corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's 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, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thanks for joining us. we begin with the massive rescue effort and growing humanitarian crisis off the coast of libya. the italian coast guard says it has saved more than 4,200 migrants in 22 separate ocean rescue operations over the past 24 hours. the migrants are trying to reach europe, to escape war, poverty and persecution in africa and the mideast. but smugglers are putting them on ships which end up stranded in rough seas. more than 78,000 migrants have reportedly reached european shores since january. most are scattered throughout italy and greece. while the british, belgian, irish and german navies have joined the rescue operation, most are against a proposed quota system to distribute the refugees across europe. an earthquake that struck off the coast of one of japan's most remote islands was so deep and so powerful it shook buildings, stopped train service and cut power to parts of tokyo, 620 miles north of the epicenter. the quake struck 421 miles deep but did not touch off a tsunami. no one was hurt and no serious damage was reported. today the u.s. is issuing its strongest message yet on china's expansion into the south china sea. defense secretary ash carter called for an immediate and lasting halt, to stop china from building and occupying artificial islands in the highly-contested region. this follows news that u.s. surveillance imagery reportedly shows china positioning weapons on one of the islands. vietnam and the philippines claim they have mineral rights there. but secretary carter says china has already reclaimed more than 2,000 acres. carter is calling for a diplomatic approach, saying:" there's no military solution" to the land dispute. the pentagon is launching a high-level investigation into an anthrax mix-up. the department of defense says it accidentally shipped live anthrax to -loratories in 11 states and two foreign countries, possibly south korea and australia. the c.d.c. says the samples were supposed to have been killed, but contained live spores instead. officials say there's no known risk to the general public and an extremely low risk to lab workers. more than 20 military personnel are being monitored for anthrax exposure. pakistan has launched a major manhunt to find the gunmen who dressed up like security officers, hijacked two buses and killed 22 passengers. one witness said the attackers captured dozens of people, then divided them up by ethnicity, shooting the pashtuns, and letting the others go free. texas governor greg abbott is planning to sign new gun legislation allowing citizens to openly carry handguns in public places. the legislature easily passed the bill yesterday, overturning a ban on open-carry that dates back to the civil war. if abbott signs it, texas will join 44 other states which allow people to carry a handgun either wholly or partially visible in a belt or shoulder holster. texas gun owners would also be required to have a gun license and be at least 21 years of age. the law would take effect january 1st. another democrat has launched a quest for the 2016 presidential nomination. former baltimore mayor and maryland governor martin o'malley announced his candidacy today, pointing to new leadership as a campaign theme. a recent quinnipiac university poll of democrats nationwide gave o'malley one percent support. hillary clinton topped the field with 57%. >> sreenivasan: tonight isis is maintaining control of the city of palmyra in syria. now we're learning more about how isis is treating the people of palmyra. for some insight we are joined via skype from istanbul by anne barnard of the "new york times." so this was the first city that isis took control of from the syrian government. have their tactics changed in what they do when they get into town? >> well, it seems there's a certain set of steps that isis has honed during the two years it started to accumulate territory in iraq and syria. they come in. they carry out some well-publicized atrocities -- beheadings attacking people who they think might oppose them and try to court favor with some other populations and alternate between the two. now, this is the first time that they've taken a town from the government and not from insurgents who had taken it previously. so strangely, here, they don't expect to have a rival for the antigovernment mantle so to speak. so some people are surprised that they have not been harsher with the general population especially since palmyra is a place that made its living off the tourist trade and was quite open with the west. >> sreenivasan: you said besides the beheadings and executions, they're trying to take on municipal matters, turning on the water and fuel. >> one of their goals is to convince people that they really are a state, and that they can take over institutions and facilities and provide services. so within hours of come spog town, they had executed people publicly in the streets. at the same time, they were trying to carry out very ordinary functions-- opening the bakeries, giving bread for free, and fixing the power plant and the water pumps which had been left not working by soldiers. traiment, bombing started, so services have been coming in and out. >> sreenivasan: the people of palmyra are caught in a bit-- between a rock and a hard place. on the the one hand, if they don't cooperate with isis they could meet with death. and on the other hand really, it's the government that they don't feel a tremendous loyalty to anyway. >> yeah. i mean, like everywhere in syria-- i visited palmyra a year ago, so we got to know a lot of people there. there's certainly a range of senseiment about the the government from pro to anti. but palmyra was a place where there was a local rebellion that was put down in 2012. it's an almost entirely sunni town where the security forces had never felt extremely comfortable, especially those that were from other parts of the country. they told us a year ago that they felt that the people-- they couldn't trust the local people. so there definitely was antigovernment sentiment there. >> sreenivasan: is there feeling among some people on the ground that isis could be a viable alternative to the sir yoon government? >> well, i asked a guy who say longtime antigovernment activist there. he doesn't really like isis. he has some relatives who are in isis. he said that he was remaining opposed to both isis and the government. he said,un," people don't really have a choice. they came into town and it was imposed upon them." >> sreenivasan: are the air strikes by the syrian government making the islamic state's case for them? >> well, yes. people were very afraid of isis when they came in and their main focus of the executions in streets and whether they were going to treat the population harshly. now, there's nearly daily air strikes. people are reporting having lost friends in the air strikes including government employees, people that might have been progovernment. i think now people's immediate source of fear and worry has shifted from the militants on the ground to the warplanes that are overhead. at the same time they're keeping an eye on whether ywill start to apply some of its harsh practices to the general population. >> sreenivasan: all right, anne barnard, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: in tonight's signature segment, we visit one of the world's largest economies, mexico. over the past generation export- driven growth has fueled the nation's rapid rise-- favorable trade deals and proximity to us consumers has meant new factories and new jobs. there have been challenges, notably the drug trade and a stubbornly high poverty rate. and since we originally brought you this piece last year mexico's economic fortunes have become increasingly complex. newshour special correspondent martin fletcher has that story. >> we've identified 25 murders. > >> reporter: when it comes to mexico, the news is often of drug cartels, violence, illegal immigration. > more than 4,000 people have been killed... >> the border is not secure. but there's another story in mexico-- america, of course has long been a magnet for mexican workers, but more and more job seekers are coming here to the state of quereétaro. it's one of mexico's smaller states, about an hour's drive from the capital. it's a relatively crime-free area. socially, politically it's been stable for a long time, and more and more international companies are flocking here. of all the cities in the world, this small mexican town had the highest growth in foreign direct investment in 2013-- that's money invested directly into local business. and its population is growing rapidly too. with its colonial center a unesco world heritage site, and its new industrial parks, the poster child for mexico's burgeoning new economy is here in quereétaro. oscar aguilar, a local journalist, reports on the growth of the town, and the companies investing here. >> bombardier, american airlines, aeromexico, samsung, honda. >> reporter: siemens, general electric as well. >> yes, yes. >> reporter: so this means a lot of jobs for the people? >> a lot. >> reporter: those new jobs are attracting mexicans seeking stability and safety, like aguilar himself. he was a journalist in the state of sinaloa, 700 miles away, until... >> the teammate that i had died because of the drug dealers. >> reporter: how did he die? >> they arrived into their house, they broke into their house and shot him into the head. him, his wife, his two daughters, and the two grandmas that were living there. i said no i don't, i ain't gonna expose my life. >> reporter: he moved to quereétaro with his wife anel and daughter, tammy. >> how was your day? give me my kiss. my kiss. good. qu me a job, gave me stability, and gave me an opportunity to grow with my family. >> reporter: safely? >> safely. >> reporter: last year the murder rate in mexico declined for the third straight year, though it's believed that since 2006 at least 70,000 people have been killed in mexico's drug wars. but quereétaro, deep in the country's interior, has been relatively untouched. it has one of the lowest murder rates in the country. and now a new government reforms aim to bring economic stability and safety beyond small pockets like quereétaro, and extend them to mexico's 120 million people. mexican finance secretary luis videgaray. >> perhaps no other country has had such a successful year as we did last year in terms of changing things in the mexican economy: in energy, telecommunications, the fiscal front, financial reform. we did many things that better the prospects of growth for mexico. >> reporter: manufacturing is booming, especially for export. take the auto industry. this april, ford and toyota said they would expand their manufacturing operations in mexico. so far this year, auto companies have announced $5.5 billion in plant expansion and construction. and in 2013, mexico's 48-year- old president enrique peña nieto began his term of office with a dramatic series of reforms to open up the mexican economy even more. in the energy sector, peña nieto broke the 75-year state oil monopoly with a constitutional amendment allowing private companies to invest in the industry. on education, the government broke the teacher union's hold on school staffing by passing a bill to stop the sale and inheritance of teaching jobs. and for the broader economy, peña nieto and his allies increased competition by passing new tax and banking reforms. the president hopes his reforms will bring more success stories like that of bombardier, the canadian company that makes the learjet. their facility is just a 30 minute drive from the center of boomtown quereétaro. >> in 2005 there was nothing here. it was a green field. >> reporter: bombardier invested half a billion dollars in this division in quereétaro. when we visited last year, the company's 45 employees had grown to 1,800. two dozen more aviation companies joined them in the area. and at the time, elements of the new learjet 85 were meant to be built here in queretaro. >> we're manufacturing from here to here, which is the front fuselage, and we're manufacturing around from here to here, which is the aft fuselage, and we will do the wings assembly too. >> reporter: but in a sign of how reliant mexico's economy is on the outside world, bombardier announced this january it would shelve the learjet 85 project and lay off employees here in queretaro. earlier this year, the international monetary fund lowered its growth expectations for mexico's overall economy on weak demand. and analysts like s&p capital's joydeep mukherji say the drug trade still lowers mexico's g.d.p. growth by about one percentage point. >> mexico is enjoying a boom in certain sectors. but when you step back and look at the rest of the country, you see a very different story. so it's kind of a two part story going on now in mexico. >> reporter: still, there are hopes that president pena nieto's government will be able to put its ambitious economic reforms into action for the entire economy. those reforms you're mentioning have been signed into law, but have yet for the most part to be implemented. >> absolutely. >> reporter: and the distance from signing a piece of paper to implementing them is a long way. >> well reform is change, and there's always resistance to change. >> reporter: already the teacher's union has launched a series of bitter protests while analysts, like political scientist denise dresser - believe the billionaire leaders of industry will not easily give up their power. >> what peña nieto would like to see is a more competitive, level playing field form of economic development. but the vested interests are very strong. and those vested interests are not going to give up without a fight. >> reporter: can peña nieto carry out his reforms? what is sure is that he is deflecting mexico's narrative away from this, the drug war. to partly this. >> pepsi announcing plans to invest $5 billion in mexico. from drugs and thugs to manufacturing hubs. that's the story the government wants to tell. and there's a lot of truth in the story of mexico's industrial growth. demand for mexican-made goods has helped drive the manufacturing sector in the country. mexico's trade with the united states amounts to half a trillion dollars a year, and both sides want that to grow. mexico's already america's third largest trading partner after canada and china. and mexico's advantages over china are clear-- it's closer so has lower transport costs. and its labor costs are static, while china's are growing. and it's not just factories that are growing here. >> this is just half of the project. back in quereétaro, robert ibañez manages a growing, state-of-the- art business park, helping put a new face on mexico, encouraging commercial investors. >> we have a commercial center in here, we have two hotels. >> reporter: twenty-four companies rent space here, half from overseas. >> i have pepsi cola, ericsson, i have axa insurance company. >> reporter: 1,800 people work here, and growing fast. >> i am going to build nine more buildings. >> reporter: and how many of those buildings have already been rented out? >> three. i already have three rented. >> reporter: still, skilled labor is key to mexico's continued growth. so quereétaro's leaders established an aeronautical university in a vast hangar next to the city's air field, less than a mile from bombardier. all its employees trained here. 100 graduates a year find jobs in mexico's growing aviation industry. and their key market is north america. this the students' first exam after three weeks of school. the plane should stay in the air for four seconds. it's a work in progress, like the mexican economy. >> sreenivasan: now online: more on the humanitarian crisis at sea. see photos of the migrants fleeing the middle east who were rescued in the mediterranean. visit pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: yesterday the state department officially lifted its designation of cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. it's one of the many recent steps by the obama administration to re-establish diplomatic ties between the island nation and the united states. here to talk about the implications of that move is carla robbins, an adjunct senior fellow at the council on foreign relations. so, first of all, this was on the list since the early 80s. what put them on this list of state-sponsored terror in the first place? >> exporting revolution cozy relations with the terrorists and we didn't like them. >> and now if they're off this list what, is it it mean? >> it means, more than anything else, that u.s. banks can have relations with cuban banks which will make it much easier to follow through on the easing of financial relations that obama is promoting, and the cubans said it was the biggest precondition for reestablishing direct diplomatic relations and opening the embassies. >> sreenivasan: in a practical matter, this means if a tourist is visiting cube atheir a.t.m. cards or credit cards will work. >> that's the idea. right now mastered card is there. i believe american express is there. but you can't-- there's no american bank that can do it because of fear that the treasury department will punish you. you know these terrorism lists particularly since 9/11, i mean u.s. banks have been paying very, very high penalties for it. now you'll be able to do that. more than anythinges while the embargo is still in place and will remain in place for a very long time, i suspect, you can do business with private businesses in cuba, a variety of other trade. we can sell medicines. we can sell agriculture. we have been able to do that for quite a while, but the cubans had to pay before. they had to send the money here, couldn't do it through an american bank. it was a very complicated process. now they'll be able to clear checks in cuba and that's a big deal. there won't be a huge gold rush here but it will be easier to do financial transactions. >> sreenivasan: you pointed out distinction that this does not mean the embargo will be listed. >> the embargo was an executive order since kennedy all the the way through to clinton. it was written into law during the clinton administration. not tebehest of the whois the republicans pushed through it. and now congress has to agree to do it. i was up on the hill and i was surprised to see nobody on the hill was going to make a big fight over the lifting of the terrorism list. on the other hand, nobody is going to push very hard to lift the embargo. this is a very long process. >> sreenivasan: and there are still significant disagreements the two countries had. the secretary of state said that yesterday. there are also members of congress saying that. >> having diplomatic relations doesn't mean we love them. and they have very different goals for that rapprochement. obama has been clear-- his goal is to promote democratic change in cuba. the cubans' goal for this is to get enough comk bailout so they can maintain their repressive society for a little big longer. the castro brothers are very old, and ultimately cuba will move toward some reforms and as president obama said, after 50 years, it didn't work. >> sreenivasan: when the two countries start to establish embassies officially in each other's countries what, are the kind of steps we'll see towards the dip lothematic normalization. >> the biggest issue right now-- and we don't know how soon the opening could come, the official opening-- probably sooner rather than later-- the biggest question i think is what they've been going back and forth is the cubans keep say, we don't want you to be using the ecstasy to continue to do what you've been doing "which is meeting with dissidents and the americans keep saying, what are you talking about? we want to do this." i hope the obama administration doesn't give up too much on that. they have been signaling in other authoritarian societies there are restrictions and there will be reystrictions on the kookans itself. >> sreenivasan: carla robbins, thanks so much. >> sreenivasan: before we leave you tonight, the price of eggs has jumped 120% in the midwest where the avian flu epidemic is devastating farms. in iowa alone, the disease is blamed for the deathes of almost 30 million chickens since mid-december. for the first time in seven years, americans say they're more pro-choice than pro-life. a new gallup poll shows 50% of those surveyed consider themselves pro-choice and 44% consider themselves pro-life. the the biggest shift was among middle aged americans. that's it for this edition of newshour weekend. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's 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. funding for this program provided by the national federation of music clubs. an organization dedicated to finding and fostering young musical talent explore new worlds and new ideas through programs like this made available for everyone through contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you thank you i'm richard glazier. i've loved music, movies and broadway musicals since i was 9 years old. it all started when i saw the 1943 film "girl crazy", with music by george and ira gershwin. i loved the songs in that film so much i wrote a fan letter to ira gershwin. he answered me and we became "pen pals" for several years. through ira i met johnny green the longtime head of the mgm music department winner of 5 academy awards and the compo

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