And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill for the first time in years, there was serious talk today of Getting Congress to act on immigration. Senators from both sides of the aisle joined to offer propose manies and said theyll work to get them passed by summer. We are dealing with 11 million human beings who are here undocumented, the vast and enormous majority of whom have come here in pursuit of what all of us would recognize as the american dream. Thats what we endeavor to move forward here on. Ifill that announcement today moved Immigration Reform to the front burner in congress. Eight senators, four democrats and four republicans, launched a renewed effort to tackle the issue after years of inaction. I am the most optimistic i have been in quite some time. And im not pollyannaish about that at all. I recognize there are difficult challenges ahead but i just get the sense of a spirit and a commitment that is far beyond what ive seen in some time. Ifill the group of eight have agreed to four underlying principles. Key among to create a path to legal citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people now estimated to be living in the united states. But first a Border Security would be beefed up and the government would improve its tracking of current visa holders. The senators also want to grant more green cards to highly educated immigrants and would allow more lowerskilled workers into the country especially for agricultural purposes. Finally, the agreement calls for an effective verification system to crack down on employers who hire workers in the country illegally. In 2006 and 2007, similar efforts to fix the nations patchwork of immigration laws failed under both republican and democratically controlled congresses but democratic senator chuck sheumer of new york said this time will be different. The politics on this issue have been turn upsidedown. For the First Time Ever theres more Political Risk in opposing Immigration Reform than in supporting it. Ifill indeed this new effort comes on the heels of last years election in which president obama won seven of every ten hispanic votes in his victory over republican mitt romney. Senator john mccain of arizona said thats the key reason his party must now get on board. Elections. Elections. The Republican Party is losing the support of our hispanic citizens. And we realize that there are many issues in which we think we are in agreement with our hispanic citizens, but this is a preeminent issue with those citizens. Ifill mccain also said the country cannot continue to deny citizenship to children brought to the u. S. Illegally. President obama has said Immigration Reform is at the top of his second term agenda. Today his spokesman jay carney welcomed the senate agreement. This is a big deal. This is an important development. This is in keeping with the principles the president has been espousing for a long time, in keeping with bipartisan efforts in the past, and with the effort this president believes has to end in a law that he can sign. Ifill mr. Obama is scheduled to unveil his own ideas on Immigration Reform tomorrow in las vegas. Woodruff so how will the politics of this new effort shake out on capitol hill . We asked two senators from the gang of eight. First my conversation with democratic senator dick durbin of illinois. I talked to the majority whip just a short time ago. Senator durbin, thank you very much for joining us. I think one of the main questions im hearing is, what does this proposal mean for People Living in this country illegally right now . What would happen to them . Basically it would give them a chance to go through a criminal background check to make certain that there are no problems in terms of their background, to pay a fine, to pay their taxes, and then they would be here in a probationary status where they could not be deported. They could work. And we watched them as a number of other things evolve and progress under the bill. Border security leading to green cards, leading to citizenship. Woodruff we hear some advocacy organizations saying, wait a minute. Even that level of requirement is going to be a disincentive. Theyre not going to want to sign up if they have to pay a fine and so forth. Well, ill tell you. Thats going to be part of it. We believe that these people who have lived here for so many years in fear and have tried to make a best of their lives and the lives of their families are prepared to earn their way into legal status and to citizenship. And the argument that they would not pay a fine and such, i really think that will not be a major obstacle. We went through this with the deferred deportation under the dream act. Almost 400,000 people came forward. They paid the amount that was necessary. Woodruff we also are hearing, senator, from labor leaders who are saying this. Requiring that they provide. Folks who are here illegally provide proof of employment is going to be very difficult for many of them because theyve been working off the clock. Theyve been complying with rules that allow hem to. Allow them to work but dont give them actual proof. Weve run into this before. When youve been living in the shadows for years, maybe even decades and we say to come forward, register with the government. Some are afraid to do it. Those who do it say we dont leave a paper trail on our lives. They have to construct something. Its hard. Its difficult. But theyre doing it. The young people are doing it. Im convinced that many of them will be able to satisfy the requirements in the final bill. Woodruff senator, another comment is, are these individuals who could be taking jobs away from americans, People Living in this country legally now . This legislation will state expressly that the First Priority for jobs is to make sure americans have a chance to fill them. But where americans are unavailable or uninterested in a job, then they would be available to the folks who are here undocumented at this moment. Put it in this perspective. Many of these people who are undocumented and working are being paid below minimum wage under conditions that no American Worker would ever legally be required to work under. When we start elevating the standard of employment to make sure that everyone is treat equally, there will be more opportunities for jobs across the board. Woodruff as you said today, senator, there have been so many efforts to do this before. Theyve all failed. What makes you think this time is different . Well, i dont want to say it expressly. Let me say it through my friend john mccain who has stated publicly yesterday and today its about the last election. Many republicans who have opposed Immigration Reform, those who have been luke warm toward it looked at t the results. The results are overwhelming. In the state of texas, in the grade schools in texas, more than half the students are nonwhite students. You take a look at colorado in the president ial race. President obama carried that Battle Ground state of colorado. He had 85 of hispanic vote. That isnt being lost on our republican friends. Senator mccain has been very forthright in saying thats one of the reasons they want to get this done. Woodruff youre confident this will pass . I dont want to say confident because im a senator. You know, i spend my whole life disappointed. Ive been 12 years on the dream act but ive never felt better about it and more positive. I look at the republican senators who are there mccain, graham, rubio and i say to myself we have senators that can really move some boots on their side of the aisle. Woodruff senator dick durbin, the majority whip in the senate. Thank you. Good to be with you, judy. Ifill we turn to another republican senator who was there jeff flake who was just elected in arizona. Welcome, senator flake. The democrats are perfectly happy to quote john mccain as saying this is about the results of the election. This is about politics. Is it about politics or policy . Both frankly. I think its the best policy. Some of us have been at this a while. We felt we have to deal with this issue but also the election are had a way of focusing our attention on this issue. Whatever moves, politics or policy, im grateful for it and i think a lot of people will be. Ifill what do you say to members of your party who have already started to say this is not the right approach. This will only increase or atrablght more Illegal Immigrants. I dont think thats the case. If we put the measures in place called for by this legislation, the Border Security measures and also the verification for employment, then we can deal with that issue. For the first time here were going to have triggers that will only grant citizenship once certain border measures are taken. So for the first time weve got measures like that. I think that will help. Thats something we havent had in the past. Ifill lets talk about something short of citizenship which is employment. Was there any concern in your negotiations that what you come up with here might result in taking jobs away from americans especially these agricultural ones . We will deal with that as we draft the legislation but there are requirements that senator durbin said that we make sure that americans who want to fill these jobs have the opportunity to do so. Only when they dont or cant will we turn to those who want to participate in this program. So there are provisions for that. Ifill senator, tell me whether im hearing a difference in tone now. I heard senator youtube yoa say at the beginning of our piece he describes that people were talking about as 11 million human beings who are here undocumented. Thats different from calling them illegal aliens. Is that a conscious decision to refer to these people differently . Well, i think youll see a different tone all the way around. I mean im from ground zero in this issue. Arizona. Youve seen a different tone in the last year or so. I think youll continue to see a different tone moving ahead. Across the entire country. Like i said ive worked on this issue for a while. Ive never felt better about the prospects than i do today. Ifill you know as well as anyone that people have gotten unused to seeing congress across the aisle cooperate on anything. Can you give us a peek into what brought this about. What kinds of meetings were held, how you guys came to this accommodation . Well, some of these individuals have been working on this for quite a while. Myself in the house. And then senator rubio has come just in the senate in the last two years andni certainly adds a perspective and a voice that we needed on the republican side. It was just thought that weve got to do it on an equal basis, equal number of republicans and democrats. People who are interested and who have experience on the topic and then who bring a particular unique voice to it. I think we have a great group to start with. I think youll see it expand pretty rapidly. Ifill this hinges in part on getting Border Security ramped up. Is that something that is is doable . It is. In arizona we have an example of where it works. The socalled yuma sector which is about 88 miles of border in arizona. We have operational control there, have had for the last couple of years. So we know what can work. Now, the tucson sector, which makes up most of the rest of the border, is more difficult terrain. However, it can be done if we have the will to do it. Ifill finally, senator, you are recently a member of the house. What do you think is the prospect for this legislation and anything you come up with in the house . Obviously its a more difficult lift in the house. For those who arent particularly as excited as i am and others are about the prospect of Immigration Reform, i think a lot of those same people want to get this issue in the rearview mirror. So theres motivation to get it behind us for those who dont want to deal with it as well. I think that we have the planets aligned here now to move ahead. Ifill senator jeff flake, new republican from arizona congratulationses on that by the way. Thank you. Woodruff still to come on the newshour, police and demonstrators clash in egypt; israelis worry about the civil war next door in syria; french and Malian Forces close in on timbuktu; and laws protect what workers say on the web. But first, the other news of the day. Heres hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan president obama kept the focus on gun violence today, meeting with Police Chiefs from aurora, colorado; oak creek, wisconsin; and newtown, connecticut. They were the sites of the worst Mass Shootings of 2012. The white house meeting also included Vice President biden and cabinet officials, along with the heads of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and the major county sheriffs association. We recognize that this is an issue that elicits a lot of passion all across the country. Hopefully if Law Enforcement officials who are dealing with this stuff every single day can come to some basic consensus in terms of steps that we need to take, congress is going to be paying attention to them and well be able to make progress. Sreenivasan president obama renewed his push for a ban on assaultstyle weapons. But he also said washington has to get serious about universal background checks and Mental Health issues. The boy scouts confirmed today theyre reconsidering a longstanding ban on gay scouts and leaders. A spokesman said the policy may be changed to let sponsors of individual units decide for themselves. Sponsoring groups are generally churches and civic organizations. Protests over the gay ban have prompted some corporations to stop donating money to the scouts. A 50 billion disaster aid measure for victims of Hurricane Sandy moved toward final approval this evening in the u. S. Senate. The house passed the bill two weeks ago over the opposition of some conservatives. They wanted offsetting spending cuts to avoid adding to the nations debt. Democrat tom harkin of iowa is the latest member of the u. S. Senate to say hes retiring. Harkin announced saturday that he wont seek reelection in 2014. He cited his age hes 73, and would be 81 at the end of another term. Harkin was first elected in 1984. His signature legislative work is the 1990 americans with disabilities act. The city of santa maria in southern brazil was in mourning today for 231 People Killed in a weekend nightclub fire. Police said theyd detained three people in connection with the blaze and were on the hunt for a fourth. We have a report narrated by neil connery of independent Television News. Reporter the most painful journey has begun. Family after family carefully carry those they lost to the funerals of the nightclub fire victims begin. This gymnasium, now a makeshift morgue. The scale of loss and the tide of grief fill the hole. Many of those killed were university students. I feel a lot of sadness because i lost my son, this man says. He was full of life and health. The names of the 231 victims are read out as family and friends wait for news. Rescuers battled against the flames and thick smoke as the fire took hold on saturday night. Investigators are looking at reports that only one emergency exit was open and that some of the victims were even stopped by security as they tried to escape. This is the club filmed on the previous occasion. The fire began when a band member on stage lit a flare which set the ceiling alight. Many of those killed died from smoke inhalation and the stampede. As brazil declares three days of mourning, the countrys president has been comforting families and survivors. As the questions and anger over what has happened continue, the first burials of those killed in the fire have taken place. Santa marias suffering and loss are being felt across brazil. Sreenivasan in addition to the dead, more than 100 people remained hospitalized for smoke inhalation. Some were sent to neighboring cities for treatment of burns. Iran announced a new step today in its drive to put a man in space. State tv reported the Islamic Republic launched a monkey into space and safely returned it to earth. Still images showed the monkey being prepared for the flight, and images of the pioneer rocket used for the mission. A similar flight two years ago carried a mouse, a turtle, and worms. The u. S. And others have said irans real goal is to build longrange missiles armed with nuclear warheads. The u. S. Treasury department is now under fire for approving excessive pay at bailedout companies. An internal report today found the bailout program, known as tarp, okayed all 18 requests for raises that it received last year. Most topped 100,000, and the largest was 1 million. The raises went to executives at insurance giant a. I. G. As well as General Motors and ally financial. On wall street, stocks cooled off a bit after a rally thats lasted most of the month. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 14 points to close just under 13,882. The nasdaq rose more than four points to close at 3,154. Stanley karnow, the Award Winning author and journalist who wrote about the vietnam war, died sunday. He had congestive heart failure. Karnow first went to vietnam early in the conflict, 1958, for time magazine. He covered the war on and off over the next two decades. His reporting culminated in vietnam a history which went along with a pbs documentary on the war. He also won a Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for a book on the philippines. Stanley karnow was 87 years old. Those are some of the days major stor