captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: tonight on the pbs newshour: breakthroughs in the fight against aids, millions now on life saving drugs. how early treatment stops what was once a death sentence. >> ifill: also ahead this tuesday: boots back on the ground in iraq. american civilians head to the front lines to fight against islamic state militants. >> something inside of me just snapped and i couldn't do it, i couldn't allow myself to sit down and do nothing when all of these children here are in trouble and me and my family are just living happily in america. >> woodruff: plus, our running series continues with former senator rick santorum, who returns to the campaign trail for a second bid at the presidency.

>> ifill: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: president obama invoked the iraq war today

during a defense of the recent nuclear deal with iran. he said those who oppose the deal are like the people who rushed the u.s. into war with iraq. he spoke in pittsburgh, at the veterans of foreign wars national convention. >> we're hearing the echoes some of the same policies and mindsets that failed us in the past. some of the same politicians and pundits that are so quick to reject the possibility of a diplomatic solution to iran's nuclear program are the same folks who were so quick to go to war in iraq and said it would take a few months. we know the consequences of that choice, and what it cost us in blood and treasure. >> woodruff: the president also pressed congress today to help with funding for the veterans affairs department. it's been a little over a year since the v.a. was rocked by scandal over excessive wait times. he said he's still not satisfied with the changes hospitals have made in fixing veterans' care. >> ifill: an uncle of the man who opened fire on military

facilities in chattanooga, tennessee has been in custody overseas since a day after the attack. the uncle of muhammad youssef abdulazeez lives in jordan, where other relatives have also been questioned by authorities. abdulazeez spent several months in the kingdom last year. in washington, republican senator john mccain asked the general tapped to be the next army chief about arming recruiters. >> i think that's complicated legally and there is issues involved. we'll have to come to grips with that. >> what part of it can be resolved? do you think they should under certain conditions be armed? >> i think under certain conditions both on military bails and in outstations, recruiting stations, reserve centers, we should consider it and in some cases i think it's appropriate. >> ifill: president obama pledged today the u.s. will do everything in its power to

protect american military members from attacks like last week's. >> woodruff: a prosecutor in texas says it's too early to tell what happened to a woman who died in police custody last week. sandra bland was found dead in her jail cell three days after she was arrested. her death was originally ruled a suicide, but authorities are now treating the case as if it were a murder investigation. authorities also released a surveillance video, showing no movement outside her cell until medical personnel arrived on the scene. >> ifill: two-term ohio governor john kasich has become the 16th republican to enter the 2016 presidential race. the former congressman is known for his record of fiscal conservatism. as chairman of the house budget committee, he helped secure a balanced budget deal in 1997. kasich officially announced his candidacy today at ohio state university in columbus, with his family at his side. >> i will promise you that my top priority we'll get this country on the path to fiscal

independence, strength, and we will rebuild the economy of this country because creating jobs is our highest moral purpose and we will move to get that done! (cheers and applause) >> ifill: in other campaign news, donald trump lashed out at fellow republican presidential contender, lindsay graham, who has been critical of the new york businessman. before a crowd of about 500 people in south carolina, trump called the palmetto state senator a "total lightweight", and read what he said was graham's cell phone number aloud from a piece of paper. trump said graham gave him the contact information years ago, when the two were more friendly. >> woodruff: a federal appeals court in chicago overturned some of the most sensational corruption convictions of former illinois governor rod blagojevich. he's currently serving a 14-year sentence after he was convicted in 2011 of trying to sell president obama's former senate seat to the highest bidder. prosecutors could appeal the ruling or decide to retry blagojevich on the dropped

counts. >> ifill: voters headed to the polls in small numbers today in burundi, where protests and violence dampened the turnout. at least two people-- a policeman and a civilian-- were killed in a string of explosions and gunfire that rocked the capital overnight. in spite of that, most polls managed to open on time. opposition groups are boycotting the election in protest of the current president's decision to run for a third term. >> woodruff: a mass funeral was held in southeastern turkey for victims of yesterday's suicide bombing in suruc, near the border with syria. crowds of mourners wept and shouted over the flag-draped coffins as they were laid out. 32 people died and 100 were injured when the blast ripped through a rally of young political activists. meanwhile, turkey's prime minister announced the suspect had ties to islamic state terrorists, but refrained from identifying the individual. >> ifill: dozens of mayors and governors from major cities

around the world gathered at the vatican today to demand bold action on climate change. the summit was designed to increase pressure on national leaders ahead of climate negotiations in paris later this year. last month, pope francis released a landmark environmental encyclical, urging the world to do more to fight human-induced global warming. >> woodruff: new research suggests older women with mild memory problems worsen twice as quickly as men. that was in a report presented today at an international conference on alzheimer's disease in washington. women make up nearly two-thirds of all alzheimer's cases in the u.s. but scientists are still baffled as to why the disease disproportionately affects so many more women than men. >> ifill: stocks fell on wall street today after several disappointing corporate earnings reports. the dow jones industrial average lost 181 points to close at 17919. the nasdaq fell more than ten points and the s&p 500 slipped

nine points. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour: the power of early treatment for h.i.v. to halt the spread of aids, american civilians joining the front lines to fight back isis and much more. >> ifill: patients, advocates and scientists are hailing new studies that show the value of getting aids drugs to people, early and often. the three-decade-long fight against aids has seen a series of breakthroughs in recent weeks, showing momentum in the push for an h.i.v. cure. yesterday, at the 2015 international aids society conference in vancouver, researchers detailed some dramatic findings. they confirmed that, for people with h.i.v., starting treatments

with anti-retroviral drugs early did prevent aids-related illness and deaths. until now, there had been concern that starting such therapy too early might increase patients' risk of cardiovascular and renal disease. that news came on top of a surprising development as described the case of a french teenager. the so-far unidentified girl was born with h.i.v., and received anti-retrovial treatment until she was six. 12 years later, she's still free of the virus. it appears to be the first confirmed long-term remission in a child infected from birth. >> people were saying that we were foolish dreamers, that we were even naive. >> ifill: and that followed word last week that the u.n. reached its 2015 goal of providing access to h.i.v. treatment for 15 million people worldwide-- nine months ahead of schedule.

>> they said it was too costly. but we have been able to demonstrate that they were wrong. and they were saying that the costs will never go down. >> ifill: the report also said that a once-unthinkable goal-- ending the aids epidemic-- is in sight, by the year 2030. so let's look closer at the growth of treatment, the push to dramatically expand it to unheard of levels and what these drugs have meant. deborah birx is the point person for the government as the u.s. global aids coordinator. she joins us from vancouver where the conference i still underway and justin goforth is with the whitman-walker health clinic here in washington. he was diagnosed with h.i.v. back in 1992. dr. birks, let's talk about these numbers, which are quite stunning. we're talking about a 48% decrease in h.i.v. infections in children just since 2009.

that's in 21 priority countries. what is the significance of this? >> it really those that when we focus and work together, we can achieve amazing goals. so under the global plan that was launched just a few short years ago, it mobilized governments and communities to really move forward in an nd focused way to have this dramatic change in the number of new infections in pediatrics. >> ifill: justin goforth, you were hands-on every single day dealing with this for some years. how does this play out in a health community which service so many people in a highly affected community? >> it's been an evolution with the he cannology and science around h.i.v. we needed to get to the point where we could have treatments that could be managed in the daily life of people we take care of. that's why we are where we are and things are changing quickly. if you can get in care and stay

in care on treatment, it is a manageable chronic illness. >> ifill: that's what's happened with you? >> that's correct. it's been since 1992. in '96, i was taking 40 pills a day, five dames a day, had to be with a completely full meal, two times a day on an empty stomach. where we are today, the majority of people take one pill a day and manage their illness very effectively and plan on living full lives. >> ifill: dr. birks many of the findings in vancouver have to do with children worldwide where there has been great impact over the years, especially among the youngest. tell us about the significance of how soon you begin to act and provide this medication for children. >> well, both children and adults, so it's been incredibly exciting to be back in van

vancouver. as guns said, we had 19 years ago in this city the announcement of highly effective treatment. for myself and cry nations, that's when we were able to keep patients alive. so the patients that made to it 1996, if you were in the developed world, you were able to live effectively. that was extraordinary. to be back here 19 years later and hear, now, through the really ground-breaking trial that was done around the world, the start trial, it says if we start people early, they can live full and productive lives no matter where they are. so that theme of that conference which was one hope one world can finally be realized with this new trial results. and we are so excited to translate that science immediately into programs. >> ifill: part of your role dr. birks was to provide anti-retrovierls for 15 million

people by the year 2015 and you got there early. how did that happen? >> you know, that is so extraordinary because when u.n. aids said we were going to get to 15 million in 2011, that was doubtful. we were excited about translating that vision into practice. i think the funding through the global fund and pet fire and new collaboration and partnerships between post governments and civil society allowed us to sprint in a way we didn't know we were capable of doing. so to say we have the last piece of the puzzle and the last tool that will really allow us to move and move back into the print mode to really reach people as quickly as we can, not only with effective therapy, but as justin said, a therapy that can be utilized as a community so people can stay on treatment and thrive. this really is a unique

opportunity. >> ifill: justin goforth, in order to treat and provide this therapy, this wonderful technology, people have to be willing to take an early diagnosis as well. has that changed over time? the numbers are not so positive here in washington, d.c. >> if you look over time our numbers actually are getting tremendously better. i believe we had about 500 new infections last year, according to the new data that was out, and five to ten years ago, that was easily 1,000 to 1500 or for new uninfections. we've changed the number of new infections dramatically. that's about getting a lot of people tested. we have lots of data to suggest it's really difficult to change people's behaviors, but getting them into care and on treatment actually doesn't just keep that person healthy and well for a life spap it also prevents them from infecting other individuals. that's an hick torque marriage of two public health prevention

and treatment alcoming together at the same time and having a manageable treatment was necessary to get to the point that we could use this as prevention. so that's what, i think is why we're seeing a turnaround in all the urban centers in the united states but particularly here in d.c. where we used to be seen as the worst of the worst. that's not the case with our new numbers. >> ifill: dr. birks, 2030, you're talking about getting to zero. what is the possibility of that and how do you get there? >> we're talking about ending aids as a public health threat, so we certainly want all our h.i.v. positives, the 37 million people living with h.i.v. right now, to know their status and to thrive and to be on medication so they can thrive. to get there to the end is going to require us to bring all our prevention tools to the table and expand them in an appropriate way in absolute partnership with the community and i think we've been using the

whitman-walker example. you can see what that clinic and its community outreach has been able to do. we want to translate what the whitman-walker clinic and others have been able to do in washington, d.c. to every city, village and community around the globe. you can see from what we just heard from justin, it's possible. >> ifill: dr. deborah birx, u.s. aids coordinator and justin goforth with the whitman-walker health clinic here in washington. thank you very much. >> my pleasure. thank you gwen. >> woodruff: tonight, an exclusive story from iraq on american citizens, civilians fighting the islamic state group. many are former u.s. military, but some have never seen a battle before. special correspondent marcia biggs reports. >> reporter: american boots are back on the ground in iraq, but this time it's volunteers, u.s. military veterans on the front lines against the islamic state.

and among them one woman. 25-year-old samantha johnston was a private in the army for two years before she left to be a stay at home mom to her three children. with the islamic state dominating the news, she says she sat in her north carolina home, watching videos of their atrocities and felt compelled to join the fight. >> something inside of me just snapped and i couldn't do it i couldn't allow myself to sit down and do nothing when all of these children here are in trouble and me and my family are just living happily in america. i couldn't do it. >> reporter: she made contact with other volunteers through social media sites. and three months ago, she packed her bags and flew to iraq, where she volunteered with the kurdish army, the peshmerga, in the war against i.s. she says she's become close to the kurdish soldiers in her unit, even listing herself on facebook by a kurdish name.

>> they became my family. i plan to stay here as long as i can, as long as they need me to be here. >> reporter: she spends her days training for battle, but has not yet seen any combat. back in her army days, her job was making maps for deployed units, but she never got the chance to go overseas. >> i really wanted to be deployed, but my unit never deployed. >> reporter: is that why you're here? >> probably, it's probably one of the many reasons i'm here. >> reporter: and she's not the only one. officials at the u.s. state department believes that more than 150 americans have voluntarily traveled to iraq and syria to fight in the ongoing conflict. >> i'm here as gelhat rumet. i'm from the boston area. >> reporter: just last month 36 year old keith broomfield became the first american known to die while fighting i.s., killed near the syrian town of kobani. >> the next village is right

over there is isis. >> reporter: many of the volunteers we met are military veterans, like 29-year-old jeremy woodard, who spent years fighting in iraq and afghanistan but struggled back home. >> it was hard to get a job. you can barely get a job at mcdonald's flipping a burger. they look at you, they see your resume, serving in the u.s. army honorably, but they look at you like you're a hazard, like you're going to hurt somebody. >> reporter: when the islamic state swept through iraq last summer, woodard also left family behind, jumping at the chance to get involved in the fight, in honor of his fellow soldiers who fought and died in the u.s. war in iraq. >> all those people got killed over here for fighting for a cause. i didn't want them to die in vain. >> reporter: woodard's unit has seen some combat, fighting alongside the peshmerga.

back in april, they were able to establish this defensive line, after a fierce battle with i.s. fighters, a force these volunteers say is one to be reckoned with. >> we don't recognize them as terrorists, we recognize them as an actual army. they're well trained, sophisticated, whenever they get into battle, disciplined in that matter. >> reporter: despite never serving in the military, danny was one of the volunteers who was wounded in that battle, shot in the leg. >> am i ready to die for this? i've been out here for the last seven months already. i pretty much made up my mind to go ahead and help out these peoples that can't help themselves. so if that will be a matter of fact to do so, then hey, it is what it is. >> reporter: the volunteers say they're here out of moral obligation, they're not even being paid. and while it's not technically illegal, the u.s. state department is adamant that it does not support their participation in this conflict. but for these american veterans,

it wasn't even a question. >> i'm having a great time out here. i feel more comfortable here than i ever felt in america. >> reporter: after serving in iraq, justin smith says he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. several attempts at treatment failed, and he sold everything he owned to buy a one way ticket back. he says iraq seems like paradise compared to the hell of staying in the u.s. >> the states there is too much idle time. too much time sitting around doing nothing drinking, anything like that. it's better here. i've said it countless times i get to do my job. i love my job. >> reporter: do you think you can ever go back to the u.s.? >> probably. i won't like it, but i'll have to go back eventually.

>> i don't think i could leave for good. >> reporter: while the peshmerga does not officially allow foreigners to volunteer, local authorities often look the other way when volunteers arrive. and they've been largely embraced, sometimes simply out of kurdish hospitality. but one kurdish officer told us that, while he appreciates the volunteers, this is not what they need from the united states. >> we don't need exactly people to come fight for us, we need weapons, we need equipment, supplies from american government, from european countries. >> reporter: we asked jeremy why he thinks it's his business to fight in a war that the u.s. is not directly waging. >> it should be everybody's business. if it doesn't get stopped here, it's going to keep spreading. >> reporter: you think there are so many isis sleeper cells in the u.s.? >> i believe it, i think there's quite a few. >> reporter: why do you believe that? >> i mean, that's a good question. i mean they keep claiming that they're there. i mean, who knows, it's a possibility that they're not. but honestly, i believe that they are. >> so why not be in the us

searching out sleeper cells? >> this is where the fight is right now. it's got to be controlled here. >> reporter: johnston faces a firestorm of controversy over leaving behind her five-year-old and her three-year-old twins to volunteer in a war on the other side of the world, where i.s. fighters have put a $300,000 price on her head. >> i see these refugee children, i see just the regular poor children and i think of my children. my children are happy, safe, fed. they have more than they need. they're okay. >> reporter: you said my kids have everything they need, but they don't have their mom. >> they don't, but i will spend the rest of my life making that up to them. >> reporter: you cried all the way to the airport. >> i cried.

i don't want to think about it. that was the hardest day of my life. i'll never leave them again when i come back. never. every day is a battle not to come back. every day i look at prices to fly back. but i have a goal here and i can't just give up. >> reporter: it's a goal and a cause they all believe in. but it's also an escape. >> it's an escape, yeah. it's like a vacation here.

it's kind of sick to say. when i graduated i went straight to the army. i was 17 whenever i went in. i just know war. that's it. i'm still searching. searching for what i don't know. searching for a part of myself. where i belong. i belong in a place like this. >> reporter: for those still searching, the fight against i.s. provides yet another war. for the pbs newshour, i am marcia biggs, northern iraq. >> woodruff: since our interview, samantha johnson left iraq for europe and posted on her facebook page that although it is time to "start heading back to my family," she indicated she will be returning to iraq. >> ifill: also ahead on the

newshour: the increasing numbers of children living in poverty since the great recession and how one family's premature baby sparked a larger debate on employer-provided insurance, and the right to privacy. >> woodruff: now, the next in our series of interviews with the candidates running for president in 2016. tonight, we sit down with former u.s. senator rick santorum of pennsylvania, who made a run for the republican nomination in 2012 and is trying again. welcome senator santorum. >> thank you judy. good to be with you. >> woodruff: we were just listening to the report about americans joining the fight against i.s.i.s. to you what's the greater threat against this country i.s.i.s. or iran? >> i.s.i.s. is the more near-term threat. obviously, the jihadis they encourage to attack here in the united states and obviously, the hot war that's going on in the middle east. but, clearly, the long-term threat is iran and i have been saying that really for the

better part of 12 years. when i was in the senate, i authored bills on sanctioning iran. i was talking about their nuclear program and how an iranian nuclear program is really the worst possible thing that can happen to this country. there really isn't any more threat that's more dangerous that's more exotential than iran with the ability to use a as an e.m.p. use it as a dirty bomb, through terrorists whatever the case may be, i have no doubt that, unlike other nuclear powers, iran is a country driven by a theocracy that will use that nuclear weapon against america. >> woodruff: and all your republicans agree with that. scott walker said on the first day he became president he would be willing to go to war with iran if necessary. do you agree with him on that? >> i have been looking at iran, at their theology, looking at their objective and what they

say. one of the things we should have learned from history is actually pay attention to what leaders say they're going to do because sometimes and many times, when given the capability, they actually do it. if you listen to what iran is saying and even just the other day where they talk about we're going to rule america, we're going to wipe out america we're going to destroy america now we're giving them the capability. i mean there niece doubt, with this plan, we are putting them on the path to have the capability to do just that. >> woodruff: so what about going to war? >> the answer is, if i become president, from the day after i get elected president, i will be working with our allies i have no doubt that iran will be in violation of this agreement multiple times in the time i'm elected president. >> woodruff: in the last presidential election, you ran a strong campaign came in second to mitt romney, a distant second but came in second. this year you not only are running against more candidates but more people who are committed conservatives, people like mike huckabee, like ted

cruz, ben carson, scott walker. what does rick santorum bring that they don't? >> i would say several things. number one, experience on national security which is a huge deal. this is an issue i have been wrestling with now for eight years on the armed services committee, i have a lot of experience in this area. someone who has a track record and who is prepared to lead. you know, three months ago i was in i.s.i.s. magazine on the american version under the title "in the words of our enemy," and had a picture and a quote from me. the enemy knows who i am, i know who they are and i think at a time when our country is facing this kind of severe threat having someone with experience in this area is important. second i announce from a factory floor in western pennsylvania. i think our message of bringing manufacturing back to the country, helping blue-collar and lower-income americans having good paying jobs and begunking to rise and our platform of how we'll do that is different than everybody else in the field.

>> woodruff: you know all the people i named and others are running ahead of you in the polls. if you don't make the cut to be the ten candidates on stage for the first debate fox news is sponsoring in a couple of weeks what are you going to do? >> i keep going back to iowa and hustling and campaigning. four years ago, we had a straw poll in iowa. i finished fourth, almost fifth and didn't have very much impact. the person who wanted it didn't have a delegate. the person who came in with tens of millions of dollars and was at the top of the polls four years ago didn't win a delegate. the guy who won a delegate, i focused on what the goal is. the goal is not the polls in july but results in february. >> woodruff: let's talk issues. john kasich announced today, became 16th republican to jump in the race. he's put a lot of emphasis on income inequality. there's a new report out that says 22% of american children today are living in poverty by

the annie e. casey foundation. what do you think about that and expect to do about it? >> i expect the 22% of those children are living in broken homes. i'm actually one of the few politician who walks around holding up two books at my town meeting one, robert putnam and charles murray. i talk about those two books from the far left and the far right. both come down to the same conclusion that the reason the middle is hollowing out and people aren't able to rise is fundamentally a breakdown in the family structure in america and the consequence of that. as you know, i'm someone who has really focused long and hard for a lot of years. i wrote a book ten years ago that called it takes a family. what we need to do as a society and as a government is to try to help reknit the american family. i agree with john kasich, that's a big issue. i agree children's ability to rise in america today is not

what it should be and not what we should expect in america. i have strong ideas to have a stronger economy and to stabilize and support stronger families. >> woodruff: immigration after donald trump made his announcement he was running for president and spoke about mexican immigrants bringing drugs and crime and being rapists, you did say later that you didn't agree with him, but it took you two weeks to come out and make a statement. >> no, i made a statement, actually whenever i was asked about it. i disagree with what he said, but i agree the issue is an important issue to be discussed. in fact i'm the only person in this race who's actually put out a comprehensive plan on immigration control that deals with both illegal and legal immigration, and there are a -- again, to me it goes with how are we going to create a better opportunity for lower-skilled workers in america many of the poor children you're talking about that won't be able to go to college how will we create an opportunity for them to flys society.

so we put together not just an economic plan that deals with a host of things including increasing the minimum-wage but also an imgrailings plan that says let's quit bringing in over a million legal immigrants and millions of illegal immigrants into the country to compete against the workers in america who see their wages flat line and decrease in america. we have 35 million legal and illegal immigrants have come into this country in the last 20 years. that can be a good or bad thing. but the idea that you can't have a discussion about whether we should limit immigration because that makes you a phobic that's not the issue. >> woodruff: more people are going back to mexico. >> the majority are not mexicans coming across the border you're

right. >> woodruff: rick santorum, thank you. >> my pleasure, judy. >> ifill: the economy may be recovering from the great recession, but a new report finds many have been left behind especially children. the findings, from the annie e. casey foundation, show 22% of u.s. children were living in poverty in 2013. that's compared to 18% in 2008. those rate among african-american and native american children, with problems most severe in the south and southwest. some of those conclusions also echo a recent analysis by the pew research center. it found black children were almost four times as likely as white children to be living in poverty. joining me to discuss the cause and the effect of these sobering numbers are: patrick mccarthy the president and c.e.o. of the annie e. casey foundation and mark hugo lopez of the pew

research center. mark hugo lopez, why these populations in particular in why are they suffering? >>suffering? when you look at unemployment rates particularly, you see for african-americans in june unemployment was 9.6% for whites 4.5%. unemployment for african-americans is almost double that of white and that's an important part of explaining the story of why many children are living in poverty. many of their parents are not fully employed, are unemployed or can't find work. >> ifill: we might find it surprising in some ways minority populations are at a disadvantage but phenwhen you look at the numbers overall fewer white children are in poverty. why are the numbers heading in the opposite direction? >> i think there is a number of reasons we have to look at. the economy as it's recovered certainly has produced jobs for some populations, but we know that the recession took out a

lot of lower-skilled and low-wage jobs that had been held by african-americans and latinos and, as the economy has recovered, although a lot of the jobs that had been restored are low-wage jobs, the folks who lost their jobs had kind of a precarious grasp upof those jobs are having a much harder time getting employed again. >>again. >> ifill: one thing that struck me, we're not talking just percentages. we're talking absolute numbers. >> 14.7 million children live in poverty. when you take a look at the hispanic children, the number is about 5 million. for black children 4.2 million. we're talking about poverty, a significant share. more than half are black or hispanic children but we're also seeing other big changes as you noted the number of white children living in poverty declined. it looks like it might be below the number of black children in poverty which can be a first in 30 or 40 years. for hispanicser more hispanics

are living in poverty since 2007, particularly for children. >> ifill: let's talk about mississippi and minnesota. mississippi is the worst state by these measures and minnesota is the best. what's the difference? >> a lot of differences go into this. obviously, there are large macroeconomic differences. the two states have very different economies. as we have been discussing african-american families are suffering after the recession. mississippi has a much higher number of african-american families living in mississippi compared to minnesota. we also think there are differences in how states made policy choices. we know not only minnesota but a number of states in the northeast and midwest have made choices around providing healthcare, providing early childhood education, providing a bridge to jobs, support for folks who become unemployed and that makes a difference as well. so it's partially the economic

forces, the kind of jobs available in the states and partially the policy choices states make. >> ifill: so a policy choice might be prizing deficit reduction over social welfare programs. >> that's right, social welfare programs might not even be focused on children. some states have done some policy choices that have been emphasizing more broadly what's happening in the state and less so to help children particularly. >> ifill: let's talk about the long-term effect of these kinds of numbers. first of all educational attainment. >> so one of the things i think we sometimes miss when we talk about the numbers and they seem so large and talk about messengers is we lose what it means to be in poverty. the day-to-day grind of not being sure you're going to be able to take care of your kids, the inability to find a job that you can rely on week after week after week, having to figure out at the end of the month do you pay this or that bill the kind of stress that takes on you as

not only a worker and individual but as a parent, which then begins to affect the children. they're living in an environment with a lot of stress. put on top of that one in seven american children are living in neighborhoods of high poverty so they're surround bid other people struggling with the same kinds of issues. poor schools no safe place to play, surrounded by crime. then we see the long-term effects of that on children. trauma chronic stress et cetera, that literally starts to narrow their opportunity make it tougher for them to be successful in school. long-term research shows impacts on even their health as they become adults. so poverty is the driver of many, many social ills that this country faces. >> how would you answer that? we take a look at the effects of poverty particularly when it comes to opportunities. what are these young people going to be trained for? what sort of jobs will they be able to hold? what happens when they go to

college? many are having to work to support parents or other siblings under 18. particularly when we think of hispanic children, one of the reasons why they did not stay in college is they return home to help family. >> ifill: what are the solutions if this is identified to be a major problem? >> we think there are three things we ought to look at. we ought to start thinking about a two-generation strategy, simultaneously investing in families, parents and children themselves. so the three things we think you need to do is, number one, recognize we're in a transitional economy, so it's tough especially for folks without a lot of skills to make enough money to support their families. we have to think about expanding the earned income tax credit, the child tax credit, recognizing the importance of unemployment benefits and support for families so they can have the economic means to take care of their kids. secondly, they are both workers and parents, so we have to help them have the social and emotional skills they need to do

right by their kids. third, we have to invest heavily especially in children in poverty in quality preschool and early education to get the opportunity. >> ifill: patrick mccarthy president and c.e.o. of the annie e. casey foundation and mark hugo lopez, to pew research center. thank you for the research and the numbers. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now, when one family's personal drama sparked national headlines. deanna fei's premature baby girl had survived a long, arduous stay in the hospital, when she and her family were thrust into controversy. fei's husband worked at a.o.l and the company's c.e.o. announced he was going to trim his company's retirement benefits because of millions of dollars the company was being asked to cover in medical insurance bills for so-called "distressed babies". she describes the experience in a new memoir called "girl in glass: how my 'distressed baby'

defied the odds, shamed a c.e.o. and taught me the essence of love, heartbreak and miracles." william brangham talked with her recently in brooklyn, new york. >> reporter: deanna fei was just 25 weeks pregnant, hard at work on her second novel and months away from her delivery date. she'd been researching translations for a plot twist where one of her main characters would have a miscarriage. that night, her own contractions came out of nowhere. rushing to the hospital with shooting pains in her womb, the translation of the word 'calamity' was still on her computer screen. >> the pain just got worse and worse and worse, worse. i found myself desperately thinking, "could this be braxton hicks contractions? false labor?" but it felt nothing like that. by the time i got to the hospital, i was fully dilated. the doctors had to perform an emergency c-section. >> reporter: nothing in fei's own history predicted a calamity like this. she and her husband, peter goodman, had always been the lucky types-- traveling the world together, pursuing careers in writing and journalism.

during a trip to india in 2010, they made an offhand prayer to the hindu gods to bless them with their first child, and nine months later, a chubby boy named leo was born-- healthy and right on time. this second pregnancy-- which was a surprise-- came almost a year after leo's birth and had been going just as well, until those pains started. >> all that was in my head was, "i think i lost my baby. i had a miscarriage." and when the nurses and doctors said things like "congratulations, would you like to take a picture of her?" i almost felt like it was a kind of farce. and both my husband and i had this feeling of, "this isn't how a baby gets born." >> reporter: she was a baby girl, weighing just one pound, nine ounces-- barely a quarter of her brother's birth weight. one doctor described her skin as, "gelatinous." because she'd arrived so early she had few of the normal functions or immunities babies develop in utero, so she had to live enclosed in this glass

incubator in a neonatal intensive care unit. her parents were even reluctant to give her a name at first. >> she was really hard to look at. everything about her to me felt like, "i don't know if she's supposed to be here. and i don't know if she's going to be here." because what we also heard from the beginning, along with the congratulations, was she might not survive one month, one week one day. there was a part of me that felt like, it's kind of the mother in me thinking, "do i need to let her go? is it selfish to hold onto this idea of this baby when maybe she just isn't meant to survive?" >> reporter: even though the next days only got worse-- there was bleeding in her brain a collapsed lung-- they did name her: mila. hope started to set in. >> when we realized that we could put our hand inside the incubator and give her access to my pinky finger, and she would squeeze it and hold on.

once i got to see her eyes and realized that she looked a lot like our boy. and once i started to see her really fight for her own life. i mean the nurses said day one-- and i thought you must be making this up for my benefit-- "she's really feisty," they said. >> reporter: three weeks in, fei was able to hold mila for the first time. at week nine, mila breathed without life support. and a month later, she was going home. she was three months old. once there, she seemed to thrive-- hitting all her major milestones, showing no signs of the brain damage some preemies experience. goodman was back at work-- he was an editor at "the huffington post," which is owned by a.o.l.- - when some corporate news broke, that hit very close to home. tim armstrong, a.o.l.'s c.e.o., announced he had to trim his employees' retirement benefits because of high health insurance costs, but who he blamed for those costs sparked a media frenzy.

armstrong said quote: >> it was clear that he was talking about my kid. and friends of mine in the newsroom came through in the course of the day and they said, somewhat embarrassed, "he's talking about your kid, isn't he?" >> it sounded extremely dehumanizing, and it had no relation to the daughter who was in front of me. she had actually started taking her first steps just that week and that was a huge milestone for us, because of course every milestone brought so many new worries, where every time she achieved one milestone we should start to worry is she ever going to do the next one, you know, once she crawls is she ever going to cruise, if she cruises will she ever walk, and then she

took her first steps and then this happened, and all of the trauma just kind of came rushing back to me. >> reporter: the couple felt shamed then angry. fei channeled her anger into a blistering piece in slate called "my baby and a.o.l.'s bottom line." she wrote: >> there was the implication that we had used more than our fair share of health benefits. there was the implication that somehow her care was optional, because tim armstrong portrayed her as this outside burden on the corporate balance sheets, and he also implied that the company had done more than it needed to do in paying for her care. >> reporter: armstrong-- who declined to comment for this

story-- did call goodman and fei to apologize and he eventually reversed the decision to reduce his employees' 401(k) plans. but goodman was done with the company. he left a.o.l. for "the international business times." after her piece in slate went viral, fei started hearing from others who'd been blamed by their bosses for having costly medical care, like cancer treatment or major surgeries. >> the truth is until recnetly, i was one of those people whose eyes would glaze over at a term like health privacy. >> reporter: deanna's book -- "girl in glass"-- is both a memoir and an impassioned plea to not let what happened to her family happen to others. >> they are risks that are extraordinary for any individual family, but they are completely predictable in the aggregate. and that's the point of health insurance. >> reporter: lawrence gostin is a professor of global health law at georgetown university.

>> the lesson is that you have no business knowing that confidential health information of your employees, that you should make sure that there's a strong firewall between you as the employer making employment decisions and healthcare decisions, and health insurance decisions. that needs to be separated and that comes to me loud and clear. faye says employees need to demand their rights to privacy such as mila is able to demand what she wants and it's chocolate ice cream. mila has continued to grow and thrive. and has so far shown none of the ill effects fei-- or any parent of a premature child-- worry about. >> these days, i think it is hard to escape this term that i

hated when she was first born, which is the term "miracle child." i finally reached a point where i have to say, "you're right she is, she's amazing, and no one can take that away from her, she's earned that." >> and who is that? >> reporter: she's still young so mila may face health challenges in the future, it's hard to tell at this point. but for a story that began in catastrophe, her parents are glad this chapter of their lives is a happy one. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham, in brooklyn, new york. >> ifill: tonight on frontline a detailed look inside mexico's

largest drug cartel. the drug kingpin joaquin "el chapo" guzman recently escaped from a maximum security prison-- he escaped once before in 2001 and prior to his capture in 2014, two filmmakers explored his brutal empire of cocaine, in their quest for an interview they had lunch with his mother, and visited his home in the sierra madre mountains. >> galdos: only one person could have arranged for us to have lunch with mrs. guzmaán. two hours later, we were being driven up the mountain to a place they call heaven on his direct instructions.

>> what happened? >> galdos: nothing. basically they said that, um... basically, they said that he's not going to speak with us right now. he said yes, but not now. and it feels funny because we can certainly feel that he's around here, and they called him on a mobile phone. yeah, so he must be around. >> but hasn't he just been politely telling us to go away? >> galdos: no, because the style of these people is if they say

no, it's "no, thank you very much." they don't play around like that. certainly, it's not in their interest that we come up here a lot. we can bring trouble with us. so, you know, that's what i believe. >> so he is somewhere between his birthplace and culiacaán, that's what...? >> galdos: yeah, they say that he spends most of his time around here and culiacaán. >> that's weird, isn't it? it's the most obvious place for him to be. >> galdos: yeah, possibly the safest. over the following months, we were twice more invited up to la tuna. each time, el chapo decided not to go on camera. for all the disappointment, we had found him exactly where we had expected him to be. >> woodruff: frontline airs tonight on most pbs stations. and that's the newshour for tonight. on wednesday, we'll profile a nazi hunter and talk with the former concentration camp guard

he's trying to put behind bars. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

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this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. tech wreck, dow components apple and microsoft fall sharply after reporting late day profits, potentially extends today's deep selloff in stocks. >> new hope and a new generation of potential drugs, that can treat a growing disease with no cure. alzheimer's. >> not so fast the one thing that kohl prevent the federal reserve from raising interest r5i9s. all that and more tonight on nightly business report. >> good evening, everyone. >> welcome, everybody. sharon it was a blue chip wreck on wall street today. more on that in a moment but we begin tonight with earnings from apple and