captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: confronting extremism-- how to stop acts of terror and violence. we talk to the secretary-general of the united nations ban ki- moon. >> we have to address terrorism and bioterrorism in a multi-dimensional way, starting from the root causes. >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. also ahead this thursday. from ransom to oil riches, the economics of terrorism >> isis is running local war economy, and in some ways, is a for-profit terrorist and militant group. kidnap for ransom has really become an industry in some cases and so in many ways its less about terrorism and more about commerce and profit.

>> woodruff: plus, we talk with the secretary of health and human services, sylvia burwell, on the latest health insurance enrollment numbers and looming legal threats that could eliminate subsidies for millions of americans. >> when that goes away, you lose affordability. and when you lose affordability we increase the number of uninsured. >> ifill: and, girls sold into slavery by islamic state fighters escape their captors but not their shame. the return home and the weight of the trauma they carry. >> as many as 400 yazidi women and girls are now free and living in camps like this one, but their nightmare is not over. >> most of them have been raped repeatedly, and in a culture where a woman's virginity is her badge of honor, no one wants to talk about it >> 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:

>> this is about more than work. it is about growing a community. everyday across the country, the men and women of the i.b.e.w. are committed to doing the job right, doing the job safe, and doing the job on time. because while we might wire your street, we're also your friends and neighbors. i.b.e.w. the power professionals in your neighborhood. >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. >> 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 by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: an arctic blast forecasters have dubbed the "siberian express" dipped all the way to florida's gulf coast today, demolishing cold temperature records along the way. from the midwest, to the deep south, the arctic blast brought dangerous, record-breaking cold to much of the u.s. today. 27 states are now under wind chill warnings or advisories more than 100 million americans

shivering in a deep freeze. in chicago, the wind chill dipped to about 30 degrees below zero. the frigid temperatures led to transportation delays, and school cancellations. but there was no such luck for gabe wolter, in oak park, illinois, on his way to his fourth grade classroom >> i put on my ski goggles and my scarf just so no wind could get to my face. >> and are you feeling pretty good right now? >> yep. >> ifill: north of boston, an area already hammered by winter, crews fought blowing snow to rescue a dog that had fallen through the ice. in the nation's capital, some braved the cold to see the monuments, or even go for a monuments, or even go for a run. >> it's been cold enough that my iphone's stopped working. it's giving me a message that says it's too cold to operate in this temperature. so it must be pretty cold. >> ifill: elsewhere, large swaths of the great lakes are now iced-over. the second smallest, lake erie, more than 90% frozen.

and parts of the famed niagara falls: a frozen cascade, now. meantime, the national weather service predicts even colder temperatures are on the way. despite the cold covering much of the u.s., the first month of the year turned out to be the second-warmest january on record around the world. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration released that data today. calfornia is having its warmest and driest winter on record. >> woodruff: a superbug outbreak has infected at least seven patients at a los angeles hospital, two of whom died. more than 170 others may have been exposed. the incidents occurred at ronald reagan u.c.l.a. medical center between october and january. the bacteria is resistant to most antibiotics, and can trigger bladder or lung infections. hospital officials suspect contaminated medical instruments were to blame. >> ifill: hundreds of products are being pulled off grocery shelves after traces of peanut

were found in cumin spice. the food and drug administration warned anyone with peanut allergies to stay away from foods that use cumin or cumin powder. it's commonly found in taco seasoning and chili powder. recalls of products have picked up steam since december, as more foods containing cumin are discovered. >> woodruff: the validity of a truce in ukraine kept on crumbling today as shelling and fighting between government forces and russian-backed separatists spread. alex thomson of independent television news filed this report from debaltseve. the war has come back. the pounding began around 7:00 a.m. and hasn't stopped since. ukrainian artillery. >> it's obviously peace hasn't come. the explosions prove the deal's been breached. i don't know who i can look to for hope when the top-level

agreements have failed. >> unquestionably, it is the most intense bombardment in this region of the capital city since saturday's so-called cease fire. fighting around donetsk, around the southern city of mar apoll and in debaltseve. in debaltseve the rebels make their feelings plain about the ukrainian flag. across the lines, ukrainians embracing, glad to be out of the hell that was debaltseve for them. >> they were shelling almost the entire town starting at night they would fire at us just to stop us from sleeping. >> significantly, ukrainian soldiers who survived debaltseve are openly critical of their commanders. >> the plan withdrawal that's

ridiculous nonsense, planned. as usual, they screwed up. >> rebels control the city but around rubble of heavy shelling this morning. ukraine's calling for the u.n. to come in but will they get further than the european monitors so often stopped by both sides from doing their job. >> woodruff: russia's ambassador to the united nations today denounced the demand for u.n. peacekeepers, saying it is ukraine's responsibility to maintain the latest ceasefire agreement. >> ifill: the u.s. signed a deal with turkey to train and arm syrian rebels who are fighting islamic state militants. talks went on for several months before the agreement was formally signed by the u.s. ambassador to turkey tonight. training by u.s. and turkish soldiers could begin as early as next month. >> woodruff: the greek government came forward today with its request for a six-month extension of its rescue loan. but german officials quickly rejected it, calling it a "trojan horse" for shirking its commitments and leaving too much open for interpretation. the german minister for economic affairs spoke in berlin.

>> ( translated ): this offer is insufficient because it lacks all specific measures in greece. and that cannot happen. we cannot make it easier in greece on the shoulders of german and european tax payers. over the next days, especially tomorrow, we need to negotiate further to find an agreement on specific measures. the proposal can only be the start of talks. >> woodruff: greece's current bailout expires at the end of this month. if the parties can't reach an agreement before then, the greek government faces bankruptcy. >> ifill: it was a mostly cautious day on wall street. the dow jones industrial average lost 44 points to close just under 18,000. the nasdaq gained 18 points. and the s&p 500 slipped two points. >> woodruff: walmart, the country's largest private employer, is giving raises to nearly half a million of its u.s. workers. over the next six months, full- time employees will get $13 an hour, and part-time workers will

receive $10 an hour. walmart has faced criticism from labor groups and its own workforce for poor compensation and benefits. the new wages still fall short of the national average for hourly retail workers. >> ifill: president obama designate three newmanments. in shirks the pullman nationalmanment in the south side neighborhood. also browns canyon national monument, 21,000 airstrikes along the arkansas river in colorado. and he created a national monument in hawaii at the site of an interment camp that held camp knees citizens in world war two. >> ifill: still to come on the newshour: u.n. chief ban ki-moon on preventing violent extremism at its root. how terrorists finance their deadly work. the secretary of health and human services on the successes of and unrelenting challenges

to obamacare. what remains for yazidi girls in iraq after slavery and abuse. and, the melodies and memories of opera singer deborah voigt. >> woodruff: president obama again warned today of the growing threat of extremism around the world at a white house sponsored conference, and urged the global community to do more to stop it. >> responsibility to cut off funding that fuels hatred and corrupts young minds and endangerous us all. >> woodruff: the president shifts his focus >> woodruff: the president shifted his focus overseas today, before an audience of ministers from around the world. he placed special emphasis on the role democracy plays in fighting terrorism, a theme often heard from his predecessor, george w. bush. >> when dissent is silenced, it feeds violent extremism. it creates an environment that

is ripe for terrorists to exploit. when peaceful democratic change is impossible, it feeds into the terrorist propaganda that idea that violence is the only answer available. >> woodruff: mr. obama also urged leaders to expand human and religious rights as they confront extremist ideologies from groups like islamic state. also key: fostering economic and educational opportunities for young people who may be receptive to the militants' call. delegates from 65 countries also heard from u.n. secretary general, ban ki-moon. >> we will never find our ways by discarding our moral compass. we need cool heads, we need common sense, and we must never let fear rule. >> woodruff: he pressed for alternatives to purely military responses. >> it is all about education education, education.

opportunity, opportunity opportunity. empowerment, empowerment, empowerment. >> woodruff: jordan's foreign minister nasser judah vowed his country will lead the fight against extremists, a role that has stepped up since the execution-by-burning of a jordanian pilot by islamic state. >> if anyone had any doubt the brutality and barbarism of these extremists, then this doubt has been removed. if anyone had any doubt that this is our war as muslims and our collective war as an international community, that doubt has been removed. >> woodruff: and as europe reels from a spike in home-grown terrorism and its own citizens leaving to join islamic state and other groups, the french interior minister highlighted the different pathways leading people toward extremism, including social media.

>> ( translated ): the profile of terrorists and potential terrorists is very diversified now. many have access to the internet and learning on the internet. they go abroad and they are trained to kill when they come back to europe. they go from criminality to terrorism. in prison, they have contact with extreme terrorists. >> woodruff: private meetings among the ministers were held throughout the day, as they search for a full spectrum response to a complex, bedeviling challenge. earlier this afternoon, i sat down with the united nations secretary general, ban ki-moon while he was in washington mr. secretary general, thank you for joining us. >> it's a great pleasure to see you, thank you. >> woodruff: so you are in washington for this summit on countering violent extremism. compared to all the other threats in the world right now, where does this rank? >> we have been duesing about the consequences of terrorist acts. the purpose of this meeting is very important. in a sense that we have to

address terrorism and violent extremism in a multi-dimensional way, starting from the root causes of political social economic and cultural aspects. this is a global challenge and, therefore, everybody should get involved with this. i am very encouraged president obama has initiated this white house summit meeting and this is the time for us to show our solidarity, at the same time build upon what we have been doing until now. focusing on more preventative ways. >> woodruff: a lot of conversation today you brought up education, preventing terrorism, preventing young people from turning to terrorist activities. but what about where it's already taken hold? what about in places in the middle east where groups like islamic state i.s.i.s. are

already killing people taking over terrorist. what's to be done there? >> for those barbaric acts we refer to as such. many countries have shown such a strong solidarity even using military means. but military means may will b effective in some sense but that's not all the answers. we have to get at the root causes. good governance is an answer and how to educate and how to send a message to many people and how to protect the human rights and dignity of marginalized people, how to make sure that the people are feeling some sense of belonging to their society. >> woodruff: would you say now violent extremism is the

greatest threat to world stability? >> i believe so. we have seen so many crises regionally and national conflicts but the translation is terrorism and extremism do not have borders, therefore it is a global challenge. if we don't address this, this will destroy the fabric of our community. >> woodruff: let me ask you about that because yes i.s.i.s. is giving the islamic state a lot of attention right now in the middle east and syria, but, in fact while that is happening, the regime of president assad is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, 350 people died just in the last few days in damascus, over 100 of them women and children. is it world giving president assad a free pass, turning the other way while it focuses on i.s.i.s. and not on him?

>> no, we cannot and we will never give any free pass to anybody including president assad to kill their own people. that's totally unacceptable. at the same time, we have to be very practical on how to resolve this issue. there is no alternative to political and inclusive dialogue a political solution. that's what my special envoy has been really trying to resolve this issue, trying to have some political space, as much as possible. >> woodruff: but your point is president assad still has to go for there to be a solution in syria? >> that will have to be discussed in the final phase of political negotiations and by the people. >> woodruff: let me ask you about ukraine we've seen great advances by the pro russian rebels in a few days.

they've taken over a key town. the british are providing photographic evidence the rebels are using advanced anti-aircraft weapons system, the sa-22. is there any doubt that president putin and russia are very much behind what is going on in ukraine and by letting this happen, by the west not getting more involved, isn't this giving president putin a victory? >> it's not a matter of giving something a victory or not. the leaders -- germany frarntion ukraine and russia-the meeting was an encouraging one and urging the party's concern these are women, the political memorandum must be implemented in sincerity and totality.

there is fighting still going on in donetsk and mariupol. i'm urging them to abite by this agreement. there's no way or alternative to the solution of this peaceful dialogue and negotiation. >> woodruff: meanwhile the british are saying just today that russian fighter jets were very close to british airspace, that the british officials are saying president putin is a real and present danger to europe, there is an e.u. official that is saying mr. putin is trying to redraw the boundaries of europe by force. do you agree with that? >> president poroshenko of ukraine has announced that he will pull all the military armament and his forces and therefore deploy russians and the russian side shall pour out.

the agreement of just a few days ago is a matter of integrity. >> woodruff: excuse me, but that doesn't look like it's happening. >> i'm urging as secretary general of the united nations to abide strictly by this agreement. united nations has made clear that the united nations will do all to provide the humanitarian assistance to those who have been affected and also continue the human rights mission there. >> woodruff: but again, so many challenges facing the united nations. two of your former predecessors as secretary general have issued a letter saying that they feel strongly the united nations needs to be reconfigured, it needs to be reformed in a way that the city council doesn't have the veto system that it does now, that it's more transparent more democratic

that the u.n. isn't respected anymore by the people fighting on the ground or even member countries. do they have a point that the u.n. isn't respected and doesn't have the authority that it needs to have to make a difference? >> i think just to generalize what thations doing isn't helpful at this time. thations not a perfect organization. there are many challenges. for us, there are some inefficiencies, but since i became secretary general, i have been trying to make the united nations more relevant efficient, effective and more transparent. >> woodruff: secretary general of the united nations we know there are a lot of challenges out there and appreciate you coming in to talk to us. thank you very much. >> thank you very much.

>> ifill: one major element in the battle against terror is the threat to hostages, and the demand for ransom. the u.s. government says paying for their release only feeds the money machine. economics correspondent paul solman has been looking into how terrorism is financed, part of our ongoing reporting, "making sense," which airs every thursday on the newshour. >> reporter: suicide bombings brutal attacks on innocent civilians hostage-taking with fatal consequences. terrorism, it seems, is becoming frighteningly frequent. what are the economics of terror? the cost benefits of paying ransom to islamic state kidnappers? economist todd sandler says the results are clear if controversial, do not pay. >> you've got one person back

and on average it encourages two to three more to be taken hostage after that. this is based on 40 years of daily data collected worldwide. >> reporter: but i.s.i.s. may be a new brand of kidnappers and hostages are not just data points, they're human beings with friends and families who will do almost anything to get them back. a book has been written about it treasury's war. >> the reality the people want their loved ones back and willing to spend money regardless of the downstream impact on terrorism, regardless on the effects potentially on other potential hostages down the road. >> reporter: that's why so many countries have paid for the release of their citizens. >> germany has been known to pay off, spain a has been known to pay off, italy and the french

have been known to pay off. the in fact, the research what the research i'm trying trying to do now is to what extent, when one country pays off whether they become more the victims of future hostage-taking than those countries who say they will never negotiate, and they stay alive. >> what's your guess? that the countries that pay off get hit with more hostages. >> reporter: in an interview with buzz feed, president obama was term hat the united states will not pay ransom to i.s.i.s. because it will cost even more in the end. >> what we don't want the do is make other american citizens riper targets for the actions of organizations like this. >> reporter: but on the same day american hostage kayla mueller was confirmed dead the president could hardly help but empathize with those who do want to pay. >> it's as tough as anything i do, having conversations with parents who understandably want

by any means necessary for their children to be safe. >> reporter: so while economics may deem it cost ineffective for countries to pay ransom, doesn't mean they will stop paying. >> it's a collective action problem. each person looks at it from their point of view or corporation saying it won't change the big picture but every time someone gives in it seems to change the big picture. >> reporter: even more pressure to pay when you're dealing with kidnappers who manipulate the media to project the ruthlessness of their methods. >> the loved ones have to wonder whether or not not negotiating will lead to the slaughter of their loved ones and we've seen the islamic state has been willing to up the ante with its barbarity and cruelty. so hostages for the islamic state in many ways have become strategic pawns in a broader conflict and a broader

ideological battle, in a broader campaign for propaganda and attention. >> reporter: perversely, hostages have become increasingly important moneymakers for the islamic state of late especially since allied air strikes and lower prices have slashed i.s.i.s. income from commandeered oil facilities in syria and iraq. >> i.s.i.s. is running a local war economy and in some ways is a for-profit terrorist or militant group. kidnapping for ransom has likely become an industry in some cases so in many ways it's less about terrorism and more about commerce and profit. >> reporter: despite the rise of i.s.i.s., however, economist sandler finds transnational terrorism across borders has declined. >> it's about 40% less than what it was in the 1980s and early 1990s. however each incident is more likely to end in bloodshed now. >> reporter: what has been most cost effective in

restraining cross border terrorism according to sandler's research? not our substantial investment in global homeland security since 2001. >> we spend much too much money on defensive measures. so the payback we calculated was somewhere between 13 cents and 23 cents depending. >> reporter: per dollar spent. because it didn't stop any incidents. >> reporter: by contrast the idea was the fine system operate bid interpol the international police organization, checking passports against a database of terrorists and stolen travel documents. >> the payback was about $40 for every dollar spent. >> reporter: but former treasury official zarante says that homeland security may well have been cost effective, too. >> what you're trying to measure is things that don't happen which are hard to calculate. it may not appear all that cost effective to be spending money

on trying to prevent, for example, wmd terrorism, when the probability is not that high, but if it were to occur would be incredibly costly to not just society but to an economy. >> reporter: in the end, the bottom line remains elusive, but that doesn't mean economic analysis isn't worth doing. when trying to assess what works and doesn't work in dealing with terrorism. this is economics correspondent paul solman reporting for the pbs "newshour". >> ifill: it's been an important week for the healthcare law that may provide the cornerstone for president obama's legacy. more than 11 million people have signed up for insurance coverage in the second year of the new marketplaces. that's higher than year one, when 6.7 million people ultimately enrolled through federal or state exchanges. but there are big questions ahead.

in just two weeks, the supreme court will hear its second challenge to the law-- this one about whether states can provide subsidies to buy insurance sold through the federal exchange. more than 80% of enrollees have been eligible for the subsidies and 8.6 million of those who signed up this year enrolled through the federal exchanges. sylvia mathews burwell is the secretary of health and human services. i sat down with her earlier today at the agency's headquarters. secretary burwell, thank you for joining us. you announced this week 11 people have now signed up for the affordable care act but that the numbers could change? >> 11.4 million people have signed up and what we know is as we go through the process the number of people we know may be low than that number. we have a special enrollment period for those still in line at the time open enrollment closed so will be some additions and probably subtractions from those numbers over time. >> ifill: is there some

discussion underway about extending the enrollment for people in april who don't realize they're going to be stuck with tough tax issues if they don't enroll? >> we'll come out soon with a decision one way or the other whether or not we'll extend for those individuals. >> ifill: we saw the president make a pitch for young enrollees with his youtube video. how did that work out to reach the young invincibles not necessarily signing up? >> we know the access in terms of the numbers of people that viewed the video and certainly, in the first less than 24 hours it was 22 million views. >> ifill: i viewed the video but i'm not the pool you're going for. >> we know the number of youths, so we know the people accessed the information. what's important to know over time is whether people acted on that information and that will have to wait and see till we break down demographics. >> ifill: if you had to measure from the beginning of

the enactment of the affordable care act how would you measure the trajectory toward your goal of feeing uninshared people enrolled? is it steep? where are we? >> i'd think about the passage of the act, the act was about quality affordability and access, about all three of those things and how we're making progress against all three of those things. with regard to the issue of quality and in terms of what has happened to people in the employer-based market, their quality improved. previous conditions, something you don't have to worry about. if you're a woman you don't have to worry about ding discriminated against in terms of pricing. you can have your up to 25-year-olds on your plan. that's improvements in quality happening and happening to millions. so that's been a steady pace at the point which those things kicked in. with regard to the number of uninsured, we know that last year from 2013 to 2014 we saw about a 10-million person drop in the number of adults uninsured and that was a jump we

hadn't seen since the 1970s. it was basically historic in its level and we're building on that this year. >> ifill: one cloud looming on the horizon is the supreme court. march 4 they will hear challenges to the law. what is the best possible outcome and the worst possible outcome from the supreme court case? >> we believe the best possible and confident about in terms of our position going into this case is the fact these subsidies were mefnt for everyone in the united states. i've traveled all over the country to a number of places and the idea that the united states congress would pass legislation that would give a federal tax benefit to people in new york but not texas is just something that doesn't make a lot of sense, and when you meet the people benefiting from this across the country, you know the individuals and whether it was a woman who had m.s. and had not treated her m.s. except through the emergency room, that she was not supposed to get a tax subsidy, and someone in new york was? the idea of that, i think we believe we're in the right

position. with regard to what did the ramifications are, it's been articulated by many folks and that is we know that 87% of the people who have come through the federal marketplace are eligible for subsidies and on average qualify for $268 per month per individual. when that goes away, you lose affordability. when you lose affordability we increase the number of uninsured. in addition, when that happens what we see is we see a path that people that will be insured in the individual market will be sicker most likely. less healthy people will go in and that drives premiums up as well. >> plan b is what if that were to happen, for stays to step in? some said they won't. >> as i said before we're focused on where we believe we are in the right place right now. >> ifill: have you been speaking to governors or state legislators about what they do giving them advice on what their reactions should be and what kinds of things they should do to protect their citizens should

this be overturned? >> my focus has been on implementation of the law, and whether that's in open enrollment or governors, my conversations have focused opened medicaid ant the issues of expansion. in indiana recently we've seen the expansion, we're continuing the conversations and in arkansas we saw a new governor move through his legislature pretty quickly that he would continue on this path. >> a lot are resisting expansion. >> absolutely we want to continue to work with them. >> ifill: if medicaid expansion doesn't expand, if the supreme court were to step barks how severely damaged would be the ultimate goal of this administration of expanding healthcare crornlg to all? >> so we have made so much progress, as we just mentioned earlier. the idea that we've had that 10 million drop. the the idea there are millions of people, the 11-point 11.4 we're talking about this is important

in how they lead their lives their financial and wellness security. one woman, her mother and grandmother had the brach gene. she went and she didn't have it. the woman who was in her '50s said i used to be afraid when i walked because if i fell it would bankrupt me. this is built into the wellness of so many people. >> ifill: sylvia burwell, thank you very much. >> thank you, gwen. >> woodruff: we return now to the islamic state group, and their brutal tactics. correspondent marcia biggs traveled to northern iraq for the newshour to report on a group of girls who managed to escape from the terrorist group. but because of their psychological trauma and shame, they are still far from free. a warning, her report contains graphic images and subject matter.

>> reporter: refugee camps dot the countryside in the kurdish region of iraq, where almost two million people have been forced from their homes. 29,000 people are living in this camp alone. most of them are yazidi and almost all of them are missing family members. the yazidis are a small community of less than a million people, found primarily in northern iraq. a private and conservative community, they practice an ancient religion, which draws on islam, judaism, christianity, and the persian religion of zoroastrianism. last august, members of the islamic state group attacked the yazidis, whom they consider heretics. these pictures of yazidis trapped on sinjar mountain stunned the world. hundreds of thousands fled for their lives after islamic state fighters executed many of the men and took thousands of women and girls as slaves. this 13-year-old girl was taken and later escaped. >> ( translated ): they brought

everyone to a school and put the women upstairs and drove the men away. i didn't want to let my mother go but they were pulling us from our mothers and beating us. the children were all put in cars. they said we're going to sell you to others and you will have sex with them. the last time i saw my mother was when they took me away. >> reporter: this islamic state video, which went viral last fall, appears to show an islamic state fighter bragging about the selling of girls. in the months that followed, a network of activists sprung up throughout northern iraq-- an underground railroad of sorts-- coordinating rescue efforts. their phone numbers quickly spread among captive girls who used smuggled phones to call for help and give their location. at times, the kurdish regional government has stepped in to grease the wheels. dr. noori othman told us about two girls who escaped their captors in raqqua, and ran to a nearby house, but were turned away by the owner, too scared to take the chance.

>> i called the person. said listen to me, please keep these two girls at your home for a couple of days. he said no i can't. i said, i'm going to pay you. nobody is going to make an adventure for his life without doing something for them, you have to pay them. >> reporter: some families are raising money to buy back their girls, racking up thousands of dollars in debt. is the government funding a program to buy back the girls? >> i'm not buying them, maybe i'm paying some people, they are helping me, getting them back. >> reporter: so they're going into isis controlled areas and infiltrating it. >> sure. and i'm sure some of them have relations with isis or some of the relatives through some of relatives and they are doing that. but i don't care. the important i want these people to be back. these are my responsibility. >> reporter: dr. noori says that his government has spent over $1.5 million to rescue the girls. do you face any ethical dilemma

in the sense that the money that you would pay these people might somehow get into the hands of isis fighters? >> well, i'm not paying isis fighters. this is one. second thing. these are kurdish citizens. and i don't care where the money go personally. i care how to rescue the people. >> reporter: as many as 400 yazidi women and girls are now free and living in camps like this one, but their nightmare is not over. most of them have been raped repeatedly, and in a culture where a woman's virginity is her badge of honor, no one wants to talk about it. but we found one brave girl who told us her whole story. just 15 years old, she and her siblings were captured separated, and for four months she was shuttled between towns and cities hundreds of miles apart, even being sent to syria. in that first month, she and a friend were handed over to a man she calls the sheikh.

>> ( translated ): he took us to his house and for the night he forced us to have sex with him. >> reporter: he raped you? >> ( translated ): yes. he raped us together, we were together the three of us for the night. he told us you don't have religion, i'm marrying you to make you the people of god. >> reporter: what else did he say to you? >> ( translated ): he said we are married, you are mine, we will stay together and have children. if you try to escape or run away, you will get hurt and we might sell you. >> reporter: they escaped through the help of a local mechanic, who was able to get them a taxi. 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 who she says raped her over and over. >> ( translated ): he said bad words, ugly words. he told me, if you don't let me have sex with you, i'm going to sell you again. i'll send you to syria where ten men will be doing the same. and he beat us.

>> reporter: she says she attempted suicide twice, the first by drinking bleach, and the second by strangling herself with her scarf. during those dark days, she used a razor and a pen to tattoo herself with the words "mama wa baba ahebkom," which is arabic for "mommy and daddy, i love you." she says that's what kept her going. you hadn't seen them for four months and you didn't know where your sisters were. >> ( translated ): no i hadn't heard anything about my sisters. >> reporter: she finally managed to escape once more, through a small kitchen window. a family took her in until a taxi driver, paid by the local government, drove her north towards the town of dohuk. she says she walked the final hours, on a road littered with bombs. >> and she's still missing, and she's still missing as well. >> reporter: her four sisters and brother are still missing. her mother can barely speak as we swipe through the pictures on

her phone of her missing children. it's too dangerous for us to show you their faces. she may be back with her family, but like all the girls we met she is suffering severe trauama, with very few resources. >> when you sleep at night, do you have bad dreams, do you have nightmares? >> reporter: dr. derek farrell is a british psychotherapist, working with a foundation that aims to open a trauma center for yazidi girls. he told us some of the horror stories he's heard. what has struck you the most? >> well one is the level of sexual violence, which is horrific. these are the members of the yazidi community, where their faith is very important. and it's the fact that, within their trauma, their faith was in some way used against them in a way which is very dehumanizing. a number of them felt that they wanted to kill themselves, some of the women were given a gun by their isis captor and were offered that they could kill

themselves, but when they pushed the trigger, the gun was empty. it was sheer, you know, humiliation and ridicule that went with that. these are girls that can't sleep, they're having bad nightmares, they are having flashbacks. >> reporter: so many of the girls are afraid to admit that they were raped, afraid to admit they've lost their virginity. but dr. nizar ismet says less than half the girls who have returned have come in for a medical exam. is a virginity test part of this initial medical exam? >> not all the cases. >> reporter: so you don't have to have a virginity test if you come for the medical evaluation? >> no. >> reporter: but i just wonder if that's maybe why some of the girls are staying away, because they're scared to have that test. >> yes, that may be one of the reason but we are not pushing

anyone for this examination. >> reporter: some girls have had their hymens repaired, a sort of re-virginization surgery provided by the government for those that want it. did you have any kind of surgery? >> ( translated ): i had surgery to become a virgin. >> reporter: did you feel like you had to have that surgery? >> ( translated ): yes. >> reporter: why? >> ( translated ): to return to that time when i was a virgin. >> the priority is to provide good medical care, but some of them are hopeless because they say we lost our virginity, we cannot marry again for example we cannot make a family, and we don't want to disclose this to any one of our family. they are really in a situation that is a barrier for us to treat her or to overcome her traumas and depression. >> reporter: dr. nizar would not confirm reports of underground abortions, but says that he is working with the court to try to

find a way to make abortion legal for girls returning from captivity. throughout the camp, we notice the older women and the little girls, but very few young women. they prefer to stay inside. do you think that someday you will marry and have a family? >> ( translated ): no. >> ( translated ): because of what happened to me, i can't. i don't want to marry again, i can have a family, but i don't want to. >> reporter: we ask her if there is anything that makes her happy now. the thought of meeting my brother and sisters again is the only thing she says. for the little ones in the camp there are smiles and laughter. they were spared the pain of their older sisters' captivity. but they embark upon a life in a culture and a community, which has been decimated by death and trauma. marcia biggs, for pbs newshour near dohuk, northern iraq.

>> ifill: finally tonight hitting the high notes through the ups and downs of life. jeffrey brown sits down with an opera standout. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> brown: deborah voigt has made headlines for her star performances on the world's greatest opera stages. >> when everything's working you don't feel it at all, it just happens, you're very much in the moment, the voice is working, the acting is working, you're playing with a character and you're not thinking about anything else. >> brown: she's also made headlines for something else: her size-- most famously in 2004 when she was dropped from a london production because she couldn't fit into what became known as her little black dress. >> when i walked out on stage at

that time i was, as i say in my book, a poster child for obesity, it wasn't just, "oh, she's a big girl." i was a big girl, and that's something that i realize now they decided they didn't want in their production. >> brown: voigt's new book titled "call me debbie: true confessions of a down-to-earth diva," takes readers through her ups and downs. growing up in illinois, she was a child who loved to act out and dress up. a challenge for her strict southern baptist parents. >> they were as you mentioned very conservative in their beliefs, in their religious beliefs, and they wanted me to use my voice to the glory of god, and not to be perhaps a trollop dancing across the stage, is probably what they thought at the time. >> brown: but you grew up somehow to become, to play mythical goddesses, larger than life figures, to put yourself on the stage before audiences around the world. >> it's true, it's true.

there was a transition time thoughwhen i was just beginning to get lead roles, and when i knew my parents were in the audience i always had to stop and think, "okay, now don't pay attention to the fact that your parents are out there, it's okay to make out with this tenor, you're expected to, it's alright." ♪ ♪ >> brown: she would become one of the most prominent singers of her generation, heralded for performances such as brunhilde in wagner's ring cycle at the metropolitan opera. ♪ ♪ ♪ and "salome" in the strauss opera of that name, here at the lyric opera of chicago. she told me they were two of her favorite roles. >> i always just say, "oh, i just fell into opera." well, the truth of it is that i worked my ass off. it was really tough. brunhilde, of course.

i mean we see her in all phases of her life. the first time we meet her she's a young tomboy and she discovers love and, you know, the journey she takes is incredible. salome, the tempestuous sixteen year old, that's quite an acting stretch, but a lot of fun nonetheless. >> brown: much of the book, though, delves into times of far less fun, recounting the depression and insecurity that led to addictions to alcohol bad relationships, and binge eating. >> it's a very lonely business and you go home at the end of the night and it can be just you in your head. and if you are a person that has some issues with depression, or self-esteem, those tapes go, and it becomes something that you really feel the need to quiet, and my first trick was through food. >> brown: when did you realize that it was a problem? >> well, it stared me back in the mirror for a long time

before i finally decided i tried everything, for one thing. i tried every diet. my knees were starting to hurt, i was getting winded walking across the stage, and it was keeping me from the ability to portray roles on the stage that i wanted to play. i did tosca, who is supposed to be this beautiful opera singer when i weighed 300 pounds, and i was always uncomfortable about it, i always felt a little, you know, sticky about these issues. >> brown: the weight problem was overcome with the help of gastric bypass-surgery. the rest, she writes, through sobriety programs and a recommitment to her faith. she's still singing, while also performing in a one-woman show she helped develop called "voigt lessons". >> if there's one thing i learned about myself in writing this book, and looking back, and reading it, is that i have an

incredible sense of resilience that i didn't really realize i had. things would happen in my life and i would pick myself up, and dust myself off and go about it, but when i read event after event in the whole package, i think, wow, how have you managed to do this? how have you managed? >> brown: deborah, or debbie voigt, thanks so much for talking to us. >> thank you, jeff. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. at a white house summit on violent extremism, president obama said one way to combat global terrorism is to expand human rights and religious tolerance. a blast of arctic air gripped the midwest, northeast and south breaking dozens of record-low temperatures, with more cold on its heels.

the greek government came forward with a request for a six-month extension of its rescue loan but german officials quickly rejected it calling the offer a trojan horse. if the parties can't reach an agreement before the end of the month, the greek government faces >> ifill: on the newshour online, the cost of caring for an aging loved one with health care needs can be overwhelming. in our series on long-term care, we look to the family caregiver alliance for answers on how to pay for it all. find a q&a on our homepage. and before this sunday's academy awards, take our oscars quiz. see how well you can guess the nominated film based on a line from a critic's review. that's at pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. on friday, jeffrey brown visits the palm tree refuge of noted poet w.s. merwin. here's a short preview. >> you don't expect this, a whole forest of palms. some 3,000 of them of incredible variety.

variety. bands of many sizes, twists an shapes of many kinds even sharp thorns, more than 400 species from all over the world, on 19 acres of land on the northern coast of maui. >> woodruff: a hawaiian palm farm, that's friday on the newshour. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. we'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening, with mark shields and david brooks. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

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