on this edition for saturday may 24, on the eve of ukraine's presidential election, vladimir putin sits down with a small group of reporters. the pope begins a trip to the middle east. what impact can he have? and on memorial day weekend one family's journey to and love of america. >> my grandfather saw such a powerful moment in history that he wanted to have his family carry a name that refer to a new dog. so the first born in the family received the name armundi. >> next, news hour weekend.

from lincoln center in new york. >> good evening. thanks for joining us. this is the eve of ukraine's presidential election. and in the eastern portion of the country militants patrol the street in an effort to hold down the down outin tomorr iin tomor

voting. ukraine's prime minister vowed the election would proceed despite the rebels calls for an independent pro russia state in the east. tomorrow we will prove to the world. but we will not be intimidate and we alone will decide how to construct and run our home. >> yesterday vladimir putin said held expect the outcome of tomorrow's voting. for more, by paul, managing editor for the news service. he and a group of journalists met today. what are the headlines from this meeting? >> you know, it was an interesting meeting. it was three hours. what became clear during the whole meeting was that president putin feels a real sense of

agreement and especially i would say the united states for not taking into account what he records as russia's needs, russia's security interests, et cetera. he said he does not want the -- he does not want to recreate the former ussr or anything like that. but he also really feels that russia is entitled to the respect of his interests as he sees them from western countries. he was, you know, clearly more oriented toward europe and the european union reaching out to them than to the united states. at one point he was asked do you talk very often with president obama and the answer -- he sort of shrug and said we talk occasionally but i have to leave now so i'm going to talk to mr.

moland. >> everybody has got to be asking you about the election tomorrow and what that does for russia and the troops along the ukrainian border. >> what he did say was he'll expect results of the election and the decision of the ukrainian people but he thinks they're doing it all wrong. he has offered to have remediation with ukraine. crimea voted independently to join russia and self determination should be respected. he said he believed that really the -- that the replacement -- really the president of ukraine was something that was outside of the balance of law.

>> was there anything that surprised you about the meeting? >> well, i think the -- what did surprise me honestly was the intensity, if you will, of his feeling of agreement. he really seems to feel that, you know, that the west sort of willfully ignored russia and delegated -- relegated russia to more of a second class status over last 20 years and thinks russia's legitimate interests were ignored and had no choice to take decisive action to prevent independent ukraine from joining nato. just the depth of his feeling was surprising actually. >> paul joining us from st. petersburg. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> pope francis arrived in jordan today. his first stop in the middle east. during the meeting, the pope

call fed for an urgent end and praised the king for taking in more than 1 million ref fee gees. jordan is 3% to 5% christian and the king said they are an integral part of the middle east. and what's seen as a possible breakthrough in long front relations. pakistan's prime minister, and the two will meet privately. pakistan's relations hit another low after 166 people were killed during an attack. belgium broadcasting company said a lone gunman opened fire. authorities said there were lots of witnesses and described the investigation as moving fast.

a jewish leader in brussels compared the attack to the fatal shooting in 2012. an al qaeda sympathizer was responsible in that incident. killing 15 fighters loyal to the militant group. 10 government troops were killed in what was described as fierce fighting. the united states has been providing support to the government there which has been under siege from al qaeda. and the al shabaab organization used a car bomb to get into the compound surrounding the parliament building and engaged in a gun battle that lasts hours. ten security offers and seven of the militants were killed. al shabob was responsible for the attack in kenyan that left

67 people dead. 39 people were killed and 90 wounded during the latest attack after explosions at an open air market this week. includes heightened security checks. back in the u.s. seven people killed and another seven wounded in a series of drive buy shootings. deputies exchanged gun fire with the gunman. later found dead in his car with a gunshot wound to the head. the gunman described as a student under psychiatric care allegedly made a tape prior to the incident. he was apparently was angered after being spurned by a number of women. word of the superintendent of the school district, allegedly destroying evidence in a rape case. in an effort to protect two

players on the high school's football team. the superintendent pleaded not guilty to felony counts with evidence and obstructing justice. the teens later found guilty and sent to youth detention centers. prosecutors dropped misdemeanor charges against two elementary school principals in exchange for community service. in alaska, wild life refuge now covers acres. battles the blaze which is 20% contained. anchorage is under an air quality alert because of smoke and another wildfire. on this memorial day weekend president obama alleged to get veterans the care they need. >> recent weeks we have seen how

much more our nation has to do to make sure all our veterans get the care they deserve. calling for the secretary to resign and an investigation promised. >> for more about the pope's trip to the middle east we're joined by the senior fellow at the council on foreign relations. this is the pope's second big trip and everyone thinks it's significant because it's the middle east but also how he's deciding to take the trip matters. >> absolutely. he's starting off in jordan and then he's flying into bethlehem as the state of palestine and giving israelis some concern and he's going off to israel and

going to visit the tomb of the father of modern -- >> is this a balancing act to try to stay on a religious course even in a political context? >> yeah. first of all, he says this is going to be a trip focusing on religion not politics. in that part of the world you can't disagate politics from religion. people will be looking closely for similar bomymbols and signsg in one direction or the other. >> and peace talks have completely stalled. >> that's right. it's going to highlight the absence of peace between them. he's visiting bethlehem a few miles away from jerusalem.

he visits israel and the palestinians separately. a lot of juggling that has to be done in order to make sure two sides are swajed. >> what can the pope get in this context? >> the eastern orthodox church and rome is his number one objective. and he's bringing along with him a raab buy. he's trying to show the three models, christianity and islam can live together. if he sends that message to the people of the holy land, that's nod bad. >> he's chosen not to have the

bullet proof glass. >> absolutely. this is only his second trip abroad as pope. he's picked this as an important thing to him. popes don't go to the holy land very often. this is only the fourth visit from the pope. he clearly wants to go. he sees going to be scrutinized closely. people will be watching him closely. >> robert joining us from washington. thanks for your time. >> pleasure. thank you for having me. >> now to our signature segment. chances are you talked to a stranger or two on a flight you have taken. john larson has as well. often. in fact, he's used these chance encounters to create a segment he calls flying coach detailing the stories of strangers he's

met in the air. on this memorial day weekend the remarkable story he first told us last december about one family's journey to america and its embrace of this nation. >> as a correspondent i have traveled more than 2 million miles on assignment. usually in a hurry rushing to one story after another. but along the way, i noticed that the most powerful stories often weren't where i was heading to or coming from at all. but in between and usually sitting right next to me. for example, i was flying american airlines flight 2473 boston to dallas. i was in 21c. next to me in 21b was armandi.

he shared such a story with me that when his family invited me to join them near their home in new jersey, i gladly accepted. to understand what's going on here, you should note two things. first, even though this family comes from columbia. normandi is named after one of the most important moments in american history. >> my grandfather saw that as such a powerful moment in history. that he wanted to have his family carry a name that referred to a new dawn and so the first born in the family received that name. >> that first born was this man. narmandi senior. senior would also hear something american that would inspire him. >> ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do

for your country. >> to make your society better than it is and leave it better than it was after you're gone. >> he never forgot that. >> it stuck in his head. stuck with him forever. >> as we flew towards texas, he told me how his parents had been comfortably middle class in columbia when the drug cartels began destroys what they valued most. respect for public service and education. jfk's speech struck a nerve with his father. his oldest sister was a little girl when they arrived in new jersey. >> we had living rooms and spare rooms depending on the family's circumstances. >> because the credentials didn't transfer his mother would spend the next 25 years in

america working at near minimum wage as a day care assistant. here, she remembers saying goodbye to her mother. >> i remember she said you can move over there, you choose, you're going to be okay. >> his father, a college educated chemist and statistician wound up being a labor in america as a stock buy lifting boxes until one box broke his back. his other sister -- >> their dreams, their professional aspirations they put aside for us because they believe we could do something better here. >> in their small two room apartment their mom emphasized literature. their dad tutored them in math from his columbian college textbooks. and the oldest went to the ivy

league's brown university and on to law school. and marcel la went on to brown and medical school. third child, david, harvard. and armundi, i would like to tell you went to college without incident, it didn't happen that way. he was almost killed in a bicycle accident. >> that was a huge blow to me. >> he was in a coma for days. when he finally woke up, he couldn't see well or think clearly and he attacked his rehabilitation with such determination that his father, perhaps, the strongest man he knew began calling him al trucador, the fighter. so he entered college on time. a full year before doctors thought he could do it. >> he's one of the most people i admire in this world. he's something else.

>> five weeks after i met him, he graduated from harvard university. the fourth in his family to earn an ivy league education. they had done it with scholar ships of course. when i asked him how his parents could afford the trip for the graduation, he said some guy sent us $3,000. when i asked who, he showed me the guy. >> here we have -- >> there's bill gates and armundi wearing the tie. one of 40,000 academically gifted students who gates will help put through college over the next several years. gates message to all the scholars sounded identical to what his grandfather and father had said. live lives of service. >> i hope you will judge yourself not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you

treated people the world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity. good luck. >> so that's what normundi and his siblings will do, service in public help and the law. by the way, when his father went to harvard for the graduation he visited the kennedy school of government there and found the words that launched his american dream so many years ago written in stone. >> ask what you can do for your country. >> so you can maybe understand why my seat mates graduation party was something not to be missed. before i left he and his family, there was one more celebration. when they took me on a favorite field trip. >> a symbol of liberty and

opportunity. >> the statue of liberty just a couple of miles from their apartment was a yearly destination for this family. and it's as good a place as any to end this story. normundi's father had nothing to do with making big money. they had that. it all had to do what his father heard in the guns of normdy and what he heard at jfk. when you meet them and understand their sacrifice, you can't help but wonder if maybe the great lady's gaze is not scanning the horizon for opportunity as many believe but instead, checking to see what we have done with ours. when i arrived in dallas, i didn't know he would invite me to his harvard garage weigradua.

you don't really find great stores in flying coach. they find you. which i would learn soon when i met donna. but she is an entirely other story. >> a quick update. this past wednesday, mormundi graduated. next week he finishes his medical school requirements and hopes to become a surgeon. and after putting all his kids through school. senior got his bachelor's last year and made the dean's list. in anticipation of memorial day, find out where congress stands on opening a pathway to citizenship. visit news hour.pbs.org.

>> announcer: this is pbs news hour weekend saturday. >> a programming note. tuesday evening frontline premiers battle zones, a report from inside ukraine and syria. what follows is an excerpt with the leader of rite sector a ukrainian nationalist group. >> i wanted to make the leader of rite sector. to many of the millions of ukrainians who side with russia, he's a naz zi and the most feared man in the country. he invited me to his heavily guarded headquarters. >> we have a clear attitude

towards non-ukrainians and ukraine. brotherly to those who stand with us in our struggle for stateho statehood. tolerant to those who live here and do not oppose our fight. putin has repeatedly said there's no such country as y ukrai ukraine. every empire is afraid of gorilla war. that's our way to victory. >> it's words like this that have fears among many russians speaking ukraine. he would like to take over crimea, a southern region of ukraine. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> before we leave you tonight, a quick recap, authorities say the 22-year-old gunman who killed six in california last night before being found dead had posted a video complaining of lonelinesloneliness, rejecti unfulfilled desires and saying he's on a retribution against women. he family contacted police with their concerns prior to the shootings. there has been an arrest in belgium. three people kill and a fourth wounded. police are hunting for a second suspect. and al qaeda mill about titants attacks. that's it for this weekend. thanks for watching.

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