captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> ifill: as ukraine unravels again, government troops retreat from a key town, and violence overwhelms a cease fire deal. good evening, i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. also ahead this wednesday, from the islamic state group to boko haram, confronting extremism at home and abroad. >> ifill: plus... >> everywhere you look there are just mountains of sno sometimes you say, "is there a car under there?" >> ifill: ...back to back storms bring wicked misery for the people of boston. how do you dig out of 100 inches of snow? >> during torrential winter downpours new englanders like to say, "imagine if this was snow."

this year we have been robbed of our imagination. >> woodruff: and, snapshots of love and war. american photojournalist lynsey addario on covering conflict and telling stories with her camera. about lifting the camera and taking a picture. to me, it's so much about doing your homework, getting to know the subject, making them feel comfortable, getting intimate access. >> ifill: 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 you're in charge. you're the chief life officer and this is your annual shareholder's meeting. you're overseeing presentations on research and development and welcoming new members of the team. you're in charge of it all. 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: russian-backed rebels in eastern ukraine took control of the strategic town of debaltseve today, leaving a cease-fire truce hanging by a thread. the rebels forced ukrainian troops to ultimately retreat from the railway hub, after weeks of fighting. the separatists also claimed to have taken hundreds of ukrainian forces hostage. late today, ukrainian president petro poroshenko called for a team of international peacekeepers to monitor the cease-fire. we'll have an on-the-ground report from eastern ukraine right after this news summary. >> ifill: civilian casualties in afghanistan rose by 22% last year. an annual u.n. report showed

3,699 afghan civilians were killed and nearly 7,000 were wounded. it also found more afghans died in battles between the taliban and government forces than from bombs. that's a change from previous years. in kabul, the human rights director for the u.n. mission said women and children were especially hard hit. >> we saw a 40% increase in children causalities with some 2,700 children killed and injured compared to 2013 and an increase in women causalities by 21 percent, with some 300 women killed and 611 injured. >> ifill: the rise in casualties was attributed largely to the use of mortars, rockets and grenades in populated areas of afghanistan. >> woodruff: a deep freeze gripped the southeastern u.s. today. snow and ice that blanketed the states the day before, re-froze overnight and created

treacherous conditions. the weight of ice-coated branches brought down power lines. 250,000 people in the region are still without electricity. and even colder temperatures are looming, forecasters warned the mercury could plummet to record levels tomorrow. >> ifill: president obama has tapped joseph clancy to be the next director of the secret service. clancy had been in charge on an interim basis for the past four months. he'll succeed julia pierson who was forced to step down after the agency suffered a string of security lapses and misconduct scandals. >> woodruff: oregon has a new governor, after its longest serving chief executive resigned in disgrace. democrat kate brown pledged to, "restore the public's trust" during a ceremony at the state capitol in salem. she was previously the oregon secretary of state, the state's second most powerful position. brown also becomes the first openly bisexual governor in the country.

>> ifill: anyone who began enrolling in the latest round of signups for federal health insurance will get more time to finish up. health and human services secretary sylvia burwell said about 150,000 people who encountered technical problems will be able to take advantage of an extended february 22nd deadline. the white house says 11.4 million americans enrolled in private health insurance under the affordable care act during the latest open enrollment period. >> woodruff: greece put the finishing touches on a proposal to request an extension loan from its international creditors. the request has been a major sticking point in negotiations between the new greek government and the 19 members of the eurozone. the offer is expected to be submitted tomorrow, but german officials maintain greece has to keep its original bailout agreement. >> ifill: and with one eye on greece u.s. stocks ended the day with mostly small losses. the dow jones industrial average lost 18 points to close above 18,000; the nasdaq rose seven points; and the s&p 500 dropped

less than a point. >> woodruff: and in china, over 200 million people traveled to their hometowns to celebrate the lunar new year, the most important holiday on the chinese calendar. across the country, people welcomed the "year of the sheep" with elaborate light displays dancing, and even a fireworks- like performance using molten iron. the chinese government did urge citizens to ease up on using fireworks, to help curb toxic air pollution. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour. ukrainian troops retreat from a key town. confronting extremism at home and abroad. boston digs its way out of one- hundred inches of snow. when science challenges what people want to believe. and, the story of a photojournalist on her journey to capture love and war. >> ifill: as we reported

earlier, thousands of ukrainian troops withdrew today from debaltseve in eastern ukraine after a relentless assault by russian-backed separatists. alex thomson of independent television news reports from near the key transit hub as the three-day-old ceasefire appeared to be unraveling. >> reporter: the rebel flag hoisted over debaltseve today. and across the day, hundreds of ukrainian troops have been leaving town telling stories that speak of just one word: defeat. >> ( translated ): it was very heavy. we couldn't even go to take food or water. yes, we were urinating in a can. all the time we were sitting in the bunker-- very, very heavy shelling. we were praying all the time and said goodbye to our lives a hundred times. they had really good and heavy artillery. >> reporter: kiev says it is a tactical withdrawal with heavy weapons. but its president is begging the world to act.

>> ( translated ): today we've taken new defensive lines and during my talks with the leaders of the united states of america and the european union, we demanded a hard line response by the world to the brutal violation of the minsk agreements by russia of the ceasefire regime for the beginning of withdrawal of the armaments and we will prepare organized and coordinated actions. >> reporter: the russian line this town was already surrounded and thus not part of the minsk peace deal, kiev has only itself to blame. we headed north from donetsk this morning and we were not alone. days after heavy weapons should have moved back, the rebels were moving forward.

( gunfire ) even into the afternoon pro- russian rebels firing into debaltseve. >> ( translated ): as you can see, there's fighting. we're taking positions back from them. apart from that, everything is fine. >> reporter: "fine" is a relative term here. vuhlehirsk, like so many other places, tells its own story of the recent days and weeks of fighting. >> ( translated ): our house is divided in two. mine is ok, but my neighbor's is destroyed. >> reporter: tanks and armored fighting vehicles litter the

streets of this town. we're about three miles from debaltseve itself. it's down that road there where the man on the bicycle is going. intermittent sounds of shelling all morning indicate that the fight for that town is still very much underway. kiev says tonight around 80% of their forces have left debaltseve. on the streets of vuhlehirsk, they've written them a message. the message on the gun barrel reads "send this souvenir to kiev, to poroshenko, and to their american and european backers." you can't stay long in these places. we needed to leave. but then we met viktor, dragging his coal home. >> ( translated ): i was born here and i'll die here. ( distance gunfire ) why are you scared? i'm victor.

>> reporter: just tell me, how is your house? is it intact? >> ( translated ): well. thank god it's still there. i have no idea what's next. we live day to day. war has never made anything beautiful for anyone. first the children die because they're curious and they're foolish, and then the older people. >> reporter: and viktor, like so many here, has seen that brutal truth proved again before his eyes. >> ifill: to help us better understand the latest stumbling block for the ukraine government, and the international reaction, i'm joined by chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner. margaret, we just saw those amazing photographs from debaltseve. i wonder why that down is so important and how much of a setback is it that it was lost? >> it's very important because it's a little peninsula

surrounded by rebel-controlled territory and it's such a crucial rail and highway hub that now that they control it, they can unit or cement all the links between donetsk and luhansk and they will have better political communication and control there. second, i have to a crucial, commercial link between the east and the west of ukraine through which a lot of industrial products went back and worth for exports, so even a lot of that's died down. anyway, it's going to make a hard effort to knit this country together. but the biggest disaster for the ukrainian government is just the morale disaster. here poroshenko insisted that the ukrainian military could withstand this, create these fortified positions and in the end it ended in a horrible defeat. so it is really a setback for both him and the military leadership. >> ifill: we just saw president poroshenko basically talking about the u.s. andine

nations coming to his support and defense but seems like for all intents and purposes the cease fire we talked about just last week has collapsed. >> even though the u.s. and germany and western powers aren't willing to admit that and it's interesting they won't -- they won't declare it dead they just won't announce it happened. but they said in other ways the cease fire has taken hold. russia signed on to this last last week. way don't want any gains in questioning the conflict to evaporate. >> ifill: he doesn't have any other options. >> well, poroshenko doesn't have any other options, but putin is definitely driving this train, no doubt about it. so the u.s. and germany are saying, well, in the end, less about implementing the september minsk deal causing the withdrawing of the weaponry, resolving the conflict until

putin says we're not willing. >> ifill: some people have been urging hem all along to arm the government. >> oh, yes because there really are only two options, one the german approach which is the slow, steady applications of sanctions, and love to say without the beer lip wall they would haven't fallen the way they did. the other is the arming of the ukrainian military. both european and american diplomats said to me today the ukrainian military just proved itself so incompetent that how do you send send in more sophisticated weapons without sending in n.a.t.o. trainers to train them? in the end gwen, ukraine is so much more important to russia than it is to either the u.s. or europe. just think if it was mexico. you know, so putin's made it clear, you arm the ukrainians, i'll match you dollar for dollar, and one diplomat said to me, you know, how far are we

ready to go down that path? >> sounds like we go through the motions but that the current thinking is that we step back and let it just play out on its own? >> nobody really knows what the thinking of the white house is. so president obama says that remains on the table. but it certainly -- practically it looks like a difficult option for the reasons i just said, and also that pore poroshenko's own government could be in trouble because it undercuts his image of competence at home which makes it hard for him to do the economic reforms he needs to do. so our friend in this fight, ukraine, is really struggling. >> ifill: sounds like a hamster wheel to me. margaret warner, thank you very much. >> as always. >> woodruff: now, how to combat violent extremism. that was the focus of a gathering at the white house today. >> these terrorists are a threat

first and foremost to the communities that they target, which means, communities have to take lead in protecting themselves. >> woodruff: being careful not to fault a set of religious beliefs, the president urged religious leaders to do more to defeat the islamic state group and similar, radical organizations. he said the three-day summit was designed to prevent terrorists from inspiring more followers not to single out muslims. >> and when all of us together are doing our part to reject the narratives of violent extremists. when all of us are doing our part to be very clear about the fact that there are certain universal precepts and values that need to be respected in this interconnected world that's the beginning of a partnership. >> woodruff: beyond the brutality that islamic state has made its gruesome calling card,

it has also focused on luring recruits from around the world to join its ranks. sophisticated web-based media, much of it in english, is aimed at potential recruits. more than 3,000 westerners have reportedly traveled to syria to join islamic state militants. while most of the recruits are european, it's cause for concern in the u.s. as well. the focus of today's summit was to highlight domestic efforts to engage local communities in countering radicalization. but the focus of the summit has itself come under attack some conservatives have criticized president obama for avoiding the term islamic extremism. while muslim groups argue the summit is unfairly singling out muslims and islam u.s. representative keith ellison of minnesota, the first muslim member of congress, highlighted another concern:

that outreach to muslim communities is a cover for surveillance >> we reinforce the false narrative that america is at war with islam when we appear to violate our own requirements of the constitution regarding surveillance when we mix surveillance and outreach. this is a very short sighted thing to do. >> woodruff: the summit comes after two high-profile attacks in europe this year. a danish muslim man, radicalized in prison shot up a free speech meeting and a synagogue in copenhagen over the weekend. and ann hidalgo, the mayor of paris, spoke today, her city still reeling from last month's killings at "charlie hebdo" magazine, and a kosher grocery. french-born gunmen claiming allegiance to an al qaeda group and islamic state were responsible. >> ( translated ): regardless of one's religion or one's origin everybody in paris must find a

way to success, integration, and fulfillment. >> woodruff: tomorrow, the summit's focus moves to counter- extremism overseas. for more on the conference and the fight against extremism, i'm joined now by zainab al-suwaij, co-founder and executive director of the american islamic congress. and matthew leavitt, the director of the program on counterterrorism and intelligence at the washington institute. he was deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the u.s. department of the treasury and an f.b.i. counterterrorism analyst. we welcome you both to the "newshour". matthew leavitt, how much is known about why people are drawn to the kind of extremism we're seeing today. >> a lot is known and one of the things you will hear coming out of this conference is how much more needs to be done and how much more empirical research we need. if someone answers how are

people radicalized easily, don't listen to them. it's made up of a different issue of combinations and circumstances. while local grievances factor in including access to education and job opportunities and whether one feels one is fully, for example french ordainish or american along with other identities, there are also ideological issues. the president was quite clear today, really the first time i've heard him this clear in the need to contest those ideologies as well, both dealing with the community issues -- very important -- and also the counternarrative. >> woodruff: zainab al-suwaij, what would you add to that? >> what the president emphasized today that the war is not against islam but against radical extremists, committing crimes in the name of islam. a lot of people were a part of the summit today and they were

emphasizing on the same message, the ideology was of radical extremists. it's been demonstrated in a very violent way against so many people and muslims are the first victims of that. the message was clear in terms of what are the measures that we should be taking? what are the things we should be doing differently to overcome this problem? >> before we get to that, what would you add to our understanding of why people especially young people are drawn to this ideology? >> there are so many different reasons. i think a lot of people are recruiting these young people whether here in the western world or in the middle east, providing them with extreme ideologies through books through social media, through sermons sometimes, and recruiting these young people in the name of religion, in the name of god and many people get

drawn into that. >> woodruff: matthew leavitt we know some efforts have been made, administration talking about pilot programs in a few cities now, do you have a sense they're moving in the right direction, getting closer to these communities, trying to talk to them about what to watch out for? i mean, do you have a sense that they're moving in the right direction? >> it's take an long time but we are now finally moving in the right direction and one of the things i like about the three pilot programs in los angeles minneapolis and boston is they're not the say. each is tailored to the circumstances they find in those particular communities. as zainab al-suwaij and sri said, so many things can lead people to extremism, some driven by ideology, some opportunity, many are going to syria and iraq for adventure a percentage from

broken homes and backgrounds is much larger than we've ever seen. each of the communities is different and we need to tailor these issues. you need to counter the narrative and work with communities -- community policing and outreach and building trust with the communities. as zainab said, people are carrying out acts of violent extremism in the name of ideologies and islam. people are doing it in the name of that religion. that needs to be contested. >> woodruff: one of the things the president said is while religion is not solely responsible for this, he said muslim leaders have a responsibility to talk to people in their community about this. is that being done now? is it being done enough? what more needs to be done? >> it's being done on many different levels and many different fronts. i can tell you about a program american islam congress is doing called project north in over 55 college campuses, when we have

young muslim students involved in countering radicalism and violence extremism, and they just launched a campaign called voices against radicalism, when these young students from these 55 colleges around the country, taking the initiative to encounter such a radical movement that they are facing. >> woodruff: what is an example of the message that they are trying to convey to these young people? >> there are so many different messages. some of them the idea of victimhood that's been spread. the western world is against you, the westerners are out to get you, to get islam. people of a young age maybe where are bullied at school having problems and they join in into these ideologies easily, get recruited and shipped

somewhere to fight alongside these radical groups. >> woodruff: matthew leavitt clearly this is a long process, what needs to be done in the near term to make progress? are we talking more pilot programs? more people in the community involved? what's needed? >> yes. we need more programs like these three pilot programs that get the attention of the federal government and get funding. i keep telling people it's wonderful for the president to host and speak at the conference, show me the money. there are programs now, department of justice and others are putting in place, to secure funding for these types of programs that will be carried out by local n.g.o.s community groups that are doing fantastic work but we need to put in place the ability for the programs to exist over the long term. this will take significant investment in time and manpower and, yes, money. >> woodruff: we hear you both. something that will take time. matthew leavitt, zainab

al-suwaij, it's good to have you both with us. >> thank you. >> ifill: if it's possible for an entire major metropolitan city to be under the weather, boston fits the bill this winter. the latest round of snowfall dumped on new england has shuttered schools, stalled mass transit, and smothered an entire region. and, yes, the forecast calls for more snow this weekend. emily rooney of wgbh looks at how tough new englanders are coping with the present, and preparing for the future. e storms have all had different names. juneau, curry, neptune octavia -- but they all look the same to us. it's not that we aren't used to snow in boston we are. it's just that there's been so much coming so fast with no end

in sight. during torrential winter downpours, new englanders like to say, imagine if this was snow. this winter, we've been robbed of our imagination. since january 27th bostonians have weathered a relentless string of storms, dumping almost 100 inches in total, and with no thaws in between, it's layer upon layer, pile upon pile. >> when it snows like this where do you put the snow? >> there's an onstreet parking ban on and off for three weeks, but doesn't mean much. crowded brown stone neighborhoods are exempt, you can keep your own car in your own private igloo as long as you want. >> everywhere you look there are mountains and sometimes you say, is there a car underneath that? >> candace admits she did not dig out the spot where her car is currently parked but says she does her part. >> limited parking on the south

end, doing 5 minutes of shoveling helps everyone. >> reporter: david brinkley is helping a neighbor whose car has been socked in for three weeks. what's your plan? >> hopefully cutting across here, and if i can get over there to make a pathway. >> it keeps going up like everything else. >> wants him to help get the car out. >> yeah. >> reporter: not everyone is so friendly. according to a law you shovel it you own it. boston's south end is trying to ban space savers, tell that to the owners of two cars who had hair tires slashed for parking in a spot someone else shoveled out. here's a note to another neighbor who disregarded the space saver -- you are an idiot it begins. so why would anyone try to drive in this? simple answer, they have to. despite efforts to keep the

rails clear the massachusetts bay transit authority or simply the t was forced to shut down and is still running on a limited schedule. mbta officials say it could be up to a month before the system is back to normal. >> it's going to be a while before people see what you want to see out in the community. >> reporter: boston mayor marty walsh has also been on defense under fire for letting snow pile up before asking for the national guard and for not getting snow melters on the road sooner. then there was the little matter of a super bowl celebration a parade scheduled for a wednesday, just two days after a two-foot snow dump. residents say their neighborhood suffered while the parade route was cleared. >> they are definitely doing that. >> well, they're not around here. >> reporter: already, boston public schools closed eight times forcing the city to cancel upcoming school holidays and possibly one school vacation week. and the trial of accused

marathon bombing suspect has been also been delayed. even the wheels of justice turn slower in the snow. then the real threat of roof collapses. public safety officials are warning people to clear roofs as dozens of homes and businesses have caved in under thousands of pounds of snow. >> i thought i would be done last night. >> reporter: icicles and ice stands are another issue. call a roofer and the answering machine says, sorry too busy to respond. but as in any winter snowmageddon, there's always a silver lining. >> look at that! >> reporter: now that townhouses on beacon hill are suitable for what our forefathers had in mind, ski in, ski out. from boston, emily rooney, wgbh, reporting for the "newshour". >> woodruff: the boston mayor is dealing with another annoyance

brought on by the weather-- people filming themselves jumping out of windows into snow banks, and posting the videos on social media. filed under "don't try this at home," we have the story, on our home page. >> ifill: even snowfall can spark debate. some say it's proof global warming does not exist. others argue it is proof climate change is behind the extreme weather. it's just another example where science and doubt feed on each other. we wondered whether that divide, what you might call a culture of disbelief, is taking hold. >> i think every parent has a right to choose what is in the best interest of their children. if you go online and you read there's horrific stories. >> ifill: those stories are about vaccines and it's the kind of misinformation that health officials say has dangerous consequences.

more than 140 cases of measles have surfaced in 17 states. that's in under two months. there were nearly 700 cases all of last year, a decade ago, there were fewer than 50 most who've gotten sick this year, including in an outbreak at california's disneyland, were not vaccinated. this, in spite of efforts from health officials to calm doubts about the vaccines themselves. >> they know they are safe, that they are effective when it comes to measles and they are what the scientific community recommends for patients. >> ifill: for many, the debate over what is true and what is believable extends far and wide. according to the pew research center, 86% of scientists think childhood vaccines should be required. but just 68% of u.s. adults agree. on another hot button issue-- climate change-- the gulf is even wider. 87% of scientists believe climate change is caused by human activity.

only half of adults agree. the biggest gap in the pew survey: the safety of genetically modified foods. 88% of scientists say they're okay to eat, but only 37% of adults surveyed buy into that. no matter what the scientists say, the disconnect extends other divisive issues as well, including evolution and the value of using animals in research. we're joined by its author, joel achenbach, a writer for "the washington post." and, cary funk, the associate director of research at the pew research center teaming up with some of the interesting numbers we sawvment joel, why is nothing settled? >> everything is contested now. i think one of the differences today is just the internet. it has changed the whole information universe. it's democratized small d information out there. there are fewer sort of gatekeepers of knowledge. instead, people go out and seek

information and they often find what they're looking for the that reinforces their belief. the internet, you know it doesn't facilitate consensus as anyone has noticed who's gone on the internet. instead, it creates these sort of filter bubbles these rabbit holes these echo chambers and these communities of alternative knowledge develop that often are in opposition to the scientific main stream. >> ifill: so you can selectively find something to support whatever you believe. >> whatever you believe. >> ifill: as you were doing the research, cary funk do people give reasons for why they absolutely disbelieve what the scientists say? >> sometimes. when it game to g.m. foods we asked a follow-up question of whether scientists have a clear understanding of the effects of g.m. foods and two-thirds said no, they don't. in that cairks looks like there's skepticism about how much knowledge there is. >> is it defined by gender age

or any other kind of educational level? >> i mean that's actually what's really interesting looking across this set of science-related topics, is it varies, depending on the issue we're talking about. so vaccines has a strong relationship with age. younger adults are less likely to say vaccines should be required, but when it came to something like the safety of g.m. foods, age groups don't really differ. >> one thing that's different about the world we're in today is this is such a highly-engineered world that's more complicated than the one that my grandmother lived in on the farm in indiana. i mean, she didn't have to worry about genetically modified foods. she grew her own food in the garden. >> there's no question. that we are faced with these technological issues that are not intuitive, that we have to do a lot of risk analysis of things that we don't know very much about and all the science

will say, well, this is the consensus on it, this is the best science has to offer. it's easy nowadays to find contrarian views, anti-scientific views, pseudoscientific views whether big foot or ufos or whatever, and some of the issues are i think really important issues for the future of the planet. climate change is such a contentious issue now even though i haven't nearly as divisive just 15, 20 years ago. >> ifill: i wonder whether there has always been a community of contrarians who have always existed and whether these types of issues allow the existence to flourish. >> the internet and rise of the internet is one source of change but scientific innovation is picking up the pace, happening at a faster pace, and science is really a big conglomeration of topics. it's not one thing. so that's part of what we're

seeing is that there are lots of attitudes that are influenced by long-standing values, religious beliefs, political beliefs, other personal experiences and that's actually a long-standing pattern we've seen many years is we have new issues. >> and people aren't necessarily anti-science of these views. >> no, but people love science. >> ifill: they do. signscientists have an enormous amount of respect and trust in a society in which a lot of institutions do not anymore. i mean look ating on or even the news -- look at congress or even the news mediaer, but scientists in general are respected. when i did my news interviews for the national geographic story, i was struck even on contention issues people don't say, i don't believe in science, they say, well, i have my own set of facts, my own information my own science. >> ifill: were you surprised how big the gaps were in agreement on this cary? >> yes, we were.

we were surprised about the size of the gaps, the 51 point gap on the safety of g.m. foods was larger than i've seen over 30 years, as well as the frequency of gaps across the this set of diverse issues. >> ifill: who benefits when the divide goes that deeply? there certainly with an industry out there interested in keeping the differences on display. >> i think there are people who are demagogues in the media world that benefit from, you know, dividing and conquering. they want to have people -- they want to say trust only me on this issue. i think the stakes are large for all of us in this more technological engineered world where we need to get this stuff right. just last week the national academy of sciences put out a report on geoengineering and one of the ideas is shooting up aerosols into the atmosphere to block sunlight to combat climate change eventually. a very iffy idea.

should we do something like that? the public needs to be -- to understand how science works understand the process of it, and we all need to try to find sources that we can trust that are reliable because the stakes are so large. >> ifill: that's the point sources we can trust that are reliable. you can decide what you consider your source is -- >> this show right here. >> ifill: right after this program. i wonder if skepticism isn't helpful in the public debate, in the public arena? >> there are so mish shoes. what you brought up is an example of how much there would be to know if you tried to mast interest whole universe and that's probably not realistic. people are busy, have multiple things they do in their lives and studying all the scientific issues is probably not the only thing they have in mind. >> you're exactly right, skepticism is good and scientists are skeptics. doubt is a tool in science and it's a tool in journalism, too.

we don't believe everything we're told. we try to figure out -- >> ifill: not supposed to. not supposed to. >> ifill: there has to be a policy somewhere along the line. >> i mean, the question, is for scientists, you can take it away here is the most recent poll showed 87% of scientists think they should be evolved with policy -- involved with policy issues but involved in what way is the question. >> that remains an open question and i think really science issues have become civic issues, so for the public as well, the question is, you know, how does this play into their policy views. >> it's very fascinating and i get the feeling we'll see a lot more gaps widening. cary funk, joel achenbach, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now, the life and times of a prize winning photojournalist who has covered

every major international conflict in the past 15 years. jeffrey brown has our book conversation. >> brown: cuba, 1997. calcutta 2000. afghanistan before and after the taliban. iraq with american forces in baghdad. famine and war in darfur. and libya where, in 2011, she was bound blindfolded and held for six days with three journalists by soldiers of gadhafi. linsey addario one of four girls from a connecticut suburb traveled the world and tells her story in a mesm woirks it's what i do, a photographer's life of love and war. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> brown: you tell of an exhibition where you see photography can be art and journalism. >> yeah, it was a moment. i had no training in photojournalism or photography

so i really was learning as i went along. i remember walking into this exhibition and i walked in and the prints were massive. they were just wall-size. i looked around and i was so overcome by not only the beauty of the images but the power of the images and the fact they were showing the lives of these workers. >> brown: what does it make you want to do? >> it made me want to do that. it made me want to use photograph to tell stories. >> brown: how do you do that? give me an example. one focus throughout your work has been on women, for example, especially in the muslim world. so how do you tell the stories of them? >> i try -- first of all i do a lot of research before i even go, so people think photography is about lifting the camera and taking a picture. to me, it's so much about doing your homework going into a situation, getting to know the subject, making them feel comfortable, getting intimate access getting access to all different aspects of people's lives so that i am essentially

telling an entire story and not just a single one. >> brown: all this before you're lifting the camera, getting comfortable with them and their lives? >> all this is before we start shooting. covering the front line, you just go in, there is so much happening around you, it's just a matter of shooting, but when i'm documenting, for example, a story on women in afghanistan, i will do a huge amount of research and a lot of time on the ground just getting to know the women before i even start shooting. >> brown: in covering front lines or in other dangerous situations, you write about how it's not that you don't feel fear, right, you do feel fear, but you feel something else. what's the compulsion to be there? >> well, i think i feel fear the entire time i'm on the ground because the proximity to dying is so obvious and when there are bullets flying everywhere, of course, it's terrifying but for me i try and manage that fear and compartmentalize it while

i'm working and put it somewhere and continue to photograph. but also when i'm actually in that situation, and i initially feel the fear, i forget the photograph because i'm trying to figure out how to stay alive. so i remember in the valley we had been on a six-day-long operation with the 173rd 173rd airborne battle company and had been dropped on to the side of a mountain and were walking six days and we were ambushed by the taliban on the sixth day and hit from three sides and i actually had run off alone to find a place to go to the bathroom and the am bush started. when i finally made my way down the mountain and got back with the troops i still hadn't taken a picture like, five minutes into the am bush and i had been looking to my right and tim was just standing there filming. i thought, oh my god, i'm the worst photographer ever. i've completely forgotten.

>> brown: even mentioning his name, tim heatherrington who died during the work, you just get asked all the time why put yourself in harm's way. >> i get asked that. they ask, do you do it for the adrenaline? no. i think as a person who covered conflict the last 15 years, i didn't voluntarily cover war to be a war photographer, there were issues i felt were important. i'd go to cover the issues and at some point i would get pugled into the actual combat because it was part of the story. for me,ist more about being there, bearing witness to history, bearing witness to what's happening, what our country, the position our country is taking overseas. i want policymakers to see the fruits of their decisions basically, and to try and influence foreign policy. >> you know, in that very harrowing section of the book about the capture of what happened in libya, you write about the danger is growing

your sense of it is growing you're with three other journalists, all men, and you say i didn't want to be the cowardly photographer or the terrified girl who prevented the men from doing the work. you didn't want to speak up and say, hey, guys we've got to get out of here. >> that's right. >> brown: you'd already been an experienced photojournalist but you still felt that? >> i think i will always feel -- i'm aware of my gender and my colleagues are not. my colleagues wouldn't have cared less had i been the one to say, hey, let's go. i do think that i work in a man's world. not that many are war photographers. there are correspondents, just not many women war photographers and i'm always sort of aware of my gender in those situations and i think at some point steve farrell said hey it's time to go. i was, like, i agree! me, too! but it was late at that point.

i think we all were very conscious of the fact after the fact that we had pushed the envelope. >> brown: you do say here that because this is about love as well as war, right that episode changed your life in some way. you decided to have a child finally with your husband. >> i did. i think it was a combination of many things. i think it was what happened in libya. i think it's the fact tim and chris were killed in libya exactly a month after we were released and the "new york times" photographer had just lost his legs in afghanistan and they were all friends and i was seeing what was happening around me and i had put my personal life on hold for 35 years and finally said, okay now it's time. >> brown: but you continue the work. >> i do continue the work. i am still working war zones but i'm trying to stay safe and trying to do it in a way that i am not in the middle of combat. i'm covering refugees, i'm covering the humanitarian aspect

but less going into combat. >> brown: the memoir it's what i do, linsey addario, thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: you can see a slide show of some of lynsey addario's photographs on our website. that's at pbs.org/newshour. >> ifill: now, a profile of a man who's truly become a pioneer in helping to develop advanced arm prostethics. last week, science correspondent miles o'brien, reported on the latest in artificial limbs and their limitations. tonight, he tells us the personal story of an amputee who's willing to take risks. johnny matheny is the chuck yager of advanced arm prosthetics. he has tested them all and is pushing the barriers. >> get ready, go. he is a pioneer. my wife tells me that i'm the only one that has had my stump

in every advanced prosthetic in the united states. yes, i would say i'm a pioneer of it now. >> reporter: he lost his arm to cancer in 2008. unable to return to work as a retail bread sales and delivery man, he was looking for a new purpose in life. he wandered if he could help wounded warriors. >> i said i've had three children in the service. i said luckily, they've come out with all their extremities but they've had a lot of their buddies that weren't so lucky and i would like to maybe contribute back for all those who have given for us. i want to be able to have them have an arm to put on, go in, touch the baby's cheek and feel the softness of the skin. i want them to be able to change their diapers and know they've got it right it wasn't too loose or too tight. what i wanted to do is get myself worked in a way i could contribute helping out with the new prosthetics and stuff that would be coming along.

i tell you what i'm doing with my phantom limb so you will know how it's creating this here. it's like, right now, i'm opening my hand up. >> reporter: he underwent targeted muscle reinnervation which controls his nerves in missing limbs to those in his stump so he can better control the prosthetic limb designed at johns hopkins. he is in a study in cleveland medical center which is giving arm amputees sensory feedback from their prosthetic. and he's interested in participating in a study ofosio integration prosthetics which are implanted in an amputee's bone. at age 60 johnny believes he's the perfect person to take the risks on behalf of other amputees. >> i would rather it be me than

them because they still have their lives. >> reporter: johnny turned misfortune into an opportunity to change the world for the better. >> ever since i have been small i've always thought there was a reason for the season. so certain things happen to you in your lifetime, you know there's a reason for it, and most of the time, you know you may not know at the beginning what it is but eventually you figure out why, and that's the way it is. when i lost my arm i had not a clue, you know why i would lose my arm. then all of a sudden, man, this world opened up, i got on this train, and i have been at full speed ever since. it just can't slow me down. >> reporter: he is helping researchers break the barrier between engineering and biology. >> it's a o.k., joe. >> reporter: one intrepid volunteer making bionics a reality. >> i will be able to walk down the road and see some of the arms i've worked with, tried, i know they work. i've bettered somebody's life

and can hold my head up high and throw my shoulders back and say yes, i helped them. that's my payday. >> reporter: miles o'brien, pbs "newshour", laurel, maryland. >> oh, my gosh! >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day. after government troops lost a key railway town to rebels, ukrainian president petro poroshenko called for international peacekeepers to monitor the fragile cease-fire. and, at a white house summit on violent extremism, president obama said the u.s. is not at war with islam, but with those who have perverted the religion. >> woodruff: on the newshour online-- abc's new sitcom "fresh off the boat" is the first network show in twenty year to center on an asian-american family. why did it take so long for tv executives to recognize this growing demographic? and how are they tackling common stereotypes? we talk to two of the show's

producers in our weekly twitter chat, tomorrow at 1 p.m. eastern. find the details on our homepage. that's at pbs.org/newshour. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on thursday, the story of young yazidi girls kidnapped from their homes in northern iraq by islamic state fighters. here's a preview: they were found out at an islamic state checkpoint and returned to the city of mosul where she was bought and sold again to a man she says raped her over and over. >> he told me if you don't let me have sex with you, i'll sell you again. i'll send you to syria where ten men will be doing the same. and he beat us. she said. >> she said she attempted suicide twice first by drinking bleach and secondly by strangling herself with a scarf. during the dark days she use the add ray sorry and pen to tattoo

the words mommy and daddy i love you. >> ifill: that's tomorrow night on the newshour. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you on-line, and again here tomorrow evening, for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. i.b.e.w. the power professionals in your neighborhood. ♪ >> 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. timing is everything and the debate over when and how to raise interest rates is heating up inside the federal reserve. economic hit, a new report puts an estimate on how the slowdown at the ports out west could hit economic growth and it's something to pay attention to. taking stock. warren buffett makes some big changes to his portfolio. what he's buying what he's selling and what it says about the oracle's vision for the future. all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for wednesday, february 18th. good evening, everyone and welcome. i'm tyler mathisen. sue herera is off tonight. well no rush to raid. that was the big takeaway from