>> woodruff: a jolt to the mind. scientists use weak electrical current to boost brain activity and amp up human performance. >> my tdcs session lasted 20 minutes. all i felt was a little bit of tingling in my scalp. it was like a jolt of caffeine minus the tense feeling. and for several hours afterwards, i felt extremely clear headed. >> woodruff: and... >> my mother and i just sang "que sera, sera" three times. god bless you doris day for giving us such a great theme song. >> woodruff: the remarkable life of a mother. npr's scott simon chronicles the lessons of a lifetime on twitter and in his new memoir, "unforgettable." those are some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> it doesn't matter what kind of weather. it doesn't matter what time of day or night. when mother nature's done her worst, the only thing that matters to us, is keeping the lights on for you. we're the men and women of the international brotherhood of electrical workers. keeping the power on in communities like yours, all across the country. because when bad weather strikes, we'll be there for you. the i.b.e.w. the power professionals. >> 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. >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> 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: the nuclear talks between iran and six world powers went down to the deadline today. but with hours to go, the state department announced the meetings in lausanne, switzerland, are being extended at least a day. we get more from indira lakshmanan of bloomberg news who's in lausanne. hello again. so it's midnight there. this is when it was all supposed to be wrapped up. what's going on? >> yes i was supposed to be on a plane by now, but obviously you're seeing me, so apparently not. we're a few minutes past the self-imposed deadline the two sides set for themselves last november when they missed the last deadline so the idea was they were meant to come to this framework understanding tonightment now clearly the two sides have made enough progress that they feel it's worth going into the next day as they've told us, but not surprisingly at a time like, this you have public posturing and messaging through the media. we had one delegation tell us that iran had been given a make-or-break dawn headline, that it was now or never. then the u.s. denied that. iran denied that. so, you know each of these different six powers in iran are trying to send their own messages to try to get something done that they can go home and be happy with. >> woodruff: is it possible to sort out among all these stories that are being put out there to the press which ones are reliable? >> i think we're not going to know until we know until they give us a joint declaration or until they declare failure, but what we had been hearing earlier in the day is it was very likely the two sides would come up with major points of agreement, not on everything, that's for sure. they still had problems over iran's enrichment capacity, over research and development, and over sanctions relief and what shape that was going the take but they were going to try to come up with major points of agreement, come up with a joint declaration and then have bullet points. that would still give them three more months to come up with a detailed technical accord. but, you know, i think at this point they're still trying to get there. they need to be able to have agreed on enough of the main points that secretary kerry can take it home to washington, sell it on capitol hill and the minister from iran can take it home and sell it to the supreme leader and president rouhani. >> woodruff: we've been told the iranians have been focused on a june deadline. is that having an impact on what's taking place? >> it may be. the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei says he doesn't want a two-step final deal. he wants one step. the iranians have been pressuring the americans saying we want a long, written accord, the final one in june. we don't want to have to write something out now but i don't think that's what's holding it up at this point. i think what's holding it up is there are some really difficult issues. that's why there has been a 12-year standoff between the international community and iran over this disputed nuclear program, which iran denies is seeking military applications, that the world believes they have sought nuclear weapons. so these are really tough issues to resolve. that's why we're seeing them going into the early hours of the morning because they haven't come to an agreement yet simply that they can take away and both be happy with. >> woodruff: indira lakshmanan, it sounds like you're going to have a listening night. thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the obama administration formally pledged to curb u.s. greenhouse gas emissions up to 28% over 10 years. it's part of a proposed global treaty. the cuts would come from vehicle and appliance efficiency standards, and from limits on power plants. some of those steps face challenges in congress and the courts. the defense has rested in the boston marathon bombing trial, without calling the accused bomber, dzhokhar tsarnaev, to testify. his lawyers admit he took part in the 2013 attack, but they're trying to save him from the death penalty. they called four witnesses to show he was influenced by his brother. closing arguments begin on monday. saudi arabia's growing military campaign in yemen intensified today on land, sea and in the air. jonathan rugman of independent television news has this report. >> reporter: after six days of saudi air strikes, yemen is on the verge of total collapse. so says the u.n., which adds that over 90 civilians have been killed here in the capital in the last few days. saudi warplanes trying to drive shia rebels back but making enemies in the process. >> ( translated ): they hit us until they completely destroyed these homes while we were sleeping at home. >> reporter: in the north, a u.n. refugee camp was hit by saudi jets, leaving at least 40 dead. the u.n. said it was shocked. yemen's foreign minister blamed rebels for being there. >> there is some population or houses, and they're trying to put people there. >> reporter: last night the saudis hit this munitions warehouse near sanaa. while the missiles are landing the international committee of the red cross has failed to negotiate delivering medical supplies by air, not in the midst of this burgeoning sunni-shia war. the alliance may strengthen as the saudi-led arab coalition weighs up a possible land invasion next. because air strikes may not be enough to dislodge them, and there's in sign of a political way out of this crisis, let alone a ceasefire. >> woodruff: the saudis say they mean to restore to office yemen's president abd-rabbu mansour hadi, who's also backed by the united states. president obama today released military aid to egypt, as the cairo government moves to form an arab alliance against terror. the aid had been on hold since the egyptian military overthrew islamist president mohammed morsi in 2013. it includes 12 f-16 fighter jets, plus missiles and other weaponry. in iraq, government forces fought their way into the center of the city of tikrit, against islamic state militants. military officials said troops attacking from the south and west have recaptured at least 75% of the city. the interior ministry reported street-to-street fighting, with at least 40 islamic state fighters killed. prime minister haidar al-abadi spoke in baghdad. transtransi'd like to present to you the good news we've raised the iraqi flag. they are now purging other parts of the city from the islamic state militants. >> woodruff: the operation to retake tikrit began earlier this month, with iranian support, but it stalled. last week, the iraqis called in u.s. air strikes, and the ground offensive began moving again. the united states committed over half a billion dollars today to help syrian refugees. it was part of nearly $4 billion pledged by nations at a u.n. summit in kuwait. almost 11 million people, half of syria's population, have been displaced by the war. and back in this country, a late-day slide on wall street wiped out most of monday's gains. the dow jones industrial average lost 200 points to close under 17,800. the nasdaq fell 46, and the s&p 500 gave up 18. still to come on the newshour: the fallout over an indiana law that claims to protect religious liberty. a new leader for one of africa's biggest nations. in the wake of the germanwings crash, what makes a pilot fit to fly? new technology to amp up your brain activity. npr's scott simon chronicles his mother's final days. and, using music to fight discrimination in a war torn country. >> woodruff: now the fight over >> woodruff: longtime nigerian president goodluck jonathan conceded defeat today in his re- election bid in africa's richest and most populous nation. he lost by at least 2 million votes to challenger muhammadu buhari. jeffrey brown reports. >> brown: supporters of buhari celebrated in the northern city of kaduna, an opposition stronghold, as word of the results spread. >> i am out because i am happy about the change of government. >> brown: later, president jonathan called buhari to congratulate him, making it official. the winner, a muslim and former military ruler, swept the muslim north. crucially, he also scored well in states across southern nigeria, where christians predominate and jonathan had his power base. the outcome stunned the ruling party, and one of its officials even disrupted the electoral commission's proceedings charging, "we have lost confidence in you!" but for buhari's all progressives congress, the results were momentous. >> we are all happy because we are witnessing history in the sense that this is the first time in nigeria that a sitting government would be voted out of power using purely democratic means. >> brown: buhari initially came to power in a military coup 30 years ago, but says he became an advocate of democracy after civilian rule returned in 1999. he says he'll draw on his experience to stamp out the violent boko haram militants. >> with my background as a military man i think we have to quickly restore the morale of the nigerian military and the reinforcement agencies by certainly getting weapons, retraining, and re-organization. that is absolutely necessary. >> brown: for now, both sides are also watching for the kind of post-election violence that plagued the country four years ago. >> brown: joining me now is nii akuetteh, executive director of the african immigrant caucus. what do we know about what explains this election? is it anti-johnson or pro-challenger at this point? >> i think it is both. i would put the emphasis on anti-jonathan because, for one thing, this party that just won there had been splinter party, four of them, and they came together because they had been losing to jonathan's party since 1999, but also this time jonathan's party split. there was an internal dispute and a lot of them left. i think that's an undercounted factor. they left because some of them had said there was an agreement that jonathan should not stand. so the internal problems and the external coalition both help explain it. there were other political issues like the economy like boko haram. >> brown: let me ask you more about muhammadu buhari. a former military dictator, why would he be elected in a democratic election? >> i think we're going to be learning more about him. though he was a former head of state, it was only for a brief time. he has run three times and lost, and so people have i think outside of nigeria have a fairly simplistic view of him but his image will be fleshed out now. for one thing, he's seen as a very austere, incorruptible man. he also has run four time, so clearly he's determined that there is something that he can do for nigeria. this time so many nigerians supported him outside. before he didn't but this time he got support in the south, too. >> brown: do you sense implications for boko haram because that has been much of the international focus but also in nigeria? >> i do. in the past elections were postponed because the military wanted more time to deal with the insurgents. people were sceptical, but i think an objective look on the ground says they now have boca raton -- boko haram on the run. they are terrorists so they can pop up at any time but it seems to me their back has been broken, so president buhari will have to mop up, and make sure they don't crop up again and they don't spill over into neighboring countries. >> brown: you see signs they are on the run, but the fight isom over, is that what you're saying? >> that is what i'm saying. i think it would be dangerous to assume they're beaten and take your eyes off the ball. >> brown: what about the stakes for the united states? what impact does this have on our relations with nigeria and for that matter with the larger reason because of its important role there? >> i think it's actually a new and fresh and welcome beginning. i know people, the u.s. officially stayed neutral, but in my own picking up in the streets of washington, i felt that people were tired of jonathan and they would like a fresh face. now we have somewhat of a fresh face, and the u.s., because of boko haram nigeria is the richest country, the largest economy in africa. somebody has estimated that the middle class in nigeria is almost as large as the population of germany and so when the hiccup over the drop in oil prices is gone, i think economic relations between the u.s. and nigeria will be very strong. so both on security and on the economy, i think the u.s. will want to strengthen its relations with nigeria. now, the kind of thing i see in the daytime, we like strong relations. we would have liked nigeria to receive more help fighting boko haram in the same manner the u.s. has given for the fight against isis. i actually get the impression the u.s. is about to do that now. >> brown: you're seeing more possibility of that? >> right. >> brown: all right. nii akuetteh, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now the fight over religious freedom and discrimination. late today, the arkansas house of representatives passed its own controversial law and the governor has indicated he will sign it. newshour political editor lisa desjardins is in indiana this week, where there's been an uproar over the religious freedom restoration act or r.f.r.a. that many claim will allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians. indiana'sgovernor tried to answer critics this morning. >> let me say first and foremost: r.f.r.a. was about religious liberty, not about discrimination. as i said last week had this law been about legalizing discrimination i would have vetoed it. >> reporter: indiana governor mike pence took 37 minutes to try and roll back five days of questions about whether he signed an anti-gay law. >> i abhor discrimination. i was raised with the golden rule, you should do unto others as they should do on to you. >> reporter: as the indiana republican aimed to define his new law as not discriminatory. hoosiers were at lunch, and less certain about how to digest their governor's words. >> he still hasn't said what he's going to do. >> reporter: the news conference played on tv's usually reserved for football or music videos at ollie's sports bar in indianapolis. >> i think he talks in circles, he realizes he made a mistake. a lot of us do believe this is a backlash against gay and lesbian marriage laws. >> reporter: all of this is happening as, and in large part is boiling because, the pinnacle of all college sporting events, the ncaa final four championship, is set to begin this weekend in indianapolis. and that put an extra spotlight on indiana's religious freedom restoration act. on sunday pence appeared on abc's this week. >> do you think it should be legal in the state of indiana to discriminate against gays or lesbians? >> george. >> it's a yes or no question. >> come on. hoosiers don't believe in discrimination. >> reporter: pence now admits he could have done better. many loud voices in his state let him know. >> no hate in our state! >> reporter: gay rights groups held two rallies in the past four days, this one yesterday, seizing modern republican watchwords like liberty, and also drawing a direct line to civil rights sins of the past. >> you will never get me, my family, my friends or anybody who i know of social justice or is civic minded to agree with a bill that brings jim crow back to indiana. >> reporter: with a standing- room only crowd on hand monday the indianapolis city council voted on its own resolution. nine republicans joined democrats like zach adamson, who is gay and married. >> the indianapolis city/county council is opposed to the recent passage of r.f.r.a. >> reporter: some voices in the indiana business community were also upset and present bill ostrlee is the c.e.o. of angie's list and a big republican donor. >> we're completely opposed to this measure, we want to see it repealed or we want to see changes to the civil rights code. and that's because our chief asset is our people. >> reporter: angie's list has ended plans for a major expansion. and it joined with eight other high-profile indiana companies including eli lilly and roche, to urge governor pence to reform the law. and rock band wilco has canceled a may concert. >> wilco. this band you've never heard of, they've decided it is discrimination, so it must be discrimination. >> reporter: but many conservatives in indiana, like radio talk show host tony katz are crying foul. >> if the intent in america is to ensure you have the right to say no and not get attacked for it okay, i'm fine with that but the bill itself i'm not okay with because i'm not interest in legislation to fix a cultural issue, which is the ability to say no. >> reporter: a potentially historic moment, at a time when hoosiers see themselves as charging forward, moving past outdated factories. pouring billions into a modern indianapolis that has become a sports powerhouse and business magnet. now that story is overshadowed by another. >> it's not going to end until indiana and the u.s. decides to quit drawing a line down the middle saying i'm right, you're wrong. >> but if you have no concept of what the word "clarification" means, i don't know what the answer is. i really and truly don't know. that's what's making this in terms of a news story, even without the people who are just there to try and hurt, it makes it a spectacular soap opera. >> woodruff: and lisa joins us now from indianapolis. lisa, we heard the governor this morning. he wants the clarify the language in that law. what happens now? >> a lot of action in the next couple days, judy. i just got off the found with the house speaker's office. here's the plan: they've cleared the way for possible clarification language to work through the house, a vote likely tomorrow or on thursday, but here's the problem right now judy, they don't have the language agreed upon. meetings are under way. it sounds like they could go late into the night. that language will be important, not just for conservatives in the state of indiana but also for the ncaa tournament because if gay rights activists don't like this language, they don't think it protects them enough, i know and have been told they will send protests during the ncaa tournament this week, and i can't stress enough around here how important the ncaa is, obviously we know it nationally. you really feel it in this town, judy. indianapolis is the innocence -- ncaa's headquarters. the ncaa only pays a dollar a year to the city to stay here so it's a cornerstone that indianapolis prizes. >> woodruff: that's adding a real sense of urgency. lisa, you were telling me earlier today, you've been talking to a lot of indiana residents. how do they feel about all this about all the attention they're getting over this controversy? >> you know i think the thing that surprised me the most judy, and i heard a lot from conservatives, liberals alike here, all kinds of people. they say they don't like to be in the spotlight here. they're really used to indiana being off the radar. they like to think of themselves that's a best-kept secret. in general they don't like making national headlines, but another thing i heard from folks judy, is that they think they are at the center of a national moment. indianapolis, i didn't know this before i came here, their nickname is "the crossroads of america." i think there is a sense in this town that they're now at the crossroads of the debate over rights in america. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins with some very fine reporting from indiana. thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: there are even more questions today about how pilots are screened. lufthansa, the parent company of germanwings, reported the co- pilot of the plane that crashed in the french alps last week informed the company back in 2009 that he had suffered from severe depression. andreas lubitz told the flight training school of his problem after a months-long absence. the incident raises concerns about mental health and standards for flying. we speak with two who know about these issues. dr. warren silberman is a physician and former manager of aerospace medical certification for the federal aviation administration. he is now in private practice. and, doctor william sledge is a professor of psychiatry at the yale school of medicine. he's evaluated pilots throughout his career including for the air force, major airlines, the pilots' union and the f.a.a. and we welcome you both. dr. silberman, to you first. we know the information we have on andreas lubitz is incomplete but based on what we know would he have been certified to fly a passenger plane in the united states? >> if he would have revealed that he was depressed or should manifestations of depression, absolutely not. he would be disqualified. >> woodruff: dr. sledge, would you agree? >> i would agree, particularly with the designation that he was suicidal. and dr. silberman knows better than i, but the f.a.a. occasionally would... if someone was treated successfully for depression would allow them to return to the cockpit but for the most part, the presence of suicidalty really rules it out. >> woodruff: dr. sledge, staying with you, what is the u.s. system for screening pilots for physical, mental and emotional conditions? >> well, to get a license to fly, you have to have a medical exam that certifies you in different categories of how you would be flying. the first-class category is what we were talking about here those are for people carrying passengers commercially and all the major carriers are required to have a class one license. that's an annual physical up until you're age 40 and then it's twice a year. and the content of the evaluations are similar, although they're a little bit more strict for the first class, and they're pursued more aggressively by the medical examiners who are the primary care physicians who are certified by the f.a.a. to carry out these exams. >> woodruff: dr. silberman, what would you add to that, and especially when it comes to mental health and emotional screening? >> well, you know the good thing is when you know the pilot and he's been seeing you. the other problem is when you've got a brand-new student pilot, but the f.a.a.'s got a whole bunch of questions that are on the medical history. one question relates just to overall mental health and it says, have you ever had depression or anxiety or something else. another question relates to alcoholism. have you ever had a problem with alcohol? a third question asks if you had substance dependence where you've taken a substance within the last two years. and then the next... the last question asks about suicide. >> woodruff: dr. sledge it sounds as if so much of this depends on self-reporting. is that right, and what about the role of coworkers colleagues who are observing pilots every day? >> well, yeah, a lot of it does depend on self-reporting, but, of course, many of the items dr. silberman mentioned can also be verified by law enforcement or job evaluations, et cetera. but in terms of the... most pilots are pretty tolerant of people, but they're not tolerant of people who are non-standard in the carrying out of their work functions. if someone is consistently violating the rules and the regulations of flying those people get reported pretty quickly, in my experience. >> woodruff: i want to ask both of you dr. silberman, do you think the regulations right now in the united states are sufficient? do they need tightening in some way given what we've seen with this terrible incident in france? >> it's actually an interesting thing because back when that pilot on jetblue had a psychotic reaction, that was march 27 2012, we... the members of the aerospace medical association, which is the largest organization of aerospace medical specialists, got together and had a working group to decide is the exam, are we missing something on the exam, and we came up that since something like that is so rare that you don't want to put your money on that, and it's better to put the emphasis on mental health education, education at the airline, that kind of stuff. >> woodruff: dr. sledge, very quickly, would you agree that no major changes are needed? >> i agree. and i think one of the things that's been left out of this conversation is the tight collaboration and coordination between the major trunk carriers, the f.a.a. and the airline pilots association who are really quite together in maintaining safety and healthy clientele. >> >> woodruff: a final quick question to both of you. should americans for the most part feel confident when they get on a plane and fly in this country. dr. silberman? >> hey, with all the years that i was at the f.a.a. and the stuff that i still do with pilots, i feel totally comfortable flying in the u.s. >> woodruff: and dr. sledge? >> i would agree. but i would also add that when something like this happens, we should stop and pause and just recheck and make sure that we're doing the best we can. but i completely agree. this doesn't change my confidence in the system. >> woodruff: dr. william sledge dr. warren silberman we thank you both. >> you're welcome. >> thank you. hank you. >> woodruff: next, a report on how researchers are exploring whether a small zap to the brain may actually be helpful. the idea: possibly boosting performance and improving brain activity in some cases. our guide is our science correspondent, miles o'brien. >> reporter: if you're like me, you really can't start the day without a little jolt. >> this is the simulator itself that's going to be providing actual current that's going to your head. >> reporter: but step aside, grande latte, there's a new kid on the block. >> the current is going to come out of the device to the electrodes on your forehead and flow to your head. >> reporter: a biomedical engineer at the city college of new york is prepping me for a dose of transcranial direct current stimulation or tdcs. a jumpstart for my brain. >> it can make the brain perhaps function information more effectively and therefore make you, let's say better at things. or it can make the brain more likely to undergo plasticity, more malleable more able to learn. >> reporter: a human brain has 100 billion brain cells or neurons. neurons are networkers that make multiple connections via sin napses. we have 100 trillion of them. all of this runs on electricity that we generate ourselves. >> this was the montage we tried on you. >> reporter: it turns out each of our neurons is a microscopic battery with one-tenth of a svelte of electricity. when we're using them to remember things or do math or write this story, they fire electrical spikes. >> when we're adding electricity to the brain with tdcf instead of one-tenth of a volt, we're producing 1,000th of a volt change, so it's not enough to trigger a spike, not enough to generate a spike, but it's enough to modulate the spikes, to maybe get more spikes or to get less spikes. >> this will keep you from biting your tongue. now just bite down on it. >> reporter: when you think of the human brain and electricity there is a good chance you might conjure up this intense image. the treatment powerfully depicted in the 1975 oscar-winning movie "one flew over the cookoo's nest." it's still used as last resort, but in reality it is painless. so is cdcs which uses direct current roughly equivalent to a nine-volt battery. the basic idea goes back to the romans who used electric fish as a headache cure. but in 2000 some german scientists published this paper, which proved weak electrical current can modulate brain activity. ever since scientific interest in tdcs has amped up steadily. >> so that's it. >> my tdcs session lasted 20 minutes. all i felt was a little bit of tingling in my scalp. it didn't hurt a bit. >> you may need a paper towel. >> reporter: i felt great. it was like i had a jolt of caffeine without the tense feeling. and for several hours afterward i felt extremely clear headed. but is that all there is? >> the theory is when you now combine tdcs with things like training or clinical therapy, you can make those things more effective. you sort of prime the brain and now you're combining it with some other intervention like trying to learn something. >> with that much promise, there should be no surprise tdcs has captured the attention of serious researchers. but it is also inspired a lot of people looking for fast cash or a fast way to try and juice their gray matter. you can buy the dcs device online for about $100. or you can go to youtube and see how to build one yourself. >> the cathode goes above the right eye. learned this from the dcs video montage i watched. >> reporter: what could go wrong with that? >> we're going to sit become and say caveat esmor? i think that's irresponsible. i think much more important is to create particular parameter, perhaps including a surgeon general's warning that says, these are the ways you should use this and these are the ways you should not. report at wright patterson air force base in ohio, andy mckinley is exploring ways for the military to exploit tdcs. the air force mission has change dramatically in the past decade with the rapid rise of unmanned aerial vehicles. it demands a new kind of right stuff. >> it's like looking through a where's waldo book, but waldo may not be in the book. keeping your attention for that long for an entire shift for eight or 12 hours is extremely difficult. >> so he recruited volunteers for some studies. >> in this scenario what you'll be doing is there is a market square with a bunch of people milling around. >> using software called vigilant spirit sleep-deprived volunteers spend hours looking at a crowded village square trying to identify people carrying guns and a high-value target with a purple hat. some got stimulation. some coffee, some a placebo. >> we found that people that got the stimulation performed about twice as well as the folks that got either caffeine or no stimulation. and that effect lasted about three times as long as caffeine. >> reporter: at this point andy had my full attention, as well. so he gave me a temperature york lacing me up for vigilance assessment called the macwork test. red dots move around the screen. frequently there's a skip. >> if there is a skip you push the space bar to see you saw that. >> it was mind-numbingly boring. i spent most of my energy trying to keep my eyes open. how did i do? >> you got about half of them. actually, you got exactly half. >> then he turned on the juice. my brain seemed to switch on like a lightbulb. it was still boring, but i was on it. a red dot watching machine. >> you got all but one and i think that one you missed... >> reporter: that's pretty amazing. there's no doubt in my mind it works. the question is: how will we use it? michael whisenant is a neuroscientist. >> i think in ten years we'll have some reliable applications that will come where this will be prescribed actually, and i think there will be things like depression, it will be things like adhd. it will be things like motor problems that people have. >> reporter: at the university of minnesota, neuroscientists work with young people, like 20-year-old matty evans who suffered a stroke in utero. the other affected side of her brain has taken up slack and is doing work the stroke side would normally do. her doctor thinks tdcs can help balance madi's brain. >> we're trying to simultaneously excite brain cells that are still alive in the stroke hemisphere while inhibiting brain cells on the non-stroke hemisphere. >> awakening dormant yet viable neurons best suited for the job could make maddy's paralytic hand more active and nimble. >> we're finding out what areas of the brain respond better for what function. can we move better because we're doing this think better speak bet center i think what we're doing now is the tip of the iceberg. >> but there's still much to learn. back at this lab. they're studying rat brains to try and determine exactly what's happening to the neurons and synapses while they're stimulated with electricity. it's important research, but i would rather not wait for it. i want my venti voltage now. miles o'brien, the pbs "newshour," new york. >> woodruff: now, a time of pain but one shared openly with an unseen audience. gwen ifill recently recorded this interview. it's the latest from our "newshour bookshelf." >> ifill: you may recognize scott simon from his public voice, as host of npr's weekend edition saturday. but it is his private voice that brought him a different kind of attention, as he chronicled his mother's final days in an unusually public way, on twitter. his series of 140-character observances about the remarkable life and poignant death of patricia lyons simon newman captured the imagination, and led him to the book "unforgettable: a son, a mother and the lessons of a lifetime." scott joins me now. i want to ask you first to tell me about your mom, but first one good way to do it is to read one of the tweets that you wrote which actually first caught my eye when you were keeping her, keeping vigil with her in the hospital. >> in the intensive care unit. i got one of those orange camp maps at a sporting good store and laid that down next to the bed so that i could stay there obviously. i think this is the tweet you mean. "my mother and i just sang kay sir raw sir raw three times." god bless you, doris day for giving us sufficient a great theme song. >> ifill: i met your mother and she was larger than life. you were in an incredibly sad time, yet you and your mother were kind of going at this together kind of sharing memories, and getting to know each other again. >> yes. i mean, we knew each other pretty well but this was undoubtedly a whole different dimension. i think by the time we were sing ing that song together, we understood there was only going to be one end, and it was particularly an intense period which you can read in the book in which we were up with each other for 48 hours straight in which we recollected old family stories, got some revisions of old family stories got the chapter i was... the last chapter i was always missing from a few family stories and had a very good time with each other. i think my mother and i had always been able to have a good time with each other. but you know, over the years, lots of stuff intervened where you find yourself sometimes at cross-purposes, but this time, we were able to be with each other and concentrated on having a good time. >> and you have the gift of time. some people i know have written you and said, "i got there too late. we weren't there for the passing." >> we were astonishingly lucky. i don't shy away from using the term "blessed." i didn't know when i got to her bed side that it would turn into her deathbed. i hoped she would get better and we would face whatever it was together. but within a few days it was clear that there was not going to be the resolution that we wanted. and then we were able to just to be together. boy, i guess just about the greatest days of my life. >> you have to come up with a secret actually. i was a little surprised reading them that it seemed like maybe that was okay with her. but among the secrets, not a secret, because i just said her full name she had been married a few times. she had done a few things in life. read this next tweet where she talks about basically she talks acted what's going to happen to her. >> "i consider this a good sign. mother says when time comes headline should be "three jewish husbands but no guilt." my master's irish catholic. she happenedded to have three jewish husbands. >> ifill: but she also had guilt from the catholic-jewish side. >> you can machow that manifested itself in me. >> what does that say about your relationship with your fathers and step fares. >> i had a very good relationship with each of them. we always understood it was my mother who brought us together. my stepfather was a wonderful guy named ralph newman a lynn core scholar who got into some fairly famous legal trouble. my father died when i was 16. that was the most stable i think of my mother's life and in many ways the most stable relationship i had with a father figure. my father was a comedian and he was a wonderful rapturously funny man. his career was mostly on the down side by the time i ever came along. my mother had what she began the refer to as a sweet kind of kamikaze love with her. he had a drinking problem, as she wound up saying to me during those days in the problem, it's easy to fall in love with a drunk it's very hard to wake up with one the morning after. they had nine hard years together. and i think my mother was at the point of saying that maybe it was not a good idea for the two of them to get together, on the other hand, i can't argue with that. >> ifill: you're here. >> exactly. >> ifill: one of the interesting things about saying farewell the way you had the privilege with with your mother, everyone can do it your own way. in your case you mentioned humor and you mentioned singing and there was a better singing moment which you tweeted about which i loved. it was about the song was not doris day this time. >> "mother and i just finished a duet of "we'll meet again." every word has meaning. nurse looks in asks, "do you take requests." icus are grim places. there are the bleep the siren sounds, the ghastly noises the carts trembling up and dunn that make you think it's something from the middle ages where people are being asked to throw out the carcasses. and there we were, singing these songs, "we'll meet again is happy and bittersweet both at the same time." but i think at the point we began to sing it it's something without getting material that we devoutly believed. as i said to her my mother said to me at one point, babe, you and i can get through this. the hard part is going to be for you when it's over. and a couple hours later, the even harder part she said to me will this go on forever? she meant the pain and the dread? and i said, no. it won't go on forever. and she said but you and me, we'll go on forever right? and i said, yes and i believe that. >> ifill: i would say you wrote her great deathbed speech for her in "unforgettable: a son, a mother and the lessons of a lifetime." scott simon, thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: finally tonight, a remarkable voice, and even more remarkable life. jeffrey brown is back with the story, the last from his recent trip to the west african country of mali, and part of his ongoing series, culture at risk. ♪ ♪ >> brown: the song is titled "so long: the past." the singer on the edge of the river in mali is known as the golden voice of africa. ♪ ♪ one of the most famous musicians on the continent, a giant on the world music scene but it's easy to see what sets him apart here. he's an albino one who began life as a pariah but refused to be kept down. when you were young, you were outcast. >> yes. >> brown: but now you're perhaps the most famous person in mali. >> yes. if i was black, maybe i couldn't have this opportunity to be popular in the world. >> brown: he was born with the hereditary condition that depiefs a person's skin, hair and eyes of pigmentation. it left her nearly blind. he was ostracized by his village, even his own family as is common in africa. >> if your mother is blond your father is blond, you can be white. >> brown: with few opportunities, he turned to what he calls a god-given talent, music. >> music for me is my life. it's my freedom. my music give me a possibility to talk to people, to tell them what i want and what i feel. >> brown: he first broke through in the 1970s, performing what was known as afropop and the leader of one of mali's biggest bands. soon enough he was appearing internationally and has continued that for decades including in central park in 2010. he's been one of a remarkable group of musicians who have made mali renowned around the world bringing traditional african ritd ums and instruments into a contemporary context. among mali's biggest stars this singer. and a virtuoso of the harp-like instrument. we also met the master of an ancient string instrument. he's building a school here to help preserve his country's musical history. >> ( translated ): i've decided with my school to save african music, to save african instruments. it's important that african music always remain here because there will be a new generation that will help us keep the tradition. >> brown: we also met a singer from timbuktu. one of her causes, making life better for african women. >> ( translated ): a woman she can also be very strong. women can find their own place in the world. i can go to school properly, just like men. i can work like men. that's the message that i send in my songs. >> brown: like all these musicians, this man has lived through political turmoil in his country. he spent 15 years abroad in exile during a military dictatorship. today the father of several albino children, he devotes himself to this more personal cause of fighting discrimination. working through a fundation he set up to raise funds and awareness and by his own example. early in life he told us, he wanted to be a teacher. his condition made that impossible. now he can laugh at how his life has unfolded. >> pi was black, i would have the good eyesight and i would maybe be a teacher now for 40 people. but now i'm the teacher for millions of people. that's funny. >> brown: in the past, goes the song, people did not want to know. today he sings, they do. from mali, i'm jeffrey brown for the pbs "newshour." >> woodruff: finally, to our "newshour shares" of the day. something that caught our eye that might be of interest to you, too. our colleagues from wnyc public radio in new york have produced a series on what it's like to be 12-years old, nd captured some honest thoughts from more than 100 of them. here are a few: >> i'm confident in my style. i like know that somebody warned me about it. i'd be like you're just jealous because i have a unique like, style that you don't. >> if they have the guts to say something bad about you behind your back, they should have the guts to say it to your face. >> i think soccer balls are really cool. >> i read tiger beat about once a month. >> i miss being able to get away with things. >> sometimes i feel pressure to dress a certain way at school because everybody wears skinny jeans and stuff like that and i don't like jeans. >> i'm a lot taller than almost my whole class. i just keep growing. i have no idea when i'm going to stop, that's the scary part. >> i'm afraid of supernatural things like zombies and like the apocalypse. >> >> ifill: charming. >> woodruff: you can watch the entire "being 12" series at wnyc.org. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day: the u.s. announced the iran nuclear talks will extend past tonight's deadline, by at least a day. and indiana governor mike pence called for legislation to clarify that a new religious freedom law does not permit discrimination against gays. on the newshour online, author find that conversation on our home page, pbs.org/newshour. tune in later this evening. charlie rose has journalist steve coll and karim sadjapour of the carnegie endowment on the negotiations over iran's nuclear program. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. 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. >> 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 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 newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org this is "nightly busines report" with tyler mathisen sue herera. anything but dull. stocks close out the first three months of the year just about where they started, but the wild swings kept investors on edge and created some big losers and some big winners. priced out. frost is building in some houses. too optimistic is the market setting itself up for a big disappointment when the employment report comes out on friday? all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for tuesday, march 31st. >> good evening, everyone. volatile. that describes the first quarter and the final day of trading was no different. stocks which had been lower most of th

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