May 21, 2023 - PBS News Weekend full episode

JOHN YANG: Tonight on "PBS News Weekend," why being in tune with our body's internal clock and getting enough sleep are crucial for our health.

WOMAN: We're just learning more and more that a good night's sleep can help us stay healthy and well and live a good long life.

JOHN YANG: Then a new rapid DNA testing tool is helping police solve old crimes, but raising privacy concerns, and a look at the growing industry that's making memoir writing more accessible than ever.

(BREAK) JOHN YANG: Good evening.

I'm John Yang.

President Biden is on his way back to Washington tonight for what's shaping up to be a make or break week for getting a deal with Congress to raise the nation's debt limit and avoid default.

The President spoke by phone with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from Air Force One and the two agreed to meet in person tomorrow afternoon.

Before leaving the G7 summit in Japan, Mr. Biden said he could not guarantee that the nation wouldn't default if what he calls MAGA Republicans insist on spending cuts alone.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. President: It's time for Republicans to accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely, solely on their partisan terms.

They have to move as well.

I'm willing to cut spending, and I proposed cuts and spending of over a trillion dollars.

But, I believe we have to also look at the tax revenues.

JOHN YANG: McCarthy said his conversation with the President was productive.

But later, speaking to reporters in the Capitol, he said the two sides are still far apart on spending cuts.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, Speaker of the House: I think we can solve some of these problems if he understands what we're looking at.

But I've been very clear to him from the very beginning we have to spend less money than we spent last year.

JOHN YANG: Negotiators are to meet this evening at the Capitol to clarify the two sides positions.

And on the final day of the G7 summit, President Biden met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Mr. Biden pledged another $375 million in weapon and aid to Ukraine.

Mr. Zelenskyy assured the President that Ukraine would never use us made F-16 fighter jets to attack Russian territory.

In Ukraine there are competing claims about the control of the eastern city of Bakhmut, the scene of the wars deadliest battle.

Russia says its forces have taken the city.

Ukraine says the battle for control was still going on.

And a shooting at a Kansas City, Missouri bar overnight left three people dead and two others wounded.

In New Orleans, a pair of apparently related shootings last night left to dead and two injured.

The Gun Violence Archive says there have been 232 incidents so far this year where four or more people have been shocked.

Still to come on "PBS News Weekend," the business of making memoir writing accessible for all and the story of the first Asian American elected to Congress.

(BREAK) JOHN YANG: Getting a good night's sleep is easier said than done.

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 50 to 70 million Americans struggle with chronic sleep disorders.

We all have a 24-hour internal clock in our brains a circadian rhythm.

It regulates when we feel alert and when we feel sleepy.

It also fosters other physical mental and behavioral changes, for example, what time of day you'll have the quickest reaction time, or the most muscle strength, or when the body releases melatonin to prepare for sleep.

New research suggests that this near musical timing of the human body is crucial.

Dr. Jennifer Martin is a professor at the UCLA Medical School and president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Dr. Martin, what are we learning?

Or what have we learned?

Or what are we learning now about the relationship between sleep and overall health?

JENNIFER MARTIN, American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Well, it turns out that just about any aspect of health that we might consider is affected by how we sleep, how healthy our heart is, our mental health, our physical well-being or ability to manage our weight and make healthy food choices, our immune system, our brain, as science evolves, we're just learning more and more about why those changes are occurring.

And the promise really, that a good night's sleep can help us stay healthy and well, and live a good long life.

JOHN YANG: And it sounds like it's not just short term, that if you get a good night's sleep, you're going to feel better next day, and that in the short term, but also in the long term, there are health benefits?

JENNIFER MARTIN: Chronically, if someone isn't getting enough sleep, we see permanent changes in things like their metabolism, their blood pressure.

And again, most of these things are reversible if you take care of your sleep over time, but a lot of folks because of their work or personal life commitments, you know, insufficient or poor sleep becomes a chronic problem.

JOHN YANG: We talked about their circadian rhythm, sort of regulating sleep and an alertness.

How do you explain that there are people who do better in the morning than others?

There are people who do better at night than others.

Is that genetic is that environmental?

JENNIFER MARTIN: Some really smart scientists started noticing that night owls tend to be in in the same family and mourning people tend to be in the same family.

So this is very much genetically determined.

Most people are somewhere in the middle.

So their internal clock is a little bit flexible.

But there is a small percentage of people who are at the extremes of no matter what they do, they really can't shift the timing of their sleep earlier or later, no matter how hard they try.

JOHN YANG: We talked earlier about the people who have chronic sleep disorders, what are the most common and also has it changed over time?

JENNIFER MARTIN: Yes, so the two most common sleep disorders in the United States right now are obstructive sleep apnea, which is a disorder where people have a hard time breathing while they're asleep.

And the rates of sleep apnea very closely parallels rates of people being overweight or obese in the United States.

That's a major cause of obstructive sleep apnea.

The second most common sleep disorder is insomnia disorder.

So that's a condition where people have a hard time sleeping, more nights than not this goes on for months or years.

And no matter what they do, no matter how hard they try, they just can't sleep well or sleep enough.

JOHN YANG: Do you see disparities over these sleep disorders?

by gender, by race by socioeconomic status?

JENNIFER MARTIN: Yes, there are systematic differences.

So, obstructive sleep apnea is more common in men than in women.

And as women get older, it's more common in older women than younger women.

Insomnia disorder is more common in women than men.

And both of these sleep disorders are more common in communities that experience socio economic disparities in low income communities.

Communities, from a number of racial and ethnic minority groups also experienced higher rates of both insomnia and sleep apnea.

JOHN YANG: If someone were to come to you and say that they have trouble getting a good night's sleep, what's your advice?

JENNIFER MARTIN: Well, there are a few basic things for somebody who's struggling, the most important thing is to reach out to a health care provider, explain what's going on and ask for help.

I think for most people, a few basic, healthy sleep habits can be really important.

Number one, just making sleep a priority.

We all think about diet and exercise is important things we do to maintain our health.

I think sleep should be right up there with those two.

JOHN YANG: Are there things that can be done on a government bases to help people get better sleep?

JENNIFER MARTIN: One is I live in the state of California, which has a law requiring high schools to start at 8:30 or later, Florida just passed a very similar law.

And this really honors what happens to that circadian rhythm for teenagers, which is that they biologically shift to become more night owls.

So, I recently read something that was making the comment that asking a teenager to be at school at 7:00 the morning is like asking their teacher to show up at 4:30.

There's another kind of interesting debate going on right now about Daylight Savings Time.

Daylight Savings Time is a great name, but the truth is it doesn't change the sun going up and down on the horizon.

It just changes the clock on the wall.

And we know that in terms of health benefits, standard time is more aligned with our internal clocks.

JOHN YANG: You mentioned students and schools starting times.

What about in adults, workers who have to work the overnight shift?

JENNIFER MARTIN: Yes, I see a fair number of patients who struggle because even when they come home at the end of their shift, they have a hard time sleeping during the day because again, we are naturally built.

Our circadian clock tells us to be awake when the sun is out.

So when I work with folks who have to work overnight shifts, we try really hard to make sure we can protect their sleep time during the day and come up with a plan so that they don't feel like they have constant jetlag between the days that they're working in the days that they're not.

JOHN YANG: Dr. Jennifer Martin from the UCLA Medical School.

Thank you very much.

JENNIFER MARTIN: Thank you very much for your interest.

JOHN YANG: Louisiana police have a new way of using DNA to track down criminal suspects.

As Stephanie Sy reports, police say it's a boon for solving cold cases.

But civil liberties advocates say they're worried about privacy.

STEPHANIE SY: Once a person is arrested, police can swab their cheek and within 90 minutes the machine can determine if that person is connected to other crimes anywhere in the country.

Police say it's already quickly solving cold cases.

But privacy advocates worry about its growth and potential for improper use.

Our community's correspondent Roby Chavez has been looking into how Louisiana came to be the national leader in this rapid DNA technology.

Robbie, it's good to see you.

So how does this new tool work?

ROBY CHAVEZ: Well, look, the rapid DNA machine does the work of crime labs in a fraction of the amount of time in less than two hours.

There's no human interaction with a DNA sample, once it is loaded into the machine.

And the sample doesn't have to be sent off to a lab for technicians to examine.

It's all done right there in the police station by police officers.

It's very compact, and comes about the size of a desktop computer.

But it does come with a hefty price about $250,000 for each machine, and each sample can cause about $150.

But that price tag should help police identify a suspect a lot faster and lessen the likelihood that people want it for other crimes will be released.

It's also expected to cut down on the backlogs that are slowing down crime labs.

STEPHANIE SY: So Roby, how effective has it been at solving crime since this technology has been put into use?

And is the state expected to adopt this technology widely?

ROBY CHAVEZ: Yes, well, look, Louisiana has been using that technology since August.

It's already outperformed expectations.

Recently it's solved a crime and some 500 miles away in Georgia.

It also helped solve a police shooting which remained unsolved for the last two years.

The state does hope to have four of these machines fully operational across the state by the end of the year, including in big cities like here in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

STEPHANIE SY: What are the privacy implications and other concerns that have been brought up with this technology?

And is this the kind of thing that can hold up in a court of law?

ROBY CHAVEZ: Well, look, Stephanie, In the past, the U.S. Supreme Court has said that DNA collection is a legitimate police booking procedure.

Even so there is some backlash largely over how technology could be misused.

Rapid DNA came online fairly quickly after Congress approved a rapid DNA program in 2017, which led to the first two month pilot program in Louisiana, Florida, Arizona and Texas.

Louisiana is now the only state authorized to continue using the rapid DNA program.

Critics also warned that the rollout comes without adequate oversight.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit focused on digital privacy concerns, warns that there are a few protections for Americans right now, when it comes to DNA collection.

And rapid DNA encourages the growth of government databases.

The ACLU warns there are already racial disparities in DNA collection, which could be made worse by the practice.

For its part, the FBI says there are strict standards and protocols in place.

In fact, they can impose fines on police agencies, if they find that they're misusing this technology.

In addition, there are two audits that are required by law each year.

That has to be conducted by the FBI as well as the Louisiana State Police.

STEPNANIE SY: Is this something that you hear a lot of other states are interested in in obtaining other police departments interested in having this tool at their disposal?

ROBY CHAVEZ: Well, look, the FBI says that they can scale up at any time.

The big problem is the cost.

It does cost a lot of money and a lot of states don't have the technology infrastructure in place on top of that the laws are a problem, only about 20 states outlined here in blue currently allowed DNA to be collected at the time of booking.

Even still, many of these laws differ when a sample can be taken.

Most states seen in red here do not allow DNA collection until there is probable cause or not at all, which makes them poor candidates for the FBI program.

Now, I should mention that there are other rapid DNA machines that are marketed and used by police agencies across the country for various uses, including examining data collected from crime scenes examining DNA collected at crime scenes.

The FBI warns that this technology at crime scenes is not fully developed, and there are several improvements that are necessary.

In the meantime, privacy advocates say that if the government curtail some of the funding, it would slow the growth of these DNA databases.

STEPHANIE SY: Certainly something to keep our eyes on our communities correspondent out of New Orleans, Roby Chavez, thank you for your reporting.

ROBY CHAVEZ: You're welcome.

JOHN YANG: What is our legacy?

What do we leave behind after we're gone?

During the pandemic, many of us pondered these sorts of questions.

Now, more and more people are writing their stories passing on legacy -- legacies in the form of memoirs, as Jeffrey Brown tells us, these books, once reserved for the famous are now more accessible than ever.

JEFFREY BROWN: Deborah Rugg sure she had a story to tell, or work on pandemics for the United Nations and the Centers for Disease Control, had taken her around the world over four decades.

DEBORAH RUGG, Author, "Navigating Change": They realized, like others have said and Kirk Guard said, You must live life going forward.

But you really can only understand it looking backwards.

JEFFREY BROWN: What did you have in mind as readers?

DEBORAH RUGG: My primary audience, I'd have to say were the young women that I was meeting in my career who's so identified with the struggles and the trials, and I'd been through, because I think young women often struggle to balance family and I had two daughters and career and, and self-confidence.

And so I wanted to -- I wanted to share my lessons.

JEFFREY BROWN: In the 69-year-old semi-retiree also had her own family in mind, hoping to preserve that legacy as well.

She often walked the paths near home outside San Francisco, both for inspiration and when writer's block struck.

DEBORAH RUGG: I've written hundreds of scientific articles and government reports for the UN or the CDC.

And you always have to prove and have evidence for everything you write.

So it was really hard for me to do creative nonfiction to write this way.

I was second guessing, saying what's my evidence for this?

Is this a value of am I advancing knowledge in some way.

JEFFREY BROWN: In the end, Rugg turn to the company StoryTerrace to get her book across the finish line.

DEBORAH RUGG: I'd already written a memoir, it was too long, they could help me polish how to cut it in half, how to make it more readable.

And then more importantly, for me, I wanted to get it done.

I wanted to hardcopy book, you know, I wanted this book in my hands.

RUTGER BRUINING, Founder And CEO, StoryTerrace: We want to make it easy to collaborate with your writer and your editor.

JEFFREY BROWN: Rutger Bruining came up with the idea for StoryTerrace nearly a decade ago, for a very personal reason.

RUTGER BRUINING: My grandfather used to tell me lots of stories about the Second World War where he set up a small resistance group in the Netherlands.

But after he passed away, those stories faded much quicker than I expected.

So ever since that happened, I've been thinking around why we lose the stories of the people we care about.

JEFFREY BROWN: StoryTerrace is just one in a proliferation of memoir writing services, now available in a wide spectrum of formats and price points from full ghostwriting costing upwards of $30,000 Tot editorial help.

MAN: Everyone has a story worth sharing.

JEFFREY BROWN: To services like story worth, which were $100 emails prompt questions once a week for a year.

JAMES HAGGERTY, Wall Street Journal: People realize that this is one gift they can give to their family that nobody else can get.

JEFFREY BROWN: James Haggerty knows a thing or two about telling people's stories.

He's an obituary writer for The Wall Street Journal.

JAMES HAGGERTY: I did a story about a woman who lived 115 and she could tell me more about Warren G. Harding that she could have bought Donald Trump.

She had a fascinating story to tell.

She nobody had ever heard of her.

But when I wrote her obituary, it was one of the most popular things I've ever written, which kind of underlying for me that you don't have to be famous to have a good story to tell.

JEFFREY BROWN: And technology is helping open the door to a much wider group of people.

JAMES HAGGERTY: These apps make it easier for a lot of people to do what would be kind of a daunting task if you had to sit down with an old fashioned typewriter or something and think of every being on your own.

JEFFREY BROWN: Gail Trecosta of LifeTime Memoirs and other writing service says the interviewers they hire are integral to the writing process helping unlock stories.

GAIL TRECOSTA, Recruiter, LifeTime Memoir: For not everyone is a natural storyteller.

Not everyone, as they're telling their story recognizes the parts of that story that might be very interesting.

Not everyone is thinking in terms of how will this story make sense 100 years from now, what part is missing?

So that interviewer needs to be very tuned in with what will make that story.

MANISHA MACKSOOD, Interviewer, LifeTime Memoirs: I believe listening to people's stories is a way to intertwine your life with others and get that human connection.

You proposed to Katherine JEFFREY BROWN: monition Maqsood is one of the company's many interviewers.

MANISHA MACKSOOD: I really believe that it doesn't matter where you come from, or what kind of background you have.

There's a story and someone can learn from it, and someone can be inspired from it, and you have something to share.

DEBORAH RUGG: My hope in writing this book is that you will gain insights from my successes and failures and see that one woman truly can make a difference in this world.

And so can you.

And many of the places I worked throughout my career, I was also the only woman or one of just a few.

My position as a relative outsider sometimes taught me to be creative and strategic.

I gained the wisdom to realize when I'd reached a dead end, which enabled me to back away and had an different, more fruitful direction.

Most of all, I learned that a motivated individual could make a lasting impact in this world.

JEFFREY BROWN: It took her four years but Deborah Rugg finally finished and published her memoir, Navigating Change in 2022.

She dedicated it to her daughters and grandsons.

For PBS News Weekend, I'm Jeffrey Brown.

JOHN YANG: Now the next installment of our Hidden History series for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we spotlight a political trailblazer for Asian Americans.

DALIP SINGH SAUND, Former U.S. Representative: This is your Congressman Dalip Singh Saund, reporting from the nation's capital.

JOHN YANG: He gave a voice to Asian Americans who had no one to represent them.

Dalip Singh Saund was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1956 from California's Imperial Valley.

He was the first Indian American and the first person of any Asian descent in Congress.

He broke barriers at the height of the Cold War at a time of American racial and societal upheaval.

MAN: Picketing the school they clashed with the police.

JOHN YANG: Saund was born in 1899 in the north Indian province of Punjab at the time under British rule, inspired by two pillars in the struggle for freedom and equality, Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln.

Saund came to the United States to study at the University of California Berkeley, where he earned a masters and a PhD in mathematics.

He wanted to be a teacher but couldn't find a job because he wasn't a naturalized U.S. citizen, a status federal law reserved only for white immigrants.

Instead, he became a farmer in Southern California.

His campaign for an end to the restrictions on citizenship led to President Harry Truman signing a 1946 law that allowed Indian and Filipino immigrants to become Americans.

DALIP SINGH SAUND: We worked hard at it.

Sometimes people said one time a man told me he said, Doc, you're crazy.

How can you expect a bill like that to be passed for the benefit of $2,000 poor Hindus?

I said, I have faith in the American sense of justice and fair play and I'm going to work and it paid off.

JOHN YANG: All the years sawn farmed, he maintained his keen interest in U.S. politics.

After gaining U.S. citizenship in 1949, he realized his ambition of running for office and was elected in 1950 to be a local justice of the peace.

A Democrat, he was elected to Congress in 1956, defeating primary and general election opponents who both made an issue of his foreign born status.

He built a record of championing the farmers of Southern California and immigrant's rights.

As a first term member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Saund returned to India after nearly four decades away.

He fostered stronger relations between India the world's largest democracy, and the United States.

The world's oldest.

While running for a fourth term in 1962, Saund suffered a massive stroke.

He stayed in the race even winning the Democratic primary but lost the general election.

He died in 1973 after a second stroke.

His legacy is summed up by the words beneath his portrait hanging in the Capitol.

There is no room in the United States of America for second class citizenship.

Now online in the wake of recent bank failures, experts explain the financial protections keeping your personal savings safe.

All that and more is on our website pbs.org/news hour.

And that is PBS News Weekend for this Sunday.

I'm John Yang.

For all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us.

Have a good week.