Were releasing music much differently than we were for the last 20 years when bands were putting out a song here, then an ep. Woodruff as playlists become the new albums, music on demand changes the Creative Process for artists and how fans listen to their favorite songs. When we were sequencing this album we were obsessing about it and went through 30 or 40 sequences and then i just put something on twitter and i said why am i even bothering with this . No one even listens to albums in sequence anymore. Woodruff its friday, mark shields and david brooks are here to analyze the weeks news. And, photographers tranformed into ambassadors for peace, capturing the realities that youth face worldwide. What the camera really does it allows these individuals to have an excuse to go out into their communities and explore and to see their world, and study it in a way that they wouldnt by just walking through it. Woodruff those some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. I. B. E. W. The power professionals in your neighborhood. Lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your life and become youre own chief life officer. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff questions swirled today after Islamic State militants claimed an american aid worker is now a casualty of war. The militants said the hostage, kayla jean mueller, died when jordanian planes bombed this building in their stronghold of raqqa, in syria. Jordan had stepped up the air strikes after one of its pilots was burned alive. Amman dismissed the Islamic State claim, and u. S. Officials including National Security advisor susan rice, said they cant confirm it. Were obviously very concerned about the reports that have come in recent hours. We do not, at the present, have any evidence to corroborate isils claims, but obviously well keep reviewing the information at hand. Woodruff we examine whats known and not at this time, with shane harris, Senior Intelligence and National Security correspondent for the daily beast. Shane harris, welcome. First of all, who was Kayla Mueller and what was she doing . Syria. An aid worker from prescott, arizona, who spent most of her life after college working in the region and particularly on the border of turkey and syria to help refugees displaced which the civil war. Especially working with children, she worked with children in camps, lost from their homes. She had done art therapy and other things with them. She was drawn to the plight of the refugees, and went into syria where she was working with a Hospital Associated with Doctors Without Borders and it was that time in 2013 when she was kidnapped by i. S. I. S. Woodruff is there any question it was i. S. I. S. That kidnapped her . Has there been evidence . There was evidence. There niece question it was i. S. I. S. Last year, kaylas family received proof of life from her kidnappers. They demanded a ransom payment as well. So i. S. I. S. Had identified themselves as her captors but no known communication since that time last year between the family or u. S. Officials and i. S. I. S. Woodruff how recently was show known to be alive . At least the confirmation had come as recently as last spring which was quite some time ago. There had been no evidence to suggest she had been killed. There were speculation and rumors about the status of her but frankly there are often rumors about the status of american hostages held over there. What was notable in kaylas case is she had not appeared in any videos i. S. I. S. Had been putting out since last summer, the grizzly beheading videos weve been familiar with. So there has been no indication of whether she was dead or alive. Woodruff todays claim by Islamic State that she died in a Jordanian Air attack on this building in raqqa, wheres the evidence that backs this up . There is no evidence. We should treat it accidentcally. U. S. Officials are we talked about proof of life. I. S. I. S. Usually provides proof of death when the hostages are killed. No photographic evidence, only a claim from i. S. I. S. , which is hard to believe from the evidence presented so far. There were air strikes but not confirmed how many. How could i. S. I. S. Have identified the accurate is a jordanian and this was a warehouse for weapons used by i. S. I. S. So a question of why she would be held there. I. S. I. S. Hasnt put forth any evidence and they have a pattern of lying about the time that hostages were killed and using this information to manipulate emotions and to for their own p. R. Advantage. So we really dont have any evidence yet she is dead and i. S. I. S. Has manipulated people with this information in the past. Woodruff sounds like we are left to wait until there is some evidence. Shane harris with the daily beast, we thank you. My pleasure. Woodruff in the days other major story, the u. S. Economy showed the strongest evidence yet that it is rebounding, in the latest government jobs report. It said employers added a net of 257,000 employees in january. That makes one million jobs created since november, including newly revised totals, and the best threemonth average in 17 years. The Unemployment Rate ticked up to 5. 7 in january as more people began to look for work. Jeffrey brown examines whats behind the numbers, after the news summary. The jobs report unsettled wall street. Signs of strong growth raised fears that the Federal Reserve might raise Interest Rates sooner than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 60 points, and slipped closer to 17,800. The nasdaq fell 20 points on the day and the sandp 500 slid seven points. In yemen, shiite rebels announced today theyve officially taken over the government and dissolved parliament. They said their revolutionary committee in charge of security and intelligence will run the country. Yemens government had been a u. S. Ally in the war on alqaeda. The white house said today its deeply concerned by the turn of events. President obama is defending his approach to yemen, the Islamic State and other challenges, in a new National Security document. Hes faced calls from republicans and others for more robust u. S. Action, but in the document released today he said, quote the leaders of france and germany took their Diplomatic Mission to moscow tonight, in a bid to stop the war in ukraine. At the same time, hundreds of people took advantage of a brief truce, to escape the fighting between ukrainian troops and prorussian rebels. Jonathan rugman of independent television news, reports. Reporter they are on the road to debaltseve to evacuate civilians. Because last septembers ceasefire is in tatters, and the town may be about to fall to prorussian forces. The sound of shelling frequently contradicted todays humanitarian truce. Those trapped in the crossfire have been deprived of water and electricity for almost two weeks now. And they now face this choice either take a bus to the ukrainian side of the frontline, or into the breakaway self declared republic of donetsk. Separatist forces have them almost surrounded. And todays diplomacy in moscow seems increasingly desperate. Reporter this was Angela Merkels first trip to the russian capital since this crisis began. A mark of how serious it now is. President hollande of france flew in, too, in the hope of another ceasefire. Reporter last septembers socalled minsk agreement led to a ceasefire and buffer zones along the frontline. That agreement completely collapsed last month, when Ukrainian Forces were forced to retreat from donetsk airport. In the past few weeks, the fighting has been concentrated around debaltsevo, still held by Ukrainian Forces, but shelled by rebels. Reporter these Ukrainian Forces are demanding western weaponry to defend themselves. But the europeans fear that will expand this war, rather than end it. The question is whether europe is so eager to stop the fighting that Vladimir Putin will emerge the victor here. And perhaps more inclined to push forward again. Woodruff the moscow talks ended after more than five hours, with word that the parties will work on a new peace document. Activists in syria say the assad regime has stepped up air strikes this week, to deadly effect. More than 80 people were killed in attacks outside damascus today, after rebels fired rockets into the capital yesterday. 47 others died in aleppo when Army Helicopters dropped barrel bombs. In canada, the Supreme Court has struck down a ban on doctor assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. The court today reversed its own 1993 decision, and said mentally competent adults with intolerable suffering have the right to die with dignity. The response on both sides was immediate. This is a case about real people with serious illnesses who through a change in the law can find some peace and comfort in knowing they have a choice. We find that this decision is the most destructive and least restrictive option in the world right now in terms of assisted suicide and euthanasia. Woodruff assisted suicide is already legal in switzerland, germany, albania, colombia, japan and in the u. S. States of washington, oregon, vermont, new mexico and montana. A sitting member of the u. S. House of representatives has died. Republican congressman Alan Nunnelee of mississippi passed away today in tupelo, after battling a stroke and brain tumor. Nunnelee was reelected to a third term last year. He was 56 years old. And, nbc news announced an internal investigation of anchor Brian Williams and his statements about an incident in iraq, in 2003. Hes admitted his helicopter was not hit by a rocketpropelled grenade, as he previously claimed. But hes faced growing criticism. In a memo to staffers today, the head of nbc news said were working on what the best next steps are. Still to come on the newshour highlights from the strong jobs numbers; the mother of a journalist missing in syria for two and a half years; why streaming music has made playlists the new albums; mark shields and david brooks on the weeks news; plus, love, work, conflict and Community Around the world, captured on camera. Woodruff now a closer look at whats driving those surprisingly upbeat jobs numbers; heres jeffrey brown. Brown not only did todays labor report show that more people found work in january, it also revised the numbers upward for november and december. Making 2014 the strongest year for job gains since 1999. More good news the increase in wages last month was the largest in six years. Diane swonk is a senior managing director and chief economist for Mesirow Financial and joins me from chicago. Diane, it looks as hoe the though the upswing is bringing more people back into the job market. Can you tell us what age groups for example . One to have the biggest encouraging points about the job Participation Rate is that younger people were rejoining the labor force. Many people had been sidelined for many years. 25 to 34yearold men, in fact, had the highest labor force Participation Rate in two years a big jump there. We also saw an increase in the 35 to 44yearold age group. This is a group that the Federal Reserve had been watching carefully because they had been sidelined by the recession but clearly theyre too young to retire and had to come back at some point in time. So the fact they were reengaged is quite encouraging. Brown this explains why the Unemployment Rate ticking up is considered a good thing in this case because of participation. Absolutely, more people throwing their hat in the ring, being reengaged with the hope of finding a job rather than giving up is good news. Brown the wage is going up. This has been a big problem in the years. Even though the job sector has gotten better, wages have been a problem. What did we see now . The wages snapped back after slowing in december. Year over year, still stagnant on wage gairntion running only 2. 2 , well below what the fed would like to see closelier to 3 to 4 wage gains to regain the loss in median family incomes out there. We saw a lot of states pass minimumwage increases in the last year and nine states increased minimumwages in the month of january a lot more coming in in june. What were seeing is that cascading effect overminimumwages lifting up the bottom a bit particularly in states like florida and arizona in january which have a lot of those lowwage jobs weve generated in recent years. Brown as we see this growth, do we see big regional differences big job sector differences . There are big sector differences. These gains are broad based. The losing sector was the mining sector. Oil prices have fallen and with that a decline in mining and oil industryrelated jobs. That will flipflop in 25 25 2015 from what we saw in previous years. Tech generates 400,000 of the more than 3 million jobs yerntd last year came from the state of texas alone. Theyre a more diversified economy than they once were with hightech and oil but oil will hold back and slow down employment gains. Flip side, places where there is more leisure and hospitality more Discretionary Spending the south like florida gaining momentum with the lowwage jobs and jobs coming back in Business Services and finance as well. Brown even with all of the gains, there are still so many people out of the job market. What other kinds of concerns keep you awake at night or on the forecast here . Certainly we have a nice tailwind going into 2015 with the upward revisions in november and december and thats good because thats more paychecks to cushion us and buffer head winds coming our way, but head winds are out there. We have a strong dollar and weak growth abroad and a lot of turbulence that could come from abroad and we dont want those tremors to come up as tidal waves on our own shores. I think our shores are better fortified as they once were and we can better handle the waves coming in but the waves are still out there from abroad. The eurozone is trying to navigate their own crisis. We have the crisis in russia and ukraine crisis in the middle east. All those things can be destabilizing as we move forward. Forward. Brown hovering over this is what the fed would do next when it might rise Interest Rates. Do todays numbers have any influence you can see . My view is that the Federal Reserve has shown extraordinary patience in terms of their liftoff on Interest Rates. With the wage gains coming back they welcome that but are still stagnant with the relative year over year gains still not enough. This is a fed thats really been very clear about their willingness to not only allow the economy to expand and recover and regain ground loss but do some catch up, too. And i think that was only till tbhai the late quarter before they raise rates and even as the ground below us is firming they will be treading as if theyre treading on thin ice to hedge the Downside Risks particularly from abroad. Brown diane swonk, thank you as always. Thank you. Woodruff we return to the situation in syria. Since the start of the civil war, a number of americans have been captured by militant groups. Tonight we look at one american journalist who has been missing for two and a half years, and his familys efforts to find him. Woodruff this shaky video released weeks after austin tice disappeared, remains the only sign of him to date. It showed him blindfolded with tice had been working as a freelance journalist, covering fighting on the outskirts of damascus. That was in august of 2012. Now, his parents, marc and debra tice, have mounted a Public Campaign for more help in winning his release. Our number one focus is to bring our son austin home safely. Woodruff the tices were in washington this week, pressing their case, even as Islamic State militants announced theyd burned a captive jordanian pilot alive. They had already beheaded two japanese hostages, as well as american journalists james foley and steven sotloff. And three aid workers, american peter kassig and david haines and alan henning of britain. Then, today, the claim that another american aid worker, Kayla Mueller, died in an air strike. Tices parents say they dont believe the Islamic State is holding their son, but they complain u. S. Officials havent told them much, one way or the other. There is no agency, no person, solely committed to the singular objective of the safe return of the hostage. That has to change. Woodruff at a forum at the newseum, debra tice, along with james foleys mother diane listened as assistant secretary of state Douglas Frantz acknowledged the problem. We need to do more. We need to be better. I would have preferred to have mrs. Foley and mrs. Tice sitting right here saying not that news organizations had done everything they could for them but that the u. S. Government had done everything it could for them. Woodruff tices parents say their sons captors have never demanded a ransom, and current u. S. Policy bars such payments for hostages. And with me now is debra tice. She is austins mother. Welcome. We appreciate you joining u