captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: prices plummet at the pump. the cost of oil keeps dropping and drives the sharpest weekly loss in u.s. stocks in three years. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. also ahead this friday. it's not always a party. drinking in college is linked to injuries, sexual assault and even death. what institutions of higher education can do to curb the problem. historically, colleges have not talked about drinking when they talk to students about preventing sexual assaults and i think the reason is they're going to worry they're sounding like they're blaming the victim.

>> woodruff: the health risks of being home less. >> woodruff: the health risks of being homeless: without permanent shelter, people living on the streets struggle with illness. why los angeles wants to pay for housing with medicaid dollars. >> what we discovered is that often once you house people, the other problems often diminish right away. >> woodruff: and it's friday. mark shields and david brooks are here, to analyze a full week of news. those are some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> 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: wall street sank into a week-ending swoon today, overwhelmed, again, by the plunging price of oil. a barrel of oil fell below $58 dollars a barrel in new york trading, down 12% this week alone. in turn, the dow jones industrial average slumped 315 points to close below 17,281. that was its worst week since

late 2011. the s&p 500 dropped 33 points to close at 2,002, its worst week since spring of 2012. and the nasdaq fell 54, to finish at 4,653. financial expert hugh johnson says it underscores that lower oil prices present a trade-off. >> a decline in the price of gas at the pump is gonna free up a lot of money for consumption in the u.s. that's good news. we see it show up in an increase in consumer confidence. we see it show up in an increase in november retail sales. so there's a tradeoff. but believe me, the decline in the price of oil does reflect a decline or slowdown in the global economy, that's a worry and that's not going away anytime soon. >> woodruff: stocks were also hurt today by fresh concerns over economic growth in china. a new look at how the economic

recovery is affecting individual americans, finds a growing wealth gap between whites and minorities in the u.s. the pew research center reported today that in 2010, white households had a net worth eight times greater than black households. by last year, it had grown to 13 times greater. the gap between whites and hispanics is slightly less, but still the largest it's been since 2001. the senate moved this evening to consider a giant spending bill that funds the government open through september. it scraped through the house last night, after president obama lobbied democrats for support. they'd been angered by provisions that weaken rules on risky financial derivatives, and let wealthy donors pour more money into political parties. today, the president argued it's the best deal available. >> this by definition was a compromise bill. that is what's produced when you have the divided government that the american people voted for.

had i been able to draft my own legislation and get it passed without any republican votes, i suspect it'd be slightly different. that is not the circumstance we find ourselves in. >> woodruff: while the senate works, the house passed another short-term extension of government funding, through next wednesday. a major pacific storm lashed southern california today, after roaring across the northern part of the state. downpours of two inches an hour triggered floods, downed trees, and cut power to some 80,000 customers. the rain also set off a mudslide in camarillo springs, north of los angeles, where hillsides had been stripped bare by wildfires. 124 homes were ordered to evacuate, as debris was piled up to the rooftops in some places. >> i came out on my little front porch here to see how much water might be going down the street. then after about five minutes the door slammed shut behind me and i knew what had happened. the mud had entered the house

and was up against the door from the inside so there i was kind of stuck on the front porch. then soon the mud was flowing around both sides of the house going into the street and i knew i was in trouble at that point. >> woodruff: officials say the powerful storm is not nearly enough to end california's record drought. british officials demanded an investigation today, after a computer failure shut down air space over london for a time. the incident brought heathrow airport, europe's busiest, to a standstill. in turn, hundreds of flights had to be canceled or delayed. the u.s. federal aviation administration said the disruption did not delay any flights departing for britain. the people of japan prepared today to go the polls for nationwide parliamentary elections. prime minister shinzo abe has called sunday's vote in a bid for fresh support for efforts to rejuvenate a faltering

economy. his party's victory is all but guaranteed. this is japan's third national election since the end of 2012. and, new research today underscored the health costs of osteoporosis in older women. the national osteoporosis foundation reported the bone- weakening disease leads to more hospitalization and greater health care costs than heart attack, breast cancer or stroke. the study looked at american women over the age of 55. still to come on the newshour. the link between alcohol and assault on college campuses. why los angeles is using health care dollars to give homeless people permanent shelter. former detainees at guantanamo bay find freedom in uruguay. what sony's security breach says about vulnerbale companies and hollywood. mark shields and david brooks on the week's news. and, the gritty stories behind laura ingalls wilder's "little

house on the prairie." >> woodruff: there's a growing recognition about the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses, and, it seems, new headlines each week, including the high-profile investigations currently at the university of virginia. one major factor that's getting less attention, yet accompanies many cases, is the volume of drinking happening on or near campus. that's our focus tonight. gwen has a conversation we recorded earlier this week. >> ifill: the things you find at college parties on the web and in the movies pull up the fun, rowdy moments, the animal house craziness of campus life. a new discussion about rape allegations has thrown a fresh spotlight on to the dark problems associated with

excessive drinking at institutions of higher learning. nor than 1800 students die each year from alcohol-related students. offhundred thousand injured while drunk and nearly 100,000 sexual assaults linked to alcohol consumption. jonathan, the president of a university in maryland whichhouse about 5,000 students, co-chair of a college president's working group to address student drinking. beth mcmurtrie is with the chronicle of higher jairks part of a team that finished a special series alcohol hold on campus. welcome to you both. we just talked about death, injury, sexual assault, president gibraltar. of those three, which are the biggest consequence of excessive drinking? >> all of them are the biggest cops queens of excessive drinking. and excessive drinking is the thing that i think brings about a lot of these related harms to a lot of college students today,

and i consider every one of them to be extremely serious. >> ifill: beth mcmurtrie, this is not the first conversation we've had about drinking on campus since the 1990s, yet here we are again. >> if you go back to the '90s and earlier, you see this was part of the national conversation, and millions of dollars and hundreds of tasks forces and so many efforts have been put into this issue over the years to try to address the problem of dangerous drinking on college campuses but when youlike at the data and the binge drinking rates among college students, not a whole lot has changed. >> ifill: why didn't the problem as identified turn into action? >> i think there has been action over the years and i think what did you see say mong colleges is they tend to focus on education as a means for changing students' behavior. this idea that if you give students the right information that they'll make wiser choices, but the research has shown education without enforcement

and without intervention, without trying to control the flow of alcohol on campus really has a very limited and short-term effect. >> ifill: it's ask president gibraltar about that. you have been part of this commission but you see this every single day in your job. >> beth is exactly right, i think that the important thing to recognize is that, in colleges and universities every year, you have a new group of freshmen so it's a new educational process. beyond that, though, just educating young people alone isn't enough. it's got to be a comprehensive initiative to approach this problem and that includes both working with a local community, working with your college or university community, working with your alumni, but also has to include deterrents. we have a collaborative law enforcement agreement at our university and our university police work closely with several different law enforcement agencies to work off campus and be able to work -- you know,

to really get at adjudicating these young people who get citations for off-campus behavior. >> ifill: yet, mcmurtrie, in the series you did on higher education, a term caught my eye called organized collegiate drinking infrastructure -- the sororities, party culture, tailgating, you name it -- how do you tackle that when it's so much of the identity even in ivy leagues a large percentage admit binge drinking. >> colleges do inherit this problem. as you pointed out, there are a lot of constituencies that work against efforts to control alcohol. i think the simple answers requires the leadership. this is in some ways a political issue. >> ifill: on campus. n f you take on the fraternity system and the

tailgate and boot structure or you go out as frostburg did into the community and look at what happens off campus with bar owners and liquor stores, you need high-level support to tackle this complicated and sometimes political issues. >> ifill: so is it just a matter that the colleges or the law enforcement are just looking the other way? the laws exist, the rules exist. are they just looking the other way? >> i don't think they're looking the other way. i think these are incredibly difficult issues. you know, you deal perhaps with the fraternity or sorority perhaps off campus and there is a culture around these organizations that makes it extremely difficult for law enforcement to actually walk in and be able to have an impact. i think that -- i mean, at fro frostburg state when i arrived in 2006, the reported high-risk drinking rate was at about 59%. 59% of all students say they

drink more than five drinks in any one sitting. >> ifill: five drinks. five drinks over a period of two or three hours. now it's down to 41%, we've been able to move the mark below the national average. >> ifill: how? through a combination of deterrents, education and working with local bar owners, working with landlords and really trying to provide a comprehensive program for our students. >> ifill: when it comes to campus sexual assault which we have been talking a lot involving the university of virginia and the flawed story rolling stone ran that still raised questions about behavior, does drinking contribute to the inability of a woman to defend herself especially if she drinks, is drunk, becomes a victim in one way or the other and the blame then shifts to the victim? >> there is a very interesting issue. studies have shown about three-quarters of sexual assaults on campuses involve alcohol, so we know they're closely correlated.

historically, colleges have not talked about drinking or alcohol when they talk to students about preventing sexual assaults, and i think the reason is they're worried they're going to end up sounding like they blame the victim. they already have trouble getting victims to come forward, so they don't want to send the message that, well, it's up to you to, if you drink too much, you might be putting yourself at risk of assault and, yet, that is a fact. so colleges are wrestling with how to talk to students about the reality of dangerous drinking without sounding like they're blaming them. >> ifill: president ji wralter, how do colleges attack this and avoid the issue fatigue that stop the conversation from moving to some better place last time? >> again, every year, it's a new group of freshmen so it's a new conversation every year. for me, taking a leadership position on this at my campus is

extremely important, that empowers other people to be able to do their jobs. so neitherrer i nor my university faculty and staff become fatigued about me talking about this topic. it's important. >> ifill: but if i'm a parent, i'm a little fatigued or scared of sending h my child to your school if i think that's what's going to happen. >> you should be concerned because it is a part of many colleges and universities cultures. what i do during open houses and when sons and daughters visit, i tell parents they need to be a part of this conversation. we need their help and support. >> president gibraltar and mcmurtrie, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: since the federal health care law expanded medicaid in some states, about

7 million low-income americans have gained new health insurance. but in los angeles, health officials say that's not enough and want to try going further: using medicaid dollars to pay for housing for the homeless. hari sreenivasan has our report. deborah mullins blames most of her health problems on this block in downtown los angeles. she has been living on the sidewalk here for the past 30 years. >> do you know how many times she went to the hospital? at least eight. >> the woman's health has gotten so bad even the police started worrying. >> we're not even done yet this year. >> she's the kind of person dr. susan and her tame of department of l.a.'s health services have been trying to find. they say they have an obviously cure for what ails most of the city's homeless, housing. >> they can put you in temporary

housing. >> put me somewhere. the healthcare reform law brought insurance to most of l.a.'s homeless population this year when c.c. expanded the medicaid program but so far it's done little to improve the health of the 3500 homeless residents on skid row. even with better access to doctors and prescription drugs, they're still living on the streets, many with severe chronic and mental health conditions. mark directs a new branch of the county's department of health services called housing for health. >> it's daunting on skid row. in our quick walk, it feels like you're quite overpowered by the number of people. >> sreenivasan: in the next few years, he plans to use county health funds to put sick homeless people into permanent supported housing because he says it's not free to let them live on the sidewalk. >> it's a high cost for the person and their health and well being but a very high societal

cost as well in terms of this cobb stant ricocheting through hospitals, correctional facilities, back on the street and shelters. >> sreenivasan: often this is the site of the priciest of interactions. public hospitals like los angeles c.s.c. medical center. dozens make their way here over crises made worse by living outdoors. >> trying to find out why people are here. >> sreenivasan: can cost upwards of $90,000 to $150,000 3 per year and the assistant nurse manager says the results are often depressing. >> if we prescribe antibiotics to someone with pneumonia and they lay on the grate out front, they're not taking antbiotics or getting better. we might felt like we've done something but we haven't and eventually we'll bury them. >> take a seat.

>> sreenivasan: tracy's story almost ended that way. the former construction worker lost his job and house after he fell from a ladder and shattered an ankle making it difficult to walk and work. >> any history of alcohol abuse. yes. >> sreenivasan: for three years, he bounced between the streets, shelters and too often the emergency room. >> usually the emergency room was a last-ditch effort because i had let something go for too long or i was really sick and it wasn't getting any better. twice i got into the emergency room because of altercations here in downtown. >> sreenivasan: one of those times, he heard about the star apartments. he was among the first to move in to the 100-unit complex when it opened last year, under the housing for health division and the nonprofit skid row housing trust, and he was also among dr. susan's first patients at the star clinic on the ground floor. >> does that hurt? yeah. does it hurt if i push it.

yeah, still hurts. >> sreenivasan: she noticed his eyes looked yellowish, one of the signs of alcoholic hepatitis. >> she asked me, do you want to quit drinking? i said, yes. she put me in the hospital and i have been sober since. >> sreenivasan: he tries to keep his apartment clean. he hopes to regain strength in his ankles through physical therapy and start applying for jobs. >> my interest in housing is how to use housing to change the arc of somebody's life who's homeless. >> sreenivasan: that's the director of los angeles county's department of health services. he and mark helped develop the housing first idea in the '90s when they both worked for san francisco's department of public health. >> we discovered that often once you house people the other problems often diminished right away. they were using less substances because they wanted to keep

their housing. they were less mentally ill because they were not so frightened by the conditions in which they were living. they had a sense of security and a sense of community. >> the concept has spread to many other american cities to. take it to the next level, katz is making a controversial move. >> we need to find other uses -- >> sreenivasan: he's advocating the federal government allow him to use funds from the health law's medicaid expansion to purchase or build thousands of additions for the homeless, taking the program to scale with federal funds. at the moment, top government officials say that's not allowed because housing isn't a direct health service. >> this doesn't really make any sense because, for a homeless person, housing is a relevant house service. >> sreenivasan: not everyone buys the argument. bruce directed medicaid and medicare in the clinton administration and is still advocate for medicaid and government-funding housing but

says combining the two could be dangerous. >> i think we need to fund housing as housing. i think the problem with funding it or seeking to fund it through medicaid is that medicaid is already under all kinds of political pressure because of its expense. if you start to say anything that might benefit a medicaid beneficiary ought to be covered by the medicaid program, you're really opening up a bottomless pit, and you're making the program even more vulnerable to those who want to cut or eliminate it. >> sreenivasan: others say the concept has already grown too much. at the los angeles mission, one of the ol'est shelters in skid row, the goals are short-term help and long-term treatment. herb smith says housing first works for some people but there are many people who need a bed for the night or help quitting their addictions before they try to live independently. smith says those things have

become much harder to provide in recent years as funders have shifted toward housing first. >> it affects people differently. the reason people became homeless and we need to be able to address that in ways that are effective and target the particular populations. >> sreenivasan: tracy used to stay at the l.a. mission and very much agrees that kind of help is needed as well. but the housing approach ended his homelessness, he says, and eventually his drinking. he also knows he's relatively lucky. the program has helped about 700 people so far. 5,000 more remain homeless in l.a. county. the number of housing for health team says would fall dramatically with the federal help they're requestinger for the pbs "newshour", i'm hari sreenivasan. >> woodruff: six former guantanamo detainees were transferred to the south american country of uruguay this week. they were never charged with any

crimes. one of the men, abu wa'el dhiab, has been on a hunger strike for years and was subjected to force feedings. his attorneys have sued the u.s. government for release of videotapes of the force-feeding sessions. i spoke with his attorney, cori crider, a short time ago. corey crider, welcome. these men who have been released have now been in yo uruguay for almost a week. how have they been received? >> i've never in my many years of doing this work seen a reception like. this it is overwhelming, warmth and compassion. when my client, who has been on a hunger strike for most the past two years, were going around the hospital ward to have tests, other patients in the ward came out of their rooms and leaned in and smiled and waved. i have been hugged by mothers in a supermarket because i represented a guantanamo

prisoner. we are so pleased. >> woodruff: some of the men went for a long walk. as you mentioned, your client has been on a hunger strike. his health has been a real issue. how is he doing? >> he's recovering slowly with every day he seems to have a bit more color in his face but he was unfortunately one of the men to go on a long walk. we have been talking about it. i showed him photographs of the sunset. as yet, he hasn't gone out. the others smelled the sea air for the first time in 12 years and that's a really special moment when you have been health without charge or trial, of course. >> woodruff: how free are they to move about and do what they want? >> they're free. they've gone down to the cafe. i think they've done a spot of shopping with friends. at the moment, i think the thing that's most difficult is i don't think any of us can really comprehend the extent to which 12 years in guantanamo without charge or trial takes time to recover from. one of my clients basically said

to me, it is effectively like being born for the second time. they are having to learn things very basic. another client said, i haven't heard the laughter of a child in over ten years. so after having so much loss, they're really good at taking their first steps as free men again. >> woodruff: so what are their plans to the extent they have any? >> yes, well, of course, it takes time to make plans, so we are really only on day six. when i talked to abu wa'el dhiab, we talked about how he used to manage a syrian restaurant and we talked about how he could manage one here. some of them are in spanish classes. they are progressing. it will take time. forcible cell extractions with the riot squad hauling him from his cell and the force feedings will take time to recover from

but i'm delighted to say they're all on the road to recovery. >> woodruff: corey crider, attorney for one of the men released this week from guantanamo bay. thank you. >> thanks so much. >> woodruff: it's been just about two weeks since word broke of cybercriminals hacking into sony pictures. and each day seems to bring more damaging, embarrassing or worrisome revelations. the hackers have released a steady flow of information, ranging from salaries, to personal emails, social security numbers and health records of employees, to internal messages showcasing industry hardball. the past couple of days have been even worse for the company if you can believe that. and again to hari, who is in our new york studios tonight. >> sreenivasan: the latest emails put new pressure on amy pascal, the co-chair of sony entertainment and one of the most powerful executives in hollywood. it's focused on confidential

emails between pascal and scott rudin, a powerful producer. before a fundraiser for president obama, they exchanged messages in which they try to guess his favorite movies, all with african-americans. pascal writes: "should i ask him if he liked django" referring to "django unchained." rudin writes back "12 years," for "12 years a slave." pascal responds: "or the butler? or think like a man?" both apologized yesterday. it's not yet clear who's behind the hacking. but they call themselves the guardians of peace. we turn to two watching this closely. sharon waxman, editor in chief of the wrap, an industry news site, and james lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the center for strategic and international studies. i want to start with you. you're one to have the few people to get in touch with ms. pascal yesterday. how significant is this hack in is this what folks in tinseltown are all talking about now? >> it's the only thing people are talking about. it's by far the most significant thing to happen in the business

this year for sure. probably will be in people's lives for years to come. largely because the studio has been more or less paralyzed for weeks now, i don't think that the studio is back to normal, from what we hear they're doing billing by hand. yesterday, we broke a story that the hackers once again penetrated their network and plashed a message on their computer screens, threatening to do more damage if their demands were met. that being said, their demands are nott a all clear. but i can every single studio in town is checking their own security and everyone is worried about their e-mails because, of course, anyone who's had contact with sony's email system, which is everyone, is worried about they might be impacted as well. >> sreenivasan: james lewis, this isn't the normal kind of hack in the sense if someone was able to get something as sensitive as social security numbers, you see that being sold on the darker portions of the internet. tell us how this is different.

>> it's different in a couple of ways. the first is there doesn't appear to be a commercial motive. it's some kind of a political, maybe personal motive. the second is it's been going on for a long time. most crimes are smash and grabs. you get in, get the data and sell it. finally, this is a little more sophisticated in some of the things we've seen. it tracks very closely with what north korea has done in the past but it's no way conclusive. and the north koreans have never before gone after an american target, so in many ways this is a bigger deal than what we've seen previously. >> sreenivasan: sharon, help me understand. does this change how actors and agencies and studios do business? if i read through some of this, i know what actors make, what perks are included in deals going on behind closed doors, and also you get a sense that, you know, there is this disturbing data that confirmed

the gender disparity that exists at the the top of hollywood. >> the gender disparity, which is, by the way, also ethnic disparity, is not news to anybody involved in the entertainment industry. it's heavily white and heavily male and amy pascal is one of the handful of extremely powerful women executives in town. but if you're referring to the fact that the top million-dollar-plus salaries were released and pretty much she was the only one on the list that was a woman, yes, i think that underlines that. but it's more disturbing in terms of doing business to what you're referring to, having conclusive information about what perks every star, what stars are actually making within, you know, the private negotiations that go on for various projects. people have actors, fees and agents. but, of course, what is said and actually concluded is there's always that murky space.

that's all been ripped away with the revelation of these e-mails and just one thing after another that is, you know, embarrassing and that is going to make it difficult, i think, for sony to be -- yeah, regarded as a place where you can do your business and that it remains private. you know, i think that is one part of the damage to the studio and i think to amy pascal personally because it seems like a very personal attack on her is devastating. >> sreenivasan: jim, what do we know about the identities of the hackers? what sort of clues are the investigators working with? >> they're working with the code which includes some korean language which points toward north korea. we're looking at the malware which is similar to what they've used in past and also used by iranians and others in their cyber incidents. we're looking at the motivations in the statements.

the north koreans deny it. that doesn't mean anything. everybody always denies covert action. what's interesting is they also turned around and said, it wasn't us, but, by the way, we're really glad to see this happen. it's interesting to note this summer the north koreans sent a letter to the secretary of the u.n. protesting the film, asking it be banned and using language similar to what we've seen in the hack. so in no way is this conclusive but they're the lead suspect. >> sreenivasan: sharon, does this fuel tension between artists and the studios in the sense that when you read some of the e-mails regardless the race of the artists they seem to be expressing on twitter and other places, you know, we're the help, we make the money for the studios but this is really what they think of us behind closed doors. >> it's interesting because i've had calls this year completely unrelated from this from people

who represent directors and actors saying there's a serf, landlord feeling in hollywood and asks me to find out who's making a million dollars or more at the studios as they grind down the salaries of the actors. but you have situations, i don't know if you've seen twitter, angelina jolie mentioned in the e-mails between amy pascal and scott rudin, a very powerful producer, he was insulting to her in the e-mails and she is obviously a director now, has a movie coming out shortly, "unbroken" and they're talking about her in relation to interrupting negotiations over a movie they're trying to make about steve jobs and he refers to her as a spoiled brat. just so happens she was at a breakfast with amy pascal. there is a pretty icy photo of the two of them greeting each other. so if you're asking how it affects talent relations, amy pascal is known as somebody who has warm relations with talent. this is an important thing.

this is a business of relationships, and that makes everything frocked at the moment for sure. >> sreenivasan: sharon waxman, james lewis, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: this week, congress is going down to the wire again on averting a government shutdown. new and familiar divisions emerged among both parties. and all that happened just days after a report on the c.i.a.'s alleged use of torture went public. for all that and more, we turn to the analysis of shields and brooks: syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times columnist" david brooks. welcome, gentlemen. so, mark, we're going right down to the wire once again on a spending bill. was this inevitable? lame duck session, after the midterm elections.

is this what we knew would happen? >> probably, judy, and it's a great opportunity for people who have particular causes that they want to slip into the final legislation, that the train is pulling out of the station, you have to vote to keep the government going, keep it open, so i think there's a certain appeal in addition to the procrastination that contributes to this. >> woodruff: sometimes people want to avert their eyes, but here we g again. >> i'm upbeat. i think we have a right to be happy and joyful in the holiday season. we actually had a government shutdown not too long ago and now the odds are we won't have one. the center has held. president obama and john boehner, democrat, republican, seems like they're going to win this thing, not without setbacks, but they'll win. boehner has more control over the republican caucus than six months or a year ago. that's there aring and

productive. the democrats are beginning to act in opposition and we're beginning to see the shifts there. the big loser of the week is hillary clinton. if you thought she would cakewalk to the coronation, that ain't gonna happen, clearly. the democratic party is beginning to have an argument within itself with a more popular wing, more establishment wing, parallel to the republicans a couple of years ago, but nice. we've seen a lot of formations in the next two years come into being. >> woodruff: david is referring to lireferring to elin from massachusetts. there are other liberal democrats unhappy about changing campaign finance. is this what we have to look forward to in the democratic party? >> well, i think i have a little different take from david in the sense at the i think the democrats -- in the sense i think the democrats had a great opportunity to define themselves as a party. they'd gone through an election

where they'd never had an economic message and here's a bill presented with the amendment, quite openly written by citigroup, you know. the four biggest banks in the country handle 93% and this is written for them. it's to make their business easier and to provide backup in case things still go wrong that mr. and mrs. taxpayer of this country, we'll bail them out once more in the worst possible circumstances. they say, oh, it's making it easier logistically and so forest. the democrats had a chance to break down, nancy pelosi stood up on it, and the white house buckled too soon. i think they had the republicans very much in the sense that they didn't want to deny paternity of this provision. it ties them very much into the negative public stereotype of the party is too close to big money. on top of that, they okay up u d

the amount of money billionaires can give. you ended up with seven out of ten democrats voting against the president on this bill. >> woodruff: you're saying it's a good thing, david, for the democrats. >> it's bound to be a good thing. it's very much like what happened in the republican party. it's a difference in are you trying to make a statement or pass a law. if you are progressive and you have two great issues, you can make a statement. on the other hand, if you don't pass this right now and you kick it over to the next congress, it's certainly going to be worse on a whole other range of issues for democrats because republicans will be in control. so the people who supported this thing like barack obama, they will look at a whole range of issues.

if you're trying to define your party, mark is right, elizabeth warren has a good defining issue. if you're trying to pass a law, it will be good for you and a whole other range of issues, barack obama is right. >> woodruff: what do you think about gestures to the d. j. party on immigration reform, executive action, net neutrality? >> no question. i think this is a crunch question. i don't think there's any question the republicans could not. this is a practical political question rather than symbolic and philosophical. i think the republicans were in a terrible position. the more heat, the more light, the more attention focused on these two provisions would have put them very much on the defensive to the point that tea party republicans were upset because to have the money. they say it's opening up the money, the millionaires and billionaires money, to the establishment as a republican party and running against them as they did very effectively in 2014 in primaries so that they'll nominate more

establishment candidates. so i think a missed opportunity is here and i think the white house, dwight frankly, is eyeball to eyeball with the republican congress and the white house blinked. >> a lot of it is what's getting your juices flowing, and for elizabeth warren, this issue on derivatives gets her juices flowing and for a lot of democrats it is a core issue. for others, it's not, they're not passionately involved. that's why i leap ahead to the primary season. that's why elizabeth warren owes it to us to run to make our lives interesting. >> woodruff: we'll talk about that another friday. the senate intelligence report on the c.i.a. so-called enhanced interrogation techniques or as others say is miew you have yo r

terror. what do you think? >> the critics said they didn't talk to enough people, it wasn't complete. it shouldn't come out at this time, wasn't helpful. is it true? yes, it's true. did the united states -- i mean, ronald reagan signed the anti-torture u.n. convention as president of the united states in 1988, the senate ratified it in 1994. torture was declared not simply immoral but illegal. in 2001, we repealed it, without any official act, it was effectively repealed. and that's what this is about. and on this issue, judy, it's very rare that this happens in american public life. there's one figure who stands

unasalable and alone as an authority and that is john mccain. john mccain is the moral clarity on this torture issue and report and he is the one who said quite bluntly, yes, we should have had this report and what was done was wrong and we as americans are better. he believes in americanceptionleism. >> it cuts through the ocean of yoeuphemism. it gets to straight language. it's obviously torture. when you cut through it, the technologying or the metaphor and the euphemism is designed to dull the moral sensibility. it's hard to read this report and not be morally outraged. so that had a great effect. the second issue raised which is another issue mccain has gone to is the effectiveness of the evidence and i think we're right to be gnostic about that. john brennan says he's not sure,

unknowable whether it helped. mccain says from his own personal experience that torture leads to bad intelligence. he's probably right about that. so we're unsure about that. i have sympathy for some who say the document was too partisan, written by democratic staffers, done in a partisan way. i'm a little bothered as a reporter they didn't interview as many people as they should have, there's some merit in that. the thing they whitewash is the role of congress and even the democrats here. at the time, the c.i.a. said they debriefed people and now a lot of people are on their high horse who sat in the rooms and say they weren't for it. >> woodruff: what matters about this, mark? >> it's not a perfect document and i don't think anybody is pretending it is. what matters is do we confront what we have done and what was done in our name and under our flag and, you know, to quote

john mccain, this isn't about our enemies, it's about who we were, who we are and who we aspire to be. and i wasn't just being glib when i said he believes in american exceptionalism. a lot of people on the left who are very supportive of mccain's position don't think america is exceptional otherwise, and all the people who talk about america being exceptional and doing whatever we want militarily, all of a sudden are very defensive and don't etch pretend to hold us to a standard on something like torture. this was torture. the united states of america does not hold somebody by chain to a floor half naked and let him freeze to death in the name of the united states of america. we don't do that. david's right. it's impossible to read it and not to be morally upset. >> woodruff: if that's the case, why aren't we talking about punishment for the people

who did this? >> people were put in miserable jobs and decisions were made at political level. there were a lot of decisions made and then don't tell me what to do under the aegis of the decision i just made. i would hesitate to do it. it was a tough time. they didn't know what al quaida was up to. i do think they were motivated by the national security interest. i think it was wrong. i think the people who were involved, we know this from the report, were appalled at the time, but sometimes they thought, you know, they were doing the right thing. we kill people all the time with drones. killing is probably worse than torture, those moral calculus should not be legalized except in extreme cases, in my opinion. >> woodruff: the c.i.a. comes out of this how? >> i think damaged and wounded. i think that's what john brennan is trying to do.

most are honest, effective, dedicated professionals who get intelligence without torturing people and without degrading other human beings, who do that every day and well. >> it wasn't just the c.i.a. it was the whole country, a lot of people up the political chain, in congress and the public and we're trying to rediscover our moral center. >> woodruff: tough questions tonight. mark shields, david brooks, we thank you. >> woodruff: finally tonight, a look at the unvarnished life of a much beloved american literary icon. her autobiography, the basis of much of her writing, was written almost 100 years ago but never published until now. jeffrey brown has our look. >> brown: she didn't begin to write until she was in her 60s, but laura ingalls wilder's first effort at fiction, the little house in the big woods, published 1932, was a

series about life observe the great plains that's been treasured by generations of children selling 60 million copies and translated into more than 40 languages. generations took to the long-running 1970s tv series based on the books. all of these little house on the prairie stories were in fact based on wilder's own life and turns out she originally tried to tell her story in an autobiography, one never published. now some 90 years later, the south dakota historical society press is bringing out "pioneer girl," the annotated biography. the editor is pamela smith hill, english professor, who also wrote a biography of wilder. welcome. it's interesting. her first impulse as a writer was to nonfiction. >> yes, exactly. what a lot of people don't understand about laura ingalls wilder is that she actually started her professional writing career as a journalist. she wrote for the missouri

royalist. a major foreign publication in missouri in the early 20t 20th century. so she was used to dealing with facts and reality and i think that's one of the reasons she attempted to write an autobiography first. >> brown: the autobiography doesn't seem to be intended for children, from what i read. i mean, it has a lot about adult relationship, some real-world violence. how different is it from what we came to know in the novels? >> when wilder wrote "pioneer girl" she intended to write it for an adult audience, you're absolutely right about that. she was hoping that a major national magazine like the saturday evening post or the ladies home journal would serialize her autobiography. she was hoping for magazine serialization and then a book deal later on.

it was a different publishing world than when she finished pioneer girl in 1930. >> brown: what vows jumps out at you from reading her own words? >> the voice in pioneer girl is more mature but also very intimate, very personable. it's almost as if you're sitting across from laura ingalls wilder at her kitchen table and she's telling you her life story. but she's telling it as an adult looking back on her childhood and that's a very different voice than in the little house series. in terms of her life itself, what she reveals in pioneer girl is in many ways similar to what she discusses in the novel, but she presents a tougher life, a harder life, and yet the ingalls family itself was still very loving and optimistic, very warm. >> brown: is there an example you can give us?

>> i think most wilder fans already know laura ingalls wilder had a baby brother. she did not write about his birth or his death in the little house series but she does explore his very short life. he lived only nine months. in pioneer girl. that's one of the most revealing episodes in the autobiography. but she talks about a period in her family's life where the ingalls family moved east instead of west like they do in the novels. charles ingalls abandoned his dream of living off the land and instead the family managed a hotel for a short time in iowa. i think the family pretty much hit rock bottom financially and were struggling to make ends meet. so there's a whole section in pioneer girl that will be new to the readers of the little house books. >> brown: finally and briefly, what explains the incredible success of the novels through so

many years and generations? >> wilder's first editor described the little house books as the books that no depression could beat. wilder wrote the books in the depression, in the 1940s and into world war ii. i think the books have a great deal of optimism and hope but i think what makes the books endure is wilder's unique and personable voice. it's very intimate. it's once the simple and yet eloquent, and also manages to age along with its main character. so the opening books in the series are very child, like, and full of wonder. in the end of the series, the voice is more mature and yet somehow still consistent. and i think that unique voice offers readers a chance to project their own dreams and feelings and aspirations into the book. i think that's why it's endured. >> brown: pamela smith hill, editor of pioneer girl by laura

ingalls wilder. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. the price of oil plunged again, below $58 dollars a barrel, and took wall street with it. the dow lost more than 300 points. and the senate began work on a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund government operations. it scraped by the house last night online, we continue the newshour's twelve days of gift- giving with some sweet treats from our staff. we've compiled our favorite cookie recipes, including peppermint chocolate chip. find those on our home page and be sure to check back on sunday for a special newshour crossword puzzle. all that and more is on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and a reminder about some upcoming programs from our pbs colleagues. gwen ifill is preparing for washington week, which airs

later this evening. here's a preview: >> ifill: treading the line between interrogation and torture. did the c.i.a. do what it had to, by any means necessary? and on capitol hill, how much drama can a one trillion dollar budget bill create? we'll tackle both questions, with the reporters who have been covering the stories, tonight on washington week. judy? >> woodruff: and the news doesn't stop on friday. tune in to pbs newshour weekend on saturday and sunday evenings. that's the newshour for tonight, i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer.

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report" with tyler mathisen and susie gharib. funded in part by -- thestreet.com and action alerts plus where jim cramer and fellow portfolio manager stephanie link share their investment strategies, stock picks and market insights. you can learn more at thestreet.com/nbr. crude correction oil falls more than 10% this week alone. it now sits at its lowest level in nearly 6 years. the dow dropped more than 300 points thanks to that cratering crude. the industrial average having its worst week in more than three years. >> the bright side, this week's market monitor said the plunge in oil is a gift for investors. he said he's got some packages you should unwrap. all tha