captioning sponsored by wnet >> thompson: on this edition for sunday, may 8: the wildfire in canada continues to grow, now covering more than 800 square miles. in our signature segment, broadway's "hamilton," transforming the way history is taught to inner city students. >> ♪ he resided in st. croix, he was just a little boy deployed ♪ into the world trying to discover joy >> thompson: and, why the world is watching the philippines on the eve of its presidential election. next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: lewis b. and louise hirschfeld cullman. bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the citi foundation. supporting innovation and

enabling urban progress. the john and helen glessner family trust. supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, megan thompson. >> thompson: good evening and thanks for joining us. that monstrous wildfire in the province of alberta, canada, has expanded to cover almost 800 square miles, an area the size of mexico city, and it's expected to grow even further. but there's a 70% chance of rain in the area tonight, which could give firefighters some desperately needed help.

the fire has wiped out the town of fort mcmurray, and almost 100,000 residents of the town and surrounding areas have been forced to evacuate, to edmonton, calgary, and other cities. hundreds of structures in fort mcmurray have burned to the ground. 500 firefighters have been battling the blaze around the clock. some haven't slept in days. >> i don't consider myself a hero. but i've met more heroes in this experience than i've ever thought existed. >> thompson: hundreds of fort mcmurray residents worked at the large tar sands oil facility north of the city, where it's estimated the daily crude oil output has been cut in half, though the facility is not directly threatened by the fire. north korean leader kim jong un is renouncing a first strike nuclear attack and says he would launch a nuclear weapon only in self-defense. in a three-hour speech to his worker's party congress in pyongyang, kim vowed the north

would not use its nuclear weapons unless, as he put it," aggressive hostile forces use nuclear weapons to invade our sovereignty." north korea staged its fourth nuclear weapons test in january. kim called for closer ties with south korea, and said the north is ready for talks on normalizing relations with other "hostile" countries. kim also announced a new five- year economic plan to boost north korea's manufacturing and agricultural production and to increase its international trade. the government of afghanistan initiated a new, hard-line policy toward the resurgent taliban today by executing six prisoners convicted of terrorism offenses, including assassinating government officials. the six were hanged at a prison outside the capital of kabul. they were the first executions approved by afghan president ashraf ghani since he took office two years ago. following last month's suicide bombing in kabul that killed 64 people, ghani vowed to "show no mercy" toward taliban terrorists. the taliban said it would avenge

today's hangings. it controls more territory in afghanistan than at any time since it was driven from power by u.s.-led forces in 2001. afghan officials say speeding to avoid taliban checkpoints may have led to today's fatal collision of two buses and a fuel truck in a province where the taliban is active. all three vehicles burst into flames and officials say more than 70 people died, many of them children. the u.s. military academy at west point is investigating if a photograph of black female cadets violates restrictions on political activity by military personnel. the pre-graduation photo taken 10 days ago shows 16 uniformed cadets with their clenched fists raised, which some interpret as expressingupport for the black lives matter movement. but a west point grad who is a friend of the group says the gestures were intended only as a sign of unity and celebration. the 16 women in the photo represent all but one of the black female cadets scheduled to graduate west point in two

weeks. >> thompson: the east african nation of somalia has been plagued by civil war for the past 25 years, and for the past decade, the fledgling government has been fighting an insurgency by the radical islamic al qaeda affiliate al-shabab. now, a new report reveals somalia may be using children as young as 10-years-old to spy on al-shabaab operatives. today's "washington post" says using child informants is not only dangerous, but could be a violation of international law. the "post's" deputy foreign editor mary beth sheridan joins me now from washington, d.c. thank you so much for joining us. first thing starting out can you just explain how does something like this happen? how are children forced to be informants for the government? >> it's an amazing story, i have to say. in many cases in recent years the government has either

managed to capture al-shabaab troops who were forced by them to fight. or children actually gave themselves up, tried to escape and what is supposed to happen is the government is supposed to turn these kids over to u.n. authorities or other humanitarian groups to be rehabilitated. but instead our reporter kevin found they detained a lot of them and forced them to go out on very dangerous missions and point out former colleagues, otherwise i'd tie al-shabab installation or members 3/4 your story describes -- >> thompson: are. >> thompson: forced to walk publicly in the streets and identify them. what kind of danger does that put that in? >> a huge amount. the kids told you, kevin interviewed eight of them and talked to relief workers and so on that the kids' faces were no not covered and home neighborhoods. so people know who they are. these kids are now very

frightened both they and other people told us they may have to be relocated. they really face grave risk of of being killed. >> thompson: why is children at all for this? are they more easily manipulated or some say something greater about the state of the intelligence. >> we talked to intelligence officials, these kids were part of al-shabab some had access to the leaders, they had been cat ants -- combatants they justified their behavior. kids told us maybe more malleable. it is a violation of international law in some cases it's a war crime. >> thompson: the u.s. supports somalia's fight against al-shabab what kind of questions does this raise about u.s. government knows about the situation or did it condone this? >> we were told that the a provides substantial funding and training for the somalian intelligence agency. the cia wouldn't respond to our questions about their

involvement. but somalia officials told us the cia knows everything we're doing. the u.s. government knows that somalia has used child soldiers, which is a slightly different thing. and that's been a huge issue, there's a law against providing military aid to countries that use child soldiers, there's a weaver some time for national security reasons. there is a real question of how much the cia had observed or is aware of what is real human rights abuse. >> thompson: what happens now for these kids? is anything being done to end this practice, also has so mallee government sad anything about this. >> for a number of years the kids were kept in a center where there was little or no access to outsiders. try to feel what was go willing on with the kids had a tough time getting in. as of couple of months ago, a lot of the kids were transferred to a center where they are getting rehabilitation, no longer being used as informants. but what we were told that we

think the practice -- or aid workers and others think the practice actually continues and there is other children still being used as informants. >> thompson: all right. troubling story. thank you so much, mary beth sheridan from the "washington post." >> thank you. >> thompson: this week, the broadway smash hit "hamilton" was nominated for a record 16 tony awards, including, as expected, best new musical. the show's creator, lin manuel miranda, was individually nominated for three tony's, including best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical." hamilton" has grossed $70 million, and tickets are nearly impossible to get. but a select group of new york city high school students are seeing "hamilton" and getting face time with miranda. it's a new educational program that connects the stage and the classroom with plans to expand it to other cities when "hamilton's" national tour begins later this year.

in tonight's signature segment, the newshour's saskia de melker has the story. >> reporter: "hamilton" is about the personal and political lives of alexander hamilton and america's other founding fathers. >> ♪ moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide, ♪ left him with nothing but ruined pride >> reporter: it stars a cast of mostly black and latino actors performing a musical score steeped in hip-hop and rap. the show is sold out through january 2017, with box office tickets often costing hundreds of dollars apiece. but now, 20,000 students from new york city public schools serving low income populations will see the show, for just $10 each. the show's producers and the rockefeller foundation are underwriting the cost. >> ♪ alexander hamilton my name is alexander hamilton

♪ and there's a million things i haven't done, but just you ♪ wait, just you wait >> reporter: hamilton is played by lin-manuel miranda, who also wrote the music and lyrics. >> not every student who comes to see the show is going to have a life in the theater. but they are going to have to reckon with how much hamilton got done in his life. and that is going to spark a little bit of, "well, what am i going to do with my life?" >> reporter: when the students attend their wednesday matinee, it is the culmination of a larger educational initiative. >> so go to your research on either page 16 or 17. >> reporter: it starts with an interactive study curriculum by the gilder lehrman institute of american history. over several weeks, these 11th graders scroll through timelines of major events; watch video clips of the musical's actors explaining historical writings... >> so this is a letter that lafayette wrote to hamilton. >> reporter: ...and listen to lyrics, to see how they incorporate historical

documents. >> ♪ when we finally drove the british away, lafayette is there waiting in chesapeake bay! >> what did you learn that is absolutely essential to telling your story? >> reporter: history teacher paul zuppello teaches at a high school in manhattan. he believes using the musical shows his students that history is more than just names and dates. >> this has really helped them understand that if you view history as a narrative, you almost don't need to worry about remembering the nitty-gritty. you'll remember those things because you're going to remember the story. >> ♪ and he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain >> reporter: what did you know about alexander hamilton before you started learning about him through the musical and through the curriculum at school? >> i knew he was on the $10. and i knew he was treasury secretary for george washington. and that's it. >> reporter: at bronx

engineering and technology academy, malcolm grant, christian gowan, and danny ingrassia spent several weeks immersed in the subject. >> when i was introduced to this, i was like history on hamilton, i wasn't really interested that much. but then you know, you take a feeling of what we have today in this generation, and then add that to something that's centuries ago with hamilton and our founding fathers. and that's very interesting. >> i enjoy music a lot, mainly hip hop and rap and everything. so having it be displayed to me this way. it stuck in my head. >> anything with a hip hop, flavor to it, it's definitely more interesting than opening a dusty history book and trying to, like, fish out old information. >> they feel like what we do here is sort of outdated. >> reporter: dana holness is their english teacher. >> and giving the kids those kind of options just to me makes education seem relevant.

>> reporter: after engaging with the hamilton material, the curriculum hones the kids' language, writing, and performance skills by having them write their own musical riffs. >> yeah, it's true that jefferson was second president, but it's only because hamilton didn't have the residence. >> let's try it again. so, go back. christian, do your last four lines. >> and the government was rotten to the core, so the people sparked a revolutionary war. >> we broke it up into three separate parts. and mine, my part is more directed on his influence on the bank and america developing at the time. >> it wasn't just for the fact that i get to learn about a founding father, it was mainly i get to expand my horizon, do something i never thought i'd do in my lifetime. >> he resided in st. croix, he was just a little boy deployed into the world trying to discover joy. >> he's excited to have a voice, which is the same thing that those men wanted. they wanted a voice. i think it's been really cool to just see them, like, enjoy

school, enjoy the creative process. >> reporter: for lin-manuel miranda, bridging the classroom and the stage is nothing new. 13 years ago, before his acting career took off, he was a 7th grade english teacher at the new york public school he attended. how did your experience as a teacher influence how you see hamilton being used in the classroom? >> i've learned all of my best teaching experiences when i was sitting in the back, and i was just keeping the ball in the air for the students to discuss. and they were finding the connections in whatever we were reading or whatever we were learning about. and this-- this curriculum works in a similar way. it's not about, "here are the facts of hamilton, the musical. put them in your brain." it's, "this is one story. what are more stories? what are more stories from this time, from this era?" maybe stories that haven't been heard yet. >> ♪ and every day while slaves were being slaughtered and ♪ carted away across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up, ♪ inside, he was longing for something to be a part of, ♪ the brother was ready to beg,

steal, borrow, or barter >> reporter: on the day they went to the show, the students interacted with the cast. christopher jackson plays george washington. >> you've got to read about our forefathers so that you know, you can appreciate what they did right and try to improve upon what they didn't get right. >> reporter: and a group of students from each participating school got to perform its piece on stage, in front of lin-manuel miranda. there was a rap from the perspective of hamilton's nemesis, aaron burr. >> ♪ i took him down, got a position at the seat of congress ♪ i joined the continental army, i'm the man in progress >> reporter: there was a song about the boston tea party. >> ♪ so we took their tea and dumped it into the sea >> have a blast guys. we can't wait to see what you've made. >> reporter: and the trio from bronx engineering and technology academy got their shot. >> we want to welcome malcolm grant, christian gowan, and daniel ingrassia! come on out fellas!

>> ♪ alexander hamilton, legend, man, myth ♪ bastard abandoned when he was just a little kid ♪ living with his mother, strong befallen under, father didn't ♪ keep it covered so he also had a brother ♪ resided in st. croix, he was just a little boy, deployed into ♪ the world trying to discover joy >> reporter: how much of this is about students who maybe don't always get that chance to be put out there and be heard? >> it's everything. that ability to be heard whether it's in a classroom or it's on a stage, it's so important. that creativity. it's important to harness it and find outlets for it that are constructive. >> reporter: for students like danny ingrassia, the lessons from "hamilton" are personal. >> his father walked out on him. i mean, like, my father passed away when i was ten years old. so i mean that definitely resonates with me and it's comforting to know that people throughout history, not only hamilton, but many characters, have, you know, overcome a lot of obstacles.

>> ♪ the ten dollar founding father without a father got a ♪ lot farther by working a lot harder, by being a lot smarter, ♪ by being a self-starter, by 14, they placed him in charge of ♪ a trading charter >> reporter: the "hamilton" education program is also trying to increase diversity at the theater. last year, 80% of the broadway audience was white, with an average age in the mid-40's. the boys from bronx engineering and technology academy were part of the very first student audience. the initiative to integrate the show into classroom studies will continue into the fall. >> it forces you to engage personally with something that could just be a bunch of facts you learn for an a.p. test. and in doing that, you create empathy. in doing that, you create an ability to engage with history in a way that's more than memorization.

it's, "these were people who lived and died. and they were flawed." and our country's flawed, because they were flawed. because we're all figuring it out. and there's lessons to be mined there. >> thompson: hear more from the cast of "hamilton," including a q&a with the show's crear lin- manuel miranda. visit us online at pbs.org/newshour. >> thompson: tomorrow, voters in the philippines will choose a new president. the frontrunner is 71-year-old rodrigo duterte, whose brash style has earned him comparisons to donald trump. duterte gained a tough-on-crime reputation as the long-time mayor of the southern philippine city of davao. but he's been accused by human rights groups of the extra- judicial killings of more than 1,000 people. duterte has also raised eyebrows with his use of profanity, a joke about a gang rape, and a comment about killing his own kids if they ever took drugs." reuters" reporter karen lema is covering the election and joins me now via skype from the philippines' capital of manila.

so, karen, can you first help put this in context. what has the main issues been in this election? >> you know, you have to understand that in philippine politics a filipino voters give more weight on personality rather than the points of the candidates. that explains why roberto duterte, given the approach, as you can see that duterte has won the hearts of the voters because of this no-nonsense stand on crime and corruption. that has resonated with voters, they are very frustrated and disappointed with the government's inability to address or at least transform the economic gains, real gains such as expanding higher paying jobs and addressing public service and improving mass

transit and traffic problems. and political analysts say that his reflection of people's discontent and high level of frustration with the political elite, which they think is also weak and effective and corrupt. >> thompson: 300,000 people attended his rallies, can you just talk about who is supporting him? where does he draw his support from? >> they're all across social demographics. his appeal cuts across class a, b, c, d and e. and people are contributing out of their own pockets, volunteering to campaign for the mayor. his appeal is just across the board. >> thompson: the u.s. has announced an expanded military presence in the philippines, recently announced north patrols

in the south china sea where the philippines have had teddal disputes with china, can you talk about how the outcome of this election mighty neglect the tim peeps relationship with the united states? in. >> terms of foreign policy, yet to hear the candidates really lay down how their foreign policy would pan out. when it comes to the u.s., i don't think these candidates really deviate from the current foreign policy of the current administration, although did you hear some rhetoric from the mayor about the possibility of cutting ties with the united states after the u.s. ambassad ambassador, but we don't know if we're going to treat it or take it literally. but that is yet to be seen. we have really yet to hear from them what their foreign policy will be. >> thompson: thank you so much for joining us.

>> thank you so much. >> this is pbs newshour weekend, sunday. >> thompson: the frontrunners in the presidential race are amping up their rhetoric about each other. at rallies and on twitter, presumptive republican nominee donald trump is calling former secretary of state hillary clinton "crooked hillary." today on nbc's "meet the press," he was asked about his shift from his past flattery of her. >> but when somebody says, three, four, five years ago, "let's look at hillary clinton. what do you think?" i say, "she's doing great." i say everybody's doing great. the fact is she has not done a good job. when i look at what happened with libya, when i look at what happened with benghazi, when you look at the migration. when you look at all of the things. but i'm not looking to criticize. you can look at many politicians that haven't done a good job. how are they doing? they're doing just fine. i'm not looking to get into wars with politicians because i need politicians. >> thompson: trump also said today taxes for the wealthy" should go up," but individual

states should decide whether to raise their minimum wage above the federal standard of $7.25 an hour. clinton, who has started calling trump the "presumptuous" nominee, pointed out today she's won nearly two million more votes in democratic primaries and caucuses than he has in republican contests. she was asked today on cbs's" face the nation" why she's called trump a "loose cannon." >> i think that being a loose cannon means saying that other nations should go ahead and acquire nuclear weapons for themselves when that is the last thing we need today. being a loose cannon is saying we should pull out of nato the strongest military alliance in the history of the world and something that we need to modernize but not abandon. >> thompson: the next presidential primaries are this tuesday, in nebraska for the republicans and in west virginia for both parties.

>> thompson: and finally on this mother's day join the conversation on our facebook page at facebook.com newshour a mom who made a difference in your life. on the "newshour" tomorrow come along as we follow the trail of our electronic waste. discover how your old computer and printer that you dropped off to be recycled may not end up where it's supposed to. and that's it for this ed eggs of pbs "newshour weekend" i'm megan thompson, thanks for watching. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: lewis b. and louise hirschfeld cullman. bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston.

the cheryl and philip milstein family. the citi foundation. supporting innovation and enabling urban progress. the john and helen glessner family trust. supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. -i don't think you choose to be a farmer,

and i think it's partly because if you try to make it as a rational decision, it doesn't make sense. you put in hours and hours of your labor, uncertain about the economic return on it. -this is not the story of the romantic young person who comes back to the farm. -so we'll pull this out just like that. -whoops. -break something? -yes. -that's all right. it's your future, not mine. -i have my whole life. -i don't. -[ laughs ] -this program is brought to you by... the corporation for public broadcasting. ♪ -it was in 1948. the family was renting some vineyards at that time.