captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, a city mourns-- president trump visits pittsburgh as funerals begin foh ose murdered at the synagogue. ren, hate in america-- we take a closer look at te of anti-semitism in the united states. plus, what is driving migrants to leave central america? an inside look at how gangs have ravaged el salvado >> we are like prisoners in our own community. you basicalldon't live peacefully but instead you think you're not going to make ir another day,ybe you think what will your children won't eat tomorrow, because it will be too dangerous to go to work. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin. >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for blic broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ha

>> woodruff: thibeen a somber day in pittsburgh, a day to begin burying the dead from sarday's synagogue massacr services were held for four of th11 victims killed in squirrel hill. it is a mmunity in mourning, and divided over today's visit from president trump.ho white e correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our coverage. >> alcindor: mourners began lining up hours before the first of the day's funerals. ey came to honor cecil and david rosenthal, intellectually disabled brothers, who were among the 11 people killed on saturday at "tree of life" synagogue. >> i found a photo album with pictures from my bar mitzvah, that's when it hit me because even though it was a happy occasion i knew that like in that chapel where i had my bar mitzvah... that that's maybe where people spent their final moments and.

weat's why i'm here today because their live not in vain and this is a time for people to put aside their differences, find common gros d and heal aa community.ca like america usaid he did not want mr. trump to come to squirrel hill. >> the ongoing rhetoric and just the nastiness and name-calling and putting somebody down, it's just like playground politics, if you will, and there needs to anity andy and hum bringing people together, and he has not demonstrated that in word or in action. > reporter: but president trump said he wanted to pay his respects. >> i'm also going to the hospital to see the officers and some of the people e o wer badly hurt, and i really look forward to going. >> landed in pittsburgh late this

afternoon, but a number of other officials declin to join him. democratic mayor had requested mr. ump wait until all th funerals were over. fellow democrat and county executive rich fitzgerald agreed. fellow democrat and county executive rich fitzerald, agreed. >> i think in light of how thisc has alrred and some of the rhetoric that has occurred, i don't know that it would be a unifying visit. i think it might even be-- add to the divisiveness of what's going on and that probably isn't. again the timing of, people ar v still grieviy raw emotions. >> alcindor: governor tom wolf, also presidential visit as well, as did house minority leader nancy pelosi and sennority leader chuck schumer. leaders of mr. trump's own party, republican house speaker paul ryan and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, cited scheduling conflicts, and did not attend. stosh colter is head of a progressive jewish organization, "end the arc".

>> if this president is sincere in wanting to respect the mourners of this tragedy, wanting to be sincerely respectful of the jews who have be slaughtered, he will st back and he will keep his distance and he will actuay consider his behavior and his actions and what he needs to d to change to actually create a country where people are living ea unity and are living in and safety. >> alcindor: others said the president was welcome. liot dinkin is the son of a former director at "tree of life". >> it's not a time to be political and it's a time toes stand back andct the office and the president of the united states. angry at him nd telling him 6it's not the right time he should wait well guarantee you if he waited another week people would say why did he wait solo . >> alcindor: and rabbi jeffrey cners from the "tree of life" congregation tolin an interview: "the president of the united states is always welcome.

i am a citizen. he is certainly welcome."hi the president elf kept a low profile during today's visit,d and dit speak publicly. meanwhile, the attack in sburgh prompted vigils a religious services in cities across the country last night, in jewisand non-jewish congregations alike. president trump and first lady melania trump met with leaderst inside tnagogue for about 20 minutes. they did not enter the crime see area, ju. >> woodruff: yamiche, you talked in your report about how divided the pittsburgh comnity has been about the president's visit. you said just behind you a few minutes ago there we protests. >> reporter: yes, just behind me a few minutes ago hudreds of people gathered to protest president trump coming to pittsburgh. they say the president hasn't ersplayed the empathy oth presidents displayed in the past so they don't want him here. there are people whopr welcome e ident, but these protesters in particular said president trump's rhetoric contributed to what they see as a culture of

olence in the country. i should say the protesters did chant or cheer for the first responders as they walked by.uf >> woo speaking of that, the president we know also met with law enforcement while he was there. what do we know about there onse he received? >> i spoke to several people, including the president of the police union re. that person told me that he welcomes the president coming. he sd that the sident has been very pro law enforcement during his entire presidency and e'at he's coming here because he feels as though concerned for the law enforcement here. so the police really welcome the president here. there was a large police presence as the president wan around here, it's not surprising that police officers would be happy to see presidentr p come to pittsburgh given all that the presidentas done for police officers. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor, enr white house correspo with the president today in pittsburgh. thank you, yamiche. >> reporter: thanks, judy.

>> woodruff: we will take a closer look at the rise of anti semitism and hate crimes in this country, later in the program. t day's other news, rescue teams searched again for victims of an indonesian airliner crash in the java sea. the lion air plane went down monday just after take-off from jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.cr s pulled more debris and dozens of body parts from the water today, while relatives waited for confirmation of the worst. >> ( translated ): our big family is still hoping she survives. we still have big hope for that. but if she did not survive, we pray that her remains can d quickly covered so we can take her home to be buried. >> woodruff: divers are also hunting for the black box flight recorders. passengers on the plane's o previous flighsunday, said it plunged several times after take-off. the head of nato today defended ongoing exercises off norway, the alliance's largest since the cold war. jens stoltenberg said the goal is to prevent trouble with

russia, not provoke nearly 50,000 sea, land and air troops are taking part, plus 65 ships. the russians say they will conduct missile testing in the area, later this week. in turkey, top saudi and turkish prosecutors finished two days of talks in istanbul in the investigation of jamal khashoggi's death. the saudi official also visited his country's nbnsulate in is, where khashoggi was slain. meanwhile, turkish president recep tayyip erdogan called again for the saudis to tell everything, now. >> ( translated ): we cannot let this issue hang. if we do, we would be in debt with humanity, we would have a debt of conscience.r and neitr judiciary mechanisms nor our political mechanisms can handle this. this needs to be solved now; there is no point in excuses. >> woodruff: in london,

khashoggi's fiancee, hatice erngiz, urged president trump and other world le to prevent a cover-up. back in this country, special counsel in the russia investigation, robert mueller, said today it has allegationsat woman was paid to accuse d m of sexual misconduct. mueller's office se claims are false, and that it has referred the matter to the f.b.i. it gave no other details. in ecomic news, growth across the euro-zone slowed in the third quarter to the weakest since 2014. today's report came as italy's economy struggles, and new emissions standards are setting back germany's auto industry. the euro-zone ticompasses 19 s. and, on wall stree stocksll ied as strong earnings reports pushed aside fears that had fueled recent sell-offs. the dow jones industrial avege gained 431 points to close at 24,874. the nasdaq rose 111 points, and the s&p 500 added 41. still to come on the newshour:

tracking a rise of anti-semitism in the united states. remembering the 11 people murdered in a synagogue. the president considers ending birthright citizenship guaranteed by the constitution, and much more. >> woodruff: the massacre at the synagogue in pittsburgh has again revealed the ugly anti- semitism that still exists in america. as william brangham reprots, it's also caused many to look at the political rhetoric that some argue stokes these beliefs and perpetuates centuries-old myths about jewish people. >> the hearts of all americans are filled with grief. in>> brangham: on saturdayhe immediate aftermath of the shooting in pittsburgh,en prestrump plainly called out the attack for what it was:

>> this il, anti-semitic attack is an assault on all of us. it's an assault on humanity. it will require all ge us working er to extract the hateful poison of anti-semitism from our world. >> brangham: but as the families from the te of life synagogue grieve their loss, a chorus of voices are coming forward, saying that today's political rhetoric has given toxic fuel ti and anti-semitic views in america.vo some of thoses, like the former head of the pittsburgh synagogue, have pointed at president trump himself: >> i do not welcome the president to my city. >> why not? >> because he's a purveyor of hate speech.

this is a protest against a removal of a confederate statue, but this is also what they chantedded. >> jews ll ot replace us. >> brangham: when violence erupted the next day and a counter protestor was killed, president trump said there wereo "very fine pe" on both sides of that protest. others argue the president has stoked antisemitic stereotypes about jews controlling t world, like in this early campaign ad. >> for those who control the levers of power in washingaln, and the glpecial interests mo>> brangham: ...where fa jewish americans like billionaire george sor and then fed reserve chair janet yellen are stand-ins for "global special interests." or when the president's tweeted thismage of hillary clinton, with what looked to many like a jewish star on a background of money.it as later replaced with a circle. the president and his supporters have long rejected any accusation of anti-semm, pointing out that his daughter, ivanka, converted to judaism when she married jared kushner.

and in 2017, after a series of phone threats and vandalism against jewish community centers, the president called out anti-semitism by name. they also note that president l ump has been a staunch supporter of isrd of president benjamin netanyahu. but others point to a recent rise in anti-semitic attacks and harassment, up 57% percent in one year, according to the anti- defamation league, and say this is no coincidence. they say ts upwelling of tred is attributable, in part, to an increasing demonization of jewish people. george soros has been a particular target of late. the billionaire hedge fund manager has, for years, given millions t liberal causes and organizations but recently, he's been falsely accused of many conspiracies: present trump alleged soros was paying protestors who urrallied against supreme nominee brett kavanaugh. the president and others falsely accused soros of funding the grant caravan from centr

america, which the presint likened to "an invasion." krepublican majority leadin mccarthy tweeted that soros, alonwith two other wealthy jewish americans, tom steyer and michael bloomberg, were trying to buy this election. he later deleted the tweet soros of course, was one of those who was sent a pipe bomb last week. but he's still being vilified in republican attack ads running in michigan, minnesota and elsewhere. so is this just harmless political rhetoric, or does this create an atmosphere that leads to real-world violence? deborah lipstadt is a professor of modern jewish history at emory university. she's the author of several books, including one coming ont alled "anti-semitism: then bld now." and jonathan gret is the head of the anti-defamation league, one of the nation'sin legroups that tracks hate speech and acts of anti-semitism around the world.

welcome to you both. jonathan greenblatt,'d like to start with you first. we are still learning about the depths of hatred of thesb pigh suspect, but your report, as i mentioned earlier, has comed in oner ea nearly 60% spike in atiti-se attacks and harassment. broadly speaking, what were you documenting, and why du think this is happening? >> at the a.d.l. , we have been fighting hate for over 100 years and trackingid anti-semitic its in the united states since the late 1970s. in the past year we saw an increase of 57%. that was a year-on-year spike, the largest we've ever seen, and it included acts of harassment, vandalism, and violence. i would attribute it to a few factors. numb oneabsolutely the political environment. we know that thehite supremacists feel eoldened when their language ends up literally on the lips of our leaders and their rhetoric is

retweeted. the president has been doiis or some time, an we've called it out durg his candidacy and more recently when he's been in the white house. you've seen other political leaders, as you mentioned in the open, fe mongering about george soros and jewncish firs. extremists feel emboldened because they are telling us in their tweets and on our facebook pages. the second issue i social media. so technology has contributed t the acceleratd amplification of intolerance in the united states.e previously peoth these extremist radical views couldn't get a hearing, but today they can be heard all around the world with a simple clck or a tweet. >> brangham: deborah lipstadt, you have said that donald trump and this other heated plitical rhetoric didn't cause this spike in anti-semitism, but you sa it lit a fire underneath it. what do you mean by that? >> precisely. they didn't create it. i think we began to see this uptick in white nationalism and

white supremacy during the obama administration. many people reacting to having a man of antfrican disas our president. but it became legitimized and emboldened, as jonathan said, during the campaign, both withn the events charlottesville, which you referred to in your opening piece, when mel trump was profind in g.q. magazine and a reporter who was jewish was vilified on social media in a hrrible way, and president trump was asked, do you have any message for your followers, and it would have been a per moment to say, you may disagree with what the reporter wrote, but there is no room in our campaign for anti-semitism, foacr at, for what it supremacy. he said, i have nothing to say to them. ween that kind of thing over and over. it's what i call wink-wink, nod-nod, dog whistle. they understand the message

they're getting. what he intendshat to be the message or not. that's the message that's being sent. that's the messa that's being received. without that kind of message, they wouldn't have been boh events, i believe it's less likely that would have been those events we saw saturday at squirrelill. >> brangham: jo greenblatt, would you agree that the rhetoric directly contributes? because the president and his supporters and everyone is doiat eborah calls these dog whistles, if they all went silent, the hatred and e bigotry that is anti-semitism would still exist? >> of course, anti-semitism is often lled the oldest hatred. it's been a persistent problem for century, some would argue even mill lenya. the issue is this. we know this from the words ofwh thte supremacists themselves, the david dukes, the richard spencers, the andrew england lynns. these individuals with their poisonous prejudice, they have celebrated online when they've seen terms like "america fir"

or "globalist" or more recently "nationalist." they end up literally in the talking points of candidates anh officialmselves. and i do want to say something, and this is: importais is not political. after charlottesville, we saw leaders from the republican party and the democratic party ll this out. however, this demands not just saying something in response to an incident but rather it's the climate leaders create every single day, and we need people in positions of authority across the board. keep in mind, 57% increase included a 90% increase of acts of anti-semitism on collegees camp so whether you're the president of a university or the president of the unit id states, peop positions of authority need to shut this down as soon as they hear it.eb >> brangham:ah lipstadt, jonathan mentioned earlier the role that social media plays. weertainly saw that this

particular suspect in pittsburgh was very active on ac soial media site called gad that wasem gly haven of anti-semites and racists. whoc role do you thinkial media plays? does it just amplify existingej ices, or is it something more? >> i think it afip existing prejudices, and it also connect. peop i write about and i have written about and be sued by holocaust deniers. it used to be when you wanted to send denial material, it would be sent in bro paper envelopes with a p.o. box return address. thw you just put sog up on social media and one of these anti-semite, racist, homwhophob, ver they may be, finds another. so it's an amplification and a d connection. think that is exceptionally dangerous. >> brangham: so jonathan greenblatt, what do we do with gard to curtailing that kind of online hatred? because if facebook or twitter

cracked down on it, they simply congregate somewherewhlse. we wondet is worse? is it better if they're hidden in the corners on web sites we don't really know about, or is it bet ferres we're out in the open and we in be aware of. at the a.d.l. we are fierce advocates of the first amendment. i think freedom of speech is an important, precioulepri guaranteed by our constitution. the freedom of speech isn't the freedom to slander people. and the freedom of expression isn't the freedom toncite violence against jews or any other minority. the a.d.l., we opened a center r silicon valley last ye work directly with the companies, because we nee google, facebook, twitter, cicrosoft, we need them engaged in this fight bse in order to improve their products, we need to reimagine the algorithm, and they are doing work. they are making progress. however, there is more to be done, and i think it's much better for all of us if the haters antheigots can exercise their free speech, but

in place where our children, right, where vulnerable populations en't exposed to it b ngham: deborah deborah lipstadt, if you were talking to policy-makers today, what would you urge them to do?d how wou counsel them to stamp out this racism? >> i would urge them to speako out, asathan said, i would urge them to speak out to, speak out forcefully and directly. i'm generally a pretty optimistic person despite spending all my time in te sewers of prejudice and hatred studying it and writing about it. i think the depressing thing is this pandora's box has been open wide, and even if the president were to change his rhetoric, were the social media sites were to begin to monitor it, it's going to be a long time before we can evebegin to slightly close that box. the hate is out the, the racism is out there. two african americans were shot and killed on thursday, a week ago, and just because they were black. the man went to a church looking

to kill blacks, and he couldn't find them, so he went to the supermarket. he had the pmpe bobs also by hater, and we had this tragedy in puttsburgh. it'shere. it's going to take a lot of work we a lot of people to stop it. one more last thg, and that is it also calls for us personally, a thanksgiving dinner, if you have an uncle or a youongusin, whomever it might be, and they out something about jews, ab muslims, about blacks, about homophobes and you don't like it, don't be silent. you may not change their ind, but you've got to send young people at the table a mes we don't agree with this, and this kind of talk is not acceptable. >> brangham: deborah lipstadt, jonathan greenblatt, thank you both very much. >> yo'relcome. thank you. >> thank you. >> woouff: as yamiche noted

earlier, today was we take a moment to mourn the 11 victims of saturday's massacre with memories from the friends and family they leave behind. jerry rabinowitz w a 66 year old primary care physician known for his compassionate work in treating h.i.v. patients, early during the aids crisis and throughout his career. his nephew said on facebook if there was one message he would have wanted us to take away from the tragedy, "it would be a message of love, unity and of strength and resilience of the jewish people." brothers david and cecil rosenthal, both in their 50's, had developmental disabilities and were fixtures at the synagogue for decades. achieva, a group that works with people with disabilities, issued a statement mourning the rosenthals. "cecil's laugh was infectious. dvid was so kind and had such a gentle spirit. together, they looked out for

one another."rn e and sylvan simon wereat marrieree of life congregation in 1956.nd they were 846 years old. al the "pittsburgh gazette" puts it, the simons werys ready to help others and "they always did it with a smile." melvin wax, 88, was a father and grandfather. his sister-in-law, bonives right down the street from tree of life. she heard the sirens before she knew of a shooting. "he had his perfect mind. he was very close to his kids and grandchild daniel stein was a 71-year-old who loved going to the synagogue and playing with his grandson. he traveled with his wife in retirement and had just become a grandfather last year. "our lives now are going to have to take a different path, one that we ought would not happen for a long time," his son wrote.

69-year-old irving younger ran a real estate business and was a youth baseball coach. younger's neighbor told reporters he was an usher at the synagogue who "never missed a day. richard gottfrie 65, met his wife at the university of pittsburgh. the pair were married in 1980 and would go on to open ant try practice together. dr. gottfried was a regular volunteer at free dental clinics, offering care to adults in nee rose mallinger was the oldest , ctim of saturday's massacre. her daughter, andrs among the wounded but is expected to recover, the "pittsburgh post- gazette" reported. friends of rose told the newspaper, "you've never met a more vivacious 97-year-old...fu she was just s of life.be and joyce fi was a researcher at the university of pittsburgh development center for more than 25 years.

in a statement, the center called her "a cherished iend" and "the proud grandmother to her grandchildren." she was 75 years old. >> woodruff: now to the roiling dete over immigration, and recent moves by president trump to both stop illegal crossings into the u.s., and use the matter as the midterms approach. nick schifrin looks at this politically and socially divisive issue. >> schifrin: on dover force base, american soldiers head to their latest deployment. this is an airlift squadron that last year deployed to ghanistan. this mission is closer to home: help secure the southern u.s.er bo by the end of the week, 5200 soldiers will fan out across

southern states and deliver planes and helicopters withth night sensor can find people crossing the border illegally, and quickly deploy border patrol agents. use combat enginners to lay fencing along the border, provide housing for bord patrol agents, and add security to border checkpoints. >> the president has made it clear that border security is national security. that is direction weven, that's direction we're marching to. >> schifrin: general tharence john ohnessy is the top military commander in north america. he hopes the troops deter two caravans of centl americans who say they hope to reach the u.s. to escape violence, find work, and reunify with family. their numbers are expected to shrink, and they are stisa about a thound miles from the border. but the overall movement of central americans is a threat, said u.s. customs and border protection commissioner kevin mcaleenan. >> at any given moment, there are tens of thousands of intending migrants between the guatemala border and the u.s. border moving towards us at any given time. within that flow included ar about 17,000 criminals last

year, along with hardened smugglers and people from over 100 countries around the world. >> there are people comi up through the southern border from the middle east.n: >> schifor weeks, president trump has claimed without proof the caravan contained criminals, as he said again last night on fox news.n >> wu look at that caravan, and you look aty, largely, vou know, big percentage of men-- yog, strong, a lot of bad people, a lot of bad people in there. >> schifrin: but the caravan isu of people like 23-year-old rla cruz. her mother lives in texas, and she joined the caravan because it's safer than traveling alone. she kns the u.s. won't accept her for asylum, but she will keep going, and has a message to president trump. >>translated ): i want to go see my mom, i want to get ahead. i want to maybe finish university. i want to, maybe, arn his language. and that he also understand that we're not criminals. >> this so-called caravan poses no threat to the untied states whatsoever.

>> schifrin: andrew bacevich is a retired army colon and historian. some military experts praise the deployment and argue active duty troops can deploy quicker, and lmore cheaply, than natio guard. but bacevich says that misses th apoint. na oed forces exist to fight and win thon's wars. there are better ways to prepare for wars than to deal with thism inary immigrant threat to our southern borders. >>dsy sending the army he bu the optics, the impression that it's some sort of military security thrint. "they're tto invade kansas." which plays exactly to the kind of hysterical messaging he's going to try to close then election o get people in red >> schifrin: mike murphy is a long-time republican strategist who calls the deployment nical politics, one week before a midterm election in which the president believes he benefits by focusing on immigration. as he did again by revealing a plan on axios on hbo to end the 14th amendment's guarantee that everyone born on u.s. soil is

citizen.he >> nowre saying i can do it just with an executive order. we're the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby, and the baby is sentially a citizen of the united states for 85 years, with all of those benefits. it's ridiculous. >> schifrin: actually, that's not true. 30 countries grant automatic citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants, according to a think-tank that's supports immigration restrictions. but no european counies do, and of the g7, it's only the u.s. and canada. n d today republican speaker of the house paul rsmissed the president's argument. >> obviously you cannot do that. you cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order. we didn't like it when obama tried changing immigration laws via executive action, and obviously as conservatives, we believe in the constitution. >> schifrin: but president trump believes talking immigration can increase turnout. and it can to a point, says mike murphy.

>> it does hit a chord, particularly in red states with some older white voters who are ry uneasy about the idea of both illegal immigration and franny too much immigration i general. but trump's not popular in enough places to have it be a particularly effective message if he house of representatives under republican control which a lot of us in the party prefer he'd be doing. >> schifrin: but president trump seems the economy aren't as powerful as the politics of fear. even if he says it's not politics, as he refers toro migrantsing a bridge 1800 miles south of the u.s. border. >> is this politics or is this real? >> on the brid, when you looked at the bridge, loaded up with people. that's called an invasion of our country. this has nothing to do with elections. and i've been saying this long before elections-- i've been saying this long before i thought abourunning for office. >> schifrin: that's true. but it's also true the president won his election, and hopes to help his party win another election,

by talking immigration, and making sure we talk about it too. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: now, as we just saw, president trump is using the migrant caravan as rallying cry for his base voting bloc in the midterm campaign. but in many instances, the people walking through mexico are escaping extraordinary violence in central america. one of the most-violent countries is el salvador, which had ghest murder rates in the world in 2015, and 2016,ar though this he rates are somewhat lower. rival gangs like ms-13 andhe 18th street gang kill thousands per year. they use extortion to control entire neighborhoods tleading peopflee for their lives. from san martin in el salvador,

special correspondent danny gold reports. >> ( translated ): this is a memorial of the gang leader known as tiger who was killed about five or six months ago. who was he? he went from a local leader to a hit man, he basically ran the drug business in all of this territory. >> reporter: this man here put out a hit out to have you killed? >> ( translated ): he gave an order to kill me and other cops. >> reporter: in this rural area in the region of san martin the 18th street gang is in complete control. we're being shown around by the mayor of the nearby town of san josé guayabal, mauricio villanova. he's f much of his community. but right here, just 10 milesay awrom his town, the gangs are still in charge. graffiti marking this ea as gang territory is everywhere. this is a memorial wall for the gang that controls this neighborhood. all of these dead gang members. despitharsh crackdowns from law enforcement el salvador's

gangs are still growing, and killing. just five minutes away from the area we were in, with a heavy 18th street presence, we are in an ms 13 neighborhood now that is heavily controlled by them. but in mayor vilanova's town of san josé guayabal, he has managed to do the impossible. w ( translated ): we've faced a metastasis of gangve seen ms-13, 18th street gang. but we've made our os special teamd we never let them take control. >> reporter: the mayor has also coordinated efforts with citizens and the police, creatingocal information networks and patrols that have created a protective ring aroun. his to this peace has not been easy to come by. police have engaged in shootouts with gang members, and there have been large scale mitary and police operations in gang areas, with over 200 arrests made. salvador, who asked us to protect his identity out of fear of reprisals by gang members, earns his living catching crabs by hand in a muddy swampsuo ort his five children.

>> ( translated ): they asked for $5,000.rs of c i can't pay that. that's what i owe them, allegedly, and if i don't pay them, they will come and kl me. >> reporter: gangs here earn their income primarily from extorting residents and local businesses.tr >> ( slated ): we are basically trapped, we cannot go out to work like normal because it's aerious threat.ep >>ter: he lives in a rural village alongside mangroves, a few hours from the capital of san salvador. ehave you tried to go to police? can anyone in law enforcement help you? >> ( translated ): the police can't be with you all the time. so you have to defend yourself by your own means. >> reporter: so you're like a prisoner in your own home? >> ( translated ): we are like prisoners in our own community. you basically don't li peacefully but instead you think you're not going to make it another day, or maybe you think what will your children won't eat tomorrow, because it will be too dangerous to go to work. >> reporter: salvador says that the only way he anhis family

can survive in the long term is if he or one of his sons flees to the u.s., and sends back. >> ( translated ): we know is a pretty risky route and we probably won't even survive. but facing a situation like the one we are living in here, a lot of people take the chance. why wouldn't we? >> ( translated ): people stopped for a while when the u.s. president was separating the children from their parents, but now the people who have problems are starting to do it again. >> reporter: this man is a coyote, or people smuggler, here ag to speak with us only if we protected his identity. he arranges for networks,ca including medrug cartels, to take salvadorans up through mexico to the u.s.. were you seeing more people trying to leave, you know, in 2015, or you're seeing more people trying to leave now? >> ( translated ): for me, it's the same. ason people don't leave because they can't afford to pay the average coyote. when people manage to get money, they just leave. but if youon't pay a coyote, pretty bad things happen. the migrants get raped or kidnapped in mexico. pe reporter: he says that it can

cost up to $9,000 on to be smuggled into the united states. what sort of people are coming to you? is it families, young men, parents sending their children? >> ( translated ): whole famili. a family needed to flee because the husband was abusive, and he was a gang member. he used to beat his wife who had a one year old daughter. c theytacted me, paid me, and six days later they're in the hands of the iigration service in the u.s. >> reporter: gang members themselves have also sought to escape the cycle of violence in el salvador. >> ( translated ): i guess i joined the gang seeking, i don't know help, love, acceptance, you know, attention. >> reporter: do you think that's a common story for young people here? >> not only here bro. i bet you do that back in the states, it's going to be the same thing. >> reporter: wilfredo gomez knows all too well about losing friends to the gang violence. what's the situation like for young people here in poor communities?

>> the problem that we face over the years is the lack of opportunities. >> reporter: an ex-gang member himself, gomez and his family fled the civil war in the 1980's angeles, where he joined the 18th street gang.as hen and out of jail until eventually being deported. gomez was able to escape the gang life after converting to christianity in prison in el salvador.s he now runchurch program that helps ex-gang members after they're released from prison. >> this is the church that i've been trying to help out ex-gang members, you know, reintegrate and regenerate into society. and you ow, get back together with their families. >> reporter: b he says it's not only the gangs that are to blame for el salvador's epidemic of violence. three formerresidents have been investigated for corruption in recent years. in august, former president elias anthony saca confessed to embezzling $300 million from state coffers. >> it's very difficult, you know, because we try to convince

the youth to see a difrent route. but then, i mean, it's all over the news. corruption, you know we have presidents running from the law stealing 50 million? well, you see the gang members in there for what? stealing what, 20 do 50 dollars? they got 10 years plus and they're not gonna get out until they finished paying their debt. oru think there's justice? >> reporter: for ay general douglas melendez ruiz, the gangs are a symptom of the corruption and impunity that speak to bigger social issues in the country. your office has famously goneof after a loigh level officials, including ex presidents. why is that so important? >> ( translated ): because corruption leadso providing a bad government to the population, not serving theirin basic needs buead stealing public money to keep it for themselves, the rulers. the public money they stole could have been invested init schools, in hos, in creating jobs for young people.

>> reporter: the attorney general says that there's a direct correlation between the money stolen by corrupt officials and the major issues el salvador is facing. >> ( translated ): let's be clear, the youth don't have job or education opportunities. so what happens is two things. one, becoming a gang member or two, emigrate to otherai countries, my the u.s. so the corruption leads to both. >> reporter: back in mayor vilanova's town of san jose, guayabere's a feeling of a different el salvador. >> ( translated ): do you want gangsters to be here in guayabal? >> (otranslated ): i didn't hear you.>> o! >> reporter: children walk around at night. teenagers play scer in the rk without fear of gangs public spaces are thriving. >> ( translated ): the key is collective work, being informed, being organized, people afending their territory. i want you to lot the difference between what we saw earlier, where life isn't worth a dime, where people can't go

ter 6:00 p.m., and look here and how different it is here. >> reporter: small ray of hope in a brutal landscape. for the pbs newshour, i'm dannyd n el salvador. >> woodruff: the notorious hiboston crime boss james y" bulger is dead after being transferred to a west virginia federal prison. his death is being investigated as a homicide. several news organizations, including the "boston globe," reported he was murdered in prison today by inmates associated with the mob.wh bulgerfor years was one of america's most wanted criminals d ran gambling and drug rackets across boston for decades. he was an f.b.i. informant as well. bulger was on the run for 16 years before he was eventually caught and convicted in 2013 of participating in 11 murders in

the 1970's and '80's. emily rooney of wgbh-boston has long covered bulger and his crimes and joins me now. remily rooney, thank you talking with us. what is known about how he died? >> well, he was only in the new prison. a toad come up from flor west virginia. he was there for less than 24 hours. he was still in his wher.elch i heard reports that he was surrounded by a mob, a group that viciously beat him. i can't corrorate that, which says what i heard. >> ?oo which says something about that federal prin. >> they say more than that. they say they transferred him ere for a different reason and there was somebody there waiting for him. we really don't know. >> woodruff: a lot of questions. he started on this criminal th from a very early age. tell us about his career. co he was a criminal at age 13. he was robbingvenience stores. he dropped out of school at the age of 14.

he ran a criminal inter prize for decades and dec we had this charm and this sort of appeal. lured people into his net, including women he often had two or three women going at a time. he took that oe on the road with him, but he tried to take the other one with him first anv she up and came home. then he took catherine greig on the road with him. >> woodruff: he was an. fb.i. informant over what period of his life, and how did tht develop? >> well, in 1975 he became an informangtd. what had happened was the d.e.a. wanted to bring down la cosa nostra, e italian maa. in order to do so, they enlisted the help of winter hill gang, which was run by whitey bulger and all of his associates. they figured they'll turn ato blind eyackets and numbers and some of that busting machines and that kind of stuff,

but they also turned a blind eye to 19 murders. and then in 1995, f.b.i. agent john connolly, who grew up in the same housing proct as whitey bulger and was in the f.b.i. tipped him off that he was about to be indicted. john connolly has always contended, hey, he ws on of the guys. he was part of the team and he feels like he took the fall for mething that happened at a much higher level at the f.b.i.r >> wf: you mentioned murders. he killed people with his own hands. >> oh, yes. he took naps afterward. he killed at least two women. deborah hutchens and debra davi he was only convicted of one murder. then he would pull their teeth out and bury the reains so they couldn't be as easily identified. we didn't have d.n.a. testing back then. y ofoodruff: but the st his life has been made into movie, documentaries about him. se'll be remembered for all th and the woman who was with him at the end, she's still serving me. >> catherine greig is still

serving time. she was sentenc to a fairly minimum number of years like refused eight, but she to cooperate with some detail about other informants or where money was hidngden, somet like, that i can't remember the details of that. she senned more time in pr as a result some she's still i believe in a federal prison somewhere locally i believe. >> woodruff: but w legacy he has. ,> i should say, by the way that none of the victims in the greater boston area are lamenting this at all'r thcheering. they're popping champagne tonight, but this is not the wa his life should have ended, and the federal government has some oxplaining to do. >> woodruff: emioney with wgbh, we thank you. >> woodruff: now, should be accountable for the graduation rates of their students? harireenivasan reports from florida, for the conclusion of our special series on

"rethinking college," which is part of our weekly focus on education, "making the grade." >> senivasan: this year at florida international university, both the graduates and the staff have something to celebrate. the state of florida awarded the college $7million in extra funding for their student'scc s. to earn the extra funding, public universities across florida are graded each year on how well their students do on key measurements, like graduation rates, post- graduation employment and how much debt their students take on. >> universities should be accountable. >> sreenivasan: elizabeth bejar is senior vice president for academic affairs. >> we are really focused on student success. we take responsibility, so it is not our student who fail when they do unil, it's the flsity. >> sreenivasan: ida is one of 35 states who tie college funding to metrics like baduation rates. the results haven mixed. some studies show the funding

incentives haven't improved student outcomes.ng others say rancan penalize colleges with high numbers of low-income students. still, outcome-based funding continues to be popular with state legislators. as more states are tying funding to student outcomes, some education experts are looking at student success on a national level, and asking the quoltion, shouldges be held accountable for the graduation rates of students who pay foray school with ta money? a study by the washington based think tank third way, educatn analysts looked at newly released data from the department of education on graduation rates at four year universities. >> institutions on average were doing a significantly better job of graduating their wealthier students and leaving their lower- or moderate-income students behind. >> sreenivasan: the study focused on low-income students who qualify for federal

financial aid, called pell grants. >> $30 billion is invested every year by taxpayers in the pell grant program. but up until last fall, we had absolutely no idea how well those pell students were doing. we couldn't even answer a basic question around what is the percenge of pell students that graduate each year. >> sreenivasan: the report, called, "the pell divide," found an 18% gap in the graduation rate between students who use pell grants and those who don't. but there were exceptions. florida international university has a large number of low-income students, however students here who use pell grants graduate at ablt the same rate as non-p recipients. >> you could look at twoin itutions that were taking the exact same share of pellan studentsone was getting wildly different outcomes than another. and so what that shows us is that demographics isn't destiny. right? that it's possible at the institution level that there are resources and supports than can be put in place to make sure that all students are graduating.

>> sreenivasan: that is what floridinternational university did. >> we took a holistic approach th what we call student success. >> sreenivasan: school tripled their advising sta, added tutoring math labs, created life coaches, and expanded special services for low-income students like amber mannings. what's a success in life coach do? >> they promote success or development the correct waynd beour classroom, beyond pencil and paper. so it's more so concentrated on how well you are like developing as a person, maturing, if your needs are being met, food, howoi you're mentally, how are you dealing with stress. if you need some additional helo like mng.: >> sreenivas the school is giving you an academic advisor, ess in life coach, they' giving you tutors and assistants, if you need it. that seems like a lot of other stuff besides just teaching you. >> yes. and i finitely think that i

would not be sitting here today i've engaged myself in if i did not have those resources. >> sreenivasan: mannings high school years were a challenge. for a time she even lived in her car. now a college senior, she isyi appl to law schools and hopes one day to be a united states senator. >> i feel like institutions should focus, of ce rse, how you rforming academically, but your overall well-being. i know plenty of people that can attest to how stressful college can be, especially if you don't have a family member to help u, push you, encourage you, that you can achieve this. >> sreenivasan: jacqueline diaz ngis the director for advind student success. >> we're talking to them about becoming involved d engaged on campus. >> sreenivasan: the university calls the approach high-tech, 'sgh-touch. it method colleges throughout the country are adopting. by using predictive analytics advisors can reach at-risk students early. florida international university identifies students who are first in their family to attend

iallege, have unmet financ needs, had mediocre grades in high school, or may have signed up for unusually challens.ng cour >> it's proactive. a i'd say itittle intrusive. iten i started in advising, it was very much a g game. you waited for them to come to you. and i think what we fos a lot of the ones who needed help were not coming to us. ie sreenivasan: danny de leon is a pell grant rec and a first-generation college student majoring in engineering. before he was allowed to register for classes, he was flagged by analytics. a hold was placed on his account until he went in for advising. >> many students don't necessarily have suppohome that some students do. so we just put that hold on,n, have them comeo they meet us. >> sreenivasan: joanna sanabria l danny de leon's advisor. >> by placing a hoe we did with danny his freshman fall, he came in, introduced myself, kind of told him my role, and yes i'll help you pick classes, yes i'll help you make sure you're graduating in four years. >> when i went to go see her, she took o the hold, but she

also told me the courses i could take. she told me when i could take them. so she kind of gave me a little plan to get my degree. >> sreenivasan: now a senior, de leon credits sanabria for keeping him on-track to earn a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. the university plans to use the state's performance award to continue to improve, at the overall graduation rate, which still remains below the tional average. >> there is a renewed focus, ifi yo, on what our core mission , and should be. sreenivasan: tamara hiler hopes the pell divide study will encourage conversation about how to better serve low-income college students. fe we really have no way, especially at thral level, to hold those institutions accountable, we need to figure out how we use taxpayer dollars more wisely.as >> sreeniv: in miami for the pbs newshour, i'm hari sreenivasan. >> woodruff: final tonight, a

preview from pbs newshour's facebook watch program "that moment when." win the new york city marat scheduled for sunday, ultramarathoner robin arzon shares her secrets to endurance. and that's the newshour for 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. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of internationaltyeace and

secu at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these iintitutions anviduals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access groupact wgbh ss.wgbh.org

♪ - this week on milk street we take a trip to north africa-- actually, to tunis-- to get a terrific recipe for chicken couscous. cethen we grabbed a food por to make a harissa sauce in just a few minutes. , and, finallythe best soup in the world, lablabi-- stale bread, chickpeas, cumin-- it's the easiest soup you could possibly make, and also the best. stay tuned for the cooking of north africa right here on milk street. - funding for this series was provided by the following.