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Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20150416

>> ifill: plus... >> it's no secret. hockey's a predominantly white sport. >> ifill: nhl players team up with inner city youth, breaking color lines and passing the puck to a new generation. >> hockey is a tool and kids will learn anything. and if you don't have them in a positive mind, they'll do something wrong. >> woodruff: those are some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> at lincoln financial, we believe you're in charge. you're the chief life officer, and this is your annual shareholder's meeting. you're overseeing presentations on research and development, and welcoming new members of the team. you're in charge of it all. lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future. life, income, retirement, group benefits and advice. lincoln financial. yore in charge. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: lawmakers struck a bipartisan deal to let president obama fast-track negotiations on trade deals. it comes just as negotiations with 11 pacific nations are ramping up. under fast-track authority, congress could give any deal a yes or no vote, but it could not make any changes. the deal faces hurdles, many from within president obama's own party. every major labor union has vowed to fight it, but late today, the president issued a statement of support for the compromise. >> woodruff: al qaeda militants in yemen took over a major airport, seaport and oil terminal in the country's south today. officials said the militants clashed with military forces outside mukalla before seizing control. al-qaeda militants overran the city earlier this month, and have been fighting with the iranian-backed houthi rebels and saudi-backed government forces across the country. >> ifill: russian president vladimir putin held his annual televised call-in show today, and addressed pre-screened questions from an audience on a range of subjects. he was adamant that russian military forces are not in ukraine. and he defended his decision to deliver an s-300 missile defense system to iran, even as world powers negotiate a final nuclear deal. >> ( translated ): there is absolutely no threat to israel. it's exclusively defensive weapons. moreover, we think that given the conditions in the region, particularly in relation with events in yemen, the supplies of this type of weaponry are a deterrent factor. >> ifill: putin also accused washington of "prohibiting" world leaders from attending a military parade in russia next month. the celebration marks the 70th anniversary of the end of world war two. >> woodruff: more than 40 people seeking to migrate from africa are feared dead in the latest tragedy in the mediterranean sea. italian media reported a small inflatable boat left libya saturday and sank while making the perilous crossing from libya to europe. more than 10,000 people have tried to make the trip this week alone. >> ifill: south korea observed a day of mourning on the one-year anniversary of a ferry disaster that killed 304 people. ceremonies were held across the country to pay tribute to the victims. but relatives canceled one memorial service in protest over the government's failure to improve safety standards and hold high-level officials accountable. south korea's president assured families they're working to raise the submerged vessel soon. >> ( translated ): there are still nine missing victims in the sunken waters. the government will take all measures so that those victims can return to their families. recently, there was an announcement that it is technically possible to salvage the ship. we will quickly take necessary measures so that we can salvage the ship as soon as possible. >> ifill: raising the sunken ferry is expected to take as long as a year and a half, and cost as much as $137 million. >> woodruff: a new study on smoking found teens are smoking less, but using electronic cigarettes at triple the rate they were a year earlier. the report from the centers for disease control and prevention was based on a national survey of 22,000 students at middle and high schools. it found in 2014, 13% of high schoolers tried e-cigarettes. a year ago the government proposed regulating e- cigarettes, including banning sales to minors. the entertainment giant sony is facing a new round of problems over last year's cyberattack. wikileaks has created a searchable online archive of thousands of leaked emails and documents from the hack. wikileaks founder, julian assange, asserted the material is public. sony officials say it's stolen information that has cost the company millions of dollars in damage. >> ifill: general motors will be shielded from some lawsuits over its faulty ignition switches,and potentially $10 billion in damages. a bankruptcy judge upheld a legal shield yesterday that protected the new gm from claims that originated before it declared bankruptcy and restructured in 2009. about 150 lawsuits contend gm concealed a defect in ignition switches that led to the recall of 2.6 million vehicles. >> woodruff: on wall street, stocks finished the day nearly in line with where they started. the dow jones industrial average lost almost seven points to close at 18,100. the nasdaq fell three points, the s&p 500 lost more than a point. >> ifill: and a first for the u-s record books: a woman in houston gave birth to quintuplet sisters. danielle busby delivered all five girls last week, in four minutes, by c-section, after a 28-week pregnancy. in a video posted on youtube the parents said all five sisters are doing well, and require only modest breathing support. the last known quintuplet sisters were born in london in 1969. >> that's going to be a handful. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour: europe's crackdown on google. a change of tone toward nuns at the vatican. making sense of welfare to work. oklahoma city 20 years after the bombing. and, how hockey helps inner city youth. bipartisanship may be alive and well on capitol hill. as we reported a few moments ago, top lawmakers from both parties struck a long-sought deal to give the president-- to give president obama the authority to noches sweeping trade pact with pacific nations. here to fill in the picture, newshour political editor lisa desjardins. they agreed allow a yes-or-no vote on this trade pact. what is the significance of that? >> reporter: a lot of the viewers might remember fast track authority. that's what this is. let me explain this. we can look at a graphic here. fast track authority means the president can bring the outlines of a deal to congress if it meets the objectives congress is setting in the deal today then the president gets fast tracked. he gets an up-or-down vote and gwen that's significant because it means congress can't amend a trade deal. that's important to the pacific nations and other nations we're negotiating with who don't want to agree to a deal and have congress have the ability to change it. >> ifill: what is the partnership that the asian nations are waiting on. >> this is a very significant trade deal. the transpacific nations incorporate 40% of the world's g.d.p. these are some of the countries highlighted right here. one of the most important partners in that group is it japan who by the way, their prime minister will be here on an eight-die daytour in just a couple of weeks. coincidence? not at all. that's why they want to move the fast track now. they want him to be here and be able to say we are open to the transpacific partnership to you which opens, basically, more doors for trade. there's a debate over whether it's good or bad. >> ifill: as you know all politics is local, all politics is domestic and a lot of democrats are not happy about this and unions are not happy about this. >> this is fascinating. the president has broke wen unions here. unions think it is a terrible deal. they think it will mean lower wages for workers here. they think it will mean human rights violations possibly overseas. they also think it could have problems including the environment. unionions opposed it and the a.f.l.-c.i.o. told me today they are going to launch ads. if there's a weak point on the hill, it's the house. right now the senate looks like it's behind the deal. >> ifill: except for chuck schumer who may be rising in the ranks of the senate shortly. >> thank god you said that. you're right. chuck schumer the heir-apparent to harry reid said he's skeptical about it. and here's what he needs to get on board. thee thinks there is no teeth on the deal, that all the countrieses can manipulate their currency and increase trade in their direction. schumer wantes more currency manipulation protections displiefl in the blink of an eye the president came out with a statement supporting this agreement today. what the is significant of a white house endorsement? >> i think it's huge. we knew the president liked this, but what was interesting in the statement, gwen, is he went out of his way to say i care about american workers. i think this is good for american works. he knows this is a problem for him on the left with unions. >> sreenivasan: and he can can say we're working on it. >> this is huge for the trade rep that has been working on this for a long time. and also a trade deal in europe in the works as well. >> ifill: lisa desjardins as usual, you go behind the scoons for us, thank you. >> i love it, thank you. >> woodruff: there was an important and surprising change from vatican city today. it has ended a crackdown placed on the major umbrella group for u.s. nuns. the group, the leadership conference of women religious, had been accused under the previous pope, benedict, of straying from church teaching and over-emphasizing social justice. the vatican's earlier actions were seen as especially tough on women in the church. pope francis met with some of the sisters for nearly an hour today. a look at the signficance and what this was all about with rachel zoll, national religion writer for a.p. rachel zoll, thank you for being with us. first of all, remind us what was the origin of this dispute between women religious and the vatican and the previous pope? >> well, the investigation started about seven years ago, and the vatican never said specifically why they started it, but it emerged from tensions over church teaching and the modernizing reforms of the 1960s, when the second vatican council convened and the church went into the modern era. the nuns followed them along. they shed their habits. they took on higher-level professional jobs in academia, and they focused on social justice issues, such as fighting poverty and fighting war. what happens whapped is theological conservatives within the church started becoming concerned. they wondered if-- and very openly questioned whether the sisters had left behind the kind of traditional prayer life that was so important to the church, and many people openly questioned whether the sisters had actually been violating church teaching and some of the programmingprogramming and some of the issues they had emphasized. >> woodruff: so what proportion of the women religious of the nuns were affected by the action the vatican took a few years ago? >> well, there were two separate investigations that ran parallel. one was for this organization called the leadership conference of women religious. it's an umbrella group for the heads of women's religious orders. and separately but parallel, there was an investigation or a review, called an apostolic visitation of all the women's religious orders in the united states. while both of these investigations differed in some ways, they did also together look at the fidelity to church teaching of the sisters in united states. >> woodruff: so many women were affected by this. so what is the significance then of what the vatican announced today? >> what happened today was very much an abrupt about-face from the tone of the investigation itself. in 2012, the vatican's doctrine office announced that they were man daight a reform, a top-to-bottom overhaul of the leadership conference of women religious. and they issued a report that was very harsh in its condemnation. they said that the programming for this organization was undermining church teaching on issues such as same-sex relationships and the priesthood, that they had given platform to people who had been-- gone too far in terms of their questioning of church teaching and the phrase that stuck out for a lot of people was that the-- they were accuse of promoting radical feminist themes in some of their programming. now, the leaders of the organization themselves said that these conclusions were deeply flawed, that yes they-- there was questioning of church teaching but it was well within the bounds of fidelity to the church. >> woodruff: just in a nutshell, today's announcement means what? >> that the vatican review is over, that the oversight that the bishops themselves had taken of the organization is over. that the leadership conference is free to go forward and do the programming and the work that they want to do. there's one caveat though, and that is that within the very short report that was released from the vatican today about what is going to happen, there was some talk of some continuing review of the-- whether or not their programming was doctrinally sound. it's not clear what that means. however most people feel that the-- that the investigation itself is over and that this is good news for the nuns. >> woodruff: well, the fact that you described it as an about-face is significant, certainly bears watching going forward. rachel zoll with the associated press, we thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: now, a look at the anti-trust action the european union has filed against google. we start with a little background. >> today we have adopted a statement of objection to google. >> ifill: after a five-year investigation, the european union has charged google with using its internet search dominance to favor its own google shopping engine. e.u. competition commissioner margrethe vestager: >> what we would like to see, is that consumers are certain to see the best comparison shopping results, and they should not just be shown the google shopping results, if they are >> ifill: the move could lead to billions of dollars in fines for google, which handles more than 90% of internet searches in e.u. countries its u.s. share is around 70%. google responded to the accusations yesterday, insisting that its "shopping results have not harmed the competition," adding, "any economist would say that you typically do not see a ton of innovation in sectors dominated by one player. yet that is exactly what's happening in our world." in a separate probe, the e.u. is looking into google's android mobile system. officials say the company is illegally obstructing rival systems, applications and services. google has 10 weeks to respond. the case is just the latest in europe's battles with major u.s. tech companies. microsoft was forced to pay more than $2 billion in fines during a decade-long antitrust fight and apple, facebook, and amazon have also faced off with european regulators. >> ifill: and the european union's commissioner for competition margrethe vestager joins me now. for the record, we extended an invitation to google to join this conversation, but they declined. welcome. >> thank you very much. >> ifill: what is the offense in a company deciding they're going to arrange their search engines so that they promote themselves? >> well, then the consumer doesn't necessarily get the best answer to their query. sometimes it may be the best answer to be presented with google shopping. but sometimes the best answer may be another answer. and what we see is that google has systematically been faiferg its own services and displayed that dominantly in the page when you search on your computer in european countrieses. >> ifill: do other tech companies like amazon not do that? >> well, they do not hold a 90% dominance in the general search market, as we see it in the european markets, and that's a very important difference. >> ifill: how is this different from microsoft-- we mentioned in the setup the microsoft, the interks l cases, some of which have been settled? >> it's a completely different matter. and a lot of order on the beach since then. the digital market has developed dramatically in those years, and a lot of innovation, and a lot of other consumer choices being made over the years. for me it's very important to see this as an individual case and not to, you know think about other cases or precedent because this is one case, and it has to be, you know, judged by its own facts and its own sort of proofs. >> ifill: consumers in america are used to seeing that. they expect the top results to favor church search engine they're using, whether it's yahoo, or google. >> i think consumers expect google to present them with the best answer to their query. and i think they're very reluctant to accept that the best answer is always the same. and therefore, of course we state our preliminary views saying well, this is how we see it, and now we expect google to answer within 10 weeks or-- and/or to call a hearing where they can present their case, and where also the complainant of which there is quite a number can tell how they see the case. >> ifill: google, of course, has already responded in part. part of their defense is well the industry has changed. competition has changed. and more important, the technology has changed. even though we may dominate the market in europe, people can still-- it's their choice. they can still go somewhere else if they want to get a different kind of result. >> yes, and, of course you can go somewhere else. you can find other search engines, but google holds a very dominant position. and if you do that, well, you should not sort of misuse or abuse the powers that you have. of course, i think it's obvious you should congratulate google for being successful and innovative, and helping us all quite a lot, but for me the congratulations stops when you see that a dominant position it being used in a neighboring market where you're not dominant to sort of help yourself to a better position but not on the merits of competition. >> ifill: i know you said that all these cases are different, but microsoft in the end paid billions of dollars in fines and it took themselves years and years. intel is still aexpeelg still in trouble against the european commission on this. what-- how do these kinds of complaints, these charges that you're bringing, change corporate behavior? do they make things better or are microsoft and intel doing what they've always done? >> i think it's very important. there are thousands and thousands and thousands of businesses who compete on the meritz who present their products to the customers and who, of course expect competition on the merits, that the game is not rigged in one way or another. and i think consumers expect of us that we enforce the law that enabled choice and affordable prizes and innovation to take place. and, therefore, i think the case is very important to keep everyone sort of straight focusing on consumers and on innovation. >> ifill: you said also yesterday that you're going to be looking it be mobile system, the mobile operating system, android system, which operators like samsung use. how is that different for an operator to use something that somebody else produced to allow people-- they can-- if you have an android phone if you have a samsung phone, you could use other operating systems, can't you? >> well, these are very early days. what we are saying by saying that now we formally opened an in-depth investigation is also to tell them now it's in the open. people can come forward in they have information for us, and it's a high priority. we'll put resources into this also, in order to finalize it relatively quick. but, of course, we worry if we hear that those who manufacture our tablets, our smartphones are being very strongly sort of incent vised to use one certain system, which would be android followed by google suites of products. >> ifill: we'll be watching it all very carefully. margrethe vestager the european union competition commissioner, thank you very much. >> it was a pleasure to be here. thank you. >> woodruff: there's a growing push at the state level to crack down on welfare spending. in some cases, it's about how much is spent and for how long. in other cases, it's about making sure the money is spent well. kansas became the latest state today, when governor sam brownback signed a law establishing stricter limits on eligibility and the use of benefits. nearly two dozen states have made some kind of change to their rules. our economics correspondent paul solman, has been looking into how welfare reform was working before these latest moves, part of our ongoing reporting, "making sense," which airs every thursday on the newshour. >> the wait is crazy there-- for almost like three to four hours. >> reporter: three to four hours? >> minimum to just go like into the office. >> reporter: in boston, 24-year- old ashli murphy, single mother of a boy, four, and girl, one. she's been on welfare since 2013, would do anything to get off. >> i feel like they kind of look down on you. >> reporter: murphy is now in a privately funded career training class, hoping to get a job in nursing and off welfare, which she's on because she quit her last job, in retail. >> reporter: and why did you quit? >> i was working there for over two years and i just got $9 an hour. >> reporter: and how many hours did you get in a typical week? >> it decreased to like four to eight hours a week. >> reporter: so you were only getting four to eight hours a week at $9 an hour? >> and paid every two weeks. >> reporter: well, you obviously can't live on that. thus, it was welfare for murphy. but to get welfare, you have to work, as of the 1996 welfare-to- work law passed, over skepticism from liberals, by a republican congress with support from president bill clinton. >> when i ran for president four years ago, i pledged to end welfare as we know it. >> reporter: and so he did. this story is about how that effort has fared. >> today, a hope of many years standing is in large part fulfilled. >> reporter: welfare as we'd come to know it began in 1935 as part of president roosevelt's social security act-- the aid to dependent children program-- to help subsidize families that had lost an income-producing father. by the 1970s, welfare had long been a lifeline for single- mother families, and a target of critics, encapsulated by ronald reagan's references to it in runs for the white house. >> it's now common knowledge that our welfare system itself has become a poverty trap a creator and reinforcer of dependency. >> reporter: alina gardner, a manager at a boston employment center, doesn't disagree. >> i had my first child in 1990 and this was before the welfare reform went in. in those days you could just be on it forever. you know there was there weren't many expectations. >> reporter: but you were just sitting home collecting benefits. bad for you? >> if you're idle and you're home all day and you're not taking time to invest in yourself so then you, and raising children to move into a direction that you want them to be self-sufficient, yeah it's bad. >> reporter: thus the clinton welfare-to-work program, which we've covered since its inception-- single mothers ushered off the dole and into the workforce, often groomed by private-contract job placement programs like "america works." the jobs weren't always great in the late '90s... >> i have cashiers that i need for krispy creme. >> cashier, food prep at bruegger's bagels on 42nd and sixth. >> reporter: ...but some held out the hope of upward mobility. >> dawn, i have a great position for you. you'll be involved in some of the creative end of the job, as well as dealing with their client base. >> i also have accounts receivable positions with time warner cable. >> research from the 1990's and early 2000, seems to show that the families seem to be doing pretty well. >> reporter: berkeley economist hilary hoynes studies social safety net programs. >> going into it, there was a very strong fear that incomes would really plummet and that didn't happen. there might have been a small group sort of left behind, but for the most part, i think many people were surprised that it worked. >> reporter: if you just look at the welfare rolls, it more than worked, the number of families on welfare slashed from 12 million 20 years ago to some 3.5 million today. and back in the '90s, bottom- tier wages were going up. but, says hoynes... >> that increase in real wages for low skilled workers in the late 1990's is not experienced in the 2000's. >> reporter: that's the welfare- to-work problem today, says job counselor alina gardner: you may find low-wage work, but how do you ever move up? >> where's that middle ground, right? there is no more middle ground, it's either you're down here or you're up here, you know? >> reporter: sociologist mary gatta confirmed this when she went undercover at a new jersey job center, pretending to be unemployed. >> after a class, i went up to an instructor and i said, "i'm looking for a waitressing job" and she said, "this is great, we have a job fair on the boardwalk go to the job fair and you'll get a job." so my next question to her was, well what happens after labor day weekend? on the boardwalk after labor day there are no more jobs. and she said, "don't worry, we're doing a holiday job fair at the mall." >> reporter: yes, seasonal low- wage jobs have always been an issue for the poor entering the workforce, but it's been traumatizingly true since 2008. >> extreme poverty increased by much more in the great recession than we would have expected, and all the evidence suggests that that's due to welfare reform. >> reporter: food stamps, housing and health care outlays are up, but welfare checks for the very poorest single-parent families have shrunk so much they now get 35% less in total benefits than such families did before welfare-to-work began. and there's another major problem for welfare recipients right now: significantly reduced funding for job placement and training. after being told that work as a waitress would be on-and-off undercover sociologist mary gatta took the all-important class in how to find a job training program. >> at the end of the class they said, "well, unfortunately we've run out of training dollars, so you have to wait until the next cycle." >> reporter: you mean the class was literally about what training was available and then there turned out to be none? >> yeah, there turned out to be no funding. >> i applied for the training in may, but they were not with funds at the time. >> reporter: at the boston center, vanessa cooper also was stymied after the training prep class. >> it was pretty frustrating waiting for funding that wasn't there. >> reporter: neil sullivan has run job placement for the poor in boston for more than 30 years. >> we were much better off in the late 90's, when the federal investment in welfare reform and job training for welfare recipients was enormous as compared to the pittance the federal government is able to invest these days. the result is welfare recipients languish in the system and many others are rejected from the system and left to make it on their own, and quite frankly they don't. >> what would be the average blood pressure rating? >> reporter: ashli murphy is actually lucky to have gotten into a job prep program foundation-funded through the city of boston. let's hope it gets her a decent job, 19 years after welfare-to- work became the law of the land. for the pbs newshour, this is economics correspondent paul solman, reporting from boston. >> ifill: join us for a twitter chat next week, where we'll discuss laws that limit how welfare recipients can spend their benefits. details are on our home page, pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: this weekend marks the 20th anniversary of the oklahoma city bombing, a moment that shocked the nation and changed the way we think about threats at home. two minutes past nine o'clock on the morning of april 19th, 1995. downtown oklahoma city is torn apart. >> i went under a table. the ceiling was coming down. i think it saved my life. >> woodruff: a ryder truck loaded with a diesel fuel-and- fertilizer bomb, blew up next to the alfred p. murrah federal building, cutting it in half. 168 people, including 19 children in its day care center, died. more than 650 were injured. on april 21, gulf war veteran timothy mcveigh and another former soldier, terry nichols were arrested, and later formally-charged with the bombing. two days later, then-president bill clinton came to comfort the city, and the country. >> for we will stand with you for as many tomorrows as it takes. >> woodruff: mcveigh and nichols, members of far right- wing, anti-federal-government groups, timed the attack for the two-year anniversary of the fiery end to the 1993 siege of the branch davidians. that breakaway religious sect, in waco texas staged a 51-day stand-off with law enforcement, which ended with an f.b.i.-led assault on the heavily-armed compound. 76 members of the group died that day. in 1997, mcveigh was found guilty on 11 federal counts of murder and conspiracy; he was sentenced to death and executed in 2001. nichols was later found guilty on federal charges of conspiracy and manslaughter and 161 state counts of first degree murder, he is serving 150 life sentences in a colorado federal prison. the anniversary will be recognized throughout the coming weekend in oklahoma city, and there will be much attention on how survivors and families are faring. our colleagues at the pbs station, oeta, produced a documentary called "resilience" and spoke with many of them. it was done in conjunction with the "daily oklahoman" newspaper. here's an edited excerpt. it features the now-grown daughters of a bombing victim, the sister of another, a 21- year-old man who was one of six children who survived from the day care center in the building. it burned his infant lungs and left third-degree burns over half his body, and the head of the credit union in the murrah building at the time. >> i don't know how we did it. the first morning we opened up for business, there was probably 500 members of the credit union that-- some of them had been housed in the murrah building. nobody had anything to do. in fact everything in oklahoma city stopped. everybody stopped when that happened. >> our dad thought it was really important for us to continue with-- you know continue with life, and that's really been-- even from the immediate incident, that's really been-- a defining kind of trait as we've-- as we've gone along. otherwise, you sit glued to the tv and you can only-- you can only watch watch so much over and over again. >> a counselor once told me that you have body memories your body remembers what your mind processed in a traumatic event, and that sometimes your body reacts, sometimes in similar fashion, and i think that's really true, and you do. you just start getting kind of tense. ask sometimes it's funny, i'll almost not feel well, and i'll think, i wonder what's wrong. and i'll think, it's april. >> i constantly deal with that day every day of my life so it's never pushed it aside. i always am thankful that i was able to make it through that day, and what i take from it, whenever i think about it is that god had a plan for me to survive that day and i try to figure what that plan is. >> woodruff: three sprps on lessons learned from the attack. jamie gorelick was the deputy attorney of the united states at the time, the second highest position in the department of justice, and a point person in the response in the trial. she served on the 9/11 commission and is now a partner at the law firm miller hale. >> barry grissom, and kerry pettingill, was eye lieutenant with the oklahoma highway patrol on the day of the bombing and an early responder. he would later become the first director of homeland security for the state. and we welcome all three of you to the program. kerry pettingill, as we said you were with the oklahoma highway patrol on the day this happened. you got the call. what did you see? >> well when i first started responding to the downtown area, i had approached from the north it was-- there was already gridlock. i had to drive across sidewalks in order to get as close as i could. and i had to walk in from the north, and i had in my mind that it was going to be a-- we knew it was some type of an explosion. i was thinking natural gas or perhaps even a airplane had crashed into the building because we-- at that time, we had a downtown airport. but when i turned the corner and i saw the building or what was left of the building i knew immediately that this was no natural disaster or-- not natural but a disaster-- an accident. and then the observations were just the way the people were going about helping each other and for me, it was trying to determine what to do next. >> woodruff: how do you think, looking back on it, oklahoma city and the state did deal with it at the time, and how are they doing today? >> oh, i think the immediate response was tremendous. it was a coming together of everyone, not just the responders but also-- i say the professional responders-- the actions of those men and women that were involved in the blast, those that were injured but could care for others, the way they assumed certain roles and cared for each other and helped get everyone to safety, i think that the leadership from the governor's office, the mayor's office the chief at the fire department. chief gonzales at the police department, and bob ricks, who was the special agent in charge of the f.b.i., the way everyone came together and made decisions very quickly i think helped us maneuver through the immediate processes of trying to gain some type of control over the incident. >> woodruff: and barry grissom, as we said you are in kansas. you were in kansas at the time. that's where timothy mcveigh rented the truck. we know that's where he got the materials to make the mom bomb. what did this mean to that part of the country? you could argue that was the last place people expected there to be an attack like this? >> yes. that's the refrain you always hear, that "how could this happen mere?" to believe that and ultimately find out that the rider truck was rented in junction city, kansas, and that the ammonium nitrate was purchased in harrington kansas and the blasting caps were stolen from a rock quarry in marion, kansas, and no one detected or connected the dots that ultimately led to the tragedy, that was the thing that really shocked us. >> woodruff: and something that you didn't think would happen in that part of the country, and how do you think that-- the midsection responded? >> i think the midsection responded just like we want them to -- as was described what the folks did in oklahoma city, the outpouring of support from kansas, from texas, from arkansas, from colorado was amazing. what it did do for us, though, it was an awakening. it made us understand that this isn't an east coast or a west coast phenomena, that this is something that can take place in our backyards, in our neighborhoods. sp as a result of that the evolution that's happened in law enforcement through joint terrorism task force working together has been really great. >> woodruff: and jamie gorelick, where fr where you sat, number two, at the justice deparment in 1995, what was it like to deal with it from here? and how did you-- there was no playbook for something like this. >> there was definitely no playbook. and to your earlier question judy, this was entirely shocking to have something like this happen in the heartland. and when we found out that it was one of us, that was doubly shocking. dealing with the event itself was an extraordinary effort. you had many state and local responders, and you had many different federal agencies that had to be deconflicted. and one of my jobs was to make sure working with the governor that we knew who was doing what. you had a crime scene and a rescue scene in the same place. and that active investigation had to start right away, even as we were clearing through the rubble and trying to save people. >> woodruff: as you look at it from a federal perspective, and looking at how the state and the local area responded, how good a job did everybody do? >> fantastic. i mean people really did putogether. the people of oklahoma were terrific. the country was so shocked by this, that there was an enormous pulling together of resources and feeling. i thought the president-- you had some of his remarks-- was terrific in a healing role and making sure that the people of oklahoma city understood that the rest of us were there for the people of oklahoma. >> woodruff: barry grissom back to you, you've seen since them as a u.s. attorney in kansas, that part of the country, the entire country having to deal much more with domestic terrorism since then than anything we knew at the time. how have you seen the responses evolve and change? >> well, the responses can best be defined as this-- roles have dissolved. it's very rare that it's federal, state, and local name tags. it's law enforcement. through these joint terrorism task forces that we have now, we're able to work with law enforcement partners cross-designate folks, and work closer with one another than we ever have in the past. >> woodruff: and what has that meant? how is it more closely together and understand that it is going to happen again? >> yes ma'am, that's right. i'll give you a perfect example. a little over a a week another we stopped a young man who wanted to drive a car load of explosives on to fort riley and kill soldiers. that was just the past week. a year and a half ago we had someone who wanted to drive a car load of explosives on to the tarmac in wichita, kansas. we were able to stop. tragically we weren't able to stop a person from killing people at a jewish community center in overs land park. having been u.s. attorney for only five years and having to deal with three what i perceive as major terrorist potential events, that's-- that we stopped two of the three we take some pride in that. >> woodruff: jamie gorelick how do you see washington's response? i know you're out of the federal government now but you watch it very closely. you remember the 9/11 commission. how you have seen the government's response to domestic terrorism change from what it was 20 years ago? >> well, i would agree that we're much less atomized and more copiecive than we ever were. if you think about the numbers let's say the f.b.i. has 40,000 people and state and local police are about a million, you have to knit those resources affect. and, you know, the federal government is not going to know what's happening on every street corner the way a local cop is going to. so there has to be that sharing. it's much better. it's not perfect but it's much, much better. there are all kinds of mechanisms for jointness. there's much better information sharing. again, not perfect but a lot better. >> woodruff: and less likely to be the element of surprise? even though no one wants-- or wants to believe anything like this could happen again. >> well when you have just a few people or a single person who wants to do something bad, it's really hard to stop it. unless you have so much surveillance in your society that it's unattractive, to say the least, to the american people, and that's the balance that we are constantly debating and trying to-- trying to measure for ourselves. >> woodruff: and kerry pettingill, back to you, how do you see oklahoma, the people of your state changing as a result of what happened 20 years ago? >> i think that oklahoma city has grown tremendously. it's a great city today. it's very progressive, and it is-- barry and i were talking earlier about how much it's changed. but the people were very resilient, and it was as you guys talked about the president saying that we weren't alone. knowing that we weren't alone if our recovery was i think very beneficial in that process. >> woodruff: well, it's very difficult to look back but it's important that we do. and we thank all three of you for being with us. kerry pettingill and barry grissom and jamie gorelick. here. we thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: the national hockey league playoffs begin this week, and for years now, the nhl's teams and players have made time during their long season to broaden the game's appeal working with youth teams in neighborhoods not normally known as hockey hotbeds. we recently caught up with the fort dupont cannons, the oldest team in the nhl's "hockey is for everyone" urban outreach program who are getting an assist from stars of the washington capitals. >> the ice rink was the only one in washington at the time, so with the kids in the neighborhood i came over to the rink and rented some ice and from then on its been known as the fort dupont ice hockey program. i'm neal henderson, i'm the founder and owner; i'm the head coach there; we've been in operation since 1977. our rink is right on a fort that was there during the civil war. the southeast side of the capital was not ever touched during the civil war because the slaves guarded that section and fought anyone that came on that side. the black represents the slave the gold represents the brass buttons on the uniform and the white represents their officers. this is why we wear these colors. >> people think that i'm crazy for playing hockey, 'cause people think it's like, scary, when the puck comes at you, and >> my name is benton o'neill and i play goalie for the fort dupont cannons, and i'm 14 years old. when i tell them i play hockey they're kind of like surprised that i'm a black kid playing hockey. and my family, they encourage me to do my own thing, and be myself, so that i wouldn't follow the crowd. >> because it's such a rough area, it gives the children an outlet; so they have somewhere to go when there's issues going on at home. i'm alecia wilson, i'm benton's mom. i've never had an issue with him because he's always wanted to play hockey. i'm always emphasizing to other parents how great hockey is. >> hockey is a tool and kids will learn anything. and if you don't have them in a positive mind, they'll do something wrong. i have very high standards, you can only have one "c" on your report; you must strive for "a's" and "b's."/ i have a young lady that's interested in harvard or cornell to play on the ladies hockey team there. >> hockey at the collegiate level, i know it's going to be very competitive. my name is katherine baker, i play for the fort dupont cannons, i play defense. to my neighborhood and myself it's been very important; it's my safe haven. it's where i go every free moment i get, basically. i started playing hockey because a group of my friends where also playing, and i really enjoyed watching it. >> i chose to play hockey because i watched it on tv, and i saw joel ward playing for the capitals and i wanted to be like him. >> ahead now on the right side, right circle, sharp angle, a puck in front they score! joel ward, on an alex ovechkin pass! from the right side. >> it's an inspirational spot to be at if anyone gets a chance to visit fort dupont. i'm joel ward and i play right wing for the washington capitals. i've been there for a couple years now. it's not just about hockey, it's about life lessons and learning and a lot of discipline. i think it's guys like myself, it's our job to promote it. >> the nhl helps us quite a bit because how many kids get the opportunity to meet the greatest player in ice hockey? >> kuznetsov to ovechkin, score! that's number 50!" >> if you have a chance to help the kids, you have to do it. i'm alex ovechkin, left wing of the washington capitals. if they're not going to be a hockey player maybe they gonna be a good businessman. >> you know this wasn't my first time playing with ovechkin, this is actually my 2nd. the first time i actually played with ovechkin, it was like ecstatic, i wasn't quite sure how to feel. i just saw a great hockey player and me being able to skate on the ice with him. it didn't really hit me till after the fact. and then, like today, i look back on that like, wow times have really changed, and i still look up to him as a great player. >> for me it doesn't matter whether white or black, if he a good player he can help the team, he love the hockey, he gonna be out there. >> to see that many black kids out there-- black kids playing hockey like that on one surface- - i've never seen that my whole life, growing up. it's no secret, hockey's a predominantly white sport. when i first came to d.c. i wanted to pick a number that was meaningful and 42 was available, for the honor of jackie robinson. hopefully i wear it with pride and do the number some justice, and obviously hearing willie's story, and getting the chance to meet him. >> my name is willie o'ree; i played for the boston bruins in 1958, 60 and 61, and it was the media that gave me the name the jackie robinson of hockey i didn't give that name to myself. i didn't realize that i'd broke barriers and opened doors for other black players and players of color. >> and a pass to o'ree on the right side, o'ree comes up over the maple leafs line. >> players on the opposition would call me the n-word. but later on there were more black players coming up and playing in the league. after i retired in 1980, i felt that i had something to give back to the sport. we want to make hockey available to every boy and girl possible. >> a hockey puck doesn't care who hits it, and i don't care who hits my hockey puck. as long as they want to play hockey, they come to the right place. >> the fort dupont cannons, it's a family. i couldn't describe it any other way. with coach neal and his team, being like your actual parent. >> i'm their uncle, their dad, their big brother. i'm someone they can call at midnight, if necessary, sure. i love doing it because what happens is that's the kid i have saved. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day: lawmakers reached a bipartisan deal that gives president obama "fast-track" power in upcoming trade negotiations with 11 pacific nations. the president faces stiff opposition from his own party, and every major labor union has vowed to fight it. and, al qaeda militants in yemen took over a major airport, seaport and oil terminal in the country's south. >> ifill: on the newshour online, the world's second- largest flower garden is in bloom right now in the netherlands. check out stunning photos from the air and on the ground of the 7 million bulbs covering 79 acres in brilliant color. happy spring! that's at pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: tune in later this evening, on charlie rose ibm c.e.o. ginni rometty on the future of computing. >> ifill: and again, to our honor roll of american service personnel killed in iraq and the afghanistan conflict. we add them as their deaths are made official and photographs become available. here, in silence, is one more. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on friday, we'll look at the fight to stop the islamic state in iraq, on the ground in anbar province. 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. 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. >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> this is "bbc world news." >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, and mufg. >> they say the oldest trees bear the sweetest fruit. at mufg, we have believed in nurturing banking relationships for centuries, because strong financial partnerships are best cultivated fo

Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20150417

>> ifill: plus... >> it's no secret. hockey's a predominantly white sport. >> ifill: nhl players team up with inner city youth, breaking color lines and passing the puck to a new generation. >> hockey is a tool and kids will learn anything. and if you don't have them in a positive mind, they'll do something wrong. >> woodruff: those are some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> at lincoln financial, we believe you're in charge. you're the chief life officer, and this is your annual shareholder's meeting. you're overseeing presentations on research and development, and welcoming new members of the team. you're in charge of it all. lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future. life, income, retirement, group benefits and advice. lincoln financial. you're in charge. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: lawmakers struck a bipartisan deal to let president obama fast-track negotiations on trade deals. it comes just as negotiations with 11 pacific nations are ramping up. under fast-track authority, congress could give any deal a yes or no vote, but it could not make any changes. the deal faces hurdles, many from within president obama's own party. every major labor union has vowed to fight it, but late today, the president issued a statement of support for the compromise. >> woodruff: al qaeda militants in yemen took over a major airport, seaport and oil terminal in the country's south today. officials said the militants clashed with military forces outside mukalla before seizing control. al-qaeda militants overran the city earlier this month, and have been fighting with the iranian-backed houthi rebels and saudi-backed government forces across the country. >> ifill: russian president vladimir putin held his annual televised call-in show today, and addressed pre-screened questions from an audience on a range of subjects. he was adamant that russian military forces are not in ukraine. and he defended his decision to deliver an s-300 missile defense system to iran, even as world powers negotiate a final nuclear deal. >> ( translated ): there is absolutely no threat to israel. it's exclusively defensive weapons. moreover, we think that given the conditions in the region, particularly in relation with events in yemen, the supplies of this type of weaponry are a deterrent factor. >> ifill: putin also accused washington of "prohibiting" world leaders from attending a military parade in russia next month. the celebration marks the 70th anniversary of the end of world war two. >> woodruff: more than 40 people seeking to migrate from africa are feared dead in the latest tragedy in the mediterranean sea. italian media reported a small inflatable boat left libya saturday and sank while making the perilous crossing from libya to europe. more than 10,000 people have tried to make the trip this week alone. >> ifill: south korea observed a day of mourning on the one-year anniversary of a ferry disaster that killed 304 people. ceremonies were held across the country to pay tribute to the victims. but relatives canceled one memorial service in protest over the government's failure to improve safety standards and hold high-level officials accountable. south korea's president assured families they're working to raise the submerged vessel soon. >> ( translated ): there are still nine missing victims in the sunken waters. the government will take all measures so that those victims can return to their families. recently, there was an announcement that it is technically possible to salvage the ship. we will quickly take necessary measures so that we can salvage the ship as soon as possible. >> ifill: raising the sunken ferry is expected to take as long as a year and a half, and cost as much as $137 million. >> woodruff: a new study on smoking found teens are smoking less, but using electronic cigarettes at triple the rate they were a year earlier. the report from the centers for disease control and prevention was based on a national survey of 22,000 students at middle and high schools. it found in 2014, 13% of high schoolers tried e-cigarettes. a year ago the government proposed regulating e- cigarettes, including banning sales to minors. the entertainment giant sony is facing a new round of problems over last year's cyberattack. wikileaks has created a searchable online archive of thousands of leaked emails and documents from the hack. wikileaks founder, julian assange, asserted the material is public. sony officials say it's stolen information that has cost the company millions of dollars in damage. >> ifill: general motors will be shielded from some lawsuits over its faulty ignition switches,and potentially $10 billion in damages. a bankruptcy judge upheld a legal shield yesterday that protected the new gm from claims that originated before it declared bankruptcy and restructured in 2009. about 150 lawsuits contend gm concealed a defect in ignition switches that led to the recall of 2.6 million vehicles. >> woodruff: on wall street, stocks finished the day nearly in line with where they started. the dow jones industrial average lost almost seven points to close at 18,100. the nasdaq fell three points, the s&p 500 lost more than a point. >> ifill: and a first for the u-s record books: a woman in houston gave birth to quintuplet sisters. danielle busby delivered all five girls last week, in four minutes, by c-section, after a 28-week pregnancy. in a video posted on youtube the parents said all five sisters are doing well, and require only modest breathing support. the last known quintuplet sisters were born in london in 1969. >> that's going to be a handful. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour: europe's crackdown on google. a change of tone toward nuns at the vatican. making sense of welfare to work. oklahoma city 20 years after the bombing. and, how hockey helps inner city youth. bipartisanship may be alive and well on capitol hill. as we reported a few moments ago, top lawmakers from both parties struck a long-sought deal to give the president-- to give president obama the authority to noches sweeping trade pact with pacific nations. here to fill in the picture, newshour political editor lisa desjardins. they agreed allow a yes-or-no vote on this trade pact. what is the significance of that? >> reporter: a lot of the viewers might remember fast track authority. that's what this is. let me explain this. we can look at a graphic here. fast track authority means the president can bring the outlines of a deal to congress if it meets the objectives congress is setting in the deal today then the president gets fast tracked. he gets an up-or-down vote and gwen that's significant because it means congress can't amend a trade deal. that's important to the pacific nations and other nations we're negotiating with who don't want to agree to a deal and have congress have the ability to change it. >> ifill: what is the partnership that the asian nations are waiting on. >> this is a very significant trade deal. the transpacific nations incorporate 40% of the world's g.d.p. these are some of the countries highlighted right here. one of the most important partners in that group is it japan who by the way, their prime minister will be here on an eight-die daytour in just a couple of weeks. coincidence? not at all. that's why they want to move the fast track now. they want him to be here and be able to say we are open to the transpacific partnership to you which opens, basically, more doors for trade. there's a debate over whether it's good or bad. >> ifill: as you know all politics is local, all politics is domestic and a lot of democrats are not happy about this and unions are not happy about this. >> this is fascinating. the president has broke wen unions here. unions think it is a terrible deal. they think it will mean lower wages for workers here. they think it will mean human rights violations possibly overseas. they also think it could have problems including the environment. unionions opposed it and the a.f.l.-c.i.o. told me today they are going to launch ads. if there's a weak point on the hill, it's the house. right now the senate looks like it's behind the deal. >> ifill: except for chuck schumer who may be rising in the ranks of the senate shortly. >> thank god you said that. you're right. chuck schumer the heir-apparent to harry reid said he's skeptical about it. and here's what he needs to get on board. thee thinks there is no teeth on the deal, that all the countrieses can manipulate their currency and increase trade in their direction. schumer wantes more currency manipulation protections displiefl in the blink of an eye the president came out with a statement supporting this agreement today. what the is significant of a white house endorsement? >> i think it's huge. we knew the president liked this, but what was interesting in the statement, gwen, is he went out of his way to say i care about american workers. i think this is good for american works. he knows this is a problem for him on the left with unions. >> sreenivasan: and he can can say we're working on it. >> this is huge for the trade rep that has been working on this for a long time. and also a trade deal in europe in the works as well. >> ifill: lisa desjardins as usual, you go behind the scoons for us, thank you. >> i love it, thank you. >> woodruff: there was an important and surprising change from vatican city today. it has ended a crackdown placed on the major umbrella group for u.s. nuns. the group, the leadership conference of women religious, had been accused under the previous pope, benedict, of straying from church teaching and over-emphasizing social justice. the vatican's earlier actions were seen as especially tough on women in the church. pope francis met with some of the sisters for nearly an hour today. a look at the signficance and what this was all about with rachel zoll, national religion writer for a.p. rachel zoll, thank you for being with us. first of all, remind us what was the origin of this dispute between women religious and the vatican and the previous pope? >> well, the investigation started about seven years ago, and the vatican never said specifically why they started it, but it emerged from tensions over church teaching and the modernizing reforms of the 1960s, when the second vatican council convened and the church went into the modern era. the nuns followed them along. they shed their habits. they took on higher-level professional jobs in academia, and they focused on social justice issues, such as fighting poverty and fighting war. what happens whapped is theological conservatives within the church started becoming concerned. they wondered if-- and very openly questioned whether the sisters had left behind the kind of traditional prayer life that was so important to the church, and many people openly questioned whether the sisters had actually been violating church teaching and some of the programmingprogramming and some of the issues they had emphasized. >> woodruff: so what proportion of the women religious of the nuns were affected by the action the vatican took a few years ago? >> well, there were two separate investigations that ran parallel. one was for this organization called the leadership conference of women religious. it's an umbrella group for the heads of women's religious orders. and separately but parallel, there was an investigation or a review, called an apostolic visitation of all the women's religious orders in the united states. while both of these investigations differed in some ways, they did also together look at the fidelity to church teaching of the sisters in united states. >> woodruff: so many women were affected by this. so what is the significance then of what the vatican announced today? >> what happened today was very much an abrupt about-face from the tone of the investigation itself. in 2012, the vatican's doctrine office announced that they were man daight a reform, a top-to-bottom overhaul of the leadership conference of women religious. and they issued a report that was very harsh in its condemnation. they said that the programming for this organization was undermining church teaching on issues such as same-sex relationships and the priesthood, that they had given platform to people who had been-- gone too far in terms of their questioning of church teaching and the phrase that stuck out for a lot of people was that the-- they were accuse of promoting radical feminist themes in some of their programming. now, the leaders of the organization themselves said that these conclusions were deeply flawed, that yes they-- there was questioning of church teaching but it was well within the bounds of fidelity to the church. >> woodruff: just in a nutshell, today's announcement means what? >> that the vatican review is over, that the oversight that the bishops themselves had taken of the organization is over. that the leadership conference is free to go forward and do the programming and the work that they want to do. there's one caveat though, and that is that within the very short report that was released from the vatican today about what is going to happen, there was some talk of some continuing review of the-- whether or not their programming was doctrinally sound. it's not clear what that means. however most people feel that the-- that the investigation itself is over and that this is good news for the nuns. >> woodruff: well, the fact that you described it as an about-face is significant, certainly bears watching going forward. rachel zoll with the associated press, we thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: now, a look at the anti-trust action the european union has filed against google. we start with a little background. >> today we have adopted a statement of objection to google. >> ifill: after a five-year investigation, the european union has charged google with using its internet search dominance to favor its own google shopping engine. e.u. competition commissioner margrethe vestager: >> what we would like to see, is that consumers are certain to see the best comparison shopping results, and they should not just be shown the google shopping results, if they are >> ifill: the move could lead to billions of dollars in fines for google, which handles more than 90% of internet searches in e.u. countries its u.s. share is around 70%. google responded to the accusations yesterday, insisting that its "shopping results have not harmed the competition," adding, "any economist would say that you typically do not see a ton of innovation in sectors dominated by one player. yet that is exactly what's happening in our world." in a separate probe, the e.u. is looking into google's android mobile system. officials say the company is illegally obstructing rival systems, applications and services. google has 10 weeks to respond. the case is just the latest in europe's battles with major u.s. tech companies. microsoft was forced to pay more than $2 billion in fines during a decade-long antitrust fight and apple, facebook, and amazon have also faced off with european regulators. >> ifill: and the european union's commissioner for competition margrethe vestager joins me now. for the record, we extended an invitation to google to join this conversation, but they declined. welcome. >> thank you very much. >> ifill: what is the offense in a company deciding they're going to arrange their search engines so that they promote themselves? >> well, then the consumer doesn't necessarily get the best answer to their query. sometimes it may be the best answer to be presented with google shopping. but sometimes the best answer may be another answer. and what we see is that google has systematically been faiferg its own services and displayed that dominantly in the page when you search on your computer in european countrieses. >> ifill: do other tech companies like amazon not do that? >> well, they do not hold a 90% dominance in the general search market, as we see it in the european markets, and that's a very important difference. >> ifill: how is this different from microsoft-- we mentioned in the setup the microsoft, the interks l cases, some of which have been settled? >> it's a completely different matter. and a lot of order on the beach since then. the digital market has developed dramatically in those years, and a lot of innovation, and a lot of other consumer choices being made over the years. for me it's very important to see this as an individual case and not to, you know think about other cases or precedent because this is one case, and it has to be, you know, judged by its own facts and its own sort of proofs. >> ifill: consumers in america are used to seeing that. they expect the top results to favor church search engine they're using, whether it's yahoo, or google. >> i think consumers expect google to present them with the best answer to their query. and i think they're very reluctant to accept that the best answer is always the same. and therefore, of course we state our preliminary views saying well, this is how we see it, and now we expect google to answer within 10 weeks or-- and/or to call a hearing where they can present their case, and where also the complainant of which there is quite a number can tell how they see the case. >> ifill: google, of course, has already responded in part. part of their defense is well the industry has changed. competition has changed. and more important, the technology has changed. even though we may dominate the market in europe, people can still-- it's their choice. they can still go somewhere else if they want to get a different kind of result. >> yes, and, of course you can go somewhere else. you can find other search engines, but google holds a very dominant position. and if you do that, well, you should not sort of misuse or abuse the powers that you have. of course, i think it's obvious you should congratulate google for being successful and innovative, and helping us all quite a lot, but for me the congratulations stops when you see that a dominant position it being used in a neighboring market where you're not dominant to sort of help yourself to a better position but not on the merits of competition. >> ifill: i know you said that all these cases are different, but microsoft in the end paid billions of dollars in fines and it took themselves years and years. intel is still aexpeelg still in trouble against the european commission on this. what-- how do these kinds of complaints, these charges that you're bringing, change corporate behavior? do they make things better or are microsoft and intel doing what they've always done? >> i think it's very important. there are thousands and thousands and thousands of businesses who compete on the meritz who present their products to the customers and who, of course expect competition on the merits, that the game is not rigged in one way or another. and i think consumers expect of us that we enforce the law that enabled choice and affordable prizes and innovation to take place. and, therefore, i think the case is very important to keep everyone sort of straight focusing on consumers and on innovation. >> ifill: you said also yesterday that you're going to be looking it be mobile system, the mobile operating system, android system, which operators like samsung use. how is that different for an operator to use something that somebody else produced to allow people-- they can-- if you have an android phone if you have a samsung phone, you could use other operating systems, can't you? >> well, these are very early days. what we are saying by saying that now we formally opened an in-depth investigation is also to tell them now it's in the open. people can come forward in they have information for us, and it's a high priority. we'll put resources into this also, in order to finalize it relatively quick. but, of course, we worry if we hear that those who manufacture our tablets, our smartphones are being very strongly sort of incent vised to use one certain system, which would be android followed by google suites of products. >> ifill: we'll be watching it all very carefully. margrethe vestager the european union competition commissioner, thank you very much. >> it was a pleasure to be here. thank you. >> woodruff: there's a growing push at the state level to crack down on welfare spending. in some cases, it's about how much is spent and for how long. in other cases, it's about making sure the money is spent well. kansas became the latest state today, when governor sam brownback signed a law establishing stricter limits on eligibility and the use of benefits. nearly two dozen states have made some kind of change to their rules. our economics correspondent paul solman, has been looking into how welfare reform was working before these latest moves, part of our ongoing reporting, "making sense," which airs every thursday on the newshour. >> the wait is crazy there-- for almost like three to four hours. >> reporter: three to four hours? >> minimum to just go like into the office. >> reporter: in boston, 24-year- old ashli murphy, single mother of a boy, four, and girl, one. she's been on welfare since 2013, would do anything to get off. >> i feel like they kind of look down on you. >> reporter: murphy is now in a privately funded career training class, hoping to get a job in nursing and off welfare, which she's on because she quit her last job, in retail. >> reporter: and why did you quit? >> i was working there for over two years and i just got $9 an hour. >> reporter: and how many hours did you get in a typical week? >> it decreased to like four to eight hours a week. >> reporter: so you were only getting four to eight hours a week at $9 an hour? >> and paid every two weeks. >> reporter: well, you obviously can't live on that. thus, it was welfare for murphy. but to get welfare, you have to work, as of the 1996 welfare-to- work law passed, over skepticism from liberals, by a republican congress with support from president bill clinton. >> when i ran for president four years ago, i pledged to end welfare as we know it. >> reporter: and so he did. this story is about how that effort has fared. >> today, a hope of many years standing is in large part fulfilled. >> reporter: welfare as we'd come to know it began in 1935 as part of president roosevelt's social security act-- the aid to dependent children program-- to help subsidize families that had lost an income-producing father. by the 1970s, welfare had long been a lifeline for single- mother families, and a target of critics, encapsulated by ronald reagan's references to it in runs for the white house. >> it's now common knowledge that our welfare system itself has become a poverty trap a creator and reinforcer of dependency. >> reporter: alina gardner, a manager at a boston employment center, doesn't disagree. >> i had my first child in 1990 and this was before the welfare reform went in. in those days you could just be on it forever. you know there was there weren't many expectations. >> reporter: but you were just sitting home collecting benefits. bad for you? >> if you're idle and you're home all day and you're not taking time to invest in yourself so then you, and raising children to move into a direction that you want them to be self-sufficient, yeah it's bad. >> reporter: thus the clinton welfare-to-work program, which we've covered since its inception-- single mothers ushered off the dole and into the workforce, often groomed by private-contract job placement programs like "america works." the jobs weren't always great in the late '90s... >> i have cashiers that i need for krispy creme. >> cashier, food prep at bruegger's bagels on 42nd and sixth. >> reporter: ...but some held out the hope of upward mobility. >> dawn, i have a great position for you. you'll be involved in some of the creative end of the job, as well as dealing with their client base. >> i also have accounts receivable positions with time warner cable. >> research from the 1990's and early 2000, seems to show that the families seem to be doing pretty well. >> reporter: berkeley economist hilary hoynes studies social safety net programs. >> going into it, there was a very strong fear that incomes would really plummet and that didn't happen. there might have been a small group sort of left behind, but for the most part, i think many people were surprised that it worked. >> reporter: if you just look at the welfare rolls, it more than worked, the number of families on welfare slashed from 12 million 20 years ago to some 3.5 million today. and back in the '90s, bottom- tier wages were going up. but, says hoynes... >> that increase in real wages for low skilled workers in the late 1990's is not experienced in the 2000's. >> reporter: that's the welfare- to-work problem today, says job counselor alina gardner: you may find low-wage work, but how do you ever move up? >> where's that middle ground, right? there is no more middle ground, it's either you're down here or you're up here, you know? >> reporter: sociologist mary gatta confirmed this when she went undercover at a new jersey job center, pretending to be unemployed. >> after a class, i went up to an instructor and i said, "i'm looking for a waitressing job" and she said, "this is great, we have a job fair on the boardwalk go to the job fair and you'll get a job." so my next question to her was, well what happens after labor day weekend? on the boardwalk after labor day there are no more jobs. and she said, "don't worry, we're doing a holiday job fair at the mall." >> reporter: yes, seasonal low- wage jobs have always been an issue for the poor entering the workforce, but it's been traumatizingly true since 2008. >> extreme poverty increased by much more in the great recession than we would have expected, and all the evidence suggests that that's due to welfare reform. >> reporter: food stamps, housing and health care outlays are up, but welfare checks for the very poorest single-parent families have shrunk so much they now get 35% less in total benefits than such families did before welfare-to-work began. and there's another major problem for welfare recipients right now: significantly reduced funding for job placement and training. after being told that work as a waitress would be on-and-off undercover sociologist mary gatta took the all-important class in how to find a job training program. >> at the end of the class they said, "well, unfortunately we've run out of training dollars, so you have to wait until the next cycle." >> reporter: you mean the class was literally about what training was available and then there turned out to be none? >> yeah, there turned out to be no funding. >> i applied for the training in may, but they were not with funds at the time. >> reporter: at the boston center, vanessa cooper also was stymied after the training prep class. >> it was pretty frustrating waiting for funding that wasn't there. >> reporter: neil sullivan has run job placement for the poor in boston for more than 30 years. >> we were much better off in the late 90's, when the federal investment in welfare reform and job training for welfare recipients was enormous as compared to the pittance the federal government is able to invest these days. the result is welfare recipients languish in the system and many others are rejected from the system and left to make it on their own, and quite frankly they don't. >> what would be the average blood pressure rating? >> reporter: ashli murphy is actually lucky to have gotten into a job prep program foundation-funded through the city of boston. let's hope it gets her a decent job, 19 years after welfare-to- work became the law of the land. for the pbs newshour, this is economics correspondent paul solman, reporting from boston. >> ifill: join us for a twitter chat next week, where we'll discuss laws that limit how welfare recipients can spend their benefits. details are on our home page, pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: this weekend marks the 20th anniversary of the oklahoma city bombing, a moment that shocked the nation and changed the way we think about threats at home. two minutes past nine o'clock on the morning of april 19th, 1995. downtown oklahoma city is torn apart. >> i went under a table. the ceiling was coming down. i think it saved my life. >> woodruff: a ryder truck loaded with a diesel fuel-and- fertilizer bomb, blew up next to the alfred p. murrah federal building, cutting it in half. 168 people, including 19 children in its day care center, died. more than 650 were injured. on april 21, gulf war veteran timothy mcveigh and another former soldier, terry nichols were arrested, and later formally-charged with the bombing. two days later, then-president bill clinton came to comfort the city, and the country. >> for we will stand with you for as many tomorrows as it takes. >> woodruff: mcveigh and nichols, members of far right- wing, anti-federal-government groups, timed the attack for the two-year anniversary of the fiery end to the 1993 siege of the branch davidians. that breakaway religious sect, in waco texas staged a 51-day stand-off with law enforcement, which ended with an f.b.i.-led assault on the heavily-armed compound. 76 members of the group died that day. in 1997, mcveigh was found guilty on 11 federal counts of murder and conspiracy; he was sentenced to death and executed in 2001. nichols was later found guilty on federal charges of conspiracy and manslaughter and 161 state counts of first degree murder, he is serving 150 life sentences in a colorado federal prison. the anniversary will be recognized throughout the coming weekend in oklahoma city, and there will be much attention on how survivors and families are faring. our colleagues at the pbs station, oeta, produced a documentary called "resilience" and spoke with many of them. it was done in conjunction with the "daily oklahoman" newspaper. here's an edited excerpt. it features the now-grown daughters of a bombing victim, the sister of another, a 21- year-old man who was one of six children who survived from the day care center in the building. it burned his infant lungs and left third-degree burns over half his body, and the head of the credit union in the murrah building at the time. >> i don't know how we did it. the first morning we opened up for business, there was probably 500 members of the credit union that-- some of them had been housed in the murrah building. nobody had anything to do. in fact everything in oklahoma city stopped. everybody stopped when that happened. >> our dad thought it was really important for us to continue with-- you know continue with life, and that's really been-- even from the immediate incident, that's really been-- a defining kind of trait as we've-- as we've gone along. otherwise, you sit glued to the tv and you can only-- you can only watch watch so much over and over again. >> a counselor once told me that you have body memories your body remembers what your mind processed in a traumatic event, and that sometimes your body reacts, sometimes in similar fashion, and i think that's really true, and you do. you just start getting kind of tense. ask sometimes it's funny, i'll almost not feel well, and i'll think, i wonder what's wrong. and i'll think, it's april. >> i constantly deal with that day every day of my life so it's never pushed it aside. i always am thankful that i was able to make it through that day, and what i take from it, whenever i think about it is that god had a plan for me to survive that day and i try to figure what that plan is. >> woodruff: three sprps on lessons learned from the attack. jamie gorelick was the deputy attorney of the united states at the time, the second highest position in the department of justice, and a point person in the response in the trial. she served on the 9/11 commission and is now a partner at the law firm miller hale. >> barry grissom, and kerry pettingill, was eye lieutenant with the oklahoma highway patrol on the day of the bombing and an early responder. he would later become the first director of homeland security for the state. and we welcome all three of you to the program. kerry pettingill, as we said you were with the oklahoma highway patrol on the day this happened. you got the call. what did you see? >> well when i first started responding to the downtown area, i had approached from the north it was-- there was already gridlock. i had to drive across sidewalks in order to get as close as i could. and i had to walk in from the north, and i had in my mind that it was going to be a-- we knew it was some type of an explosion. i was thinking natural gas or perhaps even a airplane had crashed into the building because we-- at that time, we had a downtown airport. but when i turned the corner and i saw the building or what was left of the building i knew immediately that this was no natural disaster or-- not natural but a disaster-- an accident. and then the observations were just the way the people were going about helping each other and for me, it was trying to determine what to do next. >> woodruff: how do you think, looking back on it, oklahoma city and the state did deal with it at the time, and how are they doing today? >> oh, i think the immediate response was tremendous. it was a coming together of everyone, not just the responders but also-- i say the professional responders-- the actions of those men and women that were involved in the blast, those that were injured but could care for others, the way they assumed certain roles and cared for each other and helped get everyone to safety, i think that the leadership from the governor's office, the mayor's office the chief at the fire department. chief gonzales at the police department, and bob ricks, who was the special agent in charge of the f.b.i., the way everyone came together and made decisions very quickly i think helped us maneuver through the immediate processes of trying to gain some type of control over the incident. >> woodruff: and barry grissom, as we said you are in kansas. you were in kansas at the time. that's where timothy mcveigh rented the truck. we know that's where he got the materials to make the mom bomb. what did this mean to that part of the country? you could argue that was the last place people expected there to be an attack like this? >> yes. that's the refrain you always hear, that "how could this happen mere?" to believe that and ultimately find out that the rider truck was rented in junction city, kansas, and that the ammonium nitrate was purchased in harrington kansas and the blasting caps were stolen from a rock quarry in marion, kansas, and no one detected or connected the dots that ultimately led to the tragedy, that was the thing that really shocked us. >> woodruff: and something that you didn't think would happen in that part of the country, and how do you think that-- the midsection responded? >> i think the midsection responded just like we want them to -- as was described what the folks did in oklahoma city, the outpouring of support from kansas, from texas, from arkansas, from colorado was amazing. what it did do for us, though, it was an awakening. it made us understand that this isn't an east coast or a west coast phenomena, that this is something that can take place in our backyards, in our neighborhoods. sp as a result of that the evolution that's happened in law enforcement through joint terrorism task force working together has been really great. >> woodruff: and jamie gorelick, where fr where you sat, number two, at the justice deparment in 1995, what was it like to deal with it from here? and how did you-- there was no playbook for something like this. >> there was definitely no playbook. and to your earlier question judy, this was entirely shocking to have something like this happen in the heartland. and when we found out that it was one of us, that was doubly shocking. dealing with the event itself was an extraordinary effort. you had many state and local responders, and you had many different federal agencies that had to be deconflicted. and one of my jobs was to make sure working with the governor that we knew who was doing what. you had a crime scene and a rescue scene in the same place. and that active investigation had to start right away, even as we were clearing through the rubble and trying to save people. >> woodruff: as you look at it from a federal perspective, and looking at how the state and the local area responded, how good a job did everybody do? >> fantastic. i mean people really did putogether. the people of oklahoma were terrific. the country was so shocked by this, that there was an enormous pulling together of resources and feeling. i thought the president-- you had some of his remarks-- was terrific in a healing role and making sure that the people of oklahoma city understood that the rest of us were there for the people of oklahoma. >> woodruff: barry grissom back to you, you've seen since them as a u.s. attorney in kansas, that part of the country, the entire country having to deal much more with domestic terrorism since then than anything we knew at the time. how have you seen the responses evolve and change? >> well, the responses can best be defined as this-- roles have dissolved. it's very rare that it's federal, state, and local name tags. it's law enforcement. through these joint terrorism task forces that we have now, we're able to work with law enforcement partners cross-designate folks, and work closer with one another than we ever have in the past. >> woodruff: and what has that meant? how is it more closely together and understand that it is going to happen again? >> yes ma'am, that's right. i'll give you a perfect example. a little over a a week another we stopped a young man who wanted to drive a car load of explosives on to fort riley and kill soldiers. that was just the past week. a year and a half ago we had someone who wanted to drive a car load of explosives on to the tarmac in wichita, kansas. we were able to stop. tragically we weren't able to stop a person from killing people at a jewish community center in overs land park. having been u.s. attorney for only five years and having to deal with three what i perceive as major terrorist potential events, that's-- that we stopped two of the three we take some pride in that. >> woodruff: jamie gorelick how do you see washington's response? i know you're out of the federal government now but you watch it very closely. you remember the 9/11 commission. how you have seen the government's response to domestic terrorism change from what it was 20 years ago? >> well, i would agree that we're much less atomized and more copiecive than we ever were. if you think about the numbers let's say the f.b.i. has 40,000 people and state and local police are about a million, you have to knit those resources affect. and, you know, the federal government is not going to know what's happening on every street corner the way a local cop is going to. so there has to be that sharing. it's much better. it's not perfect but it's much, much better. there are all kinds of mechanisms for jointness. there's much better information sharing. again, not perfect but a lot better. >> woodruff: and less likely to be the element of surprise? even though no one wants-- or wants to believe anything like this could happen again. >> well when you have just a few people or a single person who wants to do something bad, it's really hard to stop it. unless you have so much surveillance in your society that it's unattractive, to say the least, to the american people, and that's the balance that we are constantly debating and trying to-- trying to measure for ourselves. >> woodruff: and kerry pettingill, back to you, how do you see oklahoma, the people of your state changing as a result of what happened 20 years ago? >> i think that oklahoma city has grown tremendously. it's a great city today. it's very progressive, and it is-- barry and i were talking earlier about how much it's changed. but the people were very resilient, and it was as you guys talked about the president saying that we weren't alone. knowing that we weren't alone if our recovery was i think very beneficial in that process. >> woodruff: well, it's very difficult to look back but it's important that we do. and we thank all three of you for being with us. kerry pettingill and barry grissom and jamie gorelick. here. we thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: the national hockey league playoffs begin this week, and for years now, the nhl's teams and players have made time during their long season to broaden the game's appeal working with youth teams in neighborhoods not normally known as hockey hotbeds. we recently caught up with the fort dupont cannons, the oldest team in the nhl's "hockey is for everyone" urban outreach program who are getting an assist from stars of the washington capitals. >> the ice rink was the only one in washington at the time, so with the kids in the neighborhood i came over to the rink and rented some ice and from then on its been known as the fort dupont ice hockey program. i'm neal henderson, i'm the founder and owner; i'm the head coach there; we've been in operation since 1977. our rink is right on a fort that was there during the civil war. the southeast side of the capital was not ever touched during the civil war because the slaves guarded that section and fought anyone that came on that side. the black represents the slave the gold represents the brass buttons on the uniform and the white represents their officers. this is why we wear these colors. >> people think that i'm crazy for playing hockey, 'cause people think it's like, scary, when the puck comes at you, and >> my name is benton o'neill and i play goalie for the fort dupont cannons, and i'm 14 years old. when i tell them i play hockey they're kind of like surprised that i'm a black kid playing hockey. and my family, they encourage me to do my own thing, and be myself, so that i wouldn't follow the crowd. >> because it's such a rough area, it gives the children an outlet; so they have somewhere to go when there's issues going on at home. i'm alecia wilson, i'm benton's mom. i've never had an issue with him because he's always wanted to play hockey. i'm always emphasizing to other parents how great hockey is. >> hockey is a tool and kids will learn anything. and if you don't have them in a positive mind, they'll do something wrong. i have very high standards, you can only have one "c" on your report; you must strive for "a's" and "b's."/ i have a young lady that's interested in harvard or cornell to play on the ladies hockey team there. >> hockey at the collegiate level, i know it's going to be very competitive. my name is katherine baker, i play for the fort dupont cannons, i play defense. to my neighborhood and myself it's been very important; it's my safe haven. it's where i go every free moment i get, basically. i started playing hockey because a group of my friends where also playing, and i really enjoyed watching it. >> i chose to play hockey because i watched it on tv, and i saw joel ward playing for the capitals and i wanted to be like him. >> ahead now on the right side, right circle, sharp angle, a puck in front they score! joel ward, on an alex ovechkin pass! from the right side. >> it's an inspirational spot to be at if anyone gets a chance to visit fort dupont. i'm joel ward and i play right wing for the washington capitals. i've been there for a couple years now. it's not just about hockey, it's about life lessons and learning and a lot of discipline. i think it's guys like myself, it's our job to promote it. >> the nhl helps us quite a bit because how many kids get the opportunity to meet the greatest player in ice hockey? >> kuznetsov to ovechkin, score! that's number 50!" >> if you have a chance to help the kids, you have to do it. i'm alex ovechkin, left wing of the washington capitals. if they're not going to be a hockey player maybe they gonna be a good businessman. >> you know this wasn't my first time playing with ovechkin, this is actually my 2nd. the first time i actually played with ovechkin, it was like ecstatic, i wasn't quite sure how to feel. i just saw a great hockey player and me being able to skate on the ice with him. it didn't really hit me till after the fact. and then, like today, i look back on that like, wow times have really changed, and i still look up to him as a great player. >> for me it doesn't matter whether white or black, if he a good player he can help the team, he love the hockey, he gonna be out there. >> to see that many black kids out there-- black kids playing hockey like that on one surface- - i've never seen that my whole life, growing up. it's no secret, hockey's a predominantly white sport. when i first came to d.c. i wanted to pick a number that was meaningful and 42 was available, for the honor of jackie robinson. hopefully i wear it with pride and do the number some justice, and obviously hearing willie's story, and getting the chance to meet him. >> my name is willie o'ree; i played for the boston bruins in 1958, 60 and 61, and it was the media that gave me the name the jackie robinson of hockey i didn't give that name to myself. i didn't realize that i'd broke barriers and opened doors for other black players and players of color. >> and a pass to o'ree on the right side, o'ree comes up over the maple leafs line. >> players on the opposition would call me the n-word. but later on there were more black players coming up and playing in the league. after i retired in 1980, i felt that i had something to give back to the sport. we want to make hockey available to every boy and girl possible. >> a hockey puck doesn't care who hits it, and i don't care who hits my hockey puck. as long as they want to play hockey, they come to the right place. >> the fort dupont cannons, it's a family. i couldn't describe it any other way. with coach neal and his team, being like your actual parent. >> i'm their uncle, their dad, their big brother. i'm someone they can call at midnight, if necessary, sure. i love doing it because what happens is that's the kid i have saved. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day: lawmakers reached a bipartisan deal that gives president obama "fast-track" power in upcoming trade negotiations with 11 pacific nations. the president faces stiff opposition from his own party, and every major labor union has vowed to fight it. and, al qaeda militants in yemen took over a major airport, seaport and oil terminal in the country's south. >> ifill: on the newshour online, the world's second- largest flower garden is in bloom right now in the netherlands. check out stunning photos from the air and on the ground of the 7 million bulbs covering 79 acres in brilliant color. happy spring! that's at pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: tune in later this evening, on charlie rose ibm c.e.o. ginni rometty on the future of computing. >> ifill: and again, to our honor roll of american service personnel killed in iraq and the afghanistan conflict. we add them as their deaths are made official and photographs become available. here, in silence, is one more. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on friday, we'll look at the fight to stop the islamic state in iraq, on the ground in anbar province. 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. 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. >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org . this is "nighlty business " with tyler mathisen and sue herera. goldman's goalen report. what fueled the company's best quarterly results in years. market debut. ipos are back but there are three things investors need to know before buying into them. industry after shocks. why oklahoma finds itself at the epicenter of a debate over fracking and earthquakes. all of that and more tonight on "nighlty business report" for thursday april 16th. good evening, everyone. and welcome. i'm sue herera. tyler mathisen my partner is off tonight. it was all green for some of america's bluest blue chip companies. delivering better than expected earnings. and in the gace of goldman sachs, the numbers were blow jout. smashing through

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Observers, detractors and preachers of religion who died in 2021

(RNS) — Prominent figures in the world of religion who died in 2021.

George W. Bush is unhappy with faith groups' work on immigration reform

Deseret News The former president recently spoke on a panel titled “Immigrants and the American Future” Share this story LM Otero, Associated Press . Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night. Former president George W. Bush believes the immigration system is broken. More importantly, he thinks America’s leaders, including pastors, have given up on trying to fix it. “There’s been a lack of leadership on this issue because it’s become too politicized. Once an issue becomes politically hot, it’s very difficult to paint a positive picture that rises above the noise,” he said during a recent webinar titled “Immigrants and the American Future.”

Rachel Zoll, much-admired AP religion writer, dead at 55 - New Delhi Times - India's Only International Newspaper

May 8, 2021 Share Rachel Zoll, who for 17 years as religion writer for The Associated Press endeared herself to colleagues, competitors and sources with her warm heart and world-class reporting skills, died Friday in Amherst, Massachusetts, after a three-year bout with brain cancer. She was 55. Zoll covered religion in all its aspects, from the spiritual to the political, and her stories reached a global audience. But her influence was far greater than that. Other publications often followed her lead, and AP staffers around the world depended on her generosity and guidance. “Rachel was one of the most universally beloved colleagues we had,” said AP’s managing editor, Brian Carovillano. “She was also one of the best reporters, on any beat. … She had a knack for finding the story or angle that no one else considered but is packed with insight and surprises.”

Muere Rachel Zoll, periodista de la AP sobre religión

Rachel Zoll, much-admired AP religion writer, dead at 55

Rachel Zoll, much-admired AP religion writer, dead at 55 DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer May 7, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail 5 1of5Associated Press Religion Writer Rachel Zoll, second from right, receives a visit in Amherst, Mass., on Oct. 26, 2018, from Managing Editor Brian J. Carovillano, editor at large Jerry Schwartz, and Deputy Managing Editor Sarah L. Nordgren after being awarded an Oliver S. Gramling Journalism Award for being AP's pre-eminent voice on religion for more than a decade. Zoll, who for 17 years as a religion writer for The Associated Press endeared herself to colleagues, competitors, and sources with her warm heart and world-class reporting skills, has died after a three-year bout with brain cancer. She was 55. (Cheryl Zoll via AP)Cheryl Zoll/APShow MoreShow Less

Rachel Zoll, AP religion writer who covered papal transition and sex abuse scandal, dead at 55

Associated Press Religion Writer Rachel Zoll, second from right, receives a visit in Amherst, Mass., on Oct. 26, 2018, from Managing Editor Brian J. Carovillano, editor at large Jerry Schwartz, and Deputy Managing Editor Sarah L. Nordgren after being awarded an Oliver S. Gramling Journalism Award for being AP's pre-eminent voice on religion for more than a decade. (Cheryl Zoll via AP) Rachel Zoll, who for 17 years as religion writer for The Associated Press endeared herself to colleagues, competitors and sources with her warm heart and world-class reporting skills, died Friday in Amherst, Massachusetts, after a three-year bout with brain cancer. She was 55.