Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company. Additional support has been provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tisch wnet studios at Lincoln Center in new york, hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan good evening and thanks for joining us. President trump said today he believes he has the votes in the Republicancontrolled Congress to pass his tax reform bill calling for what he claims are record tax cuts by the end of the year if not sooner. Itll be the biggest cuts ever in the history of this country. And i think that theres tremendous appetite. Theres tremendous spirit for it, not only by the people were dealing with in congress, but for the people out there that want to see something. Sreenivasan the republican plan proposes tax cuts of up to 6 trillion and is expected to add up to 1. 5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. But the white house claims the cuts would pay for themselves by boosting u. S. Annual Economic Growth to three percent or more. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell was asked if hes abandoning the goal of a revenueneutral bill. Actually were not, because thats a rather conservative estimate of how much growth youll get out of this pro growth tax reform, which reduces rates for the middle class, which makes it considerably less likely that jobs go overseas by correcting business taxes in such a way that produces more jobs and opportunity. Sreenivasan on the contentious matter of health care, leader mcconnell said he would bring a bipartisan bill to the floor that would continue costsharing subsidies to Insurance Companies for two more years, if he could be certain President Trump would go along. If there is a need for so me kind of interim step here to stabilize the market, we need a bill the president will actually sign. And im not certain yet, what the president is looking for here but ill be happy to bring a bill to the floor if i know President Trump would sign it. Sreenivasan Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer says the socalled alexandermurray bill has the votes to pass right now it took months to work out. It has a majority. It has 60 senators supporting it. We have all 48 democrats, 12 republicans. I would urge senator mcconnell to put it on the floor immediately this week. It will pass. And it will pass with a large number of votes. Sreenivasan meanwhile, the white house confirmed that President Trump will spend at least 430,000 of his own money to help white house aides and former Campaign Staffers pay legal bills stemming from investigations into election meddling by russia. The ongoing russia investigations is just one of the items that continues to hang over the trump administration. Even the most solemn of president ial duties condolences to fallen members of the military continued to dissolve into recriminations and false accusations this weekend. The path forward on health care was surrounded by confusion, and the prospects for muchlonged bipartisanship seemed brighter one day and gloomy the next. Here to talk about this is newshour weekend special correspondent jeff greenfield. Any Common Thread . Yeah, the occupant of the oval office and specifically his unique relationship to reality. I when the president believes when he said something it is by definition true and that puts everybody from the white house staff and his congressional allies up on the hill into states of almost panic. He gets into this fight with a congresswoman who said he left the widow of one of the fallen soldiers, and that results in an apolitical member of the staff, general john kelly get into a discussion where he makes assertions by the congresswoman that are refutable on tape. And then you have the situation of health care, jeff, were going do a bipartisan stop gap, no, were not because i really want Graham Cassidy passed because we have the votes. Which he doesnt. And even politically one day is he standing next to Mitch Mcconnell, yeah, never been close everybody. Everybody knows the two are screams at each other and he is s former strategist steve bannon is saying explicitly im going after Mitch Mcconnell, im delayering war on the gop establishment. Sreenivasan you mentioned the by part san deal, alexander, patty murray from washington, have something that gets some bipartisan support, 12 republicans on board, 60 votes in the senate, beginning . Well, the narrow answer is see above. By which i men if the president was clearly and consistently saying i want, this then Mitch Mcconnell and speaker ryan would deliver enough republicans even if the cost of infuriating the more militant conservatives in both houses am but if the president is going from one end to the next saying yeah, no, maybe, you kind of wonder are they going to stick their necks out on behalf of a policy that may be undercut. You should also note a couple of days ago the new dnc chair called the president an existential threat to the nation it is clear if the democrats were to take the house next year, i item one would be impeachment. That doesnt sound like a recipe for a move towards bipartisanship. How do you translate from where we are at to lyully implementing policy, health care yesterday we were talking about but we are naft ka you look at environmental policy being changed at the epa. It is entirely possible were headed toward a Health Care Situation where millions will be paying way more in premiums and other countless numbers will be denied coverage all together. If nafta is repute yaited what that does to agriculture and industry across wide swaths of this country is going to be devastating. Youve got i dont know how many so you will kad dreamers, the children of the undocumented immigrants who were told by speaker ryan rest easy, told by the president we will fix this, who now face this uncertainty. Sreenivasan what about this notion that the president is willing to pay for the legal fees on the one side he says well, thats a very respectable thing to do. These people will have better representation because he can afford it. Is there an ethical, legal, political concerns . Is there at least the appearance of impropriety. I guess the question is going to be what underlie this offer . In other words, clearly trumps adversaries are going to say this looks like some way to make sure that they say what the president wants them to say. What the underlying reality of this is i dont know and what the president will say about this 48 hours from now, i wouldnt bet a nickel on that. Sreenivasan jeff greenfield, thanks so much for joining us. Sreenivasan in japan, Prime Minister shinzo abes decision to call a snap election has paid off. In todays parliamentary vote, exit polls and projections show abes Ruling Coalition racking up a big win and possibly retaining its twothirds super majority in the powerful lower house. First elected in 2012, the pro u. S. Abe is on track to stay in office until 2021, and become japans longestserving Prime Minister in syria, the u. S. Backed and Kurdishled Syrian Democratic forces claimed a major victory today. The s. D. F. Says its fighters have recaptured syrias Biggest Oil Field the alomar field near the border with iraq from Islamic State militants who seized it three years ago. The almost 10,000 barrels a day the field produces were a big source of revenue for the terrorist group. U. S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson began a sixday overseas trip today in saudi arabia. He held an unusual joint meeting with king salman, the Saudi Foreign minister, and iraqi Prime Minister haider alabadi. Tillerson says he urged the leaders of both countries to cooperate further to isolate iran and reinin irans influence in iraq and the middle east. He called for iraq to disband iraniansupported militia forces to counter what he called iran malign behavior,. Saying its time for them to go home. Tillersons trip includes stops in qatar, pakistan and india. Sreenivasan after creating the Environmental Protection agency in 1970, president Richard Nixon announced a vision for Energy Independence that included building 1,000 Nuclear Power plants across the country. That didnt happen. The nuclear industrys plans to expand were stymied over safety concerns following the accident at three mile island in 1979, and over disputes about how to dispose of spent nuclear fuel rods. Today, 99 commercial Nuclear Reactors are operating in 30 states. In tonights signature segment, newshour weekends Christopher Booker reports that Climate Change is giving some Nuclear Power plants a new lease on life. This story is part of our seri peril promise the challenge of Climate Change. Reporter at the 48yearold r. E. Ginna Nuclear Power plant, in the upstate new york town of ontario, the next generation of plant operators is running a drill. Ready reporter in this replica of a real control room, theyre practicing how to add water to the nuclear reactor, one of the oldest in the country reactors that were built to last around 40 years. These technicians are part of 600 energy jobs that depend on financial intervention from the state of new york. Ginna is one of only four Nuclear Power plants left in new york, which gets 30 of its electricity from Nuclear Power. But this Nuclear Energy constitutes 55 of the states carbonfree energy the energy generated without releasing Carbon Dioxide, a major contributor to global warming. Joe dominguez is executive Vice President of governmental and Regulatory Affairs for exelon, the owner and operator of three of the states Nuclear Plants our customers want electricity thats reliable, affordable and doesnt have associated air pollution. And so nuclear fits that role very well. Reporter but increasing financial losses, the ginna plant alone lost 100 million in 2012 and 2013, pushed exelon to consider shutting down their Nuclear Facilities starting this year. We had notified the employees. We told them that the jobs would be done. Across all of the plants that were affected, we were talking about 5,000 jobs. Reporter given the age of the fleet are concerns warranted about the safety . No. I dont think they are. I think theres a misconception that the fleet is the same fleet that was built a few decades ago. And in reality weve changed all the major components, the computer equipment, and weve essentially retrofitted all of these plants to stateoftheart technology. Reporter proponents of Nuclear Energy argue these plants diminish the use fossil fuels, providing a bridge to a future when renewable sources like solar, hydropower, and wind have greater capacity. How do you frame this conversation . Is this a Climate Change conversation . Is this an economic conversation . Is this an infrastructure conversation . Its all of the above. And i would throw jobs and environment into the mix more broadly than just Climate Change. Theres a broad recognition among policy makers that unless you preserve that fleet, were gonna take a substantial step backwards. Let me give you an example. If we lost one of the small units in new york, we literally wipe out about 10 to 15 years of Renewable Development in terms of zero Carbon Energy in new york. Thats why its so important to preserve these machines as we transition to other technologies. Reporter what preserved the ginna plant is the states goal, set by governor andrew cuomo, to cut its Greenhouse Gas emissions. Using the Carbon Dioxide emission levels of 1990 as its base, new york is hoping to cuts its emissions by 40 by 2030 and by 80 by 2050. In addition the state is planning to get 50 of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. If those plants were to shut down, it would be the equivalent of almost three million cars, that would be back on the road. Reporter Richard Kauffman is new york states chairman of energy and finance. New york has experienced dozens of extreme climate events. New yorkers see that the climate is changing. And weve, we see through polling that we have overwhelming support for the governors clean Energy Support policies. Reporter the state established the zeroemission credit, committing to spend about a billion dollars over the next two years to keep ginna and eir power from Nuclear Plants. The costs for doing so is passed along to consumers. Since april, all new york state households have seen a roughly two dollar surcharge on their monthly electricity bill. Critics will ask, why not give these credits to the renewable industry . We are providing substantial resources to the growth of wind, and solar, and other renewables in the state. The issue is that the Nuclear Plants provide a very large percentage of zero emission power in the state. Its not practicable to replace all that power quickly with renewables. Reporter but jackson morris, a director with the Natural Resources defense council, or n. R. D. C. , warns that relying on Nuclear Power to mitigate Climate Change has risks. Until we can begin to address the Public Health and safety risks that are presented by Nuclear Waste among and nuclear proliferation, all the other risks that come with Nuclear Energy, its not a longterm viable solution. Reporter at the ginna plant, four decades of radioactive, spent fuel rods sit inside this concrete bunker right next to the plant. While the n. R. D. C. Does not endorse further development of Nuclear Power, it believes in some cases, such as that of new york, nuclear has a short term role to play. Were making great strides. But there still continues to be a lot of market barriers and market failures to the renewables future that we need to get to. Reporter and can they get there without nuclear . We can. Its not that Nuclear Facilities are irreplaceable. Its that you need time to make the transition. Reporter with about 46 of new yorks Energy Supply coming from coal, oil, and natural gas, fossil fuel Energy Producers argue the states zero emission credits interfere with the energy market. We are running just under a 1000 megawatts right now. Basically full capacity. Reporter Robert Flexon is the c. E. O. Of dynegy, an Energy Company that operates coal, oil, and natural gas plants in 12 states including new york. While the state says if the Nuclear Plants shut down, carbon polluting fossil fuels will replace them, flexon believes the opposite arguing the hole left by nuclear will be filled by renewables. At the end of the 12 year subsidy, what do you have . Youve got some really old Nuclear Units that are 50 years old that need to be retired. And now, youre going to charge the citizens again for putting in that next generation of power generation, that you could be doing right now. Reporter but in the short term, if these three plants were to close down, that certainly would be good for you folks. Well, i mean, its a competitive market. And the way that new york was designed was to be the cheapest megawatt to the customer. Thats the unit that should win. But if they were to go away, i think youd see a backfill of additional renewable. Youre actually delaying the investment in renewables, because renewables then cant find its way in, because the Nuclear Units are getting the entire credit and depressing the wholesale prices. Reporter flexon says that credits give an unfair advantage to the nuclear industry. And were all for competition. What were totally against is when you pick winners and losers by plant, or by location. It should be level playing field. And if a particular state, or region wants to put a price on carbon, put the price on carbon. And let everybody compete. Reporter dynegys natural gas plant in oswego, new york, pumps out enough energy to power 800,000 homes. Thats double the exelon operated Ginna Nuclear plant, and dynegys gas plant does it with a fraction of the labor force, just 15 people. But unlike Nuclear Energy, burning natural gas releases Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere. We recognize that co2 and emissions, and doing anything we can to keep out of the air, we recognize theres an Economic Cost to that. And we need to compete against, against that penalty. Reporter dynegy and others sued new york to stop new york states zeroemission Credit Program. In july, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. Now, like new york, illinois has also adopted a zeroemission Credit Program to prolong the life of its Nuclear Power plants. States like new jersey, connecticut, ohio, and pennsylvania are considering similar measures. As in new york, dynegy and other oil and Gas Companies sued illinois. And again their case was dismissed. Yet, in both states the n. R. D. C. Defended the states authority to map a clean energy future. The parties that filed those cases were essentially a whos who of the dirtiest, most inefficient polluting fossil plants that had stood to gain a whole lot of money if those Nuclear Plants went offline abruptly. It was not to defend the Nuclear Programs themselves. It was really that precedent and that state authority to chart a clean energy future. That was a critical tool. Not only for new york and illinois but again, going the wrong way could have jeopardized renewables programs across the entire nation. Reporter even with the interest in extending the life of old Nuclear Power plants, constructing new reactors has seen minimal growth. Earlier this year, in south carolina, Utility Companies pulled the plug on two planned reactors. The project billions of dollars over budget. Leaving these two georgia units as the only ones in the works. If completed, they would be the first new reactors built in the United States in 30 years. Sreenivasan hundreds of majority buddhists today protested in myanmar over suggestions by the government that it might take back the nearly 600,000 minority muslims who have fled the country. The rohingya, as theyre known are fleeing violence against them by government soldiers, which myanmar says, began as reprisals for insurgent attacks. The United Nations calls the military campaign of killings, mass rape, and village burning a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. Earlier, i spoke with farah kabir of actionaid, a Non Governmental Organization helping the rohingya at a refugee camp in the bangladeshi city of coxs bazar. I began by asking kabir if shes ever seen anything like this influx . Never in my life have i seen Something Like this. It has been like the first time i came it was like a sea of people. It just wouldnt stop. They are coming, they are coming, they are walking on two sides of the road. There has been a slight decline. But theyre still coming. How big is the need that were talking about . The need here is huge. I mean in terms of coordination it was quite clear after a couple of days that there was no way any one organization or any, even a group of organizations by themselves could take care of this issue. This is when you are trying to provide food, water, latrines, medical, more than 50, 60,000 women who were pregnant. There is no way. So the intersection Coordination Group was formed and the army has been brought in. Because in the initial if you weeks there was total mayhem, there was chaos. People were giving food, clothes, a different point without any coordination, it was being very totally mismanaged. Since then itco is much more organized. Sreenivasan can you describe who is in these camps . What they have gone through . A lot of them have been walking for days. I met the first person i met, she had given birth the day before. She was pregnant. She walked 11 days and she came tear. There is a young boy with gunshot burns, and there is of course a lot of women and girls who have been sexually harassed, raped, tortured. It is so heartwrenching it is so difficult to explain to you what it is like here. The scale and the Horror Stories that i have been hearing from them. Sreenivasan do the people that you are talking to every myanmar . So when i was speaking to them at different points, they say of course i want to go homement that is where my home is. But i found some of them very clearly articulating that i want to go home and be able to live safely. Because now i feel safe here. But i want to go home, live safely and very strongly they said practice my culture and religion. And that is where the International Leadership needs to come in. Thenr global leadership, they he to ensure that these people can go home. No one wants to be a refugee. However many packets of food you give them and easy access to water,ni they understandni txa hq not life. I asked them, are you working . What did you do when you were there . Some had their own enterprise, you know, a small shop, some of them had business there, agriculture, farmers, and they are just sitting around, living on what we are getting as relief. But this cannot be life. This is pbs newshour weekend, sunday. Sreenivasan Sergeant Bowe bergdahl left his post in afghanistan in 2009. Tomorrow the sentencing hearing begins in front of an army judge at fort bragg, north carolina. Bergdahl faces up to life in prison after pleading guilty last week to charges of desertion and misbehavior. He spent five years as a captive of the taliban. Servicemembers injured while searching for bergdahl are expected to testify at the hearing. Russias most prominent opposition leader, alexei navalny, is free after finishing a 20 day jail sentence. He was jailed for repeatedly breaking laws associated with organizing unauthorized Public Meetings and rallies. Upon his release, a defiant navalny said on social media that he will speak at a political meeting in southern russia later today. Navalny plans to run for president in 2018 even though Russias Central Election Commission has declared him ineligible, a ruling he says was politically motivated. Even as the catalonia region struggles to break away from spain, two wealthy regions of northern italy held nonbinding referenda today on seeking greater autonomy from their central government. Voters went to the polls in lombardy and veneto. The regions produce almost a third of italys Gross National product, and their complaint is that they pay significantly more in taxes than they receive in services. Regional leaders say they dont seek independence but rather more authority in education and other areas. Indonesia wants to know why its top military leader was denied entry to the United States this weekend. Officials say Armed Forces Boss general Gatot Nurmantyo was to board a flight to visit washington at the invitation of the chairman of the u. S. Joint chiefs when he was told u. S. Customs and Border Protection would not allow him to enter the country. U. S. Officials did not give a reason and indonesia has demanded an explanation from the state department and the u. S. Ambassador. Hear from women in california who trained to fight fires while they were in prison. Visit pbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan tomorrow on the newshour on the home front, veterans injured by war starting families thanks to invitro fertilization. Thats all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. Im hari vane sreenivasan, thanks for watching. Vay good night. Captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org pbs newshour weekend is made possible by bernard and irene schwartz. The cheryl and Philip Milstein family. Sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. Dr. P. Roy vagelos and diana t. Vagelos. The j. P. B. Foundation. The Anderson Family fund. Rosalind p. Walter, in memory of abby m. Oneill. Barbara hope zuckerberg. Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company. Additional support has been provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. ] your last name is krzyzewski. Took me a while to learn how to pronounce it. For like three years, you had a losing record. A lot of people were calling for my firing. Then you won the national championship. Mike i said, we are going to win. I dont know if i really believed that, but we ended up winning one of the greatest games in the history of college basketball. Last year, you won your third gold medal. Mike to have those guys with medals around their necks and your National Anthem being played and theres Nothing Better than that. What would you say are the most important lessons of leadership . At west point, i learned that failure was never a destination. Woman would you fix your tie, please . Well, people wouldnt recognize me if my tie was fixed, but okay. Just leave it this way. Woman and they all right. [ ]