captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: the man charged in the boston marathon bombings appeared in court for the first time today and pleaded not guilty in the attacks that killed three in april. good evening, i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, we get the details of today's arraignment of dzhokhar tsarnaev, where he faced victims and survivors of the attacks. >> ifill: then, as house republicans meet behind closed doors to discuss strategy on immigration reform, ray suarez talks to two congressmen searching for a bill that can pass. >> woodruff: hari sreenivasan reports on the dirty and dangerous work done by children on the front lines of the african nation burkina faso's gold rush. >> the jobs down in the pits are typically reserved for teenagers.

with only tree limbs to brace the mine walls, the risk to them is real. >> ifill: we have the story of the political and ethical dilemmas confronting the governor of virginia. >> woodruff: and jeffrey brown profiles a chinese dissident, who uses poetry to reflect on life under a repressive regime. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you.

thank you. >> ifill: the proceeding lasted just seven minutes today in boston. that was all the time needed for a federal judge to receive a series of "not guilty" pleas from the surviving suspect in the boston marathon bombings. heavily armed police stood guard outside the federal courthouse in boston, where dzokhar tsarnaev was arraigned-- his first time in public since being captured nearly three months ago. the 19-year-old arrived at midday in a four-vehicle convoy, as a handful of supporters cheered. he pleaded not guilty to 30 counts-- ranging from carjacking to use of a weapon of mass destruction-- resulting in the deaths of three people near the boston marathon's finish line. the charges also include the murder of an m.i.t. police officer three days after the bombing.

no cameras were allowed in the courtroom, but reporters and relatives of the victims lined up early to get a glimpse of the suspect. afterward, the uncle of two brothers badly-wounded in the attack spoke to reporters: >> the only opinion i could have when i first saw him was that he... it appeared that i gave what i would describe as a smirk. he never looked at us. he never turned in our direction. we were sitting directly behind him. we really didn't have a good view of him, you know, facialwise. >> i thought maybe he would come in with a different attitude or maybe look a little different. maybe look like he cared a little bit but he didn't show me that. >> ifill: tsarnaev and his older brother tamerlan came to the united states as boys, from russia. the family was ethnic chechen, and muslim, from the caucasus region. an indictment released last month says the brothers came under the influence of islamic extremist material. then, on april 15, they allegedly used explosives packed

in pressure cookers to carry out the bombings. three days later, tamerlan tsarnaev died during a late- night gun battle with police. authorities say dzokhar escaped in a stolen s.u.v., running over his brother's body. the next evening, he was found wounded, hiding in a boat in a backyard in watertown, massachusetts just outside boston. the indictment says he had written a message inside the boat, that read: now, dzokhar tsarnaev faces a possible death sentence on 17 of the counts against him. no trial date has been set. we turn now to david abel of the "boston globe," who has been covering the bombings and investigation from the start.

on april 15th, he was reporting on the boston marathon from the finish line and witnessed the attacks. today, he was in the courtroom. seven minutes altogether in that courtroom. tell us what happened. >> well, i just want to start off by saying it was an incredibly emotional day for a lot of people. a lot of us have been waiting for a long time to see dzhokhar tsarnaev, and when we saw him walk in the room, we saw him smirk. he appears to be healthy aside from having an arm in a cast. and a bit swelling on the left side of his face. >> ifill: where has he been held since the bombings? obviously he was no longer in the hospital. >> initially he was treated at a hospital in boston and then he was transferred to a prison, a federal medical prison facility just west of boston called fort devin. >> ifill: you were inside the courtroom. as you point out, a lot of

people inside the courtroom had also been at the boston marathon, at the finish line. what was the reaction? who were the people who were in the room? >> there were a range of people in the room. there were people who had suffered some very significant injuries, whether it was major burns, whether it was serious wounds to their legs. there were police officers including the chief of the m.i.t. police department where sean collier, a police officer was allegedly killed by the tsarnaev brothers. and there were also quite a number of supporters of dzhokhar tsarnaev, people who believe that he was framed or that he's innocent. >> ifill: these spoaters, they were inside and outside i gather. were they family members? were they people who he knew? were they classmates? who were the supporters? >> well, there were a number of people. there were people who perhaps

just read about him on the internet and for some reason saw all kinds of videos that have been suggesting for one reason or another that he might be framed. then there were two of his sisters that were sitting in the front row which was perhaps the most dramatic moment of the short appearance that he had today. that involved one of his sisters crying as she listened to dzhokhar tsarnaev say repeatedly that he was not guilty. he also had another sister with a baby there. >> ifill: 30 charges against him. he repeatedly, as you pointed out, said not guilty. a strong voice and a loud voice, defiantly? any way that you can characterize that had. >> you know, i think it was a sign of. .. that answered a question that a lot of us had which was what condition was he in after he had been pulled out

of a boat in the backyard of a suburb of boston called watertown where we last saw his body bloodied. he apparently had been shot near the throat and suffered other wounds. he appeared remarkably healthy. when he said he was not guilty, he said it emphatically. >> ifill: what are the most serious charges of the ones he's facing? >> well, he faces of the 30 charges, i believe, 17 carry the possibility of the death penalty. the others carry life in prison without the possibility of parole. and there are a range of... there are a range of charges that involve using weapons of mass destruction essentially. >> ifill: is massachusetts a death penalty state? would that be an option? >> well, this is a federal case so federal law would apply. 1988, the federal death penalty

was reinstated. massachusetts hasn't had a death sentence carried out in 66 years. and it would probably have to be carried out outside of massachusetts as there are no death chamber facilities in this state. >> ifill: with victims in the courtroom, was there any opportunity given to them to speak or to participate in this proceeding at all? >> so this was a short proceeding. it was an arraign: as you said at the outset, it lasted only seven minutes. the victims didn't have an opportunity to speak, but i'm sure over the course of this case which may last for several years i imagine they will have an opportunity to confront the defendant. >> ifill: now there were lines to get inside. supporters and opponents. the media as well as the public. and after all of the build-up, after all the anticipation, after it was over, was there a

letdown? >> you know, i think, as i said at the outset, it was very emotional. for me as well. as you said, i was standing on the finish line. i had taken a lot of the footage for a film that i was making that got broadcast all over the place. and i witnessed a horror that, as a reporter, i never hope to see again. and i think for a lot of us, we wanted to see what this young man looked like and to get a sense of him. i think the take-away for a lot of us is that he's healthy. he believes that he's innocent, however that may well be characterized in the trial. and we'll see how the justice process unfolds from this point. >> ifill: david abel of the boston globe, thanks for being there for us. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour, two house members

on immigration reform. children laboring in africa's gold mines. gifts for a governor and his family and poetry from a chinese dissident but first the other news of the day. here's sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: the defense rested in two major trials today. >> sreenivasan: the defense rested in two other major trials today. lawyers for george zimmerman wound up their case in sanford, florida. the neighborhood watch volunteer is charged with fatally shooting trayvon martin last year. the 17-year-old was unarmed, and the case drew national attention. zimmerman told judge debra nelson this afternoon that he would not take the stand. >> what is your decision sir? >> after consulting with counsel not to testify your honor. >> you understand that no matter what counsel says to you it's still your decision, do you understand that? >> yes, your honor. >> and i need to know is it your decision to not testify in this case. >> yes your honor. >> and are you making that decision freely and voluntarily? >> yes your honor. >> sreenivasan: zimmerman has said he acted in self-defense. and much of the testimony has

turned on who was heard yelling for help, on a 9-1-1 recording. today, his father, robert zimmerman, recalled investigators playing the tape for him. >> i listened to it. then they asked me did i recognize the voice? >> and what did you tell them? i told them absolutely it's my son george. >> is that an opinion that you still have through today? >> certainly. >> sreenivasan: other witnesses, including trayvon martin's mother, have testified the cries for help came from the teen- ager. defense lawyers also rested in the court martial of the soldier who gave thousands of classified documents to wikileaks. army private first class bradley manning did not testify. but he has said he acted to expose what he calls the u.s. military's bloodlust in iraq and afghanistan. manning faces 21 charges, including aiding the enemy. the head of a chicago-based railroad accused an engineer

today in saturday's fiery train wreck in canada. edward burkhardt said he believes the man failed to set the brakes properly on a train loaded with crude oil. burkhardt made the accusation as he visited the quebec town where 20 people were killed, and 30 buildings were burned to the ground. officials also said the number of missing or feared dead. the crackdown on the muslim brotherhood is intensifying in egypt. prosecutors ordered the arrest today of the group's leader mohammed badie and accused him of inciting monday's violence in cairo that killed more than 50 people. supporters of the brotherhood and deposed president mohamed morsi defied the crackdown and continued their protests. >> ( translated ): even if they arrested all the group's members, we will sacrifice ourselves and we will continue because we have a clear case, and we will defend it peacefully, because we do have the legitimacy, and we will never accept the military council's coup. also today, the newly-named prime minister hazem el-beblawi worked on forming his new cabinet. but, the muslim brotherhood

signaled it will reject any offer to play a role in the transitional government. the abortion fight in texas has moved into a new round. today, republicans in the state house pushed through a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks, among other things. the bill now heads to the state senate, where it died two weeks ago in the face of a democratic filibuster and heated protests. after that, governor rick perry called a second, special session. a final vote could come friday. the u.s. senate failed again today to lower interest rates on student loans. the rates on federally subsidized stafford loans doubled to 6.8% on july first. democrats wanted to return to 3.4% for one more year. but, they fell well short of the 60 votes needed to force action. new mexico senator mark udall said there is no excuse for inaction. >> we saw this coming. this bus has been approaching a cliff for a year; that ought to be time enough to turn it around. and turn it around without throwing students underneath it.

i know many of my colleagues here are trying, trying to find a long-term solution. but today we failed. and our nation's students pay the cost of that failure. >> sreenivasan: republicans want to link the cost of student loans to rates in financial markets. senator kelly ayotte of new hampshire argued it's more important to work out a long- term arrangement, and not a temporary patch to the problem. >> this is such a complete, typical washington deal. here we just voted on a proposal on the floor and that proposal is a one year fix, only applies to 40% of student loans so we'd be back again next year like groundhog day trying to fix this problem again. >> sreenivasan: after the vote, lawmakers from both sides said they will go back to the negotiating table, to try to work out a deal. a federal judge in new york ruled today that apple conspired with five major publishers to raise the price of electronic books.

she ordered a trial on damages in the anti-trust case. apple had refused to settle the civil case, and said it will appeal the judge's finding. the publishers have settled the charges against them, for more than $166 million. on wall street, the dow jones industrial average lost eight points to close at 15,291. the nasdaq rose 16 points to close at 3,520. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to judy. >> woodruff: and we turn to politics, with another in our series examining immigration reform. this week's focus: what the house of representatives will do. late today, g.o.p. leaders said their members decided the chamber will not take up a senate-passed measure. ray suarez has been covering the story. >> suarez: all 234 house republicans were invited to the meeting with house speaker john boehner this afternoon. the topic: how to handle immigration reform. >> i think the leadership wants judge the temperature of the members and i think again it's

going to come back to the centerpiece of security. >> there is no conversation until we actually secure the border. the border isn't secure and the last thing we're going to do is vote for a bill that's going to hurt the middle class and steal jobs away from the middle class and depress wages. >> suarez: the meeting came amid calls by reform advocates to take up the senate bill that passed last month, by a bi- partisan majority. >> on this vote the yeas are 68, nays are 32, the bill as amended is passed. >> suarez: that bill creates a pathway to citizenship for some 11 million people now in the country illegally, something democrats insist is non- negotiable. the measure also calls for doubling the number of border patrol agents and adding 700 miles of new fencing along the southern border. on the house side, boehner has so far refused to take up the senate bill. instead, his republicans are working on four separate bills, with a heavy focus on border

security. none offers citizenship. but the pressure to act is growing. a group of so-called "dreamers," undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, held a mock citizenship ceremony today at the u.s. capitol. and in dallas, former president george w. bush addressed a naturalization ceremony at his presidential library, urging a positive resolution. >> we can uphold our traditions of assimilating immigrants and honoring our nation built on a rule of law, but we have a problem. the laws governing the immigration system aren't working. the system is broken. >> suarez: back in washington, the obama white house released a lengthy report touting the economic benefits of immigration reform. it claimed the senate bill would boost economic growth another 3.3%, by 2023.

and would reduce the deficit by almost $850 billion over 20 years. president obama also called in members of the hispanic caucus. democratic congressman joaquin castro of texas voiced hope for a compromise. >> like us he realizes that effort must be both a republican and a democratic effort. it requires the work and cooperation of both parties and this president is committed to working with not only house democrats, but also house republicans on getting it done. speaker boehner and other party leaders issued a statement refirming they will not take up the senate bill which leaves the focus squarely on the next three weeks. house republicans have said they mean to bring immigration to a vote between now and the month-long recess that begins in early august. for more on the options being considered in the house, we are joined by illinois democrat luis

gutierrez, also a member of the judiciary committee, and chair of the congressional hispanic caucus immigration task force. congressman, welcome back to the program. >> thank you, ray. good to be with you this evening. >> suarez: earlier today, the president of the united states met with the hispanic caucus. what did he have to tell you about the future of immigration reform? >> it's alive. it's well. it's broad. it's spansive. and he's going to support immigration reform. he's committed to getting it done and to working in collaboration with wide broad sectors of american society to get it done. it was a really fruitful meeting. we talked about that, about appointments, the voting rights act. there are a series of issues we got to talk about first and foremost immigration but obviously other issues that came forward. i thought it was a very fruitful meeting. >> saurez: interesting that you say alive and well given that the versions coming out of the house majority are very different from what the senate passed recently. is there even enough commonality for the two versions to go to reconciliation?

is there anything to talk about? >> sure, i think there's a lot to talk about. first of all, ray, here's what i understand and what is common knowledge in the house of representatives. the fact is that a majority of members. house of representatives unprecedented in my 20 years in congress, a majority of members -- republicans and democrats -- are ready to vote for comprehensive immigration reform. all speaker boehner has to do is to allow democracy to reign in the house of representatives, allow a vote. take ten minutes out of his schedule and allow a vote. put the different options. i assure you we will go to reconciliation and we will fix our broken immigration. paul ryan, a significant member, prestigious member, a republican, of the house of representatives, he's working, many republicans, there are many republicans, men and women, that want comprehensive immigration reform. if the speaker would simply allow them to join democrats, we could do the will of the people. >> suarez: but the republican-sponsored house bills do not include a path to

citizenship. if you go to reconciliation, are the democrats going to have to concede that point or are the republicans going to have to do what the speaker has already said they won't: not vote for a bill that the majority of their caucus supports? >> that's the kind of decision i think that speaker boehner is going to have to make. is he going to be a speaker that responds and allows the house of representatives and the will of the american people to be dictated by a minority group of the house of representatives? or is he going to allow the expression of the majority of members of the house, which is an expression and a reflection of the electorate? look, he's going to have to make that decision, whether he is going to be the statesman and the one that is going to resolve our broken immigration system or whether... because what they're saying, ray, is it's our way or no way. just think about it. the chamber of commerce, afl-cio, "new york times," wall street journal, baptists and evangelicals, catholics and lute rans. look at the spansiveness and the depth of the movement. everybody is making compromises

and reaching middle ground. republicans and democrats. they did it in the senate. why is it the only body of people that can't find a version that they can resolve around is in the house of representatives? why must the house of representatives say no, no and no? look, you're either going to have compromise. you're going to have bipartisanship or we aren't going to get anything done. i think the republican party really has to begin to understand they can be a party of provinces and regions and states -- maybe some cities -- but they will never be a party, a national party for the next generation in the united states of america because if they do not do this, they simply will never have the ability to be a party at a national scale. >> suarez: very quickly, sir. the clock is ticking. you have three weeks to do this. is that really plausible? >> look, we've got time. it's on our side. we can get this done. the fact is, i'm going to

continue to work with raul labrador. i'm going to continue to work with paul ryan. i'm going to continue. they will continue, luckily for me and for the i am grant community, they're going to continue to work with me. we're going to get this done. time is on our side. >> suarez: congressman luis gutierrez, democrat of illinois, thanks for joining us. >> thank you, ray. suarez: and now to republican raul labrador from idaho. earlier today your conference had a meeting, all the house republicans getting together. what did the speaker have to say about the future of immigration reform? >> the speaker just wanted to us have an honest conversation about what we needed to do to hear our concerns about immigration reform and whether we had any ideas on a path forward. we also had the chairman of the judiciary and the chairman of homeland security present what we have already done in those committees and kind of give a presentation to the conference on what the bill said that have been heard already are doing for the future of immigration.

>> suarez: do the various bills coming out of the house majority, your party, provide enough in common with the bipartisan bill coming out of the senate to go to conference? is there enough for you to start conferring on? >> i don't think there's enough to start conferring yet. but i think line by line we're going... what we're doing is a step-by-step approach that eventually will deal with the issue comprehensively. so i think you're going to see maybe two or three additional bills coming out of the house judiciary committee, and those six or seven bills will together deal with the issue of immigration reform comprehensively. >> suarez: none of the republican bills include a path to citizenship. many democrats are saying that's their bottom line that it's got to be in there. does one side or another really have to give on that major point in order to move forward? >> i think the democrats are going to have to give. if we can meet them 60% of the way, 70% of the way, 80% of the way and they actually reject

comprehensive approach to immigration reform, then they're saying that they don't really want to get immigration reform done. there are so many other things that we should be talking about. we have a porous border. we have border security issues. we have people that are coming into the united states that we don't know who they are and whether they're leaving the united states. we have a guest-worker program that is not working. we have farm labor that it needs actually to have legal status. there are so many things that we need to do. if we get bogged down on actually the pathway to citizenship, that means that the democrats are not really serious about solving this problem. >> suarez: just a short time ago luis gutierrez, your colleague on this program said that if the speaker would allow the bill to come to the floor beings it would pass and that both the majority of republicans and democrats would vote for it. >> does he mean the senate bill? suarez: the senate bill. you know, luis is a great friend of mine. we have a great relationship. but he's absolutely wrong. there's not a majority of

republicans, not even close to enough republicans to get something off the house floor with the senate bill. the senate bill has been ewen verseally penned by the republicans. the phone calls we're getting in our offices are 10 to 1 against the senate bill. i just saw my way over here to the interview there's a new poll that the american people support the senate bill by 38%. i just don't think that the american people or the house has enough support for the senate bill but, you know, i don't want to knock what they did. they tried t to do a comprehense approach to immigration reform. they did what could get passed out of the senate. now it's our turn as republicans in the house to do what can get passed out of the house of representatives. >> suarez: earlier on the program we heard former president george w. bush urging you forward in your work. does he have much influence in the republican caucus in the house today? >> well, i think you have to respect whatever an ex-president has said. i think that i heard the same

words that he said. he wasn't saying that he supported any specific approach. to immigration reform. but i think he believes, like i do, that immigration reform is important, that it's necessary, that it's good for america and that we should do something about it. i think, you know, we can move forward with something positive here in the house. >> suarez: raul labrador is a republican from idaho. congressman, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> suarez: our next conversation is with arizona democrat raul grijalva. watch other interviews from our series, and learn more about what's in the legislation, on our immigration page. >> ifill: next, the high cost of >> ifill: next, the high cost of mining for precious metals. a gold rush has brought new opportunities to the desperately poor nation of burkina faso in west africa. but along with riches have come perils, especially for the young children who work in the dangerous mines. photojournalist larry c. price,

in collaboration with the pulitzer center on crisis reporting, recently visited several mining communities to document the conditions. our report is narrated by hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: this is theophile. he's tossing shards of ore into a bucket 150 feet below ground. his eyes are glassy and his movements are rote, trained by repetition and circumstance. down in this cramped, humid space, theophile's small body moves about more freely than an adult's would. >> i thought i was near the bottom and then i realized there's another 40 or 50 feet to go. >> sreenivasan: a fact photojournalist larry price found out for himself as he descended the shaft to meet the boy. >> this shaft is about four to five feet in diameter and at its narrowest its probably less than 28 inches, and as you can see >> sreenivasan: above ground is

the small mining village of kollo, one of the many boomtowns that's sprung up over the last few years in burkina faso. slightly larger than colorado in acreage-- and among the poorest countries in the world-- this landlocked nation of 18 million people is a relative newcomer to the gold trade. but the precious metal-- used in everything from jewelry to electronics to the basis of currencies the world over-- has in short order overtaken cotton to become the country's top export commodity. a sizable chunk of that gold comes from small-scale, or artisanal, mines, like these. and much of that work is done by children. the u.n.'s international labor organization estimates that children account for 30% to 50% of the small-scale miners working in the african sahel region, which includes burkina faso and niger. but the issue is not restricted to the continent. >> it's a significant problem around the world. >> sreenivasan: eric biel is acting associate deputy

undersecretary for international affairs of the u.s. labor department, which tracks child labor violations across the globe. its latest report lists burkina faso among 19 countries engaged in the worst forms of child labor, and biel says the mines there present considerable challenges. >> it's a multi-faceted situation. you've got these boom towns that are being set up where both children from burkina faso are leaving school and being employed there, but also children are being trafficked across borders. >> sreenivasan: it's illegal to employ children under the age of 16 in burkina faso, and biel says its government has shown it wants to stop the practice. but with an estimated 200,000 artisanal miners working at some 200 sites, many in remote areas like these-- and a strong economic pull-- enforcement has been difficult. the average worker in burkina faso earns less than $2 a day. meanwhile a family employed in

artisinal mining can earn between $5 and $40 a day, depending on the mine. that's led to many parents pulling their own children from school to help in the mines. >> ( translated ): they say if gold is found somewhere, it's hard to calm the ardor of the gold diggers. >> sreenivasan: ganno daouda is the general secretary to the mayor's office in the nearby town of tiebiele. since 2011 he says he's watched the kollo mine steadily grow to employ around a thousand people. but with this new economic opportunity he says there have come many problems. >> ( translated ): the kids prefer quick cash, putting aside their future. it is a serious problem for us because children are always on the site. >> sreenivasan: karim sawadogo was once a goat herder at his home in the north and came to this mine in the southwest with his uncle. barefoot, he cooks, fetches water and climbs down in the mines.

he thinks he's nine years old but isn't sure. in general young children like him carry out the more menial tasks at the sites, transporting water and heavy loads of ore, digging pits and breaking up rocks with primitive hammers. the jobs down in the pits are typically reserved for teenagers. with only tree limbs to brace the mine walls, the risk to them is real. >> ( translated ): the site does not respect any rule. oftentimes there are deadly collapses. >> sreenivasan: the unregulated nature of this work makes reliable statistics hard to come by. but as uncertain as the pits are, the jobs in the processing areas, where the ore is pulverized, are possibly more dangerous. sputtering diesel engines power make-shift pulleys, grinding plates and belts, used to crush the ore into a fine powder that's bagged to be treated later. along with the hazards of

breathing this fine dust comes the potential for losing a finger or limb. children also help pan the powder with liquid mercury, which binds to gold, this amalgam in turn is burned to separate the gold, releasing dangerous vapors. >> it's a gamble. people are trading off the money they make now selling gold with potentially their health and their lives. >> sreenivasan: joe amon directs the health and human rights program at human rights watch, which recently studied this same issue in neighboring mali. >> children sometimes have exposure to both directly, to touching the mercury, and then also to the vapors. and that can be if they're working on the gold itself or if they're simply around the family compound where the gold is being isolated w the mercury or if >> sreenivasan: amon says the effects of mercury poisoning are both difficult to diagnose and very serious. they include neurological damage, impaired vision, respiratory conditions, kidney failure, long-term mental

disabilities and even death. meanwhile, the constant dust around the mines can settle inside the lungs of these children, causing permanent damage. >> ( translated ): there are a lot of health-related problems. our nurses here are overwhelmed by cases of lung disease caused by dust, as these people do not have good protection. >> sreenivasan: water is scarce in the drought-stricken country, especially in rural areas, so children use the contaminated cooling water from the machinery to wash their faces and brush their teeth. after 12 to 14 hour shifts, they try to sleep near the deafening roar of nearby machines or over an open mine pit. it's a rare occasion, perhaps a game of foosball, when they act like the children they are. artisanal mining wasn't always so popular in burkina faso. in 1985 the country suffered a

prolonged drought and the resulting famine pushed many families off their subsistence farms and down into the mines for work. gold fetched $300 an ounce in 1985, today it is more than $1,200 an ounce, fueling such rudimentary forms of mining in burkina faso and elsewhere. while it's clear there's gold leaving these boomtowns, it is much harder to say where the gold may ultimately end up. burkina faso's porous borders and large network of middle men mean a nugget from these mines can be easily combined with other sources. the u.s. labor department says this makes tracing and stopping the trade of child-mined gold extremely difficult. >> it's not something where it's as easy to say, well, if we stop the demand for gold, we can trace that back to what's happening on the ground in burkina faso. so this is one where we really have to start with the supply, with the circumstance on the

ground, and try to get at, as i mentioned, the root causes. >> sreenivasan: to that end, in december the u.s. department of labor announced a $5 million grant over four years to combat child labor in burkina faso. >> well, we can't, as the u.s. government, solve the problem. >> sreenivasan: biel admits that relatively minor sum won't end the practice, but he says it's part of a broader effort. >> so there's no ability through one grant, whether it's $5 million or something else, to address the whole problem. but you can begin to get at some of the root causes and through awareness raising and so forth hopefully begin to make a difference. >> so it's not going to disappear overnight. >> sreenivasan: joe amon, of human rights watch, agrees, and says education can go a long way towards limiting children's exposure to the worst risks. >> many of the families that we talked to had never heard that mercury was the problem, that it had any impact at all. and so at the very fundamental level there needs to be some education that's done.

>> sreenivasan: back at this mining camp in the southwest, an interpreter asks karim sawadogo what he wants to do with his life. karim says he came here to make money, and that his dream is to make enough so that he never has to go down into the narrow mines again. >> ifill: you can find more of larry c. price's work for the pulitzer center on crisis reporting online, including a day in the life of a child working in the gold mines. plus, we've posted links to additional videos and slideshows on our website. >> woodruff: there was mounting scrutiny today of virginia's governor, after the latest in a series of revelations about undisclosed gifts from a wealthy businessman. hailing from a battleground state, bob mcdonnell was a prominent figure in the 2012 election season. the republican governor appeared

in virginia alongside presidential nominee mitt romney on several occasions, and was touted as a possible national figure of the future. now, as mcdonnell wraps up his final year in office, he's confronted with mounting questions about gifts from businessman jonnie williams senior, chief executive of star scientific incorporated -- a dietary supplement manufacturer. the latest disclosure, in "the washington post", says williams gave $145,000 in cash and gifts to the mcdonnell family and a corporation owned by the governor in 2011 and 2012. according to the account, the payments to the corporation offer the first public example of money provided by williams that would directly benefit the governor and not just his family. the trail of allegations began with a chef at the governor's mansion, who was charged with

taking food for his own business last year. since then, he's been talking to federal officials about mcdonnell's relationship with williams. that, in turn, has triggered state and federal investigations. for more on the brewing controversy we are joined by julian walker. he is a staff writer for the "virginian-pilot" newspaper. thank you for being with us. first of all, tell us more about johnny williams. who is he? what's his connection to the governor? >> johnny williams is a businessman. he has... he's the head and chief executive of star scientific which is a nutritional supplement maker. they used to be a tobacco company but they phased out a lot of their tobacco business. now they're making dietary supplements. he has been involved at a donor in virginia politics for a number of years. he has given to republicans over the years including the former attorney general jerry killgore

who ran for governor in 2005 unsuccessfully. he's given significant funds to governor mcdonald and also to members of his family as has been disclosed in a number of press accounts here in recent months. >> woodruff: has he given these kinds of gifts for clothes for the governor's wife? a watch through the governor's wife for the governor? has he given those kinds of gifts previously to other politicians? >> most of what we know so far are the gives that he's given to the nonmonetary gifts that he's given to governor mcdonald and his family. much of the other giving that has occurred in the past, some of it has been in traditional campaign contributions. some of it has come in the forms of other kinds of in-kind contributions. but much of the focus here recently is on the gift that he has given to governor macdonald and his family as you mentioned an expensive watch that was reportedly given to the governor's wife and then turned over to the governor. money to cover catering costs at

the wedding of the governor's daughter in 2011. these recent disclosure of loans to the governor to support some real estate, corporate holdings that he has. we reported about money that johnny williams provided to fly the governor and his family to the final four for the n.c.a.a. basketball tournament in 2011 when a local college here in virginia made a cinderella run to the ultimate basketball tourney there. >> woodruff: is there an understanding of why the governor and his family have accepted these gifts? i mean, is there... are they in financial difficulty? >> well, the governor has a large family. he has five children. and the governor has never been a man of significant financial means. the virginia's system of disclosures is such that while you are required to report your assets, your holdings, your liabilities, things of that sort, public officials, because

of the way that they are requiredded to disclose their financial holdings, there's not a great deal known about their assets. they report in a range of investments and liabilities and things of that sort. so i think it's fair to say that the governor is not a wealthy man. whether they are in significant financial straits i think is somewhat difficult to say. >> woodruff: what is the governor's office saying about all this? >> well, they are insisting that they've done nothing wrong. they have been critical of some of the news reports. they have not called them inaccurate but they have questioned the validity of them. they have insisted throughout that the governor has at least held to the letter of the law as far as his disclosures are concerned, that everything he has done has met requirements under state law. virginia law is pretty permissive when it comes to accepting gifts and really there is not much of a limit.

essentially unlimited gifts so long as you provide an annual accounting of what he receive. >> woodruff: so what about the discussion of the ethics of it? even if it's not illegal, is there a conversation on the part of the governor or the governor's staff about that? >> well, the governor has retained a prominent washington d.c. white collar attorney who has represented a number of noteworthy and recognizable names in politics when they have had their own difficulties and their own public crises. so he is certainly taking this seriously. there is both a federal investigation and a state investigation. there's also the parallel embezzlement investigation into the former chef at the governor's mansion. on top of that, there is another probe being conducted by the local prosecutor in richmond into the governor's disclosure forms and whether or not he properly completed and reported all of the gifts that he received. so there are a number of layers

to this. meanwhile, you have folks in both parties, republicans and democrats here in virginia, questioning the gifts that the governor has received and questioning whether this passes the smell test from an ethical perspective but gwyneth ickes and legality are two different things. >> you're saying even members of the governor's own party, the republican party, are also raising questions about this? >> some republicans, yes. the only... only two democrats so far have come out and directly called for the governor to resign. two democrats who are in the virginia general assembly. no republican has come out and said that he should resign, but a number of republicans, both privately and publicly, are at least fur owing their brows about this and acknowledging sometimes in hushed tones that this is problematic for the governor at least from a public perspective. >> woodruff: and is there a sense that more may come out or this is the end of it? >> oh, i think there's much more still to be revealed.

i think all of the folks who cover the virginia capital are hearinprobably on just about a y basis if not an hour-by-hour basis the latest rumor dujour, this gift that has been unreported and this one not disclosed. there's a lot of rumors swirling around. certainly as we know there is an active federal investigation. so it remains to be seen what cards the federal law enforcement officials are holding. >> julian walker with the virginian pilot newspapers. thank you very much. and the two candidates looking to succeed mcdonnell as virginia's governor will debate on july 20. i'll be the moderator, and if you have a question for them to answer, you can leave it on our website. the "newshour" will live stream the event; find the details on our homepage. >> ifill: finally tonight, a

story about prison, poetry, and perseverance. jeffrey brown recently met with a chinese dissident who was sharing his talents at a festival in pittsburgh. >> reporter: liao yiwu was in his early 30s when he learned to play the flute, a prisoner who'd been beaten and tortured after his arrest in 1990.. it was a fellow inmate-- an 84- year-old monk-- who showed him that music could be a kind of salvation. >> ( translated ): i was transferred to another prison and there i met a man who would become my mentor. he told me, you will never have freedom if you don't have freedom in your mind. so he taught me how to play the flute. >> reporter: liao, today one of china's leading dissident writers, recounts his prison life in a new english-language

memoir called "for a song and a hundred songs." when did you decide that you wanted to write about this experience? >> ( translated ): if i didn't write down the story, then it would be as if it never happened. i needed to write it down so that i wouldn't be forgotten like a stray dog. >> reporter: growing up in sichuan province during the cultural revolution, liao received little formal education. he learned traditional chinese poetry from his father and found his own way to the american beat poet alan ginsburg, whose work was passed around secretly. >> ( translated ): i just admired him and his generation. i wanted to imitate the writing of this so-called lost generation. but i wasn't interested in politics at all. >> reporter: that changed on june 4, 1989, when the chinese government ordered soldiers into tianamen square to put an end to pro-democracy protests. hundreds of students were killed in the gunfire.

>> ( translated ): the tianamen massacre changed my life and my thinking. i heard about it through the radio and i was despaired. i was afraid. i felt helpless, so i just shouted out these lines. "leap! howl! fly! run! freedom feels so good snuffing out freedom feels so good! power will be triumphant forever. will be passed down from generation to generation forever." >> reporter: liao's response, a poem, titled "massacre", was a long angry howl against the government. >> ( translated ): "freedom will also come back from the dead. it will come back to life in generation after generation." >> reporter: liao recently performed "massacre" as the featured guest at a forum hosted by the city of asylum, pittsburgh, an organization that supports politically persecuted writers. in the year after tianamen, the poem became popular among

chinese activists, and liao was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison. it was there he began listening to and then telling the stories of people at the bottom rungs of the social ladder: petty thieves and others he met in jail. and later, sweepers, scavengers, public restroom attendants, and many others in a china we rarely hear about. he published some of those conversations in a book called "the corpse walker." >> ( translated ): i was with people who live in the bottom of the society. and when i came out of prison, i was also living at the bottom of society. i know these people, the people of really low social status. and in these people, i see my own shadow. i identify myself with them. we are a deserted group of people, but we are the majority. the so-called elite don't care for us, but we are the mainstream of society.

>> reporter: even after liao was released from prison, chinese officials continued to watch, harass and deny him visas to travel and speak abroad. tienchi martin-liao, a close friend, is the editor of the independent "chinese pen center," which helps publish writers in and out of the country. she says the chinese government feels threatened by liao's portrayal of life in china. >> if it's just a novel or fictive, it's okay. but he writes in a reportage style. and if people read it, they know it's the truth. it's not imagination. so it's just the first time that someone has described the real situation inside the sichuan prison. no other writer has ever described the situation so close to the reality. and the local authority doesn't like that. >> reporter: liao eventually

fled china, sneaking out through vietnam and settling in germany, where he lives today. but he continues to write and tell his country's story. >> ( translated ): the young people don't even know what happened in 1989. they first find out when they go abroad to western countries. but sometimes then they don't even believe it. the communist party has tried to eliminate parts of history. that is bad for the younger generation. if they don't have this historical consciousness, they will just focus on getting material goods. we have to work on that so everybody knows what happened. >> people find ways to express themselves and it can be read. there is no way to block everything. the government, they try to control the whole situation. but i think it is a fight that they are going to lose. >> reporter: for his part, liao told us his own experience makes him more pessimistic about the

potential for change and he doubts he'll ever return to his homeland. >> ifill: online, read one of liao's most famous poems, "massacre", translated into english. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day: the man charged in the boston marathon bombings appeared in court for the first time, and pleaded not guilty in the attacks that killed three. the defense rested for george zimmerman. the neighborhood watch volunteer is accused of killing an unarmed teenager, trayvon martin, in sanford, florida. the death toll in saturday's fiery train wreck in quebec rose to 20, and police said 30 others are missing and presumed dead. and house republicans met on immigration reform. but party leaders emerged to reaffirm they will not take up a senate bill that offers a path to citizenship. >> ifill: online, we examine some surprising statistics from a new report on corruption and bribery. hari sreenivasan has the

details. >> sreenivasan: more than one in four people have paid a bribe in the last year. that's according to transparency international's 2013 corruption barometer. you can find out more of the findings on our homepage, while you're there, take our anonymous poll. and our science wednesday post: eight things you didn't know about inventor nikola tesla, who would be 157 today. all that and more is on our website newshour.pbs.org. gwen? >> ifill: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. on thursday, we'll update the trial of george zimmerman, accused in the shooting death of florida teenager trayvon martin. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪

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and tailoredrtise solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news america." this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington. in china after torrential rainfall creates a landslide that washes away buildings, and accused of carrying out the attacks of the boston marathon, today, dzhokhar tsarnaev please not guilty to all charges in court, and capturing the faces of those caught in the middle of conflict. a war photographer tells us about his time covering syria and the sudan.