captioning sponsor by newshour productions, llc ng >> braham: good evening, i'm william brangham. judy woodruff is on vacation. on the newshour tonight, president trump's pick to lead the c.i.a., gina haspel, faces questions over her involvement in the alleged torture of terrorism suspects.ad then, iranian s blast president trump over the decision to pull out of the nuclear deal, while european nations attempt to keep the agreement alive. and, our series inside the world of junk news continues. tonight: how we as consumers become vuleanerable to the spr of misinformation on social media. >> it does change your perspective. you do feel a little bit duped. but then, i guess, we're all in some way a little bit addicted so we keep going back in and in hopes that it will get figured out. >> brangham: ps... ♪ ♪

♪ this is america a new music video strikes cultural chord. how the actor and musician donald glover is driving a debate over race, guns and art. all that and more on t's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided b >> babbel. hea language app that teacs real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, ande.

>> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention, in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. mmitted to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporatron for publiccasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brangham: three american detainees are on their way home tonight from captity in north korea. the korean-americans were freed today, ahead of a planned summit between kim jong-un and president trump. it came during a visit to

pyongyang by secretary of state mike pompeo. pompeo's plane carrying the three men stopped in tokyo on its way back to the u.s. pompeo said they "seem to be in good health." later, at a cabinet meeting, president trump said the release was a gesture of goodwill in advance of their summit. >> nobody thought this was going to happen and i appreciate kim jong-un doing this and allowing them to go. i believe that we have, both o des want to negotiate a deal. i think it's going very successful deal. i think we have a really good ulshot at making it succes but lots of things can happen >> brangham: the president alsde ruled out thlitarized zone between north and south korea as the location for his meeting with kim. iran's supreme leader today lambasted prident trump for lling out of the 2015 nuclear deal. ayatollah ali khameneiccused mr. trump of telling lies, and he said the president is powerless against iran.ro an leaders called for finding ways to keep the nuclear deal alive.

we'll have a full report, later in the program. , yrinr mosaways g arin niair stngrike t killed at least 15 people, including eight iranians. the group says the targets, near damascus, wereeaponry that likely belonged to iran's elite revolutionary guard. syrian state media blad israel, and showed video of the attack. israel neither confirmed nor denied it, but the israeli intelligence minister said suc attacks should send a warning to iran. >> ( translated ): we are not going to conquer syria, this is intention. but there is importance to what we do on the practical level to bring this to iranian awaress, a clear conclusion, they have nothing to look for in syria, the price is too high. air raid sirens sounded on the golan heits, along the border with syria.ia staged its annuald war ii victory parade today, with president vladirumir ssputn and an array of new weaponr tanks and otlitary hardware rolled through red

square, along with thousands of troops. erplanes flew overhead, s carrying a hypersonic missile that putin has described as invincib. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was also tinre, for a mewith putin. a former c.i.a. casefficer is now accused of passing secrets to china, and possibly exposing u.s. informants inside chi, which caused one of the worst intelligence failures y. recent hist jerry chun shing lee was indicted tuesday after his arrest in january. he allegedly began selli defense secrets to china in 2010. his attorney says he's innocent. president trump today hailed thd results of t's republican primaries. in indiana, businessman mike obraun won the nomination challenge democratic senator joe donnelly in november. in west virginia, state attorney general patrick morrisey will face democratic senator joe manchin. morrisey beat former convict don blankenship, whom the presidentd had criticays before the election.

>> i'd also like to recognize president trump for weighing in in this race. mr. president, if you're watching right now, let me tell you, your tweet was huge! >> brangham: in ohio, richard cordray secured the democraticer nomination forr. the former head of the consumer financial protectionwill take on republican mike dewine, who is the state's attorney general.an ile, in north carolina, republican congressman robert pittenger lost hisrimary. he's the first incumbent to lose this year. nbc news says an internal probe has found "no evidence" of a culture of sexual harassment. that follows the firing last fall's of "today" show host matt lauer. he was accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship wh another employee. the network says senior management received no complaints against lauer before late last ar. and, on wall street, tech and energy stocks led the broader market hher.

the dow jones industrial average gained 182 points, the nasdaq rose 73 points, and, the s&p 500 added nearly 26. still to come on the newshour: the nominee for c.i.a. director faces tough questions. the global ramifications of the u.s. withdrawing from the iran nuclear deal. who consumes so-called "junk news," on both the right and the left, plus, much more. >> brangham: president trump's nominee to head the c.i.a., its acting director, gina haspel, went before the senate intelligence committee this morning. as nick schifrin reports, it waa activities that was front and center.

>> schifrin: for three decades gina haspel couldn't talk about her work. today she had to defend it. >>o welcome the opportunity introduce myself to the american people for the first time. it is a new experience for me as i spent ov 30 years under cover and in the shadows. >> schifrin: haspel joined c.i.a. in 1985 and has held at least 20 jobs, almost all clandestine. in the intelligence community she's well respected, said florida republican marco rubio. >> if someone like you cannot be confirmed to head this agency, then who can? >> schifrin: but the protests began before she even started. haspel's played pivotal roles in the agency's most controversial recent actions. after 9/11, c.i.a. created at lest six "black sites" f c what was thled enhanced interrogation. inside what are believed to be c.i.a.-run buildings, detainees were subject to brutal interrogation techniques such aa terboarding, sleep deprivation, and confinement in coffin-like boxes.

in 2014 senate democrats releasedde report saying inees had been "tortured," and the techniques were "not an effective means of acquiring intelligence." by then, the program had already ended, today haspel promised never to restart i >> i can offer you my personal commitment, clearly and without reservation, that under my leadership, on my watch c.i.a. will not restart such a detention and interrogation program. >> schifrin: but democrats wanted her to go farther. califo >> do you believe in hindsight that those techniques re immoral? >> senator, what i believe sitting here today is that i support the higher moral standard we have decided ourselves to hold ourselves to. >> could you please answer the question? >> senator, i believe i've answered the question. >> no you've not. >> sifrin: virginia's mark wa is the committee's top democrat. >> we need, i need to get a nse of your moral code says about those kinds of actions. >> i support the higher moral standard that this country has

decided to hold itself to. i would never, ever take c.i.a. back to an interrogation program >> schifrin: haspel's believedav torun a site in thailand where abd al rahim al-nashiri, accused of bombing the u.s.s. scole" in 2000, waterboarded. >> where was that moral compass at the time? >> schifrin: new mex heinrich.n >> when you're out in the tsenches at far flung outp in the globe, and washington says this is what you neis to do, s legal, the attorney general has deemed it so, the president of the united states is counting on you-- >> i know you think it's legal. you're giving very legalistic answers to very fundamentally moral quesons. >> in all of my assignments, ion have cducted myself honorably and in accordance to us law. >>chifrin: as a candiate, president trump vowed to bring the interrogation program back. >> i would bring back waterboarding and i'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding. >> what would yodo if the

president ordered you to get back in that business? >> i would not restart under any circumstances an interrogation program at c.i.a. under any circumstances. >> schifrin: in 2005 haspel was chief of staff to counter- terrorism head jose rodriguez. in the middle ofongressional and media scruny, haspel wrote a cable for rodriguez that authorized the destruction ofng videos sho.i.a. interrogation. independent maine senator angus king. >> was it a matter of coincidence that this decision was made to destroy the tapes iw sak that two stories appeared in american newspapers >> senator, i do not recall being aware of that. >> schifrin: the c.i.a. recently declassified a 2011 memo from then c.i.a. deputy director mike morrell that "found no fault" with haspel's actions. arkansas republican tom cton me to her defense. >> would holding you responsiblg for draf cable at your boss' direction make any more sense than holding a senatete speech wresponsible for the boring speeches senators give on the senate floor. >> senator, i'll defer to you.

>> i would submit that it does not. >> schifrin: haspel trieto walk a fine line between criticizing torture, withoutco criticizing heeagues who conducted it. texas republican john cornyn said haspel and her post-9/11 colleagues were beubg held to a standard. >> people have simply forgotten the circumstancethey were operating at the time, and doing their dead level best to protect the couny from attack. >> the committee is expected to approve her next we but it's not sure if she'll be confirmed by the entire senate. >> schifrin: so is gina haspel a good pick to lead the c.i.a? and, should she be confirmed by the senate? we get two views. john riz had a 34 year career at the c.i.a., from 2001 to 20 and from 2004 to 2009 h served as the c.i.a.'s chief legal officer. he along with 52 other former senior intelligence and national security officials wrote the senate in support ofl's nomination. and stephen xenakis is a retired army brigadier general.

he was one of 109 retired general officers who wrote a letter to the senate urging it to reject gina haspel if they confirmed she played a role in any form of torture or detainee abuse. he is also a psychiatrist and has counseled some of the men who were subjected to thei. 's torture techniques. and thank you both for being here. stephen xenakis, let me start with you. we heard gina haspel def herself today. she said, look, this was a product of the time. the justice department approved these enhanced interrogation techniques. >> she said a couple of other things. when you're on the front lines, you're expected to make tough decisions. and she and the others were in the position, and any responsible leader visa general or visa senior of c.i.a.-- is exected to make the tough decisions under tough decisions. they don't panic.ug they walk thit in a systemic, methodic way. they know their. professi they know the work.

and they know what's right. and i think this was a lapse in laip o her part. there was a lapse in knowing what was right. there was a lapse i knowing what was effective. and even though she had some legal cover-- and you can get legal cover almost-- in various ways-- it still didn't make it right or effective. and so i think they failed-- sh failed, particularly-- in not exercising good leadership and good judgment. >judgment. schrifrin: john riz was it neither right or effective? >> well, it was effective. a couple things, nick, first ofs all, in a leadership position at c.i.a. during those years. i was involved in the proam from beginning to e. miss haspel, i have to beci umspect here, because i know she was a little-- couldn't get into a lot of her precise responsibilitieses-- but i willh sas for miss haspel-- she was not in a leadership position

at the agency, and certainly was not in a ledeahip position, like i was, in the creationnd approval and implementation of those techniques. so, i mean, i think that's important to keein mind. >> schrifrinbut stephen xenakis, does that exonerate her, just because she wasn't in leadership? s >> i don't thi i mean, again, you're on the front lines. you have to make the tougon deci and you're in a situation where there aren't people thre, you're right, you're facing the problem, and you've got to exercise a judgment that you know is best and is going to work. interestingly, also, in listening to her testimony, she never answered directly if this was effective or not. i forget which senator asked her, "do you think it worked?" and she didn't say, "well, it works it doe't work." what she said was, "well, we got, eventually, the infor we need from the captives." it's not clear to me at this

point-- which i think is important-- she may in factth recognizt these tactics are not effective. >> may i speak to that? i will say for myself-- and i've said this before publicly, including in a memoir i wrote a few years back-- that the program was effective. i mean, asits moral-- as far as questions of morality or legality, the program produced results. the difficult part of this is that, you know, it is unknowable whether these detainees would have yielded the samewi informatioout resorting to these admittedly harsh techniques, and i hink that unknowable. and i believe miss haspel made that point at the hearing. it's a complicated, complex, difficult issue. >> schfrin: it certainly is but i think we heard democrats state today that this is about

more than whether it was fective or not. was about whether it was right and the morality. and you believe that it jus simply wasn't there, or at least her response weren't there for those answerses. >> her responsibility wasn't there. it's clearly immoral, and it's early illegal, for everybody. >> schrifrin: john rizzo, does it matter ifimit'moral? >> first of all, it was not illegal at the time. now a program like that co not take place today because congress subsequently, a few years back, basally prohibited any of these harsh techniques. >> schrifrin: right, but does it matter if it's immoral? >> oh, sure, that's a fact. for what it's worth, i believe there was a moral imperative after 9/11, both from the american people and fro congress, that the c.i.a. would not, could not, must not allow second major attack on the homeland to happen. i mean, as weall remember, those were very perilous times. in terms of the morality, ith

think-- k-- i believed then, i believe now-- c.i.a. in a moral imperative on behalf of the american pique people to protect the country, to protect thousands of people, innocent people from being murdered, and to use those techniques wiin the law that would elist the o kicritical intelligence that could prevent another major take takata onhis country. >> schrifrin: stephen xenakis, i want to get your thoughts que.kly on something els you're a psychiatrist who has seen some of these detainees who were subject tthe some of these techniques. what's the impact on them? >> oh, it's injured them. there's evidence of clear injurm and age, which is, i think is a further evidence that these tactics really were torture, and they were brutal. and we make it clear from ourst dpoint-- and i sit with a number of philosophers and lawyers at a center for ethicsf

and rule law at penn law school-- torture is illegal. now, there may be leg opinion that says "these, what you're doing is cleared," but torture is illegal. and this was brutal, and it injured these people, and in every ways it was toture. >> schrifrin: and i just want to get one last point in. gina haspel would be the first woman c.i.a. director. also the first operator, the first clandestine officer in more than 50 years. does that matter? >> well on, the first point it's certainly-- it's certainly a good thing th it a womans finally appointed c.i.a.di ctor. i don't think that, frankly, affects her qualifications aboul whether she e confirmed or not. but it is quite important, in my view, to hava career intelligence offer, especially operations officer, to head the c.i.a. i wked under 11 ci.a.

directors. none had the kind of experience that miss haspel has, and i'm telling you, on the inside, it is much easier and more efficient for the agency and fo the country to have a c.i.a. director in the chair who doesn't have to have on-the-job training. >> schrifrin: john rizzo, stephen xenakis, ank you both for coming in. >> thank you. >> brangham: now, back to the ongoing fallout to president trump's decision to break the u.s. commitment to the iran nuclear deal, and withdraw from the pact. worlide reaction continued today, including strong protests from withiiran. iranian lawmakerhad one reaction today: outright fury, to the u.s.'s desion to walk away from the 2015 nuclear agreement.in

de parliament, they chanted the usual refrain: "death to america!" and burned an image of an american flag. protesters made clear their fury an's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, was no more measured. yesterday's announcement. >> ( transled ): this man will die and his body will turn into ashes and food for wor ants, but the islamic republic will contie to stand. >> brangham: at the white house, president trump insisted that new sanctions were coming, and of w ae noniaarn regime. t eaog i would advise them very strongly. ifrehey do, there will be se consequence. >> brangham: in london and other world capitals today, talk centered on keeping the nucleare deal aithout the u.s. members of parliament challenged british prime minister theresaef may about herts to keep the u.s. in the deal. >> did she speak i

strongest terms on the lunacy of the actions that the president of the united states has taken? >> i have been very clear in a number of conversations with the president the united states about the belief of the united kingdom that the j.c.p.o.a., the nuclear deal with iran, should stay.ng >> bm: german chancellor angela merkel expressed her disappointment, and said germany would try to keep the deal together. >> ( translated ): we have noted o we will remain committedthe agreement and will do everything in our power to ensure that iran also meets its obligations in the future. >> brangham: from paris, french president emmanuel mron called iranian president hassan rouhani to express his view that both of their countries should honoring the agreement. but khamenei said today he didn't trust the u.k., germany or france. in beijing, a foreign ministry spokesman said china, which also signed onto the 2015 pact, would be sticking with it as well. meantime, american officials ramped up the economic pressure

against iran, and against those who do business there. the new u.s. ambassador to germany, richard grenell, tweeted that "german companies doing business in iran should wind down operations immediately." and rival manufacturers boeing and airbus could be two of the biggest companies hurt by the decision. the trump administration has indicated that the two manufacturers may lose their licenses to sell iran commercia airliners. now, two views on what is happening, and could happen, side iran. for that we turn to vali nasr. he's the dean of the john hopk international studies. he served as counselor in the obama state partment. and robin wright. she's a staff writer for the "new yorker," and a distinguished scholar at thest united states ute of peace. welcome to you both. vali nasr, to youe first. weeen the denunciations from the president and the supreme leaderf iran to the president's move. what do you think iran is going

to do next? >> i think in the immediate future, they're going to give europeans, chinese, and the russians time to see whether th can preserve elements of the deal enough economic activity with iran that might justice iran to stay with the deal. that might take 30-45 days. if that does not work, i think there will be domstic pressure on iran to essentially part ways with the deal. k think at the same time, iran would have to lr ways to convince washington that it's not as weak asand vulnerabl the administration may have concluded that it is. and that's, actlly, much tougher for them to do. >> brangham: robin wright, obviously, president rouhani is in a very tough spot here. he was elected, in no small part, to deliver on the deal, open up reltions with the wes and reap the benefits of this deal. what happens with him nou?th >> one o big questions about iran and its reactions is the context in which it plays b ou iauran s at a

critical juncture. they have aging leadership. the actuarial charts would tell you the supreme leader will at some point transit out of the world-- >> brangham: leave this world. >> and there will be a new one. the iranians have to seleca new one. iran has term limits on thehe presidency, sowill go to the polls, and president rouhani will not rune gain. estion is does this aid the hard-liners who are a minority but disproportionately powerful. and will this give them the leverage to re-exert themselves and say, "we were right all ssong. you can't do busiith the united states. they're still the great satan." we should stand up to them and vote for us instead. >> brangham: certainly, that is one of the argumen that the hard-liners always made, that you can't trust the americans. and some s, president trump has fulfilled that prophecy that they made. >> absolely. i think president rouhani and his team and his faction in iran madebet on the nuclear deal that it is possible to engage the west and perhaps change

iran's economy, anven political structures through an engagement with the west, and you trust united states and the european countries to work with you. i hink, at least in irane perception is that he's proven wrong, that the iranians paid a huge cost irms of liquidating its main leverage, which was the nuclear program,an he has very little to show for it. its economy is weaker now than in fact when the nuclear negotiation started. and actual of, actually, it doesn't have ch to go back the table with. i think at the same time, though, the harliners do ned president rouhani at this moment, because the economy is weak. i think he is in a better fogz keep the iranian public right sided. he is also the face iran needs in terms of engaging europeans, russians, and the chinese. on the other hand, i woulday that it is the hard-liners that hold all the cads regionally in syria, in iraq, in yemen, in afghanistan. and that's actually now the only

place where iran actually has something that the that they could use in order to get some degree of u.s., you know, spect for iranian power and--ha >> bra a lever. >> a lever, exactly. and that's in the hands of the hard-liners. >> brangha president trump believes he can renegotiate this deal. he believes that iran, is economically weak, andhe new sanctions will make them bite.ho realistic is that? >> very unrealistic. the prospects of iran going back to the tablere almost nil. at the moment they feel they have the rest of the world on their side. they have als,o, we belie developed a nuclear capacity d at they weren't going to build a bomb themselves st it because they knewhere would be some kind of regional response, international response, and they've gotten militarily where they want to be. the incentive fi them s to stay in the deal and seem to be complying. if they walk away frothe deal,

suddenly the whole world will be reimposing sanction sanctions ac wit more for them. t moment, if they play their cards right, they can reliever the short m. they will pay a very severe economic price for what president trump has done.m: >> branghat about the other argument that president trump made all along, which was the parts that were notn th deal-- iranian's development of baistic missiles, their ation elsewhere in the region-- the president wants those to be addressed. is there a realistic sense the iranians would change their behavior, would stop research on ballistic missiles to ght president? >> i don't think so. i think it actually doesn't make nse for them to d that, largely because that's the only lever they have. but, also, iu went back to 2015 when the deal was signed, the mosimportant issuwith iran was the nuclear program, then followed by ballistices missfollowed by hezbollah. you could have a list. the top of the list was the nuclear issue.

president obama removed that top of the list so we could focus on item two, three, four. now we put the nuclear issu back on top of the list. in fact, any pressure we bring on iraha is going tve to deal with the nuclear program, where the sunset clause, with all the things that president trump complained about. and i think, in effect, ballistic missiles, terrorism, hezbollah, regional behavior is going to r be pushed furtdown the line. and at the same time, you know, once the nuclear deal was signed, the united states gave huge amount of arms to iran's neighbors. created, if you will, a military deficit between iran and saudi arabia, which actually was the reason they doubled down on ballistic missiles and i do think iran feels vulnerability with srael in syria, it does feel vurnlt with saudi arabia. and that kind of sense of insecurity is not going to help them gese things up. >> brangham: robin wright, do you feel-- there are pressures on rouhani and the supreme leader to go full nuclear to, say we are done with this fully,

to kick the inspectors out, and to restart the program. do you really tehink th international condemnation and potential military action that would follow mea tha that's not going to happen, that they're not going to restart their proam? >> well, there's not much incentive to restart their program right now, unless it's in respon to what president trump has done. and they have threatened that id the u.s. ww, they had the option of withdrawing. there are a lot of options along the wath. i woulink that if iranians were gaming it-- and they're very good gamers-- that they would be looking more at a sponse in the region, whether it's what they do in syria, what they do in iraq, that ey look for those areas where the united states and iran have rifl rival interests and that's where you see-- because the hard-liwrs are more ful there, the revolutionary guards, the kind of milant wings of the regime will make some kind of response. hhat's where i think we're muc more likely than immediately restarting a nuclear program. >> brangham: robin wright, vali nasr, thank you both very

much. >> brangham: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: why several companiede large payments to donald trump'sel lawyer michaohen. plus, what donald glover's controversial music video says about race and violence in america. now to our special series on junk news. miles o'brien has been reporting extensively on how it's spread; how social media platforms have been utilized and honipulated; ansome folks have used it for business and other political motives. tonight, he looks at many of us, the users who see all of thisit and how 's feeding into our own beliefs about politics, a institutio government. it's part of weekly series on the "leading edge" of technology. >> i go on facebook cause

members of my familyndost pictures can keep track of my family that way. >> reporter: betty manlove use to be a smoker. not anymore. but she still battles an addiction. >> my other addiction is facebook. nglost hours on facebook that i should have been other things. >> reporter: and while pictures of her grandchildren and great- grandchildren lured her to the social networking platform in the first place, it is politics that fuels addiction. >> i was raised democrat, r,wee ive'vde >> reporter: we found this dyed t heri wchl stn way. her grandson is cameron hickey, the producer of this series. as part of our investigation ar tocnek orld of junk news, he misinformation.iend

among pages she has followed, those produced by cyrus massoumi, the prolific purveyor of hyperpartisan content we featured in our lastal inent. >> she said she doesn't talk to any of her kids, not my mom, kot with oths about politics because it seems like a challenge but she loves liking political stuff on facebook. >> i think social media has caused me to be more concerned with politics. >> reporter: facebook is exquisitely designed to feed betty manlove's addiction. the ever lrning algorithm knows her well and consistently provides contentigned to keep her at the screen and move her emotions, one way or another.em >> it like they want to stir up questions in your mind and ose kinds of things are meant to try influence you to change your mind and they don't. aney make me a little bit y. >> reporter: that's one thing betty manlove shares in common with another ofa of cameron's book friends. gabe doran is an actor and

soccer dad from brooklyn. >> look alive boys! >> reporter: he also admits he might be addicted to facebook. >> i got really involved on facebook which is kind of a waste of time to be honest with you, but it's how i choose to waste all my time. so, it's like dad ! i just waske an hour on facebook, really accomplishing nothing. that group is called "i am a liberal till my dying day." >> are you a member of that group? >> i n't know. i guess so, if you like it you are a member right?ep >>ter: gabe doran is as blue as betty manlove is red. >> i'm pretty liberal. for some, that's a bad word. i still don't really understm d that, but etty proud of s . >> reporter: he so liked several hyper partisan pages including cyrus massou liberal truth examiner. gabe doran got really hooked during the 2016 presidential election. >> i was in shock. i didn't understand, knowing

everything that we knew then, we know so much more now and there's still a lot of support. it's mind boggling to me. >> reporter: he too sees a lot that makes him angry. >> i have some right-wing friends who jump on me whenever i post these things and it starts a long back and forth. they're incredibly misinformed and there's nothing i can do about that with my facts and with my logic and with my common sense. >> reporter: but common sense,e cts, are not what keeps people coming back to facebook again and again. >> do you ever tried to verify the things that you see? >> sometimes if it bothers me. usually i just think political and go right on. >> reporter: raw emo untethered from the facts, is what causes the virtual food fight. jonathan albright watches all of w er dalresearch director at the journalism at columbia

university. >> i saw friends and people that i knew posting things that were, insensitive and things that maybe i wouldn't normally see them post, kind of outrage type political, almke outrage porn is what i call it. >> reporter: in this world, fringe players have equal footing, and because they are apt to bmore strident, they get a lot of eagement, and end up at the top of our newsfeeds, burying the middle ground.hi >> i maybe some of the polarization and they're kind of effects of what we'rseeing are really just the exposure of groups that, traditionally without such densely interconnected social media would never come in contact with one another. >> reporter: and everyone has made decisions about what to trust based on the conventional wisdom of a set of friends, our tribe. and we tend to agree with them. neither betty nor inbe say their ions have been swayed on >> do you think that you're going to change any of your

beliefs based on the news you re >> not u?nladess there's tremens proof that i should change what i believe. and these days, the actual truth kind of hard to come by >> i know that no one is going to change my mind about the way i feel and i know i'm not going to change anybody else's mind. >> reporte a "filter bubble"-- web publisher eli pariser coined the phrase. >> i had this nd of image of a filter bubble as this kind of personal universe of information thr follows us around where we go. and it filters out things that we might not want to engage with and shapes our own sort of view of the world. that's a really big shift from a set of editors and producers carefully thinking about what should go on the front page and what shodn't. >> reporter: it is a welcome shift for tty manlove who has very little trust of traditional media sources. >> i believe what i want to believe. i'm too much of an independent thinker to allow emotions to

take over. and news is news and opinion is opinion, and so i just go for the true news. >> reporter: but finding what is true in in her newsfeed is not so easy. she has been convinced barack obama was born in kenya. >> let him produce the birth w certificathich i hear doesn't exist. >> reporter: and parkland school shooting survivor david hogg is a fraud. so where do these ideas come from? from the filter bubble creates ston facebook by liking a r clicking on a targeted ad that unwittingly makes users followers of a hyperpartisan page. t mix, some misinformation from russia. her grandson helped her find that out by going to a site on facebook for users to see if they have liked any pages linked to russia's internet research agency. >> it shows that on the

6/20/2016 you liked this page, stopa.i, which is a russia facebook page. then on january 8, 2017 you liked army of jesus which is another russian page.ea >>y? >> yeah. let's keep going down. and another one and then on 6/20/2016 you liked one called secured borders. so, these three pages that you liked were pages created by russian intelligence agents to spread disinformation. w tmeel.>>'shal, i nt >> does it ever worry you that they might manipulating you? >> well, i'm sure thhey are trying to. i try not to be manipulated by p that, but itsible that i am. >> reporter: gabe doran says he is more likely to seek humor and entertainment stors on facebook. he says he goes out of his way to check stories for accuracy before sharing. he doesn't feel manipulated by

falsehoods but rathebook itself and a business model that rewards polization and makes users the product. >> it does change your perspective. you do feel a little bit duped. but then, i guess, we're all in some way a little bit addicted so we keep going back in and in hopes that it will get figured out, that they'll figure out the glitches and the stuff that's not workin t reporter: in our next installment, we'e you back inside facebook and show you how they're trying to fix what's not working. i'm miles o'brien for the pbs newshour, menlo park, california. >> brangham: there are new questions being raised about payments to president trump's personal attorney, michaelco n. the money went to a shell- company set-up by cohen, and they totaled more than $4 million, including about $500,000 from a u.s. company

with ties to a russian oligarch close to vladimir putin. john yang breaks down what we know. >> yang: william, the payments went to the company cohen says he set up to pay the $130,000 hush money to adult film actress stephanie clifford. her attorney, michael avenatti, revealed the payments in a document posted online. to help us unpack alhis, here's rosalind helderman, a "washington post" polil investigations reporter. rosalind, thanks so much for joining us. of the payments you've been able to confirm, who did they come from, and how much money are wet talking ab >> we're talking about, i think it's about $2.5 million that seems to be confirmed at this and they come from some major u.s. and for.gn compani they include at&t, novartis-- a pharmaceutical company. they include this company columbus nova, which is a

u.s.-based affiliate of a company that is owned and founded by a russian businessman. one thing that ties a number of these companies together is that they had major issues pending fore the u.s. government. but each of them, in turn, have essentially said that that's not why they hired mr. cohen, that they hired m for various reasons -- to provide real estate advice, to provide accounting advice, forisl gal o. >> yang: and, rosalind, iknow ere was a filing late today, michael cohen challenging some formation that michae avenatti put out. what can you tell us about that? >> yeah, that's right. th just came in i think within the last 10 minutes or so. this is lawyers for michael cohen saying basically two things in court about the avenatti information. on the one hand, they seem to be conceding that some of it is accurate because they say it's a sign that avenatti improperly has accessed michael cohen's

bank records, and they're trying ce get the courts to for avenatti to say where he's getting this information so they can assess whether he properly should have access to that information. at the same time, they cited f the details that have not been cooferred in the med, ca few additional details that are of on the last page that o avenatti pt, and they're suggesting that that information might actually bese fa >> yang: in addition, the treasury department inss ctor general gun an investigation on whether any confidential banking records have been tampered with. why is avenatti so interested in this? y is he putting this out? >> i think that he-- what he has said is that it gives you moreat infon about the sort of process by which hislient, miss clifford, was paid, because michael cohen seems to haved this same bank account that he u used to pay stormy daniels, as, she better knos he did for all these other transaction. he saythat hs strategy is

working. he's on tv a great deal, as your viewers probably know, and as a result, people are just sending him information that is rel exprant helps inform thef mamr. cohen and president trump, and 's trying to publicize that. >> yang: what else is sort of intriguing about tse-- the source of these payments? >> yeah, i mean, i think onein that's very interested is the sort of picture you get of the swamp as it exists under donald trump. of course, president traip ran t the d.c. swamp, and one thing that's been very clear is that people soashtsed with president ttrump, wih his campaign, with his business, who can argue to major companies that they know this very hard-to-unrstand world of trump's washington suddenly have found themselves with very marketable skills. i spoke to several people like that just today who said essentially that their phones re ringing off the hook, starting in january of 2017, from companies who wanted to, yolyknow, ess throw money at them to understand

donald trump. >> yang: and not only understand donald trump, you said that some of these companies had business before e government in the past couple years. >> yeah, that's right. at&t was-- is going through a merger, which requires department of justice approval. foat's an important thin that company. they say it's unrelated to these payments. novartis, their c.e. thhai.o ap. they, too, say that that was unrelated. but these are companies that have-- another one of them, koreanpa aer makes aircraft and is competing for a very,ge very laontracwith the u.s. air force. they, too, say that's unelated to these payments. but these are companies that hae things they rying to get out of the u.s. government. >> yang: andprsesroid, ent trump's personal attorneys, rudolph giuliani, is saying this evening th no knowledge of these payments

to cohen. but this story will go on. rosalind helderman of the "washington post," thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me >> brangham: in just a few days, almost 55 million people have watched a music video online called "this is america." as jeffrey brown explains, the video has also set off an intense debate about violence and race. >> brown: the video is beautifully shot and choreographed... infectious in its beat... jarring in its violence and imagery. and it's clearly struck a nerve, touching on painful racial history. and a contemporary culture of mass entertainment and mass murders. it's the work of donald glover, known for writing and acting in the acclaimed tv series, "atlanta," for his comedy, and for the music he performs, as here, under the pseudonym, "childish gambino." wre is an excerpt from "this is america," with aarning, for

some of the violent images it contains. ♪ this is america don't catch you slippin' up ♪ don't catch you slippin' up ♪ this is america woot don'catch you slippin' up ♪ don't catch you sliin' up look what i'm whippin' up ♪ this aisrime scartkr, ayy ♪ look at how i'm livin' now >> brown: the "this is america" video has elicited all kinds of reaction, pro and con. we're joined now by tre johnson, a contributor to "rolling stone" who just wrote about the piece. tre, first of all, in general terms yis it striking such a chord?nk

>> tfor having me on. i think it's striking a chord for a couple of reasons. one, i think it represents a pretty strong departure forome the work donald glover had been to go that people k previously hwn. a lot of his work, as you had eoted, had been much more in t comedy realm, and this is a daerk, starker rereflection of at ftaohis nr laughs. i think a lot has to do with you're watching what seems like an endless loop of caos violdce, pended on the black we're in nowadays. >> brown: what other specific themes or history are used inth i have? >> i would say there were a couple of things.is ther obviously, the shootings. there also the shooting shootint takes place in the beginning of the video, where you see a black guitarist, who is peacefully

trying to do some music, and he is kind of merclessly executed right at the beginning of thenk what's interesting to watch is there is an ever-evolving increasing chaos and violence that's happening in the backgr ind. some of very reminiscent of some of the protests and riots that we've seen in light hof afaln du leo to policeal bry other and types of gun violence. i think, too, what you're also witnessing is just the wai that some of this imagery, some of these scenes and tragedies have been captured. so one of the starkesimages i think that pop up in the video for me is when you see the cara pan up to the rafters, and there is a group of small caack children, who are using cell feens to ture a lot of what's happening around them. >> brown: there really is a mix here of entertainment-- you know, the music and the dancing, evenun at ti-- with this-- with guns and violence and all you were just referencing. but it is a kind of in-your-face

juxtaposition. >> yes, i think that's purposeful. i think fair couple reasons. i write about this in the article. one is the i i think a times l o blaotfck arsts understand the neeo transform their community's pain and trauma into art, andth sometime art looks very joyful because we're looking for ways to uplift ourselves and to heal from a lot of the things that are visited upon us in the community every day. i alsothink you look at, like, kind of the-- kind of, like, the tension between exploitation black culture and black pain for media and popuularture consumption. ring.ere is an aloofness arounda sometimes it's consumed without the context or the care about the actual pain and the real-life circumstances that are involved in the lives of back artists and the communities that they often represent, when byy're kind of taken in people who are several altitudes removed from those kind of day-to-day circumstances, too. >> brown: you know, i d that there's been a lot of negative reaction. there's many, many layers and t.rains of tha part of it, of course, is

questioning the convenience and how much that is necessary, howh much oviolence is shown. some talk questioning glover'sd motives s own background and what he's bringing to this. explain what you're hearg in terms of the critique out there. >> yeah, you know, i hear some of those same critiques. i think for some fo ilks, thedea ctionalized--ven black violence on the screen is unfortunate because i think a lot of people feel lie we've already become very viral in seeing the image of black dies, either through police footage, or, again, captured on cell phones, luroped through social media feeds and across text message chains all the time. i think, too, again, you know, i think what i jarring aut the oideo itself is that you watch glover's only kin facial contortions as he moves from scene to scento scene. i think there's a desire to see him kind of linger into the stare and acknowledge the pan that some of these images are

causing for people, or how they are resonant of things that are happening that people identify with all the time in terms of losing family members or friends or other relatives to the-- to gun violence itself. and i think lastly, what i really challenge people on is, you know, art is going to make people uncomfortable at times.i anhink what i i really like to do is focus on crediting how much it is black artists are choosing to take on the hard labor of holding the tension between interpret and more nuanced conversations about american life which i think is given a pass to the manseam white peer ayersts. for me, i'm more interested in what is the art telling us versus the motivation behind it. i think the conversation we'rha trying te around what this art is producing in front of us is much more wothwhile than trying scrutinize and parse what everyone's individual

>> brown: just briefly in our last minute, i mean, i can see a lot of people wondering just what's going on here? how much of it is glover making a serious statement as opposed to making a provocative piece of entertainment himself? >> yeah. i mean, the tough answer might be that it could be both. he might want to actually-- you know, i think this is a subversion of pop culture typically being the thing that is escapm, that makes usl good, that makes us feel happy. i have been saying, watching this season's "atlanta" one ofth the greatesngs he's been doing about this is changing the expectations on what we're doing in terms of engaging with trouble pop culture media. both "atlanta" and "this is america," are choosing to take on a darker, harsher toneth nk, lastly, this fits-- "this is america," "atlanta" fits into a wider conversation

around back culture, you look at "lemonade," you look at even some of the things that soan knolls has done with "seat atle" they're looking to pick up theot n loof t to contradictions about what we say we value about hoblack lives, and thenwe actually address black entertainment when it chooses to stand up and represent kind of li chaotic, nuanced experiences around brack lives inside i a widersociety. >> brown: all right, tre johnson of "rolling stone," thank you very much. >> thank you. >> branam: on the newshour online, we're hosting a twitter chat on thursday at 12:00 p.m. eastern about changes in higher education and how we support college students.ur that's part oferies "rethinking college." find the details on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that the newshour for tonight.

i'm william brangham. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pho ne, thank you and goodnight. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular understands that not everyone needs an unlimited wireless plan. our u.s.-based customer service repsnan help you choose a pla based on how much you use your phone, nothing more, nothing rnless. to lea more, go to consumercellular.tv >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals.

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we we're the history detectives, and we're going to investigate some untold stories from america's pt. in this episode, we discover if this beautiful old spyglass once belonged the "prince of pirates. so it is possible that this spyglass was owned by jean lafitte? bl very pos fits right into that period designwise. elyse: we find out if a family-run rrprinting firm printed cuency that funded e mtihcwh.etonher my comny,uknw maverick clarke lithographing, at the time produced these beautiful nos. gwen: an we use scientific techniques to disaiver if this old building