captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, students across the nation tewalkout of school to pro gun violence, one month after a mass shooting at a florida high school. en, british prime minister theresa may expels 23 russian diplomats after moscow refused tt explain a nerve agent ak on u.k. soil. and, remembering renowned physicist stephen hawking: how he captured minds and inspired generations to look toward the cosmos. >> he never let his motor neuron disease hold him back. i think he's just an inspiration generally to allwhether they be scientists or not. >> woodruff: 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. >> the lemelson foun. committed to improving lives through invention. in the u.sand developing countries. on the web at lemelson.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 progibm was made po by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: all over the unitet , 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. >> kids not guns, kids not guns. >> brangham: it was a scene that played out all across the untry... from washington, d.c... >> this is what democracy looks like. >> brangham: to cobb county, georgia... >> no gun violence. >> brangham: to denver,do colo tens of thousands of students and teachers walked out of class this morning to protest gun a violencend remember thet victims of lnth's school

shooting in parkland, florida. in washington, student activists, joined by democratic lawmakers, gathered ide the capitol to demand action. >> the adults have failed us. this is in our hands nowd nd if any elofficial gets in our way we will vote them out and replace them oselves. , brangham: earlier, in front of the white houousands held a 17-minute moment of silence, one minute for each of the 17 kild in the parkland shooting. elsewhere, in new york city, local students, joined by governor andrew cuomo, led a so- called "die-in." and others 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 bs why: >> i think that guns aren't the

problem. i think people are the problem that get their hands on the guns. just the fact that people with mental illnesses are allowed tos get these is the problem, not the gun itself. >> brangham: back in parkland, students from marjory stoneman douglas, where the shooting took place, gathered on their football field. there, they held their own moment of silence and read biraphies of each of the victims. >> we're not going to stop fighting. we're not going to shut up. it's bee here.th, we're still >> brangham: school officials had asked them to stay on campus. separately, in nearby fort lauderdale, the alleged gunman from parkland was formally arraigned and pled not guilty to 34 charges of murder and attempted murder. he could face the death penalty if convicted back in washington, at a senate heing, lawmakers pressed t 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 cece to try. o 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 teachers should be safe. we can agree that schools should be secure. we can agree that law enforcement should be competent and must do its job.ra >>ham: in the house, members today did pass t a "school safe," which would provide $50 million for school evfety measures. it does not, hower, include any provisions when it comes toi ting guns. >> this is what democracy looks

like. >> brangham: all this s organizers prepare for the "march for our lives," set for ch could bring as many as half a million people to the nation's capital. r the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham 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. and they weralso a part of a team from more than a dozen of our student reporting labs that reported on the day acrthos country for newshour on snapchat both are from john f. kennedy high school in silver spng, 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 suppor the victims of the florida shooting and also in support of victims of other mas,s shootin and i would also just-- you know, i was there to push for

stricter gun laws. >> woodruff: and whaout you, caley. what would you say was e reason you came? >> i came to, you know, see for myself bause students becoming activists is not something that happens all the time. but in addition to that, ip wanted to rt the victims of mass shootings, especially the students at marjory stoneman douglas high school in florida. and i also wanted to, you know, help apply pressure to our politicians to tell them, "hey, this is something that really matterto me and to all these other people, and we would like you to do somhing about it." >> woodruff: jayla, you mentionedly gun laws, if you could ta to the politicians directly, what would you say to them that you want? >> i would ban assault rifles. i feel like there's no reason that we need thatin, like, an everyday life type of situation. and i think that, yo- know, it woul would be a lot safe fer we did something about that.

and, also, shing for, you know, background checks and things like that. it's reallyittle thingshat can, you know, help us in the long run. and so i think that that's definitely a start.a >> woodruff:y, what about you in terms of changing gun er laws?oth what would you like to see? >> universal background checks o's buyingt exactly wh these guns and what their background is. nalso, to baump stocks, which can be used to eighto mat semi-automatic weapons. and to 6 just overall banningc automaapons because military-style rifles in general are not really neded in civilian life. and there's no need for them. >> woodruff: jayla, did you-- some people are remarking that it's-- it's really sometng that the younger generation has ho be the one to carry this message. 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 feelke

nowadays you see the voice of the youth very powerful and ivery strong, and i thnk that it is us that are really get, things du d.n.a. nowadays. i mean, you see us, our marches, and we spread word through social media. and i feel knowadays, 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 walkouts, but unls things change at the ballot box, laws won't change.d how commito you think and you some of your friends are to see this through? >> for me personally, i very excited for 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 peers who showed up today are very energized because they realize a lot of these

politician aren't representing their viws, and sothey really want to personally make sure there are new politicians who will. >> woodruff: how much of this do you think, jayla, is fear that a shooting, god forbid, could happen some place near you, in montgomery county, even your school? >> that's a huge part of ti feel. no wants to go through something like, this something as dramatic as that, and have to hide under desks and things like that. and y feel like fear does pl big role. it's a motivation, really, for us to get things doe. and i think that, you know, it's horrible what's hapsopening, and 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 toelp us, or put pressure onpo ticians. but getting the attention of the

media and adults in general really helps us apply pressure to them and t our message out better. >> woodruff: wee well we thank you both for coming in to tiewx today. thank you,aley kern, and jayla ross. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the days other news, democrats appear close to picking up a u.s. house seat in western pennsylvania. r lamb is about 600 vote ahead of republican rick saccone ter tuesday's special election, th only provisional and military ballots left to count. the two men addressed supporters last night. >> well, it took a llonger than we thought, but we did it. our issue in this campaign is common ground. we fought to find common ground and found it. >> you know we're still fighting the fight. it's not over yet. we're gonna fight all the way to the end. you know i neverive up. >> woodruff: president trump carried the district b20

points in 2016. a democratic win there could be seen as a harbinger for congressional mid-te elections this fall. there's a new ince in the onshakeup at the white house: larry klow will be chief economic adviser.e bc television commentator and conservative economic analyst is a long-time ally of president trump. kudlow replaces gary cohn, who 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. meanwhile, a spokesman said russian president vladimir putin believes the change won't necessarily do much for strained u.s.-russian ties. >> ( translated ): the

relationship between our countries can hardlywer than the floor. so in this regard, we probably shouldn't beorried that the lationship will worsen further. but in any case, the hope for cotructivism and sober approach in joint relations remain. this hope will alws remain. >> woodruff: in washington, republican senator rand paul said he ll oppose pompeo, over his support for interrogation methods widely viewed as torture. paul is also opposing gina haspel's nomination for c.i.a. director, for the same reasons.r inny, angela merkel was sworn in to her fourth term as chancellor, ending six months of uncertainty in the wake 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. the 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.rn the northeas.s. spent today recovering from its latest, late-winter storm tuesday's nor'easter was the third major storm in two weeks.g some tow as much as two more feet of snow, andowhousands lost, again. in boston, the mayor warneowthat all the ay force cancellation of sunday's st. patrick's day parade. ford says it's recalling nearly 1.4 million mid-size cars, because the steering wheels can lome off. the announcement f a five- month investigation by federal regulator the company says the steering wheel bolts can come loose over time. the affected vehicles are ford fusion andincoln 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 company. she'll be fined $500,000 and surrender nearly 19 million 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 ined the market. 9 e dow jones industrial average lost nearly ints to close at 24,758.na thaq fell 14 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 15. and two passings of note:st renowned physitephen hawking died today, after battling the muscle-wasting disease a.l. for more than 50 years. he was 76 years old. we'll lo at his life later in

the program.me and the pediatrician dr. ha berry brazelton died tuesday. his parenting book 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, and much more. >> woodruff: 10 daysfter the apparent poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter, british prime minister theresa may leveled her diplomatic fire today at moscow. among her decisions: she expelled russian diplomats, suspended high-level contactsco with m and said the government would use new powers

to stop intelligence agents in britain and freeze russian assets used to harm people in the united kingdom. libby wiener of indet television news reports.r: >> reporhe russian embassy in london, where more than a third of the diplomats today were ordered to pack their bags andeave within a week. with the former double agent ghrgei skripal and his daur yulia fighting for their lives in hospital, the prime minister had promised to get tough on ssia. today she headed to the commons to show she meant what she said. >> the unitekingdom will now expel 23 russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers. the have just one week to leave. this will be the single biggest expulsion for over 30 years. >> reporter: and there was no doubt whom sheeld responsible >> it 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 soil from the russian government. nor will we tolerate such a flagrant breach of russia's international obligations. >> reporter: besides the >> reporter: the foreign ministry office itself was busy today putting out alssages on soedia attacking what it called russian state aggression. that in response to russia's twitter denials about the poisoning of sergei skripal. independent observons say relahave reached a new low. some aspects actuduly worse than ng the cold war. >> spies who were swapped durind the ar were left in peace to enjoy their retirement so it's a breach of that norm which was actually quite important. >> reporter: the prime minister returned to downing street. knowing that russia might respond in kind. >> woodruff: that repoen from libby of independent television news. earlier this evening i spoke with theritish ambassador to the u.s., sir kim darroch. i began by asking him about the evidence the u.k. has linkg

russia to the attack. >> you can be sure of that. it involves several days of investigation. remember this appalling attack happened more than a week ago, and police have been working intensively since then. the nerve agent involved, by the way, is known to be associated with russia, to be manufactured in russia. we gave the russian authorities 24 hours to respond. they didn't, basically, take this seriously. noey were contemptuous. so we were in doubt about their culpabilities and the conclusions drawn and action taken. >> woodruff: how much more does your government know about 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 ofthe housommons this morning. but as she said, we believe there's a very high likelihood

of russian responsib, of russian culpabilities here. and that was enough to trigger the response taat you herd today. >> woodruff: well, once your prime minister announced taking measures against the russians, suspending high-level contacts, expelling 23 russian diplomats, no british min sterlz orroyals are going to attend the world cup so, tournant-- championship-- in russia this summer. why these measures in particular right now? >> well, it's the right moment o respond to, in terms of the expulsion ofssian diplomats. we believe these individuals tsre actually undeclared intelligence ageso that seems to me a wholly appropriate residence response to what has happened. in lightof what has hapened, which, remember, of an attack on two innocent civilians. it involved first reponders. one of them is gravely ill.

it was actually 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, th treeze of contacts, and the announcement tho senior british visitors would attend the world cup. >> woodruff: well,yiome are your government could have gone further and made an even togher and harsher point with what it did. >> well, i'm not sure about that. this is the biggest pulsion of russian diplomats for 30 years.' soa pretty big clear-out, and it will do catastrophic damage to russian activity in the ik. seems to me measured and appropriate. >> woodruff: as i meed, the russians are denying therything. i'm quoting fror foreign ministry today, they're saying the british government has opted for confrndtation, they said their response is not long in

coming. it almost sound as ithey pla some kind of retaliation. do you expect that? >> well, the appropriate response from them would be a comprehensive apology, a promise to pursue those responsible, and an inquiry into what happened. look, you might be right. mae that's not going to happen. but i don't think any kind of retaliation would beveppropriate as i said, the very high vokelihood of russian state ement in this and russian aisponsiblity for this appalling attack. say, don't discount the fact that it was a threatot just to individuals who are now gravely in hospita but to the population of this town. this is simply unacceptable for this kind of thing to happen on abitish soil. >> woodruff: what the u.s. role here? u.n.,s. ambassador to the nikki haley, said today the u.s. is 100% behindts british ally.

and we know that the administration is looki what else to say. the president hasn't made a final statement yet. but what do you-- what is your exctation what the u.smight do? the prime minister 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 thought that nikki haley's comments at the u.n. security council this afternoon were absolutely everything we would have hoped for, and were absolutely appropriate to the gravity ofw hat's happened. so we applaud 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 and see onat, but we're very grateful for the support we've

had from this administration to date. >> woodruff: mr. ambassador, i also want to ask you about the-- there's this impression, if one reads the stories about the number ssian oligarchs, greathy russians living in britain right now, basically, that london has become aul pop haven for russia's wealthy. has britain been too lenient rms of letting 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 come and live in london. it's an international city. and we welcome anyone who wants to come in our country, who lis within-- with the law and brings something to-- to the u.k. but as part of resnse to what has happened in salisbury, 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 newed new powers over, for example, suspending bank accounts and that.ind of thi 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 tof become onee most renowned scientists of the dern era and, som say, one of the most important in history. hari sreenivasan will talk about this wh miles o'brien. t first miles begins with this appreciation, which is, t naturallhe focus of this week's segment on "the leading edge" science.

>> o'brien: s was a brilliant mind in a severely damaged body. stephen hawking overcame the loss working limbs, and his own voice, to become the best- known eoretical physicist of his era. >> although my body is very limited, my mind is free to explore the universe, to go back to the beginning of time and into black holes. there are no limits to the human spirit. >> o'brienen: hawking first g renown in 1974, upending the scientific consensus that nothing escapes the intense gravity of black holes. brian greene is a professor of physics at columbia unersity: >> hawking came along and melded the laws of quantum physics 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 amount ofdi ion and that way we finally recognize that perhaps the word black is wrong when it comes to black holes. ea o'brien: in time, hawking's appeal sbeyond fellow scientists to the general public. his book, "a brief history of n time," first published i88, became an international bestseller. l the while, he battled amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a.l.s., a motor neuron disease that slowly erodes muscle control. he was diagnosed at 21, and doctors gave him less than three years to live. but hawking inexplicably defied the odds, living more than 50 years with the disease, much of it confined to a wheelchair. through it all, he grew to become a pop culture icon, withe cameo rances on "the simpsons" and "the big bang theory." >> it's an honor and a privilege to meet you, sir. >> i know.

( laughter ) >> o'brien: he used his fame to appeal for saving the earth. >> i want to proclaim the tessage loud and wide. we need to look the planet. if we don't, the human race won't rvive the next thousand years. 014 filmen: in the 2 "the theory of everything," hawking was portrayed by eddie redmayne, who won an oscar forle the e year, the scientist spoke to the crew of the international space station, recalling a flight on a special jet that, for brief moments, rendered him weightless. >> for me, this was true freedom. people who know me well say that my smile was the biggest i ey'd ever seen. was superman for those few minutes. >> orien: the sum of his achievements earned him countless honors, including the presidential medal of freedom in 2009. hawking's passing was marked the prld over today. in london, britime minister theresa may offered her condolences.

and in cambridge, where hawking lived and worked, the university lowed its flags to half mast while students and locals recalled his many contributions. >> he never let his motor neuron disease hold him back. i think he's just an inspiration 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 300 years after the death of galileo to the day and he died on einstein's birthday. and indeed those are both hatting individuals because ing ranks among them in the pantheon of the greatest visionary scthinkers thance has ever known. >> o'brien: stephen hawking died wednesday at his home in cambridge.s

s, was 76 yed. >> sreenivasan: miut this in perspective for us. how much did he contribute to our understanding of the universe? >> you know, hari, he painted with that really 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 s know. when he udying black holes, he was able to determine tiny particles actually came out of black holes. previously, scientists believed there was nothing that could escape from a black hoe. this fundamentally changed the understanding of how black holes work. and if you kind of rewind the formula d do it backwards, gave us greater understanding into the origins of the universe, the big bang, and the expansion. so theig were keen inss right there, and it showed what range he had. >> sreenivasan: this is also someone who contributed to our kind of public imagination, in e way thatple weren't thinking about black holes started to. >> you could put him in the category of a l saying an,

for example. a sift with a good portfolio and a gooe d res science, but easo had a knack for connecting with the public,y against all odds when you think about it. but he was able to resonate witp in ways that i think we're just now coming to termsn with anderstanding as we think about his life. >> sreenivasan: you also mentioned how broad hiss intere were. there were other callses flatter his life that he started becoming public andamous about. >> well, among the things he was interested in was the rise of artificial intelligence and robots. and theconcerns he 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 keep control over all this. he, along with elon musk, issueh warnings ont front. other area he was very passionate about wace travel. he firmly believed human beings had to think about becomingt -earth species, move out beyond earth and move into the solar system. at was an important thing in

his view. >> sreenivasan: we were talking about this off camera, but can you talk a little bit about just the fact of what kind of inspiration he's been to humanity at large, but specifically, to the disabled community. >> well, what an example to the disabled communy, just by virtue of the fact that a human being who could barely move a muscle, who could not speak on his own, became such a powful communicator. what an example that is to the world about what disbility really means and what the real abilities are inside the human mind, and what a person ca do if they're not willing to accept limitations which siety puts upon them. when i met him in 2007, after he was flying on the pabula aircraft, the zero-g. aircraft to get a dose of weightlessness-- which extraordinary thing when you think about his condition-- but he was not willing to say, "i pln't do that." and there were pethere willing to help him do that. and at that time, i marled at his ability to deal with

disability. seven years later, i lost my m, and one of the grea examples i thought ofaise 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 shn e his passth the world, why can't i? so, you know, stephen hawking, you.ever you are, i thank >> sreenivasan: is there, kind inform that longer arc ofnc sc 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 watchedigou gehrlay baseball, and i wonder if we will start to know this as stephen hawking disease. >> from a newer generation, it probably sfor all intents andhe purposes, sthawking disease. when you think about that diagnosis, what a horrible diagnose i guess that would be. the a.l.s. association says most people are gone within two, maybe five years. 10% live beyond-- or to 10

years. e lived many decades. i mean, wf the charts. how did that happen? how do we know? but maybe his passion and his desire to have a mfningful lie had something to do with it. >> sreenivasan: he published, you know, jussort of "a brief history of time," which as he would say was a dense book to read. but he became an unlikely ofpularizer of science. >> so much a part the pop culture, really., is is a man who appeared on "star trek" and "the simpsons," among other things, and was able to trade one-linerezs on late-night tv. he reveled in it. when i met him, it was quite clear me-- i was there wih a cnn crew at the time-- it was quite clear to me he really enjoyed being in the lime light and sharing his passion forsc nce, but also, just purely enjoying the fact that he was engaged in the wold, despiteal l the limitations he seemed to have. >> sreenivasan: all right, miles o'brien, thanks so much.

>> you're welcome hari. >> woodruff: as we reported earlier, angela merkel was swort ay 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 country in 2015. there's been a resulting rise in anti semitism in germany and now there arlle growing to mandate that refugees and muslim mintgrants visit contion camps to hp improve their derstanding of germany's ferrible past, and its echoes today. rom berlin, special correspondent malcolm brabant reports. >> reporter: this jewishre aurant in berlin has frequently been the target of that owner yorai feinber did not consider worth reporting to the police.

but the most recent isode, involving a drunken man from former east germany, h provoked nationwide alarm about growing anti-semitism. >> ( translated ): why are you even here after 1945, if six million people of your kind we murdered? what are you doing here? >> ( translated ): no one protects you, no one protects you. they will all end up in the gas chamber. all back to your stupid gas chambers. nobody wants you here, nobody wants you. >> ( translated ): no one wants you here in your small jewish resurant. >> 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 abse, 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. ndalism, phone calls with regards from hitfr, or regards

rom adolf. >> reporter: this berlin street is the location of the grand synagogue ransacked by the nazis in 1938, a testament to the most diabolical consequences of anti- semitism. deidre berger heads erican jewish council whose recent survey showethat anti-semitism is widespread amongst arab refugees. >> we're concerned that taboos are being broken about pressions of anti-semitism. it's like a pandora's box and suddenly the lid has been opened. it's coming from all directions, igom all parts of society, from the left, from the, from certain parts of the muslim sociee. th'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 paleinian descent has suggested that all new arrivals in germany be required to visit concentration camps or other selocaust memorials.

this is sachsenh 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 story, culture and legal system. germany's justice minister has called for me emphasis on the holocaust during these courses. ad of the country's jewish community has said that everyone who wants to live permanently in germany must identify with its history. sachsenhausen earned its place in the pantheon of industrial extermination not least because it was a training ground for s.s.ra officers who acceleted the hocaust in other death camps. the guest of honor on holocaust cently was 93-year-old bernt lund, a former norwegian ivsistance fighter, who su two years in sachsenhausen.

>> for me, it's very important to take young people down 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 norwegianis ers who perished in sachsenhausen.oc the sion made an indelible impression on 17-year-old jonas scholich. >> i think it's really depressing being here and remembering how terrible people mke us have lived here. in, it's very, very hard to imagine that things like this could ever hap wpen inld like this.t 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? horsposeferens is ssman for the sachsenhausen memorial.e >>e open sites for education, for learning. and if you are forced to come here, you are not open for aparning, you are not open to think about whatned here. >> reporter: so what do muslims think ofhis suggestion? rmany's central council of muslims did not respond toat re requests for an interview, but eventually provided us with a written statement. "regrettly, 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 heehtening awar for this topic. for years we have been accompanying mostly muslim migrants from the middle east to concentration camps. we rely on the educational means of convincing rather than coercion.t and weongly warn against having a debate on this issue at

the expense of refugee >> germany is a beautiful country with a horrible 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. he's reminded of the past every me he walks down his street, past the site where a synagogue was destroyed on kristallnacht. and so called stumbling stones that memorialize jewish families who disappeared. >> it says they fled into death etic way of saying they took their life to avoid what they were fearing could be even worse. >> reporter: altisugh the rabbi keen advocate of people learning about germany's dark past, he ooses the suggestion of the country's jewish establishment. >> if someone hacome from a country, where half their r latives have vanished into a secret police campere their whole suburb of damascus or wherever has been bombed flat, and you say come and see how people suffered here, and

haople went into a camp and... they will say so w we have experienced it ourselves.r: >> reporven 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 antithy towards jews can have their prejudices softened or even erased by visiting such places? >> they grew up in a world where there was only propaganda that was against jews was against israel. if they e 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 bbig difference. >> reportek at the restaurant, feinberg has been heartened by gestures of support from gernd by the police investigation, but he's worried about his long term security. t re is a problem with this topic and i think if th ne germany wi do anything against it ia matter of education, prevention and also very harsh punishnt, the

situation will be very difficu s here for me y. >> reporter: germany's ending guilt over its nazi past, contributed to chancellor merkel's open door iigration policy. but for many jews, the irony is that her act of gene has in part given oxygen to the embers of anti-semitism. for th 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 chanc

>> woodruff: now to our newshour shares. we've talked a lot, laly, about sexual assault. last month, we reported on a group getting ttle attention: people with disabilities and how they are victims of sexual abuse. from pbs station wgbh, tina martin shows us hoa boston area program is looking to change that. >> we're ready. >> go! >> run away! an>> because i don't want ody to hurt me. >> 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 impacability training program is part of the nonprofit impact boston. the goal is to empower people ndth disabilities and teach them abuse prevention aafety skills. >> no! >> 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 h found that people with disabilities but particularly intellectualti disabi are at significantly higher risk of experiencing sexual abuse. >> at least seven times more likely, according to unpublished data frothe justice department, which was recently obtained by npr. blone says that's because they are more vulnera >> they are too often taug to comply with the wishes of people without disabilities you can run your disability service program much more effectively if everyone eats the same breakfast and gets dressed in the wayhat 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 and their choices don't matter. >> please don't touch me. >> oh, i'm sorry. are you mad or something? >> no, it's nt yu. it's just that i don't like to bed. on's my body, my rules. >> mandy doyle iof the instructors at impact: ability, and says these classes take every individual into consideration. >> ways that people communicate differently ways that their physical body might be different so how can they access self- orfense skills in a way that will wk for them. >> let me go! let me go! >> and the scenarios they play out are very real. >> when we do the role play her instructor play the character the perpetrator and i stand right next to them and help them figure out what they're going to say what they're goido with their body. >> christine leary felt pretty good at the end of class and says the most important part of preventing abuse is this: >> tell someone you trust. >> it's just one of many lessons hothe impact ability team s

leary and the rest of the class never have to use. in addition to the boston area, impact ability runs programs in chicago, sante fand 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's hope it keeps spreading. on the newshour online right now, we asked four experts toth gradtenure and accomplishments of outgoing secretary of state rex tillerson. find whathey 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 gina haspel, president trump's pick to lead the c.i.a. we regret the error. and that's the newshour for tonit. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here fomorrow evening. all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon.

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>> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers le you. thank you. wsaptioning sponsored by ur productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

- woald you like to be mely sharper and prevent memory loss? well, now you ca i'm dr. steven masley, and up next i'll share an easy-to-follow program with special foods, nutrients, and activities that will dramatically improve your brain function, so don't go away. i'll be right back. male announcer: this program is made possible in part igns for health. - in reality, as people age, on occasion taking longer to rememrer a name or a fact isy common, but being disabled by memory loss is not normal. [upbeat music] withr emory loss, we lose dependence, our identity, and even worse, we become a burden to the people we love. ♪ no matter what your age, it's not too late to reverse damage,