extraordinary achievement. >> woodruff: 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: >> 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 bnsf railway. >> 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. >> ifill: the number of confirmed dead in the washington state mudslide rose again today to 30. the local medical examiner's office released the names of two more victims, and it lowered the number of missing to 15, down from 18 yesterday. meanwhile, the search continued in the tiny community of oso. it was buried last month when a hillside collapsed. the senate intelligence committee has voted to declassify parts of a report on c.i.a. interrogations after 9/11. the report concludes methods such as waterboarding were often cruel and ineffective. today's vote comes as senators accuse the c.i.a. of spying on their investigation and deleting files. the c.i.a. says senate staffers accessed the information illegally. hopes for progress in middle east peace talks are fading. israel announced today it will not release another group of palestinian prisoners after all. it blamed palestinian president mahmoud abbas for resuming a push for u.n. recognition. abbas had cited delays in the prisoner release for his decision. in algeria today, secretary of state john kerry appealed to both sides. >> the leaders have to lead. and they have to be able to see a moment when it's there. there's an old saying you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. now is time to drink and the leaders need to know that. >> ifill: kerry had set the end getting a framework peacefor agreement. the government of chad announced today it's withdrawing more than 800 peacekeepers from the central african republic. the troops had been accused of opening fire on a crowd there last week, killing 32 civilians. chad's forces also allegedly backed a muslim rebel government that was forced from power in the c.a.r. in january. at least one million syrian refugees have now fled to lebanon to escape civil war in their homeland. the united nations refugee agency announced the figure today and called it a "devastating milestone." >> we have now a million refugees here in lebanon, which is one quarter of the population. and every single refugee reflects a life that has been absolutely devastated by this crisis. we're doing our best to keep up. the lebanese society is incredibly strained by the additional burden that these refugees are bringing to bear. >> ifill: the u.n. also warned the total is likely higher since many of those who fled to lebanon never registered as refugees. it's estimated at least 2.5 million syrians have fled to neighboring states. turkey lifted its ban on the social media site twitter today. the country's constitutional court ruled yesterday the ban violated basic freedoms. it was imposed two weeks ago after users posted allegations of government corruption. the video-sharing web site youtube remains offline. wall street had a relatively quiet day. the dow jones industrial average lost about half a point today to close at 16,572; the nasdaq fell 38 points to close at 4,237; and the s&p 500 slid two points to finish at 1,888. still to come on the newshour: the investigation into the fort hood shooting; u.s. efforts to use social media to sow unrest in cuba; collusion between the taliban and pakistani intelligence; recreating the drama of the camp david peace talks on stage; plus, loans, grants and the other ins and outs of paying for college. >> woodruff: another shooting rampage on an army base, and again at fort hood in texas. this time, three people were killed and 16 wounded before the gunman, an iraq veteran, committed suicide. police and emergency vehicles raced toward the nation's largest army base yesterday after the second mass shooting there in five years. first word came in a tweet from fort hood officials: hours later, when the lockdown ended, the base commander laid out the gunman's moves. >> it is believed that he walked into the unit building, opened fire, got into vehicle, fired from a vehicle, got out of vehicle, walked into another building and opened fire again. >> woodruff: about 20 minutes after the incident began, the gunman shot and killed himself. today, general mark milley confirmed his identity as specialist ivan lopez of puerto rico. as for what sparked the shooting... >> we're trying to figure out what the trigger event was. it was mentioned yesterday there may have been a verbal altercation with another soldier or soldiers, and there's a strong possibility that that in fact immediately preceded the shooting. but we do not have that definitively at this point, but do have strong indications of that. >> woodruff: more information emerged at a senate hearing today. the secretary of the army, john mchugh, said there's no documentation that lopez suffered traumatic brain injury, or t.b.i., in iraq despite one official's citing reports that lopez had "self-reported" this. >> he did have two deployments, including one approximately four-month deployment to iraq as a truck driver. his records show no wounds, no involvement, no direct involvement in combat. as general milley said, there's no record of purple heart or any injury that might lead us to further investigate a battle- related t.b.i. or such. >> woodruff: mchugh said there's also no evidence of ties to extremist groups, but lopez was being evaluated for possible post-traumatic stress disorder. >> he was undergoing a variety of treatment and diagnoses for mental health conditions, ranging from depression to anxiety to some sleep disturbance. he was prescribed a number of drugs to address those, including ambien. >> woodruff: general milley echoed that statement at his briefing today. >> we have very strong evidence that he had a medical history that indicates unstable psychiatric or psychological condition. going through all the records to ensure that is in fact correct, but we believe that to be a fundamental underlying cause. >> woodruff: as for those wounded yesterday, nine were taken to a hospital in nearby temple, texas. trauma doctor matt davis updated their condition this morning. >> our critical patients have specifically they have some injuries to the neck. we have a potential spine injury, and we have an abdominal injury. those three i would still consider in critical condition. >> woodruff: fort hood was also the scene of the worst mass murder at a military installation in u.s. history. in 2009, 13 people died and more than 30 were wounded when major nidal hasan, an army psychiatrist, opened fire. he was sentenced to death and is now in a federal prison. last night, president obama said he was "heartbroken" that it's happened again, and today at the white house he pledged support for fort hood soldiers. >> they've done their duty, and they're an inspiration. they've made us proud. they put on their uniform, and then they take care of us. and we've got to make sure when they come home we take care of them. >> woodruff: back at today's senate hearing, the army's chief of staff, general ray odierno, said there were lessons learned from that 2009 shooting. >> the alert procedures that were in place, the response, the training that has gone into the response forces that responded i think contributed this to making this something that could have been much, much worse. >> woodruff: base security is increasingly an issue around the country, with an incident just last month at norfolk's naval station and the mass shooting last fall at the washington navy yard. to help us make sense of all of this, we turn to: dr. stephen xenakis, a retired army brigadier general who had a 28- year career as an army psychologist-- he's also the chief medical officer at mindcare solutions, a medical software development company; and phillip carter, a senior fellow with the center for a new american security-- he served nine years as an army military police and civil affairs officer, including one year in iraq. he also served at fort hood. we thank you both for being here. doctor xenakis, let me start with you. we're talking about a 34-year-old soldier who did spend four months it in iraq after the end of combat operations. he was being treated, we are told, for a variety of mental health and behavioral issues. he was taking some medication. he was being evaluated for ptsd. there may have been an argument. what does all this is a to you? >> well, i mean, it's a tragic event. it's sad for everyone, and really sad to see another one of these incidents happen at ft. hood. it just goes to show that these people who come in and soldiers or veterans, need to be really looked at carefully. and i know people are trying and doing their best. but there are a number of factors that affect their mental state, and really can lead to what i think is more important to focus on is the disposition to be dangerous, to harm themselves orñr others. and so there's, like a checklist. i know when i see a soldier or a veteran, i have in my head, and i'm a psychiatrist, by the way, as a physician i have a checklist that i consider and make sure to figure out how much of these, each of these factors are influenced a state of mind and how much should i be concerned and, in fact, instruct the individual to be concerned about their propensity to commit something that would hurt themselves or others. >> woodruff: i'm glad you corrected that, we did mean to say psychiatrist, that was my mistake. phillip carter to you, you see the profile of this individual, specialist lopez. what stands out? >> well, it's like you've got a puzzle but just a few of the pieces right now. so we know you have got a four month deployment which puts them at the low range of combat exposure and experience for this cohort. he had a combat record or a military record that was undistinguished t was average. not a lot of combat decorations, not the sort of thing you would expect to see for someone who had served upwards of 13 years total active reserve time. he had also moved around a lot. he started in the puerto rico national guard. he moved to the active military in about 2008. changed jobs. he had been an infant ree man, in the band. he had been a truck driver. and so trying to piece that together is very hard right now. even the fact that he was prescribed ambien doesn't necessarily mean that much given that it is essentially dispensed like candy within today's military. >> woodruff: that's right. and we are told, we know there may have been other medications, as well, but ambien is one that official said that he was taking. dr. xenakis, when you look at someone in the military who is being treated for, again, a variety of mental health an behavioral issues, and they mentioned depression and anxiety, one question that comes to mind is at what point does this disqualify someone from serving in the military? >> well, theñr whole-- there is a set of guidelines and regulations having to do with who is he vig-- eligible or should be considered for separation for medical reasons. and they've been around for decades. and it really boils down to does their medical illness or injury impair their duty performance. and the focus is on the duty. and does the problem mean that they can't do their job and or that they are going to put other soldiers in danger and not finish, complete the mission. >> woodruff: staying with you, dr. xenakis, what does it is a to you that he was being evaluated for ptsd, post traumatic stress disorder, and that there was no record of a traumatic brain injury? >> that's common. and so it really doesn't say a lot to me. and in fact, when i look at the record, which is important, what i really want to focus on is the patient. because the facts are, when you sit down and people start to disclose their lives and the circumstances, there are impneumerable ways that these things kind of come together and bear down and bear stress on them. not much is known about specialist lopez. one of the factors that is known that i saw on the news, and haven't confirmed, is i think his father died in october, his mother died in november. these are very stressful on an individual. i mean he is set up to have a grief reaction. and you start grieving deeply. and then you're having other issues that come along with who knows what the factors are because of that exposure in combat. certainly could be one of them. cohave had a traumatic brain injury. but the cum latif effect will really start to have an individual spiral down which means they can be at risk. these are risk factors to be considered of can they be dangerous. can they harm themselves or others. >> woodruff: an we're still trying to piece all the parts of this story together. phillip carter, i want to ask you about the gun. he had in his possession a concealed weapon, a .45 calibre handgun which he bought off base. what are the rules? i'm reading reports today that the rules are kind of an honor system at ft. hood. >> that's right, most soldiers don't carry weapons. the only soldiers that would have weapons on them in ft. hood are the military police, soldiers lock their weapons up and use them to fight. because when they are doing their jobs they don't carry them. that said the access control points at a massive base like ft. hood simply wave traffic through if you have got an i.d. card or a base decal. there is no tsa like check that pats you down or checks for weapons. we trust soldiers, or contractors or government employees to and follow the rules, which mean no carrying weapons. an in this case, we had a bad actor who appears to have done that. >> woodruff: but this is even after what happened it in 2009 with major hasan? >> it is even after the military's experience there at the navy yard and more recently the militaryñi trusts those people who have that access, who have that preexisting connection to the military to come on board and follow the rules. and it's hard to imagine practically how would you do this. ft. hood is a base of 40,000 plus troops. most of which live off base there are a number of other employees. i think the line would stretch halfway to austin, texas f they tried to check everyone at the gate. >> woodruff: but is this something that you think should be rethought, reconsidered in the light of these incidents like these? >> i don't think so i think we trust our soldiers and our other service members to do the right thing in a variety of contexts. whether it's holding weapons at the range or driving vehicles around post. and i think we should not distort the system to reflect the fact that we have a few actors like this. we ought to, instead, do what i think dr. xenakis was just saying is find better ways to find these people an get them the treatment they need. >> woodruff: all right, we will leave it there phillip carter we thank you. and dr. steven zen axe-- xenakis. >> ifill: what would happen if the u.s. government used social media to undermine a hostile foreign government? that may be exactly what the u.s. agency for international development tried to do in cuba with zun zuneo, a twitter-style social media platform secretly controlled by the u.s. government. an associated press investigation reveals that thousands of private cuban cell phone numbers were used to circumvent tight controls on internet communication and to gain valuable information about the users themselves. u.s.a.i.d. says that the program existed only to "create a platform for cubans to speak freely among themselves, period." joining me now to talk about this operation is jack gillum, one of the reporters on the a.p.'s story. welcome, jack, good job, tell me why would anybody, why would a government use twitter in this way? >> so we use twitter here in the united states in many different ways, he want to talk to friends, we want to share information. we also use text messaging as a basic function of our phone, hey, let's meet in the park at 3:00 today, let's go hang out. but in cuba because of these tight controls on the internet it's hard to really use twitter in the way that we would like to use it. so they needed to use a sort of a bare bones messaging system n this case sms, text messages to re-create what, essentially s a cuban version of twitter. and the idea was is to get people involved, you know, get buy-in so people, in a system they felt comfortable using, they could talk to each other an grow it from there. >> ifill: people who are not familiar with twitter this way you can get followers and reach a lot of people with a single text messagement it wouldn't just be like text messaging other individuals. >> sure, so you would go, you would sign, you would sub vibe to different group, and when you send out a message it would go through the servers, in this case, sometimes to ireland, to spain, get sent back again and then it would be distributed to the group. >> ifill: and it is fake down to the point where you had fake banner ads on these sites. >> sure there was a very professional marketing campaign that ent with this. i mean when this usaid funded project got off the ground there 2009 they sent out text tests-- test text messages to say is this something we can do, is this something that the cuban government will approve of or rather will they not notice and not get shut down. by 2010 this project which is cuban's slang for hummingbird's tweet was got off the ground and it was something that they marketed, you know, just like any other-- like twitter or facebook or any other type of social media platform. >> ifill: you say usaid funded, that raises two questions. one is how much did it cost. and the other is why was the u.s. international development agency, humanitarian agency involved in this and not say the cia or a spy agency? >> sure, so it cost about-- the government says now about 1.2 million dollars. we think it maybe is more about 1.6 million based on the money that they spent, the equipment they had to do, the payroll, that sort of a thing. and the question to be asked here is why usaid. i mean the government says that they are proud through u.s. aid to do these democracy programs. and they're proud of their work in cuba. and i think that's the question that members on the hill might have, is why is th work to the being done through the cia and intelligence. >> ifill: so it would be legal if it was democracy promotion but illegal if it is covert intelligence. >> that is the distinction the white house tried to make. they said this is not a covert operation, that is very specific under u.s. law. >> -- we described it as secret, they say it's more discreet, either way, you know, whatever sin nonwe use, the bottom line was that the people who use the service, the c.e.o.s interviewed to run the service were never aware what it was backed by uncle sam. >> ifill: and in the documents that you got hold of they took great pains to con seat u.s. government involvement. >> they did. so you know, if we were to do this in the united states, we could, you know, set up a server down the street if we wanted to, pay them, have the messages get routed through there and back again. the problem was that in order to maintain the credibility of this program, for two reason, you didn't want the people using it to know it is backed by washington because they would think it's just, you know, some u.s. plot. the cuban government, you certainly can't have them find out that it was a u.s. government-backed thing. and if you set up servers in the united states it's very easy to look at where those serves are based in a couple of seconds, so they had to set them up overseas, use a bank account in the cayman islands and really make it have a look and feel of an overseas operation. >> ifill: disguise the money trail. >> right. >> ifill: who was the target audience in all of this. >> the target audience were younger folks, people who had used-- who, you know, would be using sms texts to begin with. and in order, it was sort of like they sent out all these text messages am they obtained about a half a million phone numbers. broadcast those messages out. and they wanted to see what were the type of people who would respond back. they got about 40,000 at one point and they collected this demographic information, you know, maybe no differently than other companies do. together these sort ofo put demographic profiles before, you know, it really took off and it ended in 2012, i think before it may have grown bigger. >> ifill: did it end. >> so there are a couple reasons why. when we asked the government about it and a couple people involved, they say simply the money stopped. this grant that it was under ended. but we also have spoken to people who used it and help set it up. and they said just like in turkey where they are trying to block twitter through these dns routings, and that is dn is like the phone bock of the internet, you type in an address, you get sent one place, when you really want another. this he were sort of doing this monkeying around that is the cuban authorities. and these engineers basically said this is getting hard for me to do my job and keep up the system. so it could have been a little bit of both. >> maybe they had gotten wind of it. >> since 2009 there has been an american citizen who has been held in cuba, alan gross who was also there a contractor for usaid is there any connection between his situation and what we're seeing unfold here? >> the only connection i think we see is cron logical and that is when alan gross is arrested in late 2009. this is as thises with about ready to be publicly launched, it launched around january, february, of 2010. so a few weeks after that senator patrick leahy who oversees the appropriations for usaid programs an state department programs was disturbed by this very fact saying that, you know, we have an american contractor down there who is arrested. and now-- for doing technical work and now we're starting this project that he says could have put people at riting. >> ifill: this bigs the question f this was happening in cuba y wouldn't it have been happening someplace else? do we have any evidence to support that idea? >> when we tried to unspool these contracts and it was a combination of both looking into internal documents and government documents and interviews with people, you know, even when we were able to dig down and get to very detailed contract numbers and be able to punch those into federal databases to say hey, how is your money spent, even then when you plug that in, it looks like it went, you know, it was for a project in pakistan. so you know, even in the sliver of information that is publicly available there is no indication. so you know, absent doing reporting or freedom of information requests, or a congressional oversight it's really hard to know. although aid say these don't conduct covert programs and what they do come ports with u.s. law. >> ifill: i guess there will be congressional oversite, great reporting, thanks a lot. >> thank you. >> ifill: the united states has been fighting in afghanistan for 13 years, but have we been going after the right enemy? the author of a new book says no. hari sreenivasan has more. >> srennivasan: this coming saturday afghans will go to the polls to elect a new president. it will the third popular election since 2001 when the united states invaded the country following attacks on september 11th. one reporter who has covered the war in that country from the beginning is "new york times" correspondent carlotta gayle gail, also the awe sore of the new book the wrong enemy, america and afghanistan 2001 to 2014. she joins me now. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> srennivasan: why the title the wrong enemy who is the right enemy? >> this is why i wrote the book. because we've been fighting a war for ten years, that i covered it, in the afghan villages against the afghan people. and against the taliban. and i came to realize that the taliban is supported by the neighboring country, pakistan. and really more than just supported, run, strjically pushed there to get leverage over afghanistan, to have control, to have a proxy army there for pakistan benefit. and i saw so much over the years. i just felt i had to write it and lay it out. and show that all the effort of the west and america was concentrated on fighting in the villages in afghanistan when really the source. problem what over the border in pakistan. >> srennivasan: to give us an example. you go into painstaking detail of how the isi, intelligence services of pakistan essentially support the taliban in afghanistan while the u.s. were trying to fight them. >> yeah. and pretending to be an ally. so you had president musharraf in pakistan saying it he was an an ally in the war on terror but in fact the things he was doing, aiding and abetting the taliban. organizing a meeting right after in 2001 right after the fall of the taliban to how to regroup them and get them back on their feet and to divide up the responsibility to go back in and run an insurgency. and one idea was to trip america up. and that sounded strange when he was being an ally of the west in the war on terror. and he was handing over some al qaeda people that were caught in pakistan. but the real idea was to keep the taliban going as a proxy force which is, you know, aimed to then in the end have influence in afghanistan for pakistan so they could control them or have them as a client state. and that's always been the aim of pakistan income fact. since the beginning of the taliban and you could argue even before when they supported the mujahideen against russia, that they wanted a stake in what they regard as their backyard. >> srennivasan: doesn't pakistan have a vested interest in having a stable neighbor? >> they keep saying that. and musharraf kept saying that and the leaders since have always said and the pakistani military say we want a stable afghanistan. but actually what they are doing is the opposite. the training militants, they're indoctrine ating suicide bombers to go there and cause mayhem. i was just there last week in kabul. we had four suicide bombings in five days in kabul city. and so and they're coming from pakistan. there is to doubt that they are training-- that is what i cover, i show in the book. that there is a lot of training camps and indoctrine ating recruitment of young afghans and pakistanies that are sent in. >> srennivasan: you went to one of the madrasas where many of the suicide bombers were coming from. and you were able to speak to some people from there, what did you learn? ness we learned that families give their sons to the madrasases they go for religious instruction, because it is free, so they give their sons and then their sons are disappearing, they are told they had gone on off on a training exercise or to some other cause somewhere. and in fact, then they have been sent into afghanistan. and then days later or weeks later they would be told your son is being martyred in a suicide attack. and it was a complete shock to these families. i went around to try and find out what was happening. and i was amazed how these families didn't know and then they were terrified to speak. so it really showed me that there was some covert war that had to be exposed. >> srennivasan: so one of the piece of your reporting that has a lot of attention from americans is the idea that there was a special desk in pakistan that was devoted to protecting osama bin laden. >> that was the bombshell i learned right at the end, two years after he cass willed in the raid, that killed bin laden. i did a lot of reporting and finally i found this inside force inside that there was this one desk and it was run by one man, so it was a totally deniable, typical special secret service type of thing. and that his job was to handle him but obviously to protect him. but to use him for pakistan benefit so they used to him to talk to other militant commanders, to rally them, to persuade them to go in the direction that was suitable for pakistan. >> srennivasan: one of the last chapters of your book you talk about a community that actually began to take their own responsibility and rise up against the taliban. was it zingobat. and so i'm wondering, is that an anomaly or is that a beacon that other communities might follow? >> i think it's a sign of what can happen if things-- if there is enough security on the ground. because that came on the back of the american surge that was ordered in by obama. so you had a flood of troops going in, a lot of concentration of afghan police and army as well. and so there was great security. suddenly you could drive around and suddenly people could contact people in the remote regs could contact the government. and so suddenly when the balance of security changed, these people came over. they were really fed up with the taliban and i believe all of begans-- afghans, i really don't think they support them out of a great choice, it's just they are intimidated. they are encouraged, they're paid. but if there was security, they would think differently. and so i think that shows that when you get the security right, when you get enough of a strong government, and it was the local government being strong that really mattered, not that there were foreign troops doing it. that was when they turned. and they came over to the local government because the police chief they trusted and believed in. so i think it's emblematic of what could happen. it is not happening all over the place because the taliban is still very strong. >> srennivasan: we're going to continue this conversation on-line but for now car loll-- carlotta gail from "the new york times", thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: from afghanistan and pakistan, we turn to another war-weary area: the middle east. in fact, the last time leaders achieved a significant peace deal for the region was 36 years ago, at an unlikely spot close to the nation's capital. a new play in washington, d.c. looks back at how against overwhelming odds it came to be. >> wooduff: all eyes were on former president jimmy carter back in 1978 when he launched a bold effort to make peace in the middle east by bringing bitter enemies together at the secluded presidential mountain retreat at camp david. and there was shock 13 days later when they emerged with an agreement. it was enough of a drama on its own, but now a it's a drama come to the stage. >> i've brought you here to camp david because i thought the isolation would help us focus on the big issues. i always think better when i'm surrounded by nature. >> wooduff: egyptian actor khaled nabawy plays egyptian president anwar sadat. ron rifkin is israeli prime minister menachem begin, and richard thomas is carter. >> i know we can't forget the past, but we need to keep the future in mind. we just might leave this world in a little better shape for our children and grandchildren. anwar, would you begin? >> no, no, mr. begin first. >> no, sir, you are the president. you should begin. >> wooduff: i met up recently at arena stage with lawrence wright, the pulitzer-prize winning playwright, who wrote the play, and the producer, jerry rafshoon, who lived the events as president carter's communications director. >> i saw that this was a story of when a devout muslim, an orthodox jew, and a born again christian went behind the closed doors, or the closed gates of camp david, and came back with the only peace treaty that has stood the time in the middle east. american officials defy reports that the talks almost fell apart last night >> wooduff: i, too, lived these events, as white house correspondent for n.b.c. news, part of the press corps kept outside. i can remember days of tension and uncertainty, and i was curious to know how 13 days of talking could become the stuff of great theatre. when the camp david peace talks took place, what made you think this could be turned into a play, something dramatic? >> well, i was back and forth to camp david, and i'd been with carter for many years, and i saw that as the classic story of jimmy carter. that it was an example of when leaders put aside their political wellbeing and do the right thing, even though it could cost them their major consequences. everybody, all the foreign policy experts, told carter this was not a good idea, that you don't have a negotiation between heads of state, or heads of government, unless you know how it's going to turn out. he never flinched. it could have been a nuclear war. israel has nuclear weapons, and the russians were on the other side, so the stakes for the united states were the highest ever. and carter knew that, and he knew that it was worth staking his presidency on it. >> woodruff: larry wright, you could have your pick of subjects to write about, to turn into a play. what was it about this story that you decided, i can make something out of this? >> well, for one thing, i felt intimately connected. i had lived in georgia when carter was governor and when he ran for president. i lived in egypt when nasser died and sadat became president. and i reported a lot in israel so i felt, you know, it was my turf. and i also know how meaningful this treaty is. i can't imagine the middle east without this treaty. >> woodruff: you are a journalist, that's what you started out doing, and you took a journalistic approach to this. i mean, you and jerry went and talked to people who were part of the begin team, and the sadat team, and in the white house. why was that so important for this production? >> it had to have three different points of view that are in collision, because that's what it was all about. each of these people represents the interest of their country, they were very strong personalities, and we had to go actually be in those places and see the feelings that the surviving members of those delegations had, and try to re- capture some of the passion. >> what am i supposed to sacrifice? the sinai, jerusalem, the palestinians? you tell me how you can actually achieve peace without resolving all those problems? >> maybe not all at once. >> oh, just push the problem down the road. >> till your next term. you have to think of your own political situation. >> peace is more important than my reelection. >> we should mention rosalynn carter, then the first lady, was involved. >> rosalynn was very vital to the success of camp david. >> it was her idea. there is a scene that i thought might be kind of striking, it's... it's really the last time the three of them are together. >> no more. >> how is the peacemaking coming along? (laughter) >> wooduff: in this scene, the first lady, played by hallie foote, tries to make peace among the peace-makers. >> they were do opposed to each other, and carter was, he literally had to bar the door to try to keep them from leaving the room. and into that rosalynn walks with a tray of tea, and she very subtly reminds them what they're here for. diaries and the papers of --. >> it was like anti-chemistry, like explosives mixed together. they hated each other. carter had an idea that he could just get these three men in a room together in a quiet spot, away from the press and they would come to trust each other and like each other. after the second day he had to separate them. >> after the second day, he had to separate them, they couldn't be in the same room together at all, and it was carter moving back and forth, his own shuttle diplomacy in a golf cart, that was able to try to bring some kind of deal between two men whose countries have been at war with each other for 30 years. >> remember, in the middle east there is always a price to pay. >> i hear what you're saying. >> i am willing to pay any price to bring peace, jimmy, but i don't want to die for half measures. >> each of them had so much to overcome and to sacrifice. and sadat's delegation, there wasn't a single person in his delegation that agreed with him trying to make peace with israel. in fact, one night, carter was worried that they were going to assassinate him. >> his foreign minister resigned. >> yeah, his foreign minister resigned at camp david. and in the israeli delegation, everybody in the delegation wanted to make peace more than begin did, so it was the exact opposite. >> wooduff: jerry, you've suggested, and, in fact, in your remarks just now, that president carter really hasn't gotten enough credit for what happened at camp david. can you, in a play, see that he gets credit? >> foreign policy, as you know, was never that interesting to the american people. they're interested in their day to day economy, et cetera. we used to talk to carter about the fact that he's spending so much time on this issue, and the american people are wondering what are you doing about gas lines, what are you doing about the economy, what are you doing about inflation. >> woodruff: and it cost him politically. >> it cost him politically, and he didn't care. >> woodruff: larry wright, can you correct history, or fix history, or change history in some way with a dramatic production? >> one of the lessons of camp david, the carter camp david, is that, you know, these were flawed men. they weren't perfect men. i can't correct history, but we can remember it. you know, what i was trying to do is retrieve something that's very important, that's been neglected, and it was an extraordinary achievement. whatever you think about carter as a president or as a person, what he did at camp david was remarkable. >> i'm sure there's more for negotiation. that is why we're here. >> wooduff: the play continues at arena stage in washington, d.c. through the beginning of may. >> woodruff: joining me now to talk about the state of the peace process today, more than three decades later, is chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner. margaret, you haven't been covering washington as long as i have as you just saw but you have watched the middle east. how important were the camp david accords. >> as they just said, really essential, because you took the two most powerful armees and sworn enemies and they cut a separate piece but they cut a piece. and that really prevented the likelihood of any kind of broad israeli-arab war again and nuclear deterrent of israel helped. but it's also remarkable how enduring it was. sadat foreshadows that he was going to be assassinated and was three years later the whole hosni mubarak, the israeli and egyptian military worked closely together. mubarak depenlded on u.s. aid, tried to help in israeli-palestinian talks though they never really bother fraught and when when morsi came n the militaries continued to control that account and they still do. and they are fighting terrorists it in the sinai, it is important, though, to point out and some of your clips illustrate this, what it didn't get. carter came into this, president carter, wanting a comprehensive peace that would include the fate of the palestinians. >> woodruff: that's right. >> warner: that there were promises and pledges in the agreements and accords to do that, that never happened and israel didn't get what it wanted either, which was a warm peace with egypt. they got what they called a cold peace. and israel continued, i mean egyptian media continues to be filled with inveckive. and finally, of course, we have the settlers who at 3500 at the time of the play, are now 340,000. >> woodruff: so are those things that they couldn't get then part of the reason it's so hard to get peace today? >> warner: well, judy, it remains the exact same issues. when i sat down, i sort of blogged about this, when i sat down an watched this play, i thought oh my god, nothing has changed. the same issues, the settlers, the occupied territories, whose land it is. but to me what came out of this play s you know, there is always carping about how this american president is handling it or that, or how this israeli-palestinian leader is going to step up to the plate or not. but the play brought out to me was on human terms how alike they are. theyñ)hp)e both prisoners of their past. they have deep sense of grievance about one another. and about the world and how-- . >> woodruff: you mean began and sadat. >> ands the israelis and palestinians. begun cannot-- began cannot forgive that the world stood by and let -- >> and they don't believe that the united states can ever empathetically understand what it is like to live with a blood feud. and they seem unable to escape theirs. >> woodruff: an much of that is still true today. >> warner: exactly. i that i is exactly what is going on today. >> woodruff: margaret warner, thank you >> ifill: online, margaret reflects more on what the play "camp david" teaches us about history and the current peace efforts. >> ifill: finally tonight, navigating the maze of questions surrounding the cost of college. this week, many students are getting their final college acceptance notices. that's exciting. but now comes the crunch: calculating the potential costs and deciding what they can really afford. hari is back with a conversation on what students and families need to know. >> sreenivasan: total student debt in the u.s. is estimated to be more than $1 trillion. roughly 70% of college graduates were carrying an average debt load of $29,000 for the most recent year studied, and default rates are rising. n.p.r. is doing a month-long project called "paying for to help shed some light on all this is education reporter claudio sanchez, a key part of that. and we also get insight from roberta johnson, director of student financial aid at iowa state university. she's testified before congress on these issues. so claudia sanchez, i want to start with you. let's look at the tuition versus the total costs or the sticker price versus the real price. what did you find in your reporting. are families aware of the difference? >> most often they are not. and the sticker price is, of course, what everybody is scared by. but if you take a look at a typical family that is sending their kid in state to a good public institution, what we found was that there has been an enormous increase in tuition. since 1980 tuition increases have been about 1,000-- have risen 1,200 percent. that's pretty outrageous. certainly in the view of parents who these days are struggling even more. in post recession, and certainly when wages are stagnant, most americans, 70% according to the latest polling is saying we can't afford higher education. and if you look at that state, in state tuition on average we're looking at maybe $20,000 a year room and board included, including other expenses. and that translates into a four year payment of $80,000 a year, again, it's a lot of money. and that is what is making families certainly so nervous about what is next for their students, for their kids. it's a real problem. >> srennivasan: roberta johnson you speak to some of these parents sometimes. are there hidden costs that they are not calculating in? >> we try to let our families know most of the costs. but certainly we cannot control what their students are going to be spending on personal expenditures. so as claudio mentioned tuition fees, room and board are costs it that we include in what is called the total cost of attendance. we also try to estimate what books are going to cost for the student. but that will vary depending upon the kuric lar area in which the student is enrolled. most colleges and universities will also have a suggested personal category for students. and we try to keep that quite reasonable. my institution we actually surveyed students and we really call late-- recalibrated a couple of years ago to lower that to approximately $2500 for a nine month period of enrollment. certainly we do have students that spend more than $2500 over that period of time. but many times we will find students that do live very frugally and are able to survive on far less. >> srennivasan: let's talk a little bit about the types of aid available. we've got scholarships, we've got grants, we've got loans. miss johnson, staying where you for a second, how are they different, very basically? >> well, the scholarships and grants fall into a category that we call gift aid. and basically that monies that -- means that those dollars do not need to be repaid. it's a gift to the student. generally a scholarship is something that is earned on the basis of the student's merit. so either they have academic merit and they are awarded the scholarship because of their performance in the classroom. or they may have some sort of a talent such as musical talent or drama or something like that, that would enable them to qualify for a merit-based scholarship. some scholarships also have what is called financial need as a component of the scholarship. and in order for schools to determine that, a family does need to complete a federal document known as the free application for federal institute aid, utilizing a federally mandated formula they determine what the family should reasonably be able to pay for a student's education. and sub frakt-- subtract that from the cost av continuedance that was mentioned earlier and that is the financial need so we look at need for some scholarships but not all. need is definitely a component for many of the grant programs which are dollars that are given to institutes who-- students who otherwise would not be able to afford to go to school if not for the grant funds. >> srennivasan: when you speak to parents are they getting the distinctions even on something so fundamental? >> absolutely not, hari. the problem with all this is that it is a very complicated process. beginning with the fafsa, in fact, which is often harder than filling your tax, the fafsa helps determine the expected family contribution. and many people think that that whole formula is out of whack and a formula set by congress. it is out of back because if you look at a family with $100,000 income, that family is expected to contribute about $1500 a month every month for four years. that's a lot of money. now when it comes to institutional aid, i mean that only constitutes about 5%, maybe only 8% of what student does get. the bullable of the financial aid out there is coming from the federal government, about 37%. the rest does come from institutional aid, and you know, it's very difficult for families to navigate this system. it's very difficult for families to dig through the information. there is a lot of pressure on institutions these days, from the president on down, to become a more transparent and to offer more consumer-friendly information for families. but that is not happening quickly enough. and again, it's creating thisñr sense that families are being outpriced and that unless you are really savvy and unless you have that experience, you are really not going to be able to take advantage of some of the money that is available. one other point is that often people think that because poor students qualify for more assistance, pell grants, grant aid, those kinds of things and perhaps not have to take out as many loans, that's a myth. the real story is that most poor families first generation college students are the ones having to really borrow a lot more. and going in to debt which as you mentioned early on, you know, is upwards of 29, $30,000 in debt after four years. that again is a lot of money to pay back. >> srennivasan: all right, claudio sanchez and roberta johnson thank you both for your time. >> there is more information parents and students want to know, hari continued this conversation on-line and you can find links to npr's coverage. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. investigators at fort hood, texas, focused on what drove specialist ivan lopez to kill three people, wound 16, then kill himself yesterday. the base's commanding general said lopez had a strong history of mental instability and may have argued with another soldier. the confirmed death toll in the washington state mudslide reached 30, with 15 still missing. and the senate intelligence committee voted to declassify parts of a report that sharply criticizes c.i.a. interrogation methods after 9/11. >> ifill: on the newshour online right now, after years of taliban rule where non-religious music was forbidden, budding rock stars in afghanistan have a place to call their own. "rock school kabul" is training the afghan guitar heroes of tomorrow. read the latest report in our "social entrepreneurship" series. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. 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 america." >> 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, nd union bank. >> for nearly 150 years, we have believed a commercial bank owes its clients strength, stability, security. so we believe in keeping lending standards high, ta
>> woodruff: 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: >> 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 bnsf railway. >> 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. >> ifill: the number of confirmed dead in the washington state mudslide rose again today to 30. the local medical examiner's office released the names of two more victims, and it lowered the number of missing to 15, down from 18 yesterday. meanwhile, the search continued in the tiny community of oso. it was buried last month when a hillside collapsed. the senate intelligence committee has voted to declassify parts of a report on c.i.a. interrogations after 9/11. the report concludes methods such as waterboarding were often cruel and ineffective. today's vote comes as senators accuse the c.i.a. of spying on their investigation and deleting files. the c.i.a. says senate staffers accessed the information illegally. hopes for progress in middle east peace talks are fading. israel announced today it will not release another group of palestinian prisoners after all. it blamed palestinian president mahmoud abbas for resuming a push for u.n. recognition. abbas had cited delays in the prisoner release for his decision. in algeria today, secretary of state john kerry appealed to both sides. >> the leaders have to lead. and they have to be able to see a moment when it's there. there's an old saying you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. now is time to drink and the leaders need to know that. >> ifill: kerry had set the end of april as the deadline for getting a framework peace agreement. the government of chad announced today it's withdrawing more than 800 peacekeepers from the central african republic. the troops had been accused of opening fire on a crowd there last week, killing 32 civilians. chad's forces also allegedly backed a muslim rebel government that was forced from power in the c.a.r. in january. at least one million syrian refugees have now fled to lebanon to escape civil war in their homeland. the united nations refugee agency announced the figure today and called it a "devastating milestone." >> we have now a million refugees here in lebanon, which is one quarter of the population. and every single refugee reflects a life that has been absolutely devastated by this crisis. we're doing our best to keep up. the lebanese society is incredibly strained by the additional burden that these refugees are bringing to bear. >> ifill: the u.n. also warned the total is likely higher since many of those who fled to lebanon never registered as refugees. it's estimated at least 2.5 million syrians have fled to neighboring states. turkey lifted its ban on the social media site twitter today. the country's constitutional court ruled yesterday the ban violated basic freedoms. it was imposed two weeks ago after users posted allegations of government corruption. the video-sharing web site youtube remains offline. wall street had a relatively quiet day. the dow jones industrial average lost about half a point today to close at 16,572; the nasdaq fell 38 points to close at 4,237; and the s&p 500 slid two points to finish at 1,888. still to come on the newshour: the investigation into the fort hood shooting; u.s. efforts to use social media to sow unrest in cuba; collusion between the taliban and pakistani intelligence; recreating the drama of the camp david peace talks on stage; plus, loans, grants and the other ins and outs of paying for college. >> woodruff: another shooting rampage on an army base, and again at fort hood in texas. this time, three people were killed and 16 wounded before the gunman, an iraq veteran, committed suicide. police and emergency vehicles raced toward the nation's largest army base yesterday after the second mass shooting there in five years. first word came in a tweet from fort hood officials: hours later, when the lockdown ended, the base commander laid out the gunman's moves. >> it is believed that he walked into the unit building, opened fire, got into vehicle, fired from a vehicle, got out of vehicle, walked into another building and opened fire again. >> woodruff: about 20 minutes after the incident began, the gunman shot and killed himself. today, general mark milley confirmed his identity as specialist ivan lopez of puerto rico. as for what sparked the shooting... >> we're trying to figure out what the trigger event was. it was mentioned yesterday there may have been a verbal altercation with another soldier or soldiers, and there's a strong possibility that that in fact immediately preceded the shooting. but we do not have that definitively at this point, but do have strong indications of that. >> woodruff: more information emerged at a senate hearing today. the secretary of the army, john mchugh, said there's no documentation that lopez suffered traumatic brain injury, or t.b.i., in iraq despite one official's citing reports that lopez had "self-reported" this. >> he did have two deployments, including one approximately four-month deployment to iraq as a truck driver. his records show no wounds, no involvement, no direct involvement in combat. as general milley said, there's no record of purple heart or any injury that might lead us to further investigate a battle- related t.b.i. or such. >> woodruff: mchugh said there's also no evidence of ties to extremist groups, but lopez was being evaluated for possible post-traumatic stress disorder. >> he was undergoing a variety of treatment and diagnoses for mental health conditions, ranging from depression to anxiety to some sleep disturbance. he was prescribed a number of drugs to address those, including ambien. >> woodruff: general milley echoed that statement at his briefing today. >> we have very strong evidence that he had a medical history that indicates unstable psychiatric or psychological condition. going through all the records to ensure that is in fact correct, but we believe that to be a fundamental underlying cause. >> woodruff: as for those wounded yesterday, nine were taken to a hospital in nearby temple, texas. trauma doctor matt davis updated their condition this morning. >> our critical patients have specifically they have some injuries to the neck. we have a potential spine injury, and we have an abdominal injury. those three i would still consider in critical condition. >> woodruff: fort hood was also the scene of the worst mass murder at a military installation in u.s. history. in 2009, 13 people died and more than 30 were wounded when major nidal hasan, an army psychiatrist, opened fire. he was sentenced to death and is now in a federal prison. last night, president obama said he was "heartbroken" that it's happened again, and today at the white house he pledged support for fort hood soldiers. >> they've done their duty, and they're an inspiration. they've made us proud. they put on their uniform, and then they take care of us. and we've got to make sure when they come home we take care of them. >> woodruff: back at today's senate hearing, the army's chief of staff, general ray odierno, said there were lessons learned from that 2009 shooting. >> the alert procedures that were in place, the response, the training that has gone into the response forces that responded i think contributed this to making this something that could have been much, much worse. >> woodruff: base security is increasingly an issue around the country, with an incident just last month at norfolk's naval station and the mass shooting last fall at the washington navy yard. to help us make sense of all of this, we turn to: dr. stephen xenakis, a retired army brigadier general who had a 28- year career as an army psychologist-- he's also the chief medical officer at mindcare solutions, a medical software development company; and phillip carter, a senior fellow with the center for a new american security-- he served nine years as an army military police and civil affairs officer, including one year in iraq. he also served at fort hood. we thank you both for being here. doctor xenakis, let me start with you. we're talking about a 34-year-old soldier who did spend four months it in iraq after the end of combat operations. he was being treated, we are told, for a variety of mental health and behavioral issues. he was taking some medication. he was being evaluated for ptsd. there may have been an argument. what does all this is a to you? >> well, i mean, it's a tragic event. it's sad for everyone, and really sad to see another one of these incidents happen at ft. hood. it just goes to show that these people who come in and soldiers or veterans, need to be really looked at carefully. and i know people are trying and doing their best. but there are a number of factors that affect their mental state, and really can lead to what i think is more important to focus on is the disposition to be dangerous, to harm themselves orñr others. and so there's, like a checklist. i know when i see a soldier or a veteran, i have in my head, and i'm a psychiatrist, by the way, as a physician i have a checklist that i consider and make sure to figure out how much of these, each of these factors are influenced a state of mind and how much should i be concerned and, in fact, instruct the individual to be concerned about their propensity to commit something that would hurt themselves or others. >> woodruff: i'm glad you corrected that, we did mean to say psychiatrist, that was my mistake. phillip carter to you, you see the profile of this individual, specialist lopez. what stands out? >> well, it's like you've got a puzzle but just a few of the pieces right now. so we know you have got a four month deployment which puts them at the low range of combat exposure and experience for this cohort. he had a combat record or a military record that was undistinguished t was average. not a lot of combat decorations, not the sort of thing you would expect to see for someone who had served upwards of 13 years total active reserve time. he had also moved around a lot. he started in the puerto rico national guard. he moved to the active military in about 2008. changed jobs. he had been an infant ree man, in the band. he had been a truck driver. and so trying to piece that together is very hard right now. even the fact that he was prescribed ambien doesn't necessarily mean that much given that it is essentially dispensed like candy within today's military. >> woodruff: that's right. and we are told, we know there may have been other medications, as well, but ambien is one that official said that he was taking. dr. xenakis, when you look at someone in the military who is being treated for, again, a variety of mental health an behavioral issues, and they mentioned depression and anxiety, one question that comes to mind is at what point does this disqualify someone from serving in the military? >> well, theñr whole-- there is a set of guidelines and regulations having to do with who is he vig-- eligible or should be considered for separation for medical reasons. and they've been around for decades. and it really boils down to does their medical illness or injury impair their duty performance. and the focus is on the duty. and does the problem mean that they can't do their job and or that they are going to put other soldiers in danger and not finish, complete the mission. >> woodruff: staying with you, dr. xenakis, what does it is a to you that he was being evaluated for ptsd, post traumatic stress disorder, and that there was no record of a traumatic brain injury? >> that's common. and so it really doesn't say a lot to me. and in fact, when i look at the record, which is important, what i really want to focus on is the patient. because the facts are, when you sit down and people start to disclose their lives and the circumstances, there are impneumerable ways that these things kind of come together and bear down and bear stress on them. not much is known about specialist lopez. one of the factors that is known that i saw on the news, and haven't confirmed, is i think his father died in october, his mother died in november. these are very stressful on an individual. i mean he is set up to have a grief reaction. and you start grieving deeply. and then you're having other issues that come along with who knows what the factors are because of that exposure in combat. certainly could be one of them. cohave had a traumatic brain injury. but the cum latif effect will really start to have an individual spiral down which means they can be at risk. these are risk factors to be considered of can they be dangerous. can they harm themselves or others. >> woodruff: an we're still trying to piece all the parts of this story together. phillip carter, i want to ask you about the gun. he had in his possession a concealed weapon, a .45 calibre handgun which he bought off base. what are the rules? i'm reading reports today that the rules are kind of an honor system at ft. hood. >> that's right, most soldiers don't carry weapons. the only soldiers that would have weapons on them in ft. hood are the military police, soldiers lock their weapons up and use them to fight. because when they are doing their jobs they don't carry them. that said the access control points at a massive base like ft. hood simply wave traffic through if you have got an i.d. card or a base decal. there is no tsa like check that pats you down or checks for weapons. we trust soldiers, or contractors or government employees to and follow the rules, which mean no carrying weapons. an in this case, we had a bad actor who appears to have done that. >> woodruff: but this is even after what happened it in 2009 with major hasan? >> it is even after the military's experience there at the navy yard and more recently the militaryñi trusts those people who have that access, who have that preexisting connection to the military to come on board and follow the rules. and it's hard to imagine practically how would you do this. ft. hood is a base of 40,000 plus troops. most of which live off base there are a number of other employees. i think the line would stretch halfway to austin, texas f they tried to check everyone at the gate. >> woodruff: but is this something that you think should be rethought, reconsidered in the light of these incidents like these? >> i don't think so i think we trust our soldiers and our other service members to do the right thing in a variety of contexts. whether it's holding weapons at the range or driving vehicles around post. and i think we should not distort the system to reflect the fact that we have a few actors like this. we ought to, instead, do what i think dr. xenakis was just saying is find better ways to find these people an get them the treatment they need. >> woodruff: all right, we will leave it there phillip carter we thank you. and dr. steven zen axe-- xenakis. >> ifill: what would happen if the u.s. government used social media to undermine a hostile foreign government? that may be exactly what the u.s. agency for international development tried to do in cuba with zun zuneo, a twitter-style social media platform secretly controlled by the u.s. government. an associated press investigation reveals that thousands of private cuban cell phone numbers were used to circumvent tight controls on internet communication and to gain valuable information about the users themselves. u.s.a.i.d. says that the program existed only to "create a platform for cubans to speak freely among themselves, period." joining me now to talk about this operation is jack gillum, one of the reporters on the a.p.'s story. welcome, jack, good job, tell me why would anybody, why would a government use twitter in this way? >> so we use twitter here in the united states in many different ways, he want to talk to friends, we want to share information. we also use text messaging as a basic function of our phone, hey, let's meet in the park at 3:00 today, let's go hang out. but in cuba because of these tight controls on the internet it's hard to really use twitter in the way that we would like to use it. so they needed to use a sort of a bare bones messaging system n this case sms, text messages to re-create what, essentially s a cuban version of twitter. and the idea was is to get people involved, you know, get buy-in so people, in a system they felt comfortable using, they could talk to each other an grow it from there. >> ifill: people who are not familiar with twitter this way you can get followers and reach a lot of people with a single text messagement it wouldn't just be like text messaging other individuals. >> sure, so you would go, you would sign, you would sub vibe to different group, and when you send out a message it would go through the servers, in this case, sometimes to ireland, to spain, get sent back again and then it would be distributed to the group. >> ifill: and it is fake down to the point where you had fake banner ads on these sites. >> sure there was a very professional marketing campaign that ent with this. i mean when this usaid funded project got off the ground there 2009 they sent out text tests-- test text messages to say is this something we can do, is this something that the cuban government will approve of or rather will they not notice and not get shut down. by 2010 this project which is cuban's slang for hummingbird's tweet was got off the ground and it was something that they marketed, you know, just like any other-- like twitter or facebook or any other type of social media platform. >> ifill: you say usaid funded, that raises two questions. one is how much did it cost. and the other is why was the u.s. international development agency, humanitarian agency involved in this and not say the cia or a spy agency? >> sure, so it cost about-- the government says now about 1.2 million dollars. we think it maybe is more about 1.6 million based on the money that they spent, the equipment they had to do, the payroll, that sort of a thing. and the question to be asked here is why usaid. i mean the government says that they are proud through u.s. aid to do these democracy programs. and they're proud of their work in cuba. and i think that's the question that members on the hill might have, is why is th work to the being done through the cia and intelligence. >> ifill: so it would be legal if it was democracy promotion but illegal if it is covert intelligence. >> that is the distinction the white house tried to make. they said this is not a covert operation, that is very specific under u.s. law. >> -- we described it as secret, they say it's more discreet, either way, you know, whatever sin nonwe use, the bottom line was that the people who use the service, the c.e.o.s interviewed to run the service were never aware what it was backed by uncle sam. >> ifill: and in the documents that you got hold of they took great pains to con seat u.s. government involvement. >> they did. so you know, if we were to do this in the united states, we could, you know, set up a server down the street if we wanted to, pay them, have the messages get routed through there and back again. the problem was that in order to maintain the credibility of this program, for two reason, you didn't want the people using it to know it is backed by washington because they would think it's just, you know, some u.s. plot. the cuban government, you certainly can't have them find out that it was a u.s. government-backed thing. and if you set up servers in the united states it's very easy to look at where those serves are based in a couple of seconds, so they had to set them up overseas, use a bank account in the cayman islands and really make it have a look and feel of an overseas operation. >> ifill: disguise the money trail. >> right. >> ifill: who was the target audience in all of this. >> the target audience were younger folks, people who had used-- who, you know, would be using sms texts to begin with. and in order, it was sort of like they sent out all these text messages am they obtained about a half a million phone numbers. broadcast those messages out. and they wanted to see what were the type of people who would respond back. they got about 40,000 at one point and they collected this demographic information, you know, maybe no differently than other companies do. and they were trying to put together these sort of demographic profiles before, you know, it really took off and it ended in 2012, i think before it may have grown bigger. >> ifill: did it end. >> so there are a couple reasons why. when we asked the government about it and a couple people involved, they say simply the money stopped. this grant that it was under ended. but we also have spoken to people who used it and help set it up. and they said just like in turkey where they are trying to block twitter through these dns routings, and that is dn is like the phone bock of the internet, you type in an address, you get sent one place, when you really want another. this he were sort of doing this monkeying around that is the cuban authorities. and these engineers basically said this is getting hard for me to do my job and keep up the system. so it could have been a little bit of both. >> maybe they had gotten wind of it. >> since 2009 there has been an american citizen who has been held in cuba, alan gross who was also there a contractor for usaid is there any connection between his situation and what we're seeing unfold here? >> the only connection i think we see is cron logical and that is when alan gross is arrested in late 2009. this is as thises with about ready to be publicly launched, it launched around january, february, of 2010. so a few weeks after that senator patrick leahy who oversees the appropriations for usaid programs an state department programs was disturbed by this very fact saying that, you know, we have an american contractor down there who is arrested. and now-- for doing technical work and now we're starting this project that he says could have put people at riting. >> ifill: this bigs the question f this was happening in cuba y wouldn't it have been happening someplace else? do we have any evidence to support that idea? >> when we tried to unspool these contracts and it was a combination of both looking into internal documents and government documents and interviews with people, you know, even when we were able to dig down and get to very detailed contract numbers and be able to punch those into federal databases to say hey, how is your money spent, even then when you plug that in, it looks like it went, you know, it was for a project in pakistan. so you know, even in the sliver of information that is publicly available there is no indication. so you know, absent doing reporting or freedom of information requests, or a congressional oversight it's really hard to know. although aid say these don't conduct covert programs and what they do come ports with u.s. law. >> ifill: i guess there will be congressional oversite, great reporting, thanks a lot. >> thank you. >> ifill: the united states has been fighting in afghanistan for 13 years, but have we been going after the right enemy? the author of a new book says no. hari sreenivasan has more. >> srennivasan: this coming saturday afghans will go to the polls to elect a new president. it will the third popular election since 2001 when the united states invaded the country following attacks on september 11th. one reporter who has covered the war in that country from the beginning is "new york times" correspondent carlotta gayle gail, also the awe sore of the new book the wrong enemy, america and afghanistan 2001 to 2014. she joins me now. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> srennivasan: why the title the wrong enemy who is the right enemy? >> this is why i wrote the book. because we've been fighting a war for ten years, that i covered it, in the afghan villages against the afghan people. and against the taliban. and i came to realize that the taliban is supported by the neighboring country, pakistan. and really more than just supported, run, strjically pushed there to get leverage over afghanistan, to have control, to have a proxy army there for pakistan benefit. and i saw so much over the years. i just felt i had to write it and lay it out. and show that all the effort of the west and america was concentrated on fighting in the villages in afghanistan when really the source. problem what over the border in pakistan. >> srennivasan: to give us an example. you go into painstaking detail of how the isi, intelligence services of pakistan essentially support the taliban in afghanistan while the u.s. were trying to fight them. >> yeah. and pretending to be an ally. so you had president musharraf in pakistan saying it he was an an ally in the war on terror but in fact the things he was doing, aiding and abetting the taliban. organizing a meeting right after in 2001 right after the fall of the taliban to how to regroup them and get them back on their feet and to divide up the responsibility to go back in and run an insurgency. and one idea was to trip america up. and that sounded strange when he was being an ally of the west in the war on terror. and he was handing over some al qaeda people that were caught in pakistan. but the real idea was to keep the taliban going as a proxy force which is, you know, aimed to then in the end have influence in afghanistan for pakistan so they could control them or have them as a client state. and that's always been the aim of pakistan income fact. since the beginning of the taliban and you could argue even before when they supported the mujahideen against russia, that they wanted a stake in what they regard as their backyard. >> srennivasan: doesn't pakistan have a vested interest in having a stable neighbor? >> they keep saying that. and musharraf kept saying that and the leaders since have always said and the pakistani military say we want a stable afghanistan. but actually what they are doing is the opposite. the training militants, they're indoctrine ating suicide bombers to go there and cause mayhem. i was just there last week in kabul. we had four suicide bombings in five days in kabul city. and so and they're coming from pakistan. there is to doubt that they are training-- that is what i cover, i show in the book. that there is a lot of training camps and indoctrine ating recruitment of young afghans and pakistanies that are sent in. >> srennivasan: you went to one of the madrasas where many of the suicide bombers were coming from. and you were able to speak to some people from there, what did you learn? ness we learned that families give their sons to the madrasases they go for religious instruction, because it is free, so they give their sons and then their sons are disappearing, they are told they had gone on off on a training exercise or to some other cause somewhere. and in fact, then they have been sent into afghanistan. and then days later or weeks later they would be told your son is being martyred in a suicide attack. and it was a complete shock to these families. i went around to try and find out what was happening. and i was amazed how these families didn't know and then they were terrified to speak. so it really showed me that there was some covert war that had to be exposed. >> srennivasan: so one of the piece of your reporting that has a lot of attention from americans is the idea that there was a special desk in pakistan that was devoted to protecting osama bin laden. >> that was the bombshell i learned right at the end, two years after he cass willed in the raid, that killed bin laden. i did a lot of reporting and finally i found this inside force inside that there was this one desk and it was run by one man, so it was a totally deniable, typical special secret service type of thing. and that his job was to handle him but obviously to protect him. but to use him for pakistan benefit so they used to him to talk to other militant commanders, to rally them, to persuade them to go in the direction that was suitable for pakistan. >> srennivasan: one of the last chapters of your book you talk about a community that actually began to take their own responsibility and rise up against the taliban. was it zingobat. and so i'm wondering, is that an anomaly or is that a beacon that other communities might follow? >> i think it's a sign of what can happen if things-- if there is enough security on the ground. because that came on the back of the american surge that was ordered in by obama. so you had a flood of troops going in, a lot of concentration of afghan police and army as well. and so there was great security. suddenly you could drive around and suddenly people could contact people in the remote regs could contact the government. and so suddenly when the balance of security changed, these people came over. they were really fed up with the taliban and i believe all of begans-- afghans, i really don't think they support them out of a great choice, it's just they are intimidated. they are encouraged, they're paid. but if there was security, they would think differently. and so i think that shows that when you get the security right, when you get enough of a strong government, and it was the local government being strong that really mattered, not that there were foreign troops doing it. that was when they turned. and they came over to the local government because the police chief they trusted and believed in. so i think it's emblematic of what could happen. it is not happening all over the place because the taliban is still very strong. >> srennivasan: we're going to continue this conversation on-line but for now car loll-- carlotta gail from "the new york times", thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: from afghanistan and pakistan, we turn to another war-weary area: the middle east. in fact, the last time leaders achieved a significant peace deal for the region was 36 years ago, at an unlikely spot close to the nation's capital. a new play in washington, d.c. looks back at how against overwhelming odds it came to be. >> wooduff: all eyes were on former president jimmy carter back in 1978 when he launched a bold effort to make peace in the middle east by bringing bitter enemies together at the secluded presidential mountain retreat at camp david. and there was shock 13 days later when they emerged with an agreement. it was enough of a drama on its own, but now a it's a drama come to the stage. >> i've brought you here to camp david because i thought the isolation would help us focus on the big issues. i always think better when i'm surrounded by nature. >> wooduff: egyptian actor khaled nabawy plays egyptian president anwar sadat. ron rifkin is israeli prime minister menachem begin, and richard thomas is carter. >> i know we can't forget the past, but we need to keep the future in mind. we just might leave this world in a little better shape for our children and grandchildren. anwar, would you begin? >> no, no, mr. begin first. >> no, sir, you are the president. you should begin. >> wooduff: i met up recently at arena stage with lawrence wright, the pulitzer-prize winning playwright, who wrote the play, and the producer, jerry rafshoon, who lived the events as president carter's communications director. >> i saw that this was a story of when a devout muslim, an orthodox jew, and a born again christian went behind the closed doors, or the closed gates of camp david, and came back with the only peace treaty that has stood the time in the middle east. american officials defy reports that the talks almost fell apart last night >> wooduff: i, too, lived these events, as white house correspondent for n.b.c. news, part of the press corps kept outside. i can remember days of tension and uncertainty, and i was curious to know how 13 days of talking could become the stuff of great theatre. when the camp david peace talks took place, what made you think this could be turned into a play, something dramatic? >> well, i was back and forth to camp david, and i'd been with carter for many years, and i saw that as the classic story of jimmy carter. that it was an example of when leaders put aside their political wellbeing and do the right thing, even though it could cost them their major consequences. everybody, all the foreign policy experts, told carter this was not a good idea, that you don't have a negotiation between heads of state, or heads of government, unless you know how it's going to turn out. he never flinched. it could have been a nuclear war. israel has nuclear weapons, and the russians were on the other side, so the stakes for the united states were the highest ever. and carter knew that, and he knew that it was worth staking his presidency on it. >> woodruff: larry wright, you could have your pick of subjects to write about, to turn into a play. what was it about this story that you decided, i can make something out of this? >> well, for one thing, i felt intimately connected. i had lived in georgia when carter was governor and when he ran for president. i lived in egypt when nasser died and sadat became president. and i reported a lot in israel so i felt, you know, it was my turf. and i also know how meaningful this treaty is. i can't imagine the middle east without this treaty. >> woodruff: you are a journalist, that's what you started out doing, and you took a journalistic approach to this. i mean, you and jerry went and talked to people who were part of the begin team, and the sadat team, and in the white house. why was that so important for this production? >> it had to have three different points of view that are in collision, because that's what it was all about. each of these people represents the interest of their country, they were very strong personalities, and we had to go actually be in those places and see the feelings that the surviving members of those delegations had, and try to re- capture some of the passion. >> what am i supposed to sacrifice? the sinai, jerusalem, the palestinians? you tell me how you can actually achieve peace without resolving all those problems? >> maybe not all at once. >> oh, just push the problem down the road. >> till your next term. you have to think of your own political situation. >> peace is more important than my reelection. >> we should mention rosalynn carter, then the first lady, was involved. >> rosalynn was very vital to the success of camp david. >> it was her idea. there is a scene that i thought might be kind of striking, it's... it's really the last time the three of them are together. >> no more. >> how is the peacemaking coming along? (laughter) >> wooduff: in this scene, the first lady, played by hallie foote, tries to make peace among the peace-makers. >> they were do opposed to each other, and carter was, he literally had to bar the door to try to keep them from leaving the room. and into that rosalynn walks with a tray of tea, and she very subtly reminds them what they're here for. diaries and the papers of --. >> it was like anti-chemistry, like explosives mixed together. they hated each other. carter had an idea that he could just get these three men in a room together in a quiet spot, away from the press and they would come to trust each other and like each other. after the second day he had to separate them. >> after the second day, he had to separate them, they couldn't be in the same room together at all, and it was carter moving back and forth, his own shuttle diplomacy in a golf cart, that was able to try to bring some kind of deal between two men whose countries have been at war with each other for 30 years. >> remember, in the middle east there is always a price to pay. >> i hear what you're saying. >> i am willing to pay any price to bring peace, jimmy, but i don't want to die for half measures. >> each of them had so much to overcome and to sacrifice. and sadat's delegation, there wasn't a single person in his delegation that agreed with him trying to make peace with israel. in fact, one night, carter was worried that they were going to assassinate him. >> his foreign minister resigned. >> yeah, his foreign minister resigned at camp david. and in the israeli delegation, everybody in the delegation wanted to make peace more than begin did, so it was the exact opposite. >> wooduff: jerry, you've suggested, and, in fact, in your remarks just now, that president carter really hasn't gotten enough credit for what happened at camp david. can you, in a play, see that he gets credit? >> foreign policy, as you know, was never that interesting to the american people. they're interested in their day to day economy, et cetera. we used to talk to carter about the fact that he's spending so much time on this issue, and the american people are wondering what are you doing about gas lines, what are you doing about the economy, what are you doing about inflation. >> woodruff: and it cost him politically. >> it cost him politically, and he didn't care. >> woodruff: larry wright, can you correct history, or fix history, or change history in some way with a dramatic production? >> one of the lessons of camp david, the carter camp david, is that, you know, these were flawed men. they weren't perfect men. i can't correct history, but we can remember it. you know, what i was trying to do is retrieve something that's very important, that's been neglected, and it was an extraordinary achievement. whatever you think about carter as a president or as a person, what he did at camp david was remarkable. >> i'm sure there's more for negotiation. that is why we're here. >> wooduff: the play continues at arena stage in washington, d.c. through the beginning of may. >> woodruff: joining me now to talk about the state of the peace process today, more than three decades later, is chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner. margaret, you haven't been covering washington as long as i have as you just saw but you have watched the middle east. how important were the camp david accords. >> as they just said, really essential, because you took the two most powerful armees and sworn enemies and they cut a separate piece but they cut a piece. and that really prevented the likelihood of any kind of broad israeli-arab war again and nuclear deterrent of israel helped. but it's also remarkable how enduring it was. sadat foreshadows that he was going to be assassinated and was three years later the whole hosni mubarak, the israeli and egyptian military worked closely together. mubarak depenlded on u.s. aid, tried to help in israeli-palestinian talks though they never really bother fraught and when when morsi came n the militaries continued to control that account and they still do. and they are fighting terrorists it in the sinai, it is important, though, to point out and some of your clips illustrate this, what it didn't get. carter came into this, president carter, wanting a comprehensive peace that would include the fate of the palestinians. >> woodruff: that's right. >> warner: that there were promises and pledges in the agreements and accords to do that, that never happened and israel didn't get what it wanted either, which was a warm peace with egypt. they got what they called a cold peace. and israel continued, i mean egyptian media continues to be filled with inveckive. and finally, of course, we have the settlers who at 3500 at the time of the play, are now 340,000. >> woodruff: so are those things that they couldn't get then part of the reason it's so hard to get peace today? >> warner: well, judy, it remains the exact same issues. when i sat down, i sort of blogged about this, when i sat down an watched this play, i thought oh my god, nothing has changed. the same issues, the settlers, the occupied territories, whose land it is. but to me what came out of this play s you know, there is always carping about how this american president is handling it or that, or how this israeli-palestinian leader is going to step up to the plate or not. but the play brought out to me was on human terms how alike they are. theyñ)hp)e both prisoners of their past. they have deep sense of grievance about one another. and about the world and how-- . >> woodruff: you mean began and sadat. >> ands the israelis and palestinians. begun cannot-- began cannot forgive that the world stood by and let -- >> and they don't believe that the united states can ever empathetically understand what it is like to live with a blood feud. and they seem unable to escape theirs. >> woodruff: an much of that is still true today. >> warner: exactly. i that i is exactly what is going on today. >> woodruff: margaret warner, thank you >> ifill: online, margaret reflects more on what the play "camp david" teaches us about history and the current peace efforts. >> ifill: finally tonight, navigating the maze of questions surrounding the cost of college. this week, many students are getting their final college acceptance notices. that's exciting. but now comes the crunch: calculating the potential costs and deciding what they can really afford. hari is back with a conversation on what students and families need to know. >> sreenivasan: total student debt in the u.s. is estimated to be more than $1 trillion. roughly 70% of college graduates were carrying an average debt load of $29,000 for the most recent year studied, and default rates are rising. n.p.r. is doing a month-long project called "paying for to help shed some light on all this is education reporter claudio sanchez, a key part of that. and we also get insight from roberta johnson, director of student financial aid at iowa state university. she's testified before congress on these issues. so claudia sanchez, i want to start with you. let's look at the tuition versus the total costs or the sticker price versus the real price. what did you find in your reporting. are families aware of the difference? >> most often they are not. and the sticker price is, of course, what everybody is scared by. but if you take a look at a typical family that is sending their kid in state to a good public institution, what we found was that there has been an enormous increase in tuition. since 1980 tuition increases have been about 1,000-- have risen 1,200 percent. that's pretty outrageous. certainly in the view of parents who these days are struggling even more. in post recession, and certainly when wages are stagnant, most americans, 70% according to the latest polling is saying we can't afford higher education. and if you look at that state, in state tuition on average we're looking at maybe $20,000 a year room and board included, including other expenses. and that translates into a four year payment of $80,000 a year, again, it's a lot of money. and that is what is making families certainly so nervous about what is next for their students, for their kids. it's a real problem. >> srennivasan: roberta johnson you speak to some of these parents sometimes. are there hidden costs that they are not calculating in? >> we try to let our families know most of the costs. but certainly we cannot control what their students are going to be spending on personal expenditures. so as claudio mentioned tuition fees, room and board are costs it that we include in what is called the total cost of attendance. we also try to estimate what books are going to cost for the student. but that will vary depending upon the kuric lar area in which the student is enrolled. most colleges and universities will also have a suggested personal category for students. and we try to keep that quite reasonable. my institution we actually surveyed students and we really call late-- recalibrated a couple of years ago to lower that to approximately $2500 for a nine month period of enrollment. certainly we do have students that spend more than $2500 over that period of time. but many times we will find students that do live very frugally and are able to survive on far less. >> srennivasan: let's talk a little bit about the types of aid available. we've got scholarships, we've got grants, we've got loans. miss johnson, staying where you for a second, how are they different, very basically? >> well, the scholarships and grants fall into a category that we call gift aid. and basically that monies that -- means that those dollars do not need to be repaid. it's a gift to the student. generally a scholarship is something that is earned on the basis of the student's merit. so either they have academic merit and they are awarded the scholarship because of their performance in the classroom. or they may have some sort of a talent such as musical talent or drama or something like that, that would enable them to qualify for a merit-based scholarship. some scholarships also have what is called financial need as a component of the scholarship. and in order for schools to determine that, a family does need to complete a federal document known as the free application for federal institute aid, utilizing a federally mandated formula they determine what the family should reasonably be able to pay for a student's education. and sub frakt-- subtract that from the cost av continuedance that was mentioned earlier and that is the financial need so we look at need for some scholarships but not all. need is definitely a component for many of the grant programs which are dollars that are given to institutes who-- students who otherwise would not be able to afford to go to school if not for the grant funds. >> srennivasan: when you speak to parents are they getting the distinctions even on something so fundamental? >> absolutely not, hari. the problem with all this is that it is a very complicated process. beginning with the fafsa, in fact, which is often harder than filling your tax, the fafsa helps determine the expected family contribution. and many people think that that whole formula is out of whack and a formula set by congress. it is out of back because if you look at a family with $100,000 income, that family is expected to contribute about $1500 a month every month for four years. that's a lot of money. now when it comes to institutional aid, i mean that only constitutes about 5%, maybe only 8% of what student does get. the bullable of the financial aid out there is coming from the federal government, about 37%. the rest does come from institutional aid, and you know, it's very difficult for families to navigate this system. it's very difficult for families to dig through the information. there is a lot of pressure on institutions these days, from the president on down, to become a more transparent and to offer more consumer-friendly information for families. but that is not happening quickly enough. and again, it's creating thisñr sense that families are being outpriced and that unless you are really savvy and unless you have that experience, you are really not going to be able to take advantage of some of the money that is available. one other point is that often people think that because poor students qualify for more assistance, pell grants, grant aid, those kinds of things and perhaps not have to take out as many loans, that's a myth. the real story is that most poor families first generation college students are the ones having to really borrow a lot more. and going in to debt which as you mentioned early on, you know, is upwards of 29, $30,000 in debt after four years. that again is a lot of money to pay back. >> srennivasan: all right, claudio sanchez and roberta johnson thank you both for your time. >> there is more information parents and students want to know, hari continued this conversation on-line and you can find links to npr's coverage. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. investigators at fort hood, texas, focused on what drove specialist ivan lopez to kill three people, wound 16, then kill himself yesterday. the base's commanding general said lopez had a strong history of mental instability and may have argued with another soldier. the confirmed death toll in the washington state mudslide reached 30, with 15 still missing. and the senate intelligence committee voted to declassify parts of a report that sharply criticizes c.i.a. interrogation methods after 9/11. >> ifill: on the newshour online right now, after years of taliban rule where non-religious music was forbidden, budding rock stars in afghanistan have a place to call their own. "rock school kabul" is training the afghan guitar heroes of tomorrow. read the latest report in our "social entrepreneurship" series. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. 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. criminal investigation. citi group is reportedly the subject of a federal probe, making this its second setback in a week. and should investors be concerned? class divide. google's long-awasted stock split has arrived and it is not without controversy. what the change in shares means for investors. plot twist. shares of barnes & noble plunge. but there may also be hope for the struggling book seller. we have all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for thursday, april 3rd. >> thanks for joining us. citigroup has struggled more than
>> close to half of our income goes to childcare. >> there was no way i was going to be able to ever afford daycare. >> 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: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> charles schwab, proud supporter of the pbs "newshour." >> 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. >> woodruff: a huge underground bomb in syria blasted a hotel into ruins today, killing up to 100 people. it happened in the key northern city of aleppo, where a syrian government militia had been using the hotel as its base. john sparks of independent television news has this report. >> reporter: some say they're fighting a losing battle. today, however, rebel fighters in syria showed they are still a force to be reckoned with. in the heart of historic aleppo a prestigious hotel was destroyed in a massive explosion. the opposition group, islamic front, took credit for the blast and these pictures. the attack like so many other moments in this conflict has been well documented. in february, rebel combatants showed off a new construction, a 250-foot long tunnel leading to the carlton hotel. we're putting the last touches on it, he says, and we're 100% sure of the target. here's what left of the carlton, they used 23 tons of explosive and local sources told this program that 100 soldiers were killed. the government hasn't commented on the casualty figures. the fight for aleppo has been called the mother of battles. it's syria's biggest city and both sides are determined to take it. the government targets rebel areas from the air with crude shrapnel filled bombs. while their opponents resist down below. in a video posted yesterday from aleppo one fighter promised revenge. there will be big surprises soon. >> ( translated ): we will liberate this city in days. >> reporter: still the front line in aleppo has barely shifted in two years. >> woodruff: in yemen, u.s. and other western embassies stepped up security today, amid fears of new strikes by al qaeda. yemeni forces increased patrols, and stationed armored vehicles near the u.s. mission. it came as the yemeni army said it captured the militants' stronghold in the south. after an offensive that began ten days ago. amnesty international and the united nations are accusing both sides in south sudan of crimes against humanity. separate reports today said government troops and rebels are guilty of mass killings, sexual slavery and gang-rapes. meanwhile, there was word the rebel leader has arrived in ethiopia for talks with the south sudanese president. separatist leaders in ukraine pushed ahead today with plans for an independence vote. the referendum in the eastern regions of donetsk and luhansk is set for sunday, but russian president vladimir putin appealed yesterday for a delay. today, separatist councils rejected that call. the leader in donetsk said the time to vote is now. >> ( translated ): against the backdrop of today's events, military actions that are happening in the towns of the region, against the backdrop of the genocide that happened in odessa, the mood for holding the referendum is only rising in the people and to not postpone for any reason. >> woodruff: also today, moscow said it added more u.s. and canadian officials to a list banned from visiting russia. it did not name any names. the newly ousted prime minister of thailand has suffered a new blow. an anti-graft commission found yingluck shinawatra guilty of negligence in a widely criticized rice subsidy program. just yesterday, shinawatra and nine other cabinet ministers were forced out of office when the philippines constitutional court ruled they abused their power. security forces in venezuela arrested 243 youth activists in a pre-dawn crackdown on protesters. soldiers staged raids on four tent camps in caracas in a demonstrations against president nicolas maduro. the protesters are demanding his resignation. back in this country, wall street mostly struggled for direction today. the dow jones industrial average gained 32 points to close at 16,551; but the nasdaq fell 16 points to close at 4,051; and the s&p 500 lost two, to finish at 1,875. still to come on the newshour. nigeria's president vows the abducted schoolgirls will be found. then, the president's pick for health secretary faces a senate panel. as house republicans launch another probe into the benghazi attack. plus, the high price of childcare in the u.s. and allegations the va hid long wait times from vet's medical care.ñi >> ifill: secretary of state of john kerry promised today to do everything possible to help rescue the abducted nigerian schoolgirls. as the student's families returned to the site of the kidnapping. rageh ommar of independent television news reports from nigeria. >> taken back to the scene where their family'sñi nightmare began, the school where the girls were taken. for many visiting this place was too much to bear. and yet despite all the international offers of help, their torements and the ordeal being suffered by their girls shows no sign of ending. in the capitol abuja this crisis has overshadowed an international economic conference being held here. heads of state and global business leaders marked a moment silence in honor of the kidnapped school girls. all eyes were on nigeria's president, criticized so much for not doing more. he said nigeria was facing the same kind of war the west had had to deal with. >> especially this time we are facing attack of terrorists. and in nigeria at this time, we have already supported to us win the war against terror. (applause) former prime minister gordon brown called for action against boko haram weeks ago am he told me with so much lost time the world had to face up to some hard truths. >> we have to extend the search for these girls now beyond nigeria intoñi camaroon, into chad, end nes ya, i fear they have been dispersed across africa and we will never hear of them again. my measure to the families is we will dofering in our power, even though is late, we will do everything in our power to trito locateñr these girls. >> reporter: time is critical as the kidnapping of the girls heads towards the fourth week. and the sense of urgency about taking action rises by the day. >> a small american team of military, law enforcement and hostage negotiators is arriving in nigeria today to help the girls. for more on that effort i'm joined by u.s. assistant secretary of stateñr for african affairs linda thomas greenfield, thank you forñi joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> give meñr your best assessment as of this evening of where the girls are. >> i wish quoi tell you where the girls are. i don't think we have an answerñi to that and i know the nigerians don't have an answer to that. they have been missing for more than 24 days. an i think the question that everyone has is where, where are the girls.xd >> ifill: there has been some speculation that they have been split newspaper different locations. >> we have heard that speculation, that some may have been taken across the borderçó into neighboring countries or maybe in different locations inside of nigeria, in the forest and also in some small villagesment but again, this is all based on rumor and information that we've to the been able to confirm. >> everybody from your boss, secretary of state kerry this morning to the president of the united states has said the u.s. will do all it can do. what can the u.s. do? >> we will do all we can do. and the president has instructed us to do that. we are starting by sending a multidimensional team in that will include the military, civilians, individuals that can work with the nigerians on how to negotiate and how they canxd approach returning the girls without harming them. >> ifill: i know you are a diplomat rather than a military person. does this mean we're to the going have any kind of nil tear intervention. >> at this time there is no plans that this is a military intervention. we are sending military advisors in toçó work beside the nigerians and provide advice and support to the nigerians in their efforts to retrieve these girls. >> ifill: what about satellite and drone imagery, that might help. >> the nigerians have asked. this is something that we are considering, not drones,ñi but there are commercial satellite imagery that could be available to assist in this effort and is something that is being considered. >> ifill: you just mentioned that the nigerians have asked for that help. there seems to be some delay in the u.s. offer of help in this situation and nigeria's willingness to accept it. what was that gap about? >> we have not delayed an offering of the nigerian assistance. we started working with the nigerian government on providing assistance several months ago. we are have had conversations with military elements as well as the national security advisor. i was out in nigeria in december with general rodriguez and other team members from usaid. we had some very productive discussions with the nigerians on how we might be able to assist. some of that assistance has already been provided to the nigerians in terms of helping them coordinate their own intelligence information, giving them advice based on our own experience and having dealt with counterinsurgencies in iraq an afghanistan. >> ifill: so you are speaking specifically about a cooperation on the par of the u.s. and nigerian government to-- boko hamam. >> yes, boko haram has been a problem for some time so what progress has been made in that joint effort?ñ >> as you foe back in november the u.s. government made a decision to sanction boko haram and so they areçó on our terrorist list. and that gives us the ability to look at what kind of financing they have. and also to look at money that they may have going in their direction. but this is a difficult task as they are basically a groupñi of bandits that are hiding among populations. and it's made it very difficult for the nigerians to capture them. >> ifill: i think it's fair to state u.s. and other nations knew all that about boko haram before november. so why did the designation not happen until then? >> i think we started working on it long before november. it's a long process to make a designation. and the efforts that went into getting that designation done was completed in november. >> ifill: you have to explain to people who don't know what are you talking about like me what is the long process. what takes so long? >> the actions are so obvious. >> yeah, we have to one thing we have to make sure that we have it right. the people we who are making the decisions put on the list it has to go through a process with the department of treasury, with the department of justice. and all of the work that needed to go into that process was done and lead us to come to the decision to make the designation in november. >> ifill: we are now aware of al qaeda affiliate cells. -- described not only in nigeria but also in sudan and somalia. is there a coordinated regional effort to try to break that up? >> iñr think regionally we have had a number of discussions with the african union and with regional players across the continent to address the scourge of terrorism that is takingñi place in a number of locations, whether it's in somalia and kenya with el shabab, with the counterlra effort and also with boko haram and aqim and al qaeda. i think that it has to be a multiregional effort and we're certainly working with our partners across africa to address this issue. >> ifill: do you feel that you're making progress. >> i think we're making slow progress but there's still a lot of work to be done. >> ifill: assistant secretary of state for african affairs, thank you so much for helping us out. >> and thank you very much for having me. >> woodruff: the woman who will likely be the new face of the affordable care act testified today on capitol hill. sylvia mathews burwell, the president's budget director, is mr. obama's nominee to replace kathleen sebelius as secretary of health and human services. rarely is anything on health care a bipartisan affair anymore in congress, but burwell was well received by members on both sides of the aisle. >> ms. burwell, you have a reputation for competence. and i would respectfully suggest you're going to need it. >> reporter: that warning notwithstanding, republicans, like lamar alexander, mostly used the hearing to take aim not at burwell, but at the health care law. >> republicans would like to repair the damage that obamacare has done. we'd like to prevent future damage as responsibly and rapidly as we can. >> reporter: but burwell did not concede that point. instead, in her opening statement, she argued the effects of the law have been positive. >> the department's work to ensure accessible, affordable, quality healthcare through the implementation of the affordable care act is making a difference in the lives of our families and our communities while strengthening the economy. >> reporter: if confirmed, burwell would succeed kathleen sebelius, who announced her resignation last month. republicans roundly criticized her for the botched rollout of the federal online insurance exchange last fall. today, south carolina republican tim scott pressed burwell on whether she'd be an independent voice. >> i'd ask you simply, as secretary of h.h.s., will you in fact be the health and human services secretary for the american people, or will you be as your predecessor has been, the ambassador of obamacare? >> i'm here to serve the american people. i'm part of the president's administration. i'm honored to be appointed. first and foremost i serve the american people. i believe the president and his policies are aligned with that and will work. but i am here to serve the american people. >> reporter: that line of questioning drew a strong rebuke from iowa democrat tom harkin, the chair of the committee. >> it is my opinion, based on the years of work with kathleen sebelius, secretary sebelius, that she performed her job admirably, and that she was a responsible and attentive secretary of health and human services and carried out the law as we wrote it. >> reporter: democrats also touted benefits of the law, and connecticut's chris murphy zeroed in on republican governors who've balked at embracing key provisions, such as expanding medicaid. >> what are the ways in which we can work in a flexible manner with these states as they maybe wake up to the reality of how well the implementation is going after the initial botched rollout. what are the ways in which we can work with some of the states that haven't done things like connecticut to try to make this work in all 50 states rather than just in the handful that have set up their own exchanges? >> i think there are two things and it does come back to the point about flexibility, is one of the points. and i think what's important is to send a signal that folks are willing to have the conversations. as i said, it's important if there are fundamental principles, to articulate those in terms of the change you're trying to get, but be willing to have the conversations and hear the ideas. >> reporter: burwell's answers generally seemed to go down well. some republicans even spoke of her reputation for competence. before taking over at the office of management and budget, she held leadership positions with the walmart foundation and the gates foundation. she also served in the clinton administration, at the national economic council. richard burr of north carolina cited that background, saying he plans to support the nomination. >> it's because she doesn't come with a single experience that would make her a good secretary. she comes portfolio of experience that would make her a tremendous asset at addressing some of the challenges that that agency specifically and uniquely has. >> reporter: burwell also got an outside boost, when america's health insurance plans and industry trade group issued a statement calling her uniquely qualified. she still faces a separate confirmation hearing before the senate finance committee. that hearing has not yet been scheduled. >> ifill: as rocky as the rollout of healthcare.gov has been, a new report says the federal exchange was a bargain compared to the state run marketpalces. which spent twice as much per enrollee. we have that story, on our rundown. >> woodruff: now to the continued fallout and controversy over the attacks on the american consulate in benghazi, libya. two years ago, four americans, including an ambassador, were killed in benghazi, and republicans believe there are unanswered questions about what more could have been done and the white house's role in the aftermath. the house of representatives today moved to form a special committee to investigate led by south carolina congressman trey gowdy, a former prosecutor. house speaker john boehner today laid out the reasons he called for the new investigation. >> we're here to consider a resolution to create another partisan committee, to investigate what the speaker and his five chairman have already been investigating. with all due respect, if the republicans want to fix the problems with their partisan investigation, they need more than just a new chairman. i have tremendous respect for mr. gowdy. and i'm glad that he said that the fund-raising should not be done on the deaths of these four people am and i hope that the republican conference will finally agree with that. we are better than that! >> last week a line was crossed in two places. first came to light that the white house -- >> formal congressional subpoena. >> our committee sought to make sure that they wouldn't fight. to help the american people from finding the truth as well. >> with us now is >> woodruff: with us now to talk about the latest, robert costa of "the washington post." congressional reporter robert costa of the washington most and he joins us from capitol hill. robert casta welcome back to the newshour. it's been two years since ben gazy almost will be in september. the speaker earlier was against a new investigation. what has caused him to change his mind? >> there was a release of recent documents procured by judicial watch, a conservative group. and these documents included new e-mails about how the white house messaged the attacks right in the immediate aftermath. and the release of these e-mails really has angered house republicans here on capitol hill and has spurred them to correct the select committee. >> so after all-- we know there were four investigations under way. there have been a lot of documents released. so just in the release of these e-mails that's what changed the speaker's mind. >> it's not only that i think that is the main factor and that is the factor speaker boehner has cited. but there also is a political almost. the conservative wing of the republican party, the gop base, they have been very frustrated about the administration's handling of the attacks for a long time. and ahead of the midterm elections republican leadership, they are paying attention to the base. and the desires of those back bench conservatives who are also eager to have a select committee. >> what is the white house, what is the administration saying in response to this what the republicans are saying smells like something fishy was happening? >>. >> democrats both at the white house and in congress are skeptical of this republican initiative. nancy pelosi and the democratic leader in the house has said the democrats may even boycott the selection. they will make that decision tomorrow when they meet privately at the capitol. at the white house, democrats there believe that they there have already been investigations in the in2e8 against committee, on the oversight committee, in the foreign affairs committee and elsewhere and they think that's enough. >> why is only the house pursuing this investigation? why not the senate? >> well, simply, the house is dominated by republicans and the senate is not. and i think the house has always, especially with the oversight committee in the house, they have really been delving into this issue for a long time, it animates the republican party and they feel like now because there is a such a divide in congress, there's not much chance of bipartisan deals in fiscal matters, house republicans broadly speak of returning to oversight, looking into benghazi, looking into the internal revenue service and administration's handling of that. that is the focus for the gop. >> you were saying robert costa, not much chance of substantive legislation. dow mean that literally that there is not much that is going to be happening this year? >> that's right, we're really if a phase now where we move towards summer campaigning, the august recess. and the oversight. and there won't be much time even for the select committee to do much work before the election because of the august recess. so you are looking at a republicans positioning themselves, looking at benghazi and trying to underscore before november and reminding voters this is at the top of their list in terms of issues. >> as you eluded the democrats have a tough decision to make about whether or not to participate in this special committee. they're divide, i gather. >> it is. there has been an interesting teleon capitol hill speaking with house democrats and they initially were very reluctant to participate in the select committee. but now because they know former secretary of state hillary clinton is likely to be called, they now want to perhaps be on the committee to act as dividers-- defenders for her. she is the party's leading con tenor for the 2016 presidential campaign. and if she is called they want to be in that room. >> robert costa i also want to ask you about something else we just heard congressman commings mention, that is the fact that some republicans are using the benghazi allegations to raise money for the party. where is that stand? i know that congressman gowdy who is going to be the chairman of this committee said he thought it was inappropriate. but then speaker boehner today declined to say that it-- that it's wrong. do what is the thinking on that? >> this is a case study in how the select committee is complicated politically. trey gowdy a former federal prosecutor from south carolina who is chairing the subcommittee, speaker boehner are trying to present a sober look for the republicans in the house. a seriousness to this entire process. yet almost immediately the campaign arm of the gop started to fund raise off this entire initiative so. have sober on one hand and fund raise and political on the other. it will be hard balanced for republicans to make and speaker boehner today in a press conference did not address the fund raising from the nrcc related to benghazi and i that i say testament to his ability to sgrap grap well in tension. >> is this something the republicans believe they can raise money off? >> i think they have not only can they, but they have for quite some time. i spent a lot of time on the campaign trail. and when i talk to republican based voters, tea party conservatives, benghazi more than jobs it seems, more than any other issue is at the top of their list of concerns. they really believe the obama administration is out of line in how it handled the response of these attacks and they want-- they're pressuring the leadership day if and day out, calls, et cetera, to go in and do it more. >> quickly more than health care? >> even more-- i think obama care ahead of 2014 is certainly at the top of that same list. but it's obama care and benghazi when i'm out on the trail. that is what i hear as a reporter. i think the republican leadership would echo that if you had a conversation with them. >> robert costa of "the washington post," we thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: the cost, and affordability, of good child care is the focus of the next installment in our series "parenting now." it's a major concern for families throughout the country and, in different ways, it cuts across lines of class and income. the newshour's economics correspondent, paul solman, has the story. part of his reporting making sense of financial news. >> there she is. >> when baltimore teacher daniel gave birth to her daughter eva last year he had to quit her job. >> there was no way, i was going to be to be able to ever afford day care. >> tiffany worked at wal-mart in maryland where she had her second daughter. >> i made $12,000 for its whole year and day care was-- i want to say 1275 to 300 a week just for the newborn. >> that's more than she was earning. >> alexandria virginia moth of two lisa boyle and her husband can make the payments. still. >> depending on where you live in america these days, full-time care can run to 24,000 a year. but its advocacy group child care aware. >> most regions of the country, child care is the most expensive part of a family's budget. >> in most places, infant care now costs more than state college tuition. it is a cost rising as much as eight times faster than family income in some places. >> and it presents a sort of generational catch-22. >> your kids need advantages like quality infant and day care to prosper and workplace. >> but with stagnant wages, you can't afford them. >> and yet he says, the research is unequivocal. >> we know that during the first couple of years of life the brain is growing at a very rapid rate and that's where we really should be putting it in. >> president obama called for universal preschool in this year's state of the union address. >> one of the best investments we can make in a child's life, this high quality early education but but so far nothing's happened. and parents like danielle are still on their own. >> going to get you. >> her teacher salary wasn't enough to cover the cost of caring for her daughter. >> i was, after taxes bringing home about $500 a week. and with a mortgage and everything else it just wasn't going to work. >> spiro is the family's primary earner. her husband is a student. >> after she joined her mom's consulting firm, she hired a nanny she loves but even on her 70,000 salary, can only afford part-time t to bridge the gap -- >> she put her one year old in the cheapest home day care she could find, it proved a poor alternative. >> the tv was on most of the day. it just wasn't an ideal situation but i didn't really have very many choices. >> he pulled her out and now watches her daughter herself when the nanny isn't there. >> i am waking up with her between 5:30 to 6:00 in the morning and with her all day and i put her to bed around 6:30 at night, clean the house. i get a little laundry in, and then start my work. >> sometimes he finishes at 1:00 in the morning are are or later tiffany cuts back from full-time work for to wait chroning, she was one of day care and it was really expensive and it was taken the majority of my paycheck and some of my husband's paycheck. i didn't want to be a stay at home mom, i was forced to basically take the position. >> and forced to take it out of day care which per order believes was benefitting the bannee, namely with soft skills. >> socialized interacting with other kids. >> in fact, day care costs are driving more mothers to opt out all together. almost one-third now stay at home. its most in more than two decades. >> twinkle, twinkle little star. >> crystal children's center costs over $20,000 a year for full-time infant care. high but typical in the wealthy dc suburbs, for high quality care however there is little margin between costs an revenue says director lieu "ellen". >> they've got to have three teachers in there and you have only nine children. >> so if you were paying tuition for nine children to pay three teachers plus the overhead, lights, heat, rent, it's very, very small. >> the pay averages barely $16 an hour. but if the center paid more. >> i would have to increase my tuition. >> lisa boyle the center's assistant director understands the better than most. she uses almost all her stall ree to pay to pay for her children to come here, even though she gets a discount for her three-year-old son. in the end -- >> i work to earn about $100 every week. >> she can swing it because her husband works too, plus she's con vinlsed it's an important investment. >> when are you looking at alternatives that were cheaper, it was always, you know, poorer quality so it was a choice that we made to invest in our children's education, at 0 to 3, it was another one of those decisions where we went back and forth and you know, but eventually the baby wins. >> single moms like paula wilson don't have such choices. >> we simply can't afford a place like crystal city. >> everything is on me. i don't have someone 20 share the bills with, do i have to make sure i plan everything out to a t. >> wilson a hotel made sends her three-year-old daniel to a family run day care she likes, and can just afford. but it's 20 minutes away. and she can't afford a car. >> every day i have to figure out how danny is going to get to day care. i know they have closed the day cares in the area but they're way too expensive. >> so wilson asks friends and family to help with transportation. there are child care subsidies available but she doesn't qualify. you must be able to afford it but they don't look at the fact that sometimes the hotel is slow and you never know when it's going to be slow. >> meanwhile tiffany recently lost her job at wal-mart. >> before we were struggling, now we have to struggle even more to make ends meet. we need the income so we can make sure we have rent or make sure we have food at home for the children. >> for such families infant and child care are luxury the. but says lynn et froga. >> also an economic and educational imperative, families have to work and when they have to work they need quality to put their children in to be cared and nurtured and developed for later school success. >> unfortunately, these are quality settings that a great many americans just can't afford. >> even parents who work full-time often can't afford backup child care. read the story of a single mom who feels caught between needing to care for her kids when they're not at school and climbing the ladder at work. that's on making sense >> woodruff: now to a different look at the cost of kids. the ever rising price tags for college. how do you assess the value of one's degree and of higher education overall as a graduate moves forward? many studies have looked at job placement and income as a key metric. but a new study measures it differently focusing on whether a graduate has a good life in terms of well-being, satisfaction and engagement in a career. the report comes from a survey of more than 30,000 graduates in all 50 states. it was done by gallup in partnership with purdue university and the lumina foundation. earlier this week, i spoke with the president of purdue and the former governor of indiana mitch daniels. for the record, the lumina foundation is a funder of the newshour. >> so why did you want to undertake this kind of a study. >> started as one university feeling we should be accountable. we wanted to know if some rigor and authority were doing. first to report that po to sense future students, maybe we could learn thing, i found the folks in gallop with 20 or 30 years of research in this area were very interested in something broader. and that lead us to today. >> so we didn't want to live both interesting findings here, is that when you look at what's happened to graduate, and there is the survey across the country. it didn't matter so much whether they went to a private college or a public college. or even how selective the school was in determining what kind of life they had afterwards. tell us about that. >> probably one of the most surprising, a lot of surprise in here. maybe nothing sur-- surpasses that, no statistically significant difference as you just said between public and private, so-called elite and larger schools like ours turns out that what matters overwhelmingly is not where you went to school but how you went and how the school approached the process of your education. >> and what did you mean by that, how did you measure how encarnacion gauged the focus -- >> gallop has decades and tens of millions of interviews and they-- by now have a very good method for determining well-being and maintenance. really important to know that we were-- yes, we were were interested in how the graduates were doing, materially, were they employees or earning a gooldz living and all that. and social and in a sense of engagement with working community. and that's really what we said college should produce, people who thrive at all those areas. and it turns out that what really really matters is that one professor serves-- did you have a work experience, some sort of experienceal working that go, that went along with the questioned learning, these were the kind of lessons that we hope ask make our school. >> thinking will the wrong things, when they pick a school or think about the school. >> that through is an implication especially when the spread of costs across these schools by we now know are not producing better outcomes, is so gigantic. and you know we're a land grant school. we were put there along with our sister school to throw open the gates of higher education beyond the elites of this country and we've got to be serious about t but now we no that we can do that affordably for students they can have just as good an education on the other end. >> do you think the results of a survey like this will make other schools feel more comfortable about not having to keep raising costs and keep paying ever more for new buildings, faculty and so on. >> i think that the school should have gotten the memo about that already. you're hearing it in perfectly legitimate criticism. in public discourse, this year the highest percentage, or record percentage of freshman passed over their first choice school for a second or third choice, almost always on the basis of cost. and so i think that many of the excesses that you just mentioned really have run their course. >> so what's the main message that you would wants to take away from this? >> no people and their parents who are thinking about the next several years. >> the go to school prepared to draw on the lessons here, to search out experienceal opportunities as well astra decisional classroom, to go to a school with some reputation for the engagement of faculty closely and the teaching, and pay close attention to cost because very likely you're not buying greater quality for the higher sticker price you're being charged. >> one of the things you mentioned, the survey also found that those graduates who carry a lot of student debt when they leave that can very much affect what they do. >> right. i think we've all sensed that student debt is a big, big problem. the survey tells does is an even bigger problem than we thought. that linear fashion, the more debt a student leaves with, even if it's not that much by today's standards, it brings down their so-called well-being across all these dimensions, financial, social, health status and so forth. and another very troublesome finding, the more debt you have, the less likely you are to ever start a business. so that's bad news at the i have level and bad societally and economically. >> miss daniels president of purdue university thinking about the way people ought to think about the school they choose to. thank you very much. >> thank you much. >> ifill: veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki is pushing back against calls for him to resign. this comes after allegations that dozens of patients have died because of delayed treatment at an agency hospital. jeffrey brown reports. >> all those in favor of the motion to issue the subpoena will say aye. aye. all those opposed? >> reporter: the house veterans' affairs committee voted overwhelmingly this morning to subpoena communications between veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki and his colleagues. the focus, allegations that employees at v.a. facilities in phoenix, arizona, and fort collins, colorado falsified records on delays in treating patients. a retired doctor in phoenix who had worked at the hospital came forward with allegations that up to 40 v.a. patients died while awaiting care. on monday, the head of nation's largest veterans group, the american legion, called for shinseki's resignation. >> there needs to be a change and that change needs to occur at the top. >> the administration needs to take steps now. this is long overdue. they should have taken steps months ago. >> reporter: three republican senators, including john cornyn of texas, quickly joined that call. >> the president needs to find a new leader to lead this organization out of the wilderness and back to providing the service that our veterans deserve. >> reporter: but house speaker john boehner said today the real priority is making it easier for shinseki to fire people. >> i'm not ready to join the chorus of people calling for him to step down. the problems at the v.a. are systemic. and i don't believe that just changing someone at the top is going to actually get to the solutions that many of us are looking for. >> reporter: democrats have generally defended the secretary, while demanding improvements in care for the nine million people in the v.a. medical system. for his part, shinseki insists he won't step down. he told "the wall street journal" yesterday: >> i serve at the pleasure of the president. i signed on to make some changes, i have work to do. the v.a. inspector general is now investigating the allegations of falsifying records. and white house spokesman jay carney says president obama is standing by the secretary. >> the president remains confident in secretary shinseki's ability to lead the department and to take appropriate action based on the i.g.'s findings. pending those findings, shinseki has now ordered a nation-wide review of access to care at all v.a. clinics. we invited veteran affairs secretary shinseki to appear on tonight's program. he declined. to tell us more about what happened in phoenix and the wider implications. we turn to associated press reporter brian skoloff. and phillip carter, he's a senior fellow with the center for a new american security. he served nine years as an army military police and civil affairs officer. brian skoloff, tell us more about the specific allegations here the v.a. was falfisying records of appointments with patients? >> yeah, those are the allegations. we have a doctor retired long time physician with the va after about 20 years of service, retired in december. and then came public with these allegations that administrations at the va hospital instructed staff to keep this secret waiting list, high wait times, sometimes patients were waiting 6 to 9 months to get in there. but the wait list was showing that they were getting appointments within two weeks. he it also claimed because of this wait list, up to 40 patients may have died while awaiting this care. >> well, explain that. because it's not necessarily the 40 people who died because they weren't seen but they died during that waiting time. >> exactly. and we also have to make perfectly clear here that these are all still allegations that as you noted the inspector general office has investigators here in phoenix pouring over staff, trying to get to the truth. we have this doctor and two other former va employees making these claims and are you correct. the claims are that up to 40 patients may have died while aity whatting care. but you know, first of all, va administration here in phoenix deny any of these allegations. but they also point out that if there were deaths while patients were waiting doctors appointments they very well may could have happened from a heart attack, car den, things unrelated to the car they were seeking. so again the inspector generals down here will have to wait and see what the probe fills up. >> phil carter there is a larger context. the va has been under pressure and criticized for systemic problems. and not keeping up with demand of the wars we've been fighting. >> that's right. these allegations strike a chord because even watching for patient satisfaction with the va's massive hospital system, there are also repeated allegations like this in fact the government accountability office substantiated many of these a couple of years ago with a series of reports on how unreliable the va's wait time systems were. and that's been a known problem within the va that even though they have known about t they have not fixed it. >> in fact, presumably there is is that thing that may have caused the pressure in phoenix and other places to falsify the documents, i assume. >> that's part of it. and part of it is also the potential linkage between performance incentives and wait times. that is if the reported wait times or the targets for the wait times are part of the employment contracts for certain va officials, they are also very visible metrics of success for va medical centres and there is an allegation at least that the va personnel may have tweekd the stats in order to look better on those measures. >> so we have allegations in phoenix, fort collins, is it look like we're going to be hearing about this other places as well, these practise? >> there are also reports coming out of austin and san antonio. you have to remember the va is a massive health-care system, 151 hospitals. 800 plus clinics. and so if these conditions existed at the phoenix center which i should say is also home to the second largest veteran's community in the country, they may exist in other large facilities or small facilities too. it is as speaker boehner said most likely aystemic issue. >> brian skoloff, you said that there in phoenix the va people at the hospital have denied these allegations. tell us a little bit more about the reaction so far. >> yeah, i mean, a good point was raised there. these allegations are very, very serious. and they, the former va employee who came out with them first claims exactly what your guest just said. that the reason the administrators were having these wait times fabricated was so that they could pad their pockets with bounce us checks. the director hellman is a director at the va health-care system here in phoenix. prior to her being placed on administrative leech last week, told me that she plat flat out denies this. she makes roughly 169, 170,000 a year, her bonus hast year was about dt 9300. she scoff its at the notion that she would sit back an watch veterans die to make an extra $9,000 in bonus money. again, though, these are all allegations but if proven true they are serious allegations. but the chief of staff and hospital administrator vehemently deny that any secret waiting list was creted that they ever told staff to create the secret waiting list and the staff is really just confused with a change over from paperwork, actual paperwork to an electronic waiting list. again, you know, at this point it is a "he said, she said" until investigators get to the truth. >> phil carter at the national level, though, there is a lot of pressure now on general shinseki. >> a lot of pressure, a lot of folks are analogy gizing this to the walter reed scandal from 6 years ago where there were reports of terrible living continue conditions at the medical centre which is not a va facility and those lead to the downfall of the army's medical leadership as a result. but folks are trying to figure out here in washington where do you fix responsibility within the chain of could panned is it at the secretarial level s it below that at the regional level, the hospital level, or down below. and i think that there's a consensus building, at least since speaker boehner's comments illustrate that to wait for the investigation before we fix accountability for these issues. >> so secretary shinseki announced this face-to-face audit. >> right. >> yesterday, all facilities across the country. do we know what that will entail do. we know how long it will take? >> no, we don't know the details of that am we do foe that it was announced earlier in april, and that was part of the offer to understand how much of an issue this is throughout the v's-- va massive health-care system. secretary shinseki trying to get ahead of the situation while fighting the perception this he is to the doing enough. >> do you know how that will work in phoenix? >> it could be weeks down here trying to get to the truth of things. a good point was raised there. there is no secret that the va is overwhelmed with veterans seeking care. either from previous wars or recent wars. there are a lot of veterans seeking care and they are really forming these hospital os. the va has already acknowledged that 23 patients in recent years have died due to delayed care so there is no-- there is no secret that there is an issue with delaysed care. the allegations made here in phoenix are serious that there is a cover-up in order for these administrators to make money and get bon us chicks. so i guess we'll wait and see. but again, as your guest noted it's no secret that the va has issues it needs to deal with. >> brian, phil, thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> thank you >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day. nigeria's president pledged to find more than 270 school girls kidnapped by islamist militants. rebels in syria set off a huge bomb in aleppo that leveled a hotel used by a government militia. reports said up to 100 people were killed. and the u.s. house voted to set up a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack on american diplomats in benghazi, libya. republicans pushed the idea. it was unclear if democrats would take part. >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now how furry co- therapists are helping some soldiers. service dogs are being used to keep patients from missing their mental health appointments at some military installations and the idea is gaining support. you can read our report, on the rundown. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on friday, russia's president putin heads to crimea. and a look at whether american kids are overprotected. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you on-line. 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: >> 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. >> when i was pregnant, i got more advice than i knew what to do with. what i needed was information i could trust, on how to take care of me and my baby. united healthcare has a simple program that helps moms stay on track with their doctors and get care and 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>> close to half of our income goes to childcare. >> there was no way i was going to be able to ever afford daycare. >> 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: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> charles schwab, proud supporter of the pbs "newshour." >> 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. >> woodruff: a huge underground bomb in syria blasted a hotel into ruins today, killing up to 100 people. it happened in the key northern city of aleppo, where a syrian government militia had been using the hotel as its base. john sparks of independent television news has this report. >> reporter: some say they're fighting a losing battle. today, however, rebel fighters in syria showed they are still a force to be reckoned with. in the heart of historic aleppo a prestigious hotel was destroyed in a massive explosion. the opposition group, islamic front, took credit for the blast and these pictures. the attack like so many other moments in this conflict has been well documented. in february, rebel combatants showed off a new construction, a 250-foot long tunnel leading to the carlton hotel. we're putting the last touches on it, he says, and we're 100% sure of the target. here's what left of the carlton, they used 23 tons of explosive and local sources told this program that 100 soldiers were killed. the government hasn't commented on the casualty figures. the fight for aleppo has been called the mother of battles. it's syria's biggest city and both sides are determined to take it. the government targets rebel areas from the air with crude shrapnel filled bombs. while their opponents resist down below. in a video posted yesterday from aleppo one fighter promised revenge. there will be big surprises soon. >> ( translated ): we will liberate this city in days. >> reporter: still the front line in aleppo has barely shifted in two years. >> woodruff: in yemen, u.s. and other western embassies stepped up security today, amid fears of new strikes by al qaeda. yemeni forces increased patrols, and stationed armored vehicles near the u.s. mission. it came as the yemeni army said it captured the militants' stronghold in the south. after an offensive that began ten days ago. amnesty international and the united nations are accusing both sides in south sudan of crimes against humanity. separate reports today said government troops and rebels are guilty of mass killings, sexual slavery and gang-rapes. meanwhile, there was word the rebel leader has arrived in ethiopia for talks with the south sudanese president. separatist leaders in ukraine pushed ahead today with plans for an independence vote. the referendum in the eastern regions of donetsk and luhansk is set for sunday, but russian president vladimir putin appealed yesterday for a delay. today, separatist councils rejected that call. the leader in donetsk said the time to vote is now. >> ( translated ): against the backdrop of today's events, military actions that are happening in the towns of the region, against the backdrop of the genocide that happened in odessa, the mood for holding the referendum is only rising in the people and to not postpone for any reason. >> woodruff: also today, moscow said it added more u.s. and canadian officials to a list banned from visiting russia. it did not name any names. the newly ousted prime minister of thailand has suffered a new blow. an anti-graft commission found yingluck shinawatra guilty of negligence in a widely criticized rice subsidy program. just yesterday, shinawatra and nine other cabinet ministers were forced out of office when the philippines constitutional court ruled they abused their power. security forces in venezuela arrested 243 youth activists in a pre-dawn crackdown on protesters. soldiers staged raids on four tent camps in caracas in a demonstrations against president nicolas maduro. the protesters are demanding his resignation. back in this country, wall street mostly struggled for direction today. the dow jones industrial average gained 32 points to close at 16,551; but the nasdaq fell 16 points to close at 4,051; and the s&p 500 lost two, to finish at 1,875. still to come on the newshour. nigeria's president vows the abducted schoolgirls will be found. then, the president's pick for health secretary faces a senate panel. as house republicans launch another probe into the benghazi attack. plus, the high price of childcare in the u.s. and allegations the va hid long wait times from vet's medical care.ñi >> ifill: secretary of state of john kerry promised today to do everything possible to help rescue the abducted nigerian schoolgirls. as the student's families returned to the site of the kidnapping. rageh ommar of independent television news reports from nigeria. >> taken back to the scene where their family'sñi nightmare began, the school where the girls were taken. for many visiting this place was too much to bear. and yet despite all the international offers of help, their torements and the ordeal being suffered by their girls shows no sign of ending. in the capitol abuja this crisis has overshadowed an international economic conference being held here. heads of state and global business leaders marked a moment silence in honor of the kidnapped school girls. all eyes were on nigeria's president, criticized so much for not doing more. he said nigeria was facing the same kind of war the west had had to deal with. >> especially this time we are facing attack of terrorists. and in nigeria at this time, we have already supported to us win the war against terror. (applause) former prime minister gordon brown called for action against boko haram weeks ago am he told me with so much lost time the world had to face up to some hard truths. >> we have to extend the search for these girls now beyond nigeria intoñi camaroon, into chad, end nes ya, i fear they have been dispersed across africa and we will never hear of them again. my measure to the families is we will dofering in our power, even though is late, we will do everything in our power to trito locateñr these girls. >> reporter: time is critical as the kidnapping of the girls heads towards the fourth week. and the sense of urgency about taking action rises by the day. >> a small american team of military, law enforcement and hostage negotiators is arriving in nigeria today to help the girls. for more on that effort i'm joined by u.s. assistant secretary of stateñr for african affairs linda thomas greenfield, thank you forñi joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> give meñr your best assessment as of this evening of where the girls are. >> i wish quoi tell you where the girls are. i don't think we have an answerñi to that and i know the nigerians don't have an answer to that. they have been missing for more than 24 days. an i think the question that everyone has is where, where are the girls.xd >> ifill: there has been some speculation that they have been split newspaper different locations. >> we have heard that speculation, that some may have been taken across the borderçó into neighboring countries or maybe in different locations inside of nigeria, in the forest and also in some small villagesment but again, this is all based on rumor and information that we've to the been able to confirm. >> everybody from your boss, secretary of state kerry this morning to the president of the united states has said the u.s. will do all it can do. what can the u.s. do? >> we will do all we can do. and the president has instructed us to do that. we are starting by sending a multidimensional team in that will include the military, civilians, individuals that can work with the nigerians on how to negotiate and how they canxd approach returning the girls without harming them. >> ifill: i know you are a diplomat rather than a military person. does this mean we're to the going have any kind of nil tear intervention. >> at this time there is no plans that this is a military intervention. we are sending military advisors in toçó work beside the nigerians and provide advice and support to the nigerians in their efforts to retrieve these girls. >> ifill: what about satellite and drone imagery, that might help. >> the nigerians have asked. this is something that we are considering, not drones,ñi but there are commercial satellite imagery that could be available to assist in this effort and is something that is being considered. >> ifill: you just mentioned that the nigerians have asked for that help. there seems to be some delay in the u.s. offer of help in this situation and nigeria's willingness to accept it. what was that gap about? >> we have not delayed an offering of the nigerian assistance. we started working with the nigerian government on providing assistance several months ago. we are have had conversations with military elements as well as the national security advisor. i was out in nigeria in december with general rodriguez and other team members from usaid. we had some very productive discussions with the nigerians on how we might be able to assist. some of that assistance has already been provided to the nigerians in terms of helping them coordinate their own intelligence information, giving them advice based on our own experience and having dealt with counterinsurgencies in iraq an afghanistan. >> ifill: so you are speaking specifically about a cooperation on the par of the u.s. and nigerian government to-- boko hamam. >> yes, boko haram has been a problem for some time so what progress has been made in that joint effort?ñ >> as you foe back in november the u.s. government made a decision to sanction boko haram and so they areçó on our terrorist list. and that gives us the ability to look at what kind of financing they have. and also to look at money that they may have going in their direction. but this is a difficult task as they are basically a groupñi of bandits that are hiding among populations. and it's made it very difficult for the nigerians to capture them. >> ifill: i think it's fair to state u.s. and other nations knew all that about boko haram before november. so why did the designation not happen until then? >> i think we started working on it long before november. it's a long process to make a designation. and the efforts that went into getting that designation done was completed in november. >> ifill: you have to explain to people who don't know what are you talking about like me what is the long process. what takes so long? >> the actions are so obvious. >> yeah, we have to one thing we have to make sure that we have it right. the people we who are making the decisions put on the list it has to go through a process with the department of treasury, with the department of justice. and all of the work that needed to go into that process was done and lead us to come to the decision to make the designation in november. >> ifill: we are now aware of al qaeda affiliate cells. -- described not only in nigeria but also in sudan and somalia. is there a coordinated regional effort to try to break that up? >> iñr think regionally we have had a number of discussions with the african union and with regional players across the continent to address the scourge of terrorism that is takingñi place in a number of locations, whether it's in somalia and kenya with el shabab, with the counterlra effort and also with boko haram and aqim and al qaeda. i think that it has to be a multiregional effort and we're certainly working with our partners across africa to address this issue. >> ifill: do you feel that you're making progress. >> i think we're making slow progress but there's still a lot of work to be done. >> ifill: assistant secretary of state for african affairs, thank you so much for helping us out. >> and thank you very much for having me. >> woodruff: the woman who will likely be the new face of the affordable care act testified today on capitol hill. sylvia mathews burwell, the president's budget director, is mr. obama's nominee to replace kathleen sebelius as secretary of health and human services. rarely is anything on health care a bipartisan affair anymore in congress, but burwell was well received by members on both sides of the aisle. >> ms. burwell, you have a reputation for competence. and i would respectfully suggest you're going to need it. >> reporter: that warning notwithstanding, republicans, like lamar alexander, mostly used the hearing to take aim not at burwell, but at the health care law. >> republicans would like to repair the damage that obamacare has done. we'd like to prevent future damage as responsibly and rapidly as we can. >> reporter: but burwell did not concede that point. instead, in her opening statement, she argued the effects of the law have been positive. >> the department's work to ensure accessible, affordable, quality healthcare through the implementation of the affordable care act is making a difference in the lives of our families and our communities while strengthening the economy. >> reporter: if confirmed, burwell would succeed kathleen sebelius, who announced her resignation last month. republicans roundly criticized her for the botched rollout of the federal online insurance exchange last fall. today, south carolina republican tim scott pressed burwell on whether she'd be an independent voice. >> i'd ask you simply, as secretary of h.h.s., will you in fact be the health and human services secretary for the american people, or will you be as your predecessor has been, the ambassador of obamacare? >> i'm here to serve the american people. i'm part of the president's administration. i'm honored to be appointed. first and foremost i serve the american people. i believe the president and his policies are aligned with that and will work. but i am here to serve the american people. >> reporter: that line of questioning drew a strong rebuke from iowa democrat tom harkin, the chair of the committee. >> it is my opinion, based on the years of work with kathleen sebelius, secretary sebelius, that she performed her job admirably, and that she was a responsible and attentive secretary of health and human services and carried out the law as we wrote it. >> reporter: democrats also touted benefits of the law, and connecticut's chris murphy zeroed in on republican governors who've balked at embracing key provisions, such as expanding medicaid. >> what are the ways in which we can work in a flexible manner with these states as they maybe wake up to the reality of how well the implementation is going after the initial botched rollout. what are the ways in which we can work with some of the states that haven't done things like connecticut to try to make this work in all 50 states rather than just in the handful that have set up their own exchanges? >> i think there are two things and it does come back to the point about flexibility, is one of the points. and i think what's important is to send a signal that folks are willing to have the conversations. as i said, it's important if there are fundamental principles, to articulate those in terms of the change you're trying to get, but be willing to have the conversations and hear the ideas. >> reporter: burwell's answers generally seemed to go down well. some republicans even spoke of her reputation for competence. before taking over at the office of management and budget, she held leadership positions with the walmart foundation and the gates foundation. she also served in the clinton administration, at the national economic council. richard burr of north carolina cited that background, saying he plans to support the nomination. >> it's because she doesn't come with a single experience that would make her a good secretary. she comes portfolio of experience that would make her a tremendous asset at addressing some of the challenges that that agency specifically and uniquely has. >> reporter: burwell also got an outside boost, when america's health insurance plans and industry trade group issued a statement calling her uniquely qualified. she still faces a separate confirmation hearing before the senate finance committee. that hearing has not yet been scheduled. >> ifill: as rocky as the rollout of healthcare.gov has been, a new report says the federal exchange was a bargain compared to the state run marketpalces. which spent twice as much per enrollee. we have that story, on our rundown. >> woodruff: now to the continued fallout and controversy over the attacks on the american consulate in benghazi, libya. two years ago, four americans, including an ambassador, were killed in benghazi, and republicans believe there are unanswered questions about what more could have been done and the white house's role in the aftermath. the house of representatives today moved to form a special committee to investigate led by south carolina congressman trey gowdy, a former prosecutor. house speaker john boehner today laid out the reasons he called for the new investigation. >> we're here to consider a resolution to create another partisan committee, to investigate what the speaker and his five chairman have already been investigating. with all due respect, if the republicans want to fix the problems with their partisan investigation, they need more than just a new chairman. i have tremendous respect for mr. gowdy. and i'm glad that he said that the fund-raising should not be done on the deaths of these four people am and i hope that the republican conference will finally agree with that. we are better than that! >> last week a line was crossed in two places. first came to light that the white house -- >> formal congressional subpoena. >> our committee sought to make sure that they wouldn't fight. to help the american people from finding the truth as well. >> with us now is >> woodruff: with us now to talk about the latest, robert costa of "the washington post." congressional reporter robert costa of the washington most and he joins us from capitol hill. robert casta welcome back to the newshour. it's been two years since ben gazy almost will be in september. the speaker earlier was against a new investigation. what has caused him to change his mind? >> there was a release of recent documents procured by judicial watch, a conservative group. and these documents included new e-mails about how the white house messaged the attacks right in the immediate aftermath. and the release of these e-mails really has angered house republicans here on capitol hill and has spurred them to correct the select committee. >> so after all-- we know there were four investigations under way. there have been a lot of documents released. so just in the release of these e-mails that's what changed the speaker's mind. >> it's not only that i think that is the main factor and that is the factor speaker boehner has cited. but there also is a political almost. the conservative wing of the republican party, the gop base, they have been very frustrated about the administration's handling of the attacks for a long time. and ahead of the midterm elections republican leadership, they are paying attention to the base. and the desires of those back bench conservatives who are also eager to have a select committee. >> what is the white house, what is the administration saying in response to this what the republicans are saying smells like something fishy was happening? >>. >> democrats both at the white house and in congress are skeptical of this republican initiative. nancy pelosi and the democratic leader in the house has said the democrats may even boycott the selection. they will make that decision tomorrow when they meet privately at the capitol. at the white house, democrats there believe that they there have already been investigations in the in2e8 against committee, on the oversight committee, in the foreign affairs committee and elsewhere and they think that's enough. >> why is only the house pursuing this investigation? why not the senate? >> well, simply, the house is dominated by republicans and the senate is not. and i think the house has always, especially with the oversight committee in the house, they have really been delving into this issue for a long time, it animates the republican party and they feel like now because there is a such a divide in congress, there's not much chance of bipartisan deals in fiscal matters, house republicans broadly speak of returning to oversight, looking into benghazi, looking into the internal revenue service and administration's handling of that. that is the focus for the gop. >> you were saying robert costa, not much chance of substantive legislation. dow mean that literally that there is not much that is going to be happening this year? >> that's right, we're really if a phase now where we move towards summer campaigning, the august recess. and the oversight. and there won't be much time even for the select committee to do much work before the election because of the august recess. so you are looking at a republicans positioning themselves, looking at benghazi and trying to underscore before november and reminding voters this is at the top of their list in terms of issues. >> as you eluded the democrats have a tough decision to make about whether or not to participate in this special committee. they're divide, i gather. >> it is. there has been an interesting teleon capitol hill speaking with house democrats and they initially were very reluctant to participate in the select committee. but now because they know former secretary of state hillary clinton is likely to be called, they now want to perhaps be on the committee to act as dividers-- defenders for her. she is the party's leading con tenor for the 2016 presidential campaign. and if she is called they want to be in that room. >> robert costa i also want to ask you about something else we just heard congressman commings mention, that is the fact that some republicans are using the benghazi allegations to raise money for the party. where is that stand? i know that congressman gowdy who is going to be the chairman of this committee said he thought it was inappropriate. but then speaker boehner today declined to say that it-- that it's wrong. do what is the thinking on that? >> this is a case study in how the select committee is complicated politically. trey gowdy a former federal prosecutor from south carolina who is chairing the subcommittee, speaker boehner are trying to present a sober look for the republicans in the house. a seriousness to this entire process. yet almost immediately the campaign arm of the gop started to fund raise off this entire initiative so. have sober on one hand and fund raise and political on the other. it will be hard balanced for republicans to make and speaker boehner today in a press conference did not address the fund raising from the nrcc related to benghazi and i that i say testament to his ability to sgrap grap well in tension. >> is this something the republicans believe they can raise money off? >> i think they have not only can they, but they have for quite some time. i spent a lot of time on the campaign trail. and when i talk to republican based voters, tea party conservatives, benghazi more than jobs it seems, more than any other issue is at the top of their list of concerns. they really believe the obama administration is out of line in how it handled the response of these attacks and they want-- they're pressuring the leadership day if and day out, calls, et cetera, to go in and do it more. >> quickly more than health care? >> even more-- i think obama care ahead of 2014 is certainly at the top of that same list. but it's obama care and benghazi when i'm out on the trail. that is what i hear as a reporter. i think the republican leadership would echo that if you had a conversation with them. >> robert costa of "the washington post," we thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: the cost, and affordability, of good child care is the focus of the next installment in our series "parenting now." it's a major concern for families throughout the country and, in different ways, it cuts across lines of class and income. the newshour's economics correspondent, paul solman, has the story. part of his reporting making sense of financial news. >> there she is. >> when baltimore teacher daniel gave birth to her daughter eva last year he had to quit her job. >> there was no way, i was going to be to be able to ever afford day care. >> tiffany worked at wal-mart in maryland where she had her second daughter. >> i made $12,000 for its whole year and day care was-- i want to say 1275 to 300 a week just for the newborn. >> that's more than she was earning. >> alexandria virginia moth of two lisa boyle and her husband can make the payments. still. >> depending on where you live in america these days, full-time care can run to 24,000 a year. but its advocacy group child care aware. >> most regions of the country, child care is the most expensive part of a family's budget. >> in most places, infant care now costs more than state college tuition. it is a cost rising as much as eight times faster than family income in some places. >> and it presents a sort of generational catch-22. >> your kids need advantages like quality infant and day care to prosper and workplace. >> but with stagnant wages, you can't afford them. >> and yet he says, the research is unequivocal. >> we know that during the first couple of years of life the brain is growing at a very rapid rate and that's where we really should be putting it in. >> president obama called for universal preschool in this year's state of the union address. >> one of the best investments we can make in a child's life, this high quality early education but but so far nothing's happened. and parents like danielle are still on their own. >> going to get you. >> her teacher salary wasn't enough to cover the cost of caring for her daughter. >> i was, after taxes bringing home about $500 a week. and with a mortgage and everything else it just wasn't going to work. >> spiro is the family's primary earner. her husband is a student. >> after she joined her mom's consulting firm, she hired a nanny she loves but even on her 70,000 salary, can only afford part-time t to bridge the gap -- >> she put her one year old in the cheapest home day care she could find, it proved a poor alternative. >> the tv was on most of the day. it just wasn't an ideal situation but i didn't really have very many choices. >> he pulled her out and now watches her daughter herself when the nanny isn't there. >> i am waking up with her between 5:30 to 6:00 in the morning and with her all day and i put her to bed around 6:30 at night, clean the house. i get a little laundry in, and then start my work. >> sometimes he finishes at 1:00 in the morning are are or later tiffany cuts back from full-time work for to wait chroning, she was one of day care and it was really expensive and it was taken the majority of my paycheck and some of my husband's paycheck. i didn't want to be a stay at home mom, i was forced to basically take the position. >> and forced to take it out of day care which per order believes was benefitting the bannee, namely with soft skills. >> socialized interacting with other kids. >> in fact, day care costs are driving more mothers to opt out all together. almost one-third now stay at home. its most in more than two decades. >> twinkle, twinkle little star. >> crystal children's center costs over $20,000 a year for full-time infant care. high but typical in the wealthy dc suburbs, for high quality care however there is little margin between costs an revenue says director lieu "ellen". >> they've got to have three teachers in there and you have only nine children. >> so if you were paying tuition for nine children to pay three teachers plus the overhead, lights, heat, rent, it's very, very small. >> the pay averages barely $16 an hour. but if the center paid more. >> i would have to increase my tuition. >> lisa boyle the center's assistant director understands the better than most. she uses almost all her stall ree to pay to pay for her children to come here, even though she gets a discount for her three-year-old son. in the end -- >> i work to earn about $100 every week. >> she can swing it because her husband works too, plus she's con vinlsed it's an important investment. >> when are you looking at alternatives that were cheaper, it was always, you know, poorer quality so it was a choice that we made to invest in our children's education, at 0 to 3, it was another one of those decisions where we went back and forth and you know, but eventually the baby wins. >> single moms like paula wilson don't have such choices. >> we simply can't afford a place like crystal city. >> everything is on me. i don't have someone 20 share the bills with, do i have to make sure i plan everything out to a t. >> wilson a hotel made sends her three-year-old daniel to a family run day care she likes, and can just afford. but it's 20 minutes away. and she can't afford a car. >> every day i have to figure out how danny is going to get to day care. i know they have closed the day cares in the area but they're way too expensive. >> so wilson asks friends and family to help with transportation. there are child care subsidies available but she doesn't qualify. you must be able to afford it but they don't look at the fact that sometimes the hotel is slow and you never know when it's going to be slow. >> meanwhile tiffany recently lost her job at wal-mart. >> before we were struggling, now we have to struggle even more to make ends meet. we need the income so we can make sure we have rent or make sure we have food at home for the children. >> for such families infant and child care are luxury the. but says lynn et froga. >> also an economic and educational imperative, families have to work and when they have to work they need quality to put their children in to be cared and nurtured and developed for later school success. >> unfortunately, these are quality settings that a great many americans just can't afford. >> even parents who work full-time often can't afford backup child care. read the story of a single mom who feels caught between needing to care for her kids when they're not at school and climbing the ladder at work. that's on making sense >> woodruff: now to a different look at the cost of kids. the ever rising price tags for college. how do you assess the value of one's degree and of higher education overall as a graduate moves forward? many studies have looked at job placement and income as a key metric. but a new study measures it differently focusing on whether a graduate has a good life in terms of well-being, satisfaction and engagement in a career. the report comes from a survey of more than 30,000 graduates in all 50 states. it was done by gallup in partnership with purdue university and the lumina foundation. earlier this week, i spoke with the president of purdue and the former governor of indiana mitch daniels. for the record, the lumina foundation is a funder of the newshour. >> so why did you want to undertake this kind of a study. >> started as one university feeling we should be accountable. we wanted to know if some rigor and authority were doing. first to report that po to sense future students, maybe we could learn thing, i found the folks in gallop with 20 or 30 years of research in this area were very interested in something broader. and that lead us to today. >> so we didn't want to live both interesting findings here, is that when you look at what's happened to graduate, and there is the survey across the country. it didn't matter so much whether they went to a private college or a public college. or even how selective the school was in determining what kind of life they had afterwards. tell us about that. >> probably one of the most surprising, a lot of surprise in here. maybe nothing sur-- surpasses that, no statistically significant difference as you just said between public and private, so-called elite and larger schools like ours turns out that what matters overwhelmingly is not where you went to school but how you went and how the school approached the process of your education. >> and what did you mean by that, how did you measure how encarnacion gauged the focus -- >> gallop has decades and tens of millions of interviews and they-- by now have a very good method for determining well-being and maintenance. really important to know that we were-- yes, we were were interested in how the graduates were doing, materially, were they employees or earning a gooldz living and all that. and social and in a sense of engagement with working community. and that's really what we said college should produce, people who thrive at all those areas. and it turns out that what really really matters is that one professor serves-- did you have a work experience, some sort of experienceal working that go, that went along with the questioned learning, these were the kind of lessons that we hope ask make our school. >> thinking will the wrong things, when they pick a school or think about the school. >> that through is an implication especially when the spread of costs across these schools by we now know are not producing better outcomes, is so gigantic. and you know we're a land grant school. we were put there along with our sister school to throw open the gates of higher education beyond the elites of this country and we've got to be serious about t but now we no that we can do that affordably for students they can have just as good an education on the other end. >> do you think the results of a survey like this will make other schools feel more comfortable about not having to keep raising costs and keep paying ever more for new buildings, faculty and so on. >> i think that the school should have gotten the memo about that already. you're hearing it in perfectly legitimate criticism. in public discourse, this year the highest percentage, or record percentage of freshman passed over their first choice school for a second or third choice, almost always on the basis of cost. and so i think that many of the excesses that you just mentioned really have run their course. >> so what's the main message that you would wants to take away from this? >> no people and their parents who are thinking about the next several years. >> the go to school prepared to draw on the lessons here, to search out experienceal opportunities as well astra decisional classroom, to go to a school with some reputation for the engagement of faculty closely and the teaching, and pay close attention to cost because very likely you're not buying greater quality for the higher sticker price you're being charged. >> one of the things you mentioned, the survey also found that those graduates who carry a lot of student debt when they leave that can very much affect what they do. >> right. i think we've all sensed that student debt is a big, big problem. the survey tells does is an even bigger problem than we thought. that linear fashion, the more debt a student leaves with, even if it's not that much by today's standards, it brings down their so-called well-being across all these dimensions, financial, social, health status and so forth. and another very troublesome finding, the more debt you have, the less likely you are to ever start a business. so that's bad news at the i have level and bad societally and economically. >> miss daniels president of purdue university thinking about the way people ought to think about the school they choose to. thank you very much. >> thank you much. >> ifill: veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki is pushing back against calls for him to resign. this comes after allegations that dozens of patients have died because of delayed treatment at an agency hospital. jeffrey brown reports. >> all those in favor of the motion to issue the subpoena will say aye. aye. all those opposed? >> reporter: the house veterans' affairs committee voted overwhelmingly this morning to subpoena communications between veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki and his colleagues. the focus, allegations that employees at v.a. facilities in phoenix, arizona, and fort collins, colorado falsified records on delays in treating patients. a retired doctor in phoenix who had worked at the hospital came forward with allegations that up to 40 v.a. patients died while awaiting care. on monday, the head of nation's largest veterans group, the american legion, called for shinseki's resignation. >> there needs to be a change and that change needs to occur at the top. >> the administration needs to take steps now. this is long overdue. they should have taken steps months ago. >> reporter: three republican senators, including john cornyn of texas, quickly joined that call. >> the president needs to find a new leader to lead this organization out of the wilderness and back to providing the service that our veterans deserve. >> reporter: but house speaker john boehner said today the real priority is making it easier for shinseki to fire people. >> i'm not ready to join the chorus of people calling for him to step down. the problems at the v.a. are systemic. and i don't believe that just changing someone at the top is going to actually get to the solutions that many of us are looking for. >> reporter: democrats have generally defended the secretary, while demanding improvements in care for the nine million people in the v.a. medical system. for his part, shinseki insists he won't step down. he told "the wall street journal" yesterday: >> i serve at the pleasure of the president. i signed on to make some changes, i have work to do. the v.a. inspector general is now investigating the allegations of falsifying records. and white house spokesman jay carney says president obama is standing by the secretary. >> the president remains confident in secretary shinseki's ability to lead the department and to take appropriate action based on the i.g.'s findings. pending those findings, shinseki has now ordered a nation-wide review of access to care at all v.a. clinics. we invited veteran affairs secretary shinseki to appear on tonight's program. he declined. to tell us more about what happened in phoenix and the wider implications. we turn to associated press reporter brian skoloff. and phillip carter, he's a senior fellow with the center for a new american security. he served nine years as an army military police and civil affairs officer. brian skoloff, tell us more about the specific allegations here the v.a. was falfisying records of appointments with patients? >> yeah, those are the allegations. we have a doctor retired long time physician with the va after about 20 years of service, retired in december. and then came public with these allegations that administrations at the va hospital instructed staff to keep this secret waiting list, high wait times, sometimes patients were waiting 6 to 9 months to get in there. but the wait list was showing that they were getting appointments within two weeks. he it also claimed because of this wait list, up to 40 patients may have died while awaiting this care. >> well, explain that. because it's not necessarily the 40 people who died because they weren't seen but they died during that waiting time. >> exactly. and we also have to make perfectly clear here that these are all still allegations that as you noted the inspector general office has investigators here in phoenix pouring over staff, trying to get to the truth. we have this doctor and two other former va employees making these claims and are you correct. the claims are that up to 40 patients may have died while aity whatting care. but you know, first of all, va administration here in phoenix deny any of these allegations. but they also point out that if there were deaths while patients were waiting doctors appointments they very well may could have happened from a heart attack, car den, things unrelated to the car they were seeking. so again the inspector generals down here will have to wait and see what the probe fills up. >> phil carter there is a larger context. the va has been under pressure and criticized for systemic problems. and not keeping up with demand of the wars we've been fighting. >> that's right. these allegations strike a chord because even watching for patient satisfaction with the va's massive hospital system, there are also repeated allegations like this in fact the government accountability office substantiated many of these a couple of years ago with a series of reports on how unreliable the va's wait time systems were. and that's been a known problem within the va that even though they have known about t they have not fixed it. >> in fact, presumably there is is that thing that may have caused the pressure in phoenix and other places to falsify the documents, i assume. >> that's part of it. and part of it is also the potential linkage between performance incentives and wait times. that is if the reported wait times or the targets for the wait times are part of the employment contracts for certain va officials, they are also very visible metrics of success for va medical centres and there is an allegation at least that the va personnel may have tweekd the stats in order to look better on those measures. >> so we have allegations in phoenix, fort collins, is it look like we're going to be hearing about this other places as well, these practise? >> there are also reports coming out of austin and san antonio. you have to remember the va is a massive health-care system, 151 hospitals. 800 plus clinics. and so if these conditions existed at the phoenix center which i should say is also home to the second largest veteran's community in the country, they may exist in other large facilities or small facilities too. it is as speaker boehner said most likely a systemic issue. >> brian skoloff, you said that there in phoenix the va people at the hospital have denied these allegations. tell us a little bit more about the reaction so far. >> yeah, i mean, a good point was raised there. these allegations are very, very serious. and they, the former va employee who came out with them first claims exactly what your guest just said. that the reason the administrators were having these wait times fabricated was so that they could pad their pockets with bounce us checks. the director hellman is a director at the va health-care system here in phoenix. prior to her being placed on administrative leech last week, told me that she plat flat out denies this. she makes roughly 169, 170,000 a year, her bonus hast year was about dt 9300. she scoff its at the notion that she would sit back an watch veterans die to make an extra $9,000 in bonus money. again, though, these are all allegations but if proven true they are serious allegations. but the chief of staff and hospital administrator vehemently deny that any secret waiting list was creted that they ever told staff to create the secret waiting list and the staff is really just confused with a change over from paperwork, actual paperwork to an electronic waiting list. again, you know, at this point it is a "he said, she said" until investigators get to the truth. >> phil carter at the national level, though, there is a lot of pressure now on general shinseki. >> a lot of pressure, a lot of folks are analogy gizing this to the walter reed scandal from 6 years ago where there were reports of terrible living continue conditions at the medical centre which is not a va facility and those lead to the downfall of the army's medical leadership as a result. but folks are trying to figure out here in washington where do you fix responsibility within the chain of could panned is it at the secretarial level s it below that at the regional level, the hospital level, or down below. and i think that there's a consensus building, at least since speaker boehner's comments illustrate that to wait for the investigation before we fix accountability for these issues. >> so secretary shinseki announced this face-to-face audit. >> right. >> yesterday, all facilities across the country. do we know what that will entail do. we know how long it will take? >> no, we don't know the details of that am we do foe that it was announced earlier in april, and that was part of the offer to understand how much of an issue this is throughout the v's-- va massive health-care system. secretary shinseki trying to get ahead of the situation while fighting the perception this he is to the doing enough. >> do you know how that will work in phoenix? >> it could be weeks down here trying to get to the truth of things. a good point was raised there. there is no secret that the va is overwhelmed with veterans seeking care. either from previous wars or recent wars. there are a lot of veterans seeking care and they are really forming these hospital os. the va has already acknowledged that 23 patients in recent years have died due to delayed care so there is no-- there is no secret that there is an issue with delaysed care. the allegations made here in phoenix are serious that there is a cover-up in order for these administrators to make money and get bon us chicks. so i guess we'll wait and see. but again, as your guest noted it's no secret that the va has issues it needs to deal with. >> brian, phil, thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> thank you >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day. nigeria's president pledged to find more than 270 school girls kidnapped by islamist militants. rebels in syria set off a huge bomb in aleppo that leveled a hotel used by a government militia. reports said up to 100 people were killed. and the u.s. house voted to set up a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack on american diplomats in benghazi, libya. republicans pushed the idea. it was unclear if democrats would take part. >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now how furry co- therapists are helping some soldiers. service dogs are being used to keep patients from missing their mental health appointments at some military installations and the idea is gaining support. you can read our report, on the rundown. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on friday, russia's president putin heads to crimea. and a look at whether american kids are overprotected. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you on-line. 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: >> 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. >> when i was pregnant, i got more advice than i knew what to do with. what i needed was information i could trust, on how to take care of me and my baby. united healthcare has a simple program that helps moms stay on track with their doctors and get care and 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home about what she was going to accept in terms of witnesses, when she returned from the holiday season back to the senate, she essentially brought that 1999 clinton resolution to the floor, and she handed it to mcconnell's staff, essentially asking them, okay, show me what is going to change in this resolution and what is going to stay the same. we know the majority leader had made it very clear he was going to follow the, quote, clinton motto. but she wanted to see it in writing. she wanted to understand what does that mean in terms of getting witnesses sochlt what transpired was weeks of negotiations between senator collin's staff, murkowski's staff, lamar alexander's staff and leadership to go over word by word who was going to be in this resolution. so the expectation -- and we should be cautious here. we have not seen the resolution yet. it hasn't been released. but the expectation is that it will actually include a vote after the presentations of evidence by both sides and a debate from the senators, there will actually be a vote on whether or not senators are willing to entertain the idea of witnesses, not any specific witnesses, just the idea of needing more information. and that, of course, is going to be a very important vote for those moderates who are facing a lot of pressure back home. we should also note, brooke, just tend to be more independent minded when it comes to wanting more information. these are not people who had their minds made up. they're going into this trial, and they really view their role as being impartial jurors. their role in these negotiations very important. >> such great reporting, lauren, everyone's creating this color behind the scenes before this whole thing begins. you nailed it. thank you. let's talk about these new lawyers hired to defend the president in his impeachment trial. their common tie, they have all had their fair share of tv time. you'll recognize ken starr, the independent counsel for the white water investigation. his investigation and report let to the impeachment of bill clinton in 1999. check out what starr said the year before about clinton's refusing to cooperate with investigators. >> the president refused six invitations to testify before the grand jury, refusing to cooperate with a duly authorized federal criminal investigation is inconsistent with the general statutory duty of all executive branch employees to cooperate with criminal investigations. it also is inconsistent with the president's duty to faithfully execute the laws. >> it's interesting to note that welcome back, you're in 1999 the year of the clinton watching cnn on this friday, i'm impeachment trial, donald trump brooke baldwin. said this. thank you for being here. the lawyer president trump once >> i think ken starr is a lunatic. i really think that ken starr is called a, quote, freak is now one of the newest members of his a disaster. defense team for his impeachment i hated the way the president handled it. trial. with opening arguments four days it was a long and terrible process. i really think that ken starr away, the white house has finally named who will be helping make the president's was terrible. >> robert ray was starr's case before all those senators, and ken starr is among them. his work as independent counsel led to the clinton impeachment trial, so let's start there. successor, alan dershowitz. he was highly vocal during the cnn's kaitlan collins is at the russia investigation. white house for us. dershowitz has been resisting joining the trump team. it's no the only starr who's a in a statement, the legal team big name on this team, tell us who else. >> reporter: no, two others, and pointed out that dershowitz robert ray may not be one that's voted for hillary clinton. these three attorneys join four as recognizable as ken starr and others defending trump, jane ras alan dershowitz but he's the one kin and pam bondi, a former who succeeded ken starr. he's the one who finished the federal prosecutor, and she's final clinton report, the one also former florida state that was attorney and the team will be led by the white house counsel pat cipollone and the president's private attorney jay sekul sekulow. that's the full picture for the trump defense team. with me now cnn legal analyst jan rogers, she's a former prosecutor. you heard the sound we dug up from then private citizen donald trump, starr, lunatic and disaster let me add to that the monica lewinsky from today, this is definitely an are you kidding me kind of day. obviously she's alluding to ken starr's name. what did you make of ken starr, alan dershowitz being named to this team? >> i think it's a mistake, brooke. i think it's going to backfire on them. listen, the trump team has had a lot of trouble attracting topnotch legal talent. that's been the case this whole time. they want tv friend ly personalities who have proven themselves loyal. >> dershowitz has lost so much credibility through the extreme positions he's been taking on tv defending the president against the mueller investigation. he's even in litigation over whether he had sex with a minor, trafficked by epstein. so he's a disaster. and ken starr is going to be facing the exact thing that you just did to him, which is side by side comparisons of what he said then and what he's saying now. his job is to stand up and explain why it's no big deal that trump wouldn't speak to investigators, blocked every single witness, blocked every single document, doesn't want witnesses. how is he going to do that credibly? even though they've had trouble with talent, they should have looked elsewhere. >> how does he square that with witnesses? we know that democrats have been consistent that no biden should take the stand. they feel like it's the president of the united states on trial and the bidens' actions have nothing to do with impeachment. so here is the minority leader in the senate, chuck schumer. >> the witnesses we've asked for are not witnesses that are our pals. they're trump appointees. they work for trump. hunter biden has nothing to do with that. if they want to go on a fishing expedition because they're so worried about what witnesses would find and try to ask for someone else, i don't think it will fly with the american people, and i don't even think it will fly with the senators. a few senators have called for it, but i think that's to try and scare people from the pursuit of real witnesses. >> i'm curious, jen, just how you interpret his response, and is there room for these house managers to negotiate? i'll give you, you know, a biden in exchange for a john bolton and a mick mulvaney. >> there is room to negotiate, and i think that's what's going to happen here. his point is at the very beginning of all of this, the president was trying to mount a defense that went along the lines of there's corruption here. he's really just trying to root out corruption, and that's what this was a that has been absolutely eviscerated by all of what we've learned since then. these dozen witnesses who have testified, the documents that have come out. it's now not even a question that hunter biden and joe biden had anything to do with this in the sense of a legitimate defense for the president. there's no legitimate reason to call them here. >> do you think that you mentioned the new evidence coming out, you know, lev par s parnas, the indicted giuliani associate, do you think it will force lawmakers' hands on bringing witnesses to this trial? >> i think every piece of information that comes out including lev parnas forces their hand a little bit more. the problem is some of them are refusing to have their hand forced, right? some of them have their head stuck so far in the sand they just refuse to be moved by anything. >> okay. jen rogers, thank you very much. we also know now more about iran's missile attack against the united states. now cnn is learning that american troops were injured after all, so the question we're asking is why are we just now finding out about this? and a new book describes a presidential tirade against his top military brass telling star generals they're all -- and i'm quoting -- losers. and andrew yang's wife opens up about being sexually assaulted by her doctor. it is a story you will not want to miss. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. we will be right back. if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with... ...an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. it's an honor to tell you that [ applause ] thank you. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. i love you! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! we're back, you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. we're now learning that u.s. troops were indeed injured in that iranian missile attack on two military bases last week. the pentagon is revealing that 11 service members in the al asad air base in western iraq were hurt and several have been treated for concussion symptoms and are still being assessed. remember initially the pentagon said no one had been hurt and so do the commander in chief. >> no americans were harmed in last night's attack by the iranian regime. >> shortly after those missiles were fired by iran, the president also tweeted all is well adding that assessment of casualties and damages was taking place and so far so good. with me now iraq war veteran phillip carter, he served as deputy assistant secretary of state for detainee policy under former president obama. thank you so much for joining me. and first things first, why are we just now learning about this? >> so it looks like we're just now learning about this because the injuries assessed were concussions. it takes a while to go through the protocol to determine that someone has a blast injury from an explosion like this, and so it makes sense this is just coming out now. i'd be hesitant to see too much of a political ghost here. this just looks like proof of the old military proverb that first reports are always wrong. >> i got you. i also wanted to ask you about this -- there's this new book called "a very stable genius, donald j. trump's testing of america with some pretty compelling details written by two "washington post" reporters. one of the details goes into this july 2017 meeting where then secretary of state rex tillerson called president trump a moron with, you know, some colorful language thrown in there. the book reveals that trump then scolded his top military brass at that meeting. here's the quote from him, this is, again, from president trump. you're all losers. you don't know how to win anymore, and then later in the meeting he goes on to say i wouldn't go to war with you people. you're a bunch of dopes and babies. now, phillip, i can't even imagine how heated some of those discussions must be in a room like that, but i mean, have you ever heard of language like this coming from the president? you know, if you looked inside the sit room from lbj or other presidents, you may have heard similar things. this discussion in july 2017 was one of the first big meetings between president trump and his war cabinet, and what's interesting is the way that both sides saw this completely differently, so the generals and secretary mattis and secretary tillerson wanted to educate the president on the way they saw the world, and the president by contrast knew exactly how we saw the world and was not looking forward to that educational session and let it be known. and so this ended up being a case of two ships essentially passing in the night and shooting at each other a bit as they did. it was sort of the antithesis of what we would expect to see as harmonious military revelations. >> point-blank, did you wince a little bit or really you weren't that worried? >> i wince ad a little bit becae no functioning o treats people like that. leaders that i've served under and worked with tend to thrive when they respect the people they work with and inspire confidence both up and down. the distinction here is that he was asking fundamental questions of things that those military leaders took as articles of faith. like, whether we should continue fighting in afghanistan, and that was very bitter medicine for some of those generals to hear, but in some ways the president was right to ask those fundamental questions. that's why we have civilian control of the military. >> sure. and then another quote from this book, because we know the vice president was in the room and apparently he never said anything. he's described as, quote, frozen like a statue, a quote, wax museum guy and a deer in the headlights. this is according to people in that room. the one person who did speak out was then secretary tillerson who said, quote, mr. president you're wrong. i ask my question to you, fil , phillip, if you're top military brass, take ting this verbal incoming from the president. can you push back? there was a nonresponse to actually kind of keep it secret? >> i've been one of the back benchers in meetings like that. you absolutely can push back. you should push back. that's your job. that's what lincoln understood what he created his team of rivals during the civil war. that's what presidents have done ever since, and it is absolutely the job of the secretary of defense and the secretary of state and the other senior folks there, and even to some extent the chairman of the joint staff to push back and engage in a healthy dialogue with a fair amount of friction when necessary. >> phillip carter, thank you for your expertise in this area. i appreciate you. >> thank you. >> more fallout today from those lev parnas interviews. secretary of state mike pompeo finally breaks his silence, promises to take action over the alleged surveillance of a former u.s. ambassador. and the wife of one of the presidential candidates is speaking out quite candidly about being sexually assaulted. evelyn yang shares her powerful story with dana bash. skin sin #17... too many after-parties. new neutrogena® bright boost with dullness-fighting neoglucosamine. boosts cell turnover by 10 times for instantly brighter skin. bright boost neutrogena®. ♪ ♪ everything your trip needs, for everyone you love. expedia. for everyone you love. you will see at vgreat and look great.ee "guaranteed" we say that too! you've gotta use these because we don't mean it. buy any pair at regular price, get one free. really! visionworks. see the difference. here, it all starts withello! hi!... how can i help? a data plan for everyone. everyone? everyone. let's send to everyone! wifi up there? uhh. sure, why not? how'd he get out?! a camera might figure it out. that was easy! glad i could help. at xfinity, we're here to make life simple. easy. awesome. so come ask, shop, discover at your local xfinity store today. after 48 hours, secretary of state mike pompeo is breaking his silence over whether one of had of his ambassadors was being surveilled in ukraine. this is one of several revelations from this trove of documents from indicted rudy giuliani associate lev parnas. among those documents were text messages from republican congressional candidate robert hyde suggesting that he had knowledge of marie yovanovitch's whereabouts in ukraine. yovanovitch was the u.s. ambassador to ukraine before the president fired her last year, and secretary pompeo said he never heard of those surveillance efforts at the time. >> i've not met this guy lev parnas to the best of my knowledge, never encountered, never communicated with him. we will do everything we need to do to evaluate whether there was something that took place there. i suspect that much of what's been reported will ultimately prove wrong, but our obligation, my obligation as secretary of state is to make sure that we evaluate, investigate any time there's someone who posits there may have been a risk to one of our officers, we'll obviously do that. >> the president of the global situation room, and former director of global engagement under president obama. a pleasure to have you here. do you trust him? >> i think secretary pompeo's track record has not been a great one when it comes to the safety of our people. just take, for instance, a 23% cut in the last fiscal year to embassy security upgrades sochlt for a . so for all of his talk of swagger and restoring diplomats to their rightful place, the evidence tells a very different story, and i think his comments belie a certain distrust of the accusations. i'm not certain whether or not we get to the bottom of this. >> i should remind people, ukraine launched an investigation. let's take the secretary at his word. what if he genuinely did not know that she was being surveilled, if she was, that's even more worrisome, correct? >> absolutely. diplomatic security agents are supposed to be aware of any intelligence, counter intelligence, threats to our people, and certainly the ambassador absolutely in a country like ukraine. this could have been a group of terrorists. it could have been foreign agents from china or russia or any of those breakaway provinces in ukraine that pose add real security threat and certainly an intelligence threat as well. >> yeah, lev parnas is talking. he's revealing more details. he talked to anderson cooper about yovanovitch's firing, so here's what he told anderson. >> to my knowledge the president fired her at least four times, maybe even five times. i mean, once in my presence, a private dinner for a super pac in washington, d.c. at the trump hotel. in the conversation, the subject of ukraine was brought up, and i told the president that our opinion that she is bad mouthing him and that she said that he's going to get impeached, something like that. i don't know if that's word for word, but she was -- >> you said that at the table? >> correct. >> where the president was? >> correct. >> and his reaction was he looked at me like got very angry, and basically turned around to john destefano and said fire her. get rid of her. >> now, he says he would be willing to talk to lawmakers, but if he is the guy that was pushing this narrative that, you know, yovanovitch was working against the president, doesn't he have a credibility issue? >> i think there are credibility issues on multiple fronts here, and it's also the credibility of the united states. i mean, who are our foreign allies, foreign leaders supposed to listen to going forward? do they listen to the president? do they listen to some guy who's over in eastern europe saying that i represent donald j. trump? don't listen to the ambassador. that's what i'm hearing from friends who are still at the state department is they don't believe they can effectively do their jobs -- >> because people don't believe them. >> because now you have rudy giuliani or alleged associates of giuliani running around saying i'm the one who speaks for donald trump. >> what are the long-term ramifications of that? >> i think we are going to face a serious challenge of credibility. we're going to face a challenge of influence, and let's just look at what's happening at the united nations system. the u.n. is now being taken over by the likes of china. they've won major elections in just the last year. america couldn't even cobble together six votes for our candidate to be on the u.n. security council. this is just a canary in the coal mine saying american influence on the world stage is waning, and if we don't wake up and take action, there will be some even more serious consequences to come. >> hope everyone's listening to the canary in this case. brett bruen, awesome insight as always. andrew yang's wife is sharing her painful personal story about being sexual assault bid her doctor. what she says happened on the campaign trail that made her want to share her story with you. can you heal dry skin in a day? aveeno® with prebiotic triple oat complex balances skin's microbiome. so skin looks like this and you feel like this. aveeno® skin relief. get skin healthy™ rowithout the commission fees and account minimums. so, you can start investing wherever you are - even on the bus. download now and get your first stock on us. robinhood. $$9.95? 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>> and there was no one else in the room? >> no, no. in fact, when i think back to most of our exams, i don't think there was somebody in the room, you know. >> you thought to yourself, this isn't just inappropriate banter. this is much different. >> oh, he -- i mean, at that moment i knew that was -- i knew it was wrong. i mean, i knew, i said -- i knew i was being assaulted. >> reporter: she says she thought she was the kind of person who would run away, but she couldn't. >> i imagined myself with someone being, you know, like i would throw a chair at him and run out yelling bloody murder. it's not what happened. i was confused, and then i realized what was happening, and then i just kind of froze like a deer in headlights, just frozen. i knew it was happening. i remember trying to fix my eyes on a spot on the wall and just trying to avoid seeing his face as he was assaulting me. waiting for it to be over. >> reporter: she left that day and never went back. >> did you tell your husband andrew? >> no. i didn't tell anyone. i didn't tell anyone what happened. i didn't tell andrew or my family because i didn't want to upset them. i thought this happened to me, i can process this. i can deal with it. i can compartmentalize it. >> and did you? >> i tried. i tried, but i just didn't want to affect others, and i certainly didn't want andrew blaming himself for not being able to go with me to these doctor's visits, because honestly if he was with me in the room, if anyone was with me in the room, this obviously wouldn't have happened, and at the time he was traveling a lot for his nonprofit, and most of the scheduling just didn't work out. >> reporter: many months later after her baby was born, a letter came in the mail. robert hadden had left his practice. >> i googled him, and there it was. there was a headline that said that he had assaulted another woman, and she reported it to the police. and at that moment everything just -- it was this sense of relief of finally realizing that i wasn't alone in it. he still picked me but that it wasn't because of -- right, it wasn't something that i did. it was, you know, this was a serial predator, and he just picked me as his prey. >> reporter: it was at that point she told husband andrew. >> i just needed to tell someone. i just needed to share it in that moment because it felt so big to me. i needed that support, and i told him, and he cried. he wasn't bawling. there were tears, and he said it's because he remembered when i told -- when i came home one day ranting about pervy doctors. i said something like why do they let men be gynecologistsment it makes no sense. and he remembered that i had made this comment, and he felt so bad. he felt guilty that he didn't make the connection or ask me more. >> reporter: she found a lawyer who discovered the manhattan district attorney had an open case against the doctor. several other women had come forward with similar stories of being assaulted by him. >> and that was just life changing. it felt so good to not be alone in this. >> reporter: she worked with an assistant district attorney who was collecting information from 18 women including yang, with allegations against hadden. yang testified before a grand jury which indicted hadden on multiple felony sex charges. >> every time i talked to the ada, the case was going great, and she was always telling me how strong this case was, how we were going to put him in jail, how he wasn't going to be able to do this to anyone ever again. and all of a sudden there was this dropoff. i didn't hear from her for months. >> reporter: finally in february 2016, she was told the d.a. agreed to a plea deal with the doctor. he would lose his medical license, register as the lowest level sex offender but not go to jail. >> he was getting off with a slap on the wrist basically. >> reporter: not just that, although he was charged on nine counts involving six accusers, he only pleaded guilty to two charges involving two women, evelyn yang was not one of them. >> they said that the punishment was the same regardless of how many counts he pled guilty to, that the punishment would have been the same, so it didn't matter. and i thought, well, it matters to me for obvious reasons, and it wasn't until after #metoo and the weinstein case came out that the victims in this case realized that we were betrayed twice. >> that's how you feel? you feel you were betrayed twice? >> oh, absolutely. it's like getting, you know, slapped in the face and punched in the gut. the d.a.'s office is meant to protect us, is meant to serve justice, and there was no justice here. >> the office of manhattan he d.a.'s office told cnn that obtaining a felony convictio b analysis and resulting disposition of this difficult resolution has caused survivors pain. though hadden was not a big name like weinstein or epstein, yang says he did have a powerful protector, columbia university, which runs the medical facility where he practiced. >> the fact that it's a, you know, a name brand university behind this doctor and using their influence to protect themselves at the expense of the victims in this case. >> reporter: some six weeks before yang says she was assaulted, police went to hadden's office and arrested him. another patient told police he sexually assaulted her and licked her vagina during an exam. the arrest was voided, and he went back to seeing female patients. >> what happened to me should have never happened. he was arrested in his office, and he was let back to work. >> without anybody in the room. >> without a chaperon. i mean, at the very least the bare minimum would be to make sure that there's an aide all the time. i -- and that's what's very painful is knowing that actually what happened to me could have been prevented. >> reporter: yang's attorney says there are at least 32 women who now accuse hadden of sexual assault, most of them including yang are part of civil suits against columbia university, its affiliates and hadden. among the allegations accusing hadden of aggressively penetrating and groping their bodies and genitalia, forcing them to strip naked, groping their breasts, digitally penetrating them and licking their vaginas. the suit also claims columbia knew about allegations against hadden, received numerous complaints of serious misconduct, and kept the complaints secret to avoid negative publicity. the lawsuit is still ongoing. hadden denies all the allegations against him except the ones he pleaded guilty to. cnn sent detailed questions to columbia including why dr. hadden was allowed to return to work after his initial arrest, but the university only responded that the allegations against hadden were abhorrent, and they deeply apologized to those whose trust was violated. yang fought in court for more than two years to keep her identity anonymous, which makes going public now even more remarkable. >> why do you want to do this now? what do you want to accomplish now? >> my personal life and this growing of public life, they're not separate. in this case my experience with the sexual assault and then what happened, all that happened afterwards, is such a powerful and upsetting example of the truth that women are living with every day, and i just happen to be able to have a platform to talk about it. i need to use that voice. i feel like it's something that's an obligation but also a privilege, and a gift that i get to share my story now and also help other women. the process of getting to this point is very hard, you know, i -- like, i haven't slept in days. this is very hard to come out with, but i hope -- i have to believe that it's worth it. >> bravo to you evelyn yang for coming out and sharing your story. as that was airing, dana, i got you. she's texting me, and here's the update. since this piece ran this morning -- this is from dana -- she says that evelyn yang's attorney tells us he has already heard from nine women this morning who saw the piece and said they too were assaulted by hadden and that these women are also now looking for justice. thank you, dana. we'll be right back. whether tomorrow will be light or dark. all we see in you, is a spark. we see your kindness and humanity. the strength of each community. the more we look the more we find the sparks that make america shine. ♪ with just 17 days to go until iowans cast their first vote to the 2020 presidential race for the iowa caucuses and the race for the democratic nomination appears wide open. this field of kacandidatese stad at 28. it's still really anyone's guess who will win iowa and beyond. let's go cnn politics reporter and editor at large chris sew lizza. where does it stand right now? >> let me emphasize guess. what harry enten i and i do every two weeks is an educated guess. this stuff is hard. there are still 12 people running as you note, brooke, which is remarkable. let's go through top five. number five, we have amy klobuchar. we've had her in our top five for a while. the reason is simple. she does have a plausible path to surprise a little bit in iowa. she's from the midwest. she's done well in recent debates. she's hanging in that 6, 7% area. keep an eye on her, but she hasn't broken through the pack yet. then we move to elizabeth warren, we moved her into a tie with pete buttigieg. elizabeth warren has moved up and down our rankings a lot over the past year. when she started as a candidate, she was not in great shape. then she obviously had a huge run over the summer. we put her up to number 1 briefly. we think three is the right spot for her and buttigieg. it seems as though within the first tier, which is four candidat candidat candidates, they're clearly the third and fourth. that doesn't mean that much because if you told me pete buttigieg or elizabeth warren won iowa in 17 days time i wouldn't be that surprised and that would put them in good shape for new hampshire. which leaves us with the final two, which remarkably if we had talked about this a year ago or two years ago, we'd probably say, brooke, the top two were the top two we would have thought then. bernie sanders at number two, sanders has since his heart attack on the campaign trail in the fall of last year, he has really bounced back quite nicely. there's polling that suggests he's right in that mix in iowa, right in that mix or ahead in new hampshire. he's going to run strong in nevada, which is february 22nd. i still think -- and this will transition me to number one -- south carolina, that february 29th race, that's the one that i think biden has in the bag barring some huge upset. and that's why we keep him at number one, because out of those top four that we list there, if you look at the first four states, the only state where i think any of those four can feel really good about winning is biden is south carolina. so if you've got that, i still -- you've got one in the bag, i think that helps. >> so because there are so many candidates, crazy question, could you have multiple winners in iowa? >> yeah. okay. so in addition to the fact that every poll in iowa has those four people, sanders, warren, buts judg buttigieg, and biden basically all tied, in addition, iowa has changed the way in which it's going to report its results. normally in the past they just said, okay, we did the caucuses. hillary clinton got this many delegates for the national convention, hillary clinton got a few more, she won. bernie sanders didn't like that because the raw vote was close, so now you're going to get first vote. you're going to get a raw vote of all where every goes, the first time everybody caucuses. you move around the room, you stand for your candidate. then you'll get a final vote. iowa caucuses, if you get under 15% of the vote at your caucus site, you are required to leave your candidate and try to pick one of the candidates who got over 15%. we'll get that initial vote. we'll get the final raw vote and then we'll get the delegate count. so you could see candidates very easily declaring victory not based only on the delegate count but also on the raw vote, saying we didn't get that many delegates, but we finished in the top three in the raw vote. so the whole three tickets out of iowa thing is going to get complicated. it's three tickets based on what number. >> got you because of the changes. >> i know it's super complicated. >> quiz us all. >> in 17 days i promise it will be important. >> yeah, february 3rd, mark the calendars. thank you as always. >> thanks, brooke. there have been a lot of new developments in the is that the trial of president trump. the battle over evidence and witnesses heats up as the president reveals new members of his defense team, including one who the president previously referred to, and i quote, as a lunatic. details are next. these are real people, not actors, who've got their eczema under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin. and, had significantly less itch. that's a difference you can feel. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. so help heal your skin from within, and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent.
shooting and standing by for an important press conference. i want to begin with army officials saying it was most likely mental illnesses that caused specialist ivan lopez to open fire last night. iraq war veteran killed three soldiers and then turned the gun on himself and took his own life after a military police officer approached him. 16 people were also wounded. >> we have very strong evidence that he had a medical history that indicates unstable psychiatric or psychological condition. gone through all the records to ensure that that is, in fact, correct. we believe that to be a fundamental, underlying cause. >> authorities, though, say unclear what specific incident triggered the shooting, but as for the wounding victims, six have been released from the hospital. no indications that lopez targeted anyone specifically. what caused him, a soldier, who was awarded the army accommodation metal, the good conduct medal and other awards to commit murder so horrifically? miguel has been speaking to neighbors and begins our coverage "outfront" tonight. >> gave no hint of what was to come. >> you see him coming down the stairs and he says good-byes and that's the last you saw of him before the attack? >> yeah. >> reporter: he moved to his off-base apartment building about a month ago. his wife, young daughter were friendly, approachable and in every way, she says, normal. you said hello and talked to him? >> yesterday. >> reporter: what did he seem like? >> he seemed pretty fine, happy. he didn't seem like, you know, the type that would do what he did. >> reporter: at 12:30, just minutes later, lopez paid the rent, added his wife's name to the lease and left. still, no sign of trouble. command sergeant nelson vegas worked close with him for more than a month and a half. he has the leadership, lopez was an outstanding soldier with great initiative. he show a great leadership and a very, very great military discipline. >> reporter: lopez spent nine years in the puerto rico national guard and he served four months driving trucks in iraq. he went on to ft. bliss near el paso and in february, he transitioned here to ft. hood. >> he had a clean record in terms of his behavioral, no outstanding bad marks for any kind of major misbehaviors that we are yet aware of. >> reporter: yet, there were concerns lurking just beneath the surface. lopez asked for help with ptsd, but had yet to be diagnosed with it. >> we have very strong evidence that he had a medical history that indicates unstable psychiatric or psychological condition. >> reporter: lopez had been described powerful antidepressants and sleep drug ambien. he was getting help. >> he was seen just last month by a psychiatrist. he was fully examined. and as of this morning we had no indication on the record of that examination that there was any sign of likely violence either to himself or to others. no suicidal. >> reporter: major hassan killed 14 people here in 2009. mental health issues, he says, must be aggressively treated, particularly when antidepressants are given. >> you have to be very cautious and take care to be aware of which symptoms are improving more quickly than others. people's motivation comes back and their ability to sleep comes back and they feel more energy, but still feeling hopeless and suicidal. >> reporter: now the other thing we learned that mr. lopez purchased his gun legally in a store called guns galore and the same store where nidal hassan perched his gun for the killings here in 2009 and another man bought gun powder and ammunition there, but never got to carry out a plan. he was trying to copy cat that of nidal hassan. erin? >> thank you very much, miguel. miguel points out three different instances. two in which the shooter was able to murder others and one he thwarted. this is all in the fifth time in five years that a military facility has been the target of a shooting in the united states. the second, of course, at ft. hood with the horrific nidal hassan case. colonel, you spent a lot of time on a lot of basis, but here's the question about ft. hood. it is a huge base, it is one of the most important in the country in the world to the united states. it is the single biggest one-site employer in the state of texas. two mass shootings at the same base in five years. how could that happen? >> well, that's the big question, erin, tonight. and it's a really tragic situation. this is a horrible situation where you have many people, of course, trying to find answers but the key thing is the command climate. if the command climate isn't the right kind of command climate that people feel they can go to their supervisors and get answers to things and help with problems and things of that nature, that could be a problem. >> what about the whole issue of arms on the base. this is going to be a hot topic. under almost no situation, soldiers are not allowed to carry personal weapons at these facilities. here's the question, this guy brought one in and the general in charge of ft. hood he said, you know what, everybody, it is not reasonable or practical to say that we can check every single person who comes on that base, they're in the state of texas, a lot of them have personal weapons on them. you assume somebody can get a weapon on that base if they want to, shouldn't the soldiers be armed to fight back or no? >> certainly a reasonable question to ask. i would say that if they are armed with their official weapons, through your government, army-issued sidearms, then that would be one thing. bringing personal weapons on base, that's a completely different issue in my mind and i don't think i would support that in this particular instance. but i do believe if they are allowed to carry their own sidearms that are issued to them by the government, that would perhaps allow things to happen, but you dohave to look at mental stability, you do have to look at the possibility of suicidal ideations and all those kinds of things and it is a big question to ask before you actually take a step like that. but i would certainly consider using official weapons in this case. >> colonel, thank you very much. we'll talk more about that in the moment. but the casualty count at ft. hood would have been a lot higher if high higher if it weren't for one woman. this was a woman who put her life on the line to save others yesterday. brian todd has more on the mystery woman who is a hero. >> reporter: ivan lopez opened fire and then used his weapon, again, shooting from a xar. he then walked into a battalion transportation building and then fired, again, and then moved to a parking lot. his destruction, while terrifying could have been so much worse, if it had not been for one female. >> she performed her duty exceptionally well. >> reporter: officials will not release her name, but former soldiers at ft. hood tell us she's likely with the 720th mp battalion. the base commander said she arrived in the parking lot four minutes after the first 911 call. he says lopez approached her from 20 feet away, put her hands up and then reached under his jacket and pulled out his gun. >> she saw that and interpreted that as a threat and then engaged him with small arms fire, at which time then the shooter did a self-inflicted gunshot wound. >> most police officers would have stepped back and waited for backup but she stepped forward. >> reporter: philip carter was responsible for patrols on base. carter believes she was patrolling by herself. she had gone through 18 weeks of training, carter says, including a segment called shoot, no shoot. >> you have to make a decision on the range as to whether engage or not. they're designed to create that split-second impulse because that's all you have in this kind of situation. >> reporter: in 2009 officers who stopped nidal hasan. kimberly was wounded, both received accommodations. >> it is an honor i can't even explain. >> reporter: the mp who stopped lopez is probably inexperienced. >> so, imagine that you're a college student and you're in that sort of life and death situation and you're making the right call in a matter of seconds. it's incredible that she did what she did. >> phillip carter says that mp will receive an award for valor and may have promotion. she was a civilian officer and the contract that she and her colleagues had with the army was not renewed. erin? >> that's a shocking ending. all right, brian todd, thank you very much. "outfront" next the question you're asking at home and asking here, how could this have happened again at ft. hood? the texas attorney general is "outfront" next. standing by for a news conference about malaysian airlines flight 370. the husband of a passenger on the missing jet tells me why he thinks investigators are hiding something. and live pictures in denton, texas. want to show you this as you can see in the distance the clouds against clouds. they have a tornado warning in effect. tonight, possibly going to be a night for tornados and we're watching that story, as well. we'll be right back. (dad) well, we've been thinking about it and we're just not sure. (agent) i understand. (dad) we've never sold a house before. (agent) i'll walk you guys through every step. (dad) so if we sell, do you think we can swing it? (agent) i have the numbers right here and based on the comps that i've found, the timing is perfect. ...there's a lot of buyers for a house like yours. 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horrific ft. hood shooting in 2009, many are asking how this possibly could have happened, again. >> reporter: for more than a decade, ft. hood has carried the burden and anguish of wars on the other side of the world, but the violence of the battlefield has, once again, struck at home. >> shock and horror all over again. >> reporter: retired colonel cathy platoni knows it all too well. in november 2009, she was at ft. hood when hassan unleashed an attack. five of the soldiers killed that day were part of her unit. >> i felt rage inside of me and tremendous sorrow and grief. it was surreal. how could this happen, again? >> reporter: after the 2009 ft. hood shooting, the department of defense called for better emergency response and improving information sharing between military and government investigators. >> we saw some of the benefits and gains made out of that ft. hood, first ft. hood experience. but something happened, something went wrong. and we need to know what that was and if we failed in some way against our current policies, we need to be honest with our selves and with you and hold ourselves accountable. >> reporter: after the ft. hood shooting in 2009, the military's report said one of the biggest problems was the ability to identify internal threats that there's "insufficient knowledge" and awareness of the factors required to help identify and address individuals likely to commit violence, but the same problem exists today. in 2011, 22-year-old army private was arrested and charged with trying to detonate a bomb in a restaurant popular with ft. hood soldiers. needs more seasoned mental health professionals. >> still a struggal for the military. we just don't have enough people to take care of the problem. >> reporter: after more than a decade of war, mental health issues plagued the u.s. military. here at ft. hood alone in the last six years, 85 soldiers have committed suicide. ft. hood soldiers are often warned to avoid speaking with the news media, but one soldier did speak with cnn who described the stressful life at ft. hood as a black hole. >> it can be miserable and, you know, we have a lot of people in behavioral health and nobody really understands how bad somebody's mental stability is or, you know, how hard it is to keep your sanity here being at ft. hood. >> reporter: and, erin, colonel platoni has a unique position. she's a clinical psychologist and an expert in ptsd. it is iconic she was here in 2009 and one thing she warns about with the downsizing of the army and that there are much fewer experts and clinicians and people who can help soldiers along the way, people who aren't experienced enough in the issues of ptsd to be able to offer and diagnose and spot the warning signs that need to be spotted to prevent tragedies like this. >> of course, you have a country pulling back for more and pulling back in a massive way from defense spending. joining me now, greg abbott and, mr. attorney general, thank you very much for taking the time to be on the show. look, it's the second mass shooting at ft. hood in the past few years. ft. hood, a name that people hear and they think now of these shootings. how could something like this have happened again? >> well, first of all, erin, of course, our hearts go out to the families affected by this tragedy, but, for us, ft. hood is more than a military base. these are our friends and this is our family and this is our community. deeply connected there and this is something as a state we rally behind our troops, but also ft. hood. what we're doing as a state is a couple of things to help out these folks. one is, of course, from the law enforcement side, the state of texas is working side-by-side with the u.s. military and federal government as well as the local officials. erin, we have something else here in the state of texas that works with these people on the ground. we have a service in my office, the crime victim services that will provide services to the family members who were harmed, injured or killed in this tragedy. >> so, let me ask you, though, because i'm trying to understand exactly how, how this could have happened. again, how could it happen in this case. i was watching when the commander was talking at ft. hood about this shooter and here's what he said about the situation. >> we have very strong evidence that he had a medical history that indicates unstable psychiatric or psychological condition. going through all the records to ensure that that is, in fact, correct, but we believe that to be fundamental underlying causal factor. medical history unstable psychiatric condition. should someone with this condition and this known history been able to buy a gun legally, which lopez did? >> well, first of all, we need to recognize that this is something that's being handled first and foremost by the military. >> yes. >> it is highlighting something, though, that i think we all need to intensify or focus on. that is, as a nation, we need to do more to work to support the mental health of our veterans and of our active service members. this is something that will strengthen both the military and strengthen us as a country. >> it's an interesting point. i know you're not directly answering my question, but let me use something senator harry reid said today to hopefully get a more concise answer from you. he told reporters, couldn't we at least have background checks so a majority of them support that. so, i hope we can bring it back up. is he right? >> well, erin, there are already in place certain restrictions on certain people who are unable to purchase guns. and if you actually look at the restrictions you're talking about, one of the flaws that we have in the current system is not that there is a need for restrictions, but, instead, that the restrictions in place are actually not being enforced. there is inadequate looking into our investigation of the current restrictions and enforcement of those restrictions. so, that's one path they could have gone down. but the main thing, though -- >> restriction in place that would have prevented ivan lopez from buying a gun unless he was institutionalized. no restriction in place that if you enforced it would have stopped him from getting a gun in texas. >> i'm sure you're not suggesting everyone in the country or everyone in the country who wants to purchase a gun goes through a background check. that would be far too intrusive. you get into the difficult area of where you draw the line and has to be something with a proven instance of having some level of mental instability that would rise to the ability of allowing them to have a gun. in the united states of america we will not require mental background checks on everyone who wants to purchase a gun. >> and, final question. gun rights, obviously, i know a big campaign issue for you and i hear your point of view here. strong point of view and you campaigned with ted nugent and synonymous with this issue and i interviewed had him extensive l and you said you had no plans to campaign with nugent, again. have you changed your mind? >> well, look, i think ted was on your show or some other show but i think he did come out and apologize. i think he was right to apologize. of course, he used language that i would not use, that i think is wrong. and, so, i think that these he's done right by apologizing and we want to make sure that language political discourse.nvolved in - >> all right, thank you very much. we appreciate your time. texas attorney general greg abbott joining us "outfront" tonight. officials searching for flight 370. there could be something significant in terms of the search zone or how they're going to be looking, but there are some big developments tonight. we'll bring you that press conference live as soon as we get it. mixed messages from the malaysian government. why authorities now won't even confirm if the plane crashed or actually landed. more breaking news. live pictures of denton, texas. we have been watching this cloud mass. cloud on cloud there. tornado warning in effect. this is going to be a very big situation possibly tonight as we are monitoring that situation. we'll be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] when fixed income experts... ♪ ...work with equity experts... ♪ ...who work with regional experts... ♪ ...who work with portfolio management experts, that's when expertise happens. mfs. because there is no expertise without collaboration. marge: you know, there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. try phillips fiber good gummies. they're delicious, and a good source of fiber to help support regularity. wife: mmmm husband: these are good! marge: the tasty side of fiber. from phillips. these days, everything is done on the internet. and tomorrow you'll do even more. that's what comcast business was built for. slow dsl from the phone company was built for stuff like this. switch to comcast business internet. then add voice and tv for just $34.90 more per month. and you'll be ready for tomorrow today. comcast business. built for business. other breaking story we're following tonight the search for malaysian airline flight 370. news conference from the man coordinating the search in the indian ocean. a british ship is honing in on a specific such area. how significant could that be? as the sun rises, search crews are getting some additional high-tech help. the australian investigation, the ocean shield, reporting quite a bit on this has now arrived with a device that is supposed to locate pings from those flight data recorders, so-called black boxes. the battery on those devices are expected to run out in the next few days and they may have already run out. you really are on a race against time. kyung lah live in perth, australia. >> what i can tell you is that it will be held by angus houston. the man in charge of this entire operation. his first substantial news conference since he took control of this operation on sunday. we know that the timing will be mid-day australia time in the next four to five hours, but we don't know exactly what he is going to be telling reporters. we are being told that this is going to be like a regular news briefing but his very first to us. whatever he does say, it will be important to the some 1,000 sailors at sea. approximately 100 crew people up in the air. this has been a relentless search with hundreds of family members waiting for word around the world, and, erin, it bears some importance that we should remind people, no debris has been found and in 2014 it is still possible for an airliner to comp pleatcompletely vanish trace. >> in terms of the search area, obviously, slightly shifted and i know you talk about this press conference is substantial and we'll find out why the sub is looking in a specific place. in pink on the screen, we have the new search area, 1,000 miles northwest of where you're standing right now. what are authorities saying about the conditions for today's search and, you know, we see all the different areas that used to be the search area. this new one seems smaller than prior ones. dowe read much into that? >> no. it's basically moving every single day. once they clear a certain area, it then shifts. they cleared that particular patch of the ocean and they're moving to another patch. as far as the conditions today at sea, we're getting quite good news in the weather front. we understand that there is going to be excellent visibility, the waves will be very low. so, there is a lot of hope as this new search day is beginning. because the weather is so good. >> thank you very much, kyung lah reporting live from perth. still to come, the families of flight 370 have been briefed. they were told that officials are now not able to tell them whether the plane landed as opposed to crashed. plus, we're going to hear from the husband of one of the passengers. he talks about what was going through his mind when he boarded a plane just days after his wife vanished on 370. >> i truly believe that it's actually not an act of the pilot or somebody else. but you're not done. capella university can help take your career even further, with the most direct path to your point "c". capella university. start your journey at capella.edu. do you have a minute to think ok, how about thirty seconds? at comcast business our internet is fast. up to 5x faster than dsl from the phone company. and our phone's better too. switch to comcast business internet. then add voice and tv for just $34.90 more per month. time to make the call. 800-501-6000 comcast business. built for business. much of the central united states bracing for dangerous weather conditions over the next few ahours. tornado watches across much of the region. chad myers is in the weather center. chad, we've been looking at pictures from texas, but it looks really ominous. >> the pictures we're seeing are right from right here. denton, texas, back here. storm moved through your area 30 minutes ago and prosper, right about there and it continues to move off to the east, slightly to the north of east and let me tell you, this is what the pictures still look like with these low-hanging clouds. not seeing any touch the ground, but still a potential here that there may be tornado damage, erin, and we don't know it. this is something we called wrapped in rain tornado. a tornado in such the middle of such a heavy rain shaft, such a heavy rain shaft that you may not be able to see it. another round of severe weather headed towards st. louis. tornado watch boxes all literally all the way from st. louis all the way back down to dallas tonight and this is an area right through here, even points to the east, maybe even to memphis late, late tonight and overnight where your 3:00 in the morning you might not hear the sirens. this is the night to have your noaa weather radio on. breaking news in the search for missing malaysian search flight 370 we are standing by for a news conference in perth, australia. resume the hunt looking in the pink area. they looked in all the gray ones and every day they just try to shift it a little bit to try to look for something new because as we want toemphasize, not a single piece of debris was found. a sub searching underground in a specific area and more information during this press conference. 27 days since that plane disappeared. so far, nothing. no physical evidence of any sort on the families of the 239 families onboard spend each day waiting for an answer on what happened to their loved ones. nic robertson is "outfront" in kuala lumpur. >> we now hear -- what is going on? >> yeah, one of the family members, a cousin of one of the people lost on the plane said that three hours it was very painful to sit through it. they didn't get the kind of information and clarity that they're hoping for. they really wanted to know and understand what happened to their loved ones and they keep holding on to some hope that the plane may have come down safely somewhere. so, of course, they were listening for that and this is what they told us. in this whole three-hour briefing, the officials really couldn't say to them clearly whether or not the plane crashed or came down safely some place. this, of course, for them, hugely difficult. i was at a memorial service last night and there was a man there who lost his wife. she worked at a technology company here in malaysia. he didn't even bother going to that briefing. for many people, they just don't see the government giving them the answers that they want to hear and this just makes the whole process so much more painful, erin. >> all right, nic, reporting live from kuala lumpur. richard quest, miles o'brien and jeff wise. pretty amazing when you hear what nic just said. they were saying they are not confirming whether the plane crashed or could have landed safely. >> this investigation, it's hard for us to say how the investigation is going and richard and i have differed on our perception of that. we could all agree the communication is horrible. just horrible. to the families, to the public. inconsistent. they have walked things back which are of great importance and to lay this kind of false hope before these families is, i think, really a horrible thing to do. i look at those pictures of these people going through this. torture. it's torture. >> i would like to know more about the wording. i am not discounting what they said. but bear in mind the malaysian prime minister says flight mh-370 ended in the south indian ocean. and everybody jumps all over him because he's effectively said it's crashed. >> he did say there were no survivors. >> he said it's sad and regrettable and everybody says, you know, he didn't use the crash word but efebtively did say it crashed. i am guessing at this briefing, i wasn't there, i don't know, but i guess they avoided using the crash word and by inference it has given somebody something to run with. >> but it raises the question, jeff, of the other things that have come out in recent briefings that have caused people to ask questions. 17 countries confirmed that this plane did not land and it is not in their air space, their country. indonesia has not said anything. >> is that information or is that just an absence of information? you know, it's the kind of riddle and puzzle that we have instead of information in this case. >> and what about the fact that we were just talking about this in the commercial break before, but i think a lot of viewers, transation and the last known position of the plane was, "northward" after we spent a month looking in the southern indian ocean. what does this mean? >> we're not sure where this has come from, but there seems to be a view that at the moment of extremists, the plane had turned north. i have not heard this officially from any of the press statements, but it is out there. >> how would they know? i suppose this doppler information they used -- >> but let me just ask you all a question. i don't understand, physically, if you can't tell me where the plane went down how can you say it is pinging northward in the last few moments of its flight. >> that could be interpreted to me when it was last seen on malaysian military radar it was heading on this zigzag course towards the end of an island. heading to the northwest before it disappeared then we don't know if it turns north or south. >> but it depends on how you define last contact. that is the key word. >> yes. >> imagine this table is, you know, the south indian ocean. we've got this box where they are searching. now, first of all, we don't know it's the right box. >> no. >> we don't know for certain it is, but we have to go with what they got because that's all we got. now we don't know because they're moving the box around a bit. we don't know are they moving around a bit because they've searched it so thoroughly that they could be so certain that there's nothing in that box or is this the, still, they're doing the best they can. >> in the context, again, this is a big question when you talk about how crash landing, would there be debris all over the surface that would give you an exhaustive if this plane glided and landed on the ocean surface and then some? >> it depends. it depends on how -- now, if it is an air france scenario and i'm talking about air france 447 in 2009. what happened in that case is they got very slow, nose high, did sort of a flat spin into the ocean and, as a result, kind of wobbling their way down and belly smack created a tremendous amount of wreckage on the surface, including an entire vertical stabilizer, the tail, which happened to be carbon fiber so it floated and that helped them identify the crash scene. if you wanted to make the plane disappear, you could, there's two ways to go. go for the ditching scenario. kind of lands in tact and sinks, sully style. in the ocean with the swells, it's not the hudson river. it's a difficult thing to do. the other way to do it, nose in really fast and just go straight down and straight in. >> in those scenarios, we were talking about this, in those scenarios, the wings would come off, probably, but they have the engines on them and even if the engines come off, but the fuselage could. >> we don't know what happened at this point. we only have these 13 pings, what we do know the most about, its path when it deviated from its course to china and did its famous left turn and zigzag pattern and seems to be following airways and flown in a very deliberate way. >> which, of course, is what investigators have said at this point. they used the word deliberate and used the word criminal. we're standing by for the press conference promised by the officials. but i also spoke with the husband of one of the passengers and here's why he's saying this. >> i think that our people who know a lot more than what's being 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for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar, but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza. he said victoza works differently than pills, and comes in a pen. and the needle is thin. victoza is an injectable prescription medicine that may improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. it is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and should not be used in people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. victoza has not been studied with mealtime insulin. victoza is not insulin. do not take victoza if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza or any of its ingredients. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction may include swelling of face, lips, tongue or throat, fainting or dizziness, very rapid heartbeat, problems breathing or swallowing, severe rash or itching. tell your doctor if you get a lump 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of the search. you can see the searchers lowering anna tonmous underwater vehicle into the indian ocean. lowering the torpedo-shaped thing into the water and a pictured of the towed pinger locater. that is what scans for the sound of the locater beacon, which is attached to the plane's flight data recorder. usually they don't put that in the water unless they know where the wreckage is, but with this race against time with a couple days left before those batteries may lose power and go dark forever they are trying everything. for the families of those missing, these pieces of technology are the hope they have to shed light on what happened to their loved ones. earlier i spoke to a man whose wife wife was on flight 370. i asked him what his life has been like for the past 27 days. >> life has come to pretty much a stand still. a lot of time spent with family and friends who were similarly very, very anxious and deeply concerned, both for me, my daughter, my mother who stays with me. and it's essentially a time of agonizing wait. it's been a time of thinking through what life might be if we do get to know that she will not ever come back. >> you have, obviously, chosen to stay in india because your family is there and because your friends are there. not to go to perth or kuala lumpur because of that you have not been at the briefings with investigators. have you been getting the information that you need? have you been getting the information before we've been getting the information, for example? >> there's, again, the answer is no. i get to hear about what's being shared primarily through the press conference that is put out through news channels such as yours and then follow ed up -- >> it's amazing that you're hearing from the press. i mean, obviously, the situation is they'd be shocked that's how you answer that question. the inspector general in malaysia said "at the end of the investigations we may not even know the real cause. we may not even know the reason for this incident. requesti ." obviously there's no debris. what do you think happened? >> i have -- my thinking goes like this. i think eventually we will know. i think there are people who know a lot more than what's being shared. my concern is that if we don't really get to the bottom of it, we cannot really be certain that we are safe and that we are secure every time we board a flight. and to me, that's a fairly scary prospect. i've just don done one trip to delhi and back to drop my daughter at college. the thought crossed my mind. is it safe to board a flight? is it safe? do i trust the pilot, the ground control, the crew? there's just too many questions that crop up. if there is evidence do i truly believe it it's not actually an act of the pilot or somebody else and that it's really weather? >> and obviously you're talking with us, so calmly. and i know you've thought through it. and you have your moments of incredible darkness, i know. but do you believe that it's possible here that there still could be some kind of a miracle, that you could see your wife again? part of me says is it right to ask that question. but i know there's probably a part of you that has that hope, too. >> i wrote some time ago and i still believe -- i don't believe in miracles. and i'm also of the view that to me, to hope is actually quite a wasteful thing to do. i think what i am really interested in is to know the truth. >> and if there was one thing you wanted the world to know about your wife, she was obviously someone who wanted to change the world. she was going to a conference in mongolia to help people in need who worked in the fishing industry for the u.n. what would you want people to know about her? >> i'd like people to know that she was a very warm, caring, fun-loving person who had a tremendous zest for life. she was a very loving mother who truly and deeply cared for her mother as well, who really loved her brothers, and who meant enormous good for anybody she came in contact with. >> before we go, there is anything else you would want our viewers to know? >> i do believe that this is an issue, that this is an event that is so unprecedented. and i think that it is so significant that it can never be allowed to get off the screens, get off the radar and get away from the attention of people. and i think people like you, your channel, and many other channels, the media at large, have played a significant role in making sure that the government is accountable, that the airline is accountable, that every organization that has a part to play in this industry is held accountable. i hope you'll continue to keep the focus. >> all right, thank you very much. >> thank you. jeanne moos is next. co: i've always found you don't know you need a hotel room until you're sure you do. bartender: thanks, captain obvious. co: which is what makes using the hotels.com mobile app so useful. i can book a nearby hotel room from wherever i am. or, i could not book a hotel room and put my cellphone back into my pocket as if nothing happened. hotels.com. i don't need it right now. when folks in the lower 48 think athey think salmon and energy.a, but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. thousands of people here in alaska are working to safely produce more energy. but that's just the start. to produce more from existing wells, we need advanced technology. that means hi-tech jobs in california and colorado. the oil moves through one of the world's largest pipelines. maintaining it means manufacturing jobs in the midwest. then we transport it with 4 state-of-the-art, double-hull tankers. some of the safest, most advanced ships in the world: built in san diego with a $1 billion investment. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. and no energy company invests more in the u.s. than bp. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. captain crunch, lucky charms and trix, after this segment you'll never look at the cereal aisle the same way again. jeanne moos has the story. >> reporter: it has come to this. we are analyzing the body language of cereal boxes. >> is your breakfast making eyes at you? >> are your kids being stalked at the grocery store? >> reporter: we've got our eyes on your eyes, captain crunch. you too, sugar bear. we see you. >> peering right into their soul. >> making you cocoa for cocoa puffs. >> reporter: a cornell university study found that adult cereals are placed on higher shelves. kid seriar cereals from lower os as if from down there the characters are trying to establish eye contact at kids. >> the eyes are deflected at a downward angle about 9.6 degrees. what are you looking at your silly rabbit? the study found that characters on adult creer yalts look straight ahead meeting adult gazes. >> don't look at me that way. you're all cereal offenders, especially you, tony. >> they're great! great. you i'll never be able to walk down a cereal aisle again without feeling eyes on me. the study's author say it's known that direct eye contact between humans encourages trust. but would that hold true for direct eye contact with cereal box characters? 63 participants, really we're not making this up, were shown the rabbit from trix. either with his eyes down or looking straight at the viewer. the feeling of connection to the brand was 28% higher when the rabbit looked straight at the test subject. >> silly rabbit. trix are for kids! come on. does a this alleged eye contact really smack of deliberation? >> i don't think this is necessarily a deliberate manipulative strategy. >> reporter: they might be looking down at the bowl of cereal. kellogg's, the maker of frosted flakes told cnn" we do not intentionally position our characters on packages." at the least at the deli you won't have a million eyes drilling holes in you. >> what's the point of the study? >> wasting time. let's just study something else. i just left the doctor. study this rash i got going on. that's what they should study. >> reporter: she you later even the leprechaun from lucky charms is rolling his eyes on this one. >> the rash guy is disturbing. i have to say, it you're marketing those really sugary cereals and marketing them at kids they should be looking down at the kid. that's just smart marketing. anderson is next. i'm john bettrman sitting i for anderson cooper. following dangerous weather, flooding, tornadoes, that could cause big trouble deep into the night. this is what it looks like right now not far from dallas where local authorities have just reported a tornado touching down. a confirmed tornado tornado hitting osage county in missouri as well. chad myers will give us the latest information. we're expecting new information about the search for flight 370. we begin, though, with fort hood and breaking news. we are learning more now about the man who killed three and wounded 16 before killing himsel
a critical point. and signing off. the latest running late night host says he's retiring. you're watching cnn newsroom. we want to welcome our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. our top story, an underwater search for signs of malaysia airlines flight 370 is under way now in the indian ocean. all together 14 aircraft and nine ships will coma area of more than 240 kilometers. but right now they are towing pinger detectors. right now from perth, australia, matthew joins us. we know the batteries powering the signal they're listening for will soon go dead. >> reporter: yes. that's right. and that's why this new phase-in the search operation has really got under way now. the sub surface operation with the deployment of the submarine, with the australian vessel that has that sophisticated search technology attached to it as well and a british ship with similar capabilities, all working in conjunction with each other in a race against time, essentially, to try and find the pinger which is on the black box flight recorder of that lost airliner. and of course the battery power on that pinger is expected to run out, could run out within the next couple of days, and so there's a sort of time sensitivity to it also. they also just got all these assets in the area. so that's why this phase, this sub surface phase of the search operation has only now just got underway, but according to angus houston who is the retired air chief marshal who's now heading up the australian led search effort here out of perth, there's still very much a focus, very much a hope that they'll be able to spot some debris from the missing plane on the surface of the ocean. take a listen. >> i think there's still great possibility of finding something on the surface. there's lots of things in aircraft that float. i mean, in previous, previous circuits, life jacketes have appeared, which can be connected to the aircraft that was lost. in fact, one of the most famous investigations of all time, when the british comet jet disappeared over the mediterranean, the key piece of evidence there was a life jacket. >> reporter: they're optimistic that if the aircraft is out there it will be found. but he also underlined that the search area being looked in now is extremely big and extremely remote. and so far, remember, after 28 days of looking for any sign of this aircraft, they've still found no trace of it, natalie. >> it's really uprenreal that t haven't, but as you say, it's a huge, huge search area. as far as this underwater search for the data recorders, you say maybe just two more days for the batteries to run. how long will they continue to try to pick up a signal? >> reporter: well, two more days officially. what specialists in this field say is that the pingers are certified to last 30 days. so that's in two more days, but in practice, depending on the battery strength inside the pingers, they could last for considerably longer than that. so in two days they're not going to give it up. and the bigger problem is the fact that usually this kind of underwater search technology is only used when there's a very good idea of where the actual debris, where the actual carcass of the lost object, in this case, an aircraft, has been positively identified. at the moment they're just kind of looking for a needle in a haystack as it were because the search area is so big. they don't know exactly where it is. that's why every day almost we're seeing this search area being refined as they move on to areas that they haven't looked in yet after they discount areas that they've searched as thoroughly as they can. so a huge challenge facing these search teams. >> certainly is. but there is still hope. live in perth, thank you. well, a round of severe weather barrelling through the central united states brought hail, and even twisters touched down in texas. hail as big as golf balls, you can see right there, was reported in denton, texas. heavy rains caused flash flooding in kansas and missouri. and a number of people had to be vevacuated from their mobile homes due to the rising water there. the ft. hood commander says the shooting spree was likely caused by a psychological condition. the u.s. army specialist killed three people and wounded 16 before killing himself. investigators are still trying to determine the exact motive, but they're already forming a theory about what set off lopez wednesday afternoon. >> there may have been a verbal altercation with another soldier or soldiers, and there's a strong possibility that that in fact immediately preceded the shooting. but we do not have that definitively at this point, but we do have strong indications of that. >> lopez shot his victims with a.45 caliber hand gun that he bought privately after passing a background check. there's no indication he intended to use the weapon before the day of the shootings. at the moment they are down-playing any connection to terrorism. >> the background checks we've done thus far show no involvement with extremist organizations of any kind. but as general milli said to me last evening, and i know the chief and i fully support, we're not making any assumptions by that. we're going to keep an open mind and an open investigation, and we will go where the facts lead us. >> lopez killed himself after being confronted by a military police officer. she is being hailed as a hero who saved lives. brian todd has more about that. >> reporter: yvonne lopez first opened fire in the medical brigade building. he then walked into the transportation building and fired again, then moved into a parking lot, his destruction while terrifying could have been so much worse had it not been for one female mp. >> she clearly performed her duty exceptionally will. >> reporter: officials won't release the mp's name saying she's germain to the investigation. but she's likely with the 720th mp battalion. they say she arrived in the parking lot four minutes after the first 911 call. he says lopez approached her and put his hands up then reached under his jacket and pulled out his gun. >> she determined that as a threat and engaged him with small arms fire, at which time the shooter did a self-inflicted gunshot wound. >> most officers would have stepped back and waited for backup, but she stepped forward. >> reporter: phillip carter was responsible for base. she had gone through 18 weeks of training, carter says including on a range involving a scenario called shoot/no shoot. >> they're designed to create that split second impulse. >> reporter: in 2009 it was two civilian officers that stopped nidal hasan. >> it's an honor that i can't even explain. >> reporter: philip carter says that the mp thatst stopped lope is problemly inexperienced. >> imagine that you're making the right call in a matter of seconds. it's incredible she did what she did. >> reporter: she will likely be slated for promotion. kimberly munly ended up losing her job as a police officer at ft. hood. she was a siecivilian officer a her contract was not renewed. america's top diplomat is urging israelis and palestinians to avert a break down in their latest negotiations. we'll tell you what's posing the latest threat to the peace talks. also the ukrainian president and sniper attacks in kiev. welcome back to cnn newsroom. there is new concern about the state of the u.s. brokered peace efforts. a seemingly frustrated john kerry is calling on mideast leaders to lead. he says israel and the palestinians must make some fundamental decisions. >> i think it is a critical moment, obviously. the dialog remains open. there was progress made in narrowing some of the questions that have arisen as a result of the events of the last few days, but there's still a gap, and that gap mwill have to be close and closed fairly soon. >> as cnn's reporter report now, the prospects seem far from promising. >> reporter: it's been going from bad to worse all week. and now what's left of the brokered middle east peace efforts is in tatters. they said israel would not go ahead with the plan to release palestinian prisoners and will reassess its involvement in the process. this followed a stormy meeting between palestinians and american negotiators and described as very, very ugly. mahmoud -- john kerry appears to be wearing thin. today he said facilitate, push, you can nudge, but the parties themselves have to make fundamental decisions and compromises and kerry has facilitated, pushed and nudged tirelessly since starting the effort last summer. all, it may turn out, for nothing. ben wedeman, cnn, jerusalem. russian security forces have detained 25 ukrainians on suspicion of planning a terror attack. they say the suspects allegedly planned to attack at several locations in russia and some were given their orders from the ukrainian service. russian intelligence officers were involved in planning forces against the protesters. they accuse viktor yanukovych of ordering snipers to fire on the protesters. moscow has long denied involvement. cnn has more on the report. >> reporter: they presented very little evidence publicly. they did show diagrams and booklets made up and showing trajectories of bullet shots and firing lines, that kind of thing, but didn't really give any of that key evidence to show why they thought russia's security service was so closely involved in this, because not only is the ukrainian government including accusing 12 members of the riot police of taking part in killing protesters, acting as snipers perched on rooftops, but they say that 32 members came into the country prior, and those are the ones said to have fired on the orders of president vect viktor yanukovych. they say they were flown to crimea so they could avoid detection. >> 12 members of the ukrainian security forces have been detained as part of the investigation. in saudi arabia, a last minute payment of so-called blood money will save a woman from execution. she has been on death row for several years after reportedly admitting to killing her employer and stealing some $10,000. she said it was in self-defense. she was facing execution unless the dead woman's family was financially compensated per local custom. now it has been announced the sum will be paid. the u.s. government launched ha social media site in cuba. what officials are saying about the program coming up here. also baby makes three. they soon head off on their tour. welcome back to cnn newsroom. the u.s. is denying it tried to overthrow the cuban government by using a twitter-like service. washington acknowledged the existence of the program but said the purpose of the project was to create a platform to help cubans communicate with one another. it came to light after an associated press report. u.s. officials say it's not the case. >> congress funds democracy programming to empower cubans to strengthen civil society. these appropriations are public, unlike covert action. in implementing programs in non-permissive environments, of course the government has taken steps to be discreet. this is not unique to cuba. >> there was nothing classified or covert about this program, discreet does not equal covert. having worked with the cia and now here, i know the difference. >> covert or not, american attempts to undermine the cuban government goes back decades. there was of course the bay of pigs fiasco when a ragtag group of exiles were funded to help overthrow the government. there were many plots on castro's life, many with plots that sound like they are from a james bond movie. we're talking a poison-coated scuba diving suit. the u.s. spent $24 million on a program that flies a plane over the island to broadcast american-sponsored programs. but the cuban government jams the signal, so it is doubtful that any of it reaches its intended audience. we want to get more now on the severe storms across the u.s. golf ball sized hail and tornados ripped through parts of the central u.s. on thursday, and the storms could still threaten millions of people come friday afternoon. we've, actually sometimes we say golf ball sized hail, but we've actually seen it. it was golf ball sized hail. >> yes, it was. >> and it's a big swath of states. >> in the last 60 minutes, we've seen some 1400 lightning strikes. you take a look at the areas that we're talking about being impacted. of course one of those regions around st. louis, this is bush stadium, playing the cincinnati reds on thursday. but lightning strikes left and right. tornado reported on the outskirts of st. louis as well into the evening hours there. but overall, 198 reports of storm-related damage. about 150 of them are related to hail and here is the perspective as far as what we have in store across this region. how oddly enough, the hail report comes out of denton, texas. plenty of dents to go around. we're talking about this size hailstones and one of our reporters sharing these photos saying hey, the hailstones, you see it on the corner of your screen, most of them are pretty small. then you get some this large. this is just north of dallas showing us some ominous clouds coming in across this region. this was actually a minor league baseball game. had to be postponed after the third inning as spectators and players were take ofn off the fd because active weather was moving in. memphis, tennessee about to get in on the action. as very, very active thunderstorms coming in. so far in 2014, we've only seen 70 reports of tornados. we should have roughly 145 when you tabulate those numbers. look what happens statistically in the month of april. peak season comes in may and then eventually in june. and you see conditions taper off into the winter months. this is what we have in store for us. the numbers typically prove to be true. at this point, high pressure remains offshore. and we do have an erica where we have some 33 million people under a slight risk for severe weather on friday afternoon into saturday morning. the main threat going to be large hail. we're not talking about golf ball size for the vast majority, but still, the possibility of damaging hail and an isolated shot of tornados stretching from birmingham into atlanta eventually on in to cincinnati. quick aly want to show you what happening across the indian ocean. some low clouds. hard to pick out on this satellite depiction, but low clouds as low as 1,000 feet. many of these aircraft can fly as low as 300 feet. but there is a tropical cyclone trying to form west of this region. look what happens as we get into sunday and monday, and the winds with the storm system also going to be encroaching on the search zone next week. so the weather looks okay the next couple days. could be threatened by sunday and monday. >> the next two days are critical, too, because they're really searching for those underground pingers. thank you. we want to tell you about a special meeting between two of the world's most notable public figures. hmm, who might that be? pope francis we're talking about and britain's queen elizabeth. they metz and exchanged gifts. the pope gave the queen a blue or orb. and the queen gave the pope some kpis key. the duke and duchess go on a trip with prince george. he almost upstaged his parents in the family's official portrait recently. we have more for you. >> reporter: it was designed to whet the appetite, a portrait of a family, preparing for its first trip together overseas. there's no doubt he'll be the star of the showdown under. it's long trip for an 8 month old george, but the little pribs's father william went on a strikingly similar tour at the same age. the family will certainly be fitting a lot in. the first glimpse of him will be on monday when they arrive in wellington new zealand. they have a mission to meet as many people as possible, including relatives of the 185 people who died in the christ church earthquake in tlifl. expect to see the duke and duchess of cambridge getting involved in outdoor pursuits. and experiencing traditional married culture. kate hasn't been to either country before. so they'll be taking in all the sights. in australia, that will include sidney opera house and an exercise on the beach. and perhaps an appearance for prince george at the zoo in sidney the where an enclosure has been dedicated to him. the added star power of two future kings is expected to test the strong republic. with huge crowds expected at every public appearance. cnn, london. the scientists say they believe they have found an ocean in outer space. it is on saturn's moon enceladus. they say it's made up of saltwater and as deep as 10 kilometers. they say it is the most likely place besides our solar system that could support life. something to ponder. just ahead, more on the search for the missing malaysian airliner. and why today's weather is raising hopes for some kind of breakthrough. also, reliving a nightmare at ft. hood military base in texas. imagine if everything you learned led to the one job you always wanted. at university of phoenix, we believe every education- not just ours- should be built around the career that you want. imagine that. you're watching cnn newsroom. hello, i'm natalie allen. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. here's a check of our headlines. two ships are scanning for pings from malaysian flight 370. the hope is to peck up a signal before the batteries go dead. today's operation has 14 aircraft and nine ships searching. so far, no debris. severe weather moving across the central u.s. has spawned a number of tornados. this one touched down just outside of dallas, texas. the town of denton, texas was hit with hail the size of golf balls. five more soldiers wounded by army specialist ivan lopez have been released from the hospital. others had their conditions upgrad upgraded. lopez killed four people, he wounded 16 before killing himself. some of the equipment being used to listen for the so-called black boxes on flight 370 comes from the u.s. navy. the man in charge of that spoke with our paula newton about its operation and chances for success. >> this terrain is not as mountainous as some terrain. so you can adjust the dipt as you need to for gradual change. so i have confidence in our ability to move the equipment. >> reporter: is it a shot in the dark? the equipment's there, might as well give it a shot? >> absolutely. that's a good characterization. there's a lot of smart people that did the analysis that determined it was likely on this course. it's the best information we have on that. but certainly, it's a broad search area. our will ripley joins us live just off the australian coast. and certainly, will, time is running out for any chance of perhaps of finding these data recorders. >> reporter: yeah. absolutely, because, natsly, as you've been all righting, as we've been reporting for weeks now, they only have a certain battery life where this ping is emitted and we are now down to literally a handful of days that this equipment may still be emitting a ping. and we deents know the physical condition of the data recorders. are they damaged? we just don't know. but the only thing that we do know is that we have a lot of equipment in place to listen for these pings. we have a british submarine, a british ship, both of those equipped with sew that are equipment. we have the united states navy pinger locator listening for that ping noise. and i wanted to take you inside this charter fishing boat that we are at. we about 1700 kilometers from the search area. i wanted to show you. lots of boats have technology that uses sound to basically scan the bottom of the ocean, even a charte fishing boat like this. i want to show you this screen in particular. this is called the echo sounder. it's not sonar. but you can see what it's doing is using sound waves to bounce against the bottom of the ocean. this is what the bottom of the ocean looks like where we are right now. just 27.7 meters deep. pretty flat here. i'm going to ask our captain ray ruby to explain how ships use sound technology on a daily basis. not just for searches like this but you use it as a fishing vessel as well. >> this one here, we've split the screen in two. one shows us the actual contours of the bottom. and because we use it for fishing, we want to know exactly what's on the bottom. so in this one we're looking at the last three meters of the bottom. and the other one shows the definition of the bottom, the up and down. so this one's flat, which is exactly what is on the bottom. and this is up and down, the depths. >> you mentioned the sonar equipment, it's extremely expensive, it's a lot different technology. the equipment that some of the british ships are using are side scan sonars. so the sound waves are bouncing out to the side of the ship. that will help them detect debris floating on the sitop of the water. >> how's the weather supposed to be in the next couple days? >> reporter: weather conditions are being described as fair. clouds about 300 meters above the surface. which does allow the planes to get low enough to do a visual search. we believe the visibility is about 10 kilometers in either direction which isn't per effect, but it's a lot better than some of the conditions than we've seen of late. as we've seen repeatedly in this part of the ocean, it's difficult to predict. can you have great bother one employment, horrible weather the next. >> will ripley off the coast of perth, australia. relatives of the missing passengers of course are desperate to know what happened to their loved ones. many no longer trust malaysian authorities. when they're told there are no answers right now. here's joe johns. more about that. >> reporter: it's been weeks since mh 370 disappeared, and the malaysian government is still struggling to meet the needs of the passengers' families. >> we owe to the grieving families to find, to give them comfort and closure to this rather tragic event. and the world expects us to do our level best. >> reporter: waiting for word on the fate of the plane, the chinese families are channeling their frustration and anger. >> we want evidence, we want the truth, we want our family back. >> reporter: they have now made public questions so tough the authorities can't or won't answer, which makes the families suspicious. distrust is not uncommon for the relatives of passengers in airliner mishaps as authorities work to uncover the truth. >> the reality is there is generally less going on than what meets the eye on this. there's the fog of the investigation, how hard it is to get facts right. but at this point, the trust is zero with family members. >> reporter: even though malaysian officials have released transcripts from the cockpit the families have demanded more. they have demanded communication and an illustration of the flight path and a comparison of the analysis of the last satellite picks. they want calculation formulas of the last flight position over the intd yan ocean and why these calculations could vary by as much as 1,000 kilometers. the families were brief the by officials at malaysia and china. but the briefing failed to satisfy the families who issued an angry statement titled we fooled once again. they said they did not receive direct answers. >> some of them cannot be answered. but that's part of establishing a level of trust with the family members over time of saying listen, we don't know the answer to that yet. we're going to try and find out that answer, but as of today we just don't know. >> reporter: the malaysian government continues to insist it is doing what it can to keep the families informed. but it's difficult to draw the correct conclusions until the plane is located. joe johns, cnn, kuala lumpur. there are families in ft. hood, texas asking lotting of questions as well about what happened there. the mass shooting has kindled debate about psychological evaluations in the military. ivan lopez had a history of anxiety and depression. the army's top officer says it's very difficult to weed out potential problems. >> we do quite significant screening today, but it doesn't mean it's right, and it doesn't mean we can't improve it. we have to constantly evaluate this. this is something that we are going to have to deal with for a very long period of time. and that's the consequence of 13 years of war. >> the 2009 massacre at ft. hood prompted changes in security at u.s. military bases. but as our reporter tells us, there's no sure method to prevent tragedy from striking again. >> reporter: for more than a decade, ft. hood has carried the burtd and anguish of wars across the world. but the violence at home has once again struck at home. this retired colonel knows all too well. in november 2009 she was at ft. hood when major knee dal hassan launched his attack. >> there was tremendous sorrow and grief. and it was surreal. how could this happen again. >> reporter: after the 2009 ft. hood shooting the department of defense issued a report calling for better response and promoting information sharing between government and military investigators. >> we saw some benefits and gains made out of that ft. hood, first ft. hood experience, but something happened. something went wrong. and we need to know what that was. and if we failed in some way against our current policies we need to be honest with ourselves and with you and hold ourselves accountable. >> reporter: aft ft. hood shooting in 2009 they said one of the biggest problems was to identify internal threats and identify individuals likely to commit violence. but the same problem exists today. in 2011, jason abdel was involved. >> we just don't have fluff peop -- enough people to take care of the problem. >> reporter: here at ft. hood alone in the last six years, 85 soldiers have committed suicide. ft. hood soldiers are often warned to avoid speaking with the news media, but one soldier did speak with cnn who discussed the stressful life at ft. hood as a black hole. >> it can be miserable. and we have a lot of people in behavioral health and nobody really understands how bad somebody's mental stability is or how hard it is to keep your sanity here being at ft. hood. >> reporter: ed lavandera, ft. hood, texas. up ahead, hear why man over the people who evacuated in chile now say they're too scared to go back home. also a 9 month old is booked and fingerprinted in court. the bizarre scheme is sparking a an about face. [ male announcer ] this is the cat that drank the milk... [ meows ] ...and let in the dog that woke the man who drove to the control room [ woman ] driverless mode engaged. find parking space. [ woman ] parking space found. [ male announcer ] ...that secured the data that directed the turbines that powered the farm that made the milk that went to the store that reminded the man to buy the milk that was poured by the girl who loved the cat. [ meows ] the internet of everything is changing everything. cisco. tomorrow starts here. a programming note for our international viewers. connect the world start at its new time on sunday at abu-dhabi. starting starting on sunday. in february, there were 215 calls to u.s. poison control centers because of the liquid nicotine that's used in e cigarettes. more than half of those involved children under 56789 officials say they're attracted to the liquid which is flavored to taste like banana and bubble gum. they recommend e cigarette users pay close attention to where the liquid nicotine is stored. in chile, thousands are afraid to return to their homes after aftershocks rattle the coast. shasta darling ton has this report for us from one of the hardest hit areas. >> reporter: we're here on a road to a small town in northern chile that was cut off by the earthquake on tuesday. and just when workers had opened up the road so they could gain access we had a large aftershock wednesday night that sent boulders tumbling into the road again. you can see there's a huge crack split here. the bulldozers have just passed buy cleaning the boulders off so we could get access to this small town. while people here didn't have to worry about tsunamis, they did have to worry about getting supplies in. they do have generators for electricity, but they haven't been visited by a single official. they feel abandoned, to say the least. and they have a concern that there's a reservoir right above them. every time there's an aftershock they also have to move to higher ground. we ourselves were in the aftershock on wednesday night. we were evacuated from our hotel, went with a lot of residents to higher ground. and many people carried backpacks and bed rolls. they actually spent the night outside on the one hand so they could be safe from the possibility oflizing waters but also so they didn't have to worry about falling buildings or debris. and what we keep hearing over and over again is they don't know when this is going to end. they were already feeling pretty considerable foreshocks. now there have been more than 100 aftershocks and experts saying this might not have even been the big one. they don't know what's ahead, and it's still a very tense situation near northern chile. cnn, chile. it's called the ring of fire, shasta looks like she's standing on the ring. more about the earthquake. you were just telling me during her story, that's one of the driest spots on earth. >> yeah. where she was yesterday is the driest place on earth, drier than death valley. parts of it actually, evidence suggests haven't seen rainfall since the 1700s. we know it's dry. over 100 aftershocks. the ring of fire, i want to share it with you. one third of our planet's surface area is right there in front of you in the pacific ocean. and the ring of fire, we're talking about the plates diving into the continents or directly underneath the continents. and that's where 90% of the planet's earthquakes occur. 75% of our volcanos across the rick of fire. that's where the name comes from. 80% of the largest quakes in the world also occur across this region. that's why folks in chile have really been rattled in recent days. that 7.6 has been moved offshore. the epicenter was not south of iquique, which we know initially was there. we've 7, we've had four 6s. so you would expect several more to go through the next couple weeks and months. you sigh upwards of thousands when you hook into the four scales. i do see quakes still coming across japan associated with the 2011 quake. i want to share an interesting story taking place across london. london, one of those larger cities known to have rather good air quality, because weigh know the dubious distinction it has for all the rainfall that comes down across this region, but the perspective in the last couple days, absolutely disgusting and we know sitting at the 717 air quality index. that is considered unhealthy. in the last several days it pushed up into the unhealthy katz gore. that is one of the most unhealthy air qualities london has experienced in a long time. the ambulance service saying a 14% increase in calls dealing with respiratory health in the last several days. and a lot of people wondering where this is coming from. some of that's actually coming in from the sahara desert. and we know the winds here have been coming from the south. so you can blame some of it from the sahara desert and some of it from industry in the region. >> thank you. a stunning scene in a pakistani courtroom this week. a 9 month old booked and fingerprinted. authorities had ordered the father to appear in court along with his older teenage son for allegedly attacking police. instead the little boy was brought to court. the court granted bail to the baby but did not dismiss the case. they're ordering to suspend an inspector for registering the complaint against an infant. that is hard to watch. that's just not right. it's the end of an era for american late night television. we'll tell but funny man david letterman saying good-bye. well, he has been a fixture for so many of us for so many late nights, but after more than 30 years on late night tv, david letterman is ready to retire. say it ain't so. the talk show host announced his decision thursday saying his last show will be sometime next year. the 67 year old -- he's 67? says he wants to spend more time with his family. >> i said to my son harry, two months ago or so, i said you know, the cliche when somebody rae tire, spend more time with my family. it's a lovely sentiment, but it almost makes you laugh. i was goofing around with harry. i said what if i retire. why would you retire? and i said, well, because then i would be able to spend more time with the family. and harry looked at me and said which part of the family? >> i'm sure harry is on board with his dad. letterman's shows have won 14 emmies. dave got his start in television as a weatherman in indianapolis. a new study may change the way you look at the supermarket cereal aisle. it claims the cereal boxes are looking at you. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: it has come to this. we are analyzing the body language of cereal boxes. is your breakfast making eyes at you? we've got our eyes on your eyes, captain crunch. you too, sugar bear. we see you. >> making you cuckoo for coco puffs. >> reporter: adult cereals are placed on higher shelves. kids on lower ones. it's as if from down that's correct the characters interest trying to establish eye contact with kids. what are you lookin' at, you silly rabbit? characters on adult cereals looked straight ahead, meeting adult gazes. don't look at me that way, you're all cereal offenders, especially you, tone eye. >> they're great! >> reporter: now i won't ever be able to walk down a cereal aisle again without filing eyes on my. it's known that direct eye contact between humans encourages trust, but would that hold true for direct eye contact with cereal box characters? 63 participants, really, we're not making this up, were shown the rabbit from trix, either with his eyes down or looking straight at the viewer. a filing of connection to the brand was 28% higher when the rabbit looks straight at the test subject. >> silly rabbit, kix are for kids. >> reporter: but does all this smack of deliberation? >> i don't think this is necessarily a deliberate strategy. >> reporter: he may be looking down at this bowl of cereal, kelloggs told cnn we do not intentionally position our characters on packages. at least at the deli you won't have a million eyes drilling holes in you. >> wasting time. let's study something else. i left the doctor, study this rash i got going on. that's what they should study. >> reporter: even the leprechaun from lucky charms is rolling his eyes on this one, unless our eyes are playing tricks. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. the cast of the australian production of the lion king gave fellow passengers aboard a flight recently a musical treat. ♪ >> how cool is that? they gave an impromptu performance of "circle of life" on the airplane. think were on their way from brisbon to sidney' where the show is playing to packed houses. maybe they sold a few more tickets on board that plane. thanks so much for watching. early start is coming up next for viewers in the u.s. for viewers elsewhere, stay with us for world business today. ♪ ñ breaking news this morning in what could be a pivotal point in the search for missing malaysia airlines flight 370. overnight, australia announcing it has now taken over the search for the vanished jetliner. new technology helping australia dramatically narrow the search and finally send black box detectors into the water. live team coverage, ahead. inside the mind of a killer. new information this morning on the gunman who murdered three soldiers and injured 16 more. the latest information on that deadly rampage that has left ft. hood just reeling. we take you live to killeen, texas. breaking news this
>> these are interview obtained by the "new york times" of alpha platoon s.e.a.l. team 7 members, breaking an unwritten code of silence in 2018 by taking on their chief of their platoon, who was eventually tried for war crimes. here's a taste. >> he's a psychopath. the guy got crazier and crazier. >> the guy was toxic. >> we can't let this continue. >> it's [ bleep ] up. that's frickin' evil, man. >> these are not from now, not sworn, not cross-examined. it was an early part of the investigation. but they're still going to hold relevance. what is also relevant is mr. gal ber was acquitted of multiple war crimes including killing a young isis prisoner. he was only convicted of a single and lesser charge in ul j, posing for photos with the body of that dead isis fighter. now, after the trial, gallagher was demoted in rank because of the photo. that's when the president intervened. why? he reversed the demotion and let gallagher retire honorably. navy secretary richard spencer strongly objected. some say it cost him his job, but it did not silence him. he wrote in "the washington post," this president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically, or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices. now, gallagher responded to news of the release of the tapes, and here's the response. quote, my first reaction to seeing the videos was surprise and disgust that they would make up blatant lies about me. but i quickly realized that they were scared that the truth would come out of how cowardly they acted on deployment. the videos also gave me confidence because i knew that their lives woues would never h under real questioning. the jury would see through it. gallagher, recently photographed with president trump just last weekend at mar-a-lago, and that's as much of this story, although that may be unfair to gallagher, right, because gallagher didn't do what he did for political reasons as far as we know, but he has become a political chess piece. let's bring in cnn military analyst major james spider marx, and phillip carter. thank you both. spider, as always, thank you for being of such use to my audience all year long. phillip, you're new, but i thank you in advance. so these videos, again, timing matters. they're not new. these aren't people adding to what we've already known. but in terms of context, what do they raise for issues, spider? >> the big thing is this really demonstra demonstrates a break in terms of the cohesion specifically within this team. i don't know that i can extrapolate and say, look, across the board the s.e.a.l.s have got a real challenge. let's be frank. the entire service has been at war for 18 years. they're going to be stresses, and especially the special ops community. these young men and women just rotate in and out. they go back in. they continue to stand back up. they go back in. so you have these pressures on these teams. but when you look at that video, i have to assume that a priori, any mission, that there was a conversation inside the platoon that said, look, guys, we've got some challenges. let's address those. if those conversations were heated, i got it, it sounds like people didn't follow that input in terms of execution on the mission. but if they didn't have those conversations, you have more than just a fractured cohesion within that team. you've got a real breakdown in terms of leadership challenges and, again, as i said, i can't extrapolate out to the force. >> sure. >> this needs to be addressed. >> to keep it specific, phillip, you know, we're not used to harihar hearing s.e.a.l. team members talk about one another this way. of course this was a piece of litigation. the lawyers' response is pretty obvious. he says, look, these guys weren't sworn, and these are the same kinds of statements that i cut up like cheese at the trial. so these are of no meaning. what's your take? >> we don't often seen the inside of a s.e.a.l. team room. this is the inside of a dysfunctional s.e.a.l. team room. it shows the breakdown of unit cohesion. i think we should take these videos seriously because these s.e.a.l.s would have faced pretty serious repercussions if they lied to investigators. they may not have been formally sworn or under oath or cross-examined, but these s.e.a.l.s weren't cavalierly making these statements. you can imagine what it takes for such well trained, elite service members to get to the breaking point where seven of them are going to go to ncis and tell them these kinds of things about their chief. >> now, then it becomes political. so gallagher is acquitted. he is found guilty of taking the photo in front of the dead body. they want to demote him. the president says no. what did you make of that decision then, and what do you make of it now, spider, in terms of what may have motivated, why it was right or wrong? >> well, we're talking about this now, chris, and we've taken our eye off the other 8,000-plus soldier, sailors, airmen that continue to deploy in afghanistan. we're talking about this, and i must say frankly the president got involved way too soon. he could have waited for this thing to entirely wrap itself up, tied with ribbon, gone through the entire process. it could have been presented to the sec-def, could have been a done deal and the president says thank you very much. then he can take action. the fact he reached in so soon, he clearly has the authority to do that. i mean the president is cloaked in immense power. we know that. but that just kind of got this thing spinning. then the secretary of the navy, as you've indicated, ended up having to resign because he was trying to walk a line both between, you know, kind of what i would call honor to the navy and also trying to honor the direction of the president. >> right. >> he was ill adroit. i didn't make that happen. >> we can assume it is not a coincidence that mr. gallagher wound up in a photo op with the president down at mar-a-lago, phillip. there's obviously some thinking that helping this man, mr. gallagher, the platoon chief, was of benefit to the president because there's no other basis for any other reckoning. we have no reason to believe he understood anything about the case. he has no connection to the military. he has no connection to this branch of service. so there's no reason for him to have been invested. what do you think was the political plus-minus for the president? >> it's hard to judge other than i think what you've said. but it is more broadly about the civil military relationship between the president and the military and what do we want that to be. in this case you had reportedly the secretary of the navy, the chairman of the joint chiefs, the secretary of defendant, and the secretary of army and other cases recommending one thing and the president did another. now, that's clearly his constitutional prerogative, but just because you can doesn't mean you should. and one has to wonder how fractured that civil military relationship is now going forward on afghanistan, on russia, on the budget, and everything else that comes through the oval office. >> and is it a nod to the president endorsing harshness even if it is just about the photograph? you know, we have rules. i know people will debate this, you know, war is war. you know, americans try to do things differently. is this a nod, maybe not anymore? spider to your point, i wanted to get your guys' take on a situation i believe we've ignored. 235,000 people the latest count of the number displaced as a result of an escalation of violence over the last two weeks in northwest syria. now, you get quick disclaimers from the military and defenders of the president who say, whoa, we were never there. this has nothing to do with our decision to leave the united states. this is just stuff that happens. what's your take? >> we were the sinew that held all those loose parts together in terms of our relationship with the kurds. again, you can be very agnostic and say, look, the turks are our ally through nato. we've got a longstanding relationship with them. it dates back to the early '50s, albeit it's a troubled relationship in many cases. the kurds, that was a marriage of convenience. what we didn't do was establish what the prenup was going to look like before that marriage, and we suddenly ended it, and we didn't give them any opportunity to better position themselves and get ready for this. so the fact that we've had that type of displacement, the main thing in my mind is turkey now is taking advantage of this vacuum, and they've created a buffer zone. look, i'm not a lawyer, but the issue is you don't create a buffer zone unless there's some type of a recognition on the multiple sides that that gunfbu exists. >> right. >> this is called taking land. this issen ainvasion of sovereign land albeit syria is a pretty screwed up place. but trying to create this strip of land so that erdogan can now displace refugees in turkey into this strip of land in syria. >> right. it's not 23, it's not 2,300. you know. >> it's 235,000 people. the conditions are not great this time of year. the services aren't going to be great. the safety's not going to be great. general spider marks, best for the new year to you. phillip carter welcome to the show. best for the new year. >> thank you, chris. topic shift. one point of frustration for many of you is the sense that the two political parties are reading from the same script when it comes to impeachment. they just change roles from when it was clinton's impeachment to trump's. well, there is new tape being circulated of senate minority leader schumer that plays on this point. in fact, it's being used by the president and his defenders to do exactly that because he was saying something very different -- mr. schumer -- decades ago from what he's arguing now. what is its relevance? 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yeah. what are we gonna do with these? keep it at your desk, and save it for next time. geico. over 75 years of savings and service. a president who abuses power. and obstructs justice. the impeachment of donald j. trump. he was supposed to protect our constitution. not trample on it by asking foreign countries to undermine our democracy for his personal political gain. trump broke his oath to america. members of the house and senate must now do their constitutional duty. if you agree, sign our petition at need to impeach.com need to impeach is responsible for the content of this advertising. this president's christmas message calling for more christlike behavior aside, he continues railing against house speaker nancy pelosi. one of his latest offerings, so interesting to see nancy pelosi demanding fairness from senate majority leader mcconnell when she presided over the most unfair hearing in the history of the united states congress. as we say often on this show, just because the president says it a lot does not make it true. in fact, this statement has never been close to true. the procedures in this situation are those echoed from the clinton situation. the obvious difference is that the house did the investigating here and not a special secret council like ken starr or a grand jury like with nixon. but, you know, in politics reality is often about perception, and that makes the question of how this plays for the democrats a real one, especially in an election year. so let's bring in democratic congressman lloyd doggett here. best to your families for the holidays, the holy days, and the new year. >> and to you, chris. good to be with you on this final show of the decade. >> it sounds so big. so the idea of state of play, the idea that nancy pelosi is negotiating with mcconnell over the rules of the senate trial, is that true to your understanding? >> well, i think what she has done is to take a little time to thoroughly look at this and to recognize what mr. mcconnell said. each of these senators takes an oath. they raise their hand and swear that they will do impartial justice in accordance with the constitution. and mr. mcconnell has said instead of that, he'll do a cover-up in accordance with trump. and in view of that, the house, as the sole authority for impeachment, has every right to take its time in forwarding these articles to the senate in an effort to try to ensure that precedent is followed, that witnesses are called, and that there is an impartial justice that is done there. >> so one of the reasons we pleaded with you to come on the show is some people won't know, but it's an easy google search away. you're also a judge. you were a judge, texas state supreme court. it's interesting to get your idea of fairness in this process. of course it's political. it's not a judicial process, but still. there are two salvos being used against your side in terms of the legitimacy of your desire for fairness. one of them is from senator schumer from back during the last iteration of impeachment with clinton. let me just play it for you because it's making the rounds. >> surely. >> the republican leader said proudly, quote, i'm not an impartial juror. i'm not impartial about this at all. this is an astonishing admission of partisanship. anybody taking an oath tomorrow can have a pre-opinion. it's not a jury box. many do. this is not a criminal trial, but this is something that the founding fathers decided to put in a body that was susceptible to the whims of politics. >> now, people are using this to say, you see? they're all the same, lloyd. you know, it's just about what works for them in the moment. you know, then the democrats were saying impeachment is so bad. now they're saying it's okay. impartiality was bad. now it's okay or vice versa. what's your response? >> well, i think there are inconsistencies on both sides, but it's important to look at the precedent that was set by the clinton trial. republican majority leader lott and minority leader daschle agreed on the process by which the senate would proceed. it was approved unanimously by the senate, not with the republicans saying we'll have it all our way. >> fair point. >> second and even more important is the fact that witnesses were summoned, not the 40 witnesses that testified in the impeachment trial of andrew johnson, but three witnesses, and it was senator lott who said that he wanted it done by deposition rather than live testimony. so those are the precedents that i think are really significant here. certainly these senators will come with their own views. >> right. >> but it's critical that they comply with the oath and attempt to engage in impartial justice, and they cannot do that if this is the first trial in american history of impeachment where there are no witnesses even summoned. one wonders what is the purpose of the gathering, perhaps just to hear another round of inconsistent speeches? you would think that this president, if he really made a perfect call, would want people, all the president's men, to come there and testify about the level of his perfection. >> that is the weakness. that is the weakness of the argument, which is if everything was good and everybody can defend him and excuse him and exonerate him, why is he keeping them from testifying? all right. but then we bounce back to the idea of what is being asked for vr versus what is being offered on the democrats. you brought up the issue of witnesses. it's the perfect pivot. former v.p. joe biden obviously running for the democratic nomination in 2020 for president. he was asked about, well, what if you're called? that's one of the horse trading arguments here. the democrats are going to have to give if they want to get anybody. they don't have the numbers. here's what he said. >> do you stand by your earlier statements that you wouldn't comply if you were subpoenaed to testify in an impeachment trial before the senate? >> correct. and the reason i wouldn't is because it's all designed to deal with trump doing what he's done his whole life, trying to take the focus off him. the grounds for them to call me would be overwhelmingly specious. let's say a voluntarily just said let me go make my case. what are you going to cover? you're going to cover for three weeks anything i said, and he's going to get away. >> first, your honor, the idea of what joe biden is arguing here is exactly what you just impeached the president for, his feelings about the subpoena process and congressional oversight made him feel like not complying because he didn't like why you were asking. how is that any different than what joe biden is saying? >> well, it's significantly different. first i think that joe biden or anyone else would be subject to subpoena power and could be compelled to come to this proceeding, but there's nothing that joe biden or any of the other witnesses republicans have talked about have to say about what the president is being impeached for. the only purpose of bringing them is for distraction urged by the master of distraction, donald trump. >> but why? if their argument is, you can't say the president had corrupt intent, which you would need for abuse or any type of what we call in the law sigh enter, malice aforethought because he has a legitimate belief that biden raises significant issues that ukraine and the servers, so we want to put on testimony to prove that there's something there. >> well, i think the president's corrupt intent is shown by his conduct. this was not just one phone call though we now do know from one of the documents that has been discovered that they began their action to terminate aid within an hour and a half of the phone conversation. but this was a pattern of conduct perhaps as your earlier shows have demonstrated, perhaps over two presidencies in the ukraine. so we have plenty of evidence of this pattern of conduct and of his intent and his desire to "do me a favor, though." there's no need and no justification for calling joe biden or any of the other witnesses that have been discussed, but they're all subject to subpoena. so that would be up to the senate. better to have more witnesses than to have no witnesses. >> all right. and quickly, congressman, take off the judge hat and put back on the politician hat for a second. just a straight texas card player, would you give a biden to get a mulvaney? >> oh, i -- i would not begin to engage in that kind of horse trading. i think that the senators will have an opportunity to consider the witness list. it strikes me as a very poor trade in that regard to get the president's chief of staff to come out and tell what actually happened instead of to hide and in this case to hide behind the call for joe biden. >> the strong part of the argument they'll have to overcome, mcconnell is going to have to explain how he can take the oath after what he said. and two, what does biden have to do with why he was impeached to the specific facts of the instance. congressman, thank you for arguing compellingly and cogently as always. appreciate it. >> thank you. happy new year, chris. >> happy new year. best for the new year. the presidential candidates are now fanned out in the early voting states. remember what i keep telling you. everything starts when the voting starts. i know that sounds silly, but, no, the whole narrative is going to change by who does well there, who does better than expected, does worse than expected. 38 days away. we probably have a ton of data to go through about iowa and the state of play, right? wrong. why do we know nothing about iowa? the ifwizard of oz will have to explain to all of us, next. what did you do, wiz? we're reld to them? we're portuguese? i thought we were hungarian. can you tell me that story again? behind every question is a story waiting to be discovered. this holiday, start the journey with a dna kit from ancestry. this holiday, start the journey with a dna kit (shaq) (chime) magenta? i hate cartridges! not magenta! not magenta. i'm not going back to the store. magenta! cartridges are so... (buzzer) (vo) the epson ecotank. no more cartridges. it comes with an incredible amount of ink that can save you a lot of frustration. ♪ the epson ecotank. just fill and chill. available at... steven could only imaginem 24hr to trenjoying a spicy taco.burn, now, his world explodes with flavor. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day all-night protection. can you imagine 24-hours without heartburn? here, it all starts withello! hi!... how can i help? a data plan for everyone. everyone? everyone. let's send to everyone! wifi up there? uhh. sure, why not? how'd he get out?! a camera might figure it out. that was easy! glad i could help. at xfinity, we're here to make life simple. easy. awesome. so come ask, shop, discover at your local xfinity store today. mr. biden, are you feeling the pressure here in iowa? >> no, i'm feeling good in iowa. i'm feeling the heat in iowa, the weather. >> and that's no malarkey. the former v.p. making his way around the hawkeye state 38 days until the iowa democratic caucuses. joe biden says he's feeling no pressure. he's got to be feeling pressure. they all do. the polls tell a different story to the point that they tell a story at all. harry enten, wizard of odds and lightness. harry, how the heck do we not know with like crazy precision the state of the race in iowa, and it's the first state? >> sure. look, the fact is there have been only two polls conducted over the last month in the state of iowa. i've gone back since the 2000 election. that's the fewest polls we've had at this point in the race since 2000. i think there are two key reasons. number one, the cost of polls have been skyrocketing, and, number two, let's think about this, right? what has been the big news story over the last month? it's been impeachment. the fact is you're not going to spend a ton of money on polls you're not going to be frequently discussing. >> well, those two reasons stink, so let's try to find a third, which is what do we know about polls in iowa in general that inform us as to why you've got to be careful about doing any horse race? >> i think this is rather important. take a look at where the iowa caucus winners were polling one to two months before the iowa caucuses. we have the polling averages here, the results here and the differences between the two in this column. the difference between the person ended up winning iowa was polling and their result, nine percentage points, the median, since the election in 2000. >> so the polls were off almost ten points. >> on the median, yes. the average is in fact a little bit higher. there's some years where it's closer, but many years -- look at this, 2004 and the democrats, john kerry was only at 18%. he ended up getting 37% in those caucuses. >> is iowa different that way or do we have that kind of variability in state to state polls or because it's first, it doesn't get the benefit of any momentum? >> primaries are difficult to poll. but in iowa, it's particularly difficult and there's no doubt this may be one of your years. >> let's go to approvals. >> look, i just want to point out one thing. >> harry does not like constructive criticism by the way. >> i don't like criticism from you necessarily. look, here's the deal. i just want to point this out, in iowa, another reason why we don't know what's going on, look how close these are. a very, very tight race. >> you made a great point the last time you were on that one of the things to be of concern for buttigieg and warren fans is the durability of the support. so if people who say they want pete or elizabeth warren are like, yeah, but there's a good chance i'd like somebody else, how do you read that into his standing at 21 in iowa? >> the way that i would say it is both these two candidates have been the one who's have been switching the most, right? so warren was up in iowa a few months ago. then she dropped all the way down now to only 15%. buttigieg was way down. now he's jumped up. the fact is with so few polling, it could be the case that buttigieg is lower now or even higher. we just don't know with just two polls over the last month. >> you wanted to talk about unfavorables. you see that as part of the read. how? >> yeah. i just want to talk about jumping ahead to 2020 and one of the key things in terms of looking where the president's going to be going in terms of his election campaign. >> oh, good. >> i think this is rather important. look, we've spoken a lot this year about the president's low approval ratings but we also know generally speaking the year out doesn't really mean much. but in the mid-march before the election, that's when those approval ratings really begin to mean something. this is where the presidents were polling and whether or not they got re-elected. the green is, yes, they won the election. the black is, no, they didn't win the election. look at this. if you're polling at 47% or above, normally those people win re-election, right or win election in the case of a few of these folks. but if you're polling at 47% or below, those people, ford, carter, bush, all those did not go on to win that full term. >> throw out the highest and the lowest and that's more than random here because they were both dealing with huge exigencies, right? he had the war and he had the tax issue. >> sure. >> johnson had civil strife like nowhere else, and he was dealing with the civil rights act, which really helped because that was such a momentum builder for the administration at that time. you really don't have a huge sample. >> we don't have a huge sample. but the fact is when you're looking at this and the president's been polling down in the low 40s, i think that is a very bad sign given that is where the two people who didn't end up winning those elections were generally poll, even a little bit above it there. >> do you read more into approval and how does that play into unfavorables? >> i think one of the key facets of the 2016 election -- remember, donald trump was not a popular guy back in 2016. but hirllary clinton was also nt a popular candidate. the key thing was he won by 17 points among the 18 pierce of the electorate who liked neither one of them. you see that right here. among those who have an unfavorable view of both candidates, i looked at the biden versus trump matchup in our latest polling. this is the key difference. remember trump won those voters by 17 points. but in our latest polling, biden is leading among those by 63 points. the fact is if the president has an approval rating in the low 40s, the big question is can he win those people who don't like biden or trump because he's going to try and drive biden's negatives. this polling suggests he'll have a very difficult time doing so. it will not be a repeat of 2016. >> now, if we had more appreciation for the president's sense of strategy, someone would think, well, this is exactly why he's attacking biden. it's exactly why he did what he did in ukraine. he knows the vulnerability in this particular way with this particular person. but sometimes we don't know why he does anything. harry, this was very helpful, especially going into iowa. the unknown is going to take people by surprise. but if you watched the show tonight, maybe you want be surprised. >> i want to wish you a happy new year. becoming a friend with you this year has been a high light. >> i believe you said that on the morning show also. >> i didn't say that to them about that. i knew them long before that. >> you are the best. thank you for being with us for this last show of the decade. we share an office. it's a whole thing that's going on. i'll tell but it later. 2020 is going to be a big year, not just elections. some more soothsayers are coming in for a special bolo. be on the lookout. what do they say you have to watch for in the upcoming year? oh, look at these smart people, next. 2020 is going to be a yuge year. so what are the main things to look out for that you may not be looking for? let's bring in the experts. to each and all, the best for the new year. thank you for helping me out on the show. i appreciate it. so, charlie, let's start with you. your take is a brexit warning. >> it is indeed. >> hold on, charlie. how am i messing this up already? it says charlie goes first. okay. i screwed it up. sorry, charlie. everybody, let's start over again. they'll never notice it. yours is the death rattle of whi white supremacy? >> bolo for the death rattle of white supremacy, what i mean by that is it has turned into a death march. specifically we're talking about an ideology and system, chris, that says white men are superior and must be at the top. what we saw from 2016 with the election of trump, every study has shown that the predominant factor f-- what we'll see in 2020, is the mainstreaming and further popularization of white supremacist conspiracy theories by the republican party. we already saw in 2018 with the midterms, invasion funded by george soros, the jewish globalist, and we've seen this mainstreaming by now right wing politicians and fox news. this will increase. we already saw matt shea being accused of domestic terrorism in washington. finally we'll see the increase in white supremacist terrorist plots as christopher wray warned about in 2019. >> before i put it to the panel for a vote as to whether or not they are equally concerned, how is it a death rattle if you're worried about the increase of this malignancy? >> because the death rattle has caused a death march because of the anxiety, because people are feeling replaced, because of the emancipation and elevation of people of color, you're seeing this reaction. just like trump was a reaction to obama, just like we're seeing the reaction of more men and women of color emerging, we're seeing this anxiety. it has been exploited by the republican party, so what we're seeing is this violent death rat we le which will get more mainstream before it's finally put to bed. >> neera, what do we do about something like that? this is actually part of the subject of the closing argument i have tonight is what we learned about what is really in this country, no the that it's a terrible country. it's the opposite of that. but how you deal with your ills. insight? >> well, you have to name it, right? name it and shame it and acknowledge. it pretending and giving it terms of economic terms of anxiety isn't going to help anybody. the challenge we're seeing in the trump administration, this has become part of government policy as well. we know we have a rising domestic terror threat in the united states, but in 2017, the department of homeland security shut down the interagency task force that was dealing with domestic terror networks, specifically right wing extremism. so the government is no longer targeting this. i heard an fbi agent, a former domestic terror supervisor say part of the challenge they're facing culturally is they don't feel comfortable going after people that might be with the president's base. >> right. so your point kind of dovetails into this, which is forced inequality. nayerra, you say be on the lookout for voter suppression. where and how so? >> oh t is becoming increasingly apparent as we try to figure out whether or not you're going to vote for a bernie or a biden or a trump, we need to also make sure that we can actually vote when we get to the polls. 17 million people were purged from voter records in the last two years alone. you look at georgia, which just today announced that 100,000 people would not be allowed back on. florida, where the entire state voted 1.5 million people who paid their debt to society, former felons, they wanted them to have the right to vote, and the republican state legislature said, we need to actually put some other restrictions on them. they sound like poll taxes, which is what it used to be in the civil rights era. it comes up as states are looking to make sure their records are clean and accurate, but it's much more insidious. it tends to focus on areas that are democratic, that are minority, and it puts restrictions on voting that frankly we haven't seen since the 1960s. >> some of this, especially when we talk about gerrymandering and talk about voter i.d.s, there's an argument that goes back and forth. felons voting, not so easy an argument. we saw at one of the town halls bernie sanders said on the spot, yeah, i think even if you're in jail for the worst things, i think you got to be able to vote because you're either for it or you're not. tough sell. >> it is. >> how do you focus on what matters without getting into the realm of where people are going to push back? >> i would say two things. voting is a fundamental right as a citizen of the united states, so it has to be a very low threshold to deny somebody the ability to do that because that is the way you get to determine who represents you in your government. second, the people of florida -- these are state rules -- they spoke. they said, this is how they want their state to be constructed, and the legislature tried to override the will of the people. so i think the state by state, the will of the people, people need to mobilize and activate, and if nothing else, check your registration. make you're that you're still able to vote. >> now, charlie, i knew i was right to get to you at some point here. all right. so you say brexit. why? why should people here in america be thinking about brexit at all? >> well, there is a brexit warning, chris. i'll tell you why. look what happened there. boris johnson came out with a pretty simple expression. you know, get it done. get brexit done. donald trump says keep america great. very simple expressions, but i think there's a lesson for the democratic party in particular. a revolutionary candidate, an angry, in this case in jeremy corbyn, socialist, some would call it marxist, anti-semitic. this type of rhetoric is not what people are looking for in the uk. they're not looking for it here in the united states. so i warned people. bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, if your goal is to beat donald trump, a lot of americans don't want to replace a right-wing culturally based populism with an angry left-wing economically based populism. i think voters are much more interested in incremental change, more measured statements. this country i think does better that way rather than some type of a revolutionary movement. >> i hear you on the hunger for normal, but trump is the one who is doing a lot of the baiting that you caution about in terms of playing with race, playing with divisions, playing with diversity. do you see that on the left, or do you see that as a warning for him and his? >> well, look, for donald trump, he's simply going to say, yeah -- he won't say it himself but people who support him will say, yes, he has many faults i don't like but i cannot accept that, pointing to this type of warren or sanders populism. this is not excusing any of trump's racially incendiary rhetoric, which is despicable. but i tell you it will make it easier for people to justify their votes for donald trump if they see an angry left-wing populism to replace trumpism. >> if boris johnson had actually run on killing the national health care program of the uk, he would lose. so something to think about. >> all right. listen, you gave us all a lot to think about. thank you very, very much. waj, the best to you and the family. nayerra, thank you so much. charlie, always a pleasure. thank you for helping us on the show. >> thanks. this is the time of year, right? we make resolutions. not a fan. but it's not as simple as me just saying don't do it. i argue that you have to be careful about making a mistake that i hear a lot of us about to make, all right? it's the last argument of the decade, next. verizon's important to us because we facetime with her grandparents all the time. (vo) when you have the best network, you want to give the best network. feliz navidad! (laughs) (vo) this holiday, you can gift america's most reliable network and the latest iphone. i would probably give it to her grandparents, so they can take tons of photos. my mom is amazing. if i got her one of these for christmas, she'd be freakin' out. (vo) now, buy the latest iphone and get iphone 11 on us. and apple music is included. with plans starting at just $35. (shrieks) yeah, exciting. (vo) happy holidays from the network that gives you more. -excuse me. uh... do you mind...being a mo-tour? -what could be better than being a mo-tour? the real question is... do you mind not being a mo-tour? -i do. for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. -i do. but in my mind i'm still 25. that's why i take osteo bi-flex, to keep me moving the way i was made to. it nourishes and strengthens my joints for the long term. osteo bi-flex - now in triple strength plus magnesium. what happened, to wish for a fresh start. it's not always the right thing. we learn little from success. think about it in your own life about what doing well helped you do the next time. failure, however, is an excellent teacher. hardship is an excellent teacher. things that we don't like are often instructive. so we ignore them at our own peril. and if the goal is to get better, then you got to get square with the past. like what? all right. some of you on the left including on tv assumed way too much would come of the mueller probe. now, congress isn't really even including all they argued was impeachable during that probe. why? don't wish it away. don't pretend it didn't happen. learn from it. so what did we see with impeachment? it's gone differently. however, theres a lot more information that points to the president. but the lesson of the importance of bipartisan buy-in, has that been learned? not a single gop yer crosser cr line. but you can't just wish the whole situation away because you have to look for ways to create some semblance of bipartisanship in the senate. otherwise you're just going to prepare for more of the same of what you saw in the house. another low that you should not lose in the new year. >> our country is full, our area's full. the sector is full. can't take anymore, i'm sorry. >> first, we know trump wasn't sorry because he was in favor of the harshness and words and in actions where immigrants are concerned. he misled you about only limiting illegal immigration. he took legal immigration levels back to what we thought was a bygone era. but we were able to counter his false information. we were able to expose what i call the brown menace b.s. what they were going to do, who would come here, what would happen, what they did to kids by choice. because we exposed it, because we dealt with it, a lot of it had to stop. so don't wish that away, or it's going to happen again. keep the frustrating realities fresh or they will come again when the hiring season comes again. how do we know? because of guys like this, steve king. he told the "new york times" in january white nationalist, white supremacist, western civilization, how did that language become offensive? then he said we got him wrong. the gop stripped him of committee seats but the president said nothing. he knows king. he may have gotten some of his rhetoric for certain parts of his base from king. so, as painful as it is to hear this trash offered as truth, don't wish it away, don't pretend it didn't happen. the point is not that bad things are actually good. i don't even believe in that. test faith to be honest. but it defies reason when we see things like hurricane dorian, it bothers us. remember that 70 people killed in the bahamas? what good is there from this? this is unmitigated tragedy, so many are still missing. billions in damage, life is nowhere near back to normal. but as we he would from many down there, those who survived, they were thankful at least for that, and many here who never felt connected to people there gave and gave. they're traveling there this holiday season if they can to feed that economy. there is a gift in that, not in the storm, not in the hardship, but in what we did after it reminds me of this kid i love so much, i miss him so much, mattie stepanik. please google his poetry. we must remember to play after every storm. that means we have to use tragedy as a reminder of the must of relishing life when you can, the ability to go on, appreciate what we have. but then my argument's going to take a hit because the idea that hardship can birth heroics and change that we can live and learn. and it's defied by the plague of mass shootings in this country. 22 killed in el paso, more than two dozen injured by a hateful man with access to weapons. now that community there, el paso, wowed me. their ability to come together and to reach out after being targeted themselves. this woman gave me a phrase there. nos reteniamos mucho. we hold each other. she gave me that stone. when times are tough, you hold on, you remember the connection. but do we learn from it? dayton, ohio, nine killed. tons of others hit after a gunman fired. 41 shots in 30 seconds. new zealand 51 killed. two islamic houses of worship, another 49 injured. as of last week officials collected about 49,000 guns as part of a buy-back program. not here. the sickness of the sameness, it's never been met with a real response, even a dialogue. look, i pray that we can get to a better place. but this false standard that they use with only mass shootings. think about it. if you can't name one thing that'll stop them all, then do nothing. and yet i claim to the need to remember, to not wish away even the worst that you experience. and this isn't just advice. this isn't even professional. for me it's profoundly personal. i fight with more than i can express when it comes to this. every new year is as much a marker of who and what is gone as it is about what's to come in the year. this year is five years that my pop left this earth. and i thought that because i've been around so much death, so much loss, i've seen so many cope with so much that i got what this was about, and he had a good life, and we were great to have him in our family. but i was wrong, and i learned the lesson that you don't really become an adult until you lose a parent. i cling to memories now of my father, what he said when he was angry, you know, what he wrote, how he corrected me. i stare at pictures trying to find that connection, desperate for his counsel, and even his corrections. but it's not there. and, yet, the loss has made me hone in on what my father taught me like i never could or at least never did when he was alive. so for 2020, i wish you all the best and only the best. i thank you again for the gift of your attention in allowing us to report for you and to you. and i wish that you remember the bad along with the good, because that is the way to make sure this year will be better than the last. thank you for watching, and please stay tuned. tom foreman is going to take a look back at the biggest moments of the year, all the best, all the worst 2019, next. ♪ at t-mobile, we're lighting up 5g, and when you buy a samsung note 10+ 5g, you get one free. plus you can experience it on the nation's largest 5g network. so you can stay connected like this. score a last minute this. get home easier, like this. and share all of this... with that. so do this. on that. with us. and now, buy a samsung note 10+ 5g and get one free when you add a line. prepare to be amazed, mystified, and mesmerized by the biggest stories of the whole year in politics, sports, music, movies, pop culture, and more. we'll cover it all with our guests, comedians and actors gilbert gottfried, judy gold, helen hong, owen smith, and conservative political analyst carrie sheffield. it's "all the best, all the worst: 2019." welcome. i'm tom foreman and this year really did feel like a wickedly
let's not forget, brooke that there are 176 families who simply want answers. today the president volodymyr zelensky was among the first to drop flowers on this growing pile, his flowers are probably bu buried somewhere deep under there. there were friends. there were colleagues. there were family members who came. it was really quite a steady stream of people. most people wouldn't remember who their flight attendant was yesterday. we spoke to a woman today who remembered two of these flight attendants who were killed, or the nine crew members who were killed on board. she said that their kindness really left an unforgettable mark. we also saw the mother of one of those pilots who came to share her grief. listen. >> translator: they thanked me for raising a good son. we just celebrated his 50th birthday. he was my only son. now i'm all by myself. >> reporter: she went on wailing like that in ukrainian for probably 15, 20 minutes. she was saying over and over again at many points, my son, why did you leave me. but truthfully, brooke, you do not need to understand the language to understand that woman's pain. >> i'm sure one of the questions she has and so many of the families and before i even ask this, of course, some of the blame maybe much of the blame will end up on iran, but this was a ukrainian airliner. how is a ukrainian airliner green lit to fly in the middle of a potential war zone? have you gotten any answers to that? >> reporter: i think that's a question for a lot of different airlines, and i think people who were in iran at that time were in a bit of a tricky spot. do you stay in the country that could potentially be under attack at any moment in response to those iranian missile strikes on u.s. air bases in iraq, or do you try to get out on the first flight like these people did in order to avoid any potential retaliation. obviously in this case there was no real right answer, but i think you raised a valid point as to why any airliners were going into that country. i should point out quickly, brooke, if you ask people here, they will have the normal complaints about ukrainian international airlines that we have about all the airlines. sometimes they're late. sometimes the service isn't so good, but all in all, you'd be hard pressed to find people who had serious concerns about the safety level. the staff members we talked to today said they had no worries at all. >> scott mclean in ukraine. thank you. lets get some analysis on all of this, aviation maritime attorney dan rose is with me. he's also a former navy pilot. when you're hearing all this, my question about why would the airline, you know, green light the flight in the first place after all these missiles had been flying, right, towards u.s. bases in iraq. the other question is how credible are these reports that it could have been a missile that accidentally took this plane down? what do you think? >> yeah, you know, there are layers of responsibility here for not putting a plane up in the middle of a war zone. i mean, the airline should not have put it up there, the iranians certainly should not have let it up there. you know, it just kind of baffles, you know, logic that that plane was allowed to be sent up in the air when missiles were flying. >> in terms of the investigation, how will they be able to determine -- or are there telltale signs of some sort of missile hitting a plane? like what will they be looking for? >> sure, i mean, you could already see just on the rough information that's out on the internet that the plane was continuing to fly and continuing to accelerate, so that really doesn't suggest that it was a mechanical failure, at least related to the engine. obviously you could have a complete explosion, which we've seen on other aircraft like twa 800, there's going to be a lot of data. obviously the black boxes if there's no indication of mechanical failure on the black boxes, the logical conclusion is something else. >> i want to come back to the black box point in just a second. hold tight. i'm being told lets go to the pentagon to our correspondent there barbara starr, and she has some news. what are you learning? >> well, brooke, a u.s. official i want to say not in the pentagon somewhere else in the u.s. government, tells me that they now are certain that it was two russian made sa 17 surface to air missiles that the iranians fired against the ukrainian commercial airliner. this official tells me that they had some certainty of this wednesday morning, the morning after the airliner went town, but they were taking some time to try and verify this intelligence, including that an iranian radar element on the ground had painted, if you will, the airliner, meaning that the iranians had electronically locked onto the airliner. so now they believe not only that the intelligence they saw the morning after this airliner went down was valid. they have taken the time to verify it and make sure of what they are looking at. now, this goes to motive. we have reported earlier in the day that the u.s. believes the iranian most likely the working theory is that they accidentally brought down the airliner, that somewhere on the ground this iranian crew did not realize perhaps this was a civilian airliner. this is a working theory that goes to motive, but what we know now is that the u.s. government has the intelligence to -- the electronic intelligence, if you will, to back this up. they have -- let me explain a bit further. the u.s. operates satellites, airborne intelligence gathering systems that scoop up radar and electronic signals in the environment, and obviously with everything going on, these kinds of intelligence assets, satellite, aircraft had been watching over iranian air space almost continuously because of the concern about iran as we know, firing these ballistic missiles against the u.s. in iraq. so you had the assets up there. it's very much like when the u.s. keeps watch on north korea. the u.s. military, the u.s. intelligence community has significant classified abilities to see, hear, scoop up essentially these electronic signals in the environment. so they see this electronically happening, and when they get these radar signals, they are able to determine what kind of missile it is, the trajectory, and what it might be headed towards. this is, if nothing else, for self-defense of the u.s. military and self-defense of u.s. assets in any region. in this case they saw it, the intelligence, they analyzed it the morning after the plane was brought down, but it was until today that they were really able with some certainty to say this is what they believe happened. two russian made sa-15s owned and operated by the iranians, motive, they believe probably accidental, but that's motive. that doesn't go to the question of exactly technically what happened that brought this civilian airliner down. i will say also i think a number of aviation experts are saying that it is the debris of the plane that is going to have to be analyzed for explosive residue, you know, to see what exactly was there because if there is explosive residue on the plane debris, it would be a unique type of explosive residue to a missile rather than just aviation fuel from a crash. >> okay. so it was russian surface to air missiles shot from iran. >> russian made. >> russian made, purchased, you know, purchased, operated, whatever you want to call it by the iranian military. >> okay. barbara starr, it's a huge, huge piece of news. let me just pivot back over to dan. you know, so if that is what the u.s. is now concluded happened, what is the recourse? i mean, i'm thinking of all these families, right? what's the recourse for this? >> well, that's a whole other question, and it's a difficult one because if the recourse in terms of legally is probably limited against iran. >> yeah. >> they're not going to be coo cooperative. i mean, we're still getting judgments against them for 9/11 that they're not showing up on, right. >> what about your point about the black boxes and you know, iran is saying they're not going to let the u.s. get their hands on them. again, this was a boeing plane. this was an american plane. how does the u.s. get in on this? don't they have to? >> i think there's going to be a lot of other information as barbara pointed out. they're going to have signatures from the launching probably. you're going to have electronic information about what happened. you're going to see the wreckage in certain way that's either indicative of shrapnel or the way the plane broke off. so i think there will be a lot of information that would support the shoot down theory, so you don't need the black boxes, but those would be definitive. if there's nothing else on the black box, then there's no other explanation. >> thank you. dan rose. moments from now the house is dppt expected to vote on limiting the president's waur powers as we learn more details about secretary of state mike pompeo's role in orchestrating the attack on qassem soleimani. nancy pelosi is getting pressure from within her own party to deliver those articles of impeachment over to the senate. i'll talk to a democratic congressman to get his take on the holdup. you're watching cnn, i'm brooke baldw baldwin, we'll be right back. i love the new myww program, because it's tailored to you! ...take the personal assessment and get matched with a proven weight loss plan. find out which customized plan can make losing weight easier for you! myww join today with the ww triple play! welcome back, you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. today president trump claimed he doesn't have to seek congress's approval for future military action in iraq. some democrats and republicans on capitol hill, though, they strongly disagree. i will flash some live pictures on the house floor where soon lawmakers will vote on a resolution, a similar resolution has been introduced in the senate. that vote comes just a day after administration officials briefed both chambers on the strike that killed former iran general qassem soleimani. for utah senator and trump ally mike lee that briefing left a lot to be desired, especially when senator lee said white house officials refused to commit to consulting with congress on iran going forward. >> probably the worst briefing i've seen, at least on a military issue in the nine years i've served in the united states senate. to come in and tell us that we can't debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against iran. it's un-american. it's unconstitutional, and it's wrong. >> and just last hour i talked to democratic senator ben cardin who agreed with senator lee on the need for the president to make his case detectirectly to lawmakers. >> i think what senator lee was saying, that's an area that needs to be debated in a democratic society in the congress of the united states. we have the constitutional power to declare war to authorize our military operations, and clearly the president does not have authorization to use force against iran. >> phillip carter is a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, a former iraq war veteran. thanks so much for joining me. >> thanks for having me. >> the president said he doesn't have to ask congress's approval on future military action in iran. obviously democrats and republicans say yes, he does. who's right? >> so like all legal questions, the answer is it depends. if we're talking about a single strike, something like the soleimani strike that was intended to be in self-defense or preemptive self-defense, the history suggests the answer is no, the president can do that. for an imminent issue. but if he's talking about a sustained air campaign, something that will go on, something that may expose the u.s. to counter attacks or put hundreds of thousands of americans at risk, then history suggests the president does have to go to congress and seek approval. >> you point out that previous presidents have ordered bombings without congressional approval. you look at former president reagan on libya, george h.w. bush and clinton on iraq. how does that differ if at all with what president trump did in ordering the soleimani strike? >> maybe sadly as a lawyer, the provisions of the constitution on this are sometimes observed in the breach, and those past incidents often reflect in the libya case or the sudan case or afghanistan case with reagan and clinton a desire to immediately hit ka da fee in the first instance and then al qaeda in the second in a very imminent scenario. the president then went back to congress and reported it to try to respect the rules, but that's not necessarily the template going forward, and those cases all raise questions. president trump is really forging a new path, though, between his syria strike in 2017 and then his actions more recently, and the justifications have yet to emerge fully and in a coherent way from what he sees are his legal obligations in these cases. >> all right, and then just with regard to what's happening right now with the house. we know they'll likely pass this resolution, but the president is just as likely to veto it, phillip. if there is an escalation with iran in the future, what options does congress have to ensure this president works within the guidelines of the constitution? >> so congress has sort of an escalating series of things it can do beginning with hearings, beginning with holds on nominations, moving up until funding actions, and ultimately passing veto proof legislation that restricts the president's war powers. that doesn't often happen. it did towards the vietnam war, and it has happened at a few other moments in american history, but if congress feels that it is being disrespected enough, it may choose to act that way. >> all right, phillip carter, thank you for your expertise. although the president has assured americans that iran standing down from any further retaliation, two lrevolutionary guard commanders have told the media iran will -- were a display of iran's weapons capability. cnn chief international correspondent clarissa ward visited one of the damaged sites in northern iraq. >> so this is one of the sites where iranian missiles hit the other night, and as you can see, it's a rural area. there is nothing much to see here. the nearest thing local tells us is a refugee camp just under a mile in that direction. local security officials also saying that there are no americans here. there are no american bases here, but nonetheless, this is where one of the missiles hit, and you can see this area of impact, and if you go through some of these small craters, you can also find some shrapnel from where the missile hit, but the question really is what exactly were the iranians trying to target here? were they even trying to target something specific at all, or were they just trying to show that their missiles have a far reach? more broadly speaking, of course, this is a strategically important area for the americans. northern iraq has essentially been the base of operations, particularly special forces operations, in the fight against isis. for locals in this area -- and there aren't that many of them, but they did say it was frightening to hear the blast. windows were blown out, and of course there's real concern. nobody wants to see tensions escalate any further between the u.s. and iran. people in areas like this thought that this conflict had nothing to do with them, but the iranians showing with this missile hit that their attacks can go anywhere. clarissa ward, cnn, bardaras, iraq. >> thank you. and as members of congress on both sides express their dissatisfaction with the intelligence provided to them on why soleimani was killed, cnn has new reporting about the driving force behind the president's decision. secretary of state mike pompeo, the one with all the information here, cnn special correspondent jamie gain gel, you've been reporting that really throughout secretary pompeo's career he has believed that is the root of middle east problems. tell me what you know. >> absolutely. it goes back a decade, and he thinks iran is the root of the problems, and he thought that one man, soleimani was the terrorist mastermind behind it. he has been, according to his friends and colleagues, on a mission. he's a former military man, and he would tell friends and colleagues -- i want to read the quote -- i will not retire from public service until soleimani is off the battlefield. so this is something that goes way back. let's remember, he went to west point. a lot of his colleagues have been stationed in iraq. some of them are still there. so many u.s. soldiers have been hurt by ieds, the kinds of bombs that we think that soleimani is responsible for. even when pompeo was a congressman in 2016, there's some publicity about this, he asked for a visa to go to iran, and he told friends that he wanted to confront soleimani personally, so this is -- this was mike pompeo's plan. this is something he's been lobbying about. >> so it was personal. he was on this mission, and so when he -- and i'm sure other, you know, top military brass presented the options to president trump, you in your reporting describe secretary pompeo as the trump whisperer? >> right, we know that -- we've seen a lot of people come and go from the trump administration. >> pompeo has not. he's stayed. >> he has not. he has figured out the code, but this was something he had lobbied trump about before when the drone was -- when our drone was hit by iran trump said no, and we know that president trump has actually not wanted to have military action, but this was something he'd been talking to him about for a long time. what was the difference here? i'm told that the difference was that the contractor was killed, but also those pictures of the protests at the embassy that pompeo emphasized that with trump and that it wasn't just about the memory of benghazi in the obama administration, that it went back to 1979 when our u.s. embassy was overtaken, americans were held hostage for 444 days, and that that made the difference with trump, but at the end of the day, i think it's important to know whatever happens with this policy, we don't know yet what's going to go back and forth, that this was really mike pompeo's mission. >> to know that he wanted a visa to go to iran when he was back in kansas as a member of congress, that's quite a nugget. jamie, thank you very much for all of that. coming up next, a member of the house intelligence committee joins me live, and we'll talk to him about whether it's time for speaker pelosi to send on over those articles of impeachment to the senate. plus, one of president trump's biggest backers, republican senator lindsey graham claims the president's speech on iran was akin to president reagan's tear down the wall moment. can my side be firm? 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>> illinois congressman ra sha krish mor thi is a member of the oversight intelligence committees, thank you so much for being with me. got a lot to get to. first of all, sources are telling dana bash here at cnn that speaker pelosi is signaling she may move on impeachment in the next maybe 24 hours? what are you hearing? >> i really don't have any information about that, quite honestly. she did say in her press conference that she's going to be moving soon, and i think she just wants mitch mcconnell to basically put in writing what he claims has received majority support in the senate, and so the question is why he doesn't want to do that. it's only fair to know what the rules are before the articles are turned over as well. >> just on the fact that she has held onto them, you know, congressman, for three weeks now, what is she getting for doing this? >> well, i think that her holding those articles actually initiated the discussion of witnesses and additional documents, especially in light of the new information that we learned over the holidays with regard to the reasoning, the reasoning that the white house put forward for why they were withholding aid, and actually, what happened and the freakout, sorry to use that term, was happening among defense department officials about withholding the aid, saying that it was illegal. there's no good reason for holding it back, and so that just raises the question of why. and as we established through evidence in the house impeachment inquiry, it was because the president wanted the ukrainian president to launch or announce an investigation of the president's domestic political rivals. >> congressman, i'm still back, though, on, you know, what nancy pelosi's getting out of holding the articles and you said documents and witnesses. maybe you've heard something, we certainly haven't, but on the senate side are you hearing about them saying yes to witnesses or new documents? because we haven't. >> well, as you know, when mitch mcconnell first started making statements about the trial, he basically said he's going to be walking in lockstep so to speak with the white house, and there would be potentially no witnesses. later on he modified his proposal for rules in the senate to involve witnesses to be called later after the trial commences, so that was movement on his part. that being said, he still will not put in writing what he said publicly, and the question is why. is it just petulance, or is he trying to hide something? >> what about -- speaking of witnesses, i mean, you have former national security adviser john bolton who, you know, in the last week said he's willing to testify in a senate trial if they subpoena him, but what about you and your house members? like, why hasn't your committee subpoenaed him? >> sure. we tried, but his attorney basically said they would litigate it. he was not going to appear before a house committee without a court order, which as you know, would have taken months and months. >> but could you not still do that now that he's offering up testimony to be subpoenaed? >> well, given that he is still proceeding with a litigation strategy with regard to the house, but he's willing to comply with a subpoena in the senate, and now we're moving to a senate trial, it makes all the sense for the senate to subpoena him and then him to comply and come forward. the one thing i'll just point out is, as you know, a lot of fact witnesses, fiona hill, lieutenant colonel vindman and others who worked with him said he called withholding aid in return for these political investigations an illicit drug deal. he never publicly or privately or otherwise disputed that, but it's good to hear that from him in person, and that's why he should come forward in the senate. >> let me just pivot, congressman, to what's happened in the last couple of days with regard to the iran and just given the classified briefing you received yesterday and then the evidence you were presented, do you feel like the strike on qassem soleimani was justified? >> i've now seen six hours -- i've been part of six hours of intelligence briefings including two today, two hours today. i have yet to see intelligence that backs up the president's assertion of an imminent threat in which he was involved, but most importantly that those threats would not unfold even without him being alive. but the damage has been done, so to speak, in that the iranians are unified. unfortunately, we are isolated, and they are running as far away from denuclearization as possible, which is the wrong direction we want them to be going in. >> all right, congressman, we are all keeping our ear to the ground just back to the impeachment to, you know, speaker pelosi and when she may hand those articles over to the senate, and we'll have another conversation when she does. thank you so much. >> yes, ma'am. >> and happy new year to you. >> happy new year. >> thank you. a provocative new ad takes aim at evangelical support for president trump saying if this is the best american christians can do, god help us all. so we'll play part of that. also, a top republican in congress claims democrats are, quote, in love with terrorists. former governor john kasich joins me to talk about it all next. it's red lobster's new three-course shrimp feast for $14.99. choose soup or salad. one of seven delicious entrées - like new hawaiian-style garlic shrimp. and, get a sweet dessert. three courses. one amazing price. so come in today. two years ago, my wife and i were over 50k in debt. through sofi's help refinancing we paid off all that debt. now we're debt free and visiting places like this... thank you guys mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall! >> it is one of the most iconic moments of the reagan presidency, and republican senator lindsey graham just compared that landmark speech to the one president trump made wednesday on iran. >> this speech will be talked about long after his second term. this is on par with tear down this wall, mr. gorbachev. >> cnn political commentator john kasich is a former governor of ohio, former republican presidential candidate, was in congress for a long, long time. was the speech we saw yesterday -- >> come on, no, i don't think so. >> no. >> i would say, look, what i'm pleased about is that the president lowered the tension. okay? iran has gone out of their way to lower the tensions. now the issue gets to be, brooke, can we somehow through entire immedia intermediaries be able to get back to the table. we want to restrain their nuclear development, restrain their ballistic missile development, which we know can be very powerful, and we want to stop their interfering with all these groups throughouted middle east. it's going to take negotiation. now, with the president lowering the bar, with the iranians making it clear they didn't want to take -- it appears as though they said they didn't want to take lives, but they wanted to take an action. i believe there's now an exit ramp that exists, but we can't jump to conclusions because the iranians historically have made an attack, and then they've waited and in their own time they hid behind somebody else. we don't know, but if we can have our allies and ourselves and entiintermediaries beginnin talk to iran, perhaps there is a way to diffuse -- it's a longer term strategy. that's what we have to deal with, and when the president says they're not going to get a nuclear weapon, what does that mean? how's he going to do that? he said the same things about north korea, and we haven't seen any real significant improvement. so look, i'm glad we are where we are, but we're not out of the woods, but maybe there's an opportunity. >> but the speech was not at all -- as you laughed off lindsey graham's. >> that was like comparing it to john kennedy in berlin. remember when he was there with his wife jackie. these were iconic moments. they're all caught in a whirlwind down there of sort of being hyperbolic. >> just a little bit. >> a little bit, yes. >> well, the president is known for a little bit of hyperbole, but i want you to listen to one of his loudest supporters in the house talk about the opposing party. >> they're in love with terrorists. they mourned soleimani more than they mourn our gold star families who are the ones who suffered under soleimani. that's a problem. >> so let me just say this, he's saying democrats are in love with terrorists, then what does that mean that doug collins is in love with a guy who insulted kahn's parents, lied about david johnson's widow, attacked congress won dingell and her husband, john dingell might be in hell and belittled john mccain because he was a prison of war. >> they all have to knock it off. name calling does matter. when i read what this congressman from georgia said this morning, i said i need to put out a statement on it. you can't be making these kind of claims that say they love terrorists. there's no american that feels that way, particularly members of congress. when you say things like that, you're poisoning the well, and that's not the way we're supposed to function as a country. maybe he got caught up in some television interview, but completely inappropriate, and i'd say any of these vicious personal attacks on donald trump, our president, are also inappropriate, but this man went way over the line. >> let me play another clip. this is anti-trump group called the lincoln project. they've just released this video, the maga church, make america great again church, it aims to highlight the hypocrisy of those who claim the mantle of jesus while supporting or ignoring president donald trump's immoral acts. that's a quote, george conway is part of this group z as is republican rick wilson among others. here's a clip. >> i am confident that the lord is at work here. >> he's had a change of heart. >> ridiculous bull [ bleep ]. >> if you do not write that p.o. box and you do not call that toll free number, you will never see sustainment in your life, and your dream will die. >> trump is a test, whether you're even saying i can act differently for different people. >> somehow god put him in this position. >> and everybody said amen. >> i am the chosen one. somebody had to do it. >> i mean, do you think that will persuade any pro-trump evang evangelicals in this country? it's quite an ad? >> i have actually spoken to the editor, he's now retired, of christianity today, and i've followed this closely. people in the country need to understand that evangelicals are divided. there is a strong group that supported the editorial in christianity today, a very strong group, but there's also a group that has really significantly attacked him. the community is divided. and why? one group takes a look at policies. the other one is taking a look at something that i happen to think is more significant, and that is the attitude he brings to healing, the attitude that he brings to not demonizing people. that's one of the reasons why i haven't supported this man, but we should know that the evangelicals themselves are split, and we'll have to see how this develops. there's a lot of them that have shaked their head at their brothers and sisters who are sort of blindly supporting, and i mean, i've seen some -- you know one thing that bothers me when i see some of them hanging out at mar-a-lago. don't get close to power like that. you have a different mission in life, and sometimes it's to warn those in power. >> governor john kasich. >> all right. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> today president trump announces the rollback of an environmental policy that's been in place for 50 years. he says it will speed up infrastructure projects, but environmentalists are outraged. we'll tell you why next. at fidelity, we can help you build a clear plan for retirement to help cover the essentials, as well as all the things you want to do. because when you have a retirement partner who gives you clarity at every step, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. president trump announced a a major policy change today rolling back 50-year-old environmental rules. he calls it the the national environmental policy act. it would essentially remove the requirement for federal agencies to consider environmental and climate impacts from infrastructure projects. >> it's everything. right now it takes over seven years and often times much longer and seven years is like record time, to complete approvals for a simple highway, the simplest of them. with today's proposed reforms, we will reduce that number by more than 70%. >> cnn senior investigative correspondentive drew grimpb griffin is with me. people can relate that construction stakes too long to complete. why is he getting criticism? >> he also can relate to people who are sick of hearing these kind of stories about how environmental processes are hung up for years and decades on some projects. the problem is he's putting a finite deadline on these. one year for smaller projects. and he's allowing the agencies in charge of that to be gutted, dismantled by various budget cuts. scientists are are being pushed aside. you'll have this sped-up procedure on top of these build-up of projects that want to get pushed through. then you'll want to leave the decisions to the executives in charge of these a agencies. who are they? in the case of interior, it's the case of an oil lobbyist. so environmentalists are up in arms. they plan to challenge this in the courts. but for right now, better than trump coming through on yet another one of his campaign pledges to get rid of the red tape. this has to do with getting rid of the environmental red tape he feels is blocking construction. >> thank you. minutes from now, the u.s. house is expected to pass a new war powers resolution after president trump's strike on iran. we'll be watching to see if republicans vote yes. and we're staying on the breaking news that u.s. officials think that deadly plane crash in iran was result of a missile that went awry. stay here. ♪ limu emu & doug hour 36 in the stakeout. as soon as the homeowners arrive, we'll inform them that liberty mutual customizes home insurance, so they'll only pay for what they need. your turn to keep watch, limu. wake me up if you see anything. 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