Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour Weekend 20150524 : vimarsa

KQED PBS NewsHour Weekend May 24, 2015

Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support is 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 in Lincoln Center in new york, hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan good evening and thanks for joining us. Protesters marched in cleveland today after Police Officer Michael Brelo was found not guilty on all counts in the shooting deaths of two black, unarmed suspects. Brelo was among the 13 officers who fired 137 bullets at a car during and after a highspeed chase in november of 2012. Once the suspects stopped, brelo jumped onto the hood and fired 15 rounds into the windshield. 43yearold driver Timothy Russell and 30yearold passenger Malissa Williams were killed. This morning, judge John Odonnell spent nearly an hour explaining that officer brelos bullets could not be proved to be the fatal shots beyond a doubt, and that the decision to fire his weapon was constitutionally reasonable. I find that by a preponderance of the evidence that brelos decision to use deadly force against russell and williams was based on probable cause to believe that they threatened imminent, serious bodily harm to him and the other officers, not to mention the public. Sreenivasan one of the victims family members had this response but how can you get on top of this car and not be charged. And not be charged. You know what you did. I will never trust the cleveland police, the deputy sheriff, any police period, ever again. I will never call them to my house for anything. Sreenivasan brelos defense attorney held the victims responsible for the events and had strong words for the prosecution. The prosecution in this case spared no expense and in fact was ruthless. It was classically a case of david vs goliath. Sreenivasan clevelands police chief told reporters that officer brelo remains on unpaid suspension while the department explores administrative charges. For more on the verdict, im joined from cleveland by plain dealer reporter, mark naymik. Other people you have talked to and the places you visited today that knew about the verdict, what was their reaction . You know some is, well we expected it. Now they may expect it because, you know identified their distrust of the justice system. Others, you know thought, well, okay, thats what the evidence showed, but no one was surprised. No one voiced that to me. They are disappointed, they are frustrated, they use it as a point to talk about larger issues in the city, obviously Economic Issues fine, and people want more attention paid to them and their issues, but nobody said 0 to me, wow, i am shocked. Sreenivasan the mayor, Frank Jackson called this a defining moment for the city. This zazi still on edge from tamir rice and there were scheduled protests for that, right . Yes. In fact that is just one of one more major decisions that i think will test both the police response, the organized demonstration response, and kind of the residents patience, tamir rice over the last few weeks, that issue and today is the sixmonth anniversary since he was shot, thats why there were scheduled protests, that really seems to connect a little bit more than this brelo verdict, which now dates back to 2012, again, two people died, many people angry about it but tamir rice, the idea of 12yearold boy, many knew him, he was from a neighborhood on the west side, that one really has the emotional bunch that i think with this in the police chase and the shooting of Timothy Russell and malis is a williams that could spark a stronger reaction but right now it is very calm. Sreenivasan the chief of police said they are already planning to change their policy on high speed pursuits. And they have shown that in the last two weeks. We had a high speed chase that was called off and there were some criticism from the police union about that saying that, you know, we let these people go away. This was get away. It was managed well, nobody was at risk. They did get license plate information the next day they arrested that suspect. The city has been making that message a lot, that they have already changed policy, in reaction to that 2012 police chase that ended in the shooting. They are talking about the changes they are making with socalled Community Policing and trying to connect with the residents. Very Important Message to be extent right now at a time when people again are on edge and potentially ready to react. One of several. We have a department of justice Consent Decree that is being negotiated right now that should be done, in the next month or so. That will have a reaction. The tamir rice investigation is still not completed. That will have a reaction and whether they charge another potential flash point. Sreenivasan all right mark naymik reporter from the plain dealer, thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Sreenivasan despite intense debate and a latenight vote, the senate rejected legislation that would have extended the governments domestic Surveillance Program. The key provision of the patriot act is set to expire at midnight on may 31. Earlier, the house passed a compromise that would stop the n. S. A. From collecting all phone data, but allow the government to request specific records from phone companies, with a warrant. But Top Senate Republicans are divided and ended up rejecting the house version early this morning. This is a debate about whether or not a warrant with a single name of a Single Company can be used to collect all the records, all of the phone records of all of the people in our country with a single warrant. Our forefathers would be aghast. This is a high threat period and we know whats going on overseas. We know whats been tried here at home. My colleagues, do we really want this law to expire . We will do it. The recess for the memorial day holiday, Mitch Mcconnell is sreenivasan the senate recessed for the memorial day holiday, but mcconnell is calling members back early sunday, the 31, just eight hours before the Surveillance Program expires at midnight. The house is not scheduled to return to session until after the deadline. In california, a dolphin and three pelicans have reportedly been found dead near that ten squaremile oil spill off the coast of santa barbara. Veterinarians are still trying to determine whether the oil caused the animals deaths. Clean up crews have been trying to contain the spill since tuesday, when a privatelyowned pipeline ruptured, sending 105,000 gallons of crude into the ocean. Workers describe the oil slick as thinner than a coat of paint and say rough seas are further complicating the cleanup. U. S. Safety officials ordered the plains all American Pipeline Company to suspend operations while they investigate the cause. General motors is reportedly facing a recordbreaking federal penalty over the way it handled an ignition defect. That defect has been tied to at least 104 deaths. The New York Times reports that the Justice Department has identified criminal wrongdoing in General Motors failure to disclose the defect. Gm is expected to have to pay at least 1 billion to settle the matter. However, Officials Say gm is cooperating with the investigation, which could reduce the penalty. The final settlement could be reached as early as this summer. In iraq, about 3,0000 pro Government Troops are struggling to retake the city of ramadi, after Islamic State militants overran it last weekend. The capital of Anbar Province is only 65 miles west of baghdad and the isis victory there is seen as a major embarrassment and strategic loss for iraqs leaders. So far, at least 500 people have died in fighting and a third of the citys population has reportedly fled. And in ireland, a nationwide referendum on allowing gay marriage has passed. Officials say more than 62 voted yes. Ireland is now the first country in the world to legalize gay marriage by popular vote. A group of farmers in california are making an unprecedented offer to help the state fight a recordbreaking drought. Theyve agreed to give up a quarter of their water this season. Joining me now is Sacramento Bee reporter dale kasler with more on the crisis. Why strike such a deal with the players involved . Well, it is a group of farmers in the delta region which is an agricultural region southwest of sacramento. They were faced with severe water cuts as you know in the fourth year of drought the state has been cutting water use in the cities and suburbs and among many of the farmers, and now they are going after the farmers with with the socalled serial water rights water rights that were thought to be untouchable, and they came to these farmers and they struck a deal. The growers believe that the state department necessarily have the legal right to take any of their water but rather than fight it out they agreed to a compromise. Sreenivasan so what is their incentive in going this . Giving up a quarter of their land or set letting some of those lands go fallow or a decrease in their consumption by a quarter . Well the incentive if they dont cut a deal they could get dinged even worse. It is not exactly sure but the state is serious about cutting backwater deliveries and who knows how much water he could end up losing if they dont make a deal. This is a voluntary program the individual farmers can either opt in or opt out and those who opt out, who knows how much of a cut they could be facing. Sreenivasan well, if it is voluntary how does the state enforce these cuts . Spot checks. They are going to use satellite imagery to see if people are fallowing fields like they say they will. And the state also believes there will be a certain amount of peer pressure that if your neighbor said he is going to fallow his field and not divert water out of the rivers, that they think that people will go along. They believe they will get a lot of cooperation on this. Sreenivasan but what is the possible impact of this deal . You mentioned this is a group of farmers. How much water does their consumption represent of all of the farmers in california . Well, in the grand scheme of things not a lot. These farmers in the delta region represent, oh, something less than ten percent of all the irrigated farmland in california, and they are talking about giving up 25 percent of their water. So as you can see, it is not as if california will solve this water problem with a stroke of the pen. Nevertheless, this is very important because it is a compromise, and water and compromise dont often go together in california. You have to understand, even if in a normal year, a wet year there is litigation over water in california. It is such a professionals commodity. There is always a tugofwar going on over water supplies. There are entire law firms in sacramento and elsewhere that are solely devoted to litigating water law cases. So the fact that a Significant Group of farmers have stepped up and offered a compromise solution is a pretty big deal in and of itself and the state officials are hoping that this leads to further compromise around the state as the water regulators start to go after these senior water rights holders around the state. Sreenivasan all right. Dale kasler of the Sacramento Bee, thank you so much. Thank you. Sreenivasan and now to our signature segment. The philadelphia amtrak derailment brought new attention to safety on passenger trains. It comes as federal regulators are also taking steps to improve freight rail safety, especially when it comes to trains that haul oil. The oil boom in places like north dakota has led to huge budget surpluses and created thousands of jobs. But because there are few pipelines in the state, much of the oil extracted there has to be sent across the nation by rail. Now federal officials are putting new rules in place, ordering companies to strengthen older railcars. This updated story originally aired last may. Stephen fee reports. Reporter it was just after 2 00 p. M. On december 30, 2013, when the calls began streaming in. Two trains had collided just half a mile outside casselton, north dakota; one loaded with grain, the other with crude oil. Volunteer fire chief tim mclean headed straight to the scene. Then, i kind of knew this was going to be a big one, the way it was described on the pagers. Reporter Community Banker bernie sinner was meeting with a client in his office. His window is just 50 feet from the rail track. You could see plumes of black smoke rising pretty high above the tree line, above the buildings that are across the street from us. Reporter from the towns main intersection, witnesses could hear explosions as the railcars blew apart, sending fireballs into the sky. Ed mcconnell was mayor at the time. They evacuated the Southwest Corner of town, the part of the town that was most affected by it. Reporter but once the wind turned, officials put the entire town of 2,500 under a voluntary evacuation order. Some 400,000 gallons of crude leaked from 18 ruptured cars. The fire burned for a full day. Thered be no battling this fire even if you had an Endless Supply of water. Reporter both trains were operated by b. N. S. F. Railway and, for the record, b. N. S. F. Is a newshour funder. No one was killed or injured, but the accident hit close to home for the states governor, jack dalrymple; he grew up in casselton. I couldnt believe it. I was having dinner, and, all of a sudden, somebody sent me a video on my phone. And i said, casselton . I said, i cant believe that. Reporter what did it tell you about whats going on, on the rails here in north dakota . Well, it tells me and i think everybody the same thing. You know, what if that happened, you know, in. In a city or even in the middle of a town . You know, it could be really catastrophic. Reporter as mayor mcconnell says, his town dodged a bullet. But months earlier, a community in canada wasnt nearly so lucky. On july 6, 2013, a similar train, also loaded with crude from the bakken shale formation, derailed and exploded in the center of lac megantic, quebec, killing 47 people and destroying much of the town center. Seven years ago, u. S. Railways carried just 9,500 carloads of crude each year. But today, as huge amounts of oil are produced in states like north dakota far from traditional pipeline infrastructure, that figure has jumped to half a million. And after a handful of oil train derailments already in 2015 regulators are taking notice enacting a raft of new regulations they hope will prevent future accidents. Its just not safe. Reporter don morrison runs the dakota resource council, a consortium of 700 landowners ranchers and businesspeople in the state. They didnt look down the road to figure out how are we going to get this to market in a safe way. Reporter most of the roughly nine Million Barrels of oil produced each day in the u. S. Travels by pipeline, but 70 of the Million Barrels coming out of north dakota each day goes by rail. Thats because most of the countrys Refining Capacity is far from north dakota. That means north dakota crude has to travel hundreds of miles to be processed into gasoline for cars or fuel for jet engines. And while pipelines require new construction and Regulatory Approval the longstalled keystone xl a case in point freight rail already crisscrosses north dakota and the country. Historically, you would have never thought oil would travel by rail in this day and age. Reporter ron ness heads the north Dakota Petroleum council. Its a group that represents the states oil industry and supports hauling oil by rail. How safe is it . Well safety is certainly the number one aspect that i think all aspects of the Transportation Industry are focused on. And at 99. 7 of the time, you know, rail movements get to their destinations safely. Reporter actually, the Rail Industry says its Safety Record is even better, but just the tiny chance of a catastrophe makes policymakers like the governor uneasy, especially with north dakotas major cities and towns situated directly on the rails. Where we, you know, never remembered any kind of an accident like this before, now if were sending ten or 20 or 30 times as much oil down the track, that obviously increases the chances of an accident occurring. And that becomes sort of a new reality that everybody has to get used to. Reporter part of the concern has centered on the type of railcars predominantly used to haul oil across the nation. Since 1991, the National Transportation safety board has warned that railcars like these, d. O. T. 111s, are more prone to rupture in the case of an accident. But it wasnt until a 2009 derailment in illinois that the Railway Industry began instituting its own, more robust Safety Standards to strengthen cars like these. After months of consideration, federal regulators this may made the decision to phase out or retrofit all oilcarrying d. O. T. 111s by 2018, and new cars must be built to strict new standards to prevent rupture. Our departments rule is a package of new, interdependent regulations that all come together to improve safety. They apply to what are our rule defines as highhazard flammable trains. And they also build on the more than two dozen actions we have already taken to enhance the safe transport of crude. Reporter all told, the

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