captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, february 18: calls for gun control get louder after the florida school shooting as new details emerge about the suect. president trump takes to twitter to respond to the latest in the russia investigation. and five months after hurricane maria, many puerto ricans are living in limbo on the mainland. next on pbs newshour weekend. >> "pbs newshour weekend" is made possibld by: bernd irene schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. i.e and edgar wachenheim, dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. the anderson family fund. rosalind p. walter barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america--

designing customized indivouual and retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs rstation from vieike you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, ri sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening thanks for joining us. more is being learned about the parkland, florida highchool shooter, while calls for gun reform are growing louder. s the "florida sentinel" newspaper spoke with the family that took nikolas cruz into their home after his mother's death." we had this monster living under our roof and we didn't know," k paper."nead told the we didn't see this side of him."ri just five days to the shooting, kimberly snead had taken cruz to her own therapist. the sneads, gun owners themselves, say they made cruz feput his guns in a insisting they didn't know until

the massacre on wednesday that he kept a key. the principal of marjor d stonemglas high school ty thompson posted an emotional video to the school community >> i promise you, i will hug each and every one of you asim many as you need and i will hold you as long as you need me to, for all 3,300 of yom and youries, and we will get through this together. >> sreenivasan: as were laid to rest this weekend some of those students announced a national marchn washington to demand action on gun control. >> march 24th in every single city, we are going to be marching together as students begging for our lives. and at this point you're either with us or against us. >> sreenieasan: earltoday i spoke via skype with another survivor. >> we've had enough. these, we are the generation that was born after cbine, we have lived with thus our enti lives, and now it happened at my school. i spent two hours in a closet, just hiding and i am done

hiding. we are done hiding. america is done hiding.iv >> srean: the students have their work cut out for them. senator james lankford said was not opposed to stronger background checks, but resisted calls ban certain weapons. >> i have individuals in my neighborhood that own an ar15, that doesn't make it a dangerous neighborhood or them dangerous individuals. the individual thef t the sue no weapon that they're holding. >> sreenivasanthe president is scheduled to hold what's being called a listening session with high school students later this week. sofor more, i'm joined by dearen, who has been covering the marjory stoneman douglas high school shootingedor the associress. he joins us via skype from parkland, florida. >> jason, we're use ed to seeing ancandlelight vij ims but what e vw yesterday wasy different. >> the morning after the shooting while there were stibol ies inside the school students at vigils and in tv

interviews ally started venting their anger towards then politics of control and wanting to see change. i've talked to many 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds out here from there high school andthers in the region and there is a lot of fear about the future. about their safety. tod that's also turning anger and in some cases some political activism like we've seen. >> sreenivasan: are these like the las vegas shooting or the orlando pulse night club? >> not like that, there havale ys been calls for gun control afterwards. what is the difference is the victims were in high school. they're of age now where they feet comfortable going ond camera, speaking about their feelings about gun control and their fear to go back to school. i thinkwhat we're seeing is the

people affected by this school d other schools in tregion and the country speaking out in a way that we really hadn't seen beforet, from a big group of young people. you know, there have been calls for gun control of course after any other mass shooting. but unlike newtown where the victims were so young, i see the people at this school are of a wraij they feel comfortable speaking out and getting politically active. that's the difcerent e-differ. whether it maicts a dins in the long return, we'll have to see. >> sreenivasan: is their momentum different? >> i think come things are still raw so you're still seeing some of that range. but there are plans being made now, to the marcto tallahassee, the state capital of florida, i' heard plans of a march on washington by youth. there are also around the country calls for walkouts ever schools in this coming week not

just in florida but in oth states that we're finding. so it does seem to be a little bit differt this time. because the kids in high school el comfortable speak for themselves. >> sreenivasan: all right, jason dearen oprf associatess joining us from just outside the high school, thank you so >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: not far from parkland-florida, president laump spent the weekend at his mar- estate and clearly had his mind on the russia investigation. in a series of tweets starting late last night, trump blamed the f.b.i.'s mishandling of a tip about the shooter sareng" theypending too much time trying to prove russia collusion with the trump campaign... get back to the basics." the russia investigation, sits separate from the main justice department and the f.b.i.p trso reprimanded his national security advisor h.r. mcmaster for saying the evidence of russian interference in the 2016 elections was" incontroveible."" general mcmaster forgot to say that the resultsf the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the russians."

trump also tweeted "i never said russia did not meddle in the electio" id he beuteved vladimir who denied pempering with the u.s election and trump has edly questioned u.s. intelligence assessments of the meddling as for friday's indictments of 13 russians by the special prosecutor, one president's most vocal democratic opponents said today allegations of collusion still need to be addressed. >> russian hacking into democratic institutions, publishing of stolen information, on that the trump campaign and trump was very witting. nonetheless, the campaign continued to use products of that element of the russian campaign. >> sreenivasan: all 65 pple aboard an iranian passenger plane are feared dead, after a crash mo iran's zagros tains. the plane was traveling from tehran to the southwestern city of yasuj when it crashed.

erelatives gathered at th airport, while rescue workers were waiting on weather conditions to improve to start searching. it was foggy at the time of the crash. no word yet on the cause. israel had a strong warning today for iran: do not test israel's resolve to defend itself. cheaking at a security conference in mu prime minister benjamin netanyahu denounced iran's aggression in the middle east: >> israel will not allow iran's regime to put a noose of terror around our neck. we will act without hesitation to defend ourselves. and we will act if necessary not just against iran's proxies that are attacking us, butgainst iran itself. >> sreenivasan: netanyahu hd up a piece of what he said was an iranian drone shot down by israeli forces. iran responded with a warning of its own: >> i can assure you that if iran's internots ar secured, iran will respond, will respond seriously and i believe

it would be a response that means people would be sorry for taking the erroneous action they did. >> sreenivasan: watcour full conversation with student journalist ryan deitsch on our facebook page, facebook.com/newshour. >> sreenivasan: as president trump continues to respond to the f.b.i.'s investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 election, we're learning more about other opportunities russians are seizing on to stir up controversy in this country. for example, after last week's pehool shooting in parkland, florida, where 1ople died, twitter was flooded with messagesagged with words like parkland and gun control and the name of the suspect, and much ot this twitterity was directly tied to russian accounts. with more on how russia-linked bots and trolls are using a tragedy to create confusion, we arjoined by erin griffith. she's a senior writer at "wired" magazine. we can understand wpon it comes ttical conversations, especially as rolled out in this indictment this last week, that russian

interest and influence. but why after a school shooting? >> a big goal of a lot of these influence campaigns are just to thrattract attention. that is where a lot of people's eye balls are going. not only to graio attebut to sow a little bit of discord. to latch onto a hot button issue like that, to use it to not just grow an audience but also omto spreade discord is an ideal fopportunity. t we saw this with a high pro time example of this but we acally saw this after the texas shooting last year and staff lavegas shooting as well. >> sreenivasan: this is an stunt for them to heat up the rhetoric for example the gun debate osh exploit existing divisions? >> this was kind of interesting. the hashtag guntr con now, you

think would be in favor of gun control arguments, were trending. but in fact looks like these we being used almost sarcastically, because they were shared wit links antigun control. this is clear they're trying to appealto a very certain audience, an audience that might be also receptive to s messages that are directly related to the kremlis agenda. trying to discredit muesoller, thing that's better than present since december. >> sreenivasan: give us anam e of how these bots work. >> a human will sort of create a message and jump on that and use a bot to amplify the message. it creates almost a feedback loop that real humans that are not in any way affiliated with russian influence camnspa interacting and spreading the message themselves, that makes it harder for a platform like twitter to see whagt's com

from a human, a boston or a quote unquote troll. >> sreenivasan: what do they do? >> they have been stru ling with thia lot. i think they know that they definitely have to do something about it and they have gone from dismissing the problem as a very small part of the overall volume of messages being seventh on their platforms to talking about we have to do something about this. but it is very tricky. on facebook they have real names but on thetm indts, thee are sophisticated influence campaigns and these are people who are creating accounts and stealingdentities as in some cases to buy ads using american dollars. these are really complicat, we need toork directly with the government, we need to be a little bit less scared with the regulation than we have in the past. but trying to polce that i difficult. >> sreenivasan: erin griffith,of

wired, thanks so much. >> sreenivasan: nearly five annths after hurricane maria hit puerto rico, the iis still struggling to fully recover. efforts to restore electricity and access to enter across the re island have dragged on for months. president trump has said that erto rico's geography ha slowed the recovery effort, but critics say the island and its people are not a priority to the federal government. whatever the reason, the slowpa of recovery has led hundreds of thousands of puerto ricans, who are american citizens, to leave, and relocate on the u.s. mainland, often in cities with large puerto rican populations. newshour weekend's ivette feliciano has this report. >> reporter: these days, this is a fairly typical start to theth morning forivera family in hartford connecticut. millie rivera gets her three daughters ready for breakfast before catching t school bus, and israel rivera will soon head to start his shift at a hartford window factory. but it's taken months to have a

routine or sense of normalcy. since november, the family of five has been living out of a single room at a redf rn because their home in puerto rico was badly damaged by hurricane maria. maria's winds ripped the roof off of the rivera's small house in rural ciales in central puerto rico. ey say most of their appliances, furniture and family keepsakes were destroyed and that they have no insurance to cover their losses. >> ( translated ): i'd love to have my house back the way it was. i put so much work into that home. for six years i worked so hard, everything i earned, i invested in that ho. we had no luxuries, rarely went out, rarely spent. just the bas necessities. >> reporter: yet the rivera's consider themselr luckier than their friends and family still on the island. two days before maria hit, israel rivera sold the family's two cars and, with savings, boheht five plane tickets to mainland.

>> ( translated ): iedould have sti'm an adult, i don't care. but i thought about my girls. the hurricane, the force with which it was coming, category 5, i said, ¡this will destroy everything'. i imagined the chaos, the lines to buy water or gas. it wasust with hurricane irma and things got bad, there was no gas. imagine something like maria. i just knew it. >> reporter: he was right. most of their town still has no power, and lines are down all over the rivera's property. their household just one of more than 1.1 million displacedr by hurricanea in puerto rico. many survivors chose to come to places like connecticut. the state has deep puerto rican roots, with waves of migration that date back to the 1940s. re in haford, connecticut's capitol, 34% of the population identifies as puerto rican. the federal emergency management agency has placed almost 4,000 families in hotels acro 41 states and puerto rico, 168 of them in connecticut.

most of the displaced filed aiclaims with fema and areng to hear if they qualify for financial or other additional assistance. the rira's came to hartford with that money, isrl bought a car that cost $300, insurance, food, and warm cthing for the family. israel found a job as a machine operator at the window factory within days of arriving that pays about $365 a week. but it wasn't enough, and the family was approved for food stamp assistance. >> ( translated ): i am the type of person who doesn't wait for things to come to my doorstep. i believe in hard work. if you give me some help, i'll be grateful and i'll work hard to earn what i deserve. >> reporter: hisife millie is taking english classes while she looks for part-time work but rivera says the transition to life on the mainland has proven difficult and expensive. >> (anslated ): we came from puerto rico out of necessity, we can't go back home. i'm not saying anyone should

gi me free housing. i can pay something reasonable. but i can't pay a $1,000 rent when i only earn $1500.wo sometimes er where all the money goes, it isn't easy. but there is no stove he, no refrigerator, we eat out a lot. >> reporter: in late december, the rivera's were among more t the hotel that faced potential eviction and homelessness. it0 iona al hoanusing 4lifami program was set to end by mid- january. but then fema extended the program through march 20th at the request of puerto rico's goveor. yet that was bittersweet news for the rivera's and abo 10 other families at the hotel because they didn't qualify for the extensio rivera says fema denied his family's financial assistance claim, saying they had effectively refused federal help because, as they'd self- evacuated before the hurricane, no one was home when a fem t inspector cavisit. because of fema's decision, the rivera's were no lonr eligible for the transitional housing

program. they were told they would still have to leave by mid-january. other families were told the same. hme said hotel staff told them th less than 24 hours to get out. fema told newshour weekend it gave six to seven days vance notice to any families asked to leave their temporary housing. meanwhile grassroots puerto rican activists and elected officials asked the state of connecticut to step in. in mid-january, the state partnered with nonprofits like united way and the salvation army, and allocated $100,000 to keep families like the rivera's in the hotels through march 20th. but connecticut governor dannel malloy beliee federal government should have been playing a larger role in that effort. >> this is a different model that for some reason is being applied to the people of the commonwealth that we have never applieto a state to state basis. why don't we treat our fello

citizens living in puerto rico the same way we would treat folks living in new jersey or ne?york or washington, d.c. >> reporter: fema says the transitional housing program is just one of several shelterinbl options avaito displaced families. and this month, it provided connecticut with 10 new spanish speaking disaster-management case workers at the state's request. malloy says the state could use even more case-workers, plus oulingual educators, and funds for affordable hsing. meanwhile, the governor just ked for $400,000 in the state's proposed budget to support maria evacuees. but it may not be enough to cover the costs. the state estimates it has welcomed between 3,500 to 5,000 displaced puerto ricans since olrricane maria. and the state's sc system 0 commodated close to 2,00w houdents from the caribbean this year. >> the nature of our response network in the united states shouldn't be dependent on

charity and shouldn't be dependent on state governments doing for citizens of other commonwealths or states the thin that their government would otherwise do or their federal government would step in and help. >> thank you for calling 211. n e is annette. how can i help you? >> reporter: here in hartford, an emergency response center, funded by the state and its partners, directs new arrivals to available social services. but for many families at the hotel, it is the graroots efforts of hartfo's local puerto rican community that have been filling in the gaps where other resources are lacking. every week from monday through thursday at this church in hartford, volunteers p dinner for the families staying at the hotel.be in nov the staff at the capitol region education council, a conneicut non- profit focused on education, raised $150,000 in private donations toaunch a hurricane maria lief center in hartford.er rican volunteers and

local groups partnered with government agencies to cree a one stop shop for new arrivals. here they can receive everything from warm clothes and groceries to job leads. >> the first month when everybody started coming-- i mean, there were peoe arriving with no coat. i mean, i had a gentleman show up in sandals here and it was snowing that day. the families we've seen have come back at least two to three sometimes four times. and every time they come they sit with our case manager, because we want to do a follow- up. what have you done since the last time we saw you? what else do you need? >> reporter: at the relief center, new arrivals can apply for state i.d.'s, which allow them to apply for housing and jobs, as well as food and medical assistance programs. mey can also get help f volunteers to navigate fema's housing claim system. that's something riveras say crucial. when fema denied his family's asstance request, he says they were caught in red tape and confusion for weeks. with the help of an english-

speaking neighbor at the hotel, coey finally learned they d appeal its decision. they were just granted about $4,500 that will go toward the rebuilding of thr home in ciales and some of their expenses in hartford. rivera would like to go back to his home. but he isn't sure that leaving connecticut is the right move for him and his family. >> ( translated ): if we arme able to get xtra help here, i'd like to stay. even before the storm there wasa ly any work, the situation was bad. imagine now. with a little bit of help, my family and i can move forward. >> reporter: a study by the center for puerto rican studies at hunter college estimates another 100 to 200,000 puerto ricans will move to the u.s. mainland in the next twelve months. most will settle in states with large puerto rican populations likewlorida, pennsylvania, ne york and connecticut.

>> this is pbs newshour weekend, sunday. >> sreen storycorps" has been recording and sharing real experiences from people who have l.traordinary stories to t in this animated short, frank scott, the son of the firsn t afrierican inducted into the nascar hall of ft,e, wendell sceflects on what it was like for his father to race in the south during the jim crow era. >> he started racing in95 1 and it was like picasso, a great artist doing his work. he was in his cardoing his work. he couldn't get the support from other drivers he was competing against, mor sponsorship. he wasn't allowed to race in certain speed ways and he had death threats not to come toat lanta. and then said look, that's what

i've got to do i've got to race. i remember him racing in jacksonville and he beat them all. they didn't drop the checkered flag. wh t they did drop checkered flag my father was in third place. there was a white beauty queenal and theays kissed the driver. the trophy was gone, the fans were gone, the beauty queens were gone. there. >>tid he ever consider no never.anymore? that was what my dad was saying, too tough for others, just right r me. they were racing the atlanta 500, he was sick needhaed to ve an operation. i said daddy, are we going to race today? he said lift me up i'm going to get in that car. he raced 500 miles are that day. for years nobody mentioned

wendell scott, but that didn't drive hi crazy, that is what made him so great. fm. >> is black pantsr is shing box office records like a true superhero. global l box offers is supposed to be the highest debut ever for afebruary film and the fifh highest of all time. gs neighborhoods gentrify, the challenge for lonime residents who want to stay. that's all for pbs newshour weekend.ha i' sreenivasan, have a good nig access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard anirene schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family.

sue and edgar wachenim, iii. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p. foundation. the anderson family fund. rosalind p. walter barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs ke station from viewers ou. thank you.

(vehicle starts up) >> and i - you could be out on the highway and i coulhear my dad when he cranked that truck up and it made all this noise. >> he would shift with his foot, he would kick e gear, you know, the - kick it into gear when he was driving it. >> i had white friends. i had black friends. we all went out together. >> most of my friends were all white as kids. yeah, all of them were. i'd play with albert frank and all them. they just - just enjoy 'em and everything. and when it come tle to go to sch we thought we was going to the same school, all of us going together, you know. mom, we're going to school tomorrow, is school starting tomorrow? she said, yes, it does. but we're not going to his school. we were going to our school,ck we went to our bchool, you know. we didn't know anything about this, you know. we though we was going to alb frank and them's school. (instrumental music) >> and mother was laying back in bed. i said, "mom, what's wrong?" she id, "honey, i got a pain in my stomach." said, "if i can get this pain out of my stomach, i'd be all right."