that those who have never experienced it can understand. if you approach the situation with a sense of openness and caring, then veterans will be very responsive to that. >> ifill: those are some of the stories we're >> woodruff: those are some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour.ç >> at bae systems, our pride and dedication show in everything wç do; from electronics systems to intelligence analysis and cyber- operations; from combat vehicles and weapons to the maintenance and modernization of ships, aircraft, and critical infrastructure. knowing our work makes a difference inspires us everyday. that's bae systems. that's inspired work. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutionsç 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.ç >> ifill: this was a day of honor for military veterans in america and for many thousands more who served and died in europe during world war one. that vast conflict began a century ago and ended on this day in 1918 and it served as the backdrop for today's ceremonies. >> ifill: under a bright, autumn sky, vice president biden carried out a time-honored tradition-- laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns, at arlington national cemetery. ♪ with president obama in asia, mr. biden addressed veterans and their families gathered in theç cemetery's amphitheater. >> collectively you represent generations of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guardsmen who have servedç and sacrificed for all of us. you are not only the heart and soul, but you are the very spine of this nation. >> ifill: in new york city and elsewhere, parades honored veterans. and on the national mall in washington, final preparations were underway for tonight's veterans'-themed "concert for valor" featuring stars from bruce springsteen to jennifer hudson. while americans honored the living, thousands turned out across the atlantic for "remembrance day" in london, where a memorial sea of red ceramic poppies now surroundsç the tower of london. it features more than 888,000 flowers, one for each british and commonwealth soldier ieled in world war one, which erupted 100 years ago, this year. 13-year-old harry hayes planted the final flower. >> it was an amazing honor because it's just seeing all those poppies that are out there, and every single one represents a life, and that person is not coming home because they laid down their lives so we can have a free life. >> ifill: this was armistice day in other european nations, and the world war one anniversary lent added weight to the annual observances. especially in the belgian town of ypres, scene of three major battles during the first world war. france also honored all those who have served, and fallen, as president francois hollande took part in a wreath-laying atç paris' arc de triomphe. >> ifill: it's estimated 17 million soldiers and civilians died in world war one. >> woodruff: the winter storm that's swept across the rockiesç and upper midwest brought frigid temperatures today on the heels of a blizzard. by this morning, more than a foot of snow covered parts of wisconsin, minnesota and michigan's upper peninsula. and readings dropped as much as 50 degrees overnight, as far south as the texas panhandle. >> ifill: in beijing today, president obama and other leaders at an asian pacific summit agreed to work on a chinese "free trade" proposal. it's seen as a response to a u.s.-backed initiative that does not include china. the chinese president xi jinping hailed the decision.ç >> ( translated ): the approval symbolizes the start of the process and demonstrates the confidence and resolve of the members of the asia pacific economic cooperation to push for regional cooperation. this is anç historic decision that will bring regional economic integration to a higher level." >> ifill: xi also met with president obama in the first of two days of talks between the two leaders. >> woodruff: the verdict came today in the south korean ferry disaster that killed hundreds of high school students last april. lucy watson of independent television news filed this report from beijing. >> reporter: for these actions and this choice the captain of the sewol ferry will spend the rest of his life behind bars. he abandoned the vessel to save himself. it was carrying more than 470 people most of them school children. today with his head bowed lee doon seok and 14 other crew members filed into court to hear their fate. guilty of gross negligence f not murder. the captain jailed for 36 years. others for as little as five. punishments that are simply notç enough for the victims families. >> ( translated ): we all pray for the court to issue the death penalty. we wanted the crew members to suffer the same pain our children did. >> reporter: it was a desperate sight in april, one of south korea's worst maritime disasters. more than 300 people perished on board. and the anguish these parents suffered continues but they're promising to appeal the verdicts. >> ( translated ): we will connect every bit of evidence wç have and send it to the court of appeals. we will do anything to make the crew members who abandoned our children pay for their crimes. >> reporter: nine bodies are still missing but today theç underwater search was called off permanently. it was a decision made by the families as they solemnly accept the impossibility of finding everyone. >> woodruff: south korean investigators have concluded the ferry was overloaded, and they've cited the vessel's owners for spending too little on safety. >> ifill: rising religious tensions between israelis and palestinians turned deadly again today in the west bank. protesters threw rocks at israeli soldiers, near hebron, and the soldiers fired back with water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets. when that failed, the troops opened fire, killing a palestinian man. in the wake of the killing, the palestinian and israeliç leaders blamed each other for causing the trouble. >> woodruff: back in this country a physician who contracted ebola in west africa was released from a hospital in new york city. craig spencer was diagnosed in october after he'd worked for "doctors without borders"ç in guinea. today, he praised the u.s. medical system. >> my early detection, reporting and now recovery from ebola speaks to the effectiveness of the protocols that are in place for health staff returning from west africa. i am a living example of how those protocols work and of how early detection is critical to both surviving ebola and ensuring that it is not transmitted to others. >> woodruff: meanwhile, in maine. nurse kaci hickox emerged virus- free from her 21 days of being monitored for ebola. >> ifill: the governor of missouri, jay nixon, warnedç today against any new trouble in the town of ferguson. a grand jury reports this month on whether to indict a white policeman who killed michael brown, an unarmed black teen-ager, in the st.3 louis suburb last august. the governor says in anticipation of renewed violent protest, he'll call on police statewide and put the national guard on stand-by. >> woodruff: and on wall street, stocks eked out small gains today. the dow jones industrial average added one point to close just short of 17,615. the nasdaq rose about nine points, to 4,660. and the s-and-p was up a point, to finish at 2,039. still to come on the newshour: honoring veterans for their military service by hiring them; ebola infection rates rise in sierra leone; as a new round of enrollment nears under the health care law we answer your questions; the mormon church acknowledges its early history of polygamy; bill and camille cosby's collection of african-americanç art goes on display in washington; and, photographing veterans coming home from war. >> woodruff: for all of today's tributes and ceremony, a new book argues that americans are not truly honoring the newest generation of veterans from the iraq and afghanistan conflicts for what they are capable of contributing to post-combat life. chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner has more on that. >> warner: it's the work of an unlikely pair, starbucks c.e.o. howard schultz, who has pledged to hire 10,000 veterans in the next five years, and "washington post" reporter rajiv chandrasekran, who spent years covering u.s. fighting forces in iraq and afghanistan. the book is "for love of country: what our veterans can teach us about citizenship, heroism and sacrifice." thank you both for being here. on this veárans day, we're honoring all our veterans, but you write in your book that we thank them, we applaud them, but we don't really know them. what is it about this post-9/11 generation of veterans that americans don't underst@íd? >> this is a very unusual situation because this is the first time in modern history where there's been an all-volunteer service. only 1% of the american population has served. so the unintended consequence of the all-volunteer service is most of americans have not had a direct relationship with anyone who has served. >> warner: but what is it that we don't understand about this generation? >> so with so few serving, it's created real misperceptions among the civilian population of our country. they see veterans often as people who need to be pitied, who are broken, who are ticking time bombs. the reality couldn't be further from that. you know, seven generations ago, 1946 as members of that greatest generation were know, if your neighbor was out wandering the street at night, crazed from shell shock, you knew that not every veteran was crazy because your husband or your son or your father or your brother served. today we don't have thatç universal shared experience in our country. so when people see news reports of a veteran doing something outrageous, like shooting up a base, there are a lot of people who think they're all like that, and it couldn't be further from the truth. >> warner: but many have returned damaged, physically, mentally, psychologically. do you think there's been too much focus on it? >> i don't think there's been too much focus on it, but i don't think there has been enough focus on veterans who are returning and doing extraordinary things. that's another reason when wanted to write the book to, celebrate the large number of veterans come bag into civilian life and who can really make a difference in american life and in business. one thing i'm city official trying to encourage is for business and business leaders to hire veterans. it's good for the american business. >> how difficult is it, rajiv, you've been out reporting with many of these, how difficult is it for this generation of veterans to find meaningful post-military work and careers? >> forç system of them it's challenging because they're coming from a world where they have learned specialized skills. they've gleaned great leadership talents. they have values and ethics and problem-solving abilities, but some of that is not easily translatable in the civilian sector, so their resumes aren't fully understood we people in the human resources department. why? because a lot of those people don't have a connection to the military. >> warner: what do veterans bring to the work table, to the workplace that if you haven't served in the military you might not necessarily have? >> everyone we have met from an 18-year-old enlisted young kid to a four-star general, in my view, has had the same common thread of characterisács -- authentic leadership, mission driven, understood the issue of being on a team, highly ethical, great integrity, and brings a levelç of not entitlement but understanding that this is a privilege to work in a company. >> warner: we actually went out and film one of the veterans you profile if your book, this is david oclander, lieutenant governor colonel, west point graduate, paratrooper, leader, who is now at a inner city charter school. here's what he said about what he thinks he brings that's special to these kids he's mentoring and teaching now. >> when you're in ranger school, you realize that you can push yourself so much further than what you originally gave yourself credit for. these kids face incredible obstacles every day being recruited by gangs, trying drugs, doing... seeing street violence all the time.ç and getting them to believe that that doesn't define them but that can be a way to shape their future going forward, and if they can overcome those obstacles through grit and determination and persistence, they canç overcome any obstacl, i think that's the perspective that i bring. >> is that the kind of thing you're talking about? >> absolutely. he's helping them realize their dreams. he's giving them the kind of tools and resources and self-confidence to hopefully get to college as a result of the tutelage and the mentoring that he can provide. and he couldn't even get a job. that's the irony. >> warner: because he didn't have a teaching credential. >> they looked at him and said, you don't fit. that's a very important point. most of the veterans who are coming back do not have the specific qualifications for the job they're applying for. we heard a young enlisted young man tell us that he wouldç have more trepidation and anxiety about going to a job interview than going back the afghanistan. >> warner: oh. >> i think when we heard, thatç it sets the image of the situation, that they just don't have any experience, and that's why it's so important that the company recognize that they have great skills and great value, but they're not prepared for the interview, maybe not prepared to write the resume, and that's where the two have to come together and understand the situation. >> warner: rajiv, i have to ask you. your book has been criticized in some reviews as being relentlessly optimistic. some mind find it overly positive and even naive. what do you say to that? >> look, we're trying to just broaden the aperture on the overall veteran experience. there's been a lot of great journals about those who have struggled into their transition, those who areç undergoing mentl and physical health problems, and we actually write about them in this book, but what we do differently is we write about people who are thiefg andç succeeding. if you want to criticize us for being relentlessly positive for writing about people who are working as a posed to those who are just, you know, unable to get back up on their feet, well, guilty as charged. >> warner: howard schultz, what can ordinary americans do if they're not in a position to hire veterans? >> volunteer, get involved. when you see a veteran, it's not enough to say thank you. have an empathetic conversation and get to know them as people. and then do everything we can as a collective society to raise the level of consciousness about the sacrifice that not only the veterans but the entire family has given to this nation. >> howard schultz, rajiv chandrasekran, thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you.ç >> woodruff: online, check out margaret's blog and a video on retired lt. colonel david oclander who turned down many lucrative private sector offers to become an inner-city school educator.ç >> ifill: now to the ebola crisis, which has claimed more than 5,000 lives out of 13,000 reported cases. while the panic fades in the u.s., many communities in west africa, which has borne the brunt of the epidemic, are still completely overwhelmed. alex thomson of independent television news filed this report from sierra leone. a warning: some of the images may be disturbing to viewers. >> freetown, the capital itself, 1.6 million people now in the grip of ebola. [horn honks] they reported 111 new cases nationwide. we're heading out from freetown towardç kwama, where four peope died before we can even get there, we have to stop at devil hole.ç we've got one person dead there. >> [inaudible] >> yeah, two people dead here. >> one person is dead, several are apparently dying. you dial 117 for emergency services here and they're supposed to come for the sick and the dead. it's after 11:00. they've been calling 117 since 7:00. >> i called 117 this morning to tell them what happened. they responded to my conversation, but they told me they would be here very soon. >> so they wait with no protective equipment here, angry, frustrated, frightened.ç the house you're seeing 50 meters away is the villagers tell me the house where this man lives. now, that's not where his body is. his body has been proved someç 80, 100 meters down to the other side of the road here. he's lying under that tree right now. the problem is how did he get there? the villagers say that he was moved there. that happened with at least two or three people without any adequate protection at all. that's a near certain way of catching and therefore spreading ebola. worse, the villagers tell us the men who carried the man to his last resting place have fled into the jungle. not far off one of the man's three wives lies desperately ill with ebola. people here don't understand why nobody has come to help. a policemen arrives very close and without protection, but what can he do?ç when you're in devil hole, the international aid limit for sierra leone looks to be too little and too late.ç >> this is where they follow the history of people who have contacted disease. once it happen, you can follow this trail. >> who are we going to see? >> [inaudible] >> okay. and vincent introduces us to two more sufferers. this is vincent korma. >> eyes are red. he's feeling weak. >> his wife sits , some distance, and we can do little more than phone the red cross again and offer them water.ç a smile up the road at this checkpoint, they take your temperature and attempt to stop the spread, but in this isolation tent, there are four more suspected victims, 16 more in the village nearby. clinics in the region turned them away. we are full, they said. we finally make it to kwama, a ghost village, self-imposed 21-day quarantine after four people died. >> if someone dies, no one should wash the body or touch the body. so for now to prevent further cases, what we are planning to do is to quarantine the village. >> aç team gets to work to corn off the area. >> some days i use my own car to pick up. of course, i don't touch them. i use my gloves always in theç car. i allow them to get into the car. i take them. >> are you concerned for your own safety in >> yeah. i don't touch them. whenever the people speak about my work, i used to tell them that i have my prayer. i'm a catholic priest. >> good luck with that, father. good luck. >> aminata still lay in devil hole, her breathing now shallow. the body of her husband is in the red cross vehicle next to her. they only do body collection. they say it will get worse were it gets better here, the first part of that certainly true. >> ifill: a sad postscript, the woman just featured in alex thomson's story, aminata died a few hours after he filed the report. >> woodruff: this is a big week for the nation's health care law, also known as the affordable care act or obamacare. people who want coverage will soon have another opportunity to enroll to purchase health in[usance policies through federal and state marketplaces. in the first year of the new exchanges, the government reported more than 7 million people bought private plans. just yesterday, the obama administration lowered its estimate of how many would sign up in the second round of enrollment, from 13 million down to nine million. that comes days after the u.s. supreme court said it would hear a crucial challenge on whether some federal subsidies for coverage are legal. we know there are lots of questions people have. so we turn to two who know this well. mary agnes carey of kaiser health news and susan dentzer, a health analyst for the newshourç great to have you back on the program, both of you. so let's start first, mary agnes, from this word yesterday from the obama administration, they hadç projected 13 million would be signed up by the end of next year. now they're saying nine or a little more than that, nine million or some why the change? >> this is a difference of estimates between different agencies. the conditional budget office, the unofficial scorekeeper for congress, had estimated 13 million would be in the exchanges. the administration is now saying from their estimates, as you say, are down to about 9.9 million. they think people will enroll on a more slower basis than the congressional budget office estimated, and also you have to remember that there is a variance in income. sometimes people qualify for the exchanges versus the medicaid expansion if their states expanded medicaid. sometimes people don't pay their premiums. sometimes they have citizenship or immigration issues that play with thatç number, but basicaly they think it will be a slower rollout of people enrolling. >> susan dentzer, what about this other development of the supreme court saying theyç are going to look out whether these subsidies on the federal exchanges involving, what, 36 states, could be invalidated. how much concern is there about what that could do to health care? >> well, there's concern. the language of the law does tie the subsidies to exchanges "established by the state." and now the question is: does that language literally just mean state-based exchanges or does it pertain much more broadly to the overall notion that federal... the federal exchange could step in as it has didn't and back up the states that did not set up their own exchanges. we'll have to see how the court rules. it's important to say there are probably some work-arounds, even way, this won't happen until next year, were to rule that for some reason the language applies only to state-based exchanges, there's really nothing in the law that would prevent a state from in effect kind of outsourcing that back to the federal marketplace. so we'll have toç see what the court's decision is, but it really is this question of does this language, is it literal language about state-based exchanges or really more the broader intent of the law to have subsidies apply to purchases across the exchanges. >> woodruff: so with this second round of enrollment coming, we asked people around the country to submit some questions they have about the process. we have some of them on video. we talked to a woman from washington, d.c., about enrollment. here's what she asked. >> i'm from washington, d.c. for the last enrollment period, i waited too long to get insurance. i want to make sure i'm on top of hit the time. when does it open and howk will i have to sign up? >>ç mary agnes, what would you say? >> enrollment opens on november 15th. you only have three months this year until february 15th to enroll. that's three months shorter than the six-month period they had last year. >> woodruff: soç it's half the time, but it starts this weekend. >> right. you can get online. you can even shop right now. we did that when we were preparing for this segment. we got on the web site. you can look at plans and prices, but enrollment does begin this saturday. >> all right. we have another question now. this is a man from california who asked about the status of the web site. >> my name is nick zambrano from california. i'm curious to know if the web site will crash like last year with everybody trying to sign up and nobody has access. >> woodruff: that has to be the question on the minds of a lot of people. >> clearly. the government says it's cautiously optimistic that things will go much better. it is said that the capacity on first day will be able to handle as many as -- twice as many simultaneous users as tried toç sign up on first day a year ago. so the capacity should ensure that the web site doesn't crash with regularity. >> woodruff: what's your sense, mary agnes? >> that's certainly been the case.ç one thing to keep in mind is they talk about improve. but not perfection, giving themselves a little wiggle room, but you can't have a repeat of what happened a year ago. >> woodruff: now, this is another question from an uninsured man from colorado who is asking about affordability. >> my name's ron zito from denver. i'm self-employed. for many years i was able to afford my own insurance. it wasn't cheap but i was able to afford it. last year what happened was it doubled and i just couldn't afford it anymore. ctually going without insurance. >> so i guess the question here is, mary agnes, are those people looking for insurance likely to keep seeing these rising costs and why are the pricings so much more after the aca than before?& >> a lot of what you pay will depend on where you live. one thing i'm thinking is maybe go back to the web site. federal officials have been talking about things may be different this year. perhaps there are more plan options that were available for him than there were last year. it's unclear whether or not he went through the process. could he have qualified for a subsidy to get some assistance? could he go for a plan that has a higher deductible and a lower premium? i think it's something he should check out again and see if it works for him. >> susan, what else? >> in quite a number of states, the premiums for even the silver plan, the second lowest-cost type plan are actually lower than they were last year. some states they are a little bit higher, 5%, some states even more. i think more broadly people should keep in mind, especially if they're thinking not just comparing this year the lastç year but this year to what they had before the affordable care act went into effect, the coverage by in large is broader. the annual limits have been done away with. the lifetime limits have been done away with. the essential benefitsç are now in place. so people have to think about the whole breadth of their coverage, not just the premium. >> all right. final question for today, and by the way we'll continue this segment tomorrow, but we talked to a woman from delaware and it her question was about employer-based coverage. >> my name is carolyn manuel from delaware. i have employer-based insurance, but why are many co-pays going up if this is the affordable care act? >> mary agnes? >> the trend in the employer market has been to shift more of the cost to workers to increase their share of the premium, their co-pays an deductibles. this was happening separately from the affordable care act. those on the price of health insurance are those on the individual market. so people in the employer market may not see the same sort of effect on their health insurance as you mru as if you bought your own health insurance and maybe couldn't afford it before and can get it now. >> it's a big loss, but as mary agnes says, it doesn't pertain to every aspect of health insurance, and to the degree that employers can decide their level of coverage, they have a lot of latitude still to decide what it is they want in their health insurance plans and specifically what share of that they want employees to pick up. >> all right. a lot of questions and we are going to continue this conversation tomorrow as we count down the days to the actual beginning of the second enrollment period. susan dentzer and mary agnes carey, thank you. >> thank you.ç >> great to be with you, judy. >> ifill: the mormon church has long faced questions about its history and origins, particularly when t)comes to polygamy and race. now, leaders are addressing these issues head on. jeffrey brown has the story. >> brown: the history of mormonism goes back to its founding in 1830 in new york by the prophet joseph smith. his successor, brigham young, would lead his followers across the country, eventually to utah. the church officially ended the practice of polygamy in 1890. and aspects of that early history have been discussed and debated these days online ever since. but not, officially at least, by the church itself, until now. the mormon church has been releasing a series of essays that for the first time acknowledge that joseph smith himself had many wives, including some already married and at least one quite young. kristine haglund, editor of "dialogue: a journal of mormon thought", joins us to look atç all this. welcome to you. tell us first, if you would, why is this still so important to mormons today? >>ç historically the revelation about polygamy came at the same time and in the same context as the revelations about eternal marriage, which is still one of the most appealing and attractive doctrines of mormonism. so the belief that family relationships, love and marriages can last into eternity is all bound up with the history of polygamy. so it's not easy to disentangle them and jetson polygamy as we high like to now. brown brown and how much of this is tied up into -- how much of this is continually debated? i referred to the online debates within members of the mormon community. how much of these issues are still very much with us?ç >> all of it. it's been of interest to scholars for a long time, and they've debated it on all sides. and it's still really a live theological issue. ade a definitive statement about whether polygamy will continue in the afterlife. it's still possible for a man to be sealed in the temple to more than one woman during his lifetime. so these questions are very much live issues still for contemporary members. >> brown: tell us more about joseph smith, why in particular is it so important to learn about him? >> well, he's the founder of the church, and so much of the original doctrine comes from him, and also much of the mormon sense of identity. he's also, besides being the founding prophet, he's considered a martyr for the church. he was killed largely due to conflict aroundç polygamy, ando he is a central figure. a lot of people base much of their feeling about mormonism on their personal witness of whether orç not joseph smith ws a prophet of god. >> brown: so how much are these things known within the church? how much are they... how has this all been received by various sectors of the community? >> it varies widely. and one of the problems is that mormonism is to a large extent now a very centralized church, and we have the same hymnals in every pew in the church and the same sunday school lessons all over the world every week. so people tend to experience their experience and what they've known in the church is the same as what everyone else knows, and that turns out not to be true at all with respect to polygamy. some lifelong members have grown up with family history of polygamy, and so they know about it and so they'veç had a teachr more comfortable talking about it. and so they've heard some of the details. other members are just hearing now for the very first time andç finding very distressing. >> brown: why do you think the church is doing this now? it's sort of coming out in an interesting way. it's online. it's out there for all to see, but i gather it's in the really trumpeted. it's not put out in a kind of loud way. what do you make of this? there is some discussion of it is a kind of transparent si by the church or why are they doing this? >> >> well, it's important to remember that mormonism is a young faith, as religions go, and so i think for the last decade or so there's been an increasing recognition that just controlling the message and carefully limiting the amount of information that people have won't workç anymore in the internet age. there's been much more openness among scholars about these difficult questions, and at the same time, there's been more vocal and more publikç dissent from people who now can publish their questions and their angry discoveries online. so there's just better communication on all sides about these questions some that coupled with more attention from outside, from pop culture, the "book of mormon" musical, from sister wise, all the media attention around those culture events and mitt romney's run for the presidency has put mormonism in the spotlight and given mormons more of a sense of how they are perceived in america.ç >> let me ask you briefly finally, how much is what we're talking about here on the polygamy issue tied to any other larger changes or part of a larger discussion within the mormon church about other issues, the role of women, the role ofç blacks? >> i think particularly with regard to women, this is all tied up in a way you can see in some of these essays that there aren't all that many women represented either among scholars or among administrators of the church. and so there is a certain tone deafness to how these issues will play among women differently than among men. >> brown: kristie haglund, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> ifill: an usually private collection of african american art went on public display for the first time this week in washington. and the collectors making theç art available are better known than the art itself. i sat down with them last week. >> ifill: it started with two friends talking about art. rector of the smithsonian national museum of african art. the other: camille cosby, an art collector, philanthropist and, as it happens, the wife of comedian bill cosby. persuaded that there was a connection between the sculptures and paintings that define african art, and the quilts, abstracts and carvings that african americans had created out of, and since, slavery, they set out to combine them. the result: an extensive new exhibit titled "conversations," combining the cosbys' african american collection, and the museum's african one. works with common themes, ranging from the spiritual, to the political. many of the american artists, from romare bearden to henry ossawa tanner, are well known. most of the african artists, from senegal to south africa toç nigeria, are not. but side by side, the works mirror one another, a shared experience of memory and family, of nature, of music.ç a massive marble elizabeth catlett sculpture commissioned by bill for camille features a couple in an embrace, with the faces of their children engraved on the woman's shoulder. in its shadow stand two mid 20th century male and female wooden figures from cote d'ivoire. another juxtaposition: a 1978 painting titled "benin head" by american artist david driskell, and a copper and iron commemorative head of a king from benin, made in the 18th century. the works are soaring and smallç colorful and spare. camille and bill cosby joined me at the african art museum to talk about it all. mr. and mrs. cosby, thank you so much for inviting us into this amazing exhibition. i want to start by asking you,ç and i'll start with you, camille, when did you start collecting all of this? >> we actually collected three years after we were married. we were married in 1964, so this is our 50th year to be married. three years later, 1967, we went to a wonderful gallery. our first acquisitions were the charles whites, the chinese ink, the charcoal drawings, the beautiful physiognomies of black people. for example, there's one here in this exhibition of a woman who is pregnant, it's just that sheç represents strength, the bigness is the strength of this female, >> ifill: one of the interesting things for those of us who are not even collectors, we just like art, is we don't think of ourselves as collectors, or like. were you thinking to yourself when you began this process as investors in art, or just getting what you liked? >> well there's many, many tentacles. first of all camille and i both had moved up the economic ladder, so our home had many rooms, and being on another level i was raised in lower economic, so our artwork, so to speak, would be cutting out a picture in ebony magazine, andç then with scotch tape putting it on the wall, if it was a >> ifill: i think where a lot of people were first exposed to a lot of african-american art by watching what was in theç background on your television programs, and that's something you did consciously. >> yes, it was important to me because there's one in chet kinkaid, and it's in chet's living room. >> ifill: oh, that was the cosby show. >>i bought it from the fellows, and then i went back and forth, and these paintings were maybe a hundred fifty dollars, things like that, and i just loved it. >> ifill: you know, as we sit in this gallery and look at what you've accumulated over the years, so much of it is high tone art, and so much of it is very personal, like the quilts we see on the walls.ç tell me the story about the quilts. >> there are many stories, because there are several quilts in this collection. the most profound one, and theç most, i guess feeling one, is the one that was done in honor of our son who is now deceased, and there is a group of black women in port gibson, mississippi, who belong to an organization titled the mississippi cultural crossroads, and these, when our son died, the women contacted us and asked if we would send our son's shirts, or any other article of clothing, to them, and they made the quilt that you see in front of you. >> ifill: you also have your grandmother's quilt here.ç >> ifill: you talk about connections, mr. cosby, one of the interesting things is we are sitting in the museum of african art, not african-american art, yet somehow your african- american art collection seems to connect with the african artç here. is that why you chose this place? >> no, you're talking to the wrong cosby. let me explain this whole thing. one day some people came in my house, and they said mrs. cosby sent us, and they walked around, and they were looking at the paintings, and they just kept going, and so i paid no attention to them, and then another house i was in in massachusetts, and these same people came, and they were looking all around, and all the paintings were being taken from the houses, i said to my wife, at the time of 49 years, i saidç but nobody asked me, and she said good, and kept walking, so please do not ask me how any of this got here< i just hope i get all my stuff back. >> ifill: well, that's a question, because this feels to me almost like it would be a permanent exhibit, and that you're... >> ahh, no! >> ifill: okay, you get it back but... >> no, no, you don't understand. this, these are my friends, and i walk through my house, which used to be our house, i walk through there and there are paintings that i don't want them, not yet, not yet. >> ifill: as people come to this exhibit, as they walk though, as it's very warm and engaging, what do you hope that they take away from it?ç our history is lost, a bit.ç >> this does raise the level, this does put the perspective in people are going to come here and see things that are done in africa, and be amazed, because in our societies, we keep people from understanding that, and learning. >> i want them to feel the beauty, i want them to feel maybe the obstacles that these artists encountered, whether they were racial, or whether they were gender obstacles, or whatever the obstacles were, but i also just want them to feelç the integrity of the work, i want them to feel the victory of the work despite it all, just feel it, each and every piece. >> ifill: the color, the curve, the vibe.ç >> yes, that's one of the things i love about elizabeth catlett by the way, because when you look at her pieces, her women are full of strength, and self- assuredness, and she, you can feel the pride of her blackness, and she, and her love for form, the female form, in a very respectful way, not a disrespectful way. i just want people to feel all of that. >> ifill: mrs. cosby, mr. cosby, thank you so much for having us, and thank you so much for talking to us. >> and thank you ms. ifill. >> thank you.çç the collection remains on view at the smithsonian through early 2016. >> woodruff: finally tonight, a different veterans day story. photographer jennifer karate hopes her work will illuminate some of the difficulties that veterans face when they return to the civilian world. this self-narrated report was produced by detroit public television. >> soldiers' stories from iraq and afghanistan is a project that i've been working on for the last eight years. i've been traveling ash the country working with american veterans who have served in iraq and afghanistan to make these the making of each photograph involves the collaboration between myself and the veteran. we begin with a series of interviews, and through those identify a moment from war that's come home with the person into the civilian world. so we talk about both that memory of war and then also the way that memory manifests itself in the present. >> i met jennifer through an organization the university runs to pass on information to student veterans. after meeting with her and discussing the project, it sounded like something i want to be involved with. >> in each photograph the veteran is in uniform and we're restraining this memory from war, but that moment is recontention actualized in the civilian world, so you get this sense of a collision or a collapse between these two worlds, and trying to represent something that's invisible,-som, something that's emotional. so what it feels like for the veteran to come home and sometimes experience two different realities at once and that could take place in the form of a flashback,ç a memory, an instinct, an image. i made this picture with shelby webster on the omaha nation reservation in nebraska. she was a single mother who left her kids to deploy to iraq. shelby was a truck driver, and on her first convoy, the convoy got attacked, i mean, she was terrified. she was hearing explosions. the ground was shaking. it was really her first moment of real war. and she just kept thinking about her kids, she heard a voice, and the voice said to her, well, you're going to be all right. and she recognized that voice as her deceased grandfather's voice, and then she also smelled this incredible smell of cedarç burning, and the omaha people, when they pray, they burn cedar, and the next time she called home to her dad, she said, "dad, i smelled cedar." and he said,ç "well, we just hd this big prayer meeting specifically for you. that must be what you smelled." the photographs are accompanied with texts or sound stories, and basically those consistent of the veterans telling the story in their own words. >> my photo deals a lot with the experiences of being in iraq, of seeing my friends killed. it shook up my sense of self, because i felt i owed it to those i serve with to remain engaged, and at the same time, doing so conç flicts with the emotions i was feeling some when i came back, there's a distance between some of those, you know, who i considered friends where we perhaps were each grieving in our own ways.ç you know, over time and especially working through this project, i've had the opportunity to really think about those things, reconnect with some of the people that i served with, talk with them about the experiences that they had. >> one of the questions that i asked veterans during the whole process is what will make you feel safe to work with this moment or memory, and so whatever they tell me, i inconcern rate into the picture. so early on a veteran told me, my family is what makes me feel safe and grounded in the presentment then it also becomes a way for them to start talking about something that might be really difficult to talk about with, you know, their family and friends. >> i think there are a lot of themes in jennifer's work. i think it just speaks toç the humanity of service members that we are ordinary individuals put in extraordinary circumstances, and out of devotion for our country and a sense to serve, we've taken on aç certain burd. and that's not to say that we're owed anything or that we expect any special treatment, but that we just want to be viewed like ordinary people who love their country and are proud to have had the opportunity to serve. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. this "veterans day" in the u.s. was marked with parades and traditional ceremonies. european nations honored those who died in world war one, which ended on this day in 1918. and in beijing, president obama and other leaders at an asianç pacific summit agreed to work on a chinese "free trade" proposal that would sharply reduce tariffs. >> ifill: on the newshour onlinç right now, in this week's installment of "ask the headhunter," our resident job- seeking expert shares the secret of taking control of the interview and winning over the hiring manager. it's a skill that can be used in every step of your career. see what that is, on our "making sense" page. all that and more is on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. on wednesday, we'll look at protecting the home of the last mountain gorillas in the congo. i'm judy woodruff >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. we'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbsç newshour has been provided by:ç ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic;0@3 engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org.ç >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions 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 this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen, brought to you in part by -- thestreet.com featuring stephanie link. the multi million dollar portfolio she manages with jim cramer. learn more at thestreet.com/nbr. the u.s. and china agree to drop tariffs on $1 billion worth of technology products. and some well known companies could feel the impacts. $9 billion in 24 hours. that is how much the chinese internet goliath alibaba rang up in sales today on singles day, an event that is now bigger than cyber monday and black friday combined. and a few good men from t