Designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company. Additional support has been provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tisch wnet studios at Lincoln Center in new york, hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan good evening and thanks for joining us. The process to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia 14 months ago takes a step forward tomorrow. The nomination of judge neil gorsuch gets a vote in the Senate Judiciary committee that questioned him last month. The committee is expected to approve the nomination along partisan lines, with republicans having the majority, as they do in the whole senate, with 52 of 100 seats. Today, senator joe donnelly of indiana joined Heidi Heitkamp of south dakota and joe manchin of West Virginia as the only democrats to say theyll vote for gorsuch. All three are from states won by mister trump. Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell predicted the nomination will pass. What im telling you is that judge gorsuch is going to be confirmed. The way in which that occurs is in the hands of the democratic minority, and i think during the course of the week we will find out exactly how this will end, but it will end with his confirmation. Sreenivasan unless republicans can get 60 votes, democrats are threatening to filibuster the confirmation; in part as payback for the senates refusal to hold hearings on judge Merrick Garland last year. He was president obamas pick to replace scalia. It looks like gorsuch will not reach the 60vote margin so instead of changing the rules, which is up to Mitch Mcconnell and the republican majority, why doesnt President Trump, democrats and republicans in the senate, sit down and try to come up with a mainstream nominee . Sreenivasan in an interview only days before his first meeting with chinese president xi jinping, President Trump warned today the u. S. Is prepared to act without china against north Koreas Nuclear weapons program. Mister trump told the financial times, in part, if china is not going to solve north korea, we will. The chinese president is scheduled to visit mister trump at the president s home in palm beach, florida, this coming thursday and friday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell today rejected calls for an independent commission to investigate alleged russian meddling in the president ial campaign or possible collusion with any trump associates. Mcconnell said hes confident the f. B. I. And the congressional intelligence committees can handle the probe. Asked today whether hes seen any evidence to support President Trumps accusation that the Obama Administration ordered any wiretaps of trump tower, senator mcconnell said, no. Former Trump National security adviser michael flynn, who has volunteered to testify in the congressional russia probes if granted immunity from prosecution, initially omitted thousands of dollars in speaking fees earned from russian entities on his white house Financial Disclosure form. Flynn noted the payments, from before he joined the administration, in a revised form released by the white house yesterday. Flynn was forced to resign in february after misleading Vice President pence about the content of his phone calls last december with the russian ambassador. Environmental Protection Agency administrator scott pruitt, in a departure from past remarks, acknowledged today human activity is indeed contributing to global warming. Theres a warming trend, the climate is changing, and human activity contributes to that change in some measure. The real issue is how much we contribute to it and measuring that with precision. Sreenivasan pruitt, whose appointment was fought by environmental activists, said last month that Carbon Dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels were not a, primary contributor to global warming. Chicago police have made their first arrest for the alleged gang rape of a 15yearold girl, which was streamed live on facebook two weeks ago. Police say the attack involved up to six males and was watched by approximately 40 people, none of whom called the authorities. Police yesterday arrested a 14 yearold boy who they describe as one of the offenders in the video. The video was brought to the police by the victims mother. The teen has been charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, as well as manufacturing and disseminating child pornography. Today, police obtained an arrest warrant for another teen, and say theyre working with facebook to identify other suspects. How might President Trumps proposed budget cuts to the Superfund Program affect the cleanup of americas toxic waste sites . Visit pbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan egyptian president Abdel Fattah Alsisi will visit the white house tomorrow. The administration has said President Trump is looking to reboot the bilateral relationship and build on the connection the two president s established when they first met in new york last year. The visit raises questions about u. S. Foreign aid to egypt and alsisis human rights record since he overthrew egypts first democraticallyelected president in 2013. New York Times White House correspondent peter baker joins me now from washington for a preview. You had a chance to sit down with officials in the white house. First of all, regardless of what happens at the meeting, the very act of the u. S. President meeting him at the white house, thats kind of a win for egypt right there . Well, the picture is what president sisi wants more than anything, that along with the money, of course. But the picture is important, a picture of him with the president of the United States, in the oval office, in the white house, something no egyptian president has had since 2009. President obama, you know, he went back and forlt on how hard to push on human rights but he kept a distance to president sisi, never invited him to the white house. This is something as you say as a victory for president sisi to come and be with the president of the United States. Lets talk about the people he overthrough to take the spot, the Muslim Brotherhood, egypt considers them basically a terrorist organization, he wants the world to see them that way as well. What is the likelihood the u. S. Moves in that direction. When president sis aye sisi met with president obamas administration, they brought up you need to digs nation the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist o. The Obama Administration consistently refused. The Trump Administration is debating it, they are not sure. There are people in the administration agree that they think they are like radical islamic groups like the islamic state, like alqaeda like she bab. But there are many others in and outside the administration who say you shouldnt conflate the two. They are more moderate. They have officially renounced violence and i more organization anyway that would cause all sorts of unintended consequences if you call them a terrorist organization. Because suddenly you wouldnt be allowed it deal with people in governments in places line tunisia and other places. And egypt has cracked down hard to put it mildly on the Muslim Brotherhood. And your piece recently talked about their humanrights record. A lot of people are pushing the United States to take a stand on it. What is the Trump Administration going to do. According to human rights watch, then tens of thousands of people have been put in prison by president sisis add morgs for largely political reason, the Muslim Brotherhood but also some people not related to them, including a few americans. What the Trump White House is saying is look, human rights are important to us. We are going to raise it but well is do it in private. We need a constructive way to approach. This the critics outside are saying if you dont raise it publicly it sends a signal to not just egypt but the whole region that its not important to you. Sreenivasan speaking of the region, the king of jordan is supposed to visit on wednesday. The Trump Administration has said their priority is to fight isis n that context what about the aid the United States gives to egypt. Does that increase or decrease with the is. We have seen President Trump sent congress a Budget Proposal that cuts foreign aid very drastically, very dramically. And they have said other than israel basically everybodys aid package is on the table. Well, second to israel is egypt. 1. 3 billion a year in military aid. But the Trump Administration is saying look, were going to give them enough money but were not telling them how much. So the egyptians are nervous about that, that is one of the Top Priorities that president sisi has in coming to washington to see if he cant preserve their generous aid levels theyve had going back to the camp david accords to in the 1970 west better baker joining us in washington, thanks so much. Thank, good talking to you. Sreenivasan last week, british Prime Minister theresa may began the formal process of the United Kingdom exiting the 28nation European Union, nine months after british voters chose to become the first country ever to leave the e. U. Many british citizens are worried about likely changes to travel rules and trade regulations that could affect their lives at home and abroad. One such place is gibraltar, a threesquaremile sliver of land attached to spain. Its more than a thousand miles from london and has been under british rule since 1704. In tonights signature segment, newshour weekend special correspondent amy guttman went there to report on brexit jitters. Reporter gibraltar is where the Atlantic Ocean meets the mediterranean sea. Tourists flock here to stand at the top of the rock, 1,400 feet above sea level, with tunnels carved into it which housed allied troops during world war two. For centuries, this peninsula jutting out of spains Southern Coast has been a Strategic Military and trading post. Today, its the only british territory on the european continent. The mild climate, relaxed lifestyle, and mix of languages make gibraltar feel culturally a lot like neighboring spain. While 30,000 people live in gibraltar, 13,000 spaniards and other european nationals commute to work here every day. Most park their cars on the spanish side and walk across an area known as the frontier. George bassadone employs 70 spanish workers converting suvs into ambulances used by the United Nations and aid organizations all over the world. The work that we do is very specialized, involving a lot of electronics, mechanical work. So, we tend to find that expertise in spain. Reporter his business is dependent on one of the cornerstones of the European Union, Free Movement of people and goods across open borders. Gibraltar imports almost everything from its food to timber over its one mile land border with spain. Bassadone was among the 96 of gibraltar residents who voted to remain in the e. U. In last years referendum, when the overall majority of voters in the United Kingdom voted to leave. The biggest fear we have is a potential closure of the border. We would have to reevaluate our spanish workforce and look at possibly getting rid of the majority of our spanish workers and trying to train up locals, which would be very disruptive and take up a huge amount of time to do. Reporter are there locals who want to do these jobs . That would be one of the big challenges finding 70plus technicians and engineers that are able to do this kind of work. One of our unique selling points is to react quickly to International Demand and disasters in different parts of the world. Having that agility and flexibility is very much based on the existing workforce that we have. Reporter just as gibraltar depends on spanish workers for 40 of its workforce, residents of the closest spanish city, la linea de concepcion, depend on jobs in gibraltar. Despite that, more than a third of la lineas population is unemployed, like marga sanchez. Shes worried that uncertainty about brexit could make it even more difficult to find a job. The people are trying to sell their houses, but they dont find buyers, because nobody wants to invest right now. We are in limbo, basically. Reporter would it be possible for you and your partner to support yourselves with jobs in la linea . There are no jobs in la linea. We only have gibraltar as our main factory. Either you work there or you have to find another way to survive. Reporter la lineas economy also gets a big boost from the 175million gibraltar residents spend every year in spain. 150 pounds, please. Reporter on shopping, restaurants, and Services Like this auto body repair shop, where 40 of the customers come from over the border. La linea mayor juan franco says his constituents and gibraltar residents are already feeling one negative effect from brexit, the decline in the value of the british pound, gibraltars currency. translated now the pound has a rate of about 15 lower than six or seven months ago. That affects the salaries of the spanish workers and europeans. Its like a chain effect, because people spend less money in la linea. Reporter juan jose uceda, who represents a union for spanish workers employed in gibraltar, estimates 25 of la lineas economy comes from the neighboring peninsula. We export a lot of stuff to gibraltar. What is going to happen with all the groceries and the fruits and vegetables and shoes and other things we export from spain to u. K. . Reporter you can see those exports moving every day before dawn, as 300 trucks line up on the spanish side of the border waiting for customs checks before making deliveries to warehouses in gibraltar. The frontier is very important. It needs to be open for gibraltar to survive, i think. Reporter Idan Greenberg owns a cafe and bakery in gibraltar. He says it would be impossible to run his business without those daily deliveries. You need chickpeas from spain and tahini, which happens to be imported via london over road and coming over the border with spain. Reporter a short airstrip and a Border Crossing are all that separate the peninsula of gibraltar from mainland spain. The relationship with its nearest neighbor has been tempestuous in the past, at times making gibraltar practically an island. For decades, spain has exerted pressure to regain sovereignty over gibraltar, for example, intentionally slowing passport and vehicle checks at its border, leading to traffic jams of up to 12 hours. The worst confrontation came in 1969, when spanish dictator Francisco Franco closed the border entirely to assert spains claim over the territory. The border remained shut for 15 years, causing massive job losses for la linea residents who worked in gibraltar and dividing families. Almost a third of the population had to leave. It was really difficult for us to survive psychologically that situation. Many people of gibraltar and la linea are mixed. They are families. They are grandparents here that go there to gibraltar to meet their grandchildren or vice versa. Reporter Ed Macquisten, who heads the Gibraltar Chamber of commerce, says the hardening of the border would also hurt gibraltars economy. There are a number of people who live in this town who have experienced that before, when the Spanish Government shut the frontier in 1969. For the Business Owners that were running businesses in those days, they had two weeks notice and two weeks later they didnt have their staff. How can you run a business like that . Reporter macquisten says today hes concerned about the position of the current Spanish Government. Spanish Prime MinisterMariano Rajoy has called for joint sovereignty over gibraltar. If gibraltar wants to remain in the e. U. After brexit, saying last december, its impossible for gibraltar to be in the European Union if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union and if there are no legal changes. Chief minister fabian picardo, the highest ranking Government Official in gibraltar, says residents oppose spanish rule of any kind. Theres only one option on the table as far as the people of gibraltar are concerned. Were going to stay entirely and exclusively british for exactly the same reason as the people of the United States would today not be prepared to countenance joint sovereignty with canada or mexico. Reporter the British Government has already said it wont negotiate with spain on sovereignty over gibraltar or cede gibraltar to spain. Picardo advocates a special status for gibraltar with the eu, to at least maintain freedom of movement for goods and people. Geographically, politically, and socioeconomically, we have different realities. We have a land border with the european continent. That means that there are going to have to be slight differences between what is agreed for us and what might have to be agreed for the rest of the United Kingdom. Reporter economically, gibraltar has touted its e. U. Access and relatively low corporate taxes to lure industries that dont export physical products, like insurance, Financial Services and online betting companies. Now, some of those Companies Say theyre exploring relocating offices elsewhere in the e. U. Amidst the uncertainty over its political future, chamber of commerce president Ed Macquisten sees economic opportunity. Weve always sought to diversify our economy and get it to develop in various different ways so youre not reliant on any single sector. If one market or two markets shut down, people in this town will get up and go out and find five new markets. Reporter even with well thought out plans, George Bassadone fears a hardened border will hurt his bottom line. These contingencies would come with additional costs to the business, and those costs we would not be able to pass on to the customer. Were already playing in a market thats very price sensitive. We would want the frontier to stay open to allow for the freedom of movement of goods and personnel for our business moving forward. Sreenivasan new york city mayor bill de blasio last week endorsed a proposal to close the jails on rikers island, which are notorious for their history of violence among inmates and brutality at the hands of guards. The facility has been the subject of multiple investigations by the city and federal government. The plan calls for rikers to close over the next decade and its 7,500 prisoners to be placed in new jails in the citys five boroughs. Joining me now to discuss the feasibility of all this is crains new York Business reporter rosa goldensohn. This is a National Program but likers is a nationally rikers is a famous jail. There arent a lot of island penal colonnees left. It is really rare and in the study that just came out they call it a 19th century solution to a 21s century problem. Sreenivasan what were the things that actually finally tipped it over the edge . Because its had a long history of problems. It has. And i think theres a consensus that built in the last year, there was a story about the 16 year old who spent three years on reich ares and later killed himselfment a year in solitary confinement. And that drew a lot of attention to the court delays and sort of systemic problems there. Like why, why are people spending so much time there. So that story and his death in 2015 drew a different kind of momentum. The New York Times editor allized that the place should close last year and the speaker of the city council came out saying this was her goal. How much does it actually matter in terms of the money spent on keeping people on this island. Because it is where it is, if the crimes are in the boroughs they have to kind of go back and forth. That is right, 85 a day just transporting people to the courts and back. And 85 of the people on rikers are pretrial detainees, people who have to go to the court. They are not people serving out sentences for misdemeanors alot of people think its a prison, its a jail. They spend a lot of money bringing people back and forth to the courts. Also the Physical Plant of rikers, just the lay out and its age, the age of the building, the head of the department of corrections has said its that physical layout that actually is what makes the staffing requirements so high there. So there are 10,000 correction officers for fewer than 10,000 total inmates in the system. One of the things of new york city is struggling with and this happens around the country is that if you close this down, where are you going to move it. And everyone says not in my backyard. The report that came out today, was released friday, announced today called for the facilities to be near the courts. And so you know, there are already some Holding Facilities look brooklyn house of detention, the manhattan, the tunes. So there are jails next to the courts in some of the boroughs. Thes would have to be built out. So there could be opposition but its not like youre going to need to have a jail in the middle of a residential neighborhood on your block. All right, rosa goldsohn from cranes new York Business. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Sreenivasan in colombia, president Juan Manuel Santos says this weekends devastating flooding and mudslides killed more than 200 people in the city of mocoa, near the countrys border with ecuador. Many more are injured, homeless, or missing, as 1,000 colombian soldiers help the rescue efforts. Itns nick wallis has more. Reporter 24 hours after two weeks worth of rain fell in one night, the waters in macoa have subsided, but the death toll continues to rise. The Colombian Military have been mobilised to find survivors. Theyre also carrying out the dead. Im alone, says one man. Im looking for my children, but they havent appeared. The names of those found alive or known to have died are posted on a notice board in the city. Some cannot cope. Colombias president juan manuel translated we will do Everything Possible to help families, not only to help the families who lost their loved ones but all of them who lost their homes. Reporter as the regions Emergency Services make their way towards macoa the scale of their task is becoming clear, power lines are down, and bewildered residents try to come to terms with whats happened. translated i came here in search of family members. Unfortunately, i do not have any news about them. I feel very sad. I cant express the magnitude of the loss here in mocoa. Reporter whilst the search and rescue operation continues, the clean up begins. People salvaging what they can from the ravages of a Natural Disaster which has cost so many lives. With 200 people still unaccounted for, the fears are that the death toll will rise significantly in the coming days. Nick wallis itv news sreenivasan on the newshour tomorrow, a profile of ivanka trump and her husband, jared kushner, two of the top advisers in the west wing of the white house. Thats all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. Im hari sreenivasan. Thanks for watching. Good night. Captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org pbs newshour weekend is made possible by bernard and irene schwartz. Judy and josh weston. The cheryl and Philip Milstein family. The john and Helen Glessner family trust supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. Sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. Barbara hope zuckerberg. Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company. Additional support has been provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Japanese american lives. Im kristi yamaguchi. In mrs. Judo be strong, be gentle, be beautiful, we meet 99yearold 10thdegree black belt judo master keiko fukuda. Throughout her life, keiko fukuda was an amazing role model, whose quiet strength epitomized perseverance and grace in a maledominated sport. Mrs. Judo be strong, be gentle, be beautiful, by yuriko gamo romer. Next on japanese american lives. [flute music]