captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> sreenivasan: and i'm hari sreenivasan. >> woodruff: on the newshour tonight: the first primary day with just one republican running for president, as west virginians choose between two democrats. >> sreenivasan: also ahead this tuesday. >> i'd like to reach my hand to my opponents. let us begin the healing now. >> sreenivasan: a look at the new likely president of the philippines, rodrigo duterte, and how his tough-talking, shock politics may shape a new era for the country. >> woodruff: and what happens when you combine a day care center with a nursing home? one seattle-based residence is finding the benefits of creating a space for young and old alike. >> this is what makes me happy. you get to know them, watch

them, and act silly with them. it's good to feel like you're three years old again. >> sreenivasan: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future. >> 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: the presidential primary season is winding toward a close with two of the final states taking their turns tonight. west virginia has 29 democratic delegates to offer. overall hillary clinton needs just 155 more to lock up the party's nomination. republicans have races today in both west virginia and nebraska. even though the outcomes are now just a for malady. -- formality. >> reporter: it was west virginians' turn to head to the polls today, but the candidates were elsewhere. donald trump-- a near-lock to be the republican nominee-- was in new york, reportedly working to join forces with the republican national committee on fundraising. but he still faces hurdles

winning support from party leaders. house speaker paul ryan has so far refused an endorsement. he's scheduled to meet with trump on thursday. ryan spoke this afternoon in an online interview with the "wall street journal": >> woodruff: trump's former rival ted cruz also declined today to say if he'd back the presumptive nominee. the texas senator's name is still on the ballot in nebraska, but he played down the chance that a victory there might prompt him to reentered the campaign.

>> we have suspended the campaign because we see no viable path to victory. of course if that changed we would reconsider things. listen, we have not going to win nebraska. there should be no mystery, no excitement. we've withdrawn from the campaign and it's in the hands od the voters. if circumstances change we will always assess changed circumstances. >> woodruff: on the democratic side: hillary clinton stumped in kentucky-- next door to west virginia. she called for paying child-care workers more, while curbing child-care costs for families. >> i don't think any family should have to pay more than 10% of their income for childcare. that ought to be just a rule and you ought to get help if you're getting too close to that or going above that. we need to start thinking about family issues as investment issues, investments into the future, investment into our children. >> reporter: clinton's rival bernie sanders pressed ahead with his underdog campaign, in a california city still suffering from the housing market meltdown

in 2008. >> when you have this level of grotesque income and wealth inequality, when you have a situation where over the last 25 years, trillions of dollars have left the hands of hard working families and have gone into the top one-tenth of one percent, don't tell me we don't have the resources to rebuild stockton, california. >> reporter: california's delegate-rich contest-- almost at the end of the democrats' primary calendar-- is set for june 7th. sanders has vowed to take his campaign all the way to the democratic convention in philadelphia, in late july. >> sreenivasan: in the day's other news, the people of central and southern oklahoma surveyed the damage and began recovery operations after a barrage of tornado. two people were killed by separate storms that struck near towns to the south of oklahoma city. storm chasers captured footage of the twisters-- one reportedly up to a mile wide.

they ripped through homes, tossed cars aside and scattered debris for miles. the fire that swept through fort mcmurray, canada is still burning, but it's moved away from the city, and repairs are beginning. officials and journalists toured the area yesterday, and found some blocks were burned to their foundations, destroying 2,400 buildings. but, about 90% of the town survived intact. still, it will be weeks before nearly 90,000 evacuees are allowed to return. meanwhile, oil sands companies are trying to resume production, but many staffers and suppliers are displaced. >> woodruff: president obama will become the first sitting u.s. president to visit hiroshima, japan when he travels to asia later this month. the united states carried out the world's first atomic bombing-- on hiroshima-- in august 1945. it's estimated that 140,000 people were killed. spokesman josh earnest announced the visit today, but said the president does not plan to offer an apology while he's there.

>> the president intends the visit to send a much more forward-looking signal about his ambition for realizing the goals of a planet without nuclear weapons. this also is an opportunity for the visit to highlight the remarkable transformation in the relationship between japan and the united states. >> woodruff: the president's week-long visit to asia will include a "group of seven" summit in japan, and a stop in vietnam. >> sreenivasan: in north korea a mass, tightly choreographed parade capped the first ruling party congress in nearly 40 years. hundreds of thousands gathered in pyongyang's main square with floats and patriotic banners to pay tribute to the country's leader kim jong un. after nightfall, torch-bearers formed designs and phrases, including one that read "the nuclear powered state." >> woodruff: the united states navy staged a new challenge today to china's sweeping claims

in the south china sea and beijing scrambled fighter jets in response. a u.s. guided missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of fiery cross reef, now occupied by the chinese. >> ( translated ): this is out and out a military challenge to the new marine order. the united states has flexed its military muscles by sending warships and military planes close to and even into the related islands and reefs and their surrounding sea and air space for provocation. this is but the biggest threat to the peace and stability and the freedom of navigation and flight on the south china sea. >> woodruff: secretary of state john kerry brushed aside the chinese objections, saying again the u.s. is determined to maintain freedom of navigation. >> sreenivasan: also today: a chinese labor panel ruled against a fired worker in the country's first transgender job bias case. the claimant argued he was let go unfairly, for living as a man when he was born a woman. the arbitration panel granted

$62 in back wages, but found the employer broke no laws. >> woodruff: back in this country, the u.s. justice department has opted not to seek the death penalty for the alleged mastermind in the benghazi attacks. ahmed abu khattala was captured in libya two years ago, and brought to the u.s. he's charged with murder and supporting terrorists. the u.s. ambassador and three other americans were killed in the attacks in 2012. militants stormed a u.s. compound and c.i.a complex. >> sreenivasan: a baltimore police officer chose today to go before a judge rather than a jury, in the freddie gray case. edward nero is charged with assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. he was involved in arresting gray, who died of injuries in custody, touching off riots. the first case resulting from the arrest ended in a hung jury. >> woodruff: on wall street stocks had their biggest day since march, boosted in part by china's efforts to stimulate its economy.

the dow jones industrial average gained 222 points to close at 17,928. the nasdaq rose 59 points and the s&p 500 added 25. >> sreenivasan: and another year, another white house visit for the university of connecticut women's basketball team. president obama welcomed the huskies today, to celebrate their fourth straight national title, and the school's 11th overall. the president said uconn has defied the old saying that "you can't win all of the time." >> sreenivasan: still to come on the newshour: change in the philippines, voters elect a controversial new president, the educational benefits of pre- schoolers interacting with senior citizens, an organization that's training people to talk about race, and much more. >> sreenivasan: the man who will

next lead the philippines was lauded as a no-nonsense tough guy-- and derided as a looming dictator-- throughout a fiery election campaign. today it became clear-- after his two closest rivals conceded- - that whatever the labels, rodrigo duterte will soon be called "mr. president." with china flexing its muscles in the south china sea, the united states is looking to deepen its security relationship with manila. while duterte has said his priorities are to lift up the large numbers of filipinos in poverty, and crack down on crime. rodrigo duterte is known for his tough talk and bombastic style, but he was decidedly more humble on a pre-dawn trip today to his parents' tomb in manila. social media video showed him sobbing as he said: "help me, mum-- i'm just a nobody." that may once have been true, but monday's election has now catapulted duterte to president- elect. he won about 40% of the vote, pledging to eliminate poverty,

corruption and crime. the outcome delighted supporters in davao city, where he's long been mayor. >> ( translated ): i am happy and feel privileged. the mayor prevailed. >> sreenivasan: duterte's path to the presidency was anything but conventional: featuring crude sex jokes-- which included making light of the rape and murder of an australian woman-- and incendiary rhetoric, especially about criminals. >> ( translated ): all of you who are into drugs, you sons of (bleep), i will really kill you! i have no patience for that. i have no middle ground there. either you kill me or i will kill you idiots. >> sreenivasan: that kind of talk has led some to draw comparisons to donald trump, the presumptive republican presidential nominee in the u.s. karen lema is a manila correspondent for reuters, who spoke with us via google hangouts. >> i think it's probably because of their unconventional ways. their unorthodox ways.

here people tend to look at those that are in the political establishment as weak, inefficient and corrupt. and again, duterte i think has successfully differentiated himself from the pack and that's where his appeal lie. >> sreenivasan: duterte inherits a philippine economy that grew an average of 6.2% over the past six years. but with nearly a third of the population still below the poverty line, voters said they were ready for change. >> ( translated ): we need someone who can make the prices of goods go down, so that for us who are poor, we can make a better living. >> ( translated ): i hope whoever becomes the president, they will help the homeless, provide work for our husbands and run the philippines well. >> sreenivasan: today, a duterte spokesman laid out plans to federalize the government. karen lema says it's a bid to help neglected regions far removed from the country's power center. >> he want to devolve functions away from central manila to the provinces. he wanted to empower these provinces and make sure that the wealth is more evenly distributed.

and like he said, he wants to benefit those who have been left behind or those what he calls >> sreenivasan: on foreign policy, duterte has said he'd talk to china about its expanding claims and military activity in the south china sea. but, if nothing changed, he says he'd sail to one of beijing's new artificial islands and plant the philippine flag. today, china's foreign ministry voiced hope for progress with the new leader. ( translated ): china and the philippines have a traditional friendship. we indeed hope that the new government of the philippines would meet china halfway, taking concrete measures to properly deal with the disputes so as to put the ties of the two countries back on the track of sound development. >> sreenivasan: duterte has also expressed wariness about closer security ties with the u.s., but yesterday, he called for talks to include the u.s., japan and australia.

>> sreenivasan: in washington, a white house spokesman said today: "we look forward to strengthening and deepening" ties with the philippines. but policy questions aside, duterte's hard-line approach has sparked concerns that he could be a dictator-in-the-making, in a country with an authoritarian past. in 1972, president ferdinand marcos declared martial law in the philippines, and ruled unchallenged for years. he was ousted in 1986 by corazon aquino-- the widow of a fierce marcos critic-- and she became president. now her son, benigno aquino, is leaving office after serving the single, six-year term allowed under the country's constitution. he opposed duterte and instead, backed former interior secretary mar roxas. aquino also campaigned against ferdinand marcos junior, who trailed by a narrow margin in the vice presidential race. in a statement today, aquino

said: "our people have spoken and their verdict is accepted and respected." >> woodruff: now, back to the presidential campaign. donald trump may be the presumptive republican nominee, still has considerable work to do to bring essential elements of the g.o.p. and the conservative movement on board to support him. to explore, that we've joined by two republicans, ken cuccinelli, who until last week served as delegate operations director for the ted cruz campaign, and corey stewart, virginia state campaign chair for donald trump. and gentlemen, we welcome you both to the program. ken cuccinelli, let me start with you. you worked your heart out for ted cruz. he dropped out. he is now today saying he's

ruling out a third-party bid. where does this leave you? >> well, you know, we were 15-1, but you have to go undefeated to be the nominee, and it's disappointing. sometimes i wonder if i'm watching my country commit political suicide. but, you know, there is five months until the election, and we'll see how things go at the convention and we'll see where things go between now and november. >> woodruff: well, he didn't entirely today rule out getting back in the race. do you think that's a possibility? >> not realistically, no. i think that was more along the lines of a statement of, if an asteroid hits new york city and donald trump is dead, then i'll get back in the race, but short of that, no, this race... we've hit the point where trump is going to hit the 1,237 mark and get over the majority needed to be the nominee, and so that's what i expect is going to happen. we still have other things to do. there's always a debate about

the platform. on an ideal day, what does it mean to be a republican? and we also want to recover, and i think this is an area where cruz and trump delegates may have a lot in common, we want to recover these rules back from the establishment and return them much more to the grassroots than they have been. >> woodruff: i do want to ask you about that in a moment, but stiewrtd stewart, -- corey stewart, you've been supporting donald trump for months now. what do you say to conservatives who are still struggling with whether or not donald trump is really a conservative, who believe what they do? >> well, he is a conservative. we stand by our conservative platform at the convention. if the cruz supporter would like to strengthen it, we would support that. in fact, there are some parts of the platform we would like the make stronger, especially on illegal immigration and i think where there could be some disagreement is perhaps on international trade.

we don't feel that the p.p.p. or the t-tip or some of the past international trade agreements have been fair to american workers and american small business, but overall i think we'll have a lot of agreement with other conservatives in the party. >> woodruff: it's interesting you point those things out, because in the last few days there has been a lot of attention on some of mr. trump's statements. people are saying, well, just how conservative is he because he's come out with positions on trade, on issues like social security where they're really not what people view as part of the conservative orthodoxy. how do you... how are you yourself, how comfortable are you when you hear him say, take positions where aren't necessarily where you thought conservatives were? >> i think there is a question what is conservative? donald trump is pro-life. he's conservative on the social issues. he's conservative on taxation. he's conservative on releasing, you know, on deregulation and

making it easier for small business people. so i mean, but look, if we attack some of these agreement, t-tip and t.p.p. that are howling out -- hollowing out these international trade agreements that are really hurting american workers, and what is... i don't consider that conservative or liberal. it's just common sense. we need to protect our own workers and our own businesses. >> woodruff: ken cuccinelli, how conservative is donald trump? >> well, i mean, i appreciate corey's comment, but i don't think it's really accurate to characterize him as a conservative. this is someone who has spoken about higher taxes and higher minimum wage being enforced from the federal level. and maybe he is supportive today of socially conservative position, but it's hard to have a lot of faith in that given the history. so it's one of those things where actions are going to speak louder than some words, and

that's going to take some time to see and to develop. as the campaign progresses. so we'll, you know, a lot of us are just hanging back, not casting judgment on him as a nominee at this point. but as i told corey lewandowski when i talked to him, we really want the see overlap on positions and beliefs and some credibility put behind those positions that we can rely on them. this is... to put it in trump-ease, this is a deal. you want me to vote for you, and that coming first. what i get is the positions when you're president. that comes second. and so there's no taking my vote back in november. so in addition to taking conservative positions, not just calling things conservative and declaring it to be so, actual movement on conservative positions, you have to back it up. one good way to back it up is with personnel who you say will implement any particular given policy.

>> woodruff: i should say, corey lewandowski being the campaign manager. >> the other corey in all of this. >> yes, yes. >> woodruff: but corey stewart, what about the points we heard from ken cuccinelli that mr. trump has made statements about higher taxes on the wealthy, on raising the minim wage. i mean, are those positions you think he's going to stay with? >> well, i think what you're going the find is donald trump is going to be a lot more conservative than the republican party has been in the past. take illegal immigration. the party has said for years and years that they're for a secure border, but no presidential candidate on the republican side has taken such a strong position on both internal enforcement and on the border. and the reason he's doing that and the reason he's doing so well among blue collar workers, and he's tied with hillary clinton in pennsylvania, something no republican candidate has done in recent history, is because he's doing this to protect american workers and american jobs.

>> woodruff: you're saying it's okay if he takes some of these other positions when it comes to minimum wage and higher taxes on the wealthy because he's expanding the pie, so to speak, or the voters he can attract to vote for him in the republican party? >> well, i think the important thing to recognize is that he is anti-tax. he's going to keep taxes low on business. he understands as a business person that business will thrive in america if, one, you protect it from unfair trade practices from china and elsewhere. two, you have to have low taxation and low regulation. he's for all of those things and he's also for protecting american jobs. >> woodruff: if that's the case, ken cuccinelli, is that a package that you can... a deal, i should say, that you can live with? >> if all of those things hold up, i think that's going the make a lot of conservatives a lot more comfortable. i think the challenge is that a lot of us in the last ten months feel like those positions have waxed and waned and come and gone and changed today and

within different tomorrow. we're going to want the see some consistency through the battle now with hillary clinton without moving those positions along the lines of what you heard corey just describe. that kind of consistency is one way that he can start to make conservatives comfortable pulling the lever for donald trump. >> woodruff: and corey stewart, do you expect donald trump will be consistent on these things? >> absolutely. he is. if you go back to interviews of donald trump from back in the 1980s, he's been talking about a stronger board. he's been talking about being better to business and protecting american workers since the 1980s. he's as constant as the northern star on these issues. >> woodruff: ken cuccinelli, you're laughing now. why? >> look, i appreciate what corey stewart has to say, but consistency has not been hallmark when it comes to policy of donald trump. take taxes.

take minimum wage. take abortion. take gay marriage. it's a long and varying list. and even immigration, where he made his first mark in the presidential campaign, he is not today, and i basically appreciate where i think he is today, in the same place where he has been in the past. >> woodruff: is this just quickly, ken cuccinelli, something you plan to argue at the convention rules committee? >> no. no. i think that corey's point about platform and strengthening the party position on illegal immigration is one there will be a lot of agreement on. but let's face it, the platform is a statement of ideals and principles. will they be acted on? i think in the area of immigration, i have the most confidence in donald trump. it's the other areas where i wonder more. >> woodruff: i just literally two words. it looks like you're going to come to some agreement. >> we are. we're going to have an agreement. there's going to be a strong conservative coalition coming together in november to defeat hillary. >> woodruff: all right.

corey stewart, ken cuccinelli, thank you both. >> good to be with you. >> woodruff: a new report due out later this week from the national institute on early education research finds that a number of states are struggling to find ways to improve access to high quality pre- kindergarten. tonight, we look at a unique approach taken by a pre-school in seattle washington. it's giving children life lessons that go beyond the classroom, and providing a unique opportunity to seniors. special correspondent cat wise has our report, part of our "making the grade" series on education that airs tuesdays. >> what do you see? >> a brown bear. >> a brown bear. >> reporter: mary mcgovern is 95 years old, and one of her favorite things to do is read to

toddlers. >> what is that? >> a bird. >> and what color is the bird? >> red. >> red, everybody knows that. >> reporter: luckily for mary, she doesn't need to go any further than down the hall to find her young friends. >> oh see look in here-- the little kids in here. >> reporter: mcgovern lives at providence mount st. vincent, a nursing home in seattle washington that also houses a daycare for children up to five years of age. >> oh, thank you, dear. thank you very much. >> reporter: every week day, 500 residents are joined by 125 children in the facility affectionately called "the mount". >> peek-a-boo, i see you.

>> we wanted to create a place for people to come to live, and not come to die. >> reporter: so in 1991, boyd and other administrators added a high quality preschool to the nursing home and created an "intergenerational learning center"-- a community for the very old and very young. why is this railing is here? >> this railing is here not for the kids, but for residents. a safety piece to push themselves up and to hold on and to bring themselves to a standing position and watch the children through the window. >> reporter: so they can stand here and look in? >> they can stand here and look in. it's the idea of linking older adults and younger adults into a full circle of life. in a setting that links old and young together, bringing joy to the residents, and joy to those young children, too. it's just like this magical formula that happens every day. >> can i get a high five?

most of them, they're curious about me. they ask me why are you here? i tell them i'm here because when i was living in my house, when i got too old, i wasn't always walking straight, and sometimes i would fall. and if fell i had to get some help to get up because i couldn't get off the floor. i want to hug your baby doll. >> i think there are things that both parties take away from the interactions. it's not like a lifelong relationship, but just for that moment in time they're both enjoying each other's company, and getting something out of that relationship with that person, in that moment. >> give me a hug. >> all of us have common needs to be recognized, all of us have common needs to be loved, and all of us have common needs to share life together. and so these children bring life and vibrancy and normalcy. it's a gift, it's a gift in exposing young families to positive aspects of aging, and

it's a gift of having children exploring, learning, seeing frailty, normalcy-- that full circle of life. >> ♪ he rocks in his tree house all day long, rockin and boppin ♪ and singing his song. >> reporter: intergenerational activities can be spontaneous or planned, like this sing-a-long. >> there's 36 visit possible each week, so each classroom, six classrooms, has at least three visits, up to six visits. >> reporter: the director of the center, marie hoover, says the children become comfortable with elderly residents at an early age. >> whether they're in a wheelchair, or in a walker, or maybe they're hard to understand, or you have to speak louder, it is just about who that individual is, and they adjust. the kids just really don't blink an eye. >> reporter: 93-year-old harriet thompson joined this sing-a-long on her way to the dining hall.

>> i usually like to go sit down for a while before dinner, but heard them singing, so i went on in. >> reporter: what do you experience, internally when you're around these children? >> happiness, just plain old happiness, you know it beats anything else. beats television. >> boredom and loneliness at sort of the plagues of older adults. you see the residents, hear the sound of the kids coming down the hall, and it's as though sunlight just came through the window. >> i'm a great-great grandmother, but they're in another town. i can't hold my own little girl because she's far away. so this is what makes me happy. you get to know them, watch them, and act silly with them. it's good to feel like you're three years old again. >> reporter: teachers see

similarities in the ways these two very different age groups communicate. >> the brain of a toddler, and as somebody is beginning to have, you know, some signs of dementia, the brains are similar, and their development, or their decline, is similar. >> reporter: that was apparent in this art class where resident john goss, a retired surgeon, and five-year old-william kraynek teamed up as painting partners. >> this is a junk brush? >> a giant brush. >> oh, a giant. he's operating on my plain, and i'm operating on his plain and, so we have an attachment. he helped me, and we were working together. >> i used blue and he used blue, and i used green and he used green. >> it's wonderful because things come out of your hand, rather than your mouth. >> the kids are certainly of that age where they just, this

there isn't this sense of oh, that's weird, or something to be scared of, and i think that's happening on both sides of the age. >> what's your name? >> annie carter. >> reporter: later the same day, william kraynek visited the skilled nursing section of the mount to help make sandwiches for the homeless. here william partnered with 92- year-old annie carter. >> we just talk about our work. just like anyone else on a job. that's our job, so we have to do the right thing. >> this is alex. >> hi, honey. >> reporter: how do the children deal with difficult situations that may come up? like a resident that might be declining or even death. how do the children deal with those situations? >> developmentally it's not really something they can conceptualize. even our oldest kids, at five, kids don't quite get that whole death concept. if the kids bring that up to the teachers, then the teacher's

response is going to be "what's your favorite memory about what she did?" those are the kinds of things they're going to focus in on, as opposed to somebody died. they're just not quite ready to get that concept. >> reporter: childcare at the mount is competitively priced with similar high quality pre- schools in the area. currently, 400 families are on the waitlist. administrators believe the mount's model can be replicated across the country, and they expect interest to peak this summer when a documentary featuring their work called "present perfect" is released. for the pbs newshour in seattle, i'm cat wise. >> sreenivasan: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: a mining operation that environmentalists say is threatening the land of a thousand lakes. but first we turn to our on going series race matters.

last night, documentary film maker ken burns received the nation's highest honor for intellectual achievement in the humanities. he delivered the annual jefferson lecture at the kennedy center. his focus: race in america. here he addresses recent killings of young african americans. >> like the amputated limb felt long after it has been cut off, i miss trayvon martin; i was once a 17-year-old who wore a hooded sweatshirt walking through unfamiliar neighborhoods, but i was never gunned down. i miss tamir rice, too; i was eleven once and played with plastic guns, but no cop ever shot me. we are missing many hundreds, if not thousands, of african americans, lost only because of the color of their skin in just the last decade. most of the occurrences we

documented in our recent jackie robinson film-- he crossed the color line 69 years ago last month-- are happening again in our present day: confederate flag issues, driving while black, stop and frisk, burned black churches, integrated suburban swimming pool problems, housing bias, racial taunts, cynical political calculations that ignore african americans, and a version of black lives matter, to name just a few. i do not believe there is a hell, as most of our religions reliably report, just the one we humans make for ourselves and each other right here. >> sreenivasan: now we continue with newshour special correspondent charlayne hunter gault's ongoing look at solutions to america's enduring race problem.

tonight, she talks with reverend david billings of the people's institute for survival and beyond, an organization that assists other groups trying to overcome racism and its impact. >> we need to be continuing to do this. >> reporter: the institute has conducted over a half million workshops with organizations and institutions ranging from hospitals, local and regional government, to churches all dealing with how to identify and combat racism. reverend billings, thank you for >> reporter: rev. billings, thank you for joining us. >> well it's my honor. >> reporter: your organization is over 30 years old and it was founded to combat racism among other things, how do you define racism? >> we define it as race prejudice plus power. individual racism, like how we

feel about each other and what we might call each other, is just a byproduct of an arrangement that goes all the way back before the nation's founding. >> reporter: what do you mean? >> one of the founder's greatest fears was that poor europeans who'd come over here as indentured, there was a great a fear that they would join up with the africans who were being enslaved and indigenous people and overthrow before they even got started. so it would be the creation of race that would compromise poor and what we today we'd call working class whites. and it makes us hesitant, has always made us hesitant to organize with people of color, especially black people. this country constantly and still does treats racism as it were just a matter of personal relationships and, and it's not, you know. that's why so many of us who are white can say well i'm not

racist, you know i've got friends who are black and all that sort of things. >> reporter: but there were civil rights act, voting rights act, didn't that change things a little bit? >> oh, it changed, you know they had great impact. the voting rights act and everything but we have to, we are fighting today to preserve it, at the people's institute, i will speak to people that are white like me. there is-- there's a bitterness, there's an anger about equal rights, you know. >> reporter: you experience that, people tell you that? >> oh yeah, oh yeah. when we first started no systems were asking us to work with them, none of the great systems like universities or hospitals or healthcare would even admit that racism was an issue for them.

>> reporter: so tell me briefly about the principles that your organization has put together to address the kinds of things you are talking about. >> we get invited now, to be a part of symposiums, to be a part of long term organizing effort, with an given a large systems to work with them for a period of months even years to, to analyze how race and racism is impacting their outcomes, their work and its taking off all around the country. we start off, usually, with a small group of people within a larger system who say we want to go through one of the undoing racism workshops. because the purpose of the undoing racism workshop is to eventually be the foundation for a longer organizing effort within the institution. understanding racism, its history you know, its impact today and how the nation is as it changes how the racism you

know begins to resist the structural racism against to resist societal change. we do an ongoing commanded, organizing, undoing racism workshop. cause it takes us a year or two to cover say hundreds of people in the schools of social work of new york city and we work with everyone of 'em. >> reporter: and you find that these people don't know about, race and what do you find? >> what they find is, what we find is that people understand race but they don't understand organizing. you can't teach racism away, a lot of us think you can, you can't legislate it away, as important as the voting rights act and things like that are, have been. you have to organize your internal operations, have to begin to speak to a racial dynamics ahh that fall within

every large institution and every, there's not one institution in this country that where they can say there's no racism here, we've solved it. i come out of the church you would think the church would be in the lead around tackling racism. >> reporter: i think just about everybody agrees, it's a very toxic atmosphere today. are you getting more people coming to you or fewer? >> yeah, we are getting more but i, i hear your question. it's usually like people would, will say well you're speaking to the choir and we say, yeah, but choir's got to practice every wednesday night, you know. that's what you got to do, you got to keep going at it and if we're to confront the racism that is out there in this country we have to, to have our act together, we got to know what we are doing. we're hopeful. you've got to stay hopeful to do this work. >> reporter: so what's the solution?

>> you got to keep the work going, you've got to transfer it among other hopefuls that, see white, white kids need to be taught very early on. we have to quit protecting white people, even white children, about the realities of race in this country. you know children a very conscious and in tune with things being fair. you'll hear that's not fair, you know to a brother and sister, well those children are, could be, you know, will understand race, they'll understand all of these things. they are not given the opportunity because we protect our children as whites you know, that will somehow make them feel bad, i think it'll make them feel good cause it'll help them explain some things. >> reporter: well reverend billings, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> sreenivasan: you can see more our race matters reporting on our website pbs.org/newshour.

plus tune in later tonight: on "point taken" they explore the question: should the u.s. pay reparations to black americans? >> woodruff: we head now to northern minnesota where new technology has renewed a battle over mining a vast mineral deposit. from iowa public tv's program "market to market," joshua buettner has the story. ♪ >> reporter: last fall, demonstrators pressured minnesota's st. louis county board to publicly acknowledge a proposed copper-nickel sulfide mine would threaten the health of their local watershed. >> it's crazy to clean the river only to allow it to be polluted again. >> mining is less than 1% of minnesota's economy.

>> reporter: opponents allege newly unearthed sulfur-bearing rock will create acid mine drainage; diluting previous efforts to restore the st. louis river, a waterway once crippled by iron ore pollution. since 2008, applications to conduct exploratory drilling have surged in the land of ten- thousand lakes. and toronto, canada-based polymet mining corporation is first in line to unlock precious metals from the duluth complex-- a vast mineral deposit in the arrowhead of minnesota. mining proponents say geologists have known about the formation for over 60 years, but new technology will allow excavation of four billion tons of raw material worth an estimated $1 trillion. latsisha gietzen, director of public affairs for polymet, says due to new mining techniques, the company will actually restore some of the lands through the mining process.

>> because we're using a legacy site, we'll actually be able to clean up some of the issues that are currently going on and bring modern technology to the process. >> reporter: additionally, corporate officials say any water released from their proposed northmet site will be treated to meet state and federal guidelines. but for some, the mining industry's past practices do not inspire confidence. a well-established hub for agriculture, forestry and mining exports, the port of duluth sits between the contested estuary and lake superior. ships from duluth have traditionally transported the commodity to mills around the great lakes rust belt, and the world. taconite, a finite resource used to make steel, is mined exclusively in the state's mesabi iron range. two facilities on the bank of the st. louis river became so polluted they became qualified for e.p.a.'s superfund program.

with corporate and taxpayer-funded clean-up continuing today, environmentalists such as aaron klemm fear relapse. >> this river has been designated as one of the top ten most endangered rivers in the united states. >> reporter: polymet's latish gietzen says the company will meet the new mining requirements. >> it has been proven that we can meet water quality standards, both surface and ground water, here at the site. if we can't show that through environmental review and permitting, we won't get a permit to operate. >> reporter: polymet expects to produce 3.6 billion pounds of copper equivalent over 20 years. at 32,000 tons of ore per day, that's a fraction of the 100,000 tons of taconite that once rolled through daily. but the bounty on precious metals far outweighs that of low

grade ores. during a decade long process, polymet has jumped through various state and federal hoops described as the most stringent in the world. project backers say copper and nickel-- chief components in cell phones, hybrid car batteries, solar panels and wind turbines-- are essential building blocks for a high-tech clean energy future. a future some say the u.s. should secure now, before less climate-minded competitors, like china, are allowed to dominate the market. state senator david tomassoni backs the mining company's proposal, and says minnesota's environmental regulations will protect its citizens. >> minnesota's laws are the strictest in the country when it comes to the environment. and plus, we live here. we live here, we play here, we drink the water, we breathe the air, we want this to be done right and it will be done right. >> reporter: polymet predicts roughly 1,000 direct and indirect jobs would result from its project-- a forecast welcomed with open arms by some

in a region sapped by economic slump. adding to layers of complexity, the northmet mine sits within territory ceded to the government by native americans. in 1854, the lake superior chippewa entered into a treaty giving u.s. ownership of their lands in exchange for hunting, fishing and wild rice harvest rights in perpetuity. wild rice is sacred to area tribes, and protected by law. korey northrup is a member of the lake superior chippewa. >> my main focus is making sure that the wild rice is protected. and we need to understand that without water, there will be no life-- including human life. >> reporter: polymet is confident it will meet standards for wild rice. state senator david tomassoni says there has to be a happy

medium between all parties. >> you worry about the water, you worry about the rice, but you also worry about the jobs and the industries. >> reporter: even though various national authorities have given the polymet a green light, those opposed say corporate profits and tax revenues are the only thing the mining company will dig up. and the battle over risks and benefits will likely continue as rivals work their way through the scrutiny of precious metals development in northern minnesota. for the pbs newshour, i'm josh buettner in duluth, minnesota. >> woodruff: and now for our newshour shares, something that caught our eye that we thought might be of interest to you, too. in this increasingly fast-paced world, it can sometimes be hard to appreciate the beauty and complexity of nature. but one german research team decided to slow things down with high speed cameras and captured

the impressive gymnastic feats of tree frogs. the newshour's julia griffin explains. >> reporter: the toe pads of amazon milk frogs can hold up to 14 times the animal's body weight. that's like an average american man holding a honda civic with his toes. amazon milk frogs live in the trees of south american rainforests. like most tree frogs, they have adhesive toe pads made of hexagonal cells and mucus, that allow them to cling to surfaces. researchers at kiel university in germany found the frogs can swing from a branch with just one toe, which when it makes contact, doesn't slip. the frogs then use a variety of acrobatic maneuvers to slow their momentum. having multiple landing techniques is important, because missing your mark 30 feet up in the air, could mean death for a tree frog.

though sometimes a belly flop is still the best bet. for the pbs newshour, i'm julia griffin >> woodruff: we can all aspire to do this. >> sreenivasan: and we have an update for you. >> getting old is a state of mind. now i'm 91, i'm badly crippled but i still feel like i'm 15. will this go viral? >> sreenivasan: well, flossie, we're pleased to report you did in fact go viral. our brief but spectacular take from flossie lewis has been viewed more than four million times on facebook. proof a youthful spirit is timeless, even on the internet. >> woodruff: flossie lewis you're a star.

>> sreenivasan: also on the newshour online right now: a classic american novel gets a new life as an opera. "the scarlet letter," commissioned in colorado, is just one of a wave of new american operas to debut in the last few years. read more about how these new productions are generating greater interest in the art form. >> woodruff: and again, the day's top stories: two of the final states in the presidential primary season took their turn, democrat bernie sanders aimed to win in west virginia, but republican races in west virginia and nebraska were a formality, with donald trump virtually assured the nomination. towns in central and southern oklahoma began cleaning up after tornadoes on monday that killed two people and tore up homes. and wall street rallied, with the down industrials gaining more than 200 points. >> sreenivasan: tune in later tonight on charlie rose: argentina's foreign minister on the challenges facing south america's second-largest economy. and that's the newshour for tonight. on wednesday, we launch the leading edge, a new weekly science series. to kick it off-- travel from san

francisco to l.a. in 30 minutes? miles o'brien witnesses one of the first big tests of hyperloop technology. i'm hari sreenivasan. >> woodruff: and 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: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future.

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