captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, as the federal government shutdown hits day 33, the president and thesp ker of the house clash over a speech, and the democrats plan to propose more money for border security, but none for a wall. then, protests erupt in venezuela against president nicolas maduro, as the trump nistration recognizes th leader of the opposition as interim president. plus, a cell phone app inct thailand predicontagious outbreaks, meaning prevention that once took months can now be done in a fraction oe time. >> ebola in 2014 that led to 11,000 deaths. it was an eight month knlay before wew that it was ebola. we wouldn't have that delay if enat community would have able to send some signal that something's not right.

>> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> babbel. a language app that teacnvs real-life sations in a new language, like spanish, french,

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possible by the corporation for public broadcasting.on and byibutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: after 33 days, part of the government is still closed, thousands of federal workers are still going unpaid, and the state of the union address is now, offi, a d sualty. president trump sisted on speaking, as planned, on january nath. but house speakey pelosi informed him today that the house will not host thch while the shutdown continues. they spoke at either end of pennsylvania avenue. >> we have said very clearly fromhe start when i wrote to him the second time to say sinco rnment is shutdown, let's work together on a mutuallyag eable date, when we can welcome you to the capitol, to make the state of the union address.

government is still shutdown ist l make the offer. >> the state of the union speech has been canceled by nancy pelosi because she doesn't want to heard the truth. she doesn't want the american public to hear what's going on. and she's afraid of the truth and the super left democrats,de the radicacrats. what's going on in that party is shocking. >> woodruff: amid the sparring over the state of the union, there were faint signs of possible movement on ending the shutdown. several top house democrats suggested they might offer up to $5.7 billion for border security, but not for a wall. the number three house democrat, jim cl would pay for immigration judges, border agents and technology. t >> i thiy can be done using the figure that thet president has the table.

if his 5.7 billion it border security, we see ourselvefulfilling that request, only doing it with what i like to call, using a smart wa. >> woodruff: the president also vowed to do what he called "an alternative" event. he said he would have details later. meanwhile, several hundred furloughed federal workers protested in a senate ng today. capitol police arrested 11 people who attempted a sit-in outside majority leader mitch mcconnell's office. for insight into all of this, i'm joined now by our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins and white house correspondent yamiche alcindor.' so, yamiche, going to start with you. what is the president saying right now about his position on the shutdown and what the motivation is behind him to just keep pushing hisition? >> well, the president doesn't want to look weak and he doesn't want to look like he's caving in

to democrats. today he called demdaocrats erous and said they're being tydicalized and can't be trusted with border secu he also used what some peoplew loaded language when talking about speaker nancy pelosi. he said nancy peosi is dominating senator chuck schumer and that chuck schumer is a puppet of snaps. residentre seen the kind of scrambling to decide to see how he'll dl with nancy pelosi and strategy with her. usually when he's ven people nicknames, but in this case he said "nance o" whom i like to call nan. the other thing, the president is facing pressure from his conservative base. a group me conservatives with the president at the white house and one is the president of the heritage foundation, one is her husband fs aderal worker and says even though i want my uh husband t goback to work, i want the president not

ink. >> woodruff: turning to you, and the democrats, lisa. the democrats to be digging in. >> they seem more united than w laks not just portraying unity but really more united when they talk off the record. one reason is because moderates are happy democrats are preparing an offer. they felt like democrats with e respect coming to the tad needed to do that. progressives are happy buzz they like seeing nancy pelosi srend up to the dent this way. i heard a lot of progressive democrats mention things likewe are a co-equal branch of government and speaker pelosi should lay down her linee on th state of the union. some logistical questions, preparations for the siote of the should be underway. production trucks were supposed to get to the capitol tomorrow. i am told that is not going to

happ, that there are no preparations that will be made for any kindf speech. also, the president has the right to enter the huse chamber. he has floor privileges and can walk in the chamber almost anytime he likes, however he does not have e abity to speaks from the podium or dais without the house extending the invitation. what about the senate chamber? i have been asking senator mcconnell, the reublican leader, if that is a possibility. i don't an answer ye. but nine former u.s. presidents have spoken just in the u.s. senate chamber. >> reporter: fascinating. yamiche, what is the whith house sayingpresident will do if he can't do the speech in the traditional manner in the how wahouseof representatives? >> president trump is weighing his option and figuring out where he wants to give the state of the union speech. he says the capitol is basically off the table and lkio at other ways theo do this.

polls show his approval ratings e taking a hit because of the shutdown and he wants to give the speed limit. one poll released by the sociated press show his poll readings are 34% and a lot of people don't agree that he'sow shuttingthe government for the wall. i ran intot vice presidke pence today and said what do you think of nancy pelosi's stand and at the president will do at the state of the union. all he would say is the prident has a constitutional duty to be delivering the state of the union so wee ll hav see where he's doing that speech. >>oodruff: runng into the vice president is a good way to get information. lisa, we were reporting on the protest of government, federal employees at the capitol today. m.u were there talking to the what are they saying? >> right. this protest that i we want to was one of the more organized and dignified i went to.

thirty-three minutes of silence for each day of the shutdown. i spoke to many federal workers from usda, fema, many agencies. they say, for now, thy've used mostly savings to pay for their mortgage bills. most just pay mortgage bills using savings or borrowing money. i spe to one worker where denver, a fema worker, who used airline miles to travel here just for this protest today. he told me he ahad bee republican in years past, he recently switched to inpendent, and he said,'ve never been engaged in politics before, this has chrged me up, this is a problem for me personally and my agency and the emergency function that it holds" so i." so it was an interesting cro full of people. >> woodruff: the shutdown having far impact. thank you. in the day's other sews, the unittes recognized

venezuela's opposition leader as interim president. it came as juan guaidored he had replaced nicolas maduro, the nominal president. maduro quickly broke relations with the u.s. all of this, as thousands of opposition supporters marched in caracas. we'll get the details, afterhe news summary. in afghanistan, the main intelligence agency says an air strike has killed the talibande commwho organized a deadly attack on monday. the taliban is disputing the claim. monday's assault killed at least 45 people at a complex for the national security directorate, west of kabul. pope francis arrived in panama late today, beginning a trip to central america. he is expected to address thousands of young people, attending world youth dayev ts. the pontiff is also warning against fear of migrants, as a new caravan makes its way toward the united states. back in this cntry, a nurse s charged today with raping an incapacitated woman at a long-ar termfacility in arizona.ce

phoenix poay nathan sutherland was identified through d.n.a. testingr the 29-year-old victim gave birth last month. >> the investigation w still is our highest priority ior our department. through a combinof good old fashion police work; combing through evidence, talking to people, following up on information combined with the marvels of.n.a. technology, we are able to identify and develop probable cause to arrest the suspect. >> woodruff: workers at the healthacility have said they had no idea that the victim was pregnant. the c.e.o. and one of the doctors have since resigned. the trump white house will face a congressional investigation intots handling of security clearances. democrats running the u.s. house oversight committee say white house officials disregarded longstanding procedus. they also want to know about clearances granted during the trump transition. the president's former personal attorney, michael cohen, has

postponed testifying before the house oversight panel next month. his legal adviser said today that cohen is bu assisting the special counsel's russia probe. he also cited what he calls "ongoing threats from president trump." e president responded, "he's only been threatened by theh. tr the mayor of south bend,et indiana,buttigieg, joined the growing democratic presidential field today. the 37-year-old announced an exploratory committee. .e's a rhodes scholar and an afghan war veter ia would also be the first openly gay presidenominee of a major party, if he wins. thousands of los angeles teachers were back at work today after rafying a new contract. they returned to class this morning, greeting students and school officials followi a six day strike. meanwhile, teachers in denver voted last night to auorize a strike in a dispute over bas

pay. they could walk out as soon as monday. and, on wall street, cporate earnings helped stocks make up some lost ground. the dow jones industrial average gained 171 points to close at 24,575. the nasdaq rose five points, and the s&p 500 added five as well. still to come on the newshour: perspectives on the border wall and the shutdown from two u.s. senators. unrest in venezuela as venezuelans erupt over the country's leadership. furloughed federal workers forced to depend on the charity of others, and much more. >> woodruff: back now to thetd government sn. tor first of two views comes from republican semike rounds of south dakota. i spoke with him a short time

ago and started by asking if he sees any glimmer of hope for a compromise. >> nothing concrete. the good news is we've actually got two proposals that will makd the two es actually recognize the differences. that's the first step. there's more work to be done, and i don't think anythingomes solidly through until a couple of things happen, number one, the president and the speaker recognize how critical this is, both give a little, and they start to find a way forward. the president, making hisirst move, came off of dead center. speaker pelo will have to d that at some point. once that occursthen i think cooler heads will start to prevail and we can fid something in the middle where both sides can save face and we can get government back to work again. >> woodruff: you say thees ent has moved off dead center, but isn't he still insisting on money for ays

al wall along the boredder? >> he's talking about a barrier. we do have about, last time ill checked, 654 miles of either pedestrian barrier now. he's asking for an additional 244 miles of either pedestrian of vehicle barriers. he has not specified what they have to be me of. he's indicating concrete, steel, doesn't have to be concrete, could be steel, bu sort of a barrier. not unreasonable. he's not the firstsi prent. there would be four other presidents before him who have also felt that way and havdone that, including president obama, but he's also recognizing within this proposa that there are other things that need to be done, and we agree. he got to do something for the critical ports of entry. critically we need additional intelligence gathering along that line and so forth. >> woodruff: i'm sure you know democrats say their point is if the president is able toer

shutdown is goent and be rewarded with what he wants, then their concern is that he will be able to try that again and again, that if he's rewarded and can shut down the government and be rewarded for it every time, that that's a bad precedent to set. >> i understand their point of view, but the reality is he is the president of the united states, and he's made it clear that this is something that he has wanted from day onee, and h feels that it's a slight to himt whe speaker says "you will get nothing." so i thi somewhere in the middle, there's got to be a way out of this thing, and i don't think it's simply saying we're not going to give the president anything, you kn, because we disagree. i think it's a matter of we have divided government, i think the president has to come off what he originally askedand i think the speaker has to come off of where she was at. the other side is that we continue to start adding to it angmaking the biger deal and

starting to address some of the major issues in front of us, something similar of what we did in february of last year where we actfuually createding for a $25 billion proposal over ten years, fully authorized and appropriated, but it also addressed the issue of the daca kids and it started to addre the challenges of chain migration as well. that may be an alternatives well. >> woodruff: well, the senate will have a chance to vote on a proposal the president likes. if that doesn't pass, we know there's a separate pro the democrats are saying just give us two weeks, let's spend two weeks, t theovernment back open, during which time we can go at this and try to co up with a solution. would you be willing to support that? >> at this point, i think the sides have drawn a line in the sand each of them will say no to the other proposal. i will support thee prsident's point of view for this one. i think my demagocrat cols will support the speaker's point of view. once that has occurnd teether one comes forward with another votes to move forward, then i think the lenders ca

come together and say, okay, where are we going to go with this thing and how will we get clear heads to prvail and where will we add into this to get something done. >> woodruff: there are attempts by senators on both sides of the aisle to come together outside of the leadership. do you see any potential progress there? i do. nothing concrete. but the fact of the matter is that none of us come to washington to be in the middle of this mess. i think all of us camhere to y to make things better. i think most of us admire the founding fathers and the way they handled it they were principled individuals who still respected one another, and our country was based on on of the greatest arrangementsg ever made, ates and little states got together and theseiv principled iuals who fought in the revolutionary war came together and said, i may represt a big or litle state, but if we're going to have a constitution here toit's actually to stand the test of time, we're going to have to indulge other side, whi said, which we now call

compromise, and they created the house and the sene. founding fathers, as principledt as they were tan come ton a understanding that lasted this long, at leae can find ground in the middle to get pasl this simposed impasse. >> woodruff: senator mike d rounds, souota, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and now for a democrat's take we turn tori senator van hollen of maryland. senator, welcome back to the ofewshour". is there any siga breakthrough, as far as you know? >> i have not given up hope th we canet a vote in the senate tomorrow to reopen the government for two weeks, till vfebruary 8, which will gus a little breathing room, a little space to end this madness becaus a timeout really doesn't support anybody's arguments. it will allow federal goplvernmt ees to get their paychecks, they been pay their

bells. it will alitow us to do a le bit of the business of the federal government and then have a discussion tod en this shutdown madness. >> woodruff: but you're referring the democratic proposal. is that right? >> well, it's not really a democratic proposals. i would say the democratice proposal is e that i support. it was voted on the very first day in the session of the house of representatives. it's in the senate. it's had bipartisan support which would open the feder government and fully fund the agencies through the end of the fiscal year. so this is not a democratic soposal. this stop-gap measure, two weeks' time out. again, i don't think it's the greatest idea, but itai's cey the best alternative we have in front of ustoow ebbed the shutdown. >> woodruff: but as far as we know now republicans areot prepared to support that. they've got the majority in the senate. uu were just telling me ye about to go to a meeting of bipartisan senators. is there some give on both sides

that you think could reach some kind of agreement tomorrow? >>ell, what i hope to come out of this meeting is an understanding that the best way forward tomorrow would be to open the government for this two-week period and give the senate time to work on these issues in the regular order. so we can consider t president's proposal, but it should also be subject to open amendment. let people vote however they want, let the american people know where they stand. look, lindsey graham, senator graham proposed the ideaf a three-week opening of the government a little while ago. this is even a smaller window, a shorter winw, two weks, and that would give a little breathing room here. >> woodruff: ob aously, you haot of federal employees in the state of maryland. what are you hearing from your constituents right now? >> i'm hearing two things, judy. first and foremost, people wantb to gck and do their jobs

for the american people. i mean, these are people who are civil servants, but they're also telling stories about how they're getting totally squeezed, right. i mean, their paychecks have stopped but the bills keemip in. so lots of them are having trouble paying their rent and their i spoke to the head of the community college recently who said that they were having work out payment plans because parents who work for the federal government, parents who have students at college couldn't make the month installment plans. so this is really squeezing the pocketbooks and that's why you're seeing even those 100,000 employees who are still bein w asked rk out pay, they're not able to cover some of their very basic expenses, like getting to work. it's costing them to do their work for the federal government. >> woodruff: senator, on just the basic proposal here, thepr ident wants some money at least for a phical wall. democrats have supported that in the past. why not go alongith some of that now in order to get the

government open again? >> as you said, we have propose physical barriers in strategic ar ns. what we wit do is operate under a total threat of shutdown, and the reason why is because is will become habit forming for president trump. if he veinks that ry time he doesn't get his way, he can shut wn the government like this, it will be a recipe forov continuingnment shutdown. so i will say if you look at the proposal the president made the other day om thoval office, as you look more sely, he includes all the poison pills he didn talk about. it will actually change our asylum laws in ways that will make it much harder for unaccompanied adults who have been victims of sexual violence and were victims of sexual trafficking to seek asylum in the united states, af things like that that were in that proposal, we should not be

holdinthe entire country hostage in the process, and that'shy ts two-week time out isa good idea. it's not the best idea by any means but it's the best option on the table today. >> woodruff: senator chris van hollen ofan mar thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: venezuelan president nicolas maduro faces the most direct challenge to his nearly-six years in power. today, the u.s. recognized juan guaido, currently the head of venezuela's national assembl as the country's legitimate president; more than half a dozen other countries followed suit. here's nick schifrin. >> schifrin: on a stage in ntdowntown caracas, in frof a crowd of thousands, 35-year-old juan guaido raised his right hand and administered his own oath of office. >> ( translated ): i swear to

formally assume the powers of the national executive as the president in charge of venezuela. >> schifrin: around the capital and country today, hs of thousands, perhaps millions ofve zuelans rallied in support of change in government.a >> ( translated ): that is why we are here, to support our national assembly, the only legitimate power for the 14 million venezuelans. n >> schifris demanded freedom, and other protestors demanded president nicolas maduro step down. >> ( translated ): your time is up, and your cabinet's. understand this: venezuela has outgrown you. >> schifrin: venezuelans have protested before, but thisime the usually fractured opposition has a consensus lead. until recently guaido was relatively unknown. but he has criss-croed the country speaking against maduro, asking for support from the international community, and venezuela's powerful military. >> ( translated ): we are not

asking you to mount a coup, or to shoot. on the contrary, we are asking you not to shoot at us, and defend together with us, the right of our people to be heard. >> schifrin: his calls have been heard. on monday, national en posted cell phone videos declaring maduro illegitimate, and calling for protests. >> we say to all the good people of venezuela: estamos con ustedes. >> schifrin: yesterday, u.s. vice president pence promised the u.s. would be with the protestors. and today in a statement, president trump endorsed guaido as interim president and said,"t people of venezuela have courageously spoken out againstu and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law." >> this one of the most historic days for venezuelan modern history. i>> schifrin: moises rendan associate director of the center for strategic and international studies. he says guaido's announcement today, and president trump's endorsement, allows the u.s. to

redirect payments for venezuelean oil, which accounts for 90% of venezuela's g.d>>. very single asset, every single bank account, every single contract, all the management of these republic's assets will be transfeed to the national assembly, and juan guaido. >> schifrin: but maduro is pushing back. today he cut off dlomatic relations with the u.s., and gave u.s. diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. >> do not trust the gringo empire. the gringos do not friends nor are they loyal to anyone.t they have erests, venezuelan oil, gas, gold, but to that empire, we say that oi that gas, that gold is not yours. >> schifrin: it was just two weeks ago maduro was inaugurated and swore to build what he called 21st century ism. but he has built an economic catastrophe. venezuela used to be latin nterica's wealthiest country. but caracas resihave demanded access to a supermarket, even if the shelves were empty because of a shortage of food.ca

mepatients have protested a shortaged f medicine. ildren play in the dark because of a shortage of power.o it's been an ec free-fall, the product of falling oil prices, and failed economic policies. bills have became so worthless, won turned them into art. inflation could hit 10 million percent. all of it sparked the region's largesever exodus. more than 3.5 million venezuelans have fled their homes and created a humanitarian crisis that increased regional criminality. >> it represents a humanitarian and security crisis the region, that is impacting not ly neighboring countries, but also the u.s. as well. >> schifrin: the u.s. has imposed sanctions on maduro and his leadership.ff u.s.ials say depending on maduro's response, they could impose an oil embargo that would likely collapse the state.fi instead, u.s. als hope maduro heeds the protests, and the military withdraws its support. maduro will fight, but he faces a perfect storm of economic

pressure, international condemnation, a popular opponent, and the mobilizati of his own people. ckr the pbs newshour, i'm schifrin. >> woodruff: as we heardrl r, many federal workers are nearing a boiling point as this shutdown drags on. there are many efforts around the country to provide some help and relief to workers -- too many to count and show here. but amna nawaz gives us sampling of what's being done. >> nawaz: pop-up food pantries set up across the u.s. are distributing free meals fedetl employees going withou a paycheck. in a numbeof airports around the country, airlines and executives he set up food banks to help t.s.a. workers on the job. >> they have children at home and we offer them food vouchers at work, but my heart just went out to the familie

>> naz: in connecticut, non- profit groups are feeding nearly 160 employees at the guard academy in new london, who've also had to go without their paychecks. >> a lot of people have lost faith in humanity, but, you know, this right here, you know, goes to show you that, you know, we are appreciated and there are people to help. >> nawaz: there are some banks from oklahoma to colorado now helping customers who are feeling the pressure of their bills. that's included everything from essentially covering theirw, paychecks for o providing interest-free loans so people can then pay their rent or mortgages. philadelphia's mayor is one of many city leaders offering flexibility in bill payments delaying enforcement actions including water shut offs and eviction. back here in the capital, the d.c. diaper bank is distributing one hundred diapers per baby and other products to coast guard families. and school districts across maryland d.c. and virginia are holding job fairs targ furloughed federal workers.

hundreds are waiting in line to hand out their resumes. >> it's causing cash flow oblems and meeting vario obligations is difficult. i have a daughter in college and one concern is paying tuition for her for the re of her semester. >> nawaz: plus, a different source of relief: free br. a group called "pay it furloughed" has set up a website to allow workers to grab a cold one at capitol breweries. for all of these efforts, many workers are expected to miss a second paycheck on friday and some will soon be faced with the decision of whether or not to file for unemployment. >> woodruff: every year, class valedictorians represent the best and the brighte america's high school graduates, the nation's best hopes for the future.

but, as john yang re for recent graduates in boston, the reality can often be very different. >> yang: judy, over the last year, the boston globe tracked down 93 of the 113 valedictorians in the city's public high school classes of 2005 to 2007. while nearly 80% of them did become the first in their families to go to college, ofter on schips, their ambitions were not always fulfilled: fully one quarter of them did not finish college within six years. and today, 40% earn less than $50,000 a year. malcolm gay is one of th r "boston globorters who reported this massive project and he is in the studios of wgbh inoston. malcolm, thanks for joining us. you called this or the paper calls this an epidemic of untapped potential. what happened to the ambitions of these young n andmen? >> well, i think, oftentimes, they come out of school, they

are, you know, positioned for success or seemingly positioned for success, they oftentimes go to school with scholarships depending on their gpa and quickly realize the beeps beepsn public schools has not giveno them thels to succeed in a rigorous academic environment ant' so, oftentimes, thas the beginning of the obstacles that they encounter, and those obstacles increase over time. >> yang: this was a multimedia project. you have interviews taped on the web site with some of these valedicttoians. we wanlay one. what should the viewers know about madeline before they hear is tape? >> well, madeline was like a lot of the valedictorians in the boston public schools. she came over to the united states as an immigrant, in her case frm the dominican republic, and ended up valedictorian of charleston high school and went to dartmouth university, oneo have the great schools in the country. >> yang: so let's take a

list to hertory and we'll talk about it on the other sie. >> i didn't beneh t mucom being valedictorian other than i really go a gd scholarship and went to a really good school. i think my mother not being here in the couentry, ing how much e family struggled, but then i struggled the say, so... i was pregnant and living in a shelter. really a hard time. i got a lot of points togo college. i felt like it was just too much for me. i felt like i food myself during high school thinking i was so smart and i couanlde it. i was likely quick to understand a lot of things in high school,

but college came and was very different young sh. >> yang: se said she was homeless and couldn't find a job. what did her story represent among the valedictorians youo talked >> i think madeline's story is one of the more tragic that we found, to tell you the truth. that said, she was one of four valedictorians that ended up meless, a few of them with children in the homeless shelters. madeline, you know, i think it's shocking when you think she graduated from a place like dartmouth college to wind up homeless. that to me, and i thk our reporting bears ou that these individuals come from family situations, social situations whery don't have a lot of the privileges that, younow, upper-middle class families may have, and, so, when they find themselvestruggling with obstacles, they oftentimes have to take desperate measures, in

her case that means endinup in a homeless shelter. >> yang: you compared these ston graduates to graduates the same year from suburban high schools arou the city. what did you find? >> we found a dramatic difference iopportunity and achievement. the suburbarivaledic were roughly three times more likely than boston valedictorian to ea $100,000 or mor per year. you know, something like a quarter of boston valictorians wanted to be doctors. today there's not a singlemo doctor that cohort. meanwhile, among the suburbans, there are eight doctors. >> yang: you mentioned in boston there are twors tief high schools. you've got exam schools you've got to test into them, a tn the other public high schools, and there was also a difference between those schools. t t right? >> that's correct. i think the advanced schools are a real issue within the boston public schools. about a quarter of all boston

public high schoolers go to exam schools, and while tht may sound like, you know, a great thing, the exam schools test higher on standardized tests, they oftentimes go to fouye colleges compared to the rest of the district. what that also means is the rest of the district is oftentimes burdened with having to educate "adjudicated" kids, kids that advantagedically dis special needs kids, so the burden on the rest of the system is quite higch beause of the school situation boston hased embror so long. >> yang: essentially, they skim off the cream of the students into these three exams. scho >> that's very well said. >> yang: the classes that you looked ate werobviously graduating into the teeth of the recession, is there any sense that subsequent classes are doing better, subsequent valedictorians? >> well, that's right. i mean, i think tha the -- you know, we started this project by looking at the faces of excellence feature we do each

year and started that in 2005 so, as it happened, these kids were really graduating into the teeth of the grat recession. my sense is that thede stus that have come after that -- and this is purely anecdotal -- that the students that have come after that have dne somewhat better, an that's partially because scholarship programs and mentoring programs have become much morphisticated in how they deal with first jen students. many of these students are first generation college. they're interesting the college as the first of their family, and what these scholarship and ndntoring programs have fos you can't just simply give them tuition, you have to actually offer mentoring programs and counseling programs and things ke that to allow these kids to really succeed. >> yang: malcolm gay of the "boston globe" on the valedictorians project.

malcolm gay, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: deadly viruses often fester inside animals in before they move into human populations. one project in northern thailand is using technology to try tst outbreaks before they start. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports as part of our breakthrough series, on innovation, and today's story on the leading edge of science and medicine. >> reporter: there are more chickens than people in remote thai villages like huay ton chokand people do worry when their chickens stop crossing the road. that's becauseive years ago, is village suffered a outbreak of flu-like disease that killed hundreds of birds. so when farmer udom putipatharakal thought onef his chickens wasn't doing well

and another looked really ill, he reported it. >> ( translated ): we still have a small number of icken deaths so we don't know what to do. >> reporter: for four years, pariwat roomak has been dispatched from the local health department, responding to calls about sick animals in the area. t>> ( translated ):e photos of the chicken. i look to see if there are abnormal feces.al ask neighboring households if they have had any dead chickens. >> reporter: pariwat enters all of this information into an app on his smartphone and transmits it directly to the local government health office, the veterinary department and to a major university to be analyzed. it's part of a participatory one health disease detection program, more simply calledd. p.o.d.nd it has become a model for programs like this alr over the. ul's villages like this one that scientists fear be the cradle of the next super bug. one that can jump from animals

to humans, and then muo it can leap from human to human. sohe objective of this exercise is to track every diseased animal, particularly chickens, so as to c an outbreak before it becomes a pandemic. >> h.i.v., mers, sars, zika. all of these things. ebola. >> reporter: they all began in animals, says dr. mark smolinski. he heads a san francisco-based non-profit called ending pandemics that is funding the program in thailand. he described one possible scenario of how a farm like udom's could become a petri dish >> a pig has receptors for both bird flu and receptors for human flu. so when we have a farmer who has a sick chicken who also has pigs and other animals on the farm, who may have a family member with influenza, if that pig were to get human influenza that we know spreads very quickly, if that were to cross over because

that pig was also infected with the bird flu on that same farm, then that resulting could be the pathogen that we're all worried out. >> reporter: a pathogen thatmp would now ack from pig to human and critically, human-to- human.m farmer uys his pigs are doing fine; only chickens have fallen ill and nothing like sixg yearwhen dozens of households reported diseased birds and many areas had to be disinfected. this village wha particularly hit. ag ( translated ): all the chickens in the vidied. now the problem is different. not as manchickens are dying-- but still one dies every day or every other day.or >> repr: the new system allows for swift response when any disease afflicts any domestated animal. jaruwan chaichom heads the local health department for this region. >> ( translated ): before we adopted the system, the villagers didn't have a way to connect with each othwith us. the local government is quite

far away from them. language is another barrr because we have seven ethnic groups and seven languages in this area. >> reporter: a smartphone app developed for th program translates those languages so all the responders can track where the diseases are occurring. patipat susumpow's firm designed the app to be simple. >> the penetration of smartphones was not very high. so most of our volunteers either never used a phone before or used a very simple phone. r orter: next stop for the diseased bird: a two hour bus ride after health workers find a two hours away, to chiang mai university. scientists determine the type of disease, the likely cause and accordingly recommend action to prevent its spread, whether it's administering antibiotics to anitals or disinf spraying. atirst, there was some resistance to the new system. villagers feared for their

livelihoodworried that over- for their part, local health officials feared an increase in reporting might reflect poorly tion their management pracs. but dr. smolinski says those concerns disappeared in these remote communities early in the four-year old program wh a health worker reported a case of hoof and mouth disease. >> by her reporting that one single cow, they were able to rally local resources and do a vaccination campaign and that saved $4 million for that village because they would have been banned for exportg their milk for an extended period of time until all of that disease was gone. >> reporter: developer patipat says the tool is spawning new ideas to improve life in communities. it's also being for alerts about criminal activity, food safety issues and natural disasters. >> with the right tool and right em hope the app can be the place-holder forratizing the power of response and disease management back to the community.

>> reporter: but not every community or country is ready to gn up. some fear news about diseases will driving away tourists.co otuntries are beset by mired in the midst of conflictsg or have weernance. drsmolinski says recent epidemics have shown the cost of inaction. >> ebola in 2014 led to 11,000 ntaths. it was an eight-delay before we knew that it was ebola. wo wouldn't have had that delay if that communitd have been able to send some signal thatomething's not right. they might not have known it was ebola, b that kind of signal where we see a cluster of fevers coming o of one particular geographical area in a very short time frame, we know some veute event is going on. >> reporter: the slining from tragedies like the ebola epidemic, he says, is that it's driven home the value of surveillance and swift intervention. and smolinski says his group has been invited to pilot its project in 35 countries. for the pbs newshour, i'm fred de sam lazaro in chiang mai, thailand.

>> woodruff: fred's reporting is a partnership with the under-told stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. on our bookshelf tonight, a leader recognized for her success in the tech economy and philanthropy, jean case, writes about her we sat down to talk about why she wanted to share lessons from her own life. well, i'll tell you, i have been really fortunate, judy, drough my work inifferent roles including my nearly 20 years in the tech sector of traveling both around the united states and the world and seeing onat people everywhere have thing in common and that is that they have ideas about how to make a better world. too often, what i wou observe is they have great ideas but they got caught up in this idea it takes a special genius, graduating from the right school

orconnections. act six years ago, the case foundation where i served as tooko., we understood research to take a look at the core qualities of people who do break through and, judy, it was really great newbecse we were able to debunk the myth it takes super special qualities and instead brought forth five principals p wreseenever tansformational breakthroughs take placeo >> woodruff: had an opportunity to meet pretty amazing people -- opah winfrey, elon musk, and the list goes on -- and, yet, froall of them, virtually, you describe how they just n't wake up one morning and were scessful. >> i'm trying to show the behind the scenes in their stories and show their path tos success w lined with failure. i have a chapter in there calling fail in the footsteps of giants. bu of the stories, as you know, are stories most people

have never heard before and, really, these are ordinary people who do extraordinary things, anthat's the message of the book. the principles are there as a road map, but the stories are there to bring the principles to life and show how anyone can take a big idea forwa. >> woodruff: and threaded throughout the book is your own story, jean case. iu grew up in a smallty in illinois. >> normal, illinois. >> woodruff: normal, illinois, you love the name. your mom-to-took you and your siblings to south florida, you god a job in plitics and made your way to washington. even you had doubts. >> definitely. my mom was working full time as a waitress and raising four kii , d a scholarship at a private school and today i hae the american privilege of having had a life to allow me to use my

resources to empower others. in environments around m private school, i would watch and listen to people, and goor home to myng class neighborhood and i would see people that did the same capacity and the sakim of ideas. and from an early age, i realized it was just actually opportunity that wasn't equal in my neighborhood. >> woodruff: you were just telling me that the audience you hoped to truly reach with the book is obviously a lot of people, buacyou want to re people who live in the heart of this country. >> that is correct. w>> woodruff: butho may not feel connected to what's happening and what's growingnd succeeding. >> that's right. i think we have gotten a little caught up in putting too much spotlight on silicon valley and california and the coast, if you will. most of the fortune 500 mpanies, in fact over 70% of hem, were founded between the coasts, and a lot e talents we think of today as time gone by, the's amazi renovation.

when i talk about two young co-founders in pittsburgh who have a compa that generates power to charge your mobile ces.e or other devi so the military sees that as a terrific potential battlefield solution, the kind of innovation we're seeing across thentou but particularly the nation's heartland is really exciting. >> woodruff: you're getting your camper -- >> every summer, every few weeks. oodruff: -- and drive around middle america. >> right. >> woodruff: stop, say hello, geleto know people a li bit. what are we missing here in washington and in the big media centers about what's going on? >> well, obviously, we're living in a divided time, and i do think a lot ofeople feel, you know, gripped by fear and discontent. one of the principles in the book is reach beyond your bubble. who we like it or not, we are t l living in our own bubbles. we doow enough people

different from us to understand their perspectives or have adi kind of fferent point of view. so we like to go out into the country in small towns and different places where we know people are quite different than we are or we suspect they are, and we find sort of talent and remarkable people almost in any 'stting. but thnot how people see, unfortunately, the world today, and we're being very purposeful, i am, in trying to highlight these stories in the book to make it clear that great people are everywhere. >> woodruff: and are listened to and can be appreciated. >> that's right, and they have an idea, this is a play booto get them started. >> woodruff: jean case, the book is "be fearless," fiinve ples for a life of breakthrough and purpose. thank you. >> thanks, judy. >> woodruff: finally tonight, remembering the pulitzer-prize winning writer, columnist and

humorist russell baker, who died yesterday. baker, whose career began at the "baltimore sun first came to national attention as a correspondent and then as a columnist for th"new york times." he wrote nearly 5,000 commentaries for his "observer" column overiod of three- plus decades, from 1962 until he his columns were known for their wit, satire, and sometimes subversive takes that could land a punch. onhe while covering congress wrote he was, "sitting on marble floors, waiting for somebody to come outnd lie to me." baker wrote 15 books, including two memoirs. he spoke with jim lehrer in 1989 about one of those, "the good times" and jim asked him why he enjoyed still being a columnist> hat comes from it is the pleasure of having somebody to listen to you. i think that all america is n ing to have somebody lis them and if you are a columnist twice a week you canerir whats on your mind for a

huge audience. i think that is another reason that people out there may be a bit sore at us. they have a lot to say too and they must read somebody like me and say why does this guy have the right to get off 800 words evy other day when i can't even get my letter to the editor published and they have a point. but as long as you have a column and you can let off that steam twice a week you never need psychotherapy. >> woodruff: for many pbs viewers, baker was even more well known as the host of "masterpieceyeheatre" for 11 s. here he is i1998 introducing a production of thomas hardy'sdd "far from the g crowd." >> it was deep winter when i first looked at the program you're about to see, aad one of those colds that make you feel so sorry for yourself that you want to brwn and cry. four hours later, that's how ng the show runs, i was cured.

oh i still had the cold, but i longer wanted to die. i'd been to a wonderful place, one of those places they don't make anymore, and never will again, i suppose. >> woodruff: russell baker died at his home in leesburg, virginia. he was 93 years old. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> text night and day. >> catch it on replay. >> burning some fat. >> sharing the latest viral cat! >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, ll captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

welcome to "amanpour & company." here is what's coming up. the elite gher in davos but the big guns are staying away. trump is absent. f hiseral shutdown is squeezing nearly a million government workers. i'll talk to ale union er. bretan's theresa may is absent. i'll talk to the former prime minister tony blair about the brexit mess. and china's xis absent while his economy is slowing and tit for tat with canada is escalating. i'll speak with the former ambassador to beijing. discord. discourse or our alicia menendez speaks to the highly controvsial website editor who is questioning everything from race