And creating a safe haven for homeless transgendered youth who have nowhere else to go. If someone tries to go to a female shelter as a trans woman they literally tell you you cant sleep there because youre not female. Woodruff 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 the senate labored against the clock this evening to push through president obamas fasttrack legislation. It would let congress approve or reject trade agreements, but not amend them. Supporters, and president obama worked through the day to round up votes before the memorial day recess. The state Department Today released nearly 300 emails from thensecretary Hillary Clinton on the 2012 attack in benghazi libya. The f. B. I. Asked that parts of one be labeled secret and withheld. It was unclassified when clinton received it in november of that year, on her private email server. At a president ial Campaign Event in New Hampshire today, she said there was no security breach. Im aware that the fbi has asked that a portion of one email be held back. That happens in process of freedom of information act responses. But that doesnt change the fact that all of the information in the emails was handled appropriately. Woodruff the u. S. Ambassador and three other americans were killed in the benghazi attack in september of 2012. A gun battle erupted in western mexico today between police and drug gang members, and when it was over, at least 40 people were dead. The shooting broke out near the border with jalisco state. The area is the base for the new generation drug cartel. The gang has killed at least 20 police since march. In syria, theres word that Islamic State fighters have launched a bloody purge in palmyra. The militants seized the ancient city this week, and human rights activists report theyve killed up to 280 soldiers and government supporters since then. Jonathan rugman of independent television news, reports. Reporter the lions are advancing the pigs are retreating says this jihadist fighter near the ruins of palmira. Inside this gas pumping station the men of so called Islamic State have found abandoned weapons, and a poster of syrias president whose army was routed and overrun. These are the groups pictures of the city next to the ruins. The un says some 70 000 syrians have fled. But in the city center is fighters have filmed themselves trying to whip up a clearly frightened crowd. Despite this display of affection i. S. Has beaten executed and decapitated prisoners here. But these pictures are too graphic to show. Yet the fate of the ruins at the hands of these men could benefit president assad. Because the barbarians are quite literally at the gates now and syrias leader has always argued he is a far better alternative. Woodruff isis also claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing today at a shiite mosque in saudi arabia. At least 20 people were killed and 50 others wounded. It happened in the Eastern Province of alqatif. Officials said the mosque was packed with worshippers. Woodruff back in this country, the california state water board agreed to voluntary 25 cuts in water use by major farmers, in the face of severe drought. Farmers in the sacramento and San Joaquin River delta made the offer to avert mandatory cuts. They are among the most senior water rights holders in the state. On wall street today, the Dow Jones Industrial average lost more than 50 points to close near 18,230. The nasdaq was down one point, and the sandp 500 slipped nearly five. For the week, the dow lost a fraction of a percent, the s andp gained a fraction, and the nasdaq rose nearly a full percent. And in paris, the eiffel tower was shut down for most of the day, because of a strike over pickpockets. No tickets were sold, and police patrolled the area, while tourists remained on the outskirts. Tower workers said they need more guards to scare off aggressive gangs of thieves. Still to come on the newshour the Senate Debates the scope of surveillance and the future of the patriot act; ireland holds a referendum vote to legalize samesex marriage; Older Americans increasingly struggle to put food on the table; mark shields and Michael Gerson on the weeks news; safe spaces for homeless transgender youth; and some comedic wisdom for this Years College graduates. Woodruff we now turn to the heated debate over Government Security and individual privacy. Three key provisions of the patriot act that allow for government surveillance are set to expire soon, but the u. S. Senate is planning to be out of washington next week, leaving lawmakers scrambling to find agreement on the controversial issue. Woodruff senators came to work this morning, confronting an impasse on surveillance, and a looming deadline unfortunately, the clocks been run out. Woodruff on june first, the National Security agency loses Legal Authority to collect bulk phone records, as key provisions of the patriot act expire. But the senate is leaving for the memorial day recess and wont return until june first leaving Vermont DemocratPatrick Leahy to point across the capitol. The house worked very hard on this. They completed their work and they left. Theyre not coming back until after the surveillance authorities are set to expire. And thecocon they willmy not pass the extension even if theyre in. The yeas are 338 and the nays are 88. The bill isupzssed. U woodruff the bill that passed the house is u. S. A. Freedom act. It replaces bulk collection of phone records, with casebycase searches. But Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell is firmly opposed to that measure. The untried and as of yet nonexistent bulk Collection System envisioned under that bill would be slower and more cumbersome than the one that currently helps keep us safe. At worst, it might not work at all. Woodruff mcconnell favors a twomonth extension of the patriot act, to buy time for a compromise. Another proposal calls for a shorter extension. Other republicans strongly disagree. Kentuckys rand paul held the floor for 11 hours wednesday. I will not let the patriot act, the most unpatriotic of acts, go unchallenged. Woodruff many democrats, including minority leader harry reid, are also dug in against keeping the patriot act alive. Theres efforts made to extend a program thats already been declared by the Second Circuit court of appeals of the United States, already declared is illegal. How can we extend an illegal act . But thats what some of the talk is from the other side of the aisle. Woodruff this afternoon republican richard burr of north carolina, chairing the intelligence committee, offered yet another option extend the patriot act, but end bulk Data Collection after two years. In the meantime, the Justice Department has announced the n. S. A. Will have to start winding down phone surveillance this weekend, to meet the june 1 deadline. For more about this, i am joined by mike debonis who is a National Security reporter for the Washington Post. Mike, welcome again to the newshour. You know its unusual to see not only both houses divided but one party so divided on this. Why is this so controversial . Thanks, judy. Youre right. Its very odd to have leader mcconnell and Speaker Boehner so far apart on these things. You really have a very basic philosophical difference of opinion where leader mcconnell believes that the reform bill that was passed by the house last week simply doesnt do enough to preserve the nations counterterrorism capabilities and Speaker Boehner says, you know, this is the right balance, it strikes the right balance, this is what was negotiated with the administration, with the Intelligence Community with civil libertarians of both parties and with folks on the various National Security committees and this is what the senate should pass, and they have now left town and whatever the senate does from this point, if anything other than pass the house bill, theres the very real possibility that the authority for the Surveillance Program could expire. Woodruff just to be clear its not the entire patriot act, its just one particular part of it that has them so divided. Thats right. And this is the authority that has underpinned this bulk surveillance, bulk collection of phone records which is awfully controversial and also contains language that establishes other surveillance authorities including, in particular, the socalled roving wiretap which is used against criminal suspects who use multiple phones and routinely change up the way that they communicate and the f. B. I. Director james coney said this week that that also is a very crucial piece of their investigative toolbox that they dont want to lose. Woodruff we know there was a court order handed down a few days ago that had to do with all of this. What effect has that had on the debate thats going on . It really hasnt had a particularly it hasnt moved it hasnt changed a lot of minds or moved a lot of opinions. It has caused people on both sides to sort of dig in a little deeper into where they were previously. There is, how however, a practical concern which is the court that struck down the bulk Surveillance Program based on this statutory argument said well, were not going to do anything right now because congress is in the middle of deciding this within a matter of days and congress will decide this and we can stay out of it. Well, if this can gets kicked down the road, whether a week or two months the court could come back and say well, we have no clarity here, we still believe this program is illegal and will issue an injunction to stop it. That is salary possibility, and thats something that, you know that is not being really discussed particularly openly right now but is something that is being pointed out by the administration. Woodruff at this point its not looking as it it will be resolved quickly. The Justice Department is saying it needs to start winding down this bulk collection of data as early as this weekend. What are the practical effects of that . Well, you likely have right now the Justice Department has warrants that theyve secured against in various investigations that have to be renewed on a regular basis. Basically, what the Justice Department has said is that if we dont know that this short is going to be there june 1, we cant go to a judge and get a carpet to extend past that. We cant go now starting today, tomorrow, next week and tell a judge we want a warrant, whether for the bulk phone collection or roving wiretaps with other surveillance authorities in this section, they cant go to a judge and say please extent the warrant. So the effect is theyre saying if nothing happens today you can start seeing practical effects for the lack of action from congress. Woodruff meaning the surveillance will start to change. Were going to certainly follow this as it goes on tonight and i know you will, mike debonis, thank you. Thank you. Woodruff in ireland, voters went to the polls today to decide whether to legalize gay marriage. If the referendum passes, the predominately catholic country would become the first nation ever to accept samesex marriage by a popular vote. Irish news sites are reporting higher than average turnout both in cities and rural areas. For the first time, if this passes, it will mean an ireland where people who have felt discriminated in the past, will feel included and equal in our society, so it will be a big thing. Woodruff the vote may mark a sea change in attitudes on the island. Homosexuality was only decriminalized in the early 1990s, and many in ireland oppose legalizing samesex marriage. It means that forever, a man and man are exactly the same in law as a woman and a man for family purposes. So it creates a fiction. It creates this fiction that men have children together. Thats not sensical. Woodruff Hari Sreenivasan has more on this historic referendum. Sreenivasan joining me now to talk about who voted and why, is padraic halpin, chief ireland correspondent for the reuters news service. The first question i think on a lot of americans mind is that the Catholic Church plays a powerful role in Irish Society and politics. How did this get to a referendum in ireland . Well, the Catholic Church doesnt play as powerful role as it used to. I think its influenced has diminished in the last two decades, in ireland particular. There were a lot of scandals that played a big role in the churchs position in society changing and even in the Referendum Campaign itself whereas 20, 30 years ago on issues like divorce or contraception, the church would have been speaking out quite publicly and theyre playing a low key role against the referendum but they have been notable by how quiet they have been. Sreenivasan how do the demographics shape up for the vote . Rural vs. Urban, young vs. Old . What kind of demographic breakdown on those supporting vs. Opposing it. Supporting the referendum, all Political Parties with behind the referendum which i think is maybe quite unique among other countries. In terms of divide urbanrural, on social issues, weve seen this. Theres a referendum to make divorce legal in ireland 20 years ago and only five or 30 constituencies in ireland supported the referendum so weve seen that in the past and tomorrow well see how big a divide, will be an interesting note. One big thing is divide between young and old. Certainly how energized young people are getting out to vote. Theres a campaign to get irish expats from around the world to vote. Explain that a little bit. Sure. In ireland theres no post vote around the country where immigrants with vote if they dont live in the country. Ireland has a big expat community, bigger in the last few years with the economic crisis here. A lot of people have had to immigrate to australia and United States to get jobs. Its different where a lot of young people have to come back to their local constituency to vote. Weve had people fly in from britain new york canada. I spoke to someone this week who bought a return ticket to australia. He spent 1,400 just to get home to vote. Social media picked up on it today. The things that have been of most note in the campaign in recent days. Have you seen any other referendum or social issue galvanize people like this in ireland . I dont think weve seen it for quite some time. As it stands the polls will close shortly and the indication is the turnout could be around 60 or both. The last time we saw that was 20 years ago in the divorce referendum. Any referendum since hasnt been as antive a turnout. That might be one indication. Also its dominated the media for weeks. The debate has been quite serious and has been quite vocal and i think on the street of dublin thats all the people with talking about. There is been anticipation, i think, is there to say and doing more will be a big day whichever way it goes. Sreenivasan ireland covenant for the reuters news service, thanks for joining us padraic halpin. Thank you. Woodruff its been called one of the longestlasting and cruelest effects of the Great Recession. Millions of Senior Citizens who were caught up in the economic collapse, now struggle to put food on the table. Sarah varney has our report from naples florida. The story was produced in collaboration with our partner Kaiser Health news. Its not easy to spot in the sparkling waters luxurious condos and highend rec recreation but in recent years daily life for many seniors in this sun lit paradise turned weak. This is my biggest gripe. Wall my life i struggled and now in my 70s i had to struggle all over again. It bothered me a lot. I was in control but the recession has done terrible things. I never had to receive charity. Reporter less than two miles away from the beaches is the naples senior center. Jackie established the lunchians to give older floridians a place to socialize. It became apparent how desperately people need the food served here. I did not think that i would find the depth of the challenges that are faced by people and specifically the seniors. We have over 676 members, about 60 are at near or below the poverty line. Reporter many are like angelo maffucci. After raising their children, they sold their suburban new jersey home and moved to southwest florida to enjoy semiretirement. But angelo could no longer work to supplement their Social Security income after injuring his back followed by prostate cancer. Like others in their generation who built comfortable lives during the height of american prosperity, the maffuccis found themselves entering uncertainty retirement. Bad luck and bad health, they lost their home and had to move into a condo owned by their son where they