Woodruff and its friday. Mark shields and david brooks are here to analyze the weeks news. Those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by charles schwab, proud supporter of the pbs newshour. And by bnsf railway. Bae systems. Inspired work. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And friends of the newshour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff a final decision on a muchdebated extension of the Keystone Oil Pipeline has been delayed again, possibly until after the november elections. The u. S. State Department Today extended the federal review of the project indefinitely. It cited a Nebraska Court fight over the route. The pipeline would extend from canada to nebraska, then connect with existing lines carrying crude oil to refineries in texas. An avalanche on Mount Everest killed at least 12 sherpa guides today and left four others missing. The disaster was the deadliest ever on the worlds highest peak, in nepal. It happened just shy of 21,000 feet, about 8,000 feet below the summit. Guides had gone out early to fix ropes for climbers, including australian gavin turner. The experience was great. It was going well, and then suddenly there was a huge thud. We got covered by this enormous cloud of snow and snow dust, and, for a few seconds, i thought, wow, this is going to take me out. Woodruff hundreds of climbers and guides are at everests base camp, preparing to scale the peak next month, when the weather is mildest. Hope dimmed even further in south korea today for some 270 people, many of them high school students, who were on a ferry that capsized wednesday. Rescue teams kept up their efforts even as the ship sank from view. Jane dodge of independent Television News narrates this report. Reporter a last glimpse of the sewol before it disappeared beneath the waves early this morning. Two large inflatables now mark its position. The rescue operation has become more of a Recovery Process as bodies are brought ashore. There has been progress of sorts. Divers managed to gain entry to part of the vessel. Two divers opened the door of the Cargo Department and went in. They didnt find any survivors. Reporter anger at the south korean authorities once again boiled over today. Originally told their children were safe, families now wait to hear their fate, aware time is against them. translated they have to hurry. Reporter the captain is believed to be one of the group seen leaving the ship before it capsized. Here, hes wrapping himself in a blanket. Lee joon seok and two other members of the crew have now been arrested. It emerged today he wasnt at the wheel when the vessel started to list. Most on board were school children. The teacher in charge have been found in the gym where parents waited for news. In a suicide note, he said he couldnt live for himself and asked his ashes be scattered at the site of the tragedy. Investigators now believe an abrupt change of direction may have caused cargo to shift to one side and the ferry to tilt over. But its not the answers families want right now; theyre desperate to get their children back. Woodruff for now, the confirmed death count stands at 28. A powerful earthquake shook central and southern mexico today, but there were no reports of major damage. The epicenter was northwest of the pacific resort of acapulco, but the quake was felt in mexico city, as well. The shaking lasted about 30 seconds and sent people running into the streets. The u. S. Geological survey said it registered a 7. 2 magnitude. Around the world, christians commemorated the crucifixion of jesus on this good friday. In jerusalem, thousands of pilgrims lined the cobblestone streets of the old city. Some carried wooden crosses, tracing the traditional route that jesus walked. And in the philippines, some people had themselves nailed to crosses despite the Catholic Churchs efforts to discourage the rite. Theres a new warning on marijuana even as cities and states move to decriminalize it. A study of young adults finds even casual use of pot may harm parts of the brain that control emotion and motivation. Its unclear if the damage can be reversed. The study was done at harvard and northwestern medical schools and massachusetts general hospital. Its being published in the journal of neuroscience. Still to come on the newshour russialeaning separatists defy a deal to deescalate the ukraine crisis; one ranchers standoff with the government over land and cattle; the monthslong wave of political unrest in venezuela; mark shields and david brooks on the weeks news; plus, remembering one of latin americas literary giants. Despite thursdays surprise agreement by the u. S. , russia, ukraine, and the European Union to deescalate tensions in Eastern Ukraine, theres little evidence that any of the terms of the deal are taking hold in the country. Lindsey hilsum of independent Television News is in donetsk and filed this report. Reporter he was tidying up, not tearing down his barricade, the man in the world of tanks tshirt. He and his friends have no intention of handing back the Armored Vehicle they seized from ukrainian troops. In fact, in sloviansk today, it was clear that none of the pro russian protesters were going anywhere. People ive been talking to say theyre not very interested in what was decided in geneva yesterday. And theyre not going to abandon the municipal buildings theyve taken over or take down their barricades until the government goes because, they say, how did this government in kiev get to power . Exactly like this. By staying out on the streets. A ukrainian mig fighter flew overhead. The authorities in kiev may rule the skies, but they have little power here on the ground. translated we will not remove the barricades until these jets and tanks have gone. Theyre threatening to shoot us and our children. Reporter so, are you going to take these barricades down, like they said you should in geneva . translated we will only go when people are left in peace, when we have freedom. Reporter it was the same story in the regional capital, where the leader of the self proclaimed donetsk peoples republic said hed only leave his government building if the president and Prime Minister in kiev did likewise. translated this is an absolutely nominal agreement, but everyone has to leave the buildings, including comrades yatensiuk and turchynov, who also occupy their place as the illegal result of a military coup. After they do, we will agree to follow suit. Reporter then, president ial candidate Yulia Tymshenko came to town. translated the purpose of my visit is to understand what ukrainians who live in donetsk are demanding from the central government. Id like to listen to these demands myself and find out how serious they are, to find a necessary compromise between east and west that will allow us to unify the country. Reporter shes not much loved here, but would like to be. In parliament in kiev, they were blaming russia for everything while also trying to sound conciliatory, hoping to hang on for the elections in a months time. The tension has, to some extent, abated in Eastern Ukraine, but nothings resolved and the government in kiev seems powerless to change that. Woodruff for more on ukraine, i spoke to president obamas Deputy National security advisor, ben rhodes, a short time ago. Ben rhodes, welcome. As we just heard in that report, a number of the people who are occupying these buildings in Eastern Ukraine say theyre not going to leave, theyre not going to give them up. Does that undercut the deal that was reached yesterday in geneva . We believe the russian government has a tremendous amount of influence with at least a portion of these protesters. We would like to see them use all their influence, their public statements, private comments to encourage these protesters to leave these buildings, to disarm. The Ukrainian Government is keeping its end of the bargain, took steps toward passing an amnesty law and well be watching this to see if the russians are using influence and if the protesters are pulling back. Woodruff even if some of the protesters listen to moscow, there are still others who say theyre ukrainian and they dont respect the government in kiev and theyre not budging, no matter what moscow tells them. What we see is actually the vast majority of the ukrainian people, including a majority of people in the east do support the unity of ukraine and the government in kiev, and theres a way to address the concerns of some of those minority populations including ethnic russias which is through a constitutional reform process and the Ukrainian Government committed to decentralization, rights of minorities proteg ticketed, protecting the right of russian language, so theres a path for the protesters to have grievances met through politics and not armed actions weve seen. Woodruff one of the arguments theyre making is theyre simply doing what the protesters in kiev have done which is take to the streets, hold their ground until they see the government doing what they want. I mean, why isnt that a valid argument . Well, theres a huge difference here, judy, which is the fact is, in the protest in kiev, you had tens and some cases hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets in these protests to have their voices heard. Weve not seen that by any measure in the east. What weve seen is very small protests in the hundreds and very or organized armed groups a coordinated fashion taking over these buildings. So this has not been a groundswell of popular opinion manifested by tens of thousands of people taking to the streets. Thithis has been small numbers f armed men taking over government buildings in a coordinated fashion we believe clearly with some support from moscow and feels much more like a play to destabilize the country rather than a Popular Movement that emerged organically as was the case in kiev. Woodruff even having said that, these protesters, again, pointing to kiev, is the u. S. Saying to the kiev government, we want these protesters in kiev who are occupying the midan to stand down . Theyre saying all Paramilitary Group should lay down arms and not occupy buildings, applying to the protesters in the west and east. The Ukrainian Government has taken steps to disarm extreme nationalists engaged in activities like taking over government buildings in the west as well. This applies not just in the east but across the country. Again, the government in kiev has made the commitments. Prime minister yatsenyuk went to the east to have dialogue with some to have the protesters. We believe the dialogue is important in ukraine as well as the international community. Woodruff but if ukrainians, if the protesters in Eastern Ukraine dont do what the u. S. Is asking, if russia doesnt do what the u. S. Is asking, the president and others have said there will be more consequences. But what weve seen so far is that the sanctions havent really had much of an effect on mr. Putin. What makes the administration, what makes the president think more sanctions will have an effect . Well, first of all, weve put in place a series of sanctions. We also have an executive order that gives us broader authorities to target individuals and entities that they control that are important to the russian economy and also potentially sectors of the russian economy. We have seen president putin pause with the forces on the border where hes pass binged significant military forces and seen this destabilization taking place in Eastern Ukraine. We havent seen the worst Case Scenario which is russians coming across the border. So that is in place. But we have been clear that if we continue the see destabilizing activities that we believe are rooted in moscows policy, well move to additional sanctions. Again, if we start to go after additional individuals who are important in the russian economy and important to the russian leadership as well as the companies and banks that they are responsible for, we believe we can have a Significant Impact on the russians. In fact, weve already seen their forecast of the economy downgraded. Capital flying out to have the country. So it is having an effect. Just how much does its have to sink in for the russians to change calculus and pursue this through politics instead of force. Thats what we have an opportunity to do through geneva and if we dont see them follow through well move to additional sanctions. Woodruff ben rhodes, Deputy National security advisor. Thanks very much. Good to be with you. Woodruff now to a story that takes us out to the western u. S. , to nevada, where a standoff between the federal government and a local cattle rancher involving an armed militia almost turned violent. Hari sreenivasan is in our new york studio with this report. Sreenivasan armed militia men, pointing guns at federal officials, over cattle. For more than 20 years, nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy has refused to pay fees for grazing cattle on public lands, some 80 miles north of las vegas. The u. S. Bureau of Land Management says bundy now owes close to 1 million. He says his family has used the land since the 1870s. Last year, a federal judge ordered bundy to remove his livestock. He ignored the order, and two weeks ago, b. L. M. Agents rounded up more than 400 head of his cattle. Last weekend, armed militia members and states right protesters showed up to challenge the move. I came here because i dont believe the b. L. M. Has any authority, whatsoever. They have no Law Enforcement authority in clark county, and they have no business whatsoever destroying the pursuit of happiness of one of our friends and brothers. Sreenivasan rather than risk violence, the b. L. M. Did an aboutface and released the cattle. But the dustup has put longstanding disputes over western range rights squarely in the spotlight. Last night, Nevada Democratic senator harry reid blasted the protesters. These people, who hold themselves out to be patriots, are not. Theyre nothing more than domestic terrorists. And i think we are a country where people should follow the law. Sreenivasan the b. L. M. Now says it is pursuing a peaceful resolution through the courts. Were joined by ben botkin from the las vegas reviewjournal. How did this escalate into the standoff it was . Well, the entire situation leading up to the standoff took 20 years, was 20 years in the making. You had a couple of court orders that the b. L. M. Obtained to obtain the cattle, which that came because cliven bundy wasnt paying his grazing fees. But in the last few days before the standoff, you had a bunch of different types of groups and people, everyone from groups that call themselves militia to socalled patriot groups and others across the country gather together over the course of several days leading up to saturday, and at that point saturday the bundy family took the protesters, went up to the corral where the blm had rounded up their cattlele, and after a short and brief negotiation and standoff, the blm decided to release several hundred cows back to the family. Theres no formal agreement, but during that standoff, there were guns drawn from both sides, so rather than run the risk of bloodshed, the agency, at that point, decided to release the cattle. Sreenivasan so how many cattle are we talking about here in they rounded up a few hundred . Did they release them all back . They did release them all back. They rounded up about 350 to 400 or so over the course of about a week. It was intended to be a monthlong roundup that would have required gathering a few hundred more cows. That didnt happen. They stopped the roundup. So theres a lot of Unanswered Questions about whats going to happen next because theres no formal agreement between the blm and the bundies for the release of the cows. Sreenivasan so you were out there several days in the past couple of weeks. How many of the people that were out there to protest or to protect mr. Bundy were aware of the issues with the b. L. M. , and how many were there for their own sort of philosophical purposes, not recognizing the federal government . Id say the vast majority was there more for the broader philosophical stance. They werent necessarily familiar with b. L. M. Or ranching issues. They were more there because of their agreement with mr. Bundy, who has the expressed opinion that the federal government is overstepping its bounds and somehow infringing on his constitutional rights. So a lot of groups seized on him and looked at him as the figurehead for not just ranching or not just grazing but just these broader issues that they adadhered to. Sreenivasan are there still protesters out there . When i was out there a couple of days ago, there were about a couple dozen protesters. What once numbered in the hundreds is now down to just handful. Sreenivasan what are we talking about in terms of cash . How much does mr. Bundy actually owe . According to the agency, he owes a little over 1 million in grazing fees, and thats a figure thats accumulated over the last 20 or so years since he stopped paying them. Reporter and what about the local authorities . What are they planning to do in the next week or two . Well, the local authorities have not given any indication of what they will be doing, if anything. The local police were at the scene where the standoff was, so that they did have a hand in helping the event reach its conclusion. So, at this point, things have really been kind of in flux. The bundies have indicated the b. L. M. Has sent four asserted letters to them that theyve chosen not to open at this point. The b. L. M. Hasnt said whats in those letters, so, at this point, things are pretty unpredictable at this point. Sreenivasan ben botkin from the las vegas reviewjournal. Thank you so much. Thank you. Woodruff in march of last year, the 14year rul