captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening, i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonht, to meet or not to meet: u.s. officials continue to make plans in north korea, but will there be a summit? then, it's politics monday-- the political blame game over immiant families being separated at the border. and, on this memorial day, remembering the women in uniform. a look at the only memorial telling the stories of the nation's fastest growing group of veterans. >> i feel like i carry a proverbial shovel with me because the path has been dug, but i dig a little bit deeper and a little bit further for the next person. al>> nawazthat and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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>> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> nawaz: for many americans, today is a day of solemn remembrae for those killed in military service. president trump paid tribute during a memorial day service at arlington national cemetery outside washington. he laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier, and thanked the families who've lost loved ones in service to the country. >> the heroes who re in these hollowed fields, in cemeteries, battlefields, and burial grounds near and far are drawn from the full tapestry of american life.

they came from every generation. from privilege and fom poverty, they were generals and privates, captains and corporals, of every race, color and every creed. >> nawaz: several former miliry leaders criticized president trump today for tweeting that fallen troops would be "very proud" of how the country is doing under his mministration. retired army generartin dempsey, a former chair of the joint chiefs of staff, responded: "this day, of all days of the year, should not be about any one of u" new efforts are under way to put a u.s./north korean summit backn rack. officials from both sides met long the border between the koreas. another u.s. team headed to singapore, the potential summit site. meanwhile, south korean president moon jae-in sayse may meet again with north korea's kim jong-un, after holding tas on saturday. we'll have more, after the news

summary. the florida panhandle is bracing for flash flooding and possible tornadoes, from the storm named "alberto". it made landfall this evening near panama city, with heavy rain and sustained winds of 50 miles an hou the storm emptied beaches in much of the state as high winds swept up the surf. it's expected to move north in the coming days. a powerful storm hit oman and yemen this weekend, leaving 13 people dead in its wake. it was the strongest recorded cyclone ever to hit the area, with wds of 110 miles an hour and flooding that swept people away in their cars. oman got thre times its annual rainfall in just two days. the people of colombia now facee a preial run-off, with the future of a peace deal with rebels in the balance. conservative ivan duque easily led sunday's first round, with leftist gustavo petro in second. duque ran on orhauling the 2016 deal that ended five

decades of war with the "farc" rebels. petro, a formemayor of bogota,ts supphe deal.an >> ( ated ): we are ready for a clash of ideas and proposals, a high-level debate where we can air our differences so that colombians at the ballot box define the country's direction. because i'm sure that hope will overcome class hatred. >> ( translated ): the sort of cal forces that a surrounding duque appear to have a ceiling. in contrast, we, the forces of free citizens, have no limits. you can be sure wen,re going to nd change the history of colombia. >> nawaz: the run-off is set for june 17th. former president george h-w bush ismeack in a hospital, this in maine. the 93-year-old was admitted sunday with low blood pressure and fatigue. he'd been staying at his summer home in kennebunkport. mr. bush spent 13 days in a

houston hospital after his wifen barbara, diepril. and, an immiant from mali has won french citizenship for saving a child in paris. mamoudou gassama met today with president emmanuel macron. amateur video on saturday showed gassama climbing four storieto reach a four-year-old boy, who was clinging to a balcony. gassama recounted his actions, today. >> ( translated ): no i didn think twice, i just climbed up and thank god, god helped me. the more i climbed the more i had the courage to climb up higher, that's it. >> nawaz: the video of gassama's heroism went viral on social media, and he was quickly dubbed "spiderman." still to come on the newshour: will the u.s. and north korea be successful in reviving plans for a summit? political stakes: the president blames democrats for immigrant children being separated from their parents.

honoring the millions of women who have served in the united states military, and much more. >> nawaz: over the weekend the pace of diplomacy with north korea has picked up in an effort to revive the summit between president trump and north korean leader kim jung un. foreign affairs correspondentri nick schreports. >> schifrin: amna, thank you. two u.s. teams are trying toec resuthe summit. one is in singapore, working on logistics. the second met with north rean officials in north korea. that team is led by veteran diplomat sung kim, ctly the u.s. ambassador to the philippines, and also includes assistant secretary of defense randall schriver, and alison hooker from the national security council staff. these meetings come after another extraordinary show of friendship between north korean leader kim jong-un and south korean president moon jae-in. they met this weekend hours notice, their second

summit in just the last month. president moon is the man in the middle, pushing both sides toward the summit. and to talk about all this, i'm joined by patricatmceachern, a department official focused on east asia who's currently on leave at the woodrow wilson international center for scholars. thank you very much for bei here. >> pleasure to be here. last week a senior white house official said ju12s, i'm quoting him here, like in ten minutes, suesting it was impossible to get the logistics ready by june 12. is it ispossible at thoint to get those logistics ready? >> i don't think so. look, in your intro you noted how the north koreans and south koreans were able to set up a summit and execute it within 24 hours. it might take the united states a little bit long tore execute these sorts of things, but i don't think it's you be reoistic we should be able get it done by june 12. the real challenge won't be so much th logistics but the policy preparations going ont

riw. >> right, so the policy preparations are happening, presumably, as far as we know, in north korea, in these meetings going on. do these teams have to agree on an agenda or a document that president trump and kim jong would sign together or is it even less than that? >> i think they ned toagree on some sort of agenda. what are the t leaders going to try to accomplish when theyme in singapore or wherever they might decide to meet in the end. this isn't an effort to tree to tee up a peace treaty or a detailed map to denuclearization. i think a successful summit would men having a gneral road map of the way forward for denuclearizationnd what sort of reciprocal concessions the united statewould have to make, and i think that's what our team in north korea i trying to harm out right now. >> so that's what a lot of hxperts seem to want to, slightly lower expectations.

but president trump has not they have been quite high. at one point, he's saying the mmit could create peace, regional peace and stability. so do you think the expectations need to be lowered? >> well, i think it's appropriate for both sides, natural thotwo sides into negotiation looking to have their maximum demands possible, and then they narrowed differences from there. so i think that's where president trump is coming from and trying to say, you know, he wants to see denuclearization right away, but that that doesn't mean that that's the only thing we's willing topt ac >> so there's a divide on denuclearization, how quickly that may happen, we may see that play out in theumt. the other variable is the level of security guarantees north korea asked for and the u.s. is willing to giveae. we president moon say over the weekend the north koreans have real concerns about those are security guarantees, so what kind of security guarantees does the north nt to hear from the u.s. in order to reciprocate

with quic denuclearization? >> well, the two sides will each define their own demands, so for the united states, we get to define what we mean by denuclearization because that is our demand of the north koreans. by contrast, the north koreans get to define what they want in terms of seurity guarantees and we try to find where a match is between the two. what ththe nororeans will request as far as security guartees or preure relief, kim jong un hasn't articulated that to us yet, so we don't knoh exactl they will be looking for. >> we saw these extraordinary images, to think that we' had two summits between president moon jae-in and president kim jong un. does their relationship help push along the summit but could it also threaten the alliance between the united states and south korea? >> i think it pushes along the

u.s.-tprk summit. i think moon jae-in has done a good job of bringing the u.s. and north korea together. his treaty is with the united states. the reason he's meeting with the north koreans is they're the enemy, pointing 8 how artillery tues toward th south capitol. moon jae-in is firmly on the american side, but tryi to broker a constructive peace forward. >> but some people are concernet there could be a divide between what south korea has the priority for endingor then war once and for all and the u.s. priority of denuclearization. >> it's natural allies won't see things 100% the same way, but the united states and south korea have tig aligned interests and values and i think that will will havewhelm the differences, and the united states and south korea have met

a great deal, their officials have all visited washington recently to make sure there is no daylight between seoul and washington moving forward. >> patrick mceachern, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> nawaz: north korea remains a focus of washington politics, but there is also growing attention on immigration, and immigration enforcement. d that's where we'll begin this "politics monday," with amy walter of "the cook political report," susan page of "usa today," and from santa ana, california, cindy c, a reporter who covers immigration for the "los angeles times." amy and susan, thanks for being here. want to get to a little bit of breaking news we've had just as we've come on air, we just learned representative thomasub garrett, rcan from virginia, announced he's

struggling with alcoholism and won't seek reelection. o give me a sens what this means and what we know about his district and how this chang the landscape ahead. >> this is a district outsides of chrlottesville. garrett was a member of the freedom caucus. i think it was in politico that outlined the challenges many of his staffers wevre haing, this was a very demanding box, asking them too things that were completely inappropriate, including cleaning up after a w dog thuld come into the office and have problems that needed to be takn care of he announced in something of a rambling press conference last week he was going to come back and run for sure forct reen. the news today is not that surprising given all the stories that have come out since the press conference. the question is whether or not democrats can make this a real race. part of the reason the race is competitive is garlfrett him had a number of controversies and he was not a particularl f

strongundraiser. but it also points to the fact that republicans now, this would be something lie their 30t 30th-something, i can't remember the number of total of retirements on the part of republicans, which is the highest mber we'veeen, that go back to the 30s of retirement from republicans. anime there's a open seat, the party want to hol td it. you want an incumbent there. >> 44th house rep choosing not to run again. it's a big number and a sign we aren't sure how good year this is going to be for democrats but republicans specific the house ve decided it's going to be a very good year for democrats running against them. even in this district, trump carried the district by is 1ge percenoints last time around, south a republican listrict will you not so overwhelmingly repn that you couldn't imagine in a good year demtocrats winning >> we're in a buy week when it

comes to primaries. look for back for me, susan. what if we learned in terms of trends moving forward? how does that inform the eight states that have primaries nxt week? >> one thing that's struck me is the nature of the two parties. p the republicty we've seen in the primaries is trump's party. u is is trump's republican party. e almost no republican candidates who are running forhi office fall criticizing the president. some talk about him more than others, some embrace himore closely than others. but there was almost no criticism of trump among reblicans running for ofe. in the democratic party, this in sanders' democratic party, not for bernie sanders in particular, but bernie sanders in his more progressive stance has really taken hold. berniede san' candidates, the candidates endorsed by our revolution and his groupthe group affiliated with him, have not done so well in con elections, but the whole party has moved to the left. you think about the primaries coming up next week, the big one

in california, dian danne inste, fifth term, she's clearly moved to the leseft innse to the energy of the party being on the progressive side includinnow saying she opposes the death penalty, in opposition to the position she's taken in the past. >> nawaz: amy my colleague david wasserman took at the primaries that have taken tace, we're about rd of the way through primary season. 65 raceons the democratic side featured at least one woman, one man and no incumbent, and women won 70% of those.th e is not a similar trend going on. the republican side, they onlyn want republimen who are not incumbents have only won about 20% ofheir primaries. california which is coming up on june 5th, lots of wom running, close to 30 women on the ballot, obviously, the not all going to win, but that's going to be very important. the most important thing to watch for california is this

thing called thewop to primary, a new law put in place af10. in order to make the primary more open, encourage more people to come d vote and thee threatcally even in a very conservative or vey liberal dictator give voters to get a chance of a more moderate member of that reigning party. in this case the challenge for democrats is because they have so many candites, the top two vote gette regardless of party, go on to the general election. the two two vote getters in the most important districts democrats are looking at to win in november may end up with two republicans in november, shut t democrats, that would be a big blow to democrats' chances to taking the house. >> i want to ta aut something else that could make headlines later this we and months to come, immigration. the president was tweeting about it over the weekend. he tweeted "put pressure on the

blmocrats to end the hor law that separates children from their parents once they crossin the borde the u.s.." he went on to talk about catch and relse, lottery and chain migration and, of course, building the wall, has been a signature promise of his as well. but this issue of separating families at the border, amy, walk me through this. what does that have to do with the democrats? >> well, in that tweet, together, it also conflated two issues, i think, which is reporting oat had comet recently about unaccompanied minors, children who had some bh selves into the country and about 1 1500 of them re not located, of the 5,000 or so that were put into foster care or given to family members, they couldn't locate 1,500 of those. that is different from this conversation the president tweeted about about separating families. this is actually a trump administration policy

specifically outlined bythe attorney general jeff sessions at the beginning of may. he is quoted as sng, if you don't want your child separated from you, then don't bring them across the border illegally, and other members of the administration saying that this program of takinfamilies and you know, putting thech dren -- unaccompanied children in a different place from their parents was done as something of a deterrent, as a way to say to potential bordern' crossers, do it, this is the consequence of that action. >> nawaz: let's get more on eis from somone who covers immigration specifically, cindy carcamo joins us from the "los angeles times." a lot of attention being paid to these two immigrati stories over the weekend, continuing into today. one, the family separation issue at the border and, secondly, th issue of up to 1,500 lost or missing ildren. can you help us shed some light on those two stories and what we kn to be true? >> yes. well, i think we have to kind of

take a sep back in regards to why it is that we're at this poin now, in regards the new policy by the trump administration. r a long time, it's been a misdemeanor to cross the border illegally, but, now, whatng they're ds they're actually prosecuting or referring for prosecution a lot of these people who are crossinr illegallsking for asylum at a nonport of entry. essentially, what's happening is the parent hareaving referred for criminal prosecution. the children are being placed in separateousing. and beforehand, that really wasn't happening as much.r there incidents of that, but this is going to be an ongoing policy for the trump administration. so i think that tha we're talking about in regards to separation of families, and that's whao a lot of peple are up in arms about. but we always have to remember there'slways been this law on the books and simply what the

trump administration are doing is they're enforcing this law. in regards conflating these two things, in regards toan unaccod minors that came in 2014, and so forth, you're seeing on com sociamedia a lot f children in cage-ke conditions. a lot of those photos were from 2014 takeduring the obama administration when children were coming unaccompanied and there were so many of them they didn't know where to house tm. i did a tour of one facility in nogales, arizona, where a lot of children were sleeping on mats in a warehouse facility and they were caged. so i think we have tunderstand that, even though we're under a different administration, you d have similar poicies beforehand, not the complete separation of families like the trump administration is doi now, but you did have families and family detention. you hadildren who were in

detention. so we do hav to remember that you had a similar situationen hag beforehand. maybe it wasn't like poly, but it was happening in some instances where people wereg separated ale border and, also, families who were kept together but they were kept in acdetention. ugly, the obama administration b back family detention. i think we have to keep that mind. >> nawaz: cindy carcamo from the "los angeles times." thanks for joining us from here in studio. susan page and amy walter, thanks for be >> you're welcome. w >> nawaz: stayh us, coming on the newshour: a canadian experiment that guarantees a basic income. from the newshour book "the soul of america"-- how americans survive in the time of turmoi an iraq war veteran asks us all

to reflect on the real meaning of memorial day. and the powerful symbolism behind an incredible display of red poppies.s on tliday, individual stories of service and sacrifice often get lost in thlines. tonight, judy woodruff reports on a memorial dedicated to the three million women who have worn the uniform on behalf of the united states. >> woodruff: this gathering of military women is not the kind of event that captures much grtention each year, when members of the csional caucus for women's issues gather to pay tribute to outstandg soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors, at the "women in military service for america memorial" at the entrance to arlington national cemetery outside washington. and each year, comes a refrain that more should be done to ibcommemorate their contrions: newly-nominated secretary of

veterans affairs robert wilkie: >> unless we know the stories, and the sacrifices of our women in uniform, we cannot understand the sacrifices made to make this a more perfect uon. >> woodruff: to really know those stories, the women's memorial is trying to registerma every who has served in the u.s. armed forces. so far their count is 265,000-- only about 10%. women are the fastest-growing group of veterans. they have served in a variety of roles dating back to the american revolution and as of 2015, are cleared for all combat roles. women vets or their family members have to "opt into" theer regi there is no automatic government database that the private memorial can access. major general dee ann mcwilliams, esident of the

women's memorial foundation, says the more names, photos and stories gathered at the 21-year old memorial, the rericher the ovl story of women's military service. >> this is the only ial to women in the world. this is the place where the story of those women can be told and shown to theublic. >> woodruff: she told the story of one son who found his mother's entry, and only wished he had made the effort sooner: >> he saw the sign, came into the memorial, and pulled his mother up. he had never seen his mother in uniform. her on face time and showed his mother she was registered and took her on a tour of the memorial and when i caught up with him he was sobbing because hehe never brought his m here. >> woodruff: the register is housed in the memorial's education ceer that showcases more than 240 years of american women's service with theli miry.

from the cane of dr. mary walker, the only woman in history to receive the medal of honor, to the world war i dog victory medal belonging to helene coxhead, who joined the navy at 18 and said those were "the best years of her li. to a display on women p.o.w.s in world war ii. and a photograic accounting of the growing and varied roles women played during the vietnam war. there's a special exhibit honoring jessica ann ellis, a combat medic in the army, who died at age 24 when an i.e.d. blew up her vehicle in baghdad 10 years ago this month. she ea arned bronze star and purple heart as part of operation iraqi freedom. and visitors can see close to 7000 yellow ribbons suspended from the ceiling honoring every fallen service member killed in

theater since september 11th. 88-year-old retired brigadier general wilma vaught, who joined the air force in the 1950's was one of the earliest women to make the rank of generalr. offi she was also the first woman to deploy with an air force bomber unit. general vaught was the driving force behind the memorial:er >> sometimesce in the military takes all you can give. all you can give mentally. all you can give physically. >> woouff: chief master sergeant lisa arnold agrees. >> i think that a young woman needs totandend that she can be very successful because of fothe women who have come her. >> woodruff: she oversees development of long range stratec plans affecting over 250,000 service members and was the first woman to be a command chief in afghanistan, leading

over 2000 air force enlisted men and women in the war. "paying it forward" rt of ovr mission: >> i look at it asg the next roadblock out of the way. so the young lady behind me doesn't have to do that. i feel like i carry a proverbial shovel with me because the path has been dug but i dig a little bit deeper and a little bit further for the next person that wants to join our service and it doesn't matter what service we're all sisters in arms. >> woodruff: another "sister" with a shovel is sergeant major christal rhes of the u.s. army who was honored with arnold. rheams has performed a variety of roles from aiding humanitarian efforts for cuban refugees to mentoring military distress vo serving as a list in the us army band. now, she's a role model to daughter, aria, who wants to be a militaryawyer and attends college on a r.o.t.c. scholarship.

>> the stories send a signal. i think it's interesting to look ba and see who's done what. you know it will be interesting for my daughter for example to be ablto look up and you know "thats my mom" or my granddaughter or my great granddaughter. you know it's important for those stories to be told and to be held somewhere. >> constantly seeing my mom readily like go to work and put like selfless commitment just to the country like just spenkeng i was that's something i would love to do too like i would like to be like my mom. >> woodr auff: awomen serve in greater numbers, there are reminders of the ultimate sacrificof course, such as major marie rossi, the firstwo n in military history to serve in combat as an aviationom unitnder during the first persian gulf war. she was killed in the line ofir duty when heraft crashed. 1.9 million of themination's 20 ion veterans are now women. the memorial organizers say,

it's important to acknowledge their stories in life, and commemorate them in death. >> nawaz: the economy may be doing well by many measures, b for years there have been real concerns over wage growth andth overall standard of living. so perhaps it's not surprising that at least one recent survey showed growing public support for a new government program that would guarantee some income to citizens. there are small pilot projects how it could work. our own economics corrpondent paul solman travels to canada to see one of the larger programs for our ongoing series "chasing the dream" on poverty and opportunity.

>> reporter: cheanios, it says gluten." "without gluten." >> i may not speak frenct i've been in a bilingual country, so i know what sans gluten means. >> reporter: a tuesday trudge to the local gr iery storen hamilton, ontario >> love the organic vegetables. >> reporter: this is the first time 29-year-old alana baltzer has been ablto afford the healthy food here at the mustard seed co-op. because, she says, when you're poor... >> it's buy the stuff you can afford, which is generally quick, easy and all processed d high in sugar and trans fats and all the other unhealthy stuff.or >> repr: that's all that baltzer could afford on her $57t a welfare disability check. but ontario will now give hers. $1130 month, no questions asked, as part of a three-year basic income pilot launched late last year. >>round the world, people

believe that basic income could provide a simpler and more effective income support. >> reporter: the idea's also being piloted in finland and california. now it's ontariooo. >> how are people's lives changed, how are they able to do better in their lives, preventy illness, stain school, get jobs and keep jobs. >> reporter: ontario premier kathen wynne. >> we should be looking at different ways of providing bpport, ways that actually don't punish peopl actually support people in getting on with their lives ande producer outcomes. >> reporter: 4,000 randomly selected ontarians in three communities will get about $13,000 a year, u.s., for a single person, $19,000 for a couple. in exchange, recipients give up some social supports and the ment gets back 50 cents every dollar they earn. >>t is definitely the biggest basic income study in north america.ou

>>on't have to show that you're sick, you don't have to show that you can't work. you get it as a right. >> reporter: research director kwame mckenzie and his team will analyze the results. >> we're going to see if it increaseyour chance of coming out of poverty. we're trying to see if it makes your housing stable. we're trying to see whether it improves your mental health. whether it basically decreases your use of other services, such as hospital beds. >> reporter: turns out manitoba launched a basic income experiment in 1974 that the provincial government later pulled the plug on. >> it was an incomplete study. >> reporter: but long after, researchers studying the da found... >> we've got less health service use, we' got mental health improving, we've got people going back to coe ege and theytting better, getting better this is a great thing. right? >> reporter: but was it a fluke?

and could the same policy produce like results 40+ years later? well, for jodi dean and family >> see you tomorrow! reporter: 10-year-old daughter madison has suffered from both brittle bone disease and epilepsy since toddlerhood. >> jodi, how was your day? >> it was okay. reporter: yes, canada has universal healthcare, but not for the e.r. commute. >> as far as parking goes, we're not coveatd for that. $25 an emergency visit. >> reporter: how many times has she broken a bonbl >> she's prohad at least 70 breaks. >> reporter: how many times a month do you t hapay for parking? >> two to three times a week. >> reporter: basic income now covers, in effect, half parking the bill, a huge relief for someone who never dreamed she'd be poor, used to volunteer at the live without it.uldn't >> how do you go back to where you just gave that time and telr

them now youe in need? >> reporter: jodi dean, like alana baltzer, lives in hamilton, a once-thriving steel city of 750,000 within hour of toronto. >> we used to have 40,000 people working directly in steel, and today, it's probably closer to 7,000. >> reporter: tom cooper, who directs an anti-poverty project, claims he's already seen benefits from the program. >> many of the individuals i'ved tao who are on the basic income pilot are going back to ahool, wanting to improve their opportunities to getter job. >> reporter: moreover, he says: >> there's not the oversight we see in traditional social assistance systems tha trequires peopreport monthly on their incomer their housing status or their relationship status. >> reporter: while most poor ontarians didn't make it into the pilot, balzer d, and no longer has to deal with the welfare system. >> you do not have the bureaucracy involved with welfare or disability.

if you get a job, you simply call and let them know, submit your pay stubs, bit a boom, bada bang, done. >> reporter: your mom made it into the program. has it had positive effects for her? >> oh, god, yeah. she's more ecstatic about not ving to deal with ontari works, the welfare workers. >> reporter: the pilot has even induced baltzer to lose five pounds since november; more exercise, re confidence. >> the first time in years i've been able to wear high heels without groaning in absolute pain and sheer agony. >> reporter: as for th depression she has long struggled to fend off... >> it'nice to not have a full blown episode because i'm about whether or not i going to be able to eat tonight le to pay my rent or do something as simple as laundry. >> reporter: other pluses? well, from the government's point of view, it no longer has to subsidize baltzer's housing, so the pilot is costing ontario less than $700 a month more. >> it's important to measure

that and measure use of government services. >> reporter: but if balzer attends college in the fall, as now planned, and then gets a job, government would be off the hook entirely. >> it's also importanto measure whether people are actually generating wealth. because everybody's thinking often about the cost, but people don't always think about the possible economic benefits. >> reporter: but look, say skeptics, basic income will cost a pretty, albeit canadian, penny goinout, while benefits may never actually flow in. >> i don't think the savings are actually going to be there. so, i think that's misleading.or >> repter: that's local lawyer david wakely, who says if the prograis extended universally, it would cost ontario two-thirds of its annuarevenue. and he doubts recipients will gg to school a job. >> where someone can stay home and get a basic income guarantee. this jt serves as a safety blanket, a security blanket for them, because they've alwaysot

this income to rely on. >> reporter: and, as i asked former.s. union leader andy stern, isn't that the time- honored objection to a basic income? if you pay people to do nothing, isn't that an incentive for theu to conto do nothing? >> there are always people going to stay at thome ae advantage of government programs. there are a lot of wealthy ople and children who are paid to do nothing, and it doesn't seem to affect them ing vital and involved in society. >> reporter: john clarke of the ontario coalition against poverty doesn't worry about poo people taking advantage of a basic income. but he does worry that the program is a move to take advantage of them, by laying the groundwork for the elimination of government-provided social workers, health care, e eventual privatization of social services.o >>u're shopping for healthcare, you're shopping for housing, you're shopping forpo public traation, childcare, all these things and

is is the prevailing agenda at the moment and a basic income system takes us in that direction. >> reporter: moreover, says clarke, a basic income creates downward w e pressure on the working poor. >> if you create a situation where low wage workers are receiving a significant portion of their wages out of the tax revenues, then t pressure on employers to increase wages is reducees the prre on governments to increase minimum wages is reduced. >> reporter: so how to know, then, if the costs outweig benefits? >> we can have all these theoretical discussions. or we can say let's do a test and see what actually happens. what are the costs is it a more efficient way of giving people who need it, support? what are the benefits? doe it grow the economy t? and then we n have a rational discussion based on evidence rather than just based on theory. ha>> reporter: and rathern based on promises of breaking

the cycle of poverty which mighn or mig, in the end, be mainly smoke and mirrors. for the pbs newshour, this is economics correspondent paulso an reporting, mainly from ontario. >> nawaz: tomorrow on the newshour, more in our chasing the dream series, with a reportg on heleople remain stable after they start work and begin to earn incomes again. >> nawaz: on this memorial day, judy woodruff has the latest from the newshour bookshelf. r woodruff: putsen prize-winning autn meacham is best phone for his presidential biographies of andrew jackson, thomas jefferson and most recently george h.w. bush. last month meacham delivered a eulogy a at funeral service for

former first ladyarbara bush. "the soul of america: the battle for our better angels" is meacham's latest book. jon meacham welcome to the "newshour". thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> woodruff: you bring that the idea for this ca after you had a colleague call you uprr after the le events in charlottesville, west virginia st summer. a woman died in the white nationalist rally >> woodruff: how did this get from that to the book? >> it kept rattling around in my head that we have been hear before. american history we tend to think of inlg nos terms and nostalgia is a powerful narcotic, but, in a way, itoes a disservice to the past. it suggests the struggles of ths past were not pitched or contentious as our own. again in again in american history, we've run ry close to try to get things right, but we've always managed to get to gher ground.

what i wanted to try to figure out is to what extent is this period we're in now, which feels dispiriting and depressing no stter where youtand on the political spectrum, people are unhappy, how does this compare to moments in the past wherems division so be the rule, not the exception. >> woodruff: did you find truehe parallels, >> mark twain is supposed to have said history doesn't repeat itself but does rhyme. history is not cultural loft but should give us a perspective. at what point should we light our hair on fair or a given tweet reallupset us? and trying to create that sense of proportion by putting this moment i context with andrew johnson, a president ding reconstruction who issued a state paper saying that african-americans were genetically incapable of self-government, or joe mccarthy, who chased after innocent people, using the media of the day to create this

hysterical feeling. these were moments that were incredibly difficultyet, we now have a country, even now for all ar problems, that, b large, we can be proud of. >> woodruff: so take us inside one of those moments. i mean, the clue ku klux klan rising in the 1920s and '30s. how did the coury grapple with that and get through it? >> there are parallels because there was a great deal of anxiety about immigrants, there was a great de anxiety about global affairs becae we had come out of the first world war, and working class, middle class white movement refounded the ku klux klan. there were senators, governors who were explicitly members of the klan. how did we get through it calvin coolidge limited immigration so it took some oxygen out of the fair, but also a free press said this is not who we are, harding and coolidge

said this is not who we are, t d, ultimately, our better angels prevailedast briefly. >> woodruff: there are so many other examples but one of the principle one is the red scare, after world r ii, the 1950s, is mccarthy era, and roy cohn was a figure, someone who co incidentally was a mentor to donald trump, was a figure. >> we hope itco'cidental. >> woodruff: yeah. in many ways the9 130s and early $1,950 are the most aknoll gauss periods. in the '30s we had a question about whether democratic capitalism would survive the decade. president roosevelt could have aculled the powers of a dictator if so inclined. in the middle of the '50s, joev mccarthy a speech saying i have in my hand the names o 205 communists. he didn't tweet it but might as well of, and it lasted about four years. what happened was he understood

the media, howire services worked, he understood raid you, he understood television, he understood how to control the narrative. any of this soundiliar is this. >> woodruff: yeah. but what happens? the people in congress sto up, margaret committee, republican of maine, was one to have the first. they ended up censuring him andd they ep arguing america is most herself when we widen the definition of what we mean by equality, not narrow it. >> woodruff: one to have thki questions i really be compared of today when you have this expsion of cial media, twitter, facebook and all the rest of it, just this n-stop environment of news and conflict? >> well, but imagine if you lived in a p-print universe, having a newspaper come every week or every month seems like o suddenly cwded arena.

imagine the 1920s when radio suddenly nationalizes the culture. imagine the early 195 when television explodes. i think it's somewhat self-referential and self-defeating for us to think that this is the worst tim ever. just because something's happened before doesn't mean it's not happening now. but we can't, i think, suggest that our problems are insuprable because they're nit unque. they's always been this struggle in what i calerl the an soul. people say the soul of the country is x. actually, no. in hebrew or greek it means lie or breath. so in hitory we have room for dr. king and the clan. >> woodruff: everyone would agree the country is deeply divided no matter which side you'ren. a lot of people believe this

presidency is exactly what they wanted. >> their cres and concerns cannot be dismissed. write this book not becicause am presidents in the past have always risen to the occasion but because the incumbent rises to it so seldom. i think there are lessons to be learned here. i wish the predent and those who serve him would realize that ity rewards the presidents who reach beyond their base, whh try to unifycountry and not simply cater to a givenudience and a given free disposed set of supporters. >> woodruff: and finally, how much does it matter that this is a president who i think many of the people around him say has not paid that much attention to american history? >> oh, i think he'said almost none. i had one conversation with him and it was lke pulling teeth, except pulling teeth might have been more fun. all i can say is that he's living in a house wreere t are portraits of people, some day his portrait will hang

there, and what i hope he would do as he walks down those hallways, if he looks up from his phone, heuld realize that li will want to be seen in a warmer and betteght than he is right now, and, you know, as winston churchill once said, the fubuture sun knowabl the past should give us hope. so i think we have to hold on to that hope. >> woodruff: jon meacham with another book, this one is "the soul of america: the battle for our better angels." thank yo >> thanks, judy. >> nawaz: kevin for the army before finishing high school and went to basic trai graduated. after he he was in iraq for a year and when he returned home, hetu managed to c some of what that experience was like, in hip criticalised novel "the yellow birds." powers says it's hard to record what you are truly thinkg and feeling in combat, because in many ways, you aren't doing

either-- much of the fighting ha adrenaline.inct and that's the situation so many americans still ce and in powers' humble opinion, what we need to remember tonight. >> if you're watching this today, perhaps you'rein ta break from a family barbeque, or maybe you've just returned from shopping for some much needed item that this weekend's sales have allowed you to purchase. i hope the extra time with your loved ones is rewarding, and the long weekend aeaatisfying from the challenges of work, or school, or parenting. but i humbly ask ye to consider llowing. 14 years ago, i spent memorialin day lofor i.e.d.'s in and around the city of mosul, iraq. i had only been in country for t couple of , and the brave my unit had not yet suffered its first casualty, and as summer ple fingers ur iraqi citizens casting their votes felt like a cause worth facing that danger for. but soon enough, somet shifted.

attacks increased in both intensity and frequency over the summer, and by the time autumn came around, several members of my companhad been wounded, some seriously, and some terrifyingly so, especially when you knew you had to go back outside the wire again the nex day. i'll admit, i was scared pretty much all othe time, but i did my job to the best of my ability, and itill believed that we might all make it home wgether. but that's not h goes. close to christmas, as 2004 was coming to a close, our unit lost two young men, sergeants nicholas mason and david ruhren. they were both 20 years old. i grieved for them and their families then, and i grieve for them today. and i would ask you tosionr e fact that on so many of the

days between that one and this one, there havbeen others to ieve for. less than a month ago, a young man from colorado was killed in afghanistan. when i came home from iraq in 05, he was nine years old. so today, i'd ask you to take a moment to ask yourself, "how many more names might be added to the long list of those we ar asked to remember next year?" and to also remember the thousands of veterans, actively serving men and women, aie grieving famof their fallen brothers and sisters, for wh memorial day doesn't just fall on the last monday in may, bueon every single day of rest of their lives. >> nawaz: now to our newshour

shares, something on this memorial day we find of note. "the poppy memorial" to the national mall in washington, d.c. this weekend. represents an american serviceman or woman kin combat since world war i. in world war i, a canadian officer vis aiting comrade whom he had lost in a grave site saw poppies growing up among the he penned a poem in flanders field. three years later an mirn come wrote her own poem we shall keep me faith. woman teacher mohel wrote her own poem, "we shall keep the faith," and in that she said we should never forget the fallen. ad she recommended wearin poppy as i'm doing. so from that day forward, the poppy has been the symbol of the fallen. the memorial is located here on

a ideal location on the mall, surrounded by the vietnam merial, the korean memoria the lincoln, the world war ii memorial, so that americans can see the connection between those memoris and 645,000 lives lost. when you think about our history and you think that woirld wa was the war to end all wars. and we've had world war ii, korea, vietnam and our mennd women in service are in combat right now. i think that has a lot of significance on both sides. the tragedy as well as then inspiratat they're willing to live there willing to fight for their country if necessary die. we need to stop and reflect and think about what memorial day means as americans. are men and women that made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be free. >> nawaz: on the newshour online right now, two women poets and veterans share howring has helped them heal from p.t.s.d. read their poemand more on our bsite, pbs.org/newshour.

and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us again here tomorrow evening. and we leave you tonight with images from this memorial day as we continue to remember and honor those who have given their lives in service to this country. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> major funding fho the pbs newsur has been provided by: >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation.

supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. he >> supported byohn d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed 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 corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

elyse: we're the history detectives and we're going to investigate some untold stories from america's past. wes: this week, was this classic colt .32 us used by the infamo outlaw pretty boy floyd on his final fatal flight from the law? gwen: could this inner city baseball stadium hide a shocking story of segregation and corruption in late 1940s atlantic city? tukufu: and could this 200-year-old muster ll reveal how african-americans fought for freedom during the revolutionary war? iv ♪ watchin' the detees ♪ i get so angry ♪en the teardrops start ♪ but he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart ♪