Dignity and support. Woodruff tech giants fight for a seat in the classroom. Why even in amish country, apple, google and others want their products used by teachers and students, a market worth billions of dollars a year. What you actually purchase should be driven by what you want to actually do with that technology. You want them researching, you want them producing, you want them seeking, asking questions, what are all of the kinds of things that you want students to be able to do, their gains and achievements. Woodruff and its friday mark shields and Michael Gerson are here, to analyze the weeks news. Those are some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your life and become youre own chief life officer. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions 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. Woodruff wall street closed out the week with a new sell off, a day after a big rally. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost nearly 150 points to finish near 17,750. The nasdaq fell 21, and the s andp 500 slipped 12. For the week, the dow was down about. 5 . The nasdaq and the sandp lost about 1 . Well try to get a bead on whats driving the markets ups and downs, after the news summary. Police in ferguson, missouri spent a second day hunting suspects in the shooting of two officers. It happened early yesterday, as a demonstration at Police Headquarters was ending. This afternoon, st. Louis county police chief john belmar told reporters the search has come up empty so far. I cannot tell you at this point that an arrest is imminent. Theres certainly nobody in custody. When we get to the point where we feel like that we have active leads, if we can do anything through you, to have the Community Assist us, well certainly let you know. Woodruff the wounded officers escaped without any permanent injury. The man who breached White House Security last fall, pleaded guilty today. Omar gonzalez jumped the fence on september 19th, and made it deep inside the executive mansion with a knife before being tackled. The first family was not there at the time. The incident led to the resignation of the secret service director. President obama checked up today on the hospital that triggered a scandal in the department of veterans affairs. Long delays and falsified wait lists at the v. A. Facility in phoenix arizona led to reforms and resignations. The president visited the site today. He said the v. A. Is chipping away at the problems, but theres much more to do. Mr. Obama also met with the parents of kayla mueller, while in phoenix. The aid worker died in Islamic State hands in syria last month. The militants said she was killed in an air strike, but u. S. Officials disputed that claim. In iraq, Government Troops pressed their fight to retake saddam husseins home town from Islamic State militants. Commanders said they hope to expect to reach the center of tikrit in two to three days. The offensive is relying heavily on shiite militias, and a spokesman for iraqs top shiite cleric warned baghdad today to make sure they get paid. translated the recent victories scored by our fighters against Islamic State militants necessitates that the government pay heed and provide care to all troops. The government should exert utmost efforts to boost the fighters performance, to safeguard and perpetuate their gains and achievements. Woodruff separately a prominent sunni cleric urged officials to prevent the militias from staging revenge attacks against sunnis in tikrit. And in germany, muslim women teachers have won the right to wear traditional head scarves in their classrooms. The countrys highest court today struck down laws that banned the hijab, saying they violate religious freedom. Supporters of the bans argued the head scarves cause disruptions in schools, while muslim women said the prohibition has blocked them from teaching jobs. Still to come on the newshour a Global Economy in flux; why the humanitarian crisis in syria threatens to push that nation into the dark ages; competing tech giants race to win over teachers and students in the classroom; an update on the boston bombing trial; and, from tea kettles to towers the life and work of postmodern architect Michael Graves. Woodruff it was another tough day for the Financial Markets, capping a volatile week, one marked by anxiety over Interest Rates, the dollar, and falling oil prices, among other things. More puzzling in some ways there was good Economic News earlier this week, and that still seemed to upset investors. Whats happening here . And does the volatility of recent weeks suggest the end of a bull market . Mark vitner is a managing director and senior economist at wells fargo and joins me now. So, mark vitner, how do you explain all this volatility and especially the downward move after the good news on jobs last week . Well i think its really just part of the adjustment process. Weve had Interest Rates stuck at zero for eight years, now and the economy has improved to the point where the Federal Reserve is likely to raise Interest Rates probably in june but probably no late than september. Theyre almost definitely going up this year, and that causes people to reassess how they position certain investments. Companies that are Interest Rate sensitive are now falling out of favor and weve got a lot else going on in the world thats unnerving the market. The dollar has strengthened tremendously and has done it very fast and weve had this incredible slide in oil prices which you would think is a good thing but its got people questioning why on earth are prices falling so far so fast. Woodruff first on Interest Rates, hasnt the fed been giving a warning for months now some hike in Interest Rates is coming . Why arent there expectations about that now. Well, you would think that people would be used to this idea. The feds been thinking about raising Interest Rates for a long time, and it its the first time weve ever had to start from zero. The federal funds rate is roughly around 10 basis points, and weve never had to move away from the zero interest bound before, and folks are really wondering how vulnerable is the economy, how well can we take a quarter point or a half point increase in Interest Rates over the next few months . My cut tells me i think the economy is plenty strong, well be able to withstand it but the fed will move cautiously, and its still the adjustment its the shift from having razed raced zero for years to an Interest Rate thats unnerving the market. Woodruff one thing is the strengthening of other currencies especially the euro. What about that . Whats behind that and how serious a concern is it . Well, in terms of whats driving the dollar up, were in a much different place than europe is right now and, in many respects, the United States is the strongest economy in the developed world right now. The Federal Reserve stopped purchasing bonds in our market well over a year ago, back in late 2013. The European Central bank just embarked on their own quantitative easing where theyre purchasing securities. Were getting set to raise Interest Rates, so capital is flowing into the United States. And thats likely to continue. But again, is a stronger dollar, is it good news or bad news for the u. S. . Its good news. We have a trade deficit. We import more than we export. And the stronger dollar certainly is going to hurt parts of the economy. Some manufacturers will be disadvantaged but for the economy overall it increases our purchasing power, it will be a good thing. Its just the adjustment process in going towards a stronger dollar thats so difficult for the Financial Markets to take. Very quickly americans youre saying should sleep soundly tonight rather than lying awake worrying about all of this . Well, a lot of times when the market goes down people are like woe is me whats going on here. Youll have to remember that while weve had big declines were close to alltime highs in the market. In valuations, i wouldnt say the tock market is overvalued burks its fully valued. Now that were going into a different economic environment one thats going to have a stronger dollar and Interest Rates are likely to rise a little but still likely to remain relatively low, folks are going to have to adjust the portfolio somewhat. Woodruff mark vitner, wells fargo, thank you. Good to be with you. Woodruff as the Syrian Civil War marks another grim milestone this weekend, more than 20 leading International Aid organizations have issued a report sharply criticizing the United NationsSecurity Councils response to the conflict, and resulting humanitarian crisis. The groups, including oxfam and the International Rescue committee, signed off on a report called failing syria, calling the u. N. s lack of action, quote, a stain on the conscience of the international community. All the while, as the war enters its fifth year on sunday, many remain caught in the crossfire. translated these are civilians and families. I really dont know what to say. They have been bombing us since the early morning. Barrel after barrel. Woodruff the report points out that last year alone, 2. 5 million syrians were forced from their homes by fighting. The demand for humanitarian aid has increased by more than 30 . Nearly a quarter million syrians are trapped by military sieges. Member states have donated just and joining me now is one of the signatories of the report, International Rescue committee c. E. O. And former British Foreign secretary david miliband. David miliband, thank you for joining us. Again, i saw one of the groups that signed this report said this could turn out to be the darkest chapter in the history of the u. N. Do you agree . Well, i think literally and metaphorically syria is going back into the dark age also literally because the lights are going out all over sir. I cant 83 of the lights have gone out over the last four years, and metaphorically because of the death and destruction and displacement there and that is a dark stain on the United NationsSecurity Council which took three years to pass the most basic humanitarian aid resolution and is now not forcing it through. The words are there on paper about help for civilians but the help has not been forthcoming on the ground. Woodruff why is the blame laid on the u. N. Security Council Rather than syria its leader, president assad, the countries that are backing him, iran russia, china and even on the other countries involved in this war . Well, its not a matter of excusing the combatants for their crimes, the dropping of bombs on civilians, the targeting of aid workers and of civilians and doctors, its not a matter of excusing them and somehow blaming the u. N. Security council instead, but other countries you mentioned obviously russia is on the u. N. Security council and russia along with u. K. , u. S. , frarntion china, the permanent mens of the Security Council finally took a step a year ago to call for cross border aid, to call for aid across conflict lines in the syrian theater of war but have not been able to or willing to put the political pressure and the Political Engagement to get that most basic civilian aid through. Just to give you an example the secretary general of the u. N. Has reported the Syrian Government insisted medical supplies be taken off trucks going into syria but is there any accountability or comeback . No there isnt. That is why its so important now, the fifth year of the war, the political option is worse, the con tablen spreading into iraq and the civilians caught no the crossfire are unable to get the most basic elements of dignity and support. Woodruff whats an example of the kind of political weight one of these countries can throw into the situation that would make a difference and is it any surprise the u. N. Is not able to force the country to accept a change it doesnt want to make . Well, i think a very basic point is the following the Foreign Ministers of the Council Country cant be on syria 24 hours a day. They have ukraine, the iran nuclear talks. We have been saying clearly every permanent member of the Security Council plus the regional players should appoint a humanitarian envoy to give the daytoday political, practical pressure to deliver the aid. To give you an historic example, even in the midst of the sudan war in the nitle 1990s Operation Lifeline sudan got humanitarian aid into the country and because of that daily communication. Syria is more in the headlines and civilians are left without help and combatants are left without pressure and combattability for not living up to the basic norms and laws of war. So no one is saying this is easy. Unless there is Political Support for the efforts of the u. N. Officials, they are left stranded when the combatants and the government and 80 to 85 of the cases and rebel groups in the remaining cases stand in the way of delivery of humanitarian aid. Woodruff surely the governments involved know having a daily presence would make a difference. Why havent they done it . I think the truth is syria looks too difficult at the moment and gets more difficult every year. The trouble is in a years time, it will be even more difficult. There will be more fragtation, more blood letting more implosion inside the country. So for politicians around the world is skeptical publics and with focus on the home front its inevitable that the pressure on them is to turn away because there are no easy answers. But the urn Security Council was set up to make sure that people in the situation of the syrian civilians dont get forgotten and the precedent being set is one that is really dangerous to the 21st century because its not just the humanitarian crisis, its that the humanitarian crisis itself causes political instability spreading across the region. Woodruff it is certainly a dark moment and no prospects for change at this point. David miliband, the International Rescue committee. Thank you. Thank you very much. Woodruff visit most any school these days and youll likely find teachers using laptops, tablets and other high tech tools. The competition for the Educational Technology market is fierce, yet teachers and administrators often find it difficult to buy the right tools to fit their needs. The newshours april brown has a report from our american graduate unit on that battle and an unlikely place where its playing out. Reporter in ohios amish country, traditions are taken very seriously. Many families travel by horse and buggy, dress in the fashions of their forefathers, and believe in a simple home life one without electricity televisions or phones. But even in a community that is slow to embrace change, theres a battle being waged over education technology, a market worth 8 billion a year well we use computers and ipads, laptops and chrome books. Reporter this amish fifth grader well call jacob agreed to speak with us, but his parents asked that we not identify him. Companies like apple, google and microsoft are fighting to get their products in classrooms like his. And teacher shawn snyders. Snyder uses smartboards, laptops and tablets for many of her lessons i would never want a piece of chalk in the classroom again, i cant imagine teaching without technology. Just having Technology Enables me or my students to look up something online, and we can instantly access video of places theyve never been before. Pictures of things theyve never seen. Reporter the companies behind educationaltechnology products spend a lot of money to get schools to buy the hardware deploying sales staff to districts around the country and creating marketing tools, including ads. And recently the race for supremacy in schools has tightened between apples ipad and googles chromebook. The ipad had been the top seller in the education market, but in Third Quarter of 2014 google shipped more chromebooks, the first time thats happened since its debut two years earlier. Ohios Southeast Local School district uses both but the ipads came first after a group of parents raised money to buy them. Math and Science Teacher sarah meenan has been using them in her classroom its been fun to have the ipads first and get the kids interested in those and love doing the handson. Reporter and fifth grader Dawson Troyer has