The end is to preserve our cultural patrimony and whatever we can deploy to achieve that. Woodruff and, why fewer adults are getting their high g. E. D after changes are made to the test. Ifill those are some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by at bae systems, our pride and dedication show in everything we do; from Electronics Systems to intelligence analysis and cyber operations; from combat vehicles and weapons to the maintenance and modernization of ships, aircraft, and critical infrastructure. Knowing our work makes a difference inspires us everyday. Thats bae systems. Thats inspired work. Lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. 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 for the first time in eight years, republicans took charge today in both the house and the senate. Last novembers sweeping victories powered the party to full control as the 114th congress convened. Snow blanketed the capitol this day, but republican spirits burned bright just the same. The senate will come to order. Woodruff Vice President biden gaveled in a new senate, with 54 republicans to 44 democrats and two independents and, a new majority leader. For Mitch Mcconnell of kentucky, the ascension to the top spot came after 30 years in the senate. We recognize the enormity of the task before us. We know a lot of hard work awaits. We know many important opportunities await as well. Im really optimistic. Woodruff the new minority leader, harry reid, was forced to work from home after an exercising accident last week. In his place, illinois senator dick durbin spoke for democrats. We cant solve americas challenges with the same old thinking. We have to address the problems with Mutual Respect and with a positive attitude. Woodruff despite the warm words, confrontation loomed over the longstalled keystone xl pipeline. Republicans pushed a new bill to begin construction, and the white house issued a new warning. The president would have vetoed if it passed the previous congress. And i can confirm for you that if this bill passes this congress, the president wouldnt sign it either. Woodruff meanwhile, on the house side. Republican Speaker John Boehner won a third term in that post, but only after surviving a tea party attempt to unseat him. 25 republicans voted against boehner, a record for a sitting speaker. Afterward, he grew emotional as he addressed the house. Every day you and i come here, try to plant good seeds, cultivate the ground and take care of the pests. And now with patience and some sacrifice and gods grace, there will be a harvest. Woodruff boehner will command 246 republicans to 188 democrats the biggest g. O. P majority in nearly 70 years. One seat is currently vacant. The new congressional leadership will meet with president obama, at the white house, early next week. Ifill former Virginia GovernorBob Mcdonnell was sentenced today to two years in federal prison. He is scheduled to report to prison next month, after a federal judge in richmond sentenced him for taking bribes in office. He could have gotten ten years. Mcdonnell was once a republican rising star. He insisted again today that he never violated his oath of office, but offered this apology. Ive made mistakes in my life. I always tried to put the best interests of the people first as governor. But uh, i have failed at times in some of the judgments that i have made during the course of my governorship. That have hurt myself, my family, and my beloved people of virginia and for that i am deeply, deeply sorry. Ifill mcdonnell and his wife maureen were convicted of accepting cash and gifts in exchange for promoting a dietary supplement. She will be sentenced separately. He said he plans to appeal the verdict. Woodruff gay marriage was officially legal in florida, as of today, and scores of couples took advantage. Mass weddings were planned in some places after floridas ban on samesex unions ended at midnight. In all, 36 states now permit gay marriages, covering 70 of the national population. Ifill this was a day of final farewell for the late mario cuomo. Hundreds of family, friends and dignitaries turned out in new york, for the funeral of the former threeterm governor. State police stood at attention as the coffin was carried into st. Ignatius Loyola Church in manhattan. Cuomos son andrew the states Current Governor eulogized his fathers liberal ideals and oratorical power. At his core, at his best, he was a philosopher, and he was a poet, and he was an advocate and he was a crusader. Mario cuomo was the key note speaker for our better angels. Ifill mario cuomo was 82 when he passed away last thursday, just hours after his son was inaugurated for a second term in office. Woodruff crossborder fighting between india and pakistan flared again today, with word that at least 10,000 villagers have been forced from their homes. Theyve fled from the indian controlled part of kashmir, a disputed region where two wars have been fought since 1947. Indian officials have set up about 20 relief camps for escaping families. Many say they had no time to grab any belongings as mortar shells rained down. Ifill and in iraq, 23 Government Troops and sunni militia fighters were killed in clashes and suicide bombings by Islamic State forces. It was the latest flareup in anbar province, where the militants are largely in control. At the same time, Prime MinisterHaider Alabadi pledged in baghdad to take back all of the territory now in Islamic State hands. Woodruff back in this country, the department of homeland securitys internal watchdog concluded today that drones are too costly and inefficient to patrol the mexican border. The inspector generals report found the Unmanned Aircraft dont fly as much as the government says they do, and they dont help catch many people crossing the border illegally. Ifill and wall street skidded again for the fifth session in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial average dropped 130 points to close at 17,371. The nasdaq fell nearly 60 points to close at 4,592 and the s p 500 slipped 18 to 2,002. The market was weighed down again by oil. It finished below 48 a barrel in new york trading. Woodruff still to come on the newshour the ongoing battle against ebola in west africa a critical u. S. Ally caught in a snarl of challenges. The latest tool in the fight to protect archaeological fights, the fight over powerful painkillers and their unintended consequences. Why fewer adults are getting their general equivalency diploma,s and the Vice President plays his part as president of the senate in his element. Ifill with the death toll in west africa now over 8,000, government and humanitarian organizations are reassessing the most effective way to tackle the deadly ebola virus. From launching new drug trials to building new clinics, the United Nations, the United States and non governmental agencies around the world are ramping up, scaling back and searching for new approaches to curb the epidemic in liberia, sierra leone and guinea. Delaware democrat chris coons, the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign relations subcommittee on Africa Affairs has just returned from monrovia. And Anthony Banbury has just completed a 90day term as head of the United Nations mission for ebola emergency response. Welcome to you both, gentlemen. Senator coons, you just came back here, the first and only member of congress to actually have gone to the ebola zone, as it were. What did you see . Well, i was really impressed by the impact that americas troops have had in the country of liberia. Lets just go back for a second to september when president obama took the decisive the brave action of deploying the entire 101st airborne division, 2400 u. S. Troops, to monrovia, liberia. At that point, the ebola rep demic in liberia was raging out of control, and there were predictioned by the c. D. C. , that by now in january, there would be at least half a Million People infected by ebola if if continued at the rate it was on at that point. What i saw when i visited was our troops all over the country have made a dramatic difference. They have built highquality labs and testing facilities. Theyve provided the logistics and support to reinforce and reassure volunteer doctors and nurses and missionaries from around the world, and the rate of new infections in liberia has dropped dramatically. Theres also been real changes in social practices. Every place i went, folkes were being checked for their temperature, washing their hands in a bleach solution. Nobody was shake hands and most importantly, both safe and dignified burial practices were being put in place around the country. So im optimistic about the impact that weve been able to make in liberia and eager to talk tonight about how we might apply those Lessons Learned to sierra leon and guinea where it still is largely out of control. Ifill well, let me ask Anthony Banbury after 90 days as the head of the u. N. Effort, where does the Global Response stand . The Global Response is actually in very good shape. I think, just as senator coons described the progress thats being made in liberia, were starting to see similar progress in sierra leon. Were a few weeks behind where we were in liberia, but the response capabilities are being put in place in sierra leon particularly the main hot spots around freetown an and area called port loco. Were also seeing the response grow in guinea. So i think were going to see the numbers go down, the total numbers go down in all three countries in the weeks ahead. But whats going to happen, whats already happening, is the disease is spreading geographically. Its becoming more dispersed and that means we need a lot of capabilities spread across the three countries and thats going to be a big challenge going forward. Ifill senator coons, does the u. S. Military effort you described have to remain open ended for now . Well, ive called on the pentagon to change strategy to reduce the total number of our troops that are there but to extend the amount of time they will be there and to make sure we are transitioning. The big swement that weve made in new ebola treatment units and the mobile labs and the infrastructure to support the sort of Grassroots Outreach across the whole country that tony is talking about, to do that in a way that would empower and strengthen liberiaian efforts that will make sure that this epidemic gets to zero. We shouldnt leave liberia in a significant way until weve gotten to zero abuse because im very concerned this ebola epidemic could just come roaring back if the International Community that has made such a difference in this region withdraws too early. Ifill let me ask mr. Ba about that. You two have said not getting to zero would constitute failure in this case. What happens if the u. N. Does pull back . What happens if the u. S. Does pull bark as senator coons is suggesting, to that effort . The u. N. Secretarygeneral was just in the region a couple of weeks ago and made very clear to the president s of the country, the people, and the u. N. Family that we will be there side by side with the governments and peoples of the countries until there are zero cases. Thats the only option. Its the only way to go. Its going to be hard getting there. I think everything senator coons just said is absolutely right about working with the communities, building and strengthening the National Health care system so they can have good disease surveillance in place, so we can have Early Detection of small outbreaks and a Quick Response to snuff them out so two cases become zero rather than 20 or 200. We all recognize now that we have to do as the disease evolves and we move from the first phase to the current phase. The challenge will be execution, but we cant let up by any means until were at zero. Ifill part of the execution and i want to direct this to both of you today weve heard pharmaceutical companies talking about clinical drug trials. Starting with you, Anthony Banbury, how practical how hopeful is that . Well were all hoping that were going to have a vaccine, improved treatments so fewer people die who do contract it but in terms of the current operation and what were doing day to day, we cant rely on the arrival of a vaccine or improved treatment. We have to deal with the realities that are on the ground now, the tools that we have at our disposal. And theyre what senator coons said theyre the Treatment Centers that do isolation theyre the safe burial practices, social mobilization. We have to break the transmission. And thats working. Where weve put those response capabilities in place we see dramatic drops in the numbers. The challenge will be to have that capability across these three countries that have really poor roads. Theyre very isolated villages. Sometimes they take two days, three days to drive to. So we have a challenge on our hand but we know what we need to do. Ifill well as you talk about the improvement on the ground, senator coons, how much of that is sustainable . Its nice to talk about hope but is hope sustainable in is this case . Well, one of the things i heard all across liberia was when the message went out from president obama that he made the decision september 16 to deploy u. S. Troops tlifted the spirits of all liberiaians who were feeling abandoned by the World Community at the time, who were concerned that lots of airlines and shipping lines and expatriate groups and nonprofit groups had withdrawn from the country. Our intervention there i think significantly lifted the spirits of people of liberia and brought them hope. But to your point im calling on the pentagon to change to a strategy thats more sustainable and that requires investing in skills, in making sure that the liberiaians have the skills, the equipment, the resources to sustain the sort of grassroots testing lab, treatment capability, clinics, the social mobilization and Contact Tracing that youve just heard discussed by dr. Banbury. We know how to get to zero in ebola but it is going to take a different sort of strategy. We brought some hope with a big footprint, expensive emergency intervention by the United States military. We need to now sustain that hope in a more practical and costeffective way by using the great Human Resources of the liberiaian nation and getting in sierra leon and the remarkable resources of the missionaries and volunteers who are there to ensure that we make a lasting difference, not just for this epidemic and this outbreak, but to strengthen the Health Infrastructure and social infrastructure of these three west african countries. Ifill chris coons and Anthony Banbury, thank you both very much. Woodruff mexicos president visited washington today meeting with president obama at the white house. Though he campaigned and had an early record as a reformer, corruption scandals and public outcry have sparked a political crisis for the mexican leader. One recent newspaper poll showed that he has the lowest approval for a head of state there in nearly 20 years. First meeting of the year is with one of our closest allies, neighbors and friends. Woodruff and, thats no accident, of course. Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto arrived at a moment when mr. Obama most needs his help on two major initiatives first, his november order to defer deportations for millions of undocumented immigrants. I described to president pena nieto our efforts to fix our broken immigration system here in the United States and to strengthen our borders as well. Continued need to work with centrail american governments to that we are going to provide a mechanism so that families are not separated who have been here for a long time. But were also going to be much more aggressive at the border in ensuring that people come through the system legally. Woodruff and second the move toward normalizing relations with cuba. American isolation of the castro regime has long been an irritant in broader u. S. Latin american relations. translated i have also made an acknowledgement in terms of the very audacious decision that youve made to reestablish diplomatic relations with cuba, and mexico will be a tireless supporter of the Good Relationship between two neighbors. Woodruff the mexican leader may also hope todays visit to snowy washington grants him respite from an avalanche of crises at home. He took office in december 2012 after a landslide election victory. But just two years later, he is reeling. Last june, 22 gang members were killed by mexican soldiers outside mexico city. Mounting evidence now suggests it was a massacre. Then, in september, the kidnapping and presumed murders of 43 College Students in guerrero state. Allegedly by a drug cartel working with a corrupt mayor and police. translated i want something done, concrete actions and not just words. Woodruff massive protests over the crime and the governments apparently casual response have filled streets throughout mexico. And now, its alleged that priv