ni pbs newshour weekend is made possible by Corporate Funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are 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 kqed in San Francisco, hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan good evening. Thanks for joining us. While definitive answers remain elusive, new information emerged today about the young copilot who authorities believe deliberately flew a Germanwings Airbus into the side of a mountain in the alps. All 150 people on board were killed. For the latest, we are joined by jack ewing of the New York Times. He joins us tonight via skype from montabaur germany where the copilot was from. So what do we know today . Good afternoon. The latest as my colleague in paris has determined, he had sought treatment for vision problems some time before the crash. So that suggest thats perhaps his ability to fly was in question, and perhaps gives us some idea what his motivation might have been. And he had concealed this from his employer. Sreenivasan and weve got these reports that perhaps his longterm relationship ended just the day before this crash . Ive seen that speculation. I havent been able to confirm it myself. We know he had a girlfriend. What the status of the relationship was, whether there was any problems, i havent been able to determine that with certainty. Sreenivasan so the doctors notes that he had did that include the day of this crash . I mean, was he basically supposed to stay home or had an excuse to stay home from the doctor for whatever the medical reason was . Yeah, thats my understanding. In germany, the way the system works, if a doctor gives you one of these srktz youre supposed to stay home. Youre obligated to stay home and you should ipform your employer about that and it seems he did not do that. Sreenivasan there was also a report today that the girlfriend had said he at some points woke nupt middle of the night and said, one day ill do something. My name will be known forever. This is coming from what is called the bild site, a german tabloid newspaper. I would take that with a grain of salt. They dont say who this person is and we have no way of really knowing how credible that account is. Sreenivasan whats the state of the investigation now . Well, i think the both the french and the German Authorities areni going through material that theyve seized from his apartment in dusseldorf, and apparently, also from his parents house here in mont bower and theyre trying to determine what his motivation might have been, what when he knew about these conditions that he had and how much he had told the germanwings and lufthansa his employers. So theyre just trying to determine the whole seqeps of dismingz find out how much as they can about why he might have done this terrible thing. Sreenivasan jack, youve been looking into the life of this copilot. What more you have learned . Well the one thing that you get over and over again whennr you talk to people about him is they say he seemed verynini normal. He was friendly. Hezo u in pretty well. He wasnt a loner. At the same time, he was pretty reserved. He wasnt somebody that stoodni out. And you keep hearing that over and over again, that he wasnr very normaf the one thing that stood out was that he extremely passionate about flying. That was really his big thing. And he started when he was 14 here learning how to fly a glider. I talked to the president of the glider club today and all they remembered was he was very motivated to fly and they had no inc. Ling that anything like this would ever happen. Sreenivasan all right, jack ewing of the New York Times joining usni have a skype from germany. Thanks so much. Youre welcome. Sreenivasan leaders of 21 nations from the arab league gathered today in an egyptian resort town to consider whether to create a joint Arab Military force to counter proiranian rebels in yemen. Saudi arabia continued air strikes on the rebelheld areas in yemen for a third consecutive day. Dozens of civilians reportedly have been killed. The fighting in yemen is seen asni a proxy war between sunni muslim nations, like saudi arabia, and shiite muslim nations like iran. American officials have said theni conflict in yemen undermines their efforts to contain al qaeda. Its members there took responsibility for the terror attacks in paris in january. co in somalia, officials said today they have regained full controlni of a hotel in the capital city of mogadishu that had been attacked by islamic extremists. At least 20 people were killed,ni including a somali diplomat to the united nations. The militant group, alshabab claimed responsibility for the attack, which began with a car bomb, followed by armed gunmen storming the hotel building. Six gunmen were among those killed. The alshabab extremists, who are linked to alqaeda, have been waging similar attacks against civilian targets and the Somali Government since 2006. ni american astronaut scott kelly and two russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space station last night, for a nearly a year long spaceconrni mission, the longest ever by an american astronaut. Kelly and the others will undergo extensive medical tests to see how they rebs ur u r long trip. Kellys twin brother, retired astronaut mark kelly, on the left, will undergo similar tests while on earth so nasa can compare how two identical humans respond to different conditions. The republican governor of arkansas, asa hutchinson, saysnr he will sign a bill, allowing businesses there not to provide services to groups whose lifestyle violate the owners religious beliefs. For instance, a bakery not having to make a cake for a samesex wedding. Proponents say the measure upholds religious freedom. Opponents say it fosters discrimination against homosexuals. Indiana passed a similar law earlier this week. Several Corporate Leaders have criticized the legislation, nowxd on the books in 19 states. In colorado, a judge has dismissed a lawsuit to hold ammunition retailers liable for the 2012 Aurora Movie Theater shooting that left 12 people dead. ni parents of one of the shooting victims had sued four ammo dealers charging that they sold bullets and other equipment to alleged shooter james holmes without fully screening him. In his ruling yesterday, the judge said, the plaintiffs failed to prove negligence on the part of the retailers. Holmes faces trial next month. The prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. A new Study Suggests that aerobic exercise could change the biology of malignant tumors and make chemotherapy more effective. The idea is that exercise creates oxygenrich blood vessels that can wrap around blood vessels feeding the tumor, essentially starving it. The study, done on mice at duke mass general and memorial sloan kettering, was published in the journal of the National Cancer institute. Additional tests are underway to help determine its implications for humans. co sreenivasan and now to our signature segment. Theres a new movement tonr encourage people to think and talk about death, long before it happens, but its not as dark as it sounds, its also creating an opportunity for families to talkco about life, and how people wishni to live it near the end. It all begins with a simple conversation. Our report is by newshour special correspondent lynn sherr. conini whats the matter, mama . Im dying, forrest. Reporter its been a hollywood staple for decades the deathbed scene. Here, Forrest Gumps mom reminding her son that death is a natural part of life. But when endoflifeco conversations with doctors were encouraged by the Government Back in 2009 during the obamacare debate, opponents called them death panels and the idea became toxic. Some called it pulling the plug on grandma. that was then. It is exactly the opposite. co it is about grandma controlling the plug. Reporter dr. Lachlan forrownr a specialist in ethics and Palliative Care at Bostons Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is at the forefront of a new National Movement to make talking about death public policy. He chaired the Expert Medical Panel that helped lead to newni massachusetts regulations the first in the nation, which took effect in december mandating that Health Facilities from hospitals to assisted Living Communities tell terminally ill patients their endoflife options. The full range of the choices, from keep me alive no matter what, as long as medicine can do that, to i just want to be home with my family, with hospice, to anything in between or any sequence. Reporter nationally a number of private insurers are already reimbursing doctors for having those talks. nr among the critical first steps ni an advance directive and a Health Care Proxy so someone you trust can legally make decisions if youre incapacitated. And almost six years after the obamacare proposal perished in the political graveyard, medicare is now reviewing the possibility of paying for such discussions, which have been endorsed by the american medical association. A decision could come by the end of this year. We are just starting to emerge so that politicians and others realize this is not the third rail of politics. Reporter but advocates say policy doesnt change until the culture does, and inserting such private conversations into the public arena may require a new approach. Sometimes people think you talk about dying and you let it into the room. Reporter pulitzerprize winning journalist Ellen Goodman is on a mission to make death part of popular conversation. For more than 35 years, she chronicled American Social change in her widely syndicated columns for the boston globe. She wrote about the values instilled in her as a child by her father, who helped run john f. Kennedys first senate campaign, and her homemaker mother, edith. But goodman only realized the consequences of leaving certain things unsaid about a dozennr years ago, when her Mothers Health started to fail. I think we all have this fantasy that were going to live to 90, and then kaboom, you know . But, in fact, the reality is that many of us will face a long period of being frail and declining. And i would say that my mother began to decline somewhere in her 80s, really. Reporter after her mother moved to a longterm care facility a few miles away goodman found herself making medical decisions she hadnt dreamed of, especially because edith began to suffer from dementia. My mother could really no longer decide what she wanted for lunch, let alone what she wanted for health care decisions. So i was faced with a kind of cascading number of decisions for which i was unprepared. In fact, blindsided. And i remember particularly one day when i got a call on the phone and i was on deadline. And the doctor said to me, your mother has another bout of pneumonia. Do you want her to have antibiotics . And i remember my hands being poised over the keyboard, saying, what is he asking me . Is he asking me do i want her to live or die . You know, can i call you back . Could i have a minute . And so, it was quite shocking to me that those decisions fell to me. Id just never thought about it before. Reporter what youre saying is, you never talked to her about these things ahead of time . Well, we didnt talk in a way that was useful. From time to time, if we were together, my mother would say, i never want to be like that. Pull the plug. You know, a lot of people say that. Well, theres generally no plug to pull. Reporter edith holtz died at 92 in 2006. Four years later, goodman co founded the conversation project, a nonprofit to urge people to express their endof life desires, to have the conversation with those close to them early on before its too late. Advised by a group of Healthcare Professionals including dr. Forrow, its web site has attracted almost a quarter million visitors. More than half have downloaded the starter kit, a kind of security blanket to jump start the process. When you download the kit youll find plenty of useful and practical advice on how to get an otherwise uncomfortable discussion going. For openers, you are asked to complete the following sentence what matters to me at the end of life is. Youre also invited to consider where you want to have the conversation, with whom and where. And there are suggestions of the actual words you can use to break the ice. For instance, i need to think about the future. Will you help me . We talked about Nursing Homes and, you know, living at home. We talked about pain management. We talked about all kinds of issues that we wouldnt otherwise have ever talked about until the time was upon us. Reporter husband and wife chuck koplik and sue tafler of lexington, massachusetts recently had the conversation with their only child, sarah yukich. Inspired by a workshop on the conversation project at their synagogue, chuck and sue in their 60s and in good Health Except for recent surgery on sues foot sat down here in their living room. They were most concerned about the effect on sarah. I could just tell i was unsettling her, so that was difficult. Im 32. I have a twoyearold. Im an adult, and i know that. But, at the same time interacting with my parents, im their child; im not their caretaker. And trying to think about that eventual role reversal is very scary. Reporter so, when they suggested having the conversation, your first reaction was. I was happy that they were suggesting it because its something that i have wanted to talk to them about, but i didnt really have any idea of how to bring it up. Reporter sarah says she was especially relieved when they said that moving them to maryland, where she lives, for longterm care would be acceptable. It was like, oh, okay. So, now i dont have to be sort of holding that inside but not really knowing how to bring it up. Reporter was this about gaining control over the end of your life . Yeah, im very much a planner and manager. I think in some ways it kind of gives me a little bit of a sense of control. Yeah, my biggest fears would be that, you know, that id be in pain. Or maybe i wasnt so clearheaded and the doctors would be making decisions on what my treatment would be, and then theyd be making the decisions. Reporter individuals not medical staff should determine those issues, says the conversation project. According to a survey the group conducted, more than 90 of people agree, saying they should have the conversation. But only 30 have done so, which is why theyre expanding their Public Engagement campaign. Goodman herself, who used to cover social change and its influence on our institutions, now makes it happen. Let me show you statistics. 70 of americans say they want to die at home, and 70 of americans are dying in hospitals and institutions. Reporter theyre co sponsoring death over dinner parties social gatherings to approach the subject in a cozy setting so people can break bread while breaking the taboo. Theyve also had some luck convincing tv writers to include family conversations about death in their scripts. It was a decision we made together. Reporter its all about making the subject safe, bringing it home, because, the conversation project says, nothing will change until people Start Talking about it. You have kids, you have grandkids, you have a husband. Have you had the conversation . Oh, yes, ive had it. My daughters a comedian, and her First Response when i said, lets have this conversation, was, cant we have lunch . But we did get through it, we did talk about it, and i have talked about it with my husband and with most of the people in my family. People, when they have these conversations with each other describe them as some of the richest personal moments theyve had with people they love. Someone described having the conversation to us as a gift. Its a gift you give your family. Sreenivasan a conversation on the conversation will happen online, thursday on twitter from 1 002 00 p. M. Eastern. Join representatives from the conversation project and pbs frontline. Follow along at newshourchats. And now to the arts, and new efforts to help young people discover Classical Music. A group known as americans for the arts estimates that attendance at performances by symphony orchestras has declined by about 15 since the year 2000. How can that trend be reversed . Welcome to something known as soundbox, here in San Francisco. Kqeds cy musiker reports. Reporter many who come here tonight may not know a lot about Classical Music, but thats part of the experiment. Soundbox is designed to appeal to people, many of them younger people who never have attended many classical concerts before. Reporter this is a laboratory for the San Francisco symphony and music director Michael Tilson thomas, who are looking for ways to create new musical experiences and entice new audiences. Since the 1970s, ive been really interested in how the installation of music can change the audiences perception of it. nrni how to bring people who are listening to the music more inside the world that we the performers are experiencing . Reporter by day, the space is a cavernous rehearsal hall. By show time, lighting, a barnr and custom acoustics designed for the event completely transform the space. The musicians are menrim of the same orchestra that performs on the main stage of davies symphony hall, where theyve honed their skills playing classical symphonies. But in this venue, there are multiple stages and opportunities to broaden the repertoire. Musically, we do get to do different things. The piece that i played was a very angular, loud, rambunctious piece. ni reporter each set lasts 20 to 30 minutes, with ample intermissions to mingle and buy drinks. And at 25, the price of entry here is a fraction of higher tier symphony seats. Its a more relaxed atmosphere, and i think that is the first thing that kind of turns younger, maybe less exposed people off the whole symphony experience. They think theyre going to come in here, and they have to be quiet and its stuffy, and everyone is wearing a tuxedo or a ball gown, and you cant talk and youa gnpgd you dont know when to clap. Reporter the freeflowing atmosphere is targeting a younger, more diverse audience but the goal is to hook them into serious music. It is very challenging music. I usually tend to, when i go out, go to more kind of either rockoriented shows, or hip hop shows, or kind of more modernco shows. But i find that it blew my mind. Reporter the series is just four months old, and the symphony has made some unusual marketing choices like not putting a link to soundbox on its homepage, says Classical Music critic joshua kosman. Its a sort of an anti Marketing Strategy where you kind of make sure not to giveni too much information that will bring in the regulars and squeeze out the newcomers and the adventurers. Reporter kosman said that symphonies need to justify their existence in a landscape crowded with entertainment options. San francisco symphony board president Sakurako Fisher argues that soundbox is about more than selling tickets; its about staying relevant. Its not a business, it is part of the necessity of the human heart. Its a part of what makes a vibrant community. Reporter if the current run of soldout performances means anything, soundbox may be the prototype for the next era in Classical Music. applause this is pbs newshour weekend saturday. Sreenivasan and now to viewers like you. Your comments about some of our recent work. We heard from many of you about last sundays signature piece exploring whether gambling on Sports Events should be legalized. ni many of you told us you think its a bad idea. Donna williamsterry wrote us ni it would be extremely addictive for too many people. More so than regular casino gambling because sports in itself is addictive. Diane roman said making it legal doesnt cure the disease. And Larry Scheller told us hes seen the harm gambling causes. nr i know two people that have mortgaged their homes and lost them due to their gambling addiction. nini Normanium Eldred said gambling is basically a tax on the poor and desperate. Kurt rex cooper worried thered be too much opportunity for corruption. Andhwalliam giegrich called the idea disgusting. Totally corrupting. But more of you thought states should try to take advantage of an activity many people are engaged in anyway. Erik somoroff said make it legal. Not my place to judge and id rather see someni revenue for the states come in. And be properly managed of course. Jason Michael Orourke wrote ni tax and regulate. Those that will gamble what they dont have to lose will do it anyway. The law should never be designed to protect one, from oneself. Andrew jones said its legal in other countries that seem to do ok. Like the drug war driving it underground just makes it harder to control in a reasonable manner. And finally this from nathan engle since we apparently cant even indict the wall street gamblers who crashed the Global Economy im not re i see the point in persecuting sports fans for putting their money where their mouths are. As always we welcome your comments at pbs. Org newshour, on our facebook page, or tweet us newshour. Sreenivasan some more news before we leave you tonight angies list, the customer referral website says it is dropping plans to expand its operations in indiana. It joins yelp, salesforce. Com and others in protest of indiana states passage of a religious freedom act. Critics say the new law will promote discrimination against gays. And whats known as earth hour, from 8 30 p. M. To 9 30 p. M. Local time, is being observed around the world. The dimming of lights, like here at saint basils cathedral on red square in moscow, is meant to call attention to climate change. Thats all for tonight. Well be back here at kqed in San Francisco again tomorrow night. Im hari sreenivasan. Thanks for joining us. Captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org pbs newshour weekend is made possible by Corporate Funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs thank you. Narrator when talking tv sex therapy, it is one name that springs to mind. There is nothing more interesting in this entire world than what people do at home in a certain room. Dr. Ruth westheimer. Famous around the world, dr. Ruth is the little lady with the nononsense approach to sex. Man when im with a woman, i cant seem to get excited. You dont seem to be able to get an erection . Narrator ruths strong advocacy for the use of contraception and her support of legalized abortion and aids awareness have put her firmly in the public consciousness