Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20180129

Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Babbel. A language app that teaches reallife conversations in a new language. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. 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 a shakeup at the f. B. I. Today, as its secondin command, Deputy Director Andrew Mccabe, steps down. Hes come under fire from President Trump, and his decision to speed up his retirement raises new questions. Mr. Trump did not respond when asked about mccabe today. And white house Spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted the president had nothing to do with mccabes departure. The president wasnt part of this decisionmaking process. I would refer you to f. B. I. For that. Woodruff mccabe was expected to retire when he became eligible in march. Instead, hell take leave, effective immediately, but remain on the f. B. I. Payroll until then. Mccabe has been a target of President Trumps anger and tweets, in recent months, with mr. Trump suggesting that he is politically motivated. Mccabe once oversaw an investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server, though no charges were filed. Mr. Trump falsely claimed that coincided with mccabes wifes failed bid for a Virginia Senate seat in 2015, when she was backed by a proclinton group. This past week, mr. Trump denied reports he had asked mccabe last may how he voted in the 2016 election. Did you ask mccabe who he voted for . I dont think so. No. I dont think so. You dont. I dont know whats the big deal with that, because i would ask you who you voted for, who did you vote for . Woodruff all this, on the heels of new questions about special counsel Robert Mueller, after last weeks New York Times report that mr. Trump wanted to fire him last june. On sunday, republicans were split on whether they should intervene to protect muellers job. Senator Lindsey Graham i think mr. Mueller is the perfect guy to get to the bottom of all of this. And he will. And i think my job, among others, is to give him the space to do it. I intend to do that. I have got legislation protecting mr. Mueller. And ill be glad to pass it tomorrow. Woodruff Republican House leader Kevin Mccarthy disagreed. Would you support legislation to protect mueller . I dont think theres a need for legislation right now to protect mueller. So were raising an issue thats not. Woodruff as mr. Trump gets closer to a potential interview with mueller, some House Republicans turned their focus the controversy continued over whether to publicly release a memo written by house intelligence chairman devin nunes. It reportedly claims the department of justice is rigged against mr. Trump in the russia investigation. All u. S. House members can view that memo, and more than 200 already have, according to the House Intelligence Committee. The white house addressed calls from republicans to make the memo public. One at the white house has seen the memo. Its hard for us to make a decision. If and when its time to weigh in, well do it through proper protocol. Woodruff but in a letter to chairman nunes last week, the department of justice warned it would be extraordinarily reckless to release that information without proper review. The House Intelligence Committee was expected to meet today to discuss that memo, and a competing one written by democrats. In the days other news, President Trump called for bipartisan action on immigration. Hes offered a plan that protects young immigrants, the socalled daca recipients, but also limits Legal Immigration and includes money for a border wall. Were going to get something done. We hope. Its got to be bipartisan because the republicans really dont have the votes to get it done in any other way. So, it has to be bipartisan but, hopefully, the democrats will join us, or enough of them will join us so we can really do something great for daca and for immigration generally. Woodruff mr. Trump spoke at the swearingin for alex azar as secretary of health and human services. Vice president pence administered the oath of office to the former drug company executive. He previously served under president george w. Bush. Afghanistan has suffered its fourth terror attack in the past nine days. This time, 11 were killed at a site in kabul, where both taliban and Islamic State extremists are waging a violent new campaign. John yang has our report. Yang the Afghan Capital was still reeling from a Taliban Attack that killed more than 100 people on saturday, when Islamic State militants struck this morning. Five heavily armed fighters stormed an army outpost near afghanistans main military academy on the western outskirts of the city. Police say two gunmen were killed in the ensuing shootout, two others blew themselves up, and one was captured. They struck just 48 hours after taliban suicide attackers detonated an ambulance full of explosives on a crowded street in central kabul. At least 103 died, with another 230 wounded. translated bodies were everywhere, near the hospital and everywhere. Yang a week earlier, taliban militants assaulted kabuls intercontinental hotel, killing 22 people. And last wednesday, an isis attack killed six at a Charity Office in the eastern city of jalalabad. President ashraf ghani vowed today the attacks will be avenged. But that did little to reassurance kabul residents. translated look at what is happening to this nation, when you are not able to control what kind of government and ministry is this . You are not even able to secure the city, how can we complain about the government securing the provinces . Yang in washington, President Trump condemned the he dismissed any direct peace talks with the taliban, who theyre killing people left and right. Innocent people are being killed left and right, bombing in the middle of children, in the middle of families, bombing, killing all over afghanistan. So we dont want to talk with the taliban. There may be a time, but its going to be a long time. Yang instead, mr. Trump touted the administrations more aggressive military strategy. It includes deploying some 3,000 additional u. S. Troops. New reports say 1,000 are readying to deploy as soon as this spring, to advise and assist afghan infantry on the front lines. For the pbs newshour, im john yang. Woodruff in moscow, the kremlin today dismissed Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny as a possible threat to president putins reelection. A spokesman said its unlikely anyone can compete with putin. On sunday, navalny organized nationwide protests, charging the march vote will be rigged. Police grabbed navalny, forced him into a bus, and held him until late last night. Russias Paralympics Team has been banned from competing in the upcoming winter games in south korea, for doping. Instead, about 35 russians who can prove theyre not using performanceenhancing drugs will be allowed to compete. The president of the International Paralympic committee made the announcement today in bonn, germany. We often said during our deliberations last saturday, can we look in the eyes of the athletes, all of them, and say that we are doing everything that we can to guarantee a level Playing Field . And the answer was yes. So, we are not rewarding russia, but we are allowing athletes that we believe are clean to compete under a neutral flag woodruff the doping crackdown has also barred russia from competing in next months olympic games. Back in this country, the Cleveland Indians announced theyre removing the chief wahoo logo from their uniforms next year. It follows decades of complaints that the cartoonish image is racist. The indians say they will continue to sell chief wahoo merchandise, so they dont lose ownership of the trademark. On wall street, stocks pulled back from record highs, as apple led a tech slump, and oil prices slipped. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 177 points to close at 26,439. The nasdaq fell 39 points, and the s p 500 slid 19. And, bruno mars was the biggest winner at last nights grammys, with six, including album, record and song of the year. The night had a decided political flavor. Abuse survivor kesha lead a tribute to the me too movement. And, Hillary Clinton appeared on screen for a skit lampooning President Trump. The tv audience fell below 20 Million People, down from 26 million last year. Still to come on the newshour a member of the Senate Intel Committee on the latest shakeup at the f. B. I. Fitness apps revealing Sensitive Information about military bases. Texans still displaced five months after Hurricane Harvey, and much more. Woodruff we return now to the shakeup at the fbi, and what we know about the state of the investigations into the president and the fbi itself. This evening i spoke with the vice chair of the senate Intelligence Committee, mark warner about his reaction to Deputy Director Andrew Mccabe stepping down earlier than expected. Im concerned. Im concerned because there seems to be this pattern that anyone thats involved in the investigation into russian interfering, impossible collusion with the Trump Organization seems to end up losing their job or getting denoted. Weve seen f. B. I. Director comey fired, weve seen the Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein appear to be under attack from the white house. Weve seen the president s own attorney general, mr. Sessions, reports being the president is angry about his recusal, and then you heard earlier reports about the desire to get rid of mr. Mccabe. Now, i dont know what the basis of mr. Mccabes stepping down early is. I need to hear that from the f. B. I. , but, boy, oh, boy, it seems anybody who gets close to this investigation, its not good for their longterm job security. Woodruff i notice you said, senator, in an interview over the weekend that you are thankful the f. B. I. Director Christopher Ray had what you called a backbone to stand up to pressure in recent months to fire mccabe, but just now the New York Times is reporting that Christopher Ray was indeed putting pressure on Andrew Mccabe, that he suggested he move to another position which would have been a demotion rather than stay where he is. Again, im not sure i know the basis of that New York Times reporting. I think thats why, at least in our investigation, the last remaining bipartisan investigation, you know, i want to hear from director ray. I want to hear why mr. Mccabe stepped down early, before i weigh in. Woodruff what does it say to you that the president has been either critical of or actively trying to fire the very top officials at the Justice Department and the f. B. I. . Frankly, judy, its unprecedented. We went through that litany before, whether it was comby or rosenstein, his concerns with sessions, now mccabe, individuals connected to the investigation dont seem to last very long, but what is even as troubling if not more troubling and this we see more from some of the president s allies in the house is that people are willing to go out and basically impugn the very integrity of the whole f. B. I. And, for that matter, the whole department of justice and that gets us in uncharted territory and dangerous areas where the integrity of our Law Enforcement agencies are being called into question when it appears theyre just doing their job. Woodruff senator, i want to ask you about something getting a lot of attention, the memo prepared by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee devin nunes about raising questions about the kind of investigative work done by the Justice Department. That memo has not been released. We know its classified, but there is discussion right now this afternoon about whether it should be released. Youve called it fabrications. How concerned are you that it may be released . What do you see as the significance of it . Well, judy, ive read the underlying intelligence that was the basis of this memo. Ive not seen this specific memo. Ive not seen it. My republican counterpart richard burr has asked to see it. Hes not seen it as well. The truth is, when you go on the Intelligence Committee, the first things you learn is to protect classified information. The fact that a small subgroup made up only of one party went out and created this product, and now were kind of ban ding g it about really bothers me and, on top of that, when the president s department of justice saying this memo shouldnt be released, i actually hope there is a way to get the classification issue dealt with that it does get released, because having seen the underlying documents woodruff youve seen there were significant rev laws in many new documents that have been made available to the senate Intelligence Committee. Where did that information come from . We continue to get additional comets, we continue to schedule more witnesses, and the challenge in this investigation has been there always appears to be new threads coming up, and all of these have got to be followed to its conclusion. Woodruff and when you said new revelations, you mean information that is different from neg thats been in the public arena before now . I mean, judy, that we have been working at this for a year, and we have a lot of items that still remain to be cleared up, some of which we may never be able to fully clear up because they would fall more in the realm that mr. Mueller, the special prosecutor whos looking at criminal actions, may take on. But we owe it to fellow senators and we owe it to the American Public to conclude this as quickly as possible and get as many of the facts out as quickly as possible. Wanted to make sure that we knew what happened in 2016, but equally important to make sure that russia and for that matter any other foreign country doesnt intervene again this massively in our elections. Woodruff do you know how much longer this means the investigation will go on . I hate to speculate. Listen, we want to get it done. The chairmn and i have talked about getting this done as expeditiously as possible. The sooner we get these witnesses in, the soon we are get a chance, for example, to get back some of the principals like mr. Kushner and donald trump, jr. And Michael Cohen and the sooner we get done. Woodruff back on Andrew Mccabe, do you plan to ask f. B. I. Director ray about how this came about . Yes. The short answer is we need to find out why mr. Mccabe, a career f. B. I. Officials, stepped down early, particularly in light of some of the press stories about mr. Mccabe over the last couple of weeks. Woodruff senator mark warner, vice chairman of the senate Intelligence Committee, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff millions of people around the world wear devices or have apps on their smart phones that track how much they pexercise. John yang explores whether that data, from the fitbits some of you are wearing right now, and other apps, also reveal Sensitive National security information. Yang judy, a 20yearold student in australia took a close look at data posted late last year by strava, a website and mobile app that tracks millions of users athletic activity. The International Security student discovered that these socalled heat maps, from trillions of g. P. S. Points, not only show mundane bigcity jogging routes, they also reveal the locations of bases where military forces and Intelligence Services exercise. Heres a map he posted that he says shows where soldiers jog along the beach in mogadishu, somalia, near what is likely a reported c. I. A. Annex. This is a map of the bagrham airfield in afghanistan. And heres a map showing where Turkish Forces patrol north of manbij in syria. For more on all of this we turn zack whittaker, the security editor at zd net, a website that covers technology. Zach, thank you so much for joining us. Help us understand exactly what information has been apparently inadvertently disclosed here that might be of use to enemies of the United States. So a lot of data, really. Your fitness tracking data from when youre walking, cycling, doing cross fit sports, all this data is obtained by the fitness tracker in your phone, pocket, on your wrist, and it goes to an app driver and uploaded to their systems. The point of the app is to help you to compete with people who you work with, who youre friends with so you can run a competition with your friend to see who can cycle or run to work the fastest, and this kind of data is tracking your location from point a and point b. Yang the map of bagrham, everyone knows where bagrham airfield, is but the specific locations showing where people are running or walking, how can that be of use to the enemy . This information is available on the internet as a map to anyone and they can see areas, for example, if theyre an enemy of the states, they can look at their nearby location, they can see where people are walking and moving with a fitness tracker in their pocket. And this is quite obvious when people are nearby, especially in situations where theyre in the military and military bails in the middle of the war zone. They can use this data to build a profile of people who are in the military base in a government facility, for example, and they can use it to plan attacks, if need be. Yang today the pentagon urged Defense Department personnel to place strong privacy settings on Wireless Technologies and applications. With fit bit and things like that, how easy is it to do that . Its relatively easy but the problem most people have been finding with this is they didnt realize the data was being uploaded in the first place because the privacy settings on the strava app is difficult to figure out how the data is uploaded in the first place. You have different privacy settings that, when abled, they dont seem to stop the data flow in the first place. So its very difficult and confusing to the average person like me and you to figure out how to turn this data off in the first place. Yang this points out the differences between opting in and out of privacy, of sending this information. Yeah, and the problem with this app is it appears to be opt out rather than in. Whenever you upload this app, youre uploading your information, geolocation or at thatta points to the clouds and its very clear from the map how precise this information is. Yang are there privacy concerns for average people beyond military services that average people should be worried about with all this information being sent up into the cloud in. The foremost priority is for people in the military, the government, the sort of people who might be targeted by foreign intelligence agencies who are conducting espionage by trying to turn them to a foreign power. If you know when someone is leaving and entering work and going back home, its easy to identify people. Its very possible that ordinary people could face reprisals from this as well. You have people who are victims of Domestic Abuse and people who are concerned about stalkers and situations like that and their privacy can easily be undermined by this. Yang Zach Whittaker of zd net, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Thanks. Woodruff stay with us, coming up on the newshour what Michigan State officials knew about the doctr who abused more than 150 female gymnasts. And one year into the trump administration, the government jobs that still have not been filled. But first, Hurricane Harvey hit texas last summer with 130 mile perhour winds and torrential downpours, forcing scores of people from their homes. Five months later, more than 33,000 are still displaced and living in temporary fema housing. Hari sreenivasan recently traveled to houston for a series of stories about what things are like after the storms. We start with a look at whats keeping people from still returning home. This story was produced in partnership with the texas tribune. Sreenivasan this is home sreenivasan this hotel room is what jackie white and her husband michael have been staying for the past month. They moved here from another hotel, and for three months before that slept on their daughters floor, which given jackies arthritis, was not easy. This is more than enough for anyone to worry with and stress with. Sreenivasan their ordeal began in august, when Hurricane Harvey swept into houston, then stopped and dumped more than 50 inches of rain on the city. At its peak, about a third of the county was underwater. At least 30,000 of the citys homes were flooded. Whites was one of them. My daughter came. She and my son in law, they rescued us out of the house because we couldnt get out. Sreenivasan days later, white returned to find her home white had worked for an insurance company, but she did not have Flood Insurance she says as a retiree, she just couldnt afford it. I had everything i needed. Except flood. No Flood Insurance. Sreenivasan 80 of Hurricane Harvey victims did not have Flood Insurance, like jackie white. She was not required to because her home is not in what federal Emergency Management agency considers a floodplain an area likely to flood. But fema has provided white money to replace furniture, make basic repairs to her home and one of her cars, and for temporary shelter. In the city of houston there about 4,300 people that are still in hotels at some point thats going to end. So housing becomes a critical concern. Sreenivasan houston mayor sylvester turner. In large part were still waiting on funding to come from the federal level to the state and then down to the local level. Sreenivasan is that frustrating . Yeah its frustrating, because you know we all have to move with the degree of urgency. You know people need housing. Thats my number one priority. My brother is still living in a trailer in his driveway after having four five six feet of water in his house for 12 days. Sreenivasan republican congrssman John Culberson represents houston and says he understands the needs his constituents are facing. Its a catastrophe whether it be private insurance has taken forever. Mortgage Companies Wont release checks or fema or the federal government not moving fast enough. Its intensely frustrating for my constituents and top of my list everyday all day. Sreenivasan still, he says, getting money and resources to the people who need them takes time. You have to have an accurate count of how much property was damaged and how much money then is going to be necessary based on that count. Sreenivasan more money is in the pipeline. The u. S. Department of housing and urban development has set aside 5 billion to repair homes and businesses damaged by harvey. Houston is likely to get about half of that. The u. S. House of representatives also passed an 81 billion disaster aid bill in december. Assuming the Senate Passes that measure, houston will get a portion of that as well, along with florida and puerto rico. But for white the help is not coming fast enough. Im struggling because i cant get the assistance i need from fema. And they are not coming across with the help that i was expecting them to give us. But we have to manage their expectations of what the federal government can do. Sreenivasan kevin hannes is femas point person for Harvey Recovery efforts. He says there are about 365,000 people registered with fema and so far, the agency has distributed 1. 5 billion in grants not including insurance payments or loans. Thats an average grant of about 4,000. Now many have received more. Some have received less. But its really that seed money to get started with their work their recovery. Sreenivasan jackie white is trying to use the money she got from fema to get her life back to normal but it isnt easy. She has regular doctors appointments for herself, her diabetic husband and her brother, who is partially paralyzed. Now theres an added commute between her hotel and her damaged home. In this sprawling metropolis, the car is king, but hers was soaked in three feet of water. It still smells of mold. Reach out and touch. Sreenivasan she does have some hope from a local non profit west street recovery. The group formed during Hurricane Harvey, when andrew cobb and two of his friends rescued neighbors from their flooded homes by boat. We became a Food Distribution hub and a clean up distribution hub. And then weve just kind of followed the stages of the Disaster Recovery process. Sreenivasan today cobb and his volunteers are finishing the drywall in what was once jackie whites kitchen. His group is trying to get three rooms ready so she can move in as soon as possible. The rest of the house will be fixed up later on, when jackie can afford the repairs. The best strategy weve come up with so far is to what we call unstick people. So if they just need money to help pour a concrete foundation or if they need materials for siding or if they need us to hang three rooms and drywall then we try to we try to pick off those smaller projects and sreenivasan this neighborhood in northeast houston was hit particularly hard during the storm. Becky selle is working a few houses down. The entire front of the house had fallen off of the foundation as well as part of the back of the house. And there is a lot of wood that was damaged and no floors. The electricity was damaged. This is pretty typical. Sreenivasan deanna adams is jackies case manager from west street recovery. Theyre working with about 180 clients. The neighborhoods that we focus on are northeast houston is because its historically been underserved. Historically, i mean as you can see here theres not been a lot of cleaning up the drainage or maintenance of the drainage, maintenance of the homes in some cases have been difficult because of finances of the residents. Sreenivasan a flood doesnt care if youre rich or poor. But it seems that youre saying that people who are already poor are getting doubly hurt in the recovery. Honestly i beg to differ. A flood does care if youre rich or poor because if you live in certain areas that are more flood prone and there hasnt been zoning to say that either you cant live in those areas or if you do were going to make sure that your houses up to a code where it wont be devastated absolutely makes a difference. Sreenivasan as for white, she knows the clock is running out on her hotel stay. After extending the deadline several times, hannis says fema will continue its temporary Hotel Housing program at least until march, but. Transitioning that Program Becomes very difficult the longer it goes on. So i know from a state perspective as well as a federal perspective we want to try to end that program as soon as possible. Sreenivasan thats fine with white. She wants to move back into her house as soon as she can. But with great hesitation. This isnt the first time shes lost everything to a flood. In 2001, Tropical Storm allison flooded this same home. I have no place to go. This is all i have to call home. I dont have anywhere else to go. Sreenivasan theres an inherent tension. On the one hand you want to get people back into their homes as quickly as possible so they can get on with their lives. On the other, what if you are putting them back in homes that are likely to flood again . Well explore that in our next report. For the pbs newshour, im Hari Sreenivasan in houston. Woodruff online another, smaller tourist town in texas was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey. Now its trying to make a comeback. Read that at pbs. Org newshour. Woodruff with larry nassar now sentenced to life in prison for his Sexual Assault of countless young female athletes, much of the focus has been on what officials at usa gymnastics knew, or shouldve known, about nassars crimes. But, as William Brangham reports, there are new questions about what was known at Michigan State university, where nassar worked for almost 20 years, and where many of his crimes occurred. Brangham larry nassar joined Michigan State university in 1997. He was already a physician and trainer with usa gymnastics at the time. As the allegations against him became widely known in 2016, m. S. U. Officials claimed initially to have had no prior knowledge of his behavior. But several reports, lawsuits and victims testimony allege the university did know of allegations against nassar for years. In just the past week, the universitys president and Athletic Director have resigned. And today, the states attorney general, bill schuette, said he wants documents, texts and emails from the university about what transpired there. Joining me now is Matt Mencarini, whos been covering the nassar case for a year and a half for the Lansing State Journal in michigan matt, thank you very much for being here. Lets just start at the beginning here. In 2016, the indy star publishes an exposee largely focused on u. S. Gym knacks and how they overlooked allegations about nassars behavior. The focus was on them at the time. Ce remind us what Michigan State University Said they knew at the time about his behavior . They said they new little initially, that hay field the complaint and a new Police Report had been filed alleging Sexual Assaults against him dating back decades. They soon fired him several days after the first indy star story. One of the reasons they fired him is he did not follow protocols after a 2013 title nine investigation and had not told the University Ten years before that he was investigated for a Sexual Assault allegation. Those are the two times the university acknowledged awareness of Sexual Assault allegations of him will have the indy star and rachel. Brangham tell us what the investigation was triggered by and how the university responded. In april 2014, a woman who at the time was a recent graduate reported to a University Doctor that during an appointment the month prior, a few weeks prior, that nassar sexually assaulted her, that prompted the university to start an investigation and contact the universitys Police Department to conduct a separate criminal investigation. The universitys title nine investigation concluded about three months later and determined that what nassar did was not in fact Sexual Assault, that it was an illegitimate sexual procedure. They reached that conclusion from medical experts who worked for the university with close ties to nassar. When that wrapped up in july the Police Investigation dragged out another 16 months during which the university allowed him to see patients before the prosecuting Attorneys Office decided to charge him in 2015. Brangham the people they consulted, those friends were friends or colleagues or nassars and they were the ones verifying this was okay to the universitys investigation . They were colleagues or very good friends, a mixture of that, had known him for a long time, were familiar with the procedures he performed. A key detail about the 2014 report and investigation is that is one of the few reported to police or in lawsuits without any penetration. That changes slightly some of the context that its in and the answers and the input that those four experts gave to the university about what nassar said he was doing and what the woman said he did to her. Both of their accounts were pretty similar to each other and, so, the experts were kind of trying to determine if what he was doing could be a medical procedure, the title nine investigator determined based on those conversations with those experts that it was and that this woman misinterpreted what happened to her as Sexual Assault when in fact it was a medical procedure. Brangham and you and others reported that the university put out its title nine report and gave that to the victim herself, but then the university had a separate version that had a lot more detail in it, that was somewhat more damning. Can you explain . Thats one of the new rev revelations from the last couple of weeks. Friday i was able to obtain a full title nine support that had more detail of the universitys analysis of what happened in the medical appointment. It had stronger language, it found significant problems and found nassars conduct could expose fieshts unnecessary trauma in perceived sexual misconduct. The woman had a 41 word conclusion section that just said thank you for brig your concerns forward, it allowed us to look at ways to change policies within the medical clinic. Brangham we know two senior officials at the university resigned, we know the state attorney general is now launching an investigation. What is the feeling in the community itself on the university and amongst officials about do they believe the university has done enough, is doing enough and whats the sense there . Tone deaf is the word or the phrase thrown out a lot leading up to the sentencing hearing which dragged into two weeks, that was what was described. Youve seen that start to changed as the sentencing hearing hit day five, six, seven, quickly followed by a couple of resignations from the university. The response publicly and in the area, there have been concerns about questions and uneasiness with the way the university has handled much of this case since the first report by the indy star in september of 2016. Brangham Matt Mencarini of the Lansing State Journal. Thank you very much for your time. Thanks for having me. Woodruff the departure of f. B. I. Deputy director Andrew Mccabe opens up yet another highlevel government post under President Trump. In his case, its being filled by the 3 ranking person at the f. B. I. But as our own Lisa Desjardins reports, there are still quite a few other posts in the president s administration, that remain empty, one year in. Desjardins lets start big the federal government now has close to two million civilian workers nationwide. Now lets focus. On the biggest bosses. There are a few hundred key positions appointed by the president and approved by the senate. These are the people who run our government day to day. And one year into the trump presidency, many of those posts are still empty. Lets take 630 key jobs, all of them filled by president ial nomination and tracked by the partnership for public service. Of those 630 top jobs, about 240 of them, right now, have no nominee. Another 140 or so jobs have nominees, but theyre still waiting to be confirmed. The upshot . More than half of key positions are unfilled. What are these jobs exactly . The top jobs. Agency heads and the second and thirdhighest ranking rungs directly underneath. What do they do exactly . A lot. Things like keeping roads safe. The national Highway Transportation Safety Administration does not have an administrator, its top job, right now. Nor anyone to head its legal, financial or enforcement divisions. That reportedly has frozen several new safety standards. Something else affected the opioid crisis. The White House Drug Control Office meant to work on the issue has no director, and has seen several other appointees leave. And there is a log list of other vacancies. Top spots at the pentagon and at the state department. At the agriculture department, the offices overseeing National Food safety. And, at the energy department, several key Nuclear Oversight jobs are all unfilled. And thats just to name a few. So whos running things . A change in federal law that went into effect just last year allows a temporary acting replacement in these jobs. But only for 300 days. Thats to give president s time to make nominations. But mr. Trump hasnt made nominations for hundreds of these jobs, and the 300 day clock has run out. Thats creating an unprecedented situation those acting in these jobs do not have Legal Authority anymore. One other reason for vacancies more workers are leaving. The Washington Post reported more than 70,000 federal workers quit or retired in the First Six Months of the trump administration. That is a 42 increase over the same period for president obama. Overall, President Trump may not see any of this as a problem so we dont need all the people that they want. You know, dont forget, im a businessperson. I tell my people, when you dont need to fill slots, dont fill em. Desjardins the president wants to shrink government. And that includes at the top. Mr. Trump has fewer slots filled or nominated than any president in 25 years. What we dont know will this make government impressively more efficient, or dangerously less functional . For the pbs newshour, im Lisa Desjardins. Woodruff late today, the Intelligence Committee in the u. S. House of representatives voted in favor of releasing a controversial memo crafted by republicans that alleges anti trump bias at the Justice Department. The Committee Also voted not to release a separate memo crafted by democrats. The president has five days to review the republican memo. He can intervene to block its release which the Justice Department cautioned last week would be, extraordinarily reckless. And now to our regular politics monday duo amy walter of the Cook Political Report and tamara keith of npr. Welcome to both of you. So i was going to start, tam, by talking about the Andrew Mccabe announcement, the fact the number two person at the f. B. I. Has announced hes stepping up his retirement and there are all sorts of reports and questions about how much pressure he was under the do that, but i first want to ask you about this new information we just got that the House Intelligence Committee is going to release that classified memo that they put together which alleges bias at justice. What does this mean . And as you say, the president has five days to review this. The white house says theyre in favor of trance prarnsy. This sets up another fascinating instance of the Justice Department or parts of the Justice Department and the white house at odds with each other and the president potentially making a decision that is against what the senior people to have the Justice Department would want. Woodruff and, amy, partisanship i mean, you have the republican memo being released, but the democratic response memo wont be. Right. The interesting thing, we call this, in broad terms, the russia investigation. I dont know the last time we talked about russia. We spend a lot of time talking about the f. B. I. , Robert Mueller or, in this case, now, we have this report, the socalled memo. We dont spend a whole lot of time talking about the underlying issues there, and it is, to your first question about the partisanship, it is really polarized now. If you are a republican, youreless likely to trust the f. B. I. Than you were back in 2014, back in 2014 gallup found the Approval Rating of republicans for the f. B. I. Was 14 points higher than it is today. If youre a democrat, you feel better about the f. B. I. Than you did when obama was there by about nine points. So what were seeing happen on capitol hill is also happening with voters. Theyre picking their sides, picking their lane, and what were going to find, ultimately if there ever is an answer to the question about what happened in the russia investigation, what did russia actually do or not do, voters are already now preconditioned to trust or distrust the source. Let me just add numbers to that because why not. Our recent pbs newshour and npr poll found 72 of democrats think that the russia investigation is fair while only 26 of republicans think the russia investigation is fair. A similar breakdown with views of Robert Mueller. So whats happening here, as amy said is, it is becoming partisan. And the thing is, Robert Mueller is a republican. But republicans dont think that he can be fair. Woodruff what sort of damage does it do to our institutions to have this kind of partisanship, this kind of divide over whether people trust these institutions to do the jobs they are asked to do . I am very curious worried about what happens when there is a significant crisis, whether it is were going into a situation where theres a war or a terrorist attack, who are you going to trust . Are you going to trust intelligence . Are you going to trust the president . Are you going to trust the media . And all of those will be bumping up against each other. Its pretty clear, since 9 11 and the war in iraq, there were already questions being raised under the Bush Administration about trusting intelligence, but now i think we have gotten into a very different territory, where it is if your side doesnt like the outcome, even before the outcome comes out, youre going to undermine the actual institution. Woodruff and, tam, there have been always been little questions bubbling beneath the surface. Robert kennedy was attorney general when his brother was the president of the United States, but those have been fairly low level. It seems to have exploded into the open. Well, there are direct attacks coming from the president of the United States against people like Andrew Mccabe, who is this Deputy Director of the f. B. I. Who is now out. When you have the president of the United States tweeting negative things about a very highranking person at the f. B. I. , when you have the president , when he was campaigning, saying he didnt think the investigations could be fair because, basically, now you have a situation where, when a personnel change takes place, you have to ask the question, well, was there undue pressure from the president of the United States . This is a sort of separation that typically that question wouldnt even come up. Woodruff yeah, we are in a different time. Only a few minutes left but i do want to bring up immigration, amy, the president released his proposed Immigration Reform plan last week. Thats going to congress. Youre already hearing complaints, criticisms from the left, criticisms from the right. Not just what are the prospects for his proposal but what are the prospects for any sort of immigration . It sure doesnt look very good because the president of the United States comes out and says these are our four requirements and, again, its not just that democrats are saying we dont like this, folks on the right, especially from the world of breitbart, laura ii thinlauraingram, the hard liners amnesty, the challenge for republicans is if you want to do thing to support the daca recipients, you need the president to be leading on this issue, and i dont know how many of them feel 100 confident that the president is going to take the heat for them, even though he said previously ill take that criticism, will he, if the right comes out, those on the right, more antiimmigration stance, come out and saying this bill the president is supporting as amnesty, go out and say, you guys, dont worry about it. Republicans, im going to go fight for this will and convince the public especially on the republican side this is the right thing to do. If i were a republican member of congress, i would not be confident he would do that for me and he could change his mind any moment in the process. Meanwhile democrats are not saying thank you so much President Trump for this amazing compromise youve offered. The white house is saying, hey, were offering a path to citizenship for 1. 8 Million People eligible for the daca program, and democrats are saying you are using these people as pawns so you can change a Legal Immigration system that has been in place for Something Like 50 years. So hes getting hit from the left, from the right, and its not its not clear that theres a coalition of enough people who think that this thing that the white house has offered is the right path. Woodruff whoa, we have a political divide. What do you know. Woodruff tamera keith, amy walter, politics monday, thank you both. Youre welcome. Woodruff its an athletic and funky style of dance that started in the 1970s. Now break dancing has expanded to a competitive level, that may send some of the best dancers to the youth olympics. From pbs station wgbh in boston, tina martin recently attended a Competitive Breakin League Division Championship reporter this is 11year old Dante Graziano. Today i am going to be break dancing and me and my brother gusinto have a bunch of routines. The routines are pretty basic but we put our on flavor into it and we make it nice. Reporter they look a little more than basic, but graziano who has been dancing since he was four. He makes it look easy, and in january, he faced off against dancers his age from all over new england. Antonio castillo, a 20 year dancing veteran himself, started the National Competitive breaking league in 2014, and since then its had about 1,000 competitors from ages five and up. The competitive breaking league is similar to other sports, n. F. L. And n. B. A. Our goal is to create a platform that is just as professional as those entities so that kids can have an opportunity to go to college and make it a career if they choose to. Reporter castillo has made it a career. He travels across the country looking for the best dancers. Its nothing different, a regular Sports League where you have kids who go to competitions they qualify for another and you create a ladder where the tops kids are going to be the ones representing our country at the olympics. Reporter right now the Competitive Breakin League is not a youth olympics qualifying organization, but castillo is working on it. And just like the olympics, judge Alex El Nino Diaz pays close attention. Footwork, power moves, top rock, and freezes. And of course since it is a battle a competition were looking at charisma and things like that. Reporter diaz has traveled the world break dancing and started judging about 10 years ago. Dont be fooled by the smile hes pretty tough. So when you freeze its like, lets say if youre spinning on your back or spinning on your head the freeze is when you catch almost like a yoga pose or Something Like that. So when you see an ice skater jump up and spin and if they fall on the ice its the same exact thing. Reporter the dancing is fun, but winners take home real prizes, too, like gold, silver and bronze metals along with cash and some fancy foot wear. And its that cash part that has 11yearold Dante Graziano seriously considering his future. Its fun and its something and could be something you could do for a living. Reporter looks like he has a pretty good chance he and his brother won te gold metal and are headed to washington, d. C. To compete in the u. S breakin championship title in the Youth Division in may. For the pbs newshour im tina martin in everett, massachusetts. Woodruff and thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening for special coverage of the president s state of the union address. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by babbel. A language app that teaches reallife conversations in a new language. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org elyse this week on history detectives could this propeller have powered a top secret weapon that transformed modern warfare . For that time it was just unimaginable technology. Tukufu what could this Strange Object have to do with Teddy Roosevelt and his run for a thirdterm presidency . Is that blood . Eduardo and in an encore presentation, how does this letter written about a soldiers final days on the battlefield connect to american heroine clara barton . Elvis costello watchin the detectives i get so angry when the teardrops start but he cant be wounded cause hes got no heart watchin the detectives its just like watchin the detectives watchin the detectives