Sides of the Cash Register are torn with regard to hiking the minimum wage to 15. Woodruff those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by 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 the worst flooding in decades literally drowned parts of the Florida Panhandle and coastal alabama today. The deluge was triggered by the same front thats spawned tornadoes and killed at least 37 people this week. Ifill streets turned into rivers, and cars into islands, as it started pouring yesterday, from gulf shores, alabama to pensacola, florida, and didnt stop. I came down about 6 00 this morning to check on everything. And the water was probably up to the sidewalk over here next door. And that was the first time in 29 years, ive never seen it get this deep before. The water was waisthigh in some places, and still rising. Weve had up to 22 inches of rain in the panhandle. Ifill thats roughly a third of pensacolas average rainfall for the whole year. And Florida Governor rick scott told today of urgent appeals for help. Weve had flash flooding. Weve had about 300 requests for evacuations. Weve been sending vehicles there. Weve sent 24 high water vehicles from the National Guard. Fish and wildlife is there with 31 vehicles, 13 boats. I declared a state of emergency earlier this morning for 26 counties. Ifill the flooding wasnt limited to the coast. In tuscaloosa, alabama, well inland, lowlying areas were swamped. Ive never seen this much water in my life. I mean, i know im young but this is a lot of flooding for alabama. Ifill some parts of the state saw up to 26 inches of rain in 24 hours alone, more than some hurricanes bring. The slowmoving system also brought powerful thunder and lightning storms overnight, knocking out power to thousands. The heavy rain also reached to the atlantic. Llewellyn jones lives in wilson, north carolina. Her basement was flooded when a nearby creek overran its banks. We had about four and a half feet of water in our driveway. It was over the hoods of both our cars. Probably a good three feet in the house that turned our freezer over, washer, dryer. Ifill from there, the storm system pushed north, dumping as much as five inches of rain across parts of the midatlantic and into the northeast. Ifill for more on the flooding, we spoke a short time ago on the phone with ashton hayward, the mayor of pensacola, florida. Welcome, mayor. As of 6 00 p. M. Eastern time, were hearing that theres been one reported death so far. How extensive would you say the damage is in pensacola . Well, gwen, you are getting total up in dollars close to the 100 million mark or more. Weve been rescued people late to the evening last night and obviously to the early morning. Flooding that were not used to, gwen. As you know were used to the hurricanes but not the flooding. Its kind of an anomaly for us. Ifill its an anomaly for us to talk by phone in an American City because of Power Outages all over the city. How extensive would you say the Power Outages are . Weve had close to 35,000 people without power in the city and the county. They are restoring power now but its been challenging. Were making it happen. Ifill and road closures, are people able to get around at all . People are getting around now, gwen. Theres specific areas. One of the highest points in the state of florida, state road 90 that washes out. Thats been highway 98 has been very challenging. We had the governor here all day. Theres specific areas washed out that were taking care of right now. Ifill you said the governor has been there all day. What kind of help are you getting so far from the state or federal the federal government . From the state i saved phonecall at 4 28 this morning and the governor had the National Guard bringing vehicles that can get into high water, the dot, department of transportation, and more manpower with the florida highway pa trel to assist with us. Ifill do you have any sense yet, mr. Mayor, of how many residents displaced as a result of the storms and flooding . Probably over 1,000 gwen. We dont have exact estimates right now. Its a guess. Well have people out of their homes days maybe weeks inch our unusual is this amount of rain in a short period of time . You are talking about 2224 inches in less than 24 hours. The storm started at 4 45 central time and continued and continued. And then it sat over pence coalal. We were hoping it would move due east at 235 Miles Per Hour but it hesitate and stopped and dumped constantly all night. We were concerned about a tornado. That never landed. And then the rain continued and thats when the flooding started happening. Ifill are the waters beginning to recede . They are beginning to recede right now. Thats why people are able to get out. Were advising people to stay off the roads and people have been listening because theyve been done that path of hurricanes. People are all listening but the waters are receding, thank god. Ifill mayor ashton hayward, we wish you all the best staying dry. Thank you for ifill a train carrying crude oil derailed and caught fire today in downtown lynchburg, virginia. The they said some of cars were full but its unclear how much. Last year a train exploded in quebec beck canada killing 47 people. The Dow Jones Industrial average closed at an alltime high after making up losses from earlier in the year. On the day the dow gained 45 pints to finish near 16581. The nasdaq rose 11 points to close at 4114 and the s p 500 added five to finish just short after 1884. In ukraine there were more signs the government is losing its grip on eastern portions of the country. Corussian gunmen seized the city hall in the city of horivka. In kiev ukraines acting president conceded authorities have failed to halt the unrest. Law enforcement agencies, departments of police and Security Services in these regions are unable to fulfill their duties to protect the citizens. They are helpless in these issues. Futhermore some of the units assist or are in cooperation with the terrorist groups. Ifill in washington 19 republican senators introduced legislation calling for broader, tougher sanctions to punish russia for the interference in ukraine. The civil war in south sudan is on the verge of famine. The United Nations official warned today more than one Million People fled the violence at the start of crucial planting season. She said shes appalled neither of the two warring leaders seems concerned by the looming disaster. Violence overshadows election day in iraq as people headed to the polls today to cast ballots in parliamentary elections. At least five people died in independent attacks. Jonathan rugman filed this report. Reporter its the kind of democracy Saddam Hussein would have never allowed. But in a country now racked by sectarian violence, iraq goferred for eight years by Nouri Al Maliki from the shia majority, a man who rarely smiles. He voted early today casting this election as a referendum on his war against terror. I wish to see a huge turnout. God willing, well celebrate the success of this election and defeat terrorism and those who bet the election would be postponed. Reporter in parts of Anbar Province theres no eaks today but a full scale sunni insurgency. These men so determined to kill iraqi shia that even al qaeda is considered not extreme enough for them and now the i ask haddists are trying to advance the capital. This is the abu ghraib district 20 miles from the center of baghdad. Last week the violence and tenseified. This was a suicide bombing which killed 31 at a shia election rally in baghdad. In the center of capital today cars were banned. Sunni extremists have threatened to kill anyone who votes. Mr. Malaki, well probably see him releected but not with a clear majority. A divisive figure in a bitterly divided country. The election is a day of change, a day of prosperity and freedom. We hope to get rid of sectarians and those who are corrupt. Reporter 22 million iraqis are eligible to vote with the first result tomorrow though forming a government could take longer than that. Ifill todays voting marked the first parliamentary elections since u. S. Troops withdrew from iraq in 2011. Back in this country, the Federal Reserve is winding back its Economic Stimulus Program a bit more. Central bank policymakers announced additional cuts in their bondbuying efforts today. They said the economy shows signs of rebounding from the effects of a severe winter. Final figures are in for the federal rescue of general motors, and it cost the government 11. 2 billion dollars. The bailouts Inspector General released the number today. Overall, the government spent about 50 billion to save g. M. , in return for 60 of the automakers stock. The Treasury Department sold the last of the shares in december. Still to come on the newshour new questions about carrying out the Death Penalty, after a botched execution; how businesses and workers in seattle are reacting to the minimum wage debate; assessing the obama Foreign Policy doctrine, and whether its working; and one journalists account of how samesex marriage ended up at the Supreme Court. Senate republicans today successfully blocked a bill that would have raised the federal minimum wage to 10. 10 an hour. That would have been a boost from the current minimum of 7. 25. Youre economics correspondent paul solman has been sampling opinions opinion on raising the minimum wage in seattle where it is already higher than the federal limit tsms part of his reporting making sense of financial news. Reporter third wednesday of month homeless cooking day at seattles st. Clouds restaurant. Volunteers bring fresh produce. The owner takes care of main course and together they cook up some 500 restaurant quality meals for seven area shelters. I look at the homeless problem, and i do not know what to do about it but i know they are hungry, so we feed them. Reporter is liberal john platt on board with the pending 15 minimum wage. I cant even fathom it. Reporter five miles north in the University District the original dicks drivein a small local chain and seattle icon founded by dick in 1956, now run by son jim and granddaughter jasmine. Dick is most as famous for its benevolence towards employees as for burgers, shakes and fries. They start worker as the 10. 25 an hour well above the states minimum wage which is highest in the nation. It offers merit rate, bonus pay and. 100 Employer PaidHealth Insurance. Employer paid dental. A smoke cessation program. Even a Scholarship Program 22,000 over for years. They are staunch supporters of the less advantaged here but a 15 minimum wage . You are hurting those very people struggleling struggling now. Reporter finally palace kitchen. Owned by multiple James Beard Award winner tom douglas who made headlines when he raised the wage from all of the back of the house workers from dishwashers to chefs. We were talking and talking for a couple years about somehow respecting the profession. My wife and i decided to try and kickstart our kitchens to a 15 minimum wage for cooks. Reporter presume bly he supports the 15 proposal. It makes me nuts. Reporter three progressive businesses in an industry that, get this, ploys 10 of the u. S. Work force accounts for 50 of all americans working at or below minimum wage. Though with wait staff below is before tips. And yet they are all conflicted. It seems like oh, man. Reporter thats because these restaurants like many businesses feel whip sawed by market pressure on the one hand, moral pressure on the other. As someone whose business often doubles as a local Relief Agency john platt is seeing the most pain. I would call it a tax. You want to raise minimum wage, you pay more to go out to east. So far so much the conversation has been about the people deserve. This are the people with money in their pockets ready to say, sure, i put into my budget another couple how to a year to do out to couple thousand dollars a year to go out to out. The reaction will be whoa. Reporter at dicks drivein at least Customer Opinion was less than define active. Time to raise minimum wage. Reporter would you pay more for a hamburger . Yes. I think its a bad idea. Reporter why . You have to learn a skill or trade before i expect to get paid a full wage. Reporter would you pay more money to have the wage lifted some . What jobs put by the wayside . What happens to individuals here. Reporter individuals like annie who worked at dicks for a decade earning a bachelors degree by the way. I would be swimming in Student Loans without their help. Reporter they makes 13. 50 and isnt she wants a legislated raise. It would be nice to make 1. 50 an hour but everything is going to go up to compensate for how much the minimum wage is going to go up. Reporter dicks owner say a 15 minimum wage would raise their labor costs 1. 5 million and that in addition to raising prices they might have to cut benefits so the family wants any new minimum wage law to take total compensation into account. For me a smart minimum wage would take into account benefits. Businesses like ours providing scholarship and Health Insurance you should get credit for that when you look at what you are paying employees. Reporter high end restaurants want a credit for tips. While most states let restaurants pay wait staff a subminimum wage as low as 2. 15 an hour in some places, assuming tips are the real income source, washington is one of only eight states that does not. At palace kitchen says tom douglas. Waiters make 10 minimum wage and 30 to 40 in tips. A fulltime waiter in a busy house could make easily 75,000 a year. Reporter but the raise is for those waiters that scrape by and fears that the exceptions to the law will multiply or be manipulated by employers. This city counselor. They want to talk about what they call a credit which means if you are a tipped worker then you are hard earned tips will count as wages [audience boos] reporter but for tom douglas a no tip credit 15 minimum will force him to raise prices and likely lose profits. I dont have the margin to just absorb the difference in pay. At the end of the day its going to come down to the customer. The customer is going to vote to either go out to eat or not. Thats not one side or the other. Its just reality. Thats the facts. Well find out what happens. Reporter its not just the Restaurant Owners that dont know the unintended consequences. It would be amaze a amazing to earn 15 an hour. Reporter she says my boss may not be able to pay more 15 an hour. I could lose my job and not be able to live. Reporter on the end both are torn with regard to hiking the minimum wage to 15. The studies who say it doesnt depress spending or something like. That we know were speculating raising it 60 . Its a wildly Different Number than has ever happened before. You are scared. Im very scared, yeah. Reporter so are a lot of people in restaurants these days and plenty of other cities in seattle. Ifill read more from Restaurant Owner john platt about why he thinks seattle is being too hasty to get behind a 15 minimum wage. Thats on our making sense page. Woodruff in oklahoma last night, an execution went terribly wrong after the state tried a new, untested combination of drugs in what was supposed to be a lethal injection. Thirtyeightyearold clayton lockett, convicted of shooting a 19yearold girl and watching as friends buried her alive, wound up dying from a heart attack in what onlookers described as a gruesome process that took far longer than expected. As a result, the execution of another convicted killer, which was supposed to take place two hours after locketts, was put on hold by oklahomas republican governor. Today, the White House Press secretary deplored what happened we have a fundamental standard in this country that even when the Death Penalty is justified, it must be carried out humanely. And i think everyone would recognize that this case fell short of that standard. Woodruff later in the day, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said the state is launching an investigation. She said it will try to determine locketts cause of death, whether the department of corrections followed appropriate protocols and make recommendations to improve standards going forward. But governor fallen also defended the states Death Penalty law. He had his day in court. I believe the Legal Process worked, and i believe the Death Penalty is an appropriate response and punishment to those who commit heinous crimes against their fellow men and women. Woodruff we turn now to a while the state keeping with the constitutional requirement not be cruel and usual. We turn to Deborah Denno a professor aidd fordham universis school of law in new york and roy englert who has defended kentuckys lethal injection law before the Supreme Court. Also joining Social Security a reporter who has been covering