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. Federal and state Law Enforcement officials in san antonio, texas, are investigating how nearly 40 people were left inside a tractor trailer in stifling summer heat. They were undocumented immigrants with no water or air conditioning who appear to be victims of what one federal prosecutor called ruthless human smugglers. San Antonio Police discovered the 18wheel truck in a walmart parking lot overnight. They were tipped off by an employee after someone from the truck had approached the store to ask for water. Temperatures reached 101 degrees in san antonio yesterday, and it was around 90 degrees when police opened up the truck. They found eight dead bodies, and 30 others who required medical attention, two of whom later died at the hospital. San antonios fire chief said survivors were, very hot to the touch. Some had heart rates above 130 beats a minute. 20 of those hospitalized were listed in critical or serious condition, suffering from extreme dehydration and heat stroke. Four survivors were believed to be between ten and 17 years old. San Antonio Police chief William Mcmanus said walmart surveillance camera video shows other vehicles picked up people from inside the tractor trailer at an earlier time. Police have arrested the truck driver and are looking into who else might have been involved in the smuggling operation. The truck was registered to a company in iowa. The nationalities of the migrants trapped in the truck have not been disclosed, though some have identified themselves as mexicans. U. S. Customs and Border Protection told the New York Times they were probably immigrants who crossed the border with mexico on foot and then were picked up by smugglers. C. B. P. Has seen other cases in recent months of migrants transported in the back of trucks. The department of Homeland Security says its investigations for human smuggling resulted in more than 1,500 criminal convictions last year. This year, since President Trump took office, arrests of immigrants allegedly trying to cross the border illegally have dropped steadily, indicating fewer attempts. The Border Patrol arrested almost 22,000 Illegal Immigrants last month less than half the 46,000 arrested in june of 2016. One of President Trumps personal lawyers is denying reports that mister trump has been mulling pardons. Jay sekulow said today theyre not looking at that option in case anyone is criminally charged by the special counsel investigating collusion with russia in its meddling with last years election. Pardons have not been discussed, and pardons are not on the table. Sreenivasan the new White House Communications director Anthony Scaramucci also said today the president wont need to pardon anybody. The truth of the matter is that the president isnt going to have to pardon anybody, because the russia thing is a nonsensical thing. I was there early on in the campaign, i didnt have any interactivity with russians. I didnt see anybody have any interactivity with russians. It is completely bogus and nonsensical thing. Sreenivasan scaramucci said he did not know at the time about the trump tower meeting between the Trump Campaign chairman, trumps son and son inlaw with russians who had promised dirt on hillary clinton. But today scaramucci called it ridiculous nothing meeting. The government of israel is considering security cameras as an alternative to the metal detectors installed on the entrance plaza to Jerusalems Al Aqsa mosque. The cameras were installed today. Israel put up the metal detectors a week ago after a palestinian gunman shot and killed two israeli policeman near the site, saying they were necessary to prevent other attacks. Palestinian leaders have called for the metal detectors to be removed. This week a federal judge slammed a texas prison for ignoring the danger that high temperatures pose to inmates. Read more at w. Pbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders said today President Trump supports the bill working its way through congress to toughen sanctions on russia for meddling in last years election and for its military aggression in syria and ukraine. The bill, which also contains new sanctions for iran and north korea, would limit the president s ability to end the sanctions on his own. New york times reporter Matt Flegenheimer joins me now from washington to discuss the legislation. Now lets first talk about whats in these sanctions. Reporter its essentially i think, against other countries, this is a package that includes north korea and iran as well. Essentially on the russia front singling out corrupt actors who sort of undercut american interests, those who supplied arms to the assad regime in sir ya, Cyber Security and during the elections last year. Casting a pretty wide net here. Sreenivasan i. T. Also includes, congress has kind of baked in this sanctions bill, the president couldnt necessarily undo them on his own. Right. Thats the piece of this the democrats have been most adamant about and gotten buy in from republicans as well. Its really quite remarkable, six months into a administration you are seeing handcuffing of a sitting president on an issue so central to the sort of public understanding of this president with russia, and essentially the message is he dmolt be trusted to kind of under cannot be trusted to undo the these sanctions amongst both parties in congress. Sreenivasan by the time this gets through a vote on tuesday, this will also include sanctions against iran and north korea, makes it very, very tough to veto it. It does and the white house has been very supportive for months of toughening sanctions against those two countries. So it makes it a difficult position for him. The white house has acknowledged privately for a few weeks from now that its pretty untenable in this environment for him to veto. You have heard him signal he would actually support this. Sreenivasan many president s have said this is a purview of my presidency, my right to do this, my executive power. In this piece of legislation in these particularly sanctions we are seeing that power limited. Sure, he is not the first president to chafe on shackles put on him by congress. Republicans in congress in whoa many the being administration has lobbied for months, on these measures, makes it an extraordinary moment in the Republican Congress this early in the Administration Setting this check against president whn they have been disinclined to confront him. Sreenivasan what were the sanctions compared to those already passed through senate . It was a combination of things. Initially speaker ryan and the Majority Leader Kevin Mccarthy rose technical issues, raising revenue there is some other concerns concerning american businesses a lot of oil and Gas Companies lobbied against these measures, concerned it would undercut their profits, defense contractors as well. A little bit of a tweak on that in the house version of this. Not certainly what the white house hoped would gather this bill once it went through the senate. Sreenivasan thanks Matt Flegenheimer. Sreenivasan for decades, the italian city of venice has coped with frequent flooding. In the last century, the pumping of groundwater for drinking and industrial use caused the city to sink about five inches into the earth. Now, the flooding has become more severe due to Sea Level Rise caused by climate change. In tonights signature segment, newshour weekend special correspondent Christopher Livesay reports on the risks facing venice and italys plan to mitigate them. This story is a part of peril and promise, our ongoing series on the challenge of climate change. Reporter venice is a world class wonder. A city built on more than 100 small islands, connected by a maze of bridges and canals. The the largest is the grand canal with its famous rialto bridge. Over the centuries, venice has stood the test of time, but today this island city is under siege like never before, from rising seas and a flood of tourists. The fact that we are still waiting for any kind of solution of these problems of tourism and flooding is deeply depressing. Reporter historian Monica Chojnacka was born in venice and proudly calls this city her home. That was the step you got on when you got off of your gondola or your boat to get into the house. Reporter but shes concerned about its future. This is a step that, of course, when it was built was never designed to be submerged in water. Now its always underwater even in this relatively low tide. Reporter acqua alta, meaning high water, has always been a fact of life here. Several times a year, high tides and storm surges flood the city, especially the famous piazza san marco. The worst flood occurred in november 1966, when the Venice Lagoon rose more than six feet above sea level. After the deluge, the city designed an alert system which has kept pace with the times. What happens is we are alerted via an app as well as Text Messages and in addition, we have sirens that are blasted through the city. Reporter those warning sirens are coordinated from this command center on the grand canal. A siren is followed by pitched whistles. One whistle means about 12 of the city will be flooded, water is ankle deep, and shopkeepers barricade their doors. Two whistles mean the water will be higher. Almost onethird of the city will be flooded. Three means run for the hills, because its going to be high reporter venetians generally take acqua alta in stride. Like the manager of the gran caffe lavena, massimo milanese. He showed us pictures of his cafe during a recent flood. Tables and chairs sitting in the water. See the special doors here. Reporter like others in the piazza, he has flood doors to protect his business. He took us behind the cafe, where those flood doors are stored. So the water can actually get this high . The maximum that i saw this. Reporter whoa. So just a couple of inches more, and this would have been useless. He also keeps waterproof boots on hand for his employees. Acqua alta events are usually less than boot high, last just a few hours, and the city cleans up and goes back to normal. But floods also eat away at the soft, permeable bricks that sit above the foundations of the buildings. Over time, venetians have raised their doorways and in some cases abandoned their ground floors. But the flooding is getting worse as the water level in the adriatic sea and Venice Lagoon rises due to climate change. The sea level alone has risen five and half inches since 1900, according to city officials. The Italian Government does have a plan to protect venice. Its called the mose project. Conceived in the 1970s, its a series of 78 underwater gates secured to the floor of the Venice Lagoon. During especially high tides, they will be pumped with air and rise to the surface to block rising water from reaching the city. Four giant barriers across three inlets are scheduled to be operational by 2019. Is mose able to defend venice . Yes, mose will be able to protect the city of venice from exceptionally high water. That means water that exceeds 3. 5 feet above sea level. Reporter so this is what the gate looks like when its down . Yes, this is the gate when it is standing on the bottom of the inlet. Reporter dario berti is engineering and production manager with the Company Building the mose project. Construction began in 2003, testing, in 2013. If this is the first project of its kind, how can you be so sure that its going to work . Well, this is the result of years and years of planning and experiments on models, trials in tanks. Its been tested in all possible conditions. So, were certain it will work. One question about the mose project, these seawalls is whether it will be effective . Reporter if it will be effective . Theyve spent billions of euros on it. Shouldnt it be effective . Yes, the latest estimates are between 5 billion and 6 billion euros having been spent on this project. Certainly a portion of that money has not gone towards the building of this project but rather towards payoffs to local and regional politicians and business folk. Three years ago, about 35 of our leading citizens were arrested along with our mayor. Reporter the mayor of venice was arrested . The mayor of venice was arrested as well on charges of corruption connected to this project. Reporter a verdict on the case of that former mayor is expected this fall. Considering the corruption scandals, environmental scientist jane da mosto says the Italian Government should have gone back and reviewed the engineering and scientific basis for mose. There hasnt been any kind of technical review about whether or not they are doing the right thing, and that i do find seriously alarming. Reporter da mosto is executive director of a Nonprofit Group called we are here venice, which is trying to raise awareness of the challenges facing venice. So theres a lot of concern among venetians that the work at mose isnt being done properly . Its not just amongst venetians. Articles have been published in national newspapers, international journals. They have a problem about sand going into the indentations in the lagoon floor, where the panels then have to lie back down again. They found that the hinges, theyve started corroding much sooner than they thought they would. They also keep delaying when they say its going to be ready. Not a good sign. Reporter mose engineers say they are addressing the issues of sand obstructing the barriers and of rusting hinges. But luca zaggia, from the institute of Marine SciencesNational Research council of italy, warns assuming they work, theres a limit to how many times the defensive flood barriers can be deployed before they damage the lagoon. How many times can you raise the flood barriers in a year . We say ten times a year is the best amount. Maybe 15 or 20, but no more. Reporter but the climate is changing. The water level is rising. Years from now . Years from now, is that still going still to be the case . No. Sure. We will close more frequently. Up 100 times a year. Reporter 100 times a year . What is that going to do to the lagoon . It will be a terrible disaster for the ecosystem. Stagnation first and then contamination and growth of microalgae. Reporter it sounds very harmful. Yeah, it is. You can have massive deaths of fishes in summer. Reporter most tourists are oblivious to the barrier system and seriousness of the flooding problem. They are busy taking selfies, marveling at the beauty of this carfree city, or trying to escape from the summer heat, like these tourists from ireland we found in the shade of the tower in piazza san marco. They had no idea, until we told them, this plaque marks the historic flood of 1966, when the water level was so high, their children would have been neck deep. Reporter the 25 million tourists who visit every year are actually another major threat to venice. Utiques catering to them have replaced vegetable stands, hardware stores, and other shops necessary for daily life. Housing prices have soared with speculators buying up property to rent to tourists. As a result, venetians are moving away. At the end world war two, there were 150,000 fulltime residents of venice. Now, there are only 54,000. On some days, there are actually more tourists than residents, and that upsets venetians like matteo secchi. The venetian way of life is at risk, simply because were vanishing. Theres always fewer of us. Were losing our culture. Because when a venetian leaves the city, he doesnt just leave the city, he leaves a way of life and culture. Reporter in this fragile city, some residents say huge tourist cruise ships are making matters worse. Tommaso cacciari is the founder of the group no grandi navi, meaning no large ships. It wants to ban large cruise ships from entering the Venice Lagoon. Theres a mass amount of water that pushes back and forth. Its called siphoning. Its like an accordion that sucks the foundation of the city. Theres no concrete under here. Theres mud, soft material that gets sucked out. Reporter this pier, he says, rebuilt seven years ago is already showing signs of damage from the cruise ships. When they pass by, they create this huge pressure that basically sucks the sediment out from underneath us and actually lowers the foundation. You can see it really right before your eyes here with these bricks here. The cruise ships employ five thousand venetians, but the Venice Port Authority says only about a quarter of their passengers get off them and spend money in the city. Reining in the ships and the tourists is one challenge humans can control. Controlling the seas is not. Which is why marine scientist luca zaggia is putting his faith in the mose project to save venice for future generations. So the system must work. The alternative is what . The system must work. We have no alternatives at this point. It has to work. Sreenivasan the u. S. Justice department, in partnership with european investigators, has shut down two of the Worlds Largest websites on what is known as the dark web. The black market sites were allegedly purveyors of illegal drugs, guns, and h