captioning sponsored by wnet io sreenivasan: on this ed for saturday, february 24: congress releases the democratic memo rebutting republican claims of f.b.i. surveillance abuses gun-control advocates push companies to cut ties with the n.a. and divest from gun manufacturers. and in our signatureegment, some muslim women around the world dare to say "me too". next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> "pbs newshour weekend" is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. the ch yfamily.hilip milstein sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos.ou the j.p.b.ation. fthe anderson famil. rosalind p. walter

barbara hope zuckerber corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retiremeducts. that's why we're your retirement company. >> additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation forbl broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york,re hariivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. theedacted version o democrat's memo surrounding the ongoing russia investigation has been released. the memo asserts that the f.b.i. otd justice department di" abuse" the foreign intelligence surveillance act process. three eks ago the republicans released a memo alleging that de fbi abused their surveillance powing the 2016 campaign by overly-relying on the so-called "steele dossier;" an opposition research document compiled by a former british intelligen officer.

the democratic memo also argues that republicans drew selectively from highly sensitive classified informatioh an f.b.i. surveillance began seven weeks before receiving thl dossier. severtions of the ten-page document were redacted. a week after the shooting at a high school in parkland, florida pressure is mounting to change gun laws. the list of companies pulling their support from the national rifle association is growing as students rally against gun violence.th republicans trong ratings by the n.r.a. are talking about gun control. in the past few days, a handful of republicans, incling governor rick scott and senator marco rubio of florida, voiced sumort for raising the mini age to 21 for anyone who wants 5. purchase a semi-automatic rifles like the ar upis morning, president trump re-tweeted his srt for stricter gun control legislation including raising the minimum age for purchasing certain weapons to 21. that's despite the n.r.a.'s statement from wednesday

opposing the move. the white house also said this week it is studying gun restraining orders that would allow authorities to confiscate firearms from individuals deemed a threat. several states already haver simiws on the books. and today, trump repeated his call for armed teachers to protect students, saying they should receive annual training and yearly financial bonuses. if you have a citigrp credit card, you could be getting some money back.el in a statementsed ysterday, citi announced it will be refunding more than $33o million dollarearly two- million accounts. an internal review mandated under a federal law passed following the financial crises, citi discovered it had overcharged the accounts with a higher interest rate. the bank said, on average, each account will be refunded $190 dollars. attorneys general from marylandt and wash d.c. have expanded their lawsuit against president trump. the suit now alleges he is not only profiting from his official capacity as president, but also persally as a businessman.

this case centers on whether foreign governments paying for rooms at trump properties are actually bestowing gifts that benefit the president. a wave of deadly attacks across afghanistan today... the deadliest was in farah province, whertaliban forces attacked a checkpoint killing at least 18 soldiers. tye taliban is also claiming responsibior a pair of attacks in helmand province that claimed the lives of three security forces. o in the capitkabul, the islamic state is claiming responsibility for a suicide attack outside of afghanistan's intelligence service headquarters killing at least two security forces there. the attacks come ahead of a meeting this week aimed at laying the groundworl for a politiocess that involves the taliban. a new wave of syrian government air-strikes on a rebel held suburb of damascus killed at least 22 people. it¡s just the latest in a weeklong bombardment targeting eastern ghouta. human rights monitors say the air-strikes are coming from both syrian and russian aircraft. they estimate 500 civili including 200 women and children have been killed this week alone.

today, the un security council approved a resolution calling for a 30-day humanitarian cease- fire in syria, with the support of syrian ally, russia. several previous cease-fires have failed over the years long conflict. for more on the situation in syria we are joined e barnard of the "new york times" via skype from beirut. let's put this in context. 500 people killed in just the i an of a week. an, these are just rough estimates. but what is responsible for this surge of violence?>> well, mainly, right now, the governmetot is trying take over the last couple of large rebel-held areas, and one of them is eastern ghouta, which is just to the east of damascus. it's really adjacent to the capital city. it's suburbs, a collection of sort of concrete block buildings and agricultural fields. right now, the bombardment, in a sense, are just a more intense version of what's been going on year after year after year. the besieged area that people

can't get out of, and the government heent really been able to advance much on the ground up to now, so the strategy is just to bomb the area and try to force surrender. >> sreenivasan: you mentioned a phrase that's important the. the "the people can't necessarily get out of." people are going to wonder, if there is so much strife goin on, why don't people leave? how are people maintaing some semblance of life in this suburb. >> theain reason they cannot leave is they physically cannot get out. this area has been surounded by the government for years, and that siege bowbdry was tightened in recent months becae the government took over an area where there had been an outlet for tunnels that were used for smuggling. there still wasn't exactly free movement in and out back then. you know, the war economy was sidesthat people on bot would profit from food and people coming and going, and it was really expensive for ordinary people. that said, there was technically a way to get out, if you wanted

to. but now, that has become ch more difficult and much more expensive. and then there's a second reason, which is that many it's government has tended to treat anyone from these areas as suspect, and anyone has a file against them with the government-- let's say they've been a civilian activist or a fighter, even doctors who treat people on the rebel-held side or even civilians in the rebel-held areas-- are considered criminals and terrorists by the government. so there areyeople who, if t enter government-held areas, they're concerned that they will be arrested and sent to the serity detention centers, where there's torture and all kinds of things that they don't want to benvolved with. >> sreenivasan: how are people carrying on their lives there? mean, some of the descriptions you have and some of the photographs, it seems that a lot of it is literally underground. >> well, it depends on the area. in some areas, people have basements in their buildings, or there are tunnels that have been dug that they can stay in,

underground shelters. in other areas, there are not. so there was a town a few days ago where 43 peille wered in an air strike because they were huddling in a basement that sn't really built to shelter people. and there are other areas where people just don't have somewhere to guno underg >> sreenivasan: all right, anne barnard of "the new york hames," joining us live via skype from beirut, you so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: the "me too" movement has given women in the u.s. and many western countries the courage to speak out and fight back against sexual misconduct, harassment and assault. but the movement has not reached everyone. in the muslim world, tan be dangerous consequences for wo."n who dare to say "me, t but even in the western european nation of deark, the option to speak out isn't necessarily available to muslim . social workers report that more

young women are seeking protection from familieso tryingpose conservative religious values on them, and that these families are subjec but some muslim women there are offering up a different inrpretation of islam. special correspondent malcolm brabant reports from copenhagen. >> reporter: this commercial may t designed to sell "the dead washer," a book danish muslim author sara omar, but it also alludes to abuse she experienced or witnessed in the rdish region of iraq. she writes about a five-year-old aped by an uncle, other girls murdered because they supposedly brought dishonor on their families, and an elderly muslim woman who washes their corpses that some men rerd as impure. >> i want the honor killings to get an end because no woman deserves to get killed just

because she wants to have a voice, she wants to choose her arn partner or fight for love. >> reporter: sara depiction of male muslim culture as repressive has provoked death threats that police are taking seviously. she's in hiding. >> a strong woman, an independent won is a threat to them because they think that you are coming, and you want to take the power from them. >> reporter: 19-year-old jasmine osman has to live with fear, as well. in july 2016, jasmine went to africa supposedly for a holiday, but her somali father had other plans. he arranged for her to be kidnapped and held prisoner in an extreme muslim koran school in somaliland. after six months, jasmineis escaped and the alarm. as a result, police raided the school, and 16 other young women were freed. >> sharia law... sharia law is, the father has property over the

daughter. i thought i was going on a holiday, and i ended up in this you're being beaten with ropes and sticks. you're being chained with, like, metal bike cins. i was chained. >> reporter: jasmine is now living at a secret address while at college and is estranged from her father.>> don't wear a scarf. i didn't dress well. he wanted me to dress a certain way. i could not dress a certain way. i could only be myself. i could not adapt.an hed me to be a somali muslim girl, and i wanted to be a somali muslim girl who is in tune with the environment, who knows about society. ter: susanna fabricius runs an organization that helps young people like jasmine who rebel against nservative codesim sed by families that threaten or use olence. staff run a hotline dealing with what the danes call social or religious control. >> for every year, we have more toses.

the youngsters wanhange their life situation. they want to decide about their own life, their own body. they know that it's illegal, t whatheir parents are doing sometimes or their whole family are doing.so i think they are becoming better in asking for help. >> reporter: the organization tries not to separate children from families, but somimes there is no alternative. we've been allowed access to a highly secure government-funded safe house somewhere near copenhagen. this facility can houso 26 people at any one time. right now, there are 19 people inside. they all need protection, and all of them are muslim. one of the young women in the safe house has been living here for three years. this is supposed to provide temporary shelter, but project director anita johnston sayse some cck time and again. >> ( translated ): when you are signed into our safe house, you are assessed by our psychologist. and from the psychological

assessments, we can see that 87% of the people we receive here suffer from p.t.s.d., 97% of them have been exposed to physical violence, and 33% have been subjected to sexual assault. >> ( praying >> reporter: sherin khankan is scandinavia's first female ima she's working to soften the interface between western society and islam, and hopes that her brand of religion might also help to reduce is tmophobia. >>nk that the mariam nsque is the first mosque denmark who actually have a specific focus on women's rights, on... on gender equality. so, what we're doing is that we are rereading the koran according to our times and our societies, with a focus on women'ts. >> reporter: khankan's female congregation doesn't permit the filming of prayers. we were given access as she told visiting american students about one of the principles that

distinguishes her house of god from the traditional. here, above a pedestrian shopping street, muslim women are allowed to marry men of other faiths. khankan says this is controversial. >> one of the biggest dilemmas of the youth today in europe and in the rest of the world is the question of love across not only national identities, but also religious identities. o, how do we solve that problems? and as an imam, we have to find islamic solutions to existing dilemmas in the youth. this is... i meali this is an tion. >> reporter: khankan's interpretation of islam has put her at odds with majity muslim opinion, but she's not backing down. >> if the...the patriarchact ste represents the... the way we disseminate islam. so, if that is male-dominated, the message will be male- dominated. it is about time that we challenged the patriarchal structures within islam. >> reporter: khankan ss that while muslim women nominally have the protection of danish

law, many feel constrained by the common belief th only men can seek a divorce. she is reinforcing a women's right to end a bad marriage. >> we have constructed a new islamic marriage contract that gives women rights-- tht to divorce, the right over the children in case of a divorce. polygamy is forbidden. and if mental or physical violence occur, the marriage is annulled. >> reporter: that resonates with halima el-abassi, who works in the front line where western values clash with the of conservative islam. at the age of 15s she says she rced into marriage with a cousin. e children later, she us her right as a danish citizen to file for divorce, an act whichoc outraged her mn family, who claimed that she had dishonored them. >> ( translated ): danish society suffers from the perception that it knoin what goes ohese communities, but they don't have the full picture. i work with these families, so

therefore i have insnto the issues involved here. and it's far worse that the danes can imagine. >> reporter: there's a battle for young hearts and minds in places like norrebro, a district of copenhagen heavily populated by muslims. radicalization experts fear that extreme islamic groups are pressuring families to dress and hahave conservatively. ma el-abassi says the authorities need to be more proactive to protect those who want to resist. >> ( translated ): school teachers, healthare workers, social workers, they all need to intervene far more, especially where they might think, "oh, this is too private," but where they sense something is not right. we have knowledge of honor- related conflicts and social control. there is funding to combat the issue. we have developed strategies to fight it, but we still dare not interfere. >> reporter: at the danish parliament in recent years, right wingers have set the integration agenda. but now, the main opposition,he enter-left social democrats, are taking the lead.

in their manifesto released, they've promised to crack down on social and religious cont mattias tesfaye is the party's spokesman on immigration and integration matters. >> ( translated ): the freedom rights we have in denmark apply to everybody, including youngsters who live in muslim communitie and it is important that we work together with the rising number of young muslims who are rebelling against arch conservative, reactionary attitudes towards , gender, child rearing and sexuality. we are not waging a religious war against islam; we are fighting for democracy. and ere religion clashes with democracy, god has to yield. >> reporter: the most influential muslim organization here is the islamic society of denmark. we asked to interview their spokesman, imran shah.on the organizaeclined, saying it did not consider the issues to ben islamic problem.

author sara omar says she is not against islam, just those who use religion as justification for abuse and worse. when i was oppressed, i wished that someone could eak up for me. and nobody did. >> sreenivasan: in the wake of the parkland school shooting, teenage survivors of the attack are pressing lawmakers to make changes to gun laws. but anger over the shooting has also led some investors to start asking what role they can play in changing how gun and ammunition manufacturers behave. financial firms like blackrock and bank of america are nowki a new look at their investments in the companies who manufacture firearms. and as we mentioned r, pressure from gun control advocates has led a growing number of companies to sever ties with the national rifle association. for more i'm joined by rob cox,

a columnist and global editor with "reuters breakingvis." thanks for joining us. so, just today, in the last 24, 48 hours, we've seen a lot of activity, a lot of big, kind of household name btonds starting ay i'm not going to give n.r.a. members a discount to go to an event or use my services. is this different than what's happened before? >> yeah, i think this is different. what you're starting to se is people who want a change in gun laws are using the power of the purse. it's not just twitter, but actually they're saying on twitter and on social media, omey're no longer going to give custom to thesenies that work very closely with the n.r.a. now, you're talking about rental car firms, hotels, lodging companies, insurance companies. i'm not sure that's going to alhave a mateffect on the n.r.a., on their budgets, but it's part of a movement. and you have to think back, all social movements or civil rights movements, they always have some sort of economic protest or

financial boycott, some element of that, when successful. you know, going all the way back to saf rajein, to the development in south fairk, probably the most analogous one. and we're starting to see that happening. and if you have a majority of americans right now, if you look at the quinnipiac poll out in the last week, that said 67% of thll read in favor of banning assault weapons, or ear-15s. is xfore, if you think about it, a majority of american consumer is a reallpowerful economic tool. and so i think that's sting to be harnessed by the gun violence-prevention movement. >> sreenivasan: after the massacre at sandy hook, you saw the parents who were motivate, you saw the country start to think about these thi i remember a couple of big pension funds pulled out of money theyontrolled and whether they supported it. most people in america don't know who blackrock is, and what kind of influence they have. so, again, they're invested through index funds they're not necessarily just automatic

shareholders. but explain. >> most of the growth in fundge mant over past couple of years has actually been in index fund. so you say, "i'm going to buy the russell 2,000 of small comes. i'm going to buy the s&p 500."th and blr largest, $600 trillion, so a lot of money, and second vanguard, both have to replicate that index and they end up buying vista or american outdoor, which owns smith & wesson, whichanufacturing the gun used to massacre 17 students and their teachers in parkland. sturm ruge perp they buy these companies because they have to. now, there's also another element, a movement, as it were, in the financial markets or the investing world towards what they call e.s.g., environment, social, and governan and millennials, in particular, who are your future customers if you are a blackrock or vanguard, they are very much driven by social purpose. so ink you're really--

you're starting to see this-- it's almost a conflict. on one hand you have all the index funds where all the money is going, on the other hand, you have a movement making sure your money is going to companies that provide a broader soct.ial bene and that's all starting to sort of rubber meeting the road with blackrock c.e.o. larry fink, who is one of the most powerful people in finance, wrote a letter just a month and a half ago to c.e.o.s saying that your companies must actually provide a net social beefit to society. and this is a big change, because now he's stuck with owning these big companies-- owning big stakes in these gun companies, but at the same time, having to kind gf mad on his promise. and that is really going to e.art to push for cha it won't be development, i don't think, in the way we saw in the 1980s with south africa, which was just get out, you know, i.b.m. does business there. we're selling our i.b.m. stock. i.b.m. finally pulls their business from south africa,

artheid falls. i think what we'll see here is more engagement. >> sreenivasan: rob x from reuters breakingviews, thank you. >> sreenivasan: hear more of our facebook page,ingviews" on our facebook.com/newshour. >> this is "pbs newshour weekend," saturday. sreenivasan: a boston photographer is highlighting the contributions of immigrants. newshour weekend's mori rothman reports. >> you turn the corner, and all of a sudden you see a three- story face on a... on a tree or on a building. it's unexpected. >> reporter: walk around boston and you may run into the work of photographer erik jacobs on iconic buildings, bridges and parks. last summer, jacobs grew frustrated with the negative tone of the debate on immiation and started a publ art project called "boston stands with immigrants." will show 18 projections in public spaces around the city. >> this project is an attempt to

shine a light on immigrants and their... and their contributions. >> reporter: jacobs uses a 60- pound cinema quality projector th each site so far've shown famous immigrants like dominican red sox slugger david ortiz at fenway park; and boston's first muslim police captain, haseeb hosein. there are immigrants from all walks of life. >> we wanted to repra wider section of immigrants than just the most well known and the most recognizable. >> reporter: cuban immigrant jennis perez was overwhelmed wh she saw her picture projected on the massachusetts state house. >> i think i wilcry, maybe. ( laughs ) >> reporter: perez immigrated to the u.s. two years ago, seeking an escape from the meager circumstances of her family's life in cuba. >> one day, i wake up. i think i need give better life for my daughter. >> reporter: after a six-month journey, perez made it towi bos. she's taking english classes and has a job cleaning a co-working space, and hopes to make enough to n-bring her sear-old daughter to the u.s. >> i think that appealing to the huma,nity of our subjec

like, that is the most unassailable story we can tell. and to every degree people who may not agree that immigrants are greator our society can see these people as human beings, i feel like we've succeeded.or >> rr: pictures of all 18 planned projections will be shown in boston's edward m. kennedy institute later this year. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, the national rifle association is responding to the companies cutting ties and ending discounts offered to .a. members. in a statement the n.r.a. called the withdrawals "a shameful display of political cowardice and said, the loss of a discount will ither scare nor distract one single n.r.a. member from our mission." that'sauror pbs hours in weekend. i'm hari sreenivasan. good night. captioning sponsored by wnet

captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwtz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. nadr. p. roy vagelos and d. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. the derson family fund. rosalind p. walter barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided utual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's w we're your tirement company. additional support has been ovided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. be more.

announcenestled in the ,untains of northern gree kastoria comes alive with the sounds of pavlo's mediterranean guitar music. canadian-born guitarist, pavli to the land that sourishes his creative spirit. join pavlo and guest stars, g-pinto and remigio pereira of the tenors, in a concert you won't soon forget! [applause] pavlo, live in kastoria, is next! [greek music starts] [applause] [applause and cheering]