Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tisch wnet studios in Lincoln Center in new york, alison stewart. Stewart good evening. Thanks for joining us. Im alison stewart. Hari sreenivasan is off. At a security Conference Today in munich germany, World Leaders tried to find a way to end, or at least contain, the now escalating 10month conflict in eastern ukraine. This, as the United States and nato consider whether to send arms to the prowestern Ukrainian Government to help it thwart an offensive by pro russian rebels. Its an idea that one of americas most reliable allies, germany, has resisted. I think the progress that ukraine needs cannot be achieved by more weapons. I really, really doubt that. I really doubt it. I cant stress it enough. Stewart and, Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned the west against sending more arms. translated there are growing appeals in the west to support kievs policy of militarisation, to pump ukraine full of lethal weapons and to bring it into nato. This will only exacerbate the tragedy of ukraine. Stewart but Vice President joe biden responded this way we will continue to provide ukraine with security assistance, not to encourage war but to allow ukraine to defend itself. Let me be clear we do not believe there is a military solution in ukraine. But let me be equally clear we do not believe russia has the right to do what they are doing. Stewart today, at that security conference in munich ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko displayed documents which he said proved russias deep involvement in the fighting. Porshenko met in kiev thursday with merkel and french president francois hollande. They then traveled to moscow for meetings with russian president vladimir putin. A ceasefire was struck in minsk last september but was violated almost immediately and has been violated repeatedly since. Well have more from ukraine in a moment. There were a series of suicide bombings in baghdad today. At least 37 people were killed and dozens more injured after bombers targeted shopping areas. The iraqi capital had been relatively calm in recent months, and a longstanding nighttime curfew is about to be lifted. North korea today testfired what it described as an extremely precise, cutting edge, antiship rocket that it said would be deployed soon. State media showed images of north Korean Leader kim jong un observing the new weapon being fired. The military display comes weeks before the United States and south korea are scheduled to begin joint military exercises. In the latest sign of strained relations between the United States and israel, Vice President bidens office now says he will be traveling when israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress Next month. Netanyahus appearance was arranged without consulting the white house, something critics say is a breach of diplomatic protocol. As Vice President , biden officially presides over the senate. The u. S. Justice department has announced the indictment of six people on charges they sent money and military equipment to terror organizations, including al qaeda and isis. The six, bosnian natives living in missouri, illinois and new york, allegedly sent tactical gear, firearm accessories and u. S. Military uniforms to foreign fighters with the terror groups. The bosnians reportedly used intermediaries in turkey and saudi arabia, who then forwarded the shipments. Five of them have been arrested. The sixth is overseas. Major progress in the governments efforts to combat drunk driving. The national Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the number of people driving with blood alcohol levels exceeding the legal limit,. 08, has declined by 30 since 2007 and 80 since the first survey in 1973. On the other hand, the same survey found that driving under the influence of marijuana and prescription drugs continues to rise. Stewart as we reported earlier, World Leaders have been meeting to try to end the fighting in eastern ukraine, for more on the situation on the ground in ukraine, where pro russian rebels are battling Ukrainian Government forces, we are joined now via skype from donetsk by Peter Leonard, who is reporting there for the associated press. Peter, what one of the more striking events thats happened recently is in the small down of and im going to try to say this correctly debaltseve is the fighting ceased for a short period of time so civilians could evacuate. Both sides stopped fighting. First of all, whats the significance of this town, and why stop the fighting . To begin with, the significance of the town is essentially is lies along a railway line that connects the two main rebel cities and so if these rebel territories are ever to be economically sustainable and to exist as independent entitiesa as they would like they really have to have all of the trappings of a functional state which is to say, a transportation infrastructure and various other kind of industrial concerns. And so this is why the rebel offensive has concentrated so much on capturing this city. Now in what came as a clearly Unusual Development the ukrainian and the rebel side agreed to suspend hostilities a few hours yesterday so the civilians who have remained in the city could be evacuated. The town has been on the receiving end of sustained shelling for several months now, but especially intensive shelling for the last couple of weeks. Stewart the humanitarian crisis is growing about a Million People are displaced at this point. Is there anything being done on the ground to address this crisis . In fact the number of displaced people is actually a higher than a million. Its a million in ukrainian itself and another 600,000 according to u. N. Figures, who have left the country mostly to russia. And as i say the efforts are mainly concentrated on resettling those people who have sought shelter in safer areas, although, as far as ukraine is concerned, with the disastrous state of its economy its really sort of straining to support this huge displacement of people. Russia, clearly, has greater resources in that respect displiewr and what is is the situation in donetsk where you are . It varies from day to day, and even talking to you, from time to time i hear sound of outgoing shelling. So the fighting is close to the city indeed. Stewart Angela Merkel does not believe this will end on met lines. Why the difference in opinion between the u. S. And europe. Well, you know the thing is i suppose europe feels like it has a rather greater stake in the whole situation. Ukraine is rightots doorstep and i think it feels as though european leaders would rather this whole problem went away. Berlin feels like it has more than enough to deal with. The United States has been very supportive of the government that came in after the revolution last year and i think it feels as though the possibility the dangling of potential military support in the month to come i suppose washington considers to be a continuation of its support for this very strongly prowestern government. Stewart Peter Leonard reporting for the associated press. Thank you so much. And please be safe. Will do. Thank you very much. Stewart and now to our signature segment. Our original indepth reports from around the nation and around the world. Tonight, we continue our main street series. Stories about National Trends told from a local perspective from main street usa. In this installment, we focus on the return of manufacturing jobs to america. Newshour special correspondent john larson traveled to columbus mississippi, where a recent manufacturing boom is bringing jobs to a oncestruggling community and putting a shiny new face on main street. Reporter just a look at main street in columbus, mississippi and you can sense why travel and leisure voted it one of americas great main streets. but it hasnt always been this way. As these images taken over the years by columbuss own renowned photographer birney imes suggest, mississippi has endured challenges throughout its history. Unemployment, still 15 in some parts, including some of the poorest people in the poorest state in the nation. An unlikely place, youd think, for an economic recovery. And yet at 516 main street thats precisely the story. The columbus commercial dispatch is the last, family owned daily newspaper in mississippi. The headline on this afternoon . A japanese tire company will be opening a new plant west of town. Yokohama tire will employ 500 people, and possibly up to 2000 if all goes according to plan. Mississippi governor phil bryant. These are manufacturing jobs. And so hopefully, they are those type that will be transferred from one generation to the next. Reporter the tire plant is just the latest in what is now called the Golden Triangle a shining example of new manufacturing growth in an area that not too long ago was just the opposite. Plant after manufacturing plant had closed here in the late 90s. And then in 2007, the areas largest employer for decades, sara lee, closed its Food Processing plant. Yet, the areas rebirth was already underway. Severstal, a russian steel maker, built its 900million dollar plant here, followed by paccar, the American Builder of truck engines. And, when airbus decided to build helicopters here, many felt it launched a new era. I jokingly tell people that all of a sudden people started walking upright. They started thinking, hey, you know, we build stuff that flies. reporter at 1102 main street, Joe Max Higgins runs the link, the Development Group credited with attracting more than 5 billion in new investment to the triangle. Higgins is the areas larger than life salesman, and you can get a sense how that happened. Live every second like your ass is on fire. Reporter in other words, go for it. All the time. And and and and so that that thats thats typically how we look at this stuff. My license plate on my on my my vehicle says, 2eqlast. reporter so second equals last. Every time. In this business, if you come in second, you might as well not have participated. Reporter to come in first with yokohama, Higgins Group helped coordinate a state effort offering 130 million in incentives. It bought the land, developed the site and built a new access road. When yokohama raised concerns about the reliability of the local workforce, joe higgins made an emotional plea to its top officer. I said this is a community who thats heart was cut out when sara lee left. i said, you could be the Phoenix Rising up from the ash by building this new facility here. And you could replace sara lee as the communitys hope. and he looked at me and he said, i want to see this sara lee. reporter so higgins took yokohamas chairman up in a helicopter. We did two and a half times around the around sara lee. I let him look out the window. Reporter youre looking down at destroyed plants. Looks like a bomb hit it. Okay . And two and a half times. He looked up at me and he nodded. I kind of think back that that might have been the day that might have been the day, the second that we were picked. Reporter yokohama and other manufacturers were also drawn to the areas industrial mega sites, preapproved and ready for construction, as well as nonunion labor, and universities, including the local Community College. The Community College had a record of training its students for the hightech factory work. For training purposes, airbus provides the students with helicopter components. Paccar offers truck engines. East mississippi Community Colleges dr. Raj shaunak. Reporter what do you say to the line that weve all heard for decades now, that American Manufacturing is either dead or its dying . Modern manufacturing in america, but especially in the Golden Triangle of mississippi, is not disappearing. Reporter so how much does the area gets out, for all the incentives it gives industry . In the steel mills case local efforts provided 12 million in land, infrastructure and tax breaks. The county now receives more than two million a year in revenues, which will soon grow to five million every year. So the investment will more than pay off in the long run. We shall overcome reporter the areas rebirth, however, is only one of the stories we encountered on main street. We were in town the week of dr. Martin luther king day. If reverend dr. Martin luther king was here today, what would dr. Martin luther king to . The gathering took place on the courthouse steps within a few feet of a Civil War Monument honoring those who defended the values of the confederacy. Mississippi is still a very segregated society. A lot of people like to put blinders on and act like it does not exist. Reporter Kamal Karriem is a local preacher who helped organize the event. In mississippi there is a psychosis of poverty. In other words, ive been poor for so long, until i think that thats the way that its supposed to be. Reporter the counties around columbus include some of the poorest people in the poorest state in the nation. In some areas, onethird of the people live in poverty. The Columbus Public School system has been largely abandoned by its white residents. 40 of the city is white yet only 10 of the citys School System is white. Mississippi Public Schools are poorly funded and the worst performing schools in the nation. This School District traditionally has always had a failing grade, a d. This is what we have to overcome. Not just in education. But in every aspect of life we have to overcome the psychosis of poverty. Reporter which begs the question, to what extent will the areas poor benefit from the new manufacturing . Manufacturing taxes supply more than a quarter of the countys school budget, but they contribute only a fraction to the citys struggling School System. Cedric brownlee and his wife sharika both worked at sara lee until the plant closed. All of a sudden, it was gone, you know . It was, like, wow, you know . it was devastating for the community. There were a lot of people who really didnt know what tomorrow was going to bring. Reporter while both worked minimum wage jobs, cedric enrolled at east mississippi Community College. He worked hard, earning several certifications. Seven years after losing his job at sara lee, he was finally hired. A fulltime job, with benefits, at paccar the truck engine plant. He now earns 15 an hour, double his minimum wage jobs. We came a long way, you know. Now, here we are. We are living better than we ever lived. Reporter same for genice allen, who doubled her pay when she landed a job as an engineering specialist at airbus, and the company is now paying for her to pursue a business degree. And it happened for me. So, im very thankful for the opportunity. Im gonna hide behind reporter before we finish our story, meet yusef karriem, kamal karims son. He sang that night at the courthouse. A high school senior, yusef washes dishes at his familys soul food restaurant. Listen to him sing for a moment. I was born by the river i been as we show a few more images from photographer, birney imes. Running ever since. Its been a long, long time most everyone we met on main street says any discussion of the towns future must remember the past. Its been too hard for living before we left main street, we learned that five out of the first 11 yokohamas hires are african american. Young yusef will not be one of them, because he plans to attend college to become a biology teacher, and then a Public School administrator. But i know change gonna come it was tough not knowing when it was tough, not knowing when change was going to come. Reporter and as for cedric brownlee, who after years of struggle was hired at the truck plant . The manufacturing boom has already changed his life. He and his wife have bought their first house, and last year took their first vacation. Reporter you mean literally, your first vacation . Our first vacation. Reporter since when . Y ou know, it it was our first vacation. Reporter howd that feel . It it f it feel wonderful. Stewart see more of the images of life in the mississippi delta by photographer birney imes. Visit pbs. Org newshour. Stewart you might have seen the headlines the past day or two, about how scientists in new york searched the citys subway system and, perhaps not surprisingly, found all kinds of germs that could cause everything from the common cold to meningitis. Health Department Officials immediately downplayed any serious threat and wisecracking new yorkers joked about the story, but the work is actually part of a very serious effort to bolster the public health6 kjpsystem. Joining us now is the scientist whose work generated those headlines. Dr. Christopher mason is a geneticis