captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, courtroom drama-- prisonen sentng for president trump's former national security adviser ge postponed after harsh words from the federal j then, president trump sits at the center of a fight over a cosouthern border wall thad shut down parts of the federal government at the end of the week. and, an exclusive report from a vital port city in yemen as ae fragile ceasefpears to take hold. 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 corporatbln for broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. woodruff: two new developments tonight in the ongoing legal dramas related to president trump. a federal judge in washington today accused his former

nationalecurity adviser michael flynn of selling out his country. and, he postponed prison sentencing for flynn. the retired general yis admitted to about his contacts with russia during the trump transition period. meanwhile, the president's personal charity organization will shut down, amid allegations that he misused it for personal and political gain. we'll explore both developments after the news summary. in the day's other news, russia blasted u.s. senate findings at it ran a sweeping disinformation campaign to help elect president trum a spokesman for russian president vladmir putin called the claims "baseless." he said moscow had nothing to do with any election interference. president trump appeared today to back away a bit from forcing owa partial government shu friday night. last week, he warned he would do just that, if congress doesn't approve $5 billion for a

southern border wall. today, he said, "it's too early to say." meanwhile, white house aides and top democrats debated whether other funds could be diverted to border security. >> we're looking at every avenue available to us possible, the aresident's asked everyone of his cabinet secrs to look for funding that can be used and ve protect our border and the president his ability to fulfill his constitutional obligation to protect the american people.e >> as for ea that sarah sanders huckabee said they could get wall money fm nafta or some other part of the government, they need congressional approval, they're not getting it for the wall, plain and simple. >> woodruff: senate republicans floated another idea: $1.6 billion for border fencing, plus another billion that the president could use at his discretion. democrats called that a "slush fund" and rejected it.an

republongresswoman martha mcsally is going to represent arizona in the u.s. senate, after all. the state's republican governor appointed mcsally todahe seat once held by the late john mccain. former senator john l has filled the position since september, but says he will resign at year's end. mcsally ran for arizona's other senate seat, but was narrowly feated in november by democrat kyrsten sinema. in china, president xi jinping dismissed fears of his nation's growing influence, but he also warned that no one can boss china around anymore.ij xi spoke in g, marking 40 years of economic reforms. he defended beijing's g economic footprint. >> ( ltranslated ): china w never pursue its development at the cost of others' interests, nor will china ever give up its legitimate rights and interests. china pursues a national defense povelicy that is defenn

nature. china's development poses no threat to any country. no matter what stage of development it reaches, china will never seek hegemony. >> woodruff: xi stopped short of offering any new policies to boost china's slowing economy, or to ease trade tensions with the u.s. that, in turn, sent asian stock markets tumbling. japan, meanwhile, moved to ramp up defense spending against potential threats from china and north korea. that includes adding the country's first aircraft carrier since world war ii. prime minister shinzo abe's cabinet approved the new plans. it's his latest effort to expand japan's military role. back in this country, president trump has formally authorized creation of a u.s. "space command." the goal is to pull together existing units und one ructure. d eir focus would be on war- fighting in space fending satellites. the u.s. surgeon gener t declaray that teenagers'

use of electronic cigarettes had become an ic. tat follows a survey that showed the number ns who vape has doubled over last year. dr. jerome adams called for aggressive steps by parents, teachers, doctors and government ofcials. >> we already have enough science to tell us youth use of e cigarettes are unsafe. todawe must protect our nations young people from a lifetime of nicoti addiction and associated problems by immediately addressing e cigarette e. >> woodruff: last month, the f.d.a.nnounced a crackdown on the use of e-cigarette flavors that appeal to kids. the u.s. justice department officially issued a regulation today to ban bump stocks. these are devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire like automatics. a gunman used one to kill 58 people in las vegas, last year. acting u.s. attorneyeneral matt whitaker signed the regulation today.

it takes effect in march. on wall street, the market struggled to gain ground, after oil prices hit their lowest since august of last year. the dow jones industrial average added 82 points to close at 23,675. the nasdaq rose 30 points, and the s&p 500 was up a fraction. and, actor-director penny marshall has died in los angeles. she gained fame on television, and went on to become one of hollywood's first, successful female directors. jeffrey brown has a look at her life and work. schlemiel! schlimazel! hasenpfeffer incorporated. >> brown: nny marshall was first, and she would later say, forever, known as "laverne," from the hiterbc sitcom, "l and shirley", that debuted in 1976 and ran for eight seasons. a spin-off of "happy days", the show featured marshall and cin williams as roommates and blue- collar workers at a milwaukee brewery.

>> those boys have got the right idea. we should try making moy a what we really love to do. >> i think we get arrest forward that. ( laughter ) >> brown: it was created by penny's older brother, garry marshall. >> brown: from there, though, penny marshall forged asnew, and longng, hollywood career as a director. her first major hit came with "big" in 1988, starring tom hanks as a boy suddenly transformed into a man overnight. it became the first film by a female director to gross $100 million at the box office. >> all these things you're experience regular the side effects of that and they're making you behave this way. >> brown: she followed it with "awakenings" starring robert de niro and robinreilliams, which ived an oscar nomination for best picture. >> are you cry! are you cry! >> brown: and then "a leag i of their ow1992, also with tom hanks, alongside geena

davis, rosie o'donnell and madonna. >> no crying in baseball. >> brown: marshall continued to make films up until her death, which came last night at her home in loom angeles fromications with diabetes. she was 75 years old. >> woodruff: and what a talent. still to come on the newshour: a dramatic day in court for formet national secadviser michael flynn president trump's charity is shutting down following a lawsuit. on the ground in yemen, there's hope a ceasefire may subdue ongoing violence, and much more. >> woodruff: there were surprise developments today in two court cases that involve the president. first, at the federal courthouse here in washington today, we were expecting michael flynn,

president trump's first national security adviser, to be senttenced on a criminal co brought by special counsel robert mueller. william brangham begins our coverage there.>> rangham: that's right judy, a year ago, michael flynn pleaded guilty to lyin ato the f.b.ut his contacts with the russian ambassador. since pleading, he's beenon cooperatint least two ither federal investigations, meeting 19 timeseither robert mueller's office, or other justice department lawyers. prosecutors, and flynn'swy s, had both argued that flynn should get little or no jail time, because of his cooperation. but toda judge emmet sullivan postponed flynn's sentencing, er three-ed the fo star army lieutenant general saying, "arguably you sold your country out." here to help us understand today's dramatic developments is carrie cordero. she's a former justi department official focusing on national security. welcome back to the newshour. >> thank you. >> brangham: so before we get to the delay in the sentencing today, can you remind us what were flynn's lawyers arguing

going into today had happened tl theint? >> so, what happened is the prosecutor's office, the spel'al counoffice, had filed a document remmending no jail time for michael flynn in their sentencing mem his lawyers then filed another memorandum where they also argued to the court that he should receive no jail time. but they made an additional argument that insigneuated that he did not, perhaps, understand the coofntex the interviews with f.b.i. agents when he was interviewed in early 2017. and then the rest of theirng fi included many letters of recommendation and people who were vouchg for him, describing his character and people who had attributed and pported his years of public service. >> brangham: so is it unusual for someone who is accused of making false statements to come into court and say, "i didn'tos know i was su to be honest with the f.b.i.," or "they nowin

trapped me this "? is that a credible argument he was making? >> well, it was a little odd in this circumstance. because we know there are likely other charges that the specialco counsel officd have brought against michael flynn. they probably could have charged him with additional false statement charges, and theyalso probably could have charged him with at least some violations of the foreignagents registration art, fara, and they didn't. they charged hime with unt of making false statements. and they also were re absolutely no jail time. so, really, i think, all his lawyers needed to was sayings, we agree with the prosecutors. we appreate that they preciate all of the cooperation that he has provided to several different investigations, anhers all the supporting people who are also vouching for his career of public service, and leave it at that. i think the fact that they ma this additional argument, insigneuating that the f.b.i. agents had done somethingrong, at got the judge's attention and caused him to order thei. f.to release yesterdaylet

investigative interview documents of included-- >> brangham: this is when they talked to flway back when. >> right. so the f.b.i. created a writtens record-- ieferred to as a 's2-- of the actual interview, heir sum rear, their thvestigative summary of their interview him. and those documents were released publicly last night. they do not, however, prode information. i read them. they don't provide information suggesting that michael flym was ehow tricked or entrapped or anything like that. it shows that the f.b.i. agents were transparent with him andco explained thtext of dwr they were there. >> brangham: so then the judge today real rebukes michael flynn and uses words like "treason," as i mentioned, "that you allegedly sold out your country." what do you make of the dge, the stinging criticisms of flynn? >> i thought his comments, his reference to treason-- which is a-- it's a legal definition and it is a very gharsh, hih standard that has to be met.

against is levying war the united states, and providing aid and comfort to enemies. it's not a crime that michael flynn was ever considered by prosecutors to be charged with. so it was really unusual and i thought somewhat out of bounds for the judge to go in that direction and talk about treason. and in fact, after he took a break in the proceeding today, he came back and made comments rt of saying that no one should take those comments quite so ser he said something along those lines. so i think he went too far in that. on the other hand, i think he was trying to convey the seriousness of an individual who was in such a position of power anauthority and a position of trust in the nationaissecurity estaent, having been the national security adviser when these interviews took place, and having pviously serveds a senior government official in the national security community. so i think the judge was, perhaps, trying to convey how michael flynn had violated tt

trust. >> brangham: so now we know there's a 90-day delay until he's sentenced again. does that change anything legally, really, for michael flynn? >> it just introduces an element of uncertainty. the lots of things can go on.ts developman happen in other cases. perhaps something else is discovered and thrgh investigation about michael flynn that wasn't previously. you just don't know. and so from a lawyer's perspective, adding more uncertainty to the client's case is not necessarily a desirable outcome. >> brangham: carri cordero, always creat great to have you,k you. >> thank you. >> brangham: meanwhile, the second big legal development of the day was this: president trump is shutting down his charitable foundation.is omes as the new york attorney general is investigating the charity, andil trump's en, for what's been described as "persistently illegal conduct." the "washington post's" david fahrenthold has been following the money in this case from the very beginning. david, welcome back to the newshour. bobefore we talk ut the closing of the foundation, could you just remind us what is it that

the foundation is accused of doing that was illegal? >> three things, basically. first, trump usthe foundation as kind of a checkbook for himself. nominally this money was in an independent chaty. this it own charitable aims. it was supposed to spend moneyes on chari he used the money to settle legal disputes fo his for-profit business. bu also used the charity's money to portraits of himself, including one that hung up on the wall of one of his lf clubs. and he, in the 2016 campaign, basically turned over his charity to his campaign and let his campaign dictate when money was raised and whmoney was given out, including with big checks that he gave out in the middle of his campaign rallies in iowa and new hampshire. >> brangha in addition to ose allegations, did the foundation actually do any charitable donations? >> it did the trump foundation was started in 1987. it gave out a lot of money to

charities. almost all of its money was given to various charities.nt what'sesting here is the accusation is is not that trump took the mouey and boght a lamborghini or a yacht. he used the money-- he gave e money to other charities, but in the process he was buying things for himself.ru i think inp's mind, as long as the money from his charity ended up in another charity, that was fine. that's n the way the law works. he was using the money to save his business' money, even if it went to another charity. that was, alleged, against the law. >> brangham: you touched on the campaign. i want to read something that barbara underwood wrote: ca you explain a little bit motor unlawful connection, coordination witthe trump campaign? >> sure. one of the sort bedrock principles of charity law is charities can't get involved in politics.

they're prohibited fromip parting in or aid anything political campaign. charities stay way away from that line because they don't want get in trouble with the i.r.s. trump used the chrity for a prop for his campaign. in the iowa cesauce held a fund-raiser meant as a kind of counter-programming for a republican debate she was skipping. he raised money for veterans and money from other peoplflowed into his found auction. in the successive days when he was campaign hg in iowae would stop his rallies in iowa and say, "bring forth the local veterans charity i have selected. eck from thent c donald j. trump foundation." they would say t, "mr.mp, you're so generous," and after they sat sat downtown rally would continue. he used it to bowl her the persona that he was rich, rich enough to give money away like nothing, and that he cared abouu veterans b that's who got the money.

his charity, this theoretical independent entity, made all that possible. >> brangham: lastly, i mentione the trump chen might be involved in this. what's their legal exposure? dewhat's their involve ndent foundation? >> donald trump was the president of this foundation and has been since the beginning. but on the last few years hi children other than on the board of directors. they were on the board of directors fothis foundation. legally, that gives them a duty to the foundation, a duty safeguard its money, safeguard its save rehes, make suthe foundation-- their farth t-- isn't usi money to help himself. not only did they not do that, but the attorney, found the board they were on hadn't met at all since 1999. they took on a legal duty to safeguard the foundation's funds and didn't fulfill that duty, according to the a.g. >> brangham: david fahrenthold of the "washington post," thank you, as always. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: funding for 25% of the u.s. government is set to fepire on friday. more than 800,00ral workers, from departments including homeland security, transportation and justice, could be furloughed or have tout work witay. negotiations between the white house and congress are held up by $5 billion president trump wants to fund a border wall. an explain the disagreemen chance for a partial shutdown: newshour correspondent yamiche alcindor is here. and jake sherm of politico is llowing the developments on capitol hill. and hello to both of you. so, yamiche, to you first. tell us, first, where des president stand exactly on the possibility of a deal to prevent a wn to fund the government? >> the president is indicating that he's willing to give up on his initial dema to have $5 billion for the border wall. he wants to start his vacation in florida, it seems ofriday, and not be dealing with a

government shutdown. rememb, last week when he had the democratic leaders in the white house, that would bech senatok schumer and representative nancy pelosi, he said, "i would be proud to shut down the government over border security and i would be proud to take credit for that. now the white house ish completelyging their tune. the president today said it's too early to tell. sarah sanders said they're willing to get the money from somewhere els there isn't a clear idea of what the deal is going to be, but the white house is indicating they're willing to make a deal and not stand firm on that $5 billion mark.uf >> woo so given that, jake sherman, what does it look like from the perspective of capitol hill? decrats and republicans? >> so, i mean, democrats are heartened bought bauz there's not going to be a border wall. it's very clear that the president, as yamiche said,is not going to get $5 billion, and he stepped away from this commitment-- which, by the way,n he made years ago. but republicans who have been following the president for thet hree or four years and campaigning on what he has campaigned on are saying, "wait a minute.

you said ybuu were going tild a border wall with mexico. you first said mexico was going to pay for tand then you said you would do it through the rappropriations process, ugh the congressional spending process. and here we are in the last gasp of republican washington, and the president has given up ono that se. so i think there's a lot of consternation among republicans, certainly, and trump republicans specifically. >> woodruff: and so, yamiche, where does the president it's people around him, where do they believe they're going to get this money from? >> that's a great question, judy. we have no idea. it's unclear where the president is going to get the money from. sarah sanders, in what i say is a rare white house press briefing since they're vy rare these days-- she said they're going to try to not have taxpayer money spent on this wall. that's misleading because that'h they will be looking for. they requested federal agncies look at their budgets and cobble together is $5 billion and is

floating an idea there might be legislion out there to pay for border security. there's no indication that legislation is anywhere near something that congress or the president can pass. so what we have right now is the president saying, "we want to get the money. we hopy,to find the mout we're not exactly sure where it from."ng to get >> woodruff: so, jake, the conversation we're hearing is there may be a short-term al at would push this over into january. what does that mean? you have a new congress, certainly more democrats in the house, two more republicans in the senate. but the shows where the real difference is.lo what does it like could happen then? >> it looks like january or february is going to be the deadline, especially because we're sitting here just a couple of days awroay fthis deadline coming up. and it's just a complete and 100% fold from the president. the democratic shows no, especially the new democrats who are coming in energized to resist anoppose the president, they're not going to give him a border wall in any way. now they might give him borderw securitych is different than a physical barrier which

had is what the president promised, bu should be read quite clearly by everybody as the president saying at he's pretty much done on-- with his quest for the border walth an's what it's going to be when democrats take over in just weeks.shor >> woodruff: very quickly, yamiche, in a few seconds, the president still clings, talksde about the bowall, even though the funding doesn't seem to be there. >> he talks about it because it's a central part of his campaign, a central part of his presidency. he got to be president because he had crowds saying, "we want dhe wall," and now he is we to the idea of criminalizing immigrants saying they bring disease here, so he wants to talk about the wall even though, as jake said, there's ndio intion he will get the money for this. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor, we' keep watching this, and jake sherman, thank you. >> woodruff: now, we bring you

dtwo reports from yemen a years of war there. and a rning: images and accounts in both stories may upset some viewers. first, a fragile ceasefire seemed to hold today in hodeid, the vital port city on yemen's red sea coast. it's been controlled for years byouthi rebels, aligned wi iran. a relentless bombing and ground campaign, led by saudi arabia, sought to re-take the city and its port, through which 70% of yemen's food is distributed. special correspondent jane ferguson is the only journalist on american television who got into the city, just before the truce took hold. >> reporter: both sides fighting in hodeidah battled one another right up until the tuesday deadlineor a cease fire. houthi rebels still control the city, but they are being encircled. yemeni fighters loyal to the internationally recognized government, supported by saudi- led coalition war planes and heavy weaponry are fightin.to take it ov

we were given rare accths to the cityrough the one road in d out, not yet cut off by fighting. piles of earth and metal containers dragged across the road, the firssign that this is a war zone. when troops loyal toaudi arabia and the united arab emirates pushed inside the city in novber, the battle reached into ordinary people's homes and neighborhoods. yemeni troops backed by the coalition are just about 500 yards in that direction. and this neighborhood, which has been hit by air strikes, is aia resideone, filled with civilians. this apartment building took a direct hit two weeks ago, people told us. the house next door was also hit. 13-year-old mohammed qudaiysh showed us the cuts on his body he received while running for his life. were you afraid?an >> ( ated ): yes i was afraid. my sister died. i ran away when the strike came but the shrapnel followed me.

then we went to the neigors and i was running and bleeding. >> reporter: his grandma needed surgery to remove shrapnel from her body. little mohammed collected parts of the missile that hit his house and killed his sister. the u.s. sells the saudi-led coalition the majority of the weapons it's using in this war. and take a look at this: throughout hodeidah, murals like these condemning the united states for its part in the war in yemen. mohammed is one of a gnuwing er of children injured in this war. across town in the al salakhana rospital, battle-scarred youngsters fill ths. too young tonderstand the war, all they know is their playgrounds have become death traps. those like 10-year-old aisha mohim. she was playing inside her house when a stray blet hit her and ded up lodged in her foot. in a bed nearby lays eight-year- old qaddifa baria. still traumatized, qaddifa doesn't speak. she was injured when an air

strike hit the street she was playing in. her father struggles to bare the pain. >> ( translated ): i go out every day to look for work as a laborer at sunrise. and when i was out that day a missile hit nearby my house and her brother died instantly. my daughter's leg was broken and she had shrapnel all over her back >> reporter: the shrapnel passed right through qaddifa's torso, so now, she needs to have a colostomy bag attached at all times. >> ( translated ): i feel insane. i am poor and have n, i am a laborer, and i don't have anything. nothing. nothing at all. >> reporter: this hospital is supported by doctors without rders, known by its french acronym "m.s.f.," one of only a few charities inside yemen still willing to keep international staff in hodeidah. according to frederic bertrand, m.s.f.'s head of mission here, hospitals desperately need their support. >> many civilians that have been

n ught between fire. people that have bctims of gunshot, shrapnel, explosion, air strikes. we are supportinitone of the hos inside the city. the front lines that g closer to our hospital make difficult the access for the patient and also our capacity to increase the care according to the needs. >> reporter: across town hodeidah's main hospital, al thura, is packed with people hoping to find help. with the fighting just a few yards away, it c barely cope, overwhelmed with people desperate for all kinds of medical care. this hospital is very cle to the front line here in hodeidah, and it is absolutely packed. it treats people for everything from malnutrition to war wounds. ofah hadi, a nursing student, lost six extended family members when an air strike hit her apartment building.

she also lost her left leg. >> ( translated ): when i woke up after the operation i found myself in the i.c.u. i tried to move my legs. my right leg moved but the left didn't.en i knew the mi tried to move my leg. and when the doctor told me to try to move my toes, i tried to hold myself together. later my father came to check on me a he told me i am your father standing next to you and i will be your leg. >> reporter: the fighting here s doesn't just risk the li those inside the city. hodeidah's port is a lifeline for millions across yemen. most of the food imported to oubel-held yemen comes thr this port, and if fighting were to reach here and shut it down, ste u.n. says it could bring with it the bigamine of a generation, with millions of lives at risk. in sweden, the tks resulted in a handshake agreement by both sides to eventually pull their troops out of hodeidah.

but it's a fragile agreement, yet to be honored. back in sana'a i asked the political leader of the houthis, president mohammed ali alll houthi, if he eally withdraw troops. >> ( translated ): this is one dr the conditions, yes, that the military forces wial and keep only the police. according to what was planned.no ing has been declared yet but within ten to twelve days of ceasing fire these steps will start. the first and then gradually there will be more steps towards this. >> reporter: at the end of the first day, the ceasefire is still holding in hodeidah, for the most part.en turning this mof peace into a lasting chance for yemen's people to put their epves back together again is the next, difficult st for the pbs newshour, i'm jane ferguson in hodeidah, yemen >>oodruff: now, another lo at the world's largest humanitaan crisis. it comes through the story of one family thanihas borne asing loss, and are trying

to prevent even more, from the eneventable disease diptheria. and though it's radicated in many parts of the world through vaccination, the public health crisis amid yemen's wars t this infection flourish there for the first time since 1989. from aden, special correspondent beth murphy reports. >> reporter: if you could hear nora, you would hear her screaming. she is just four years old, with a tracheostomy tube robbing her of voice, but giving her life. it's her only way of breathing while suffering from diptheria her two siblings, both sisters, teve already died of the highly contagious bal infection. now she's in a hospital ion ward, watched over b her mother and grandmother as she struggles to breathe.>> translated ): ameera and sondos are the two that died. d we aastated by it. they died with blood coming out

of their mouths in their mothers arms, may they rest in peace. >> reporter: diphtheria is known as "the strangling angel of children"; doctor al-noor abdul- a-rishi explains why. is it really like strangling? >> yes, yes, yes, yes, there isr a ing in the airway. >> reporter: that narrowing is stused by a toxin that can also get into the bloam and attack the heart, kidneys and nervous system. that's what killedoora's younger sister, ameera, who was three years old. ali masood muhammed is the nurer who was withn the ambulance when she died. >> ( translated ): suddenly she was having seizures and screaming and started convulsing. she was sleeping and then she woke up screaming. this wasn't normal so i tried to get her to rest. it was cardiac arrest so i started c.p.r. i kept performing cpr, cpr, cpr

until 4:30 a.m. i handed the body to the father. i said, here is your daughter. i did the best i could and did everything i was able to do and left the rest to god. >> reporter: nora's older sister, sondos, did not survive the surgery to insert a tracheostomy tube in her throat. >> i am working here 26 years as a pediatric doctor. i don't facing diphtheria during whole my work, only last year. >> reporter: it's been nearly 3e years since s last thphtheria outbreak. the first case i latest crisis came in august 2017. snce then, the disease ha spread to every corner of the country as the war has made it difficult to inoalate children also moved large, fleeing, populations closer together where the airbor disease can rapidly spread through coughing and sneezing. 2600 cases have been count, but doctors suspect there arers countless othehat have been

misdiagnosed, often as tonsillitis. doctors here have treated 70 patients 12 of them died. nearly all the victims are like nora, whose families fled fighting in the north. across yemen, the healthcare system has collapsed and there are severe shortages of vaccines, medicines, equipment and of staff to use it all. >> during the war, man many, many health centers stopped working, there is no vaccination. and also there is migration of the population from ontown to another, avoiding the war. eporter: because the al- sadaqa hospital here in the southern port city aden has received the largest number of diphtheria cases over the past year, doctors here have createdm trainierials that are now being used to teach other doctors all around the country how to handle diphtheria cases. nora's roommate is 8-year-old sultan. for three weeks, he's been treated with antibiond a diphtheria anti-toxin. it's a big step to practice

talking again. even with treatment diphtheria kills one out of every 10 patients. untreated, the death rate is one out of every two patients. with two of their three children already gone, nora family is doing everything they can to keep her alive. >translated ): it wa traumatic. what could we have done? we didn't know anything about this disease. no cure. nothing. no parentshould bury their child. if we'd known abt the vaccine we would've done anything to get it. the disease doesn't know old from young. we will cry for the rest oour lives from the pain we feel from .heir deat >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm beth murphy in aden, yemen.

>> woodruff: there have been 24 school shootings this year at k through 12 schools. 35 people have been killed, 28 of them students. another 79 people have been injured. those are the latest stats that hrr colleagues at education week have been trackingghout 2018. depending on how you count, it's one of the worst years in modern times. yet, there are still enormous differences and debaho around whatuld be done for school safety. this afteron, president trump and his team released their own recommendations, and there are plenty of debates again about me of those ideas. amna nawaz has the story, for our weeklyegment, making the grade. >> nothing is more important than protecting our nation's children. >> nawaz: at the white house, president trump hailed a school safetyeport nine months in the making. >> i think we have a lot of trp endous ideas here, put tremendous people. >> nawaz: the federal commission on school safety released its

findings today with dof proposals for improving security at u.s. schools. they range from mental health training to cyber bullng. the commission, led by education secretary betsy devomed after the february shooting at marjorie stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida that killed 17 students. the gunman, nikolas cruz, was a former student there. at the time, it was the 11th school shooting of the year. the commission consulted dozens of survivors, teachers and parents. the father of onof the parkland victims spoke today: >> it means so much to all of us add this president and his nistration listened and he did this and it means a lot to all the families.d want to thank all the itministration for getting this done and making afer for all the kids in this country. io nawaz: the shooting sparked a nationwide conversabout gun control, led by students from stoneman douglas high scol. they led several marches including one a month after the shooting, which drew man one million people to

washington, d.c. president ump and some lawmakers initially discussed a number of potential actions, including raisinthe minimum age to buy assault-style rifles. but there was no final action on raising the age. and eventually, the president signed a law strengthening the s deral background check system. gun-control advocay action at the federal level hasn't gone far enough. the report stops short of remmendations on access to guns, but supports so-called "red flag" laws that allow a gun to be taken away frosomeone who poses a threat to himself or others. commission says it took "holistic" approach to school safety. ong the dozens of proposals: a call to roll back obama-era guidance for reducing racial disparities in school discipline. the administration args those rules kept schools from taking action against potentially dangerous students. the report also calls for increased attention to mental ealth, citing the parkland gunman who welled from school. the two previous secretaedes of ation john b. king and arne

duncan released a statementll g the rollback proposal "beyond disheartening" and "shameful."rt the relso says individual schools should make the decisioe on giving te and school personnel firearms and training. the commission does not encourage schools to arm teachers, but it provif s guidelinesey choose to do so. for the first of our two reactions to secretary devos's report, i am joined by catherine e. lhamon, chairwoman of the as. commission on civil rights. during the obainistration, she was assistant secretary for vil rights at the u.s. department of education, where she oversaw and signed the student uidisciplinarylines that are being rescinded by today's report. welcome to the newshour. >> thank you, amna. >> nawaz: the goal of this report was basically to make schools safer. you have taken a look at does it do that? >> it has nothing to do with making schools safer. it does not take steps that will make students safer in schools,

and so it's a massive misstep, while, also, enshrining discrimination. >> nawaz: that is the rolling back of those obama-era guidelines about disciplinary actions, right. the argument there from the administration is that, looed that preveteachers from enking actions they needed to take against poally dangerous students. what do you make of that? >> that argument is absolute nonsense, including in the specific context that this commission was investigating. in the parkland shooting context, that student had been disciplined. that student's disciplinary record had absolutely nothing to do with the external school shooting which is a travesty, which is terrifying for every parent-- of whom i am one-- for astudents in scho this commission did not take steps to figure out how to make sure thet ents are safe. >> nawaz: just this one example, we heard from some of the victims' parents who said the shooter in parkland wasn't a sciplined as he should have been, there wasn'tcord of

going into the alternative detention program and he wasn't flagged. do you think there are failings there that are not addressed by this report? >> there may be serious issues that need to be addressed whh respect toat student. those are unrelated to whether the school had accols to the scith a gun to take students' lives. that is something we still need to add.re that has absolutely nothing to do with what are appropriate againstt discrimina students in the context of school discipline, unrelated to school shootings. bthose two issues need te fully separated and both need to be appropriately addressed. >> nawaz: there is a concrete specific related to gun control, right, of the expansion of what we cal red flag laws, of potentially taking away firearms from someone whamight be derous in the community comoount? are you happy to see that? do you think that's a help? >> sure, i'mad to see there is some recommendation that is actually relevant to the topic of this commission but i would have expected this commission to take steps to make sure our a studen safe. i'm a parent of two students in public school. i want to know every day when they go tochool i have a reasonable expectation that they

will come home safe to me and fay myfamily. >> nawaz: what would you have wanted to see in the report that wasn included? >>uld like to see concrete steps about gun control. i would have liked to have seen concrete steps for schools to make the school safer. i did not expect this co or any commission to use it as an execution foriodiscrimin in schools, to roll back protections that we have been promised for six decades by congress.al >> nawaz: they do call for schools to take new ways to fund programs around mental health, around making sure students get the support tathey need. they want a broader conversati about violen our culture and video games and so on. is that a productive way to move this conversation forward, too? >> meal health support for all communities in the united states are critically important. it's very imhartant to those conversations, not specific to school shoot, but in general, because we need to m sure that all of our health conditions are fully addressed. so i'm gratefulto hr what

there are recommendations that this commission is beginning to think abelated to mental health supports for students in school. we havtoo few councilors. the ones we have are too. fe that is separate and apart from the question of how we make sure that no student is discriminated against in school on the base of race. and this commmmission's redations not only don't take that seriously, but take uc back severales to the bad old daysov that topic. >> nawaz: catherine lhamon, thank you so much for being t're. >> nawaz: get a different take from someone who liked much of what she heard today. jeanne allen is the c.e.o. of center group that has long supported charter schools. thanks for being here. >> thank you, amna. >> nawro: are heard catherine lhamon, she doesn't think the recommendations will make thechools safer, do you believe it does? >> it was a comphensive broad world view of what you have to do to provide for not just

students but teachers to be safe. it puts controls back in the hands of teachers and schools to make me really important disciplinary decisions when they are confronted with students objectively thatcause a problem. it advocates for mental health issues in hools, not just outside. that's an important piece of it. it advocates for tht redflag law that you mentioned. it advocates for security at a much hier level. and fundamentally what, it does is it says we have to think about the whe child. >> brown: of. >> nawaz: let me askou about the disappear actions. those disproportionately have affected students of color. it is not students color th have been carrying out these school shootings so how does that make schools safer. >> when the federal government throws down a dictate,acchools and ters get very fearful about everything they do. so it's not about race and

the issue in the obama era disciplined policy, so well intentioned, and i so respect catherine and secretary king and secretary duncan who put that in place. they were well intentioned, but the problem is that when you fail to realize that the children coming to school who are causing discipline issues also have other background issues, right, then that's why in some communities, it has been disproportionately on african american males, for example, who have been suspended or there have been issues. nobody wants to talk about this amna. the ty is this should be-- this should not be something we walk on eggs over. we should be talki about single-parent families and holding the student to high expectations. you metioned one of the thngs supported is charter schools. african american-led charter schools across the country are enforcing high levels of disrng academ expectations, a sending poor minority kids to college in droves.

>> nawaz: let me ask youls something that came out in the report, the conversation about arming school personnel if e school chooses to do so or for increased funding for school resourceficers. do you support that? >> one of the things i liked about the report some of the retired military troops, the teachers, and bringing in of our law enforcement people who no longer are in the streets, so to speak, and helping protect schools. >> naz: you believe that would make schools safer. >> i believe that would absolutely make schools safer i think it's talking about a holistic community approach to brdg everybody around our into the equation and not leaving things on the table that, perhaps, would really go long way to reporting and providing for safe, disciplined and academically rich schools. >> nawaz: let me ask you about the whole headqrter approach. this isn't the first time we have had a report from an administration after a schoolng shoo this is the third consecutive administration that has putre forwarommendations. what do you think it will take? for parents out there who want to know their kiare safe

what, will it take to bring about meaningful change which i ink we can all agree this report does not lead to. >> it'swenfathomable that have to this way and that the d tonts and students have ha endure these tragedies is awful. it's a report. the federal government can only do so much.th cannot just dictate what should be going on in anyone's home, schools, or it's a bully pulpit. it is to laid discussion, bring the ideas, ps to ma us do things and act differently and do so with a sensef urgently. but fundamentally, it is parents, teachers, and commities and lawmakers tha have to come together on this without this bipartisan bickering on who did this and who is ot treating our kids a certain way? we have to put that asidll. what it take is active parent engagement. schools that work. schools that aren't huge and amorphouto opportunitieget educated in lots of different new ways that technology makes possible, and fundamstally allowing teach to actually call out students when they're doing something

wrong. >> nawaz: jeanne allen, thank you very much for your time. >> thank you, amna. >> woodruff: now, two photographeraimed to capture the richness of rural life. but before they could do it, fred baldwin and wendy watriss fit had to figure out thei way into a world they knew little about. jeffrey brown has their story for our series, american creators. >> brown: rural tes in the early 1970's: images highlighting the lives and experiences of african american families, white farmers and mexican migrant workers. all captured by documentary photographers fred baldwin and wendy watriss. >> i wand to tell stories. the camera is an extraordinary instrument for that. >> i knew that this was what i wanted to do for the rt of my lif >> brown: it was, in many ways, an unlikely journey.

the son of a u.s. diplomat, fred baldwin was born in switzerland. he began his life as aer photogray convincing pablo picasso to sit for hok, and later reelance assignments all over the world, for national geographic and other publications. hendy watriss spent most o youth in greece and spain, before working as a journalist and phographer, covering conflicts in europe, central america and africa for "newsweek" and the "new yo times." the two met in the late 1960s at a manhattan part fell in love, and came to a decision. >> when we met, we had both lived in many parts of the world and en involved in bigger an smaller news stories, but it hadn't been looking deeply inside our own country, our own culture. magically, we both said, "why don't we take time off and really look at the inside of the country." >> brown: in 1971, theloaded

up a tiny trailer and embarked on a journey through some of backroads of rural america, a trip that wod shape much of the rest of their career. >> this trip started in maryland and wound its way over the appalachians and into arkansas and finally into texas. >> brown: there, in anderson, et willie buchanan and h family. >> this pickup truck came roaring down the road, pulled up and said, "what are y'all doinge we said, "we're photographing the church and we're looking for a place to put our trailer." a this guy gave eer and he said, "follow me." tuwe moved into his back p ndand remained there off a on for three years. >> brown: their cameras captured inside the buchanan hom like this one titled "front room." >> to me is an intimate expression of self and comfort in his own home and his own territory. >> brown: buchanan introduced them to several other n

american families living in the area, who became part of what bal"n and watriss called "the texas project," photographi weddings, inside bars, pool halls, and even the local black deo. they also met white families, capturing their lives, as well as the racial divide of the time, in both public and private settings, embedding themselves >> we went to church evend , sometimes three times. black churches, white churches, we set up a free photography service. we cranked out prints. in every event and everything that we did, we came there bearing pictures from what we did the last time we were there. >> i think we were there long enough to in a sense prove ourselves. >> brown: the texas work continued over time, including photographing the lives of mexican-american farmworkers,e and scendents of german settlers in central and west texas.

the couple settled in houston and in 1986 founded "fotofest," a biennial exhibition now one of the largest in the world. their photography, and life, partnership hacaspanned five s. how does the partnership work? wh you take on a project, photography project, who does what and how ds it work? >> we both do everytng. when we were dealing with alog film, fred developed film much better than i do. i'm a slightly better printer than he is.ou >>re? (laughter) >> we both photograph. we don't identify who took what picture. >> we wanted people when they saw the pictures just to look at the picture, not say, "oh, wendy >> brownat 90 and 75 years old, baldwin and watriss are now sorting through the original images from their texas project, and recently returned to many of the places they first photographed in the 1970's >> the one thing that we discovered was that when we went

in, we didn't have to ask very many questions to find out that things had not chang certain respects. >> the schools are not serving the larg the old power structure remains ry intact. yes, there are black officials now and there's some irtntermarriage and so things have changed, but underneath it hasn't changed that muc >> brown: theyrke currently g on a multimedia project, including a short documentary ngout their time photograp grimes county, texas. >> i love looking at those pictures, because they're noton it's arful reflection of life, that yes, there's a lot oh ha all around, but people have this extraordinary capacity to make their own lives with their friends and their family ing that's very rich and joyous. >> brown: for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in houston.uf

>> woo and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us atr,he pbs newshhank 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. >> car york.orporation of new supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. ma

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♪ ♪ - you knowouwhen i travel ar the world, the one thing i always like to try is chicken, because it tells you a lot about the different culinary traditions of different places. yo ev cooks chicken differently. so, today on milk street, we're going to start iswith a recipe from p chicken en cocotte, which means cooking it in a small dutch oven. it makes its own sauce, it's very easy to do. then we go to the middle east and use a spice blend, an herb blend called za'atar.