captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday march, 7: 50 years after the marches in selma, how the voting rights act has shaped both modern political parties; suicide bombings rock nigeria; and in our signature segment, it was the first state to legalize assisted suicide nearly 20 years ago. >> i thought i had more time with him, but he said to me, "pam, i want to take it on friday of that week." >> sreenivasan: next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by:

corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support is provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios in lincoln center in new york, this is pbs newshour weekend. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thanks for joining us. president obama was in alabama today along with about 100 members of congress and other dignitaries to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the march on selma. he spoke at the edmund pettus bridge, the site where police and state troopers beat and tear-gassed peaceful protesters demanding voting rights. that incident shocked the nation and sparked the passage of the 1965 voting rights act. the president touched on voter apathy, protests in ferguson and the historical importance of the march on selma. >> the americans who crossed

this bridge, they were not physically imposing, but they gave courage to millions. they held no elected office, but they led a nation. because of what they did the doors of opportunity swung open not just for black folks, but for every american. women marched through those doors. latinos marched through those doors. asian-americans, gay americans americans with disabilities, they all came through those doors. what happened in ferguson may not be unique, but it's no longer endemic or sanctioned by law and custom; and before the civil rights movement, it most surely was. what's our excuse today for not voting? how do we so casually discard the right for which so many fought? how do we so fully give away our power, our voice, in shaping america's future?

>> sreenivasan: georgia representative john lewis introduced the president. in 1965, he led the march and was badly injured in the clash. >> because in the final analysis, we are one people one family the human family. we all live in the same house, american house. >> sreenivasan: so, how much did the voting rights act change the political landscape over the past 50 years joining us now for some insight is john harwood chief washington correspondent for cnbc and political writer for the "new york times." so we've thought about that big picture, the march that is seared in people's minds. what kind of changes happened since then, especially for voting rights? >> well, first of all you've seen a complete collapse of republican support among african americans. that happened very quickly. richard nixon got about a third of black vote in 1960. barry goldwater got 6%. republicans have never approached that nixon level since. second you've had blacks and non-whites in general, including hispanics and latinos, expand as

a proportion of the electorate. and over time, that has worked to the advantage of the democratic party. 1964, when lyndon johnson was re-elected, whites provided about 95% of all the votes cast in the election. in 2012 whites were about 72% and that growth, given the scheft of whites to very dominant support for the republican party non-whites for the democratic party, has produced a racially polarized electorate, but one that, given want growth of non-whites has worked to the democrats afs advantage in presidential elections lately. >> sreenivasan: there are democrats and some republicans that will be there today or through the weekend in selma. but what happens when they go back to washington? >> when they go back to washington, they're going to take the places that they've become accustomed to in this polarized environment that we're-- have been living with for some time. president george w. bush is going to represent republicans

but you don't have republican leaders in congress going down. although interestingly, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell himself was a supporter of civil rights at the time of selma as was some of the republican politicians that he worked for in kentucky at that time. but we've seen a pretty dramatic shift in the party's stance on civil right-related issues. republicans have become almost entirely a conservative party. democrats left of center and that is the-- those are the contours that they're going to resume when they get back to washington. >> sreenivasan: how have some of the receipt haven't the 2013 supreme court decision, and the voting rights amendment act that are trying to work their way through congress, how are they impacting this conversation? >> well you've seen southern states try to get out from under the aegis of the voting rights act, and they've had some success in the courts at doing that, reducing the burden of proof on southern states to justify their electoral

arrangements and processes. while that's gone on you've had a reversal in the makeup of legislatures and also congressional delegations from southern states where pretty much all the democrats now are black from southern state, and there are no white southern democrats left in the congress, very few, if any. and that has changed the political conversation. it's made the south the epicenter of the modern republican party, and one of the challenges for republicans going forward is trying to break out of that base, expand their support in the northeast and the midwest, if not the pacific coast which is very strongly in the democrats' favor at the moment. >> sreenivasan: all right, "the hundred-year marathon: china's secret strategy to replace america as the global superpower" joining us from washington d.c., thanks so much. >> you bet. >> sreenivasan: an unarmed teen

was shot by police in madison wisconsin, last night, prompting protests. 19-year-old tony robinson was spotted jumping into traffic. the police chief says 45-year- old officer matt kenny followed the suspect to an apartment, heard a disturbance and then forced his way inside. the teen reportedly assaulted the officer, which led to the shooting. robinson had been a suspect in a recent battery case. madison mayor paul soglin called the incident "a tragedy beyond description." state investigators are looking into the case. another vehicle recall was just announced, this time from fiat- chrysler. the company's recalling more than 702,000 s.u.v.s and minivans to fix defective ignition switches. certain road conditions could unexpectedly turn off the engine, disabling the airbags power steering and power brakes. the recall covers certain models of the dodge grand caravan, the chrysler town and country minivan, and the dodge journey s.u.v. you can find the specifics on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. in arizona, friends and family held a final memorial service for the 26-year-old american woman killed after being captured by isis militants. isis kidnapped international aid worker kayla mueller in aleppo syria, in august of 2013.

isis leaders claim she died in a jordanian air strike, but u.s. officials have not yet confirmed that. mueller is the fourth american killed after being taken hostage by isis fighters. as many as five separate bomb blasts reportedly killed at least 54 people and wounded 143 others in northeastern nigeria. some of the victims were children. suicide bombers targeted a couple of crowded markets and a busy bus station. a car bomb went off at a military checkpoint. for the latest, we're joined via skype by nigerian bureau chief with the associated press, michelle faul. so what you can tell us about what happened today? >> we're told pie the police that at least 54 people were killed and another 143 are in hospitals in maiduguri. >> sreenivasan: and this is in the context of advances that the nigerian military seems to be making in other parts of the state, against hockeyo haram, right? >> >> the nigerian military, and

the chaddian troops-- the chaddians have been leading the multinational effort to wrest towns and villages back from boko haram, and boko haram's way of dealing with this has been with many more suicide bombings and attacks on remote villages. now maiduguri is the birth place of boko haram. it's the city where boko haram would like to form an islamic caliphate with maiduguri as the capital. so it has great significance for the islamic uprising. >> sreenivasan: and over the past couple of weeks or months, we've also, unfortunately, had to reporta that some of these suicide bombers are young girls or even women. >> girls as young as 10 years old, we've been told. one of them a 10-year-old so she appeared to witnesses, was responsible for bombing a market

in maiduguri just last month. there are fears that the women that are being used and the girls that are being used in these attacks may be kidnap victims. as you know, boko haram has kidnapped hundreds of young women, girls boys, young men. nobody knows how many. i think the most famous one you'll remember were nearly 300 girls from a school. >> sreenivasan: and where is nigerian public opinion on this now? >> nigerian public opinion is very mixed. i think most people are very upset with president goodluck jonathan's failure to curtail this uprising and we have presidential elections coming up on march 28, a very important election for president jonathan who wants to wants to be re-elected but we're told by analysts that this is so close, that it is too close to call. >> sreenivasan: all right, fawld, nigerian bureau chief of

the associated press joining us via skype, thanks so much. >> you're welcome. >> sreenivasan: russian investigators have detained two suspects in the murder of one of vladimir putin's most vocal critics, boris nemtsov. security officers are not commenting on how the two men may be linked to last month's assassination outside the kremlin. according to one unidentified source, investigators traced the suspects through cell phone activity and d.n.a. evidence in the getaway car. nemtsov's political allies are reportedly skeptical of the investigation and suspect russian leaders were involved in the shooting. the kremlin denies involvement in the murder. >> sreenivasan: this time of year, many public television stations across the country take time out to ask for your support. with that in mind, we are taking this opportunity to bring you updates to some signature segments that have aired in recent months. tonight, we return to the issue of assisted suicide.

the debate over assisted suicide has been active in this country for decades but resurfaced last fall after a young california woman with brain cancer became the subject of a national advocacy campaign. she moved to oregon to end her own life. in this report originally broadcast in november, stephen fee travels to the state that was the first to enact an assisted suicide law nearly 20 years ago. >> reporter: like millions of americans, oregonian pam wald was riveted by the video of brittany maynard, a 29-year-old woman suffering from brain cancer who moved here last year to end her own life. >> i looked at that video. i studied, especially the last time i saw that video. i don't think i left her eyes. >> reporter: maynard lived in california but relocated to take advantage of oregon's death with dignity law that permits what advocates call physician assisted dying but is more commonly known as physician assisted suicide. >> i will die upstairs in my

bedroom that i share with my husband, with my mother and my husband by my side. >> reporter: maynard, who ended her own life in november, was featured in a media campaign by a group called compassion and choices. 20 years earlier, its predecessor group played a key role in advocating for oregon's first-in-the-nation right-to-die bill. in 1994, pam wald considered herself a supporter of oregon's death with dignity act. so, you voted for it, but you never thought, "this has to do with me." >> no, no. it was kind of like out of compassion. the idea that, you know, someone gets in this situation, they deserve a right, you know, to choose. you know, it's important to choose how we live our lives and how we die. >> reporter: but then you found yourself in this situation. >> yes. >> reporter: where you... where it's... now it's the story's about you. >> yeah. this is my husband. >> reporter: in 2011, pam's husband of 43 years, ben wald,

discovered an earlier bout of cancer had returned; soon after the disease began taking a lethal toll. pam and daughter bonnie watched as the once robust ben rapidly lost weight. as the cancer spread to his bones, the pain became intolerable. >> ben woke me up in the middle of the night, and he said, "pam we've got to talk. i don't want to keep, you know... i'm dying, pam. i've had a good life with you and bonnie. i really don't want to just keep living like this. i want to explore oregon's death with dignity law." >> reporter: under oregon's law a doctor must determine a terminally ill patient has six months or fewer to live. the physician can write a life- ending prescription only after a second doctor signs on and both agree the patient is of sound mind.

the patient must request the drug again 15 days after the initial request. but once the patient has it, the doctor's role is over. since the law went into effect in 1997, over 1,300 people have received life-ending prescriptions, but just 859 have actually taken them and died. others died sooner and some changed their minds. as ben's health deteriorated, he and pam sought help from compassion and choices, the group that supported brittany maynard. in 2012, the group connected them with two doctors who signed off on ben's wishes. >> monday, ben got the order for the prescription, so it meant we could pick it up on wednesday. and i thought, at that point, we would have it, and then we would just kind of see. i thought i had more time with him. but he said to me, "pam, i want to take it on friday of that week."

>> reporter: portland physician bill toffler also followed the case of brittany maynard; brittany's story struck a chord with him, too. toffler's wife of 40 years was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. >> we were blessed with five years after the diagnosis was made, and she died just four and a half months ago. >> reporter: for dr. toffler and his wife, assisted suicide was never an option. he leads a group, physicians for compassionate care education foundation, that opposes prescribing lethal drugs to terminal patients. >> every day we lived differently because we knew that we had a limited amount of time in a way that i never perceived before i had a wife with that clear diagnosis. and i'd hope that patients recognize that i value them as a doctor regardless of how disabled they are, regardless of how sick they are, that their life still has meaning and value. and i want to reflect that even when they don't see it themselves. >> reporter: but what about the

fear and the pain that can surround dying? why not help, i asked dr. toffler, if a patient asks? >> it is a very scary time. and at that time, i want to come around the person. i want to walk alongside them. i want to be the best doctor i can be. i'm called to be more of a doctor than ever. i'm not supposed to be the person who helps her to kill herself. that's all too easy. >> reporter: in a policy opinion, the american medical association says "physician assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer." and some religious groups, most notably the u.s. conference of catholic bishops, have strongly opposed the practice. according to the gallup polling organization a slim majority of americans supports assisted suicide. it's only legal in oregon washington and vermont. but since brittany maynard's death, dozens of states have introduced or are reconsidering "death with dignity" legislation. and advocates have made progress in the courts.

decisions in montana and new mexico have opened the door to assisted dying. last month, plaintiffs filed suit to allow the practice in california and new york, and canada's supreme court struck down that country's national ban on assisted dying. bioethicist arthur caplan, who was an opponent of the practice but now supports it, says the terms of the debate haven't really changed over the past 20 years, even with the publicity surrounding brittany maynard's case. we spoke to him before maynard died late last year. >> i think what's different in this debate is that brittany maynard is 29, attractive, articulate, almost passionate about her right to choose here. that's making the debate focus for a group that didn't pay attention, younger people. >> reporter: caplan says fears of figures like dr. jack kevorkian helped derail the right-to-die movement in the 1990s and that improvements in end-of-life care have eased americans' concerns over

suffering at death. >> i can't even tell you the amount of relief that it provides me. >> reporter: but he says brittany maynard's case may provide new momentum for supporters of assisted suicide. >> i think she's shifting the politics in a way that we may see some of the folks who got tied up in, say, trying to broaden marriage laws and trying to see homosexuality gain wider acceptance move to say 'this is a choice i want. this is something i care about because it's her.'" >> reporter: on may 4, 2012, pam and ben wald gathered their closest friends in the living room. they sang songs together, and, afterward, in the bedroom they shared, pam handed ben the medication that would end his life. he took it without hesitating. >> early on, when i got together with my husband and we were first together, we'd be laying in bed together, and he was thinking, he'd go like this with his hands. his hands were always moving. it's kind of like, it's when he was thinking kind of thing and everything.

but what i've never forgotten is his hands were like this on his chest, and i held my hands on top of his. but his hands never went like that, and they just stayed because he was just at peace. and his last words were "thank you." and he died in two hours. >> reporter: ben wald was 75 years old. so, what can we learn from oregon's experience? katrina hedberg of the state health authority, who's neutral on the issue, tracks statistics on oregon's death with dignity law. >> initially, there were a number of concerns that people had around, would this be disproportionately used by people who were disenfranchised?

so uneducated or people who might have had disabilities or those kinds of things. and we've really found that the people who are participating are people who really want to control the timing and manner surrounding their death. >> reporter: still, dr. toffler says those final months and days should never be cut short, as he learned from experience with his own wife. >> we were married for 40 years, and, in the last five years, i think we had the best years of our life when she actually had a terminal diagnosis. and i... i wouldn't trade those five years for anything. >> reporter: as for pam, she's now volunteering for compassion and choices guiding other families through a process she now knows firsthand. >> nobody wants to talk about dying and death, but once we get into that, it really becomes an act of love. it really does. >> sreenivasan: what's the state of assisted suicide laws across the united states? visit www.pbs.org/newshour.

>> sreenivasan: finally tonight, a pair of hooded gunmen killed five people, including a frerchl citizen and belgium security worker in mali. two swiss soldiers were critically injured. nigeria's group boko haram posted a recording online pledging allegiance to isis. and returning to our lead story on the way to selma alabama today, president obama signed alation awarding congressional gold medals to the thousands of foot soldiers who marched for voting rights 50 years ago this month. the gold medal is one of the highest civilian awards from congress. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

>> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support is provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you.

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