captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour" tonight, brexit begins. prime minister theresa may gives formal notice, starting the two year process of britain's divorce from the european union. then, the invisible wounds of war-- why so many veterans struggle to get past the stigma of p.t.s.d. in order to get the help they need. >> a lot of times i did say "okay, well maybe it is my emotions, maybe i do just need to push those aside and just toughen up and just move forward and drive on." >> woodruff: and, restoring florida's everglades-- why the ailing wetlands are at the center of a complex political and scientific battle. >> it's covered in this

flocculant glop that looks like guacamole and smells like crap. that's not just an environmental problem. that's an economic catastrophe for the area. >> woodruff: all that and more 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.

>> our tradition has been to take care of mother earth, because it's that that gives us water, gives us life. the land is here for everyone. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention. in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and 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 clock is ticking tonight on britain's withdrawal from the european union. london got things started today, nine months after the british people voted to quit the political and economic bloc. chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner begins our coverage. >> in accordance with the wishes of the british people, the united kingdom is leaving the european union. >> warner: with that, the british government formally launched the process. first, britain's ambassador to the european union delivered official notice to its president in brussels. then, prime minister theresa may addressed parliament. >> this is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back. britain is leaving the european

union. we are going to make our own decisions and our own laws. >> warner: reaction on the street was as mixed today as it was in last june's referendum-- which passed 52 to 48%. >> i said to my wife, all i want to do before i die is see my country free of the shackles of europe. >> mostly it was older people >> warner: but the european council president, donald tusk, lamented the occasion. >> there is no reason to pretend that this is a happy day, neither in brussels nor in london. >> warner: then-prime minister david cameron called last year's brexit referendum, hoping it would fail, and boost his conservative party's prospects in the next general election. but after the surprise result, cameron stepped down, leaving its execution to may. the u.k. has two years to hammer out specific terms of its withdrawal from the 27-nation

bloc. face-to-face talks aren't expected to get underway until late may. the negotiations promise to be tough. british finance minister philip hammond said there have already been informal talks. >> i'm confident, as we've explored over the last nine months with our e.u. partners, that we have a sufficient meeting of minds on this issue-- that we will be able to reach a deal that will work for us and work for them. >> warner: as for the u.s., then-candidate donald trump praised brexit. today, his white house spokesman commented. >> whatever future the u.k.-e.u. relationship looks like, we want the u.k. to remain a strong leader in europe." >> warner: for the pbs newshour, i'm margaret warner. >> woodruff: we'll hear from the british ambassador to washington, right after the news summary. in the day's other news, the u.s. military announced its review of a disputed air strike in iraq is now a formal

investigation. local officials in mosul say the march 17th strike killed at least 100 civilians. today, the top american commander for the middle east, general joseph votel, appeared at a house hearing. he said the investigation will examine a number of factors. >> this was a very dynamic situation, so this wasn't a deliberate target or anything else. this was an evolving combat situation, so we'll take a look at the intelligence that was provided to us by the iraqis that we had. we will look at the enemy's reaction here and we'll try to understand exactly their role in this. >> woodruff: votel also said the islamic state is using human shields in mosul, in a bid to exploit american concerns about killing civilians. still, president trump told lawmakers last night: "we are doing really well" in iraq. china and the european union today stood by their commitments to the paris accord on climate change.

that follows president trump's actions aimed at rolling back the push for deep cuts in u.s. greenhouse gas emissions. in beijing, a chinese foreign ministry spokesman said his government is not changing its stance. >> ( translated ): we still believe the paris agreement was hard won. the international community, including china and the united states made positive contributions. all sides should move with the times, grasp the opportunities, fulfill their promises and earnestly take proactive steps to jointly push the enforcement of this agreement. >> woodruff: meanwhile, the european union voiced regret about president trump's move. president trump formally launched a new commission on opioid abuse today. he heard from recovering addicts and others. the group included new jersey governor chris christie, who will chair the commission. meanwhile, in newark, two former aides to christie were sentenced to prison for causing huge traffic jams on a major bridge.

it was aimed at a democratic mayor who'd refused to endorse christie. the president's daughter ivanka said today she will serve as an unpaid federal employee. in a statement, she said she's taking that step to address ethics questions raised after an earlier announcement that she'd be an informal adviser to her father, with an office in the white house. as a federal employee, she's obliged to comply with government ethics rules. and on wall street, energy stocks were up, banks were down, and the indexes were mixed. the dow jones industrial average lost 42 points to close at 20,659. the nasdaq rose 22 points, and the s&p 500 added two. still to come on the newshour: brexit officially begins. i speak with the u.k.'s ambassador to the u.s. the uncertain prospects of finding common ground in congress. horrific conditions in bangladesh's leather tanneries, and much more.

>> woodruff: now, we return to brexit, and great britain's official move today to begin the process of leaving the european union. i spoke a short time ago with the british ambassador to the united states, sir kim darroch, and began by asking if he thinks the head of the european union, donald tusk, was right when he said this is not a happy day in london or brussels. >> i wouldn't put it like that, judy. this was a clear democratic decision by the british people, 52% to 48% on that famous day june 23 last year, and it's now about delivering what the british people asked for. so for me it's an outcome of democracy, it's a decision and we now need to get the best possible deal for the british

people. >> woodruff: so when mr. tusk says it's not a win for either side, that it's more about damage control, how would you describe it? >> well, i think it's an opportunity for us to establish as the prime minister said today a deep and lasting and serious partnership with the european union which covers security issues, economic issues and has at its heart a new comprehensive free trade agreement which will be a huge benefit to both sides of the negotiations, both to the u.k. and to the european union. >> woodruff: i want to ask you about the prime minister's letter to mr. tusk today to the european union. she referenced rising protectionist instirveghts around the world, security worries across europe, she talked about weakening our cooperation would be a costly mistake.

that seems to contradict the very idea of leaving. why leave the union if these are concerns? >> well, the the british people wanted to leave the european union for a number of reasons people will be analyzing for some time to come, but i think regaining control of our borders and restoring the full sovereignty of the british parliament were big parts in that decision. the point about the proposition in the prime minister's letter is committed free trade and people who believe in open markets, we think we can have a comprehensive free trade arrangement with the european union that will be a great benefit to both sides. it doesn't have to be lose-lose. it within win-win. >> woodruff: the prime minister, also, a couple of points in the letter she referred to what she called a deep and special partnership that print desires with the

e.u.,etter to turn that question around, why would the e.u. want a special partnership with a country who said we want the to part of you? >> we didn't say that. we said we're leaving in european union because that's the decision the british people took but we're not leaving europe. we're part of europe geographically and will continue to be part to have europe's future in terms of the challenges it faces, security, economic development and so on. look, we're the sixth biggest economy in the world and a huge market for the european union to send its manufactured goods, its products into, and i believe they will find it very much in their interest to allow the freest possible access for all those exports. >> woodruff: i think people want to understand how this new relationship is going to work, and the prime minister today again in the letter spoke of a bold and ambitious and, in her

words, fair trade agreement between the u.k. and the e.u. how is that going to be different from the current relationship? >> well, as she also has said in parliament today, while we are missing the market, we are part of the body that makes the rules of the single market, decisions about regulation and that kind of thing. we accept that, as we leave the single market, we'll no longer be in that position, but that doesn't stop us having access -- as full access as we can negotiate for both sides for them into the u.k. and for us into europe for our goods and services, so that's the objective. >> woodruff: how worried are you and others in the leadership of the british government about the economic cost to great britain, jobs being moved out of the country, companies moving out, businesses, employers? >> i mean, so far, since the

decision of 23 june last year, actually the british economy has thrived, and we have the second highest growth rate in the g7 last year and is looking good again this year. we've had one to have the strongest economies amongst the major countries for some time, now. so i'm ca confident about the future, and i think that, if we can achieve the sort of objectives the prime minister's set out, it can be to our benefit and to europe's benefit as well. conversely, you know, if we were to get the kind of free trade arrangements that we enjoy now and hope to get to the free trade agreement in the future, it would damage both sides. i don't see the sense in arriving at an outcome that is damaging to both sides. so i'm hopeful about progress. >> woodruff: finally, let me ask you about the comment from sean spicer today, white house

secretary. he said whatever the future the u.k.-e.u. relationship looks like, he said we want the u.k. to continue to be a strong leader in europe. is that possible under these circumstances? >> we are, apart from being a very open economy, a great leader in free trade and also engagement all over the world, we have our military in countries all over the world and are taking action against daesh in iraq and syria and libya and that's all going to continue and maybe etch more in the future, so i think everything points to us continuing to be big international players and very strong allies for the united states. >> woodruff: sir kim darroch, british ambassador to the united states. thank you very much. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: back on this side of the atlantic, the political spotlight was on a fight that could very well stretch into of supreme court nominee neil gorsuch. the republican and democratic leaders in the senate today stood their ground: >> so when we hear our democratic colleagues talking about breaking long standing precedent by mounting the first ever purely partisan filibuster to try to defeat his nomination, we can only assume one thing. this isn't about the nominee at all. >> and if judge gorsuch fails to earn 60 votes, and fails to demonstrate that he is mainstream enough to sit on the highest court, we should change the nominee not the rules. the republicans are the ones making the choice to go nuclear. >> woodruff: for more on this, the fallout from the failed

obamacare "repeal and replace" push, and the drama over the congressional probes into president trump's associates, and their possible ties with moscow, we turn to karine jean- pierre, a senior adviser for moveon.org. and matt schlapp. he's chair of the american conservative union. and welcome back to poet of -- to both of you to the program. karine jean-pierre, you've listened to the senators and know what's going on, what does it look like the gorsuch nomination is going toward? >> truer words couldn't be spoken by mitch mcconnell. he's absolutely right. we are if a -- this country, our democracy, is being certainly threatened, i should say, and we have a president who's under investigation -- well, his associates are under investigation, and until that is cleared up, we should figure out what's going on and get to the bottom of it. we should not be allowing a lifetime appointment to the supreme court justice. i totally agree. it's not just about the nominee,

it's about where we are as a country. >> woodruff: i'm sorry to interrupt. matt, it sounds like leader mcconnell is not prepared to slow this thing down. >> not at all. neil gorsuch is going to be on the supreme court. everybody knows it. the question is do they mount this filibuster and do the rules of the senate have to be changed to get him on the court? i predict they won't have to change the rules to get him on the court. he'll get over 50 votes. >> woodruff: you're saying some democrats will come on board? >> i think or they won't choose to mount a filibuster. modern times they don't use filibuster against supreme court nominees. this is quite a precedent. it plays into what harry reid did in not allowing the 60 vote threshold for nominees of president barack obama. what's happening in the senate is it's turning into something more like the house that it takes a majority vote to get people threw. as a conservative, i'm just fine with that.

>> woodruff: it would be a much more partisan place if that happens, right? >> right. i think, if mitch mcconnell brings gorsuch to the floor and he can't get to 60 votes, hey, there is another nominee named merrick garland who waited 293 days -- >> he did. republicans didn't have any problem with that. this seat has been open for over a year. why can we not wait to see where this election goes? >> i think because it has nothing to do with the investigation. it has to do with the fact that that opening which was the swing seat happened in relative proximity to the election, and the republicans made the case that we should make that de-- we shouldn't make that decision on the swing justice until the election was decided. the election was decided and donald trump has picked somebody who we have to all admit performed very well during the hearings and the democrats i talked to said it would have helped our cause if he seemed to be less sure footed.

>> merrick garland was a consensus candidate. >> so is neil gorsuch. no, he's not. he never answered questions on how he voted on questions of women's rights and lgbt rights. >> he said what mattered was the black-letter law. >> woodruff: we won't resolve this, this week. we may go at it again. the intelligence committee, chairman devin nunes, a lot overcontroversy questions about whether he can be a credible leader for that investigation. where do you see that going? today, he and other republicans in the house and even those in the senate are saying this is going to stay as it is. >> my hat's off to democrats. they're doing a good job to try to make it about devin nunes and the judgments he's made as chairman. i've talked to the chairman and his teams in the last days and weeks and the information he believes he's uncovered does not

relate to russia. the reason he went to the white house does not relate to russia, but it does relate to the fact that ehe's got more witnesses who have come forward to say that during the ending days of the obama administration or ending weeks and months that there was more surveillance that captured more conversations of team trump. this is all going to come out, we're going to see it publicly and the american people will be faced with the question about is this surveillance power that a president has, is it too broad. >> woodruff: this sounds like something that's just going to get bigger. >> definitely going to get bigger. historically both the house and the senate when it comes to the intelligence committee, it behaves above board outside of politics, which is the beauty of these two committees, but we haven't seen that from this chair. he continuously does things that's troubling, and i'm not just saying this as a progressive. he had senator mccain say, hey, his behavior last week was troubling, that you cannot trust

what's going on. they've lost their credibility, the house intel committee. >> good old senator mccain, you can always count on him to criticize his own team. >> he's pretty credible as well. >> woodruff: two other things, karine, health care, the attempt to repeal and replace didn't come up for a vote. republicans seemed to have regrouped, do you think democrats are prepared to work with the president on this? what do you say? >> i can't imagine that's going to happen and i'll tell you why, what they put forth 20 days ago was very draconian. it was pretty unbelievable they had seven years and this is what they came up with, a bill that took health care away from tens of millions of people, raised costs for the most vulnerable including seniors, and so i can't imagine what are they're going to come up with, why should we trust them when they had years to come up with

something that would be appeasing, or just work with the democrats and say, hey, we know obamacare needs fixing, let's work with you. >> woodruff: where do you see it going? >> you made a lot of good points there. we did run around the country for six or seven years and said obamacare is an abomination and we have a replacement that looks bad, when we have a first attempt for repeal and replace couldn't get the votes. when you have a mandate in obamacare that says you must get health insurance and when you take the minimum date away, there will be people -- when there's freedom, people will make that choice. >> woodruff: do you think the republicans will try again. >> i do. they realize we cannot incredibly go back to the voters next november without having a real vigorous replacement of obamacare. >> woodruff: in less than 30 seconds the announcement by the president's daughter, matt and karine, that she will be an unpaid federal government employee with an office in the white house.

we now have the president's daughter and son-in-law with offices in the west wing. unusual. what should we -- >> it's unusual, let's all be honest, unconventional. here's what i've learned in working for a president, presidents will seek out the advice they feel like they need to make the tough calls and i think it's clear with president trump, his family is very important to him as he determines positions on issues and it's very candid he wants her near him to talk about these things. >> i think it plays into the story of nepotism and what are the ethics around all of this. it's troubling. i think it's incredibly troubling and it will be problematic. >> her lawyer is a democrat, there's no legal question, but there is a question about the politics. >> the optics are certainly bad. the reason we haven't heard what her position will be is because they were responding to watchdogs saying this doesn't look gould. >> woodruff: she says she will be a formal government employee subject to ethics rules. >> and she's a democrats. for all the democrats complaining you might like the

fact she's in there. >> i think she's an enabler. >> woodruff: thank you both karine jean-pierre, matt schlapp. >> thank you so much, judy. >> woodruff: nearly four years ago, an industrial building in bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people, highlighting the dangers faced by workers in the textile industry. what's much less known are the conditions in the leather industry there, where workers are exposed to toxic chemicals, and the waste has created one of the world's dirtiest sites. producer justin kenny and photojournalist larry price traveled to the country's capital, dhaka, for an inside look. the report was produced in partnership with the pulitzer center on crisis reporting. hari sreenivasan narrates. >> sreenivasan: setting foot in

the hazaribagh neighborhood is an assault on the senses. the scene is seemingly post- apocalyptic. the stench overwhelming and almost vomit inducing... a combination of garbage, human waste, rotting animal hides and toxic chemicals. the source of those hides and chemicals are tanneries like these-- hundreds of them packed into two square miles. the facilities are often dark and suffocating. workers rarely wear protective gear, and it doesn't take long to find children toiling away in dangerous conditions. our team found this 10-year-old boy working in plain site, despite the fact that bangladesh prohibits work by anyone under 18 at a tannery. >> the children are doing the most dangerous and most hazardous types of work that's

possible in the tanneries, just like the adults. the children are in the pits working with chemicals, in essentially vats full of acid. >> sreenivasan: richard pearshouse of human rights watch has made regular visits to hazaribagh and was the lead author of a 2012 report on the district. >> each time i would spend a period of time in hazaribagh, i would fall sick with some of the illnesses i was witnessing in the people who were living there and working there. it's hard to overstate how polluted hazaribagh is. it's a residential area, where tens of thousands of people are living, but it's a cluster of about 200 leather tanneries who are operating sometimes 24 hours a day with huge amounts of hazardous chemicals. >> sreenivasan: the bangladeshi government has acknowledged that 21,000 cubic meters of untreated tannery wastewater is dumped every day into the buriganga

river that runs through dhaka, one of the world's most densely populated cities. we were granted permission to visit inside six tanneries t0 see firsthand what conditions were like. unlike workers here in the u.s., the dhaka tannery workers wore no gloves, goggles, respirator masks, or boots. at some locations, they were found inside vats filled with chemicals. and there was no decontamination process. many simply washed chemicals off their body with a bucket of water. >> the tanneries should not operate in this fashion. >> sreenivasan: alexander van geen is a geochemist at columbia university who has worked on groundwater issues in bangladesh. >> the workers in the tanneries are exposed to levels of chemicals, chromium and others, that are not acceptable and are avoidable. action is certainly needed. >> sreenivasan: that chemical exposure is leading to both short and long term medical

conditions says doctor mir masudur rhaman who treats tannery workers. >> lung disease, mainly asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer. urine bladder cancer, reproductive tract infection and also other diseases like stomach discomfort or gastroenteritis. >> sreenivasan: what's surprising is that many workers are left in the dark about chemicals they are exposed to. this man is in his 50's and says he's worked in the industry for 20 years. are you aware of the dangerous chemicals being used in tanneries of dhaka? >> ( translated ): no i am not awarof them. >> sreenivasan: do you take protection while working? >> ( translated ): no. >> sreenivasan: he and other workers we spoke to said they were happy to have a job in a country where 40% of the population lives on less than a $1.25 a day. but it's not just the workers who are exposed in hazariabagh-- tens of thousands of residents

including small children who play in the tanneries dumping grounds-- encounter the chemicals in tannery wastewater, released untreated through spouts straight into neighborhood streams. >> that combination of heavy chemically intensive industry in essentially a densely packed residential environment makes for a toxic mix. >> sreenivasan: despite being more than 7,000 miles from the united states, your connection to hazaribagh's nearly one- billion dollar a year leather industry could be as close as your feet, back pocket or waist. how can you tell? well, often times you can't. >> consumers have no way of knowing. >> sreenivasan: heather white, now a documentary film director and producer, spent decades helping major brands source their products in an ethically and environmentally responsible way. she says that the supply chain in bangladesh and other developing nations is often tainted by abusers of environmental and labor standards.

>> it's completely mission impossible for customs inspectors, for consumers for people who want to know transparently what went on in the production of the end product because the subcontractors, invoices, shipping documents, they don't travel with the shipment. brands could completely require it. but the brands basically have no incentive to do so because they profit from the fact that a lot of the stuff is hidden and consumers aren't going to know about it. >> sreenivasan: perhaps even more surprising for american consumers is that the country of origin "made in" labels frequently don't reveal the nation or region where source materials for goods come from. >> so far example, it could primarily sourced from asia but if the finishing was done in a factory in italy it's going to come into the u.s. with a made in italy or a made in europe label. >> sreenivasan: white and others attribute the economic growth of bangladesh's leather industry to a lack of enforcement of local laws. child labor, lack of protective

equipment for workers and the dumping of untreated wastewater are all illegal in the country but industry still operates in the neighborhood. most of the tanneries have yet to abide by a 15-year-old bangladesh high court order requiring them to relocate to an industrial area on the outskirts of dhaka with a common wastewater treatment plant. the plant is not complete. and the tanneries have been slow to rebuild operations there. some tannery owners say they don't want to move because of the cost. earlier this month, the high court ruled again on the issue and ordered the government to cut power, gas and water to the tanneries. the order was upheld by the country's supreme court days later. but the tanneries are still operating. >> the government is playing a game where they say, ¡the tanneries are on the verge of moving. we can't enforce our laws until they move.' and what that decision not to enforce the laws means is that the health of the workers and the local residents continues to

suffer. >> sreenivasan: it's still unclear whether the government will act and if hazaribagh will this time finally see change or more pollution. >> woodruff: for the record, we asked the bangladesh embassy in washington repeatedly for comment. but they declined. >> woodruff: how the efforts to treat, diagnose and possibly find a cure to posttraumatic stress disorder. one in five military personel serving in combat will suffer some form of post traumatic stress disorder: p.t.s.d. but it often goes untreated because of the stigma associated with the disorder. tonight, special correspondent soledad o'brien begins our series, war on the brain. >> almost every day at some point i would relive the i.e.d.

attack. it was like i couldn't turn my mind off, like i was being flooded, like a cyber attack or something. reliving that explosion like a broken record, it just kept playing and i couldn't stop it. i remember i was driving and i opened my window and i turned my radio up and i got it to stop. it was, like it left an imprint on me, and i didn't even know where it came from. >> reporter: army colonel greg gadson was blown out of his passenger's seat by a roadside bomb. he was in baghdad. 2007. his physical injuries were so severe, doctors assumed he would suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. but he was too embarrassed to accept it. why did you find it so hard to really believe that you had post-traumatic stress? >> it was not something that i could identify with. you know, as an athlete, as a, as an officer, as a leader,

we're trained to, to override pain, to override doubt. >> reporter: both his legs were amputated above the knee. he had permanent nerve damage, limited function in his right arm. gadson underwent 22 surgeries. he was in rehabilitation for 18 months. his abilities greatly diminished from his college glory days >> trying to get off the pass and down he will go. great defense by greg gadson, number 98 of chesapeake, virginia. >> reporter: played football at the u.s. military academy at west point. a co-captain and outside linebacker, powering through was in his d.n.a. >> greg gadson right here by his speed or by his size, but he's got terrific football instincts. >> reporter: you're a football player, you're a leader, i mean we're all these sort of almost stereotypes, right, of like the tough guy in all capital letters. >> and you could say 'macho'- >> reporter: yeah okay, i'll say 'macho'. i mean, how much did your

reluctance to get help was that this macho stereotype was kind of gonna stand in the way of that? >> probably 100% of it. i mean, every tough challenge in my life, i fought through and that's what i-- and so i was committed to fighting through it again, and without help. >> reporter: i was very surprised that of the one in five who get diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, like half of them don't get treatment. >> right. >> reporter: a massive number, just do what you did. >> right. up here. >> reporter: stigma surrounding post traumatic stress disorder sometimes discourages vets from seeking treatment. >> good boy. yeah. >> reporter: the v.a.'s chief mental health consultant is dr. harold kudler >> the most important thing to remove the stigma from p.t.s.d. is for people to talk about it. but in talking about it not fall into the stereotypes.

for people who have p.t.s.d., they're at risk for depression, for substance abuse, they're at high risk for suicide. largely because of the nature of p.t.s.d., to think about the world and yourself in negative terms. and this idea that nothing could ever go right. >> reporter: to get to the heart of how stigma hinders treatment, we assembled a panel of veterans who struggle with p.t.s.d. with assistance from the military service initiative of the bush institute. they help to reintegrate returning veterans. do you think being visibly wounded made it easier to have post-traumatic stress? >> definitely. >> absolutely. >> reporter: really? >> reporter: army sgt. dewitt osborne received the purple heart for service in iraq >> i think it's more acceptable when you have visible wounds. >> reporter: it would make sense to us. >> it'd made sense, alright. ours is hidden. doesn't mean we don't suffer as much, but it's hidden.

>> reporter: kevin rosenblum served five years in the u.s. army as an infantry officer. >> as an officer, as a leader, the-- the pressure both internal and external to be infallible, to be strong at all times and never show weakness, was there, and i, i didn't want to let my, let my soldiers down. >> reporter: in his first deployment to iraq his unit came under fire. he received treatment for the shrapnel in his right leg but not for his post traumatic stress disorder. >> i saw a doctor when i got out, as everybody does. and just talked through some things. and he's like, yeah i think you have post traumatic stress. >> reporter: what was your reaction? >> i guess i just minimized it in my mind. and thought that this is the toll of service in war. >> reporter: special agent drew barnett, who served with navy

seals in afghanistan refused to believe that he had p.t.s.d. >> during my early training in the navy, one of our instructors particular training event said, you know 'hey guys, it's better to die than look stupid, just make sure you don't do both'. and in thinking about that, that is a lot of the mindset that we have is we don't one look weak or we don't want to be someone who is not dependable. >> reporter: an then there is maya marshall part of the 15% of service members who are women. she left the army as a sergeant after five years. shame, she says, kept her from getting help for her symptoms. >> it came from combat yes, but ok you've only been to combat one time, you've only been in the service for this long. i felt that they would be like 'okay, you're a female, just get your feelings out of it, and just toughen up. >> reporter: so, you thought maybe you didn't deserve it? >> yes. >> reporter: you hadn't seen enough combat, you hadn't been in long enough, you're a girl

>> yes. >> maybe it is my emotions, a lot of times i did say 'okay well maybe it is my emotions, maybe i do just need to push those aside and just toughen up and just move forward and drive on. >> reporter: photography is gadson's passion and therapy. he uses the chair more often than his prosthetics so he can have the freedom to capture his pictures. you never use the word 'disorder' or the 'd' in 'disorder', why not? >> well, 'd' for me is a it's a negative label that doesn't need to be attached and you know the face post-traumatic stress are those that wear the uniform, less than one percent of our population. and so that word can be associated and labeled with all, when we all have some level of post-traumatic stress. does it make us, does it make us dysfunctional? for most of us, i would say not.

>> reporter: gadson pushed back hard against his diagnosis, until his wife, kim intervened. >> he threw a number of mental health professionals out of his room when he was in walter reed. >> reporter: just kicked them out? >> just kicked them out, or just chewed them up and spit them out like they were nothing. >> reporter: what do you think has helped him accept a p.t.s. diagnosis and that he actually needs help? >> i think the fact that it stays with him. it stays with him, he's gotten treatment, he's working at moving forward on his life, he's doing a lot of great things but every so often there's an episode there's something he realizes, 'i can't always control this' so i have to keep working at it. >> reporter: gadson's made progress. despite his injuries, he cycles and occasionally downhill skis. he tours the country making dozens of motivational speeches >> hi tracy, greg gadson. >> reporter: to soldiers and civilians. >> ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome colonel greg gadson. >> reporter: part of his message: don't let shame get in

the way of getting help. >> for veterans, what i want to say is look 'we're always out there for each other' but you have got to take the first step. you've got to display the courage; the courage that in some cases that you have displayed in your entire military career to go get help. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm soledad o'brien in alexandria, virginia. >> woodruff: tomorrow our series continues with a look at the challenges diagnosing p.t.s.d. >> woodruff: billions of dollars have been spent trying to restore the florida everglades. but there are concerns the project is not working as planned. special correspondent duarte geraldino reports for our weekly report on the "leading edge" of science. >> this is the microbial community that forms the basis of the food web of the everglades. >> reporter: scientist evelyn gaiser has spent her entire

adult life getting her feet wet, studying the microscopic animals and plants living in the florida everglades. >> there's so many different types of habitats that occur in it. there's so many different ways that water flows through it, both above ground and below ground. >> reporter: that complexity hides a lot of secrets: gaiser runs the coastal everglades ecological research program. she and her students have found previously unknown life forms here. >> they have not been discovered in science so my students actively name the species. >> reporter: this incredibly rare and bio-diverse habitat is also critical to the survival of birds, reptiles and ultimately millions of people. >> it is our real life blood, not only for the organisms we see here but for us as well. it's our source of fresh drinking water, of the potable water we use and the water we irrigate our farm fields with. >> reporter: over the last century, the natural footprint of the everglades was reduced by

almost half to make room for roads, homes and farms. to do that, swampland had to be drained and fresh water was channeled out to the coasts, leaving the southern region vulnerable to rising sea water encroachment. >> the salt water is creeping in. >> reporter: so you're saltwater. i'm fresh water. >> that's right. there's that kind of push, pull in the wet and dry season that would happen naturally. when you don't have enough fresh water moving in, the salt water is just gonna move in, in, in, in. >> reporter: and rising sea levels, accelerated by global warming, mean forests of mangroves are moving far inland, killing off the natural habitat. in 2000, federal lawmakers implemented an ambitious plan to restore the original essence of the everglades. after decades of commercial and agricultural development, the u.s. government was in effect trying to broker a deal between development and nature. but nature is fighting back. humbling engineers and threatening the drinking water of roughly eight million people.

>> what you see behind you is a water control structure that's going to manage the water. >> reporter: howard gonzalez is the engineer in charge of implementing the plan, which is officially called the comprehensive everglades restoration plan, or cerp. it's a plan designed to build canals, bridges and reservoirs to ensure ample drinking water, protect communities from flooding, and to clean-and- control water flow to the southern everglades. when it was signed into law, it contained 68 different components at a cost of $8 billion. that price tag has now more than doubled and not a single project is complete yet. part of the problem is there's is still so much about the everglades we don't understand. >> the science has evolved, and we continue to adaptively manage our program to meet those new science understandings. >> reporter: and yet, gonzalez says the projects are still proceeding according to the original timetable. >> we have nine projects under

construction that we have at least six of our foundation projects started back in the mid-'90s that are nearing completion. when you look at those in total, it shows we're making great progress. >> reporter: the tamiami highway is one example of that progress. for nearly 90 years it acted like a dam, preventing fresh water from flowing south to the everglades national park. last year the army corps of engineers elevated a one-mile section of the road and is currently working to raise two more miles so water can flow more freely. and the state has also built some stormwater treatment areas, which use plants to scrub clean agricultural water before it flows into the everglades. but journalist michael grunwald, author of the "the swamp: the everglades, florida and the politics of paradise" says the plan has not accomplished its main goal: >> the real thrust of cerp is supposed to be about storing water. we're 17 years in and they still haven't built any storage. >> reporter: no storage? >> they haven't built any

storage. they aren't planning to build enough storage. and there's no plan b. >> reporter: right now the main place to store water is lake okeechoebee. but when water levels get too high, managers are forced to release the untreated water, sending it out to the east and west coasts. last summer that dirty water caused unprecedented algae blooms on florida's lakes and coastlines. it was so bad governor rick scott declared a state of emergency. >> it's covered in this flocculant glop that looks like guacamole and smells like crap. that's not just an environmental problem. that's an economic catastrophe for the area. >> reporter: is this mother nature fighting back? >> mother nature gets the last word. >> reporter: about the only thing as complex as the science associated with the everglades is its politics. there is big money, especially sugar money-- attached to these lands. >> it's a $2.5 billion of economic activity.

>> reporter: billion with a "b". >> billion with a "b" just in palm beach county. >> reporter: paul orsenigo farms lettuce, vegetables and sugarcane near belle glade. that's the fertile area south of lake okechobee that was once part of the everglades. >> we've been blessed with some of the best soil types in the whole world which makes us a productive, successful society and nation. >> reporter: but farms like orsenigo's may become part of the storage solution. to prevent another toxic algae bloom, a group of state lawmakers is proposing the restoration timetable be sped up and that farmers give up their land so a 60,000 acre reservoir can be built years ahead of the original cerp schedule. the price tag is $2.4 billion. >> i think there are better solutions than buying and taking more productive farmland.

>> we have about 85 employees here. >> reporter: stephen beasore owns a farm and vegetable processing plant. >> every time that agricultural land has been taken out of production, it gets a lot more challenging for my family's operation. >> reporter: he employs up to 1,000 people at peak season. >> if you take agriculture out of here, you're basically just wiping all these jobs out and there's nothing to come in and replace it. >> reporter: he says florida farmers have already given up 100,000 acres of land that was used to re-establish wetlands. and they shouldn't be asked to give more for a system that is still not fully understood. steve davis, an ecologist with the everglades foundation is sympathetic to the loss of farm jobs, but warns the state will take an even bigger economic hit if the problem is not fixed. >> we're a tourist-based economy in florida. if people are canceling their vacation trip to these coastal areas, restaurants, hotels, a

much larger sector of our economy is being affected. >> reporter: he says the science is clear: more fresh water has to be stored and channeled south. >> this is the mix of habitats you would find in more of a restored or natural area of the everglades. >> reporter: he took us deep into the marsh, where alligators are king, to show us how if, given the right conditions, this incredibly rare system can heal itself. >> it's almost like your immune system. if you get a viral infection, your body has a tendency to fight it off, and will continue to fight it off as long as it can. the resilience of the everglades is very similar to that. we see the system improves under marginal conditions. if we can only restore that flow of fresh water back to the south, we know that we'll see a significant boost in the health of the system. >> reporter: a system that is critical to the biological and economic health of the entire state of florida. from the everglades, i'm duarte

geraldino for the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: each year the library of congress selects 25 examples of sound that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" to add to the national recording registry. this time, it includes work ranging from richard pryor to here's librarian of congress carla hayden to explain this year's "sounds of america." ♪ ♪ >> the registry is the library of congress's tribute to significant sound recordings. not only music but actually sound of significant events. ♪ ♪

the recordings that are selected this year and also the over 400 recordings that have been selected for the registry over the years are all preserved and made available at the library of congress' culpeper facility, the packard center. the packard facility curates and also preserves over four million items and more are coming. fact that there's a combination of comedy, you have richard pryor. you have jazz, wes montgomery. ♪ ♪ you have a recording that goes back to 1888 that really captures what sound recording was at that time. demonstrating we have to preserve what we hear. baseball is one of those

universal american experiences and so many people share time and space and stadiums and they also shared it, as my grandfather did, listening on the radio. it's a great uniter. what the selection is meant to represent each year is the variety of sound recording and the differences in different genres. "straight outta compton" was performed by a seminal rap group, n.w.a. it was heralded as a song and a group that made a difference in terms of that genre being taken seriously. ♪ ♪ judy garland, over the rainbow. i was surprised that it hadn't been selected already. i don't think there are many

people that haven't looked at either the film or listened to that song and thought about judy garland singing it. ♪ ♪ david bowie really exemplified evolution in performance and ♪ ♪ when judy collins recorded amazing grace in 1970 it was an song and a symbol of forgiveness, of striving, and just emotional and spiritual depth for any group and in so renee fleming, in terms of opera, of course is someone who has made such a difference.

music in particular, can unite so many people and that we are all joined by the sound of life. ♪ ♪ >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> it's hard not to feel pride as a citizen of this country when we're in a place like this. >> supported by the rockefeller foundation. promoting the well-being of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies.

more at rockefellerfoundation.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> 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

>> charlie: welcome to the program. we begin this evening looking to the questions about russian hacking in washington and talk to the washington post reporter karoun demirjian. >> is there a smoking gun or something to substantiate the allegations or is this all -- as democrats said they don't believe is this coincidence or something real. >> charlie: and we continue with a conversation about a book that is getting a lot of praise it's called "the rules do not apply: a memoir." the author joins us her name is ariel levy. >> it's a universal coming of age story though there's mongolia and things that won't happen to people but we