steam, coal, electricity, oil, gasoline, and nuclear. this energy department production ends with a look at conservation and renewable sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal. >> the miller's house in the maryland countryside. for 200 years, people have dwelt in this house. farmed the fields, ground of the grain, lived and died. how did they live? even in america where nature is generous, life is hard. the energy of back and aching muscles plows the land, splits the rails, does the work. for more than a century, working energy is human and animal labor twiddling -- otoiling from dawn til dusk. from the beginning when even windmills and water mills were few and far between, people have had to manage for themselves. life is good, but even until the very end, hands are never idle. it is still as god spoke to adam, by the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread. during the first century of settlement, towns and villages growth. philadelphia is the largest city in the british empire, the center of trade and learning, quaker restraint, and georgian elegance. when resentment against british rule breaks out america becomes independent. the war is long and bitterly fought. still in april 1775, readers of the pennsylvania magazine are learning of an ingenious new horse powered judge -- dredge. short of working hands, americans are interested in any inventions that promise to save labor. ships moved by wind power are the only form of communication the new states have with your -- with europe, their main link with each other. with favoring winds, ships often take more than a month to cross the atlantic. the fashionable event among intellectuals is the electrical party where you can receive a real electric shock while touching or even kissing someone else. philadelphia's own dr. franklin believed electricity to be in the lightning bolt itself. however, he sees little promise in the new steam engines people are talking about. a new homestead in the unsettled west country of pennsylvania. family is trying to clear the land and bring in a crop before winter comes. time is short. everybody works. the fire is only serving to rid the land of brush. he wonders, what is this force? how could it be captured? how could it be used? there is work to be done. he leaves it for wiser heads to puzzle out why in the world brimming with energy mankind is sentenced to a lifetime at hard labor. the scientists of his day are beginning to grasp the great interplay of forces in nature from the sun to the power sleeping in wood and coal. inventors are busy. a native genius, oliver evans designs a new mill in which the great wooden wheel hours a completely automatic operation. green going in one hand, flour coming out the other. inventors of the 19th century are ingenious at finding new ways to use the energy of falling water. but their great achievement is using fire to make steam generating undreamed of mechanical energy. early steam engines give way to higher pressure models. strong steam they call it. fired by wind or cold -- wood or coal the engines quickly prove the power to run machines. when steam is needed to turn wheels, the conquest of energy becomes the conquest of distance. the steam engine, the steam powered engines offered more dependable power than sails. at first they are slower than the new season clippers, but by 1840, have crossed the atlantic in 18 days. labor hungry farmers are cheering new machines. the reaper, the binder, the cultivator, in the 100 variations. the spreading network of rails starts some 49ers west as far as the tracks go. just over the western horizon is a greater treasure. harvest of grs of gra increasedi 1000n fold and brought closer to market by the railroad. by the 1870's, america's a new nation of big cities and growing industries. a country that has been torn apart, then reunited. in 1876, a special train takes passengers from new york to san francisco in just 83 hours. and america has a birthday to celebrate. 100 years of independence. the centennial exhibition at philadelphia is the biggest the nation has ever seen. out of 40 million americans, 5 million would come to see it. there is much to see. if the festival has one theme it is power the conquest of energy made possible by iron steam, and coal. the main attraction is a giant corliss engine. president grant and the emperor of brazil join to set the big machine in motion. at last, inventors are making use of america's fast -- vast store of natural resources. visitors remember the unfailing good humor of the crowds that centennial summer. times are hard in 1876. but on this occasion, the humblest or the newest american can take right in his country. -- can take ride in his country. memorial hall still stands where grant opened the centennial 100 years ago. smiling colombians still extend a welcome to all of north and south. at dusk, the great plaza still echoes to the band, the voices the excitement of the century past. their buildings tell us of these people, that they were confident. they built massively, boldly and well. some of them reached the future in which man's new mastery of energy might lead to an era of plenty for all mankind. the centennial harold's -- h eralds the future in another way. on the fourth of july, as american celebrate, independence hall is eliminated -- ppie illuminated by a new form of energy. electric arcs like of the sky. scientists are searching elsewhere in nature. he has looked to solar energy. he has made fundamental studies and constructed what he calls solar engines. sunlight followings on the rooftops of philadelphia, he says, with power 5000 steam engines. other engineers are exploring different paths. some are trying to find a way to generate power from new fuels available such as petroleum and gas. the internal combustion engine is being tinkered and hammered into existence. the great-grandfather of all the automobile engines airplane motors, and power mowers is getting a trial run. to his practiced ear, it sounds good. and it looks good. engineers are still confronting basic questions with every practical advance. what happens when energy changes from one form to another? what laws govern the transformation of heat into power? what is energy? questions the scientists of his day are working to answer. the electrical age is dawning. a new kind of like, the incandescent lamp is one of many inventions thomas edison would give to the world trade from generators electricity can be sent as if by magic through slender wires over long distances. within a few years and cities across the land, electricity transforms the dark knight -- dark night. for many americans on the western frontier, life is as images as it was a century before. new settlements they stop for a moment to have their picture taken. sometimes they show us more than they know. life is hard in a new country. others see more hopeful. the nation is growing and changing. many new immigrants come, hands ready to work. one million a year. the camera documents them and americans of this time who pause to look at us from the midst of their lives. times are changing. the age of animal power is soon to pass. engines are moving themselves into the fields. the first tractors, some steam powered, some moved by new internal combustion gas doing -- gasoline engines. growing demand for fuel, petroleum production expands. by 1903, offshore drilling has been started. not that there is any shortage. america's supply of oil seems endless. and soon, every man's dream is to own a shining new automobile. the great american joy right has begun. with lightweight engine and powerful gasoline fuel, another long cherished dream is beginning to come true. a new edison invention is well underway by 1900. farsighted producers have discovered the formula for success. a sophisticated combination of sex and violence. motion pictures are also documenting an incredible era of industrial growth. the factory workforce totals many millions. men, women, and children. coal has long since replaced wood as the primary energy source for industry. making and using energy is big is this -- big business. giant generators are being built. electric motors of all sizes and descriptions for industry and home use street lighting subways, and trolley lines. the new century is picking up speed, and with it, the pace of life quickens. the energy revolution has launched the country on a voyage destination unknown. and people are rushing to get on. for many, the new jobs mean liberation from the drudgery and loneliness of farm life. for many others, it means only repetitious, routine work. for better or for worse, the machine has arrived. and americans struggle to master it. some succeed. and for some, well, the internal combustion engine will always remain a mystery. the fourth of july in a small western town. time, the early 1920's. this year and every year, the firemen compete to prove human speed and agility have no equal. but pressure comes direct from a hard-working, pumping engine. americans are learning to live with the machine trying to gain the benefits of progress in health, comfort, a better life while observing the shock of many -- absorbing the shock of many changes. the cameras of small-town photographers mirror these decades. the 20's, the 30's, and the 40's. in the faces of ordinary people. while change continues to sweep across their lives. today, the world they have built surrounds us. based on 200 years of invention, science, and human labor. energy powers a nation geared to using it freely to live and move, make and produce. the hopes of the past for overflowing abundance scene realized -- scene realized. and yet the very control over nature of our forefathers worked so hard to achieve has led to a crisis in our time different from any they encountered. the fuels they thought inexhaustible are being used up rapidly. america is running out of gas. and it is our turn to seek new ways to generate power. each time we have shifted to new sources of power, history tells us it has taken 60 years. america cannot afford to wait. to promote a national effort, a federal agency has been created to plan the best use of our present resources to mobilize science, industry, and government to develop new sources of energy, and to accomplish this without injuring the environment. it is an american tradition confidence in man's powers of inventions. every promising source is being explored from machines that draw power out of the free-flowing tides of air and sunlight to fusion. our message effort in a complex your -- field of nuclear reactions with the promise of power that is truly limitless. science has already harnessed the first new source of power discovered in a century. nuclear reactors have been generating electricity for more than 25 years. by 1990, they will meet a large part of our need for power. in the nation's oil fields, old wells are being treated to make them give up more oil. enhanced recovery it is called. we are going far to bring in new supplies. producing more energy would be meaningless without conservation. a major study focuses on america's favorite means of transportation, searching for engines that will go much farther on much less fuel. battery-powered cars are being tested, and a variety of other power plants to save energy. the interest feature drivers show is more than furious -- curious. it is a look into the next 20 years. still another long-range effort studies how to extract will trapped in layers of rock, oil shale. what prospectors of the past. worthless is crushed and processed in a small-scale trial of full production that a 19th-century capitalist would have envied. what comes out is oil along with the data on recovery that will guide further development. much work is concentrating on the fuel that is still america's primary resource, our vast reserves of coal. coal, we are learning, is more than coal. a complex hydrocarbon whose chemistry is not easily understood. using this knowledge in new plants, our present ability to transform coal into synthetic gas or oil will be greatly expanded. a research project in combustion mixes high sulfur coal with limestone to make it burn cleaner and more efficiently. in a pilot plant, the mixture is consumed under highly controlled conditions with attention that a humble scuttle of coal never enjoyed before. floating on a stream of air, the particles burn to power a one million what gas turbine. it seems a setting for the 19 century fantasy of a voyage to the center of the earth. in a western desert, they are piping high-pressure steam and brian from far below the surface to learn how it might be harnessed to a turbine generator. some geothermal forces are already being used to meet 1/3 of san francisco's power needs. at other sites, we are exploring the use of geothermal reservoirs that have useful temperatures as low as 300 degrees fahrenheit. some studies have a significance far beyond their size. in this miniature experiment the scientist is burning coal inside a glass column to determine if coal might be burned while still in the earth to generate methane gas. in his curiosity, he is part of a tradition of everyone who ever gazed in wonder at fire. and he too, is asking questions. how best to turn this fuel into useful energy? how can we produce energy without waste? the dreams of ericsson and other visionaries move a step closer to achievement with renewed studies of sun power. the ultimate goal, to turn the sun's energy directly into electricity. ericsson's proposal to cover rooftops with solar collectors has been put into practice. collectors soak up sun to provide buildings below with heat or cooling and they send data to a battery of recorders to help chart the way in the use of solar energy. in a time of shortages, we are still surrounded by a world that is overflowing with energy. the forces still hidden deep in the nucleus of the atom, or in the flame or the seas can become hours just as those before us harnessed elemental powers of heat and electricity. we who share in their achievements cannot give any less imagination or skill to the problems we face in our own time to find sources of energy that are truly inexhaustible in the sun or in the world around us. the people who crowd to see the place where long ago 13 united colonies declared themselves free and independent are not so different from the people who waited one july day for the statehouse bell to ring. there are many people in the profession that moves out of the past into the future. the people who built the house at valley mill, who farmed its land and ground its grain. the same people whose capable hands forged the foundations of modern life. the people working today, with all of those from one generation to the next, who seek to lift out of bondage, man's body and spirit. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> andrew keen, author of the internet is not the answer i on how the public is being used by internet companies for profit. >> in the industrial age, people worked in factories. they were paid for their labor. they worked 9-5, and they went to home and did what they want with the money. today, we are working in factories like google and facebook, but we are working 24 hours per day. we are not rewarded or egg knowledge that we are creating the value for them. worse than that, we are the ones who are being packaged as the product. of course, what these companies do is, they are learning more about us from our behavior and what we publish, from our photographs and ideas, what we buy and say, what we don't say. they are learning about us and creating a panoptic on. then, they are transforming us repackaging us as the product. we are the ones eating sold. not only are we working for free, but we are being sold. it is the ultimate scam. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on q&a. coming up next on american history tv, the national archives posts independent researcher john emond as he reads letters from civil war soldiers, placing the letters in the context of the war as well as the soldiers daily lives defined by personal hardship, disease, and death. this is about one hour and 20 minutes. >> i think we are all settled in. welcome. i work in the national archives. i work -- i welcome you to this program. we have an ongoing lecture series to teach you about the
♪ ♪ >> the miller's house in the maryland countryside. for 200 years, people have dwelt e-mail. in this house, farmed the fields, ground the grain, lived and died. how did they live? even in america where nature is generous, life is hard. the energy of back and aching muscles plows the land, splits the rails, does the work. for more than a century, working energy is human and animal labor toiling from dawn 'til dusk. from the beginning when even windmills and water mills were few and far between, people have had to manage for themselves. ♪ ♪ life is good. but even until the very end, hands are never idle. ♪ it is still as god spoke to adam, by the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread. ♪ during the first century of settlement, towns and villages grow. after london philadelphia is the , largest city in the british empire, the center of trade and learning, quaker restraint, and georgian elegance. ♪ when resentment against british rule breaks out, america becomes independent. the war is long and bitterly fought. still in april 1775, readers of the "pennsylvania magazine" are learning of an ingenious new horse-powered dredge. short of working hands americans are interested in any inventions that promise to save labor. ships moved by wind power are the only form of communication the new states have with europe, their main link with each other. with favoring winds, ships often take more than a month to cross the atlantic. the fashionable event among intellectuals is the electrical party where you can receive a real electric shock whilst touching or even kissing someone else. philadelphia's own dr. franklin believed electricity to be in the lightning bolt itself. however, he sees little promise in the new steam engines people are talking about. a new homestead in the unsettled west country of pennsylvania. a family is trying to clear the land and bring in a crop before winter comes. time is short. everybody works. the fire is only serving to rid the land of brush. he wonders, what is this force? how could it be captured? how could it be used? there is work to be done. he leaves it for wiser heads to puzzle out why, in a world brimming with energy, mankind is sentenced to a lifetime at hard labor. the scientists of his day are beginning to grasp the great interplay of forces in nature from the sun to the power sleeping in wood and coal. inventors are busy. a native genius, oliver evans, designs a new mill in which the great wooden wheel powers a completely automatic operation. grain going in one hand, flour coming out the other. inventors of the 19th century are ingenious at finding new ways to use the energy of falling water. but their great achievement is using fire to make steam generating undreamed of mechanical energy. early steam engines give way to higher pressure models. strong steam they call it. fired by wood or coal, the engines quickly prove their power to run machines. when steam is needed to turn wheels, the conquest of energy becomes the conquest of distance. ♪ ♪ the steam engine. grows paddles. coal burning engines offered more dependable power than sails. at first, they are slower than the new sailing clippers. but by 1840, have crossed the atlantic in 18 days. labor hungry farmers are cheering new machines. the reaper, the binder, the cultivator, in 100 variations. the spreading network of rails starts some 49ers west as far as the tracks go. just over the western horizon is a greater treasure. harvests of grain increase 1000-fold and are brought closer to market by the railroad. by the 1870's, america is a new nation of big cities and growing industries. a country that has been torn apart, then reunited. in 1876, a special train takes passengers from new york to san francisco in just 83 hours. and america has a birthday to celebrate. 100 years of independence. the centennial exhibition at philadelphia is the biggest the nation has ever seen. out of 40 million americans, 5 million would come to see it. there is much to see. if the festival has one theme, it is power. the conquest of energy made possible by iron, steam, and coal. the main attraction is a giant corliss engine. president grant and the emperor of brazil join to set the big machine in motion. at last, inventors are making use of america's fast -- vast store of natural resources. ♪ ♪ visitors remember the unfailing good humor of the crowds that centennial summer. times are hard in 1876. but on this occasion, the humblest or the newest american can take pride in his country. memorial hall still stands where grant opened the centennial 100 years ago. smiling colombians still extend a welcome to all from north and south. at dusk, the great plaza still echoes to the band, the voices the excitement of the century past. their buildings tell us of these people, that they were confident. they built massively, boldly and well. some of them reached the future in which man's new mastery of energy might lead to an era of plenty for all mankind. ♪ ♪ the centennial heralds the future in another way. on the fourth of july, as americans celebrate, in independence hall is 1876, illuminated by a new form of energy. electric arcs light up the sky. scientists are searching elsewhere in nature. john ericsson has looked to solar energy. he has made fundamental studies and constructed what he calls solar engines. sunlight falling on the rooftops of philadelphia, he says, will power 5000 steam engines. other engineers are exploring different paths. some are trying to find a way to generate power from new fuels available such as petroleum and gas. the internal combustion engine is being tinkered and hammered into existence. ♪ ♪ the great-grandfather of all the automobile engines, airplane motors, and power mowers is getting a trial run. ♪ ♪ to his practiced ear, it sounds good. and it looks good. engineers are still confronting basic questions with every practical advance. what happens when energy changes from one form to another? what laws govern the transformation of heat into power? what is energy? questions the scientists of his day are working to answer. the electrical age is dawning. a new kind of light, the incandescent lamp is one of many inventions thomas edison would give to the world trade from generators, electricity can be sent as if by magic through slender wires over long distances. within a few years, and cities across the land, electricity transforms the dark night. ♪ ♪ for many americans on the western frontier, life is as it was a century before. in new settlements, they stop for a moment to have their picture taken. sometimes they show us more than they know. life is hard in a new country. others see more hopeful. the nation is growing and changing. many new immigrants come, hands ready to work. one million a year. the camera documents them and americans of this time who pause to look at us from the midst of their lives. times are changing. ♪ ♪ the age of animal power is soon to pass. engines are moving themselves into the fields. the first tractors, some steam powered, some moved by new internal combustion gasoline engines. with growing demand for fuel petroleum production expands. by 1903, offshore drilling has been started. not that there is any shortage. america's supply of oil seems endless. and soon, every man's dream is to own a shining new automobile. the great american joyride has begun. with lightweight engine and powerful gasoline fuel, another long cherished dream is beginning to come true. ♪ ♪ a new edison invention is well underway by 1900. farsighted producers have discovered the formula for success. a sophisticated combination of sex and violence. motion pictures are also documenting an incredible era of industrial growth. the factory workforce totals many millions. men, women, and children. coal has long since replaced wood as the primary energy source for industry. making and using energy is big business. giant generators are being built. electric motors of all sizes and descriptions for industry and home use, street lighting, subways, and trolley lines. ♪ ♪ the new century is picking up speed, and with it, the pace of life quickens. ♪ the energy revolution has launched the country on a voyage, destination unknown. and people are rushing to get on. for many, the new jobs mean liberation from the drudgery and loneliness of farm life. for many others, it means only repetitious, routine work. for better or for worse, the machine has arrived. and americans struggle to master it. some succeed. and for some, well, the internal combustion engine will always remain a mystery. ♪ ♪ the fourth of july in a small western town. time, the early 1920's. this year and every year, the firemen compete to prove human speed and agility have no equal. but pressure comes direct from a hard-working, pumping engine. americans are learning to live with the machine, trying to gain the benefits of progress in health, comfort, a better life while absorbing the shock of many changes. the cameras of small-town photographers mirror these decades. the 20's, the 30's, and the 40's, in the faces of ordinary people, while change continues to sweep across their lives. ♪ today, the world they have built surrounds us. based on 200 years of invention, science, and human labor. energy powers a nation geared to using it freely to live and move, make and produce. ♪ the hopes of the past for overflowing abundance seem realized. and yet the very control over nature of our forefathers worked so hard to achieve has led to a crisis in our time different from any they encountered. the fuels they thought inexhaustible are being used up rapidly. america is running out of gas. and it is our turn to seek new ways to generate power. each time we have shifted to new sources of power, history tells us it has taken 60 years. america cannot afford to wait. ♪ to promote a national effort, a federal agency has been created to plan the best use of our present resources, to mobilize science, industry, and government to develop new sources of energy, and to accomplish this without injuring the environment. it is an american tradition, confidence in man's powers of inventions. every promising source is being explored from machines that draw power out of the free-flowing tides of air and sunlight to fusion. a massive effort in the field of nuclear reactions with the promise of power that is truly limitless. science has already harnessed the first new source of power discovered in a century. nuclear reactors have been generating electricity for more than 25 years. by 1990, they will meet a large part of our needs for power. ♪ in the nation's oil fields, old wells are being treated to make them give up more oil. enhanced recovery it is called. we are going far to bring in new supplies. producing more energy would be meaningless without conservation. a major study focuses on america's favorite means of transportation, searching for engines that will go much farther on much less fuel. battery-powered cars are being tested, and a variety of other power plants to save energy. the interest feature drivers show is more than curious. it is a look into the next 20 years. still another long-range effort studies how to extract will trapped in layers of rock, oil shale. what prospectors of the past. thought worthless is crushed and processed in a small-scale trial of full production that a 19th-century capitalist would have envied. what comes out is oil, along with the data on recovery that will guide further development. much work is concentrating on the fuel that is still america's primary resource, our vast reserves of coal. coal, we are learning, is more than coal. a complex hydrocarbon whose chemistry is not easily understood. using this knowledge in new plants, our present ability to transform coal into synthetic gas or oil will be greatly expanded. a research project in combustion mixes high sulfur coal with limestone to make it burn cleaner and more efficiently. in a pilot plant, the mixture is consumed under highly controlled conditions with attention that a humble scuttle of coal never enjoyed before. floating on a stream of air, the particles burn to power a one-million-watt gas turbine. it seems a setting for the 19th-century fantasy of a voyage to the center of the earth. in a western desert, they are piping high-pressure steam and brine from far below the surface to learn how it might be harnessed to a turbine generator. some geothermal forces are already being used to meet 1/3 of san francisco's power needs. at other sites, we are exploring the use of geothermal reservoirs that have useful temperatures as low as 300 degrees fahrenheit. some studies have a significance far beyond their size. in this miniature experiment the scientist is burning coal inside a glass column to determine if coal might be burned while still in the earth to generate methane gas. in his curiosity, he is part of a tradition of everyone who ever gazed in wonder at fire. and he, too, is asking questions. how best to turn this fuel into useful energy? how can we produce energy without waste? the dreams of ericsson and other visionaries move a step closer to achievement with renewed studies of sun power. the ultimate goal, to turn the sun's energy directly into electricity. ericsson's proposal to cover rooftops with solar collectors has been put into practice. collectors soak up sun to provide buildings below with heat or cooling, and they send data to a battery of recorders to help chart the way in the use of solar energy. in a time of shortages, we are still surrounded by a world that is overflowing with energy. the forces still hidden deep in the nucleus of the atom, or in the flame, or the seas can become ours just as those before us harnessed elemental powers of heat and electricity. we, who share in their achievements, cannot give any less imagination or skill to the problems we face in our own time to find sources of energy that are truly inexhaustible in the sun or in the world around us. ♪ ♪ the people who crowd to see the place where long ago 13 united colonies declared themselves free and independent are not so different from the people who waited one july day for the statehouse bell to ring. ♪ ♪ there are many people in the procession that moves out of the past into the future. the people who built the house at valley mill, who farmed its land and ground its grain. the same people whose capable hands forged the foundations of modern life. the people working today, with all of those from one generation to the next, who seek to lift out of bondage man's body and his spirit. ♪ ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> tonight, we look at how cowboys became a symbol for a newly reunited america during reconstruction. boston college professor cited examples of jesse james and buffalo bill and explains how cowboys individualism was viewed as the counterbalance to the reconstruction era dominance of the republican party government. that is tonight at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern. >> coming up next, the national archives at college park maryland as letters from civil war soldiers are already as well as the soldiers daily lives which were defined by personal hardship, disease, and death. this program is about one hour 20 minutes.
the supermarket or on the street is, so, what's your book about? it's a fair question, and a good one. and often extremely challenging to answer because you have spent thousands of hours writing thousands of words, you have a ton of information if your head -- in your head, and you're writing one story, but that one story includes many other stories. and suddenly you have to figure out how to condense all this information, all these stories in a 15-second sound bite of ten words or less. well, i've got it down to three. well, seven, actually, if you include "american phoenix" is about. and one of the things that helped me get there was someone asked me, so, if your book were made into a movie, how would you pitch it? and i answers the titanic meets rocky. [laughter] "american phoenix" is about, in essence, disaster and survival. it's about disaster of epic proportions that involved a lot of water and engineering failure, the failure of design that killed a lot of people. and it's about survival, the triumph of the human spirit, the will to overcome extreme adversity, the ability to get back up when you've been knocked down again and again. so my book explores the challenge of having to rebuild your life after losing everything in an unexpected catastrophe. and it explores the discovery that sometimes our worst nightmares can turn into our greatest opportunities. it's particularly poignant for me to be here in vermont talking about "american phoenix" a year after the devastation caused by irene. because so many vermonters can relate to what william skinner went through 130-odd years ago having to rebuild their lives, their lives that have been now in ruin. and also now, given hurricane sandy, those down in new jersey and staten island and in queens and in brooklyn can also, unfortunately, relate to this challenge. what do you do. now, whether we come to the storyline with that kind of connection or not, we've all had disasters in our experience. we've all had those unexpected moments where something happens, and suddenly our life isn't the same as it was a moment before. everything is changed. we're in a new paradigm. and we have to figure out how do we survive. these moments of crisis test us. they test our instincts, our loyalties, our faith in ourselves, our creativity. they test our emotions, and they certainly test our courage. on may 16, 1874, a reservoir dam gave way in western montana. it unleashed an inland tidal wave that was at times 20-40 feet high and 300 feet wide. it roared down a 14-mile valley and swept through the villages of williamsburg, skinnerville, haydenville and the town of north hatchton. to give you a sense of the power of that water is to appreciate the amount of time it took to pass through portions of the valley. in the lower portion of the valley, the land levels out into an aleve y'all plain, and the town took about an hour and a half to flood into the town and into the connecticut river. in the upper regions of the valley where the land is sweeper, that water went through the villages in about 15 minutes each. it resulted in the worst industrial disaster in american history at the time. over a million dollars worth of property damage was sustained, almost 800 people were left homeless x139 people -- and 139 people were killed. my book is about the only village that wasn't rebuilt, skinnerville. and the man at the center of that village, william skinner. and what sets skinner's story apart is the success he achieved after this disaster. now, skinnerville suffered the worst destruction of all. it was considered to have been obliterated from the face of the earth. there wasn't a brick left of skinner's mill, his house was very nearly the only one left standing, and he lost more financially than any other individual. in those 15 minutes, he lost the equivalent of $35 million. he was ruined. but because he was willing to make choices that no one else was willing to make, he was able to come back. now, the other manufacturers in the valley who lost their mills and property tried to rebuild but were unable to do so successfully. within a number of years, they'd either gone out of business, they'd gone into bankruptcy, they'd had to sell their businesses, or they'd had to leave town. a local historian said just three years later, men of abundant means who seem to withstand the shock of disaster prove to be more embarrassed than was expected. but skinner, by himself, went on to rebuild his company. and as the sole proprietor, he carried it on, and he turned it into one of the most successful silk companies in our nation's history. when he died in 1902, his silk mill was the largest in the country, he was the top of the american silk trade, and he was a multimillionaire. now, the significance is that that success would never have been possible had he not lost everything and had to figure out how to survive making choices he wouldn't have otherwise been forced to make. skinner not only survived disaster, but he turned it into his greatest success. so this is a map of the town of williamsburg in 1873. and it shows -- this is the reservoir, that little kidney-shaped up at the top, and here's the village of williamsburg, skinnerville and haydenville. this is an image of the dam after it had given way. it was an earthen dam, it had a core wall of masonry, and this was all that was left of it. this is a graphic depiction showing the water surging past skinner's house during the flood. and they said that the house survived because its five chimneys rooted it to the ground, and it was made of board and not brick. the house is so large that it acted like a dam in the midst of the surge with the water surging around the front and back ends, crushing both of them, shattering windows, completely flooding the interior of the first floor. the back parlor floor collapsed under the weight of all the water and the flurry, and all the contempts fell into the -- contents fell into the cellar below. so as one reporter put it, potatoes and pianos, pictures and pork, books and bacon became terribly mix inside the flooded cellar. [laughter] this house, skinner moved with him when he relocated after the flood. it was taken apart piece by piece and transported on 25 railroad cars to the city of holyoke where he rebuilt. it is now a museum on the national register of historic places, and you can go and visit it and walk around it. this is an image of what was left of skinnerville after the disaster. and it's hard to imagine what it was like before. it was a thriving factory village filled with houses, trees, stone walls, farmland, and of course, skinner's silk mill. this right here is the foundation of what was, tsa all that was left of -- that's all that was left of the mill. and it extended far to the left of the familiar. this is skinner's house, you can see the front piazza has collapsed. this is an image that is the image on the cover of our book, my book, i should say. and there was no image, of course, of skinner's mill after the flood, because it was gone. so we had to choose one that represented the disaster. this is all that was left of a neighboring brass factory that was 600 feet long, or the length of almost two football fields. more devastation from the village of skinnerville. and here is a house that was lived in by the bartlett family in skinnerville, and many of the children in the bartlett family worked for skinner. one of his superintendents was henry bartlett and was working for him at the time of the flood. and the bartlett family lived in this house through the summer in exactly this condition because they had nowhere else to go. now, when skinner died in 1902, his sons -- owe and will -- joe and will -- took over the company. and they were a brilliant team. joe was a scientist, and he took over production at the mill. and ran the mill's lab. inventing all kinds of fabrics that involved silk. and will handled all the marketing and sales. and they carried on their father's style of innovation and pioneering in the manufacturing industry. skinner's was one of the first companies to branch out into consumer advertising. this is an ad from skinner's -- from good housekeeping, and i believe it's from 1903. 1907. here is an ad from 1931 featuring joan crawford. and skinner's silks and satins were a favorite of hollywood costume designers in the 1920s and '30s. and this, again, was part of will's doing. he wooed hollywood. and designers loved skinner's fabrics because they were not only beautiful and had extraordinary draping qualities, but they were durable. they could withstand the wear and tear of a costume on set. the men at the top of that advertisement is adrian, he was the head costume decipher of mgm, one of the most famous designers obviously the period -- of the period. and he actually helped advertise the products. i should also add that the whole advertising campaign that involved joan crawford and betty davis and other stars like that, the idea behind it was, of course, if you dress in skinner's silks and satins, you, too, can be a star. here's another ad from the mid 1940s, i believe it's glamour magazine in 1945. now, when returning soldiers came home from the war, they were getting married in droves. and their brides made skinners a household word in the united states. so many were getting married in skinner's bridal satin. it catapulted the company the a whole other level -- to a whole other level of success. now, the company survived until 1961. it was 113 years after skipper founded it in 1848. and the extraordinary impact that the company had throughout its existence was such that readers' digest actually include william skinner in the middle of the 20th century on the his of some of the most influential people on u.s. soil, and they had the larger readership in the country second only to the bible. i mentioned earlier that one of the questions that writers are asked is so what's your book about. shortly thereafter they will ask how'd you find your story. and how i came upon the story had to do with my family. william skinner was my great, great grandfather. here is an image of him around the age of 30. he has just lost his first wife, nancy. he's a widower in this photograph with his two young daughters. and he'd also just opened his silk mill in the area that would become known as skinnerville. i find this photograph haunting. the intensity in his eyes just burns, just sears you. he's so driven, he's so ambitious. and yet tenderly clutching his daughters. this is a photograph of his first wife, nancy warner, and she died shortly after the death of their second daughter, nina. skinner married again to a woman named sarah elizabeth allen, she was known as lizzie, and she is the woman after whom i am named. my full name is sarah skinner kilborne. and one would think with william skinner being my great, great grandfather i'm named after his wife, and that i would have grown up hearing about william skinner, the founder, and his story during the flood. i did not. that story seemed to have gotten lost in the legacy of the company. the company overshadowed its founder in the end. but i did -- well, and i should also add that there were only two things i knew about william skinner, and it shows how vague an impression i had of him. one was that i just barely knew that he was english, and the other is that i could only remember, only knew of one expression that he had which was very austere. remember, you are william skinner's descendants. do good in the world. that's all i knew of him. but i did grow up hearing about another member of the family. this is belle skinner. she was his second youngest daughter. and i was fascinated with her as a child and as an adult. she was a very famous philanthropist in france after world war i, and what she did was she legally adopted an entire village from the french government in the northeast of france. it was a leading -- legal, binding document. and she rebuilt it after the war. the french were going to abandon this village. they considered it so hopelessly bombed by the germans. and belle came in, she took it on, and it exists to this day because of her. and she was this larger-than-life figure. you know, she called the president of france ray ray, she had nicknames for everyone, and she signed her letters with oceans of love, she wore this fabulous hats, and she was very handsome and had this extraordinary, commanding presence is and worked with the french government to rebuild their country. and i wondered as i began to look into her life what would compel this woman, then in her 50s leading a very comfortable life, to become so passionately involved in resurrecting a devastated village? >> well, rewind. when she was 7 years old, the village which she was born in, skinnerville, was destroyed in a flood and never rebuilt. so i began to research the flood as an inroad into belle skinner's story. but as i began to learn more about the flood, suddenly william skinner began to come alive because he was so alive in the historical record. he was such a central figure in the disaster that the papers followed his every move, and as i'm reading the papers, suddenly i'm following his every move. and i knew how his story ended. he became a success. but as i learned about the extraordinary loss he suffered, what it took to get over that and come back from that, i became incredibly impressed with what he'd been able to achieve. his story is one of resiliency. never give up. obstacles are opportunities. for every problem there is a creative solution, you just have to find it. don't believe in luck, there is no such thing. you have to make your own luck. you have to work hard for what you want. don't believe in failure, believe in yourself. these were all things that skinner believed. now, he learned his resiliency as a kid. he was born into a slum of such poverty in london, it was considered without parallel in the kingdom. he was morn to a community of silk workers that had been making silk for generations, weaving and dyeing it, but they were called a stunted, puny race. an advocate for their welfare said that it is not that a few starve, but that so many are on the verge of starvation. it is not that some suffer, but that so few escape. well, skinner did escape. he came over to this country at the age of 20, and he had nothing of material worth with him, he was too poor. but he had one thing that no one in america had at that time, and it was an extremely valuable and tangible quality. or knowledge, i should say. and that was the knowledge of how to dye silk. there was no silk industry in this country at that time. no one knew how to dye it, they didn't know how to manufacture it, they didn't know how to make the machinery, they didn't have the tools for the man -- machinery, everything was trial and error to try to create a silk industry. it was the upbuilding of our domestic industries. it was our industrial revolution. how do we get in on this trade? there was so much money to be made in silk. and it's hard for us to appreciate today what it meant to our culture back then. but before the age of synthetic fabrics, before the age of designers, silk was the ultimate in style. it represented prestige, prosperity, success. so america wanted its own silk industry. skinner used to say there's not an irish servant girl who comes over to this country whose ambition is not to wear a silk dress. everyone wanted silk. so skinner came to this country with the knowledge that americans didn't have, and he became a pioneer in the american silk industry. he helped establish it, he became a founding member of the american silk association, and he parlayed that one skill -- how to dye silk -- into opportunity after opportunity to the point where he had his own silk mill. and it was so prosperous that an entire village had grown up around it. this poor kid from east london had literally put his name on the american map. now, in order to write my book, i had to recreate skinnerville, because with it disappeared after the flood. and here, again, is a map of skinnerville from 1873. oh, okay. i do need to go back. i'm not sure quite how to do that. um, well, okay. we can leave this here. so i have had to recreate skinnerville. how do you do that? looking through deeds, vital statistics and tax records, census documents. i should own stock in ancestry.com, i spent so much time and money on that web site. and with all of this i was able to put together what this community consisted of, who lived in what house and where, how many children did they have, who was pregnant at the time of the flood, who had given birth two days before the flood. but there's only so far you can go on your own. there are some things that do just come to you for which you are forever grateful. so one day i received a phone call from what was skinner's home that's a museum. and they told me that a collection of letters had just been donated by a descendant of some sisters who had worked for skinner in his mill in skipperville. and these -- skinnerville. and these letters opened up what it was like to live in the village, what it was like to work for skinner, what he was like as an employer, what it was like to be a mill girl in the middle of the 19th century living in a small factory village, boarding far away from home. and one thing that we may not realize is that at this time mill work was very respectable for a young woman. if you were ambitious and motivated, you could make a lot of money in a mill. it did not affect your character at all, and it was a way to have a sense of independence and make your own money. the sisters were the littlefield sisters. they're from upstate new york near troy, and the first sister to come was 20 years old at the time. she came in 1866, and she had been visiting some cousins who lived in chesterfield just north of williamsburg. and they hold told her skinner was looking for new workers. >> e e e applied, got the job and became an expert spooler. and that meant she worked in the finishing section of the mill. she would wind it on the actual spools that would go to market. it was a job that required tremendous skill because you couldn't damage the silk whatsoever. this was the silk that was going to be sold. she was fantastic at it. and another sister followed her, named francis, and this is what often happened. one sister worked in the mill, she would send word to her other sisters or siblings and say apply for a job, you know, come join me. and so within this mill community you had a number of siblings working together. it was very much a family environment. the third sister to come work for skinner was ellen littlefield. now, ellen outlasted both of her sisters at the mill, and she was working for skinner at the time of flood. she is the strongest female character in my book. after the flood. >> she also worked with skinner helping to salvage his silk, and she moved to holyoke and ultimately married his bookkeeper. now, after the flood the valley's loss was going to be or could be potentially someone else's gain. so after the disaster happened, the valley was a very popular spot for investors and capitalists. offers came from all over, from as far away as omaha, nebraska, to the manufacturers that had lost everything giving them incentives to move elsewhere and to relocate to other areas. one of the most vocal voices in this choir was that of holyoke, massachusetts. and holyoke was an ingeniously-designed city, specifically designed for industry. it was hoped to be even greater than the urban mill centers of lawrence. holyoke was considered to be the greatest potential mill power in new england. the dam that, it dammed the connecticut river on the right-hand side, right here, was at a crest of a 60-foot fall in the river and capable of generating power for 300 mills. the cotton lords that created holyoke on the model of lowell and lawrence devised a three-tiered canal system so that, unfortunately, it doesn't show in this map, but the canals come -- the first canal comes like this, and this comes like that, and that comes like this. so the connecticut river was able to be used over three times. now, holyoke made offers to the manufacturers in the valley, and can skinner's the only one who accepted the offer and moved. and he's the only one who survived. skinner knew he needed two things to be able to make a go of it again: he needed money, and he needed water power. in skinnerville he was going to have to rely on steam if he rebuilt there because the reservoir, which had supplemented the mill river during the dry season, was not going to be rebuilt. so going forward during those dry seasons when the river ran low, skinner was going to have to supplement his mill with steam. it was very expensive. for a man in the amount of debt he was in, it was too expensive for him at this time. he was also going to have to rebuild the entire infrastructure of the village for his workers, all the houses and everything there. and he needed a lot of water power for his operation to make, to dye zig you need -- silk you need a lot of water, and he, of course, since he did not want to convert to steam, needed the power to power his machinery. holyoke could offer him consistent water power 365 days a year without a reservoir hanging over his head that could possibly break away. and holyoke also offered him money. but better than that what they did was they said we will give you a property along the canal that's worth $6,000 for free for five years. you don't have the pay any rent. we will build you a new mill. you don't have to put a penny down. you just start paying interest payment at the first of the year for phi years. at the end of those five years, you can buy back the mill and the lot at its original cost. so skinner was literally able to get going again without having to put anything down. they said we will give you an acre of land for free, one on which to build a new home. skipper, of course, moved his old home and relocated to holyoke, but again, property he didn't have to pay for. if he had stayed in skinnerville, he would have had to have beared the burden of every single expense that he was going to incur. this is the first mill that skinner had in skinnerville. incredibly, it went up six months to the day of the flood. >> in holyoke? >> this is in holyoke, yes. and, ultimately, skinner's mill turned into that. this was the largest silk mill under one roof in the world. in 1874 success of this scope was impossible to imagine, as was what it would take to achieve it. in 1874 skinner thought he was at the head of his game. he felt at the head of his game. he was 49 years old, he had a wife and seven children, he had a village of about 200 people. this village had grown up around his silk mill, it was named after him, it was called skinnerville. he was at the head of the american silk trade at that time. he was bullish on the future, and he believed that silk in this country would become big business, which it did. but in 1874 he was thinking how can i expand my business today, how can i make it better today? skinner used to say what's the biggest room in the world? the room for improvement. [laughter] and in 1874 he was looking to improve his business, bullish on the future. he was looking ahead, what could he accomplish, what could he make of his mill in skinnerville, how could he become even better than he was? so with that, i will now read you an excerpt from the book, and then i'll take questions. now, i apologize in advance, i won't be able to read and look up at you all because i now need glasses, and, um, and i tend to slip on my nose if i look up and down. so i'm going to have to keep my nose in my book as i read. chapter one. on the evening of may 13, 1874, the tall, robust englishman walked through the door of delmonico's restaurant in new york city. he was neatly dressed in a black suit with satin trim, bow tie and embroidered waistcoat, the latter stretched impressively. he was greeted in the foyer by a host of familiar faces and several hands reaching out to shake his. an american custom to which he was, by the this time, accustomed. in that gentile environment, however, his cockney accent soon rang out like a clarion call at dawn, and one would have been hard pressed to find even a well-trained staffer who didn't raise a brow at the brashness of the tone. everything about william skinner stood out, each his head. since he didn't like hats and chose not to wear them despite their currency on the street. inside the restaurant which was housed in the old grinnell mansion on fifth avenue and 14th street, skinner joined about 70 gentlemen filing upstair toss a private banquet room. they hailed from a great many places, but they had one thing in common: silk. here were the leading manufacturers of the american silk industry along with several congressmen, some local politicians and even a japanese dignitary. skinner wasn't the only englishman among them, but at 49 he was one of the oldest, and he'd been specifically asked to give a toast this evening that would reflect on the past and honor the pioneers like himself who had turned american-made silk into an enviable addition to the marketplace. skinner hadn't wanted to be part of the lineup, he wanted to sit back and relax without the thought of having a speech to make, but at least one of his colleagues had successfully talked him into it. having grown up poor and uneducated, skin canner quietly harbored a sense of social inferiority. few could match his formidable language of the silk industry or his astonishing success therein. further, he had a flair for the dramatic and for all his instinctive hesitation to get up before a group of people, he possessed a natural ability to hold an audience's attention. this, along with the fact that he tended to keep things short, made him a popular speaker. nor would he let his peers down tonight. as skinner climbed the carpeted stairs toward the appointed dining room chatting with friends and colleagues, at least part of his speech was already written out and tucked away in one of his pockets. anyone who read the papers knew that to lunch, dine or sip at delmonico's was the crowning ambition of those who aspired to notoriety. a presence in this establishment, the most luxurious restaurant that had ever existed in new york, suggested irrefutable success socially and financially. banqueting here conveyed to the press and the public that this group of ambitious silkmen had arrived. their or tireless, determined and off brilliant endeavors had firmly established a silk industry in the united states. and at long last, a national organization devoted to their cause. tonight these men were celebrating the second anniversary of the silk association of america and the exhilarating truth that the american silk industry is, indeed, a power in the land. their private dining room had been festooned with flags with the u.s. flag and the flag of the empire of japan joined in solidarity at one end. banners from every state in the union were hanging throughout the room as well reminding each manufacturer that he was, indeed, part of a union, an industry of thousands of which he was a vital member. at the center of it all floated a sea of colorful balloons above tables glistening with silver and chris crystal. each balloon had been labeled with an industry trademark advertising thebred of -- breadth of american silk manufacturing. later on with toasts underway, the balloons served yet another purpose. the very ceiling would appear to rise up as the men raised their classes in unison, elevating the occasion still further. in keeping with the celebration, the menus had been printed on american silk in purple, blue and green with white fringe. like miniature silk scarves, they were soft to the touch and elegant to the eye, casting off a rich luster under the glow of the chandeliers. on the front they listed the exquisite bill of fare devised by new york's most famous chef, but with everything written in french -- as on any given night at the restaurant -- all this, of course, was quite unintelligible to many of the gentlemen present. the backs of the menus featured more-familiar english since this was where the evening's toasts were listed. down toward the middle was skipper's speech. we emulate our pioneers' example. by the time he stood up to present, a great deal of reminiscing would have already taken place, but his words the organizers hoped would put a flourishing cap on the topic. this dinner, after all, was nothing if not a jubilant reminder to all the men gathered that they were not only benefactors of the past, but progenitors of the future. they, too, were making history. two days later, skinner was on a northbound train heading up the connecticut shoreline on his way home to massachusetts. according to his regular schedule, he visited the city nearly every month. he was on the last possible train of the day which left the grand central depot at 3 p.m. and put him on target to reach skinnerville at 9:05. there was no dining car on the train. that amenity was as yet very rare, and there would be no 20-minute meal stop at any station along the way. unlike his glorious repast of two nights before, this evening's dinner would most likely be packed in a box or brown bag, just a few per funk ri rituals for a traveling businessman. as the train sped along past the white church spires of various new england greens, the afternoon sun began falling toward the west, and the temperature began dropping as well. the hill towns of western massachusetts, of which skinnerville was one, were known for their long winters. in the year 1874, it had been no exception. it had snowed for days at the end of april with heavy storms paralyzing the countryside. and can there was still snow on the ground in patches. but for the moment in that sun-streaked car, skinner was miles from any lingering wintrywet. outside the sky was clear, the tracks were clear x he was rapidly winding down one of the most rewarding business trips he'd ever had. skinner had just been hailed as a pioneer in his field. his speech was highlighted in the papers, and his industry was considered to be one of the most exciting in american. furthermore, his store downtown was filled with activity. he'd just hired a new salesman, a strapping young man named fred warner, and he was getting ready to expand his business again. skinner wanted to branch out into the manufacture of a thread use today make ribbons which were increasingly the rage. skinner already had the requisite machinery on hand, had apparently e represented an addition to his mill and had even hired a local architect to design no fewer than eight new tenements to accommodate the employees he expected to hire. as much as business may have preoccupied his thoughts though, he had something else on his mind though this friday. his 18th wedding anniversary was this very day, and hidden protected in his suit was surely a velvet-lined box from his favorite jewelry, louis tiffany, with something precious for his wife, lizzie. skinner, one of his granddaughters noted, loved giving things. and on a similar occasion when he'd been unable to be home on the day of his anniversary, he'd returned with a diamond scarf pin carefully selected and beautifully wrapped for the woman whom he called, my darling. skinner relied on his wife more than anyone. every bit as intelligent as her husband, lizzie was much better educated having attended both elementary and boarding schools and having herself worked as a teacher for many years. there seemed nothing this exceedingly capable woman couldn't do from layingly knoll yum to explaining mathematics. following the birth of their fourth child, she even helped handle affairs at the mill while skinner was away in england, and later she helped to run the mill's boarding house. she was intimately involved in her husband's business. but what set her apart was the fact that she was the wife of a rich manufacturer. there was no economic reason for her to be absorbing these responsibilities. she simply took them on, utilizing her amazing genius for organization and development. more than a wife to skinner, lizzie was a partner. skinner's first wife had died young, but lizzie had raised his children as her own and given birth to eight more as well. of these ten children, seven were still living, and adding to skinner's sense of accomplishment, all were thriving. nelly and nina, 23 and 20, had grown into smart, educated young women under their stepmother's tutelage. nelly had graduated from a boarding school in connecticut where she'd studied french with none other than george columnen sew who was on his way to becoming prime minister of france. nina had gone a step further, entering college with both of her parents' resounding blessing. she was attending vassar in poughkeepsie, new york. lizzie easeleddest, will, 17, was about to close out his high school years at the prestigious seminary in nearby hampton, massachusetts. graduation was just a few weeks away; that is, if he could make it without being expelled. will was charming, handsome, and much to his parents' dismay, completely ambivalent about his education. even so, skinner hoped he would go on to yale next year. also enrolled in the boarding school was libby, 14, who was attending the grove hall school for girls in new haven, connecticut, but her school year had just ended, and she was back home begun. joe, 11 and belle, 8, were each eager for summer break. getting ready for the summer games, joe had bought a baseball bat the previous weekend, and the very youngest, katherine, only six months old, had recently made her first appearance in public with the world delighting in her just as much as she in it. skinner's train pulled in, the departing passengers gathered their hats and bags, replaced by a throng of new faces coming aboard, each one looking for an available seat preferably by the window if he or she wished to read in the last light of day. a couple of hours and a few stops later, the train pulled into northampton where skinner made his way to the exit and down the steps to the platform. here he transferred to a little one-car special hauled by a dinky locomotive that took him the last leg of his journey up the branch railroad of the mill river valley. the train passed the villages of florence, leeds and haydenville. and then at last skinnerville came into view. there was some lights on across the window as well as windows illumined in the houses down by the road. the mill, however, was but a large shadow in the distance, nearly indistinguishable from the general darkness. the school and general store, too, were no more than ink spots, for it was pitch black outside owing to a new moon. even in the dark, though, skinner's own home -- a three-story mansion set back from the rest with tall french windows stretching from front to back -- was quite identifiable with several of its many rooms lit up in preparation for his arrival. through the air came the sound of his mill's bell tolling 9:00. at this moment skinner didn't know who would still be up when he walked in the door. the baby usually went to bed around 7:30 and the younger children around 8:30, but there was always a possibility that belle and joe might try to keep their eyes open, and since libby had just returned from school, there was a good chance she'd have some callers this evening, or she might have settled into a round of checkers with mother, a very expert player, while nelly knitted by the fire. as the train slowed in its approach to the depot at the northern end of skinnerville, one of his employees awaited him on the platform. the depot was about a quarter mile from the house along a dark, unlit road. plus when skinner stepped down from the car and into the cold night air, he would have found both driver and house already for the -- all ready for the short jog home. the trip and this day were almost over. the anniversaries behind him, and a new year in the life of his marriage, his family and his work was about to begin on the morrow. he was 49 years old, and the fabric of his existence had never been stronger. as he walked up the steps to his front door, there in the middle of skipperville with the river -- skinnerville with the river flowing reliably behind him, the houses of his neighbors and employees all around and a reunion with his wife and children just seconds ahead, there wasn't one clue, nor any sign that the very next morning nearly everything in the his world would be swept away. thank you. [applause] so we have time for a few questions, if anyone has -- and i'm going to ask you if you could step up to the microphone. >> no, no. >> i know. i've had to be up here at a microphone, you know. you can do it too. >> what was the source of the raw material for his silk works? >> yes. the source for his mill was raw silk that came from china. >> in thread form? >> no, it was raw silk. so, and it came from china, and ultimately he began to also trade with japan and import from japan. the raw silk was what he imported, and then he converted it into thread and then wove that into fabric. >> what does raw silk look like? >> well, here is a silkworm cocoon. and you can come up afterwards and shake it, the moth is still inside of it. and the manufacturing of silk is a very complicated and extraordinary process. and this one can cocoon is wound with one strand of silk that is about a half a mile long. but it's so fine as to be barely perceptible and is nowhere near in any shape to be used as thread. so what happens is, in a nutshell, if you think of a pyramid and you think of a whole bunch of zell cocoons at the bottom, various cosoons, the fill laments, are wound together in another layer, and those are wound together, and ultimately you get to one, you have one thread that is made of various silk fill filaments. so the raw silk has been unwound from the cocoon and then joined together to a level sort of partway up the pyramid, and it arrived in the states in bundles. they were called books, actually, even though there was no literature involved, and there were big sacks of this raw gossamer material. >> did they ship textile as well or just finished thread? >> did skinner? >> yeah. >> yes, absolutely. is so he began manufacture anything skinnerville, and then in holyoke he began to weave thread into fabric, and that, again, was one of the components that edge abled him to succeed. he didn't just rebuild to house the operation he had then, he built the mill of his dreams. he built it so that there was room in it to expand and to expand his business into we'ving. >> i'm done. >> okay. [laughter] yes. >> did william skinner have any relationship with samuel will son, the founder of will son seminary who was the largest employer of people in that part of the connecticut river valley from the mid 19th century to later on? he helped establish mount holyoke, he was a major -- he safed amherst college from extinction and also was a major supporter of massachusetts ag which many years later game massachusetts state, now known as the university of massachusetts. >> that's an interesting question, and and i'm so thrilled you know so much about the value. he was an extraordinary capitalist in the valley, and he helped support many industries at one point he was partner of the haydens, hay depp brass which is on the cover of my book, but he did not do business with william skinner, no. thank you. >> sarah, at skinnerville what survives? has there been any kind of serious or amateur archaeological search for evidence of the mill? i mean, what can you find if you go to the site today? >> that's a great question. if you go to skinnerville today, you will find a stretch of highway, and you will find a few houses along the side of it some of which are or were wrecks at the time of the flood that were refashioned into homes. and you will find the, a very track quill, unassuming river flowing alongside it. there's been no archaeological dig that i know of. if you want to find the area where skinner's house was, there is a utility -- what do they call it, a utility -- >> substation? >> substation, something like that, yes. and that, the locals say, is where his house was. locals in the area still refer to the area as skinnerville, but it is no longer on the map. you used to for years be able to go to the mill river and find bricks in the river bank and all kinds of things. now, over the past 130 years most of the debris that was lodged in the bank has been taken by scavengers. but years ago that is how i learned about the flood. i went to the river, and i found a silver spoon and various bits of pottery and china. >> secondly, in holyoke itself the mill at its greatest extent, are any of those buildings standing? how are they being used? >> another great question. um, skinner's mill is no longer standing. it was set on fire by arson in the early 1980s when holyoke was experiencing a rash of arson. and i met a gentleman recently who told me that when that mill burned to the ground, the heat was so intense that the water in the river boiled. it is now a park, i believe, where the mill was. there are no remaining buildings of skinner's mill. the only building that remains that is connected to him is that house that he salvaged that's now a few seem. and in that museum there's an extraordinary archive, and you can go and see all kinds of illustrations, advertisements, you know, photographs, and, you know, you have the paper record of the company and what it involved. but you don't have a physical record of it anymore. but there is some regeneration in the city of holyoke trying to figure out how to use these abandoned mill buildings, how to turn them around, yeah, and how to, you know, make them a destination of sorts. any other questions? yes. >> could you just tell us briefly on the day of the flood what was it like for the skinner family? what did they do, go up to the second floor, or what? [laughter] >> that -- yes, well, you will find out if you read the book. >> read the book. >> well, no, i will, i will answer it. it was a rainy day, and the first sound of alarm that came into the village was from a dairy farmer named colin graves who came in shouting the reservoir's given way, the reservoir's given way, run to the hills. and a woman who worked in skinner's mill, she was an orphan who worked on the top floor, she ran to the top and rang the mill's bell. the skinner family was at breakfast at the time. already up and running for a good while, but he didn't have to be there. he had opened the mill, and he was at breakfast. he'd gone back home. and actually, no, that day he'd slept in. so actually from the trip before, he'd actually overslept that morning. so when the mill bell began to ring, his first thought was there's a fire at the mill. why else would the bell be ringing? and he leapt up, he dart canned outside, and he looked north, and he saw a huge mass of blackness to the north and heard the dairy farmer running by saying the reservoir's given way. and skinner ran down the street e and workers were already beginning to pour out of the mill. once the mill wuss evacuated and the last one to leave the bill was the orphan who had rung the bell, he ran back up to his house, flew through that first floor of the house shouted to his family, get out the back, get out the back, grab the baby, run, and they all ran to the railroad and as soon as they turned around, he said the water had swept in. and to him it was like standing on the deck of a ship in the middle of a violent storm. >> thank you, sarah. >> thank you. >> and now on c-span2 we bring you booktv. on this holiday weekend, we've expended our -- extended our booktv programming until wednesday, december 26th at 8 a.m. eastern. on sunday at 2 p.m. eastern in light of congress discussing the so-of called fiscal cliff, booktv highlights a few programs about economics. michael j. sandell, george w. bush, steve forbes all weigh in. craig whitney sits down with the former president of the brady campaign to prevent gun violation to discuss his book, "living with guns." watch these programs and more all weekend long on booktv. and for a complete schedule, visit booktv.org. >> booktv is here at the annual national press club authors' night, and joining us now is author arkansas run aruno has written a book called first cameraman. what's your association with the obama campaign? >> well, in 2008 on the obama campaign i was his personal videographer which is something i carried through to the first two and a half years of the white house. and this last cycle, actually, did not work on the campaign formally or at the white house, i worked in that new and strange, murky world of super pacs and pac and independent can expenditures. >> talk to us about the campaign in 2008. how'd you get hooked up with the president? >> well, there was an ad in craig's list -- no, that's actually not the case. it was right place, right time. a friend of mine was working at cnn as a documentary producer, and that's kind of a more normal path. i was a fiction film maker, not really first on anyone's list. so she knew e e really wanted to get involved is and brought me in, and then i just hit it off with the senator and started traveling, you know, inside the bubble. >> and how long did you do it? i mean, was it 24/7 for you for a while? >> you know, especially in, on the campaign it really felt like 24/7. i was technically living in chicago, but i was there about two or three days a month. so it was pretty 24/7. but actually it scaled a little bit at the white house, because the president is someone who really does value hippings like having dinner with his family, so usually i could have a reasonable chance that he would go up to do family stuff, and i could do the same. >> who has all the video? >> all the video is at the white house. according to the presidential records acts, anything done in service to the president has to be preserved for posterity. so anytime that the president says a swear by accident, every time i get something out of focus, all of it, wawmpts and -- warts and all, goes into the archives, and it'll be available to the public after the end of the obama administration. >> what about the campaign video? that's private though, right? >> got to figure that out still. you know, the dnc kept all the stuff from 2008 and then gave it back to the campaign when it reignited, but now that the campaign's seemingly over, where that footage goes is very interesting. i'm hoping that it's donated to the obama presidential library whenever that starts to take form. and i betcha it will be. >> well, it's in first cameraman that arun chaudhary documents his experiences as the
think you. thank you for your support of "american phoenix." thank you for coming out tonight and also c-span and booktv. is an honor. i am thrilled to share with you "american phoenix" the remarkable story of william skinner, a man who turned disaster into destiny" one question every writer gets when people find out if you're writing a book. cocktail party or supermarket or on the street, what is your book about? that is a fair question. it is a good one and extremely challenging to answer. you have spent thousands of hours writing thousands of words with a ton of information in your head and the right to one story that includes many others that do have to figure out how to condense the information into a 152nd sound bite of the 10 words or less. i have it down to seven words if you include "american phoenix" is about. people ask if your book was made into a movie house would you give it? >> the titanic meets rocky. "american phoenix" is about in essence disaster and a survival. disaster of epic proportions that involve a lot of water, engineering failure, failure of design that killed a lot of people. and survival. triumph of the human spirit the will to overcome extreme adversity to get up when you have been knocked down again and again. my book explores the challenge to rebuild your life after a catastrophe and also the discovery our worst nightmares can turn into greatest opportunities. it is poignant to be in vermont talking about "american phoenix" especially after the devastation caused by hurricane ike read because you can relate to what william skinner went through 130 years ago to rebuild their lives. and now with her cane sandy of those in new jersey and staten island can also unfortunately relate to to this challenge. what do you do? whether we come to the story line with that connection we all have disasters. and the unexpected moments when suddenly things are not the same. we are in a new paradigm. how do we survive? this moment of crisis will test us. instincts, loyalties, faith in ourselves, creativity, he motions and certainly our courage. may 16, 1874 a reservoir dam gave way in western massachusetts to a nation in and tidal wave that was between 20 and 40 feet high and 300 feet wide and came down a 14-mile valley swept through williamsburg williamsburg, skinnerville, florence and new hampton. to give a sense of the power to appreciate the time it took to pass through portions of the valley. in the lower portion the land was turned into a plane and it took an hour and a half to fled northampton to flood into the connecticut river. in the of the region's the 600 million gallons of water went through a williamsburg williamsburg, skinnerville and hated bill 15 minutes each. the worst industrial disaster at the time. over $1 million of property damage was sustained almost a hundred people left homeless and 139 were killed my input book is about the only village not be built skinnerville and william skinner. what set his story apart is the success and he achieved after the disaster. skinnerville had the worst destruction, it was obliterated from the face of the earth and a one. left, his house was the only one left standing and he lost more financially than any other individual he lost the equivalent of $35 million. he was ruined but because he made choices that nobody else would make he could come back. the other manufacturers in a the valley could not rebuild successfully. they had gone out of business, a bankruptcy, and sold businesses and left town. historian said three years later men of abundance could withstand the shock of disaster was more nefarious than expected. but skinner by himself went on to rebuild his company and as sole proprietor turned it into one of the most successful innovations history. his silk mill was considered the largest in the country when he died in 1908 deschutes 1902 and a multimillionaire. that success would never have been possible had he not lost everything and how to figure out how to survive making choices he would not be forced to make. he annamese survive disaster but turned it into the greatest success. this is a map of the town of williamsburg 1873. this is the reservoir. the kidney shape williamsburg, skinnerville, and haydenville. this is the image of saddam after it had given way. and earth in dam with a core wall of masonry. this is all that was left. this is a graphic depiction of water going past skinner's house during the flood. they said the house survived a because it was routed to the ground and made of board, not precut was so large it acted like a with the waters surging around the front to the back shattering windows, flooding the interior of the first floor. the back parlor floor collapsed and all contents felt in the cellar below. potatoes and pianos and pictures and pork, books and bacon were mixed in the flooded seller. he move this house with him when he relocated after the flood it was taken apart piece by piece and transported on 25 railroad cars where he rebuilt. is now a museum on national register of historic places and you can visit. this is an image what was left of skinnerville. it is hard to imagine what it was like before. a thriving factory village, houses, trees, a stone walls, farmland and the silk mill. right here is the foundation, all that was left of the mill. far to the left extended. here was his house. this is an image on the cover of my book. there was no damage so we had to choose one that represented the disaster. this is all that was left of the neighboring factory 600 feet long, the length of two football fields. more devastation from the village of skinnerville. here is the house from the bartlett family who lived in skinnerville many children worked for skinner. a superintendent henry worked for him at the time of the flood. department family lived in this house through the summer in exactly this condition because they had nowhere else to go. when skinner died in 1902 his son took over the company. they were a brilliant team. joe designed and he took over production and ran the labs inventing fabrics that involved sillcock. will handle the marketing and sales. they carried on their father's innovation and pioneering in the industry skinner was the first to branch out to the consumer advertising this is from good housekeeping here is an ad from 1931 with joan crawford. skinner's silks and satins were favorites of hollywood costume designers. this is wilson doing. he wrote hollywood. designers love to them because they're natalie beautiful with extraordinary draping qualities but durable. they could bush stand where and tear of a costume on said. a the man at the top was the head costume designer of mgm, one of the most famous of the time and he actually helped to advertise the products. i shall also had the whole advertising campaign involved joan crawford, bette davis the idea was if you dress in the scanner silks and satins, you too, can be a star. here is an act featuring bridal section here is another one from the mid 1940's from "glamour" magazine. when the soldiers returned they got married in droves on many were getting married in the bridal sutton. it took the company to a whole new level of success. >> the company survived through 1961. 113 years after skinner founded it fixer their impact the company had throughout its existence the reader's digest included william skinner on a list of the most influential english men to land on american soil. and at that time they had the largest readership in the country, second to the bible. when asked what is your book about? then they ask how did you find your story? it had to do with my family. william skinner was my great great grandfather. here is an image of him around the age of 30. he just lost his first wife nancy. he is a woodworker in this picture with his two young daughters and opened his silk mill in the area known as skinnerville. i find that photograph haunting. the intensity in his eyes just burns. he is so driven and ambitious. yet to tenderly clutching his daughter's. this is a photograph of his first wife nancy warner and died shortly after the death of the second daughter. then he married again to elizabeth allen i. and named after her. one would think with william skinner been my great great grandfather i am named after his second wife who was the white for the rest of his life but my grandfather was the last president of the company that i would have grown up hearing about william skinner and his story. i did not. that story was lost in the legacy of the company. it came so big it overshadowed the founder. there were only two things that i knew about william skinner. one. i just barely knew he was english i only knew of one expression that was very austere. remember, if you are william scanners and descendants. do good in the world. that is all i knew of him but ultimately being named lead me to her father's story bell was the second and this daughter i was fascinated with her she was a famous philanthropist in france after row of war one and she legally adopted an entire village from the french government and then north east of france. legal binding document and rebuilt it after the war. the french considered hopeless. she came and took it on and did exist to this day because of her. she was larger than life. she had nicknames for everyone, including the president, she war fabulous hats, and not pretty but very handsome with a commanding presence and worked with the french government. and i wondered as i looked into her life, what would compel this woman in her 50s leading a comfortable life to become so passionately involved to resurrect a devastated village? rewind when eight years old skinnerville was destroyed in the flood and never rebuilt. i began to research the flood as the inroad to the belle skinner story but as i began to learn more about the flood summit william skinner and tell that point* who was on known became alive. he was such a central figure that the papers followed his every move. suddenly i am following his every move. i knew how the story endured-- ended. he was a success but with the extraordinary loss to come back from that i became incredibly impressed with what he could achieve. the story is resiliency. never give up. obstacles or opportunities. for a problem there is a creative solution. you have to find it. do not believe in not. make rome look. work hard for what you want. do not believe in failure. believe in yourself. these are things that skinner believed. he learned resiliency as a kid. born in london 1824. into a slum of such poverty born into a community of silk workers making silk for generations. weaving and dyeing but they were so pour and malnourished they recalled the stunted and puny race. advocates said not that if you would start this on many were on the verge of starvation. not that they suffer but so few escaped. he did. he came to the country at the age of 20. he had nothing with him. but he had one thing nobody had in america. it was extremely quality which was the knowledge of how to die so. there was no silk industry in this country at that time. they did not know how to make machinery, a diet, have the tools, everything was trial and error to create the silk industry. it was our industrial revolution how we get in on the trade? there's so much money to be made in silk. it is hard to appreciate what it meant to the culture back then. before the age of synthetic fabrics and designers fabric was fashion and silk was the ultimate in style to represent prestige, prosperity, a success. america wanted its own silk industry. skinner would say nobody comes over with and ambition not to wear the silk dress. everybody wanted so. he came to the country with knowledge and was a pioneer in the industry. established its. a founding member of the american soccer association and he took that one in this bill into opportunity after opportunity. to the point* he had his own and silk mill. it was a prosperous an entire village stage village groups around it called skinnerville. the poor kid from east london literally put his name on the map. to write the book i had to recreate skinnerville because it disappeared after the flood. here is a map of skinnerville from 1873. i need to go back. i dunno how to do that. how do you do that? a lot of research, archives research, archives, eddied, probate documents, of vital statistics, a tax records records, census, i should own stock with ancestry.com i spend so much money on the web site. i put together with this committee consisted of. , the children did they have? to lift? who was pregnant at the time, given birth two days before, there is only so far you can go on your own but something's come when you are forever grateful. one day i received a phone call from skinner's home that is now a museum and they told me a collection of letters was just donated by a descendant of sisters who had worked for skinner and his mill and its skinnerville they opened up what it was like to live in the village. when it was like to work for skinner, as an employer, a mill girl and the middle of the 19th century. living far away from home but at this time millwork was very respectable for a young woman. if you had ambitions, you could make a lot of money, you would not lose any respectability, it did not affect your character, a sense of independence, and make your own money. bill littlefield sisters from upstate new york. the first sister was 20 years old who came in 1866 and was visiting cousins who lived in chesterfield and they told her skinner was looking for new workers. she applied, got the job and was an expert schooler says she worked in the finishing department. she would take the silk thread from the dye house and wind it on the school to go to market. it required tremendous skill because you could not damage the silk whatsoever. it would be sold. she was fantastic. another sister followed named francis. one sister would work in the milken if she had a good experience then she would send word. , join me. said you had a number of siblings working together. a family environment. the third sister was alan. she lasted both of resistors and is working for skinner at the time of the flood and is a stronger character of the book and after words help to salvage his silk and she moved to holyoke and ultimately married his bookkeeper. after the flood the valley could potentially be somebody else's gain. after the disaster the valley was a popular spot for investors and capitalist. investors came as far away from omaha nebraska to give them incentives to relocate to other areas. one of the most vocal voices was from holyoke massachusetts. they were ingenious lee is specifically designed for industry. it was hoped to be greater than the urban centers. holyoke was the greatest potential power of new england. the dam the connecticut river on the right is at the crest of a 60-foot fall capable of generating 30,000-horsepower that was the power of 300 mills. the cotton lords that created holyoake devised a three tiered canal system. it does not show on this map the connecticut river could be used over three times. holyoke made offers to the manufacturers in the valley. skinner is the only one who expected the offer and moved he is the only one who survives. skinner needed money and water power. skinnerville he would have to rely on steam to rebuild because the reservoir would not be rebuilt. going forward with the dry season when the river ran though, skinner would have to supplement with steam which was very expensive. for his amount of debt it was too expensive. he would have to rebuild the entire infrastructure of the village. the houses for the workers, everything. he needed a lot of water power. to die silky need a lot of water and he needed the power to power machinery. holyoke could offer consistent water power 365 days per year without a reservoir over his head. holyoke also offered many. better than that, they said we would give the property on the canal worth $6,000 for free over five years. no rent. we will build a new mill no penny down just pay the interest payment at the first of the year for five years at the end of the five years you can buy pate back the land in the mill at the original cost. he can literally get going without putting anything down. the city said you give you 1 acre of land for free to build a new home. of course, he relocated the property he did not have to pay for. he would of had to have the burden of every expense you would enter. this is the first mill skinner had it went up six months to the day of the flood. in holyoke. and ultimately skinners mill turned into that. the largest silk mill under one roof in the world. 1874, a success of this scope was impossible to imagine. and what what it would take to achieve that. 1874, skinner thought he was the head of his game. 49 years old, a wife, seven children, a village of 200 growing up around his mill, the head of the american soap trade, bullish on the pgm believed silk would become big business. it did. 87 before he thought how can i expand my business today? he would say what is the biggest room in the world? the room for improvement with 1874 he was looking to improve the business bullish on the future looking ahead. how could he become even better? with that i will read an excerpt from the book that i will take questions. i apologize in advance i cannot read and look up because i now need glasses. they will slip on my nose. i will have to keep my nose in my book. >> the evening of may 13, 1874, the tall robust english man walked through the door of the restaurant in new york city. neatly dressed with sets and tram, a bow tie and a waistcoat and impressively over his girth. he was greeted by a host of familiar faces and hands reaching out to shake his. an american custom that he was accustomed. in that environment his accent reing out like a clarion call women were hard-pressed to find a well trained staffer who did not raise an eyebrow. everything about william skinner stood out. even his head. he did not like cats he would not wear them despite the courtesy on the street. the old canal mansion skinner joint men who were filing upstairs to a private banquet room. they came from many places that had one thing in common, silk. leading manufacturer of american silk industry, congressman, local politicians, even a japanese dignitary. he was stepping on the english manner that of 49 he was one of the oldest. he was specifically asked to give a toast to reflect on the past to honor the pioneers for those who turned silk into the enviable position. he did not want to be part of the lineup but wanted to sit back and relax the one colleague successfully talked him into it. port and uneducated he had social inferiority. with a formidable knowledge of the industry or the astonishing success. he had a flair for the dramatic and he possessed a natural ability to hold an audience's attention. this the you would keep things short made him a popular speaker. as he climbed the carpeted stairs chatting with friends and colleagues, part of his speech was already written out to and in his pocket. anyone who read the paper or knew anything but to lunch or dying at the restaurant were for those who aspired to notoriety. the most manchuria's restaurant that ever existed suggested irrefutable success, socially and financially. it conveyed to the press in the public that this group of ambitious men had arrived. tireless, determined and billion endeavour's from the established the silk industry in the united states. and long-lasting national organization devoted to their cause. tonight men were celebrating the second anniversary of the silk association of america and the exhilarating truth the american silk industry is a power in the land. the private dining room had flags representing all the great silk producing nations of the world the empire of japan and u.s. flag joined in solidarity. banners from every state in the union were hanging reminding each manufacturer that he was part of a union, industry of thousands that he was a vital member. at the center of all was a sea of balloons that was each tied with silk thread to the stem of a champagne glass. later with the toast under way the balloon's served another purpose the feeling would appear to rise up to raise class's in unison to elevate the celebration for their. it was also printed on american silk. like miniature silk scarves that under the glow of the chandeliers. devised by new york's most famous chef who was quite unintelligible. the banks had more familiar english. then there was skinner's speech, cherishing the recollection of the past to emulate their example. with a great deal of reminiscing to take place but they would help to put a flourishing cap on that topic. they're not only benefactors of the past but the future and they are also making history. >> two days later skinners on a train headed up the connecticut shoreline north to massachusetts. he visited this cd -- city near the every month and was on the last train of the day putting him on target to reach skinnerville just after 9:00 p.m.. there was no dinner train unlike two nights before it would most likely be packed and negative brown bag for a traveling businessman. past the white church spires they would fall toward the west and the temperature began to drop. the towns of western massachusetts were known for the long winter in this was not an exception. there was still snow on the ground in patches. and was miles from any weather. the tracks were clear and was wrapped of a winding down the most rewarding business trip he ever had. he was hailed as a pioneer in the field he was so successful he was highlighted in the papers and the industry considered to be the most exciting in america. the store was filled with activity just hiring a new sales and named fred warner. and getting ready to expand it again. especially ribbons that were the rage. he already had the requisite to and hands and even hired a local architect to design a few within eight tenements to house the employees he planned on hiring. but something else was on his mind. friday, that may 15, 1874. the 18th wedding anniversary and hid in and protected there was of build the line to box from tiffany for his precious wife lizzy. skinner loved to give things and on a similar occasion when he could not be home on his anniversary he returned with a diamond scarfskin beautifully wrapped for the women he called my darling. and was much better educated and having herself worked as a teacher for many years. there was nothing this woman could not do too late linoleum or explain mathematics. following the birth of their fourth child she would handle the affairs at the milk while skinner was in england and ran the boarding house. and was intimately involved in her husband's business but she was the wife of a rich manufacturer. there is no economic reason for her to absorber these responsibilities. she took them on. but lizzy was a partner for the first wife died young. but she had raised the children as her own and given birth to age more and of the 10 children seveners still living and all were thriving. and with smart educated young women. but studying french with nine other than george to would be the prime minister of france. going one step further and nina went to college was up in poughkeepsie new york. the oldest, will, 17 was about to close out high-school at the prestigious seminary in east hampton and massachusetts. graduation was a few weeks away if he could make it without being expelled. he is charming, handsome and complete ambivalent about his education. even so scanner hoped he would go to yale. also libby, 14 at boarding school in new haven connecticut putter's school year just ended and she was home again. joe 11, of belle glade was eager for summer break. joe bought a baseball bat and a very young guests catherine only six on sold recently made her first appearance in public with the world delighting in her as she in it. skinner's train pulled into new haven before 6:00 departing passengers grabbed their bags for a throng of do face is come aboard looking for an available seat if they wanted to read with the light of day. then the train pulled into north hampton were skinner made his way to the exit and down the steps of the platform. he transferred to a one car special that chicken the last lake of his journey up the branch railroad. the train passed the villages of haydenville from the gas lights that were on the street then skinnerville came into view. their lights on across the river and in houses down by the road. the mill was a large shadow nearly station nearly indistinguishable. it was pitch black with a new moon but his own home the three story mansion setback with tall french windows stretching from front to back was identifiable with several rooms lit up in preparation for his arrival. through the air came the sound of the bell tolling at 9:00. he did not know who would still be a. the baby went to bet at 730 and the younger children at a 30. but there was a possibility that bill and joe could keep their eyes open to welcome all fodder and libby just returned from school she could have callers brady playing checkers with mother while nelly in knitted by the fire. as the train slowed the approach one employee, john awaited him. the depot was a quarter mile up on a dark on the road and into the cold night air already on a short jog home. the anniversary behind him and the new year in the light of his marriage and his work was about to begin. 49 years old and the fabric of his existence had never been stronger. as he walked up the steps in the middle of skinnerville with the river flowing behind him, the mill across the way, the houses all-around any reunion with wife and children seconds ahead, there is not one clue or any sign that the very next morning nearly everything in his world would be swept away. think you. [applause] i would ask you if you would step up to the microphone. what was the source of the of raw material for his silk works? >> it was raw silk from china. it was rob. it came from china and ultimately he would trade and imports from japan. raw silk is like he imported and converted into thread and that was turned into fabric. >> what does it look like? >> here is a silkworm cocoon. the moth is still inside. the manufacturing of silk is very complicated and the extraordinary process. this one a cocoon is wound was one strand of silk half a mile long but it is so fine it is barely perceptible and nowhere near enough shape to be used as the red. in a nutshell, fink of a pyramid and silk cocoons at the bottom the filaments are wound together into a layer and then another layer until you have one thread made of various silk filaments. it is silk that has been unwound from the cocoon and joined together part way up the pyramid that arrives in states in bundles they were called books. >> did they ship textile as well? >> yes. he began to manufacture silk threadfin in holyoke he would weave the thread into fabrics that enabled him to succeed because when he rebuilt the mill he did not just rebuild to house the operation then but he built the mill of his dream so there was room to expand his business into leaving. >> did william skinner had any relationship with cml page samuel, whose nose stretched from northampton to holyoake was the largest employer from the mid-19th century. he helped to establish holyoke, he saved and hearst college from extinction and a supporter of massachusetts aggie many decades later now known as university of massachusetts. >> that is an interesting question. i am thrilled you know, so much about the valley. skinner did not work with samuel wilson. he was a capitalist and help to support many industries. he was a partner with the hated brass company that is on the cover of my book but he did not do business with william skinner. >> with skinnerville what survives? any serious or imager archeological search for evidence of the mill? what can you find at the site today? >> that is a question station -- great question for you find a stretch of highway, a few houses. some were racks at the time refashioned into homes. of very trying to asia -- train quote river no archaeological dig that i know wealth. if you want to find the area of his house there is a utility, like a substation and the locals say that is where his house was. locals still refer to the theory at as skinnerville but it is not on the map. you used to be able to go to the river to find a bricks and the river bank that were washed away. over 130 years most of the debris has been taken by scavengers. that is know i've learned about the flood. i found a silver spoon and pieces of pottery and china. >> second, holyoake the mill at the greatest extent to any of those buildings standing? a great question. >> skinner's know is not standing it was set on fire by arsine in their early eighties when it had a rash of arson. someone told me when the bill turned it was so intense the water in the canal boiled it is now a park. there is no remaining bill buildings of skinner's mill. the only building that remains is the house that he salvaged. in the museum you can go and see illustrations, advertisement s, photographs and a paper record of the company and what it involved but no physical record anymore but there is some the generation of holyoke figuring out how to use the abandoned mill building to make them a destination. >> on the day of the flood was it like for the skinner family? what did they do? >> you will find out if you read that book. it was a rainy day. the first sound of alarm was a dairy farmer to came shouting the reservoir has given an play. run to the hills. it or fend ran to the top and began to ring of bill belle. this bitter family was at breakfast his bill was up running he did not have to be there. actually he had slept in. from the trip before he had overslept. his first thought was there was a fire why else would the bell rang? he looked north and saw a massive blackness and heard a shout of the dairy farmer. and skinner ran down the street and operatives were already beginning to come out of the mill and he started to shout run to the hills. once the last one to ring gauge the the know which was the orphan he ran to the family grab the baby. run. run for the hill they ran for the embankment and escapes within seconds when he turned around the water had swept it was like standing on the deck of a ship in the middle of a violent storm. [applause] thank you. >> you don't always find embracing investigative reporting but it is not just economics but a discomfort that often causes in the newsroom because it is troublesome. if you ruffle the feathers of somebody powerful, they complain to the publisher and there are stories of things happening. we are fortunate with our career to work for people who were strong and upright in the area and let the chips fall where they may.
apartheid era. it's friday december twentieth year in korea lot from full time teaching them shawn lane things so much for joining us we begin with harsh rhetoric they came abruptly out of killing and today this time it threatened to launch an attack on soul without notice and respond south korea said it would sternly react to any provocations the defence ministry correspondent and enhance our top story. a fresh morning out of north korea is turning up the key to an inter korean relations seoul's defence ministry has confirmed that kelly and sent it back to south korea's presidential office of a latte on thursday to realize joint military hotline at the way i see the message sent from the north's national defense commission says. but if south korea continues provocative act against the state's highest deck maybe it will retaliate ruthlessly without a warning the highest dignity refers to the sta's premier and on and south korean conservative groups to explore each street rallies in downtown seoul on tuesday. testing north korea's authoritarian rule and human rights abuses the protests were held to mark the second anniversary and the death of former north korean leader kim jong me. in response to threat. the south korean government sent a warning back across the border saying it would respond strongly to any provocation. seoul's defence ministry had her ready strength and its combat readiness. earlier this month following the execution of king john's uncle and some pay. north korea also lashed out against south korean president twickenham friday here in a state run media taking note of the one year anniversary of president fox election day victory. a korean central news agency article titled sweet promises better reality strongly denounced president for not keeping a campaign pledges and said she would be quoted but strict be judged by history. the piece went on to become president the president was suppressing anyone who asks for democracy and justice and then continued. as south korea has decided to step up efforts to better prepare for any possible scenario on the korean peninsula. it has decided to set up a standing committee in the secretariat of the national security council to make security meetings more regular in the command structure more streamlined our presidential office course wanted a change to pass the chips. but the security situation on the korean peninsula becoming increasingly tense after the execution of time spent at the back of the desperation he has and field a new set of measures to strengthen the line at the national security office and chat at the national security council nsc the plant turbines along to set up a standing committee and a secretariat at the nsc national security keep in step two will head the committee which will be in charge or purview of the government's foreign affairs and security related policies once every week the device measures to counter any pending issues nsc meetings will be convened. anytime the president thinks it is necessary the fsc secretariat meanwhile will systematically support operations in management at the nsc or work level committee meeting its way. we need to create a system in which we can more effectively and efficiently response to the rapidly changing situation on the korean peninsula and in northeast asia by establishing a single channel system for security related meetings and the systematic decision making process for security related policy there are new position still be created after the national security chief. first and second deputy detractors the first deputy director will head the nsc secretariat and a current senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and national security. all called an additional position as the second deputy director the office of international cooperation secretary to the national security office all the cheese into the office of policy management secretary and the office of security strategy secretary will be nearly created to say that the long term security plants the prison officer tell what it says that it will work the national assembly to first provide a lot to create the committee and secretariat of the nsc which are expected to miss the role of the national security office as the country's security control tower. oh didn't you a genius. we're in and year out the united nations passes a resolution condemning human rights abuses in north korea and calling for change but this year was no exception especially with the execution of the second most powerful men in the north fresh in their minds. this isn't in the courts the many nations does not prove that the death penalty under any circumstances and is urging north korea to relieve the tens of thousands of people were being held as political prisoners. in a resolution adopted by consensus wednesday the un general assembly criticizing north korean b team for its human rights abuses. at that time yet is violating the civil political economic and social rights of its people this latest resolution follows the execution of times i had earlier this month. the technician said has taken a bakery a petition that for one thing is so calm since its technicians easel points from the input huge help but get panicky. this is a very f oven for a few minutes he was in a north korean delegate responded to the resolution by calling it a quote fabrication concocted by hostile forces the resolution on human rights abuses as the regular current each year and is designed to put more pressure on the north korean ricci but it also holds no legal consequence. guillen secretary general in mind also wind up party surrounding the korean peninsula but steve vigilant and tread carefully so as not to kill anything impulse that the general assembly also adopted resolutions on syria and iran expressed serious concerns about the human rights violations and those country. but it welcomed recent pledges made by new ukrainian president assignment i need to improve in some areas of human rights see sam and i can use the day after the us federal reserve's announcement over its decision to scale back its pond by the stimulus measures your nation don't meet their pickups have been detected in the markets stocks edged up to and foreign buyers kept buying shares in the local firms are on ga has the details. there were fears of major capital outflows in korea due to the us federal reserve's decision to start wearing it on buying stimulus program. a lover of local stocks ended higher on friday with the bench across the rising zero point three nine percent to close at one thousand nine hundred eighty three point three. analysts say the fed's announcement helped reduce prolonged market uncertainty the advocate bring indicates that the us economy is on the track to recovery something that will prompt investors to me this year foreigners also extended their buying in her yes to be happen next. thirty three point eight billion won rfp thirty two million us dollars the governor of the bank of korea has also downplayed the effect that the fed featuring on the domestic market. dean jones has said in a meeting with the heads of local banks on friday that local financial markets are doing well with during the impact of events stimulus tapering. he cited net buying on korea's stock and bond markets after the fed's announcement on thursday the local currency meanwhile fell against the greenback and closed at one thousand sixty one point two one the lyrics mainly attributed the fall of the local currency to the rising value of the dollar. eta at the news. moving out to the nationwide railway strike that rumbled into its twelfth day on friday the union workers in the state run korea railroad corporation remained far apart on the copper mines as the government is forging ahead with the plan and got the strike rolling in the first place. tim gill reports. thousands of unionized railway workers remained on strike friday in protest of the government's move to set up the new mill operators that would run the uk takes blog train from his thoughts on this hole which they claim is the first of twelve privatizing the korea railroad corporation. the transport ministry said friday he will issue a licence for the new rail service operator next week. back tracking slightly from an earlier plan to issue the license today. at the national assembly on friday finance ministry hundreds of greek underrated the setting of the coral subsidiary unit was not in the privatization of bother at improving services the police meanwhile continued with its raids on the regional headquarters of korea's railway workers union on friday with a court issued warrants and had an arrested two of the twenty five strike leaders. the walkout has crippled railway services nationwide in carmel train service is the hardest. rail freight operations are running at thirty nine percent of normal levels and passenger services are at fifty six percent and sixty one percent for the stem on and watch planes. roughly seventy hundred new workers early on strike. no likey thousand people return to work after poodle issued an ultimatum or bring them back on the job by doris day corel on friday also filed a lawsuit claiming damages worth seven point three million us dollars. the case the union of one hundred eighty six straight leaders for business losses incurred by the firm over the past twelve states tend to add onions. earlier this week the supreme court made a landmark ruling include the record bonuses and allowances and normal wages above the decision was welcomed by labor groups that can now look for to rising wages. the business community is concerned about extra labor expenses for more on the conflicting views and the implications they can have on both labor and management. we bring in dr stone said the professor of law at the university pays for joining us again. good evening. some of the controversy over the scope and size of the ordinary places long been at the center of disputes how significant was the latest ruling by the supreme court well the roof of the ruling itself is not really a surprise because supreme court in other courts have been saying this is roughly the same thing about the standard of including something into the ward new age if it's a regular and if it's it's it paid out without regard to the performances of those then it is or new age. i think the significance is that the korean way system has become a convoluted and distorted because of the lack of clear guidelines but less info i think they'll fix that and it did this uncertainties that they were facing because of this to the massive losses they were talking but probably that aspect isn't in many minds at this point because people know that there with the standard is so low. let people say that they their remaining also to tease that could spell on loan last fall with the latest ruling the certainties for business groups they say it will be increased costs to think that this word really impacts negatively future batsman and growth for korean companies i think there will be some impact but i think it would be a short time and not as much as they've been fearing they threw around the figures like thirty eight billion dollars that would cost them but they fit within a twenty four billion of them is about the losses than my face and boost for the effect of back pay for the past three years. the supreme courts in their tag as a whizz them come all the blocks on that route. so although there's some controversies probably visas will not worry too much about that big chunk of money going for it probably did fix the system and to adjust to do. this applies it demands in the labor market so long term prospect probably it's not much of a big impact them there are also concerns that employees would enjoy it temporary and handsome leading priests but not so much in the long run i liked her cake. probably the same reason because adjustment will be made from the business and i suspect that the national assembly might get together and to do something about it because because of this clear guidelines. probably they look good. who are more effective than what we saw this kind of battle pitted against the big labor unions and the big business but what's missing has been the small to midsize farms cool might not have the collective bargaining arrangements the key evidence is that my brain to fit into this ruling is counted skimpy. so they can look at the uncertainties in terms of loss is there a more confined in small business sector. so i think the government has a role to minimize that circuit city think there's anything more that the government can do to clarify some of these remaining issues that are unclear in the labor laws are something that can create more of this what we mean environment. probably if you had stepped back a little and the whole thing about this neighbor. and that the word new wages and battle between two has to do with the labor market in korea. the rigidity of it. and also the economic structure where did that the most of the good jobs are on the pic is in sight. i think the lead to job security issues is fueling this controversy and it's also feeling the call really shoes and other labor related issues. so ultimately what government can do is deliver the promises they talked about the creative economy and growing the service sector and the smoke and it is a midsize businesses so that people were not so pinched about guarding their job to pay. i think is very much professor song for coming in today and for insight. thank you. before your dna. and another began get the latest line from seoul expert analysis from ages fourteen with the viewpoint of the covert its local network and why on arrival that. he always on standby. south. the overseas to the philippines four people were killed and another five injured when gunmen opened fire at mandela's main airport on friday in the era of the southern philippine town and his wife are among the dead. authorities say the suspects were wearing police uniforms at the time of the attack and they fled on motorcycles. he also believed a mayor who has reportedly survived previous assassination attempts was intended target. no arrests have been made so far. an investigation is underway and london scores of people were injured some very seriously after a ceiling collapse and historical and in the inner light in the middle of the performance honey can see the snopes planning and land survey says seventy six people were injured after part of the ceiling and london's apollo theater collapsed during a performance on thursday evening local time not to draw from an earlier estimate of eighty eight authorities say their initial count was off due to the confusion of the situation. many of them wounded were transported and three double decker buses to a nearby hospital for treatment authority say that while several people were very badly hurt. no one had suffered life threatening injuries. the collapse occurred at around eight fifteen pm local time when over a seven hundred people were watching a performance of the curious incident of the dog in the nine time. a week before christmas the apollo theater and like many others in london was packed to the brim with your balance. witnesses say they heard a strange crackling noise before the collapse of thought it was part of the show we decided to sign back and said that if that meant. and in uk and in his nets out on seeing the sights at macy's i came down just three of the new reiki apollo is located and remains cordoned off by the authorities about an hour before the ceiling collapsed monday was hit by a heavy thunderstorm but the exact cause of the incident and the one hundred twelve year old feeder and as yet i know honey can eat onions. back in the nation christmas and new years are right around the corner which usually means there's no shortage of mc stands and according to our team gm place to be is the seoul arts center. to lose every new scan is scrambling to and violet st jacobs and he'll celebrate christmas and salt together in concert before and it's only be summoned to rome it is most content sites such as meet the needs of the team is up to unfold as their spots open schenectady during the christmas gifts this year to me will be taking surveys and new works on for piano and peel. so that's a wonderful i can't think of the nicer gift for me it is a musician to get something new the repertoire but such a master this all philharmonic orchestra which was one of the mosque at the end of year concert scene from the us conductor twenty oh one will feature the two of its class and an overnight rally in other musical pcs in cooperation with soprano passing him and said alfred chan full funding yet piece metropolitan opera willingham music stars such as the primary use hundred and eleven is correct in turn will perform at the command symphony orchestra new year's concert at the seoul arts center on january seventeen hands down the ends. her style victorian basketball league season came to an end to speak and that means the kb all star game is upon us even che joints is for preview. hey guys it's been an incredible first half for the k b l with the sk nights and molded steve is going to break tied for first but now it's time for what the fans have been waiting for the all star game. you'll be the magic verses that rate meeting on the hardcourt the top ten vote getters promote disassembled and for the train and pcc is what the kingdom coup for the magic. all star weekend will also have a three point contest song contest in brooklyn college day. in other exciting activities as well go back to dad's horse jumps. tom says stadium on sunday starting at eleven am to be sure to check it out now moving on the korea baseball organization has tentatively decided to get rid of the salary cap on foreign players after the rules effectiveness came into question. the cap was created to make the more level playing field and so forth. excessive salary inflation but it also worked to expose the leaks under the table. the latest top office will discuss alternatives at a meeting early next month. and on to football the latest eco world rankings of south korea at fifty fourth placed to you close out the year. that's a twenty spot died from the same time last year and it has people asking how could this happen. while there were several factors at play. working on a four year still a huge chunk of points was adopted from two thousand and two thousand and nine also there with his performance at the east peace cup in july dropped into fifty six. the low point of the year. meanwhile fellow gypsy members run into ten rank above korea at their third and forty seven respectively. and ending off here the korean although certain on the chart is the latest south korean fighter to joint the ultimate fighting championship the role that c lightweight champion signed a deal with the ufc for six fights and he gets to start next month on ufc fight night in singapore there he'll get a chance to shine with fellow nationals in town view who fights terror except a dine in the main events and mr perfect con don't call. that does for me here the sportscenter this has been speaking to check back at midnight for the latest in the world of sports. sticks it is. says. the air was filled with fine dust from china here in seoul today. it tells us over for a cable down at the weather center it was the latest. one guy said preliminary fine just watch this. issued at eight this morning but was canceled at nine pm. now the pull of strong winds made it feel colder than the number is in fact come to the provinces under a quilt. we bought and it looks like things will stay that way there tomorrow nonetheless the bullet get back to season i have a good starting sunday afternoon while taking a look at the current conditions in a scene is at the end of a high pressure system from china which is why waste the cloudy skies across the map. well due to this month i've written so i'm only getting five km of visibility on the roads. tiny is it that the spotless day in the central regions with high levels on saturday. also the east and west coast regions are forecast to get one to three centimeters of snow from later tonight or tomorrow morning. taking a look at tomorrow's number as well this morning over manger scene that today at my aunt's seven. i've added new heights and sticks to me la hate when i'm sixty six and five degrees respectively. not to their beats and snow showers are forecast overnight and take tea with a date i set it all the while took two and can top out at five and two minus three degrees respectively. have a wonderful friday night and got a lot just after midnight broadcasts on this friday nights and easing pain so the man thinks watching happy we can see sin. even though you. japanese winter has its full share of seasonal festivals and events. i am and the market sells try to decorate them. rick school and eat too much. he's a lucky charm. so to ensure good fortune and business success in the coming year that means their house the rakes like at all bringing good luck to all of the hall. decorate each break with the use of rights for african context. in december as christmas approaches. and citizens it up with fantastic illuminations. he's complex mention this job means that many regions have the winter snow. skiing and snowboarding a very proper. clinical signs become the ski slopes with the coming of the silly season it's a great time for children to re build snowmen write stories. and just play around too much. we're using the customers to eat a bowl of buckwheat soba noon symbolizing a long and healthy. new lulu we love movies. midnight. iran one hundred making time to welcoming the new year routine i'll try and sound will be so confused. so you stop and you have to kill the hawks. pmr. mm. each year people give thanks for making it safely through olympia. i'm pretty grateful to you . this is. see special new year decorations outside mos. often arranged in pairs on this or that little. these are made from falling into the school. a special meal toys books or tv or see the new year. he tried to move the table is a traditional symbol of health and good fortune. the new decorations a ceremony lead to doing fine for me. can you this party customers to have its roots in fortune telling ceremonies held the thirteenth century. you call. its religious significance. sacred home fires also great for roasting don't send sticky my scripts the fire is believed to be away impurities from the soul the teams start your life when you're in japan the season where one year ends and the next week. time to give thanks for the crust depressing films. he was. it was one week. breaking news the and the help of the trustee was freed from prison of the presentations lines of cars and what he called humanitarian principles. it's not all the non credit agencies that follows the european union is a longtime racing due to lack of solid hours taken on the twenty eight member states all set. is it me the idea that
you have goal its, you have that hope to get you there. >> ifill: those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> at bae systems, our pride and >> i've 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 they're on. because the one question they never want to ask is, "how did i end up here?" i started schwab with those people. people who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: ukraine's parliament voted in a new government today and it immediately faced a challenge from the country's crimea region. pro-russian gunmen seized official buildings there, as russian military jets patrolled along the border. it raised concerns at a nato meeting in brussels, where u.s. defense secretary chuck hagel said he's keeping a close watch on russian actions. >> let's keep the tensions down. let's see no provocative actions by anyone, any military. these are difficult times, we all understand that, but this is a time for very cool, wise leadership. on the russian side, on everybody's side >> woodruff: in washington, secretary of state john kerry said he spoke with russia's foreign minister, who promised to respect ukraine's sovereignty. meanwhile, russian news accounts said ousted ukrainian president viktor yanukovich is sheltering at a kremlin retreat near moscow. there's word he plans a news conference tomorrow. we'll get more on the developing situation, right after the news summary. bomb blasts shook baghdad and other parts of iraq today, killing at least 52 people. most of the deaths came in a motorcycle bombing that struck a shi-ite market. other attacks hit both shi-ite and sunni sections of the city. a wave of violence began last april, and has continued despite government pledges to restore security. in northeastern nigeria, islamist fighters struck again today, killing at least 33 people. survivors said gunmen with boko haram staged an all-night attack on a town and several villages after soldiers ran away from military checkpoints. on tuesday, the militants murdered almost 60 students at a government school in a neighboring state. gay rights activists cheered today after arizona governor jan brewer vetoed a bill letting businesses refuse service to gays on religious grounds. the republican's closely watched decision came last night. she rejected arguments by bill supporters who cited religious rights violations in other states. >> senate bill 1062 does not address a specific concern related to religious liberty in arizona. i have not heard one example in arizona where a business owner's religious liberty has been violated. the bill is broadly worded, and could result in unintended and negative consequences. >> woodruff: similar legislation is pending in at least six other states. also today, a federal judge in louisville ordered kentucky officials to begin immediately recognizing same-sex marriages from other states and countries. the netherlands is the latest country to suspend aid to uganda over a new anti-gay law there. it imposes sentences of up to life in prison for those who engage in homosexual relations. norway and denmark have already halted millions of dollars in assistance in uganda. the u.s. has warned it too, may cut aid. democrats in the u.s. senate fell short today in a bid to advance a $21 billion veterans benefits package. the measure would expand health care, education and job- training. republicans blocked the bill in part over its cost. they also wanted to add new sanctions on iran over its nuclear program. food nutrition labels may be getting a new, easier-to-read look. calories and sugar content will stand out more, and serving sizes will be updated to bring them more in line with the portions people actually eat. first lady michelle obama rolled out the proposal today at the white house. >> families deserve more and better information about the food they eat. and it's important to note that no matter what the final version looks like, the new label will allow you to immediately spot the calorie count because it will be in large font and not buried in the fine print. >> woodruff: the food and drug administration will take comments on the proposal for 90 days. a final rule could take another year. we'll look more closely at the proposed changes later in the program. u.s. attorney general eric holder was taken to a washington hospital for a time today. an aide said he felt faint and had trouble breathing during a morning staff meeting. he was discharged after several hours and sent home. holder is 63 years old. in economic news, the new chair of the federal reserve bank acknowledged a spate of weak reports could mean slower growth. janet yellen told a senate committee that consumer spending and job growth have been lower than expected. but she said the severe winter could be the main cause. >> part of that softness may reflect adverse weather conditions. but at this point it's difficult to discern exactly how much. in the weeks and months ahead, my colleagues and i will be attempting to it signals that indicates whether the recovery is progressing in line with our earlier expectations. >> woodruff: wall street rallied after yellen's testimony. the dow jones industrial average gained 74 points to close at 16,272. the nasdaq rose more than 26 points to close under 4,319. and the s&p 500 finished the day with a record high, up nine points to close at 1,854. still to come on the newshour. a new prime minister takes the helm of a divided ukraine, dire straits for palestinian refugees in syria, president obama's push to help young men of color strive for success, a makeover for nutrition labels on food packages, how american and british intelligence agencies spied on webcams, plus, the oscar-nominated documentary "the act of killing". >> ifill: in ukraine, a crisis is unfolding in the eastern province of crimea. lindsey hilsum of independent television news reports from simferopol, the capital of the pro-russian region. police were on gourd outside the regional parliament this morning. the entrance barricaded by old furniture and pallets. the russian flag flying alongside the crimea on top. and inside the building, some 60 armed men. >> nobody knows what's going on inside now. we are just saw the building being taken over. 30 fully armed guys rubin side. they kicked out the police. then more buses came and about 30 more guys arrived. they had bags full of rpgs, sniper rifles, handguns, these guys were fully armed. >> the crowd was all in favor. they said they didn't know exactly who would occupy the building but they all wanted the same thing. a referendum on where the crimea should remain part of ukraine or as they all want, join russia. >> in key eve parliamentarians responded angrily, it's a challenge to the new government's control. >> anyone who tries to, and i stress anyone, to take over the government buildings in ukraine's east, west, center, south and north is going to be treated as having committed a crime against the government of ukraine. >> so what are they going to do about it? >> the people occupying the crimean parliament are armed and outside including the police are sympathetic. so it's hard to see how the authorities in kiev can force a siege. they will have to negotiate. and that gives not just to the militant russian crimean but to the only man they respect, president putin. >> this morning russian armoured vehicles headed towards-- president putin may be insurancing that every one remembers that the russian military has bases here. they turned around at the ukrainian police check point. a group of men were building a camp outside the headquarters of the riot police. they want to protect them from the new authorities. two courses have become entwined. these men love russia and they see-- accused of murdering protestors if kiev as their heroes. a small group of pro russia pro-- protestors marched through the streets yelling their message that they don't accept the authority of kiev and its european union backers. people milled around as deputies inside the occupied parliament waited in favor of the referendum on whether the crimea should join russia. kiev would can claire the vote illegal but are not sure how they're going stop it. >> woodruff: the state department released its annual human rights report today and concluded that last summer's chemical weapons attack in syria-- which killed more than 1,400 people-- was the worst human rights violation of 2013. while there have been no new reports of chemical attacks, the civil war rages on and the humanitarian crisis continues to escalate. tonight we take a closer look at those barely surviving amidst the conflict. it's a scene of utter desolation. here in the yarmouk camp, thousands of palestinian refugees are caught in the crossfire of civil war, in a country that is not their own. >> ( translated ): by god, we are dying from hunger. we can't take this anymore. >> woodruff: yarmouk was first established in 1957, near the center of damascus. once, 160,000 palestinians lived there. now, 18,000 are left. they've been under siege by the syrian army since july, after some palestinian factions turned against the assad regime. since then, the u.n. says more than 100 residents have died of starvation and related illnesses. this week, aid workers negotiated their way into the camp and were met with a swarm of desperate people. u.n. footage showed an elderly woman who came out to receive aid. the workers ask if she is palestinian or syrian. "i'm palestinian," she laments, filippo grandi is head of the u.n's palestinian refugee agency. he visited yarmouk on tuesday, and said later the people looked like ghosts. >> these are people that have not been out of there, that have been trapped in a situation not only without food, medicines, clean water-- all the basics-- but also probably completely subjected to fear because there was fierce fighting, noisy fighting going all along. >> woodruff: and, as the fighting rages on, an ever- growing number of syrians have been forced to leave their homes. nearly seven million are displaced within their own country. another 2.5 million have sought refuge in surrounding states. lebanon has the largest contingent, at more than 900,000. jordan and turkey now host roughly 600,000 syrian refugees each. and more than 200,000 syrians are living in iraq. in washington today, senator tim kaine of virginia highlighted the humanitarian crisis, insisting that russia put pressure on assad. >> none of this is an accident. the assad regime is using forced starvation and forced sieges as a weapon to destroy the syrian people. >> woodruff: for now, u.n. staffers continue to work through negotiations with the syrian government, rebel and palestinian factions within the yarmouk camp with the aim of delivering more aid while it can still do some good. we turn now to two who have focused on the humanitarian crisis caused by the syrian civil war. nancy lindborg is assistant administrator of the u.s. agency for international development in charge of conflict and humanitarian assistance. and michael gerson is a "washington post" columnist and former speech writer for president george w. bush. we welcome you to the newshour. nancy lindborg, we see these terrible pictures, almost impossible to believe. how did it get like this? >> you know, it's been steadily et cetera ca lating particularly in the last year. we've seen the number of people who have been displaced rise by three times in the last year. and the people who you saw are part of 12 cities that are literally beseiged, 250,000 people, many of whom haven't received aid for months and months. and they're eating cats and dogs. >> woodruff: and so is it as bad, we saw pictures in one place inside syria. is it that bad in other refugee encampments sm. >> i think it's hard to imagine the depth of difficulty people are facing inside syria right now. in aleppo they are dropping barrel bombs. knees are bombs that are constructed from bolts and rebar and specifically designed to horrificly injure people so what we are seeing is the unfolding to the just of a humanitarian crisis but a serious human rights crisis where people are being systemically denied food and targeted. >> woodruff: so michael ger son, there is a-- gerson there is a crisis for those inside syria, terrible. you were at a syrian refugee camp in jordan. what did you see there? >> well, i was with the holocaust museum examining issues over there. and we were at the border crossing seeing the people coming right across-the-board frere sirria. and it is exactly what you are strike. their stories right on the border, very much either the beseiged areas of syria, the government surrounding areas, depopulating them, attacking them, using barrel bombs, using hunger as a tool. this is not a case where the news of the innocent bystanders or the byproduct of a civil war. this is a case where one side in that civil war is using aya tacks on civilians, mass atrocities as a tool of war, as a strategy of war. the testimony that we heard from person after person, from homes in aleppo, the suburbs of dom as cuss, 40 some areas right now in the estimates that are beseiged and where civilians are being attacked. >> tell us some of the stories that you heard. >> well, you know, i was surrounded at the camp by a bunch of people who were very anxious to tell their stories. but there was one man that hung back and talked about how he had been a protestor. and had his house targeted by a tank, a regime tank. lost a four-year-old daughter, a six-year-old son, a 15-year-old son lost a leg. and all he said, i asked, you know, i was in tears when he was telling this, all he said at the end was i just wanted someone to know-- this was a case where part of the problem is, is a failure of sympathy. i talked with a lot of the great aid groups over there that are not getting much donor money right now, for the syrian crisis. one told me that they had raised in three months for the philippines, where it had taken three years to raise in the syrian conflict. people are not very engaged in this. >> nancy lindborg, how much is getting in and who is sending it in, where is it coming from. remind us where this money is coming from. >> the united states is the single largest donor. we have given about $1.7 billion of humanitarian assistance since the crisis began. and we're working with u.n. agencies, international ngos, local syrian groups. the courage of the humanitarian workers who every day are risking their lives to deliver assistance is really remarkable. just one of our partners has lost 42 of its staff members since the conflict began. so the aid is coming in through all different ways, reaching people throughout the country. but it's difficult to escalate the assistance as fast as the needs are rising. >> so i was going to say, there's aid going in. but a lot of people are to the getting aid. >> the united states alone is feeding 2 million people a day. we sport the world food program or the largest donor. they fed last month more than $4 million. but the needs are so much greater. it's as if the entire state of new jersey needs food and medical assistance every day. >> what else, what needs to happen. who needs to step up here, michael gerson, i want to ask you too. who needs to step up and what needs to be done. >> i want to confirm, on the humanitarian side t is extraordinary. what the u.s. government is doing. what the jordanian government is doing. they have taken in 600,000 people in a country that has poor water resources and you know, is not a very wealthy country themselves. the problem is there may be 500,000 mobile refugees right on the other side of the border in southern syria that could overwhelm a country like jordan. the difficulty is how do you change the situation on the ground within syria. and i think the administration is now re-examining some of its methods to try to do that. the question -- >> you mean effect the conflict itself. >> affect the security situation that's producing this problem in the long-term. but a lot of the humanitarian organizations are now begin toing to plan for five years, ten years out this is to the going to be solved in any short amount of time. >> how do you see it, what needs to happen in the short run and the longer run. >> well, immediately, we have the opportunity of the un security council resolution that was passed on saturday. it's the first times there's been a unanimous agreement among the members of the security council that the barrel bombing must stop. there must be full, unfettered humanitarian access, that if this is not complied with, that the security council will examine and take further action. >> is that having an effect? >> it just passed on saturday so we'll be closing watching and pushing the secretary ban ki-moon will be making a report within a month. there has to be action, every day syrians are dying. every day children are suffering. and just to note to michael's point about people have become almost numb because of the complexity and enormity of this crisis, the children in particular have been suffering. >> is there something people watching can do without want to help? >> i suggest they go to champions for the children of syria .org where there are different calls to action to help people get engaged. to help people partnership in a global call, both for action as well as to let the syrian people know that their stories are being heard. >> nancy lindborg with usaid, michael gerson, we thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: leaders from the corporate, philanthropic, arts, faith and sports worlds gathered at the white house today to address a single issue: the challenges facing young men and boys of color. the issue has become a key priority for the president. >> the bottom line is, michelle and i want every child to have the same chance this country gave us. >> ifill: when president obama uttered these words during his state of the union address, this is who he had in mind. christian champagne is an 18 year-old senior at hyde park career academy on chicago's south side. he plans to go to college and hopes to become a lawyer. but, as a young black man, he faces challenges steeper than most. high incarceration rates, low high school completion and unemployment dramatically higher than the rest of the population. but christian and the other young men like him who traveled to the white house this week, hope to buck that trend. they are all part of a program called becoming a man or bam. >> bam was needed because it helps young black men to become great and gets goals in life. it was more than needed in my opinion and it should be worldwide. >> ifill: bam is one of dozens of programs nationwide that will be part of my brother's keeper, an initiative focused on young men of color announced today at the white house. 28 foundation executives are pledging $200 million to support literacy, school and criminal justice reform and jobs programs to help young men like christian. >> i'd probably be still a little less me to say i don't really express my feelings that much. so i'd be blank as a page. but now i talk to people and have conversations with everyone. without hope you have nothing. i mean you have goals, but you've got to have that hope to get you there. >> ifill: mr. obama says my brother's keeper will be part of his presidential legacy. >> this is an issue of national importance. it's as important as any issue that i work on. it's an issue that goes to the very heart of why i ran for president. because if america stands for anything, it stands for the idea of opportunity for everybody. >> if you work hard, if you take responsibility then you can make it in this country. (applause) >> the announce >> ifill: the announcement comes well into the president's second term, and almost exactly two years after george zimmerman killed florida teen trayvon martin in an incident that transfixed the nation and the president who spoke after zimmerman was acquitted of the crime. >> you know, when trayvon martin was first shot i said that this could have been my son. another way of saying that is trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. >> ifill: even before the martin incident verdict, the president had connected with bam, which provides counseling, mentoring and violence prevention to more than 1,400 students in 36 chicago public schools. this week's white house trip is now their second visit to the home of the world's most famous black man. >> i explained to them when i was their age, i didn't have a dad in the house. i made bad choices, i got high and didn't think of the harm it could do, didn't take school >> i paid excuse, sometimes i sold myself short. and i remember when i was saying n you may remember this, ever a i was finished the guy sitting fix to me said are you talking about you? (laughter) >> as part >> ifill: as part of the new initiative, the obama administration will also evaluate existing government programs. but much of the effort will focus on community efforts like bam. the university of chicago's crime lab found that a year in the bam program increases graduation rates by 10% to 23%, and has cut violent crime arrests by 44%. >> it's more economically incentivizing to fund programs like this to prevent crime and a lot of the social ills and to lock people up, incarcerate them and really try to give people a shot before things get bad. so i think when the guys have a >> ifill: 19-year-old kerron turner is interested in a career in mortuary sciences or archeology. bam, he says, helped him deal with depression. >> it's like where kids get off their mind and things that they're going through. they release it and i guess they feel better from it or at least it works for me so far. >> ifill: the goal: to make it work for many more a lot more young men, in a lot more places. each of the foundations that signed on today get to decide which projects will benefit from the new program. but, as the president said today, there are broader underlying questions. yesterday, i discussed some of them with gail christopher, vice president for programs at the w.k. kellogg foundation and eddie glaude, a professor of religion and african american studies at princeton university. welcome, gail christopher and eddie glauchlted i want to start which gail christopher, because the kellogg foundation has a lot of money invested in this project. why is it essential what is important about it? >> when we look at the disparities that our young men of color face in terms of opportunity and access to opportunity in this country, it does not bode well for the future of the nation. young people of color make up about 23% of the population between ages 10 and 17. yet they make up over 50% of those who are incarcerated in the juvenile and sometimes criminal justice system. they are disproportionately suspended and expelled from school. the data is clear that there are underlying factors that are limited opportunities for this population group. and these underlying factors need to be addressed. >> why are the solutions in the hands of the private secter? >> they really aren't. the solutions are also in the public sector. but they aren't really focused in a specific way around this population. they are work programs, there are employment programs. there are all sorts of things, there are health programs. but they really haven't been examined thoroughly enough and focused in on the needs of this population professor f agree that this is a serious problem that needs addressing, whose responsibility is it to address it? >> i think that's the perfect question to ask. we do know that there is a crisis engulfing young people, young people of color in this country. and i think it's the responsibility of americans and i think it's a responsibility of government. part of i'm excited about the initiative but i'm skeptical. i'm thinking, i'm skeptical about it in the sense that it seems to have bought into a particular frame that kind of public-private partnerships are the answers to public problems. and it reflects, i think, sister, it reflects i think a troublesome notion of government that we have to displace and dispel. i think we actually need something more robust on the public side to respond to the crisis. and i'm not so convinced that the private sector, and in partnership about the public sector can address the crisis at all of its levels, if you understand what i mean. >> let me ask gail christopher about that. because you had a report that came out in 2006 which reaches those conclusion then. what is different about what is being proposed now? >> i think is unprecedented that we have the bully pulpit of the highest office in the land, that the president of the united states is drawing attention to the scope and the scale and the nature of the issue, and that's important. when you have lived long enough and worked in these issues of social justice you know that it takes a lot of time, sometimes it takes decades to bring attention to and really mobile size and solve a problem so we recognize that it's been a long time coming and that communities have been working hard on the ground, but two off then isolation, without the support of the broader community, the philanthropic, private and public sector this is really an all hands on deck moment for us ace nation. >> i have to ask this, do you think she mentioned the fact of having the bully pull pet at the white house is it significant in any way that a black president would be the one heading up this initiative and does it make a difference? is there enough? >> well, i think it's significant on its face. i hope it will play itself out in a substantive way but let's be very clear. we can talk about public private partnerships and being at the heart of the housing crisis. we can think about the 1968 hud act. and part of what that act involved was public private relationships designed to increase home ownership among black folk, black americans. what was the result? the creation of an emerging market with predatory lending like behaviors in practices that lead to billions of dollars of loss within black communities in the 1970s, predating the housing crisis of 2008. so part of what i'm suggesting here is that we believe in this country that public-private partnerships can be responsible for maintaining the public good. securitying the public good. but we see what public private partnerships are dwoing regards to public education and i think we need to understand that this crisis that has everything to do with unemployment, that has everything to do with the failure of the education system that has everything to do with structural system i believe racism in terms of the criminal justice system requires a robust, response from the government. but we are living in times, we've lived over a few decades and i don't want to take too much time here but for the last few decades we have lived in a moment where the conception of government playing an active role in insurancing the public good has been under a relentless assault. and part of what i hoped with this initiative but it was a hope against hope to invoke the boys s that we would somehow break out of the frame. but instead, the frame has limited the scope and in some ways limited our imagination. >> let me ask gail christopher, are you more optimistic than that? and i want to ask you about one particular piece of that first but are you more optimistic. >> i am more optimistic but it's because the wk kellogg foundation is not in denial about the issues of racism in this country. and we've been working over the last five years, actually the last 20 years on the issues of men and boys of color. but very specifically we learned after trying the service model and the policy model and the philanthropic model that we won't make progress until we deal with the underlying issues of racism and structural racism, and actually lead the nation in an effort to heel the legacy, the perception of a difference in value of human beings. >> let me ask you both about racism, about one specific piece of this. which is recidivism. we hear about the cradle to prison pipeline blue it turns out sometimes it becomes the prison back to the streets back to the prison pipeline as well. what in this initiative starting about you, gail, would actually address this in the lasting way? >> communities have to be able to embrace the young men that return to the communities. they have to be able to be employed. that's one way to break the cycle of recidivism. even access to proper medical care, including mental health care. there are models all over the country where they have beefed up the services within the community. and they have provided access to health care and mental health care in particular, which helped to break the cycle, and reduce recidivism dramatically so there are ways to do this. and i couldn't agree more that it is a public responsibility as well as a private responsibility. >> professor glaude, how do you measure improvement on things like this? >> oh, well, we can measure it by just looking at the data, right. what we have to do is look at the number of young men of color, returning to prison, look at the numbers of young boys of color who find themselves caught up in the juvenile system. we can measure it by way of looking at graduation rates, admission rates to higher education. we have the standards of judgement, of valued in measures to see whether or not this project will work. this initiative will work. but i want to be very clear. we're returning our kids to opportunity. where social networks have broken down, the social service delivery institutions have failed, where public schools are being closed. -- work has simply disappeared so part of what this involves, i mean in some ways, and i would like to say, and i say this not to suggest that president obama is doing too little too late. i don't want to get involved in that kind of i a debate but in effect what we are do something putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound. and i guess band-aids are okay. but what we need is a more robust discussion, a more robust policy initiative to address the crisis that is engulfing, i know particularly black communities, and black men, right. and so part of what i don't want is a kind of market driven solution to a long-standing social and moral problem that has defined the nation for generations. >> professor eddie glaude at princeton university and gail christopher at the kellogg foundation, this is the first of many conversations. >> i hope so, thank you. >> i hope so, thank you so much >> woodruff: for the first time in two decades, the government's making significant changes to the nutrition labels on the food and drinks you buy at the store. jeffrey brown sorts through the details and what the changes are designed to do. >> . >> brown: as michelle obama said today unless you have a thesaurus, microscope, calculator or a degree in nutrition you were out of luck so the new labels put forward by the food and drug administration aim to reduce confusion about calories, serving sizes and more. we get an explanation from william dietz former director from the cdc division of nutrition and physical activity. welcome to you. i want to start with some props that we have to help us, a 12 ounce bottle of soda that used to be thought of as a single serving, and a 20 ounce bot sell nowadays perhaps at the lower end of what people actually consume in a serving. how do the new labels deal with this growth in serving sizes. >> well, the nutrition facts panel was originally developed about 20 to 30 years ago. at a time when servings were much smaller than they are today. and the 12 ounce to the 20 ounce soda is a good illustration. another good illustration is that ice cream used to be a serving was half a cup and today it's a cup so one of the most important changes in the nutrition facts panel is an updating of pork size. >> all right so, now i want to show a proposed new label so we can see another way that these new labels would help. this emphasizes calories and the number of servings are given much more prominence here this is to overcome some of the confusion. >> well, twofold, yes. part of it is to overcome confusion, part of it is to highlight the role of calories. the issue in the united states today so buys-- obesity and that is caused by excess calories so highlighting the caloric content of the product is an important step towards trying to control obesity. >> there's also in this new proposed label at least, something new. it's a separate line for sugars that are added. explain what that means and why it's important. >> well, the last two dietary guidelines under two different administrations, 2005 and 2010 called for a reduction in the intake of added sugars by americans. but the prior labels did not have added sugars on them. furthermore, we know that sugars are an important contributor to obesity. so high liingt added sugars gives americans an additional piece of information on how to begin their weight. >> in countrying-- thinking about how important all of this is, how much is known about the degree to which people actually read these labels and are guided by them? >> well, my understanding is that about a third much people read those nutrition facts panels today. but our hope is that this will get increased use. and as the panel becomes more helpful, to helping americans make good decisions about their nutrition, that if will receive increasing use. but it's certainly not be all and end all. people make decisions for all sorts of reasons and nutritional content is only one of those reasons. >> also still on the table but i gather delayed so far, are changes to labels on menus, in restaurants, and fast food stores, so that of course is another component of all of this. >> right. and in my view that's a much more complicated business. because restaurants, the way they prepare their portions and their food is going to be very hard to find a nutrition facts panel too. but certainly most people get their calories from those products that they buy in the grocery stores. and those products are going have the nutrition facts panel which will enable a more educated judgement about that purchase. >> and finally, the food industry and everyone actually gets to weigh in for, before all of this is set. would you expect changes or delays to these proposed new labels? >> well, i think that there's going to be a lot of controversy about this. the grocery manufacturers association had kind of a noncommittal statement this morning about their response to these panels. but i think there's an opportunity for both the industry and the public, most importantly the public, to respond to these changes. and let the federal government know how they feel about it and whether they think this is going to be helpful. >> brown: william dietz, thanks so much. >> you're very welcome. >> woodruff: a british news outlet reported today that the governments of the u.s. and united kingdom have been literally peering into the lives of americans and britons. a covert program code named optic nerve apparently used computer webcams to watch online users. "the guardian" newspaper based all this on documents provided by former n.s.a employee edward snowden. hari sreenivasan has more. >> sreenivasan: the report details how a british spy agency collected images from yahoo! webcam chats, with help from the n.s.a. the images and associated meta- data were stored and subject to search using experimental facial recognition software. according to the documents, in one six-month period, the program collected images of nearly two million yahoo! users worldwide, including a number of sexually explicit communications. the optic nerve program did not discriminate between actual intelligence targets and innocent web-chatters. joining me to walk us through what they discovered is "guardian" reporter spencer akerman. spencer, how does this program work? >> so what happened was, is as part of its very broad abilities to collect data across the internet gchq collected a lot of information from users of this specific web cam service based out of yahoo!, messenger. and from there it went into databases that analyst kos use to comb through both the imagery and associated data around where those images came from to both find targets that it already had in its intelligence gathering purposes and figure out new targets. >> so you are saying that its he not just the targeted folks that got swept up in this net. what about americans who were using yahoo! web chat between 2008 and 2010, should they be conditioned there are images of them stored at the nha or gchq now? >> it's a major question. because gchq like the nsa does mott have the ability on the front end of its bulk collection programs to filter out data coming from the u.s. and coming from the u.k. we didn't get direct answers as to how many americans if any have been collected. but the rules that gchq is under on the search end, when be alyces can look through this database distinguish peerly between people believe to be in the u.k. and people not believe to be in the u.k. so americans imagery data that has been caught newspaper this could in fact be searched by gchq. the most partner of the nhs from surveillance purposes. >> so what did they do with all the purposes what is the facial recognition element. >> the facial recognition element is fascinating because it's an emerging technology that even the documents can see just really isn't precisely mature yet. the idea would be from an intelligence perspective f you had a partial identifier, maybe an e-mail address or part of a screen name of an intelligence target but didn't really have much more than that, potentially if you swept up all of this yahoo! web cam data you might be able to find the image of someone's face or someone's body type and that could be used as part of a way of targeting this person, finding out more about this person and if necessary apprehending that person. >> is there anything in the document that says this program stopped, if it's still going on? >> its he an interesting question am we -- get a precise answer to it. the latest documents indicate it was still active in 2012. when we asked if it is ongoing for it stopped we got responses similar to the one that you red out that cuss matters of law and how all of this was legal, not whether or not this actually stopped so what are the legal consequences there, was gchq allowed to do thing that perhaps the u.s. government wouldn't do or does the u.s. government have to get approval from the fisa court for all this. >> it's a fascinating question. gchq is under fewer legal constraints than the nsa is, from the sort of equivalent privacy laws which aren't really equivalent but for the sake of this discussion, close enough. all gchq analysts have to have is a reasonable suspicion, not even reasonable from a particularly legally binding context, that it's intelligence targets are genuine from out of this program, if they want to search for t the protections are that whether or not they have reason to believe that the account associated are inside or outside the u.k. beyond that, not really a lot. the question that is outstanding that nsa wouldn't address is what, if the level of access is to this database. they didn't directly address that to us when we went to them on thatnd nsa tool like the queary tool are set in the documents to work alongside this data so there is sus pintions that remain outstanding as to the degree to which nsa was able to access this data. >> all right, both the statements from the nsa and yahoo! are on our web site, spencer akerman from the guardian, thanks for your time. >> thanks for having me >> ifill: finally tonight, with the oscars this weekend, we look at a film nominated for best documentary. it's centered in medan, the capitol of northern sumatra, in indonesia. jeff is back with a conversation he recorded recently. >> it's a histories that's little known in the u.s., the slaughter of more than a million people in indonesia after a military coup in 1965. the victims were communist and those labels as such including intellectuals, ethnic chinese and anyone opposed to the new regime. the perpetrators were often members of paramilitary groups who carried out the executions with the a proferl of the military government. and in the new documentary the ago of killing, it is they, the killers who speak up and show exactly how they did their work. filmmaker joshua oppenheimer joins us now, welcome to you. >> thank you. >> this is a group of men who operated openly, violently, they were self-described gangsters, rights? and they model themselves on movie gangsters. >> that's right. in the city of madon where we made this film they recruited the dillers from the ranks of gangsters with who were hanging out in cinemas. they all had a love of hollywood fill mings. and when i met them not only were they-- they had never been forced to admit it was wrong but when we suggested they dramatize it they chose to suggest that they dramatize it in the style of a hollywood film. >> brown: so you made what is in essence a film with their cooperation, i mean they said here, let us act it out for you. >> that's exactly right. i started this project in could lakes with survivors. and we were working very closely to try and document the horror that they had experienced and what it's like for them to live today with the perpetrators still in power. but when the army found out what we were doing, the army warned them, threatened them not to participate in the film. the survivors then said okay, you can't film us, try and film the perpetrators. you might find out what happened to usment when i approached the perpetrators, they were boastful, eager to show what they had done. eager to take me to the places where they killed and show how they killed. and then started to suggest stylization, improvements. and i realized that if we could let them do that we would be able to expose the wol regime that the killers had built. >> brown: and the obvious question is how did you get them to talk to you. but it sounds as though it wasn't a problem at all. >> these men have never been removed from power. never been removed from power. they're still in power. they have never been forced to admit what they have done is wrong. and therefore they've been able to cling to the lie namely the victor's history that they've told ever since 1965, justifying their actions. and imposing that version of the events on their whole society. and when they met me, an american, knowing that the united states supported, pepped in and ulted me-- ultimately helped to ignore and deny what had happened, they were open, immediately. >> brown: i want to show one little clip here, and it is one of the main characters. just fell us a little bit about him by way of introducing it. >> he was, in farkts the 41s peferp traitor whom i filmed. he was mo boastful than anyone else but underpinning it with a shame, a pain, a trauma. and i recognized that the boasting and guilt are two sides of the same coin. i lingered on him. and he's the one who started to propose these ever more elaborate dram atization am as if he-- almost as if he was trying to run away from what he knows was wrong about what he did. >> let's take a look. >> that's me, i'm wearing a played shirt, camouflage pants, saddle shoes. see how elite i am? >> that is what you should wear in the studio scene. >> carlo -- >> and for its killing scene, jeans. >> jean. >> i wore jeans for killing. >> when you kill peerjs you should wear thick pants, like this. >> a checkered pattern, that would be great, but small ones. >> as they casually gleefully boast, as you say, describe these kinds of horror stories, one wonders what you were feeling? >> well, i was astonished and horrified much of the time. but i also forced myself not to make the leap from saying these men have done something months truss to these men are monday-- monitors. and i think so many of the stories we tell are forced an dividing into good buys and bad guise, and these seem like they did bad things so they are good buys so we interpret their boasting that they are monsterous. but what if they are not. our task as nonfiction physical am makers is to see what is really there. >> you had an end nes yan codirector, you work with many indonesians, they have gather, i imagine, have chose tone remain anonymous out of fear of their safety. what has been the reaction to the fill number indonesia. >> the film has helped catalyze a transformation on how indonesia talks about its past. ode indonesians are now able to talk about the genocide as a genocide and relate to the moral catastrophe of the present-day regime built by the killers, even as the indonesian media also has tarted 20 report on the genocide as a genocide-- genocide and investigating it. once the fill am was nominated for an academy award the government finally broke its silence. a spokesman for the president of end nes ya said yes it was a criminal about humanity but we don't need a film to tell us how to deal with it, we will deal with it in our own time that is an inadequate response but it is a sea change, because until now the government has maintained that what happened in 1965 was heroic. finally they've admitted that it was wrong. that's enormous. and now recently we held a screening on capitol hill for members of congress. and the business discussion was what we:we do about this. if we want to have a constructionive and ethical relationship wind nesia moving forward, we need to acknowledge the crimes of the past and our collective role in supporting, participating in and ultimately ignoring those crimes. >> all right. >> the act of killing is the new mill am-- film by joshua oppenheimer, thank you so much >> woodruff: you can find our other conversations with oscar nominees for best documentary featured on our website. >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day: new leaders took over in ukraine, while pro-russian gunmen took control of government buildings in crimea and the u.s. warned moscow against provocative actions aimed at ukraine, as the russian military sent warplanes patrolling the border. >> woodruff: vice week continues with our take on gluttony: what does it take to be a competitive eater? plus, we wish happy 25th birthday to the world wide web. a new pew research center study explores how americans feel about the internet and its effect on our lives. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on friday, miles o'brien goes inside fukushima for a rare look at japan's troubled nuclear plant. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks among others. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> this is "bbc world news." >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years. and union bank. >> set union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business. offering specialized solutions and d meet your growth objectives.
>> ifill: those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> at bae systems, our pride and >> i've 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 they're on. because the one question they never want to ask is, "how did i end up here?" i started schwab with those people. people who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: ukraine's parliament voted in a new government today and it immediately faced a challenge from the country's crimea region. pro-russian gunmen seized official buildings there, as russian military jets patrolled along the border. it raised concerns at a nato meeting in brussels, where u.s. defense secretary chuck hagel said he's keeping a close watch on russian actions. >> let's keep the tensions down. let's see no provocative actions by anyone, any military. these are difficult times, we all understand that, but this is a time for very cool, wise leadership. on the russian side, on everybody's side >> woodruff: in washington, secretary of state john kerry said he spoke with russia's foreign minister, who promised to respect ukraine's sovereignty. meanwhile, russian news accounts said ousted ukrainian president viktor yanukovich is sheltering at a kremlin retreat near moscow. there's word he plans a news conference tomorrow. we'll get more on the developing situation, right after the news summary. bomb blasts shook baghdad and other parts of iraq today, killing at least 52 people. most of the deaths came in a motorcycle bombing that struck a shi-ite market. other attacks hit both shi-ite and sunni sections of the city. a wave of violence began last april, and has continued despite government pledges to restore security. in northeastern nigeria, islamist fighters struck again today, killing at least 33 people. survivors said gunmen with boko haram staged an all-night attack on a town and several villages after soldiers ran away from military checkpoints. on tuesday, the militants murdered almost 60 students at a government school in a neighboring state. gay rights activists cheered today after arizona governor jan brewer vetoed a bill letting businesses refuse service to gays on religious grounds. the republican's closely watched decision came last night. she rejected arguments by bill supporters who cited religious rights violations in other states. >> senate bill 1062 does not address a specific concern related to religious liberty in arizona. i have not heard one example in arizona where a business owner's religious liberty has been violated. the bill is broadly worded, and could result in unintended and negative consequences. >> woodruff: similar legislation is pending in at least six other states. also today, a federal judge in louisville ordered kentucky officials to begin immediately recognizing same-sex marriages from other states and countries. the netherlands is the latest country to suspend aid to uganda over a new anti-gay law there. it imposes sentences of up to life in prison for those who engage in homosexual relations. norway and denmark have already halted millions of dollars in assistance in uganda. the u.s. has warned it too, may cut aid. democrats in the u.s. senate fell short today in a bid to advance a $21 billion veterans benefits package. the measure would expand health care, education and job- training. republicans blocked the bill in part over its cost. they also wanted to add new sanctions on iran over its nuclear program. food nutrition labels may be getting a new, easier-to-read look. calories and sugar content will stand out more, and serving sizes will be updated to bring them more in line with the portions people actually eat. first lady michelle obama rolled out the proposal today at the white house. >> families deserve more and better information about the food they eat. and it's important to note that no matter what the final version looks like, the new label will allow you to immediately spot the calorie count because it will be in large font and not buried in the fine print. >> woodruff: the food and drug administration will take comments on the proposal for 90 days. a final rule could take another year. we'll look more closely at the proposed changes later in the program. u.s. attorney general eric holder was taken to a washington hospital for a time today. an aide said he felt faint and had trouble breathing during a morning staff meeting. he was discharged after several hours and sent home. holder is 63 years old. in economic news, the new chair of the federal reserve bank acknowledged a spate of weak reports could mean slower growth. janet yellen told a senate committee that consumer spending and job growth have been lower than expected. but she said the severe winter could be the main cause. >> part of that softness may reflect adverse weather conditions. but at this point it's difficult to discern exactly how much. in the weeks and months ahead, my colleagues and i will be attempting to it signals that indicates whether the recovery is progressing in line with our earlier expectations. >> woodruff: wall street rallied after yellen's testimony. the dow jones industrial average gained 74 points to close at 16,272. the nasdaq rose more than 26 points to close under 4,319. and the s&p 500 finished the day with a record high, up nine points to close at 1,854. still to come on the newshour. a new prime minister takes the helm of a divided ukraine, dire straits for palestinian refugees in syria, president obama's push to help young men of color strive for success, a makeover for nutrition labels on food packages, how american and british intelligence agencies spied on webcams, plus, the oscar-nominated documentary "the act of killing". >> ifill: in ukraine, a crisis is unfolding in the eastern province of crimea. lindsey hilsum of independent television news reports from simferopol, the capital of the pro-russian region. police were on gourd outside the regional parliament this morning. the entrance barricaded by old furniture and pallets. the russian flag flying alongside the crimea on top. and inside the building, some 60 armed men. >> nobody knows what's going on inside now. we are just saw the building being taken over. 30 fully armed guys rubin side. they kicked out the police. then more buses came and about 30 more guys arrived. they had bags full of rpgs, sniper rifles, handguns, these guys were fully armed. >> the crowd was all in favor. they said they didn't know exactly who would occupy the building but they all wanted the same thing. a referendum on where the crimea should remain part of ukraine or as they all want, join russia. >> in key eve parliamentarians responded angrily, it's a challenge to the new government's control. >> anyone who tries to, and i stress anyone, to take over the government buildings in ukraine's east, west, center, south and north is going to be treated as having committed a crime against the government of ukraine. >> so what are they going to do about it? >> the people occupying the crimean parliament are armed and outside including the police are sympathetic. so it's hard to see how the authorities in kiev can force a siege. they will have to negotiate. and that gives not just to the militant russian crimean but to the only man they respect, president putin. >> this morning russian armoured vehicles headed towards-- president putin may be insurancing that every one remembers that the russian military has bases here. they turned around at the ukrainian police check point. a group of men were building a camp outside the headquarters of the riot police. they want to protect them from the new authorities. two courses have become entwined. these men love russia and they see-- accused of murdering protestors if kiev as their heroes. a small group of pro russia pro-- protestors marched through the streets yelling their message that they don't accept the authority of kiev and its european union backers. people milled around as deputies inside the occupied parliament waited in favor of the referendum on whether the crimea should join russia. kiev would can claire the vote illegal but are not sure how they're going stop it. >> woodruff: the state department released its annual human rights report today and concluded that last summer's chemical weapons attack in syria-- which killed more than 1,400 people-- was the worst human rights violation of 2013. while there have been no new reports of chemical attacks, the civil war rages on and the humanitarian crisis continues to escalate. tonight we take a closer look at those barely surviving amidst the conflict. it's a scene of utter desolation. here in the yarmouk camp, thousands of palestinian refugees are caught in the crossfire of civil war, in a country that is not their own. >> ( translated ): by god, we are dying from hunger. we can't take this anymore. >> woodruff: yarmouk was first established in 1957, near the center of damascus. once, 160,000 palestinians lived there. now, 18,000 are left. they've been under siege by the syrian army since july, after some palestinian factions turned against the assad regime. since then, the u.n. says more than 100 residents have died of starvation and related illnesses. this week, aid workers negotiated their way into the camp and were met with a swarm of desperate people. u.n. footage showed an elderly woman who came out to receive aid. the workers ask if she is palestinian or syrian. "i'm palestinian," she laments, filippo grandi is head of the u.n's palestinian refugee agency. he visited yarmouk on tuesday, and said later the people looked like ghosts. >> these are people that have not been out of there, that have been trapped in a situation not only without food, medicines, clean water-- all the basics-- but also probably completely subjected to fear because there was fierce fighting, noisy fighting going all along. >> woodruff: and, as the fighting rages on, an ever- growing number of syrians have been forced to leave their homes. nearly seven million are displaced within their own country. another 2.5 million have sought refuge in surrounding states. lebanon has the largest contingent, at more than 900,000. jordan and turkey now host roughly 600,000 syrian refugees each. and more than 200,000 syrians are living in iraq. in washington today, senator tim kaine of virginia highlighted the humanitarian crisis, insisting that russia put pressure on assad. >> none of this is an accident. the assad regime is using forced starvation and forced sieges as a weapon to destroy the syrian people. >> woodruff: for now, u.n. staffers continue to work through negotiations with the syrian government, rebel and palestinian factions within the yarmouk camp with the aim of delivering more aid while it can still do some good. we turn now to two who have focused on the humanitarian crisis caused by the syrian civil war. nancy lindborg is assistant administrator of the u.s. agency for international development in charge of conflict and humanitarian assistance. and michael gerson is a "washington post" columnist and former speech writer for president george w. bush. we welcome you to the newshour. nancy lindborg, we see these terrible pictures, almost impossible to believe. how did it get like this? >> you know, it's been steadily et cetera ca lating particularly in the last year. we've seen the number of people who have been displaced rise by three times in the last year. and the people who you saw are part of 12 cities that are literally beseiged, 250,000 people, many of whom haven't received aid for months and months. and they're eating cats and dogs. >> woodruff: and so is it as bad, we saw pictures in one place inside syria. is it that bad in other refugee encampments sm. >> i think it's hard to imagine the depth of difficulty people are facing inside syria right now. in aleppo they are dropping barrel bombs. knees are bombs that are constructed from bolts and rebar and specifically designed to horrificly injure people so what we are seeing is the unfolding to the just of a humanitarian crisis but a serious human rights crisis where people are being systemically denied food and targeted. >> woodruff: so michael ger son, there is a-- gerson there is a crisis for those inside syria, terrible. you were at a syrian refugee camp in jordan. what did you see there? >> well, i was with the holocaust museum examining issues over there. and we were at the border crossing seeing the people coming right across-the-board frere sirria. and it is exactly what you are strike. their stories right on the border, very much either the beseiged areas of syria, the government surrounding areas, depopulating them, attacking them, using barrel bombs, using hunger as a tool. this is not a case where the news of the innocent bystanders or the byproduct of a civil war. this is a case where one side in that civil war is using aya tacks on civilians, mass atrocities as a tool of war, as a strategy of war. the testimony that we heard from person after person, from homes in aleppo, the suburbs of dom as cuss, 40 some areas right now in the estimates that are beseiged and where civilians are being attacked. >> tell us some of the stories that you heard. >> well, you know, i was surrounded at the camp by a bunch of people who were very anxious to tell their stories. but there was one man that hung back and talked about how he had been a protestor. and had his house targeted by a tank, a regime tank. lost a four-year-old daughter, a six-year-old son, a 15-year-old son lost a leg. and all he said, i asked, you know, i was in tears when he was telling this, all he said at the end was i just wanted someone to know-- this was a case where part of the problem is, is a failure of sympathy. i talked with a lot of the great aid groups over there that are not getting much donor money right now, for the syrian crisis. one told me that they had raised in three months for the philippines, where it had taken three years to raise in the syrian conflict. people are not very engaged in this. >> nancy lindborg, how much is getting in and who is sending it in, where is it coming from. remind us where this money is coming from. >> the united states is the single largest donor. we have given about $1.7 billion of humanitarian assistance since the crisis began. and we're working with u.n. agencies, international ngos, local syrian groups. the courage of the humanitarian workers who every day are risking their lives to deliver assistance is really remarkable. just one of our partners has lost 42 of its staff members since the conflict began. so the aid is coming in through all different ways, reaching people throughout the country. but it's difficult to escalate the assistance as fast as the needs are rising. >> so i was going to say, there's aid going in. but a lot of people are to the getting aid. >> the united states alone is feeding 2 million people a day. we sport the world food program or the largest donor. they fed last month more than $4 million. but the needs are so much greater. it's as if the entire state of new jersey needs food and medical assistance every day. >> what else, what needs to happen. who needs to step up here, michael gerson, i want to ask you too. who needs to step up and what needs to be done. >> i want to confirm, on the humanitarian side t is extraordinary. what the u.s. government is doing. what the jordanian government is doing. they have taken in 600,000 people in a country that has poor water resources and you know, is not a very wealthy country themselves. the problem is there may be 500,000 mobile refugees right on the other side of the border in southern syria that could overwhelm a country like jordan. the difficulty is how do you change the situation on the ground within syria. and i think the administration is now re-examining some of its methods to try to do that. the question -- >> you mean effect the conflict itself. >> affect the security situation that's producing this problem in the long-term. but a lot of the humanitarian organizations are now begin toing to plan for five years, ten years out this is to the going to be solved in any short amount of time. >> how do you see it, what needs to happen in the short run and the longer run. >> well, immediately, we have the opportunity of the un security council resolution that was passed on saturday. it's the first times there's been a unanimous agreement among the members of the security council that the barrel bombing must stop. there must be full, unfettered humanitarian access, that if this is not complied with, that the security council will examine and take further action. >> is that having an effect? >> it just passed on saturday so we'll be closing watching and pushing the secretary ban ki-moon will be making a report within a month. there has to be action, every day syrians are dying. every day children are suffering. and just to note to michael's point about people have become almost numb because of the complexity and enormity of this crisis, the children in particular have been suffering. >> is there something people watching can do without want to help? >> i suggest they go to champions for the children of syria .org where there are different calls to action to help people get engaged. to help people partnership in a global call, both for action as well as to let the syrian people know that their stories are being heard. >> nancy lindborg with usaid, michael gerson, we thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: leaders from the corporate, philanthropic, arts, faith and sports worlds gathered at the white house today to address a single issue: the challenges facing young men and boys of color. the issue has become a key priority for the president. >> the bottom line is, michelle and i want every child to have the same chance this country gave us. >> ifill: when president obama uttered these words during his state of the union address, this is who he had in mind. christian champagne is an 18 year-old senior at hyde park career academy on chicago's south side. he plans to go to college and hopes to become a lawyer. but, as a young black man, he faces challenges steeper than most. high incarceration rates, low high school completion and unemployment dramatically higher than the rest of the population. but christian and the other young men like him who traveled to the white house this week, hope to buck that trend. they are all part of a program called becoming a man or bam. >> bam was needed because it helps young black men to become great and gets goals in life. it was more than needed in my opinion and it should be worldwide. >> ifill: bam is one of dozens of programs nationwide that will be part of my brother's keeper, an initiative focused on young men of color announced today at the white house. 28 foundation executives are pledging $200 million to support literacy, school and criminal justice reform and jobs programs to help young men like christian. >> i'd probably be still a little less me to say i don't really express my feelings that much. so i'd be blank as a page. but now i talk to people and have conversations with everyone. without hope you have nothing. i mean you have goals, but you've got to have that hope to get you there. >> ifill: mr. obama says my brother's keeper will be part of his presidential legacy. >> this is an issue of national importance. it's as important as any issue that i work on. it's an issue that goes to the very heart of why i ran for president. because if america stands for anything, it stands for the idea of opportunity for everybody. >> if you work hard, if you take responsibility then you can make it in this country. (applause) >> the announce >> ifill: the announcement comes well into the president's second term, and almost exactly two years after george zimmerman killed florida teen trayvon martin in an incident that transfixed the nation and the president who spoke after zimmerman was acquitted of the crime. >> you know, when trayvon martin was first shot i said that this could have been my son. another way of saying that is trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. >> ifill: even before the martin incident verdict, the president had connected with bam, which provides counseling, mentoring and violence prevention to more than 1,400 students in 36 chicago public schools. this week's white house trip is now their second visit to the home of the world's most famous black man. >> i explained to them when i was their age, i didn't have a dad in the house. i made bad choices, i got high and didn't think of the harm it could do, didn't take school >> i paid excuse, sometimes i sold myself short. and i remember when i was saying n you may remember this, ever a i was finished the guy sitting fix to me said are you talking about you? (laughter) >> as part >> ifill: as part of the new initiative, the obama administration will also evaluate existing government programs. but much of the effort will focus on community efforts like bam. the university of chicago's crime lab found that a year in the bam program increases graduation rates by 10% to 23%, and has cut violent crime arrests by 44%. >> it's more economically incentivizing to fund programs like this to prevent crime and a lot of the social ills and to lock people up, incarcerate them and really try to give people a shot before things get bad. so i think when the guys have a >> ifill: 19-year-old kerron turner is interested in a career in mortuary sciences or archeology. bam, he says, helped him deal with depression. >> it's like where kids get off their mind and things that they're going through. they release it and i guess they feel better from it or at least it works for me so far. >> ifill: the goal: to make it work for many more a lot more young men, in a lot more places. each of the foundations that signed on today get to decide which projects will benefit from the new program. but, as the president said today, there are broader underlying questions. yesterday, i discussed some of them with gail christopher, vice president for programs at the w.k. kellogg foundation and eddie glaude, a professor of religion and african american studies at princeton university. welcome, gail christopher and eddie glauchlted i want to start which gail christopher, because the kellogg foundation has a lot of money invested in this project. why is it essential what is important about it? >> when we look at the disparities that our young men of color face in terms of opportunity and access to opportunity in this country, it does not bode well for the future of the nation. young people of color make up about 23% of the population between ages 10 and 17. yet they make up over 50% of those who are incarcerated in the juvenile and sometimes criminal justice system. they are disproportionately suspended and expelled from school. the data is clear that there are underlying factors that are limited opportunities for this population group. and these underlying factors need to be addressed. >> why are the solutions in the hands of the private secter? >> they really aren't. the solutions are also in the public sector. but they aren't really focused in a specific way around this population. they are work programs, there are employment programs. there are all sorts of things, there are health programs. but they really haven't been examined thoroughly enough and focused in on the needs of this population professor f agree that this is a serious problem that needs addressing, whose responsibility is it to address it? >> i think that's the perfect question to ask. we do know that there is a crisis engulfing young people, young people of color in this country. and i think it's the responsibility of americans and i think it's a responsibility of government. part of i'm excited about the initiative but i'm skeptical. i'm thinking, i'm skeptical about it in the sense that it seems to have bought into a particular frame that kind of public-private partnerships are the answers to public problems. and it reflects, i think, sister, it reflects i think a troublesome notion of government that we have to displace and dispel. i think we actually need something more robust on the public side to respond to the crisis. and i'm not so convinced that the private sector, and in partnership about the public sector can address the crisis at all of its levels, if you understand what i mean. >> let me ask gail christopher about that. because you had a report that came out in 2006 which reaches those conclusion then. what is different about what is being proposed now? >> i think is unprecedented that we have the bully pulpit of the highest office in the land, that the president of the united states is drawing attention to the scope and the scale and the nature of the issue, and that's important. when you have lived long enough and worked in these issues of social justice you know that it takes a lot of time, sometimes it takes decades to bring attention to and really mobile size and solve a problem so we recognize that it's been a long time coming and that communities have been working hard on the ground, but two off then isolation, without the support of the broader community, the philanthropic, private and public sector this is really an all hands on deck moment for us ace nation. >> i have to ask this, do you think she mentioned the fact of having the bully pull pet at the white house is it significant in any way that a black president would be the one heading up this initiative and does it make a difference? is there enough? >> well, i think it's significant on its face. i hope it will play itself out in a substantive way but let's be very clear. we can talk about public private partnerships and being at the heart of the housing crisis. we can think about the 1968 hud act. and part of what that act involved was public private relationships designed to increase home ownership among black folk, black americans. what was the result? the creation of an emerging market with predatory lending like behaviors in practices that lead to billions of dollars of loss within black communities in the 1970s, predating the housing crisis of 2008. so part of what i'm suggesting here is that we believe in this country that public-private partnerships can be responsible for maintaining the public good. securitying the public good. but we see what public private partnerships are dwoing regards to public education and i think we need to understand that this crisis that has everything to do with unemployment, that has everything to do with the failure of the education system that has everything to do with structural system i believe racism in terms of the criminal justice system requires a robust, response from the government. but we are living in times, we've lived over a few decades and i don't want to take too much time here but for the last few decades we have lived in a moment where the conception of government playing an active role in insurancing the public good has been under a relentless assault. and part of what i hoped with this initiative but it was a hope against hope to invoke the boys s that we would somehow break out of the frame. but instead, the frame has limited the scope and in some ways limited our imagination. >> let me ask gail christopher, are you more optimistic than that? and i want to ask you about one particular piece of that first but are you more optimistic. >> i am more optimistic but it's because the wk kellogg foundation is not in denial about the issues of racism in this country. and we've been working over the last five years, actually the last 20 years on the issues of men and boys of color. but very specifically we learned after trying the service model and the policy model and the philanthropic model that we won't make progress until we deal with the underlying issues of racism and structural racism, and actually lead the nation in an effort to heel the legacy, the perception of a difference in value of human beings. >> let me ask you both about racism, about one specific piece of this. which is recidivism. we hear about the cradle to prison pipeline blue it turns out sometimes it becomes the prison back to the streets back to the prison pipeline as well. what in this initiative starting about you, gail, would actually address this in the lasting way? >> communities have to be able to embrace the young men that return to the communities. they have to be able to be employed. that's one way to break the cycle of recidivism. even access to proper medical care, including mental health care. there are models all over the country where they have beefed up the services within the community. and they have provided access to health care and mental health care in particular, which helped to break the cycle, and reduce recidivism dramatically so there are ways to do this. and i couldn't agree more that it is a public responsibility as well as a private responsibility. >> professor glaude, how do you measure improvement on things like this? >> oh, well, we can measure it by just looking at the data, right. what we have to do is look at the number of young men of color, returning to prison, look at the numbers of young boys of color who find themselves caught up in the juvenile system. we can measure it by way of looking at graduation rates, admission rates to higher education. we have the standards of judgement, of valued in measures to see whether or not this project will work. this initiative will work. but i want to be very clear. we're returning our kids to opportunity. where social networks have broken down, the social service delivery institutions have failed, where public schools are being closed. -- work has simply disappeared so part of what this involves, i mean in some ways, and i would like to say, and i say this not to suggest that president obama is doing too little too late. i don't want to get involved in that kind of i a debate but in effect what we are do something putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound. and i guess band-aids are okay. but what we need is a more robust discussion, a more robust policy initiative to address the crisis that is engulfing, i know particularly black communities, and black men, right. and so part of what i don't want is a kind of market driven solution to a long-standing social and moral problem that has defined the nation for generations. >> professor eddie glaude at princeton university and gail christopher at the kellogg foundation, this is the first of many conversations. >> i hope so, thank you. >> i hope so, thank you so much >> woodruff: for the first time in two decades, the government's making significant changes to the nutrition labels on the food and drinks you buy at the store. jeffrey brown sorts through the details and what the changes are designed to do. >> . >> brown: as michelle obama said today unless you have a thesaurus, microscope, calculator or a degree in nutrition you were out of luck so the new labels put forward by the food and drug administration aim to reduce confusion about calories, serving sizes and more. we get an explanation from william dietz former director from the cdc division of nutrition and physical activity. welcome to you. i want to start with some props that we have to help us, a 12 ounce bottle of soda that used to be thought of as a single serving, and a 20 ounce bot sell nowadays perhaps at the lower end of what people actually consume in a serving. how do the new labels deal with this growth in serving sizes. >> well, the nutrition facts panel was originally developed about 20 to 30 years ago. at a time when servings were much smaller than they are today. and the 12 ounce to the 20 ounce soda is a good illustration. another good illustration is that ice cream used to be a serving was half a cup and today it's a cup so one of the most important changes in the nutrition facts panel is an updating of pork size. >> all right so, now i want to show a proposed new label so we can see another way that these new labels would help. this emphasizes calories and the number of servings are given much more prominence here this is to overcome some of the confusion. >> well, twofold, yes. part of it is to overcome confusion, part of it is to highlight the role of calories. the issue in the united states today so buys-- obesity and that is caused by excess calories so highlighting the caloric content of the product is an important step towards trying to control obesity. >> there's also in this new proposed label at least, something new. it's a separate line for sugars that are added. explain what that means and why it's important. >> well, the last two dietary guidelines under two different administrations, 2005 and 2010 called for a reduction in the intake of added sugars by americans. but the prior labels did not have added sugars on them. furthermore, we know that sugars are an important contributor to obesity. so high liingt added sugars gives americans an additional piece of information on how to begin their weight. >> in countrying-- thinking about how important all of this is, how much is known about the degree to which people actually read these labels and are guided by them? >> well, my understanding is that about a third much people read those nutrition facts panels today. but our hope is that this will get increased use. and as the panel becomes more helpful, to helping americans make good decisions about their nutrition, that if will receive increasing use. but it's certainly not be all and end all. people make decisions for all sorts of reasons and nutritional content is only one of those reasons. >> also still on the table but i gather delayed so far, are changes to labels on menus, in restaurants, and fast food stores, so that of course is another component of all of this. >> right. and in my view that's a much more complicated business. because restaurants, the way they prepare their portions and their food is going to be very hard to find a nutrition facts panel too. but certainly most people get their calories from those products that they buy in the grocery stores. and those products are going have the nutrition facts panel which will enable a more educated judgement about that purchase. >> and finally, the food industry and everyone actually gets to weigh in for, before all of this is set. would you expect changes or delays to these proposed new labels? >> well, i think that there's going to be a lot of controversy about this. the grocery manufacturers association had kind of a noncommittal statement this morning about their response to these panels. but i think there's an opportunity for both the industry and the public, most importantly the public, to respond to these changes. and let the federal government know how they feel about it and whether they think this is going to be helpful. >> brown: william dietz, thanks so much. >> you're very welcome. >> woodruff: a british news outlet reported today that the governments of the u.s. and united kingdom have been literally peering into the lives of americans and britons. a covert program code named optic nerve apparently used computer webcams to watch online users. "the guardian" newspaper based all this on documents provided by former n.s.a employee edward snowden. hari sreenivasan has more. >> sreenivasan: the report details how a british spy agency collected images from yahoo! webcam chats, with help from the n.s.a. the images and associated meta- data were stored and subject to search using experimental facial recognition software. according to the documents, in one six-month period, the program collected images of nearly two million yahoo! users worldwide, including a number of sexually explicit communications. the optic nerve program did not discriminate between actual intelligence targets and innocent web-chatters. joining me to walk us through what they discovered is "guardian" reporter spencer akerman. spencer, how does this program work? >> so what happened was, is as part of its very broad abilities to collect data across the internet gchq collected a lot of information from users of this specific web cam service based out of yahoo!, messenger. and from there it went into databases that analyst kos use to comb through both the imagery and associated data around where those images came from to both find targets that it already had in its intelligence gathering purposes and figure out new targets. >> so you are saying that its he not just the targeted folks that got swept up in this net. what about americans who were using yahoo! web chat between 2008 and 2010, should they be conditioned there are images of them stored at the nha or gchq now? >> it's a major question. because gchq like the nsa does mott have the ability on the front end of its bulk collection programs to filter out data coming from the u.s. and coming from the u.k. we didn't get direct answers as to how many americans if any have been collected. but the rules that gchq is under on the search end, when be alyces can look through this database distinguish peerly between people believe to be in the u.k. and people not believe to be in the u.k. so americans imagery data that has been caught newspaper this could in fact be searched by gchq. the most partner of the nhs from surveillance purposes. >> so what did they do with all the purposes what is the facial recognition element. >> the facial recognition element is fascinating because it's an emerging technology that even the documents can see just really isn't precisely mature yet. the idea would be from an intelligence perspective f you had a partial identifier, maybe an e-mail address or part of a screen name of an intelligence target but didn't really have much more than that, potentially if you swept up all of this yahoo! web cam data you might be able to find the image of someone's face or someone's body type and that could be used as part of a way of targeting this person, finding out more about this person and if necessary apprehending that person. >> is there anything in the document that says this program stopped, if it's still going on? >> its he an interesting question am we -- get a precise answer to it. the latest documents indicate it was still active in 2012. when we asked if it is ongoing for it stopped we got responses similar to the one that you red out that cuss matters of law and how all of this was legal, not whether or not this actually stopped so what are the legal consequences there, was gchq allowed to do thing that perhaps the u.s. government wouldn't do or does the u.s. government have to get approval from the fisa court for all this. >> it's a fascinating question. gchq is under fewer legal constraints than the nsa is, from the sort of equivalent privacy laws which aren't really equivalent but for the sake of this discussion, close enough. all gchq analysts have to have is a reasonable suspicion, not even reasonable from a particularly legally binding context, that it's intelligence targets are genuine from out of this program, if they want to search for t the protections are that whether or not they have reason to believe that the account associated are inside or outside the u.k. beyond that, not really a lot. the question that is outstanding that nsa wouldn't address is what, if the level of access is to this database. they didn't directly address that to us when we went to them on thatnd nsa tool like the queary tool are set in the documents to work alongside this data so there is sus pintions that remain outstanding as to the degree to which nsa was able to access this data. >> all right, both the statements from the nsa and yahoo! are on our web site, spencer akerman from the guardian, thanks for your time. >> thanks for having me >> ifill: finally tonight, with the oscars this weekend, we look at a film nominated for best documentary. it's centered in medan, the capitol of northern sumatra, in indonesia. jeff is back with a conversation he recorded recently. >> it's a histories that's little known in the u.s., the slaughter of more than a million people in indonesia after a military coup in 1965. the victims were communist and those labels as such including intellectuals, ethnic chinese and anyone opposed to the new regime. the perpetrators were often members of paramilitary groups who carried out the executions with the a proferl of the military government. and in the new documentary the ago of killing, it is they, the killers who speak up and show exactly how they did their work. filmmaker joshua oppenheimer joins us now, welcome to you. >> thank you. >> this is a group of men who operated openly, violently, they were self-described gangsters, rights? and they model themselves on movie gangsters. >> that's right. in the city of madon where we made this film they recruited the dillers from the ranks of gangsters with who were hanging out in cinemas. they all had a love of hollywood fill mings. and when i met them not only were they-- they had never been forced to admit it was wrong but when we suggested they dramatize it they chose to suggest that they dramatize it in the style of a hollywood film. >> brown: so you made what is in essence a film with their cooperation, i mean they said here, let us act it out for you. >> that's exactly right. i started this project in could lakes with survivors. and we were working very closely to try and document the horror that they had experienced and what it's like for them to live today with the perpetrators still in power. but when the army found out what we were doing, the army warned them, threatened them not to participate in the film. the survivors then said okay, you can't film us, try and film the perpetrators. you might find out what happened to usment when i approached the perpetrators, they were boastful, eager to show what they had done. eager to take me to the places where they killed and show how they killed. and then started to suggest stylization, improvements. and i realized that if we could let them do that we would be able to expose the wol regime that the killers had built. >> brown: and the obvious question is how did you get them to talk to you. but it sounds as though it wasn't a problem at all. >> these men have never been removed from power. never been removed from power. they're still in power. they have never been forced to admit what they have done is wrong. and therefore they've been able to cling to the lie namely the victor's history that they've told ever since 1965, justifying their actions. and imposing that version of the events on their whole society. and when they met me, an american, knowing that the united states supported, pepped in and ulted me-- ultimately helped to ignore and deny what had happened, they were open, immediately. >> brown: i want to show one little clip here, and it is one of the main characters. just fell us a little bit about him by way of introducing it. >> he was, in farkts the 41s peferp traitor whom i filmed. he was mo boastful than anyone else but underpinning it with a shame, a pain, a trauma. and i recognized that the boasting and guilt are two sides of the same coin. i lingered on him. and he's the one who started to propose these ever more elaborate dram atization am as if he-- almost as if he was trying to run away from what he knows was wrong about what he did. >> let's take a look. >> that's me, i'm wearing a played shirt, camouflage pants, saddle shoes. see how elite i am? >> that is what you should wear in the studio scene. >> carlo -- >> and for its killing scene, jeans. >> jean. >> i wore jeans for killing. >> when you kill peerjs you should wear thick pants, like this. >> a checkered pattern, that would be great, but small ones. >> as they casually gleefully boast, as you say, describe these kinds of horror stories, one wonders what you were feeling? >> well, i was astonished and horrified much of the time. but i also forced myself not to make the leap from saying these men have done something months truss to these men are monday-- monitors. and i think so many of the stories we tell are forced an dividing into good buys and bad guise, and these seem like they did bad things so they are good buys so we interpret their boasting that they are monsterous. but what if they are not. our task as nonfiction physical am makers is to see what is really there. >> you had an end nes yan codirector, you work with many indonesians, they have gather, i imagine, have chose tone remain anonymous out of fear of their safety. what has been the reaction to the fill number indonesia. >> the film has helped catalyze a transformation on how indonesia talks about its past. ode indonesians are now able to talk about the genocide as a genocide and relate to the moral catastrophe of the present-day regime built by the killers, even as the indonesian media also has tarted 20 report on the genocide as a genocide-- genocide and investigating it. once the fill am was nominated for an academy award the government finally broke its silence. a spokesman for the president of end nes ya said yes it was a criminal about humanity but we don't need a film to tell us how to deal with it, we will deal with it in our own time that is an inadequate response but it is a sea change, because until now the government has maintained that what happened in 1965 was heroic. finally they've admitted that it was wrong. that's enormous. and now recently we held a screening on capitol hill for members of congress. and the business discussion was what we:we do about this. if we want to have a constructionive and ethical relationship wind nesia moving forward, we need to acknowledge the crimes of the past and our collective role in supporting, participating in and ultimately ignoring those crimes. >> all right. >> the act of killing is the new mill am-- film by joshua oppenheimer, thank you so much >> woodruff: you can find our other conversations with oscar nominees for best documentary featured on our website. >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day: new leaders took over in ukraine, while pro-russian gunmen took control of government buildings in crimea and the u.s. warned moscow against provocative actions aimed at ukraine, as the russian military sent warplanes patrolling the border. >> woodruff: vice week continues with our take on gluttony: what does it take to be a competitive eater? plus, we wish happy 25th birthday to the world wide web. a new pew research center study explores how americans feel about the internet and its effect on our lives. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on friday, miles o'brien goes inside fukushima for a rare look at japan's troubled nuclear plant. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks among others. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie gharib. brought to you in part by -- >> the street.com. founded by jim cramer, the street.com is an independent source for stock market analysis. cramer's action alerts plus service is home to his multimillion dollar portfolio. you can learn more at the street.com/nbr. record close. fed chair janet yellen puts investors in a buying mood, pushing s & p to new highs at the close. should her comments be interpreted as a green light for stock investors? return to profit. a surprisingly strong quarter for electronics retailer best buy. but is it proof that the company's turn around is on solid footing? and what did general motors know and when did they know it? regulators are asking whether e
would have had to spare the burden of athlete ever -- every expense you would have to incur. this is the first mill that skinner had in skinnerville. incredibly, it went up six months to the day of the flood. >> and holyoke? >> this is in holyoke, yes. and ultimately skinner's mill turned into that. this was the largest silk mill under one roof in the world. in 1874, success of this scope was impossible to imagine. as was what it would take to achieve it. in 1874, skinner thought he was at the head of his game. he was 49, he had a wife and seven children, he had a village of about 200 people. this village had grown up around his silk mill that was named after him called skinnerville. he was at the head of the american silk trade at the time. he was bullish on the future, and he believed that silk in this country would become big business, which it did, but in 1874 he was thinking how can i expand my business today? how can i make it better today? and he uses it was the biggest room in the world? the room for improvement. and in 1874, he was looking to improve his business. he was bullish on the future. he was looking ahead. want to be accomplished, what could he make of this mill in skinnerville? how could he become even better than he was? so without i when i read you an excerpt of the book and then i will take questions. >> now, i apologize in advance. i won't be able to read and look up at you all because i now need glasses. and i tend to slip on my nose if i looked up and down. i'm going to have to keep my nose in my book as i read. chapter one, on the evening of may 13, 1874, a tall robust englishman walked through the door of the monaco's restaurant in new york city. he was neatly dressed in a black suit with satin trim, bowtie and embroidered waistcoat, dressed over his well fed growth. while an attendant of his overcoat he was great in the foyer by a host of my faces and several hands reaching out to shake his. and american custom which he was by this time accustomed. and that gentile environment, however, his cockney accent soon rang out like a clarion call at dawn, and one would've been hard-pressed to find even a well-trained staffer who didn't raise a brow at the brashness of the tone. everything about william skinner stood out, even his head, since he didn't like cats and chose not to wear them, despite their currency on the street. inside the restaurant, which was house in the old grinnell mansion on fifth avenue and 14th street, skinner joint about 70 gentlemen who were finding answers to a private banquet room. they killed from a great many places but they had one thing in common, silk. it silk. here were the leading manufactures of the american silk industry, along with several congressmen, some local politicians, and even a japanese dignitary. skinner wasn't the only englishman among them, but at 49 he was one of the oldest, and he'd been specifically asked to give a toast that would reflect on the past and on of the pioneers, like himself, who turned an american-made silk into an enviable addition into the marketplace. skinner had wanted to be part of the line appeared he wanted to sit back and relax without the thought of having a speech to make. but he's one of his colleagues have successfully talked him into it. if having grown up poor and uneducated, skinner quietly harbored a sense of social inferiority, few could match his formidable knowledge of the silk industry or his astonishing success therein. further, he had a flair for the dramatic, and for all his instinct of hesitation to get up before a group of people, he possessed a natural ability to hold an audience's attention. this, along with the fact that he tended to keep things short, made him a popular speaker. nor would he let his peers down tonight. as skinner climbed the carpeted stairs toward the appointed dining room, chatting with friends and colleagues, at least part of his speech was already written out and tucked away in one of his pockets. anyone who read the papers for new anything at all about new york life knew that to lunch, dying or said that delmonico's was the crowning ambition of those who aspire to notoriety. a presence in this establishment, the most luxurious restaurant that ever existed in new york, suggested the repeatable success, socially and financially. banqueting here conveyed to the press and the public that this group of ambitious silk men had arrived. their tireless, determined, and often brilliant endeavors have firmly established itself industry in the united states, and that while glass, a national organization devoted to their cause. tonight these men were celebrating the second anniversary of the silk association of america and the exhilarating truth that the american silk industry is, indeed, a power in the land. their private dining room had been festooned with flags representing all the great silk producing nations of the world, with the u.s. flag and the flag of the empire of japan joined in symbolic solidarity at one end. banners from every state in the in any throughout the room as well, remind each manufacturer that he was indeed part of the union, an industry of thousands of which he was a vital member. at the center of it offloaded a sea of colorful balloons above tables listening with silver and crystal. each balloon had been painstakipainstaki ngly tied with silk thread to the stem at a champagne glass and labeled with an industry trademark, advertising the breath of american silk manufacture. over here was courted shelley. over there, chennai chief. and another direction was the name of skinner's own them. later on, with a toast under way, the blues serve yet another purpose, the very sea would appear to rise up as the men raised their glasses in unison, elevating the occasion still further. in keeping with the celebration, the menus have been printed on an american silk, in purple, blue and green with white french. like miniature silk scarves, they were soft to the touch and delegate to the eye, and sat eye, and sat in fabric casting off a rich luster under the goal of the chandeliers. on the front they listed the exquisite bill of fare, devised by "new york post" famous chef, but with everything written in french as on any given night of the restaurant, all this of course was quite unintelligible to many of the gentlemen present. the backs of the menus featured more familiar english, since this is where the evenings posts were listed. down toward the middle was skinner speech, our pioneers, cherishing the recollections of the past, we emulate their example. by the time he stood up to present, a great deal of reminiscing would have already taken place, but his words, the organizers hoped, would put a flourishing cap on the topic. this dinner, after all, was nothing if not a jubilant reminder to all the men gathered that they were not only benefactors of the past at progenitors of the future. they too were making history. two days later, skinner was on a northbound train heading up the connecticut shoreline on his way home to massachusetts. according to his regular schedule, he visited the city nearly every month. it was on the last possible train of the day which left the grand central depot at 3 p.m. and put on target through skinnerville at night if i time it. goes to 90 car on the train. that america wasn't yet the very red. there would be no 20 minute meal stop any stations along the way. unlike his glorious to path of two nights before, this evening's dinner was most likely packed in a box of brownback, just a few perfunctory rituals for a traveling businessman. as the train sped along past the white church spires of various new england greens, the afternoon sun began falling toward the west and the temperature began dropping as well. they held towns of western massachusetts, of which skinnerville was one, were known for the long winters, and the year 1874 had been no exception. it had snowed for days at the end of april, with heavy storms paralyzing the countryside, and they were still still on the ground in patches. at for the moment, and that some streetcar, skinner was miles or any lingering wintry weather. outside the sky was clear. the tracks were clear, and he was rapidly winding down one of the most rewarding business trips he'd ever had. skinner had just been hailed as a pioneer in his field. his speech at the bank would have been so successful it was highlighted in the papers. and his industry was considered by some to be one of the most exciting in america. furthermore, his store downtown was filled with activity. it is hard a new salesman, a strapping young man named fred warner, and he was getting ready to expand his business again. skinner wanted to branch out into the manufacture, a thread used to make ribbons which are increasingly the rage. skinner already have the requisite machinery on hand and apparently erected in addition to his middle department even at a local architect to design no fewer than eight new tenements to accommodate the new employees he expected to hire. as much as business may have preoccupied his thoughts though, he had something else on his mind this friday, may 15, 1874. his 18th wedding anniversary was this very day. and hidden, protected in his suit was surely a velvet lined box from his favorite jeweler, louis tiffany, was something precious for his wife, lizzy. skinner love giving things. we been unable to go on the date of this anniversary, he returned with a diamond scarf in carefully selected and beautifully wrapped for the woman whom he called my darling. skinner light on his wife more than anyone. every bit as intelligence after husband, lizzy was in any conventional sense much better educated and having attended both elementary and boarding schools and having her self-worth as a teacher for many years. they say nothing this woman couldn't do from laying linoleum to explain mathematics. following the birth of the fourth child, she even helped handle affairs at the milk while skinner was away at england. later she helped run the mill's boarding house. ike and mamie world housewives she was integrally involved in her husband's business. at what set her apart was the fact that she was the wife of a rich manufacture. there is no economic reason for her to be absorbing these kinds of responsibilities. she simply took them on, utilizing the amazing genius for organizations and development. or than a wife to skinner, lizzy was a partner. skinner's first wife had died young leaving him with two very small growth. by lizzy had raised their children as her own and had given birth to eight more as well. of these 10 children, seven were still living, and adding to skinner's sense of the congressmen, all were thriving. two girls had grown into smart, educated young women under the stepmother's tutelage. nelly had graduate from boarding school in connecticut where she studied french with none other than -- on his way to becoming prime minister of france. nina had gone a step further interim college with both of her parents resounding blessing. she was attending vassar in new york. lizzy's eldest, will, 17, was about to close out his high school years. graduation was just a few weeks away. that is, if you could make it without being expelled. will was charming, handsome, and much to his parents dismay, completely ambivalent about his education. even so, skinner hoped he would go on. also involved in boarding school was libbey, 14, was attending school in connecticut but her schoolyard just ended and she was back home again. joe, 11 and belle, eight, were each eager for summer break. getting ready for the summer games, joe bought a baseball bat, and katherine, only six month old, had recently made her first appearance in public with the world's delight in her just as much as she in it. skinner's train pulled into new haven shortly before 6:00. departing passengers gathered the hats and bags and filed past and out of the car. replaced by a throng of new places coming aboard to each one looking for an available seat, preferably by the window if he or she wished to read by the last light of the day but a couple of hours and a few stops later, the train pulled into northampton, where skinner made his way to the exit and down the steps to the platform. here be transferred to a little one car special all but a dinky locomotor that took in the last leg of his journey up the branch railroad of the mill river valley. the train passed the villages of florence, transport and haydenville. the last glow of gas lies that bind its streets, and then at last, skinnerville came into view. there was some light on across the river as well as several windows softly in the house is down by the road. the mill was but a large shadow in the distance, nearly indistinguishable from the general darkness. the school and general store to were no more than ink spots it was pitch black outside, owing to a new moon. even in the dark, skinner's album, ma a three-story mansion set back from the rest with tall french window stretching from front to back was quite identifiable. with several of its many rooms lit up in preparation for his arrival. through the air came the sound of the bell tolling 9:00 that at this moment skinner didn't do was to be up when he walked in the door. the babies usually to bed at 7:30 and the younger children around 830 thymic. there was always the possibly that belle and joe might try to keep their eyes open and since libby had just returned from school, she might have settled in to a round of checkers in a scene with mother, a very expert player while nelly needed to fight a fire. as the train slowed in its approach at the northern end of skinnerville, one of scanners employees, john perhaps, awaited him on the platform. the depot was about a quarter mile from the house along the dark unlit road. but when skinner stepped down from the car and into the cold night air, he would have done both driver and host already for the short jog home. the trip and this day were almost over. the anniversaries behind him, and a new year in the life of his marriage, family, and his work was about to begin on the morrow. he was 49, and the fabric of his existence had never been stronger. as he walked up the steps to his front door, there in the middle of skinnerville with a river flowing reliably behind them, the mill at rest across the way, the houses of his neighbors and employees all around, and a reunion with his wife and children just seconds ahead, there wasn't one clue, not any sign, that the very next morning nearly everything in this world would be swept away. thank you. [applause] >> so we have time for a few questions. and i'm going to ask if you could step up to the microphone. i know. i've had to be up here at a microphone. you can do it, too. >> what was the source of the raw material for his silk works? >> yes. the source for his mill was raw so that came from china. >> in thread form? >> no. it was raw silk. and it came from china and ultimately he began to also trade with japan and import from japan. the raw silk was what he imported, and he converted it to thread and then woven into fabric. >> what does raw silk look like? >> well, it is a silk worm cocoon, and you can come back and shake it. them off is still inside of it. and the manufacturing of silk is very complicated and extraordinary process. and this one cocoon is wound with one strand of silk that is about half a mile long. but it's so fine, very perceptible, and is nowhere near in any shape to be used as thread. so what happens is, in a nutshell, if you think of the pyramid and you think of a whole bunch of silk cocoons at the bottom. they are bound together into another layer, and then those are bound together and those are well together, and ultimately you get to one. you have one thread that is made of various silk filaments. so the raw silk is silk that has been unwound from the cocoon, and then joined together to a level, sort of part way up the pyramid, and enterprise in the states and bundles that were called books, actually, even though there was no literature involved, and there were big stacks of this raw material. >> did they ship textile as well or just finished the red? >> did a skinner? yes, absolutely. so he began manufacturing silk thread in skinnerville, and then in holyoke you begin to we've the thread into fabric. and that again was one of the proponents that enabled him to proceed. because when he rebuilt his mill he didn't just rebuild it to house the operation that he had been, he rebuilt, he built it, he built the mill of his dream. he built it so there was room to expand, to expand his business. >> did william skinner have any relationship with samuel wilson who was the founder of the seminary whose middle stretched from north hampton to holyoke, the largest employer of people in that part of the connecticut river valley from the mid-19th century to later on? he helped establish not holyoke -- mount holyoke. he said amherst college from distinction, and also was a major supporter of massachusetts aggie, which many decades later became massachusetts state, now known as the university of massachusetts. >> that's an interesting question, and i'm so thrilled you know so much about the valley. skinner did not work with samuel wilson. wilson was an extraordinary capitalist and the mill valley and he helped support many industries therein. at one point i believe he was a partner with the hayden's distorted paid nebraska but of which you saw a portion of their earlier. but he did not come he did not work with william skinner, no. thank you. >> at the skinnerville, what survives? has there been any kind of serious or amateur archaeological search for evidence of the mill? i mean, what can you find if you go to the site today? >> that's a great question, bill. if you go to skinnerville today, you will find a stretch of highway and you will find a few houses along the side of it. some of which are or were wrecked at the time of the flood that were refashioned into homes. and you will find a very tranquil, unassuming river flowing alongside of it which is the mill river. there's been no archaeological dig that i know of. if you want to find the area where skinner's house was, there's a utility, what do they call utility -- >> substation? >> substation or something like that, yes. and that is where his house was. locals in the area still refer to the area as skinnerville but it is no longer on the map. you used to, for years, be able to go to mill river and find bricks in the river bank and all kinds of things that had been washed away in the mill. over the past 130 years, most of the debris that was lodged in the banks has been taken by scavengers. but years ago that is how i learned about the flood. i went to the river and i found a silver spoon and pottery and china. >> secondly, in holyoke itself, the mill at its greatest extent, or any of those buildings standing? how are they being used? >> another great question. skinners milk isn't no longer stand it was set on fire by parsons in the early 1980s when holyoke was experiencing a rash of arson. and i met a gentleman recently who told me that when the milburn to the ground, that he was so intense that the water in the canals boiled. it is now a park i believe where the mill was. there are no remaining mill buildings of skinner's mill. the only building that remains that is connected to him is the house that he salvaged that is now a museum. and in that museum is an extraordinary archive, and you can go and you can see all kinds of illustrations, advertisements, you know, photographs and, you know, you have the paper record of the company and what it involves. that we don't have the physical record of it anymore. but there is some regeneration in the city of holyoke, trying to figure out to use these abandoned mill buildings, how to turn them around, and how to make them a destination. .. >> run to the hills. and a woman who worked in skinner's mill, she was an orphan, she worked on the top floor, she ran to the top, and she began ringing the mill's bell. the skinner family was at breakfast at the time, and skinner was at breakfast. his mill was already up and running for, you know, a good while, but he didn't have to be there. and so he was at breakfast. he had opened the mill, and he was at breakfast. he'd gone back home. oh, actually, no, he'd slept in that day. so from the trip before, he'd actually overslept that morning. so when the mill bell began to ring, his first thought was there's a fire at the mill. why else would the bell be ringing? and he leapt up, he darted outside, and he looked north, and he saw the huge, massive blackness to the north and heard the shout of the dairy farmer running by saying the reservoir's given way. and skinner ran down the street. at that time operatives were already beginning to pour out of the mill. and he started shouting at them run to the hills, run to the hills, run to the hills. and once the mill was evacuated and the last one to leaf the mill -- to leave the mill was the orphan who had rung the bill, he ran back to the house, flew through the house, grab the baby, run, get out the back. and they all ran to the railroad 'em bank withment and escaped within second. and when skinner turned around, he said the entire -- the water had swept in, and to him it was like standing on the deck of a ship in the middle of a violent storm. >> thank you, sarah. >> thank you. [applause] >> for more information visit the author's web site, sarahkill born.com. >> with just days left in 2012, many publications are putting together their year-end lists of notable books. booktv will feature several of these lists focusing on nonfiction selections. these titles were included in kirkus book review's best nonfiction of 2012. laurent duboise examines eighty's history. -- haiti's history. david talbot presents a history of san francisco in the 1970s in "season of witch: enchantment, terror and deliverance in the city of love." in "quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking," author susan cain examines the benefits of an introverted personality. david von trailly looks at 1862, the second year of the civil war and the actions of abraham lincoln in "rise to greatness: abraham lincoln's most perilous year." watch for this book on booktv in the coming days. and in "full body burden," kristin iverson investigates the nuclear weapons plant that was located fear her childhood home in colorado. for an extended list of links to various publications' 2012 best books list, go to booktv.com. >> you've been watching booktv, 48 hours of book programming beginning saturday morning at 8 eastern through monday morning at 8 eastern. nonfiction books all weekend every weekend right here on c-span2. >> booktv is in prime time this weekend on c-span2. starting tonight at 8 eastern with david talbot on the history of san francisco from 1967 to 1982. at 8:55 elizabeth dowling taylor on the life of white house slave paul jennings and his eventual freedom in 1847. at 9:50, chandra manning discusses the reasons why americans fought the civil war. and at 10:15, arthur herman on how fdr brought business leaders across the country to mobilize for world war ii. five-time grammy award winner james taylor spoke at the national press club earlier this month. he talked about the war in iraq, the so-called fiscal cliff and other topics. this is an hour and ten minutes. >> and welcome to the national press club. my name is theresa warner, and i am the 105th president of the national press club. we are the world's leading professional organization for journalists, committed to our profession's future through programming and events such as these while fostering a free press worldwide. for more information about the national press club, please visit our web site, w, -- w, w dot press.org. do know mate to -- to donate to our institute, please visit press.org/institute. on behalf of our members worldwide, i'd like to welcome our speaker and those of you attending today's event. our head table includes guests of our speaker as well as working club journalists who are members of the national press clubment and if you hear applause in the audience, we would note that members of the general public are attend, so it is not necessarily a lack of journalistic objectivity. [laughter] i'd also like to welcome our c-span and our public radio audiences. our luncheons are also featured on our member-produced weekly podcast from the national press club available on itunes. you can also follow the action on twitter using hash tag npc lunch. after our guest's speech concludes, i'll have a q&a session, and i'll ask as many questions as time permits. now i would like to introduce our head table guests, and i'd ask each of you to stand as your name is announced. from your right michael phelps, publisher, president and ceo of the washington examiner. doris mar go lease, president's toarl associates. jerry -- [inaudible] buffalo news and former national press club president. laura lee, producer npr and a new member to the national press club. kim taylor, former director of press for the boston symphony orchestra and james' wife. and i'm going to skip our speaker here, and next we have donna -- [inaudible] "usa today" and former national press club president. mary lou donahue, speakers' committee member who organized today's event. john crumpler, guest of the speaker. jonathan celante, former president of the national press club. mark -- [inaudible] kiplinger personal finances. [applause] thank you all for joining us here today. i really don't need to introduce james taylor to you in that we all feel that we know him and his music. but i'll take a moment to remind you of how and why we have come to feel we know him. mr. taylor's music embodies the art of songwriting at its most personal and universal form. he is a master at describing specific, even autobiographical situations in a way that resonates with people from everywhere. for more than 40 years, taylor has been a compass for his fans, articulating moments of pain and joy and letting his listeners know that they are not alone. james taylor has sold close to 100 million albums in his career. that is a very big number. look up to the stars on a clear night, that's what 100 million looks like. and he's sung at iconic and american locations like carnegie hall, fenway park, at president barack obama's inauguration and at the academy awards. he is a five-time grammy award winner, and he was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2000. he is a recipient of the national medal of arts, and even with his busy career, taylor has found time for politics. among the most active in the obama surrogates in the 2012 campaign, james taylor kris crossed the country in support of the president performing alongside with his wife kim spreading the campaign message wherever and whenever he was called upon to do so. james worked for the president -- james' work for the president springs from a lifetime of service to progressive causes and began in 2008 when taylor performs in large rallies in five cities in his native north carolina. his efforts there generated thousands of volunteers and helped win the state for the democrats for the first time since 1976. the last year has been especially busy for the taylors on the campaign trail, over 50 radio and television interviews and 40 events in 12 states, from concerts in living rooms and field offices to opening the final night at the democratic national convention and rally in the closing days of the campaign with the president in new hampshire. and just yesterday he helped brighten up washington, d.c. by performing at the lighting of the national christmas tree. in that moment, as in many others, his music was with us as we celebrated the season, our families and our country. ladies and gentlemen, i would like to welcome james taylor. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, theresa, thank you very much. and thank you, bill. thank you, susan, for these delicious cupcakes. fire and rain cupcakes. [laughter] it did not go unnoticed. i got a fire one myself. mighty tasty. [laughter] um, you know, i titled this thing today election reform because i thought i needed to have a title, but actually i probably know less about election reform than pretty much everybody in this room. so i will talk a little bit about it towards the end. um, really it's a -- what i wanted to do is describe a pilgrim's progress through the political -- as a citizen engaged in the political process as a surrogate. um, but i'll start, actually, as i used to start and have started many of my performances in the past with a song. this is a song that i, it's the earliest of my songs -- not the first song that i wrote, because that's unlistenable. [laughter] but this is, the song that i played for -- i'm nervous today, but on this occasion i was clinically nervous. i played for paul mccartney and george harrison in 1968 in london. and in january of -- february, i guess, '68 in london. i had been lucky enough to get an opportunity to audition for apple records. they were signing acts at the time. i was 19 years old. i had my guitar, and i had this song that i played for them. i'll play it for you now. ♪ ♪ >> is that coming across, laura? ♪ well, it's something in the way she moves, looks my way or or calls my name. ♪ that seems to leave this troubled world behind. ♪ and if i'm feeling down -- or troubled by some foolish game, you know, she always seems to make me change my mind. ♪ i feel fine anytime she's around me now, she's around me now almost all the time. ♪ if i'm well, you can tell that she's been with me now, she's been with me now quite a long, long time. ♪ and i feel fine. ♪ every now and then the things that i lean on lose their meaning, and i find myself careening into places where i should not let me go. ♪ she has a power to go where no one else can find me and to silently remind me of the happiness and the good times that i know, you know? ♪ well, i guess i just got to know them. ♪ listen to what she's got to say, how she thinks a wish has been. ♪ to me, the words are nice the way they sound. ♪ i like to hear them -- doesn't much matter what they mean. ♪ she says them mostly just to calm me down. ♪ i feel fine anytime that she is around me now, she's around me now i guess about all the time. ♪ and if i'm well, you can tell she's been with me now, she's been with me now quite a long, quite a long, long time. ♪ yes, and i feel fine [applause] >> so it turned out well. i was nervous. it was faster and higher in pitch than i just played it. [laughter] i was younger, and i was having an out-of-body experience being in the room with two living beatles. [laughter] it was amazing, because i was a huge beatles fan. and mccartney liked it enough that he signed me to the label, and george harrison liked the song enough that he went home and wrote it himself. [laughter] but, actually, i've ripped off so many beatles tunes in my life that turn about is fair play. anyway. so how do i get into politics from being a, basically, a sort of professional autobiographer? i think i just, you know, and is it, is it false advertising to sort of attract people for one thing and then ask them to pay attention to something else? i suppose a little bit, it is. but i feel so motivated particularly in these past two elections by what a wonderful president i feel barack obama is and by how important i think it is that he get a chance to govern, if that's possible. with this congress. but anyway, my father really gave me my politics, probably that happened with a lot of us here. and we grew up in north carolina he was a -- i'm a yellow dog democrat, as he was, an unapologetic liberal, definite progressive in my politics and my beliefs. and in a way i sort ofty -- i sort of think that i was defined, and i'm surprised to hear myself say it, but defined by jesse helms to a certain extent. [laughter] because in north carolina in those days jesse helms owned the only tv station, it was wral in raleigh, and he would go on at -- the programming was thin on the ground, and he would go on and deliver these creeds or harangues, these rants. and those of us living in chapel hill, north carolina, where my father was, worked for the university of north carolina, he had studied medicine in came brick in -- in cambridge in massachusetts and had met my mother there, but he had moved the family back to north carolina. and, you know, chapel hill was sort of a progressive enclave in those days, and jesse helms would refer to it in his tv editorials as communist hill. [laughter] he'd call it communist hill. and we were, in a way that, you know, that sort of defined -- was an early point as an antagonist, i feel as though he helped define me politically. and over the years i've tried up up -- i've tried unsuccessfully a sad succession of north carolina democrats trying to unsuccessful to unseat jesse helms. i never managed to do it, we never managed to do it in all those years. my friend john crumpler who is from north carolina here tonight, actually, got my wife kim and i deeply involved in the obama campaign, and he's nodding his head, because as a north carolinian, he knows about jesse helms. anyway, my father and his generation, i remember the first political campaign that i'm aware of being my family being enthusiastic about adlai stevenson over eisenhower back in '56. and my father and his generation in chapel hill were really, um, they built a bridge and sort of a bridgehead. they were pro-higher education, pro-infrastructure, they were, they were liberal in their politics and progressive, and they, they were deeply anti-segregationist and anti-jim crow. and they built in the raleigh/durham/chapel hill area something called the research triangle that depended a lot on education, on higher education and which has really paid huge dividends and, in a way, opened the road to the new south as we think of it today. my father would have been, in 2008, would have been so fiercely proud to see barack obama elected in north carolina, to see the country, to see the state go for barack obama. sadly, it wasn't to happen again in 2012, although we worked really hard at it. but anyway, my first, my first campaign that i actively was involved with was mcgovern in '72, and i think my wife kim still has the pumper sticker that says -- the bumper sticker that says don't blame me, i'm from massachusetts. [laughter] i think massachusetts was the only state to go for mcgovern sadly. [laughter] but kim also took a year off from, between high school and college and rang doorbells and called people up for that as a field office hand there in upstate new york. but that was, i worked with carole king and barbra streisand. we did a couple of concerts, three for mcgovern. although, actually, if you say mcgovern over and over again, it's in 6/8 time. it was 3/4 mcgovern sort of as a time signature there. [laughter] me and carole and barbra streisand. and in the years since then, i've supported -- i've gotten involved with a number of people in massachusetts, gary studs, ted kennedy, i worked on his campaign, i worked for elizabeth warren this past time. um, i worked for, see, i've written it down here if i can find it. i worked for dukakis and mondale and gore and kerry and really a long list of -- clinton and jimmy carter. i worked on john anderson's campaign, the only nondemocrat in the bunch. so, you know, it was sort of natural being so politically active over the years that i would get involved in the campaign of 2008. i really, i was hugely motivated also by eight years of cheney/bush. and i say it in that order on purpose. [laughter] those were -- it was a tough time for me. i really suffered. it made me deeply ambivalent about my country, that we would choose that -- even if we may not have actually chosen it. [laughter] but that that was our, that that's what represented us in the world. and i felt as though after september 11th the, the diversion, the distraction of the nation's concern and energy into iraq was unpardonable. and i felt that it was inept, corrupt and opaque. those were tough years for me, and i was very, very deeply motivated to, if 2008, to see barack obama, this wonderful sort of a surprise really. i couldn't believe our luck that we had gotten such a real person as, to make it through the filter system of our politics. so it meant a lot to me, and i know that it would have meant a huge amount to my father. so, because i think of him often. and so again in 2012 we, kim and i went on the road for obama. we did a, as theresa said earlier, we did about three dozen different events. it was really, restored my faith in the, in the country to see, um, to meet these people who had committed thimses to this re-election -- themselves to this re-election campaign. it was the largest grassroots event that we've ever seen in this country, and the people involved were such, just fundamentally such good people, i felt, that it really meant a lot to me to be involved in it. they were smart, too, the people that handled this campaign. they did it really well, and they were committed to this mission, and they really carried it out beautifully lt -- beautifully. i should say, also, that although i am a sort of relentless democrat, i do believe that a dialogue between, between -- a reasonable dialogue between republicans and democrats is what keeps this country on course and in balance. i think that, you know, by ourselves liberals would probably steer us towards a sort of paralyzed nanny state european style, and republicans left on their own would head towards oligarchy and inherited wealth and power. so i think that we really do need a strong republican party and a good dialogue between left and right. but paralysis seems to be the order of the day, and politics of fear. anyway, i will rant on and on. [laughter] and i promised kim i wouldn't do too much of that. it was a delight being involved in the campaign. the obama campaign. we had a wonderful time. and we went back to north carolina. we played, we played this song a lot. not going to play the whole thing, it's too long. ♪ ♪ in my mind i'm going to carolina, can't you see the sunshine, can't you just feel the moonshine? ♪ it is like a friend of mine that hits me from behind, oh, i'm going to carolina in my mind ♪ it will hold me close when no others stand around me -- the dark side of the moon. ♪ and it looks like it goes on like this forever, you must forgive me if i am gone to carolina in my mind. ♪ in my mind i'm going to carolina, can't you see the sunshine, can't you just feel the moonshine? ♪ ain't it just like a friend of mine that hit me from behind, i'll be going to carolina in my mind. ♪ yes, i'm going to carolina in my mind. ♪ oh, i'm going to klein -- carolina in my mind ♪ [cheers and applause] >> all right. >> we are doing great. >> okay. i've written a few overtly political songs. so here come a couple of them. [laughter] i'll play you the first verse of a song called "line 'em up," which is actually about how things in this life tend to line up. ♪ oh, i remember richard nixon back in '74 and the final scene at the white house door. ♪ the staff lined up just to say good-bye, tiny tears in their eye. ♪ he said nobody knows me, nobody understands. ♪ little people have been good to me, oh, i'm gonna shake some hands. ♪ but he he lined 'em up, lined 'em all up, oh, line 'em up, line 'em all up. ♪ line 'em up, come on, line 'em up, line 'em all up. ♪ >> not really a song about nixon, a verse about nixon -- [laughter] and how he left office. i was fascinated by to watch him on camera. he was at the podium saying good-bye, i'm not a crook, farewell, and then he had a staging problem. he had -- and i was interested in how they handled it. nixon didn't have a great walk. it was sort of -- [laughter] if you've seen those depictions of the evolution of man -- [laughter] from the sort of coming from the primordial ooze to, and then slowly becoming, walking on all fours and then, finally, ending on the extreme of cro-magnon man walking along this sort of -- along there sort of analyzing there. nixon's walk was sort of a couple of characters back from that guy. [laughter] they didn't want to focus on it, and he had a long walk. so they lined up all of the white house employees, and he went down the line as sort of like a receiving line and saying good-bye to all of them. which was really quite moving and saying hello and good-bye perhaps for the first and last time. [laughter] and then at the end of the line, he was on the helicopter. bob was his uncle, he was out of there. this next song is a more political song, it's called "slap leather," and it was -- the first verse is about ronald reagan leaving office which the first thing, if i'm not mistaken, someone can perhaps enlighten me on this, but it was my impression that one of the first things reagan did after leaving office was to accept a speaking engagement in japan for $2 million. is that right? that's what i've -- and that, for some reason, that sort of, that took me back. today it would just fall off my back like, you know, nothing had happened. [laughter] sure, what's more natural? but at the time -- ♪ keep all the money that we need for school, keep the people in out the cold. ♪ standing on a weapon you can never use, make them all an offer that they can't refuse. ♪ open the door, let the sharp men see hoover of the future and the land of greed. ♪ fell upon the -- to the japanese, slap leather and -- [inaudible] ♪ slap leather, go on, ron. ♪ turn the whole wide world into a tv show, you've got the same thing wherever you go. ♪ you never meet a soul that you don't already know, one long commercial for the status quo. ♪ -- your close friends as if you knew how the story ends. ♪ -- sitting in a room alone, and there was -- [inaudible] ♪ oh, look, just about to die -- [inaudible] ♪ get all worked up when people go back to war, we'll find something worth killing for. ♪ tie that yellow ribbon around your eye -- [inaudible] fight a god damn fight. ♪ stormin norman, i used to love a parade. ♪ slap leather, fall in love -- [inaudible] ♪ [applause] >> big mac that raffle being sort of code for the oversimplification of the arab world and the tendency of american foreign policy at the time to think that you could fix a watch with hammer. [laughter] yeah. big mac that laugh fell. yeah. so we did, we went on the road. we, in many ways, had our faith in the american process and our country restored by meeting some wonderful, committed people. who really mean extremely well and have the future of this country in their hearts and minds. but we, we raised the better part of $10 million, and that ain't right, you know? again, i don't know a lot about election reform, but it seems to me as though it breaks into two areas. one the campaign, and the other is the actual election itself. fixing the campaign is going to be tough, trying to get the money out of it. trying to get some forums for our -- in the place of our debates that actually give us a clear idea of who the candidate is and what they intend for the country, that's a difficult and tall order. trying to streamline it so that it doesn't take two years to run for public office. these are, these are difficult things to accomplish, and i don't know how we go about it. but it seems as though there is a side of election reform, the actual election process itself the day of elections that would be reasonably easy to do something about. or for me, i've just come through an election so, of course, as all of you have probably intensely, if not more so than i have because you're with the press. but, b um, it seems, it seems as though to me the vote is sacred. it is the democratic moment. it is the moment of the actual act of self-government is when we choose our representatives. and in, in the american experiment, this democratic light of the world, um, it seems to me as though the vote is the moment. and why we, you know, we have a day off for fourth of july, for independence day, patriots' day, washington and lincoln's birthday, veterans' day, we have mlk day. why can't we get a day off to go to the polls so that people can really make it? [applause] it just seems, you know, we have -- there was something like 60%, 63% participation of eligible voters this last election. off-year elections it's more like 40%. so average them out, we get 50% of our voters to the polls, and that's really, that's not good enough for what america is and for what it means. for some reason we're dropping that ball. i think we need a day off for polling, we need to open the pools for a week. when we identify people, when we officially identify people, they should be registered as soon as somebody has an official name and address. they should be, they should be able to get a note in the mail that tells them where to go to vote. this business of, the question of gerrymandering for professional districts is a profound conundrum. i don't know how we fix that. but we can at least get people back to the polls in greater numbers. there are a lot of people who in the country who do want to go in the other direction, who want fewer people to vote. and these voter id laws in the name of preventing voter fraud, i think it's a solution without a problem. the voter fraud in this country is pretty much equal to either side and is so low that the amount of people who are discouraged from voting by these new id laws, it's just a bad idea, in my opinion. also be you're concerned about voter fraud -- if you're concerned about voter fraud, a paper trail for voting machines which one-third of our country votes on, some kind of accounting possibility for diebolt machines so that we can check every hundredth machine against its actual paper trail is a much better and push more effective way to insure against voter fraud. you can go on google, you can find 20 different hacking experiments that people have performed on these machines, and diebold wears its political heart on its sleeve. they're very political there, you know? they contribute hugely to political campaigns. so a paper trail for diebold machines would be an excellent idea to make sure that that was not being hacked. because it's been repeatedly proven that it is embarrassingly easy to hack the returns of diebold machines. so that needs to happen. um, anyway, that's the, that's the election reform part of my speech. [laughter] and i'm going to end with another song that kim and i sang when we were out on the trail. kim actually thought, until she was about 12 years old, she thought the picture of fdr on her grandmother's mantelpiece was with her grandfather. [laughter] they did look a lot alike, but her mother was -- her grandmother was such a fervent new dealer that she also inoculated kim in no small way into liberal politics, it's true. ♪ ♪ oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amer waves of -- for amber waves of grain. ♪ for purple mountain majesty, above the fruited plain. ♪ america, america, god shed his grace on thee. ♪ and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. ♪ from sea to shining sea >> thank you. [applause] thank you. [cheers and applause] >> so you shared with us your love for politics and how passionate you are for it. have you ever thought about running for public office? >> with my personal history? [laughter] that would be a massacre. [laughter] it would be fun to cover though. it would be. [laughter] no. [laughter] >> within the last year, bonnie raitt made the following comment: as far as i can see, we have an auction instead of an election. would you comment on her observation? >> you know, this citizens united decision is a disaster. it's really the wrong direction to head in. it's pollutant. you know, the fact that we can go through two years of paying very close attention to who these two men are and have no idea what mitt romney's plan for the country was. you know, a billion dollars spent on advertising? it's just, citizens united is a disaster, and we -- i talked to jim messina who, you know, who's so instrumental in the, in obama's re-election organization. he feels as though, gee, i hope i'm not speaking out of school the say this, but he feels that we need a constitutional amendment to protect voters' rights and to, and to also protect our elections from this, the pollution of this amazing amount of money. i agree with bonnie. i don't know if it's an auction, but it certainly is, the money is a distraction. it doesn't give us good information about who these people are. you know, noam chomsky who with i, forgive me, i love him -- [laughter] noam chomsky says that the size of a piece of information is to make it as short as it is today is an effective way of censoring. because it, basically, gives us the opportunity just to say something that people already know, you know? but the amount of time that it takes to contradict a sort of known, perceived consensus reality and receive wisdom to sort of disassemble that and to build in someone's mind and with a discussion and an argument another, an alternative way of seeing things, it just takes much too long for the way we communicate today. i don't know what to do about that. but it's, one of the main problems that liberals have and one of the questions we ask ourselves so frequently is how do we communicate our message? it's such a good message, you know? why, why can't we communicate this to people? why can't we tell them what's, what we have many -- what we have in mind? i think it's because people are looking for simple answers to complex questions. and when you rush in with a simple answer, people will flock to you, you know? that's what i meant when i said fix a watch with a hammer. so that's off of the question, the point about the question. but, you know, that's another amazing thing ha reagan taught -- that reagan taught us in those debates. [laughter] you'd ask ronald reagan a question, and he'd answer the question that he knew the answer to or that, you know, he just absolutely no problem whatsoever. [laughter] smooth and, you know, you'd say, yeah, that's great. [laughter] it's amazing. we see it more and more often too. you answer the question that you know, and ask me the next one, please. [laughter] >> would you be upset if president obama compromised too much with the republicans in order to avoid going over the fiscal cliff? >> oh, yeah, i would be, yeah. i'd be -- i'm, you know, i think it's remarkable that right after the election we get this thing that comes right up in our faces that, basically, outlines in bold relief the differences in the two ideas about how we go forward in this country. it's really excellent timing, and i think that we may have to go over the cliff, you know? if it's forced into it. but this, you know, this idea that you, that you bring down the cost of medicare by making it unavailable to more people -- [laughter] is a terrible idea of mr. boehner's. and the idea of -- i would be terribly upset, along with many of my friends, if obama compromised too much on what needs to happen that's called the fiscal cliff. please, carry on. [laughter] >> do you think that a prominent third party would help our country? >> i certainly felt strongly about that when i supported john anderson in '79. and he was, a large part of anderson's campaign was to sue state, the state ballot procedure into allowing third parties to have more access to the electoral process. um, i would like to see a third party available. but that, too, seems like a really tall order. yeah. >> what do you think is the appropriate role for actors, musicians and other celebrities to play in the political arena? >> you know, i think if you are a really motivated, committed citizen who feels very strongly about either an issue or a candidate, you get involved, you know? you go out and do it regardless of what it means. my, you know, as i said, i've got this long history as a yellow dog democrat liberal, and i don't think anyone's surprised to see me, and i think my republican friends tolerate it and largely forgive me for it. [laughter] but i know there are other people who take a real hit. um, i think bruce springsteen is very brave to support obama, because i think a lot of his audience is angered by that. and in a way it seems like a form of selling out. i think you have to feel really strongly about it. it can feel like a betrayal to people to see something politicized. maybe that speaks to the nature -- how low politics has sunk. that people think of it as a betrayal. but, you know, again, if you feel strongly, i think you get involved. >> can you tell us a little bit about what it was like to perform at the democratic national convention? >> well, it was in north carolina, and so i knew what song to play. [laughter] and it wasn't on,ing with carried at that moment before being carried at that moment by the national network, so i felt as though -- i didn't feel the stress and the extra burden of being on, you know, on television which is, which always affects me negatively. so it was good. it was nice to be home. it felt like the right thing. charlotte was, charlotte was electrified for that week. it was, it was a great, um, convention. we loved being there. >> i'd like to shift a little bit to music, a few music questions here. and you mentioned that your first record label was apple. and was wondering how much did the beatles help launch your musical career? >> well, i think just being signed and allowed to make that first album was, and being the first, um, artist signed to their label was a huge amount of attention for me to get. it allowed me to make my first record, and that got me my next deal with warner brothers. um, so it -- i don't think that the beatles themselves were in any way charged with the mission of publicizing james taylor. i think signing me was enough. >> what do you think is your secret for your long success? >> oh, i've got a great audience, and i love them. i love the people who come and see me. they've supported me for such a long time, and they're so, you know, they are -- they, as well, are lovely people. and i feel very at home, very comfortable with them. as i said, increasingly grateful as time goes by. and that and just the great, good fortune of being healthy. and, again, it's also a kind of music that doesn't tear you up to sing it, you know? there are some people who you hear, you hear kurt cobain sing, and you think how's that going to feel at the age of 50, you know? [laughter] sadly, we didn't get a chance to see, and i'm sure that it would have changed into something that would have been beautiful and worthy. but, you know, it's, it's a kind of music that lets you carry on with it. so, you know, it's, it all comes down to good luck. >> you're known for your incredible solo career, but you've also done duets such as with tony bennett, natalie cole. who is your favorite duet partner? >> do i get in trouble if or this? -- in trouble for this? [laughter] there haven't been with all that many, so i can mention all of them. aside from -- i loved working with mark novemberler on sailing to philadelphia, with allison krause on that beautiful tribute that she did, linda ronstadt. oh, there are, there are many. of course carole king, joni mitchell. i don't know, they're all -- it's impossible to choose. >> is there anyone that you would like to perform with that you haven't? >> um, i'd like to perform with harry belafonte if i could. i tried, i asked him. we did a series of concerts at carnegie hall, and i asked harry if he would, if he'd sing one of the songs that i grew up listening to of his, but he's pretty, he's pretty much decided he's not going to do that anymore. but, yeah. harry belafonte. >> what was the first song that you could truly play on the guitar? >> keep on trucking mama. [laughter] >> can you still play it? >> can i still play it? >> uh-huh? >> you don't want to hear that. [laughter] this is where things go south, yeah. ♪ keep on trucking, mama, trucking my blues away. ♪ keep on trucking, mama, trucking until a bigger day. >> etc. [laughter] [applause] >> did you take lessons, or are you self-taught on the guitar? >> i'm self-taught on the guitar. but a lot of people showed me stuff. they weren't formal lessons, but they were, you know, that's how it, how it worked. in the great folk scare of the mid '60s, as we call it. [laughter] you know? but we did, we, um, we would sort of share licks, and everybody would walk around with a guitar all the time. we thought that was normal. [laughter] >> your playing style has always seemed deceptively relaxed using your thumb, fore anythinger and middle finger in your picking. did you develop that style on your own, or were you influenced by anyone? >> i was influenced by a guy named travis, merle travis. he had a thing called travis picking, although he probably learned it from someone else himself. so it's sort of kind of like a walking bass. ♪ ♪ >> that was my, i threw in this finger, which -- [laughter] ♪ ♪ >>, um, that was the beginning of it. but it sort of allows you to play a baseline, and it's sort of a pianistic style because you can play with your right hand and your other fingers. >> what gave you the idea to do a slow version of handyman originally by jimmy jones? >> it was funny, you know, we were in the studio making a new album. we were cutting -- in our first day of tracking, we got three different songs recorded, songs that i had written and were ready for us to put down what we call basic tracks. and then you come back, and you sing the finished vocal on it or put other elements on it in an overdub. but we finished these three songs, and we still had, like, an hour and a half of studio time left before the meter ran out. and my friend danny said, you know, you always liked that song handyman, why don't we do a version of that? we whipped it up there in about 15 minutes, just came up with a quick james taylor-ized version of it, and that's how it went down. it was really off, just off the cuff, off the top of our heads. >> what inspired you to write "sweet baby james"? >> well, it was a song for my nephew who was the first child born in our family in our generation named after me by my brother, alex. i had been overseas, i'd been abroad making my apple album. when i came home, i was really keen to see the little baby, and i drove down to north carolina and kept thinking about wouldn't it be nice to have a sort of cowboy lullaby to sing this to new little baby james. and like roy rogers or gene autrey kind of there'll be blue shadows on the trail -- [laughter] or go to sleep, you little buck a radio. [laughter] you know? kind of thing. and that was the idea behind it. it was -- ♪ the young cowboy living on the range -- [inaudible] ♪ -- he sleeps in the canyons, just waiting for summer, his pastures to change. ♪ oh, then as the moon rises, he sits by his fire just thinking about women and glasses of beer. ♪ and closing his eyes as the dogeys retire, he sings out a song which is soft, but it's clear. ♪ just as if maybe someone could hear. ♪ he says good night all you -- my sweet baby james. ♪ -- for the colors i'd choose, won't you let me go down in my dreams. ♪ yes, i'll rock-a-bye my sweet babe by james. ♪ [cheers and applause] >> sorry. i turned off my amplifier. if this is live for three minutes -- is that how much time we've got left? [laughter] >> i'm told we're all so enthralled with you, we can run a little longer if you want to keep going a little bit. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. people dashing for the door. [laughter] lock 'em in. [laughter] >> most songwriters will say that their songs are like children, but do you have a favorite song that you've written? >> that one. that one, i think. yeah. it says -- ♪ there's a song that they sing when they take to the highway and a song that they sing when they take to the sea. ♪ a song that they sing -- maybe you can believe it, it might help you to sleep. ♪ and the singing seems to work fine for me, and rock- a-bye, sweet baby james. ♪ [cheers and applause] >> yeah, that is my favorite. >> do you still write your songs down with paper and pencil? >> yes, i do. i carry a little -- i've always carried a little recording device of some sort. of they used to be pretty big, but now -- [laughter] now they're quite small, and i
doing so-called low-level kinds of crime but eventually became the crime boss of new england with his headquarters on federal hill in providence, rhode island. >> sometimes people think mob guys are -- that's not true at all. they have people are incredibly intelligent. they pull some scams for example, on wall street that would make bernie madoff look like a piker. but, of course, they had a traditional kind of so-called organized crime which were shaking young people, extortion. of course, they viewed as just protecting your business from other guys who might try to shake you down. of course, murder-for-hire, et cetera. the repertoire grew and grew as a result of their trying to protect their way of doing things. >> more from rhode island state capital as the booktv, american history tv, and c-span's local content vehicles look behind the scenes at the history and literary life of providence today at noon eastern on c-span2's booktv. >> you don't always find many newspaper editors in any era embracing investigative reporting. the point we've seen over the years, it's not just economics. it's the discomfort that investigative reporting often causes in the newsroom. because its trouble. it's about more than the economics. if you're going to ruffle the feathers of someone powerful, that gets those people running into coupling to the publisher. their stories are legion over years about those kind of things happen. we were fortunate all through the '70s and almost all our career to work for people who were really strong and upright in that area. and let the chips fall where they may. >> pulitzer prize-winning team of donald barlett and james steele will take your calls, e-mails and tweets this weekend on in depth. prepared depth. prepared to begin their collaborative work in the '70s are the co-authors of the books, their latest, "the betrayal of the american dream." watch live sunday at noon eastern on booktv on c-span2. >> sarah kilborne recounts the career of her great-great-grandfather, william skinner, a textile manufacture in the mid-19th century. the author recalls skinner's emigration from london and his career ascendancy from a worker in a silk mill to the owner of his own factory, the mill village, skinnerville. in 1847 a dam burst near skinnerville and destroyed the town and forced william skinner to rebuild. this is about an hour. >> thank you, bill. and thank you for your support of "american phoenix." and thank you all for coming out tonight. and thank you c-span and booktv for being here. it's a real honor. and i'm thrilled to be able to share with you "american phoenix: the remarkable story of william skinner, a man who turned disaster into destiny." so one question that every writer gets when people find out that you're writing a book, whether you are at a cocktail party, in the supermarket or on the street is, so, what's your book about? that's a fair question, and a good one, and often extremely challenging to answer. because you've spent thousands of hours writing thousands of words. you have a ton of information in your head. and you are writing one story but that one story includes many other stories. suddenly got to figure out how to condense all this information from all the stores into 15-second soundbite. i've got it down to three. well, seven actually if you include "american phoenix" is about, and one of the things that helped me get there was someone asked me, so, if your book were made into a movie, how would you pitch it? and i answered, the titanic meets rocky. "american phoenix" is about an essence disaster and survival. it's about disaster of epic proportions that involve a lot of water, and engineering failure, failure of design a killed a lot of people. and it's about survival, the triumph of the human spirit, the will to overcome extreme adversity. the ability to get back up when you have been knocked down again and again. my book explores the challenge of having to rebuild your life after losing everything in an unexpected catastrophe. and it explores the discovery that sometimes our worst nightmare can turn into our greatest opportunity. it's particularly poignant for me to be here in vermont talking about "american phoenix," a year after the devastation caused by irene. because so many vermonters can relate to what william skinner went through 130 odd years ago, having to rebuild their lives, and lives that have now been in ruins. and also now, given hurricane sandy, those down in new jersey and staten island, queens and brooklyn can also, unfortunately, relate to this challenge. what do you do? now, whether we come to this storyline with that kind of connection or not, we've all had disasters in our experience. we've all had those unexpected moments where something happens, and suddenly our life isn't the same as it was a moment before. everything has changed. we have to figure out how do we survive. these moments of crisis test us. they test our instincts, our loyalties, our faith in ourselves, our creativity. they test our emotions, and they certainly test our courage. on may 16, 1874, a reservoir dam gave way in western massachusetts. it unleashed an inland tidal wave that was at times 20 to 40 feet high, and 300 feet wide. it roared down a 40-mile valley and swept through the villages of williamsburgh, skinnerville, hayden bill, lead, florence. to give you a sense of the power of that water is to appreciate the amount of time it took to pass through portions of the valley. in the lower portion of the valley, the land level that into a level playing. the water took about an hour and a half to flow through and flood the town of northampton and, indeed, into the connecticut river. in the upper reaches of the valley where the land is steeper, that water, those 600 million gallons of water, went through the villages in about 15 minutes each. it resulted in the worst industrial disaster in american history at the time to over $1 million worth of property damage was sustained. almost 800 people were left homeless, and 139 people were killed. my book is about the only village that was and rebuild, skinnerville, and the man at the center of the village, william skinner. and what his story a part is the success he achieved after this disaster. skinnerville suffered the worst destruction of all. it was considered to have been obliterated from the face of the earth. there wasn't a brick left in skinnerville. his house, very nearly the only one left standing, and he lost more financially than any other individual. in those 15 minutes he lost the equivalent of $35 million. he was ruined. but because he was willing to make choices that no one else was willing to make he was able to come back. the other manufacturers in the valley who lost their property try to rebuild, but were unable to do so successfully. for a number, they had to sell to businesses or go out of town. and local historian said just three years later, men of abundant means who seem to withstand the first shock of disaster proved to be more embarrassed than what was expected. but skinner, by himself, went on to rebuild his company, and as a sole proprietor he carried it on, and he turned it into one of the most successful silk companies in our nation's history. when he died in 1900 to his silk that was considered the largest in the country. he was the top of the healthiest silk trade in the world, and he was a multimillionaire. the significance is that that success would have never been possible had he not lost everything and had to figure out how to survive taking choices he wouldn't have other wise been forced to make skinner not only survived disaster, but he turned it into his greatest success. this is a map of the town of williamsburgh in 1873. and it shows -- this is the reservoir. >> caller [inaudible] >> this is an image of the dam after it had given way. it was an earthen dam, had a core wall of masonry, and this was all that was left of it. this is a graphic depiction showing the water surging past skinner's house during the floods, and they said that the house survived because it's five chimneys rooted to the ground and it was made of boards and not brick. a house is so large that it acted like a dam in the midst of the surge, ma with the water surging around the front and back in, crushing both of them, shattering windows, completely flooding the interior of the first floor. the back parlor floor collapsed under the weight of all the water, and all the contents fell into the cellar below. as one reporter put it, potatoes indiana's, pictures, books and bacon became mixed in the flooded cellar. this house, skinner moved with him when he relocated after the flood. it was taken apart piece by piece and transported on 25 railroad cars to the city of holyoke where he rebuilt. it is now a museum on the national register of historic places and you can go and visit it and walk around in it. this is an image of what was left of skinnerville after the disaster. it's hard to imagine what it was like before. it was a thriving factory village filled with houses, trees, stone walls, farmland and, of course, skinners silk mill. this right here is the foundation of -- that was all that was left of the mill and it extended far to the left of this photograph. this is skinner's house. this is an image that is the image on the cover of the book, my book i should say. and there was no image of course of skinner's mill because it was gone so we had to choose one that represented the disaster. this is all that was left of the neighboring brass factory that was six or feet long, or the length of almost two football fields. more devastation from the village of skinnerville. and here is a house that was lived in by the bartlett family in skinnerville, and many of the children in the bartlett family worked for skinner. one of the superintendents was henry bartlett and was working for him at the time of the flood. and the bartlett family lived in this house through the summer in exactly this condition because they had nowhere else to go. now, when skinner died in 1902, his sons took over the company. and they were brilliant. joe was a scientist, and he took over production at the mill and ran the mill's lab, inventing all kinds of fabrics that involved silk. and will handled all the marketing and silk. they carried on their fathers is to help of innovation and pioneering in the manufacturing industry. skinner's is one of the first companies to branch out into consumer advertising. this is an ad from good housekeeping, and i believe it's from 1907. here is an ad from 1931 featuring joan crawford, and skinner's silks and satins were favored of hollywood costume designers in the '20s and '30s. it was part of will's doing. he wooed hollywood. designers loved skinner's fabric because they were not only beautiful and had extraordinary draping qualities, but they were durable. they could withstand the wear and tear of a costume on set. the men at the top of the advertisement is a. j., the head costume designer of mgm. one of the most famous costume designers of the period and he was such a supporter of skinner's silk and satin, he helped advertise the product. i should also add that the whole advertising campaign that betty davis and other stars like that, the idea behind it was of course if you dress in skinner's silks and sons, you too can be a and satins, you too can be a star. here is an ad featuring the famous skinner's bridal satin. here's another ad from the mid 1940s of "glamour" magazine in 1945. now when returning soldiers came home from the war, they were getting married in droves, and their brides made skinner a household name in the united states so many brides married in skinner's bridal satin. now, the company survived until 1961. it was 113 years after skinner founded it in 1848. and the extraordinary impact the company had throughout its existence was such that reader's digest actually includes william skinner in the middle of the 20 century on a list of some of the most influential englishmen to land on american soil. and reader's digest at that time had the largest readership and the country, second only to the bible. i mentioned earlier that one of the questions that writers are asked is, so what's your book about? shortly thereafter they will ask, how did you find your story? and how i came upon this story had to do with my family. william skinner was my great-great-grandfather. here is an image of him around the age of 30. he just lost his first wife, nancy. he is a widower in this photograph with his two young daughters. he also just opened his silk mill in the area that would become known as skinnerville. i find this photograph haunting. the intensity in his eyes just burn, just sears you. he is so driven, so ambitious. and yet tenderly touching his daughters. this is a photograph of his first wife, nancy warner, and she died shortly after the birth of her second daughter. skinner married a can to a woman named sarah elizabeth. she's the woman after whom i am named. my full name is sarah skinner kilbourne. and one would think with william skinner being my great-great-grandfather, i am named after his second wife, who was his wife for the rest of his life. and my grandfather was the last president of the company, that i would've grown up hearing about william skinner, the founder, and his story during the mill and the flood. i did not. that story seemed to have gotten lost in the legacy of the company. the company became so big it overshadowed its founder at the end. but i did -- well, i should also add that there were only two things that he knew about william skinner, and it shows how vague and oppression i had of him. one was that i just, just barely knew that he was in which. and the other is that i could only remember, only knew of one expression that he had, which was very austere. remember, you are william skinner's descendents. do good in the world. that's all i knew of him. but i did grow up hearing about another member of the family, and she is the one who ultimately led me to her family's story. this is his second youngest daughter. and i was fascinated with her as a child as -- and as adults or choose a very famous philanthropist in france after world war i. and what she did was she legally adopted an entire village from the french government in the north east of france with a legal binding document. and should rebuild it after the war. the french were going to abandon this village. they considered is so hopelessly bombed by the germans, and belle came in, she took it on, and it exists this day because of her. and she was this larger-than-life figures. she called the president of france ray ray. she had a nickname for everyone. she had thundering bass. she wore these fabulous hats. while she wasn't exactly pretty she was very handsome, had this extraordinary commanding presence. and i wondered, as i began to look into her life, what would compel this woman in her 50s leading a very comfortable life to become so passionately involved in resurrecting a devastated village. well, rewind when she was eight years old, the village into wish she had been born, skinnerville, was destroyed in the flood and never rebuilt. so i begin to research the flood as an inroad into belle trendiest story. but as i begin to learn more about the flood, suddenly william skinner who had until that point been unknown to me began to come alive because he was so alive in the historical record. he was such a central figure in the disaster that the papers followed his every move, and as i'm reading the papers suddenly i am following his every move. and i knew how his story ended. he became a success. but as i learned about the extraordinary loss he suffered and what it took to get over that and to come back from that, i became incredibly impressive what he had been able to achieve. his story is one of resiliency. never give up. obstacles are opportunities. for every problem there is a creative solution. you just have to find it. don't believe in luck. there is no such thing. you have to make your own luck. you have to work hard for what you want. don't believe in failure. believe in yourself. these are all things that skinner believed. now, he learned his resiliency as a kid. he was born in london in 1824, into islam of such poverty it was considered without parallel in the kingdom. he was born into a community of silk workers that have been making silk for generations. weaving and dyeing it. but they were so poor and malnourished that they were called a stunted, puny race. and advocate for their welfare said that it is not that if you start, but that so many are on the verge of starvation. it is not that some suffer, but that so few escape. skinner did escape and came over to this country at the age of 20. and he had nothing of any material worth with him. he was too poor. but he had one thing that no one in america had at that time, and it was an extremely valuable, and tangible quality. or knowledge i should say, and that was a knowledge of how to die self. there was no silk industry in this country at that time. no one knew how to die, did not a manufacture, didn't know how to make the machinery, didn't have the tools for the machinery. everything was trial and error to try to create a silk industry. it was the a building of our domestic industry. it was our industrial revolution. how do we get in on this trade collects there was so much money to be made in silk, and it's hard for us to appreciate today what it meant to our culture back then. but before the age of synthetic fabric, before the age of designers, fabric was fashioned, and silk was the ultimate in style. it represented prestige, prosperity, success. so america wanted its own silk industry. skinner used to say there's not an irish servant girl who comes over to his this country whose ambition is not to wear a silk dress. everyone wanted silk. skinner came to this country with the knowledge that americans didn't have and he became a pioneer in the american industry. he helped establish it. he became a founding member of the silk association and he parlayed that into opportunity after opportunity. to the point where he had his own silk mill. and it was so prosperous that and anti-village had grown up around it called skinnerville. this poor kid from east london had literally put his name on the american map. now, in order to write my book, i had to re-create skinnerville because it disappeared after the flood. and here again is a map of skinnerville from 1873. i do need to go back. i'm not quite sure how to do that. well okay, we can leave this here. so i had to re-create skinnerville. how do you do that? well, lots of research, lots of hours in archives looking through deeds, looking through probate documents, looking through vital statistics and tax records and since this document. i should own stock in ancestry.com. i spent so much money and time on that website. and with all this i was able to put together what this community consisted of, who lived in white -- white house and where, how me children today have, who had just moved to town at the time of the flood, who was pregnant at the time of the flood? who had given birth just today before the time of the flood. but there is only so far you can go on your own. so one day i received a phone call from a museum that is down -- now skinners home that is a museum. and they told me that a collection of letters had just been donated by a descendent of some sisters who had worked for skinner in his mill in skinnerville. and these letters opened up what it was like to live in the village. what it was like to work for skinner, what he was like as an employer. what it was like to be a milk girls in the middle of the 19th century living in a small factory village far away from home. and one thing that you may not realize is that at this time millwork was very respectable for a young woman. if you're ambitious and motivated you could make a lot of money, you wouldn't lose any pounds of respectability. it did not affect your character at all, and it, and it was a way to have a sense of independence and make your own money. the sisters were the littlefield sisters from upstate new york near troy, and the first sisters to come was 20 at the time, she came in 1866. she had been visiting some cousins who lived in the town north of williamsburgh, and they told her skinner was looking for newarkers. she applied, got the job, and became an expert food. what that meant was she worked in the finishing department so she would take the silk thread that just came from the house and wind on the actual schools that would go to the market. it was a job that required a tremendous guilt because you couldn't damage the silk whatsoever. this was the silk that was going to be sold. she was fantastic at it. and another sister called her named francis, and this is what often happened. wonder what code to work in the mill, she would say apply for a job. come join me. so within this mill community you had a number of siblings working together but it was a very much of a family environment. the third sister to come work for skinner was alan littlefield. now, after the flood she also worked with skinner helping to set which is so. she moved to holyoke when he moved to a holyoke and work in the mill and ultimately married his bookkeeper. now, after the flood, the valleys of loss was going to be, or could be potentially, someone else's gain. so after the disaster happened, the valley was a very popular spot for investors and capitalists. offers came from all over come as far away as omaha, nebraska, to the net manufactures have given everything, giving them incentive to relocate to other areas. one of the most vocal voices in this choir was out of holyoke, massachusetts. holyoke was ingeniously designed to specifically designed for industry. it was hoped to be even greater than the urban mill center of lowell and lawrence. holyoke was considered to be the greatest potential mill power in new england. that dam on the connecticut river on the right hand side, right here, this is the crest of a 60-foot fall in the river and capable of generating 30,000-horsepower. an average mill used 100-horsepower. that is capable of generating power for 300 mils. the cotton lords that created holyoke. the cotton lords that created holyoke on the model, devised a three-tiered canal system so that unfortunately it doesn't show on this map what the canals -- the first canal comes like this. so the connecticut river was able to be used over three times. now, holyoke made offers to the manufactures in the valley. and skinner is the only one who accepted the offer and moved. and he's the only one who survived. >> skinner knew he needed two things to be able to make a go of it again. he needed money and he needed water power. and skinnerville, he was going to have to rely on steam if he rebuilt there, because the reservoir which have supplemented the mill river during the dry season was not going to be rebuilt. so going forward during those dry seasons when the river ran low, skinner was going to have to supplement his mail with steam. it was very expensive for a man in the amount of debt he was in it was too expensive for him at this time. he was also went after rebuilt the entire infrastructure of the village, all houses for his workers, everything there. and he needed a lot of water power for his operation. to die silkiness a lot of water, and he of course did not want to convert to steam, needed the power to power his machinery. holyoke could often consist of water power, 365 days a year. without a reservoir hanging over his head that could possibly break away. and holyoke also offered him money. but better than that. what they did was they said we will give you the property along the canal for $6000 for free, for five years. you don't have to pay any rent. we will build you a new mill. you don't have to put any down. -- a penny down. you just start paying interest payment at the first of the year for five years. at the end of those five years you can buy back the mill at its original cost and you can buy back the lot at the original cost. so skinner was literally able to get going again without having to put anything down. the city also said we will give you an acre of land for free up on which to build a home. skinner of course moved his old home and relocated to holyoke, but again, property he didn't have to pay for. if he had stayed in skinnerville he would've had to spare the burden of absolutely every single expense that he was going to incur. this is the first mill that skinner had in skinnerville. incredibly, it went up six months to the day of the flood. >> in holyoke? >> this is in holyoke, yes. and ultimately skinner's mill turned into that. this was the largest silk mill under one roof in the world. in 1874, success of this scope was impossible to imagine. as was what it would take to achieve it. in 1874, skinner thought he was at the head of his game. he felt at the head this game. he was 49, he had a wife and seven children, he had a village of about 200 people. this village had grown up around his silk mill that was named after him called skinnerville. he was at the head of the american silk trade at the time. he was bullish on the future, and he believed that silk in this country would become big business, which it did, but in 1874 he was thinking how can i expand my business today? how can i make it better today? skinner just to say what's the biggest room in the world? the room for improvement. and in 1874, he was looking to improve his business. he was bullish on the future. he was looking ahead. what could he accomplish, what did he make of this mill in skinnerville? how could he become even better than he was? so with that i when i read you an excerpt of the book and then i will take questions. now i apology in advance, i won't be able to read and look up at you all because i now need glasses, and i tend to slip him a knows if i looked up and down. so i'm going to have to keep my nose in my book as i read. >> chapter one, on the evening of may 13, 1874, a tall, robust englishman walked through the door of the monaco's restaurant in new york city. he was neatly dressed in a black suit with satin trim, bowtie, and embroidered waistcoat, the latter stretched impressively over his well fed girth. while and a 10 it. while an attendant took his overcoat, he was greeted in the foyer by a host of familiar faces and several hands reaching out to shake his. an american custom to which he was by this time a custom. in that genteel environment, however, his cockney accent soon rang out like a clarion call at dawn, and one would've been hard-pressed to find even a well-trained staffer who didn't raise a brow at the brashness of the town. everything about william skinner stood out. even his head. since he didn't like cats and chose not to wear them, despite their currency on the street. inside the restaurant, which was housed in the old grinnell mansion on fifth avenue and 14th street, skinner joint about 70 gentlemen who were filing upstairs to a private banquet room. they hailed from a great many places but they had one thing in common. silk. here were the leading manufacturers of the american silk industry, along with several congressmen, some local politicians, and even a japanese dignitary. skinner wasn't the only englishman among them, that at 49 he was one of the oldest, and he had been specifically asked to give a toast this evening that would reflect on the past and on of the pioneers, like himself, who i turned american made silk into an enviable addition to the marketplace. skinner hadn't wanted to be part of the lineup. he'd wanted to sit back and relax without the thought of having a speech to make. but at least one of his colleagues have successfully talked him into it. if having grown up poor and uneducated, skinner quietly harbored a sense of social inferiority. few could match his knowledge of the silk industry or his astonishing success therein. further, he had a flair for the dramatic, and for all his instinctive hesitation to get up before a group of people, he possessed a natural ability to hold an audience's attention. this, along with the fact that he tended to keep things short, made him a popular speaker. nor would he let his tears down tonight. as skinner climbed the carpeted stairs toward the appointed dining room, chatting with friends and colleagues, at least part of his speech was already written out and tucked away in one of his pockets. anyone who read the papers or new anything at all at new york life knew that to lunch, died or said that delmonico's was the crowning ambition of those who aspire to notoriety. a presence in this establishment, the most luxurious restaurant that had ever existed in new york, suggested a repeatable success, socially and financially. banqueting here conveyed to the press and to the public that this group of ambitious silk mint had arrived. their tireless determined and often brilliant endeavors have firmly established a silk industry in the united states and at long last a national organization devoted to their cause. tonight these men were celebrating the second anniversary of the silk association of america and the exhilarating truth that the american silk industry is indeed a power in the land. their private kind of them have been festooned with flags representing all the great silk producing nations of the world, with the u.s. flag and the flag of the empire of japan joint and symbolic solidarity at one end. banners from every state in the union were hanging throughout the room as well, reminding each manufacturer that he was indeed part of the union, an industry of thousands of which he was a vital member. at the center of it offloaded a sea of colorful balloons above tables glistening with silver and crystal. each balloon had been painstakingly tied with silk thread to the stem of a champagne glass, and labeled with an industry trademarked advertising the breadth of american silk manufactures. over here was corticelli, over there, kentucky, and another direction was unquomonk, the name of skinner's own mill. laid on with a toast underway, the blues serve yet another purpose. that very seeing what appeared to rise up as the men raised their glasses in unison, elevating the occasion still further. in keeping with the celebration, the menus have been printed on american silk, in purple, blue and green with white french. like miniature silk scarves, they were soft to the touch and elegant to the eye, is that in fabric casting off a rich luster under the glow of the chandeliers. on the front the list of exquisite build-a-bear, devised by new york's most famous chef, charles ranhofer, but with everything written in french, as on any given night at the restaurant, all this of course was quite unintelligible to many of the gentlemen present in the backs o of the menus thank fully featured more familiar english, since this was where the evening stokes were listed. down toward the middle was skinner's speech. our pioneers, cherishing the recollections of the past, we emulate their example. by the time he stood up to present, a great deal of reminiscing would have already taken place, but his words, the organizers hope, would put a flourishing cap on the topic. this dinner, after all, was nothing if not a jubilant reminder to all the men gathered that they were not only benefactors of the past but for -- but progenitors of the future. they too were making history. two days later, skinner was a north bound a train heading at the connecticut shoreline on his way home to massachusetts. according to his regular schedule, he visited the city nearly every month. it was on the last possible train of the day which left the grand central depot at 3 p.m. and put them on target to reach skinnerville at nine of 5. there was no dining cart in the train. that immunity was yet very rare and there would be no stops along the way. unlike his glorious past of two nights before, this evening's dinner would most likely be packed in a box or brown bag, just a few perfunctory rituals were traveling businessman. as the train sped along past the white church spires of various new england greens, the afternoon sun began falling toward the west and the temperature began dropping as well. the hill towns of western massachusetts, of which skinnerville was one, were known for their long winters. in the year 1874 had been no exception. it had snowed for days at the end of april, with heavy storms paralyzing the countryside, and there was still snow on the ground in patches. but for the moment in the car, skinner was miles of lingering in the winter weather. outside the sky was clear. the tracks are clear and he was rapidly winding down one of the most rewarding business trips he had ever had. skinner had just been hailed as a pioneer in his field. his speech had been so successful it was highlighted in the papers. and his industry was considered by some to be one of the most exciting in america. furthermore, his store downtown was filled with activity. he just hired a new salesman, a strapping young man named fred warner, to help get ready to expand his business again. skinner wanted to branch out into the manufacture of a thread used to make ribbons which were increasingly the rage. skinner already have the requisite machinery on hand and apparently erected in addition to his mill department and had even hired a local architect to design no fewer than eight new tenements to accommodate the new employees he expected a higher. as much as business may have preoccupied his thoughts though, he had something else on his mind this friday, may 15, 1874. his 18th wedding anniversary was this very day. and hidden, protected in his suit was surely a velvet lined box from his favorite jeweler, louis tiffany, was something precious for his wife, lizzy. skinner, one of his granddaughters noted, loved giving things. on a similar occasion when he been able to be home on the day of his anniversary, he returned with a diamond scarf in carefully selected and beautifully wrapped for the woman whom he called, my darling. skin or blood on his wife more than anyone. every bit as intelligent as her husband, lizzie was in any conventional sense much better educated having attended both elementary and 40 school, and having herself worked as a teacher for many years. there seemed nothing that this capable woman couldn't do from laying linoleum to explaining mathematics. following the birth of their fourth child, she even helped handle affairs at the mill while skinner was away at england and later she helped run of the mill's boarding house. like many rural housewives she was intimately involved in her husband's business. but what set her apart was the fact that she was the wife of a rich manufacturer. there is no economic reason for her to be absorbing these kinds of responsibilities. she simply took them on, utilizing her amazing genius for organization and develop and. more than a wife to skinner, lizzie was a partner. skinner's first wife had died young, leaving him a way to work with two very small girls but lizzie had raised the girls as their own and given birth to eight more as well. of these 10 children, seven were still living, and adding to skinner's sense of the -- sense of a congressman, all were thriving. two girls had grown into smart educated young women under their stepmother's tutelage. nelly had graduated from a boarding school in connecticut where she studied french with none other than the prime minister of france. nina had gone a step further entering college with both of her parents resounding blessing. she was attending vassar in the keeps the new york. new york. lazy self is, well, 17, was about to close out his high school years at a seminary in your bound east hampton massachusetts. graduation was just a few weeks ago. that is, if he could make it without being expelled. he was charming, handsome, and much to his parents dismay, completely ambivalent about his education. even so, skinner hoped he would go on to your mac next year. also enrolled in boarding school was libbey, 14, who was attending a school in new haven, connecticut, at her school year had just ended and she was back home again. joe, 11 and belle, eight, were each eager for summer break. getting ready for the summer games, joe bought a baseball bat the previous weekend, and that their youngest, katherine, only six months old, had recently made her first appearance in public with the world delighted in her just as much as she in it. skinner's plane -- train pulled into new haven surely before 6:00. departing passengers gathered their hats and bags and filed past them out of the car. replaced by a throng of new faces coming aboard. each one looking for an available seat preferably by the window if he or she wished to read by the light of the day. a couple hours later the train pulled in the northampton. he transferred to a little one car special hold about 18 to locomotive that took in the last leg of his journey of the branch railroad of the mill river valley. the train passed the villages of florence, leeds and haydenville. the last glow of gas lines that lined the streets and then at last, skinnerville came into view. they were some of lights on across the river as well as several windows softly in the house down by the road. the mill was but a large shadow in the distance, nearly indistinguishable from the general darkness. the school and general store were no more than ink spots because it was pitch black outside, owing to a new moon. even in the dark, skinner's own home, a three-story mansion set back from the rest with tall french windows stretching from front to back was quite identifiable with several of its many rooms lit up in preparation for his arrival. through the area came the sound of his bell tolling 9:00. at this moment trying to did know who would still be up when he walked into door. the baby usually went to bed at 7:30 and the younger children around 8:30 p.m. but there was always a possibility that belle and joe might try to keep your eyes open to welcome potholder and since libya just returned home from school they would be a good chance she might have some callers this evening or she might have settled into a rather checkered in the parlor with mother, a very expert player, with nelly around the fire. as the train slowed in its approach of the northern end of skinnerville, one of skinner's employees, john perhaps, await him on the him on a platform him on the platform. the diva was about a quarter-mile from the the house along a dark unlit road. when skinner stepped down from the car and into the cold night air, he would have found both driver and host already for the short jog home. the trip and this they were almost over. the anniversaries he find them, and a new year in the life of his marriage, his family and his work was about to begin on the morrow. he was 49 years old, and the fabric of his existence had never been stronger. as he walked up the steps to his front door, there in the middle of skinnerville, with the river flowing reliably behind him, the mill addressed across the will, the houses of his neighbors and employees all around, and a reunion with his wife and children just seconds ahead, there wasn't one clue, nor any sign, that the very next morning nearly everything in this world would be swept away. thank you. [applause] >> so we have time for a few questions. and i'm going to ask if you could step up to the microphone. i know. i've had to be up here at a microphone. you can do it, too. >> what was the source of the raw material for his silk works? >> yes. the source for his mill was raw silk that came from china. >> in thread form? >> no. it was raw silk. and it came from china and ultimately he began to also trade with japan and import from japan. the raw silk was what he imported, and he converted it to thread and then wove that into fabric. >> what does raw silk look like? >> well, here is a silk worm cocoon, and you can come back and shake it. the moth worm is still inside of it. and the manufacturing of silk is a very complicated and extraordinary process. and this one cocoon is wound with one strand of silk that is about half a mile long. but it's so fine, barely perceptible, and is nowhere near in any shape to be used as thread. so what happens is, in a nutshell, if you think of a pyramid and you think of a whole bunch of silk cocoons at the bottom. they are bound together into another layer, and then those are wound together and those are wound together, and ultimately you get to one. you have one thread that is made of various silk filaments. so the raw silk is silk that has been unwound from the cocoon, and then joined together to a level, sort of part way up the pyramid, and it arrived in the states in bundles that were called books, actually, even though there was no literature involved, and there were big stacks of this raw material. >> did they ship textile as well or just finished thread? >> did skinner? yes, absolutely. so he began manufacturing silk thread in skinnerville, and then in holyoke he began to weave the thread into fabric. and that again was one of the proponents that enabled him to proceed. because when he rebuilt his mill he didn't just rebuild it to house the operation that he had been, he rebuilt, he built it, he built the mill of his dream. he built it so there was room to expand, to expand his business. >> did a william skinner had any relationship with samuel wilson who was the founder of williston seminary, whose mill stretched from northampton to older, which was the largest import of people in that part of the connecticut river valley from the mid-19th century to later on? he helped establish mount holyoke. he was -- he said amherst college from distinction committee is also a major supporter of massachusetts act, which any decades later became massachusetts day, now known as the university of massachusetts. >> that's an interesting question, and i'm so thrilled you know so much about the valley. skinner did not work with samuel wilson. wilson was an extraordinary capitalist in the mill valley and help support many industries therein. at one point i believe he was a partner with the hayden so started the hayden glass company of which you saw a portion of your earlier and which is on the cover of my book. like he did not do business with william skinner, no. thank you. >> sera, at skinnerville, what survives? hasn't been any kind of serious or amateur archaeological search for evidence of the mill? i mean, what can you find if you go to the site today? >> that's a great question, bill. if you go to skinnerville today, you will find a stretch of highway and you will find a few houses along the side of it. some of which are or were wrecked at the time of the flood that were refashioned into homes. and you will find a very tranquil, unassuming river flowing alongside of it which is the mill river. there's been no archaeological dig that i know of. if you want to find the area where skinner's house was, there's a utility, what do they call utility -- >> substation? >> substation or something like that, yes. and back, the locals say, is where his house was. locals in areas to refer to the area as skinnerville, but it is no longer on the map. you used to, for years, be able to go to the mill river and find bricks in riverbank and all kinds of things that have been washed away. over the past 130 years, most of the debris that was lodged in the banks has been taken by scavengers. but years ago that is how i learned about the flood. i went to the river and i found a silver spoon and various bits of pottery and china >> secondly, in holyoke itself, the mill at its greatest extent, or any of those buildings standing? how are they being used? >> another great question. skinner's milk is no longer standing. it was set on fire by arson in the early 1980s in holyoke was experiencing a rash of arson. and i met a gentleman elite who told me that when that mill burned to the ground, it was so intense that the water in the canals boiled. it is now a park i believe where the mill was. that are now remaining mill buildings of skinner's mill. the only building that remains that is connected to him is a house that he salvaged that is now a museum. and in that museum there's an extranet archive, and you can go and see all kinds of illustrations, advertisements, you know, photographs and you know you have a paper record of the company and what it involved. but you don't have the physical record of it anymore. but there is some regeneration in the city of holyoke, trying to figure how to use these abandoned mill buildings, how to turn them around, yes, and how to make them a destination. >> any other questions? yes. >> could you just tell us briefly on the date of this flood what was it like for the skinner family? what did they do? go to the second floor? >> yes, you will find out if you read the book. but i will answer it. it was a rainy day. and the first sound of on the came into the village was from a dairy farmer who came into the village shouting the reservoir has given way, the reservoir has given way. run to the hills, run to build to a woman who worked in skinner's mill, she was an orphan, she worked on the top floor. she ran to the top and she began ringing the bell. the skinner found was that breakfast. is no was already up and running for a good while, but he didn't have to be there. so he was at breakfast. he opened the mill. it on back home. actually no, that day he slept in. actually from the trip before he had overslept that morning. when the mill bell began to ring, his first thought was there was a fire at the mill. why else would the bell be ringing? he leapt up, darted outside and looked north and he saw a huge mass of blackness to the north. and heard the shot of the dairy farmer money by saying the reservoir has given way. and skinner ran down the street. at the time operatives are already beginning to pour out of mill and he started shouting out at them, run to the hills, run to the hills, run to the hills. once the mill was evacuate and the last one to lay the mill was the orphan had rung the bell, he ran back up to his house, flew through the first floor of the house, shattered house, shutter sound, run to the hills, run to the hills. get out the back, get out the back. grab the baby, run. they all ran to the real code and escaped in seconds. when skinner turned around he said the entire, the water had swept in and to him it was like standing on the deck of a ship in the middle of a violent sto storm. >> thank you, sarah. >> thank you. [applause] >> for more information visit the author's website, sarahkilborne.com. >> it's quite true that of people's history, it is a r
the eye. light is on the brink of disaster the stark message from the country's interim prime minister today. shania daniel says that brussels moves to take control of crimea amount to a declaration of war the government is calling up all its military reserves in response and is appealing for help from the outside world now as ukraine mobilize this was another massive anti western valley in central kiev on sunday. protesters paraded flags of the world to tackle those calls for international support the crowd also heard from the couch additionally he was president of georgia in two thousand eight when it fought a brief war with russia over the breakaway region of south ossetia. and in the most recent development. ukraine's new government has sacked the head of the navy only one day after pointing at it and has charged him with treason marilyn tennis bad as us. he was shown on russian tv reading a statement in which he swore allegiance to commanders of pro western military units against government has better stuff he surrendered his headquarters in support of the box the ball without assistance. in a moment we'll talk to our correspondent alexander phenomena in the prime the regional capital sin temple. but first we had this report on the day's events in ukraine hundreds of soldiers wearing uniforms without identifying insignia surrounded the ukrainian army base and purple malaya your crummy as capital some terrible they've blocked the ukrainian soldiers from entering or leaving the grounds. a priest from a nearby chapel came to bless the ukrainian soldiers. size apparently had reached an agreement to avoid bloodshed we are hoping for a compromise to relate with the new week. and our commander has said they will be no war whts well winning. but in kiev ukrainian prime minister a sunny yet simulcast but all armed forces on highest alert he sees the red alert. and this is not the stress. this is a naturally him the declaration of war. for my country. and we are each present and fortune. twofold bay. she's in the electorate and just eat to the international obligations and while actual ten miles to actual agreements. that was signed between ukraine and russia. local residents have shown mixed reactions to the military standoff and purple malaya. the study of the russian soldiers standing on a case for me that song protecting our rights. i think it's normal the city has come to think of that but the difficulty of proving the fact is they visited russians and ukrainians against each other with an elephant. we the people are the ones who are responsible for all this week. it's our leaders are people we chose the national you get to go to them we could get our ticket. for the moment the situation appears to be calm but both sides know they are dangerously close to war. and aleksandr phenomena standing by for us in the kenyan capital sin temple. alexander as we heard that the navy cheese has sworn allegiance to crimea essentially switching sides. what more can you tell us about that and it is a sensitivity expert. it might be that number is up ski as he just mentioned has made a short commentary short statements d just seeing that he is now under the commands of the pro russian prime minister of crimea and adds fuel to the entrance seemed to protect come crimea and its people. unfortunately we didn't get snow and tn think about sad note there is of skis motivation that's the day has been reports he and sir alex to date that ukrainian soldiers that the art ukrainian soldiers willing to quit waiting to get home to sleep sigh it's a bit. ukraine's ministry of defence and has of course denied that is simple it's bad said. it's the onset soul just leave my cell phone lol ed me know the results keys example. on sunday you were at the scene of that santa was on a report in print on the land at what can you tell us about what you sow. to do a shooting dead can be described as the war of nerves between apparently russian soldiers at the expense the ukrainian forces their directions have brats dozens of military vehicles they put up a bit tense in attendance there had said that a ukrainian army leaves making key of the day on the tuesday and sunday at bondi on the sides. i still ukrainian soldiers and many of them very young gaelic clipped and said to cement the not very experienced milking stand being at the high end gate smoking get this mess incorrect trips and my impression was that some ukrainian soldiers were released that were really frightened. on sunday on them and joining us from sin temple things in much of that report. the pressure is also mounting from the west. us secretary of state john kerry called the russian military incursion in the crimea an incredible act of aggression and he warned moscow it could lose its prestigious membership in the group of eight nations may have to face economic sanctions kerry also said the us would be prepared to boycott the planned g eight meeting in silky this summer if need be at a crisis meeting in brussels nato chief anders rasmussen what your peace and security were at risk to your attraction to stop its military activity and threats against ukraine. and what's going on to brussels for more on nato's emergency country now joins us from there we know the general secretary general rasmussen is expected to speak to the press soon when you think they can see coming out of that meeting when your redeemer the press and that it's a day where he was very explicit in contending that russia's action and said that it was a violation of several international treaties and look at. at the movement of the nato ukraine commission is holding its meeting and we don't know yet what that the ukrainian representatives and will call it seemed silly to me to to draw up contingency plans to military involvement in the area and the nature and ukraine are very close ties ukraine is no demand of me too but it has and been involved in several neat summation streak something aniston or in africa and several mates the members of the stair border with ukraine south coast as they consented. but at the same time and there is not a rebate willingness to buying a two to get involved militarily simply because nobody wants an open conflict with russia. too much is at stake is saying now nate is being used is one of the diplomatic stylist to cut up preston though the pressure on iraq's had to stop attacks. and even briefly eu foreign ministers are said to me tomorrow they've been slow to react so far too slow. well that's because there's a high interest is not risking american consequence for a second look at the situation in the u for example one fat of old gas that gemini imports and comes from russia said that there are very strong economic ties between the eu and russia and there is just a concern here that russia will not stop the crimea and instead will say send troops into east in ukraine. nobody wants that frankly brussels is overwhelmed with what's happening said berrigan that since the meetings often attends the meetings will just have to stay on the story. i mean husband thanks for joining us from brussels of russia's military action won the unanimous backing of the parliament and about yesterday but what the ordinary russian state we have this report. a couple of hundred people gathered outside the defence ministry in moscow to protest against russia's military intervention in ukraine. this woman demands. don't send our children to fight our brothers. tonight it's as though i don't think we need to send in our troops to protect their own interests it's the eve of the union center designed goofy antics ninety one to join it the sickness relations push pin. about forty of the peace protesters were arrested russians are divided over how to respond to the conflict. i really hope it will be a war between ukraine and russia. her into some it is nonsense. others that president putin. he says he has a duty to protect tiniest russian population you'll read in the port has done the right thing because a lot of russians knew praying especially in crimea were around sixty percent of population a russian but that was typical post it looks as if the conflict escalates it is important for us. this elite use force with at least assured that we would protect russia needs you. unlike its kind this a real country team he's demonstrated stamina and composure that something that is necessary in a situation in the chilling on the east extension in august and return a call it's well done. we'll be watching the news that the sis and i took him to get my kids the opposition in russia has remained largely silent on the issue. to put in jail and for fake internet access to high profile activists. our correspondent my gate and joins us now on the line from moscow. i kid you are at a pro kremlin protests today what were your impressions she was my life. i wish i was ready and that it would take me back. remember to check out the garbage they conclude the kremlin best matched with a church member that night. gosh haven't watched that part of a week and think oh my. he came at a weekend to beckon me to read the quirky like the cat that i like reading it. security forces and ukraine responsible. during the trip to the actual people practically like a wiki be thinking about fresh coat of the bracket puke right warwick had to take a climate change they said that they are thinking that life depression great red tractor but that shouldn't have to cry and try to forget because actually i take it. i waited a week just really neat and clean record. what a powerful river walk area. add to what the sentiment that makes me wonder how does someone kick it back to back should do everything possible to protect health at the martin attention to getting there looking for good. take the metro to watch the people they are at it that we like to think about it right to veto beach today with peaches were told to come by this period to watch everyone offered by what was there to get from academy of arts and very organized and well to catch it on that thought is that it had to date with the family went out and back as the girlies in john kerry's claim that russia could be facing serious economic consequences could be expelled from the g eight that is a big threat. it was a lessening. she had a chair and mentioning me sad not to be made to stand the actions taken me to report identified that some of the national average. they make quite clear that at twenty eight win plateau for the rest. i think that that the book and expect that the west should get a brush and ink with a clean electric shock or anything for a bit hectic here and i'm not going into it. i want it to be in here yet. with thate after that we can happen there that shouldn't be a tough week. it didn't hurt that statement from china led into it knowing that she seems that the west actually getting to that theory doesn't think that i'm curious why can't i no one in russia. the west want it the replay calm lake. i cry from moscow. and will keep you updated on all the latest developments from ukraine and can't remember then move on to sports. we had to result from bundesliga soccer in sunday's first game of the time delivered its best performance of the year to defeat both thirty six k q and in the second game frankfurt scored late to overcome the cut by two with two one. and while the world waits for the oscar ceremony stick around hollywood favourite films the rats the awards given to the year's most excruciating movies have been announced there as if for worst picture went to the forty three a series of sketch comedies that critics and pushed it tasteless nest to a new low now if you're at sea for worst supporting actor and worst actor went to will smith and his son jayden for their science fiction plot after her the winner suzanne will be falling all the latest developments from ukraine you can join again at the top the next hour for the latest news. are you content or website that speed of the you've got d for homilies disinformation thanks for being with us the air. do. i am. and. is it. cz the he danced in ukraine dominated the news throughout this week. on monday one of the first decisions by the parliament in kiev wasas to issue an arrest warrant for ousted president viktor yanukovich he's wanted for mass murder following t death o doz f ai vernment ptesters another to por the n government was to d a emergency plan for the economy. the european union's foreign policy chief catherine ashton visited cuba and promised financial aid but only if ukraine introduces a significant reforms. meanwhile russian which openly supports victory on a cold which cast doubt on the legality of recent events in ukraine. so going strictly speaking there is no one to talk to their places the government doesn't exist in ukraine itself the divisions between pro european and pro russian forces became increasingly apparent. especially in the crimea region home to russia's black sea fleet progress and demonstrators clashed with supporters of the new administration in kiev. the question to care for almost sixty percent of the population in crimea. and there were fears the province could break away. on wednesday russia announced a major military maneuver along its border with ukraine russia's defence minister said it was a standard exercise. but the flexing of military muscle was clearly designed to send a message to kiev. a court in moscow sentenced seven activists to prison for taking part in demonstrations against president lavender putin in twenty twelve the group are accused of promoting violence against the state. they received sentences of up to four years the outside the courtroom protesters slanted of the show trial police arrested some four hundred people including kremlin critic electing a vonage and two members of the punk band was a riot the european union condemned to prison sentences handed down to the activists as disproportionate. also on monday uganda's president you very much of any signed into law a controversial bill the homosexuals jailed for life. bill was passed by parliamt in december designing triggered international condemnation the law not only allows life sentences for homosexuals but also obliges people to report these to the police. many ordinary ugandans support the new law german chancellor uncle america was in israel this week with almost her entire government for two days of joint cabinet meetings. the two governments said they had much in common and both voiced concern over iran's nuclear program. prime minister binyamin netanyahu said the example of israel and germany's friendship offers hope for the rest of the world one of them provide an example over though. the daughters of the past week and a recruiter we strive for. strong to transform our relationship into uni. and construct reflection. but the two countries don't agree on everything. israeli settlements in the palestinian territories remain a major sticking point which merkel said could hold back the mideast peace process. but calls for an eu boycott of israeli products she said go too far. we don't believe boycotts will help promote the peace process instead we believe negotiations of the way forward. later america was presented with israel's highest civilian honor the two countries also agreed that from now on germany will offer consular services to israelis in countries where israel has no diplomatic relations the turkey's prime minister richard tired area one team under renewed pressure this week. after audio tapes appearing to link him with corruption appeared on the internet. the clips reported to be recordings of conversations between heir to one and his son divorce is just as hiding millions of years in cash from turkish investigators. one told parliament the recordings for shake up aunt kiki is one of his arch rivals of fabricating them in an attempt to de stabilize his government. the recording is triggered fresh protests. you don't want government has been fighting allegations of corruption since mid december but opinion amongst ordinary turks is divided over whether the tapes are genuine. his longest militants in northern nigeria stormed a school a tuesday killing fifty nine people. most of the victims were children. witnesses say militants from the group will call her on set fire to a large dormitory at the school as pupils try to escape to the windows the attacker shot at them and slit the throats of some. it was one of a string of attacks blamed on vocal iran who want to establish an islamic state in nigeria germany's top court passed a landmark ruling on the european parliament wednesday the twenty two judges struck down a law that required political parties to win at least three percent of the national vote to enter the parliament. some fear the ruling could open the door for extremist parties. assistance. it's something that concerns all of us extend to ensure that extremists or splinter groups that don't make it into any parlance kong some eu member states to set the minimum thresholds for entering the european parliament others don't. the next european elections are scheduled for may. two al qaeda inspired extremists receive long prison sentences in britain on wednesday for murdering an off duty soldier last year. michael a devil why old senior on the left was jailed for life without parole. his accomplice michael a double wall and received a minimum forty five year sentence. the two defendants were convicted of murdering the rigby on a london street. first running him over with the car and then hacking into death the attack provoked shock and anger across britain parts of northern china continued to struggle with alarming levels of smog this week. the world famous portrait has not stayed on in beijing was barely visible the city headed sixty of orange smugglers. the second highest level on wednesday later in the week called the winds blew this month for their east ukraine's new interim government took office thursday. parliament approved the pro european opposition leader us any yet send you as prime minister in a landslide vote. the new cabinet which includes a number of leaders from the protest movement convened immediately to discuss the growing turmoil in ukraine's crimea region. bear in the city of sin sorrowful armed men seized the regional parliament building on thursday and raise the russian flag. they called themselves as self defense force for the russian speaking population. on friday unidentified paramilitary units occupied two airports in crimea. there were also russian troop movements on the peninsula the ukraine's parliament called for a un security council meeting and warned russia to respect its borders the red eye that says we are appealing to the russian federation to stop moves that show signs of undermining the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of ukraine. and to seize any kind of support for separatist movement in ukraine. in order. on friday ousted president victory on a cold which resurfaced in russia after a week on the run. she said he's been forced to leave ukraine because his life was under threat. the red carpet treatment awaited german chancellor of the miracle when she visited london on thursday. she was given the rare honor of addressing both houses of parliament david cameron was hoping for support in his efforts to reform the eu to satisfy the euro skeptics in his party. but the german councilor did not oblige. i'm expecting nice piece of tape delay for every parliamentary form of the european architects of which was second by all kinds of events on deck should british witches. i'm afraid. they are in for disappointment the miracle was also pessimistic regarding london's demands for restrictions on workers freedom of movement. but at a joint press conference the two leaders stressed the things they do agree on but it will see change in you. we believe the changes post. the chancellor later met with the queen for tea on the miracles stressed the importance of freedom for europe. but she did not come bearing gifts as some may have hoped. germany's former president chris young voice was acquitted on corruption charges thursday ending the first ever trial of a former german head of state the court cleared wolf of wrongdoing in a case that prompted his resignation two years ago. prosecutors claim that both accepted payment of around seven hundred heroes and hotel costs from film producer topic of old and in exchange help to raise support for a movie project the presiding judge called the amounts peanuts and said there was no compelling evidence against the accused at the end of the week german foreign minister from hunter steinmeier was in washington for talks dominated by the turmoil in ukraine. the head of the international monetary fund. christina got pledged to send the teachings he ever really make sweet yet to establish how much financial aid ukraine needs. steinmeier later met with his us counterpart john kerry. kerry appealed directly to russia to respect ukraine's territorial integrity. but the russian parliament later approved the use of its military forces in crimea anti government protests continued throughout the week in venezuela with daily reports of violence. another man was shot dead friday during clashes with police in caracas. officials say a national guard soldier was also killed. students in opposition supporters have been venting their anger over high inflation and a shortage of basic goods in the country president nicolas mature oaks killed what he called peace meetings this week. but members of the opposition were largely absent. they've refused to enter dialogue until madeira releases demonstrators who were being held in jail. and stops the government's harsh crackdown on the protest movement. but also on friday over two hundred african migrants broke into the spanish enclave of mumia allowing them to reach european union territory they made it by stealing a heavily guarded border fence that separates the territory from africa. it was one of them begins to man's crime scenes in recent years the number of people seeking to cross from north africa has increased dramatically this year. an estimated thirty thousand people are said to be camp's new mill the anc led to another spanish enclave on rockers coast. all hoping to cross into spain. and that concludes our review of the week's news. so on the last thing on is wanted is. lingering relaxing and taking out time and afterward he said it received a call about my use. i use. i am you can go to school. use no baby yet. the devil to get into a new design. tsk tsk tsk. nm. lulu long ruling will rule. the uh . i am the comte de musique salt ratio in this week's missile didn't bother going off to spend a lot of it. if the victim and austin united states