Transcripts For KRCB PBS NewsHour 20130814

Since a landmark ruling on Voting Rights by the Supreme Court. Brown new yorkers weigh the pros and cons of the citys stop and frisk policy. We get reaction to a judges order to limit the program. Woodruff despite dire warnings, egypts government has yet to crack down on mass protests supporting the ousted president. Margaret warner talks with egypts foreign minister. Brown new education standards taken up by many states outline what kids should learn but not how. John merrow looks at teachers and students adjusting to the common core. With mathematics, it used to be this is how you do it, here are your steps, if you dont do it that way, youre wrong. Now the common core says do it any way you want, just be able to do it and justify your answer. Woodruff and luck strikes 16 maintenance workers in new jersey. We hear from the group who recently won a big lottery jackpot. Thats all ahead on tonights newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Brown the u. S. Department of justice moved today to block the latest and largest merger in the airline world. It means the deal joining American Airlines and u. S. Airways may be grounded permanently. laughter it was all smiles and backslaps six months ago as the airlines c. E. O. S announced plans to merge. This really is about taking two airlines, putting them together and providing Better Service to our customers. Our view is, it increases competition, doesnt decrease competition. Brown but today, the Justice Department said it will hurt competition. Justice, and attorneys general from six states plus the District Of Columbia, filed suit in federal court to ground the 11 billion merger at the 11th hour. The Department Said such a merger would leave just three socalled legacy carriers and make flying more expensive. The new american would have been the Worlds Largest carrier, dominating some u. S. Domestic markets. At washingtons Reagan National airport, it would control 69 of the space and 63 of the routes. In a Conference Call with reporters, assistant attorney general william baer said the merger would substantially lessen competition. He labeled the deal pretty messed up; its bad for consumers. For its part, a. M. R. , the Parent Company of american said in a statement employees, creditors and shareholders of the two airlines, plus the european union, had already okayed the deal. And the Justice Department did approve a series of earlier deals, including deltas acquisition of northwest in 2008, uniteds merger with continental in 2010, and Southwest Airlines purchase of air tran a year after that. Phil mattingly is covering the story for Bloomberg News and joins me now. Phil, this came as a surprise at least for those of you following this. Exactly. Look at the marketplace. U. S. Airways down 13 today, a. M. R. Down in overthecounter trading. We spoke to some analysts who were rating this a 99 chance this deal would approved and theres a reason. Theres really no precedent for the Justice Department to step in. As was mentioned, weve had a series of big merger deals consolidations in this industry. I dont think anybody expected this. Brown tell us about the reasoning of the Justice Department. What specifically did they say would make this anticompetitive . The antitrust chief had a call with reporters, he said one, this is going to increase fares, increase the fees that i think frustrate everybody on bags, leg room, that sort of thing, but it will lead the airlines to decrease service in some specific areas. Most importantly, i think when you look at u. S. Airways, they have a program theyve been utilizing where they look to deliberately undercut these legacy airline, the three airlines they compete with on one stop flights, trying to undercut nonstop flights. Theyre saying theres no more economic rationale if this deal goes through for u. S. Airways to cut that program. Brown were talking about d. O. J. , department of justice, but states and the District Of Columbia, what are they arguing . Theres state interests here. You look at hubs, direct flights, you have texas which, oddly enough in the last couple weeks, has not been the greatest friend of the Justice Department. Their attorney general was happy to get on board on this. Obviously dallas being the headquarters. So what you have is you have state interests, youve got jobs, prestige and states really see this as an opportunity to get on board and block something that will have a negative impact on their state economy. Brown part of the reasoning from justices saying that these two are big and strong you have no go it alone in spite of what they themselves say, i guess, right . Right. Its an interesting statement because American Airlines, obviously, is coming out of bankruptcy right now. Actually, in 48 hours theyre supposed to introduce their reorganization plan for approval in new york. Brown the timing is quite interesting. Very interesting. But something to think about over the last couple quarters, even after a decade of big losses, the Airline Industry has done great, and that includes American Airlines and usair both with records numbers over the last couple quarters. Brown as we said and you repeated, the department has approved a number of big mergers in the last few years so today how are they differentiating this one from those . Its interesting, bill bear, the chief of the antitrust division, said we look at each case on a dealbydeal basis. However, we looked at while they were doing this, during the investigation they looked back at the deals that have led up to this one, that have led up to the current consolidation and what he said was basically we have found this marketplace to be anticompetitive right now. So while they might not be regretting those deals or trying to look back and set new precedent, they are deciding those deals, while they might have thought they were okay at the time, have led them to become a major problem for this current merger. Brown its interesting because theyre saying yes, we allowed those, those were fines but no more now because of the world thats been created because of those. And analysts are trying to figure if this is the new paradigm. With we shifting from a time where these mergers because of the good of the industry the Justice Department was happy to let these go through . Generally very quick with few changes if any at all. Are we to the point where mergers are done . This is one merger too many . Brown american says its going to appeal. What does that mean . What happens next . Well, we know the process is is that these guys have been in the room, both companies and the Justice Department, have been in the room for the months leading up to this kind of presenting their proposals, their arguments. What American Airlines said today through their statement through a. M. R. Is they said this is going to court now. They feel good, i think u. S. Airways also had a statement out where they were saying this delays things for a bit but we feel good. Companies have come through this before. Now, theres a couple of issues that come up. One is the Justice Department says they want this in court, they believe the best interest is to stop this. This also sets them up from a negotiating perspective to maybe take out certain parts, require changes to this deal, require concessions before they allow this going forward. Brown so it could still go forward. In the meantime, the airlines, consumers and travelers, what, status quo . Pretty much. So consumer advocates thrilled with this. Theyve been pointing to the consolidation in the marketplace saying this is playing a big role in those bag fees everybody hates. Theyre thrilled right now. In terms of the big changes, are we going to see when you go online at kayak. Com are you going to see big changes . Not at the moment. I think both airlines feel like theyve got a good argument that this is a procompetitive merger that would actually bring down prices. Well see if the Justice Department agrees. Brown let me ask you briefly. You cover department of justice. How does this decision fit into any larger antitrust strategy that you watched over the last few years . It is a surprise in that context or does it fit . Its interesting. The division at the Justice Department is under new leadership. Over the last eight months theyve got a new head. Its aggressive, veteran gentleman in bill bear, hes got a lot of experience and while he really is kind of complemented around the legal arena for being fair, everybody almost to a person says hes aggressive and i think hes brought a new tact, a new perspective to division and while it wont be a massive shift in policy, i think theyre looking for opportunities to get in and challenge issues if they feel like theyre anticompetitive. Brown Phil Mattingly of Bloomberg News, thanks so much. Woodruff still to come on the newshour the fight over Voting Rights in North Carolina; new yorkers respond to stop and frisk; egypts foreign minister; a new standard for public education; and the story of some Lucky Lottery winners. But first, the other news of the day. Heres kwame holman. Reporter the government of israel announced today its moving ahead with plans to build nearly 900 new homes in East Jerusalem. The statement comes a day before peace talks are set to resume. The news was criticized by palestinians, and u. S. Secretary of state john kerry said hed had a very frank discussion with israeli Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu. Kerry spoke as he traveled in brazil. Let me make it clear, the policy of the United States of america with respect to all settlements is that they are illegitimate. And we oppose settlements taking place at any time, not just the time of the. Of the peace process. Reporter in a separate move, israel carried out a promise that led to the peace negotiations by releasing 26 palestinian prisoners. Buses left a prison in Central Israel after nightfall. The inmates had been held on charges ranging from rock throwing to deadly bombings. The Israeli Military shot down a rocket launched at a resort town near the egyptian border today. The attack targeted eilat on the red sea. Officials said its the first time israels iron dome Defense System had intercepted a rocket there. Militants based in egypts Sinai Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attack. Another apparent u. S. Drone strike in yemen killed two more militants late monday. It brings to 37 the number believed killed in the last two weeks amid warnings al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was planning attacks in the region. The group is considered the most Dangerous Branch of the terror network. The u. S. Embassy in Yemen Remains closed as a result of the threat. In economic news, retail sales edged higher in july by 0. 2 . The increase pointed to higher consumer spending. And on wall street, stocks inched a little higher, as well. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 31 points to close at 15,451. The nasdaq rose 14 points to close at 3,684. Those are some of the days major stories. Now, back to judy. Woodruff and we turn to a strict new voter i. D. Law in North Carolina, which is putting a spotlight on the broader national fight over when and where people can cast ballots. Protecting the integrity of every vote cast is among the most important duties i have as governor. And its why i signed these commonsense, commonplace protections into law. Woodruff pat mccrory, North Carolinas first republican governor in more than two decades, defended the new law last night in a statement posted on youtube. Under the statute, voters will have to present a government issued photo i. D. Such as a drivers license at the polls. The law also ends sameday Voter Registration, and it shortens the early Voting Period by a week. Republican state senator bob rucho argued the measure will help prevent voter fraud when it takes effect in 2016. He said opponents insist the real intent is to suppress turnout among democratic constituencies, minorities, young voters and the poor. In raleigh today, the National Association for the advancement of colored people announced plans to challenge the law in federal court. This bill is not about voter i. D. It is 57 pages of regressive, unconstitutional acts to rig and manipulate elections through voter suppression. Woodruff possible president ial contenders are weighing in, as well. Former secretary of state hillary clinton, a democrat, sharply criticized the law last night in san francisco. Citizens will be disenfranchised, victimized by the law, instead of served by it. And that progress, that historical progress toward a more Perfect Union will go backwards instead of forward. Woodruff in fact, North Carolina is the latest of several states with republican controlled legislatures moving to tighten voter rules. Just today, the American Civil Liberties union warned kansas that it must comply with federal voter law or face legal action. And u. S. Attorney general eric holder signaled last month that the Justice Department will challenge such laws, but that will be far harder now since the u. S. Supreme court struck down part of the Voting Rights act in june. We get two takes now on the voter i. D. Law in North Carolina. Republican state representative tom murry is a coauthor of the measure, and democratic u. S. Representative g. K. Butterfield is a former North Carolina Supreme Court justice and critic of the new law. Gentlemen, we welcome you both to the newshour. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Woodruff representative murry, why was it necessary to reform the states voting law . I think voter cyd one of those subjects that is so common sense that most people in North Carolina wondered why we didnt do in the the first place. Im proud that North Carolina has joined the 34 other states to enact a commonsense road is voter i. D. Law that isnt going to impact a significant amount of north carolinians. What we identified when we were analyzing this bill is that 97 of the people that voted in twelve had a direct match in the division of Motor Vehicles database. So were willing to work over the next few years towards 2016 to make sure that anyone that needs a photo i. D. Can get one and were willing to give them one for free as well. Woodruff but why was it necessary . I think thats a question that you should ask the public. The public, if you ask and thats what i did. I went door to door in my campaign, we did focus groups and talked to folks. Its just one of those commonsense things that voters in North Carolina thought we already had. Ive seen numerous people come to the polls in North Carolina and present their i. D. Expecting to be asked for it. So its kind of one of those common sense things to make sense to 60 to 70 of the voters in North Carolina so its a good commonsense policy for our state. Brown congressman butterfield, hes saying its common sense and something most north carolinians want. First, let me thank you for putting the spotlight on this. Its shameful that our legislature and the governor have decided to make these radical changes in the election laws. There is no need for a voter i. D. Law in North Carolina. We have four Million People who vote in every president ial election and less than a dozen reports of voter fraud. We can see right through this. We know exactly what it is. Its a political power grab on the part of the republicans. For years and years republicans were shut out of the political process in North Carolina and so they are determined now to control the legislature, they won the elections in 2010 and government mccori was elected in 2012 and its their determination to hold on to this power that they have acquired. Its discriminatory, it disenfranced so many people in our state, it will cost a lot of money to enforce it and shame on North Carolina for making this happen. Brown let me ask you representative murry about several of those point that its a political power grab. That there really are very few examples of voter fraud and that this is justn overreaction. I dont think its an overreaction. And what weve seen from other states that are similarly situated to North Carolina and probably the state to look at the closest that resembles North Carolina is georgia where weve seen their voter i. D. Law be in place since 2008 and weve seen turnout amongst minorities including African Americans and hispanics go up since the voter i. D. Law went into place. Another thing about the georgia experiment that weve seen is over the five years that theyve had the law in place, less than between 30,000 and 40,000 free i. D. S have been issued by the state of georgia. So the impact hasnt been that great. Thatsless than thatsless than 1 of the registered voters in the state of georgia and i think youre going to see a similar experience here in North Carolina and so when youre talking about a commonsense measure like voter i. D. That 60 to 70 of the voters in North Carolina approve of, i think its a step in the right direction to improve the voting process and improve everybodys sense of integrity and have confidence in the election results. Woodruff congressman butterfield, i think i heard representative murry say in the state of georgia when the voter i. D. Act was passed turnout among African Americans increased. Let me tell you, North Carolina has had a good Participation Rate over the years. The former governor and the North Carolina legislature have worked hand in hand to liberalize and to make the ballot box accessible and to minority groups and to women and to students and senior citizens. We have been a model for the nation and now to implement a voter i. D. Law is going to result in 300,000 people who do not have any form of governmentissued identification to be disenfranchised. The legislature says well, they can get a special i. D. Card. Well, many people will not do that. They will choose not to vote and thats very sad. And the states even saying now they will pay for a voter i. D. Card. And the statistics show its going to cost 800,000 to implement a voter i. D. Card program. Completely unnecessary. Woodruff another aspect of this law i want to ask you about representative murry is the fact that it does away with it does away with sameday Voter Registration but it also shortens the early Voting Period by a week. It was 17 days, now it is 10 days. Why make it harder for people to vote early . Early voting is extremely popular, and what weve done with this measure is to make sure that the same number of hours of early voting were that were available in 2010 and 2012 are going to be available going forward. So what were doing is actually broadening the number of locations that people will be able to access early voting because one way that some enterprising Election Officials were trying to game the system was to have one location only accessible to a certain voter block and that cuts across both party lines and so the best way to stop the gaming of the system is to make sure if youre going to have multiple early voting locations you open them up all at the same time, all with the same number of hours so its going to be more fair for voters to have multiple locations for early voting. Woodruff you hear what hes saying. Thats not nothing but a pretext for voting suppression. The early voting days have not been sufficient. The lines have been long and we actually need more voting dates, not less. And cutting it back to ten days is nothing but a move to suppress the African American vote, the youth vote. What we need is more voting locations. Rough riff let him finish. What the representative didnt say is they also eliminated sunday voting and we know in all of the particularly Southern States African American vote vote in higher numbers on sunday before the election. Woodruff what about his point that they are adding more places to vote . Thats right. They are giving the discretion to add more places. They have not established more early voting sights. It is enabling more voting sites at the same time reducing it to the tenday window. This is taking atway right to vote. Republicans have been doing this for a long time. The t thing that has stood in their way has been the Voting Rights act. On june 25, the court struck down section 4 of the Voting Rights act and 30 days later, july 35, thats when the Legislature Passed these sweeping changes and now theres no oversight from the Justice Department. Thats why im calling on attorney general holder to look at this case very carefully and to consider filing a lawsuit. Woodruff representative murry, just quickly, it is we know that in voting last year that of the early voting Something Like 70 of African Americans took advantage of early voting in the last few elections. Larger than other voters. You can understand why this looks like an effort to cut back on minority voting. What we want is more locations for everyone to vote early and thats what were trying to achieve. And ill issue a challenge to congressman butterfield. Id like to join with him to make sure that if we can identify anyone that need a photo i. D. Between now and january 1 of 2016 i hope his Congressional Office and my legislative office can Work Together to make sure that anybody that needs an kidd get one by january 1, 2016. Will you work with me on that, congressman . Well, representative, were going to try to get this law overturned. The Voting Rights act is still enforcement, were going to try to pursue a section 2 claim under the Voting Rights act. This is clearly not only a discriminatory impact on minority voters but it has a discriminatory intent and were not going to just sit by and watch it happen. Woodruff congressman butterfield, representative murry, we thank you both. Thank you. Brown and we turn now to the new York Police Departments stopandfrisk program, a policy that a Federal District judge yesterday said unfairly targets minorities. Correspondent William Brangham spoke with new yorkers about the ruling and how the program has impacted their communities. Here is his report. Reporter it was the middle of a summer night, seven years ago on new york citys upper west side. Nicholas peart was out celebrating his 18th birthday with a friend and a cousin. Theyd gone to get a burger at the local mcdonalds, but it was closed, so they sat down on this bench. Thats when the trouble started. Suddenly and out of nowhere, these squad cars pull up to us. Cops came out of those cars, demanded we get on the ground. Reporter but you werent doing anything wrong . Wasnt doing anything wrong. We werent drinking, hadnt been doing anything except sitting on the benches late at night. Reporter nicholas is now 24, a College Graduate. He works for a Nonprofit Group in harlem. He says hes been stopped maybe ten times in his life he says all of them for no reason. He says hes never been arrested, never been charged with any crime at all. Ive pretty much lost track of how many times ive been stopped. Its sort of like a rite of passage for a lot of black and brown boys in different neighborhoods around the city. Reporter how many times have you been stopped by the police . Well in the double digits, like, 34 times a year. Reporter 25yearold David Ourlicht, also a College Graduate whos now applying to law school, says hes also lost track of how many times hes been stopped and frisked by new York City Police officers. A lot of these stops have been me walking home from school, you know, when i was going to st. Johns, or me helping a friend move, or me just me walking outside my house. Reporter how do you explain that . Uh. How do i explain being. I dont know, its hard to explain. Reporter both of these men were among the plaintiffs in the Class Action Lawsuit brought against the city of new yorks stop and frisk policy. When i got the call this morning, the first thing i did was cry. Reporter yesterday, a Federal District court judge ruled that Police Officers in new york city have for years been unfairly stopping young minority men without reasonable suspicion that those men were doing anything wrong. Judge Shira Scheindlin said new yorks stop and frisk policy violated the fourth amendments protection against unreasonable search and seizure, and amounted to racial profiling. No one should live in fear of being stopped whenever he leaves his home to go about the activities of daily life, the judge wrote. During these stops, minorities, she added, were more likely to be subjected to the use of force than whites, despite the fact that whites are more likely to be found with weapons or contraband. While not banning stop and frisk outright, the judge ordered a series of changes officers in some precincts will wear mini cameras on their vests to document encounters. She ordered a series of Community Meetings to get input about possible changes to the policy, and she appointed a federal monitor to oversee those changes. The judges ruling prompted an angry response from new York City Police commissioner raymond kelly. What i find most disturbing and offensive about this decision is the notion that the n. Y. P. D. Engages in racial profiling. That simply is recklessly untrue. We do not engage in racial profiling. It is prohibited by law, it is prohibited by our own regulations. We train our officers that they need reasonable suspicion to make a stop, and i can assure you that race is never a reason to conduct a stop. The n. Y. P. D. Is the most racially and ethnically diverse Police Department in the world. Reporter at the same news conference, new york mayor Michael Bloomberg said stop and frisk has played an Important Role in the citys dramatic reduction in Violent Crime, including murder, since his administration began the practice a decade ago. Every day, commissioner kelly and i wake up determined to keep new yorkers safe and save lives. Our crime strategies and tools, including stopquestionfrisk, have made new york city the safest big city in america. In fact, murders are 50 below the level they were 12 years ago when we came into office, something no one thought possible back then. Stopquestionfrisk, which the Supreme Court of the United States has found to be constitutional, is an important part of that record of success. It has taken some 8,000 guns off the street over the past decade and some 80,000 other weapons. Kedrick was an innocent kid who got caught in the crossfire. Reporter Shenee Johnson lives in jamaica, queens, the same neighborhood where David Ourlicht says he was stopped and frisked several times. She wants the police to treat everyone fairly, but she wishes stop and frisk was even more vigorously enforced. Had it been, she thinks it might have saved the life of her 17 yearold son kedrick. He was shot and killed at a party three years ago. If the murderer, the guy who killed my son had been stopped and frisked, kedrick might be alive today. Reporter johnson believes the views of people like her, people who have seen the impact of Violent Crime up close, are often ignored in the debate over the constitutionality of stop and frisk. Complaining is easy, but just sitting back and doing nothing thats just a whole other thing. You do have cases where the Police Department have gone overboard, but its all about being fair and not taking people rights away, but at the same time protecting the innocent ones like kedrick. Reporter defining whats fair and whats effective, balancing Public Safety with individual rights, is the heart of the debate over stop and frisk. Critics point out that only a very small percentage of stop and frisk actions result in the seizure of weapons or drugs or other contraband. For example, this study showed that for the hundreds of thousands of stops that occurred in 2008, only 6 resulted in arrests, under 2 yielded any contraband, and only about 0. 1 of stops turned up guns. Despite that, the number of stop and frisks has gone up significantly since the program began. The city counters by saying that the number of stop and frisks have dropped sharply in the last year after new training was given to officers about what constitutes reasonable suspicion for stops and searches. Mayor bloomberg says the practice has taken thousands of guns off city streets, and, he argues, the very existence of the program discourages wouldbe criminals. Today, we have the lowest percentage of teenagers carrying guns of any major city across our country, and the possibility of being stopped acts as a vital deterrent, which is critically important byproduct of stop questionfrisk. The fact that fewer guns are on the street now shows that our efforts have been successful, and there is just no question that stopquestionfrisk has saved countless lives. And we know that most of the lives saved, based on the statistics, have been black and hispanic young men. Reporter the mayor and the police chief both argue that stop and frisk is an essential part of them doing their job of keeping new yorkers safe, and they say it might be hard for a lot of young men who get caught up in this, but thats an okay price to pay for the drop in crime. Thats their argument. What do you make of that . I think, the crime rate is down in all the major cities, you know, without stop and frisk. I think its important to note, this is not just a minor inconveniences, this are not just minor inconveniences; these stops are very hostile. Its very damaging to the community. Reporter David Ourlicht, the young man whos lost track of how many times hes been stopped by new York City Police, says these experiences have poisoned his relationship with authorities, and he says its done the same for thousands of young men in his community. I think that that creates distrust within the community because, yeah, we all want safe things, but i dont want my son or my child or my uncle or my niece or my nephew or anyone in my family to have to be abused. Reporter but mayor bloomberg, the man who presides over the nations biggest city, says that putting restrictions on stop and frisk poses its own dangers. He says citizens shouldnt feel like targets of the police, but they also shouldnt be victims of Violent Crime. Brown the mayor also vowed the city would repeal the judges ruling. Woodruff we return now to egypt where there were clashes again today as the stalemate over protest camps continued. Margaret warner reports. Warner tensions boiled over in the streets of cairo again today as fighting erupted between supporters and opponents of ousted president mohamed morsi. A few thousand morsi supporters marched to the interior ministry, and, before long, both sides were throwing rocks as police fired tear gas to try to quell the fracas. It came as the standoff continued over two massive sit in protest camps of morsi followers. They remained defiant after Security Forces failed to move against them as expected again today. translated we will not leave the camp. We are here until we achieve our demands freedom, legitimacy and th morsi be returned to power or we die here. Warner the militarybacked interim government vowed last week to use force if needed to clear the camps, but it has yet to follow through on the threat. The staterun alahram newspaper reported today that the National Security council met late into the night but was still divided on how to handle the protests. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhoods spokesman said it is ready to take part in political talks mediated by al azhar university, egypts leading religious authority, but he insisted any such talks must be based on what he called the restoration of constitutional legitimacy, a clear reference to morsis status as the countrys elected president. Im joined now by egyptian foreign minister nabil fahmy from cairo. Minister fahmy, thanks for being with us. It appears that your government is holding off for now using force to disperse these two sitins. Is that the case . If so, why . Well, the decision taken by the government even two two weeks ago was that the minister of the interior would act when he sees it is necessary in accordance with the law. Thats really the objective. Theres no desire to curtail any effort to find a solution to this. But ultimately it has to be resolved, either through dialogue or through the enforcement of the law. Warner how long remains before it has to be resolved . Not very long. Warner days . Well, im not going to get into days of weeks but i can tell you weve been trying to resolve it for quite a while now. Every effort will be exerted to resolve it, this is something that will help egypt move on but also the country needs to the government needs to exert its authority and provide the layman on the street free access to their homes, that facilities and so on and so fort. We need start up the economy and preserve a sense of security for people as a whole. That cant happen when there is this problem with security on the ground. Warner is there a split within the Coalition Government on how to proceed with this . Before saying that the minister of interior was mandated 6to take actions in accordance with the law. That did not preempt efforts being made by good officers being made by good officers including u. S. And e. U. To find a solution through dialogue. So theres no contradiction between two. But the only thing that has to be affirmed quite clearly is that we need to resolve this so that we can move on and build the country in accordance with the road map adoptedded. Warner what have the United States and europeans been telling your government privately . Are they warning a violent crackdown could cost you international support, maybe even u. S. Military aid . What they have been telling us privately is very similar to what theyve been saying publicly. That a best effort should be made to resolving this peacefully, that that would be the best solution for everyone and theyve been urging us to be patient in trying to do that. They were here trying to do it, those efforts, regrettably, did not lead to a successful conclusion were not theres no real challenge to the logic theyre presenting. We understand it is better to resolve it peacefully but it can not be a stalemate that continues endlessly. That also has to be dealt with. Warner meanwhile, has your government made any concrete progress needed on the steps to restore civilian democracy or is this standup over the protest camps getting in the way . The committee on the constitution, the legal aspect of it has started its work already. The commit tee on reconciliation has started its work already and the government itself is going through a process of reviewing different laws and different programs and projects. But i admit to get a true reconciliation we are trying to encourage all the different factors factions, including the islamists to participate in this and resolving the state mate on the ground would facilitate, in my view, the reconciliation process. And thats why it has to be done in a reasonably short period of time. Dont forget that the road map itself has a time limit of seven to nine months. Thats a very short period of time. To write a constitution, have reconciliation and hold two elections. Warner today a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman was quoted as saying they would take part in reconciliation talks under certain conditions, quote unquote. Is there movement on that front . Well, i know that they were trying to bring together different ideas and different proposals to come up with a process to move forward based on the road map and moving forward from the 30th of june, not moving backwards. I cant address what the proposals are that are being discussed presently and hopefully there will be a solution because we do need to resolve this one way or the other. Warner one of the ideas being floated is to give morsi some sort of a fig leaf to recognize his authority as the elected president before he hands it over. Is Something Like that a workable compromise . Again, margaret, im not im many tin sister of foreign affairs, my focus is on foreign policy. Thats my first point. The second point is talks are ongoing but anything that attempts to rewrite history rather than move forward from the 30th of june onwards would not carry much water, frankly. Warner u. S. Senators mccain and graham said its unrealistic to expect dialogue as long as morsi and other Political Prisoners are being detained. Are they right about that . Why havent they been released . The cases that have been brought against different Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including the president , are cases related to criminal offenses not to political offenses. Warner but if somebody is only being investigated and hasnt been charged why detain anymore the meantime . Theres a process where once the investigation starts the investigating judge or if its a special judge in accordance with the normal courts, by the way, he can determine whether the accused should be held while the process continues or not and they take decisions on a 15day basis and thats whats happened so far. Warner do you think any new constitutions and logistics will be accepted by the world . Its going to be open, tra pbgs parent and, as i sai, its an open invitation for everyone to participate. We would hope it allows for a process where are where all egyptians Work Together, egypt will not only be cannot only be for islamists, it can not only be for secularists, it has to involve everyone, but it has to be based on building an Inclusive Society for the future. It cant be exclusive politics and it cant be a process that is not transparent, does not respond to the interest of the people. So i would hope that we have everybody participating and the door will remain open. Warner foreign minister nabil fahmy, thank you for joining us. Youre welcome, margaret. Brown a major experiment is under way in American Public education, one that could change what and how schools teach. The newshours special correspondent for education, john merrow, has the first of a twopart report on a new set of standards known as the common core. Reporter today, erin garrys eighth grade english class is having a debate, and round one is about to begin. You guys can start. Freedom of speech should mean what it says, freedom of speech. I disagree. Reporter students in the center of the room argue their case. But you have no proof Reporter Team members on the sidelines offer support. Theyre passing notes saying, you should ask this followup question, or look at this page in your text so that you can reference this piece of evidence to support your ideas. They have power, but we also have power. Reporter to prepare for the debate, the eighth graders have read several articles about freedom of speech. You cant just say what youre saying because you feel like thats right. You need to have evidence about it. You said that the government, that we have more power than the government. Reporter teacher erin garry keeps score. Kids collect points for using certain discussion skills according to the common core standards. Reporter the common core standards have been adopted by her state, new york, 44 other states and the District Of Columbia. The new standards expect a lot more from students and teachers. You have so many different skills that youre exploring in that one activity. Reporter Shael Polakow Suransky is new york citys chief academic officer. Youre getting kids to defend their ideas, to speak persuasively, to analyze the presentations that their peers are making, using evidence from nonfiction texts. Reporter is that what the common core holds in the future, that kind of teaching . Yes. Critical thinking is the. At the heart of this. Working in teams and collaborating is at the heart of this. Reporter so, before the common core, what was the situation . Every state had its own standards. If you went to massachusetts, you had some pretty rigorous, tough standards. Alabama or louisiana, not so much. Students were learning Different Things in florida, from what they were learning in new york city, from what they were learning in nebraska, and even what they were learning in each school in new york city. Reporter to clear up the confusion, some governors and state superintendents developed a common set of standards which states could choose to adopt or not. From the beginning, the Obama Administration pushed the states to adopt them. We laid out a few key criteria and said, if you meet these tests, well reward you by helping you reform your schools. Reporter the reward was significant hundreds of millions of dollars to states that pledged to do what washington wanted. States competed for a share of the 4. 35 billion in what washington calls race to the top. Governor were nervous. laughs reporter 46 states and the District Of Columbia presented ambitious plans. Oh, we believe louisiana is one of the top candidates for this. I mean, we have such exciting reform going on. Reporter only a handful of states have actually won federal money, but most have fallen in line and adopted the common core. The common core standards are only the what. They describe what students should know and be able to do at each grade level. Theyre not the how. How the standards are taught, what happens in classrooms, thats the curriculum. Developing and selling curriculum materials is a billiondollar business, but some states, including new york, are harnessing their own resources. We started by asking our teachers to build curriculum units, and the best ones go up on our common core library as models. Reporter both new york city and new york state offer free common core lesson plans developed by teachers. Last october, one went up. It was so popular, in. In one day, there were 3,000 downloads. Reporter suransky expects teachers to teach differently. New york city selected 35 schools where its helping teachers make the transition. Erin garry teaches in one of them. Two minutes, one polish, one praise when we started implementing the common core at our school two years ago, i started giving students more responsibility within the classroom so that they can be responsible for their own learning. Lets get the main idea about what we think about it, then we can find evidence. I think one of the most important ones was the last one. Reporter jessie startup has also modified her teaching. With mathematics, it used to be this is how you do it. Here are your steps. If you dont do it that way, youre wrong. Why you think this graph matches to one of the situations here . Now, the common core says do it any way you want. Just be able to do it and justify your answer. So, students could draw a picture to figure out an answer, set up an equation, make a table. Theres a variety of methods to do the same problem. Reporter things may be changing in a few hundred classrooms, but new york city has 75,000 teachers. Brenda cartagena has 13 years of teaching experience. She says many teachers, especially new ones, are feeling overwhelmed. We were not given curriculum and said this is what you guys are going to do. They just told us, this is the expectation, and you figure it out reporter how far are you to changing the teaching to line it up with the common core . I think were about halfway there. Reporter higher standards, innovative curriculum and changes in teaching are three aspects of what could be a sea change in americas schools. As challenging as they are, the final part testing to find out if all of this is working may be the highest hurdle of all. When kentucky tested common core skills last year, scores fell 30 percentile points. Is this test a highstakes test for you, the teacher . Yep. If my students bomb the test, that looks very, very bad for me. And in first place with 66 points is team six. applause reporter schools, students and teachers will have this year and the next to transition to the common core. Serious testing begins in 2015. Woodruff online, johns team at learning matters has an extended interview with the commissioner of education for the state of new york. Newly released test scores there have raised many questions about the common core. And in his second story tomorrow night, john examines more questions and concerns about testing for these new standards. Brown and finally tonight, the madefortv story of 16 lottery winners in new jersey. They call themselves oceans 16, a play on the movie title for the ocean county employees who hit it big last week, winning onethird of a 448 million powerball jackpot. The nine women and seven men work in the countys Vehicle Maintenance Department and bought the ticket at the acme supermarket in Little Egg Harbor township, just a few miles from where Superstorm Sandy hit last fall. They stepped forward today at a news conference, one of them proudly waving a mock check made out for more than 86 million the lump sum value of their ticket. Lottery spokeswoman Judith Drucker said each will take home 3. 8 million after taxes. If we were going to have a hollywood script writer write the story of 16 hardworking people in ocean county, many of whom had a lot of damage to their homes, we all in ocean county suffered the that storm and one of the winners was the daughter of the man who wrote the lottery law in new jersey, nobody would buy this story because they would say its not true. But it is true. I couldnt believe it. I got up, did my usual morning thing, i was having my cup of coffee, i looked up the winning lottery numbers and i saw that number 32 was the power ball and im, like, 32 . I knew that we had 32 four different times because willie had been writing down how many different powerball combinations we had. laughter so i went to my lunchbox, i got the photo copy of the all the tickets and im going through them, flipped the page, go to the second page, see 32 and im looking, huh . No. I look again. Im, like, no. And i immediately just started shaking and im just staring at it and i didnt know what to do. So i got up, i walked down the hall, i opened up the bedroom door and i had to wake my poor husband up who is no longer poor. laughter i said pat . And he rolls over. And i said i really need you wake up. And i walk over to the side of the bed, turn light on and i just i said to him i think we won the lottery and i need you to double check me. As im shaking. I turn the light on, he focuses his eyes, he looks, hes like oh, my gosh. Then the next thing i did, i wanted to let everybody know but i just couldnt. I wanted to be positive. I sent a text message to my supervisor, tabitha, and she came back with that it was a little bit too early in the morning to bees ming with her like that. laughter and im, like, yeah, no kidding. Im shaking, i need you to double check me. In the meantime, ive got to jump in the shower to get ready for work, then she comes back with i have it with me, its on my desk. Meaning the photo copy of all the tickets. I get done taking a shower, read her message, i get my phone, take a picture of the photo copy of the ticket and i send it her and she comes back with o. M. F. G laughter and i finished getting ready for work and i went to work its been an extremely rough year. But i did when we lost everything, this whole group here and everybody that i worked with pulled together and helped me through. So this has been, like, a great family for me. We lost our home in the storm. I was just renting, i didnt own it, but we lived there for five years, me and my daughter. So now i stayed with my brother few a few for a few months and got a little apartment above a store front so im going to buy me and my caught the err home and bring my dog back home. applause im just gonna continue watching nascar racing on sunday, maybe ill be at my log cabin or multiple acres of land. laughter i dont want to be a i could stay up here and talk i didnt do it. laughter youre gonna pay for it i think i can afford it. Maybe more air conditioning in here. laughter i would just like to thank everybody. Everybodys been so overwhelming to us all and its its just happy, happy, happy. Thank you. cheers and applause brown there were two other winning tickets. Paul white of ham lake, minnesota, claimed his onethird of the jackpot on thursday. The third ticket was sold in south brunswick, new jersey, but its owner has not come forward. Woodruff is that a wonderful story . Again, the major developments of the day the u. S. Justice department and several states sued to block the merger of American Airlines and u. S. Airways; and israel announced its moving ahead with plans to build nearly 900 new homes in East Jerusalem on the eve of renewed peace talks. Brown imagine hiring picasso to design your stage sets. Online, we look at the legacy of a ballet visionary who brought modern art to dance. Kwame holman has the details. Reporter an exhibit at the National Gallery in washington explores the creative collaboration of the first great Ballet Company of the 20th century and how it still inspires new dance. Thats on art beat. And are job boards like linked in cheating employers and job seekers alike . Our ask the headhunter columnist explores how they charge for their services. Thats on making sense. All that and more is on our web site, newshour. Pbs. Org. Judy . Woodruff and thats the newshour for tonight. On wednesday, well look at the latest round of peace talks in the mideast, and the legacy of the march on washington, 50 years later. Im judy woodruff. Brown and im jeffrey brown. Well see you online and again here tomorrow evening. Thanks for joining us. Good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by Macneil Lehrer productions captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org you are watching me journal coming to you live from dw here in berlin. Thanks for joining us. Coming up in the show israel releases the first group of palestinian prisoners ahead of hes talks starting tomorrow. Germanys much vaunted Railway System rides to a standstill. A chinese businessman gets cold share us the papers or tear your pen heist penthouse paradise down