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tv   PBS News Hour  PBS  February 27, 2015 3:00pm-4:00pm PST

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captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: deadline day, the last minutes of political brinkmanship in congress to avoid a shut down of the department of homeland security. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. also ahead, the political firestorm over israeli prime minister netanyahu's big speech before congress. then art as a casualty of war, islamic state fighters destroy priceless antiquities in iraq. plus: tackling obesity as americans age and disabilities surge; how diet and exercise affect quality of life.
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>> we saw the population get heavier and chronic diseases start to rise -- hypertension, stroke diabetes -- and if we continued, our entire community would be crippled based on chronic diseases and illnesses. >> woodruff: and it's friday, mark shields and david brooks are here to analyze the week's news. those are some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.
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>> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions
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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: uncertainty reigns at the u.s. capitol this evening, in the funding fight over homeland security. house republicans failed late today to pass a temporary bill, as conservatives rebelled. >> we can't let the department stop working. >> woodruff: the day-long drama unfolded as a midnight deadline neared for the federal department of homeland security to run out of money. on the house side: senior republicans, including kentucky's hal rogers, pushed a three-week funding measure. >> consequently, we're putting before you a bill to temporarily finance them while we go to conference on the main year end financing of the department, that's what this is all about.
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>> woodruff: a number of republicans were still demanding that the "main, year-end" funding measure overturn the president's directives on immigration. but democrats in the senate have blocked that effort, and their house counterparts pressed the g.o.p. today to accept reality. >> mister speaker let your republicans go! let them come to the floor and vote on a clean bill! we could pass it before this afternoon. that bill would be in the white house tonight, and we could go home, sleeping, knowing that this nation's security is in good hands. >> woodruff: as the day went on, house republican leaders had to call a lengthy recess to round up votes. they finally succeeded late this the joint resolution is not passed. >> woodruff: but g.o.p. leaders insisted that's not the
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end of it. >> members are advised additional votes are now possible later this evening and maybe this weekend, and i yield back. >> woodruff: meanwhile, senate republican leaders have given up on including immigration in a funding bill. instead, the senate today approved a "clean" bill that funds the homeland security department through september. >> woodruff: the white house signaled earlier that if a short term funding does finally pass, the president would sign it. a small town in south central missouri was in shock today, after a night of killing left eight people dead. it happened in tyrone, near the arkansas border. police said a gunman killed seven people then took his own life. the victims were found in four separate homes. police identified the shooter as joseph jesse aldridge and said four of the victims were his cousins. it was unclear what his motive might have been.
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in mexico, police have captured one of that country's most- wanted drug lords. servando gomez is a former teacher who came to be known as "la tuta". he ran the "knights templar" cartel that once dominated part of western mexico, but he'd been a fugitive for a year. >> woodruff: there's word the islamic state group has run into a budget shortfall. a global task force reported today that falling oil prices have helped cut the group's revenues. the report also cited u.s.-led air strikes, and at the pentagon, rear admiral john kirby confirmed it. >> they still have resources at their disposal but we know that they're feeling the pinch because they aren't able to grab new ground and therefore aren't able to rob new banks and steal more cash. >> woodruff: the task force report did call for targeting the militants' online fundraising. the four-month extension of greece's financial bailout took a major step forward today. germany's parliament voted
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overwhelmingly to back the extension. the finance minister told lawmakers that it's in everyone's best interest. >> we're in a situation that financial market trust them again and griese can act without any support on its own, called competitiveness. for greece there's a longer road than for any other european country. >> woodruff: germany has pushed greece to adhere to spending cuts and other austerity measures. a leading opposition figure was shot and killed today. the interior ministry says it was a drive-by outside the kremlin. he was a prominent critic of president vladimir putin. on wall street, stocks lost ground after fourth-quarter growth came in weaker than first estimated. the dow jones industrial average lost 82 points to close near 18100. and the s-and-p 500 slipped six but for the month the dow and
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the s-and-p gained more than 5%. the nasdaq rose 7%. >> woodruff: two men who had profound but very different effects on american life have died. they were "father ted" and "mister spock," notre dame's reverend theodore hesburgh and "star trek's" leonard nimoy. >> woodruff: he was beloved by generations of "star trek" fans. leonard nimoy's journey to sci- fi immortality began in 1966, as mr. spock, the strictly logical science officer. he was featured alongside william shatner's captain kirk, for three seasons, and later in a series of movies. >> the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. or the one
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i have been and always shall be your friend. nimoy's career also included directing and writing. but he was forever linked to the half-vulcan-half human spock, and his famous salute. >> your family, your friends whatever, and especially to you: live long and prosper. >> woodruff: on twitter last year, nimoy revealed he'd been diagnosed with chronic, obstructive pulmonary disease. he died today at his los angeles home, at the age of 83. hours earlier, the reverend theodore hesburgh passed away in south bend, indiana. "father ted," as he was widely known, became notre dame's president in 1952 and over 35 years, helped reshape catholic education. the school's current president, the reverend john jenkins, said in a statement today:
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>> woodruff: along the way hesburgh advised, and sometimes clashed, with presidents, as well as popes. he also pressed for peace in the middle east and championed civil rights at home and human rights around the globe. he kept pressing that agenda even as he retired in 1987. >> we don't know where we're going from here and we don't know what we're going to do, but i can guarantee you there are a lot of battles yet to be won for justice. >> woodruff: hesburgh was honored with the congressional gold medal in 2000. and, that same year, on "the newshour, he summed up his career: >> i never thought i was a priest just to give sermons and work in church, and hear confessions and marry people, bury people and so forth. i felt i'm part of a big life out there, and i've got to contribute to that, one way or
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the other, i hope for the good. >> woodruff: the reverend theodore hesburgh was 97 years old. and in another passing of note, earl lloyd, the first black player in the national basketball association died thursday. he entered the league in 1950. in 1955, he helped the syracuse nationals win the n.b.a. title. he was inducted into the basketball hall of fame in 2003. earl lloyd was 86 years old. still to come on the newshour: the controversy behind the israeli prime minister's upcoming address to congress; why islamic state militants are destroying ancient art in iraq; how obesity is changing the way americans age; plus, mark shields and david brooks on the week's news. >> woodruff: a rift escalated this week between the white house and israeli prime minister
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benjamin netanyahu over his planned to congress on tuesday. chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret reports. >> warner: as he nears the march 17th finish line in his re- election campaign, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is taking an unusual 6,000 miles detour sunday, to lobby congress against president obama's drive toward a nuclear deal with iran. he made his feelings on that clear on wednesday. >> the world powers have undertaken to prevent iran from nuclear weapon. but from the agreement coming together, it appears they have given up on this commitment. >> warner: secretary of state kerry responded, saying netanyahu had also disparaged the late 2013 "interim deal" with iran. >> he called it 'the deal of the century for iran,' even though
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it has clearly stopped iran's program. >> warner: what infuriates the administration is not the substance of netanyahu's critique. it's where and when it will be delivered, here, before a joint session of congress tuesday, and how the visit came about. >> i did not consult with the white house. the congress can make this decision on its own. >> warner: in january, republican house speaker john boehner announced he'd invited netanyahu to speak, without conferring with the white house or democratic leaders. >> i don't believe i'm poking anyone in the eye. there is a serious threat that exists in the world... >> warner: it later emerged that he'd orchestrated the visit with the israeli ambassador, longtime netanyahu' political adviser ron dermer. the administration fired back, saying neither the president nor vice president biden would meet with netanyahu so close to israel's election. >> i think it's insulting and i think that it politicizes foreign policy in this country in a way that it shouldn't be politicized. >> warner: independent vermont
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senator bernie sanders, who caucuses with democrats, plans to boycott the speech. he faults boehner for playing politics with a sensitive security issue that divides congress, on how to curb iran's nuclear program. what about prime minister netanyahu? did he cross a line here? >> the answer is yes, i don't think it's a good idea for the speaker to bring the prime minister of israel to come to the floor of the congress to trash the president of the united states. i don't want to see the united states congress used as a prop for a political candidate. >> warner: israeli intelligence minister yuval steinitz maintains netanyahu's visit isdriven by the end-of-march deadline to reach a political framework in the iran talks, not by israel's election calendar. >> so this is the last opportunity for prime minister netanyahu to explain why israel is so disturbed, to convince congress, the united states of
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america, maybe other world powers, not to sign a bad deal with iran. this is not about neutralizing the iranian nuclear threat. it's just postponing, delaying restraining. this is really about the future of the world, but also about the existence of israel, the jewish state. >> warner: besides, he says, how could netayahu turn down an invitation from the speaker of the house? >> if the prime minister were invited by congress, i don't know of any world leader who would refuse such an invitation. >> i think what a world leader would have done, and i suspect most would have done, is gotten on the phone and said, "president obama, guess what? speaker boehner invited me. how do you feel about that?" >> warner: the u.s. and five other world powers seek an agreement to put verifiable limits on iran's nuclear program for a decade or more, to ensure that iran couldn't quickly
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produce enough fuel for a bomb. president obama also sees a deal as a way to avoid military action by the u.s. or israel against iran's nuclear sites. prime minister netanyahu wants far more, to have iran's nuclear enrichment program dismantled entirely. but these differences, the president said, aren't why he won't see netanyahu this visit. >> the u.s.-israeli relationship is not about a particular party. the way to preserve that is to make sure that it doesn't get clouded with what could be perceived as partisan politics. >> warner: but it's certainly seen as political in israel, where netanyahu is running against a center-left coalition partly on a stand-up-to- washington message, as in this t.v. ad. in tel aviv's largest market voters were divided on the election, and on the trip. vegetable seller david cohen is
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not sold on the prime minister or the speech. >> ( translated ): he is going for himself, not for me. he is going there to win the elections >> warner: luggage importer ztafrir salomon said netanyahu has to go make israel's case. >> bibi totally understands what he is doing and he is doing it with his chin up. >> warner: but american-born israeli carmel garber is troubled. >> i think it's terrible whether or not netanyau likes obama or not, it's a crucial ally, and you can't just push him aside as if he's not important. >> warner: the personal relationship between mr. obama and netanyahu has been distant and often testy from the start notes aaron david miller of the wilson center, a former middle east peace negotiator in republican and democratic administrations. >> what you do have is perhaps the most-dysfunctional relationship between an american
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president and israeli prime minister in the history of the relationship. tamara wittes, a former state department official in the obama administration, agrees. >> what i see today is a bitterness, i think that is different. this is, i think, a much deeper crisis of confidence than i've seen before. >> warner: the tension and distrust between the two extends beyond the iran issue. to the stalled israeli- palestinian peace process and the conduct of last summer's gaza war. now some democrats feel caught in a bind, forced to choose between showing support for the dent's top foreign policy priority, and showing support for israel. so far, three democratic senators, vermont's patrick leahy, virginia's tim kaine and hawaii's brian schatz say they won't attend. some 25 house members are staying away too warning it could damage longstanding bi- partisan cooperation on israel. national security adviser susan rice raised that red flag tuesday evening on charlie rose.
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>> on both sides there has now been injected a degree of partisanship, which is not only unfortunate. it think it's destructive of the fabric of the relationship. >> warner: aaron miller concedes the dangers of partisan divisions. but he doesn't think this incident will shake the fundamental u.s.-israel alliance. >> unlike lehman brothers, this relationship is too big to fail. as the region melts down a natural tendency to support stable allies, who presumably share and do share american values, goes up. during a crisis, frankly, is where you're going to see more consensus rather than division between the two sides. >> warner: but brookings' tamara wittes is worried the effects will linger and spill over. >> and if their fundamental relationship is rocky, it's going to impede their ability to cooperate. it's not just about the relationship between the leaders.
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the tone permeates down to officials at every level. have the last five years created some permanent dysfunction in the relationship? the only way to actually test that is to test the alternative, a new american president and a new israel prime minster. for the next 20 months, more than likely, this very odd couple will continue this very peculiar dance. >> warner: a 73-year-old beautician pnina sherman in tel aviv expects to continue too-- >> give me a break. our position is strong, also in the united states. he will give a speech, he won't give a speech, he doesn't risk a thing. >> warner: --a risk that will play out in washington next week. i'm margret warner for the pbs newshour in washington. >> woodruff: and margaret joins me now. thanks for that, margaret. you were telling me not only all the other divisions you were reporting on but this opened a split inside the american-jewish community. >> reporter: it has in the politically active organizations.
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the strength of the israel lobby habits bipartisan nature. republicans and democrats disagree on domestic issues but are rock solid in support for israel. apec was caught flat footed. some democratic members said we can't be part of the the ploy to undercut obama and help netanyahu win but while apec stepped back, some of the groups on opposite sides weighed in. so the republicans-jewish coalition threatening to spend money to undercut members who don't show up for the street. the liberal j street group has come out to raise money to protect these. fox and the anti-defamation league called for netanyahu to cancel the speech. i think they're trying to paper it over but it has made many democrats and republicans uncertain and unhappy that it's inject ago partisan rift that would undercut support for israel. >> woodruff: every which way
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you look it's complicated. >> reporter: very. >> woodruff: margaret warner, thank you. >> woodruff: when it comes to the battle against the islamic state, much of the world's attention is focused of course on the murders and mayhem it has wrought. but there have been a series of attacks on antiquities and cultural heritage. and today, there's both condemnation and sadness over the destruction and loss of art and history in northern iraq. here's jeffrey brown. >> brown: in the video, islamic state militants knock statues to the floor. take sledgehammers to centuries- old artifacts, even employ a jackhammer to reduce a work to rubble. released through social media thursday, the five-minute video uses music and slow motion to dramatize what appears to be the destruction at northern iraq's mosul museum. >> ( translated ): to all muslims, these statues are idols
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of the people in previous centuries, which were worshipped other than god. god almighty says: and we sent a messenger to you just to reveal that no god but i, so worship me. the prophet ordered us to get rid of statues and relics, and his companions did the same when they conquered countries after him. >> brown: the mosul museum reportedly housed more than 170 genuine antiquities. others were replicas, and it's unclear how many original works were destroyed. but the act fits into a broader campaign by the islamic state, to brazenly and publicly destroy cultural relics in the name of religious purity. since its incursion into northern iraq last summer, the group has laid waste to libraries, temples and shrines. and the region now under its control contains nearly 1,800 of iraq's 12,000 registered archaeological sites. in paris today, unesco director- general irina bokova called this newest act in mosul a "war crime" that the world must
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punish. but, she said: >> i know that there is not much that we can do in order to go there on the site. unesco doesn't have an army, unesco doesn't have blue helmets or anything else. >> brown: meanwhile in war-torn syria, satellite images show extensive looting of archaeological sites, for relics reportedly sold on the black market to finance islamic state operations. today unesco announced the creation of a global coalition against the trafficking of illegal objects, to meet in the coming weeks. we turn to: barnard haykel, a professor of near east studies at princeton university and michael danti, a professor of archaeology at boston university who specializes in this region. let me start with you, michael danti. i know ex pieforts have been looking -- experts have been
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looking at the video to authenticate the museum, to try to determine the extent of the damage. what do we know so far? >> we know some of the objects we are seeing are plaster casts or restorations, but the majority of what we're looking at both at the site of nineveh and the mosul museum is sculpture of antiquity. we're seeing material from the ancient city of hadr and from nineveh from the first millennium b.c. >> brown: put context to these works. >> the material from hatra is really unparalleled in art history. there's very little material outside the mosul museum. in terms of the sculpture we see from the asyrian empire, a large amount of that material graces the british museum the metropolitan museum of alter and the louvre. but the works we're seeing that remained in mosul were the hard work of iraqi archeologists and museum professionals.
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>> brown: bernard haykel why the focus on art and antiquities and who's the intended audience? >> the islamic state presents itself as a puritanical movement claiming to be the authentic version of islam and part of their presentation of the version of islam has to do with the smashing of idols what we call iconickism and it's a major p.r. campaign to present themselves as the real muslims. it should be underscored that most muslims don't share their views at all and, in fact, you know, islamic hart art has had a lot of representation even of the prophet, but their version of islam is very literal and it's very radical and they are trying to present that as the real thing. >> brown: the packaging of the video you're putting in the category of public relations of reaching out and saying here's
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what we can do? >> yeah and it's propaganda. it's trying to appeal to much of what they do is trying to appeal to young people to bring about recruits and saying that we add here very closely to the injunctionsinjunctions of islamic law one of which is to command good and forbid wrong, and these statues are considered idols. of course islamic law says idols that are not worshiped need not be destroyed and none of these were worshiped, so it is a gratuitous and barbaric act, frankly, but one intended to appeal to an audience looking for some sort of authenticity. >> brown: michael danti, you're nodding your head. you have been watching this unfold at a number of sites in syria and iraq. are there fears about more? what steps are or can be taken at this point? >> during the conflict obviously there's very little
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that we can do. to pry to prevent these things you need to take measurers toward the outbreak of conflicts. since july we've seen scores of these sorts of destructions. the main targets shia and sufi sites. >> brown: so there are patterns you see? >> yeah, there's definitely a pattern to target shia and sufi material culture, primarily silence mosques and toos. the hardest hit is the aleppo government in northern syria and this is a way to increase syrian tensions and proliferate the conflict, also is a cold calculated form of psychological warfare. >> brown: bernard haykel, this gets the world's attention. here we are talking about it though we felt we had to. there's no way not to. does that proliferate?
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do you expect more to happen? >> absolutely. i mean, i think this is a group that is determined to attract as much media attention as possible and to shock and to -- because they see this as a form of humiliating the enemy being all people they disagree with but mainly unbelievers. and shia and sufis and muslims that disagree with them are considered unbelievers and they are objects of the shock value. >> brown: on the looting that continues, reports about the sale of the antiquities to finance some of these operations, do we know much about that at this point? >> we know the material is making it to lebanon and turkey on its way to international markets. what's difficult to fill in are the dollar values and the exact belligerence and conflict involved in the looting and trafficking. but we have good information that almost everyone in the
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syria-iraq conflict is looting. >> brown: michael danti, bernard haykel, thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: two major trends are on a collision course in the united states: the aging of the u.s. population and a decades- long surge in obesity. the elderly population is projected to double to 80 million by 2050. and as that's happening, obese individuals are far more likely to become sick or disabled as they age. special correspondent sarah varney has the story from alabama, produced in collaboration with our partners at kaiser health news. >> reporter: this is called the seafood capital of alabama. residents depend on shrinking and fishing for their livelihood and when they eat, they like
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most things fried. dr. benjamin has been trying to reverse the nation's obesity epidemic one patient at a time. >> bake, boil, and broil. say it again. >> repeat. so no more fried. this woman is 69 years old and a retired crab picker. she spent most of her life seriously overweight and diagnosed with diabetes age 39. as obesity became commonplace around the u.s., healthcare providers like benjamin began seeing the impacts of the disease around them. >> if you saw a patient population get heavier we saw chronic diseases rise -- hypertension, strokes diabetes. we're now called the stroke belt where we are. so we saw all those things start happening and if we continued our entire community would totally be crippled, basically, based on chronic diseases and chronic illnesses. >> that assessment stretches beyond the bayou.
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awe long the gulf coast and the south, one in three adults is obese and many lived who lived for decades with diabetes, heart disease and obesity are in their senior years. the obesity rate grew from 10 to 15% to more than 30%, having profound effects as the country ages. dr. virginia chang, a demographer at new york university says life-longo obesity now common in the u.s. is poised to undermine improvements in disability rates among older adults. >> we're potentially going to have a larger older population that's more likely to be obese, surviving longer with cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions. i think the primary fallout from increasing obesity is probably not going to be some huge hit to
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mortality, it's going to be disability. >> at the university of alabama at birmingham, biology professor stephen alsted is studying diet and nutrition on mice. >> aging was thought to be all these different processes, your heart age, brain aged feet aged. now what we've realized is there are a handful of processes involved in aging all parts of your body and turns out one of the processes is inflammation. >> inflammation increases as we age, but is exacerbated by belly fat which secretes chemicals that cause further inflammation around the body. >> if you're obese your systemwide levels of inflammation are higher particularly when you're older. >> my mother had vascular dementia. >> one reason scientists think men and women who are obese are more likely to develop dementia alzheimer's and certain cancers
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as they age. bhaj resident bob parker says his own weight is starting to catch up with him. as a realtor and democratic party activist, he often attends meetings at restaurants. he says all the nights lining out make it hard to eat well. at age 60, he's treated for diabetes, high blood pressure high cholesterol and sleep apnea. he's lost much weight and gained it back. >> i get tired. when i do projects around the house, i can't do them as long and i find myself resting more when i am doing it. i like to do things out in the yard and have a couple of various little projects going on that have stopped for the winter. and i can't -- i just can't work on them as much. so that's pretty galling, to be honest. >> to get help h he comes to the university's weight loss clinic
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to see dr. solamani. >> tell me what's challenging to you to adhere to the diet plan. >> the choices are things i don't like. >> obesity is an expensive diseases special for aging seniors. one study found while obese 70-year-olds live as long as non-bees, they spend more on healthcare. >> obese people have more healthcare costs. >> the university of alabama research center at birmingham. >> as one gets into the age where healthcare spending goes up, 25-year-olds don't spend that much on healthcare, but as you progress through age that difference is going to be bigger and bigger and more and more important. >> two hours from birmingham in the northwest corner of the state, generations of red bay one of the only nursing homes in the region willing to taken to the added expense of caring for
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heavier patients who come from as far away as texas. more obese people are heading into nursing homes at younger ages and staying long than nonobese residents. >> are you feeling okay. yeah, i'm fine. margaret hill douglas arrived two years ago at age 47 after she broke her knee. surgery was considered too risky because of congestive heart failure so she languished in the hospital for weeks while a social worker looked for a nursing home to accept her. these patients require additional staff and costly equipment saws andrea full interest nursing home's chief operating officer, that includes everything from specialized beds and lifts to larger blood pressure cuffs. >> there are two certified nursing assistants for eight to ten residents and that's about twice the staffing you would have for the general population of a skilled nursing facility. >> reporter: fuller says most to have the people who move in even the younger ones will need
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this type of care for the rest of their lives. at the weight loss clinic in birmingham, bernard rayford, age 5 5rbgs says he wants to avoid that fate. >> i always prayed, lord, before i be a burden, just take me. so i saw hiself being a burden and me being a major problem so the end was for me not to make it, or end up being an invalid and that's a direction i don't want to be in. >> reporter: rayford is working hard on his diet and in the clinic's gym. he says there is much at stake. he wants to enjoy retirement with his wife and years with his grandson. i'm sarah varney in birmingham, alabama. >> woodruff: next, the fight to win over the right. it was day two of speeches at the largest gathering of conservatives in the country.
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political director domenico montanaro reports on the conservative political action conference or cpac. >> reporter: jeb bush, the former florida governor and current front runner for the republican nomination in 2016, was the highlight of the day. >> i have to show that i care about people and their future. it can't be about the past, it can't be about my mom and dad and brother. >> reporter: he was met with some boos for his support of immigration reform and common core educational standards, but he defended his record. >> i would describe myself as a practicing reform minded conservative, that i've actually done it. >> reporter: another floridian, senator marco rubio, struck out at president obama. >> sometimes you wouldn't know we're an exceptional nation by listening to the president who has described our nation as sometimes being arrogant or dictating terms to others. >> reporter: kentucky senator rand paul's message of smaller-
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government and a less- interventionist foreign policy is always popular with some of the younger, libertarian activists at cpac. and this year was no different. >> as conservatives we should not succumb to the notion that a government inept at home will somehow become successful abroad. >> reporter: but former senator rick santorum, like most other speakers, took a hard line on fighting the islamic state militant group. >> if isis wants to establish a seventh century caliphate well let's oblige them by bombing them back to the seventh century. >> reporter: the activists will vote on their favorite tomorrow in the annual cpac straw poll. domenico montanaro, pbs newshour >> woodruff: and to the analysis of shields and brooks, that's syndicated columnist mark shields and new york times columnist david brooks. welcome, gentlemen. so mark, c-pac the regular gathering of conservatives.
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what should we take away? >> there's a generational divide in the room which rand paul reaches across to particularly younger voters, but what i found -- i thought jeb bush did a lot in question and answer than in a set speech last week. but judy what's coming out of that room -- and basically the first primary for republicans -- is exactly the kind of language of no compromise. compromise is capitulation, compromise is surrender, and it's exactly the wrong message that was going to capitol hill this week where republicans collapsed in handling homeland security, and i think the atmosphere created by that room and the people there is harmful to the party. it could be crucial to the nominating process but it's an unelectable message. >> woodruff: but isn't that message of no cooperation
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david, that's been the trademark for these conservatives. >> there's conservatives, then conservatives then conservatives and on the other side of the room c-pac. so you look at the people they've nominated over the years as their favorite speaker, ron paul, rand paul's father, gary bower christian conservative, so this hard core. mitt romney got it but he packed the house. they all packed the house. (laughter) jeb bush did well. if he stumbled a little rhythm gets going that jeb bush can't campaign well, and he did well. scott walker seems to do okay with tea party and establishment party so that's good. marco rubio, fine, but i guess what was interesting was the foreign policy split. as we just heard, the hard-core interventionallists were cheered. rand paul was cheered on
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everything. but i suspect the two main trends, so far we see -- i'm about to list three -- one a pretty good candidate, better than last time. two the party doesn't know where it stands on foreign policy, but a little more interventionallist than seems. and three the social issues, abortion little less emphasized than in years past. >> so you're saying this is a new conservative, conservative piece of the republican party? >> like every party, the mood shifts the democrat party is shifting to the economic pop list party. republican is a little less tea party and conservative than two years ago. >> he's absolutely right. historically c-pac was a splintered group -- the young americans for freedom, the american conservative union -- it is now a trade show for all
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republicans. you miss this event and you do so at your own peril. chris christie was not invited last year. he was happy to be there this year. it is now approaching iowa and new hampshire as events that if you're a republican candidate, you can't afford to skip. >> but there are more quieter events on wall street where the message is very different. >> but this is where the cameras are and the message comes and it was harmful on capitol hill. >> when you state it's a place you have to be, the other hand david's point is the winner never goes on to become president. >> that's not always true. romney is one. ragan swept it. reagan made it an important event. since then david is right, ron paul did well, there's a libertarian streak among the younger members traditionally
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the young americans for freedom. >> jeb talked about the d.h.s. issues and said he disagreed with what's going on on capitol hill which is a shift toward air main stream establishment less confrontational thing. so interesting even at c-pac he did the less confrontational posture. >> let's talk about what you raised mark. the republicans have been saying for weeks and days they are not going to fund the department of homeland security until the president backs down on immigration. finally came to vote and nothing happened today. i mean what do we see? >> something happened pretty seriously, judy. it is the speaker of the house. >> no vote too spun -- but a major defeat for the republican leadership in the house of representatives. they had a three-week extension three weeks into march, and they couldn't -- they lost 51 numbers of their own caucus and with the
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speaker himself which is rarely done going down and casting a vote off of the losing side to pass a three-week extension so rejected a three-week extension so now with the senate having a 68-31 margin no entangling amendments, just a homeland security funding to the end of the fiscal year the 31 senators who voted against it were all republicans. so a majority of republicans voted against it, but leader mcconnell is so secure in his own leadership that he could pass it and not worry about any kind of a rote. what john boehner has is a 57 margin in the house of representatives. whey's got the biggest margin of republicans since 1928 yet his speakership is so shaky that he really is looking over his shoulder every minute.
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had 25 members of his own caucus vote against him when elected in january and 50 took a walk on him today. it's just a terrible position to be in. >> you agree the speakership is shaky? >> it looks like the great retreat like napoleon coming back from russian -- bedraggled, people split. it's a failure of vision. this was a day that was preordained weeks ago when they decided to take up this issue which was going to with a failure anyway and second it was a political failure. you ask people around the country, do you approve the immigration? doesn't matter. they don't like the idea of shutting down government because it brings back to mind the dysfunction gets you lost in the legislative mores that mike described. why they do not foresee this is a mystery to professionals.
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>> woodruff: as we were talking early friday, what happens? where do we go from here? >> kevin mccarthy, republican house whip told the membership after the vote to stay in town. could be votes tonight and all weekend. we know that the funding ends. going to ask people to work without being paid. it's almost as though they're out of touch. they don't understand that there are millions and millions of american families who live paycheck to paycheck who worry about car notes and children's tuition bills and they are expected to work for nothing? >> woodruff: now, there is some point being made that the democrats could have pushed this over the top. the president said he would sign a short-term funding, a three-week funding bill, but democrats in the house didn't go along. >> but the speaker's position has been that he would pass a majority of the majority that they could pass it and you're
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absolutely right, i mean, the democrats said we want a vote on what the senate just passed, which was an extension. >> woodruff: is this the end of the new republican leadership, david? how big a blow is this? >> it's a bad childhood. you know, it's a blow. you know, they'll come back. there are other issues. presumably they will get to the issues facing the the country maybe at some point. the economy iran is going to be on us next week, so big things will be happening, but it's just been weirdly undermined. >> speaking of iran, the prime minister of israel. we heard margaret warner's report a few minutes ago, coming to washington, coming to speak to the congress tuesday at the request of the man you've both been talking about speaker boehner. margaret talked about all the splits that happened in the american jewish community between the administration and israel. how big a division is there now
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between this administration and israel? how does it compare with previous splits? because we've seen tension in the past between the americans and the israelis. >> the most recently and probably memoriably was 1991, jim baker was secretary of state and george h.w. bush and the freeze on the settlements and the bush administration held back $10 million in guaranteed loans and aid to the israelis. but this is big, jude y. since the founding of the state of israel in 1948, the state had been bipartisan. i think this was a political move made by both the prime minister of israel and his supporters and the speaker of the house. the prime minister was pretty open in his support and endorsement of mitt romney against president obama. could be accused of having meddled in our election, and now on the third of march the
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congress of the united states will be used as a photo opportunity for a campaign stop for prime minister netanyahu who faces the voters on the 17th 17th of march and has some problems, basically domestic and doing what everybody does when they're in trouble, you make ate matter of national security. i'm not questioning there is national security involved, but that's what this is. it was a dumb political move to begin with and backfired on i think both netanyahu and boehner. >> woodruff: your son se in the israeli army? >> right. i agree it's a political and substantive disaster for the state of israel and back home because most israelis are worried about the state of the relationship. it's different than the pastimes in part because as mark said it's partisan now. suddenly republicans especially
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on college campuses is more fragile than before. the iran situation is gigantically big issue existential for israel and serious for the united states and to mess this up at a time when this issue looming is cataclysmic, distracting the debate over what's being settled between the u.s. and iran into some sideshow and i happen to think netanyahu's concerns about the deal we're apparently getting close to with the iranians are legitimate but he distracted that into something destructive. >> do you think it makes it harder to get a deal? complicates it? >> i think so. i think the deal is dangerous because we're granting a very rogue regime access to at least a nuclear capability which i think is a very perilous thing to do. but we're not having that debate. we're talking about when bibi's coming. >> woodruff: we leave it there. david brooks, mark shields, we thank you both.
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>> woodruff: and a correction: in the news summary, we had the wrong first name and state for republican congressman hal rogers of kentucky. we regret the error. again, the major developments of the day. with a deadline looming, house republicans failed to approve funding for the homeland security department. and leonard nimoy, "star trek's" "mister spock," and former notre dame president, the reverend theodore hesburgh passed away. on the newshour online, the dress. a lot of people are talking about it, but not all can agree. is it gold and white or black and blue? we look at the science behind what makes people see this image. originally posted online by a 21-year-old singer named caitlin mcneill, so differently. read why on our home page, pbs.org/newshour. and a reminder about some upcoming programs from our pbs colleagues. gwen ifill is preparing for "washington week," which airs
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later this evening. here's a preview: >> ifill: sometimes the world needs a little extra explanation. from the escalating and complicated war on isis, to the escalating and complicated 2016 presidential campaign, to the escalating and complicated standoff over funding the department of homeland security. we'll tackle it all tonight, on washington week. judy? >> woodruff: on pbs newshour weekend saturday, should parents be concerned about the risk of concussions for their children who play soccer? >> we don't need to have heading in youth soccer, 14 and under. >> reporter: the interesting thing is just a few years ago chastain was on nbc saying that heading was safe for kids, as long as they were trained correctly. >> it's a part of the game, it's an important part, and it's a beautiful part of the game. >> reporter: at the time, you were saying, "i think that it can be taught to kids, and it should stay in the game for kids."
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now you think differently. i wonder what was it in particular that changed your mind? >> the more i started hearing about it, and the more research that has come out, i just thought, you know, i have to protect them, and this doesn't need to exist at this young age. >> woodruff: that's tomorrow night on pbs newshour weekend. before we go we want to close with a newshour shares. twelve years ago today, fred rogers, the man behind "mister rogers neighborhood," died. the company that he founded released a message he recorded just before he passed away for adults who grew up watching him. here's part of what he had to say. >> i'm just so proud of all of you who have grown up with us and i know how tough it is some days to look with hope and confidence on the months and years ahead, but i would like to tell you what i often told you when you were much younger -- i like you just the way you are,
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and what's more i'm so grateful to you for helping the children in your life to know that you will do everything you can to keep them safe and to help them express their feelings in ways that will bring healing in many different neighborhoods. it's such a good feeling to know that we're life-long friends. >> woodruff: thank you fred rogers. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff, have a great weekend. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i.b.e.w. the power professionals in your neighborhood.
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>> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> 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 "bbc world
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news." >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, and mufg. >> build a solid foundation, and you can connect communities and commerce for centuries. that's the strength behind good banking relationships, too. which is why, at mufg, we believe financial partnerships should endure the test of time.

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