captioningnsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, l udents across the nation walkout of schoo protest gun violence, one month after a mass shooting at a florida high school. then, britisthprime minister esa may expels 23 russian diploms after moscow refused to explain a nerve agent attack on u.k. so. and, remembering renowned physicist sthen hawking: how he captured minds and inspired generations to look toward the cosmos. >> he never let his motor ne hon disease hoim back. i think he's just an inspiration generay to all, whether they be scientists dr not. >> woouff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. n >> the lemelundation. committed to improving lives through invention. in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemels.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contrutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: all over the united states, it's been a day for walking out of class, and marching for tougher gun laws. the focus was on pressing congress to act. william brangham begins our coverage. g>> kids not guns, kids nuns. >> brangham: it was a scene that played out all across the country... from washington, d.c... >> this is what democracy looks like. >> brangham: to cobb county, georgia... >> no gun violence. >> brangham: to denver, colorado. tens of thounds of students and teachers walked out of class this morning to protest gun violence and remember the

victims of last month's schoolng shootin parkland, florida. in washington, student activists, joined by democratict lawmakers, gred outside the capitol to demand action. >> the adults have failed us. this is in ouranands now and if y elected official gets in our way we will vote them out and replace them ourselves. >> brangham: earlier, in front of the white house, thousands held a 17-minu moment of silence, one minute for each of ane 17 killed in the parkl shooting. elsewhere, in new york city, local students, joined b governor andrew cuomo, led a so- called "die-in." and othe in cities as far away as london, as seen in this time- lapse video, gathered in solidarity with today's protesters. while student from more than two thousand schools were expected to take part in today's protests, others didn't. one student in black river falls, wisconsin told reporters from the newshour's student reporting labs why: >> i think that guns aren't the

problem.op i think are the problem that get their hands on the guns. justhe fact that people with mental illnesses are allowed to get these guns is the problem, not the gun itself. >> brangham: back in parkland, ents from marjory stonem douglas, where the shooting took place, gathered on their football field. ere, they held their own moment of silence and read biographies of each of the wvictims. >>re not going to stop fighting. we're not going to shut up. sit's been a month, we'rell here.>> brangham: school officials had asked them to stay on campus. separately, in nearby fort lauderdale, the allenman from parkland was formally arraigned and pled34ot guilty to harges of murder and attempted murder. he could face the death penalty if convicted. back in washington, at a senate hearing, lawmakers pressed the f.b.i. on why it didn't act on tips about the attacker prior to the shooting. the agency's acting deputy director admitted more could

have been done: >> we made mistakes here, no question about that. that said, even if had we had done everything right, i'm not sure we could have stopped this act, but it sure would have been nice to try. nice to have our investigator sit with cruz and have that discussion. >> brangham: at the same hearing, senators heard from those directly impacted by last month's violence. >> we don't have to all agree on guns and we won't. but we can agree on the most fundamental things. we can agree that students and s teacheuld be safe. we can agree that schools should be secure. we can agree that law enforcement should be competent and must do its job. >> brangham: in the house, members today did pass the "school safety act," which would provide $50 million for school safety measures.no it does however, include any provisions when it comes to limiting guns.

>> this is what democracy looks like. >> brangham: all this come as organizers prepare for the "marchor our lives," set for march 24th, which could bring as many as half a million people to the naon's capital. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brgham in washington. >> woodruff: for some more perspective about this day, these efforts and the challenges ahead, we are joined by two students who participated in the walkout today. anthey were also a part of team from more than a dozen of our student reporting labs that reported on the day across the country for newshour on snapchat both are from john f. kennedy high school inilver spring, maryland, part of the montgomery county school system. caley kern is a sophomore there. and jaylah ross is a junior. and welcome both of you to the newshour. jail alet me start with you. why did you want to be part of this? >> so i was there in support of the victims of the florida shooting and alo in support of victims of other mass shootings, and i would also just-- oyou i was there to push for

stricter gun laws.d >> woodruff: at about you, caley. what would you sa was the reason you came? >> i came to, you know, see fo omself because students beg activists is not something that happens all the time. but in addition to that, i wanted to support the vicms of mass shootings, especially the students at rjy stoneman douglas high school in florida. and i also wanted to, youno help apply pressure to our politicians to tell they,m, "he this is something that really matters to me and to all ther se oteople, and we would like you to do something about it." >> woodruff: jayla, you mentionedly gun laws, if you d uld talk to the politicians directly, what wou say to them that you want? >> i would say ban assault rifles. i feel like there's no reason that we need that in, like, an everyday life type of situation. and i thinthat, you know, it would-- we would be a lot safe fer we did something about that.

d, also, pushing for, you know, backgrou checks and things like that. it's really little things that can, you know, help us in the long run.n and so i ththat that's definitely a startdr >> woof: caley, what about you in terms of changing gu laws or other laws? what would you like to see? >> universal background checks to find out yactly who's buing these guns and what their background is. also, toan bump stocks, which can be used to eighto mate semi-automatic weapons. and to 6 just overall banning automatic weapons because military-style rifles in general are not really needed in civilian lere. and s no need for them. >> woodruff: jayla, did you-- some people are remarking that it's-- it's realatly something he younger generation has to be the one to carry this message. how do you feel about that? do you feel-- we heard someone in the report just now say they feel the older generation has failed them. is that how you feel? in some ways, yes, i feel

like nowadays you see the voice ve the youthry powerful and very strong, and i think that it is us that are really get, ings dun d..a. nowadays. i mean, you see us, our marchesp and weread word through social media. and i feel like nowadays, it's really-- people have to count on the youth to take care of things and so, yeah, i feel like, some some ways, yes>, they have. woodruff: caley, others have pointed out it's well and good to have these marches, to have these walkout but unless things change at the ballot box, laws won't change. how committed do you think and you some of your fries are to see this through? >> for me personally, i am very excited f of to turn 18 to be able to vote and to be able to express my opinions at the ballot pox. and i know i'm not the only one. a lot of my pee who showed up today are very energized because they realize a ot of these

politician aren't representing their views, and so they really want to rsonally makere there are new politicians who will. >> woodruff: how muc yof this think, jayla, is fear that a shofoing, godbid, could happen some place near you, in montgomery county, even your school? >> that's a huge part of ti feel. no one wants to go through something like, this somethin as dramatic as that, and have to hide under desks d thinke that. and i feel like fear does play a big role. it's a mo tivation, reallr us to get things done. and i think th't, you know, its horrible what's happening, and so i do think that fear does play a huge role. >> woodruff: and, caley what, do you want people to know who are looking at all of you who are saying, "well, they took time off from school. was it really worth it?" what would you say. >> doing, this staying on campus, that's not going to help us, or put pressure on politicians.

but getting the attention of the media and adults in general really helps us apply pressure to them and get our message out better. >> woodruff: wee well we thank you both for comg in to tiewx today. thank you, caley kern, and jayla ross. >> thank you. ar woodruff: in the days other news, democrats aplose to picking up a u.s. house seat in western pennsylvania. conor lamb is about 600 votes ahead of republican rick saccone ter tuesday's special election, with only provisional and military ballots left to count. the two men addressed supporterg last. >> well, it took a little longer thought, but we did it. our issue in this campaign is common ground. we fought to find common ground and we found it. >> you know we're still fighting the fight. it's not over yet. we're gonna fight all the way to thend. you know i never give up.si >> woodruff: pnt trump carried the district by 20

a democratic win there could be seen as a harbinger for congressionamid-term elections this fall. there'a new face in the ongoing shakeup at the white house:arry kudlow will be chief economic adviser. the cnbc television commentator and conservative economic analyst is a long-time ally of president trump. kuow replaces gary cohn, wo resigned last week, after opposing the president's steel and aluminum tariffs. more fallout today from the firing of rex tillerson as secretary of state. iran criticized president trump's nominee to replace tillerson, c.i.a. director mike pompeo. a hard-line tehran newspaper said his fierce opposition to the iran nuclear deal ensures its demise. meanwh ailpokesman said russian president vladimir putin believes thone change necessarily do much for strained u.s.-russian ties. >> ( translated ): the

relationship between oha countries caly go lower than the floor. so in this regard, we probably n't be worried that the relationship will worsen further. but in any case, the hope for constructivism and s approach in joint relations remain. this hope will always remain.f: >> woodrn washington, republican senator rand paul said he will oppose pompeo, over his support for interrogation meods widely viewed as torture. paul is also opposingina haspel's nomination for c.i.a. director, for the samens. in germany, angela merkel was sworn in ther fourth term as wancellor, ending six months of uncertainty in te of september's elections. she took the oath of office after her selection by the german parliament. it followed hard bargaining to renew her governing coalition. e u.s. senate moved this evening to roll back parts of a landmark law regulating banks. the dodd-frank act was passed

after the financial meltdown of 2008. the changes would relax regulations on smaller lenders. the toughest rules would apply to only the biggest banks. the bill still has to pass the house. the northeastern u.s. spent today recovering from its latest, late-winter storm tuesday's nor'easter was the third major storm in two weeks. some towns got as much as two more feet of snow, and thousands lost power, again. in boston, the mayor warned that all the snow may force cancell sation day's st. patrick's day parade. ford says it's recallirly 1.4 million mid-size cars, benuse the steering wheels come off. the announcement follows a five- month investigatn by federal regulators. the company sawh the steering el bolts can come loose over time. the affected vehicles are ford fusion and lincoln mk-z models from 2014 to 2018.

the founder of the blood-testing startup theranos will settle federal charges that she oversaw a major scam. elizabeth holmes is formally giving up control of the compny. she'll be fined $500,000 and nsurrender nearly 19 mill shares of stock. theranos claimed a revolutionary means of blood testing, but the securities and exchange commission now says it was a massive fraud. on wall street today, worries about tariffs and trade tensions with europe and china undermined the market. the dow jones industrial a nrage lostrly 249 points to close at 2 the nasdaq fell 14 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 15. and two passingsedf note: renohysicist stephen hawking died today, after m battling tcle-wasting disease a.l.s. for more than 50 d.ars. he was 76 years we'll look at his life later in

the program.an the famed pediatrician dr. t. berry brazelton died tuesdayn his parebooks had counseled generations of new parents. berry brazelton was 99. still to come on the newshour: the u.k. retaliates for the poisoning of a former russian spy. we'll speak to the british ambassador. germany's plan to combat growing anti-semitism,nd much more. >> woodruff: 10 days after the apparent poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter, omitish prime minister theresa may leveled her diic fire today at moscow. among her decisions: she expelled russianeniplomats, suded high-level contacts with moscow, and said the government would use new powers

to stop intelligenai agents in brand freeze russian assets used to harm people in thede uningdom. libby wiener of independent television news reports. >> reporter: the russian embassy in london, wheir more than a of the diplomats today were ordered to pack their bags and leave within a week. with the former double agent sergei skripal and his daughter yulia fighting for their lives in hospita had promised to get tough on russia. onday she headed to the co to show she meant what she said. >> the united kingdom will now expel 23 russian diplomats who have been identified as undeared intelligence officers. the have just one weekave. this will be the single biggest expulsion for over 30 years. >> reporter: and there was no doubt whom she held responsible> t is tragic that president putin has chosen to act in this way. but we will not tolerate the

threat to life for british people and others on british il from the russian government. nor will we tolerate such a flagrant breach of rusa's international obligations. >> reporter: besides the >> reporter: the foreign ministry office itself was busy today putting out messages on social media attacking what it called russian state aggression. that twitter denials about the poisoning of sergei skripal. independent observers say relations have reached a new lo some aspects actually worse than during the cold war. >> spies who were swapped during the cold war were left in peace to enjoy their retirement so it's a breach of that norm which mes actually quite important. >> reporter: the p minister returned to downg street. knowing that russia might respond in kind. >> woodruff: that report from libby wiener of independent television news. earlier this evening i spoke with the british ambassador to the u.s., sir kim darroch. i began by asking him about the evidence the u.k. has linking

russia tthe attack. >> you can be sure of that. it involves several days of investigation. remember this appalling attck happened more than a week ago,ce and poave been working intensively since then. the nerve agent involved, by the way, is known to be associated nufactureda, to be in russia. we gave the russian authorities 24 hours to respond. they didn't, basically, taketh seriously. they were contemptuous. o we were in no doubt about their culpabilitid the conclusions drawn and action taken. >> woodruff: how much more does your go who exactly did this? >> well, we will carry on with the investigations. there is no more than we can say than the prime minister said in the house of commons this morning. but as she said, we believe there's a ry high likelihood

of russian responsibility, of russian lpabilities here. and that was enough to trigger the response that you heard today. >> woodruff: well, once your prime minister announced taking measures against the russians, suspending higlevel contacts, expelling 23 russian diplomats, no british min sterlz or royals are going to attend th world cup so, urnament-- or championship-- in russia this summer. why these measures in particular right now? >> well, it's the right moment to respond to, in terms of the expulsion of russian diplomats. we believe these individuals were actually undeclared intelligence agents, so that seems to me a wholly appropriate residence response to what has happened. in light of what has happened, which, remember, of an attack on two innocent civilians it involved first responders.

one of them is gravely ill. it was acually a threat, a risk for all the people living in this town. i mean, you couldn't expect us to do less than the steps we've taken-- the expulsions, the freeze of contacts, the announcement that no senior british visitors would attend the world cup. >> woodr saying your government could have gone further and made an even tougher and harsher point with what it did. ut well, i'm not sure abo that. this is the biggest expulsion of russiadiplomats for 30 years. so it's a pretty big clear-out, and it will do catastrophic damage to russian activity in so it seems to me measured and appropriate. a >> woodrufi mentioned, the russians are denying everything. i'm quoting from their foreign ministry tyday, they're saing the british government has opted for atnfrontn, and they said

their response is not long in coming. it almost sou as if they n some kind of retaliation. do you expect that? >> well, the appropriate response from them would be a comprehensive apology, a promise to pusue those responsible, and aninquiry into what happened. look, you might be right. maybe that's not gog to happen. but i don't think any kind of retaliation given, as i said, the very high likelihood of russian state involvement in this and russian responsiblity for this appalling aise say, don't discount the fact that it was a threat not just to individuals who are now gravely in hospital, but to the population of this n. this is simply unacceptable for this kind of thing to happeon british soil. >> woodruff: what about the u.s. role here? thu.s. ambassador to the u.n., nikki haley, said today the u.s. is 100% behind its british ally.

and we know that the administration is looking at what else tosay. the president hasn't made a final statement yet. but what do you-- what is your expectation what the u.s. might do? the prime mister talked to the president a couple of days back, took him through what we thought had happened, and the likelihood of our attributing this to russia. he said that he was 100% with us, for which we are hugely grateful, and we tugo that l kki haley's comments at the u.n. security counis afternoon were absolutely everything we would have hoped for, and were absolutelye appropri the gravity of what's happened. so we plaud what nikki haley said, and how she-- how she characterized these events. >> woodruff: do you expect more from the u.s., more sanctions-- >> let's-- let's-- let's wait sd see on that, but we're very grateful for thport we've

had from this administration to date. >> woodruf also want to ask you about the-- there's thinimpression, if reads the stories about the number of russian oligarchs, wealthy russians living in great britain right now, basically, that london has become a popular haven for rushysia's wea has britain been too lenient in terms of lting russian nationals come and go pretty freely up until now? >> i don't think we've been too lenient or too free on that. and people of all nationalities coe and live in london. it's an international city. and we welcome anyone who wants come in our country, who lives within-- within the law and brings something to-- to the u.k. but part of response to what has happened in saisbury, and

part of the measures we will look at in the future, we will look at measures like whether we have sufficient defenses at our borders, and whether we need new powers over, for exmple, suspending bank accounts and at kind of thing. but that's all for further examination for the future. >> sir kim derrick, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: let's take some time now to get a fuller look at the life and work of stephen hawking. the british physicist pressed on in the face of adversity to become one of the most renowned scientists of the modern era and, some say, one ofost important in history. hari sreenivasan will talk about this with miles o'brien. but first miles begins with this appreciation, which is, turally, the focus of this week's segment on "the leading edge" of science.

>>an'brien: his was a brilli mind in a severely damaged body. stephen hawking overcame the ld oss of working limbs, s own voice, to become the best- known theoretical physicist of his era. >> although my body is very limited, my mind is free to the universe, to go back to the beginning of time and into black holes. there are no limits to the human spirit. >> o'brien: hawking first gained renown in 1974, upending the scientific consensus that nothing escapes the intense gravity of black holes. brian greene is a professor of physics at colbia university: ph hawking came along and melded the laws of quantuics into the previous analysis which had left out quantum mechanics and came to the shocking realizing the black holes were not completely black. that things could get out. they could leak a small amount

of energy, a small a radiation and that way we wonally recognize that perhaps the rd black is wrong when it comes to black holes.'b >>en: in time, hawking's appeal spread beyond fellow scientists to the general public. his book, "a brief history of time," first published in 1988, became an international bestseller. all the while, he battled amyotrophic lateral.sclerosis, a., a motor neuron disease that slowly erodes muscle contro he was diagnosed at 21, and doctors gave him less than three years to live. but hawking inexplicably defied the odds, living more than0 years with the disease, much of it confined to a wheelchair. through it all, heto become a pop culture icon, with cameo appearances on "the mpsons" and "the big bang theory." honor and a privilege to meet you, sir.

>> i know. ( laughter ) >> o'brien: he used hi ffame to appe saving the earth. >> i want to proclaim the message loud and wide. we need to look after the planet. if we don't, the human race won't survive the next thousand years. >> o'brien: in the 2014 film "the theory of everything," hawking was portrayed by eddie redmayne, who won an oscar for the role. that same year, the ntist spoke to the crew of the international space station, recalling a flight on a special ert that, for brief moments, re him weightless. , this was true freedom. people who know me well say that my smile was the biggest they'd ever seen i was superman for those few minutes. >> o'brien: the sum of achievements earned him countless honors, including the presidential medal of freedom in 2009. hawking's passing was marked the world over today. in london, british prime minister theresa may offered her ndolences.

and in cambridge, where hawking lived and worked, the university lowered its flags to hst, while students and locals recalled his many contributions. >> he never let his motor neuron disease hold him back. i think he's just an inspition generally to all, whether they be scientists or not, whether they are young or old, whether they are able bodied or not. i think just generally he was a great inspiration to everyone. >> o'brien: his legacy lives on in his science. again, brian green: >> it's kind of amazing that steven hawking was born 300ye s after the death of galileo to the day and he died on einstein's birthday. and indeed those are both fitting individuals because hawking ranks among them in the pantheon of the greatest visionary rsthinhat science has ever known. >> o'brien: stephen hawking died wednesday at his home in cambridge.

he was 76 years old. >> sreenivasan: miles, put this in perspective for us. how much did he contrib our understanding of the universe? >> you know, hari, he painted t th thareally broad canvas. he was able to connect really big things-- the expansion of the universe, what gets bigger than that-- with quantum mechanics, the smallest things we know.en e was studying black holes, he was able to determine tiny particles actually came out of black holes. previously, scientists belerievd was nothing that could escape from a black hole. this fundamentally changed thune rstanding of how black holes work. and if you kind of rewind the rmula and do backwards, gave us greater understandi into the origins of the universe, the big bang, and the expansion. so there were keen insights right there, and it showed what range he had. s sreenivasan: thislso someone who contributed to our kind of public imagination, in a way that people weren't thinkine about black hostarted to. >> you could put him in the category of a carl saying an,

for example. a sift with a good portfolio and a good resume of science, but also had a knack for connectingb with the pc, really against all odds when you think about it. but he was able to resonate with people in ways that i think we're just now coming to termsth nd understanding as we think about his life. >> sreenivasan: you also mentioned how broad his interests were. there were other callses flatter his life that he started becoming public and famous about. th well, among the things he was interested in wa rise of artificial intelligence and robots. nd the concerns he had that as we sword of cede control to machines, human beings have to find a way to make sure they stay in the loop and kepe control over all this. he, along with elon musk, issued warnings on that front. otr area he was very passionate about was space trabel. he firmlylieved human beings had to think about becoming extra-earth species, move out beyond earth and move into the solar system. that was an important thing in

his view. >> sreenivasan: we were talking about this off camerau but can talk a little bit about just the fact of what kind of inspiration he'n to humanity at large, but specifically, to the disabled community. >> well, what an example to the disabledcommunity, just by virtue of the fact that a human being who could barely move muscle, who could not speak on his own, became such a powerful communicator. what an example that is to the world about whatdisability really means and what the real abilities are inside the human mind, and what a person can do if they're not acwilling toept limitations which society puts upon them. when i met him in 2007, after hh was flying o pabula aircraft, the zero-g. airaaft to gedose of weightlessness-- which is an extraordinary thing when you think about hs condition-- but he was not willing to say, "i can't do that." and there were people there willing to help him do thaant. at that time, i marveled at his ability to deawith

disability. seven years later, i lost my arm, and one of the great examples isehought ofai brought myself back from that, was stephen hawking. if a person who can't move a muscle and can't speak can figure out hoto live a meaningful, fulfilling life and share his passion with the world, why can't i? so, you know, stephen hawking, wherever you are, i thank you. >> sreenivasan: is there, kind inform that longer arc of science, there is just a few names that start to pop out inspect this particular case, around this disease. we all kind of know it as lou gehrig's disease, even though i never watched lou gehrig play baseball, and i wonder if will start to know this as stephen hawking disease. >> from a newer generation, it probably sfor all innts and purposes, stephen hawking disease. when you think about that diagsis, what a horrible diagnose i guess that would be. the a.l.s. association says most people are ge within two, maybe five years.10 live beyond-- or to 10

years. he lived many decades. i mean, way off the charts. how did thpeat hap how do we know? but maybe his passion and his desire to have a meaningful life had something to do with it >> sreenivasan: he published, you know, just sort of "a brief history of time," ich as he would say was a dense book to read. but he became anunlikely popularizer of science. >> so much a part of the pop culture, really. un, this is a man who appear on "star trek" and "the simpsons," amo other things, and was able to trade one-linerezs on late-night tv. he reveled in it. when i m him, it was quite clear to me-- i was there with a cnn crew a--the timet was quite clear to me he really enjoyed being in the lime ligant sharing his passion for science, but also, just purely enjoyg the fact that he was engaged in the world, despite all the limitations he seemed to have. >> sreenivasan: all right, miles o'brien, thanks so much.

>> you're lcome hari. >> woodruff: as we reported earlier, angela merkel was sworn in today to serve again as germany's chancellor. her task now is to unify a population deeply divided over her immigration policies which allowed more than a million newcomers to enter the coury in 2015. there's been a resulting rise in anti semitism in germany and now there are growing calls to mandate that refugees and muslim migrants visit concentration camps to help improve their understanding of germany's terrible past, and its echoes today. from berlin, special correspondent malcolm brabant >> reporter: this jewish restaurant in berlin has frequently been the taf abuse that owner yorai feinberg did not consider worth reporting to the police.

but the most recent episode,lv ing a drunken man from former east germany, has provoked nationwide alarm aboutt growing anti-sm. >> ( translated ): why are you even here after 1945, if six million people of your kind were murdered? what are you doing here? >> ( translated ): no one protects you, no one protects you. they wilall end up in the gas chamber. all back to your stupid gas chambers. nobody wants you here, nobody wants you. >> ( translate): no one wants you here in your small jewish restaurant. >> most of my family was murdered. it's not pleasant to hear something like this. >> reporter: the video triggered a torrent of further threats and abuse, most, reportedly, from muslims, that are now being investigated by german police. >> the day after, two arabic guys threw fireworks at our guests, at us. some people called to say they were coming here to eat dead jews. we are often facing anti-semitic attacks. vandalism, phone calls with regards from adolf.or regards

>> reporter: this berlin street is the location of the grand kenagogue ransacby the nazis in 1938, a testament to the mosl diabolonsequences of anti- semitism. deidre berger heads the americah jeouncil whose recent susmey showed that anti-semi is widespread amongst arab refugees. >> we're concerned thaos are being broken about expressions of anti-semitism. it's like a panra's box and suddenly the lid has been opened. it's coming from all directions, from all parts of society,frrom the left the right, from certain parts of the muslim socie there's conspiracy theories from social media. the sheer dimension of the problem has simply become more apparent to everyone. >> reporter: to counter the corrosion of anti-semitism, a berlin government official of palestinian descent has suggel sted that w arrivals in germany be required to visit concentration camps or other holocaust memorials.

this is sachsenhausen, north of berlin, where 30,000 russian p.o.w.'s and other political prisoners were murdered. it's an essential component of school children's history curriculum. at the moment, integration courses for migrants concentrate on the german language, its history, culture and legal system. germany's justice minister has called for more emphasis on the hauol during these courses. the head of the country's jewis community id that everyone who wants to live permanently in germany must identify with its history.n sachsenhaurned its place in the pantheon of industrial ination not least becaus it was a training ground for s.s.wh officers o accelerated the holocaust in other death mps. the guest of honor on hocaust day recently was 93-year-old bernt lund, a former norwegian resistance fighter, who survived two years sachsenhausen.

>> for me, it's ry important to take young people dn here. i do it still and i think it's important because you must know what must never happen again. that's what i try to pass on. >> reporter: german pupils read out the names of norwegian prisoners who perished in sachsenhausen. the occasion made aindelible impression on 17-year-old jonas scholich. >> i think it's really depressing being here and remembering how terrible people like us have lived he. i mean, it's very, very hard to imagine that things like this could ever happen in a world like this. but i think being here really helps trying to figure out why it happened and that it should never happen again. >> reporter: but is there any merit in compelling migrants to

visit the camps? will negative perceptions of jews change? horst seferens is spokesman for the sachsenhausen memorial. >> we are open sites for and if you are forced to come here, you arnot open for learning, you are not open to think about what happened here. >> reporter: so what do muslims think of this suggestion germany's central council of muslims did not respond to repeated requests for an wterview, but eventually provided us withtten statement. "regrettably, we acknowledge that there are some isolated cases of anti-semitism among muslims from the middle east. our organization has set itself the task of heightening awareness for this topic. for years we have beenan accong mostly muslim migrants from the middle east to concentration camps. we rely on the educational means of convincing rather than coercion. and we strongly warn against having a debate on this issue at

the expense of refugees." >> germany is a beautiful country with a hrible history. >> reporter: in a time or rising anti-semitism, in common with other jews in germany, rabbi walter rothschild has to be discreet about his faith. he dare not wear the skull cap in public. 's reminded of the past every time he walks down his street, past the site where a synagogue was destroyed on kristallnacht. and so called stumbling stones h that memorialize jewmilies who disappeared. >> it says they fled into death, voe poetic way of saying they took their life to what they were fearing could be even worse. >> reporter: although the rabbi is a keen advocate of people learning about germany's dark past, he opposes the suggestion of the country's jewishen establis >> if someone has come from a countr where half their relatives have vanished into a secret police camp or wherewh theie suburb of damascus or wherever has been bombed flatand you say come and see how people suffered here, and

people went into a camp and... they will say so what, we have experienced it ourselves.>> eporter: even on a cold wet winter day, berlin's memorial to the murdered jews of europe is a magnet for the curious. but isn't it naive to believe that people from nations with a deep seated antipathy towards jews n have their prejudices softened or even erased by visiting such places? they grew up in a world where there was only propaganda thje was agains was against israel. if they are in germany today and they learn what it means to be part of a democratic society where all minorities live in peace together, yes it can make a big difference. >> reporter: back at the restaurant, feinberg has beenby heartenegestures of support from germans and by the policeve igation, but he's worried about his long term security. blem with thispro topic and i think if there germany will not do anything against it in a matter of education, prevention and also very harsh punishment, the

situation will be ve f difficult he me to stay. >> reporter: gerny's enduring guilt over its nazi past, contributed to chancellor merkel's on door immigration policy. but for many jews, the irony os that her agenerosity has in part given oxygen to the embers of anti-semitism. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in berlin. >> woodruff: and we'll be back shortly with a program that teaches people with disabilities self-defense. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helpseep programs like ours on the air.

>> woodruff: for those stations staying with us, we ask the question, can robotics and artificial intelligence help prove your rush-hour commute? experts at carnegie mellon unsbiversity in pigh think they can by monitoring traffic flow in real time. jeffrey brown has our second look at this story we originallf brought you lal. >> brown: you know the frustration. you're late for work, or picking up your child. gh the citying thr anreets and every block or two, it seems, there's other red haght. it's a problem tplagues commuters acro the country. fact, according to a texas a&m study, the average commuter in the u.s. spends upwards of 42 hours a year at a complete standstill, stuck in traffic. >> heavy congestion from ncrille island tt and then opens up. >> brown: eight years ago, traffic problemsn pittsburgh ocalthe attention of a philanthropist who gave seedmo y to carnegie mellon

university. the idea? to have its robotics experts u artificial intelligence to create a smarter transportation grid, that will eventually remake the commute for drivers, cyclists and bus riders. almost half of all pittsburghs commutive alone in their cars, so the first priority was road congestion. courtney ehrlichman helps run the program, called traffic 21. >> the problem in pittsburgh is like the problems around the country. you have this existing infrastructure that was designed many, many years ago, and you can't expand it. you really have to optimize the system.we soave an opportunity here using these technologies to make our system more efficient and to optimize it, rather than trying to figure out how to build more. >> we're going with the flow right now, so we're getting the greens. >> brown: professor steve smith thinks he's discovered a key to optimizing traffic flow. 'she's created software th currently deployed at 100 intersections in a pilot area of east pittsburgh. >> conventional signals are

pre-programmed. it's designed for average traffic flowas opposed to actual traffic flows. >> brown: so the trick is to make iaseal-time as possible. >> right. we're watching the real traffic. >> brown: smith's technology uses existing cameras and radar to track how many cars are approaching. then, an algorithm determines how to efficiently move the cars through. that program controls the lights and also sends information to neighboring intersections. >> essentially, we're tryi to build a signal timing plan that moves all the vehicles through the intersection. >> brown: without a lot of wait time. >> right. it also communicates to its downstream neighbor about traffic it's sending its way.wn now the ream neighbor is building its own plan, but in addition to what it sees in front of it, it has an idea of what is coming behind it, so it>

rown: the traffic plans are recalculated every few seconds, usinall computer installed at each intersection. smith says the progtim has made a able difference. >> we pretty consistently get, on average, a 25% reduction in travel times. not sseo much becehicles are moving faster, but because they are stopping 30% fewer times. and when they do stop, they're idling 40% less. >> they won an internationaw innovation rd, and the u.s. department of transportation announced it is giving $11 million to expand the program to many more intersections. e traffic is probably number one issue that we get complaints about. >> reporter: and that's because-- i mean, thas life. >> brown: alex pazuchamics, who

works in the mayor's office, says it may bekempossible to veryone happy, but city officials have been pleased with the program so far. >> for us, it's really important e're seeing improvements in those corridors, and would like to find ways to expand the use of technologto solve more city issues. >> brown: another problem for drivers and the city: potholes and decaying streets. thehere's a project underware to deal with that as well. pittsburgh has more than 800 miles of roads and, like most cities, a limited budget maintain them. professor christoph mertz has devised software that could help the city bettedermine where to send repair crews. so the idea is prettthsimple. use e camera that we all carry around?>> ight. it's just a smart phone. >> brown: the phone, which can mounted on the windshield of any vehicle, records video of the road. then comes the technological wizard: mertz developed software that quicklyzes the footage, capable of distinguishing between small cracks and bigger problems.

the program mpso provides -to-use color- coded mapping. mertz showed us the results for if i'm a city manager, how do i use this? >> you cld say i'm going to do all the red stuff. or, here's a main road. even though it's yellow, i'm going to do it because it gets so much traffic. >> brown: mertz and carnegie mellon have just launched a private spin-off company, called roadbotics, to sell the technology to local governments. the nearby town of north huntingdon was first to sign on. one idea is to mount cameras on garbage trucks, which travel every city street once a week. >> the idea here is, if it's so inexpensive, y can do it all the time. you can address the problems right away. >> brown: before it's a big pothole. >> before it's a big pothole. for every dollar spent in preventative maintenance, you save $10 in reconstructive maintenance. h that's ae savings. >> brown: although pittsburgh

was involved in a pilot project using this technology, it hasn'o yet signo a long-term contract. ex pazuchamics explains. >> technology is moving very quickly. there's a risk to making a large investment without necessarily knowing what direction thech logy is moving. so for us, it's making sure that we're fast and nimble enough to make decisions as the technology evolves. >> brown: the hope is the new iochnology will also address public transportat moving buses along as quickly as possible, and giving them priority at crowded inteections. that could lure more commuters out of their cars, further reducing congestion. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in pittsburgh. >> woodruff: now to our newshour shar. we've talked a lot, lately, about sexual assault. last month, we reported on a group getting little attention:

people with disabilities and how they are victims of sexual abuse. from pbs station wgbh, tina martin shows us how a boston area program is looking to change that. >> we're ready. >> go! >> run away! >> because i don't want anybody >> because you don't want no.ody to hurt you. th a little bit of a twist.lass it's specially designed for people like leary, who has downs syndrome. >> its kind of fun. >> it's a fun class. >> yes. >> the impact-ability training program is part of the nonprofit impactaloston. the gos to empower people with disabilities and teach them abuse prevention and safety skills. >> n >> i'm not for sale. >> i'm not for sale! meg stone is the program's director. >> every national state or local

study that has looked at sexual abuse of people with disabilities has found that people with disabilities but particularly intellectual disabilities are at significantly higher risk of seperiencing sexual abuse. >> at least ven times more likely, according to unpublished data from the justice department, which was ly obtained by npr. stone says that's because they are more vulnerable. >> they are too often taught tot complythe wishes of people without disabilities. you can run your disability service program much more effectively if everyone eats the essame breakfast and gets d in the way that you want them to and gets on the same van but what that does is it sends people with intellectual disabilities the message that their wants and their needs andh oices don't matter. >> please don't touch me. >> oh, i'm sorry. are you mad or something? >> no, it's not you. it's just that i don't like to bed. it's my body, my rules. >> mandy doyle is one of the

instructors at impact: ability, and says these classes take every individual in.o considerat >> ways that people communicate differently ways that their physical body mighbe different so how can they access self- defense skills in a that will work for th. >> let me go! let me go! >> and the scenarios they play out are very real. >> when we do the ro play scenarios another instructor play the character the perpetrator and i stand right next tthem and help them figure out what they're going to say what they're going to do t withheir body. >> christine leary felt pretty good at the end of class and says the most important ngrt of prevenbuse is this: >> tell someone you trt. >> it's just one of many lessons the impact ability team hopes leary and the rest oe class never have to use. in addition to the boston area, impact ability runs programs in chicago, sante fe and new york, and has plans to expand to columbus, ohio in 2019. for the pbs newshour, i'm tina martin in randolph, massachusetts. >> woodruff: what a terrific

program. let he it keeps spreading. on the newshour online right now, we asked four experts to grade the tenure and accomplishments of outgoing secretary of state rex tillerson. find what they said on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and an editor's note before we go: last night, we used the wrong photo when referring to .ana haspel, president trump's pick to lead the c we regret the error. 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 or >> major funding fhe pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular understands that not everyone needs an unlimited wireless plan. our u.s.-based customer service reps can help you choose a plan based on how much you usthyour phone, g more, nothing less. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv

>> supported by the rockefeller foundation. promoting the well-being of humani building resilience and inclusive economies. more at rockefellerfoundation.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. hi >>program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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elste: we're the ory detectives, and we're going to investigate some untold stories from america's past. tukufu: this week... oh, man! did this saddle ride into cowb history with one of rodeo's most daring innovators? wes: in an encore presentation, can this flag take us to one of the darkest days in u.s. history, the murder of president william mckinley? hitler: the murder of president [ crowd yelling ]ey? gwen: and could these rusting film canisters contain unknown footage f of one oe 20th century's worst mass murderers? elvis costello: ♪ watchin' the detectives ♪ i get so angry when the teardrops start ♪