Transcripts For WHYY PBS NewsHour 20140730

Moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Charles schwab, proud supporter of the pbs newshour. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions and. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the war between israel and hamas raged on today, with strikes on a United Nations school and a busy market in gaza. After more than three weeks of fighting, the Palestinian Death toll reached 1,359 and in israel, 56 soldiers have been killed, along with three civilians. Bodies were carried onebyone out of a crowded shopping area in the eastern gaza strip today. The israeli airstrike hit when people were taking advantage of a fourhour ceasefire, but it applied only to certain areas. Hamas also broke it by firing at least 20 rockets during that time period. The attack followed one of the Israeli Militarys most active days since the four week conflict began. Earlier in the day it was a u. N. School that came under fire. At least 16 people were killed and more than 100 injured. The school was one of dozens in gaza giving shelter to 200,000 displaced palestinians. translated people were translated children, men, everyone was dismembered at the abu hussein school. Why were they killed . What did they do . Woodruff a u. N. Spokesman on the ground said the light of day revealed the assault came from israeli tanks. We have visited the site and gathered evidence, we have analyzed fragments, examined craters and other damage. Our initial assessment is that it was israeli artillery that hit our school in which 3,300 people had sought refuge. Woodruff Israeli Defense force spokesman peter lerner said his countrys forces acted only in response to a mortar shell launched at them from near the school. There is a challenge on the ground where this terrorist organization is exploiting the reality on the ground, exploiting the civilian environment and exploiting the people of gaza themselves. Were up against a huge challenge and clearly that can be tragic results that we have seen. Woodruff still, the shelling of the u. N. School drew widespread condemnation, including from the white house. And in new york, the u. N. Deputy secretary general expressed shock. For me this is a moment where you really have to say,enough is enough and you have to search for the right words to convince those who have the power to stop this. Woodruff mosques were again an israeli target and five were reduced to rubble. In daylight, the destruction was clear. Korans littered the ground, the buildings minaret was resting on a nearby apartment building. translated people come here to pray and do their duty five times a day. Now we have been deprived from praying dawn, morning, noon, evening. Where will people pray now . Woodruff but israeli officials said the mosques are being used by militant fighters. The Israeli Military dropped warning leaflets in gaza, urging residents to keep away from terrorists, and to report rocket launchers, tunnels and ammunition arsenals. Meanwhile, hamas carried out its own campaign to boost morale. Last night it broadcast video purportedly showing its fighters using a tunnel to carry out an attack on an israeli outpost near gazas border. In washington today, the state department reacted to more criticism levied at secretary john kerry by israeli media. Hes come under fire for his failed attempt to broker a ceasefire. His spokeswoman, marie harf, called the attacks shocking and disappointing. The hours all of us have spent with the secretary in jerusalem and trying to get middle east peace, trying to work to protect security, thats why its so disappointing is its so at odds with reality and flies in the face of everything we have been trying to do. Woodruff during ceasefire negotiations, kerry had suggested hamas demand to end the blockade of gaza be on the table, which set off the israeli criticism. Ifill at least 19 people were killed today in eastern ukraine, as new clashes flared between Government Forces and prorussian separatists. Much of the violence targeted areas in and around the rebel stronghold of donetsk. The fighting stopped International Experts from reaching the Malaysian Airlines crash site for a fourth day. Its been two weeks since the plane went down. A Ukrainian Government spokesman warned the area is becoming more unsafe. translated at the crash site, terrorists set up new firing positions. They moved a lot of heavy artillery there and mined entrances to this territory. It prevents International Experts from carrying out their work while they are trying to start fulfilling their duties and find causes of the downing of boeing 777. Ifill ukraines border with russia is also the scene of russian troop movement. Today, natos military commander reported their numbers have risen sharply to over 12,000. Woodruff russia had harsh words today about the new round of u. S. Sanctions president obama imposed yesterday. A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry Read both the u. S. And the European Union imposed new sanctions against russian banks, energy and defense firms for russias role in the separatist uprising in ukraine. Ifill officials in liberia shut all the countrys schools and quarantined more communities to try to stop the rapid spread of the worst outbreak of ebola on record. The World Health Organization estimates the highly Infectious Disease has killed at least 129 people across the west african country. It has no known cure. The u. S. Peace corps announced today its withdrawing all of its volunteers about 350 people from liberia, sierra leone and guinea after two volunteers came in contact with someone who died of the virus. Woodruff the u. S. House of representatives voted to sue president obama today for overstepping his executive powers. The lawsuit sponsored by Speaker John Boehner claims the president failed to uphold the constitution during the implementation of the Affordable Care act. Debate on the house floor was heated and completely along party lines. Once again republicans are putting special interest in the howls of impeachment hungry extremists before the needs of the nation. The lawsuit is only the latest proof of House Republicans contempt and disregard for the priorities of the america people. This isnt about republicans and democrats. Its about defending the constitution that we swore an oath to uphold and acting decisively when it may be compromised. Woodruff on the road in kansas city today, president obama weighed in on the lawsuit, calling it a political stunt and saying it was keeping lawmakers from doing real work. Every vote theyre taking like that means a vote theyre not taking to actually help you. laughter when theyve taken 50 votes to repeal the Affordable Care act, that was time that could have been spent working constructively to help you on some things. applause woodruff the house also overwhelmingly approved a compromise bill to reform the department of Veterans Affairs and improve veterans access to health care. The 17 billion overhaul now heads to the senate, which is expected to act it soon before heading home for the august recess. Ifill a massive cleanup effort was underway today in los angeles after a major water main break inundated the campus of u. C. L. A. A nearly centuryold pipe ruptured yesterday and for three hours spewed nearly eight million gallons of water. Crews began cleaning up six damaged facilities, including a recentlyrenovated basketball arena. An official from the Citys Department of water and power warned repairing the pipe could take several days. We found that weve got a number of valves leaking through that has complicated getting access to the repair. We are currently assessing all options to get the leakage down and what repairs we can make. We cannot begin any repairs until we get the water completely down and were working on that. Ifill city officials have yet to determine what caused the pipe to burst. More than 700 cars parked in flooded underground garages remain submerged. Woodruff stocks were mixed on wall street today after a betterthanexpected report on Economic Growth. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost more than 31 points to close at 16,880. The nasdaq rose 20 points to close at nearly 4,463. Nd the s p added a fraction of a point to close at 1,970. Well take a closer look at the state of the economy right after this news summary. Ifill still to come on the newshour how the u. S. Economy looks from around the country, addressing Sexual Assaults on College Campuses, terrorists turn to kidnapping europeans as a lucrative source of revenue, how tiny pieces of plastic in body wash and facial scrubs are causing big problems in the great lakes, plus, a comedians take on race and changing demographics. Woodruff the u. S. Economy rebounded strongly in the Second Quarter of this year. Better, in fact, than most predicted. New numbers out today showed the Gross Domestic Product grew at a 4 annual rate. Thats far better than this winter, when the economy seemed to slump and shrank by about 2 . Still, those numbers dont quite tell you what it feels like in different parts of the country. Jeffrey brown gets some regional views. Brown in addition to todays numbers, the overall jobs picture has improved of late, averaging a more than 200,000 increase for five straight months. But again, questions what kinds of jobs . And how longlasting is the upward swing . We get a snapshot of three parts of the country, from mark vitner, managing director and senior economist at wells fargo in charlotte, North Carolina, tom binnings, senior partner at Summit Economics in colorado springs, colorado and shirley leung, a Business Editor at the boston globe. Shirley, start us off here do the numbers showing an upswing jibe with what you see in the northeast . What sectors are better, what are still lagging . Yeah, in massachusetts the economy has been going very strongly, and todays numbers, you know, look like the same upward growth. One of the things were seeing here and continue to see is the growth is very uneven, you know, Greater Boston folks who work at tech or hospitals do very well. If youre out beyond the Greater Boston into the western part of massachusetts or southern parts of massachusetts where you dont have those kind of sectors, the Unemployment Rate is quite high. Brown mark vitner, start at the southeast where you are. What do you see . Well, the southeast really gained momentum over the last year and i think its pretty typical of what weve seen in the country. The first four years are really telling. We were bairlg making 2 growth. The last year its been about 2. 5 and weve seen job growth pick up in North Carolina, georgia and florida, parts of tennessee, but it is more urbanoriented. The big areas, charlotte and raleigh, atlanta, nashville, all the big florida metro areas, miami, orlando, tampa, are all doing exceptionally well, but the rural areas are mostly lagging, in a few of the big cities most closely tied to the government are still sluggish because to have the effects of sequestration. Brown tom binnings, colorado, the larger mountain region, whats driving the growth there and where is it heading . I would echo what everyone else has said. The denver, Salt Lake City, metro area, theyre doing well and have been doing well several years. Robust growth, employment growth and you get into the outlying areas and the second and thirdtier communities and cities and the the growth is lagging. Brown what about jobs, tom. Does that fit into the picture youre talking about . Absolutely, the job growth is strong in colorado as whole because of the denver metro to wyoming all the way to the border. A lot of professional technical services, we have a vibrant construction industry, a lot of growth in the last couple of years, accommodations and food service, so our growth is pretty broadbased throughout the different economic sectors. Brown and mark vitner when you look around the country do you see other large regions that are a little slower than yours or is it uneven regionally . It is uneven regionally. I think there are large parts that are growing at a sluggish pace. When you get away from boston and new york city, its really, really sluggish. Atlantic city is having a really tough time now as is a part of new jersey. Detroit is doing better in the auto sector but you get away from that and things havent picked up all that much. Theres a real contrast between the areas that have vibrant energy and Technology Sectors and the areas that dont seattle, san francisco, austin are some of the Fastest Growing metro areas in the country. Brown i gather the globe did a poll recently looking at peoples attitudes about the economy and you found some disconnect between the growth and whether people really are experiencing it . Yeah, i mean, absolutely. Unemployment rate is 5. 5 here and, you know, the Housing Market here is a lot of parts of it in Greater Boston have more than recovered. They actually surpassed the peak from 2005. But in a recent survey, eight out of ten voters say that they feel that their personal financial situation is worse or the same compared to last year. Half the respondents in our survey say theyre cutting back on basic necessities. I think also people are dining out less and theyre cutting back on discretionary spending. Brown is there any sense of whats causing the disconnect . I think theyre a little nervous about their jobs, still. I think theyre a little nervous about whats happening in washington and kind of really the political future of the country. I think the stock market is reaching some, you know, new highs and theyre in the sure why theyre going along with it, so i think there is just a lot of uncertainty. Brown tom binnings, do you have a sense of public sentiment out there in that region visavis the economy . Well, yeah, i do. I think its more positive but theres still caution. A lot of it has to do with the aging baby boomers, with retirement looming ahead, and just sort of trying to forecast their own futures. And then we get a lot of young people moving into colorado, and then theyre generally optimistic, but, on the other hand, a lot of them are bringing with them a lot of student debt so theyre challenged in that regard. Mark vitner, what about housing . Its come up in this discussion but its such an important sector for so many people. Well, it is really stuck in a hard place right now. I think that it fits in with your previous question when youre asking about the uncertainty people are feeling. Older households are staying in place. Maybe they had an interruption in their employment and thats hit their savings and theyre worried about how theyre positioned for retirement, so theyre not selling their home and relocating or downsizing. At the other end, the younger households are having a tough time getting started. They graduated into a very weak job market, many are working parttime jobs or working outside their chosen field. They have huge student loan debts and theyre choosing to rent rather than buy. So were really having a tough time getting to minimum in housing. Its true in the south and most parts of the country. There are a few sectors where housing is is doing. We Salt Lake City is one, Orange County in california, in particular, san diego is beginning to pick up, but very spotty. Brown tom binnings, an important sector where you are is the energy industry. Well, the energy sector, its not as important as sometimes we think in colorado, but its concentrated north of denver and weld county, and thats doing well, but thats not whats driving the Economic Growth in the colorado and the mountain region. So the housing is actually booming in denver right now, but its more higherdensity housing versus traditional and a lot more rental housing was mentioned, difficulty in people qualifying to buy, and developers having a difficult time developing for purchase. Brown just as we get in the last couple of minutes here, i just wonder, is there a sector or maybe even a local business that you like to watch as your bellweather to tell you how things are going . Well, thats definitely a good question. You know, one thing i have been watching closely is restaurants and just hospitality because thats about discretionary spending. We actually have had a lot of new restaurant openings and you didnt see that a lot. You saw more restaurants closing during the recession and, so, i feel like even though people are cautious about eating out here in our survey, i think restaurants feel comfortable about that. I feel like a lot of new restaurants are opening all over the city now. Brown mark vitner, i know you take a wide look at the country, but is there one store or company you like to look at . Well, theres not so much one store or company. I look at sectors and i watch retail very closely and look at whats happening with different retailers, looking at whats happening with the furniture stores, their business has been very, very good. You look at whats happening with the discounters and were struggling and i think thats where the split is occurring and consumers and lower and middle income households are really having a tough time because while inflation is relatively low, food and Energy Prices are up a little bit more than the overall inflation rate and wages arent rising as rapidly and are getting squeezed. Brown thats a little downer but we have to leave it there. Mark vitner, tom binnings and shirley leung, thank you all very much. Thanks. You. Ifill now to a serious problem increasingly plaguing the Nations College campuses the crime of Sexual Assault. The white house says one in five female students has been affected, and now a Bipartisan Group of senators is calling for universities to act. It is time to protect those who were wronged. The time is now. Ifill anna was not yet ready to reveal her last name today, but she was prepared to tell her story of surviving Sexual Assault. What happened to me and to too many other women and men is wrong. It should not matter what you drink or what you wear, that does not give anyone the right to sexually assault you. Ifill the former hobart and William Smith student joined other Sexual Assault survivors and a bipartisan collection of eight u. S. Senators in supporting a proposal to improve the way lleges deal with crime on campus. Annie clark spoke on behalf of an Advocacy Group called end rape on campus. The Institutional Betrayal that these students faced is sometimes worse than the assault itself. At the university of North Carolina at chapel hill, when i reported that i was sexually assaulted, someone told me that rape was like a Football Game and that i should look back on that game to figure out what i would do differently in that situation. Our students deserve better than this. Ifill new york democrat Kirsten Gillibrand said the numbers show women in college are more likely to be victims of sexually assault than women who are not. With this bill, we are flipping the incentives. Currently accurate reporting makes a school an outlier. Because no school wants to be alone in admitting such a serious problem. With this bill underreporting will have stiff fines and real teeth. Ifill Florida Republican marco rubio noted that some campus investigations have favored student athletes. I do think it does a tremendous job of advancing the cause forward. By creating a uniform system where every single victim and every single instance is treated the same. Where there is no special preference because someone can dunk a basketbalor throw a ball 80 yards down the field. Ifill gillibrand and co sponsor Claire Mccaskill said they hope to get the bill passed this year. Joining me now are two of the sponsors of this bill senator Claire Mccaskill, a democrat from missouri and senator kelly ayotte, a republican from new hampshire. Thank you both for joining us. Thank you. Reporter one of the most interesting numbers that came out of the white house report and again today is one of five women in College Campuses are subject to Sexual Assault or victims of Sexual Assault. What do colleges do about that . Were trying to make clear that there has to be a system or process in place that will allow confidential place for victims to come forward and make sure the investigations are done in a competent way. Frankly, the more startling statistic is that 40 of the College Campuses in the country have not investigated a single case of Sexual Assault in five years, and we know that this is a silent epidemics on your College Campuses, so weve got a lot of work to do. This bill covers a lot of ground and its a great bipartisan effort. Ifill senator ayotte, how do you define Sexual Assault on campus . Gwen, the bottom line is every allegation of Sexual Assault needs to be fully investigated and thats what were trying to ensure here because there has been great inconsistency. On some campuses the allegations are not being investigated as thats right mccaskill mentioned, its been investigated inconsistency. In some cases athletic departments were investigating them which is inappropriate. There needs to be best practices, full investigation and victims need to be supported which is not happening. Our young people in this country deserve to have a safe environment on campus and both of us are former prosecutors. We understand the victims wont come forward if they feel like their allegations arent investigated or taken seriously and they wont receive the support they deserve. Ifill senator mccaskill are colleges ignoring the problem or covering it up . I think a little of both. I think its better to hope its not really happening and what this bill will do is force them to be more transparent, to do a Climate Survey so that we have an apples to apples comparison on campuses. How do kids feel on campuses . Are they safe . Is there a lot going on not reported . Ultimately, building bridges between campuses and Law Enforcement so that when a victim is confident and can come forward, we get a good prosecution out of it because very few people rape someone once. These are repeat offenders, even on these College Campuses. Ifill some educators said youre pointing the finger in wrong direction and theyre educating and dont need to be the cops. Were working with Higher Education institutions to have best practices in place on their campuses and we dont want them to feel like they have to be Law Enforcement. Thats the point of this bill is to ensure there is an understanding between each college and their local Law Enforcement agencies so that they know that the Law Enforcement investigate these crimes, but the institution has a responsibility to have a safe climate on campus and victims, when they come forward, should know they will be supported by the institution, that victims will have a confidential advisor to help them through the process. So this is part of the responsibility of these institutions to ensure its safe on campus for the young people who attend these colleges and looking for a better life and more opportunity. Ifill senator mccaskill, there are a lot of women who never get to college. What about at them . This seems to be paying special attention to women who have a lot of advantages already. What about women who dont . Believe it or not, gwen, the statistics show incident of rate is higher among this population than the noncollege population. This is about the requirements of a safe campus and about the conduct of students on campus. But, obviously, both kelly and i have worked for a lot of our lives in this area of Sexual Assault and we have been very active in the violence against women act and other pieces of legislation that provide support and counseling and those same services we were talking about on College Campuses to every woman who finds herself in one of these situations. Ifill what will assessing penalties for noncompliance make in helping colleges and universities pay better attention to the problem . The difference i think it will make is colleges receive a substantial amount of federal support in many ways and this will just ensure more accountability that there is uniformity on campus as to how this is handled and theyre reaching out to the student body to help victims of Sexual Assault and prevention efforts. In higher ed, we see federal dollars under the clery act and title 9 which is putting more teeth into efforts already in place to ensure we can work with institution force them to do the right thing and to have t a safe climate on campus. Ifill senator mccaskill do we trunk risk of shifting responsibility from local Law Enforcement to Campus Police who may not be as skilled or prepared to deal with this . No, in fact, were hoping for the opposite. What were hoping is that with this confidential advisor where a victim can go and get good information and the right kind of forensic interview, then she will have the offcan dense and the right information to allow her to go to Law Enforcement and have Law Enforcement do what they should be doing and that is investigating this crime. In that regard, we have to make everyone is trained and make sure that not just Law Enforcement is trained on these crimes but campus Law Enforcement is trained and the people who are adjudicating these administrative procedures where a student could be punished by suspension or expulsion from the school that they understand this crime and, right now, it is a hodgepodge of misfits that are trying to do this. As kelly mentioned, we even have athletic departments doing it for their athletes which is a terrible conflict of interest. Its hard enough for a victim to come forward, if she senses there might be a level playing field. Theyll never come forward if they sense an unlevel playing field. Ifill weve had the fortune of talking about bipartisanship this week on Veterans Affairs and we want to talk to you about the possibility that you may get this passed this year. Senator ayotte. You saw a great group of bipartisan work today. Were going to find a lot of bipartisan support for this legislation because every state in this nation has a college or a Higher Ed Institution and we want to ensure i know all my colleagues do that those campuses are safe for our young men and women to go to. Ifill senator mccaskill. F we cant set aside partisan relationships on this issue we are without hope. People on both sides of the aisle want to get this right and make it supportive for victims and universities and i think well get this done. Ifill thank you both very much. Thank you, gwen. Woodruff a new report documents how al quaida is bringing in money to finance its operations. Investigation by the New York Times reveals european and gulf States Government have routinely paid millions of dollars in ransom to win the release of their citizens kidnapped by al quaida in. All since 2,008,125 million has been paid out by france, switzerland, spain, austria, qatar andoman. Three different al quaida coordinate efforts and abide by a common kidnapping protocol. We have Rukmini Callimachi who wrote the story. Tell us about how the groups operated. It seems more coordinated than i think most people would expect. Yes, exactly. Its much more coordinated than i think we realized. Theres a letter that i was able to recover in mali last year when i was on assignment from the a. P. And it was a letter from a leading cell in north africa under al quaidas tutelage to a commander who had botched the ransom negotiations for a hostage he had and, in the letter, one of the things that they say to him is that he had gotten a much lower ransom figure because he had decided to negotiate the ransom himful is rather than letting the leaders in pakistan a reference to al quaida central carry out the negotiations. So what is clear is these kidnappings are not just by individual units in foreign places in the world. Theyre actually being coordinated by al quaida core. Woodruff has this become the prince the source of funding for al quaida . I know we talked to other terror ex spirits who said it is a significant source of funding on the african continent, maybe less so for other branches. One of the documents we found in malley last year was a letter from the number two of al quaida who is the head of al quaida affiliate in yemen and in that letter he advises other jihadists to begin kidnapping and says the spurs of kidnapping represent 50 of his operating revenue. So in their own words theyre saying ransoms have become very important. The u. S. Department of treasury has said as much that ransoms have now become the main source of financing for the terror network. Woodruff how are the hostages treated . Because on the one hand, they are threatened with their lives every moment theyre held captive. On the other hand, the captors want to keep them healthy in order to get the ransom. Thats exactly it. A decade ago when westerners were taken by al quaida, it was specifically to kill them in the most gruesome possible way to make a political statement. Now, when hostages are taken, the goal is to keep them alive and to trade them for money or prisoner exchange. So i was able to speak to numerous hostages who were held both in africa and yemen and several people told me that there were logistics in place to deal with whatever their illness was. One woman had Breast Cancer, they were able to bring in Breast Cancer administration. One person had a kidney ailment. They were able to truck in specialized kidney medicine. In general, this is a business for them. They see the hostages as a commodity and having them die on you is not useful. Woodruff Rukmini Callimachi, talk about how the different governments in europe deal with this because you pointed out United States and Great Britain dont pay, typically, a ransom for hostages but the other governments do. How do they arrive at that philosophy . We have to say they publicly deny theyre doing this. Exactly. So all of the governments deny that they pay ransoms. I was able to through a lot of footwork to finally track down several of the main negotiators both on the european side and on the african and the yemen side who are the ones who made the bridge with the al quaida groups. What theyre doing is european governments are often paying these ransoms but theyre hiding them by calling it an aid payment to the country where the hostages are being kept. For instance, one of the very first ransoms was in 2003, paid by germany, and i was able to speak to six officials who confirmed that germany sent a highlevel emissary with three suitcases of cash, arrived in the capital of mali, handed them over to the president of mali, and in the budget for that year they wrote it off as humanitarian aid to mali. Woodruff so al quaida has seen this as a systematic way, a successful thing for them to do, because one assumes there are operations that dont work out for them. Yes. There have for sure been rescue attempts by france, also by the United States when their people have been taken, so there is some risk to it. But what struck me when i was speaking to these former hostages is, in general, just how easy it is to take foreigners like us. When you point a gun at an unarmed civilian, what are they going to do . Very few people run. The majority just put up their hands and go with their captors and once theyre being held in north africa or yemen, theyre in the desert, and hundreds if not thousands of miles away from anywhere. And, so, the hostages say that, even though they obsessively think about running away, even though theyre not chained up, they find themselves in an openair prison and, so, theyre able to hold them for another time. Woodruff so finally a question about our governments coming up with strategies to deal with this. Are they telling tourists . Because so often i was struck by how many people were taken hostage were simply tourists in the wrong place at the wrong time. A government saying to people dont go to certain countries or parts of countries. How are governments reacting . Yes, for sure, and the arc of this is in the early years starting in 2003 [ audio difficulty ] woodruff my apology. Apparently, we have lost the signal from new york city with Rukmini Callimachi of the New York Times. We apologize. Sometimes that happens. Well be back. Ifill scientists are looking into a Surprising New pollutant in the countrys waterways the existence of tiny plastic microbeads. The state of illinois has become the first state to ban these microbeads. Brandis friedman has that story from w. T. T. W chicago. What if you could shrink your pores, just by washing your face . Reporter microbeads have been all the rage in hand sanitizers, body wash and facial scrub, even toothpaste. Theyre supposed to help remove dead cells or tighten pores as the product in this commercial claims. But they worry olga lyandres. When you think about how many of these are being used daily and washed down the drain, its quite staggering. Reporter lyandres is the Research Manager for the alliance for the great lakes. This is something that impacts the ecosystem the wildlife by entangling fish and birds ingest these particles, and it impacts their health. But also its a sort of a cultural issue, because people who grew up around great lakes, go to the beach dont want to go to beach thats littered and dirty with plastic items. Reporter scientists are also seeing evidence that the microbeads are reaching the water. At Loyola University chicago, professor Timothy Hoellein and his student researchers are looking for the plastic beads in samples of water taken from rivers in and around chicago, as well as lake michigan. Last year, sherri mason at the State University of new york in fredonia found anywhere from 1,500 to 1. 1 million microbeads per square mile in the great lakes the Worlds Largest source of freshwater. What were interested in doing is determining concentration, determining the source of microplastic and also different types of these small plastic pieces that we find in the river. Reporter so far, hoellein says his Research Shows that the synthetic microbeads are coming from treated wastewater that flows into sanitary canals and rivers, which feed into larger bodies of water. Our initial findings from the North Shore Channel showed very high concentrations of microplastic downstream of our wastewater effluent source, and in fact our concentrations were higher than what had been found in ocean. Not only did we find it, but we found a lot of material. Reporter in june, governor pat quinn signed into law legislation making illinois the first state in the union to ban the manufacture and sale of personal Care Products containing synthetic plastic microbeads. The new law requires that the beads be removed from manufacturing by the end of 2018 and the products can no longer be sold starting at the end of 2019. And since major manufacturers make products for the entire country, other states will begin to notice the change on their store shelves as well, whether or not theyve passed their own ban. Lyandres, Whose Organization was pushing for the ban in illinois, wanted the products gone sooner. We wouldve liked to have seen a more compressed timeline for phase out. The sooner you can get these companies to make products available with alternatives, the better and less of it ends up in waterways. Reporter two organizations representing the personal care product industry worked with environmental advocates and lawmakers to craft the illinois bill. Representatives from the personal Care Products council declined an oncamera interview, but in a statement said quote, it is true that the long term impact of the microbeads on the environment is not known. And scientists are looking into how they might carry other organisms and chemicals. One of the concerns is that microbes on that plastic could be pathogenic, diseasecausing and they may be dispersed further in environment on a plastic surface than on a natural surface. Reporter and because the beads float on the waters surface, fish mistake them for food. The plastic alone is bad for fish health, but so are the microbes that the beads can carry. Once the plastic is inside their guts, it can come off, may represent a delivery mechanism for these harmful chemicals that didnt exist previously. Reporter among other Unanswered Questions do humans end up unknowingly eating the plastic after its been consumed by fish . Theres no research on long term impact, because weve just started to look at the problem. Reporter microbeads end up in the waterways because Water Treatment plants simply cant catch them theyre too small. So small that even if theres a sand filter in a plant, it doesnt stop them from passing through the plant and into the water environment. This is the third step in the Water Treatment process so water is aerated so, lighter material rises to the top and heavier waste sinks to the bottom. But somewhere in the process are the microbeads, which make it through the entire multistep process and out to the sanitary and ship canal along with fully treated water. Nothing you all can do about that . Not without a significant investment . Reporter David Saint Pierre is the executive director of the metropolitan water reclamation district of greater chicago. He argues we should focus on prevention. If we were to adapt our plants to deal with microbeads it would be very expensive. If we deal with it on front end, take care of it before its a problem, by eliminating it as a pollutant source, very inexpensive way to deal with the problem. Finding a new problem in our freshwater ecosystems is alarming and concerning and we should all be worried, but i think what a ban on microbeads has shown is that once we become aware of the problem and scale and context and sources we can really start to take some real action towards solutions. Reporter legislatures in new york, california and ohio are considering bans similar to illinois. Instead of plastics, some manufacturers are already planning to use natural ingredients, like apricot seeds, sand or oatmeal to achieve the same goals. Woodruff finally tonight, an increasingly successful comedian who talks about race and ethnicity as the countrys demographic picture continues to change substantially. Hari sreenivasan has our conversation. Sreenivasan comedian Hari Kondabolu has made a name for himself for the brand of humor that doesnt pull punches when it comes to race. When you ask your white friends what their Cultural Heritage is they never say just white, they give you a math equation. A third german, a fourth irish, 1 15 welsh and 25 prs for college application. See, all these years, thought you were just white. Thank you so much. Sreenivasan and he hasnt been afraid to bring his jokes to National Audiences on david letterman, conan. His album, is talking about when whites will become a minority. I caught up with him and learned why colonialism can be a ripe subject for humor and why comics can say things the rest of us cant. Harrhari interviewing hari. Fascinating. Sreenivasan your comedy has a lot of headiness to it. You try to make fun of colonialism and some of the repercussions were living with today. Yeah. Sreenivasan how is colonialism funny and how is it funny in the context of how we live today. I think about it in terms of how people made fun of my parents for their accent. I thought, you realize its absurd theyre speaking english. Theyre not speaking english. They have to speak it because they grew up in a colonized country and also theyre here for greater Economic Opportunities so thats funny for me. So before we begin id like you to know the theme of my set tonight will be colonialism. Which is why i am speaking only in english. No, this is absurd. This is all absurd. Sreenivasan and your comedy has evolved over the years. Yeah. Sreenivasan when you first started out, you were able to make fun of indian accents you were around when you grew up. How did that change . Age comedian wants to make the audience laugh, thats standard for any comic, but when youre starting, thats all youre thinking about. There isnt the possibility of what do i want to say and do i know what i want to say and whats my point of view . That all comes later, so initially thats all i want to do. If i did a funny voice, we saw it on the Simpsons Sreenivasan he was the most famous when we were growing up. And gandhi, those were the two options we had. Sreenivasan right. And i knew there was precedent for it so i did impressions of my father. Sreenivasan over time, did you get to realize thats the low bar is this. Well, it felt low even then when i was 17, 18, i knew this was easy, but when youre trying to make people laugh, thats what you did. Thinking about my parents and thinking about how hard it was for them to have accents and communicate in this country and the fact that, okay, im making a joke with an accent, people are laughing at the accent, i think, not the joke or at the accent. Sreenivasan are they laughing at me or with me . When my parents talk to people do people laugh behind their backs and do impressions of them . I started to think about it. Post9 11, everything felt more complicated. It was that interesting thing of what am i talking about, really . This is the most base Level Experience and im talking about that versus whats really happening in america. At that point, a 19, 20, 21 year old, i was making other College Students laugh on campus but i wasnt doing any of substance and i thought there must be a way to Say Something funny but that i meant. Sreenivasan what happens in 2042 . Accordinaccording to the rep, white people will be a minority in america. Sreenivasan why does that matter . The census is counting it so clearly people are freaked out about it and there are groups of people who are very afraid of being the minority and what that would mean. First of all, 49 , which is a number that doesnt make you the minority which doesnt mean the other 51 is exactly the same and also all white people are the same. Its made up of things, its a construct. The irish, italians, polish, the jews werenjews werent all tha. Were giving ourselves numbers. Sreenivasan on the album cover is a picture worth a thousand words for any south asian, but why the picture . The picture of me on the back of a bicycle being driven by an old white man wearing a suit. Its me pointing into the distance like some kind of colonial hero, you know, wearing a crown. I know it bothers some people and other people love it, and i want it etched on my grave stone because im sure its whats going to get me killed. Sreenivasan have you gotten pushback for the picture. Yes, but mostly for the content of the album. I dont think the people who are angry have even heard the record. I think its folks who dont like the idea of me talking about race in this way and accuse me of beingo seased with race even though im not the one talking about 2042, really, im commenting observ on people beig obsessed with the demographics. Sreenivasan what is it about comedy that allows us to have different conversations about race. Youve seen africanamericans for decades go through and say things on stage theyd never say at a dinner party or maybe they would if they were the comedian. They have the ability to be kind of uncomfortable or inappropriate, but then theyre on stage and its appropriate. If you can make people laugh, you can get away with a lot. And sometimes thats terrible but sometimes i also think, you know, i remember being a kid, i didnt read a lot of academic journals or follow the news as much as i probably should have, but the people that conveyed the news to me and taught me about it were comedians because they traveled and saw the world and met many different types of people and they were outside of whatever bubble opinions in as a young person, so comedians can convey messages to the masses. Like not everyone will watch newshour but they will watch comics and see them perform and thats incredible. And i want to make people laugh but i do see some responsibility. I might be somebody exposing you to a new point of view and i might be the only person doing that. Sreenivasan this is your first time interviewed by hari. How did it go . Very comfortable. Sreenivasan thanks so much. So nice to do this with you. Ifill again, the major developments of the day the house of representatives passed a bill tonight to sue president obama for overstepping his executive powers in the implementation of the Affordable Care act. The vote was along party lines 225 to 201. The u. S. And u. N. Condemned the shelling of a u. N. School in gaza that was sheltering war refugees, the u. S. Economy shook off the winter blues and grew by 4 in the Second Quarter and authorities in liberia shut schools and quarantined more communities as the threat of the deadly ebola virus grew. Woodruff on the newshour online right now its a good thing for fans of soul music that Curtis Harding didnt pursue his original dream to become an oceanographer. Growing up in a family of musicians definitely left its mark on him, and now hes released his first solo album, soul power. You can watch him perform a song from that, on art beat. All that and more is on our web site newshour. Pbs. Org. Ifill and thats the newshour for tonight. On thursday, the house votes on an immigration bill, but the prospect of capitol hill coming im gwen ifill. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Well see you online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by charles schwab, proud supporter of the pbs newshour. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by Macneil Lehrer productions captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org report with ty susie gharib. Firing on all cylinders, the economy bounced back last quarter growing at a 4 annual rate, but how long will the good times last . Rates debate. Its heating up but did the Federal Reserve offer any hint as to when and by how much it might start hiking. Super size decision, a legal finding at the National Relations board triggers a fire storm between big business and big labor and at the center of it all, mcdonalds that and more tonight for nightly Business Report for wednesday, july 30th. And good evening, everyone. Welcome. Im tyler mathisen. Im sue herrera, filling in tonight for susie gharib. The day started out with a pleasant surprise. The economy grew at a 4 annual