Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20170908

A woman jumped up, screaming and crying and running out of the room. What she said is, you are telling my story. How did you get into my head . Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Carnegie corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff Hurricane Irma has lost just a bit of intensity, but its danger is undiminished. Sustained winds dropped slightly today, to 175 miles an hour. But its still a category five, and still heading for florida. In its wake, the storm left at least 10 dead, and heavy damage, in the northern caribbean. William brangham begins our coverage. Brangham whole islands lay wrecked today, 24 hours after taking direct hits by Hurricane Irma. Destruction on barbuda spread as far as the eye could see. The Prime Minister said 95 of the buildings are damaged, or simply gone. We just did a fly over and i have to tell you, my heart sunk and this has been one of the worst days of my life. So i know how you must feel as barbudans. The entire country has been decimated, i have never seen anything like this before. Brangham the storms record breaking power also smashed the surrounding islands. Seen from above today, the frenchdutch island of saint martin was in ruins. The dutch navy flew in supplies and troops by helicopter because st. Martins airport and harbor were damaged beyond use. The dutch Prime Minister said even reaching the battered island was a challenge. translated there is widespread destruction of infrastructure, of homes and businesses. There is no power, no petrol, no running water. Brangham to the west, the hurricane battered st. Thomas in the u. S. Virgin islands. Social media video showed one family fighting to keep windows closed as the storm passed over, and their home filled with water. Puerto rico was also ravaged, and woke this morning to its own devastation. More than one Million People had lost power, and authorities said there was no way to know how long the outage would last. A story also circulated of a miraculous flight by a Delta Airlines plane from new york to san juan. The pilot managed to land in puerto rico safely, and then quickly take off again with a final load of passengers, just before the storm closed in. By late today, irma roared past the northern coasts of the dominican republican and haiti. Its sweeping over turks and caicos and the bahamas tonight, and beginning its run past cuba. By the weekend, a turn north takes it over Floridas Atlantic coast, and north to georgia and the carolinas. Skies were still blue over turks and caicos this morning, but people were hurrying to stock up before the storm rolled in. I wanted to make sure that i was very prepared this time so ive done everything. Im going to go home shortly and im going to be filling in bins of water just in case we dont have access to water in the next couple of days. Brangham south florida is bracing for what could be the worst hurricane its seen in decades. Shelves were already empty at stores in miami today, highways were clogged with people heading north, and people waited for flights at miamis main airport. Governor rick scott warned floridians everywhere to take heed. It is wider than our entire state and could cause major and lifethreatening impacts on both coasts, coast to coast. Regardless of which coast you live on, be prepared to evacuate. Brangham preparations were also underway farther north. A mandatory Evacuation Order was issued today for savannah, georgia, and georgia, as well as north and south carolina, have all declared states of emergency ahead of irmas arrival. The damage wrought by the hurricane could be compounded by yet another storm. Hurricane jose is poised this weekend to hit some of the same caribbean islands already hammered by irma, and a third hurricane, katia, is still brewing in the gulf of mexico. For the pbs newshour, im william brangham. Woodruff where irma actually makes landfall on the u. S. Mainland could make all the difference for places like miami. Thats where ed rappaport is, closely watching the storms path. Hes acting director of the National Hurricane center. Ed, first of all, what is the very latest on the direction of this storm . At this hour the hurricane is located about 650 miles off of the florida peninsula. And unfortunately its moving in that direction and the forecast we have is for the center to continue in that direction and then take a turn to the north, very near or over the florida peninsula. And if that does occur, then indeed we will have potentially devastating impacts on the florida peninsula and florida keys. Woodruff how strong could it still be at that point . At this point the hurricane is at the upper level or upper category of five, highest winds on our scale. And we think that it will be either a category five or category four when it comes ashore. The difference isnt going to make there wont be a big difference in terms of the impact. It will be potentially devastating. We have concerns, usually for the water, and of course that is the case here with storm surge and rainfall, but this storm is so strong that in fact the winds are also going to be a great risk for property and life from Hurricane Irma. Woodruff so the message from this to residents of the entire state of florida is what . At this point they need to prepare, for south florida, all the preparations need to be complete by tomorrow, by friday because the initial Tropical Storm force winds which are the threshhold beyond which you should not be outside, it becomes dangerous, those are going be arriving saturday morning, it appears in south florida and the weather will deter rate further from then, with the worst of the conditions being saturday night into sunday. All preparations need to be complete. There are evacuations under way. And we urge everyone to follow the advice of their local Emergency Management officials. Woodruff i remember as harvey was bearing down on texas and the gulf coast, ed, some days ago, you were saying at that point harvey was not changing in its strength and its predict ability. How is irma different in that regard . How much change could we see at this point . Much like harvey we dont expect there to be much change in terms of the strength of the hurricane and thats really bad news. Because its considerably stronger than harvey was, category five hurricane. And our biggest concern is going to be in addition to the wind and potential rainfall is going to be storm surge. This map shows where the greatest risk from storm surge is, could see five to ten feet of surge. Thats the water, inundaition of above ground level. We will have waves atop of that. We have a storm surge watch in place which mean there is the potential for life threatening storm surge within the next 48 hours. So particularly along the coast and in florida, that is where most of the lives have been lost, at the coast, with the storm surge, this is the area that needs to be most prepared for the water and then even inland though, you are going to have risk from very strong wind. Woodruff it looks like a lot of square miles. Ed rappaport working hard on yet another major hurricane. Thank you, ed. Thank you. Woodruff regardless of where the eye of irma strikes, florida is poised to get hit hard by winds and flooding. Residents throughout the state are bracing for the worst. Our p. J. Tobia is there. I know you just arrived, you are on the Atlantic Coast of the state. Tell us exactly where you are and what you are looking at. Thats right, judy, im here in port can av ral, not too far from orlando. This port is the second largest cruiseship port in the world. It sees millions of cruiseship passengers a year. And its been a flurry of activity since we got here a few hours ago. The cruiseships are coming in from all directions, disgowrnlg disgorging passengers and taking off for safer waters where the hurricane isnt going to be. I was talking to the director of this port not too long ago, he said that in just the last 48 hours more than 10,000 cruiseship customers have had their cruises cut short. While we were speaking he got a phone call from a carnival cruiseship on its way here and was saying they were rerouting to new orleans. So a lot of peoples travel plans being disrupted by this storm 6789 the cruiseship industry brings florida about 8 billion each year. It is a lot of disruption. This port also a major source for natural gas coming into the state. And also motor fuel. So people are worried about price rises in filling their tanks over the coming weeks. Woodruff so i see a little bit of blue sky behind you. So the storm has clearly not hit yet. But how are people who get off these ships, who are dropped there when they thought they were going to be traveling, what are they doing . Thats actually a big worry. There are no vacant hotel rooms in this area or really anywhere in the state of florida, according to folks we have spoken to. And just trying to book our own travel in the area was a challenge. And that is why some ships are now being di verted from this location to other places in the region that are hopefully not going to be harmed by the storm. The airport also was completely jammed. And just for people who live in this area, we saw long lines around gas stations, many gas stations out of fuel entirely. Woodruff we cant imagine that. You will be reporting for is from there at port can av ral on the Atlantic Coast, thank you. Thank you, judy. Woodruff many streets in miami beach were under water just last month after seven inches of rain. Now the city is one of the places in florida under a mandatory Evacuation Order. Residents spent today piling sand bags and battening down before leaving town. I spoke by phone with miami beachs mayor philip levine, a short time ago. Mayor philip levine, thank you very much for talking with us. Your Evacuation Orders were affective today. How are people complying . Really good so far. As a matter of fact, i have been all over the city all day and literally seeing people leaving. Ts quiet, the streets areaving. Deserted, and from a town that you can imagine is always packed now the streets are empty which is a very good thing. I started urging and encouraging the residents and visiters to leave miami beach literally two to three days ago because we felt we didnt want to wait for an evac yaition order. We wanted people to start getting going and get through their plan or leave miami beach as soon as possible. Woodruff what are you preparing for . What are you telling people to prepare for . Of course theyre leaving so i assume you have a much smaller population but what are you preparing for . Listen, it is a very power storm, a historically powerful storm it is so aggressive, it is coming our way. We hope it doesnt. We are planning for the worst. Were hoping for the best. We brought in emergency generators, emergency pumps. We have given out free sand for sand bags to our residents in multiple locations. Weve closed down construction sites, tied down our public and private machine ree and things that could potentially become debris. Were working very close with the county offering bus service, trolley service, to get folks to shelters across, not on the island but on the main land. So were doing everything we possibly can preventively and of course constantly communicating with our residents and visitors so they understand what to do and how serious this situation is. Woodruff that is one of the questions i wanted to ask you. Is where are people going. And how are you cooperating with other injures dictions in the area, other cities, the county and so forth . Very well. I got to tell you, miami dade county, miami, everyone works very well together. Weve had various crisis. This is something unbelievably serious in nature. And the Machine Works well. So people are responding, people are listening. Obviously theres traffic and gridlock throughout the state. But i could tell you that on miami beach right now, weve done everything in our power to evacuate the city, and lock things down for what we expect to be a very powerful, very dangerous storm. Woodruff are you going to remain in miami beach . 100 percent, absolutely. I will be bunk erred down with the command staff in a hardened location which is the best place for us, is the actual Major Hospital here mount sinai hospital, that is where i will be riding out the storm. Woodruff and as you do prepare in these final hours, what are you most worried about . Well, im most worried about any residents that dont believe that this is very serious. That would show want to stay here. I know some of the conned minuteium buildings are turning off electricity, turning off water and literally turning off the air conditioning. And that is a pretty big incentive for those residents to leave the building and leave miami beach. That of course is the major concern, coupled with besides just the wind damage, were very concern about tidal surge. We know when a storm like this comes in, we understand how high you could have a storm surnlg come, and that could be very devastating to the city. Woodruff mayor philip levine, preparing for this very big storm, thank you so much. Thank you woodruff cuba is also preparing for irmas wrath. Less than a year after parts of the island were hit hard by Hurricane Matthew. For more on the situation there, i spoke a short time ago with Richard Paterson in havana. Hes lived in cuba for two decades as the representative for care, the International Aid group. I began by asking about where preparations stand now. Were right now preparing in the sense of refreshing our contacts with suppliers of relief items, reviewing the list of items that we need to procure, to respond to the needs of the population. Woodruff what exactly do you expect those needs will be . We anticipate that coastal communities are going to be severely affected, heavy rains, strong winds, storm surge will no doubt result in flooding to particularly coastal communities. And people will have to leave their homes, seek higher ground. The cuban Civil Defense has evacuation plans in place and are kicking in. But then cares response kicks in when people start returning home. Typically we provide hygiene goods, water handling and water pure if i kaition supplies. Basic house hold supplies because its likely that people will have lost virtually everything at home. Woodruff how well equipped is the cuban government to handle this . Just to give folks a sense of the state of preparation there. Cubas Civil Defense has evacuation plans, very effective at their evacuating of families, people that are in particularly vulnerable situations. So there are centers ready to receive families where theres drinking water, where theres food and a year ago when hurricanematthew hit there were upwards of 500,000 people that had to be evacuated. And that happened quite smoothly. Woodruff as i understand it Evacuation Orders have not yet gone into effect, just from a human standpoint. How are the cuban people dealing with this . Its a struggle for sure. Particularly in guantanamo province which went through or faced Hurricane Matthew less than a year ago. At the same time, they have some experience and there are clear orientations from the cuban Civil Defense in terms of how families need to prepare whether its protecting their homes, whether its necessary evacuating, whether its storing supplies, there are clear guidance available and its disseminated extensively amongst the population that is potentially going to be hit by the storm. Woodruff Richard Paterson with the Care Organization in cuba, thank you very much. And we wish you the best in dealing with this. Thanks very much, judy. Woodruff in the days other news, the u. S. Senate approved more than 15 billion in Hurricane Harvey relief, nearly double what the house had passed. The senate bill also raises the federal debt ceiling and funds the government through early december. It returns to the house tomorrow, for final approval. Well return to this story, after the news summary. The credit Monitoring Firm equifax reports a major new data breach. The company says it could affect roughly 143 million americans, or more than a third of the u. S. Population. Between may and july, cyber intruders gained access to everything from customer names to Social Security numbers to addresses. President trump today issued a new warning to north korea to stop launching missiles and Testing Nuclear weapons. He spoke at an afternoon news conference, and said u. S. Military action is still an option. Is it inevitable . Nothing is inevitable. Itll be great if Something Else could be worked out. We would have to look at all of the details all of the facts. So i would prefer not going the route of the military but its something certainly that could happen. Woodruff the north had its own warning today, against any new sanctions. In a statement, the government in pyongyang said we will respond to the barbaric plotting. And pressure by the United States with powerful Counter Measures of our own. Meanwhile in south korea, 300 protesters clashed with police. The trouble erupted as the south deployed more u. S. Missile defense launchers. Syria says israeli warplanes staged an air raid in western syria today. A number of reports said the target was connected to the regimes chemical weapons program. The site is near the mediterranean coast, in an area heavily defended by syrias russian and iranian allies. The israelis would not confirm or deny the strike. Back in this country, donald trump junior again denied coordinating with russians during the president ial campaign. The Associated Press cited his prepared remarks to senate investigators. In them, the president s son acknowledged he met with a russian lawyer last summer, and hoped for damaging information on hillary clinton. But, he also said i did not collude with any Foreign Government and do not know of anyone who did. Education secretary betsy devos called today for an overhaul of how colleges investigate sexual assaults. She charged that obamaera guidelines encourage intimidation and coercion of the accused, and force schools to go too far. Devos signaled major changes are coming, but gave no details. And on wall street, the Dow Jones Industrial average lost almost 23 points to close at 21,784. The nasdaq rose four points, and the s p 500 slipped about half a point. Still to come on the newshour senator Richard Durbin on the prospects for President Trump making more deals with democrats. The federal debt ceiling debate in context, and why you should care. One womans decision to stop hiding her financial struggles, and much more. Woodruff its said necessity is the mother of invention. In washington, d. C. This week, the need to find funding to help those hurt by harvey seems to have forced some unlikely alliances. Our john yang reports. Yang today, President Trump suggested his fiscal deal with Congressional Democrats could be just the beginning. I think thats a great thing for our country. And i think thats what the people of the United States want to see. They want to see some dialogue. Yang earlier, there was another sign of bipartisan collaboration mr. Trump reassured dca recipients hat they have nothing to worry about as the program winds down. The inspiration for that a phone conversation with House Democratic leader nancy pelosi. When he called this morning, i said to him, thanks for calling. People really need a reassurance from you, mr. President , that the sixmonth period is not a period of roundup. I was reporting to my colleagues, i said, this is what i asked the president to do, and then, boom, boom, boom, the tweet appeared. Yang Republican Leaders are trying to put the best face on the president s alliance with democrats. He was interested in making sure that it was a bipartisan moment while were responding to yang but the leader of thed conservative 155member House Republican Study Committee wrote ryan opposing the deal. And moderate Nebraska Republican ben sasse was one of 17 republicans to vote against it in the senate. This is an embarrassing moment for a Republican Controlled Congress and a republicancontrolled administration. Yang but for now, the republican president seems to be trying to get things done in congress with democratic votes. For the pbs newshour, im john yang. Woodruff i spoke a short while ago with Senate Minority whip dick durbin. And i started by asking the illinois democrat how surprised he was by the deal President Trump struck with his party yesterday. Well, i thought it was interesting because what we proposed to the president was very basic. Lets provide the disaster aid for Hurricane Harvey victims, lets put that money on the table. I might add there is money added for those that are going to suffer from irma. 57bd secondly we said lets not shut down the government. Lets make sure it is funded. And third lets extend the debt sealing in this country so there is no threat to the economy. We offered a three month package and said there will be no wasted time in debate, we can do it and do it tomorrow. The president said ill take it i think it was the right decision. Woodruff do you think democrats are going to be able to work with the president on other big issues like health care, like tax reform . Well, i hope so. And i might add to that, daca and the dream act. It was kind of a stunning decision this week announced by attorney general sessions and the president that they were going to end daca. It broke my heart, i introduced the dream act 16 years ago and am still trying to make it the law of the land. Ological 800,000 young people depend on it to stay in the United States without fear of deportation. And the president ended it on tuesday. But i saw it not so much as an epitaph, as an opportunitiment we heard from the white house quickly, we want to do something. We want to respond to this with a law that we can back. The president called Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi again this morning and repeated the same thing. I will take him at his word. We have an opportunity to Work Together on a bipartisan basis to do the right thing for these young people. Woodruff i do want to ask you about that, but quickly as you know, there are progressives in your party who are critical of leadership saying they should have attached the dream act, daca to this deal over spending, over the debt ceiling. Judy, its simple math. To pass anything in the United States senate takes 60 votes. We have 48 democrats. I need 12 republicans to make the dream act the law of the land. If we said that we were going to withhold relief for the Hurricane Harvey victims until the republicans came around, imagine how that would have played out that is not the way to get it done. We have committed ourselves to passing the dream act this year, putting it on mustpass legislation in the senate so the house takes it up. And were getting good signals from the white house in terms of being open to this approach. So i know theyre as anxious as i am. But lets do it the right way and do it effectively. Woodruff what do you think the outlines of a compromise are going to be . You said you were open to some sort of security measures. I believe you said that should not include a border wall. What exactly do you see as the components of the deal . When we close the deal on comprehensive Immigration Reform it passed the senate with 68 votes. Bipartisan role call but we passed it in the last thing to close the deal was Border Security. We voted for more money than i thought was necessary but enough to satisfy republicans to join us. Now weve told them if they want to talk about Border Security again, were not going to protect the dreamers by having more deportations of their parents. Thats unacceptable. Were not going to buy a 2200 mile wall am and we are going to be very sensitive to sanctuary city issue in chicago an other places. Beyond that, if they want to put more technology and resources on the border that doesnt assault what i just described, i think there will be a real opening for discussion. Woodruff what about the proposal by those like senator tom coton and others who were saying well, its okay to do something to protect the dreamers but weve got to do is stop immigration at spouses and unmarried children. In other words, it has just become too openended. Well, i can tell you that tom cotton goes after an aspect of Immigration Reform which we debated at length in our bipartisan approach. And its controversial. And there are many members of the senate who voted for the comprehensive bill on the republican side, without dont embrace toms approach to this. So you know, if we are going to do comprehensive Immigration Reform, im open to that. And lets get into the debatement but for the time being lets protect daca and the dreamers. Lets make that the law of the land and save all the other myriad issues of immigration for a later discussion. Woodruff could the president s move this week to rescind what president obama did ultimately turn out to be better for the dreamers. Because if you end up with a law that protects them, isnt that better than having had a president ial mem dumb. It absolutely is. And when i asked president obama a along with my colleagues to create by executive order some protection for dreamers, it was simply because we couldnt pass a law at that time. We didnt have the votes to do it in the United States senate. So now if we can pass a law, a permanent law that protects the dreamers, it is all the better. This what looked like an epitaph could turn into an opportunity. Woodruff senator, another thing i want to quickly ask you about. As you know, one of your democratic colleagues center hide camp flew on air force one with President Trump when he was visiting her home state. Is that something you and other Democratic Senators should do, is that an appropriate thing to do. She even stood on stage with President Trump. Well, if i heard it correctly, he invited her on stage, and then described her as a good woman. I cant tell you how much joking heidi has taken today from her democratic colleagues about that little trip. But is it wrong for a democrat to travel with the president to go somewhere with the president , of course not. And the same would have been true under president obama. Republicans were invited to travel with him. Thats not inappropriate at all. If we can find some common ground, if she can help us find common ground, more power to her. Woodruff final question, what do you see happening on tax reform which the president says is his number one priority next month. Well, i hope we can get some basic agreements. First, is this about another tax break for the wealthiest people in america, its a nonstarter with democrats. Secondly at the end of the day we want to make sure that its a good accounting, that we use cbo scoring, that we dont make up some rules about the impact of tax cuts, for example, on the deficit. And finally my big talking about, this president spent so much time talking about working families falling behind, that their wages just prbt keeping up. That they werent being rewarded for their productivity. I agree. Lets make the tax code go to work for working families in america. That to me would be a real plus for economic growth. Woodruff just quickly, do you see any prospects for passion healthcare reform . I think we can. We just had meetings in the last few days with lamar alexander, patty murray, republican, democrat. We had Insurance Commissioners and governors from many states. We had over 50 senators from both parties show up. There is a real appetite to do something instead of just making speeches. Wouldnt it be great for america if we on a bipartisan approach made our Healthcare System stronger . Health care more affordable and didnt give up on the quality of our Health Insurance policies . That should be our goal. Woodruff devil is in the details. Senator Richard Durbin of illinois, thank you very much. Thanks, judy. Woodruff as we just discussed with senator durbin, a threemonth agreement between trump and Congressional Democrats to raise the debt ceiling Means Congress ducks a political debate that has dogged them in the past. But in december, that recurring pitched battle will rear its head again. So what is the debt ceiling, and where did it come from . Lisa desjardins puts it in context. Desjardins lets start with how the debt ceiling works. It sounds obvious, like the capitol dome. An absolute height limit on debt. But the truth is it does not work that way. The u. S. Government is the largest spender on earth. Trillions of dollars a year. But the u. S. Doesnt bring in as much as it spends. So each year we borrow the difference and keep adding to our debt, also the largest on earth. The debt limit says borrowing must go no higher than here. The problem . In reality the spending was already in motion workers salaries, weapons delivered, buildings built, programs underway. If we hit the debt limit, the spending has happened, but it would mean the u. S. Couldnt pay some of the bills that are due, including loan payments, leading to possible default. It would be dramatic. So this debt ceiling thing is routine or is it the end of the world . Both. Desjardins what could happen if we dont raise the debt limit . The u. S. Would not be able to pay all of its bills, that could include paying its loans. And defaulting on u. S. Loans would have dire consequences, changing our nations good Credit Rating and sending out a financial wave that could raise mortgage and other rates. That was not the idea at the start. Debt limits began in world war i in an effort to give treasury more power, the debt limit let treasury take on loans up to a certain level, and that level was initially set relatively high above debt needs. After world war ii the limits became tighter, and congress had to vote nearly every year to raise them. Then came the 21st century, starting in 2001, a jump in spending and in deficits sparked years of debt concern, standoffs in congress over the debt ceiling so regular they were parodied. Congressman ryan, would you vote to raise the debt ceiling . As the late great Lionel Ritchie once said, oh what a feeling, i am dancing on the debt ceiling. Desjardins so all that brings us to now. And one other important point about how the debt ceiling works, when exactly do we hit it . How do we know . This gets me to one of my favorite debt ceiling facts. The National Debt is tracked every day, to the penny, by a small group of treasury workers in parkersburg, west virginia. Those workers in west virginia,. When we hit the debt ceiling have a tricky job they move things around to keep us under the debt limit, holding off on some investments, waiting to issue some internal debt. These are called extraordinary measures. Sometimes treasury can keep the u. S. Hovering right at the debt limit for many months using this fiscal slight of hand. But, of course, it is just a delay tactic, until congress and the president agree to push up the debt limit again. One conclusion we have a new inevitable to death and taxes now add the u. S. Continually bumping up against its debt ceiling. For the pbs newshour, im lisa desjardins. Woodruff stay with us, coming up on the newshour can the next generation of american tennis players put their country back on top . And a brief but spectacular take from the first female director of the National Book foundation. But first, earlier this year, our economics correspondent, paul solman, profiled Elizabeth White. She was once comfortably middle class, yet found herself struggling to make ends meet as she got older. Paul recently checked back in with white and discovered that her story has touched a nerve. Its part of our series, making sense which airs every thursday. Reporter every sunday afternoon, Elizabeth White heads to malcolm x park near her home in washington, d. C. For a therapy session with a drum circle. I can work it all out in that park and just dance. Everybodys dancing and its festive and its free. Reporter we first met white in january after she had just selfpublished a book, 55, unemployed, and faking normal. Everybody is pretending. Reporter and thats why you call the book faking normal . Right, because theres a lot of pressure to seem like you are doing well. Reporter in fact, white had long been on the edge of the financial cliff. Despite a career at the world bank, graduate degrees from Johns Hopkins and harvard, shed been unable to find steady work since the great recession. Shed once made six figures, but now struggled to pay the mortgage on her townhouse. But you havent been in a situation where you literally couldnt afford whatever it is, the condo fee, or . Oh, absolutely, i have. I right now have to park outside because im in arrears on the condo fee, right now. Reporter and shed refinanced to the hilt, taken in a boarder. Well, you havent used food stamps. But i have. I have had to. Reporter white worked scattered freelance gigs but still had to borrow money from friends like neighborhood free spirit elijah, a clothing minimalist. Im not a things person. How much money do you think im spending on my attire, okay . Reporter white is far from alone, as we learned at what she calls her resilience circle. Deborah burkholder hadnt had a fulltime job since 2009. I dont have enough to cover january bills if nothing changes. Its hard to predict what will happen the next month, you know, and calculating how many times do i have to go through this until im buried . Reporter nine months later, the economy has improved with the weather. Although overall unemployment ticked up in august, its at a low 4. 4 . Still, more than 30 of job seekers over age 55 have been out of work for more than half a year. No wonder whites story has resonated in the months since her appearance on the newshour. Spoke to groups in san francisco, in boston, in memphis. Reporter so youre becoming the voice of faking normal. Im becoming a voice for sure. Reporter white has done a number of paid speaking gigs. She even did a ted x talk in july. We live in a world where success is defined by income. When you say that you have money problems, youre announcing, pretty much, that youre a loser. When youre a graduate of Harvard Business school, as i am, youre some kind of double loser. Reporter the talk has about 100,000 views already. Im getting a lot of, thank you for just bringing this topic up. I thought i was by myself. I get a few emails every day of stories of whats happening to people. Reporter what is happening to people . People are worried. Someone wrote me that they had to move out of their housing, into subsidized housing. They never expected to land there. They had to give up their car. Theyre doing jobs that they never expected that they would have to do; dog walking and all of this. Reporter have you become more reassured about yourself, as you encounter more and more people who have had this same experience . I have become more convinced that im doing the work im supposed to do. I did a great consultancy, since i saw you, with Senior Service america. Helping low income, older adults find work. Reporter as part of her work with the group, white went to speak to ex factory workers in rural martin, tennessee. The factory had been china, mexico, outsourced somewhere and then they were left at 50, 55, 57 maybe with a High School Education maybe a little bit of college and they were jettisoned out of the workforce. And i got a standing ovation there. The two weeks before that, i was at an event at m. I. T. So, at m. I. T. , these were former high earners, longterm unemployed and hearing the two conversations close together, they were almost exactly the same. It didnt matter whether you gave up salmon or catfish, it was the same conversation. Reporter so, were you surprised when you went to martin, tennessee and saw that factory workers were feeling and talking exactly the same way . Well, and i have a very urban appearance. Reporter yes you do. Yeah. Ive got the hair, diamond nose bolt. I didnt know kind of how this was. None of it mattered. Reporter because in their way, they had been faking normal too. If faking normal means that youre not sharing with people candidly whats happening to you and what youre afraid of, yes. I had a situation here, where i spoke and a woman jumped up, screaming and crying and running out of the room. What she said is, you are telling my story, how did you get into my head . How did you know this was happening to me . How did you convey the pain that im feeling about where ive landed . Ive had men cry. Reporter really . Absolutely. Theres a man who told me he had been living in his car. That was at m. I. T. Hed been living in his car. Reporter this guy was a former high earner, living in his car . Living in his car. Reporter so, where are you financially now . I would say a bit better. Its still feast or famine. It is not the cinderella story, bow on the end. I know thats what people want, i dont think its going to be that for really any of us. Where i am is, i can see a pathway forward. I like what im doing, a lot. I feel like i am contributing, people are getting that affirmation. I feel like i am creating a really interesting casserole of work. Reporter and youre making money by doing speaking engagements . Consulting on this very issue . Its a combination. I sell some books. I do some speaking. I teach and then i have one remaining consultancy from before. The cobbling that together is enough to kind of keep me. Im okay. Reporter but according to whites friend, elijah, whom we bumped into at the park, she has found her purpose. At first it was like, uh, uh, uh, i need help ha ha it was like, you know but then now its like shes got a enough of a footing and now she sees how there are millions like her. Oh ive got a purpose. Ive got to do this reporter life hasnt turned out quite as white expected. She scrimps; doesnt save. But shes drummed up work that matters. You knew that line was coming, right . Living a rich life on a modest income. And not faking normal any more. This is economics correspondent paul solman, updating from washington, d. C. Woodruff plenty of new thrills at this years u. S. Open on the mens side, rafael nadal is still in, Roger Federer is out. But the big news this year is the success of american women. With the legendary Serena Williams absent; she delivered her first child last week; four others stormed into the semifinals. The other great williams sister, venus, joined by three new to this grand stage sloane stephens, madison keys, and coco vandeweghe. Its the first allamerican semifinals since 1981. And its quickly rewriting the story of american tennis. Jeffrey brown reports from flushing meadows, new york. Not even u. S. Tennis officials dared predict this. Last week outside the Arthur Ashe Stadium where the biggest matches are played a talked to the Player Development director martin blackman. How soon before we see another u. S. Open american champion . Not going to put myself on the spot for that one. Not going there. But i would say between 3 and 5 years. Were going to see american women on this court on the final saturday. Who are not named williams. And were going to see american men on that court. Blackman was way off with the women. Venus williams joined by three other americans making their first ever appearance on the semis here. As for american men, that will have to wait. Just one sam querry made it to round 16. In fact, no american man has won here since andy roddick in 2003, the last grand slam title won by an american man. Its a long drought that american tennis officials are determined to end. Its so important. You need it. Its so important. We need american players in here rocking the house. You know, the way Jimmy Connors did, john mcenroe, agassi, sam practices, the demonstration effect for young people. Those were household names, American Sports heroes, honored on the wall of champions here at the flushing meadows, queens, home of the u. S. Open. More recently on the mens side almost all european winners. Especially the four greats who have dominated the sport for more than a decade. Roger federer, rafael nadal, Novac Djokovic and andy murray. It has really been difficult for anyone to rack up more titles or grand slams outside of them. So it was just a little bit of a tough situation to be in. James blake knows first hand just how tough. Retired since 2012, he reached a top ranking of number four in the world in 2006. But he beat federer just once in 11 tries. Do you think tennis lost its power and culture of not getting the best athletes railroad not getting the best training as they are getting in other countries. I dont think it is the training, i think that there is a lot more competition in the states there is basketball, football, baseball, soccer has become more popular, lacrosse has become more popular. Some of the athletes are going to other sports. Former american great jim courior faced plenty of stiff competition from abroad while winning four grand slams in the early 1990s. Today courior serves as captain of the u. S. Davis cup team which competes with teams from other countries. He says players around the world are better than ever, with access to all they need to reach the top. I think we have to understand that the world is very different than it was when americans had nearly 50 of the top hundred players. We had the best coaching 1278s, the best information, the world was not flat to borrow tom freedmans book title. Information wasnt dem october advertised among the internet. As for american women, no one not named williams has won a major championship since 20026789 but a new generation has been on the rise. Washington post Tennis Writer ava wallace. On the womens side there are a lot of optimism, there is people like madison keys and cocoa vand weej. It is what they want to make grand slams and they want to make the second week of grand slams within the usta the sports governing body in this country has been working hard in recent weeks to develop a new pipeline of talent among women and minute. For youngsters theres a program called net generation. They were out in force at the u. S. Open watching the pros. For older player there is a new centralized collaborative approach called team u. S. A. Which offers support including financial subsidies to every american ranked in the top 500. That effort got a huge boost this january with the opening of a 60 Million Dollar 100 plus Court Training center near orlando. Where juniors, collegiate players and pros can live and work part to full time and get a variety of help to supplement their own private culture. Maybe its not just conditioning, maybe it is mental skill, maybe on the road coaching but there is a way that we can help, still preserving that customized team among the individual player, but at the same time, you are leveraging the Performance Team expertise that they need to maximize their potential. It is a model that has been used by a lot of olympic sports. Last week one american player mentored by blackman, 19 year old francis kiapo pushed federer to the limits before falling in five sets. Taylor frits also 19 won his first ever grand slam match here after losing a tough second round match, he gamely talked with us about being part of the new usta approach. I kind of like the team u. S. A. Group. It is all the Young American guys, we all train together, we rooted for each other, we all want each other to do the best and push each other. There is a good competitiveness amongst ourselves. American women on their way to the semifinals also spoke of the camaraderie they feel, and there is mortal ent just behind them. Shelby rogers in the bright yellow shirt seeded number 62 here, one won of the most thrilling matches meeting the higher seeded australian Daria Gavrilova in a u. S. Women opens record, three hours 33 minutes. Afterwards she was tired but happy. I love matches like that, you know, that is why i play the sport, the exeting, the individuality, the fight. Rogers lost to the number four seed in her next match but she is a big believer in the potential of her group of american women coming up after the williams sisters. Venus is still killing it, i love it. But theyve been great mentors for us as well. We genuinely want each other to do well which is a really cool thing to be a part of. Will it work toward putting american men and women atop the tennis world over the long run . Before this weeks string of success by american women, former champion jim courior said this. We have to also realize that this is very much a meritocracy. The thing that i preach to our young kids is we are not entitled to success. Because were american means nothing. The tennis ball has no idea what country you are from when you hit it. We are have to earn it like everybody be else. We have to be as hungry if not hungrier than everyone else and we have to go get it. So thats my message. For the moment, plenty of reason for hope, particularly with the final foursome this weekend. So keep your eye on the bouncing ball. For the pbs newshour im Jeffrey Brown at the u. S. Open in flushing ming oys, new york. Meadows, new york. Woodruff next, another in our brief but spectacular series, where we ask interesting people to describe their passions. Tonight, we hear from lisa lucas, the executive director of the National Book foundation. The organization was established to raise the cultural awareness of great writing in america and presents the National Book awards, which will take place november 15th in new york city. Im loud, i was born loud. I get excited about things that i love. And ive always loved books, ive i love the stories, i love the sentences, i love the paper. I love the way that they smell. The variety of them, the people standing next to you when you shop for them. The fact that any time somebody comes up with a problem in the world or something you dont understand, you can say, theres a book for that. The National Book award has been around since 1950, and 68 years later, its one of the most prestigious literary prizes and awards in the country. It places you alongside people like Flannery Oconnor and ralph ellison, and some of our great authors. It was my first National Book award when Tanehisi Coates won. And i remember being so grateful for his book and for his speech deeply thoughtful take on the United States that we actually live in, to a wider audience. Even though we think of reading as something that we do alone in our rooms by ourselves, we talk about books, and we take the ideas that we learned from books, and the stories that weve heard about books, the characters that weve fallen in love with in books, and we bring them to our conversations. They make us more empathetic. They connect us to one another. They make people who are not like us more human. A child that picks up a book and learns to read, and learns to love reading is the very beginning of a lifelong reader. The more that we make sure that our young peoples literature reflects the reality and experience of the world, that our young people are growing up in today, the more that kids are going to think that books are relevant to them in their lives. That every once in awhile you look at that cover and you see somebody that looks like you, or that lives in a Community Like yours. Im the first the women in this role, and im the first African American woman in this role, and thats first and foremost that everyone whos ever interviewed me has asked me if i am the first woman and the first africanamerican woman, and how it feels to do my job as the it feels like everybody elses job does for them. Feels like i come into work every day, and i work really hard. But on top of that, theres the obstacle of feeling different and feeling like its really truly important to work as hard as i can to make sure that the generation that comes after me and the generation that comes after that can go to work and do their jobs, and feel like its just the pedestrian everyday, ordinary activity, getting up and going to work. My name is lisa lucas, and this is my brief but spectacular take on why books will always matter. Woodruff you can watch more brief but spectacular videos on our website, pbs. Org newshour brief. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and michael gerson. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org this season of Martha Stewarts Cooking School explores treasured recipes from an Extraordinary Part of the world the arabian gulf. Join me in my kitchen as i celebrate its regional ingredients. Well make rustic breads, mouthwatering desserts, and hearty stews with spices made famous by historic trade routes, learn new culinary techniques and creative tips for serving arabian gulf classics, from preparing small bites to showstopping dishes fit for any festive occasion. With its bold flavors and strong traditions, ive been inspired to get into the kitchen and add what i like to call a good thing to an already delicious cuisine. Enjoy. Martha stewarts Cooking School is made possible by. Announcer al jazeera