captioningponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm ju woodruff. on the newshour tonight, a breakthrough night at the ballot box-- democrats deliver diverse candeates historic wins, whil republicans back defende of president trump. then, in the jury's hands-- closing arguments wrap in the trial of theresident's former campaign chairman, paul manafort. and, inside the pentagon's partnership with silicon valley and their effort to innovate along the digital front line. >> government likes to look at hotspots around the world very persistently more reliably and so there's a lot of commonality between what we do for the commercial sector as well as for defense an >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches 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, r more information on babbel.com. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems- skollfoundation.org. the lemelson foundation committed to improving lives through invention, in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org.

>> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundationui committed toing a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. anbsby contributions to your station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: president trump has made good on a threat to strip a leading clearance.s security john brennan was c.i.a. directo n esident obama. he's been scathing. trump's conduct, and accused him of making treasonous statementsr at a summit wisian president putin. today, white house press secretary sarah sanders said

brennan has used hisity access to make "unfounded and outrageous" claims. >> mr. brean's lying and recent conduct characterized by increasingly frenzy commentary is wholly inconsistent with access to thnation's most closely-held secrets and facilities, the very aour adversaries, which is to sow division and chaos. >> bren said later the action was politically motivated but insisted he will not be muzzled. ede president's statementt add eight other high ranking officials are under review. lawyers made closing argumentshe today inrial of paul manafort, president trump's former campaign chair. federal prosecutors said the case comes down to, in their words, "mr. manafort and his lies." the defense accused the government of cherry-picking information to support charges of bank and tax fraud. we'll get a full report, later in the program. the u.s. senate has returned to work, with more democrats

agreeing to meet with supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. he called toy on indiana's joe donnelly and north dakota'sbo heidi heitkamp from red states and both up for reelection this fall.co kavanaugh'irmation hearings are scheduled to begin september 4th. in italy, the death toll from intuesday's bridge collaps genoa reached 39 today. italy's government vowed to hold the bridge operator acble, after reports that the 50-year- old span had been crumbling for years. ben chapman of independent television news has this report from genoa >> reporter: it looks like the aftermath of an earthquake, but this was a manmade disaster. and today in the ruins of this bridge the scale of the human cost of this catastrophe became clear. robert robioano, his wife acilia and their young son samoule were among those killed.

they were going on holiday. their car filled with beach toys. andrea chrulli was an amteur footballer and the father of a young son was killed on his way to work. alberto falfani and his fiance marta deenzi were due to get married next year. rescue teams working through the night to locate survivors say 2 peopleled around from the wreckage. but at hospitals families of the missing were desperate for newsn ala's brother-in-law answer his phone briefly last night but t she still doesn't know whas happened to him. >> ( translated ): we know that there arothers he says the dogs are smelling them. but there's a huge amount of debris. t. don't whether to break the concrete or lift >> reporter: the enormity and horror owhat happened here is really apparent when you stand underneath this bridge and take

in not just its hee ht the but theer expanse of the section which is now just completely disappeared. and for drivers yesterday the difference between life and death in some cases was just a matter of seconds. and with grief here there is also anger with calls for managers at the private company which maintains it to resign. italy's deputy prime minister matteo salvani say those responsible must pay. but as the investigation and recriminations begin, italians just want know how a vital piece of infrastructure could simply crumble taking so many lives with it. >> woodruff: that report fromn apman of independent television news. monsoon rains in southern india have destroyed bridges, triggered landslides and killed 67 people in the last week. the worst is in kerala, where officials nounced today that air and rail service is cut off. floods have submerged roads and

displaced thousands of people.th deluge also damaged an20 estimated 00 houses. turkey slapped new tariffs on s s. products today, up to double the previvies on rice, cars, coal and cosmetics. it's retaliation for higher u.s. tariffs on turkish metals. that, in turn, targeted turkey's prosecution of an american evangelist on terrorism charges. vice presidentence warned today that "turkey wld do well not to test (president) trump's resolve." back in this country, a to cleric urged roman catholics not to lose faith, after an explosive report on pennsylvania priests molesting some 1,000 children washington, d.c. cardinal donald wuerl has denied transferring priests and covering up abuse when he was bishop of pittsburgh. today he made no direct mention of the allegations. instead, at a mass, healled for helping the victims.

>> the pain is something we knead to accept responsibility for in helping survivors. we can also ask our lady's intersession for those who may be, because of this terrible plaguef abse, experience a lack of confidence in the churc- >> woodruff: the investigation in pennsylvania found claims of duse agaiughly 300 priests going baades. students began a new year today at marjory stoneman douglas high hool in parkland, florid a gunman killed 17 students and faculty there in february. sincthen, the school added $6.5 million in security improvemen. and, on wall street, stocks tumbled after shares in the technology sector took a hit.in the dow jonestrial average lost 137 points to close at

25,162. the nasdaq fell nearly 97 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 21. still to come on the newshour: a night of firsts: the candidates who won big in last night's primaries. closing arguments in the trial of former trump campaign chairman paul manafo a deadly bombing at a school in afghanistan, and much more. >> woodruff: democrats deliver groundbreaking victories, aspr ident trump's supporters score wins. lisa desjardins begins our look at the major take-aways fromim pries in four states. >> desjardins: america has nothi seen tbefore. vermont electric co-op c.e.o. christine hallquist is now the fint openly transgender per

to win a major party's nomination for governor. tishe trounced her democra competition in tuesday's primary. it's not just about the transgender community, it's not just about the l.g.b.t. community, it's about all marginalized communities. >> desjardins: vermont was part of a national night of firsts for democrat in connecticut, form national teacher of the yeajahana hayes could become the first black woman in congress from new england, thanks to her primary win. >> tonight is the beginning of the real fight: the fight for the soul of this nation. >> desjardins: and in minnesota, ilhan omar is poised to be the first somali-american in congress and one of the first muslim women in congress.a fugee at eight years old, she nodded toward history. >> i think about the kind of hope and optimism that all of those eight-year-olds around the country and around the world get

inom seeing your beautiful faces elect and believomeone like me. so i humbly thank you. >> desjardins: also in minnesota, the man who was the erst muslim in congress, representative keiison survived his primary race to become state attorney general,ce despite abuse allegations from an ex-girlfriend. >> i want to assure you that it is not true.in and we're to keep on fighting all the way tough >> desjardins: for republicans, a rough night for those like former minnesota governor tim pawlenty whoave openly opposed president trump. he lost a primary for his old job by nearly double digits. and in the razor-close g.o.p. primary for the kansas governor's mansion, close trump ally and sometimes controversial secretary of state kris kobach emerged the winner, after governor jeff colyer conceded. president trump tweeted his congratulations to the republican winners today, and declared it's a "red wave." >> woodruff: here now to dig

into last night's results are newshour's lisa desjardins and stu rothenberg of "inside elections." thank you both for stu, first, let's talk about the democratic firsts. how groundbreaking are they? >> i think it was a prtty significant night, jud first transgendered nominee, african-american, somalian-americans. this is a democratic party that looks different than it tid 40 or 50 years ago. >> woouf really changing. over the long haul here, democrats ve lost reagan democrats, southern conservative democrats, they've left the party, so there's been a long-term change. so i think over the last couple of years there's been a dramatic change in terms of intensity, the number of people invold, the enrgy among voters who -- among political folks who, the past, would have been considered kind of marginal. >> woodruff: lisa, what is the secret with these first

candidate, the first somalian amernd first transgender, what are they saying? >> i think, on the one hand m of these candidates are campaigning not on their groundbreakingness but also on policy, also, as we saw in vermont, gubernatorial democratic candidate there ms. hallquist is campaigning on rural issues, especially, but so talking about breaking ground for transgender america. i think many democrats were proclaiming last night a big night for them, but when i look more jeepldy, i think these were individuals who were able to break very particur glass ceilings, they are pieo near as in their areas, but when you look more deeply at the competitive races in the country, i looked at 62 of the most likely to flip seats, in those races democrats have actually far fewnorities than the country has at large. so i don't think this is a sweeping trend fr democrats. i think they are still behind as are republicans in their candidates, but were see ago few individuals who are breaking ground. >> woodruff: but they're

getting a lot ti news att because of some of these firsts. stu, let's turn to th republicans, president trump calling it a red wave. maybe we should call ate trump wave. are they winning some of them because they recommend pla him? >> absolutely they are. he's the dominant figure in the political party. if yousm brace him, his supporters are likely -- more likely than not to embrace you. if you reject him, voters are going to reject. i think the president is messing around with with us on the red wave.e he can't beliat. all the survey and national data, polling and individual races suggests the contrary. i think he's just messing around with us. that being said, he is the single most important person in the republican party right now. i> woodruff: but i come back to trump wave,sa, because, what, tim pawlenty in minnesota, people are saying he was punished because hwasn't pro-trump enough. >> right, he had opposed the president when he was a candidate and now circled back

and said he supports the president now.bu the republican voters didn't believe mr. pawlenty. i think he haanher problem, judy, and pawlenty lost by almost 9 point, sigrnificant f a two-term governor. he's seen as washington insider, someone who left the state and became aby lobt. so i think the part of the trump wave is an anti-washington wave that helped the president get his job and are hurting republicans who are ed to washington. >> woodruff: but, stu, if it is a closeness to donald trump that's helping some of these republicans, how does that help them or not in novesber? how t affect their chances the election. >> it may hurt them in november to the extent the elections i november become a referendum on the president and other voters come out. sure, trump voters will come out and will help republican candidates. the problem is the candidates who are associated with the. and only with the president,

swing voters,nt indepen white suburban women with college degrees, they -- those kind of voters may not look on these trump congressional candidates, gubernatorial, senate candidates in a friendly way. >> woodruff: lisa, what are we seeing foe fall right now? >> right. i think, overall, thas a moment where the republicans were picking up some steam. now i thinkint's shiback towards democrats again, but i honestly think september is th that willthe mon tell us a lot more than this moment. i think last night thees midwestern rre very important to watch, not just minnesota and wisconsin, which, by the way, were two of the closest races in 2016, but also kiillinois, iowa, thoseds of places, and i think dls, if they ryt these sort of exciting sto lines out, as we've seen last night, they feel like that's going to help em get mor people to the polls. >> woodruff: and, stu, i notice there was a story in the "new york times" today saying the democratic partyaying to many of their congressional candidates, you can craft your inn message, we're not to

give you a nationwide message 's one-size-fits-all. >> i think that's it. it's the right strategy, greatth strategywinning strategy. however, to the extent the party is recruiting candidates whtaare ing about medicaid for all, eliminating i.c.e. and things like that, i ihink the a danger for the democratic party y a whole, not individual candidates in nek and ct, whatever, but nationally nat the democrats will fall in the traap of being the party of higher taxes, more spending, social engineerian. judy, i think back to, i nuess, 2006, right around that election, beforeafter the election, i was talking to rahmu emanuel, and schumer was chairing the democratic sen campaign committee, and they both sadosix was a test, to show the voters whether or not the democrats were now grownups and could handle the checkbook and run the country when they took the majorities in congress, and

they were worried that this was a testing time, and i think democrats need to worry th nat thd to win, of course, in 2018, but then they need to prove that they can govern more broadly, not just to narrow con stitch wednesday yes. >> woodruff: you talk to people on the hill all the time. what are you hering? >> that's right, i think democrats are feeling the wind is now at the back, but i also feel this is for democrats, they have an identity issue, thatey they know eeds to address that now and they want these sort of exciting stories of versity to be more than symbolic and to run more deeply. one thg i want to mention is that that woman, ilhan omar, who looks like she will be the next , congressman from minnesoe is going to change policy at the capitol, in the house of representatives in the capitol, shyou are not allowed to have yr head covered. she is a practicing muslim who has to have her head covered. we'll hear more about it.

>> woodruff: she is favored. a heavily democratic district, that's right, she's favored. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins, stu roth.henberg, thank you bo >> thank you. >> woodruff: the first trial for special counsel robert mueller's team is now in the hands of the jury. prosecutors argue documents prove that former trump campaign chairman, paul manafort willfully committed bank and tax fraud. the defense never called a witness, claiming the evidence points to clarical mistakes, not a crime. amna nawaz has the story. >> nawaz: it has been two weeks filled with laying out detailed accounti witness whose credibility is in question. our william brangham has been ih court foe key moments, along with today's closing j arguments and ns me now. how are you doing, willi >> great.

all right, let's talk about the prosecution first here. this is the sday toift together two weeks of testimony and evidence. what's the heart of their case here? >> ist just as you say, complicated series of crimes ort purposed man traitd and they try to boil it down to basically two things, lions andade mil millions of dollars while he was a political consultant in ukraine, he stashed that money in overseas bank accounts and hidn't want to pay taxes on it, so he hid it frome government. then when that income in about 2014 dried up, the prosecution alleges that he went to a bch of u.s. banks, lied to them to get more money to keengp fun what they argued was this very lavish lifestyle. so that's the essence of the gument. the key phrase today was the erosecutor said he lied to keep more money, he d to get more liney. manafort's money itered with lies. >> so what about the defense? they rested the whole case without clling a single witness. how do they counter the prosecution's case? >> they're trying make the

argument that paul manafort was busy running a political operation in ukraine and thaa y t of these alleged crimes weren't necessarimes, that he didn't know he had to file certain forms, that he didn't mislead the banks, that he wasin somehow duped by other people who worked for him. they kept talng about how he would build a team around himself and somehow those people were to blame. the defense was really trying to argue that other people were responsible for the crimes and not paul manafor >> one to have the people was a man named rick gates, former deputy chaman under manafort at the trump campaign in 2016 ad also his right hand in his consulting firm, also the star witness for the prosecution. how did his tes ptimoay? >> it was so interesting because the prosecution used rick gat a great deal, but when it came time for closing arguments the prosecution didn't use rick gates for an hr, seemingly

trying to distance himself. the defense saidick gates was lying on his taxes, had a secret life, had an affair with a woman many london, all of which were entered into the record and accurate. so they were trying to argue rick gates was really theeh mastermindd all of this and that for the ross pcution to lean so much of its case on rick gates was a fundamental flaw with their case. the interesting thing was that e prosecution in their closing today said, okay, the fact that rick gates may have had an affair with someone ten yearso n london doesn't change the fact that paul manafort committed tax fraud. so they're trying to separate the two saying our cooperatingma witnesnot be an angel but paul manafort is still guilty. >> i have to ask you, you're in the room there, paul manafort is also there watching his protojay testify against m. did he react at all? s he would -- it seems if he was trying to burn a hole in the side of rick gates with his eyes. he would stare at rick gates the entire time gates was

testifying. osgates for his part alnever looked at manuafort, manafort looked steely and angry at gates e.e whole tim >> the case is being brought by the same time working for special counsel robert mueller,g the team loointo russian interference in the 2016 election. did the word "russia" even come up? >> no, it didn't, and, in fact, partly by design. i think the prosecution wanted to say we're not talking about election, we're not talking about the president or collusion, this is about whether manafort committed these financial crimes. yes, as you say, this does come out of the mueller investigation, and the csumption is -- remember, paul manafort jointed tmpaign originally to help him with the convention, quickly became campaign chair, was involved in torious trump tower meeting, so it's believed prosecutors think pt l manafort mive information he's not giving them. he is now being prosecuted for these very serious crimes. if convicted on the crimes, the

prosecution theoretically could try to press him and say tell uy wh know and we'll make it go lighter on the sentencing. >> closing argumentsre behind us. what's at stake for paul manafort? >> the jury gets to decide starting tomorrow on the verdict here. if he's found guilty on most or all of these he could face the rest of his life in prison. he has another trial coming up in september also related to simi that's happening ins, washington, d.c. so it looks pretty bad now forul anafort. there's a lot of charges stacks up against him, yet we still don't know if he's going to be convicted on any of it. >> william brangham, thanks. good to talk to you. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: the pentagon joins forces wi silicon valley startups.an d renewed controversy surrounding an indian-american character on the simpsons.

now, a day of horror in epghanistan. as nick schifrints, it comes amid a bloody week there. >> schifrin: in a country fighting for its future, thebo s today found the children who were learning to build it. gurney, after gurney, after gurney of shia teenagers whore tudying for college entrance exams, killed by a suicide bomber boys and girls who dreamed big, none of whom will ever see their 20th birthda family members were in shock and had to say goodbye. >> ( translated ): my brother was studying at the education centre and he was killed in the blast. i am here to receive his body. >> schifrin: this was their classroom, where hundreds udied. the whiteboards where they learned, the benches where they sat, and the books from which they read, all stained by their blood.

there was no claim of responsibility, bu aattacks on sh usually by the sunni extremists of isis. the group has targeted lightly guarded schools, mosques, and cultural centewe, after being akened by u.s. and afghan forces. 70 miles to the south, the strategically important city of ghaz lies on the country's primary highway, and today residents picked up the pieces after a five-day siege. one of the city's markets was gutted, and many homes are now piles of rubble after fighting between the taliban and the afghan army. outside a local military base, army vehicles are burned and abandoned. nearly 200 fighters, soldiers, and civilians died in the city. at one point, bodies filled a corridor at the provincial hospital. local tv footage over the weekend showed buildings burning, nd taliban fighers walking freely through the city's streets. the fighting forced residents to flee.e they weropped at afghan checkpoints, escaping with only what they could carry.

>> ( translated ): there was no electricit no water and no od, we were living hungry. >> schifrin: today authorities are back in charge, and starting to cleanup. afghan soldiers patrol the eyreets and show off what called a captured fighter. they recimed the city, but they didn't defeat the taliban, admitted afghan battalion commander faurrahman khan. >> ( translated ): we pushed back the emy from the city completely by force, where i am standing now is the front line. the taliban arstill around the ty. >> schifrin: the u.s. military in baghlan today, taliban fighters overran an afghan army base and killed 36 soldiers. yesterday, fighters captured an entire company of afghan soldiers in faryab. and in the south in zabul, they attacked a police checkpoint and killed 4 officers. tonight in kabul, outside the

school, a small memorial, and a candlelight vigil for the victims, and for another deadly day. for more on the attacks today, and where efforts to both fight, and engage the taliban stand, i'm joined from kabul y sultan faizy, the bureau chf for iha, turkish news agency. and, here in studio with me is civid sedney. he's a senior ase with the center for strategic and international studies, agt wash think tank. he also served in the u.s. embassy in kabul, and was a top pentagon official working on afghanistan and pakistan during the bush and obama administrations. ahank you to you both. sultan, can i srt with you? we've just seen this horrific video from kabul today. f what does el like in the city right now? >> people are really pessimistic about their security, especialln hat neighborhood because, in that neighborhood, you know, the islamic state has carried out

several deadliest attacks that has, you know, really caused serious, you kw, damages, and people are very cautious because the structure of the security inside kabul has kind of changed because you see blast walls everywre, so it has got a military kind of face, i mean the kabul city. so every day people have fear, and they are scared of suicide attacks or coordinated attacks throughout the city, people are actualssimistic about the government and people have been raising lots of questions, especially in the recent weeks, that taliban and other groups have launched deadliest attacks. >> some of the pessimism, david, we've seen that extends throughout kabul and across the country is significant, but the afghan army did succeed, right,

in keeping the taliban from taking over the city. do you see that as a success? >> wil, it's one of the thngs where the military success doesn't necessarily equal as, political succut, militarily, the afghan army proved again, as itas repeatedly over the four years since the u.s. pulled most of our combat forces out, that they can cake on and dfeat the taliban anytime there's a head-to-head military confrontation. but the cost the military confrontation exacts in civilian lives and disruptionundermines the credibility of the government, undermines people' confidence in the government, that and in many ways is the puose of thetacks. while the tall bap would love to take the city and hold it permanently, even if they can't, this kind of attack vances their political objectives which is especially important in the potential runup etoace talks. >> i want to talk about the peace talks but sultan, i want to come back to you for oneti qu, how do people in

afghanistan respond to the increase number of attac seen lately from the taliban across the country? basically, people, you know, want security and public services, so te government, from one side, you know, we have been witnessing that -- the approve of the government towards the peopleor, you know, gitng a beter public yervice has been weak, and that's wh, especially in terms of justice, taliban actually, in some areas, have been the priority for people to go and seek justice because they are very quick and there is no torruption or bribery, anything like that, bu, still, there are many people afraid of war, afraid of taliban. >> david sedney, as you see the talitan using differentics across the country, do you see them trying to prove both to afghans and to americans that

they contain leverage not only over some of the country, but as the u.sr. is puing peace talks with the taliban? >> wl, that's very accurate. the taliban have opened up to peace talks following a really impressive peace plan proposed by president ghani earlier this year ast, momportantly, a cease fire that president ghani offered a little over a month ago and the taliban accepted for part of the time. he offered a one-week cease fire, the taliban accepted for three days. there's supposed to be an such cease fire next week. both the government and the taliban have said they are ninking about joining i that cease fire, thougneither has formerly proposed it. historically in afghanistan and others fore there are cease fire, the insurgent poundsad tional attacks to grain priority, prove power and ideally seize territory. so that is what i think is happening overall.

at the same time, there are some within the taliban who are questioning continuing the war. some of them, after the last cease fire, did not go back to e battle. some of them established local cease fire in some areas in afghanistan. by forcing the fight, it is trying to pre to its wavering members that they are the path of theuture and, of course, all of this, in the end, depends on whether the peace talks go forward and that is still vry nascent, very early stages, may come to fruition but may not. >> are there element of the taliban leadership who wasn't to pursue peace? >> yes, definitely, there are ementso testify taliban leadership who want the pursue ibane, but more so the tal fighters and the people who support the taliban, the taliban have to be responsive to politicapressure themselves, and those taliban who want peace right very strong voi now. at the same time, there are hard liners who want complete vuct

riand who don't want peaceso the taliban leadership has to have a lot of discussions inse before it moves ahead. and, of course, on the government side, there are some of the sam divisions. >> and sultan faizy, i assume from the afghan people's perspective, the desire is frankly for peace after so much war,it? >> exactly. when the taliban entered the cities dureg th truce on the eight days, people were actually acting very differently. they actually saw, you know, a spark of hope for -- youkn ow, for a longer-term truce or peals >> david sedney, briefly, in the time we have left, it was a tough day, a lot of pessimism when it comes to afghanistan, especially for those of us who spent a lot of time there. is there hope? >> i think so. i think the chances for peaceth arbest they have been in 18 or so years i have been

working in afghanistan t doesn't mey're great, it means they exist. i have to say there are other actors involved -- russia, iran, pakistan -- all of whom can play important roles there. this is going to be a complex bpath toward peace, butieve it exists if there is sufficient will on all sides. >>iavid sedney, sultan fa, thanks to you both. >> woodruff: next, special correspondent michael cerre looks la the growing onship between the united states military and the high- tech firms of silicon valley. it's tonight's installment of "the leading edge," oun weekly seriesience and innovation. >> reporter:t the height of last year's north korean missile crisis, secretary ofefense james mattis was in silicon valley visiting diux, th

defense department's innovation unit. experimental presumably, he had more than a passing interest in the projects it's working on, with miniatu satellites for looking at any spot on the planet 24/7, even through clouds. artificial intelligence programs for scanning millions of aerial images to detect changes in activities. maritime drones for patrolling remote coastlines. the defense department recently set-up a forward operating base of sorts here in california's silicon valley to get closer to the new technology companies they need to help them with some of theirore immediate strategic and tactical needs. don't let the artillery pieces o t front confuse you. the mission is tt less like a military or government operation and more like venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. >> i am the managing partner in an interim capacity diux. >> reporter: so your using more of a venture capital term than t militale? >> there's a lot of things that we do here that are done differently.te

>> reporr: navy commander sean icheritage is not your typ commanding officer, nor is diux a typical military office with uniforms, cubicles and the d.o.d.'s, e department of defense's, more regimented mindset. >> we have strong relationship with v.c.'s acroll the silicon ecosystem and we leverage a lot of their portfolio compies to solve dod problem >> reporter: for small tech start-ups, the military's beauracracy and lengthy procurement requirements can consume more time and resources than they can afford. that's especially true for new technolo projects that could be obsolete before they getit through the trnal contracting process. fch entrepreneur raj shah feared that with hst start-up . >> and after my 10th meeting with some senior general realizing how long things were taking wstopped pursuing that market. >> reporter: shah, a former air

force f-16 pilot, a mckinsey consultant and entrepreneur, went back on active duty to orn diux for two years befe recently returning to the startup world. >> there is a civil military divide. that manycause o companies don't look to d.o.d. as a customer and so what diux is trying to do is bridge that gap bridge of understanding and bridge the gap of process. t >> reporte military has been closely connected with the e licon valley since it "started-up" in th's by funding the first semiconducter developers and the fir satellite surveillance and suarine missile systems in response to the launch of the space and arms race with with the soviets. >> we are builucng an infrasre of sensors in space to change the way we collect information of what we do here on earth. >> reporter: dx is helping aerospace engineer and entrepreneur payam banazadeh kickstart capella space, his start-up building a new generation of smaller, cheaper,

and for some purposes, better satellites out of this non-ac descriptity in san francisco. >> we can quickly redesign and reiterate and we do everything here in-house that allows us to go from design a concept in a paper napkin to where we are now which is we're launching a satellite in two years. >> reporter: like so many silicon valley start-ups from hewlett packard to google, payam developed his idea while studying at stanford where he took a "hacking for defense" course partiallyponsored by diux. >> we can do global coverage night and day all weather with satellites looking at everywhere on earth. which could be modify after the project started. >> we've done about 60 of the deals so far, worth about

$200 million. we're about $200 million and our average time from hosting our solicitation to designing the ctoject and awarding the project getting it on conts about 75 to 90 days which is light speed for the department of defense. >> we can see how many cars are on the streets of paris and we can do that anywhere in the world. >> reporter: kevin o'brien is the chf operating officer of orbital insight, an artificial intelligence and machine learning company diux is working with to decipher the avalanche of new aerial imagery too massive for humans to analyze in realtime. >> the power of these new constellations is that you can look at every corner of every inch of the planet every day. and so when you think about that we can identify different types of objects whether they're cars whether their trains or planes whether it's roads or new buildings to be being developed. >> reporter: orbital insight preferred working with commercial clients until the military could catch up to silicon valley's deal making speed. >> so our first contract with diux took about six months are contracts that we're working with them now take aut six weeks. >> reporter: diux is different

from darpa, the defense advance research projects agency, the original and much larger military r&d agency, which works on more futuristic, longer termp technolojects. >> so our business model is focused on solving the problemsd faster cheaperetter than traditional mechanisms. therefore we do not go for a 100% solution out of the gate looking 10 years down the road. we look for an immediate solution that is practical right out of the chute. >> reporr: most of diux'sfu ing priorities come directly from what they call "operators," milita people in the field working on real problems, like trying to coordinate mission critical air refueli operations in the middle east using a whiteboard of all things diux contracted a silicon valley software company to develop a managementpp with an internal air force team recruited by diux's colonel enrique oti. >> they started writing the code and they started learning from a commercial company how twrite the code how to use the technologies how to interview

and they were able to put together from nothing to work in combat operations in four months. >> reporter: the air force recently cancelled a more than a half billion dollar contractp with northumman, a major defense contractor, for being more than two years overdue in f livering similar types or operations software. >> reporter: former google c.e.o. and alphabet chairman eric schmidt chairs the defense department's innovationo d and has been working on guidelines for the military's iguse of artificial intellce. more than 3,000 google employees recently signed a petitiongiand odozen ers have resigned in protest to sogoogle's rnhighlighting ethical con some technologists have with contributing to what they consider to be "the business of war." >> well gus what? government likes to look at hotspots aund the world very persistently more reliably and so there's a lot of commonality

between what we do for the commercial sector well as for defense and intelligence. >> and so we have very strict privacy guidelines whave very strict rules on what will and what we don't do. we've never come across anything to saying that's a showstopper. >> colorful socks are very important, especially "star wars" socks. >> reporter: as much as they make light of adapting the silicon valley work style while serving on the new frontlis of tech warfare, most of the military personnel assigned to diux have served overseas as war fighters with tactical units. they appreciate the difference between a "cool" new technology they are helping develop and its intended mission with much different risk-reward metric >> we would rather leverage autonomous technology to map out the battlefield before a human has to go into harm's way. we're trying to buy down risk.uy >> reporter: bg down the risk by leveraging the nation's tech capitol.

for the pbs newshour, this is mike cerre reporting from mountain view, california. >> woouff: now, hari sreenivasan and comedian and documentary lm-maker hari kondabolu look at the effects of exclusion and stereo-typing in american comedy, eertainment and media, particularly the stneotyping of south asians the character, apu, on "the simpsons," the longest-running primetime scripted series on tv. >> we've had an amazing run in the past few years, there's like 14 of us now, oh look how'd i get there, that's progress in al time! >> sreenivasan: comic hari

kondabolu has been thinking about how he fits into america as the son of immigrants for quite some time. here he is in 2012 on the totally biased with kamau bell show. >> because growing up i had no choice but to like this, apu, a cartoon character voiced by hank azaria. >> sreenivasan: kondabolu felt so strongly out the negative stereotype perpetuated by apu from the simpsons he made a documentary. >> i should be completely happy but there's still one man who hauntse, apu nahasapeemapedilon.e "pley for your purchases and get out and thank you come again", how many of you had to deal with apu or deal with that being referenced?" >> sreenivasan: since the documentary aired on trutv kondabolu has moved on to a tflix standup special tackling issues like race relations in

the age of trump. >> and i knothey're trump supporters because after the hate crime they yell 'trump!' >> senivasan: we met in jackson heights, neighborhood in queens with a high south asian population. koabolu grew up near here. he has an unconventional background for a comedian. he worked as an immiant rights organizer in seattle and got his masters in hum rights from the london school of economics. we sat down at a local indian snack shop to talk abo his standup and the simpson's response to his documentary, >> i thirst of all, i was surprised the simpsons even responded. do you know what i mean? i made a film that i thought was heartfelt and-- and-- and very genuine, and funny. and, like, a love letter to my commreity. >>ivasan: cause you're a fan of the simpsons. >> i love the simpsons. grew up on the simpsons. i would say a ton of-- you know, my sense of-- a lot of my sensibilities come from watcerng that show night when i was a kid. because they're the simpsons. co i imagined they would'v up with something clever-- and it was just kind of like, "ah, we don't car we don't care what you have to say." i don't even think they saw the

movie.om >>hing that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect, what can u do? >> some things will be dealt with at a later date. >> if atll. >> sreenivasan: did it upset you? >> it upset me as a simpsons fan. not so mh as an indian- american. and-- lisa wouldn't say that. lisa would've been tal ultimate soustice warrior. she would've been the first one on my side. >> sreenivasan: yeah. >> n all of a sudden it feel like, you know, they threw her under the bus. >> sreenivasan: you-- you know, you're tryin' to get-- throughout the film you try to get a response from hank azaria didn't in the film. but he did say something on colbert. >> i really want to see inan, south asian writer, writers in the writing room, not in a token way but genuinely informing the new direction this character may take including how it is voiced or not voiced. i'm perfectly lling and happy to step aside or help transition it into something new, i really hope that's whathe simpsons does.

>> sreenivasan: when you saw that, what went through your mind? ve been great if he said that to me in the film. >> sreenivasan: sure. >> but i thought it-- it wasci really gs, and thoughtful, and he definitely had thought about, like, the reason why this is important to us is we wanted to be seen as valid. you also got a sense that hank doesn't make these choices. >> are you se you want a child apu? >> you know i comes a time when a man asks himself who will float my corpse down the ganges? >> so that's you guys. >> today you look like apu y.day, somewhat. no that's not fu >> do either of you identify with that character in any way? >> no i don't think so. >> when you e that does that bother you? >> they paid him, he did it. >> sreivasan: you kno w, i-- i still remember there was a kid in high school, ian-- i-- i won't say his last name. but you know, i-- i mean, apu's catchphrases were used as a bludgeon against-- >> yeah. >> sreenivasan: all south asians

at the time. >> yeah. >> sreenivasan: it was just-- it wasn't that sophisticated-- >> no. >> sreenivasan: a putdown, right?of it was kinheap. and-- and-- >> right. >> sreenivasan: as a brown kid you're like, "that's all you got?" you know, it sort of-- >> well and-- and that is all they had, because they're-- nobody knew much about us-- one thing that i've heard a lot ofsi is, "well thsons makes fun of everybody." ad that can be true of any kind of comedian. likeif you make fun of everybody, it's equal opportunity offense. what's your problem? why can't you take a joke? i can take a joke, first of all. it's just it's been the same ke over and over again for 30 years. like, after a while-- it's like, i know the punchline already.: >> sreenivasght. >> like, you know, what else do you got? >> sreenivasan: yeah. >> and the second thing is it's not really a fair fight if i'mt lowed to respond. the media wasn't talking aboutvi us or us opportunities. and secondly, i was eight years old.: >> sreenivasu know, you also point out that there is a long history of minstrelsy in this country. but it seems apu has not changed or evolved-- >> yes. >> sreenivasan: in the time that he has been in america. >> i mean, i think the strange

thing is i think a characterou like apun't probably be made today in that form-- because it's so basic. i but the simpso30 years old. so this character was kind of grandfathered in. you know that a white guy does the voice? >> sreenivasan: you were one of the first comics i remember seeing that actively chose not do indian accents. >> first of all, i'm not really good at doing accents. etso why would i go with sng that isn't my strength, right? if i'm doing it, i'm basically doing hank azaria's impression, which is just him impression of peter sellers' impression-- >> sreenivasan: right. >> which is just his impression of some indian dude he met once, maybe. so-- and another is, you know, i feel like my parents, d a lot of immigrants, already get made fun of for their accents. there's a self-consciousness.'s and th way of silencing people. i didn't wanna further that. >> sreenivasan: how do you see this documentary, and this in the context of a larger conversation about immigration right now? >> like, there's nothing wrong with being a convenience store owner, for example. but what does a real convenience store owner have to say? what are their stories? there's a million stories and i think if we were able toma

ze each other, and humanize immigrants, i think ith would der to be okay with large groups of people being n sent away, oghbors being deported, families being split hi. we need john brown people, that will sacrifice their money for the movement, we need john brown white people that willcr ice their power for the movement, we need john brown white people that will sacrific thves for the movement. people of color we have a role in this as well, we're gonna tweet about it and wte facebook posts. >> sreenivasan: kondabolu'me standup ofteions his mom. >> for a woman in southern india in the '70s to have her own practice as a doctor, i mean, that wasn't a common thing. >> sreenivasan: that's a big a deal. >> it'ge deal. and then to have to give it up because you're getting married, and then you're raising kids, and you have to pick a different life. i think my mom had this incredible sense of humor, and she still has this incredible sense of humor. and it's a way for h to survive. i think the mom stuff on my

pbums and on my special, to me, are really importatly dicause you hear about the immigrant parent ierent people's specials, and they're just accents. if you want to know a stereotype about indian people that not everyone knows, it's this. indian people love mangoes. you might be thinking, well hari, i love mangoes no you don't! my father ate a mango in 1973 that he bought at a roadside stall in india and the story is the mango was very juicy. that's the whole story! >> sreenivasan: yeah. did you-- did you think thbit about the mangos was gonna be as funny for the rest of america as it was, probably, for south asians watching it? >> i think that it wlly successful in part because it must seem absurd to people. a fruit? when i started writing comedy, i always thought, "what is gonna make the majority whit"audience laug >> sreenivasan: yeah. >> that's what mainstream means, right? >> sreenivasan: yeah. >> and after while, you want to expand and be like, well i'm a full person. i have a culture. have things

that shaped me into what i-- into what i am. how come i'm not talking about these things? >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now, a nearly 900- page report on decades osexual abuse by clergy in pennsylvania includes dozens of testimonies provided by victims. we take a closer look at the allegations and share words from the survivors at our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour foni t. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. bs>> major funding for the newshour has been provided by:

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>> does it give you some kind of comfort that your cri are coming from both sides? >> no, because i could still be wron >> this is not how border crossings, how people come into the u.s. seeking asylum what it usually looks like, but i think, look, this may be her best ardsce to get past these gu right now. >> mr. trump won the congressional district overwhelmingly by about 20 20 points. the question is whether the enthusiasm for prerusident will convert into enthusiasm for a different republican. >> does the presidency that interfered in the 2016 election and possibly the midterm as an attack on democracy?

captioning sponsored by wshour productions, llc captioned byac mediss group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

narrator: today, there are 4 billion people living in asia all of them members of the same species: homo sapiens--us. hi but it wasn't always ts way. when we left africa and entered asia, it was already inhabited by different species of human. they were veterans in this land. we were the rookies. aah! but what happened next? is it possible we mated with these ancient humans and picked up their genes? when we analyzed the dna from this, this was a new form of extinct human. man: even though they went extinct 30,000 years ago, their dna lives on in each of us. different man: we have inside of us