Psychiatrists are really yearning to have something that works differently, that works quickly, that lasts longer, to add to their tool box. Its really important to do that. Woodruff all that and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by love me tender love me true we can like many, but we can love only a precious few. Because it is for those precious few that you have to be willing to do so very much. But you dont have to do it alone. Lincoln financial helps you provide for and protect your financial future, because this is what you do for people you love. Lincoln financial youre in charge. Bnsf railway. Xq institute. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention. In the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. 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 this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff day three of the First White House work week, and the focus today turned to the southern border. President trump moved to make good on longpromised action to stop illegal crossings. Weve been talking about this right from the beginning. Woodruff the department of Homeland Security was the backdrop for getting tough on immigration. The president signed two executive orders one to start work on completing a wall along the mexican border. You folks know how badly needed it is. As a help, but badly needed. This will also help mexico, by deterring illegal immigration from Central America, and by disrupting Violent Cartel networks. Woodruff the wall was a signature promise from the campaign, and so was his insistence about who will foot the bill. Whos gonna pay for the wall . Audience mexico not even a doubt. Woodruff today, before signing off on the wall, mr. Trump told abc news that while construction could begin within months, mexico will not be paying up front and we will be, in a form, reimbursed by mexico. Which ive always said reporter so theyll pay us back . Yeah, absolutely. 100 . Reporter so the american taxpayer will pay for the wall at first . All it is, is, well be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from mexico. Woodruff but at the announcement, the president said construction would start immediately. Mexican president pena nieto has insisted his government will not pay for a wall, but he is due to visit washington next week, and mr. Trump said today he is optimistic about that meeting. By working together on a positive trend, safe borders, and economic cooperation, i truly believe we can enhance the relation between our two nations, to a degree not seen before, certainly, in a very, very long time. Woodruff the president also acted today to boost the number of Border Patrol and immigration agents; and strip federal funding from socalled sanctuary cities that shield undocumented immigrants from arrest or detention. In addition, he moved to end the practice of taking undocumented immigrants into custody but then releasing them with orders to report in later. Beyond immigration, the president was busy today on other matters. With a series of tweets, he said he will announce his nominee for the u. S. Supreme court vacancy, on february 2; he promised to order an investigation into alleged voter fraud; and, he threatened to send in federal authorities to curb chicagos record surge of gun violence. In response, chicagos mayor rahm emanuel said today he would welcome federal help chicago, like other cities right now that are dealing with gun violence, wants the partnership with federal Law Enforcement in a more significant way than we have it today, whether thats the f. B. I. , the d. E. A. The Drug Enforcement agency and the a. T. F. Woodruff tomorrow, the president heads to philadelphia to address the Congressional Republican retreat. The white house indicates he will also announce steps in coming days to restrict refugees entering the u. S. A senior mexican official now says that president pena nieto is considering canceling his trip to washington, because of the order to start work on the border wall. Well focus in detail on mr. Trumps immigration orders, and on his call for investigating voter fraud, after the news summary. In the days other news, the white house distanced itself from news reports that it may order a major review of handling terror suspects. The reports said a draft executive order could allow for renewed use of banned interrogation methods, and for reopening socalled black site prisons outside the u. S. President ial Spokesman Sean Spicer said it was not a white house document, but he declined to say more. A big day on wall street, as the Dow Jones Industrial average, for the first time, broke the 20,000 barrier. The dow gained 155 points, to close at 20,068. The nasdaq rose nearly 55 points, and the s p 500 added 18. Stocks surged from the start, as strong earnings and President Trumps promise of deregulation and tax cuts sparked the rally. Companies may have less cost related to whether its compliance or regulation and that frees quite a bit of the earnings at the bottom line, and they can use some of that to reinvest, and invest in capital, and spread it to dividends going to shareholders. Woodruff the Broader Market is also passing milestones. Both the s p and the nasdaq have had a series of record closings lately. In somalia, islamist fighters attacked a hotel thats popular with the countrys lawmakers. The government said at least 11 people were killed. The citys ambulance director said 28 died. It happened in the capital, mogadishu. The extremist Alshabab Group claimed responsibility. Four attackers rammed a car bomb into the hotels gates, and then stormed the compound. Police eventually ended the siege, killing all of the militants. Hope dimmed today in italy, in the search for survivors of an avalanche last week. Officials confirmed 25 dead, as rescue workers pulled out more bodies. But crews continued digging through the snow, looking for the four people still missing. Meanwhile, italys Prime Minister admitted to parliament there were delays in the response. translated if there are responsibilities for the tragedy tragedy, the investigations will clear this up. The government certainly doesnt fear the truth, but the truth helps us do better, not to poison the debate. It is in our hands to make sure that once the disaster has past, further injustice is not created. Woodruff as the Prime Minister spoke, residents of quakestruck areas marched towards italys parliament, protesting the handling of the crisis. Still to come on the newshour full analysis on the Trump Administrations latest moves, including efforts to build a wall on the mexico border; the unsubstantiated claim that three Million People voted illegally; an alleged crackdown on federal agencies communication with the public; remembering Mary Tyler Moore, and much more. Woodruff we take a deeper look now at President Trumps executive actions on immigration and Border Security, with Marielena Hincapie, the executive director of the National Immigration law center, an immigrant rights group; and jessica vaughan, from the center for immigration studies, which advocates for tougher Border Security. And we welcome boft you to the program. Marielena, i will start with you. Overall reaction to what the president had to say today . Well, judy, we are we find this announcement today as an extremist policy. I think president Trumps Campaign rhetoric that was antiimmigrant, xenophobic, antirefugee, antimuslim today is becoming a harsh reality. And its is he its sending a message of great fear to immigrant communities across the country. Woodruff jessica vaughan, reaction it to what he had to say overall . This is a very impressive set of actions. He really went big. But that is what was needed to restore integrity to our immigration system, and to not only secure the border but also restart interior enforcement which has collapsed in the last few years and shine that not only do we need Border Security but it has to be backed up by policies that make sure that people cannot game our system. You know, the end to the catch and release system thats been in place for the last few years is going to make a big difference in deterring future illegal immigration. And thats important. We need it to start sending that message to people that they arent going to be able to get away with just getting to the United States, getting in, and then being home free from enforcement. Woodruff let me pick up on that and ask Marielena Hincapie about that. What about the so called catch and release. They were stopping people, arresting them, letting them go and said come back for a Certain Court date. The reason that people are being allowed to go in front of an immigration judge is because pean people from Central America in the last couple of areas were people who once they went before an immigration judge were able to show that they had a credible fear and they were eligible for asylum. This is a country where we believe that every Single Person should have their fair day in urt could. That is no different in our immigration system. The problem is we have a very disfunctional immigration system. Very few Immigration Judges that in fact one of the things that President Trump has done is to freeze all federal hires and that includes Immigration Judges. Woodruff so jessica vaughan, if it is a system that could have been working, if there were enough people, enough federal employees to make it work, why then dismant tell and go back and say we wont release you in i more . Well, the system has been exploited and too many cases dumped on the immigration courts that should never have been there. There are other forms of due process that i ice could have been using and the Border Patrol could have been using all these years that would have been resolved much more quickly and used less resourcesnd brought about a quicker resolution to the case for the illegal immigrant. But whats going to happen now is theyre going to put resources at the border so that the Border Patrol can resolve these cases. There will be asylum officers and Immigration Judges there so that any applications for asylum can be dealt with very quickly. What we wont see is tens of thousands of people admitted into the country who then skip out on their immigration hearings or are not successful in getting asylum. But then just disappear into the woodwork and ice is told not to go looking for them. That is what makes our system so disfunctional now and thats what is going to change under knees actions. Woodruff Marielena Hincapie, one of the things the president announced was hiring more Border Patrol agents, more immigration officials, why isnt that a good thing in order to enforce the law . We tully already have a lot of both Border Patrol agents and immigration agents. What is happening, judy, is one is a lot of what was announced today particularly with respect to the wall, particularly with respect to the number of Border Patrol and immigration agents frankly is political thee at ricks, none of that is going to go into effect without congressional appropriations, more money, more federal spending. And it is us as taxpayers that will pay for all of that. Part of what was really troubling about todays announcements is as jessica eng amed, its not just at the border but at the interior, the ors begin, the executive order today begins by saying that every individual, right, were talking about the 11 million undocumented immigrants are considered a National Security threat, a Public Safety threat. That includes people who are taking care of our children, it includes people who are picking our fruits and vegetables, it includes people who are serving us at restaurants. Those are not individuals who are, in fact, National Security threats. They are our neighbors, they are part of our families. Woodruff i want to ask you both about the wall. But before i do that, let me ask you jessica vaughan, did the president sebd a signal today every one of these whether its 11 or 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country are a threat . No, i dont think thats what is being said at all. Sunday the law, of course, anyone who is here illegally is potentially subject to deportation. But these orders focus very clearly on defer deterg illegal immigration, dealing very quickly with people who cross the border illegally and enforcing the law in the interior of the country with criminal aliens being the top priority. So that is appropriate 6789 thats smart enforcement. Thats what has been missing for the last eight years. And yes, enforcement costs money but illegal immigration and tolerated illegal immigration costs much more. The National Academy of science has found that its Something Like 50 billion a year that goes to services to illegal alien headed households. And its about time that we get back on track and start enforcing the law again. Thats what the public expects. Thats why they voted for donald trump in part. Woodruff you want to respond quickly to that. Well ask about that. Thats not what has been missing. Judy. Under president obama he was focusing on people with criminal convictions, what is different here is in addition to focusing on individuals with criminal convictions, this executive order actually says that individuals who have been charged with a crime even if they havent been convicted, even someone who may have done something that is qured to be a crime would be priorities foreign coresment. Again, that is deeply troubling in a country when we believe that people are innocent until proven guilty, due process is critical to both our criminal Justice System and our immigration. Woodruff only a minute left. On the wall, the president said throughout the campaign this was something going to be paid for by mexico. Today they he said at least initially the taxpayers will pay for it. Did you want him to go farther than that . Is this what you expected . This is pretty much what i expected. It will take time to raise the revenue from other sources, whether its mexico or illegal aliens or, you know, through remittances or withheld tax refunds or visiona fees or what have you. There are lots of different ways to raise that revenue. But i think congress is very willing and the public is very willing to put taxpayer funds up front to get this enforcement going right away. And to improve security at the border. Because as i said, its a lot more expensive not to enforce the law. Woodruff very quick, ten seconds on the wall. This is political thee at ricks, judy. Mexico was never going to pay for this wall. We as taxpayers are now stuck with that bill. Everything that has been announced by President Trump is extreme, its expensive and ineffective. Woodruff we are going to continue to it look at. This we know more bb unfolding in the days to come on the question of immigration. Marielena, hine cappy, jessica vaughan, thank you. Thank you. Woodruff turning now to another initiative from the president , this one about the integrity of our elections. Mr. Trump has again repeated the unproven claim that millions of illegal votes were cast in the last election, and now he says he will order a federal investigation to look into it. William brangham has that story. Were in a rigged system, folks. Were in a rigged system. They even want to try and rig the election at the polling booths. Brangham he made it a rallying cry during his president ial campaign. Now, having won the white house, President Trump is raising the issue yet again. On twitter today, he announced, i will be asking for a Major Investigation into voter fraud. Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures this follows his remarks to congressional leaders on monday, where, in a closeddoor meeting, the president repeated his claim that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote only because of three to five million illegal votes being cast for her. In fact, there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the president ial election last fall. And whats more previous studies have found no such evidence going back to 2000. Top republicans, including House Speaker paul ryan, underscored that point yesterday ive seen no evidence to that effect. Ive made that very, very clear. Brangham South Carolina republican Lindsey Graham went further, telling the president to knock it off. If the president of the United States is claiming that 3. 5 Million People voted illegally, that shakes confidence in our democracy. He needs to disclose why he believes that. Brangham still, the president persists, as his white house spokesman, sean spicer, acknowledged on tuesday he continues to maintain that belief. Brangham and, President Trumps pick for attorney general, senator Jeff Sessions said at his confirmation hearing this month that he believes we regularly have fraudulent activities occur during election cycles. Today, white house spokesman spicer said the investigation that the president wants is about the integrity of the system. Theres a lot of people that are dead on rolls, there are people that are voting or on the rolls in two different states, sometimes in three different states. I think taking the necessary steps to study and to track what we can do to understand the scope of the problem, and secondly, what we can do to stop the problem going forward, is clearly in the best interest. Brangham senator Bernie Sanders and leading democrats fired back that the president is actually telling republicans to accelerate voter suppression, with stricter voter i. D. Laws. Spicer acknowledged today that expanding controversial voter i. D. Laws could be one outcome of the investigation. For more on the president s unproven allegations and his call for an investigation, im joined now by rick hasen. Hes a law professor at the university of californiairvine and writes the electionlaw blog; and by alex padilla, who is californias secretary of state. Hes a democrat, and he oversees elections there. Gentlemen, welcome to to you both. Rick hasen, i would like to start with you. The allegation on the table is that three or four or five Million People voted illegally in this last election. Is there any evidence that that went on . Theres no evidence that that went on. There is no evidence even the thousands or even hundreds of illegal voteds were cast. And you know, think about five Million People involved in a conspiracy that no one has been able to detect, even in those states with republican secretaries of state that are looking out for this kind of fraud that is supposedly happening, it is just a ludicrous idea. If you were going do this and engage in this vast conspiracy you think you would be able to actually swing the results of the election and put 10 or 20,000 more votes in michigan, in pennsylvania t is a ludicrous accusation. Secretary of state padilla, same question to you, you oversaw an election in the biggest state of the country. How much Election Fraud did you see in your state . I can honestly tell that you we have zero evidence of any noncitizens voting in the november election here in the state of california. We take voter fraud very seriously and invite anybody that has information about irregularities or wrongdoing to bring it forward. And were happy to look into it it i extended that offer to team 2ru6r7 back in november. And that offer still stands. But like rick mentioned, theres zero evidence of this happening. Heres what my bigger concern is. I think the more that President Trump and the Administration Calls into question the integrity of the elections, theyre simply setting the stage for proposed changes to policy and changes to law that will follow, that will take our country backwards as it pertains to voting rights. And we need to push back every step of the way. Mr. Pad ilia staying with padilla, a lot of conservatives will argue if you dont need to have an i. D. To prove you are who you say you are when they vote, couldnt there be wide spread voter fraud and you just dont know about it. There are a lot of hypotheticals that people would like to kind of put out there to create the concern, to create the doubt. But the fact of the matter is, voter fraud isnt something we just started paying attention to in this november election it is a question that coming up in each and every election cycle. There has been study after study. Report after report, investigation after investigation, and inn a variety of sectors that all conclude the same thing. Voter fraud, maybe very, very isolated but at the end of the day, it is nearly nonexistent. Rick, question for you, sean spicer today tried to seemingly dial down the accusations that donald trump had made. And he said that the investigation, if it goes forward, will look at things like dead people on the voter rolls or rolls or people being registered in two different state, interesting today, it turned out the president s daughter, his commerce secretary pick and his councillor steve bannon were themselves all registered to vote in two different states. But those things happening, dead people on voter rolls or registering in two states, is that evidence of fraud . No, there is occasional fraud. But almost all of these accusations turn out to be either bureaucratic incompetence or voter error. A few years ago there was a answer sayingsal sensational statements from North Carolina that bees to of dead people were voting. When investigated they found not one involved voter fraud. Mostly what they involved was either a mistake where say a senior was confused for a junior, or a voter signed on the wrong line in the poll book. And there is a lot of dead wood. A lot of people move from one state to another, that may be what is happening with some of the people in the Trump Administration. And their old registration is not canceledment but we have very little evidence of people engaging in, certainly impersonation fraud which you mentioned earlier, double voting, very rare. The kind of fraud that does happen when it does happen tends to be absentee ballot fraud and that is the one kind of fraud i have not heard donald trump mentioning anything about trying to cut down on. If we really cared about fraud, that would be number one on the list and its not even on the list, apparently. Secretary padilla, we often see after accusations of voter frawt very soon after there are attempts to crack down, to pass stiffer voting i. D. Laws. Do you expect to see that in the wake of this investigation . Thats frankly my biggest fear here. You know, we have heard allegations starting in november about rampant voter fraud with not a shred of evidence or proof to back it up. Now we are hearing not just those allegations yet again but now a call for a Major Investigation to use his words. An investigation based on allegations that are not based in reality or in any evidence whatsoever. Thats where we are today. And like i said, if this is simply setting the tone for going backwards on voting rights, in america, that is something that we ought to be concerned about. And be prepared to push back on. Because weve seen the play book. Look what has happened in state after state after state across the country. Overly aggressive, purging of voter roles. Very creatively written voter i. D. Laws. The elimination or significant reduction of early voting opportunities. Making it harder for american citizens to be registered to vote and to actually cast a ballot. Thats unpatriotic in my opinion, unamerican and undemocratic. Rick hasen, lets say this investigation that has been called for by the Trump Administration goes forward, could it be a good thing . If so, how would like it to unfold . Well, i think if we had an investigation into the extent to which there is voter fraud and suppression, and we had it with bypartisan well respected people in charge as we had in 20 2 thousand or in 2004 with carter and james baker or in 2008 when we approximate ben ginsburg, bob balance ard, two republican and democratic elections, if we had professionals, Election Administrators involved and we looked at the whole picture, do these laws suppress more votes than prevent than the amount of fraud they prevent, i think that would be a great thing. I just dont think that that is what Donald Trumps administration is going to set up. So i dont have a lot of confidence that the investigation would be a full, fair investigation on a bipartisan basis that really looks at evidence to get to the truth. I would offer two things, if i may. Short term it, if for the president really was interested about the integrity of the november election that just took place, you ought to pick up the intelligence briefing. The Intelligence Community is unanimous in their feendings that there was foreign interference with our election in november, the president should acknowledge that and act on that. Longer term frk the Trump Administration really wants to be helpful and the Republican Congress really wants to be helpful, there would be another round of election fungd. The last time there was significant investment in to how we conduct elections came in the wake of florida 2 thousand. Congress acted on a bipartisan basis, put moneys out to the state for the upgrade of our voting systems. But those systems are now more than a decade old. And as the center and other bipartisan commissions have told us, that is probably the ticking time bomb threat to our elections, are we need to invest in new equipment. All right, alex padilla, secretary of state of california and rick hasen, u. S. Irvine u c irvine, thank you both very much. Thank you. Woodruff stay with us. Coming up on the newshour using psychedelic drugs to treat illness; and remembering Mary Tyler Moore. But first, one other story that is getting much attention about these first few days of the Trump Administration. Are Government Agencies being silenced from their normal way of communicating with the public . And is this administration going further than its predecessors . Jeffrey brown has the story. Brown reports continued today from several news outlets, that the Trump Administration has tried to limit the flow of information out of key Government Agencies many involved in environmental and scientific research. Among them, according to the washington post, Associated Press and others, the Environmental Protection agency, where staff are reportedly banned from sending press releases, or posting to the agencys social media accounts. Similar orders were allegedly issued within the departments of interior and agriculture. Officials from the u. S. D. A. Later told reporters the order was improperly issued and not cleared by senior leadership. Meanwhile, at the white house today, press Secretary Sean Spicer disputed the broader claims altogether. No, no, theres nothing thats come from the white house. Brown in a separate interview with npr, however, a spokesman for the Trump Transition Team at the e. P. A. Did say Agency Scientists will likely have their research reviewed on a case by case basis before being released publicly. Brown Juliet Eilperin has been looking into these developments for the washington post. She joins us now. A certain amount of confusion at this point. How much do we know about whether the administration is attempting to silence these agencies . Well, there are certainly some agencies where there has been clear efforts by new members of the administration who are restricting the communication. Now other administrations have also thought to get everyone on the same page. They think these new Administration Officials seem to be going further and in some cases theyre quite restrictive. So just you know it kind of depends on a kaition by case basis but there is no question that there is a clampdown on direction communication with the public and some of these questions. Before i ask you for an example, go back to that comparison. There is always a normal change over, right . So does this look more like a temporary pause in these agencies or is this on a different scale . It certainly seems to be more severe in termsz of some individual agencies. And also because of advances in technology, theyre simply more forms of communication. There werent, you know, tons of twitter accouck when the Obama Administration took over. So you know, it is certainly being done in a visible way and it is affecting more platforms and that is something that is different. So take an example. A lot of focus on the epa, for example, restricting social media, when papers can be published. Some talk now about whether there is a ve view of the website, specifically about the Climate Change information there. What do we know so far . At that agency, its very clear that you have officials who are restricting the level of communication, both in terms of, again, these social media accounts, press releases, other kinds of communication. As well as the fact that they are indicating on the record that they will regulate kind of what communications scientists can have with the public in certain instances, so that is something that is significant. Now in term its of the website which is something we have been looking very carefully into, the epa has many web pages devoted to climate, sharing data, thins like that, there was an effort to explore taking it down and career staff there resisted. And as a result, they are now not going to do that. But that did happen, there was this effort but it was reversed later on. Brown you heard sean spicer say today it is not a white house effort. Where would it be coming from if not from there . Could it be the agencies themselves sort of taking proactive steps . It seems like its a combination of new appointees in some of these agencies. And to some extent career officials responding to what they think are messages they might have gotten from the add administering more broadly, sean spicer as you noted and explained is on the record saying they are not directing this. But there is no question that this is something that certainly has transpired since President Trump has taken office. Brown and to go from the epa to other agencies, a Common Thread or some of the focus clearly is on scientific data, specifically around Climate Change, correct . Right, that is something that certainly surfaced atu sda although again they reversed themselves over time. What is interesting about the interior department is they are restricting a huge amount of communication including with say tribes which usually usually can raise questions of sovereignty it is not just a question of a tweet which is kind of one of the things sean spicer was talking about, it is really about how are you communicating, whether its your research or your policies to the broader public. And are you able to talk to people inside these agencies . What kind of concerns are you hearing . Many of the career are quite scared right now. There is no question. Now i think well see how this plays out. Again there have been these tensions early on in previous administrations and so what we are looking for are what are the decisions, past this initial flurry of activity that will really set the ground rules for to what extend extent can federal officials share what they know and what they are finding out whether its through the media or directly. Juliet eilperin with the washington most, thanks so much. Thanks, jeff. Woodruff we turn now to congress. Republican members of the house and senate are in philadelphia today for their annual retreat. They are trying to outline an ambitious agenda to accomplish in the next 200 days, and setting the tone for how they will work with President Trump and his administration. Our Lisa Dejardins is there. First off we lead off tonights program with the announcements by the president today having to do with cracking down on illegal immigration. Of course one big element of that is the border wall. We know members of congress especially the republicans are looking at how to pay for that. Have they come up with an answer . There is some news. This is not definitive yet but a plan seems to be emerging, judy, House Speaker paul ryan gathered republicans today, that they should consider possibly a supplemental spending bill, via separate spending bill devoted just to Homeland Security and maybe some military spending. Now a caveat here, that request has to still come from the president. This looks like the mechanism. The question about this bill are what is in it, probably a border wall. Probably all of those border and custom agents that the president wants. We dont have a price tag yet. Also no clear way how they would pay for it. But the idea seems to be to get that bill off the ground and maybe pass within the next two months. Lisa, you have been reminding us republicans in congress tackling a number of complicated issues, what to do about them, taxes, health care. Theyve been divided among themselves over what to do. Now that they are getting closer to the flity gritty working out the details, are they coming closer together by agreement. I spoke to so many republicans today, judy. And there is certainly a will but the way is not clear yet on many of these issues. There is still major divide over big things like medicaid and also over some clear just issues of process. How many bills does it take to accomplish all of this. How long does it take to do it. There is one thing though that seems to be at least on the tracks, a deadly for when the actual final repeal bill moved through congress. The house says they want their bill all the way done and voted on in the next month. That is just the repeal, not the replace, but that would be a major step. So finally lisa, we know the president is making news on a number of fronts today, issuing executive orders on a variety of things. Hes been tweeght, hes been doing interviews and one of the things that came out late this afternoon, in an interview he did with abc news has to do with his belief, he is stating his belief again that enhanced interrogation which is one way of saying torture, he believes, can be affective with terror suspects. On some of these are things like this and other executive actions and statements by the president , what affect are they having on these conversations among republicans . Absolutely. Look at the program we have had tonight. All of the issues that you have brought up tonight have landed on republicans laps coming from the House White House in this retreat. This is not what they wanted to talk about but they have been talking about it. And on torture there is some divide among republicans, for example, i asked senator john thu ne. He said that is a divided shoorks that torture is unlawful but others liz chainy, daughter of dick cheney says she thinks its not that simple. So there is some divide on that. That is what republicans are asked about today, its not really what they wanted to talk about. Woodruff fascinating, Lisa Desjardins on top of it all in philadelphia. Thank you, lisa. Woodruff now, why some psychiatrists and researchers are giving psychedelic drugs a second look as a possible way of treating depression and some mental illnesses. The idea had been shunned for years. But now, some say a time for larger trials with the drugs are due. Miles obrien has the story, for our weekly segment on the leading edge of science. I was diagnosed with post Traumatic Stress disorder in fort campbell. Reporter c. J. Hardin is a former Army Helicopter mechanic and machine gunner, who faced imminent death in iraq, and also after he got home. The way that my emotions ran, and how it felt uncontrollable. I didnt trust myself having a weapon around me because i was suicidal, very suicidal at that point. Reporter years of pills and talk therapy failed to help his post Traumatic Stress disorder. So he turned to a surprising alternative at the center of a revolution in neuroscience and medicine. So this is the m. D. M. A. That we use for the current study. Hardin took m. D. M. A. , more commonly known as ecstasy, under the watchful eyes of therapists michael and annie mithoefer, a husband and wife team based in charleston, South Carolina. This is where we do the m. D. M. A. Sessions. We dont know how this works, but we have ideas about it. Reporter in one study of 19 subjects, more than 80 reported significant improvement, after carefully guided sessions like this. Which i knew was the p. T. S. D. , i was never feeling comfortable at home. I was still lucid, but it just felt like i had opened up a new avenue of thinking. Reporter c. J. Hardin says the difference for him was like night and day. I had three experiences at full dosage, but the effects after the first treatment were profound. I would have said a 60 reduction in my symptoms immediately. I felt a mighty change had occurred. Reporter the fact that these studies are happening at all represents a mighty change in the scientific community; a renaissance in thinking about psychedelic drugs like m. D. M. A. , l. S. D. And psilocybin, the drug found in magic mushrooms. Psychiatrists are really yearning to have something that works differently, that works quickly, that lasts longer, to add to their tool box. Its really important to do that. Reporter stephen ross is a psychiatrist and addiction specialist at n. Y. U. Langone medical center. He is exploring the medical uses of psilocybin, a close cousin of l. S. D. He says the drugs are safe, but only in a carefully controlled setting. Can you overdose . There are no known overdoses with psilocybin. Its not known to have a toxic dose. Its considered safe, physiologically. But psychologically, thats where the potential damage and danger is. And thats why these drugs, in uncontrolled settings, can create anxiety, they can create paranoia, they can create dangerous behavior. Reporter skeptics say the studies are relatively small, and its extremely difficult to compare these drugs with a placebo. Concerns notwithstanding, researchers across the nation are tuning in and turning on to psychedelics a few generations after psychologist Timothy Leary unintentionally stigmatized them. In the 1960s, leary conducted a series of valid experiments with l. S. D. And psilocybin, but as he devolved into an infamous psychedelic poster boy, the drugs escaped the lab. The natural state of the brain is chaos. Reporter in 1970, the federal government made the drugs illegal, in the same category as heroin. The mainstream medical community tapped out, even though there was a lot of data suggesting the drugs might help people with certain mental illnesses. I was fascinated that, how could this have been such a big part of a psychiatry and that i never heard about it . Completely buried in my training. And that just made me really curious to look further into it. Reporter much remains a mystery, but advanced neuroimaging has provided some new clues. Psilocybin seems to quiet brain areas known as the default mode network, essentially, our autopilot mode. And this might help break the chains of addiction, or lift the fog of depression. So its plausible that sort of deactivating that network can take someone away from a stuck pathologic rhythm into something else. Reporter the mithoefers are working on a similar hypothesis as they study m. D. M. A. And its effects on p. T. S. D. They too suspect the drug helps break a cycle. We know that people with p. T. S. D. Have increased activity in the amygdala, the fear center, and they have decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex. Reporter the amygdala is at the center of our brain. It is what creates our emotional reactions, pleasant and unpleasant, including sadness, anxiety and fear. The prefrontal cortex, our executive brain, is where we temper those emotions through rational decisionmaking. M. D. M. A. Decreases activity in the amygdala and increases activity in the prefrontal cortex. So it tamps down the negative emotions in the first place and also increases the brains ability to keep those feelings in check. Researchers arent sure whether the drug works by causing direct changes in brain chemistry, or simply by making trauma easier to talk about and process. What we see in the sessions is that it seems to kind of bring people down from being overwhelmed by emotions, but also kind of bring them up from being numbed out or disconnected from emotions. Thats when the therapeutic change happens. Reporter with both drugs, doctors use a similar approach. Dr. Ross showed me the room where he and his team conduct therapy sessions for subjects under the influence of psilocybin. We walk over to them, give them the pill, some water, they take it, and then theyll essentially sit here for about half an hour. Well turn the music on, the preselected music, give them some art books or theyll meditate a little bit. And then after about half an hour, when theyre feeling something, well instruct them into the default position. Lie down on your back, eye shades, music. And the two therapists sit here for many hours. Reporter in december, ross and colleagues published a paper on the impact of psilocybin for people with severe anxiety or depression due to a grave illness. They found that a single dose of psilocybin reliably helped 60 to 80 of them feel better, immediately, and for as long as six months. Researchers at johns hopkins, reported similar results. My name is Estalyn Walcoff and i work as a psychotherapist. Reporter Estalyn Walcoff was a subject in the n. Y. U. Study. It was as if this spirit that i had hoped to connect to was so much bigger and stronger than i had ever imagined, i was quaking in my boots. Reporter ross and mithoefer say its important to temper the enthusiasm. This seems to be a very powerful tool, but it is only a tool and its the persons own healing process and the relationships, the therapeutic relationships that support that, that are very important. I think there is the danger of people thinking of it as a magic bullet. Were following the data. We dont think that this is going to cure anything or change the world. We are focused on helping sick people and just doing more science and following the day to see where it leads. Reporter both drugs may soon be put to a bigger test. Researchers are asking the government to approve some major trials, with hundreds of subjects, some time this year. Miles obrien, the pbs newshour, new york. Woodruff finally tonight, remembering a tv legend, Mary Tyler Moore. And back to jeff brown, who has our rememberance. Brown it was Sitcom Television that signaled and helped push larger cultural change. The Mary Tyler Moore show, in the 1970s, in which the actress played a single, 30something working woman mary richards, a tv producer at a local minneapolis station. Here with her boss, played by ed asner. You know what, you got spunk. Well, spunk. Tell you what, i will try you out for a couple of weeks and see how it works out. If i dont like you, ilie fire you. Right, right. If you dont like me, ill fire you. Yes, yes, that certainly seems fair. Ill get a towel from the 6 kitchen. Brown in the 60s, moore had been a beloved figure in a more traditional role for women as the frazzled but often hilarious wife of dick van dyke, on the show bearing his name. Oh, what brown over the years, she won seven emmy awards for her television roles. Brown she later showed her dramatic range in an oscar nominated performance in the 1980 film, ordinary people, the story of a disintegrating family following a sons death. Moore wrote and spoke of her own struggles a battle with alcoholism, and with the diabetes she lived with for some 40 years. She was also a champion for animal rights. Mary tyler moore was 80 years old. A short time ago, i spoke with dick cavett. He interviewed her a number of times over the years, and was a friend of Mary Tyler Moore. I began by asking about her talent as a comic actor. Thanks so much for joining us. First Mary Tyler Moore, the comic performer. What did she have . She had it all. She had everything. And she had more than many comic performers. We will that period sov many wonderful whack we used to call come ed yens. Lucy and caroll and mary. Mary was extremely beautiful. And that doesnt necessarily go up to that period of time with come ed yens, they were either scrawny or had bad hair or looked funny. And to be a krrks omedienne, to be witty or slap stick, mary had it all. Once a krier on the show said mary is the only person i ever worked with who made every script better. And i said be specific. And he said all can i say is when we gave mary the script, we found laughs in Straight Lines that we didnt know were there. Mary had the greatest laugh, the gut seist, really bawdy laugh that you rarely saw her do on television. Great sense of humor. The glass ceilings, she came through one and made it better for a lot of other women in television by showing that she was somebody who was a woman could pull, pull the audience in a very big way. Brown thank you very much for joining us. And for some more perspective on Mary Tyler Moores influenced im joined by Cynthia Littleton of variety. She has written about moore and the author of two books about television. Its almost hard to think about to tv, the kind of subjects that were not discussed, the way women were not portrayed or the way they were portrayed. In what ways did Mary Tyler Moore in that show change things. Well, as you said, the image of a strong, independent woman over 30 who was not necessarily hunting for a husband but wanted to build a career, that was pretty revolutionary for september of 1970 when the show premiered. And when you think about what was going on in the country, you have the stirrings of the second wave of the modern womens movement. It really was quite a confluence. So what are examples of things that she helped bring to the fore in culture in popular entertainment . I think the show very famously made references to her taking Birth Control bills, made references to her spending the night with dates. Made a very early reference to a character, a guest star character being gay as almost a matter of fact aside. And those were things done in a show that did not necessarily wear its social consciousness on its sleeve, not as much as all in the family but in reflecting the state of the culture as it stood in the early 70s j just had profound impact. An much of this through the very specific persona of Mary Tyler Moore herself, right . Mary, richard, and i think there was a continuum to the character she played on the dik van dyke show, laura petary was not a mousy sitcom wife but very independent, very smart, she famously wore capri pants around the house. Laura petary, i think Mary Tyler Moores career was a continuum of role models that were right for the era. An very briefly, i mean obviously there was impact in spendoffs from that program, but do you see the impact and legacy today in performers in shows. So many workplace comedies are always held up against the standard that the Mary Tyler Moore show set. Such as . You know, current shows that try to have a workplace setting like, you know, so many shows over the years. That ensemble of characters t was betty white, color is leechman, val erie harper, it really does set the standard. Cynthia littleton of variety, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff on the newshour online right now, researchers predict that the average monthly water bill will rise by nearly 50 over the next five years. That means that for onethird of americans, water could become unaffordable. You can see which communities are most at risk, on our website, www. Pbs. Org newshour. Later tonight on pbs, twin cities pbs presents a film about one of the most Critical Health crises to face the country. Alzheimers every minute counts illuminates the mounting emotional and financial costs associated with caring for those afflicted by the disease and provides a powerful wakeup call that underscores the pressing need to come up with Viable Solutions quickly. Alzheimers every minute counts airs tonight on most pbs stations. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us 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. Lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. Xq institute. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. Promoting the wellbeing of humanity around the world, by building resilience and inclusive economies. More at www. Rockefellerfoundation. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org the program. We begin this evening with a conversation with hugh hewitt, radio host and columnist. His book is called the fourth way the conservative playbook for a lasting gop majority. So i end up supporting and voting for him because of the Supreme Court and because, by and large, i believe as i discussed in the book. He can ryan, Mitch Mcconnell and Vice President pence the country and create semilasting nothing is forever, but a good enduring republican majority. Rose we conclude with bernardhenri leevy, his new bok called the genius of judaism, but the french philosopher also talks about populism and donald trump. If it was hate of state or compassion to the victims, you would see the same compassion of people expre