captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> yang: good evening, i'm john yang. gwen ifill and judy woodruff are away.d on the newshour this labor day, the presidential candidates hiti the campaign trail in full force, beginning the finale, sprint to election day. also ahead, world leaders gathered in china for the g-20 summit. what they agreed to and the issues that still divide them.m. plus, a young black man's journey into adulthood overshadowed by racially-charged politics. >> walking through racism is important, but how are we dealing with talking about patriarchy, ma song any, homophony, mentalness?e we're not including these in the narrative around young black men.

>> yang: 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. ♪ love me tender >> we can like many, but we can love only a precious few, because it is for those precious few that you have to be willing to do so very much. you don't have to do it alone. lincoln financial helps youyo provide for and protect your

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>> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> yang: from labor day to election day-- 64 days and 6 counting. for the presidential candidates, today marked the start of two months of cross-country campaigning to win theco white house. lisa desjardins has our report. >> reporter: labor day inte detroit: a parade of curb-to- curb union members, lines of trucks, and one retired worker, former president bill clinton. a holiday for most americans, today marks crunch time fory candidates: hillary clinton and donald trump hit the trail, as did their surrogates, spread out in key states. t trump was swamped at a youngstown, ohio fair, pulling out a bullhorn at one point.

>> we're going to bring jobs back to ohio. we're going to bring jobs back to our country. we're not going to make these horrible trade deals anymore. >> reporter: while for clinton, something recently rare, a shor chat with the press corps. >> last moments before the mad dash for the next two months, so i hope you guys are ready. >> reporter: clinton and her new plane were on the way tore cleveland, where she stressed her message on labor and the s economy: >> this is the kind of difference that this electioner really poses. people like tim and me who want to create more good jobs with rising wages and benefits for everybody willing to work hard, and somebody who stiffed people, took bankruptcy and laid off people -- one of his bankruptcies put 1,000 people 1 out of work -- >> reporter: the fight for ohio meant a fight for space on the cleveland tarmac today, right t next to clinton's campaign plane, sure enough, that's donald trump's.

he was also making his own pitch to cleveland workers.ls >> our country in terms of manufacturing, in terms of jobs, is going to hell.g, it's going to hell. our jobs are being taken out of our system. o hillary clinton would be a disaster. >> reporter: outside of ohio wap left to candidates' supporters - like vermont senator berniers sanders. the former clinton opponent, now promoting her to workers. >> hillary clinton understands that the $7.25 minimum wage is a starvation wage.s wage. (cheers and applause) >> reporter: in pennsylvania, it was clinton's running mate, virginia senator tim kaine:, >> hello! >> reporter: and the man kaine a hopes to replace: vice president biden, on the day's theme. >> does anybody think there would be a minimum wage without union workers? >> reporter: trump and his choice for v.p. spent the major campaign day traveling on theai trump plane together, where the

nominee took reporter questions and made it clear he will be at all three presidential debates. >> are you doing a lot of prep work?or >> yeah, i'm doing some, i'mr ra doing some.do i mean, i've seen people do so much prep work that when they get out there they can't speak. i've seen that. >> do you plan to have mock sessions where someone does play >> i hadn't planned on it.oe i never did it before. >> reporter: that crucial first debate comes in three weeks, until then, as they did today in michigan, virginia, pennsylvania and new hampshire, the two campaigns plan a frenzied focus on just a few key states. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> late this afternoon hillary clinton says she's concerned about reports in the worst and worries r -- worries and elsewhere. >> yang: in the day's other news, the group of 20 majorr economies wound up their weekend-long summit in china. the leaders failed to set limits on a glut of cheap chinese steel exports.miex but a much-anticipated climate change announcement, and

meetings between world leadersor on the sidelines, highlighted the gathering.hi we'll have a full report, after the news summary. at the g-20 summit, president obama and russian president vladimir putin failed to reach a deal on a cease-fire in syria.de that came as isis claimed responsibility for a series of attacks across syria. at least 48 people were killed. the attacks included six suicidi bombings and a remote-controlled bomb. they all happened during the morning rush hour. meanwhile, at least 24 people died in twin bombings inn afghanistan. the taliban said it carried outr the attacks near the defense ministry in kabul. the first blast hit a crowded area near government buildings, a market and a mainme intersection. the second blast struck as authorities responded to the s first. >> when the first explosion happened, people crowded nearwd the site. then the second blast occurred, which was really powerful and killed lots of people, including workers, women and children.

all those killed were poor people and bread winners of their families, all innocent people were killed here. >> yang: two of the dead weref generals. more than 90 others were wounded.wo north korea has fired off three more medium-range ballistic missiles. they were launched about 30 miles south of pyongyang, and flew more than 600 miles, before landing in japanese waters. the united states, japan and others condemned the tests, and the u.n. security council said it will discuss the situation tomorrow.it tropical storm system "hermine" slowly whirled up the u.s. eastern seaboard today, staying offshore, but chasing people off the beaches. the storm kicked up waves up to 20-feet high and rip currents from new york to cape cod. the storm had winds of 70 miles an hour, but it's expected to weaken. nurses went on strike today, at five hospitals in minnesota. they're striking over health insurance, workplace safety and staffing. the minnesota nurses association

represents about 4,800 members. it called the strike after a 22- hour bargaining session ended saturday without an agreement. and, some good news for the giant panda. a group that tracks animal populations says it's no longer endangered. the international union for conservation of nature says giant panda numbers rose 17 percent in the past 10 years, to nearly 1,900. it's thanks to stepped-up protections by china.pr still to come on the newshour: the major agreements and disagreements from the g-20 summit. the role of labor unionsla in today's politics. a web series that lets israelis and palestinians say exactlyns what they think, and much more. >> yang: president obama is on his final trip to asia as

president. his first stop was in china for a meeting of leaders of 20 of the world's largest economies. william brangham gives us a summary.rg >> ladies and gentlemen, the 11th g-20 summit has just concluded with great success. >> brangham: the gathering's host, chinese president xi jinping, closed the proceedingso praising the leaders for commitments to free trade and economic growth. but on the major issue of o china's glut of steel production, xi made only limited concessions. he agreed to greater cooperation on the problem, but not to any binding limits on steel exports the u.s. and europe say cheap chinese steel has cost jobssa worldwide. president obama said today it will take time to get concretet gains on the issue. >> it was one of a number of examples that aren't always sexy and don't attract a lot of headlines of where issues that we've raised in the g-20 get adopted and then a bunch of work gets done and the following year you start seeing action and slowly we strengthen and build

up international norms. >> brangham: the conflict in syria was also addressed this weekend, but again, with little to show for it. president obama met with russian president vladimir putin for 90r minutes. they talked about possible military cooperation, and a lasting cease-fire between thee- russian-backed syrian governmenn and u.s.-backed rebels. but he said later that a number of sticking points remained, and he suggested he's skeptical thae russia would uphold its end of any bargain. >> given the gaps of trust that exist, that's a tough negotiation and we haven't yet closed the gaps in a way where we think it would actually worko >> brangham: for his part, putir sounded much more optimistic. and i have grounds to believe that they will be reached in the nearest few days one headline-making moment from this weekend came from the sidelines of the g-20, on the issue of climate change.ng president obama and chinese

president xi announced saturday their governments will formally join last year's landmark paris agreement.s it sets up a framework to dozens of nations to reduce greenhouse gases in the coming decades. the president said the u.s. and china standing together on theid issue, sends a clear message to the world. >> our entrance into this agreement continues the momentum of paris and should give the rest of the world confidence whether developed or developing countries that a low carbon future is where the world is heading. >> brangham: with the g-20 now over, obama flew on to laos today for a summit with south l asian leaders. he had planned to meet there with the philippines' new president rodrigo duterte. but today, duterte angrily warned he won't discuss widespread killings of drug suspects, and he aimed profanity at mr. obama: >> son of a ( bleep ), i will swear at you in that forum.

>> brangham: hours after hearing that, the president said he is now reconsidering whether a meeting with duterte is still for more on what happened during the g-20, and what's to come for the rest of the president's trip to asia, we turn to edward alden, he's a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations, where he focuses onei u.s. trade policy.se and david ignatius, foreign policy columnist at the "washington post."ei gentlemen, thank you both very much for being here. saved, i would start with you -- david, i start with you.o what was your take on what happened this weekend? >> i think basically in terms of bilateral u.s.-china relations, this was a reinforcement of the pattern we've seen in the last couple of years. the u.s. and china work together on issues of mutual interest, climate change has been the obvious example since 2014. they did a significant step forward in agreeing to enter the paris pact on climate change, that was the headline achievement of the summit, but on so many other issues where they are not in sync, the south

china sea, obviously, but also the whole relationship, the fracas about when the president's plane landed and what ramp gate, it's obvious that there is just a lot of distaps between the two. so i think that's a snapshot of where the relationship is as barack obama's presidency ends. >> brangham: edward alden, we touched on this briefly in the beginning, the issue of this deal, the chinese deal, this was something the president hoped to take a crack at but didn't really succeed.re what is it the u.s. and other nations have with china? >> trade is where things have gotten tense. china entered the w.t.o. in 2001, and i think the hope of the united states and the west at the timete was that china wod gradually become a more market-oriented economy, would look mo like the capitalist

economies of the west and adopt the rules of how it structures its economy.s we haven't seen that play out, particularly in the heavy industries. the chinese government heavily subsidize the industries. what we see is chinese production increase very, very dramatically.ic if you go back to 2000, the united states and china produced the same about oof steel. >> brangham: 15 years ago. 130 merit tons each. since that time, china's production has increased basically ten fold, u.s. production has dropped a little over that period of time, so the rest of the world is saying to china, you have to change the practices. it's not just steel, but steel is the biggest one, where you are subsidizing industries to produce far beyond what the market is dictating and it's creating a lot of tensions witht

your trading partners. >> brangham: one of the issues the president tried to bring up in his meeting with vladimir putin was the issue of syria and they apparently had a long conversation about can there be a cease fire, and the president was as open as you can in these types of meetings, which is to say even if we got an agreement which we didn't get, the unitedt states can't be sure putin will live up to his end of the bargain. >> the level of suspicion in the u.s.-russia landscapes is as high as anytime since the fall of the soviet union. putin is very aggressive in his behavior in syria, in ukraine. the technical details of the syria agreement had been held up for a couple of weeks, but fundamentally, the problem here is that putin has aligned with bashar al-assad, and the u.s. is

fighting alongside the al quaida affiliate in syria, very awkward position for us to be in, and it's not clear how you get an agreement when those are the basic elements. >> brangham: david is talking about the issue of trust with regards to russia. the issue of trust with china comes up, particularly with regard to climate change, whenan we saw them signing the paris accords saturday that weree agreed to in january. a lot of the critics of the agreements say the u.s. can put whatever smiley face on these agreements and do what it can to cut carbon emissions, but the chinese if it's voluntary, they won't do the same. to the same point, do you thinki the u.s. can trust china on this particular issue? >> ipa think on climate there ia potential for a different dynamic. i think that falls into david's first basket where the u.s. and china see a common interest. if you look at trade, the

chinese, if they -- they see trade in zero sum terms.r the climate issue is different. the chinese recognize the reality of global climate change and recognize their role in it so i think they are genuinely worried about that. domestically, they have an enormous problem with pollutiono so to the extent they continue to use dirty coal, that's major because you can't breathe in the major cities. >> brangham: this is thema president's last trip to asia after his much heralded pitch to asia. do you think that has borne fruit for the president's policy? >> i think it was sound conceptually. one of the tragedies of barack obama's presidency is he's been unable to escape the gravitational field of the middlegr east. he's ended up fight ago war against i.s.i.s., he's back in iraq, he's in syria though he doesn't want to be. i think for countries in asia,

they see a rising china pushing its weight around more and morer they want to feel that the u.s. is really there to stay as a reliable, dependable ally.al the president's last big effort is going to be to try to pass the trans-pacific partnership,a the big trade agreement. >> a lot of congressional opposition. >> and quite a lot of support. i think obama rightly sees that, in terms of our credibility in asia to countries like vietnam, the philippines, even australia, it's crucial he get this passed or do everything he can in the lame duck session as a common administration to people thatra we're still here, we still care about asia.ab if the president leaves office with that going down in a tail spin, i think we're going to see a story of china asserting itself with new power and credibility because america will have been seen as the ally that couldn't deliver.

>> can i say i agree very much with david but i'm not optimistic about the t.p.p. >> why not? i've watched trade deals back to nafta and you see a hardening in the democratic party and a fractioning of the republican party under donald trump who's come out strong against these trade agreements.tr in the past democratic presidents could rely on strong republican support. i thinkbl that's vanished. >> brangham: gentlemen, thank b you very much for being here. >> thank you. >> yang: on this labor day, we turn now to organized labor. union membership has been on the decline in the united states for decades: according to the labori department, just 11.1% of wage and salary workers belonged to a union last year, that's almost half the union membership rate in the 1980s. hari sreenivasan has our story.

>> sreenivasan: for more now on the state of labor, we're going to by mary kay henry, service employees international union, and harley shaiken, a professor and labor expert at the university of california, berkley.ia professor, when we think of the labor movement, we think it's smaller than it used to be, but what are the challenges the movement is facing today? >> there are many challenges but it's a particularly criticali time for labor movement and the united states generally.it in the last three decades, labor has declined from representing one out of every five members to one out of every ten today, butt recent polls from bloomberg and others indicate that over half of people polled would like to join a union. how does that square with 11% being in unions? here i think we're looking at tough employer opposition, laws that don't facilitate a free

choice and some broader changes in the economy.c >> sreenivasan: mary kayry henry, how do you square that gap, if people are interested still in being part of the union but the reality is they're not? >> 20 million people have got more money in their pockets just in the last four years because 200 fast food workers had the guts to make a decision to strike and possibly lose their jobs, threaten their whole family stability and make a demand that people laughed at four years ago, 15 in a union, and now it's a standard against which people are organizing saying why do i have to wait so long to get to 15. >> sreenivasan: in scandinavian countries, they've, almost sat a wage floor evenn without having a minimum-wage because about 80% of the people in denmark are already unionized. the private sector says to be

competitive i have to raise my wages. is the inverse happening in the united states? we're such a small unionized nation, it seems the private sector doesn't see the unions as a threat or incentive to try to pull their wages up by themselves. >> right and the absence of government people and working people and employers sharing ins the curnghts we have the grossest inequality our generation has ever seen in this country. fast food workers are saying if mcdonald's and wendy's and burger king can provide $20 in denmark where 80% have a union, why can't they do the same inm the united states?st >> sreenivasan: tell us about how unions are adapting to what's happening in the sharing economy. seems there is a different landscapes we had with an employer where perhaps not thinking about working for one company for 40 years to get the rolex watch and we moved into an area where we said five to six

years, then we esay i want to donate 20 minutes of my time to a shared car and i might have benefits, what happens with that relationship to a union or employer? >> the sharing economy is a critical challenge for unions today. the sharing economy is nots something that exists in nature. it is also an employer strategy, in manyy case, to avoid unions. so companies such as uber or lyft define the jobs in a way where they're essentially saying part-time workers, flexible workers can't have a union, they're independent contractorso >> sreenivasan: mary kay henry, how do you adapt to that? seems if you're bargaining with an employer one of the fundamentals is when will my employee be here and working for me? but if we're walking into a world in the next 15 to 20 years where people parse their work out so much, what do you think about that?

>> people got together andd formed a union andñi negotiateda contract, homecare providers were seen as nothing more than ser vans. they got together, formed an employer and raised wages, we believe the same principles nees to be applied in the sharing economy and our members in many cities around the country are supporting the organizing of uber drivers or other unions that are working in the sharing economy. it's 1% of the economy right now. >> sreenivasan: professor shaiken, pivoting to politics since there is an election coming up, seems that bernie sanders and donald trump rally their bases by saying, hey, you know what, politicians are not hearing the voices of american workers. what happened, whatca created tt gap and that opportunity for these two politicians, especially in the context of the unions? >> well, i would start by saying these are very different politicians who went in very different directions but they both did, as you point out, essentially channel this deep

anger, apprehension and frustration that so many people are experiencing. in part, it reflects two things that mary kay henry pointed to, the extreme inequality that exists in this country -- it's not really a question of inequality, but extreme inequality that takes us beyond the guilded age in some ways, an immediate manifestation tost millions of workers of stagnant or declining wages and few opportunities to advance themselves, let alone their children. >> sreenivasan: mary kay henry do, unions have the power. to gt out the vote in this coming election? and there seems to be a fraction where the leadership of unionsn might be supporting overwhelmingly hillary clinton while there seems to be an opportunity for donald trump toa speak to the base, the rank and file. >> 77% of members support hillary clinton and labor unions

can be a part of the partners that needs to make the case to our members about why voting matters to the future for our children and grandchildren, andn our members all across this country, i will be in pittsburgh we'll be doing phone banking and door knocking in l.a., a one on one communication based on relationship we think is turn key to people understanding why elections matter and why we need to stay in the streets after the election and hold every elected official accountable to an agenda that addresses the worst inequality of our generation. >> sreenivasan: all right,>> mary kay henry from the seiu. harley shaiken. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> yang: online, we get two more views of labor unions and workers' rights. find eight ideas to help workers thrive as labor unions decline, plus an interview with a leading labor organizer about the need to reinvent employee bargaining. find that on our web site, pbs.org/newshour.

>> yang: so, how much does organized labor matter in modern-day presidentialay campaigns? are donald trump's efforts to court african-americans winningg voters, black or otherwise? and what to expect, if anything, when congress returns to washington tomorrow? with all these questions,wi and more, it's the perfect time for this labor day edition of politics monday.y. for that we are joined by stu rothenberg of the "washingtonng post" and the "rothenberg- gonzales political report," and susan page, washington bureau chief for "usa today." susan, stu, thanks for joining us. welcome. coming out of that conversation about labor unions today, susan, what is the influence of labor in a political campaign like this year's?a >> labor leaders are pretty

influential in the democratic party but they may or may not be able to deliver many of their actual voters. labor union members, especiallys white men, are the target group for donald trump, he's had a lot of success in getting their support. south not atg all clear labor unions will be able to do as much as they once could to get their members to vote for the candidate the union supports.u >> yang: stu, what does the union support mean these days? >> not as much as in the '70s or '80s. back then it was a big thing, whether walter mondale or howard dean. i think it brings money and brings the stamp of approval from organized labor.or by, look, the democratic coalition changed, includes environmentalists and women's groups, it's a very different party, so labor is still a part but not the dominant part it once was. >> yang: donald trump this pasthi weekend went to a black church in detroit. what do you make of this?

his apparent outreach to black voters? >> i give him creditor going to speak to african-american voters. he hadn't done that before. it's not an audience he would expect to be particularlybe friendly to him, so i think it's a good thing presidential candidates sometimes do. it is hard to imagine donaldgi trump gets into double-digitu support when it comes to african-americans, but i think he has found that, in order to reach college-educated white voters, he needs to address some of the concerns that he has had racist appeals, racist and provocative language about mexicans, muslims and african-americans, and i think that's more of what he's tryings to do with these events. >> yang: stu, an interesting point in the "new york times" this morning talking about focus groups in florida and ohio among african-american voters. we know the historical connection between bill clinton and black voters. but they found that younger black voters have reservations about hillary clinton.ou

>> and younger voters across the races have concerns about her. they don't see her the way older african-americans see her or her husband. so, you know, she's going to have to try harder to get younger voters of all races, and i don't think she'll do as well as barack obama, but that's a pretty high standard.et i think her advantage still is not her strength and her appeal, but it is theap fact that donald trump has no standing in the community, and he can go to african-american churches from now till next thursday and it's not going to change that. he really has never built any sort of fundamental base with that community, and that's a big problem. >> we're two months away from the election and voters know that. white, asian, and african-american voters know that and have become cynical asa they should. >> you think of younger frearns not being as supportive of hillary clinton as they were of brack brag or bill clinton. it's the same problem she has with younger women, women under 35. i think experiences of the

millennial generation is different than the experiencesan of their parents and grandparents and some of these political distinctions are going to change, and i think you see fewer differences on race with voters under 35 than you do with older voters.t >> but it's not as if younger voters are going to be attracted to donald trump, either. >> no. he has shown no ability to get that electorate either. >> but gar gary johnson or jill stein, their highest levels off support are among younger voters. >> yang: is there anything hillary clinton can do to get the younger voters back?a >> i think it's all about trump and ratcheting up the risk of what a trump presidency would mean to the country and the younger voters are about diversity, more tolerant and progressive in their cultural views and donald trump wouldn't be described in those terms. >> but only 64 days left, that's not very long, and these are two candidates who are pretty well

known. on the other hand, we'll havel three presidential debates and a vice presidential debate. we'll have weeks in which voters are intensely looking at this campaign, and i think there isth still room for things to change, for candidates to either do really well if debates and have people take a second look or do poorly and have the opposite effect. >> well, there are other races on the a ballot. congress, for instance, the entire house will be up. they will be back tomorrow briefly to try to get business done. do we expect anything to happen on the hill -- how long are they here? >> four weeks. they've just taken seven weeks off. these are jobs we should all aspire to have. (laughter) i think there are only twow things you can expect congresses to do. one is pass a short-term funding bill because it's not in their political interest to shut down the government come fiscal year, october 1. the second thing is zika funding. this has been put off and the situation in florida is worse, and i think there is bipartisan

opinion they need to pass the zika bill and quick. >> i think the reps have to keep the government open. they certainly don't want to be dogged with that problem. zika funding, there is significant support, but has been for manysu weeks now, and e senate was unable to deal with it initially.i so we'll see. i think it's possible. i think even zika funding is a slam dunk.. >> we had a u.s.a. today suffolk university poll that came out today and showed three out of ten americans say someone in their family have changed plans for travel and other things because of fear of the zika virus. that's an enormous number of americans and almost two-thirds said yes congress should pass this bill including most overwhelming number of democrats but a plurality of reps as well. i do think there is a head of steam behind zika funding.u >> another poll in the "u.s.a. today" last week, there is all the talk about will the

democrats take back the senate and try to take back the house, and there is an interesting finding about ticket splitting. >> here's what we found -- a majority of hillary clinton supporters say they are likely to split their ticket. they will vote for hillary clinton but vote for reps in senate and governor or down the ballot. but a majority of trump voters say they won't split the ticket. this is goodic news for endanged republican incumbents fighting so hard in swing states where donald trump is having so much trouble. >> i think we'll see more about don't give hillary clinton a blank check from the house and the senate and i think reps have a fighting chance to hold on to the senate. i didn't think so six months ago but i do now. >> yang: a story in "the washington post" said federal officials are looking into a broad covert russian operation toat sow public distrust in the election, the hacking and all the other things. how big a problem could this be?

could there be questions about the legitimacy of this election in november? >> i think this is a huge issue about russian actions to try to meddle in our politics. i think it's amazing and disturbing. the last thing we need in this country is people not thinking they're getting an accurate count of the vote.t >> i think people are largely suspicious about government, vote counters and election watchers on both sides of the aisles, particularly the trump side. i imagine after the results are in, we will heari from some corners some complaints about can we really trust these numbers. >> if you want to make it hardo for a new president to govern, let there be questions about how he or she were elected. >> yang: exactly. stu rothenberg, susan page, thanks for joining oini >> yang: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: a clothing company keeping jobs

in america.in and growing up black in the age of president barack obama.k but first, we look at the israeli-palestinian conflict through the lens of canadian- israeli corey gil-shuster. he runs the ask project which solicits questions from aroundns the world for israelis and palestinians.in gil-shuster hits the streets of israel and the west bank to askf serious, sometimes provocative t questions before posting the answers, unedited, for all to see on youtube. pbs newshour contributor justin kenny recently followedlo gil-shuster and produced this report. >> if you were driving on the highway and there was awa palestinian on the side of the highway that seem to need help, would you stop? >> if i'm by myself in the car, i won't stop for anyone. it doesn't matter if it's a man, a woman, in the middle of the road. if i am with someone like my husband and we see something, maybe we will stop. ♪ ♪ >> my name is corey gil-shuster.

i run the ask an israeli, ask a if you were driving on the highway and you saw an israeli on the side of the road that needed help, would you stop? >> why not? some day he will help me. but if i see that he is shooting, i will shoot back. >> the project is about finding out what israelis and palestinians really believe and think about the conflict.co >> people from all around the world send me questions through email. i choose the questions and then i go out to the streets of israel and palestine to ask random israelis to answer the i questions themselves. i don't edit any content out of it.it >> most, the majority, they want two states, an israeli state and a palestinian state.le >> they are very primitive. they cannot build a country like we did. >> ( translated ): for sure thet israelis will be destroyed

because palestine is not their right. >> destroyed as in killed? >> ( translated ): they should be killed, yes. >> what are you willing to compromise for peace? >> everything, my pants. >> question is "do you think israel is committing suicide by holding on to the west bank? >> that's a really bad question. >> okay, why? >> because, it's a leading question. >> a lot of the questions i get are what i call 'gotcha questions.' and a lot of the questions are a little bit over the top, or b exaggerated or have an overly simplistic way of looking at the conflict. i ask them exactly that way or try to as much as possible because i think it's interesting for israelis and palestinians to hear what people from outside think and i want them to answert in an honest way. >> the answer is sometimes i do and sometimes i don't. >> okay, give me an example of

why you think yes and why you think no. >> i think the investment that israel is making in the territories is unjustified. >> i think that the emphasis on the west bank in the israelik political arena is absolutely outsized. >> and when i say no, i say no because other things are happening in the world. i think israel has many problems. i don't think israel is committing suicide. >> i'm often accused of asking these leading questions purposely as if it's my politics or if that's where i want the agendas of the videos to go and it really isn't. i'm trying to speak in the voice of the person asking. we are on our way now to qalandiya checkpoint into the west bank. from there, we are going to heam on to nablus. this is the qalandiya checkpoint.

it's a major checkpoint. it's actually much more of checkpoint for palestinians coming into israel who have permits or palestinian jerusalemites who work in the west bank so they go back and forth. nablus i think is actually my favorite city in the west bank. it kind of has everything. it has poor, rich, middle class, very good food. people there love to shop-- well that's true all over the west bank-- and it's really lively all the time. the law is that jewish israelis are not allowed legally to be ie certain areas of the west bank. >> technically, it's not legal what i'm doing, my family is really not supportive of me going to the west bank. >> my name is manar. i'm a translator. i'm 30 years old and i'm fromro ramallah. >> some people find it, i won'te say offensive, but they don't like that he lives in tel aviv.v we don't say that he is israelis

and it's better because people will feel more comfortable that way. >> do you think this project will have much of an impact? >> i hope so. i really hope so, because it's about bringing people closer together. >> i do this because i think it's so important that if youim want to solve a conflict, you need to problem solve. and if you want to problem solve, you need to know what you're dealing with.yo if you don't know what you're dealing with then no solution is ever going to help. >> yang: next, one company's attempt to bring textile jobs to rural america through an unusuau approach. hari sreenivasan is back with that story.

>> sreenivasan: it doesn't look like the textile mill towns of new england, and it's certainly not silicon valley. yet here in pagosa springs, colorado, a mountain town ofpr less than 2,000 people, an upstart company hopes to disrupt the textile industry using a high-tech, outside-the-box approach. the company is called "voormi"-- a made up name for a mythological mountain creature-- and it was started by formeran microsoft manager turned entrepreneur dan english. his idea? to manufacture a brand new kindm of fabric from locally sourced materials and then sew the garments in small micro- factories in rural communities. >> it's more like a craft approach, kind of like the beer industry. we like to think we can take a small batch mentality and turn things quicker, that consumers want new, fresh things on a regular basis. >> sreenivasan: the clothing is

made for recreation in harsh conditions, whether that's mountain biking under the blazing sun, fishing in icy-cold streams, or climbing in all kinds of weather. english wanted to build his company in a region where his products could be sewn in the morning. and tested in the afternoon. so he chose pagosa springs-- surrounded by two million acres of national forest. >> we have a large staff of so- called mountain professionals-- whether they're ski patrollers, river guides or outfitters that love to test our gear. and these guys give is honest, straight feedback. >> sreenivasan: english has chosen not to outsource to large sewing facilities in asia-- where much of the once-strong u.s. textile industry ended up. that shift left many communitieh in the u.s. devastated. >> what we hope to do is provide an industry in small rural towns that allows people to live here, play here, work here without

having to have multiple jobs throughout the year. >> sreenivasan: english eventually hopes to have as many as 10 facilities-- each with eight to 10 sewers-- scattered throughout colorado. currently he has just three,he including this one at the company headquarters. 24-year old joan walker saysr being able to work in the area where she grew up has been ash dream come true. she graduated from college two years ago with a degree in fashion design. >> i was pretty convinced that i was just going to have to settle in a city for a couple of years, or probably longer than a couple of years, until i could do something differently to get back to where i really wanted to be. >> sreenivasan: melinda volger wasn't as lucky when she graduated from college 35 years ago. she too was a fashion design major who wanted to return to her hometown, but because theree were no full-time sewing jobs, she became a secretary, and did sewing alterations on the side. now she designs and sews full- time for voormi, and has just as one-minute commute, walking

across the back alley from herom home to the shop. >> i get to give input on the design process from the start, through the pattern making, through the initial prototypes. they're very accepting of any suggestions i have and we work as a team back and forth. >> sreenivasan: like all of the employees at voormi, volger and walker wear many hats. not only do they design and sew, they also take shifts working at the retail store. c.e.o. english says that makes the company more responsive toth the needs of customers. >> it's a new way of manufacturing. it's what we believe is the future of manufacturing.ct it's a much more nimble experience and it's a wider range of skill-set. that's what we're focused on and we think that's repeatable and scalable across the united states, especially in rural communities that need economic development. >> sreenivasan: university of denver business professor kerry plemmons.

e agility to jump on it and be first in the market, the thing that's important is theyd know whont their target market r and it's a nearby, it's not broad like target or wal-mart, but they have a specific segment, they can address that segment. >> that segment is high end. a simple t-shirt costs $80. a simple t-shirt costs $80. lightweight jackets start in the mid-200s and go up from there.d- english admits he's serving a specific market. >> we have a saying here, our goal is to make competition irrelevant. if we try to do the same thing that other big brands are doing, it just won't work. >> sreenivasan: voormi clothing has been getting positive reviews in sports magazines. but whether the company will be able to meet increasing demand while keeping its commitment tot rural economic development remains to be seen. for the pbs newshour, i'm hariho sreenivasan.

>> yang: finally tonight, the story of a black man growing up in a society fraught with racial tension. jeffrey brown has the latest addition to our newshour bookshelf. >> i started this book with a w question, how did you learn to be a black man. that line comes from the new book titled "invisible man, got the whole world watching: a young black man's education." author mychal denzel smith is a contributing writer for the nation and other publications. this is his first book. welcome to you.lc >> thank you. >> brown: i start with that question, how did you learn to be a black man. why was that the question? whiffs why is that still the question today? >> genesis, in 20 12-rbgs after that event, we were having a conversation about the lives of black men in america, particularly young black men and

the experience of walking through aen world that's still where racism persists and the judgment based on stereotype has this effect where one's lifeif could be taken, and we were having a conversation about the talk that black parents would giveio young black men about how to survive in this country, thousand to comport one's self with authority and how the behave. it was flattening the experience of what it is to be a young black man in america and to say that's the only thing we have to concern ourselves with.. it's a big deal to continue to exist in a country that upholds racist ideas and structures, but the interior of black men's lives are things we don't talk too much about, the nuances of our experience. walking through racism is important, but how are we dealing talking about patriarchy, misogyny,

homophobia, mental illness,ph we're not including these in a narrative around young blackmen. >> brown: you do that by taking us through your education, looking to rolel models you looked to, leaders, writers, musicians.s, >> yes. >> brown: you also referred tons a kind of traditional black narrative. you said the traditional black narrative, i experienced racismr and overcame racism, and you're specifically doing and feeling something different.nt >> yeah, i don't think it's something to overcome.so i think these are systems that we are experiencing that need to be dismantled, but i think there is a feeling, particularly in black communities, that one does the hard work and presents himself as twice as good and respectable and that we will be spared the sting of racism because it cannot touch you if you present yourself as impenetrable to it. it's just not true. >> mr. speaker -- we lived through eight years of a black presidency and we've

seen the amount of racist attacks against him, a man who is the most respectable black man the united states has produced and achieved the highest office in the land and can be hit in the face with racism. the recalcitrant history on the basis of backlash and that idea doesn't exist. >> brown: barack obama, this presidency, is perhaps the most pivotal figure in this book for our life and our times. for you, most interesting, whati comes through is the deitsch ambivalence you feel about him that he is almost not who you want him to be. >> it's not a question of whether i want him to be anyone. i think he is who he is, and he's a part of certain traditions and ideology, and he's only -- he's the first black president possible because to have the ideology that he espouses, because he is a

centrist, mainstream democrat whose politics are not going to challenge the status quo in radical ways and, so, yes, he's successful, in large part, because of that and he's the first black president, in part, because his narrative, his story doesn't remind people of america's racism in the same ways that a person who is a descendent of slavery would. he is not of that. so there are certain things that make barack obama possible and make him an inspirational figure in a lot of ways, but then there is the way in which he talks to and about black america. i think that a lot of what he -- the work that he had done in assuring voters who turned out -- white voters to turn out for him is he wasn't going to play favoritism to black america, that he wasn't a race man, that he wasn't concerned about the idea of racism to the point of policy changes and an actual shift in the way in which

we conduct business here in the united states. >> brown: and you wantedou something more from him and from yourself, from others? o >> i would like to see more movement on the ground and consciousness shifting and discourse in our everyday lives so that we produce the kind of politicians that respond to that. i would like to see more of us engaged in reckoning with the history of the united states. i would like to see more of us dealing with what the president of racism looks like so we understand how this country is built and who it's meant to benefit and, that way, when we as voting constituencies shift the way we're thinking about it, our politicians have no other choice but to respond. >> brown: what about yourself? you write near the end of the book about wanting to become an honest black man and a good black writer. what does that mean? what are you aspiring to? >> the honesty is that knowing

that there has been a very masculinist narrative around black life in the united states and that someone in my position as a heterosexual black man knows what that experience is and can continue to repeat it over and over again and never have to interrogate complicity with other structures of oppression. i think being honest means we start doing the work of interrogation for ourselves andd that gets us to a politics that's more open and increase nigh talking about equality and just for all people. >> brown: "invisible man, got the whole world watching: a young black man's education." mychal denzel smith, thank you. >> thank you.>> mon >> yang: and that's the newshour for tonight. on tuesday, going back to school and teaching math to three-year- olds. our weekly "making the grade"

education report. i'm john yang. 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.tie >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation.th committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world.ldef more information at macfound.org

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

>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and aruba tourism authority. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here, in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days,