Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20160224

They dont belong to the division of special education. Ifill all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. 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. Ifill from president obama today, came a fresh appeal to close a chapter at guantanamo. From republicans, came an outright refusal. It all focused on a fight at least as long as hes been president. For many years, its been clear that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay does not advance our national security. It undermines it. Ifill for the president , it may be his final chance to keep a 2008 Campaign Promise shutting down the military prison at guantanamo. Its counterproductive to our fight against terrorists because they use it as propaganda in their efforts to recruit. It drains military resources, with nearly 450 million spent last year alone to keep it running, and more than 200 million in additional costs needed to keep it open Going Forward for less than 100 detainees. Ifill at its peak in 2003, guantanamo held 680 detainees. Today, 91 prisoners remain at the detention facility. 35 are expected to be transferred out by this summer. The president s new proposal would send the remaining detainees to an unspecified facility inside the United States. It speaks of 13 potential sites, including civilian prisons and military bases, but makes no recommendation. The notion of having terrorists held in the United States rather than some distant place can be scary. But part of my message to the American People here is were already holding a bunch of really dangerous terrorists here in the United States, because we threw the book at them. And there have been no incidents. Weve managed it just fine. Ifill thenpresident george w. Bush first ordered foreign terror suspects held at guantanamo, after 9 11. Guantanamo will be closed no later than one year from now. Ifill but, in one of his first acts as president , mr. Obama signed an executive order to shut it down. Today, he pointed out that early on, the decision appeared to have bipartisan backing. My predecessor, president bush, to his credit, said he wanted to close it. It was one of the few things that i and my republican opponent, senator john mccain, agreed on. Ifill but mccain and others have never backed this president s solution, and have even passed a law that would bar transferring moving detainees to american soil. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell underscored that point today. Well review president obamas plan. But since it includes bringing dangerous terrorists to facilities in u. S. Communities, he should know that the bipartisan will of congress has already been expressed against that proposal. Ifill president ial candidates also weighed in. Democratic senator Bernie Sanders welcomed the president s announcement. And Hillary Clinton, has said she too supports shutting the prison down. But republicans, including frontrunner donald trump, roundly rejected the plan. Heard obama talking about gitmo, which by the way were going to keep it open and fill it with bad dudes. Ifill the president said he is cleareyed about the tough odds he faces Getting Congress to agree with him. But the white house has not ruled out trying to close guantanamo through executive action. Ifill well hear from senators on both sides of the issue, after the news summary. In the days other news, Senate Republicans made it official there will be no hearings and no vote on anyone president obama nominates for the Supreme Court. Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell said nearly all of his members support that decision, and that he wont even agree to meet with a nominee. The announcement gave new life to the partisan war of words that has erupted over the future of the court. Its up to the American People in this next election, no matter who they choose to make the nomination for this important seat on the Supreme Court. Justice scalia served for 30 years. So this clearly extends far beyond president obamas term of office. Todays effort by senator mcconnell to get every member of the Judiciary Committee to sign a letter saying they wont do hearings is an effort to make this issue go away. It wont. The American People wont let it. We wont let it. Ifill president obama has said he still plans to nominate a replacement for the late justice antonin scalia, and hes urged the senate to act. Scalia died this month in texas, and the Associated Press reported today he had coronary artery disease, diabetes and other ailments. Texas officials relied on those findings, by the Supreme Courts physician, in deciding against an autopsy. There may be new evidence that the zika virus can be transmitted through sexual contact. The centers for Disease Control and prevention said today its investigating 14 possible cases in the u. S. All involve women whose male partners recently returned from places affected by zika. The virus has been linked to birth defects, and is typically spread by mosquitoes. The Syrian Government and its main Opposition Group signed on today to a proposed ceasefire, but with conditions. Damascus said it will continue attacking terror groups, and the rebels insisted on an end to sieges and bombardments. Meanwhile, at a senate hearing, secretary of state john kerry acknowledged skepticism that any truce will hold. But said this is the only viable, diplomatic option. It may be too late to keep it as a whole syria if we wait much longer. So thats what at issue here and im not going to vouch for this. Im not going to say this process is sure to work because i dont know. But i know that this is the best way to try to end the war and its the only alternative before us if indeed were going to have a political settlement. Ifill the u. S. And russia proposed the ceasefire. Kerry said the u. S. Is considering plan b options if it fails. The flood of migrants and refugees pouring out of syria and other countries and into europe has reached dramatic new levels. The International Organization for migration said today more than 110,000 people have landed in greece and italy since january 1. It took six months to reach that total last year. Top u. S. Military and diplomatic officials fired new criticism today at chinas actions in the south china sea. The commander of u. S. Forces in the pacific told senators that beijing is seeking hegemony over eastern asia. And he said newly installed missile batteries and Radar Systems on disputed islands pose a serious threat. In my opinion, china is clearly militarizing the south china sea, and youd have to believe in a flat earth to think otherwise. These are actions that are changing in my opinion the operational landscape in the south china sea. Ifill secretary of state kerry also complained of militarization by china. Later, he met with the visiting Chinese Foreign minister. The price of oil headed south again today, after gains in recent days, and wall street went down with it. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost nearly 190 points to close at 16,431. The nasdaq fell 67 points, and the s p 500 gave up 24. And, chocolate maker mars has issued a candy recall, after finding bits of plastic in a snickers bar in germany. The recall includes snickers as well as milky way and mars bars, among others. It covers 55 countries, including germany, but the company did not specify all of the other countries affected. Still to come on the newshour the future of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center. Nevada votes in the last g. O. P. Contest before supertuesday. Alarming, new predictions on rising sea levels, and much more. Ifill president obamas pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center faced immediate roadblocks on capitol hill today. For two views on that debate, we turn first to republican Senator Cory Gardner of colorado, one of the states where the administration has considered building a replacement prison. He joins us from capitol hill. Senator gardner, is the president s plan a nonstarter for you . Its not obstruction from the capitol hill the president is facing. Its own law he signed that hes facing, which states that no dollars shall be extended to assist in the transfer of guantanamo a gun detainees to gitmo to the United States. Ifill so your objection is not to the closure of guantanamo per se but the shifting of detainees somewhere else . I think there are two separate questions. I think Guantanamo Bay is a tailormade facility for terrorists and they should stay. I also think the law the president signed last year clearly states that the President Shall not spend money to assist in the transfer. So the very law he signed prohibits his actions of transfer. Ifill what changed in this debate for people who have been watching it between what president bush believed when he left office and what president obama is trying to do now . Well, i cant speak for anybody else, but i was in the state legislature in colorado, and i was concerned about terrorists being transferred then from Guantanamo Bay to colorado. I made it very clearly as a state legislator during the presidency of george w. Bush that there could be this transfer. So i have long held the view that we should keep the Guantanamo Bay terrorists in Guantanamo Bay and not in our backyards in colorado. Ifill lets talk about the price tag because taxpayers want to know about that. It costs about 445 million to keep Guantanamo Bay open to, maintain it. It would cost 475 million according to the price tag the president put out to build a new facility. Doesnt it make more sense fiscally to try to build something new . I think theres a lot of was this president could cut spending, and if the president wants the cut spending, we can start cutting billions of dollars across federal agencies in wasteful spending, but for this president to say hes going the hide behind fiscal responsibility, and thats what he wants to close Guantanamo Bay for, i think thats just a misnomer. I think hes trying to throw a red herring out there while hes fulfilling a cam plain page. Ifill what he said is a red herring is what you suggested before, that theres recidivism, that there is concern about security if you bring the remaining prisoners to our soil. What can you tell me about past evidence that this is true, that this exists . Well, i think there is evidence of people leaving Guantanamo Bay, going back on to the battlefield. There is a recidivist count that we have seen and its well documented. Ive also heard from Law Enforcement officials, though. Its not just me. Its not just the coloradans i interact with each ander and every day. Over 40 sheriffs in colorado have written a letter to the president of the United States saying dont bring these Guantanamo Bay detainees to colorado. Dont bring terrorists back to the state. I have heard from federal Law Enforcement in colorado who are very concerned about what impact this would have on local communities, and so its not justing . That a republican or democrat is saying. Its what were hearing from Law Enforcement. Its what were hearing from people at town meetings and in teletown halls. People are concerned about the impact this would have on their community and their safety. Ifill some of the president s defenders say he should use executive action to force this to happen, that its unconstitutional for congress to stop the president from deciding where our military assets should be deployed. What do you say to that . Again, i think congress has a right, as we did, passed a law. The president signed it, to state no money shall be expectedded. We have the power of the purse. This is something the president cannot overcome. If he tries to do it, this will end up in Court Spending millions of dollars that hes talking about saving now on a costly court battle because he wants to fulfill a campaign pledge. Look, the president didnt put forward a serious plan today. He put forward eight pages worth of a document. The iphone user agreement is longer than eight pages. The plan he put forward to close Guantanamo Bay is less detailed than an iphone user agreement. I think thats what the president is trying to do with more of a talkingpoint document than an actual plan. Ifill senator gardner, while i have you, let me ask you i have to ask my fiscally conservative republican friend, you really think its right to spend 5 million a year on each detainee so you can beat your chest and have bragging rights about how tough we are . Ifill is this a moral fight were witnessing or neither . I think what the president has said and i agree with, guantanamo has become a very negative symbol of the United States. You see over and over again in propaganda films being used by terrorists those depictions of the early detainees in their orange jumpsuits. That inflames many people. The president is trying to put an end to that problem and that issue, and hes trying to do it with the help of congress, but unfortunately the republicans dont want any part of it. Ifill what seems to inflame politicians domestically is the idea that the president is leaving open the possibility of using executive action to force this action. How do you argue that that is even necessary or constitutional . I wouldnt assume that. You know, i think thats taking it to an extreme by some. The president came through and said to congress, join me in doing this together. Weve seen the reaction from everybody involved. They dont want to join the president either to fill the Supreme Court nomination or to deal with guantanamo. Ifill if those folks are worthy of being off the island, why not release them. Because some of them are dangerous. About 35 of 91 the president believes can be safely transferred to another country, but some are too dangerous. They need to be tried. They need to be incarcerated. We need to keep our country safe. The president is not saying turn them all loose at all. Hes very care informal choosing those that could be a danger to the United States. Ifill is the president closing guantanamo, is that moving the problem elsewhere . If International Concerns about the treatment of these prisoners is the real one, why wouldnt those concerns continue to exist if this Supermax Prison was built in your home state, even though thats been ruled out apparently . Guantanamo is a symbol. And much as we may not like, that its being used against us. The president has said that over and over again. What he said is keep america safe. Detain these prisoners where they can be held safely, but dont continue to spend 5 million a year per prisoner to maintain guantanamo. Ifill i have to ask you what i ended with senator gardner, which is this decision by the Republican Leadership not to hold hearings, not to even hold meetings with anyone the president nominates. This has never happened before. Whats your reaction . There is no constitutional precedent for what the republicans announced today, not only did they say we wont consider the president s nominee, we wont have hearing, we wont have a vote, senator mcconnell, the republican leader, said i wont even meet with this nominee. Thats never happened before in history. The constitution which weve sworn to uphold is very clear when it comes to article 2, section 2. The President Shall appoint a nominee to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. And the senate shall by advice and consent vote on that nominee. Those are not vague words. Theyre words that impose a responsibility on the senate, which the republican leader is ignoring. Ifill and well be following that story very closely, of course. Senator dick durbin of illinois, thank you very much. Thank you, gwen. Ifill now to the campaign trail, where the men and woman who would be president are in the midst of a critical week. And as poltiical director Lisa Desjardins reports, theyve already embarked on the all important hunt for convention delegates. Reporter if anything, the war of words between ted cruz and donald trump has heated up ahead of tonights g. O. P. Caucuses in nevada. The charge from cruz today, in fernley, nevada that trump cant be trusted. Look, frankly i dont care what position donald decides to support today or tomorrow or the next day. They change every day. I dont care what they are. But pick one and defend it and dont pretend, whenever people point out what you said oh never mind. Reporter but in sparks, nevada today, the frontrunner kept up his attacks, that cruz is the dishonest one. Hes like a baby compared to some i have to deal with. He is like a little baby. Soft, weak, little baby, by comparison. But for lying, hes the best ive ever seen. Reporter beyond charge and countercharge, the fight increasingly has a new focus. The only race that matters the delegate count, where trump has a big lead. After the three contests so far, hes amassed 67 delegates, according to the Associated Press. Thats far shy of the 1,237 needed to win the nomination, but it puts him well ahead of his two closest rivals cruz, and florida senator marco rubio. Rubio, though, is now riding a wave of republican endorsements. And in his final pitch to nevadans today, he stressed his ability to unify the party, and the country. If you make me president of the United States, im not going to tell you that everyone is going to agree with me, that doesnt even exist in my home. I am telling you that i will never divide you against each other to win an election. Reporter as for the democrats, the name of their game is also the delegate count. After their first three races, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are just about even in delegates earned from votes, again according to a. P. Analysis. But add the superdelegates. Those are Democratic Party leaders who get an automatic convention vote. Theyve gone heavily to clinton so far, giving her a whopping delegate lead. Sanders is pressing ahead, with delegaterich super tuesday on the horizon. His first stop today one of the states that will vote on march 1 virginia. All over this country, including virginia, we are closing, closing, closing that gap. And with your help, we are going to win here in virginia. This is johnson controls. Reporter clinton, too, was looking toward the super tuesday states, making a splash on minnesotas airwaves. The target a Wisconsin Company she slams for moving profits out of the u. S. To dodge taxes. Its an outrage. When im president , when companies walk out on america, theyll pay a price. Reporter but first clinton and sanders make backtoback appearances tonight at a cnn town hall, before facing off in the South Carolina primary on saturday. Democrats head to the polls on saturday. Ifill stay with us, coming up on the newshour successes and hurdles in improving special education. How states are working to fight opioid abuse. And pushing boundaries through modern dance. But first, a trio of new studies provide new alarm about rising sea levels, and the prospect of further flooding along the coasts. Among them seas rose faster during the past century than at any point in the last 2,800 years. Hari sreenivasan is here with more on this story. Sreenivasan Scientists Say this is more definitive proof that human actions are contributing to Sea Level Rise. Already, coastal cities like charleston, South Carolina and miami, for example, are facing more flood days than in decades past. The Global Climate conversation is working toward keeping temperature rise limited to two degrees celsius, and even under that scenario as this animation shows, cities like washington, d. C. And its wellknown landmarks could look very different one day, albeit several hundred years in the future. One study estimated that sea rise could be as much as four feet higher by the end of this century under more dire scenarios. Benjamin strauss is with climate central, a Research Organization that worked on some of this. Benjamin, when you see your graphs at the very end, theres this almost hockey stick effect, what is it that caused that acceleration of Sea Level Rise . The sea level is extremely sensitive to global temperature, and by burning fossil fuels and putting carbon in the atmosphere, weve heated up the planet a great deal over the last century. Sreenivasan how do we know in these models, how do you build these models to figure out what Sea Level Rise was like going back 2,000 years. There wasnt somebody with a stick saying here it is at 2. 5 feet, here it is at 3. Thats true. There was a lot of detective work involved. Scientific teams around the world have been studying coastal marshes, looking for clues about where things grew at what times, and this body is special in that it went beyond each of the individual studies that weve seen in the past and integrated them all to put together one picture out of all of that detective work. Sreenivasan lets talk a little bit about impact. Take a city like charleston, a lowlying city that is already facing some of these floods. Whats it going to be like Going Forward say to the end of this century . Really the sharp increase in floods caused by us that weve seen over the last several decades is only just the beginning. Were a few inches into a problem thats going to be measured in feet this century. And im afraid to say we can expect floods and flooding to accelerate a great deal more, even in the next two or three decades than what weve already seen in the last two or three decades. Sreenivasan as we mention, the climate conferences that happen around the world, theyre trying to figure out this twodegree celsius target, but your forecasts and your predictions and your models are showing that even at two degrees celsius theres a tremendous amount of increase in Sea Level Rise and a lot of coastal cities are impacted by this. Yes. In the long run, two degrees celsius warming probably is not. A lot of todays coastal cities are probably not compatible with that, whether youre talking about miami or shanghai or london. But two degrees is a great deal better than our current path, so theres some solace in that and how quickly Sea Level Rises will play a large role in how well we can adapt. Id also say that if we can end up being more ambitious than two degrees celsius and cut warming down to 1. 5 degrees in the long run, the impact there would be about half of what we could expect from 2 degrees celsius, so that last half degree makes a big difference. Sreenivasan this conversation about two degrees or half degree here or half a degree there, often it gets meyered in politics and lifestyle changes. You start thinking globally in different countries. I mean, reading your data at some point is an incredibly sort of sad and dire prediction. Is there any way through this . Yeah. Well, it is sad, and its a difficult line of work in a way, but i take some solace. First of all, theres a lot we can do to adapt and to deal with change over time. And i take some solace in knowing all people are mortal. Right . We still live our lives. We still have meaningful lives. There are some places on our coasts now which we now know are especially mortal because of Sea Level Rise. It wont stop them from making contributions for the next decade or the next century, but over time were going to have to either build tall walls and live beneath, you know, in the bottom a very deep bowl, which is a frightening prospect, or were going to have the move. Sreenivasan already, ben strauss of climate central, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you. Ifill its been four decades since a groundbreaking law known as the individuals with disabilities education act i. D. E. A. Took effect. Today, it helps ensure that more than six Million Students with disabilities have the right to a free and appropriate public education. But in many places, its been a struggle getting schools to comply with the law, and nearly a hundred classactions have been filed. Special correspondent john tulenko, with our partners at education week, follows the impact of one such case in california. Thats part of our weekly tuesday night look at education, making the grade. Reporter los angeles, california is the nations second Largest School system. And like other big cities across the country its been the site of a pitched legal battle over special education. The story begins in the early 1990s with a student named chanda smith who was dyslexic and by high school could barely read. Its just like a bunch of words just scribbling on the paper. Just everything just scribbling or just, it was very overwhelming. My mom told the teachers and everything. But after the third grade i never got any help. Reporter now 39 and a mother of four, chanda continues to struggle with a learning disability. It affected me a lot. Its hard for me to get a job and im always having big worries because i have to take care of my family. And its kind of sad because, when i have to go up to my ten year old, can you read this for mommy . You know, i have a grandson now. I want to be able to read him a story. And thats something that i cant do. I feel like its been taken away from me. For what reason . So, you know, its really hard and emotional. Chanda was lost. They hadnt identified her. They didnt know where her records were. And so they werent providing adequate service to her. They were virtually providing no services to her. Reporter chandas story was a familiar one to david rostetter. Hes a courtappointed monitor charged with ensuring schools in los angeles, and elsewhere, comply with special education laws. Ive had a lot of superintendents around the country ill go to them and say, you know, this is really bad over here. I mean, this is a budding lawsuit and its patently illegal. And their answer will actually be, literally be, ill deal with it when we get sued about it. Thanks for your advice, dave. Reporter that was the case for chanda smith. Despite repeated requests for help, l. A. Unified did nothing until 1993 when chandas mother took action. And a single case of neglect turned into a classaction lawsuit that exposed a woefully broken system. Thousands of students were not identified or misidentified. Nearly one third of all special education teachers were unlicensed. And procedures for tracking student records were nonexistent. The lawsuit pushed los angeles into a Settlement Agreement imposing federal Court Oversight until the problems could be fixed. That was nearly 20 years ago. Good morning to you. Reporter today much has changed for the districts 80,000 students with special needs. Evaluations for services for example take less than 90 days. Most special education teachers are certified. Academic performance for students with disabilities has improved, and the Graduation Rate is up, although its still short of the rate for students with disabilities nationwide. The biggest change, to Sharyn Howell who directs special Education Services here, has been in peoples attitudes. I see a much different conversation than i used to see about our students. And it really is about people wanting them to perform academically and having expectations for them. What weve been working on for a number of years is to convince people that students with disabilities are all of our responsibility. They dont belong to the division of special education. Reporter most simply need extra help and are already in regular classrooms. Those with greater needs are just beginning to make the transition. In the last three years, the districts been moving these students from 18 special Education Centers into neighborhood schools like grandview elementary. What used to be two separate communities, now weve become one community, an integrated community. Reporter principal Alfredo Ortiz has managed an influx of new students from the school next door. We have mcbride, which is a special education center. Reporter mcbride was one of the schools exclusively for students with disabilities. It was separated by a chain link fence. And as you can tell, the fence has come down. So now were one campus. Reporter 89 students from mcbride and other schools moved into grandview increasing its special education population by about 50 . Most of the new students spend the majority of their day in classes like maria venturas. She teaches eight students on the autism spectrum. To help develop their social skills, every morning she invites kindergartners to her classroom for a shared lesson. This is circle time. As a Kindergarten Teacher i used to do that. And so when becoming a special ed, i collaborated with another kinder teacher and said, you know what, bring me your kids so that my kids can use them as a model. Now you cant even tell the difference between my kids and the gen ed kids because theyve learned by watching their peers, oh this is how i need to sit in a class. Reporter looking around the room i noticed nearly half the students with autism werent participating. Youre bringing them together but maybe theyre still staying apart. Well, i cant force it on them. Its basically their demeanor and how they do it. For example, sean and austin and marigold theyre much more open to change. Depending on davids temperament if hes not having a good day, i dont want to force it. We slowly bring them in when theyre ready. If we rush them then it actually goes against what were trying to do. We wanted to make a good experience for them. Reporter so it takes time. Exactly it does take time. Reporter however grandviews elective classes are fully integrated including physical education, gardening and cooking. All this has been a huge transition for teachers. To meet everyones need you know is, its a lot of work, but we have a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a speech therapist. And i work with the resource teacher to meet their needs. Reporter but it seemed some teachers were having to spend most of their time focusing on the students with disabilities. Yeah, there are kids who demand extraordinary instructional time. And one of the problems that l. A. Is experiencing is a lot of these regular education teachers and special education teachers are just learning how you do integration. Reporter its still a work in progress, but principal ortiz says hes seeing the benefits. Its amazing how the kids, their interactions have evolved. If a child needs help, we have gen ed kids that say, hey ill take you, ill go with you. Its creating leadership. Go arlene reporter seeing all these children playing together was undeniably unique. Ive never seen anything like that. That is a fundamental statement. You never saw anything like that because you didnt grow up and go to a school where that occurred. Socially, people with disabilities, particularly people with physical disabilities have been erased from our environment. The more we get together. And so now these kids are gonna grow up with each other. And theyre gonna make friends with each other. And hopefully well end up with a group of kids as they go into middle school and high school expect to be with each other. The happier well be. Reporter but not everyones happy with the changes. Brandon, can tell me whether you understand me . Brandon buschini is one of the few students still attending dedicated special Education Centers. His mother is fighting any plans to move him. The district tells parents that this is still a gift for their child and that they should be included, and that socializing them is important. And they really hang their hat on that versus educating them and providing what they really need. Reporter in our next report, fears about including students with the greatest needs and the Unfinished Business of fixing special education in los angeles. Ifill now to the problem of opioid abuse and propopsals by governors to tackle it. Judy woodruff has the story. Woodruff the dimension of the problem is becoming ever larger. The federal government reported that opioid, which includes prescription painkillers and heroin, were involved in more than 28,000 deaths in the u. S. In 2014. This past week leading voices at the National Governors association called for new limits for some painkillers like oxycontin, and for greater drug monitoring of those prescription drugs. The epidemic has hit a number of states very hard, including massachusetts, where more than 1,200 people died of opiate overdoses in 2014. Governor Charlie Baker has proposed legislation that would limit practitioners from prescribing more than three days worth of opiates to patients when theyre using them for the first time. Governor baker is the head of the Health Committee for the Governors Association, and he joins me now. Thank you for being here. How did this get to be such a high priority for you, governor baker . Well, when i was campaigning for governor in 2014, i literally couldnt go anywhere without somebody having a story to tell me about this, and all the stories were for the most part stories that ended tragically in the death of a Family Member or close friend or a coworker. You hear this enough over and over and over again, and you start to realize its everywhere. And when i took office, i talked about this in my inaugural address and said, you know, we have more people dying of opioid overdoses in massachusetts then Car Accidents and gunshots combined. Four people a day. There has to be a better way here. Woodruff you propose a number of things to do about this in your state and through the Governors Association. A big part of that is limiting to three days a prescription. How did you decide on three days versus two days or four days or more . Well, first of all, the overall proposal, and we have a good working relationship with our legislature on this. Theyve already done two separate bills on this and i believe theyll this a third, but its a prevention and education piece, an intervention piece and a recovery piece. You got to do all of them. But on the prevention and education piece, we picked three days for the first prescriptions, sort of acute pain. You have a wisdom tooth out, you break a finger, Something Like that. Our approach to this was to take the c. D. C. Preliminary recommendation, which was three days. Now, the Mass Medical Society after we proposed three days proposed seven. Woodruff this is your state society. Correct. That sevenday proposal ended up in the house version of the bill. Theyre now conferencing the two of them, but my gus is well end up with a limit on first prescriptions, which i think is a good thing. Woodruff i saw the national organization, the american medical association, i read their statement today. Theyre saying its arbitrary and surrounding circumstances are clinically vague. They say, how do you define major surgery . In other words, theyre raising some questions about the three days. Well, i think whether its the c. D. C. Three days or the seven days Mass Medical Society, my view is we need to separate acute pain from chronic pain. Theres no reason to give somebody who has their wisdom teeth out 30 pills. Theres no reason to give somebody who has a minor procedure 60 pills. The stories about this that i heard still as i travel around the commonwealth are overwhelming. Its like an avalanche. Remember, 5 of the worlds population, the u. S. , we consume 80 of the worlds opioids. Theres something inherently not right about that. Woodruff what are you hearing back right now from the pharmaceutical industry and from the medical immunity . Well, the interesting thing is most of the practicing do cs i talk to, and i talk to a lot of them, tell me they believe having some limit on first prescriptions is a good idea. The dentist i know feel the same way. And, in fact, we got the medical schools in massachusetts and the dental schools to incorporate for the first time a core requirement for graduation you have to pass a class in Pain Management and addiction, which has never been true before. Theres a lot of interest in this issue and a lot of belief that something needs to be done on the part of the health care community. Woodruff i saw that president obama, that the white house said the president had declined to endorse the Governors Association proposal. He said words to the effect, limiting prescriptions should be part of a comprehensive approach. Sometimes painkillers are sometimes he said the only realistic treatment option for people in rural communities. What about that . Well, i think his overarching measure of it being part of a comprehensive plan is correct. Ours is prevention, education, intervention, treatment and recovery. I think you got the play with all those. He also said at this meeting, and i thought this was an interesting perspective, as well. He said states are many times the laboratories of democracy. You folks should try a variety of different solutions, and if you come up with something that ends up becoming kind of the standard around the country and a whole bunch of states, then we the federal government might choose to just follow you, which i think is fine. Woodruff you mentioned other legs to this dual. What about the provisions to educate and train doctors, physicians differently . I think thats a big part of it. I hear from doctors all the time who tell me that they dont necessarily feel theyve had the training that they should have on this. And most, you know, the three biggest prescribing groups currently can graduate from medical School Without ever taking a course in Pain Management. There is no requirement that you take a course in Pain Management as an inservice part of your continuing education as a physician. Were trying the change that in massachusetts. I mean, this is a very complicated issue. I get that. But i think the more we can do to create an opportunity for both existing soontobe doctors and dentists and nurses and physician assistants and current ones to get smarter about this, we should take. Woodruff what about the other part of the argument, governor baker, that so much of narcotic abuse, opiate abuse is on the part of people who are just stealing drugs, who just are addicts and they didnt get into it because of a bad prescription, but they have fallen into it and there need to be other methods to get to them . I certainly think treatment and recovery are a big part of. This we need to treat this as a Public Health issue. And in many cases for the disease that it is. There are a whole series of elements in what were doing already in massachusetts and what were proposing to do Going Forward that factor into that, as well. Were also working with a bunch of local pharmacies to make sure that they have drop boxes and where people can take unused medicine back and deposit it safely. Theres no Silver Bullet to this, but i also believe that we will never change this 25 per year increase in deaths, prescriptions and overdoses unless we do some things to disrupt this trend line. And i think you got to bring every tool to the table here, prevention, education, treatment, recovery and intervention. And if youre not willing to chase all this stuff in a pretty serious way, its probably not going to get any better. So im not going to consider success to be taking the increase of deaths from 25 to 20 . I want the take that number and flatten the number out and start the drive it in the opposite direction. Too many people are losing too many people. Woodruff Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, we thank you. Thank you. Ifill tune in later tonight for frontlines twohour documentary chasing heroin. It paints a larger picture of opiod abuse, from pharmaceutical Companies Push to popularize painkillers, to personal stories of heroin addiction. Check your local listings for the time. Ifill finally tonight, a Dance Company steeped in tradition takes bold new steps, and finds direction under a new leader. Jeffrey brown has our look. Brown revelations, a dance set to gospel songs and spirituals over five decades its become an american classic. And still the showpiece of the renowned alvin ailey American Dance theater. Its opened the eyes and minds of many, including in the 1980s, a teenager living in one of miamis poorest neighborhoods. I saw myself. I saw possibility. Brown years later, Robert Battle heads the company that helped change his own life. How did you see your task when you took over the company . Wow, thats just to survive brown first, survive. First survive. Brown battle is just the third leader of a company that was founded by alvin ailey in 1958 as a troupe celebrating africanamerican culture. And then led to even greater International Heights by judith jamison, a renowned dancer in the company who was tapped by ailey to take over. Five years ago, jamison picked battle to replace her. I think she chose me because i think she thought that this was right for the company, that i would sort of push the boundaries of what people thought was possible. Brown in his prominent new role, battle has opened up about his own boundarypushing, including in a new Childrens Book he barely knew his birth mother, was taken in by an uncle and aunt and raised by a cousin. He was severely bowlegged as a child and wore metal knee braces until he was six. Bullied in his dangerous liberty city neighborhood, he turned to martial arts for confidence. And then, and forevermore, to the arts music and then dance. I think young people see people in certain successful positions, and they thing i dont have the tools for that. and what im saying is, you do have the tools for that. Brown what made you think you did . When you look back at that young child you were . I dont know. I always felt that i was guided. I always felt this sort of maybe, some people would call it this third eye. I always felt that the sense that i was looking down over myself within the context of the rest of the world. And so i had this sense that i was supposed to do something. I remember that early on, from growing up in church, watching the preacher preach. And something about that, and watching the rest of the congregation respond and be uplifted. I wanted to do Something Like that. In fact, i used to imitate the preacher. I put on my bathrobe at home. My great uncle would always tape the services. And i would learn the sermon. Really . Leading the congregation, but also the performative side to that as well clearly attracted you. Yeah. And whats interesting, the flip side, i was painfully shy, i didnt like school because i didnt like being sort of an extrovert, but when i took on these sort of roles i could be bold. Brown im thinking of the child wearing the leg braces, right, to straighten your legs, and then dance. Yes. Brown take the braces off and start going. Yeah, yeah, its not enough to walk, you have to run, leap even, you know. Often when young people say to me, you know, i want to be a dancer, i want to be like that, i say, well, start where you are, start exactly where you are, if you want to be a dancer consider yourself a dancer, and move from that space, your imagination costs you nothing, but can cost you everything if you dont use it. Brown fast forward the problem is how to leap into the future while holding onto the past. Battle is doing this by bringing new dances to the company from a varied group of choreographers, including recently at washingtons kennedy center, ronald browns open door, a vibrant latinjazz romp. And a very different dance choreographed by battle himself, titled no longer silent, set to the music of erwin schulhoff, a german composer who was silenced and then killed by the nazis. Sometimes i feel a little bit of guilt when i go to take my seat in the back of the theater to watch the audience consumer this work. Brown guilt . Yeah, because i dont want to bring them down, you know. Brown are you also a little afraid of how theyre going to accept it . Yes. And im very sensitive to that. I see everything when im sitting in the back of the house. I can see if somebodys looking down at their phone, or somebodys tilting their head not in a way of interest, but in a way of saying, whats going on up there . brown you really sit back there and watch for this . I try not to. But i cant help it. Brown but this goes back to what we were talking about earlier, where youve got an audience, youve got a tradition, right . Yes, definitely. Definitely. And i have to make my own statement about how i see the world. I have to. In some ways id rather be silent. When i was a kid, i had a high speaking voice. And so every time i said anything people would laugh, the other students. He talks like a girl, you know. So i didnt want to talk in front of people. Im still that person. But what i know is it is necessary. That im here for a reason, to tell stories that celebrate our common humanity. Brown Robert Battle says his newest dance, the first hes choreographed since taking over the company, reflects part of his own story. He calls it awakening. The alvin ailey American Dance theater is now in the midst of a 20 city north american tour, through may. For the pbs newshour, im jeffrey brown. Ifill you can hear more from Robert Battle about the connection between dance, history and contemporary social issues, thats on the artbeat page of our website, pbs. Org newshour. Ifill on the newshour online, our jobs guru follows up on a column he wrote about employers rescinding job offers. It led one reader to ask is it ever advisable to quit without giving notice . Read this weeks ask the headhunter for everything you should consider when leaving your job. Thats on our homepage, pbs. Org newshour. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im gwen ifill, join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us 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 financial future. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. Carnegie corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. 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 Mathisen and sue herera. No time in wasting our time seeking reduction cuts. They will not happen. With those words from one of the most powerful players in the oil industry, prices fell taking stocks down along with them. Back in the game, first time home buyers are starting to enter the Housing Market but some have to jump through hoops to get there. Revving up. Are you driving one of the best cars on the market . The results of the one of the most anticipated studies. Tonight on shnightly Business Report for tuesday, february 3 23rd. It took a few