The millstein family. Bernard and irene schwartz. Rosalyn p. Walter. Pacific islanders and communication. Corporate funding provided by mutual of america, designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tish studios in new york, hari sreenivasan. Good evening. Thanks for joining us. Several National Parks around the nation are starting to reopen following a decision by the Obama Administration to let the states pay the cost of operating them. The parks have been closed to tourists since the federal government shut down 11 days ago. The park closures have cost businesses tens of millions of dollars. A much larger deal to get the government up and running again and to raise the debt ceiling continues to prove elusive. Cable News Headlines throughout the day told the story. One said talks have hit a brick wall. Another blared, senate test vote fails. A third, no house vote till monday night. All following reports of progress between the two parties as they try to avert what the treasury secretary and others warn would be a catastrophic default if the debt ceiling is not raised by next thursday. Earlier today in his weekly radio address, the president noted recent progress in talks to break the stalemate. The positive development that House Republicans have agreed on the need to avoid the economic consequences of not meeting our countrys commitments because once the debt ceiling is raised and the shutdown is over, theres a lot we can accomplish together. In the republican response, representative buck mckeon of california also struck a positive tone. For all the focus on disagreements in washington, weve actually found some Common Ground this week. To try to explain where all this is headed, were joined by meredith shiner. Thanks for joining us. Down to 100 hours or so before the debt ceiling deadline. Walk us through maybe in detail on what happens between now and then. It became abundantly clear the house couldnt move through on a plan. Senator Mitch Mcconnell and senator harry reid, the two leaders of the senate, are working to try to find some sort of agreement. You also have a larger group of bipartisan senators led by susan collins, republican from maine, trying to find a compromised position. Earlier this week there wasnt movement at all. It seems to be both sides were very much entrenched in their positions, that they did not want to negotiate unless the other side were willing to make concessions. Democrats right now feel like they have all the leverage. There was that nbc wall street journal poll that showed terrible numbers for republicans. The democrats are moving forward with the knowledge that the republicans are going to have to give more in this. At this point, they feel like the republicans have kept the government shut down and are basically steering congress towards this debt limit deadline with no real way out. If the Senate Republicans make more moderate concessions or approaches to the strags, how likely is it that the House Republicans will go along with it . I think thats the biggest question right now. I think what Mitch Mcconnell is able to do and what Senate Republicans are able to do might not be the same as what john boehner is able to do with his caucus. At the end of the day, Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats dont come to an agreement and send it up to the house, it will be up to john boehner to find only a handful of republicans because a majority of House Democratic support will be there. One of the bigger questions to date is how willing is john boehner to move a bill that he knows wont have the support of the majority of his caucus . To date, its been unwilling. But i think republicans, particularly republicans in leadership, have been hearing from the business community. Theyve been hearing from wall street, donors, people who are typically the breadandbutter republican supporters who are questioning why this party would let a extreme faction of their group basically decide that they could take this debt limit argument to the brink again when it could have serious economic consequences. What happens to the tea party or senator ted cruz has become one of the faces of their ideology in this all . Well, cruz has taken a distinct approach to promoting his agenda. If you look at someone like senator rand paul, for example, who also has a lot of tea party support, hes been much more willing to play nice with his colleagues. To deal with Mitch Mcconnell, to have votes on his measures but not to sign the success of those votes as a binary win or lose. As long as were talking about his policy items, hes happy. He ted cruz is not that way. Hes made the fight a lot more difficult about republicans by making it about a Health Care Law there was no way to repeal. I dont know what the future is for him in the republican conference over the next few years if republicans are able to open with democrats to open up the. I dont know if hes all that interested in dealing with his colleagues. He said yesterday that he went over the head of leadership and dealt directly with the american people. Hell always have grassroots support. But i dont know that thats enough to either advance any sort of national run because you need an infrastructure in fundraising and its certainly not enough to deal with your own colleagues to get anything done legislatively. Senator reid has warned the markets will react negatively monday morning. Any real chance that there is not a deal done before the debt limit clock runs out . Another thing you have to remember is that given senate procedure, if any one senator objects, you could have to eat up to 30 hours after original procedural motion. So one like ted cruz could in fact step in and try to make that clock run out. So there is some pressure to try to get something either today or tomorrow. But if you dont waste that time, even if there were an agreement today, you wouldnt see a vote until monday morning. Then it will be up to the house to take those two, three days and see if they can pass something. But i dont think theyre going to have much of a choice to send a bill back. They have to find a way to pass whatever the senate sends them. Meredith, thanks so much. Thank you. Overseas, new details are emerging about the deaths of dozens of migrants who drowned yesterday after their boat capsized in waters between north africa and italy. More than 200 others were rescued, including many women and children. Authorities say many of those aboard the capsized vessel were syrians fleeing the civil war in that country. Syrians were also on board a vessel which capsized near alexandria, egypt, yesterday killing a dozen more. This incidents occurred only eight days after another migrantfilled boat sank, taking the lives of more than 300 people. India is getting hit by a huge storm. The storm packing heavy rains and high winds is described by authorities as very severe. It has already led to the evacuation of more than 500,000 people. One american hurricane researcher said you dont get storms stronger than this anywhere in the world ever. There were reports yesterday that gusts had hit 196 miles per hour. From japan tonight, new indications that the accident at the Fukushima Nuclear power plant was worse than previously thought. A u. N. Report said workers coping with the march 2011 disaster were actually exposed to radiation doses 20 higher than previously believed. The accident was triggered by a huge earthquake. From afghanistan, reports that secretary of state john kerry and afghan President Hamid karzai have made progress in talks on whether american troops remain in that country beyond 2014. Most troops serving beyond that time would be used to train afghan forces, a smaller number would consist of special Operations Forces targeting al qaeda. Reports that amazon has removed several abusethemed books from its kindle store. This after a report that certain people who typed in certain innocuous keywords were taken to the books. The books. Reporter reportedly found on the selfpublished section. Now to our signature segment, our indepth reports from around the nation and around the world. Tonight, our focus is on a group of men who got caught up in the u. S. War on terror. They spent years in prison at Guantanamo Bay on what american judges later determined was insufficient evidence. That was hardly the end of their problems. Even after they were freed, they were sent halfway around the world where their struggles have continued. Correspondent William Brangham met them. And their situation remains unchanged today. Reporter on their first few days on the Pacific Island nation of palau, these men easily could have passed for tourists, just like the thousands of others who come here to scuba dive on some of the worlds best coral reefs. But their stay here didnt last days or weeks and its hardly been a vacation. These men have now been stranded here four years, cut off from friends and most family. Caught up, they believe, in the fog of war and americas war on terror. We dont have enough money. You dont have passport. You dont have home. Reporter Ahmad Tourson and his friends are part of an ethnic muslim group from xinxang known as uighurs. Thousands of uighurs have fled that country. They were fleeing persecution in various forms in china. Reporter dixon is a lawyer representing several of the uighurs in palau. They would walk across the border into courakyrgyzstan andd hear about these uighurs. Reporter it was all before 9 11 . Before 9 11. Reporter once in afghanistan, some of the uighurs lived in areas that were under control of the taliban. And then in october of 2011 when the u. S. Invaded that country in retaliation for 9 11, u. S. Ground forces captured thousands of taliban and al qaeda fighters in the very area where the uighurs lived. Several dozen uighurs were also taken into custody, held as suspected terrorists. The u. S. Government later claimed some had been undergoing military training. The men were picked up in the fog of war. They were rounded up and sold to the United States for money, for bounties, for 5,000 apiece. Reporter was it appropriate to capture them . And i think the answer to that is it was certainly appropriate to capture them. Reporter Benjamin Wittes is a fellow at the Brookings Institute and serves on the t k tasks for at the hoover institution. The initial capture of the uighurs, if you consider it from a u. S. Military point of view makes all the sense in the world. These are people who came to afghanistan to take training and who are in the tora bora region and fleeing across the Pakistani Border at the same time that lots of foreign fighters of exactly the sort that the United States is most worried about are. Reporter while wittes is a strong defender of the right to capture and detain potential terror suspects, he thinks the uighurs were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. These are actually not people who have a problem with the United States. These are people who have a problem with the government of china and whose marriage of convenience with the taliban is really just a convenience thing. Its not part of any global jihad. Reporter did the u. S. Have any evidence that these men had any planning or training to attack the United States . Absolutely not. There has never been an allegation that the uighurs bore any ill will towards the United States. In fact, when the uighurs were turned over to the United States, they thought that they had been saved. They were soon to find out that that would not be their fate. Reporter nearly two dozen uighurs were sent to the Guantanamo Bay dimension camp in cuba where they were held for over seven years. In 2008, several u. S. Federal judges declared the evidence against the men was based on unverifiable claims and they ruled they could no longer be classified as enemy combatants. They were ordered set free. But then Congress Passed and president obama signed a law that blocked any guantanamo prisoners from coming to the u. S. The Chinese Government makes clear that it wants them back, you have no confidence that they will not abuse them. In fact, you suspect they will. They do not want to go back to china, which they could have done, by the way. But very understandably have no interest in going back to china to be tortured or executed. What happens then . Reporter the state department which declined to comment for this story was reportedly unwilling to send the men back to china and had been trying for several years to find nations whod take in the uighurs and finally had some success. All but three uighurs were transferred out of guantanamo. Some were sent to albania, el salvad salvador, bermuda and switzerland. In october of 2009, six were sent around the world to palau. Palau is a tiny Pacific Island nation of just 20,000 residents. As a former u. S. Territory, the country has had Strong Military and financial ties to the u. S. For years. The uighurs arrival here was supposed to be a fresh start. But the front page of the main palauan newspaper reported their arrival like this a plane arrived at the wee hours and emerged six bearded muslim terrorists in shackles and guarded by many fully armed commandos. The men told us that First Impression has been very hard to shake. They show, the newspapers show us, the others, like terrorists. They think, oh, six terrorists came here, see bad. When they saw us, very angry, they ask, why you are here. Reporter the uighurs say they stick to themselves. Over the years as what was supposed to be just a temporary stay in palau has stretched on year after year. Their lawyers, along with the palauan government have worked hard to bring some of their family members to join them. Ahmad tourson who says he went to college back in china, was given a job working the night shift as a Security Guard at the local power plant. Several of the other uighurs got similar menial jobs like working at gas stations. We cannot provide for our families. Hard times. Reporter there are virtually no other muslims in palau. Its a majority christian country. While the uighurs say theyre grateful to the palauan government, theyre hoping to be resettled in another country, like australia, where theres a thriving uighur population. For now, though, theyre stranded in limbo. The principal reason the situation developed is that the United States was committed not to returning these people to china. And so in some sense, the whole problem developed in part because the United States was not willing to see these people harmed or tortured. Reporter some of our viewers might look at the idea of being stranded in palau which to many people is an island paradise as not the worst place in the world to be stuck for a few years. Palau is certainly not the worst place in the world to be stuck for anyone, including the uighurs. For the uighurs being in china would be the worst place in the world. But they cant breathe that final sigh of relief because they dont know where theyre ultimately going to end up. And that takes a tremendous psychological toll on them. On the first day, the few months, we think, we are restored this is our vacation, everything is beautiful. And the swimming and the view, and the weather, but after years and, what do we think . Homeless, stateless, moneyless, everything. Eleanor moseman spent a year living with uighur families in xinjiang, china, experienced life among the uighurs at newshour. Pbs. Org. For many americans, iran is viewed through the lens of middle east politics and Nuclear Weapons capabilities. And the Islamic Revolution there in 1979 turned it into a far more closed society. But now in an exhibit at the say sha society here in new york, theres an opportunity to get a glimpse of iran through its art in works judged unsuitable after the revolution and have barely been seen since. Through symbolism and caricatures of people in power, nikkis artwork walks a fine line between art and politics. I dont have a clear idea. I play with ideas. Theres some ambiguity in the art. Reporter so this is khamenei . On one side. Reporter he faced sharp criticism in his homeland of iran. After the ousting in 1979, the new khamenei regime, artwork was considered off limits. Art died for ten years almost after the revolution. A lot of people went underground, a lot of people didnt work at all. Reporter nicky was exiled from iran after an exhibition of his works in the Tehran Museum of contemporary art in 1980. They viewed me as antirevolution and antikhamenei and antiregime. I had the call two days later, dont talk to anyone, just stay away. If you can, get out of the country. Reporter and you left . And i left. Reporter you left your paintings . I left the paintings. All of them at the museum. Reporter where are they now . Good question. Reporter nicky is not sure hell ever be able to go back to iran let alone show his work there. But here in the u. S. , he continues to paint and his work from before the revolution is garnering new attention for a time when art in iran was not censored but encouraged. Nickys work from this period is part of a new exhibit of 26 modern iranian artists at new yorks asia society, with more than 100 sculptures, paintings and photographs, its the largest exhibition of its kind outside of iran. In the 1950s, 60s and 70s, modern art in iran was thriving. It combined persian artistic traditions with avon guard style. Artists traveled to and from the west exchanging techniques. The scene was so significant, that tehran has its own worldwide art fair every two years. It was when iran as a society was modernizing. So the artists were also modernizing their work in many different ways. And it became a real kind of cultural flowering of iranian art during this time. Reporter melissa chu is the director of the asia society in new york. In the midst of increasing tensions between iran and the u. S. , she hopes the exhibit sheds a different light on irans history. The exhibition is about a period when actually iran and the u. S. Were quite close politically and certainly culturally. So there was a lot more back and forth and closer communications than we have now with the political situation. Reporter and chu notes that contemporary artists continue to face censorship in iran. What is it about art that is so dangerous to regimes . Well, i think artists are often the voice of criticality. They critique issues of power. They critique things they see around them. And i think that can sometimes make it difficult for those in power. Reporter but art is almost impossible to suppress. The contemporary art scene has been gaining strength in iran in recent years, particularly in animation, film and photography. Artists from iran have won World Press Photo awards. And last year, the iranian film a separation won the oscar for best foreign film. The first one ever for iran. And there are hopes that under the new government in tehran, there will be some relaxation of irans international relationships. And with it, relaxation of restrictions on artistic expression that could allow nickys work to be seen in his homeland again. This is pbs news hour weekend saturday. Finally tonight, a subject that touches millions of lives, the struggle against alzheimers. While scientists have tried unsuccessfully for years to try to figure out how to cure the disease, new experiments being done on mice in Great Britain offer a glimmer of hope. Martin geisler reports. Reporter for five years, a team has been working in this laboratory in lester looking for a cure for alzheimers. Now they believe theyve found one. They tested a chemical compound on mice with dramatic results. All the animals had a incredibling brain condition. The ones given the medication made a remarkable recovery. The difference between the mice is extraordinary. It attacks the brain in a similar way to alzheimers. So the treatment this one has been given should translate perfectly into a medicine that humans can take. Alzheimers sets in when misshapen proteins build up in the brain. The brain shuts down its own ability to produce any protein at all. Brain cells which need proteins for protection begin to die off. This leads to symptoms like confusion and memory loss. Researchers gave mice the new drug which can be taken as a pill. They found it got protein production moving again. So with protection back in place, cells survive and disease cant spread. The treatment carries some serious side effects which will have to be eliminated. But it could be available as a medicine as soon as thats done. It takes a long time to get drugs to market. But this isnt years and years away. Maybe five to ten years. Reporter its been described as a milestone, a moment in medical history, the kind of language you rarely hear from the normally cautious scientific community. It is a landmark but the beginning of a long journey, not the end. Join us tomorrow on air and online. We report on a Program Designed to help those most at risk of dying during childbirth. We dont work for the hospital or for the birthing center. We dont work for the midwife. We work for the woman. Recapping todays top story, members of the house of representatives leave washington with no deal on the Government Shutdown or the debt ceiling. Thats it for this edition of pbs news hour weekend. Im hari sreenivasan. Thanks for watching. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com pbs news hour weekend is made possible by judy and josh westin, joyce b. Hale, the Wallace Family in memory of miriam and ira d. Wallace. The millstein family. Bernard and irene schwartz. Rosalyn p. Walter. Pacific islanders and communications. Corporate funding provided by mutual of america, designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. crowd cheering in distance narrator rome, in the year a. D. 80. And the newlybuilt colosseum. At the center of the colosseums inaugural games, the gladiators. What drove these men to fight in the arena . Why did the romans take such pleasure in this theater of death . sword squelches