Expressed strong confidence in what they saw as my gifts or emerging gift, i always doubted them. Woodruff those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf railway. United healthcare online at uhc. Com. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. 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. Ifill our lead story tonight negotiations in the senate aimed to break the stalemate in washington. The talks came with the partial Government Shutdown now two weeks old, and the debt ceiling deadline just three days away. Newshour Congressional Correspondent kwame holman begins our coverage. After meeting over the weekend and again this morning its senates top democrat and republicans found reason for hope. Majority leader harry reid. Im very optimistic. We reach we will reach an agreement. Its a reasonable this week to open the government, pay the nations bills an begin longterm negotiations to put our country on sound fiscal footing. And minority leader Mitch Mcconnell. Weve had an opportunity over the last couple of days to have some very constructive exchanges of views about how to move forward. Those discussions continue and i share his optimism that were going to get a result that will be acceptable to both sides. On the house side as Speaker John Boehner returned to the capitol it remained unclear how his republican rank and file would receive any resolution worked out in the senate. Hi. How are you. President obama raised that issue as he visited a dc charity food kitchen where furloughed federal workers are volunteering. I think House Republicans continue to think that somehow they can extract concessions by keeping the Government Shutdown or by threatening default and my hope ask is that a spirit of cooperation will move us forward over the next few hours. The president initially invited the house and Senate Leader to the white house at midafternoon. But that was postponed, according to the White House Press office to allow more time for a deal to come together in the senate. Meanwhile the partial Government Shutdown reached its 14th day, although some National Parks reopened over the weekend. So did the statue of liberty with the state of new york agreeing to cover the daily operating costs for now. Joining us now from capitol hill to bring us up to hill on where the negotiations stand is robert costa washington editor for the national review. Thank you for joining us, we just heard Mitch Mcconnell saying they were looking for a result acceptable to both sides. The president said it felt like things were moving. Where do they stand now . We do see a deal emerging within the senate. The house seems uneasy about the path forward but the Senate Bipartisan plan broadly speaking would extand extend the debt limit and it would fund the government until early 2014. And it without also set up a larger fiscal framework for talks later this year. A budget conference. So are we talking about kick the can down the road or is this budget conference real sm. I wouldnt say its kansas citying the can down the road. Of course, it is in a sense, a couple of wokes ahead, a couple months aheadment but what is important here is any major fiscal reforms or compromises cant be brokered within the incomes couple of days so congressional leaders especially reid and mcconnell decided to try to have those talks in november and december. Ifill what is d the negotiations on both sides have to give something up, in this scenario if it were to hold, what is the white house hiv gifing up . I think what the white house isive going up, its not so much giving up, so much, but trying to get through this impasse. When you talk to people at the white house and senior democrats, they want to escape from this and theyve tried to battle on sequestration over the past two days but they know thats just never going to pass the republican house. So for now democrats have pulled back this push to change the sequestration funding levels. Ifill and have the republicans competely pull back on their desire to change the Affordable Care act . Of course rhetorically speaking and politically they have not pulled back, but it looks look any concession republicans are winning here is minor. It would be a change to the eligibility requirements, the strength of the eligibility requirements for income regarding who is entering the aca. And thats the only thing republicans are really winning here beyond an extension of the debt limit and funding of the government and the budget conference. Ifill now robert, you probably wore a hole in the bottom of your shoes working the hallways on capitol hill in the last couple of week, much on the house side. So this is all being worked out we assume, so far, between the Senate Democrats and republicans, perhaps the white house. What about john boehner, what about the house . The question now for Speaker Boehner is will he allow the senatebrokered deal to come to the house flor in the next day or two. He knows there is a bloc of perhaps 40 conservative hardliners who will be resistance resistant but he knows there is a group of 100, to 150 House Republican whs would probably back it. So that is the question. Will he bring it forward, will he allow a vote on the stat deal. And the answer right now is unclear. Ifill hasnt the house turned Something Like this down before . It has. But i think politically when House Republicans, i was just speaking to a few of them at the capitol, they look at the pole numbers and want to make sure they avoid political pain related to default. And so right now there is definitely more of an urgency on the conservative side to get something done at least on the debt ceiling. Talk about look at the pole numbers. Do people talk among themselves on capitol hill about this u. S. Opinion backlash weve been seeing . Oh, certainly. There is a sense that the defund effort on the right, repeal obamacare effort has gone on quite too long, its actually hurt the party. And so one of the major leaders behind the scenes is paul ryan. That is why this element of a budget conference later this year sounds like kicking the condition down the road but its porn. It is a way for ryan and other Republican Leaders to promise future reforms and for perhaps future concessions from the white house if they just vote for a clean extension now of the debt limit and just postpone talks until later this year. I november we i know weve been here before but is the expectation that tomorrow things are going to come together for real on this deal . I think so. I think todays news, ive seen leader reid and mcconnell on the senate floor together. Thats significant news. The relationship has often been tense, for them to be working together at this hour is a crucial point. Robert costa, well all be watching as i foe you will too for the national review. Thank you so much. Thank you. Well have ifill well have more on the shutdown after the news summary. Wall street managed small gains today as the news from washington helped erase early losses. The Dow Jones Industrial average added 64 points to close at 15,301. The nasdaq rose more than 23 points to close at 3815. Three americans will share the nobel prize for economics for explaining how stocks, bonds, and housing values change over time. The winners are Lars Peter Hansen of the university of chicago; eugene fama, also from the university of chicago; and Robert Shiller of yale university. Shiller says after he got word this morning, the one person he tried to call was more focused on baseball. I called my brother, yeah. I thought my brother sleeps in and he might not actually know, in detroit. So i called him. And i said did you hear the news . And he said the tigers lost. laughter ifill shillers work, along with that of fama and hansen, has led to the rise of index funds and institutional investors, who bet on Market Trends instead of individual stocks. A top alqaeda militant captured in libya has arrived in new york to face trial on terrorism charges. Abu anas allibi was seized in a u. S. Commando raid on october 5. Since then, hes been held and interrogated aboard a u. S. Warship. Allibi is accused of plotting the 1998 attacks on american embassies in kenya and tanzania that killed 224 people. The taliban leader in afghanistan is warning the government in kabul not to sign a security deal with the United States. In a message today, mullah Muhammad Omar rejected any agreement that leaves american troops in afghanistan after 2014. He said his followers will go on fighting. More on this, later in the program. Italy moved today to prevent any more of the disasters at sea that have now killed hundreds of refugees. Just today, the Italian Coast Guard delivered more than 200 african migrants to ports in sicily. Theyd sent a distress call from their overloaded boat on sunday. Earlier this month, 350 migrants died when their vessel capsized. Dozens more drowned friday. In rome today, Prime Minister enrico letta vowed to ramp up patrols. From tomorrow italy will be operating a military and humanitarian mission. Usually important dimensions because for does is intolerable that the mediterranean has become the sea of death. The pedestrian rainian sea is our sea and we cannot tolerate what has been happening in recent days. Ifill many of the migrants are fleeing fighting in eritrea and in syria. Gunmen in syria have released three red cross personnel and a volunteer with the red crescent organization. Theyd been abducted on sunday, as they returned to damascus from delivering relief supplies. Three more red cross workers were also seized. Theyre still missing. In eastern india, authorities raised the death toll to 25 today, in the wake of a huge tropical cyclone. But it could have been far worse. The weekend storm packed winds of 130 miles an hour and destroyed thousands of homes. Officials evacuated about a Million People in advance, averting a far worse disaster. A cyclone in the same coastal area killed 10,000 people in 1999. The World Antidoping Agency will investigate claims that jamaicas star sprinters faced little if any drug testing before the london olympics. The Associated Press reported today the claims come from the former head of the islands drug testing agency. Jamaicans won eight individual medals at the games. They were led by usain bolt, who captured three golds. Still ahead on the newshour, the Government Shutdown ripples across the country; how investors here and abroad see the potential for default; improving education in pakistan; keeping u. S. Troops in afghanistan; and remembering the first latino novelist to win a pulitzer prize. Ifill we examine the effect its having on communities across the country. For starters, bob sands of public station oeta reports on the fallout in central oklahoma. With an estimated 40,000 people in central oklahoma who work for the federal government and a growing number of oklahomaans on food stamps or other government funded programs, just about every one knows somebody who is being affected by the shutdown. Or is about to be. The impact extends far ongovernment workers now to businesses and nonprofit organizations. There isnt anybody who has extra resources sitting around in a nonprofit because if they do theyre using them for programs and to fulfill their missions. So when some of those resources start to dry up or begin to look scarce, we really have additional stress on these organizations and a toll on the people who work there. Marnie taylor is president ceo of the Oklahoma Center for nonprofits. Those people who are used to depending on those agencies are possibly going to see cutbacks in those either to the going to pay, going to be slow to pay, never going to be reimbursed, whatever the. S are. They are absolutely nonprofits who have already heard youre not going to this is not going to happen any longer. And then the doublewhammy hits. Those people could have been donors to their church or to their nonprofits, are suddenly going to be on the other side of that and potentially be clients. Thats now happening at food pantries across the state. Rodny giveens is the executive director of the Regional Food Bank of oklahoma. A lot of people live from one paycheck to the other. And so if they dont have that paycheck coming in, they have to start macking choices, we dont want our government friends to have to make. Terry brice is state director for the women, be fants and Childrens Program that serves 90,000 oklahomaans with a focus on providing nutrition assistance to a vulnerable population. Our participants are coming into the clinics. Theyre getting nutrition education, all of our food that we provide has a specific nutritional value. And its just a Supplemental Program so we dont give them all the food that they need per month. Things like dairy products, cereal, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables and whole grain products, specifically targeted to new mothers and their children. W, c is 100 federally funded. The program is on a short rope financially but is operating for now. To qualify for w, c a person has to be under 185 of the poverty level. In oklahoma, that involves a lot of children. Over 50 of all the infants born in the state of oklahoma are on the wic program. And thats just not true for oklahoma, its true nationally as well. And already the w, c program is feeling the increased need because of the Government Shutdown. We have had some individuals that have been contacted that program. And we put them on the program. And so certainly if theyre eligible for, theres a need for it as of right now we can certainly put them on the program. Thomas wright works at Tinker Air Force base in the sprawling air Logistics Center known as building 9001. Since 1984 he has been a jet engine mechanic. And while he is still on the job its now just busywork. Because theyre to the doing anything. Everybodys sitting around waiting. They dont know if they will have the money to do anything any more. Across town timothy hibner is an faa employee and Vice President of the American Federation of government employees. The union that represents many of the workers at the faa center. My paychecks are being used for the house payment. The wifes paychecks are being used for discretionary funds. And my house payment is pulled out of my paycheck if that paycheck dont show up, then that payment dont get made. Tim and others who are members of the faa credit union do have some of that stress eased a bit because their credit union is taking steps to help them. We are off in the short term lone at 0 interest, to make up for credit card payments that they may have missed. Because payrolls will be disrupted. Steve rasmussen is president ceo of the faa credit union, a Financial Institution where more than 35 of its members are federal employees. The credit union will extend shortterm loans longer if needed. And allow members to skip a house payment without charge. Theyve also lifted overdraft charges on checking accounts. Theyre even the 0 interest or 6 months. And the overdrafts, we havent seen those starts yet because everybody got paid that first week of the shutdown. Now after this week,s thiss when things really get to be a challenge for people. The budget and debt ceiling fight seem like distant issues to people on furlough. And has little meaning to their daily lives. It just seems like its a snowball that keeps rolling downhill that nobody is willing to stop. And i dont know why. On the many among the many we talk to about the shutdown one thought about the process was often repeated and best expressed by Tinker Air Force base employee thomas wright. You expect me to do my job, do yours. Among the other effects of the shutdown caused the oklahoma fat guard to cancel its usual week in training this month. And while some of the state conservation commissions 87 offices are open, they cant operate because they share space with the u. S. Department of agriculture. As the day goes by, its clear the impact of the shutdown is spreading. And will become far more evident if a deal isnt reached in washington by the end of the month when more bills come dow and more state agencies that depend on federal funding run out of money. For more on whss being seen in the woodruff for more on whats being seen in the states, we turn to other public media colleagues, representing three different regions. Cathy lewis, host of a Public Affairs radio callin program on whrv in hampton roads, virginia. Karen kasler, Capital Bureau chief for Ohio Public Radio and television, in columbus, ohio. And scott shafer, host and correspondent for the california report on kqed public radio. He joins us from San Francisco. Welcome back to the newshour to all three of you. Scott, let me start with you out on the west coast. What are you seeing in california . Well, there is a rang of impacts, judy, ranging from annoyance to anger. California has about 150 civilian federal employees. They are disproportionately located in places like san diego which has a large military presence, 29 palms, los angeles, places where there are a lot of defense installations. And so what you are seeing is the impact not only on those individual employees who have been furloughed or are still furloughed, but on the businesses that rely on those employees. For example yosemite park, an iconic park in california, a lot of the businesses in small towns like sennora rely on those tourists but they are being turned away. Some motels, hotel itsing restaurant its, cafes are really feeling the pinch. Karen kasler what about in ohio, you heard what scott just said what would you say your sense is there in the middle of the country . Well we had about 75,000 federal workers here in ohio as of august. About 22,000 of them are post office employees. And our federal workers in ohio are divided between department of defence and nondefense jobs. And the department of defence jobs, most of them have been headquartered at Wright Paterson air force base through dayton, about 8700 civil yen employees who were furloughed at the start of this shutdown. Of thiss been recalled on to the Para Military act. Same thing goes for the 1800 technicians at the Ohio National guard who were brought back. Ohio has the second largest National Guard in the country. But we also have a lot of other nondefense workers who are still out of work. 3,000 workers at nasas john glenn facility in cleveland are out of work. Also of course Social Security offices. Those workers are not getting paid. And then irs offices. There is a big irs office in cincinnati as you might remember from the tea Party Scrutiny scandal earlier this year. About 300 workers there. It is the largest employer in covington, kentucky. So we have a lot of people scattered around the state. About 6600 federal employees in ohio have filed for unemployment as of last friday. That sounds like, in many different sectors of the state, well, let me turn to virginia now. Kathee lewis, hampton roads, we know a heavy military presence here. But what are you seeing across the state . It is a very similar story, actually, to what is happening in ohio, if you remove the irs office because we have most of our defense workers are back on the job now. Whats been interesting to observe here is some of these shared relationships that happen at tourist venues, jamestown, yorktown N Mount Vernon which is privately owned, there was a little bit of a scuffle around the park service trying to close down parking lots leading into mount vernon. They were able to resolve that. In the case of jamestown part owned by the state, part is owned by the federal government so the state elements are open for business, field trips being cancelled and rescheduled early on in the shutdown. Yorktown is an interesting case. Because of course this is a big weekend in yorktown. This is the anniversary of the battle of yorktown, a decisive battle in the revolution and revolutionary war. And you have elements owned by the state and of course the battlefield is owned by the park service. So those state Agency Initiatives will continue. But the federal ones will not. Again, a combination of the direct employees and military and people affected by that. Scott safer, back to you in San Francisco, you touched on tourism. I mean how much of california is to some extent a tourist destination. How much of that is a factor in how this. The thing aboutical call, judy, is its such a large statement and although we have a relatively large percentage of the total number of federal employees here, we have 14 million nonfarm jobs. And so its really kind of a drop in the bucket. And i done mean to diminish the impact when its building felt by Small Businesses and individuals, thats very real. But if, for example, you are a tourist and you come to San Francisco and you find out that alcatraz is closed as it is, there are a lot of other things to do. Not so true for cross e78 tee park. But the point is california is so big, unlike say virginia or maryland where they are so dependent on federal employees and the spinoff, Economic Activity that they provide, that although like i said the pain is being felt here, in terms of the overall economy, the overall impact and longterm impact, i think its much less in california than it might be in some smaller states. Woodruff karen kasler in ohio, you were telling us earlier that there are some unlikely effects of the shutdown. You mentioned civil rights investigation by the department of justice and to the Cleveland Police force, for example. Remind us about that. Well, thats an investigation that is ongoing right now. And yeah, thats not happening right now because of the federal Government Shutdown there were a couple of other things. Here in ohio s not so dependent on tourism, especially at federally operated places. We do have the first ladys library in canton which is closed down. The air force museum in dayton is closed down. The Valley National park is closed down. That resulted in the rescheduling of a marathon that was supposed to happen this weekend, 1200 runners were supposed to run that, rescheduled to another weekend. So there are some other impacts beyond just the jobrelated things here. But certainly were not feeling the pain as much as scott said, as maryland and virginia are. Kathee cathy lewis do people talk about who is to blame, the people you talk to, do they talk about that, is it frustration in general with the federal government . What do you hear . It is the frustration deep frustration and deep anger. I talked with someone today who said look, were here, were doing our jobs. Our pay is going to be delayed. We have nothing to do with this. Were here doing our jobs. And we cant do anything to solve it. And yet were the ones who are paying the price. So it is enormously frustrating. And you have to remember that here in southeastern virginia, hampton roads, what you have is a situation where folks have already been furloughed. Theyve already experienced that before the end of the fiscal year. Then you have the continuing resolution problem. Then you have the debt ceiling. And weve been told in this region that there is going to be another round of sequestration cuts as well. So people are very, very frustrated. Theyre frustrated as well with the uncertainty of it. I talked with a woman earlier today who said she really didnt know until friday whether her mortgage payment was going to clear. Because the supervisors at her husbands job really werent clear. Its because they didnt know who was going to be paid and when those payments were going to be made. I think there is a lot of frustration particularly as we look to the end of the month with retiree pays coming out. Quickly scott to you, and then karen, scott, what about in california. People you talk to, what do they say about what they see coming out of washington . Well, theyre very frustrated. Theyre angry. Some people in this more liberal part of california do tend to blame republicans. But even in deeply republican parts of the state there is a lot of anger. The good thing about california, i suppose, is that weve been through this so many times in sacramento with late budgets and 11th hour negotiations and missed budgets and huge budget cuts that maybe were a little harder to rattle out here. It is having a big impact on the Republican Party. Theres concern as they try to rebrand themselves here in california that this isnt helping them to get their message out to say women and minorities and younger people. Woodruff and karen, just quickly, 20 seconds what about there in ohio . Well, ohio is a unique state in that president obama won ohio in 2012 but republicans dominated the also two congressional cycles and thats been the case in the last situation here with record to the Republican Party really having a situation where they have to think about the next election. And though the way the districts are drawn it seems unlikely there is going to be any longterm affect, at least looking at it now on going to congress from ohio, the republicans seem to be pretty safe even though polls have shown a lot of people are very frustrated with the Republican Party in particular. Though there is still some anger toward democrats as well. Woodruff karen kasler in ohio, scott shafer in San Francisco, cathy lewis in hampton roads, we thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. Glad to be here ifill and now, how the worlds Financial Markets view the shutdown and potential debt crisis. Asian and european markets closed modestly lower today, with wall street ending the day slightly up. But officials in washington this weekend for world bank and International MonetaryFund Meetings have worried aloud about what a u. S. Default could do to the global economy. Ray suarez has the story. Suarez to walk us through investors reactions, we turn to zanny minton beddoes, economics editor of the economist magazine and a former economist with the International Monetary fund. Zannee, well company back. Nice to be here. Suarez markets around the world didnt fall, didnt shed big amounts of value. Some were a little up, some were a little down. Were they assuming that this was going to get worked out . Yes, absolutely. I think what youve seen in the last to you days and weeks in global Financial Markets is the fact that the Government Shutdown itself while unbelievably frustrating and painful for the people involved, was not itself going to wreck the economy. What Financial Markets worried about is the potential of a default if the debt ceiling was breached. And i think the assumption Financial Market investors all along have made is that at the last minute there would be some agreement which would push the debt ceiling forward. And that seems to be what were getting tonight. An thats why i think you havent seen a big reaction. If for some reason this emerging deal were to fall apart and we were to get to thursday, the 17th or beyond, i think then you would start seeing very Serious Movement in the Financial Marketss. Suarez over the last 72 hours there were some elected officials in washington saying this was survivable, and central bankers and financial ministers saying this was a cataclysm. I think that if the United States defaulted on its debt, which is not automatic even after october 17th, but its a possibility because down the road if we were to go that way, the u. S. Would not be able to make good on all its payments. It might have to choose. If it were to default that would be a huge global catastrophe, financial catastrophe. And i think the central bankers and financial ministers last weekend were very focused, even if there was a small risk, the risk of that possibility. And i think they came to washington and they were kind of scratching their heads but they couldnt really understand what was going on on capitol hill. For most people outside the u. S. , its kind of by czar. You just cant really understand that a countrys politician kos take a standoff to a point where they might voluntarily default. So they couldnt understand it but they were worried about being part of really cataclysmic consequences. And i think christine, the guard of Kristen Lagarde of the imf put it well when she said people were confused but bemused but not amused. Suarez there were repeated trips to the press with this, the 11th hour negotiations, standing on the edge of the cliff. Does that erode confidence in u. S. Institutions, perhaps even in the u. S. Currency as the worlds deserve con that is an interesting question, the answer has to be looking back on what we have had here, that it hasnt. The trrb u market is the biggest more liquid market. Dollar the worlds reserve currency, if you actually look over the last few years the currency that central bankers have less of is the euro which has had a real debt countriesity but that said i think its a bit too sanguine to assume that the u. S. Can go through this process of having artificially imposed crises, one after the other, with the uncertainty that that creates, without having any consequences over time. And i think what worries me is that this isnt just a oneshot deal or two shot deal. Willingness is the new normal that we go from one artificial deadline to another, one huge drama, solved at the last minute, temporarily. And its not the way that the u. S. Conducts business. Not only does it make it hard for u. S. Policymakers to tell other countries what sensible policy is like, it also reduces and the uncertainty is bad for the World Economy and the u. S. Suarez here we are perhaps looking at another 90 or 120 day cycle. Does this become different at some point, as you suggest. You know, i hope it does. I think most people who are who dont have idea logical axs to grind know this. The u. S. Has some fiscal issues in the medium and longterm it has to do something about entitlement. The population is age, the baby boomers are aging. They could reform the tax code there are important things to be done. But the. Is does not have a shortterm debt crisis as the sort greek does. It doesnt mean draconian spending cuts in the short term it needs a big budget deem. So there is a much better alternative out there than we are we are which is short term cuts going from one crisis to the other. Suarez danny zanny minton beddoes, thank you so much. My pleasure. Ifill now, closing the gap between haves and havenots in pakistan. On friday, 16yearold activist Malala Yousafzai considered a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize told the newshours Margaret Warner she believes equal access to education is the key. I have in my mind for which i struggle, for which i do the thing and that the prize, that is its award to see every child to go to school. And i will fight my whole life for this. That is the fight that i want to get in my life. Woodruff a group of businessmen in pakistan has found a way to advance that goal. Theyve built an alternative Public School system designed to educate poor children, especially girls. Special correspondent fred de sam lazaros report is part of our agents for change series. Reporter 18yearold munawara shahabuddin is a top student, as her red sash indicates, and shes lucky. Many children dont attend school in pakistan, and, on average, girls are half as likely as boys to be enrolled. The gender gap is particular wide in rural and tribal areas where taliban militants hold sway. For urban students like munawara, school also is a sanctuary from the turmoil and violence outside the gate. A couple of days ago, a guy was picked up from this area, taken away, and he was chopped into pieces and his body was thrown in the water. A lot happens, but its not good to even talk about it, because you make enemies. Reporter munawara and her 12yearold sister tahira live in a karachi slum called machar colony, literally colony of flies. The stench of rotting fish pervades it. For them, homework is real work peeling shrimp from a nearby fishery with their mother. They have a 16yearold brother who is not in school and works fulltime in a fishery. He is this large familys main breadwinner. Their father, shahabuddin, is disabled by hepatitis. Like twothirds of pakistans 190 Million People, this family lives on less than 2 a day. Im sick, i cant do anything. I cant even feed them. I want them to be educated and make something out of their life. Reporter the founder of the school these girls attend says the solution to this familys poverty and just about any of pakistans economic and social problems lies in education. Now, take, for instance, family planning. If you educate a girl or a man, that person will never have eight or ten children. If you come to health, hygiene probably accounts for 50 of health problems. If a person is educated, he will be more clean, and keep his children clean. Reporter Mushtaq Chhapra says he and a few other successful businessmen decided they wanted to give back to society, and in 1995 began building schools for the poor. If you look at the construction, we try to utilize materials which are locally available. Reporter they founded the citizens foundation, widely known as t. C. F. , which built and runs this k12 school and nearly 500 others in villages and slums across pakistan. We wanted to give them what our children, the children from welltodo families, had been through and have gotten that kind of education, with proper classrooms, books, curriculum. Reporter things mostly absent from a highly corrupt Public School system, where funds are diverted and even teachers are truant. Many children who should be in school are on the streets. The average percentage of the governments results from the high school is in the vicinity of 40 to 43 . Citizen Foundation Children appearing in government board exams have results of in excess of 95 . Its not some Rocket Science here. We are doing basic stuff. We are just doing it right. Reporter syed asaad ahmad, the citizens foundations c. E. O. , says t. C. F. Is a Charity Funded largely by donations, but it is run like a business. Every school must show progress, their goals clearly stated. A big goal for the organization is closing the typical 20 enrollment gap between boys and girls one of my own Key Performance indicators is that, is my percentage of girls increasing or not . And we are pretty close to 50 50. 46 , 47 girls are studying in our schools,. Our goal is to take it to 51 , and inshallah we will do that in the next three years. Reporter t. C. F. Schools have a number of amenities that are not taken for granted in pakistans schools a safe environment, clean classroom, books, desks. But perhaps the most critical at least to get girls to attend are working bathrooms. In a society where tradition and modesty are important, one other decision was key to enrolling girls, made at the insistence of a parent. She said that if you have male teachers in the schools, im not sending my daughter to your schools, and that was a. With one stroke, we decided that we have no male teachers in our schools reporter the teachers, principal, even the Training Staff is all female. However, t. C. F. Schools are co educational, unlike most Public Schools. To sell the concept, the group invites parents and Community Leaders to visit. When they come and see the utter respect in the way the education is being handled, the way the boys are being taught to respect the girls, there is a total change of outlook and mindset of the parents. Reporter and t. C. F. Hopes to shift Student Attitudes on matters of gender. This is amal and zain. Reporter the foundation has begun printing some of its own textbooks. Shazia kamal, a curriculum developer, says theyre cheaper and more updated than whats available in the market. They encourage Critical Thinking and new ideas, as in this fifth grade english text showing boys and girls playing cricket together. They can actually play against each other. They can actually play cricket. And so, in doing so these kind of messages, talk of equality, gender equality. Reporter and that doesnt ruffle any feathers or religious sensibilities . One doesnt feel that there is any reason to rock the boat. Reporter founder chhapra says threats from extremists are infrequent. But he admits there are nogo areas, notably the swat valley, where taliban gunmen shot the young activist malala yousefzai. Girls who do attend often find their lives transformed. Fatma ayoub now teaches in a semirural t. C. F. School. I attended this school. I live in this village. In the past, nobody knew who i was, but now everyone knows me. If i go to the doctors, parents, the children all call out, teacher, teacher when i walk by. So im very happy. Reporter her colleague saima naz says many students now set their sights higher. When they come in, the boys have one concept in their mind matriculate from high school by hook or by crook and get a job as a driver. Once here, their eyes are opened. They realize there is more to life than being a driver or going to work in dubai. Reporter chhapra expects the 125,000 students who attend t. C. F. Schools will go on to be their main source of support. For now, the 20 million annual budget comes largely from individual, corporate, and foundation donors. Theyll be economically powerful, theyll be educated, and theyll go back to their villages and the slums and look after their own brothers and sisters who are starting in that school. Reporter munawara shahabuddin hopes she can be in that group. I want to become a reporter. There are so many things that happen in this area, and nobody reports about it. Id like to create an awareness of what goes on here. Reporter but what about the fear shed expressed about saying things that could make enemies . Underground reporter. Reporter ill be an underground reporter, she said. Woodruff freds reporting is a partnership with the under told stories project at st. Marys university in minnesota. You can see margarets entire interview with Malala Yousafzai on our home page. Ifill after more than a year ifill after more than a year of onandoff discussions, the u. S. And afghanistan moved one step closer this weekend to an agreement over what happens after the u. S. Pulls out next year. But the remaining hurdles are real. Secretary of state john kerry took in the kabul skyline saturday night as he left afghanistan with an agreement in principles on some key elements of a deal on u. S. Troop presence, but not on others. Kerry surprise meeting with president karzai was intended to come up with a way to let some troops remain in afghanistan after next years pullout deadline. We have resolved in these last 24 hours its major issues that the president want through, we resolved those issues. Ifill left unresolved which country would have legal jurisdiction over the 10,000 u. S. Forces that could remain behind if they were to be accused of crimes that issue ultimately derailed u. S. Similar negotiations with iraq that lead to i a complete u. S. Withdrawal there. Kerry said that issue is equally critical in afghanistan. We need to say that if the issue of jours diction cannot be resolved, then unfortunately there cannot be a bilateral security agreement. Ifill but karzai insisted it is not up to him to decide whether to grant american soldiers legal immunity from afghan courts. That is beyond the authority of the Afghan Government, and it is only and entirely up to the Afghan People to decide upon through two mechanisms. One is the traditional of afghanistan, the second is the constitutional mechanism which is the afghan parliament. Ifill karzai has already called the loyal juerga of tribal elders for next mob. Meanwhile the leader mullah omar called again for his fighters to step up attacks on afghan and nato forces. He warned that even if the u. S. And Afghan Government manage to strike a deal, the taliban will continue to fight so is there Common Ground to be found as the search continues for an end to americas longest war . For that, im joined by david sedney, former Deputy Assistant secretary of defense for afghanistan, pakistan, and central asia. And former Afghan ForeignMinistry Spokesman and diplomat omar samad. What you just heard john kerry said and what you heard hamid karzai say wa, did you hear . What i heard is that we made an important step forward but fundamentally theres still a big and important gap. The issues related to jurisdiction over u. S. And International Troops after 2014 essentially are a matter of trust. Trust between the United States and International Forces and the afghanistan and particularly president karzai. And that trust is still lacking. Omar samad did you hear trust. There has been a trust issue for a while but i think that we are not on one step but a couple of steps ahead and forward. And we have made progress. I think the two sides understand what is at stake. Before this announcement in what president karzai said about the jurisdiction issue being discussed by the and the parliament, the two sticking issues contentious issues had to do with sovereignty and the definition of aggression and how the u. S. Might help the afghans post 2014. That seems to have been resolved. Those were the hardest items to resolve. Those items need seem to have been resolved during secretary kerrys trip to kabul. I believe that the afghans understand the difference between immunity and jurisdiction and that they will go ahead and endorse and get a stamp of approval to this. Ifill so maybe that wont happen with the jerga but is that karzai away of petitioning did pushing if aside to let someone else figure it out. It is his way of pushing it aside. They are also defering it in a contentious political season that just kicked off with the registration of a very large number of candidates for president. And leading up to elections in the spring. Time during which president karzai has to decide and his country has to decide what his future is as well. Ifill how critical is he to this . He as opposed to mullah omar or someone else on the sideline . Well, i think right now hes very critical to it. I think in fact if it wasnt for president karzai, if you left it up to the rest of the Afghan People, i think we would have agreement before now. I think he has been the major obstacle up until now. I think secretary kerry did a tremendous job of bringing him along. What about pakistan. There are other countries involved in this. And also nato forces, which someone has got to figure out what happens to them. But is the threat from pakistan considered to be so real that there has to be a guarantee on that front as well . From the afghan perspective, across the country, the threat coming from the Border Regions of afghanistan and pakistan is real. The afghans have filtered for over two decades, almost. Even way before 9 11. And so with mullah omar and his taliban troops across the border in safe havens, and nothing really having been done to address that problem over the last 12 years, the afghans are concerned. And so this is why they were looking for some type of international u. S. , plus nato, because nato is going to be part of the post 2014 if there is an agreement of the u. S. To sign off and approve and finalize. It sounds like there are two conflicting issues here. One is pulling out, getting the u. S. Out of this war. And the other is providing that kind of security, that kind of concern for the troops who remain. And then the question becomes how many and from where, am i right about that . I think that is the symbol. But the real core issue is confidence after 2014 on the part of the Afghan People and a serious commitment from the United States and its nato partners. That commitment is often symbolized by the number of troops that are committed. But of course it goes beyond that. But that commitment is still to the been made clear by the United States and on the afghan side, i think they still fear that lack of commitment. How much can the u. S. Be expected to be committed. Everything is so uncertain . Well, weve achieved a lot in afghanistan. Afghanistan has had the greatest progress in social end yate indicators of any country in the world. We built an army that successfully held off the taliban over the last year and is prepare food defeat the taliban in the years ahead. However, that lack of commitment from the United States has lead to some afghans leaving afghanistan, some leaving their children out. It su fuses the entire society because they dont see what happens after 2014 as something they can count on. You mentioned the imminent election and the political environment that this whole thing is happening. What timing do you see as important in trying to work this out. Can any of this happen before that is out of the way . I dont think that anyone wants to see the Bilateral Agreement to become an election issue between now and april of 2014 when elections are due to take place. Campaigning starts in february. So i think that the afghan Political Class including president karzai at this stage would like to see this wrapped up as soon as possible. So lets talk about what has to happen between now and next spring, say. Is that legallistic timetable . Do there have to be more meeting, more things to put on the table s it the u. S. s responsible, is it afghanistans responsibility, what happens next. What happens next is the loyaa jerga that president karzai called and that is when the people of afghanistan will debate and discuss what has been agreed to so far including the areas president karzai has refused to endorse, specifically the issue of jurisdiction. And they will come out with a list of either agreements or conditions to the agreement. I think theres a lot of things that could happen in that. I done think it is what will happen out of that is set. And then the political season that is going on right now will play into that as well. Its really a pretty complicated game being played. It sounds look a rubiks cube. About a year and a half ago president karzai convened a jerga to discuss partnership with the United States. And overwhelmingly they endorsed it and said give the green light to go ahead. So for a lot of people this is redundant. They are saying why are you having a loya injuringa,. So what is the answer to that question. Well, the answer is it might be political. It might be tied to domestic politics and with elections coming up, and the president karzai trying to maybe look like he is the saviour and the independent leader who not only came with the americans but also see the american goes home under his termsment so he didnt want to be seen and considered and remembered as somebody elses puppet or somebody elses leader. A lot of pieces left to fall into place. Omar samad and david sedney, thank you 3w09 very much. Thank you woodruff finally tonight, remembering writer Oscar Hijuelos, who died yesterday of an apparent heart attack. A cuban american, he was the first latino to win the Pulitizer Prize for fiction for his 1989 novel the mambo kings sing songs of love. Ray suarez talked with him in 2011 after his memoir, thoughts without cigarettes, was published. Here is an excerpt. I never thought i would be a writing growing up. I certainly never thought that as a kismted an even when a lot of people around me expressed strong confidence in what they saw as my gifts or emerging gift. I always doubted them. And i think part of if, to this day im not sure if that came about because of the insecurities i had felt seek logically speaking as a kidding about separate spraeted from his family or if it had to do looking at the way my parents generation experienced American Life in general with some trepidation, anxiety. I have talked to my older brother jose about this, and essentially we both agreed that we grew up having to overcome a feeling of i say the term secondclassness an i mean a lot of people take reading and writing and being good at something for granted. But if you come up in a certain way without a lot of positive reinforcement, it takes a lot. Like Pulitzer Prizes and being published all over the world t to make you feel pretty good about yourself. But even when that happens ive always had my doubts. Suarez the story of your life that you include in thoughts without cigarettes takes us right to the doorstep of your success. You are published, able to mack a living as a writer. You win a prize that allows you to study abroad. And then you stop. When you make it, does your life get less interesting . It becomes more populated as it were. Ive never let go of my childhood contacts, my best friend from childhood are still my best friend. But on the other hand it is sort of you go from being a private individual to sort of almost in some lights becoming a carnival act, you know. I sometimes felt like a frooerk. Simply because freak simply because the level of my success and traveling around the world is as a latino writer as much as anything, was sort of wonderful and also very strange for me at the same time. Because indeed i came up but one version of many potential versions of latinos that there could be. And ive never as i say in the memoir, ive never intended to represent myself as a spokesman for anybody but myself. And yet i would be in a round table in sweden and stockholm sweden at a Live Television show. And the host would come out and look around trying to figure out who the latino guy was in the group. That kind of thing was both interesting and alarming at the same time. Oscar hijueloses woodruff Oscar Hijuelos was 62 years old. You can watch his complete interview with ray on our web site. Ifill again, the major developments of the day. Senate leaders signaled optimism in talks to reopen the government and prevent a national default. Herree reid said they made tremendous progress. And three americans won the nobel prize for economics for explaining how stocks, bonds, and housing values change over time. Their work has revolutionized investing in recent decades. Woodruff and thats the newshour for tonight. On tuesday, well look at arguments over affirmative action at the Supreme Court and jim lehrers latest novel. Im judy woodruff. Ifill and im gwen ifill. Well see you online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you, and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. United healthcare online at uhc. Com. 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. Captioning sponsored by Macneil Lehrer productions captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org this is bbc world news america. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newmans own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, and union bank. At union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering Specialized Solutions in capital to help you meet your growth objectives. We offer expertise and tailored solutions for Small Businesses and major corporations. What can we do for you . And now, bbc world news america. This is bbc world news america. Reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan. Signs of progress in washingtons budget battle. As america approaches a debt ceiling deadline, president obama issues a warning if no deal is struck. We stand a good chance of defaulting. And defaulting would have a potentially devastating effect on our economy. Four out of seven International Aid workers are released after being abducted in syria but the fate of the rest remains in question. And capturing crime scenes of the past one photographer is putting a new focus on places that played a part in history