captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good ev i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: >> when you prosecute the parents for coming in illegally- - which should happen-- you have to take the children away.e >> woodruff:e on the ground at the u.s.-mexico border, as president trump dofles down on his policy o excluding all immigrants who trw to crohout documentation. then, tit-for-tat on trade--ta what escalatinffs between the u.s. and china means for america's economy. and when does pre-kindergarten not work? s why some tennessee studeo get an early start on their educion don't do as well in school later on. >> the kids who did not go to pre-k actually are doing better than the kids who did go to pre-

k on the state achievement tests. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> knowledge, it's where innovation begins. it's what leads us to discovery and motivates ussu teed. it's why we ask the tough questions and what leads us to the answers. w at leidore standing behind those working to improve the world's health, safety, and efficiency. leidos.

>> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin. >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >>onsumer cellular. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program bs made possibthe corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the storm over separating migrant children from their parents at the u.s.-mexico border rages on tonight. president trump is insisting his only choices are separating out the children or releasing whole families without penalty.aw amna is in el paso, texas and begins our coverage. >> so what i'm asking congress to do is to give us a third

option. >> reporter: in a washington eech this morning, the president defended his policies, but he appealed to congress for act.re >> we have beeesting since last year, the legal authority to detain and promptly remove families together as a unit, we have to be able to do this. this is the only solution to the border crisis. >> reporter: his legislative .irector marc short weighed in at the white hou >> none of us is pleased with r.the situation at the bor we've been asking congress to give us the resources, to give us more judges so that we can adjudicate these cases faster and we've asked for a resolution on the floor settlement that would give us the abily to keep children and parents together. >> reporter: last night, texas publican senator ted cru announced emergency legislation last night to do just that. it would keep families together as their cases proceed and increase t number of immigration judges from roughly 335 to 750. >> we can come together, we

ought to all be united and say, "of course kids should be with their parents." and if we speed up the adjudication, that solves the problem. >> reporter: but tod the president appeared today to reject the option of hiring more judges. i on't want judges, i want border security. i don't wanna try people, ipl don't want pcoming in. do you know if a person comes in and puts one foot on our groundt essentially welcome to america, welcome to our country- - you never get 'em out.r: >> reporemocrats insisted again that the family separations are of the president's king and within s power to stop. >> even if you believe people immigration should be halted entirely, we all should be able to agree that in the united states of america we will not intentionally separate children from their parents. we will not do that! we are better than that! >> reporter: t pressure also kept buildinamong republicans, including alaska senator lisa murkowski.

>> short of legislation, think that administratively the seraetary, the attorney gene the president, they could move on this tomorrow. there are multiple individuals in the administration that can fix it and y, legislation is one avenue, but it is not the only avenue. >> reporter: utah senator orrin hatch said he was sending a letter to attorney general jeff seions, asking him to halt family separations at the border until congress does take action. meanwhile, the head of the u.s. chamber of commerce-thomas donahue-- condemned family separations, saying, "this is not who we are, and it must stop now." and several governors of both parties announced they will nolo er send national guard units to help along the border. all told, borderatrol officials said today more than 2,300 children have been placed without their parents in makeshift tent cities andre uses since april. in miami, orida democratic senator bill nelson tried to visit one of the deportation centers, but said he been turned away.

>> they are obviously trying to covethey don't want us to see it. >> free our children now! r orter: in el paso, texas, hundreds of protesters marched in the desert heat.'t >> i cmagine a parent bringing their kid to this country fleeing frap murder, from to come and try to find salvation for their kids. it bothers me because i love my children and i wld do anything to protect them. >> the mority of the people that come across this border come because of grave andri s reasons. you don't leave your family, you don't leave your country, your culture, your language, even the work that you did before just because you, just because you feel like taking advantage of somebody else's system. >> reporter: amid the storm over separations, the president met late today with house republicans at the u.s. capitol. the house is set to vote on two immigration bills this week.

and nat republican leadersiraid all of tinutes would now support legislation to keep migrant families together. of course, here in el paso on the border just a couhuplndred yards or so from mexico, this a community that hasong been dealing with immigration policy on the front lines. but really when it comes to the family separation policy, this is also a community that was ground zero. is is where the government first test ran the family separation policy for months before officially rolling it out across the country. and tha judy, was back in november of 2017. >> woodrufso amna, if they dve been dealing with this there longer, wh they tell you they've learned about it? >> well, judy, folks who work on the front line say they're still learning. it's a complicated process. it is overwg for them and the system, they say, is completely overwhelmed. there are not enough legal advocates to makee surthat every adult that is being criminally prosecuted has legal representation. there aren't enough beds for the children who are now being

separated from their parents and being provedrom el paso to other parts of the country or being housed here. that's why you're hearing about tornillo, a temporary tent city that has popped up 20 miles eas. of h there are already a few hundred minors housed there, and we're told they could house few hundred more if necessary. >> woodruff: and amna, what about pe people in the community? what are they telling you their reaction to alof this is? >> well, judy, folks here have long been dealing with immigration, and a lot f people here have a very strong opinion on it. there aren't any local polls tol s how everyone feels specifically about family separation, but you saw it, there were a few hundred people that showed up at a protest to march to on the detention center earlier toay. they were saying this is not a representation of who we are as a country. i'll also tell you the advocates who have been navigating this process for a very long time say it is more comp called it now than ever. lawyers say if we as layers don't know how to navigate the system, how can we reunify

parents with their children? how are people who don't speak the language, how are children who are lt without any information and stuck in the system supposed to navigate it. and as a jornalist, it's incredibly complicated. there is very little transparency. we've all seen the media tour the government has been allowing people on. it's very restricted and very controlled. we have requested access to the four detention centers for children in el paso. there are no tours scheduled. we're waiting to see if the government can provide any more information on those. >> wdruff: certainly is complicated. amna nawaz on the ground in el paso. thanyou, amna. in the day's other news: trade tensions with china spiked again after prident trump called for tariffs on another $200 billion worth of chinese goods. beijing had matched an earlier round of tariffs, and mr. trump blamed that retaliation for his new action. the chinese today called it "blackmail". >> ( translated ): china does not want to fight a trade war

but it is not scared of one. we will continue to take effective steps to resolutely defend the country's interests. we advise the u.s. side to return to reason, and stop words and actions that harm itself and others.s thise only way. r woodruff: the president's trade adviser-- pevarro-- said today the u.s. remains open to talks to resolve the dispute. the trade trouble put wall street on the ropes. the dow jones industrial averag lost 287 poi close at 24,700. the sdaq fell 21 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 11 the u.s. and south korea today harmally called off joint military exerciseshad been planned for august. president trump had initially announced the move after his summit with north korean leader kim jong un. meanwhile, kim traveled to cna for a two-day visit. he met with chinese president xi ing, reportedly to discuss the results of his talks with president trump. the united states is pulling out of the united nations' human

rights council. ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley announced itoday, alongside secretary of state mike pompeo. haley charged the council has long ignored real abuses while targeting israel-- and she said it's continuing this year. >> the human rights council passed five resolutions against israel. more than the number passed against north korea. syria and iran combined. this disproportionate focus and unending hostility toward israel is clear proof that the council is motivated by political bias not by human rights. >> woodruff: the announcy ent comes a ter the u.n. human rights chief called the policy of separating children from parents at the u.s.-mexicobo er "unconscionable." nearly 69 million people around the worl their homes last year. the u.n. refugee agency reported the fioday in geneva.

it said more than 16 million of the refugees were newly displaced last year-- especially in congo, south sudan and myanmar. >> this is because of protraed conflicts, lack of solutions for those conflicts that continue, continuous pressure on civilians in countries of confli that pushed them to leave their homes. >> woodruff: syrians make up the largest displaced group, with some 12.6 million. in indonesia, rescuers spent the day searching for at least 128 people missing after a ferry sank last night. the vessel capsized in rough water on lake toba, on the island of sumatra. the lake is 1,500 feet deep. his morning, authorities found only 18 survivors, who reunited with loved ones. the transport ministry says the ferry was badly

overloaded. back in this country: joe hagin is stepping down as white houseo deputy chistaff for operations. hagin led planning for president trump's summit with north korea's kim jong un in singapore. he says he plans to leave next month to work in the private sector. and the u.s. labor department has announced a new health insurance option for small business and the self- employed.th plans begin this september. they'll allow multi-state combinations of small companies to negotiate more affordable rates. they also provide fewer benefits and waive some of the mandatory coverage under the affe care act. still to come on the newshour: children at the border-- the view from the whe house and from obama's head of homeland security, the president of the koch brothers' political arm on the ongoing trade battle, is a diabetes treatment giving patients false hopes, and much more.

>> woodruff: the outcry over president trump's policy of separating immigrant families has reached a crescendo that extends beyond party lines. earlier this evening i spoke with mercedes schlapp, white house director of strategic communications, and began by asking if mr. trump is hearing the criticism, even from his own party. >> well, absolutely. i mean, the presidenyou mentioned before, he hates seeing the separation of families and even though the separation of familie only for a very brief period of time, but the reality here, one ofhe reasons why president trump is in congresspeaking to these house members is coming up with a permanent solution, coming up with a fix to. this only congress can fix this sue that we're dling with in terms of ensuring that we're thatto secure the borde we're able to keep families together. because right now, judy, we onl

have twtions. the two options are when adult cross the border illegally, they will be prosecuted. the second option is the prosecution, the second option is releasing these family unitss into the u. interior, which in essence equates to open borrs. so we want that third option. we want the option that congress is going to fime andx this, and ensure that they're able to keep famies together so that they could be detained and then swiftly removed back to teir country unless they qualify for asylum. a> woodruff: but it was change in approach to this policy, a change in policy by the trump administration when ppening.rted ha it was six weeks ago the administration said, we're no longer going to keep these families together. we'll prosecute the parents. that's the change, isn't it? well, the change is because we're enforcing the law.w the lasn't being enforced beforehand. it was more of a subjective case

of prosecutorial discretion. it was cleared by the department of justice, those individualshe crossing torder illegally. we have to remember there are e rts of entry where these individuals can co through a legal process and apply for asylum. and whenouhey go thr those ports of entry, and there are 26 of those along the 200-mile border, that's an area where you won't be separated from the family. but as we know, in american law, when you are... when you commit a crime, you cancan be an american citizen, you will be separated from your family.se this is the n this situation, which means if you commit a crime, meaning you cross the border illegally, not through these ports of entry, you will be pros efs, you are separated from the family for a breriod of time during the hearing itself and then reunited. but that is where we are at this point, and what we need is we need congress to take action fix this problem. this is very simple. this is about ending a legal

loophole. is something that the wardident has pushed for it's ending catch and release where you're able to keep these falies together and be abto hear their cases or remove them from the country. >> woodruff: but you're ying it's the administration's decision to enforce something, but it sounds like you're saying the president, the only thing he'll accept now is having the entire family sent back across the border. >> well, again, if they go through these ports of entry and they are able to... we talk f about credibar an apply for asylum, their cases will be heard. we have a veryog large bacof cases based on our limited resource, but their cases wil be heard som you have these ports of entry where these families can go through in essence. what we are seeing, though, isdi these duals who are coming between these ports of entry. what you're also seeing is that smugglers and human traffickers are exploiting these children. you're having parents who are basically sending their children alone, many in the hands of

smuggler, to get through into our country.th 's not acceptable. >> woodruff: let me just ask you this. you know that what is going on in these countries is there is a dangerous situation. these families are coming because they are being set upon, lencehave seen vio inflicted on them and family members and loved ones by gan. there's a lawlessness. they're coming here seeking safety. >> right. so let me ask you. is it your safe to put your child in the hands of a smuggler? >> well, is it safe to stay in a place in guatemala or honduras or el salvador where you're will living with those conditions? >> what ouis amazing abamerica is we have the most generous immigration laws. there is a legal wayo apply to come into our country. in addition to that, if those individuals are doing this i dangerous tro the united states, they need to go through the ports of entry, which then they won'te separated from their family. >> woodruff: and there is a backlog.

>> exactly, because of the fact that we've had such limited resources and funding coming from congress. >> woodruff: let me quicklyo ask you ther things. one is a number of people are saying the president chose to do this to enforce this policy six weeks ago in order basically to leverage this in order to get more money for a border wall is. that what's going on >> this is the only political play that's being made right not democrats showing up to these detention centers and making this into this big politit l issue. we w have solutions. we want to work with congress. we want to work with both parties to ensure, as the president did back in october of last year, when he cae up with a comprehensive and generous bill on immigration. >> woodruff: finally, mercedes schlapp, as a mother of young children yourselr what's you reaction when you see these pictures and hear the sounds of these children crying? >> look, as i have mentioned before, as the president and first lady, it's sad, it's tragic, it's so tragi

especially when you have smugglers exploiting and taking advantage of these children. it's absolutely heartbreaking. this is the type of what we ne to stop in terms of ensuring that individuals who wa to come to america apply safely. if they're going through ports of entrywwhich is the legaay where you don't separate families, but breaking the law in a country, that in and of self is harmful. it's harmful to them, and it's harmful to their chldren. >> woodruff: mercedes schlapp at the white house, thank you s >> thank yo muc >> woodruff: and for an opposing view on the immigration crisis: janet of homeland security under president obama and instrumental in immigration decisions, including signing the policy at created the deferred action for childhood arrivals program-- better known as daca. she's now the president of the university of california. janet napolitano, welcome back to the program. you hear what the trump adminiration is arguing, that they have no choice, that once people come across the border

without documentation and they don't do so at a port of ent the administration has no choice but to enforce the law, take the pants, begin to prosecute them, and take their children away. >> of course the administrion has a choice. the choice is not to do it and not to do it this way. when somebody crosses the borler lly between a port of entry and is apprehended, that is a federal misdemeanor. under the obaat adminisn, because of all of the consequences that occur, we would keep those individuals in the civil immigration courts. they would be given a deportation hearing and perhaps deported, hey would be kept together with their children. these are not cases of children being brought across by smuggls. those are unaccompanied children. and that's how we treated them as unaccompanied children. these are children coming across

with their family members. >> woodruff: well, the administrati again, and you heard what mercedes schlapp, we heard it today from the presyent, what they are saing is that the law as it's written now requires them either to accept the whole family and just let th come intthe country and become, you know, not be followed, or to prosecute the parents. where is the misunderstanding or e disconnect here in understanding what the law says? >> well, you know, the disconnect is in how the law is enforced. in the obama administration, we enforced the law, but we enforced it usi immigration courts and the deportation process. whatiohe trump administr has decided to do is to charge each of these adults as criminals, to prosecute them as criminals, therefore youave assistant u.s. attorney, fedosal

precutors along the border being taken away from drug-smuggling cases and gun-running cases and human trafficking cases to handle these misdemeanors, and once the adult is in the criminal justice system and because then they go into the jurisdiction ofhe u.s. marshal, they don't have the capacity to keep children and parents together. and that's where the separation occurs. >> woodruff: that's where that rationale comes from. the president is saying there have been so many illegal immigrants cing into this country, he says the numbers are off the charts. he cited some numbers againda about how many hundreds and hundreds and thousands of people have come in over recent administrations. he said at sompoint we've got to draw the line. >> well, all i would say is that in the previous administration illegal migration across the u.s.-mexico border was driven to 40-year lows, and as far as i can tell, that was the product

of enforcement policy that made sense as well as a strategy of working with the countries of igin to try to deter the source of the illegal migration to beg with. >> woodruff: so when the president talks about smuggler, and you menttiones a moment ago, he said they are exploiting the law as it's written now. he said there has been a 43% increase in smuggling or attempted smuggling of not just minors but families, as well as minors. >> i don't know where he getsos statistics. frankly, i don't know where the president gets many of his statistics, and i'd have to look, and i would have to verifb thos what i will tell you is that this is a humanitarian crisis on the border. when you see several thousand children now in six weeks taken from their parents, housed in an old wal-mart, housed in tents,

no system established before they started this policy to tegure out, well, how will parents get reuwith their children, thereby opening the door to lengthy accept rations, that is just wrong. that's just not how the brder needs to work and it's not how our immigration policy and l actually works. >> woodruff: let me quote one of the things theai president today. he said, "democrats love open borders. leinthe whole world comech they view them as potential voters who are going to go on anvote for demrats for office." >> that's so cynical. i think what thent presi statement overlooks is that so many of these migrants are indeed fleeing desperate circumst mces. they hade a treacherous journey to get to then nited statese hopes of achieving a better life for themselves and for their chenil and as a nation who likes to say

repeatedly, we are nation of immigrants, sometimes that means wthat, yes, thoo cross illegally are not criminally prosecuted, they're handled through the administrativen immigratocess. >> woodruff: just very quickly, janet napolitano, youti had mes on capitol hill today act daca, the minors issues, immigrant minors, any progress on that front? >> not that i could see, but is is yet another decision that the president could red rects with a stroke of his pen, and withdraw his ord rescinding the daca program, and therefore allow the 700,0 or so dreamers in this country, student#ylwq university of california, to remain here safely and securely> oodruff: janet napolitano, former secretary of homeland security, thank you. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: the trade battle between the u.s. and china-- the world's two largest economies-- is escalating to new levels today. president trump has directed his ration to prepare major new tariffs on chinese imports. nick schifrin looks at the potential consequences of this move, including how china mayli ree. >> reporter: for months, the u.s. and china have traded titth for-tat tradats, and they've escalated again in the onpast few days. riday, president trump authorized tariffs on $50 billion of chinese goods such as instrial machinery. those are set to take effect next month.ne in response, c officials vowed to retaliate with $50 billion of its own tariffsn american goods such as beef, cars, and soybeans.po that re prompted president trump to threaten an additional $200 billion of tariffs. and he warned the u.s. may impose tariffs on a total of

$450 billion of chinese goods. that's 90% of everhing china exports to the u.s.-- electronics, clothing, toys, tools, you name it. edward alden watches all this closely for the council on foreign relations and joins me now.en edward athank you very much. the administration says that china is trying to maintain a permanent and unfaiadvantage. china protects its companies in many sectors, especially high tech, china forces the u.s. companies to give some of its information to china. so doesn't the admation have a point? >> no question. i mean, if you look at a document that the u.s. trade representative offic together, the heart of this investigation, it makes a compelling case on all of these. ins. companies that are tg to invest in china have to work rith joint venture partners. they are often d to transfer their best technologies to their partners. the chinese use licensing and other regulatory discrimination to make it hard for u.s. companies to operate freely in

the chinese market. china has a very restrictive investment regime, which is intended to help its companies get the next leg up in terms of chnologies of the future. >> schifrin: is your notion that the means by which the u.s. is addressing that is less effective than it could be? >> i think it's much les effective. the united states has spent the last 75 years building a system of glotrade rules, culminating in the creation of the world healtherrganization. are a lot of tools available through the w.t.o. that the u.s. hasn't used fully in trying to go after some of these chinese practices and 're not working with our allies to put pressure on china. these are problems that face not just u.s. companies, but japanese, german, british and french companies, but instead president trump has been picking trade fights with those countries, as well some tactically, this is highly questionable and undermiengs a lot of the credibility of the united states as a leader ini setting and aining global trade rules. >> schifrin: this isn't only

about china. the administration says ital trying to rece trade deficits and also trying to ize advantages that it says the u.s. has given up. so what's wrong with trying to seize those advantages as the straight puts it?do >> well, t think there is anything wrong, but you have to pick your battles. so president trump d like the large trade deficits. fair enough. there are things that can be t docorrect that. the china issues we've n talking about are kind of very real and very front and center, but if you're going to deal with those, you need allies. if what you get into is fights hith all your trading partners because some ofm run trade surpluses with the united states, then you'll have no coherent strategy to getting anything done. you can see this in the talks withnited states. -- with china. the united states is lurching back and forth say need a real response to the technology transfer issue, to the intellectual property theft issue to, cyber espionage to, regulatory discrimination.u ithes back and forth between that position and saying, well, if china would just buy more soybeans and

natural gas and reduce the trade deficit, the united states will be fine. that not a coherent stategy and it will not be effective. >> schifrin: theed from's trade adviser peter navarro said that china has more lose than the u.s. because china exports four times more than the u.s. is that true? >> that's a simple arithmetic that says because we buy more from them, they're more vulnerable. china has a lot of ways to hurt the u.s. they hold a huge a oount ofur treasury holdi rs. they couldeduce those and cause u.s. interest rates to rise. they can manipulate their currency as they did in the 2000s to hold down the value, which would increase theirue export vn the united states, and they can target their retaliation, as they're t already plannido, against sectors that are going to hurt the president. go after farmers, go after, you know industries in swing states. both sides will hurt, but i think china can actually in manm

ways do more age to the united states than vice versa. >> scrin: edward alden, thank you very much. >> good to be with you. >> woodruff: the rising u.s. trade tensions, not only with china, but ao those with long- time u.s. allies, canada, mexico and the european union have sent pples across the political landscape in this country. john yang gets reaction abt all of this from one of the biggest and most influential forces in republican politics as the midterm elections approach. >> yang: americans for pros conservative/libertarian political advocacy group funded by david and charles koch is undertaking a multimillion dollar campaign opposing president trump's trade policies. tim phillips is the group's president. he joins me now. mumr. phillips, thanks soh for joining us. >> absolutely. >> yang: you suppoed the president on his tax cuts. you were full of praise for what he's done with the economy. >> righ >> yang: what's the message on trade to the president? >> the president rightly deserves a lot of credit for this economy tfking of.

the data clearly indicates it's doing much better. but hitrade or his protectionist policies, hisd tariffs risk umining the economic recovery that the tax cuts and tax reform and the elimination of a lot o job-killing regulation and red tape, it risks undermining that. we're urging him to drop these tariffs, embrace free trade, and keep this economic recovery going that's helping a lot. vericans improve their es. >> yang: he you heard back from the white house? you talk a lot of people within the trp administration. >> we do. we have consistent discussions. obviously they disagree so far. they were initially saying, these potential tariffs are more of a negotiating tool, but now they've begun taking it back. now we're seeing retaliationo from othks, includinghe ally, likecanadiens. they're allies of ours, and obviously with the chinese. these tariffs sound good. a lot f politicians like them.

they sound tough when yourself doing tariffs, but they're being tough on american businesses and consumers. a lot of american companies like american-made lockers, steel is the number-one ingredient the price of steel is going up. that threatensmerican jobs. >> schifrin: there seems to be some disagreement within the administration, as well, that there's some factis in the administration that apparently would agree with you. have you been hearing from those voices? >> yang: larry kudlow, the president's chief ecomic adviser, just a few short weeks ago was very much in agtheement s that tariffs are a bad idea, that free trade, emb tcing frde is better. ouse,he entered the white he still talked about how the tariffs are a negotiating tool. so we do think there's a lot of disagreementithin the administration, and we're hopeful the president, you know, he saiathe g-7 summit that he would love to see all the tariffs gotten rid o. we take him at his word. we urge him to embrace that,

because is trade war that is already happening, it's not being discussed, it's now happening, it risks undermining the very good work that his administration is doing with the tax cuts a ad tax reford the other steps they've taken that have helped get the economy moving again. we don't want to see that. >> yang: you differed with the president. your organization has differed with president on other policies, particularly on immigration. what's your view or your grup's view of the current debate over separating children at the board i? >> this current situation we're seeing is not good. and frank, both parties deserve blame. f's been kicked around like a political footba well over a decade. i remember george w. bush as president putting forward ati serious immig proposal that congress rejected. president obama had democr majorities his first two years, he did nothing on immigration to really fix this. president trump early on made crme moves toward the des. we applauded those. this is something, john, thatse both parties e blame for.

>> yang: this campaign focuses on trade and tariff issues as we go into the mid-term elections, does this represent a shift in the sort of strategy of the koch brothers moving from talking about specific candidates, the koch brothers contributions were very influential in cementing the house majority for the republicans to turning more to issue-oryeng wed campaign? want to work with folks across the board to pass policies that will help improve people's liv. immigration, we mentioned, that it's one example of that. we believe that trade is other one. a lot of folks on the far left, like bernie sanders, they embrace protectionism and tariffs. we want to work with foks across the board. we just did that on an issue, right to try, which you covered that allows terminally illti ts to access new treatments that. was a bipartisan effort. we thanked democrats openly, senator heitkamp, who is in an

election this year, we thanked her for her work she did to roll back sections ok,f dodd-fr which was harming community banks and loaning to small businesses some we're not an appendage of any political party. we've made that clear. we're not going to be. we're going to thank democrats or republicans when they do the right thing, and frankly, we're going to hold them accountenle e think they're going the wrong thing. that's the best way to do it. that's the process 're going to follow. ism how active will the organization be in the mi-term? >> we have said we're going to be very active ross the board. at includes at the state level and the federal level. but we will be active, and we want to look at every individual candidate as just that, an individual candidate. we try not to look at party and other things like that. we look at who are genuinely putting foard policies, championing policies that will help improve people's lives. >> yang: of course, the news within the last week about david koch stepping back from both his businesses and his politicalhe activities forlth reason,

will that make any change in your organization? >> it's a blow. david koch has provide sterling leadership from the very beginning as the chairman of the americans for prosperity foundation. and you don't replace a david koch. you work together, you do thest ou can, but we wish caved and julia and his family all the best, but y 's absolutblow to lose a leader of his example itand capy. >> yang: tim phillips, president of americans for prosperity, thanks for joining us. >> you bet. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: what oris the successful recipe giving students an early leg up on their education? but first, around 30 million americans-- one-tenth of the country's polation-- live with diabetes. medical guidelines fornc treatmentsde a healthy diet, exercise and regulating blood sugar levels.

as with many diseases, there are also unproven treatments that have produced anecdotal success stories. from inewsource, an chdependently funded nonprofit media organizationyl clark reports. >> reporter: dillon is a small, rural town of about 4,00people in southwestern montana's beaverhead valley. here, everyone knows everyone, including ron and julie briggs. four years ago, ron, the county coroner, was ready to give up on his longtime fight with diabetes. we spoke with them in december. ar i've been a diabetic for 55 and i've heard from everybody under the sun. everybody's got a cure for diabetes. >> reporter: his diabetes was so severe, he often landed in the local hospital in a diabetic coma. but ron's wife, julie, would not give up hope.

>> i thought, we've worked really hard, i don't want my pasband to die now. >> reporter: at iculraly low point in 2014, julie immediaty started searching online for diabetefotreatments and a national network ofs clinlled trina health. g. ford gilbert, a sacramento lawyer, founded 06e company in gilbert says his treatment stops, even revees, the complications of diabetes. >> you get your brain functionality back, you get eye functionality back, you get kidn functionality back, you resolve unhealing wounds that had been unhealing and weeping for yes. >> reporter: the four-hour procedure involves infusing insulin into a patient's bloodstream through an i.v. , gilbert says the infusio shown in this trina video, help patients better metabolize carbohydrates and that restores their health.

>> any person who truly understands what we do is wildly impressed and enamored with the outcomes we achieve. >> reporter: many in the medical community are not convinced. dr. john buse, a forme president of the american diabetes association, is blunt in his criticism of trina. >> the pitch was pretty slick and compelling, whereas theev idence that i could find was pretty much non-existent. >> reporter: in 2016, at thet reques a potential trina investor, the north carolina doctor spent hours reviewing articles gilbert pro >> so you know i would characterize it more on the scam end of the spectrum of business opportunities. >> reporter: medicare and at least one major insuranceve company ha found no sufficient actually benefit patients. so they won'pay for them. but gilbert had a workaround. instead of billing tna

treatments directly, his company submted claims for each of t services separately. ron briggs began receiving trina treatments in 2014. ul i found something that help with my situation, and itha wasn'ti thought it would m lp, i knew it would help. >> it's keeping ive. >> reporter: ron was traveling every week to a clinic inle scottsarizona, to get the infusions. >> after the fourth time, ron called me up on the phone and e'said, "i don't know what going to do, but i have to do this the rest of my life." >> reporter: ron and julie rallied support in dillon to open their own clinic. d ford gilbert p about $300,000 for fees anden equi the couple begged dillon's local inspital and its doctors to oversee it, incldr. sandra mcintyre. >> and part of that conversatioo was, wou of you in this organization be the medical director if the briggses chose to move forward? and we pretty much said the sami

thing, whi why would we be medical directors over a servich we don't think has scientific merit? >> reporter: the doctorsen recod the hospital not get involved. mcintyre says when patients, li ron, have a chronic disease, they look for anything that will make them feel better. >> so when someone offers something that really is, essentially painless andu,ost- free to ith this promise ieof a miracle, it hooks ps, it hooks them. >> reporte without the support of hospital doctors, ron and julie opened their clinic in 2015. they hired nurses to perform the insulin infusions and treated as many as 15 patients. two of those patients said trina was miraculous, and even extended their lives. but not all saw their health improve. some, like ruby montie, suffered severe side effects.

>> it was more than severe diarrhea, and i just couldn't handle it. i was getting dehydrated, and i'd come home and my husband would tell me that i just looked washed out. >> reporter: investors and clinicians have opened more than two dozen trina clinics in 17 states. in early 2017, bluecross blueshield of montana was questioning the dillon clinic's reimbursement claims. now, the private insur federal authorities are investigating gilbert's billingc ces. gilbert told us he did nothing wrong. >> there's no fraud, t no bad actor here. >> reporter: but ron and julie's clinic wasn't the first to have billing issues. bluecross blueshld was already denying claims from clinics in alabama.bu reements for the dillon clinic ended in april 2017. ron and julie say that's why their clinic closed. >> i've invested $750,000 in

this whole thing. we were told the insurance companies were in line. >> you seen tv, all of these things: if you take this medication your legs are going toall off, and your arms a going to fall off, and your nose is going to turn blue. and it's going to kill you. the insurance companies are covering all that. but for something that helps and that saved my husband's life, they don't even want to look at it. >> reporter: but ron's life wasn't saved. on december 22nd, he told his wife he didn't think he'd last the night. he wound up in a hospital with kidney failure, heart disease and a blood clot. 6days later, ron dend. e spoke with gilbert in february, he had no doubt he would continue to expand hisof networlinics. >> we will achieve remedial treatment for hundreds of millio of people. and i say that without a worry in this world.

>> reporter: but in april, ford gilbert was arrested this month ederal public corruption charges in alabama. he is accused of fraud and bribery in a failed scheme prosecutors say was intended to get a state law passed to force coverage of trina infusions. >> they pleaded not guilty. >> reporter: a state legislature and losoyists were arrested. all three have denied the charges and await trial. the clinic in dillon remains closed. some clinics continue to offer the treatment and to advertise that insuran and medicare are covering it. how long that will continue is unknown. for the pbs newshour, i'm cheryl clark in dylan, montana.

>> woodruff: roughly 1.5 million american children attend state d federally funded pre- kindergaen in 43 states and washington, d.c. but research shows quality and access vary across states, even from one classroom to the next. a number of states want to improve the quality of pre-k classes and that's been playing out in tennessee. hn yang is back with thi report he filed from memphis for our weekly segment, making the grade. r' reporter: in deanna ray pre-k classroom in memphis, the lessons go beyond just the a-b- c's. >> c. >> i really want them to know how to get along, socialize well, you know, starting at this leve learn how to problem-solve and, you know, learning how to stand control, uerstanding wemselves, understanding other people have feelings just like they do. >> reporter: for raynor's students, that means learning to

"settle my glitter." settle my glitter. what does that mean? >> that's just like i'm st all out of whack and i'm just like, "oh my goodness." and so you know. so when you're settling your glitter is just calming down. in order for the children to really do well in school, in society, at home as a whole, that you know, we need to be rooted and grounded socially and emotionally. >> reporter: porter-leath, a non-profit group, designed this state-of-the art early childhood academy to not only teach children but also teach teachers hoping to improve pre-k education across the area. >> how do you feel today? >> reporter: here, social-ls emotional skre an essential part of learning-- skills, educators say, that will help children in kinden, elementary school and throughout life. in tennessee, debate over pre-k has been sparked by a study that suggests the benefits may not be lasting. mark lipsey, a professor at

vanderbilt university's peabody college of education, d children in the state's voluntary pre-k program, which targets low-income families t>> the kids who did not pre-k actually are doing better than the kids who did go to pre- k on the state achieve tests, for example. in third grade there are significant differences favoring the group that didn't go to pre- k on the math and science measures. >> reporter: lipsey says more research is needed to fire out why that is: are pre-k programs lacking or are elementary schools not reinforcing the benefits of pre-k? experts say the expectations for long-term effects from pre-k programs come from two model programs in the 1960s and ¡70s. studies found that as adults, h participants hher graduationates, better wages and more stable marriages. but lipsey says those programs-- served a small number of children beginning at infancy.

he says nine months of pre-k today for children about to enter kindergarten are unlikely to have similar results. d >> i frank't think we're going to see the life-changing kinds there's just no real evidence of, no real convincing evidencef hat for contemporary pre-k prrams. >> one, two, three, four. at reporr: early education advocates say thoesn't mean h pre-k programsave no value. >> we don't have teachers who are just babysitting children. >> reporter: karen harrell is vice president of early childhood services at porter leath, which educates children from low-income families who are heading to first gde in shelby county public schools. it is not part of the state pre- k program. >> they're actually teaching children and they're challenging children. they're helping to grow our children so that they can in turn be productive citizens. >> reporter: deanna mcclendon is director of early childhood programs for public schools in shelby county, where7% of the children live in poverty. she says in her district,

students who had pre-k outperform those who didn't through the third grade. >> without the nine months in pre-k i think that our children and our families in this community almost never catch up. and so nine months can be a deal breaker for the children and families in our community.it they can eher make you or break you. >> reporter: tennessee's voluntary pre-k program began in 2005.w most every school district in the state has at least one full-day pre-k classroom. enrollment is more than 18,000. nacording to rutgers university's natinstitute onnessee ranks in the middle of state pre-k programost measures, including per child spending and access.fo proposalstate-funded universal pre-k are an issue in this year's tennessee governor's race. opponents are citing the. vanderbilt stu ea reporter: as at this candidates' foruier this year. >> the pre-k does have mixed

results. >> reporter: improving quality is the idea behindorter- leath's teacher training project-- the first in the state for pre-k instructors. some classrooms are set up for monitoring. playgrounds aren't just for children to play, they're places for teachers to observe. porter-leath, which isunded by federal head start money and private donations, not only trains its own teachers and classroom assistants, it offers training for others, including those in public schools-- free of charge. and porter-leath takes a holistic approach: family case ers help parents with housing, jobs and their own edation. >> this is a way for single parents, working moms, familiesr who arng to get themselves established, and they're young families, i think this is a way of supporting them as a family. >> did he wait for his turn? no. >> reporr: the vanderbilt

looked at standardized test scores as the measure of math and language skills. but what about the kind of social-emotional skills that deanna raynor teaches? is there an easy way to measure the other part, the getting along, t behaving, the sort of knowing how to interact and all work together? >> absolutely. absolutely. as far as measuring it, just cofrom when the child firss in to the class, like we've had children who first camho were very feisty, you know, i'm with my hands you know, i'm using my hands inappropriately, my words inappropriately. to now when i'm getting upset, you know, i feel, you know, i'm keeping myself together. i'm not reaching out. >> sevedays in the week >> reporter: you talk about helping the whole child. do standardized test scores miss something? >> i think it absolutely misses

something. we need to be in a position to whereas we're educating our children on how do i self- regulate, how do i calm myself down when i have a situation or conflict comes up. if children cannot listen, if they cannot follow instructionse then they'ot going to be able to learn. >> reporter: all important, skilrly education advocate say, for a child's long term education. >> what goes u >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang in memphis. >> woodruff: so important to follow these edcation stories. and this is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the p newshour, thank you, an we'll see you son. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer ceular.

>> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new 9york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.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 pbv station frwers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc

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>> funding for "new scandinavian cooking" is made possible by the following... and seafood from norway. ♪ [ wind howling ] ♪ ekstedt: hi, and welcome to "new scandinavian cooking." i'm niklas ekstedt, and toy i am in the capital of norway, oslo. the summer hasust arrived, and people are so happy. they're outside, enjoying their coffee, hopefully, because that's what this show is going to be about. so let's see if i can find a perfect brewed cof ♪