Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20151124

Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. And with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill police in belgium charged a fourth suspect in the paris attacks today. The suspect was swept up in a 24hour dragnet, but was the only person charged. 15 others were released. The Prime Minister decided to keep brussels on its highest state of alert through at least next week. We have a report from emma murphy of independent Television News in brussels. Reporter a European Capital city, rush hour monday morning, whatever the threat, the government believed it so serious much of normal life has given way to abnormality. Armored vehicles patrol empty and closed shopping streets. There are soldiers on most junctions, and in such a climate all places where lots of people can gather like universities, schools and nurseries are shut. This isnt a city in fear, but it is a city in flux. Its necessary. Its necessary to have the security because the people, i think, feel safer with this kind of security. I feel if the policeman feels its safe, i will be glad im home. Reporter it affect everyday life, nursery for nathaniel. Challenge if it goes on. You cant do things we usually do. There are police everywhere, even in my neighborhood. Quite suburban and not in the center of town, but there are police on the streets and police are closing off the roads around here. So its unusual. Reporter how long it goes on depends in part on this man, salah abdeslam. He is part of the terror threat, but the action of the governor suggests there is something for than him for them to content with. Ifill because of ongoing terrorist attacks around the world, the state department issued a Worldwide Travel alert for u. S. Citizens this evening, citing increased threats. It directed americans to exercise vigilance in Public Places or when using transportation. It also suggested avoiding large crowds, particularly during the holiday season. The alert is set to expire in three months. Ifill meanwhile, in a southern suburb of paris, police said a street cleaner found an explosive belt in a pile of rubble, but without its detonator. French president Francois Hollande and british Prime Minister David Cameron each laid a single flower outside the bataclan concert hall, where 89 people were killed. Later, cameron urged the British Parliament to join france in the fight against the Islamic State. Later this week, i will set out in parliament our comprehensive strategy for tackling isil. I firmly support the action that president hollande has taken to strike isil in syria and its my Firm Conviction that britain should do so too. Ifill the French Defense Ministry Said it has launched its first airstrikes from the aircraft carrier, charles de gaulle, bombing Islamic State targets in ramadi and mosul, iraq. France has already carried out strikes against isis targets in syria. Syria was at the top of the agenda for a meeting between russian president Vladimir Putin and irans Supreme Leader ayatollah ali khamenei. The two leaders met in iran. Both have been staunch supporters of syrian president bashar al assad, and today khamenei criticized u. S. Efforts to begin peace talks. Migrants stuck in limbo along the greekmacedonian border stepped up their protests today, staging hunger strikes and blocking trains. Theyre mostly economic refugees who have been denied entry by balkan countries because theyre not fleeing war. Hundreds gathered behind gates and barbed wire fences, shouting at police. Others taped or even sewed their mouths shut in a sign of protest. Flags flew at half staff in the west african nation of mali today to begin three days of mourning for the victims of fridays attack on a luxury hotel there. State television aired photos of the corpses of two of the suspected gunmen, appealing for information on their identities. Three separate groups have claimed responsibility for the deadly siege that left 20 people, plus the two attackers, dead. In nigeria and cameroon, five suicide bombers, all girls, killed 12 people over the weekend. The attacks happened at an entry to nigerias northeastern city of maiduguri, and just across the border in cameroon. Police blamed boko haram, the Islamic Extremist Group whose sixyear campaign of violence has killed 20,000 people. Voters in argentina have ushered in a new era, electing their first conservative president in 12 years. Last night, Mauricio Macri danced on stage with his family at his buenos aires headquarters. The rightwing mayor of buenos aires beat the ruling partys nominee in a runoff, after promising to boost the economy and fight corruption. translated the quality that we have, us argentines, we have to finally put it to work for our future. I want to say to you today, as well as to our brothers of latin america and to our brothers of the world, that we want to have good relationships with all the countries. We want to work with all of you. Ifill macri takes office on december 10th, and inherits a country with 30 inflation and stagnant economic growth. Back in this country, police in new orleans are trying to find out what sparked a gun battle in a crowded city park last night. Hundreds had gathered for an evening block party at a local playground when gunfire rang out. At least 17 people were wounded in the crossfire. Today, new orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu called on witnesses to come forward. Heres a message to the guys that did the shooting last night. You cant run, you cant hide. Were going to find you and were going to prosecute you. Were going to hold you accountable and were going to put you behind bars, for our safety and yours. But in order to do this, we need the community. There is only so much the police can do. We need the community to help take back the streets. Ifill all the victims are listed in stable condition. They suffered either direct gunshot wounds or were grazed by bullets. In business news, the pharmaceutical giant pfizer announced plans to merge with allergan, creating the Worlds Largest drugmaker. The 160 billion deal means pfizer will slash its Corporate Tax bill by moving its new york headquarters to dublin, ireland, where allergan is based. The taxsaving ploy is known as corporate inversion, which the Obama Administration has tried to crack down on. On wall street today, stocks gave up their early gains in Late Afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 31 points to close above 17,792. The nasdaq fell two points. And the s p 500 dropped two points. Still to come on the newshour strategies to defeat the Islamic State. Fear mongering or Foreign Policy . Our politics monday discussion. Tobaccos role in treating ebola. And much more. Ifill the paris attacks have reignited the debate over how the United States and other nations should respond to a Global Terror Organization thats expanding its targets beyond iraq and syria. This week, frances president is seeking additional help from both the u. S. And russia. Our coalition will not relent. Ifill traveling in malaysia yesterday, president obama pledged to take the fight to the Islamic State. The terror attacks in paris, which led to a wider european alert, follow 16 months of airstrikes against isis targets in iraq and syria. The assault slowed the groups territorial expansion. But the president insists u. S. Involvement will not include direct ground combat. Destroying isil is not only a realistic goal, were going to get it done, and were going to pursue it with every aspect of american power. The United States will continue to lead this global coalition. We are intensifying our strategy on all fronts, with local partners on the ground. Ifill the u. S. Role in battling isis has evolved in recent months. There are more than 3,000 american troops in iraq providing logistical, training and combat advice. American and kurdish commandos stormed an isis prison in iraq last month, rescuing dozens of men. And earlier this month, the president announced that 50 u. S. Special operations troops would be heading to syria. But the u. S. Policy of incremental involvement has been questioned by the president s political opponents, and even by some of his former appointees. Two former defense secretaries weighed in yesterday on whether the president is focusing on the right target, and with the right amount of force. The u. S. Has to lead in this effort because what weve learned a long time ago is that the United States does not lead nobody else will. We are going to have to commit Additional Resources to this effort. Were hitting some targets, but air strikes alone are not going to win here. Assad is a very bad guy. There are bad guys all over the world. But i think its pretty clear that isis represents the real threat to our country, to the world. Ifill president obama is scheduled meet with french president Francois Hollande tomorrow to discuss the coalitions next steps. So what should the u. S. Do . What shouldnt it do . Two views former u. S. Ambassador to iraq James Jeffrey served in the infantry, and is now a distinguished fellow at the washington institute. And John Mearsheimer, a west point graduate and former air force officer, writes extensively on Strategic Issues and is a Political Science professor at the university of chicago. Welcome to you both, gentlemen. Thank you. Ifill James Jeffrey, lets break this up into two parts, the military and diplomatic options. We hear a lot about boots on the ground, commitment of u. S. Forces. Is that where the debate is right now . In. Terms of taking down i. S. I. S. As a state and army, we have to go onto fencive. That on the offensive. That requires Ground Troops. Weve tried 15 months to create a set of Ground Troops from the units and entities and forces on the ground that we have. It isnt working all that well. We dont have the time to keep trying to do this. Some insertion of u. S. Forces both as advisors, special forces and some ground maneuver units are absolutely necessary to move this forward. Ifill quantify some. The general on the 18t 18th talked about two brigades to be deployed, about 10,000 combat troops to stand by to move forward if needed as we try this expanded incremental approach that the president is suggesting. Ifill John Mearsheimer, this is called having skin in the game, theoretically. What are the opportunities for that and what are the risks . Well, i think there is virtually no chance were going to put largescale Ground Forces in syria, and president obama has made it clear hes not going to do that. And the principle reason is you would have to put a lot of Ground Troops in to defeat i. S. I. S. There is no question if you put 100,000, 150,000 troops in, you can defeat i. S. I. S. , but then you run into the what next question what are we going to do, stay in and occupy the place and the end result is deal win subjects, wont know how the to get out and make a bad situation swors . So its quite clear to me there is no way we can defeat i. S. I. S. From the air or with Ground Forces and we have to find a diplomatic solution. Ifill before the dim markets what are the options here . Are we talking about occupation . Is that iniv is that inevit . No, occupation is not inevitable. I dont believe well end up occupying syria because weve tried this before both in afghanistan and iraq and it did not turn out well and we would be remarkably foolish to try to duplicate that task and there is no way to win this one with air power alone. The only hope is assads forces can be rebuilt to the point where they can deal with i. S. I. S. , and then we can get out of the region militarily. Ifill let me ask you both this question. You know Francois Hollande is coming to washington to mow, going to meet with the president , what should he be asking for . What he will be asking for is a far more aggressive American Campaign against i. S. I. S. Because if he doesnt get a yes, an affirmative answer to that, hes going to in any case go to moscow and ask the same thing of putin. Putin trass perhaps onetenth of our military capabilities, but putin will give him an affirmative on a very Aggressive Campaign against i. S. I. S. Well have that one way tore the other. Ifill John Mearsheimer, what do you think holland shoule should be or would be asking for . I think he should ask for a coalition that includes the United States, russians, iran and a number of others in the region to work up to prop up the assad government. The only hope we have here is to prop up assad and make him powerful enough that he can deal with i. S. I. S. That way we dont have to put in Ground Forces and the russians are not going to put in Ground Forces themselves. So the only hope is assad. But the principal problem we face is that the United States is incapable of working with the russians. We still continue to pursue this policy where were trying to topple assad and the russians are trying to support assad. This is crazy because were working at cross purposes and, if anything, were just going to make the war worse and that will play to i. S. I. S. s advantage. Hollande understands this. Ifill John Mearsheimer, you brought up the question of diplomatic solutions. Do we have time to pursue that . Were right in the middle of the this now. We really have no choice. There is no simple military solution. There is nothing americans or russians can do militarily to win this because were not for good reason. T Ground Forces what we have to do is work with assad and create a situation where hes powerful enough to push back i. S. I. S. And then work to get some sort of peace settlement in the region. Its going to be remarkably difficult to do in large part because as i said the americans are incapable of working with the russians. Ifill ambassador jeffrey, lets talk about the assad question. Its clear were not on the same side of the discussion with russia on assad and you heard mr. Mearsheimer said lets forget about this idea of ousting assad right now. What do you think . Im as sure as i can be if we try to throw our weight behind assad, the russians and iranians well ensure that i. S. I. S. Will not only survive but prosper because the entire arab sunni world in turkey will throw their weight against us on this. This is a doublebarreled problem we have. The assad regime which helped create i. S. I. S. And now supported by russia and iran and i. S. I. S. Itself. The way to do this is to keep assad out of the battle and take the fight to i. S. I. S. I. S. I. S. Has 30,000 troops. We have about 200,000 or 300,000 of our allied troops but they dont have the capability of taking the offensive without america leading. Ifill i want to ask to you both, what is our longterm or even shortterm strategic objective in syria . Why should we be more involved . First of all, were the center of the middle east. We have allies to the north in turkey, to the south in israel and jordan and we have extraordinary interests that president obama has emphasized time and time again. He acknowledges that we are fighting a war against i. S. I. S. His goal is to destroy it. He said that again yesterday. The question is how to do that. And our longterm goals are to try to bring some kind of resurrection of the state system in these very, very fragile countries because they cant stand up against these movements otherwise. Ifill John Mearsheimer . First of all, i dont believe the United States has any strategic interest in syria. I think from a Strategic Point of view, syria is an insignificant country. Its not like iraq or iran that have lots of oil. Second, i think the principal two reasons we should want to shut down this conflict as soon as possible is, number one, humanitarian reasons. This is a human rights disaster. Secondly, if we dont stem the flow of refugees into europe, its going to cause all sorts of problems in europe. You can see that happening already. So we have a deepseated interest not for strategic reasons but human rights reasons and because of europe to do what we can to end this one as quickly as possible, but i dont think thats going to happen because i think the ambassadors view of dealing with the russians is correct in the minds of most americans and most people disagree with what i say and, therefore, we wont work with the russians and we wont solve this problem, it will only get worse, more syrians will die and more refugees will go into europe. Ifill interesting listening to you arguing against your own point of view, particular mearsheimer. Thank you very much, and to ambassador James Jeffrey here in washington. Thank you. Ifill the debate over what role the u. S. Should play in the fight against isis has also become central to the 2016 campaign. But how are the candidates talking about it . Political director Lisa Desjardins reports. Reporter welcome to Campaign National security, with the Islamic State group at the center. They are growing. Theyre in afghanistan. Isis is now on the ground in afghanistan recruiting taliban fighters away from the taliban. Theyre radical killers. And either they win or we win. Reporter many candidates, like marco rubio today in iowa, are pouncing on fears about isis to flex ideological and political muscle. Republicans in particular have strong motivation. In a new abc Washington Post poll out this weekend, when asked for their top issue, just 18 of voters who lean democratic named terrorism. That number was more than twice as high 42 for those leaning republican. Both volume and controversy are increasing. Speaking in alabama over the weekend, donald trump tried to connect american muslims with 9 11. I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And i watched in jersey city, new jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Reporter sunday, trump was challenged on that point by abcs george stephanopolus. You know, the police say that didnt happen and all those rumors have been on the internet for some time. So did you misspeak yesterday . It did happen. I saw it. Reporter today, following a there is mistrust and concern. It is also complicated in. A new poll of iowa republicans, 74 supported sending Ground Troops to fight i. S. I. S. But less than half said the paris attacks have any influence on their vote. Meanwhile, democrats like Hillary Clinton are using Foreign Policy and republicans rhetoric on refugee as their own foil. She tweeted out over the weekend our values are stronger than fear. Slamming the door on refugees isnt who we are. The war against isis is hittng familiar lines in the debate over security. Ifill its politics monday, so amy walter of the Cook Political Report and tamara keith of n. P. R. Are here to talk about it. Lets start with basically the politics affair. How much of that is a major feature of this campaign, amy . I think were definitely hearing a lot more about it because its in the news now. At the same time, what we know about this campaign is what republicans are talking about and whats really important to them in their primary is very different from what drivers license say is important to them. The issue of terrorism and security has always been an important issue for republicans even before these attacks in paris and taking more import. Among democrats, the economy, healthcare always a more important issue. Terrorism will move up there but not to the extent it is with republicans. On the issue of syrian refugees, you ask republicans how they feel about it, 80 say we dont want them here at all. 65 of democrats say we should bring them in. So two entirely different worlds. Ifill there is definitely an us versus them theme emerging in the campaign at this moment whos playing it best for the most . People like donald trump are playing it up big time. Ben carson is also playing into it. Even marco rubio came out with an ad where he clearly said this is a fight of civilizations, between the left and our ideals and islamic extremism on the other side. Using the exerm islamic extremism and at the end of the ad saying they want to attack us because we want girls to go to school. Ifill 80 of people in the cbs poll fear imminent attack. So maybe theyre speaking in a real way to voters fears in a way that counts. Well, what theyre speaking to right now definitely and this is especially true among republicans is to a base that feels like this president has not done the job necessary to deal with terrorism, to deal with security in any way, and the frustration that theyre feeling that this has been sort of this wishywashy Foreign Policy, there is no resolution, its all nebulous. Thats when you hear donald trump coming out with the this is what were going to do, were going to bomb the you know what out of i. S. I. S. , we just need to bomb the oil fields, it will be easy, we just need to be strong, it speakso a republican electorate that feels that the president has squandered away american power. This at the same time that president obama is saying we have to stay the course, we could intensify but the strategy needs to remain the strategy and that is not very satisfying. If you are afraid and if you saw the beheading videos before and you are seeing this violence in france and you want something, then bomb the explicative out of them, instead of this is the strategy and well stick with it. Ifill and tonight we have a Worldwide Travel alert. How does that work for Hillary Clinton, because shes a former secretary of state, worked in the Obama Administration, yet polls say one of two things. One say they think she is strong, the other is they dont trust her. And shes had trust issues for a long time in her polling. She, i think, for whatever reason, feels she is strongest when talking about economic issues, talking about ever empathizing with the concerns of families. She gave a big speech last week about her plan for i. S. I. S. She came out strong. She came out asking for more than president obama wanted. She talked about no fly zones in syria. She talked about more special operations Ground Forces, to maybe call in airstrikes. So she went further than the president but she would be perfectly happy mostly talking about domestic issues in part because thats where the democratic electorate is. And in part because there is not a good answer. We saw it in the last debate we had for the democrats when asked about i. S. I. S. , there wasnt a really good answer out of Hillary Clinton. When asked about her roll in libya, there wasnt a really good answer from Hillary Clinton. Ifill i think about the conversation r conversation were having especially on the republican side, admittedly, we should bloom the bleep out of them, we should surveil mosques, track refugees, compare that to what george w. Bush said the following week after 9 11, 2001. We have a little bit of it. These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets to have the islamic faith, and its important for my fellow americans to understand that. The face of terror is not the true face of islam. Thats not what islam is all about. Islam i islam is peace. These terrorists dont represent peace. They represent evil and war. Ifill now how things have changed, especially for a party which identified itself after its last election as its goal for the next election being more open and tolerant. Now, to be fair, a lot of this energy now is coming from one person and thats donald trump talking about mosques and talking about celebration in the streets of new jersey and ifill yeah. So a lot of that is coming specifically from him. But i think to a broader point, where you are hearing about a clash of civilizations, radical islam, i think it goes back at president obama, this real deep disdain, frustration, whatever you want to call it, probably deeper, stronger word than that, about the president s han handlg of this issue, how hes handled the middle east and Foreign Policy, and i think thats a lot of why the rhetoric you heard from president bush is very different than from the republicans. And remember the Republican Party in 2001, how much farther right the republicans have moved and to the left the democrats have moved in just these 15 years. And there is this element george w. Bush was the leader of the Republican Party. There are very different motives and things driving a president ial candidate now and the president of the United States. Ifill is it also partly in interest of some of these candidates to wind this into the immigration debate, something which worked for candidates like trump but also ted cruz, marco rubio . Yeah, there is definitely a message sent that there are unsafe people out there and if you put democrats in charge, they are not going to keep you safe. I think thats the number one job that government is there to do, its the one thing that republicans can agree on that the role of government is, to keep people safe. They disagree with a lot of the other roles of government, but that one, absolutely. So what youre going to see and the question i think that youre raising before is how do you transition from this kind of rhetoric in a primary to going to a general election where you do have to look president ial and unify the country . We hear over and over, im sure you do, too, from voters, the frustration ahead from the dysfunction in washington, the frustration of a country thats pulling apart, whos going to be the unifier. Ifill okay, we didnt get to talk about the louisiana governors race but well get back to that another time. Amy walter, tamera keith, thank you both very much. Youre welcome. Ifill stay with us. Coming up on the newshour storytime, a method for learning english. And from the bookshelf, black flags, how the rise of isis came to be. Ifill but first, we turn to the search for a treatment for ebola. West africa is still dealing with the aftermath of the worst outbreak of the disease in recorded history. Last week, liberia reported a handful of new cases, just months after the World Health Organization said the country was free of the disease. And this weekend, not one, but two panels said the w. H. O. Needs to substantially reform and change the way it deals with International Health crises. Special correspondent mary jo brooks has a report on the hunt to finally stop the virus. Reporter it looks like an ordinary greenhouse filled with plants basking under light, but at this facility just outside owensboro, kentucky, the plants themselves have become a labor force, working around the clock to manufacture a cure for ebola. These plants are 27 days old reporter three days earlier, these plants were injected with a genetic blueprint for one of three antibodies used in the experimental drug zmapp. The plant recognizes that gene and its machinery turns on and it starts to manufacture that protein form, and its really that simple. It becomes a little bitty factory. Reporter zmapp was still in developmenting stage when ebola broke out in west africa in march of 2014. The disease since claimed more than 10,000 victims. A handful of people were successfully tweeted with zmapp including dr. Kent brantly. Today is a miraculous day. I am thrilled to be alive, to be well and to be reunited with my family. Reporter since then the drug has undergone Clinical Trials in west africa and the fda granted it fasttrack approval status. Scientists from san diego developed the zmapp antibodies designed to quickly attack the ebola virus. In vaccine, you give a person a protein to stimulate your own body to make antibodies. In this case were giving antibodies directly to you so your body doesnt have to make them. Unlike the vaccine where it takes you weeks to months to build up protective immunity, as soon as the antibodies are provided to the patient, theyre protected against the disease. Reporter speed is the name of the game in fighting i think feshes diseases and the reason they decided to manufacture the drug using plants instead of animal protein. They chose an australian relative of the american to back to plant in a process that is quick and relatively simple. Just three weeks after the seeds go into the soil, the plants are mature enough to be dipped into a liquid which contains proteins to be replicated. The plants grow the proteins for another week and are harvested and chopped up. The resulting green liquid is filtered and tested and by day 40 ready to be shipped out. Its a fast system. It costs a little less on the front end, particularly. Gives you a lot of flexibility in terms of developing a product. You get your protein. You look at your protein. Is it what you wanted . If it doesnt have the exact characteristics you want, you reengineer it and do it again till you get exactly where you want to be. Reporter the system of biofarming could be useful for a number of drug therapies that must ramp up production quickly. The Canadian Company metacago uses to back to plants to manufacture flu vaccines which needs to change seasonally. At its large greenhouse in rallydurham, north carolina, workers and robots tend to the growing plants. They produce the vaccine over about a week. Reporter so its a quick, efficient process. Quick, efficient, adaptable. Reporter michael shunt is the Vice President of operation. This Plant Technology can respond in about half the time of the traditional flu manufacturing technologies, so thats what started us into the flu, and weve just continued to grow with that. Reporter metacago is in the final stage of Clinical Trials to receive fda approval for its flu vaccine. Once granted, the company says it will be able to make 30 million doses a year. It has also begun producing an ebola drug similar to zmapp. Both metacago and Kentucky Bioprocessing received Defense Department money to develop their pharmaceuticals. The thought is they hope they could defend a biotrim attacks. Hes especially optimistic developing nations will use this method to manufacture vaccines on their own soil since the cost of building the facilities is much less than traditional drug factories. This is not a very complicated technology. Its certainly transportable. Every country has greenhouses so every country has the potential to have a facility that can be used to produce vaccines that may are more a concern to that particular country. Reporter he and other biofarming proponents say soon drugs to prevent other Infectious Diseases will routinely be grown in plafnlt using tobacco to save lives, the irony is not lostion anyone. There is irony, but what weve always been about is using the plant to create things and to do positive things. Our focus has been biopharmaceuticals and using the plant to yield those kind of proteins and works well for that. Reporter biopharmaceuticals, plants that one day could be used routinely to wipe out Infectious Diseases. Mary jo brooks, owensboro, kentucky. Ifill last week, we took you to a middle school in houston thats trying to bridge the education gap for refugee children newly arrived in the u. S. Tonight, we return to texas to examine another program thats helping some of the states youngest newcomers learn english. April brown has our american graduate report, a public Media Initiative funded by the corporation for public broadcasting. I see it right there reporter charlie may be short on english skills now but hes giving it his best shot. Charlie, his family speaks vietnamese at home, created his own world inside this classroom at the center for Early Childhood in houston. At 4 years old, charlie is already working on his second language even before he mastered his first. Its something he has in common with nearly all of the kids he goes to school with. What is he doing . Hes getting the keys reporter this classroom brings stories to life as her prek students are eager to go along for the ride. The oral and written language lalaboratory uses story and dramatic telling to get kids talking, its built on research that shows storytime curriculum can significantly improve vocabulary and literacy. Especially important for students whose families dont speak language at home or lang wants skills are developed first. Children here speak english, spanish, italian, arabic. Reporter because the youngsters are new to school and many new to the country, the classroom is designed so kids feel safe and comfortable. The classroom is super homey. The wicker baskets, we have nice carpet center, a warm feeling because we want children to come in and feel like this could be their living room so the children feel more at ease. We know language is the foundation for everything that will happen later on. Its for reading and writing later on. Reporter debbie is the associate director of Early Literacy and bilingual programs at Houston Rice University which worked with the school to create the lab five years ago. If we get them excited and talking us to, there is more of a chance well develop the language skills. Reporter different stations around the room allow children to make choices about what to do and many encourage them to explore different ways to tell a story. Goldilocks and the three bears, for example, can be acted out with costumes and props in one area. My mother made hot porridge. Reporter or are little dolls in a miniature home. The component in this room is giving children enough freedom, enough things that they want to do so they can build that selfregulation. I think the independence is huge. Their selfesteem gets higher and their motivation to learn goes up. Reporter one station in particular builds on the first word many children learn through whats called environmental print, like the names of restaurants or stores. Thats the print thats all over the place that is just plastered on walls, science room buildings, everywhere, that may not be intentionally placed there for children to read but its there. Reporter on regular visitation days, the school shows lessons with parents on how to use words to get kids talking. Debbie said parents are also encouraged to share their own stories about the culture in their homeland or how they made the journey to america, whether or not they speak english. They want you to hear the story because its something theyre proud of. Reporter and they help their children tell the story, too. Exactly. Reporter this 4yearold is the second daughter to spend time in this classroom. After visiting the hour lab, she has much Higher Expectations for story time at home. Making your voice high or low is not good enough. They want you to go around the room and do walk around and actions. Reporter the lab was never intended to benefit only students at this school. Because its a laboratory, many teachers from all over the Houston Independent School district come here to learn these techniques. Some come in for short professional Development Sessions and others visit regularly as part of rice universitys Early Literacy leadership academy. On this day momar came in to learn new ways to get parents and teachers excited about the childs education. Parents have an Important Role in the childs education so with this program and the things im learning with the Early Literacy program, i want to make them feel important and comfortable to volunteer. Reporter the w. In the lab stands for writing and children write their stories with adults taking dictation. Children are so willing to take lissics and so excited to learn language, so excited to share stories, in their Home Language and attempted in english for those english language learners. Reporter english language learners like charlie who espinosa says couldnt speak a record of it when he came to school. For the pbs newshour, april brown in houston. Ifill finally tonight, we return to the challenge of isis, but this time to a look at its beginnings. The story is told in a new book, black flags the rise of isis. Author joby warrick has covered National Security and the middle east for the Washington Post. He talked with Jeffrey Brown at this weekends miami book fair. Brown welcome to you. Thank you, jeffrey. Brown could not be more current, of course. You in this book are looking at the backstory of what led to today. Yeah, i think a lot of people, i. S. I. S. Seemed to come out of nowhere last year. The truth is there is a long, complicated story behind its organization. Al quaida, always been a different strike, but the story goes back to prisons in jordans in the 1990s and individuals who became radicalized and very different about the message of al quaida about driving out their western powers from the middle east but they wanted to create a caliphate, this powerful idea. Brown from the beginning . From the beginning. Its something that morphed as they went along but the idea was to do something here ah and now, not worry about foreign enemies or western power but to create a holy empire. Brown al quaida began in jails and prisons, right . That is interesting because a lot of the founders of al quaida came out of egyptian prisons. The same pedigree and some of the same beliefs and radicalization process was fairly similar. Brown a loft confusion and uncertainty about its history. A lot of confusion about what it is. How do you define i. S. I. S. . Well, i. S. I. S. , you know, its interesting in that its a group that latches on to a few central themes that identify it. One is this idea of creating the caliphate is sort of the immediate and longterm goal. Its something we want to do. There is also this embracing of violence for its own sake. This is not strategic violence sometimes, but its just to shock and awe or to horrify. They use violence and media very deliberately to intimidate inmisand also to excite their base to get other radicals to join their movement. Brown so we see them destroying ancient sites those are for effect . Yeah, there is a message there. Theyre not trying to win hearts and minds overpeople around the world or even muslim community. Theyre looking at provoking and thats what theyre good at. Brown the story youre telling is how they got from jordanian prisons to an international organization. Was there a key moment along the way you can now look back and say, okay, now, this is the real beginning of this group . A terrorist alzarqawi, a jordanian terrorist, a fairly minor figure but ends up becoming important for two reasons, one was because the United States, the Bush Administration in particular, decided to make him kind of a poster child for this connection between al quaida and Saddam Hussein. They picked on flimsy evidence to suggest the connection and put his picture in front of the United Nations in 2003 arguing for invasion of iraq. Turns out the evidence was wrong, he had nothing to do with Saddam Hussein or al quaida but made him famous and gave him a platform so he became an International Hero in the jihadist community. After that the invasion takes place. Zarqawi moves out and starts the insurgency to defeat iraq. Reporter this is part of the stories or actions or misactions of the u. S. And other western governments, were those kind of things an act of omission or commission or how do you see snit. Multiple acts of commission in the early days, and not just the invasion which gives people like zarqawi a platform and reason to call others like them to help out. But a security vacuum emerged in iraq in the early days where the army was sent home and zarqawi as a fanatic has a willing army of iraqis willing to help him and this blend of fanaticism and military and professionals became al quaida in iraq, the core of i. S. I. S. , the same group today. Brown and then in the syrian civil war. Exactly. In late 2000, zarqawis movement was on its heels. Zarqawi was killed, they were driven underground. There was no real sense they had any future. Then arab spring happened, the civil war takes place and suddenly a whole new opportunity, they get their rebirth in the ashes of the syrian state. Brown one of the key questions now, of course, is how organized is i. S. I. S. . Is it centrally run . It has a powerful central organization. Its remarkable to see how good they are at logistics, at getting supplies and moving recruits to various places, getting suicide bombers to take on these incredible missions. But also they are very good at inspiring people in other parts of the world to kind of take up the same mantle. We dont know how connected some of the local groups are to i. S. I. S. Central. There is clearly at least a messaging to prop gan gay da and actually curled nation as well. Brown messaging through propaganda . Yes. I. S. I. S. , this recent paris attack, this Abdelhamid Abaaoud in paris the ring leader of the attack gets chided by i. S. I. S. s propaganda ministers in syria saying do something in paris, these westerners have to pay for the things theyre doing do us, so that becomes we think what drove him to commit the crime. Brown you used the word chiding. Yeah. Brown chiding . It feels like there is almost some shaming that goes on and you see this repeatedly by i. S. I. S. Central and their propaganda messages. They used the videos which they put out publicly to call on jihadis in paris, you know, do something or anything. And they make the same message in america and russia and other places to goad local affiliates to take action. Brown does anything about paris surprise you . We werent totally surprised they would lash out outside the region. The the focus mostly has been syria and iraq because they have their hands full, attacked by plummet approximately sides, people bombing them and syrians and rurdz curds coming at them from on the ground. Brown black flags the rise of isis. Thank you. Recorded this weekend at the miami book fair. You can find more pbs coverage of the fair, including additional author interviews, at www. Bookviewnow. Org ifill a professor from upstate new york is using technology to transform the world, especially for Young Children in need of limbs. He shares his experience in his own words as part of this trip down the innovation trail, a series of reports on the economy and technology in upstate new york. This report was produced by w. X. X. I. In rochester, new york. Im a Research Scientist at the Rochester Institute of technology where im in the center for magic. R. I. T. Is the center for media, arts, games, interaction and creativity where i run a lab on access and Collaboration Technology which is how i got started founding an Organization Called enable. We make mechanical hands for children who are missing fingers using 3d printers and give them away for free. Just like printing a document, you press print and the 3d printer starts building this object you designed on the screen by putting down tiny thin layers of plastic like a glue gun, layer by layer by layer building it up to make the thing. A prosthetic arm these days costs about 40,000. One in 2,000 kids are born with some kind of an arm or hand abnormality. They dont get prosthetics because it makes no sense to spend 40,000 observe something theyre going to outgrow in a year. With a 3d printer, we can start making these things almost for nothing. Instead of 40,000, you can do it with about 10 or 20 worth of plastic. Its not as sturdy as a 40,000 titanium artificial arm. On the other hand. If you outgrow it or break it, you can make another. One of the interesting things about this project is that the kids that were making these hands for are becoming inventors and designers in their own right. I was werking with derek with few months ag showing him this artificial arm we were working on and explain weg need kids to work on it as test pilots and collaborators and while i was talking to him, he put two models together and said i would like my arm to be this long. Sh he has an extra long arm. He can pick things up without bending over and can reach to the highest shelf because he has the derek arm. Which goes to show 7yearolds and 9yearolds can pray a really Important Role helping us invent the solutions for kids aband other grownups in the future. Disability is a funny word. Disability you cant do something. Its not a disease and its not even a property of a person. A person doesnt have a disability. A person has a disability if hes in a world where he cant do something. If i didnt have glasses, in a world in which theres lot of fine print, i would be disabled. As it is, im just a guy who wears glasses. The technology of eyeglasses turned nearsightedness and farsightedness into a nuisance when it used to be a disability. New technology is going to turn things like youre missing a hander or you cant move your body or you have brain damage into a nuisance rather than a disability. Ifill on the newshour online this week were celebrating the 100th anniversary of albert einsteins theory of general relativity. We asked three physicists to explain how einsteins seminal work has influenced todays scientists. You can find that on our home page. Pbs. Org newshour and finally tonight, we want to note a correction, due to an editing error. A sequence in a report last thursday about funding for isis included footage of russian air strikes on isis oil resources, instead of the u. S. Air strikes referenced in the script. Keen observers in the newshour audience picked up on the mistake and alerted us to it. And we regret the error. And thats the newshour for tonight. On tuesday, the impact of pesticides on the bee population. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us 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 this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org this is nightly Business Report, with Tyler Mathisen and sue herera. Biggest drug merger ever. Pfizer and allergan are combining in a 160 billion deal handing pfizer a new address and a lot of controversy. Deals and buybacks. Is Financial Engineering taking the place of real growth at some of americas Biggest Companies . And deep freeze. Will higher Mortgage Rates and less supply send a chill through the Housing Market this winter . All that and more tonight on nightly Business Report for monday november 23rd. Good evening, everyone, and welcome. Pfizer and allergan have made it official. The two Drug Companies are merging in the largest pharmaceutical deal ever. The price tag is 160 b