captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, conflicting accounts from the white house on russia, as president trump plans to invite vladimir putin to meet in washinon. then, what's happening inside the nation's detention centers. the latest on governme efforts to reunite immigrant families separated at the border. and, marking 50 years of the special olympics: we look at its beginnings and how it aims to spark an inclusion revolution. >> it's taught me about how to respect myself how to ve acceptance of myself how to respect someone else and it's ok to be me. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. di

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>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. w druff: more shifting winds at the white house today, on whether russia's president puti is a fiend, or a fierce foe. word came that president trumpti wants to visit this fall, even as monday's summit sparked more questions. white house mirrespondent e alcindor begins our siverage. >> alcindor: for pnt

vladimir putin, a warm reception from russian lawmakers today, as he celebrated the heulinki summit r. >> ( translated ): finally, the full formal meeting happened whh allowed me to talk directly to president trump and it was successful generally, led to useful arrangements. >> alcindor: there's been no formal announcement of any deals the leaders may haveade. putin said they worked out a range of agreements involving international security. but the u.s. director of national intligence, dan coats, said today at an aspen institute forum, he's not sure what was agreed to.>> ell you're right i don't know what happened in that meeting. but that is the president's prerogative. if he had asked he how that ought to be conducted, i would've suggested a different way but that's not my role, that's not my job, so it is what it is. >> alcindor: this morning, president trump tweeted saying: "the summit with russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the fake news media." he went on to say he looks forward to a second meeting with putin, "so that we can start

implementing some of the many iscussed," including cyberattacks, middle east peace and ukraine among others. but the overall u.s. commander for the middle east, army general joseph votel, said he has heard nothing about any changes regarding syria, whereri both an and russian forces are involved. he spoke tpentagon reporters on a videolink from his d,adquarters in tampa. >> we have receio, no further direction than we've currently been operating under. >> alcindor: direct collaboration with the russian military would need congressional approval. there was more today, too, on the matter that's dogged president trump sinchelsinki, russian cyber-hacking in the 2016 u.s. election. "the new york times" reported that two weeks befe his inauguration, in january of 2017, he was shown highly classified evidence that vladimir putin personally ordered the campaign of cyberattacks and disinformation. just five days later, the then president-elect held a news conference.

today, he posted a clip from it. but later on in that same news conference, he dismissed the intelligence community's conclusion that putin had been trying to he him win the election. >> do you accept that part of the finding? >> well, if-- if putin likes donald trump, i consider that an usset, not a liability, be we have a horrible relationship with russia. >> alcindor: in aspen, colorado, the president's homeland security secretary, kirstjen t nielsen saay she's never seen evidence that russia's election interference was aimed at securing a trump victory. >> so i haven't seen a evidence that the attempts to but what we've seen on the influence side is thattihey were atte to intervene and cause chaos on both sides. >> alcinr: on monday, the president seemed to take putin's denials at face value. coats quickly challenged that, saying russian interference did heppen, and is continuing. today, coats sai had no choice. >> well my thoughts there was that i needed to correct the record for t wt.

obviously,hed he had made a different statement but i think now it clarified. >> alcindor: just yesterday, mr. trump appeared tdismiss the notion that russian interference is ongoing. >> is russia still targeng the u.s., mr. president? >> thank you very much. no. >> you don't believe that to be the case? >> let's go. >> alcindor: the white house said later, mr. trump's answer had been misunderstood. all of this has lawmakers on both sides asking questions, and seeking action. republican senator bob corkergn chairs the forelations smmittee. >> i just can feetimes the president conflates getting along with someone, and you know flattery and those kinds of things, conflates that with the actual politics, if you will, >> alcindor: in a statement today, senate majority leader cotch mcconnell announced he's directed two senatittees to hold hearings on potentially strengthening u.s. sanctions against russia. on the house side, democratic whip steny hoyer called for bipartisan legislation to

increase funding for election system security and to counter russian-led cyberattacks. >> the flashing red light calls us to action.e surelyn rise above pandering to party and putin to act on behalf of our freedom and our security. >> alcindor: the measure ultimately failed. reblicans voted against it saying there's already ample money available for those purposes >> woodruff: and yamiche is here with me now, along with our foreign affairs correspondent nick schifrin. hello to both of you. y so, yamiche, u've just been reporting, we've seen over the last few days a number ofts statemhe white house has made about the russian threat, about what the russians did in 2016, andhey've turned and and made a clarifying statement or reversed themselves. how does the way the white house is handling this, because you have been looking into it, compare with the way the rest oi the stration has been looking at all this? >> well, president trump's inability to definitively say

vladimir putin ordered russian nationals to interfere in th 2016 election has put him a odds often with the intelligence community. dacoats today looked visibly surprised when nbc's andrea mitchell told him about putin's upcoming visit. >> the white house announced on twitter thatladimir putin is coming to the white house in the fall. >> sayhat again? (laughter) >> vladimir putin coming to -- yeah, i hear you. yeah. okay. yeah. >>(laughter) hat's gonna be special. (lufghter) >> woo wow. i mean, that really sums up where the national int director and the president stand right now. he was completely surprised, and he's not alone the intelligence community is looking at what president trump is doing and saying, and they'ru reallystioning kind of why the president is saying all these things, and they don't know what he said tvladimir

tin in that one-on-one meeting that went on for two hours, and dan coats isn't the only person in the trump administration pushing back on how trump talks at russia. director of the f.b.i. christopher ray says russia ismo tht aggressive country that's trying to attack the u.s. right now. th's really, reay important. i was talking to sources today, there was a former departmentse of homelanrity official, very señor in past administrations, he said that the homeland security -- the secretary of homeland security stood saying that she didn't know if russia was trying top help donald trows that these administration officials one under a lot of pressure to pick betweend trump or the truth. so that's really, really importann and the seate today voted unanimously toso oppe russia talking to u.s. officials or u.s. citizens andsi bally saying that rush should not be able to question american citize, so they're also coming out and saying we are not with the president on this one. >> woodruff: so, nick, you talked to folks in the

intelligence community, there is some sort of division, it appears, between what the president is doing and what they know. l i think it's important to note that they wntinue doing their job despite that division, but that there is worry, concern, even discomfort with some of what the president is saying and some of the policies that he's exhibiting toward russia and toward vladimir putin. we have to remember that, since january 2017, the intelligence community has fingered putin personally and said that president putin ordered the hacking an disinformation campaign in the united states. le president was given that information, as arned today, from the "new york times," with specific intelligence that there was human intelligence about president vladimirutin's order, and there's bafflement, elligenceamong some int officials as to why the president will not back them up on that and at least publicly they just don't know why the president is not backing them up. >> woodruff: two other things.

miche, the white house saying yesterday that the president wai considering sly this idea of swapping interrogation between the former u.s. ambassador to scow, amo others, with the u.s. bei able to interview these intelligence folks in russia who have been indicted by the united states. so -- and then today they said, no, it's not being considered at all, the preident doesn't like the idea. ng on there? >> the white house and the state department had vastly different answers when it came to the question of whether or not vladimir putin could get his way and russian national officials could sit down and interview american citizens they see as criminals. the u.s. intelligence community has found these americans are not criminals, they ilude the former ambassador to russia, the former u.s. ambassador toss , and there's this idea that putin wanted to kind of float that out the and it s pretty much seen as absurd. the state department came out very forcefully yesterday and

say it's absurd to even ask the euestion where sarah sanders hedged and said,, we'll think about it. it took him a full 24 hours teter for the wouse to come out and be on the same page as the state department. it comes back to the idea i have been talking to sources about when they say they don't know why the president is doing the ings he's doing and people are worried maybe he made deals wits ent putin in that two-hour meeting, they're not sure if he gave them some kind of signal there may be an surance there, so they're very worried and don't know what to think. >> woo, uff: andck, on that point, it isn't clear what was said in thg. meeti how big a problem is that? >> it is a the russians have a well oiled machine and they will put forth their ambassador yesterday and president putin today and thel will filhe void where there is no statement act secretary thmpeo about what was decided, no statement fro national security advisor john bolton, the defense secretary wasn't even at the cabinet meeting

yesterday, whereas the russians are absolutely organized, they will fill that void and try and shape the legacy of thece summit andainly, the day-to-day actions of both countries in the near fute. >> woodruff: nick schifrin, yamiche alcindor, thank you th. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, president trump criticized the federal reserve for raising interest rates. he spoke to cnbc, and suggested higher rates aren't helping efforts to boost the economy. >> i'm not thrilled, because we go up, and every time you go up, they want to raise rates again. and i don't really, uh... i am not happy about it, but at the same time, i'm letting them do what they feel is best. >> woodruff: later, a white house president respects the independence of the fed.ai fed an jerome powell has said he does not expect to face white house pressure.mp he was mr. t choice for

the job. re than 7,000 civilians in syria were evacuated from pro- government villages in the north. 'd been under rebel sieg for three years. s eir release was in exchange for militald in government jails. buses took the villagers to government-held territory in laeppo. it's one of the est population transfers in the seven-year-long conf meanwhile, in southwest syria, eere's word that rebels h agreed to leave the frontier along the israeli-occupied golan height back in this country, kathy kraninger fad questions today about whether she is qualified to lead the consumer financial protection bureau. she now works at t office of management and budget. democrats at her senate confirmation hearing, iticized her lack of experience inan bankinfinancial services. but kraninger said she has other qualifications. >> 20 years of government service, working for common sense solutions across the aisle, working with members on

both sid outcomes for the american people and that is certainly what i pledge. >> woodruff: at a separate confirmation hearing, democrats opposed charles rettig to be commissioner of the internal revenue service. they said it's a protest against a new i.r.s. policy that lets business, labor and other groups accept donations without disclosing the donors' identities. the senate today abandoned plans to vote on the nomination of an bounds to be a federa appeals judge. he ran into opposition over his writings as a college student, more than 20 years ago, criticizing multiculturalism. it's the first time one of the president's appeals court nominees has failed to advance. facebook c.erk zuckerberg is doing damage control after saying the social media platform will not automaticallye posts denying the holocaust. inn interview, he'd said h does not think holocaust deniers "intentionally" get the facts wron

later, he said his intent was not to defend su speech. on wall street, losses in the banking sectorcoupled with president trump's criticism of the fed, pushed stocks lower today. the dow jones industrial average shed more than 134 points to close at 25,064. the nasdaq fell 29 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 11. the annual espys sports awards took a solemn turn last night, honoring more than 140 victims of sexual abuse by a sports doctor. many were young girls when they were assaulted by larry nassar at usa gymnastics and michigan state university. last night, they received the arthur ashe award for courage. but olympic gold medal-winning gymnast aly raisman said they never should have been there.e >> alleded was one adult to have the integrity to stand between us and larry nassar.on

if jusadult had listened,d believed, ted, the people standing before you on this stage would have never met him. >> woodruff: nassar is now serving ison terms totaling more than 175 years. and, the military veteran whose experience as a radio d.j. in saigon inspired the film "goam morning, vie has passed away. adrian cronauer served in the air force during the vietnam war in the '60s, where hcoined the greeting made famous by robin williams in the classic movie years later. he died after a long illness, at 79 years old. still to come on the newshour: views on the russia controversy from former ambassador michael mcfaul and former acting c.i.a. director john mclaughlin. israel's controversial law declarinit the homeland of the jewish people.

the plan to reunite the remaining separated migrant families, and much more. >> woodruff: we return now to what president trump called an "incredible offer" on monday when president putin offered to let the u.s. question 12 russians indicted for interfering in the 2016 election, in exchange for a few u.s. officials, being yiterrogated by moscow. after first they were considering this, the white house today said they reject the idea. just one of a swirl nts around president trump and russ in the past few days. for reaction and analysis, i'm joined by rmer ambassador michael mcfaul, who served as envoy to moscow from 2012 to 2014. he was named as one of the american officials wanted by russian that potential exchange. he is currently at stanford university.

and john mclaughlin served as acting director of the c.i.a. during the george w. bush administration, and as the agency's deputy director. he's now at johns hopkins school of advanced international studies. and, gentlemen, welcome to both of you. let me start with you, ambassador mcfaul. do you feel you've goen a reprieve? yesterday the white house was saying they were seriously considering this proposal by vladimir putin. today they said they're not. >> well, judy, yes and no. i mean, as one of the people named, i guess it's nice that they finally have said th obvious, but i want to point out that statement was not a defini white house, and this is their third try. they said that president putin was sincere in this proposal and, by saying that, they're suggesting that the americans on that list, including me, were somehow criminals that needed to be investigated, and the fact that the president, after three different times -- twice from

the podium in the white house and, most iamazinglyn helsinki -- could not just say, this is outrageous, ts is crazy, absolutely n no uncertain terms we're not going to d this, and we're not going to accept the false equivalency between 12 military intelligence officers violated our sovereignty with this cockamamie crazy story that vladimir putin spun in that one-on-one meeting. so it's better than the first ime, but it st is not as good as i would like it. >> woodruff: john mclaughlin, was that ever a feible idea? ve you ever seen anything like that happen? >> no, tt was never a feasible d ea, judy, and it's alarming it woen have been considered for a second or that it took 24 hours to get this partial -- an

the ambassadorght, it's really a partial clarification. and i think in the statement, thlast one i saw, tey also said something to the effect that not only was putin sincere but acrhaps he wiltually send these 12 people to the united states to be questioned. that itself is absurd. putin is never going to do that and just based on my own dealings with russians over the years, i think it shows a degree of naive on t part of the president and anyone else whoit ped this idea to get into the public realm. feasibleit was never a idea. it should have been rejected inantly out of hand. >> woodruff: ambassador mcfaul, we now have the news today that president trump is asking john bolton, his national security advisor, to invite esident putin to washington this fall. what do you make of that, given the events of helsinki? >> i was quite surprised by that

announcement. this summit, i think, was a complete disaster. it advanced no u.s. national secuty interests, and that' what you're supposed to do in edploma sivment you're not suppo lavish praise on your interlocutor, especially someone like vladimir putin. maybe there were secret dealss a you were alluding to earlier in the show. the only thing concretely was this brazy swap idea, if you got it so bad that time, why do you want to tee upr anot meeting that i think just will not advance america's interests but actually go in reverse? >> woodruff: and, john mclaughlin, what about that? and the white house argument that, well, these are the world's twomost powerful nations with nuclear weapons pointed toward each other, their leaders need to at least be on a talking basis. what about that? >> well, i think we canll agree that there's merit in seeking a more constructive

relationship with russia but'r thgoing about it entirely in the wrong way. when you go into a meeting with the ssians either the intelligence or diplomatic variety, the one thing you can be absolutely shewf of is that they will know very precisely what they want and they will have a straty for getting it from you, and if you don't go in with a very clear idea of your interests and what you're looking for, they'll get what they want from you. what surprised me most today, i think, i'm at the aspen security forum, was director coats' surprise at the announcement of this summit, te next one, and it made me think this is not a normal government, becau any normal government, this would have been discussed among principleprice -- principals ine white house, the director of national intellibence would have there, his advice would have been sought, the prose and cons would have been weighed.

one thing that occurred to me, if putin came in the fall and we think the russians are attempting to interfere in the elections did anyone ask or think about whether that could be going on at the sime? one way to invite him would be to say you dare touch our elections and this summit is canceled publicly. have they done tht? no one knows. so it doesn't have a good feel to me. woodruff: there are so many strands to this story, ambassador mcfaul. one other thing i definitely want to ask you both about is ai repothe "new york times" today that, when the -- when u.s. officials, intelligence officials briefed then president-elect dona trump in january 2017, they shared with asm that they not only knew vladimir putin directing the httempts to interfere in the election but they had a human intelligence sourcose in to mr. putin's circle. what does that tell you, first of all, that that inormation is out there and, second of all,

that it was then followed by the president's en endless denials t russia was behind the interference? >> well, to me it shows a couple of things. one, i think it's imrtant to note what you just said, judy. this has now been leakedut tell us that there are many people in the current government in the trump administration who are deeply concerned about the way the president tks about his relationship with russia. he's beed n briefe0 times about this -- what happened in 2016. his add viders -- advisors, many whom i've talked, to tried to get the message through. he obviously doesn't want tohe hearacts when it comes to that. the second thing iso alsally curbing, something john said, and i want to underscore is, is that you have two policies toward russia now. the entire trump administration, to the best of my knowledge, agree you need to push back. we heard reporte talking to

people who are at the summit and who are aware of the summit that there was a plan to push back and, by the way, summits kometimes are times to push b and not just to praise russian leaders, and, yet, the president himself seems to disagree with his entire administration's policy towards russia, and that just doenot make for good outcomes for american national interests. >> woodruff: john mclaughlin as someone who comes out of the intelligence community, what do you make of the fact that that information was shared with a reporter, that there's a human source inside -- close inside the vladimir pute,in cirhat that's now out there? >> that's a very bad thing. it's a very bad thing. if it's true -- and, of course, we don't know whether it is literally true -- but if it is true, it is precisely the kind of information that, in theor intelligence, you guard. it's the crown jewels. you guard that with your life. the fact that someone would put that out there, while i admire

the work the press has done in bringing many things to light that we woould otherwise nt know, i do regret seeing that particular informaon in print, assuming it is true, and i don't know whatoe would -- r leaked it had to be powerfully motiented by disagrewith the president's policy, although sometimes these leaks come abouo h secondary sources who've just heard about it and have no discline in talking to anyone. so i find it very distressing. >> woodruff: yeah, you're saying if it came from someone in the intelligenceni commuty, they were expressing their disagreement with the president. >> no, no, i would not -- let me make clear, i cannot belie someone in the intelligence community would leak that. if thehe leak -- leak would, whm confident, would come from someonread or saw the material provided by the intelligence communhey. no one in ntelligence community would leak a source

like that. remember, all those peopl take polygraphs. o much to inpack here, gentlemen. we thank you both, john mclaughlin, ambassador michael mcfaul, thank you. >> woodruff: a controversial new laenacted overnight by the knesset, israel's parliament, has again stirred deep emotions abe identity of the jewish state, and how israelis seek to define themselves and the others who shared the land of israel. tnick schifrin is back wit. >> schifrin: for years israel's rowdy politics have balanced constitutional promises to be jewish and democratic. today, lawmakers gave jews the exclusive right to self- determination and passed a law supporters callethe culmination of zionism. it was praised by israeli prime minister benjamin netaahu. >> ( translated ): this is a

historic moment in the of zionism and the history of the state of israel. we have made into w the basic principle of our existence: israel is the national state of the jewish people. >> schifrin: but what netanyahus priaseistoric, critics called cruel. on the knesset floor, arab lawmakers ripped up the bill. at one point, parliament member jamal zahalka was forcibly removed from the debate. coalition leader ayman odeh pulled out a black flag, and, as the parliament speaker objected, odeh called the law evil. >> ( translat): this evil law, a black flag hovers over it. this is a law that hovers er it a black flag >> schifrin: israel has promised the law won't impede minorities' rights. but in mixed towns like haifa, with bahai world center up the hill, near a 100-year-old mosque, and a nearby church, opponents criticized the law for reducing arabic tous "special st kayed balan is a shopkeeper. >> ( translat): this new law,

that this is a jewish state and not a state for all its citizens, this is something that we are a accept it.nd we don't >> schifrin: but the bill's supporters argue they are just acknowledging reality: that israel is 80% jewish, guarantees jewish immigration, and needs to defend its homeland.the jewish amir ohana is a member of the ruling likud party >> ( translated ): this is not a bi-national state, this not a bilingual state, this is not a double-capital state, this is state of a single nationality of the jewish people, its language is hebrew, andts capital is jerusalem. >> the reason this is happening >> schifrin: david makovsky is a distinguished fellow at the i washingttitute for near east policy. he's not in favor of the bill, but says lawmakers recently removed some of its most controversial clauses.

discriminatory policies can be >> the law is a basic law, akin to a constitutional amendment. and that means criticis will have a hard time challenging it, says yousef munayyer, the executive director of the u.s. campaign for palestinian rights. >> this now becomes a toolic through various discriminatory policies can be supported in the legal system d thus it enshrines, in constituonal way, a constitutional defense for discrimination against non-jews in isrl. >> schifrin: arab israelis are more than 20% of israeli citizens. they often complain of housing, education, and language discrimination. the law's criticsay that discrimination could get worse. >> a lot of those policies have preexisted tw. what will happen now is that they will be enshrined

constitutionally, making legal challenges against them far more difficult, and thus embolden proponents to advance those policies in ways and in places mpey have not done so before. >> schifrin: the t administration has largely given the israeli government a green light to do what it wants. the ruling party wasn't united, and the debate was close. but netanyahu said it was a turning point. >> ( tr people who are trying to destabilize this state. so today we have made a law in stone. this is our country. this is our language. this is our anthem and this our flag. long live the state of israel. (applause) >> schifrin: israel's debate between being jewish and democratic is no. but this government believes it has tipped the balance, andve promises to orward embracing israel as the jewish state. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin.

>> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: the special olympi celebrating 50 years. and making sense of the supply and demand for kidneys. now, the latest on the government's plans to reunite migrant falies, after a court- imposed order to do so. a federal judge gave the trump administration a deadline of july 26 to reunite approximately 2,500 children between the ages five and 17. but homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen said today: "we will do our best, but we will not cut corners." amna nawaz has been covering this closely andet with officials from the health and human services department today. she joins me now. amna, hello. >> thank you. >> woodruff: so you were given rare access to this place, this administration command center where they're cooinating this

reunification process. wh did you see andw did you get this access? >> well, they invited hand of us repeatedly reporting on this topic to get an inside look as to how much priority it is for the government and how they are addressing the reunification. the commander center is called the secretary's cmmand center. it's seating all facing large jumbotrons in which they're tracking how many kids are coming in, going out, ee beds and so on. they tell us te sock has been up and running for 24 ys straight, 24-7 operation. they're treating this as a national emergency. this is theame they have up for national disasters and diseaseea out. they wanted to make clear clear there are have many and in some cases valid concerns of the placement of these kids. they stress to us then'y want to place kids into unsafe situations, with traffplkers, with pwho aren't their

parents, into abusive situations. so they walked us through carefully, step by step whth r vetting process is. it's also clear this is a process because of the judge's tameline that was sped up. this was not in place three weeks ago. >> woodruff: waknow thout of 103 children in custody under age five, they have reunified 57 of those with their families, now working on the larger group of children who were fie an up. >> yeah. what do we know about how that's going? >> we wereold today significant portion of the parents of those older kids 5-17 arady in i.c.e. detention. it simplifies the process somewhat because it mens a lot of those kids will be reunited with parents in i.c.e. detention, and they're setting up a handful of reunification, primary reunification also fo them. generally they say when the families are reunified, they are released into the public and can have their cases adjudicated in due time. they're given a choice to leave

with your kid or without them when they have aep dortation. the judge put a stay on the deportations earlier this week. we don't know what will happen on the back end of that. on top of that, we're getting an indication of what kids go through when they're in custody. there's a federal ing in court in los angeles and i'll read you a couple of excerpts because these are testimonies from kids in government custody. a 10-year-old girl from phot mall la said i was placed with female girls from five to six years old to 15 to 16 years old, large numbers of girls, some oft whom ho sleep on concrete and sitting up because there wasn't sufcient room in the cell. she talked about frozen food and a lack of water. another boy, 14-year-old from guatemala larks talked about the facilities there.i he said sinc arrived, i have not been able to shower or brush eth.e there's no soap in my room, no towels, i had a toothbrush when i came, they took it away. a no olowed me to brush me teeth or told me when i will be

able to tae a shower. there's a lot of concern about what happens to kids once in custody. >> woodruff: about 40 seconds left, you have been tracking the case of this 3-year-old girl sophie separated from her granother at the border. what's the latest? >> she's still in government custody. her familyhe still going through the process. this case could be an outlier, but we heard fcim offials about things they do to speed up ehe process, dna swabs, for example, are not bg done in sophie's case, so we don't have he wouldine for when s be reunified. officials told us average time in custody is about 50 days, as of tomorrow sophie will have been in custody for one month. >> woodruff: sntimporo follow this, and i know you have been on it and will stay on it. amna nawaz, thank you. >> thanks, judy. >> woodruff: and now, a look at the impact of the special olympics, 50 years after it all

began. what started as a all, little- noticed competition in chicago is now a global movement. it's helped change society's attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities. and, as john yang reports, their goal is inclusion far beyond the playing field.an g: the summer of 1968: ana tion in turmoil. protestors marchedgainst the war in vietnam. urban riots erupted after the assassinion of martin luther king, jr. but amid the tumult, an event the likes of which the world had never seen: an olympics for children with intelltual disabilities. it wasuly 20. eunice kennedy shriver spoke during the opening ceremony at chicago's soldier field, just six weeks after her brother robert had been killed. >> iancient rome, the gladiators went into the arena with these words on their lips

let me win, but if i cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. today, all of you young athletes many of you will win. but even more important, i know you will be brave and bring credit to your parents and to let us begin the olympics, thank you. >> yang: about 1,000 competitors from 26 states and canada ran, swam, threw balls, jumped and showed the world that they could fully participate in the rituals of childhood. the event drew little notice at the time. but it sparked a change in society's attitudes toward the intellectually disabled. today millions of athletes train and compete in more than 100,000 events each year in some 170 tions. shriver died in 2009. her son, tim is now special olympics chairman. he recalls summers at "camp shriver," a forerunner tocs special olym in the early 1960s, the family

opened their maryland home to special needs kids. >> i remember the buses arriving, school buses, yellow school buses that come from institutions. i didn't know where they were coming from. we all would salute the flag and sing theational anthem together in a circ. i remember my backyard becoming an amusement park. you know, ponies arriving for pony rides and coaches arriving to coach kickball games. i remember playing with campers. i mostly remember that it was fun. >> yang: the first generation of special olympics aletes were born in a time when the intellectually disabled were shunned, often hidden in institutions. that would have been the case for loretta claiborne, if not for her mother's resistance. unable to walk or talk until the age of four, she went on to become one of special olympics' most decorated athletes. >> if it wasn't for special olympics, and i have some of the iskids, i think i'd be in or seven, six feet under. >> yang: claiborne got involved in special olympics as a teenager.

>> it's taught me about how to respechat myself how t acceptance of myself how to respect someone else and it's ok to be me. it's ok to be different and to put the disability behind me pu ility in front of me and that's what special olympics taught me on the track like this. >> yang: claiborne has quite lite history, in a painting of eunice shriver at the national portrait gallery in washington. also in the artwork? sheets, another renowned special olympics athlete, who died in 2015. his favorite sport was golf. we spoke to mart,s father, dat the sligo creek golf course outside washington, which ofn hosts special olympics events. born with do's syndrome, marty went to the 1968 chicago games from north carolin the first time he'd ever been on a plane. but he got sick after arriving and couldn't compete. he still got a surprise from nice shriver. >> she walked over to his table and presented marty with a gold medal for having worked so hard,

done all of the things he needed to do to get there, but sn't able to participate at the time. that gold medal has been absolutely famous as far as i'm concerned. >> yang: that first special olympics began with a proposal from a young chicago parks gym teacher named anne mcglone, now illinois state supreme court justice anne burke. in 1968 she was a college dropout with undiagnosed dyslexia working with intellectually disabled children. >> yang: her experience gave her a thought. >> i just said, "well, the regular day camp has a city-wide jamboree. all of chicago gets involved in it. we shoulhave jamboree down at soldier field just like that and we can show that these children have abilities." that was the spark of it. she said, "this is not big enough. u can't have just a city-wide track meet, it has to be a large track meet for everybody. invite everybody around the countr"

to have this littl hjewel start e it's heart beat in soldier field, to me to full ui about a vulnerable society was under the radar. >> yang: this week, the compition is back where it began. a highlight: the first global special olympics soccer tournament of unified teams-- playiters bothand without intellectual disabilities.r cody zimis a 25 year old from dekalb, illinois. he's been diagnosed with mild autism. this is his first time on a unified team. >> normal like athletes from like schools, i normally usually hav py against them, never with them, so good learning experience. >> yang: do you think they're learning something too? >> yeah, learning that just because some of us in special olympics have disabilities doesn't make us any different from being normal people >> yang: 17-year-old cori hoekstra plays on the women'ste .

she says she's gained a lot from playing with athletes with disabilities. >> each person knows certain things, doesn't know certain things, so you have to adapt and work witlythem. definiearned patience, and being able to help them through it and not getting so frustrated so quickly. >> yang: 50 years after the ecial olympics were held here at chicago's soldier field, the organization has an ambitious goal for the next half century. tim shriver says he wants people with intellectual disabilities fully integrated into society, not just competing alongside those without disabilities, but going to school with them, working with them, living with them. he calls it the "inclusion revolution." >> revolution is strong language. it implies a challenge to the status quo. it implies an opponent. we cannot and we should not tolerate business or schools or healthcare institutions or sporting organizations that say we're not open for mosnot for you.

those days must end. >> yang: shriver hopes no one mistakes the joy of the games for the seriousness of the mission. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang in chicago. >> woodruff: now, the demand for a kidney transplant, and a controversial idea used elsewhere to increase the oddsng of getne. the facts can be grim: more thai 100,000 peopthe u.s. are tiaiting a kidney transplant and the median wai is more than three-and-a-half years. economics correspdent paul solman looks at the considerable oddsmericans are facing and one very unusual market for obtaining a kidney. it's part of his weekly series, "making sense." >> i was born with something called polycystic kidney disease. and around the age of i began

to swell up more, retain water >> reporter: at age 32, jairo acevedo ended up in the emergency room. >> they said your kidneys have totally shut down. >>eporter: so for over sev years now, acevedo's been undergoing kidney dialysis at new york's westchester medical center, learning to set the procedure up himself, in part to relieve the boredom of the four- hour sessions, three times a week. and the price? >> each eatment is about 7 to $800. >> reporter: so that's 100,000 a year or more. >> it's pretty costly. >> reporter: in total, nearly a million dollars to date. and then there's the pain. >> trere days when i wake up and my lower back, my kidney area just hurts too much, it's on fire. >> reporter: not to mention the mental toll. p some doctors just call in the brain. >> reporter: pee in the brain? >> yes, pee in the brain. yoursl mind starts t down, and even paying attention or

concentrating becomes an issue. >> reporter: what'happening now is your blood is being recycled through the machine to get rid of-- >> a lot of the waste and the toxins and the liquid. >> reporter: unable to work, he used to be an auditor at an h.m.o., acevedo survives on disability benefits from social security, and medil benefits from medicare, which picks up the total dialysis tab for acevedo and every other such patient in america. with some half a llion of us on kidney machines, spending on dialysis alone accounts for nearly, get this, one percent of the entire federal budge more than the outlay for all foreign aid. and the cost of dialysis is growing. >> the population is gettingr, olot more diabetes, hypertension and these all have significant impact on kidney disease. >> reporter: dr. thomas diflo is the chief of kidney transplant surgery re. the cost of that?

>> the transplantsll in cost probably $120,000.fi >> reporter: at glance, a bloody fortune, also paid by medicare. but when you compare it to $100,000-a-year dialysis... >> so if you do a transplant on somebody and the kidney lasts for more than a year, year and a half, then the system actuallyve a great deal of money. and if you look at how people do after a transplant just from a health point of view, they do much, much better. ow>> reporter: which means medical costs and the possibility of getting back to work, and off disability and medicare eirely. stay on dialysis, though, and the medical problems and their costs compound >> this machine does take a toll on your het. >> reporter: last year, acevedo had bypass surgery. before that, he'had 18 stents inserted to keep his arteries open. s rt, a kidney transplant would be a colossal cost/benefit win/win.

but with no living donor,wi someon a matching blood and tissue type willing to give him one of their two kidneys, acevedo's sole option is a waiting list for a deceased donor kidney.er you have a nu >> the last time i checked it, it was about in the 30,0s i believe. >> reporter: 30,000. >> yeah that was like two years ago. and after that i decided just to wait out and not look at the number again. >> reporter: so, is there nothing to be done? >> we are losing nearly 10,000 people per year because they don't have a family member, they don't ha a friend who can donate to them. >> reporter: well, consider iran, which for 30 years has had the world's only legal market for kidneys. it grew out of necessity, says economist mohammad akbarpour,r afe iran-iraq war. >> because of sanctions, the assets were frozen, the country didn't have even dialysis. >> reporter: so the rvernment madeical announcement. th if you donate your kidneys to your fellow citie government is going to compensate you. >> reporter: the equivalent of

some 4,500 u.s. dollars, more than half a year's average housold income in iran. today, recipients of live kidneys y most of that amount, at a literal market in downtown teheran. the government pays for the actual operation. and for those who can't afford to buy from a living seller, whose kidneys have the best chance of success, cadaver kidneys are free, and relavely plentiful. akbarpour and others say the market has slashed the waiting time for a kidney down to arouno a year, anletely eliminated the need to ask relatives or friends to donate one of theirs. dialysis patient zahra hajikarimi was confident she'd be transplanted soon. >> ( translated ): i can't imagine living without the possibility of a kidney donation of having to suffer with thisse ase until the very last moment of yourife. >> reporter: so this is the solution, right?ar a free mt for kidneys. but, and you knew this was coming, even in iran, cash for kidneys is suspect.

for one thing, most sellers are poor.wh else would run the risk of a major operation to remove a vital organ, even if you ca ve with just one kidney? ated ): the reason i had to sell my kidney was that my life would have completely fallen apart if i didn't do that. >> reporter: this iranian would not agree to show his face on camera. >> ( translated ): i would have lost my wife, my chi life. >> if i sell my kidney to feed starving family, it's n actually a voluntary transaction. >> reporter: moreover, says transpla doctor diflo... >> people would have significant incentive to he things, for >> how would you know if you're getting a good kidney? >> and i'm not sure how you could regulate it as well to make sure that the donor is taking, being taken care of medically. >> reporter: and there's at least one more problem with cash fokidneys says melanie melillo, who was moved to become an altruistic donor as she has watched her husband suffer with end-stage kidney disease.

if there were a market for kidneys would you feel the same way? >> i don't know. >> reporter: chances are she would not, says economist akbarpour. look at the history of paid s.blood donations, in the nd around the world. >> once they started paying money for blood donation, actually, the donation went down. i mean, i was giving my donation for, i mean, moral reasons, now you're paying me, it's not moral anymore. >> reporter: but, he asks, with hundred thousand americans waiting for a kidney, why not give at least some small incentives to encourage donation? >> n yow in this country, donate a kidney, you cannot even get reim >> reporter: or lost wages. even dr. diflo, who opposes legalization, says wt to w.prove the economics some >> so things like universal healthnsurance for donors paid at the government's expense i think is a very reasonable thing

to do. >> reporter: with no other way of increasing the number of kidneys for transplant, the prognosiis grim for patients like jairo acevedo. >> they say that forvery year that you spend in this machine you lose five years of your life expectancy. yso if i were to live to rs old, if that is the number, your time clock, i've lost about 35 years of that. o >> reporter: h are you now? >> i am 39. hopefully i'll be turning 40 in december. >> reporter: we're rooting for you. >> thank you. so am i. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, this is economics correspondent paul solman, reporting from westchester, new york.

>> woodruff: in the wake of massive news coverage of attempts of russia to interfere in u.selectionsod rosenstein announced tonight that the department of justice plans to alert the public to plans by reign countries to target u.s. democracy, will inform companies e thendividuals if they a target of disinformation, hack org other efforts to affect voting behavior. rand that's the newshour tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and r ihan salam. l of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ge >> knowlit's where innovation begins. it's what leads us to discovery and motivates us to succeed. 's why we ask the tough questions and what leads us to the answers. at leidos, we're 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. >> babbel. sa language app that teac real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minute lessons are available as an app, or online. .cre information on babbelom. >> and with the going support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporatio bfor

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wes cowan: it may be e the most famous missing person case in histor. on july 30, 1975,r the laleader jimmy hoffa vanished. my father, james r. hoffa,s habeen missing for some 32 hours. the controversial teamster boss had held a chokehold over the nation's economy. jimmy hoffa has the power to sp interstate commerce. and his disappearance has baffled us for a generation. we have no information that he is living or dead. was hoffa slain by a union rival? we have no information that hwas it a gangland hit? certain guilty parties would've been more than a little bit nervous. or was hoffa the victim of a conspiracy involv g some of our nation's s wa from the c tonight on history detectives special investigations, we uncover once-classified government files...to according his justice department document, there were large sums of money involved. follow a multi-million dollar trail...