JUDY WOODRUFF: On the "NewsHour" tonight: outrage, peaceful
protests, with sparks of violence in a few
cities and confrontations with police. We
explore the racial reckoning in the United
States.
Then: election threats. Members of Congress
raise the alarm after the director of national
intelligence cancels in-person briefings on
voting interference.
And health care in America. We visit Houston
to examine the stark and widening disparities
in access to medical treatment in the U.S.
DR. ASHISH JHA, Director, Harvard Global Health
Institute: Houston represents both what is
the best of American health care and really
what is the worst. You have parts of Harris
county, which is where Houston is, where life
expectancy is lower than what you see in many
Third World countries.
JUDY WOODRUFF: All that and more on tonight's
"PBS NewsHour."
(BREAK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: A political battle is intensifying
tonight over protests against racial injustice
and incidents of violence.
Amna Nawaz will focus in a moment on what's
happening with some of the armed civilian
groups and the role of police.
But, first, White House correspondent Yamiche
Alcindor reports on how the presidential candidates
addressed it today.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Amid a weekend of largely
peaceful protests, dueling messages on who
bears the blame for outbursts of violence.
In Pittsburgh today, Democratic presidential
nominee Joe Biden pointed at President Trump.
JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential Candidate:
This president long ago forfeited any moral
leadership in this country. He can't stop
the violence, because, for years, he has fomented
it.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: After the speech, President
Trump tweeted -- quote -- "To me, he's blaming
the police far more than he's blaming the
rioters."
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
said Democrats are at fault.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, White House Press Secretary:
When the Trump administration arrives in a
Democrat-run city engulfed in chaos, peace
is restored, law and order is upheld.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The vast majority of nationwide
demonstrations sparked by the killing of George
Floyd in May have not turned violent, but
incidents of shootings, property damage and
looting have ignited debates over how authorities
should respond and whether demonstrators on
both sides have gone too far.
President Trump has attacked the efforts of
local Democratic officials. In scores of tweets
this weekend, he keyed in on new clashes in
Portland, Oregon.
The city has seen nearly 100 days of protests
against police violence. It began Saturday,
when supporters of the president drove through
the city in a 600-vehicle caravan rally. They
were met by counterprotesters along the route,
and some of the president's supporters fired
paintball guns into the crowds.
That led to clashes, which were eventually
broken up by the police. After the caravan
left, a backer of the right-wing group Patriot
Prayer was shot and killed. It's unclear if
the rally and the shooting are related. And
the gunman has not yet been pinpointed.
Sunday night, police arrested at least 29
people in separate demonstrations. And, today,
Oregon State Police returned to Portland.
Sunday, the city's Democratic mayor accused
President Trump of fomenting unrest.
TED WHEELER (D), Mayor of Portland, Oregon:
Mr. President, why this is the first time
in decades that America has seen this level
of violence, it's you who have created the
hate and the division.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: President Trump defended
his supporters on Twitter. And, this morning,
he again threatened federal intervention,
writing -- quote -- "If this joke of a mayor
doesn't clean it up, we will go in and do
it for them."
Meanwhile, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, tensions
remain high ahead of a planned presidential
visit tomorrow. On Saturday, roughly 1,000
people peacefully marched in the streets to
protest the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha
police.
Last Sunday, an officer shot Blake seven times
in the back. His family says he is now paralyzed.
At the march, his father demanded the officers
involved be held accountable.
JACOB BLAKE SR., Father of Jacob Blake: My
nature is to protect my son, to stand up for
my son when he cannot stand up.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: President Trump has criticized
the local response to the protests in Kenosha,
which has seen some violence.
On Tuesday night, Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old,
showed up at the protests with a long gun.
He claimed to be protecting businesses. He
was later charged with shooting three people,
killing two.
As Kenosha copes with the unrest, the city's
mayor and Wisconsin's Governor Tony Evers,
both Democrats, urged the president not to
come. In a letter to President Trump on Sunday,
Evers wrote -- quote -- "I am concerned your
presence will only hinder our healing."
Today, the president tweeted that his visit
will go ahead.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Yamiche Alcindor.
AMNA NAWAZ: For a closer look at the protests,
and those armed groups showing up in response,
we turn now to Mary McCord. She's legal director
at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy
and Protection. She's also a law professor
at Georgetown University, and formerly with
the Department of Justice as acting assistant
attorney general for national security.
Mary McCord, welcome back to the "NewsHour,"
and thanks for being hear.
We should mention it has been 14 weeks now
since George Floyd was killed. And, as was
just reported, in the hundreds of protests,
they have been overwhelming peaceful, but
things have taken a turn, as we saw in Portland
and in Kenosha, now much more deadly, in some
instances.
Do we know -- very briefly, do we know why
that is?
MARY MCCORD, Georgetown University Law Center:
Well, I think there's a lot of different contributing
factors, but certainly the violence we saw
recently in Kenosha was, at least in large
part, attributable to the private militias
that took it upon themselves to do what they
called protecting property, but they did so
without any authority.
They came heavily armed. They weren't answerable
to governmental entities or to really anyone
other than themselves, and they created a
permissive environment, where others, including
the 17-year-old, who may or may not have actually
been officially part of any of the militias
that came, but nevertheless was a hanger-on,
they created this permissive environment that
resulted in tragedy.
And I think we have seen more and more across
the country, at peaceful protests, at protests
against racial injustice, we have seen more
and more self-proclaimed and self-professed
militias showing up, ostensibly to protect
property, but with no authority, heightening
tensions, intimidating people, and sometimes
resulting in violence, like we saw in Kenosha,
Albuquerque, Portland and elsewhere.
AMNA NAWAZ: And I want to ask you, Mary, specifically
about a couple of those cities.
But, before we move on, I want to ask you
about the word militia, because there's been
a lot of question about why we use this term
to refer mainly to groups of armed white men,
but rarely armed Black men or any other group.
Do you know why that is?
MARY MCCORD: Well, I can't tell you whether
it had any sort of racial basis.
Militias, the term goes back, of course, to
the founding of the country, and, at that
time, referred to all sort of able-bodied
white men, frankly, between certain ages.
It didn't include white in it, but that's
who predominantly the landowning people were
in the country at the time.
And so I think it has historical roots. But
militias have never been -- private militias
have never been lawful. To the extent militias
have ever been lawful, they are only in service
of the state or the federal government. So
they can only be called forth by the state
or the federal government.
As you indicated, when we talk oftentimes
about people of color having armed groups,
other terms might be used for those groups,
including terms like gangs. So, I think what
has devolved over the course of time is something
that does tend to break down somewhat racially.
And I would also add that the militia groups,
they fancy themselves as patriots and suggest
that what they're doing is actually in furtherance
of the Constitution, when it really is nothing
of the sort.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, Mary, the groups in Kenosha,
for example, will argue that they're protected
under the Second Amendment to be there and
armed and help protect the community. What
do you say to that?
MARY MCCORD: Well, the Supreme Court has actually
been quite clear, back in 1886 and as recently
as 2008, that the Second Amendment protects
an individual right to bear arms for one's
own individual self-protection, but does not
prevent states from prohibiting private paramilitary
organizations.
And that's what those groups were. They were
private paramilitary organizations. The Second
Amendment doesn't protect their activity in
Kenosha or elsewhere.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, if they're not supposed to
be there, whose job is it to enforce that
they are not there and not armed in the way
that they are?
MARY MCCORD: Well, there certainly are state
authorities that could enforce that. And state
law in Wisconsin prohibits -- not only does
the state constitution prohibit rogue militias,
rogue militaries that aren't answerable to
the governor, but it also prohibits falsely
assuming the functions of a public official.
And so, when those militias were essentially
arrogating to themselves law enforcement responsibility,
the responsibility for protecting property,
they were falsely undertaking the functions
of law enforcement that they have no authority
to undertake.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, when you look at what happened
in Portland, for example, the protesters will
say they have the right to peaceably assemble.
So will the Trump supporters who drove through
in those caravans.
Who is to stop it before it gets to a violent,
potentially deadly clash?
MARY MCCORD: This may require cities, and
maybe even with the help of the state and
even the federal government, if necessary,
to actually enforce the types of time, place
and manner restrictions that are permissible
under the Constitution in order to allow for
peaceful protests.
That means things like not allowing militias,
not allowing violence, not allowing firearms
where it's possible to ban them. So those
are the kind of things that law enforcement
and government officials need to be able to
enforce, although it's very difficult, given
the spontaneity of some of the protest activity
that we have seen.
AMNA NAWAZ: And given that tensions also keep
rising.
That is Mary McCord of the Institute for Constitutional
Advocacy and Protection.
Thank you very much, Mary.
MARY MCCORD: Thank you.
JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: The
Trump administration's new COVID-19 adviser
says Americans should feel cautiously optimistic.
Dr. Scott Atlas, who came on board this month,
says infections and deaths are declining in
hard-hit states, and there is no need to fear,
even as more schools reopen. Confirmed cases
nationwide topped six million today, with
183,000 U.S. deaths.
A federal appeals court in Washington has
refused to end the criminal case against Michael
Flynn. The former national security adviser
pled guilty to lying about contacts with Russia
before President Trump took office. But the
Justice Department had moved to dismiss the
case. The appeals court also tossed a congressional
lawsuit to make former White House counsel
Don McGahn testify. House Democrats say they
plan to appeal.
In Lebanon, lawmakers endorsed diplomat Mustapha
Adib as prime minister-designate today. The
largest Sunni party, the Shiite Hezbollah
and Christian blocs all backed him, in a rare
display of unity.
Today, Adib visited neighborhoods recovering
from a devastating Beirut port explosion.
He promised accountability.
MUSTAPHA ADIB, Lebanese Prime Minister-Designate
(through translator): Words fail to describe
this horrific scene. We will try as soon as
the government is formed to speed up the investigations
and to have the investigations' result given
to the public as soon as possible.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Lebanon has also been rocked
by protests over government failures as the
country's economy crumbles.
The first commercial flight from Israel to
the United Arab Emirates landed there today,
now that they have normalized relations. Emirati,
Israeli and American flags waved after the
plane arrived in Abu Dhabi with officials
on hand, including Jared Kushner, President
Trump's son-in-law and adviser.
Back in this country, thousands of people
in Louisiana are still waiting for power to
return after Hurricane Laura. The extent of
the damage crystallized this weekend, as evacuated
residents went home. Estimates for insured
losses are now nearing $9 billion. The storm
killed at least 18 people.
In economic news, Delta, American, and United
Airlines have now all abolished fees for changing
domestic travel plans, hoping to get people
flying again.
And on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial
average lost 223 points today to close at
28430. The Nasdaq rose nearly 80 points to
an all-time high, and the S&P 500 slipped
seven, but had its best August since 1986,
adding 7 percent.
And Hall of Fame basketball coach John Thompson
has died. He made Georgetown University a
national champion and was outspoken about
matters of race.
Jeffrey Brown looks at his life.
MAN: Georgetown will finish the year.
JEFFREY BROWN: John Thompson Jr. made history
that day in 1984, becoming the first Black
head coach to win an NCAA title. He was known
for transforming Georgetown into a powerhouse
and molding basketball greats like Patrick
Ewing and Allen Iverson both on and off the
court.
ALLEN IVERSON, Former NBA Player: Coach Thompson
saved my life. No other schools were recruiting
me anymore. My mom went to Georgetown and
begged him to give me a chance. And he did.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
JEFFREY BROWN: Thompson saw his own role as
going beyond basketball.
JOHN THOMPSON, George University Head Basketball
Coach: I could use it to open a doorway for
myself or for other people. It was an educational
instrument for me.
JEFFREY BROWN: Thompson made a point of recruiting
Black athletes to the predominantly white
campus, and spoke out about injustices he
saw. In 1989, he famously walked off the court
before a game to protest an NCAA scholarship
rule he felt would hurt disadvantaged students.
JOHN THOMPSON: Because of the success we were
having as a basketball coach, and me being
an African American, I had an obligation to
say something about it. So, I did.
JEFFREY BROWN: The NCAA ultimately modified
the rule. John Thompson coached at Georgetown
for 27 seasons and won almost 600 games. He
was 78.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Americans will begin casting
ballots in this fall's general elections in
just a couple of weeks, and Election Day itself
is just a little more than two months away.
But now there is word of changes in how top
U.S. intelligence officials will brief Congress
about other nations' attempts to interfere
in the election.
For more on that, I'm joined by our own Lisa
Desjardins and Nick Schifrin.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, hello to both of you.
Lisa, first of all, tell us a little more
about what is happening and why this matters?
LISA DESJARDINS: Speaking to many sources
today, both parties are very concerned about
threats to election security this year coming
from foreign adversaries.
And I have learned there was scheduled a briefing
for the House Intelligence Committee in mid-September.
But, Friday, John Ratcliffe, the director
of national intelligence, set a letter to
both chambers of Congress -- or sent a letter
to saying that all briefings in-person would
be canceled.
This led to a confusing back-and-forth for
the next 24 hours about what exactly he meant.
And now, it seems, sources are telling me
the understanding -- this is coming largely
from Republicans -- is that now Republican
senators will be briefed, but not House Democrats.
So, just to review, here is what we're talking
about. As a co-equal branch of government,
these are the two committees that usually
are fully briefed, House Intelligence, led
by Democrat Adam Schiff, and Senate Intelligence,
now led by Republican Marco Rubio.
The change, Judy, as we understand it right
now, is that only the Republican Senate Intelligence
Committee -- I'm sorry -- only the Senate
Intelligence Committee, both parties on that
committee, will be briefed fully in-person.
Everyone else will get written statements.
OK, so, why does this matter? First of all,
briefings provide a great deal more information
in-person than on paper. Separately, this
shows the mistrust that is growing between
lawmakers, who usually put politics aside
on this issue.
And it's coming at an important time, Judy.
There are real concerns right now about Russia
in particular attempting to manipulate this
election. And as one senator, Angus King,
pointed out to me on a phone call, there is
a feeling that, in 2016, the public was warned
too late about what Russia was doing, and
there is concern that again the public may
not be aware of what is going on right now.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Nick, what is the intelligence
community saying about this?
NICK SCHIFRIN: Judy, an ODNI official told
me that -- quote -- they're "committed" to
meet their statutory responsibilities to keep
Congress informed, but they wouldn't confirm
what Lisa just reported about whether there
will be some in-person briefings to either
the Senate or the House Intelligence Committees.
As for the motivation, they're very clear.
Those letters that Lisa just mentioned were
sent to congressional leadership and committees
on Friday. And Ratcliffe wrote that he didn't
want information -- quote -- "misunderstood
or politicized."
He told FOX News that that meant he didn't
want to see information leaked.
JOHN RATCLIFFE, U.S. Director of National
Intelligence: We have had a pandemic of information
being leaked out of the intelligence community,
and I'm going to take the measures to make
sure that that stops.
NICK SCHIFRIN: I asked Ratcliffe's office
about leaking. All they would say is that,
"We take unauthorized disclosures of classified
information seriously."
LISA DESJARDINS: And to add to that, Judy,
I asked lawmakers also.
And Senate Republicans could not pinpoint
a specific example of a leak that came from
Democrats that they thought was a problem.
Instead, they said it is a general politicization
of intelligence. Democrats pushed back. They
think they're being penalized for being too
aggressive or more aggressive on this issue.
And some Democrats do believe, as Nick just
reported, that this action could be illegal.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Nick, finally, you have
been also talking to former intelligence officials.
What are they saying?
NICK SCHIFRIN: Yes, these former officials,
Republicans, Democrats, senior career intelligence
officials, they accuse Ratcliffe of misleading
the public on the threat to the election.
In that FOX News interview, he insisted that
China was the U.S.' top threat. And many officials
across the government do believe that China
is the long-term strategic threat that the
U.S. is most concerned about.
But the immediate, overt threat to the election
is Russia. And that was even in a recent statement
released by the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence. It said pro-Kremlin
actors were to denigrate former Vice President
Biden and boost President Trump's candidacy,
whereas China's goal was long term, shape
the policy environment, pressure political
figures considered anti-China, and deflect
criticism.
And that really leads to former officials'
fear of the politicization of the intelligence
community. First, Ambassador Ric Grenell,
a Trump ally with no intelligence experience,
became acting director, and now John Ratcliffe,
nominated and withdrawn last year, also a
Trump ally with no intelligence experience,
confirmed a few months ago.
And now former officials tell me that senior
career intelligence officials are leaving
the intelligence community, for fear it's
being politicized.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And all of this happening just
weeks before the election, before people start
voting.
Nick Schifrin, Lisa Desjardins, thank you
both.
In Belarus, thousands of protesters marked
President Alexander Lukashenko's birthday
yesterday with a derisive chant of "Happy
birthday, psychopath."
This is after a week in which the government
security apparatus furthered their crackdown
on protesters and journalists.
In partnership with the Pulitzer Center, here's
special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky in Minsk.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: The embattled leader's birthday
was all jeering, not cheering, Sunday. Even
still, demonstrators did bring gifts, a funeral
wreath and a coffin. One man marked the day
dressed as the Angel of Death.
Despite intimidation and threats, the Belarusians
people have continued to protest. And this
is exactly what the authorities here don't
want you to see, because, over the last week
they have arrested dozens of journalists.
Many have had their credentials revoked and
many have been sent out of the country altogether.
Belarus ordered a sweeping crackdown on the
media in the lead-up to Sunday's march. These
were the scenes last week when some 50 journalists
were taken into custody as they covered demonstrations
in the capital, Minsk. Nineteen reporters
were stripped of their government press cards,
the foreigners among them expelled, according
to the Belarus Press Club.
Arrests of ordinary rally-goers also continued.
A video shared on social media depicts the
moment a protester attempting to escape police
was dragged off of a bus. In all, close to
500 people were detained last week, according
to Belarus' Interior Ministry.
It's all part of Lukashenko's struggle to
hold on to power after he declared himself
the winner of an August 9 presidential election,
rejected as a fraud by the opposition, the
U.S., and the E.U.
One major power has, however, offered Lukashenko
assistance.
ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, President of Belarus
(through translator): I asked the Russians
to give me two, three teams of journalists
from the most advanced TV. We're not paying
for these Russians at all.
MAN: According to the closest estimates, each
new day of illegal protests costs Belarusians
from $10 million to $20 million.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: The change in tone on Belarusian
state television has not gone unnoticed by
ordinary viewers.
SIARHEI LISICHONAK, Protester: The style of
propaganda has changed. Before that, it was
much more primitive, and now it became more
subtle. We don't want some foreigners brainwash
our people.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: One example of that subtle
change, the main state broadcaster no longer
ignores the very obvious countrywide opposition
rallies. Instead, it presents demonstrators
either as paid foreign agents or useful idiots
with little understanding of why they came
out to protest.
WOMAN (through translator): This week alternative
rallies also took place, not so well attended
during the working week, but they did happen,
and to ignore them wouldn't be right.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: Opposition protesters have
gone to extraordinary lengths to protect the
few independent reporters that dare to cover
the protests.
At a women's march on Saturday, demonstrators
prevented security officers in plainclothes
from detaining a man with a camera who they
had tried to pull from the crowd.
It was a very different atmosphere at one
of the smaller pro-regime rallies the authorities
have hastily thrown together in response to
the three-week-old protest movement.
WOMAN (through translator): The goal of the
protests is to come to power and then tear
us away from Russia. We can't let that happen.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: Riot police were nowhere
to be seen, and television crews and photographers
could operate openly.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Simon Ostrovsky
in Minsk.
JUDY WOODRUFF: This global pandemic has again
driven home the crucial role that our health
care system plays in our health and our well-being.
And, tonight, we begin a special series about
how we provide health care in America, compared
with how it is done elsewhere in the world.
William Brangham and producer Jason Kane filmed
this series in the weeks before the pandemic
broke out.
And William joins me now to explain a bit
more about the series.
So, hi, William.
I know you two worked very hard on this. Tell
us a little about what the series covers.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Well, as you said, Judy,
we started this before the pandemic broke
out.
And the idea was to look at the state of American
health care, how it is today. And, as you
know, this is a country with remarkable innovation
in that field, remarkable innovation. And
yet this is also a country with incredibly
stark disparities.
There's over 30 million people who have no
health care insurance whatsoever. And so we
thought, can we learn something about -- can
we learn something from other nations that
do a better job of covering everybody?
And there is obviously a political side to
this. We saw a big debate going on in the
Democratic primary. We know this is going
to be a big issue in the presidential campaign.
Vice President Biden wants to expand the Affordable
Care Act and get us closer to universal coverage.
President Trump says he wants to get rid of
the ACA and replace it with something better
and to lower costs.
But we thought, since there are so many nations
that are already doing a very good job of
this, let's go there and see how they're doing
it.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, inevitably, as you say,
it is going to be a part of the campaign.
Where did you go to make these comparisons?
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Well, we went to three countries
that provide good, inexpensive, universal
health care to their people.
And there's been this debate happening in
this country about, is health care, actually
a right? These are nations that are not having
that debate. They're just doing it for their
citizens.
And the key metrics that we looked at here
are access, quality, cost, and how they take
care of the disadvantaged in their societies.
And the U.S., frankly, doesn't do that well
on a lot of those metrics.
So we went to several nations, three in particular,
the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Australia,
all of which measure better. And we wanted
to see, how do they do it? Let's look at exactly
the mechanics of how they get there.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, as you say, you started
filming -- you were filming before the pandemic
broke out. But, of course, since then, it's
become a huge public health concern.
How did you look at how these countries are
dealing with that?
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Well, initially, we are
not looking at that.
We really wanted to stay focused on this issue
of universal care, in part also because the
way these countries responded to the coronavirus
pandemic is only partly influenced by the
structure of their health care systems.
I should say, at the end of this series, we
will have a conversation very specifically
about how they responded to COVID. But we
really wanted to stay focused on, how is it
that these countries are able to cover everyone
at seemingly a reasonable cost, and what might
we learn from that experience?
And so, for that, we begin our story here
in the U.S. in Houston, Texas.
This is a boy saved by American innovation,
a bouncing, rocking, joyful testament to the
miracles of modern American medicine.
His life was transformed here, in what's called
the largest medical city in the world, the
Texas Medical Center in Houston. Here, doctors
test artificial organs built from scratch.
Technicians design robots to speed efficiency.
Surgeons use virtual reality reconstruction
to see tumors inside the body before ever
making an incision. And kids like 6-year-old
Cason Cox come back from near death.
Cason was born with only half his heart functioning
normally, the hints of blue in his skin a
sign of a little body hungry for oxygen. Most
kids with this condition don't live very long.
SAVANNAH COX, Mother of Cason: I can remember
it perfectly. It was pouring rain outside,
of course, and I was by myself. And my doctor
told me that she sees that Cason's heart is
underdeveloped. It was a very few dark days
for me.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But in 2017, using a new
and highly complex surgical technique at the
Texas Medical Center's Children's Memorial
Hermann Hospital, Dr. Jorge Salazar changed
the course of Cason's life.
DR. JORGE SALAZAR, Children's Memorial Hermann
Hospital: Cason was going to die. And had
we done what we have always done, he would
have had a transplant already, or -- it's
a hard thing to say, but he would have passed
away already. But now we have a normal child
in front of us.
SAVANNAH COX: Dr. Salazar came out with the
biggest smile on his face, and he said: "I
did it. You did it. He did it. And it works."
So, I mean, I think we all started crying.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Cason Cox is one story.
The Texas Medical Center performs 180,000
surgeries every year. And it, like other gold
standard medical centers across the U.S.,
draw hundreds of thousands of patients from
around the world. The technologies and innovations
created in the U.S. also get exported globally.
ELENA MARKS, President and CEO, Episcopal
Health Foundation: You see what your options
are around here.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But just a few miles away,
it's a world apart. In North Houston, the
mostly low-income residents here experience
a very different health care story.
ELENA MARKS: I want you to see that, within
just a few miles, you have the very best and
the very worst.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Elena Marks: is the president
and CEO of the Episcopal Health Foundation.
They analyzed CDC data that revealed incredibly
stark inequalities here.
WOMAN: They don't know a discharge date right
now.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The mostly Black residents
here are disproportionately uninsured, and
they often don't get care until it's too late.
They die, on average, 20 years earlier than
residents in other parts of Houston.
ELENA MARKS: You know, the deck is stacked
against you. If you could get to the medical
center, that would be great, but you would
probably be really sick, because of the neighborhood
you live in, by the time you get there.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The U.S. spends more than
$3.5 trillion on health care every year. It's
nearly a fifth of our economy. As a percentage
of GDP, that's almost twice what most developed
nations spend. We spend more than all these
nations combined.
And yet Americans still die of preventable
and treatable diseases at higher rates than
in other high-income countries. Ours has been
called the most expensive, least effective
health care system in the modern world.
Lack of health insurance, or the high cost
of health care, is a huge barrier for millions.
In one recent poll, more than one in three
people said they skipped medical treatment
because of money. That includes people with
health insurance.
And, last year, more than 30 million Americans,
about 9 percent of the country, had no health
insurance at all. Since the pandemic, an estimated
three million more joined their ranks.
For many years, Houston resident Lakeisha
Parker was among the uninsured. She was a
certified nursing assistant.
LAKEISHA PARKER, Former Certified Nursing
Assistant: I was proud of that work. I enjoyed
doing it, because I love to be able to help
people.
So, what I would do is go into people's homes
after their surgeries or illnesses, and assist
them with getting back to life, daily activities
of living, bathing, fixing them a small meal,
going to get their...
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That's very intimate work
with -- right.
LAKEISHA PARKER: It is, very intimate work.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But Parker says the pay
wasn't great. She says the most she ever earned
was about $13 an hour. And it never came with
health insurance she could afford.
LAKEISHA PARKER: I'm actually working in health
care, and can't afford to pay it. That's not
right.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Texas has the highest uninsured
rate in the nation. Roughly 18 percent of
Texans, five million people, don't have insurance.
And the state didn't expand Medicaid, which
would insure more low-income Texans, under
the Affordable Care Act.
So, like many, Parker went for years without
checkups or seeing a regular doctor. Too expensive,
she said. But then she discovered a lump the
size of a tangerine in her breast. It was
malignant cancer.
WOMAN: Relax your arm for me.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Parker found this Houston
clinic that would treat her on a sliding scale,
based on her income. Only after the cancer
diagnosis did she qualify for a special Medicaid
program.
So, the tumor, along with 33 lymph nodes,
were removed. While surgery was a success,
it, along with the chemotherapy and radiation,
left her unable to use one of her arms like
before.
WOMAN: OK. Not bad. OK, let feel underneath
your arm.
LAKEISHA PARKER: Sure.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Do you think, if you had
had health insurance you would have found
this sooner, you would have been going to
the doctor sooner?
LAKEISHA PARKER: If I would have had insurance
for me at that time, health care that I would
have been able to afford, I would have easily
accepted it.
But, again, it comes the question of having
somewhere to live, having something to eat,
gas to get back and forth to work. So...
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Those were the choices you
were wrestling with?
LAKEISHA PARKER: Of course. You know, those
are everyday life choices that a lot of people
have to make based on their income.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The weakness in her arm
cost her, her job. With no money, she lost
her apartment.
LAKEISHA PARKER: And you become homeless if
you cannot pay rent.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Parker is now homeless,
unemployed, and at the time of our interview
living in a shelter.
DR. ASHISH JHA, Director, Harvard Global Health
Institute: Houston represents both what is
the best of American health care and really
what is the worst of American health care.
You have parts of Harris County, which is
where Houston is, where life expectancy is
lower than what you see in many Third World
countries.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Dr. Ashish Jha, who's now
the dean of Brown University's School of Public
Health, traveled with us for this series.
He says that the seeming choice between medical
innovation and universal coverage is a false
one.
DR. ASHISH JHA: I reject that dichotomy as,
somehow, we have to have 20, 25 percent of
people uninsured if we're going to have a
really highly innovative health care system.
There are many reasons to reject that. So,
take a state like Massachusetts, where I live.
It's also very dynamic, incredible new innovations
happening. And yet pretty much everybody in
Massachusetts is covered.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: How do we wrestle with this
idea that we're in a place with this incredible
level of innovation, and technological advancement,
and yet we are seeing these disparities in
health care? What is causing those horrible
end of the numbers?
DR. ASHISH JHA: So, the disparities we see
are driven -- it's some by high costs. Of
course, if health care spending was cheaper,
it would allow us to cover more people.
But there's also a bunch of political choices
we have made. We have just decided, as a society
-- not everyone has decided this, but many
political leaders have -- that it's OK to
have people die from totally preventable,
totally treatable diseases because we're not
going to cover them. That's a political choice.
Of course, I think that's a terrible political
choice. We can cover everybody in America
without bankrupting the country, without creating
long wait times. But we have to decide that
we're going to do that.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For our next three programs,
we travel to the United Kingdom, to Switzerland
and to Australia to look at how they get to
universal coverage, and what the U.S. might
learn, so that America can both embrace its
innovation...
SAVANNAH COX: It just makes me feel good just
to know that he is getting this life that
he deserves.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: ... and address its disparities.
LAKEISHA PARKER: We are still citizens. We
pay taxes. It makes me feel that we don't
matter.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So those two worlds don't
remain so far apart.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham
in Houston, Texas.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And a quick postscript to William's
report.
Lakeisha Parker has a new job at Amazon. It
has benefits, and she will soon be moving
into her own apartment.
Both President Trump and former Vice President
Joe Biden are hitting the campaign trail in
person this week, each delivering remarks
on, among other things, racial tension and
violence in some American cities.
Our Politics Monday team is here now to analyze
each party's message. That is Amy Walter of
The Cook Political Report and host of public
radio's "Politics With Amy Walter," and Tamara
Keith of NPR. She also co-hosts the "NPR Politics
Podcast."
Hello to both of you. Good to see you after
two weeks of conventions.
I want to start with what Joe Biden and the
president are saying about violence and the
source of it.
But, Tam, I want to start with something the
president said just moments ago at a briefing
at the White House. He was asked about the
teenager Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin,
who just a few days ago shot and killed two
Black Lives Matter protesters in the aftermath
of the shooting of Jacob Blake.
And here is what the president said in answer
to a question about Mr. Rittenhouse.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States:
He fell, and then they very violently attacked
him. And it was something that we're looking
at right now, and it is under investigation.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Tam, in essence, the president
defending what Kyle Rittenhouse has done.
He was a 17-year-old carrying a long gun,
and the president is saying it was in self-defense,
in essence.
TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: That
is what the president is saying.
You know, President Trump has this tendency
to, when there are people who support him
or are sort of ideologically aligned with
them, he is very quick to defend them, see
the best in them, look for reasons that they
may not be guilty.
And, of course, this is -- we live in a system
where you're innocent until proven guilty,
obviously, and this is an alleged crime at
this point. But President Trump was much more
quick to blame people on the left for violence
in other cities, including the shooting death
of a right-wing activist who was part of a
caravan in support of President Trump in Portland
over the weekend.
So, this is part of a longstanding pattern
that President Trump has, where he has difficulty
finding the right words, or whatever you want
to call it, condemning violence that is ideologically
aligned with him.
And he has a much easier time condemning violence
that is not ideologically aligned with him.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Amy, when the president
talks about things like this, when says the
Democrats are going to bring lawlessness,
violence to the American streets, what voters
is he trying to reach?
AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Well,
it is interesting that this is where we are
right now, Judy. It sort of fits, actually,
into what Joe Biden was saying today.
He was out in Western Pennsylvania pushing
back on charges that were raised during the
convention by the president and by a lot of
Republicans that were on the convention stage
that Joe Biden would -- bringing Joe Biden
into the White House would unleash this wave
of violence in the cities.
And Biden said, essentially, wait. Do you
feel safe right now, talking not just about
the violence, but exactly what Tam raised
here, which is, when the president has an
opportunity to lower the temperature, he raises
it. When he has a chance to like calm the
waters, he justice roils them.
And this is what you have been hearing that
from voters over and over again, these voters
that now the president is going after, whether
we're calling them suburban voters or women
voters, who have said time and time again,
while they may like the message, right -- we
don't want violence, we don't want to see
our cities turned into this vigilante sort
of justice -- at the same time, they don't
see the president as having the temperament
to be able to deal with this.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And I mean, Tam, when you when
you think about how Joe Biden is now coming
back, he's saying the president is the one
who's created the conditions for this violence,
he's created an atmosphere of chaos.
Does the White House have an answer? Does
the Trump campaign have an answer for that?
TAMARA KEITH: Well, President Trump was given
an opportunity today. He was asked, do you
want armed militias going into cities, or
do you want law enforcement to handle this?
And he said, well I want law enforcement.
And then he started about going after Democrats
for the idea of defunding the police.
The campaign response, they had a call today,
sort of a prebuttal to the Biden campaign
speech, and here's a quote from someone who
was a surrogate for President Trump. This
person said: "In Trump's America, this will
stop."
There's a little bit of cognitive dissonance,
because this is Trump's America. What the
president and the campaign and the White House
will say is, in places where they accept the
help of the federal government, in places
where the National Guard goes in or federal
law enforcement, then things calm down, and,
in places where they don't, chaos reigns.
It's a difficult argument for an incumbent
to make, that things that are happening in
his country while he is president are not
his responsibility.
But I talked to a longtime Trump adviser,
who said, there's no cognitive dissonance
here. President Trump sees himself as an outsider.
He's going to run as an outsider. He sees
that he's the outsider here, even though he
is president of the United States.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Amy, pick up on that.
I mean, looking historically, I mean, other
candidates, in fact, Richard Nixon in the
'60s and others, Republicans, have tried to
use this law and order argument. How successful
has it been? And how hard is it for the Democrats
to push back against it?
AMY WALTER: Right.
And Tam is totally right that, when you're
an incumbent, and bad things are happening
on your watch, it's really hard to turn it
on the other person, especially in the case
when that other person happens to be Joe Biden.
And he said in his speech today: "You know
me. Do I look like a radical socialist with
a soft spot for rioting?"
I mean, this has been the challenge for Republicans
from the get-go is, in Joe Biden, they have
a very difficult target. He does not sort
of fit the stereotype of the kind of candidate
they were hoping to run against, somebody
who identifies as a socialist or somebody
who would have more sympathies with some of
the folks that are leading these protests
and some of the riots that are going on there.
So, that's challenge number one. And, as I
said, the other challenge for the president
is having a believability on the issue, or
at least being seen as a broker on this issue
that they can trust.
TAMARA KEITH: I would just add that...
JUDY WOODRUFF: Such a tough subject.
TAMARA KEITH: Yes.
We are, however, on President Trump's ground
right now. This whole conversation is President
Trump's ground.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Right. Yes. it was the pandemic,
and now we're talking about the protests.
TAMARA KEITH: Exactly.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Tamara Keith, Amy Walter, thank
you both.
TAMARA KEITH: You're welcome.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And we ask you to stay with
us as we take a look at our August pick for
"NewsHour"/New York Times book club, Now Read
This.
But, first, take a moment to hear from your
local PBS station. It's a chance to offer
your support, which helps to keep programs
like ours on the air.
Now a look back at one of our favorite things,
John Yang's conversation with stage and screen
legend Julie Andrews.
This encore presentation is part of our arts
and culture series, Canvas.
JOHN YANG: Both "Sound of Music" and "Mary
Poppins" were touchstones in my early...
JULIE ANDREWS, Actress: In your youth? Yes.
JOHN YANG: My youth.
JULIE ANDREWS: Actually, they were in mine
too.
(LAUGHTER)
EMMA WALTON HAMILTON, Daughter of Julie Andrews:
And mine as well.
JOHN YANG: And yours as well.
EMMA WALTON HAMILTON: Yes.
JOHN YANG: And then, talking to my colleagues,
they are showing their children.
JULIE ANDREWS: Yes. Isn't that phenomenal?
I mean, that's a bonus and that you just don't
expect, but those timeless, good musicals
and they were so beautifully made.
JOHN YANG: Andrews' legendary career includes
the stage, movies, TV, concerts, and recordings.
She's a dame commander of the British Empire
and has six Golden Globes, three Grammys,
two Emmys, an Oscar, and a Kennedy Center
honor.
Andrews and Hamilton, a professional writer
and arts educator, have written more than
30 books for children and young adults. They
wrote Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood
Years as a team.
Emma, as you were growing up, were there movies
or projects of your mothers that were particular
favorites?
EMMA WALTON HAMILTON: Oh, I was pretty much
there most of the time on set for most of
the films. I couldn't sit through "The Sound
of Music" for years without weeping, because
any time I saw my mother cry on film, I burst
into tears myself.
JULIE ANDREWS: Yes, she'd suddenly say, I'm
just going out for a little bit, blinking
very furiously.
EMMA WALTON HAMILTON: Yes.
But I have to say, probably now, among my
favorites of her films is "Hawaii."
I think her performance in it is so different
than many of her other films and so strong.
JOHN YANG: Of the three early ones you made,
"Americanization of Emily," one of your favorites.
JULIE ANDREWS: It's the virtual war that is
the fraud, not war itself. It's the valor
and the self-sacrifice and the goodness of
war that needs the exposing.
It's a very timely theme, more than ever maybe,
about the folly and excess of war and the
needlessness of it.
JOHN YANG: Writing about your early days in
Vaudeville, you talked about the contrast
between the glamorous appearance of life in
the theater and the rather shabby reality
of it backstage.
JULIE ANDREWS: Yes.
JOHN YANG: And you give us a lot of examples
in your moviemaking, particularly of that
wonderful opening scene of "Sound of Music."
The camera discovers you on a mountaintop.
JULIE ANDREWS: Yes, but actually being photographed
by a cameraman hanging from the side of a
helicopter.
I kept being dashed to the ground by the downdraft
from the jet engines. But every time, I came
up with grass and hay all over me.
(LAUGHTER)
JOHN YANG: One lyric in the movie you never
quite got.
JULIE ANDREWS: There's just one tiny line
I really didn't know how to sing.
And I just thought the best thing to do is,
since I'm out in the wild and so on, just
say sing through the night like a lark. It
was learning to pray, I go to the hills, and
carry on very fast after that.
JOHN YANG: For her very first film, "Mary
Poppins," she won the Oscar.
JULIE ANDREWS: I know, a stunning surprise.
I didn't expect to.
And I really thought for a while that maybe
was given to me as a kind of welcome to Hollywood
gesture. And what a lucky, lucky moment in
my life.
JOHN YANG: The book focuses on the importance
of family, Emma, the child of her first marriage
to theater director Tony Walton, two step-children,
Jennifer and Geoffrey, from her second marriage
to noted film director/writer/producer Blake
Edwards, and the two daughters she and Edwards
adopted, Amelia and Joanna.
Edwards, who died in 2010, directed Andrews
in seven movies, including "10" and "Victor/Victoria."
JULIE ANDREWS: I love the unity that it provides.
And working with Blake, I felt so very safe
in his embrace, so to speak. And I knew that
I didn't have to worry about a thing, but
on camera.
But just sticking together, traveling together,
being together, it's why home in Home Work
is there, because making a home, keeping family
together means so much to me.
EMMA WALTON HAMILTON: There's a sweet story
in the book of when she flew in to surprise
me for my 15th birthday. And she only left
about two weeks prior to go back to work in
Europe.
And I came home from school and discovered
her sitting on my bed completely wrapped in
wrapping well, crepe paper, I guess it was.
JULIE ANDREWS: Yes.
EMMA WALTON HAMILTON: And then I burst into
tears, happy tears.
JULIE ANDREWS: Yes. Thank God, yes.
JOHN YANG: Yet not all the memories are happy.
JULIE ANDREWS: Blake was a very depressive
personality, and yet devastatingly funny.
But when he was in a bad way, it was very
sad.
JOHN YANG: You felt the need to make things
better, to make people happy.
JULIE ANDREWS: Well, it's sort of my job in
a way, John, if you think about it, being
on stage all my life. It's about hopefully
giving joy. And I love to do it.
JOHN YANG: In her next book, Andrews also
expects to deal with the emotional impact
of losing her sing voice after throat surgery
in 1997, though she says she can't discuss
the procedure itself.
JULIE ANDREWS: Unfortunately, I can't talk
about it, since it was part of my agreement
in a settlement where I gave all the settlement
to charity and so on.
But it was a devastating time in my life.
JOHN YANG: She's still working, though, recently
creating and appearing in "Julie's Greenroom"
on Netflix.
The children's series produced with The Jim
Henson Company is about puppet staging their
own musical under the watchful eye of Andrews,
now herself a grandmother of 10 and great-grandmother
of three.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang in New
York.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Before we go, the latest from
our Now Read This book club.
Our August pick was "Beijing Payback," a fast-paced
thriller about a young American's discovery
of his late father's involvement in a vast
Chinese crime syndicate.
You can find the full conversation between
Jeffrey Brown and author Daniel Nieh online.
But let's listen to an excerpt.
DANIEL NIEH, Author, "Beijing Payback": That's
a key sort of feeling in the United States,
is that we're individuals and we have our
own desires, and we want to do what we want
to
But, at the same time, we're subject to the
gravitational pull of history and of our families.
And so everything that we think and feel and
everything that we enjoy, all the privileges
we enjoy are produced by our parents for us
and our societies for us.
And Victor is discovering that. He's discovering
that he's linked inextricably to his father's
past. And, of course, there's a sense in which
this is a metaphor for the relationship between
the United States and China. We buy a lot
of things from China.
And every time we buy cheap things at the
store that were manufactured overseas we're
participating in the biggest economic relationship
in the world. It has immense consequences
for everyone who's involved.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Daniel Nieh. The book is "Beijing
Payback."
And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight. I'm
Judy Woodruff.
For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank
you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon.
