captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: a darker side to the beautiful game. nine officials from soccer's international governing body are indicted for corruption. we look at the consequences just weeks before the women's world cup kicks off in canada. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. also ahead this wednesday: rain continues to fall in texas deepening floodwaters and disrupting the search for those missing. and now, new questions about whether the state was prepared. >> woodruff: plus, the struggle to find homes for orphans in morocco, a country where an estimated 24 children are abandoned every day. >> ( translated ): for the

children we find who are older than age two, we believe their mothers tried to keep their babies with them, but because they are rejected by their families and are unable to find a job, they decided to abandon the child. >> ifill: those are some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. >> 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... >> 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: authorities in both the u.s. and switzerland launched corruption probes into soccer's governing body, fifa. u.s. attorney general loretta lynch called the corruption "rampant" and "deep-rooted," involving bribes in excess of $150 million. we'll have much more on this right after this news summary. >> woodruff: in iraq, islamic state militants orchestrated a wave of suicide attacks against iraqi army targets today.

at least 17 troops were killed outside fallujah, where they were trying to wrest back control from the militants. meanwhile, fighting raged in a town closer to ramadi, which was captured by islamic state insurgents earlier this month. iraqi forces and sunni tribesmen forced fighters to retreat, using guns and rockets. >> ifill: a relentless heat wave in india has claimed the lives of more than 1,100 people in the past month. most of the victims have been in the southeastern part of the country, where scorching temperatures are hovering around 113 degrees. hospitals have been flooded with heat stroke victims, and some communities have set up distribution centers for cold drinks. officials are warning residents to take care outside. >> ( translated ): our doctors and paramedic staff have been going outside and making people aware that they should not work outside in the sun. they are also telling people that if they have to step out during the day then they should

take precautions and use a cap or something to cover their head. people should try and wear cotton and loose clothing. >> ifill: forecasters anticipate the stifling heat will continue for at least another week. >> woodruff: the obama administration announced new rules today to protect the nation's drinking water. the guidelines, issued by the environmental protection agency and the army corps of engineers clarify which small streams and waterways will be protected under the clean water act. they also seek to ensure that polluters will be held accountable. e.p.a. administrator gina mccarthy made the announcement today on the banks of the anacostia river in washington. >> rivers and lakes we love, we just can't let them get polluted. we have to pay attention to these streams and wetlands that feed into these waterways because if they're not clean, this will not be either. and one in three americans get drinking water from streams and wetlands that lack clear

protection, up until yesterday. >> woodruff: the new rules have also triggered opposition. farmers are concerned streams on private land will now be subject to federal oversight. and the republican-led house and senate are taking legislative action to block the regulations. lawmakers abolished the death penalty overriding the republican governor to do it. the one house legislature voted 130-1920 get rid of capital punish am. the vote was lead by a coalition of conservative was oppose capital punishment on fiscal grounds. it makes nebraska the first traditionally conservative state to outlaw the death penalty since north dakota did it in 197 . >> the internal revenue service believed that russian hackers are to blame for stealing personal tax information to more than 100,000 taxpayers. that is according to the associated press citing anonymous sources. the agency said the identity

thieves used sophisticated methods to get tax return information from february to mid-may. >> data >> ifill: data breaches are costing companies around the world more and more each year. a study by the ponemon institute found the average cost of a data breach is now $3.8 million. the costs include hiring experts to fix the breach, investigating the cause and putting hotlines in place for customers. sony, j.p. morgan chase, target and home depot all faced significant hacks over the last year and a half. >> woodruff: on wall street today, stocks recovered from a slump the day before. the dow jones industrial average gained 121 points to close at 18,163. the nasdaq rose more than 70 points, and the s&p 500 added 19 points. the 2016 republican presidential field is up to seven candidates. former pennsylvania senator and 2012 republican presidential contender rick santorum announced he too is running for president.

santorum officially entered the fray in the small town of cabot pennsylvania this afternoon. >> you can't sit idly by as big government politicians make it harder for our workers, and then turn around and blame them for losing jobs overseas. working families don't need another president tied to big government or big money. and today is the day today is the day we are going to begin to fight back. >> ifill: santorum will kick off his campaign with stops in the early primary states of iowa and south carolina. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour: soccer officials get hit with corruption charges. more rain for an already flood- ravaged texas. one woman's journey, fleeing syria for europe. improving diversity in advanced placement classes. trying to find homes for morocco's abandoned children. and, art that stretches the

boundaries of imagination. >> ifill: the indictments of officials at soccer's international governing body were a stunning blow to the sport, and prosecutors promised it is just the beginning. it's the world's most popular sport, run by a powerful group that rakes in billions of dollars. but the u.s. attorney general and fbi director say "the beautiful game" is also involved in some dirty business. they spoke this morning in brooklyn: >> we are here to announce the unsealing of charges and the arrest of individuals as part of our long-running investigation into bribery and corruption in the world of organized soccer. >> ifill: the justice department's 47-count indictment charged 14 people: nine of international soccer's top officials and five sports marketing executives.

the charges include racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and other offenses. it's a case that involves more than $150 million in bribes, doled out over decades, for media and marketing rights to various tournaments. just hours before the u.s. authorities spoke, swiss police emtered a luxury hotel in zurich, and arrested seven fifa officials, who will be extradited to the u.s. >> they were expected to uphold the rules that keep soccer honest and to protect the integrity of the game. instead, they corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and to enrich themselves. >> ifill: fifa president joseph "sepp" blatter said, in a statement: "such misconduct has no place in football and we will ensure that those who engage in it are put out of the game." blatter will seek re-election to a fifth term friday; europe's main soccer federation has called for a postponement.

blatter, whose 17-year rule has been marred by corruption scandals, is not charged in the u.s. indictment. among those who were indicted: jeffrey webb and jack warner, former presidents of concacaf which runs soccer in north and central america and the carribean. fbi agents searched that organization's miami headquarters today. fbi director comey spoke in new york: >> the game, according to the allegations in this indictment, was hijacked. that field that is so famously flat was made tilted in favor of those who were looking to gain at the expense of countries and kids who were enjoying the game of soccer. >> ifill: charles blazer, a former u.s. representative on fifa's executive committee, was one of four people who's already pleaded guilty. he'd been helping the fbi since leaving soccer in 2013. after the u.s. announcement,

swiss prosecutors opened their own criminal proceedings into the highly-criticized decisions to award the 2018 world cup to russia, and the 2022 world cup to qatar. >> ifill: i am joined now by two reporters who've been following these events closely. jeremy schaap of espn, who recently released a documentary exploring corruption inside fifa, and matt apuzzo. he's been covering the legal side of the story for the new york times... >> how is it that you u.s. justice department the us fbi got involved in the indictments and arrests the rest of the investigation. >> american law gives the justice department broad latitude to target foreign national as broad with just the slightest nexus to the united states. in this case there were some meetings held in the united states. and most significantly for prosecutors and agents in new york is the allegations are that fifa officials used

the american banking system as part of this corrupt scheme. so that gives them the hook they need to bring these charges. >> ifill: jeremy schaap you have done quite a great deal of work look nag fifa. tell us whether if fifa at its root is a sports organization or kind of a global financial powerhouse. >> or a criminal enterprise which is pretty much what the department of justice was alleging today in that extraordinary press conference in brooklyn. i think people who have even a casual understanding of what fifa represents associate it with corruption and cronyism and a lack of transparency. but it's quite different to hear that coming out of the mouths of the american general of the united states the director of the fbi. make no mistake fifa has weathered scandal after scandal particularly over the course of the last 17 years as seth blatter of

switzerland has been its president. but i think this is a watershed moment. >> ifill: tell us a little bit about seth blatter. >> he has been president for 17 years. he is running for re-election friday that wab his fifth term after promising not to run for re-election when he ran for a fourth term four years ago. he has been at fifa for four years. he joined the organization in 1975 when he was one of 12 employees. and over the years he's demonstrated a remarkable aptitude for the political aspect of his job. and by that i mean he has worked very effectively at perpetuating his own power. anyone you talk to about him who knows him well will tell you he is highly intelligent, that he can be charming. but it's clear that his stewardship of this organization has been, to put it generously lax in ethical terms. >> we can repeat t wouldn't hurt to repeat that he was not charged with anything

today. matt apuzzo of the 14 who were charged today tell us a little bit about them and also about the charges. are they basically being charged with rigging the game? >> you know they're to the being charged with rigging the game of soccer. they're being charged with rigging the business of soccer. and jeremy's point is spot on. is this a sporting group. is this a global conglom ralt, or is a criminal enterprise. the way loretta lynch and jim comey talked about fifa they used terms they used charges that normally are associated with the mafia or mexican drug cartels. basically the idea is fifa has over a billion dollars in cash reserves. they generate between a billion and $2 billion in revenue ef yee-- every year. if you want a piece of that if you want to be associated with the money and prestige of the world cup and international soccer you've got to pay. and you know the indictment just talked about you know senior fifa officials who

have the vote on where the world cup is going to go an they're shopping it around to the highest bidder. so one country will give you a million dollars one country will give me $10 million. i mean it was just remarkable to read how explicit this stuff was. >> ifill: and matt i remember the-- i'm not that close a soccer fan but i remember the cat qatar which has no culture for somethinger got the world cup for several years hence but still pem were really surprised. is there a suspicion that that was rugged? >> well, i mean the suspicion on the 2018 and 2022 world cups in russia and qatar i mean has just plagued fifa for years. but what is remarkable is while the swiss are investigating those two the united states didn't come down-- those bids were not part of this investigation. instead they went back 20 years and said this is a systemic problem that's not limited to just one or two world cup selections.

>> ifill: let me ask jeremy schaap about that. this if this has been going on so long if there have been this many suspicions over the years about the way that businesses with being done at fifa why is it just rising to the level of indictments now if. >> well i think jim comey addressed that a little bit during the press conference. a lot of it is about jurisdiction. a lot of it is about the fact that fifa operates under swiss law as essentially nothing more than a nonprofit like a yodeling association that's often the analogy that is thrown out there so this multibillion-dollar conglomerate, you could call it which has so many interests and so many aspects much global soccer really doesn't have any overarching oversight from the swiss government. we don't know much about its workings. it doesn't have to publish its minutes. we don't know the salaries of its employees. it's been able to operate under this veil of secrecy. over the last couple of decades switzerland has been trying to change its

image it doesn't want to be considered any more the place where dictators and criminals hide their money. and fifa has become an embarrassment and seth blaert too an extent has become an embarrassment to switzerland. so the fact that the situation cooperated and work hand-in-hand with the u.s. department of justice and are conducting their own investigation, i think the response of that cannot be over-- the importance of that cannot be overstated and once the swiss determine they are going to oversee fifa and the ioc in a different way that might force them to be more accountable. >> ifill: matt, it sounds that the justice department today that this is the beginning of an investigation, not the end. >> yeah, really remarkable. it's par for the course for the justice department to say the investigation is ongoing. but i mean prosecutors sort of laid down the marker here. they said this is the beginning not the end. and we are going to root out corruption from international soccer. you know especially for a

new attorney general to come in and lay down that marker with 18 months to go in her tenure it wasn't just the well, you know more charges could come because the investigation is ongoing. they went there today. they went to new york to send the message to international soccer. you haven't cleaned up your house. we are coming to clean up your house. >> ifill: matt apuzzo of "the new york times"s jeremy schaap of espn thank you both for your work. >> great. >> thank you >> woodruff: storms and floods have made this an extraordinarily difficult week in parts of the midwe and the plains. that's been especially true in houston where the country's fourth largest city has been hammered, and other parts of texas that have been under water. today brought yet another day of struggle and anxiety to the region. crews raced to pump water from

padera lake, trying to prevent its earthen dam from bursting, and sending a wall of water towards dozens of homes in midlothian, texas, 25 miles southwest of dallas. the dam held, for now, but police still asked residents to evacuate. while in houston, the national weather service issued another flood warning for a city already-soaked. this followed another stormy night in the hard-hit lone star state, and throughout the central plains and ohio river valley. lightning lit up the skies of fort worth, while in ohio, a tornado churned through the small town of beavercreek. today, oklahoma governor mary fallin toured areas of her state ravaged by floods and severe storms over the weekend. >> it's been a very challenging week for all of our emergency responders and our state office because there's so many counties that we have to cover. there's so many people calling.

i know my phone rang all weekend because of all the people reporting damages and concern about what are we going to do as a state? >> woodruff: and the search resumed in san marcos, texas, where the blanco river surged nearly 45 feet late saturday, killing at least three people and sweeping away nearly a dozen others. >> we are still in search and rescue mode, we are still looking for viable victims. it doesn't' take much, we are saturated folks. the isolated thunderstorms could case immediate local flooding in your area. i can't stress it enough. we're to a point where we're missing 11 people. we don't need anymore. >> woodruff: all this, as residents of houston battled still-flooded streets and braced for more rain in coming days. city officials said late today that six people have died from the flooding so far. let's get an on-the-ground update on the problems in houston and the efforts to deal

with the floods. reporter molly hennessy-fisk is based there for the "los angeles times" and joins me now. welcome to the newshour, so what is the latest on the flooding situation and on the casualties? >> well judy thanks for having me. we have the death toll has risen to about 19 in texas and oklahoma. but they're also still searching for people who are missing, as you mentioned. we have some people who are missing in houston from the flooding here. but then also in central texas, still from flooding that happened over the holiday weekend. >> woodruff: an what about the flooding situation i mean how bad how high is the water how big a threat? >> well the water got pretty high. we had almost a foot of rainfall overnight into tuesday morning. and so yesterday was a big day for people you know kayaking in the streets and trying to get around people who were trapped in their homes had to be rescued by fire crews who went around

the neighborhoods in rescue boats. one of those boats capsized and two of the people who were still missing had been in that boat. today the waters had receded mostly. hi gone around and talked to some. people in the neighborhoods. they were dealing with trying to repair their homes clean them out get insurance adjusters in. they were still trying to survey the damage and figure out how many homes were damaged. but certainly thousands in houston area alone. >> woodruff: i know there have been some terrible and really harrowing stories. you've been out as you said you have been talking to people. tell us about what you have been learning. >> well, i spoke with the father of a lone survivor of a group in wimberly texas in the central texas hill country. he and his wife including two young children had been vacationing with friends over the holiday weekend when late saturday night floodwaters from the blanco river that you had mentioned carried away the house that they were in. he managed to swim to a bank and crawl to safety. he has a broken sternum

collapsed lung, broken rib. he is recovering in the hospital. but the rest of their group eight people including three children, still haven't been found. they say that there is no sign of them thus far. but officials sand family and friends are still searching. >> woodruff: so there's still active searches under way. >> that's right. in that area of central texas. >> so how are authorities preparing. because i know the forecast is for more rain. what are they telling people? >> that's right. i mean we had more rain today in houston. thunderstorms this morning a lot of people awoke to and were concerned. however that rain moved mostly fell in areas that hadn't seen flooding over the weekend. and so by this afternoon the sun was out. and a lot of the people who had had the flooding like i said, were still cleaning up. but the officials have said to watch for the potential for further flooding because the ground is so saturated. in particular they're watching the rivers in the

houston area and warning some residents who live on one of the rivers that they might want to leave the area because there is a potential for flooding. >> woodruff: how molly hennessy-fisk we know you are in houston but as we said in that report a moment ago that dam that was posing a threat of overflowing overrunning its banks they were able to stave that off. is that threat now stopped? we know that is closer to dallas. >> well that's true. that's up in midlothian but i called up there and spoke with the officials. and they said the threat seemed to have gone down along with the water. that that they had been pumping the water o out and it seemed like the concern they had in the morning. some people thought there were mandatory he vag-- evacuations. officials told me they weren't mandatory that they just warned people that there might be water overtopping the dam. that didn't end up happening and they felt like they had it under control by this afternoon. >> woodruff: for people without done know that area i know houston is called the

bayou city there is a lot of floodplain around there. to what extent are people living either in a floodplain or close to a floodplain there? >> well you know it's interesting. i went out to a neighborhood one of the ones hardest hit in houston yesterday mireland and talked to some of the people there was one family who had lived facing a bayou so they said obviously we know, we face the bayou that this could be a risk but they had lived there eight years and had never had water come into their home. their home was completely flooded. several feet of water. still standing water yesterday. another family that i talked to, they were several blocks away, not even within sight of the water, they had been in their home for 27 years they built their home elevated it about three feet offer the ground all brick. and it hadn't flooded in 27 years. and it flooded this time. they had about a foot of water. >> woodruff: it has to be a nightmare for folks in that situation. already there is some conversation around whether

more should have been done by the city by the state to prepare for something like this i know we're still early in this. are you hearing anything about that from city or state officials? >> well i talked to residents about that. and there were some residents who were frustrated because they said like the family i mentioned to you who live on the bayou who said they called 891-- 911. they saw rescue boats but they felt like they didn't get any immediate help. i also talked to res dechblts in the neighborhood who said they saw the fire department busy rescuing elderly residents in those same boats. when i talked to the city emergency operations folks and the county they are still working they are still in emergency mode trying to assess the damage trying to figure out how many homes are damaged and respond. so i think it's sort of an ongoing situation. we'll probably learn more about that in the days ahead. >> woodruff: and as we said the forecast is for more rain. >> that's right. and i spoke with some of the forecasters about that trying to get a better idea. they said more storms are

expected. this is summer storm season here. but they weren't quite sure where the storms would pop up or how much rain they would dump. and with the ground so saturated, that really is the question, whether it's going to hit areas that have already flooded and can't take more rain. >> woodruff: molly hennessy-fisk we thank you for your reporting with the los angeles times based in houston. thank you. >> ifill: the u.n. says between 10,000 and 20,000 migrants may die crossing the mediterranean this summer in search of safety and a better life. many are fleeing the war in syria, a conflict that's created nearly four million refugees. tonight, we focus on the story of one of those syrians, who documented her recent rescue on her smartphone. geraint vincent of independent television news' has the story.

>> a drift in the dead of night 24 syrian refugees look out from their little boat across the mediterranean sea. in the darkness they can see two lights. one of them is the moon. the other sitting on the horizon. >> they argue about what the light is. is it on land or is it a coast guard boat o on its way to rescue them. the refugees whistle and hold up their mobile phones to attract attention. and the light gets gradually closer. it is a boat. but they don't know whose's on board. one of the syrians speaks up. my wife speaks english he says. let her call out to them. and so she does. >> hey, we need help here.

hello. we need some help here. >> from behind the light a voice shouts back. >> it is the greek coast guard. telling them to wait on board until they come along side. to pick them up. >> all right we will. thank you so much. >> the woman's voice belonged to all iia hawaji. three weeks since she and her partner mohammed were stranded at sea. i melt up with them and all iia told me about their voyage. >> i took a boat small boat from turkey to greece up to the-- the motor of the boat got broken so we stopped in the middle of the sea for an hour and a half i mean up to one hour and half and for

around half an hour we were just in the darkness in the sea, the waves was moving us you know in all directions. it was really scary moment. because you don't know like i mean we before we heard there are also some mafias in the sea and maybe stopping people stealing their stuff maybe destroying boats. so we didn't know what was waiting for us. >> we are 24 people. yes, exactly. >> the coast guard took all the refugees on board their boat and at dawn broke they were speeding towards port in the greek islands. >> when you see these people like, you know as they save our life. we were so happy, of course yeah. >> i can't explain i can't

describe that moment. it's like you know in that moment you realize that you were rescued from death. >> reporter: at the end of their boat journey aliya and mohammed still have a long way to go to seek and find asylum but they have seen another sunrise and made it safely across the sea. >> woodruff: most high schools offer some amount of advanced placement courses, designed to be more challenging for students, while allowing them to potentially earn college credit. while more high school students are taking a.p. courses than ever before, the amount of diversity in those classes hasn't kept pace. from wttw in chicago, brandis friedman reports on what one high school is doing to make sure students aren't left behind. >> reporter: students here at evanston township high school outside chicago can take anything from automotive service excellence certification to

astrophysics. they also have their pick of almost 30 advanced placement courses. dale liebforth heads a.p. recruitment. >> portfolio studio, or latin. the list goes on. we just added an a.p. government course. >> reporter: even though it's a top-rated school, with a diverse student body, until recently only certain students were picking a.p. courses. >> we have students of color low-income students terribly underrepresented in ap. there's still a predictability among student achievement in our school district based on race. >> reporter: when eric witherspooon became superintendent eight years ago, he noticed that a.p. classrooms were filled with mostly white students. while regular classrooms, were filled with mostly minority, and often low-income students, who make up 41% of the student body. witherspoon says he realized students were being tracked into a.p. courses through honors

classes based on their eighth grade standardized test performance, while other students were tracked into less rigorous courses. >> it didn't take rocket scientist to figure out that here we're getting disparate results but in fact, we have a structure that may be even causing those disparate results certainly if not causing, not doing anything to change those results. >> reporter: to bridge that gap, evanston township high school started enrolling all incoming freshmen in the honors english and history course, called humanities. eventually, all ninth grade students except for those reading below grade level, were enrolled in the honors level biology classes as well, no matter how they did on their eighth grade standardized test. the school plans the same strategy for ninth grade math. >> we put a lot of work into convincing students that this is something everyone can do. this is where you belong. where you have shown you can show resilience, grit, hard work

and effort it takes to be successful. >> which one of these generates more volume? >> reporter: the idea is to set higher expectations of all students early, so that more of them are prepared for an a.p. class by eleventh grade. but the work didn't stop there. >> the recruitment, access, stripping away barriers, we've done that. we've done the easy part, now it's how can you be successful? we've instituted a series of supports for the kids. >> reporter: the school developed ways to be sure students who enrolled in honors and eventually advanced placement classes, didn't fail. >> what can we do, what do you think we should do to make that experience better? >> reporter: one of them is a program called team access and success in advanced placement, or team a.s.a.p.-- it's a support group for a.p. students. >> it's kind of like a stress reliever. whenever i'm having an issue in my classes i come here, talk

about it, to other students who might be having same issues. >> it's a great way to get a.p. study strategies, and i know i plan on taking a.p. classes next year. >> reporter: senior jonathan senecal says black male students are often still underrepsented. but he says this push to diversify a.p. classes is making a noticeable difference. >> ap is traditionally kind of a white space, but, like in recent years, we've seen it change a whole lot. in my stats class, everyone's well-represented. helps that people have different perspectives, different analogies bringing different things to the table and everyone improves because of that. >> reporter: the district says early numbers show the changes it's made are making a positive difference for all students. between 2011 and 2014 alone, the number of students taking the a.p. exam is up 30%. white students showed a 19% increase, black students taking a.p. tests are up 35%, and latino students showed the most growth, up 78% in those three years.

not only are more students taking a.p. tests, but the number of students scoring a three or higher-- a score that can lead to college credit-- is up too. for white students, it's up by 31%, black students by 98%, and latino students up by a whopping 116%. northwestern university professor and researcher david figlio is also an evanston high school parent. he's volunteering his research expertise to study if and how well these changes are working. >> evanston high has a formula in some regards for success fo rthe advantaged kids. any monkeying around with that formula could be risky. at the same time, it could pay off in big ways. so we need to know how successful the students who would've been in a.p./honors classes anyway, as well as success of those who wouldn't have been in the honors classes had this not been happening. >> reporter: students say that while they appreciate the increased number of students of

color, when they are in class, they should have just one focus. >> i feel like there are classes that are more diverse than other classes, but it's not something you should pay attention to if it's what you want, go after it. >> reporter: figlio adds that a community like evanston is ideal place to test this model-- it's rich in diversity, resources and the will to make a change-- a change that educators hope could be replicated in other districts. i'm brandis friedman reporting for the pbs newshour from chicago. >> ifill: we turn now to morocco and a story about a government ruling that has left many children without families. special correspondent kira kay reports. her story is produced in partnership with the bureau for international reporting. >> reporter: it's noon on a school day in fes, morocco and these children are home for lunch. they're a rowdy bunch, 138 in

all, ranging in age from five to 15. later in the day, they'll do their homework, play some ball, clean their rooms. normal routine in most households, but these are orphans, some of the estimated 24 children abandoned every day in morocco. nadia bennis is this orphanage's director. >> ( translated ): moroccan society does not accept unwed mothers, so many prefer to get rid of the child at birth. for the children we find who are older than age two, we believe their mothers tried to keep their babies with them, but because they are rejected by their families and are unable to find a job, they decided to abandon the child. >> reporter: the children here are clearly well cared for. they have tutors to help them with homework and several nurses who run daily life almost as a mother would. but bennis says, concerns beneath the surface need tending. >> ( translated ): we try with

the psychologists to handle certain problems, a lot of work is required to convince the child that he's not worthless, that there are people who love him. also speech therapy: in an institution, the children have fewer chances to express themselves, so their language skills are poor. >> reporter: the long term goal of this orphanage is to find these children permanent homes. but that's not so simple here in morocco. morocco, as a muslim country, doesn't permit traditional adoption. instead, there is an alternative system, called kafala, translated as custody or guardianship that can last until the child turns 18. >> ( translated ): kafala is just the caretakeing of a child by adoptive parents. >> reporter: asmaa benslimane advocates on behalf of moroccan orphans. >> ( translated ): in adoption they become like a biological child, that's to say an actual child of the family, with rights of name, and rights of inheritance, everything. why does islam forbid adoption? to avoid the mixing of genes,

for example a brother marrying his sister without knowing it. >> reporter: a key requirement of kafala is that children's original identity be maintained including their religion. >> ( translated ): in kafala it is required that the adoptive parents must be muslim. that's the main point. and in fact they must assure that when he grows he keeps his religion and his culture. >> reporter: morocco was one of only a few muslim countries that allowed foreigners to come and undertake kafala-- 50% of kafalas done in morocco before 2012 were international. families that were not already muslim converted, a judge determined whether or not they had truly embraced islam. >> ( translated ): this is khalil, this is amran. their parents abandoned them at the hospital. the judge called us to take them. >> reporter: khadija bouebaidi runs an orphanage in tangier, where she introduced us to her young charges-- 12, 13 even only eight days old.

bouebaidi used to host families from europe and the united states for kafalas. the families staying a couple of weeks at a time. but in september 2012, a recently-elected islamist government issued a stunning announcement, known as the "circular." it required moroccan prosecutors to investigate the backgrounds of kafala applicants, and to deny kafala to all foreigners who were not regular residents of morocco, to stop suspected conversions to christianity once children left the country. >> ( translated ): when the circular came out, we attempted to understand why. and we went with other associations to see the minister. he explained to us that he received letters which said that children of morocco, when they were taken into foreign kafala they were abused, they had their religion and identity changed. voila, that was it. >> ( translated ): we had children that foreign families wanted. then the circular was issued and their kafala was stopped. it was a shock for our

institution but of course also a shock for the families. they would sit and cry and say, "why won't they give them to us?" >> reporter: moroccan television chronicled the struggle of these foreign parents who found themselves caught in morocco their soon-to-be children still in orphanages, unable to leave; the parents forced to rent apartments nearby, unsure how long they'd be staying. moroccan lawyer nadia mouhir joined their fight. >> ( translated ): they were blocked. there were dozens of families in rabat, agadir, marrakech casablanca. the prosecutors refused to give their approval. the judges couldn't grant the kafala after the circular. >> reporter: with orphanages overflowing, mouhir and her fellow advocates fought the circular. it took more than a year, but most families left morocco with their children by the end of 2013. courts have since declared the circular contradicts national law. but the damage has been done says mouhir.

>> ( translated ): people are afraid to start a kafala, afraid of judges who would still apply the circular. in rabat we have only three or four families, when we used to have 30 or 40 during the same period. even worse, foreign authorities no longer want to grant permission for them to come to morocco. >> reporter: several american adoption agencies confirmed to pbs newshour, they no longer risk doing kafalas in morocco. the ministry of justice did not accept our requests for an interview. >> ( translated ): it was a feeling of indignation, because we know what daily life is for these children. >> reporter: orphanage director nadia bennis has seen nearly all international kafalas vanish. and she says some children have now likely aged out-- the bad luck of being born during the period of the circular. >> ( translated ): we know that at birth and even during their first year, a child has a much greater chance of leaving through kafala than a child who is older than three. each day that a child stays in an institution lessens their

chances for kafala. >> reporter: lawyer nadia mouhir is working hard to get moroccans themselves to undertake kafala, like nezha bicherate, who is in the process of bringing six- month-old ismael into her home. but the numbers of moroccan kafalas, while growing, are still not enough. and stigmas remain, particularly about special needs children, another casualty of the circular, since foreigners had been more willing and able to take on the additional care. >> ( translated ): this is new for me, i haven't dealt with so many handicapped children before. i'm not sure what to do. >> ( translated ): islam is not about intervening in the beliefs of these people that are raising children. on the contrary, we need to see what the interest of the children is. and that interest is for them to have families to give them love, to give them culture and to let them be something in society. >> reporter: one moroccan orphanage is navigating the new landscape for foreign kafalas.

its influential director, rita zniber, insists parents provide follow up reports on their childrens' cultural and religious upbringing. and she ensures the dossiers she delivers to the judges are what they are looking for, which means no recent converts. >> ( translated ): we've preferred to focus on parents whose family background is muslim, or in which one of the two parents is muslim, in a way that does not provoke the sensitivities of ill-intentioned people who might, in today's context, block the international kafala. this is done with their interests in mind, so they are not given false hope. >> reporter: all these orphanage directors say they are eager to work with the government to develop a formal process to undertake the kind of follow-up zniber has implemented on her own and jumpstart foreign kafalas again nationwide. but so far, no efforts to create such a system have materialized. this is kira kay, for pbs newshour in meknes, morocco.

>> woodruff: next, an experiment in personalized "intangible" art, direct from the artist to a consumer like you. jeffrey brown has the story from minneapolis. >> i'm going to have you walk to the bridge and when you see a person in an orange shirt, the show has begun. >> brown: i wasn't quite sure what to expect. i'd been told to meet with performers from the dance group "body cartography" at loring park in downtown minneapolis. i think i've arrived at the performance. but it was all very mysterious, especially when this man in an orange shirt began to dance and he seemed to be dancing just for me. was i supposed to join in?

confusing me a bit, it turned out, was intentional. >> there's a lot of playing with you and your comfort and discomfort, to engage you physically in what's happening. >> brown: there is discomfort there for a lot of people. >> yeah. >> brown: this personal one-on- one dance is part of what's touted as a new kind of art commerce-- e-commerce to be precise. the seller is a very prominent museum: the walker art center in minneapolis. emmet byrne is the walker's design director, and one of the creators of this so-called "intangible" shopping experience. >> in essence, we're selling ideas. >> brown: is it a product or is it artwork? >> we struggled a lot with the terminology throughout all of this. i think when you call it artwork it gives it the reverence it deserves. when you call it a product, it has a certain honesty that i really like. >> brown: the walker is one of the nation's leading museums for contemporary art. and like museums everywhere it has a gift shop. but "intangibles" is something

different, intended to encourage a deeper relationship between artist and audience. and experience seems to be the mantra. >> i think people are looking for more personal experiences with artists. i think they are used to a museum experience and they're looking for different ways to interact with artists and also be a collaborator in the artistic process. >> brown: so, for example, you could have a personal experience, via email, with nico muhly, one of today's leading young composers. for $150, muhly would compose an original ringtone for your cellphone, whether it's a "stressful family call" or "booty call". his 12 offerings were so popular, they sold out in just days, according to retail director michele tobin. >> what is so special is that for $150, you get this exchange with nico muhly. a personal exchange. that's a lot of interaction with

an artist. and then you have something at the end and you own it. so it's a pretty tangible intangible. >> i'm also trying to cover up the holes in the wall. monica larson was one of "intangibles" first customers. she bought what was advertised as a potential art exhibit by the design team known as "ro/lu." >> maybe that could come into the doorway a little bit. >> brown: when we met her, that exhibit was becoming a reality in her own living room. after purchasing a zip-drive of images and videos, she selected or curated the pieces she wished to display, and then with the help of ro/lu designer matt olson, began installing them. >>i love the idea of taking this art and putting it outside the museum artwork, showcasing it somewhere else.

>> it seems like the internet is teaching us that institutions and galleries are great. but there's another level available to us to interact with art. >> brown: it was that interaction with an audience that attracted photographer alec soth to "intangibles." normally known for large scale landscapes, he's recently begun experimenting with his smart phone. >> watching my daughter sort of live in this world where a photograph is not something to keep a memory, it's something to speak with... >> brown: communication rather than, what? documenting? >> yeah. communication rather than documentation. exactly. which is the opposite of what my career is based on. >> brown: soth's retail offering, which also sold out quickly, was a series of snapchat photos-- images that disappear just seconds after they are received. >> this was an opportunity where with the walker, i could play with this tool and have these new friends that i'm sending pictures to that disappear. but there was one aspect that

made soth uncomfortable. >> i didn't want to pretend to be a conceptual artist that charges $10,000 for an experience. it's just not what i am. i'm a photographer and i make prints and i understand that. but i'm uncomfortable with buying an experience. >> brown: an experience versus an actual printed thing. >> yeah. >> brown: eventually he and the walker settled on a price of $100 for 25 images. the money charged for the intangible items is split between the artist and the museum. all noble sounding. but i had to ask: is this just a gimmick for the walker? >> the museum already deals with intangible experiences every day. seeing a performance is intangible. even walking through a gallery that features tangible objects is an intangible experience for

the viewer. so it made a lot of sense for us to translate that into our gift shop. >> brown: back in loring park, dancers otto ramstad and olive bieringa said selling their dance experiences has raised interesting questions. are you comfortable with the fact that your art is being sold in a gift shop? >> it's exciting and it's new territory. and yes it brings up a very interesting conversation of "where is the art?" >> how do you put value on experience? >> brown: you are commodifying that experience. >> which is a beautiful irony because our early work started in response to me not wanting to be part of the art market, but just wanting to make dance in public spaces. >> brown: but here you are. >> that's right. full circle. >> brown: and here am i, jeffrey brown, dancing through minneapolis, for the pbs newshour.

with have breaking news developing, u.s. military facilities in utah and maryland mistakenly sent live anthrax to priv at labs in nine states and a military base in south korea. the pentagon confirmed so far there are no known infections. and a senior administration official told reporters that threats by the islamic state group on the u.s. have increased in the last two weeks. and urged congress to renew the law authorizing government surveillance programs. finally tonight our newshour shares >> ifill: finally tonight, our "newshour shares" of the day something that caught our eye which might be of interest to you, too. joy lofthouse is a world war ii veteran, a member of an all- female division of british pilots called the "attagirls," part of the air transport auxiliary. 70 years after her last flight,

the 92-year-old went back aboard a spitfire aircraft earlier this month. the bbc was there to capture her ascent. >> you don't want me to ask you how are you feeling, do you? >> well excited but aware of my age so hoping that things go okay. about as confident as i did when i used to fly when i was young. >> what is so special about going in a spitfire? >> it was the iconic plane the nearest thing to having wings of your own and flying. it was a beautiful day couldn't be a better day. >> when you're ready you have the go. that is why they call her an attagirl. >> you have to hand it to her. on the >> woodruff: on the newshour

online, researchers have found that the drug methadone, can pose a health risk when it filters into our drinking water. but unlike some pharmaceuticals that can get leaked into our waterways, the danger isn't from the drug itself, but when it is combined with a common waste water disinfectant. read the latest report from our science team, on our home page. that's at pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. on thursday, we'll look at how the c.e.o. of one of the nation's largest health insurers is trying to give better benefits to his employees. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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