captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening and happy fourth of july. w i'm judruff. on the newshour this independence day, embattled environmental protection chief scott pruitt faces more ethics complaints. then, hundreds of thousands of syrians flee their homes as air strikes slam into reld ars. and, race matters: creating more diverse visitors andyees in our nation's national parks. >> we need tsee more brown people represented in the national park service. we need to see more languages represented, more culture. >> woodruff: all thaand more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs

newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversatings in a new lage, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minave lessons arlable as an app, or online. more information on babbel.com. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing polblems-- skoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention, iu.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and

catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdwot and peaceful d. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> wdruff: america marked it independence day with celebrations across thcountry, and a scorching heatwave accompanied festivities in the midwest and mid-atlantic. but as temperatures climbed well over 90 degrees in some places, heavy rain triggered flash flooding in houston, texas, thwarting travel and planned celebrations. meanwhile, president trump and first lady melania held a fourth of july picnic for military families on the white house

lawn.in orthern thailand, divers continued their efforts to rescue twelve boys and their soccer coach who have been stuck in a flooded cthe for 12 days. were found on monday, about 2.5 miles from the main entrance of the tham laung caveex in the northern chiang rai province. jo irvine of independent television news reports on the challenges of getting them to safety. >> reporter: trapped but no longer alone. the boys putheir hands together in the traditional thai way and identifi themselves for this progress report for a worried nation. the navy diver with them had a question: is there anything you want to say to your fan club out there? "don't forget about me," piped up one of them. the diver, who is also a doctor, applied creams to cuts and

sratches and promised better care when they got out. but the problems getting out were underlined by what he said about getting in. we set off at about 5:00 a.m. and reached here at 11:00, he said. six hours for an expert, how will these novices ever manage it? despite all their smiles for the camera, the boys look gaunt andl ittake several days to esstore the strength they'll need for whatever head. the thai army is trying to useto the time wiselmprove their chances of survival. as well as diverting streams that fw into the mountain, they've been scouring the terrain from above looking for other ways in and out. as tt went on today, two of the british divers who found the boys on monday went back in, to evaluate the feasibility of scuba diving the children to

safety. how dangerous would ite for them to try to scuba out? >> it would be danrous, i mean cave diving when you are certified is dangerous and when you are not certified is even more so. and if you are afraid, on top of that. >> reporter: is it more dangerous to leave them there for the time being, or move them? that's the big question here. >> woodruff: that report from john irvine of independent television news. iran's president had harsh words for the trump administration today, amid talks with european union leaders to save the 2015 nuclear deal. in vienna, hassan rouhani warned that "iran will survive thisro d of u.s. sanctions as it has survived them before. this u.s. government will not stay in office forever." rouhani hinted yesterday thatir might block regional oil exports if the u.s. went throu with new sanctions.

in the u.k., investigators say two british nationals critically ill after being exposed to the nerve agent novichok. nt happened in wiltshire c just a few miles from where a former russian spy and his daughter were poisoned by the same substance ih. britain blames russia for that incident, a charge russia denies. today, officials cordoned off several places the man and wan had visited. they said nothing in their backgrounds woulsuggest they'd been targeted. back in this country, there's word that president trump asked top foreign policy aides about invading venezuela, during a meeting on sanctns last year. media reports say multiple advisers urged against military action but mr. trump pressed latin american leaders on the notion later. the u.s. along with allied

nations have slapped sanctions on venezuelan president nicolas maduro and dozens of other top officials for corruption and human rights abuses. and, a wildfire burning in colorado is now the third largest in state history. heavy winds have spread the spring creek fire across 94,000 acres, destroying more than 100 homes. the wildfire is only 5% contained, as others burn in the region. t still to come newshour: e.p.a. head scott pruitt under renewed scrutiny for questionable ethics. the crisis of hundreds of inousands fleeing the war syria. women become breadwinners as a result of drought in afghanistan, and much more. >> woodruff: environmental protection agency chief scott

pruitt has been in the news yet again this week, over new allegations of impropriety. william brangham has this update.ra >>ham: the latest allegation against the e.p.a. chief is that he asked an aide s to help his wiure a high- paying job. this on top of the dozen or more different federal investigations underway into scott pruitt. me are looking into his alleged lavish spending on travel and on personal security. he's being investigated for abuse of power for allegedly retaliating against staffers who questioned his behavior. and other investigators are examining how he rented a bedroom in a washington condo atned by the wife of an energy industry lobbyist very favorable terms. jennifer dlouhy has beenfo owing all this for "bloomberg," and she joins mew. welcome to the "newshour". >> thank you. i should also say you are also the author of the veryid handy to the scott pruitt investigations that you can find on the bloberg web site. so many investigaonsnto scott pruitt right now. can you tell us about the most

recent allegation against him? >> the laest disclosures shed new light on the extent to whimh strator pruitt relied on his personal aides to do personal errands, specifically a former associate administrator told congressional investigators last week thaitt pruencouraged her to conct an association where she and pruitt both worked to encourage or seek out a jobf for his on top of the earlier disclosures that aides for pruitt contacted a chick-fil-a executive to acquire about a franchise opportunity for pruitt's wie, and that se accepted a $2,000 payment from a manhattan nonprofit group to work at a conference pruitt spoke at last year. >> there is also a reent allegation he retaliated against employees who raised concern about his behavior. what is the concern andga alon there?

>> the concern and allegation is a number of employees found themsees shifted to another jobs or moved to other locations after they rised questions about his spending or questioned his decision-makingan that's a subject of a special counsel probe. >> i know it's hard to keep track of all the questions about his behavior and the difinferent stigations. from your reporting, do you have a sense of which of these is the most severe for the administrator? >> my reporting indicates many of these are bshed aside by a number of his supporters, but what is concerning to the conservative supporters of this president that i'm talking to are the allegations about using the public office for personal gain. partly thehat's because are federal ethics rules that bar that kind ofvi beha, that kind of self-enrichment and they bar federal employees from seeking gifts from subordinates, one of the allegations hee. >> those are flat-out illegal. right.

it's a violation of these rules, yeah >> the cycle every time is quite striking. new allegations emerge, democrats call for his head, republicans express concern, yet the very nexweek he's doing his job. how do you explain he is where he is >> we ha look at how he got here. frankly, this is a guy who won conservative acclimb and his previous role as oklahoma attorney general for attacking the e.p.a. and he carried that into rolling back obama climate change and and water pollution. but top white house officials say they're concerned about replacing him. frankly potential successors who can be confirmed by the nearly divided senate would probably not bring the same enthusiasm as rolling back the e.p.a. rules. >> he's good at his job and they want to keep him. >> that's interesting. the president has made a

distinction increasingly between pruitt's performance at the e.p.a. on e.p.a.-related tasks and personal behavior. so on one hand the president a few weeks ago said he's doing a great job at the e.p.a. but he is not happy with these other disclosures. >> you wrote ast story laeek in "bloomberg news" that's fascinating that argued may the scandals won't be what dents his career in the e.p.a. but a fight over biofuels might. can you expin >> right, so what is interesting is that pruitt is caught in the middle of some o these lly deep disputes at the e.p.a., one is over the natiofus bio mandate, it requires renewable fuel to be used. he'sconder pressure frorn state farmers, and their allies in coness, particularly senator chuck grassley, to up the quotas essentially for using biofuel. >> ethanol in our gas. right. and refiners hate the mandate or many dislike it deeply, so allies for refiners including

senator ted cruz and other oil at a time senators are pushing pruitt in the opposite direction. it came to a head recent weeks over policy changes are late to this bifuel program. senator grassley said he would call for pruitt's reignation if he didn't support this mandate strongly in office and, meanwhile, senator cruz through aides said he would alsoall for pruitt's resignation if he didn't back off from chang refiners tinted like. what i think is interesting about this is we tend to thinkio about alleg against pruitt being very personal in nature, and here is a case where they are being used politically and they are inluencing policy decisions or at least being used as leverage by people who wish d just that. >> jennifer dlouhy, bloomberg news, thank you so much. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: we turn now to syria, and its ongoing civil war. the uprising there was sparked in 2011 in the southern city of deraa, and since then it has been largely held by rebel forces. but now, the assad regime, backed by russia, has launched a military operation to retake it. and as nick schifrin reports, that has led to the latest, massive, and forced displacement ivilians, caught in the crossfire. os schifrin: in this war, who flee bombs carry the world, and everything they own, on their shoulders. in the last few weeks, more than 270,000 syrians have fled for their lives. they walk for hours to a desolate corner of the desert with no infrastructure, because it's safer than staying at home. one man who didn't give his name carriehis son to safety. >> ( translated ): we were surrounded. we're refugees. we're unr attack. where should we go? i swear, where shoulwe go? >> schifrin: they went to the closest, safest place: the

jordanian border, guarded jordanian soldiers. and they sit, waiting for help that is not arriving. >> there are women, children, elderly, all kinds of civilians, that are stranded along the border desert area, where there there are injures and even deaths that are taking place. >> schifrin: darikha erkataeva is the head of doctors without's bordordan and syria mission. she has only been able to send in two trucks of supplies. >> there is no medical health care that is being provided. the people are trapped with no access to basic services or basic needs. >> schifrin: this is wha they've fled. massivair strikes by russian jets. and a trail of destruction left by syrian and iranian-backedng troops tar one of the country's last two rebel-held territories.at this is whonsolidating government control looks like: a syrian soldier firing artillery.

a column of syrianks.. that have ma dar gst wn. the markets are blown out d empty. what used to be an apartment l.mplex is an abandoned sh this was once the al-musayfra hospital. a russian bomb exploded in.he main lobby the sttchers are cut in half. the gurneys are pockmarked and deserted. dar'a is where the uprising began in early 2011. since then, syria has spiraled from crisis, to calamityto catastrophe. 12 million people displaced, more than half the country. 400,000 plus dead. but what's different about this time, is tt it's in a particularly sensitive location. those fleeing their homes have ended up in the corner of threeo tries: syria, jordan, and israel. the exodus has put pressure on israel and jordan, and threatened to entangle both countries. jordan has sent aid across the border into syria.bu jordan's already home to 1.3 million syrian refugees who live in the region's largest camp, and won't take in any more, said

jordanian government spokesman jumana ghunaimat. >> ( translated ): we feel the pain of our syrian brothers, bue ave jordanian priorities, its security and safety in the first place.kn everybods the reality of the extremists organizations inside syria and we are not, abnestly, to take that risk and allow the sefugees in. ifrin: near the israeli border, displaced syrians set up a tent city. t israel's movedks toward the border, and issued a warning to syrian and iranian-bd troops not to get too close, as livered by prime ministe benjamin netanyahu. >> ( translated ): we have a separation of forces wria since 1974. this is a fuamental agreement. we will follow it meticulously. and it's incumbent on all others to do the same. >> schifrin: the u.s. has 2,0 troops in syria, but they are far from the location of this crisis. and the u.s. explicitly told the rebels not to expect any help. which means the outcome of this fighis pre-ordained. the rebels are out-gunned.

and there is nothing stopping the syrian and russian assault. in dar'a town, rescue workers managed to pull out a girl, alive, from the rubble... but many who stayed in daraa, pa with their lives. rescue workers had to dig out bodies and walk them through destroyed streets. anthe horror of this war f syria's civilians, continues. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: we have covered war, privation, and terrorism in afghanistan for years. but there is another crisis e that is causing nearly as ugny problems: climate change. it causes epic ds, and forces desperate afghans toward desperate measures. there does seem to be one key factor in helping stave off the knock-on effects of drought: education for girls. special correspondent beth

mupy, of the ground truth project, has covered those efforts to improve girls educatiofor years, and tonight looks at the difference teaching girls is makin >> reporter: drought is drying up farms across afghanistan, cracking the earth and threatening the onlyf life the majority of the country has ever known. this community outside kabul city is called green village. it was once the breadbasket of the region, but today the name rings hollow. ( translated ): the drought is upon us, beyond our control. we cannot do anything about it. our crops are becoming smaller every year. maybe this year, there will be more drought because there hasn't been any rain or snow yet. our river is dry. >> reporter: farmers like haffizullah azami have been hit again and again over the pasts three decath droughts. they've become longer and more intense, making afghanistan one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. haffizullah's daughter wazeela redmbers all the times her

struggled to make money and feed the family.>> translated ): when my father came home, he was very unhappy. so that made us all unhappy.n' he dhave enough money to cover our expenses. and when we didn't have enough food to eat, he was ly miserable. h >> reporter:izullah's grape field may not look like a battlefield, but this is where a new war in afghanistan is being waged. with farmers caught between two forces they can't contro cl.ate change and terrorism so this is the negotiation with the community people. daud rahimi is with the united nations development program. he's helping to oversee a $71 million program torotect afghanistan's most vulnerable communities from the worst impacts of climate change. >> climate change is a multiplier, a threat multiplier, one of which is threcruitment of young people by the terrorists groups, by insurgent groups. >> reporter: that insurgency is bankrolled by the drug trade, specifically the opium poppy,

which is heavily controlled by violent taliban extremists who are now openly operating in 70% of the country, reversing the gains of america's longest war.- in this controlled area on the pakistan border, it may be winter, but farmers are spreading the seeds of what will become heroin. >> ( translated ): we have very little land and big families. so we are cultivating opium poppy.ri it bngs in more income. our goal with growing poppy is to earn more money. we don't want to harm anyone. >> reporter: there's a reason farmers are attracted to growing fiopium poppy. llah considered it because it's more drought resistant than other crops. there's also more of a mket for it. ( translated ): i've never cultivated it, but everyone knows it's the way to make a good income. >> reporter: opium is a $60 billn industry in afghanista which supplies most of therl d's heroin. the amount grown here is skocketing. it's almost doubled over the

past year, deste a mounting u.s. campaign to target the illicit crop and the taliban. according to the united nations, it's impossible to untanglthe web of drugs, drought and war, and those with the least power suffer most. >> girls and minorities are affected more than anyone else by the climate change. >> reporter: for one family in herat province, not having enough water set off a devastating chain reaction. >> ( anslated ): it was th reason i became indebted and lost everything, because of the drought. >> reporter: to settle his debts, shah mohammad took his daughter khudija out of school. instead of her getting a diploma, he was pa h a dowry whforced her to get married. late last year she tried to find her own way out. she attempted suicide by setting herself on fire. >> ( translated ): it's all because of my husband. he physically and mentally

abused me.my withounowledge, they married me to that man.en fghan people are broke, they sell their daughters. i'm not dead. i'm not alive. >> reporter: it's impossible to know what khudihja's life would be like if she had been able to stay in school, but there is increasing evidence that when girls are educated, communities are stronger, safer, and more resilnt. in a recent study of 162 countries, the brookings institution reports at for every additional year of schooling a girl receives, her country is better prepared for, and better able to recover from climate disasters like droughts and floods. author of "the kite runn" and united nations goodwill ambassador khaled hosseini, explains that educated girls are more likely to become decision makers who re-invest in their community. >> there's a saying that when you educate a boy, you educate u individual, but if you educate a girl, ucate an entire community and change the

culture. >> reporter: for hafizullah, for another bad harvest, he's got a secret weapon other farmers don't: two daughters who are educated. in this conservative country that has long limited the role of women, fazeela and wazeela worked hard to convince theiras dad, whoust a fifth grade education, to let them graduate from high school and then earn teaching degrees. now, they are both making a living as elementary school teachers. ated ): before this, our economic situation was terrible. so, i wanted to go to school and be able to earn money. i know that with my salary, i can provide for myself and myly fa i'm really happy to be earning an income. >> reporter: together, the sisters are earning about $4,000 a year. that's the samamount their father used to make off the farm before the drought. now, he's lucky to make $1,000.

>> ( translated ): if my daughters didn't work? sucan't imagine it. our family couldn'ive. their teaching salary helps our faly survive. >> reporter: at the girls' school where wazeela and fazeela teach, there are nearly 700 students whose whole lives have been defined by drought, and everything it is linked to-- the poverty, the drugs, the war. and while they lose so much to these catastrophic problems, their education is something no one can take from them. for the pbs newshourbeth murphy in deh'subz, afghanistan. woodruff: last fall, science correspondent miles o'brien traveled to cuba, a crion jewel ofversity in the caribbean. there, he found scientists andts conservationorking to protect the island's wildlife, some of it found nowhere else on earth, from growing outside

pressures. tonight a reprise of that story, our weekly series on the leading edge of science. >> reporr: toby ramos is cuba's croc whisperer. for more than four decades, he has lid in cuba's zapata swamp, hoping to bring the reptiles back fromhe brink of extinction. they are feisty, ferocious, and able to jump-- as we saw at a arby breeding center. >> ( translated ): the cuban croc is very bold and unafraid of humans. they come right up to investigate any disturbance in the water. they stand their ground even if you try to capture them. this makes them easier to catch than their arican counterpart. >> reporter: which is one big reason they are in such trouble.

the crocs were huntednt relessly in the first half of the 20th century. 13,000 were killed in one year alone, for their skins and meat. today, the poaching continuesle relessly.gh rinow, the wild cuban crocodile population is estimated at only about 3,ti0. they are clly endangered. they are not extinct, thanks in itrge part to toby ramos. he works closelynatalia rossi of the wildlife conservation society. >> he's not only professionally a person that has a body of work for 40 years, but he is a brave person twork in the field. he's still fit and eager to grab a crocodile. w reporter: they offered no guarantees that ld even lay eyes on one, but nevertheless, we came to this remo warden's outpost to try our luck. and not long after we arrived... >> it seems there is a crocodile. reporter: oh, is there a crocodile? let's see. where?

where? a curious croc surfaced nearby. toby ramos is a total pro. in all these years, he has captured thousands of animals and yet only been bitten twice. we were eager to watch-- from a safe distance. he is not in it for the thrill, but rather to protect the species. poaching is only part of the problem. the other threat comes from another species that has flourished her american crocodiles. they thrive here, crowding out their cuban cousins, and also crossbreeding with them,ng hybrid species. >> ( translated ): we have only seen this hybridization happening in two very specific areas. plus other areas where only american crocs are present. >> we are working hard to protect what we have tod because we might lose one of these unique populations c

>> reporter:a is replete with unie populations of rare and endangered species. scientists say the cntry is a crown jewel of bio-diversity in the caribbean; its mangrove swamps, coral reefs its populations of unique amphibians, reptiles and bir are all unsurpassed. >> now, we are heading onto an open area with palm trees, which is seasonally flooded right now. >> reporter: biologist maydiel morera gave me an eye-opening tour of some rare birds in another corner of the zapata swamp. >> that flooding movement or cycle keeps this area clear, and it's very, very good for birds mainly. >> reporter: cuba is home to 370 species of birds; 27 found only here, includingone. what is that? what is that called? >> cuban trogan, it's the

national bird of cuba, and it's my perfect bird in cuba, also.ep zater: beautiful, plumage. we also saw a greard cuckoo, a cuban pygmy owl, a west indian woodpecker, a cuban green woodpecker and a cuban screech owl. >> you see my dot here. >> reporter: yeah, yeah. i see him, i see him. >> that is it. >> reporter: beautiful bird. lookt that bird. >> i think the most fitting english wo for this is "cute." >> reporter: we were joined by wildlife biologist ana porezecanski.ec she is dr of the center for bio-diversity and conservation at the ammuican um of natural history in new york. in 2015, the museum launched a partnership with the cuban museum of natural history. they funded an expedition to cuba's humboldt national park, 275 square miles of extraordinary diversity, from sea level to peaks of nearly 4,000 feet.

>> we were able to go and do an inventory, a survey of the bio-diversity of the park together with park technicians, cuban scientis and museum scientists. and we found amazing things, some species and some cases that we didn't know were in the park and probably, several species new to science.or >> rr: cuba's ecological bounty is a consequence of some deliberate planning by the cuban regime, which protected about 20% of the nation's land and territorial waters and also years of geopolitical and economic isolation. >> the political situation kept cuba isolated from fast development. so in a way, there was not amp like a strong ing interest of money versus conser. >> reporter: for scientists, cu is a tantalizing myster >> it's kind of a black box in terms of kwledge because there has been a lot of research done in cuba, but t connection of that research to the research

done in north america and ot tr countries continent has not been yet integrated. >> reporter: cuban scientists don't have the funding to answer some complex questions on their, ike, can pure cuban crocodiles survive? and does habitat loss, poaching and cross breeding make it likely the heartier cuban-an amerross breeds will prevail? f on thent lines in the zapata swamp, toby ramos is also trying to find the answer, studying animals that he understands perhaps better than anyone. how many times have you done that before, toby? ( speaking spanish ) >> thousands. >> reporter: can i touch? >> yes. ( speaking spanish ) >> reporter: much dryer than you think. once we let our crocodile swim free, we got back in the boat and gunned it. a big thunderstorm was brewing.n kethese crocodile alive is not easy already, but add to thw

mix the g pressure as tourism increases here in cuba.m as more peoplehere, there's more pressure on these animals, and it makeuch rder to keep them alive. in ca's zapata swamp, i'm miles o'brien for the pbsnewshor >> woodruff:llion people are expected to travel for peurth of july this year and many of them areing the holiday at national parks. but the parks do not have a history of attracting a broad cross section of america's population. as tyler fingert from the cronkite school of journalism reports as part of our race matters series, some parks officials are trying to change that. >> reporter: thousands of feet above the canyon floor, it's a view you can feel. >> no picture could ever do it

justice, it's everything i expected and then some. >> reporter: lisa brokenbrough and doug griffin drove three straight days from delaware just to get to the grand canyon and a chance to see what more than six t yearn visitors saw l alone. >> when you are here you get to experi picture, you know the pictures are beautiful, but being here usu get the actual full experience and jthe wowev factor of ything. >> reporter: the park boasts some of the best views of this beautiful canyon, that stretchee han 250 miles across the southwest. l but that view gely seen by a select group of people. via 2011 national park ser report shows visite s to parks arerwhelmingly white. with just one in ten visitors being hispanic, and just 7% african american. both under-representedred to their populations in the country. >> we should be concerned because something is there keeping usrom attending in the same numbers as the rest of the

population. >> reporter: xitlaly reyes works with latino outdoors, which is >> there is definitely maybe ano messaggetting across that that is their park that they can enjoy it and maybe that issue i think we have there. >> reporter: diversity is a big issue for the national park service, their goal is to increase diversity of visitors and bring more people from backgrounds to places like the grand canyon, but they're also trying to increase the diversity of their own staff, hoping that helps to bring more people to the parks. >> we need to do a lot of stuff within our park as well and that's you know everything from making sure the staff looks lik erican public making sure that there's visibility in publications.ep >>ter: vanessa ceja- cervantes is the outreach coordinator at the grand canyon. she's working to bring morepe le to the park as they get ready to celebrate 100 years. h reyes says ses some of those people are wearing national park service uniforms. >> i thinked to see more brown people represented in the national park service we need to more languages represent more culture. >> reporter: beyond hiring, the

grand canyon is also rg out to underrepresented communities asking about their intests. >> not everyone enjoys the outdoors the same way you know someone might enjoy an eight mile hike into the canyon, while someone else might enjoy watching the wildlife hangingam out with theiry. so we're taking all those things into consideration. >> reporter: ceja cervantes also says the park service is using their best asset, people, by making sure a friendly face is there to answer questions. >> when i go out to a trail and i see someone, i see an hispanic family, i get rely excited and i'm like hey i can speak spanish if you guys need help let me know. >> reporter: but all these efforts could be in vain as thei onal park service gets ready to raise entrance fees. kevin dahl works with the national parks conservation association. >> there's no question about it, access to the pas will be affected as the price goes up. >> reporter: the price to see all this will increase only $5, >> every dollar more that it takes to get to a park excludes some people. >> department is raising entrance

fees to help fix the parks. many have a growing li projects that need to be done to a total tab of more than $11 llion. at yellowstone national park, they need about a half billions dollar fixes. for the great smokeemountains thd more than 200 million. and the grand canyon needs more than 300 million.of >> at the hearhe issue is that congress is responsible for funding the operations and intenance of our nationa parks. funding for parks has gone down, which is jusincredible because visitation is at an all time high. >> reporter: back with lisa and doug, the short trip was worth it. >> some things you can't afford, but some things you can't not e afford, and this right hu tn't not afford. >> reporter: form, a view that can't be seen in pictures. for the pbs newshour, i'm tyler fingert at the grand cyon national park in arizona.

>> woodruff: now t latest entry to the newshour bookshelf, advice for parents coping with very sick children. aftea career as a psychologi and counselor specializing in the care of children with cancer, joanna breyer has written "when your child is sick: a guide for pare children undergoing medical care for serious illnesses." anna breyer welcome to t newshour. >> thank you. >> woodruff: i'll be candid ate tset. i wanted to talk to you because among other things my husband and i have had a son with serious medical issues and we know, i know, firsthand what a serious subject this is and how itimportant it is to tackl did you did this book juy grow naturat of your years of being a psychologist or did you

have to bealked into it? >> i began by writing a book for children who hated treatment with a section for parts and enough people told me that the part for section for parents was really good. another person suggested perhaps i could write a book for parents reflecting their stories and my own observations over the years. and that's what i started to do. >> woodruff: you break some of the advice, much of the advice in the book up by the age of the child: babies, toddlers, and then children in school, and then adolescents. you do that because of obviously different levels of maturity but also the importance of communicating. i mean you've got some items re with us that you've

actually used in your practice. >> yest introduce ned. he is a puppet who was a friendn of many chil some children used him to talk to. he developed the same problems often that they had, a together we would all figure out hohe could deal with the problem and the child was much more liky to be enthusiastic about joining in if it was ned who had the problem.dr >> wf: there are so many different bits of i think wonderful advice for immiate family members but also i think it works for people on the outside. family who are not there all the time for distant familbecause you're dealing with not just the physical but you're also dealine with ttional effect of what's happened. >> and that's where parents are very different. i mean some parents immediately want to access a whole lot of

people around them who will be the supports for them and other people may be more difficult to do that maybe they've come from far away maybe they won't have those supports immediately available. >> woodruff: is there universal advice you give parents when they're dealing with this or does it so vary from family to family and child to child? >> i think the general advice at i would have is for parents to take as good care ofse thes as they possibly can in the hospital because it's so. l.sy not and it's so stress and to actually remember to get a good meal, to remember to exercise, to remembeake breaks. that's prettadgood universal ce i would say. >> woodruff: it's the physical illness but it's the emotional impa it's the child either h ybe not understanding what they're going thro just out and out resisting what they're being asked to do. >> the more they can understand

that what they're getting treated for is for a pticular condition, they need this x, y and z. if they're young, only a little bit at a time in advance because their idea of time is a little shortened. but if they can understand what something is being done for they are more likely, not always, but more likely to at least try to cooperate. it was very hard and sad, pad icularly if i had wor long time with the family and the child, and that i wouys al remember it wasn't anything as hard for me as the parents. sometimes in a way it was a privilege to be with family,

talking with them to the extent that they wanted. it's sometimes about things that were quite unrelated, sometimes things that were fun. sometimewonderful memories they had of their child, with their child, and sometimes ho ey wanted to deal with the >>uff: there are so many oosituation. forms of painful loss, but losing a child is unimaginable for most people.y >> mrents did wonder how they would manage, and i think that, for many parents, during the time of a child's illness and getting worse, their priority, in a way, for many parents, is to be able to be with that child in the best way eyey can be, in a way that th would be there. they want to remember the time they had as a time thatas a

good time. >> woodruff: and i have to finish i >> woodruff: aave to finish by asking, by pointing out that it's not as if you don't live a stress-free life. you're married to one of the justices of the supreme court. he's been sitting on te court, justephen breyer, for 24 years.d u take your work to him? and does he take his work to you? >> luckily, he is a lawyernd i am a psychologist. what i can say is that he was always-- he was terribly sad if he learned i had to go to a funeral and he has been enormously encouraging every step of the way of me writing this book. >> woodruff: joanna breyer, the book is "when your cguld is sick: e to navigating the practical and emotional challenges of cari for a child who's very ill." thank you. >> thank you so much, judy.

>> woodruff: million children grew up with mister rogers and his neighborhood. now a new documentary explores his life and lessons.ff jey brown has more.wn >> bro: the trolley, the cute sock-puppets, the cardigan sweater-- millions loved mister rogers and his neighborhood, others found it all a bit, well, too "nice." filmmaker morgan neville watched as a kid and, looking again as an adult, found something worth exploring, celebrating today. >> when i started digging into him i just felt like this was a voice i don't hear in our culture anymore. a itoice that needs a place at the table and it's a ice that speaks up for a lot of things that nobody else is. speaking out f it's a grownup voices empathetic and that's looking out for our own cultural long- term well-being.

>> brown: ville, who won an oscar for his documentary, "20 feet from ardom," has now made "won't you be my neighbor," a new, fuller look at the life and work of fred roger >> a television program for children made its inauspicious debut on wqed in pittsburgh. its host? fred rogers. >> brown: "mr. rogers neighborhood" had its national debut on public television in 1968. original episodes and re-runs would air until 2001. the show quickly hit a chord with children across the country. >> mr. rogers? >> yes? >> i want to tell you something. >> what would you like to tell me? >> i like you. >> i like you, my dear. thank you very much for telling me that. >> reporter: a presbyterianed minister who s child psychology, rogers was on a mission, says neville: to harness the power of television to reach and teach children, but without any high tech glitz. >> ie always felt that i didve

not have to ha funny hat or jump through hoops to have a relationship with that child. >> for fred rogers, television was almost the necessary evil to do what he wanted to do with his mission. and he knew that from the moment he first saw television and really changed his l course. but at the same time he hated television. so in a certain way he's the least likely tv star of all time. >> did youver know any grownups who got married and then later they got a divorce? >> brown: as the film shows, the program didn't shy from addressing tough issues of the day. >> there iofficer clemmons, come in! >> hi mr. rogers, how are you? >> bro: francois clemmons, who played a friendly policeman in the 'neighborhood' recalls a seemingly benign scene intended to send a bigger message. >> they did not want black people to swim in their swimming pools.e my being on ogram was a statement for fred.

>> i think fred rogers made is decision very early in his career that what he was going to do was to level with children, because i think the adultha instinct w and i as a parent know this, you want to tell your kids not to pay attention to bad things or don't worry about things and the fact of the matter is chiare way too smart to not worry about things. they know en bad things happen. >> brown: there were spoofs and mockery including sadie murphy onrday night live.">> nd many wondered: is this guy for real? >> brown: the question so many of us had was: is this all an a acerformance? surely there's some dark side to

fred rogers? but you seem to show he was who he was. >> without a doubt, that's the most common question i got was some version of, "is this guy for real?" and the conclusion i came to reter years of working on this is he is 100% for and in fact that's kind of the surprise, the reveal is that he is even more mr. rogers like in real life than he is on the so the difference between mr. rogers and fred rogers is fred was a more dimensional, more willful, more intellectual version of mr. rogers. >> brown: more willful, tougher than those colorful cardigans might suggest, but also hints of doubt and fears that he wasn't fulfilling his mission. it is moving to watch him and think how telesion and the world were not what he wanted them to be. how did you come to think about this? >> well, he was somebody that believed in the potential of television and dedicated his

life to it because he believedou it c be a place where we could build communities. and you know there are times when television has done thatn but more oftennot we live in an era where television is incentivized to do tosite, to actually divide us. and i think fred found that very inful. but it didn't mean he stopped believing. i thinif he were here he would still be trying to figure out ways to us ttise message poly and i think it's part of why i made the film. >> brown: fred rogers died in 2003. the film "won't you be my nehbor" is now playing in theaters nationwide. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. ht>> woodruff: finally ton author sebastian junger has spent a number of years reporting on the men and women in various branches of the

united states military.nd on this indece day, he reflects on american heroes in tonight's in my humble opinion. >> several years ago i spent much of a deployment with a platoon of combat infantry at a remote outpost callerestrepo. it was named after the medic, p.f.c. juan sebastian restrepo, who was born in colombia, emigrated to america as a child, and died fighting at the bottom of a hill in afghanistan. there was no running water at restrepo, no cooked food, no communication with the outside world and absolutely no privacy. mostly, therwas just a lot of con at. the plats in several hundred firefights that year, and everyone out there was almost killed. and yet watched perfectly ordinary people risk their lives to keep others safe. no one was more anportant than yone else and race, religion,po and litics had absolutely no importance at restpo. every fourth of july i think

about men like private restrepo and what this country must mean to them. four percent of our military aren't even u.s.itizens. and yet they emigrate to our shores, put on a uniform and fight and die for us. what is it they are fighting fo what is it they are risking death for? for many, of course, it is economic opportunity. but that very economic opportunity is rooted in the idea of a just society where people are judged on their own merits rather than for the sound of tir last name or the colo of their skin. the america we are all hoping for-- now may exist in its purest form on the frontlines of our nation's wars. how sad. how ironic. soldiers now return toie soc that is tearing itself apartpo along every ible ethnic and demographic boundary. the gap between rich and poor continues to widen, many people live in racially segregated communities and rampage shootings seem to happen every week or two. to make matters worse, powerful

people in this country talk with incredible contempt about, depending on their views, theen pres the government, the foreign-born and entire segments of the population. i'm soy to say that some of my fellow americans would judge p.f.c. juan rerepo for race before they got arou to honoring him for his heroism. i don't believe this woulde happening if people in this country had a minimum unsing of true public service. i wonder if any of them thought toive up their salary for year in solidarity for the millions of americans who lost their jobs during a recession. i wonder if any of them are prepared to make a pure sacrifice for this nation, yet in abundance among the citizens they serve, marty last year a lifelong new yorker named marty bauman died at age 86. mr. bauman contracted polio while in the army, attended

college on the g.i. bill and went on to start a successful executive search firm in manhattan. when his company ran into financial trouble in the 1990's, he secretly gave up his salary't so he woulave to fire anyone that year.s ployees only found out what he'd done because the company bookkeeper told them. people like mr. bauman are the true heroes of this country. this fourth of july, think about the people-- young and old, rich and poor, citizen and non- citizen-- who have m sacrifices for us all. ame are in uniform but ma not. they all deservemour respect but than that, they deserve a country thatespects itself. i don't hear that sentiment in the halls of power. i only hear it at e outposts of afghanistan and on the streets and in the workplaces of this great land. just a few days ago i was walking by some housing projects in new york city and i sss someone care throw a candy wrapper on the ground. another person saw him as wee . "hey man,"id, "that's our

country." that's rht. that's our country. if the powerful do not learn esthis one lesson from theof us, they will not remain the powerful for long.>> oodruff: and don't go anywhere. right here on pbs, america's national independence day celebration kicks off with a star-spangled party and all-star sate. hosted by john stamo "a capitol fourth" is brought to you from the west lawn of the u.s. capitol. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at t pbs wshour, happy fourth of july. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular understands that not everyone needs an unlimited wireless plan. icr u.s.-based customer se reps can help you choose a plan based on how much you use your learn more, go toe, nothing consumercellular.tv

>> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the cobloration for broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ca ioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org [ gunshot ]

eduardo: tonight on history dectives: these guns mean a t to me. who is john p. thompson? tukufu: were these people members of the klan? i hope that's not what o.m getting ready to run i i have an amplifier that i believe belonged to the great james jamerson. that motown guy. who is that guy? elvis costello: et ♪ watchin' the dectives ♪ i get so angry when the eardrops start ♪ ♪ but he can't be wounded et'cause he's got no heart ♪ ♪ watchin' the detectives ♪ it's just like watchin' the detectives ♪ funding for tonight's presentation history detectives was provided by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs st