captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: gooevening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, zeroxa tolerance:ning the trump administration's tough immigration enforcement policies then uninvited: a visit to the white house by the super bowl champions is cancelled. and, 50 years later: remembering the life and legacy of robert kennedy. >> i think that we have to recognize that those of us whoha the advantages that you ve and that i have, that we have an obligation and responsibility to those that do not. >> woodruff: all that and morebs on tonight's p newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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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. 's>> woodruff: the preside former campaign chairman, paul manafort, will face a hearing next week over accusations he tamped with witnesses in his criminal case. special cosel robert mueller's team says manafort tried to persuade witnesseso lie about his lobbying work for pro- russian politicians in uaine. manafort has pleaded not guiy to money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent. meanwhile, president trump lashed out at attorney general jeff sessions on twitter today, for recusing himself in the russia investigation. in a separate legal challenge, a federal judge in new york

ruled today that president trump can be deposed in a defamation lawsuit, brought by former "apprente" contestant summer zervos. zervos alleges thaibmr. trump fo groped and kissed her in 2007, and then defamed her by calling her a "liar" after she spoke out. the president's legal team is awaiting an appeal. senators will spend much of this august on capitol hill, after jority leader mitch mcconnell canceled a majority of the summer recess today. mcconnell charged today that, "historic obstructionism" by democrats has stalled the senate. l minorider chuck schumer insisted democrats were eager to get to work. >> we've got a lot of appropriations bills to-- to pass. we've got this backlog o nominations certainly we anticipate and hope to have less obstruction on those. >> healthcare, we welcome the opportunity address it.

and we're going to work very hard in august to reire our republican colleagues to do something about it. > woodruff: but more time in washington means less time on the campaign trail for senators fighting for reelection in the midterms. the white house's top economic adviser says the president hopes to split nafta negotiatiras into two se trade deals with canada and mexico. larry kudlow told fox news that mr. trump will not withdraw from the north american free trade agreement, but will "try ach different appr trade representatives from the three countries have met multiplhse times in recent mo to work out a new deal. he is very seriously contemplating a shift in nafta negotiations. his preference now, and he asked me to convey this, is to actually negotiate with mexico and canada separately.>> oodruff: today, mexico announced new tariffs of 15 to 25% on u.s. agricultural andpr

steeucts, in response toby tariffs imposehe trump administration last week. canada vowed to continue negotiations. iran says it's preparing to ramp up its nuclear enrichment thogram if talks to salvag 2015 nucar agreement fail. the u.n.'s nuclear watchdomesaid iran infthem in a letter of "tentative" plans to start increasing uranium eichment capacity. israel's prime minister warned of iran's intentions in paris today. he's urged european leaders to take a tough stance against tehran. >> ( translated ): ayatollah khamenei, iran's leader, declared that his intention is to destroy the state of israel. yesterday, he said how he would do this, by unlimited enrichment in order to produce an arsenal of nuclear bombs. we are not surprised, we will not allow iran to obtain nuclear weapons. >> woodruff: the u.s. pulled out

of the nuclear deal last month and imposed new sanctions on iran. france, britain, germany, china and russia remain in the agreement. a new report says medicare is running out of money even faster than predicted. ole program's trustees say medicare will be int by the year 2026, three years sooner than last year'sec pron. social security is set to runey out of my 2034. edeasury secretary steven mnuchin acknowlelong term issues persist" with both programs, but insisted they remain secure. the white house aide who drew criticism for mocking senator john mccain no longer wks in want of administration. kelly sadeer ma light of the arizona senator's health tondition in a meeting las month. mccain has been battling brain cancer. change is coming to the miss

america competition. the organization announced it's dropping the swimsuit portion, and ending a requirement that contestants wear evening gowns. chairwoman gretchen carlson said miss america will no longer judge women on their physical appearance. she's part of an all-female leadership team appointed after the pageant's former heads came under fire for disparaging contestants' weight. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average lost 13 points to close at 24,800. the nasdaq rose 31 points, and the s&p 500 gained two. the fashion world lost an icon today. designer kate spade was found dead in her manhattan apartment. police say it appeared to be a suicide. spade built an iconic handbag and clothing empire, kate spade new york, which she sold last year in a $2.4 billion deal. she was 55-years-old. still to come on the newshour::

zero toleransenator goes to texas to learn about the trump ministration's immigration policies; the super bowl champions are uninvited by the white house; rebritish double agent inside al qaeda, and much mo >> woodruff: there were fresh calls today for the trump administration to end its policy of separating falies at the u.s./mexico border. william branam begins our coverage. >> brangham: the numbers show the scope of the crisis. according to u.s. customs and border protection's own figures, more than 650 children were separated from their parents at the border during a two-week period in may. just today in geneva, the u.n. office r human rights condemned the situation. >> there is nothing normal about detaining children.

the u.s. should immediately halt this practice of separating families and stop criminalizing what should at most be an administrative offence-- that of >> brangham: these separations are occurring in large p t because, in april, attorney general jeff sessions ced a "zero tolerance policy" at the border.ec sessions dd authorities to criminally prosecute all instances of illegal border crossings. under past adminisweations, thes usually treated as civil cases. the department of justice correctly points out that its new policy makes no mention of separating families, but under criminal proceedings, children cannot stay with their parents, anso they are separated. during an appearance today on the hugh hewitt radio show, sessions again defende policy. em

>> brangham: docrats and immigration rights groups argue these separations are the clear intention of adminstration policy, but president trump today blamed democrats, tweeting: "separating families at the border is the fault of bad legislation passed by the democrats. border security laws should be changed but the dems can't get their act together!" the president is likely referring to laws passed under previous administrations, including one okayed unanimously by congress in 2008, and signed by president george w. bush. it called for releasing immigrant children into the "least restrictive setting" while their cases went through immigration court. all this led oregon democratic senator jeff merkley to visit the texas bord region sunday. video showed his attempt to enter a federal facility where some of these immigrant children were being held. he was denied entry, the police were eventually called, and merkely was told to leave. >> they don't want anyone to know what's going on behind those doors.

>> brangham: a spokesperson for the department of health and human services, which oversees the children, accused merkley of grandstanding, wting in a for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: and just back from texas and now back in washington, senator merkley himself. so, senator, what did you see exactly at the border? >> well, i saw two things. i was able to go to a processing center, and i was given permission to enter that.y that's run the department of homeland security. and in that processing cenonr, you haveroom where people have just arrived. there are cyclone fence and post cages in which people are put. bu was very, very crowded. folks had nothin their clothing and thse space blanket, tin foil contraptions. and then they went rough processing. and then there was a warehouse warehouse with much larr units, also built with fences and fenceposting. and there people were separatedr

ch were separated from their parents. and there was one enclosure that had a significant numr children, several dozen-- maybe three or four dozen crei- and they were lining up for food, and they were going from the smallest to the largest. and what ju really struck me is the little kid at the front nf the line must not have bee four, five years old, and they ascended in height through 16 and 17. and i was just sitting there thking about some of these were unaccompanied minor. but many of them were without their parents because the administration tore them out of their parents' arms and put them into this enclosure. and these are folks who are applying for asylum. so they have experienced horr horrendous circumstances hoverseas. the in mind that statue of liberty and the fact we are a nation of folks with ancestors who came to america escaping affliction, and thewhat what happens? they're aplymouth countyed by our own government. >> woodruff: senator you used

the term-- you talked about cyclone fence." you used the term "cages. e whactly did you mean by that. >> by page, i'm sorry? >> woodruff: i'm sorry, when you said cages, where people are held. >> it's fenceposting and cyclone fence, and it's like what you turingsee if you were pic a-- like a dog kennel, how that would be constructed in a yar and much larger, a variety ofa sizes, but tht's-- that's the structure that's used. >> woodruff: senator, i want to cite what the administration has said because you talk about these families being retraumatized afr what they've been through. the administration says, look, it's our policy to use the least-restrictive accommodation possible for these children. is that what you saw? once these children were separateut >> no, absy not. so the administration adopted a new policy in april, and sessions gave a speech on it in may, saying that they were now going to rip t children out of

the parents' arms when those parents were awaiting a hearing for asylum. and that means hearings to present their case on the affliction they experienced in their home country, and whether skthey were at rihould they return. we've always treated such families graciously,se we have a whole history of people coming here escing affliction. but experts are weighing in. they're saying what damage this does to th achildred, of course, completely stresses out the parents to have their children taken away and sent to some unknown place. >> woodruff: senate, ciesm things. hs you know, the president tweeting todayat democratson are reble for this. he pointed to bad legislation that's been passed over the decades. anjust heard about that in that report. >> this is a complete phony argument. there is no legislation that says y have to take chiren away from their families when they're waiting for an asylum hearing. this was a policy that was debated inside the adeynistration. irst deputy don blankenshiped it shortly after trump came into the office.

they had did a lot project with it last summer. they were very consciouslyad making ainistrative decision to inflict this harm on the children in order to influence their parents. and sessions confirmed that again today when he talked about, "we need to get the message out for people not to come." e argument was, if we afflict the children, the parents will not come and seek aylum. >> woodruff: the white house-- again, i'm sure you've heard thistoday-- the white house spokesman is accusing you of "irresponsibly spreading blatantalize, smearing hardworking, dedicated law enforcement officials" who are working at the border, and then goes on to tak about some things that have happened in your own home state, wheregr imts have been treated badly. >> yes, the administration doesn't want to address the actual issueci of their on to afflict children to influence and so they're change the topic. they're running a smear campaign. they're attacking me on a number of things.wh realiz that is. that is an enormous distraction. it's important for the media to go back to e exphrgz say, "quit changing the topic.

why did you adopt this policy? why are yoin infliharm on the children to influence the parents, as you have described that youre doing?">> woodruff: senator jeff merkley of oregon, just back fr the border with xico. we thank you. >> you're welcome. thank you,udy. >> woodruff: the president is i engaging agaa bitter cultural battle with n.f.l. players over the national anthem, questions of respect for it and the right of players to protest. as amna nawaz reports, this time the stakes involved a trip from the super bowl champion philadelphia eagles to meet the president, and a decision by mr. trump uninvited the team after many players opted out of seeing him. >> nawaz: these are some of the superbowl ampion philadelphia eagles the president was planning to meet at the white house today. a meeting that's become almost as much a tradition, as the victory parade itself.

but president trump cancelled that meeting saying too many players opted out at the last minute, and that they disagreede with his inse on standing during the national anthem. du fact, none of the eagles players took a kneng the anthem last season. today, the white house hosted what they called "a celebration of america" instead. flanked by the united states army chorus the president spoke briefly. >> we stand together for freedom we come together for patriotism this is a beautiful big celebration actually to be honest, it is even bigger than we had anticipated >> nawaz: the president has long railed agast players who take a knee during the national anthem, to protest police brutality and social injustice. the issue has become a common rallying cry.et >>hat son of a bitch off the field right now. out. he's fired, he's fired. >> nawaz: last month, the n.f.l. bent to the pressure, cing

a new policy, requiring players to stand for the anthem or remain in the locker room. the league had hoped it foid a compromse. but a number of eagles players opted out of the white house visit. several criticized the president's cancellation and statemen wide receiver torrey smith, who spent last year with the eagles and is now with the carolina panthers, tweeted: "no osi refused to gly because trump 'insists' folks stand for the anthem. the president contues to spread the false narrative that players are anti-military." the battle continued throughout the day. two n.b.a. superstars, lebron james and stephen curry, said neither of their teams would visit the white house after one of them ns the current nba championship. howard bryant has been watchingl all of thiely. his new book is called "the heritage: black athletes, aam divideica and the politics of patriotism." he's a columnist for espn as well and this evening he is in hartford connecticut. howard, thanks so much for making the time. i want to begin by asking you abouthat decision made by the

league lat month. they thoughthey had an answe here, right, a way to balance the players' protests with can criticism from the president. what do the events of the last 24 hours tell butnkt? >> i the events have told me this is precisely what this collision between this hisry of african american athletes exerting their-- using their platform for social injustice, against social injustice, ocollide waig president as really engaged in a culture war. this culture war started back in september, and during the clip that you showed. and the players-- the players believed in the game. the players believe, with ownership, they created a compromise. $90 millionhi partnership to fight social injustice, and then the league pretty much turned on them, ad now they see a president ramping up the same culture war ere the players are the red meat for this base. >> nawaz: do you think that decision made a difference? did it help, did it hurt, willo it continue create problems?

>> for whom. >> nawaz: the n.nf.l. owers' decision? >> absolutely. the n.f.l. owners have even bigger problems than ey could have imagined before because i think everybody in december, when they made this deal, they believed that the relationship had been-- tha had reached a compromise, that they felt this was dooe, this was t going to be an issue. now we're going to start next season wondering if the players are going to be upset with ownership. are they going to pull some wildcat strike of demononstra during the games? are they going to protest in another way? how is this going to play out? i thnk the ownership and the players believed this issue had been put to rest. and now it's juset gtting started. >> nawaz: so let me ask you just about the events of the d la now. this one single event, just througthe lens of what's happened, i can't imagine a single white house that wouldn't have been offended if most of the team had said, "you know, 're not coming. we'll send a player. we'll send a coach. we'll send a mascot, but that's." can you really blame them for cancelling the event?

>> well, abk olute, i thu can blame them because, number one, this is something that was created by them. i could see if the philadelphia eagles had said, "we're are not going to come to the white house dgardless." thn't say that. this is something that this president has started. it's not as though players doesn't dnt have issues with presidents before. tim thomas of the boston bruins didn't go to the obama white house when the boston bruins beat vancouver in the stanley cup eighyears ago i think what it is is that he started this war with the ayers. he questioned their patriotism. this is one of the things that the book is about: who gets to be the patriot? he questioned their citizenship. he questioned their patriotism. he said they didn't belg in the country. and now the players are responding in kind. and i think that if-- haad tht not started, i think that you have a better relationship. it's ong thr the players to say, "okay, we disagree withl your picking." it's another to have your patriotism, to have your citizenship, to have your identity as an american questioned, and this is their way of saying, "we don't like

that. they fight back. >> nawaz: howard, there are a lot of folks out there who will say we're glad the president said something. the is something we have thinking and feeling all along. he put out there what we believed. the polling out there shows there is a split on this, duether the players should be allowed to protesng the anthem or not. what do you make of that? yhat would you say to them? >> i would sa to them this is something very disturbing if we understand what this country is supposed to be about. one of the things in the book they enjoy very much is listening to the veterans talk about the-- supposedly we're talking about veterans here sticking up for veterans. so many of the veterans i spoke to said that they appreciate what the players are doing. this is e of the reasons why they fight-- even they disagree with the way the players are handling themselves, they feel that this is not the area to weaponnize players, ponnize the flag against players. this is not something that they nt to see in their sports. end i think that the players themselves alsoognize that if we're going to walk the walk in terms of what are ouideal

stand for, the ideals of the american flag is not to be in feely to the military. it's to the ideals of the country itself. and this all runs -- it flies in the face of that. >> nawaz: very quickly, before let you g. are we going to continue to see >>otests in this upcoming season? think what you're going to see first is you're going to see the owners and the players get together on this an they're gog have to say, "look, are you backing us?" players to owners. t and if the players doel the owners are going to back them against a hosidle prt, i think on the field next season you could see all kind of different protests that you hadn't anticipated because i think both sidesh thoughtis oorves over and the president reopened it. ha>> nawaz: howard bryant, you for your time. >> thank you. >> woodruff: it's been almost 20 years since american embasrees in africa ttacked by al qaeda. e terrorings made group's leader, osama bin laden,

an infamous, household name, three years before the horror of september 11th, 2001. thring that period, m.i.-6 british foreign intelligence service had an agent inside al qaeda. he has now unmasked himself, and spoke with jonathan rugman of independent television news. >> reporter: he calls himself aimen dean. for eight years he worked for m.i.-6 as a double agent ,mostly inside al qaeda. and now one of the west's most important spies has broken cover to tell his story. >> if you spend eight years under cover at some point you 96ll start to feel the effects, >> reporter: in aimen dean underwent al qaeda training in afghanistan. the teenager from bahrain had already foug as a jihadi in snia.n now he swore ath of

allegiance to osama bin laden, did he impress yat? you write e was tall, he was softly spoken. >> absolutely, someone who was, ncould have a luxury life saudi arabia, who could have had an easy life, and yet he gavel althat up to serve a cause bigger than him, even if that >> reporter: al qaeda's bombings of u.s. embassies in kenya andan tanzia left hundreds dead and aimen dean outraged by the carnage. then three years later september the 11th. almost 3,000 people killed and dean had known one of the hijackers. by now though he'd moved to london, using the need for medical treatment as cover to become a british spy. your job was to carry radios and phones into afghanistan thaten

osed m.i.-6 bugging devices, was that it? >> well more than that, my job was to report on locations of camps, the new training methods, the individuals coming in and out and keeping up with al qaeda's weapons of mass destruction program at the time. >>eporter: but if you were doing all that, why did an attack like sept 11th happen? >> if you wanted to stop 9/11 a you have to haleast 12 spies inside al qaeda and each one inside one of the ent departments, only then could you ha stopped it. >> reporter: what was your biggest coup in intelligence terms, in terms of what you managed to prevent >> well there wereeveral, there was a plot to atck the cal york subway with che weapons, a chemical device that was invented during my time in that specialist lab in afghanistan and i was reporting on it regularly to the u.k.

secret services. a series given a rendezvous and allow spotters from mi5 to check he wasn't being followed. he was told the americans had leaked details of his identity to a journalist. m.i.-6 ordered him back to london. three years later he was i betrayed a bunch of , as simple as that. >> he lives quietly somewhere in the brush isles. aimen dean lives quietly somewhere in the british isles. his codename, lawrence, as in lawrence of arabia, an identity he left behind over a decade

ago. oodruff: that was jonath rugman of independent television news. >> woodruff: now, remeering the legacy of robert f. kennedy, 50 years after his death stunned the nati. >> my thanks to all of you. now it's on to chicago and let's win this. ke woodruff: 50 years ago today, senator robert fedy finished his victory speech after winning the 1968 california presidential primary. moments later he was gunned down >> everybody stay back! stay back! >> woodruff: and when kennedy died a day later, so did the dreams of many who saw him as the progressive hope for unity in a country deeply divided in dr. martin luther kingas killed just two months earlier. kennedy, an irish catholic

democrat and former attorney general in his brother's administration, became a champion of the poor and critic of the wealthy and powerful. >> i think that we have to recognize that those of us who have the advantages that you hae and that i have, that w have an obligation and responsibility to those that do ldt. >> woodruff: he heallies in ubran ghettos, farming towns and d palachian coal country. he supported an the vietnam war and appealed to americans >> the way that we're going to make a difference is whether if people work tother, whites and blacks make an effort together. >> woodruff: when martin luther king was murdered that sam year, senator kennedy marched in the funeral procession. >> this generation did not create most of the conditions and convictions that lead to this day. but this generation has a responsibility to resolve them. >> woodruff: senator kennedy's alleged gunm was sirhan

sirhan, a 24-year-old palestinian immigrant who hid his pistol in a rolled up campaign poster. kennedy was shot three times and died at the age of just 42. his assasstation s shockwaves through the country. ovt's talk further about robert kennedy's impact the years and the trauma of 1968. kathleenennedy townsend is his daughter, the eldest of robert and ethel kennedy's 11 children. she is the former lieutenant governor of maryland. and dawn porter is a filmmaker and the director of documentary series, "bobby kennedy for president," which i now availa netflix. she joins us from wes angeles. anelcome both of you to the program. kathleen kennedy townsend, it's hard to believe it'en 50 years. how are you and your family marking this day? >> it is hard, and it was a real, as you know, extraordinary loss. but tomorrow, we're going to have a service at alington

cemetery, and over 4,000 people are coming. they wrote letters, how much they were grateful to be avited. peoplere coming from as far away as california, ireland, italy, even australia. so it really shows that 50 years after he died, people still remember him. they remember what he cared fo, at he stood for, and they want to come together in unison. >> woodruff: i have to ask you, your mother 90, his widow. how is she doing? >> my mother is great. she just had he0th birthday. joe biden came, nancy pelosi, steny hoyer, with lots of grandchildren, and we sang songs and gave very funny toasts. my mother has a terfic spirit. >> woodruff: dawn por decided to do this documentary about bobby kee nedy. whd the idea come from? why did you want to do it >> you know, over the course of

my career, so many peop that i admire told me how much they were influenced and admired bobby kennedy. and i was really curious about that. so, for example, attorney general eric holder, i interviewed him for previous film in the justice department, and he told me as a 12-year-old in queens, he looked at the kennedy brothers and thought maybe i co sld me public service. you know, bby kennedy, john f. kennedy jr., were always really, really important in marginalized communities, in the african american community. and i thought what a great time to explore that legacy at a time when politics feels so dark and when so many people people-- are so impacted by the political discourse of today. this was-- this sealed like a really good time to look back at his life and legacy. and i really wand to focus on his life, and that's kind of the inspiration for the film. k

>> woodrufthleen townsend, you started to talk about his legacy yourself a minute ago. how do you feel it over all these years? >> wll, i think you saw it in the film, which is, first of all, he could relh out to al sorts of people. as you know, on his fun weral train white working class and black working class, standing there, saluting him, singing "the battle hymn of the republic" feeling that he was talking to them. and to the people who were fortunate, he was saying, "you have a responsibility. you have-- you have been given privilege. use it fohr ots. use it to make this world better. help others." he was-- he had a very strong uldal sense about what we sho do with the talents we've been given. >> woodruff: daweporter from erspective of someone who wasn't around when bobby kennedy was campaigning for president, became the person that he was, what did you see in him?

i mean, you talked about the effect he's had over time in this country, but what was it about him, do you think that made him the standout figure that he was? >> yw, kno so we had the benefit of looking through ndreds of hours of footage. it was a time when the news networks wee covering his campaign, independent film makers were covering his campaign. so there was some rich treasure trove of archived mat kial. and, youw, the editors and i, we really kind of steeped ourselves in it.tu and the picre that emerges is really extraordinary. it's a person ofct conn, of compassion and empathy and intelligence. ald i think that that mor sense, that sense that he just, as kathleen is, sayi bobby kennedy understood acutely the privilege and the talentthat he had, and what he challenged america to do and what he did himself is he used thoseital

oants for people who did not have a voice. it was really emotional and impactful. and it said a great deal to all of us about leadership and the importance of having people who have compassion and empathy and intelligence, and who aren't afraid toeach out to others who have different experiences. >> woodruff: and kathleen kennedy townsend, from your own family. >> yes. >> woodruff: what does family tell you about where that came from inour father? >> well, i think it came a lot from his parents and from the irish experience. first of all,-- because his mother and his father grew u in a time where there were the signs that said, "help wand, no irish need apply" because his own father had to leave boston to go to neyork because there was such prejudice against the irish. he always had a foot in his camp that understood what it was to be marginalizedecause he heard it over and over. and yet, because he had-- obviously, his father had done very well because he was very

well off-- he understood power. so it's aes intng situation where one person is both coe from a discriminated group on one hand, but also has power o the other, and doesn't forget where they came from. but i would like to, sayst to build on what dawn said, because one ofhe things he was great about-- and dawn mentioned it-- is his ability to bring people up that disagreed with him. when he went to college campuses, or when he was in japan or south america, and people were throwing, y kno apples or bananas-- or whatever-- at him because they didn't like him. he said, "i'm glad they don'tet haver aim." but then he would say, "okay, come up on stage. les s talk. lescuss this." and rather than say-- push thnt out, he to actually talk with peo--ple whoost leaders are usually afraid to do so. >> woodruff: the very last thing i nt to ask you both

about very quickly, and that is here we are 50 years ler, and, kathleen, you have made a statement recently that you think that there's reason to olieve sirhan sirhan didn't act alone. ly have a few seconds, but you're saying this is something that neds to be looked at. >> i talked to my brother boab who has looked into this a great deal, and nk he makes a very powerful argument that it should be looked at again. >> woodruff: and, dawn porter,p it comesin your film. >> you know, we dedicated the last episode, i think what isea is that sirhan sirhan had a trial that is not a trial that anyone wld have wanted for their loved ones. and so i leave it to others to continue to investigate that question. but that's-- it's important for us to feel like the criminal dustice system is fair, an there's a good reason to feel like perhaps this wasn't so fair. >> woodruff: well, we are certainly gog continue to follow that. thank you. dawn porter, kathleen kennedy townsend, thank you both very much. >> thank you.

>> thank you so much. >> very much. >> woodruff: for the past few wes, we've focused on how colleges and univtrersities are ng to help lower-income students move up the ladder economically. there are other alternatives tog college derees. john yang examines some of them. it's part our weeklyegment, "making the grade." >> yang: even as the u.s. labor market has added jobs for more than 90 months in a row, analysts are concerned there won't be enough skilled workers ustrial new jobs at ind work, manufacturing, and technology. one widely cited analysis estimates that more than two million jobs will go unfilled by 2025 because of a shortage of skilled workers. we look ateforts to close that gap with two people who specialize in this issue. nicole smith is a professor and

economist at georgetown university's center education in the workforce. and beth cobert is with the markle foundation. e's the head of a program called "skillful," which helps find qualified job candidates cs and prepare them for a changing economy. nicole and beth, thank you story being here. nico, let me start with you. what are the pathways to try to close that gap, the skills gap between the jobs available and the people able to fill them? >> well, one of the first things we have to do is identify where some of the shortages lie. and once you do that, we can figure out, you know, is there a fay of attracting more people into those types professions? the problem that we have here is that a lot of these-- quote, unquote-- middle-skills jobs-- jobs in manufacturing, jobs in construction, jobs in production occupations-- still suffer frm a p.r. problem, so that most people don't want to do thojose because they haveue know,

they associate them with hard work hard hats. what they fail to recognize is that these jobs are now good jobs that pay we ad in some circumstances, even pay more than a sandard associate's and bachelor's degree. >> yang: what sorts of jobs are we talking about? >> so we're talking about welding jobs. we can be talking about jobs in transportation and logistics. we kook talking from women's perspective, jones in health care, professional an technical services jobs. there are many of these types of two-year associate's degree, certificate, certification, licensing jobs that can pay very well if you have the qualifications required. >> yang: beth cobe know your organization works with employers. are you working with the employers to try to get them to look for skills rather than credentials? >> that's right. we are working with employers to get th to think abut skills and credentials. what do you really need to do a job? what do you need start on that job? and what are some of the skills

that can be trained while you're inere? we founur work with employers that when they think about that way, when they distinguish between what's required and what's preferred, it opens up the labopool to a variety of candidates who might-- they might have not thought about for those r so it creates opportunities for individuals to get to the good jobshat nicole is describing, and to be able, once they're there, to advance in those organizations with good wages and good jobs. >> yang: nicole, beth is sort of a lot abou doing these in midcareer, tarpz, or people who are looking to change jobs. what about at the beginning, at high school, guiding students into the right places, the right fit for them? >> we have start much sooner now than we did in the past. if we want to maktsure tha you are connecting what people learn in school all the way through school-- and this is from high school all the way through college-- you can start in high school, and you can exposer students to ceer opportunities. so by the time actually leave

high school and you to college, guto a two-year college or a four-year collegeue transition from exposure to those yrs, to experience in eose careers through internships,ternships, get hands on exactly what is expected for that job. that can create a lot of interest that's beyond just learning something that's academic in a book in fronof you. >> yang: nicole, about what these pathtelevise these skills through what we don't traditionally think of as highed ation, whether a four-year degree or two-year dree d.e.a.-- apprenticeships, other programs like that? >> well, these types of thwraiz really taking foot in terms of offering opportunities for many young peoe. and nontraditional pathways are-- you know, we can look to those a lot more th than in the past, mostly because they don't represent a closed door anymore to a bachelor's degree. itoight be an opportunity try something new.

you can do it for two years. you can try your aprenticeship program. you can do your associate's yogree, your certificater certification. and later on decide on a bachelor's degree. there's no dual pathway anymore that steers people in one or the other. so for many, te idea that they can, you know, maybe just try it out for a couple of years is much more palatable than commity g four-year degree where we know some of the completion rates are held in qu>>estion. ang: and, beth, are employers opening themselves up up increasingly to this idea of an apprenticeship program? >> employers are opening up to it. one of the eat itiatives under way in colorado that has been created under governor hickenlooper's leadership is called "careerstise." it's tewide youth apprenticeship program starting in high school and working your way though, where you have an opportunity to learn and earn at the same time. we've actually got terrific apprentice who is working in our office in skillful, who is a

greaton cibutor, has learned a lot through that apprentice, and as nile described, is simultaneously pursuing his bachelor degree at metrostate. so a great example of what is a growing cadre of apprenticeships through reer wise, across colorado. >> yang: beth cobert, nicole smith, t being with us. for >> thank you for having me. >> thanks for having us. >> woodruff: and we'll be back

>> woodruff: the national parks belong to ll of us. but as tyler fingert from the cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university reports, that shared treasure is at risk of being chipped away. lh reporter: across the desert landscape, their sette is unmistakable. at saguaro national park near tucson, cacti are the main attraction for hikers like jean gascho. >> you feel like m you're h a part of the desert and just surrounded by these beautiful cactuses. >> reporter: but the park's namesake cactus is fa threat from thieves. >> it's ironic that we set a lde great place our national park and people think that they can just come take the iconic cactus for which the park is ornamed. >> repr: kevin dahl works with the national parks conservation association. he says being a cactus thief can be lucrative: each one can fetr $100re per foot.

>> it's absolute robbery and it's absole criminal activity and it's for profit a mature saaro in a landscape. add something to the value of the home or the business that's for sale or rent. >> reporter: across the country, other parks are facing a similar threat. last year, death valley national park says some visitors walked off with fossil footprints. at joshua tr national park, people have stolen artifacts from old mines. >> some parks deal with people taking rocks, some parks deal with people taking plants and animals. places like mount rushmore people take the chips that were created when they created the sculptures. >> reporter: bill parker leads the natural and cultural resources team at petrified forest national park. here, he says, visitors take small pieces of petrified wood. >> some people do still take awood and we catch th give them tickets. but whole areas are stripped clean as was thought in the past. >> reporter: the park turned to photography to test the theory. taking cenry old photographs and comparing them to recent photos taken at the same

location. and the results, says parker, if you look at photosda from most of the artifacts are still intact. >> it's a souvenir at people want but one thing the photography project has showed us is that most people do the right thing. >> reporter: some people have even returned stolen wood and it ends up here, often referred toc as the conscpile back in saguaro national park, esto help make sure theft t happen, the national park service has turned to technology, putting tiny, passive trackers in some of their cacti. allowing them to identify ones stolen from the park. of their roughly 1.9 million saguaro cacti, only 1,000 of them are tagge the ones close t roads and, the smaller cacti, those most likely to be stolen. the trackers, which are similar toet microchips, don't actively broadcast a signal, so if a cactus goes missing, ray o'neil, saguaro national park's chief ranger says the on way to know if it's from the park, is to scan it using a reader. making the trackers more symbol than substance. >> our biggest hope is that thae

it's a det that people recognize that if they steal cacti from saguaroatational park here's a chance that we're going to be able to identify that cactus came from the park. >> reporter: while technology is helping to track natural resources, education is still a huge part of keeping parks pristine. and kevin dahl wants to make sure that visitors understand the national parks are saved by the people for the people. >> it's a selfish thing when when someone does an act of vandalism or steal something from a national park and it's selfish and it's an act against the american public. >> reporter: pieces of american history being taken from some of america's most treasured land. for the pbs newshour, i'm tyleag fingert atro national park in arizona. >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now, find ideas for r how to help guatemala afe deadly volcanic eruption ther that and more is on our web te, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight.

i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovioions in educ democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals.

>> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers likthyou. k you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh

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