Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20140211

Larger firms still have to comply next year. But only for 70 of fulltime workers. Companies with fewer than 50 workers remain exempt. Well explore whats behind the announcement right after the news summary. Peace talks between the government of syria and the opposition resumed today in geneva. There were no immediate signs of progress. Back in syria the red crescent said that another 300 civilians were evacuated from the beseiged city of homs. Well have a closeup look at the situation there later in the in iraq, a group of insurgents intraining accidentally set off their own car bomb killing 21 people. Police say the wouldbe terrorists had gathered near the city of samarra, in an orchard, when the bomb exploded. In addition to those who died, two dozen suspects werec arrested. The monthlong flooding thats drowned huge swaths of southern england is still getting worse. The thames river burst its banks today, 20 miles upstream of london, inundating small towns and villages. We have a report from tom clarke of independent television news. Reporter it started as a flooding crisis, its now an all out war on water. The flooding far below is now into its eighth week. These fields around the submerged village of morland are the new front line. But the earth works arent to save the village but keep the floodwater where it is. To protect the town of bridgewater from almost inevitable flooding theyre throwing up an emergency dyke across there as fast as the diggers can dig it. Then, these pipes and pumps fresh off the boat from holland are going in a new River Channel being dug there to try to get water from behind the dyke into the River Parrett which drains to the sea. The problem theyve got is if theres more flood water than those can handle anyone living on this side of the dyke is going to experience worse flooding than they have done already. c theres growing anxiety here about whether homes and livelihoods are being sacrificed to keep others dry. Beyond the row continues over whether the Environment Agency has failed on floods. Visiting seed offenses in dorset, the Prime Minister refused to back the agencys chair attacked by ministers over the weekend. This is the time to get on and do everything we can. I back the Environment Agency. I back the work they are doing. Everyone has got to get on with the work theyre doing. Thats all im saying. Therell be time later on to talk about these things. Right now everybody has got to focus on the job in hand. Reporter to defend his staff on the ground, today lord smith hit back. The chairman is here to be a punch bag. To stand up and take the flak. But my staff are doing a hugely dedicated professional job. These are exceptional circumstances. Every time its the worst ever, its the highest ever, its the longest ever and that means that all our old assumptions about what flood defenses the country means are almost certainly not good enough. Reporter few on the ground in the somerset levels would disagree with that. Ever since people have lived here, theyve had to cope with floods. But theres a realization that this is something new and a wooduff england has been battered by a string of storms, producing its wettest january since 1766, when king george the third was on the throne. As of today, samesex married couples in the u. S. Have gained more legal rights under federal law. Attorney general eric holder announced it over the weekend. The change includes those living in states that do not recognize gay marriage. Among other things the policy means, gay couples do not have to testify against one another in court. And, theyll be able to file for bankruptcy jointly. A College Football standout has announced hes gay, three months before he takes part in the n. F. L. Draft. Michael sam is an allamerican defensive end at the university of missouri. He made his announcement in interviews overnight. Well have a full report on sams coming out, and the reaction, later in the program wooduff the deep south braced today for its second major winter storm in two weeks. Two inches of snow paralyzed the Atlanta Metro area two weeks ago. Now, the region is expecting rain and snow tomorrow, followed by sleet and freezing rain on wednesday. In advance, georgia governor nathan deal has declared an emergency for nearly a third of the state. Were not looking back, were looking forward. 9 next three days are going to be challenging days for the state and for local government and for private entities. We want to make sure that we are as prepared as possible. And that we can respond as quickly as possible. Wooduff the previous storm triggered an epic traffic jam that left thousands of cars abandoned on highways, and students trapped on buses or at schools. This time, atlantaarea schools have canceled school for tomorrow, and many workers have been told to stay home. The weather is also an issue at the Winter Olympics in sochi, russia, but because its so warm. It was 61 degrees fahrenheit there today, and ski jumpers had to stop practice when the snow got too soft. As for the days results, a spoiler alert tune out for a moment, if you dont want to know who won just yet. In skiing, american Julia Mancuso took bronze in the womens supercombined ski event. The gold went to germany. Canadian athletes won the mens moguls, and the 1,500 meter speedskating event. French president Francois Hollande has arrived in the u. S. To begin his state visit. c he traveled with president obama to charlottesville, virginia, today where they toured Thomas Jeffersons monticello estate. The third american president once served as an envoy to france. Hollande is traveling alone, after a recent separation from his longtime partner, over revelations hed had an affair with an actress. U. S. Immigration rules are easing for those seeking asylum here who might have a form of past connection to a terrorist. Since 9 11, anyone believed to have given even limited Material Support to terrorist groups was automatically banned from the u. S. The department of Homeland Security says the change gives it flexibility to consider more of an applicants background. On wall street, it was a relatively quiet day. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained seven points to close near 15,802. The nasdaq rose 22 points to close at 4,148. Still to come on the newshour more delays to the Affordable Care act; the struggle to help civilians in the wartorn syrian city of homs; what sanctionsc have done to daily life in iran; an n. F. L. Draft prospect comes out publicly as gay; plus, u. S. s complicated relationship with russia; and robots in the opera. Woodruff the Health Care Laws mandate for midsize and larger employers was originally supposed to take effect this year. Now, in a surprise move, the Obama Administration has decided to delay part of that mandate for a second time. Midsized businesses get another year before facing a penalty. And the government is easing the requirements for large companies, as well. Its also prompting renewed criticism from republicans like House Speaker john boehner who argue the individual insurance mandate should be repealed. Reporter alex wayne follows all this for Bloomberg News and he joins us again. Welcome back to the program. Thanks. So spell out exactly what these changes are that were just announce a couple of hours ago. Sure, so companies that employ between 50 and 99 workers now dont have to worry about this mandate that they provide Health Insurance coverage at all until 2016. Companies that employ 100 people or more will have to comply with the mandate starting next year in 2015. But they only have to koferb 70 of their workers in 2015. Woodruff so here it early february. We thought all this was coming. Why did the administration make the change . So they are under a lot of pressure from business groups, trade associations and lobbying groups to give these companies a lot of notice before any rules were set in stone, that they have as much time as possible to participate. That is why they releed them now, so the companies have the rest of the area to prepare for these changes and make whatever changes they need to make to their own Health Benefits programs. Was there a hint that this was coming. Not much. We are knew they were working on this regulation. We knew it would come out early in the year. We did not know really that they were going to make these broad changes to really the letter of the law. I think it caught a lot of the by surprise. Woodruff do we know how many are affected, weather biggor medium. Different numbers going on. The Administration Says that 96 of all u. S. Businesses arent affected by the prn date at all. They are too small, under 50 workers. 50 or fewer. Right, you dont have to cover any of your workers if you employ that number of people. But about only 30 million americans work for companies that small. So given the also of the population, most americans are working for companies that are going to have to provide Health Insurance at at some point. And what do you, i mean clearly republicans are being critical saying the president should extend this to the individual mandate to repeal that. Do we know, is it too soon to know who likes this, who doesnt like it . What are you picking up . Business groups are very happy about it they were actually surprised, pleasantly surprised. They werent expecting this much flexibility really, no complaints there. Republicans as you said think that all of these allowances for companies should be extended to regular americans. I think its hard to disconnect this from the election calendar too. The Congressional Elections are coming up in november. And this change is going to mean that a lot of Small Businesses that would otherwise have to be figuring out how to change their benefits programs in the fall to comply with obamacare dont have to worry about it. c woodruff so what is your i mean youve been reporting on this nonstop for months. Yeah. Woodruff is it your sense that there could be still more changes to come . Do you think this is the last in a series of changes were going to see . How do you read how the administration is dealing with this. I would say its hard to guess at this point. They seem to make changes as problems arise. In order, i suppose the administration would say theyre trying to be pragmatic and trying to deal with issues that are brought to their attention. In this case they got a lot of comments from the Business Community about this set of rules, in particular. If were talking about the individual pan date i wouldnt expect many changes before the end of the year. Comply with that. Give us a flavor, alex, of what businesses were saying. What were they saying. And how were they saying it to the administration. The how is they were lobbying them. And the way that is done with the administration in washington is you write letters to the administration, essentially. Laying out your viewpoint. But the things that they wanted were more flexibility, more time. In a nutshell. They wanted to cover fewer workers. For instance, theres been a lot of concern about covering parttime workers and people right at this threshold of 30 hours. Another break they got today, they wont have to cover seasonal workers. People who work six months or less per year. Thats another ask from business. They pretty much got a lot of what they wanted here. Woodruff but the administration had been talking to them about what changes to make . I mean oh, sure. Woodruff there were conversations. Oh, absolutely. Theres i dont want to call it an opendoor policy for the administration and business groups. But if you are a Large Business group in town, somebody like the National Retail federation, the association of manufacturers, the chamber of commerce, you can get in the door. At the treas rebuilding or in the white house itself, and you can have your voice heard. Woodruff so just in a nutshell to wrap this up, who are the folks out there then who wont get coverage as soon as they thought they were going to . So if you are a worker of a company that employs between 50 and 99 people, and your company doesnt offer insurance right now, theyre probably to the going to offer it next year either. So you should probably prepare to go seek coverage on your own. Woodruff those are the main folks. Those are the main folks. Woodruff and perhaps some of the Larger Companies as well. Yeah. Woodruff all right, alex wayne from Bloomberg News, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff appreciate it. Woodruff now to the humantiarian situation in syria. Aid officials rushed today to evacuate more women, children and elderly from the blockaded city of homs after a fragile ceasefire there was extended for three more days. Patrick mcdonnel has been reporting on the evacuation in homs for the los angeles times. He spoke to us via skype from damascus a short time ago. Woodruff patrick mcdonnel, thank you very much for talking with us. Now that we know the ceasefire is being extended, what is the situation in homs. The situation in the old city is extremely delicate as you know. There is a three day operation in which Something Like more than 700 people were evacuated from old homs. Some aid was delivered. However, there were extensive mortar attacks and gunfire attacks on the convoy. And a number of civilial civilians were killed, at least ten to our knowledge. So it is a very delicate operation but it has got answer lot of International Attention t was mentioned in geneva and i think the government of syria which is looking for some International Support from the United Nations really wants it to work. Woodruff well, what do you know about what people there on the ground are saying, what they believe about how its going . Frankly, among supporters there isc quite a lot of resentment about the fact that food is being brought in to rebels who in the view of many people in governmentcontrolled areas have, you know, wrought havoc on the country. So there is quite a lot of resentment on this. So i think the government is hearing that. Last night they brought up some of the people from the old city we were surprised to see quite a few young men fighting, more than a hundred. And i was standing with some army people, they were up set to see young men coming out. And so there is a mixed opinion. At the same time i think there is ac recognition that the Syrian Government is looking, you know, for is looking for some International Support and theyre under pressure to provide humanitarian aid. And this is to do it. Woodruff we know there has been shooting, there as been violence since the ceasefire was supposed to have gotten under way. Who is responsible for that . Well, i think, you know, like a lot of things in syria it is imponderable. Each side blames the other. Each side theoretically have reasons to want to the on the convoy so we really dont know. I hate to give that answer but i dont think we know definitively. More than suggestion mondays since the chemical attack from damascus. We still dont know definitively who did those. So its been, a lot of if, massacres, its hard to know who did them. The attacks on the convoy, we have another situation where each side blames the other and who exactly is responsible is not exactly something we can ascertain. Woodruff tell us who is in homs, rate now. What are the conditions lake for People Living there . The conditions are obviously very, very primitive. We did talk to some people who came out particularly the first day. There was some food, but not a lot of food. People talked of it is getting warmer, some greens growing wild in lots and you know, in yards. People are afraid to leave their homes. One gentleman told me i was afraid if i stuck my head out the window it could be blasted into a dozen pieces. So its obviously very grim. There is very little medical care. Until the aid went in on saturday there hadnt been an official delivery of aid for more than 18 months. So the situation there is very grim. The estimates are there were Something Like 2,500 people in there, that was a rough estimate. And theyve gone about 700 out. So i think the aide workers suspect there is about 200 in them. Some are elderly and infirm had. There is a christian population of perhaps a hundred people in there according to some clerics i spoke to. Many of them are having trouble getting to the spot where they are being picked up. So there are no no christians came out in those three days but theyre hoping to get some of them out. Woodruff that was one of my questions, is everyone who would like to get out able to get out, especially the elderly, the disabled. I had read that there were people with disabilities who were killed. Quite possibly there were. We dont know who those ten or so people who were killed, very possibly there were. It is extremely difficult. We were told again by i mean its it was an extraordinarily difficult operation to arrange. And they managed to find a neutral point to pick people up and it kind of worked. But there was shelling. But still weve been told more than half hour walk for some people, including walksc through tunnels. An remember there are many rebel factions inside the old city an not all of them are necessarily on board with this truce. So i think there is going to be an effort to kind of reach out to people who are elderly or disabled so that they can get closer to them during the evacuation. Woodruff patrick mcdonnel, follow following what is supposed to have been a ceasefire attempt, to evacuate people, get relief into the city of homs, thank you. My pleasure, judy. Wooduff over the weekend iran agreed to provide more information to the International Atomic Energy Agency in its long stalled investigatign of suspicions that tehran may have worked on nuclear weapons. A claim that the Islamic State denies. The move comes on the heels of an agreement that iran reached with world powers months ago to curb aspects of its Nuclear Program in exchange for limited sanctions relief. The Obama Administration credits socalled crippling sanctions with bringing the country to the negotiating table. Tonight we take a closer look at the impact of the sanctions as seen inside iran. P. B. S. Newshour correspondent William Brangham reports. One of the first things you notice in tehran is the air. A thick blanket of smog hovers over the city most winter days. Especially when the winds dont blow. Many believe this pollution is yet another way western sanctions are impacting iran. Of course tehran is a busy an congested place so its had pollution for years. But a few years ago when sanctions squeezed irans ability to import refined gas, the government began refining its own much dirtier gas. Since then, the countrys air quality has worsened. The World Health Organization says irans air is often dirtier than shanghais. Facemasks are a regular sight on the streets. According to the New York Times, quote, Irans Health Ministry has reported a rise in respiratory and heart diseases as well as an increase in a variety of cancers that it says are relet related to pollution. In other ways, the impact of International Sanctions on iran isnt so visible. Tehrans stores are full. Shoppers are out in force. And many western goods are available for those who can afford them. This Electronics Mall in downtown tehran carries every latest laptop, ipad and mobile device imaginable. But talk to middle class iranians on the streets and you start to hear a different story. People are walking around, but few are actually spending. Shop keeper hamid who runs a small store in this market in tehran says while things may look fine on the surface, he and his customers are reeling from another one of the main effects sanctions have had on iran. Skyrocketing inflation. Now estimated by many economists to be over 30 . Prices for every day staples of the iranian diet, things like chicken and rice have risen dramaticply in part because of sanctions. He says the cost of goods in his store never seem to stop going up. One example, a single bar of dove soap used to cost about 60 cents. Two years later its almost 2. The price has doubled, twice, three times, four times. So thats made it harder for people to buy things. As western powers have racheted up sanctions on iran to force the nations leaders to curtail their Nuclear Program, economists say the nations economy has been badly damaged. The World Bank Estimates irans gdp contracted 1. 5 last year an almost 3 in 2012. The official Unemployment Rate ranges from 10 to 15 . But most analysts believe its double that, maybe higher for young iranians. This economic this economic pain is made even worse because the local currency, the rial, has lost a huge amount of its value. I think that the main problem has been the mismanagement, both the sanctions make the situation much, much harder. A prominent iranian economistc believes the prior administration, the Ahmadinejad Administration badly mismanaged irans economy, he says western sanctions only compounded the damage. For example, by constraining irans energy exports, isolating the nations banks and freezing billions of dollars in irans oil revenues, he believes sanctions made many middle class iranians poorer. At the moment, the labor force of iran at the moment is 35, to 40 poorer than three, two years ago, in spite of the fact that we have 800 billion u. S. Petro dollar. People are 35 to 40 poorer than they were. Yes. Even though the country has all this money. Yes. I think that sanctions always disproportionately impact the most disadvantaged people in a society. Mark dub vit heads the foundation for the defense of democracies in washington d. C. He believes that economic pain has served a purpose. He points out that irans new president rouhani was elected in large part to fix the economy and to reduce saningzs. Sanctions. And while iranian leaders deny it, he says it was the pain from sanctions that brought iran to the negotiating table in geneva over its Nuclear Program and says sanctions should be decreased. It is to to put a fundamental choice between the survival of his regime an a nuclear weapon. And at the very least, those sanctions have now gotten the iranians to the table and i think most people agree that without those sanctions irans leader would not be negotiating right now. But as we saw on our recent visit, many iranians believe sanctions have impacted them in ways beyond just their wallets. At the doctor hospital in south tehran, a Jewish Charity hospital that cares for mostly poorer iranians, we met a doctor who runs the hospital and also represents iran yae irans Jewish Community in the iranian parliament. Though his hospital got a donation of several hundred thousand gors from the rouhani government a few walks after our visit, he told us because of inflation and irans sag economy which he blamed in part on sanctions, his hospital was deep in debt. Last year about 1 million. 1 million u. S. Dollars. Yes. This year we are more than 2 million u. S. Dollar loss because we want to protect the patients who cannot pay. The doctor says those patients are the rel victims. He says sanctions have hurt his ability to get crucial medicines for them. He says drugs for geriatric patients, those for multiple sclerosis an certain cancers including childhood leukemia are extremely hard to get. Even though the u. S. Treasury department which oversees sanctions in the u. S. Specifically allows for the sale of humanitarian goods like food and medicine, he says that repeated warnings and crackdowns about violating sanctions like the ones announced just last week have scared Many Companies away from doing any business with iran. They say that it does not affect food and drugs but many bumps and most of the bumps in the road a Senior Treasury Department official told us the u. S. Does not target any companies doing Legal Business with iran. Further more, the department argues that sanctions are not responsible for these drug shortages that are being reported in iran. They point to data indicating that exports of pharmaceuticals to iran are rising and not declining. They argue that if there are any shortages in iran, its more likely caused by something within iran itself. Back in iran, the economy has shown small signs of recovery. Inflation dropped a few points in recent months and the Nations Stock Exchange has come to life. Despite that the rouhani government last week was compelled to hand out millions of free food packages to help counteract still skyhigh prices. Whether the economy continues to improve, and what affect it has on irans negotiations with world powers remains to be seen. Woodruff representatives from the United States and other world powers are expected to meet with an iranian delegation in vienna next week to begin talks aimed at reaching a final agreement over the countrys Nuclear Program. Woodruff the n. F. L. Draft isnt until may, but the news the professional Football Player draft isnt scheduled until may but the news today on one prospect has meaning that promises to go far wider in the league an professional sports. I came to tell the world that im an openly proud gay man. University of missouri football star broke the news sunday night in interviewsc with espn outside the lines, the New York Times and out sports. It is a load off my chest. I told my teammates this past august that i came out to my teammates. And they took it great. They rallied around me. Woodruff the all american defensive end now stands to become the National Football leagues first openly gay active player after the draft takes place in may. Sam says he hopes his Sexual Orientation will be a nonissue. It shouldnt matter. If i can if i work hard and make plays that is all that should matter. Can he help us win games. Is he a team play ever the nfl responded with a statement on its web site that said any player with ability and determination can succeed in the nfl. We look forward to welcoming and supporting michael sam in 2014. Carolina panthers runningback dee Angela Williams agreed saying all that matters is winning games and being respectful in the locker room. And today fisct Lady Michelle obama into your locker room. Baggage, so when you think about michael sam, all of a sudden, can the players handle the Media Attention that theyre going to get. Assuming hes drafted, sam will join a small number of professional athletes who have chosen to come out while still playing. Basketball star Britney Greiner did so last year. After she became the number one pick in the Womens National Basketball Association draft. And basketball backup Center Jason Collins came out last april. While where the Washington Wizards of the nba. 35yearold is not playing with a team this season. And michael sam announcement does raise plenty of questions about how the nfl, its players and sam himself will deal with all this. We explore that with wade davis, a former nfl player who came out as gay after he retired. He is the executive director of the you can play project, an Advocacy Group working for equality for lgbt athletes in sports. He spoke with sam before his announcement. And kevin blackstone, a panelist for espn who teaches sport journalism at the university of maryland. We welcome both of you. Wade davis, to you first. You did talk with michael sam help us you know one of the big things that michael wanted to do was get executive teams time to really evaluate him as a player. An also have those hard conversations about what would it mean to draft a gay player. He wasnt trying to hide anything. He also believes that what team wouldnt want a player with a courage and strength that he exhibited. I think that all teams want players who exhibit great leadership and great courage. And thats all that michael has done. Woodruff how important a move do you think this is . I think to a lot of people its an important move. And to michael it was something that was he understood the gravity of it. But he wasnt overwhelmed by it. Woodruff what do you mean . That he understood that this was a big deal as far as being the first openly gay nfl player. But to him, he was just doing something hes always done. Show up with a courageous heart and be himself. Woodruff how do you weigh the significance of this announcement. It is very significant. I think it is more significant for the in fl nfl than for michael sam. A lot of people have asked about the hurdles that he is going to have to cover yom when overcome when he gets in the league. He has said he is very comfortable with who he is. He is a college graduate, hes black. And the third thing is he is gay as if we need to know his Sexual Orientation. He was voted the mvp on his team by his teammates. He was one of the best football layers in the fcc this past year. It is the nfl which has been homophobic for so long. One of the strongest cast ons of homophobia in our society that will have to deal with this. The executives who are going to have to decide whether to brin him into their franchise. Coaches who have to decide how to fit him into the fabric of the team and teammates who are going to have to decide how to embrace him. Those are the real hurdles in this situation. Woodruff well, lets explore that for just a moment. What do you expect . I mean what happens now. The draft as we said is not until may, several months off. What happens at this point. Do the owners who may be interested in him, what within the first thing that is going to happen is he is being to be the center of attention at the nfl combine in april which is when all the draft eligible players hoping to get into the nfl show up and work out for all the scouts and the coaches. Woodruff literally work out. Literally workout. Woodruff show them. And that is a televised event. So this will be the most anticipated nfl combine in the history of the nfl. After he gets through that, will come the draft. And everybody will wait to see whether or not his situation and what he said about his personal life impacts what the rest of the league and the teams and the coaches and executives think about them. Already today, not more than 24 hours into this story, weve already heard rumors about this guy, michael sam, the fec definsive player of the year, by far the best College Football conference in the country, that his draft status has started to slip simply because of this announcement. Woodruff wade davis, do you think thats the case . That his draft status, i know its speculation but what is your sense of that . I would disagree with michael, a little bit. I think that, im sorry, kevin. I think that we make these broad assumptions that the nfl is a home phobic placement but what ive experienced since i have come out and the work that ive been allowed to do with the nfl has been graechlt you know, i think that what happens is that we dont see players who are out, and we make this broad assumption that they must be out because this place is homophobic am but players werent hout in college. Players were out in high school. So that speaks more about what our country needs to do as a whole more than it does what is wrong with the nfl. And you know, im also a person that knows that players in the nfl have to deal with players of different races, different classes, different religions and they make it work. And it is not cotton candy and lollipops, right. But it is a time when players have friction and they can make fun of each other. At the protect each other from everyone else. And i think that sam has proven that by playing in the sec in one of the toughest conferences that his teammates accepted him. And these are the same players who will be playing on sunday. So i think that we do have to give athletes a lot more credit and say hey, some of them may be homophobic but a lot of them have gay brothers, gay sisters and cousins and have experienced playing with someone who is gay. Woodruff kevin blackstone, do you think attitudes could be changing . I think when he tochs on something here, i was talking to a friend of mine who has a lot to do with the league. And he pointed out that you know, the league is a very young league and it has been getting younger year after year after year. And that there are a lot more players now who have played with gay players, maybe in high school, certainly have gay friends that they know from high school and college, that sort of thing. And so maybe they are a little bit more tolerant than their predecessors. Having said that, i still believe that the nfl has been and is a home phobic operation, given the fact that the only people we know of who have been gay and played in the league are people who have come out afterwards to say that they survived that environment. So hopefully michael sam can change that environment. Woodruff wade davis, is michael sam prepared, again based on your talking with him, is he what is he prepared to says in the months to come . Well, first of all, he doesnt think he is going to face anything that he didnt already face in college. You know i would say probably 20 to 30 of the nfl is made up of guys who played in the sfec. So its not like he came from a small school. And he also was the captain of his team. So he knows what it is like to be a leader. He knows what it is like to deal with adversity. Hes also understanding that its also his responsibility to protect his teammates. That there is going to be a player or two that may something homophobic but he is to the going to run to the principal or media and said hey this guy said this, this guy said that, these guys will be his brother, will earn their trust by playing off the field and showing up as other player does off the field. Woodruff all right, we have to leech it there, it is a subject i know we will spend more time on. But tonight wade davis, kevin blackstone. Thank you so much. Woodruff as u. S. And russian athletes compete head to head on snow and ice in sochi a new book looks at their broader competition for global influence. Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Margaret Warner talked to the author today as a proud rurban president Vladimir Putin presided over the opening of the sochi olympics friday night, notably absent were president obama or Vice President biden. Putin in and warb ton are at odds over a sigh limb asylum for Edward Snowden, the unrest in ukraine, how to handle syria and iran an gay rights in rougha. In russia. In fact u. S. Russia relationship has been on a roller coasterive ever since the 1991 collapse of the soviet union. Despite the of thes of four successive u. S. President s, george h. W. Bush, bill clinton, george w. Bush and president obama, to reset it. A new book the limits of partnership, u. S. Russia relations in the 21st century seeks to explain why. The author is angela stent who served in the state department and on the National Intelligence council under president s clinton and george w. Bush. Angela stent, welcome. Years ago you had an encounter with Vladimir Putin that revealed why these games are so important to him. We certainly did. So im part of a group. And weve met with mr. Putin for the last ten years. Weve had dinner with him, occasionally lunch. And this tame was 2007 just after russia had won the olympic games. And we stood overlooking the beautiful black sea on this spectacular ter ace in his government mansion there. And he explained to us that this was to show that russia, you know, had come back. That the 1990s and all the humiliation was over, that this was going to be a worldclass games and this was going to be a very important moment in the sun for russia. Warner and is that, that passion of his, that desire of his to have russia recognized that way, is that really at the none of the theme of this book, why its been so hard to forge a Productive Partnership since the end of the cold war . It certainly has. Most russias look back on the 1990s and see this as a time of human il yag an chaos where the u. S. Was able to quote, unquote, dictate to russia what it should do. Putins claim to fame, his appeal to his population is that he brought russia back. That russia is now again a great power. And also that russia really offers a different model to the world. Warner what dow mean a different model . Putin has now claimed a turf for russia saying that russia is sort of the leader of a new conservative international system. He blames the United States and the europeans for having lost their way. That russia is now the harbinger of traditional family values. And he also appeals to the islamic world for that. And that in fact russia is now the harbinger of true christian values. And that it respects the absolute sovereignty of other countries. It doesnt go around the world telling other countries how they should live what kind of political system they should have. And he blames the United States and the europeans for behaving like the soviet union and trying to impose their value system and their political system on other countries. Warner so in the four resets or attempt to reset the relationship between the president and russian president , has the u. S. Always been laboring under a basic miscon seg of where russia wanted to go . I think that is part of the problem. Its a very big part of it. That in the 90s we really thought that russia wanted to become like the west, wanted to adopt our values, our political system. It became increasingly clear that it didnt. The russians have always wanted from us an equal partnership of unequals. We havent understood that or we havent been willing to accept that as a condition of improving the relationship. And thats been a huge problem for the last 22 years. Warner well, lets take one example. And this is with george w. Bush right after 9 11 in which putin sudden leigh saw the chance for this sort of counterterrorism alliance. Why did that went sour. I think that went sour because again we had very different expectations of the third reset which i would say was actually putins reset. Putin i thought, i believe thought that the u. S. Would recognize russia as an equal, a strategic partner, that it had special rights in its neighborhood, served privilege interests. The former soviet states. And that we would cease to sort of tell russia or suggest to russia how it should run its domestic system or criticize it for its lack of democracy an human rights. We i think have other expectations. And so by the end, this whole relationship was in tatters because the russians looked to nato in largement to the Baltic States and looked at the freedom agenda of the Bush Administration which was also directed towards russia and so that the expectations were really mismatched then. Warner and lets look at the relationship between president obama and president putin, his return to office. And take just one example, which was russia granting asylum to Edward Snowden. Now how does that fit into what russia is trying to do . Well, was it more than just wanting to stick a thumb in the eye of president obama . Well, i think for putin this was a golden opportunity when Edward Snowden landed in hong kong and needed somewhere to go and went to moscow and then stayed there. Because putin was able to say, ah, the United States, youre criticizing us for lack of democracy. Youre criticizing us for the way we treated protestors against me, against Vladimir Putin and criticizing us for spying on our citizens. What are you doing. Youre doing just what we are doing or even much more than that. So it was a great propaganda opportunity for him. Warner secretary of state kerry is working very hard right now to work with russia on certain specific issues, say irans Nuclear Program or the conflict in syria. What will it take to at least have a productive, selective partnership if not a full one . Well, the Partnership Works when we Work Together on these multilateral issues where we both have a very important stake in their outcome. So syria, iran, the greater middle east in general and actually, posts 2014 afghanistan. And it works because were quite realistic there that we have common interests, and we eschew commenting on what is happening domestically in russia. Again looking ahead to the future, to what can degree do you think Vladimir Putin actually represents the aspirations of the russian people, including all those russians who came out to demonstrate against him. Is he a throwback or is this really the russia of the future that we need to get used to . I think putin represents the aspirations of about half of the russian population. Who support i support a strong state, a stoning leader and want to see russia back on the world scene, and not necessarily accepting, embracing western values or even interests. He does not represent the aspirations of the educated urban elite who would like to live in a more modern society. But even those people, even a lot of the younger urban elites do want to see russia as a Strong International player. They have national pride. But i would i done think that this represents the russia of the future. I think that there will be slow evolution in russia. That russia will eventually become a more modern and probably a more Democratic Society on russian terms. But its going to take a very long time. Warner angela stent, thank you. Woodruff finally tonight, a classical art form meets cuttingedge technology. Jeffrey brown has the story. They remember their parts. In the future there will be robots. But there will also be op riarch the power of technology joined with the human imagination. Reporter that, at least, is one message from the opera death and the powers. By composer, computer scientist, and futurist tod machover. A lot of my work has been about humanizing technology and making technology, especially in music, an extension of human gesture. Reporter machovers opera tells the story of simon powers, a successful businessman seeking immortality through immortality through technology. By downloading his mind and spirit into a Computer Program called the system. Now, stay with us here because his essence becomes incorporated into physical objects. Robots line up on stage, representing each of the main characters of the show. During the prologue and epilogue, they also serve as a kind of greek chorus. All that is left on planet earth. Once every year they gather to remember and tell the story of simon powers even though they have no real knowledge of human emotion. They are moved about by ipads and remote controls using Cutting Edge Software such as a position tracking system and 3d visualization. Nature is the begettor of within and newer ones about the technology. The great thing about technology is that it allows us to be more human, to extend what we really want to express and what we really want to do. And hopefully to connect to people more deeply. Oh my god thats unbelieveable. Today todds professional home is the opera of the future group at the mit media lab. Where he and his team created the software that launched the popular guitar hero video game. He and his current team of graduate students play to their Hearts Content exploring sound, inventing new instruments. During during our visit, the team was working on its latest challenge. Death and the powerswhich had its premier in 2010 and was nominated for a pultizer prize is now being presented at the winspear opera house in dallas. But this time it includes a simulcast in ten cities around the world. And this being the media lab not just any simulcast, but a new kind of experience in itself. With interactive features that allow remote viewers to take in the opera from a variety of viewpoints including from inside the robotsto impart what its like from simons point of view within the system. Sensors attached to powers will translate his voice, breath and physical gestures to the entire set, including a computer controlled chandelier as he tries to entice his loved ones to join him in the system. Peter torpey, a post doctoral associate, was testdriving some of the programs. Within we are seeking that affect neek of translating the singers performance, off stage performance and affecting everything that odd yens see so we can put that in the hands of mobile devices and affect the view that they have of the performance. This is one performance where you are actually asked to turn your smart phone on, an app used by remote audiences will flash images that occupy the mind of the main character and buzz participants during key moments audiences in dallas will have other ways to experiment with how music is experienced. Doctoral student elly jessop showed us the sensor chair, that will be installed in the opera house lobby, attempting to measure expressivity. Weve always been interested in not just developing technologies for virtuosos, for opera singers, for professional cellists, but then to say once you know what does it mean to be expressive, how do you track that . How do you take that and make a form that anybody can experience . So from 21st century lab to 18th sentry thats right. Both part of your life within theyre both pretty deeply part of my life, yeah. Ten years ago machover converted an old barn in suburban boston into a studio where he works on his compositions the old wood framing the computer screens and loudspeakers. Hes currently composing a symphony for perth, australia. Or perhaps better to say with perth, australia. This is the third in a series of collaborative city symphonies in which the public uses online tools to record sounds that are incorporated into a musical portrait of the city. He played us a bit of the work in progress his cello accompanied by computer. Hes also now working on a new collaboration, called vocal vibrations, with several scientists and a buddhist monk. It explores the connection between the human voice, through its vibrations and ones mental and physical health. How can music help with depression, with changing mood . How can we help people express themselves, maybe somebody who has physical limitations like someone with cerbral palsy who cant speak is there a way that i can build an instrument so that people can speak through music. Questions for the future. In the meantime, with a performance coming up, it was the health of the operabots that was uppermost for machover and his team. At a rehearsal in a church near the lab, bob hsuiung, known as robot bob, said the machines which are tightly choreographed were showing some of their personality quirks. There are a couple that are troublesome, like we know this one tends to jitter and we dont really know why. Hes maybe just nervous hell get over it, no doubt. And this opera of the future will go on. Wooduff again, the major developments of the day. Businesses again won more time to comply with the president S Health Care law before facing tax penalties. Firms with 50 to 99 employees will get an extra year, until january 2016. And the syrian peace talks resumed, even as 300 more civilians were evacuated from the besieged city of homs. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff, well see you online. And again here tomorrow evening. For all of us here at the pbs newshr, 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. 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 nightly Business Report with Tyler Mathisen and susie gharib brought to you in part by. Thestreet. Com. Founded by jim cramer, thestreet. Com is an independent source for stock market analysis. Cramers action alert plus service is home to his multi Million Dollar portfolio. You can learn more at the street. Com nbr. Loving it . Not last month, not in the u. S. But mcdonalds sales were strong in china where the Worlds Largest restaurant chain is working hard to beef up its business in that important market. The clock is ticking, time is running short for congress to raise the nations borrowing limit. Tonight, House Republicans are meeting. What is on the agenda and what could come of it . Financial security, aols ceo altered the