captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, president trump moves ahead on alans to arm school officis, while dropping his call for a higher age limit to purchase guns. then, british prime minister theresa may puts the blame on russia for a nerve agent attack on a formey. and, taking the political t temperature nation-- we go to a reliably red district in western pennsylvania ahead of a tight special election. >> sometimes you look at democrat and republicans, it's kind of like a beer. the democrats are budweiser, and republicans are bud light. after a few beers you can't tell them apart. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonht's pbs newshour.

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ra>> and the william and f hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and individu >> this program was made possible by the corporation for tblic broadcasting. and by contributioyour pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the president unveiled his plan of actionho today for safety and dealing with gun violence.

it includes his support for a number of more modest measures. and it will create a national commission that will review other possible actions. but it was criticized for not going far enough president trump dialed back an earlier and stronger call he made to ise the age limit for buying some guns.an johnhas our report. h >> yang: td of the new commission, education secretary betsy devos, said this morning the focus would go beyond just gun control. >> there are a number of issues nt the table now that can be passed and imple quickly and surely, and the president has urged congress to do those things. y g: the administration's proposals includes backing the so-called "fix nics" bill, which seeks to improve national instant criminal backgroundec system-- or "nics." it would not expand background checks, but would require states and federal agencies to make sure information is in the stem. the white house also called for expanding mental health

treatment to better identify students who could become violent, and working with states to provide weapons training for teachers. to buy assault-style rifles from 18 to 21, even though president trump said repeatedly he would do that. >> we're going to work on getting the age up to 21 instead of 18. it doesn't make sense that i have to wait until i'm 21 to get a handgun but i can get a apon at 18. >> yang: during a session with lawmakers last month, he pressed republican senator pat toomey on why it wasn't in his hecomprehensive background bill. >> wdidn't-- we didn't address, it, mr. president. but i think we-- >> you kbew why? use you're afraid of the n.r.a., right? i'm a big fan of the n.r.a. these are great people. these are great triots. they love our country. but that doesn't mean we have to agree on everything. >> yang: the president's reversal comes after he t with n.r.a. leaders after meeting with lawmakers. this morning, mr. trfended his shift, saying he is atching court cases and

rulings before acting. states are making this decision. things are moving rapidly on this, but not much political support (to put it mildly)." on the cbs news' "60 minutes" last night, devos said there was no "one size fits all" solution. >> i hesitate to think of, like, my first-grade teacher, mrs. zorhoff, i couldn't ever imagine her having a gun and being trained in that way. but for those who are-- who are capable, this is one solution that can and should be considered. >> yang: at a rally in pennsylvania on saturday night president trump slammed commissions. >> we can't just keep setting up blue-ribbon committees, with your wife and your wife and your husband, and they meet and have a meal, and all they do is talk. talk, talk >> yang: and then, the very next night, his administration the panel has no deadline, but

d e white house said its recommendations wo ready within a year. for the pbs newshour, i'm johnng >> woodruff: we'll look at the presiden after this news summary. in the day's other news, british prime minist theresa may declared it's "highly likely" that russia was behind the poisoning of former russian sp sergei skripal and his daughterr but russia'sgn ministry dismissed that accusation as a "circus show." alex thomson of independent televisi news has our report. a week and a day on, it is the attempted murder inquiry with no suspect people, only suspect places, suspected of contamination. sergei skripal's house cordsonned from the public view at ground level, so too the restaurant zz, the grave yard where his wife and son lie buried, the pub in the city center.t and the lis places of interest to investigators

widened today. the prime minister said the nerve agent used was novichok reduced in russia sints '80s, a dispicible act, she said. >> the government has concluded that it is highly liakely tht russia was responsible for the act against sergei and julia skripal. mr. speaker, there are therefore only two plausible explanations for pewhat had on the fourth of march. either this was a direct act byu thsian state against ourun coy, or the russian government lost control of its potentially cathiastrcally damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others. >> the russian ambassador it was summon to the foreign office and asked to explain. the prime minister told the commons moscow ha 48 hours to do so. >> should there be no credible response we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawfulcese of for by the russian state against the united kingdom.

here hear. >> and i will come back to this house and s tt out full range of measures that we will take in response. >> and then came this morning's revelations from this man, bore is carpocikov other spy exiled in the u.k he claims russian secret service warned him the weeks ago tht sergei skripal would be kiled. >> and russian public opinion back home, were-- did by one of the most popular news prgrams in russia. behind the presenter the caption buth big ben reads a deathly place. all eyes it seems are apparently on this deathly place come wednesday. then the government says it will act against what it insists is either criminal nedges by the kremlin or just plain kremlin crime. >> woodruff: that report from alex thomson of independent television news. meanwhile here in washington, white house press secretary sarah sanders called theon pog "an outrage." but she stopped short of saying

russia was to blame. syri civilians tried to esca the embattled suburbthof damascus, o let-up in a government onslaught. state tv today showed men, women and children fleeing eastern ghouta along a corridor established by the syrian army. in aition, the largest rebel group in the area said it reached agement with russian forces to evacuate the wounded. war monitors estimate more than 1,000 have died in the enclave, since the offensive began february 18th. back in this country, texas g thorities are investigat pair of package bombs that killed one person and injured two others in austin today. police believe they're related to another package explosion that killed a man in the city earlier this month. the boxes were all left on the doorsteps of homes, and exploded as soon as residents moved or opened them. a neighbor of one of today's victims described her shock atth

hearinblast. >> i was in my room. i was about to go get a diaper and all of a sudden we just heard an explosion. i just felt it like move the waground and that's when wed out and saw the smoke and the lady laying on the floor. woodruff: police have not identified a suspect or a motive behind the attacks. but investigators haven't yet ruled out whether the explosions were race-related. re7 cans in the house intelligence committee are preparing to announce that they have found no coordinion or collusion between the trump presidential campaign and russia. texas republican mike conaway said they will releaseirhe draft report tomorrow, after a year-long investigation. democrats on the committee must review the ritport befor is shared with the public.bi in col primary election results are in, and conservatives came out ahead.

irsterday, voters signaled t support for critics of the country's peace agreement with the revolutionary armed forces of colombia. farc candidates only won 10 seats guaranteed to them under the peace deal. former leftist rebel gustavo petro and right wing candidate ivan duque also won their party primaries ahead of the esidential election in may. new york's metropolitan opera fired longtime conductor james levine today, after an investigation found crible evidence of sexually abusive conduct. levine was suspended from the ayt back in december, after four men came forwardg heab ed them as teenagers between the 1960's and '80's. levine insisted their claims are "unfounded." and stocks were mixed on wall street today, ncid lingering ns over president trump'sd newly imporiffs. ce dow jones industrial average lost 157 points se at

25,178. the nasdaq rose 27 poind the s&500 fell three. still to come on the newshour: where the national gun debate yles from here. a dead heat in pennia's special election. maryland and oregon's governors on the state and federal response to the opioids crisis, plus, much more. >> woodruff: let's break down some of the president's plan now, which changes might be most helpful, which are not, and what's missing. we're going to have more views in the weeks to come. but tonight, we talk to two who have looked at past shootings closely. shannon watts is the founder ofi moms demand . that group was formed soon after the tragedy at sandy hook elementary school.

and katherine newman is author of the book "rampage: the social roots of school shootings." she's a professor of sociology at the universy of ssachusetts. welcome both of you to the newshour. start withtts let me you, i will get to the specifics in just a moment but taking this proposal as a whole, do you think it will prevent, help prevent school shootings in the future? >> no, i me't i donhink the proposal put forward by the president is anyway helpful. in fact, in a word it's pathetic it takes all of onthus for gun safety in this country and pushes it down to the stas while elevating the nra's top priorities like arming teachers and incentivizing the states to do that. look, if arming teachers was the answer, we wouldn't have the problem we have in this country. we need to disarm dangerousop , not arm teachers. and the reality is even highly trained police officers hit their tar bets about 18% of the

time. we cannot turn volunteer teachers into sharp shooters. >> and i want to ask you about that in just a mom taking prot posal as a whole, katherine newman, do you believe this is ing to help prevent future school shootings? >> i don't think it ta advantage of what we really know about these shootings. we need to focus okn maing sure kids come forward with information because they hear a t ofmors and threats. and that when that information is collected, we act on it in all of the most recent incidents, we've seen people come forward to the fbi, and not enough intervention was possible. we need to focus on that. arming tachers really worries me because as shannon said,ea accuracy sayproblem especially when people are feeling pressured and anxious which they obvnusly would be such a catastrophic situation. so i don't think that going to help matters. in fact, it may even attract more shooters to schools. >> woodruff: just quickly for a moment shannon watts on this

idea of arming teacherrings. the white house says what they are doing is work with the states to help them train some school officials so that they can be in a position to stop a shooting when it hapnsc .r o ce announcement. is is a very skin kal marketing ploi. the gun lobby is trying to make up a short fall in gun manufactures' profits of about $100 million or 10% since donald trump was elected. arming even a fraction of our country's 3.2 million terter so this is not a data-driven solution that research has found will show stophese shootings or save our children. it's actually a cynical gun lobby ploi to sell more guns. >> woodruff: there are other ements to this proposal, katherine newman. as we know, they among othehe thingssay they want to minalgthen the existing cri background check system by requiring more reporting than is the case right now.

uow much di cenffmaokece ld>> t iha think that could maka difference. and we should applaud the positive elemes of this proposal. we know that some people were on local radar screensnd the information just didn't get through to the right agents. so i do think that that important. i also think we theed to stick se the idea that we r access to guns to 21. the president has the capacity to be quite persuasive on these matterwhen he wants to be and we ought to go back to that table and make sure that happens. >> what about that, shannon watts. the white house says thatl proposal is st the table but it wasn't part waf was presented in this paper that was released earlier. >> yeah, really none of the data driven solutions that e president said he supported last week were in the proposal. there is no red flalaw there is no closing the boyfriend loophole requiring chiversal backgrounck, all of that show went out the window. instead wee left with recall aing teachers. this has been up to the states

for awhile. we have been doing this and winning both killing bad bills and sporting good bills and that is why we keep doing the wor until we get the right congress and president in place to take action on thiris horc shootings in our country. 96 americans are shot and killed every day. we can't not act. >> katherine newman, how much difference do you think it would make to raise thew age at ch someone is able to buy a long gun? >> i think it wou help because the most immature people at the ages of 18and 19 would have it, it would become much more difficult for them to gan access to guns. but we should remember that's not really sufficient. in the shootings tha studied, theetion young people stole guns that were legally acquired. so raisi the gun age all by itself is not enough but it's rt pa it's going to be a mix if we reallyant to have effective legislation. >> speaking of a mix, shannon watts, another element of this,d the prt is establishing a federal commission on school safety a heking the secretary of

education weesy de vos to-- bet see he vos to head it up. they will study this entire issue for a year, come back wite mmendations. isn't-- is it possible that some good ideas could km out of tha >> well, the president him made the fun of the exact same commissions on saturday and next day turned around a new commission to study somethingor that fl florida was able to pass in less than a week. raising the age that 18 year olds can buy long guns to 21. is common sense f you can't buy a beer or even rent a car you shunlt be able to buy a semiautomatic rifle. the reason the president took that out of h plan is because the nra opposes it. it is why they turned around and sued the state of gainhe0 mliha thnra invo.esterid in ddaoned aa trump's cn is clearly paying off. >> woodruff: in another move, katherine newman, the white house talks about better integrating mental health vicesry care, family ser programs, an effort i think to get, to make sure that young

people who haroveblems, what may be disturbed have access, can get the tatment that they need. absolutely i applaud tt. it's long overdue and i think it's a wonderful thing if we can real make it happen in most high schools around the country, we have been cutting those kinds of resources. we've been oten 50ur0 stuendentk after. they can't possibly attend to those who are in trouble and need menl health resources so i think that this is really a very positive step if we can make it happen. school shooters are the tip of a very dangerous and disturbed iceberg. and that iceberg is made up of millions of kids who a suffering from depression. if we can attend to thereir isss we will see fewer of them take these extreme steps. >> in connection with that, the white house is talking about urging states to pass so the called risk protection orders. in other words, making it easier to take guns away from individuals who are known to be a harm, a rif k orming

themselves or someone else. >> yes, and again, is heushi that down to the states. cois is a lawha tt you las families and police to petition a judge to get a temporary restraining order. if someo seems to be a dange to themselves or others we passed this law so far in five it could have helped in this situation in florida. so this is absolutely something states shld act onut it's also something congress could vote on right awson.ay newman, if you were able to talk to the president directly, talk to the memrs of this commission directly what would you say else needs to be done to make sure to do as much as possible to prevent school shootings? >> we need to be sure that they support school resource officers, because they are effective meansof entrapping information that we need in rorder to letsponsible people know that a threat is on the way. sp need to be sure there are on adthults w thehan theuy km forwe

ir concerns will be acted on confidentially, privately but aked on for sure because right now i think they really lack th confidence that that is going to ppen >>druf son wt at autu, auldou say to them needs to be done? >> look, we have beesame rates devofoped nmeat ion. evernation is home to disgruntled teenagers. only america allows them toqu e an arsenal and ammunition. we have to address this issue which is easy access to guns in this i c. and the president's plan does not even scratch the surface. >> woodruff: well, we know we're going to continue to talk about this issue as long a it is before the american people and as long as these kinds of school shootings take place. thank you very much sha knnon wattatherine newman, thank you. >> thank you. ow

>> woodruff: congressional race that could be a harbinger of elections to come this fall.h congressional district, outside of pittsburgh, but polls aheadec of tomorrow's l election there show the republican, rick saccone, in a dead heat with democrat, conor lamb. it's an early, and critical, test of enthusiasm for both parties. lisa desjardins just returned from westernennsylvania and brings us this report. >> desjardins: it's not yet 9:00 a.m., and this custom crate manufacturing company in scottdale, pennsylvania, is already buzzing.is owner jack davays business is, too. >> last year was one of the bese years we ehad. >> desjardins: jack is a republic of peopl this district, voted for president donald trump. >> after the first year he's actually turned out to be a far

better president than i even anticipahed. the fact i ran again, i'd vote for him again. >> desjardins: that makes his choice in tomorrow's special election an easy one. >> i'lvote for rick saccone. the reason being that the fact is he has aligned himself with trump. so i think we need to continue doing what trump has started. >> desjardins: pennsylvania'st 18th districts in the southwestern corner of the state, where pittsburgh's suburbs give way to industrial towns and farmland. and it's reliabld: the district has voted republican in every presidential election since 2000. abeepnty the same republican, tim murphy, in congress for the last 15 years. he resigned in october after reports that he asked a one-time mistress to have an abortion. >> when we vote. ess:hitime, though, lifelong democrats like denny cragit see a chance for a pickup. >> i'm supporting conor lamb. because he has talked to our unions.

one of the big things with his opponent is: he is had nothing good to say to our union, ever. basically anti-union. >> desjardins: denny is an officer with the local united steelworkers in canonsburg. he says the president looms large in his choice tomorrow. >> i must admit after the 2016 debacle, and seeing donald trump win the presidency because people wanted change-- we all d - that has made me r again, i guess, ani'm going to try to do everything i can to >> desjardins: this special election pits republican state representative rick saccone against democrat coram l barely mentions his name. both are military veterans, and in a district that loves hunting. >> i think we should allow our people to exercise their second amendment rights. >> served four years in the marines. still ves to shoot. desjardins: both support the second amendment. the race is attracting a national flood of money, both for the candidates themselves,r

and tside groups who support or oppose them. by the time the polls close tomorrow, byne estimate, these candidates and groups will have spent more than $11 million television ads alone. itle also attracted high-pro surrogates. mpst week, former vice president joe biden hit the gn trail for lamb. >> get out and make sure he wins.es >>rdins: and just this weekend, president trump made his second visit to the district in as many months. >> rick saccone will be a great, great congressman. >> desjardins: the republican- in-chief touted his new steel and aluminum tariffs in this industrial corner of the state. steel is back, it's going to be bacisstoorks steeack and aluminum is back. mr. trump won this >>esjardins: mr. trump won this congressional district overwhelmingly, by aboutts0 poin. the question now is whether

enthiasm for the president translates into enthusiasm for a different republican.e outsidrally for saccone,it locals sai not the candidate driving their vote, it's more the "r" next to his name. >> i think it's important that we do what we can to elect him and to keep it a republican at. >> and anything, anything to put nancy pelosi out of office if >> i just don't think people know him. and at this point, nobody seems to trust anybody. so if you don't know them-- like everybody knew donald trump from just him being him. but who's rick scone?rd >> dess: to opponents, that's an enthusiasm gap, and an opportunity. three days before the election, and the group "voice of stmoreland" is crammed into a dining room, about to go door- to-door in the final push for lamb. just six people a year ago, they now have more than 100 members. co-founder angela aldous knows

president trump is popular with her neighbors. and that's become a central part of her group's strategy. >> this isn't a thing about-- you know, we're out here wposing trump. while we don't agrh a lot maybe most of what he stands for. if he weren't president tomorrow, paul ryan would still be there and he would still be ying to gut medicaid. that's how you kind of are able to have conversations with people in iis area. evthey support the president, and i and i don't stands for, you still have so t ch in common to say, "hey, we're-- they're rking for us." >> desjardin there is an underlying theme here, even for supporters of both candidates:th generally distrust longtime politicians in both parties. >> sometimes you look at democrat and republicans, it's kind of like a beer. the democrats are budweiser, and republicans are bud light. after a febeers you can't tell them apart. >> desjardins: on the other side of the district, denny and his longtime buddies share a beer, and the same skepticm.

>> it's all about power. and they really don't care about the people. and i'll be truthful: sometimes i feel that way about some democrats also. >> desjardins: but here's what's different: new groups like angela's are emerging, and trying to shift the conversation, one door at a time. democrats are counting on that enthusiasm tomorrow, but angela is looking past this election,to he long term. >> wednesday, march 14th, we're all going to sleep, finally, after doing so much for thison elec and the lamb campaign will pack up and they'll head out and their of we'll still be here.d like we're not going anywhere. >> desjardins: but expect the signs and the candidates to return soon enough: this is a fight for a temporary congressional seat, with jhst eight montntil november's election. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins in greensburg, pennsylvania. f >> woodruf all of the

money and attention on this 18th 2strict race, will it be a bellwether for t8 mid-term elections coming this fall, or will it be more of a off? our regular "politics monday" duwill pick it up there: that's amy walter of "the cook political report" and tamara keith of npr. before i ask you both about the difference bween bud and bud lite, memorable line there, amy, are we paying too much attention to this race, does it deserve this kind of attention and money for that mat sner. >> judy, you know how much i love every congressional race, they all deserve this muc attention. the reason this race is getting this much attention is that it shouldn't be getting this much attention. this is areardistrict that should easily be in republican hands. the fact that this race is close at all is the reason that we're ta the fact that it is this close given how much republicans hav spent, win or lose, they will have spent over $10 million to try to hold on to a district that has been reliably in the

republican camp for years. so there is, we're looking at this race, also context of the races that we've seen previous special electis year, where democrats have been overperforming even in dark red districts. so that's what we are looking for is the trebd and also the fact tt this is evein play. >> woodruff: what are you watching for here. >> well, it certainly is another race where president trump has put his name on the le. he has tweeted about rick saccone. he campaigned with him, he called him up on the stage. meanwhile, there are stories that are running that say things like people close to president trump say he doesn't really think ck saccone isa great candidate, which is a little like wot rking the resin advance. working the expectations game, trying to say well, you know, if he loses, it's because he wasn't a great candidate it hashi not to do with president trump's m o.j. o. but president trump has put so much into this, it would be interesting to see how this goes. and either way, i mean, the

polling indicates it's very close and either way, it loks like conor lamb is going to outperform what a democrat shou do i mean they ven't even had democrats in this district for the last two rces. >> so what does it really tell us. say conor lamb, whether he comes close or wins the democrat, what is it really going to tell us. >> i think we're going tlearn a couple of things. if conor lamb wins it will tell us a little bit about republican messaging, right. they've spent a whole bunch of time talking about the fact that because the economy is improving. because the tax cuts have been implemented, that voters are going to reward republicans no just the president but of course republicans in congress. they've been making that message in this district but it has obviously it hasn't really stuck. the attacks on nanpecylosi, trying to attach nancy pelosi to conor lamb, purposefully distanced himself from nancype si, saying he wasn't going

vote for her, are they going to continue to use that if itws sho not to work in a district as republican as his, if conor lamb narrowly loses they can make the argument maybe we can try these things in other districts but if it narrowly puts your candidate over the line in a district that is this red, what are you going to do in districts that are a ltle blower. >> many money decisions will be made based on what happens. >> this is a ngreat tes ground or it is a testing ground that has people that are more suburban t has really true deep red trump voters working class, white working class voter it is a good place to test a lot of these messages. and president trump has said oh, that line, that thing that nancy pelosi said abut crumbs, that the tax cut is just crumbs, he is like thats going to be the 18.lorables of 20 we're-- this they're testing if, running a lot of ads abo nance's approximately osee saying the tax cut is yus crumbs

jz and we'll see about the taffs on steel an aluminum-- aluminum there has culationot of spe reporting that part of the reason the president did this is this one disticket. >> this one disticket and state. the thing about this disticket,-- district t is a big part suburban, not just alll strker, but the poll questioned how you feel about tariffs, overwhelmingly supported in that district and most voters almost all voters say it has no impact on how they will vote tomorrow. >> woodruff: let's turn now aimenteek, to this ann by the white house of how they will deal with school safety going forward in the wake of thesparkland florida school shooting. the president had talked about doing more, it seems to put som kindntrols on gun. the age at which people can buy guns the but the proposal is it has a a lot of layers to it,e talked about it a few minutes ago but what doeit tell us about the president's commitment here? >> what it tells us is tt when

president trump does these bipartisan listening sesons, he with saying a whole lot of stuff that he's not going to stand behind two or three weeks later. and we saw that with immration where he said just send me a bill, whatever you work out, i acll sign it and all of a sudden the white house waually we have these four pillars, we need all of these different thngs. mean the president said a lot of things in the bipartisanvi ted meeting on guns that no advisor of him would have advised him to say, including that you know we need to take guns away from peoe who are deemed a danger to themselves and others without due process. the white house in their explanation and description of what he wants mexed due process and court ordlers muple times which is to say not exactly what the president said when he was just sort of speaking off-the-cuff. >> it's almost a pattern or a pattern of two in the way they talk about him and what they did on immigration.ta >> the about it publicly too. >> that's right. it says a lot too that they're

actually was a pathway they receiptically on both imtbraition and guns to get something done that wasn't very sweeping. will there just been a daca plus border security, thablt pro would have passed or wouldn't have been as dramatic. guns do something as john cornyn, snoor from texas was talking about, really just updati the background check system that could have gotten passed, again it's not as drama-- dramatic but when the president added and the white house added those elements on immigration, there were poison pills on chain migration and on the diversity lottery, andmi adding, teachers in schools is a poison pill on this. so the pivot always seems to be to go to not only e most conservative but also the most controversial. >> and it's interesting today that the white house is saying well, we still are looking at other measures we cold take with regard to guns. raising the age and so forth.>> hey don't typically like to say, what the president said ehen he was live on national

television, didn'tan that. so this is like you know rt four of the trump white house t walkback wheey are like well, you know, he is supporting things that he thinks can pass. and other stuff, well maybe-- hasn't ruled it out but we may never hear about it again. >> woodruff: well, we're definitely going hear about the twof you again. >> thank you. >> woodruff: tamara keith, amy walter, politics monday. thank you. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: now, an urgent call for greater federal help to deal with the opioid epidemic. it comes from a pair of governors whose statesbeen hit hard. the governors of maryland came to capitol hill recently to speak before a senate committee. in maryland the synthetic drug fentanyl was the leading cause

of overdose deaths last year. and in oregon, people 65 and older are overdosing and abusing opioids at a greater rate than any other stat william brangham sat down with maryland governor larry hogan and oregon governor kate brown shortly after their testimony. governor rogan, governor brown, thank you both very much feing here. what is it you think generally speaking the federal government doesn't understand about whatu are cing. >> i think maybe that this crisis is evolving so rapidly and that i is as dedly as it. is and that we really need more resources from the federalrn gont. that's the main thing we are trying to convey. we're dealing with fentanyl as the number one killer in maryland t is different across the country but we had nearly 2,0 deaths last a. and 70% spike in fentanyl which is something the federal government has to get involved in from an interdiction stance, coming from china and mexico. >> governor brown what did you come here to tell the government. >> i wted to make sure that they knew that oregon and many other states, most of mye

governors ally focused on treating this as a public health crisis as opposed to a cmil justice issue. and that it is so key that we focuuon edcation, prevention, recovery and treatment for folks that are suffering from subscunce abuse, parrly with opioids. >> the president has declaredp this alic health emergency. there is $6 billion, they recetically coming down the pipeline soon. what more do you want the federal government to do?an where do you that money to go? >> there needs to be resources behind those woreds. heds to put funding behind the action. and we need financi assistance. we need asstance purchasing drugs that prevent overdoses from being successful, nalaxone it is very expensive and we need all of our first responders to ugve access to it. >> this is the dhat reverses an overdose that can be ifven immediately and bring someone back tothat what have killed them can save their

life. >> yes. >> governor hogan, you talked a lot about fentanyl, you mentioned it here and in your testimony today. can you explain the impact that fentanyl is having here in maryland? >> fentanyl is between 50 and a hundred times more deadly and more potd tent thanir bin is. and we already were seeing deaths all over the practice is from her but this is a real countries crisis. not just in our state but it is spreading to many states across the country. and we had 2,000 people in maryland die last year. and thisum was ther one cause. >> so obviously a state can only do so much with regards to fentanyl, that is an interstate and international trafficking situation. >> right >> so what do you want the federal government to do with regards specifically to tha >> well, the states can't do much about things coming in frm china and across-the-boarder in mexico. they started out, almost all of this was produced and senin from china and a lot of it is coming through the u.s. postalie service, b it or not. there are a number of pieces of

legiation to address th, provide additional technology to try to interdict and stop thi cs frming in. i think that is one thing the federal government can focus on that we can't do at the ste level and agree with governor brown, treatment is the real issue and georttinge, $6 billion sounds like a the lo. within our little state, we put half a billion dollars just into maryland. and we had. >> in maryland alone. >> so it's not enough. and we need the flexibility as governor brown said. we need the fednderal dollars we need to utilize it as best we see fit out on the front lines. >> governor brown, you mentioned today that you feel the federal , specifically focuses too much on punishment. what do you mean by that? >> well, we saw what happened in the 09see as a result of the crack cocaine epidemic. dreds of up locking hun thousands of people, put them behind bars their lies were ruined, obviously. th needs to be treated, this crisis, opiate crisis needs

to be treated as a substanceo abuse blem, as a public health problem. and that means making sure that atment.ave access to tre if folks don't have access to underlying health care and tota suial and alcohol treatment, we can't solve this problem. >> i would agreeith that it's really, we've been focusing on it from four fferent areas. it's education and prevention and treatment and interdiction. cuz you can't ignore the cri ome pathe dealing of these drugs that are coming and killing people. but most of our money has been put into treatment. this is a mental health and health crisis. it's very connected wh mental health. but it is a health crisis across america it is the number one problem we're facing. >> this issue touches every sij el one of us. our families, our friends, our communities. our businesses. and every single corner of the united states, every state has been impacted. this is an opportunity for congress to step up, republican

and democrat, work together and tackle this crisis. and we need the help that at the state lethel. k congress is committed to doing something. we'll see what happens.u >> i cn't agree with that more. governor brown and i are different parties, different coasts, opposite ends of the country. we don't agree on everything but this is one that i think nearly every governor agrees on. i'm hopeful that maybe this will be one othe things that gets done here in washington. because we need to, it's aboutiv saving. >> you both have given very concrete examples of things youe would like to health insurance, treatment, interdiction, et cetera. at role do you think that the simple shame andgmtiaround addiction t is difficult for people, even though we know the science is crystal cle on this, to simply say i have a problem, my family member has a problem. my coworker has a problem. how serious is that? >> i think it's a very serious start of the problem and something we're working harto try to change. because this really is, it's ahe

th crisis. it's a-- addiction is not, you shouldn't be ashamed to come forward and get the treatment that you need. >> i think that's one of the challenges. if the federal government continues to pursue ivn approach is that it makes it really difficult to he raise the stigma of 230 of folks who are suffering with this illness. that is exactly what st, it is an illness. and part of reducing the stig marks i think, is ttiea it like it is part of a public health issue tht 2 is, as opposed to treating it like it's a criminal justice issue. >> it's not just young people, many of our addicted folks are older because they are the yuns that are more surgery, more aches and painsk took morpain medications and got addicted it is not just an urban probl t is every economic, every age group, every sowsio economic group isaffected by this. >> that is where i think it's so important for all of us to share ories. we have all been touched by this

horrible disease. what we can, what the difference is, is that we can all do somethg about it. >> all right, governor hogan, governor brown, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> >> woodruff: and we'll be back ortly with a perspective on how reading a book could be an antidote to our short attention span but first, take a moment to heaa from your pbs station. it's a chance to offer y

>> woodruff: international best- selling author ann patchett has written seven novels, and three san-fiction books. she contributes and

criticism to an array of newspapers and journals. and she owns a bookstore in her hometown of nashville, tennessee. a lot on her plate?ou most think so. but it's not a matter of juggling. m tonight's humble opinion: the case for doing one thing at a time. >> in my 30s, i decided to get serious about baking. i bought cookbooks and wento work. it was shocking how often my attempts failed. my cakes werflat, dry, sunken, flavorless, you name it. after taking careful inventory of my equipment and ingredients, i was forced to call myself into question: was i reading the recipe carefully? was i following directions? not exactly. i'd done most of what was required, but never all of it. so i baked a cake while paying full attention to nothing butth cake, and it came out perfectly. it looked like the cake in the book.

baking turned out to be a lesson in what we used to call reading comprehension. i hadn't been paying attention to the text, which might have been because i wasalking on the phone while folding the wet and dry ingredients, or i wasfo ing the laundry while running the mixer, or making a note to myself iththe margins of cookbok to write a piece about cakes. behold, the confidence it takes to glance at a recipe from the corner will all turn out fine. behold the confidence i takes to drive a car while sending a text message. though if you're going to try and il at multitasking, it's better do it in the kitchen than on the interstate. people like to ask me the secret to writing novels. for me it's the ability to sta focused. admitting that i'm incapable of multitasking was an impoant first step. in order to write a novel i have to show up to work fully present and conctrate on one thing. it turns out this is also the

secret to baking a cak s and being incessful relationship, and being a good parent, and a good fri if your attention span has shrunken like a sweate accidentally thrown in the dryer and you want to stretch it out again, then reading a book can serve the same purpose as writing one. like baking, reading books can be the antidote to fragmentation and distraction. chapter by chapter you can retrain yourself to pay attention for longer perds of time. books are also a gat source of entertainment, education, and empathy. they're available for free at your local library, and are for le at your local independent bookstore for a fraction of the cost of a new iphone. i was told this essay should be three minutes long, that threeen minutes is theh of time people would pay attention. so read some more books and next time we'll talk longer.

>> woodruff: online, y p can take annchett's advice for reading more books by joining ouevery own book club with "new york times." it's called "now read and our book for march is the novel "exit west" yo mohsin hamid. can find author interviews, discussion questions and more on our web site, s.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs edwshour has been provided by: >> and by the al. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century.

>> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org pp and with the ongoing suort of these institutions >> this program was made possible public broadcasting.r and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored bydu newshour pions, llc captioned by media access groupsst wgbh acgbh.org

sheila: wewe haven't made a burger in years. you guys haven't cooked a burger since the 1960s? yes. u weren't born then, i know. we've been hearing that burgers d. have really evolve we're not in kansas anymore. that's a big burger. a i'big girl. ha ha! marilynn: what did you think of the barber brothers? ohh, they were so cute! you know, "cute" is your favorite word. yay! man: there we go. sheila: bruce, where have you taken us tod? bruce: have you ever heard of a dosa? is there any chance that we could see how dosa are made tc in your kihen? i'm doing it! be honest with me. yeah? how did i do on my first try? first try is ok, good. marilynn, voice-over: the way you were f rting with that chef at the restaurant,rst try is ok, he probably thinks he's part of the family now. well, in my heart, he is. marilynn: we're the brass sisters. we have over 130 years... sheila: combined cooking experience.