questions remain about ukraine's future membership. amna: the supreme court decision to strike down affirmative action prompts a renewed push to end legacy admissions in higher education. >> if we are going to say all students are admitted based on qualification, let that be the case and let's not let any program be -- give one committee a leg up over another community. ♪
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♪ thro wadss by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to "the newshour." federal regulators today approved the nation's first over-the-counter birth control pill. geoff: the fda signed off on o-pill, a "once-a-day" tablet available by prescription since 1973 that will soon be readily available online and at stes nationwide. the approval is being applauded by medical societies and women's health groups, which have pushed for the pill's wider access. joining us tonight to share her
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perspective is dr. jennifer villa-vicencio, an ob-gyn and interim director at the society for family planning. thank you for being with us. dr. villa-vicencio: thank you so much for having me. geoff: the fda says that nearly half of the nation's 6 million pregnancies are unintended. given that and the increasing number of states that have passed abortion restrictions, help us understand what you see as the significance of this action. dr. villa-vicencio: i don't think the significance of this action can be understated. i am personally, as an obgyn, and a person who prescribes birth control and uses bir control, extraordinarily excited to see nearly 50 years of usage and decades of science being recognized by the fda in making the birth control pill, which is used by millions and millions of people across our country, more accessible. geoff: what are the biggest barriers women face in trying to access contraceptive care right
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now and how might this over-the-counter option address those barriers? dr. villa-vicencio: unfortunately, there are a lot of barriers that exist and it depends on where you live which is even more unfortunate. the first is the cost. the ability to get into see a provider who can prescribe the birth control pill to you. there's also the ability to navigate all of the different laws and regulations that are happening right now. many of them don't have to do with birth control but they are designed to have a chilling effect so sometimes that impacts whether people can access birth control. making this incredibly safe medication that can help people determine their own reproductive destiny and plan their own lives, making it over-the-counter is an incredible step in giving people an opportunity to take control back in their own lives. geoff: tell us more about this medication. you just described it as safe. it has been on the market for 50 years now. tell us more about its effectiveness and what side effects there might be. dr. villa-vicencio: it's an
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incredibly effective medication that contains a hormone which is a type of progesterone and it is incredibly safe and for most people tends to not have many side effects. i often talk to my patients about birth control and that sometimes it takes trying a few. it's a little bit like dating. you have to try a few before you from the right one but this particular one works really well for a lot of people and i'm very excited that this is the first birth control we will see over the counter. geoff: the manufacturer and a phone call with reporters said that it will be available in stores and online. in early 2024, they declined to share the price. setting that aside, there are more than 100 countries that have over-the-counter birth control pills right now. what took the u.s. so long? were the concerns medical, political? give us a sense of what the delay was. dr. villa-vicencio: i cannot read the minds of the fda.
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or those companies who are applying for the application to get an over-the-counter pill. but i can tell you -- reiterate exactly what you just said. hundreds of countries already have an over-the-counter pill and there's decades of science and nearly 50 years of usage to show this is very, very safe, effective, and can be used over-the-counter. not totally sure why it took so long but really glad we finally got this decision. geoff: how concerned are you and your colleagues about potential legal challenges to this? dr. villa-vicencio: unfortunately, for those of us who work in reproductive health care, obgyns, midwives, family medicine providers, all of us are extremely concerned. it seems like every day, there is a new court case challenging our ability to practice safe and science-based medicine. most of these court cases, most of these challenges are based in political ideology and not based in science. this over-the-counter decision by the fda is an affirmation of
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science and the evidence base that has consisted for decades so i'm hoping that we will see the courts respect that science and let doctors and patients work together to see and make sure they have the best health care they can have. geoff: every day, it seems like there is a new court ruling, amy -- a new court case. how does that change the work you can do? >> i joke sometimes with my husband and my friends i have had to become an armchair lawyer in addition to being an expert in ob/gyn and complex family planning. i am a surgeon. i deliver babies. i prescribe both control and do cancer screenings but i have also had to become incredibly savvy about the court system and understand and be plugged in with a lot of organizations that are interpreting these laws. i recognize my ability to practice safe evidence-based care and medicine and to get my patients what it is they deserve is threatened on a regular basis.
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geoff: jennifer, thank you for your time and perspective tonight. dr. villa-vicencio: thank you so much. ♪ stephanie: here are the latest headlines. a wave of sizzling, heat moved into central and southern california, with forecasts topping the 100-degree mark through the weekend. it adds millions more people to excessive heat warnings that have blanketed the southwest for days. throngs of swimmers bathed in outdoor pools this week from san antonio to las vegas. arizona has seen temperatures top 110 degrees for more than a dozen straight days. in northern india, officials say severe flooding from record monsoon rains killed more than 100 people in the last two weeks. most of the deaths were in the mountainous state of himachal pradesh, some 300 miles north of new delhi.
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in the capital, floodwater blocked roads, closed schools, and swept away houses. the destruction left people struggling to cope. >> the problem is people are stranded. this is the first time i am witnessing this. i pass by here every day to deliver milk and cottage cheese. all these vehicles are stuck and submerged in water. it's a matter of grave concern. stephanie: water levels in a river flowing through new delhi have hit a 40 year record with another two months left in the monsoon season. a mass grave with at least 87 bodies has been found in sudan's west door four. it is outside janina and they were likely killed by paramilitary fighters. hours later, the international criminal court's prosecutor announced he's investigating alleged new war crimes in western darfur. a federal jury in pittsburgh has found a gunman who killed 11 people at a
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synagogue is eligible for the death penalty. the mass shooting in 2018 was the deadliest anti-semitic attack in u.s. history. robert bowers was convicted last month, but his lawyers have argued he is mentally ill. the trial's next phase focuses on whether bowers should actually be sentenced to die. the secret service has finished investigating how a small bag of cocainegot into the white house with no leads and no suspects. the powdered drug turned up in a lobby area used by staff and tour groups alike. a secret service report says tests found no fingerprints and no dna, and video of the lobby entrance was no help. president biden charged today that senator tommy tuberville is jeopardizing american security by blocking military promotions. the alabama republican wants the pentagon to stop paying for troops to travel for abortions. speaking in finland, mr. biden said mainstream republicans should pressure tuberville. pres. biden: the idea that we
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are injecting into fundamental foreign policy decisions, what in fact, is a domestic social debate on social issues, is bizarre. i don't ever recall that happening ever. and it's just totally irresponsible in my view. stephanie: tuberville has stalled more than 260 nominations since march. they include the nominee for chair of the joint chiefs of staff, the nation's highest military officer. secretary of state antony blinken is reportedly warning china's top diplomat, wang yi, over cyber attacks in the u.s. the two men met today at an asian-pacific summit in indonesia. news accounts say blinken vowed that hackers and their sponsors will be held accountable. this follows reports that chinese hackers breached email at the state and commerce departments. tens of thousands of doctors across england began a five-day walkout today, their longest ever. many are junior doctors at the start of their careers.
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they're demanding a 35% pay increase to bring salaries back to 2008 levels, once inflation is factored in. the world health organizations cancer research agency said today the artificial sweetener aspartame could be a carcinogen. the sweetener is found in about 6000 products globally including diet soda. a separate agency issued a different assessment saying aspartame is safe in the quantities it is typically consumed. the u.s. food and drug administration also maintains it is safe. the l.a. county corner ruled today lisa marie presley died of a bowel obstruction related to a bariatric surgery she had years ago. she died after being rushed to hospital in january. she was only child of elvis presley and a singer in her own right. and a tennis player from the czech republic has served up
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some history at wimbledon. marketa vondrousova won today to reach the women's singles final. she's the first unseeded player to do that since billie jean king in 1963. a win saturday would make her the first unseeded women's champion at wimbledon. she'll face ons jabeur of tunisia, who'd be the first arab and north african player to win the title. still to come, hollywood actors going strike, what it means for the entertainment industry. israel -- israelis living with the threat of violent attacks. we examine how watergate has affected the presidency, 50 years after the scandal was uncovered, and much more. announcer: 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. amna: president biden will soon lend back in the united states after traveling to three
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european countries in five days. his last out today after two days of nato meetings was the newest alliance member, finland. white house correspondent laura barron-lopez traveled with the president. laura: for finland, a new era of security against russian aggression, an era the president credited in part to the work of president joe biden. >> i have to tell you about vilnius very impressive the way created unity. laura: fresh off the nato summit in vilnius, biden paid visit to the newest nato member and russia's next-door neighbor. pres. biden: i've been doing this a long time. i don't think nato's ever been stronger. laura: finland broke decades of official military non-alignment when it joined nato in april -- taking a clear stance against the kremlin after vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine. on thursday, president biden
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called putin's war a failure and spoke forcefully about russian threats to more than ukraine. pres. biden: first of all, they're already interfered in american elections, so that would not be anything new. laura: that was a stark contrast to his predecessor who stood in the same room in helsinki nearly five years ago today. then former president donald trump stunned the world when he aligned himself with the authoritarian leader, doubting the u.s. intelligence community's determination that russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. mr. trump: they think it's russia. i have president putin. he just said it's not russia. i will say this -- i don't see any reason why it would be. laura: the world has changed dramatically since then. russia's war on ukraine posing an historic challenge to the nato alliance. more than one year in the coalition has held, and expanded. nato pushed through the fastest ratification in modern history for finland which applied for membership within weeks of putin starting the war.
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its neighbor, sweden, will soon follow. >> he went to war because he wanted less nato, he's getting more nato. laura: it is a significant strategic gain for the security alliance. the scandinavian country shares the longest european border with russia, stretching over 800 miles, and its entry more than doubles nato's total border with its adversary. today, president biden convened five nordic nations including finland and sweden. he made his affection toward the region known as they built on nato talks. pres. biden: if we just left the important decisions to the nordics, we'd all be in good shape. laura: they each spoke of common values and their shared challenges, including climate change. >> you have said before that we have been frontrunners on the green transition, but it's you who have brought us back on the green agenda fighting climate change. laura: at the end of his european tour, focus shifted back home. president biden was unequivocal about the endurance of u.s. nato leadership despite a volatile and divided washington. pres. biden: as sure as anything
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can possibly be said about american foreign policy. we will stay connected to nato. laura: a clear and decisive end to a briefly tense but ultimately successful trip. this meeting between president biden and five nordic leaders ended with all of them agreeing that they will soon be delivering bilateral agreements on issues such as artificial intelligence, climate change, and their support for ukraine. amna: president biden is there to celebrate finland's addition to nato. what is the significance of that right now? laura: it has major significance. the finnish president said it. -- said it very explicitly. that president biden will go down in history as someone who is keen to ensuring finland joined the alliance and was very effusive in his praise of the president as were other nordic leaders about the work that he has done to keep nature together. it is important that finland is
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in the alliance because that ended the history of neutrality that they have had of military nonalignment and also very much was important to baltic states. when i was in lithuania, those there talked to me about the fact that it was important to them that countries like finland and sweden be admitted to the alliance so that way, their collective security could be insured against russian aggression. amna: president biden was also asked about this issue. is he incentivizing pressure to never end their war in ukraine? how is he addressing that? laura: president biden was very forceful in saying that the question of ukraine's nato membership is much broader than ukraine when he was asked about this. he said that, look, if any country were at war and wanted membership to nato, they would not get it because of the fact that it could start world war iii. he was also saying that ultimately, he believes that putin has already -- vladimir putin, the russian president,
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has already lost the war. it was striking because of the fact that at the same time he is saying putin has already lost the war, the president still will not define exactly what an end to this conflict looks like. amna: president biden at the summit made a number of promises about short-term and long-term support to ukraine. ptot laura, how does he make sure he makes good on those promises? laura: there are a number of deliverables that the president is going to have to get across the finish line including those f-16s that were promised to be transferred to turkey. the white house said that was not necessarily an exchange for sweden being able to join nato but of course it was key to this deal ultimately getting done. there has been opposition to the f-16s going to turkey. he will need to get this through congress in addition to more ukraine security assistance and we have seen continued
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resistance to helping ukraine in the house among republicans and then there's also the fact that looming over all of this is 2024. when it was official from the united kingdom or a finnish reporter today at the press conference asking and posing to the united states this question of how can allies be sure that the u.s. is going to consistently be part of nato and be willing to help its allies when, if 2024 comes in president biden ultimately loses, the next president, such as former president donald trump, may very well not want to be as forceful in repairing these allegiances and being part of this alliance. amna: our white house correspondent traveling with the president and reporting tonight from finland. laura, thank you. ♪
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geoff: sag-aftra, the union representing 160,000 television and film actors will go on strike starting at midnight, after four weeks of failed negotiations. jeffrey brown finds out what's behind the decision and how hollywood will be affected. it's part of our arts and culture series, canvas. >> you share the wealth because you cannot exist without us. thank you. jeffrey: the announcement came this afternoon. they will officially strike at midnight tonight already, actors are leaving sets and even premieres. and many more will be on picket lines starting tomorrow. >> the entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, ai. this is a moment of history, a moment of truth. if we don't stand tall right now, we are all going to be in
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trouble. jeffrey: among the unresolved issues, demands for higher wages. the increase of residuals as streaming services command more of the market and new protections from the use of artificial intelligence. for its part, the alliance of motion picture and television producers representing traditional studios such as universal, paramount, and disney, along with newer tech giants like apple, netflix, and amazon blamed the union for walking away from major concessions, saying in a statement the union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry. in an interview this morning, disney ceo bob iger said this. >> there's a level of expectation that they have that is just not realistic. they are adding to the set of challenges that this business is already facing that is quite frankly very disruptive. jeffrey: the move all but grinds hollywood to a halt as actors
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join the writing guild whose members have been on strike since may over similar issues. this is the first time both unions have been on strike since 1960 when actor and future president ronald reagan headed up the actors guild. anousha sakoui who covers the industry for the los angeles times. thanks for joining us. i mentioned to some of the issues and we will come back to that but i am struck i held both sides seem to be framing this in existential terms. are you hearing it that way? anousha: for sure. like you said in the package, this is similar with the debate with the writers, that the studios are sort of saying that, you know, they have issues of terms of restructuring. we were seeing the studios laying off thousands of employees and now, there has
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been this shift in the streaming model where there's been a pullback in production and many studios are seeking cost savings and trying to cut back. so obviously, that does not align with unions who want to get paid more. jeffrey: and what are the major sticking points at this point that you see that led to the breakdown? anousha: it seems that there was a sticking point around streaming residuals which are the royalties paid when a tv or film is replayed. and the actors wanted a sort of share of revenue linked to the most successful shows and that seemed to be a big no for the studios. they also wanted greater protections around artificial intelligence than the studios seem to be offering them and they also wanted big increases
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in wages to counter the impact of inflation and obviously, the two sides were not able to come to agreement on those numbers. jeffrey: what about the response from the industry? they put out a list of 14 proposals that they said they had put on the table in response to the union. you saw bob iger's comments today. what are you hearing from the industry? anousha: you know, i think when you look at it, you have to look at the finer details. it's not that easy a thing to sort of compare one version of a proposal and what the actors are saying. you know, you sort of get two versions of the same story. i think a lot of the time, it is, you know, looking into the finer details of the offerors, and you know, what is there to say except that there's going to be a strike this weekend? people are very concerned across
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the industry about what it means for livelihoods, not just of actors and writers who are on strike but all the other workers who the craftspeople, hairdressers, makeup artists, costumers, thousands of people that work on film and tv that will have their work stopped and their pay stopped. and also the businesses that are dependent on film and tv across, you know, many big filming hubs across the u.s. it's not just southern california and los angeles but new york, new mexico, and georgia have huge film industries. jeffrey: tell us a little bit more about that. the economic impact of this that goes beyond the union workers, goes beyond the studios, goes beyond the hollywood industry to l.a. and beyond, as you were saying. how big an impact will it have? anousha: the one thing that the
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sag aftra strike will do is that it will stretch the reach of these work stoppages to overseas and so far, it has been confined to the u.s. now because sag aftra has a global reach, their membership is across the world. productions that have been ongoing in the u.k. or australia, you know, might now have to come to an end. that was something that studios might have been able to fall back on to keep producing overseas. so that is one thing. here at the los angeles times, we have been reporting on what people have been estimating will be the economic fallout back in 2007, 2008, it came to $2.1 billion at the time, the estimated cost for southern california and the local economy there. but experts have been estimating that this time, the faout could exceed $3 billion. jeffrey: what about the impact on production of course for
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films and tv and all of us in the audience who want to know what will happen, what will we be seeing? anousha: already, you know, i can tell you that production on scripted television, the big dramas that we love to binge and watch and catch up on on a sunday on hbo, many of those have stopped filming or their productions have been delayed for their new seasons. if you look at the networks, the big networks which have been presenting their full slates, they are very heavily dominated by reality tv and repeats. it abc has abbott elementary. they will only be showing repeats according to their presentations a few months ago. so you know, we know that shows like that, netflix's stranger things, will be delayed in using -- producing new
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seasons because their creators have said they are not going to work during the writers strike. the question now is also things that are ongoing. that have not been stopped by the writers strike but also will be -- by actors going on strike and that looks very likely so we could see a greater impact of the slate but also delays in the release of movies. jeffrey: in our last 30 seconds, do you have a sense of how long this can go on? do you have a sense of the relative strength or weaknesses of both sides? anousha: that is the big question everybody wants to answer and it's really hard to predict. obviously, the last writers strike went on for 100 days and that was not the longest. so you know, we are in for a little bit of time still to go because my expectation is that the studios will probably seek to resolve the dispute with the actors and then maybe seek the writers there's alternate views. some writers seem to think the actors going on strike might
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bring both strikes to a sooner close so it's hard to predict. jeffrey: much more to come. thank you very much. anousha: my pleasure. ♪ amna: earlier this week, we brought you stories from the occupied west bank, where palestinians spoke of the struggles of daily life amid the recent wave of violence. now, the perspectives of israelis in this dangerous new moment in israel. special correspondent leila molana-allen begins at a protest against new government measures. leila: democracy or bibi, railing against the prime minister. who now leads the most right wing government in israel's history. hundreds of thousands took to the streets in protest on tuesday after a bill which would allow the government to pass any law it likes unimpeded by
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supreme court oversight passed its first parliamentary vote. once it has free reign to pass laws, the new government in the agreement that brought it to power says it plans to extend israeli settlements. netanyahu and his ministers frequently speak of increasing security measures and palestinian areas. as divisions grow over the potential impact, army veteran -- fears for his families future. >> i am very worried about the violence. i am very worried about my kids. leila: he is not the only parent terrified of the violence that has engulfed the territories. since the start of the year, the israel defense forces say they have been more than 220 attempted terror attacks against israelis in the west think -- in the west bank alone. while the security forces have conducted more than 1800 raids on palestinian towns and villages in response. this is an israeli settlement town home to more than 1000 families. eliana moved with her husband 28
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years ago after losing san francisco to make aliyah or claim israeli nationality. >> we are here because of our love of our land and because israel is expanding and this is a place that israelis can live. leila: there are strict restrictions on how much and where israelis can build here because the un's as the building of settlements like using the occupied west bank is illegal under international law but israelis living here argue that they conquered this area of land which they call by its biblical title, judeo and samaria, in the war. holding settlements is so contentious because the idea of a two state solution centers around west and gland becoming a state for palestinians decisions. as more and more israeli towns become established here, that option is disappearing fast. >> that is the story of hanukkah. leila: for her, that possibility is long gone. her family has been here for decades. in the home where she raised all
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eight of her children. >> i think the israeli government is looking too much to the world. the donald trump administration recognized this is legal, part of israel it on one hand, exciting. on the other hand, ok, we know. >> three weeks ago, residents were eating at this diner when two palestinian men burst in, shooting assault rifles. four people were killed. >> i sit down. my legs are like jelly. my hands are sweating. i call him, he doesn't answer. it was the longest minute and a half of my life. he was ok but then i realized someone else lost their son. leila: she says she and her neighbors just want to live in peace alongside palestinians and get on with their lives but there are others here who don't believe that's possible. >> things like this are happening every day. that is a reality. in the end, we don't have any other option. this place belongs to us. we will win no matter what. fear is not in our vocabulary anymore. leila: like many settlers, the
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store's owner says he carries a gun at all times to protect himself and his community. he is furious this has happened to his neighbors and employees. it has made him feel more firmly than ever that there can be no compromise. >> the government will find a solution once and for all. they need to carry out military operations in a way that makes them fear us. every citizen in israel must be armed with a pistol. we are living in a war. leila: caught in the middle of the war are arab citizens of israel including palestinians who got israeli citizenship after israel was creating in 1948. they make up nearly 20% of israel's population. you set is the former -- isa is a former mayor in a mixed area of jews, muslims, and christians, that is often held up as a blueprint for living in peace. but when a terror attack strikes, he and his community are quickly reminded that they and their neighbors have not
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achieved integration, merely coexistence at arms length. >> such attacks produce what is called a collective sanctions against us. like the people who do not attend our restaurants and our shops because some of them, because of the fear, and the others, they want to punish us as if we are partner of what happened. leila: now, in rhetoric if not yet in practice, the new government and some of its supporters are calling the hard-won status and rights of arab israelis into question, branding them as an enemy within. he fears this incitement could shatter the fragile peace he has dedicated his life to creating here. >> instead of letting us promote coexistence and harmony, they are dividing this society. leila: they avoid politics altogether, living a quiet, devout life of religious study
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in their ultra orthodox hasidic committee. -- community. but the fresh wave of politicized violence tearing through the country burst into their lives one morning in february. >> his mother-in-law called me and told me he is lying on the ground unconscious, bleeding and not responding. by the time we arrived at the hospital, he was dead. leila: her 20-year-old son was waiting at a bus in jerusalem on the way to bring his new wife to shabbat dinner with his family. suddenly, a palestinian driver rammed his car into the waiting crowd. two little boys, just six years old and eight years old, were also killed in the attack. >> he was a very special kind of person, the soul of our family. my son did not harm anyone. he was just standing at a bus stop, waiting for a bus. why should he be killed? leila: that is the one thing most israelis can still agree on, that jews came to live here in safety and freedom, rights
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long denied to their forefathers, but many young people, like this 23-year-old, believe their own government is now trying to take that freedom from them. she fears this path will only lead to more blood. >> the situation in israel is kind of getting dire in terms that we cannot really see peace in the future. we are not talking to the other side. we are seeing a lot of security threats, huge rise in populism, and the government is capitalizing on it and getting young people to -- rallying them up with anger and trying to kind of show them that violence is the only answer to getting peace. leila: as the new government forges ahead come outrage grows among israelis who oppose them. the cracks in this nation, once forged by the common goals of its citizens, deepening by the day. for the pbs newshour, i am leila, in tel aviv, israel.
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♪ geoff: the u.s. supreme court's ruling against affirmative action in college admissions has renewed the debate over another admissions practice, legacy admissions. in which universities give preference to children of graduates when deciding who to accept. lawyers of a boston-based nonprofit filed a complaint after the court ruling alleging that harvard's legacy and donor based admissions system violates federal law by favoring white regions. the naacp is calling on 1600 public and private universities across the country to end legacy admissions altogether. joining us now is the president and ceo of the naacp, derrick johnson. thank you for being with us. civil rights groups are putting their focus on legacy admissions after the supreme court banned the use of race conscious admissions practices.
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what are your chief concerns? derrick: i want to make sure students have fair access to higher education and to opportunities. if the program to repair the harm that was done by institutions in this government ce action has come under attack for being abolished -- we need to do away with all preferential programs such as legacy programs. it was reported that harvard, for example, 43% of white students where they are some type of legacy amendments. -- admittance. that's not fair to the rest of the population who want to make sure there is equity in this process. geoff: on that point, college presidents have said the practice helped build special connections with families and donors, some that extend for generations. it is an important tool for fundraising and as enrollment has become more diverse, there are black families that benefit from legacy admissions.
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how do you see it? derrick: thought that the program to address the systemic issues of racism called affirmative action was a good step in the right way. we thought it allowed for a more diverse student body, that it allowed individuals who otherwise would not have that opportunity to sit in prestigious institutions because they were qualified and not barred from attending as a result of their family genealogy. so here we are at this impasse where we are going to say that all students are admitted based on qualification, let that be the case and let's not let any program give one community a leg up over another community. geoff: the naacp is calling on colleges and universities to adopt this diversity no matter what pledge. other than ending legacy admissions, what else do you want colges and universities to do? derrick: how an individual based on their zip code should not be
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a condemnation of their future. far too many kids, black, white, and others, grow up in communities where the resources are lacking, the tax base is not strong, the system of education is less than desirable, and as a result, they are finding themselves in the midst of being able to compete at the highest level. there should be a standard to admit those individuals and we should also make sure that if we don't want preferential treatments that preferential treatment isn't provided to anybody or we at least need to account for intentional acts of discrimination in a way in which we can repair past harms. geoff: after the court ruling, president biden asked the education department to study what practices help build a more inclusive student body and what practices stand in the way of that. do you expect the white house to get involved in a significant way here? derrick: i would hope they would get involved, but let's be
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clear, we have a supreme court that is now a rogue supreme court, one of the most corrupt supreme court's we have had in the history of the court. we have a tendency of conservatives seeking ways to undermine the gains that were made over the last 60 years, and there is a clear effort to ensure a permanent underclass and to maintain the system of white supremacy. that is what we should be talking about. that is what needs to be addressed and that's in the best interests of this nation. geoff: what role does the naacp have in helping black youth get ready, especially with more than emphasis placed on college admissions essays? the naachas a rich history of being active in communities around matters of civil-rights, on this issue in particular, beyond raising awareness, how can the group get proactively involved? derrick: we are proactively involved. we are an advocacy group, not a service provider. our job is to impact the
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formation of public and corporate policies, and so we do so by advocating for legislation, by filing lawsuits, and by educating the community on their rights and responsibilities as full citizens. we invite others to join us to do that. if people are hungry, it's important to have a soup kitchen. but more importantly, we need to address the policies that address the hunger. geoff: derrick johnson is the president and ceo of the naacp. thank you for your insights. derrick: thank you for the opportunity. ♪ amna: today marks an anniversary that some see as a pivot point in the american presidency. exactly 50 years ago, white house aide revealed that then
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president nixon's conversations had been taped. the "watergate tapes" included audio of nixon working to cover-up the watergate break-in connected to his campaign and became a point of no return for him as he slid to political downfall. but what is their legacy in the heated politics of today? correspondent lisa desjardins has more. lisa: it is hard to miss some broad similarities with today. in early 1973, president nixon faced congressional and criminal investigations related to the watergate break-in. he pledged that he had no role in the break-in and the american public was split over it. until news of the watergate tapes. after that, nixon's approval plummeted and key republicans broke with him. to compare and contrast that with today, i'm joined by jill wine-banks, who was one of the prosecutors in the watergate investigation of president nixon and stuart streichler who teaches law and politics at the university of washington. as many of our viewers know, the most damming audio is known as the smoking gun tape.
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i want to play an excerpt from that. in this audio, you will hear president nixon speaking with the then chief of staff. they will be talking about the idea of asking the cia director, walters, to tell the fbi to in the watergate investigation. here it is. >> on the investigation, you know, the democratic break-in thing we're back in the problem area because the fbi is not under control. that the way to handle this now is for us to have walters call pat gray and just say, "stay the hell out of this. this is -- there's some business here we don't want you going any further on." that's not an unusual development. president nixon: mm-hmm. haldeman: and that would take care of it. nixon: you call him in. good. good deal. play it tough. that's the way they play it, and
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that's the way we're going to play it. haldeman: ok. lisa: even today, hearing oval office audio is rather stunning. jill, what did you think when you first heard that audio and how do you think that affected the way the american public saw nixon? jill: it was dramatic evidence against the president. to put in context, the president was saying use an agency of government, the cia, to falsely claim that it was national security and the fbi should stop looking at the money trail because the money would have shown that the burglars had on them $100 bills from a cached campaign check so that it would have proved right away that the committee to reelect the president, known as creep, was responsible for the break-in. that would have been dramatic in an age of actual facts in the news, where people believed what they read and there weren't alternative facts being offered.
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lisa: you wrote an article last year about the legacy of watergate as being ironic and even may be problematic two. -- today. what did you mean by that? stuart: i think it's ironic. the conventional view follows what president ford said in relation to the pardon of president nixon. that the constitution works, that eventually, the abuse of power was curbed. first of all, it took a long time. we need to remember that. but second, what i thought was that the legacy left in place by the checks and balances was actually ironic because each of the institutions actually set up obstacles for future institutions to curb the abuse of power, so for example, the supreme court constitutionalize executive privilege. since then, even though there
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was what we might consider a national security exception made by the supreme work, the president since then has pretty much ignored that if they can in claiming executive glitches. it seemed like there was a cultural expectation set up that ever since then, if you are going to prosecute or think about prosecuting a president, you have got to have a smoking gun. lisa: what about those ideas that you cannot prosecute a president and there is wide or some form of executive privilege? jill: let me say i don't agree on executive privilege. i think the exception for crime and fraud is very broad and covers what you want to cover. i think it's important a president be able to get advice without having it revealed in the same way that lawyers can give advice to clients and its confidential. as long as they aren't helping in the commission of a crime. i don't agree on that. i do agree that not prosecuting was a mistake.
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i argued during watergate that we should indict him while he was sitting president. i see nothing in the office of legal counsel memo that would have barred that and i think it was a huge mistake not to. so do i think the constitution needs stronger language? i do think so. but i think that basically the system did work and there was some luck involved. lisa: this brings us to today. former president trump has also faced scrutiny because of words, -- words caught on tape. i want to play an example that may be coming up again soon which is his conversation with georgia's secretary of state following the 2020 election for -- let's listen to that. mr. trump: and the people of georgia are angry, the people of the country are angry. and there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, um, that you've recalculated. raffensperger: well, mr. president, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong.
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mr. trump: i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state. lisa: i want to be very thoughtful about this. this is not to say president trump and nixon are the same nor that we know what the fate of president trump should be, but i want to ask each of you, starting with you, what is the difference here between audio in nixon's case where republicans changed their loyalties? trump doesn't seem like anything changes with these problematic audios. stuart: right. looking at the larger political landscape, what is interesting to me is that politics was polarized in the early 1970's, just coming out of the vietnam war with watergate, and yet you had republican leaders in the senate and the house of representatives and also republican voters who were capable of saying, you know, i'm looking at this evidence.
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i am seeing these repeated denials by president nixon. and at some point, there was a shift, and with president trump, the difference in the landscape now is partly that he's got a charismatic connection with a loyal base of whatever it is between 30% to 40% of the electorate. and so, i don't see anything that would move them. lisa: does president trump -- is he affected by the legacy of watergate and our expectations of presidents? jill: i view this slightly differently. i think that the big difference between then and now is the multiplication of media outlets. back then, we had three networks and they all had the same facts. democrats and republicans agreed on the facts. they debated the outcome and the
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policy implications of facts. nowadays, we have alternative facts which are lies, and we have a strong support system that had not existed for richard nixon, could have -- that had it existed for richard nixon, could have made a difference. he might have survived if there had been a fox news supporting his lies so i think that's really one of the biggest differences is that facts mattered back then. and people had shame. even nixon had shame. and the republicans are the ones who went to him and said, we just heard the smoking gun tape and you have been lying to us. you will be convicted in the senate, whereas during the impeachment of trump, the senators said, well, he did it, but it's not impeachable. which was completely against all the facts. lisa: did watergate change how we see the presidency itself? stuart: i think so. one point you might think about is the profanity that laced
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nixon's inner conversations which degraded the presidency. it shocked people at the time. you could argue that that had a great -- some effect that was comparable to the evidence of criminal activity that just the fact that the president was talking about people, enemies, voters, like he did, and using profanity not on one occasion -- there's other presidents who have done that, but just all the way through. it diminished the character of the presidency. jill: i agree with that and i would add to that that what we have now is verbal as it is that -- verbal evidence that is irrefutable of the presidents voice and that made all the difference in the world. i know hearing the tape for the first time for me, the first tape i heard was march 21, the cancer on the presidency tape. and it did change my view of the
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presidency. i had been raised to respect the office no matter who held it. and you listen to that and you heard him saying "i am not a crook." and you knew he was. it did change my view that the president is just a person and needs to be treated that way, needs to be held accountable. lisa: thank you both very much. jill: thank you. stuart: thank you. lisa: remember, there's a lot more online including a look at how a new partnership with the cherokee nation is helping one reservation preserve its natural flora and fauna. you can read that at pbs.org/newshour. geoff: and join us again here tomorrow night, when we'll have a report on the growing controversies surrounding wind energy projects. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour
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team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour including leonard and norma and patricia ewing. >> architect. beekeeper. mentor. your raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life, life well planned. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the newshour.
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♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -today on "cook's co i'm making popcorn chicken. toni tells us about a fast food innovator. adam reviews electric deep fryers. bryan is making gobi manchurian and lawman is making crispy vegetable fritters. that's all right here on "cook's country." ♪♪