>> in france. the city is no longer a place where you can afford to live in if you're middle class. >> woodruff: those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's 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. that's bae systems. that's inspired work. >> i've been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. the ones getting involved, staying engaged. they are not afraid to question the path they're on. because the one question they never want to ask is, "how did i end up here?" i started schwab with those people. people who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: the annexation of crimea, by russia, became all but final today, after a signing ceremony and a fiery speech in moscow. chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner, traveling in ukraine, reports on the day's developments. >> reporter: with a stroke of his pen, russian president vladmir putin endorsed a treaty, adding crimea to the map of russia. it followed an emotional address, as a defiant putin told his parliament he acted legally to right a historical wrong. >> ( translated ): crimea has always been and remains an inseparable part of russia. both time and circumstances could not erase it. dramatic changes that our country went through in the 20th century could not erase it either. >> reporter: putin dismissed western claims that crimea's referendum sunday, to secede from ukraine and join russia, was illegitimate. he also rejected any suggestion that russia means to seize other parts of ukraine. >> ( translated ): do not believe those who try to scare you about russia. who is shouting that crimea will be followed by other regions? we do not want the division of ukraine, we do not need it. >> reporter: it was only two weeks ago that putin made similar comments, denying any plans to take over crimea. today's speech was watched with great interest in the crimean capital, simferopol. immediately afterward, workmen removed all references to ukraine from parliament buildings. >> ( translated ): we are incredibly grateful happy that this day of victory has arrived, and we have been freed from occupation. now we are citizens of our own country, russia. >> reporter: most crimeans were overjoyed at putin's swift action today to join their peninsula with russia. and reacting to what may prove to be the most significant speech by a russian leader since the end of the cold war, they cheered his declaration that moscow would act to defend ethnic russians elsewhere. in kiev, the putin speech sparked a decidedly different reaction from the new president of ukraine. >> ( translated ): i would like to remind you of the history: world war ii started with the annexation of the territory of other countries by fascist germany. today the president of russia, mr. putin, who likes to talk about fascism a lot, is copying the fascists of the last century. >> reporter: meanwhile, ukrainian troops moved toward crimea, where a military spokesman said a service member had been killed when armed men stormed a ukrainian military base. but in a televised speech, ukraine's interim prime minister sought to reassure the kremlin that his country will not join n.a.t.o. >> ( translated ): despite russia's armed aggression against ukraine, i will do everything possible to uphold peace and build relations of partnership. the country will be defended by a strong, modern ukrainian army. >> reporter: meanwhile, russia's actions drew new condemnation from the west. vice president joe biden met with polish prime minister donald tusk in warsaw. >> russia has offered a variety of arguments to justify what is nothing more than a land grab, including what was said today but the world has seen through, has seen through russia's action and has rejected the logic, the flawed logic behind those actions. >> reporter: biden vowed the u.s. commitment to its eastern european allies is ironclad. in london, british foreign secretary william hague announced his country is suspending military cooperation with russia. and french foreign minister laurent fabius said russia has been suspended from the group of eight industrialized nations. russian foreign minister sergei lavrov rejected u.s. and european sanctions as unacceptable. in a phone call, he warned secretary of state john kerry of unspecified consequences. kerry, in turn, warned this afternoon against any further territorial moves by the russians. >> i'm not going to into the details except to say that that would be as egregious as any step that i can think of that could be taken by a country in today's world, particularly by a country like russia where so much is at stake. >> reporter: but no warning appears likely to stay moscow's hand in crimea, at least. the russian parliament is expected to formally ratify the annexation within days. >> ifill: judy takes a closer look at what moscow might do next, right after the news summary. the obama administration has suspended syrian diplomatic operations in the united states. today's announcement essentially closes the syrian embassy in washington, plus consular offices in troy, michigan and houston, texas. syrian diplomats and staff have until the end of the month to leave the country. the u.s. closed its embassy in damascus in 2012. iran and six world powers resumed talks today on reining in iran's nuclear program, but with decidedly different goals. iran's foreign minister said the vienna talks were merely an exchange of ideas. a top european union official said the focus was the "nitty gritty" of a deal with the u.s., britain, france, germany, china and russia. their hope is to reach a comprehensive agreement by late july. in afghanistan, at least 17 people died in a suicide bombing. the attacker blew himself up at a checkpoint in a northern province. more than two dozen people were wounded. it's the latest in a series of attacks ahead of next month's presidential election. there was another twist today in the story of that missing malaysian jetliner. but, it brought investigators no closer to knowing what happened. that, in turn, produced heated new demands for answers, now in china. we have this report narrated by tom clarke of independent television news. >> this morning, in a beijing hotel, officials met with families of some of the 227 missing passengers on board flight ma m.h.370 and watched ay turn to anger. this woman lost her cousin. her signed letters, a message to investigators. hunger strike and protests tell the truth -- return our relatives. the families' frustration stems from the fact that 11 days, the official story never stayed the same. originally the plane's last location was given as the south china sea. then it was confirmed military radar picked the plane up hundreds miles to the west in the andaman sea. early on, pilot and crew were not suspects, now they're amongst the prime suspects. more than a week after it supposedlysappeared without trace after takeoff, it emerged the plane in fact flew on for seven hours. the search area covers 2 million square nautical miles, an area larger than australia. the control of information could be crucial not just for families but for the investigation itself. >> the question is some of the information had been politically filtered, are people not giving it out or denying it because they would lose their jobs. >> time military radar saw the plane at the time it disappeared but they waited ten days to share the information. eyewitnesses reported seeing a passenger jet fly over the island six hours after m.h.370 disappeared. >> ifill: the government of thailand lifted a state of emergency today, now that violence in bangkok has abated. the decree was imposed two months ago in the face of mass protests demanding the prime minister resign. last month, a thai court struck down several parts of the decree. u.s. authorities say they've broken up a child pornography ring that preyed on hundreds of children in this country and overseas. they announced 14 arrests today. the ring allegedly enticed 250 boys, and a few girls, to post images that were used on a subscription-based website. the secretary of homeland security, jeh johnson, says it's one of the largest such operations ever. >> the site had more than 27,000 members involved in producing and distributing child pornography on a massive scale. the majority of the victims of these heinous crimes were between the ages of 13 and 15, with two victims under the age of three. >> ifill: the investigation is continuing, with more arrests expected. black firefighters in new york city have reached a settlement over racial discrimination. the announcement today said some 1,500 minority candidates will be eligible for back pay totaling $98 million. they took entrance exams that were found to be biased. the new york fire department is 85% white. president obama awarded the nation's highest military honor today to two dozen army veterans, from world war two, korea and vietnam. a review found they'd been denied the medal of honor because of racial or religious prejudice. only three of the soldiers are still alive. we'll have more on their stories later in the program. the white house is using a new report on sports injuries to boost enrollment for health care coverage. nearly two million people sought emergency treatment for such injuries in 2012. white house spokesman jay carney said it's one more reason to sign up for coverage. so far, more than five million people have done so, but that's still a million short of the revised goal. >> we have a lot of people who signed up, and there are going to be more. i don't, our goal has always been to get a substantial number and for it to be demographically and geographically allocated in a way that allows the marketplaces to function effectively. we believe very strongly that we'll achieve those goals. >> ifill: the enrollment deadline is march 31st. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 89 points to close at 16,336. the nasdaq rose 53 points to close at 4,333. and the standard and poor's 500 added 13 points to finish at 1,872. still to come on the newshour: reaction to russia's annexation of crimea; clues to what happened at the dawn of the universe; the silicon valley perk stirring a bay area controversy; new questions about saturated fat's effect on the heart; plus, awarding the medal of honor to once-overlooked heroes. >> woodruff: russia's swift claim of crimea has raised serious questions about the future of the region, moscow's next moves, and what else the u.s. and other countries should be doing about it. tonight, we get three views on those questions from: richard haass, president of the council on foreign relations and former director of the policy planning at the state department during the george w. bush administration. jessica mathews, president of the carnegie endowment for international peace. she served at the state department during the clinton administration. and dimitri simes, president of the center for the national interest, a foreign policy think tank, and a native of russia. dimitri simes, today was the one of the most passionate speeches we heard vladimir putin give. what do you think his main message was to his own people and to the west? >> well, i think his message to his own people is mother russia arrived. it cannot be pushed around anymore, it cannot be ignored. russia is a great power and has to be treated with respect or else. the second message to the west was twofold. first, as far as crimea is concerned, it's all over but the music. it is a part of russia, and this is the way it is going to be. however, russia does not plan to invade ukraine, and russia may be even under some circumstances a part of a constructive solution for ukraine, a constructive solution with mr. putin having his own agenda. >> woodruff: what you take away from what mr. putin said? >> i agree with part of what dimitri said. two weeks ago, we heard he had no plans to annex crimea, and if you read it very, very closely, he says, of course, russia reserves the right to protect russian citizens, so there are enough russians living in ukraine and elsewhere in the former soviet empire. so i would call that decide lid a mixed message at very best. >> woodruff: richard haass, how did you read what we heard from putin? >> not a lot to add, actually, judy. the real question for all of sus whether what we're hearing is crimea exceptionalism. he did this in order to compensate for the loss of kiev and this is his way of saving face and saving some strategic position. that's one set of problems that poses to us, mainly the way he went about it. on the other hand, it presses something more, an effort to rebuild parts of a lost empire, then obviously it's far more worrisome. we don't know enough. i'm not sure mr. putin is. we assume the guy across the table has a fully articulated and elaborate game plan. it's fully possible he's improvising and making it up as he goes along and what he does next depends in part on what domestic reactions are and international responses. >> woodruff: dimitri simes, could vladimir putin be improvising as he goes along, waiting to see the reactions internally and from the west before he decides what to do next? >> i think richard is right. jessica just said something very important. putin promised two weeks ago not to invade crimea, and then we know they have done it. however, when putin was promising not to invade crimea, they were already talking about crimea and there was just one question, an extending of ukraine. then when things happened between russia and the united states, they have moved the date of referendum forward, and another question, complete independence for crimea and then joining russia. i think richard is right, putin was changing his mind as progression was happening and the kremlin would not have to pay a heavy price but, at the same time, felt that the united states and the european union were taking russia seriously. >> woodruff: if russia stops at crimea, if they don't move further, is that something that the west, europe and the united states can accept? can live with? >> we'll have to live wit because crimea is done, it's over and won't be reversed and u.s. policy should not be to roll this back. even as we refuse to recognize what happens, our policy now should be focusing on eastern ukraine and the yiewfn case of ukraine as it now exists and on, i think, a new russia policy. >> woodruff: i want to pursue that but let me get richard haass' take on it. if russia were to stop with crimea, can the west live with that? >> well, we'll have to live with it unless such a time as russia's forced to discourage it because of some kind of a nationalist reaction. but i think for the foreseeable future, this is the new reality, we've got to accept it and what we want to do, then, is try to use this in ways that discourage further russian news, and this means the kind of thing that vice president biden is doing, stepping up u.s. support for the neighboring countries that are part of nato, shoring up ukraine itself. the rest of ukraine has a history of political and economic dysfunction. we shouldn't take its stability for granted. we ought to be opening up our ability to export oil and gas. we have to dilute russian foreign policy which is the influence it derives from energy exports. >> woodruff: if these are the kinds of steps that the u.s. and europe take, what would the effect be? what would the russian reaction be? >> well, i completely agree with jessica and richard. again, as far as crimea is concerned, there's very little we can do. we can make clear that there will be no western investment in crimea. that is up to us. in terms of removing russian troops, that is not in the cards. what i think we should be doing are things that are quite unusual for this administration. 30s, we should think strategically and understand what our objective is, and our objective should be not to allow russia to invade ukraine. i don't understand -- >> woodruff: any more of ukraine? >> ukraine proper. i don't understand why it's important for the administration to make sure there would be no more russian invasion. at the same time, i will be talking to the russians about the possibility of building a new relationship, getting out from this hole to provide putin an incentive. more pressure and incentive. >> woodruff: sounds like what we're hearing from the administration is more threatening talk that if you do more of this, we'll do x, y and z, rather than the kind of openings we ear hearing now from richard and dimitri. >> i think we need to be operating on several different levels, some which appear to be somewhat contradictory. we have got to impose some cost, even if they're very, very minor and leave room for escalation. we have to be talking seriously to the russians because, as horrible as what they have done is, it is crucial for us to understand that a spark of this was a terrible european mistake which the u.s. allowed to happen which was to make the integration -- the economic integration agreement an either/or choice. >> woodruff: you mean with ukraine? >> the e.u. and ukraine. and what that said to the russians was ukraine is no longer a bridge between east and west, it's a beachhead for the west right up against our border and that, we know, was the russian maidan. so someone has to be talking about the most senior level to get at that issue and to say we recognize that ukraine needs to be that bridge, long-term, strategically, that ought to be our position. >> woodruff: richard haass, pick up on that. >> i think it's fair to say that while the administration has probably done okay in responding to the crisis, it didn't take its eye off the ball and i think one of the real criticisms you can make is that for the last few years we've allowed ourselves to become strategically obsessed with the wrong part of the world which is the middle east and we have essentially lost our focus both on asia and to a lesser extent on europe and now we're trying to play catch-up. i would think the most important thing we could do is spend more time in berlin, talking to the german government and trying to fashion a really robust response that would basically tell mr. putin, here's the cost which is limited you repay for what you have done, but there will be a dramatically greater cost economically if you were to go on from here, and that has got to be a u.s.-german and through germany-european response. we can also keep up with the diplomatic side and i take that point, the cliche of the day has become off ramps. there is an argument that we made that we should not allow the totality to have the u.s.-russian relationship to be defined by crimea on the chance crimea is something of an exception. so we want to keep open the relationship. in is part part, we've also got to be talking about iran, syria and north korea. right now, i would like to go with the european account. >> woodruff: i know we will come back to this on many occasions. thank you, jessica mathews and richard haass and dimitri simes. >> ifill: it's a mind-boggling concept: our cosmos expanded from almost nothing to its first huge growth spurt in just a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second. and that was after the big bang. scientists said they confirmed that theory by using this telescope at the south pole to look at the oldest light detectable. the light reveals patterns and skewed light waves, shown here in red and blue, that were created by gravitational ripples during this incredible expansion known as cosmic inflation. sean carroll is a physicist, cosmologist and author at the california institute of technology and joins us to explain all of this. we need your explanation. start by explaining cosmic inflation. what a term! >> well, it is. the term cosmic inflation was coined around 1980 when the ordinary economic inflation was also very much in the news. it was alan g utz, a young physicist at the time, came up with the idea to explain basic features to have the universe. for example, it looks smooth all over the place. so in the very earliest moments the universe went through some enormously fast, superaccelerated expansion, like pulling at the edges of a sheet and the expansion would smooth things out. >> woodruff: how does this compare to the 1998 discovery of dark energy? >> similar. in both cases we knew this was a possibility. in both cases we were surprised it came the way it did. dark energy was a game changer in terms of our understanding of the current universe, what it's made of and so forth, and we have been trying to understand the very earliest moments. before yesterday the earliest moment in the universe by which we had data was one second after the big bang. now it's a trillionth of trillionth of trillionth of a second after the big bang. >> woodruff: when we think dr. . >> ifill: when we think about the universe, we think it's expansive and immeasurable. and now you saying it's just a speck of that. >> we only see a finite part of the universe. we see a universe with hundreds of billions of galaxies. the amazing thing about the big bang model, in the far past, $14 billion, all of this stuff was squeezed to an incredibly tiny distance. so what scientists have done is to take the laws of physics as they understand them, to extrapolate them well beyond anything we've ever seen before, made a prediction, and that prediction came out to be correct. so we really have a much better idea now than a couple of days ago that we're on the right track when it comes to what was happening right after the big bang. >> those predictions have always been theories. how do you go about proving a theory not to be a theory, and is that what we've actually done here? has it been proven? >> well, you know, science in some sense never proves anything. it's all about gathering evidence, reaching conclusions, because the overwhelming amount of evidence goes for one model rather than some other model. inflation, you have a well-defined theory of what could have happened right after big bang. there are competitors to inflation but none of them were really quite as well put together as inflation ever was and inflation made this very specific prediction that the competitors really didn't make. so right now inflation is way above everything else we know when it comes to understanding the early universe. that's not to say tomorrow some young scientists won't come up with an even better model. >> ifill: why was this experiment done at the south pole? what is it about the south pole that lends itself to explorations of space? >> the south pole is a little different than you would think. it's obviously very cold, but it doesn't snow at the south pole. the air is actually very, very dry, and it's at a very, very high elevation. there's snow on the ground and it thrifts around a lot, but when you look up into the sky from there, you see the universe very, very clearly. even though it's a tremendous pain to get down there, and once you're down there, if you're there for the winter, you're not coming back till the winter is over, but it's a great place to do observational astronomy. >> for those of us who think this stuff is really cool, it is, but what is the practical impact for most people when we curve et such exciting discoveries some. >> there is absolutely zero practical impact in the conventional sense. understanding the origin of the universe is not going to cure any disease, build you a better smartphone or anything like that. what it will do is help us as a species understand our place in the cosmos. so i personally think that that should affect your everyday life. it helps us really appreciate what the universe is, how it behaves and that has to feed into how we think about ourself. >> ifill: it informs the way we see our world and our place in the world, in the larger universe? >> yeah, what separates us from merely existing, surviving from day to day is we are curious. we are creatures that want to understand. like carl sagan, whose cosmos is back on tv now, carl sagan once said we are the universe's way of thinking about itself. we are a collection of atoms and particles just like the rest of the universe, but we have the power to theorize, to go out there and collect data and to understand the context of this wonderful universe we live in. >> it sounds almost theological. think it's a similar impells that drives people to theology and science. you want to understand the bigger picture. i think science is different than theology in many ways, one of which is you've got to make predictions and if the predictions don't come true, you throw away your theory. the wonderful thing now is this extrapolation from allan booth and collaborators over 30 years ago somehow miraculously seemed to get the right answer and our ability to comprehend our cosmos has been demonstrated once again. >> ifill: but it still requires corroboration. >> oh, absolutely. this is a result of the specific tellscope called the bicep 2 collaboration. they're very, very good. i know a lot of scientists on this experiment. they're super careful and try their best, but we're not going to absolutely believe it until someone else sees exactly the same thing. the good news is there's half a dozen e experiments that will be checking this result so in a year or two we'll know absolutely sure whether or not this is rile. >> ifill: sean carroll, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: the national battle over inequality, the rich, versus the rest of the population, has taken a curious turn in the san francisco bay area where buses carrying high tech workers have become a symbol of the divide. newshour special correspondent spencer michels has our story >> reporter: every weekday morning, between 7:30 and 10:00, dozens of big, sleek buses roll down valencia street in the heart of san francisco's traditionally latino mission district and other city thoroughfares. using bus stops created for city buses, the private coaches pick up a cargo of workers who for the most part have moved into the city and work 30 or 40 miles south of it at places like google, facebook, apple, e-bay and yahoo. the free buses, generally referred to as google buses, are one of the perks for high tech workers in high demand in silicon valley. when they began rolling six or seven years ago, they were generally praised as an alternative to crowded highways and carbon emissions from cars. but that's not the issue, says writer rebecca solnit, one of the first to charge that the buses were more than a way to get to work. >> they're unmarked, with tinted windows, so you don't know who's inside. they're like a cross between a limousine and an armored personnel carrier, cruising around the central city. >> reporter: critics say the buses are clogging city bus stops. and while the tech companies have recently agreed to pay the city a dollar per bus per stop for their use, the critics say it isn't enough to make up for the congestion they cause, so feelings are raw. the buses have sparked a nasty debate that has found its way onto youtube, with the satirical google bus song. ♪ im on that google bus im on that google bus ♪ hanging with the upper crust left my porsche back in my condo ♪ with my poodle pups >> reporter: solnit and others say the buses are symbols of the disparity in wealth between the new tech workers and the long- time working class residents of neighborhoods like the mission. and, she adds, the influx of techies is gentrifying the city. >> joe google moves into the apartment from which jose, auto mechanic, has been evicted. jose auto mechanic is now going to move to vallejo, and have a hellacious commute to the auto body shop, in san francisco. and no luxury bus with tinted windows and wi-fi onboard is going to pull up at his new home in vallejo to bring him to the office. so what you're really doing is displacing the more vulnerable people. >> reporter: the buses have inspired a series of protests that in turn have sparked a lively debate on the merits of the high tech boom taking place in the bay area, and it's effects on residents. one woman wearing high tech google glass was attacked in a bar after refusing to take them off. her glass recorded the incident. she said one of her assailants told her you guys are killing the city. at city hall, supervisor scott weiner is amazed at the hostility that some san franciscans have shown to what he sees as an influx of new jobs for the area, workers with money to spend, and new development. >> most cities would be thrilled to have an industry come in that has good paying jobs, with good benefits, and workers who are actually paid well. >> reporter: some san franciscans say that gentrification is a symptom of a healthy economy, not a war on those without enough money. adrian covert is a policy specialist for the bay area council, a business alliance. >> the bay area is adding jobs because it's a good place to do business, and at the same time silicon valley has failed to provide enough housing for all its workforce. and so you see the workforce is spilling over into the surrounding bay area. >> reporter: one problem, says supervisor weiner, is that cities have made it too tough to develop new housing. >> average rents are over $3,000 a month. i think it's very important that we focus on addressing our structural housing problems, which we as a city have created over a period of decades by making it too hard to building housing, and not scapegoat the shuttles for our housing problems. >> reporter: but housing activists say the tech companies are culpable for changing the nature of the city, resulting in the eviction of long-time residents to make way for the young and well paid. erin mcelroy organizes for the san francisco tenants union, which put together this rally to halt evictions, which she claims have increased 175% in the last year. >> the real issue is gentrification and the systemic displacement of longtime residents in san francisco, and what's happening is the people are being displaced by a particular political economy that's benefiting from the money that tech is bringing into the city. >> reporter: mcelroy says that landlords have found a way around city-enacted rent control, using a state law that makes it too easy for landlords to evict low-paying tenants from their apartments. that, she says, is what is happening to roommates tom rapp and patricia kerman, who are being forced out of their rent- controlled three-bedroom apartment in an old mission district building, where their rent is less than a thousand dollars a month. >> what's really happening is that long term residents are being thrown out on the street, like garbage. and it's not just me. people who have lived here two, three, four generations. because they didn't have the money to buy property, they're victims. >> so the city is no longer a place that you know if you're poor working class, even middle class, that you can afford to live in. >> reporter: for some companies in silicon valley, the furor over the buses, and their symbolism of the divide between rich and poor, have become an embarrassment of sorts, as they pull up to stops near the high tech campuses and discharge their computer-carrying cargo of san francisco residents. google declined our request to comment on the bus controversy, and what it represents, and said it has discouraged its employees from talking to the press. the company did point to prepared statements it had made, saying we certainly don't want to cause any inconvenience to bay area residents. >> nearly all employees we asked remained mute, except for one operations worker. >> not everyone riding the bus is you know, rich. i can guarantee you that. buses are not the problem, right? i think the jobs are the problem. if people have jobs, if people have opportunity to make their income, you know, they would not be focused on the buses. >> reporter: as if in answer to all the criticism, in late february, google announced it was donating $6.8 million over two years to provide free rides for low income youth on san francisco city buses. the business councils covert praised that move, and google buses as well. >> i think they're being pretty good community players. i think that google and other companies have identified a big gap in the bay areas public transportation service, and are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to address that gap, by providing these buses. >> reporter: meanwhile, state lawmakers from san francisco have introduced bills to reduce evictions. and, as the buses roll on, the city supervisors are debating how to deal with those buses, and the issues they raise. >> woodruff: people have been warned for years about the dangers of eating too many saturated fats and the risks they pose for heart disease. but a new analysis of more than 70 studies finds that saturated fats do not necessarily lead to greater problems with heart health. the research, published in the annals of internal medicine, also found no real benefit from taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements, like fish oil. cathal armstrong is chef and co- owner of the restaurant eve in alexandria, virginia, who's long been focused on these issues in his work and cooking, and joins me now. welcome to the program. >> thanks for having me. >> woodruff: this is a medical study. you know, we might normally talk to a scientist, but we want to talk to somebody who works with food, thinks about food issues every day. first of all, were you surprised that the result was that saturated fats may not knows be bad for your heart? >> no, i wasn't surprised at all. we've known for years that animal fats are actually good for you and, you know, being involved in the food industry and what we do, it always boggles my mind when you hear people come up with this idea that this area of food or this one is bad for you, you shouldn't be eating carbs or fats and to broad brush stroke things like that is not accurate. food is more complex. a perfect examiner is orange juice. for years, everyone says drink orange juice and turns out it's sugar, the complexity of the orange, we're missing out on the benefits. >> woodruff: they looked at cholesterol which saturated fat creates but there's different kinds of cholesterol. not just high or low density but even more levels of cholesterol than that. >> absolutely. and that's another good example where people said high cholesterol is bad for you. cholesterol is actually a requirement of the body. we know we need cholesterol to absorb food properly and to say that cholesterol is a bad thing misleads people and i think, you know, very often, people have a tendency to latch on to our word and get misguided. the cholesterol that's in butter is very healthy for you, but we saw for years that cholesterol is bad -- we thought for years cholesterol is bad. we shouldn't use butter? that's false. >> woodruff: do you as somebody who works with food every day think about the different chest rolls in the food you cook? >> no doubt. there's a food which is a very fatty ham fed with all acorn diet which actually lowers l.d.l. and raises h.d.l. so makes since the more ham you eat the better off you will be, but that's not true either. >> woodruff: cathal armstrong they did find another culprit and sugar, hi carbohydrate foods. you've had an interest in that. >> yes, we have been involved in the school campaigns which is an important campaign and great leadership. i'm convinced, watching it from the sidelines, from a non-scientific perspective, i think it's fairly easy to see that sugar is the problem with the all the health problem with healthcare in our country. we look at diabetes, grocery stores claim to be healthy, but i defy you to spend less than 10 minutes to find bread without sweetener. the classic baguette, there's no sugar in those recipes. so even substituting agave or nectar, honey, isn't really a solution, it's just another sweetener adding to the poor health of our people. the main thing here is not to suggest that sugar is bad, it's too much sugar, and we have sugar in everything. it's in beer, so day, ketchup, in every food on every shelf and there is too much in our diet. >> there's a pushback. i saw a quote from a scientist who works at the american heart association who said it would be unfortunate to suggest these results are saying people could go back to eat butter and cheese with abandon. that's not what you're saying. >> that's right. i recommend a balanced diet. i think we've come to the realization saturated fat is not bad but too much is. animal protein is the only source for viet bin b-16 which you need but not too much. we need to return to what our grandparents ate and eat food that's in vaccines in your locale. that's how people evolved is to eat what was in our locality when it was in vaccines. so right now you should be eating root vegetables and in summer all the tomatoes. >> woodruff: they've studied 70 or 80 other studies and come back to ground principal? >> come back to what grandma ate. i lost 53 pounds and people say how did you do it? simple. diet and exercise. eat a balanced diet and good a good hour of exercise a day. >> woodruff: is that the bottom line, what people should do? >> that is the bottom line of the study and they even say it in the study. if you want to live a healthy lifestyle, balanced diet and exercise. >> woodruff: cathal armstrong, thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> ifill: for the 24 soldiers awarded the medal of honor at the white house this afternoon, their service in world war ii, korea and vietnam had already earned them a commendation, just not the one they deserved. >> today we have the chance to set the record straight. >> ifill: with the east room as a backdrop, the president acted today to right an old wrong, awarding the nation's highest medal for combat valor to a group of two dozen hispanic, jewish and african-american veterans. the ceremony came after a 12- year review by the pentagon that blames racial or ethnic discrimination for denying the honor to a number of servicemen from world war two, korea and vietnam. the president said it's an example of why the nation must not shy away from confronting past discrimination. >> no nation is perfect. but here in america, we confront our imperfections and face a sometimes painful past, including the truth that some of these soldiers fought and died for a country that did not always see them as equal. so we've, each generation, we keep on striving to live up to our ideals of freedom and equality and to recognize the dignity and patriotism of every person, no matter who they are, what they look like or how they pray. >> ifill: the recipients recognized this afternoon had already been awarded the distinguished service cross, the nation's second highest military commendation. just three are still alive, vietnam veterans santiago erevia, melvin morris and jose rodela. erevia charged into oncoming fire to knock out four enemy bunkers, then tended to wounded soldiers. morris, a former green beret, was wounded three times recovering the body of his fatally wounded master sergeant. rodela repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire during an 18-hour battle as he tried to check on casualties in his company. after recounting those heroic efforts, the president invited all three men on stage for a special tribute, reciting tennyson. one equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. >> santiago erevia, melving morris, jose rodela. in the thick of the fight. for your comrades and country refused to yield. on behalf of grateful nation, thank you for inspiring us with strength, will, heroic hearts. please given them a round of applause. ( applause ) the soldiers recognized today represent the largest single group of medal of honor recipients since world war two. >> ifill: the president read citations for all 24 today, as family members accepted the honor for deceased relatives. for more on how today's remarkable ceremony came to be, we turn to retired lieutenant colonel sheldon goldberg. he is a 30-year air force veteran, now a docent at the national museum of jewish military history. thank you for joining us. it's interesting how many of these 24 were either jewish-americans, hi hispanic-americans, one african-american. how did this come to be today? >> this came to be, back in the year 2000 or so, after earlier ethnic groups had been awarded the congressional medal of honor, it was questioned whether or not there were any jewish veterans who had been denied this and, as a result, congressman wexler put together an act called the leonard kravitz jewish war veterans act of 2001, and this act then got expanded somewhat to allow also for hispanic and african-american and other ethnic groups. >> ifill: basically go back through the files and reconstruct people who -- >> right, and through world war ii and also up to korea. to the criteria was first to review those who that did won the distinguished service cross. and my understanding is they picked out about 625 soldiers. from that, it was whittled down again after reviews and documentation and so on to about 200-and-some-odd. this is why it took to long. it took ten years to do this but i think the fact that the record center in st. louis had been burned and records lost. >> ifill: you mentioned leonard kravitz, whose nephew was at the white house, he's known as lenny kravitz. >> yes. >> ifill: how widespread was the kind of discrimination that would allow people not to be recognized for their h heroics? >> during my time in service, i did not notice anything like that. i cannot think of one antisemitic incident i witnessed in my entire 30 years. but you have to go back to the civil war and thereafter where antisemitism, prejudice against blacks, for example, people believed that they did not fight. mark twain himself wrote an article in harper's magazine, i believe in 1895, that said while the jew was a great civil servant, he neglected to stand but for the flag, and this was the reason the jewish war veterans, for example, was formed in 1896 to show that jews, for one, did fight, and we were at the very front and forefront of combat in the civil war and in subsequent wars afterward. >> ifill: when we see this kind of recognition today, to you there's a broader meaning to it? >> it's a great day, i think, for all americans. i mean, it shows once and for all that there's recognition that ethnic minorities in the united states are just as much american, just as patriotic as anyone else and that they do, in fact, fight, defend their country, they are patriotic and they are right there at the very front lines doing what is expected of them to do and more. >> well, i think that ceremony was truck by how emotional it was, especially by some of the surviving family members and makes me wonder whether recognition like this, especially after so many of them have passed on, can come too late? >> i was thinking about that myself earlier and it seems to me that the old saying better late than never is even more appropriate. the fact is that they were recognized. it shows us to be the country that we believe that we are, where everybody has an equal opportunity, has a chance to be recognized, and i think, as i said, this is really a great day, i think, for all america, not just jewish americans or african-americans or hispanic-americans. >> ifill: what is it about the medal of honor which takes it to the next level? >> well, that is the highest award that can be given for combat. i mean, it's for above and beyond the call of duty, and i don't think anybody aspires to it. i think if you talk to these winners, you will find that they're probably the most humble group of people that you want to meet. i've had the privilege to meet several congressional medal of honor recipients and they're just outstanding individuals. >> ifill: they were quite humble at the white house today as well. >> i'm sure. >> ifill: lieutenant colonel sheldon goldberg, thank you very much. >> thank you for letting me come. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. russia all but completed the annexation of crimea from ukraine, as president vladimir putin defended the move in a fiery speech. and the mystery surrounding that missing malaysian jetliner stretched into an 11th day, with relatives of the passengers demanding answers. >> ifill: on the newshour right now, the latest in our social entrepreneurship series: helping women grow small businesses in rural tanzania. we take a look at the "two-seeds network," a non-profit dedicated to agricultural development in africa. and jeffrey brown has sent us his second dispatch from myanmar, where he's reporting on "cultures at risk." how does an ancient city, and its thousand-year-old buddhist temples, cope with newfound popularity? you can read his blog on art beat. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. on wednesday, we'll look at federal reserve chair janet yellen's first news conference and her take on the state of the economy. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. we'll see you on-line. 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 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  this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie gharib. brought to you in part by -- thestreet.com. featuring stephanie link who shares her investment strategies, stock picks and market insights with action alerts plus, the multimillion dollar portfolio she manages with jim cramer. learn more at thestreet.com/nbr. we trialment -- retirement crisis. one-third of americans have less than $1,000 saved for their later years. many aren't trying to figure out how much they'll need. what can be done to get people saving? 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