Were not getting a good deal for all the money we spend. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. Promoting the wellbeing of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. More at rockefellerfoundation. Org 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 individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the u. S. Military has taken more casualties in afghanistan as it battles fighters of the islamic state. Two troops were killed overnight and a third was wounded. Theyd gone with Afghan Forces on a raid in nangarhar province, near the pakistani border. A u. S. Special forces soldier was killed there earlier this month, and days later, the u. S. Dropped its largest Non Nuclear Bomb on caves in the region. The pentagons Inspector General confirmed today its investigating former National Security advisor michael flynn. It involves payments he received from russias statesupported tv network and a turkish businessman after he left the military in 2014. The top democrat on the House Oversight committee, elijah cummings, said today that pentagon documents made the rules clear. The constitution prohibited him from accepting any Foreign Government payments without advance permission. The pentagons warning to general flynn was bold italicized and could not have been clearer. Woodruff flynns attorney insisted the pentagon was given documents that implied he was being paid for a trip to russia. Meanwhile, president ial Spokesman Sean Spicer disputed cummings claim that the white house refused to turn over material the committee wanted. With all due respect he got the documents that he requested. Our job they sent a form letter to multiple agencies asking for a copy of this. What we did was properly refer him to the issuing agency and department and said this is where you got it and he got it. Woodruff spicer said flynns security clearance was handled by the obama administration. And, he said President Trump made the right call when he fired flynn in february, over his contacts with the russians. China today welcoming a softening in the u. S. Tone on north Koreas Nuclear and missile programs. On wednesday, Top Trump Administration officials tamped down speculation that a military confrontation is brewing. They said the focus is on diplomacy. Chinas Foreign Ministry called it a positive message israel has struck across the border, into syria, blasting an arms depot of the militant group hezbollah. The strike apparently targeted advanced weapons from iran, earmarked for the militants. Video on social media showed Early Morning explosions at an airport outside damascus. Later, the Israeli Military said it intercepted a projectile fired from syria. The u. S. Congress moved today to keep the government running for another week, past fridays midnight deadline. A oneweek funding extension will prevent a shutdown, while talks continue on a longterm bill through september, the end of the federal fiscal year. House leaders traded blame today for holding up the negotiations. Democrats are dragging their feet. Even if we get an agreement lets just say in 10 minutes, we simply cant process the paperwork that long, and we have a threeday rule. We people need to be able to read the bill. I assume that they have the votes to pass their extension. We are never going to shut government down. In fact, we dont even have the power to do so. Woodruff President Trump weighed in with a series of tweets accusing democrats of trying to shut down National Parks and harming the safety of troops overseas. A kentucky doctor dragged from a United Airlines flight has reached a settlement with the carrier. Dr. David daos Attorney Says its for an undisclosed amount of money. Daos treatment, at the hands of chicago aviation police, was captured on cellphone video and sparked widespread public outrage. United also announced today it will start offering up to 10,000 to passengers who give up their seats. Wall street had a quiet day. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained six points to close at 20,981. The nasdaq rose 23 points, and the s p 500 added one point. And, theyre cheering at nasa for the space probe cassini. The spacecraft passed through the gap between saturn and its famous rings overnight. On the way, it got the closest look ever at those rings and the planets atmosphere. Images of a massive, swirling storm are among the highlights. Cassini has been orbiting saturn for 13 years and will crash into the planet in september. Still to come on the newshour tough talk and mixed signals about the future of nafta. The head of the fccs plans to reduce oversight of internet providers. President trumps first hundred days in Foreign Policy, and much more. Woodruff now, President Trumps tough talk and threats over nafta, and a push to revisit the decadesold deal. Its been a central theme for the president. And a source of anger and anxiety among voters. At the white house, john yang starts us off. Rather than terminating nafta, which would be a pretty big shock to the system. We will renegotiate. Yang with the visiting president of argentina looking on, President Trump told reporters he agreed to give the trade agreement another shot after talking to his counterparts in mexico and canada. I was going to terminate nafta as of two or three days from now. The president of mexico who i have a very, very Good Relationship called me and also the Prime Minister of canada who i have a very Good Relationship. I like both of these gentlemen very much. They called me and they said rather than terminating nafta could you please renegotiate. Yang canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau said today terminating the 23yearold deal would cause a lot of problems. I highlighted that quite frankly whether or not there was a better deal to come there were an awful lot of jobs and an awful lot of industries right now that have been developed under the nafta context. And a disruption like canceling nafta, even if it theoretically, eventually might lead to Better Outcomes would cause a lot of short, medium term pain for an awful lot of families. Yang there has been reports about whether mr. Trump was going to end an nafta now, reflecting the internal debate among the president s advisors. Big business and agricultural interests warned against outright canceling the deal, which erased most tariffs among the United States, canada and mexico. Unhappiness with nafta was a Signature Campaign issue. Im going to renegotiate nafta, one of the worst trade deals ever signed in the history of our country, perhaps the worst ever signed in the history, frankly, of the world. Yang the move comes as the administration gets tough on trade as it nears the 100 day mark. This week the white house announced new tariffs on canadian softwood lumber imports, and the president said canada was blocking access to u. S. Milk. Now if im unable to make a fair deal. If im unable to make a fair meaning a fair deal for our workers and our companies i will terminate nafta. Yang while the president said negotiations are starting today in fact, the u. S. Must give legal notice of its intent to renegotiate. Then comes a 90day period of consultation before any talks can officially begin. For the pbs newshour, im john yang at the white house. Woodruff now, for one perspective on nafta and the latest signals from the white house on american trade negotiations, i spoke with representative tim ryan, a democrat from ohio who agrees with the president that nafta has hurt the u. S. More than its helped. Well, it certainly has devastated communities. A lot of the promises that were made that wed have trade surpluses with mexico never came the fruition. We have about a 4 billion trade deficit every single month. Weve lost about 160 some thousand jobs up to 2013 directly related to trade with mexico primarily. And the jobs that kind of replaced those jobs are about 7,000 a year less in pay. So it has wiped out entire communities. I understand in thing ary aggregate, a lot of trade proponents say its good in the aggregate, but its wiped out a lot of communities like the ones i represent in northeast ohio. Woodruff what do you make of the president s statements over the last day or so . He started out saying he wanted to terminate the u. S. Participation in nafta, and later on he said, no, ill negotiate now that ive talked to the leaders in mexico and canada . Well, its certainly not the first day of these 100 days where the president has said some inconsistent statements backtoback. Hes been doing that throughout his presidency. So it worries me, because i think he may be a little too flippant with how he handles this situation. While i know nafta has devastated many communities, maybe unwinding nafta in a way that isnt prudent can do even more damage. These are supply chains that have been integrated over the last almost 30 years, and so its going to take time and effort and patients patience and a lot of work to reestablish a more fair trading regime. I get the sense that the president doesnt have the Attention Span quite frankly to be able to sit down and handle those kind of things out. When you see his tweets and you see his statements that conflict each other within hours of each other, it makes you worry that maybe hes just not the guy to handle this. Woodruff so we heard him in the campaign say that nafta was one of the worst deals ever made in the United States. It sounds like. Are you saying youre worried hes not going to follow through on this . Im worried that he may follow through in a way that doesnt make things better. He may actually make the problem worse. If he doesnt sit down and Pay Attention and work this the way it needs to be worked. Weve seen the devastation that it caused, and we know it needs to be fixed, but is he the person to sit down and actually fix it . The fact that he doesnt quite understand the ramifications, quite frankly even the process. He said they already started negotiating when the fact of the matter is you have to send a letter to congress to even begin the process of having the conversation within your own country, within your own congress, within the Industry Groups that would be affected by it. Thats a 90day process before you even start the negotiations with the other countries. The fact that he didnt even know that before he made his statement is worrisome to me that he may actually through trying to renegotiate nafta, he may actually make the process worse. Woodruff you said a minute ago that you hear these arguments ultimately the u. S. Will benefit. You dont see that yet. But you have solid democrats, congressman ron kind, for example, he says you undo nafta, youre going to decimate the dairy industry in his state. He says half the industry will be wiped out if nafta goes away. What do you say to him . This is exactly why you need to be very methodical and very thorough in your negotiations, in your conversations with how youre going to handle all of these scenarios, whether its pharmaceuticals, whether its the dairy industry, local food, food protection, all of these issues are on the table once you open this thing up, and so you need people and you need a president thats going to be able to understand that when you leave one piece on the chess board, a lot of other pieces are going to move simultaneously. I dont think he quite understands that. Really the reality to it, judy, is that automation in the next decade or so is really going to be the 800pound elephant in the middle of the room that we need to satisfy. Thats a whole other show you could do, but its not just nafta. Its in the not just trade. The main issue coming down the pike is automation, displacing workers, whether its in manufacturing, driverless cars, in the retail sector, in grocery stores, automation is going to be the thing displacing, so i dont want him. Theres in plan in this administration to be able to deal with that main issue that is really going to face most workers in the American Workforce in the next couple decades. Woodruff representative tim ryan, thank you very much. Thanks, judy. Woodruff woodruff well get a different perspective on jafta, from ohios republican governor john kasich, later in the program. Woodruff a political fight is brewing about access to the internet. The new head of the fcc, the federal Communications Commission, wants to clear away regulations about who controls and polices the flow of content on the internet. William brangham explains. Brangham were talking here about whats known as Net Neutrality, not the easiest concept to grasp, so bear with me. Almost all of us in america get our Internet Access via one main provider these are the telecom and cable giants like verizon, comcast, charter, time warner they provide the infrastructure that delivers the bounty of the web to our homes and phones sites and apps like google, netflix, facebook, instagram, you name it. The telecoms build the highway, the others guys are like the cars traveling that highway. The idea of Net Neutrality is that the telecoms have to treat that highway as an open road they cant pick and choose which websites or services get to you faster or slower. The fear is that if they do have that power, theyll be tempted to favor their content, their sites, their own vides over a competitors. But the telecoms argue thats not fair, they should be able to control that flow, and be able to charge more for faster access. In 2014, the federal Communications Commission under obama wanted to lock in these Net Neutrality rules, but it faced intense pushback by the industry. The fight even spilled into pop culture, with this from Hbos John Oliver if we let Cable Companies offer two speeds of service they wont be usain bolt and usain bolt on a motor bike. Theyll be usain bolt and usain bolted to an anchor. Brangham but Net Neutrality rules did pass and have been in place for the last three years. But ajit pai, President Trumps new fcc chairman now wants to get rid of those rules, aruging theyre too burdensome. That they stifle innovation and competition, and this week began the process of rolling them back. And fcc commissioner ajit pai joins me now. Welcome. Welcome to the newshour. Thank you for having me. Brangham so you are not a fan of these Net Neutrality rules from a few years ago. What is your principle concern . I favor a free and open internet, as most consumers do, my concern is with the particular regulations that the fcc adopted two years ago. They are what is called title ii regulations developed in the 1930s to regulate the ma Bell Telephone monopoly. My concern is by imposing those heavy handed economic regulations on Internet Service providers big and small, we could disincentivize companies from wanting to build out to lowincome parts of the country and rural and urban areas, for example. Thats something nobody would benefit from. Brangham is there evidence these rules have disincentivized those companies . Businesses are doing very well. Theyre spending billions on the spectrum. There is evidence that investment and infrastructure has gone down since the adoption of these rules. There is a study by a highly respected economist that says among the top 12 Internet Service providers in terms of size, investment is down by 5. 6 or several billion over the last two years, and amongst smaller providers, literally this week, 22 Internet Service providers with 1,000 customers or less told us these title two regulations have kept them from getting the financing they need to build out their networks, and as they put it, these Net Neutrality regulations hang like a black cloud over our businesses. What were trying to do Going Forward is figure out a way that we can preserve that free and open internet and preserve that incentive to invest in the network that will benefit more consumers Going Forward. Brangham there is facebook, google, instagram, they have said these rules are not a hindrance to us. We have been able to thrive and survive under these rules, dont change them. What do you say to them when they argue this to you . Two different points. If you look carefull