Transcripts For WMPT PBS NewsHour 20130214

President s state of the Union Address, the stalemate in washington and more. Brown ray suarez gets an update on the South African olympic athlete known as blade runner charged today with murdering his girlfriend. Woodruff and we close on this valentines day with love letters from president Lyndon Johnson to bride to be lady bird. Reading them i thought, these are beautiful, these are wonderful. Thats exactly sort of thing that we all would like to receive. Brown thats all ahead on tonights newshour. 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 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. Brown two Major Airlines announced a marriage of sorts, on this valentines day. Their combination means the field of major u. S. Carriers will shrink by one. These jetliners sporting shiny new paint jobs are among the roughly 900 planes in the American Airlines fleet and theyre about to be joined by the 622 planes currently flying for u. S. Airways. The price tag for the deal 11 billion. Creditors of americans bankrupt Parent Company a. M. R. Will own 72 of the combined airline. The merger affects some 187 million passengers who fly the two airlines annually. I grew up on u. S. Airways. Brown as well as more than 100,000 employees. Our best goal Going Forward is to make it the biggest, strongest airline in the country, and i suppose thats about to happen. Brown the combined company will keep the american name and headquarters in fort worth, texas. But it is u. S. Airways c. E. O. Doug parker who will run it. His counterpart tom horton at american will serve as chairman, but bow out after the transition the two are friends who started their careers together at american three decades ago. To run a new airline you need to have one leader and only one leader that the rest of the airline sees. And tom was nice enough to agree to hang around and help me with that transition but then also cared enough about american to know that once that transition happens, the Company Needs to see one leader and was confident enough in me to let me do that which im elated to do. And dont mess it up. Brown American Airlines founded in 1930 has always touted itself as a company of firsts. American had already put stewardesses on the plane, even food and then the radio. And their firsts soon became a tradition in the business. From the first sleeper planes to the first living room size lounge. Brown now, the new american stands to become the Worlds Largest carrier if federal regulators and a. M. R. s bankruptcy judge approve the deal. As little as five years ago, there were six major u. S. Carriers. Then, delta merged with northwest and united with continental. With this latest deal, there will be four major u. S. Airlines left, including southwest. But for many air travelers today, one question was uppermost does this merger mean fares will go up . The c. E. O. Of the combined new company says no. This really is about taking two airlines and putting them together and providing Better Service to customers. It also, i would note creates a nice third competitor to the two larger airlines, so our view is it increases competition doesnt brown the time line has the merger closing in the Third Quarter of the year, but it will take several years before the two airlines are fully integrated. For a closer look at the merger, we turn to holly hegeman, an Airline Industry analyst and founder of Plane Business banter, a weekly Industry News publication. And charlie leocha, director of the Consumer Travel alliance, a passenger advocacy group. Hes also a member of an Advisory Committee on aviation Consumer Protections for the department of transportation. Holly hegeman, let me start with you. Was this an act of survival for American Airlines . Why are these two coming together . Well, i think reason theyre coming sergeant to because it makes financial sense. I think we have seen all you have to do is look at Delta Airlines, for example, and their merger with northwest to see the difference that has made. Delta airlines, now, is one heck of a competitor, is running an excellent financial operation it has changed considerably from what it was just five years ago and that change would not have been possible without the merger with northwest. So essentially whats happening is the same thing thats happened with united and continental. U. S. Airways saw value in American Airlines, they also wanted to try to do this in bankruptcy because it gives a lot of advantages and so its just like the natural order of things in this industry and i think its a positive. Brown charlie leocha, that goes to the analysis ive been reading that this industry, these mergers are needed almost to stabilize the industry. How do you see whats happening . Well, thats been the excuse for a long time and we keep doing the same thing, we keep having airlines go into bankruptcy so its not stabilizing so well. Something isnt quite going right. I think that when you keep cutting down the number of airlines youre eliminating competition. And when you eliminate competition the prices are going to rise. Right now the airlines have the ability to use what they call their own to hold their capacity lower and theyre very, very try dand at doing that. And thats a form of competition because theyre not competing with each other. Theyre not competing in terms of capacity so thats one of the big differences. This airline has no benefits for consumers it only rearrange it is chairs on the deck of the ship. Brown thats not what the c. E. O. Said. Let me ask holly hegeman. Do you see benefits for consumers or impact on consumers. What we heard from the c. E. O. Was theres not a whole lot of overlap between these two companies. I disagree strongly. I think that this is a positive for consumers and, again, i would look at Delta Airlines as a prime example i think if you talk to passengers that fly delta today, if you look at the mundell a has been able to put into infrastructure upgrades, for example, in new york none of that have would have been possible except or unless the airline made money and when he talks about capacity being a form of competition i would say that reducing capacity is a way that the airlines can be financially solvent and the more financially solvent they are that means its better for the consumer, not worse. Brown mr. Leocha . If were speaking strictly about financial solvency this merger has no reason to even happen. U. S. Airways just finished raking in the most profits in their history in this last year. American airlines has justni goe through a bankruptcy process. They finally have gotten control of their labor issues and they have more new planes on order than any other airline. Theyve got literally billions of dollars in the bank. They could come out of bankruptcy with no problem. But they decided they want to get together with u. S. Air. And this is u. S. Air pushing this whole merger idea and i just dont see what the benefits are to consumers other than saying oh, its better to have a big airline and have more financial stability. Theres no new routes, theres no new frequent flier benefits. Theres no increased competition anywhere. Brown well, the argument is theres a stronger airline, i guess. Right . Is that what it is, ms. Hegeman . And also while you respond to that, what about the impact on employees . Are you expecting to see anything there . Well, first of all, i have to disagree with the comment about the union situation. If anything, this merger was a land narc this industry. We have never before seen the major unions at an airline align themselves with the management of another airline and basically say we dont want to work for the current management anymore. This merger was a lot more complicated than weve just described and, in fact, it was the employees of american who pushed for the merger and kept pushing for theni merger. They did not want american to come out as a standalone and they did not want to continue working with the current management team. So thats a little different. As far as the advantages, there will be a lot of advantages. For one thing, the american folks that fly american now will have access to a lot more destinations internationally. People dont understand that u. S. Airways does fly internationally and theycwill add to the options that american flyers currently have. For u. S. Airways customers, its the same thing. Currently on the east coast, for example, american has little feed, as we call it, in the business on the east coast. This merger with u. S. Airways will give them that much needed feed and will make the airline that much bigger. Brown let me stay with you informationly. What does happen to frequent flier programs that are so important to so many people . Nothing. I mean, for right now of course, were talking about a time frame thats going to be stretched out. Nothing is going tonini change tomorrow. The deal willni probably not cle until the Third Quarter of this year and until then both airlines will continue to operate separately. As far as frequent flier miles are concerned, nobody is going to lose their frequent flier miles. Theyre not going to go away. There will be a new program that will combine both programs and everybody will have their miles intact. Brown mr. Leocha, it does have to go through a bankruptcy judge, it does have to go through certain regulatory is there any possibility they will hear your argument and block it . Well, i dont know if theyre going to hear my argument but lets step back to the benefits to the passengers every benefit that was mentioned is for American Airlines and u. S. Airways passengers is a benefit taken away from American Airlines with united airlines. They used to have cochairs, they still do. They have joint frequent flier benefits and so on. So theyre giving with one hand and taking away with the other. And i do expect this merger to go through but im hoping that congress and the d. O. T. Will allow us to get some things like airline fees disclosed so that consumers can actually compare prices across airlines and have more competition there. Brown all right, charlie loka, holly hegeman, thank you both very much. Thank you. Woodruff still to come on the newshour the hold up on the hagel nomination; four freshmen on capitol hill an olympic star charged with murder. And a president s love story. But first, the other news of the day. Heres hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan Senate Democrats moved today to find a way to prevent the sequester across theboard spending cuts, set to take effect march first. They called for smaller reductions in farm subsidies and the pentagon budget, plus a minimum 30 tax on Million Dollar incomes. Republicans are expected to oppose the measure because of the tax increase. House Speaker John Boehner said the burden is on president obama to break the deadlock. The sequester, i dont like it and no one should like it, but the sequester is there because the president insisted that it be there. Where is the president s plan to replace the sequester that he insisted upon . Sreenivasan white house officials warned that letting the acrosstheboard cuts take effect would be disastrous. For his part, the president traveled to decatur, georgia, selling his plan to make pre school available to all four yearolds. Standing before a group of teachers, he joked that what works with preschoolers might work with congress. Maybe we need to bring the teachers up. laughter you know, every once in a while have some quiet time. Time out. laughter sreenivasan if the sequester takes effect, it will mean 85 billion in spending reductions over the next seven months shared equally between defense and domestic programs. New jersey senator Frank Lautenberg announced today he will not run again. The veteran democrat is 89, and the oldest member of the senate. He faced a likely primary challenge from newark mayor cory booker. Lautenberg said hell spend the final two years of his term trying to pass new gun safety laws, among other things. U. N. Inspectors have failed again to gain greater access to Irans Nuclear sites. A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency returned home emptyhanded today, after talks in tehran. Meanwhile, iran announced its installing a new generation of centrifuges to enrich uranium. And, the Washington Post reported iran tried a year ago to buy 100,000 specialized magnets for centrifuges. The u. S. And other nations say iran means to build nuclear weapons. The iranians say their program is for power generation. Around the world today, people rallied to raise awareness of violence against women. The one billion Rising Campaign staged rallies, dances and vigils in dozens of major cities. The events were held to coincide with valentines day. The United Nations has estimated that one of every three women worldwide, is raped or beaten in the course of a lifetime. A longtime leader in american a new implantable device that restores some vision in the blind won approval today in the United States. The food and Drug Administration agreed to allow use of the argus 2 retinal prosthesis. It uses electrodes in the retina that receives signals from a wireless camera on a pair of glasses. Initially the device will help small numbers, but it may ultimately treat vision disorders in millions. A longtime leader in american foods heinz is being sold to a group that includes warren buffett. The 23. 3 billion deal announced today will make heinz a privately held company. On wall street today, the Dow Jones Industrial average lost nine points to close at 13,973. The nasdaq rose a point to close at 3,198. Those are some of the days major stories. Now, back to jeff. Brown there were more hurdles today for president obamas secretary of defense nominee. Late this afternoon, Senate Consideration of his appointment was delayed on a procedural vote of 58 to 40. At this point, the Senate Wont Vote on him again until february 26 at the earliest. Margaret warner has the story. There has never in the history of the country been a filibuster of a defense secretary nominee, never. Warner Senate Majority leader harry reid went to the senate floor this morning and blasted republicans for blocking a vote on chuck hagel, for the pentagons top job. This isnt high School Getting ready for a Football Game or some play thats being produced in high school. This is, were trying to confirm somebody to run the defenses of our country. Warner democrats hold a 55 to 45 edge in the senate, but it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster so five republicans would have had to break ranks to make that happen. But partisan divisions were on display tuesday, as the Armed Services Committee Approved the hagel nomination on a straight partyline vote 14 to 11. That followed a contentious hearing in january, as hagels former republican colleagues attacked him on several fronts, including his criticism of the u. S. Troop surge in iraq. Were you correct or incorrect when you said that the surge would be the most dangerous Foreign Policy blunder in this country since vietnam . Were you correct or incorrect, yes or no . Well, im not going to give you a yes or no answer on a lot warner on sunday, republican senator Lindsey Graham said he would put a hold on hagel and on John Brennans nomination as c. I. A. Director, until he gets more answers from the white house about the september attack in benghazi, libya. In a statement today, white house spokesman josh earnest reaffirmed president obamas support for hagel. And said late today, reid forced a vote on breaking the fillibuster. The current defense secretary leon panetta whod been due to leave his post today has said he will stay on until his successor is confirmed. And, at a ceremony honoring for and late today the president said it was unfortunate to have politics intrude while hes still presiding over a war in afghanistan. To help us understand the implications, the politics and whats next, we turn to pentagon reporter Mark Thompson of time magazine. And Todd Zwillich of public radio internationals the takeaway. Welcome back, gentlemen, todd, begin with you. Decode for us what happened today. I mean, the republicans told harry reid they had the votes to block the nomination block consideration of the nomination, yet he forced it to a vote in the amp anyway. Why . He did. Well, there are different imperatives floating around all cornerings of this vote, as there often are in the senate. Opposition to senator hagel has mounted before he was even named and almost all of that opposition except for token opposition came from within his own party. Building up todaytotoday it was a question of would republicans require 60 votes to move forward with this nomination . Not unprecedented for a cabinet nominee but harry reid was right it is unprecedented for a secretary of defense, for any National Security nominee at the top level for that matter. As it got closer to the vote, then, the question became would democrats be able to peel five republicans to get to 60 and if not are republicans going to stick by their guns and make this a real filibuster . Meaning were going to withhold 60 votes, were not going to let five of our people go and well try to make sure that chuck hagel goes down. As the morning into the afternoon progressed, more and more republicans including john mccain and Lindsey Graham were coming out of a meeting with republicans saying were satisfied in the case of john mccain and graham, request the answers we got about benghazi from the white house. Were satisfied now. But we dont think other senators have had enough time. Theyre not on the Arms Services commit tee so well vote to hold this up now, when we come back in ten days well vote yes. Its not blocking, we just want to slow down. Warner what were the motivations . You had reid taking it to a vote where it was predicted he would lose and republicans said yeah well vote for it in another ten days but not now. What are the politics here . On the republican side, the politics have shifted from the center of the three amigos on National Security, jindsy Graham John Mccain and senator kelly ayotte from new hampshire. Its shifted away from them. They had questions about benghazi which had been a Major Political issue since before the election. Those seem to be moving off the table now. There are senators on the right who are asking questions about chuck hagels speeches over the years. What did he say in these speechs . Did he give more incendiary statements ant israel, about the jewish lobby in israel controlling the state department statements preferable to iran. On the democratic side, why did harry reid go ahead with the vote when he didnt have to . Harry reid and democrats get to spend the next ten days saying that republicans are mounting unprecedented filibusters against the secretary of defense, that they are rolling hand grenades into the senate and they wont cooperate with barack obama. Is. Warner helps them make that point. Mark, how does this look over tent gone to the folks are talking to you there there . It lookser the to believe people overseas. Inside the pentagon they are consumed right now with the sequester. The looming 500 billion and budget cuts. They dont need this Monkey Wrench thrown into the works. Hagel has support in the pentagon but theres leeriness, he didnt do very well in his confirmation hearing and there is blood in the water and the theyre moving inni for the kil. Basically i think whats happening and what happened today is the sense that this is another ten days for drips, drips, drips that could send his nomination into a tail spin. But basically the militarys professional. Ash carter, the deputy, is a great guy. Secretary panetta, who spent time this afternoon at section 60 of Arlington National cemetery, was hoping to say goodbye to some ofxd the young men and women who died in afghanistan and iraq and then those monterey for keeps will be coming back and going to brussels next week. Warner for the nato ministers meeting. You said there was some leeriness in the pentagon abouto hagel and what kind of a defense secretary he is. Based on what . Based on the fact hes never run anything very large. This is a very big place. Now, for those of who who have been at the building for a while you look back and say boy, thatless aspin, that chairman of the house Arms Services committee, i bet hell be a great defense secretary. And he wasnt. Conversely, people said dick cheney . That fellow never served in thei military he cant be defense secretary. But by most accounts people think he did a good job. So its very difficult to answer mate how what kind of job someone will do before they get there. Warner is there also concern theres been some columns about this, from Walter Pincus at the Washington Post that his performance at the hearing made them wonder about made men and women in uniform wonder how tough hed be with whether its adversaries or people on the hill or counterparts overseas. I talked to friends of hagels who are surprised by the way the hearing unfolded. nrnr thats not the hagel they know and i think it truly was a warning shot across his bow. The next time he has an opportunity assuming he gets an opportunity to take somebody on, hes going to take them on. The. Warner do you see it as mark does that the opponents of hagel on the republican side are hoping that in this ten days that there may be more a teddy dripdrip, that they still have in their sights trying to defeat him . There is an understanding on capitol hill that the next ten days will be for the real staunch conservative opponents of chuck hagel to go through those speeches that i mentioned. Go through some of his past statements. There were more videos coming out to look for more incendiary statements. So far chuck hagel saying less than nice things about the government or israel or the influence of israel on our diplomats. Those are things that people in washington do not like to hear but they are not new. As Lindsey Graham said a couple times today, unless theres a bombshell over the next ten days ill vote to go ahead with this nomination and hagel will get through. So then the question is whos going to look for the bombshell. Warner these people are professionals but the pentagon is facing huge budget cuts already. Theyre facing the potential of the sequestration and another 40 billion in cuts h. What to do about the Iranian Nuclear program. Does this this uncertainty at all affect the buildings ability not just make plans but weigh in on the policy choices . Sure it does. You want a secretary of defense when youre at war and have other issues hanging over your head. No good can come from this ambiguity. Warner Mark Thompson, todd swill lick, thank you. Woodruff immigration. Climate change. Gun control. The budget. These are just a few of the issues president obama called on congress to address tuesday night in his state of the Union Address. How do some of the newest faces in the 113th Congress View their job and the president s priorities . We ask four freshman lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. Texas democrat Joaquin Castro serves on the house armed former Democratic State senator Kyrsten Sinema represents the phoenix suburbs in arizona. Former state lawmaker luke messer was head of the Indiana Republican party. Welcome to all four of you. Congressman collins, im going to begin with you. The president s state of the Union Address, his message, what do you think you can work with him on . What did you hear . Well, i think we can agree on the point that what we want to see in this economy is a growing vibrant economy. And thats for all levels. I think when we work on that and begin to focus on the things that matter and thats job creation getting the ability for the Free Enterprise system to work, ill take the president at his word that he wants a strong and robust economy. I think differences will come in if implementation of that but i agree. We can Work Together on building the economy i believe americans deserve. Woodruff congresswoman sineman, what about you . What did you hear from the president that lifted your spirits and that you think you can work with him on . The thing that was most exciting for us was the president s comments on mortgages. The president s comments about helping middleclass families getting refinance options, that will help middleclass families struggling to do whats right, keep their homes and jobs. It will help them a lot. Ruch rough congressman messer, what about you . I appreciated his focus on jobs. I was disappointed by his lack of specifics on spending. I believe those are the elements in the room for our country and we need leadership on those topics. Woodruff congressman castro, did that bother you that the president was not more specific about what cuts hes prepared to make . No, i think hes been talking about a balanced approach for a long time and we know that hes committed to doing both, to raising revenue and making cuts but hes said before hes not going to negotiate with himself. The Republican Party has been pushing these cuts for a long time. Congressman collins, let me come back to you. You said you liked what the president had to say about the focus on the middleclass. It does look at though the two parties have having a hard time working together. Do you think you can make a difference in that . I believe we can. The interesting thing, judy, is this. Im glad he spoke about the economy. Im also disappointed like congressman messer that there was not a lot of specifics and republicans have presented plans. In fact, theyve sent plans over from the last congress. None of them have been acted on. I think if you want to be specific about the state of the union, i was more disappointed about what was not said. There was pomp and circumstance but we heard nothing about specifics and economics we heard nothing about benghazi. There were things we didnt hear about in this speech that i think were disappointing from my perspective. Woodruff benghazi. Why should the president have talked about that . When you end speech the way he did and concerning guns and the terrible, horrific things that have happened in our country by some sick and twisted individuals but yet you do not mention the fact that we lost an ambassador and three others in benghazi in one of our embassies and not even from the sense of saying were continuing the process of strengthening our embassies and looking at it around the world. To me it was a glaring omission and something when you look at the nonspecifics and then a lot of the Campaign Rhetoric of the rest of the speech, that was concerning to me about what was not said. Woodruff congresswoman zinn that, what about that . Sinema, should the president have gone into more detail about sfwhez. Usually the state of the Union Address is the president s vision of the future for the next year. So i think the president addressed a variety of topics. Its the president laying out a vision for what he or she wants in the next year. The president did that this week and while we may not agree with everything he said i think there was enough agreement the republicans and democrats in congress can find Common Ground and move forward on a variety of proposals. Woodruff congressman messer, on that point about finding Common Ground, i know you two republicans were elected in districts that have been pretty significantly conservative in the past. The democrat district perhaps more mixed, certainly in the case of congresswoman sinema. But when youve come to congress do you think of yourself as representing those folks who voted for you . Or all the folks in your district . You make a good point. You represent everybody. You take the oath of office, its a vow to protect and defend constitution. It doesnt say anything about party and i think the key to Common Ground here is to remember why were here. Im not for balanced budgets because its our math home work or i want to make sure we do our arithmetic, im for balanced budgets and a growing economy because it impacts real people and their very real lives. Over the last four years far too many parents have had to come home and tell their family theyve lost their job. Far too many young people have had to come home and tell their parents they cant find a job and far too many seniors have had to worry about whether theyll have the protections that come with Social Security and medicare a Healthy Program there. I think if we stay focused on those real problems we can find Common Ground. One of the great things about being a freshman is weve not been here before. People can talk about you dont have experience, but weve not been a part of those problems. I think we have an opportunity to be part of the solution. Woodruff what about the points he just made and this notion of whether you all are representing the constituents in your district or the folks who voted for you. Theres no question whether youre a democrat or republican once youre elected, youre elected to represent everyone. What weve got to get past as freshman and the next few years as a congress is this repeated use of hostage politics that has been very disruptive but most fundamentally and importantly disruptive to our economy. If we can get past the hostage politics as the president said, the manufactured crises i believe the economy is on its way back and we will see brighter days ahead. Woodruff what do you mean by hostage politics . Well, you see the Republican Party every time the debt ceiling comes up trying to leverage that, making sure the president cant pass anything else, that we dont get past that debate unless they get their way i think the American People want us to get past that. The debt is very important but you cant have the same fight thats disruptive every six months. Woodruff congressman collins how do you see that . I think what weve got to do is look of course we represent everyone. In our districts and everyone in our state but more importantly everyone in our country. What we have to understand is we fight for the principles we ran on, we fight for the principles we believe in this country from an economic standpoint make us great. What weve got to understand here is many times these issues that divide us also can bring us together but its not going to be one from bringing up the same old thing and to respond to the point of republicans, its also been a theme of the Democratic Party as well to go back to taxing certain classes of people and that was another thing expressed the other night and very much of a class politics on who are we going to tax and who should be paying more or a balanced approach is to get it to one or the other and a remind this president signed the upcoming legislation on sequester and the deal were dealing with, these are things that will be real issues but i think we can have conversations about it but we never forget how these came agent. Woodruff congresswoman sinema, just throng the four of you and your other colleagues new members of congress, do you think the two parties will Work Together more . I do. Just earlier today i was proud to be part of a bipartisan Freshman Group. We had a handful of republicans and democrats togethering from the Freshman Group. We put out a letter that we delivered to the white house to Speaker Boehner and to leader pelosi. What weve specifically said, were tired of the politics that kicks the can down the road. Were ready for a big grand compromise. Were ready to Work Together and we believe that our constituents from every district in this country sent us here to get things done and solve problems im proud to be part of that Bipartisan Group and its a novel idea to have a Freshman Group do something so bold so early and im very excited about the prospects of coming together and finding solutions without partisan ideology and the bickering people are so tired of hearing from from washington. Woodruff congressman messer, do you think thats possible . Were watching the senate very divided along partisan lines over the nomination of former senator hagel to the defense secretary. Do you feel as a freshman that the two parties will be able to Work Together and break through some of the logjam . Well, i do think theres an opportunity to do that. I signed the same letter that was referenced there because i believe its important that we Work Together this is a unique moment in American History because over the course of the last two election cycles about 150 members of congress have come into this body so its not just this freshman class of 850 plus its last years class, too. I think the if we stay focused on what really matters which is, again, the fact that we have to have a growing economy so that it creates jobs for the very real people who are challenged in their own life now because they dont have a job we can get there. There are going to be matters of disagreement. I heard earlier discussion about where we are on and the need for further tax increases. I believe we had those tax increases in the midnight tax increases that happened just a few weeks ago but we can work through these problems if we stay focused on what matters as real people and not talking points. Woodruff i want to ask all four of you how comfortable you would be. Congressman castro, ill start with you. Very quickly, voting against your own the majority in your own party. Do you feel comfortable taking a stand on your own. Congressman kas slow in sure. I think given the right issue i think both leader pelosi and whip hoyer understand that at base youve got to represent your own district. Sure. Woodruff congresswoman sinema, what about you . Well, you know, my record although ive only been here for a few weeks already shows thats the kind of person i am and thats how i was when i served in the state legislature. Ive already crossed party lines to vote in a bipartisan way on several occasions in the few weeks ive been here. Woodruff congressman collins what about you . Do you feel comfortable voting in another direction from what where the majority of the Republican Party is going . I do feel comfortable and i made a promise on the campaign trail that said that when i believed that leadership was right id vote with them and when i believed that we needed another direction i would not and that was present in my vote recently, although i felt leadership was going in a direction they felt right for my district and my as congressman castro said i voted against the no budget no pay. It was something from my district we have to look first at our districts. Woodruff congressman messer, same thing. Would you be comfortable voting against the republican majority . Absolutely. You put your country first. Woodruff well, we hear you all four and thank you very much for joining us. Congressman messer, congressman collins, congresswoman sinema, congressman castro, thank you all. Thank you. Thank you, thanks. Brown next, to a story that shocked many in south africa and around the world the firstever double amputee athlete to compete in the Olympic Games is in Police Custody tonight. We begin with a report from Rohit Kachroo of independent Television News in pretoria. The home of Oscar Pistorius, where hes accused of murdering his girlfriend this morning. High walls, electric fences and police cars. His luxury villa now a a man who spent months promoting his image was concealing it tonight. Police were not obliged to reveal any details but chose to reveal past allegations of domestic violence. I can confirm there have previously been previous incidents at the home of Oscar Pistorius. I wont elaborate on that, there have previously been incidents. Of violence . Of allegations of domestic nature. Reporter his lawyers rushed to his side and were asked about his state of mind. Hes very well, obviously he motional but hes fine. Reporter tonight his father spoke to South African radio. I dont know no knowing. To speak to the police will be the best. Hes sad at the moment. Reporter oscar pis stores you has spoken before about how highly he prizes his safety. Not only does he live here in one of the most secure communities in pretoria but he says he sleeps with a pistol next to his bed and machine machine gun close to the window. Officers left the home with details still emerging and a nation shocked that such accusations could be made about their heroes. Suarez im joined by Mark Sokolove a writer who spent time with the runner in south africa for a 2012 feature for the New York Times magazine. Michael, unlike most people on the planet, youve actually spent a lot of time with Oscar Pistorius. When you got the news this morning what did you think . Well, first of all i was shocked and i was sad because like most people who have run across oscar, who have met oscar i like oscar very much. Like millions of people, i admire oscar for what hes done so this is foremost a terrible tragedy for the young woman who has died. Its a tragedy for oscar and its a tragedy for millions of people who look up to him. Suarez in your story you call him blessed with an uncommon temperament and elsewhere called him hellbent. What what who whats he like . He is an adrenaline junkie. Hes a guy who drives his cars at 150 miles per hour. And these are not normal cars you can buy in a dealership. These are really race cars. He drives a speedboat. He injured himself on a speedboat. He keeps exotic pets that most people would find dangerous. So he is a man who is addicted and loves speed and if i had any worry for him it was that he was going to hurt himself. There was really nothing in his manner, nothing that i could ascertain in my time with him that made him think that he was going to hurt someone else. Suarez but notably you did write some about his affection for guns and the fact that he was handy with them. Yes. For sure. Oscar liked his guns. Oscar felt under threat. And south africa is a place that apartheid is over but theres a terrible chasm between rich and poor, income inequality. And people with money, people with houses, end to live behind walls, behind barbed wire, behind gates with guns. And this is not a pretty thing. It is somewhat understandable thing but i think that oscars paranoia, if thats what it was, was not uncommon to his class in south africa. Suarez so apart from the celebrity of both Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp this is not all that unusual. A lot of people die by firearms in south africa, dont they . That i believe they do and i think that perhaps even more than our own Violent Society and our own gunsoaked Society South Africa society is on a hairtrigger and i think its fair to say we dont know, first of all, what happened in this incident. I dont know what happened in this incident. Its very tough to do Police Reporting from here and know whats going on in south africa. But i do think its fair to say that oscar was on high alert. Oscar was on a hairtrigger. Oscar had a certain paranoia about who might be coming into his house. If that is a part of what happened in this incident i dont know. But it wouldnt surprise me. Suarez i was trying to think of what an equivalent sort of experience in the United States might be. This is a person whos huge in south africa, Oscar Pistorius and now hes behind bars. I couldnt even think of an american equivalent, can you . Yes, i can think of some. Certainly o. J. Simpson who its hard to remember now because o. J. Is short hand for Something Else but i remember when o. J. Was a revered athlete and then went on to commercials and he ran through airports and he was a great looking guy and he seemed like a great guy and everyone loved o. J. I think there is some comparison and this is not something you ever saw coming from Oscar Pistorius. I certainly didnt see it coming and i dont think many people in south africa would have expected this from him. Again, i want to caution that i dont know what happened. It seems clear that this woman was shot in his house. It seems fairly clear that he did the shooting. What else was going on i have no idea at this point and i dont want to be someone who is defending oscar because i dont know what happened all i can say is honestly i didnt see malice from oscar. I didnt see him as a violent person i did see him as a man of action coiled and on a hairtrigger. And that has its own dangers. Suarez Michael Sokolove writes for the New York Times, profiled Oscar Pistorius for the magazine. Thanks for joining us. Youre welcome. Woodruff finally tonight, a 70yearold love story told in letters from president Lyndon Johnson to the woman he wanted to marry. Released today by the l. B. J. President ial library in austin, texas, the more than 90 letters showed the impatience of a man so taken by Claudia Alta Lady bird taylor that he proposed the day after they met in september 1934. And just weeks later, he wrote to which she replied in audio recorded in 1978, Lady Bird Johnson described her dilemma at the time. I was almost perfect willing to say lets be sure we get married in a year, but he would say that no, if you wait that long, if you dont love me enough to marry me now. , you wont a year from now, it will be enough to keep me in a turmoil and make life unbearable for a long time and then well slip away some how. Woodruff johnsons persistence paid off, after a twoandahalf month courtship, the couple wed in november 1934 and remained married for 39 years, until his death in 1973. For more on these letters as intimate portraits of a president and first lady, we turn to lyndon and Lady Bird Johnsons granddaughter Catherine Robb and president ial historian michael beschloss. Welcome to you both. Catherine robb, to you first, you were just a toddler when your grandfather passed away so you didnt know him as i understand it but what did you grow up knowing, hearing, about the relationship between the two of them, their love story. Well, youre right, i was only two and a half when he passed away and so didnt really know him but i fortunately got to know my grandmother very well and spent a lot of time with her especially in the last eight or nine years of her life and so i heard about their relationship from from her and, in fact, she and i she and i would go to dinner on tuesday nights. We had a standing tuesday night dinner date and one week we decided to go to driscoll. They had just reopened they opened a restaurant that was on the same spot where my grandmother and grandfather had their first date so we thought it would be fun to go there for dinner and reminisce so we went to dinner and i asked her to tell me about their first date and tell me about the young man that she met back in the 30s and sort of the whole the whirlwind relationship and i have to tell you i was a shocked. I knew but when i heard again two and a half months i thought watt what in the world were you doing . You didnt know him. But knowing enough about him it sort of made sense and then reading letters you really see that. Hes you know, pushing her, he thinks it should have happened yesterday and shes more calm, rational one saying just sort of hold on. What was your reaction when you read these letters . Oh, theyre just wonderful. I was talking to my mother about them and she said theyre just so mushy. laughter thats sort of a great word. But i love reading them because i really see so much of both of them and theyre a little surprising because i didnt know them at that age and you never think of your grandparents as being mushy, i guess, but i think you can really see both of their personalities in terms of my grandmothers adventurous spirit but also her calm influence and the more rational one and you can see my grandfather just wanting to have everything happen now and once he knew he wanted something to happen, he wanted it to happen yesterday and so you see that. But you also see theyre very that sort of the really sweet relationship between them which was i thought was lovely and made me smile. Woodruff michael beschloss, what do these letters tell us about the relationship they went on to have for more than 30 years . From the beginning hes basically giving her what was called the johnson treatment, which was what he used to get allies and mentors like Richard Russell in the senate and sam rayburn in the house and get people to sport bills of hills. Ten days after the beginning of this the relationship he writes to her and says you mean everything to me. Someone hes known for ten days. Then 26 days after im ready now for marriage, are you . And then the eighth of november, that is tenweek courtship, the selfpity hes saying i hoped i could find a woman who is as affectionate as i am. Using all the tricks he dealt in politics. Woodruff how did she deal with that pressure . What did you see coming across from lady bird . She is torn. Here is an extremely elegant deliberate woman who likes to do things in her own time, who is very stately. Woodruff even at the age of 21. Even at the age 2061. And hes rushing at her like a Freight Train and shes torn. Finally he says we either get married oar we never will. The next day they did. Woodruff michael, how would you describe their relationship . Their marriage. Listen don johnson, it would have been impossible for him to have that career in politics if it were not for lady bird. From the very beginning she was his partner and a hugely good judge of people. She stabilized him. She once told me he always had these ups and downs who felt she had to pull him up when he was down and calm him down when he was too excited. Woodruff Catherine Robb, did you when you were reading these letters did you think these were the kind of things your generation or your childrens generation could have today . Well, i would hope in terms of the affection they showed each other and the openness they had what i think we wont have those beautiful six and sevenpage letters. And well have text or remembrances of phone conversations or Something Else. But certainly reading them i thought gosh those are the kind of letters other than them being too pushy in terms of i dont know why you havent married me yet but other than that i thought these are wonderful. Thats exactly sort of thing we all would like to receive. Just laying it out there and suppressing your love. Also just sharing those experiences. You get to see so much of them through these letters and that was a really important of the growth of their relationship. So i want everyone i know to get Something Like that. Thats right and catherine mentioned something very important and that is think what we historians missed by the fact that were going to have to write about the period were living in now without these letters. If you knew nothing about the relationship between l. B. J. And lady bird and the only thing you read was these letters youd have an enormously good sense of what happened. Just quickly, michael beschloss, letters after they were married. Letters after they were mare weed we see them. L. B. J. Was more busy. Some of the most revealing things were he taped lady bird without her knowledge during the presidency on the telephone, which i would not recommend for any anybody but she took with good humor. They had this layered relationship. She was a very strong woman. Woodruff we are so delighted to have both of you set on this valentines day. Michael beschloss and catherine rob, the granddaughter of president Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson. Thank you both. Thanks, judy, thank you. Woodruff in keeping with the romantic holiday theme, we look at Online Dating sites. Can the perfect algorithm lead to love . Heres our Political Editor Christina Bellantoni asks our daily download team, thats on our home page. Brown again, the major developments of the day american and u. S. Airways announced plans to merge and create the Worlds Largest airline, if regulators and a bankruptcy judge approve. And Senate Republicans blocked a vote on the nomination of chuck hagel to be secretary of defense. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im jeffrey brown. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Well see you online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks, among others. Thank you and good night. 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. Captioning sponsored by Macneil Lehrer productions captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org