captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, idr judy wf. on the newshour tonight, a community mourns after 17 die at a florida high school ands authoritieinvestigate the shooter's violent past for a motive. then, we examine the all-too- familiar tragic pattern of massi ngs in america, and ask, how do we stop this cycle of violence? plus, discriminati on the block-- why a person's skin color may factor into the process of buying a home >> in 61 metros across the country applicants of color are more likely to be denied a convenonal mortgage. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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>>su and with the ongoinort of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was madeth possible bcorporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the school shooting in florida, and its aftermath, have dominated this day. the broward county sheriff's office now says the teenaged suspect confessed to the attack. that word came as a city grieved for its losses.po er steve mort with feature story news begins our coverage.

>> reporter: for parkland, florida, it's a date never to be rgotten: when a routine school day turned into terror. >> i think, i thank god for watching over me yesterday to make sure i was on the opposite side of the building that my friends were okay, but i st find out this morning that two of my other friends passed away and immed>>te heartbroken eporter: some held a prayer vigil today to mourn the 17 killed at marjory stoneman douglas high school. the suspect, 19-year-old nikolas cruz, appeared in court in fort d uderdale. he was ordered hthout bond on 17 counts of premeditated murder, as investigators kept working the case. >> wwill do everything we ca to make sure he's convicted of all charges, justice served. >> reporter: police say cruz' assault began at 2:30 in thern aften, almost the end of the school day. gunfire echoed through the building, as students huddled in

their classrooms, an agonizing wait before armed police burst in to rescue them. they streamed out of the school, hands in the air, whilewo emergencers rushed to treat the wounded. luckier students had tearful reunions with rents and friends. >> i feel like i'm in a dream, like i don't believe this is real. there's no way to describe what happened.mo >> reporter: the dead: douglas high football coach aaron feis. sheriff scott israel says feis responded immediately to the shooter and may have prevented an even worse tragedy. >> i don't know how many adults was a phenomenal man. died protecting others, that's who aaron feis was. >> repter: investigators descended today on the home of the suspect, a picture already emerging oa deeply troubled young man. a former student a school, cruz was expelled for disciplinary reasons. the sheriff reported "very disturbing" posts by cruz on social media, including one lass fall in which posedly

said: "i'm going to be a professional school shooter." but none of this helps restore rkland.y to instead, it now finds itself another shaken community making its best attempt to recover. and, as people absorb the latest in an unending string of shootings, many are asking where the carnage will e. david hogg was barricaded in a classroom while the shooter opened fire. >> we can say all these great things about, condolences and yosaying we're so sorry fo loss is obviously important. but what we need at this point is not to say that any moreh because there ouldn't be any more children that die. we need to take action. >> reporter: in wash, president trump said he will go to parkland to visit with victims and tackle "the difficult issue of mental health." >> to every parent, teacher and wild who is hurting so badly, we are here for yotever you need, whatever we can do to

ea>> your pain. eporter: the president made no mention of gun control. but democrats unded new calls for action on guns. congressman ke thompson, chair of the house gun violence prevention task force. >> there's been 80chool shootings since this president was inaugurated. this is a crisis. there's not a parent or grandparent in the united states of america who doesn't feel oconcerned about the safe their children or their grandchildren. reporter: but majority republicans, including florida senator marco rubio, say stricter laws would not deter someone determined to murder. >> if someone's deded, "i'm going to commit this crime," they'll find a way to get the gun to do it. that doesn't mean you shldn't have a law that makes it harder. it just means understand to be honest it isn't going to stop this from happening. >> reporter: police say cruz used a semi-automatic a.r.-15. it's the same model used in last

year's las vegas massacre, and in the 2016 pulse nightclub shooting. >> woodruff: i spoke to steve mort a short time ago, as we get new information fromth ities. >> repter: more details coming out from law enforcement officials here at a press conference just a short time ago here inarkland, florida. we understand that the suspect nikolas cruz did confess to carrying out this shooting rampage at the high school here and he gave law enforcement officials inme details dur his questioning. one of the things he said that he did was he brought extra ammunition with him to theu school so he cld carry on the shooting with his ar-15 rifle once he was out of ammunition, he brought more. he stored in a backpack at the school so he would have access to it. so information there on exactly how he planned to carry out the attack, he said he started shooting people on the ground and inside the school itself.

we got a timeline on how things pafolded. ntly he took an uber to the school at about off6 minutes past 2:00 p.m., finally arriving the school at 2:19 p.m., which is when he entered the stairwell of the school and began shootingnd arou 2:21 p.m. so the time line pretty much around what law enforcement officials have been telling us since the be winning, buthave been getting more details on what he did after the shoapotin. rently he went to a nearby wal-mart where he ordered food. he went to a subway and ordered a mcdonald's meal. d so chillintails that give a picture of the person who carr d outis premeditated attack. >> woodruff: and, steve, you've also been talking to parents and stud >> yes, i've spent the day talking to several students and their parents here. as you can im'gine, its been a very traumatic time for them. i spoke to one mother whose

daughter had been in a classroom where her geography teacher h been shot. she saw the geography teacher oh the floot and killed. she thought she heard somebody saying help me, help me. the teacher went to the door to close it and that's when she saw the teacher shot. the mother was sending text t messagher daughter at the time to keep her calm. i spoke to another stueydent, kealso in that classroom, who said she was sheltering in a cupboard with her friends. the shooter didn't enter the classroom to her friends were okay in the end. she said the s.w.a.t. team atgo the school them out very quickly. they toweled them to leave the exit the school, not to look around them, not to look at anything that was going on, just keep theirands above their head and leave the school as quickly as they could. >> woodruff: so many disturb degree tails emerging fromis terrible tragedy. steve mort joining us from

lakeland, florida, tevnk you, in the day's other news, the u.s. senate tried and failed to move on immigration. four bills fell short 60 votes needed to advance, but a bipartisan compromise came closest. it offered eventual nship to 1.8 million young people heo'd been protected under "daca" program, but it slowed the pace of funding for a border wall. president trump threatened a veto, and democrats, including minority leader chucamschumer, him for the stalemate. wh there is only one reaso the senate will be unable to reach a bipartisan solution to daca, president trump. president trump creais problem terminating daca last august. since then, president trump has stood in the way of every single proposal that could have been law. >> woodruff: the bill backed by mr. trump garnered the least support. it, too, offered possible citizenship for "da"

recipients, plus more immediate funding for a border wall and limits on legal immigration. majority leader mitch mcconnell blamed democrats. >> woodruff: today's failure puts the immigration issue on ice for the moment. both the house and senate areee out all next the republican chair of the senate judiciary committee has onde a rare rebuke of attorney general jeff sesover criminal justice reform. sessions had slammed a bipartisan bill to reduce jail terms for non-violent offenders. iowa senator chuck grassley c rejected tticism, accused sessions and the white house of meddling in the legislativean processaid sessions should have resigned from his job.

in south africa, a new president took office today after the ruling african national congress ousted jacob zuma over longstanding corruption scandals. lindsey hilsum, of independent television news, reports from cape town. >> cyril ramaphosa swear that i will be faithful to the republic of south africa. >> reporter: south africa's new president was sworn in after 24 hours of high political drama. >> ladies and gentlemen -- >> reporter: last night, former president jacob zuma seemed jovial as he addressed the nation. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. why do you look serious? you can't even say good evening> eporter: there was no reason for him to resign, he said. but then he did anway. >> i have, therefore, come to t the decisi resign as

president of the republic with immediate effect. >> reporter: in the south african parliament this morning they sang "is a ma ge" as they prepared to elect cyril ramaphosa.so >> can we have order? >> reporter: the rad freedom fighters staged a walkout because they want general elections nothe coronation of a new anc chief. but among otr opposition parties, there was tremendous good will to mr. ramaphosa. >> we wholeheartedly support the nomination, mr. president. >> reporter: he acknowledged the problem the country faces. >> issues of corruption, issues of how to straighten out ou state-owned enterprises and we dealreith state capture issues on our rad scre (singing) >> rorter: outside parliament, anc supporters were

jubilant, after nearly a decade oforruption and mismanagement, president ramy hosa, thehope, will restore their party's pride and the country's economic portunes. >> woodruff: that t from l >> woodruff: that report from lindsey hilsum of independent n televisis. the president of turkey and thes u.s.op diplomat met today, amid tensions over the syria conflict.ta secretary ofte rex tillerson arrived in ankara for talks with president recep tayyip erdogan. turkey has demanded the u.s. stop supportinkurdish fighters in syria. last month, the turks launched an air and ground offensive against kurds in northwest syria. the ited states and britain publicly accused russia today of carrying o a crippling cyber attack last summer. it initially foced on ukraine, but spread worldwide. the white house says idid billions of dollars of damage. moscow denied the accusation today, and said it was part of a "russophobic" campaign by western nations.

on wall street, stocks rallied for the fifth day in a row, led by tech stocks. the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 307 points to close at 25,200. the nasdaq rose 112 points, and the s&p 500 added 32. and, finally, highlights from day six the winter olympics in south korea. 22-year-old american skier mikaela shiffrin won gold in the giant slalom. she's going for as many as four gold medals at the games. and, norwegian aksel lund llindal won the men's down at 35, he's the oldest gold medalist in alpine skiing, ever. still to come on the newshour: k what hast the united states from making meaningful change after mass shootings? how some people of col systematically refused home loans. making sense of a quirky art collective in sante fe, and much more.

>> woodruff: the tragic shooting in florida has set into motion e familiar p: shock and grief give way to calls for somi reions on the supply or sale of high powered weapons used in nearly all these mass killings. as william brangham reports, that pattern has been playing out for years and, at least in congress, usually has the same result. >> this was clearly the most devastating and trautic scene i've been associated with. i hope never to see it again. >> brangham: the collective national response to mass shootings began before 1999, but it was on clear display after the shooting at columbine high school, where two students used semi-automatic weapons to kill 13 and wound 24 others.

first, in the shock and grief, leaders express sorrow: >> to the people of the community of littleton, i can only say tonight that the prayers of the american people are with you. >> brangham: and then the next month, congress debated sweeping gun control legislation in reonse, including a bill requiring background checks be performed at gun shows, like those where the columbine kills got their guns. that legislation stalled in the house of representatives. >> laura and i have come to tsblacksburg today with he full of sorrow. this is a day of mourning for the virginia tech community. >> brangham: in 2007, a student with a history of mentalllness used semi-automatic handguns to tkill 32 people at virginh. this time, some things did change: afterwards, president george w. bush signed a six-year old bill into law strengthening background checks, making it harder for dangeusly mentally-

ill people to buy guns. but according to many, determining who belongs in that database, and getting all agencies to mply has severely mpered its effectiveness >> all of us continue to grieve and mourn the tragic attack. >> brangham: in 2011, after congresswoman gabby giffords was , ot, and six others were killed in tucson, arizoere were widespread calls for reform, especially to curtail the sale of high-capacity magazines like those used by the shooter.bu none of the legislation introduced after tucson ever came up for a full vote. the same thing occurred a year later, when 12 people were killed and 70 more wounded in a movie theater in aurora colorado, renewed calls for gunt control and health screening went unanswered.

>> brangham: when 20 first graders and six teachet were killedndy hook elementary school in connecticut in 2012, gun control advocates felt the nation's horror and outrage would be enough for some bipartisan consensus. >> a perfectly reasonable place that stands out for both sides a ee is to make it harder tr criminals and dangerously mentally ill peop observe take weapons. >> brangham: against stiff opposition from the n.r.a., legislation was introduced to limit certain assault rifles and high capacity magazines, like those used by the sandy hook killer, as well as requiringgr band checks for all gun purchases. >> all in all, this was a pretth eful today in washington. >> brangham: the senate defeatel

or blocked the similarly, there was no federal action after 14 people were killed and 21 injured in san bernardino, californian 2015, nor the next year later when 49 people were murdered at the pulse nightclub in orldo, florida. >> we're calling on the leadship of the house to bri common sense gun control legislation to the house floor. give us a vote! >> brangham: and then last october, the nation's worst modern-day mass shooti at a country music festival in las vegas. 58 people were killed and hundreds more wounded by a single gunman. the killer used what's known as a bump-stock to makeemi- automatic rifles shoot faster, rd initially there was bipartisan talk ulating them. prohibition, this ban on bump stocks should be codified. >> brangham: ten months later, no legislation regarump stocks has passed congress.

>> brangham: now, in the wake of yet another mass shooting, this pattern has begun again. >> our entire nation, with one heavy heart, is praying for the victims and their families. >> brangham: for the p newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: given this tragic pattern, one could throw up their hands and think there is nothing to do. but we have to believe for the sake of our children trore is a way gh this. how do we think about it?mi to e that question, we turn now to daniel webster, director of the johns hopkins centeror gun policy and thsearch. katherine newman, of the book "rampage: the social roots of school shootings," and a professor of sociology at the university of massachusetts. robert draper, writer-at-large for the "n york times" magazine. he has studied the history of the n.r.a. and kristina anderson. s 19 years old when she was wounded in the virginia tech shooting rampage in 2007 and has since founded an organization

caored the koshka foundation safe schools. and we welcome all of you to the ogram. i think we all agree we don't accept the idea that we can just give up we have to keep trying to solve this to ke it leskely that these terrible shootings i want to ask each one of you starting with you, katherine onwman. what iway we should be thinking about this right now that could possibly move us forward? >> eng we have to understand -- i think we have to understand these sho potings areanned often long inned a vans and that eae shooters usually leave a trail of thr or suggestions about what they're going to do. we need to make it easier fo people who hear those threats to come forward to people who can make a difference, to adults in their environment, to police in their envi rronment. it warkable to me in the research i did how much information was actually available, so much s some instances, kids did not come to school on the day when those cootingsurred, but no

adult was ever informed. understanding what retards kids from coming through with information and getting it to the right sour is an important task, and i do think there is t.mething we can do about tha >> woodruff: so if that is one way to think about this, danteil we what would you say? >> well, i would sayhat the united states is unique not with toect to troubled youth, it's unique with respecour inability to address easy accesm to fir it can seem as though that's impossible ia country witho many firearms, but there are reasonable measures. you focus on appropriate l standards fogal gun ownership, and ihink what was particularly relevant in this case is -- and in many other cases that lead to mass e ootings, and that includes

domestic viole there are warning signs as dr. newman suggested, and there are new legal tools, new laws called extreme risk protection orders that work very similar to the way a court does with domestic violen restraining rers where evidence is examined and judgesnd law enforcement can act swiftly to protect individuals' lives, when someone ismassing firrms and planning something very didrolical. >> wf: so taking preventative action in the moment. kristina anderson, as someone who is a victiyourself of the shooting at virginia tech, you spend a lot of time working on this on a regular basis. what would you suggest we think about now. >> i would eo the feelings of the importance of prevention and look at how we holistically embody the values of security and safety and culture throughout the entire com

adding on to katherine's point, how do we educate and prepare and train the sta ofhese institutions from the janitors, the bus drivers to the teachers? we have the campaigns of see something, say something, but more acceptance that it's okay to speak upnd make sure they understand what their options are for reporting, what thep cess looks like, if there's a formal threat assessment team in place to monitor and kind of look at that individual of concern, and then long term looking at recovery and howcao we tak of our communities because, in this case, inar particwe're going to have the students that were injured but also those in the buildingh that heard gunfire, you don't have to be physically injured to be impacted by this event. >> woodruff: no question about it. robert draper, you've spent a lot of tie thinking about another aspect of this that gets raised and often shoved aside because people sa it's not time to talk about it, but it's the availability of guns. dael webster just mentione it. why has it been so hard to do

anything about th extraordinary access to guns? >> it can be summarized in one word, the n.r.a., the national rifle association is the most powerful lobbying association in america,ot powerful just because to have the money and the membership, but the quality of the membership which is to say they make their opinions heard and count. more quantifiablely, i think, than any other organization in america, attested to by the fact that the last time we saw any major legislative effort mounted to control guns, any kind of gun safety law was almost exactly five years ago this time in the wake of the newtownot shog. there have been numerous such shootings since then and no political will whatsoever to seek a legislative remedy, and that is clearly because to hav efforts by the -- because of tho

s by the n.r.a. that made it clear to reublicans they would pay a high price if they sign on to such legislation. >> woodruff: i asked you if youould be very specific on when you move on someone who man be thng about doing something terrible? >> yes, and the restrictions with respect to firearms do not need to be life long. sometimes these risks are reall, acnd it's been more acceptable and we have research evidence to show in the case of restraining rders domestic violence that remove fireas and have firearms restrictions, it leads to fewer homicides. we've demonstrated that in several studies. so i think this policy is simply an extension of that same concept of recognizing at a point in time the's danger, ready access to lethal weapons makes that something you have to act on.

>> woodruff: and katherine hewman, what you're telling us is that a lot ofs is going to depend on others speaking up whhave some rean to believe there's a reason to be really concerned about somebody. >> that's exactly right because we need the information in advance. and there are ways we can encourage that to happen. in high hoolsere kids may feel they're going to pay a social price for being identified as teachers' pets or tattle tales, having trusted adultsike school resource officers in the area, in the cafeteria, people wh to know the kids, so they can come forward to someone who doesn't appear to be coected to the school's disciplinary authority system. we found students in high school re very able to do that and felt more comfortable with that because they thought that the school resource officers would take this seriously, would investigate quietly and wou take action where it was warranted because, we must remember, ne times out of ten the threats they hear will not mean anything, they will

idle. but the one time out of ten it matters, theneyed someone to come forward to they feel comfortable doing so with. >> woodruff: kristina anderson, how do you get the word to the young people? every child wants their parent to believe they're going to be safe. of how do you get someone to speak up and to go to an adult? >> i think you begin by havingn really candid rsations that can begin at the dinner table in your own home to relay to the teacher in the classroom to have sometimes uncfortable discussions and meeting them in a way ty feel comfortable. a lot of schools use tip lines, web based tools. some use paper surveys that say who do you think in the school needs attention or is being bullied and slide it under

someone's desk. there are ways someone can feel empowered if they feel their identity is protected and they don't feel they have to come forward initially and if they feel they will be heard and taken seriously and given feedback to what the threat may be. the one thing, when you have the gut fee.ling, speak my experience with law enforcement, they would raher respond to a thousand red nirrings that are nothing to one event like a virtech. so often it's partnerships, knowing there is multiple people one can go to before the police officer, and a resource officer is a great candidate as well. >> woodruff: robert draper, the gun question that is being a raised, alread the folks who have been advocating for gun control measures been going about it the right way? is it the approach that's been a problem? how doou look at it? >> well, let's be clear, it's not the main problem, but it is

a problem, th real problem, frankly, lesides with the republicans who have shown nothing in the way of political will to address this problem,he evenit happens in their idn state, and we have in the white house a pret who understands his political base all too well that consists of evangelicals and gun owners and he is loathe to cross them. ut it's true what you're suggesting, judat i think proponents of gun safety legislation need to be careful and not fall into a trap that's arguably laid for them by the gun lobby by overstepping and proposing relationship that would not be a remedy for this particular instance. in this particular case the alleged florida shooter purchased an ar-15 legally. closing background checks wouldn't have done anything to remediate that.n soe wake of this, if people are to propose legislation that reall nothing to do with the particular crisis at hand, it will lead gun groups to say,

see, they are obviously using this as an excuse to take away our second amendment rights. >> woodruff: which is the argument we hear. daniel webster, we go back to what hppened in las vegas, bump restocks, the device to ie the capacity of a gun, and yet nothing was done there. >> well, it is very frustrating and i thi it's exactly forthe reasons just expressed of why we have been spinning our wheels. i think there is some action at some statlevels, and i do think that part of this is putting together something that makes sense and has evidence t.hind i think one thing not being discussed in this particular case is you have a 19-year-old -- or actually ie beli purchased the ar-15 as an 18-year-old -- don't allow 20-year-olds to buy a beer, but we allow 18-year-olds to buy as many semi-automatic weapons and as much ammo as they

would like. i think something is wrong with the picture and that should be part o the diussion. >> woodruff: i'm going ask each one of you, just so we can begin to think in way that could possibly be productive here, what is one thing that you think could be done in the short term to begin to address this? and m going to comback to you, katherine newman. >> would eable more school resource officers. often sadly the first thing to be cu in audget slash. i would enable those school resource officers to remain on the job because they are the people jung folks will feel comfortable turning to to deliver the information we need to prevent these shootings. >> woodruff: kristina anderson. >> i would ask that school boards, school prithcipals take time to create written all hazards emergency sponse type plans for all threats whether a firearm, truck, knife, whatever it might be, and make sure they are practiced diligently and

th local law enforcemen throughout the year. >> woodruff: daniel webster off? >> i would say extreme risk otection orders to allow court action to remove firearms when someone clearly has a lot of signals they are plasonning thing very dangerous. that is a type of policy that extends well beyond the schoo. cause if this young man didn't shoot up a school, what else would he have shot up? so the issue really is you have somebody with reay malintent and you're aowing them to amass firearms. >> unless politicians are persuaded there a cost by not supporting gun safety legislation they won't do anything, so ithink it's going to require outside groups shaming politicians, particularly those communities afcted by such tragedies. the newtown parents got involved. it's the chalosest w seen to legislative remedies, and i would expect that that's

probably going to be the best way for poltotician understand the emotional power of sucve legislaemedies. >> woodruff: and i heard a mother in florida today looki at a camera and saying to washington, you've got to stop these guns from getting into thd of these children. thank you the four of you, robert draper, daniel webster, therine newman and kristina anderson. thank you. >> woodruff: it's been ten yearh sinceconomic recession, and credit has slowly returned for most americans. by 2016, the number of conventional mortgages rose 95% since the housing bust. yet some americans are being left behind. the gap between white and black homeownership is wider now than it was in 1960. tonight, the first of a two-part

series, results of a year-long investigation from the center for investigative reporting. as "reveal's" aaron glantz reports, black and lato home buyers in some cities seem to have a harder time getting a home mortgage. d reporter: brooklyn native rachelle faroul mo philadelphia in 2015 hoping to buy a home here. she made a gooincome as a computer programmer and had enough for a down payment.te her ial lender, philadelphia mortgage advisors,g was encog at first. but the lender worried, her income could be unstable since she was a contractor. so faroul suggested her moer co-sign. >> because she is a retired school teacher, specifically she worked in new york city for 35 years, her pension is great! >> reporter: but faroul was told, that wasn't enough to offset her mother's phd student loan debt. >> i got shot down left and right.

>> reporter: lenders look for applicants with debt payments roughly 36% or less of their income.l so fart a new job with the university of pennsylvania withn a salary allher to afford the two-story row house she found a short walk from the university. dl>> i wanted this really >> reporter: but that still wasn't enough.ed when she appor a loan again, this time with santander bank, they also rejected her. her cred score had plunged 50 points because of a single delinquent electric bill. ite paid the bill as soon as santander flagged but the bank still said no.ta faroul sed to suspect this had to do with her race. >> you know, black peorye in this couave to be twice as good to get half as much. and i couldn't even get half, you know. they wouldn't give me anything. >> reporter: turning faroul down because of her race would be illegal. it's been illegal for 50 years. t>> fair housing for all s country is now a part of theay

americanf life. >> reporter: the 1968 fair housing act was a response to "redlining," a racist lending practice where the federal govement colored minority neighborhoods red on maps, labeling them "hazardous" to lend in. in 1977, president carter went further with the community reinvestment act requiring banks to lend to qualified borrowers in low-income communities inci es where they had branches. but these laws have not solved the problem.th afte2008 recession, banks tightened their lending standards.te ten years while lending ows returned for many americans, reveal's analysis what looks like modern-day redlining is showing up across the country. >> we have places like washington, d.c., places like lsa oklahoma, santa fe n mexico. these are the places where theye are ikely to be denied because of who they are. >> reporter: nearly 50 years after the fair housing act, data

reporter emmanuel martinez found some significant racial disparities.ne >> we looked aly 31 million mortgage records, so it was nearly every ln application filed with the 6.vernment in 2015 and 201 in 61 metros across the country, applicants of color are more likely to be denied a conventional mortgage. >> reporter: banks don't share credit scores they riy that is prary. but by using other information the government requires be disclosed, reveal found statistically significant differences by race. >> my analysis includes nine different factors among themre the applicant's income, the size of the loan, and specific information about the neighborhood that they are looking to buy in. here we have the likelihood of denial, so black applicants ph adelphia are almost three times as likely to be denied a conventional mortgage.or >> rr: reveal found this pattern in dozens of cities. philadelphia was one of the la test. that meat a black

applicant and a white one with similar financial profiles will likely have very different outcomes. this wasn't true for just for one bank, but r lending industry as a whole. the mortgage bankers association wouldn't go on camera for this story, but in a statement, it said thathe data available under the home mortgage disclosure act is not sufficiena "to ma determination regarding fair lenthng." anamerican bankers association that without access to a brower's credit history "the data cannot paint a complete picture." >> unfortunately, credit score and an applicants total debt to income rio aren't part of this publicly available data set, but it's those same financial edstitutions that have lob from keeping it away from researchers, froacademics, from journalists like me, who want to study those disparities. i believe that we are better off having more information released in aggregaton credit scoring and those folks who get loans to make surehat there is no discrimination.

>> reporter: republican senator tim scott of south carolina says releasing that data would make the industry more transparent.ou but itn't solve a different problem: he says credit scores penalize people of color. he's introduced bill to fix at. >> so what we're trying to do is bring to light all those folks who are paying those bn time and yet it's not showing up on their credit scores. your electric bill, unless you're doing something bad y doesn't show ur cell phone bill unless you do something bad doesn't show up. people of color are typically the folks that will be disproportionately impacted. >> reporter: in almost every city in amera, african amricans and latinos were denied home loans at higher rates than whites. ld not statistically prove a relationship between race and denial in many, but in 61, including philadelphia, our analysis found racdid play a role. neighborhoods with verthfew loans hahighest proportion of black and latino residents. >> you see there are beautiful homes up here and people work very hard to maintain their

properties. >> reporter: angela mciver heads the fair housing association of southeastern pennsylvania. in the era of redlining, the government shaded this neighborhood, germantown, blue and green, marking it as a desirable area to lend in. over the decades, e demographics shifted from white to black. today, banks deny more loans here than they approve. mean you come out here, right, you see beautiful stone facades. you see garden patios, you see all of the trappings of middle class life. banks are just mia. >> it'like a glass ceiling but okay, we'll allow you to go this far but then you hit the top of you know the ceiling you're not going to go any further. and that's upsetting to me. >> reporter: after rachelle faroul began to wonder if race factored into her loan denial, she decided to use a new strategy. >> in order to be a be considered a good applicant, i needed to have a white person or someone who's white-adjacent

vouch for me. >> reporter: this ti, she asked her girlfriend, hanako franz, who is half-white and lf-japanese, to apply with her. franz was working part-time at a grocery store. m one of hert recent biweekly paychecks was $162. and at the time, your finaial situation was unstable. >> oh, yeah, it was terrible. >> oh >> it was terrible. i was borrowing money from my sister, rachelle paid my health insurance at point because i t.didn't have money to pay >> reporter: but for santander bank, the final lender faroul tried, none of that seo matter. franz had a good credit score. and once she came on board, it all went smoothly, even though franz couldn't provide proof of a stable work hiory. >> they were like, "we need two years ,"and i was just like, "i can't give that th you." and ey were like, "all right, we'll move forward." >> reporter: we reached out to the two places that faroul proached for loans. santander says that while they sympathize with faroul, her "loan application was managed fairly." philadelphia mortgage advisors declined to comment specifically on faroul's loan application.

both comnies say they are "committed to fair lending" and adhering to existing laws. the treasury department's comptroller of the currency is charged with ensuring major national banks follow the community reinvestment act. tom curry held that job for five years under president obama and conducted more than 1,600 community lending reviews on nks. nearly every one, 99%, got a satisfactory or outstanding rang how can eryone be getting this satisfactory rating? >> i think you have to look at each individual bank air individual record to see how well they're serving the communities. >> reporter: but curry wouldn't discuss any individual banks or their records with us. since stepping down as comptroller, he's been working at a law firm advie ng some of thme banks he regulated. he sayrehe still wants make banks are lending responsibly. >> you have an obligation to lend in low to moderate income communities, but you have to do it in a safe in sound manner. >> reporter: mobile alabama

ocala, florida greenville north carolina vallejo, california columbia, south carolina all of these cities where our statistical analysis shows the reason you'd be denied for a loan is the color of your skin. >> i think that the results from your studies are unacceptable from the standpoint of what we want as a nation and to make sure that everyone shares in economic prosperity. >> reporter: we also shared reveal's analysis with sen or >> we've made a lot of progress in lending, but there's still a long way. >> reporter: faroul and franz closed on their house within a few weeks of applying. last winter, they both started moving into their new home. e t with the good news, th a reminder of the barriers faroul faced. >> i have a hard time telling people that we bought a hous

because their response is always congratulations. this is noy.t a feel good st >> and the whole point about this is that there is hidden privilege and hidden discrimination, you know, that still exists and makes people's lives harder every single day. >> reporter: faroul says that her biggest fear is ears from now, she'll look around and be the only black person left on the block. hofor pbs ne, this is aaron glantz in philadelphia. >> woodruff: tomorrow, our series with reveal continues with a report on how the gentrification of neighborhoods is making it difficult for some keng-time residents to ut home equity loans. last month, economics correspondent paul solman took uo,s to new mexhere state and local officials are betting

on entrepreneurship to fashionmi an ecocomeback. tonight, a short follow-up fromh the land of tment, for a venture unlike anything paul has seen before. it's part of his weeklies, making sense. ico'sporter: new m economy tumbled head over heels during the crash of '08, and has pretty much frozen for the decade since it hit bottom. o, this is the house of eternal return. >> reporter: return on investment? >> well, maybe. hello, welcome to our house >> reporter: and may even a small step towards the return of the new mexico economy, sa vince kadloobek: so, it melted or something. >> yes. >> reporter: if, that is, this mystery funhouse filled with portals to other time/space dimensions should realize its sibition of becoming the next big thing in immer entertainment, following the lead of the rain room at new york's museum of modern art, say, toronto's lost and found escape room, or the crystal universe in singapore. >> it perfectly expresses the

type of artwork that is becoming wildly popular around the country. instead of walking up to a painting, you actually let audiences walk inside of the painting. >> reporter: but here in santa fe, it's immersion, with a plot. opened in march of 2016, the house of eternal return is already a business sensation. it needed 125,000 paying customers at up to $20 a pop to break even on operating expenses in year one. instead, it drew 400,000, taking in nearly $7 million, its profits alone covering most of the original investment. >> we're in the closet. >> reporter: the paying visitors are the sleuths, scanning notes and diaries scattered midst the maze. >> her right through the fireplace. >> reporter: we're going through the fireplac >> thank god i play tennis all the time. >> reporter: which leads to the skeleton of a musical mastodon.. ♪ ♪

but can this techno-netherwod really do anything to revive a state like new mexico, whose economy keeps losing its best and brightest to the coasts? well, here are jobs robots can't compete with: a hippie artist collective called meow wolf that became a business, convinced game of thrones creator george r.r. martin to buy a defunct bowling alley and lease it to them, and converted it into well-- something hard to describe or sometimes, even to see. >> this is the laser harp. and this is the sort oethereal zone that is between life and death. >> reporter: there's no map, no g.p.s., just room after room of you figure it out fantasy. >> here's that aquarium you saw when you were inside the house. d now you're inside of it. >> reporter: this is like virtual reality except it's actual reality.ig >> r. it's virtually actual reality. >> reporter: this is artworkft designed and c by more

than 150 artists, many of them millennials like the 35-year old c.e.o., who started off as an artist himself, switched toke deal >> i learned some basic business aspects, and i figured out what debt meant. t >> reporter: dt come as a shock? >> it was amazing to me. like, i grew up thinking that debt was this big, evil thing. our whole generation does. it'sike, you fall into debt, and you spend the rest of your life trying to get out of it, and stay away from debt. eband when i realized what actually was, that somebody was willing to ld me money to build something incredible, that would end up paying them back plus a little bit of a return, and i crunched the numbers, i was like, "oh, yeah, this makes total sense." >> te me to the galactic center, whoo! >> reporter: so they borrowed $1.5 million dollars, have created about 200 jobs so far, and promised to more than doub that in the next three years. so what does an artist make here? >> we have an entry level, just graduated from high school, 19-

year-old artist who's making $50,000 with full healthcare benefits. and then we have fabricators and designers making upwards to 0 or $80,000 salary, wit full benefits. >>hi reporter: is double that if it were in a major urban area, right? i mean, because of costs here? >> i would say t$7t these wages, 000-$80,000 in santa fe are some of the sweetest that you'll find, yeah. >> reporter: plus stock in the company meow wolf has become. with more jobs opening up, in a newly-quired former caterpillar assembly plant, for example to create future exhibits finally, there's the gift shop, featuring predtable items, and not-so-predictable, like the experience tube. john feins, meow wolf's marketing director. >> it is a chance for people too actually talach other, the original social media, no distractions, no cell phones, just t people. >> reporter: add up all the revenues, says the c.e.o.,

and... >> we've discovered a business model that is 50-60% net profit. >> reporter: if you take in 10 million, you're earning. >> five to six, on top of it. after all expenses. >> reporter: so who's the lucky investor who get the payoff? >> we arwithholding our profits, we are reinvesting em, so that we can build something like this three or four times the size in major cities around the country. >> reporter: so i put the question to a pair of visiting out-of-towners. would it work in san diego? >> i think it would. >> reporter: and athens? >> i think it would work in athens. yes, or atlanta, yes, i think. >> reporter: and while meow wolf n't exactly amazon, looking to locate a second headquarters, kadloobek says he'received some sweet offers. >> we had other cities around the country knocking on the door and saying, "not only build one of these in our city, but we want your entire company to move.r: >> reporhe house of eternal return's dark story ends in the "infinity spa," where the c.e.o. summed up the mission.

>> break dn some paradigms, you know, bust through some new dimensions, and into a whole different way of thinking about what the state can be and what economy can be in the state. >> reporter: immersive art as economic engine, "breaking down some paradigms" to create jobs. okay, a few hundred are a drop in the bucket. but, hey, think cirque de soleil or disney. they too started out small and weird. which is what provoked me to sign off this story from inside my favorite item in the gift store. for the pbs newshour, this is economics correspondent paul solman reporting from meow wolf's experience tube in santa fe, new mexico. >> woodruff: we close tonight with some voices from parkland, florida.

in the immediate aftermath of yesterday's tragedy, high scol >> there's no way this is really happening.an it's par it's douglas. this doesn't happen here, and then maybe a couple minuteso later, i startalize, wow, this is actually happening, like this is really real life. this is happening right no right here. >> it would never be something .that i expected in my li douglas is one of the safest schools and they make sure that you' safe on campus. i would have never expected it to happen. >> boom, boom, boom, boots i heard guns i thought it was firecrackers. but after i heard the lake shot i was h, no, i'm out >> i was just like what the heck was that? that can't be anything other than a gunarot. so, i std running. i am not about to be shot. >> grabbed the fire extinguisher and two pieces to by four and a chair and if he did come in the room we were sting to try to him with everything that we had.

>> corner and we decided to push all the desks against every door in the classroom. my classroom sadly had thrha doors so we to move all the desks around. eir phones, a lot on theirds on phones, just trying to snapchat iterything because they thought it was a joke anasn't. there's kids freaking out students freaking out, teachers, it sucked. >> in a group chat i heard people saying this guy and this girl they got shot, i was justg talk them and now they're in the hospital, maybe dead. it's crazy that this happened. we leave you with live video of a candlelight vigil underway now in parkland. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. erjoin us online and again tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches

real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minute lessons are available as an app, or online.ma more infon on babbel.com. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made porible by the corporation public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org eduardo: tonight on history detectives:

in plain sight. laying fi that soldier's family so we can give the diary to them. py would you be h or sad that you had a bootlegger in your family? oh, my god. woof! "spectacular indian productions coming." what were they being paid for and were they treated fairly? elvis costello: ♪ watchin' the detectives ♪ i get so angry when the teardrops start ♪ ♪ but he can't be wounded ♪ause he's got no heart ♪ watchin' e detectives ♪ ♪ it's just like watch ' the detectives ♪ tukufu: nding for tonight's presentationentation of history detectives was provided by... and by contribpbions to your station