captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc uf >> woo good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, president trump plays defense against suggestions that he is implicated in the crimes of former associates michael cohen and paul manafort. as supreme court nominee brettva naugh makes the rounds inth u.s. senate, we begin a look at his record on key issues.co then, ege student murdered, and authorities saype the main s is in the country illegally. republicans seize the moment to advocate for tougher immigration policies. inus, why companies are pu their profits back into stocks instead of raising employee wages. >> if they took all of the money that they spent on stock tebuybacks and instead invit in raises for their workers, mcdonald's, they could have

given each of their workers $4000 more. >> woodrf: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular believes that wireless plt s should refle amount of talk, text and data that you use. we offer a variety of no- contract wireless plans for people who use their phone a little, a lot, or anything i to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> babbel. a la real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> and by thalfred p. sloan undation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century.

>> carnegie corpor.ion of new yo supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security.ar atgie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutis: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viers like you. thank you. >> oodruff: president trump spent much of today defending himself from the fallout following convictions this week of both his former personal lawyer and his former campaign

chairman. striking back, mr. trump took aim at some now familiar targets. as the justice department and special counsel robert mueller continue their probe into russian interference in the 2016 ection, the president took aim at his attorney general. >> i put in an attorneral that never took control of the justice department, jeff sessions. never took control of the justice department. and it's a-- sort of anng incredible t >> woodruff: sessions fired back in a stateme, writing: "i took control of the department of justice the day i was sworn in. while i am attorney general, thd actions of tartment of justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations." the war of wds is set against gue backdrop of a week's worth of court appearancilty meas and convictions of confidantes close r. trump. in the latest twist, multiple news outlets report that federal

prosecutors have grantedo egal immunityvid pecker, the chairman of american media inc., the "national enquirer's" parent company. in exchange, pecker, a longtime friend of the president, will reportedly provide information about hush money paid by president trump's former attorney michael cohen to silence two women from disclosing alleged affairs with mr. trump. on tuesday, cohen pleaded guilty to several crimes including making illegal campaign contribuons at the direction of mr. trump. the president insted again today that he is not implicated. >> they got cohen on totally unre i'm not involved.gn. i wasn't charged with anything. you know, people dth't like to sa, but i wasn't charged.dr >> wuff: he criticized cohen's guilty plea, referred to it as flipping, cooposating with prutors, something, he said,at th "almost ought to be illegal." but he said he had "greator

respect" fis former campaign chairman paul manafort, who was convicted of eight counts of tax anbank fraud. one of the jurors in manafort's weeks-long trial told fox news imere was a single holdout juror who prevented a uns verdict of conviction on ten other deadloed charges. paula ncan, a trump supporter who says she kept her "make america greaagain" hat in her car every day, voted to convict. >> the public,merica, need to know how close this was.id and the ce was overwhelming. i did not want paul manafort to beouilty, but he was, and n l one is above t. >> woodruff: at the white house today... >> president trump, are you going to pardon paul manafort? >> woodruff: ...the president didn't respond to reporters'es qutions whether he would grant manafort a pardon. and several leading republicans,

including south carolina senator lindsey graham, have warned mr. d ump against that action. e "new york times" reported other republicans are telling vulnerable g.o.p.en incumbts to speak out, with oklahoma representative tom cole saying, "where there's smoke, and there's lot of smoke, there may well be fire." in the day's other news, white hous appeared to be at loggerheads over russia's interference inio american ele. the president's national sscurity adviser, john bolton, said he raised the repeatedly while meeting in geneva with s russian counterpart, nikolai patrushev, to no avail. >> wmight have had a joint statement t i felt it was important to mention election ngddling which we raised a number of times duhese consultations today which lasted a little bit over five hours.

but we were not able to reach agreement on that. i made it clear that we wouldn't tolerate meddling in 2018 and that we were prepared to take necessary steps to pvent it from happening. w druff: moments later, patrushev told reporters that bolton did not accuse russia of election interference during their talks. patrushev did say the two agreed to re-open foreign and defense ministry communications. google announced today it has uncovered a misinformation campaign connected tiran and its state media. the tech giant terminated 39 youtube channels, six blogs on blogger and 13 google plus accounts. thehat comes asemocratic national committee says ante attehack they reported yesterday was a false alarm.at he d.n.c. thought could be foreign meddling was actually the democrat party of michigan running a test of voter file security protections. they did not alert the d.n.c. ahead of time.

a former employee of the national security agency, accused of leaking classified information, was sentenced to more than five years in prison today. 26-year-old reality winner expressed remorse for copying material from the n.s.a. and sending it to the left- leaning news website "thete ept" in 2016. the leaked report contained information about russian attempts to break into ving software in the u.s., all of which was later confirmed to be true. the 63-month sentence is the longest ever given for a federal crime in leaking to the media. the british government advised businesses today to make plans now in case it is not able to reach a trade agreement with the european union. without a deal, residents in the u.k. could face higher credit card fees, new customs checks and medicine shortages when it's expected to leave the e.u. in seven months. in london, the newly appointed brexit minister, dominic raab,hi

saidis a precautionary approach. >> it's not what we expect. but, we must be ready. so let me reassure you all that contrarye of the wilder claims, you will still be able to enjoy a b.l.t. after brexit. and there are no plans to deploy the army to maintain food supplies. >> woo british government asked drugmakers to stockpilex medicines for eks above normal operations and called for medicinewith short shelf-lives to be flown into the country. s. secretary of state mi pompeo named a specialre esentative to north korea today. stephen biegun will leave his job at the ford motor compy. he worked in the george w. bush white house as the executive secretary for the national security council, and later as a national security advisor to former senate majority leader bill fri. biegun will join pompeo on a trip to north korea next week for ongoing nuclea negotiations. president trump sparked a

gplomatic row with south africa after accusing ternment of seizing land from white farmers. the president id on twitter that he'd asked secretary of state pompeo to "study the south africa land and farm seizures." south africa's government said the tweet is "based on false information." the country's land reform program is meant to reverse apartheid-era policies that stripped blacks of their land. the anti-defamation league today said the president had repeatedd a long-sg and false white supremacist claim. in hawaii, heavy rains inundated the islands as residents braced 92r the arrival of their first hurricane since 19 forecasters said hurricane l de has slown and is not projected to make a direct hit.g but flash floond landslides are a major threat. the fu force of the storm is expected to hit tonight, but aytereffects will last for

>> this system is going to be th us for the next four five days, continuing to bring winds to the islands, to bring large surf, as well as the torrenti rains that we've talked about. >> woodruff: weather forecasters expect over 30 inches of rain to fall in some areas and surf of 20 feet. california republican coressman duncan hunter an his wife pleaded not guilty today to charges they illegally used campaign money for personal expenses. on tuesday, an indictment alleged the g.o.p. lawmker and his wife spent $250,000 on golf, meals, and dentist appointments. hunter has called the charges politically motivated. ohio state university's football coach will sit out the first three games of the season after an investigation found he mishandled domestic violence accusations against a staff member. the report said urban meyer did not take proper steps to alerte hool of abuse allegations against his assistant coach. meyer apologized at a news

conference last night, saying he "should have done more." heoras suspended without pay six weeks. kson wall street today, st closed slightly lower. the dow jones industrial averags lost 76 poo close at 25,657. the sdaq fell 10 points to close at 7878. fthe s&p 500 dropped neare points. still to come on the newshour: the supreme court nominee coett kavanaugurts votes in the senate. why president trump has been focusing on a college student's murder. china's ambitious program to make it a global leader in tech, and much more. >> woodruff: it is one of the biggest decisions a president can make-- and in len two weeks, mr. trump's pick for the supreme court will face a contentious confirmation

hearing. in the run-up, brent kavanaugh has been making the rounds, meeting with senators to court their support. we want to take a look at where he stands on key issues in question. tonight, we begin with the most politically charged: abortion. here to help walk us through his record and what he has said to senators, our capitol hill correspondentes lisardins. and joan biskupic, a supreme court biographer and an analyst for cnn. hello to both of you. so it looks as if judge ca kavanaugh has been busy in the last few weeks. what do we know about what he's been say himself to them about his record on abortion? >> today he had six meetings alone. i think the person who best described what he's been telling senators on abrtion is susan collins. she met with him tuesday. let's lien to what she said he

told her. >>e talked about whether he considered roe v wade to be settled law. he said he agreed with what justice reports said at his nomination hearing in which he said that it s settled law. >> this seems to be a mantra o supreme court nominees and it's something kavanaugh is sticking to. we hear democrats and republicans alike say this is what he's tellng them. >> woodruff: aring this is, what are most democrats saying? >> they say it doesn't matter if it's settled law. the question is whether he's willing to overturn it. chuck schumer said it's settled unl it's su sun settled. we also hear democrats pointing to justice gorsuch who used the same standard saying he saw ro assetled law, but democrats like chris kountze today pointed out

gorsuch voted to overturn a 1977 supreme court case about labor law. gorsuch did vote to overturn that, so democrats are concerned that, whether it's settled law, these justices could be willingv toturn them. >> woodruff: joan biskupic, you as somebody who been watching the no nomination processes, first of all,en a nominee speaks about something being settled law, is that something we take to the bank? >> no. (laughter) it sounds nice, it is nice and justices -- judicial nominees repeatedly say it, but it's just sort of stating the obvious, frankly, that if you have a precedent from 1973, which is when roe v wade made abortion legal nationwide, of course it's settled, and then in 1992 the court reaffirmed that. but as lisa mentioned, the supreme court has overturned precedent, four-decade-old

>> woodruff: right. and i think what he's doing as we've seen through the yearst is a nominee f trying out some lines. when he meets with a senexor, mighriment with what would be said, and we can see howc susan collins ved that quite positively. it was interesting h he referred to chief justice john reports because chief juice john roberts talked about thean impo of precedence and of roe v wade being settled, and one of the senators who questioned him in 2005 said i don't want to talk about individual cases that miht come up and, just for the record, we have two rulings on abortion from chief justice john roberts, one 2007 and then more recently where he did undercut the right. >> woodruff: let's talk a little bit because you have been looking closely at this, yo and other journalists poring over judge cav nog's, first of all, rulings. what has he written in opinions

that tell us anything aboviut hs on reproductive rights? >> sure. well, judy, he sits on the u.s court of appeals for the d.c. circuit which usually doesn't handle these kinds of invidual right, but he did rule last october, a young pregnant migrant who crossed the border s being held in detention and the trump administration did not want the allow her to get th abortion she wanted immediately. he desefrom the -- disented from the majority on theourt that said, no, trump administration, you're putting an undue burden on this young woman and ruled in ay that allowed her to have the adooring's, he dissent saying the government has an interest in fetal life. he did not say he would overturn roe, he said roe was settled law, but stressed it wouldn't have been a burden on this woman to have paid and got an sponsor, the government was right to make

her wait and nsider it. >> woodruff: this is something emocratic senators in particular have belking about? >> right, i think this is a big issue for everyone and i thk, when you look at the lay of the land, three democratic senators are key votes here. the margin in the senate is very close and these three senators voted for justice neil gorsuch so we're watching them carefully. on abortion all three senators have states that either have an ortion trigger law so if roe v wade was ove automatically abortion would be illegal in their state, north dakota with heitkamp, or in west rginia there's a ballot measure that would say abortion sill legal in the state. so thee conservative leading states on abortion, but talking to their office, it's interesting, they are saying they're getting more pressure from their voters on other things. heitkamp says hers arer woried about tariffs and others say the pressure is not on ca kavanaughp

tr himself. >> woodruff: what has kavanaugh written in art and said in speeches about roe v wade that we can glean something? >> he has talked about his judicial heros, the first when he was a young law student was former chief justice willm rehnquist, and he cited rehnquist's dissent in roe v wade. back in 1973 -- >> woodruff: opposing the ma.rity. >> rig again, he did not say i agree with it, but he was holding him up as a hsero and ha done the hame with the late justice antonin iia also an opponent of abortion rights. i think what we'll see on september 4 when the hearings begin is a man whexo presses regard for precedent, talks about what's settled, talks about how it's a jolt, as chief justice john roberts had said, to societywhen precedent is overruled, but i think once he

gets up there in a lifetime position, all bets are off. >> woodruff: but there's little doubt that they will be asking him about ose two things, the case about the immigrant, the young immigrant woman who wapregnant and about certainly praising justice re dquist inissenting in roe. >> right, they'll ask him, then again and again. right now, judy, i beat he's doing is rehearsing his answers to try to stisfy senators enough to get the majority vote. >> i know in one office ere the senator is listening to the audio of that garza case on young migrant abortion case because we have audio of that, that's something they're studying, what did heay verbally and how did he say it? >> woodruff: as you said, ortion won't be the only issue to come up but will receive a fair amount of attention from the senators, and we'll talk about other issues of import as we look at the kavanaugh nomination in the coming days.

joan biskupic, lisa desjardins, thank you both. >> thank you. >> woodruff: the tragic murder of a young woman in iowa might not have received much national attention, but that all changed icwhen an immigrant from m in the country illegally, was charged with her murder. as william brangham reports, mollie tibbetts' case has now been seized upon by the president and his party. >> brangham: mollie tibbets was a 20-year-old college student from the university of iowa who, back in july, went out for her usual evening run. she never came home. for five weeks, her family and local authorities seared everywhere. they setup a website for tips; police c interviews.reds of but then, on tuesday morning, authorities discovered tibbett's body in a co field covered with leaves. the man who'd taken police to

the spot, 24 year old christian rivera, is now charged with r murder.ev rivera is belied to have entered the u.s.llegally from mexico. he lived in a neighboring town and worked at a local dairy for esral years. while rivera's arrbrought some sense of closure to the tibbett's family, the tragedy o her deatis also being used as a rallying cry against illegal immigration. hours after the ws broke, president trump brought up tibbett's murder at a rally in weginia: >> you heard about today, with the illegal alien coming in from, very sadly, from mexico.wh and you sa happened to that incredible, beautiful young woman.ra >>ham: conservative outlets, especially fox news, gave tibbett's story heavy coverage, emphasizing thate rivera had c the u.s. illegally and how tibbett's murder was directly caused by u.s. immigration policy. a steady stream of republicans

echoed this theme: iowa's republican vernor kim reynolds described the news a"" -bart-wrenching" and added: "as iowans, we are heaken, and we are angry. angry that a broken immigration system allowed a predator like this to live in our community." arkansas republican senator tom cotton wrote, "mollie would be alive if our government had taken immigration enforcement seriously a decade ago." some in tibbett's family have pushed back on this linkagin tibbett's cosam lucas, responding to one conservative, activiote, "we are not so small-minded that we generalize a whole population based on some bad individual now stop using my cousin's death as polital propaganda." but yesterday afternoon, the whore house amplified the sty, releasing thisweet about tibbetts and including a video montage ofrieving parents who's children had also been killed by what the white house called "illegal aliens." >> he was hit, head on, by a repeat illegal alien criminal.

>> known gang member came in the back, he fired the gun. >> he strangled him, went toee if he was breathing, then strangled him again over and over until his death. he dragged matthew to his death. >> brangham: four hours later, the president posted his own ideo about tibbetts, and seemed >> a person came illegally, from mexico, and killed her. we need the wall. we have tremendous crime trying to come through e border. >> brangham: this has been one of the president's most consistent themes, the linking of immigrants with crime and violence. the day he announced his presidential run, he accused mexico of sending rapists and murderers across the border. >> they'reringing crime, they're bringing drugs. >> brangham: at ralls and on twitter over the past year, the president repeatedly mentionsvi thent el-salvadoran gang ms-13, and routinely says sdemocrats want open bord

which will mean more crime. raile this is the president's mantra, that imms equal crime, the evidence points in the other direction. several studies have shown that areas communies with higher rates of immigrants have lower crime rates, and that immigrants themselves commit crime at lower-levels than native-born americans. but many republicans counter at this isn't about immigrants, it's about immigrants here illelly. they say any crime committed by an undocumented immigrant is one crime too many. perhaps the most nakedly political rationale for talking about mollie tibbett's murder came yesterday from former republican speaker of the house, newt gingrich, who was contacting various news outlets, asking them to cover the tragedy. in an email to axios, gingrich wrote: "if mollie tibbetts is a household name by october, democrats will be in deep trouble. if we can be blocked by manafort, cohen, etc., then g.o.p could lose badly."

for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: stay with us,he coming up onewshour: making sense of why companies are reinvesting in their own stocks. and renewed attention on minority casting in hollywood sparked by the blockbuster hit "crazy rich asians." but first, today sawer escalation in president trump's heade war with china, with united states imposing 25% tariffs on nearly 300 mo chinese goods; beijing responded immediately. many of the u.s. tariffs target china's hi-tech induries, part of the "made in china 2025" initiative, which aims to transform china from the world's factory into a global innovation leader.

as special correspondent katrina yu reports, the plan's critics say it harms american companies and the international market. >> reporter: an army of robots, dancing to coded choreography. these automated entertainers are on display in beijing at an expo showcasing the latest in chinese consumer technology. a.i.: artificial intelligence, ransport;evices, these are just some of the ten sectors that make up the country's technology master plan, "made in china 2025," an initiative that aims to transform the country from a manufacturer of cheap goods into an innovation powerhouse.e and as jrker from the u.s.-china business council explains, the list doesn't end there. it's primarily focused on raising its capabilities in advanc it and tech focused-

industries that are important strategic industries for the future. areas like, airplane manufacturing, automotive and new energy vehicles. >> reporter: by setting strategic targets and spending billionsf dollars on state subsidies, china hopes to build a technology empire that competes not only with the united states, but germany and japan. and this southern chinese city is at the center of it. in less than two decades, shenzhen, across the border from hong kong, has transformed from a sleepy fishing village into china's silicon valley. it's the home of chinese tech giants such as mobile phone manufacturer huawei, a company whose products are deemed a cyber-security threat by the u.s. congress and banned for government use, and drone company dji.

today shenzhen's gdp alone is around $400 billion, that's more than hong kong and singapore. shenzhen's development is in large part thanks to ts man: deng xiaoping. he's considered the father ofan modern chinathe chief architect of the economic reforms which began opening up the country 40 years ago. china's leader from 1978 to 1989, deng xiaoping dismantled the disastrous ecomic policies of maoist china. he made it possible for companies to privatize, and eventually relaxed market controls. thanks to these reforms china is now one of the leading global hubs for artificial intelligence. >> this our smart vending machine solution. >> reporter: companies like malong are leading the charge in developing technologies aiming to disrupt the way we work and shop. this artificially intelligent cabinet is programmed to monitor stock and process payments. here, facial r

we're happy to see that chinese companies today are capable of now of leading some of the most cutting edge technologies, not just in china but also in the world. >> reporter: amid the made in china push money is pouring into sectors like a.i. last year china's a.i. market was worth $3.5 bilpeon, a figure ed to double this year. but investment is just the anginning. beijing ultimately to become less reliant on foreign suppliers, a mission stressed by chinese president xi jinping earlier this year. >> ( translated ): i hope to see continuous healthy development of the enterprises of our nation and country. now we must depend on ourselves in developing core and key technologies, the vital treasures of our country. >> reporter: china has set70 targets foof basic core components and materials and 40% of smartphone chips to be produced destically by 2025. today it buys most of these from the u.s.

the squeezing out of foreign suppliers has raised red flags for those trading with china. >> that means there's an expectation that chinese domestic brands, not foreign brands, will make up a certain percentage of all of that market in the china market. there's also targets internationally as well. >> reporter: the trump administration says the policy is protectionist and potentially damaging to the u.s. and international economy. it's been branded such a threat that washington's first salvo of trade war tariffs was aimed squarely at china's hi-tech sector. a misfire, according to some chinese analysts, including zhong wei who believes "made in china 2025" has been blown outn. of proport >> ( translated ): the made in china 2025 plan as many problems., it's too vago comprehensive and too urgent. so it isn't a national strategy,

me's merely an agency docunt. >> reporte he says targets are aspirational, rather than enforceable, and pose little threat to the u. >> ( translated ): it'sch impossible thaa can ever dominate these industries, because these ten industries include all technical-related industries in the country. >> reporter: beyond shenzhen's skyscrapers, the city's grittier tetskirts reveal the other side of the country's h drive. at sanhe labor market, migrant workers bid for ad-hoc work at chip and smartphone faories. the backbone of china's tech sector, most are paid just over $20 a day, working under rough, and often unregulated, conditions. they refused to appear on camera, but told the newshour they were happy at least to be getting work. despite lagging behind theve ped world, china's hi-tech industries are pushing forward

from made in china to made by china, for china, trr ade wa not, 2025 will be here before we know it. for the pbs newshour, i'm katrina yu, in shenzhen, china. >> woodruff: this week has marked the longe period of uninterrupted gains on the stock market in s. history. there are a variety of reasons, including a steady economic recovery that is nine year told. but one drivers for the stock market rise has been the increase of wh's known as stock buybacks, or companies purchasing their own shares. the benefits of that for the larger economy is very much in question. our economics correspondent, paul solman, explains, part ofhi weekly series, making

sense."ar >> corporationliterally going wild over this. >> reporter: when president trump signed the "tax cuts and jobs act" last december, a key provision s cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. republicans argued the savings would be used to create more, and better paying, jobs. >> this gets us better wages, bigger paychecks, a simpler tax system. >> reporter: that was house speaker paul ryan late last year.d re's administration economist kevin hassett. >> i can tell you if we get thir bill tgh it will be great for american workers. >> reporter: and indeed the unemployment rate is at an 18- year low. mat jared bernstein, an economist in the o administration, was convinced the tax cut money wotod be used noreate jobs but to benefit shareholders, through stock buybacks. >> in ct it's happened big time. we've seen a real

escalation in share buybacks. >> reporter: stock buybacks are expected to hit a record one trlion dollars this year, almost 50% increase over 2017. so what is a sto buyback? harvard business school's charlie wang puts it simply. >> the company is resing a certain number of shares outstanding from the shareholders, and by doing soth 're distributing cash back to the universe of shareholders. >> reporter: in recent years, firms have been repurchasik, their own stith a vengeance. apple approved a new $100 billion repurchase program in the spring. cod from ebay to pepsi, in the years 2015 to 2017anies spent almost 60% of their profits on buybacks. but now why do companies buy back their stock? because it typically boosts the stock price in the short run. irene tung of the national employment law project explains. >> by buying back a company's stock, the company is removing t from open market a number ofng

shares, crean artificial scarcity of shares, which then temporarily drives up the price. >> reporter: it's the appearance of better financials, whanh insiders cand do, take advantage of, says republican economist douglas hokin. >> there are some compensation clauses for executives that arec tied to share . they might think it's going to help them and help the company and they will do it. >> reporter: but if stock buybacks are sometimes connectec to short-term manipulation for the benefit of corporate insiders, that's conceing. and in fact it's why buybacks were illegal from after the crash of ¡29 up to the reagan administration. >> much c.e.o. compensation is a function of the share price. well, all of a sudden you have a massive incentive to inflate v your shaue >> reporter: and it has been happening, according to a studyc by the surities and exchange commission, says irene tung. >> once these executives announced to the world that they would buy back stock fm their company, they themselves quietly

would sell off their own personal shares and take advantage of the bump in stock prices that they themselves engineered. >> reporter: but hey, most of the buyback money doesn't go to insiders, and all of it gets recirculated back into the economy, says finance professor wang. >> to fuel the growth in investment and employment in smaller and younger public firmw l as private companies, >> reporter: but what if the shareholders who are getting the money fromhe buybacks are mply using it to buy, i don't know, yachts or bigger yachts? >> if they're buying yachts,ar inercompanies and employees that worhese yacht companies and they stand to benefit from this capital >> reporter: okay, maybe some yacht workers benefit. maybe some smaller firms but what about the average american? right now, overall wage growth in the u.s. isn't even keeping up with inflation. irene tung looked at buybacks in the restaurant, retail and food industries in the three years before the tax cut was enacted. >> if they took all of the money that they spent on stock buitacks and instead investe

in raises for their workers, mcdonald's, they could have given each of thr workers $4000 more. >> reporter: each year? >> each year. starbucks, $7000. in retail, home depot, lowes and cvs could all give their workers at least $18,000 a year more in raises. >> reporter: but instee money went to shareholders, who make up barely half the american public. moreover, 84% of the value of stock market wealth is held by the richest 10% of us. part of thea economy do share buybacks boost? that precise part, so they're lifting the more unequal side of the economy at the expense of the more equal or the wage share of the economy. >> reporter: remember, though, says holtz-eekin: the tax cut is a long>>erm strategy. e will judge the tax cuts and jobs act and other things based on whether the final use of those funds has been effective in raising wages and. productivi that's going to be the ultimate test. >> reporter: as of july, thowever, more than half corporate savings from the tax

cut have gone to shareholders aa either stock bs or dividends, compared to 18% going to job creation commitments, and just 7% going to employees in the form of wage ireases, bonuses, or benefits. so the bottom li? as with so many policies, you have to wait for a verdict.th is economics correspondent paul solman. >> woodruff: it'one of the hits of the summer, a romantic comedy set in singapore. but it's getting even more attention for its all-asian cast. jeffrey brown has our look at the reaction, and how other writers and filmmakers are fighting for greater representation. ese people aren't just rich, okay, they're crazy rich. >> brown: "crazy rich asians" opened number one at the box

office last weekend, based on the best-selling novel by kevin kwan. it's the story of a not so well off young woman in love with what turns out to be a very wealthy young man and a visit to his h family. so far, so familiar. but the film is getting much atteion for its casting, an all-asian ensemble with actors from the u.s. and arounthe globe. it's the first major studio film with an all-ation cast since the joy luck club in 1993. recent years have seen television and streaming video opened more to asian actors and themes. a new netflix film to all the boys i've loved before stars an asian-american actress. it's based on a novel by jenny hahn who joins me no iw. doprize you "crazy rich asians" is getting this attention, that it's casting is still a ing worth noting? >> it doesn't surprise me at tall. i think,its heart, it's a story that we all know and love which is a cinderella story,

and,,o, i think that, to me it makes sense that people are just hungry to see that kind of romantic comedy on the big screen again because it's bee while. >> brown: in terms of the casting, though, what did you see or feel when you watched it? did eel different and important somehow? >> it felt like a baneto me. it felt like such abundance to see soany asian-american actors on the screen at once. i think, you know, it's been a really long time since i've ha that experience. after a certain point, i think you forget asou y're watching it, and you go into the story and it feels like a natural love story. >> brown: for those who haven't seen it, it's not about average asians, not about average asi an-american or anybody, really, it's about very wealthy, beautiful people. so why do you thinkt strikes such a>> chord? i think people have been wanting for so long to see faces looked like theirs centers

centered on the hollywood screen. i think we're all kind of hungry for that experience and happy to have that. >> brown: your own book, your main character is asian-american, but i understand you had to fight pretty hard to make sure that you found -- that an asian actress played her? >> i did have to fight really hard. there was interest early on, and the interest would die awaas soon as i explained to them that the lead was going to have to be asian-american. the argument was they didn't understand why they had to cast an asian-american actress when there's nothing in the story that required her to be asian-american. for me, it was, like, i wasn't going to justify thaist decn, it was just she was asian-american. so that's how she w written and that's how she should be, that's her identity. i think that, foso log, it's sov rare to see a story centered around a person of color and, usually, that story is all about the person of color's struggle

with being a person of color, and it's all about their pain and the challenges that com with thatand i think that's what we're used to seeing, and we're not used seeing ordinary situations like falling in love. >> brown: there have been some comparisons to "black panther" and the impact it's having. do you think "crazy rich asians," "black panther," films like yhiurs, do younk it's going to make a big difference in diversity in films? >> i hope it's something thatd continues es on. i think that, when there is so litt and there's such scarcity, people will h toward whatever is being offered to them, but i think there's no story that can present everybody. so my hope is there would be more opportunities that come out of this. >> brown: jenny hahn is the author of "to all the boys i'vee loveore" now to a netflix film. ank you very much. >> thank you. >> wdruff: and we'll be back shortly with brief but spectacular take on connecting

with people. but first, take a mont to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: for those stations staying with us, we turn to education and take a second look at why many people who do not fit into our idea of a "typical" college student are often le behind. hari sreenivasan reports. >> sreenivasan: at laguardia community collegadin new york, ministrators want the first day for nestudents to feel like a welcome home party. >> students need to feel like this is a home. i'm gail mellow president of the college. >> sreenasan: president gail mellow is well aware that for many students, making it from this first day to graduation is a strugg. >> tell me what you're going to study? >> sreenivasan: nationally, only 25% of new full-time comnity

college students will earn a degree in six years. >> your entire life pivots around your ability to complete, collnd more than that, so does your whole family.: >> sreenivasllow says the best way to educate community college students like these, is to understd who they are and where they came from. community coeges educate the majority of the nation's low- income students.ac in at laguardia, 77% of students here come from households making less than $25,000 a year. >> often they were not well served by the urban public high schools, which are so underfunded, and so crowded. and so they come to us, really for that second chance. >> sreenivasan: 26-year-old student diamond stanback says she's grateful for aecond chance. >> i didn't make a lot of good decisions in life, i had to start all over, learn be more self-sufficient. >> sreenivasan: a single mother of two, stanback was living in a homeless shelter just two years ago.

now, she's earned 33 credits and is working toward an associates degree in business. >> i have to lead by example, basically. becausof my kids. i can't expect them to strive to do better if i'm doing the bare nimum in my life, and collecting welfare checks. >> sreenivasan: gail mellow points to laguardia undergraduates like diamond stanback to bring attention to what she says is a misconcepti of the nation's college students. is there a gap here in orc tion of what a college student is, and the reality of what you see everyday? >> there's such an enormous gap betweewho goes to college in the united states, and our very old and stereotyped image. more than half of all american college students, undergraduates, go to community colleges. more than half of those can't go full time. about a quarter of our students are working more than 30 hours a week to make ends meet.

more than half of them are living at home with parents. so, the idea of college as being this time away, right after high school, it's not true. >> sreenivasan: here's diamond stanback's morning. >> i wake up around 4:30. i have to get up, shower, get dressed before i wake up the pi'. at 5:30 i get isaac dressed, put on his shoes, eat, and everything. >> sreenivasan: each trip to laguardia college can take several hours. >> we walk. we get on the bus, to go to my daughter's school. after i drop her offlk and i drop off isaac. then i get on a train. >> sreenivasan: in fact, the complex lives of community college studen like stanback are often the reason students drop out. nireta sls is vice president of laguardia student affairs. >> not having food, enough money for books, those things can derail you. it really is the simple thin.

financial aid and foll will pay tuition, but it is the extra the additional costs. >> sreenivasan: president mellow says extra costs are mostly overlooked by higher education policy makers. >> the gap between our policies, and the reality, is enormous. what happens when we don't have a good idea of who goes to college, and why they're going to college, is that we don't fund the things that, from mype pective, i wish we would fund. >> sreenivasan: to fill in the p, laguardia's charitable foundation has raised more than $20 million for student scholarships and emergency funds. administrators hope the money will keep more students on track. laguardia graduation rate for full time students is 30%. stanback is enrolled in ara progat laguardia called college discovery which assigns her an advocate to help herot navigate bfinances and academics. student luis ramos is enrolled in a program laguardia calls the presidential society which, in addition to supplying extra funds, teaches students soft skills.

before entering laguardia, ramos twice dropped out of four-year universities because the stress of balancing work and school became overwhelming. >> i couldt always be like running to work, running to class, running to work again.at >> sreenivasanaguardia, ramos gets free food from the school pantry and professional clothes. but perhaps one of the most crucial extras he receives is a frra metrocard. s lives with his family in flushing, new york and takes public transportation one hour each way to classes. >> it's such a relief,d if i to pay $130 metro card every it adds up, so it makes a huge difference. >> sreenivasan: and then there' studristian ortiz, 22- years-old and a father. ortiz credits his second chae to a group he joined at laguardia called fatherhood academy. so a lot of students have some serious challenges, like yourself, about having to take care of a kid, having a job, how does college fit in with all that? >> priorities. it's a sacrifice that comes with

college. >> sreenivasan: on the day we visited fatherhood academy, sacrifice was the topic of day. >> once i make this sacrifice, eventually i know my goals, and i know my purpose. >> sreenivasan: once a high school dropout, ortiz says he's now convinced he'll earn an associates degree. how long is it going to take you al finish? >> my s four semesters.t things happen m resilient, so i'm going to get it >>ivasan: diamond stanback regardless. hopes to get a job in human resources. and, after graduation ris june, luisos plans to pursue a bachelor's degree. in a rect ranking from stanford universit students like ramos, stanback, and ortiz have helped place laguardia community college 5th in the nation for moving low-income es into the middle class for the pbs newshour, i'm hari sreenivasan.

>> woodruff: next, we turn to another installment of our week series where we ask people about their passions. jonny sun is an who amassed a loyal twitter following through his honesty, humor and candor. his latest book is "everyone's an alien when you're an alien too." >> look, life is bad, everyone sad, we're all gonna die. but i already bought this inflatable bouncy castle, so are you gonna take your shoes off or what? i' i thin always grown up as like a shy introverted kind of socially anxious person. i've always seen my twitter account as like a personal account and i've always been drawn to it as a writer for theb fact that i' to be honest erd open and vulnerable in a way that i can't be inn. i mean i've always seen twitter as kind of this writer sketc book?

i've approached it as a writer at this whole time and it's always been this ple where i can, where i can like take ideas and test them out. and i think, anonymity onlhie has gottenkind of bad rap because of a lot of th harassment and abuse which of course is such a serious issue. the flip side of that is that, being anonymous online allows certain people to have a voice and have a presence. especially when they'r life identities can't be compromised. i wrote a book, it's called"ie everyone's an when you're an alien too." it's an illustrated kind of story of an alien who comes to earth and meets a bunch of different characters and kind of gets to learn about their lives. another, i thinkharacteristic of the voice that i've kind of worked on and developed through twitter and then the book is, is this idea of kind of messing with-- with syntax and grammar and kind of doing intentional mistakes and doing typos and stuff. i think that relates a lot to kind of post-modern movements oa poet the fluxus movement in the '60s and how, how these artists uh were-were taking the look of type on a page and using that to influence voice and to- to change the ways we read

ideas. hopefully that kind of almost intentional clumsiness creates of kind of pure icnest genuine for-- for readers and for people to pick up on. i think about like death all the i think a lot of writers think about death all the time. i'm always thinkint how much i can do and how much time i ha left i have so many things i want to do, accepting that one day in the future, i won'be here anymore makes me really, really hard about how much time i have on this earth and-- and what i'm going to do with it. ac name is jonny sun and this is my brief but spear take on connecting with others. >> woodruff: you can find additional brief but spectacular episodes on our website, pbs.org/newshour/brief. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks. for all of us at the pbs

newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin. >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymonames.com. >> 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 ap online. more information on babbel.com. h >> and witongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers lu.

thank you. >> woodruff: does it give you some kind of comfort that your boitics are coming from th sides? >> no, because i could still be wrong. >> this not how border eossings, how people com into the u.s. seeking asylum wh it usually looks like, but, look, i think this may be her best chance to get past these guards ght now. >> mr. trump won the congressional district overwhelmingly by about 20 points. question now is whether the enthusiasm for president trump will convert into enthiasm for a different republican. >> does thpresidency that interveed in the 2016 election and possibly midterm as an attack on democracy - ni capt sponsored by

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colin: so'm driving as carefully as i can on this extremely rocky mountain road in utahading e to a remote canyon. you might have heard of it; it's called range creek. g it'sot some of the best undisturbed native-american archaeology in t united states. and there are villages down there in range creek that are virtually untouched because of a local rancher whpt them secret for over 50 years. but now archaeologts have tare opportunity