Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20140424

People think we have all these advantages that we dont have. Everyone is trying to make an excuse instead of looking at the teaching. Ifill those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by ive been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. The ones getting involved, staying engaged. They are not afraid to question the path theyre on. Because the one question they never want to ask is, how did i end up here . I started schwab with those people. People who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. 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 foundations. 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. Woodruff an Afghan Security guard in afghanistan shot three american Doctors Today at a hospital in kabul. It was the latest in a series of attacks on foreigners. The guard opened fire outside a facility run by cure international, a christian charity. The dead included a chicago pediatrician who had volunteered in afghanistan for nearly a decade. These people were not carrying guns, they did not have military uniforms, they came here under immense pressure and were here only to serve the people of afghanistan. This was an inhumane and brutal action, and unfortunately will impact our health services. Woodruff also today, the latest partial results in the afghan president ial election are showing former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah leading with just under 44 . Final results are due in mid may, and its widely expected a runoff will be needed. The government of syria intensified military pressure today around aleppo, the countrys largest city. Opposition groups said at least 27 people died in air strikes on a crowded market in the rebel held town of atareb. Scores of others were wounded. The attacks came amid reports the United States, through the c. I. A. , is providing more weapons and training for moderate rebel factions. To south sudan, where the u. N. Security council is warning of possible sanctions after hundreds of civilians died in an ethnic massacre. Council members voiced horror at the killings in the city of bentiu, a day after they saw video of the aftermath. Fighting has raged in south sudan since late last year. Tensions between ukraine and russia escalated sharply today. Ukrainian forces made a show of force against militants in the east, and russia answered with its own show of force. Jonathan rugman of independent Television News narrates our report. Reporter this morning Ukrainian Armed Police Ignored russias warnings and attacked russian separatist gunmen manning checkpoints in eastern ukraine. Here outside slaviansk, the separatists burned tires apparently to cover their retreat when one man tried driving up a nearby road. Afterwards, Ukrainian Forces took no chances firing warning shots and ordering him to the ground. Ukrainian helicopters flew overhead and armored personnel carriers moved in. Moscow said it would begin military exercises of its own. President putin saying if kiev used force it was a serious crime that would have consequences. translated this is simply a punitive operation. And of course it will have consequences for those who make decisions like this. That includes relations between our states. We will see how things develop and draw conclusions based on day to day reality. Reporter the russian army has not invaded eastern ukraine, and todays violence may not be enough to turn these russian exercises along the border into the real thing, but the rhetoric on both sides is certainly worsening. Woodruff later, the Ukrainian Government demanded that russia explain its troop movements within 48 hours. And, president obama charged moscow has failed to live up to last weeks agreement in geneva to tamp down the tensions. He warned new economic sanctions aimed at russia are teed up and ready to go. Classes have resumed at the south Korean School hit hardest by last weeks ferry disaster. More than 300 people from the high school are believed to have died when the vessel went down. Divers retrieved more bodies from the water today, bringing the number of confirmed deaths to 171. 130 passengers are still missing. Back in this country, vermont lawmakers gave final approval overnight to the first state law mandating that genetically modified food be labeled as such. The governor has said hell sign it. The measure passed over objections by the food industry, which has until july 2016 to comply. On wall street today, the Dow Jones Industrial average was unchanged at 16,501; the nasdaq rose 21 points to close at 4,148; and the s p 500 added three to finish at 1,878. Still to come on the newshour israel suspends peace talks with the palestinians; a federal regulators plans to clamp down on ecigarettes; Charter Schools spark a political battle in new york city; all internet traffic may not be treated equally; plus, president obama vows to defend japan against threats from china. Ifill prospects for a middle east peace deal encountered a substantial new roadblock today as israel announced its negotiators are walking away from the table. Israels pullout came a day after rival palestinian groups hamas and fatah announced a new reconciliation deal. The fatahled Palestinian Authority controls Palestinian Affairs in the west bank. Hamas, the Islamist Militant Group demanding israels destruction, is the lead palestinian power inside gaza. In tel aviv, israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the pact in an appearance on Msnbcs Andrea Mitchell reports. I think that what has happened is a great reverse for peace, because we had hoped that the Palestinian Authority, president abbas, would embrace the jewish state, the idea of two nation states, a palestinian one and a jewish one. But instead, he took a giant leap backward. As long as im Prime Minister of israel, i will never negotiate with a Palestinian Government backed by terrorist organizations committed to our destruction. Ifill netanyahu also threatened sanctions against the Palestinian Authority. The israeli decision drew swift criticism from hamas and fatah. translated the israeli position was expected. This is occupation, and absolutely they do not want the Palestinian People to be united and want the division to continue. translated certainly all of the issues and concerns of the palestinians, which were adversely affected by the ongoing division will be resolved. The end of the division would help in solving all of these problems. Ifill israels decision was the latest blow to a nine month peace effort, brokered by u. S. Secretary of state john kerry, who engaged in intense shuttle diplomacy. The initial deadline for a peace framework was to be next tuesday. Despite the setback, kerry said today, hes not calling it quits. Theres always a way forward but the leaders have to make the compromises necessary to do that. We may see a way forward but if theyre not willing to make the compromises necessary, it becomes very elusive. We will never give up our hope or our commitment for the possibilities of peace. Ifill even before todays collapse, the peace negotiations had hit rough waters, with israel complaining that palestinians would not recognize a jewish state. The palestinians, meanwhile, blamed israel for refusing to release palestinian prisoners. And for continuing settlement construction in the west bank. Abbas has also renewed his campaign to gain u. N. Recognition of a state of palestine, a move the israelis have condemned. Are the peace talks dead again . For some analysis, we turn to jeffrey goldberg, a Bloomberg View columnist and a correspondent for the atlantic; and hussein ibish, a senior fellow on the American Task force for palestine who writes extensively on mideast issues. Ibish, who is rightnini in this . We hurt netanyahu say it is over, we heard johnni kerry say there is daylight. If netanyahu wants to walk away, thenni it is over. But i think that there is a greater likelihood than notnr that come tuesday we wilni find a way to keep the ball innrxd the air. I dont think either side wants to saynr no to the United States. I think there have been some pains not to say no to the United States fivecoco days left. nico theyre to the going toninr take the weekend off here. So i think not dead yet. And it is the guiding light. Jeffrey goldberg, are you as optimistic . I am i as optimistic . The look, its a low moment for the Peace Process but it can always go lower. ni i means thats what weni know. But on the other hand look, thentr only sure thing innr the middle east, the only consistent thing sudden and dramatic changeni slrni anything is possible. Thesenlare not goodco signs. ni obviously i if you are the israeli hamas possibly comingcco into the Palestinian Authority and sayingni you know, theres no possible way we can deal with an organization by chart their is devoted to our destruction. You know, if you are the palestinians, obviously the president of the Palestinian Authoritynr Mahmoud Abbas made a decision that say pop loreninr decision popular decision among palestinians but he knows that bringingnr haa into his government is not going to give him more flexibility to really enternr theseni peace negotiationsnini. So lets interpretni optimism that these are notni right. So what has tonr happen between now and the 29th which is the deadlineni for these negotiations to be extended . Well, a couple of things. I think firstly we ne[ uz know exactly what it that the palestinians think they are doing. There is very similar, it is really very similar, to previous agreements that havent been implemented, yesterday the state department. Ifill talking about the unity deal between fatah and hamas. Right, there was aco major agreement in caironi, andnico other minor agreements that contained similar language. Yesterday the state department laid out three key positions Palestinian Government must meet,nini nonviolence recognize ofician real andco abidingniy existing palestinian today the u. N. Special envoy forninr negotiations said president abbas assured him of three things, any implementation of this agreement with hamas will be j based on recognition of israel, nonviolence an living up to those commitments. So there does seem to be space here for havingxd this agreement at least on paper. And having the talk goes forward ifn willing to do that. ni ifill jeffreyni goldberdrnr we seem toni hearninico that spr from johnni kerry this afternoon but im not so sure we heardni atzninr from israeli. As long asni that stays in tact s there any room for his to maneuver himselfnin to the table . Well, he is boxed in by coalitionco partnernis who are to the right of his position on palestinian, they are opposed to the creation fm palestinian state so he already has very limitepiini running room. And you know, andco going back to whatzerninini husseinco]incso dont really knowsco;or whats goingn framework ofconci this agreemeni between hamas and fatah. Look,t ni if hamas abides by these conditions, then theres no particular reason why the israelis cant move forward. Of course for hamas to agree to those conditions that hussein just laid out would mean that its ceasing to be hamas. So i find it somewhat unlikely that were going to see much progress with that unity government. Ifill it seems like abbas, for arguments sakes right now, lets just assume that there is something on the table, that they can get back to the table. Right. Ifill what up until now, its been a long time, nine months what is on the table so far . Well, certainlyco theres an outstanding aid program that has been discussed, 4 million once left the secretarys lips. We dont know how much o o that can raisenr from both public and privatenini source. But theres certainly an Economic Development program. And a state and institutionalnr Building Program for the palestiniannrnis thatni is definitely an inducement. And you could have a government that is a National Unity government that doesnt include hamasnicsgr ministers. ni and thats able toxd go forward. One benchmark to look for is not just next tuesday but in theni meanwhile to see what regional governments likeni1 theni egyptian, the saudies, and others have to say about this agreement. nrnr ifco theyre enthusiastic, that might well indicate certain]in shifting of positions, you know, within a group like hamu or what theyre willing to tolerate with their even if they dont participate in it. ni ifill jeffrey goldbergni, they came to the table in the first place so both sides at some point thought there was something to be gained. So at this point can they afford to walk away . They can always walk away but walking away is never forever. They came to the table in large partni because john kerry really wanted them to come to the table. And i am in the camp of people, god bless them for trying. But atni a certain point you know i go back to, its become a cliche already but its something that thenr president haroni said overni and over again which is that youco cant want peace moreco than the parties themselves. In other w negotiaters the mediator cant want to do this. And remember all that were talking about so far, just to bring a little dosenpjt really, younrco know, negative reality to this, all were talking about so farco are agreements on how they would then go,co reach agreements. ni you for example theyre not talking about settlements or refugees or the future of jerusalem, theyre just talking about how to talk. And that b so at a certain point, i mean we have to say that vhis is, indeed, a very low moment. Ifill ca briefly about johnconr kerrys high wire act . Not only herenrni but also in ukraine, also in iran, allni around the world, everywhere except where the president happens to be this week which isni asia. But i wonder whether, bo,nr big a setback this may have been forni himco today . Well, i dont know. Well have to see. nr that is one of the Big Questions is this the moment when the israel israelipalestinian him or not. Hes not willing to give that up. The state department wasnt willing to give that up. And i think that they must have reasons for holding out hope. I think theyve been down this road before. With the israelis, when they didnt release prisoners and announce settlements with the palestinian, when they signed the 15 agreements and other things, there have been these stumabling blocks, theyve gotten over them. The congress is another matter. The congress is going to look very carefully at anybody in any new Palestinian Government ooez jeffrey, conquerys position . You know this is informed speculation but still speculation. My speculation that the president at a certain point is going to say to john kerry something of a version that he said already which is you know, these guys are really not ready for this. Maybe you should focus on something, you know, easy like youni knownr ukraine or something, you know. Theres some of on the plate. And there are so many thingsconi right noi that are more urgeant than this to be blunt that i think that there might be some shift inco resources and in time. ni it neverni goes away, muse anne ibishnini, jeffrey goldber, thank you very much. Thank youninrn oninininr woodruff the u. S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it intends for the first time to regulate the ever growing business of Electronic Cigarettes. Sales have grown to 3 billion a year. And some Public Health experts are worried about its rise. The number of middle and High School Students using e cigarettes doubled between 2011 and 2012. Under the new rules, sales would be banned to anyone under the age of 18. Companies would have to register their products and ingredients with the f. D. A. , but they can continue marketing to adults. New regulations would also apply to cigars, pipe tobacco and hookahs, or water pipes, for the first time. There are many questions about the agencys approach. Mitch zeller is the director of the f. D. A. s center for Tobacco Products. He joins me now. Welcome to the newshour so right now there arentni regulationsco governing Electronic Cigarettes. c why was itnini necessary to put some on now . Congress put fda in the business of regulating cigarettes, smokeless tobacco in 2009 and has a definition ofni a tobacco product in this law that didntnr include ecigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, but gave fda the authorituw[m through rule making to expand its jurisdiction to meet other products that meet that definition of a tobacco product. What we did today was an historic announcement that says were proposing to expand our authority to cover ecigarettes and these other categoriesc . R. Woodruff so we know research is still under way, you at the fda talked about that today. nini but what is known right now aboutco the healthco concerns around these Electronic Cigarettes . niz its the wild,. Its buyer beware. We have ecigarettes that are exploding in carni chargersco, i cigarettes exploding in wall sockets at homen recharge them. Ecigarette users saying this is the greatest thing that i ever had, it helped me get off cigarettes an as you said we have a doublingni of the number of middle and High School Kids whonsr use the ecigarettes between 2011 and 2012. Its going in all Different Directions andninrni theres absolutely no regulationco of 3 manufacture sale of distribution of these products. Woodruff so whatni effect reaction period, a comment periodni in n fectco, assuming they go into effect, whatni will change . Do you think . nr fdanr is ii sciencebased independentconrc agency. And when thisxcn rule goesni final well be thenr gate keeper standing between the companies, their product developers, markets andnrni consumersni and we will be thenr oeeq to make the decision on whether Health Claims can be made, we will be the ones to make decision reviewingnr evidence on whether new products can come to market. Rightco now nonecoco of that isn place because these products arent beingnini regy so let me just, there is a lot of comment already about what was said at fda. Let me just read you a couple of comments this is someone who is normally a friend of the administration, senator dic durbin, democrat of illinois. He had been pushing the fda to do something about ecigarettes. He called your announcement today and im quoting him, a political compromise with the tobacco industry, is he right . Well, the senator is obviously entitled to his position. What weve done today with this proposed rule is foundational. ni wehcintni get to issues like advertising onni television or what to do about the flavorsni in ecigarettes until we have jurisdiction over them. And we cant have jurisdiction over them until we complete this rulemaking had. This is a very important first step. Woodruff so are you saying this was as far as you could have gone righti now . This is as far as the regulatory science can take doesment think of it as a foundational step that will enable to us address all the other aspects of ecigarette sales, cigar sales, et cetera. Woodruff and ski that because another part of senator durbins comment, he talked about the fact that theres still going to be marketing of these, candy flavored Electronic Cigarettes. That children, young people will be exposed to. And hec aasicallyco said, in fact again, quoting, parents across america lost their best ally in protecting their kids from this product. Well, i really respect the senators point of view. ni but there needs toni pe an understanding that in order to ban flavors in ecigarettes, that requires an entire separate rulemaking which we cant do until we have Regulatory Authority over these products. We are concerned about the marketing and the appeal of ecigarettes to kids. We need the Regulatory Authority over the products in the first place to address those kinds of issues. Woodruff you also today in addition to ecigarettenrsnr you issuedni regulations surrounding cigars as we mentioned, pipeco tobacco,nin e waterco pipes. Why move into that area, an area the fda had not been in before. There isni good2ngwsni fromwa Public Health concern, the consumption of cigarettes is down. The bad news is theni consumption of ql are beingni regulated by fda. co our job is to regulate all the products that meet the definition of a tobacco product and thats whyywt0 6hcj proposed to doco that today. Woodruff but you didnt, i was reading that you excluded, for example, certain kinds of handwrapped, hand rolled cigars, how did you decide what you wanted to impose regulations on and what you wouldnt . With cigars weve actually proposed a series of options. ni under one option, all cigars would be included. And in response to things that we heard about something that might be unique about prem numb premiumco cigars, different pattern of use that might have different impacts on Public Health. We put another option out there that would exempt premium cigars but these are regulatory options for the public to comment on. I just finally want to ask you, again in reading what manufacturers had to say, a number of them said they arexd concerned, theyre worried, concerns about what this could mean. But several ofco them said they dont have a problem with this. One i saw called this very encouraging. Does it is a something that some manufacturers think its a good idea what you did today, thatni9 e;8q its not tough enough . I leave that for others to judge. And its ani proposed rule and any Interested Party can comment on it. The bottom line is tobacco use remainsccz preventable cause of death and disease in this country. And when these rule goes into effect we will be doing more to protect the public from the harms of tobacco use than ever before. ni woodruff mitch zoeller, you the director for tht center of Tobacco Products at the fda. Thank you very much for being with us. Thank you. nr ifill a little more than a decade ago, only about 300,000 students were enrolled in Charter Schools nationwide. As their growth has soared, especially in cities, nearly two Million Students are now enrolled. In new york city alone, attendance has jumped from 2,300 children a year to nearly 70,000, but that expansion has created serious competition for limited public resources. Special correspondent john tulenko of learning matters reports. Save our schools save our schools reporter in early march, thousands of Charter School supporters rode buses for hours to come to albany, new yorks state capital, to stop a school of theirs from being closed. Mayor bill deblasio is taking away a public school. Reporter a 4 Million Dollar ad campaign drove the message home. Dont take away our childrens future. Reporter and it quickly became national news. The mayor of new york wants to shut down the highest performing school . Correct. Its disgusting. Reporter but what became known as new yorks Charter School war had very little to do with the fate of one school. Instead, it was a fight over politics and money between two powerful people. On one side was new york citys mayor bill de blasio, a believer in the power of government to change lives. And on the other, eva moscowitz, whose school the mayor wanted to close. A former city councilwoman, shes founder and c. E. O. Of Success Academy, new york citys largest Charter School network with 22 schools. I am a supporter of parent choice. He seems less so. I assume he has genuine reasons for that but we have a difference of opinion. Charters work, charters work yay reporter the battle over Charter Schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, began under de blasios predecessor, mayor bloomberg. I, michael r. Bloomberg, do solemnly swear. He was very procharter. He thought we had an ossified bureaucracy that needs really shaking up. Reporter Clara Hemphill runs www. Insideschools. Org, a website for n. Y. C. Parents. What mayor bloomberg did that was so unusual was he said for the first time you can have free space in the ordinary Public Schools. Reporter under what was called colocation, traditional Public Schools were forced to make room in their buildings for charters. Sometimes there are as many as five schools in one building, and in some cases its a very amicable sharing, and in other cases, one school feels that the other school is kicking their kids out of the rooms that they used to be in. Reporter as charters grew from seven to 182 so did tensions. Our experience has been routinely terrible. Reporter School Board Vice president noah gottbaum represents harlem, where the charters are concentrated. Theyve been given the pick of the resources, the pick of the space, they have much better funding. That whole wing is gone. Reporter he took us on a tour of a school thatd been forced to give up space to one of moscowitzs Success Academy charters. We stopped at the physical therapy room. This is an Occupational Therapy room . Please. Okay, so, what happens, they provide the services in the hallway, in the stairwell, in bathrooms, because theres no space and because theres no equipment. Reporter compare that, he says, to moscowitzs school in this building. They have smart boards in every room, new lights, bright shiny bathrooms. Its a tale of two schools. Reporter they get all this with help from private donations. About 500,000 for each Success Academy school. Most of it from wealthy investors on wall street. It is the hedge fund industry. Its a privatization movement, unregulated. Reporter and gottbomb says theres little regulation at the school level either. Charters have been accused of pushing underachieving students out. Where do you think theyve gone . Theyre coming right back here reporter campaigning for office, deblasio became charters most public critic. Charter schools often get in colocations, the very best parts of the schools, and they often. Reporter he promised to cap their growth, and make existing ones pay rent. And he singled out for criticism, Eva Moskowitz. Time for Eva Moskowitz to stop having the run of the place. She has to stop being tolerated, enabled. It was kind of scary. I was worried for our kids, i was worried for the future of parents choice, i was worried for ny as the center of educational innovation. Get into your rows. Reporter far from the Disruptive Force her critics have described, moskowitz sees her schools as part of the solution, dismissing criticism that they monopolize space. I could take you rooms where we are turning closets into rooms that we use. Reporter she denies pushing students out, and says private grants make up for public start up funds her schools dont get. People think we have all these advantages that we dont have. Everyone is trying to make an excuse and do a gotcha instead of sort of, looking at the teaching. We try to create schools where kids want to fall in love with school. And to do that you have to have a lot of art, and music and dance, and debate and chess and robotics. Every fifth grader gets computer science, every sixth grader gets visual art. Were really looking for a robust 21st century program. Reporter for principal andy malones students, or scholars as theyre called, the school day is two and a half hours longer. Theres a dress code. Lots of rules to follow. And the work itself is demanding. But the biggest difference since moscowitzs schools are independently run, theyre free from union rules and bureaucracy. If i decide that were going to do this radically different thing in reading, or the teachers are going to stay till seven cause we have, say, a culture crisis that we have to solve, i have the license as a leader to do that. Theres, sort of, no rules, theres just a High Performance standard that we get to drive after. Reporter last year, among the Success Academy scholars nearly all minority, nearly all lowincome, 80 scored proficient in math and 60 in english, compared to 30 in regular Public Schools. Reporter but none of that swayed the new mayor, who declined our requests for an interview. Straight away he cancelled a co location plan for one of moskowitzs schools, saying it would displace students with special needs. He is evicting us. You cannot educate children if you do not have a building. Save our schools reporter in response, moskowitz shut her 22 schools for the day, sending everyone to albany. Dozens of other Charter Schools did the same. Eva, eva, eva reporter they chanted her name, but moskowitz had hardly been working alone. Families for excellent schools, a procharter foundation, backed by her supporters on wall street, paid for the rally, which included a surprise guest. Governor andrew cuomo you are here 11,000 strong and we are here today to tell you we stand with you, you are not alone. We will save Charter Schools. Reporter but to some, the governors appearance had more to with his reelection campaign. Its very clear what brought Governor Cuomo to the rally political contributions. The hedge industry has donated close to a Million Dollars. Reporter what wall street wants in return, gottbaum says, is worth far more. Its a money making venture, education is a 1 trillion business. Huge. But they cant get to it if the system isnt privatized. Its a very convenient narrative. The folks who are giving philanthropically are giving to a variety of causes. They have no interest in making this a business. Theyre interested in atrisk kids getting access to opportunities. Reporter Governor Cuomos office denied he was influenced by contributions, saying they represent a fraction of his 33 million reelection fund, and pointing to statements like this one from 2010. I want you to know my beliefs. I believe Public Education is the new civil rights battle and i support Charter Schools. Reporter in late march, Governor Cuomo pushed through legislation prohibiting mayor de blasio from charging Charter Schools rent and requiring the city to provide room for them in regular Public Schools. The Charter School fight was over, and moskowitz and her allies had won. Woodruff john has more on the politics of Charter Schools in new york city. Listen to his podcast, which is on our education page. Ifill the debate over how content should be delivered over the web heated up again today with reports the government is about to change the rules that govern access to the Services Many of us now take for granted. Users should get unimpeded access to content. The government has long had rules that allow consumers to get unfettered access to content. Internet Service Providers and limit the ability of internet Service Providers to block or filter that material. But as web users increasingly rely on Broadband Services like streaming video, some companies are arguing its time for a change. The new federal Communications Commission rules could allow those companies to charge more for speedier service. Consumer groups say doing that would help the gatekeepers and suppress innovation. Cecilia kang of the Washington Post is here to help us understand the concept, known as, net neutrality, and whats at stake. Test what do we know if anything about the details of what the ftc is actually going to propose for syria. We know the fcc has proposed new internet rules to helpfully protect consumers as you say but they allowed for internet Service Providers, that means the cable companies, Telecom Companies that provide you the high speed connections into your home, for those companies to actually charge web sites like facebook and netflix and google, money to have actually the best speeds on the internet that means that a netflix video for example, could operate and stream flawilessly without buffering. No slow streaming quality. But thats because netflix will be charged by those isps to be able to do that. How does that change the average web users browsing or viewing, streaming experience if that happens . Well, do they pay more, does it improve what they get . It could actually mean higher cost. These costs that these web sites incur could be passed down to consumers, so, for example f netflix stay with that example, if they are charged for faster streaming, then they will try to pass on maybe a buck or two to the consumer at some point. It also just means that other companies, and other web sites, sort of the emergence of all these new web sites that we have grown to appreciate and love, they may not get discovered. Because consumers might be so frustrated with the experience of trying to download a video from a new upstart thats competing with these deeppocketed firms like netflix and youtube that can afford to pay these isps these charges. Ifill to pay comcast to pay time warner, whoever else is providing the content. If this were to happen f this is what the details of this proposal finally emerge as, does this represent a reversal for the fcc were they somewhere ftc, were they somewhere else before. They generally said we will watch for discrimination. What that mean is were going to watch for bad behavior. What they are proposing right now, what they put down into words is the ability, sort of got ahead in the permission to say we will allow actually these deals between these Telecom Companies and these content companies on the web. And thats the first time youre seeing that kind of language as long as its commercially reasonable. Ifill that is exactly where i was going, commercially reasonable is completely open to interpretation unless there are criteria to define what commercially reasonable is. Thats right, gwen, its very vague, a lot of gray area on what will be commercially reasonable. And an ftc official today in a call with the press was really trying to explain and didnt do a great job in the sense that he really kept it very vague. What they will interpret as commercial reasonable. Theyll allow for the public to comment on what they think the guidelines for that should be. But really, it really opens up the fcc to potentially more complaints and lawsuits, even, on what could be the standard for what is reasonable or not. Ifill so it is up to them to determine the standard. And do they have any immediate enforcement power. It sounds like it might take awhile even if they were to decide that someone was in violation. Thats right. And thats really difficult for if you are a Startup Company to have to go through that process to actually file a complaint which is extension expensive or a consume tore file a complaint which is expensive. And then to wait for the fcc to actually deliberate on a complaint and review it, and then actually have an actionable item from that. That could take quite a long time and that could mean the difference between the death of a company or the survival of a company in a consumeary experience. Woodruff . Ifill give me an example when you talk about a Startup Company that could be adversely affected by this, what are you talking about. Sure, so for example say youtube which has a lot of money, hugely popular. Theyre able to pay verizon, for example, for the guarantee that all the video clips will never buffer, will always be delivered at the best quality. Then another video upstart that might try to compete against youtube wont really stand a chance or potentially could have a very difficult time doing that. And if the fcc, if that upstart decides, that startup decides to see that the behalf behavior is anticompetitive and unfair they could try to file a complaint to the fcc. But again it could be a long, arduous process. Thats very expensive for a small company. Ifill you talk about expensive and the money that these companies would be paying internet Service Providers to get this kind of access t also sounds like this a classic washington lobbying money thing, that there is a lot of activity going on just underneath the surface that maybe i wouldnt see with the naked eyewitnesses sure. And what we have seen is that there is very much a desire by the internet Service Providers, the cable companies, the Telephone Companies to pursue these new business deals, these new Business Models. And they have been lobbying behind the scenes. And theyve actually said in Court Filings as well that this is the kind of thing that they like to pursue, as they see more consumers using the internet for entertainment and communications, and often using services that compete with their traditional phone and cable services. So they want to pursue these new Business Models because they want to find new sources of revenue. And the next thing that happens now down the road, are we expecting a different review that is going to take awhile before we see these criteria . Yes, the fcc hopes to have rules finalized by the end of the year. But even already the democratic chairman is proposing this. But we are already seeing pushback from democrats on the hill so even though he has a majority in the fcc commission,s whoee to say the other two democratic commissioners will agree with this idea Going Forward so it will take months to see, go through the voting process at the fcc for the public to weigh in and for there to be final rules. Cecilia kang of the Washington Post as always, thank you. Thank you woodruff now to japan, where president obama spent the first full day of his four nation asia tour in the company of the countrys emperor, Prime Minister and a robot. The president vowed u. S protection for the host country but the allied nations remain apart of a few key issues. Pomp and pageantry filled the president s day in japan. From Emperor Akihitos red carpet welcome at tokyos imperial palace. To demonstrations of tradition. Feats of marksmanship. Mr president , im asimo. Woodruff and more current technological innovations. The Serious Business of trade played out behind the scenes, where negotiators struggled to clear the way for a multination Transpacific Partnership, or t. P. P. Japanese prime Minster Shinzo abe translated this will bring much benefit, and will have an effect that will last a hundred years. Due to the sincere talks with barack, japan will be able to move on to the next level, which is t. P. P. Negotiations. Woodruff the proposed trade pact faces strong opposition, even among some of the president s democratic allies. He called for bold moves to get over the hurdles. American manufacturers and farmers need to have meaningful access to markets that are included under t. P. P. , including here in japan. Thats what will make it a good deal for america, for our workers and our consumers, and our families. Woodruff president and Prime Minister also focused on japanesechinese tensions over disputed islands in the east china sea. Mr. Obama underscored u. S. Military commitments to japan, while prodding tokyos leaders not to go too far. I emphasized with Prime Minister abe, the importance of resolving this issue peacefully, not escalating the situation, keeping the rhetoric low, not taking provocative actions, and trying to determine how both japan and china can work cooperatively together. Woodruff that failed to satisfy beijing. A Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman dismissed any u. S. Role in the islands dispute. translated the so called u. S. japan security treaty is a product of the cold war era and it cannot be aimed at a third party and ought not to harm chinas territorial sovereignty. No matter what anyone says or does, it cannot change the basic reality that the Diaoyu Islands are chinas inherent territory and cannot shake the determination of the Chinese Government to protect sovereignty and maritime rights. Woodruff china also announced its navy will continue to patrol the waters near another island, close to taiwan, where japan plans to build a radar base. All this, as u. S. Officials voice concerns about Prime Minister abes increasingly nationalistic stance. Tomorrow, the president flies to south korea, the second stop on his four country asian tour. To examine the president s trip to japan and the american japanese relationship im joined by mike mochizuiki, associate professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington university. And sheila smith, a senior fellow for japan studies at the council on foreign relations. Welcome you both. Thank you. So sheila smith this is the first time an american president had a state visit to japan in 18 years. How important is this advice snit. Tremendously important. The president was last in japan on his own in 2009, very first time. As president. But this times theres been a lot happening in japan since then. Theres been the 2011 disas ters, the political change. And of course now as your piece pointed out the tension with china. So this is a tremendous moment for the japanese people and for the japanese government. A tremendous moment, mike. Yes, a tremendous moment for the japanese people but also very important moment for Prime Minister abe. Last year the Prime Minister vilsitied the shrine despite repeated warnings by the United States not to advice nature war memorial which the shrines class a war criminals. And as a result of that, i think mr. Abe took a big withdrawal from the trust account that he had with the u. S. President. And so this visit by president obama was a way to restore that trust and i think he was partially successful. So how much of an impediment is, we called it his nationalistic stance, the Prime Minister. Hes made statements in effect changing what seems to be changing the history of japans role in world war ii, and some other controversial comments. What is the u. S. Position on what the Prime Ministers been saying . Well, the United States position is that it does not want japan to ramp up the rhetoric, the nationalistic rhetoric about history so that it would provoke not just china but most importantly americas other very important ally, northeast asia, korea. South korea. And one of the issues is really who is the real abe. On the one hand you have a pragmatic Prime Minister whoses emphasize economic revival and has promised to maintain the apologies. But theres the other emotional and ideaological abe who has a much more nationalistic and some would say revisionist view of history. Dow expect this was something that came up in the conversations between the two leaders . I expect so. I think vince the visit, the two governments have been discussing this question of historical reconciliation in northeast asia very closely. The president as you may know hosted a trilateral summit between Prime Minister abe and president pock and himself in the hague during the Nuclear Summit a few weeksogue. So this is something even at the president s level that the u. S. Government has been actively engaged in. Professor move seoki, how do you assess the comments that president obama made today about the opposition on the tiny islands that ar are japan calls them sinkaku, china has another word. In essence the president said we will honner our obligation to japan but we are not calling for that one side or another to take control or to try to change the situation. How did that comment, that posture strike you . Well, first of all, i think he struck the right balance. On the one hand, he reiterated the u. S. Position, that the u. S. Japan security treaty applies to the islands. And this is the first time that a u. S. President has stated that explicitly so im sure mr. Abe was happy about that. But the president did not give mr. Abe a blank check. What he did was to say that the United States does not want escalation, encourage this dialogue once diplom wants diplomacy so that there wont be a conflict over these islands. And so it definitely was not a red line. Its not a blank check. And i think the challenges to diplomatically bring china and japan together to deescalate tensions. As we reported the chinese are not happy with what the president , one wouldnt have expected them to be unless the president had changed u. S. Policy. But sheila smith, i also want to make time to speak about the trade agreement, the Transpacific Partnership that is being discussed. You didnt see the two leaders discussing this, clearly it did come up. What is the main Sticking Point . The main Sticking Point for the u. S. And japan, right now the u. S. And japan are having parallel negotiations to the broader 12 Party Process which has 12 countries involved, the u. S. Japan conversation is really about Market Access and the two specific areas are beef in japan, access to the beef market in japan and on other side its autos and specifically trucks. I suspect the trade negotiators may still be talking in tokyo, although i expected to see something come out today. The president. Woodruff you did expect something. I expected there would be a statement of at least an agreement if not a final agreement, at least an accord. The president in his remarks today did suggest, however, that the door was slightly still open between now and tomorrow when he leaves the country. But he made a very strong statement about Market Access for american manufacturers an farmers,. Professor mochizuiki y are these two areas so problematic, beef and auto sms. Well, both of them are very politically sensitive sectors, in japan the beef lobby is very sensitive politically, on the u. S. Side the Automobile Industry is very sensitive. The automobile sector has been very important for the reelection of the president , it will matter for the midterm elections coming up. And therefore president obama cannot a fear as if he is being weak in terms of promoting u. S. Automobile interests vice a veys japan. Dow expect there to be some progress on this. Well, i certainly hope so. And this is very important for president obama, many people are accuse the socalled u. S. Pivot or rebald asia as primarily about the military dimension. But hes argued that tpp shows that economics is really important for the rebalance. And if he fails here, then people will question what the rebalance was all about. All right, well, we are going leave it there. Mike mochizuiki, sheila smith, we thank you batt. Thank you. Thank you. Ifill again, the major developments of the day. Israel walked away from the latest round of middle east peace talks, after the Palestinian Authority moved to reconcile with the Islamist Militant Group hamas. And the u. S. Food and Drug Administration announced it will propose regulating the growing business of Electronic Cigarettes. On the newshour online right now, Thomas Jefferson gets most of the credit for composing the declaration of independence, but its timothy matlacks elegant handwriting that you see on the official document. Today, cursive script is being replaced by Text Messages and emails. In some places, its no longer even taught in schools. Read about that story, part of our extinction week series, on the education page. All that and more is on our web site, newshour. Pbs. Org. Woodruff tuesdays report by paul solman on efforts in seattle to boost the minimum wage to 15 an hour. Has sparked a lot of comments from viewers like you. Among those in support of the idea, one visitor said ifill but there were a number of others who think its a bad idea. One of you wrote us and heres another if youd like to see more comments, or write your own, visit our website or facebook page, or tweet us back, newshour. And thats the newshour for tonight. On friday, how new technology, like facial recognition software, is changing how police fight crime. Im gwen ifill. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Well see you online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks among others. For all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Charles schwab, proud supporter of the pbs newshour. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. 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