Transcripts For WMPT PBS NewsHour 20131004 : vimarsana.com

WMPT PBS NewsHour October 4, 2013

Try to merge the two issues in a renewed quest for a grand bargain. Speaker boehner said today republicans will insist on spending cuts if theyre going to vote to raise the borrowing limit. I dont believe that we should default on our debt. Its not good for our country. But after 55 years of spending more than what you bring in, something ought to be addressed. This year well have more revenue than any year in the history of our country and yet still have a nearly 700 billion deficit. And i think the American People expect if were going to raise the amount of money we can borrow, we ought to do something about our spending problem and the lack of Economic Growth in our country. Reporter for his part, president obama said again hed be willing to negotiate on spending cuts and other issues, but only after the government reopens. In the meantime, the president , citing the shutdown and the debt ceiling fight, canceled his planned trip to asia for economic summits. Woodruff in other news, the Government Shutdown delayed economic talks with the European Union. The u. S. Trade representative had planned to go to brussels next week for negotiations on a landmark trade deal. And on wall street, stocks made up some of yesterdays lost ground. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 76 points to close at 15,072. The nasdaq rose 33 points to close at 3,807. For the week, the dow lost 1 . The nasdaq rose 0. 7 . Tropical storm karen churned closer to the gulf coast today. By this evening, it was roughly 200 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River and aiming for landfall somewhere between grand isle, louisiana and destin, florida. The storm could become a hurricane by the time it strikes shore, sometime tomorrow. More details have emerged on the connecticut woman who led police on a car chase through downtown washington, yesterday. Miriam carey first tried to drive through a White House Security barrier. From there, she raced to the capitol, where Police Briefly cornered her, before she sped off again. She was shot to death moments later. Today, investigators said carey was delusional, and believed the president was communicating with her. Her mother said shed suffered from postpartum depression. Police in stamford, connecticut where carey lived searched her condo overnight. We did not deem to be there any danger, but we certainly took all precautionary to make sure of that. So, with that being said, we tested the air, we tested different products, we deconned ourselves coming in and coming out. We secured it with our robot, and then we went in and secured some evidence. Woodruff careys oneyear old daughter was in the car with her during the chase and shooting. She was unhurt and is now in protective custody. An ohio man pleaded guilty today to trying to smash his jeep into a secret service outpost at the white house in june. Joseph reel rigged the vehicle and aimed it toward a guard booth. He said he hoped to use the commotion to spraypaint an antigovernment slogan on the white house. No one was hurt, and reel was quickly arrested. He faces 35 months in prison. In egypt, five people died today as Security Forces confronted thousands of supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi. Witnesses said riot police fired tear gas and live rounds. The skirmishes broke out during marches in several cities, including cairo and alexandria. Demonstrators demanded an end to the militarybacked government. Riots erupted in kenya, hours after gunmen shot and killed a muslim cleric and three others. The deaths sent youths into the streets of mombasa, burning tires and chanting slogans. They accused police of carrying out the shootings as retaliation for the siege at a nairobi Shopping Mall that killed 67 people. A somali Islamist Group has claimed responsibility for the mall attack. The communist general who successfully battled French Forces and the u. S. In vietnam, has died. Vo nguyen giap was the last of vietnams old guard revolutionaries. In 1954, at dien bien phu, giap effectively ended more than 70 years of French Colonial rule. He went on to fight american forces, and ultimately conquered South Vietnam after the u. S. Withdrew. More than a million of his own troops died in the process. Vo nguyen giap was 102 years old. Woodruff still to come on the newshour the tragic tale of migrants fleeing the african continent; the Digital Currency known as bitcoin; twitter goes public; the man who saved the government 1 billion. Plus, david brooks and e. J. Dionne. Woodruff we return now to italy where after thursdays migrant boat shiprwreck, hundreds are feared dead and search efforts have been suspended. We have a report narrated by Jonathon Rugman of independent television news. Reporter they came to europe fleeing war and poverty and ended up nearly drowning, tantalizingly close to the mediterranean shore. Italys coast guard rescued these two african migrants, but its reckoned more than 300 may not have survived after their boat sank to the bottom. This morning, divers took the search underwater to the seabed 40 meters below to the rickety trawler which broke down with perhaps 500 people aboard. The rough seas led to this search being called off. This is not a hunt for survivors now, but a body count for the hundreds who could not swim. translated we will continue all day and all night until we can give these bodies a proper burial. Reporter over 150 africans, many from eritrea and somalia, were more than thankful to be rescued yesterday. The coast guard is usually first alerted by a distress call. But in this case, the boat did not telephone ahead. Instead the migrants on board set fire to a blanket and this desperate bid for attention proved fatal. translated they set a blanket on fire to make a signal but some gasoline on the boat caught light and the water caused the fire to spread. They were scared and all moved to one side of the boat so the boat capsized and they fell in the water. But many of them were trapped inside the boat. translated we rescued naked guys dirty from fuel. They had death in their eyes. It was an ugly and scary situation. I will never forget it. Even though i am 64 and have seen a lot, this touched me a lot. Reporter in italy, flags were flown at half mast on this day of official mourning. Pope francis was visiting assisi, where his namesake Saint Francis once dedicated himself to the poor. The pope abandoned his script and lamented a world which he said did not care about those who found death in lampedusa yesterday, and calling this a day of tears. But amid the anguish with one newspaper calling this a shameful massacre, the italians are casting this as europes problem just as much as theirs. The interior minister asked for europes help and claimed lampedusa would be nominated for the nobel peace prize. The survivors are being held in a socalled Welcome Center on the island where more than 8,000 have been received so far this year. And though italys Prime Minister is now calling for europe to set up humanitarian corridors for migrant boats, far more likely are more hearses carrying more dead. Lampedusas problem and no one elses. Woodruff ray suarez takes the story from there. Suarez for more on the perilous journey these migrants undertake, im joined by jeff crisp. He spent seven years at the u. N. Refugee agency and is now the senior director for policy and advocacy at refugees international. Jeff crisp, isnt this just the most recent of these tragedies . Isnt this a problem of Long Duration . Well, this tragedy has certainly gained more International Attention than any other previous tragedies of its type and thats partly because of the here is numbers of people involved, possibly 300 people may have lost their lives. Secondly because it seems to be a large number of women and children on the boat and i think this, again, has been one of the reasons why its attracted a lot of attention. Weve seen these kind of movements in the past but they tended to be younger men. Now were having a new demographic in terms of this Movement Across the mediterranean and i think also the fact that the pope has come out so strongly on this issue has attracted a great deal of attention but as youre suggesting, i think, this is not a few phenomenon. Its been going on for at least 20 years across the mediterranean and according to some estimates at least 20,000 people have lost their lives during that time. Of course, some people do manage to make the journey successfully and, again, according to one estimate in 2012 around 15,000 people did successfully cross the mediterranean and make their way to southern europe. Suarez in this case, both the living and the dead were many air treians from africas east coast. But these people heading in from morocco, libya, tunisia, are they from all over the continent . Pretty much so. From all over Subsaharan Africa and one has to take account of the fact that before they even get to the mediterranean many of these people have undertaken incredibly grueling and arduous journals. Imagine traveling over land from somalia and sudan and eritrea to libya and then having coconfront the possibility of the journey across the ocean. So these people are exn extremely difficult circumstances but the time theyve arrived in Northern Africa and thats only a transit point on their journey. Suarez in many cases theyve borrowed money or sold everything they had to have made the journey. It must be very hard to turn back if you realize its a bad idea. Its one of the most interesting things about this phenomenon is how do people make these journeys. In many cases families in the country of origin pool money, sell their goods in order to sponsor one person from the family or the community to make their way. There are very large diaspora communities living throughout western europe and it seems to be the case that these diaspora communities are sending money back to the countries of origin and that this money is used to finance the journey. These journeys are not cheap because theyre organize bid human smugglers and theyre in this business to make a profit. Suarez youve mentioned thousands do successfully cross into europe. Where do they end up and what do they end up doing . Very, very few of the end uph any kind of legal status. Some apply for Refugee Status. In some cases they may be successful in getting Refugee Status and allowed to remain in the country. The majority will not be recognized as refugees. Many of them will simply go underground and have to live in the shadows of life working in the informallal economy often working within the communities of other people who have already left those countries and taken up riz dense in europe. Suarez europe has been undergoing terrible economic turmoil in the last several years. Is there less of a welcome for these refugees now and is it a political controversy, the number making its certainly political controversy and theres certainly been a movement in many western European Countries where right wing organizations are taking quite a hard line against the arrival of irregular or as they would call them Illegal Immigrants and i think there is an interesting debate going on about this kind of migratory movement. Some people see in the positive terms, the fact that people are making the best of their lives, trying to improve their situation, that theyre filling jobs that nationals refuse to take so they are making a contribution to the economy and, of course, theyre consumers. They buy goods in the economy and contribute in that way. But at the same time, there are many people that would argue that these people are arriving in an illegal manner, they dont have the right to take up residence in these countries and that theyre placing a great deal of strain on housing, on education, and health services. So theres a very lively debate going on within europe about the arrival of these kinds of my grants. Suarez we saw briefly the italian minister of the interior. He said to the Parliament Europe must realize its not an italian drama but a european one. Lampedusa must become the border of europe, not italy. Has italy been getting help from any e. U. Institutions . Certain. Certainly not as much help as italy would have like to have. This has been a constant phenomena of the recent years when refugees or Asylum Seekers go to one country other countries in the European Union are generally not that interested in helping out another country. So theres been a lot of competition, even tension between countries. For example, a couple of years ago when large numbers of tu indonesians during the arab spring crossed other into italy they tried to get into france, france said youre not coming into france. So this is an issue stirring up tension within koupbl reis between the European Union. Suarez one of the largest transit points was from morocco into spain. But has that been shut down . As far as we can tell. Its a heavily fortified frontier, very high fences, regularly patrolled by the military. The number of people seeking to cross that border appears to have subsided considerably. The new hot spot in terms of this migration is libya and i think thats because during the qaddafi period there were agreements between qaddafi and the Italian Government to stop these kind of movements taking place but the kind of problems that libya is now experiencing its been very easy for these human smugglers to ply their trade in this country because of the level of disruption taking place there. Suarez jeff crisp from refugees international. Thanks for joining us. Thank you very must have. Woodruff and to two stories from the world of technology. The first focusing on a Digital Currency that you may not have known about before it made National News this week. Our economics correspondent paul solman has been tracking its growth and explains. Its part of his ongoing reporting, making sense of financial news. Bitcoins are digital coins you can send through the internet. Reporter the currency known as bitcoin, which made headlines earlier this week when the f. B. I. Seized silk road, the Popular Online black marketplace for drugs and other contraband, payable in bitcoin, that had done over a billion dollars worth of business in the last two years. But what makes this strictly computerized currency, created and maintained by a network of computers solving math problems, worth anything at all . Money is a convention. Reporter economic historian Richard Sylla. I take paper money, paper itself isnt worth much, because i know youll accept it when i want to buy something from you. Reporter and thats it . Thats right. Money is what money does. Reporter and since these days, in the world of libertarian high techies, skepticism about government issued paper money abounds, bitcoin a Digital Currency attached to no country at all is becoming their alternative of choice. Ive lost a lot of faith a lot of people have. If you look at when we started the Federal Reserve system in 1913 to today, over 90 of the value of your dollar has gone down. Reporter Charles Hoskinsons lament has been a familiar one among fed phobes in the past few years. I was a campaigner for ron paul back in 2008 and also in 2012. I met ron paul. He was a great guy and i really believe firmly in his message. Reporter and the key part of his message that pertains here . Sound money. Sound money. The idea that your money needs to have rules that cant be manipulated based upon political convenience. Reporter by contrast, says hoskinson, bitcoin is unmanipulable, apolitical. Invented in 09 by a fictitious person named satoshi nakamoto. Reporter a person or maybe group which has since vanished into cyberspace, bitcoins were invented so as to have an upper limit 21 million bitcoin can be created; no more. Bitcoins are generated all over the internet by anybody running a free application called a bitcoin miner. Reporter bitcoins are generated or mined by computers, solving math problems that become ever more complex and timeconsuming. The coins themselves strings of characters like a password or code, hence the name crypto currency. Easy to break the code . Absolutely not, says mathematician hoskinson. If that was the case then wed be in bigger problems, because all of our passwords would be vulnerable; people could break bank encryption; the secret communications the n. S. A. Uses and the government uses would all be decryptable. Reporter of course, even seemingly indecipherable codes are sometimes broken. One reason why bitcoin currency gives economic historian Richard Sylla pause. Im like warren buffet. I dont buy something if i dont understand it and for all i know the person who created bitcoins would be like king henry the 8th in britain who decided suddenly to double the amount of british money units around and there was a big inflation. Reporter well, bitcoins are supposedly created in a way where that just cant happen. Thats the argument they make and of course, thats the great argument for gold and silver standards, that the supply is limited. But, i think its much easier to change the algorithms or Something Like that and double the amount of bitcoins overnight than it is to actually come up with more gold and silver. Reporter nope. Mathematically impossible, counters the bitcoin community, and how do bitcoins actually work . Bitcoins are transferred directly from person to person via the net without going through a bank or clearinghouse. This means that the fees are much l

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