And, the winter ympics heats up. U. S. Snowboarder shaun whitema s history while addressing questions of Sexual Harassment. All that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by babbel. A language app that teaches reallife conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, supported by the rockefeller supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds mblt pressing ps skollfoundation. Org. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention. In the u. S. And des. Loping countr on the web at lemelson. Org. Supported by the. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Ank you. Woodruff its been a day of highspeed headlines, topped by chaos and carnage in south florida. A shooting erupted at a high school in parkland this afternoon. The Broward County sheriff reported multiple deaths and at least 14 wounded. Police swarmed the site, searching for the gunman, even emergency workers treated and transport the wounded to hospitals. Hours later, frantic parents were still arriving on the scene, while students tried to cope. You hear about this all the time but you never expect it to happen right here in your neighborhood. Everybody knows its a safe place, you dont expect it to happen here, when it happens youre just taken aback. Woodruff the suspected w gunm arrested later, off campus. The sheriff identified him as a former old. T, about 18 years for more, n to James Laporta of the daily beast, whos in parkland. And you are joining us by phone. Tell us what you are seeing right now a uh come on, the scene is still very active, even tho the majority of students have been evacuated, but its been a pretty emtional day hre, as you can imagine many, many parents have been trying to reunite wittheir children at the high school, an becausso many parents have been trying to get through, that has,ou know, clogged up phone lines and data to be able to reach their loved ones. So a verney emotional scown here. Woodruff we can only neagine. Has anbeen able to share information about what happened . We are told this is a former student involved . Correct, a former student around 18 to 19 years old. I spoke to one student who was outside when the shooting occurred. He said that heheard aroundot five shs, five diffegunt hots, but also he characterized it as it sounded like an ak47. Now, i have not been able to confirm that but thats what it sounded like to him. On the inside of the building, whats interesting about this is were getting to see the horror of the day in terms ofids being posted to social media, you know, in terms of, you know, s. W. A. T. Teams clearing out classrooms. But in terms of whats going on down here,hooter appears to be 18, 19 years old. Asinou said, 1ividuals have been taken to area hospitals. Ive heard reports of approximately seven people are dead, but ive also heard as highs 20 people are dead. But, again, so much information is coming in right now, itspi hard t down exactly what is truth at this point. Woodruff well, James Laporta, we know it is a fastmoving story and we know the information we e right now is in incomplete but thank you very much for sharing what you. Ave right now we appreciate it. Thank you. Woodruff todays shooting is at least the fourth at a middle or high school in the first two months of the year that led to deaths or injurils. There havebeen shootings near or on the grounds of other schools this year where students and teachers wernanot injured. Stephens is the executive director of the national schoolr safety cen ronald stephens, its no longeki sh, now, when theres a school shooting, is it . Its happening far too often r too many times, and every administrator who has faced ths, theyve always d they never thought it would happen here, an yet these events are coming to so many unexpected communities at so many unexpected times. Woodruff do you believe you have been rking on this issue with your organization for a long time. Do you believe schools tdayre better prepared when Something Like this happens . My take is they are better prepared. Our center worked with browardco ty schools more than a decade ago, and they were among one of the first School Systems h the United States to really bring together all the firstde resp and look how they would react when a problem like this occurs. So in terms of preparation, i would reallyescribe them as someone being on the cutting edge. Woodruff so what would make them cutting edge . Whn would that meatheyd do . Y well, they put school saf on the agenda ahead of many other school sysms around the country, but basically in the training theyve brought together all of the first responders, law enforcement, paramedics, s. W. A. T. Team and really took some steps to prepare. But, you know, this situation is a reminder to us that schools really need to continue to keep School Safety at the forefront, have some great crisis plans and really focus on some of these Access Control issues toe kep troublemakers like this off the campus. Woodruff and, as youre faying that, im wondering i this is a school and as other schools around the country, other parents, educators are watching this, are they able to learn somethi from each one of these episodes . Well, i think the reminder is how precious life is. F school oials and parents, if i were a parent, i would want to know wther or not my school had a safe school plan, what the Access Control was, what procedures would be in place, d, yet, these incidents are so difficult to controlecause School Officials need to do everything they can, knowing they cant do eerything, because when you have a determined shooter, as in this case, they have quite a degree of latitude to get ind a cause incredible disruption. Woodruff and thats a pretty discouraging message, isnt it, both ford educators a parents as well as for the children. Well, it is discouraging, but, at the same time, it also suggests there are some things we can do to enhance our preparation and to work on focusing on prevention. And many of the schl administrators after they face these major crises, they said, you know what, we want to get to know our students better, were going to pt together better threat assessment teams to try to get at least some perspective on these events before they happen. But, once again, you can only do what is humanly possible. So therein lies the challenge for y hool officials as th back and revisit their Safe School Plans andtrategies, and for parents, let your chiowldren ow much you love them and care for them. Woodruff for sure. And i did hear you sayfor many of these schools, its only after something has happenedey ry to take some of these new measures. But we hope with every one of these terrible incidents that lessons can be learned. Ronald stephens with theon na School Safety center, we thank you very much. Youre welcome. We are now joined on the phone by michael udine, a Broward County commissioner. He is the former mayor of a parkla a parent of a student at Marjory Stoneman douglas high. Th s the school where this happened. Mr. Udine, tell me, you must be besi yourself. Yeah, its a very tough day for our city andu or neighbors in parkland and northst broward. Tragedy, i know many of the students, my daughter was in school today, my niece was in school during the incident, theyre bo safe, luckily. But its just been a chaotic scene. Law enforcement from all over the areas. Its a senseless tragedy. Woodruff do you have any better understanding now of what owhappened . I ts still early. The facts are still being gathered. All i know is that there was an active shooter incident that students were, you know, hiding where they needed to hide. There will be multiple fatalities, injuries a, you know, just issues that are such a senseless tragedy to eappen in this community. I know so many of tudents here. I can walk to the school from my house, all of my kidhave gone here. Its just a tragic and sad day for our community. Woodruff can you tell us something about parkland, the school, the neighborhood . Its an arated school. Its a highachieving students. U know, we excel in sports, drama, leadership,eca, in business. These are good kids, and this is a senseless tragedy, and well have victims advocateshere tonight and well do whatever as community to rally around this school to make sure we get back to some sense of normalcy as quickly as possible. N woodruff well, we can only imagine what you other parents and certainly thepa nts whose children have been hurt or worse tonig, and our hearts go out to all of you, an as i said to the and as i said to the gentleman i just spoke, with one can only hope there will be lessons learned. We appreciate it michael udine, brow thank you very much. R. Thank you, byebye. Woodruff our second major headline tonight, the u. S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs is in trouble for a priip to europe at government expense. David shulkins own Inspector General issued a blistering report today. It is the latest example of firstclass travel problems to shake the trump cabinet. Well have an extended look at the issue, right after the news summary. In the days other news, President Trump publicly condemned Domestic Abuse for the nerst time since a Top White House official resa week ago. Rob porter accused him of physical assault during their marriages. O upw, mr. Trump has praised porter, and appeared to cast doubt on the accusations. Today, amid rising criticism, he fielded a question on the issue at a white house meeting. I am totally opposed to v domestlence of any kind, everyone knows that. It almost wouldnt even have to be said, so now you hear it, but you all know it. Thank you all very much. Woodruff earlier, the chair of the Oversight Committee in the house of representatives, trey gowdy, said hes opening an investigation into how the white house handled the porter case y and his seculearance. But Vice President pence defended the chief of staff, john kelly, saying hes, done a remarkable job. Meanwhile, a senior aide on the National Economic council, george banks, said he has resigned after failing to get a permanent security clearance. He tolpolitico that the White House Counsels Office cited his past marijuana use. The president s longtime personal attorney, michael cohen, now says he paid 130,000 to a porn film star who allegedly had an extramarital affair with mr. Trump in 2006. The payment was made shortly before the 2016 election. Cohen told the new york times, that the money came out of his, own pockd that he was not reimbursed by the Trump Campaign or company. He did not say why he paid stephanie clifford, whose film name is stormy daniels. Mr. Trump has denied any affair. In south africa, embattled president jacob zuma announced tonight that hell resign from office, effective immediately. It came after the ruling African Congress ordered him to step down in the face of corruption scandals. In a 30minute televised address, zuma sputed the accusations against him, then abruptly called an end to his nearly nineyear ruleer i have ore come to the decision to resign as president of the republic of with immediate effect. Even though i disagree with the decision of the leadership of my organization. Woodruff Deputy PresidentCyril Ramaphosa is expected to succeed zuma. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson called today for iran to withdraw its military forces in anria. He spoke in jordansaid iran is destabilizing the region. But tehran fired back that u. S. Forces should leave syria. Over the weekend, israel shot down an iranian drone over the golan heights, and Syrian Forces shot down an israeli warplane. Theres word that former republican president ial candidate mitt romney will run for the u. S. Senate seat from utah. Its widely reported that the onetime governor ss husetts will make his announcement tomorrow. Hed be seeking to fill the seat held by republican orrin hatch, whos retiring. W wall street today, the jones industrial average g tned 253 poinclose at 24,893. The nasdaq rose 130 points, and the s p 500 added 35. And, finally, highlights from day five at the Winter Olympics in south korea. Wamerican snowboarder shate won his third olympic gold in the mens halfpipe, then faced questions about Sexual Harassment allegations. Meanwhile, american Luger Emily Sweeney had a scar crashing on her fourth run of the day. She said shes sore, but otherwise okay. Still to come on the newshour Trump Administration officials using taxpayer money for lavish personal travel. Methods used to count north Koreas Nuclear weapons, and much more. Woodruff the u. S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs is in trouble for a pricey trip to europe at government expense. Yang department of veterans ifairs secretary David Shulkin and his staff cafor Harsh Criticism from the agencys internal watchdog over an 11day trip last year, to denmark and the united kingdom. The cost to taxpayers more than 122,000. It included official biness such as, meetings with danish officials who provide healths, care for veter lunch with Danish Health care executives, and a conference in london with senior officials from u. S. Allies who also deal with veterans issues. But the rert also details some of shulkins leisure activity attending the womens championship mat at the wimbledon tennis tournament, a tour of Westminster Abbey in , and a cruise down the thames river. The departments Inspector General said shulkin improperly accepted the wimbledon tickets,d and directartment staff to plan a sightseeing schedule. He also said that shulkins chief of staff misrepresented details about the trip, going so far as to alter an email, in allow taxpayers to pay for shulkins wifes expenses. The Inspector General said shulkin should reimburse the treasury for the cost of his wifes travel. He also he shulkin suld offer to pay his wimbledon host for the cost of the tickets, and if she declines pay that money to the u. S. Government. In a letter to the Inspector General, shulkin said the report atoes not appear to be acc or objective, and it contains the thread of bias. Shulkin is not the first trump cabinet membero be questioned about travel practices. Interior secretary ryan zinke, and epa administrator scott pruitt are all under investigation by their departments internal watchdogs. St year, health and Human Services secretary tom price quit after his use of private planes was reported. For the pbs newshour, im john yang. Woodruff we explore these viations further now with reporter lisa rein of the washington post, ak, kathleen cl professor of law at Washington University in st. Louis, who works on issues of government ethics. And we welcome both of you to the program. Lisa rein, youre the reporter here. Im going to start with you. What secretary shulkin is saying, he called it the thread of bias in ths report. It doesnt appear to be accurate or objective . How do we know what the Inspector General fond is accurate . Well, secretary shulkin has pushed back very, very hard against this report. Hes hired a team of lawyers. Hes hired a p. R. Firm, which is pretty unusual. He some things he does not deny. For example, his chief of staff, who the Inspector General sai doctored an email to ensure that shulkins wife would be able to travel t europe expensefree and on the governments dime was not denied. s mostly the wimbledon tickets. The Inspector General said this was an inproper gift basically from a spor rts promoo had been a c. E. O. Of prince harrysa invictus gam had reason to potentially influence the secretary because the Invictus Games are for veterans. Woodruff right. And the laws are very clear that if you have a cose friendship with the person giving you a gift, then youre rene. So it wally fascinating. The watchdog had to parse whether the shulkins were Close Friends with this promoter, this british wom the Inspector General said, no, didnt seem they had much contact aside from a few meetings at big events. Woodruff which suggested there was something wrong here. So kathleen clark, how clear are the rules for these cabinet secretaries and other top officials in the administration out whats appropriate and what isnt . The rules on accepting giftsa are acy quite clear and detailed, and they apply not just to cabinet secretaries but just about every official in the executive branch. So officials are encouraged to seek advice from designated ethics counselors if they have quesons about how the rules apply. So what we see here is that the chief of staff allegedly manipulated that advice process h order to get te answer she wanted. Woodruff and just to get back to the point that lisa made about the fridship, how much uld it matt