Woodruff plus, u. S. Financial markets shot up to record highs, after a surprise announcement by the Federal Reserve bank that it will continue its economic stimulus program. Ifill and we travel to the northernmost tip of north america, where Climate Change is endangering a centuriesold way of life for native alaskans. This is our garden, our Grocery Store, you know, its kind of hard to say if our younger generations will be able to do what we do. Ifill good evening. Im gwen ifill. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org 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. Woodruff our lead story tonight there was new fallout from mondays Mass Shootings in the Nations Capital city. Orders went out today to review security, even as the investigation continued at the scene of the crime. Steppedup security was still in evidence at the Washington Navy yard, while a few miles away, at the pentagon, defense secretary chuck hagel announced reviews of security at u. S. Defense facilities worldwide, and of the process for granting clearances. Where there are gaps, we will close them. Where there are inadequacies, we will address them. And where there are failures, we will correct them. Woodruff its now known that aaron alexis the gunman in mondays killings used a valid pass to enter the navy yard, with a legally purchased shotgun. The Navy Contractor and former reservist had been granted a security clearance in 2007, despite a prior arrest in 2004. He retained that clearance, even after another arrest in 2010. Just last month, on august 7, police in newport, rhode island reported alexis complained of voices talking to him through the walls, floor and ceiling of his hotel room. The police say they relayed word of the incident to the Newport Naval station. All of which, left the chain of command looking for answers. Obviously, when you go back in hindsight and look at all this, there were some red flags, of course there were. And should we have picked them up . Why didnt we . How could we have . All of those questions need to be answered. Woodruff meanwhile, the gunmans motive remained a mystery. But from her home in brooklyn, new york, Cathleen Alexis issued a brief audio statement, apologizing for her sons actions. Woodruff there was word today that a Memorial Service for the victims is set for sunday. President obama plans to attend. Well have more on all of this and other issues in an interview with defense secretary hagel, right after the other news of this day. Ifill the Federal Reserve will not dial back its economic stimulus program, just yet. In a surprise move, the central bank announced today it plans to continue buying billions of dollars of bonds, to hold down Interest Rates. Fed chairman ben bernanke said its because the Economic Outlook has dimmed in recent months. Well have more on the feds decision, later in the program. The feds announcement sent wall street on a buying binge. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 147 points to close just short of 15,677. The nasdaq rose nearly 38 points to close at 3,783. The budget fight in washington heated up today. House Republican Leaders announced theyll try to block funding for the president S Health Care law, even if it means shutting down the government at months end. Senate democrats are certain to revive the health care provision, and House Speaker john boehner played down the prospect of a shutdown. There should be no conversation about shutting the government down. Thats not the goal here. Our goal here is to cut spending and to protect the American People from obamacare. Its a simple as that. Theres no interest in our part from shutting the government down. Ifill house leaders said today they will also try to delay the Health Care Law for a year by tying it to a separate bill raising the National Debt ceiling. That ceiling could be reached by late october. If it isnt raised, the government could default on its debts. President obama today tore into republicans over both issues and insisted he wont give in. We have never seen in the history of the United States the debt ceilingtor threat of not raising the debt ceiling being used to extort a president or a governing party and then trying to force issues that have nothing to do with the budget and have nothing to do with the debt. Ifill the next round in the fight comes friday, when the house considers the spending bill to fund the government through middecember. Separately today, a group of House Republicans offered their First Comprehensive alternative to president obamaS Health Care law. It provides an expanded tax break for consumers who purchase their own health coverage. It also calls for increased coverage for highrisk individuals. Theres no estimate of the bills total cost. There may be a new chance for diplomacy on Irans Nuclear program. The white house confirmed today that president obama and irans new leader have exchanged letters. Mr. Obama offered to let tehran demonstrate that its program is for peaceful purposes only. And president Hassan Rouhani told nbc news that he has full authority to negotiate a deal. The death toll in mexico rose to 57 today, in the wake of storms that struck both coasts over the weekend. Hardest hit was acapulco, where Tropical Storm manuel touched off flooding that cut off the Pacific Beach resort. We have a report narrated by Lewis Vaughan jones of independent television news. Countless homes have been evacuated, leaving thousands needing help. Even the way out of here sr. Waist deep in water. This is the main airport terminal, usually full of tourists at this time of year, but outside planes were grounded tens of thousands of people are trapped here. Now the army has stepped in to help airlines fly people away to mexico city. Ed smith is a british teacher who managed to get out on a military plane. The hotels not designed to cope with weather like that so everything was wet, and damp, it rained and rained. And the debris, the amount of debris that washed up on the beach, the palm trees, objects, a dead horse, a dead armadillo,. Reporter this is the worst weather to hit mexico in decades. And it is a double assault. As well as the storm in acapulco in the west. A hurricane hit the other side of the country. Mudslides in the east have already taken lives. For many, basic supplies are low and overnight shops were looted. This country is facing two major storms at the same time. The challenge to get more aid in while getting more people out. Ifill theres a strong possibility that mexico will face a double blow again this weekend. Tropical storm manuel has reformed, taking aim at la paz in baja, california. And, yet another storm could be headed toward mexicos gulf coast. A doubledecker bus collided with a passenger train in ottawa, canada today, killing six people. It happened during morning rush hour in the canadian capital. Witnesses said the bus drove through a closed crossing barrier. The collision tore away the front of the bus, and derailed the train engine. At least 30 people were injured, ten critically. Officials at the National Security agency now say they know how Edward Snowden obtained the documents he leaked, detailing secret surveillance. Npr reported today that snowden had access to the n. S. A. s own, internal website, and, as a systems administrator, could copy data without being detected. The agency said it has taken steps to prevent such leaks in the future. The federal government is getting closer to ending its ownership role in general motors. The treasury sold another big block of shares over the summer, reducing its stake in g. M. To just over 7 . Thats down from nearly 61 , when the government bailed out the automaker in 2009. Still ahead on the newshour our newsmaker interview with secretary of defense hagel; the surprise announcement from the Federal Reserve; answers to more of your questions on Health Care Reform; how Climate Change is endangering a traditional way of life in the arctic and a biography of the man who photographed the civil war. Woodruff we return now to our lead story the shooting at washingtons navy yard earlier this week. A short time ago, defense secretary hagel came here to our studio for an exclusive interview. I asked him about the incident and also the civil war in syria, unrest in egypt and more. Secretary chuck hagel, welcome to the newshour. Thank you, judy. Woodruff lets talk first about these tragic shootings at the navy yard this week. You acknowledged earlier today there were a number of red flags as you put it, that were thrown out that should have been picked up. Youve commissioned a couple of reviews to be done and you said whatever mistakes were were made were going to fix them. But what can you say to the families of the victims and to the people who still work at this navy yard and other military installations who are thinking i thought if my loved one worked at a place like this theyd be safe . Well, first, our prayers and our thoughts go out to the families and all those affected by this terrible, senseless tragedy. Second, we are committed to a go through everything. What happened, why, could we have done something . What should we have done . The question about what do you tell families, the highest responsibility leaders have is to protect their people, to take care of their people. And when Something Like this happens, something fails, something broke down. Now, we live in an imperfect world. And i said this morning we dont live a riskfree society. But thats not an excuse. Thats not good enough. We have to do more to assure the safety of all of our people and were committed to do that. Well continue to do that. Im committed to do it. Everybody is. Woodruff dont people have a right to expect that a military installation is going to be safer than just about any place else . Or not . Well, thats a good point. But remember, a military installation is about security and about the vital interest of our country. You have many different interests in and out of that area. Yes, because there is more security on a military base so therefore there should be higher security and it shouldnt happen there. But we do know these things do occur. Now, again, thats not an excuse, thats not good enough. But weve got to find out what happened. I dont have all the facts. We wont know all the facts. We will get facts and we will fix it. Woodruff we know the department commissioned a report after the fort hood shootings in 2009, that report came out three years ago and said there were problems, not enough attention paid to internal threats, not enough information sharing. Theres another Department Inspector general report that came out convince lently just yesterday that said more needs to be done to make naval installations more secure. What happens to all these recommendations and why should people believe the new reviews are going to get any more attention than those did . We learned a lot from fort hood. There were 79 recommendations that came out of fort hood. As of this morning i was given i requested an update on how many of those recommendations are Going Forward. They had them Going Forward. I think theyve done around 65 of the 79 that have been implemented. I talked to commanders today. I just met with all the chiefs of the service this is afternoon our senior commanders at the pentagon, went around the table, talked to them. What has been done . What hadnt been done . A tremendous amount has been done. Now, obviously not enough. But a tremendous amount has been done to assure the safety and security, whether its the access to bases, whether its the physical safety and security of bases, whether its the credentialing process. Much, much, has been done. Obviously we need to do more and we will. It will i. G. Report that just came out on monday i havent seen it yet. Its in my office and well review it. Woodruff but youre saying the new reports that youre commissioning are going to get more attention than those did . Well, not to minimize the attention they got. They got a lot of attention, judy. Things are much, much better today as a result of what occurred, the 79 recommendations that came out of ford hood. Now, the new commission that were Going Forward with there will be three, an independent outside and inside well look at everything. Well go back and look at those recommendations. Obviously there are some gaps here, red flags that didnt get connected. Woodruff let me ask you about syria, a tough part of the world right now. Russia is still insisting that there will be no agreement on chemical weapons, what happens to syrias chemical weapons, if the u. S. Is retaining the right to strike syria militarily. So where does that leave everything . Is the administration saying it will strike syria if that country does not relinquish control of chemical weapons . Well, first i think most of us appreciate the fact that without the credible threat of force we wouldnt be where we are today. I think most of us are glad that we are where we are today with the possibility of maybe we can get chemical weapons issues which was the initial issue resolved to the United Nations through a process of involving russia and other nations that is through the threat of military force. The president always has that option. That option is still there. The president has made that very clear. Woodruff and the u. S. Has moved ships as we know into the region which have the capacity to strike syria with missiles. How long will those ships remain there . Through the entire chemical weapons process, assumingat goes forward . Well, our force protection to provide the active options that we gave the president at his request are still there and they will remain there until the president decides otherwise. Woodruff which means it could be well into 2014 . Well, im not going to get into hypotheticals and how long it could be. Well see where this plays out next week in new york but that option is the president s, its there, its real. The military there to respond to any option the president will decide to take. Woodruff both of your predecessors as secretary of defense were at a discussion at the Southern Methodist university in texas last night. They both said they would not have gone to congress to seek authorization to strike syria. Former secretary bob gates went further. He said striking syria is like pouring gasoline on an extremely complex fire. But he also said to blow a bunch of stuff up over a couple of days to underscore a point is not a strat jir. Well, first, i have the greatest respect for secretarie want to ask you about. Egypt. Because you and your predecessors have been in regular contact with the military leaders of egypt. Today as you know, a former general, alsisi, is also the head of government in egypt. What do egypts leaders need do right now in order to prevent the u. S. From cutting off the military aid that has been slowing to that country. I ask because they just extended the state of emergency in egypt. Well, first, i spoke with general alsisi yesterday. Ive spoken to him many, many times in the last two months. There is an interim government in place today. They are moving forward on a pathway toward building a constitutional election. Now, that said general alsisi understands full well where america is on this. They have been very important partners with israel carrying out the camp david accords, the peace treaty. We have cooperated with egypt on many issues and continue. We have common interests. But until egypt moves back in a very clear way toward an inclusive, free, democratic country then we will continue to withhold some of those military assets. Already the president has announced that we would not go forward. Weve already announced that we would pull down bright star military exercise. Woodruff so youre saying withholding military assistance will continue as long as, what . Well, as i said, we want to continue to see progress being made with the interim government civilian government, not a military government moving toward what general alsisi and interim government have said, a pathway toward inclusive, free, democratic government to include all people. Other militarytomilitary relationship, which is much predicated to in the 1979 peace treaty with israel, those decisions will be made on a casebycase basis and the president will continue to make those. Woodruff but is extending the state of emergency another two months consistent with what you just said . It is consistent. Weve talked about this. Ive talked to alsisi about it and those are the kinds of things that need to be pulled down as they continue to make progress, as they say theyre going to. And i think they have made some. But theres a long way to go. Woodruff secretary of defense chuck hagel, thank you very much for talking with us. Thank you very must have. Ifill and we return to the feds surprising decision to keep pouring money into the bond markets. At an announcement and News Conference today, chairman ben bernanke said the feds stimulus plan through which it