Turkeys leader visits the white house after clashing over the u. S. Decision to arm kurdish fighters in syria. And, rethinking school bus safety. How some states are trying to protect millions of students on their rides every day. Threepoint seatbelts should be the norm on all new school buses. Were talking about trying to save every life. Yang all that and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf railway. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. 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. Yang theres word tonight that President Trump urged then f. B. I. Director james comey to drop the investigation of his Campaign Aides connections to russia. The New York Times reports that at a february meeting, mr. Trump told comey, i hope you can let this go. It came the day after the president fired National Security adviser Michael Flynn for lying about his contacts with the russians. The president fired comey last week. In response, the white house says that the report is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation and that the president never asked anyone to end any investigation. For more, we turn now to matt apuzzo of the times. Matt thanks for joining us. Tell me what the significance of this memo is. Well, the significance of the memo, of course, is just not you know, just last week, the president fired jim comey, the f. B. I. Director, and the stories kept changing. And one of the backandforths has ben there was this conversation between comey and the president in which the president said, i want your loyalty. And comey wouldnt give him his loyalty. And then the question became, is that why he got fired . And you will remember the president tweeted out, jim comey better hope there are not tapes of our conversations. It turns out jim comey was keeping memos and was keeping contemporaneous notes on every interaction he had with the president and was becoming very concerned about some of those interactions and sought to document those Going Forward. Yang and he showed these to colleagues at the time, right . He showed them to colleagues. He provided them with copies, and, you know, my colleague mike schmidt, who was the primary reporter on this story, talked to people who had seen the memos. That quote you read was read to us. This is this is something this is a real this is a real dramatic turn in this story about about why did donald trump fire jim comey . And what is donald trump attempting to do in terms of influencing the investigation into his campaign and his associates . Yang matt, tell us more about the specific meeting that you wrote that is written with bin the times, the story that was posted just a little bit okay . Yeah, we know its a february 14 meeting, private meeting between the president and the f. B. I. Director jim comey. And in it, the president mentioned how concerned he is about leaks and actually makes this remark that, maybe we need to throw a couple of reporters in jail anyone to sort of send a message. And then the president brings up Michael Flynn and says, look, i think hes a really good guy. And if you can see your way clear about it, just let this go. Let Michael Flynn go. Highs good man. Now, comey went back, apparently, and documented that conversation. And one thing thats interesting about comey is 10 years ago, comey was at the center of another major issue where he described this dramatic showdown with the Bush Administration over warrantless wiretapping. And the white house denied that conversation. And it underturned out that it was the f. B. I. Director at the time, bob mueller, kept his contemporaneous notes, and that backed up comeys account. So in a lot of ways, this is whats old is new again. The f. B. I. Director was keeping contemporaneous notes on his conversations with the president. Yang and not just this conversation, matt. Do we think he kept these notes throughout his conversation with the president . Our understanding is he documented every interaction, every meeting and every phone call with the president. And on a number of occasions, expressed concerns about the about the emerging relationship between the white house and the f. B. I. Director. Remember, the f. B. I. Director is normally kind of an armslength relationship with the white house for precisely this reason because sometimes, you know, the f. B. I. Can be investigating things that are politically problematic for the white house. Yang as you say, this could be a dramatic turning point in this relationship and what is going on between President Trump and james comey. Thanks for joining us. Great to be here, thanks so much. Meanwhile, the white house is standing yang and meanwhile, the white house is also standing its ground tonight in the other uproar swirling around President Trump. At issue in that case allegations that he passed along classified intelligence from another nation to the russians. William brangham begins our coverage. What the president discussed with the foreign minister was wholly appropriate to that conversation, and is consistent with the routine sharing of information. Brangham National Security adviser h. R. Mcmaster used that phrase, wholly appropriate, nine times today, as he pushed back against reports that President Trump made a damaging disclosure to Russian Diplomats last week. The storm began monday evening, first in the Washington Post, and quickly followed by other major news organizations. All reported that President Trump told the Russian Foreign minister and Russian Ambassador about highly classified information given to the u. S. By an ally in the middle east but without that allys permission. It pertained to an Islamic State plot based in syria that involved laptops on airplanes. The New York Times reported today that israel was the source of that information, though israeli officials would not confirm it. Mr. President , did you share classified intelligence information with the russians . Reporter the president himself ignored questions today as he met with turkeys president recip Tayyip Erdogan in the oval office. Later, though, he said this we had a very, very successful meeting with the foreign minister of russia. Our fight is against isis, as general mcmaster said. And we want to get as many to help fight terrorism as possible. Brangham that followed a series of tweets this morning, saying as president , i wanted to share with russia, which i have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and Airline Flight safety. Last night, as the initial shockwaves over this alleged revelation spread through washington, mcmaster appeared outside the white house. The story that came out tonight, as reported, is false. At no time, at no time, were intelligent sources or methods discussed. And the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known. Brangham but none of the news accounts had alleged that the president revealed sources or methods or military operations. Today, mcmaster was asked to respond directly to what the reports did say that the president revealed highly classified intelligence to an american adversary, russia. Mcmaster didnt deny that, but he did elaborate, just a bit that the president wasnt even aware of where this information came from. He wasnt briefed on the source or method of the information either. Brangham but the episode raised fears about how u. S. Allies might react. One european official told the Associated Press that his country may stop sharing intelligence with washington. The revelations also rippled through congress, on the heels of the president s firing of f. B. I. Director james comey. Republican senator and chair of the Foreign Relations committee, bob corker, said the white house is in a downward spiral right now, and have got to figure out a way to come to grips with all thats happening. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell complained of yet another distraction from what republicans want to talk about. I think itll be helpful to have less drama emanating from the white house. Brangham as for democrats, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer demanded the white house release the full record of the Oval Office Meeting with the Russian Diplomats. Until the Administration Provides the unedited transcript, until the Administration Fully explains the facts of this case, the American People will rightly doubt if their president can handle our nations most closely kept secrets. Brangham with the white house in damage control mode, c. I. A. Director mike pompeo went to the capitol this evening to brief the house intelligence committee. For the pbs newshour, im William Brangham. Yang for more on this story, we are joined by the newshours Lisa Desjardins on capitol hill, and olivier knox, chief washington correspondent for yahoo news. Oliver, let me start with you at the white house. We have the report from the New York Times about the comey memo. This is sort of the third crisis that the white house has tried to deal with in the past past two weeks. How did they do today on the on the the report about the intelligence being shared in the oval office with the russians . How did they how did they fare with that . Well, i think you have to notice that their story is evolving a little bit. H. R. Mcmaster, the president s National Security adviser, came out and said its false. As your reporter pointed out. He denied things that were not in the original bombshell Washington Post report. And today they pivoted. Its well maybe it happened, but its entirely appropriate. Thats a notable shift in the rhetoric. Yang lisa, i understand you have some reporting on this comey report. Thats right. Senators were just finding out. This report as they were voting for a nomination. And i talked to richard burr. He said he had been told about this by senator john mccain. We went through the New York Times report with him and he told us, i believe director comey might have told us if a request like that, from the president , had been made. And burr said, it was never mentioned. John, essentially he is questioning the New York Times report saying he thinks comey would have brought that up. He also said he believes the onus is on the New York Times to present this memo, not just have someone read from it. He went even further, john, and said he thinks there is a very legitimate question, in his mind, as to whether someone out there in the stwels intels community or elsewhere is trying to undermine the president. Thats one of the strongest reactions weve had in the president s favor on capitol hill today. Yang and beginning to question the Intelligence Community. Olivier, all this is happening as President Trump is about to leave on his first overseas trip. How do you think this is going to affect the trip . Well, you know, they were already pretty much pretty stressed out about this trip. Its his first foreign trip. Its big. Its high stakes. Its high profile riyadh, israel, the vatican, nato, and a group of rich countries. I dont know how much its going to affect the trip except if theres a drip, drip, drip of revelations which certainly the New York Times suggests, given that comey documented every think interaction he had with the president thats certainly a possibility. I think you have to look at h. R. Mcmasters briefing today, this was originally designed as a briefing about the trip. He read us, roughly, the schedule. But then, questions about the intelligence. And so its going to be a pretty big distraction, i think, from what the president s president wants the agenda to be. Yang lisa, very quickly, senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell today said he wanted a little less drama, more focus on the agenda. Is this getting in the way . It is a distraction. Republicans tell you that across the board. They are still hoping to get a Health Care Plan out of the senate as early as july, but more and more, john, people say thats optimistic. Theyre now talking about august, september, for health care and tax reform. Yang Lisa Desjardins on capitol hill, olivier knox of yang lets keep our focus on capitol hill, and to republican senator james risch of idaho. Hes a member of the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees. I spoke with him earlier this evening, just as the story on comeys memo broke. Senator, welcome. I want to begin by asking you about a story the New York Times has just posted about a memo, a contemporaneous memo that former f. B. I. Director james comey wrote after a meeting with the president on the day that Michael Flynn resigned as National Security adviser. He quotes the president as asking him to let the investigation into flynn go. I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting flynn go. He interprets it, mr. Comey interprets it as asking for an f. Bi. Investigation not to go forward. Do you have any reaction to this . I havent seen it. Dont know anything about it. I havent read it. And before i comment on it, i want to know a lot more about it than i do, but thanks for asking. Yang i understand. Lets move on to the other news of the day, thalses, or the suggestion that President Trump gave shared classified information with the russian officials in the oval office. Are you satisfied with the white house explanation . Or do you have any other further questions . I dont really need the white house explanation on this. There is only one person on the planet who can make the decision whether to declassify and and whether to talk to someone outside of those of us cleared with the security, and thats the president of the United States. If, indeed, it was n the subject that and im neither going to confirm or deny it was but it was fit was on the subject of airliner safety, i believe the president , obviously, had the Legal Authority to do it. He can declassify at any time. But, secondly, i think he has an obligation under his oath as president of the United States, when he in his judgment determines its in the best electricity people of the United States to declassify something and do it. The National Media has treated this story as if this was a oneoff, like this never happens. Look, the president of the United States deals every day with heads of other countries, with highlevel people of other countries. And he constantly discusses classified information with them. Not only can he do that. He should do that because we exchange classified information with almost every country on the face of the earth, with the exception of a couple of them. And we even ones that were not particularly friendly with, we do have overlapping interests in things like airlt safety. And so if, indeed, that was the subject, and thats whats been reported, he should be commended for that. The real story here is theres a weasel here. And that is the person who reported about this conversation. This is a person who is a traitor. They betrayed their own country. They betrayed their families and their neighbors. And when you disclose classified information, classified conversations that you have access to, it is an act of treason. Its unfortunate we cant get that person identified. But he or she should be held to answer for that and treated as any treasonous person would be. Yang senate, you say the president can declassify any classified information. I understand thats true for u. S. Intelligence products. But this was an intelligence intelligence developed by another country. Can he also declassify material given by another countrys Intelligence Service . Of course. We dont even have laws that cover classified information from another country. People could talk about that wherever they want to. You dont generally do that. You treat like all other classified information. But the president of the United States is fully entitled to discuss this with people he sees fit to do it. Yang senate, youre chairman of the Senate Foreign subcommittees ocommittees on th. The source is this information product came from israel. Does it give you any concern or any pause that this was given to russia, an ally of iran, which israel sees as an existential thre threat . Yeah, first of all, like i said, if it was whats been reported on, that is airline safety, it would have nothing to do with the relationship between iran and isis and hezbollah and all that sort of thing. But my position is exactly the same as the israeli ambassador, whos was asked about this early today and said this will have absolutely no effect on the great cooperation between the security and intelligence agencies of the United States of america and israel. Weve been very close. Were going to continue to be very close. We have concurrent interests. And, look, theres been other times where there have been embarrassing lapses and disclosures, and weve worked around it. And thats not uncommon in these kinds of things. Yang and even though the president said the president s spokesmen have said the president does dnot discuss methods and sources. Right. Yang is there a concern that there was enough information in what the president said that the russians could figure out the methods and source and put that source at risk . Almost never are methods and source disclosed, unless there is a reason to do that, such as an asset would be at risk or somebodys life is at risk. So it would not be unusual that the president did or did not know what the methods and sources were. Its part of this this antitrump fervor that the National Media has to try to make him look bad every time he turns around. This was a good act that he did, not a bad act that he did. But there was a bad act done here. Somebody ought to go to the to the people who printed this and say, look, youre an american. Im an american. Tell us who did this so we can put them in jail. Sreenivasan senator james risch of the Senate Intelligence committee, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, john opinion yang now, for some insights on this apparent disclosure, and the wider effects on intelligence gathering and sharing, im joined by two men with deep knowledge of the u. S. Intelligence community, and the partnerships it relies upon. James woolsey served as director of the c. I. A. From early 1993 until january 1995. He was an adviser to President Trumps Campaign Last year. And, andrew exum was former Deputy Assistant secretary of defense for middle east policy in the obama administration. Hes also a former army ranger. Mr. Woolsey, let me start with you upon. You heard senator risch, say this was a good thing the president did not a bad thing. Do you agree . It depends on whether the information gets out and damages our either our relations with another country or our ability to keep sources and methods held very closely. It it may be that it will not cause a major difficulty. But i think giving anything away to the russians is something thathas to pass about half a dozen levels of scrutiny. And thats the real problem here. Unlike president regan, who was faced with declassification decisions on the aircraft that was shot down, the russian aircraft, and so forth. Here, weve just turned it loose and to the russians. And that ought to have been preceded by a day or two, anyway, of highlevel discussions noong toplevel officials to make sure we knew exactly what we were turning loose and exactly why. Yang andrew, whats your take on this . Well, no, thats exactly right. With all due respect to the senator from idaho, any time and, look, i just came out of Government Service at the pentagon. I know how frustrating leaks can be, but any time someone says the real problem is the media or leaks, theyre usually trying to defend the indefensible. And the problem here is i dont think the American People realize how much of our intelligence is actually derived from our partners. If our partners cannot feel or do not trust that our president will not divulge that information to i mean, goodness gracious, the russians in this case then that could create real problems for us Going Forward. I completely agree with everything that director woolsey said. I think that this is a broader problem, regardless of how bad the actual leak was. Yang and when you were in the obama administration, there was a lot of debate over how much intelligence over syria to give to the russians. Yeah, there sure was. Yang what were the issues we heard mr. Woolsey say you have to go through a lot of checkpoints. What were the considerations went through on that. Well, thats exactly right. You talk to anything exwb in the Intelligence Community and you say, we want to release some feeks to the russians. First off, making something secret releasable to russia is almost a contradiction in terms because so many of the sources and methods weve developed over decades are really to allow us to spy on the russians. Its from the cold war. So throofs a lot of worry that even in divulge anything type of information to the russians, even if you dont get into source and methods, theyre going to backwards engineer how you got that information, and thus learn something about your own capabilities. So that was a huge concern any time you start to discuss sharing information with the russians. Yang and, mr. Woolsey, there are reports now that this information came from israel. Is that a particular concern of giving this information to russia whose allied with iran, who israel sees as a mortal threat to hir existence. Yes, but theres a major footnote, i think. The yes is because of the way you formed the yes. Yes, it is a serious matter if it undercuts israels security at all and if it disturbs our relations with them. But the israelis looking at the shift from president obama to President Trump would probably give up a couple of halfton trucks full of classified information in order to preserve that switch. And they are very happy with and understandably so with the new american administration. And although they would have criticisms if there was something really sensitive in this, they would have been very upset about it and would have come in and talked to the american director of Central Intelligence and explain why they were really worrie worriedt ought not to happen again. But in terms of quietly seething and being really upset and so forth, no. Theyre theyre i think theyre very pleased at having a trump administration. Yang mr. Woolsey, general mcmaster said the president didnt know where this information came from. Youre experienced at briefing president s, and also, quite frankly, briefing this president you worked with him in the campaign. How much information do you give a president about a piece of intelligence . Well, i think in a circumstance in which he has to make a decision to disclose it to some government or individual that would be a serious potential problem, such as to russia. I think you owe him a very thorough understanding, and you ought not to just send the paper in as part of a document. You ought to have enough leverage over his schedule to have the time to say, mr. President , i hope you havent decided to turn anything loose, but should you be thinking about that the way you were a few weeks ago, here are the problems of turning anything loose on this subject or this subject or this subject. He deserves a really thorough scrubbing. Yang andrew exum, what is the potential threat to intelligence gathering in the future . Yell u. A. E. , well, first off, i think director woolsey is probably right in terms of talking about the way in which the israeli Prime Minister views the switch from obama to trump. I dont necessarily think hes speaking for the Israeli Defense and intelligence establishment. I think there is a lot of unease, precisely because between 2009 and 2017, we dramatically increased the amount of military and cooperation with the israelis. And i suspect that you are going to see a lot of unease within the Israeli Intelligence and defense establishment. Youre already starting to see quotes from rells nervous about what has potentially transspired. And i think the worry Going Forward is that not just with the israelis, but with all of our partners, through the just going to be a reluctance to hand over information to the americans, especially if its sensitive because, frankly, under our system, any secret is the president s. The president you know, things are classified at his discretion and at his pleasure. So legally, the president can do exactly what he potentially did a few days ago in terms of releasing information to the russians. I think that thats going to be a problematic, to say the least, for many of our partners, not only in the region but elsewhere around the globe. I agree with that. Yang we can talk much more about this, but im afraid were out of time and we have to leave it there. Andrew exum, james woolsey, thank you both for being with us. Good to be with you. Yang in the days other news, syria denied u. S. Claims that its using a crematorium to conceal mass executions of thousands of prisoners. The Foreign Ministry called it categorically false and said its a new hollywood plot to justify american intervention. The state department accused syria of incinerating the corpses of executed prisoners to destroy evidence that could be used in war crimes prosecutions. North korea has become the prime suspect in the global cyberattack. A growing number of Cyber Security experts now say the lines in the ransomware code resembles that used in previous attacks that were linked to the north. And, they say, there are other clues its a bit unclear what their ultimate motivation here is, but it does seem pretty clear that this is not the kind of thing a very professional cybercriminal would do. You know, guys who are involved in these types of schemes like to run just under the radar. You want to infect as many machines as possible, but still be under the radar. Yang the attack has infected thousands of computers and servers in about 150 countries, but the department of Homeland Security says only a handful were in the United States. Back in this country, senator john cornyn now says hes not interested in being f. B. I. Director. The texas republican was interviewed for the job over the weekend. Today, in a statement, he said hed rather stay in the senate. Yesterday, South Carolina congressman trey gowdy withdrew from consideration. A new federal study finds that one in every five middle and Highschool Students complained of being bullied in 2015. Thats despite the fact that the overall problem improved over the last decade. 21 of students ages 12 to 18 said they were bullied in 2015, and reports of sexual assaults on College Campuses nearly tripled between 2001 and 2014, to 6,700. Advances in reducing the number of Americans Without Health Insurance have stalled. The centers for Disease Control and prevention says the number last year was unchanged, at 28. 6 million. That ends five years of coverage gains under the Affordable Care act, or obamacare. And on wall street, stocks had a lackluster day. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost two points to close above 20,979. The nasdaq rose 20 points, and the s p 500 slipped one point. Still to come on the newshour turkeys president visits the white house amid strained relations between the two allies. The pushback against requiring seat belts on school buses, and much more. Yang President Trump welcomed turkish president recep Tayyip Erdogan to the white house today, amid heightened tensions for the longtime and now, troubled allies. Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Margaret Warner begins our coverage. Reporter despite tensions between washington and ankara, it was best foot forward from both leaders at the white house this afternoon at least in public i look forward to working together with president erdogan on achieving peace and security in the middle east, on translated President Trumps recent election victory has led to the awakening of a new set of aspirations and expectations and hopes in our region. Reporter but, relations between the two nato allies have deteriorated sharply. Former president obama grew critical of president recep Tayyip Erdogans increasingly authoritarian ways. President trump came to office calling for improved ties, but tensions flared again. The rawest point of contention americas battlefield partnership with the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the y. P. G. Its the most Effective Ground force fighting isis. Ankara objects, arguing the y. P. G. Is linked to turkeys kurdish terror group, the p. K. K. But the u. S. Announced last week it will furnish the y. P. G. With heavier weapons. Defense secretary james mattis sought to soften the blow to ankara. We are very open to discussions about options, and we will Work Together, we will work out any of the concerns. I am not concerned at all about the Nato Alliance and the relations between our nations. Reporter today, mr. Trump cited the p. K. K. , alongside isis, as a regional terror group, but he did not mention the y. P. G. Erdogan said Neither Group deserves a future in the region. translated taking the y. P. G. And its allies in the region into consideration will never be accepted, and it is going to be against a global agreement that we have reached. Reporter last month, turkey conducted crossborder airstrikes against the y. P. G. , killing more than 20. Internally, washington is dismayed by erdogans crack down on domestic dissent especially since last years abortive coup. Some 47,000 people have been arrested, and another 100,000 fired from government posts. Ankara accuses selfexiled muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen of orchestrating the coup attempt and is furious that the u. S. Hasnt extradited him. All this follows a referendum last month greatly expanding erdogans powers. The result sparked widespread protests. European monitors criticized it as below international standards. Mr. Trump telephoned erdogan to congratulate him, however, something no other western leader did. For the pbs newshour, im Margaret Warner. Yang and now, Jeffrey Brown takes it from there. Brown so what is likely to come of the trumperdogan meeting . Andhow serious are the tensions between the two allies . To help us answer those questions, we turn to Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute for near east policy. He is the author of the new Sultan Erdogan and the crisis of modern turkey. And, ali cinar, president of the turkish heritage organization, whos just come from a meeting with president erdogan. Let me start with you, ali cinar. Lets get right to that question of the main dispute the u. S. Decision to arm a Kurdish Militia fighting in syria. How much anger did that provoke in turkey . Well, it was it was a really bad perception from the turkey side because since the terror attacks increase in turkey, the turkish people got upset with United States since u. S. Support p. Y. D. So the meeting today with President Trump and erdogan, mainly focused on p. Y. D. , and extradition of fethullah gulen. So there were two important major issues that they discussed noontime. Brown and Soner Cagaptay, what did president erdogan want from this meeting . I think he got half of what he wanted already, this was to be invited to washington. He just won a contested referendum that has made him executivestyle president. As i highlight in my latest book the new sultan turkey is a very divided country, largely as a result of erdogans political trajectory. Half of the country loves him, and the other half hates him. For the half that loathes him, they did not see the did not see the referendum as free and fair, and erdogan was aching to get a western leader invite him so he could affirm his victory as he saw it. The mere fact that he was invited to the white house, he got more than half of what he wanted. He wanted to see some concessions regarding the kurdish issue and the u. S. Policy on the kurdish issue and he may have got than as well. I think the deal President Trump offered to turkish president erdogan is the United States will look wants turkey to electrocute other way as washington arms the syrian kurds to take raqqa from isis, and in turn, washington is willing to look the other way as turkey fights the p. K. K. In iraq and elsewhere, where it has strongholds. Ali cinar, do you see him, president erdogan having gotten anything out of this meeting . Because the u. S. Has stood by its decision to armt kurds . Right, i dont think youll see in the short term, but what President Trump said, also, we are going to, also, let some turkish government use some war i mean, guns to turkish government. Meaning that trump said, we are going to arm turkey, too. It was an interesting statement. And, also, it seems like United States is going to use p. Y. D. On the iraq cooperation. But for the other ground operations, there might be a collaboration between turkey and United States. So its difficult to say right now, but in the long term, we might see a better cooperation between the two countries. Brown what about staying with you ali cinar on the question of fethullah gulen. There, too, turkey seems to have been rebuffed. Yes. I mean, the problem is right now, the u. S. Side says, okay, turkey needs to respect to our legal system and process. But now, erdogan is insisting that that was a treaty agreement, extradition agreement between turkey and the United States signed in 1979. And at least turkey is asking to detain fethullah gulen, and the u. S. Side is not doing it right now. So i dont, well see a solution on this. But turkey continues to insist on fethullah gulen. Brown Soner Cagaptay, you mentioned human rights issues earlier. They did not come up, at least publicly. Did that surprise you . Should it have come up . Probably not because turkey is a large country, and turks dont like to be lectured, especially by outsiders. I think if it came up, i would have preferred it came out in private meetings. This is an important issue. And its not about selling american values. President erdogan has won elections on a platform of economic Good Governance but also demonizing groups that do not vote for him, ranging from leftests to liberals to kurds. At the same time, this very deeply polarized country is now in a state of crisis, where half believe that they live in heaven, and the other half believe that they live in hell. That is not sustainable. Turkey is a key ally for the United States because it borders iran, iraq, syria, isis, and russia across the black sea. Whatever u. S. Policies are regarding those countries or entities, theyre much easy wer turkey. But theyre easier with turkey, which is a stable country, not a country which is in crisis. Erdogans trajectory has put turkey into a crise. And i think that human rights issues are not about selling american values. Theyre about making sure that turkey remains a stable place, and the only way for that is, of course, for president erdogan to depolarize turkeys landscape, as well as to become a unifier after having won the referendum. I wish and hope that that came up in the conversation. Brown so, ali cinar, finally, to the extent a big part of today was about trying to mend fences in cha has been a very tense time, where do things go from here . I mean, they are going to meet, also, in europe for the nato summit, and this talk will continue for their next meeting. But what i see right now is fighting against isis are the most important common strategy for both countries, and hopefully, the turkish army and the pentagon can closely Work Together, and then move forward. Otherwise, it will be a disaster if they dont coordinate in the region since turkey is still upset on the u. S. Support to p. Y. G. So hopefully the dialogue will continue between two countries. Thats my hope. Brown ali cinar, Soner Cagaptay, thank you both very much. Thank you. Thank you. Yang stay with us. Coming up on the newshour a view from colorado. The states democratic governor weighs in on the health care battle. But first, every day, millions of parents put their children on buses for the trip to school. Statistically, buses remain the safest way to get to school. But, fatal accidents do happen. Just yesterday, an 11yearold boy died in east texas when the bus he was riding collided with another vehicle and rolled over. Special correspondent lisa stark reports that a Record Number of states are trying to improve school bus safety, part of our weekly series, making the grade. Get in and put your seat belts on, guys. Reporter this is a sight you rarely see on a school bus students buckling themselves in. It makes you feel safer when you put your seatbelt on. School bus transportation, we carry the most precious cargo, right . Reporter Kris Hafezizadeh is the director of transportation for the austin, texas school district. Five years ago, the district decided every new bus it bought would come with lapshoulder belts. At an extra 8,000 per bus, and not because there had been an accident. We thought that, we always ask your kids, when they get inside the car, to put on their seat belts. So to carry the culture into our school buses, it does add to additional safety. Reporter but most School Districts have decided against adding seat belts. In montgomery county, maryland, buses carry 100,000 students a day, and there has never been an accident in which a student rider died. Buying new buses with seatbelts would cost an extra 1 million a year. Transportation director todd watkins says it doesnt make fiscal sense. Is that a tough position to take, to try to explain to people . It is, because when youre talking about anything involving safety, how can you be against it . And im not against it, i just dont think its the best use of money right now, because the safety is at such a high level in school buses as it is. Reporter 25 million children ride school buses every day. Accidents claim around five to six lives a year. Statistics show children are safer riding to school in a bus than with a parent. Those big yellow buses are the safest way for all our kids to get to school every single day. The question is, can we make them safer . Reporter Mark Rosekind headed up the national highway Traffic Safety administration, or n. H. T. S. A. , under president obama. That agency regulates school buses. Rosekind shocked School Officials by advocating something no other n. H. T. S. A. Director ever had. Threepoint seatbelts should be the norm on all new school buses. Because were talking about trying to save every life. Reporter but districts argue theyre getting a mixed message. There is no federal law requiring seat belts on buses, and n. H. T. S. A. Has concluded that large school buses without seat belts do not pose an unreasonable risk of death or injury. We do not find a safety need for a federal mandate. You dont need the government to tell you to do this. The technology is available now. Reporter whenever theres a tragedy, such as the chattanooga crash last november which killed six children, there is always an anguished debate over seat belts. Its so frustrating to me every time i see another accident and knowing that there is an injury that could have been at least lessened. Reporter Allison Stoos still bears the scars of her accident, over a decade ago. She was traveling with her soccer team in a small bus chartered by her texas high school, not built to school bus standards, but also, without seatbelts. The bus swerved, and thats pretty much all i remember. Reporter the bus rolled over on its side. Two teammates died. Three, including allison, were seriously injured. She was partially ejected, her arm trapped under the bus. Countless surgeries later, she has limited use of her left arm. Its impacted my life and all my friends lives. And not just the girls on the bus, but our entire school was just turned upside down. Reporter do you think if youd had a seat belt, it would have made a difference . Certainly in my injury, and our type of wreck with a rollover, i definitely think it would have made a difference. Reporter for decades, school buses have been designed to protect riders through something called compartmentalization the seats are close together, the backs are high and padded. This keeps students in this compartment, if you will, during an accident. It works well during front and rear impacts. This crash test shows how unbelted students thats these test dummies stay in their seats after a frontal crash. But in this test, which simulates a rollover, very few of the test dummies stay put. Students can also go flying in violent sideimpact crashes, as shown in this onboard video. I should point out that these severe sideimpact crashes and highspeed rollover crashes are very rare school bus crashes, but when they do happen, we find that the children are vulnerable. Reporter lapshoulder belts reduce that vulnerability, according to kirstin poland. Shes with the National Transportation safety board, which investigates school bus crashes. In this case, we had a single vehicle that left the roadway, impacted a pole, impacted several trees. Reporter this 2014 crash in anaheim, california, injured the driver and nine students. No one died. This was the first crash where we had a school bus that was equipped with lapshoulder belts in all seating positions. Reporter poland looked at what might have been, if two of the more seriouslyinjured students were wearing only lap belts. We have the occupants interacting with each other. Reporter or no belts at all. In the unbelted cases, we have our occupant that was seated along the aisle, thats come all the way over and is now down on the floor. The lapshoulder belts are giving the greatest protection, because they are keeping the body upright, keeping the occupant in the seating compartment, keeping the occupants away from each other. Reporter just seven states have School Bus Seat belt laws on the books, but louisiana and texas have not approved the funding and arkansass law is brand new. Even advocates will tell you, installing belts alone isnt enough. A big challenge is ensuring students wear them properly, or at all. Do you ever ride without it on the bus . Sometimes. Reporter why is that . Sometimes i forget to put the seatbelt on, sometimes. Reporter but allison says, at least these students have an option. I didnt have the choice to sit there and buckle myself up, to protect myself. Reporter allison, with her dad and others, helped get the texas School Bus Seat belt law passed in 2007. Theyre still trying to get it funded. Ultimately, money is the biggest driver education dollars are scarce, and few districts believe it pays to have students buckle up. For the pbs newshour and education week, im lisa stark in austin, texas. Yang President Trumps increasing troubles over russia continue to dominate the headlines, but the battle over the future of healthcare is still brewing in the background. Here again, William Brangham has that story. Brangham with the passage of the House Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care act, president obamas Signature Health care law, the focus now shifts to the u. S. Senate. As part of our ongoing look at whats at stake for health care in the u. S. , we are joined now by Democrat John hickenlooper, the governor of colorado. Welcome to the newshour. Nice to be here. Brangham so before we talk about health care, can i just get your reaction to these latest revelations aboutthe president and his dealings with the f. B. I. . Sure. And i you know, i think it shows two things and, you know, i got into politics i became mayor of denver when i was 50. And i made all kinds of mistakes, because being an executive in business is very different from an executive in public life so i kept doing dumb things. But this really kind of shows how much power the president of the United States has. And, obviously, he can make decisions to declassify information and share it as he wants, but it has all kinds of ramifications beyond what i think he was thinking just because hes never been there before. You know, i look back at some of the really dumb things i did when i first became mayor and maybe it got on the front page of the denver post but i could dig myself out. Brangham you attribute this to reek mistakes. I think its a much broader landscape, and i think hes used to being able to throw, lobby, push his weight around, you know the comments to to james comey theyre disconcerting, theres no question. But well see. I mean, we dont have all the information yet. But its its amazing the whole thing. Brangham amazing, it is. Lets talk about health care. You have been a very sharp critic of the house g. O. P. s bill that is now before the senate. Whats your principal concern there . Well, as written, that bill would be, i think, a disaster for colorado and most of the country. Really, it in no way improves the health care system. It is going to make it harder to get insurance for people who lose their coverage. Probably, to finance it the way the house wants to, its going to end up rolling back, forcing governors to roll back coverage on people with medicaid. In colorado, it will probably cost us between 1 billion and 1. 5 billion of additional costs. Its a cost shift to the states. And whats the real benefit . Were doing over 10 years a trilliondollar tax cut for the highest earnings in america, who the ones i talked to in colorado, theyre not fighting to get this tax cut. Its not something theyre seeking. Im not sure i dont get what the point of it is. Brangham you, obviously, know this is their attempt to undo the Affordable Care act. What has that law, president obamas law, meant for colorado thus star . So obamacare allowed to us expand medicaid coverage. We got about 400,000 more people covered in that avenue, through that avenue. And about 200,000 people through our exchange. We did our own exchange. So much more coverage. A lot of that support but im the first person, there were problems. It definitely needs to be improved. But you dont throw the baby out with the bath water. And, you know, i look at what the landscape looks like and, again, i dont think the senate will ever pass what came out of the house just because there are too many both democratic governors and republican governors that are saying, you know, were not we dont want to roll back coverage. Were willing to discuss and negotiate who gets how much coverage and is the coverage for medicaid maybe a little too rich . I think all of us agree we have to get our arms around controlling the incredible inflation thats gone on in health care the past 30 years. Its nched obamacare. I dont think any of us republican governors like kasich, sandoval, they dont want to roll back medicaid coverage and democrats like myself. Brangham so how do you see this Going Forward . Obviously, the house big billis going to be modified in some way by the senate, but lets say some version of the republicans ideas end up coming down to the states. What does that mean for you . Well, it would be difficult. Unless theres some change in how theyre thinking of financing this, and how much of that new cost theyre going to put on to states, you know. Block grants, fine. But if you dont allow it to have some flexibility, if you dont allow it to grow when youve got disasters or when there are sudden instances of medical inflation, then youre kind of handcuffing the states and tying them to a you be, to something they cant possibly pay for. Thats not healthy. It makes governors have to pay make terrible decisions. I think what the senate hopefully will do and i think they might do this is sit down and talk with some governors, republicans and democrats it shouldnt be a partisan deal but governors are the ones who have to implement this stuff. Lets get a group of us to sit down way couple of senators and say, how do we we all have the same kind of goals. This shouldnt be partisan. How do we control costs and not roll back coverage. Brangham i appreciate the idea of bipartisanship you spent a few days this week in washington, d. C. Its not high on anyones agenda, it seems. Well, there are a lot of blockages, and there is a lot of bitterness. I think its years of attack ads and, you know, people you know, i was in the restaurant business, and we learned early on that theres no marge nin having enemies, no matter how unreasonable that person is, you dont let them leave angry. Whereas in politics, so often people define themselves by their enemies and how mean they can be or how sharped how barbed can their comments be against that person. After that election or that specific policy issue, suddenly youre supposed to Work Together again. Thats not always in human nature. I think people should spend a little more time looking down the road and saying at some point im going to have to work with this person again. Maybe we should be a little more cordial. Brangham all right, Governor John Hickenlooper of colorado. Thank you so much. Thank you. Yang in early 2016, ammon bundy and his supporters staged an armed occupation of National Wildlife preserve in oregon. Tonight, frontline examines how the bundy familys fight against the government invigorated armed militias and patriot groups across the nation. American patriot inside the armed uprising against the federal government includes exclusive footage shot by f. B. I. Agents posing as documentary filmmakers. We have concealed the undercover agents identities and voices. This is amen bundy, how are you doing . I dont know if you can tell, theres a little level of uncomfortable, and just wanted to make sure that were all on the same page. Yes, oh, absolutely. Quiet on set. And roll camera. I never did once think id have to take a life. I was never armed. I mean in the interviews, they wanted to know who planned the standoff, and who was in charge. So at this circumstance or just in general . Well, with this circumstance,. My dad was really skeptical. He really was. Anended up basically talking my family into it. So, you know, they went to our home. You can hear me now . Testing. Testing. I think about that. Its all right . The whole time my moms in there cooking for them, and theyre plotting to to destroy our family. Thats frontline tonight on most pbs stations. President trump urged thenf. B. I. Director james comey to stop investigating Michael Flynn after flynn was fired as National Security adviser. The reports cite comeys own notes. The white house says the story is not a truthful or accurate portrayal. The resident fired comey last praertz calling on parties are calling on him to testify soon. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im john yang. Join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf railway. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. Carnegie corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh