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President Obama met Thursday with moderate Democrats in hopes of rallying support for a controversial Asia-Pacific trade deal.

The president will need approval from at least some members of his own party to win passage of a "fast-track" bill, authorizing him to complete trade negotiations and present the agreement for an up-or-down vote in Congress.

So far, most Democratic lawmakers have been skeptical.

"I don't think enough of our issues have been resolved for us to be having a big movement of votes toward the bill," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. "Hopefully we can have some accommodations" to make the agreement more palatable.

"What does it do to increase the paycheck of America's workers?" Pelosi asked. Democrats worry that any further liberalization of trade rules would lead to a greater exodus of U.S. jobs. And they complain past trade agreements, including NAFTA and the three-year-old pact with South Korea have not lived up to expectations.

Republican lawmakers are generally more supportive of trade deals, and House Speaker John Boehner promised "strong Republican support" for the fast-track bill. Some Tea Party members are wary, however, of giving the president any additional negotiating authority. The more House Republicans that withhold support, the bigger boost Obama will need from his own party.

"The president needs to step up his game in terms of garnering more support amongst Democrats, especially here in the House," Boehner said Thursday. "I don't think those who are involved in trade have done a very good job of helping the American [people] understand the benefits of trade and why, in fact, it's good for America."

Political operatives close to the president commissioned a poll which shows a narrow majority of Democrats — 52 percent — back the Asia-Pacific trade deal. That number climbed to 82 percent when survey respondents were told the deal would make it easier for American companies to export products, and that it would raise labor and environmental standards.

The survey was released on Thursday by a group calling itself the "Progressive Coalition for American Jobs." Other progressive groups, which generally oppose the trade agreement, mocked the new coalition as an artificial vehicle for promoting the president's trade agenda.

Next week, Obama takes his trade show on the road — to Oregon. That's the home state of Sen. Ron Wyden, who's one of the top Democrats supporting the deal. Obama plans to take part in a pro-trade event at Nike. The Beaverton, Ore., company relies heavily on contract factories in Asia to produce its goods. Nike sneakers made in Vietnam could see lower tariffs if the trade deal is approved.

trans-pacific partnership

trade agreement

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Marie Heurtin was born, blind and deaf, just five years after Helen Keller, and experienced a similar liberation through the discovery of sign language. The French girl's tale is the harsher one, since Keller didn't lose sight and sound until she was 19 months old, and was able to communicate in a limited way with another girl before the breakthrough dramatized in The Miracle Worker.

And yet, as told by director and co-scripter Jean-Pierre Ameris, Marie's Story is gentler and less melodramatic. An account of faith as well as knowledge, the movie recalls the work of such transcendental French filmmakers as Alain Cavalier (notably with 1986's Therese) and Robert Bresson.

Ameris is a less distinctive stylist than either of those, although his depiction of nature is evocative and sometimes poignant. In the arresting introductory sequence, Marie (Ariana Rivoire) holds her hand up toward the sun, a presence she knows only as heat, not light.

The 14-year-old Marie is in a wagon, driven by her father, on the road to the Larnay Institute, where Catholic nuns teach deaf girls to sign (and, most likely, become tomorrow's nuns). The mother superior (Brigitte Catillon) rejects Marie because she's blind as well as deaf. But Sister Marguerite (Isabelle Carre) bonds with the girl as she coaxes her out of a tree, her customary refuge. Marguerite insists that Marie be allowed to study at the convent.

It's a demand she may at first regret. Unbathed and uncombed, Marie looks a bit like another savage of French cinema fame, Truffaut's 1970 The Wild Child. The other girls don't accept her, so Marie sleeps in Marguerite's room. They become very close, yet Marie wildly rejects any change in routine, which includes learning sign language.

Rather than a doll or similarly unthreatening toy, Marie's prized possession is a pocket-knife. So Marguerite tries to enlist the potentially dangerous object in her teaching, whose doggedness is underscored by recurring cello lines. The symbol she keeps signing into Marie's hand is the one for "knife."

There wouldn't be much of a story if Marie didn't ultimately learn to sign, but that practical knowledge is followed by even more challenging information. Marguerite has an unnamed lung disease, probably tuberculosis, and will not live long. The nun's trip to a sanatorium — an absence foolishly not explained to Marie — triggers the girl's furious regression. So when Marguerite returns, she tries to teach religion's hardest lesson: the acceptance of death.

The subject is quietly heightened by a speech in which the mother superior reveals herself as something more than a dogmatic authority figure. At first, she says, she assumed that women who had lived religious lives would die peacefully. But her experience in the convent has taught her otherwise.

There's probably no record of the actual nun's thoughts to support that dialogue. In an opening note, the movie professes only to be "inspired by real events." But if the movie's portrait of the Larnay Institute is idealized, that's mostly because it depicts a place where doctrine is tempered by reality.

The movie's tone is intimate, which means it relies heavily on the two principal actresses. Carre achieves just the right balance of delicacy and determination, while Rivoire — a novice who is deaf but not blind — begins fiercely bewildered and becomes surprisingly serene. Both have radiant smiles, illuminating every moment of understanding or empathy. Their rapport warms the movie as surely as the opening scene's sun.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders got into the presidential race Thursday, becoming Hillary Clinton's first official challenger for the Democratic nomination. His website has a disclaimer: "Paid for by Bernie not the billionaires."

Although he caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate, he's not a registered Democrat — he's actually the longest-serving independent in congressional history. (There's no rule, by the way, barring candidates who are not registered Democrats from running in the Democratic primary.)

Sanders is one of those politicians known by only one name — everyone in the Capitol knows who "Bernie" is. He's a fiery, left-wing voice who calls himself a democratic socialist. And he's never lost his Brooklyn accent or his absent-minded professor look.

Here are three reasons why Sanders' candidacy could actually help the Clinton campaign:

1. Progressives now have a champion

OK, he's not Elizabeth Warren. But the left-wing base of the Democratic Party has been hungering for an alternative to Clinton and now they have one. HRC herself welcomed him into the race by tweeting: "I agree with Bernie. Focus must be on helping America's middle class."

I agree with Bernie. Focus must be on helping America's middle class. GOP would hold them back. I welcome him to the race. –H

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 30, 2015

Sanders will force her to focus on issues important to the progressive base of the party, like climate change, campaign finance reform and income inequality. All of which she has already been talking about. But the contrast with Sanders may help her find that sweet spot between the left wing of the party and the center of American politics a little faster. She's a progressive who says "the deck is stacked in favor of those at the top," she supports a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, and she wants an "end to the era of mass incarceration." But, in comparison to Sanders, it's clear she's no socialist.

2. All candidates need a sparring partner

Clinton can't stand on the debate stage alone. Having challengers will help her sharpen her message and her skills, which are rusty from being out of the arena for eight years. And the sparring will not be lethal because Sanders has said that although he thinks questions of Clinton's ethics are "fair game," he will not air any negative ads against her. Sanders will be joined by other Clinton challengers. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to join the race; so is former Democratic Sen. Jim Webb and the former Republican senator and Democratic governor of Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee.

3. He can't beat her

Sanders is a long shot. So are the other three potential Democratic candidates. But they're all serious, substantive challengers. All of them are current or former governors or senators — there's not a talk show host or a House member in the bunch. Democratic activists all over the country have been saying they want a real debate, not a coronation. And now they have one. Even though HRC's position as the leader of the Democratic pack hasn't changed, a multicandidate race could make the eventual nominee a much stronger general election candidate.

Newly released documents from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration show that it initially declined to grant a medical certificate to Andreas Lubitz, the pilot who is believed to have intentionally crashed an airline into the French Alps last month.

The documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, provide an eerie glimpse into Lubitz's mental history and an effort to conceal that from U.S. medical examiners.

In the summer of 2010, Lubitz was enrolled in a training program for Lufthansa Airlines. As part of that program, he applied for a U.S. pilot's license so he could continue his training in Arizona, where weather conditions are favorable to flying all year round. But he needed a medical certificate to get a license.

The FAA documents show Lubitz checked "no" in response to an online application question about whether he had been treated for any mental disorders. But a later copy of the questionnaire shows it had been changed to "yes" by the aviation medical examiner after discovering Lubitz had been treated for severe depression a year earlier.

Dr. Warren Silberman, the former head of the FAA's aerospace medical certification unit, told NPR that the aviation administration declined to give Lubitz a medical certificate. But Silberman says Lubitz was offered a chance to clarify things.

"We sent a request for information, saying hey Lubitz, we see here that you had depression, please provide us with a status report," he said.

Lubitz's psychologist in Germany provided the FAA with a letter, translated from German, saying Lubitz had been treated with several drugs for his depression disorders. The psychologist, whose name is redacted, states that Lubitz was "completely recovered."

Silberman says the FAA let Lubitz know he would receive his medical certificate. "Meaning that somebody in the division reviewed the statement from the psychiatrist, thought that it was adequate and cleared him," he said.

The letter warned Lubitz that he would be prohibited from flying if his depression returned.

Lubitz was ultimately able to secure a job as a co-pilot for Germanwings.

As NPR reported earlier, it was discovered after Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps that Lubitz had been treated for suicidal tendencies, and that investigators found boxes of medication in his home, along with torn up doctor's notes for sick leave, including one note for the day of the crash.

Silberman says in May, members of the Aerospace Medical Association will meet to discuss Lubitz's case. "We're going to get together because of the Germanwings accident and come up, you know, is there anything else we should do now," he says.

Andreas Lubitz

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