captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: a suspected syrian government attack using chemical weapons leaves dozens dead and many more injured, in a province controlled by rebels. then, the fox news network is on the receiving end of another sexual harassment suit, as some advertisers pull away from the scandal-plagued network. and, texas is the first state in the country to allow classroom cameras to protect students with disabilities, but legal and ethical questions arise. >> parents can't get access to that footage unless they know something's happened. they have to be able to say, "i would like footage from this day," and ideally "from this time of day."

>> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> 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. >> bnsf railway. >> 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 united states senate formally opened debate today on supreme court nominee neil gorsuch, and headed toward a bruising battle. republicans said they will change the rules to permit a simple majority to confirm gorsuch if they can't come up with what is called "cloture," the 60 votes necessary to close off a democratic filibuster. >> it appears as if cloture will not be invoked, but we'll find out on thursday. but either way, we'll be moving toward confirming judge gorsuch on friday. >> senator mcconnell would have the world believe that his hands are tied-- that the only option after judge gorsuch doesn't earn 60 votes is to break the rules, to change the rules. that could not be further from the truth. >> woodruff: only three senate democrats have said they would join the 52 republicans in

supporting gorsuch. the trump white house is talking to house republicans again about repealing and replacing obamacare. the original effort collapsed last month. last night, vice president pence and top white house officials offered a new proposal to conservatives. today, house speaker paul ryan called the talks "productive," but he tempered expectations. >> now we're throwing around concepts to improve the bill, that's occurring right now, but that is not to say that we're ready to go. because we want to make that when we go, we have the votes to pass this bill, we've got the consensus that we've long been looking for. >> woodruff: the white house proposal would let states seek exemptions from making insurers cover "essential benefits" such as maternity and mental health. the trump administration will cut off u.s. funding for the u.n. population fund. a state department memo accuses the agency of supporting population control in china, including coercive abortions. the $32 million in aid will go

to the u.s. agency for international development. the city of baltimore is butting heads with federal officials over police reforms. last night, federal officials sought to delay final approval of an agreement known as a "consent decree." it spells out sweeping changes in how police deal with minorities. >> we are ready to roll with the consent decree. >> woodruff: baltimore officials insisted this morning they will go ahead with overhauling the city's police force, with or without the u.s. department of justice. >> so, i am disappointed that the department of justice thought it was necessary to seek a 90-day extension. the reforms are going to come, no matter what. >> woodruff: late monday, the u.s. justice department asked to postpone a federal court hearing set for this thursday on the proposed baltimore decree. justice officials said they want to "review and assess" how it fits with an aggressive new

emphasis by the trump administration on fighting crime. >> the department of justice and city of baltimore have agreed to enter into a court enforceable consent decree. >> woodruff: the decree was announced just before president obama left office, and almost two years after the death of a black man, freddie gray, in police custody, and the resulting unrest. the obama justice department found long-standing patterns of racial profiling and excessive force by police. now, the new attorney general, jeff sessions, has ordered a sweeping review not just of the baltimore agreement, but of justice department interactions with local law enforcement nationwide. in russia, investigators now say a suicide bomber carried out monday's subway attack that killed 14 people in st. petersburg. officials released images of the

22-year-old man. he's identified as a native of kyrgyzstan, a majority muslim state in central asia. there's been no claim of responsibility. the issue of trump transition aides caught up in surveillance of foreign figures has taken a new turn. it involves susan rice, who was national security adviser to president obama. she was asked today about reports that she knew about the surveillance, and asked for identities of the trump aides. she spoke with msnbc's andrea mitchell. >> did you seek the names of people involved in-- to unmask the names of people involved in the trump transition, the trump campaign, people surrounding the president-elect-- >> absolutely not. absolutely not, for any political purposes, to spy, expose anything. >> did you leak the name of mike flynn to-- >> i leaked nothing to nobody. and never had, and never would. >> woodruff: last month, on the newshour, rice said that she knew nothing about the surveillance of the trump aides, or the disclosure of their identities.

aircraft manufacturer boeing has announced a $3 billion deal with iran. it is the first major sale to iran, by an american company, since president trump took office. boeing says the agreement covers 30 of its 737 max passenger jets. wall street had a relatively quiet day. the dow jones industrial average gained 39 points to close at 20,689. the nasdaq rose about four points, and the s&p 500 added one point. and, the university of north carolina is once again champion of men's college basketball. the tarheels celebrated after beating washington state's gonzaga university last night, 71-65, for their sixth national title. a year ago, they lost to villanova on a last-second shot. still to come on the newshour: dozens of syrians dead after an apparent chemical attack; president trump signs a measure rolling back internet privacy rules; israel's push for new

settlements in the west bank; and much more. >> woodruff: now, to the apparent chemical weapons attack this morning in northwest syria. the casualty counts ranged from 58 dead, to over 100. either way, it was one of the worst such attacks in the country's six-year civil war. it hit the town of khan sheikhoun, in idlib province, which is largely controlled by rebel forces fighting the regime of bashar al-assad. chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner begins our coverage. and a warning: many viewers will find images in this report disturbing. >> reporter: the scene was horrific, and chaotic. medics rushing to help victims-- many of them children-- while others struggled to make sense of what happened. >> ( translated ): i was asleep when the warplane hit us. i went outside with dad, but my

head started hurting. i fell asleep and woke up to find myself here. >> reporter: witnesses and activists said the toxic substance was delivered by syrian and russian jets in an attack in the rebel-held region. damascus and moscow denied involvement. the results were plain enough. >> ( translated ): this morning, i was in a field hospital in idlib. the symptoms were clear on the patients: suffocation, respiratory failure, foaming at the mouth, loss of consciousness, convulsions and paralysis. >> reporter: the worst attack of this war took place back in 2013, in a damascus suburb, killing hundreds of civilians. the u.n. said the nerve agent sarin was used. in 2012, president obama had declared the use of chemical weapons in syria a "red line" that could trigger u.s. air strikes, but after the 2013 attack, then-secretary of state john kerry instead struck a deal with russia for syria to

surrender its chemical arsenal. international inspectors said damascus complied. today's strike comes on the eve of a conference in brussels about syria's future-- and it drew sharp condemnation. >> chemical weapons is the worst of the war crimes, and whoever is responsible for that must be held accountable. >> reporter: for his part, president trump said in a statement: "these heinous actions by the bashar al-assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." the white house spokesman wouldn't discuss a possible u.s. response, but he did say ousting the assad regime is no longer "a fundamental option." meanwhile, the u.n. security council has scheduled an emergency meeting for tomorrow. for the pbs newshour, i'm margaret warner. >> woodruff: late today, secretary of state rex tillerson said in a statement that syria's allies, russia and iran, bear

"great moral responsibility" for those killed in today's attack, and he called on those nations to restrain the assad regime. for more on this, i'm joined by andrew tabler; he's a fellow at the washington institute of near east policy, a think tank; and susannah sirkin, the director of international policy and partnerships, and senior adviser at physicians for human rights, a group that specializes in documenting human rights abuses and atrocities. welcome both of you to the program. susannah sirkin, i'm going the start with you. is there more you can tell us at this point about what happened in this attack? >> well, today at physicians for human rights we've had physicians view dozens of photographs and video clips to try to determine exactly what happened, and we've had contact with a number of doctors on the from the line trying desperately to treat those who are injured

as well as to deal with those who apparently have been killed as a result of this attack. we know that the medical system such as it is, which has already been devastated by more than almost seven years of war has been responding as best it can, but it is really, as far as we can tell, a situation of chaos and desperation. these kinds of weapons are terrifying inherently because they have no smell, they have no... they aren't seen. they have no taste. and they are detonated essentially in a way that is invisible and then all of a sudden people succumb. it's severely painful. many people who are attacked in this way end up having nerve damage as well as muscular constriction, and in the end they can't breathe at all. so they are rushed to the

hospital, and it's really quite desperate. >> woodruff: i know that work is still being didn't the try to determine what kind of chemical. andrew tabler, is it clear or even close to being known who is behind it? >> it was behind the opposition's line, so it seemed to be delivered from the air, so that begs the question, well, who has air capabilities. the opposition does not. so it would be the assad regime or the russians. in that case i think most initial indicators are pointing at the assad regime. that then will, of course, focus attention on the assad regime's activities in the last few days. >> woodruff: as we just heard in margaret warner's report, international inspectors said a few years ago they determined assad regime had given up at least some of their chemical weapons. >> that's right. but at the end of the process, there was a concern about syria's declaration. so a couple things to look for in the coming days, if they find

it was sarin that was used, which it seems from the symptoms that it was, that begs the question, where did it come from. if all of the stockpiles were destroyed, how did this sarin enter. if it's found to be chlorine, then it's another matter. but the syrian regime has been carrying out chemical attacks in syria multiple times since the chemical weapons deal. this is one of the most egregious. >> woodruff: susannah sirkin, from the symptoms, is it possible to determine what the chemical agent was? >> well, so far from everything that physicians have seen and observed through these videos and photographs, all of the symptoms that are known to be associated with the use of sarin, which is a banned nerve agent, have been seen, foaming at the mouth, flaw wind coming from the nostrils, severe respiratory distress, muscular

constriction, seizures and so forth. so while we cannot sade fintively that sarin was used or everything is pointing to a nerve agent and very likely sarin because we know that sarin has been used before by the assad regime. what would need to happen next and what we're calling for is an immediate independent international investigation on the ground to collect samples, which would involve collecting blood, urine, and clothing and soil samples to have a definitive conclusion. >> woodruff: and beyond that, andrew tabler, as you said, the signs point to the assad regime. how does anyone involved in this get to the bottom of determining definitively whether it was the assad regime? >> well, there is a joint investigative mechanism that was put many place by the united nations years ago to investigate these attacks. and they have found that the assad regime has used chemical

agents on multiple occasions. i anticipate that would be used. the question is: is it enough? and in the past... >> woodruff: you mean is this investigation? >> yes, is this investigation enough, is this method enough. in the past activists and others have brought out samples that have helped investigators looking into these matters, determine what was used and determine a course of action. >> woodruff: so staying with you andrew tabler, today we heard an opposition leader say that what happened was a direct consequence of what the trump administration has been saying in the past few days, that it was going to be... that they were prepared to live with the assad regime. on the other hand, you have president trump and his statement blaming it on the failed policies of president obama. >> in the balance, the assad regime has been using chemical agents since 2013. overall, to be fair, the trump administration was dealt a pretty terrible syria hand by the previous administration.

now, i think real question here is what do you do going forward. tomorrow we'll no from action at the u.n., but we're going to have to look at the fact that while we hope this syrian war is winding down, it doesn't seem to be when we have attacks like this in the settlement we all want in syria, the whole country's political settlement seems far off. >> woodruff: we'll leave it there. what a horrific event that's taken place. andrew tabler, susannah sirkin, thank you both. >> woodruff: we turn now to the rules regarding your online privacy. president trump has signed into law legislation that blocks the implementation of some internet privacy rules that were put in place by the obama administration. william brangham has that story. >> brangham: these rules-- if

they'd gone into effect-- would have prohibited internet service providers like verizon or at&t or comcast from collecting and selling information about your internet browsing to advertisers. for more on this, i'm joined now by scott cleland, who's a researcher and advocate for greater internet competition; and by gigi sohn, who used to be with the f.c.c., and helped craft those now-defunct rules. welcome to you both. scott, help me understand this. i know you work a lot with the industry here. why did these rules need to come down, in your view? >> what this thing has done by repealing, this it's gone back to the status quo and hopefully it will return to a normal federal trade commission privacy regime. >> brangham: as i mentioned in the intro, this would have stopped isps from collecting and selling to advertisers. that's what the industry didn't like? >> that's right. they were pointed out as somehow unique. gigi will say they're the only

one that all the information comes through, but the thing is people don't understand that 50% to almost 70% of traffic is encrypted. but more than that, google and facebook and others, when you talk about all the service, the awe thebtcation, when you talk about all the things you have there, when gmail or whatever, it's harder to leave google and the leave facebook, the sacrifice of doing that, and not using one than it is an isp. so there is this false dichotomy where isps are somehow special. and the main thing is they don't have a desire to harm their consumers or to be selling their privacy. i mean, they have been covered by privacy in the past. they don't want to sell this data. >> brangham: gigi sohn says these internet service provide ers don't want to sell my data. why the rule blocking them from doing so? >> if all these companies are doing things to protect your privacy, then why did they seek

repeal? in fact, verizon, when we adopted these rules in october of 2016, they praised what we did because they said, look, this is standard practice. these are common sense rules that protect individuals' privacy and give them the power to control the fate of their personal information. now, i can talk about why i isps are different, that they see everything you do as opposed to google --. >> woodruff: they're the sole gateway to the internet. >> they're the sole gateway to the internet. you pay them handsomely whereas google and facebook are free, and there is a different expectation from consumers. and if you're lucky enough to have a choice, it's still very difficult, there are switching costs. i don't have to use google if i don't want to. my spouse uses duck duck go. you don't have to use facebook, but you must use an isp to get to the internet. but even if we want to level the

playing field. why did congress level the playing field down? why didn't it make google and facebook abide by the high standards that the fcc set? there is no playing field if you're an isp. you're completely and totally unprotected. >> drew: >> brangham: what about that argument that if google and facebook are free to do what they would like to do, that could be an argument for making stricter security on those guys? >> let me be very clear, i think isps would be more than happy, if there was congressional legislation that applied the same rules to everybody, technology-neutral, and put the consumer truly in control, we agree, the consumer should be put in control. i think they'd have a great support of that. i don't think you'd have google, facebook and amazon and those would say no way. >> william, the answer is much simpler: the federal communications commission regulars networks. it does not regulate amazon, google and facebook.

it doesn't have the legal power. if we had gone ahead and done, that and it was interesting to see our republican colleagues urging us to do that when they know full well we don't have the power. if we had done, that it would have been thrown out in court. so we couldn't do that, but here's what's interesting: google opposed these rules. why? not because it would have applied to them, but because they knew that this serves as a temp late. these rules serve as a temp late that congress could use to raise the bar. but instead the bar has been eliminated. >> brangham: so right now, if i'm a consumer and these rules are now moot and i want to protect my privacy, like what can i ask of my isp? what are they allowed to do as far as checking information about me, selling information about me right now? >> after all the blowback when the senate and the house passed this law repealing the fcc's rules, there was huge amounts of blowback. i don't think anybody expected it.

so comcast, at&t and i believe verizon all posted blog posts saying that, you know, we don't use this information. we don't share this information. we have no plans to do so. we don't currently do so. >> brangham: you don't buy it? >> i buy it that today they do not, but they want the leave the door open to selling and sharing the most sensitive personal information, your health care information, your financial information, your location, your social security number, they want to leave that door open. >> very important if i can correct, they're saying health care information, financial information, that's part of the patchwork of privacy regulations. those... that's sensitive data. companies like isp or even google shouldn't be sharing that stuff. that's a big no-no, so when we talk about trying to scare people about this, financial information and health care information is covered under other laws. >> brangham: scott cleland,

gigi sohn, thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: advertisers distance themselves from fox news amid sexual harassment allegations; why texas puts cameras in many of its classrooms; and, an acclaimed author gives the advice he wish he had known as a young writer. but first, jordan's king abdullah will meet with president trump tomorrow, here in washington. one item on the agenda: the growth of jewish settlements on the west bank. more than half a million israelis live there, on land captured from jordan 50 years ago-- land that many israelis claim as a biblical birthright, but that palestinians hope will comprise a future state. from the west bank, special correspondent martin seemungal reports. >> reporter: israeli soldiers

and police mobilizing in the west bank to arrest and remove israelis, by force if necessary. a settler outpost at amona, judged by israeli courts to be illegal because it is built on land owned by palestinians. the west bank was captured by israel during the 1967 war. international law considers it occupied territory. israel disputes this and has been building jewish settlements for decades. amona is different-- it's one of the settlements built without israeli government authorization on private palestinian land. no government wants to use troops against its own citizens, especially prime minister benjamin netanyahu's right wing coalition. so as the protesting settlers were taken away, he announced plans for a major settlement expansion in another area of the westbank. netanyahu also promised to build a new settlement for the jews evicted from amona.

he delivered on that promise, announcing plans for the first completely new settlement in over 20 years. it will be built in the shilo area, near nablus. a powerful message in support of these settlers, and one of their beliefs-- that god gave these lands to the jews. >> we're standing on this site of the dream of jacob. >> reporter: not far from amona, hagai ben artzi points to ruins that he says mark the biblical site of jacob's ladder, the dream where god promised the land of israel to the jewish people in the book of genesis. >> the roots of the people of israel are in this place, and the whole zionist idea is the return of the jewish people to the biblical land, to its biblical homeland. >> reporter: ben-artzi is the brother-in-law of prime minister

netanyahu, and a prominent citizen of beit el, one of nearly 200 settlements across the west bank. he has lived here for 40 years. like many settlements, beit el started out as a few caravans on a hilltop. osnat sharon is one of the original settlers. she calls this area by its biblical names: judea and sumeria. >> i felt like a pioneer, to build a new place in an empty place, and there was nothing here, nothing. >> reporter: palestinians argue that the whole settlement is illegal because of international law, and that at least part of beit el was built on private land-- farmland that they haven't been able to use for years. the issue is still in court and that section of beit el remains off-limits to building. the rest of beit el has boomed since those early days-- nearly 7,000 people today. permanent buildings: a supermarket, playgrounds, like any small town. they come from israel, from different countries, many from the u.s. one study estimates 15% of the

settlers in the west bank are american, and they all believe that it is their right to be here. less than a mile from the playgrounds of beit el, palestinian children are at recess at a ramallah school. ramallah is the seat of government for the palestinian authority, and under its control. israeli soldiers control access points to the city and palestinians say soldiers routinely conduct raids-- often in the middle of the night. access to farmland is severely restricted. the job market here is limited. settlements like beit el are built on land the palestinians hope will be part of their future state. the settlements are often a focal point of palestinian anger, leading to clashes with settlers and israeli soldiers who control the lands where the settlements are built. hard-line palestinians still believe all of the west bank. and israel is occupied land that belongs to them. there has been relative calm in

the west bank in recent months, the result of ongoing security co-operation between the palestinian authority and israel. husam zomlot is a senior adviser to palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. he says using violence against jewish settlers is counter- productive. >> we don't hate them. in fact, our histories with jews have been an integral part of our national fabric. what we dislike, however, is occupiers, colonizers, seizures, deniers of our very basic rights. >> reporter: the tense, sometimes violent, status quo that has gone on for decades, defined by the enormous security wall built by israel. it stretches for miles across the west bank. settlers here in beit el, like settlers across the west bank, have often had a very complicated relationship with the united states, often perceived as both protector and enemy at the same time. the obama administration in particular was not seen as a

friend of the settlers. the arrival of donald trump, on the other hand, is being welcomed here in beit el. they are hopeful it is the beginning of a new era. >> bibi and i have known each other for a long time, smart man, great negotiator, and i think we're going to make a deal. >> but netanyahu made his position clear. >> i believe the issue of the settlements is not the core of the conflicts nor does it drive the conflicts. >> reporter: beit el's new yeshiva for jewish studies is reported to have white house connections. david friedman, trump's new ambassador to israel, and his son-in-law, jared kushner, have donated money to this yeshiva. trump has tapped kushner to lead negotiations between israel and the palestinians. the broad parameters of the so-called two-state solution would give most of the west bank to the palestinians for their state. israel would keep the major settlement blocks, which are close to the 1967 border. in exchange, it would give an

equal amount of land to the palestinians. but it would mean dozens of settlements like beit el would need to be evacuated. as many as 70,000 jews live in these areas. the right-wing jewish home party, led by naftali bennett, is part of netanyahu's coalition annexation to bring all the annexation to bring all the settlements under israeli control. it is against the two-state idea, and it pushed through a controversial law giving israel the right to build on private palestinian land, seen by many as a defacto form of annexation. tzachi hanegbi is a senior cabinet minister with close ties to netanyahu. hanegbi insists that the government remains committed to the two-state idea. he says the jewish home party is in the minority. >> the majority of israelis believe that there has to be a solution-- a peaceful solution, which will not include annexation.

>> reporter: on the israeli left, there are deep worries that continued construction will kill any chance for two states. a fear shared by the palestinian leadership. >> we made a painful compromise when we accepted the two-state solution, when we said "okay, we will recognize," and we did recognize israel. on 78% of our historical homeland, we did that. how much more do they want? >> reporter: and ambiguous statements out of the white house about the two-state solution alarm palestinians. >> if you are not going to support the two-state solution, the long held u.s. policy, if you fail to clearly condemn the settlement expansion and the colonial land grab of our land, then you better come up with an alternative for the equal number of population inhabiting this land and the six million palestinians. >> reporter: and for the moment, the two sides have not agreed to even begin negotiations. if you want to understand the division these issues are having

on israeli society, consider the words of hagai ben artsi in beit el, netanyahu's own brother-in- law, against the two-state solution, in favor of the right wing's annexation plan. >> if netanyahu is not courageous enough to make that move, i will support other. >> reporter: a scenario that would lead to confrontation with the palestinians-- certainly politically, on the international stage; possibly a new eruption of violence in the west bank. trump is promising new negotiations and reports in israeli media talk of a u.s.- sponsored summit involving the palestinians, israel and arab leaders. arab states remain committed to the two-state solution in return for recognition of israel. but they would also demand a freeze on all settlement construction. neither israel, the u.s. or any of the other potential players have confirmed that a summit is being planned.

but trump's special representative attended arab league meetings this week. jason greenblatt has had extensive discussions with all sides. he has stated that "the time has come to make a deal." for the pbs newshour, i'm martin seemungal in the west bank. >> woodruff: new fallout today over allegations of sexual harassment at fox news channel. at least nine companies have pulled their ads from the fox news program "the o'reilly factor," after an investigation by the "new york times" revealed five settled lawsuits against its host, bill o'reilly, for alleged inappropriate behavior. last year, a related scandal led to the ouster of then-fox news chairman, roger ailes. to help us catch up on all this, i am joined by michael schmidt, who reported on this for the

"new york times;" and noreen farrell, she's the executive director of the civil rights organization, equal rights advocates. we welcome both of you to the "newshour." willie leemichael schmidt, to y. >> we're up to 14 advertisers. mercedes was the first to go. we're up to 14. fox itself put out a statement saying it's trying to assuage the concerns of its advertisers and the ads have been moved to other shows on the network. they haven't said anything else since our story came out on saturday. >> woodruff: what are the advertisers saying? are they explaining? >> they're not really explaining. they're saying women's issues are very important to us and we need to send this message to our clients, to our customers, and to our employees. but besides that, they don't really want the wade into it. for mercedes, it was a way of getting attention on this issue.

they certainly have been praised a lot by groups that are calling for mr. o'reilly's ouster. >> woodruff: and fox news channel you're saying in large part has just not addressed this? >> correct. for our story we sent them dozens and dozens of questions. they gave us a statement, which we included, in which they said they had addressed these issues with mr. o'reilly. they didn't go any further than that. they didn't answer whether he's been disciplined. since then the only thing they have said is this statement today. they also sent out an e-mail to their staff about how to report in different types of workplace issues that they may have, sort of a reminder to the folks about what to do. >> woodruff: so based on your reporting, any reporting you've been able to do inside fox news organization, can you tell what the reaction is inside? >> well, we've talked to some folks in the newsroom who say people are pretty worked up about this. there are cuts at fox news currently going on, and they want to me why... >> woodruff: job cuts? >> job cuts.

they want to know why the money is going to pay these women, these millions and millions of dollars that have gone out the door and people there are losing their jobs. they're also disheartened by the fact this is another issue for the network. as you remember last summer, roger ailes was sued by one of the hosts, and it was a real scandalous network. they had to get more ailes. they thought they had put that behind them. there was an internal investigation. the company pledged to clean itself up. once again they're facing these issues. >> woodruff: noreen farrell, i'm going to turn to you now. how common is the kind of thing we're hearing and these accusations from these women? >> you know, unfortunately it's incredibly common. i think that sexual harassment very much remains the price of a paycheck for women across the country in hundreds of industries, no matter if they're a low-wage worker or high-wage worker, which we've seen a lot of news about. i think this reporting really shows the pattern, not just of

multiple complaints within a company, but how often one person can receive many complaints and remain in the grace of a company, like many o'reilly. >> woodruff: based on "the new york times" reporting, none of these women who made these charges, legally raised these charges against bill o'reilly, and then the cases were sended, have gone on to work in television news again. in other words, it had an impact on their livelihood. is that something you typically see? what do you see in that regard? >> you know, i think when people talk about sexual harassment, they minimize it to a particular occurrence or one day or a bad act. but what we've seen from the fact that these women are not in tv news is that it can impact the entire trajectory of somebody's career, which has an incredibly chilling effect on more women stepping forward. so from our perspective, the fact that these women are no longer in the industry is as problematic as the fact that they were harassed in the first place, but clearly retaliation

and blacklisting is in play, not just in news but in many industries. >> woodruff: the other question that is on all of our minds, what advice is there for women at whatever stage of that career, if they encounter, if a woman encounters sexual harassment or man for that matter, what is the right recourse, because for these women, the fear that we know about, the outcome wasn't good. i mean, they lost their job. >> i think that especially "the new york times" article revealed the power of the collective. if you're alone, you feel like you're an isolated incident, but if you talk about what's happening to you, not just to human resources departments which sometimes don't escalate the problem as they should, as you saw with uber, but if you also talk to you colleague, if you document what's happening, if you seek legal help from organizations to help you with your claims and whether or not you should go forward, these are all things that women should do

at any stage of their career, but most especially as they enter the workplace and are trying to navigate what sometimes are often hostile workplaces. >> woodruff: i should say they lose their jobs, but of course they've experienced the trauma of what they have gone to. michael schmidt, what is the fox policy toward women or men who raise their hand and say, i've been sexually harassed, something has happened to me? >> well, what facebook would say is now if there are issues we would want to know about them. we want to investigate them, and we want to protect those that come forward to make these accusations. the problem is that fox has a history of not doing that. so women don't feel secure coming forward to do that, and they don't... they look at a story like ours and they see what's happened to other folks, and they say, i don't want to come forward and make a complaint. this is too risky for me to do. >> woodruff: noreen farrell, in terms of companies, employers having policies to address sexual harassment, how out in

the open is that typically when somebody goes to work at someplace? is that the kind of question people should be asking? >> well, you know what happens with these policies. they get thrown in a drawer and they gather dust. i think if you have all the policies in the world are great if they're on paper, but the problem is when you're giving your high performers, the leaders of your company a free pass again and again in a very public way, the message is that it doesn't really matter what our policies say. sexual harassment is tolerated in this workplace, and that's really damaging to the culture of a workplace. >> woodruff: and you're saying that's the message that's being sent here? >> without a doubt. >> woodruff: michael schmidt of the "new york times," noreen farrell, thank you very much. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: now, a look at whether having cameras in the classroom can protect children with disabilities, who can be targets for bullying, as well as subject to abuse by teachers. but cameras raise their own issues. special correspondent kavitha cardoza, with our partner "education week," traveled to keller, texas, to see how a recently-implemented law is playing out, for our weekly series, "making the grade." >> reporter: breggett rideau watches her son terrence during his weekly therapy session. horseback riding helps him improve his balance, muscle tone and confidence. >> i've never seen my son ride on a horse where he wasn't smiling! >> reporter: terrence is 21, but developmentally, he's about two or three. >> this is a picture of little t. when he was just a few weeks old, few days old, he just came out smiling. >> reporter: breggett says terrence was always a happy little boy. then in middle school, she noticed a change. >> i noticed he would cry out

for no reason, just cry out. tears, and i'm like, "what's wrong?" stomach ache? i had no idea. >> reporter: there were unexplained injuries. a bump on his head. a broken thumb, a dislocated knee. the keller school district began investigating, and an classroom aide came forward to substantiate some of bregett's concerns. >> everyone started telling me what that teacher had done. he had dropped him too many times to count. i found out he had slammed terrence against the wall. i had no clue. >> reporter: the rideaus were awarded a $1 million jury settlement. the keller school district is appealing, and declined to speak to us for this story. but breggett wasn't done. an aspiring jazz singer, she put her career on hold and began a campaign to install cameras in special education classrooms. she testified in front of the texas house and senate, saying cameras would have prevented the abuse. >> my child counts. children like mine count, too.

>> reporter: in 2015, texas agreed. it became the first state in the country to require cameras in special education classrooms, if requested. ron hager is with the national disabilities rights network. he says children with intellectual disabilities are far more likely to be abused. >> students with disabilities make up about 12% of the student population. they've been subjected to about 70% of the restraints and seclusions, so it's a huge disparity. they are very vulnerable. >> reporter: ryder warren is the superintendent of a nearby school district. he agrees with the law. >> the mantra of our school district is we put kids first. my primary job is to protect children, and right after that, my job is to protect the adults that are in the buildings, especially our classroom teachers. >> reporter: under the current law, teachers cannot opt out. neither can parents of other children with special needs. this could lead to privacy concerns. >> that's been an issue with some parents, that... their need

for their kids not to be under constant supervision with that camera. i've heard some comments about that. i've really not had any comments from teachers. >> reporter: the bigger issue for him is cost. under the new law, if even one parent requests a camera, every special education classroom in the entire district has to have one. that would probably cost to the tune of over $600,000. that is just an astronomical time and expense. >> reporter: what would you say to the texas legislature? >> pay for it. >> reporter: adam feind is in charge of technology for the district. the cost of cameras is just the start. >> a camera like this is about $800. however, we have to take into account the video storage, the wiring, the cost of installing, the cost of operations. >> reporter: samantha crane is with the autistic self-advocacy network.

she opposes cameras in classrooms. >> parents can't get access to that footage unless they know something's happened. they have to be able to say, "i would like footage from this day," and ideally, "from this particular time of day." so parents might think everything is fine, everything's being tape-recorded, but they're still not getting the information they need to know if their child is safe. >> reporter: crane worries abuse may go underground, and take resources away from education. instead, several disability advocacy groups say they would rather see more special education students in mainstream classrooms, more teacher training, and more background checks for staff. it isn't clear whether cameras will actually protect students. a lot depends on how the technology is implemented and monitored. for example, last year, after the cameras were installed in terrence's classroom, breggett rideau noticed he looked troubled, so she asked to review the footage. terrence starts choking, and then eight minutes of the tape is missing.

breggett believes the tape was manipulated, and is urging for systems that would protect the footage. still, she believes cameras are the best way to protect children. >> because it's the only voice for a child that can't talk. it's that simple. >> reporter: she spends her time helping other parents advocate. >> my phone was blowing up from canada. from canada to florida to north carolina. we all have a child that's vulnerable. >> reporter: bregett has gone back to work part-time, but takes her fight for her son's safety along with her. >> i have a special-needs son who was hurt at school. it almost killed me, but i'm still here. so this song, i hope explains how i feel. >> reporter: the title? "here's to life." >> ♪ i still have learned all you give is all you get ♪ so give it all you got

>> reporter: i'm kavitha cardoza of "education week," for the pbs newshour. >> ♪ so here's to life >> woodruff: can writing be taught, or is it an inherent gift that some of us have and others don't? that is at the heart of the of national book award winner colum mccann's newest work, the latest addition to the "newshour bookshelf." jeffrey brown talked with him at this year's conference of the association of american writers and writing programs, here in washington, d.c. >> brown: so what is this book, "letters to a young writer?" what are you doing? >> i was asked to have an online presence by my publisher, and i thought, "i don't really want to do that." but then i said, "well, maybe every week i'll post a little bit of advice to a young writer," and it sort of took off. and i did it every week for 52

weeks last year, so they decided, "well, we're going to put it out as a little book." and i think it's the sort of thing i would've have liked to have gotten myself as a younger writer, but i don't always follow my own advice. >> brown: well, you teach, right? so you're used to sort of talking about these things. >> yes, and i love teaching. and there's always that debate about whether you can teach writing or not. but i think i teach, i hope i teach the virtue of fire and stamina and desire and perseverance. i'm not so sure that i can teach people how to, you know, write dialogue or create plot or anything like that. but if i can get them and grab them by the scruff of the neck and say "you can do this," and if i see that fire in their eyes, that's when i think i know a writer. >> brown: did you have a reader in mind? >> no, i suppose i had my younger self back when i had hair and i was typing away and was getting all sorts of

rejection letters. >> brown: what did you say to yourself? >> i said, "you better behave yourself, you better learn." you know, i talk in the book about these romantic notions like drinking and drug use. i also talk about plot, i talk about characterization, i talk about empathy, i talk about behaving yourself and not behaving yourself. and really i want the younger writer to know that he or she is powerful in this world, but they can't come indoors, they can't close the curtains, they can't lock themselves away from the world and say nothing. >> brown: you know, just to give people a little flavor of what you're doing, you address the old "write what you know," right? so you say", don't write what you know, write toward what you want to know." now explain that. >> ultimately you can only ever write what you know. it's logically and philosophically impossible to write what you don't know. however, if you sort of see

yourself writing into a space that you don't always recognize, you sometimes learn things that you knew, but weren't entirely aware of. and it's very liberating for a writer to go into a space where she or he has not gone before because instead of being a tourist, you're like an explorer now, and you're sort of lost in this new idea and you have to >> brown: another area: character. knowing your character, details that you won't write about. but you write about these people so intimately. i like what you said, "not just what she had for breakfast, but what she wanted for breakfast." >> right, right. i call that the literary slice of bacon in the morning-- not just what they had, but what they really, truly wanted to have. so if you know your character very well, you will know both of these things. >> brown: well, one other area of the advice: structure. you talk about the organization of a piece of writing and e importance of that.

>> structure can be really problematic. if you have a structure beforehand, you're sort of stuffing your story into a pre- assembled box. you don't want that to happen. what you want in your writing is to have a sort of wildness that occurs. and then, out of the wildness, a structure emerges and then you start to sort of... it's really towards the end of the novel that most writers sort of say, "ah-ha, that's actually how i'm structuring this thing." so you don't want to be too aware beforehand of what it is you want to say or do. >> brown: but that's interesting because that sort of goes to everything that you're saying in some ways, right? >> so much of what i do, so much of what we do as writers operates on the fume of a gut >> a lot of people think that writers are a lot cleverer than they actually are. no, they're not. but they're emotionally clever, and they go into a character and they feel something that they weren't entirely aware of beforehand. >> brown: how do you know when you're encountering good writing yourself?

>> you know because when you walk outside and you're about to be hit by a bus-- which i call the bus theory-- and the bus misses you, you say "thank god" because all i wanted to do was finish my novel before the bus hit me. listen, when i finish my novel, the bus can hit me all at once. and that's when you know you're doing something relatively good. >> brown: i want to go back to this larger question of engagement with the larger culture. it's been a sort of discussion in american writing for a long time, about how engaged writers are or internal, too internalized at times. what do you see today, especially in the younger writers that you're working with? >> personally, i like the social novel. i like the writing that gets in and under the hood and looks at what's going on. but i don't say to any writer that that's exactly what they should do. i mean, it's like the difference between whitman and dickinson, emily dickinson. whitman was big and expansive and engaged and political and democratic and wrote beautifully. and dickinson came indoors.

it was small, it was intimate and whispering in your ear. both incredibly powerful. >> brown: all right, "letters to a young writer." colum mccann, thank you very much. >> thank you so much. >> woodruff: bring it on. we always need more advice about writing. that is the "newshour" for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. on wednesday, our "leading edge" series looks at the growing number of deer, coupled with the rise of ticks and lyme disease. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> our tradition has been to take care of mother earth, because it's that that gives us water that gives us life. the land is here for everyone. >> bnsf railway.

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. >> rose: welcome to the plam. we begin this evening with gillian tett from "the financial times," one of the three people who interviewed president trump on friday. >> a lot of people would say what could the u.s. go it alone. could the u.s. take military action to contain a nuclear threat from north korea. the answer is at the moment not easily or no without a huge loss of life on the korean peninsula. could the u.s. be sanctions to -- in north korea. it has been trying to do that for some time, it has not worked. so there aren't any easy options for the u.s. to go it alone. >> rose: we continue this evening with dr. siddhartha meuk hedgy who rose a fascinating article in the musical-- new york magazine for ai and m dks. >> for me it raises the whole question of diagnosis. you know, where are we going