It just makes y our day and you those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. 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. Ochingss announced a Chemical Spill near charleston has largely dissipated so theyre lifting a ban on tap water in stages. Well get the latest details after at news summary. New numbers on the president S Health Care law show enrollments are weighted towards older americans. Administration reported today that adults 55 to vi 4 years old are onethird of the two million plus who signed up. Officials hope for a surge of younger, healthier enrollees before the march 31st deadline, to hold down premium costs. Ifill the days numbers from wall street were down sharply due partly to Falling Oil Prices and to uncertainty about the federal reserves plans. Dow jones industrial down 179. 11 at 16,257. 94 the Dow Jones Industrial average lost 179 points to close below 16,258. Asdaq index down 61. 36 at 4,113. 31 the nasdaq fell 61 points to close at 4113. Israel held a state funeral today for former Prime Minister ariel sharon. He died saturday at 85 after languishing in a coma for 8 years. We have a report from Geraint Vincent independent television news. The coffin of a National Hero wrapped in the flag. Ariel sharon was in so many ways the em bodeiment of israel. Its rights and its wrongs. Its hopes and its fears. Outside the Parliament Building statesmen paid tribute to a man who devoted his life to israels defense. The state had to be protected for future generations. When that meant fighting, he fought. When that meant making peace, he sought peace. The security of his people was always his unwaivering mission. A nonbreakable commitment to the future of jews, whether 30 years or 300 years from now. Israel remembers a brilliant battlefield commander. So as sharons body arrive for burial at his familys ranch, weapons of war stood ready nearby. The funeral is taking place just the other side of those trees on the hill there. And just behind me on the ridge here the Israeli Defense force has deployed what it calls the iron dome, a Missile Defense system to protect the funeral from any rockets which might be launched at it from inside palestinian territory, the gaza strip, just a few miles away from where ariel sharon is being laid to rest. It was Prime Minister sharon who ordered the israeli withdrawal from gaza but after a lifetime of confrontation, no one was morning him here. Sharon will be buried near gaza said this man so he can feel our suffering and god can judge him. This evening two rockets were fired over the border but they fell well short of the ranch where ariel sharon may have found peace. But the land is still waiting ifill in iran, reformists welcomed a plan to scale back the countrys Nuclear Program in exchange for easing sanctions. Hardliners have rejected the deal, calling it a poisoned chalice. Meanwhile, u. S. And russian leaders working on a syrian peace deal announced today that the syrian government, and elements of the opposition, will allow humanitarian aid into the country. Well examine irans role in syria and on the Nuclear Agreement later in the program. Ifill antigovernment protesters in thailand tried today to shut down bangkok. They want to derail elections set for next month, and force Prime MinisterYingluck Shinawatra from office. The protesters seized key intersections in the heart of the capital, blowing whistles, waving flags and even spreading out picnics. But, they insisted, they wont go away translated whoever is thinking about negotiations, compromise, hoping for a winwin situation, a win for both sides; i tell you now there is no win win, there can only be one winner. Either i win or you win ifill for the most part, police did not interfere with the protesters. Ifill the Supreme Court today refused to hear arizonas bid to revive a ban on most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. A lower court struck down the ban last year. The justices also heard arguments over president ial recess appointments. The fight centers on president obamas nominees to the National Labor relations board. Well talk to our Supreme Court expert, marcia coyle, later in the program. Ifill new jersey democrats are pressing two new probes involving governor chris christie. A special counsel will investigate the partial closing of a bridge, apparently to punish a democratic mayor. Christie denies any role in the decision. Separately, a democratic congressman announced a federal audit of an ad campaign that featured christie, after superstorm sandy. Baseball star Alex Rodriguez filed suit today to overturn his record suspension for doping. On saturday, an arbitrator ruled rodriguez must sit out the entire 2014 season. He cited clear and convincing evidence of using banned drugs and obstructing an investigation. Rodriguez denies the charges. His federal suit names Major League Baseball and the players union. Ifill still to come on the newshour, questions of oversight for the Company BehindWest Virginias Chemical Spill. A case of president ial power before the Supreme Court. Bringing seniors into the internet age. How your zip code affects how long and well you live. The progress and perils of diplomacy with iran. And anger in haiti, over the possible origins of a cholera crisis. Woodruff a few drips of good news greeted residents of West Virginia today, but the fall out from last weeks Chemical Spill is far from over. Woodruff theres finally relief for some of the 300,000 West Virginians whove been unable to drink, cook or even bathe with tap water for five days. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin announced today that test results are now below toxic levels. The numbers we have today look good and were finally at a point where the do not use order is been lifted in certain areas. Weve made a lot of progress but i ask all West Virginias to continue to be patient as we work to safely restore service to the affected areas. Woodruff it cant happen soon enough for people who scrounged for ice and bottled water over the weekend. More than 230 visited Emergency Rooms complaining of exposure symptoms; 14 were admitted. Still, some were undaunted a local beauty pageant went on, as planned. We cannot take showers so some of the girls used Water Bottles to wash their hair. Theyre using a lot of dry shampoo, baby powder, lots of hair spray and teasing. Woodruff the crisis began thursday when 7,500 gallons of the chemical fourmethylcyclo hexane methanol leaked from a storage tank at Freedom Industries. Some of the substance, used in coal processing, escaped a containment area and ran into the elk river, just upstream from the regions Water Treatment plant. The breech shut down the water supply in nine West Virginia counties, an area that includes charleston. The plant is not subject to state inspections, but local leaders now say there were obvious problems. You can actually see where there are cracks in it, where the chemical came through. Conditions at the plant were not good and the conditions were known by the previous owners and the danger is known to the present owner. Woodruff federal authorities have opened an investigation of the Freedom Industries site. Meanwhile, the Water Company is watching contamination levels downstream. While weve been dealing with this situation in charleston. We expect there will be considerable dilution in the rivers that will work in our favor and mitigate the impact of the spill on the water in huntington. Woodruff as for charleston, water Officials Say the licorice odor may linger for a while, as Water Service is restored in stages. For the latest now were joined by ashton marra, she has been covering the spill for West Virginia public broadcasting. I spoke with her a short time ago. Ashton marra, thank you for talking with us. So what is the very late snes. The very latest is now two loans have been proved to open and begin flushing out their homes and their businesses, and able to use water again. Now those zones have been prioritize as West Virginiaian American Water president told us earlier today to zones that include hospitals and a the highest population density areas. So zone 1 and 2 have been approved to start the flushing process. Both of those include major hospitals. Woodruff and tell news brief what is this flushing process . Basically the flushing process is a three step method. First of all youre turning on your hot water faucets for 15 minutes. Then youre turning on your cold water for five minutes and then you have to go through the process of cleaning and flushing all of the appliances in your home that use water, as a very, very detailed list, thins like washing machines, dishwashers, icemakers, any type of water filters, there is a detailed process for each of those appliances. So this is something that is not really very easy. It might not be common sense or there might be things that people could forget. So its very important for West Virginiaians who are able to start using their water again to check on those protocols and West Virginiaian American Water has made those available. Woodruff but once they do this process then are then able to drij the water. We have been told that once they go through the process, completely flushing out of their homes and their businesses, the water is good for use. The tests that are coming out of the Treatment Facility show that the water is testing at a safe level. Safe for consumption, safe for use, safe for bathing. So anything after you get all of that water out of your home system, the water is good to go. No further precautions need to be taken. Woodruff ashton, you have been reporting on this story since it started a few days ago. How are people finally, how are they holding up . I think people have been frustrated to say the least. This is obviously a hard time for everyone. But i cant say that can say that Emergency Management officials have really been handling this very well. People who are stuck in their homes, the elderly, maybe sick. They havent had to do anything. They have had water and supplies delivered straight to them. Now as far as businesses go, you have to think about these people who work in restaurants, who are making minimum wage. This is a difficult time for them because they havent been working, but we do have some lawmakers who are putting a campaign together, asking West Virginiaians as they return to these restaurants to tip a little bit extra. Think of those people who are struggling to make ends meet and have lost a few days of work and need a little bit of extra help. But we are recovering and we will get there slowly. I know thats good news to everybody involved and all of us watching. Ashton marra with West Virginiaian public broadcasting, thank you. Thank you. Woodruff a number of questions have been raised about the regulation and oversight involved in this case and other recent accidents in the region. Coral davenport has been reporting on those as the energy and environmental correspondent for the new york times. Coral davenport, welcome to the program. As we just reported, this plant was not subject to state inspections. Why not . Judy t turns out the plant hadnt been inspected since 1991. But that was legal under West Virginia state law. The state law stipulates that because this was a Storage Facility rather than a production or manufacturing facility, it was not subject to any regulations or inspections, permitting. And so one of the First Developments thats come from this is an immediate call to change the state regulation, the governor and the head of the state Environment Department are talking about introducing some legislation that would at least firm up that inspection process. It would add, you know, add annual inspections to storage facilities. But there are a lot of complaints broadly about the Regulatory Environment in West Virginia and also West Virginias history of accidents and disasters related to the chemical and coal industry. Woodruff we just just heard the county commissioner said that the current owner of this plant and the previous owner knew, he said, that the conditions were poor in this plant. What is known about the state of this plant . Well, that is thats sort of slowly unfolding, more rapidly unfolding as we go on. The attorney general has launched an investigation and although we dont yet know, you know, there havent yet been allegations of violations or any kind of criminal allegations, the Attorney Generals Office did say that when you have a spill or a disaster, an accident of this magnitude, theyre almost certain to find major violations, possibly a violation of the law. Woodruff any evidence of previous accidents there . Not that weve seen. You know, not that weve seen from these particular companies. Whats interesting again is you know this facility has a clean record from the epa. No record of violations whatsoever. But thats also because there havent been any inspections. So its record is clean but there really isnt anything, you know, there hasnt been any inspections to make that record. And what about the fact that this is a storage plant for a chemical but its located on a river and very close to a Water Treatment plant. On a river just a couple miles up from a Water Treatment plant. Again this is something where a lot of local advocacy groups who have been pushing on this for a while say this is an example of sort of systemic environment of lax regulations in West Virginia. This is an area, the valley is known as chemical valley because the Chemical Industry is the core central part of its economy. It has major chemical plants, Companies Like dow, like dupont. These are very influential both in the region and in state politics. So this is, you know, kind of one of the reasons that these outside groups are saying, you know, these Chemical Companies seem to have a lot more influence in weakening regulations than, you know, than necessarily, than the push by environmental advocates. And again, this is just in this area, this area known as chemical valley, this is the third chemical accident in five years. Well, we are going to leave it there. A lot of questions being raised for sure. Coral davenport with the new york times, thank you. Good to be here, thanks. Ifill todays action at the Supreme Court centered on the question of whether the president can make temporary appointments without senate approval. Marcia coyle of the National Law Journal was in the courtroom this morning and joins us now. It sounds like todays arguments were about current day politics, the kind that we see being argued on capitol hill but also about early history of our nation. Very much so, gwen. This case was about the recess appointments clause in the constitution. And surprisingly the Supreme Court has never taken a look at the meaning and scope of that clause. So today we heard a lot about the words and the clause and their meaning. Historical documents at the time the framers of the constitution were writing this and what they thought. And also a very, very long tradition of how president s used or didnt use the recess appointments power. Ifill how did this end up coming to the court after all this time. Sure this stems from a labor dispute, a kpon one between noah canning which is a washington tatebased soft drink bottler and distributor and its workers union. Theres with a disagreement about, over contract negotiations. The union filed a complaint with the National Labor relations board. The board ruled in favor of the union, the company took an appeal to a