Up for new plans. Every single one of whom have gotten to the point of looking at the rates has taken one look and walked out the door. Woodruff those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. 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. Ifill the most powerful storm on earth this year has hit the central philippines with sustained winds of nearly 200 miles an hour. Thousands of residents were forced to evacuate, and officials warned of catastrophic damage. Hours before landfall, the typhoon was already dumping heavy rain. The target area included a province devastated by an earthquake last month. Trans fats could soon disappear from the american diet. The food and Drug Administration wants to ban the artery clogging substance found in processed foods from margarine to cookies to frozen pizza. The f. D. A. Says that could prevent nearly 7,000 deaths from Heart Disease each year. Well have more on this right after the news summary. The senate voted today to ban Workplace Discrimination against homosexual, bisexual and transgender employees. The outcome underscored the nations evolving attitude toward gay rights. Newshour Congressional Correspondent kwame holman has our report. The bill as amended is passed. Reporter the vote on the employment nondiscrimination act, enda, marks the first Major Movement in nearly two decades on legislation aimed at barring employers from discriminating on the basis of Sexual Orientation or gender identity. A similar measure failed by one vote in the senate back in 1996. Let the bells of freedom ring reporter today, supporters celebrated a markedly different outcome, 64 to 32. Democrat jeff merkley of oregon the senate has clearly spoken to end discrimination in the workplace. We have fought to capture that vision of equality and liberty and opportunity and fairness embedded in our founding documents and in our founding vision. Weve taken a huge stride today in that direction. Reporter ten republicans and two independents joined all 52 democrats who voted in passing the measure. Only republicans voted no. Republican opponents mostly stayed silent over three days of debate, but today indianas dan coats warned the bill could encroach on the religious beliefs of some employers. So theres two types of discrimination here that were dealing with, and one of those goes to the very fundamental right granted to every american through our constitution, a cherished value of freedom of expression and religion. And i believe this bill violates that freedom. Reporter the bill does exempt religious institutions, but republican pat toomey of pennsylvania lost a bid to expand the number of groups that would qualify. The question now is whether enda will make it to the house floor. Speaker John BoehnersOffice Issued a statement this week saying again he believes the bill is unnecessary and would subject businesses to frivolous lawsuits. Ifill reports of sexual assaults in the military surged nearly 50 last fiscal year. The pentagon said today the armed forces had more than 3,500 complaints, up from about 2,400 the previous year. Officials said they cant tell if the spike signifies an actual increase in sexual assaults or that more people are reporting them, or both. Twitter went public today and turned out to be a hit. The stock closed its first day of trading at just under 45 a share, more than 70 above the initial price set by the social media giant. Well have more on that later in the program. The twitter debut couldnt stop a selloff on wall street. It started after Third Quarter growth came in nearly a full point better than expected. The report raised fears that the Federal Reserve might curb stimulus efforts soon. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost nearly 153 points to close below 15,594. The nasdaq fell 74 points to close at 3,857. The heads of British Intelligence warned today that surveillance leaks are doing serious damage to efforts to stop terrorism. They made an unprecedented joint public appearance before a committee of parliament. Lucy manning of independent Television News reports. Reporter for the first time coming out of the cold, the heads of g. C. H. Q. , m. I. 6 and m. I. 5 the men in charge of our spies and there was little doubt who they think is helping the enemy Edward Snowden, the american Intelligence Analyst who leaked secrets to the guardian and others has hurt they claimed the fight against terrorism. The leaks from Edward Snowden they put our operations at risk, our adversaries are rubbing their hands with glee. Al qaeda is laughing at us. Reporter the leaks from Edward Snowden now in moscow have led directly they said to terrorists around the world changing the way they communicate. We have actually seen chats around specific terrorist groups including close to home discussing how to avoid what they now perceive to be Vulnerable Communications methods. And so the cumulative effect of the media coverage, global media coverage, will make the job that we have far, far harder for years to come. Reporter across the river from parliament, the agents at m. I. 6 and the other spy agencies insist despite the snowden allegations of mass surveillance they werent listening to everyones calls or monitoring their emails, so has the damage from these revelations damaged their role keeping the country safe . It doesnt surprise us that the intelligence chiefs would much prefer that there was no disclosure of their work. That they would always say they any daylight on their work will damage their ability to operate. Reporter and the Terror Threat is expanding more britons killed abroad this year than the previous seven years combined and an increased risk from the hundreds fighting in syria and returning to the u. K. Ifill another revelation on u. S. Surveillance surfaced today this time, involving the c. I. A. And a. T. T. The New York Times reported the spy agency is paying more than 10 million a year for access to company records, mostly on international calls. The report said a. T. T. Is cooperating voluntarily. The data is used in overseas counterterror investigations. The Pakistani Taliban has chosen a hardline commander as its new leader, mullah fazlullah. Hes known for planning the shooting of teenage activist Malala Yousafzai last year. The new leader replaces hakimullah mehsud, who was killed in a u. S. Drone strike last week. With todays announcement, the taliban ruled out peace talks with the pakistani government. Secretary of state john kerry is warning israel that if peace talks fail, there could be a new palestinian uprising. Kerry spoke in amman, jordan, on his current round of shuttle diplomacy aimed at getting talks back on track. He said if theres no comprehensive agreement, israel could face growing isolation, and palestinians could resort to bloodshed. As long as there is this conflict and if the conflict frustrates yet again so that people cannot find the solution the possibilities of violence, of other kinds of confrontation, other alternatives become more real. Ifill kerry is making a previously unscheduled return visit to jerusalem tomorrow for another meeting with israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu. The white house confirms the u. S. And other world powers might ease some sanctions on iran if the iranians dial back their Nuclear Program. That word came today as a new round of talks opened in geneva. Irans chief negotiator suggested there could be a deal as early as tomorrow. Well have more on the Nuclear Talks later in the program. Ifill also ahead on the newshour removing trans fats from our diets; twitters big day on wall street; the challenge of getting affordable healthcare in one colorado community; new Research Suggests more asteroids are likely to strike earth; and Richard Rodriguez is back with a spiritual autobiography. Woodruff lets look closer now at the governments decision to ban artificial trans fats from the american diet. The food and Drug Administration says those partially hydrogenated fats are not considered safe in food. Their use has declined substantially in recent years as manufacturers have increasingly removed them, but they are still consumed in significant amounts. The director of the u. S. Centers for disease control, dr. Thomas frieden, has been a leading Public Health voice on this since he was Health Commissioner in new york city. Dr. Frieden, thank you for being with us. First of all, remind us what foods contain these trans fats. Well, first off, artificial trans fats are just that, theyre artificial. They dont exist in nature and theyre created by bubbling hydrogen through Vegetable Oil. They make oil solid at room temperature. Unfortunately it also makes that oil solid in your coronary arteries and increases your risk for a heart attack. The Food Industry has done a great job. Theyve gotten about half a little more than half of the trans fats out of the system but theres still a lot in the system. Were able to measure that in the studies we do in people throughout the u. S. And it continues in a variety of products, either in low concentrations or some in higher concentrations in things like frosting and some prepared foods. The. Woodruff so, again, if the manufacturers are already doing a lot to remove or take these out of foods, why is it knows go the extra step and require it . What weve seen is that theres been progress but probably a stall of that progress. Some groups places like walmart have committed to completely eliminating artificial trans fat by 2015. Thats terrific. But others are continuing with trans fat in the food supply. The results of that are heart attacks and death from Heart Disease that dont to happen. We estimate that as many as 7,000 deaths per year or more, and 20,000 heart attacks per year will be prevented by this action. Woodruff and, again, were talking about these partially hydrogenated fats, oils. We mentioned frozen pizzas. I was just looking it up. You mentioned frosting. Microwave popcorn. What else would people be on the lookout for . Well, its interesting. If you want to know, you can look at the label in that tiny print and if it says hydrogenated Vegetable Oil thats artificial transfat. But the bottom line is this is not necessary. And if you look at any product category like frozen pizzas or microwave popcorn there are products out there that dont have it and what that suggests is that its possible for them to be eliminated, as walmart and other companies are doing. In fact, what the f. D. A. Is doing is not banning it. What its doing is making a statement of scientific fact that this product is not generally recognized as safe and its inviting comment from industry and others and saying how long will it take to get it out of the food supply . Woodruff is so there will still be some food that contains trans fats naturally . Is that right . Well, there are also naturallyoccurring trans fats but they appear to behave quite differently in the body and they may not be nearly as toxic and harmful as the artificial transfats are. You know, most of us dont know were getting these kind of chemicals that are artificially created in our foods but they are increasing the risk of heart attack. Woodruff dr. Frieden, does this mean some of these foods are going to go away . I mentioned microwave popcorn. Some people, like i do, like it a lot. Does that mean its gone . No. We think when new york city took this action people said the sky would fall, they would be more expensive, it would taste different. Bottom line is you can make the same tasting food for no more money but it may take some reformulation. So it may take some time for the industry to adapt. In fact, you wont know the difference when the trans fat is gone. Only your heart will know the difference. Woodruff theres a new Pew Research Poll that we just saw this afternoon. Its a related question. Its not exactly what the government is proposing, but it asks people what do they think about prohibiting restaurants from using trans fats in foods. A majority of americans 52 said they dont like the idea. They oppose it. How do you answer critics who say the government really doesnt need to be meddling in what people eat . You know, i think it these do really with often how you ask questions. If you ask people do you want to have a substance in your food that may kill you thats artificial and you didnt know it was there i think youd get a very different response. The bottom line is we want people to go about their lives and not have to worry about being harmed by somethat that they didnt ask for. They didnt order at the counter and could kill them. Woodruff so finally, dr. Frieden, youre its now been put out to the public and to manufacturers for comment. What happens next in this process . The f. D. A. Has given 60 days for comments. Once they receive those comments theyll look at them and issue a final determination and that will include a time frame. The what the group in new york city found was that it was necessary to give industry time. Some products could be very rapidly reformulated. Others took a year or two. So the f. D. A. Will be looking for what industry says about what are the challenges. There are new products coming on the market that give the same kind of taste, the same kind of nutritional approach without the harm and toxicity of artificial trans fat. Woodruff dr. Thomas frieden, the director of the centers for disease control. Thank you. Thank you. Ifill twitters little blue bird soared on its first day of flight into the public markets, but there are questions about what underlies that high stock value. Hari sreenivasan has the story. bell rings sreenivasan the New York Stock Exchange began trading twitter stock just before 11 00 a. M. At more than 45 a share, or 73 above its asking price. It was a long way away from march 21, 2006, when thenc. E. O. Jack dorsey posted the first tweet. The San Francisco startup has since grown. The microblogging site, where messages are limited to 140 characters, now has more than 230 million users around the world. Many use it as a news feed or to watch moments capturing international attention, including when president obama tweeted out four more years after being reelected. It was the most retweeted message of 2012. The british monarchy used it to announced the birth of Prince George this summer. I use twitter just to catch up with events with the celebrities and hear what everybodys gossiping about and just to entertain myself, man, basically. Nothing major. I use twitter to promote my music. Sreenivasan yet even on twitter, or perhaps especially on twitter, questions swirled about todays valuation. While revenues continue to climb, the company has never turned a profit, and it lost 65 million in the last quarter alone. Ahead of the i. P. O. This morning, on cnbc, twitter c. E. O. Dick costolo tried to reassure investors about the companys prospects. We have an absolute perspective on the longterm company we want to be, in service to being the public, conversational, realtime distributed platform. Sreenivasan one particular challenge ahead while more than threequarters of all of twitters users are overseas, only 26 of its revenues currently come from abroad. Some perspective on twitters appeal and challenges ahead from two who know the tech and finance worlds well Bill Hambrecht is a financier and investment banker with his own firm he has helped launch a number of i. P. O. S including google, apple and genentech, among others; and alistair barr, Senior Technology reporter for u. S. A. Today. So alistair, let me start with you. What fueled todays demand . There are really two things one is fundamentals of a company off into the future and the other which is probably more important today was the supply and demand of the stock. There wasnt a lot of Stock Available and there was a lot of demand from big Institutional Investors. Sreenivasan mr. Hambrecht, who made money today. Of the 230 million users i talked about i imagine very few got in a share at 26. I think you are right. The system of an i. P. O. That basically calls it a public offering, it really isnt. I mean, it was an offering to really select institutions and some clients of the underwriters. But the public at large just really didnt have any access to it at all. Sreenivasan also stair barr, where does twitter say its going to make its money . Well, right now it makes most of its money in the u. S. , but most of its users, interestingly, are abroad. Over 70 of them, actually. And so when wall street is in a good mood, they look at Something Like that and they say well, theres a great opportunity for future revenue growth. So w