captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, top ence officials say the white house clearance system is broken as questions surround tha did aide who left his job last week.so head, the senate tries to tackle the immigration debate.ma will lrs be able to reach an agreement on the fate of hundreds of thousands of people who came to the u.s. without documentation? then, freezing classrooms and hazardous buildings-- why baltimore students are being left behind in aolng public sc plus, mecaid changes in diana put coverage for recipients in question. owe debate over new state requirements for lncome americans. >> there's a great stigma that folks thatre living at or near the poverty level don't care

about their health. well that's completely wrong. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. or >> maj funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, itbaian, and more. el's 10-15 minute lessons are available as an app, or online.nf more iormation on babbel.com. >> consumer cellular. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions:

>> this program was possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: leaders of the united states' intelligence agencies are sounding a series of warnings. they went before a senate committee toy to talk about everything from russian election meddling to breakdowns in a critical security process. >> the proce is broken. it needs to be reformed. >> woodruff: the "process" in question was the whi house security clearance process. and at a senate hearing today, the administration's top intelligence official, dan d coativered his vote of no confidence. there have been questions about the clearance process since white house staff secretary rob porter left the administration last week amid domestic abuse allegations.

the white house previously said porter had been working within just arim security clearance, and that his background check was still pending. but before the senate intelligence committee today, f.b.i. director christopher wray put out this timeline: t th bureau, which is involved in the clearance process, submitted a partialpo report oer in march of 2017, and a completed report in late july. after a request for a follow-up iry, the bureau provided that information in november. he added that the f.b.sed the file in january. and when it received more information earlier this month, it passed that along as well. >> i'm quite confident that in this particular instance the f.b.i. followed the established protocols. >> woodruff: in addition, while the bureau is involve clearance process, an f.b.i. official said in a statement to the newshour, "the f.b.i. does not grant, deny, or otherwise adjudicate security clearances

for individuals." later today, white house press secretary sarah sanders weighed io. >> the f.b.i. powas closed. the white house personnel security office, who is the one that makes the recommendation for adjudication, had not finished their process and therefore not made a recommendation to the white house. >> woodruff: today's hearing also dealt with russia's meddling in the 2016 u election. >> this is not going to change or stop. >> woodruff: one by one, the six intelligence chiefs who werest teying said that there weren't any signs russia's efforts were subsiding. w have not seen any evidence of any significant change from last year. >> woodruff: but there was also frustration, from independent senator angus king, over president trump'inaction on the issue. >> my problem is, i talk tope le in maine who say the whole thing is a witch hunt and a hoax because the president

told me. cannot confront this threat, which is a serious one, with the whole of government response, when the leader of government continues to deny that it exists. >> woodruff: wray's bureau is involved in the investigation led by special counsel robert mueller, into russia's 201dl election mg, and potential ties to the trump campaign. today, director wray rehashed his disagreement, this on- camera, with the so-called "nunes memo." the document, spearheadeby republican house intelligence committee chairman devin nes, claimed that the bureau and the justice department were not fully forthcoming, when they asked a court to approve surveillance on a trump campaign aide, carter page. >> we had then and continue to the accuracy of the memorandum, because of omissions. >> woodruff: multiple senators, t cluding republican susan

collins, and democrtin heinrich, also gave wray an opportunity to offer hisnsefense agrecent charges of political bias within the bureau. >> there's no shortage of opinionsbout our agency. d i'm a big believer in the idea that the f.b.i. speaks through its work, through its cases, through the victims it folks not to get too hung up on what i consider to be the noise on tv and in social media. >> woodruff: for all of its focus on senate panel is also working on its own probe of russia's 2016 election meddling. committee chairman richard burr said today the committee hopes to make some of its findin publ in the coming months. t and day's other news, police in israel recommended indicting prime minister benjamin netanyahu on corruption charges. netanyahu is a suspect in two bribery cases, including accusations that he took nearly

$300,000 in gifts from two billionaires. tonight, in a televised speech, he called the police move "baseless" and said it would "end in nothing." >> ( translated ): i will continue to lead israelan responsiblfaithfully for as long as you, the citizens of israel, choose me to lead you. i am certain, i am certain, that the truth will be revealed and a am certainat the next elections, which will be held on schedule, i will earn your tru ain, with god's help. >> woodruff: israel's attorney general will make the final decision on whether to file charges. in south africa, president jacob zuma is under pressure to make a statement by tomorrow, amid calls for his ouster. the ruling african national congress formally ordered zuma today to step down, after years of corruption scandals. party leaders want deputy president cyril ramaphosa to replace him. investigators in russia now say pilot error triggered sunday's plane crash that killed 71

people. they say the crew never turned on a heater, so critic instruments iced over and gave faulty air-speed readings. the russian airliner went down in a field outside moscow, minutes after taking off. more than a thousand people are still searching the area. a man who detonated small bombs in new jersey and new york in 2016 was sentenced today to life in prison. ahmad khan rahimi's pressure- cooker device injured 30 people in manhattan's chelsea neighborhood. there were no injuries in the new jersey bombing. outside the federal courthouse in mhattan today, one victim said she's satisfied with the sentence, but not with rahimi's conduct in court. >> i thought today i would get justice, or feel some kind of way to feel relief, but theno perpetrator waremorseful at all. he definitely spoke about himself, he didn't even care

about us. i thought today was probably a day for us, but it didn't feel like that at all. >> woodruff: rahimi was born in afghanistan, but is now a naturalized u.s. citizen. the number of measles across europe has tripled over the last year. thcontinent's center for disease prevention and control says more than 14,400 cases were reported in 30 countries. that's up fromus,600 the prevear. nge agency blames the spike on fewer people gethe measles vaccine. the atmosphere on wall strt was decidedly calmer today. after an uneven start, the dow nes industrial average gained 39 points to close at 26,640. the nasdaq rose 31 points, and the s&p 500 added almost seven. thousands of mardi gras revelers filled the streets of new orleans today. the annual celebration wound up with elaborate parades, festive costumes, and marching bands.

and this year, sometng the city also marked the 300th anniversary of its founding. and, finally, highlights from day four at the winter olympics in south korea. it was a triumphant day for american snowboarders. american chloe kim won the gold medal in women's half-pipe. her teammate arielle gold came in third, to take bronze. and, canada won the first n ympic gold medal in mixed doubles competitioin curling. still to come on the newshour: how do you get a security clearance at the white house?ic the senate off its immigration debate. apteriorating buildings in baltimore's cash-sd school district, and much more. >> woodruff: now, back to the fallout over a top white house aide's resignati in a domestic

abuse scandal. there are conflicting accounts from the white house and the f.b.i. on the timeline of the background investigation into former white house staff secretary rob poer. to help us understanhow it's all supposed to work, we are joined by mark zaid, a washington lawyer who specializes in security clearances. rk zaid, welcome to the "newshour". >> thank you. >> woodruff: so based on everything you've ard about this case involving rob porter, how much do you believe the white house should have known about his background when l these decisions were being made? >> well, the white house should have known actually as soon aa he put in wwe call an sf86 which is the standard questionnaire for national security positions beause, porter, who probably put this in at the end of 2016, would have had to have revealed that he had received a protective order against him by one of his ex-wives.

if hfodidn't put it on them and we don't know one way or the other, then the f.b.i. we know interviewed one or both his ex-wives in january of 2017. what we learned from christopher ray's testimony today the f.b.i. director is that t f.b.i. provided an interim report in march of 2017, which means the white house would have known in march of 2017 thathere were some serious problems. >> woodruff: and we saw there were several different intervals when the f.b.i. was giving informationo the white house as recently as this month, director ray was saying. does that tell you anything? >> well, what we know, for example, t f.b.i. would have gone and done extensive background invgation, interviewed the ex-wives, also gone to the courthouse to find out inrmation about the the protective order, also talked to porter himself. when that investigation wa completed by july of 2017, the white house had some questions. i suspect because they went, as we've heard some repor, that the chief of staff went and

talked to porter and said, look, we have these allegation agains, hat are your explanations? and we've seen some publicrt rethat they felt he misled them. based on whatever happened in those summer months, they asked the f.b.i. to go back and get more. more information camin. basically, we've got about three or four opportunities that the white house knew enough information to make not only a clearance decision but a suitability determination, did they want someone like porter in the white house. >> woodruff: well that gets to a questi because the suggestion has been up until today it was the f.b.i. that was holding up this information, that the white house was waiting for more information. todawe understand from the white house that, once we clarify that the f.b.i. does not give security clearances, that's something that's done in the white house, the white house is now saying, no, it was done in this office of personnel security. so where is -- where are decisions made about who gets clearance or not? >> so the white house has its own office of security in the administrative part of the white

house. they determine secret and top secret clearance levels. he had an interim clearanh , wh a very normal process within the system. that's not an issue. they adjudicate -- the white house ajud adjudicates the actul clearance, what we call sci, sensitive compartmented information, is done by te intense community, normally the c.i.a., we don't know specifically in this c but the white house itself makes this determination. eerse are usually car staffers, and i doubt they're the problem in this case. >> woodruff: rght. hen the f.b.i. would have provided the interim and firenal rt, the office of security would share that with the counsel's office, the white house cou'snsffice for the suitability determination. we have both determinations, two of them at once.i >> woodruff:ht. and that means the political people get involved. itwoodruff: how common for the white house to allow someone who has this kind of a problem in his or her background to serve in a high-level job, to

have a security clearance? >> it's more common than it used to be. outside the white house, it'sha quite common t an interim clearance for a long period of time because there is a long backlog in the investigations. the higher up you go in positions like the white house, the more likely you're not to ve an interim clearance for a long period of time because the ovite house actually has been quite goo the years, when i've dealt with them, when they identify a problem, they have given the individual an opportunity to resign rather than receive an adverse, negative security clearance determination. >> woodruff: and the other question i have, is it -- so how normal is it for someone to be operating for 13 months on an interim clearance is this. >> that itself doesn't phase me. the notion of having an interim, we need to know a lot more facts. that's, of course, always the problem. quite frankly, the fact we're talking about, information ab porter is inappropriate, because

none of this information should ever have been from the white house. this is very sensitive information for him. >> woodruff: finally, mark zaid, what i understand you saying is if there was a decision that had en made to allow rob porter to continue to work at the whuse and there were even reports they were considering him for apr otion, that would have been made -- decision would have been made by someone in a political role, not a career civil servant? >> certainly at some point in time certainly on they suitabilde it is by the political people. the president of the united states has t utmost authority. he can waff any type of rules in his discretion. we don't know yet, of course, what role the political appointees played versus the career civil servants, but we know the white house knew of this information and didn't act on it. >> woodruff: well, still many questions out there. >> many. >> woodruff: mark zaid, thank you very much. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: and now to immigration. the u.s. senate is set to officially begin a rare open- ended debate, and it centers on the future of dreamers, brought here illegally as children. they'd beeprotected under the daca program that president trump is trying to end. lisa desjardins begins our >> there's no reason why we should not reach a bipartisanlu on this week. >> desjardins: in the first minutes of the day, senateea majorityr mitch mcconnell talked of a quick resolution on the fate of dreamers, despite the obstacle >> yesterday a number of my colleagues announced a reasonable proposal that i believe is our best chance to actually make a law. >> desjardins: mcconnell thiew weight behind that legislation, introduced by iowa senator chuck grassley and five other conservative-leaning republicans. it mirrors president trump's own proposal. the so-calle"secure and succeed act of 2018" offers a 10

to 12 year path toanitizenship fostimated 1.8 million dreamers, brought to the u.s. illegally as childre it also includes $25 billion for a border wall and other security measures, and it limits family- based immigrant visas to spouses and unmarried children under 18. the bill also would increase punishment for those who re- enter the country illegally after deportation. in the senate halls today, grassley spoke with a mily who had concerns about the bill. to reporters, he stressed it's the one measure right now with president trump's approval. >> i think we have a responsibility to listen to allo erns but there is one bottom line, what will the president sign or not sign. we and the president say he wiln si our peace of legislation. we got a bill before us, we are >> desjardins: but tha bill does no the democratic support it needs. senator dick durbin of illinois criticized the cuts to legaln.

immigrat let's remember, chloe's story is the story of immigration in america. chole kim's story is a story ofw peop come to these shores determined to make a life. >> reporter: the tension showed as the floor debate snagged. >> i would ask consent that at 2:15 today the motion to proceed to hr-2579 be agreed to -- >> reporter: mcconnell moved to start off a debate with an amendment to crack down on so-called sanctuary cities, a proposal democrats like and their lear chuck schumer said no. >> let's get this debate started on the right foot. so i object to the leader's re >> desjardins: and thus, leaders walked into the afternoon in legislative limbo, with no leading bill on the floor and no

t,agreement on where to st schumer pointed to the need for compromise. >> we recognize we're not going to get everything we want. we hope the president and .publicans realize the sa >> desjardins: meanwhile, president trump started the day tweeting that this is st chance to replace daca, the program that protects dreamers stic as heunded opti met with republican and democratic senators on trade. >> i think we have a chance to daca very bipartisan, i think that can happen. >> desjardins: the president initially set a nerch 5th deador ending the daca program. a federal judge has at least temporarily set that deadline aside.th an afternoon, another federal judge this afternoon in brooklyn agreed and ruled that dthe presidentdline for daca should be frozen and the program shou continue at least temporarily as it works through the court. >> woodruff: so back to the is that, arsa. i you call it legislative limbo. are things as stuck as they look? >> yes, they absolute. i would describe the atmosphere today as singular. it's a frenzy of activity, judy,

with no forward motion, and let's break down exactly what we know could happen. the next time for a vote becauss nate process is tonight at midnight. i have sources telling me that is unlikely at ts time, but that means the next votes would be tomrow. now, the republicans say they want to finish this this week. that generally means thursday two, dayfrom now, but the two parties as we had in the piece disagree over exact where to begin. so there are very big challenges to evestarting the debate tomorrow. one beacon of hope came actually from therhite house and mak short who's a legislative aide there a he told me he thinks there are amendments that could make it to the floor tomorrow. what those are we will have to see. >> woodruff: so several different plans tore consideration. give us a sense of the substance of what they're looking at. >> i think what's good to think about in this debate is are what the problems are first. they can't agree o how large t go with this bill. many are arguing the bill should

focus only on daca and border secuhety. many andepublicans want to expand it to visa lottery and family migration which they want to limit. problem number one, jdy, is that the key bills themselves have still not beeftn dra. that includes the president's bill, which is being led by senator grassley, which we mentioned we expect that out any minute but haven't seen it yet. the kuntz mclean bill, no other bill has 60 votes.e the small bipartisan groups meeting all across the senate and they're in such a tough position they don't want porters saying who's meeting with who. it just shows what they're up against and they have not found a way 6to getvotes on anything. >> woodruff: so sounds like they're feeling pressure on themselves to get something

done. it's pretty unusual to be in this open debate situation. >> incredibly unusual. i sat down with the senate historian for the most elucidating conversation i had all day. she said our problem job is to look at precedent, but we're not sure to where to look for a comparison andistory will have to judge it later because we're not sure where they're going yet. >> woodruff: is it a test for the senate for people watching to see if ey can actually do this? >> i think after this up and down year, this might be the biggest test for the senate. i think in the next two days, we'll see a senate that either has a complete break down of legislative process over an issue, daca, that most americans agree on, or they ll have a breakthrough. today it was looking like a breakdown. but they have a few more days. people paying attentn to this issue, these are very important days to watch. >> woodruff: there are a lot o of folks on thtside watching

closely and letting their voices be heard. lisa desjardins, thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour, what'sehind the upcoming medicaid work requirements in vice president pence's home state. and the american olympians racking up medals in the winter games. but first, a pair of stories in baltimore, and the serious problems ridents face with me civic institutions. schools close occasionally due to winter weather, but the problems in baltimore public schools thgh season have ghted much bigger questions. outrage erupted last month after students found themselves in classrooms when heating systems failed in at least sixty schools. it's opened up a larger debate

about funding and fixing them. john yang has both of our reports tonight, beginning with our weekly segment, "making the grade." >> we got to protest and we got to stand up for our kids as parents. >> yang: in the jam-packed cafeteria of an east baltimore fgh school, the head of the city's school systed frustrated parents. >> what happened to the maintenae keeping that school up? >> i agree with you. and you should be angry. >> yang: wt sparked this heated outpouring? images that went val on social media in early january of b childrdled in coats, hats and scarves in aging classrooms barely warmer than the frigid temperatures outside. more than a third of the city's 171 public schools, the oldest in state, reported a lack of heat. a handful closed for repairs. boilers and pipes froze and burst, flooding classrooms, llapsing ceiling tiles a ruining newly upgraded

equipment. while the problems were brought on a brief cold snap, they underscored long-standing funding issues. parents and teachers demandedd answers, as udents. >> everybody wants to succeed and it's hard for students, or for teachers, to help their students succeed if it's cold. if it's freezing cold. g >> yang: jy is a sophomore at baltimore city college, a selective-admissions college prep high school. he says he had seen heating problems before, but nothing like thi >> let's say, i've failed a class. i can go to coach's class, i can study up. but if i come to school there is no heat. i can't really go downstairs and cut the heat on. so it makes students feel like powerless. >> yang: what does it feel like it is to come to a school where the heat is so bad you have to wear your coat in class? and there e signs in the bathroom telling you not to drink the water. >> kind of just makes you look back like you know like where is our support? when are things going to, like, move or change for us?

>> yang: rosalyn taylor's son jaden is a fifth gder at leith walk elementary-middle school in north baltimore, one of the schools that closed. >> when i went to pick jaden up from school, i noticed that it was really, really cold in the building. and i was like, "why is it so cold in here?" and they was like, "well, we didn't have any heat." >> yang: what do you think about all of this? what does this make you think of the baltimore public schools? >> i think about transparency of what is happening with the funding that we get for each student. where's the money going? and where's my taxpayer dollars going? >> yang: baltimore city schools have a $1.3 billion operating budget. nearly three-quarters of it comes from the state of maryland. despite the state aid, schools still had to close a $130 million deficit in the last spending year. lue school board is still making cuts everywhere, ing to maintenance.20 betwee and 2017 maryland gave baltimore $12.8 million to

deal with aging schools.te the cold snap, maryland governor larry hogan announced n he would spend $2.5 mill the state's emergency fund on immediate repairs. he also said he would give baltimore schools an additional $11 million next year. hogan said his administration has made school heating and cooling projects a priority andm district leadership for maintenance problems. >> we resort to a knee-jerk response of it must be mismanagement. >> yang: sonja santelises is the c.e.o. of baltimore city public schools. >> baltimore city has more needk you can't t underfunding twr numbers of years and then say for a year owe're going to give you 10 million more and that makes up for then millions ullions of dollars that the school system didn't get. i think that's a bit

disingenuous and it's overly simplistic. >> yang: she says part of the problem is how the state awards maintenance funding. districts with cash on hand can pay for repairs and then ask for reimbursement. but baltimore schools often can't afford to pay for those projects up-front. >> we're cing with a guess where other counties are coming with a receipt. if i'm going to ke l sponsibility for improving the maintenance of schildings the oversight of those school buildings then quiterankly others need to take responsibility for making sure the investment and the funds are there. >> yang: a 2012 district report found 69% of schools are in" very poor" condition. and estimated it would take $2.5 billion to uate them. rosemont elementary-middle is one of the schools in need of repair. the school's 47-year-old roof was scheduled to be replaced in january, until the school told

parents there was asbestos. i was frustrated. i was angry i was betrayed, misled. >> yang: bryant whitener's five- year old daughter, jamaya is a e-k student at rosemont. >> you know when these parents in this community or in any community wake up in the morning, the first thing they don't want to have to worry about is it safe for my child to go to school, inside of the building? >> yang: whitener and other parents organized a school boycott, keeping their children at home until the district rescheduled the repairs akr the summer. >> i'd rather have my kids in an environment whe's it's a zero sk. not a small risk. not one percent. not two percent. not a half percent.an >> in 2013, baltimore school officials launched a ten- year, billion dollar upgrade tos nearly two dozools: the 21st century school buildings plan. >> what you see now is an investment of over $1 billion.

>> yang: fort worthington elementary/middle thool was one first to be re-built. >> look at that line! >> yang: monique debi is the principal. >> it feels good to be in a space that has technology for children that has interactive smart boards, we have the flex furniture here and all coaborative space. >> yang: as a school principal and as an educator, what does it ean to be in a facility l this? >> i think this atmosphere speaks to the investment that we're making in our children and our families and then their future. and so when they have what theyt nelearn and the basic need is met the worry is less able to focus more on teaching andle ning. >> yang: but the plan only calls for between 23 and 28 new buildings out of at least 140 iw need of repah completion now set for 2021. for jon gray, that's too few and too far away. >> i can't worry about whether

orisot i know everything on test to pass if i can't even focus. i'm cold we need an answer now because while we're building those schools students are still cold the water is still dirty. we need money to be able to build our 21st century schools but at the same time k the schools we have now. ad yang: without long-term solutions to deces-old funding problems, baltimore students are likely to continue to struggle in classrooms that are either o cold or, with spring approaching, too hot for learning. for the s newshour, i'm john yang in baltimore. the other story in baltimore is oe federal court convicti two city police officers, detectives daniel hersl and marcus tayr, in a startling corruption scandal. six other officers have already pleaded guilty. for the details, we're joined by jayne miller, the lead investigative reporter for wbal- tv in baltimore. she's covered this story from the beginning. jayne, thanks so much for

joining us. the charges in the court yesterday were racketeering, racketeering, conspiracy and robbery. but that doesn't really give us the full breadth o what these guys did. what did they do. >> first of all they were members of a very elite unit in the baltimore police department which is called the gun trade task force gttf, tasked with getting illegal guns off thest et. as such, testimony in the case says they were given latitude and leeway to operate citywide. the testimony in this case exposed a real underbelly of that kind of policing with the tactics they use to chase people, to target people. the bottom line of thy they operated illegally in this case was that they'd target particularly drug dealers because they had cash, they would use police power to get search warrants, police power to enter properties, aest peple,

detain people, get their address and go to their houses, but'd tharget these folks and steal from them. they wouldn't steal everything. i think that was a very important part of this scheme. they'd, for example, in one of the cases in which one of the two yes cterday wasonvicted on the robbery count involves a drug ealer who testifihe had in his house $300,000 and ten kilos of drugs. the police targeted him, wentto is house, members of the gun trace task force, they allegedly took $200,000, submitted $100,000 as evidence to me it all look legit, and submitted 8. kilos of thug. so what's missing? $200,000 and a kiland a half of drugs. that was the basic m.o. of this scheme was to use their power under the badge. they weren't uniform, but they did have police vests on most of the time, but to use their power to target people for turpose

of enriching themselves. e >> yang: and they wering this while the justice department was investigating thy baltimore olice. >> right under their nose, that is correct. >> yang: and with ths sort of brazen corruption exposed, what's been the reaction from the mayor and the department? >> we just have a new police commissioner that took office just a couple of w ago, he's designated to be the next police commissioner, and on friday he announced a serofie changes, a new corruption unit to look at some of be names that haen dropped in testimony in the case that weren't charged in the case. he's looking at the overtim-- the overtime fraud in this case was staggering and the ease with ich these officers and detectives were able to steal overtime, able to cheat withoutw supervisiohout anybody blowing the whistle on them. he's form ago new oveime abuse unit but i think beyond those specific changes, the realde te that's going on now in baltimore is whether there needs to be an entirely different

structure of the baltimore police department. i'm just doing a story today fot example wa key city council member in baltimore looking at los anles, the model in los angeles where the police department is under the control of a board of commissioners which also has the inspector general so that police don't s, andigate themsel that's the kind of debate that we're seeing now in baltimore and i think will become stronger as we go forward. we still have a ways to go in this case, according to the f.b.i., and her testimony last week before the jury's verdict in this case, she made it clear that the investigation i ongoing. last night the acting u.s. attorney after the guilty verdicts in the hersl and tailor cases said we're not telling yout what we're doing but t indicatiey're continuing to follow leads in this case so we may have ground still cover in this particular case. >> yang: some cases being prosecuted are being thrown out.

>> both local and federal. there's a federal drucase where two men were just releasee from prison -, one was still in prison, one was out,r but thntences vacated because they were prosecuted federally all the way back in 2010 in a case where we now know the drugs were planted. so, yes, it's mostly state cases that have been tainted by the actions of these officers, but there are also federal cases that are being reviewed as well. >> yang: you've got the police department trying to repair damage from the freddie gray case a couple of years ago bac last year they had the highest per capita murder rate in the city's history. what's ts done to the relationship between the police and the community? >> we had a homicide inolve this afternoon, the first one in ten days. in a city like baltimore that has a very high rate of gun violence, that has been a welcome relief.

everybody hopes it's not an anomaly. there's a lot of work going on really citywide witfferent agencies and communities, et cetera, to really try town bring he rate of violence. i think the best part of the federal case is that it brings into the open and gives legitimacy to themplaints of many people in communities in baltimore that have long argued and complained that police -- about police tactics, about police stealing from the about planting drugs. this federal case put all in one place allegations from drug dealers and from concevicted pofficers. that's the most important part of this case is that four of the convicted gun uad members testified for the government, which is where all these revelations ca from of the activities of this unit. so in the endo, you w, transparency is a good thing and at least this case has brought legilegitimacy and into the pubc

eye really the unerbelly of policing. >> yang: jayne miller of al-tv in baltimore. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, john. >> woodruff: republicans in washington and around the nation are poised to achieve a long- sought goal: reshaping medicai the trump administration has given the go-ahead to indiana and other states to require many adult medicaid recipients to work or do community service in order to qualify. the idea is popular in indiana and some exemptions will be granted for groups like caregivers, students and those a iction recovery programs. but as special correspondent sash varney reports, advoca

for the poor say they are worried the requirements willje ardize medical care for more than 30,000 people there. this story was produced collaboration with our partner kaiser health news. >> reporter: katie josway is songwriter and the front woman for the indianapolis band gypsy moonshine. ♪ ♪ over the past few years, she's been covered by medicaid. the public insurance program is largely free to patiatts in other . but in indiana, josway pays about $25 a month. if she misses too many payments, the state will drop her insurance. to>> i think that it's fai expect people contribute based on their level of income and their ability to do so. so i think that's kind of what we do in this society. >> reporter: but josway, who also works as a massage therapist, worries about changes coming to medicaid in indiana. and even though she earns about er6,000 a year, near the f

poverty level, she'll have to prove that she's working at least 20 hours a week to stay insured. a tough bet when her hours fluctuate each week.g >> i'm try get people to book with me, but if they don't, then i don't want to be penalized and potentially lose my insurance, as well. tat seems really harsh. i am concerned abot growing trend of assuming that anyone who is on an assistance program somehow is mooching off the government or doesn't try hard enough. >> reporter: under former governor mike pence, now vice thpresident, indiana becam first state to enact a much more conservative approach to medicaid. but the idea to require most adults in the program to work was stopped by the obama administration. now, the trump white house is allowing indiana tmove ahead. the effort is being led by seema verma, who president trump

appoted to lead the centers for medicare and medicaid services. verma once worked for governor pee in indiana, where she tested out her conservative policies, like coverage lockouts and monthly premiums. now she's taking her vision even further, by allowing states to impose work requirements and making smokers pay more for public insurance. e administration has approved kentucky and indiana's plans and at least eight other states have submitted similar requests. but advocates for the poor have protested loudly in recent months, saying many will lose coverage. nationwide, 60% of medicaid recipients already work. and advocates say the ones that don't usually have a good reason for not having a job because they're caregivers, students or in drug recovery. at the heart of the debate aree people ltonio berlanga. he's 60 years old and lives in clinton, indiana and spent most of hisdult life without health insurance. indiana first expanded medicaid

coverage to a small number of poor adults in 2008 as the recession decimated the state's economy. then in 2015, governor pence expanded it even further under the affoable care act to about 442,000 adults. that allowed berlanga, a janitou at a local crch, to enroll in coverage. now he's been treated for severe shoulder, cirrhosis of the liver patitis c at the valley professionals community health center. like a lotf hoosiers, he's worried about what the changes could mean for him, but he's willing to do his part. >> i just don't want it for nothing. if i'm still able to do something and give something back, then let's go. i've still got a heart. i might not be able to, you know, physicly do things. but i'll do what i can, you know? >> reporter: dr. john wernert, one of the architects of indiana's medicaid plan, says that's what he's heard in every part of the state. that people on medicaid want to feel like they're contributing

in some way. >> it doesn't have to be a lot of money for people to feel like they have some ownership and take some responsibility for the administration of their program thergreat stigma that folks that are living at or near the poverty level don't care about their health. well that's completely wrong. they've just not been put in a position where they could take some ownership of that. >> reporter: revenues at indiana's hospitals have jumped as more hoosiers have become insured.ma the c.e.o. of rgaret mary laalth, tim putnam, hired a company called c aid to enroll uninsed patients into medicaid and help them comply with indiana's complicated rules. >> hip is full coverage. >> reporter: now they'll have to add the work requirements is their checkl putnam says the new rules aren't designed to be punitive. >> if it was purposefully trying to get people off of medicaid

and onto no coverage at al dthat would berimental program for us. but as it is it's trying tget people to get work experience or get some job tining to move on and transition to full employment full insurance. >> reporter: but indiana'sva conserve plan has added layers of bureaucracy that has ensnared people like allen wilson he and his wife paid their monthly premium but a paperworkc glitchd him out of coverage, to the point that his wife started to panic. >> and they knew that i needed this operation for my heart. >> reporter: some 25,000 hoosiers were disenrolled from medicaid from 2015 to 2017 because they didn't pay their premiums.le but it's u why. some may have moved out of state, found jncs with insura or even died. advocates like alan witchey say now that indiana is adding a wo requirement, bureaucrat mistakes will become much more

common, especially for vulnerable populations like the homeless. >> even though we've been told there's an exemption for homelessness, we haven't heard: how is that going to work? what does that look like? how are we going to get it? what proof do you have to provide? >> reporter: those living in isolated rural areas, where jobs are few, have many of the same questions. niki carty moved into her brother's rented farmhouse here in the town of dana ter getting out of prison in 2015. she was convicted of selng meth, opioids and otheugs. before prison, she became addicted to fentanyl prescribed by a doctor, and soon her two daughters were hooked on opioids as well. now the family is in recovery, and carty taking online classes to become an addiction counselor. but even though most students are exempt from the work requirement, carty worries her courses won't qualify. and she'll be forced to drop out of school and get a dead end job. >> i am concerned because i got screwed once before. i really did get screwed.

>> reporter: in the 1990s when indiana forced people on welfare to work, carty says the state didn't recognize the classes sh. was taking t she quit school and ended up getting injured on the job. >> i look at this way: if i had not had to go to a full time job where i was being a full time student then back in the '90s, i would have never been in that factory to get hit by two merklifts. , 20-some years later, i'm having this surgery and this isc prettythe results. >> reporter: state representative ed clere, a republican from new al, is one of the few lawmakers raising these kinds of issues at the igate house. i know one of youroncerns is creating more bureaucracy re and in indiana. >> i think we have to be concerned about that and we need to be realistic. what is going to cost to administer this. >> reporter: clere says those added administrative costs will pull money away from m care. and although he supports theui work rments in theory, he says the new rules are unlikely to improve health outcomes.

>> and in fact, it may over time take us in the other direction. >> reporter: but many here, like say people who work live healthier lives and the changes will benefit the entire state. >> we're now starting to move the big battleship in a different direction, more towards what's needed in our onomy and what's needed in our society now. r orter: back in dana, a world away from the booming economy in indianapolis, niki carty says the message from lawmakers to people like her is pretty clear. >> i think they think we're trash. that we're just garbage to throw awth. 're all worried about the money and all that. and i can understand that. s t at the same time, ther lot of us that are trying to pick our livesp to put it back arther. >> reporter: for that means planning her weekly narcotics anonymous meeting with a local pastor.ed she's determshe says, to set her life straight and hopes dithe upcoming changes to id won't get in her way. for the pbs news hour and kaiser

health news, i'm sarah varney in indiana. >> woodruff: if you've been watching the snowboarding competitions at the winterames in south korea the past few nights, there's no other w to describe some of those feats as other than amazing. the american team is racking up quite a few medals and, as jeffrey brown is here to discuss, features some compelling personal stories, including gold medal winner, chloe kim. >> brown: the expectations were already very high for the 17- -old coming into these olympics. last night she became the focus of international attention with dazzling display of aerial acrobatics and athletic turns. eddie pells was there, covering the olympics for the ap. he joins me now via skype.

eddie, expectations height but more than met, right? tell u wabout it. >>ld say way more than met. she went out there and essentially won the gold medal on her first run and had the whole thing secured and then, you know, for her last run, n didn'td to do anything but, you know, it's a snowboardinha mantraif you don't do your best the result doesn't matter, so she went out there andid basically the hardest run we've ever seen a woman do on a half pike, landed it perfectly, and then she couldalk away with the gold medal and being able to say, hey, i put my best stt uff ere and, to a lot of leople, that's really what snowboarding is about. >> brown: she's also the child of south korean immigrants. how that playing there? >> it's huge in south korea. they love their sports stars. they don't have a milon, but they will adopt chloe.

she's a california kid but she knows the story line. this is where her parents are from and her grandma still lives, and theiny're lit. she's going to be a star in south korea and probably already is one in americawn >> b what makes her stand out in a sport where the risks >> you know, i think she's small and smiley and she's go a bubbly personality, but, you know, you shouldn't le that overshadow the fact that she works really hard. i mean, she is first one out on the haf pipe in the morning andp the last octicing at night. she knows what the risks are and she's been, you know, for the last ten years or more, been taking these calculated steps up in progression and, really, you know, also is the mot athletic woman out there doing this stw,f. so, you khere's always this reputation of snowboarders being these kind of dudes who

are just out there, who cares. no, she's a prossional and has been work hard and is pretty athletic. she'd pr gably be aat tennis player, too. whatever. >> brown: and americans arein cong to dominate this sport. take us through a couple of other great performances you've seen. >> the first day we had red gerardanother 17-year-old on the slopes. he's the kid who basically set up an action park his backyard where he learned his best tricks. t was a out there and t little bit of an upset. the second day slope style, the great jamie anderson won her second gold medal. the weather was bad, people were complaining, but we're talking how these people are real pros.h she went outere in a bad condition, put down a run skn would win and that was exciting. we had chloe. ariel guld finished second yest hday and told us shead a

separated shoulder by the way. >> brown: the most famous name in the sport is sean white going tonight. what are the stakes r him? >> he wouldn't deny it, this is everything to him. a lot of the snowboarders like to talk about they don't love contests, no, the olympics means everything to sean. he won two years ago. four years ago was a messyo links for him. he finished fourth on the half pipe, didn't accofomplish any his goals and basically the day after he left russia he said, you know, i'm go do it in four years. this is really the only thinge cares about competitively. it's going to be a great contest. verano from jap scotty james from australia, we may see a classic, never before seen kind of cost tonight if the weather is good, and i think it will be. >> brown: all right, we'll be watching. eddie pells of the a.p. from south korea. thank you so much. >> all right, thank you. o

>> woodrufthe newshour online right now, as the senate begins debate on immigration, you can find a cheat sheet to explain every proposal, together in one chart for easy comparison. that and morsiis on our web , pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshou tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs e newshour, thank you and u soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided b >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minute less as are availan app, or online. more information on babbel.com.

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wes: tonight on history detectives: man: these patches are just unidentifiable. whoa. i want to know if that's a lincoln signature. s this doet make sense. yeah. did my great-great-uncle bring these back b from theattle of washita? man: they're coming dowritairs when disaster kes. lo elvis costel ♪ watchin' the detectives ♪ i get so angry when the teardrops start ♪ ♪ but he can't be wounded no 'cause he's got heart ♪ ♪ watchin' the detectives ♪ it's just like ♪ watchin' the detective♪ tukuni: funding for tot's presenentation of history detectives was provided by... and by c ytributions tor pbs station