captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. gwen ifill is away. a heartbreaking tragedy on an oregon college campus. >> as i said just a few months ago and i said a few months before that and i said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. it's not enough. also tonight, russia says its air strikes in syria target terrorist groups like the islamic state, while u.s. officials question who's actually in the crosshairs.

>> woodruff: plus, a rare bipartisan push. a new bill that proposes reforms to jail sentences, and how the u.s. metes out justice. we hear from republican senator mike lee, and democratic senator cory booker. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> 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: the scenes are all too familiar: a mass shooting today leaves a trail of death and disbelief. it happened today in oregon, when a 20-year old man started shooting in classrooms at a college. ten people were killed and seven wounded. william brangham begins our coverage. >> reporter: classes were well underway at ucsb when

the attack shattered the calm of the campus in roseburg, about 180 miles south of portland. within minutes, the school went into lockdown as police swarmed in to confront the gunman. >> officers engaged that suspect, there was an exchange of gunfire, the shooter threat was neutralized and officers continued to sweep the campus looking for other threats. the shooter is deceased. >> brangham: officials evacuated faculty, staff and students off campus to the county fairgrounds.

i was so excited to start college here and then this happens and it's, like, i don't want to go back there for a long time. >> reporter: elsewhere, small groups worried and while small groups worried -- and waited. hospitals. the college remained closed, as police checked buildings and geared up their investigation. ian campbell, thank you for talking with us. what did these students tell you? >> i talked to a few students today on campus, one of which was inside of the classroom where the shooting occurred, and what she told me is that she first noticed gunshots coming through a nearby window and then the shooter entered the classroom, first shot the professor in the head and then instructed the rest of the students and the people inside of the room to get on the ground shortly or immediately after the

shooter then kind of randomly or in some order instructed people to stand up one by one and state their religion, and the student doesn't necessarily remember or know which religion generated a positive response to the shooter and which generated a negative response, but the student does remember the shooter mentioning christianity quite often. >> woodruff: did she get a look at him? >> she didn't. she did refer to the shooter as a male, but then immediately as, you know, connecting the dots between hearing gunfire and watch ago man, you know, murder her professor, she ducked undercover, was surrounded by other students and individuals and had her face down for most of the time. >> woodruff: and anything else descriptive about him or what he did or said? >> not that she had -- again,

the main thing was instructing students to stand up, state their religion and, at times, there was corresponding gunfire. she didn't know which religions he was shooting students for and which ones he wasn't but that's what she gleaned from the situation. >> woodruff: ian, how are the students dealing with all of this? >> it's a tricky situation. when i first got there, i arrived at the campus on kind of an external lawn to the campus where the police and local authorities had kind of been ushering students out in small groups and, on that campus, when i arrived, a lot of them were on the phone with their loved ones, some in tears, others hugging, a lot of people were kind of sitting by themselves staring off in space, trying to process what happened. you know, obviously, there are a bunch of mixed reactions, but, in general, everyone is so

prized this could even happen in the area. >> woodruff: impossible to imagine. ian campbell with the news review in roseburg, oregon. we thank you. >> thank you so much. >> woodruff: school and college campuses across the country are grappling with how to prevent attacks like this one. i'm joined now by daniel carter, director of the vtv family outreach foundation, a group formed by families of the victims of the mass shooting at virginia tech in 2007. he leads the group's 32 national campus safety initiative. daniel carter, thank you for being here. your connection is you advised these families of the victims of virginia tech, as we said, 2007, 32 students -- people died. there were, what, 17 others wounded. this must seem awfully familiar to you. >> it's a tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected.

and you know, we were created to help prevent and respond to these types of crisis situations. so, our goal with the 32 national cam pies is to get colleges and universities to be bert able to respond to these situations. >> woodruff: what are colleges in general doing across the country they weren't doing before virginia tech. >> multidisciplinary assessment teams where if someone is of concern they can be reported and by law enforcement professionals. and you have emergency management protocols where you have emergency management notifications systems and rapid response by law enforcement. there needs to be connectivity between campuses large and small, and if they don't have their own law enforcement connectivity, with local law enforcement so their security personnel are routinely drilled and trained with local law enforcement. >> woodruff: is there a uniform set of questions that college officials, faculty and

even students are to think about as they assess the people around them to determine who and who isn't a risk? >> i think trust your gut. it's all too often dismissed. but trust your gut and check whether or not the college has a place to report that. >> so if someone is acting unusual, i mean, is it as simple as that? >> if you see something, say something. it may sound hokey, but it is as simple as that. and you can report it to the authorities and they should take a look at it. >> woodruff: how many schools are following the kind of directions you just described? >> most larger four-year residential colleges and universities have adopted the threat assessment and emergency management models. we are just now beginning to explore community colleges, so i don't know how many of them are, but i know they have a lockdown protocol which was followed and they had an emergency identification protocol which was followed. >> woodruff: what more, daniel carter, do you think needs to be done to prevent these kinds of

awful things from happening? >> i think we need to do a better job of making sure threat assessment teams are established on every campus in this country, that they're well publicized and colleges and universities have emergency response procedures in place and partner with local first responders in our initiative online has guidance for how colleges and universities can accomplish this as well as what students and families need to look for. >> woodruff: so it is an ongoing thing. >> it is. we've come a long way but have a long way to go. >> woodruff: daniel carter, thank you very much. >> thank you. the gunman has been identified as 26-year-old chris harper mercer. law enforcement officials said he lived in the roseburg area. earlier in evening at the white house, president obama addressed >> as i said just a few months

ago and i said a few months before that and i said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. it's not enough. it does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel. and it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in america next week or a couple of months from now. we don't yet know why this individual did what he did and it's fair to say that anybody who does this has a sickness in their minds, regardless of what

they think their motivations may be. but we are not the only country on earth that has people with mental illnesses who want to do harm to other people. we are the only advanced country on earth that sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months. earlier this year, i answered a question in an interview by saying, the united states of america is the one advanced nation on earth in which we do not have sufficient common-sense gun safety laws, even in the face of repeated mass killings, and later that day there was a mass shooting in a movie theater in lafayette, louisiana -- that day. somehow, this has become

routine. the reporting is routine, my response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it. we've become numb to. we talked about this after columbine, after blacksburg, after tucson, after newtown, aurora, after charleston. it cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun. and what's become routine, of course, is the response of those who oppose any kind of common-sense gun legislation. right now, i can imagine the press releases being cranked

up -- we need more guns, they'll argue, fewer gun safety laws. does anybody really believe that? >> woodruff: a clearly angry president obama just moments ago at the white house. he also pointed out, he said scores of responsible gun owners favor measures of gun control, and he also said that the u.s. spends trillions of dollars preventing terrorist attacks on u.s. soil, but he said congress, meanwhile, refuses even to permit collecting data on mass shootings in this country. >> woodruff: the government of

afghanistan claimed today that security forces have regained control of kunduz from the taliban. they said they recaptured the center of the embattled northern city after a six hour assault overnight. after daybreak, afghan security forces could be seen patrolling the streets. they hunted for retreating taliban fighters, as fighting continued in places. but president ashraf ghani claimed victory. >> ( translated ): we praise the security officials of our country for their tireless efforts leading the war from 10:00 p.m. last night until the early morning and during the rest of the day, they managed to successfully launch operations. the good news is that we didn't have anyone martyred. >> woodruff: the nato coalition confirmed that u.s. special forces fought alongside afghan groups in the battle, returning fire in self-defense.

a u.s. military transport plane crashed in eastern afghanistan killing all eleven people on board. six were american troops. the others were said to be civilian contractors. officials said there was no sign of enemy fire when the plane went down. the united nations refugee agency now says it expects 1.4 million migrants and refugees to arrive in europe this year and next, up sharply from an estimate just a month ago. that report today came as new waves of people, mainly syrians, kept pouring into serbia and croatia, hoping to move on to western europe. they face the prospect of worsening weather with the onset of fall. closer to home, hurricane joaquin raked the central bahamas today, and forecasters said it's now extremely dangerous. sustained winds reached 130 miles an hour, and could get even stronger. the storm's future course was being closely watched, as late projections showed it is more

likely to track away from the u.s. mainland next week. in the meantime, people up and down the east coast were urged to get ready. disaster officials warned people against waiting to see exactly where joaquin is headed. >> we can't always tell where these storms are gonna go. and if you're waiting till the last minute it may be too late. we've got time. this storm is down in the bahamas. it's not gonna come out of there quickly, so if you're from the carolinas through the new england states, if you didn't get ready for hurricane season, this is your time. this is october first. get ready. >> woodruff: the states of maryland, new jersey and virginia declared emergencies today, in advance of the storm. the u.s. house of representatives has set the stage for a possible veto showdown with president obama over defense spending. republicans today passed a bill authorizing $612 billion. it gives the president much of what he wants, by padding a war-fighting account. the white house says that would

break through defense spending caps. the senate gets the bill next week. in new york city, the police department today unveiled new rules on the use of force after a highly critical report. the city's inspector general found the n.y.p.d. has no clear- cut guidelines for officers on using force. and he said too often, the department does not discipline those who go too far. under the new guidelines, officials said today, police will have to document every time they use force, even in brief encounters. >> i speak to the issue of sanctity of human life. we are one of the few in government that have the power, the authority to take a life, to take people into custody, to pry them of their liberty. so that sanctity of life, that respect for life has to be paramount. >> woodruff: new york police have come under scrutiny in the choke-hold death of eric garner in 2014. more recently, a policeman

roughed up former tennis star james blake after mistaking him for a criminal suspect. in economic news, auto sales in the u.s. showed double-digit gains in september. ford led the way with a 23% jump. but volkswagen sales were stagnant, amid a scandal over cheating on pollution tests. and on wall street, stocks were mixed as investors awaited tomorrow's jobs report. the dow jones industrial average lost 12 points to close near 16,270. the nasdaq rose nearly seven points, and the s&p 500 added three. still to come on the newshour: questions surrounding russia's foray into syria. a bipartisan push in the u.s. to rein in some jail sentences. revisiting a furor from a decade ago, over controversial cartoons.

>> woodruff: russia continued air strikes throughout western syria today, targeting what it said were islamic state and other terrorist targets. meantime, the united states continued its campaign in syria's skies, and began talks to lessen the chances of further conflict, in what is becoming a crowded airspace. chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner begins our coverage. >> warner: this was just east of damascus today, moments after an apparent russian air strike on the village of deir assafir. it was one of the sites across western syria that was hit on day two of the russian bombardment. there were more strikes to the north, near turkey, in idlib province, where al-qaida's syrian branch, the al-nusra front, is dominant. and in homs, a building housing displaced syrians was struck. >> ( translated ): we were

sitting here on the steps, and suddenly we heard a noise and the rocket fell here. once it fell, children were on the floor, it was a mess. >> warner: that desperate scene found its exact opposite in the relative calm of a marketplace in old damascus, under firm control of the bashar al-assad regime. >> ( translated ): this is a very positive step, and russia became the best solution for the crisis that we are living in. >> warner: as russian military video showed strikes across the country, a colonel speaking in syria maintained they targeted the islamic state. >> ( translated ): russian aviation group carried out the first precision strikes on eight sites of the international terrorist organization islamic state. all targets have been destroyed. >> warner: but one rebel group backed by the c.i.a. said its fighters had been hit. and at a special pentagon briefing, colonel steve warren speaking from baghdad dismissed the russians' claims. >> what i'll tell you is,

the russians were very clear publicly that they were going to strike isil. we don't believe that they struck isil targets. so that's a problem. russians said they were going to do one thing, but that's not what they did. >> if it looks like a terrorist, if it acts like a terrorist, if it walks like a terrorist, if it fights like a terrorist, it's a terrorist, yes. >> warner: in turn, russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov at the united nations appeared to acknowledge the attacks are not limited to the islamic state. >> we always said we were going to fight isil and other terrorist groups. this is the same positions which americans are taking basically our position as well. we see eye to eye with the coalition on this. >> warner: in fact, russian and american military officials spoke by tele-conference today

for the first time since the russian air strikes began, in a bid to de-conflict the airspace over syria. with both russian and american fighter jets active there, a pentagon spokesman said they need to "avoid miscalculation". and, amid the focus on the air war, reuters reported iran has now sent ground troops into syria, to bolster assad. meanwhile, moscow said it would consider air strikes in iraq, as well. iraqi prime minister haider al- abadi told the newshour wednesday that he'd welcome russian involvement, if needed, to beat back the islamic state. >> woodruff: and margaret joins me now. margaret, you have been reporting on this all day long. what have you learned about what happened in the teleconference between u.s. and russian officials? >> the most important thing, this went about an hour. the two teams were by teleconference led by someone from the defense department and the joint chiefs and the counterparts on the other side but it was highly technical. they described it as core, professional and highly technical.

it was focused on pilot safety. for example, if one aircraft spots another, russian and american, how do they communicate? who talks first? what language? what frequency? it was really technical stuff like that. the u.s. made its case about you should be focusing on the isis targets, not on, you know, moderates or whatever, but there was no response on that level. it was really, really technical. when each side presented proposals to the other and they agreed they would consult their bosses and hopefully talk again. >> woodruff: so we keep hearing this term "deconfliction," what does that mean? >> i was told by a retired general that's not a military term. essentially, how do you prevent an accidental confrontation, an issue such as they were discussing today. but at a deeper level, the

confliction means let's say we have an agreement that you bomb your bad guys, we bomb our bad guys, we're not under one command but there is cooperation and a channel of communication. the problem in syria is that on the list of the russian bad guys -- that is our moderate opposition rebels that we have trained and supported or maybe even armed -- then what do we do? and the talks didn't get to that, but that's going to be the nub of the problem. >> woodruff: so the u.s. has said, pretty consistently over the last day or so, that the russians are hitting these moderate anti-assad rebel groups. how do they know that's happening? >> that's a very interesting question, judy, because, at first, it seemed all very clear, but apparently isn't entirely clear. it's clear they weren't hitting in areas dominated by the islamic state. this is definitely an area

that's been dominated by the so-called free syrian army and the moderate rebels. but we have an interesting text message conversation today by an activist outside the city of holmes who said actually today it's mostly civilians killed and he gave terrible, terrible stories of hitting a bread line with all these people killed, some of it we put in our piece. >> woodruff: yeah. >> and, so, the pentagon is being careful saying, look, we can't do damage assessment on the ground. we'll have eyes and ears on the ground and they have been careful in saying the targets were the moderate opposition. but it clearly was not isis. >> woodruff: in just a matter of a few seconds, what do you look for next? >> i'm told there are going to be another round of talks, that was late today, and in the mean time i think it's going to get more dangerous out there if the russians keep up this pace of bombing. > woodruff: margaret warner,

thank you >> woodruff: now, we turn to this country's mass incarceration problem, and our ongoing series, "broken justice", on efforts to reform it. in a rare moment of bipartisan unity on capitol hill today, republicans and democrats together unveiled joint legislation to cut down the number of people locked up in federal prisons, half of whom are drug offenders. senate judiciary committee chairman chuck grassley announced the deal, flanked by top senators in both parties. >> we are here today because a lot of hard work and a strong desire by those of us here to make the senate work. this is truly a landmark piece of legislation. it's the biggest in a

generation. it's a product of a very thoughtful bipartisan deliberation by the congress. >> woodruff: the deal was years in the making. if passed, it would end the so-called three strikes rule for life sentences for non-violent offenders. expand mandatory minimum sentences for some terrorism-related crimes. allow for more education and jobs programs inside prison, and limit solitaire confinement for juveniles. we're joined by two of the main architects of the bill, democratic senator cory booker of new jersey and republican senator mike lee of utah and we welcome you both. senator lee, to you first, what are the most important ways you would say this legislation changes our criminal justice system? >> you know, i look forward to passing this legislation because it fixes some problems with our minimum mandatory sentencing system.

we've got some of our sentences, some of the sentences prescribed by federal law are plainly excessive in relation to the severity of the crime. this is resulting in putting a lot of people, sons, fathers, uncles and nephews and brothers away for years, sometimes decades at a time, for offenses that, in many cases, don't warrant that kind of lengthy incarceration. it doesn't eliminate minimum mandatory sentences but it does reforms them in a necessary and long-overdue way. >> woodruff: senator booker, what would you add the that? what are the most important changes if i know you for a long time have been involved in dealing with what we call the front end of the criminal justice system. >> right. well, first of all, the great thing about this is it's recognized by people on all parts of the political spectrum, our broken our system is. since 1980, we've had an 800% increase in our federal prison population, so this really begins to unwind that in a

pretty significant way. we're turning a lot of discretion to judges, making sure that we unwind some of the aspects of mandatory minimums you talked about. but even as exciting is what happens to folks who are already behind the bar. they're in good behavior engaging programs and education to really earn time down and be released. in addition to that, very extensive things. people don't realize how expensive it is to hold elderly people who are on 40 or 50-year sentences who are now very old or very ill, at the expense of the taxpayer who pose very little risk, for compassionate release. and juveniles from the solitaire confinement provision to the understanding if you do something dumb in your teenage years, by the time you're mike and my age decades later, you shouldn't be still limiting your economic potentials but we know it does because people have to confess that in job interviews and affects your ability to get

loans and things like that. so this bill will be steps in the right direction after years of going wrong way in criminal justice. >> woodruff: senator lee, is there one part that you think will particularly make a big difference? >> i think one of the parts a lot of people are celebrating is the fact we make retroactive a law passed several years ago by congress reducing the disparity of crack to powder cocaine disparity and safety valve provisions to give more judges more discretion in more cases where the criminal penalty attached to a particular crime seems excessive, the judge will have some discretion in the case of non-violent drug felonies. >> woodruff: senator lee, i know members of both political parties have come together on this, but this is at the very time when a number of the republican candidates of

for president are talking about getting tougher on crime. i'm thinking particularly of donald trump. how do you explain that? >> well, this bill is tough on crime. it's tough on crime by getting smarter on crime. this is one of the reasons why i'm so pleased we're able to join hands as republicans and democrats. this is a very bipartisan piece of legislation. we recognize this is one of these issues that's neither republican nor democrat, liberal nor conservative. this is simply an american issue. we get better at fighting crime when we devote our resources in a way to make them more efficient. >> i watched the debates and saw rand paul and chris christie and others talk about treatment, talk about sentencing reform, bail reform. this is nothing new. republicans actually, if you look at the republican governors, have been leading in some ways. republican governor of georgia for example doing a lot of things already that we're now doing in this legislation. so this is not a republican or democratic issue. i'm sorry.

my allies on this have been everybody from the koch brothers to grover norquist. this has been a remarkable coming together of right or left. what mike lee said about this idea that you could have done the crack versus powder cocaine, those rules were changed so that people who were violating those laws could be in and out, but because they violated them recently they're in and out, but somebody who violated them a while ago are still sitting in prison. so the absurdities in prison costing taxpayers a quarter trillion dollars a year paying for a broken system where we need to make the investments in law enforcement, in counterterrorism and building roads and bridges. this is a bill that can be celebrated from all sectors of our society, whether liberal or conservative. this is a time for celebrating smart government that's going to be making sure we keep us safer and everybody up there talked about this is a bill to make us safer as a country.

>> woodruff: senator lee, we know even if this bill passes, it only is going to effect 10% of individuals in prison, the 10% who were in federal prison. you still have another two million individuals who are in state prisons and jails. what about them? >> okay, judy, this is part of an effort that's being replicated in many states across the country. there are a lot of states including my own state of utah that are experimenting with criminal justice reforms. this is part of that same trend. we expect this will be replicated in many states, according to the different needs of each state in their own system. while it's true that this represents only a portion of the federal inmates, to those inmates that are affected by this, this is going to make a big difference. it will make all the difference in the world to their families and communities, especially to those who will be willing to rejoin the communities and start contributing.

>> woodruff: senator booker even though you have bipartisan support, isn't this still going to be tough going into an election year to get this passed? >> i think we have great allies. we have the democratic whip and the republican whip, we have the chairman of the judiciary committee and we really have a congress now controlled in both houses which republicans who want to show they can get things done and, with this kind of leadership in the republican party on this team, i think this is something that has a better chance than many of the efforts going on in congress right now and, again, it's not novel. there is a lot of these innovations going on in states ranging from texas to mississippi to new jersey to california, so i think that gives us a greater degree of hope. >> woodruff: senator cory booker and senator mike lee, gentlemen, we thank you both. >> woodruff: ten years ago this week, a danish newspaper set off a firestorm when it published controversial cartoons of the

prophet mohammed, sparking violent protests which claimed the lives of hundreds of people. one decade later, those involved in the heart of the crisis now need lifelong protection. special correspondent malcolm brabant has been out to see some of them and tonight explores the changing landscape of speech in europe as it adjusts to an ever- changing population. an editor's note: we will not air the cartoons. it is our policy not to show images of the prophet mohammed because doing so is offensive to some viewers. >> reporter: a man broke in five years ago and tried to kill him. >> i have nothing to apologize for. i think it would be a loss of respect if i should apologize.

>> reporter: he is concerned his concept of free expression is seriously under threat. >> i think i have a basic feeling of anger. according to danish traditions, i had done nothing wrong. i think cartoonists and satirists' job is to criticize those in power. >> reporter: riots broke out across the muslim world in 2006 as word of the cartoons spread. the danish embassy in beirut was set on fire, and more than 200 people were killed worldwide. during the past ten years there have been occasional angry protests in denmark about the way in which the prophet mohammed has been portrayed. this demonstration was by an islamist group.

>> there is compromise on this issue? yes, they can call us uncivilized because we can't accept so-called freedom of speech. >> reporter: at copenhagen's most influential mosque, the spokesman from the islamic society reiterates the red line that will not be crossed. >> the very notion of connecting bombs with the religion of islam, with a very acknowledgment of islam where you propose that there is no god but god and the last messenger of god sent to this earth, was mohammed, connect that with a bomb, that's a very immature and uncivilized way of starting the debate and discussions. >> reporter: do you consider that muslims have won because there are some people who would say that newspapers and all other form of media are self

censoring, because they are too afraid to publish images like those mohammed cartoons? >> there's no winners or losers in this. the simple thing is to respect each other. and not to force people to accept to be dishonored, ridiculed and so on and so forth. >> reporter: one of denmark's most articulate advocates on behalf of unrestrained free speech is jakob mchangama. he worries that the west is now abiding by islamic blasphemy rules. >> basically we have a situation where we have a jihadists veto which is being respected however grudgingly by journalists and editors, which i think is sad, but at least some have come around to admitting that they are acting out of fear rather than out of respect or tolerance. >> reporter: another key figure in the cartoons story, living life in the shadows, is flemming rose, the culture editor who commissioned the 12 drawings. he will spend the rest of his life under guard. there were watchful eyes present when we met in copenhagen's main park.

>> i think free speech is in bad standing for several reasons. and i don't think the key threat comes from islamists. but i think the key challenge to free speech comes within our own culture, that too many people don't believe in the value of free speech. in order to save the social peace in a multi-religious and multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society, muslims need to work out, you know, a new concept of blasphemy and apostasy. for too many muslims it's ok to commit violence when non believers or muslims commit blasphemy. >> reporter: i took a train from denmark to sweden to meet artist lars vilks, who was the target of a terrorist attack in copenhagen in february. he's been living in various safe houses after drawing the prophet as a dog. protection officers drove me to a secret rendezvous in an armored car. a guard remained in the police interview room, as vilks

outlined his refusal to compromise. >> the best medicine to settle the whole thing is inflation. more prophet pictures. in the end you should see that it's only pictures. there's pictures everywhere. and in the end the whole thing would fade away. >> reporter: the new works of art vilks produces are a symbol of his defiance and unwavering sense of humor. >> i'm specializing in personal copies of well known masterpieces and adding the dog but very small, and you can't really see it. this is a dog-free picture. it's also possible to get such a thing and anyone who wants to make an exhibition and i can also provide them with absolutely dog free pictures, not even a small one.

>> reporter: a stark contrast to vilks' confrontational stance could be seen at copenhagen's welcome refugees rally, which opposed the danish government's anti-migrant policy. 30,000 people turned out to offer a warm embrace those flocking to europe, many of whom are muslim. this great movement of refugees and migrants is perhaps one of the biggest historical events in europe in the 21st century. and it looks like it's going to continue for sometime to come. and one of the big questions that people are asking is whether or not the newcomers have to accept western values and western culture in return for sanctuary. or does europe have to adapt its traditions in order to accommodate the newcomers? at the heart of this debate is free expression. karolina dam abhors extreme islam. her teenaged son, who had learning difficulties, was radicalized after becoming a muslim. he joined islamic state and was killed earlier this year on the syrian-turkey border.

but like uzma ahmed, an equality activist in one of copenhagen's most diverse neighborhoods, she wants less confrontation. >> i think respect for another human being should be before anything else. we don't fight about paintings of jesus, or christ or buddha or anything else, that's because it's not a problem. but for muslims it's a problem. why keep on pushing it? why keep on poking them in the eye? >> we don't need to have a huge cultural clash here, because it's about rights and it's about equality. but it's not given right now because freedom of speech is for the very privileged. i see we have given up our freedom of speech and solidarity and society to the few who want to use freedom of speech to mock and scorn minorities. >> reporter: flemming rose has also has been giving great thought as to what changes he believes are necessary to deal

with europe's growing diversity. >> to me as somebody who is concerned with freedom, the question is how are we going to be able to preserve fundamental liberties, like freedom of expression and freedom of religion, which also implies the right to say no to religion in a society that is growing more and more diverse. so these clashes are inevitable. unfortunately, most european politicians believe that in order to keep the social peace we need to restrict freedom. i think it's the other way around. >> reporter: in the run up to the anniversary, the overriding image of islam in denmark has been one of generosity, as young muslims led efforts to help migrants seeking sanctuary in scandinavia. at copenhagen central station, they've been providing nourishment and fresh clothing to new arrivals. >> everybody who comes to these countries has a duty to abide by the law and abide by the rules. to have the discussion about freedom of speech. we're not here to suspend

freedom of speech. but we're here to discuss how to use it. but if you want to start a debate or dialogue or critical discussion about religion then let's do that on a platform of respect and honor instead of ridiculing and marginalizing an already marginalized minority within these societies. >> i hope these people they would respect danish democracy. and if they do that they will be well accepted and integrated. >> reporter: now 80 years old, westergaard will end his days under guard. how will history regard him? as a principled fighter for traditional western values, or a man out of synch with the new realities of a changing europe? for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in copenhagen. >> woodruff: the very term

"urban farming" sounds like a paradox, or a misnomer at the very least. but it is a real business and movement, albeit a small one, that you can find in industrial greenhouses in a number of cities around the country. our economics correspondent paul solman headed to brooklyn, where the practice is growing, to find out more about what's behind it and whether it can be scaled up. it's part of our weekly series "making sense", which airs every thursday on the newshour. >> reporter: on a rooftop in brooklyn, one fresh answer to an age-old problem -- how to feed the world. >> this greenhouse we're standing in is 20,000 square feet, so about half an acre. >> reporter: is that basil? >> that's correct. this is a medley of a blend of many lettuce variety. >> reporter: lettuces, spices, tomatoes, all being grown on a rooftop in brooklyn by virag puri urban startup.

he says this produces 20 times the yield per square foot of old fashioned farmland. growing lettuce in new york city? >> real estate is expensive in new york city. not a lot of open space. but what we found is roof toms are a vastly underutilized resource. we found it is an opportunity to monetize rooftops for building owners who weren't using them for anything. >> reporter: meanwhile, a demand for fresh fruit that had not been shipped from california, mexico or further is also an opportunity to sell to consumers who want to eat locally. >> it's certainly a growing trend and it's not just because people want food that's grown closer to them, that's a big part of it, but it's what that represents, it represents spending dollars closer to home, it represents artisanal, small-batch craft manufacturing and not large, anonymous aggregates.

>> reporter: and this urban farm grows produce that's merely food footsteps, going farm to shelf to the whole foods market downstairs. the produce is more expensive to grow, given the indoor hydroponics depends on artificial light and must import all its water and nutrients. the pests come of their own volition. >> despite being on a rooftop, pests make it in here, aphids. we release predator insect in the greenhouse that will prey on the bad insects and we do that on a weekly basis to create insect warfare in the greenhouse. >> reporter: so behind me and you, there is little predator insects eating little aphids? >> yes, indeed. they're amongst the most valuable team members. >> reporter: across the hudson

river, in de-industrialized newark, new jersey, empty buildings are being similarly deployed. so this is a farm and there is going to be more acreage soon? >> these systems are 20 feet high, we are building them 36 feet high, this is 80 feet long. imagine 36 high, 82 long and 35 of these. >> reporter: in an abandoned paint ball and laser tag facility, aerofarms is creating tray upon tray of leafy greens, the equivalent of 10 acres' worth on the farm, and is building 70,000 more square feet in newark and beyond. no sun, no soil, just an occasional beard neck if you get too close to the merchandise. i'm wearing this because we don't want any mustache hair in the kale? >> its an extra precaution to reduce risk of food contamination. if i didn't shave for 24 hours i would wear a beard net as well. >> reporter: if some of the

concerns seem trivial, the overall purpose of addressing the world's food crisis is obviously not. and aerofarms co-founder david rosenberg warns -- >> the food crisis is already here. some people tribute the arab spring and the catalyst of that to a sharp increase in the prices. how much of a contribution to the solution is farming like this? it definitely has a place, whether 5%, 10%, 50%, it's hard to say. it depends on how fast it's adopted. >> reporter: rosenburg intends that to be as fast as possible and he sparked interest from investors the world over include china's immense sovereign wealth fund and one of britain's most prominent investment trusts, both touring aerofarms the day we were there. so those folks are thinking about investing or are going to invest in what you're doing here and abroad? >> correct. >> reporter: are there going to be facilities like this in china? are there already?

>> eventually, the vision is to build the farms all over china. >> reporter: and what's the key to the technology? at aerofarms r&d facility, a former disco, marketing director marc oshima explains. >> aerofarms, growing with aeroponics, infusing the roots with nutrients. the roots are hanging in the air instead of the soil. >> 100% recycled plastic. each cloth is made of 26 bottles taken out to have the stream. >> reporter: this is known about vertical culture. >> we think about how many vertical beds we get in any space, about productivity per square foot. we're growing leafy greens.

you just enjoy it. it's one of the great things. ready to eat here. >> reporter: kind of mustardy. and the arugula? this isn't your own proprietary arugula? >> it's our recipe on dialing in on that flavor. >> reporter: speaking of growing, like aerofarms, gotham greens is as well, it's now running two other urban farms in new york including a brand-new rooftop greenhouse in queens three times the size of the one above whole foods, and they will soon be opening the rooftop in chicago. but there is a limit to how big you can be. you can't be the next cargo or general mills, right? >> perhaps one day. the sky is the limit when it comes to agriculture. >> reporter: hold on says agricultural jerry nelson, there is a global food crisis in the making, he thinks, but as things stand, the world won't be fed by hydroponics alone. >> you will have expenses that you don't have on the

countryside. if you want to grow life, you have big expenses for electricity, you have to have clean water. if you're talking about doing this in delhi or nairobi, where will you get clean water? >> reporter: so no, indoor farming may not be the answer to the world's food needs but it's doing good and growing business in urban america. this is economic correspondent paul solman, now trying to eat all the local leafy greens i can find when not reporting for the pbs newshour. tune in later tonight on "charlie rose": former acting c.i.a. director mike morell on russia's latest moves in syria. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here

tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: moving our economy for 160 years. moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention. in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions

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>> announcer: this is "nightly business report," with tyler mathisen and sue herera. sizzling september. consumers are heading into showrooms and buying up new cars at a blistering pace. turning point. with layoff announcements rising sharply in september, has the job market peaked? and california dreaming. is the largest state economy hit hardest by the recession roaring back to life? all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for thursday october 1st. good evening, everyone. and welcome. a blockbuster month for auto sales. best annualized pace in a decade. it's one area of the economy that is going gangbusters while other sectors continue to just chug along. september auto sales adjusted to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of