Sreenivasan all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by fathom travel. More at fathom. Org. Lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future. 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. Woodruff the democratic president ial hopefuls worked california today, heading toward their final primary showdown, on june seventh. Bernie sanders is aiming for an upset, and he says hell keep pressing his case even if it means what he calls a messy process leading up to the convention. In anaheim today, sanders touted his support among the nations youth and said its a message to Party Leaders we are winning the overwhelming majority of young people. What should that tell us . What does that tell us . It tells us it tells us and it should tell the country, and certainly the leadership of the Democratic Party that our ideas, our vision is the future of america. Woodruff the sanders camp also asked today for a re canvass of last weeks kentucky primary results. Hillary clinton finished just over 1,900 votes ahead in kentucky. She, too, campaigned in california today, in the los angeles area, and again, trained her fire on republican donald trump. Now he says he wants to roll back the financial regulations that we have imposed on wall street to let them run wild again. Well ill tell you what. You and i together were not going to let him bankrupt america. Woodruff this was primary voting day for the republicans in washington state. But trump the de facto nominee turned his attention to holding fundraisers, starting in new mexico. Well explore his Campaign Funding later in this program. Sreenivasan in the days other news, president obama made a show of support for dissidents in vietnam after formally ending a u. S. Arms embargo. It came on his second day in hanoi. There are still areas of significant concern in terms of freedom of speech, freedom of sreenivasan it was a telling moment the president meeting with human rights activists and criticizing repression, but with some chairs unfilled. I should note that there were several other activists who were invited, who were prevented from coming for various reasons. And i think its an indication of the fact that, although there has been some modest progress, there are still folks who find it very difficult to assemble and organize peacefully around sreenivasan in a later speech, mr. Obama argued greater freedom would benefit the communist state. He balanced that with another show of solidarity with vietnam against chinas aggressive moves in the south china sea. Nations are sovereign, and no matter how large or small a nation may be, its sovereignty should be respected, and its territory should not be violated. Big nations should not bully smaller ones. Sreenivasan beijing had issued a relatively mild statement on monday. But today, its Defense Ministry essentially warned washington to back off in diplomatic language. translated we believe the countries outside the region should respect the efforts by regional countries in safeguarding peace and stability. They should not threaten other countries sovereignty. Sreenivasan from hanoi, the president flew to Ho Chi Minh City the former saigon where thousands welcomed him, and his push for greater economic ties and trade. The president spends a final day in vietnam tomorrow, then heads to japan. Woodruff mystery swirled again today around the fate of an egyptair plane that crashed last week, killing all 66 people on board. An egyptian forensics expert said the small size of body parts found so far, points to an explosion. But the head of egypts Forensic Agency called that report baseless. The aircrafts black boxes have yet to be found. Sreenivasan kurdishled forces in syria have launched a new offensive near the Islamic State groups de facto capital. Fighting was reported in villages near the city of raqqa. It could be a prelude to an assault on the city itself. Woodruff in greece, officials began moving migrants today from a makeshift refugee camp near the northern border with macedonia. Police managed to get about 1,500 people to leave the squalid idomeni site and move to other, better organized facilities. They piled into buses, and bulldozers removed what was left of their tent shelters. Separately, the International Organization for migration reported fewer migrants are dying as they try to reach europe. Thats largely because turkey has curbed the overall flow. Back in this krish the Justice Department announced late today that it is seeking the Death Penalty for the killings at a church in south carolina. Dylan roof is accused of gunning down nine black parishioners last june. He faces 33 federal charges, including hate crimes and firearms offenses. Sreenivasan Comedian Bill Cosby will stand trial for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004. A judge in norristown, pennsylvania issued that ruling today. Cosby left the hearing without commenting, but the prosecutor said statements to police back in 2005 established probable cause. A preliminary hearing is a situation where we only have to show that a crime is committed and the defendant is connected to the crime. We did that through the victims statement and the defendants admissions to much of the crime. Sreenivasan a defense lawyer said cosbys rights have been violated, and hell appeal the ruling. More than 50 women have claimed he assaulted them over the years, but this is the only criminal case so far. Woodruff theres word that Kenneth Starr is out as president of Baylor University in texas. He was the independent counsel who investigated president clinton. Several broadcast and online outlets reported today that starr has been fired over his handling of allegations of rape leveled against male athletes at the school. Baylor labeled the report rumors. Sreenivasan for the first time, more than 40 major Health Groups are recommending weight loss surgery as a routine option for treating diabetes. The new guidelines include patients who are only mildly obese. Some 26 million americans have diabetes. Woodruff the smoking rate among American Adults has fallen by the most in more than 20 years. The centers for Disease Control and prevention says 15 of adults classified themselves as smokers in 2015. That is down from 17 the year before. Its unclear if the rise of e cigarettes played any role. Sreenivasan monsanto today rejected a takeover bid by german chemical giant bayer. It was valued at 62 billion. And wall street had its biggest day since march. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 213 points to close at 17,706. The nasdaq rose 95 points and the s p 500 added 28. Woodruff still to come on the newshour a shakeup at the t. S. A. Will it help cut down Long Airport Lines congress at odds over zika funding with mosquito season fast approaching, a tax on sugar drinks to pay for preschool, and much more. Sreenivasan if youve traveled on a plane recently, youve likely seen Something Different at the airport extremely long lines. Its a problem roiling the government, airlines and the public. One on the left, one on the right please. Sreenivasan at airports across the country, frustration is boiling over as security wait times soar. Ive missed three flights because of, you know, standing in line. Look at the chaos that goes on here, and every checkpoint is like this. Sreenivasan now, the Transportation Security Administration has sacked kelly hogan, the man in charge of day today security operations. Hes had a checkered threeyear tenure. In 2015, a Homeland Security report found t. S. A. Employees failed to find banned items in more than 95 of covert tests. And thereve been allegations that hogan played a role in punishing whistleblowers. Then, theres 90,000 in bonuses he received between 2013 and 2014. That issue riled the chair of the House Oversight committee, at a recent hearing with t. S. A. Head peter neffenger. Those bonuses were given to somebody who oversees a part of the operation that was in total failure. Sreenivasan dissatisfaction with hoggan came to a head last week, when hundreds of passengers missed flights at chicagos Ohare Airport after waiting for hours. This was always avoidable. We have a situation that is totally not tolerable for the flying public because of people responsible were not doing the job they needed to do in funding, but also staffing positions. Sreenivasan the t. S. A. s neffenger says his agency has struggled with budget cuts at a time when more people are flying. Another concern relatively few people signed up for t. S. A. s expedited precheck procedure. Congress has voted an additional 34 million to hire nearly 800 more screeners, but neffenger says thats not enough. Today, the union for t. S. A. One is overall staffing for screeners is down Something Like 5800 screeners since the peak in 2011. They have about 42,500, but its much fewer than they used to. That i. G. Report that found they werent catching much last summer has prompted them to check bags more thoroughly, so theyre taking a closer look at you as you go through the lines. Theyre going to redo that undercoverup investigation this summer to see. Theyre catching more. Neffenger says they are catching more. And we are also seeing more travelers than ever before. The airlines for america expects 231 million travelers this summer between june 1 and august 31. Sreenivasan so whats the Ripple Effect on the traveler . When we saw and heard those people say how many flights that theyve missed. Cumulatively this has to be a lot of Business Concern for the airlines, too. Yeah, the concerns its a headache for the airlines because anybody missing a flight, trying to rebook them, the flights are going almost 90 full. Its dill. American airlines said during a single week in midmarch they had 6800 travelers miss their flights because of the security screening. Thats why airlines for americas orged a hashtag and web site called the hate the wait to try to get more public acknowledgment to the problem. Sreenivasan we were talking about camera for global entry. I was going through the t. S. A. Precheck lines. How many other people are joining me in this and how does that factor in . Overall, there are 10 Million People in expedited screening programs so far. About 2. 5 million of them are specifically precheck, which is the t. S. A. Program. If youre in global entry through customs and border protection, that gives you the added value when youre coming back from overseas, you get to go through the customs lines faster, scipt long lines from the airlines. Theyre trying to recruit more people into these programs, but so far theyre falling well below 10 million total members, theyre falling far below their goal of 25 million in these expedited programs. Sreenivasan have these point increased the number of applications . They were getting 2,000 to 3,000 applicantaise day at this time last year. Now they are up above 10,000 a day. Last week, neffenger told us this morning they got 15,000 people in one day. Sreenivasan you met with neffenger this morning before the news about hoggan came out. What was the mood there . Well, yeah, he set up we had an Editorial Board arranged with him before this news broke. He was very forthright saying that he didnt say that hoggan had done something wrong. He just said he wanted a change of strategy. He wants to try to make the lines more efficient, rather than just going faster for people. They dont want to sacrifice security for moving the lines. Nevertheless, they think they can move the lines for efficiently and get people through faster. Sreenivasan almost every travel agent i speak with says its going to get worse through the summer. Yes, the secretary of Homeland Security, jeh johnson, has warned even as they add the screeners that was mentioned in your report, that lines are still expected to be long. You should plan ahead. But they are going to try to avoid the two and threehour waits that youve seen in the last few weeks. Sreenivasan all right, bart jansen of usa today, thanks so much. Thank you for having woodruff now to capitol hill and washingtons efforts to combat the zika virus. Back in february, the white house put together a 1. 9 billion proposal aimed at Mosquito Control, education about zika, plus, boosting research into the virus, and a possible vaccine. Last week, the Republican Controlled Senate moved a compromise measure, for less than twothirds that amount over the next year 1. 1 billion. But the also g. O. Pcontrolled house signed off on a bill for 622 million, over six months. Joining me now from opposite sides of this funding divide are representative rosa delauro, a democrat from connecticut, and representative bob gibbs, republican from ohio. And we welcome both of you to the program. Congressman gibbs, let me begin with you. The administration, as we said, asking for 1. 9 billion. The amount you favor is about a third that much. Why not give the administration what its asking for . Well, what the administration did thats ongoing through at least the next two mosquito seasons, our bill, at 600 millionplus, goes to the end of the fiscal year, september 30, and now were in the appropriation process, and well look at that, what we need to do past september 30 of this year going into the next fiscal year and the next mosquito season next summer. Well be appropriating more money, im sure, but its going to go through regular order and the regular appropriation process. Were on board to make sure to appropriate the money thats needed to get through to the end of this fiscal year. Woodruff congresswoman delauro tsound like a down payment on this problem. Does that sound like it will be enough . The fact is the zika virus is a Public Health emergency. It is a crisis. It is going to the mosquitoes that carry the virus will hit the mainland United States within the next few weeks. We are putting american women at risk, pregnant women, who are fearful that their babies will be born with birth defects. And we have a medical community that is telling women that maybe they should not get pregnant. That is not message to the american people. The fact of the matter is, is that the 622 million is a third of whats been asked for. You know, in this body, when we deal with appropriations for defense or going to war, my republican colleagues will say, let us get the word from the generals, from those who are in the field, the experts. They can tell us how much money they need. And they can tell us how many troops we need. Well, we do have experts in this war on the mosquitos. We have the center for Disease Control. We have the National Institutes of health. We have the scientific community, all of whom said we need 1. 9 billion. And they have documented every cent of that as to where it is going opinion we need to listen to these generals in the field on this war on the mosquitos. And keep the American Public safe and american women safe. Woodruff congressman gibbs, its not just democrats who are saying that this is not enough money. One of your fellow republicans in the senate, marco rubio, of florida, said today that this is not enough money, the 622 million. He went on to say that he fears that the opportunity to get ahead of this crisis is slipping away. What do you say to him . Well, i think were going through the appropriation process, and if its not enough money well do the appropriation bills here in the next few weeks, and well appropriate more money when we go through request do our due diligence. But another issue i need on talk about is my bill, 897, deals with how we control mosquitoes and kill the larvae in mosquitos here before they hatch, and thats a bill i had on the floor today, passed with strong bipartisan support. And it gives our states and local communities the resources, the ability not to have additional red tape and bureaucracy and dont Waste Resources to do their control efforts, to start doing the preventive programs, the onset at the beginning of the mosquito season. And thats really important and a lot of people on the other side of the iefg are not supportive of this and its really something that needs to be done so our local communities, mosquitocontrol districts have every tool in the toolbox to start preventive programs to stop the mosquitoes from growing in population and possibly reaching epidemic proportions of the zika virus or even the west nile virus. Woodruff congresswoman delauro, my understanding this legislation that the congressman is referring to would loosen the restrictions on the use of pesticides. Is that at least a partial step in the right direction . Let me make two quick point to you. We running out of time. It was Anthony Fauci at the n. I. H. , at the center for infectious diseases, who said that if we wait for the appropriations process, we are not going to be able to do what we need to do to get ahead of this virus. On the bill that my colleague has introduced, let me be clear with all due respect to my colleague, it is a phony. It is a sham. It is nothing but trying to weaken the environmental regulations. It exempts, broad exemption of toxic pesticides from the cleann water act. This bill was introduced two or three years ago, has noct to do with zika. Our states and municipalities today have the authority in which to be able to control the mosquito population and to and to deal with it. This will only pollute our rivers and contaminate our water. This bill that was passed today has nothing seriously to do with controlling the zika virus. Its rebabd branded. Woodruff congressman gibbs. The American Mosquito Control Association has said we have had communities that are slow to get the preventative Mosquito Control programs up and going because of this court case that created this praib few years ago. And the e. P. A. Has full control over the under current law, to regulate these pesticides, and if these pesticides have restrictions have to be applied by a certified applicator and they have to keep all kinds of records. We saw, we have testimony from Mosquito Control entities throughout the country that said that theyve add the cost to the paperwork, and it also opens them up to litigation, and if they are in violation of the paperwork under the clea clean r act they will be find. Again, very quickly, we are whats happened is the Emergency Preparedness money has been taken away from localities because the c. D. C. Has had to shift money because this congress, this Republican Congress will not appropriate the 1. 9 million, which makes it slow for them to deal with surveillance. The fact is, is that under emergency circumstances, our states and our municipalities have the authority to deal with controlling the mosquito population. This bill will do nothing to address that issue. Woodruff congressman gibbs reaching epidemic proportions they will do emergency measures and not need any permits and start a Preventative Program like they normally would. Woodruff congressman gibbs, i want to ask you what this says to women who live in areas that may be affected by the mosquito carrying the zika virus. What do you say to women who are worried, who are concerned that the mosquitoes are coming with the warmer weather . Well, its obvious we have to do everything we can, and i think the money that we voted last week in the house to put start the process moving forward, and im sure well appropriate more money as soon as we learn its necessary. We dont want to create just a slush fund out there with no accountability. Were doing our due diligence. The president s request goes out has no time frame. Just goes on. So weve got this set to september 30, and before september 30 we can appropriate more money. It gets the ball rolling, and my bill gets the ball rolling so our locals can start their preventive Mosquito Control programs. What we are saying to women, were saying to women that you are at risk. Without trying to deal with this, with the immediacy that the specific community has told us about, this is immediate. Its now, in a few weeks. That means this summer. Women are going to be afraid to go out on their patio. Theyre going to be afraid to go to a barbecue. Theyre going to be afraid to take their kids to Little League because it can put their ability to have children or if theyre carrying children, they would be in jeopardy. This puts american women at risk, and this congress is doing nothing but stalling, this Republican Congress has said no five times to 1. 9 million, which is well documented, its more documented than the war in iraq was. Woodruff well have to leave it there, congresswoman delauro, congressman gibbs, we thank you both very much. Thank you. Thank you. Sreenivasan stay with us. Coming up on the newshour a first for president ial candidate donald trump hosting a fundraiser. Balancing the interests of ranchers and conservationists in the american west, and a womans life entwined with science and nature. But first, the city of philadelphia is considering a new but controversial way of funding early education. Heres my report part of our weekly series on education that airs on tuesday nights called making the grade. In philadelphia, buying soda has bubbled into a political controversy. To make prekindergarten available to all three and fouryearolds, philadelphias mayor has proposed a soda tax that requires beverage distributors to pay three cents for every ounce of sugary drink sold in the city. Philadelphias chance to lift our children with citywide prek is now. Sreenivasan the mayor hopes to raise 95 million annually with the new tax. But unlike campaigns in other cities, philadelphias soda tax is not being promoted as a health issue. The ancillary benefit to this will be healthy choices, but its not the purpose. The purpose of imposing this three cent an ounce sugar sweetened beverage tax is to allow people to get their kids educated and move them out of poverty into taxpaying citizens. Sreenivasan mayor jim kenney argues Beverage Companies make big money from sugary drinks sold in lowincome neighborhoods places where prekindergarten can make a difference. Unless a child is reading at grade level by third grade, the odds are by seventh and eighth grade theyll be acting up because they cant read, ninth and tenth grade theyre dropping out because theyre embarrassed they cant read. Sreenivasan but the high calorie tax has become a highly charged debate. When those pennies start adding up, your grocery budget is going to go. Sreenivasan much of the opposition is funded by the american beverage association, but some is from city grocers who rely on sodas sales. Dany venus owns a Grocery Store in north philadelphia. He says 25 of his business is selling sugary drinks. Theyre going to tax the big company, theyre going to pass it onto us, and who is going to be paying . The consumer, at the very end, whoever buys it to consume, thats who is going to pay. Oh, you like this juice, okay get it. Sreenivasan kevin eads and his family shop at vinas store every day. I drink soda and juice all day long, i love it. Sreenivasan eads says if the cost is passed on to the consumer he will have trouble paying for the sugarbased juice his children drink. Its not really going to be fair on them because im not going to have the money to buy it. I barely have enough to get what im getting. Im going to have to choose between food or getting juice, you know thats not right. How can you tell a three year old kid drink water, drink diet soda, when they know that those sweet drinks is what they want, theyre going to say no, no, no. The parent will have to buy it. You can fold it, if you need to. Sreenivasan carla hurley and her husband cameron who grew up in north philadelphia support the soda tax. It really makes sense to me that, okay, sugary drinks, its not something that we need, its something that we want. Sreenivasan their fouryear old son, chance, would qualify for the free prekindergarten the tax would provide. Currently, the hurleys pay 1,000 a month. My job pretty much pays for child care, but at this point, developmentally, they would benefit more from going than from staying home with me. The money that she brings in, the net, is really close per pay to the money that goes out for daycare. Its really close. Sreenivasan the couple has moved in with carlas mother until they can afford to buy a house. Thats a mortgage payment for us, so that would be amazing to at least take some of that burden off us for paying for two kids, for childcare. It would be great. Sreenivasan the mayor says the soda tax would expand high quality preschools like the Parent Infant Center in West Philadelphia where the waitlist is substantial. This is part of an advocacy effort to get the children to deliver messages to city council to understand the importance of the sugar tax right now. Sreenivasan executive director deb green shows drawings the students created in support of the tax, describing what they liked most about pre kindergarten. This one says because the playground is so much fun to play on. This child loves the blocks. Sreenivasan the Center Serves both lowincome families who receive state subsidies and fullpaying families. I think were learning the importance of children being in classrooms with children of other races. When they learn it at three, four and five, they no longer have bias, stereotypes, prejudice. Sreenivasan currently, 150 families are waiting for full pay slots and 70 families are waiting for subsidized slots. Store owner venas supports funding prekindergarten, but says the city should find another way to pay for it. Venas worries the added cost which he says could double the price of some beverages will drive his customers outside the city to buy taxfree soda. Most of the people, theyre going to just drive away, and drive ten minutes, and do the whole shopping at another supermarket out of the county of philadelphia. Were not taxing thirst. Its kind of comical, their argument that this product is so critical to your life and your happiness that youre going to go and stock up your whole car with it. Its kind of laughable. When the next crate comes in lets make it orange. Sreenivasan but david days, of days beverages, an independent soft drink company on the border of philadelphia, believes the tax has bigger implications than any losses he may incur. For him its an issue of fairness. Many products have sugar. Cakes, all your candy bars have sugar, your cereal has sugar. If youre going to do it, lets do everything that has sugar will be taxed, proportionally. Lets be fair, you just cannot pick on soft drinks. Sreenivasan the city council is expected to vote on the mayors proposal soon. Woodruff we turn now to the race for the white house and zero in for a moment on the money chase. One of Donald Trumps main pitches to g. O. P primary voters was that by funding his own campaign he was not beholden to big donors. But tonight, the Presumptive Republican nominee holds his First Official fundraiser in albuquerque, new mexico. Here to discuss the shift and what trumps goals are for the rest of the campaign is matea gold, who covers money in politics for the washington post. Matea, welcome back to the program. So as we just said, Donald Trump Holding his first fundraiser tonight, well behind the other candidate cans, certainly well behind Hillary Clinton hillary. How much of a difference does that make . Well, trump has set a very ambitious goal for his joint fundraising operation with the Republican National committee. Thats 1 billion by election day, which comes out to about 250 million a month for the next five months. So he has a lot of work to do. He does not have a formal fundraising structure. So unlike Hillary Clinton, who has a very Robust National network of donors, he is just now in the process of identifying fund raisers throughout the country, bringing people on board to help bring in the big dollars to really finance that fall getoutthevote effort that will be so critical. Woodruff as weve said, matea, donald trump has been saying for months that big donors are bad in politics. He has been critical of other candidates and their big donors. How does his campaign explain the shift now . Well, they are, i think, struggling to try to frame how this pivot is really working. On the one hand, trump and his top aides are maintaining that hes still really just raising money for the party, when in fact the joint fund racing agreement he has with the r. N. C. Does divert a substantial amount of money directly into his campaign. The first 5400 of any donation a contributor makes goes directly to trump for president. Hes trying to maintain the bulk of this money will go to finance the partys getoutthevote effort. And even if donors do give small amounts of money, he is worth 10 billion and he cannot be bought by wealthy contributors the way he maintained other politicians can. Woodruff do we know how much hes really going to need . You said theyre saying 1 billion, but he has certainly gotten by with a lot less than that during the primary season. He got so much News Coverage he didnt need the traditional tv advertising the other candidates do. I think most veteran Party Fund Raisers privately agree 1 billion is incredibly ambitious and difficult to pull off. As you point out, he might not need that much. We havent seen him need to put the kind of millions of dollars into Television Advertising that the other candidates have had to do. He will, however, need a really robust ontheground field effort to identify voters and turn them out to the polls. Thats something the partys going to take the lead on, but thats something they need substantial resources to finance. Woodruff now, we also know, matea, there have been a number of stories about big republican wealthy republican donors either being reluctant or just saying flat out theyre unwilling to give donald trump money. Where does that stand in i know you did some reporting on that today. Well, whats really remarkable is were seeing a coalescing of the top donor and fundraising class in the party coming around trump, people who were ardent dakers of jeb bush, for example, who was really pounded by trump in the primaries, major backers of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and other candidates have really come to the conclusion that between the choice of trump and likely democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the fall, theyre going to put their investment with trump. And so i think its been incredibly striking to see how many of them have signed up to help on this effort. Woodruff so do you think between now and election day we are going to see a steady stream of fund raisers that donald trump is going to have to be taking part in . Well, it remains to be seen how many he will be willing to take part in. Hes doing one tonight in albuquerque, and another really highdollar event in los angeles later this week that is set to bring in as much as 5 million. But, you know, at this time four years ago, governor romney was doing 50 events over the summer. Thats a big chunk of your schedule to take out for fund raisers, not something that donald trump necessarily has interest in doing. But i think a lot of fund raisers are telling him hes going to have to step up to the plate. Woodruff matea gold, were watching this every day for the washington post, we thank you. My pleasure. Sreenivasan a Small Community in southeast oregon was thrown into the National Spotlight earlier this year when several dozen armed occupiers took control of the the National Wildlife refuge, leading to a monthlong standoff with law enforcement. They were protesting federal government control of local lands, a longstanding grievance in the american west. But some local residents say they were surprised the conflict took place there because theyve been working together to resolve Land Management disputes. Special correspondent cat wise reports. Reporter the malheur National Wildlife refuge has reopened to the public, but the headquarters complex remains closed, for now. Once the repairs are done, and were back in the buildings, and operating again in full, then well open up the headquarters. Reporter refuge manager chad karges says that while cleanup efforts from the occupation are ongoing, everyones attention is now refocused on the most important visitors here birds. Malheur refuge is about migratory birds, and so this basin is one of the most important spring migratory stops for migratory birds in the western u. S. The basin serves as kind of like an international airport, its a hub. Reporter more than 320 species are found here, including sandhill cranes, rosss geese, longbilled curlews, and red wing blackbirds. But the birds dont just hang out on the refuge, they land wherever they want. And at this time of year, thats often on local private ranch land, wet with spring runoff. Its wonderful habitat for birds. And for cows. Cows outnumber people by 14 to one in Harney County. Theres a long, proud tradition of ranching here, and cattle and haying are the main drivers of the local economy. Cows and birds seem to get along quite well on private ranches, and many in the community appreciate the tourism dollars that birders bring in. But its when those cattle have to graze on public, government owned land which makes up 75 of the county that conflicts between ranchers, environmental groups, and the government become evident. So about ten years ago, refuge manager karges and a small group in this community decided to try a fairly novel approach to resolving those conflicts face toface conversations. And those conversations have led to this. The High Desert Partnership a nonprofit that was formed with one goal collaboration. Can you add to a committee or does it need to be a Standing Committee . I just recommend it is a standing group. Reporter participants at a recent meeting held at the Historic Hotel diamond included ranchers, federal and local government employees, scientists, and conservation groups. A Diverse Group you might not expect would share so many laughs. Brenda smith is the groups director. We wanted to go beyond litigation when land issues were being challenged. If we could bring people together, maybe those things wouldnt happen, and that is where we have seen our success. Reporter the group has made progress in other areas too like reducing the number of invasive carp that are hurting the ecosystem in malheur lake on the refuge, and improving flood Irrigation Systems on private ranches that benefit both cattle and the birds. But how to manage cattle on federal lands, especially on the refuge, is an issue they are still sorting out. Dan nichols is a local rancher and an elected county commissioner. Hes a Firm Believer in the partnership, but he says its not always easy to find Common Ground when ranchers feel their way of life is threatened. There needs to be some change in the way the federal lands are managed. The west is continuously bombarded by threats of monuments, national parks, further restrictions on grazing. The lock up of millions of acres over a succession of time is causing a demise, to a certain degree, in the rural communities. Reporter nichols says working through those tough issues has been a lot easier with the partnership in place. We can sit down and talk, you still dont agree on everything, thats a given, thats people. But you respect one another to listen, and to look at the world through their lens a little bit, and others are starting to see, because theyve been here enough, that, eh, cattle arent all bad. Reporter malheur is one of a small number of federal wildlife refuges around the country that allow limited grazing and haying, largely to help control plant growth and Invasive Species during times of year when cattle wont impact the birds too much. But when a longterm plan was being developed for the refuge, some hoped to get cattle off the land entirely. We think public lands need to be managed for their ecological value. That needs to be the top priority. And too often those ecological values have been sacrificed for cattle grazing. Reporter Bob Sallinger is the conservation director at the portland audubon society. Sallinger says cattle cause a number of ecological problems including trampling vegetation and nests and reducing water quality, but after many, many discussions with the group, he decided he could live with some cattle on the refuge. As we talked, we realized we did have some Common Ground on some of the biggest issues particularly carp and flood irrigation. That we could agree to move forward on those issues, and that also that there needed to be better science in terms of understanding the role that cattle are playing in the ecosystem. Reporter in fact, better science has become the shared goal of the various high desert partners. And theyve put their trust in this group. Esther lev, dustin johnson, and jess wenick are scientists with different backgrounds, but the three are collaborating on projects around the refuge aimed at understanding how vegetation responds over time to different management tools like flooding, and grazing, but what they arent doing, they say, is taking sides. Were really trying to say what goes on here, what is the ideal Plant Community we want and water regime thats going to give the birds the habitat they need. Were really only two years into the sampling thats being done. Were just now beginning to understand some of these changes were seeing when we do certain things. The beautiful thing that i see in this collaborative effort is the value of the shared science because too often politics removes some of the tools from the toolbox that you are able to use on a site like this to meet your objectives. Reporter the data from their experiments will ultimately help refuge managers determine how many cattle are allowed to graze from year to year. But not everyone in the Larger Community is supportive of the High Desert Partnership. The main problem is not being addressed. Reporter erin maupin and her husband jeff own a 1,700 acre ranch and 350 cattle. They, like so many ranchers in this area, need much more land than they own to feed those cattle. But they say they feel under constant threat that their government permits, to graze on public lands, will be taken away to preserve habitat for wildlife. Maupin says she participated in early High Desert Partnership meetings, but stopped going after she felt like her views werent getting traction. I thought if we could just get the truth out there that were not here raping and pillaging the land that environmental groups would recognize our grazing rights. I think if people would listen to us more in the collaboration, instead of were the only ones that have anything to give, and so were constantly giving, and giving, and giving. Reporter but those who are committed to the collaborative process say the recent occupation has strengthened their cause. Partnership director brenda smith i think it might actually encourage people, that yeah, this is something thats important, and that we really need to work hard at it. Reporter the group recently received a 6 million grant from a state agency for wetlands habitat projects on and off the refuge and they are now collaborating about how to spend that money. For the pbs newshour, im cat wise in Harney County oregon. Woodruff next, the latest addition to our newshour bookshelf lab girl, by geo biologist hope jahren, is both an investigation of the thrilling lives of plants and a deeply personal memoir. Jeffrey brown has that. Brown hope jahren, welcome to you. Thank you. Brown part memoir, part science. What were you after or are they both the same to you . Yes, well, i wanted to write a book, and in my field thats what you do. You get your degree, you write a lot of papers and you get a broad view of the dispeeld you write a textbook brown for other scientists. Which changing the way the field is taught. When i sat down to do that i couldnt keep my own storyute of it. When i tried to explish plish what we accomplished i needed to talk about how we accomplished it and then i needed to talk about all the late nights and special people and strange experiences that went into that. I couldnt keep the two separate so now you have a book thats all entwined. Brown it begins for your first discovering or at least seeing science in your fathers lab. You taught science at community college, right . Yes. Brown what did you see . My very earliest memories as a small child were in the laboratory, what it smelled like, what the cement felt like, the hard angles of it, the shiny objects and interesting things and how they could all be used for something. And they were toys but they werent toys. They were serious things. Brown you even write,theres nothing in the world more perfect than a slide rule. Yes. Brown thats a serious thing. Its a beautiful thing that we dont use anymore, unfortunately. We broke things and then we fixed them. You could have fund breaking them and then you fixed pem thp there was nowhere better. Brown its the natural world, the world of plant life, that ultimately grabbed you. Yes. Brown why . Its the biggest question there is what does it mean to be alive on the planet. Answering that for you and me is one thing but answering it for an organism that is so terribly different than we are and so terribly more successful and longlived and spectacular that we cant even interview the way you ask me a question. I have to pull it out of its environment and put it in the explab try to grow it and control it and work so hard to just get a small, small window into something so different. Brown you know, i was thinking, because so much of your book is about moving through the world and seeing green, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Brown seeing colors around us, and yet, most of us, maybe i should speak for myself, we dont see it every day. Its right there, but we dont see it. But you used to. You got away from that. Another thing i say in the book is everybody has a tree they remember from being a child. Its very common i meet somebody who remembers looking carefully at a tree, and being near it, and what it meant to them, et cetera. And i think one of the only interesting things about me is they never lost that. I never moved away from it. Brown one of the interesting things about the way you write the obamacare going back and forth between yourself and the plant world is the similarities but also as you were saying just before the great differences between us, right. Yes, yes. Its juxtaposed. I talk a little bit about how a plant establishes itself, and the struggles it undergoes. And i talk a little bit about how i established myself, and the good parts and the bad parts and the tough parts and then i let the reader say to themselves, did i see any similar threads . Did i see any differences . And its turned out to be a wonderful thing to see people read it. Thats been wonderful. Brown some of the tough parts, personal parts byour struggles with depression, bipolar disorder. Yeah. Brown you had to work hard to keep this under management, right . Yeah. Brown but it affected your life tremendously. Yeah, yeah. I spent 10 years being very sick and hiding it. I spent 10 years doing the very hard work of getting well. And i had not seen that written in a book the way it had been a real thing for me for very important parts of my life. And so i thought maybe i can do this. Maybe i can make a book that tackles this in a way it hasnt been done before, and i did my best. Brown and then, of course, for all the wonder of scientific discovery and research, theres the nuts and bolts of, you know, actually booing a worker, right . Absolutely. Brown of having to get funding, of having to get positions to teach and do your research. Absolutely. Its work. I mean, its hard work that doesnt usually pay off. Its hard and it might not come to anything, and the only salvation you have is the joy you get from the moment, the joy that you get from watching the samples accumulate right next to you. Brown its called lab girl. Yes. Brown you are a woman in science. Yes. Brown you right about this, all the discussion about why there arent more women . Is it sexism at an individual level, at a cultural level . What do you see going on . Well, i think being a scientist is a position of respect and power and access and its a prifnlged position in, privileged position in society. And i think there are fundamental mechanisms that keep men and women from achieving the same level of power and access and privilege in society. And so i think these things apply to science in the same way that they apply in whos in congress, and who is running the world in many other ways. Brown but give me an example. Where does it happen . Because, you know, this discussion is always what happens to young girls who start out interested and somehow dont make the same progress, or dont achieve the same positions . One thing that was very important to me was that i felt comfortable in the lab from being very, very small. I knew that, thats where i belonged, and i could fix things and move things and no matter how many classrooms i went into where i was the only girl in the physics class, or whatever, i never questioned the fact they didnt belong there. I knew that as well as i knew my own name that this was the place i was comfortable and this was the place where i could cothings. Brown all right, the book is lab girl, hope jahren, thank you so much. Youre welcome. Sreenivasan finally, a special public media investigation casts new scrutiny on the Disaster Recovery system. Thats the subject of tonights frontline, called the business of disaster. It looks at how billions of dollars were spent after superstorm sandy, including the profits insurers make through the National Flood insurance program, and through special housing aid Congress Gives to local governments. The project was done in conjunction with npr, which is also airing its report on all Things Considered today. Heres an excerpt from frontline about one of the Housing Programs in new york with npr reporter laura sullivan. Sullivan the job of rebuilding these homes in new york city is the responsibility of a special Housing Program called build it back. Weve created a powerful program. Sullivan the program got 1. 7 billion from washington. And weve secured federal aid money. The name of the program is nyc build it back, and its here to make your home safer, our community stronger, and our city the very best it can be. Sullivan one family that was told theyd be among the first to be helped by build it back was diane and nick camerada, the couple the president had comforted. Just dont forget about us. Thats my point. Thats why i came here. laughter sullivan hi but three years later, they were still living with a fish tank filled with sandy storm water. This is our fish tank. Sullivan is this the water from the tidal surge . Yes. Sullivan this is tidal surge water. Tidal surge plus the fish tank water. I mean, everything must have intermingled, because the water actually went up to the top step before my second floor. Sullivan the water came all the way up here . This whole floor was underwater . Underwater. Sullivan this used to be your entryway . The cameradas were still waiting to get their first floor fixed up and their house elevated. We had our television, our couch, our living area. Sullivan like many homeowners, they gambled and didnt have flood insurance. They were now counting on help from build it back. Do you know i had to itemize every single thing that i lost . Sullivan diane showed me what that process has been like. I know i filled this same application out three times. Sullivan no, this same application, this pile . Yes. Sullivan how do you keep all of this straight . I have no choice but to keep it straight. I have to know where everything is so when somebody says, oh, you didnt fill this out, or you didnt fill that out, here it is, i filled it out. I filled it out three or four times. Sullivan it wasnt just lost paperwork. It was also hard to get a straight answer. You would talk to one person and then if you would talk to another person, you would get a totally different story. So who do you believe . Sreenivasan tune in for frontlines business of disasters later tonight on your local pbs station. Woodruff on the newshour online we asked experts if the new overtime regulations announced last week will help or hurt the economy. As you can imagine, we got a wide range of responses. You can read all of them on our making sense page. Thats on our website pbs. Org newshour. Later tonight on pbs north carolinas move to legislate who uses which bathroom is just the tip of the iceberg. Point taken debates the state of gender and transgender rights in america. Sreenivasan and on charlie rose the cast of a streetcar named desire gillian anderson, ben foster, and vanessa kirby. And thats the newshour for tonight. Tomorrow i sit down with the head of Veterans Affairs to ask how after millions of dollars of fixes problems persist for delivering care. If youre a veteran, wed like to hear about your experience. Share your responses on social media using the asktheva, and we might incorporate them in tomorrows interview. Im hari sreenivasan. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future. Fathom travels, offering cruises to cuba and the dominican republic. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. 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 friends of the newshour. 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 is nightly Business Report with Tyler Mathisen and sue herera. Raise the roof. Americans are buying new homes at the fastest pace in eight years. As the spring selling season picks up momentum. Borrowing is up for the things we need such as houses and cars and education. But are consumers taking on too much debt . Power and speed. Theyre iconic. Theyre fast. But are muscle cars Strong Enough to protect you during common collisions . Those stories and more tonight on nightly Business Report for tuesday, may 24th. Im Sharon Epperson in for sue herera. Im Tyler Mathisen. A powerful rally on the street and it wasnt