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tv   PBS News Hour  PBS  March 27, 2015 6:00pm-7:01pm PDT

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>> woodruff: captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: a co-pilot who hid his depression. the latest in the search for motive behind the apparently deliberate plane crash in the french alps. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. also ahead: in an interview with charlie rose, syria's president disputes new charges his military used chemical weapons and talks of a possible dialogue with the u.s. senate minority leader harry reid announces he plans to retire. what could it mean for democrats in congress? mark shields and david brooks are here to analyze this and the rest of the week's news. and, twenty-five years after first taking his steps to the
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stage, choreographer mark morris leaps onto television. >> i was compelled to make my dancers behave as not just people but animals and should should sh rubbery and fireplaces. so the dances are the living decor and wonderful characters. p 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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i.b.e.w. powering north america. >> 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: no suicide note was found in the search of the homes of the german wings co-pilot but there was evidence he was hiding an illness from his employers. it's believed the co-pilot, andreas lubitz, deliberately steered flight 9525 into the french alps on tuesday, killing everyone on board. neil connery of independent television news has this report from the co-pilot's family home in montabaur, germany. >> reporter: behind the energetic and healthy appearance, what turmoil could have driven andreas lubitz to do what he did. more clues uncovered about his mental state are starting to surface.
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documents with medical information discovered at the house he shared with parents are helping investigators trying to understand his actions. at his flat in duesseldorf, where he sometimes stayed, torn up sick notes for lubitz are helping prosecutors build up a picture of the 27 year old. the fact that a ripped up current sick note, which covered the day of the crash was found supports the assumption that he kept his illness secret from his employer, this prosecutor says. neighbors say lubitz appeared to be in excellent physical shape. but evidence is growing of some other problem. in his flat, along with torn up sick notes, investigators found medical documents relating to an existing illness, which they say showed he was receiving appropriate medical treatment for. and it's been reported his pilots' license required him to have specific regular medical examinations. at the local flying club where lubitz was a member, they're in disbelief.
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ernst mueller tells me none of this makes sense. >> it's strange. this isn't an every day event that someone kills themselves and takes 149 others with them. some things happen. but to take innocent people with you like this it's just terrible. >> sreenivasan: the regional mayor told me his thoughts are with all those suffering. "we mourn with all the families, including the family of the copilot," he says. "but there's no proof so far that the media reports are what really happened." there's been more police activity at lubitz's parents' home, with items taken away as this investigation continues. as the hours pass, more details continue to emerge about the real andreas lubitz. >> woodruff: lubitz locked himself in the cockpit alone
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before the crash. that prompted europe's aviation safety agency today to recommend all airlines adopt the two- person cockpit rule as soon as possible. u.s. rules already require it. saudi arabia launched a new wave of airstrikes today against shiite houthi rebels in yemen. they targeted a northern stronghold, an oil-rich area in the east, and the rebel- controlled capital. the saudi press agency released this video showing saudi arabian air force jets bombing an airport today in sanaa. a spokesman for the operation said the saudi-led coalition is prepared to take further military action if warranted. >> ( translated ): there are no plans at this stage for ground forces operations. but if the need arises, the saudi ground forces and those of the friends are ready and will repel any aggression.
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>> woodruff: meanwhile, four egyptian warships are en route to the coast of yemen to secure the strategic sea passage off its coast. in somalia, al-shabaab militants stormed a hotel popular with government officials and foreigners today, killing at least nine people. the incident happened in the heart of the capital, mogadishu. somali police said a suicide bomber detonated a car filled with explosives at the hotel's gate. that allowed militant gunmen to enter the building where they exchanged fire with security forces. an unknown number of people are still trapped inside. >> woodruff: back in this country, the university of oklahoma announced it is disciplining 25 more students linked to the singing of a racist song captured on video. the school's president, david boren, said two members of sigma alpha epsilon fraternity have now been expelled. the students learned the song during the fraternity's national leadership cruise four years ago. boren said he took action so everyone can move on.
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>> our purpose here is not to brand people for life. our purpose is not to forgive. our purpose is to learn lessons and be held accountable and then move forward with our lives. >> woodruff: boren said that after investigating over 160 people, it became evident that the song was "part of the institutional culture of the chapter". the s.a.e. chapter at the university of oklahoma has since been disbanded. republicans pushed a balanced- budget plan through the senate after a marathon, overnight session. it passed nearly along party lines and follows one passed by the house earlier this week. the proposed budget shrinks federal deficits by more than $5 trillion over the next decade mostly by cutting health care and other benefits. the senate's top democrat, harry reid, announced he won't be seeking re-election next year.
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his party lost the senate majority in the 2014 midterm elections. reid has served nevada for five terms. the 75-year-old recently suffered an exercising accident that left him with injuries to his face and eye. in a video statement released by his office, reid said that had nothing to do with his decision. >> we have to make sure that the democrats take control of the senate again. and i feel it is inappropriate for me to soak up all those resources on me when i could be devoting those resources to the caucus, and that's what i intend to do. >> woodruff: in a statement president obama called reid "a fighter" and said the senate won't be the same without him. reid later endorsed new york senator chuck schumer to succeed him as minority leader. a new plan to fight the threat of drug-resistant bacteria was unveiled by the white house today. the program aims to curtail the overuse of antibiotics, which can lead to new strains of untreatable, deadly so-called
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"superbugs," and to ramp up research into alternative medications. the centers for disease control and prevention estimate that superbugs cause about 23,000 deaths and two million illnesses in the u.s. each year. federal reserve chair janet yellen signaled during a speech in san francisco there could be an interest rate hike coming "sometime this year". but she added it would be "gradual". wall street had little time to digest the news and stocks broke a four-day losing streak. the dow jones industrial average gained 34 points to close at 17,712. the nasdaq rose 28 points, and the s-and-p 500 picked up five points. for the week, the dow, nasdaq and s-and-p all dropped more than 2%. still to come on the newshour: syrian president bashar assad rejects charges that his military used chemical weapons; a jury finds gender was not a factor in a silicon valley
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discrimination case; a preview of nigeria's presidential elections; how shark skin could be a missing link in the fight against diseases known as superbugs; mark shields and david brooks on the week's news; and, choreographer mark morris leaps onto television with one of his most iconic works of dance. >> woodruff: the war in syria entered its fifth year earlier this month, and despite predictions years ago of his demise, the country's president bashar al-assad, is still standing in damascus. pbs host and cbs news anchor charlie rose traveled to the syrian capital and talked to the leader yesterday about the war and the region's instability. assad told rose that he is open to a dialogue with the united states, and also dismissed accusations that his army has used chemical weapons.
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>> the weapons of war that have been used that most people look down on, one is chlorine gas. they believe it has been used here. they said there is evidence of that and they would like to have the right to inspect to see where it's coming from. as you know, barrel bombs have been used and they come from helicopters, and the only people who have helicopters is the syrian army. so those two acts of war which society looks down on society looks down on as barbaric acts. >> this is very important. first of all they can be bought anywhere. >> they can't be weaponnized. eth not effective. it's not military. that's self-evident. if it was effective, the
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terrorists would have used this on a larger scale. because it is not effective, it's not used. >> why not let someone come and inspect to see whether it's been used. >> we ask you to come and investigate but logically it cannot be used as military. this is part of p propaganda because, as you know, in the media, when it bleeds, it leads, and they will look for something which bleeds. >> woodruff: some of the interview can be seen on sunday night on cbs's "60 minutes." all of it will appear monday evening on pbs's charlie rose. to tell us more about his experience interviewing president assad, charlie rose joins me now. charlie welcome back after what sounds like a pretty grueling trip over and back in just a matter of a day or two. why do you think president assad agreed to talk right now? what do you think they're right get across? >> he believes now that the rise
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of i.s.i.s. has caused the united states and others to make him not the report, the overthrow of him or his departure from power, but somehow building an effort against i.s.i.s. so i think he thinks it's timely there. so i think he wants to reach out and say circumstances havei changed and i'm open to a conversation. >> woodruff: and you were telling me he's about to have talks in moscow, that the russians could play a key role here. >> the russians indeed could play a key role here. they have a great interest in at least syria and have had as do the iranians and the iranians have given a lot of support and in fact hesbollah came in and really saved the day for him at a time his regime was tottering. he said he's optimistic about the possibilities coming out of the statements secretary kerry started, this new round of intense focus.
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>> woodruff: charlie it also sounds like he worked really hard to defend himself when you asked about the chlorine gas when you asked him about the barrel bombs. at one point he said, we wouldn't be trying to kill our own people when we're trying to win hearts and minds. doesn't that fly in the face of objective evidence? >> it does, absolutely. most of the civilian casualties have come from not, say, icy but most of the civilian casualties have come from other means and, clearly, there are serious international accusations against his government and some people who, when you say accusations say that's crazy. why is it an accusation? it's a fact. barrel bombs have been dropped. he's the only person, his army who has helicopters and the capacity to drop these barrel bombs. he got into this discussion with me that we don't know what
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barrel bombs mean and i said it's a barrel with things that explode and kill a lot of civilians. he also in an interesting way has enormous things to say that are critical of saudi arabia which has been supporting people on the ground against him as the qataris. he was accuse tore against turkey because a lot of the people coming into syria to fight against him he believes come through the turkish border. he talked about erdogan, the president of turkey, as being, in his own way, very much akin to the muslim brotherhood. >> woodruff: last thing, charlie how did you find him personally? and how did you find damascus? you had to make the trip from across the border. >> as we drove from two other cbs colleagues from beirut took us about 2.5 hours to make the trip you felt didn't hear as many explosions in damascus as i
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did in 2013 when i was there. it was quite -- you see people outside engaged in the parks, you know, talking to each other. at the same time, you see military people everywhere. you know that there is a kind of on-alert circumstance in damascus. >> woodruff: charlie rose, we'll look for the entire interview on charlie rose on pbs on monday night. thank you. >> thank you judy. pleasure to be with you. >> woodruff: now to a verdict in a sexual discrimination case in silicon valley that's been widely watched. a jury of six men and six women found gender was not a factor in the firing of a former junior partner at a leading venture capital firm. hari sreenivasan has the story from our pbs station, kqed in san francisco. >> sreenivasan: the sex
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discrimination case drew attention to gender imbalance, working conditions and outright discrimination for women in the tech world. attorneys for ellen pao argued she was denied a promotion at kleiner perkins and kept out of meetings because she is a woman. she was later fired in 2012. kleiner perkins said pao was a chronic complainer who twisted the facts and was not a team player. the jury rejected all of pao's gender discrimination claims. late today, the judge sent the jury back to reconsider one claim: whether she was fired in retaliation after making complaints. fran maier is the founder of trustee, an online privacy management services provider and co-founder of match.com. she's been watching this case closely. are you surprised by the decision? >> you know, i think from the beginning everybody thought it was going to be a tough case one way or the other. there were a lot of different kinds of issues. gender discrimination suits are hard to prove, but i am disappointed and i think many women in the tech world are very
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disappointed today. >> sreenivasan: was this symbolic in some measures? >> there have been a lot of stories who haven't been favorable to women in technology. we have uber and buber and pit stare and other apps that have been coming out. for many women, it was seen as our opportunity to talk about the reality of working in tech companies, working in a venture capital and trying to see good things happen, change. >> sreenivasan: is it just venture capital or the larger tech world? >> i think silicon valley sees it as a larger tech world. my ex-company has 42% women in management at the the director level, so i'm happy about that but many companies don't and every woman i know can say that
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they can -- ellen's experience resonated with them. for example, not being invited to the ski trip not having a seat at the table, or the slight sexual harassment or discrimination. we've all experienced it. >> sreenivasan: kleiner perkins is one of silicon valley's largest, most well- reputed venture capital firms. does this do something to their reputation where she wins or loses? >> at the beginning i see kleiner perkins getting the spotlight. only 6% of v.c. partners are women so that's poor. v.c.s have a big impact on all start-up companies. they sit on their boards. they advise the c.e.o.s. they obviously provide the capital for growth. in many ways, a lot of tech companies take their cues from what they see in the v.c. world. >> sreenivasan: one of the ideas the technology industry or
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silicon valley is able to portray is this is not like the old boys' club, that your ideas matter and this is where you get ahead. seems like this case uncovered that a little. >> it's one of the important things is is it has shown it's very much about who you know, who you want to work with who likes you. that's why it perpetuates this image. american in silicon valley says hey, we're great, we're going to change the world. that fast-growing companies will get a path or trying to do the things they will be doing. >> even though ellen pao lost, does this end up elevating the conversation in a way? >> i think it's part to elevate the conversation. but women need to not get too discouraged. we need to step more do more, form more of our own companies, invest in each other find investors on some of the new networks like portfolia or
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aspect and make things happen. >> sreenivasan: fran maier, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: tomorrow, millions in africa's most populous country will turn out to vote in a very tight presidential race, with fears of terrorism looming. jeffrey brown reports on the nigerian election. >> brown: the two front-runners are coming down to the wire, in what could be closest election since the end of military rule in 1999. president goodluck jonathan is facing off against former military dictator, muhammadu buhari, to lead africa's largest economy, its biggest oil producer and home to 173 million people. one man must win more than 50% of tomorrow's vote to avoid a runoff
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>> sreenivasan: jonathan, a christian from the south, has been in power since 2011. buhari, a muslim from the north, is a retired general who ruled nigeria in the 1980s, following a military coup. he is running on an anti- corruption platform. >> sreenivasan: but hanging over the election, and sidelining normal, election-year issues, is the rise of boko haram. the islamic militant group has killed more than a thousand civilians this year alone, and controls parts of northern nigeria, it recently pledged allegiance to the so-called islamic state.
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president jonathan cited the threat from boko haram when, in early february, he delayed this election six weeks. now, jonathan says the army has beat back the group, even though many areas in the north will still have no polling stations. just today, the military said it recaptured a northeastern town and destroyed the militants' headquarters in the process. >> a lot of arms and ammunition have been recovered and the administrative headquarters of the terrorists has been completely destroyed. >> sreenivasan: but whether it is actually the nigerian military making those gains is an open question: the nigerian government reportedly has used mercenaries from south africa and the former soviet union to press the offensive. >> brown: and joining me to discuss tomorrow's election and what it means is the nigeria bureau chief for the associated press: michelle faul. welcome to you. so is this election now about the two men, the two regions, the economy, boko haram? what's it coming down to?
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>> i think it comes down to the future of nigeria and president obama in his message to the nigerian people was very clear when he said this is a matter of keeping nigeria together, of the need for nigerians to unite and there are very real fears of violence here and that's because the contest between these two men is so incleddably close. that's a good thing, in a way. as the human life commissioner said, it's a cause for celebration. it should be a sign that nigeria's democracy is maturing but in fact what's happened is, even before the voting started a campaign that's degenerated into the kind of worst hate speech. >> brown: how much is the outcome determining the fight against boko haram and how that proceeds from here?
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>> there are a lot of people who are critics of president jonathan that reason that, at this point, the military were able to announce today that they have torn boko haram out of the three northeastern states, that that was done because of president jonathan's reelection bid as a political ploy. the military have said that they were waiting to get the arms and training in order to make this push against boko haram, but either way, on the eve of the election, we have this major announcement of victory over boko haram, one by the way that i do not think is likely, you know that they have absolutely done away with boko haram. >> brown: you mean because they've announced such things in the past and it's hard to verify at this point? >> well, because of that and also because i think from speaking with analysts and
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diplomats and my own knowledge of what's happening on the ground there that this is not going to be a campaign to annihilate boko haram, that the best you can home for is you push them out of the territory that they have been holding now as the west africa franchise is there and they're left in a situation where they continue to make hit and run attacks and you will continue to have suicide bombings. >> brown: what is the potential that the vote because it is close, will be inconclusive? and there is talk about a potential for violence in its aftermath. >> there are great fears. i mean, the pre-election violence has been unprecedented. dozens of people have been killed and, if you remember, after 2011 elections, again, the same two contenders. president jonathan won, the
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north went up in flames, riots and over 1,000 people were killed then, and this is much more contentious. nigeria's political landscape has just been transformed. two years ago the main political parties came together and formed an opposition not just formed an opposition, they've united behind one candidate which for the first time in the history of nigeria, since independence 1960 from britain, but for the first time in history you have the possibility of an actual democratic change of power. never happened before. >> brown: michelle faul associated press in nigeria, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now, sharks. just saying the word can send shivers down the spines of some, but as hari sreenivasan reports, studying their skin could be key
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to fighting disease. and is on the cutting edge of the larger push announced at the white house today to contain superbugs. it's part of our breakthroughs series on innovation and invention. >> sreenivasan: in a colorado laboratory, 1,000 miles from the ocean, a team of scientists is trying to use the skin of shark to save lives of humans. the company has invented a manmade material that like the skin of a shark repels deadly bacteria. >> we use textures inspired by the skin of sharks to control bacteria on surfaces. no chemicals, no antibiotics no heavy metals. it's the shape of the surface that the bacteria don't like. >> sreenivasan: scientists show how the bacteria has trouble attaching and growing to
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the shark pattern. >> we compose a smooth next to a shark surface. there are hundreds more bacteria on a smooth surface. >> sreenivasan: steve and his team hope to bring sharklet into hospitals. >> we have different films. just peel and stick. >> sreenivasan: they've created film to be attached to high-touch areas like handrails and door knobs. >> 2 million people a year get hospital corridor infections meaning they went in for minor surgery and ended up getting an infection they didn't bring with them. of those, we spend about $30 billion a year treating the infections and 100,000 people a year die from the infections. >> woodruff: a superbug outbreak at a l.a. hospital, two died. >> sreenivasan: recent news about superbugs brought urgency to the issue. a professor of engineering at
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the university of florida was asked by the navy 14 years ago to keep barncals from attaching to their ships. >> if i was doing some evaluation force office of office of naval research, i came up with the idea of nurse sharks and i said they don't get barncals on them but a ship sitting in a harbor on a dock will have that same current and they get barncals. >> sreenivasan: when brennan mimicked the surface topography in his lab -- >> lo and behold the shark's skin is effective against green agoy. >> sreenivasan: brennan believes the the texture on a shark creates an unstable environment for org nivment. >> places that should get cleaned more but don't. >> sreenivasan: the company issued a study showing 94% less bacteria attached to the surfaces with the microscopic
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shark pattern. this held true with mrsa. >> some bacteria are riassistant to drugs and antibiotics. we don't want the tierio to attach. if they don't attach, they die. whether resistant or not, they don't like our surface. >> sreenivasan: of course, a much simpler way to control the transfer of bacteria is diligent hand washing. whether hospitals will want to spend money on technology for a problem that can be addressed with steeler washing procedures may be a challenge for the company. >> i found this working on tpa in the background. >> reporter: dr. sandy is an associate professor at the university of colorado medical school. >> we find hand contact room to room is often a means of transmission. so the hand can be the source of all evil as we deal with devices that we use to treat patients like catheters that become a portal for infection for the patients.
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>>patients. >> sreenivasan: dr. sandy says nothing should replace rigorous hand washing but when time is critical it can be forgotten whenchts it's a matter of life or death people will by natural instinct junk in and act. >> sreenivasan: sandy runs the wells center where students practice on mannequins. >> we're adjusting vital signs, lab abnormalities. the course of the patient depending on what is done to the patient during that scenario. >> sreenivasan: last fall sandy conducted a test with the sharklet on surfaces. >> we had a common bacteria on the leg of the patient so they started with a touch of their leg -- >> sreenivasan: sandy simulated a pulmonary embolism and cardiac arrest. the same scenario the graduate students were given on the day we visited. >> the patient became critically
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ill needed a defibrillator. they grabbed the cart and pushed the button. we prompt them to touch the certain places in a given sequence. >> sreenivasan: the surfaces covered with the sharklet film had fewer germs. >> there was a 13-fold decrease in bacteria that transferred on to the surfaces. >> sreenivasan: while the commercial appeal of sharklet surfaces remains unproven the company has won support from the national institutes of health. they awarded them $1.2 million to further develop the technology. hari sreenivasan for the 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. let's talk about harry reid.
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mark, he announced he's retiring but not till the end of next year, but this is after being the face, the leader and face of the democratic party in the senate. what does this mean for democrats? >> well first, just a quick word about harry reid. i mean, harry reid was not born to privilege or advantage. there's no pedigree there. there are eight counties in nevada where prostitution was legal and harry reid lived in one of them. his mother took in the laundry from the local brothel. his dad was a miner who had a problem with alcohol and committed suicide. he went to law school nights, worked as a capitol policeman up on capitol hill. totally self-made man, which some say is the creator of great responsibility, but he was such as nails, determined, you could take his word to the bank. you could talk to anybody on the hill, that was the thing about harry reid. he was incredibly determined
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tough no holds barred. you wanted him on your side if you were in a foxhole. not smooth and not sunday morning cat show not a charmer, short on charisma, but i would say an effective leader and he probably knew the time was right. >> woodruff: and he's still there for another year and a half. >> well, and, in fairness, let's say there is no obamacare there is no affordable care act without nancy pelosi as speaker and harry reid as leader. there's no dodd frank without pelosi and reid there is no $800 billion stimulus to save the economy without reid and pelosi. >> woodruff: he had his detractors. >> he was rooted in search light. i heard him say he played on a football in high school but only 98 yards long. i never understood that.
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nothing but ground there but still -- (laughter) so he talked about that. he's been here long time and the good part is -- the effective part, it was a diverse democratic party and keeping it together was an accomplishment. the bad side the detractors will say he was sometimes extremely loose and sometimes extremely bizarre with the things he said and could be in my view overly tough rash and cruel even and sometimes the public projections weren't all that one would want in the statesman. but i've always had a soft spot for him in part because he's a big watcher of the show but also because eh -- >> we're always glad to hear that. >> but, listen there's an authenticity to the guy. >> but what does it mean, mark for the democrats? you say reid came right out and
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said he wants chuck schumer of new york to be his successor, as the leader of the party. how will things change after? >> reid and schumer were as close as two people can be -- not to arouse the suspicions of their spouses, but -- (laughter) they talked together five or six times a day. he went to chuck schumer and schumer was indoubtedly the favorite. the question whether the women in the senate will mount a candidacy, representation whether patty murray is perhaps the most likely. but votes inside a bot body are next to impossible to predict. i remember when bob byrd upset ted kennedy as democratic whip and ted kennedy said afterwards i thank the 32 senators who
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committed to vote for me and the 27 who did. schumer is the favorite. >> woodruff: just because he named schumer doesn't mean it's going to happen. >> no, everyone gets a vote. schumer seems superficially more ideological maybe further to the left, but i think schumer is practical as well. in some senses, if there is ever a possibility for bipartisan compromise, i think schumer is quite out there and his verbal style is certainly out there. i think he would be capable of quite surprising compromise on occasion. so if that comes along, i think schumer will be good at that. >> woodruff: another senator, freshman republican ted cruz of texas who became the first candidate to officially announce his candidacy. he didn't announce an exploratory committee. he said i'm in it and running for the republican nomination. smart to be out there so early ahead of everybody else.
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and what are the pluses and the minuses? >> think about how people announced in 2008 -- some in 2012 -- email, on youtube, i mean, this was a show of shows. this was ed sullivan. this was dean martin. >> woodruff: liberty university. >> liberate university, 10,000 people in the round, no notes, no teleprompter, just a speech that ted cruz has been rehearsing for 18 years, replete with pauses at the moment he's trying to think of the next word, but, you know i think a terrific performance. i think he will be a formidable debater. unlike the two previous texas statewide republicans george w. bush and rick perry, he won't stumble over his words he won't fracture his syntax and will take a no holds bar approach.
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he didn't come to compromise, he's not a coalition builder, he's going to fight for principle and i think he could move the debate to the right and i think that's a real concern are the force of his intellect and personality. >> picking liberty, a christian school is a sign he'll run to be the inheriter of the evangelical vote. he could be that. he's got some competition, ben carson, scott walker, others, but that's a powerful vote especially in some of the early caucus states. he's a new style of politician with no history of governance, really. no effectiveness as a legislature, but a good media personality and spokesperson. to me it's a bit of politics is show business and i don't think he has much chance in part because it's such a crowded field, in many ways a more qualified field and i don't think he radiates sincerity. a lot of people are plenty conservative but they don't find him that sincere, so he's so
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smart he's thinking it all through he's very polished, but a lot of people think it's so cleverly thought through they're not quite comfortable. so will he arouse people -- passions the way some who steam more sincere? i'm more acceptable. >> woodruff: conventional wisdom is there are two contests in the republican party, one is the conservative banner carrier and the ortho, mark, for the main stream republican. is that just too simple a way to look at this? >> yes, judy, but that's all right. the tea party which is anti-government conservatives, then the cultural moral religious conservatives. there's an overlap, but they're distinct. there is the governing republicans, those who really think, gee, it's important to be able to govern. and then there are sort of the
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wall street business republicans. i think there's almost four different groups. i would say this about ted cruz, he stands in total opposite to what happened this week in congress. we have spent months, years just kicking the day lights out of congress for doing nothing and this week we saw an act on grownups from john boehner and nancy pelosi and they passed a medicare document that 17 times in ten years they've patched this, kicked the can down the road, this time they did it and led their caucuses. you know, we say we want this. ted cruz gets cheers for saying he won't compromise and pelosi and boehner get very few kudos for being grownups and showing initiative. >> woodruff: figuring out what doctors get from medicare. >> ted cruz is pick a fight and
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anybody who isn't on his side is a rhino republican only. that may work for him. i have 32 categories of candidates. there are 497 of them at this count. (laughter) i think the categories are a little overblown when the voters are not aware of the distinctions we meek. they're looking at personality. i think character and personality are golden. you look at scott walker, seems attractive. marco rubio is a smart, attractive person. you've got to be with the guy for four years. i'm not sure people will want that. >> bill cohen former secretary of defense, congressman, mayor said before they vote for you, they have to like you. i think that -- >> woodruff: makes sense. it really does for president. it's a personal choice.
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>> woodruff: this is unfair to ask you both about this, yemen what's been going on, we have been covering it all week. we now see the saudis involved there hitting these shia rebels, the houthis. i guess my very quick question to both of you is john mccain yesterday accused the obama administration of just not having its eye on the ball not being engaged. is this one where the u.s. should be more involved mark? >> well, this is the dilemma we face. do we stand outside and watch i.s.i.s. or whatever its incarnation is under whatever religious banner it might be take over and disable? i mean, these are non-functioning states that we are talking about. or do we engage and then incur the wrath and the enpity as well as the casualties? and i think this is it. i mean, is there an overarching strategy, a coherent policy?
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i haven't seen it judy, but i don't pretend to be a detective. >> we're a victim of circumstance. we're reacting to whatever it is that's happening most which we do not foresee. we're fighting iran here, negotiating with iran over there. it's case by case. that's a part of the strategy that's unrealistic. the the president's strategy is to turn iran into a member of the community of nations in some way and use that as a pivot to stable a's the region, i think that's unrealistic. i think that's what we have but when compared to the rest of the world leaves us without strategy. so we're reacting. we need a strategy that takes acute awareness of our limits here. >> woodruff: and speaking of which we're looking at the deadline for these iran nuclear talks next tuesday. >> we are. we have no government in baghdad. >> woodruff: we're going to have to safe to for next week. >> okay. >> woodruff: please come back, mark shields david brooks. thank you.
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>> woodruff: it's widely considered one of the masterworks of contemporary dance and tonight on "great performances" viewers have a chance to see for themselves. and again to jeffrey brown, who has our preview, with choreographer mark morris. (singing) >> tichts longest dance probably two or three times longer than anything we'd ever done. i had a wonderful situation. it's all i worked on for several months. it probably took about three months to corpsio a graph it working every day with everyone knocking themselves out. >> brown: everything about the dance is grand. it's sweep of movement and
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color. it's 32 scenes brought to life by 2 dozen dancers. it's music orchestra, voices written in 1740 by handel. >> i pretty much immediately knew that i was eventually going to have to deal with it and make it into an evening of dancing. (opera singing) >> brown: in years ago marking the dance's 25th 25th anniversary, "new york times" critic alice tear macaulay noted it seemed a master piece in its opening season. 25 years on, it's also a classic. but says mark morris now, it wasn't easy. >> i have been probably fun during the rehearsal process than during this one. >> brown: you've been more fun? >> i've been more fun. i freaked out. >> brown: morris started his dance company in 1980 when he was just 24 and danced himself
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in many of his works till recent years. while allegro early on cemented his place as one of the era's leading choreographers and showcased the elements that have come to characterize his work. (singing) there's the beautiful symmetry of moment in seen here in what's called "the ladies dance." ♪ there's also the sheer fun. comedy, if you will in the "stupid men dance." (singing) the original name of milton's poems the happy one and the thoughtful one, inspired morris' two sides of life and he plays
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with that reality throughout the dance. >> it's not like bipolar, it's more like half full and half empty kind of thing. so it's not characters. it's people. it's communities it's civilization, it's individuals and it also sites many, many examples of natural life of forests and animals and birds and cities. in order to get all of that across, i was compelled to make my dancers behave as not just people but animals and shrubberies and fireplaces. so the dancers are living decor and they're wonderful characters. complicated. >> brown: you like the idea of turning new dancers into all those things. >> exactly. they're very imaginative and very versatile. >> brown: in 2001, morris' company moved into a permanent home in brooklyn. a grand space for rehearsals, performances and classes that attract more than 8,000
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students, young and old. mean while, the company itself continues to evolve, including the group performing in the tv production of la allegra. >> now there isn't one person who was in the first performance. a lot are still good friends of mine but the dance keeps moving on and the personnel changes as it goes but the steps don't change. >> brown: so now it's a multi-generational dance. >> exactly. so they all will be home crying a bit in front of their tv sets with beautiful memories of having done it. it's a beautiful piece. i can't resist telling you that. >> brown: what habit for you changes in 25-plus years? >> none. zero. no difference except -- now, if i drop something on the floor, i wait till i drop two more things before i pick it up. that's all. i spend less time getting up off the ground than i used to. >> brown: in mark morris'
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grand piece, of course it's the dancers who do all the work now. the full performance on "great performances" can be seen tonight. from new york, the pbs "newshour", i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. authorities in germany said there was evidence the co-pilot who crashed a flight carrying 150 people into the alps on tuesday was hiding an illness from his employers. german media reported the 27- year-old suffered from depression. and, late today, the highest court in italy overturned murder convictions against american amanda knox and her italian ex- boyfriend. both maintained their innocence in the death of a british student in 2007. this ruling ends their long legal battle. now, an update on a story we brought you earlier this year.
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it was a conversation with an editor at the online huffington post about a report they did on heroin use in kentucky. this week, state legislators there passed a new law focused on treating addicts, not jailing them. and encouraging medically assisted treatments like the drug suboxone. the new legislation was spurred by the huffington post's report. and a reminder about some upcoming programs from our pbs colleagues. gwen ifill is preparing for "washington week," which airs later this evening. here's a preview: >> ifill: we go inside capitol hill, to capture harry reid's surprise retirement. we survey the continuing fallout from america's longest war, as new president ashraf ghani comes to washington, and former captive bowe bergdahl is accused of desertion. and we take stock of ted cruz, the only official candidate for president. that's tonight on washington week. judy? >> woodruff: on pbs newshour
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weekend saturday, a report on patients facing life or death decisions, and the doctors who are required to talk to them about it. >> it is about grandma controlling the plug. grandma or her designee controls the plug, and that's the system we're going to have. >> the doctor is at the forefront of the new national movement to make talking about death public policy. he chaired the expert medical panel that helped lead to new massachusetts regulations, the first in the nation which took effect in december, mandating that health facilities from hospitals to assisted living communities tell terminally ill patients their end-of-life options. >> the full range of their choices from keep me alive no matter what as long as medicine can do that to i just want to be home with my family with hospice, to anything in between
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or any sequence. >> woodruff: that's tomorrow night. >> woodruff: that's tomorrow night on pbs newshour weekend. and we'll be back, right here on monday, when we talk with ken burns and dr. siddhartha mukherjee about their sweeping documentary, "cancer: the emperor of all maladies." 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. >> 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.
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>> 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
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this is "nightly business report" with sue herera. ready or not, fed chair janet yellin said a rate hike is likely this year even as economic growth remains cool. profit picture and it's not pretty. just how weak will corporate earnings be and what does it mean for investors? market monitor. a list of stocks he says could deliver double digit returns for you over the next year. all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for friday, march 27th. good evening. gradual and conscious. that's how federal reserve chair janet yellin described the path ahead for interest rates that's become one of the biggest guessing gapes on wall street. in prepare for a conference call by the feder reserve bank