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. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. Promoting the wellbeing of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. More at rockefellerfoundation. Org Carnegie Corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Sreenivasan paris is on high alert again, after a gunman killed one policeman and wounded two more, before being killed himself. The attack came just three days before voting starts in frances president ial election. The sitting president Francois Hollande said all indications are that it was terrorrelated. Authorities sealed off the area after the incident on the famed champs elysees. It happened near a subway station in an area popular with tourists. translated it was a terrorist. He came out with a kalashnikov and started shooting, but he couldve shot us on the pavement and killed more people with a spray of shots, but he targeted the policemen. Sreenivasan in washington, President Trump called the killings a terrible thing and said it looks like another terrorist attack. We get more, now, from special correspondent Malcolm Brabant, whos in paris. He spoke with us moments ago via skype. Malcolm. Whats the latest right now . The latest information we have the Islamic State is now claiming responsibility for the attack in the champselyseees. Theyre claiming responsibility for a couple hours after this gunman opened fire with what we believe was a kalashnikov on Police Officers who were sitting in a van near the champselyseees, which is the main boulevard through paris. The latest information we have is one policemen have been killed, two have been wounded. The gunman himself was shot dead. He was known to the authorities. Police have been carrying out a raid on his home to find out more information. The french president , Francois Holland has called a meeting of his security chiefs to work out what the implications are for this attack, and its of the utmost importance for this country because its going in three days time and intentions are extremely high. Sreenivasan two important pieces of context, one, there was an attack a while ago. You were out with a candidate at a rally when that happened. Therewas a raid on a couple of men in marseille. The police were made aware that an attack was imminent, and they arrested two islamists who have proclaimed loyalty through the slowmic state. They seized a bunch of weapons, the whole of ammunition, and they may have been going into court, and the fear was that they were going to attack one of the candidates. At the time that these arrests were made, i was down in the city of dijon where the hard left candidate was speaking. What he was trying to say to french people was that these people were criminals, that people should not be afraid, that there should be vigorous debate and that the freedom of the french people should not be impinged by this, but nevertheless, this particular shooting, and also those arrests in marseille have shown that the islamists are serious, that they perhaps want to disrupt this election process, and so thats going to be making people extremely nervous on sunday when they put their ballots in the boxes, but the police and the army are basically saying that there will be about 50,000 people out on the streets of paris alone to try to make sure that this goes off as smoothly as possible. Sreenivasan all right, Malcolm Brabant joining us live from paris tonight. Thank you so much. In the days other news, the president renewed his attack on iran, and the nuclear deal struck in 2015. At a white house News Conference with italys Prime Minister, he called it a terrible agreement and sharply criticized tehran. They are not living up to the spirit of the agreement i can tell you that. And were analyzing it very, very carefully. And well have something to say about it in the not too distant future. But iran has not lived up to the spirit of the agreement and they have to do that. Sreenivasan earlier this week, the administration told Congress Iran is complying, at least technically, with the terms of the deal. In russia, the Supreme Court today banned the jehovahs witnesses after the government labeled them an extremist group. Russia is home to more than 170,000 jehovahs witnesses. Theyve been the target of a crackdown, but they say theyll appeal the courts decision. Human rights watch calls it a blow to religious freedom in russia. General motors has halted operations in venezuela after its factory there was seized by the socialist government. Its the latest in a series of such incidents. In a statement, the auto maker said it strongly rejects the arbitrary measures. And will vigorously take all legal actions. To defend its rights. Vice president pence today praised indonesia as a land of democracy and tolerance, in the latest stop on his asian tour. He held talks with president joko widodo in jakarta, and said the worlds most populous muslim nation is an inspiration to the world. As the second and Third Largest democracies in the world, our two countries share many common values including freedom, the rule of law, human rights, and religious diversity. The United States is proud to partner with indonesia to promote and protect these values, the birthright of all people. Sreenivasan the visit came a day after islamic conservatives in jakarta defeated the minority Christian Governor in his re election bid. Hes already on trial for blasphemy against the koran. Back in this country, more than 21,000 drug convictions are being thrown out, in massachusetts. The states highest court formally approved the move today, the largest single dismissal in american history. A former state Drug Lab Chemist had been accused of tampering with evidence and falsifying drug tests. President trump has ordered an investigation into whether imported steel from china and elsewhere is hurting National Security. He signed the directive, with executives from u. S. Steel makers looking on. The results of the probe could let him curb steel imports, under a 1960s trade law. And, on wall street, stocks rallied on upbeat earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 174 points to close at 20,578. The nasdaq rose 53 points, and the s p 500 added 17. Still to come on the newshour business ties between the Trump Administration and large corporations. The russia file documents reveal russian plans to influence the u. S. Election. News dvisions stark contrasts between where conservative and liberal americans get their news, and much more. Sreenivasan now, how behind thescenes moves by a pair of Corporate Giants are raising red flags about the Trump Administration. Companies routinely advocate and bby every day on behalf of their business and shareholders. Sometimes those matters are not important only about corporate profits, but to the economic livelihoods of workers and communities. But moves by exxonmobil and dow chemical are fueling scrutiny about corporate influence within the Trump Administration. April 2012 Rex Tillerson, then c. E. O. Of exxonmobil, visits moscow, wrapping up a deal with the Russian State Oil company rosneft. It calls for investing up to 500 billion to hunt for oil in the arctic ocean and black sea. Id like to thank you for the warm welcome and it is a historic day for exxon mobil and rosneft. Sreenivasan but two years later, the Drilling Venture was blocked when the u. S. Imposed sanctions on russia, over its annexation of crimea from ukraine. Now, exxonmobil is asking the Trump Administration to let the black sea part of the project go forward. Tillerson, in his new role as secretary of state, says hell do just as he promised during his confirmation hearing. As to any issues involving exxonmobil that might come before me if confirmed as secretary of state, i would excuse myself from those issues. Sreenivasan but his past ties to exxonmobil mean the request is certain to draw extra scrutiny. Moreover, russias meddling in the 2016 election remains a hot issue in washington. Republican senator john mccain of arizona, for one, voiced disbelief about the news yesterday. In a tweet, he asked, are they crazy . At the same time, dow chemical is asking the new administration not to impose new curbs on three widely used insecticides. They are diazinon, malathion and chlorpyrifos. The Associated Press reports dow wants the government to set aside federal studies that found the chemicals may be harmful to about 1,800 threatened or endangered species. The Companies Argue the studies are fundamentally flawed. Environmental advocates say theres no such thing as perfect lab conditions. You cant just take an endangered fish, an endangered salmon out of the wild, take it to the lab and then expose it to enough pesticides until it dies to get that sort of data you need. Its wrong morally, its illegal. Sreenivasan the Environmental Protection agency says only that its reviewing petitions as they come in, giving careful consideration to sound science and good policymaking. As with exxon, dows influence will be an issue. The Company Contributed a Million Dollars to President Trumps inaugural activities. And in february, when mr. Trump signed an executive order on rolling back regulations, dows c. E. O. Was at his side. Lets look into some of the questions being raised about each of these examples. Jay solomon broke the news about exxonmobil in the wall street journal. And norman eisen is a former special counsel to president obama. His expertise is government ethics. Jay, let me start with you. What effects . The arctic and the black sea are the most sought after, pioneer spots for oil exploration, and, you know, for the future earnings for the growth of the business, this is seen as kind of one of the last great places to explore. Sreenivasan how much money are we talking about here . How significant is this potential . I mean, president putin, when they announced the deal in 2012, said it could be as much as 500 billion in investment and huge amounts of oil and gas is in that region. Sreenivasan is it typical for these types of exceptions to be asked for on humanitarian grounds and other reasons . There are if you look in iran or burma as the Obama Administration was kind of pursuing their policies, there were exemptions grantedded for humanitarian or technology reasons, but an issue like this that is politically charged with this much money with a country like russia, its pretty unusual youd see a waiver granted. Rex tillerson, a former head of exxon has recused himself for two years. Yes, he has. Ultimately the decision on the waiver is made by an office in the treasury department, but because of the National Security and Foreign Policy implications, the state department, probably some of the intelligence agencies, its a broader issue, but obviously when tillerson got this job, the question was immediately asked, you know, how will your previous job impact the issue of exxon, and its tricky, and already you see republicans and democrats saying, not just because of tillerson, but because of the concerns about russias hacking of the election and the other investigations that this is not going to get Political Support. Sreenivasan norman eisen, what about the idea that Rex Tillerson says he will recuse himself. Isnt that the kind of safeguard we have in place to make sure nothing untoward happens . Well, i think its important that mr. Tillerson recuse himself and he is to be applauded for doing that and for making a complete break with exxon, but that doesnt solve all the problems here. Exxon gave 500,000 dollars to mr. Trumps inaugural. Theres an enormous cloud around russia, not just the violations of National Borders and sovereignty that led to these sanctions, but also the violations of our democratic norms. There can be no doubt that they interfered in the election. The only question now is whether mr. Trump or those around him knew of it or were involved in it. So granting sanctions waiver here just is not called for. Sreenivasan norm eisen, a lot of times its the proximity and ajaci si of facts that leads up to different conclusions. Until there is a smoking gun or a trail of evidence, are we prejudging . I think its very important not to prejudge, but at the same time, its clear now theres a consensus, an Intelligence Community consensus, weve just seen documents from a government thinktank in russia demonstrating an interference in our elections. What we can describe as an act of gray war by doing this. Its an extraordinary hostility against the United States, and theres substantial indications that there have been contacts by those who were in and around mr. Trump. Theres very substantial evidence that raises serious questions here, and that goes to the Political Climate for this sanctions waiver. I dont think its going to be granted. Sreenivasan jay solomon, you mentioned the Political Climate here. What kind of support or lack of support is there when you have senator mccain tweeting, are you crazy in the case of exxon . I think its tough. I think exxons argument is, you know, we have to basically start drilling by the end of this year or were going to lose this concession, and if we dont get it, the European Companies that are already starting to mobilize in this area, theyve been granted some waivers from the European Union to pursue this, so, you know, if we dont get, this its going to be developed, you know, anyway, and american jobs and money is going to be hurt. Thats what theyre going to argue, but i also agree, its going to be very difficult to gin up Political Support in an environment where russia, whether its the hacking or the act situations of collusion or ukraine, its just. They have not given President Trump anything to work with either, the russians, so i agree, i think it would be very difficult for the Trump Administration to get Political Support. Sreenivasan norm eisen, do you have different concerns about the issues with dow . Well, mercifully, dow is not accused of any improper assault on our democracy, but we do have an even larger political contribution to the trump inauguration, 1 million from dow. You have the dow c. E. O. , who is seen at mr. Trumps side. He has extraordinary access in the white house, chairs a group that advises mr. Trump, was there when mr. Trump signed his executive order relating to cutting back regulation, and now you have dows request to set aside the science, the u. S. Government has made scientific findings about these organo phosphates and the harms they cause to, set aside that science and relieve regulation. It doesnt smell right. Sreenivasan norm eisen, how different is this from the revolving door that people so hate about washington, that people come right out of government, go right into the private sector, and then oftentimes right back in if the administration changes . The problem with the Trump White House is that they removed the revolving door and just threw it open and its being flooded with Corporate Executives who are coming in with lobbyists. They removed the lobbying ban that president obama had in his executive order, and everybody believes that business has to have a seat at the table, has to be on a level table, though. The problem is it appears that the table is tilted to disproportionatery favor business as a special interest, beyond the public interest, and so that is worrying. Its in a way worse than the revolving door. Sreenivasan norm eisen and jay solomon from the wall street journal, thank you both. Thank you. Sreenivasan there is news in the russia file new documents reveal plans for russia to influence the u. S. President ial election. William brangham has that report. Brangham reuters reported today that a think tank controlled by the russian government wrote up detailed plans how to swing the 2016 u. S. Election toward donald trump. In two different papers, the think tank urged the use of social media and russian backed media to also undermine americas faith in its electoral system. For more on these developments, im joined now by ned parker, hes one of the reporters who broke the story. And john sipher, he served 28 years in the c. I. A. s clandestine service, including time in russia and eastern europe. Hes now with a C