captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: there were reports today a missing malaysian jetliner might have veered far off course at the time it disappeared, adding to confusion over what became of the plane, and the 239 people on board. good evening, i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. also ahead this tuesday, crimea took further steps today to plot out its break-up with ukraine, while parts of eastern europe, wary of moscow's next moves, showed off their military ties to the u.s. >> ifill: plus, the brutally cold winter hit the midwest especially hard. we venture out to witness a rare sight: the great lakes encased

in ice. >> it's almost like being in another world it doesn't feel like you're out on the lake at all. it's like looking out at the ice its almost like you're looking at the surface of the moon or something like that because it just goes for miles and miles. >> ifill: those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> at bae systems, our pride and dedication show in everything we do; from electronics systems to intelligence analysis and cyber- operations; from combat vehicles and weapons to the maintenance and modernization of ships, aircraft, and critical infrastructure. knowing our work makes a difference inspires us everyday. that's bae systems. that's inspired work. >> i've been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it.

the ones getting involved, staying engaged. they are not afraid to question the path they're on. because the one question they never want to ask is, "how did i end up here?" i started schwab with those people. people who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> 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: the search for that

missing malaysian airlines flight took an unexpected turn today. it now develops that the plane was spotted hundreds of miles from where it was supposed to be. john sparks of independent television news has this report from kuala lumpur. >> reporter: it's got to be there, but no one knows where. for the fourth day in a row, a small armada of ships, planes and helicopters scoured the waters around malaysia looking for the jet liner and its passengers and crew, and for the fourth day in a row they found nothing. here's a member of the vietnamese rescue team. >> some objects were spotted in this area, so we came right here, but we haven't found a thing. >> reporter: they've got little to go on, and what they do have is contradictory. today, a malaysian military source said the plane wasn't headed to beijing, its intended destination -- instead, it

changed course. on saturday morning flight 370 left kuala lumpur and we were told civilian radar lost contact with it here in the mouth of the gulf of thailand. however, military radar shows the aircraft veering west then flying over the malika straits for an hour. it's a big discrepancy for those trying to find it. still, malaysian police eliminated one line of inquiry today. they provided new details about the identities of two men who boarded the flight with stolen passports. here's the first. >> he is 19 years old. we believe that he is -- >> reporter: his name, mohamed madad and police said his journey had nothing to do with terror. >> we believe he is not likely to be a member of any terrorist group, and we believe that he is trying to migrate to germany.

>> reporter: the second man later identified as mohamed syed ersa. the press conference was another raucous affair with journalists scrapping for a picture of the two men. interest in the plane's disappearance is intense and the media has had little until now to pass on. at a beijing hotel, friends and relatives of those on board continue their vigil. the fourth day has brought them little. a small number decided to travel to malaysia, better to do something, perhaps, than sit and wait. >> woodruff: for more, we turn to peter goelz in washington, former managing director of the national transportation safety board. peter goelz, thank you very much for joining us. i just want to point out that, at this hour, there are still conflicting accounts of where the plane was when it was last

heard from. having said that, it does appear the transponder on the plane was either turned off or stopped working at the same point the plane took a sharp turn. tell us quickly, remind us, what is a transponder and what would be the explanations for it being turned off? >> well, the trance ponder is a critical piece of electronics on every airplane and when the aircraft is interrupted by a radar signal, it responds back and says, i'm aircraft 427, i'm at this altitude, i'm going at this speed. so it identifies the aircraft for air traffic controllers and for other aircraft in the area. there is little reason to ever turn off your transponder because it is essential that the controllers see you, that other aircraft see you, that you are identified in the sky. now, even in an emergency

situation, the transponder uses very little electrical power. it would be one of the last items you should shut down in some sort of inexplicable electrical malfunction. >> reporter:. >> woodruff: would it require a human gesture to turn it off or a mechanical or electrical failure? >> would most likely take a human action to turn it off. the idea that a malfunction would take place is very unusual. >> woodruff: and what are the pilot's options in this case? there are reports that the plane continued flying for at least another hour before apparently they lost contact altogether. what does that tell you? >> well, it tells you that something is going on in the flight deck, in the cockpit, that shouldn't have. there was something happening,

either there was some sort of takeover of the cockpit, there was some sort of decision made by the flight crew that was outside the norm and it is not beyond the realm of possibility that one of the flight crew members took over the aircraft. >> woodruff: quickly, does this new piece of information in your mind make it more or less likely there was foul play of some kind? >> i think it moves the issue of foul play up. the investigation appears to be managed by the military and it has not gone to the civil aviation authorities. they have not started an accident investigation so the u.s. is not fully participating yet or other countries. it's very troubling on how the information is being managed.

>> woodruff: many questions still remain. peter goelz, thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in ukraine, crimea's parliament voted today to declare independence, if it's people vote in favor of joining russia. a referendum is scheduled for sunday. meanwhile, the prime minister of ukraine appealed to russia, the u.s. and britain to abide by a 1994 treaty. it guaranteed ukraine's security in exchange for giving up soviet-era nuclear weapons. >> we are not asking anyone for anything extraordinary. we are asking for just one thing: military aggression has been used against our country. those who guaranteed that this aggression will not take place, must from the one side pull out troops and from the other side must defend our independent, sovereign state. this is the demand of our country. >> woodruff: the ukrainian prime minister is traveling to washington to meet with president obama tomorrow. the top u.s. and russian diplomats talked again today, but made no progress toward

resolving the ukrainian crisis. secretary of state john kerry spoke by telephone with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. the state department said it was not satisfied with the russian's responses. moscow said the two sides will keep talking. a student leader in venezuela was shot and killed last night, amid the growing protests in that country. it happened in san cristobal, where anti-government demonstrations first erupted last month. national guardsmen battled students in residential neighborhoods, firing tear gas and plastic pellets. a dispute between the c.i.a. and the chair of the senate intelligence committee blew up publicly today. california democrat dianne feinstein accused the agency of improperly searching a computer network set up for senators to review classified material. it was part of a probe into interrogations of terror suspects. >> the c.i.a.'s search may well have violated the separation of powers principles embodied in the united states constitution,

including the speech and debate clause. it may have undermined the constitutional framework essential to effective congressional oversight of intelligence activities or any other government function. >> woodruff: the head of the c.i.a., john brennan, later disputed any claim that the agency tried to obstruct the senate investigation. he spoke at an event in washington. >> we are not trying at all to prevent its release. as far as the allegations of, you know, cia hacking into, you know, senate computers, nothing could be further from the truth. i mean we wouldn't do that. when the facts come out on this, i think a lot of people who are claiming that there has been this tremendous sort of spying and monitoring and hacking will be proved wrong. >> woodruff: the issue has now been referred to the justice department to determine if there were any criminal wrongdoing. >> woodruff: japan today marked the third anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed 19,000 people

and triggered a nuclear plant meltdown. the quake was the strongest in japan's history, and the massive tsunami wave wiped out entire coastal communities with little warning. three years later, 270,000 people are still displaced. today, prime minister shinzo abe pledged to do more to rebuild. on wall street, the dow jones industrial average lost 67 points to close at 16,351. the nasdaq fell 27 points to close at 4,307. and the standard and poor's 500 was down nine points to finish at 1,867. still to come on the newshour: what's next if crimea reunites with russia; president obama's unconventional health-care push; a new novel imagines a future world and what it says about our time; plus, the great lakes turn to ice.

>> ifill: the crisis in the ukraine, which has pitted europe and the u.s. against a re- expanding russia entered a new phase today. >> ifill: war games began in poland today, as u.s. and polish forces performed joint air and naval exercises. they were long-planned, but have now become part of the u.s. response to russia's seizing much of crimea, a ukrainian region where ethnic russians predominate. russian president vladimir putin suggested last week he could intervene elsewhere as well. >> ( translated ): if we see that lawlessness starting in eastern regions too, if people ask us for help we reserve the right to use all options at our disposal to protect those citizens. >> ifill: on friday's newshour, joint chiefs of staff chairman martin dempsey said such action

would be dangerous. >> if russia is allowed to do this, which is to say move into a sovereign country under the guise of protecting ethnic russians in ukraine, it exposes eastern europe to some significant risk, because there are ethnic enclaves all over eastern europe and the balkans. >> ifill: indeed, much of eastern ukraine does have sizeable russian-speaking populations. and other nations in the region, including moldova, belarus and the baltic states of lithuania, latvia, and estonia, are also home to large numbers of ethnic russians. this isn't the first time moscow has moved to annex regions beyond its borders. during the five days war in 2008, russia effectively gained control over portions of neighboring georgia. estonia's foreign minister said today the entire continent should be concerned. >> ( translated ): russian aggression changes the situation for the whole of europe, it influences europe's security. and the fact that russia uses its power to protect russians living abroad affects all

european countries as russians live all over europe. >> ifill: in the face of that prospect, the european union is talking sanctions. the u.s. has already imposed some penalties and travel bans. and starting thursday, in addition, a dozen more american f-16 fighter jets will arrive in poland. f-15's are headed to lithuania, and n.a.t.o. is stepping up reconnaissance flights over poland and romania. >> ifill: so is russia's reach into crimea a sign of things to come? for that, we turn to: nadia diuk, vice president at the national endowment for democracy. she's written extensively about russia and the soviet union. and janusz bugajski, a senior associate at the center for strategic and international studies, where he focuses on europe. is general dempsey correct in his fear that vladimir putin may have greater ambitions beyond crimea? >> i think he's absolutely correct, and i think there's a palpable fear throughout eastern europe that the russian government no longer respects the borders of europe, the map

of europe, that it will unilaterally change the borders of its neighbors on the pro text whether defending minority rights, restoring law and order or whatever it is in order to try to expand its influence and control over parts of territories of neighboring countries. >> ifill: nadia diuk, same question to you. >> yes, i think this push into crimea is partly for internal purposes for putin. he's creating this sort of area of a russian world which he doesn't believe that ukraine actually is separate from russia and that russian world also includes belarus and, as well, i think it's his purpose -- or, rather, the purpose to have the kremlin ideology that accompanies this russian world is to have a sort of bout of destabilized territories around russia. so who knows. i mean, this may go even further. the latvians must be having a sense of deja vu with the

so-called referendum coming up sunday where there's basically no choice given to the crimeans, either stay with russia or create a sort of autonomous state as existed there under a constitution that was -- that existed between 1992 and '95. so, in fact, they have been given not much choice, the same way latvia was taken over in 1940 when the russian troops were invited in by a pup et government that voted to do so. >> reporter: let me ask janusz bugajski about another worried nation, and that's moldova. she mentioned latvia. what is the situation with mull dovia. >> the russian government set its precedent already in that it divided mull dovia after the soviet union collapsed. it helped four separatist movements within moldova and continued to keep moldova

divided and has not attempted to stabilize or preventing these countries moving into the european union and the western community. russia, if it cannot control a country, wants to keep the country unstable and threatened with further partition, separation. so mul moldova, i think they're concerned that the crimean precedent of declaring a unified state with russia can set up a transition region with mul mul . >> there's a place called callan grad which is between lithuania and poland right now and that is actually part of russia, that could be a staging ground for all sorts of incursions.

so poland traditionally suffered from a lot of russian overreach, so not surprising that they would be worried right now. i would say germany maybe should be worried, too. there are half a million ethnic people in germany, 5 1/2 million ethnic russians in germany and native russian speakers. >> ifill: the presence of ethnic russians and the numbers of ethnic russians in any region make them vulnerable? >> this is what the kremlin does. it's not just a question of ethnic russians. they've expanded the definitions of the people they're entitled to protect to include anybody who speaks russian as a first or even second language -- >> ifill: the distinction she just made.

>> right, compatriots, so new york, parts of california could be an exed. it opens a pandora's box of possible a annexation of numeral states in russia. >> ifill: how does this compare to what happened in georgia? >> similar. russia partitioned georgia. they provoked the georgians into reacting and came in on the pretext of defending the people from georgian conquest when really this was already a part of georgia. >> ifill: assuming vladimir putin is trying to annex germany or new york, is this really about trying to undermine the ukrainian government as it was put in place a few weeks ago or actually trying to take crimea back? >> well, i think he hit the nail on the head. i think a lot of this is about trying to continue to destabilize. if the ex-president yanukovich who was in a sense a pup et of

moscow was not to remain president of ukraine, you recall that he was sort of thrown out really because he was leading a very corrupt government, then i think a plan b is to continue to destabilize the country so that the new election cannot take place. they have elections -- ukraine has elections scheduled for may 25th. there's a narrative going out now that, oh, well, maybe we shouldn't be looking to these elections as being genuine because some of the people who would be running have shady backgrounds in terms of extremism, radicalism and antisemitism, because there's also another sort of instrument in the toolbox of the kremlin to try to promote that destabilization. >> ifill: there's an argument that's been made, knowing how putin felt about crimea, that none of the nations should have

been gravitating toward the european union at all and this wouldn't have happened. >> i think it would have happened anyway. it's a free chow choice of every nation who emerged from the communest block to belong to the united nations to protect their security and prosperity and development. all the central european countries, almost, have chosen to ally with the west because the european union and nato provides the security, stability, sovereignty and development. the russian world, the customs union, the eurasian union will be a source of stability because russia cannot provide that security, integrity and national independence. >> ifill: nadia diuk, finalward on the point, whether moving toward the e.u. is worth it or worth it for the other nations who now fear they may be targets. >> well, i mean, you have to remember what happened prior to this annexation of crimea. there were ukrainians who were

leaving and, in the case of about 100 people dying on the euro midan, whose primary aim was to support ukraine's integration into europe, so the ukrainians obviously think that it's worth having a big sacrifice in order to preserve the future for their children and for their grandchildren and many have expressed this desire. >> ifill: nadia diuk for the national endowment for democracy and janusz bugajski, senior associate at the center for strategic and international studies. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: the obama administration announced today that 4.2 million people have signed up for enrollment so far in the health insurance exchanges. that's a pace that would make it hard to reach the original goal of seven million this year. with just weeks to go, the administration is working hard

now to pinpoint specific groups of the uninsured, and sell them on the advantages of signing up. >> i have to say, when i heard, like, people actually watch this show, i was actually pretty surprised. >> sssh! sssh! hi. >> woodruff: in an offbeat video, appearing today on the website "funny or die," president obama joins comedian and actor zach galifianakis in a series of comic exchanges. but his real purpose is marketing the health care law to young people. >> have you heard of the affordable care act? >> oh yeah i heard about that. that's the thing that doesn't work? >> healthcare dot gov works great now. and millions of americans have already gotten health insurance plans and what we want is for people to know that you can get affordable health care. most young americans right now, they're not covered >> woodruff: it's all part of a

final white house push with the march 31 enrollment deadline fast approaching for the uninsured. healthy young people, who often pay much more in premiums than they use in claims, are especially critical to the law's success. to reach them, the administration has also enlisted former pro basketball stars. >> woodruff: entertainers... >> and if you need that new health care, sign up cause it's hot, sign up cause it's hot. >> woodruff: and mothers... singer-songwriter carole king. >> enroll today. that's what i'd say to my kids. >> quiero registrarme, es una buena idea. >> woodruff: the campaign is also reaching out to latinos. a new gallup poll finds they trail almost every other demographic group in enrolling for coverage. it's partly due to fears that those who do sign up might put any relatives here illegally in danger of deportation. the president sought to assuage

that concern in a virtual town hall hosted by spanish-language tv networks last week. meanwhile, the deadline is now just 20 days off. once it passes, those still without coverage could face fines. >> woodruff: for some further insight into the selling of the exchanges, and how it may impact the insurance pool, we turn to two people who are watching this closely. joanne kenen is the health care editor at politico. and larry levitt is a senior vice president at the kaiser family foundation. welcome to you both. larry levitt, give us a description of the people who have signed up for these exchanges so far in terms of other women, men, age, income level and so forth. >> well, as your piece mentioned, a total of 4.2 million people have signed up for health insurance so far. they are mostly women, slightly more likely to be women, mostly low-income, about 80% qualify

for tax crit credits available w and middle income people and proportionally older. 18-44 represent about 40% of the target population but only about a quarter have enrolled. >> woodruff: who haven't been signing up? and why? >> young people aren't signing up. insurance is a tough sell for young people to begin with. as your piece mentioned, they do pay higher premiums than they tend to use in healthcare. so it's not as good a deal for them as older people. enrollment among latinos a lagging as well. in california, they represent about half of the eligible uninsured but only one in five of enrollees. so a tough sell for the latino market. >> woodruff: does the administration know why the other groups aren't signing up? >> they've known the young

people will be a hard sell from the beginning. latinos, these benefits are only available to people who are here legally. but if you have a relative who's undocumented, some people feel it is a perception that if you give your information to the government, they may use that to find family members, and the president on that latino town hall last week was explicit, this is about health care, we're not using it to track down illegals. >> woodruff: if they knew they were going to have a problem with younger people, why didn't they start sooner? >> i think they have been reaching out to the young people. i mean, obviously, you're going to have the most intense push in this last month when we're in the last three weeks, you will see an intense push, and you saw an intense push right around the end of december when the web site was working and there was the first set of deadlines, but they haven't got an lot of their message across. people are very, very confused about the law and young people are hearing mixed messages.

you're hearing the administration message and also hearing the critics of the law who say it's too expensive, it's big government, opened an on. it's very hard for people, and young people tend to not think -- that's why they keep addressing the moms, right? you know, i have a young, invincible kid. he doesn't worry about getting append sites. i'm up half the night worrying about it. he's insured on my plan. but the message is they want the mom to get the kid to sign up. >> woodruff: what exactly is the administration doing? they have a huge marketing campaign? >> they've got a marketing campaign and a social media campaign and some celebrities and different celebrities appeal to different generations. they have the insurance industry is marketing. i've gotten mail at my home and i'm not uninsured. i've got enemail from insurance companies saying sign up now, here's your chance. but the other side is a lot of campaign ads.

i don't know that we'll ever know exactly how much has been spent on both sides of the allies and critics and it's confusing and that's one reason people don't sign up, we think, because people don't understand this law after four years of hearing about it. poll after poll shows they don't get it. >> woodruff: larry levitt, is there evidence this campaign to get people to sign up is working or not? >> well, i think there is. i mean, if you look -- as joanne said, they fell far behind. the first two months were basically lost then the web sites weren't working. but enrollment is ramping up. florida and texas are two states where a lot of people signed up. florida had largest numbers of enrollment in february. those are places where the administration is targeting because that's where a lot of uninsured live. california, texas and florida represent 40% of the enrollment the last month, so those three states are going to drive a lot of the numbers in the next three weeks.

>> woodruff: larry levitt, as you talk to folks in the administration, are they tweaking this campaign as they go along, saying this is working or this isn't? i want to get joanne's take on this, too, but, larry levitt what have beewhat have you been? >> latinos have been the prime target and there's a been a push not only in washington but the states out here in california. there's a lot of marketing and outreach going on but it's probably not enough. this program like any government program is going to take time to ramp up and is probably particularly true here because it's so divisive. as joanne said, there aren't just ads to get people to sign up but ads to get people to oppose or support the law still going on. >> woodruff: joanne kenen, as you talked to the administration, what are they saying? are they frustrated, just know it's a long slog? >> if they look at a number like 4 million, you know, on october 1, six people signed up

on healthcare.gov. if you said five or six million back in october or november, people looked at you like you were nuts. so the ax actuarial point, it'sn a survival mode, they won't melt down immediately. from a political point of view, they're still vulnerable. 6 million is not the original 7 million and these moving targets -- and there are going to be tens of millions of uninsured people. it wasn't designed to cover a lot of people at once but it's a lot of money and effort and will still will b a lot of uninsured people in america. >> woodruff: why does it matter that they get a lot of people to sign up? >> why it matters is that young people use fewer healthcare services than their premiums reflect so you need young people and particularly healthy people to cross subsidize the older and sicker people.

so if you don't get enough healthy people in this year, then insurers may look at that and raise premiums in 2015 and i think that will be a key metric, even sew more than whether we get 5 to 7 million to enroll this year, is will the premiums go up and is the program controlling costs. >> woodruff: joanne, any sense that the administration will let the deadline slip? >> they're saying -- we've seen a lot of deadlines, but they're saying this one is march 31, that they can't change it. i expect there will be a little wiggle room. i don't expect it to change by months or weeks. >> woodruff: a little wiggle room? >> march 31st could end up being extended. >> woodruff: thank you both. >> ifill: now, jeffrey brown talks to a fiction writer, as he

imagines where the world is heading next. >> reporter: we're in the future after much of the globe has become an environmental wasteland and the u.s. is divided into labor settlements where workers toil to produce food and much else, privileged few live in charter villages and everyone else inhabits the wild, often violent colonies beyond. a teenage girl makes her way through this world searching for a lost love. the novel is entitled "on such a full sea" and quite a departure for author chang-rae lee. >> great to be here. >> reporter: your original idea was to write a novel of social realism. >> yes. >> reporter: about chinese labor. so how did that evolve into a if futurestic story? >> i had gone to china to the villages where there are lots of factories and visited a factory and had this, you know, big idea

to write this broad, social novel about workers, owners, you know, all their struggles. but when i got back to my writing desk, i felt as if i didn't have a special angle on the material, that it was going to be good journalism, but i think, for novels, you need the extra perspective or other layers of approach that make the story, you know, come alive in a different way. so i dropped that novel and, at the same time, you know, looking for something else, i came upon a premise about setting a novel in the future, and i had to set the novel in the future because the premise involved chinese laborers en masse to the united states, which i knew couldn't happen now but might happen in a different time. >> reporter: there is, of course, very traditional writers drawn to this kind of looking at

the future, which is sort of like it but not quite. >> right. >> reporter: was it exciting or difficult? >> it was liberating in one sense, of course, because you have, you know, at your fingertips anything and everything to, you know, imagine and think about. the problem, of course, is that sometimes you're trapped by your own premise, and i think that's the fun part about it is to try to defy the premise that you've come up with and to take it into different directions. >> brown: and your past work is more observed in our time. here i guess it was why. >> my previous novels are psychologically realistic, very cles on views of people who -- immigrants sometimes, others who are sort of, you know, at a crossroads in terms of how they feel about themselves in their families or communities.

in some sense, this novel, it's not that different. >> brown: once you get into it. >> once you get into it, the work itself is not actually all that radical. what is radical is that, once you change the context around these figures, and they're still human beings, of course, once you change the context or circumstance radically, you realize that things inside change. morality changes. practices change. suddenly people are formed and deformed in very interesting ways. >> brown: what also we begin to realize and, for me, we spend a lot of time on this program looking at social issues, obviously, and economic divisions in the society, and then here it's notable you've created this world of deep divisions, class, society, industrial, everything's run down, right, the world is sort of ground down economically, in

a sense. so did you have this world in mind as well? >> well, one of the things that i was interested in, that original novel about china set in contemporary times, the flip side of that was the center of american stagnation and perhaps decline and that's one of the things i brought over from the original research, an idea that certain trends in our society, both social and political, were obviously things i have anxiety about, that i was worried about. i think all speculative fiction has as its origin point present concerns, and those concerns about class entrenchment, about income and equality, about environmental contamination, about health care being so precarious in our society. i think those are things that, you know, have been mulling for the last ten, 15 years. >> brown: before you became a writer, you actually worked on

wall street for a year. >> i did. i had a job there. >> brown: there's something about this is all in the past, right? things about wealth and poverty? >> well, you know, i took a job on wall street. i'm glad i did, because it was my only really -- you know, my one true day job i ever had. but that was a job as an immigrant kid from a family who had struggled and worked hard to put me through a good american education, it was a little pay back for that. >> brown: let me ask you one more thing, because i'm curious about your choice of main characters. a 16-year-old girl, phan. why tell the story through her? >> i wanted someone who was an innocent, a true innocent, and she's probably not a lot unlike 16-year-olds today. i think she's purer than that, more innocent than that. i wanted someone who could almost be a vessel for the imagination of those who are telling her story, so that she's

this sort of elemental force going out into the world, into this adventure, and that we would be drawn by not her psychology or her philosophy or her leadership, even, but by this kind of pure and fierce persistence that she has. >> brown: i'm not giving away what happens, but do you in the end see this as kind of winning or did it just become a good story for you? >> well, in the process, i was just enjoying the storytelling. i think what began to occur and almost surprised me as i went along is how much of my concerns came out in the book. i never intended to write a political novel, and i don't think i'll ever intend to write a political novel, but perhaps out of all my books, this one is more pointedly looking at issues of our time. >> brown: all right, chang-rae lee, thank you so much. >> great to be here. >> ifill: we'll be right back

with a look at the amazing amount of ice this winter has brought to the great lakes. but first this is pledge week on p.b.s. this break allows your public television station to ask for your support. and that support helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: for those stations not taking a pledge break we take a second look at the problem of food insecurity in wealthy southern california. hari sreenivasan has our report. >> sreenivasan: it's known as one of the most exclusive places on earth, the home of the rich and spectacularly rich. ♪ california here we come >> sreenivasan: orange county, california's reputation only grew when the t.v. crews started rolling in several years ago. but the real housewives of orange county and the teens of laguna beach failed to mention a major piece of the

o.c. drama. the county is also among the top ten in the u.s. for childhood food insecurity. the term means that along with the yacht clubs and average home prices of nearly $2 million in some spots, orange county also has more than 150,000 children who don't know where their next meal is coming from. paul leone is the president of the illumination foundation, a group that helps struggling families find housing and stability. >> the area that we're standing in right now which is newport beach, the richest think in the nation. and then 17 miles away we have one of the most densely populated and poorest cities in the nation. >> sreenivasan: among the poor are thousands of low income workers who support the county's luxury economy. before leone's foundation intervened, kids in the tina pacific neighborhood of anaheim often skipped meals. michelle cummings who volunteers for the

foundation and lives in tina pacific was one of the first to recognize how hungry her neighbors were. >> one night we had pizza delivered and a kid came over, like a half an hour later and he was like do you have any leftovers. i'm really hungry. and i was like-- are you serious? >> sreenivasan: cummings made some calls and helped organize a program called kids cafe. now each day after school she passes out fresh food dropped off by a local food bank. >> okay, go sit at your tables. >> sreenivasan: the kids call cummings the lunch lady, a point of great pride for her. because not long ago she and her nine-year-old daughter sofia didn't always have enough new nutritious food either. >> sreenivasan: when she lost her job her life spiraled out of control. stable housing can be hard to come by in a place where average rents top $1,200 for a one bedroom. they found themselves inline at the armory's homeless shelter. then living in a low rent

motel where it was difficult to prepare little more than cheap processed food. >> like at first we were just doing microwave meals every night. and it was, it was horrible, the salt in them was horrible. so before i got like cooking stuff, you know, we were living off microwave meals, definitely. >> sreenivasan: for cummings health it was a recipe for disaster. within month she gained close to 40 pounds. that worried her. but even more so, she worried about sofia, and for good reason. recent studies by the national institutes of health suggest that a lack of nutritious food especially during childhood can have long-lasting physical consequences. that linger for years if not decades. among them, anemia, early onset diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, depression, stunted intellectual growth and obesity. it's that last point that many find hard to reconcile. the presence of malnutrition and obesity at the same time.

but most processed foods while high in calories simply don't contain the nutrients that are so crucial for good health and productivity. barbara loria of the university of california at berkeley has been studying the long-term impacts of hunger for two decades. and says it all means the nutritional odds are stacked against low income families. >> so not only is the income restriction leading to purchasing energy dense foods, but it's the stress as well that absolutely leads to the perfect storm of gaining weight, possibly developing chronic disease and it might be associated with later chronic disease for children. >> sreenivasan: that's why with one in five children sometimes going without meals in the community surrounding disneyland orange county has begun approaching the issue like a public health crisis. it started when o.c. public health officer dr. eric handler ran into the director of the orange county food bank recently and had two basic questions.

>> one, is there enough food in your food bank and he said no. and i said it if we were able to capture food that is wasted and direct these to people in need, could we end hunger in orange county, and he said yes. and that was the start of this campaign. >> sreenivasan: about 40% of food in the u.s. is wasted. too often ending up in local landfills and buried. with that in mind, handlers started pushing the idea that businesses can easily change their habits and have an impact. >> our goal is to find out which establishments are currently donating food and which are not. and those who are not donating food, to educate them to the fact that they are not held liable if food is not correctly prepared. >> sreenivasan: one has already shown the concept can work. the cheesecake factory near disneyland donates 200 to 300 pounds of food each week that has been fully prepared but left un-served. in the last five-and-a-half

years the chain has stored, packaged and handed off more than two and a half million pounds nationwide. members of the local food banks pick up the food which is often healthier than the packaged variety donated in food drives. >> on the consumer end, the coalition is also working to convince orange county health-care providers to ask questions about hunger during routine primary care visits. back in the neighborhood, things are looking up for michelle cummings. she landed a job as a caretaker for the elderly which means she and her daughter have enough food and a better mix. now that she has a kitchen, she can buy in bulk, cook from scratch and make food stavrp dollars last. on the menu tonight, soup laced with fresh vegetables, not the most elaborate meal in orange

county but at least it's healthy and enough. >> woodruff: online, we have more about the ties between hunger, stress and weight gain, and a slide show of the other top counties in the u.s. for childhood hunger. >> ifill: finally tonight, this brutally cold winter has created an icy wonderland on the surface of the great lakes. special correspondent elizabeth brackett of w.t.t.w., chicago ventured out to see it. >> reporter: the sun is just beginning to rise over chicago's ice clogged harbor. docked at navy pier, the coast guard's ice cutter, the biscayne bay, starts gearing up for a long day. breaking a track through the harbor ice the biscayne bay heads out to clear shipping lanes on lake michigan. the ship is based in northern michigan near the straits of mackinac it's rare that the ice

breakers are needed in the southern half of the lake. >> this is actually our 1st time this winter down to the in south end of lake michigan so i can't say what it's been like here but in the straits it's the worst winter in 25 years. >> reporter: the hull of the 140 foot long ice breaker is reinforced with extra steel around the water line and bow. powerful bubblers on the bow and stern shoot out air that helps lubricate the hull against the ice, rather than cutting the ice the ship acts like a small tank and just plows right through it. >> we call that plate ice 8 to 10 inches thick right now not too bad, you can see some of the plate has broken up right there once that starts piling up on itself it creates a wind row makes it difficult for us to get through the ice. >> reporter: about an hour out of chicago the biscayne bay hit a wind row. as the heavy ice slowed the boat orders were given for more

aggressive ice-breaking maneuvers >> this is where we back and ram put boat in a surge propulsion, we'll back up about three ship lengths and then go as fast as we can hit this windrow and come up over the ice and continue on. >> reporter: the great lakes haven't seen this much ice since 1979. the great lakes environmental research laboratory reports that 91% of all of the great lakes have been covered with ice this winter. lakes superior, huron, and erie lead the way with 95% coverage. lake michigan is next with 93% coverage and lake ontario with 40%. the extensive coverage surprises even long time observers of the lake like joel brammeier with the allinace for the great lakes. >> the idea of the great lakes freezing over entirely is simply something that does not happen. in fact even in lake superior,

the last time lake superior froze over was in the mid- nineties. so this is a very special unusual winter. >> reporter: this year the coast guard has been needed to keep the southern shipping lanes open. on this day, the biscayne bay worked to clear a path for a tug trying to push a barge into the ice covered port of indiana at burns harbor, after several passes by the cutter the barge finally made it to dock to deliver a load of scrap iron. but the ice has held up other ships and barges. the lake carriers association reports shipping has dropped 30% this winter. brian larue says his company's barges should be lined up along the pier here in the port of indiana. >> we've got 18 barges waiting to be brought out our terminal all employees waiting for these barges to get in place so they can come to work lots of work to be done

>> reporter: but all this ice is not all bad news for the lakes. >> more winter ice cover is actually good for the lakes, because it stops water from evaporating, and the last several years and in fact for the last decade, we have seen record and near record low water levels in lakes michigan and huron. with the high levels of snow fall and the high levels of ice we are probably going to see a big up tick of water levels come spring of 2014. >> reporter: it's not just the ice cap that is keeping evaporation rates down. high evaporation rates occur when there is cool air over warm water. the water cooled very quickly this fall, dropping evaporation rates dramatically from previous years. because of this, scientists are now predicting nearly a three- foot rise in water levels which would bring lake levels back up to the long term average by next august. >> that's great news.

the higher the water levels, that means the deeper the ships we can accommodate here at the port. so when we hear the water levels are being raised that's always a good sign for us. >> reporter: but spring is still a long way off for shippers and the crew of the biscayne bay where 17-hour days have not been uncommon. though the ships captain tom przybyla is not complaining. >> it's almost like being in another world it doesn't feel like you're out on the lake at all, it's vibrating, the ship is moving, sometimes there's big collisions where the entire ship will shift off to the side a little bit you sort of loose your footing as your walking around. i've heard it described as like living in an earthquake. you know it's like looking out at the ice its almost like you're looking at the surface of the moon or something like that because it just goes for miles and miles. >> reporter: the biscayne bay heads back up north after opening a track in the port of indiana. there will be little down time as the ice breaker continues to tackle the most ice seen in the

great lakes in decades. >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day. the search for the missing malaysian airlines flight took a new turn, with reports the plane was spotted hundreds of miles off course. and crimea's parliament voted to declare independence from ukraine, if it's people vote in favor of joining russia in a sunday referendum. >> woodruff: on the newshour online, we're launching our latest pbs newshour/al-monitor trendlines special. tomorrow morning, we examine what impact the crisis in ukraine is having on the middle east with guests in israel, iran, and the united states. it will be streamed on our website wednesday morning at 10 a.m. eastern >> woodruff: all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on wednesday, how the outcome of a closely-watched special election could provide clues to

this year's fight for control of congress. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you on-line, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the alfred p. sloan

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