captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: activists campaigning to abolish nuclear weapons win the nobel peace prize, amid heightened tensions between the u.s. and north korea. then, the trump administration rolls back an obama-era birth control mandate, now allowing employers to refuse contraception coverage to hundreds of thousands of women. also ahead, we continue our "america addicted" series with a trip to rhode island, where former drug users are leading the battle against the opioid crisis. >> there are over 24 million americans in this country who have overcome addiction, and i really think we should just turn to them and simply ask: "how did you guys do it?"

>> woodruff: and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks are here to talk the political fallout from the mass shooting in las vegas, and tensions between president trump and his secretary of state. 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. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: a tiny group that works to prevent nuclear war is this year's winner of the nobel peace prize.

the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, based in geneva, was honored today. the announcement in oslo, norway, cited north korea's actions that have sparked verbal assaults from president trump. >> we live in a world where the risk for nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time. some states are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and there is a real danger that more countries will try to procure nuclear weapons, as exemplified by north korea. >> woodruff: for more on the work of the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, or icann, i'm joined by john burroughs. he is the executive director of the lawyers committee on nuclear policy, a group that has worked closely with icann. john burroughs, welcome to the program. what is this winning this nobel peace prize mean for the work

that you do? >> it brings much more attention, of course. it's really going to give momentum to getting states to join the treaty. it will be a real boost for icann in its work and, hopefully, it will refocus attention on the terrible risks posed by nuclear weapons and the very real possibilities of moving forward to a world without them. >> woodruff: but when you have the nine countries that are known to have nuclear weapons refusing to sign this treaty to abolish them and saying they're not going to change their mind, how do you make progress? >> right. it was quite a spectacle at the u.n. this past summer. over 120 countries, mostly countries from the global south like mexico, brazil, south africa, joined by some european countries austria, ireland, were

saying enough is enough. there hasn't been progress on reducing and eliminating nuclear arse necessarily -- arsenals. we are going to show the way by negotiating this treaty. at a minimum, it is a powerful statement of expectations that the countries that have them must stop relying on them, must stop threatening to use them and must move toward their elimination. at a maximum, it provides and it is intended to provide a framework for global nuclear disarmament. it provides pathways for nuclear armed states to join the treaty by agreeing to the verified, irreversible disarmament of their arsenals. >> woodruff: yet all this is taking place in realtime as north korea, we are see ago regime that looks at nuclear weapons as absolutely essential for its survival, and then the united states, president trump, looking at north korea and

saying, you make a false move and we're going to come back at you, we're going to come at you. how do you inject this argument into what's going on in practical terms right now? >> it's absolutely a contrast what you described. the spirit of the negotiations and of the group icann that played a major role in this entire effort is one of we must look to humanitarian values, we must realize that the consequences of use of just one nuclear weapon in a city are totally unacceptable. tens, hundreds of thousands or even more lives lost, so that was a constant theme, the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and the desire to live in a world without that

threat, and part of the approach was to say we are rejecting a view of the world in which you talk about nuclear weapons in terms of security and deterrence. we want to have a human-centered view of the world. >> woodruff: but do you, in essence, john burroughs, have to give up on the idea of making progress in the short term? >> no, and the reason i say that is that this treaty, first of all, once it is entered into force in the next year or two, it's going to exert a lot of pressure on countries that are allies of the united states, particularly in europe and also in the pacific, to say we -- the republics are already saying you should join this treaty. so, but to do so they would have to renounce reliance on u.s.

nuclear umbrella, but it also can stimulate the nuclear armed states to take steps that are very well known so that they could move closer to the abolition of nuclear weapons. >> woodruff: so quickly, to those who would look at what you're doing and saying this is well-meaning, well-intentioned but it's not practical, what's the answer? >> the answer is we have to think about the world in new ways and, you know, one of the inspiring things about icann is it was really a young movement, and they were saying we want to think about the world we're going to live in, in terms of humanitarian values protecting human rights. >> woodruff: john burroughs with the lawyers committee on nuclear policy, a group that worked with the organization icann and today was the recipient of the nobel peace prize. john burroughs, thanks very

much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and in a piece of related news, the white house would not confirm or deny that president trump will de-certify the iran nuclear deal before the october 15 deadline. it is being widely reported that he will take that step, and leave it to congress to re-impose sanctions. white house press secretary sarah sanders says mr. trump is evaluating what she calls "all the bad behavior of iran." >> not just the nuclear deal as bad behavior, but the ballistic missile testing. destabilizing of the region. number one state sponsor of terrorism. cyber attacks. illicit nuclear program. he wants to look for a broad strategy that addresses all of those problems. not just one-offing those. >> woodruff: the president says that tehran has violated the spirit of the agreement, if not the actual provisions. hurricanes harvey and irma have dealt a temporary blow to the u.s. job market. the storms shuttered thousands

of businesses and forced evacuations in texas and florida last month. as a result, the labor department reports the economy shed 33,000 jobs in september. even so, the unemployment rate improved; it fell to 4.2%, its lowest level since 2001. a new storm warning is up for louisiana, mississippi and alabama tonight, ahead of tropical storm nate. it is on track to brush past mexico's yucatan peninsula tonight, then strike the u.s. late saturday, as a hurricane. people along louisiana's shoreline are already stockpiling supplies and trying to protect power lines. officials are hoping the storm will pass quickly, limiting its total rainfall. vice president mike pence got his first up-close look at the hurricane damage in puerto rico today, and vowed that more help is on the way. he first toured the destruction in the u.s. virgin islands, then

went on to san juan. he told a church congregation that the federal government is in it "for the long haul." >> when one part of america cries out for help, we all come together. and i believe in my heart, when the history of this time and this crisis is recorded, this will be a chapter when americans stood by americans and delivered on that promise. >> woodruff: president trump visited puerto rico earlier in the week, amid criticism that the federal response had been too slow. another u.s. commando has been found dead in the african nation of niger. the pentagon says he was killed wednesday, along with three other special operations troops, in an ambush by islamist extremists. the americans were patrolling with soldiers from niger. army sergeant bowe bergdahl is expected to plead guilty to desertion for leaving his post in afghanistan in 2009.

the associated press reports that he'll also admit to a charge of "misbehavior before the enemy." taliban militants held bergdahl hostage for five years, before he was freed in a prisoner swap. he is 31 now, and could face life in a military prison. las vegas police say they still don't know the motive behind sunday night's mass shooting that left 58 dead. today, the county under-sheriff kevin mcmahill said investigators are having trouble getting a fix on stephen paddock. >> in the past terror attacks or mass murder incidents, motive was made very clear, very clear in most of those cases, by a note that was left. by a social media post. by a telephone call that was made. by investigators mining computer data. today in our investigation, we don't have any of that uncovered. i wish we did. >> woodruff: paddock killed himself as police closed in on his location.

australia today ended a three- month amnesty for turning in illegal firearms. the government says the public turned in 51,000 weapons, to be destroyed, and prime minister malcolm turnbull says the country's gun laws have prevented mass killings. australia enacted strict curbs after a gunman killed 35 people in tasmania back in 1996. u.s. attorney general jeff sessions today ordered federal government agencies to put new emphasis on religious freedom, even if it means overriding civil rights protections. those could include same-sex marriage, transsexual rights and equal opportunity provisions for women and others. civil liberties groups responded right away, charging that the new rule could lead to discrimination. wall street was little changed today. the dow jones industrial average lost one point to close at 22,773. the nasdaq rose four points, and

the s&p 500 slipped two. still to come on the newshour: schools providing desperately- needed services in storm-damaged puerto rico. in memoriam: remembering the victims of the las vegas shooting. former opioid addicts go out on the streets to use their own experience to help others. and, much more. >> woodruff: the trump administration today announced a change in health care policy that could affect hundreds of thousands of womens' access to contraception. lisa desjardins explains. >> reporter: these new rules about contraception policy are long, 163 pages. read through it and there are two key points. one: this takes effect immediately. two: now, most employers can be exempted from providing birth control coverage for their workers, if they have either

religious or moral objections. this is part of a pledge the president made to conservatives. >> for too long, the federal government has used the power of the state as a weapon against people of faith. >> reporter: under the affordable care act, contraception must be covered as preventive care, and must be no-cost to patients. more than 60 million american women ages 15 to 44 use contraception, and for them, obamacare has meant it is covered and free. it has also been a hot topic in court. the supreme court ruled in 2014 that hobby lobby and private, family or closely-owned businesses could also drop coverage, but did not rule on under today's rules, essentially all employers with objections can drop contraceptive coverage. for female employees, it would go from no-cost to full retail cost. how many people would be affected? not clear. the health and human services

says 160,000. women's health groups say it could be much higher. those on the right say this does not block access to contraception-- it just means it will not be free. those on the left argue that for low-income women, adding cost does block access. the trump administration says it changed the rule, in part, to end lawsuits from those who say it attacks religious rights. but already there are new lawsuits from the a.c.l.u. and others who say it attacks women's rights. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: progress remains painfully slow for residents of puerto rico. two weeks after hurricane maria, only slightly more than half the island has access to clean drinking water. just 11% have electric power. those two statistics disappeared from the federal emergency management website yesterday--

but after criticism, were restored today. tonight, special correspondent monica villamizar and producer jon gerberg have the story of one school, in a working class community, just outside san juan. ♪ ♪ >> ( translated ): as puerto ricans, we tend to keep a positive attitude. in spite of everything happening around us, we believe in god, and i think this has united us as a people. >> reporter: when the local school in carolina announced its opening wednesday, hundreds flocked to its gates. they did not want to inquire about class, they wanted food. in the wake of hurricane maria, and the massive toll it's taken here, the jose severo quinones public school now serves as a food bank, health clinic, and child care facility. it is among 22 public schools, out of 1,100, that government hs started opening for extra curricular activities.

yuliza de jesus sanchez, a gym teacher here, now brings her daughter in for group mentoring. >> ( translated ): not every child expresses sadness by crying. i see my daughter is sad. she is sad not to be in school sharing with her friends. >> ( translated ): every day i get up and get dressed to go to school, but this is the only school i can go to, i have nothing else. >> reporter: yulimar, yuliza's daughter, is enrolled in another school, still closed. she remains without water or electricity in her home, like most students in this area, where nine in ten are from low income families. yulimar is a budding guitar player. and when she played her favorite song, the teachers had an idea: >> ( translated ): they said, "hey, lets take the melody and write our own lyrics to the song, to sing about what is happening in puerto rico and motivate the community, to make people happy." it means "in spite of all the bad stuff happening, if we work together, we can accomplish

anything." ♪ ♪ >> reporter: there are no classes going on here, but inside the rooms, you find youth activities, food distribution, and psychological support for children, and for adults. in communities in need, these schools have become the backbone for the whole neighborhood. each morning now, adults outside queue up for a variety of services from the red cross. some patients have infections or other symptoms from the storm. many have lost their medicines. some drugs, like insulin, need refrigeration-- a rarity on an island that remains 90% without power. luciana roman almost died when her insulin levels rose five times the normal level, after her medications were destroyed in the storm. >> ( translated ): i had some coffee and two biscuits and came here. i haven't eaten anything else today. i'm supposed to eat another meal, but there is nothing in

the stores here. i came to get the blood checked because i felt bad. >> reporter: just as important, says red cross volunteer edward fankhanel, are the mental health services. >> people are still a little bit in shock, and they're still trying to process what's going on. and then they have to face reality, that some don't have a house, don't have food for today. so those are physical things that they need to address immediately, that affect their emotional states. >> reporter: outside, residents wait in the hot sun for food. marisol vasquez says she lost everything during the hurricane. now she has set her sights on a brighter, permanent future beyond the island, in florida: >> ( translated ): i'm going to call my family to send me a plane ticket because aid is just not getting here. everything is delayed. >> reporter: principal daixa irizarry is a 40-year resident of carolina. along with looking after the kids, she is working with the community to organize aid

distribution. meanwhile, local residents continue to arrive, famished and i ill health. she says the food lines and desperation have made an impact. >> ( translated ): my soul is shattered. this is the hidden face of puerto rico. i've been a principle at this school for ten years, and i know my community well. i saw such poverty yesterday. i want the government to come here and see what i saw, old people, 80 years at least, on walkers, looking for food. people eating with their hands frantically. this is a very different puerto rico. >> reporter: puerto rico education secretary julia keleher wants a swift return to class, and she's set a deadline two weeks away. >> we have the experience and practice. we know how to do it. and the shelters aren't preventing us from coming back online. i just will temporarily locate those students in a different school building. the issue that would prevent 100% being back online is the access to electricity.

>> reporter: but keleher and her staff are still unable to reach some rural schools that remain completely cut off. >> at some point, we're going to have to kind of start walking again, despite the fact that our muscles are a little sore. and i get that. and there's a lot of respect for the human experience of this. but my responsibility is making sure that the kids in the island of puerto rico have access to a high quality education. and i came here to transform the system. >> reporter: keleher visited the carolina school herself, and her team delivered pamphlets to school administrators on how to deal with returning students suffering from trauma from the hurricane. but principal irizarry says the needs of her community are more basic, and more urgent. >> ( translated ): we were given an instruction manual, and we were told, by the way, that we were going to receive aid from the state department. i asked the secretary of education personally, that we urgently needed help with some teachers who had been severely affected and were entering a critical phase. some needed insulin, some lost

their homes. we have to meet the children's needs, but also the teachers. we were told the health department would come. they didn't. >> reporter: so for now, despite the long road ahead, irizarry is focussing where she can. she remains determined meet government requirements, and classes are set to begin here next week, alongside other community services. >> ( translated ): schools are where everything begins. the seeds for the future are planted in schools. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: healing the community with food, with health, and with song. for the pbs newshour, i'm monica villamizar, in carolina, puerto rico.

>> woodruff: next, we return to our remembrances of the 58 people murdered in las vegas last sunday, when a gunman fired into the crowd at a country music concert. as more stories of heroism emerge, so do clearer pictures of the victims' lives. here are ten more. lisa romero-muniz was in las vegas to celebrate her wedding anniversary. her husband had forgotten last year's and took her on the trip, determined to make up for it. she was "beyond excited" her friend remembered. the 48-year old was a high school secretary from gallup, new mexico. colleagues recalled her warmth with students. "she would talk to them like she was talking to her own children." 61-year-old brett schwanbeck loved to get "lost out in the middle of the woods," said his son. but for the retired truck driver from bullhead city, arizona, family was always the most important. "he would drive 500 miles to help you if you needed it," his niece wrote.

33-year old rachael parker had been with the manhattan beach police department in california for ten years. she often worked the front desk at the station, and was usually the first person people saw coming in. "rachael's smile could light up a room, even on the most difficult of days," the department wrote. sandy casey also worked in manhattan beach. the 35-year old was a special education teacher for nearly a decade. "she was a person who brings light wherever she is," said the school district's superintendant. bailey schweitzer was just 20 years old. she graduated from high school in 2015, and was working as a receptionist for a consulting company in bakersfield, california. her boss called her a "ray of sunshine." "no one could possibly have a bad day when bailey was around." austin meyer was in las vegas to celebrate his 24th birthday and an upcoming anniversary with his

fiancee. "he had dreams of opening his own auto repair shop after graduation," his sister said. "he was excited to get married and start a family." 26-year-old melissa ramirez was just two years out of college and was recently promoted at a car insurance company where she worked. she grew up in a close-knit family and used weekends to drive back to her home to be with her parents. "she just wanted to be there," her cousin said. jessica klymchuk came from alberta, canada. the 34-year-old was an educational assistant, librarian and a bus driver. "when we were on the bus, and we were down, she would cheer us up," one student said. 40-year old candice bowers, a mother of three, always put her children before herself, her family said. she was at the concert for a rare weekend off to see her favorite musician, jason aldean. she "left this world doing what she loved, dancing to country

music among loved ones," her family wrote. and 50-year-old laura shipp was at the concert with her son, corey, a 23-year-old marine, who survived. she was the "most important person in his life," her brother said. "she was his world and he was hers." >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: mark shields and david brooks weigh in on another full week of news. a mother opens up about her own self-realization as she dealt with her son's addiction. but first, we continue with our look at the opioid crisis. tonight, the difficulty of getting people into treatment. in december, congress earmarked

$1 billion for states to fight the addiction crisis over the next two years. many treatment facilities still lack resources so services often aren't available when needed. william brangham recently traveled to rhode island, to see a program that deploys former drug users to the front lines. it's part of our ongoing series, "america addicted." >> i lived down here for years, on the street. >> brangham: lived right here? >> i did, yep. >> brangham: 30-year-old jonathan goyer has spent more than half his life addicted to drugs. >> i struggled with opiates and addiction of cocaine, of benzo's, such as xanax, klonopin, ativan, struggled with alcohol, struggled with crystal meth, bath salts, hallucinogenics, tranquilizers. >> brangham: that's a hell of a menu. >> it is. >> i planned on dying. that was my plan. so i continued to use drugs until hopefully death arrived at my doorstep. >> brangham: 32-year-old roxanne

newman also spent years on the street, addicted. >> i've had people, when they want to hurt me, they'll say, you know, "you're a junkie. you're a crack head. you're a prostitute. you're a hooker." >> brangham: but today, after long and difficult roads, goyer and newman are both clean. and now, they're helping others battle their own addiction. >> have you thought about treatment? >> brangham: they call themselves recovery coaches. they work for a group called anchor recovery in pawtucket, rhode island. it's a government-funded program started in 2010. the idea here is that people who've struggled with addiction themselves, and specifically opioids, are uniquely qualified to connect with those who are still struggling, and to show them that another life is possible. >> how i do i convey that we used the same drugs, shared the same needles, walked the same street, got high in the same

house? like, how do i convey to this person that they can do it? if i can do it, you can do it. >> there's six of us here, so we're going to break off into groups of two. >> brangham: we spent a few days with goyer and his team to see how they work, and to see whether this approach, which is currently being studied by the federal government, can actually put a dent in the opioid crisis. we went with them when they visited overdose victims in emergency rooms. when they went to recovery meetings, like narcotics anonymous. even when they just met with people on the streets of rhode island. >> you got enough narcan? >> brangham: ryan duxbury-- that's him in the plaid shirt-- is another recovery coach. he's a former opioid addict who used to come and use drugs in this same part of town. today, he's handing out narcan, the emergency life-saving drug that can instantly reverse an opioid overdose. >> we are not healthcare workers.

we are trying to approach people as another human being, as a peer, as on the same level. there's no, "i'm not up here, you're not down here," we're just on the same level. >> brangham: duxbury says giving out narcan saves lives for sure, but these interactions are also about making connections, so that if and when someone wants to get clean, they know where to turn. >> here's my number, so can call anytime. >> brangham: do you have any sense of how many people from this street interaction that you guys have gotten into treatment? >> so in just the last year and a half, we've gotten over 400 people into... off the streets, into either detox or long-term residential treatment. >> brangham: 400 patients? >> over 400 people. >> brangham: with how many staff members? >> we started with two, and we're up to six. >> brangham: goyer says this is the power of deploying people who have walked the walk, who know what active addiction is really like, and what it takes to get out. >> there are over 24 million americans in this country who have overcome addiction.

and i really think we should just turn to them and simply ask: "how did you guys do it?" >> brangham: jonathan goyer only did it after going to detox 38 times, suffering a near-fatal heroin overdose, and finally, using what's considered the gold standard: medically assisted treatment-- that's methadone or other replacement drugs like suboxone or vivitrol. we visited with him and his mom at his place in providence. >> brangham: as you start slipping into addiction, you start disappearing from the family pictures? >> absolutely, including even family christmases that i couldn't make it to. >> brangham: his father died from a overdose in 2004; his brother followed a few years later. >> jonathan-- is it, goyer? >> brangham: at the depth of his own addiction just five years ago, this was him standing before a judge after crashing a stolen car, high on hallucinogenic bath salts. >> when my mother saw me on the news the next day, instead of being shocked that i was

arrested, or embarrassed, she was relieved, because she knew i was alive. that's where drug addiction brought me, and that's where it brought her as well, too. >> brangham: goyer says it was his overdose that finally drove him to change. >> i woke up in a emergency room, and i was offered a second chance at life. here's what i've done with it. >> brangham: emergency rooms are in fact another place where anchor recovery sends its coaches-- people like george o'toole. o'toole also spent many years as an addict, committed 26 felonies, and did more than 20 years in prison. hoping to reach other active users at this crucial moment, o'toole now coordinates with every hospital in rhode island so that when an overdose victim comes in, anchor is alerted and a coach is sent to the hospital. when that coach arrives at the bedside, hopefully, a conversation begins. >> we don't expect everybody to leave this hospital and never

use again. >> brangham: it's not like a bedside transformation. >> absolutely not. it takes time. it takes work. because, everybody's pathway to recovery is different. >> brangham: roxanne newman is one of those coaches who goes to the hospital to meet with addicts at their bedsides, and seeing her now, at church on sunday, married to a cop, mother to a little girl, it's hard to believe she overdosed at least 20 times in her many years addicted to cocaine and heroin. she says, even with what she calls her "ph.d in addiction," that bedside pitch is never easy. >> first of all, when i'm walking in, i pray, because i know that this moment is bigger than me. i let them know i actually work at the hospital that i had my experience of my last overdose. >> brangham: the hospital that you last overdosed at you now go to? what does that feel like? >> well, i feel blessed to be

able to walk in because when i tell somebody, "i've woken up in this bed before." >> brangham: literally. >> literally. "i've been in this room. i've been in your position. i know exactly how you feel at this moment." >> i think that moment is the most important thing. when people say, "yes, i want treatment," it has to be available, because it may only be a moment. >> brangham: kimberly johnson is one of the nation's top experts on drug addiction and mental health. she directs the federal government's center for substance abuse treatment, and she's currently studying the anchor program in rhode island. >> one of the places that we are struggling with is the whole counseling piece. if we have to have everybody that's masters-level trained counselors, we aren't going to have enough people to do it. so that is a critical role for recovery coaches, is to help people navigate the system and get the services and the care that they need when they need it. >> the right treatment is really whatever treatment that person is willing to accept at that time. >> brangham: jonathan goyer says recovery coaches are crucial for navigating the system, but often what the coaches have to offer comes down to what kind of insurance the patients have, and

what kind of treatment they can afford. treatment options range from short-term detox programs and various levels of counseling; it can be residential inpatient treatment, which can last a few days to a few months. it can be intensive outpatient programs, like this one that meets 15 hours a week. or, various medically-assisted treatments, such as this methadone clinic. but openings in all these places are scarce, at the very moment when the demand is growing. rhode island has seen a 90% increase in overdose deaths in the last five years.

>> brangham: one message often repeated at anchor is that the paths to recovery vary widely. for ryan duxbury, the coach we >> brangham: roxanne newman says she did three court-ordered stints at intensive outpatient programs. none of them really worked. she says ongoing counseling, along with the support of her church, and her husband, even her long runs, is what keeps her from relapsing. she met her husband, major mike newman, who's the number two at the pawtucket police force, just after she'd gotten clean, and was a waitress in a diner he often went to. >> it was funny because whenever he would come in, none of the other waitresses could have the table. it was like an unspoken rule. "this is my table. you can't touch my table." >> brangham: on their first date, she said that, like a lot of people in recovery, she had to have a frank conversation about her past, like the fact that she was being treated for hepatitis c. >> now, i'm explaining to somebody who i could potentially engage in a sexual relationship with, that, "i have, you know, an infectious disease that i got because i used to shoot heroin when i was a prostitute on the streets of providence. can you pass me the salt?" you know? ( laughter )

>> brangham: how'd he take it? >> mike, which i love most about him, one of his key little statements is, "people are not throw-away." i could cry. he didn't see that i had been a junkie and all these things. he saw, he told me later, someone that was trying so hard to get out of this situation. >> brangham: for jonathan goyer, he credits a 90-day stay, paid for by a federal grant that no longer exists, at this residential treatment facility that got him clean. he went on methadone after that, and now goes to regular counseling. but, he says he's alive today mainly because of his mom, a woman he stole from, lied to, and forced to spend countless worried nights. but she never gave up on him.

>> i knew from his childhood. and everything that we had been through together. that inside there was a good person. >> brangham: goyer says his life is living proof that recovery is possible for anyone. >> statistically, i'm supposed to be dead, i'm supposed to be in jail. but yet i'm out, i'm here. i'm able to make amends for the devastation caused by my active addiction. i'm a tax payer, i got my drivers license back. >> brangham: you're a legit citizen. >> that's what they tell me. it's so crazy to me. >> brangham: anchor recovery says it will expand in the coming months, bringing on more recovery coaches. its model is also being examined by several other states, who want to replicate it. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham, in rhode island.

>> woodruff: and, to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. gentlemen, welcome. i was going to go straight to las vegas, but, mark, i am again struck by these moving stories this last one by william about people struggling with addiction. >> no, every one of them, judy, william tonight, paul solman last night. putting a human face on it, not simply the affliction and the problem, but -- and the recovery. mony, the gravity of the problem is driven home to you, but the hope for recovery is presented. >> woodruff: we have a lot of emergencies, i guess, david, to deal with, but this is clearly one. >> the scene of roxanne newman with her date on the first date, the spirit with which she told that story and her husband's grace -- her now husband's grace is remarkable. her point which you hear over and over again is it's just a

slow motion form of suicide. you have to see it. first the heroism, the people trying to deal with recover, but the social chasm that causes it. suicide is just the symptom of isolation and tearing the social fabric has created so many problems for society but this is the one that is the most lethal. >> woodruff: speaking of lethal and social fabric, mark, las vegas has been on all of our minds this week, the worst mass shooting in american history. what does it say about our country, about the american people? >> well, it says, again, that we have a problem that the rest off the world doesn't face, has dealt with in a different way. it, quite frankly, judy, is beyond my comprehension at this point. i mean, we as a people, if you think about it, over the last generation, have made such enormous strides in the changes we've made. for example, alcohol-related

driving deaths are down by 85%. a generation ago, people took for granted smoking in hospitals, in schools, in offices in stores, and we've -- and put seat belts on children, 90% of americans drive with seat belts and half of those who die are of the 10% who don't wear seat belts. we've made changes and taken on major economic interests, and this is the one that's stumped us. to organize social action and social movement around it because there are majorities, not intense majorities, but majorities of people who favor measures who have broad backing on registration, on background check. we do it with automobiles, we do it with every other kind of device. but somehow, again, we have been stumped. david has a theory on it, which he wrote about today quite persuasively, which, you know,

may very well explain it. >> i always have a theory. you know, one of the things that struck me about the polling on gun rights or gun control, is in # 000, two-thirds of americans supported gun control and only 29% supported gun rights, now it's about 50/50. so the one rights people have just had a massive shift in their direction and that's because the issue perfectly mirrors the political and the cultural divide in this country between coastal and rural, between more -- higher education and lower education. the divide we see on issue after issue, and it's become sort of a proxy for the big cultural dispute. a lot of the people trying to resist the post-industrial takeover of the country have seized on guns and immigration and the flag and the few other issues on the issues on which they will rally their people, and there are a lot of those

people. one in four households has a gun in this country so it's a symptom between a larger cultural war who thinks it's horrific to own guns and of those who think it's a responsibility to take care of their families and freedoms. >> woodruff: reminds me of something barack obama said. >> i wouldn't say bitterly. they see it as a way america should be what it should be. >> woodruff: so much this week the conversation turned to guns. >> it's a conversation we have to have because this man was a one-man artillery. he had 12 rifles in his possession in the hotel in the suite comped to him, let it be noted, because he was a major gambler. that's what las vegas does. if you bet enough at tables, video poker, you get a free suite and nobody will ask questions.

but we're fitted with bump starts which is a little device that turns it into a lethal killing weapons. that's all it is, to kill human beings. it's not for hunting or sportsmanship or anything else. there seems to be an emerging consensus on that that we have to limit those, that they can limit sales, even the n.r.a. and republicans have done it. i hate to sound like a cynic but these are made in morin, texas, by a man who started a company six years ago and they don't have millions of dollars in contributions. you're not dealing with a political powerhouse when you order his product. >> woodruff: you wrote today, david, the prospects are dim for figuring this gun issue out, but is there any hope? >> i think they are dim. we're in the middle of a renaissance of gun laws in this country, more than 24 states passed it and almost all have

loosened, not tightened, gun restrictions. they conceal carry and all those kinds of laws. my idea on the issue is we should probably pass all the gun control measures talked about, whether the gun shows, limiting the number you can buy. i mean, there's a list of about 15 programs, smart guns and all that, and most of them would be good, and i think they would be good because they would reduce suicides which is the main form of gun death. whether they'd prevent these kinds of killings, i'm dubious. marco rubio made a statement in the presidential campaign that none of the produced laws would have prevented any of the recent mass killings. "the washington post" did a big fact check on that claim and said what he said is accurate. so i'm for supporting these things. i'm not sure we'll get our hopes up it will prevent things. one thing i'm concerned about is we in the media will just stop talking about these people. a lot of the guys who do this, they want to become famous and prove to the world they exist.

and if we make them anonymous, i'm not saying this is a replacement of gun rules but it's something we can do. >> two-thirds of all the suicides are by firearms. >> woodruff: military veterans. >> yes, military veterans. this is going to require a social movement. just as tobacco did, just as drunk driving has. i mean, it's going to require a social movement and it's going to require the face of people like david pa trayias, stanley mcchrystal, former generals who have come out limiting these sort of weapons, that it is patriotic, a fully red-blooded thing to limit and control. >> i think that's a crucial point. too often, the people who have been the spokesperson for gun control have been michael bloomberg and frankly jimmy kimmel. i like michael bloomberg and jimmy kimmel's schau but they

shouldn't be the face, everybody's cultural awareness get up when it's a new york mayor and a hollywood star. it has to come from people who own guns in this country. >> woodruff: the president, mark was out, went to las vegas but also went to puerto rico, where we continue to watch very slow progress, only one out of every ten households has power. >> right. >> woodruff: only half the island has water. he got into another verbal back and forth with the myor of san juan. separately, we now know he's very unhappy with his secretary of state rex tillerson. there is conflict here and conflict there. what do we make of all this at this point? >> well, puerto rico was a disaster. i mean, what you're looking for at a time like this is a consoler and comforter in chief, someone who provides encouragement and hope to people, who rises above, who

delivers empathy. donald trump is just not naturally an empathetic person. he just isn't. he cannot abide criticism. he went after personally the mayor of san juan who was sleeping on a cot while he was sleeping in a country club, and enduring all of the hardship, and he treated puerto ricans, judy -- i just pointed out, who are americans, nine of whom have won congressional medal of honor in service, 223,000 of whom have served in american wars as american citizens -- he treated them as sort of foreigners. they were not deserving. i thought that. the tillerson thing, i don't think there is any question, i mean, he scolded publicly the chief diplomat of the united states, the secretary of state for practicing diplomacy for dealing -- trying to diffuse a potential nuclear conflict in

asia and said you're wasting your time by doing it. i don't know if this marriage can be saved. >> woodruff: that's my question. this is a third member of his cabinet he's been unhappy with. tom price left health and human services. >> friday afternoon, time for these guys. we're doing okay so far. you know, this is totally serious to me. what donald trump said today about the calm before the storm, we're not saying what it's about, but one has to think north korea. that's a chilling statement to make. so you're really looking who, as bob corker the senator from tennessee said this week, who can prevent chaos? and mattis and tillerson and john kelly are the big ones right now. tillerson has mixed reviews, even if you take donald trump away, but seems to be someone who at least can keep us out of nuclear war. so to me, him resigning, if they could et a john kelly in there,

it would be good, a protector against chaos. but if he picks someone who is a promoter of chaos, it could be worse. this is a life or death issue of whether we can surround trump with enough people who can resist whatever is going through his brain on this subject. >> woodruff: and questions of who would replace him if he were to leave. all of this is in the realm of speculation. >> it is. but i don't think there is any question his time is limited. >> woodruff: tillerson? sadly, he gets very bad reviews inside the building. the morale of the state department -- >> woodruff: a lot of jobs not filled. >> not filled and people feeling he has not stood up for the department and its mission, in addition. but there is no question he and general mattis, the secretary of defense, and, jr. kelly, have a very close working relationship and i would hate to see general kelly leave as white house chief

of staff. >> woodruff: we are in no shortage of things to look at this week. we are looking for something uplifting. mark shields, david brooks, we thank you both. >> woodruff: as part of our series "america addicted," tonight we look at the role shame sometimes plays in families coping with a loved one's addiction. anita devlin speaks to groups all over the country about addiction, but as you'll hear in tonight's "in my humble opinion," it was a dangerously long time before she spoke up at all. >> if you looked at our family photos seven years ago, you wouldn't have seen the darkness. that's exactly what i wanted. i cared about keeping up appearances. i couldn't imagine what would happen to my world if people found out. if i said it aloud, if i asked for help, that would make it real. my son, michael, was 17. he had been taking pain-killers

after having back-to-back surgeries for lacrosse injuries. they were prescribed by a doctor, so i never thought twice about giving them to him. i picked them up at the pharmacy and doled them out like vitamins. giving them to my son was my choice. taking them was his choice. becoming addicted to them was never a choice. little by little, mike started to change, right in front of me. he lost weight. he began to lie. in place of my son stood a complete stranger. this wasn't in our life plans. my husband and i had a loving marriage, strong careers, a beautiful home and two wonderful children. then, the voices started creeping into my head. first, the denial of "not my child," and then the shaming o"" don't tell anyone." people will think i'm a terrible parent. everyone will think i've failed my child. i thought it was his "choice" to be taking those pills. and when his roommates called to say he was missing, a friend was at my house and heard what was

going on. i hadn't told her anything. once i did tell her the story, she reached out to treatment centers. i didn't even know who to call. shame is powerful. shame makes us quiet. being quiet means being alone. no one can do this alone. and we will never solve the opioid epidemic if we continue to let judgement fester. no one should be afraid to ask for help, for fear of being blamed and shamed. no one is immune to this insidious disease. i'm one of the lucky moms. it took time, but i realized i was living a lie. keeping up appearances no longer mattered. helping my only son was the only thing that mattered. fortunately, michael accepted help. he went to a residential treatment program, where our family received counseling. he's been in recovery for nearly

seven years, and our lives are filled with gratitude. today, i'm an advocate, not only for long term addiction treatment, but also for living authentically. only when we take steps to eradicate shame, can we truly help heal broken families. >> woodruff: and tomorrow on pbs newshour weekend, our series" america addicted" continues, as the state of ohio takes big pharma to court over the painkillers behind the opioid epidemic. tune in later tonight, to join robert costa for "washington week." and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems--

skollfoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

>> charlie: welcome to the program. we begin with las vegas and the tragedy that unfolded there. >> stephen paddock's assault was no suicide mission and appeared to hope to get away and had eyes on other venues. >> charlie: and we have david begnaud and the report from puerto rico. >> they knew it was coming. the governor predicted the power would be out the entire island and some places could be up to a year. >> charlie: and continue with the series "mind hunter" and talk to the stars. >> these are very sad people under grown up under horrendous