Reader questions and talks about the significance of the osage indian murders. Dont think you can s derstand our country unless you understand trt of our history. This is one of the worst racial injustices and cminal conspiracies in American History and it was never taught in school. Woodruff at and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major fundi for the pbs newshour has been provided by and with the ongoing support of these institutions thiprogram was made ssible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff its been nearly two weeks since a gunman killed 17 people at a high school in parkland, florida. Now, Congress Faces the question nof what to do about guns america. The aner is anything but clear. Lisa desjardins begins our coverage desjardins wking the halls of congress today, students turned activists from Marjory Stoneman douglas high, pressing for more gun control. Their supporincluding democratic congressman ted deutch who represents them, said its past time to listen theyre tired of people telling them that this is hard; whats hard for them is what theyre dealing with, which is the loss of 17 members of their family. Things that everyone knows can be done that arent controversial, we ve to stop viewing them as controversial and take action right now. Theres no log jam around. The only log jam is that the speaker wont bring them to the floor r a vote. Desjardins at his news conference, House Speaker paul ryan pointed to a bill his chamber already passed to strengthen current background checks, and was asked how he responds to protesters in florida and across the country, saying Congress Must do more. This speaks to bigger questions, what are we teaching kids, violence in our culture, of course we want to listen to these kids, but we also want to make sure that we protect peoples due process rigs and legal constitutional rights. Desjardins House Majority whip steve scalise, who survived a shooting last year thanks to armed Law Enforcement, pointed at failures in parkland, florida. What about the laws on the edbooks that were not enfo what angers me the most is breakdowLaw Enforcement. The f. B. I. Had the shooters name on silver platter. Desjardins on the senate pede, republicans echoed saker ryan, pointing to the socalled f nics bill to encourage more agencies to work with the n. I. C. S. Or National Instate Criminal Background Check system. Texas republican john cornyn if our attitude is, i want everything on my list or nothing, were going to end up with nothing. Lets do what we can immediately fix nics and build from there. Desjardins but Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer says that bill doesnt go far enough. Hes calng for universal background checks. What will prevent future tragedies . Comprehensive background checks will. Lets not set our sights too lets try for significant, Bipartisan Legislation that will make a real difference in ing our children safe. Desjardins republican senator pat toomey and democrat joe manchin are working to revive their 2013 proposal to expand background checks. And republican Susan Collins and de acrat Heidi Heitkamp lead Bipartisan Group of nine senators, pushing to bar people on terror watch lists from rying guns. Ent days, President Trump has spoken about a range of ideas. They include strengthening background checks, banning bump aocks, raising the purcha for some rifles to 21, and arming teacherin schools. The white house said it will meve more specific policy announs later this week. Its still unclear if anything can pass, but Senate Democratic whip dick durbin said country is at a tipping point. There are proposals that americans brsupport, lets do something. The n. R. A. Doesnt support them but are they the ones who write law . Desjardins meanwhile, in fl several emotional hours at the state house, as a committee voted to raise the minimum age to buy rifles from 18 to 21, and install a three day waiting period for gun purchases. Republicans voted down democratic amendments to ban assault weapons and require Mental Health screening to purchase a gun. Today, attorney general jeff hessions says they believe have the authority to ban those bump stocks or those items that can make a semiautomatic weapon into machine gun. Judy . Woodruff lisa, there are so many proposals out there. We heard you tick off a number of them. Weve be here befor there has been discussion about what to do guns in the past. I heard you say i looks tough, but what looks possible . The bill that seems to have the most support, but that doesnt mean i will pass, is the fix nicks bill, but it has mesome issues. Epublicans say it violates dew due process rights. When tse passed its version, it coupled together with this bill a conceal carry reciprocity measurthat would allow conceal carry permits to cross state lines. Thats something d support, so the senate has to take those two items apart or put them together and youve got problems in the house. It theres one thing thats very narrow has pal problems. Woodruff we also know that these students who have come all the way to washington from florida and other students around the country who supported them are asking for aot more than that. Thats right. Woodruff is there any prospect for more . I asked speaker ryan about this specifically, and i think the two best potentials for more than this, one, the llnchintoomey background the democrats seem to be doubling down on that. They came out of their caucus d,eting. They swe think were going to go all in on universal backatound checks. Their push. And republicans meanwhile are deciding if they can support manchintoomey or not. The other thing that i think is a question mark is the idea of perhaps raising age limits nationally. I talked to some conservatives including bill cassidy of losiana. He says hes still considering that. Hes not yt a no. Woodruff this is something the n. R. A. , the National Rifle association, opposes. Thats right. Woodruff time line, what are we looking at . A lot of people say they in a hurry to do something . Were just at the end of february. It look like the push is for march. Thatsrd the say if actually reasonable. They have to ask whether they will hold hearings. Th well have some of these students come and testify before congress . Will the n. R. A. Testify before congress . Then you get into what i think will be the key date here, judy 23rd. Thats the next spending deadline. Eciderats will have to d not only if they are going to push for an immigration deal bere then, but now will they demand some action on guns before march 23rd. The other date thats interesting, judy, march 24th. Woodruff the day after. Thats the day that students are saying they will comto washington in what they plan for as mass protest. Woodruff were expectine a lot of peoo show up for that. We will see. Lisa desjardins, thank you very much. Youre welcome woodruff in the days other news, the head of u. S. Cyber command said tntry will have to do more to deter russian interference by in future elections. Admiral mike rogers also leads the National Security agency. At a u. S. Senate hearing today, he told rhode island democrat jack reed that he would need orders to strike directlrat russian cytackers. You been directed to do so given the strategic threat that faces t United States and the significant consequencesou recognize already . No i have not. But you need the direct authority of the president through the secretary of defense . To do somspecific things some specific things. There are some things i have under my authority and i am acting within that authority now, not waiting. Woodruff rogers also warned that in the absence of stronr u. S. Action, president putin has clearly come to the conclusion theres little price to pay here. But White House Press secretary Sarah Sanders said later that nobody is denying rogers the authority to act. Theres word that north korea may be helping syrias government make chemical weapons. The newtimes reports a u. N. Investigation found 40 suspect shipments from the north to syria. It also said north Korean Missile technicians were spotted at Syrian Chemical Weapons sites. In turn, pyongyang would get cash for its nuclear and missile programs. Meanwhile, the u. S. Special representative on north korea, joseph young, made a surprise announcement thates retiring after 30 years in the foreign service. He cited personal reasons. In syria, russias call for a daily, fivehour truce collapsed today in rebelheld suburbs east of damascus. War monitors and witnesses reported the government kept up its air strikeand artillery assault on eastern ghouta. Some 400,000 civilians are caught in the onslaught. translated they are targeting us but we are not with a faction or group, we are all civilians, why are they dropping the s on us . They terrified the children, destroyed homes. God bring an end to this. Kind of a cease fire is this, a plane has been circling all night. Woodruf the syrians and their russian allies blamed the rebels for the continued fighting. The king of saudi arabia fired his military chief of r aff and otp defense officials overnight. It came in the face of a stalemated war in yemen. In turn, younger officials were elevated, including the rare naming of a woman to a high level post, as deputy labor minister. Rare, public dissent has rfaced in china, against letting president xi jinping rule indefinitely. Open letters appeared overnight on social media,rging chinese lawmakers to reject the proposal. One called ia return to an imperial regime. And in hong kong today, dozens of demonstrators held signs of xi depicted as an emperor and monarch to protest the changes. Back in this country, West VirginiaPublic Schools stayed closed in the fourth day oa statewide teachers strike. They say theyre protesting low and Rising Health care costs. This afternoon, strikers were out in full force as Union Leaders met with the governor at the State Capitol building in charleston the new chair of the Federal Reserve offered imistic view of the u. S. Economy today. Jerome powell he woulday if that means another Interest Rate hike this year, beyond the threalready projected. Instead, powell told a house hearinthat his personal outlook of the economy has improved. Weve seecontinuing strength in the labor market. Weve seen some da m that will case add some confidence to my view that inflation is moving uarget. Weve also seen continued strength around the glob and weve seen fiscal policy become more stimulative. Woodruff that policy stimulation includes the budget deal that greatly increased government spending, and the new x overhaul. The prospect of future Interest Rate hikes sent stocks meting on wall street today. The Dow Jones Industrial average plunged 299 points to close at 25,4. The nasdaq feloints, and the s p 500 lost 35. Still to come on the newshour microsoft, privacy and overseas data a fight before the supreme court. The debate ovearming school teachers. Salvadorans caught i tthe middle wiir protected immigration status revoked, and much more. Woodruff t president s soninlaw and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, has been stripped of his top secret ty clearance. The move follows revelations that a number of top officials at the white house, including kushner, were working without permanent clearances. To walk us through the latest developments is robert costa, host of Washington Week and reporter for the washington post. So obert, what does this mean . What clearance does Jared Bernstein lose . He has been having abscess for over a year in the white house to classified materials. Now he will just have a secret designation. Thats a downgrade from his current designation. s been going with this interim clearance for a year, but general john kelly, the chief of staff, has moved to t to tighten up this whole process inside of the west wing. Amakae know what that means in terms of what he can still see and what h can no longer see . The white house maintains that kushner will be able to work on mexico relations with the United States, will continue to work on middle east peace, but this will be narrower scope of his clearance inside of the white house. He will not have access to topsecret classified information in the same way that the president will the coming months. Dr wf so how do the folks youre talking to think that affects his job, the work hes able to do . It was a rough day for Jared Bernstein. His teop a inside of the white house has announced hes going to be stepping away. He lost his topsecret clearance, the classified access inside of the white house to many omaterials hes currently had access to up to this pilot. And as you recall, just in the last few weeks, his clearans e en under the microscope. Rod rosenstein has talked aboutw ongoing concerith kushners status. This is all swirling around his job tonight. Woodrf and we heard the president say when he was asked about this the other day that he expected the white hse chief staff, who was supposed to be making this decision about security clearance, would do the right thing. We assume this decision came from john kelly, the chief of staff . C it did. It wasculated in a memo throughout the white house late uast week about how if currently have an interim security clearance and its not moving toward a full security y clearanc will see a downgrade in your status. But this is a fragile momentfo the chief of staff. Hes navigating not only political dynamics insi white house but family that counts Jared Kushner as a ninlaw. The husband of ivanka trump also a senior advise. President trump said in statement kushner is still a va member of the white house, but hes certainly having a tough time to maintain that high status hes had since day one. Woodruff meantime, r your newspaper, the washington post, reporting late today that there is now information coming into the u. S. Government that foreign officials who kushner, Jared Kushner has been dealing th, have some indication that they think they can take advantage of him. Whats that all about . A it complicated story but an important story. It puts the focus back on the president ial transition and conversations that Jared Kushner had during that time with foreign officials. As you recall, during the president ial transition last year, he was still dealing with some financial projects in new york city, a fifth avenue project, parknue, excuse me, and you see him trying to talk to financial lies at the same time hes trying the work as a transition official. It was a complicated mont for him courage that during that time, andt all of t is coming under scrutiny, but it also came yp in kerr sags by foreign officials as tiscussed the incoming administration. Woodruff so that sounds like a story well be hearing more about. All right, robert costa reporting for us in the washington post, thank you, robert. Thank you. Oo uff Todays Supreme Court case involving microsoft and overata puts a familiar tech issue before the justices the ing act between the interests of Law Enforcement on one side and privacy interests on the other. Immigration has also been a key issue this week for the justices and as always, marcia coyle of the National Law Journal breaks it all down. Hello, marcia. Lets start with the argument that the justice heard today, the dispute between micsoft and the federal government. We know it started a few years ago. The federal government had a search warrant for microsoft. What was that all about . Okay. This warrant was not atyour e often talk about, a Fourth Amendment search warrant. This warrant was formails that the federal prosecutors lieve were important a Drug Trafficking investigation, the emails were on a microsoft server in dublin, ireland. But the warrant came through the stored Communications Act of 1986. And microsoft said that act does not apply outside of the United States and objected to the warrant. The lower federalel ate court agreed with microsoft. The justice departapnt brought thal to the supreme court. So the arguments today were going to focu whether the act applies outside of the United States, what re this act mean. Woodruff and remind us, why did the federal government want these emails so badly . Again, because they believe they were intragal to e governments investigation of Drug Trafficking. Woodruff ight. So how. What kind of conversation or discussion did htyou see . R away there were several justices who were concerned about how to apply this 1986 law to modern technology. Justice ginsburg, for example, said back in 1986, no one ever heard of clouds. She wondered, wouldnt it be better to leave things as they are. We haveto give an allornothing decision, but congress can take account of all soance, the new technology. Justice breyer aid, is there any way we can read the . Anguage in the act to adapt it to modern tim but lawyers on each side said that the duty of the justice was to i