Transcripts For WHYY PBS NewsHour 20140818

Principal. You have to trust that the people who are closest to the child are working in a capacity of excellence. You have to trust that they know children well, and are taking children where they need to go. Woodruff those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. 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. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the violence plaguing ferguson, missouri sparked new initiatives today. The governor deployed the National Guard, and president obama announced hes sending in attorney general eric holder. Its all aimed at restoring calm after the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman the decision to call out the National Guard was the latest effort to quell the violence in ferguson. Last night, police again used tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a crowd after reports of gunfire, firebombs and looting. Highway patrol captain ron johnson. There were multiple additional reports of molotov cocktails being thrown. Police were shot at. Makeshift barricades were set up to block police. Bottles and rockets were thrown at police. Based on these conditions, i had no alternative to elevate the level of our response. Woodruff hours later, in his statement deploying the guard, missouri governor jay nixon condemned the unrest, saying these violent acts are a disservice to the family of Michael Brown and his memory and to the people of this community. Woodruff this afternoon, as guard members arrived, Governor Nixon announced their role will be limited. He also lifted the two day old curfew. Meanwhile, attorneys for Michael Browns family released the results of a privately conducted autopsy. They did not want to be left having to rely on the autopsy done by the st. Louis agencies, the same individuals they feel are responsible for executing their son in broad daylight. Woodruff former new york city chief medical examiner Michael Baden and forensic pathologist Shawn Parcells found the 18yearold was shot six times. Weve got one to the very top of the head, the apex. Weve got one that entered just above the right eyebrow. Weve got one that entered the top part of the right arm. Weve got a graze wound, a superficial graze wound, to the middle part of the right arm. Weve got a wound that entered the medial aspect of the right arm, and weve got a deep graze wound that produced a laceration to the palm of the right hand. Woodruff Police Officer Darren Wilson fired those shots during a confrontation on august ninth. Parcells could not say with certainty if the wounds indicated brown was facing wilson or if he had his hands raised, as witnesses have said, but he did say this dr. Baden and i do feel, because of the two gunshot wounds to the head, indicating that mr. Brown was bending over as they were coming down, that those two shots were most likely the last two to occur to him. Woodruff the autopsy also found no gunshot residue, indicating the gun was fired from more than two feet away. Police have said brown initially struggled with officer wilson in his police car. Later, local officials released partial results of the initial autopsy. It, too, found brown was shot six to eight times. All this, as u. S. Attorney general eric holder met with president obama at the white house this afternoon to discuss the situation in ferguson. Later the president spoke in the White House Briefing room. The attorney general himself will be traveling to ferguson on wednesday to meet with the f. B. I. Agents and d. O. J. Personnel conducting the federal criminal investigation and he will receive an update from them on their progress. He will also be meeting with city leaders whose support is so critical to bringing about peace and calm in ferguson. Woodruff holder has ordered a third, federally supervised autopsy as part of a civil rights investigation. Well return to ferguson to hear what Community Leaders are saying about the situation right after the news summary. Wall street surged ahead today, on rising homebuilder confidence, Falling Oil Prices and other factors. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained nearly 176 points to close well over 16,838; the nasdaq rose 43 points to close at 4,508, the highest its been in 14 years; and the s p 500 added 16, to finish at 1,971. A fiveday ceasefire between israel and hamas was extended another 24 hours this evening. Egyptian officials mediating negotiations said that will give more time to try to work out a longerterm truce. Meanwhile, the Israeli Security service said it foiled an attempt by hamas to topple palestinian president mahmoud abbas, who rules the west bank. Activists now say Islamic State fighters in syria shot and beheaded hundreds of people after a failed uprising. The victims belonged to a tribe that battled the jihadis in eastern syria, near the iraqi border. The Islamic State has declared a muslim caliphate across a swath of syria and iraq. In ukraine, the military reported dozens of civilians were killed in a rocket attack on a convoy of refugees. Their buses came under fire near the rebelheld city of luhansk, where Government Forces advanced over the weekend. Government officials blamed the separatists for the attack. translated terrorists committed a bloody crime. Terrorists fired at a column of civilians near luhansk who were trying to flee the zone of military actions, from multiple missile complexes and mortars that were handed to the bandits by the russian federation. A lot of people died, including women and children. Woodruff rebels denied they have the capability to carry out such an attack. Instead, they blamed the military. Elsewhere, hundreds of russian trucks carrying humanitarian aid remained parked at a border checkpoint. Theyll undergo xray inspection as part of an agreement reached between russia and ukraine. Antigovernment protesters in pakistan insisted today they will not back down until Prime Minister nawaz sharif resigns. Since the weekend, tens of thousands of demonstrators have occupied two main streets in the capital islamabad, blocking traffic and shutting down businesses. They accuse sharif of rigging last years elections. British police today questioned some of the 35 afghan sikhs found in a shipping container. The stowaways ranged in age from one to 72. Dock workers heard them screaming for help on saturday. One man was declared dead. Others suffered hypothermia and dehydration. A truck delivered the container to a belgian port, where a ship brought it to britain. Mental and Developmental Disabilities among American Children rose slightly between 2001 and 2011. Researchers at the university of pittsburgh, say eight percent of all children were affected. Those living in poverty remain more likely to have disabilities, but the study said the rate among betteroff families rose 28 over the decade. And, the cost of raising a child keeps climbing. The u. S. Agriculture Department Reports a baby born in 2013 will cost a middleincome family an average of more than 245,000 before reaching adulthood. Thats up nearly two percent from 2012. Former senator jeffer,s died today, he had been in declining health, he gained the National Spotlight in 2001 when he quit the party and became an independent. The move gave control of the senate to democrats. He retired in 2007 after more than 30 years in washington. James jeffers was 80 years old. Still to come on the newshour. What can ferguson do to move forward . Capturing how ebola has devastated liberia. Why displaced iraqis fear returning home even as Kurdish Military fight back islamic militants. Putting teachers in control of the management of their schools. And, new reports show military families and older College Students are among the Many Americans who are hungry. Woodruff we take a closer look now at the situation in ferguson. How the st. Louis, missouri Area Community is struggling to keep order and heal the divisions that continue to bring protesters to the streets. A short while ago we spoke with u. S. A. Today reporter yamiche alcindor, who is in ferguson. Yamiche all cinder, thank you for joining us again, i want to start by asking you about reaction to Governor Nixons decision to ended curfew and to call in the missouri National Guard. The reaction here was really mixed. I talked to a lot of people who were really happy to hear that the National Guard was coming in. People say that the businesses here are losing so much money and people who live in this neighborhood are terrorized because every night there is tear gas and gunshots in their neighborhoods. Hour some people are really upset. I talked to one woman who feels like shes in prison in her own neighborhood. And there, people really thought, you know, just even more militarizing of our neighborhoods, this is really the actual military. When the National Guard comes in, there will be soldiers walking down the street. So i think people are kind of mixed but i think the majority of people i talked to are worried because they thought this might get out of hand. Woodruff we just heard president obama say in his News Conference that he wants to make sure the National Guard is used in an appropriate and, he said in a limited way. So it sounds like youre saying that would be welcomed by the people there. If it is limited. Yeah, the people who are really for the National Guard and are looking forward to this are really saying even though im looking forward to this, this really needs to be limited. This really needs to be people not just getting tear gassed because they are walking down the street at the wrong time of day. It needs to be that people that are looting, that are really causing the violence, they need to be the ones that the National Guard are arresting and the National Guard are taking into custody. The people, the peaceful protestors say they really want to be left alon and still want to be able to voice their opinion. Woodruff yamiche, how clear is a distinction being made between folks who are protesting who are local residents and those who are coming in from the outside and maybe causing some of these problems . I think there are two very distinct groups. I think there are people that are even coming in from outside of ferguson who are still considered protestors. There are people that are peacefully protesting, that are chanting justice for mike brown. Dont shoot, hands up. There are people that once the curfew was if effect, they would leave am but then there are the looters. And those are the people that actually the protestors are actually clashing with the looters. The protestors are trying to get the looters to go home. Theyre trying to get them to stay away from business. And those looters are the people that are picking up rocks and throwing them at the police, those are the people that are breaking into the local businesses here. So there are two distinct groups and actually two distinct groups that are clashing. Protestors are trying to protect the city in what i saw last night, protestors are really trying to protect the city from looters. Woodruff yamiche, we know are you talking about people all day long while youre there. Reactions youre hearing to the privatelyordered autopsy that was we heard a report on that today. The autopsy that was ordered by the family and also reports that are now starting to come out about the version of what happened on the part of the Police Officer. What are you hearing about all that . People are very, very angry. I think that autopsy really a lot of peoples anger toward the police, people are saying not only did we think he was shot with his hands up, but six times, especially with that pathologist saying that Michael Brown could have survived the first shots but that last shot, that shot to his head was the one that killed him. So people here are really, really up set about that. There was a man here who was trying to order peace, trying to be a peacekeeper. And he said, you know, we really need time to digest that autopsy. So that tells you that even the people trying to keep peace understand the autopsy is really inflaming people. So really people are really up set here. Woodruff and what about the version of the story coming out from the Police Officer . Are you hearing any conversation about that . People are really thinking that the Police Officer is lying. A lot of people are saying that they think that this officer was strategically covered up by his department. They say it took so long for them to release his name t took so long for them to do all these Different Things that they really dont truth any version coming out of the Police Department so a lot of people are saying that they really just dont believe what the police are saying. And thats why they are protesting. They says thats part of the problem. Its not just police brutality, not just people being shot but also the coverup. The idea that the cops are really trying to protect their own. Woodruff and finally, so people are they looking to the Police Department locally to prosecute this . Now that we know the attorney general is coming in, where are people looking now for justice, the next step . Some people trust the local community, some people trust their local prosecutor. They say lets start the process here and see what happens. I think some people are saying, you know, with the local prosecutor can get this done, indict this officer for murder which is what a lot of the protestors here want, then maybe we can trust the process. But i think a lot of people, especially the Community Leaders and the people that have come in from outside, reverend sharpton, Martin Luther king, jr. Say they want to see a federal investigation and a federal prosecution. So i think that there are people, mainly from the outside that i think are starting, we want to try to see if there is a way for the federal government to prosecute. But i think the people locally here are saying lets maybe start here, start in our neighborhood where Michael Brown was kill kd and then maybe we can take this federally if it gets to that point. Woodruff yamiche alcindor, reporter for u. S. A. Today on the ground there in ferguson, missouri. Thank you. Woodruff we turn now to two leaders in the community. Earlier this evening i spoke with former ferguson mayor brian fletcher. And, Missouri State senator maria chapellenadal. Woodruff former mayor fletcher, state senator chappell nadal, we thank you for joining us. I want to ask you first about the governors decision to call in the National Guard. We just heard president obama say he wants that to be a limited use of the guard and in an appropriate manner. Senator chapel nadal, what do you make of the decision to call out the guard. Well, what i would agree to is that we certainly need some order in this community there are certain elements that have come into the ferguson area that are not welcome. We have heard that anarchists have come from across the country to incite negativity in the community. And all ferguson residents, all they want to do is to be able to protest in peace. And we just want to make sure theres order. And we do not have disturbances. We want to make sure that all businesses are safe, and that every single resident is safe as they are protesting and trying to live their lives. Woodruff former mayor brian fletcher, tell me, what is your reaction to calling out the guard to patrol your community. And why do believe its been so hard to bring calm to the area . I dont think anyone quite knows the answer why calm is not coming except a lot of Unanswered Questions at this point. I do believe the National Guard is necessary. We do need the protection of our businesses, during the evening hours. And i think this will help some of the destruction thats occurring in the cities. Woodruff senator chpell chpellenadal, what is your opinion on why if has been so hard to get the situation calm. Frankly i have to go back to what i have been saying since day one, since i have been at ground zero. Governor nixon has not come to ground zero, one or two. And its concerning to its residents who are the victims of the situation. Most of the people here at ground zero are young people who have been intimidated and harassed at any given time. And they all see themselves as a Michael Brown. And because the governor has a disconnect with the community that is most affected, i think he just didnt understand how to go about answering the needs of the community. And instead of leaning on the people who are affected at ground zero, he has relied on folk whs who have no connection to the people who are most impacted. Woodruff . Judy, can i respond to the same question . Woodruff yes. All right, first of all, judy, most of the individuals coming into our community disrupting it are not from ferguson itself. Very few of the protestors are actually from ferguson. And definitely the people causing the violence are not from ferguson. What we need is we need our children to go back to school. We dont need the attention that were getting. Our city hall cannot function. We need the help of the National Guard, and quite frankly, i dont believe the media is helping. It is giving the opportunity for those that wish to do bad to actually show it on video. Woodruff well, let me just in the short time we have left, what do both, the two of you believe it is going to take to restore a calm calm to the community and a sense of confidence that justice will be done . Ill start with that. What the community is doing, we have organized a group called i love ferguson. We have ordered 3,000 yard signs that say i love ferguson that will sprout up through ferguson. I raised 8,000 within 24 hours of 5, little boys bringing up change, and these signs will start being up on wednesday morning. Heres the real deal. The constituents in this community, they want justice, they want to make sure that this officer is arrested, that there is a grand jury, and then that theres justice through the justice system. Woodruff thank you both. Mayor and senator chapellenadal. Thank you. Woodruff now the widening effects of the Ebola Outbreak in west africa continue to spread. Jeffrey brown has our update. Reporter there was no sign of ebola panic this weekend in downtown monrovia, liberias capital. But in a slum on saturday night angry residents stormed a Quarantine Center. Stealing bloodstained sheets and spiriting away patients. Some charged those sent to the site had received little care. Others branded the Ebola Outbreak a hoax. As of today, 17 patients were still missing, amid fears the attack will only spread the disease. Ebola has now appeared in guinea, sierra leone, liberia and nigeria in the worst outbreak on record. Its killed at least 1,145 people. Sierra leones president , ernest bai koroma, has appealed for more international help. This is a call we are now making to the world because we need Treatment Centers, and in Treatment Centers we need clinicians that require specialized training, we dont have that. Reporter the effects of the crisis in west africa have rippled across the continent. The government of kenya, in east africa, closed its borders today to travelers from the affected countries. But efforts to fight the outbreak are also gaining momentum. On sunday, Doctors Without Borders opened a 120 bed treatment site in monrovia. Its the largest such center in history. And in this country, theres word that two american patients being treated at Emory University hospital in atlanta are improving. I spoke to john moore, a photographer with getty images a short time ago. He witnessed the attack on the Quarantine Center and has been documenting the outbreak in monrovia. John moore, thanks for joining us. First tell us more about the event. Who was involved and why did they seem to be doing it . Well, it was an angry crowd who had just driven away a burial team who had come to claim several bodies that were suspected of people suspected of dying of ebola. And the crowd drove away the burial teams and the police and then marched on the isolation ward will, the Holding Center for ebola patients. They pushed through the doors and told people that they really didnt have ebola after all. That they were sick of other causes and that it was safe to come out. Theres a lot of people who deny the existence of ebola here. They think that its a scheme, a hoax, a plot by the government to bring in International Money and they pulled these people out of the ward and then i left the scene because it was getting difficult and afterwards this crowd looted the facility taking soiled mattresses and contaminated medical equipment and i assume spreading the disease much more in their community. Brown these are patients under observation, not known to have ebola yet. What about the center itself, what are the conditions, how well or poorly supplied is it. The conditions were poor and the place was very poorly supplied. It was run by the Liberian Ministry of health, a small center, actually it was a Primary School that had been closed because of the epidemic, a school built by u. S. Aid funds. And they had no medicine there now we know ebola is not curable, however you can street the symptoms. And they had no aspirin to reduce the fever of these patients, all they gave them was food and water and so the conditions were quite bad. Brown youre describing one violent incident. You can tell how widespread the anger and fear are in monrovia now, is it a general sense or is the government actually reaching most people with a call for calm. The government is trying. And the International Community i was just with unicef today, canvassing another area of town, trying to explain to people how to prevent the diseasement i would not say theres general panic. I would expect there to be more, quite frankly. People are concerned but theyre concerned about lots of things. Theres lots of reasons that people get sick in this country. Brown youve also been documenting burials and other parts of cultural life affected by what is happening. Give us an example of how every day life is affected and in some cases makes it harder, perhaps toed a es the disease. Every day life is affected in that the schools and hospitals and clinings are mostly all closed. And if you ares sick from some other disease or if you are having a baby or if you are doing the things we do as humans, you sometimes need medical attention. And without these facilities open, people are sick and dying of things that they shouldnt be sick and dying of. And so the disease is affecting the Health System in other ways, the Health System that has really collapsed. Brown and looking at the photographs youre able to take, and how close to the situation you are, what precautions do you yourself take. I came to liberia with a full set of what they call ppe which is personal protective equipment. Which is anticontamination clothing. I came with many sets of coveralls, gloves, goggles, boot covers, all sorts of things, wipes and lots of fan advertise sanitizer, things to keep me healthy. All these things are one time use, they get disposed of after i go into an infected area. And i dress with teams who are going in to collect bodies and i undress all these items with them, so they are spraying me with disinfect tenant the whole time. Im doing my best to stay safe. Brown john moore, do take care and thank you again for joining us. Thank you. Woodruff next, addressing the high turnover rate among Public School teachers. John tulenko of learning matters television, which produces reports for the newshour, looks at a Boston School where the teachers have taken charge. For more than 20 years susan loved being a Public Schoolteacher but starting around 2001 with passage of the education law known as no child left behind here feelings began to change. I started to feel deadened. I felt like i had lost inspiration. I wasnt able to teach in the way that i had learned how to teach. Reporter her childcentered approach fell out of favor as testing and accountability became the new buzzwords. Almost like a tsunami of Data Collection frenzy. Such a shift. You have to do this because we want this number, we want this result on the test. Reporter gradually her frustrations grew and last march, slider quit. I felt, i got to a point where i was feeling like i was contributing to to pain for children. And i didnt want to do that any more. I couldnt keep teaching and hold on to any integrity. This it an incredibly hard time to be a teacher. I really feel very, very badly for those in the classroom every single day. I dont think their work is respected or appreciated. And i think too often they feel dictated to. Reporter to education professor tony wagner of harvard university, the topdown climate in many Public Schools is contributing it to an exodus of teachers, some 8 , more than 200,000 quit each year. And a National Survey found dissatisfaction with the job has increased from 40 four years ago to nearly 60 today. Moving on. Reporter but rather than quit, some teachers are taking back their classrooms in what are called teacherled schools Like Mission Hill school in boston, massachusetts. Cathy deandrea teaches kindergarten. Were democratic not just in theory but in practice. Anything that comes down the pike is a conversation, right. This is how im feeling, this is what is happening. So what i want to do is strategize. Reporter mission hill is one of about 70 teacherled schools that very merged around the country in recent years. Some of them choose to operate without a school principal. Here they have one, but the jobs different. When you have a decision to make in this school, do you get the final word . I dont get the final word. The principal who preferred to be called lead teacher doesnt even get the traditional private office. Its really a joint effort. I dont have all the skills all the background, all the talented that this group has. 2, 3, 4 heads are better than one. Yeah. In line with that thinking, all decisions, curriculum, budget, hiring are voted on by the entire staff nothing goes forward until everyone agrees. When we make decisions we have a raise of hands, so five, you strongly agree, four, you agree, you have some reser nations but qu live with it, but if you put a 1 you disagree and we stop. We dont go on until everyone can say they have a 5 or a 4. With this authority, teachers decide the look and feel of their classrooms. Theres lots of low lighting and soothing music, arts and crafts are everywhere, all part of Mission Hills personality. Teacher jen era. Were not going to use a package curriculum, were going to use student voices to shape our curriculum. Were going to shape our curriculum around their interests. I think at most other schools its a lot of you will follow this. You must follow this and theres never any room to breathe. Reporter but even those who favor giving teachers more say have reservations. Tony wagner. Too often i think the teaching profession is kind of heads down get the job done, you know, focus on the kids in front of you, do whats required, without having the time to sort of look around and reflect how is the world changing. How is what im teaching today different from what i taught ten or 20 years ago. How does it need to be different. Reporter teachers here like this model so much theres very little turnover. But it has its drawbacks when it comes to making hard decisions. With everyone voting and consensus required. What happens if you cant agree in the end. We get someone to help us. We talk and talk and talk and it could take months to decide. So that lead percent affectly to my next question. Raise your hand if you agree with this statement. In this school we spend too much time talking and too little time deciding. Okay. In this school we dont talk and talk and talk and things dont happen. We talk and talk and talk so things happen. Some people might find that a very frustrating way to work. I think its an essential thing. Every time there is a situation and were in disagreement and we talk and talk and talk until we are in agreement, it uncovers so many things, often many misconceptions or lack of trust or whatever, poisonous things that can grow in a community, doesnt happen here. Your pattern. Does putting teachers in charge result in students doing better . Here 40 of the students are proficient in english, in math 26 . Thats on par with the rest of the district but still low. The public locks at your test scores and says its not working. How do you respond . I think no school, no child and no teacher should be evaluated on one slice of the puzzle. Reporter so what else do you look at . Come see it. See the work, right, ask teachers in schools to put together portfolios of students work so you can see their progress. But what we dont do is change what we do so that we can only do better on this test. You have to trust that the people who are closest to the child are working in a capacity of excellence. You have to trust that they know children well, and are taking children where they need to go. Reporter but the conundrum is this, has student performance improved before teachers can be trusted, or can we trust that greater independence for teachers will result in higher performance . Tony wagner favors the handsoff approach but not until we follow the lead of higher performing countries like finland that do far more to prepare teachers for the job. Finland said weve got to better prepare our teachers starting 35 years ago. They closed down 80 of the teacher preparation programs. So the motto in finland today is trust through professionalism, not blind trust, not trust no matter what, it is that we have prepared you to be extraordinary professionals, now we trust you to be the professionals weve trained you to be. Here in this country when many students fall behind its likely districts will simply hand teachers the keys to school. Wagners train and trust approach may be the best way to improve their satisfaction. Woodruff new we look at hunger in america. A Study Released today by the nations largest Food Bank Network paints a grim picture. Jeffry is back with that. Reporter that report, by the nonprofit feeding america, found that roughly one in seven people in the country, 46 million people, rely on food banks or other charitable organizations for basic nutrition. They included some 620,000 military households and an increased number of adult College Students. Food bank clients come from all demographic groups. In suburbs as well as urban areas. And many report facing a choice between buying food and paying for utilities, rent, medicine and other necessities. Joining us is Deborah Flateman, executive director, Maryland Food bank. She sits on feeding americas board. Welcome. Thank you. Brown on a general level first what do we learn on this report about who is hungry in america . You know, honestly, from my point of view it verifies what we have been seeing trending over the past few years. I think one of the most significant pieces of data tells us that more than half of the people who are accessing food through the emergency feeding system including food banks an food shelves are people who are working. Brown that have jobs. Exactly. Brown but its not enough. Thats right, its not enough. Weve been seeing that anecdotally through our agencies for several years now. Brown so i mean its interesting to compare it to the height of the recession, things have gotten better in some ways, people might even have jobs but still not abating. Right. An interesting example of that is recently the steel mills in baltimore, for instance, closed down. And so the folks who are going to be able to find employment have to go through retraining. Were sending tracker trailer loads of food over to help them out on a monthly basis because even if they retrain and reenter the market, theyre not going to make the level of income that they did. Brown youre in maryland. Yes. Brown a relatively welloff state. Exactly. So isnt it shocking that, you know, some 10, 11 of maryland population are people who are living on the emergency feeding assistance program. Brown its also interesting that something we have looked at in the programming the last year is that this is not in any way just an urban phenomenon any more. No, thats very true. In fact, you know, we see that its even an added layer of difficulty for those who live in rural areas because access to food is more difficult in those areas. If you dont have transportation, you cant get to your local food pantry. So you know, were very concerned with that as well. Brown a couple of populations on this report really jumped out at us here and i think would surprise a lot of people. One is the number of military families. Right. Brown what do you see happening . You know, i know that in maryland, for instance, you know, weve got a high concentration of bases. We have a lot of military in maryland. And you know, were about over 6 of all of the people that we serve are people who are in active military, right. You know, what do i make of it . I think that, you know, people of all types are falling on hardship. And once they fall, its difficult to get yourself out. You know, the cost of living in maryland is very high. Its not surprising to me. What kind of needs do they have, are they similar to. Yes, they are families just like every other family that we see at our agency. Another population is College Students, these are mostly a adult students. Yes, well, you can imagine, youre trying to go through that advanced degree. You might be married. Youre living in married housing. You know, youre doing the work that you need to do, not necessarily making the money that you actually need to sustain. So it iss not surprising. Brown tell us how all this impacts the work that you and other food banks around the country are trying to do. Well, you know, a couple of things, i would say. One is we were concerned about the condition healthwise of many of the people who responded to this study that a large passage of people have diabetes. A large percentage had high blood pressure. A lot of that has to do with the high cost of food. And spending money on cheaper, less healthy food, just so that their dollars can go farther so from our perspective if we can get a more nutritious mix out into the field, lots of fresh produce, so we have been focusing on, i know feeding america is very focused on building our produce program because that is going to be our answer to rounding out nutrition. Rooney this is one of the sadder aspects to the report. The way it looks is that people are, they say theyre making poor choices. They know theyre making poor choices in terms of the lack of health in food and not buying the most healthy food. Because they cant, because its not accessible, because of price, why . I think because ofrice. I think theyre just trying to meet the immediate need of hung they are in the least expensive way. And it means that, and it also has a lot to do with access. And so the other thing that were focusing on is what are we doing as a Food Bank Network to make sure that were getting adequate amounts of food into every area that we serve. I know food banks across the country are building out mobile food pantry programs. And you know, we do a lot of things with summer feeding for youth, for instance, taking hot meals out to kids, you know, during the summertime and after school. So it iss meeting people where the need is. Brown and what about the support that you get, is it enough . Are you having to find new ways to raise money, and to get food . You know, we, yes, you always have to find new ways. Brown that was easy question. To find food and funds. Yes, it was. But you know, im just really encouraged and this study is going to help a lot, i think, bringing to light for the general public, that if we get behind this movement of ending hunger, we can actually end hunger in this country. And i truly believe it. Let this data speak to all of us and let all of us get involved. Brown Deborah Flateman of the Maryland Food drive, thank you so much. Thanks, jeff. Woodruff president obama announced this afternoon that control over a critical dam in Northern Iraq had been taken away from sunni militants. The mosul dam was captured by the Islamic State Group Earlier this month. But this weekend, there were conflicting reports over who was in full control over the facility as Iraqi Government troops and Kurdish Peshmerga forces advanced on the dam with the help of american air support. The dam is just one frontline in the battle against the Islamic State group. Our chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Margaret Warner is on another nearby where pershmerga fighters are trying to hold recently regained ground against the sunni militants. Warner 60 miles due east of mosul lies the booming city of irbil, capful to the semi autonomous region of iraqi kurdistan, home to u. S. And Foreign Companies drawn by its oil wealth and development prospects. Office towers rise near highend car dealerships, all baking in the 115 summer heat of the desert. Saving this city from the onslaught of Islamic State fighters was one of the two goals president o bomb obama cited in announcing u. S. Air strikes on august 7th. Though the advance of is also known as isis or isil on irbil was halted and rolled back, u. S. Air strikes in the area continue. And beneath the bustle of daily life here, there is still a sense of foreboding. Of course im so worried every night when i lie down on my bed. Warner for good reason. Just 40 miles southwest outside a town, Kurdish Military units the peshmerga man the front lines against the fundamentalist Islamic State forces. The town was taken over by the islamist militants just two weeks ago using sophisticated americanmade weapons captured in june from fleeing Iraqi Army Units in the city of mosul. But three days later undercover of u. S. Air strikes, hitting that isis heavyeaponry peshmerga retook the down from the fighters. Peshmerga colonel now commands the operation here. The security situation is excellent. No one inside the town fears the sound of a single shot. Warner how important were the american air strikes. The american role was very important, a very important psychological plot for the peshmerga. Destroyed most of the heavy weapons that isis had and made it easy for us to retake this town. Warner yet all is not as secure as it seems. Were on the very edge of the front line of the city, less than one and a half miles south of here are isis forces still with some heavily artillery. But the peshmerga fighters here vow not only to hold this line, but to advance. We were quickly urged to leave as the peshmerga prepared to launch rockets at Islamic State artillery nearby. Back in the town, despite the colonels assurances we found a virtual ghost town. Only a few hundred of its nearly 20,000 residents who fled have returned. Among them, english teacher Ziad Mohammed who unlike most returnees here actually brought his family too. He described what happened when Islamic State force forces began shelling the town and then moved in. They are attacking, you see people the town empty, maybe the people you see here, the people come. Warner why did you come back . Because you see, my building. And i like my space, if there is another attacking, shelling. But i dont fear for isil but maybe i fear for my children, for my wife. Warner most internally displaced iraqis have decide the risk is too high to go home. Tens of thousands are in the irbil area, camping out wherever they canind shelter. Like these 200 families from mosul parked temporarily in abandoned storefronts. I wish i could die now. Warner this woman living with her family in a relatives outbuilding in irbil escaped the isis onslaught on her tiny village on the outskirts, and despite the retaking of mahmour shes too afraid to return. If the situation remains like now, no. Where can i go back to. We dont feel safe. We are afraid to go back because of the arabs. They would kill us. Warner do you mean your own arab neighbors would have kill kd you or isil fighters. Yes, we are actually very close to arabs. Their villages are just next to ours. They have joined daish in the fight. She and her family are among the estimated 1. 5 million iraqis who fled the isis advance through their country just since january. Accompanying us what tahir, Senior Advisor for the Kurdish Regional governments human rights commission. His phone was constantly buzzing with reports of new waves of internally displaced people pouring into the kurdish region. What plans are you making for the longterm care of these people here in iraqi kurdistan. We know the situation may last a long time. So the government has longterm plans for that. But this is a huge burden on the governments shoulders. This is why we have asked International Agencies to help. We have millions of idps and refugees. And if they dont feel safe to go home, they cannot provide aid for all of them alone. Warner for how it appears the kurdish government was on the hook. We went back to a village on the outskirts of mahmour but had to stop more than a mile away after peshmerga warnings that the Islamic State forces may have booby trapped his town. I want to go back, to breathe freedom but im not sure i can. Before we fled, we have lots of animals. Sheep and goats. We couldnt take them and they died. Warner so if you go back, how will you support yourself . If we get back, im hopeful we can sort it out. If we get to go back, im hopeful we can live. Warner for now the closest can get is within view to look yearningly at his village. Woodruff and i spoke to margaret a short time ago. Margaret, thank you for talking with us. Now that weve heard president obama say the Kurdish Peshmerga have retaken the mosul dam, tell us about how hard a fight that was, why so much confusion over who was in control . Warner well, judy, its a huge, a huge win t was not just the peshmerga, the kurdish fighters but also the Iraqi Military with the help of the unitsed states to retake this dam. And im told one of the reasons for the confusion was that it really was back and forth. The u. S. Air strikes, there were some 15 just today around the dam, had to be very targeted, very pinpointed because of course the risk was that this dam which supplies so much water and electricity for all of iraq, along the tigris river could get destroyed by the fight over it. There was also an ancillary dam, also the problem of the fact that the Islamic State fighters left behind landmines and booby traps. So really there have been conflicting reports for 48 hours, and claims that were not justified. But it was all coordinated here in irbil in this joint Operation Center set up by the united states, intelligence, special forces and so on with the Kurdish Military and Iraqi Military. And it was uchlts is intelligence and air strikes that coordinated with fighters from both those other groups to take this dam. Woodruff so margaret, we heard in your report that the kurds remain scared. How much are they counting on the u. S. To continue air strikes, to continue other kinds of support . Yeah, judy, ive been amazed being here in irbil which feels safe to me compared to a place like baghdad. A young doctor told me today you should have been there three weeks ago. We were all scared to death. He said thank god for american air strikes. The total message weve gotten here, without the umbrella of american air strikes and the continued threat of them, you know, there was one as recently as friday night, and im told pretty reliably that that was on artillery position, the u. S. And kurdish intelligence identified, had arranged to even hit here in irbil, the strikes continue. And to people here that means a lot. Woodruff well, how much more indication is there of what the u. S. Is prepared to do militarily . Warner judy, thats only known by the mind of president obama. And both u. S. And kurdish officials here say they really dont know. Hes made it clear, he just said in his statement that he wants to do more; that its not enough to have the Islamic State controlling onethird of iraq, essentially, which they do now. The u. S. Will, cough of course, continue to send humanitarian effort, as he said. But the u. S. Is prepared to do more in the way of intelligence, in the way of furnishing weapons, if there can be a political agreement among the sunnis, the shiites and the kurds to Work Together and not just politically, not just a nice photo op politically but working together militarily. And i can tell you that is going to be very, very hard. The sunnis arent united. We were on the front lines as you saw in our piece, just yesterday, of Kurdish Peshmerga. Theyre even divide mood two different peshmergas depending which Political Party theyre part of. So even though there is a 30 day deadline on this, there is a long way to go before i think the president makes a decision on how much more aggressively he is going to commit u. S. Firepower, air power, military power to the effort. Woodruff Margaret Warner reporting for us from irbil in iraq. We thank you. Warner my pleasure judy, as always. Woodruff again, the major developments of the day. The National Guard began deploying in ferguson, missouri, in a bid to prevent more violence over the Police Killing of a black teenager. President obama announced iraqi and Kurdish Forces have recaptured a critical dam in Northern Iraq from Islamic State militants. And he marked the elimination of syrias chemical weapons stockpile, saying it was in important achievement. On the newshour online right now, its a common belief in Silicon Valley that only the young can be innovators. But in order to really boost the economy, a better strategy would be to teach grandmothers to code, argues newshour contributor vivkek wadhwa. You can read his five tips for empowering older workers, on our making sense page. All that and more is on our web site, newshour. Pbs. Org. And thats the newshour for tonight. On tuesday, how sharia law has taken hold in indonesia in an area devastated by a tsunami. Im judy woodruff. Well see you online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by ive been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. The ones getting involved, staying engaged. They are not afraid to question the path theyre on. Because the one question they never want to ask is, how did i end up here . I started schwab with those people. People who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and. 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 Macneil Lehrer productions captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org erertztztz this is nightly Business Report. No news is good news, investors were in a buying mood on a quiet day on wall street, turning out a triple digit gain on the blue chip dow index. Sending the nasdaq to a 14year high. Why home builder confidence is gaining steam, even as the Housing Market itself is cooling off. Cute, but expensive. Why it will cost you almost a quarter Million Dollars to raise a child. And thats not including college. Well have all that tonight on nightly Business Report for monday august 18th. Welcome. Its been a kind of two steps forward, one step back year on wall street. Today may be a little surprisingly, was a step forward kind of