captioning sponswsed by neur productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: an exclusive interview with south korea's foreign minister, kang kyung-wha. we discuss president trump's trade threats and diplomacy with the north. >> we're cautiously optimistic that the talks will happen, and that this will be a breakthrough for a peaceful resolution of the north korean nuclear issue. >> woodruff: then, the trump administration accuses russia of an aggressive hacking campaign targeting u.s. power plants and water system and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks weigh in on the revolving door w at tte house, and pennsylvania's stunning election upset. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour

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>> the ford foundation. n working with visionariesthe frontlines of social changewo dwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this ogram was made possible by the corporation for public broadcaing. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank yo >> woodruff: the death toll rose to six today in thattrian bridge collapse in south florida, and it could go higher ill. the newly-installed span fell

onto a highway yesterday at florida international university. iatoday, the head of the m- dade police said crews expect to find more bodies as they remove the crushed wreckage. they are also looking for clues. >> right now, we just want to find out what occurred, what caused this collapse to occur and people to die. we want to get to the bottom of, the bottom line of what occurred so that we can bring closure to the families, bring closure to the investigation, and so that it doesn't happen again.er >> woodruff: f investigators from the national transportation safety board havj alned the investigation. the white house played down talk today of another impenmeng shakeup-- , that president trump plans to fire national security adviser h.r. mcmaster. it was widely reported that the president has complained of mcmaster lecturing him, and that the two clashed over iran and north korea. but at today's briefing,

white house press sacretary saranders said it's much ado about nothing. >> the president's said that it was not accurate, and that he has no intention of changing, that they had a great working relationship and he oked forward to working with him. the chief of staff actually spoke to a number of staff this morning, reassuring them thatre ersonnel changes-- no immediate personnel changes at this time, and that people shouldn't be concerned. >> woodruff: meanwhi, the "wall street journal" reported that mr. trump and his chief of staff john kelly have reached a truce of their own, after months of tensions. e lawyer for porn film star stephanie clifford says she has been threatened with bodily harm after claiming a sexual affair with president trump. he would not say who made the threat against clifford, knownan as "stormyls," or whether it was anyone tied to mr. trump. the white house has denied ther

y affair, but it said today that the president condemns anyone who threatens any individual.ic the diplomivide between london and moscow deepened today, with british police saying a rusan businessman may have been murdered. nikolai glushkov was found dead umnday in london, where he had won political asn 2010. investigators say they think he was strangled. ath followed a nerve age attack on a former russian spy, in salisbury, england. emma murph of independent television news, reports from moscow. >> reporter: the imagery couldn't have been lost on theen pres in the middle of an international crisis about where a lethal chemical agent was produced, he appeared in a white co in a russia laboratory. ( speaking russian ) >> reporter: it seems imagery wasn't lost on the forgn secretary, either. boris johnson, appearing in a military bunker to point the finger of blame directly at the russian leader. >> our quarrel is with putin's

kremlin, and with his decision, and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision to dire use of a nerve agent on the street of the u.k., on the streets of europe for the first ince the second world war. >> reporter: the response from the emlin was immediate. though what action will be taken against british interests hasn't yet been announced, the foreign secretary's accusations were described as shocking and unforgivable. the russian foreign minister wan o mood for discussion.t "i don't w comment on what's happening anymore," sergey lavrov said. "letcot stay on the ciousness of those who started this shameless, unjustified, russia-phic game." evgeny primakov is a foreign policy adviser to the russia parliament. he's also a close associate of the president and part of his relection team. >> i would describe it as something very close to the very darke days of the cold war. >> reporter: what do you think

happened in salisbury? >> i am pretty sure it very, very dirty game of som special security svices, and those services were not russian. >> reporter: and perhaps that is the only bit of common ground between the u.k. and moscow. there is indeed a very dirty game being played. >> woodruff: that report, from emma murphy of independent television news. on the cusp of russia's presidential election, vladimir putin is urging his people to get out and vote. he is expected easily to win another six-year term in sunday's balloting, but as opposition candidates held final rallies today-- and some urged a boycott-- putin put out a recorded message to boost turnout. >> ( translated ): we, in ssia, have always decided our fate ourselves. i'm sure that each and every o of us is worried about the fate k our country, so i am addressing you to u to come to the polling stations. use your right to choose theor futurehe great and beloved russia. >> woodruff: putin's patlic approvalgs top 80%.

russian and syrianir strikes rained more death today outside damascus, as civilians ran for their lives. thousands were fleeing the rebel enclave of eastern ghouta, in syria, ward government lines. but war monitors say air attacks killed at least 70 people. to the northwest, turkish air assaults left 27 dead in kurdish-held afrin. the turks say the kurds are linked to rebels inside turkey. in western iraq, the u.s. military says seven american service members were killed when their helicopter crashed. it happened thursday in anbar province, near the syria brder. officials say there was no indicati of enemy fire. as of last fall, about 9,000 u.s. troops were stationed in iraq. former south african president jacob zuma wl face corruption charges over an arms deal from the 1990s. thchief prosecutor announc it today.

the 75-year-old zuma served as president for nearly nine years, but his tenure was marred by scandal. he resigned under pressure last month. back in this country, the oldest sitting member of congress, louise slaughter, died today at a washington hospital, a week after falling at her home. d the new yoocrat represented the rochester area for more than 30 years.om she championed's rights, and was the first woman to chair the house rules committee. arlouise slaughter was 88 old. and on wall street, the dow jones industrial avera 7 gained nearpoints to close at 24,946. the nasdaq rose just a fraction, and the s&p 500 added four. for the we, all three indexes lost more than 1 still to come on the newshour: new reports beg the queson, could russia shut down the u.s. power grid? mark shields and david brooks on the white house's revolving door.

impressions of the southern border from arizona's first poet laureate. and, much more. >> woouff: president trump spoke this morning with president moon jae-in of south korea, just one week ahe surprise offer of a possible summit between mr. trump and north korean leader kim jong-un. moon's forei minister, kang kyung-wha, is here to continue consultation with the trump administration and congress-- a riip that almost did not happen, after tuesday's of her counterpart, secretary of state rex tillerson. minister kang and i spoke this a mornin i began by asking her about president trump's recent apparent threats to pull american troops from south korea if the korea-u.s. free trade agreement, or "korus f.t.a.," is

fanot improved in america'r. >> well, i think the strength of the korea-u.s. alliance is solid enough to no take mments related to trade as indicatingme ing about the trip presence itself, and we are having a session of renegotiating the korus phat. we hope it's mutually beneficial and takes the f.t.a. further. >> woodruff: are thereon conceson trade? >> there have been to be concessions both ways. >> woodruff: the presidentm said in arks this week, our allies care about themselves, they don't care about us. how do you read that? >> i think tvery countnks of their national interest in the first instance. we do, the u.s. does, all countries. i think it has to be read in

th t context and notken at face value. >> woodruff: well, let's turn to ther poposed talks between president trump and the leader of north korea, mr. kim. how confident are you that those talks are gointo take place? any question that they will happen? >> well, i think this is the result of our special envoy's direct discussion with chairman kim. so i'm pretty confident. you ow, i think were cautiously optimistic that the talks will happen and that this will a breakthrough for a peaceful resolution of the north korean nuclear issue. >> woodruff: so what conditions have to be met, in your view, before these talks sides?e place, on both >> i think very much the conditions that the u.s. has so far emphasized -- that is, the

north korean leader has to indicate his commitment to denuclearization -- has been met. that was one of the ke points that came out of the spvoial ' meeting and conveyed to president trump. the other was they need to stop voe protions and, again, clearly stated by the leader himself, no mortie provo as long as the dialogue continues. so i think the basicontion that we have been flagging, the u.s. has been flagging has basically been met. >> wodruff: could there be new sanctions imposed on north korea before any lks take place? >> well, i think the international community together has been implementing the curity council sanctions, and that certainly has been one of the factors that has led mr. kim to come out and start engaging. the security cous,il, so, ye if there are further provocations, there will be more

sanctions. but mr. kim has -- chairman kime has stated thill be no further provocation as long as the dialogues continue. >> woodruff: does yourrn gont trust the leader of north korea? y mean, the people who watch north korea closy it has violated every agreement it's entered into in recent history. >> it's not a matter of trusting. it's a matter of approaching the opportunity presented witgood will, and we have --e have -- my president has been from the very beginning consistent and persistent in his message about north korea, and that message has been north korea's missiles nuclear program will neer be accepted, but we want to engage to find a peaceful resolution. this is a much better situation, i think we all agree, than we found ourselves mid last year or even at the end of last year.uf

>> woo you mentioned the sanctions imposed on the north. why do you think their leader kim jong un wants this meeting? i me, after all the effort, all the energy, resources they've poured into building up their nuclear weapons program that can strike tnihed states, certainly strike countries in the region, why doe he want this meting? >> the sanctions and the solidarity to have the international commuehind the sanctions are, by all accounts, having affect. the chairman has promised two things to his people. one is the nuclear program and one is economic development, t of livelihoods, and this was a part clearly stated in this newer message. and to ke progress on the second track, he needs -- he cannot do this -- deliver this with -- under the heavy

sanctions regime. so he would understand that he needs to work with international mmunity in the first instance, the united states, to ease the sanctions regime, and that's not going to happen unless and until he -- unless takes significant steps on the t denuclearizatick. >> woodruff: does your government have a goal in mind, should the u.s. have a goal in mind of what that denuclearization looks like?it how far doesave to go for there to be an agreement? >> ie are very cle our stated goal of complete denuclearization of north korea, and it will take aong while because the program is very advanced. so fom a very well-advanced program to complete denuclearization, obviously, will taka long time, and we're prepared for the long haul,ut we approach this with clear eyes

and with nerves of steel but with a clear goal in mind.f: >> woodrhat concession should south korea and the u.s. be prepared to make for there to be an agreement, and could it include removing or reducing thr nuf u.s. troops in south korea? >> i think the issue of the upr. ence in south korea is very much an issue that needs to be discussed, an issue f the alliance. and i don't think that, you know, you should even thinkt aby concessions along those lines. it will not be an issue that we scll readily ds at the table with north korea. >> woodruff: your presint is going to meet with leader kim next month, and this is an advance -- in advance of any meeting wittrh presidenp. there are those who look at all

of this and say, south korea and the united states are conferring a levcr ofedibility and respect on the north korean regime that it has notr eaned, that it doesn't deserve. how do you awer that? >> it's a regime, still, that we need to deal with. it poses a grave security threat to korea, to the whole world, and you can only deal with this threat by engaging with it. we are absolutely clear that a military solution is not an option. we are a country at have experienced the most destructive war in a lifespan at my father's generations can remember, so there cannot be another war on the korean peninsula.

this requires a peaceful solution, and to have a peaceful nlution you have to deal with them, you have tgotiate. >> woodruff: and how much are you concerned about the fact that you are dealing with the u.s. administration that's undergoing a lot of change at the top. how kech harder does that it to work with the u.s. on this very sensitive issue? >> well, it's people, but it's also institutions, which is why, despite the fact of the chan at the top of the state department, i have still decided to come because it's -- certainly, with people, you de clop artain camaraderie after a while, but that comes with part of the joband think that's what professional diplomacy requires. >> woodruff: i asked you earlier if you or your government trusts kim jong un. do you trust president trump? >> i have confidence in his ability to diver on his strong

desire to come to grips wh eais issue of the north korean nuclear missile th >> woodruff: well, foreign minister kang, thank you very much for talking with us. thank you, juy. >> woodruff: now, the threat to the u.s. power grid and other vital infrastructure. john yang has more on newly- ed hacking attacks by russia here at home. >> yang: judy, the administration has accused russia of a series of cyberattacks on american and european power plants, water facilities and electrical grids. officials say the intrusions began in 2015, and continued through last year. while the hackers had their rengers on the switches, so to speak, they appaly did not actually shut off power. the f.b.i. and other agencies tracked the hackers, and allege that russian intelligence is sponsible.

for more on these attacks, and the wir cyber battlefield, i'm joined by david kennedy, the founder of tsted-sec, a tech security firm. david, thanks so much for joining us. now, does this mean that they still have their fngers on those switches and can sort of wreak havoc at will? >> the eney grid in the facilities aren't like one interconrocted system. hout the united states there are a number of companies and it's a disjointed system. soihe f.b.i. is workingth all these different companies trying to fiend out what level of access they had to boot them out. there still could be access into the systemswe don't knw how widespread this was. the department of homeland securitydidn't give all the details. we don't know if they were still in the systems but we know theyt wergeting a large amount of our infrastructure so that possibly in the event there was armilconflict they could shut us down a large percentage f our infrastructure. >> yang: so this is in a way a

the uniteletti states know that they can do this if they wanted to? >> well, russia is being extremeli aggssive in a lot of different areas now and this is just one of them, especial on the cyber front. but what nations typicly try to do is have military preparedness that in the event there's some kind of military conflict and russia obviously sees western allies as being a major threat so, you know, our european allies, the united states, all us being major threats towards russian dominance especially when it comes to its allies, syria, iran, et cetera. so when it comes to that, russia nikes to have an upper hand whe it comes to, you know, in the event there was a conflict between the united states and russia, could, you know, russia have a substantial amount of impact back herin the united states on causing major disruptions. could it have a financial impact where it could shut down our financial sector, the lights ano r, could it stop water from flowing to our hopes and cause

water outages? those are all things that could cause a substantial amount of damage and pain here in the united states without even firing a missile. so thoserthings russia uses as capabilities to try to cause a lot of hurt on the utted states ie event that something happens. so those are, you know, capabilities that arwe no possible through cyber methods that all nation states are looking to develop, not just,si you know, ru iran is looking to develop them, north korea, china, you know, obviously, you know, nation e ates aren't necessarily, you know, good to tited states when it comes to relations. those are all things that can ppen when it comes to cybercapabilities, not necessarily the most, you know,v military ced capabilities when it comes to the united states, when we have, you know, d.lot of times the upper ha >> yang: david, you say all nation states are trying to do is the united states developing this against othrier cou? >> there was a big leak from the touation group traced back

the national security agency. a bunch of rustian actorole coal and published the code out and detailed a throughout of what the n.s.a. was doing and aa lot of operations they used to infiltrate a lot of different countries aboad. showed a lot of how they tracked through the swi network, the financial backbone of how they trk money laundering towd terrorist okayizations and how tey're able to track terrorists throughout the w tld. so we use types of capabilities as well. so the united states absolutely bercapabilities for launching these and we did the exact same thing. we're hacking into industrial control sysms for manufacturing, for, you know, grids, water treatme facilities. we're doing the exact same things to other countries as military capabilities. it's kind of we're going to hack them, they're goihack us. we're hoping we don't get discovered, they're hoping they don't. it's a military fight for cyber >> so cyber warfare is going on?

all the time, every day, as we're speaking and talking now, there are active hacks goi on. we're hacking russia, russia's hacking us, iran's hacking into us, we're hacking into them, it's a massive battle now.er s no talk around what this means as far as ramifications. think about it. if an accident accidentally happens, right, a slipup occurst and down half our power grid by mistake, is that an act ofar? does that constitute an act of war and we start launchingmi iles at russia? this is a very delicate situation. a lot of the systems, you talk about the electricrid, these systems haven't been updated in 30, 40rbgs 50 years in some cases, super, sewer sesitive, just by breathing on them in the wrong way can shut them down,e but mistakes are going to happen. there's possibility for loss of life. there's a lot of ramifications that can happen for these types of activities and we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg happening right now.

>> david kenned cyberwarfare, thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me appreciate it. >> woodruff: the secretary o state is fired. a democrat claims victory in aco ervative stronghold. and, that was just on tuesday. thankfully, shields and brooks are here to help make sense of it all.sy that iicated columnist mark shields, and "new yorkst times" columavid brooks. and we are so glad to see both you have this friday. >> yes. >> woodruff: welcome. thank you. as we just mentioned, david, the have been top people, the secretary of state, the chief ecomic advisor to the president, we could name many others, there is speculation a number of cabinet secbretaries may ovment we're showing a picture of a few of the names, mcmaster, the president's national security advisor may be fired by the p how do we process all this going

on in this admintration right now? >> trump is getting trumpier and the administration is getting trumpier.d he's deci the beginning he was on the learning curve of the presidency, he's got it mastered, so he doesn't need all the people telling hi no all the time. it's a process of him feeling coaortable with himself an process of him being anti-system. the white house worked through the system. you have this vast apparatus and normally it all works in some form with deputy meetings and principal meetings an that. trump sort of resists all that. all the proce is sort o within here or maybe lower, i don't know. and -- >> this is a pbs station. sorry. and, so, he'scided -- i'm happy here and i'm going to get rid of the people who are make meg feel uncomfortable. >> woodruff: mark, should we be wringing our hands over this or just ey, as th white house

does, he's just having people around him who make him comfortable? >> it's a new standard for hiring people for jobs, does he or she make me cofortable, not whether they can contribute to the public wheel and make the country bett or anything. so i want to salute dav f coining "trumpy," as onef sleepy and the other seven dwarfs. (laughter) but, judy, anytime you go through a wholesale firing,iot's an indicof weakness in a president. it's political uncertainty. t the two moscent presidents who did it, gerald ford in 1975 going through getting rid of ji schlesinger, secretary of defense dropping nelson rockefeller from the ticket, was a sign of political weakness, and jimmy carter in 1979 got rid of five cabinet members including schlesinger again and joe calafanto. and that's what you see with donald trump. but i think at a personal level

there e two things that have to be commented upon. first of all is that there is about this adsministration t fatiguing, draining aspect. people really -- americans are not consumed wi politics and policy and government. they want somebody who's going to run things and run them in an orderly way. this ha has been disorderly from day one, an it's draining. it really is, of the nation's well being and peace f mind. donald trump promised he would bring th best people, that he knew the best people, they would all come. ww we've reached the point, quite frank ri,here people won't even accept invitations to the white house to be interviewed or overtures.he running out of, i think, of personnel and i think he's running out of time politically. >> woodruff: but, david, the president himself saybes he eves in being disruptive.

he believes in sort of rearranging things, creatg a little chaos in so many words. >> that's true. he's accurate about that. ere problem is the staff nev knows what's going to happen. it's hard to do your job if you never know what's going to happen or being undermined with the president.yo ev looks smaller who comes out of there. tillerson lor.s smaller. cmaster is dangled, sterling reputation going in. he was compelled not to be tolly honestly early in th administration about what the president told a bunch of russian diplomats who came, that hurt his reputation. it's a process of sucking up, ga cohn the economic advisor had comments he was unhappy wih the way the president responded to charlottesville. so he fell out of favor and shows integrity on mr. cohn's part. they never had accesso the republican a-level staff but had

the b-level. now we're going down to c and d. larry kudlow, nw economic appointee. nice guy, i agree with him on a lot of ings. but phil tedlock is a sholar who studies disessionmakers and said kudlow is driven by ide ideology. john bolton who is a fox news analyst is anything but nw central on anything, and, so, what you just see is the wost personnel, more chaos. >> i agree with david. i just want to underline o point he paid, and that is, the way it's dondy, it's public humiliation, tillerson, in particular. but everybody is demind or denigrated in tweets afterwards. you know, again, i come back to ordinary americans just -- this is nt -- this is bullying. this is mean.

this is ugly. this is nott what you wan a president. finally, just a personal note, and that isg 50 years ao today robert kennedy announced candidacy for president. i was lucky eough to work fo him in the primaries in nebraska, oregon and califord a, t totally unearned status and credit because i worked for robert kennedy, one ofgreat men of the 20th century, in retrospect. but unearned benefits. now, peoliple of p service, of commitment have gone to work for donald trump. they're diminished, they're deneend, they're smaller, they're in a caldron of resentment and revenge in the white house, and they have legal bills anow they don't kn from one day to the next whether their job is there and what their job is. i feel badly for them. i mean, becausevery one of them is going to carry that with them the rest of their life. >> one other thing about having been around a lot of trump supporters in thlast week,

they've tuned it out. they support the administration, they like the big things -- the tax bill, deregulation, that kind of thing. i ask them about the things we talk about every week and it sort of drifts unnoticed. if you want to know why he's still got 9 90% approval among republicans, that's why, it getu d out. >> woodruff: something that's connected but in the political realm, mark, in pennsylvania, a congressional strict, special election, donald trump won this district nearby pittsburg h by20 points. the democrat won by 600, 700 votes, very close, but the a democrpears to have won. what does that tell us? does it say something about the fall midterms? what do we read? >>t does tell us soething about the fall midterms. someone who's lived through enough mid-term elections. when a president's job rating is

below 50%, the president's party loses onraave 43 house seats. when a president's below 40%, you're in uncharted territory. what it tells us is the democrats consistently are far more enthusiastic about 2018 than are the republins. the democratic turnout was higher. it was 67% in allegheny county as opposed to 60%. the turnout was phenomenal. more people voted tuesday than in the general election in 2014 when pennsylvania elected governor.t st of all, and david had a piece about this today, ca connor lam was a good candidate. it's the o hou representatives. in washington, democrats want to apply an 18point litmus test and unless somebody passes everyone, they can't spport him. ronald reagan said someone who agrees was 80% of our time is

our valued and cherished ally and friend and we are committede to t they are not our 20% enemy. connor lamb was a good candidates and didn't meet the litmus test and he can hold thao distriany district around him. >> woodruff: what do you read into it? >>lbviously the tides are in the democrats' favor. i saw a scat air graph of the races including state legislature races in the first eight months of the administration, and it was all over the place a democratic advantage but not universals. l in tt four or five months, it's universals. the democrats have a big advantage built in and that looks baked in even despite the great economy. for me, what is the democratic party ing to look like this year? the only way they can blow it is if they look like berkeley, california. if they indulge the inner passions, they could blow this. but in pennsylvania with connor lamb, they didn't blow it and they didn't blow it on two fronts, the most obvious is

havingman a political moderate. lamb said he won't vote for pelosi and is less than nter. i think people always vote against the style of the president they just had. i think because to have the exhaustion mark referred to earlier, a lot of people want to go against the trump characte style, and they want to go to people who put character first before policy. connor lamb former marine, comes from a good cathol school, talks about his faith, long, distinguished political family, just seems like a good guy. and when trump came innd violated the norms of normal campaigning in his own district, connor lamb did not answer. that's a siefn good aracter and will be in special demand this year. >> woodruff: it's 28 and lightning there strike for me bringing up 2020, but i can't resist because, this morning in new hampshire, onef the

republicans senators not running for reelection jeff flake of arizona talked to a group and here's what he said.. jeff fla >> it has not been my plans to run for president, be ive not ruled it out. i hope that someone does run in the republican primary, somebody to challenge the president. i think that the republicans want to be reminded whatt means to be a traditional, decent republican. >> woodruff: so whether it's jeff flake or somebody else, serious challenge, maybe, to t donaump? >> well, as of today, what david ntioned, the people had seen, there isn't that seemerringse ment. but when somebody does run, judy, as jean mcarthy did in 1968 and exposes the weakness or ronald reagan did with gerald ford or jimmy carter, it's because there is a weakness upon

the part of e incumbent. to jeff flake's credit, he's anc insuonist. >> a lot of people are making contingency plans. they're saying we can't wait till 2019 to begin planning in case we need somebody else. ey're building how do we get on the ballot and build a donor infrastructure. they won't do something if there's a trump meltdown but they suspect there may be and ope planning for it. >> when it comesoattails in 2018, donald trump and i apologize for this visual, is wearing a tank top. there's nothing to cling to if you're a republican. he's not going toou carry across the finish line and i think that could have the greatest impact upon whether in fact there's a challenge. >> woodruff: well, gentlemen, a it be said tht on march 16, 2018, we firstlked about 2020 >> mark shields, david brooks,

thank you both. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now, to life on the u.s.-mexico border. this week, the president went to california to inspect models of what a new border wall could look like. as debates over the wall and immigration continue, artistse and writers cl the border are trying to depict the realities on the ground. jeffrey brown recently travewhd to arizonae he spent time with a writer and poet whose work has bn shaped by the gion. >> the border is a line that birds cannot see. the border is where flt first met steel, starting a century of fires. >> brown: alberto rios's 2015 poem, "the border: a double sonnet." 28 lines. each, he says, its own mini poem, and a "doubled" format that represents the two sides of

a place often depicted in terms of conflict. but rios sees more. >> i don't try to write a story about the border. i try to write a story about the 28 versions of the border. 28 things, a let them, in that fragmentation, try to work together, try to become something. the border used to be an actual place, but now, it is the act of a thousand imaginations. >> brown: rios, a prat arizona state university, and now arizona's first poet laureate, was born in nogales, the son of a mexican father and british mother.r, >> the boror me, has very little to do with the wall or a fence. the border is everywhere and in everything, every step of the way in my life. my father was a very brown man. my mother was a very w woman. rit away, they were, they embodied a border. and thate lived in a place

that had a geographical markerca ed the border added to that. >> brown: he's seen en mous changes throughout the border region, even as its culture and language have shaped him as a writer. >> the border smells like cars at noon and wood smoke in the evening. so many people are dictatingat he border ought to be, should do-- and have never visited. the border is many, many things. we want to characterize it. it's like the word for pen. if i hold this pen up and i know that it's a pen, but that's all i can call it, i own it. that's it.at the end of the story. i can move on. but, if at pen is also a pluma, and in another language, is also a plume. if it's got three names, it must have six. and if it has six, it may have a thousand. and suddenly, this thing is wild in my hand. >> brown: language does that? >> language does that, because i have to choose at any given moment how i'm going to think

about this pen. how i'm going to think about the food i'm about to eat or the person i'm about to see. i have to choose. in a curious way, living on the border was the most american of periences because it always gave me the coordinating conjunction "or," which is the great american word. it suggests choice. >> brown: you mean between two between two cultures. >> beten two cultures, between two languages. and it also meant i had, every day of my li, i don't get to just presumptively say, "this is a pen." i have to choose to say, "this is a pen," because i also know it's a pluma and it's things. so i have to choose constantly. and i think people who grew up on the border are doing that all the time. the border is an equation inal search of an esign. the border is the location of the factory where lightning and thunder are made. >> brown: rios now has a public platform as the state's

laureate. an works with young people writes what he calls "poems of." public purpo >> something in me understands that i'm not always writing for myself. that sometimes i, curious as this might sound, need to lend myself out to others who alsoea need to i can tell people what to do or what they, what i think is happening. but taking the other tack of sharing stories, moments, things that have to do with border solutions, works. >> brown: and now, albios' words directly reach many crossing between the two neuntries. his poem, "border " is etched at the mariposa port of entry in nogales. it ends with these lines: >> wseem to live in a world maps: but in truth we live in a world made not of paper and ink but of people. those lines are our lis.to

ther, let us turn the map until we see clearly: the border is what joins us not what separates us.>> oodruff: and we will be back shortly, with a look at why a high-end custom tailor is ving his suits away. but first, take a moment to hear fr your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your

>> woodruff: and finally, to our "newshour shares:" christopher shafer has made a living crafting high-end suits, but as the newshour's rhana natour reports, he has found a way to use his talents to give back to the community. >> reporter: from his trendy studio in downtown baltimore, christopher schaefer designs custom-tailored suits. his shop is filled with patterned blazers, colorful ties and fabrics imported from london. and these one-of-a-kind designs, customized down to the button by

schafer and his son seth, start at $in000. >> everys made fromra h. we take the person's t.rsonality, and then infuse that into the garm >> reporter: for a man who makes pricey suits, schafer has a surprising passion: he gives them away. in 2011, schafer started "sharp dressed man." it gives donated suits to men recently out of prison or rehab and looking for work. >> there's a l of programs that do a lot of things for job readiness, but where sharp dressed man was kind of born from, was that the idea with what they were going to wear for the interview. they would do all this internal work, but wt about the external part? and it was kind of an afterthought. >> reporter: in the past three years, sharp dressed man has helped nearly 5,000 men, giving away 2,000 suits in 2017 alone. erroughout the week, schaf collects donations from his clients and local residents. every wednesday, he hauls the donations here, a former woolworth department store.

as the suit recipients wait to get fitted, they can get a free atircut and a hot meal. >> i really think he biggest thing, though, is a new guy gets treated with respect. o and sothese guys have not been. they have not treated themselves with respect, nor been treated with respect. >> reporter: 23-year obe tarod stewared as he tried on this suit-- his first ever. o> actually, i was in the streets running und and catching charges and stuff like that. real not nothing to be proud of me. now, i'm older. and i'm trying tmake better my life. >> reporter: shawn jones is , x months cled will soon graduate from a drug recovery program. >> when i put the suit, this suit on, it makes me feel like i've grown, i've matured. you know, i'm a productive member of society. i'm a man. you know, it made me just feel proud. >> reporter: christopher schafer knows about wanting a new leasel e. he was once desperate for it.

>> i've been clean for 13 years. so that's, that's kind of where the magic happens for me. is that i'm in a situation where i'm able to help, i'm able to help oth people. >> reporter: a lot of people can't imagine-- they've never been in that situation, what it's like to rebuild your life from zero. >> it's the hardest thing i've ever done in my life. you've got to have a, a lot of courage. i needed the support. you ne the support >> reporter: schafer is now supporting those at thebe nning of their own transformations, one sharp dressed man at a time. soon, his son seth will carry on that mission in los angeles, where he plans to open a second sharp dressed man. for the pbs newshour, i'm rhana natour in baltimore, maryland. >> woodruff: and on the newshour online right now: while rusa'presidential election isn't expected to be an upset, there's plenty to dighe intoit comes to how russians are feeling and the challenges vladimir putin faces.

you can find our analysis on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and tomorrow on pbs newshour weekend, puerto rican students displaced by hurricane maria adjust to school on the mainland. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> conmer cellular. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org.h

>> and we ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made e corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions tyour pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by

what president trump's visit to san diego and a conceessional ran pennsylvania m california. the police chief for oaklano sc says arming teachers will not make schools safer. >> iwas irresponsible, it was a ridiculous comment made by plus, the students in alameda sound off why they walked out of school this week. >> the >> hello and welcome to "kqed newsroom." i'm thuy vu. wen begin with a wild week politics. on tuesday, president trump made to california t since taking office. toured ther and examined wall prototypes. tn