Transcripts For WHYY PBS NewsHour 20141007

Its really to explore portraiture in a very new way. Woodruff those are some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by at bae systems, our pride and dedication show in everything we do; from Electronics Systems to intelligence analysis and cyber operations; from combat vehicles and weapons to the maintenance and modernization of ships, aircraft, and critical infrastructure. Knowing our work makes a difference inspires us everyday. Thats bae systems. Thats inspired work. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. And with the ongoing support of these institutions 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 alarms sounded in ankara today over the peril facing a kurdish town in syria, just across the border from turkey. Islamic state forces advanced from two directions, as turkeys leaders pressed the u. S. For new action, and the u. S. Pressed turkey to do more itself. Ifill after a night of heavy fighting, the black Islamic State flag still flew over part of kobani this morning. Outgunned kurdish defenders claimed they had blocked the militants from pushing into the towns center. But in neighboring turkey, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Syrian Refugees he fears the worst. translated months have gone but nothing is achieved. Right now, kobani is about to fall. Ifill the town lies a few hundred yards from syrias border with turkey. Its capture would help cement Islamic State control of northern syria, and pose a new threat to the turks. The Islamic State advance has also triggered a mass exodus, with 200,000 people fleeing the kobani area, into turkey. Air strikes by the u. S. Led coalition are trying to break the militants momentum in the region, but erdogan said today, its not enough. translated you cannot resolve this conflict with air bombardments. Now, we are dealing with a new problem, Islamic State, a terrorist organization. This problem cannot be solved via air strikes without co operating with those fighting on the ground. Ifill later, a senior turkish official said ankara is asking washington to step up its airstrikes. The response in washington was noncommittal. State Department Spokeswoman jen psaki its obviously horrific to watch whats going on the ground. But its important for the United States, for us, to also step back and remember our strategic objectives as it relates to our efforts and our engagement in syria. Ifill instead, psaki said u. S. Officials are talking to the turks about increasing their role in fighting the Islamic State group. Turkey does have tanks and Ground Troops stationed near the syrian border. Last week, turkish lawmakers authorized military action inside syria. So far, nothing has happened. Whats more, Turkish Border forces have used armor and tear gas to block Kurdish Militia fighters from crossing back into syria to join the fight. All of which sparked protests today, and clashes with police, by kurds in turkish cities. Across europe, kurds in paris and brussels also appealed for action. translated nobodys doing anything, we are calling on humanity to stop this massacre against our people who are martyred, terrorized, killed. Ifill protesters in brussels even forced their way into the european parliament, waving flags and chanting in support of the kurdish people. Ifill well return to the Islamic State group, and the horrors being inflicted on women under its control, after the news summary. Woodruff u. S. Health officials are considering stepping up airport screening for ebola. New protocols could include checking for fever in all passengers arriving from abroad. In atlanta, the head of the centers for disease control, dr. Thomas frieden, said today hes not yet ready to recommend anything so drastic. Screening at airports, of course, would not have found fever in the patient in dallas, because he didnt have fever four or five days after he arrived. But well look at all of the options. Were not today providing the steps that we plan to take, but i can assure you we plan to take additional steps, and we will be making those public in the coming days, once we can work out the details. Woodruff that patient in dallas, Thomas Duncan of liberia, remained in critical condition. But hospital officials reported his liver function is improving. Ifill fear of ebola spread in spain today, after a nursing assistant became the first person infected outside west africa. We have a report from neil connery of independent television news, whos in madrid tonight. Reporter this is the hospital in madrid where a patient with ebola was being treated, but one of the nurses somehow became infected here. And now that nurse, theresa romero, is being held in isolation in the very same hospital. Her husband is also in quarantine. One other person is undergoing tests. Outside, some of the hospitals own staff have been demonstrating today, calling for more information about what went wrong. translated it has been really surprising this happened here with all of the security measures. translated they have not provided convincing information for us. I think they should provide more about what happened and what was the failure. Reporter hospital staff have told the newspaper here that their protective suits were not up to the standards set by the World Health Organization. They wore latex gloves sealed with duct tape and simple surgical masks when staff say they should have worn full breathing apparatus. The director of Public Health in spain said the nurse who contracted the virus entered the room of an ebola victim twice, once while he was alive and a second time to collect materials after he died. Theresa romero is 40 years old and was transported between hospitals last night. Although shes not thought to have left madrid recently. Officials are so far monitoring more than 20 people who came into contact with her. The World Health Organization has said while governments are well prepared, the spread of ebola in europe is, in their words, quite unavoidable. Ifill the case in spain also claimed another victim id Court Ordered that the infected nurses dog must be euthanized, and the remains incinerated. Some Research Indicates dogs can be infected with ebola without showing symptoms, but its unclear if they can transmit it to humans. On wall street, worries about the World Economy growth sent stocks into a deep dive. The selloff started after germany reported weaker industrial output, and the International Monetary fund shaved its growth forecast. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 272 points to close at 16,719. The nasdaq fell 60 points to close at 4,385. And the sandp 500 dropped 29, to finish at 1,935. Woodruff a federal Appeals Court threw out gay marriage bans in idaho and nevada today. It came a day after the u. S. Supreme court effectively legalized samesex unions in 11 other states. All told, the practice will now be legal in 32 states. Ifill another federal Appeals Court has struck down part of the congressional map in virginia. A panel of three judges agreed that republicans created a blackmajority district for purposes of racial gerrymandering. The ruling does not affect next months election, but state lawmakers will have to redraw the lines next year. Woodruff and former treasury secretary Timothy Geithner appeared in federal court in washington to defend the bailout of a. I. G. The government gave the insurance giant an 85 billion loan in 2008. Geithner testified today it was necessary to save the financial system. A lawsuit by a. I. G. s former Top Executive charges the deal cheated shareholders. Woodruff still to come on the newshour women and children in the grips of Islamic State militants; do muslim inmates have the right to grow beards in u. S. Prisons . A nobel prize in physics for improving the light bulb; how voicecontrolled phones distract drivers; a portrait best viewed from the sky; and, senator Kirsten Gillibrands call for more women to get involved in public life. Ifill we return now to the Islamic State group, and its brutal tactics. Much is known now about the group, also known as isil, and its high profile beheadings of westerners, mass executions of civilians and forced conversions. Less well known is the extremist groups horrific treatment of women and girls. Last week the United Nations reported thousands of women had been abducted by the group some handed over to fighters as a reward, or sold as sex slaves. The newshour sent a crew to meet a 15yearold girl, a member of the yazidi sect, who was captured and held by the Islamic State before managing to escape. She now lives at a camp with others whove been displaced. We withheld her identity for her and her familys safety. It was 9 00 in the morning. They kept us in a house, the girls and the women. And then they killed all the men, including my brother. Ifill she and the abducted women were taken by truck east, to a house in mosul. There, they were ordered to convert to islam. More kidnapped girls joined them. They separated the women and the girls. Some of the girls were taken by isil. They gave some of us to the guards and they sold some of us, too. And some were given as a gift. If we didnt do what they asked, they would have hit us. We did everything because we were threatened. We had to. They were very bad to the girls. They were doing bad things to the women, illegal things. Ifill thats only one story. To help us understand the depth and scale of the Islamic States treatment of women and girls, we turn to manal omar, acting Vice President for the middle east and Africa Center at the United States institute of peace. And David Jacobson, professor of sociology and founding director of the Citizenship Initiative on Civil Society and conflict at the university of south florida. Matthew jacobson, you wrote that women are now at the heart of the worlds most dangerous quarrel. What do you mean when you says dangerous quarrel . Well, i think that womens status and womens sexuality has become a very different perspectives of society and very different perspectives of morality. The Islamist Groups in general and the jihadi groups in particular, the more violent jihadi groups see the west under thes for of globalization as being a very corrupting force, and they wish to. Theres a backlash in essence against that corrupting force. Sometimes violent, extremely violent in the case of isis, and other times. Ifill manal omar, has isis proved to be more dangerous on this front than other similar groups . I think youve seen an increased level of brutality, but whats actually frightening is theyre very strategic in targeting women. Its a wonderful way of really forcing communities into submission, and i think the strategy behind the targeting of women is whats particularly scary from isis. I think that weve seen in the past, you know, that Sexual Violence is often used as a tool of war, and its a very effective tool of war and its something that theyre adopting to be able to force communities into control. Ifill i guess this is unusual. Is this something, as horrible as it is, is it something weve seen in past wars and past conflicts . I think the reality is that youve always seen women targeted, and youve seen various u. N. Resolution, u. N. Resolution 1820 specifically identifies Sexual Violence as a tool of war, but dating back to u. N. Resolution 1325, which was in 2000, which admitted that women bear the brunt of war. I think theres a trend that weve seen in terms of really exploiting particularly the use of Sexual Violence as a way or targeting individual women, targeting the families but also targeting the community. Its not something thats new, but isis has taken it to a very brutal level. What weve seen is theyre not only using it as a way of targeting communities, but theyre also using it as a way of creating a reward system with soldiers as well as incomegenerating in terms of selling and Human Trafficking. Ifill yet David Jacobson, we hear about the beheadings and executions and mass bombs, but we dont hear as much about this kind of violence. Why is that in. It is puzzling. Thats beginning the change slowly. Its puzzling on two levels. One is the sheer scale of this violence against women, and secondly the centrality of explaining what is going on. So when isis and other Justice Departmenty groups across the world idealogically or one could say obsess around the issue of women, and so the targeting of women has a strategic objective in terms of frightening populations, but its also very symbolic. Its important to point out the categories of women in who they target. Much of the rape is targeted either what they would term minorities, christians and other minorities like the yazidis. Whereas among sunnis, women who they feel have gone. Are prostrates of some kind, are generally executed. Ifill manal omar, because of the cultural shame visited on the women who are the victims, are these likely to go underreported or unreported . Of course. Reporting Sexual Violence even in this country in america, 60 of Sexual Violence goes unreported. You can only imagine how much thats enhanced with the cultural ramifications but also the fact the communities have no tools of really being able to reintegrate if they are able to bring their girls back. I think thats one of the primary challenges. Weve heard on the ground reports of women who have escaped who commit suicide in order not to have to face that reintegration or face their families and community. Ifill David Jacobson, how do we confirm the numbers . How do we confirm the scale and the scope of this kind of violence . Is there any way . Well, if one looks at the United Nations report, which you referred to earlier, what they indicate is they can just get at a certain minimum baseline in the cases they report. We have to assume that the number of cases is much worse than what theyre reading. I think to get a precise count would be near impossible, but we know its very, very bad. Is that in part because of a taboo associated with this kind of crime . Certainly. Thats one of the tragedies of what is happening is that the women who are raped, sexually assaulted, forced into marriages in these cultures, theyre now dishonored. This is not something that they necessarily are going to advertise or report on. Its compounded by issues, for example, if they become pregnant. Its a very severe situation for these individuals. Manal ifill manal omar, if e consider the possibility of rape and Sexual Assault have gone mainstream as a tool of war, at what point does Human Trafficking become part of this or is it a separate issue . I think silt an integrated issue. What youre seeing again is based on a reward system, based on selling, its all tied and integrated together. I think one of the primary challenges is really being able to identify it as terrorist attacks. These are attacks that are used to cause terror, to cause again submission of communities, and until were able to really recognize it as that and not just a humanitarian issue or something that affects women, i think it will be very difficult for us to combat the issue thats being raised in terms of Sexual Violence as a tool of war. Isis is very strategic in that use and its something we have to think strategically about, as well, to counter their narrative. Ifill what is the international communitys responsibility in that . I think that one of the primary issues is better documentation. Theres a taboo in underreporting. There is also a failure for us to acknowledge the hard side of the use of Sexual Violence in terms of security. We continue to see it as a softer side, the humanitarian side, so were not documenting it. Were not able to be responsive to it. I think particularly to really high right the awareness of it. The Islamic State is using religious justification. I think the more population is aware this is not tied to religion, it strips away any claim they have in terms of the false name of the Islamic State. Ifill manal omar of the u. S. Institute of peace and David Jacobson of the university of south florida, thank you both very much. Thank you. Ifill online you can hear more from the 15yearold girl who escaped from Islamic State group militants. You can watch that on our world page at pbsnewshour. Org. Woodruff the new Supreme Court term kicked off today with a case about the religious freedoms of Prison Inmates. Should muslim inmates be allowed to grow beards for religious reasons or does that pose a significant Security Risk to Prison Guards . That was the question posed to the Supreme Court today. We start with a look at the case at the center of todays arguments. It comes from tim obrien who filed this report for the pbs Program Religion and ethics newsweekly. A warning it contains some graphic images and details. Reporter it was a burglary and stabbing at this trailer in the wee hours of a may morning five years ago that led to tuesdays important Supreme Court case. The perpetrator, 33year old gregory holt. The victim, his exgirlfriend. He slashed her throat and stabbed her in the chest, telling her, if i cant have you, no one will. She survived, but holt was sentenced to life in prison after jurors learned of his long criminal history, including written threats to kidnap president bushs daughters and blow up federal buildings. Hes being held at this maximum security prison at grady, arkansas about 70 miles southeast of little rock. Years before the offense, holt converted to islam. He now goes by the name of abdul malik mohammed. Hes challenging prison regulations that prohibit facial hair, saying a half inch beard is a requirement of his muslim faith. And to many muslims wishing to reporter criminals do give up many of their rights when they enter prison, but not all of them. In fact, in 2000, president clinton signed legislation that prohibits any restrictions on the religious liberty of Prison Inmates, unless the restriction can be shown to be in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and that it is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest. After two lower courts ruled against him, holt, or abdul muhammed, mailed a 15page hand written petition to the u. S. Supreme court, challenging the arkansas prison grooming policy as a violation of that 2000 federal law. This is a matter of grave importance, wrote holt. Pitting the rights of muslim inmates against a system that is hostile to these views. When, to the surprise of many, the Court Announced last march that it would hear holts appeal, the case took on a life of its own. The becket fund for religious liberty, a Public Interest law firm devoted to promoting religious freedom, got involved. It lined up attorney, douglas laycock, an experienced Supreme Court advocate and one of the countrys leading authorities on church state issues, to represent holt in the high court. The important point here is that this is not just about him. Its about all those other prisoners that Congress Learned about, that were not getting their scriptures, that were not getting their dietary needs, not getting the other things essential to religious practice. Reporter historically, those hole has generated considerable support from groups long at war with churchstate issues. More than a does din friend of the court briefs representing nearly a hundred organizations have been filed in holts behalf, only one in arkansas, filed on behalf of 15 states, saying courts should but only one in support of arkansas, filed on behalf of fifteen states, saying courts should defer to corrections officials on such matters. After his arrest and incarceration, holt continued to write threatening letters from prison. Death to america, he wrote in one letter, describing himself as an american taliban in another. If you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. Reporter but Obamas Justice department is also backing this selfproclaimed jihadist in this case, characterizing the prisons security concerns as exaggerated or based on mere speculation. Reporter this is the first Supreme Court test of the federal law designed to protect the religious freedom of Prison Inmates and it raises an important question, if the law does not protect the right of a prison inmate to grow a beard, against claims of prison security, claims dismissed by so many as so weak, what does it protect . Woodruff so how did todays arguments play out in the court . Marcia coyle of the National Law Journal was there and joins me now. Marcia, this was quite a case, quite an interesting set of q a arguments before the jung. This is an inmate with some legal heavyweights on his side. He does. He has one of the foremost religious scholars in the country representing him in the arguments today. This law, its important to note, it really erects a very high hurdle for the government, any government body, here a prison system, before it can burden somebodys religious expression. It says the government body has to have a compelling interest, has to choose the least restrictive means to further that interest. But it also says, Congress Said in the law, you have to give due defendant represents to the experience and expertise of prison officials. It didnt say how much deference. Those two commands are in tension, and that tension played out during the argument. Woodruff thats what arkansas was arguing here. Mr. Holts lawyer argued that arkansas is looking for absolute deference to their judgment that the nobeard policy protects security within the prison system. He faced pushback from some of the justices. The chief chief justice said, wa halfinch beard may be easy. Then it will be a oneinch beard, and then it will be a full beardment we have to make a decision on a generally applicable standard here. Where is the limit on deference. Mr. Holts lawyer said, well, arkansas, as any government body, has to provide evidence, concrete examples that there is a material effect on security. That wasnt done here. Well, arkansas countered here. The states attorney says, look, if the nobeard policy protects against prisoners altering their appearance if they escape or even altering it within the prison so they can get into areas they shouldnt be in and also it protects against the hiding of contraband, even in a halfinch beard. Woodruff it sounds as if the justices are scept calling. They were. Justice alee to poked fun at the arkansas lawyer saying, why not have them comb the half inch beer and maybe a similar card will fall out or a tiny revolver. Woodruff so this is a case where you have some sense of the justices being. You did. It seems as though the prisoner may have the better argument here. Its an important case, judy, because this is really the first time the court has looked at how to apply this law. Its a sister law to what we saw last term in the hobby lobby case and the religious freedom restoration act, which we learned protects government from burdening the religious expression of corporations and their religious owners. So its a very important law. Woodruff you also get to hear all the most interesting cases. I do. The facts are always interesting. Woodruff marcia coyle, we thank you. My pleasure, judy. Ifill the nobel prize in physics is often awarded for work that can be tough to explain to anyone who isnt actually a physicist. But this years winners, announced earlier today, won for research that actually affects our everyday lives. Jeffrey brown has the story. Brown a trio of scientists won for the invention of blue light emitting diodes often referred to as leds. The blue leds in the early 90s paved the way for brighter and more Energy Efficient white light, the kind now seen on phone, tvs and computers, even signs on the subway. Two scientists were from japan, one from the u. S. Our science correspondent miles obrien joins me now to tell us about it. So, miles, the invention of blue light emitting diodes, what exactly does that mean . We had red and green and we needed blue the take it over the top. Are et cetera step back. Back in the 60s when they created the first lightemitting diodes, red was first one because it was easiest to make, the semiconducting material that makes that particular color was much easier to make in an efficient way. Then came green. You can think about the first calculator you got which was always with a red light emitting diod. Eventually we got into green, but blue was difficult because the material that creates that particular color, that wavelength, was hard to work with. Gallium nitride was the tricky thing for scientists and engineers to efficiently turn into crystals to masss produce, but once you have red, green and blue, put them together, you have white light, thats created a revolution. Brown thats the word that the Nobel Committee used, revolutionizing lighting. So it has seeped into all facets of life. Think about the incan december bt lightbulb, which is a hot, glowing filament in a vacuum tube. Then we went to florescent light, much more efficient. Now were in the world of leds. If you go back to the incandescent bulb, 20 times more efficient. And it lasts much longer. A quarter of the energy on our planet is spent in creating light. And in order to reduce all of our need for energy and our carbon footprint, leds make a huge, significant impact. Brown the academy also said this years prize is very spiically more for invention than discovery. We often look at these prizes, especially in Something Like physics, as going for more basic research. Yes. Of course, last year they honored the professor higgs of the god particle, if you will, which takes us back to the origins of everything. The big bang. But difficult to say that has any real world application except that it helps us understand where we all came from. This is Applied Science at its best. If you look back to what alfred nobel wanted when he created this prize, it was something that had huge impact on humanity and how we live and certainly the led light has done that. Thats what he wanted, but it doesnt usually come out that way, at least in immediate ctical responses from the work, right . Yeah, no. Frankly, for those of us on the world of physics, sometimes its hard to decipher exactly what happened, right . Because were talking about very esoteric things. And it takes a little bit of work to understand the significance. In this case, we all immediately know, wow, that led light, which is on my smartphone, which powers my battery, which is changing the way Street Lighting works, its changing things in the third world in very significant ways where people are turning in kerosene lanterns for led lights, its had a huge impact and its only really just begun in some ways. In our last minute or, so lets turn to yesterdays announcement, which was the prize for medicine. This was described as a kind of gps system for the brain, using another kind of technology that were all now familiar with but applying it to brain research. The award was split between three scientists, two teams. The first bit of Research Goes back a while to the discovery that the hippocampus part of our brain is what maps our orientation. They actually looked inside a row rodents brain when it was moving around the room and could see when it was in any place a specific part of the brain would light up, if you will. That was further enhanced by a married couple team from norway, which found a neighboring region of the brain where we actually have the ability to set up sort of a grid system, which allows us to remember where we parked the car, for example, to give us kind of a spatial orientation. And in looking at the way the rats navigate and seeing what their brains are doing, they really understand how this works. So its really exciting about all this is this is what we first see the early signs of alzheimers disease. And understanding whats going on with this part of the brain might help us, first of all, diagnose sooner, and also might help us understand alzheimers in a more meaningful way where we can provide treatment. So this prize really is for potential looking forward to some spectacular work in the future perhaps, right . One would hope, but it is really interesting to understand how our brain has the ability to kind of create its own, you know, we say in our minds eye. This is our minds eye. All right. Miles obrien, thank you so much. Youre welcome. Ifill in the age of the mobile phones and smart devices, todays drivers are increasingly tempted to take their hands off the wheel and their eyes off the road. Many of us take comfort in newer Handsfree Technology that allows us to stay connected but with fewer hand and eye movements. But a new study out today finds talking, texting and changing the radio dial even without using your hands may not necessarily make driving any safer. Such distractions, in fact, may be make the process of getting from here to there more dangerous. The study was conducted by aaa and the university of utah. Jake nelson is the director of Traffic Safety advocacy and research for the aaa and he joins me now. So how distractedded are we, jake nelson . Its a lot worse than we thought. Its really important to remember that the Auto Industry has done a great job at helping to mitigate manual and visual forms of distracted driving by allowing motorists to keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road. Our concern at a. A. A. Is there is the third leg of the stool, which is the mental or cognitive piece which also needs to be addressed. Ifill Technology May be hurting more than its helping . Certainly from a mental standpoint, using voice commands to do things like tune the radio and to send and receive Text Messages and the latter are actually more distracting than from a mental standpoint than using your handheld device. Ifill okay. First, im going to make an admission, my very first car, my very first accident is because i was switching the radio dial. Why is that not more distracting than everything were talking about now . Well, there are different forms of distracted driving. The manual is the example you gave. There is the visual, looking away from the roadway. But if your mind isnt focused on the important task of driving, our performance as drivers decreases. Ifill so rank the tasks. Some of the new cars, you can write an email while youre driving. You can talk on the phone. You can do all kinds of things. You can call people up. Is that. Which of those are more dangerous than the other . We looked at a variety of testings that motorists engage in while driving, from listening to an audio book, driving by itself, talking to a passenger, talking on a cell phone handheld or handsfree and interacting with these Voice Recognition systems to send and receive Text Messages. We found that just driving in and of itself has a significant amount of workload associated with it, which makes sense. Were doing a lot of Different Things at one time. When you start to listen to the radio and an awed yes book, its not much more distracting than just driving. Talk about using a cell phone, handheld or handsfree, thats a category two on our scale of one to five. Interacting with these voice detection system, category three. Ifill so it matters what layer of technology were talking about. So if im trying the find an address and my Technology Device is built into my car and gives me the wrong answer to the question, im even more distracted. Absolutely. We found some good news and bad news in our research. The good news is that some automakers are getting it right. Toyota, for example, their system, interacting with that isnt much more distracting from a mental standpoint than listening to an audio book. Theres a reason for that. They have blocked certain functionality, like composing a text message or email, which reduces demands on the driver by about half. Ifill while youre driving, while youre sitting still. Correct. Ifill so heres the question for me. What can you do about that . Should a. A. A. Be recommending to Car Companies or to motorists that we just shouldnt be doing any of that . I think we have a shared responsibility here. I think industry has a responsibility to do whatever they can to make sure the products that they develop are as safe as possible to use. Weve identified through our Research Several ways that industry can pursue that. Then theres obviously a responsibility that all of us have. Just because Technology Enables us to do things we hide the wheel doesnt mean we should do it. So hang up the phone, drive. Focus on that very important task. Just because you can put on your mascara while driving doesnt mean you should do it. Exactly. Is there a connection thats been made or you can establish between these kinds of activities and actual accidents . Thats a really good question. So theres been a lot of research thats been done looking at different forms of distracted driving. The example i would give you would be talking on a cell phone. Regardless of whether its handheld or handsfree. Previous research has shown that roughly quadruples your risk of causing a traffic crash. On our scale of mental distraction, it came in on a category level two. When we talk about interacting with these voice detect systems, even a perfect system that never made a mistake in translation or understanding a voice command, was a category three. Ifill youre talking extrapolation. Im wondering whether there is evidence there were 500 accidents last year and the drivers admitted later they were trying to talk to siri. This relationship between mental distraction and actual crashes isnt well understood. No one has researched it to date, including a. A. A. Our study wasnt designed to look at crash risk, but we have a study well initiate next year that will help us to understand this relationship a little better. As a result, you cant really advise automakers or consumers to not do these things at all. Not exactly correct because we know and the research that we have done, which looked at the effect of mental workload or mental distraction on driving performance, that being overloaded as a driver by the use of technologies or doing other things while driving impairs your performance behind the wheel. So it increases your distraction time. People mentally distracted tend to scan the roadway less to look for hazards, and worse outcome possible is just failure to identify hazards in the roadway all together. Its a phenomenon called inattention blindness. So you dont even see. Youre looking straight ahead. You dont even see it. Ifill i think ive had that happen. Ill go plug in my gps before i drive off. Jake nelson, a. A. A. Director of Traffic Safety advocacy and research. Thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff now, to a new public art installation in the Nations Capital that is both huge in size and meaning. Jeffrey brown takes us there. Brown its called a facescape. A portrait of a young man in the very heart of the National Mall in washington, that can be seen in full only from the top of the Washington Monument or from the sky above. Starting small, it built up like a snowball, over six acres, taking four weeks of construction and requiring 2,000 tons of sand, 800 tons of soil, 10,000 pegs, and miles of twine. Its the work of jorge rodriguezgerada and was commissioned by the National Portrait gallery. And, indeed, the artist conceived it as a portrait that would, like much of his work, explore the question of identity. Identity is an amazing thing. What we look like is what people will judge immediately when you see you and thats something youre born with and it follows you the rest of your life. My idea is to change the reasons why portraits are made. Its really to explore portraiture in a very new way. Reporter curator Taina Caragol says rodriguezgerarda is doing just that. Very often we conceive of it as a face, but a portrait can be much more than a face. He is working on what we could think of as a land art of the 21st century, with satellite technology, with dirt, and sand, this is an ephemeral artwork, so thats also something that goes partly against the tradition of portraiture, which is a genre used to memorialize people, and reporter the installation on the National Mall, between the lincoln and the World War Two memorials, is actually a composite, created from close to 50 photographs the artist took of young men age 18 to 25 around washington. And it is very much an american portrait, titled out of many, one, e pluribus unum. It also plays off another idiom, that of marketing. The face represents the celebration of diversity. And i think that diversity is what made, one of the things that made the nation so great. The idea is to use the same ideas of scale and position and Everything Else used in marketing for completely different reasons. Not to sell you anything but to let us contemplate the idea of identity. Brown rodriguezgerada, 48, was born in cuba and raised in new jersey. His early work, in the 1990s, was subversive, altering billboards in ways that questioned the motives and methods of advertisers, especially in urban areas. You started out doing essentially illegaltype work and then there you are standing on the National Mall asked to do this. Is it not ironic for you . In fact, during that time, we were able to get enough of that work done that tobacco advertising was taken off the billboards. When i was doing that it was because i really thought it was awful, i wasnt hurting anyone and the dialogue was to hopefully get some of that stuff stopped. Brown the first large facescape he tackled was titled expectation, a giant sand painting in the likeness of thencandidate barack obama, created on a barcelona beach. In 2013, in belfast, he created wish, the united kingdoms largest portrait ever, spread over eleven acres, this time of an anonymous girl. And in amsterdam, a human rights activist. Part of a campaign defending women targeted for their work in central america. This one spanned almost two football fields. I can only work big if its intrinsic to the message. Working big doesnt make any sense unless what youre saying is really important as well. So the only things ive ever done big were big things to talk about. Brown you mean require big ideas require big space . Yeah, yeah, if youre going to give something a wow factor like this. Brown this has a wow factor, huh . Its very difficult to get something on the National Mall and for the park service, the trust for the National Mall and the smithsonian all to Work Together with clark construction, i mean a lot of things have to come together for Something Like this and it did. Brown on the ground, as rodriguezgerada showed us, visitors experience the work as though in a maze. Brown so, where are we now . Were now in the eyebrow. Brown the eyebrow . Youve got this all sort of, this face, in your head . This is completely memorized in my head. I know exactly where i am at all times. Brown private companies donated their services to install the work, which involved advanced technology, along with all that soil and sand. Jorge designed it on the computer and then sent it to the surveying company that made his drawing into data points that we could put out into the world onto this field. And from that, our surveyors are working with little gps computers. Brown the installation comes at a time when the National Mall is in the midst of a major restoration project, the removal of damaged soil, installing a new irrigation system and planting new grass. The facescape project is now part of that process, at the end of the month, the soil and sand will be tilled back into the ground. In many ways, National Mall and parks superintendent bob vogel says, the artwork is perfect for this premier civic space. This is a place where people come, they grieve, they celebrate, they demonstrate. We want people to look at it, and get people to think and to talk about it. Brown its a face with a short life, soon to be erased, with hopes that its Component Parts and meaning live on. Brown to hear more from jorge rodriguezgerada, and see his other facescapes, go to our artbeat page at pbsnewshour. Dot. Org woodruff finally tonight were joined by the junior senator from new york state, democrat kirsten gillibrand. During her tenure shes focused on fighting Sexual Assault in the military and on college campuses. Senator gillibrand recently published a new book, off the sidelines raise your voice, change the world. Senator gillibrand, welcome to the newshour. Im delighted to be on. Woodruff you say in your introduction, among other things, you want to get women and girls to believe in themselves just as much as men and boys do. So my question is youre saying that in 2014, when weve had three women secretaries of state, we have a woman head of the Federal Reserve bank, weve got 20 women in the senate and so on and so on that women still need to have a lesson in how to have confidence in themselves . Its even more than that. Its just telling women how important their voices are, that their lifes experiences, their views, how they feel about an issue isnt necessarily being heard at all these Decision Making table, whether its the boardroom, where we only have 16 women, or c. E. O. Where theres only 3 , or congress where theres only 20 women. Any woman, if she expresses her view, she can change the outcome, whether its the pta meeting or whether its in congress. Woodruff its kind of a selfhelp book. Is that unusual for a United States senator to write a selfhelp book . I wanted to write the kind of book i like the read. I love reading biographies and memoirs that tell me how a woman got from a to b, how she made those decisions, what are the challenges, whats her life advice. I made a point to include details and stories as mere anecdotes so a woman can see herself, see her own challenge, but realize how important her aspirations are, that her hopes and dreams are important, and if shes heard, she can actually change how decisions are made and what the outcomes actually are. One of the things you write about, and this has gotten a lot of attention, is the sexism youve encountered in your career, including all the way to the United States senate. You at one point describe a comment from man, and you say he was one of your favorite older members of the senate who after you had had a baby. He looked at you and said, dont lose too much weight, i like my girls chubby . How did you respond . I just smiled. Thats a point in my career where im quite clear. I shared these stories so women can understand when they experience like Something Like, this not only does it have to define them, but they can push through it, elevate the conversation and talk about the larger challenges we face. I share stories acted when i was younger where those kind of comments hurt. I felt like i was being judged not on my work or efforts but my looks. When youre a young 20something lawyer, you dont have the tools. You dont know what to do with that. I felt undermined. I want that reader to say, im not alone. I can push through this and some day with that guys boss, but its something that doesnt have to define me. Do you think this is an issue mainly with an older generation of men, members of congress, or is this younger . I think it stems from the same problem of are we valuing women in the workplace . Are we valuing womens work where its taking place . When you look at this challenge with the nfl and women are not being valued, when you look at challenges with Sexual Assault in the military or Sexual Assault on college campus, victims arent being believed, survivors are being blamed, it all goes to this nation of are we valuing women. You combine with that with the fact that were making 78 cents on the dollar for the same work as our male colleagues, thats problematic. And so my anecdote to this is if women can be heard and have their opinions be heard in these decisionmaking places, you can change outcomes. Just quickly, you mentioned the Sexual Assaults in the military. You work very hard on that issue. You have over 50 votes. It still wasnt enough. Is this something, this is basically taking charge of sexual sought out of the chain of command. Is this something thats really had its moment . No. This is the beginning. With a lot of these battles when youre talking about basic civil rights and liberties and equality, these can be generational battles. Sexual assault in the military i believe in order to have transparency and accountability, you have to take the Decision Making out of the chain of command, give it to the hands of trained military prosecutors who have no skin in the game, who dont have biases, and if we can continue to push for that reform, we will have a stronger military for it. But thats an example, and i shared it in the book of where survivors voices are heard, whether its men or women. This is what they are calling to happen. They need transparency and accountability to have any hope of justice. Woodruff a question about women, the midterm elections are a few weeks away now, democrats clearly benefit most of the time from the womens vote. People talk about the gender gap. But it is also the case that men vote most of the time, the majority of them, do for republicans. Dont democrats have a problem with the mens vote, and if thats the case, why . I dont think so. I think this election is going to be about who we fight for and we are fighting to make sure that people get equal pay for equal work. Were fighting for basic social safety nets to make sure everyone has a chance to reach their full potential, and owl of these ideals i think are going to determine the outcome of these elections. I think our candidates are stronger. I think thats going to show by holding the senate and continuing to have victories in the house, as well. I want to ask you about what defense secretary leon panetta is saying in his book thats just out. Among other things, hes critical of president obamas leadership in foreign affairs. He says he too often avoids the battle, complains and misses opportunities. Does leon panetta have a point . Well, in my job as the overseer of the Armed Services committee and also as part of congress that i think should be engaged and involved in whether we are declaring war and what kind of military engagements take place, i voted most recently against the president s idea to arm rebels because i didnt think it would be successful. I was concerned with the unintended consequences. I didnt have faith these socalled moderates would hand these weapons over to the better fighter the minute the battle got tough. I dont want those weapons used against our men and women. I also believe the president does need authorization to bomb syria. I dont think existing authorizations for iraq and fighting al qaeda is sufficient for the missions hes having in syria right now. So i am of the view that he needs to come to congress and ask for that authorization were were before he continues this particular strategy. Woodruff but is leon panetta right when he said the president holds back . Well, secretary panetta was in the cabinet. He has his own views. On this particular issue, i think he should be coming to congress for authorization. Woodruff a couple other questions i want to ask you for our web site, but for now, senator, thank you. Youre welcome. Ifill again, the major developments of the day. Turkey warned that Islamic State militants are on the verge of capturing a key kurdish town just over the border inside syria. The World Health Organization warned that more cases of ebola in europe are unavoidable, after a nursing assistant in spain became infected. And worries about Global Growth sent wall street into a deep dive. The dow industrials lost 270 points. Woodruff on the newshour online right now, armed with a camera and some oneinch l. E. D. Lights, minnesota artist brian hart creates stunning mosaics in the darkness of night. By using long film exposures, hart draws with the light, see what the end results look like, in a video produced by twin cities public television. Thats on art beat. All that and more is on our web site, pbsnewshour. Org. Ifill and again, to our honor roll of American Service personnel killed in the afghanistan conflict. We add them as their deaths are made official and photographs become available. Here, in silence, is one more. And thats the newshour for tonight. On wednesday we take you inside the c. D. C. s war room in the fight to contain ebola. Im gwen ifill. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Well see you online. And again here tomorrow evening. For all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by Macneil Lehrer productions captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org. This is nightly Business Report with Tyler Mathisen and susan guerin brought to you in part by thestreet. Com featuring stephanie link, stock picks with action alerts plus. The multimilliondollar portfolio she manages with jim cramer. You can learn more at thestreet. Com nbr. Stocks slammed. The major indexes tumbled more than 1 as investors grow concerned about a slowing global economy. The International Monetary fund also cutting its growth forecasts but says theres one bright spot. The u. S. But how bright is it . A new survey suggests the economic recovery here still has a long way to go, and americans may be tired of waiting. And housing triple dip . They say it wouldnt happen