Moving our economy for 160 moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. And with the ongoing support of these institutions 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 the head of the Federal Reserve is sending the strongest signal yet that short term Interest Rates are going up again this month. Janet yellen addressed a business lunch in chicago today, and suggested conditions seem ripe for another rate hike. The committee will evaluate whether employment and inflation are continuing to evolve in line with our expectations, in which case a further adjustment of the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate. Woodruff the fed last raised Interest Rates in december, but officials have indicated there could be three hikes this year. A former journalist is now in federal custody for allegedly sending bomb threats to at least eight jewish institutions. Juan thompson was arrested in st. Louis. Authorities say he made the threats, then blamed an ex girlfriend. Federal investigators cleared evidence from thompsons home today. Hes also being questioned about vandalism at a Jewish Cemetery outside st. Louis. I all, more than 120 jewish sites nationwide received threats in recent weeks. Vice president pence today defended using a private email account for public business, while he was governor of indiana. The Indianapolis Star reported that some of the emails dealt with security matters. Mr. Pence had sharply criticized Hillary Clintons use of a private email server as secretary of state. Today, during a trip to janesville, wisconsin, he insisted what he did, was different. No, theres no comparison whatsoever between Hillary Clintons practice of having a private server, mishandling classified information, destroying emails when they were requested by the congress and by officials. We have fully complied with all indianas laws. Woodruff a white house spokeswoman said mr. Pence did everything to the letter of the law as governor. In yemen u. S. Warplanes staged a second night of air strikes against alqaeda fighters. They targeted sites in at least two provinces. The pentagon denied reports that Ground Troops also took part. In late january, a u. S. Commando raid in yemen killed dozens of civilians and a navy seal. Tunisia will take back 1,500 Asylum Seekers rejected by germany. German chancellor Angela Merkel announced the agreement in tunis today. It came after a tunisian man drove a truck into a berlin market, last december. He killed a dozen people and wounded scores more. Merkels government took in some 900,000 migrants and Asylum Seekers in 2015. Back in this country, President Trump touted School Choice as he toured a Catholic School in orlando, florida today. He met teachers and a class of fourth grade students, accompanied by education secretary betsy devos. The president praised parochial schools that educated disadvantaged children. Education is the civil rights issue of our time. And its why ive asked congress to support a School Choice bill, and weve come a long way, were right out there and were ahead of schedule in so many ways when it comes to education. Woodruff the president did not say what might be in the bill. German automaker daimler a. G. Today ordered a recall of more than 300,000 mercedesbenz vehicles in the u. S. They may have a faulty fuse that can spark a fire. The recall covers cclass, e class and c. L. A. Sedans, plus g. L. A. And g. L. C. Sport utility models 2015 through 2017. And on wall street stocks finished this friday, mostly flat. The Dow Jones Industrial average edged up just two points to close at 21,005. The nasdaq rose nine points, and the s p 500 added one point. Still to come on the newshour how allegations over President Trumps ties to russia affects relations between moscow and washington, who is carrying out the philippines deadly war on drugs, more than a dozen states seek to put limits on public protestors, and much more. Woodruff this week brought more reports of repeated contacts between Trump Campaign aides and russian officials. Margaret warner begins with the latest details. Good morning team. Reporter attorney general Jeff Sessions returned to work today, after recusing himself from any investigation into moscows election meddling. His recusal came after conceding hed met twice with the Russian Ambassador during the campaign. Earlier, he told a Senate Committee he had not. But today, Vice President mike pence reaffirmed his faith in sessions. The president and i have full confidence in the attorney general. He is a man of integrity. Reporter reports also emerged that Campaign Advisers j. D. Gordon and carter page met ambassador sergei kislyak, as did jared kushner, President Trumps soninlaw and adviser. Recusal. Woodruff did you have any meetings last year with russian officials in russia, outside russia, anywhere . I had no meetings. No meetings. In moscow, Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed the ongoing furor. translated i can only refer to a quote that was circulated today in the mass media, this strongly resembles a witch hunt or the times of mccarthyism, which we thought were long over in the United States as a civilized country. Reporter mr. Trump also called it a witch hunt. And today, he tweeted a photo of Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer meeting with russian president Vladimir Putin in 2003. Mr. Trump said we should start an immediate investigation into senator schumer and his ties to russia and putin. A total hypocrite schumer tweeted back that hed happily talk about his contact with putin, asking would you and your team . Later the president demanded a probe of House Minority leader nancy pelosi for saying she never met with the Russian Ambassador. Politico said she was part of a larger meeting with pelosi in 2010. Reporter the political storm has overshadowed any concrete steps toward improving ties with russia, as mr. Trump has advocated. If we have a Good Relationship with russia, believe me, thats a good thing, not a bad thing. Reporter relations turned icy at the end of obama administration, over russian aggression in ukraine, and its military backing for damascus in the syrian civil war. Since mr. Trump took office, diplomacy between the two sides at least publicly has been limited. The president spoke with putin by phone after the inauguration. And his secretary of state, rex tillerson, met with lavrov at a g20 summit in germany. Meanwhile, uncertainty over mr. Trumps intentions toward russia is rattling American Allies in europe. Vice president pence and defense secretary james mattis tried last month to reassure nato partners of washingtons alliance solidarity. One nato partner german chancellor Angela Merkel now plans to visit washington on march 14th. For the pbs newshour, im margaret warner. Woodruff a broader look now at the state of u. S. Russia relations and what is at stake for these two countries we get two views. Andrew weiss worked for both republican and democratic administrations as a staffer on the National Security council, in the state and defense departments. Hes now at the Carnegie Endowment for international peace. And paul saunders, he focused on russia at the state department during the george w. Bush administration. Hes now the executive director of the center for the national interest, a Foreign Policy think tank. And we welcome both of you back to the program. Andrew weiss, to you first, what is the sense of the state of u. S. Russia relations right now . Broken. We are at a low point that goes back to the darkest days to have the cold war. President trump has been promising theres going to be some kind of dramatic resurgence. Hes talked about a grand bargain with Vladimir Putin presumably focused on the bar in syria, the fight on i. S. I. S. He hopes to contain china and meddlesome iran by breaking ground with russia. I think thats setting expectations too high. The reason for the relationship being in the doghouse is profound and goes to the heart of who we are as a nation. Woodruff paul saunders, how do you see the state to have the relationship now. I agree with andrew that the relationship is at its worst state today since probably the 1980s. I think there is no question about that. Where i would differ with andrew is i think there are opportunities to improve the relationship. I do think there are some possibilities in syria on some other issues, arms control, perhaps, some other areas, too, and, you know, the president seems determined to try that. If he does, i think moscow would be receptive. I think its appropriate to keep our expectations in check. I do believe there is some possibilities. Woodruff why do you say theyre broken, andrew weiss . Well, it comes back to the core question of how did the u. S. Formulate its National Security policy . Our view is there is a liberal International Order out there, its been sort of the guiding structure of u. S. Foreign policy since the end of world war ii to build alliances, institutions like n. A. T. O. Alliance, support for alliances in east asia. The russians want to see the International Order chipped away at. They believe that gives the u. S. Too much authority in the world and theyve seen at home the way to build the legitimacy of the putin regime is on the back of this idea there is an external threat, and to use the United States as a boogie man that will mobilize the russian people in support of the kremlin. Woodruff if thats the case, paul saunders, what gives you any belief that the russians you listed syria and arms control as two areas you felt the russians would be receptive to some sort of overture from President Trump what makes you believe thats the case . Well, i think i would disagree, respectfully, with some of the things andrew said there. First of all, i think Vladimir Putins legit passe in russia rests primarily on russias economic success. Now, the russian economy certainly has been stalled for the last several years. There have been some further slowdowns because of the sanctions, but most russians are living far better than at anytime in the history of that country. Secondly, as we think about the International System, the real threat to the International System is an alignment between china and russia. Russia, on its own, its economy, is a tenth of ours. Theyre not going to destabilize the International System. Woodruff so what about that, andrew weiss . I think what weve seen in the past couple of years is a lot of tunism and risk taking, now the bred and butter of Russian Foreign policy, spur of the moment and provides decisions to seize crimea, launch a covert war in eastern ukraine. You see this dramatic military intervention if syria, and most recently interference in our domestic political life. So this is a different much more nimble Russian Foreign policy. Its very destabilizing, its created a lot of apprehension particularly among our european allies, and the idea that the russians just want to kind of go back to normal i think is misplaced. It is in their interest to see a destabilized u. S. , to have our political system chaotic and locked in an internal division. That to them is a success. Woodruff that is the picture Many Americans are getting, paul saunders, isnt it . I think Many Americans are getting that picture and, look, i mean, there are Serious Problems in russias conduct and there are serious reasons for americans to be concerned. I think there are ways to deal with that. The president has talked about dealing with russia from a position of strength. I think, if we take that approach, we can deal with many of these concerns. Woodruff whats at risk here . Whats at stake, andrew weiss, if this relationship is in the condition that you describe . What stands to happen . The worst thing which i can see readily happening, we had an incident about two days ago in syria, is some form of unintentional either accident or direct conflict between our military forces. Woodruff tween russian and u. S. Forces . Exactly. The risk of that happening is uncomfortably high. The russians in syria operating increasingly close to our forces. An incident we had where they were bombing where our forces were just kilometers away. In syria weve had near misses. You say brazen interference in europe to be as obnoxious and be in our face and the idea is we will be intimidated. Woodruff paul saunders, why isnt that a worry . I think its a very considerable worry. I view that as a reason to try to engage with moscow. I think there are a lot of other reasons to try to engage. If this relationship slips from adversarial to truly hostile, and we start to see russia providing advanced weapons to china, providing more advanced weapons to iran, there are a lot of other things that could happen that could be much worse for the United States. Woodruff speaking of which, in less than a minute, nuclear weapons, these are the two countries with the Largest Nuclear arsenal in the world. Andrew weiss, what about that . That part of the agenda between the United States and russia is deadlocked. Were unlikely, regardless of what Donald Trumps policies are on defense spending, on changes, we have fundamental disagreements with the russians. They have violated a key arms control treaty, the i. M. F. Treaty where russia fueled new cruise missiles that violated the treaty, theyre concerned at missile control systems which they believe will threaten their deterrent. Woodruff how do you see the risks . Considerable. At the same time, our economy is ten times the size of the russian economy, they cant afford they can afford even less than the soviet union to get into a nuclear alzheimers race with the United States. I think we a Nuclear Arms Race with the United States. We hold the cars. I think its a position of strength to pursue is it agenda and to address the concerns we have about russian conduct and lock in some stability in the relationship. Woodruff paul saunders, andrew weiss, deadly serious subject. Thank you both very much. Thank you. Woodruff its fair to say a reign of terror grips the philippines as its president , Rodrigo Duterte, wages a brutal war on drug dealers and users. According to Human Rights Watch, more than 7,000 people have been killed in the last nine months. But who exactly is doing the killing . This story was reported by Kara Magsanocalikpala and narrated by william brangham. A warning there are some disturbing images. Reporter for decades, slums here in the philippines have been safe havens for the illegal drug trade. Crystal meth is sold in these alleys just like candy. A gram costs at least 25 thats triple the daily minimum wage and its the cheapest drug on the market. In this drug den, a space users can rent to smoke without fear of being caught. It does a brisk business. The government estimates that meth can be found in nearly every community in the capital, manila, and nationwide, theres an estimated 1. 3 million drug users. Even kids get in on the trade. Making homemade foil pipes to sell. This is the crisis that philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to end. One of his many outlandish solutions . Encouraging addicts to commit suicide. Reporter soon after the new president took office, a wave of summary killings swept across the country. Suspected users and dealers were shot dead on the streets by unknown hitmen, an estimated 40 people die everyday. Political analyst Ramon Casiple believes the violence is part of the president s strategy to sow fear. Reporter are these killings changing anything in the philippines, or simply a sign of nationwide lawlessness . We found answers from a supporter of the president. She goes by the name zeny, and she wants to hide her identity. Zeny says dutertes war on drugs had a positive outcome in her neighborhood. Many users and pushers have turned themselves in. translated our neighborhood became more orderly and peaceful because of his war on drugs. I voted for him because i want the dr