i'm hari sreenivasan. pbs "news hour weekend." i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com pbs "news hour weekend" is made possible by -- steves: venice's sleek and graceful gondolas are a symbol of the city. from the start, boats were the way to get around among the island communities of the lagoon. to navigate over shifting sandbars, the boats were flat-bottomed, and the captains stood up to see. today's boats still come with gondoliers standing up and no rudder or keel. they're built with a slight curve so that a single oar on the side propels them in a straight line. the art of the gondola survives in the quiet back canals. in this shop, the workmen, who needed to be good with wood, were traditionally from italy's mountains. that's why they maintain a refreshing alpine feel in this delightful little corner of venice. nearby, in an artisan's workshop, visitors are welcome to observe as he provides for the city's 400 gondoliers. working with traditional tools, graceful oars are carefully planed to be true and prop

hari sreenivasan reports. >> sreenivasan: it was a public show of solidarity meant to bolster ukraine and deter russia. the interim ukrainian prime minister, arseniy yatsenyuk, used it to appeal again for u.s. and western backing. >> we fight for freedom, independence and we will never surrender. >> sreenivasan: the president said washington does stand ready to aid ukraine with a billion dollars in loan guarantees. and he insisted again, the u.s. will not accept russia's takeover of crimea. if he does not, i'm very confident that the international community will stand behind the iraqian government in preserving is unity and its territorial integrity. >> sreenivasan: the white house meeting unfolded as the u.s. navy began joint exercises with the navies of bulgaria and romania in the black sea, just across from crimea. russia continues to hold ukrainian military bases there, and says it's acting to protect ethnic russians. but ukraine argues a 1994 agreement obligated russia, the u.s. and britain to protect it's territorial integrity, after ukraine gave up it's soviet-era nuclear weapo

hari sreenivasan spoke to margaret a short time ago. >> sreenivasan: hoer is the vote expected to go. >> reporter: it's hard that this won't be interpreted as moving crimea closer to russia. first of all, you have major blocks of people opposed to it like the whole leadership of the tartar community, say they're going to boycott it, so it's not the legitimacy. secondly the wording of the ballot by i tried to explain in the senate piece which essentially says they want to join russia right away or go back to the '92 constitution which declares crimea essentially independent. third, i've heard from a lot of young people who are pro ukrainian, a great sense of futility. a couple we met on the train said we're just going to move to western ukraine. the woman said, you know, we don't feel the decision will be made by us, and the man said whatever rust wants, russia just takes. the decision has been made. in terms of motivation, i would say the energy is on the side off the pro-russian supporters. >> are there signs of a campaign? what does it look like on the streets? >> well, hari, not li

hari sreenivasan, reporting from our new york studio, gets the details. >> sreenivasan: the c.d.c ranks alzheimer's as the sixth-leading killer in the u.s., accounting for nearly 85,000 deaths a year. but the study in the journal neurology puts the annual death toll around half a million, making it the third-leading cause of death, just behind heart disease and cancer and ahead of chronic lung disease and strokes. doctor bryan james, an epidemiologist with rush university medical center in chicago, led the research. you say half a million. that's a big gap. >> it is a big gap. it's about six times the numbers and the reason for this, it's very well documented that alzheimer's disease is underreported on death certificates. when people are filling out death certificates, they usual focus on the more immediate causes of death, and they have the opportunity to write the underlying causes, but alzheimer's disease is usually left off. >> sreenivasan: so when you look at the research here, how did you find this discrepancy? >> right. so rather than look at what's written on people's death cer

from the studios at lynn con center hari sreenivasan. >>> kerry reportedly presented lavrov with a planor disarming regular forces places monitors in the region and initiating diplomatic talks. tens of thousands of troops have been deployed along the border of ukraine. during a call with president obama on friday, vladimir putin asurted that ukraineian extremists are intimidating russians in the ukraine. traveling in the region today, victor yal yullen expressed concern about the military build up. >> we are concerned that they have spoken about this, about the large number of russian forces bringing the ukrainian borders as well. we're all concerned about that, but it is because of this concern that we have maintained a case of diplomacy. >> she also met with officials today to offer the united states full support in maintaining that country's sovereignty. they say that they're playing further expansion. mainly russian speaking region where russian troops are already stationed. >> certainly i expect the tensions here will come up in this conversation and the united states will, as it a

hari sreenivasan has the story. >> sreenivasan: for the president, it's a new attempt to address pay equity without going through congress, where his economic agenda is largely stalled. he's directing the labor department to update overtime pay rules for an estimated five million workers. >> today, i'm going to use my pen to give more americans the chance to earn the overtime pay that they deserve. now overtime's a pretty simple idea. if you have to work more, you should get paid more. >> sreenivasan: the focus is on salaried workers, including shift leaders and managers at fast food restaurants and stores who are designated as supervisory and make at least $455 a week. the president wants to raise that salary threshold and change the definition of supervisor. >> it doesn't make sense that in some cases, this rule actually makes it possible for salaried workers to be paid less than the minimum wage. it's not right when business owners who treat their employees fairly can be undercut by competitors who aren't treating their employees right. if you're working hard, you're barely making

hari sreenivasan in our new york studio gets the latest on the investigation. >> sreenivasan: and for that, we turn to our own miles o'brien. he's a pilot, aviation analyst and our science correspondent. help us understand this recall calculation of the radar and how it impacted changing the location of a search. >> well, it's kind of like, you know, a story problem from mathematics in middle school, distance equals rate times time, and factor in fuel consumption. anybody who's driven down the highway, you drive 80 miles an hour, you will be stopping for gas sooner. same goes for an airliner, if you're flying faster at any given altitude, you will burn more fuel and you will go a shorter distance. so, basically, what they have determined is that the aircraft went down to 12,000 feet, give or take, based on military radar returns on the primary target, the transponder being off, but they were able to determine roughly the altitude, and have concluded at, at that altitude, the aircraft was flying over what pilots call the red-line speed which would be 400 nautical miles an hour true air

from the tisch studios linc center in new york hari sreenivasan. >> thank you for joining us. international crisis surrounding ukraine benefitsified with many experts describing the situation as the greatest threat to east-west relations since the cold war. russian troops invade territory of crimea in the last hours today surrounded ukrainian mirlts. the prime minister of ukraine said that action brought the neighboring companies within what he described as a few inches of war. >> this is the red alert. this is not the threat, this is the actually the declaration of war to my country. >> after putting his troops on lie aler to stand by. secretary kerry described the russian invasion as a violation of international law and warned that the united states and its allies would punish russia economically if it does not reverse course. >> every single one of them are prepared to go to the hilt in order to isolate russia whereas to this invasion. they are prepared to put sanctions in place. they are prepared to isolate russia economically. >> in brussels, belgium, at an emergency meet

an encore report by hari sreenivasan on a push to make new york city more livable for its elderly citizens. >> sreenivasan: it's 9:30 in the morning in east harlem, new york city, and the thomas jefferson pool is springing to life. several dozen seniors have come to take the plunge, and take part in the pools senior swim hours. 72-year old maria pacheco, who takes attendance, comes three times a week. >> people socialize, being around people their own age i should say you are not self- conscious of who's looking. here, nobody's comparing you to anyone else, so you can relax. >> sreenivasan: the jefferson pool was the first to offer the senior swim hours. now, there are 15, with more than 1,000 seniors participating. >> i don't want to get old. they now account for roughly one out of every six new yorkers. >> the employs to take the next critical step in making new york even more friendly to people of all ages. >> sreenivasan: age friendly new york city was launched in 2009 with $4 million provided by the mayor's office, the new york city council and the new york academy of medicine, along

hari sreenivasan in our new york studio has the story. >> sreenivasan: the findings cover a wide spectrum of issues: african american and latino students who aren't even offered some essential courses in math and science, too many kids taught by inexperienced teachers and a high percentage of suspensions among students of color. catherine lhamon is assistant secretary in the office for civil rights at the department of education who worked on this survey. she joins me now. so this is the first year you began tracking pre-school suspensions and in fact it grabbed a lot of headlines today where african-american children comprise 18% of all those enrolled but account for nearly half of all suspensions. you know, frankly, i didn't even know you could get suspended in pre-school. how does someone get suspended and really what does this mean for them down the line? >> you know, hari, we feel the same level of shock that you experience. i cannot understand how we see thousands of children suspended at three and four years old from pre-school. i can't conceive of a situation that would actually j

hari sreenivasan has our report on the day's diplomatic developments. >> sreenivasan: a day after crimea voted to secede from ukraine and join russia, president obama went before white house cameras with the toughest sanctions against russia since the end of the cold war. >> today i'm announcing a series of measures that will continue to increase the cost on russia and on those responsible for what is happening in ukraine. >> sreenivasan: the cost means freezing assets and imposing travel bans on seven russian officials, including some close to president vladimir putin. and on four ukranians, including former president viktor yanukovych. mr. obama said he stands ready to ratchet the costs higher, but still holds out hope for another solution. >> i believe there's still a path to resolve this situation diplomatically in a way that addresses the interests of both russia and ukraine. that includes russia pulling its forces in crimea back to their bases, supporting the deployment of additional international monitors in ukraine and engaging in dialogue with the ukrainian government. >> sreeni

hari sreenivasan has our report on one effort in northern arkansas. >> sreenivasan: tori moon alwaysher own would look different than this. at 20, she lives in a budget motel in harrison, arkansas. eats donated food when its available and is now several months pregnant. without much family in the area and a fianceÉ who works long hours, she spends much of her time feeling alone. >> it was really hard for me to make friends being pregnant because we live in the bible belt, and a lot of people around here don't believe in being pregnant before marriage. >> sreenivasan: but moon can count on at least one person dropping by regularly. >> sreenivasan: every other week, deena tougaw sits down with moon to discuss ways of staying healthy during pregnancy. and talk about how that can translate into long-term benefits for her child. tougaw runs the circle of life program in northern arkansas. its one of many home visiting projects throughout the nation that received a big financial boost under the affordable care act to bring basic preventive services directly to low-income families. and quit

. >> ifill: we pick up the story from >> woodruff: hari sreenivasan is in our new york studio, and picks up the story from there. >> sreenivasan: vindu goel covers both big and small players in the tech industry for the new york times and he joins me now from san francisco. >> we are joined from san francisco. why does facebook want to make thin investment? >> facebook is trying to follow the evolution of the social platform. initially we swapped information on the internet, now we use our mobile phones and they're trying to think about what is the next big platform that we're going to use to share with each other and it's a futuristic vision but they think that one possibility is we will interact with each other in a virtual world so you and i could speak and seem like we were in the same room during this interview right now. you could go climb the great wall of china and show your family back home what the experience is like. maybe wearing the headsets and they're right there with you. >> reporter: virtual reality has been the stuff of sci-fi and the next big thing for the last 15 to 2

hari sreenivasan has the story. >> sreenivasan: mount gox c.e.o. mark karpeles issued his "mea culpa" before news cameras in tokyo today. >> there was a weak area in the system and as a result we lost bitcoins. i am deeply sorry that i have caused trouble to everyone. >> sreenivasan: his website had been one of the largest on-line exchanges for the digital crypto-currency known as bitcoins. bitcoins are generated, or mined, by computers, solving math problems that become ever more complex and time-consuming. the site, that acted as an exchange, went off-line tuesday, amid allegations of major theft, and karpeles acknowledged today he can't account for 850,000 bitcoins, that almost 4% of all the bitcoins available today, valued at about $425 million. the catastrophic losses prompted picketing this week outside the company's tokyo offices... >> i had 311 bitcoins in there, which at the time before this started was worth around $300,000. so it looks like that has disappeared. >> sreenivasan: bitcoins were created in 2009 to enable cross- border transa

hari sreenivasan has more. >> sreenivasan: if this all sounds familiar, that's because controversial voter identification laws have been popping up all over the country and were a big part of the 2012 presidential election. in all, a total of 34 states have passed laws calling for voters to show some form of i.d. at the polls. so, what about the specifics of this case and what such laws mean for voters and the voting process? we explore those questions with: kris kobach, the secretary of state in kansas, who has been called the architect of the citizenship requirement; and jenny rose flanagan, the director of voting and elections for common cause, and an opponent of the law. let me start with you, you sell bratted this ruling as something that will pave the way for more-- why is a rule like this requiring more proof of citizenship necessary? well, it is i rule requiring proof of citizenship period. in most of the states in the union, you simply just fill out the registration card, check a box saying i'm a u.s. citizen, sign it and you're done. but four states including kansas and ari

hari sreenivasan has our report. >> sreenivasan: it's known as one of the most exclusive places on earth, the home of the rich and spectacularly rich. ♪ california here we come >> sreenivasan: orange county, california's reputation only grew when the t.v. crews started rolling in several years ago. but the real housewives of orange county and the teens of laguna beach failed to mention a major piece of the o.c. drama. the county is also among the top ten in the u.s. for childhood food insecurity. the term means that along with the yacht clubs and average home prices of nearly $2 million in some spots, orange county also has more than 150,000 children who don't know where their next meal is coming from. paul leone is the president of the illumination foundation, a group that helps struggling families find housing and stability. >> the area that we're standing in right now which is newport beach, the richest think in the nation. and then 17 miles away we have one of the most densely populated and poorest cities in the nation. >> sreenivasan: among the poor are thousands of low income worke