Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20150326 : vimarsana.com

KQED PBS NewsHour March 26, 2015

The deadly outbreak began. So its exposing all of the surfaces in a hospital room, in an operating room to this intense vnon lamp. It will literally kill any virus or spore that weve ever seen. Ifill those are some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. At lincoln financial, we believe that you are the boss of your life. The chief life officer. In charge of providing for loved ones. Growing your nest egg. And protecting what matters the most. Lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future. Life income retirement, group benefits, and advice. Lincoln financial. Youre in charge. 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 and. 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 u. S. Army sergeant who disappeared in afghanistan for five years, now faces a Court Martial. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was formally charged today with desertion and avoiding military service. Bergdahl left his post in 2009, was captured by the taliban and held until his release last may. Well have some of the armys announcement, and reaction from Sergeant Bergdahls defense attorney, after the news summary. Ifill there were questions, but no answers today, about the german airliner that smashed into a mountainside in the french alps. Tuesdays disaster killed all 150 people on board and left investigators looking, literally, for bits and pieces. Jonathan rugman of independent Television News reports from the scene. The search began at day break, the hunt by helicopter for what remains of 150 passengers and crew. The hunt for clues as to what exactly happened here. Because why the Germanwings Airbus a320 came down in this remote and craggy ravine remains a mystery. There was no distress call or conversation with the pilots taf plane suddenly began to descend. The pilots were experienced. The planes Safety Record and the weather were good. French police scouring the french alps have not ruled out terrorism completely but they will suggest some other catastrophic event on board is more likely. The plane crashed just on the other side of this mountain here. It was traveling so fast that it broke into very small pieces. The area is only really accessible by helicopter and the police who are searching on the other side of this mountain say the debris has been scattered far and wide. This afternoon, the leaders of france and germany arrived to see the crash site for themselves. The dead include 72 germans, at least 49 from spain. Prime minister rajoy has also flown in to meet recover teams and the relatives of the dead who have chosen to come. This is the worst air disaster on french soil in decades and frances president is determined to find out why. Dear angela, dear mariano, rest assured well find out everything and well shed full light on the circumstances of this catastrophe. Reporter the planes socalled black box is in fact orange. Investigators say it will take several days to make sense of the cockpit voice recordings inside. Only the exterior of the second box has been found and its memory card is reportedly missing. In the mean time, it will take several weeks and dna samples to identified all those who died. Ill say it again, it wont be done in five minutes. Its going to take several weeks. Everyone has to be aware of the fact that this is going to take some time. Reporter meanwhile, the tiny village is waiting to receive the bodies and grieving relatives. One of the quietest corners of france has been transformed into one of the busiest. Ifill u. S. Officials confirmed today that three americans were on the airliner. Woodruff secretary of state john kerry headed back to the Iran Nuclear Talks today, with a deadline bearing down. The United States and five other countries are trying to work out a Framework Agreement with iran by the end of the month. The talks have drawn strong criticism from israel and congressional republicans. Kerry fired back today, before leaving washington. What happens if as our critics propose we just walk away from a plan that the rest of the world deemed to be reasonable . It could happen. Well, the talks would collapse iran would have the ability to go right back to spinning its centrifuges and enriching to the degree that they want, if thats what they want, if thats what they choose, and the sanctions will not hold. Woodruff iran issued its own warning today. Foreign minister Mohammed Javad zarif said any nuclear deal must include the immediate lifting of all sanctions. He told irans official state news agency this is the position that the government has insisted on from the start. The u. S. And the other western powers have consistently said sanctions must be lifted only gradually. Ifill the u. S. Has launched new air strikes in iraq to jump start a stalled offensive against Islamic State forces. A senior u. S. Official says the strikes hit isis targets in tikrit this evening. Iraqi troops and shiite militias, guided by iran, have encircled the city, but theyve stalled against dugin opposition. Until today, the iraqis had not asked for american air support. Woodruff the president of afghanistan voiced confidence today that his government can make peace with the taliban. In an hourlong address, ashraf ghani told the u. S. Congress that the key is getting taliban fighters to break all ties with terror. The taliban need to choose not to be al qaeda and be afghan. Provided that combatants agree to respect the constitution and the rule of law as the outcomes of negotiations, we are confident that we can find a path for their return to society. Woodruff ghani also thanked the United States again for billions of dollars in aid, and he vowed afghanistan will be selfreliant within this decade. He said quote were not going to be the lazy uncle joe. Ifill the f. B. I. Has made major progress on Counter Terrorism since 9 11, but it needs to make more to meet the Islamic State challenge. An independent commission reported those findings to congress today. It called for Better Technology and analysis. F. B. I. Director james comey said he largely agrees. There was no Intelligence Career Service in the fbi until after 9 11. The progress has been extraordinary, and so i dont want to ever let that be forgotten. But its not good enough. And so its about training, and deployment, and about culture. Ifill the commission highlighted the threat of home grown extremists who go abroad for training, then return home to stage attacks. Woodruff president obama said today hed sign Bipartisan Legislation to resolve a long running medicare problem. He did not endorse a particular measure, but the house is set to vote on one tomorrow. Without it, doctors face a hefty cut in medicare fees a provision that congress has waived for 17 straight years. Ifill in economic news, h. J. Heinz company has announced its buying kraft food groups. The move would create one of the Worlds Largest food and beverage conglomerates. If federal regulators approve the deal, the new Kraft Heinz Company will bring heinz ketchup, oscar mayer, jello and other wellknown brands under one roof. Woodruff in montgomery, alabama, thousands of people marked the conclusion, 50 years ago, of the civil rights march from selma. The crowd celebrated with banners, songs and speeches. The events in selma, and the march, led to the landmark Voting Rights act of 1965. Ifill and on wall street, what started as a slide turned into a rout late in the day. It was driven in part by a drop in factory orders. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost nearly 300 points to close near 17,700. The nasdaq fell nearly 120 points, and the s p 500 slipped 30. Still to come on the newshour Bowe Bergdahls lawyer on todays charges. From pregnant workers to mercury regulations at the Supreme Court. Rebels seize control of more parts of yemen. Engineers develop robots that can help eradicate ebola. And, the uncertain future of the arts in america. Woodruff now more on the case of u. S. Sargeant bergdahl. He has been back in the u. S. Since being released by the taliban last year, in exchange for the transfer of five guantanamo detainees to the nation of qatar. Soon after that deal, some of the men who served with bergdahl came forward and said they believed he deserted his post. This afternoon at fort bragg north carolina, army colonel daniel king announced charges against the soldier. The u. S. Army forces command has thoroughly reviewed the armys investigation surrounding sgt. Robert bowdrie bergdahls 2009 disappearance in afghanistan and formally charge sgt. Bergdahl under the Armed Forces Uniform code of military justice on march 25, 2015 with desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty and misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place and has referred the case to an article 32 preliminary hearing. As you recall, sgt. Bergdahl disappeared june 30, 2009 from combat outpost mestlalak in paktika province, afghanistan and was subsequently captured. Regarding next steps, an article 32 preliminary hearing is a legal procedure under the uniform code of military justice designed to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to merit a Court Martial and is required before a case can be tried by a general Court Martial. Woodruff and with me now is eugene fidell, sgt. Bowe bergdahls lawyer. Hes also a scholar in law at yale university. Eugene fidell, welcome. We know Sergeant Bergdahl got the news while he was at if Fort Sam Houston texas. Was he expecting the charge . What was his reaction . I cant tell you his reaction because that would be breeching the attorneyclient privilege, but he was what i can tell you, i think in fairness, is that hes philosophical about this entire controversy. You know, its lasted many, many months more, i think, than any of us anticipated. Its something that he and all of us would like to see over but, at the same time, we have to make sure that were protecting his legal rights. Woodruff is he guilty . laughter judy, im not going to go into that. Ive made a point over the time that i was asked to represent Sergeant Bergdahl of not attempting to try the merits of the case in the media. Im going to hold to that rule, if you dont mind. Woodruff why did he leave his post . What was he trying to do . Im also not going into that except to say that Major General kenneth daal who conducted the investigation concluded his motives were pure that he was truthful in describing his motives and conduct, and i think thats important. Now the facts of the case, including my clients motivation, will come out. They will emerge as this case now moves forward into a more public arena. Article 31 hearings are open to the pub article 32 hearings are open to the public except to the extent of the classified information. I dont think thats the case in this case. I think the public will have more of a feel for him, his conduct and the proper disposition of his case, given all the circumstances. Woodruff we have been shown a letter you wrote to the army in which you said this investigative report concludes that bergdahls specific intent was to bring what he thought were disturbing circumstances to the attention of the nearest general officer. What disturbing circumstances . Conditions in the unit, in the management of the unit and within the battalion of which his unit was a part, and we did put that in the letter, youre right right. His concern was these matters were something that merited the attention of a general officer. Woodruff then why would he leave the postin order to bring it to an officers attention . That gets into a level of detail that, if you dont mind ill defer commenting on. Woodruff you also said in the letter, i believe, that the generals report concluded and i guess you referred to this just a minute ago that bergdahl didnt harbor an intent to remain away permanently. Can you shed light on how you know that . Oh, well, weve said it because thats a fact and i dont think thats inconsistent with what Major General daal concluded. I want to comment, if i may, we have not been permitted to examine the full report of general daal. All we got was the executive summary. There are i believe, thousands of pages of exhibits. There is also a final action by a general at the department of the army that comments on the report and makes certain recommendations and directions. We cant really proceed without having the same kind of information that was supplied to general millie and that is going to be major issue. Weve got to have the information on which general daals decision was based. Without that we cannot have have a an article 32 hearing. Woodruff besides desertion, eugene fidell, one of the charges leveled today was misbehavior before the enemy. What does that mean and what does that mean for Sergeant Bergdahl . Well, its piling on, to be perfectly honest. Its a practice in military justice and i served on active duty myself a long time ago the practice of military prosecutors is to try to come up with as many ways of charging the same conduct and hope that something sticks. The violation its the second of two charges under article 99 of the uniform code of military justice concerning misbehavior before the enemy basically is another way of saying the same thing that was said in the charge under article 85 which is desertion. I dont know why it was thrown in, if it was to terrify us. Weve all been around the block, my cocounsel and i from the u. S. Army, well deal with that. It presents legal issues and well deal with them. Woodruff do you think the sergeant will get a fair hearing . I have to say that i have some concerns in two dimensions. The first is his case has received a niagara of vilification in the media and elsewhere. Im not going to name names. Everybody knows who im talking about. A number of people, many people have said the most dreadful things about my client without knowing the first thing about his actual conduct or his actual motivation. People have said he should be shot, he should hanged, he should be shot in the legs and then shot again. The most bizarre things. I do have some concern given the amount of publicity this case has generated over the time he was liberated by president obama that it will be very, very hard to assemble a jury if the case ever gets to a Court Martial. Thats the first point. The second point is that this is an area where i think peoples emotions run very strong and the case has been tangled up in some peoples views of the current president of the United States and various other controversies over which Sergeant Bergdahl has had absolutely no control or influence. People have used Sergeant Bergdahl as a punching bag and lever to get at president obama. Thats their privilege. We have a Democratic Society but lets make sure that we dont let other extraneous political factors weigh in. By the way another factor that is definitely on my mind is whether theres been backchannel communication that has tend to be adverse to my client i. Well be following this, eugene fidell. Thank you. Thank you very much. Ifill a busy day at the Supreme Court, where justices heard arguments over a high profile environmental case. More on that in a moment. First, we turn to two significant decisions, on the discrimination claim of a pregnant worker, and on the politics of race. As always, joining us to explain her day at the court is newshour contributor marcia coyle of the national law journal. Well start in alabama with this redistricting case which we talked about some time ago in the program. We talked about the district in alabama and whether race was a factor. On the left is the way it is now and on the right is the much larger 7th district which the plaintiffs were saying had been drawn in order to put all the black voters in one area. That was the claim that this was a racial gerrymander that black voters were packed into districts that were already majority districts in order to make surrounding districts more white and republican. The claim is unconstitutional racial germander. A threejudge panel of a Federal District court agreed with the state that it was not racial gerrymander and the alabama legislative black caucus and the alabama democratic conference brought an appeal to the Supreme Court which ruled today. Ifill 54. 54, and the opinion written by Justice Breyer found the lower Federal District court made a number of errors, two probably key among the errors, first that the lower court had examined the racial claim on the basis of the boundaries that were drawn by the state as a whole instead of looking district by district as to what the legislature did here. And secondly Justice Breyer said the lower court and state legislature relied too heavily on trying to maintain the percentages of minority voters the same percentage of minority voters that were approved in the old plan, bleaching that that was how it had to comply with the Voting Rights act, which bars at the time a state like al

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