captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, a bombing in bangkok. deadly blasts rock thailand's capital. then, gwen ifill's in iowa, reporting on this summer's political romances. the 2016 candidates woo voters on the soap box and among the crowds. >> we're here at the iowa state fair which was the center of the political universe this weekend. i talked to one of the big draws, vermont senator bernie sanders. >> woodruff: plus, re-thinking college. the university of texas fights to retain students from low income families who are at risk of dropping out. >> a lot of people come from high income families, you

feel different, you might have different mannerisms. in the back of your mind, getting into that mental head space could be damaging. >> woodruff: all that and more 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.

>> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> 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: it turns out that a cyber-attack on the internal revenue service was far worse than first thought. the agency announced today an additional 220,000 taxpayer accounts were potentially accessed in the breach last may. that brings the total affected to more than 330,000. the i.r.s. says the hackers, possibly from russia, wanted stolen identities to claim fraudulent refunds.

china has dismissed a warning from president obama about its agents operating secretly in the u.s. "the new york times" reported the chinese are pressuring expatriates wanted for graft and corruption to return home. china's state news agency called the american warning a "regrettable move" a bomb blast rocked thailand's capital city today during evening rush hour. reports of the dead ranged from 18 to 27, possibly including foreigners, with more than 100 injured. dan rivers of independent television news reports. >> reporter: at the height of rush hour, a fire ball engulfs one of bangkok's busiest crossroads. caught on the dashboard camera of a car nearby, the explosion could be heard across the city.

the blast hit the city's famous erawan shrine where thais pray for good luck. tonight though, it was transformed into a scene of carnage. the emergency services arrived moments after the attack, helping the dozens of people caught up in the mayhem, many still shaking with shock. bodies were strewn across the street, just yards from several five-star hotels and shopping malls popular with foreign tourists. early reports suggested it was a motorbike bomb, but later it was reported the device was inside the shrine itself. bomb disposal specialists checked for secondary devices. it's not clear if any were found. eric seldin was in a hotel across the road when the blast happened. >> i was eating my noodles and i literally shook from my shoulders and the other patrons were extremely startled.

even the staff at the hotel were startled because they had never heard anything like that. >> reporter: the ratchaprasong crossroads has been the scene of numerous violent protests in recent years involving competing factions in thailand's long- running political instability. it saw the army take power last year. it's not clear if today's blast was linked to that political conflict or whether islamist militants in thailand's far south are to blame. but the effect on thailand's tourism industry will be serious, hitting a place many westerners visit with such devastating force. >> woodruff: there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. china ordered a national check of workplace safety today, five days after explosions shattered the port of tianjin and left 114 people dead. more teams were dispatched to search for at least another 70 still missing. meanwhile, officials confirmed there were 700 tons of toxic

sodium cyanide at the site, but said they've acted to prevent chemical runoff. >> we are closely monitoring the presence of spread of chemicals, is not very bad. in terms of the situation after the rainfall, we still haven't seen any rainfall but we have already made a precautionary plan to closely monitor. so please don't worry about it. >> woodruff: separately, foreign companies including toyota and panasonic moved to suspend operations around the port. an aerial search in indonesia has spotted the wreckage of a commercial airliner that crashed yesterday, but there's no word of survivors. the trigana air service turboprop was found in a rugged area of the province of papua. relatives of the 54 people on board gathered at the airline's offices today. they'll be taken to the crash site to identify remains of their loved ones. the plane also carried nearly $470,000 dollars in government

fuel aid for the poor. iran's supreme leader, ayatollah khamenei, said today the fate of a nuclear deal lies with u.s. and iranian lawmakers. he took no direct stance on the agreement himself. instead, in a statement posted online, khamenei said: "it is not clear if it will be approved here or there." in syria, government planes kept up an assault on the city of douma, northeast of damascus. just yesterday, air raids in the rebel-held area left nearly 100 people dead and wounded hundreds more. the attacks also drew condemnation today from the white house and from a visiting u.n. humanitarian chief. >> i am absolutely horrified by the total disregard for civilian life by all parties in this conflict. attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop.

i appeal to every party engaged in violence and fighting to protect civilians. >> woodruff: damascus has seen escalating violence in recent days, with attacks killing dozens last week, as well. back in this country, the national labor relations board has barred northwestern university football players from forming the first union for college athletes. they wanted to negotiate shares of ticket sales and licensing deals. the n.l.r.b. said having union and non-union teams play each other could unbalance college sports. the white house announced new steps today to battle a rise in fatal overdoses of heroin. the $5 million plan will pair drug intelligence officials with public health workers to stop the drug's spread and promote treatment. heroin overdose deaths have quadrupled in the u.s. over the last decade. royal dutch shell now has the

green light to drill for oil off alaska's northwest coast, for the first time since 1991. federal officials issued the final permit today. and on wall street, the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 70 points to close at 17,545. the nasdaq rose more than 40 points, and the s&p 500 added 11. and, emma didlake, the michigan woman believed to be the nation's oldest veteran, has died. she served as an army driver during world war ii. just last month, didlake met with president obama, and he praised her today as a "true trailblazer." emma didlake was 110 years old. still to come on the newshour: corn, butter, pork and politicians at the iowa state fair. the latest on the campaign trail and the week ahead in politics. how a toxic spill at a gold mine in colorado is affecting those living downstream.

and much more. >> woodruff: we begin tonight in iowa with a cultural and political magnet. gwen is in des moines for iowa's state fair, where more than a dozen presidential candidates are trying to stand out in a thick crowd. >> ifill: the iowa state fair is a colorful and chaotic celebration of corn, butter, pork and amusements even in a non-election year. but this weekend brought the yin and the yang of a crowded 2016 race into especially sharp focus. there were the legacy candidates: jeb bush and hillary clinton, who have walked this midway before. >> man, this has been the greatest state fair of my life. >> i want one on a stick, though.

>> ifill: there were governors, senators and outliers. >> god bless you, god bless america, and god bless iowa! >> ifill: and there were the upstarts, one from the left and one from the right, who brought with them crowds and curiosity. bernie sanders was greeted like a rock star. >> if you and i were sitting here 4 months ago, what you would have found is virtually nobody who knew bernie sanders was. i am a senator from a very small state. but what i think has happened in the last 3-4 months is people all over this country are responding to our message and that message is that government has to work for all of us, not just the handful of billionaires. >> ifill: donald trump, who brings sensation with him wherever he goes, this time brought a helicopter. that, combined with hillary clinton's appearance earlier the

same day, created its own bizarre political ecosystem. >> they're smart. let's give them a helicopter ride! >> i apologize, we left the helicopter at home. >> ifill: a crowd immediately gathered when we pulled sanders aside. >> i think what this campaign is about is the american people are growing extremely unhappy with establishment politics, with establishment economics. and you know what else? even with establishment media. >> ifill: no! sanders supporters descended on the fair from throughout iowa, but also from surrounding states. sharona and samuel blake, both veterans of the liberal occupy movement, drove three hours from kansas city to sign up supporters. >> i grew up in a union household, so i can support that he's getting we're both veterans

of the u.s. navy. and we think supporting the veterans means not making more veterans by not supporting more wars overseas. >> ifill: trump organizers say they are doubling down in iowa, but so far have opened only one state office. but celebrity has its own advantages. is there an anti-establishment element to this too? bernie sanders is getting that on the left. >> i would say what you are seeing in both parties. i can't necessarily speak for the democrat party. but i think a lot of what your seeing, its not politics as usual anymore. and people are really tired about how politics has been done. and its refreshing. a lot of people feel that this is the election that you'll see someone that's not a politician step forward, which we have already done, and is going to take control and be the next leader of our country. >> ifill: but are voters engaged, or simply curious? iowa voters have a long history of favoring insurgents and unknowns, at least early on. the iowa precinct caucuses next february are an important springboard to the primary

season, but there are no guarantees. ronald reagan? george h.w. bush? bill clinton? they all lost here. naturally, the state fair has its own poll, with corn kernels used to cast votes. the real polls show sanders in a solid second place in iowa, while in new hampshire-- next door to his home state of vermont-- one recent poll has him ahead. arthur sanders, a political science professor at drake university-- no relation to the senator-- watches all the fuss with an expert's amusement. he suspects the sanders and trump surges are summer romances. >> ifill: does august bear any resemblance to what we are going to see in february? >> no. >> ifill: tell me what you mean? >> well on the democratic side the answer is partly, probably yes because the contours of that race is relatively clear. you've got a distinctive front runner.

you've got a significant challenge on the left. on the republican side, you have an unprecedented amount of candidates. we have 17 people running. the distance between second place and ninth place, might be two percent on caucus night. >> ifill: college student allysha bilges will cast her first vote ever, for sanders. she was not old enough to vote for barack obama. >> it's different because with obama there was change. i could sense there would be change. but with bernie there is... it's going to be a lasting effect for all of us. it's a random guy that honestly i had no idea about coming to a state fair. he says things and i feel like he's being real. he's being 100% honest. >> ifill: sanders has been drawing the largest crowds of the campaign-- tens of thousands

in three nights on the west coast last week, and here in iowa. a midway-clogging crowd that outnumbered the turnout for both clinton and trump the same day. so how do you translate that anger, that unhappiness that you're seeing when you travel into something that will actually allow you to win the nomination? >> you guys with me? ( cheers ) >> ifill: just under six months from now, the summer romances will be tested, on a cold and likely snowy caucus night across iowa. but it's not snowy or cold here yet. and more candidates hit the fair today, including scott walker, carly fiorina and lindsey graham. so the party's just getting started. judy? >> woodruff: as candidates walk the midway in iowa, they also are making some national moves. among them, donald trump released his first national policy paper yesterday, on immigration. sounds like a perfect time for politics monday.

joining us this week are amy walter of the "cook political report" and reporter tamara keith of npr. go gwen, talking to person-year sanders in the middle of the crowd. but what do you make, amy, of this motion, talking about a summer political romance, it's going to fade by the time fall and especially winter rolls around and people go to vote for sanders and trump. how do we know these two men don't have staying power. >> there is something to that. we done know that. but we can look back at history and you see summer is for datedding. and winter is for mating, okay, if we want to think of it in that way. which is if you look at where we were at this point in 2011, or even a little later in the season, you still had a large percentage of voters who not only were they undecided, but they were saying that, you know, elect ability isn't the most important issue for me. the issue is the most important or the personality is most important. as you got closer and closer to the election, you saw elect ability becoming a

more important factor. and i-- so we know in past places that's going to be true. i think the stronger that hillary clinton looks or the stronger that the possibility of republicans not winning the white house, the more electability becomes important to voters as they start to go to the polls. >> woodruff: so tamara, if you ask sanders or trump, they will say they do have electable. so how do we know that they're wrong? >> we don't necessarily know that they are wrong. you know, that summer lovin', you don't know in the midst of it whether it is the real deal or whether it's just a summer fling. but you know, as amy has said, ask president michele bach mann. really with iowa, typically, it's all about timing your peak. a lot of candidates have timed their peaks just right, people like john kerry or rick santorum, who were just

sort of producting along and they just hit it right at the right moment. >> suarez: and the -- did shall. >> the electability is not are they going to win the republican nomination, but donald trump, approval ratings among regular vote ares is off the charts. so the idea of him being the standard-bearer for the party is going to be a consideration as we go through the process. >> woodruff: well, one thing he is doing clearly to get himself taken more seriously is he started to release a policy paper. he put one out over the weekend, yesterday onmeetmeet on im-- on "meet the press". one on immigration. he said he would force mexicans to pay for a huge wall at the border. there what be no more automatic birth right citizenship, big controversy about that because if there is language to that in the constitution. and finally he would step up the deportation of all undocumented residents, adults and children. so tamara, you know, what is this-- this is a pretty this is the most conservative

position, we think, for all the republicans, 17 republicans runsment what does it mean? is it smart for him politically and what does it mean for the other candidates he's running against. >> he's also saying that he would seize remittances. these are the payments that people here in this country send back to their families in mexico. that would be hugely unpopular with a lot of people who actually vote here in this country. and so it is a very conservative policy. but it is also bringing along other candidates. scott walker has said well, i didn't read what trump put out but it seems like we're in line with each other. rick santorum is going to come out with a policy later this week. ben carson is now going on a tour of the border later this week. so done all trump by releasing this position paper is in some ways guiding the conversation, at least for that portion of the republican field. >> woodruff: moving him to the right, good for the party? >> well, i think the dividing line has been there now for a while with republicans. and that's what makes this

fight so fascinating right now. the primary fight, that is. because you do have two very distinct camps here in the republican party. one that said we need to broaden our base, we need to make sure we don't alienate latino, fastest growing group of voters. another side saying we need to stick very strongly on immigration reform, we can't cede any ground. done all trump is in the we're not going to cede any ground, jeb bush, rubbio, kasich in the don't cede any ground-- i mean the more compromised position that is more popular in general election, not as popular in a primary election. the issue for donald trump, of course, is all those things you just said, judy, none of those are going to what, they are not plausible, they're not possible. it cannot happen. but that doesn't matter. politically speaking, it cannot happen. but for republican primary voters, those are issues that resonate. >> woodruff: all right. speaking of issues and whether they resonate, hillary clinton today was disclosed in a filing, a court filing by the state department that they have now identified as many as

300 of hillary clinton's e-mails that were in question, part of this whole server controversy that could-- could, not do, but could contain classified information. now this weekend, tamara, hillary clinton was joking at one point, talking about having a new snapchat account and saying you know, it's great, because those messages disappear right away. is it smart for her to be joking about this? is this something that we think could hurt her or not? >> this is absolutely something that is nagging on her campaign. you know, every week she releases new policy proposals and every week there is a new story about the e-mails that in many ways overshadows it. if you were just like a casual observer, not really paying attention, not reading editorial, board editorials, you would think that hillary clinton's entire campaign was about her e-mail server and the problems with the e-mail server. and you wouldn't foe about her education policy

proposal, you wouldn't know about this town hall that she had, about drug addiction and how she thinks it's going to be a big issue in her campaign. you just wouldn't know because it is constantly getting drowned out by the e-mail. >> and you have joe biden now, reliably reported seriously thinking about it. >> and this is another issue here, is that while hillary clinton is being nagged by this issue, and there is to doubt that this is going to be an issue in the general election, it's not at this point hurting her among primary voters. her support among democrats is as rock solid today as it was last month as it was two months ago. there is not a natural opening right now for joe biden. and that is going to have to be a very big concern for him. >> woodruff: so separating what's real, what is a real worry and what isn't. but he is -- >> but there is a real worry. i think the real worry for democrats is this isn't just a scandal that is it is a nagging thing, but there is an actual honest to goodness, whether smoking gun, or investigation, legal problem that could make her unelectable in the fall and

there is not a second choice right now for democrats. >> woodruff: and it's not wrapping up any time soon. >> there is no wrapping up. >> and the e-mails will keep coming out for the next many, many months, never mind any sort of controversy that blows up around them. >> woodruff: politics monday, tamara keith, amy walter, great to have you both, thank you. >> thanks, judey. -- judy. >> woodruff: it's been 12 days since an accident at a defunct colorado gold mine fouled rivers in three states. special correspondent kathleen mccleery has an update on the impact the spill has had on native americans and others in northwest new mexico. >> reporter: the sunflowers in upper fruitland, new mexico are drooping. >> when you look at them now, they're all hanging over because they need water.

>> reporter: on lorenzo bates farm, it's not just sunflowers in trouble-- the alfalfa, key for feeding his animals, is stunted. >> this is right now, 12 days behind. this hay has to get me through the winter season to be able to >> reporter: bates, the speaker of the navajo nation, tallied his losses so far at $1,000 in just one week-- no small amount in this poor region. it's all because bates, and thousands of others here, couldn't pull water from the san juan river which abuts his land. irrigation ditches were shut down after the mine accident earlier this month 100 miles north in silverton, colorado. efforts by the environmental protection agency to clean up one mine resulted in a breach at another: the gold king mine which has been inactive since 1923. a three million gallon toxic stew of heavy metals poured downstream, turning the animas river a shocking yellow. the animas flows south and meets

the san juan in farmington, new mexico. then, it snakes north into utah where it skirts the upper edge of the navajo reservation. eventually, it turns south into arizona and ends up in a branch of lake powell, a journey of nearly 500 miles. among those hardest hit are the navajos, the nation's largest native american tribe. 300,000 of them are spread out on a reservation larger than 10 states. the chapter in shiprock, named for its enormous rock outcropping, has issued warnings to its members. >> stay away from the river. do not use the river water for anything. >> reporter: chili yazzie is the chapter president. he's coordinating water deliveries to tribe members. >> there are many livestock owners that rely on the river for water for their livestock. as the local government, we began delivering water to at least those livestock animals here. >> reporter: an alphabet soup of state, federal and local

agencies are working with navajos and other farmers and ranchers to evaluate the problem and fix it. public meetings happen nearly every day, where ordinary citizens can take concerns directly to officials. >> i have to say, i want to believe you, but i'm not comfortable with the ideas of cleaning a ditch after the season. >> this is not something that was intentionally done. >> reporter: mark hayes is the on site coordinator for the e.p.a.: >> this has deeply and greatly impacted a lot of people and, and put a lot of people at an inconvenience. so you can imagine that the frustration that comes out of that. it's definitely a concern, there's definitely a sense of urgency that we're trying to get this handled. >> reporter: the agency, which ordinarily investigates environmental disasters, has taken responsibility for this one. administrator gina mccarthy: >> this is a tragic incident. i am absolutely deeply sorry that this ever happened, but i

want to make sure that we react positively, and in a way that's credible, and we move this forward. >> reporter: but that's not enough for new mexico governor susana martinez, who surveyed the scene last week. >> we certainly expect the e.p.a. to pay for every bit of the costs for this catastrophe. they caused it, they pay for it. >> reporter: the governor has threatened legal action against the e.p.a., as have navajo leaders. >> it's a given that folks are going to sue the, the u.s. e.p.a. so president obama is going to be the one that's going to end up at some point in time, possibly signing a check. the question is, how big is that check going to be? >> reporter: settling ponds have reduced the contamination for now. the gold king mine is far from unique. there are a half million abandoned mines around the country, more than 20,000 in colorado alone. some are actively leaking dangerous chemicals. a nationwide clean up could cost as much as $50 billion,

according to the e.p.a.. back on the san juan river, the golden hue has dissipated. >> we're doing now is measuring the electrical conductivity, the mineral content of the river water. >> reporter: state scientist dennis mcquillan has run tests comparing river water with water from nearby wells. >> what this tells us is that this well has groundwater, not river water. this well has not been touched by the contamination in the river. and this is a really good thing. >> reporter: that allowed state officials to give an all-clear to resume drinking well water. saturday night, they began scheduling irrigation and lifted the ban on recreational use of the river. but they advised residents to wash with soap after contact with the water and warned against eating any of the fish. but the navajos, a sovereign nation, haven't lifted their restrictions.

many are worried about the long term environmental impact of the spill. >> sometimes when you look at the river, it seems like normal. but what has settled, but what solids have settled to the bottom of the river. >> reporter: and those solids could be roiled up in a heavy storm. protecting and preserving the river is especially important for the navajos, who've lived here for more than 600 years, and for whom, the land and water have very special meaning. >> the water and the land are very central to our, to our way of life, not only physically but spiritually. we are in a state of mourning, it's like losing somebody. >> reporter: i'm kathleen mccleery for the pbs newshour on the navajo reservation in north west new mexico. >> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: young girls in the west choose a

life of jihad for the islamic state. and, targeting students with lower family income to prevent college dropouts. but first, a look at the concerns some u.s. companies are starting to voice over the growing costs of certain prescription medicines, and what those costs might mean for the health care plans they offer their employees. hari sreenivasan has that. >> srennivasan: a new survey finds that more than half of large u.s. employers will more tightly manage their employees's use of prescription drugs next year. some of these drugs, especially those used to treat cancer, hiv an hepatitis c can cost $10,000 per month and are rising at double digit annual rates. the increased expenses threaten to push some employer health-care plans over a threshold set by the affordable care act. making them subject to a 40% tax for so-called cadillac plan tax.

the c.e.o. of the national business group on health which did the survey is here to explain the findings. so for those of us who haven't been paying attention to the affordable care ago too closely, a refresher on the cadillac plan tax. >> sure. the cadillac tax is a provision of the aordable care act. and it is an excise tax, 40% excise tax, high cost health plans. beginning in 2018. and by high cost health plans, it's intended to focus on the generous plans, the rich plans, the plans that have low deductibles, cocoa pays. the intent being if you discourage participation in high cost plans, you can slow the growth of health-care costs, and they could use the taxes to help finance coverage in public exchanges. >> srennivasan: it's not just the plan for the well to do any more, right. because you can get to a high cost plan depending on lots of things like the people you insurance in your company. >> that's right. i think that the cadillac tax is really a tax on all

plans at the end of the day. and had there are many factors that drive the cost of a heal plan. and you talk about the cost of a health plan, you are really talking about for the most part the premium. the premium that you pay as an employee, the premium that the company plays, the combination. we're talking about the premium. and where you live, the age of your workforce, can have as much or even more of a factor in determining the cost of the plan than the generosity of the plan. >> srennivasan: so what did your survey find? what is happening, almost like an unintended consequence of the affordable care act? >> well, nearly half of employers believe that by 2018 when the tax goes into effect, if they do nothing else to control the cost of their plans, at least one of their plans will trigger the cadillac tax. the more interesting thing is that in the next decade, all the companies believe

that nearly all of their plans will trigger the cadillac tax for the reasons we just skrubed there one other problem or challenge with the cadillac tax the way it's structured and the way it's indexed am and indexing the cost, there is an individual maximum and a family maximum. individuals $10,200. family is $27,500. and those are indexed over time to grow because costs increase. but it is indexed to the consumer price index where health-care costs increases at a much faster rate or higher rate, at least twice the consumer price index. so even the moderate plans over time will eventually hit the cadillac tax. and that's the challenge. >> srennivasan: so health-care costs as you mentioned climb regardless of the consumer price index. but some of these drugs, the price of the medication is growing at 25%, 50%, year-over-year. that's something that no plan has budgeted for. >> i think the challenge we're seeing is that

specialty pharmacy medications and by specialty pharmacy medications, i mean they're complex drugs. they are for things like ms or cancer or hiv or hepatitis c which got a lot of attention last year. they are complex, typically in terms of how they are administered. they can be very expensive. they may be-- they need special handling because they may need be to refrigerated, whatever the case. and employees need to be monitored because of side effects, doesage changes and the like. so there is a lot of complex ability around these drugsment but they can be very high cost and employers in the survey said that specialty pharmacy has jumped to the number two driver of their overall medical trend. now the interesting thing especially pharmacy only affects about 3 or 4% of their population. >> srennivasan: but the most expensive 3 or 4%. >> yes. so it will cross traician diddal farmee by 2018.

>> srennivasan: what are companies doing about this? >> they are really starting to focus on how you manage the specialty pharmacy costs. so they are contracting either with an independent specialty pharmacy manager or a specialty pharmacy group within a prescription benefit management company that they already have. but it's a focused effort to really manage both who is getting the medications, making sure it's appropriate, making sure the dosage is appropriate. and also making sure site of care is appropriate. because there could be a wide variation of price depending on where you go to have that drug administered. >> srennivasan: i also hear a lot more about health saving accounts types plans coming into workplaces. what are employees likely to see more of as companies start to prepare for this cadillac tax? >> there has already been a significant migration over the last five years or so of companies moving to these consumer directed plans, thee high deductible plans. by high deductible i mean 1300 individual deductible, 2600 family deductible, tied

to a savings account. and many of our companies put in more than half of that deductible of value into the savings account. they see those accounts to help defray some of the costs so you see that migration. i would say about 8 o-- 80% of companies offer them as a choice already but the interesting thing is we see a big jump in the number of companies that have gone to a option only consumer directed plan, the only option they will offer employees. >> srennivasan: thanks some of for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> woodruff: last week on the program, we heard about the islamic state's practice of institutionalized sexual slavery of non-muslim women. tonight, we focus on another new york times report about three seemingly normal and high performing teenage girls who willingly left their homes in

great britain to join the terrorist group. we begin with a video excerpt which shows the family of one of the girls grappling for answers. >> this is kadiza's room. she is very organized. she-- on the night she left. >> this was kadiza sultana's home in london before she left to join isis. her sister has been devastated ever since kadiza disappeared. >> . she selected-- we went to bangladesh there 2009. >> the question we asked the police, they haven't got it for us really.

>> kadiza was 16 and a straight a student at this school. one morning she told her mother she was leaving to study. but she never returned. the next time the family saw kadiza was on the news. >> international hunt for three young girls believed to be on their way to join isis. >> at gatwick they bored a turkish airline plane for istanbul. >> police are in turkey trying to find them. >> the girls weren't even old enough to drive but they traveled thousands of miles to syria and handed themselves over to isis. >> woodruff: join >> woodruff: and joining me now is the reporter on from the clip we just saw, "new york times" video journalist mona el-naggar, and steven simon, a visiting lecturer at dartmouth college. he served on the national security council staff during the obama and clinton administrations.

>> woodruff: mona el-naggar an steven simon, welcome to you both. mona, tell me about the process of reporting this story where you had to get to know that family, get inside that community. >> sure. well, it took a lot of time. you know, we-- this is a community that one, on the one hand it's alarmed by the story of these three girls. an on the other hand they also feel there is a very strong sense of feeling that they are under attack, that they are, you know, that they are being seened and viewed in suspicion. so it's very difficult to sort of win the trust of people. and the only way to do it was to really spend time and get to know people, get to know, try to reach the families of the girls am but also really just, you know, be in the streets, hang out with the people, get to know what is going on there. talk to young people, talk to older people. go to the mosque, the center of the community and really just spend the time trying to understand some of the

forces behind all of this. >> woodruff: and from that did you understand what made these young women vulnerable to the appeal of isis? >> well, it's a big question to ask. the most interesting thing here, the issue that we're traying to tackle is not just what happened with these specific three girls but basically the bigger, broader forces that are impacting many of the young people in the community, and not just these three girls. part of the reason people were alarmed by the fact that they left and joined isis is because they resell beed their daughters and their siblings and that's sort of the bigger question. is what is going on with the community in general. and this is a generation that is basically going up in a post 9/11 world. their sense of identity is really pulverized-- polarize. girls are more religiously different when they wear the head scarf. they face increasing

islam-phobia in the west. they are growing up and raised to become devout muslims at a time when the dominant sort of islamic discourse is very conservative, literalist wahabi schoolsing in a sense putting them at odds in the bigger world that they are in. so they are being pulled in different directions and it's very hard for teenagers to sort of strike a balance between these different choices and often times that can push them to an extreme. >> woodruff: steven simon, we should say all three of these young women we know are now married to fighters who are part of the islamic state. steven simon, how much is understood about what is going on in these muslim communities in the west? >> well, it's difficult to get access to these communities, the point that is usually underscored in conversations with european law enforcement and intelligence officials because these communities are as mona said quite

closely nit. a lot of this stuff happens in the environment of a mosque which is difficult to pen straight if you are not part of the community. so things are a bit murky. but i think there's-- the general trend is fairly well understood. i don't think it's a huge mystery. in the case of these young women, i think what we just heard was quite right, namely that what is pulling these young women to syria is the same thing that pulls young men. there's nothing, you know, specific to the situation of these women or their desires or their habits or their patterns of thought that differs all that much in terms of their recruit ability, that differs all that much from their brethren. >> woodruff: mona el-naggar, and a again we should say that they estimate 4,000 western young people have joined isis, of that maybe

500 and some are women. is there something, is there a different argument, a different appeal made to women than to men? >> well, we're seeing an unprecedented number of women actually going compared to jihadies who left previously for say afghanistan. i think the fact that the isis has gone as far as declaring sort of a caliphate and having the sort of the propaganda that it has on-line, its ability to sort of really cater its message specifically to women in ways that it couldn't before, this is in fact attracting and you know, creating a bigger, wider appeal for women than it has before. >> steven simon, are these women once they are there, as much of a threat as the men are? or are they playing a more supportive role. >> you know, their roll can

be just as vie-as the role that men play in the war. they staff check points. they go on house raids. they enforce morality codes. they manage the rape brothels. they direct violence against targets, maybe in different ways than men do. but just as fervently. you know, this is something that's been going on for a number of years. and it's not just muslim phenomenon. lebanese communists, kurds, chechen separatists, tamil tigers, hindus, they have all used women as terrorists or to participate in violent insurgencys. so nothing new on that score. >> woodruff: but just finally, mona el-naggar, the sense just quickly that once they're there they stay? >> once they are there, they stay, with the case of these

three girls, we know that they're married. and it appears like they have no regrets, at least none that they expressed so far about going to. >> woodruff: and this is despite communications from their families, i know who have tried to reach them a number of times and tried to change their minds. >> absolutely. >> woodruff: mona el-naggar with "the new york times", steven simon of dartmouth, we thank you both. >> thank you >> woodruff: next tonight, we begin our special week-long series, "rethinking college." across the country this month, thousands of students will head off to college. but statistics show that many will never make it to graduation, a vast number of them from low-income families. this week the newshour looks at five experiments aimed at closing what is being called "the graduation gap." we start with the university of texas at austin.

>> there is a forward reaction, endothermic. >> david teaches chemistry at the university of texas in austin. >> you will see a problem similar to this on the test. >> reporter: but his most valuable experiment lately has nothing to do with science. it's about why some of his students succeed and why others fail. >> it occurred to me that i had spent many decades of pie life as a teacher not passing students. and then i thought wow, i was responsible for lots of students who failed. me, i'm the one who made them not become a doctor. i'm the one who made them not become an engineer. >> which of the following statements of fact are true rted he took a position as vice provost and dug deep not university student records to create a profile of the students who dropped out. >> so what is the correct answer? >> reporter: what he found was startling. the big difference wasn't how hard a student studied or how well they did in high school. the most important indicator was a student's household income. >> so is there a corelation

between your family income and how well you do in college? >> when you line up a student most likely to graduate in four years and line up the students who have the greatest economic need, there is a substantial corelation. students with economic need have a 30% chance of graduating in four years. >> national studies reflect the same divide. students from wealthy families graduate at more than twice the rate of students from poor families. including students who shared same sat scores. >> being an optimist, i think we can fix that. >> reporter: so why do low income students drone out even when financial aid corns their costs? >> laudi says one of the major reasons is because they don't feel they fit in. ut freshman sam who was accepted in all of the seven colleges he applied to offers this insight. >> a lot of people who are ut come from high income families. i mean they're smart as you feel different, you might

have different mannerisms. that difference is really in the back of your mind, getting into that mental head space can, i don't know, be very-- could be damaging. >> you have to be able to disrupt the notion that there is some sort of doubt, some sort of hesitancy in believing that it's going to work. >> we've gone over several questions that made you reflect on what you have accomplished. >> reporter: with support from the university of texas, professor laudi created the university leadership network. a program that works with 500 incoming freshman like these based on economic need, where they live, their parents' education level and if their high school offered advanced placement classes. >> being able to confidently walk around campus knowing what i want to do, being able to just talk to a professor and ask them for something. i think that is superscary. >> brena who was recruited as a freshman became a mentor as a sophomore. >> you sometimes feel like are you not adequate. and i think it's really

important to tell you that you are adequate. you do have all the skills that everyone else has. you just have to belief in yourself. >> i will let y'all have once a month meetings. >> reporter: students are offered $1,000 scholarships at the beginning of each semester. >> during the first few months i stayed in my room a lot. >> reporter: if they complete weekly requirements like this reflection activity. >> the idea is to create a support system of students and mentors who share similar backgrounds. >> everybody is going to be seated with their eyes closed. the question is, tapson's shoulr who made you feel important. no peeking. >> the next question is tap somebody who has given you good advice. tap somebody shoulder who made you feel loved. >> it made me file. i was like smiling the entire time, supersweet. >> i really enjoyed that. >> students work through shared challenges like how to organize study time and how to survive the shock of their first college exam. >> it was a real wake-up

call when i bombed a test. i was like i studied. i know this material. >> but belonging or lack of belonging is something that almost every college student feels at some point, don't they? >> it gets back to trusting the college is going to work out. first generation students coming from a single parent family, and you fail that first test. it's very different than when you come from an affluent family. an affluent kid fails the first test, calls home, the father says don't worry about it, that happened to me when i was in college. ed student comes from an underresourced background calls home and the mom says see, i told you so. >> troubles at home can also weigh heavily on first generation students. mossest korea's father suffered an injury and can no longer work. >> sometimes i feel like i'm not really helping my family. here i am living a luxury, like eating food here, as much as i want. and like having my own place to live and stuff. >> reporter: recently he sent $400 of his scholarship money to pay his parents

electric bill. >> my mom called me and she asked if i could tend money to help pay for the bill. and i was eager to say yes. and so i was able to do that for them. >> second thursday every month. >> reporter: brenda feels enormous pressure to succeed in order to help with the family's finances. >> i done see a problem with helping my parents because they gave me everything when i was a kid. it's just a lot of pressure because sometimes i feel like other students are just like oh, you know, i'm just here for college. i'm going to have fun. of course i want to have fun too, but you know, it's really hard sometimes whenever like no, you have to succeed, you condition screw up because if you screw up, then like your screwing up mom and dad too. you can't do that. >> reporter: and then there is the pressure some students feel about choosing a major they may not like but will lead them to a secure future. >> sam didn't start out a dance major. >> i came here as a computer science major are. for financial stability but also to please my parents.

>> helping students find a maj their is the right fit is one of the ways that the program hopes to keep students on track to graduate. it's all part of a goal to connect these students to the university culture. >> these students must engage in workshops, internships and public service. if they meet program requirements they can earn $20,000 over four years. >> it attaches strings to that money and says in exchange you will demonstrate that you are becoming what you want to be in college. are you becoming a leader, you are becoming a professional. are you being successful in what you do. so we needed the money out conditionally this response to them demonstrating that month-to-month to month. >> my accomplishment was making university honors thing for gpa. >> in a promising sign, 92% of the leadership network first students will return this fall. but supporters believe there are twice as many incoming students who could benefit

from the program. expanding to reach all of them may depend on just how these students progress. in austin, texas, hari sreenivasan for the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: before we go, we want to mark the passing of an everyday hero: maryland businessman, lenny robinson used his love of batman to bring a little joy to the lives of sick children. he had the costume, a customized batmobile, and regularly came to the rescue at washington, d.c. area hospitals. here he is at an event organized by the hope for henry foundation. lenny robinson was killed last night after his car was struck while pulled over on the side of the road. he was 51 years old. you can read more about lenny "batman" robinson on our website, pbs.org/newshour. and on tuesday's newshour, gwen

continues her reporting on the campaign trail. >> tomorrow in iowa i sit down with another rising candidate ohio governor john kasich. judy? a correction to a story we reported friday about isis. we said that the leader abu al baghdadi had been killed. is there had been some reports of his death, none have been confirmed. that is the newshour for tonight, i'm that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff, 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: >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century.

>> 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. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. mixed memgs, it's hot out there, and so is the debate over whether the economy is strong enough to absorb an interest rate hike. we look at the sometimes conflicting data and the argument. sentiment surges, why home builders are feeling much, much better about their business. staying on track, as more products travel by rail. one company is investing a lot of cash to upgrade the outdated system. the first part of our week-long series the big fix examines what's being done to rebuild america's aging infrastructure. all that, and more, tonight on "nightly business report." good evening, everyone, welcome. the federal reserve conundrum, as more economic data is