captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc ev >> woodruff: gooing. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: the toll from alabama in human lives and property. assessin deadliest tornadoes to hit the u.s. in nearly six years. then, we are on thground at the southern u. border, with a report on the harsh conditions that migrants continue to face once they cross intohe u.s. plus, the fight over vaccines. a measles outbreak i pacific northwest renews scnttiny over exemptions gra to parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated. >> i really, really hope itge doesn'to a point where there is a death, and then people go "oh, maybe i don'thi wanthappen to my kid after all." and it's a terrifying thought, because, you know, it cod be my kid, it could be my, my infant.

>>,oodruff: all that and mo on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided : ♪ ♪se >> on a cr with americancr se lines, you can experience historic destinations along the hessissippi river, the columbia river and acrossnited states. american cruise lines fleet of small ships explore am landmarks, local cultures and lm waterways. erican cruise lines, pro sponsor of pbs newshour.ta >> ordering keout. >> finding the west route. ow talking for hours. >> planning for s. >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data

consumer cellular.re learn t consumercellular.tv >> bnsf railway. >> babl. a language program that teaches spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corpn for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the search for tornado victims is winding down night in eastern alabama. now, survivors in beauregard and other communities face a long road to recovery, after sunday's twister blasted the region with winds of 170 miles an hour. john yang begins our coverage. >> yang: across lee county,

alabama, residents areg to grips with lives lost or forever changed in an instant. >> feeling like you have to start all over, like everything you worked hard for was gone.a >> yang: angcascio is grateful she and her family survived the nation's deadliest tornado in six years. >> wondering why, but we know we can't predict the weather and we just got out of harm's way. luckily, we were one o lucky ones that got out. i d some friends and famil and coworkers that didn't make it out. >> yang: today authorities released the names of the 23 known ctims. seven came from a single family. the oldest victim was 89ears old. the youngest, armando "a.j." hernandez, was just six. >> there's been loss of loved ones, god, there's been loss of homes, lord. >> yang: at lee scott academy in

auburn this morning, theed community unn prayer for another young life lost: ten-year-old taylor thornton, a udent at the school. carol dean sat in what's left of the home she shared wid, her husbavid wayne dean, which is where he died. >> i really can't describe. he's just, it was just a special bond. he completed me, and i completed him. he was done and gone before we got to him. he was theeason i lived, the reason that i got up. >> yang: officials say the search for more victims winding down and heavy equipment will be hauling away the debris. >>his has been an ordeal f all of us, but i'm going to tell you, i think the people here and the people who have come to help us have performed admirably. >> yang: as survivors prepare to bury the dead, and rebuild shattered lives. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: joining me on the phone now is mayor bubba

copeland of smith's station, alabama, a community just east of beauregar that is now grappling with this tornado's devastating aftermh. mayor copeland, thank you very much for talking with us. tell us how your community was affected. >> we have a town of 5,000, but the tonship of 22,000 that represents the greater populace of smith's station. it's a 27-mile-long tornado. it was about two football fields wide, 170mph winds. everything in its path pretty much was destroyed. it's hard to put into words besides e fact that ive never been to a war zone, but i've seen a war zone, andt' just very familiar, total aphilation. >> it's extraordinary that you did not have loss of life. >> the lor ud really bless. it's unbelievable. it's a miracle. we had tw inries. they were not life-threatening. if you were hre, you would be

even more amazed just by saying it just to see the destruction of houses and homes and mobile homes. we're just so lucky and so blessed to not have any loss of life. h> woodruff: how are you helping the people have lost their homes and lost everything they have or a lot of it? >> well, you know, dowin the deep south we are great for people coming together. what has happened is 15 minutes after this storm come through, people just show up everywhere like angels. they just come and they volunteer. today we have people from south carolina, florida, georgia,no h carolina. they just dove down with heavy equip and began just clearingle pe houses, yards away, so people can actually get out of their houses and get to we they could go to the store or what have you. we also organized an effort for v. m.a. also the red cross is here, as well as the alabama forestry

commission isere, th alabama national guard is here. i was expecting fema to come, hopefully if the president decles an emergency, and they'll come in and help us rebuildful right now we're organizing our efforts. the community is pulling together. we're trying to help people get the clothes they need. we have fire stations that are open for showe. and clothes and we have churches at are coming in afeeding people that don't have food. a lot of people can't get out, f so we're takiod to where they're at. >> woodruff: how do you process, mayor coeland, that just 15 miles away in bureau of professional beauregard, 23 people at least died. how do you process it had that impact there, but your communy, even though there was a lot of damage, was spared in terms of loss of life. >> our hearts go out to the beauregardommunity. they're part of lee count we're all part of lee county,

alabama. our hearts are so heavy for them with three children being lostwh ane families being lost, words can't describe the vdness. it's ay, very sad day in lee county. >> woodruff: well, our hearts go out to all of you, certainly to them and to everyone who has experienced a loss in your community. mayor bubba copeland of smith'st n, alabama. thank you very much for talking with us. >> thank you. it's an honor. thank you. >> woodruf in the day's other ne, president trump went after congressional democrats over a series of new investigations. the house judiciary committee is seeking records and documents from 81 people linked to mr. trump, in a probe of possible obstruction and abuse of power. at a white house event today, mr. trump charged that democrata are ng in what he called "presidential harassment." >> the witch hunt continues.

the fact is that, i guess we got 81 letters.lu there was no con. it was a hoax. there was no anything, and they want tdo that instead of getting any legislation passed. 81 organizations or people got letters. it's a disgrace. it's a disgrace to our country. >> woodruff: house democratic leaders have defended the judiciy committee's investigation, and several others. they drew support today frat democratic s richard blumenthal of connecticut. >> congress has an iependent responsibility, a very solemn one, to do oversight, openly, in public, under oath. the house committees should be demanding answers, as they're doing, and demanding documents. >> woodruff: meanwhile, house oversight committee chair elijah cummings said today that the white house is refusing to provide documents about security clearances. that comes amid questions about how jared kushner, the president's son-in-law, got hisv high clearance. house democrats plan to vote tomorrow to condemn anti- semitism, in a rebuke of muslim

congresswoman ilhan omar.mi thesota democratic representative, elected just last november, suggested last hat pro-israel groups wa lawmakers to "pledge allegiance to a foreign country." p democrats criticized thispr anious remarks of hers as potentially anti-semitic. fellow freshman alexandria ocasio-cortez tweetea defense of omar today. there is word that white supremacist efforts to spread messages of hate reached historic levels in 2018. the anti-defamation league reports that such propaganda incidents increased 182%, from 420 a year earlier, to nearly 1,200. the group also notes that the number of white supremacist rallies rose last year as well. the california attornegeneral announced today that he will not charge two sacramento police officers who killed stepn clark last year.

the investigation found that clark advanced with something in his hand that flashed. it turned out to be a cell phone-- not a gun. attorney general x said today the officers believed they were in danger, and the result was tragic. >> our investigation has concluded that no criminal chars against the officers involved in the shooting can be sustained. nothing can bring back stephon clark, and nothing helps end the t his family carries. >> woodruff: last night, dozens of people protested in sacramento, after county fiosecutors had declined t charges. l police made st 80 arrests. overseas, anti-government protests flared in albaniada as thousands of demonstrators demanded new elections.ur crowdsunded the parliament building in tirana. s they carrins pressing the government to resign over allegations of corruption and crime. political protests also raged in sudan, with a one-day strike

in the capital of khartoum. opposion supporters called for the ouster of president omar al-bashir, who's been in power for o decades. medical researchers are hailing news of a london man who appears free of the aids virus, after a stem cell transplant. it is only the second such case on record, and it suggests that the first one, from 12 years o, was not a fluke. stem cell transplants are expensive, and have failed to work in many aids patients. but, researchers say the findings may still lead to a new approach. back in this country, former new york city mayor michael bloomberg announced today that he will not run for president next year. he had been considering a bid for the democratic nomination. and, hillary clinton ruled out running again. she spoke in an interview with o new york televstation. u.s. food and drug commissionert scott eb will leave his post next month.

the department of health and human services confirms that gottlieb submitted his resignation today. the former doctor and drug nsultant has aggressively pursued initiatives to limit e-cigarette "ving" by young americans, as well as opioid aladdiction. onstreet today, the dow anes industrial average lost 13 points to clo25,806. the nasdaq fell one point, and ths&p 500 slipped three. and, kylie jenner is now the world's youngest self-made billionaire, at the age of just 21 "forbes" magazine says she reached th milestone three years earlier than facebook founder mark zuckerberg. jenner made her fortune withhe cosmetics company she started in 2015. still to come on the newshour: a report from the southe border on the treatment of migrants. the symbiotic relationship between fox news and the trump white house. a legislative battle over vaccines, after a measles

outbreak. the filmmakers behind the oscar- winning documentary "free solo." and, much more. >> woodruff: u.s. customs and border protection announced today that more than 76,000 migrants cross into the united states on the southern border in february. that is more than double the numbers from just one year ago. in washington, the senate is preparing to block president trump's national emergency dearation. mr. trump will likely veto, clearing the way for funding for his lo to learn more about the situation on the ground, our amna nawaz has spent the past esys reporting from both s of the u.s.-mexico border. and shjoins me tonight from san luis, arizona.

amna, hello pa you. so thi of the border where you are is a place that the trump administration has toutedded as a success. they say that the number of crossings, illegal crossings is down. we see the border wall behind you. what are you finding on the ground about it? >> you did, you're absolutely right.e it's not just ump administration either. it's previous administrations. they have some form ofif siant walling here in the yuma sector, as it's called, fo several years. there was a huge surge in 2005. they asked for fencing funding. they gott. they have this kind of wall now along a good portion close ton the point ofy which is called triple-layer fencing. it is significant and very aggressive it gets less aggressive the further away you get from ports of entry, but that has not made this sector immune from those same trends you've noted across the country. they have bee seeing surges and upticks over the last few years. they're seeing larger groups and a lot more crossings in remote areas.th

why ar seeing that? the same reasons the rest of the country is. they are sing more family units crossing than ever before. yuma has the distinction of having the highest pacte of family units crossing. 10 or 15 years ago, 90%f the people who crossed were single adult males from mexico. today almost 90% of the people f crossing armilies with kids or unaccompanied minors. that's taxing resources in unprecedentedded way ?oos amna, we know one of the strains on all this is the lack of housing for the mgrants. the border patrol people have said they built a new processing nter in el paso. you were able to see one of the these neprocessing centers today. what did you find out? >> that's right, judy. those processing centers are basically the first place that migrants are taken after they're apprehended or they encounter border patrol after crossing illegally.

it's exactly they. they have their identities checked, they get fripghted. they don't usually allow acchess tose processing centers, that are also temporaryn detentnters. when you go inside, you understand why. what we saw is one room in particular that was packed to the gills with accompanied young men. these were teenagers and young boys lying like sardines head to foot in some cases with mylar blankets on top of them and nothing but a thin pad to sleep on. and this is where the majority of these folks will spend three days or longer before they're moved on to ice custody. i'll telikyou what also str you when you walk around this room, it's how many children there are. confined to these small sces, who got absolute delight from just being able to put their hand up a pane of glass to say hi to us and smile and make faces, infants in thteir moher's arms. this is not the population that border patrol is used to housing. they're not resourced for it. they showed us what used to be

an offe supply closet that had the standard things they need. it's now stocked to the ceiling with diapers and baby food an onesies for infants and the kinds of things you need to take care of children, which is now an increasingly large part of their job. they're not used to doing it. ys one official said to me, the would rather not be doing it. it's taking resources away from the other responsibs they have, securing the border and doing law enforcement there. so they told us before,vehey sked for additional facilities. they wanted a temerrary tra added. they made that request for two years, it's an $800,000 budgetary request. it's been denied. they hoped that would be one place where the kids could go for some portion of the day to play. they ray the currentsources are not built the handle th>>is. oodruff: it's such a difficult picture to imagine. quickly, amna, you have been talking to border patrolgents. what do they tell you they think is needed to fix this immigration problem?

>> brangham: well, look, they want additiosources like i told you, both housing centers are not built to handle the population. they want more agents. yuma sector, they have a litle over 800. the chief has gone to washington and made a request for 10 more agents every year for next four years. what they also say they want is more wall. not just wall, bu the technology that comes with it. they have about 18 camera towers right now. they say they can use more. they have substtial walling, as you can see, but even that can be penetrated. they walked us along thel wal and showed us places where there hasn't been a concrete foundation poured. people have been able to dig under and come through. there is older wall, what thd call the o landing mat wall that's easily penetrated or climbed over. so i put to them, thero conversationd the wall is if you build a 30-foot wall, which is what they want in someplace, people will build a 31-foot ladder. what do you say to that? they say, we can't deny that. walls redirect traffic or cauop

to take on more harm to try to cross, but it is something they can do right now. lso say what they hope they do sen courage people to just make a legal crossing, judyso >> woodruff: important to be reporting this story from ond the grrom where it is happening. amna nawaz reportingnrom luis in arizona. thank you, amna. >> thanks, judy. >> woodruff: the fox news channel is one of the most esccessful news media vent today, winning consistently top ratings in the competive world of cable news. but while the network has always relished beingn outlet for conservative voices, the network is drawing criticism for its increasingly close relationship with the trump administration. william brangham lks at that criticism, and the multiple connections between fox and the white house.

>> brangham: fox news has long been accused by critics of being a "mouthpiece" for the trump administration, and tentimes, its anchors and guests sound just like the president:ll >> m is not going to produce a neutral report. he's not going to be fair. >> now is the time to talk about the wall and to awaken citizensd >> brangham:n return, president trump makes no secret of his love for fox news >> we got a lot of good people. do we like tucker? i li tucker. how about ainsley, brian? we got a lot of greands. >> brangham: here from the rose garden last month... >> sean hannity has teen a terrificific supporter of what i do. not of me. if i changed my views, he wouldn't be with me. laura's been great, laura ingraham. tucker carlson's been deat. they donide policy. >> brangham: and the president promotes fox news in other ways,

as wl. since august 2018, trump tweeted fox news stories to his 58 million twitter followers more than 200 times. , s favorite show seems to be the morning show"fox and friends." he shares their stories often, in real or near time, like this "fox and friends" segment from last january. it aired at 8:17 a.m., and was followed by a tweet from trump at 8:44 a.m. matthew gertz, a senior fellow at media matters, a watchdog and frequent critic of fox news, has spent more than a year tracking how closely trump's tweets correspond to fox news' segments. >> the most valuable square foos of reate in washington, d.c. is the president's head, and where he is learning about the world is important. if he's not getting his information from the national t,curity apparatus or the experts in governmnd is instead listening to "fox and friends" and the guests that they book, that gives that show

an incredible amountwer, and power without accountability. fox news is only accountable to its viewers and to itsis aders. >> brangham: when it comes to e.esidential interviews, fox is also a clear favor the president has appeared on fox news 46 times esnce becoming ent, compared to just ten for every other network, combined. >> come on up, sean hannity! >> brangham: fox news' mquee anchor, sean hannity, even showed up at a presidential rally. >> i had no idea you were going to invite me up here. and the one thing that has made and defined your presidency more than anything else is, "promises made, promises kept." >> brangham: after an outcry over hannity's appearance, thek netwt out a statement saying, "fox news does not condone any talent participating in campaign events." the trump administration doesn't deny there are connections, but top officials tell our whitepo house corrent yamiche

alcindor that critics exaggerate how it works, and it's not a simple feedback loop. >> white house officials say,nt yes, the presialks to fox. it's natural, because they are conservative and so is he. >> brangham: and it's true: not everything on fox is supportive of the administration and its polici. several fox anchors are well- known for giving administration officials and supporte a tough grilling. for example, fox's bret baier last week pressed congressn jim jordan about the president's allegedly illegal hush money payments to different women: >> but what about the substance? i mean, e president writing a check to him, while president, for these payments, these 11

payments, that he says we to pay off stormy danielsand the other woman-- is that not true? >> brangham: fox's chris wlace is another example, like here, when he challenged press secretary sarah sanders about the claim that terrorists are coming across the u.s.-mexico border. >> nearly 4,000 known or tospected terrorists come our country illegally, and we know that our most vulnerable point of entry is at our southern border... >> wait, wait, do you know where those 4,000 people come, where they are captured? airports. airports. >> not always, but certainly a large number... d >> the staartment says there hasn't been any terrorists found coming across the southern border.e >> brangham: lllace and baier, fox's shepard smith often fact-checks the president: the president has called it an assault at the border it is absolutely not. fox news has been the number one news network in the country for the past 17 years because we are the only news orgidization to

pra thorough look at every side of every story. our award-winning anchors and reporters are widely respectedut throughe industry for their fearless approach to news while our opinion hosts offer insightful commentary nalysis on the leading issues. we are proud ofr team and the product we deliver. but there is atho important connection between the white house and fox nealws. overl more than a dozen current and former administraon appointees hav previously worked at fox, including john bolton, trumpal nati security adviser. was a longtime fox news commentator. bill shine, a fox news executive who now works as deputy chief of staff for communications. hope hicks was the former white house communications director, but she left the white house in march, and was soon hired by fox news' parent company, 21st century fox.re for more on thlving-door relationship between the white house and fox news, i'm joined by jane mayer of the "new." york

her newest story, "the making of the fox news white house," details the many ways the two intertwine.th welcome back tnewshour. >> thank you. >> brangham: so you report that fox news proudly celebrates its conservative credentials, but if your story you featurein criticde and outside of fox news who say they have never seen it quite like it is today.e what are youring from them? >> so that was the thing thatwa interesting. liberals have been bashing fox forever, but now you hear a o numbconservatives bashing fox because they think it's become a mouth piece for trump t conservative so much as almost kind of a platform for authoritarianism. and they're worried about it. so you don't hear dissenting voices on fox even within the right. you don't hear other kinds of conservatives. >>rrangham: if i were to t on fox news on any given day on a big news day, how does itst manitself? >> so in the past you might have heard bill kristol or jennifer ruben or george will. these are all so-called "never

trump" conservatives who are critics of trump but there from the right. you continue to see very many of those people. >> brangham: those people have been exiled? >> they have been exi you see a celebration pretty much night and day of our president trump. >> brangham: there are a lot of people who look at this and say, well, that's their business model. it's totally fine. there is nothing illegal about it, and the fact they have found an audience with the singular occupant of the white house, what's the big deal? >> you now, i suppose what the big deal is thakit there'nd of the understanding, if you're in the news business is that you're not supposed to -- there is a li between news and politics, and that we're independent, we're a separate branch, we're not part of the government, we're the fourth estate.m and it'sportant for democracy that people get independent information so they can make good choices about politics. >> brangham: the conservative critics, including some voices in fox news, would say, but the press is largelyeral, and they point to the way certain

parts of the press dealt with the obama administration. you in your own pieceeport how j.f.k. had a very tight relationship with the press.or they didn't rcertain stories that were unflattering to him. is this do you really think fill sloughically that different? >> -- philosophically that different? >> i think there's coordination no you have thargest cable news network in the country thordinating it appears on a daily basis wit white house. so there is this revolving door where the former esident of fox news is now the director of communications for donald trump. this is bill shine in th white house. and the highest-rated talking head for fox news, sean hanity, ls the best friend of bil shine, so his best friend is the munications com director, and he's on the phonei almost everyht after his show with the president. so you have this very, verykn tigh group of people who are messaging using one of the

big networks in the count. >> brangham: throughout your piece, this there is a debate that seems to course through it, which is is trp driving fox, or is fox driving trump. i wonder where you come down on asat. >> thatne of the things i was hoping to find out as a reporter. i couldn't tell who i driving this train. and on any given day it is ver y ha tell. what you'll often see is something that's on fox then echoed by a tweet from the president then fox is encouraged to do more of it. it's ki t of someone sao me, you could call it it's ear vicious circle or cycle o a virtuous circle or cycle. it's a feedback loop, and somewhere in there, in some ways dmong the most important dynamics, is the aience. because fox is trying to capture the audice and make it constantly watch fox, and the

esident is trying to capture the same audience and make them vote for him. th is a sement of the american population. and the way they do it is the same. they try to mke that segment of the american population angry. so they're both playing really toward the audience. >> brangham: one of the media analysts youuuote in yor story says fox's most important role pince the election is to kee trump supporters in line. what does he mean by that? 's>> so what heaying is whenever there is a story that's ve for trump in the res of the media, what fox does is it has a counter nrrative tha it spins out there that keeps trump supporters happy. and it says, don't listen to those critics. they are the deep state or if it's law enforcement from the f.b.i. on down coming after trump, they're crooks. we've got the real story here that the mainstream media won't te you. stay tuned. stay with trump. stay with us. >> brangham: but there are

many instances where fox news anchors willeally gri the president's supporters, members of the administration. i'm thinking about afer michael cohen's testimony about those alleged hush money payment, brett bayer really went after congressman jim joroesn't this evidence trouble you? >> well, there are a handful of excellent reporters at fox, and brett bayer is considered a solid reporter. chris wallace is a solid reporter. shepherd smith. there are a number of them. and e ey work for thnews side of fox. but most viewers have no idea there is aparate division that's actually considered news reporters, and the rest of i in fox's view is entertainment. it's all labeled fox, but you wouldn't really know it as a viewer. it's the enterinment guys and women, but you would think of as fox. they are on all night long in >> brangham: in your story you also report how the trump hministration when it comes to regulatory mattes also taken a very favorable approach to foxfiews, spelly with

regards to the time warner acquisition. can you explain? >> well, what i found was trump actively tried to stop tha deal, block that deal, and he ordered gary cohn, who was his top economic adviser in the white house, to get the justicel department tck that deal. an he not only ordered him oncei he said, told him 50 time," there is this anecdote in the ory, which suggests that the president was trying to throw a wrench in one of the major sot of corporate deals that took place during his time, and in a specific way. that was a deal that would have helped cnn, and hewanted to hurt cnn it appears. and it is a al that if you block it, would have helped cnn's rival fox. >> brangham: jane mayer of "the new yorker," your current story is in the currentish sue of "the new yorker." thanks very much for being here. >> thanks for having me.

>> woodruff: once declared eradicated in the united states, meles outbreaks are rattli regions of the country again this year.mo there have bee than 200 confirmed cases in just the past few months, and many are in the pacific northwest, whiched prom state of emergency in washington state. it has also led to renewed concerns about pockets of unvaccinated children there and aross the country. today, officialspoke at a senate hearing about the need to vaccinate. it included testimony from anec ohio teen, whoed to get his own vaccinations when he turned 18. ethan lindenberger tnators ieat he defied his mom, her anti-vaccination b, and others spreading that message, becaushe thought it was dangerous to himself and the public. >> for certainndividuals and organizations that spread this misinformation, they instilled fear into the public for their

own gain, selfishly, and do so knowing that their information is incorrect.r mother-- her love, affection and care as a parent was used to push an agenda to create a false distrnd these sources which spread misinformation should be the primary concern of the american people i quickly saw that the evidence and claims for myself were notca accurate, and e of that, and because of my health care professionals that i was able to speak with and the informati that was provided to me, i was able to make a clear, concise and scientific decision. >> woodruff: as we said, the pacific northwest has en central in this battle, especially this year. special correspondent cat wise from there on what is being done in the aftermath of the outbreak. >> okay, eleanor, i'm putting leon in. are you coming? >> reporter: each weekday, amber gorrow, a real estate appraiser and mother of three, takes her e.young daughter to daycar but since the measles outbreak in her community-- vancouver, washington, just north of portla-- she's taking extrati precau. >> i've just been leaving the baby in the car and locking the

doorwhich makes me uncomfortable, but it's-- i feel like he's safer there than potentially, you know, contracting anything that' going around right now. >> reporter: at just ten weeks, her son leon is too young to rendive the measles, mumps a rubella vaccine. it's usually admn istered betwchild's first birthday and 15 months, then again between ages four and six. diso, gorrow has been avoi public places altogether: the library, the grocery store, birthday parties-- any pce where potentially infected children could spread this highly contagious disease. >> it's definitely an added stress that we don't need. and it's an unnecessary added stress. that's the frustrating part, is, it's not like-- it's not like a weather incident that's really frustrating because we have to stay inside. it's like, a preventable issue that we shouldn't be dealing with. >> i heard there's a child that has a rash? >> reporter: dr. lisa bisgard is the head of pediatrics for kaiser permanente in vancouver. this clinic has had at least one case of confirmed measles.

and, because that disease can linger in the air for up to two hours, kaiser and otheics in the area have been admitting potential cases through side entrances to avoid infecting other patients. >> reporter: symptoms of measles include a high fever, runny nose, cough and red eyes.r, during winhose can be hard to distinguish from the flu or a common cold. but after three to five days, a large rash appears-- usuallye, first on the fefore spreading to other parts of the body. how rious is this disease? >> it's very serious. a lot of pple think it might be a small fever for a day or two and a little rash, and it's really not the case. some of the chdren need to go to the emergency room; in some cases, need to be hospitalized for a few days. and then of course, our patients who have cancer, or who cannot get the vaccine, or the little

babies, are even more at risk. and measles can also cause brain infections as well, which a lot of people don't realize. >> reporter: with two doses, the m.m.r. vaccine is 97% effective, according to the centers for disease control and prevention, and 91% of the population is vaccinated nationally. but to slow the spread of measles and protect those who can't get vaccinated for medical reasons-- a concept known as "herd immunity"-- around 95% of people in a community need to be vaccinated against measles. but 17 states, including washington and oregon, allow for personal or philosophical exemptions to vaccines, and thin those states, vacci rates can be far lower. clark county is the epicenter of the measles outbreak in washington and oregon.ra the vaccinatio here is among the lowest in the country, just 78%. >> because it's exquisitely contagious and we have a large unvaccinated population, this can spread like wildfire.

>> reporter: dr. alan melnick is the public health director for clark county. he says the effort to track where infected people have gone, then alert all those who potentially came in contact with them, extremely time- consuming. state health officials from washington and idaho, and the c.d.c., have been heing out. the outbreak has already cost the state more than a million dollars, and strained the county's resources. >> it would be one thing if wead justo do this for a week or two. we've already been at this for over a mth, and given the incubation period-- the time from exposure to the time youve p symptoms-- you got one group of people who get exposed, then they expose another group p ple, seven to 21 days later. and this thing propagates over time, so it's not like it allly ends qui >> reporter: measles was officially declared eliminated from the u.s. in the year 2000, but domestic cases continue to

pop up. last year, there wereas 349 s cases in the u.s. most were in new york and new jersey in unvaccinated orthodox jewish communities. internationally, the world health organization says that in madagascar, there have been more than 900 deaths from an outbreak that started last september. ond in 2018, measles infec tripled in europe to 83,000, the bulk in ukraine. dr. melnick says the washington e rain is the same as the eastern europe. >> so, as long as measles exists, as long as people travel in and out of communities, and as long as we have unvaccinated populations, it's inevitable that we're going to have measles outbreaks. >> reporter: while officials work to contain the measles outbreak in clark county, here in olympia at the state capitol, the debate over vaccines is ramping up. ( protests ) for decades, some parents have argued that their children became autistic because of

vaccines. that link s been investigated and debunked. ( protests ) yet at this protest in olympia against mandatory vaccines, parents were convinced that their children and others continue to be harmed by vaccines. >> my beautiful nephew started having seizures after his m.m.r. i feel that it should be a choice, and if i'm going to live in a state that is forcing that upon me, i will move. >> r outbreak concern you at all given your children aren't vaccinated?n' >> no, it doconcern me one bit. i believe that we have these illnesses and thesa sicknesses foason. we have to be-- our bodies need to be immune to thts. ( prot ) >> reporter: that was something we heard a lot-- that measles isn't a big deal.ot but that'shat doctors and medical professionals say.

in fact, before the measles vaccination program began in the u.s. in 1963, 400 to 500 people died, 48,000 were hospitalized, and 4,000 developed brain swelling from the disease every year >> measles is not a benign disease. we've already had a child hospitalized for this. the other misinformation that's going out there is about the vaccine itself. some of this misinformation looks incredibly sophisticated, tht it's nonsense. >> reporter: wit recent outbreak, there's been increased pressure on facebook, twitter and other social media companies to crack down on misleadingio informatn about vaccinations, and some-- like youtube and pinterest-- have already done so. susie olson-corgan was one of the organizersf the anti- vaccine protest. she's with "informed choice washington," and she says people are here to fight for children. >> my main message is that we'rn all parents the best we can for our children. we want them to be healthy.

we want them thave successful futures. >> reporter: but both health experts and legislators say those few who oppose vaccines are impacting the safety and well-being of many others. >> i think this is a very vocal minority that has very real concerns, and i want to hear them. but on the same token, i need to have that immunity for my community. >> reporter: state representative paul harris, a republican who represents clpok county, isoring new legislation in the aftermath of the outbreak. if passed, parents who wish to send their children to public or private schools would have to inoculate their children with lae measles, mumps and rub vaccine-- unless they qualify for a medical or religious exemption.er s also a senate bill to remove personal and philosophical exemptions for all vaccines-- but similar legislation failed in 2015. back in clark county, in the aftermath of the outbreak, vaccination rates have more than doubled.

amber gorrow is glad more people are now getting vaccinated, buto shies that it may take another outbreak-- or worse-- to ince more people to vaccinate their children. >> i really, really hope it doesn't get to a point where there is a death, and then people go "oh, okay,now, maybe i don't want this happen to my kid after all." anit's a terrifying though because, you know, it could be my kid, it could be my, my infant >> reporter: f the pbs newshouri'm cat wise in ncouver, washington. >> woodruff: and we will be back oortly, with the filmmake the oscar-winning documentary "free solo." but first, taka moment to hear from your local pbs station. it is a chance to offer your support, which helps keep

>> woodruff: the film "free solo," about a rock climber who climbs withoutopes in yosemite national park, won best documentary at the academy awards this year. the makers of that film are thek focus of this "that moment when," newshour's show on facebook watch. >> in journalism and photography, as well, you try to, you hope to kind of rydisappear, you're reallyg to capture the moments as they happen and try not to influence the moment. >> it gets to, like the existential ethical question ate the heart ofilm, which is, in the act of filming, by filming him, are we in-- oing to, in some way cause him to fall? is he more likely to fall if ha're filming? >> i got the sensealex wanted to be filmed, but he didn't want to feel filmed. >> i think he thought the concept of actually free-soloing

el cap was film-worthy. and that idea of, like, someone doing justice to this incredible athletic feat, actually capturing it in a way that could live on for posterity... >> right. >> ...was something that was very appealing to him.e tual experience, what, and what that was going to entail, i think, was more of discovery process for him. >> you know, being a professional climber and, and having worked on both sides ofm the lens, ite sensitive to what it feels like when a semera's introduced to a situation, and thaitivity to it, you know, i-- we hoped to applm.in how we filmed with hi e. make it as easy, and non- intrusive as possi >> they're remote cameras because we want to stay out of alex's line of sight. >> what risk does the crew take on? >> we reallyried to mitigate e risk on the very front end by the team that we built. right? crso, you know, the first iteria to be onhe high angle team was that you had to be an elite professional climber. the second criteria is they had to be, you know, amazing cinematographers, as well.

so, there's not a very big pool to pull from, i needed people who could climb el cap casually in a day, and there aren't that many people who can do that. as alex was practicing his climb, we were practicing how we were going to shoot it. >> you've said, there wasn't a day in the two years of filming that you didn't think about him falling. can you describe what it feels like to walk around with that? >> i would wake up, and i would think, i could feel the, the burden, and then i would remember, i'd be like, "what, what am i feeling?"d en i would think about what it was that i, weighing on me. and, my mind would go to thewo e case scenario. >> i think everybody on the team carried a certain weight. but that was kind of the point. li, there was also a commitment that came with that weight. alex and believed in what he was doing. c >> woodruff: y find all

episodes of "that moment when" on facebook watch. and, join us theat on wednesday :30 eastern for a special watch party, live with host steve gobloom as he looks back and takes your questions about some of his favorite moments from the show thus far. also online, we take a closer look ahow house democrats are flexing their new investigative power by launching a range of inquiries and investigations surrounding e president, and we examine ten of those major issues. find that on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and that is the wshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again right here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> consumer cellular. >> american cruise lines. >> bnsf railway. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on theo

frontlinf social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new ngyork. suppornnovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutionsin anviduals. >> this program was possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viethrs like you. k you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc pt ned by media acce

- [narrator] explore new worlds and new ideas through programs like this.av made lable for everyone, through contributions to your pbs station, from viewers like you. thank you. deepak chopra: what is the purpose for which we are here? why do we want to know ourselves? wh hdo we want to know whpens after death? narrator: dr. deepak chopra world-renowned pioneer in integrative medici and author of over 80 books, created the seven spiritual laws of success to help everyon overcome barriers to reaching their peak potential. deepak: the seven spiritual laws of success, thie can change how we expe the world and allow us with very little effort to fulfill our goals