PBS NewsHour - 2008-10-06

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Good evening. I'm Jim Lara. On the

[0:02] NewsHour tonight, the news of this

[0:03] Monday, then the latest on the market's

[0:06] fallout from the financial crisis. A

[0:09] campaign 08 snapshot as the candidates

[0:12] go on the attack with new ads. A report

[0:15] from India on teaching technology and

[0:18] changing lives. And on this first Monday

[0:21] in October, opening day at the US

[0:23] Supreme Court as reported by Marshia

[0:26] Coyle of the National Law Journal.

[0:30] Major funding for the NewsHour with Jim

[0:32] Ler is provided by

[0:43] Pacific Life has been the power behind

[0:45] successful individuals for more than 140

[0:48] years. Pacific Life's strength includes

[0:51] assets exceeding $100 billion.

[0:54] So when it comes to planning for

[0:56] retirement, your financial professional

[0:58] and Pacific Life can help you reach your

[1:01] goals. Pacific Life, the power to help

[1:04] you succeed. With soaring energy prices

[1:07] and global climate change, there are

[1:09] good reasons for believing in wind. Wind

[1:12] energy is clean and plentiful, and it

[1:14] answers the call for sustainable ways to

[1:17] create the electricity we need. We know

[1:20] because our sole focus is developing

[1:22] technology that uses the energy of the

[1:24] wind to generate electricity. America

[1:27] has some of the world's most abundant

[1:29] wind resources and Vestus is here to

[1:33] help harness them.

[1:36] Chevron,

[1:40] the William and Flora Hullet Foundation,

[1:42] working to solve social and

[1:44] environmental problems at home and

[1:46] around the world.

[1:49] and with the ongoing support of these

[1:51] institutions and foundations.

[1:57] And this program was made possible by

[2:00] the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

[2:03] and by contributions to your PBS station

[2:06] from viewers like you. Thank you.

[2:12] The financial crisis set off another

[2:14] rough day for stock markets around the

[2:16] world. Major indexes in Asia and Europe

[2:20] fell at least 5% and that drop then

[2:23] spread to Wall Street. The Dow Jones

[2:25] Industrial Average was down 800 points

[2:27] before a late day rally. It ended with a

[2:30] loss of nearly 370 points to close under

[2:34] 10,000 for the first time in four years.

[2:37] The Nasdaq fell 84 points to close under

[2:40] 1863.

[2:42] The market turmoil was fed partly by a

[2:44] collapse in confidence across Europe.

[2:47] Over the weekend, key governments could

[2:49] not come up with a joint approach.

[2:51] Today, the leaders of France and Germany

[2:53] promised action. So did Britain's top

[2:56] treasury official, the chancellor of the

[2:58] ex-checker. We have a report on the day

[3:00] in London's financial district, the

[3:02] city, and beyond from Daisy McAndrew of

[3:06] Independent Television News. Confusion

[3:08] and uncertainty are the city's worst

[3:11] enemies, and today they had them in

[3:13] spades. No surprise, the markets tumbled

[3:16] to their biggest one-day fall since the

[3:18] crash of 87 amid fears politicians can't

[3:22] contain the credit crisis.

[3:25] After the American bailout scheme was

[3:26] okayed on Friday, focus moved to

[3:28] European leaders to set a united front.

[3:31] So far, they've failed dismally. Many

[3:34] countries already going it alone,

[3:36] announcing their own 100% savers

[3:38] guarantees. And as confusion reigned as

[3:41] to whether or not Germany was going the

[3:43] same way, the prime minister chaired the

[3:45] first meeting of his special economic

[3:47] war cabinet.

[3:49] >> All practical options must remain open

[3:51] to us. and I've made it very clear that

[3:54] the government is ready with the

[3:55] resources and the commitment to do

[3:57] whatever is necessary and I will keep

[3:59] the house informed.

[4:00] >> He couldn't resist a jive at the Germans

[4:03] though who this evening did fall into

[4:04] line saying they weren't doing their own

[4:07] thing.

[4:07] >> And because we're dealing with

[4:08] international institutions and

[4:10] international markets, it will require

[4:12] action not only at a national level

[4:14] here, but also concerted international

[4:16] action. But neither our problems nor

[4:19] Germany's remotely compared to Iceland's

[4:21] tonight, where shares were suspended in

[4:23] all financial institutions while they

[4:26] work out how to rescue their banking

[4:28] system. If the rest of us are to be

[4:30] spared Iceland's pain, in reality, only

[4:33] America can provide the cure. House

[4:36] prices keep going down in the US. A lot

[4:38] of these banks are filled with toxic

[4:40] assets, and those assets move in value

[4:43] as house prices fall. So until we can

[4:45] arrest the real problem, which is US

[4:47] house prices falling, we're not

[4:49] necessarily going to get out of this

[4:50] mess.

[4:51] >> Tomorrow, EU finance ministers meet for

[4:53] crisis talks to restore confidence and

[4:55] stability. But after today's bloodbath,

[4:58] no one's holding their breath.

[5:00] >> In the US, the Federal Reserve talked

[5:02] about possible joint action with central

[5:05] banks in Europe to cut interest rates.

[5:07] And the price of oil dropped another $6

[5:10] today. It finished below $88 a barrel

[5:13] amid growing concerns about global

[5:16] recession. The Bush administration moved

[5:18] today to get its US financial rescue

[5:20] effort up and running. Assistant

[5:22] Treasury Secretary Neil Kashkari was

[5:25] named interim head of the rescue. The

[5:28] former Goldman Sachs banker helped draft

[5:30] the $700 billion plan. But President

[5:33] Bush cautioned today it will take time

[5:36] to put everything in place. We don't

[5:38] want to rush into this situation and not

[5:41] have uh the program be effective.

[5:45] Uh it's going to take a while to restore

[5:48] confidence in the financial system.

[5:51] But one thing people can be certain of

[5:53] is that the bill I signed is a big step

[5:56] toward

[5:58] solving this problem. Also today, the

[6:01] Federal Reserve announced it's providing

[6:03] another $900 billion to banks to get

[6:06] them lending money again. It promised

[6:09] additional measures as necessary. Bank

[6:12] of America agreed to pay more than $8

[6:14] billion today to help thousands of

[6:16] people stay in their homes. The action

[6:19] settles claims of predatory mortgage

[6:21] lending by Countrywide Financial, which

[6:24] Bank of America bought last summer.

[6:26] Elsewhere, Croup sued for $60 billion in

[6:29] damages from Wells Fargo's planned

[6:32] takeover of Wacovia. The suit alleges

[6:35] the deal disrupted Croup's own agreement

[6:37] to buy part of Wacovia. And the Federal

[6:40] Reserve agreed to let Japan's largest

[6:42] bank buy up to 25% of Morgan Stanley.

[6:47] Congress today began probing the failure

[6:49] of Lehman Brothers, the huge investment

[6:51] bank, collapsed last month. But today,

[6:53] the chairman of the House Oversight

[6:55] Committee, Democrat Henry Waxman, said

[6:58] there was no accountability for failure

[7:00] at Lehman. He singled out company CEO

[7:03] Richard Fold. What's fundamentally

[7:06] unfair about the collapse of Layman is

[7:09] its impact on the economy and taxpayers.

[7:12] Mr. Fold will do fine. He can walk away

[7:15] from layman, a wealthy man who earned

[7:17] over $500 million, but taxpayers are

[7:20] left with a 700 billion

[7:23] uh dollar bill to rescue Wall Street and

[7:27] an economy in crisis. Later, Fol said

[7:30] his management team did everything

[7:32] possible to save the company, but he

[7:34] said in the end, Lehman was overwhelmed.

[7:38] I take full responsibility

[7:42] for the decisions that I made

[7:46] and for the actions that I took. None of

[7:50] us ever

[7:53] gets the opportunity to turn back the

[7:55] clock. But with the benefit of

[7:57] hindsight, would I have done things

[8:00] differently?

[8:01] Yes, I would have. Ful insisted federal

[8:05] regulators knew the condition of his

[8:07] company long before it collapsed. He

[8:10] said he still does not understand why

[8:12] the government bailed out other

[8:13] companies but not Lehman Brothers. In

[8:16] the US presidential race today, Democrat

[8:18] Barack Obama charged Republican John

[8:21] McCain is attacking his character,

[8:23] hoping to shift attention away from the

[8:26] economy. But McCain's running mate,

[8:28] Sarah Palin, again questioned Obama's

[8:30] ties to a 1960s radical and to a Chicago

[8:34] minister who made racially charged

[8:36] statements. We'll have more on the

[8:38] campaign later in the program tonight.

[8:40] The US Supreme Court opened its new term

[8:43] today. First up was a case on limiting

[8:45] lawsuits against tobacco companies.

[8:47] States want to use laws against

[8:49] deceptive marketing over cigarettes

[8:52] labeled as low tar or light. We'll have

[8:54] more on this story later in the program

[8:56] tonight. A suicide bomber in eastern

[8:59] Pakistan killed at least 15 people

[9:01] today. It happened at the home of a

[9:04] leading opposition lawmaker. In addition

[9:06] to the dead, at least 50 more people

[9:09] were wounded. And the top UN official in

[9:12] Afghanistan called for talks between the

[9:14] government and the Taliban. He said, "We

[9:17] all know that we cannot win it

[9:18] militarily. It has to be won through

[9:21] political means." The 2008 Nobel Prize

[9:24] for Medicine went to three Europeans

[9:27] today for breakthroughs on AIDS and

[9:30] cervical cancer. Two French scientists

[9:32] won for discovering HIV, the virus that

[9:36] causes AIDS in 1983.

[9:39] It led to blood screening and drugs to

[9:41] control the spread of the disease. A

[9:44] German researcher was honored for

[9:46] finding the viruses that cause cervical

[9:48] cancer. That work led to a vaccine two

[9:51] years ago. And that's it for the news

[9:54] summary tonight. Now, markets drop

[9:55] again, campaigns on the attack, a

[9:59] college for social change, and the new

[10:01] Supreme Court session.

[10:11] The end of another volatile day on Wall

[10:13] Street and on other markets around the

[10:16] world. Jeffrey Brown has our story. It

[10:19] was a day when the global nature of the

[10:21] financial crisis hit home. Deep drops in

[10:23] foreign markets followed by more on Wall

[10:25] Street where the Dow has now lost more

[10:28] than 10% of its value in the past week.

[10:30] The S&P 500 more than 15%. We look at

[10:34] what's happening now with Shaherzad

[10:36] Raman, director of the European Union

[10:38] Research Center and professor of

[10:40] international finance and international

[10:41] affairs at George Washington University.

[10:44] James Angel, an associate professor of

[10:46] finance at the Mcdana School of Business

[10:48] at Georgetown University, and Ed

[10:50] Yardeni, president of Yardi Research, an

[10:53] independent investment research firm.

[10:56] Well, Ed Yardi, it was just Friday that

[10:58] the financial rescue plan was passed.

[11:00] What accounts for today's drop on Wall

[11:03] Street?

[11:04] >> I think in some ways it uh it's a bit of

[11:07] a disappointment with with the plan, a

[11:10] confusion about how it's going to work.

[11:11] It's an impatience. Uh but you know I I

[11:14] think at the end of the day of just

[11:16] panic selling uh by um institutional

[11:19] investors particularly hedge funds uh

[11:22] that have uh been facing redemptions uh

[11:25] requests from their investors. Uh some

[11:27] of them may just want to get out of the

[11:29] business because you know once you fall

[11:30] below the so-called high water mark uh

[11:34] of your fund uh if you don't get back to

[11:36] it you don't earn those kind of uh big

[11:39] fees. So that may be part of it and I

[11:41] think the public is genu genuinely

[11:43] scared.

[11:44] >> Oh, so you see I was going to ask you

[11:46] about small investors and depositors.

[11:48] You see it starting to hit them as well.

[11:50] I should say us as well.

[11:52] >> Yes. In a perverse way. Um the way the

[11:56] rescue package was sold was uh with a

[12:00] great deal of of fear. uh it was sold

[12:03] with the idea that if we don't pass the

[12:06] troubled assets uh relief program then

[12:10] it could lead to economic catastrophe

[12:11] and I think a lot of people weren't

[12:13] aware that we were that close to

[12:14] catastrophe.

[12:16] >> Professor Angel, you were just shaking

[12:17] your head, nodding your head as as he

[12:19] was talking. What do you see happening

[12:20] here today?

[12:21] >> Well, we live in a global market. We

[12:24] live in a global economy and today we

[12:26] saw not only impatience with the rescue

[12:30] package but we also saw a reaction to

[12:33] what's going on in Europe. Um as was

[12:35] pointed out in the introduction we

[12:37] there's a lot of uh economic problems

[12:39] over there as well and when the European

[12:42] markets go down the US markets often go

[12:44] down in sympathy.

[12:46] >> We we're using the term volatility is

[12:49] and and Ed Yardi used the word panic. I

[12:51] think panic is there an order to what we

[12:54] saw today? At one point the Dow dropped

[12:57] 800 points and then it came back to

[12:59] close around 370 or so. But how do you

[13:01] describe it?

[13:02] >> Well, this is a classic financial panic

[13:04] and I actually am teaching a course in

[13:05] financial panics at Georgetown

[13:07] University and uh this is like the kind

[13:10] we are reading about in the history

[13:11] books in which you have some economic

[13:14] bad news and people don't really know

[13:16] what's going on, who's solving, who

[13:18] isn't. So what we see happening is

[13:22] people running for the fire exits at the

[13:24] first hint of trouble. But on the other

[13:27] hand, people know that when the

[13:29] turnaround comes, it often comes very

[13:31] quickly. As a matter of fact, the best

[13:33] year in US stock market history was 1933

[13:36] during the depths of the Great

[13:38] Depression. In that year, the US stock

[13:40] market went up 67%.

[13:43] So as a um so you often have very high

[13:47] volatility at times like this where some

[13:49] people think okay the worst is over time

[13:51] to get in oops too early time to get out

[13:53] again

[13:54] >> so that's what we see

[13:56] >> now sharan bring Europe into this for us

[13:59] because as we said the day that's where

[14:00] things started today

[14:02] >> that's right

[14:02] >> um what's the problem there is it is it

[14:04] is it our problem spreading or is it

[14:06] something special there

[14:07] >> oh clearly it's our problem spreading I

[14:09] think the Europeans took leave of their

[14:10] senses when they thought that this was

[14:12] the US problem and they would hardly be

[14:14] touched by it. Uh they're screaming now

[14:16] that the sky is falling and in some

[14:17] respects it is. Uh Europe's economy is

[14:20] more heavily bank dependent and when as

[14:23] this is hitting they realize that

[14:24] getting out of this mess will be much

[14:26] harder for them than it is for us for

[14:28] example they cannot do a EU style

[14:31] federal bailout. uh it's not possible

[14:33] the kind we did absolutely right it's

[14:34] not possible the 27 countries uh and

[14:38] that banking is relatively still dereg

[14:41] not regulated as well in terms of

[14:43] standards across the board and so you've

[14:45] got a beggar thy neighbor policy going

[14:46] on in Europe right now each country for

[14:48] itself in terms of bailing themselves

[14:50] out

[14:51] >> you saw a lot of we saw a lot of

[14:53] activity over the weekend right leaders

[14:55] gathering various bailouts but you're

[14:57] saying none of that was very well

[14:59] >> president wanted this bailout very badly

[15:01] he holds a European presidency, but the

[15:03] UK and Great Britain were not the UK and

[15:05] Germany were not willing to play ball

[15:07] this time because they are worried about

[15:08] their own financial markets. When

[15:10] Germany safeguards all the savers in

[15:12] Germany, that's a lot.

[15:14] >> And so, but why are they unable to reach

[15:17] some agreement as a group?

[15:20] >> Well, on on on on on the legal sense,

[15:22] there is no huge federal budget to to

[15:25] borrow money from. And on a smaller

[15:27] scale, Spanish taxpayers don't want to

[15:29] bail out Greek banks and so they will

[15:31] not find the political support for that.

[15:33] >> Now Edardenni, would a failure in Europe

[15:37] to come to some kind of overarching

[15:39] plan? Would that then blow back in a

[15:42] sense and and hurt our efforts here as

[15:44] well?

[15:45] I think that's the risk and I think

[15:47] that's what investors are concerned

[15:49] about that uh for for quite some time

[15:52] for over a year it appeared as though

[15:53] the credit crisis uh was uh mostly uh a

[15:58] a a United States uh phenomenon. Uh I

[16:01] think the disappointment was that uh

[16:03] there was lots of talk that it would be

[16:05] contained. Instead it continued to

[16:07] spread. It spread from subprime to other

[16:09] areas of our capital markets. uh and now

[16:12] it's obviously also having a a negative

[16:15] impact on on our economy. I think what

[16:18] happened this weekend is a re

[16:20] realization that this really is a global

[16:21] problem uh that it's not contained that

[16:24] it really continues to spread and uh if

[16:27] uh Europe uh goes into a deeper slowdown

[16:31] or recession that's going to depress our

[16:33] exports and uh unfortunately exports has

[16:36] been one of the few bright spots for the

[16:38] US economy. How do you see this, Jim

[16:40] Angel? How how much are we dependent now

[16:42] on on what happens there as much as they

[16:44] are on us?

[16:45] >> We're all in this together. That uh we

[16:48] had a global housing bubble and although

[16:51] a lot of the problems first surfaced in

[16:54] the US with all of the subprime loans we

[16:56] made and marketed around the world, many

[16:59] other countries also had problems in

[17:00] their banking sector with locally

[17:02] developed loans. Now, uh, we export to

[17:05] them, we import from them, they import

[17:08] from us. We're all in this together.

[17:12] >> Shaharman, what President Bush, we heard

[17:15] today, caution that this is going to

[17:16] take a while. Now, why does that not

[17:19] sink into markets here and in Europe? Or

[17:23] or or might it at some point?

[17:25] >> I I think the Europeans are just

[17:26] beginning to realize that this is their

[17:29] problem and this is going to grow on

[17:30] their soil. I think I much rather be the

[17:33] American economy because we can manage

[17:35] this. Uh uh the Treasury Secretary is

[17:38] now in the process of hiring some very

[17:40] very sharp professionals to manage now

[17:42] the bailout process as to what assets to

[17:44] buy, how to manage them and where to go

[17:46] from here. The Europeans are doing what

[17:48] we did two weeks ago trying to get

[17:50] together and find a solution and they

[17:52] cannot do a big bailout and so I think

[17:54] they're in much rougher waters than we

[17:56] are looking down the road. What about a

[17:59] a country like Germany, the biggest

[18:00] power in Europe? How much can it do on

[18:03] its own? And how much does it then

[18:04] engender, oh, I don't know, anger from

[18:07] other countries in Europe?

[18:08] >> Uh, I think the Irish started it off by

[18:10] saying that we're going to safeguard

[18:12] ourselves first and then, you know, we

[18:13] of course support any EUwide plan. Uh,

[18:16] but our markets come first and quickly

[18:18] five or six countries followed with

[18:20] Germany being the being the more recent

[18:22] one. And I think that the Germans have

[18:24] to do it. They have the largest

[18:25] financial markets like the French do.

[18:27] Smaller countries um to some extent are

[18:30] left on their own in terms of not having

[18:32] a wider bailout scheme.

[18:33] >> We heard a reference to Iceland in that

[18:35] itn got hit very very hard. I mean their

[18:38] currency dropped 30% uh in one day which

[18:41] is a lot. Uh they had a phenomenal rate

[18:44] of return because they had such high

[18:46] interest rates so for so many years. So

[18:47] did they did very well uh and and now

[18:50] they've got very hit. This is an

[18:51] oldfashioned banking panic. People are

[18:54] scared. There's a run on the banks. This

[18:56] has happened here. It's definitely

[18:58] happening in Europe. As I mentioned

[18:59] earlier, Europe is very heavily banked.

[19:01] The economy relies more on banks and

[19:03] loan banks on loans than anything else.

[19:06] Not like in this country where financial

[19:09] companies are are more diverse in the

[19:11] sources of financing.

[19:12] >> And Edard, you come back to this

[19:14] psychology question. It's a day when we

[19:15] went below 10,000 for the first time in

[19:18] quite a while. Is that significant or do

[19:20] we overplay benchmark round numbers like

[19:23] that?

[19:24] >> No, it's significant. It makes headlines

[19:26] and uh headlines get everybody's

[19:28] attention and I think the fact that uh

[19:30] we just cut through 10,000 like uh it

[19:33] didn't mean much of anything is actually

[19:36] unsettling because uh we had spent so

[19:38] much time at 10,000 a few years ago and

[19:41] uh all of a sudden we had a nice rally

[19:43] since 2003 and now we've given it all

[19:45] back. So, so that's very unsettling. May

[19:48] I make uh one point on this rescue plan?

[19:52] Uh the juryy's still out on exactly how

[19:54] it's going to get implemented and

[19:56] whether we're really spending the the

[19:57] the money wisely. There's other ways to

[20:00] spend the 700 billion than buying

[20:02] distressed assets uh uh in a in sort of

[20:05] a generic fashion. I I think that we

[20:08] might have get more bang for buck if we

[20:10] actually just bought all the distressed

[20:12] uh subprime mortgages uh and alt a

[20:15] mortgages. the kind of the the second

[20:17] worst mortgages in in this uh in this

[20:20] pile of uh of toxic assets. We really

[20:23] need to take the the toxin out of these

[20:26] uh capital markets rather than taking

[20:28] assets that have been mixed all

[20:30] together. We we need to pay them off and

[20:32] send the cash to those who have these

[20:34] securitized pool of fixed income uh

[20:37] assets. So I think there's actually

[20:39] still quite a bit of concern about

[20:40] whether this rescue plan is going to

[20:42] work uh as intended. Well, Jim Angel, in

[20:46] addition to that question of looking

[20:47] forward, how does how's that plan going

[20:49] to work? There was talk today about some

[20:51] kind of move, coordinated move between

[20:53] the Federal Reserve here and European

[20:56] central banks. What would that entail?

[20:59] What what what is possible to be done at

[21:00] this point? Well, both banks can in the

[21:04] US and in Europe, the central banks can

[21:06] lower interest rates. What that means is

[21:08] they would go into the market and they

[21:09] would buy up securities, usually

[21:11] government securities, but in these

[21:13] times of crisis, they might want to buy

[21:14] up private securities like commercial

[21:16] paper and in doing so they pay for it

[21:20] with the money they create. So when they

[21:22] go out and they push down interest

[21:24] rates, they push money into the markets

[21:26] and that means the banks have more money

[21:27] to lend

[21:28] >> and and a brief response from you. Do

[21:30] you see that as possible from Europe

[21:32] work Europe working with the US?

[21:33] >> I think they definitely are going to

[21:35] reduce interest rates. they have to. Now

[21:36] at this point the European Central Bank

[21:38] has no choice. But there are lots of

[21:39] other options here while we're trying to

[21:41] work out the bailout plan in the US and

[21:43] the Europeans are trying to get their

[21:44] act together at least individually and

[21:46] that is for example extending lines of

[21:48] credit from the Federal Reserve to banks

[21:50] lending to other banks you know and

[21:51] these this is a special list of banks

[21:53] which we deem safe. Uh perhaps extending

[21:56] uh the time frame for unemployment

[21:59] benefits. I mean these are all things

[22:00] that can shore up the market in the

[22:01] short run.

[22:02] >> All on the table at this point.

[22:03] >> That's right. All right. I want to thank

[22:04] you all three. Edgard Denny in New York,

[22:06] Shaherzad Raman and Jim Angel here with

[22:08] me in Washington. Thank you both very

[22:10] much.

[22:10] >> Thank you.

[22:10] >> Thank you.

[22:18] >> Our presidential campaign snapshot, Judy

[22:20] Woodruff is in charge.

[22:23] The race for the White House heated up

[22:25] even more over the weekend with the

[22:27] campaigns in attack mode on the trail

[22:30] and over the air. On Saturday,

[22:33] Republican vice presidential nominee

[22:35] Sarah Palin went after Barack Obama's

[22:38] character, raising his association with

[22:41] William Ayes, a founder of the radical

[22:44] Vietnam War era group, The Weather

[22:46] Underground.

[22:47] >> Our opponent is someone who sees America

[22:50] as imperfect enough to pal around with

[22:54] terrorists who targeted their own

[22:55] country.

[23:00] whether underground members were blamed

[23:02] for bombings of several public buildings

[23:04] when Obama was a child. At a primary

[23:07] debate in April, Obama denounced Ayer's

[23:10] views and activities.

[23:12] >> He does.

[23:13] >> And today in Asheville, North Carolina,

[23:16] where he's preparing for tomorrow's

[23:18] debate, Obama decrieded the McCain

[23:20] tactics. Uh I was a little surprised

[23:23] over the last couple of days to hear

[23:25] Senator McCain say uh or Senator

[23:28] McCain's campaign say that uh we want to

[23:31] turn the page on discussions about the

[23:34] economy and a campaign uh a member of

[23:38] Senator McCain's campaign saying today

[23:40] that if uh we keep on talking about the

[23:43] economic crisis, we lose. Uh I've got

[23:47] news for the McCain campaign. The

[23:48] American people are losing right now.

[23:50] They're losing their jobs. They're

[23:52] losing their healthcare. Uh they're

[23:54] losing their homes. They're losing their

[23:56] savings. I cannot imagine anything more

[23:59] important to talk about than the

[24:01] economic crisis. And the notion that we

[24:02] would want to brush that aside uh and

[24:05] engage in uh the usual political

[24:09] shenanigans and uh smear tactics that uh

[24:13] have come to characterize too many

[24:14] political campaigns. I think uh is not

[24:17] what the American people are looking

[24:18] for. But Palin has shown no signs of

[24:21] dropping the heirs issue, using the

[24:23] attack again at a rally this morning in

[24:26] Florida. Barack Obama says that he was

[24:29] just someone in the neighborhood, but

[24:32] that's less than truthful.

[24:36] His own top advisor said that they were

[24:38] quote certainly friendly. In fact, Obama

[24:41] held one of his first meetings of his

[24:43] political career in Billair's living

[24:45] room in Albuquerque, New Mexico. McCain

[24:48] himself went after Obama, accusing him

[24:51] of ducking questions about his past.

[24:54] >> Rather than answer his critics, Senator

[24:56] Obama will try to distract you from

[24:59] noticing that he never answers the

[25:02] serious and legitimate questions he's

[25:04] been asked.

[25:11] But let let me reply in the plainest

[25:14] terms that I know. I don't need lessons

[25:17] about telling the truth to the American

[25:19] people.

[25:22] And were I ever to need any improvement

[25:24] in that regard, I probably wouldn't seek

[25:27] advice from a Chicago politician.

[25:32] The Obama campaign today pushed back

[25:35] against the heirs attacks with its own

[25:38] guilt by association claim. A 13-minute

[25:41] documentary online about McCain's

[25:44] involvement in the Keading Five scandal.

[25:46] >> The Keading Five involved all the things

[25:49] that have brought the modern crisis. In

[25:52] the late 1980s, McCain was among five

[25:55] senators accused of improperly aiding

[25:58] savings and loan executive Charles

[26:00] Keading, a big campaign donor. An

[26:03] investigation by the Senate Ethics

[26:05] Committee found McCain had used poor

[26:07] judgment in his dealings with Keading.

[26:10] Meanwhile, the McCain campaign is

[26:12] running a new television ad that seizes

[26:15] on part of an Obama comment on the war

[26:17] in Afghanistan.

[26:19] Who is Barack Obama? He says our troops

[26:22] in Afghanistan are

[26:24] >> just air raiding villages and killing

[26:26] civilians.

[26:27] >> How dishonorable.

[26:29] >> While the Obama campaign's media blitz

[26:32] includes a new television spot

[26:34] criticizing McCain's healthcare

[26:36] proposal.

[26:37] >> On health care, John McCain promises a

[26:39] tax credit. But here's what he won't

[26:41] tell you. McCain would impose a new tax

[26:44] on health benefits. Taxing your health

[26:46] care for the first time ever. Obama has

[26:49] also drawn attention to health care

[26:51] while on the stump as he did in Newport

[26:53] News, Virginia on Saturday.

[26:56] >> The question isn't how we can afford to

[26:58] focus on healthcare. The question is how

[27:01] can we afford not to

[27:05] >> because in order to fix our economic

[27:08] crisis and rebuild our middle class, we

[27:11] need to fix our health care system, too.

[27:14] A new SUFFK University poll shows Obama

[27:17] with a 12point lead in Virginia, a state

[27:20] that hasn't voted Democratic in 44

[27:22] years. That matches the trend in other

[27:25] battleground state surveys, most of

[27:27] which have Obama running at least a few

[27:30] points ahead.

[27:32] For more on the latest political

[27:33] developments, we turn to Karen Tumulty.

[27:36] She's national political correspondent

[27:38] for Time magazine and Amy Walter,

[27:41] editor-inchief of The Hotline, the

[27:42] national journal's political daily.

[27:45] Thank you both for being here. We're 29

[27:47] days from the election. Uh Amy, and on a

[27:50] day when the economy is uh has everybody

[27:54] worried. You've got all this negativity.

[27:56] You've got the McCain campaign talking

[27:59] about uh somebody who was involved in uh

[28:02] the with the weather underground back in

[28:05] the 1960s. What do you make of all this?

[28:08] Is this the kind of tactic that's going

[28:09] to work?

[28:10] >> Well, it's actually it shouldn't come as

[28:12] that much surprise. As you pointed out,

[28:14] we're 29 days out. John McCain knows

[28:16] looking at the polls, he's not making

[28:19] much traction. Last week was terrible

[28:20] for his campaign. The focus on the

[28:22] economy, not good for the McCain

[28:24] campaign. focus on George Bush every

[28:26] time he's on television talking about

[28:28] the economy. Not good for John McCain.

[28:30] Subtlety gets thrown out the window at

[28:32] this point in a campaign. And so you

[28:33] have to go I if you are the campaign

[28:36] that's behind directly for the the

[28:38] easiest attack that you can. In this

[28:40] case, it's character trying to move the

[28:42] topic off of the things you don't want

[28:44] to talk about and onto Obama. And the

[28:47] issues that were brought up a lot during

[28:49] the primary campaign haven't necessarily

[28:51] been answered, hoping that maybe, just

[28:53] maybe, the the focus in the next couple

[28:56] weeks will get off the economy and they

[28:58] can make this a referendum on Barack

[28:59] Obama instead of a referendum on the on

[29:01] the issue agenda.

[29:02] >> Karen, a smart tactic.

[29:04] >> You know, people do negative campaigning

[29:07] traditionally because it works, but I

[29:09] think that it's more difficult to pull

[29:11] something like this off when you are in

[29:13] the middle of a crisis as big as this

[29:15] one. In fact, I was when I was watching

[29:17] the McCain speech in Albuquerque um

[29:20] today where he was, you know, very

[29:22] angrily saying, "We don't know who this

[29:24] Barack Obama is." That was the smaller

[29:27] picture on the screen. The bigger

[29:28] picture on the screen was the the Dow

[29:30] Jones board, which was down at that

[29:32] point, you know, something like 400

[29:34] points. So, I don't think this is

[29:37] particularly what the public is

[29:39] listening for from these candidates

[29:41] right now. And certainly the polling

[29:43] does not suggest that this is is getting

[29:46] much traction. In fact, for the first

[29:48] time in a series of polls that we're

[29:50] seeing today, for the first time, Obama

[29:52] is getting over 50% in the polls. It

[29:54] suggests that this is not hurting him.

[29:56] And and Amy, you do get the sense that

[29:58] this is a kitchen sink approach, at

[30:00] least right now on the part of the

[30:02] McCain camp there. Uh you had Sarah

[30:03] Palin quoted as saying she was looking

[30:05] at whether or not they should bring up

[30:07] Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Uh there was

[30:10] someone who introduced Senator McCain

[30:12] today who used uh Senator Obama's middle

[30:14] name through Hussein. Um so do we expect

[30:18] to see more of this in the days to come?

[30:20] >> Well, this is what's interesting in in

[30:21] that and I agree with Karen too that

[30:24] when you're at a at a point at history

[30:26] like we are right now, the traditional

[30:29] campaign tactics just are much more

[30:32] difficult to actually take hold. Um and

[30:34] the fact is, you know, if you are are

[30:37] looking at where uh the McCain campaign

[30:39] is going right now, um they are hoping

[30:42] that those tactics do work out. Um when

[30:45] all said and done though, I'm surprised

[30:47] that we haven't seen more 527 outside

[30:49] groups doing this. It's rare that we see

[30:51] the candidate themselves actually going

[30:53] out there and making these attacks. They

[30:55] can go out and talk about issue agenda

[30:57] while other groups come in and take up

[31:00] some of the harshest rhetoric. But at

[31:01] this point, we haven't seen any. doesn't

[31:03] mean they're not going to come, but

[31:04] right, what the McCain campaign

[31:05] obviously is gambling is that they have

[31:07] to do it themselves cuz they can't wait

[31:09] for somebody else to come in.

[31:10] >> Well, and Karen, you've got uh the Obama

[31:12] camp coming back with this documentary

[31:14] they're calling it online where they're

[31:16] going after McCain, bringing up the

[31:18] Keading Five uh scandal from the back in

[31:21] the late 1980s. Is this a smart move for

[31:25] Obama or is this potentially dangerous

[31:27] for him to get down in the mud, too?

[31:30] Well, Barack Obama said in a radio

[31:32] interview, I think it was today, I'm not

[31:34] going to throw the first punch, but I'm

[31:36] going to throw the last one. Um, I

[31:38] however think that it is entirely

[31:40] possible for him to overplay this

[31:42] because he both he and John McCain came

[31:44] into this race representing a new and

[31:46] different brand of politics, a politics

[31:49] that was more about consensus, less

[31:50] about bitter partisanship. And I do

[31:53] think that if Obama responds too much in

[31:56] kind, it's it's almost like both

[31:58] campaigns have overlearned the lessons

[32:00] of the Swift veterans from four years

[32:02] ago. But I think if he responds too much

[32:04] in kind, he really damages his own

[32:07] brand, particularly with these swing

[32:09] voters, these independent voters that

[32:11] he's very badly going to need on

[32:13] election day.

[32:14] >> So does he has a choice, Amy, is is what

[32:17] you're saying. Well, but it's a yeah,

[32:18] and it's a very fine line to to have to

[32:20] play uh given that yes, I think it is

[32:23] true that there is the overtlearned

[32:25] lesson of the boat, which is any attack,

[32:27] you don't not only punch back, but you

[32:29] punch back harder. Although it is

[32:31] noticeable that they're not doing this

[32:32] on television, they're doing this

[32:33] through the web, hoping that free media

[32:34] is going to push this for them. Um the

[32:37] other question then comes uh into just

[32:40] how much further this is going to go or

[32:41] is this just a quick response. Remember,

[32:43] Barack Obama, even though he's ahead in

[32:45] these polling, he's looking very good

[32:47] right now for a good proportion of this

[32:49] key electorate, he still remains

[32:52] something of an enigma to them. And so,

[32:54] I think the fact is he cannot allow any

[32:57] attack on the character on these issues.

[32:58] Is he too risky to go unanswered?

[33:02] Well, Karen, you brought up these polls

[33:05] a minute ago and saying, you know, for

[33:06] the first time, you are seeing Obama

[33:08] consistently at least for a few days

[33:10] over 50. How reliable are the polls

[33:13] right now? We are four weeks and a day

[33:15] out from the election.

[33:17] >> Well, the the polls, individual polls

[33:19] themselves are not reliable, but at this

[33:21] point, it's turning into a pattern. And

[33:24] um it is is turning into a pattern that

[33:26] is all it's all going one way. And once

[33:28] you see one candidate, in this case,

[33:30] Barack Obama, consistently over 50%, I

[33:33] think that's telling you that the the

[33:34] race is in fact solidifying. Amy, tell

[33:37] us some more about who these persuadable

[33:39] voters are who are out there. Well,

[33:41] that's a good question. And so, what

[33:43] we're looking at right now is both the

[33:44] national polling and the state polling.

[33:46] And what what we may be seeing

[33:47] nationally doesn't necessarily translate

[33:49] in some of these battleground states.

[33:51] But fundamentally, you know, we are

[33:53] looking at the same sort of typical

[33:55] groups of voters, whether it's women and

[33:58] white women, how those candidates are

[34:00] performing there. What's interesting to

[34:02] note is just on the national polls, at

[34:04] least in the polling that we're doing,

[34:06] uh Barack Obama is basically hitting the

[34:08] Democratic performance among white women

[34:10] and white men. It's John McCain who's

[34:12] underperforming. He's not doing as well

[34:13] as George Bush has done among those

[34:15] voters. So, you have a big group of

[34:17] white voters right now sort of sitting

[34:18] there trying to make up their mind here.

[34:20] They're sitting in the undecided column.

[34:22] Is this the kind of thing that pushes

[34:23] them? You know, this is what McCain's

[34:25] hoping, of course, is that these

[34:26] character issues, he doesn't, as as

[34:28] Sarah Palin said, he doesn't see America

[34:30] the way we do. Is that going to be the

[34:32] issue for these crossressured voters?

[34:34] For many of these folks, they've never

[34:36] probably voted for a Democrat or at

[34:37] least not in a long time. But the

[34:39] economy really pulling them even as

[34:41] their their cultural attachment to the

[34:43] Republicans is maybe holding them back a

[34:45] little bit.

[34:46] >> Well, that's my question, Karen. Why

[34:47] wouldn't those voters be exactly the

[34:49] ones who are very worried about what

[34:50] they're watching on television and and

[34:52] reading in the newspapers about the

[34:53] economy?

[34:54] >> They are very worried and they are very

[34:55] angry. But what I think they don't want

[34:58] is a a leader who looks like he is very

[35:01] angry. Um and I think that at this point

[35:04] that that Barack Obama's kind of calm,

[35:07] detached, intellectual demeanor with

[35:10] with all of this has served him well.

[35:13] >> Well, and and speaking of all that,

[35:15] we're coming into another debate. the

[35:16] second presidential debate tomorrow

[35:18] night. This one's different. It's a town

[35:20] hall style. The voters will be, I guess,

[35:22] just a few feet away who are asking

[35:24] questions from the candidates. Can they

[35:27] bring can Senator McCain or Senator

[35:29] Obama bring some of this really tough

[35:31] language into that setting? Well, it's

[35:34] very dangerous, first of all, to bring

[35:35] that into that setting because you are

[35:37] interacting with voters and so when

[35:39] you're looking somebody in the eye, it

[35:40] feels very different than running a

[35:42] campaign ad or being at a at a campaign

[35:44] rally. I think for most voters though,

[35:46] the the feeling is they want to see

[35:48] these candidates

[35:50] go through each one of their paces, the

[35:52] three debates, and then get an overall

[35:54] sense, the measure of how these folks

[35:56] did rather than looking at each debate.

[35:58] I know in the media, we love to grade

[35:59] each debate and we see it as a as an

[36:01] entity in and of itself. I think voters

[36:03] are going to look over the long haul of

[36:04] this by the time October 16th comes

[36:06] around after the last debate, they have

[36:08] a better sense for who these guys are.

[36:11] Well, I agree. And I think also in a

[36:13] town hall format, the voters are going

[36:15] to be listening for these candidates to

[36:16] be talking about them, not about each

[36:18] other. They're really going to be asking

[36:20] questions probably about their own

[36:21] problems and not each other the

[36:23] candidates character defects. So I think

[36:25] it would be very dangerous to to try

[36:27] this this anger uh anger strategy in a

[36:31] town hall forum. Right.

[36:32] >> All right. We'll see where we go. Karen

[36:34] Tumulty, Amy Walter, thank you both.

[36:44] Now, a most unusual school that changes

[36:47] lives. Special correspondent Fred de Sam

[36:49] Lazero reports from the Barefoot College

[36:52] in Northern India. A version of this

[36:55] story aired earlier on the PBS program

[36:58] Religion and Ethics News Weekly.

[37:02] The students are mostly women, some are

[37:04] grandmothers. Hundreds have come here

[37:06] from villages across India and a dozen

[37:08] countries to learn how to install and

[37:11] maintain solar energy systems in rural

[37:14] areas.

[37:15] Even though it's sophisticated

[37:17] coursework, the only prerequisite for

[37:19] admission to the barefoot college is

[37:21] that there are no prerequisites, not

[37:23] even to speak the language.

[37:25] >> First, the first time in Arabic spoken

[37:28] >> until we arrived with a translator.

[37:30] These Moritanian women who'd been here 4

[37:33] months hadn't spoken to anyone else in

[37:36] their native Arabic. But the college's

[37:38] founder says language is not a barrier

[37:40] to learning.

[37:42] >> Our job is to show how it is possible to

[37:45] take an illiterate woman and make her

[37:46] into an engineer in 6 months and show

[37:48] that she can sort electrify a village.

[37:51] Social entrepreneur Bunker Roy founded

[37:53] the Barefoot College in 1972,

[37:56] looking to use traditional knowledge and

[37:58] sustainable technology to help this

[38:00] impoverished desert region. It began

[38:03] with basics like finding safe drinking

[38:05] water. Then a few years later, solar. In

[38:09] 1986, no one ever thought of solar

[38:10] electrification. It was far too

[38:12] expensive. But today, we have 50 kow of

[38:15] panels on our roofs. All our 20, 30

[38:18] computers, electronic machine, telephone

[38:20] exchange, all works of solar. Today,

[38:23] solar energy drives not just the

[38:25] equipment, but a larger social

[38:27] experiment to improve the lives of some

[38:29] of the world's poorest people. It begins

[38:32] in the classroom run by instructors who

[38:35] themselves have little or no formal

[38:37] education.

[38:40] >> Instruction is delivered with a mix of

[38:42] body language, a few essential terms in

[38:45] English,

[38:48] and a lot of hands-on practice.

[38:52] >> The students create an illustrated

[38:54] manual they'll take home. It's the

[38:56] closest thing to a diploma certifying

[38:58] their training as solar technicians.

[39:01] But just coming here is an unlikely

[39:03] achievement for students like

[39:05] 56-year-old Sara Mousara, a widowed

[39:08] grandmother. She'd never attended school

[39:11] before, never even left her village in

[39:13] the West African nation of Moritania.

[39:18] >> At first, we did not even have a

[39:19] passport. We started little by little

[39:22] learning the solar energy system. Day by

[39:25] day and little by little, we were able

[39:27] to put things together.

[39:29] >> I have been to two villages in Meritia.

[39:32] Roy was educated at elite schools on a

[39:35] path to medicine or diplomatic service

[39:38] before he founded the Barefoot College.

[39:40] The idea of self-reliant learning was

[39:42] inspired by Mahatma Gandhi also by a

[39:46] legendary American.

[39:47] >> Well, it's Mark Twain who said never let

[39:49] school interfere with your education.

[39:51] School is something that you learn

[39:53] reading and writing. Education is what

[39:55] you learn from the family, from the

[39:57] environment, from the community.

[40:00] Using grants from the UN and private

[40:02] foundations, Bunker Roy travels

[40:04] extensively in developing countries

[40:06] seeking potential students. The ones he

[40:09] does not want are city dwellers and

[40:11] unless they're physically handicapped,

[40:14] men.

[40:14] >> We've come to the sad conclusion, men

[40:16] are untrainable. They expect too much.

[40:20] They're restless.

[40:22] If they're young, they're impatient. The

[40:25] first thing they ask even before the

[40:26] training starts is, "Do I get a

[40:28] certificate?" they will use that

[40:30] certificate to get the worst job

[40:31] possible in a city. Whereas if we take

[40:35] middle-aged grandmothers

[40:37] to be trained I don't have that problem

[40:40] of migration. Women not only don't leave

[40:43] their rural homes they also more

[40:45] reliably bring money back to their

[40:47] families says Saram Musara.

[40:51] When women work, there is at least food

[40:53] and something to drink to take care of

[40:55] the family. And we can even get our hair

[40:58] done with the extra money. But when a

[41:00] man works, maybe he'll bring home money

[41:02] and maybe he won't.

[41:04] >> How many houses are in the town?

[41:07] >> 500

[41:09] 500

[41:10] >> 500.

[41:11] >> Their villages in Moritania, like much

[41:13] of the rural developing world, are not

[41:15] electrified.

[41:17] May God reward you for what you have

[41:19] done because those people did not have

[41:21] any light and now they will have light.

[41:24] >> And these women will have an income

[41:26] installing and maintaining solar

[41:28] systems. They are a common site in

[41:30] villages near the barefoot campus

[41:32] replacing dirtier and more expensively

[41:35] fueled lanterns. We said you should pay

[41:39] as much as you pay today for kerosene,

[41:41] for wood, for batteries, for torches,

[41:44] for candles.

[41:46] comes to about $5 a month. They're

[41:48] willing to pay $5 a month for the use of

[41:51] the solar light. Solar has opened new

[41:54] opportunities for work and study,

[41:56] especially for girls. In both the

[41:58] majority Hindu and the minority Muslim

[42:01] communities here, girls have

[42:02] traditionally been restricted to

[42:04] household chores. And it's the girls who

[42:07] go and graze the cattle and graze the

[42:09] goats and the sheep. There is a feeling

[42:11] in the family that the boys should be

[42:13] getting better education, better

[42:15] education, whatever that means. So we

[42:17] started the night schools of the 1975

[42:19] purely from the point of view of

[42:21] attracting more girls who grace cattle

[42:24] in the morning to come to school at

[42:26] night.

[42:30] Today some 7,000 children attend night

[42:33] school here and across rural North

[42:35] India. In song, these girls plead to

[42:37] their parents to allow them to study, to

[42:40] delay marriage until they turn the legal

[42:42] age of 18, a law that's frequently

[42:45] ignored in rural society.

[42:48] >> Okay. 8 and five make how much?

[42:51] >> 13.

[42:53] >> 10 + 3.

[42:54] >> 13.

[42:56] >> Entertainment programs promote the

[42:58] Barefoot College and encourage children

[43:00] to attend school. There have also been

[43:02] campaigns to promote public health and

[43:04] accountability from government

[43:05] officials.

[43:08] New economic activity and technology

[43:10] seem to be eroding social barriers. For

[43:13] example, several women work to create

[43:15] solar stoves, a barefoot college

[43:17] enterprise. The solar cookers made at

[43:19] the Barefoot College are a simple but

[43:22] precisely engineered contraption. These

[43:25] mirrors track then capture the sun's

[43:27] energy and direct it to a cooker.

[43:30] which really cooks. For Sitha Davyy, who

[43:34] has only a second grade education,

[43:36] working on the cookers means she can

[43:38] hope for more for her baby girl.

[43:43] >> My daughter must be educated. She will

[43:46] be able to do things to progress so much

[43:48] faster than I can because of going to

[43:50] school more. For me, for example, it

[43:53] takes so much more time to measure out 3

[43:56] cm when I'm welding here. Whereas

[43:59] someone who is educated could do it in

[44:01] no time.

[44:03] >> Her colleague Shahanaz Banu says her new

[44:06] occupation greatly improved life for her

[44:08] family which includes two sons and a

[44:10] daughter.

[44:12] >> In our village, in our community, women

[44:15] were not allowed outside the house. My

[44:17] husband was reluctant, but I said if we

[44:20] stay behind the veil, we won't have

[44:22] anything to eat. Some people object to

[44:24] women working, but if we can add income

[44:27] to the household, that's a good thing,

[44:29] isn't it?

[44:30] >> Roy says a key to sustaining rural jobs

[44:32] and development is to use technology

[44:34] that can be managed by the local

[44:36] community, like solar lanterns, and

[44:39] technology that's familiar, like

[44:40] rainwater collectors.

[44:43] That was an idea developed by a rural

[44:45] architect who could neither read nor

[44:46] write, who designed the Barefoot

[44:49] Colleg's green campus. The foundation of

[44:52] everything Roy does is decentralization.

[44:55] It's a departure from the typical

[44:56] approach of aid agencies which he says

[44:59] want to bring big infrastructure and

[45:01] ideas created by outside experts.

[45:03] >> Any technology that that brings in

[45:06] dependency on anybody on outside is not

[45:09] a technology that will work. So far, the

[45:11] Barefoot College has solar electrified

[45:13] some 350 villages across India and

[45:16] dozens more in subsaharan Africa and

[45:19] even war torn Afghanistan.

[45:22] You can learn more about Barefoot

[45:24] College and similar projects in social

[45:27] entrepreneurship on our website. Just go

[45:30] to pbs.org and then scroll down to

[45:33] NewsHour Reports.

[45:41] And finally on this first Monday in

[45:44] October, a new term at the US Supreme

[45:46] Court with Marsha Coyle of the National

[45:49] Law Journal. Marsha Marsha, welcome

[45:51] again.

[45:51] >> Thanks, Jim.

[45:52] >> As always,

[45:53] >> in general, what are the expectations

[45:55] about this new court session?

[45:57] >> Well, Jim, the term is opening on a

[45:59] relatively lowkey note. And by that I

[46:01] mean there are no obvious blockbusters

[46:03] as we saw last term with the second

[46:06] amendment gun case and Guantanamo Bay

[46:08] and several big death penalty cases. But

[46:12] having said that, I've seen terms like

[46:14] begin like this before and something can

[46:17] come along suddenly a case if you recall

[46:19] in 2000 the presidential election and

[46:22] the ballot dispute in Florida produced

[46:24] the memorable Bush VGO decision. So it

[46:27] can change rather quickly. Uh but just

[46:31] because we don't have obvious

[46:32] blockbusters doesn't mean that the court

[46:35] also doesn't have very significant

[46:37] cases. And the way I look at a term is I

[46:40] try to see what areas of the law it

[46:43] seems to perhaps be able to do something

[46:45] very significant in. So I see four clear

[46:48] areas here. It's a hu potentially huge

[46:51] term for the environment. There are five

[46:54] cases, which is a large number on a

[46:56] small docket, and we'll see the first of

[46:58] those on Wednesday when the court hears

[47:01] arguments involving the Navy's use of

[47:03] very sophisticated sonar and its impact

[47:06] on marine mammals. First amendment and

[47:09] first amendment related. One of probably

[47:11] the two headline grabbing cases of the

[47:14] term. One involves the Federal

[47:16] Communications Commission defending its

[47:19] uh policy that it can punish as indecent

[47:23] speech ex uh fleeting expletives. That's

[47:26] the

[47:26] >> just one or two words. Right.

[47:28] >> Right. The one-time use in this case of

[47:30] the sword and the f-word. Uh and then

[47:33] also uh first

[47:34] >> and the and the and just for the record

[47:36] here, the the FCC said they could punish

[47:39] and now that's been appealed and that's

[47:41] what the court must now resolve. Right.

[47:42] Ex

[47:42] >> Exactly. Uh the FCC prior to 2006 did

[47:46] not punish fleeting expletives, but it

[47:49] changed its policy. Uh Fox uh television

[47:52] brought the lawsuit to challenge it, and

[47:54] that's what's before the Supreme Court.

[47:56] Okay. Uh, another direct first amendment

[47:59] challenge involves a church in Utah, the

[48:03] Sum Church. Uh, it wants to erect a

[48:07] monument in the Pleasant Grove City

[48:09] Municipal Park. That park has a monument

[48:12] to the Ten Commandments. Other monuments

[48:14] that it says reflects the city's history

[48:17] and heritage. It won't let this church

[48:20] erect a monument to the seven apherisms

[48:23] of the Sum religion. Uh that's a case is

[48:27] going to revolve around what kind of a

[48:30] forum is this city park and are these

[48:32] monuments private speech

[48:35] >> which you can't regulate or government

[48:37] speech which

[48:38] >> whether the government can whether the

[48:40] city government can choose between

[48:41] religions that they would allow a

[48:44] monument for. Is that that's basically

[48:46] it?

[48:46] >> Well, it's really not a church state

[48:48] case. It is a speech case and uh but it

[48:51] it does because the ten commandment

[48:54] monument is there there is the aspect of

[48:57] religious discrimination.

[48:58] >> Okay. Now you had a fourth you had a

[49:00] fourth category.

[49:01] >> I did. Uh it's preeemption. It's a

[49:04] horribly wonky term uh or nerdy term but

[49:07] it's really of all these cases it may

[49:10] impact more lives in this country. Uh it

[49:13] we have the first case today. It was the

[49:15] first case argued and it involves uh

[49:18] companies trying to limit consumers or

[49:22] injured parties from using state courts

[49:25] and state laws to bring suits against

[49:28] them when when they've been injured or

[49:30] harmed by a product. Uh

[49:33] businesses operate across state lines.

[49:36] They much prefer to have a uniform

[49:38] federal system of regulation and not

[49:40] have 50 different state regulations.

[49:42] Consumers when they're hurt would much

[49:44] rather go into state court under their

[49:46] state laws. So there is that tension

[49:48] here.

[49:48] >> And in this case is it's a tobacco

[49:50] issue.

[49:51] >> It is. It had to do with the labeling of

[49:53] light cigarettes, low tar cigarettes, a

[49:56] group of uh main smokers uh challenged

[50:00] under the state's unfair trade practices

[50:03] law. The labeling by of Philip Morris

[50:06] light cigarettes, low tar cigarettes

[50:07] said it was misleading, deceptive. It

[50:10] really didn't tell you how how heavy the

[50:12] nicotine was.

[50:13] >> So there's these four major areas that

[50:15] you've identified and there are a lot

[50:17] more cases than they usually take this

[50:18] time. Correct. There are the court had

[50:20] pretty much settled in the last uh

[50:22] almost decade on around 70 cases and

[50:26] when I started covering the court and I

[50:28] I hate to say when I did uh start

[50:32] you okay um it was about two decades ago

[50:36] the court was hearing and deciding

[50:38] between 150 and 160 cases. Uh I there's

[50:42] been a lot of public talk about the

[50:44] court's amazing shrinking docket and

[50:46] this year the court is on track though

[50:48] to to uh decide more than 70 cases. I

[50:51] don't know that if it's in response to

[50:54] those concerns. The chief justice during

[50:56] his confirmation hearings said he

[50:58] thought the court could be deciding

[51:00] more. Uh it may just be the nature of

[51:03] the cases that come up through the

[51:05] pipeline from the lower courts that

[51:06] they're seeing more. But going back to

[51:08] your first point that they've decided on

[51:10] these they've accepted these number of

[51:11] cases now that does not preclude as you

[51:15] said earlier another one coming in

[51:16] tomorrow that they could take and and so

[51:19] this could grow.

[51:20] >> That's correct. They they continue to

[51:22] add cases to the docket until about mid

[51:24] January and then they filled their

[51:26] calendar for

[51:27] >> want to have your home gorgeous for the

[51:28] holidays. With the biggest inventory we

[51:30] have ever had ready for immediate

[51:32] delivery. Right now is the best time to

[51:34] buy. Substantial discounts from major

[51:36] lines have prices as good as they have

[51:37] ever been. We call it Oktoberfest. You

[51:40] will call it fantastic. Great selection

[51:42] and lots of new things. Take advantage

[51:44] of our huge discounts and make your home

[51:46] perfect. Paul Shots Furniture, a

[51:49] Northwest tradition since 1919.

[51:54] As a teacher, I have serious concerns

[51:56] about Measure 60. Not all children learn

[51:58] in the same way, and Measure 60's

[52:00] one-sizefits-all approach just won't

[52:02] work. Measure 60 was written by Bill

[52:04] Seismore, who has no experience in

[52:07] education. It's vague and poorly written

[52:09] and could have all kinds of unintended

[52:11] consequences. It fails to define how

[52:14] teachers and kids performance would be

[52:15] measured. And it doesn't say who is

[52:17] judging teachers or how. Please join

[52:20] parents and teachers and vote no on

[52:22] measure 60.

[52:23] >> Let us strive to live peaceibly with men

[52:26] and women everywhere. Matthew Shepard,

[52:29] 21, brutally murdered because he was

[52:32] gay. Ted Kennedy, Gordon Smith. Two

[52:36] senators, one Democrat, one Republican.

[52:39] Fighting together for the Matthew

[52:41] Shepard bill. Tough sentences for those

[52:43] who commit crimes of hate. In honor of

[52:46] one young man, in honor of one strong

[52:49] belief. I'm Gordon Smith and I approve

[52:52] this ad.

[52:54] >> All right. And now to a man who was kept

[52:56] out of last week's Blazer Fanfest

[52:59] because the team said he looks shifty.

[53:02] Here he is, Steve Dunn with tonight's

[53:04] Circular File.

[53:05] >> I was just shifting in my chair a little

[53:07] bit. I think that was the problem. In

[53:08] tonight's Circular File, let's go to

[53:09] Idaho where Chris Payne has announced

[53:11] she'll find another route to work. And

[53:13] when you hear her story, you will

[53:14] certainly understand. Six weeks ago,

[53:16] Payne was driving through an

[53:17] intersection. Another driver ran the red

[53:19] light and smashed right into Payne's

[53:21] car. Fast forward to last Thursday. Six

[53:24] weeks later, Payne is going through the

[53:26] same intersection.

[53:28] Another car runs the red light and boom,

[53:31] collides with her again. Can you believe

[53:32] that? Fortunately, Payne has only had

[53:34] some minor injuries, but her ride to

[53:36] work has turned into

[53:37] >> her last name. Yes. Thank you, D.

[53:39] >> You're welcome.

[53:41] >> I hope I can.

[53:45] >> Fisher Communications

[53:47] >> Bart has lucky number Tuesdays. Come in

[53:49] this week and see if you've won. Here's

[53:51] what you can win this Tuesday when you

[53:52] match your entire number. All valued at

[53:54] up to $250. If it's Tuesday, head to

[53:57] buyart. Lucky number Tuesday is another

[53:59] reason by just right for the Northwest.

[54:02] >> I'm Mike Ericson and I approve this

[54:04] message.

[54:05] >> Tough times, jobs lost, families

[54:08] struggling. Kurt Schrader's record,

[54:10] higher taxes. Shrader voted for higher

[54:12] taxes and fees more than 70 times and

[54:15] worked to pass a massive sales tax. Now

[54:18] Shrader wants to pass the largest tax

[54:20] increase in American history. He'd bring

[54:22] back the marriage penalty, the death

[54:24] tax, higher taxes on small businesses

[54:26] and farms, killing jobs. We can't afford

[54:30] Kurt Shider's high taxes. Why I liked

[54:33] it? I don't know. Mesmerized is what I

[54:36] was. I didn't know that gambling didn't

[54:40] affect most people that way. The

[54:42] desperation came from not being able to

[54:45] stop. I had to do something. So, I

[54:47] called. She made me understand that

[54:50] there was hope. I haven't placed a bet

[54:53] now for 18 months and no more hiding. If

[54:56] you can't stop gambling, call the

[54:59] number. Go to treatment. It'll work.

[55:03] >> What gives the Northwest its quality of

[55:05] life? Well, balance for one thing. In

[55:08] terms of energy, it means having enough

[55:10] to meet demand while being

[55:11] environmentally responsible. Natural gas

[55:14] shoulders a lot of that burden simply

[55:16] because it's a cleaner fuel. But the

[55:17] fact is, we need access to more delivery

[55:19] options if we're going to preserve our

[55:21] way of life. Like underground pipelines,

[55:23] for instance, similar to the one I'm

[55:25] standing on. You didn't know it was

[55:27] there, did you?

[55:32] >> The world calls us small business

[55:34] owners,

[55:35] >> but really there's nothing small about

[55:36] us.

[55:37] >> We have big ideas. We see huge

[55:40] potential. We have enormous dedication.

[55:42] We have larger than life expectations,

[55:45] which is why we and millions of others

[55:47] use Visa Business.

[55:49] >> Because we do business with a great big

[55:50] world and no other card,

[55:52] >> no other card and no other card is more

[55:55] accepted by it.

[55:56] >> Visa Business used for big ideas. Visit

[55:59] visa.com/s small business.

[56:04] Winter's colder weather is getting

[56:05] closer and for Oregon's 8,000 foster

[56:08] children, the need for a warm coat is

[56:10] growing stronger. So, Sleep Country USA

[56:13] is collecting winter coats for Oregon's

[56:15] foster kids, but they can't do it

[56:16] without you. Bring your gift of a new

[56:19] warm coat to any Sleep Country location.

[56:22] Call 188888 Sleep for the store nearest

[56:25] you. Sleep Country knows not everyone

[56:27] can be a foster parent, but anyone can

[56:29] help a foster child.

[56:32] Your commute just got easier with K2

[56:35] Beat the Traffic weekday mornings from

[56:37] 5:00 to 7:00 on K2 News. Plus updates

[56:40] during Good Morning America. K2's Beat

[56:42] the Traffic is brought to you by Town

[56:44] and Country dealerships. Drive home

[56:46] happy. The grand opening of Oregon's

[56:48] largest flooring center just off 503

[56:50] Carpets.