tonight's 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: once again, a major european capital has been shut down by terror. today's bombings in brussels left at least 31 people dead. more than 180 were wounded, including an undetermined number of americans. the attacks paralyzed the city for most of the day, and triggered an all-out manhunt. thick smoke and screams of panic, captured by a cell-phone, moments after double explosions rocked the belgian capital's airport. suitcases stood abandoned as would-be passengers scrambled over collapsed ceilings and shattered windows. >> i hear an explosion and all the ceilings is going down and then the second explosion went and then everything is black. and i see, when i go out i see a lot of people with blood. >> ( translated ): i tried to flee towards the arrivals and we couldn't get there, and there was glass everywhere, crash crash, crash everywhere. it was a total confusion, it was truly hell. >> ifill: belgian prosecutors say it was the work of two suicide bombers, attacking just seconds apart, during the morning rush. they said a third suspect escaped. passengers and employees alike streamed out of the smoldering entrance, while hundreds of others were evacuated to the tarmac. then, about an hour later, another blast: this time on a subway train as it left a station near the european union's headquarters. footage posted to social media showed passengers evacuating one car as emergency personnel treated the wounded. >> ( translated ): these are war injuries. i have more than 40 years of experience on the job so i have seen a lot of things. i think this is the worst thing i've ever seen in my career. >> ifill: the twin attacks, claimed by the islamic state group, sent belgium's terror alert to the highest level and put the entire city under lockdown for hours. police found a third bomb at the airport and disposed of it. flights and train service were canceled or diverted, and people were ordered to remain in place. >> ( translated ): ladies and gentlemen, what we feared has happened. our country and our citizens have been hit by blind, violent and coward attacks. we are confronted with a challenge, a difficult challenge and we must face it by standing united, showing solidarity and staying together. >> ifill: the attacks in brussels came four days after the arrest there of salah abdeslam, the top suspect in november's terror attacks in paris that left 130 dead. and, they cast new doubts on belgian intelligence-gathering and security. the newshour's chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner spoke with the belgian ambassador to the united states, in washington today... >> some indications pointed to the fact that something may happen. the security levels were heightened. the presence of security people, including military quite visible, had been enhanced. and still it happened, so the answer to your question is, it can happen even when you take all security preparedness. >> ifill: world leaders, including president obama, pledged solidarity with the belgians. he learned of the attacks on the second day of his visit to cuba. >> we will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible and this is yet another reminder that the world must unite, we must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith, in fighting against the scourge of terrorism. >> ifill: and in paris, president francois hollande urged leaders everywhere to recognize the danger. >> ( translated ): terrorism hit belgium, but europe was targeted, and the whole world is concerned. but we are facing a global threat, which demands a global response. >> ifill: the immediate response, in britain, france, germany and elsewhere, was to bolster security at airports, train stations and border crossings. in the u.s., similar measures were taken in major urban areas, including washington and new york. >> let me say at the outset there is no specific and credible threat against new york city at this time, but we are in a high state of vigilance and readiness. >> ifill: the brussels airport, meanwhile, will stay closed at least through wednesday. later, president obama ordered u.s. flags lowered to half staff at government buildings. and the department of homeland security said it has no credible intelligence of any threat to the united states. we'll return to the brussels attacks after the news summary. >> woodruff: the bombings dominated much of the day for the u.s. presidential candidates. republican front-runner donald trump suggested using torture to disrupt future attacks. he told nbc: "if they can expand the laws, i would do a lot more than waterboarding. you have to get the information from these people. trump's rival, ted cruz, went further, calling for police surveillance of muslim neighborhoods. >> it's standard good policing to direct your resources to where the threat is coming from. we should to the same thing are radical islamic terrorism. we need to work proactively with the muslim community like when law enforcement is going after gang activity, you work where the gangs are located. >> woodruff: in turn, democrat hillary clinton called for policies that are, "consistent with our values." and, she told nbc: "it's unrealistic to say we're going to completely shut down our borders to everyone." fellow democrat bernie sanders appealed for international solidarity, as did republican john kasich. both parties hold nominating primaries today in arizona and utah. democrats also hold caucuses in idaho. >> ifill: a planned courtroom battle between apple and the fbi never happened today. instead, federal prosecutors said they may not need apple to unlock the iphone used by the mass shooters in san bernardino. they say an "outside party" came forward over the weekend and showed the fbi how to access data on the encrypted phone after all. >> woodruff: the new nato and u.s. commander in afghanistan apologized today, for the american bombing of a hospital last year. general john nicholson traveled to kunduz and met with victims' relatives and staff at the now- closed hospital. the october strike killed 42 people and wounded dozens more. a u.s. investigation found it was, "tragic and avoidable," and more than a dozen military personnel were punished. >> ifill: in indonesia, thousands of taxi drivers protested in jakarta, demanding a ban on uber and other ride-hailing apps. the demonstration wreaked traffic chaos in the city's already-congested streets. cabbies carried banners denouncing the competition as illegal, and even assaulted some motorbike drivers working for the apps. >> ( translated ): close uber and grabcar please, because we're suffering losses now. the government said the apps will encourage young people to use public transport. but since grabcar and uber came into the market, we've been having a hard time earning a living. >> ifill: today marked the second such protest by taxi drivers in jakarta this month. >> woodruff: the former mayor of toronto, canada, rob ford, died today, after a career marred by drinking and drug problems. ford was elected in 2010, but a series of scandals erupted, and he ultimately admitted using crack cocaine. he dropped a re-election bid after being diagnosed with a rare cancer, but later won a city council seat. rob ford was 46 years old. >> ifill: in economic news, wall street struggled to gain traction after the brussels attacks hurt airline and travel company stocks. the dow jones industrial average lost 41 points to close at 17,582. the nasdaq rose 12 points, and the s&p 500 slipped about two. >> woodruff: and, about 30 of the real-life "rosie the riveters" were honored in washington today, for building planes and doing other vital jobs during world war ii. the women, many in their 80's and 90's, took a special flight from detroit. they wore red and white polka dot headscarves, mimicking the image in the famous "we can do it" poster. later, they visited the u.s. capitol and the world war ii memorial. it was all part of "women's history month." >> ifill: still to come on the newshour: what the brussels attacks mean in the global fight against terror. president obama pressures cuba on human rights. the difficulties of educating children in foster care, and much more. >> woodruff: now, back to the attacks in brussels and the latest on the investigation into whom was behind them. we turn to peter spiegel, brussels bureau chief for the financial times. welcome to you, peter spiegel. so what is the very latest that's known about figuring out who was behind this? >> well, this evening, the brussels authority put out a photo of three men carrying luggage carts just before the explosion and identified them as they think the perpetrators, two the actual bombers and the third on the loose. they have been razed in the scar brook neighborhood just north of here and found more evidence i.s.i.s. was entrenched. found bomb materials, chemicals, i.s.i.s. flag, other paraphernalia. they are trying to figure out how broad and deep the network was. it's suspected it was linked to person in the opening piece, seems to be a connection from the paris attacks. they think these terrorists moved up their attack because they believed they had been ratted out. they're trying to find out how much that cell is implanted here in plus also. other than that, the claim of credit that i.s.i.s. put out over their internet sites, we don't have a huge amount of information now about who these guys are, where they are based. the police pled for information for the one person they think is on the run. yet again, catching authorities by surprise and they don't have a huge amount of ideas now about who these guys are. >> woodruff: brussels was on high alert after the arrest of the paris suspect mr. abdeslam last week and had been on alert since the paris attack. a number of experts today were saying why wasn't brussels better prepared. >> the belgian authorities have come under a lot of pressure and attack even back from the paris attacks. the paris attacks were largely organized in the molenbeek neighborhood not far from here. so there has been belgian bashing. but the jihadis had come from brussels and other parts of bell yum. bell yum has the largest percentage of fighters that have gone to fight for i.s.i.s. and a thought they use brussels as an organizing place. they don't think they're any worse they any other european cities that have large, radicalized populations, but what is true, up until 18 months ago, belgian did not invest in military assets needed to encounter these kind of radical groups. after charlie h "charlie hebdo"s like that, the new belgian government ramped up the amount of money they're puttin puttingo their intelligence and security services but the question is whether too little too late. they had to ramp up sotquickly to gate handle on in thing, this could be a lapse in inability because they are so behind the curve right now. >> woodruff: what is the security situation now? are they expected more attacks? >> well, we're back on level 4, which is the terror alert for eminent attack. literally a few hours ago, they told us we could leave our buildings and parents were able to pick their kids up from school. so we're not on lockdown like the paris attacks where belgian authorities said they had to be locked down for a week. but there is nervousness that because they do have the suspects in detention, that suspects particularly abdeslam have knowledge about the cells that are operating in europe, some some of these other cells will come out and act now for fear of being turned up and arrested in the days dom. >> woodruff: peter spiegel who was the brussels bureau chief for the financial times, we thank you. >> ifill: for more on the threat of terrorism in europe and beyond, i'm joined by rick nelson of cross match technologies. he's a former naval officer who served at the national security council and the national counter terrorism center. and lorenzo vidino, director of the program on extremism at the center for cyber and homeland security at george washington university. he is an expert on radicalization and terrorism in europe and has advised u.s. and european law makers. lorenzo vidino, based on everything that we've just heard from the reporter in brussels, peter spiegel, are we now engaged and truly a global -- in truly a global war now? >> i think it's undeniable that i.s.i.s. has inspired individuals worldwide to carry out attacks and i think what we're seeing now is what i.s.i.s. is directing, kind of the novelty of the paris attacks and part of the brussels attacks today is directly engaged in attacking nort north africa, mie east and the west. so we have more organized clusters of networks that have received training in syria and iraq and received the order to mobilize and carry out the attacks so they are more sophisticated than the individuals just inspired by i.s.i.s. ideology, like the san bernardino shooters in the united states. there is a different degree of sophistication when you receive training and experience in the battlefield with radicalization that i.s.i.s. provides to individuals throughout europe. >> ifill: are you persuaded this is connected to the paris attacks, rick nelson? >> i am indeed persuaded. i.s.i.s. has been building networks in europe for close to three years now and no doubt in my mind there are significant networks throughout europe, leveraging belgium and brussels in particular, and we saw that in france, we saw that today in belgium, and unfortunately i think there will be more attacks on the horizon connected to these cells. >> ifill: staying with you, rick nelson, why belgium? >> well, belgium has a number of issues it faces. it is a microcosm for the larger issues facing europe. first and foremost, europe in general, belgium specifically, has not done a good job of integrating many of these muslim communities into their larger society. a lot of these larger communities are in enclaves and urban environments. there is not a lot of hope for jobs, not a lot of hope to get out of these environments, and that puts in place a sense of disenfranchisement, marginalization, and other terrorist groups are effective at capitalizing on the marginalization and getting the individuals to join their cause and take an act of violence that gives them a larger sense of meaning and perhaps a pathway out of the situation they find themselves in. >> ifill: to del gum authorities have any kind of hold on this, lorenzo vidino? how do you monitor suspicions? are there resources to follow up on every threat? >> no, it's a general problem throughout europe and acute in belgium that have to do with issues like lack of investment. a lot of different forces don't talk to one another, they are severely understaffed. add to that the fact belgium provides an incredibly large disproportionate number of foreign fighters so they're stretched extremely thin. it's a problem throughout europe but particularly acute in belgium and investments have been made but too little, too late. >> ifill: rick nelson, how should other countries be responding if this is indeed now a global threat? >> one of the things this is going to force in the european union and beyond is the fact these nation are going to have to share information more readily than in the past. there has been some hesitation in countries to share intelligence information throughout the e.u. france started the dialogue, belgiumer to reiterate this. the european nations will have to share information and intelligence to be successful against the threats. the threats are basic, rudimentary, even though command and control may be sophisticated, they're going to be difficult to identify in advance unless there is very credible intelligence and the countries will have to work together to build that incredible intelligence to thwart th the attacks. >> ifill: it seems incredible there wouldn't be improved intelligence sharing at this stage. >> it is better in the last few years because of more coordination. the reality is there is talk of creating a european f.b.i., a law enforcement intelligence agency that supervisors this. there is europol, but that doesn't have the same capabilities that a real transnational, pan-european law enforcement agency would have. it facilitates the passage of information but doesn't have arresting powers. 99%, i would say, of the counterterrorism capability rests with the individual countries. and you have those petty jealousies, political issues, divides that create a lot of problems. terrorists don't know borders, they go from one european country to the other. law enforcement and intelligence are very much stuck within their own borders. >> ifill: when we talked about battling i.s.i.s., it's seemed territorial. putting boots on the ground, saving raqqa, making it a syrian-based war, are we going to have to expand our thinking of how to battle i.s.i.s.? >> well, absolutely. you know, what we've seen with most terrorist groups and at least in the last 15 years that, you know, the idea of having a safe haven or a piece of terrorist territory from which to operate is critical to these organizations, and what has made -- one of the things that has made i.s.i.s. so successful is they do have a piece of territory in syria and iraq where they have the ability to plan, the ability to communicate, the ability to train. they've got a safe haven in that area of the world where they can train these fighters, send them back, they can communicate relatively freely and, as long as they have the area to operate freely and to plan and conduct these types of attacks, you will see these cells continue to grow and continue to be a problem for not only europe but the united states. >> ifill: as long as there is a civil war that shows no signs of abasing in europe, there any way to get to the root of this? >> as long as there is a base in iraq and particularly syria, there's no end in sight, the problem will be there. it's more acute because i.s.i.s. is developing secondary bases. libya is particularly interesting. we see a minor flow of foreign fighters no longer going to syria and iraq but libya which is obviously closer to europe and i think that's also very problematic. >> ifill: is it fair to say belgium, france, the united states should be bracing for more attacks? >> i think particularly in europe that's a very likely scenario. i think the united states face as minor threat, a smaller threat as compared to europe. we do not see the same level of sophistication we see in individuals that are linked to i.s.i.s. from an ideological point of view. very few with operational ties do exist here, but the size, the magnitude of threat in europe is much bigger. >> ifill: lorenzo vidino of george washington university and rick nelson of cross match technologies, thank you both very much. >> pleasure. thank you. >> woodruff: we earlier heard from president obama in cuba, who spoke of the brussels attacks. he had additional business to do in havana today, including a major address to the cuban people. john yang reports. >> creo en el pueblo cubano. i believe in the cuban people. >> reporter: in the final speech of his historic visit, president obama laid out a future of possibilities, but no guarantees. >> i have come here to bury the last remnant of the cold war in the americas. i want the cuban people, especially the young people to understand why i believe that you should look to the future with hope. not the false promise that insists things are better than they really are. or the blind optimism that says all you problems can go away tomorrow. >> reporter: with state tv beaming the speech into cuban households, mr. obama talked of freedom. >> let me tell you what i believe. i can't force you to agree, but you should know what i think. i believe every person i believe citizens should be free to speak their mind without fear. to organize and to criticize their government and to protest peacefully and that the rule of law should not include arbitrary detentions of people who exercise those rights. >> reporter: yesterday, the communist island's state-run media ignored cuban president raul castro's tense exchange with american reporters on political prisoners. but today, with all of cuba watching, mr. obama directly addressed castro, who looked on from a balcony. >> and given your commitment to cuba's sovereignty and self- determination, i am also confident that you need not fear the different voices of the cuban people and their capacity to speak and assemble and vote for their leaders. >> reporter: mr. obama went on to urge the castro government to improve commercial ties. at the same time, he repeated his own commitment to lift the u.s. trade embargo. >> it is an outdated burden on the cuban people. it's a burden on the americans who want to work and do business or invest here in cuba. it's time to lift the embargo. >> reporter: this isn't the first time the president's made that pledge, and he took nearly 40 members of congress along to reinforce the message. but here in washington, the odds of getting lawmakers to approve a total repeal of the embargo remain slim. there are still major roadblocks, due mainly to cuba's human rights record. house speaker paul ryan reinforced that point today at a briefing. >> and the president takes a trip to cuba where he effectively gets nothing in return, and he legitimizes a tyrannical dictatorship. the irony was not lost on me. >> all the individuals around this table have shown extraordinary courage. >> reporter: after his speech in havana, mr. obama met with cuban dissidents at the u.s. embassy. he praised their courage and said america's own history is proof of how change can come. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> ifill: stay with us, for a look at the first baseball game between cuba and an american major league team in nearly 20 years. plus, refugees in limbo as a new deal promises to send them back turkey. and, preparing for what some say is the inevitable-- a tsunami on the west coast. but first, they are among the most difficult populations to educate. when compared to their peers, children living in foster care are far more likely to be suspended or expelled from school, and end up incarcerated or homeless later in life. but in pittsburgh, the city's child welfare system has tried an innovative approach that could become a model for others. the newshour's april brown has the first of two stories, part of our american graduate series, a public media initiative funded by the corporation for public broadcasting, and the latest installment in our weekly series, "making the grade." >> reporter: at only 19 years- old, lafayette goode has already faced a lifetime of challenges growing up in a rough section of pittsburgh. >> i got kicked out of my house at 13 because i was being a that was the hardest thing i ever had to deal with because i couldn't believe my mom was really trying to kick me out at this age like i'm so young. where am i going to go? >> reporter: where lafayette went was into allegheny county's child welfare system. as a foster youth he was hardly alone: >> there are about 400,000 children in foster care nationally. >> reporter: david sanders is a vice-president at casey family programs, an organization that works to improve foster care across the nation. >> you walk in a social worker to a child's home, it might be the very last time that that child ever sees their bedroom. >> i think often times we forget that to get into foster care they were abused or neglected probably to a level that is quite significant to actually be moved from their families and >> reporter: the educational statistics for youth in foster care have been consistently grim. multi-state studies have found that just 50% finish high school. of that group, only 20% go on to college, and fewer than one in ten of those students actually earn a bachelor's degree. for all his early challenges, lafayette goode is now on a positive path. he graduated high school on time, and is starting a trade school program this month. how he beat the odds is a testament to a network of support systems put in place by marc cherna, who was hired 20 years ago to take over the county's child welfare system. >> it was a system that was out of control. it had quite a few child deaths, it had caseloads that were expanding every month. very few if any systems were in place. and we were vilified by the community. >> reporter: cherna began his reform effort by asking the community questions. >> the worst thing you can do is come into a place and say i've got all the answers. >> reporter: it's a tradition that continues today both in large groups. and in smaller ones. we joined cherna recently at ritter's, a local diner that's like his second office, because he has regular breakfast meetings here about the reform efforts. since coming to pittsburgh, cherna has helped dramatically reduce caseloads, and pushed for more supports to allow children in the system to stay with family members. >> kids do better in their own homes whenever possible and the >> we saw it was the highest correlation for really low grades and attendance as the more they moved the worst things are. just something as simple as that you know identifying that and then doing intervention that really can make a difference for kids. >> reporter: cherna's office also started collecting data, loads of it, including data from the pittsburgh public school district which revealed fewer than one third of kids in foster care have a 2.5 g.p.a. or higher. and only about 42% of them were proficient in reading. >> reporter: but another hallmark of cherna's tenure has been hiring adults who went through the system themselves to mentor and advocate for current foster youth. they're known as youth support justin quast is the man lafayette relies on, and he's been helping him with his resume. partners, and they are trained to provide anything from emotional support to helping kids get social services, clothes and building job skills. >> reporter: youth support partner lanika dorsey has walked in those shoes. >> i think i first entered the system when i was around three or four. >> reporter: lanika says abuse, neglect and constantly being forced to move eventually made her feel broken. it's also why, for years, she couldn't trust anyone. but when she was paired with youth support partner jovanna robinson, that changed. >> she kept her word. she made me trust people and believe people when they said things to me you know that's something i never had growing up throughout the system. >> reporter: it was jovanna who suggested lanika should use her experiences to become a youth support partner herself. >> me being able to help kids, helps me in a way. you know because i see myself in them a lot. but i'm a work in progress. every day i still work on me. i'm still lost just not as lost. >> reporter: in addition to youth support partners, allegheny county has also hired educational liaisons like william battles. battles' makes sure foster youth like 19-year-old jazmin holmes, are in class, have the credits to graduate high school and make them aware of benefits like scholarships, that as foster youth, they're eligible for. battles recently helped jazmin through the enrollment process at the community college of allegheny county. >> it's very rewarding. when you are able to help them navigate the whole admissions process and financial aid. it kind of eases their mind of schools and everything else that's going on in their life too on top of fresh start at a community college or university. >> reporter: while many foster youth like jazmin focus on the future, having some of them reflect on their past has been important to the county's reform process. 20-year-old naadiya cellars was placed in foster care five years ago after her mother died. she's now encouraging pittsburgh residents to consider becoming foster parents. naadiya says it's often difficult to get people to simply remember that they are kids. >> the hardest part about being in foster care is you are not allowed to do everything else that everybody else is allowed to do. like you are not allowed to spend the night at your friends house unless they have clearances. those are always the hardest >> they want to be seen as young people who are facing life's challenges, have the same dreams that any other young person has but so often the fact that they've been in foster care they feel like they are then stigmatized as being failures or unlikely to succeed and i think one of the most important things is to really dispel that notion >> reporter: casey family programs' david sanders credits marc cherna for creating innovative programs, even in periods when most child welfare those efforts have resulted in allegheny county reducing the number of youth in foster care by 60% over the last two decades. but replicating that kind of success elsewhere is no easy task sanders says. one major reason for that: >> the turnover among child welfare leaders makes it very difficult to sustain progress. so even if somebody puts something in place, what often happens is that it's dismantled as soon as somebody new comes in and that rotation of leaders happens every year and a half or two years. >> reporter: as new data comes in, it's being used to find out how well their reforms are working. marc cherna knows his work is far from finished. >> i've been doing this work for over 40 years and if there was a magic bullet we wouldn't be talking about it today. this is very complex work. there is no easy solution. there have been billions and billions of dollars spent on this. there is a lot of people way smarter than me who thought about this and i still struggle with it. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour im april brown in pittsburgh. >> ifill: online, you can read more on how data is being used to support pennsylvania's most vulnerable children. >> woodruff: the united nations refugee agency says it will not cooperate with a european plan to deport migrants arriving in greece from turkey. unhcr said it would no longer help transfer migrants and refugees to detention centers, from which some could be deported. the agency's action could disrupt the deal with turkey signed last friday, which is aimed at halting the migrant flow. and the walls being re-built in europe will likely only grow taller after today's attacks in brussels. from the island of lesbos, in greece, special correspondent malcolm brabant reports. >> reporter: this was one of the last boats to land on the beaches of southern lesbos. it was a desperate attempt to beat the deadline set by europe, which effectively shut down the refugee trail. the screams marked the moment of realization that two people had been suffocated in the chaos and darkness of the crossing. as medical teams fought in vain to revive the crush victims, a syrian called bashir encapsulated the migrants' aspirations. >> we hope they don't take this into effect. we hope that we can make it to europe. i don't know. if we are lucky we can move on, if we are not, i don't know what will happen to us. >> reporter: for two consecutive nights, the vigil of these volunteers on the beaches of southern lesbos has been futile. they've spent long cold nights anticipating new arrivals using the cover of darkness to avoid turkish patrols. but no one has reached the shore. spanish lifeguards, who've rescued thousands of people over the winter months have, for the moment, been made redundant by the ships of frontex, europe's border agency patrolling the waters dividing turkey from greece. yet volunteer rebecca michaelides believes the exodus from turkey is just temporarily on hold. >> the people will keep on coming because they're very desperate in leaving turkey and trying for a better future. being turned back for us and for myself is not really a solution to the problem. it's a lot deeper going back to as deep as the war in syria that needs to be stopped. but also to the hardship of these people and what they're going through. that we need, as europe, to help them. >> reporter: the efforts to reinforce fortress europe alarm ahmad ali, a dentist from a besieged syrian city close to the iraqi border. he asked us not to show his face, for fear of endangering relatives still in syria. >> we don't need to go back, we everybody here is worried about the situation, so we need to cross the border to search for our lives. we can't stay for a long time. >> reporter: prime candidates to be among the first deported are pakistanis, who are regarded by many countries as economic migrants. they have been turning up at a detention center in lesbos to be registered. but in a possible blow to the e.u. turkey deal, the united nations refugee agency said it would not work in these camps because the migrants and refugees were being held against their will. a large group of pakistanis were put in handcuffs as they were sent to mainland greece for what could be the first leg of a journey back to their homeland. the prospect of being returned to pakistan terrifies imran sharif, a christian policeman who claims he faces possible death for alleged blasphemy against islam. >> if the greece government puts me back in pakistan, there are many people waiting for me, to kill me or put me in the jail. i don't like that somebody kills me in front of my child, so if they are trying to pull me back, i will suicide here. >> reporter: at the camp that's been sheltering the pakistanis next to the detention center, volunteer ayesha keller had this advice for would be travelers waiting on the turkish coast. >> at the moment i don't think it's worth risking your life to cross over to lesbos or one of the other greek islands because it's so unclear what the situation is. i just doesn't make sense on a humanitarian level and i thought the e.u. was about protecting human rights and now they've agreed to something like this. i understand what they're trying to do. i understand that they want to cut down smuggling. and they want to cut down people crossing in a dangerous way. but this doesn't seem to be a sensible solution and it's just going to increase smuggling as the borders close and rather than having a legal way to cross people are going to cross illegally. >> reporter: one of the main reasons why turkey agreed to the deal permitting the return of refugees was a promise that its application to join the e.u. would be fast tracked. but today's bombings in brussels will damage turkey's cause. skeptical governments are reluctant to accept turkey not least because it would extend europe's borders to syria and iraq, and would increase the risk of terrorism within the e.u. still further. so this controversial arrangement could be undermined. these are very uncertain times for the migrants trapped in greece and facing the prospect of deportation. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant. >> ifill: it's a question of when, not if, a major seismic disaster will strike the pacific northwest. scientists put the odds of a big earthquake and tsunami occurring within the next 50 years at 37 percent. so what are coastal communities doing to prepare, and make sure they are resilient in the face of an extreme event? newshour correspondent william brangham decided to find out. >> brangham: i'm standing on the coast of washington. this is the very edge of the continental united states. and just a few miles out in the pacific ocean is considered one of the most dangerous seismic faults in all of north america. scientists believe if that fault were to rupture, it could devastate much of the pacific northwest. the fault is known as the cascadia subduction zone, where two tectonic plates meet under the pacific ocean. this faultline stretches 700 miles along the coast. >> earthquakes have no season, it's earthquake season every day. >> brangham: ken murphy is fema's regional administrator. he oversees emergency operations for the northwest region. he says if this whole fault were to rupture, not only would there be a catastrophic earthquake, but that quake would then trigger an enormous tsunami, which would crash into the pacific northwest minutes later. >> you roughly have about 140,000 square miles of communities and land and people up and down washington, oregon, and northern california. >> brangham: major cities like seattle, vancouver and portland could be seriously damaged. fema estimates that in an 8 or 9 magnitude quake, nearly 13,000 people could be killed, with another 20,000 injured. a million people would be made homeless. and to some, these are conservative estimates. >> it's not just fema, but how we as a nation are going to respond to this, because it's really going to take everybody's efforts >> brangham: this threat has people across the northwest worried, no more so than in coastal washington, towns like westport, ocean shores, ocosta. chuck wallace is an emergency manager for this county. >> if you're in an inundation zone or close to the coast, if you feel an earthquake you have to suspect that a tsunami could be following. if there is one, if there is one coming, we have about 15 to 25 minutes along the coast to move to higher ground. >> brangham: and so the town of ocosta, with just a few thousand residents, is now building this- - a large tsunami evacuation shelter-- here on top of its public school. it's the first of its kind in north america. >> well, right now we're in the stair tower, and this is after the earthquake and we're evacuating to the rooftop to the tsunami evacuation shelter. >> brangham: so there are four stairways like this one? >> yes. >> brangham: paula akerlund is the school superintendent for the district, and she was instrumental in getting this shelter built. akerlund said they started discussing this shelter four years ago, in an ominous coincidence, hours later, the massive tsunami hit japan. the whole world watched as waves destroyed buildings and roads and entire towns in just a matter of minutes. >> we learned from what happened we learned a lot about what to do in this building from the japanese earthquake and tsunami. one of the things that we knew from japan is that some buildings were overtopped. >> brangham: water coming up over the roof. >> yes, and so we tried to make the wall here high enough and then also, i think it will serve another purpose because there will be children up here with us and they won't really see what's happening for awhile. i think >> brangham: oh, so the walls will protect them from watching their community. >> yes, but you know our whole focus is on the safety and welfare of the kids so we try to think about things like that. >> brangham: and the kids in ocosta have been absorbing some of this concern as well. listen to what we happened to hear in this sixth grade class >> andrew, what are you reading? >> i'm reading "escaping the giant wave. >> tsunami dreams. and we're just taking it to mean that it's because it's in the news, not that it's any kind of what? premonition. not going to happen, just something we talk about and stuff. so tell me about the title. how does the title fit in with what you're reading so far? >> then a news truck came and it blared out that there was a tsunami coming at 5:30 and it was 5:20. >> and was there actually a tsunami coming? >> yeah. >> my goodness sakes. >> brangham: the highly reinforced structure they've built isn't just to protect the 620 students at the school. the roof can hold nearly 2,000 people, and officials say no one would be turned away in a disaster, and the shelter will be accessible 24/7 from this point forward. the total cost? just over $2 million. and get this: no state or federal money was used offered to build it. locals had to vote on a bond specifically to raise their own taxes to build this, and this isn't a wealthy community. >> i had no idea whether it would pass or not, of course i but i told one of our teachers if the bond passes i'll be doing a happy dance and he told me it's going to pass by 70%. it did, it did. and i was doing a happy little dance, yeah! >> brangham: but how likely is it that this shelter will ever be needed? skeptics can point out that there's no recorded history of a major quake and tsunami here, so what's the likelihood? well, the answer to that can be found in one of the great seismological detective stories, and it happened here on the copalis river, about 40 miles north of ocosta. i went up the river with local guide dave agner. do you know how tall these cedars would've been back in their day? this is what's known as the "ghost forest." these dead cedar trees hold a crucial clue to the very real danger facing the pacific northwest. >> now, william you see that tree at 12:00. >> brangham: for years, it was thought these trees died over time, decades apart. but in the late 1980s, two scientists found evidence that these trees all died simultaneously, when the ground beneath them plunged downwards several feet, which is often what occurs in subduction zone earthquakes. they found strong evidence of a major quake 300 years ago, but had it also triggered a tsunami? a few years later, a japanese scientist proved that it had. he was looking through centuries-old records trying to understand a mysterious tsunami that hit japan in 1700, when he saw the data from washington's ghost forest, he realized they were the exact same event. that quake off washington's coast sent a tsunami that not only flooded the pacific northwest, but also traveled 5,000 miles across the ocean and hit japan. >> there was evidence of a massive one in 1700 and the japanese kept fantastic records. the shoguns required very very good record keeping or you could lose your life if you promised a certain crop and it didn't come in. >> brangham: just a few miles from the ghost forest, another community is trying to grapple with this looming threat in an even more dramatic fashion. the quinault indian nation has lived along this coast for centuries. fawn sharp is their president. >> if you look behind me you'll see where our treaty was negotiated in 1855 at the mouth of the quinault river where the ocean meets the river. you know it's 150 years ago, nobody at that time ever anticipated that this entire central part of our community would ever be under water. >> brangham: this aerial rendering of their village shows how, in the event of a quake and tsunami, the entire area would be inundated with water. so, they're going to move the whole village up the hill, to this spot. but moving an entire village is not easy. >> but these are major facilities, this is a brand-new courthouse. fairly new. >> brangham: and that's gonna have to be moved. >> and that's going to have to be moved. our community center, our central gathering place, will have to obviously be moved. >> brangham: that's a lot of structures. >> yes. our membership sees the exciting opportunity of creating a new village and what that might look so many of our memories are here in this village and the thought of it being under water, you know, there's a lot of trauma to that prospect that a very sacred site could no longer exist. >> brangham: the quinault hope to have the entire village moved to higher ground within the next five years. back in ocosta, the tsunami shelter is getting its finishing touches. officials say if a quake hit tomorrow, the shelter's ready to hold anyone who can get here. emergency manager chuck wallace says this building, and how it got built, is a model of what a community can do. >> you know you sit back and they always say, "well, government did this, government did that." no, the people did this. >> this very small community, very self-reliant community, takes care of each other. people here were willing to increase their tax dollars to build this facility for their kids and their grandchildren, so i think that's a remarkable thing. >> brangham: they hope to have a ribbon cutting for the tsunami shelter in june. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham along the coast of washington state. >> woodruff: next, diamond diplomacy, and a unique stage to heal decades of division. jeffrey brown has our story. >> brown: it was baseball with a cuban flair, as the thaw in u.s.-cuban diplomatic relations spilled into the realm of sports, and a game with deep histories in both nations. the crowd cheered when president obama joined cuban president raul castro for a game between the tampa bay rays and the cuban national team. just the second such game in more than 50 years. there was a moment of silence for the victims of the belgium terror attacks. followed by the singing of the national anthems of both countries. the ceremonial first pitches were thrown by luis tiant, cuban native and former major league star, and legendary cuban national team pitcher pedro luis lazo. and the game was on. with a bit more symbolism: rays' lead-off batter, dayron varona is a native cuban who defected to the u.s. three years ago in the hopes of playing ball. one anticipated by-product of the warming u.s.-cuban relations would be a relaxation of the embargo that bans cuban players from playing in the u.s. peter bjarkman has written widely on baseball in cuba. they're not allowed to legally immigrate out of the country to play professional baseball. so far, nothing has changed the position of the cuban government. they are willing to talk about making some of their players available, but they want to control the ownership of those players, have them come back, play during the winter season in cuba. play on the cuban national team. >> a throw home... not in time! >> when the rays scored the first run of the gam >> brown: when the rays scored the first run of the game, michelle obama cheered and there was a handshake between the two presidents. >> brown: in an interview during the game with espn commentators, president obama re-iterated some of the themes he'd addressed earlier in the day, and also spoke of the role of baseball in bringing social change, citing the example of jackie robinson, >> if you think about jackie robinson playing in this ball park a couple of months before he breaks the color barrier in the u.s., that is the power of baseball, can change attitudes in a way the sometimes a politician cannot, a speech by the time the president was leaving, the tampa bay rays were on their way to a 3-0 victory over their hosts, but many in >> woodruff: you can watch more of jeff's conversation with peter biarkman about the future of cuban and american baseball. that's on our homepage. also on the newshour online, as obama prepares to leave cuba, the artist known as "el sexto," which means "the sixth," is raising the issue of free expression in his country through performance art. he was arrested sunday after taking part in a peaceful protest, but released later that day. learn more about the dissident artist, we put together several videos that show his work, and you can find those, on our home page, pbs.org/newshour. >> ifill: and recapping our top story this day, police in brussels, belgium are engaged in a full-scale manhunt after today's brussels bombings. two suicide attackers struck the city's airport and subway system. they killed at least 34 people and wounded more than 180, including some americans. it's believed a third suspect escaped. the belgian capital was locked down for much of the day. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. 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 p. this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. >> fragile union. how today's terror attack threaten the global economy. >> airports on alert. what our government is doing to keep key transportation hub here safe. all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for tuesday, 22nd. good evening, everyone. welcome. brussels, belgium, it's the defacto capitol of the european union. it's where companies like amazon