Transcripts For KRCB PBS NewsHour 20130706

Experience or any of that. Older people are taking the jobs that younger people should have. Its just, we just dont want brown then, Margaret Warner talks to egypts ambassador to the u. S. About the situation in his country, where the military today fired on supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi. Woodruff what does last Weeks Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights act mean for states with large minority populations . Ray suarez gets two views. Invalidating section 4 has removed protections from millions of african american, latino, and other voters. I see it very differently. We can do it in a much more nuanced way that reflects the fact that we are right now in 2013. Brown and david brooks and ruth marcus analyze the weeks news. Woodruff thats all ahead on tonights newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by support also comes from Carnegie Corporation of new york, a foundation created to do what Andrew Carnegie called real and permanent good. Celebrating 100 years of philanthropy at carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And friends of the newshour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Brown there was good news today on the jobs front. The Labor Department reported that u. S. Employers added 195,000 jobs in june, well above forecasts. The Unemployment Rate remained at 7. 6 , as more people came into the job market, another positive sign. Additionally, figures from april and may were revised upward. The increase means on average 202,000 jobs were added each month in the first half of 2013. Stocks rose on the news. On wall street today the Dow Jones Industrial average gained 147 points to close above 15,135. The nasdaq rose nearly 36 points to close at 3,479. For the week, the dow gained 1. 5 . The nasdaq rose 2 . Joining us from boston now is economist Catherine Mann of the Brandeis International Business School at brandeis university. Welcome to you. Is better than expected. What jumps out at you as most promising in these numbers. You know the top numbers are really very good, over 200,000 jobs created over the last half of the years thats about that magic number, of 200,000 that weve been waiting for that is trying to propel the economy forward and lower the Unemployment Rate. But there is this conundrum that we havent seen a decline in the Unemployment Rate yet. You know, there are some good other signs if we look down into the guts, as you said, the revisions, the upward revisions. Also one of the things that i think is notable is that the number of people who are leaving jobs in order to get new ones have actually gone up. This is a good sign because it means that people are confident that if they choose to leave a job voluntarily that they will be able to find a new bun. There are some negative aspects that i report as well. But before you get there, what about, lets tell us about some of the sectors. I mean bun area that was down, surprisingly i suppose in some ways, is manufacturing. Because we often look to it as a bellwether. Another area continued down is the Public Sector jobs. Uhhuh. Well, we know item Public Sector is down. You know, between the sequester where jobs that are not people are leaving an theyre not being refilled. Although at the federal level most of the sequester is still being handled through furlough as opposed to through actually firing people. At the state and local level, theres a little bit of a bright spot if you ares not in education, at least. The state and local jobs are up about 15,000 at the noneducation component of state and local government. But with regard to the private sector, you know, the decomposition between manufacturing and some of the other services sector, you know, manufacturing has been in the lead. It came out of the recession and added jobs much more quickly than did the services sector. I think many people were surprised about that. Autos was a major kpon end of that. As well as exports. Exports, of course, we export a lot of manufactured products. Its one of our major categories. And early in the recovery the rest of the world was doing relatively well. And exports contributed dramatically to our gdp growth, one percentage point or more. And so not surprisingly there was a ramp up for manufacturing employment. The Global Economy is not as strong as it was before. Domestic Business Investment has continued to be quite weak. And you put those two things together and that explains this little bit of a pullback, 6 or 7,000 job pullback in manufacturing. Now if we look at the sectors on the services side, theres really a bifurcation in that there are a range of services associated with either building or moving things around, transport, utilities, mining and those sorts of things. Those jobs have been weak. Those are negatives for the month. Services, for example, leisure hospitality, food away from home, health, a little bit on finance, only 17,000. What i see in terms of leisure and hospitality is that there are people out there who finally do want to go out for a restaurant meal, they do want to go for a little summer vacation. They have not been doing that for the last couple of years. Theyre looking at now i can things are a little bit better. My confidence is a little bit up. I can go out and have a meal, buy a little extra summer vacation. Brown let me ask you about another important aspect to this. Because one of the key things hangs in the balance, of course, is the federal rezfb and when it will start to pullback on its stimulus. A lot of people waiting to see and no doubt theyre watching the unemployment number. How does a number like this fit in to that question of when they might start doing . Well, i think the Federal Reserve, and other members of the fo m. C. And the Federal Reserve Bank President s who have been speaking about this question, i think they are looking at a lot of the guts of the 6. 5 threshold for the Unemployment Rate thats very much, you know, in the fo m. C. Statement. And some of those guts actually are not very good looking when we look at what we have in the top line number. Top lines good, guts not so good. In particular, 300,000 people compared to last year are holding multiple jobs. Does that mean that they, you know, its good that they can get a second job, i suppose. But does that mean theyre not really earning enough in their first job in order to maintain their lifestyle . About 300,000 are part time for reasons associated with strong a weak economy. In other words, they would be in a fulltime job if they could find one but they cant fine one so they are part time for economic reasons. That is not a good number. And of course the number that continues to really weigh on the overall Unemployment Rate is that weve got 40 , almost 40 of the people who are unemployed have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks. These are those longterm unemployed. And getting them back into being unemployed status is really crucial. If we were similar to our historical experience with regard to characteristics of the unemployed, we probably would be very close to 6. 5 threshold right now. So getting the longterm unemployed back in the office or on the Assembly Line or building something, thats crucial. And i think the Federal Reserve is looking at those kinds of issues, unemployed for longterm, unemployed for economic reasons, or multiple jobs. Theyre looking at those components to determine what theyre going to do. Brown all right, Catherine Mann at brandeis university, thank you very much. Youre welcome woodruff coming up, paul solman on the tough job market for the nations youth. Also ahead deadly confrontations in egypt; the Practical Implications of the Voting Rights ruling. Plus, david brooks and ruth marcus. But first, the other news of the day. Heres hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan a diplomatic incident involving the Fugitive National Security Agency leaker escalated today. Spain said it was warned by an Unnamed Party that Edward Snowden was on board the bolivian president s plane on tuesday. The plane was rerouted and forced to land in austria with no sign of snowden. The rerouting brought demands for apology from a bloc of south american nations, and bolivian president evo morales threatened to close the u. S. Embassy. translated my hand would not shake if it came to closing the embassy. We have dignity, we have sovereignty. Without the United States, we are better off politically and democratically. Without the world bank or the International Monetary fund, we are better off economically. We do not need them. We have other allies. Sreenivasan snowden has reportedly applied for asylum in six new countries. The website wikileaks reported that, adding the countries wont be identified to try to keep the u. S. From interfering in the applications. Pope francis signed a decree today clearing the way for two former popes to become saints. Pope john paul the second led the Roman Catholic church for nearly 27 years before his death in 2005. His would mark the fastest elevation to sainthood in centuries. Pope john the 23 who served from 1958 to 1963 will also be canonized, even though the vatican has yet to confirm a requisite second miracle. Michael sean winters of the National Catholic reporter said pope francis choices were very deliberate. Pope francis is trying to send a signal that there are certain catholics always invoking john 23rd and other catholics always invoking Pope John Paul ii. And francis is trying to say there are two ways of living out the christian vocation and the church needs them bovment and i think thats a very Important Message that we need to hear sreenivasan it was ray suarez who spoke with winter earlier today. Find the full interview on our website along with rays blog post on the churchs saint making process. In wisconsin, republican Governor Scott walker signed a bill into law requiring that women who want abortions must first have an ultrasound. Abortion providers would have to point out the features of the fetus on the ultrasound before performing the abortion. The law takes effect on monday and planned parenthood and the American Civil Liberties union have already filed lawsuits against it. Police in california are investigating a fireworks accident that injured more than 30 people overnight northwest of los angeles. Officials said a firework at a simi valley park appeared to detonate prematurely and knock over a row of mortars. That sent live pyrotechnics into the crowd of some 10,000 Independence Day revelers. A triage area was set up at the site to treat many of the wounded. The victims ranged in age from 17 months to 78 years old. The prosecution rested its case in the Neighborhood Watch murder trial of George Zimmerman in florida. The defense argued for acquittal, claiming zimmerman was defending himself and the state had failed to prove its case. Family members of the slain teenager, trayvon martin, took the witness stand, along with the coroner. Martins mother, sybrina fulton, dismissed questions from the defense that the screams heard in a 911 recording on the night of the killing were not her sons. You certainly would have had to hope that was your son screaming before you heard it, correct . I didnt hope for anything. I just simply listened to the tape. And in your mind, as his mother, there was no doubt whatsoever that it was him screaming, correct . Absolutely. Sreenivasan late today, zimmermans mother testified on his behalf. She said it was her son screaming on the 911 call. It is still unknown if zimmerman himself will take the stand in his own defense. Those are some of the days major stories. Now, back to judy. Woodruff and to egypt, where hundreds of thousands took to the streets again today, this time from opposing camps. Violent confrontations flared between backers of former president Mohammed Morsi and those who ousted him two days ago. The Muslim Brotherhood called it a day of rejection. The number killed was in dispute. The Egyptian Health ministry reported a death toll of at least 17 countrywide with more than 200 injured. Margaret warner has our story. Warner it was a day of demonstrations and counter demonstrations. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of ousted president Mohammed Morsi continued to celebrate in Tahrir Square today, as military jets flew overhead, and army tanks guarded the president ial palace and other strategic points around the city. But tens of thousands of morsi supporters called to protest his islamist Muslim Brotherhood party massed at a prominent cairo mosque and elsewhere. translated i am telling the Ministry Council that this is treason. This is a shame and the egyptian people will not accept this. You dont have the right to choose who rules egypt. Warner the Egyptian Military deposed morsi wednesday and installed the former chief justice of the supreme constitutional court, aldi mansour, as interim president. Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie whod reportedly been detained earlier appeared before the cairo rally. With military helicopters circling above, he vowed to fight for morsis reinstatement. translated the army is now involved in politics once more, and we say to them, its time for you to return to your people and protect the borders, this is your role. As for our role, we will god willing, be open to anything once our elected president Mohamed Mursi is returned. Warner after badie spoke, many in the audience streamed across a bridge toward Tahrir Square and engaged in clashes with some of the antimorsi crowd. Earlier, other encounters turned violent too. At least one protestor was said to have been killed when pro morsi demonstrators marched on the Republican Guard headquarters in cairo. They believed the former president was being held at the barracks, but morsis location remains unknown. translated we were standing peacefully in the garden here, holding a picture of mursi and then one member of the Republican Guard tore up the picture and an altercation happened. They fired shots in the air and one person fell next to me, his blood is still on my hands now. Warner an Army Spokesperson later denied troops fired live ammunition, saying soldiers only used blank rounds and tear gas. There was violence elsewhere in egypt as well. In the Sinai Peninsula overnight, suspected islamist assailants fired rocket propelled grenades at Army Checkpoints near an airport and the israeli border, killing at least one egyptian soldier. Meanwhile, according to state television, interim president mansour appointed a new chief of intelligence. And issued a decree dissolving the upper house of parliament. The military has pledged there will be new president ial and parliamentary elections soon. For more on the latest from and with me now to discuss the monumental change in his country this week, is egypts ambassador to the United States mohamad tawfik. He has been in his post, since president morsi appointed him last september. Mr. Ambassador thank you for coming in and joining us. So whats your sense of the situation in your country right now . Is it in danger of spinning out of control . I dont think so i think an overwhelming majority of egyptians have already given the verdict. It perfectly acceptable for people, for dock morsi supporters to demonstrate peacefully. But it is very important to stop any kind of violence and particularly to stop insight incitement. Warner we had hoped to be joined by Nancy Youssef of mcclatchy newspapers. And on that note i will ask her about her sense of situation on the ground. Nancy, thank you for joining us. You have been out in the streets. What is the situation now . How much fighting, actual fighting is there between pro morsi and antimorsi supporters. Yes, today there were clashes nationwide. Antimorsi supporters were back in tahrir for the third day since the military announced that morsi had been ousted from office. And today in what morsi supporters called a day of rejection, rejecting the militarys decree, they came out in large numbers. And at one point approached those in Tahrir Square and started firing live rounds. Those in Tahrir Square moved out of the square and launch add tacks back on them using fireworks, rocks and gunfire. And the battle went on for about three hours until the military intervened. Warner so the army and police are trying to keep a lid on this . Yes and no. Whats interesting is that they let this go on for nearly three hours. During that time the military was flying helicopters overhead in a show of force but it simply wasnt enough. And it wasnt until scores were injured. Were still trying to confirm the death rates now. And theres blood all over the street just behind me in that demonstration. And so its unclear how much theyre able to stop these protests from going on day after day unless theres some sort of curfew or other military mandate, placed on the nation. Warner now what are Muslim Brotherhood leaders and even active rank and file saying publicly or telling you about their intentions here . I mean did they intend to keep demonstrating . Are they going to resort to a more kind of violent resistance to whats taken place . Well, its interesting. Because just as the opposition was fractured were hearing different voices from those who support morsi. There are those who say that even though they didnt like morsi, he served as a way to protect them from the military rule which has governed this country for nearly six decades in some form or fashion there are some saying this must go vie lenly, that they are prepared to die for this, they see it as a greater religious mission and are eker to die and those that say it must be handled peacefully. We heard today from the members of the brotherhood that they were open to negotiations but only if morsi was reinstated in poer with. And yet the government, the new government, the new civilian government appointed by the military has said that its prepared to file charges against morsi for insulting the state so it doesnt appear that there is an option to bring the clashes to an end. Warner but are you getting the sense from some Muslim Brotherhood figures of some influence that in fact at least a faction of them might be ready to participate in the formation of this new government. Well, its interesting. Because yesterday we heard. Warner Nancy Youssef, thank you so much. We just lost our connection with you but thank you for being with us. So mr. Ambassador, lets go back to what happened. Was this a coup as, in fact, the Muslim Brotherhood says it was . Absolutely not. This was a situation in which the vast 345 jority of egyptians took to the streets, 22 million petitions were filled in and all they asked for was early elections. They didnt ask the for ask for the military to take over. They asked for early elections. Now president morsi and his supporters, what they did is they mobilized, they stirred peoples feelings up. And basically they encouraged their supporters to face the other demonstrators. So there was no option for the military. And for the rest of egyptian society, but to intervene. Before terrible clashes and escalation would run out of control. Warner i have to ask you, i mean, until three days ago you worked for president morsi. He appointed you last fall yet you support what happened, his ouster. I mean one, why, and two, are your views widely shared within the bureaucracy, the civil service, the Foreign Service service . Opinions well, on a personal level, when morsi was elected president of egypt, i was very hopeful. I really wished and i really hoped that he would succeed. And i did my very best personally to help him to succeed. But unfortunately little by little it became clear that he was unable to move from being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood to becoming the president of all egyptians. And what we have seen in the past few weeks that is the outcome of that. The people of egypt like me felt completely disa pointed in president morsi. And felt that this could not go on any longer. Warner so where is president morsi now . Has he been arrested . I dont know. I really i have no information regarding that. Warner but can you assure our listeners that he and our viewers that he is safe . Absolutely. No arbitrary measures will be taken against anyone in egypt. What were trying to do in egypt is correct our path. What our objective is, is full and complete democracy. We want respect for human rights. If somebody breaks the law, they will be dealt with in due process. Warner now a report just moved just from routers that one of the top, top leaders of the brotherhood has just been detained or arrested. I mean do you know if that is the case. And secondly, on what grounds are these brotherhood figures who i dont believe have been out on the streets carrying clubs or anything, on what grounds are they being arrested or detained . Well, i dont have details regarding this particular case. But again, people have the right to demonstrate peacefully. They have the right to express their views whatever they may be. But they do in the have the right to resort to violence or to incite their followers to violence. So just to be clear, are you saying nobody will be detained unless there is evidence that they have incited violence . Absolutely. Absolutely. There has to be evidence and due process has to be followed. This is not something that the executive branch would do. This is something up to the judiciary. Now who is actually running the country right now . The interim president who was sworn in yesterday. But what role does the military have in making these decisions. For instance the timing today of hiring a new intelligence chief or desolving the parliament . The militarys role is to protect the country. And to help the police in restoring order. We dont want any other people to get killed. It doesnt matter if theyre supporters of president morsi, supporters of the movement that removed him from office. Doesnt matter. It matters that theyre egyptian citizens, that theyre human beings. And we want to protect everybodys life. Now president obama spoke once about this publicly wednesday. He called for a quick return to democratic governance. How quickly will new elections be held . Well, i think what we have if mind is a road map. That includes elections, president ial elections, parliamentary elections. But it also includes national reconciliation. This is very important. There is room for everyone in egypt. Rooney but youre not putting theres no time line for when elections would be held . No time line has been put yetment but im sure that will be done soon. Rooney finally what. Warner fiblingly what message, im sure are you meeting with Obama Administration observations. I know secretary kerry, joint chief chairman dempsey, what message are you getting privately about whether u. S. Aid toe egypt is at risk as it would be, in fact n this government determined it was a coup . Well, the message im getting is very clear. Everybody in the United States within the administration in congress, they would all like egypt to succeed. The one they want egypt to be democratic. They want egypt to be successful. And that is the message that im getting. And i assure them that is what the egyptian people want. That is what they have opted for. And they will guarantee that that is the objective we achieve. Ambassador mohammed, thank you for being with us. Thank you very much brown and we come back to the unemployment picture with a spotlight on one of the hardest hit groups in recent years the young. Last month the official jobless rate for teens alone was nearly 25 , more than three times the rate for the country as a whole. For perspective, that was the official Unemployment Rate for the entire population in 1933 at the depth of the great depression. Newshour economics correspondent, paul solman looks at the particular challenges facing innercity youth. Its part of his ongoing reporting making sense of financial news. Its really hard because its either, we have too many people; we dont have enough money; our budgets not right; youre not experienced enough, or its just, we just dont want to hire you. Reporter 20yearold zahquira thomas estimates only 15 or so of her friends have jobs, but its not for lack of trying. Ive been looking everywhere for a job, everywhere. Reporter Christian Ramos is looking for restaurant or retail work. How many hours a day do you spend looking for a job, i mean calls on the internet whatever . Sometimes the whole day. Reporter nothing. Mmmmm. Reporter the Great Recession robbed jobs from everyone but the unkindest cuts of all have been to americas youth. The younger you are, the more likely it is that youve been thrown out of the labor market. High School Students working today work at less than a 50 rate to what they did back in 2000, less than 50. Reporter economist andrew sum has researched teen unemployment and found that the earlier you leave school, the dimmer your prospects. Other handicaps being male, africanamerican, a child with unemployed parents. When you combine them, take a young black High School Dropout low income male, youre talking 5 employment reporter 5 . Yes. Reporter that is, a 95 jobless rate. Bostons dorchester youth collaborative provides mentoring, job training and a safe haven to lowincome youth like Christian Ramos, who never graduated high school, zahquira thomas, who has a g. E. D. , and 17yearold george huynh, a high school junior. After his fathers suicide a few years ago, and his mother too ill to work, huynh was forced onto welfare and food stamps. Last year he beat the odds and landed a summer finance gig at john hancock. It taught me how to be uh what they call a professional, its you know how you treat adults when you see them, how to say good morning. How to be a you know a good worker. Reporter how to look them in the eye . Yes. Reporter so how did you used to be when youd be talking to somebody like me . Huynh has had more success than most here. Wallace vick, 19. I got i had some interviews, but i havent gotten like into the next step. I went to marshalls, tjmaxx, my mentor then took me, but i mean i havent received any calls. Reporter vick graduated high school. Christian ramos dropped out in 11th grade. I dont have no job experience and its hard trying to get a job with no resume or no Work Experience or any of that. Reporter in fact, its hard for anyone these days. Even george huynh didnt have anything lined up for this summer yet. And he thinks thats in part because, increasingly. Older people are taking the jobs that younger people should have. Reporter yes, says andrew sum, thats exactly what employers report when theyre interviewed. Theyve got choices about whom to hire and teenagers just unfortunately are at the very back of that queue. Like when we were talking to employers and i asked them on customer service, why were you hiring younger College Grads rather than teenagers . They said, for one reason, because i can. Reporter Emmett Folgert runs this center. Its so competitive out there for a teenager to try to find a job because now theyre competing with adults. Also you see those fedex trucks and the u. P. S. Trucks going to everybodys house. Well, the biggest employer of teenagers are Retail Stores and i dont know if youve been in any Retail Stores. There arent that many people working anymore and there are much fewer customers. So kids are up against it in terms of finding jobs right now. Reporter zahquira thomas is applying to college, as do about two thirds of Young Americans with high school diplomas. But employers tell her thats not enough. You dont have the experience we need, you dont have the degree we want you to have, you dont have the things that are required to have this job, but without experience. They cant. You cant get the job, so why dont you let me get the job so i can gain the experience that i should have to get a better job . But they dont think like that. Reporter and, says andrew sum, for your economic prospects as an adult, nothing is more important than having a job when youre young. Theres a recent study that shows if you spent six months unemployed as a teenager, thats going to Carry Forward for the next ten years of your life. Because you lose experience, the plus you get the negative social behaviors. Young kids who dont work are more likely to engage in criminal behavior. Young woman who dont work are more likely to become pregnant. Like if people cant get jobs then they going to do what they gotta do to get money and thats either committing crimes or just thats it. Reporter is that true wallace . Its a lot of people out here where thats why theyre in jail, thats why they in the situation that theyre in, no money, you dont eat, could be homeless, they get kicked out their home, cant live on the street. They got do whatever they got to do. Reporter zahquira thomas says her mother threw her out of the house before she hit her teens. Her response . I didnt do the right things at the age of 11, going to the stores stealing whatever i needed to eat, whatever, any means necessary i needed to take care of myself. In the daytime id see people i knew, go to their house, eat what theyre eating, do things like that, but at the end of the day at night time id sleep on the train, sleep in the park, sleep outside, sleep wherever i had a chance because i had nowhere to go. Reporter today, thomas lives with her aunt, just finished an internship, and is looking for work. As are wallace vick and most of the kids he knows. Roughly how many of your friends have jobs . Uh, not a lot. Like two or three of my friends. Reporter and vick himself . We learned after our visit, that hes facing Armed Robbery and assault charges. Hes pleaded not guilty but has declined to discuss the situation. Emmett folgert tries hard to keep his jobless teens out of a trouble but, he says, the competition is brutal. Were not the only Youth Program in town. Gangs are a Youth Program, too. They organize kids, too. Its just a bad Youth Program. Reporter but a program that more than a few turn to when barely 25 of all teenagers in this country have a job of any kind at all. A legal one, that is. Woodruff find more of pauls conversation with economist andrew sum on our making sense page. Brown we turn next to the continued reverberations of the Supreme Courts endofterm rulings. Justices struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights act. Ray suarez recently hosted a debate on how the decision will play out at polling places across the country. Suarez looking ahead to the practical affect of the high courts Voting Rights ruling and coming election cycles in a changing america, im joined by nina paralis Vice President of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and education fund. And james burling, director of litigation for the pas civic legal foundation. Minus section four, will what remains of the Voting Rights act be enough to protect the Voting Rights and interests of minority voters . Well, were going have to work with what we have. But the decision invalidating section four has removed protections from millions of africanamerican, latino and other voters. And certainly it is incumbent on congress to try to restore those protections as quickly as possible. James, how do you see it . I see it very differently. I think this is a tremendous step in the right direction. I any that we are going to continue and we must continue to have protections for minority voters in this country but we can do in a more nuanced way, in the way that reflects that we are right now in 2013, 2013, no long never 1965. Times have changed tremendously and the law must change with the times. Suarez there are lots of moving parts involved in running elections. Remaps following census, each state and jurisdiction, huhs about how you vine up to vote and where you vote. With the authority to create these jurisdictions, these preclearance jurisdictions, for now taken away, how do individual voters and groups of voters around the country protection their right if they feel that theyve been violated . The same way they protect them in all the other states that are not subject to preclearance. You can file a lawsuit and more importantly, the political dynamics, i think, make it very difficult and rare for the sort of discrimination that occurred in the 1960s to happen again. You have states like mississippi that has a higher percentage of africanamericans to vote than white americans. I think that we need to have preclearance only for the Southern States or just at any state, actually, is just outdated. And i really think this does give us a Good Opportunity through section 2 of the Voting Rights act which allows people to bring lawsuits if there are discrimination problems. And through other civil rights statutes as well. I think that we can move forward. And this is a way of moving forward. Mr. Burling bring up a good point. When the Voting Rights act was passed in the mid 60s, we were just coming out of the struggles of the civil rights era. Know almost 50 years later Asian Americans and latino americans are the Fastest Growing voter groups in the country. What is different about assuring their rights from the days when the United States was trying to get out from under jim crow . Well, luckily the Voting Rights act has been vibrant and evolvingment congress reauthorized the Voting Rights act in 2006 after looking at exactly that. What is the state of voting and discrimination against minority voters in 2006. And in that is a tremendous record in support of the reauthorization. Latinos of course have been in the United States since before even it was those parts of the United States where you find many latinos today, california, arizona, colorado, texas, new mexico. And latinos have struggled as many other minority voters have to cast an effective balance at ballot so the practical impliing case of the courts ruling on section four is that texas does not have to preclear, for example, its redistricting plans which currently in litigation. And texas in every round of redistricting since 60s has been found to have discriminated against latinos in its drawing of boundaries. Suarez so mr. Burling, the who has changed but maybe not the what sm. Well, you still do have section 2 which allows people to bring lawsuits if there is discrimination. And yes, the things are more complicated complicated today than in the 1960s because we have a variety of other immigrant groups that did not play the political role that they do today, back then. But i think despite the fact that the composition of minority groups is changing, this countrys commitment to civil rights, this countrys commitment to Voting Rights is undiminished. And this decision does not diminish that at all it just as i said before brings it into the future. Well, outside of the states of the confederacy and a scattering of other counties across the country, minority groups are growing a pace. And mr. Burling suggests they have the same remedies under section 2 that all americans have always had, without that preclearance rirments in place. That is true. We still have portions of the Voting Rights act remaining. But section 2 cases are very different than the protections that we have under section 5. For example, weve litigated section 2 cases to the u. S. Supreme court it takes years. It takes many, many dollars. And during that time minority voters have to suffer under what it will eventually be proven as a discriminatory system, right. So hundreds of thousands of latinos were casting ballots under discriminatory redistricting system before it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2006. And that was the last round. In this round we had the ability to have section five prevent those changes before they went into effect. And later a court found that they were intentionally racially discriminatory, and that was the decision in 2012. And because of section 5 and its shifting of the burden on to the jurisdiction to prove nondiscrimination, latino voters were not subjected to discriminatory voting schemes in the interim. Let me start with you, just check with you both before we go. One of the least talked about parts of section 4 was one that required Foreign Language voting materials in many places in the country, now that section 4 has been struck down by the high court, james burling, is providing Foreign Language voting materials to spanish speakers in texas, to vietnamese speakers in louisiana now an option . A way that it wasnt when section 4 still stood . I think that those jurisdictions will still continue to provide votesing language materials. And voting materials in Foreign Languages because its the right thing to do. With section 4 gone i dont think its going to take very long for congress to mend the knack a way that makes sense. And if you can show that the denial of alternative language voting materials is a violation of somebodys right to vote, then there are effective remedies. Yes, it was just pointed out that utilizing section 2, and individual lawsuits can be a long and difficult way of doing things, but sometimes the right way of doing things, sometimes the constitutional way of doing things is not the easiest, but that is our system of government. The preclearance provision put an undue burden on a select number of states, based on analyses that were from the 1960s. And now is time to move forward and to make sure that there is no discrimination in voting. And that could include Foreign Language voting materials it. Suarez quick reply before we go . Well, the Voting Rights act has not been hanging around since the 1960s it has been a vital tool. What has been unconstitutional are the acts of discrimination. And section five has served an Important Role to block it until now. Congress is going to have to step in and restore those protections. Suarez nina, james, thank you both. Youre welcome woodruff and to the analysis of brooks and marcus. New york times columnist david brooks and Washington Post columnist ruth marcus. Mark shields is off tonight. Welcome to you both. So just david, just picking up on rays interview. How do you see the affect of the court rule on Voting Rights . What does it mean for minority voters . Im struck first of all by this but in that interview, what harm was section 4 doing, you know, aside from setting aside the constitutional, was it caughting any problems. I dont think it was causing any problems, giving the history of this country. I think when you estimate how much actual effect its going have on actual voters, one, youve got a real issue which we propet allly deal with. How much racism is in society that is just waiting for the chance to exercise itself. And i confess, i dont know the answer to that question. But we may be about to find out. But i will say if any party does, and i think is this a lesson in the last section, if anybody does Voter Suppression thinking it will help them politically theyre foolish. I think one of the things we learned from this last election is that the repull shun against Voter Suppression mobilizing people am and i think thats one of the things that happened. So if you think you will take advantage of this to try to put some discriminatory laws or districts in place, i think youve got another thing coming because it will end up bite ug in the end. Woodruff how do you see the fallout . I totally agree with david. I think maybe i should say okay, agreed, lets move on. And we can find something to disagree about. The Practical Impact of this is not what the practical in 2013, is not what the Practical Impact would have been in 1965 or 1975 or 1985. But it is still huge because it takes away this very effective tool. And leaves the cumbersome tool of litigating after the fact. Anybody who remembers bush v gore and what we went through then knows that you cant unring the bell of an election or an unfairness. And so yes, there is a real reason for somebody who and you dont have to be animated by racism, by the way. You could just be an pated by your partisan selfinterest. But it could have a racist impact or a discriminatory impact. And so yes, you would have to way the weigh the events that seem to have happened in the last election where this was this surge of voting. But you cant count on that every time. So i think pers just going to see in any number of states a whittling away or a continuing stream of problems. So we wouldnt have seen absent this. And i for one just thought the court, just very improperly inserted itself in making a decision that was really up to congress about whether we still needed this. Well leave it there, with the two of you kind of on the same side of this. Lets talk about egypt. Tumultuous events this week, david. Tonight im looking at the wires, the demonstration, increasingly violent they are now saying at least 30 people are dead as a result of these demonstration. We just heard the egyptian ambassador earlier talking to margaret saying it wasnt a coup. That in effect morsi had it coming to them. Yeah, well i think it was a coup and morsi had it coming to him it was a kouchlt i mean the military is running egypt for a long time. One of the interesting questions for us is what do we want in our Foreign Policy. And i have sort of switched sides on this, i guess. I used to think if we just have election, that the elections will have a moderating effect on governments, even if you take radical, especially throughout the middle east, you take rad calls, they have to Pay Attention to its public opinion, pick up the trash, pick up the potholes. The act of governing will moderate them so we just should insist on election after election and respect the results of every election. I think the evidence from the Muslim Brotherhood, at least s that if you have got a group which is really a radical, almost religious totalitarian group, the elections will not very a moderating influence this he will take advantage of 9 election and in essence to ends democracy. I think that is what they were doing. Undermining democracy to make it impossible. A selfnegating election. So i think what its coup people did was legitimate. What those millions of people on the street did is legitimate. A friend of mine jeffly goldberg said maybe bad longterm for dem sockee, good longterm for progress. Woodruff so elections are not as a good thing. Democracy is messy, it is even messy when democracy is knew. So knew, so i find this to be an incredibleably difficult issue because you cannot cheer for people who seize power from a democratically elected government. On the other hand, you cannot cheer for the reasons that david said this democratically elected government. Because it was not governing in a democratic way. And so the question is going forward, which was the better course for egypt. I think we done know. If things turn out the way the ambassador was talking about, with quick elections and a belief in the rule of law, yes. It could be better. What what about the Obama Administration handling. Some are saying this week that they should have anticipated this. That theyre caught looking like they were supporting morsi when they shouldnt have been. Right, well, thats true. You know, they didnt pay as close attention. They probably assumed the morsi government was more stable than it really was. Im not sure i blame them. I dont think it had any effect. I dont think we did anything that caused a change in egypt. I do think, its always important to referment i was talking to the state department and said said to me you have to remember n this building we dont do Foreign Policy, we do foreign relations. We make relationships with people who are in power. And so our ambassador there and probably our entire apparatus was building relationships with the Muslim Brotherhood, probably you know, holding their nose a little but building relationships. And result of those relationships which were probably an of the to have some influence, they looked more friendly to the Muslim Brotherhood than probably they should have. Ambassador certainly gave a speech when she seems to dismiss prot tests which she should not have done. And so we came out looking like we were on the forces of regression, reaction, that was a mistake, but i do think the administration should be a lot more assertive in supporting the only thing we can do with it, the level of ideas, the moderates, the intellectuals, writers, activists who are over decades going to introduce more moderate doctrine. Woodruff how do you assess what the administration is doing here . Looking backyards backwards david is right, they have been late. I would cut them a bunch of slack. Because firps of all the mideast is like the whackamole of Foreign Policy there are so many different moles jumping up. Woodruff right now. Yes, especially right now, that you know, you turn your head for a second an youve got a problem. Number two, and even more fundamentally what were they going to do . Theyve got bad actors on both sides that they cant deal with. And if they assert themselves, its just going to be ugly imper gralist, bullying americans. They are damned in they do they are dpamd they dont on so many of these things. I do think looking forward we are going to need to hear either privately or publicly words from the administration that we must see quick elections and a real reinstitution of real democracy. Not the kind of faux democracy or crumbling dem october see that we were getting from the breer hoodz. I wouldnt mind if they are playing whackamole but they are hitting a dead otter. Dont take my metaphor and do better with it. Theyre doing the israelipalestinian peace process, which is really a no hoper. And meanwhile all these things are going on around the world, syria is going on, egypt is going on. The arab spring or whatever we are going to call it these days is going on. And what do we think about that. Thats a difficult problem, believe me i understand that. But why are they obsessed with this really dead letter issue, something that will not be solved that is just the wizard of oz fantasy of every secretary of state. Its mystifying to me. Woodruff waste of time for kerry to be trying to do something about israelpalestine. Im going to stick up for him, yes, maybe its a dead otter. But it is an otter whose stench i will keep going this, an otter whose stench matters. Because the israelipalestinian problem is not the only thing that is at the root of the unrest in the middle east but until that is resolved, we not going to have a stable and restful middle east so if you thought that this was a moment to do t i mean it seems to me if you are the secretary of state, if you are the government of the United States, yes, there is lots of moles popping up. You ought to be able to monitor a whole bunch of them. I think the harder problem for them wasnt necessarily monitoring t was that there is no good response. Woodruff lets talk about one other administration question. Bringing it back home, david, thats healthcare reform. The Administration Made some news this week. It announced it will delay the employer mandate for a year. The republicans are rejoicing and saying this is the nail in the coffin of healthcare reform. Is it . It is not the nail in the coffin. There are bigger nails, bigger things wrong with health carement but the process of regulating a piece of American Economy which is as big as the economy of france, 17 of the economy, thats just was bound to be an incredibly messy job. And sure enough its turning out to be messy. The employer mandate by itself is sort of medium to small sized. If it means they cant dot individual mandate down the road, thats a big problem. Theyve got other big problems with people in the health care feel. Theyre extremely nervous about. Its state exchanges. The relationship between the state exchange and federal exchange where the government doesnt want to build exchanges. Whether they have young people that should not enroll in this program because it is economically suicidal for them, or mistake for them. How they get those this he have a lot of challenges down the road. Woodruff less than a woodruff ruth marcus, you are both the light. Ruth, david, thank you both. Brown again, the major developments of the day unemployment held steady and employers added 195,000 jobs last month. Clashes erupted in egypt as thousands of supporters of the toppled president took to the streets demanding he be reinstated, and pope Francis Woodruff online we examine a surprising statistic the u. S. Ranks 27 in the world for infant mortality. Hari sreenivasan tells us more. Sreenivasan whats behind that number . And is there a simple fix . Yes, says the leader of a Health Care Organization cut back on scheduled childbirth. Find betty ann bowsers interview on our home page. Plus, what happens when you give Nobel Laureates crayons and ask them to draw cartoon explaining their discoveries . Watch them doodle on lunch in the lab. All that and more is on our website newshour. Pbs. Org. Judy . Woodruff and thats the newshour for tonight. On monday, well look at charges of Cyber Espionage by china and what the u. S. Is doing about it. Im judy woodruff. Brown and im jeffrey brown. Washington week can be seen later this evening on most pbs stations. Well see you online and again here monday evening. Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend. Thanks for joining us. Good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. 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. Captioning sponsored by Macneil Lehrer productions captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org rose welcome to the program. To want, baseball and bob bowman, the man who has made it possible for so many people to watch their favorite teams in action. If you think of it from a fans point of view, what its done is all the technology that weve done and created and deployed and all that for the person growing up in n milwaukee im getting the same high technology, High Definition that the person in new york and l. A. Is getting so theres been a leveling of the field for all fans. And all the fans are enjoying very good technology, if not the best, hopefully near the best. Rose we conclude with christian louboutin, the man who h