captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> sreenivasan: the head of the secret service julia pierson resigns after several security breachs that put the first family at risk. good evening, i'm hari sreenivasan. gwen ifill and judy woodruff are away. also ahead this wednesday, health officials on the look out for those who may have been exposed to ebola by the first patient diagnosed in the u.s. including five school-aged children. then, from an elite university to the city's community colleges. chicago takes steps to make college more accessible and affordable for low-income students. plus, former providence mayor buddy cianci's bid to come back and lead the rhode island city after being in prison.

>> frankly i did my time, i did it like a man, i paid the price and the law says i can run and i'm running. >> sreenivasan: those are some of the stories we're covering 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.

>> 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 and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. we begin with the secret service. >> director pierson offered her resignation today because she believed that it was in the best interest of the agency to which she has dedicated her career. >> sreenivasan: from white house press secretary josh earnest, the official announcement this afternoon, pierson offered to resign, and the president accepted. >> over the last several days, we've seen recent and

accumulating reports raising questions about the performance of the agency, and the president concluded that new leadership of that agency was required. >> sreenivasan: just yesterday, pierson, a 30-year secret service veteran, had apologized for security lapses before a house panel yesterday. >> this is unacceptable and i take full responsibility. >> sreenivasan: pierson was called to account for a series of revelations, that in 2011, it took four days for the secret service to realize shots had hit the white house. that last month, a fence-jumper made it deep inside the mansion. but the director's apology and her answers left lawmakers from both parties cold. >> i wish to god you protected the white house like you're protecting your reputation here today. >> sreenivasan: after the hearing ended, came a new report, that two weeks ago, while the president was in atlanta, a private security guard with a gun and a record of assault and battery got on an elevator with him. in an interview with bloomberg news today, pierson said:

"i think it's in the best interest of the secret service and the american public if i step down. it's painful to leave as the agency is reeling from a significant security breach." >> sreenivasan: meanwhile, also in washington, gonzalez appeared in federal court, his lawyer entered a not guilty plea to charges that he entered a restricted building with a deadly weapon. for more on the pierson resignation, we turn to carol leonnig of "the washington post." she's broken several major stories on the secret service's lapses, and she joins us now from the post's newsroom. the scales as of this morning, the white house seems to still express confidence in her. why did she resign? >> well, if you saw the white house previousing, josh earnest was asked sort of pointedly that exact same question, and he was asked, "was this because lawmakers had increasingly sort of lost confidence in her after her pretty unremarkable performance on the hill yesterday?" and he said, "no, the president had concluded we needed an agency change in leadership as a result of, you know, these recent and accumulating accounts of bad performance in the

agency." i mean, you have to think about all the things the president has been learning in the last couple of days. one, the details about how a shooting at his home was fumbled by the secret service in 2011. the fact that he got on an elevator with an armed security guard who had not been checked by the secret service and had a criminal history, unbeknownst to them. and that a fence jumper actually made it a lot further into the house than the director of the secret service had told anyone, including in a criminal complaint about that fence jumper. >> sreenivasan: will it be enough? will the resignation be enough? what's the reaction been from lawmakers? >> well, certainly, lawmakers think her resignation is a step in the right direction most of the ones i talked to today. but i think if you're a secret service agent or officer what, you're looking for is that second part of the press release, which is the top-to-bottom review of the agency. i mean, this is an agency with this amazing, elite reputation

of yore, that has really taken a bruising an because of these security lapses. and the agents who love it and work for it dutifully want it to be fixed as much as anybody who was on capitol hill and on that oversight committee. they want to see higher quality leadership. they want to see intensive training. i don't want any more complacency. they want to see staff that's exrenserate with all the added chores that the secret service has received since 9/11. they-- they are lookinged for to the challenge of doing this job well and returning their focus to the core mission. >> sreenivasan: briefly, what do we know about joseph clancy, the man in the interim seat? >> yes, i've interviewed a few people who worked with him and know him well. they described him as genteel, lovely, a real gentleman, a conflict of order, somebody who really likes to be around others and is not going to rock the

boat. he's going to be a very good cared taker until a permanent replacement is found is what i've heard from folks who knew him. >> sreenivasan: all right carol leonnig from the "washington post," thanks so much. >> you bet. >> sreenivasan: in other news of this day, texas officials announced more than a dozen people, including children, could have had contact with an ebola patient now hospitalized in dallas. the man contracted the disease in liberia, but was not diagnosed until after he arrived in texas on september 20th. we'll have a full report and talk to the head of the center for disease control in just a moment. but first, today's other headlines. the ebola news helped fuel a sell-off on wall street. airline stocks were hit hard over fears that people will be worried about flying. the dow jones industrial average lost 238 points to close at 16,804; the nasdaq fell 71 points to close at 4,422; and the s&p 500 slipped 26, to 1,946. in syria, twin car bombings struck near an elementary school in the city of homs, killing at

least 32 people. officials said at least ten children died in the first blast, when school was letting out. the second bomb exploded as parents frantically searched for their sons and daughters. to the north, activists reported islamic state militants beheaded nine kurdish fighters captured near kobani. the victims included three women. a car bomb in baghdad today killed 15 iraqis and wounded 40 more. it was the latest in a continuing surge of violence that left more than 1,100 people dead in september alone. the united nations reported that number today. it does not include killings in areas held by islamic state fighters. a nearly month-old cease-fire in ukraine did little to stop the fighting in donetsk today. rebel forces closed in on the city airport and a few miles away, at least ten people died when shells struck a mini-bus and nearby school. no children were killed, but glass lay everywhere after the attack as students and adults emerged from basement shelters. each side blamed the other for the attacks. crowds of protesters are still building in hong kong, with

leaders now threatening to storm government buildings. that came today as china marked its national day. lucy watson, of independent television news, is in hong kong. >> reporter: their hong kong, their protest, and their vision for democracy which continue to surge through this city. and these are the faces of this uprising, young outnumbering the old. their commitment to this campaign spanning night and day on the day that celebrated the founding of communist china. ♪ the flag raising hong kong's protesters jeered at. and their cause fascinates, but baffles mainland chinese tourists, but inspires others. kenny woo traveled here just to support it, but doubts its success.

it's difficult to succeed when faced with the communist party, he says. mainland chinese wouldn't do this. they're too scared to tell the truth and protest. unlike here, where unity has become power, and so many want to be involved. and tonight those numbers strengthened. 150.000 people have turned out today. all believing a compromise is possible. and it's a tactical move, to keep these demonstrators peaceful. yes, it makes beijing uneasy. but if china wants to be considered a real global superpower, how can it possibly respond to polite protest with extreme violence while the world watches? lee jaw ren is a chief organizer and a man with a clear agenda. >> we may escalate our action to try to, you could say, occupy more places. >> reporter: so this campaign has direction. a new wave of actions planned. as resolve hardens. >> sreenivasan: in washington,

the visiting chinese foreign minister said what happens in hong kong is china's business and no one else's. he warned: all countries should respect china's sovereignty. the death toll rose again today in japan's volcano eruption. it's now 47. military rescuers used helicopters today to recover more bodies near the peak of mount ontake. they found victims buried in ash, and caught between boulders. the volcano erupted in ash and smoke on saturday, with no warning. back in this country, a federal appeals court blocked parts of north carolina's new voting law. saying it is likely to dis- enfranchise black voters. the republican-backed law eliminated same-day voter registration during early voting. it also banned any ballot cast outside an assigned precinct. republicans said they will appeal the ruling. today marked one year since the launch of president obama's online health insurance marketplace. healthcare.gov at first received a mountain of criticism from congress and the public for glitches and long wait times. but, as of august, 7.3 million

people were enrolled for coverage. the next open enrollment starts next month. still to come on the newshour. the head of the c.d.c. on containing ebola in the u.s. the stalled israeli palestinian peace process. chicago's push to get more low- income students enrolled in college. paul ryan on how republicans can tackle poverty. buddy cianci's bid to come back as mayor of providence, rhode island after spending time in prison. and, a renowned poet remembers the wild energy of his departed son. >> sreenivasan: we further explore the efforts to contain and deal with the first case of ebola diagnosed in the u.s. officials sought to reassure americans there are systems in place to control its spread even as dallas braced itself for the possibility of a second case and the fact that more people could have been exposed. the ebola patient at texas presybterian hospital in dallas

was identified today as thomas eric duncan, a liberian visiting the u.s. officials also announced that five schoolchildren are among 12 to 18 people who came in contact with duncan, and they are now being closely watched. texas governor rick perry. >> these children have been identified and they are being monitored. the disease cannot be transmitted before having any symptoms. >> sreenivasan: not much is known about duncan, except that he traveled from liberia with a stopover in brussels, belgium, on september 19th flew on to dallas the next day. under screening policies at many west african airports, he was checked for signs of fever before boarding in monrovia, but wasn't sick then. then, six days after arriving in dallas, he went to an emergency room with a fever and was sent home. two days later, he returned and was admitted. >> since his arrival on friday he was not vomiting or having

diarrhea and therefore there was no exposures. so we really think there is very little likelihood any health care worker was exposed on friday and certainly virtually zero exposure starting sunday. >> sreenivasan: ambulance workers who transported duncan tested negative for ebola, but they're now under quarantine. doctors say they're tracking all of duncan's movements but state health officials say dallas is equipped to stop ebola's spread. >> this is not west africa. this is a very sophisticated city, a very sophisticated hospital and the dynamics are so significantly different than they are in west africa that the chances of it being spread are very, very, very small. back in liberia, some 2000 people have already died from the disease, with thousands more infected. the chief of the u.n. mission

there appealed again today for help. >> the world is absolutely not doing enough yet. we are still challenged to outrun the disease. and as long as the new cases continue to increase the way they are, as long as we look around and don't see spare bed spaces in ebola treatment units, we know we aren't winning yet. ebola needs to be tackled here or it will be on everyone else's doorstep, and the texas case shows us this. >> sreenivasan: u.s. navy engineers have now broken ground on a new ebola facility in liberia to house 25 patients. doctor tom frieden is the director of the centers for disease control. the government's top point person on all of this. and he joins me now for the latest. and local officials are saying there is a possibility that a second person. is that confirmed? >> absolute not. we're in the early stages of the investigation. this is going to be a very intensive set of work.

today, our team on the ground interviewed about 100 workers at the hospital to really parse out were people exposed, and if so how, so that we can make sure we have a roster of everyone who was exposed and then track each one of them for 21 days to see if they become ill. >> sreenivasan: so tracking is not the same as quarantine, except while we were watching the videotape those ambulance workers are not under quarantine now? >> the details really have to be worked out locally. our general approach is to say if someone has been exposed, they need to check their temperature twice a day. we would check their temperature at least once a day, and then if there are any symptoms at all they need to be isolated immediately. but the bottom line here is we know how to stop ebola. we have two things in this country that they don't have and they need in west africa. one is good infection control in health care facilities so it doesn't spread there. and the second is good core tried and true public health-- find contacts, trace them, monitor them.

if they're sick, isolate. you do those two things you can stop ebola and that's what i'm confident will happen here. >> sreenivasan: also about those five children that were reported to have had contact with the person that's infected. any idea how we monitor thaem that and all the people that those children might touch? >> very important point to be clear about. if someone is exposed to a person with ebola, they cannot spread it to others unless they get sick. and until they get sick. so even if you've been exposed, if you're not sick, you're not shedding the virus. you can't make other people sick. >> sreenivasan: okay, so one of the things we've been hearing consistently is that there is this travel that's happening outside of countries, outside of west africa, why not-- there's a bunch of questions we had on facebook-- why do they continue to let people travel back and north? sthnt there be restrictions until at least the situation is under control in africa? how do you control it? >> first off, months ago we recommended americans restrict

nonessential travel. but paradoxally, if we were to isolate the from others, that's actually going to increase risk to the rest of the world. you have to think it through for a minute top to get there you have to fly. to fly, you have to have airlines going and coming back. if people there feel they're isolated from the rest of the world, they'll leave more. both within countries and between countries if we try to seal borders we're going to do more harm than good. we're going to spread the disease more than we stop the spread of it. this is something shoos that's very important to understand. it's crucial to isolate patients but isolating communities or countries is counter-productive. >> sreenivasan: when you've isolated this patient now who is in the u.s. and when you have increased the depth of your dive on who he has touched what, are pieces of information you've learned now? >> it will be days as we interview others and follow and get more information until we know how many people really might have been exposed. we take kind of a concentric circle approach-- who are those who really did have a lot of

contact who are going to need to be very careful to monitor? who are those who might have had the slightest of contact, but out of an abundance of caution we're going to also monitor. that's something we will will be going through. >> sreenivasan: what kind of treatment? >> with ebola, even without experimental medicines there is a lot that can be done to improve the patient's outcome by providing fluids and balancing their electrolights, that kind of intensive care that gets provided. we're really hoping for his recovery but last we heard he was quite sick. >> sreenivasan: we heard he might have come in contact with as many as 100 people? is that true? >> i have not heard that number. there are a lot of rumors, rumors about cases, rumors about contacts. let's take things one step at a time. what we know is we have one patient with ebola in the u.s. he is being cared for in a hospital in isolation. we're going to identify who might have had contact with him and we'll have that information over the next day or two. >> sreenivasan: given the kinds of laws of probability and the number of people who are

traveling aircraft all over the world, is it statistically likely there might be others, whether they're coming to the united states or elsewhere? >> i think with what we're seeing in west africa, with many thousands of cases, it is highly likely that we'll see ebola in other parts of the world, particularly neighboring countries or other parts of africa, even if you were to stop flights-- and that's not being done-- but even if you were, people travel. they travel by various routes, overland. borders are porous. they have sometimes citizenship in multiple countries. so this idea we can somehow seal it off is not going to work. we have to recognize the way to keep ourselves safe is to help stop the outbreak there. that's most effective-- in fact that's the only way we're going to ensure that we're safe. so, yes, we're going to do things here but we've got to address the problems there. >> sreenivasan: all right tom frieden, head of the c.d.c., thank you so much. >> thank you.

>> sreenivasan: israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and president obama met at the white house this morning to discuss the derailed peace process. negotiations with iran and the fight against the islamic state. chief foreign affairs corespondent margaret warner has been reporting on what happened as the leaders spoke behind closed doors. i spoke to her a short time ago. >> it did not go entirely well, and that was somewhat surprising. the expectation after this tension-filled year, after the gaza war, over the crash and burn of the peace process, the two leaders pretty much agreed on certain things, paper over their differences and focus on the fight against islamic state or isis. instead, israeli officials came out and said they still had the exact same concerns on the iran nuke talks, even though that was netanyahu's number one item. the u.s. and world powers are pursuing a deal that will leave iran with some kind of centrifuge capability and enrichment capability that they think will make them a threshold

weapon state. and, two, just-- i think netanyahu had only just returned to new york when the with white house spokesman came out, josh earnest, and totally unloaded on the announcement today of plans to build new israeli settlements in arab east jerusalem, and he called into question the entire commitment of the israeli government to any kind of negotiated settlement and would alienate the government from even its closest allies. >> sreenivasan: that leads me to ask about the peace plan secretary of state kerry has been working so hard on. where is that? >> dead for now, totally dead for now. he labored for nine months, as you know, suspended in april. the only thing that could break the logjam to say everyone who is involved in it, if president obama would comeed for with the principals the u.s. believes in and just make everyone respond. he didn't think either of these leaders abbas or netanyahu has the stroke or wil-- internationally domestically-- to do.

he's really focused on the fight against isis. and actually, interestingly, israel is getting not only-- giving not only rhetorical support but some bnd the scenes report. one on intelligence-- they have excellent intelligence? syria-- and two allowing some overflights over israeli territories on some of these strikes. >> sreenivasan: netanyahu said a commonality of exists between israel and some arab states. >> they have always had a commonality, the gulf states, joard an and egypt against iranian influence. during the conflict, israelis were heartened by the fact that the gulf states and these other countries were very muted in their criticism of civilian deaths. and then the emergence of this sort of intense isis fight has had netanyahu and his government thinking if there is a way to partner with some of these-- quote-- moderate they call them arab states to try to put leverage on actually the

palestinians, give them diplomatic cover and money to get back to the peace table. some would say that hasn't been the only obstacle to peace. in an announcement, apparently president obama, they discussed-- netanyahu came in with specific ideas. they did discuss those ideas. president obama made clear it would have to be a two-way street and she certainly announcements like the settlements are not the kind of jest that you are would advance that-- or make it comfortable for these states to join in any kind of overt, coordinated campaign with the rells. >> sreenivasan: all right, margaret warner thanks so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: now, two seperate pushes were announced today in chicago aimed at improving access to higher education among lower-income students. jeffrey brown has the story. >> brown: the moves, announced separately, will eliminate costs at one of the nation's most elite universities and at the city's community colleges.

the university of chicago's president robert zimmer announced a plan that will replace loans with grants, simplify the application process and ensure that some students don't have to take jobs during the academic year. university officials said the changes will build on programs for lower-income students at the school, like anthony downer. >> i knew i wanted to attend a top college, the question for my family and other low-income families was how will we pay for that? >> brown: chicago's mayor rahm emanuel also announced a seprate plan to provide free community college tuition to all chicago public high school students who graduate with a 3.0 grade point average or better and are ready for college-level math and english. >> we live in a time where you earn what you learn. the the big factor in determining whether people complete school, drop out of school, is cost. >> brown: the proposals come amid growing pressure on colleges and universities to

enroll and graduate more disadvantaged students. and they follow similar moves around the country. tulsa, oklahoma and the state of tennessee, for example, are providing free tuition at community colleges with the hope of raising low graduation rates. among top tier schools, several have policies guaranteeing lower-income families don't have to pay for college. still, disadvantaged students remain poorly represented on many elite campuses. here to tell us more about these initiatives are robert zimmer, president of the university of chicago, and cheryl higmhan. cheryl, do you first, why is that necessary? what's the problem preventing more student from attending college? >> it is extremely necessary because we want to make sure all chicagoans have a chance to succeed. we want to make sure that we shift the paradigm of community colleges from those being solely focused on access to those that

are coupled with access and success. now, what does success mean? success means that all of our student graduate with a credential of economic value which mary emarnld and i addressed in 2011 when we announced college to years, but we remove the barriers that exist as well. so one of the main barriers that a lot of students face nowadays, particularly with the increase in student debt, is finances. and so we believe that when a student is performing well and they are college ready coming out of high school, we should try to remove every possible barrier we can to help them succeed. so it's incredibly important that we do that. >> announcer: how many graduates do you think there will be that will hit that g.p.a., and other marks that are required? how many students are you talking about that you think you can reach here? >> so we're thinking that the first there will be about 2,000 that will qualify. we're anticipating that we will

get somewhat in the upper numbers of at least half and continue to grow that number to come to us. what we do know is that at least about 1500 students graduated who could have taken advantage of this that didn't go to college at all. and we want to ensure that that doesn't does not happen again. >> brown: and can you tell us briefly just how this would be paid for? because the mayor was-- was-- was not giving specifics today from what i gather. >> yes, so, it's important to know that students will still be able to take advantage of applying for their federal and pel assistance. we want them to take advantage of every financial opportunity. but back in june, i talked about in a speech that i delivered to the city club how city colleges have been able to concentrate our capital investment through our college to career. so through our college to career program we have been able to

consolidate programs and strategic like make investments in very specific colleges and not duplicate those investments because we have each one of our colleges now singly focused on one area. so now instead of duplicating investments in nursing at five places, we're building a new $251 million school where we can make those investments in one place. and through those efficiencies, we've saved about $10 million. >> brown: all right, let me ask robert zimmer, the university of chicago, in asking you why you're doing what you're doing. the charge has been out there that many elite schools have just not done enough to attract lower income students. and that's exacerbating big problems within our culture over income inequities. how do you plead to that? >> well, the reason we undertook this program in the first place was our belief in the importance of education and the power of that education to transform lives and to change the

trajectory of families. if we're going to be acting on that belief in the strongest possible way, we are in fact going to have to do more to attract lower income families and moderate income families into elite institutions such as the university of chicago. so this was a program. it was not our first program, but it is a continuation of a set of programs that are designed specifically to address the issue you raised; namely, that there are many outstanding academically qualified students of lower family income who can in fact succeed very well at an elite institution like the university of chicago and that we have to do more to get them in. >> brown: other schools have tried various things. we've done some reports on those efforts on this program, and yet, the numbers don't budge a whole lot. i wonder have you looked at what has been tried? have you seen what the problems

are? and have you figured out exactly, sort of specifically, how to raise those numbers? >> yes. we've done a great deal of analysis on this. and we have what we believe is a comprehensive program to systemically address the set of issues that we see as being barriers to students applying to elite institutions. this includes issues around expectation of student debt, which we are eliminating. it includes issues around application fees, simplicity versus complexity of the entire process. it includes a feeling that one is going to be able to have additional support to participate fully in the life of the institution. and there is the question of preparing students for careers afterwards. >> brown: and i ask you just

very briefly, do you have a specific goal, a number of students you feel you need to traebt to get the diversity you want? >> well, right now, we expect this program to be relevant to about half of our students when it's fully phased in. that would be if our numbers remained about the same right now. but we do expect that number to increase and we are lookinged for to increase. half right now would mean approximately or close to 3,000 students, and we certainly want to see that number increase. >> brown: all right, robert zimmer of the university of chicago, and cheryl hyman of city colleges of chicago, thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> thank you very much, thank you. >> sreenivasan: nothing says you're thinking about running for president like writing a book. and that's what brings us to former vice-presidential

candidate and wisconsin congressman paul ryan. yesterday, judy woodruff spoke with the republican budget committee chairman about his new book, "the way forward: renewing the american idea." >> woodruff: congressman paul ryan. welcome. >> good to be with you, judy. thank you for having me this evening. >> woodruff: so we're talking to you about your book. you make public here more of your personal story than i think we've ever heard from you, in particular about the death of your father when you were a teenager. why did you decide to share that now? >> well, i think it's important that you talk about the tragedies in your life, the things that have happened that form you. i thought it was important to explain why i think the way i think. more importantly, how some tragedies can hit families and you can bounce back from them. good things can come from these difficult circumstances and these difficult challenges. it was a very formative part might have life, and that's why i talked about these things in an effort to try to explain why i think whaty i think and why i do what i do and i always wanted

to puted for a positive agenda of solutions to show how we can get things right in america and how our own family needed the safety net, how our community was there for us when we needed it-- my mom, myself, and my grandma-- and how important these programs in this kind of a society, a civil society is to mow and how personal it is to me. >> woodruff: so you do write-- if there's a personal side of the book there's very much a public and political. you talk about the republican party, how it needs to open up. but i guess one of the questions to you is how hard is that to do when many-- certainly democrats, some independents -- see the republican party as a party that has at least in the past been perceived as against doing programs for the poor, against expanding medicaid health benefits? how do you see the challenge for the republican party? >> i think we do have a challenge. that's one of the reasons why i wrote this book. i think we need to show not just

what we're against but what we are for and how we are applying critically important principles to the problems of the day to offer better solutions. here are better ideas for health care retirement security. here are better ideas for economic growth. here's our agenda for helping get people out of poverty for real welfare reform to move people from welfare to work, for economic growth, for a foreign policy to make us more safe and secure. i think just because we don't like the current policies in track or the track we are on we should not be an opposition party. we should be an alternative party-- here is a better wayed for for our country. here are better solutions. and this shows you the kind of opportunity society we're trying to create to reignite the engines of economic opportunity, to recorrect people with the america idea which is this great idea that the condition of your birth doesn't determine the outcome of your life and we want to have a dynamic society where everybody is involved, where everybody can participate, in an economy of ipcollusion so everybody can reach their potential.

>> woodruff: someone who looked at your book sent me these statistics just this week, congressman. this is since the financial collapse in 2008. corporate earnings have gone up at an analyzed rate of over 20% while disposable income for the average person has been up annually at only about 1.4%. what would you do about that? >> yes, so, the wellie are doing fine. the wealth effect with the federal reserve and the stock market, they're doing fine. but this kind of prosperity is not trickling down. so we're basically seeing what you would call trickle down economics now. we have crony capitalism upon. we have top-heavy government. we don't have government responsive to people's needs and the organic growth we need to get people into the workforce. i articulate a whole host of ideas from tax reform to job training reform to better poverty fights solution solutioo try to get people back into the economy so they can get better take-home pay, better jobs, better opportunity. but more importantly get people

back out of the doldrums that they're in. look, judy, our labor force participation rates, tens of millions of people who are either not working full time or work part time or not in school. we have almost 21% of 21-44-year-olds who are not in school or working at all, we have a in america today. i would argue we need better, faster economic growth and the kind of economic growth that is bottom-up, that gets everybody on at least some rung of the economic ladder so they can start climbing so we can get a bridge to a better life which say better job. >> woodruff: i do want to make time for at least one foreign policy question. and that is you said president obama was not wrong not to negotiate a so-called status of forces agreement in iraq to leave some u.s. troops there. you said that might have helped prevent what happened with the islamic state rein. my question is are you saying u.s. troops should have stayed in iraq and would still be there today-- >> yes. >> woodruff: among 10, 11

years in iraq. >> i do think we should have had a status of forces agreement where we would have had a footprint of soldiers there embedded with the iraqis, helping enable the iraqis, helping make sure they can keep their military organized and coordinated and help the political coalitions stay together. and i would argue because of our precipitous withdrawal, that hurt us and helped us lose the gains we got, and i think we would have done a far better job as the military asked at the time, and recommended at the time, we would have done a far better job of keeping the iraqi military organized and together. >> woodruff: you have said you are thinking about whether to run for president? mitt momry has hinted he is still thinking about it. you said in the last day or so you wouldn't run if he ran. why not? >> because i think he'd make a great president. i supported him in the last election. i wish that he would have won. i wish that we would have won. and i would defer to mitt because i think he's the right time guy for the time. i don't think he's going to run. he's been pretty clear about

that. i for myself, that's a decision rhyme not right now thinking about because i think we have issues to deal with today. this is something for 2015. i will make a decision in 2015. >> woodruff: congressman paul ryan, the book is "the way forward: renewing the american idea." we thank you. >> thank you, judy. >> sreenivasan: they say that the third time is the charm, and that's what voters are being asked to consider in providence, rhode island. as the twice former mayor runs again despite his two previous convictions and a prison term. the newshour's domenico montanaro takes us there with this report. >> nice to see you. >> reporter: in providence, the improbable, former mayor vincent buddy ciancis is running again. >> to the shock of his detrabtors? >>ig it's an embarrassing. the

amazement of nearly everyone. >> some of this stuff is kind of like out of "alice in wonderland." >> reporter: he's leading in the polls. >> he's not only back. he's not only running. but he may indeed win. >> absolutely he could win. >> look it, i've been there, done it. bought the t-shirt. i know how to fix the problems of this city and that's why we're ahead in the polls. >> reporter: cianci was once america's longest serving mayor, holding office 22 years he first ran in 1974 on an anticorruption platform. >> he headed up the anticorruption strike force in this state. >> he really does embody the best and worst of american politics throughout his long and checkered career. >> reporter: mike stanton, now a professor at the university of connecticut, is a former pulitzer prize-winning investigative journalist for the "providence journal." >> he was like a breath of fresh air to a city that was really dying after the 1960s and the flight to the suburbs, and he became a great cheerleader. i mean, gerald ford had him

speak at the republican national convention, and at the same time, there were nearly two dozen people arrested or convicted in his first administration involving kickbacks for street paving and snow plowing and other municipal contracts. >> reporter: but it was his personal life that did him in, in 1984, when he had his police body guard bring him the man he thought was having an affair with his estranged wife. >> buddy, you know, slapped him and punched him and threw a drink in his face. >> the facts show the defendant threw an arbtray at him. >> and he had a lit cigarette and tried to jab it in the man's eye. he ultimately pleaded guilty as he was about to go to trial and he resigned his office and we thought that would be the end of the biddy story. >> reporter: but by 1990, buddy was back, winning a three-way race as an independent by just a few hundred votes. and providence was on the cusp of a renaissance air, record that cianci is running on today. >> this was the city of

providence. then a new mayor was elected, and that mayor's leadership changed everything. >> we built a skating rink across the street. we did the zoo, built the mall, moved the rivers. this staefs one of the five best cities to live in according to "money" magazine, one of the five renaissance cities. >> >> you know, this whole revival of do you want providence was something that took about 25 years, a whole bunch of different folks-- governors, mayors, senators-- but cianci happened to be in office at the apex of all of this and he was just brilliant at taking credit. >> reporter: mckay's copanelist, political science professor, maureen moakley, takes a more generous view of siancy's roles. >> he got it. he understood it mattered for the city and he did everything to make it happen.

>> reporter: ysays mckay. >> he probably is the best cheerleader the town ever had. the problem she didn't pay attention to day-to-day running city hall and the finances. you know, there's a conga line of people who worked for him who wended up being criminals. we have his chief of staff, his top aide, you know taking a grand in a bribe and the f.b.i. taping it, and he didn't look like a virgin. >> reporter: an f.b.i. investigation, dubbed plunder dome, culminated in 27 charges of corruption against cianci. in 2002, he was found guilty on one count of racketeering conspiracy and sentenced to prison. how do you reassure voters that there won't be corruption in a third administration? >> well, you know, what reassurance copeople have? no one wants to sit in prison four and a half years. you have a lot to think about. >> reporter: what did you learn from that time? >> never to come back and frankly, i did my time. i did it like a man. i paid the price, and the law says i can run. and i'm running. >> reporter: at age 73, he's doing what might be unthinkable anywhere else-- in a bid to

burnish a tarnished legacy. in the old italian american neighborhood the federal i had, old italian americans are closing ranks. philip, a former city councilman was chief of weights and measures in cianci's second administration. do you think he should be mayor again? >> absolute. >> anthony of cianci's tax collector. what was it like working for buddy? >> it was an adventure. he was always on you, made sure everything got done. >> reporter: do you think he had his hands clean? >> they didn't find nothing on him. >> they didn't prove anything, not as far as i'm concerned. >> me, too. >> 28 charges. you charge him with one? rico act? give me a break. >> my opinion, he shouldn't have done 30 minutes in jail. >> reporter: across town in the city's posh east side, the feeling is very different. >> people are literally terrified that he will win again. >> reporter: wendy schiller teaches political science at prown. >> there's a real divide between the old timers who remember the floar days of buddy cianci, and

the people who want to looked for to the future and give providence a new fresh start, a new reputation. >> reporter: still the concerns haven't stopped cianci's momentum. >> i feel good. >> reporter: the most recent poll has him in the lead, 38-32, over his closest challenger, democrat jorge alorsza. >> i'm running for mayor. >> a political novice is a harvard law grad and former housing court judge. are you ready for the fight? >> absolutely. and we'll take the fight to him. >> reporter: if it wasn't for cianci, alorsa would likely be cruising into office. >> how are you, sir? appropriate providence, after all, hasn't had a republican mayor since cianci's first campaign 40 years ago. >> nice to meet you. >> reporter: and the current g.o.p. candidate, dan harop is polling at just 6%. >> this is the buddy cianci show, feeduring dan harop and jorge alorsa, and that's what the election is becoming. >> reporter: harop, a psychiatrist, but providence

voters on the couch. >> why are you really considering doing this again? i've often considered this somewhat like battered spouses is that they're fearful of the future so they stay with the batterer and want to keep with them because at least it's what they know. >> reporter: but providence is a very different city than the one cianci led 40 years ago. his italian american base is shrinking. more than 60% of city residents are non-white minorities with latinos making up the largest group by far. it's a group that alors ason of guatemalan immigrants, is courting. but african americans could be a swing group and cianci is counting on them. >> ♪ give a vote for buddy cianci to find a better job for homes for our families ♪ >> reporter: despite cianci being the most recognizable figure in the race, arguably in providence history, 21% in the polls said they hadn't yet made up their minds. bad news for buddy, says wendy

shiller. >> he's a well-known candidate, so if 21% are undecided and they know you well, they're likely leading in the other direction. >> reporter: it's up to cianci to convince voters, beyond his loyal base, that he earned that chance. >> good luck. >> reporter: whether he succeeds could determine how this controversial figure is remembered-- as the comeback kid or part of the city's dark past. >> sreenivasan: last night we aired a story about painful choices facing families with loved ones on life support. tonight, another look at dealing with loss, as a father copes with the death of his son through poetry. jeffrey brown is back with that. >> brown: gabriel hirsh was a high-spirited, and often reckless child and young man who suffered from a variety of developmental disorders and bounced through different doctors and schools.

still, his boundless energy drew others to him and he lived a vol tibut-- volatile but four life until he died at age 22 after cardiac arrest after taking a party drug. >> became desperate that i would forget things. >> reporter: his farther is ed hirsch, a highly acclaimed poet who has now written something unlike anything he did before, a book-length eulogy for his son, entitled "gabriel." >> fling open the gates. here he comes. chaotic wind of the gods. he was trouble, but he was our trouble. >> brown: edward hirsh and i talked recently in a park near his home in brooklyn, new york, and i asked first what drove him to write the book. >> i suppose in some ways it began to feel inevitable to me because i just didn't know what else to do with myself. and i was am whenned by grief, and-- i was overwhelmed by grief, and at a certain point i

thought what am am i going to do with my grief and writing poetry seemed something i could do. i found a comfort in trying to solve some poetic problems because there were human ones i just couldn't solve. >> reporter: edward hirsh has a very prominent day job as president of the john simon guggenheim foundation, a post he's held for 11 years after several decades i decades in ac. it was months after his son's death before he could go back to work and poetry came later still. it there's a passage here that struck me midway in where you say, "lord of misadventure--" you're speak of gabriel. "i'm scared of round him up and turning him into a story." >> part of the book is a kind of novel about the adventures of gabriel, what gabe riwilly was doing -- >> reporter: and there are a lot of adventures. >> and there are a lot of adventures and many of them made me laugh and that was one of the joys of writing the book. but i was aware that when i was telling his story as i had become his inadvertent

biographer, that i was-- by its very nature you have to choose things. you have to summarize. you have to make decisions aboutinaaboutnarrative and i suy realized i'm turning my son into a story. i didn't want to simplify him. i didn't want to sum him up. i wanted to try to be true to the full complications of who he was as a person. >> reporter: each page is a separate poem. hirsh writes of his son's trials and love, of his own guilt at not helping enough, even of the medications gabriel took as he and his parents sought help. >> you have all these medications which were-- which have these names and i had just never seen the names of these medications in a poem. so you have to figure out how how do you do it@-- >> brown: they're real, they played a real part in his life, your life. >> they were crucial-- >> brown: but how do you turn them into a poem. >> how do you turn them into a

lyric poem. i'm just desperate for gabriel to come through as a person. of course, it's not a person. it's my poem, but i'm desperate for people to have a feeling of what he was like, and that energy and impulsiveness which was so exciting and erratic is part of what i'm trying to capture in my home. >> brown: and the eulogy as a poetic form has a long history. >> it's one of the root impulses of poetry, the lamentation for the fact that we die and the people we love die. and there's something unacceptable about it. and we have to try to come to terms with that. >> brown: but it sounds as though you also didn't want-- i think you used the word "consolation." you didn't want the consolation that a poem can bring or a kind of-- i don't know if closure is the right word. what did you want? >> despite the consolations of writing poetry and despite the joys of writing poetry, the poem is not the person, and you'd really prefer to have the person

back. and that there's a sense of the limitation of what art can do. i mean, i believe in poetry. and i've spent most of my life advocating for poetry, but i'm aware of what poetry can and can't do, and there are some things it just can't do. >> brown: like? >> it can't give me my son back. and it can't give us the people back. it can give us some representation of them. it can do something. it does something better than almost anything else in the world can do, but it's not life. and it's in relationship to life. and there are some things it just can't-- it can't give you. "i did not know the work of mourning is like carrying a bag of cement up a mountain at night." >> announcer: near the end of the poem, hirsh writes of his realization of just how much grief is shared by people around him. everyone, he writes, bearing such a heavy load. >> look closely and you will see almost everyone carrying bags of cement on their shoulders.

that's why it takes courage to get out of bed in the mourning and climb into the day. but when you get to be a certain age, start looking around and you realize that everyone is suffering some kind of a grief. and if you-- if you don't see it there, it's only because you don't know them very well. and people carry-- that's why i call it their invisible bags of cement. but a lot of people feel that they're carrying huge weights, and they're hiding it, and i think it's important in my poem that i acknowledge that, recognize it. the poem tries to reach out and open out to these people to a recognition that i'm not the only one carrying around a bag of cement. a the love people are carrying it. in fact, almost everyone. >> brown: the book is "gabriel, a poem." ed hirsch, thank you. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: you can hear edward hirsch and read more excerpts from his work, "gabriel: a poem," on our art

beat page. again, the major developments of the day, julia pierson resigned as director of the secret service after a series of presidential security breaches. texas officials reported more than a dozen people, including children, may have been exposed to the ebola patient in dallas. and united airlines said the man flew into washington first before going on to texas. and president obama met with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was followed by a white house warning. it condemned israeli plans for a major new housing tract in disputed east jerusalem. on the newshour online right now, parents of children with autism face a specific set of challenges, but what happens when those children become adults and what kind of resources are available for them and their caregivers? read a guest column from the parents of a 22-year-old man with autism, and see what changes they recommend that will improve the support of those with the condition. that's on our health page. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. and that's the newshour for

tonight. on thursday, we sit down with actor kevin spacey to discuss his hit series "house of cards," and his latest efforts to promote the arts. i'm hari sreenivasan. we'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this 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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