much you earn and how much education you have. >> ifill: and, entrepreneurs design high tech devices marketed to aging baby boomers, who want stay healthy and active. >> the stereotype that old people don't like the technology. i want to break that right now. i love these technological devices. i just need to see how they're going to serve me. >> ifill: those are some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> this is about more than work. it is about growing a community. everyday across the country, the men and women of the i.b.e.w. are committed to doing the job right, doing the job safe, and doing the job on time. because while we might wire your street, we're also your friends and neighbors. i.b.e.w. the power professionals in your neighborhood. >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu denied today he's rejected any possibility of a future palestinian state. he'd appeared to do just that, in the closing days of his election campaign. but today, he told msnbc his position has not changed: namely, that a palestinian state is possible, under certain conditions. >> i don't want a one-state solution. i want a sustainable, peaceful two-state solution. but for that, circumstances have to change. we need the conditions of the recognition of the jewish state and real security in order to have a realistic two-state solution. and i was talking about what is achievable and what is not achievable. >> ifill: later president obama telephoned netanyahu to congratulate him on his election win. the white house said mr. obama reaffirmed the u.s. commitment to a two-state solution. the islamic state group claimed responsibility today for an attack in tunisia that left 23 people dead, mostly european tourists. they were killed yesterday in a hail of bullets at a famed museum in tunis, the country's capital. we have a report from jonathan miller of independent television news. arrests were made of the dead gunman's alleged accomplices. at the port, traumatized tourists hugged in small groups in the spring morning sunlight. 12 of the dead were from the cruise ship spelndida. 13 more wounded. the huge vessel had earlier sailed off into the sunrise, leaving its dead and its wounded behind. >> i'm likely happy to see you. >> reporter: but a young spanish couple had a remarkable escape. here a tunisia government minister's greeting juan carlos sanchez, hind all night in a cupboard with his pregnant partner christina rubio. as we were leaving, he says, he saw them shooting people by the door. they shot one and we realized what was going on and we hid. we heard everything, he said. the assault on the national museum took place at noon yesterday with at least two militants opening fire on tour buses and visitors disembarked before rushing into the museum itself. various jihadi groups have been in the frame but this afternoon the islamic state group claimed the museum attack. today, at police h.q., they i had homage to and then laid to rest the anti-terrorist officer morian, killed in the attack. tunisia's interior minister spoke at his funeral. we will eradicate terrorism, he said. we are confident and we have the support of our people. >> ifill: also today, u.n. investigators accused islamic state forces of genocide and war crimes in iraq. a human rights report charged the militants tried to wipe out the country's yazidi minority. they allegedly carried out mass killings of yazidi men, and enslaved and raped women and children as young as six. the islamic state group seized large parts of iraq and syria last summer. the university of virginia, and the state's governor, are expressing outrage over the arrest of a black student that left him bleeding, early wednesday. alcohol control agents wrestled martese johnson to the ground outside a bar. they said he acted "belligerent." last night, 1,000 protesters gathered on u.v.a.'s campus in charlottesville, demanding an investigation. johnson took part and appealed for calm. >> i beg for you guys, regardless of your personal opinons and the way you feel about subjects, to please respect everyone, we are all a part of one community. [applause] and we deserve to respect each other, especially in times like this. >> ifill: the 20-year-old student had no prior criminal record. his lawyer says his head injuries required 10 stitches. president obama ordered federal agencies today to cut greenhouse gas emissions. they're to be reduced 40% over the next decade, from 2008 levels. white house officials said it could save taxpayers as much as $18 billion in electricity costs. the president also had a royal visit this afternoon. he met with britain's prince charles and his wife camilla, the duchess of cornwall, in the oval office. they're in the middle of a four- day trip to the united states. and, wall street lost some of yesterday's gains as falling oil prices hurt energy stocks. the dow jones industrial average lost more than 100 points to close below 18,000 again, and the s&p 500 dropped 10. the nasdaq was the exception, rising nine points. still to come on the newshour: the latest on a possible nuclear deal with iran. transparency, or the lack of it at the obama white house. chicago's runoff election for mayor heats up. why poor kids are less likely to find a leg up. tech start-ups design innovative products for older americans. and, a new memoir on the challenges for caregivers, when the role of parent and child are reversed. >> ifill: with a deadline fast approaching for an iran nuclear deal, negotiators in switzerland and officials in washington offered conflicting assessments today about where things stand. >> i can tell you that that report is not accurate. that there is no such draft document that is being circulated. spokewoman p challenge the latest account of a draft agreement negotiated with iran. the associated press reported today a potential deal would cut iran's centrifuges for enriching uranium by 40% from 10,000 to 6,000 for at least a decade. the u.s. the u.s. had initially sought a maximum of 1,500 centrifuges, in exchange for the 40% reduction, washington would agree to phase out economic sanctions. and possibly, get the u.n. to agree to roll back an arms embargo. in lausanne, switzerland today where talks are underway, iran's foreign minister sounded cautiously optimistic. >> we are making progress but there are issues that need to be resolved. >> ifill: but secretary of state john kerry said the u.s. is still "pushing some tough issues," and a senior european negotiator reported the sides are still far apart. all of this follows the israeli prime minister's fiery speech to congress, warning against any deal, and the senate republican warning letter to iran. there've also been bipartisan calls for congressional approval of any agreement, and possibly, additional sanctions, if the talks fail. and with me now is george jahn the associated press reporter who broke the story about the latest negotiations. george, this draft proposal that would bring down iran's centrifuges by 40% how real is it? >> it's as real as anything we're getting out of these confidential negotiations. we do vet our stories very carefully and several officials who are close to the top did tell us that this document is being discussed between iran and the united states. of course, it's part of a bigger deal, if a deal is going to be shaping up. so we're not there yet, but it's definitely on the table. >> ifill: so when the white house says the report is not accurate, they mean it's not accurate it's a done deal or these things are floating around? >> they're not denying there is a draft. they're basically saying it's not being handed around to a wider circle. it's between at this point, mostly between u.s. and iranian negotiators. >> ifill: but the question about hardware and centrifuges that's not the whole story we're talking about in these negotiations. >> oh not at all. not at all. the centrifuges are very, very crucial to a deal, numbers are very crucial to a deal, but centrifuges are part of the enrichment program and enrichment is only one of the things that is being negotiated although it's probably the most important issue. we have been told several times over these negotiations that if the enrichment issue is basically done and dealt with, the other components should fall into place. >> ifill: so on one hand we have iranian issues saying everything's done but the technical details and we have the white house and others who are more cautious. are they basically saying the same thing, just less willing to go as far. >> everyone in the negotiations have something to say, the french are tougher than the americans on what they want from the iranians and are spinning their own message. but what is being spread publicly isn't necessarily what's happening at the negotiating table. i think if you look at what the iranians are saying and what the americans are saying, there is one common denominator, there is progress being made, but both sides are saying they're not there yet. >> ifill: it's interesting, george, here, this is all coming about against a backdrop of congressional threats action and inaction. does that influence or does that cast a pall over these negotiations at this point? >> in some way, yes. it was interesting that the iranians brought up that issue several times at the initial meetings which began earlier this week, so it's demplet something they're finding hard to ignore. of course, i would expect the american negotiators to basically play down the congressional threats and say at this point, we need to have a deal. the obama administration is behind the deal if we get one. the administration has a lot of tools, if you will, to make sure that a deal is honored. >> ifill: are we thinking march 31, more or less likely this week to make that deadline? >> well, if i had a crystal glass, i would be writing an exclusive. i think it's possible there will be an announcement in this round. it's also possible this round will be extended beyond friday which is the original end date but remember there's still more than a week to go until the end of the month, so it's quite possible that it almost get there this time, they will just call another round to finish things off. >>off. >> ifill: a lot could happen between now and then. you're right ability that. george jahn, associated press thank you. >> my >> ifill: even before he was elected, president obama promised his would be the most open and transparent administration ever. he can claim some credit for some progress on that front including opening up presidential records declassifying some data, and pushing federal agencies to reveal more information to the public. but by other measures, many experts and journalists say the administration falls far short, including in its treatment of high-profile whistleblowers. and a new associated press analysis says the administration has set a record for denying access to files or censoring them under the freedom of information act. hari sreenivasan has the story. >> sreenivasan: the analysis looked at requests for information made to 100 federal agencies last year by citizens, journalists and businesses. more than 700,000 requests were made. the a.p. said the administration either denied access to information or censored in 39% of those requests, more than 250,00 cases overall. sometimes the denial was small such as a phone number. sometimes it was the majority of a document. on tuesday, white house spokesman josh earnest was pressed on the administration's transparency. his analysis was quite different. the administration, we actually have a lot to brag about when it comes to the response to the freedom of information requests. the justice department released metrics to fiscal year 2014. the administration in fiscal year 2014 alone processed 647,142 requests and over 91% of the requests resulted in the release of some we look at these concerns around access and transparency with stephen engelberg, the editor- in-chief of propublica, a news organization known for its investigations and journalism on these topics. we did invite the obama administration to appear but it declined our request. we did invite the obama administration for an interview but they designed. they want to say look at all these freedom of requests we did answer and obviously journalists are unhappy with that. >> let's be clear, the freedom of information law has never been fully functional right? the administration is supposed to answer in a certain number of days, they never do. all administrations have blocked out huge swaths of sensitive documents, so knot nog in one accepts. anecdotally we've had a sense it's gotten worse and the a.p. downfirms it is worse and never has been great. >> sreenivasan: how sit worse for a journalist to draw accessed information from the administration. >> the administration campaigned on wanting to be epically transparent and that's clearly what's happened. they have pursued an aggressive campaign against leakers and whistleblowers. they've tried to jail people. they have i think within the administration, kind of a level of federal agencies, you know very basic interviews. my reporters said you used to go to the e.p.a. and talk to a scientist about an issue. today will they not only not allow the interview without a spokesman present they don't allow the interview at all. i think the crowd was good in the campaigns about staying on message disciplined controlling information and have brought that to the government. >> sreenivasan: the administration put out a notion saying they've extended and strengthened whistle blowers. >> you can have all the rules you want. we talk to a lot of whistleblowers and there have been prominent once. they don't believe a word of it. they believe they will be retaliated against. edward snowden looked at what happened to other people in the intelligence community who tried to come forward quietly and had careers quashed and said no, i'm not doing that i'm contact ago journalist. he said and i believe him that he did not believe the protections would extend to him, that he would either get buried or punished. >> sreenivasan: what's the ripple effect when you have a public profile to have the whistle blowers? >> on the one hand, an immediate and chilling effect. people feel they could be arrested or prosecuted. you have less ease of doing journalism. i think paradoxically, you encourage that small number of people who are zealous about getting information out to be emboldened and said if no one whether come through and say anything in this atmosphere of fear i will pick up the phone and call, i hope propublica. that is why we've seen more tightness on information but more massive reeks. >> sreenivasan: is this part of the strategy inside the administration? >> i believe it is. i believe they look back at some of the predecessors in the bush administration, first years of the clinton administration and said we are not living in an atmosphere where everything is being constantly brooded about in the press and they have been very successful. they did the cuba policy reversal. one of the most political things you can imagine. i have to say, when i was in washington, that kind of thing would have gotten out. and they, you know managed to completely turn upside down an 50 year embargo. that's an amazing piece of discipline that speaks to their success in controlling their information. i see why they do it. the problem is i think there is something to having the policy debates in a more public way and they're missing out on that. >> sreenivasan: is the government afforded any credit in their contention that they have increased transparency of government spending data of modernizing government records trying to put hundreds of thousands of data sets and make them available mean, those are steps they say say no administration before them has been able to do and that helps your reporting. >> i think that's absolutely fair. we have at "propublica" benefited from openness on medical data. we have been able to say things about the way spending is done in medicare programs and medicare part d program that has never been done and i think they deserve credit for that but let's be clear, that is the easy stuff. when you get to the question about what's the president going to do about syria or how to handle the questions about immigration, to have no debate or programs suddenly dropped on people's heads it works in the short term but not long term for any of us. >> sreenivasan: stephen engelberg, thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> ifill: chicago voters return to the polls next month in that city's first runoff election for mayor. president obama's former chief of staff, current mayor rahm emanuel, is in a race against cook county commissioner jesus "chuy" garcia. their contest is exposing a real divide within the democratic party. special correspondent chris bury has our story. >> reporter: in chicago, where the irish-american daley clan dominated for decades, chicago's first jewish mayor, rahm emanuel, led the saint patrick's day parade. not far behind, his challenger, a little-known county commissioner born in durango, mexico: jesus "chuy" garcia. >> happy st. patrick's day chuy. >> reporter: that emanuel even has a competitor is a stunning setback for the hard driving democratic insider. but his failure to get a majority in the february election, despite vastly out- spending his rivals, forced him into a runoff. why does this mayor with every advantage, incumbency, money, allies like the president of the united states, why is he fighting for his political life? >> because people of chicago don't like him. >> reporter: the chicago tribune columnist john cast blames emanuel's abrasive personality for his lack luster showing in an election where nearly two in three voters stayed home. >> he knows it is a problem for him, a serious problem. it's not about competency with him. people know he's competent or feel he's competent. >> i can rub people the wrong way or talk when i should listen. i own that. >> reporter: in a remarkable tv ad, emanuel acknowledges his personality problem but argues it helps in his job. >> and with when business interests said a $13 minimum-wage was too high, i didn't back down. >> reporter: his opponent, chu chuy garcie, entered when other high profile names decided not to run including the head of the teachers union who rallied 4000 teachers to help garcia get out the vote. (chanting) for chuy garcia's campaign, the driving message is a tale of two cities. he calls rahm emanuel mayor 1% accusing him of catering to the giant corporations and their c.e.o.s in the gleaming skyscrapers downtown. garcia portrays himself as the neighborhood guy, more in touch with ordinary chicagoans. >> my roots are roots embedded in chicago neighborhoods that understand that the first important thing to bring about change is people. >> reporter: among garcia's favorite backdrops are abandoned school buildings. he has exploited the city's decision to close 50 poorly attended and underperforming schools, costing emanuel support in the minority communities where they were located. >> our schools that he closed were in african-american and latin-american communities, so you attacked the very people who voted for you the first time. who would vote for him again? you would have to be crazy. >> reporter: garcia hit a nerve promising to take down more than 300 red light cameras, money machines for the city that angered drivers. emanuel backed down ordering 50 removed. >> he talked about it as policy but couldn't sell it as a policy change. it's a political act, as the people know and suggests panic. >> reporter: in the south side cafeteria one of barack obama's old haunts we sat down with voters leaning each way. >> i'm leaning toward emanuel. he has the reputation of being a tough, feisty guy. i feel like that's what we need in the mayor of chicago, i think that's what we got and we still need that. >> i'm leaning towards jesus "chuy" garcia. i think it's pretty clear, in my opinion, there are associative reasons for that including things that have affected people directly, their families and pocketbooks, including the closing of schools street cameras and costing people extra money on taxes. >> reporter: out in the melting pot of chicago neighborhoods, emanuel is softening his tough-guy image telling his own families immigrant's story to connect with ethnic voters. >> about 100 years ago my grandfather came to this city and in two generations his grandson is the mayor of this great city, it tells you volumes about why chicago is the most american of american cities. >> reporter: emanuel is on the defensive about garcia's most damaging criticism that he neglects the city's pockets of poverty in favor to have the rich and powerful. >> how do you respond to the accusations from opponents that you are the mayor of 1%? >> reporter: not true, emanuel says, touting his reforms to public education. >> i made sure every child has full day kindergarten and going forward universal pre-k of 4-year-olds. those are the most bedrock of chicago's future and that's how you create a middle class. >> reporter: but emanuel is also playing offense. >> creative sources of financing -- >> reporter: relentless tv ads accuse garcia of being unable to pay for all his promises in a city struggling with massive debt. garcia has only been able to afford a handful of commercials. >> this used to be a school until the mayor shut it down. >> the mayor is still outspending you 7 8 to 1, millions of dollars more than you will ever get on television commercials. will you catch up? >> of course not only catch up but overtake the mayor. >> reporter: garcia has stirred obvious pride in the city's hispanic neighborhoods where supporters are predicting a chuy bump among latino voters. but the real battle is for african-american voters who make up a third of the electorate. mays jackson, a democratic strategist, says they are divided. >> there is people who are angry at rahm, but then you have people who say i'm not going to elect a latino because they don't trust the outcome. >> hi, are you aware chuy is running? >> yes, i am. >> reporter: grarsia's surge has given hope to democrats who want a more liberal candidate to take on hillary clinton in 2016. community organizer patel leads a grassroots group backing garcia. do you think this gives an opening to someone like elizabeth warren? >> i think so. probably the third largest city in country following what happens in new york with deblasio. if we can elect chuy beating rahm emanuel, it will be a huge burst of support for elizabeth warren if she were to decide to run. >> reporter: rahm emanuel may be in a much tougher race than he envisioned but he still holds advantages that fame power and money provide. >> how are you? good, how are you? >> reporter: for his part garcia is upbeat in the face of polls showing him behind, and chicagoans who relish politics as parades seem to be enjoying the contest. pbs "newshour", chicago. >> ifill: that chicago mayoral race shows just how questions of equality, class can play out in politics. the next story takes an even longer view at social mobility and opportunity, and how it's changing the way we raise our children. economics correspondent paul solman has the story, part of our ongoing reporting, "making sense," which airs every thursday on the newshour. >> i am a little strong here and i'm going to need a little elbow room. >> reporter: dave brickner, currently ranked 31st worldwide in the video golf betting game, golden tee. brickner owns and runs this bar, in port clinton, ohio, to supplement his first job doing maintenance on wendy's restaurants in the northwest part of the state. >> i'm working two jobs to make ends meet. >> reporter: jim cornell is a carpenter. >> there's only part time jobs for most people round here. >> the haves and have nots, is, you're definitely seeing it. >> reporter: rust belt decline growing inequality. a familiar tale, perhaps, but one getting a new twist from harvard political scientist robert putnam, who grew up in port clinton, returned after decades away and was stunned by what he saw: the death of social mobility. "my hometown was, in the 1950s, a passable embodiment of the american dream," he writes in his new book, "our kids," "a place that offered decent opportunity for all the kids in town, whatever their background." including those who lived on the wrong side of the tracks. >> the kids who lived here when i was growing up were poor, but they played with all the other kids in town. >> reporter: half a century later, however... >> the poor kids who live here now are living in a completely different universe from the rest of the kids in town. and that's leading us down the road toward a, frankly, a caste society. >> reporter: putnam recalls the port clinton of his youth as quote, "a pleasant, friendly town of (mostly white) people," its lake erie shorefront dotted with small cottages and modest resorts. the downtown shops thrived on the growing paychecks of the locals, many of whom worked at factories like standard products, which provided a thousand good blue collar jobs. but then the layoffs began, and standard products was down to fewer than 500 jobs in the 70s closed in the 90s. (it's now a hazardous waste site.) >> standard products, they closed down. i worked there. silgan plastics, they closed. i worked there like nine years. >> reporter: today, robert snively gets by on seasonal landscaping work, with jobless benefits and food stamps in the winter, supplemented by visits to the st. vincent de paul food pantry. ann heckerd managed to retire from her factory job before her plant shut down, now runs this food distribution center for those on unemployment insurance and disability. >> we have 100 to 115 families every two weeks, usually more at the end of the month. the jobs just aren't there. >> reporter: neither is the pay. the average worker in ottawa county, where port clinton is located, earns 16% less, in inflation adjusted dollars, than his or her counterpart in the early 1970s. in the last decade alone, child poverty in port clinton has quadrupled-- from 10% to nearly 40%. and those are averages in a city where you pass trailer parks on the way to luxury developments of multimillion-dollar homes. >> we're in the catawba cliffs. it's a private community on lake erie. >> reporter: chris galvin is head of the local united way. >> but it's still all the same zip code. 43452 is port clinton. >> this was not a high rent district when i was growing up. but of course now in the past 25 years this has been taken over by huge mansions all along here. you can see in the parking lot of the port clinton high school bmws that are driven to school by kids who live out here. >> reporter: in robert putnam's day, everyone hung out together at tony's snack bar, now the a la carte. the future was bright for the members of the class of '59 regardless of their socioeconomic background, be they the rich ray lambert (known as "casey"), or virginia park who was poor. >> i grew up on a farm and i was one of ten children. so our economic status would have been much lower than casey's and probably considerably lower than bob's as well. >> reporter: but you didn't feel that difference? >> no, not much. i didn't know until i was a senior in high school that his family were the wealthiest people in port clinton. >> that was news to me. i didn't know that. (laughter) >> reporter: but you knew you were better off than other kids? >> no. i had the same allowance as all my friends. >> reporter: and when you're thinking about somebody like ginny, you don't even know how much money she has or doesn't have. >> no, not important. why would it matter? >> those economic things-- i know this sounds crazy nowadays, but those economic things were not at all visible to us kids. >> reporter: but your parents both had graduate degrees right? >> my dad had a graduate degree. my mom got a college degree while we were in high school. >> my parents both had an education that ended in their sophomore years in high school. >> reporter: ginny park won a scholarship to college, has held an elected county office for 25 years here. her rise, says putnam, is typical of his classmates. >> 80% of the kids in my class here went beyond their parents' education. so this was a period of enormous upward mobility here in port clinton. >> reporter: now, if you're wondering why we're suddenly in a bowling alley, it's because of a famous article bob putnam wrote 20 years ago later turned into a book: bowling alone. that's putnam and his eighth grade team on the back cover-- racially, socially, economically diverse. >> bowling is big in america-- more americans bowl than vote so it's a big deal. but bowling in leagues, bowling in teams, declined by about 80% over those ensuing years. and what that was a symbol was the fact that we were no longer connecting with other people in the way once we did. >> reporter: and that loss of community or what he calls "social capital," says putnam, is both a cause and a consequence of today's growing economic divide. >> america is silently but really importantly becoming increasingly segregated by how much you earn and how much education you have. >> reporter: putnam is careful not to sugarcoat the 1950s. >> there were serious problems of racism and of sexism, and homophobia, of course. but the american dream sort of existed here. that is, the chance that everybody would do better than their parents and poor kids would not be disadvantaged. >> reporter: and today-- and today what would happen? >> well, it's no longer the american dream. it's a split screen nightmare because kids who are coming from well off backgrounds, well- educated backgrounds like my grandchildren, are doing better and better. they're doing better in school; they're more likely to take part in extra-curricular activities; they have higher test scores; whereas kids coming from lower, less-educated homes are doing worse and worse. >> reporter: as a final illustration, putnam and the united way's chris galvin had put us in touch with two of those poor kids. one, a young man, canceled our 5:00 p.m. appointment because he got a snow plowing job. he rescheduled for the following morning but failed to show. the other, a young single mother, was supposed to bring her children to this art event, organized in part to bring rich and poor kids together. she too was a no-show. it's a problem bob putnam faced while doing research nationwide for the book. >> the poor kids often stood us up. and what we began to realize is that's their life. they don't have cars so they're dependent on public transportation and if the buses don't run, they can't get there. if the boss calls at the last minute and says: you've got to work an extra shift, they've got to work an extra shift so they can't go there. >> reporter: and so, says putnam, the chaos of poverty feeds on itself, and today's poor, unlike those of port clinton in the 1950s, and of pretty much every other place in america, are increasingly out of sight, out of mind, and out of luck. >> i missed it. >> reporter: this is economics correspondent paul solman, reporting for the pbs newshour from port clinton, ohio. >> ifill: the race is on to meet the growing needs of the baby boomer generation, the youngest of whom turned 50 last year. special correspondent megan hughes reports on the push to create new health and wellness technology that older americans will want to use, and investors are increasingly eager to back. >> reporter: rebel desk c.e.o. kathleen hale makes the case for her "treadmill desks", which record user activity to the cloud. >> 35% of our customers are over 45 . >> reporter: this is just one of the pitches being made at 1776, a washington, d.c.-based incubator where start up entrepreneurs come to share ideas. it looks like a young person's game. but two of a.a.r.p.'s futurists jeffrey makowka and sanjay khurana, are on patrol, holding regular office hours to listen to startups pitch how they might help older americans. in addition to hearing about the rebel desks, they also hear from infield health co-founder douglas naegele. his app gives patients and caregivers pre-and post surgery instructions on their mobile phones. >> it's personalized to your medical needs so older hip replacement patients would get one set of content and younger hip replacement patients get a separate set of content. >> reporter: nearby two physicians explain their concept for a virtual game called bushytail. users meet their health goals by placing a wager in a pool with other patients. if they meet their goal, they will get their money back plus a share of money lost by underachievers. >> you're betting on getting your colonoscopy at age 50, but at $100 i'm going to get it done this year. >> there are a lot of startups that don't see the opportunity. >> reporter: 1776's meagan riley says the incubator's partnership with a.a.r.p. is helping them to cast a wider demographic net. >> so 1776 plays an integral role in actually making those opportunities more apparent. and again if it is a company that might be providing a solution for someone in their 30's, maybe they pivot a little and suddenly there is a much larger opportunity. >> reporter: just how large? more than 100 million americans are now over the age of 50. oxford economics estimates their consumer spending accounts for $7.1 trillion in economic activity a year. if that were the gross domestic product for a country, it would be the third largest economy in the world. just after the u.s. and china. >> there's a tsunami of older adults coming into the population, and we have to design for this. >> reporter: research scientist brad fain is in charge of product testing for georgia tech's homelab, focusing on older americans. >> they're more scared of assisted living than they are of death, and losing their independence and so for them it is a life or death issue, they truly see the loss of independence as that level of importance and to the extent that we can support people living in place longer, through technology, new technologies then i think that's important we ought to do that. >> reporter: in a new partnership with a.a.r.p., fain's latest study tests how wearable fitness devices like the fitbit are working for older customers. and why look at wearable devices? >> wearable devices is an emerging area right. it allows part of the quantified-self movement, where we're starting to learn a little bit more about our own behavior getting a window into that kind of behavior that we haven't really seen before. one of the things we've noticed with this kind of research is that older adults, and adults in general, just really don't know how much activity they have during the day. they are not getting their recommended amount of activity during the day and these devices can help measure that, help motivate that, help change behavior and that's even more important as we age. >> reporter: andrew baranak, the lead industrial designer at georgia tech, gave us a quick tour of the wearable products. >> the fitbit charge is one of they're newer offerings. we've got the up from jawbone, and we've got the basis, which is a smart watch touch screen. the withings pulse, it's a we've got the spire, this is a little, a cool little activity tracker from a startup. >> reporter: the researchers follow up on consumers testing products throughout the state including neighbors tovah melaver and catherine shiel in decatur, georgia. >> i check how many steps i've walked every day. i never thought that would be an important part of this. >> reporter: both of the women say the devices have motivated them to do more. melaver, an artist, says if her device tells her she's short of her fitness goal, she'll pick up a hula hoop and get her body moving. >> i don't think of myself as a senior, obviously, i'm over 50 and so, you know 50 is the new 40 or 30, i don't know what it is. i don't know what it is today but i, yeah, i feel like i'm active, i don't feel like a senior citizen. >> reporter: back at the lab 64-year-old judi mucci reports to researchers that she's had a very different experience. >> the types of things they have on it for activity are limited. >> ok, limited in what way? >> soccer, swimming, i think the other one is tennis. i think there was another one. and they're just things that i don't do at this time in my life. >> reporter: after 13 years of health problems mucci says she appreciates that these gadgets could help her. but she also has plenty of advice for the industry. >> the prices you have to watch the prices because we're on a limited income you know. >> do you feel like companies are listening to the voices of... >> they're starting to. >> reporter: a.a.r.p.'s jody holtzman says his group is preparing to launch its own investment fund dedicated to the longevity economy. he says the growing aging adults market has lacked the investor frenzy seen in the social media space. he says that was sparked when facebook became a publicly- traded company, allowing early investors the opportunity to cash out. >> what we saw after facebook exited was that all of a sudden everyone was building funds focused on social media. and my hope is that when that first big exit happens in our space, those type of internal efforts also find their way into the v.c.'s so they start to think about the longevity economy as an investment theme. >> reporter: as for the future of wearable fitness products, shiel says her cohorts may be seen as late adopters, but that industry should pay attention. >> you know the stereotype that old people don't like the technology. i want to break that right now. i love these technological devices. i know how to use them. i just need to see how they're going to serve me. and i don't want them to run me, either. >> reporter: if enough older americans are as tech savvy as shiel, companies will have plenty of opportunity to turn their golden years into gold. megan hughes in decatur, georgia for the pbs newshour. >> ifill: now, an intimate look at the challenge of caring for aging parents. judy woodruff has the latest addition to the newshour bookshelf. it is a son and his mother at the twilight of her life, the son who returns from the fast trackman hatton life to the small town of paris missouri. it's about loss but also about discovery. it's about struggle and courage, but ultimately it's about love. the "it" is bettyville by george hodgman. welcome to the program. >> thank you. >> woodruff: you spent years an editor but you'd never written a book until this one. does that make it easier or harder? >> i think that i always always wanted to write a book and i had been carrying around little slivers and this emotional moment just had to -- allowed me to access everything. and the editing, i leonard lot about what -- i learned a lot about what i should have been doing as an editor all these years when i became a writer. >> woodruff: follow that home to missouri a place you left and thought you might never go back. >> i am surprised to find myself back and also am surprisingly happy there. i had lived on my own and for myself in a lot of ways, and it's nice to be in a different kind of community for a little while. i have been around hard-driving ambitious, kind of self-centered people, and i'm enjoying a completely different kind of life. i mean it's interesting because my east coast friends are -- were so determined to get me back, and they had such negative attitudes about this part of the country and, you know religious fanatics and right-wingers and everything, and it was a good lesson in learning that the stereotypes that i had sort of acquired were not always so accurate. >> woodruff: i want you to read a passage about you were five years old -- your mother is a remarkable person, which we'll capture in a few minutes of this interview burks just read that one passage about her and her driving and taking you to school. >> "my mother always drove fast, never stayed home. in the old days we sped across the plains in our blue empal la, radio blaring the deej's all-american voice of st. price. she took me to the county line where i waited for the bus to kindergarten. my mother too damn high strurchg, standing in the bathroom fussing with her hair and smoking cigarettes. i look like something the cat drugged in. i loved pop music. my mother and i sang along to this diamond ring i lost that loving feeling. betty took the shoe off her foot and almost floored it. i like fast things. the highway between madison and mobley missouri will always be one of the places where i will see my mother, hair wrapped in rollers under a scarf wearing a pair of sunglasses taking me off into the big wide world ." >> woodruff: that's so great. it's funny and the next moment it's poignant and sad. the moment you wrote about when you were growing up in many ways is the same woman you are losing. i know she is still alive but you are with her, watching her slip away, at the same time. >> i always say that i've known many betes during our relationship. maybe it was me that changed and not her, but seems like, you know, i've seen her go through so many stages of her life, and in her current incarnation, every day, i feel like i see sort of all the betties. at times, it's like it's always sad when you're caring for an older person but there are a lot of lighter moments too. she's here and she's there and she's gone, and we sort of are grateful for the moments when she's there. >> woodruff: how about aging parents who may or may not have dementia? >> i think i'm a bad person to give anybody lessons on anything. i'm an improviser. the thing about this book is that i never thought i could do this. i never thought i could get through this period. i couldn't keep a cactus alive. i never had a pet. i love my parents so much and i have always been scared of losing them but i can't cook, i can't -- you know, i'm -- i am so surprised that i have been able to step forward, and i think that it's kind of about doing the next right thing. we're not perfect. we don't know. nobody teaches us. i think about all the mothers who have taken care of their kids and fathers and it's my turn, you know. it's my turn, and i want to try to do it the best i can. the lesson for me is just -- just the next thing and if you can find a happy moment if you can find the good mood give her an ice cream cone and try to make the moment last a little bit longer. you do the best you can do, you know. >> woodruff: it is a lovely book. bettyville is the title. george hodgman. we thank you for sharing it with us. >> thank you for having me. >> ifill: finally, to our "newshour shares" of the day. something that caught our eye that might be of interest to you, too. stargazers around the world were treated to a dazzling light show this week. as seen in this time-lapse video from new zealand, bright shades of green, yellow and red pulsated across the sky from australia, to europe, to parts of the united states. the phenomenon, often called the northern lights, occurs when charged particles from the sun collide with atoms in the earth's atmosphere, usually in northern climates. and this year it could be seen as far south as tennessee. again, the major developments of the day: u.s. officials disputed reports that a draft nuclear agreement with iran is close to final. the associated press said it calls for cutting iran's centrifuges by 40%, for 10 years. senate republicans told the newshour they will delay a bill that requires congressional approval of any iran nuclear deal. and israeli prime minister netanyahu denied he's rejected any possibility of a palestinian state. he said he still wants a two- state peace solution. on the newshour online, 18- to 34-year-old millennials have a reputation of being the country's most racially tolerant generation. but survey data on attitudes toward race reveal a more complex picture. what can these polls actually tell us about this much-talked about generation? we have a breakdown, on our homepage. that's pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. on friday, supreme court justice antonin scalia, or an actor playing him, takes center stage but this time in a play. i'm gwen ifill. we'll see you on-line, and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks. 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. >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> 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 newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org this is "nightly business report" with tyler mat sue herera. game on. dow component nike beats wall street earnings expectations on strong demand but there are a couple of numbers in the report investors should watch. lifting the ban? congress hears testimony on the benefits of exporting crude as oil prices remain volatile and under pressure. and deadline looms. for many retirees if you miss it it could cost you. all that and more tonight for "nightly business report," thursday march 19th. >> good evening, everyone. stocks took a breather pulling back from yesterday's big federal reserve fueled rally but we begin with earnings from the largest sports wear maker, nike. dow reported a 15% jump in quarter profits as more p