
During S.F. visit, Ken Burns calls PBS cuts ‘a shame,' says Donald Trump faces a reckoning
In the hours before taking the stage at the Palace of Fine Arts to present clips and discuss his upcoming PBS documentary, he was working the phones, calling U.S. senators and lobbyists in hopes of safeguarding the future of public media.
By the time he addressed the sold-out crowd on Wednesday, July 16, he seemed resigned to the passing of a $9 billion rescissions package that would end all federal funding for public media. The bill passed on Thursday. It now goes to the House, which is expected to approve the measure, which would slash $1.1 billion from the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, later Thursday or Friday.
But in promoting 'The American Revolution,' a 12-hour limited series that traces the very beginnings of the United States, he had plenty to say about the current state of the country. He believes the American system is up against 'an existential threat,' and that President Donald Trump will eventually face a reckoning because 'the dog has caught the school bus, and the school bus, eventually, always wins.'
Calling the cuts 'a shame,' Burns noted the package, which also slashes foreign aid, amounts to 'pennies' in comparison to the $6.75 trillion the U.S. government spent in 2024.
'The entire budget (public media) is less than one bomber,' Burns said. 'I know that public broadcasting has nothing to do with the defense of the country. They just help make the country worth defending.'
The evening was hosted by KQED, which announced Tuesday, July 15, it was laying off 15% of its workforce as it contends with a projected $12 million budget deficit in 2025.
During his lengthy introduction of Burns, KQED President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Isip said public media as well as the country is 'in a state of division and trauma.'
'Our social fabric feels like it's being torn apart,' Isip said. 'Independent, non-commercial public media is more essential than ever. … In many of our communities, especially our smaller ones, the local public television, public radio station is the only source of information.
'This is truly one of the most difficult and distressing times in the nearly 60-year history of public broadcasting and the 71-year history of KQED. But here is what I want you to know: No matter what happens with federal funding, public media, KQED, will reemerge. We will endure.'
Burns introduced a 51-minute clip reel from 'The American Revolution,' which airs on PBS in November, before engaging in a 40-minute discussion with co-director Sarah Botstein, historian Christopher Brown and moderator Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of the Atlantic magazine.
Bay Area actor Peter Coyote, who narrates the series, also was present, but did not participate in the discussion.
Burns noted that he, Botstein and another co-director, David Schmidt, began work on 'The American Revolution' before Trump's first term. But by the time the documentary airs nearly a year into Trump's second term, viewers might notice some uncanny parallels and contrasts. America's failed invasion of Canada, which Americans had hoped to make the 14th colony, mirrors Trump's desire to make Canada the 51st state.
And, of course, there is the contentious path to the creation of the U.S. Constitution and its staunch belief in the separation of powers and the momentous choice by George Washington, the first president, to step aside after two terms to discourage authoritarianism.
'(The founders) were reverse engineering every possible bad scenario to try to design a system that will prevent that,' Burns said. 'In fact, Jefferson writes to Madison, when he's stuck in Paris while they're writing the Constitution, and he says, 'What if someone should lose an election and pretend false votes and reap the world? ''
Citing a quote from 18th-century revolutionary Thomas Paine, paraphrased as 'in order to be free you must will it,' Burns ended by suggesting that as Trump advances his agenda and simple policies become complex actions, Americans might rediscover their freedom gene.
'There's this real moment where you see, all of a sudden, these arguments about British rights are coming down to natural rights,' Burns said of the Founding Fathers' debates in the documentary. 'The evolution of that is the very same thing that will get us out of this predicament.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fox News
14 minutes ago
- Fox News
Wave Of Fear As Hawaii Has Overnight Tsunami Scare, Plus What Really Happened To Jimmy Hoffa? (ft. Eric Shawn & Sean 'Sticks' Larkin)
Story #1: Will shares about his sleepless night as a potential tsunami threatened Hawaii and his family still vacationing there. Plus, Will gives his 'Quick Takes' on Senator Josh Hawley (R-CA) advocating for tariff rebates, the concerns over European heat wave death tolls, and the new legal synthetic drug scare, 7-OH. Story #2: Host of 'Riddle: The Search for James R. Hoffa' on FOX Nation and Podcast, Eric Shawn, joins Will from the parking lot where Jimmy Hoffa went missing to discuss one of the greatest mysteries in American history. Shawn brings the answers you're looking for 50 years after Hoffa's disappearance. Story #3: Host of 'CrimeCam 24/7' on FOX Nation & Retired Tulsa Police Officer, Sean 'Sticks' Larkin catches you up on the new season of 'Crime Cam 24/7,' and gives you an inside look at America's crime crisis and how citizens can fight back. Subscribe to 'Will Cain Country' on YouTube here: Watch Will Cain Country! Follow Will on X: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

USA Today
16 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump to add 25% tariff to Indian imports. Which everyday goods could be impacted?
President Donald Trump announced the United States will impose a 25% tariff on Indian goods starting Aug. 1, after months of negotiations over a limited trade agreement between the two nations appeared to fall through. Trump announced the new tariff in a post on his social media app Truth Social on July 30, two days before a bevy of increased reciprocal tariffs will go into effect for dozens of nations on Aug. 1. These new import levies come amid an existing baseline tariff of 10%, and Trump warned this week that most trading partners that do not negotiate separate trade deals could soon face new baseline tariffs of 15% to 20%. India, the world's fifth-largest economy, relies significantly on the U.S., counting it as its top trading partner in 2024, though China is close on its heels by a small margin. Learn more: President Trump announces 25% tariff on imports from India Indian goods exports to the U.S. totaled $87 billion in 2024, with pharmaceuticals and jewelry among its top product types, followed by petrochemicals and textiles. Separately, services exports, mainly IT and professional services, were worth $33 billion last year. The U.S. is India's third-largest investor, and currently has a $45.7 billion trade deficit with the South Asian nation. Here are some of the products the U.S. relies on most from India, according to data from the U.S. International Trade Commission: Pharmaceuticals The U.S. accounts for nearly a third of India's pharmaceutical exports, mainly cheaper versions of popular drugs, Reuters reports, with sales jumping 16% to about $9 billion last fiscal year. Among the dozens of types of medications the U.S. imports from India, a few classifications make up a significant share. They are items like wadding, gauze and bandages; antineoplastic and immunosuppressive medications, including those used to treat cancers; and analgesics, antipyretics and nonhormonal anti-inflammatory agents, such as pain relievers and medications used to reduce fevers. Smartphones Though China and Vietnam were responsible for more than half of phones sent to the U.S. last year, India also produces a significant share, and looks to be gaining a firmer foothold in the market. According to a new report, India has overtaken China in the last few months as the top exporter of smartphones to the U.S., following Apple's pivot to center manufacturing in New Delhi amid tariff concerns. The share of U.S. smartphone shipments assembled in China fell from 61% to 25% over the past year, the research firm Canalys said, with India picking up most of the decline and increasing its smartphone volume by 240% roughly within the same time frame. More: Trump's trade talks intensify with tariff deadline fast approaching Jewelry and precious stones Next to pharmaceuticals, jewelry and precious stones are among India's top products exported to American consumers. More than 30% of India's gems and jewelry exports go to the U.S., accounting for about $10 billion in annual trade in an industry that topped $30 billion in India in the 2023/2024 fiscal year. These goods include unmounted or unset diamonds, precious metal jewelry and jewelry clad with precious metal − such as pieces plated with gold or silver. Home linens India is among the top countries responsible for imported home linens in the U.S., representing 36% of nearly $6 billion in imports, according to a New York Times analysis of government data. These products include bathroom and kitchen linen made of terrycloth or cotton, along with bed and table linens. India is also a leader in some types of imported clothing, such as activewear, shirts, baby clothes and suits. According to the Yale Budget Lab, the tariff hikes so far have disproportionately affected clothing and textiles, with consumers facing up to 39% higher shoe prices and 37% higher apparel prices in the short run. Other products The U.S. also relies on Indian imports of frozen shrimp and prawns, petroleum oils such as transformer oil and motor fuel, semiconductor technologies like solar panels and certain types of electrical machinery and parts. Contributing: Reuters. Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@ and on X @KathrynPlmr.


Boston Globe
16 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Bessent says new Trump child savings accounts are ‘back door for privatizing Social Security'
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Bessent's remarks. The idea of privatizing Social Security has been raised, and abandoned, by Republicans before, as millions of Americans have come to rely on the certainty of the federal government providing monthly checks in old age. Privatization proposals would shift the responsibility for retirement funds away from the government onto Americans, through personal savings accounts that may or may not be enough to live on. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Under the GOP's 'big, beautiful bill,' as the law is called, Republicans launched a new children's savings program, Trump Accounts, which can be created for babies born in the U.S. and come with a potential $1,000 deposit from the Treasury. Advertisement Much like an individual retirement account, the Trump Accounts can grow over time, with a post-tax contribution limit of $5,000 a year, and are expected to be treated similarly to the rules for an IRA, and can eventually be tapped for distribution in adulthood. Advertisement But Bessent on Wednesday allowed for another rationale for the accounts, suggesting they could eventually be the way Americans save for retirement. 'In a way, it is a back door for privatizing Social Security,' Bessent said while speaking about the program. Ever since the George W. Bush administration considered proposals to privatize Social Security more than 20 years ago, Republicans have publicly moved away from talking about the issue that proved politically unpopular and was swiftly abandoned. In the run-up to the 2006 midterms, Democrats capitalized on GOP plans to privatize Social Security, warning it would decimate the program that millions of Americans have come to rely on in older age. They won back control of both the House and the Senate in Congress. The Democrats warned Wednesday that Bessent's comments showed that Republicans want to shift the government-run program to a private one and are again trying to dismantle the retirement program that millions of Americans depend on. 'Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just said the quiet part out loud: The administration is scheming to privatize Social Security,' Tim Hogan, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement. 'It wasn't enough to kick millions of people off their health care and take food away from hungry kids. Trump is now coming after American seniors with a 'backdoor' scam to take away the benefits they earned,' Hogan said. The program has faced dire financial projections for decades, but changes have long been politically unpopular. Social Security's trust funds, which cover old age and disability recipients, will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2034, according to the most recent report from the programs trustees. Advertisement Those officials have said those findings underline the urgency of making changes to programs. Trump, attuned to Social Security's popularity, has repeatedly said he would protect it. Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly said he would 'always protect Social Security' and said his Democratic opponents, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, would destroy the program. During the 2024 presidential primary campaign, he also accused other Republicans who have expressed support for raising the age for Social Security of being threats to the program. Trump said in an interview with NBC's 'Meet the Press' in December after he won the presidential election, 'We're not touching Social Security, other than we might make it more efficient.' His White House this year said Trump 'will always protect Social Security.' Social Security Agency Commissioner Frank Bisignano, a Wall Street veteran, was asked at his confirmation hearing in March about whether Social Security should be privatized and said he'd 'never heard a word of it' and 'never thought about it.'