Transcripts For KRCB PBS NewsHour 20130307

Captioning sponsored by Macneil Lehrer productions woodruff the u. S. House of representatives passed a stopgap budget bill today, keeping the government running through september. Good evening, im judy woodruff. Ifill and im gwen ifill. On the newshour tonight, we get the latest on a 982 billion measure that could head off a partisan battle and potential Government Shutdown. Woodruff then, was the money the United States spent rebuilding iraq worth it . We ask Inspector General stuart bowen. Ifill Margaret Warner reports on reaction to the death of hugo chavez in venezuela and around the world. Thousands of mourners lined the streets of caracas today to pay tribute to their leader, many in the crowd shouted anti american slogans and pledged to uphold chavez socialist ideals. Woodruff we examine a new poll showing american catholics view their church and their bishops as out of touch. Ifill and we close with the story of a russian dancer who masterminded a real life acid attack on the artistic director of the bolshoi ballet. Woodruff thats all ahead on tonights newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill the house of representatives today approved legislation to keep the government up and running this time, three weeks in advance of a new deadline. But the bill still faces hurdles in the democratic controlled senate. On this vote, the yeas are 267, the nays are 151, the bill is passed without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. Ifill anxious to avoid yet another washington budget showdown, the house today agreed to a spending bill to finance the government through september, and avert a potentially devastating Government Shutdown. The g. O. P. Measure would leave in place 85 billion in across the board spending cuts that took effect last week. But it would give the pentagon and Veterans Affairs department greater flexibility to manage the reductions. Kentucky republican hal rogers chairs the appropriations committee. This bill takes the risk of a Government Shutdown off the table, funding the government for the rest of the fiscal year, while helping maintain our National Security and providing our troops and veterans with consistent, adequate funding. Ifill texas Republican House democrats said the cuts should be stripped from the bill. Virginia lawmaker Gerry Connolly we have to get our arms around spending but not in a mindless, meat axe way. It is going to hurt america. And to bake it into this continuing resolution, in my view, is a terrible mistake. Ifill the bill now goes to the senate, where majority leader harry reid said democrats hope to build in even more exceptions to the automatically mandated cuts. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said once that happens, the commitment of republicans to averting a shutdown would be put to the test. The senates not going to accept this bill. And when they dont, theyll send back another bill, and well just see how many votes there are on the republican side to keep government open, because we have absolutely no intention of having government shut down. Ifill Oklahoma Republican tom cole conceded that todays action is just the first step toward resolving the recurring budget and spending debate. We can have, i think, a good negotiation, going back and forth between the two parties. This is the beginning of a process. Its the beginning of a return to regular order. And its an opportunity to work, i think, in a bipartisan fashion. Ifill with an eye on the inclement weather outside, House Republicans also moved up todays vote by 24 hours. Also if the weather holds, president obama was scheduled to dine tonight with a group of republican senators, in part in response to complaints that he has failed to reach across the aisle. And mr. Obama announced plans to visit capitol hill next week for meetings with house and senate republicans. Woodruff still to come on the newshour too much money for too few results in iraq; National Mourning in venezuela after the death of hugo chavez; the vatican out of touch with american catholics. Plus, a made for the stage drama at the bolshoi ballet. But first, the other news of the day. Heres hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan a powerful late winter storm that tracked all the way from montana to the east coast deposited a snowy, icy mess on the midatlantic today. In washington, federal offices closed ahead of the storm, but the city and its immediate surroundings mostly got rain. Farther out in virginia, pennsylvania and maryland, as much as a foot of snow accumulated in some places. The snow that did fall was heavy and wet, snapping tree limbs and power lines and leaving up to 200,000 people without power. The state of arkansas will now have the most restrictive abortion law in the country. Republicans dominating the legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto today. The new law includes a nearban on abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. Its slated to take effect this summer, but a Court Challenge is certain. A small group of u. S. Senators today filibustered the nomination of john brennan to be director of the c. I. A. They focused on whether the government would ever use drone aircraft to attack americans, inside the u. S. Kentucky republican rand paul cited a letter from attorney general eric holder. It said drone strikes on u. S. Soil might be considered in an extraordinary circumstance, such as 9 11. Paul said hes alarmed. You cant take away someones life and liberty without due process or an indictment. So it should trouble every american. I cant imagine that there wouldnt be an american in our country that would not be troubled that were talking about killing non combatants in american with drone strikes. Several other republicans joined the filibuster, as did oregon democrat ron wyden. He supports the brennan nomination, but he cited Civil Liberties concerns over the drone issue. Meanwhile, attorney general holder told a Senate Hearing that the administration will work to allay any fears. I have heard you the president has heard you and others who have raised this concern on both sides of the aisle. So i think there is going to be a greater effort at the transparency. A number of steps are going to be taken. I expect you will hear the president speaking about this. Later, senator paul insisted the filibuster will go on, until he gets a letter from president obama, promising not to use drones on american soil. In afghanistan, President Hamid karzai warned Afghan Forces today to put an end to incidents of torture and other abuse. An Afghan Government investigation has found widespread mistreatment at governmentrun prisons. An earlier, u. N. Investigation had reached similar conclusions. Karzai addressed the problem in a speech to the Afghan Parliament today. translated the investigation showed that during the arrests by the Foreign Forces and their local partners, who are our forces, people have been abused. This is a serious order from the president , that this should be stopped and cameras should be set up during interrogations to stop the abuse. Until now, karzai had placed the blame for prison abuse solely on nato troops. The exodus of refugees from syria has now topped one million. The u. N. Refugee agency reported the figure today. It also said 700,000 more syrians have not yet registered. Meanwhile, britain moved to give more help to the Syrian Rebels, while heavy fighting continued in northern syria. We have a report narrated by Jonathan Miller of independent television news. Reporter on the banks of the euphrates river, a two day battles been hardwon today by syrias rebel fighters the city of raqa now the first syrian provincial capital out of regime control. It was pretty intense. This afternoon, the regime hit back. Airstrikes targeting what the rebels had renamed freedom square. Freedom has come at a high price in raqqa, it seems. Today, in the house of commons, britains foreign secretary announced what some say is a landmark shift in policy; the uk, he said would provide millions of pounds of nonlethal military equipment to syrias rebels. The government concedes there are no easy answers, but mr. Hague said that faced with what he called increasingly extreme humanitarian suffering and diplomatic deadlock, britain could not look the other way. The syrian exodus has gathered pace so dramatically that the onemillion milestones been reached four months before the Un Refugee Agency predicted it would. Its taken just three months for the numbers to double. More than half are children and only a dribble of the money the world pledged a month ago has been forthcoming. This is how fast the zaatari refugee camp has expanded in jordans northern desert 2,500 tents last september. 18,000 last month. 1 million refugees, but accelerating in a dramatic way, 3,000 a day in december, 5,000 a day in january, 8,000 a day in february reporter what the British Government effectively said today was that helping the rebels was the best bet for stopping the conflict and the refugee exodus. But two years into this civil war and what syrias rebels want is lethal assistance, arguing that failing to actually arm them is prolonging the conflict. A small group of Syrian Rebels, one of more than a thousand such groups that have sprung up just since last year, are tonight holding hostage 20 u. N. Peacekeepers all filipinos. They seized them on the golan heights. They wont release them, they say, until the u. N. And the u. S. , press Syrian Regime forces to withdraw from a nearby town. Sreenivasan the u. N. Security council demanded the peacekeepers be freed immediately, and without conditions. The Russian Ambassador to the u. N. Presiding over the council this month called the incident bizarre. He said the peacekeepers are unarmed, and their mission has nothing to do with the civil war in sia. Theovernment of egypt confronted new uncertainty today when a court suspended upcoming parliamentary elections. They had been scheduled to begin in april. The court ruled that the islamistdominated parliament rushed through the law setting up the elections. It said the countrys Supreme Constitutional Court needs time to review the statute. Advisers to president Mohammed Morsi said they plan to appeal the decision. The European Union has fined microsoft more than 700 million for failing to provide a choice of internet browsers. The Software Giant had pledged in 2009 to make those options available to users of its windows operating system. Instead, microsoft failed to comply in at least 15 million installations of windows seven in europe between may 2011 and july 2012. The company blamed a technical error and agreed to pay the fine. On wall street today, the Dow Jones Industrial average gained 42 points to close at 14,296 reaching a record high for a second straight day. The nasdaq fell a point to close at 3,222. Those are some of the days major stories. Now, back to judy. Woodruff we turn to iraq and a new report critical of u. S. Reconstruction efforts in the country. It was september, 2004. President bush appeared in the rose garden 18 months after hed ordered the invasion of iraq. The insurgency was raging, but he had an optimistic view of the american effort beyond the fighting. Electricity has been restored above prewar levels. Telephone service has increased dramatically. More than 2,000 schools have been renovated and millions of new textbooks have been distributed. There is much more work to be done. Woodruff now, a decade after the war began, iraqi and u. S. Officials portray much of the work as failures, wasted opportunities, miscalculated and mistakes. Its all in a final report by the special Inspector General for iraq reconstruction stuart bowen. He offers a damning appraisal of a project wellintentioned, but hugely wasteful in money and lives. To date, rebuilding iraq has cost more than 60 billion in u. S. Funds and more than 700 people have died supporting reconstruction apart from tens of thousands of iraqis and 4,400 americans killed in the war itself. Prime minister Nouri Almaliki told bowen that the overall benefit to iraq was small when compared with the size of the sums spent. And u. S. Senator Susan Collins of maine said, the level of fraud, waste and abuse in iraq was appalling. She recalled she was angered to learn that reconstruction money found its way into the hands of insurgent groups. Bowen also concluded that 8 billion of a separate fund of nearly 24 billion in iraqi money was wasted. It came from iraqi oil and gas revenues and seized assets, and was flown to baghdad by the u. S. In the form of cash. California congressman henry waxman was incredulous at that revelation, in 2007. The cash weighed more than 363 tons and was loaded onto c 130 cargo planes to be flown into baghdad. The numbers are so large that it doesnt seem possible that theyre true. Who in their right mind would send 360 tons of cash into a war zone . Woodruff according to bowen, the list of poorlyconceived, overbudget and badlymanaged projects is long, including a 100 million Wastewater Treatment plant in fallujah that serves only 9,000 homes, and is eight years behind schedule. And the basra Childrens Hospital, in iraqs south 200 over budget, four years behind schedule and still incomplete. Im joined now by the author of the report, the special Inspector General for iraq reconstruction, stuart bowen. We thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me, judy. Woodruff so you were appointed to this position nine years ago. It was during the bush administration, the very beginning of all this. What was your mission . What did they what were you originally told you were supposed to do . Toudit and inspect the programs and projects of Coalition Provisional authority and to provide advice and recommendations to the congress on iraqs reconstruction. Woodruff did you have any idea then of the magnitude of what you were going to be doing . Well are the first sign of it was my first trip to iraq in february of 2004 when i was walking the halls of the Republican Palace behind two people and one turned to the other and said, we cant do that anymore. Theres a new Inspector General here. That sent me a signal that the challenges before me were quite substantial. Woodruff as we said, 60 billion, and you write its the largest relief and reconstruction effort for one country in u. S. History. What happened to the money . Well, it was spent, about half of it, on security, on training the iraqi police and the army. And why . Because the security situation deteriorated gravely in 2004 and 2005 into a virtual civil war in 2006 and 2007 that required the surge, a multilevel strategy to push back that violence, which eventually it did. The oth half was spent on Capacity Building. Major reconstruction projects. And i say in our report learning from iraq, at least 8 billion was wasted . Rood and you do single out security. Yes. Woodruff so was that that was essential to the ability of the reconstruction effort to be complete. Thats right. When ambassador negroponte arrived in the middle of 2004 and reviewed the Coalition Provisional authority spend plan he realized notnough was being spent on security, andry ordered the reprogramming of over 3 billion into security, but then the Iraqi Security forces fund was created by the congress, and it spent 20 billion over the next seven years. P, beginning under general petraeus leadership, and it did so, i think, to good effect. Iraqs security of forces today are better equipped and better trained than theyve ever been. Woodruff so youre saying something good did come out of it. Yes, the iraqis i interviewed said things like, fly over baghdad i cant point at a construction, piece of construction that the United States built. A lot of that money was spent on building capacity, providing equipment, and it is truep that a lot of our infrastructure efforts fell well short of what was expected because of the failure to consult. But a lot of our money paid off in the Capacity Building side of the security sector. Woodruff failure to. What does that mean . In this report i interviewed all the iraqi leadership, present and past, and they said almost to a person their chief complaint was the United States did not consult with them about what iraq really needed and instead pursued a program that it desired. Deputy secretary of state bill burned said this to me in my interview with him that we tried to do it all and do it our open way. And i think thats at a core lesson from iraq, that you have to, as general petraeus said, understand the culture. Understand the politics. Understand the economy. Woodruff excuse me, so, for example the Childrens Hospital we mentioned in basra, the waste water Treatment Plant in fallujah. Are you saying the iraqis wouldnt have wanted those things built . Actually, they didntment the water Treatment Plant as we were initially pursuing it, but the challenge there was building it in the middle of a war zone. That was the problem. In basra, yes, i think that they needed a help Significant Health care center, but it was chosen in a very difficult part of the city. And thats what caused so many dlaidz. Woodruff what about abuse . We heard the quote from senator solshe said the level of waste, fraud, and abuse was she said appalling. In terms of fraud. You talked about the waste. What about the level of fraud . Weve achieved 82 convictions of u. S. Contractors and government personnel who committed crimes in iraq and recovered over 191 million from those cases. We have 60plus ongoing cases which we will continue to pursue through the balance of this fiscal year, and i expect its least 20 more convictions in the recovery, at least 100 million. Woodruff was that is that par for the course when that much money is being spent or was there something particular to iraq . There was something particular to iraq, judy. The lack of controls at the outset created what one person called a free fraud zone in iraq. And the bloomstein conspiracy we broke in hillah, babylon, in 2004, convicted a three lieutenant kernels. Phillip boom, the contractor, had three previous convictions woodruff these are americans. Yes, this was a man who had control over hundred of millions of dollars, and he told me when we interviewed him a few years ago that, hey, if there had been a powerful, robust oversight presence on the ground, that the crimes that they engaged in wouldnt have happened. Woodruff stuart bowen you were observing all this from the very beginning. Did you see as you went along the mistakes that were being made . Yes, i did, and we reported on them. And this the Lesson Learned report we produced. I didnt want to just run a Police Blotter of convictions or a long list of auditor findings. I wanted to take what we were learning, what we saw along the way and turn them into recommendations to the congress and agencies, the state department, the department of defense, National Development into useful, best practices gloold my question is, was the government, the state department, listen toss you as the years went by and you were submitting this . Yes, yes, they were. E the department of defense did engage in a reform of its entire approach to contingency contracting. And i think the state department always absorbed the need for ontheground oversight. Early on, there wasnt enough. Later there was more. There can always be more oversight i think in a stabilization operation. Woodruff let me ask you this how should the American People view this . Should they be angry this about this much money you sa some was well spent but a lot of it was not. In an era of very difficult economic circumstances 8 billion in waste a report of such would make anybody angry. So i understand that, but the lesson from iraq to draw from that waste, from that fraud, is that we have to plan better. We have to execute better. We have to oversee better these kinds of operations. Stabilization and reconstruction operations are a reality with us to stay, hopefully never again the size of iraq and afghanistan. Weve had them before the balkans, panama, somalia, haiti and we will have them again. Woodruff i guess my with all due respect that sounds like common sense plan ahead, look at all the contingencies. I mean, why wouldnt that be part of a reconstruction . Excellent point, judy. And youre right many of these lessons do appear to be commonned sense realities, but but the activities on the ground in iraq drive these lessons. The 45 interviews that i conducted with the iraqi leaders, u. S. Leaders, and congressional members framed these lessons, and they are straightforward. They are simple, and they must be learned. Woodruff and direct lessons for afghanistan. There will be reconstruction there. Absolutely right. There is. Woodruff there is. There will be more. 90 billion in u. S. Fund going into afghanistan. And the special Inspector General for afghan reconstruction has his hands full in accounting for all of that. Woodruff is he looking at what you discovered . Yes, he is. Quite a number of the auditors and investigators who servewith me have moved over to work in his office and im confident that wereun, hes going to be cracking down and be very effective in imposing the necessary oversight. Woodruff 60 billion here, 90 billion in afghanistan. Thats right. Woodruff e. Woodruff ed w. R being with us. Woodruff and if you want to read the full report on iraq reconstruction, you can find a link on our website. Ifill now to venezuela, where much of the country mourned the death of president hugo chavez today. Margaret warner reports. Warner thousands of mourners lined the streets of caracas today, as a military honor guard moved president hugo chavezs body from the hospital where he died, to the capitals military academy. There he will lie in state. Huge crowds, led by Vice President Nicolas Maduro, joined in the emotional procession. Some shouted antiamerican slogans. Many vowed to uphold chavez socialist ideals. translated venezuelans of heart and conviction, we believe in the legacy of president chavez, and this sustains us to fight for our country, our families and our children. translated chavez lives. Chavez lives because i am chavez and because most of us are chavez. Long live chavez warner chavez was one of six sons born to impoverished parents in 1954, in a cattle ranching region in western venezuela. He was raised by his grandmother, joined the army at just 16, and eventually became a paratrooper, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1992, he led a coup attempt against thenpresident Carlos Andrew perez and a government riddled with corruption and social divisions. The coup failed, but the move catapulted chavez to national prominence. He was jailed, but pardoned two years later, and in 1998, ran for president and won pledging to usher in social and economic equality in a new constitution. Venezuelan president hugo chavez swearing in as president translated i swear before god, i swear before the homeland, i swear in front of my people on this moribund constitution that i will comply and boost the democratic transformations necessary so that the new republic will have a magna carta adequate to the new times. I swear it. Warner venezuela is the worlds second largest oil producer, and chavez nationalized the oil industry and used the revenue to build a welfare state. He subsidized food and built housing and medical clinics often staffed by cuban doctors. The u. S. Is the worlds top consumer of venezuelan oil, but washington bristled at chavezs embrace of Cubas Fidel Castro and his advocacy of leftist revolution in latin america. In 2002, chavez was briefly deposed in a failed coup, and accused the u. S. Of playing a role. And as the years went by, he delighted in flamboyant verbal assaults on american leaders. He took the podium at the u. N. General assembly in 2006, with choice words about then president george w. Bush. translated this podium where it is now my turn to speak still smells of sulphur yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, at this same rostrum, mr. President of the United States was here, the one i call the devil. He came here, talking as if he owned the world, as if he owned the world. Warner chavez was less hostile toward president obama, even saying they would vote for each other in their respective reelection bids last fall. translated if i were american, i would vote for obama. And i think if obama was from here, from barlovento venezuelan some neighborhood in caracas, he would vote for chavez. I am sure of it. Warner in a Statement Last night, mr. Obama signaled hopes for a more constructive, less volatile relationship with venezuela, saying as venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights. Chavez long, and ultimately losing battle with cancer is thought to have started in 2011. He made multiple trips to cuba for treatment. But last july, he proclaimed himself cancerfree, and won another sixyear term in the october election. In november came word that the cancer had returned, and chavez went back to havana for more treatment. Before leaving, he named Vice President Nicolas Maduro his handpicked successor. translated if something were to occur, that would render me unfit in some way, in that situation, Nicolas Maduro should not juscomplete, as the constitution requires, the term, but my firm opinion, full like a you elect Nicolas Maduro as president of the bolivarian republic of venezuela. Warner his illness kept chavez from returning to venezuela for his january 10th inauguration. And, over the objections of opposition leaders, the Venezuelan Supreme Court declared the inauguration could be postponed. Chavez made his final homecoming in february, but wasnt seen in public. He remained in a Military Hospital until his death yesterday at 58. Now, venezuela must hold a new president ial election in the weeks just ahead. It would likely pit Vice President maduro. translated may our people know that the democratic, revolutionary, antiimperialist and socialist legacy of our comandante is carried on with firmness, with absolute loyalty. Warner . Against the man chavez defeated last fall, former governor henrique capriles. translated to the government, who are burdened with the principal responsibility of guaranteeing coexistence in freedom and in peace, we hope, like all venezuelans do, that they act in strict accordance with their constitutional duties. Warner there is also some question about who runs venezuela in the interim the Vice President or the speaker of the national assembly. Ifill online, we have more on venezuelas Vice President Nicolas Maduro, and his loyalty to hugo chavez. Woodruff next, american catholics and the church. As cardinals gather in rome and prepare to select the next pope, ray suarez looks at the challenges the vatican faces connecting with roman catholics here in the u. S. Suarez among american catholics there have long been differences between the pulpit and the pew. But new polls suggest an even wider gap between the leadership and lay people in 2013. The latest data comes from a New York Times cbs poll released today. It found that more than half of u. S. Catholics say the church is out of touch with peoples needs seven out of 10 say Pope Benedict and the vatican did a poor job of handling the Sexual Abuse Scandals. Nearly seven out of 10 also said they favored allowing priests to marry; ordaining women as priests and allowing artificial methods of Birth Control. However, most also said they felt their own parish was responsive to their needs. We discuss all this with scott appleby. He studies american religious history at the university of notre dame. And james towey, president of ave maria university. He was director of the White House Office of fth based and community initiativ in t george w. Bush administration. Professor appleby, what do you make of the survey results . Are they just an intensification of trends that were already present . American catholicalatey have been at some distance from the vatican and the hierarchy on some of the issues you mentioned for several years now, and many would say that they feel much more comfortable, much more catholic in their local parish. And thats partly because their local priest and the sisters and other whose work in the parish understand their daily needs and interactions. Its difficult to find the connection with the vatican or even with the archwhen youre working in a local faith community, and thats your experience of catholicism. So theres a lot of satisfaction about the compassion and love and nurture there. Many of the problems facing the vatican worldwide dont touch the lives of ordinaryicals. And so theres a disconnection there, and some of the teachings as theyre explained to parishioners dont meet, or match their own faithfilled experience and thats a problem. Suarez president towey what, do you make of the numbers . I wasnt surprised a lot. When youre polling selfidentified catholics you might get different outcomes if you poll individuals at mass every sunday. I think people like local parish. I think its like polls that Show Congress very unpopular but yet the individual congressmen, their home congressman or congresswoman is very popular with them. So i think there is always a need for the church be attentive to wh are the views of the laity, and i think scott is right that this follows some trends weve seen, really, for decades on the fact that some of the churchs teachings are unpopular. Suarez youre right when you say the answers might be different among mazattendingicals. They are very different, not as sciewd in many of the examples that i gave. I think for some individuals, the experience of the catholic faith maybe they were cradle catholics and left the church or recently left the church and their experience would be different to those who find the cablg faith integral to their daily lives. You see in the election where president obama won the catholic vote but among those attending masso sunday he lost it to sunday. Even in the church, and 99 at niewgzs like notre dame and array vamea university we am have different takesop displawr you keep a close tch on trends upon in american religion. Is there something distinctive in the catholic recollection in this regard, a split between whats taught and held in the denomination, and whats professed by individual believers. Its interesting to see that catholics on some measures track very closely with some secular trends, more so than evangelical protestants, than mormons than other religious groups and churches and mosqueds in the United States, and thats partly because catholics have assimilat very rapidly over the last couple of decades into the american main stream and in some ways they have divided. Emphasized different values, and different metrics of what count for success, and how to make judgments about everything from family to economy to ones profession. And as catholics have assimilated over the last 30 or 40 years into leadership polingses and to elite positions in congress and business across the board, theres a struggle for tir loyalties, especially on area wheres Church Teaching seems to contradict or at least is prophetically opposed to what counts for whats going in the mainstream. Suarez james towey, does that explain to you why there was a call for aboutface on a lot of catholic teachings month pollsters they spoke to . It doesnt surprise me at all, ray. The reality is the Catholic Churchs teachings are often a sign of contradiction. The position on Birth Control would be a minority position if you put it up for a vote. You know, i think that the church is always going to be standing there often in opposition to cultural trends, the kardashian culture that we live in. And so when you see a poll come out today that says, for example, they want they want to see women ordained as priests, or they want to see priests beingble to marry, those track what you would see with other christian denominations that have clergy and from my point of view, ive only grown up knowing a Catholic Church holding a minority opinion on a lot of striewz but im proud to believe catholic and i share those views. Suarez scott appleby, lets talk a little bit about what the Sexual Abuse Scandal has done to the modern church. This is something that the roman Catholic Church has been living with now for over a decade. Has it caused a deeper cleavage between pulpit a pew . Its been absolutely devastating for the church. Not only financially, materially, but a loss of trust for my generation of young catholics, the second vatican council, updating, religious freedom, ecumenical relations, the turn to the world and the social justice, that was the significant event in Church History as i was growing up catholic. For the people we teach at notre dame and ave maprixa, what theyve heard about in catholicism is the Sexual Abuse Scandal and the coverup associated with it by bishops and now cardinals who have not done what many other people in positions of responsibility outside the church would have done in terms of Due Diligence and reporting. I agree with whats been said about the church being prophetic. I mentioned that myself. The other thing that is part of the genius of catholicism is learning what is good in the culture itself. God is out there in the secular world, too, by the way. What do we learfrom the secular world and how can we affiliate or connect that with our own catholic values. In terms of protection of children, in terms of certain due process within the church, we could learn a lot from society that would correspond to gospel values. And i think part of the failure on the Sexual Abuse Scandal has been the church circled the wagons and been in an understandably defensive posture but hasnt played to its best strength, which is affirmation of what is gooin the world and wh i true there. Suarez let me hear from james towey on the same issue, especially now as the cardinals gather in rome in the conclave and look ahead to a new leader for the worldwide church. Well, i think the american cardinals eye know many of them theyre acutely aware of the failures of the church to respond in a proper way. It was an embarrassment. It was a period of shame. I think the church is attempting to take steps to remedy the causes of what led to this awful tragedy and scandal, that scandalized not just catholics but people o all fait. I think there is, clearly, a damage that has been done. But i look at the young people that are seeing the new evangelization, the religious dialogue and seeing the church in other part of the world like africa and south america and latin america where the church is really growing and vibe rapt and young. While the american and western european and other areas that have been particularly saddled with shaims of the scandals, thats a concern for allicals. Suarez thank you, both. Thank you, ray. Thank you, ray, great to be with you. Woodruff well be back shortly with the story of the acid attack on the director of the bolshoi ballet. But first, this is pledge week on pbs. This break allows your Public Television station to ask for your support. And that support helps keep programs like ours on the air. Ifill for those stations not taking a pledge break, we take a second look at a story from our after newtown series about the gun debate in colorado, where two mass murders have happened in recent years. Special correspondent megan verlee from Colorado Public Radio reports. He was such an amazing guy. Reporter Jessica Watts has knows first hand the tragedy of gun violence. Last july, her cousin was gunned down in the aurora theater shooting that killed 11 others. But that wasnt the first random shooting to touch her life. In 1999, her husband a student at Columbine High School watched as 12 classmates and one teacher were killed by two students with rifles. Then in 2006, a 16year old family friend was killed in an attack by a gunman at a high school in the small Mountain Town of bailey, just west of denver. Theres always a reminder somewhere in this you know city where so much tragedy has happened. Reporter watts said never in her life had she really thought about gun policy or becoming politically involved. But the Aurora Shooting combined with the massacre in newtown, connecticut spurred her to action. It was something positive to put, to put my, my mind and energy towards, so that i wasnt you know necessarily like us drowning in sorrow all the time. Reporter these days, watts is advocating for gun control bills at both the federal and state level. Gun violence is destroying our families and our communities, taking our loved ones. And weve had enough. Reporter last month, she was there in the colorado statehouse when democrats unveiled a broad package of gun bills. Many of the proposals are familiar from the federal gun debate a ban on highcapacity ammunition magazines, universal background checks and more emphasis on Getting Mental Health warnings into the background check system. Enough is enough and the time is now. applause reporter state representative fields is a lead sponsor of the bills. Like watts, her political activism was spurred by a personal connection to violence. Seven years ago her son was gunned down in the streets of aurora. Then this summer, she got a middleofthe night call about the mass shooting in her district. We went into this grief mode. This disbelief mode. The initial month was attending memorial svices and dealing with the loss. And then after that, when all the cameras left, thats when the real work began in reference to what can we do . Reporter while fields supports all of the gun control measures, she says extending background checks to private sales, is perhaps the most important. If we can keep the guns out of the hands of criminals, i think thats where we can make our greatest impact. And with the background check, felons wont be able to get access to a gun from a private seller. If youre mentally ill or if you are a domestic abuser, you will not have access to a gun unless you take a c. B. I. Check. So i think it closes that loophole and thats a good thing. Reporter the colorado house passed four gun measures last month. Those bills, plus three additional ones are being debated this week in the senate. With both chambers and the Governors Office controlled by democrats, gun rights advocates have turned out in force to lobby against new restrictions. Were going to oppose these, were going to work hard to defeat them all. Reporter dudley brown heads the group Rocky Mountain gun owners. The question for the democrat caucus is are you really ready to stake 2014 elections on the gun issue . Because the Democratic Party has done that before and paid the price. And theyre going to pay the price again. Reporter brown says his members are already calling and mailing lawmakers. Even republicans are feeling the heat. Here in colorado we had the Aurora Shooting, that certainly brought up the tension for everyone. Reporter republicans like state senator Kevin Lundberg have their own proposals. Theyve introduced bills to pressure businesses into allowing concealed weapons on their property and to let some teachers carry guns. We need to fix it is before the trigger is pulled. Its the deterrence that occurs when the bad guy knows there are good guys in that room that can defend and stop any assault that occurs. Reporter for those who make a living from the firearm business, the most troubling proposals are the ones that try to ban certain weapons or size of magazines. Richard taylor manages the firing line shooting range and gun shop in aurora, located less than a mile from last summers theater attack. He says the proposed legislation at both the federal and state level will be both intrusive and ineffective. Its just a feel good, knee jerk reaction to some of these awful incidents that have happened. Is it going to stop anything from happening . Absolutely not. The only people that are really going to be affected by any of this legislation are lawabiding citizens. Reporter if there is any middle ground in the Gun Legislation debate, it may be over how to prevent severely mentally ill persons from obtaining guns. The one thing that everybodys been missing the boat on, that theyve finally started to talk about since newtown, is the Mental Health aspect of it. Nearly all of these unfortunate incidents, there have been indications and signs that the person whos perpetuated these has been under pressure, you know mentally affected in some way. And thats the major thing we have to look at. Reporter but not everyone agrees. State senator lundberg says that with studies showing that nearly 50 of americans at some point seek Mental Health treatment, he worries restrictions may be overly broad. Nobody denies there needs to be a proper system for helping people who need the help but the question is where is that line where it crosses over where everybody ends up on some sort of list and somehow we all become mentally deficient somehow by their standards . Im sorry, that doesnt fit reporter both sides at the federal and state level say they know the coming months wont be easy, but they will be critical. Theres this fear that if you go after Gun Legislation or gun reform or go after the n. R. A. That its going to mean youll get primaried in the election or theyll force people not to vote for you. I think thats a false fear, we should do things that are right for our community. Reporter the full senate is expected to begin voting on the gun measures later this week. Woodruff you can find our ongoing coverage of americas gun debate on our home page. Ifill finally tonight, the disturbing story of attacks on the chief of the bolshoi ballet. Moscow police said today they arrested a russian ballet star for organizing an acid attack on artistic director sergei filin in january. He was badly burned and injured after a jar of sulfuric acid was thrown at his face. The dancer, Pavel Dmitrichenko, had performed many times before at the bolshoi. Police say he confessed to masterminding the crime. The arrests are prompting more questions about this shocking attack in the world of the arts. Michael schwirtz is following this for the New York Times. Welcome. So how did this unfold . We know it was a typical crime story in some ways, but also very atypical. Wls, you have to understand that the competition inside the bolshoi theater is very, very intense, and especially since the fall of the soviet union, theres been a growing factionasm within the organization between traditionalists who want to keep to the classics of ballet, and those who would like to sigh more modernist interpretation than had been allowed in the baft. Ifill and sergei filin was which one of those . Sergei filin was definitely, definitely more experimental in his approach to the ballet, which gained him a loat of praisefrom some of the ballet world, but also earned him some enemies and the prime suspect in this case, of course, Pavel Dmitrichenko, is known as a pierce defender of the classics, and this is this is this has been one of the theories to what brought all of this about. Ifill i have to say its one thing to disagree about direction and disagree about doing it the old way and doing it the new way, but sulfuric acid in your face seems extreme. This kind of passion normally associated with dancing in russia . It certainly rocked the institution, and in tevised rarks today, which he confessed, Pavel Dmitrichenko admitted to orchestrating the attack but he said it had gone too far. Its unclear what he meant by that. But, no, this goes above and beyond anything that i think anybody has ever seen. Certainly there have been competitions and rivalries in the past. There have always been whispers backstage and corridors of rivals putting pins into their rivals costumes or glass into their toe shoes, but notion of this nature, especially to throw asnid somebodys face, potentially blindingnd ending sergei filins career goes beyond what anybody thought was possible in the organization. Ifill tell us a little bit about sergei filin. Is he a big figure in the field of dance . Well, anybody who reaches the level of artistic director is going to be a huge figure in dance and be extremely frominent, and basically what his position allows him to do is cast the roles. Theres been rumors since dmitrichenkos arrest that he was romantically involved with anotr blet dancer who was thought to be sidelined by filin. So this is another thread to this whole conflict that seems to be emerging. Ifill and dmitrichenko is just a member of the ballet or a rising star himself . Hes a lead soloist. And in fact, sergei filin last year cast him in the role of ivan the terrible, lead role in that ballet. So one would think that at least in his career, they were getting along well. Though hes criticized the management of the bshoi in t past for the low salaries, what he claims to be the low salaries of ballet dancers in the troupe. Hes also known as something of a hooligan, according to his colleagues, quick toanger and throw a punch. Hes goot a large patoo on his forarm that says, life is str struggle. Ifill how huge an institution is the bolshoi not only in the dance world but in russia itself. In russia, its not just a great cuural ititution. Its very much symbolic of the countrys history and its greatness. Its been around for over 200 years. And has weathered wars and all the soviet union and has remained this icon of greatness that Many Russians have really relied on when their country has been in its darkest days. And to see this curtain pulled back and the type of conflict and serious, serious rivalries that are going on inside of it has somewhat tarnished this image of an institution that was always seen as someone above the petty infighting and violent rivalries that russia has seen in other spheers of society. Ifill but, michael, in this case, as bizarre as it may seem has the lureid nature of this story in some ways given ballet a wider stage . I mean, its definitely russians become infatuate infatn with this story and its kind of shakespearean drama and even the police in their investigation, famously, have publicly spoken about their newfound respect for what the ballet does and what it brings to Russian Society and have even openly sergei filin to invite them to the ballet once he returns so they can also take part in it. Maybe it is having an effect on r widening the appeal by kind of spilling its tbuts out into society like this. Ifill finally, even though we have a confession, might there be more to this inveigion than meetshe eye yet . Certainly. In russia theres always kind of a belief in all of these great scandals that theres some bigger, darker, more influential individuals or groups behind the scenes controlling things. So who knows where this is headed. Ifill Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times, thanks so much. Thank you. Woodruff again, the major developments of the day the u. S. House passed a republican budget bill to keep the government running through september. It still faces hurdles in the democraticcontrolled senate. John brennans nomination to be c. I. A. Director ran into a senate filibuster, on whether drone strikes would ever be used inside the u. S. And the u. N. Count of Syrian Refugees topped one million. Meanwhile, Syrian Rebels took 21 u. N. Peacekeepers hostage on the golan heights. Does the solar system need protection from an earthly invasion . Thats one worry for scientists at nasa. Hari sreenivasan explains. Sreenivasan on science wednesday, we look at how scientists and engineers are preventing homegrown bacteria from contaminating other planets, moons and comets by keeping space craft biologically clean. Plus, on making sense, to consume or not to consume . That is the question for two economists, who debate the morality of spending versus saving. All that and more is on our website www. Newshour. Pbs. Org. Judy . Woodruff and thats the newshour for tonight. On thursday, well talk with House Democratic leader nancy pelosi. Im judy woodruff. Ifill and im gwen ifill. Well see you online and again here tomorrow evening. 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. Support also comes from Carnegie Corporation of new york, a foundation created to do what Andrew Carnegie called real and permanent good. Celebrating 100 years of philanthropy at carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by Macneil Lehrer productions captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org