>> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: u.s. officials said today that a navy guided-missile destroyer capable of shooting down ballistic missiles has been positioned slightly closer to the korean peninsula. this comes in the wake of an escalating verbal exchange between north and south korea, and a day after top north korean officials said building nuclear capabilities was one of its top priorities. in seoul today, north korean president issued a stern

warning. during a meeting with the country's defense officials. >> 's any provocation against south korea and its people there should be strong response without any political consideration. >> warner: over the weekend north korea said it had entered a state of war with south korea. the latest threat from pyongyang since the united nations slapped sanctions on the country's nuclear program last month. north korea said the most recent move is in response to ongoing joint military exercises between the south and the united states. the u.s. announced it has sent f22 stealth fighter jets to the region as part of the annual war games. today north korean state television also released new video of military training exercises. it showed soldiers at a firing range, shooting at targets with the letters usa on them.

in washington white house press secretary jay carney downplayed the statements by the north. >> despite the harsh rhetoric we're hearing from pyongyang, we are not seeing changes to the north korean military posture such as large-scale mobilizations and positioning of forces. now we take this seriously. i said that in the past. and we are vigilant and we are monitoring the korean situation very diligently. >> woodruff: yesterday north korean leader met with members of the country's labor party and said building nuclear capabilities and the economy were top priorities. today during a parliamentary session, the country was appointed a new premiere, a position he held previously from 2003 to 2007. the move is seen as one that may be tied to kim's call for economic improvements. the united nations says two thirds of north koreans suffer

from inadequate food. two former korea intelligence analysts weigh in. robert carlin had a 31-year career at the c.i.a. and state department. he was involved in u.s.-north korea negotiations, and traveled to north korea 25 times. he's now a visiting fellow at stanford university. and bruce klingner spent 20 years at the c.i.a., where he served as the deputy chief for korea. he's now a senior research fellow at the heritage foundation. gentlemen, welcome to the newshour. bruce klingner, to you first. how would you describe the state of relations right now between the north and the south and the u.s.? >> they're very strained. we've had five years of very strained relations under the previous president as he did not continue the unconditional provision of benefits to north korea that his two predecessors had done. north korea increased the rhetoric, increased the threats during his administration we've seen no change in the threat level since the new north korean

leader came and the new south korean president. >> woodruff: robert carlin, have strained? >> i think the rhetoric is at a high level. i would hope that the events over the past couple of days in north korea would provide an opportunity for us to lower the temperature a little bit. we had some pretty important developments in terms of policy and personnel from the north koreans over the last two days. i think we should step back. >> woodruff: what are you referring to? >> i'm referring to the lower profile that the military now has in the top-level leadership in north korea. i'm referring to something that the north koreans... they don't use this term, but i will. it's the nuclear dividends. it's the ability... now that they have nuclear weapons they say to divert more money for their civilian economy. and the question is, is there an opening there? that provides some llts of stability in that situation that we can use. >> woodruff: you mean because they feel more secure about their nuclear capability, they

then have the space to expand in the economic area. >> yes. woodruff: what about that mr. klingner, does that make sense? >> we can all be hopeful. we've been hoping for 20 years that north korea will implement economic reform. i remember 20 years ago state department predicted kim jong il was a bold economic reformer and we were on the cuss-of widespread economic reform. that hasn't happened. it hasn't happened under the new leader. the important new year's day editorial and the speech by him really was just a continuation of exhortations for a planned economy to build a socialist paradise. we haven't seen indications yet of economic reform. but more importantly we have seen no indications of political change or moderation of their foreign policy. >> woodruff: do you see concrete, robert car car lynne, examples of where the north may be heading in a reformist direction with regard to their economy or their politics? >> i hate to use the word reform because it stirs up all sorts of

impressions, different impressions in people's minds. the question is there going to be change in their economic policies? kim congress ewen indicated a year ago that he was going to begin town that path. he used the term they weren't going to have to tighten their belts anymore. i think he's continued that in his latest policy statements, and the new prime minister that he appointed strongly suggests that they're going to push ahead with that policy. it's not going to unfold in isolation, however. it's going to depend on how the outside world reacts to it. >> woodruff: disappoint... this appointment of the new premiere who was the premiere before, what do you see of significance there? >> i think we need to look at north korean actions. we've had times where we thought an official was a reformer in the past. it didn't lead to change in their economic policy. they've had sort of minor steps forward and then they were tracked from... they retract

from that. we can debate as we have for 20 years whether north korea will implement reform. we have to look important that another country implemented economic reform, china. that didn't lead to the predicted political reforms nor a moderation in their foreign security policy. so far i mean we have the announcement of this premiere and yet in the same meeting they affirm that they will never give up their nuclear weapons. they're not negotiable. they continue the threats against south korea and the united states. >> woodruff: robert car lynne, if you see the possibility of an opening or a moderation somehow, why then all this bellicose rhetoric from the north? the bellicose rhetoric is largely propaganda. and propaganda is, by its nature, rough, tough, bellicose, mean, ugly. we shouldn't get carried away, paying too much attention to the propaganda. i mean bruce just made the

point, we have to look at what they do not just what they say. and so it's sort of the clock starts now. the new premiere comes into office. what are the policies that they're going to pick up on? what are the interactions with the chinese going to be from now on? what are the new proposals that are going to come up with towards south korea? i suspect there will be some. >> woodruff: meantime, bruce klingner, the u.s. publicizing the fact that there are these joint military exercises with the south, the f22s, they're positioning this... i guess it's a... what is it? a c-based radar platform closer to the north. guided missile destroyer that we mentioned earlier. if the situation... if the u.s. thinks what the north is doing is what it's always... what it's done before as we heard the white house say today, why are the americans doing this? >> really we're sending a signal to both koreas. we're sending a signal to north korea that we will defend our

south korean ally. we have the capability to do so and we have the resolve to do so. we're also sending the same message to seoul which has begun the question u.s. capables and resolve particularly after the sequestration cuts and the previous cuts to the defense budget. deputy secretary of defense ashton carter was in the area to try to reassure our allies. but the cuts do impact our capabilities. >> woodruff: and does sending those sets of reassuring signals make sense at this point? >> we're right in the middle of a pretty bad situation. and if our allies think after all of these years they need more reassurance from us, then by all means we should give it to them. but we have to be careful not to be provocative about it towards the north koreans. >> woodruff: last question to both of you. what is the north capable of doing? >> they're capable of unleashing incredible destruction on south korea.

>> woodruff: the region? true. they have conventional forces. they've certainly used those in two acts of war in 2010. they've conducted acts of terror. they have a growing missile capability, a growing nuclear capability. certainly the obama administration has taken it seriously because they reversed their previous policy to cut missile defense interpret septemberors in alaska. they've put them back into the budget. >> woodruff: so far from the north it's just talk and the exercise... >> it's talk until it happens. we thought it was just talk before they sank a south korean ship in south korean waters. we thought it was just talk until they shelled a civilian island. it's always trying to discern the bluster from the threats. that's very difficult with north korea. >> woodruff: we will leave it there. bruce klingner, robert carlin, we thank you both. >> warner: still to come on the newshour, the manhunt for a killer in texas; the push for the death penalty in colorado; the campaign against domestic

violence in india; the state of the voucher movement; and facebook turning red. but first, the other news of the day, here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: a southwest virginia interstate reopened today after a massive pileup killed three people and injured dozens more. yesterday police officials said dense fog triggered 17 separate crashes along i-77 yesterday, all within the span of a mile. the chain reaction involved 95 vehicles in a notoriously foggy mountainous area near the north carolina border. the top court in india rejected a patent application from a swiss drug maker for a major cancer drug. the ruling means indian makers of generic drugs can keep on making copycat versions of the novartis drug in question, gleevec. it's been highly effective in treating some forms of leukemia. the decision sets a benchmark for intellectual property cases in india. novartis responded to today's decision by saying it will not invest in drug research there. calm returned to the streets of kisumu, kenya, today after a weekend of heavy rioting. the city is home to raila odinga, who narrowly lost the presidential race to uhuru

kenyatta. on saturday, the supreme court confirmed kenyatta was the winner of the march 4 election. that announcement angered odinga supporters, who set tires on fire and blocked major roads. police responded by firing tear gas at the rioters. kenyatta is expected to be sworn in on april 9. stocks edged lower on wall street today in a light day of trading. the dow jones industrial average lost more than five points to close above 14,572. the nasdaq fell 28 points to close at 3,239. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to margaret. >> warner: and to updates on two shootings, in texas, and in colorado. guards with semiautomatic weapons patrolled texas courthouses today, after kaufman county district attorney mike mclelland and his wife, cynthia, were murdered saturday night in their own home. it is the second shooting of a prosecutor in the small texas town this year, coming just two months after assistant district attorney mark hasse was shot dead outside the local courthouse on his way to work. i'm joined by bill zeeble.

he's covering the story for kera public radio in north texas. bill, welcome to the program. tell us what you can about the investigation. what trail of events, what possible links are authorities looking at and trying to get to the bottom of who killed mclelland and his wife? >> good to be here. authorities are looking at gangs like the aryan brotherhood, possibly other gangs because there seems to be a tie-in to these deaths. mark hasse, as you said, january 31. then almost two months later, district attorney mclelland and his wife at home. so they're looking at anybody who would have a reason to kill these law enforcement officials. vengeance might be one. you will find vengeful prisoners who might want to get these guys. within the aryan brotherhood there was a message, an email sent out from the u.s. marshals that said after an indictment last fall against members of the

aryan brotherhood that in december there was a warning that said they might be out to attack and punish law enforcement officials. from aryan brotherhood anyway punishment could be mean violence and death. so that's a possible link. it's not proven yet. >> warner: and so had assistant district attorney mark hasse or district attorney mclelland been involved in anyway in the furtherance of these indictments from last fall? >> well, the office of the district attorney in kaufman county was one of a broad range of affiliates involved with the racketeering indictment. but just one of many. mr. hasse wasn't directly involved in prosecutions regarding members of the aryan brotherhood. that was according to mike lend when he gave a press conference january 31. and then there was no direct

link from the sheriff who talked to reporters the other day, tying mr. mclelland to the aryan brotherhood direct link, but mike mclelland had said that members lived in and were involved in his community in kaufman county. so he knows they existed. >> warner: now what is exactly the aryan brotherhood of texas? what sorts of things are they accused of? >> well, they're largely prison-based. they date back to california in the 1960s so they've been around almost 50 years. it's a white supremacist group with a military-style set-up. with generals and other leaders. you're supposed to report to them. and you're not supposed to break any bond of loyalty at the risk of severe punishment or death. and they apparently make money

from illegal drugs and robbery and thiefry and all sorts of criminal activity. >> warner: and i understand that also investigators are looking at the killing of, speaking of prisons, prison chief in colorado just two weeks ago. what could be the link there? >> well, the link is the method. tom clements who is the chief of the prison system in colorado was shot at, at his front door. a knock on the door. opened it. he was shot by a former prison inmate from the colorado prison. then the other day, you know, the clements family or rather the mclelland family were shot in home. a knock on the door and then cynthia mclelland was shot. then a little further in the house, officials report that they shot mike mclelland. so a knock on the door and the shootings then occur.

so that's the common link. but the officials... law enforcement officials have not been able to connect the dots directly to say beyond superficial methods that there's a link. >> warner: bill zeeble in dallas, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> warner: and to our update on a second shooting. it involves a trial for the suspect in last summer's massacre at a movie theater in aurora, colorado. during a court hearing today, prosecutors said they'll seek the death penalty for james holmes in the attacks that killed 12 people and injured 58 others. the judge put off the start of the trial back to next february. carol mckinley is a freelance correspondent who has been in the courtroom. i spoke with her between court sessions earlier today. carol mckinley, thank you for being with us. tell us about what happened in court today. why did the prosecutor say he is going to go to trial and seek a death penalty and essentially rejecting the offer by the

defense to have a plea agreement here? >> well, this is a pretty conservative prosecutor. he just got voted in in november knowing that this was going to be his case. his name is george brockler. he looked over every statute. he met with 60 victims and relatives of victims who died. only the ones who died. also his office reached out to 800 of the people who were in theater 9 the night of july 20. from talking to all those people, he said he assessed his decision that justice is death. he feels like if anyone deserves the death penalty, it would be james holmes because most people believe that james holmes is the person who committed this act that early morning on a friday. >> warner: did he say anything about why he did not entertain the defense's offer to plead guilty to this crime in return for life in prison without

parole? >> well, he believes that what the defense was doing was posturing. he believes that they were just trying to stall for time so that they can keep their client alive because basically that's what they want. that is their m.o., and that's what they're going to do is throw as many motions out there as they can to keep james holmes from, you know, being killed basically by the government. and what brockler said is that if he takes the offer of guilty in exchange for life, the door would be closed. by going for the death penalty, he can change his mind now if he wants to, so he feels like he has much more to, you know, to work with if he goes for death. >> warner: what was the reaction in the courtroom? >> well, in the courtroom there were quite a few victims' families and people who were injured who were crying. very upset.

maybe not because they were sad for james holmes, maybe because they were sad for their loved one. one woman ran down the hall in tears. there were people who defiantly looked at the press because they were trying to send a message, "this is what i believe too." in fact, one of the friends of alex sullivan who died in theater 9 that night said, "i want to be in the front row if james holmes is executed i'm all for this even if there's pain involved." >> warner: what can you tell us or what do you know about what the defense intends to do now in terms of imlornt, for instance, to file an insanity defense? >> they probably will. they'll probably change their plea from guilty and the deal that they tried to make to not guilty by reason of insanity. there will be motion after motion. they have hundreds of pages of discovery. there were thousands of detectives and police officers who were involved in this. they need to talk to all of them. they wanted... them didn't want this trial to start until the fall of 2014.

now the trial is going to start february 3 of 2014. so a year-and-a-half from when, you know, the people were killed. so we're looking at just a little bit of less than a year from now. but i think what they're going to do is file every motion they can. >> warner: in every state... every state is different in terms of capital crimes. in colorado how much harder is it to convict someone and get the death sentence than simply to win a conviction? >> you know, it's hard to say. the last time we had anyone executed in the state of colorado was in 1997. november, a guy named gary davis. we just had a huge issue in our state legislature where the democrats brought forward an idea to abolish the death penalty. knowing that james holmes was likely going to go to trial soon, that idea was repealed. so we still have our death penalty but it's been up in the air. at this time we have three people on death row. one of those people has been on death row for a couple of decades.

so it takes a long time. it's very hard to do here. >> warner: finally an insanity defense. again, every state is a little different in terms of what the standard is. what does the defense have to demonstrate to get him declared not guilty by reason of insanity? >> you know, they're going to have to show that he was spiraling, that they're going to have to call witnesses who saw him in spiral which could be people he was in school with. maybe his professors. maybe his family. and they're going to have to show his communications, things that were in his computer. was he holed up in his apartment in the dark by himself as he spiraled down? they're going to need to bring in his psychiatrist. the one from the university of colorado lynn fenton who we've heard so much about. they're also going to have to go down to the state hospital and have him diagnosed. they've said they've hinted that he's schizophrenic. and the prosecution says, yeah, maybe he's mentally ill but he meant to do this and he planned

it. he knew what he was doing. >> warner: as the judge said today, this trial is going to last a very long time. carol mckinley, thank you very much. >> thanks. >> woodruff: now, an awakening in india to the problem of violence against women. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has a report, part of our agents for change series. and a warning: some scenes in his story are disturbing. reporter: outrage against a barbaric crime. >> sreenivasan: it used to be socially taboo to talk about rape or sexual assault in india. now it's in the news almost daily.

>> people really, really are very angry. >> sreenivasan: dr. ranjana kumari heads the delhi-based center for social research, which advocates on a number of women issues. the incident dominated the headlines and touched a nerve across this vast country. >> we saw so much >> we saw so much of brutality, six men brutalizing this girl beyond anybody's imagination-- and here is this system, which did not respond. >> sreenivasan: national crime records show a woman in india is raped every 20 minutes. kumari says perhaps one in ten cases of rape is actually reported, with minimal consequence. >> look, there are 95,000 cases of rape pending at different levels of the court system. we know that seven to nine years it takes to get a conviction. three out of four perpetrators just go scot-free. >> sreenivasan: the criminal justice system is beholden to corrupt political leaders, says

kiran bedi. she was one of the country's top police officials before retiring three years ago. >> if you are a nobody, then the law is heavy on you. but if you're somebody, then the law is very alert, very selective on you. >> sreenivasan: not only are politicians indifferent toward violence against women, she says, but dozens of themselves accused of crimes and yet unpunished. >> yet they go on as being members of the sitting members of the legislative assemblies and the parliament. they're sitting members. it's a clear violation of their oath. >> sreenivasan: and some of them are actually accused and charged with sexual crimes against women? >> as i said, yes, of course! >> sreenivasan: uma vangal says a culture of indifference or even acceptance of violence against women is reinforced in india's influential cinema. vangal is a professor of film in the southern city of chennai. she showed me one scene from a movie in the regional tamil language. it was an elaborately

choreographed rape. >> she's pleading, says, "okay, i said something, i humiliated you in public, but can we forget about it?" >> sreenivasan: the film's hero-- as male leads are called-- has been spurned by his prospective bride. the marriage had been arranged by their families, according to the local tradition. >> look at this. look at the insensitive way it's been handled. you don't know whether to laugh or whether take it seriously. but the audience obviously accepted the argument that it's all right to rape a woman if you want to prove your masculinity. >> sreenivasan: in fact, this film was such a hit, she says it is now being remade in bollywood, whose hindi-speaking audience is many times larger. rape scenes may be the extreme. but the typical box office- tested plot often reinforces male behavior that is commonplace on the street. >> catcalls, comments, sometimes rude gestures, sometimes actually feeling up, everything. and any woman who ventures out

is subject to some kind of harassment, but they don't perceive it as harassment. the men don't see it as harassment. they see it as harmless fun. reporter: either that or invariably there's a hero in the wings to do right by the wrong woman. >> the main hero in cinema, it's all about that. >> sreenivasan: at least one group is trying to use to power of the media to shift attitudes about violence against women. it's used broadcast spots like this one since 2008. >> when you hear "domestic

abuse," it suggests "ring the bell." >> it was a concept to really, if metaphorically looked at, that "let's ring the bell and break the silence." but very interestingly, people took it literally. >> sreenivasan: the campaign has been taken beyond india to pakistan, china, even a cable system in atlanta, georgia. this is a simple step but a very effective one. >> sreenivasan: recently it launched a global anti-violence campaign. u.n. general secretary ban ki moon was among those helping out. the group also studied the impact of its work in two local areas in india. >> they did not feel confident to go out of the household, to complain to either an n.g.o. or to some legal officer, seek counseling. but, post the campaign, there was a lot of difference in terms of women actually exhibiting confidence in going out, men and communities recognizing that it is fine for women to go out and complain, and they don't need to resolve it only in the marital or, you know, the natal family space.

>> sreenivasan: but there are few places women can go to assert their rights. the center for social research offers crisis counseling and intervention for victims of violence in four locations in the capital. sangita, a 32-year-old mother of three boys, presents a classic case. >> how are things now? do you want to give him a second chance? >> sreenivasan: sangita was married when she was 15, and her family gave a large dowry to her in-laws, even though both dowry and marriage before age 18 are illegal. her husband's escalating abuse landed her in a hospital. that's where she learned she could get help at the center. >> when i look at the kids, i really want to make things work. >> i've been married for 18 years and my children are 15, 13 and 11. i just want a future in which my children are well provided for

and grow up in a good family. >> sreenivasan: this center has helped her get a protective court order that has stopped the abuse, she says. it's a limited service available to a tiny number of women. but there's hope that sustained coverage of violence against women following the december rape, the public outrage, which saw more young men in the streets may just signal a new sensitivity and accountability. >> reporter: stiffened the penalties for sexual assault. one university even announced a quota of admission slots for victims of sexual harassment and human trafficking. >> actually it's really sad that we needed a moment like this to shake things up because we've been talking about mind set change, getting men engaged talking about all this for a while now.

and then this tragedy just sort of shook everyone out of their complacency and then got everyone into the arena, as it were. but it's very easy to slip back. we as women's groups are also very active and pushing, so we really want to make sure as breakthrough, that the conversation doesn't drop. >> sreenivasan: that's not likely to happen for the next few months, anyway, as the trial of five men charged in december's gang rape in delhi gets under way. >> woodruff: fred's reporting is a partnership with the under- told stories project at st. marys university in minnesota. >> warner: now, the debate over vouchers and school choice is heating up anew in some states. the latest: last week the indiana supreme court upheld a 2011 state law allowing tax funds to be used for private schools through tuition vouchers. we turn again to hari for that story. >> sreenivasan: ahead of last week, the republican governor

rallied students and parents at the state legislature in indianapolis in support of the voucher program. in 2011 education correspondent visited indiana soon after the law passed and found passions still strong on both sides. then state superintendent tony bennett was the driving force behind the republican-led choice movement. >> what this has done, it has allowed and the statistics are bearing it, it is allowing families the opportunity to pursue prosperity for their children. >> sreenivasan: democratic state representative ed delaney said he preferred high-quality public schools over choice. >> this is not a scientific experiment. it's an attempt in my view to just push down public education. >> sreenivasan: indiana is one of more than 15 states that allows public funds to be used for private education. there are several types of choice programs including vouchers, scholarship tax credits, and in arizona where the state provides education

savings accounts allowing public money to be used for tuition, supplies and books. while most programs target the poor and those who live in districts with failing schools, indiana's is far more spansive, opened to households with incomes of up to $64,000 a year for a family of four. in 2002, the u.s. supreme court ruled that providing school vouchers, which can be used at religious schools, does not violate the separation of church and state. leaving individual states to decide. some state courts have overturned school choice programs like vouchers while others, such as indiana's have upheld them. next year in indiana, more than half of the students will be eligible for vouchers worth up to $4500 per child. fo for more on the fallout from the indiana case and the broader national outlook, we turn to two leading voices on opposing sides. kevin chavous is executive counsel for and a founding member of american federation for children, a group promoting vouchers and school choice. and dennis van roekel is the president of the national

education association, the largest labor union. it represents more than three million public school employees, most of them teachers. thanks for joining us. kevin, i want to start with you. how concerned are you about this indiana case? what are the broader implications? >> well, the broader implications are clear. people really want change. you really need to go back to a nation at risk. this is the 30th anniversary of that landmark federal report in which it said that they were running a major risk in terms of not being able to educate all of our children. the educational outcomes if a unilateral force had done this outside of this country, it would be declared an act of war. things have gotten worse. the bottom line is people and parents are clamoring for change. that's why you see that these scholarship programs, these voucher programs, tax credits, they're emerging all over the country because people don't want to be confined to a bad school based on zip code. this really isn't about partisan politics. it really is about making sure that parents have as many

quality options as possible available to educate their children. >> sreenivasan: do you think this is possibly a tipping point, that will refocus or reframe the conversation? >> the legal implications for indiana don't go beyond the borders because it simply applies in indiana. i do think it will increase the conversation, and i don't think that's bad. i think it's important that we talk about the students in america that are not getting the education they so richly deserve. but i think what we have to do is to stay focused. we need to stay focused on the right of every child to have a good public education. and for those who oppose vouchers, what we believe is that you do not use... pay private school tuition attacks payer expense. we ought to do what we know works. take schools and invest in early childhood. increase parental involvement. small class size especially in high-poverty schools at the lower grades. make sure that we have a well trained, qualified and certified work force that is stable.

when we do that, children succeed. we do not believe it is the solution to take the few out and leave the rest behind. >> sreenivasan: what about that argument? >> well, we know what works. accountability works. higher standards, higher expectations. part of the challenge is we have to figure out the best way to fly the plane while we fix it. fixing it is is all the things that dennis talked about even more. we have to look at work rules, look at paying our quality teachers more and firing the bad teachers. that's going to take years of work. in the meantime, half the kids of color are dropping out of american schools. our good schools aren't as good as they used to be. and even before i finish this sentence, hari, a child is going to drop out. what do we do to help those kids that we know are confined to bad schools? and the d.c. scholarship program we know that 94% of those kids who are getting those vouchers

are graduating. 89% are going to college. and 100% of those kids who come from families with a combined family income of $24,000 came from schools that were failing. so at the end of the day, we've got to fly this plane while we fix it. and to do the accountability stuff and the long-range stuff. some of the things that dennis talked about. it may take another 30 years. we can't afford as a nation to let the sameness of what we've been doing continue to cripple our children and our future. >> sreenivasan: dennis. i believe you can go to any state in this country and find incredible examples of making a difference. members of my organization go to a school each and everyday giving everything they have to help children succeed. what we need to do is provide them with services and the programs they need to assist children. >> sreenivasan: you think vouchers would not make that happen? >> i believe it's a short-sighted solution. changing the american focus that we ought to provide it for some and not for all. it's such an inequitiable system in america. you can go into some schools that have elaborate science

laboratories, all kinds of technology, well qualified and well trained faculty. you can go into others that look like they're abandoned factories. that's wrong. and the richest, most powerful nation in the word, the fact that it's just wrong that we don't provide that for every child regardless of your zip code. i don't think we should accept nor tolerate a system that only provides a good education for some. and the answer is to invest in those schools now. they do want to change. parents want their kids to go to a neighborhood school that meets their needs, that has the resources and the programs they need to succeed. that's what the focus of america should be. not just on some but for every single child in america. >> sreenivasan: kevin. i just want to... sreenivasan: he keeps talking about that sort of inequality. that possibility that in a voucher system you could have a lottery where some families will qualify for a school and then the school that they like they didn't get into and they're kind of stuck back in the school that they were at. >> what do we do? i mean let's look at it.

in florida where we have 50,000 kids in a tax-credit program, a study done by northwest university showed that the kids who did not get the vouchers, their standardized test scores did better. you know why? because the competition really does matter. i mean, no school district is ever reformed itself from within. they never have. they never will. the best form of change, the best way to get to where dennis and i both want these kids and these families to get to is through external pressure. and the best form of external pressure is is through educational choice. look, this is not an either/or zero sum gain. i'm not saying that all kids need to avail themselves or all families need to avail themselves of scholarships or vouchers. what i'm saying is through tax credits, through scholarships and vouchers, charter schools, home schools, traditional public schools we need to put all options on the table. that's the only way we're going to fly this plane while we fix it and help those kids with immediate needs and also provide

the impetus for public schools to right themselves. >> sreenivasan: dennis, what about the idea that we have this system where g.i. bills, pel grants and for postsecondary education we're taking tax payer money and distributing it through people to whatever school they're interested in. why is it so different for primary and high school education and kindergarten. >> postsecondary education, college and university i think you have to put that into a different category than k-12 education. because then you're choosing between a career or college and specialized training. that definitely makes sense. but for young children, they shouldn't have to be bussed somewhere. it should be in their neighborhood. we do know what needs to be done in these schools. and too many of these schools, especially in communities of high poverty, they have a transient work force. they don't have teachers teaching in a certified area. they're teaching out of their area of expertise. i was a high school math teacher for 23 years. i hope i was a good math teacher all those years. but if you were to put me in the

music class, i would not have been an effective teacher. in too many of schools of poverty they're doing that. it's wrong. what we need to do is to make sure that we have a well trained, certified work force that is stable, provide the services and programs and especially the wrap-around services so that we remove obstacles from students that don't enable them to learn. >> sreenivasan: my math says my time is up. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you very much. . woodruff: as the supreme court took arguments last week in two high-profile cases looking at same sex marriage, many users of facebook, twitter and other forms of social media took to changing their profile pictures. what was behind that viral on-line campaign? we asked two journalists from the website daily download. lawrence ashburn is the site's editor in chief. howard kurtz is "newsweek"'s

washington bureau chief and host of cnn's reliable sources. welcome back to you both. >> thanks. woodruff: howard, what was behind this? how did all this get started? >> a human rights campaign which lobbies for same sex marriage put out this logo and facebook itself says that 2.7 million more people changed their profile picture to adopt some form of this logo. people are pretty creative. than usual. this amounted to 120% increase. you won't be surprised to know that the most active people were around 30 years old. >> what's interesting also about this, judy, is that this logo, the person who created this logo said it exceeded her wildest expectations. of being shared across the web. >> woodruff: this started as the supreme court was having these arguments last tuesday and wednesday. who was doing this? >> most of it, you know, it was... most of it was the younger generation, 30-year-olds. you know, 80% of 30-year-olds are on facebook. but in addition to that, there

was a really high-profile people who did it including martha stewart. martha stewart, there was one... >> here we go. it is a red velvet cake. you can see that the icing on that is the equal signs. there was also george tikei of star trek fame wrote for those opposed to marriage equality. instead of the two lines he made it into a division symbol. >> other corporations are getting involved as well. the next one was bud light and going to the creative as spec. we see two beer cans. you like the next one. >> my favorite of the two is this. it's such a cute picture. just gone by an average person. and then beyonce weighed in. she has a lot of heft in social media. she has 44 million followers. instead of changing or making a symbol she wrote if you like it, you should be able to put a ring on it. that is, of course, a... a playoff her popular song.

>> woodruff: howard, how often does something like this happen where an organization, an advocacy organization gets something going and it was an issue getting a lot of news coverage last week. how unusual was it that it just took off like this? >> the way it spread like wild fire is pretty unusual but in this age of social media, everyone is trying to do some version of this. i think what's interesting is rather than create a page and you get a certain number of likes the fact that people could adopt this and put their own twist on it, make it a little funny is what contributed to its popularity. >> in previous times, you have breast cancer and people turn things pink, right? you had arab spring and everybody would turn their profile picture... there was a piece that you could put over it that was green. so everybody who was supporting what was happening there would tush their facebook profile green. >> there was such a tide of this that some people started to find it annoying or feel like it was trivializing the issue. as a galvanizing tool it's hard to match these kinds of results. >> woodruff: trivializing

because some of them were silly or made you take it not as seriously? >> yes. i think there are people who said that we're reporting on who said, why would you put that there lying upsidedown as something to talk about gay marriage rights? and so there were people who thought it did. it man mallized this very important issue. >> woodruff: what does something like this accomplish? when that many people are saying they agree, yes, it's kind of a referendum on what some in the public are thinking, howard. what does it do for the movement? i mean, do we know? >> since the issue that galvanized this is the supreme court taking this pair of cases, i don't know that it's going to change any five justices' opinions. >> although there was a very funny cartoon that said, justice kennedy saying, can we rule yet? well, have we checked in with facebook? we have to check in and see who... >> and it does have the potential, i think, to turn off or alienate people who are on the other side of this issue who don't support same sex marriage even though the polls show 58%

supporting same sex marriage. a lot of people are opposed to it. it raises the visibility i think in a way that we haven't seen and probably energizes those who feel like this is the moment that gay marriage is finally getting cultural acceptance. >> woodruff: what about those on the other side of this issue who are not... who don't think that same sex marriage should be legalized? >> we did some research into that. the comparisons are vast. the amount of momentum that gay rights advocates have on social media is ten times that of antigay. there was one page that really we found on facebook was a million stand for... >> traditional marriage. ... antigay marriage. it had only 3,000 likes. >> woodruff: that's reflective of the age of those using it. >> right. 80% of 30-year-olds are on social media. that's a very logical conclusion. >> it could also reflect the

fact that even republicans who have been opposed to same sex marriage have been pulling back or muting their opposition as it surges in popularity which is in part because many younger people grew up thinking there's no problem with this. >> woodruff: as facebook is being used more and more as a political tool we find the founder of facebook, mark zuckerberg has announced he's going to himself get more involved in political issues. i heard his name connected with immigration. >> and education. he's forming a new political group. he has already hired lobbyists, both republican and democrat leaning lobbyists. and he is interested in causes that benefit him. he would like more visas for skilled workers. he has an incentive to get involved in issues like this. >> zuckerberg who is a wealthy guy is entitled to use his money anyway he wants, but i do think there's a danger here. he becomes associated with one side of the divisive political issues. people who want to use facebook

to check in with their friends and post pictures of their children might be turned off if it seems excessively political. >> i don't know. ceo of star bucks howard shultz came after an investor during a meeting. the investor didn't like the fact that he had supported gay rights, and he said to the investor, i don't care. and i think people are still going to starbucks. >> woodruff: it's an interesting question though because so many people are using facebook. zuckerberg is clearly associated with an issue on one side or the other. it will be interesting to see what the reaction is. howard kurtz, lauren ashburn, thank you both. >> thank you. >> woodruff: you can weigh in online: do you think these types of social media campaigns can influence change? go to our web site to be part of that conversation. >> warner: finally tonight, a portrait of a single mother recovering from alcoholism and sexual abuse, and putting her

family back together. that's the subject of a two- night documentary, "kind-hearted woman," produced by "frontline" and independent lens. it chronicles the life of robin "poor bear," an ogalala sioux from north dakota's spirit lake reservation, and her efforts to regain custody of her two children. in this excerpt, she is discussing that effort with her teenage daughter, darian. mom. yes. what are you doing? i'm studying. i have a test coming up. >> what? social work. i am going to make the system work, make the families work. try to anyway. >> what if they don't want to? then that's a choice they make. i'm going to study. >> well, what if the parents absolutely can't get along? you know, like you and dad. they can't even look at each other. >> you know, there are parents

who want to try to get along. they just don't know how. when social services took you guys from me, i wasn't as strong in my sobriety as i was at the time and as determined as i was to get you back home here. >> yeah. i would have given up and started drinking. >> hmm. i would have. not once did social services offer anything, honey, that could help us. not once. not once did i get a call, hey, robin, what can we do to help bring your kids home? on christmas i was shopping for you not knowing when you were going to get to see it. or when i was going to get to give it to you.

not once did i get to hold you and tell you, darian, i love you. darian, it's going to be okay. i prayed for you every single night. look at me, my girl. come here. i wasn't able to do this. baby girl, it's okay to cry. it's okay. it's okay to be all snotty. (laughing) it's okay, darian. >> warner: "frontline's" "kind- hearted woman" airs tonight and tomorrow night on most pbs stations. and you can watch more clips online. >> woodruff: again, the major

developments of the day. south korea's prime minister vowed there would be a military response if north korea provokes it. and prosecutors in colorado are seeking the death penalty for the gunman in last year's movie theater massacre. >> warner: online, the c.d.c. voices concern over drug- resistant bacteria. hari sreenivasan explains. >> sreenivasan: a number of diseases, including gonorrhea and tuberculosis, are growing more resistant to antibiotics. how will this affect the way we fight infection in the future? read more on our health page. and on the business desk, when it makes sense to suspend your social security benefits. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. margaret? >> warner: and that's the newshour for tonight. on tuesday, we'll ask former republican senator olympia snowe about gridlock in washington, and the way forward for the g.o.p.. i'm margaret warner. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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and now, "bbc world news america." >> this is bbc world news america. reporting from washington, and katty kay. a case in india could have wide- ranging effects on the price of medicine, but does it, at a heavy price? .orth korea keeps tensions high we look at the rhetoric on the ground. and a chinese video game and for the military goes out to the public. welcome to our viewers on public television in america and elsewhere around the world. a victory for poor patients across the world or a setback

for innovation? this was the question raised today after they rejected a new patent application for a cancer drug by novartis. cheaper, generic versions to be sold, and the company says it will not invest any more. it is the ruling that could have global fallout. >> the drug was first approved in the u.k.. there are other drugs just as effective but many times cheaper. the swiss company behind the drug tried to end this to have sold rights for the formula. the indian supreme court was not convinced, and it affects people with hiv and all kinds of other illnesses around the world that will still be able to afford treatment. >> it is a matter of life and death.