by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Flashpoints USA was a quarterly PBS public-affairs series, focusing on one major issue per show, raising many provocative questions but seldom providing pat answers. The opener concerned the uneasy balance between national security and civil liberties in the aftermath of 9/11, and was taped at Metro Airport in Detroit (the city with the nation's largest Arab-American population). Former CBS This Morning anchor Bryant Gumbel co-hosted with The NewsHour's Gwen Ifill. Produced by Washington, D.C., public station WETA, Flashpoints USA premiered on July 15, 2003.
