Im judy woodruff. Brown im jeffrey brown. On the newshour tonight, the news about mubarak comes as the death toll in the current surge of violence nears 1,000. We have an exclusive interview with egypts ambassador to the u. S. O woodruff then, can the police seize your cash your car, even your home if youre detained . We talk to the reporter who investigated the practice for the new yorker magazine. Brown whats the problem with washington . We kick off a series on governing and leadership. Tonight, three historians on partisanship and gridlock in the nations capital. Woodruff and in an age of budget cuts, the u. S. Space agency must rein in its orbits of exploration. We take a closer look at nasas uncertain future. To do really difficult things that they had not been given the money to do. For years has had a flat budget. Newshour. Woodruff thats all ahead on tonights newshour. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And friends of the newshour. 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 situation in egypt took another volatile turn today with news that former president Hosni Mubarek might be released from prison. A month after the military coup ousted his successor. Continuing violence. Even as cairo streets were calm today the mubarak news said they had no grounds to hold the former ought accurate on corruption charges. It remained unclear whether in so when. An announcement came just hours after suspected islamic militants ambushed two mini buses carrying off Duty Police Officers in the sigh indemnify peninsula. The first televised address since morsis ouster, it was warned that violence would not be tolerated. We will not stand behind traitors and they know we do not have any of this i assure you. We are reaching out with all good intentions. If it is other than good were left with no other choice but to stand against this with all our strength and might to protect egypt. That pledge came even as the government acknowledged that Security Forces had killed at least 36 promorsi detainees. Break but brotherhood officials described the deaths as assassinations and said detainees has been shot through the windows of a locked police van. Saturday, more than 70 people were killed in clashes between morsi supporters and police. All toll since wednesday the fighting has claimed some 1,000 lives. In the meantime, the military backed interim government continued its efforts to control Media Coverage of the unfolding events. Officials have scolded western journalists for not portraying the crack down as a war against terrorists. Ptions. An al jazeera correspondent on charges on insighting sectarian violence. On American Television sunday, several politicians condemned the Egyptian Governments crack down and on cnns state of the union, arizona senator john mccain who traveled to egypt recently for talks with both sides called on the whitehouse to cut off aid to the country. For us to sit by and watch this happen is a violation of everything that we stood for and when we threaten something as we did that we would cut off aid as the administration did and then not do it, then you lose your credibility and your only fluence. Have influence but when you dont use that influence then you do not have that influence. Today, spokes woman saki said we have not made a policy decision to put a blanket hold on economic support. On the economic support fund, yes thats assistance. Clearly that review is ongoing as we talked about in here quite a bit. That review includes military assistance, Security Assistance and it also includes economic assistance. Were going to abide by legal obligations and we will make adjustments as needed. Meanwhile a new survey by the Peer Research center finds that 511 of americans say it is better for the United States to cut off military aid to egypt to put pressure on the government. The thats nearly double the continue military aid in order to maintain influence in egypt. A short time ago i spoke via skype to nancy in cairo. Nancy, welcome once again. What kind ofaction have you gotten today to the possible release of hosnii since they rose up against mubarak two years ago saying egypt needed major reform is promisingly were fine with the news that the president rose up against now could be released. Theres so much arrange of the Muslim Brotherhood its almost ground out that there was outrage against mubarak. Killings in the sinai whats known about who did it, the policemen who were killed there support theyre getting. Well the government says that those officers were killed in an rpg attack that they were burned. That weapons had come from overseas suggesting now the International Elements of supporting the morsi supporters and saying theyre terrorists. Its the killing that really galvanized people around going after the brotherhood with the deadly attack of the Police Officers and the images coming back at cairo really upset the public which is already in an emotional place. The officers could be killed by instruments. We have ideas and notions amongst some that the government keeps going after them, to charge them and even kill them to bring back stability to the country. Weekend was the government now acknowledges that detainees, Muslim Brotherhood detainees were killed but of course versions of that story. The government claim that they were accidentally over tear gassed but i can tell you the officials who looked at the bodies say they have seen signs of torture. Whats particularly disturbing about that incident is that it suggests that perhaps real concerted effort to not prosecute those who are suspected to be terrorists or extreme es elements es elements that killed them while in custody. We heard of the pressure being put on some western journalists and others as to how this story is told. How do you and your colleagues peeled that, howfield about that, what kind of pressure do you feel. The government has come out and were bitter about the coverage by the international polls. They feel they are being human rights reviews from that perspective theyre going after to destabilize the country. Its almost impossible to go to an event without being questioned by officials who will then ask you what your and tell you youre against egyptian state. A number of journalists have been detained for several hours some of them beaten. I can tell you i was at an event a couple days ago and a Police Officer yelled at the men around me that i was an american and therefore should be beaten. And the men began to man handle me in an effort to suggest that i was somehow part of the problem. Government because theres so International Community has suggested that what theyre defending the state. All right nancy in cairo. Take care and thanks again for talking to us. Now to a closer look inside the thinking of the Egyptian Government and its actions over the last week. Ambassador to the United States mohamed tofi. A am about is dur welcome to the program. Good to be here. Lets me talk to you about what the reports are the former president may be released, will he be released and does that mean theres an exoneration of any wrongdoing by his government. Nothing to do with the executive branch with the government. For the courts to decide. Mubarak is no longer in the citizens are basically to face the courts and judged in whatever way the courts find necessary. Egyptian official since the crack down last week. Should the world expect continuing crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood as what weve seen over the last week. On a number of basic principles. First of all this is not about relation or about god. If you have political greafnsdz you should express those political grievances in the ways to do that. The law allows you to do that. The second thing we need to agree on you cannot go on a demonstration carrying heavy people. People are on using those weapons. Who are in danger. So the third thing we have to agree upon and we do agree upon is that it is purposely legal for people to demonstrate peacefully without burning down churches, without attacking police stations, without attacking museums. Demonstrate peacefully and you but eye witnesses im sure you know, mr. Ambassador, say that the majority, the vast majority of the shooting was done by government, by soldiers by troops by police and not by the demonstrators who were largely peaceful. If that were true then we would not have a hundred almost a hundred dead policemen today that have been shot by promorsi, different sides of promorsi groups. We have almost 700 policemen injured. So again the police have an obligation to respect the freedom of people to demonstrate provided they do not use weapons. Peoples properties. I think the question many people are asking though is why was it necessary to shoot to kill . Was there a nonlethal way to work with these demonstrators. Why not wait them out why not give them time to make a different de. Actually that was what the they started to surround the area where the demonstrators were situated in order to allow people to leave. Basically what happens is thatthey were attacked by armed gun men and Police Officers were killed. And it became evident that this was not going to be peaceful was of the fact that some of the demonstrators, not all of them. Most of them were not armed but some of them were armed and were willing to use those arms to kill. Are you comfortable, though, with now the impression that your government has left on the world that it is prepared to crack down in this way leaving a thousand civilian dead after just a week. Well, first of all im not comfortable with the notion that any egyptians are being killed. As far as im concerned one egyptian that is one too many. However, we have to look at this in an objective way. When the police are attacked by armed people in the middle of unarmed demonstrators then theres going to be a gun fight and people are going to get hurt. It is up to the Muslim Brotherhood leadership to make a decision that they will not use weapons. Is there a place for the muslim brother hood in the government, in the current government or is it better in the view of the government for the Muslim Brotherhood to be eliminated. Eliminated . Point very clear. Theres room for egypt in egypt for all egyptians. Theres room. Is this is not a struggle for one side to eliminate the other side. Side this is not the objective of the egyptian people or the Egyptian Government. We have in our government in the new government a hip minister is to talk with all the parties ands arrive at a national reconciliation. So this is the objective. The objective. Theres a political process place. Place. The invited to participate in the government to have ministers inrnment, to h the government. They were invited to participate in meeting to discuss how to go forward. We cannot keep on in this vicious cycle of recommendations rand killings. We have to move forward, we have to look towards the future. Theres been extensive reporting just in the last few days particularly in the newly in the new yorktimes yesterday, about the Great Lengths that officials at the highest lev3el went to try to persuade gene al sissi the military leader and others in your government not to use this massive source. Why were the pleas of secretary hagel, secretary kerry and so hee de many others not heeded. Again the objective was not to use massive force, the objective was not to get anyone killed. Th the objective was to apply the rule of rule. Rule. You had in those areas where you had the sitins people who had been killed and tore sure you have bodies surfacing. Ave peoplyou have people left for dead they survived and they stoald their told their story how could the government stand aside and say well allow these people to continue to be on there and continue to break the law there. Here. The reporting were hearing mr. Ambassador, is the u. S. We just heard the spokes woman at the state department theyre still looking at whether the aid that the u. S. Provides to your country, military aid 1. 3 billion should be continued. A new poll out today says most americans believe it should not continue. Your country . Your country . Well, i mean ive been saying this so many times. Let me say it one more time. Time. The u. S. Assistance to egypt is part of a Strategic Partnership that serves both countriesly enormously. Win win situation. So basically we would like it to cont so basically we would like it to continue to be a win win we situation but particularly because we gree on the objective. We have the same objective. We want to see a dram democratic system. We do not want to be attacked, prisoner of war. Mus churches burned down, museums museums being attacked. We do not want to see this. Have we want to have a flourishing coun country, democracy. Cou a country where every individual can feel free, can have human dignity. This is what were working towards. And this is what were going to achieve. Achieve. Whether the aid continues . Comm comment of the decisions of the United States government. What im saying is that this assistance is of use and is of tremendous importance to both sides. Ambassador mohammad toufic we thank you very much for being with us. Thank you very much. Woodruff still to come on the newshour, police seizing your cash, car, and even your home; a history of governing gridlock; nasas future; and a downsized space mission. But first, the other news of the day. Heres kwame holman. Holman the number of syrians streaming into iraq has grown dramatically in the last five days. They are mostly kurdish refugees believed to be fleeing attacks by alqaeda fighters involved in the syrian civil war. The u. N. Reported some 30,000 such refugees have entered the kurdish region of iraq. The u. N. Set up an emergency transit camp in the iraqi town of irbil to house the new arrivals. They bring the number of Syrian Refugees in iraq to nearly 200,000. In syria the situation is getting worse and my Young Brothers who are here had sent after us telling us to come to the kurdish region. We came through four times before but we could not cross because each time they told us the borders were closed. They told us we couldnt cross holman the u. N. High commissioner for refugees has requested thousands of tents and other supplies from jordan that are due to arrive by the end of the week. Heavy monsoon rains spawned severe flooding across parts of the philippines today. The downpours drenched the capital city, manila and several nearby provinces killing at least three people. The torrential rain, strengthened by a passing tropical storm, turned manilas streets into waistdeep rivers. The flooding forced the closing of schools, businesses, and embassies. In the u. S. , a wildfire raged across central idaho today. Some 2,300 homeowners near the resort communities of sun valley and ketchum were forced to evacuate. We the blaze, which was sparked by lightning nearly two weeks ago now has scorched about 160 square miles. 1,200 firefighters are battling the fire. It is 8 contained. Even as the idaho fire burned so far 2013 is shaping up to be the second mildest fire season of the last decade. Lyme disease is ten times more common than previously thought according to the centers for Disease Control and prevention. Doctors report about 20,000 toan 30,000 illnesses a year, but a c. D. C. Survey shows as many as 300,000 americans actually are diagnosed annually. Lyme disease is caused by bacteria transmitted through the bites of infected deer ticks. If diagnosed early it can be cleared by antibiotics avoiding potentially severe symptoms. Oscar pistorius, the double amputee olympian, was indicted in a South African courtroom today on a charge of murdering his girlfriend a year ago. In court for the indictment, he wept openly before the proceeding. Prosecutors said witnesses heard a woman screaming before shots were fired, which contradicts pistorius account. He said he believed he was shooting at an intruder. Sc his trial is to begin in march. Samesex weddings took place across new zealand today, as it became the 15th country to allow them. About three dozen couples exchanged vows in both traditional and nontraditional ceremonies. One couple was married on an airplane at 39,000 feet after winning an airline promotion. New zealands samesex marriage law was enacted in april and took effect today. Gary knell, the president and c. E. O. Of npr formerly National Public radio is moving on after less than two years on the job. Knell succeeded vivian schiller, who resigned after a former npr fundraising executive was caught on camera accusing the tea party of being racist. Knell plans to leave in late fall to run the National Geographic society. Trading was light on wall streetin today as investors await clues about the federal reserves future bondbuying plans. The Dow Jones Industrial average logged its first fourday losing streak of the year, dropping more than 70 points to close at 15,010. The nasdaq fell 13 points to close at 3589. Those are some of the days major stories. Now, back to jeff. Brown next, a story about the increase in Police Seizures of personal property, in the name of fighting crime. Ray suarez has our look. Pissits called civil forfeiture. The seizures have long been ares h tool in the fight against Illegal Drugs and the program isan enormous money maker for local Police Departments. Yorker staff writer sarah wrote a lengthy and revealing rev report for the magazine andan joins me now. Sarah, lets start at the beginning. What is civil forfeiture . Iture, h owhow does it work. Enough people are familiar are fam with this id