captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> our coalition is strong, our cause is just, and our mission will succeed. >> woodruff: president obama asks congress to approve military force against islamic state militants. senators tim kaine and deb fischer on the reaction from capitol hill. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. gwen ifill is away. also ahead this wednesday, security concerns shutter embassies in yemen, americans evacuate a country yearning for stability after rebel fighters seized control. from brian williams to jon stewart, a shake up in tv news and political comedy.

we look at the roles of celebrity, trust, and new media have changed the way americans consume news. plus, david axelrod on his years advising president obama and why, despite his time in washington, he still believes in the political process. >> i just wanted to write a story about my own journey to make the case it's worthwhile to engage in this process. >> this is a great example of an enormous amount of mechanical energy which is currently being completely wasted. >> woodruff: the politics and red tape blocking hydropower a renewable energy source with untapped potential. >> we kept thinking, gee they really ought to be a way we could use that water. we were having to jump through the same hoops that if you are going to move boulder dam. >> woodruff: 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. at lincoln financial, we believe that you are the boss of your life. the chief life officer. in charge of providing for loved ones. growing your nest egg. and protecting what matters the most. lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future. life income, retirement, group benefits, and advice. lincoln financial. you're in charge.

i.b.e.w. the power professionals in your neighborhood. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions 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: president obama formally asked congress today to authorize military force against the islamic state group. the request triggers the first war powers vote since 2002, and the invasion of iraq.

the president said he's not asking to send in ground troops beyond special forces used in limited operations. >> i'm convinced the united states should not get dragged back into another prolonged ground war in the middle east. it's not in our national security interests and it's not necessary for us to defeat isil. local forces on the ground who know their countries best are best positioned to take the ground fight to isil and that's what they're doing. >> woodruff: to that end, the proposal rules out enduring offensive combat operations like the afghan and iraq wars. it also calls for a three year time limit on the authorization for using force, taking it past the president's time in office. majority republicans in congress voiced doubt that the resolution goes far enough. some democrats worried that it might go too far. >> i am concerned about the breadth and vagueness of ground

troop language. the limitation against enduring offensive ground combat operations suggesting that all defensive ground combat operations are okay, since everybody works for dod the department of defense allowing defensive actions without any additional explanation is pretty broad. >> woodruff: we'll hear more from senator kaine and republican senator deb fischer later in the program. the bombing campaign in syria and iraq has done little to stop foreign fighters from joining the islamic state. u.s. intelligence leaders told a house hearing today that some 20000 foreign fighters from 90 countries have joined the militants. that includes up to 150 americans who've tried to reach the war zone inside syria. in yemen, britain and france joined the u.s. in closing their embassies, as turmoil spread in the capital. crowds protested today in sanaa against shiite rebels who took over the government last week. rebels patrolled the streets and

eventually beat and stabbed some protesters. rod nordland of "the new york times" is in sanaa and spoke with us earlier. rod nordland, welcome. we understand not only did officials at the u.s. emsy close it down they also abandoned cars at the airport in sanaa. what is the situation on the ground? >> they went into the airport and got on commercial flights, they did it in an orderly way. the houthis say they're just taking the cars for safekeeping and following yemeni law and they're doing their best to try to prevent it from blowing up into any bigger incident than it is. the surprising thing, it's pretty calm on the streets in sanaa these days. >> woodruff: what would you say the attitude is of the new houthi government toward the

u.s.? >>u.s.? they're trying to desperately to reach out to the united states and persuade them they're trying to be on friendly terms. they haven't had much success doing that. i think the americans want to see a government in place and one the houthis agreed on with other parties and not just dominated by them. >> woodruff: we know the u.s. and the houthis are on the same side of the fight against al quaida. could that make for cooperation? >> i think it's already making for cooperation. you know the houthis have long campaign against american drone strikers even though they're against their bitter enemies al quaida. since taking control, they've done nothing to speer fear with those and have dialed back anti-drone and andty-american rhetoric. >> woodruff: with know u.s. embassy, how are they trying to reach out to the u.s.? what is the message? >> i interviewed their leader a couple of days ago and he was

adamant about trying to have better relations with the u.s. even went so far as to repudiate their slogan which says death to america and say that's just a slogan, we don't mean it literally and we want to be friends with the united states and saudi arabia and other countries h in the region and played down their connection to iran. it's widely believed the iranians finance them. he said it wasn't true and they didn't want to see the iranians make way in yemeni either. it's a reassuring message but it's hard for the americans to take it seriously because they don't actually have a government to deal with here whether it's hoothootyhouthi or another government. >> woodruff: rod, thank you. you're welcome. >> woodruff: as u.s. diplomats leave yemen, there's word the american military exit from afghanistan may be delayed. "the washington post" reports the administration is

considering keeping more troops there, for longer than planned. the current plan calls for ending the u.s. military mission entirely by early 2017. the leaders of france, germany, russia and ukraine gathered this evening for new talks to end the fighting in eastern ukraine. the summit took place in minsk, the capital of neighboring belarus. a cease-fire announced there last fall has collapsed in a new surge of combat between pro- russian rebels and ukrainian troops. another momentous meeting played out in brussels, as finance ministers from across the euro- zone focused on greece and its debt. the new greek government has vowed to renegotiate terms of the country's bailout. the international monetary fund helped fund the bailout, and its leader, christine lagarde, said today she's open to considering athens' ideas. >> ( translated ): they are absolutely competent intelligent, they've thought about their issues. we have to listen to them. we have to start working

together and it is a process that is starting and is going to last a certain time. >> woodruff: greece's current bailout ends on february 28th. the u.n. refugee agency reports more than 300 migrants have died trying to cross the mediterranean from libya to italy. it is the latest in a string of such disasters. the victims had no food or water, and their small rubber boats were overwhelmed by heavy winter seas. also today, the captain of the italian cruise liner "costa concordia" was found guilty of manslaughter and abandoning his ship. francesco schettino now faces 16 years in prison for the deaths of 32 people. the cruise ship smashed into rocks off the island of giglio in january 2012. the ship filled with water, and rolled onto its side. back in this country, the fight over funding the department of homeland security heated up.

though in the minority democrats have blocked senate action on a house bill that funds the department, but blocks the president's executive orders on immigration. that prompted this today, from house speaker john boehner. >> you know, in the gift shop out here, they've got these little booklets on how a bill becomes a law, right? the house has done its job. why don't you go ask the senate democrats when are they going to get off their ass and do something other than to vote no? >> woodruff: a senate democrat spokesman responded that "cursing is not going to resolve" the issue. senate republicans have said it's up to the house. without further action, the homeland security department runs out of money on february 27th. >> woodruff: the house gave final approval this afternoon to a bill approving the keystone x.l. oil pipeline. it now heads to a certain veto at the hands of president obama. he has said he wants the federal

review process to play out. the pipeline would allow oil from canada's tar sands to flow to gulf coast refineries. and on wall street, stocks marked time, as investors watched the european meetings on greece. the dow jones industrial average lost six points to close near 17,860; the nasdaq rose 13 points on the day; and the s&p 500 was virtually unchanged. still to come on the newshour. what brian williams' suspension and jon stewart's announced departure tell us about the changing media landscape. senators respond to president obama's request to use military force on islamic state militants. david axelrod on his new book and life in politics. smale scale hydropower projects an untapped renewable energy source. and, bringing home troops sent to west africa to fight ebola.

>> woodruff: it's been a turbulent 24 hours for nbc news. the future credibility of its longtime anchor, and questions about the organization, and the traditional role of nightly news broadcasts are all on the line. >> this is a very difficult story for us to report on because it is so... so personal in so many ways, most importantly because brian is not only a colleague here but such a good friend. >> woodruff: it was uncharted territory this morning, for nbc's "today" show and the rest of the network news division. overnight, came word that "nightly news" anchor brian williams is suspended for six months, without pay. in a staff memo, nbc news president deborah turness said williams misrepresented an incident from the iraq war. the judgment of nbc universal president steve burke, was harsher still.

"by his actions," said burke, "brian has jeopardized the trust millions of americans place in nbc news. his actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate." >> from nbc new world headquarters, this is nbc nightly news with brian williams. >> woodruff: williams ascended to the anchor's chair more than a decade ago. his remarkably swift fall began january 30th, with a report on his war experiences in iraq, back in 2003. >> this story actually started with a terrible moment a dozen years back in the invasion of iraq, when a helicopter we were traveling in was forced down by a r.p.g. our nbc team was surrounded and kept alive by an armored mechanized platoon from the us army 3rd infantry. >> woodruff: then, last week, williams recanted the story to "stars and stripes" after members of the helicopter crew said he'd arrived on the scene an hour after the attack. that sparked criticism from media analysts, mockery on

social media and an internal nbc investigation, all citing other appearances where williams exaggerated what happened to his helicopter. it also prompted on-air apology: >> i made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago. >> woodruff: but it didn't end there. new questions arose about williams' assertions that in new orleans, during hurricane katrina, he saw a body floating in the french quarter and gangs infiltrated his hotel. amid the furor, williams began a voluntary leave of absence this week, but suggested he'd return. now, it's unclear if he will ever return, but in the interim, lester holt will anchor "nightly news." less clear, is who will fill another anchor seat. >> 17 years is the longest i have ever in my life held a job by 16 years and 5 months. ( laughter ) >> woodruff: jon stewart announced last night he's

retiring later this year from "the daily show," comedy central's highly popular faux news program. >> i'm going to have dinner on a school night with my family. who i have heard, from multiple sources, are lovely people. ( laughter ) >> woodruff: the news of his leaving took social media by storm. on twitter alone, more than 250,000 posts mentioned "the daily show." during his time at the helm stewart has mentored the likes of stephen colbert, john oliver and larry wilmore, all of whom went on to have their own shows. a date for stewart's final show has not been set. we get reaction to this decision and the larger issues here. david westin is the former president of abc news. he's now the principal at witherbee holdings which advises and invests in media companies. max frankel is the former executive editor of the new york times.

and, kelly mcbride is a leading voice on ethical issues at the poynter institute. wewe welcome all three of you. kelly, some are questioning why nbc made this decision to suspend brian williams before they finished their internal investigation. what do you make of that and the punishment? >> well, it was a bit mysterious because normally, a media company would say what they were suspending the individual for so that there would be some sort of record of it. so the fact that they suspended him before their investigation is complete maybe it was a p.r. move. maybe it was more about the public relations than the journalism. maybe they wanted to buy themselves some time in order to figure out what their next strategic move is, and it's possible that brian williams will never come back on the air. >> woodruff: max frankel, what do you make of the punishment

and how this was done? >> well, breech of trust was the accusation and i think that's exactly the right charge. they are buying time. they are worried about the financial investment in the "nightly news," which is an enormous part of the nbc operation. there may be a chance for remorse and rehabilitation as their announcement suggested but, frankly i'm very skeptical. i saw something with my eyes and what i have reported to you on camera was wrong. that's a very serious distortion of what the job of a news anchor should be, and i agree that he may never get back. >> woodruff: david westin, how do you size this up as someone who sat at the head of a news division for a competing network? >> well, of course, i don't know what the thinking was of steve burke or the management of nbc

news. from where i sit i think what steve did was just about exactly right. on the one hand, he needed quickly to get out with a statement that the breech of trust max refers to is inexcusable and terribly important to them. he needs to communicate with his own organization as well as the public that they take this extremely seriously. as far as the investigation goes, we don't know what that will show but what brian already admitted to constitutes a breech of trust. at the same time i think steve was right in trying to hold out some hope for brian saying they were rooting for him and people deserve a second chance. when i was in situations that were difficult maybe not this one but others, i wanted to only decide the things i needed to decide and see how it plays out because right now i don't think anyone knows all the facts. >> woodruff: go ahead, max frankel. >> the question of the future turns on what he can do in the future. can he sit down and ask hillary clinton about what it was like

running away from bullets that weren't there? can he confront a president who says i'm not a crook? can he incredibly interrogate lying politicians, if you will, without them turning the tables on him? that's the future that brian has to face and he has to be able to persuade an audience that all of that is in the past and that he can responsibly deal with the tensions of the news in the future. it's a tall order. >> woodruff: and that raises the question, kelly mcbride, i wanted to ask you, and that is what does determine whether he comes back and what is at stake, truly here for nbc? >> well i think nbc is asking two questions and one is the credibility question max is asking now. can he ask those tough questions of sources and do it with any amount of integrity and

credibility? then the second thing is will the audience trust him. that's a gamble. six months from now, if they decide to put him back on the air, they will be looking at revisiting this whole mess, and by then the audience may have attached to another anchor and may be completely willing to move on with somebody else. so they're really looking at a numbers game -- what can they reasonably expect the audience to do between now and then, and then what makes sense in six months in terms of putting him back on the air? is it worth the gamble then or now? >> woodruff: i want to turn to david westin. how do you see that? david, i have a conflict of interest here as a news anchor in asking this, but how much does it matter who a network puts in the anchor seat when you see the audience gravitating to

rapidly to news that's on demand and not appointment viewing? >> well, certainly the business is going through traumatic changes and that may be partly what underlies the overall movement of news toward more branding and marketing which i think is a broader problem than just brian williams or nbc news. at the same time, there are still roughly 8.5 million or 9 million people who do you know in to nbc news every night, which is a large audience compared to online. i don't misunderstand me i agree this is a high hill for brian to climb, i'm just not prepared to conclude yet he hasn't done it. ifif i were nbc news i would be looking at how the public reacts, how brian conducts himself and what else we find out in the investigation. i wouldn't be willing to rule it out. one last point, i agree with max that asking the questions will be difficult for him if he comes back. on the other hand, if he comes back, he will be a different and

better anchor and journalist than ever before. he will be truly purer than caesar's wife because he would have to prove to everyone every day that he takes the truth extremely seriously. >> woodruff: max frankel i guess what i haven't to ask, are standards changing for what anchors need to be and do because of this dramatic move to digital and on demand? >> well, there is another villain in this whole story and it's this camera. you know, before i left the house, i had to worry about my haircut which i didn't get. i had to powder my nose to cover up the scar. the diva nature of the anchors the fact that the networks are selling the reader, the presenter of the news rather than the news itself, it means that not just brian but a lot of us are very envious of jon stewart because he can be the

persona, he can be the comedian. he can be the entertainer. he can relate to the audience in a way that those of us who deal in news should not. >> that brings me finally to a question to kelly about jon stewart and the effect he's had on so-called real news. >> well, sure. jon stewart was a game-changer himself. 17 years ago he invented a form of media criticism that has come to dominate the industry now, and it is the preferred source of news for certain generations. that's not new. that was ten years ago when that information came out. we all sort of shook our heads and said, really? jon stewart? now it makes perfect sense, as we've gotten more and more voices into the marketplace of ideas the funny guy stands out, the guy who can be clever, who can develop a rapport and who can pick and choose what topics he covers, that's a lot easier

of a job than sitting in the "nightly news" chair and playing it straight and that's really why, when we go back to brian williams, that's why there was such pressure to develop that personable brand, that guy in the middle of it all. it made him stand apart from his competitors because he had to not just compete against the other "nightly news" but against jon stewart. >> woodruff: and very quickly, david westin, what does that mean for whoever replaces or whether brian williams comes back? >> i hope that there is some good that comes out of all of this, and i feel very badly for brian and nbc news, i would hope all newsrooms instead of gloating at what happened take a hard look at themselves and ask are their anchors and correspondents covering the story or trying to be part of the story because i think that's the fundamental weakness and everyone can learn from that. >> amen. >> woodruff: we heard the

amen. we want to thank all three of you, david westin, max frankel, kelly mcbride. thank you. >> woodruff: online, we collected eight unforgettable moments from "the daily show." find those clips on our home- page, pbs.org.newshour. >> woodruff: as we reported earlier president obama today asked congress for a war powers resolution, a measure to generally approve the use military force against the islamic state group. here's jeffrey brown. >> brown: the quesiton: how is congress reacting to the proposal, the first such war powers request from this president? we get that from two senators: virginia democrat tim kaine, who's pushed for a resolution granting war powers to go before congress. and nebraska republican deb fischer, who's just returned from a briefing and discussion on this issue for senate republicans. and senator fisher, tell us what

kinds of concerns you're hearing from your colleagues. some have already expressed, for example, that they think this is too narrowly drawn, not giving the president and the military enough flexibility. >> what i'm looking forward to is a discussion by congress on the resolution. we're going to have committee hearings. we're going to be calling witnesses. really get some facts from the administration. i would like to say, if we're going to do our jobs it's going to be open and transparent so that the public understands what the president is asking for, how congress is responding to his request and have that open process. >> brown: senator kaine, we heard you earlier in the program saying that the resolution leaves perhaps too much room for the president. explain the concerns you have. >> first i'm very glad that the president sent this to congress because we shouldn't be at war doubt a congressional debate and vote, and there's much in the authorization that i like. we passed one in the senate

forch foreign relations committee in december and it's similar in many instances. the provision about ground troops makes me nervous because it's kind of vague and broad. it basically says ground troops can't be used for enduring offensive combat operations but it doesn't describe what that means. one lesson i think we should have learned from the authorizations that were passed in 2001 and 2002 is vague undefined language can lead you into circumstances that you didn't contemplate. so as deb mentioned, we're going to be having hearings and those hearings will be to pepper witnesses with questions and put some shape and definition to the authorization based on how the hearings go. >> brown: deb fischer, what do you think about the language, specifically about ground troops? >> i'm looking forward to having the administration explain what they mean by that. i kind of disagree with my colleague here. i believe the commander-in-chief needs to have flexibility.

i think the commander-in-chief should be able to listen to his advisors, to the generals to the joint chiefs of staff who are going to provide him with facts. this information open what's happening on the ground. then he needs to have that flexibility in order to make a wise decision on how best our country is going to be served. to put a lot of limits on a commander-in-chief to put those into a document, i don't know if that's the wise course we should take. i think we'll learn more as we go through the committee process. there will be a number of committees involved in the process and i'm hopeful that the administration will put forth a strategy, an end game that we haven't seen so far. >> brown: tim kaine, another key issue, the president proposes replacing the 2002 authorization that was for use of force in iraq but not the 2001 authorization after 9/11. do you think he should have gone

further and dropped the 2001 authorization? >> jeffery, i do think that we need to revise the 2001 authorization, absolutely. i don't think we necessarily have to do it within the framework of this i.s.i.l authorization because i think you can take them up separately, but we should be urgent about it. one issue in the hearings i'm going to be focused on is the extent of our coalition partners. the u.s. can't police a region that won't police itself, and that's one of the reasons i'm worried about the ground troop provision, it has to rely on u.s. ground troops. it almost certainly means that the region isn't stepping up to fight its own homegrown terrorists, and they need to do that and if they do, we can vigorously assist them. but unless they're showing the willingness to battle the threat that is its own region's terrorist threat, it's going to be very difficult for us to accomplish the mission at least inside those countries. >> brown: senator fischer you

said you're eager for the hearings and to learn more. what is your biggest concern as you look at the specific language? what worries you the most? >> what i'm looking for is the m state, what's the strategy here. we haven't seen what the goals, are we hear about degrading and defeating i.s.i.s. are we looking at the point now where we're just degrading them? we have to look at three things -- what's going to happen with syria, how are we going to address assad, how will we look at iraq? what are we looking for in iraq? it's very destabilized there. is the goal a unified iraq? then we have to confront iran and their ambitions in that region. i haven't heard anything from the president or the administration on where we are with regards to an overall view of what happens in that region of the world. >> brown: what do you think, senator fischer about the language of a specific time period, three years. >> i think it limits the next president of the united states.

i don't believe we've seen that to put that three' year time period on is a limitation that doesn't give either this president or the next president the flexibility that they need. >> brown: senator kaine, what do you think about the time period? >> i think we need a sunset because what we learned in the aftermath of the very brief authorizations passed by congress in 2001 and 2002 is if you impose no limitation in time, no limitation in geography and if you put in vague and undefined terms then you lead to a situation where pentagon officials today say that they think we'll be in the war declared for another 25 or 30 years. that's not what congress intended when they passed the law and a sunset doesn't mean operations finish, it just means that the president that has to come back to congress and says here's the status, now we need to move to a next chapter. that kind of review is helpful. >> brown: it's just day one, a

lot to go but briefly where we stand now, senator kaine, will it pass? will you vote for it? >> something will pass because there's an overwhelming bipartisan consensus we need to be in this military action against i.s.i.l. there are a lot of questions to ask and probably some amendments but i think we'll get there. >> brown: senator fischer? i want to go through the process and have a full understanding and i want the open and transparent process for the american people. this is a serious issue when we send our young people to war. >> brown: senator deb fischer senator tim kaine, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: he's a former reporter for "the chicago tribune" who stopped covering politics to advise democratic candidates. in 2008 david axelrod was the chief strategist and media adviser for then senator barack obama's successful presidential bid. he spent two years as a white

house senior adviser and re- upped for the 2012 re-election campaign, his final as a political operative. he's now the director of the institute of politics at the university of chicago. and the author of the new book, "believer: my forty years in politics." david axlerod, welcome. >> good to be here judy, thank you. >> woodruff: the title says it all. of course you believe in barack obama. >> it's more than that. >> woodruff: of course you believe in politics. >> i really do. >> woodruff: why when so many americans don't? >> that's one of the reasons i wanted to write the book. i wanted the subtitle on the cover to be how my idealism survived 40 years in politics. that's part of the story. my interest goes back to when i was five years old and john f. kennedy came to my community in new york and, you know, i learned later what he said, but i was struck by the importance of it. what he said was i'm not saying if you elect me everything will be good. this is a hazardous occupation,

being an american citizen in the 1960s filled with hope and challenge and we'll decide which path we take. the message was, through politics and through this process, we can steer the course of history, and that seemed very big to me and still does and very true. >> woodruff: but it's also a lot harder than you thought it was going to be and anybody thought it was going to be including this president. why is it so hard? what is it that -- about the system that makes it so hard to get things done? >> well, i think it's a confluence. and let's certify that we have the sense of politics is much more difficult than in some ways it was. we've had times in our country when a sitting vice president killed a former treasury secretary over politics. we've had canings in the u.s. senate and civil wars so we shouldn't get carried away. i think the media environment made politics more difficult. the the twitter and social media

age in which a news cycle or several can get hijacked by stories that ultimately mean nothing and there's very little time for reflection. that makes it harder. i think the money that you see in politics today and the proliferation of advertising and some of those techniques have made it more difficult. polarization, some because of redistricting, there are a lot of reasons for it. that said judy, i still think we have the about the the do big things and we've seen it when you look at what's happened in the last six years. >> woodruff: you have idealism. you say the system, the idea of what politics can do that's good is really important. >> yes. >> woodruff: but you also are critical of most members of congress, you say they're very focused on the next election. you say the president feels that same way too. how can you believe in the process and the idea of what it can accomplish and not believe in the people who practice it?

>> first of all, i think it's always been thus, that the majority -- the world of politics divides into two categories, the more numerous of people who run for office because they want to be something, and a smaller and admirable group of people who run because they want to do something, and i have been attracted to those people. one thing you said that i disagree with i think the president is someone who's in that second category and probably has ignored politics to a fault at times because he believes that when you get elected you're elected to do things and not just be something, and i admired him for it. >> woodruff: but i saw an interview when you were asked why he doesn't reach out more naturally to more members of congress and you said he's been disappointed in them. >> and i also said i think he hasn't related to them in the right way at all times. but, on the other hand i look at this guy, and the set of decisions that he made when i was in the white house, in the first two very difficult years, where i believe he saved the american economy or very much

helped to save the american economy the auto industry, made a very difficult decision on healthcare. some politicians criticize him for it because they say it was a bad political decision. he knew it was a bad political decision but thought it was the right decision for the country. that inspires me and a lot of people who have healthcare today who otherwise wouldn't have had it. >> you talk about a number of things he'd like to do. you said he focused on the middle class, something he talked about in the campaign but lassent been able to focus in a singular way on it and you put some of the blame on the american people for not parts participating? >> i do. there's a great deal of cynicism i think. you look at primary elections where 10 to 20% of the people participate and they're essentially taken over by the most extreme voices in the parties and that's contributed to some of the problems we have. democracy is a participatory exercise and if you walk away from it you're doing so at your own risk.

>> woodruff: i have to ask you about hillary clinton. >> yes. >> woodruff: of course his main primary opponent in 2008. you write, she was smart able good in many ways as a candidate, she didn't win. what's different about the challenge she faces assuming she runs? >> i think she had the experience of running and learning from that. she's had experience since then outside of elective politics, but the times are different as well. i believe that the outgoing incumbent sets the terms of the election. in 2008, people were looking at george bush and thought he was a bit manic in the way he saw the world, black and white. they wanted someone who saw the nuances, who understood the grey, and they picked a guy named barack obama and he did do that and was right for the times. i think the pendulum has swung back a lit nowell. they want someone to challenge the system as well as manager the system. >> woodruff: they think the president didn't do that?

>> i think there's a feeling he didn't do that. i think he's been incredibly accomplished. i think history will be good to him in that regard but that is one place where you would say yeah, he hasn't been a great manager of events in washington. >> the tricky thing about writing a book -- >> though i think hillary will appeal to people on that basis because they see her as someone who may have the ability to manage the system a little better. >> woodruff: you're not the only one that's written a book while the president's still in office. doesn't that put you in a place where you can't say everything you want to say? for example, you wrote some things about how the president felt one way about same-sex marriage, at the same time he couldn't, you said, or wasn't ready to say that publicly. he said many an interview yesterday that you, david axlerod, were mixing up his personal -- >> when you saw the quote, i don't disagree what he said. he said i had my personal view and my public position and i was frustrated at times about that and that's exactly what i wrote. so i don't know have any

disagreement with him on that. you know, the thing is, judy, this wasn't just his story, this is my story, this is my life story. and so, i couldn't wait to write my own story. i understand the disquiet on on the part of some of the books that have been written but i just want to write a story about my own journey to try to make the case that it's worthwhile to engage in this process and that's why i'm in the institute of politics at the university of chicago we need people to believe we can shape our future and not walk away from this. >> woodruff: david axlerod "believer: my forty years in politics." great to see you in washington. >> great to see you. >> woodruff: thanks for talking to me. >> thanks for having me. >> woodruff: let's turn to an energy story about a source of power that's of interest to both political parties. it's about hydropower.

as we've seen again this week republicans and some democrats may be deeply divided on questions like the keystone pipeline. our story comes from dan boyce of "inside energy." that's a public media collaboration on energy issues, working with the newshour. t what a lot of us think of when we hear the word hydropower, but in a lot of ways this is the old face of hydro in the u.s. and this is the new face. >> this is all it is. it? a generator the size of a wheelbarrow pulling in water from a mountain stream, generating enough power for about ten homes. this little generator has helped change the course of hydro-history. >> come on really? this tiny thing in a five-foot by ten-foot building is causing all of this? >> beverly rich and other

members of the volunteer san juan county historical society started taking care of this old mill site about 15 years ago. a mill with a water pipeline the workers used decades ago to help process precious metals like gold and silver. >> at that time we kept thinking, gee, there really ought to be a way we can use that water. >> they started trying to get the federal licensing they needed to install a power generator. >> and had no idea how likely onerous it is for really tiny, tiny projects. we were having to jump through the same hoops that if you're going to build boulder dam. >> that's the old name for the hoover dam, and she's not exaggerating. a lot of projects generating electricity from water had to go through the same federal jute any as the giant dams of old,

that is until august of 2013. >> the other bill under crrgs today is hydropower legislation. >> advocates of small hydropower projects worked up a pair of bills for congress and the mill project in silverton was on full display as a prime example of their rob. >> it's a long overdue cost effective common sense measure. >> this legislation streamlined the federal licensing process for small hydropower projects cutting it down from years to as little as 60 days and the legislation didn't just pass. >> incredibly enough, in this -- in this horrible time of gridlock it passed unanimously. >> the bills hit the rare bipartisan sweet spot says energy analyst cameron brooks. for republican lawmakers, the legislation shrink federal bureaucracy. >> it's cutting through the tap and helping push forward something that can create jobs. >> and for democrats it meant a win for renewable energy and most importantly doing so

without putting new dams on america's rivers. the result, more small projects like the one in silverton are getting approved more quickly. so for the small hydropower industry, national lawmakers really did their job. there are still problems for hydro though. advocates are looking for more still from capitol hill. >> this is a great example of enormous amount of mechanical energy which is currently completely wasted. >> hydropower consultant kirk johnson testified at the congressional hearing on the 2013 bill. as helpful as he thinks that legislation was he compares it to gently taking a kitchen knife to the government's red tape. >> we need another round of legislation perhaps to get a machete and further clear out some of those regulatory barriers. >> for starters, hydropower advocates want bigger production tax credits like wind power used to enjoy but those credits came

to an end last year and many republicans express reservations in continuing them further. also as far as johnson is concerned, for little generators like the mill in sillerrerton it shouldn't just be a matter of reducing the licensing projects -- >> if projects are tiny and noncontroversial, why is the federal government involved at all? >> legislation to ease hydropower expansion will likely make a new reappearance in congress? why? alaska lisa murkowski has taken over as chair on committee of emergency and resources on record as my dro booster saying it's an undeveloped resource and could do more to support economic development and job creation. as far as the country's energy needs, there is vast potential. this is a dam in northern colorado. there's no generator. if there were -- >> it would generate enough

electricity to power about 500 average local homes. >> and that project would still be considered small hydropower. projects twice this big are still flumped. some 80,000 dams in this country. small medium-size and giant. right now, only 3% are being used to generate hydropower, so a lot of room for growth. equal to the power generated by about a dozen coal-fired power plants. dan boyce in denver for the pbs "newshour". >> woodruff: president obama announced today that the u.s. will be bringing back nearly all of the 2,800 troops fighting ebola in west africa. while calling last year's outbreak of the disease a "wake up call" to the world. jeff is back with that. >> brown: the president said that the u.s. operation will soon enter a second phase. after a dramatic change in the

trajectory of new cases of the disease which has killed more than 9,000 people. >> our focus now is getting to zero. because as long as there is even one case of ebola that's active out there, risk still exists. every case is an ember that if not contained can light a new fire. so we're shifting our focus from fighting the epidemic to now extinguishing it. >> woodruff: joining me now to discuss the past, present and future of the u.s. ebola operation in west africa is rajiv shah of us-aid. today signals the end of one phase of the fight. what does that mean? a moment of triumph? >> well, it's a home of transition and i recall when i visited the west african countries with ebola in october there were more than a thousand new cases a week. i met mothers holding their children who were literally dying in their arms putting themselves at huge risk of death themselves, and the destruction

was almost unbelievable. then i came home and, as you recall, there was tremendous panic in the united states. most not based on science. but nonetheless, there was a deep concern people wondered whether i should go to my kids' soccer game the week i got back. today, because of a huge u.s. leadership moment, because we put these troops on the ground to build confidence and infrastructure, because we have more than 10,000 employees of the humanitarian organization leading the fight we've seen tremendous reduction in the disease. >> brown: there are still recent sports of small spikes in guinea. is it possible that the decline is stalled? >> well it's always possible. we are going to be vigilant until we get to zero. but we've seen a reduction of noorn -- more than 80% in the number of cases reduction of

90% in liberia. we continue to have an aggressive response. rooted in science and new partnerships we can get to zero. >> brown: there was an extraordinary ramp-up in response and yet so many thousands of people died. one wonders looking back now, is it ever possible to be fast enough? what if we learned about the ability to ramp up? >> well, i think the biggest thing we've learned is that we have to innovate and bring science technology and business all to the table to joan is in these big global ambitions. in this case, we redesigned the protective equipment healthcare workers wear so they can get in and out and be safer as they conduct the response. >> brown: for the next time and whatever comes about. >> and orhe reminder of the year to get to zero. we can get resources out to people who are positive right away. we've put new labs and diagnostics in place and

constantly inventing new ways of monitoring patients without touching them so healthcare workers can be protected and people can do better in terms of survival and that basic focus on business, science and technology has transformed the effectiveness of this response and frankly has transformed a lot of how america projects its development and humanitarian work around the world. >> for the next phase, what kind of infrastructure will remain? >> the u.s.a. will continue to have the disaster assistance response team creating a government effort. we will have 100 person after atrill manning labs and doing specialized work they've done effectively and i'm so proud of. we'll continue to have hundreds of experts from the centers for disease control, and we'll continue to have nearly 10,000 humanitarian workers, most of whom are local and have been trained in protective activity and most of whom will be the basis of a resilient and strong health system that we will seek to build in the coming year.

>> brown: you were mentioning the situation in this country where there was some panic for a while. are you concerned from what you say that we're not ready for what may come at some point the potential for the next epidemic? >> well, because the president took a very science-based approach and didn't panic but invested in readiness and preparedness, we are far more prepared today in the united states than we were even a little while ago. so no, i'm not concerned. we will have -- you know, there's always a risk that a healthcare worker who's been a hero on the ground in west africa may contract the disease, come back and get treated, but today the capacity to provide the treatment far exceeds than before because we invested in the prairptdness. >> brown: briefly, on the ground in the west african countries, you think they're better prepared and got past the fear we saw in the beginning? >> not only better prepared but we have built pretty amazing

logistics and transportation and training system that allows us to have the the confidence to know that when there are cases of ebola, we can see it. we have modern data systems to identify it and can get resources to isolate the patients as quickly and possible and try to save their lives. >> brown: rajiv shah u.s.-aid, and you are leaving your post this week so good luck and thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: finally tonight, our "newshour shares" of the day. something we saw that might be of interest to you, too. the northeast region of the united states has seen snow, more snow, and still more snow is on the way. as we've checked local coverage of the storms. a series of photos from maine caught our eye. in the heart of snow country, the "bangor daily news" put together this collection of striking photographs for its collage photo blog, depicting what it's like to be a photojournalist working in often sub-zero temperatures. these journalists captured

everything from kids enjoying snow days to serene moments on frozen ponds. all while keeping their gear and themselves protected. some images that resonate wherever you are. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. president obama formally asked congress to authorize military force against the islamic state group, for the next three years. and the leaders of france germany, russia and ukraine gathered in minsk, for new talks to end the fighting in eastern ukraine. >> woodruff: on the newshour online, the internet's hidden science factory. meet the people who are feeding modern scientific research, many from their homes. one woman we found has completed roughly 20,000 academic surveys while watching her toddler. dive in to our in-depth look at this new world of so called micro-labor from science reporter jenny marder. and from our making sense team, lessons from "downton abbey" about women and money.

all that and more is on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. on thursday, we'll look at when the frontiers of science hit home. miles o'brien reports on the latest technology behind advancements in robotic arms. i'm judy woodruff join us 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: >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. the i.b.e.w. the power professionals. ♪ >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions 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. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. greece is the word. multiple reports tonight that greece has agreed in principle to an agreement with creditors regarding its debts. setting the tone cisco, the latest out to report wall street estimates as the nasdaq now just sits 200 points fwrae 5,000. how you can avoid making retirement mistakes that could cut your savings by as much as 25%away from 5,000. how you can avoid . this is "nightly business report" for february 11 2015. greece reached in principle an agreement regarding its