captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruf on the newshour tonight, president trump plans to make his case to the nation for a border wall as the effects of the shutdown ripple across the country. then, mr. trump refers to the situation at the border as a "crisis" but is it? we break down what constitutes a crisis and what powers the president has to address the plus, getting to gduation-- how using mentors and scholarships can help college students succeed. >> no matter how much i had done, they would say, "okay, what's next? we're proud of you. i know you're going to do more awesome things so what's next?" >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastin c and tributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ti >> woodruff: the p government shutdown is now 18 days old, with no sign of ending soon. tonight, president trump address the nation on his key demand for ending the closure. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins begins our ge. >> desjardins: in washington, several federal buildings remained shuttered and silent today, as shutdown claimed a new casualty: officials sa paychecks for

800,000 federal workers will not go out friday, what waosed to be their pay day. but at the white house, aideses signaled that ent trump's focus tonight will be less on the shutdown, and more on his push for a border wall. >> he's going to make his case to the american people, talking about how this is a humanitarian cris and a national securi crisis. and, the goal here is to work with congress to re-open the government and also secure our border. >> desjardins: democrae decided to respond jointly, with remarks from senate minority leader chuck schumer and house speaker nancy pelosi. meanwhile, nine cabinet agencies were closed for an 18th day, including the departmes of homeland security, treasury and justice. house democrats say they will begin passing individual spending bills to reopen those agencies, except for homeland security, this week. senate democrats, including new jersey's bob menendez, are pressing republican majority leader mitch mcconnell to bring the bills to the senate floor, something mcconnell says he won't do until the president agrees.

>> i hope my republican colleagues put both our federal workforce and the americans who depend on their services ahead of the egomania that exists in the white house. >> desjardins: mcconnell says democrats are the problem, that theyeed to agree to more border security. >> i would urge our democratic colleagues to get past theserm l political games and get serious about negotiating with the president. >> desjardins: leaders of the national governors aociation are also urging an end to the shutdown. in a letter, monday, to the e:esident and congressiona leaders, they wrot "a federal government shutdown shouia not be a negng tactic as disagreements are resolved." amidhe back and forth, vice president pence said again today that declaring a national emergency to get funding for the wall, is an opon. the president plans to visit thn border in texahursday. >> woodruff: and lisa joins me now, along with yamiche alcindor.

yamiche, let me start with you. we know what arguments the president has been making.pe do we to hear more of the same or different emphasis toni t? >> we expere of the same. the president is expected to give an 8-minute speechhere he's going to lay out what he sees as a humanitarian and national security crisis. that is in some ways misleading and the evidence isn't always bhind what he's sayin the president is saying that, on the border, this is his number oneat priority, e needs to stop illegal immigration. he's going to be talking about e drorcement, he's going to be talking about terrorism. the president is probably also going to be making t case that democrats agree with him on some of these issues. he says that democrats want to see more immigration judges, that they want to see more detention beds for humanitarian reasons for reasons including families and unaccompanied minors going across the border. the president may also talk about a farm emergency. the president had the idea he might declare a nationaly emergency, but sources tell

is he isn't clear whether he's made a decn but that's what we're going to hear tonight. >> woodruff: you tell me there's growing pushback in the nepublican party. >> it's growingd scattered. there are increasingly privately republicans and top staffers they think the pressure to end this shuown will mnt, especially once workers miss their first paycheck on frida the same time, judy, asking these republicans, especially, do you think the president has the power to declare a national emergency and should he deca lae ational emergency to build a wall? they are not sur lindsey graham, who is one of the most ardent supporters of athe president's wall psays he thinks that should only be a last resort. other republicans who are well studied ojudiciariy and border security matters tell me today they aren't sure what the president's argument is and they will be watching tonight to determine what exactly his argument is. but all sides, judy, the capitol, the president has a very big important moment tonight to makhis case or not.

>> woodruff: and, yamiche, what are they saying at the white house about that? when you asked them about may some of their republican support may be slipping away? >> the white house and president trump is making the case that his base as well asre blicans are sticking with them through the shutdown, that they understand that border i securis worth shutting down the government over and that the wall, a central strategy, is trying to get what he sees as a erisis on the southern bon check. now, the president is also saying that this is smog that he lseds to do and that he fee people's pain and understands federal workers are going through a lot now, but he says, at the end of the day, i need to figure out if i can be safe and thats central to the bored. the other thing i want to add is the presint has been talking about who's to blame. the polls show 55% of americans blame republicans or president trump for the shutdown, and about 35% blame congressional democrats. so that is, numbers-wise, what the president is facing in terms of pressure.

>> woodruff: speaking of the democrats, lisa, you were tellinus the democrats have a strategy for how they're dealing with what's going on in t hill. >> right, i just came from a democratic leadership's meeting in sumer's office and just 100 e meeting in senator mcconnell's office. democrats are planning, at least for now, to block most senate action or delay most senate action up till they say there is a vote on the appropriaons ll that we expect to start ioming out of the hose. there is no indicsenator mcconnell will ring up the bills until the president greece.m the rats are ratcheting up hard ball tactics in the senate. tomorrow could be a big day, judy. i know from sources that there will bother moting at the white house. the big eight, the top eight leaders in the house and senate, the republicans and democrats, including speaker pelosi, will again meet at the white house on this topic. historically, looking at the fist big shutdown, it lasted a

week after thest paycheck was missed. that first paycheck will beay missed on fr, but it feels like here there is still not as much sympathy for federal workers as you seen social media, but perhaps that will change friday. we'll see that in theext few days. >> woodruff: only a few seconds left. inmiche, the white house t time son their side right now. how are they thinking about that? >> the white house is feeling like time is on their side. as lisa mentioned, there are going to be congressional leaders coming to the white house tomorrow, but also president trump and vice president pence are going to be going over to the hill. we're going to see multiple meetings tomorrow, s tha senses people are trying to talk and negotiate. but they're still not agreeing on the facts. the president is saying a wall is the way to stop illegal t immigration, a facts just don't bear it out. most of the people that aredr undocumented ogs coming through come through legal ports of entry and mosrrt teories come through the airport. so the presidents is using numbers and facts democrats do not agree with.

>> woodruff: yamiche, watching it closely.ri we'll be he from the president in a little over two and a half hours. thank you both. >> woodruff: in the days other news, a new court filing in the russia probe said prosecutors believe former trump campaig chair paul manafort gave campaign polling data to aso russian ate. he allegedly had ties to russian intelligence. the disclosure sugges russia could have used the information in its election-meddling effort. >> woodruff: the trump administration's shifting statementsn withdrawing from syria, struck sparks with nato ally turkey. national securitadviser john bolton had insisted that tkey promise not to attack u.s.- backed kurdish fighters in syria, if u.s. troops pull out. bolton was in ankara today, but turkish president recep tayyip erdogan declined to meet with him. instead, erdogan used a speech to charge "very serious mistake."

>>te translated ): des reaching a clear understanding with mr. trump, different voices have started emerging different segments of the tministration. we are determined e steps against terrorist organizations such as the rdish fighters along with the islamic state. we will mobilize to neutralize these terrorist organizations in syrian lands very soon. >> woodruff: the turks says the thsyrian kurds are allied kurdish separatists inside turkey. meanwhil secretary of state mike pompeo trained his focus on an, as he began a middle east trip. pompeo arrived in jordan and met with the foreign minister. he said the u.s. will be "re- doubling" pressure on ir. the secretary is also trying to assure allies in the region about u.s. plans to leave syria. north korean leader kim jong un arrived in beijing today, andhi met withse president xi jinping. kim traveled by special train from pyongyang, then went by motorcade to his meeting with

xi. he's expected to stay until thursday. there've been reports that a second summit between kim and president trump is also in the works. a severe winter storm blastedpe much of eugain today, dumping snow from the alps to athens. at least 13 have died in the past week mostly due to. avalanch in athens, beach umbrellas were topped with snowoday. and in southern germany, iowfall closed roads and trains and trapped hundretheir homes. >> ( translated ): it is nice en you can sit at home and look out of the window, but i work a lot on the road and now,a for instance, t even get out of my driveway and my snow remover has broken and i have to shovel. >> woodruff: high winds have also caused flight delays and cancellations across parts of europe. back ithis country, there's word that carbon dioxide emissions surged last year despite a decline in coal use. the research firm rhodium groups

reports ons rose 3.4%, the d st in eight years. much of it was fue economic growth. up to 1.4 million convicted felons in florida regained their right to vote toda voters approved the move, in november newly inaugurated republican governor ron desantis wants enabling leglation before the change takes effect. civil rights groups say that's a needless delay. on wall street, the market rallied again, on rising tech stocks and oil prices. the dow jones industrial average gained 256 points to close at 23,787. the nasdaq rose 73 points, and the s&p 500 added 24. and, clemson is college football's national champion, for the second time in three years. the tigers routed alabama 44 toi 16 lasght, in santa clara,

califoia. back in south carolina, clemson students and fans celebrated into the night. still to come on the newshour: the government shutdown. whether the situatio border counts as a "crisis." how mentoring can improve the lives of much more.dents, and >> woodruff: tonight, the president is expected to reiterate his demand for a border wall. it is at the center of the divide driving the shutdown. but there are growing calls tont get the governack open, including from the president's own party. i'm joined by republican congressman brian fitzpatrick of pennsylvania.he erved on the house homeland security committee in the most

recent congress. congressman fitzpatrick, thank you very much for joining us. what's your take on how this shutdown has been going? what do you think it has accomplished? >> no shutdown is good, and 't haccomplished anything, which is why we need to ereopen the government, which is why i have and will continue e vot to keep our -- to reopen our government and to keep iopen. these are very, very important debates on issues like immigration and border security and daca, but we can't hold our federal employees hostage, judy, and right now we have scenario where the t.s.a. screeners at airports, the air traffic control workers are being furloughedthat makes our airways very unsafe. yohave the cdp, boardertrol and coast guard aren't being funded and e rloughing people. we have my former colleagues and

employer who are making decisions onen essential-noneal employees which hurts the criminal cyber investigations. government shutdownsno way to govern. h need to get te government open and have a bipartisan solution. a >> woodruff: y the republican, the president of the united states a member of your own party. he is arguing border security is such a problem for the country he's calling it a security crisis, a humanitarian crisis. he's saying that overrides, right now, the need to keep the government running. >> well, there's two issues there. the first is a legal question, specifically our constitutional law question, article 2 of the constitution and title 50 of the u.s. code, as to whether it meets ifat definition. hey were to go down that path, they would get tied up in. litigati the second question, is that the path we should be going down?

i think what should happen congress ought to be making this decision. the reality is the democratss control the h the republicans control the senate. this necessarily needs to be aan bipartolution, at it should be, and what needs to happen is people need to act like adults, they need to come the center. nobody's going to get everything they want, but they've got to be able to sacrifice something to come up with a solution onec borderurity, but do it when the government is open. this is no way to makeio dec under circumstances like this. >> woodruff: but again, that is not the president's view. ve you made your thoughts known to the white house? >> yeah, i'm interviewing with every outlet that wants to talk to me, and i made pu statements and my votes speak for themselves. i voted there we seven of us in the caucus last week that voted to fund the government for the c.r. >> woodruff: what do you think the cost of this is? some of us have been talking toe pet the white house, talking to people very close to the president. i mean, they conttinuo say s at, yes, we know it's an

inconvenience, it good the government is closed down, but we believe -- and i'm speaking to have the white house and the president -- we believe that it's more important to hold that closed, if necessary, in ortd get what we need to build a wall the border. >> i will tell you, we had this opportunity, judy, six months ago. we had a -- a moderateim package --igration reform package which protected our daca ids can, which provided for very robust border security, and it didn't make it out of the house. that was our chancdo it, and there were a lot of people that didn't support it. so that's -- but that's where we have to have tha debate. you don't hold the federal workforce hostage, particularly, judy, and the irony of this whole situation is we' defunding the border security apparatus on the border by all anctions of d.h.l in the name of border security. we need to fd th and make sure they're doing their job and have the debate once the government is open. that's what i believe.

>> woodruff: what the president is saying his base, people who support him, are 100% behind him on this, that the vast majority of republicans are with him on this. what are you hearing fromour constituents? >> i think people want the government to be open and a functi they want bipartisan compromise. that's what the overwhelmingf majorityople in the district and this country want. it's like any relationship in our lives, never get everything we want 100% of the time, whether personal relationships, business, financial, government, no different. congress should be no diffent. the unfortunate reality, judy is this is being politicized, and certain words in the legislative process become toxic. the term "wall" has become toxic in this debatcause it conjures up images of a brick and mortar stucture across 1900. that's not sensible. the sensie thing to do is, from a border security standpoint, provide d.h.s. with th, fundive them the discretion, boarder patrol, the

coast guard, what is probate. under some sectors, heat sensors, hogs detectors, infrared, arevea surlance, but let the experts make the decision rather than a one-side-fits-all solution. >> woodruff: put as you know the president is lking about a wall. he's talking about a steel wall. he's still talking about aur strualong the entire border. what do you want to hear from the president tonight. >? i want to hear truth, facts, and the willingness to compromise. that's the nature of governing. that's the nature of any relationship. we can't just dictate to people our way of thinking. you've got to leae and b willing to to compromise with other people who think fferently. border security is incredibly important. i'm the national chair of the bipartisan task force that dealb with tder crisis, border security is a big component to dealing with that, but it's got to bipartisan solution. everybody, centrist dem

centrist republicans, i'm a big .eliever in that caucus, we all want the same thi we've all come up with a solution of our own. tionuld love for that so to be put on the floor. but that's the way forward. an amazing colleag of mine from california came up to a perfect answer. >> woodruff: yes or no, do you expect the president to offer a compromise tonight? >> i hope. so we'll see bhat he saysut that's what i would like to see >>m do. woodruff: representative brian fitzpatrick of pennsylvania, thank you very much. thanks, judy. >> woodruff: even before president trump's address tonight, his administration has beenaking a case that there a "crisis" on the southern border-- a national security and humanitarian crisis. m vice presidee pence spoke to reporters yesterday alongside homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen. she said "the crisis i"getting wors newshour's amna nawaz is here with a look at the facts. amna, you have been looking at this in depth. first of all, hodo we define crisis, and is it our sense that

there is a terrorist threat at the, bordes the white house is suggesting? >> first of all we're following the adminion's lead on this, right. they're saying is there is enough of a crisis tht necessitates a fiscal barrier to stop it in its tracks. there are two prongs, a humanitarian and nationas, security crihat terrorist threat you mentioned, the administration has been cite ago few examples repeated will you, including one we heard from vice president pence just this morning in an interview. here's what he had to say. with regard to terrorists, he said, we've seen more than 4,000 or known spictd spectd terrorists to come into our country through various means. the exact number is 3755.ou it'sing up. that group, those are people we tknow with a direct lin terrorism. but associated with the southern border is very misleading. we know the vast majority of the people who have been apprehended come in through airports. it's a misleading claim. we've heard the government say again and again, and in fact we have government's own numbers in

this case that looked at the o terrorist threthe southern border, this is from a state department report in 2017, they said there are n known international terrorist organizations operating in mexico, no crehadible info t any member of a terrorist group has traveled through mexico to gain access to the u.s. that was 2017. judy, even this year, it's now r beorted in the first half of 2018, there are believed to have been six known or suspected terrorists who entered the country. >> woodruff: the number six. that's right. >> woodruff: so -- but even apart from this, you hear the administration making argument there are dangerous people coming across. who could they be referring to? >> there are two other numbers we've heard repeated again and again, and we've dug in to figure out who the groups are. in a briefing yesterday homeland security secretary nielsen cited a group of special interest aliens, 3,000 of them,w she sai have been encountered on the southern border last year.00

in addition, 1convicted criminals who were stopped at the southern border last year. t's take those piece by piece a second. the special interest aliens, all those are a goup of people wh come from different countries that may require a second look, either because to hae nature of terrorism or threats in their home country or because of their travelpatterns. those are not suspected territories. libertarian cato institute looked at the group in depth, a huge comprehensivstudy and they found the 1975 to 2017 that those groups, the special interest aliens, there were oven of them in all of se years who entered illegally who ngwere convicted of plan terrorist attacks none of them successfully carried out the attaju and none of themdy, actually entered on the southern border. most of them actually came in from our northern border. the 17,000 criminal convictions. i went to a d..s. source and said what are the convictions. they don't havbe akdown but

said many of the convictions were for previous illeg entries. >> woodruff: northern border, canada. >> from 1975 to 2017. >> woodruff: setting aside the national security threat, the other argument the administration is making is there is a humanitarian crisis at the border. >> yes. >> woodruff: what do we know about that? >> there is absolutely a humanitarian crisis. it starts all the way down central america, makes its way all the way up to our bor. here's what secretary nielsen said yesterday in the briefing about that. hee cited 60,000 children unaccompanied atorder, 30% of the women are raped on the journey, seven out of ten are victim of violence. wenow the folks from the central american countries who are fleeing violence and instability, they ve a dangerous journey along the way, none of those are things that we vetionirect control oar the things that we have control over in our government, kind of creang a crisis of our own. we know that the volume is not the problem. historically, border crossings are at an all-time low.

if you look at bored ap lehensions over theast twenty years, that's an 81% decline.e volume is not sue. we have handled many, many more people, many hundreds of thousands more people a month. the difference is deographics. we now have more families, meng parents and guardians, with children coming to our borders. take a look at those numbers. those have been going up in the last five years, a 400% increase, and that has axed our system in ways it wasn't meant to handle. we were built as an immigration system to handle single men, not families and children.g it's creat backlog throughout the whole system. >> woodruff: that's one thingad thnistration is acknowledging. one other thing. the president is going to speak to the nation tonight, short remarks, we're told seven or eight minutes, he is going to make, again, a case for thewa , along the border, saying if we build a physical wall, we will be able taddress these crises we have been discussing. >> there are a few things the

president cited with validitab lutely. he said the nature of drugs coming across the border. friday he said drugs are pouring into this country, they don't go through the ports of entry, when they do, they sometimes get caught. we know the is illicit narcotics trafficking flowing back and forth and knw it's a problem, the violence that come with it, too, statistically the illicit drugs come through a legal port of entrythe wal won't do much to stop it and we havedata that debunks tt, too. more importantly, they say the a wall will deterrent, senting a message people cannot illegally enter. that has not worked iprevious administrations and this one. what we've done whether putting children in pass detention, either in previous administrations or family separation in this one, it hasn't work, because the conditions on the ground these people are fleeing have not changed. >> woodruff: amna nawaz, closely, you will be joining us for ouspecial coverage.

>> absolutely. >> woodruff: thank you. that brings us to our nightly look at thimpact of the government shutdown, now in its 18th day, and some of the ways it's directly affecting people. one you may not know: the shutdown is stopping some folks in rural parts of the country from buying new homes and getting loans. that's because the u.s. department of agriculture backs some mortgages and provides favorable loan terms in rurald communities ter suburbs. the program has backed about 100,000 mortgages a year recently. but most of the u.s.d.a.'smm ity offices are closed and for home buyers in that programu their ion is in limbo. we've also been listening to the voices of federal workers who aren't getting paid. tonight, let's meet sara, who asked us not to use her full name because of potential orpercussions. she's a contractr for a federal agency and paid by the hour. she's not working during the shutdown, and after theve

ment reopens, she may not receive back pay. her husband a furloughed federal employee at the same agency. >> so since my husband and i are both federal employees and nno working righwe've put off dental work, we've put off car repairs for this month because we want to make sure what money we have stretches when there are frightening headlines like that it could go on for months or years. that's scary stuff, but honestly, the way i think that it really affects you the most it gets in your head that your job isn't important and you're non essential that you only matter as a political pawn and doesn't feel very good. >> woodruff: two other updates: last week, we told you that farmers who qualified for special aid because of the trade war with china could miss a key deadline to apply for the money.

the u.s.d.a. said to will now extend that deadline substantially to accommodate thg of the shutdown. and in southern california, the troubles with trash and waste in joshua tree na park have been well documented. today, the governmenced it has closed the park in order to deal with those problems. >> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: why death rates from cancer in the u.s. fell for the 25th straight year. promoting the literary cannon of black women. and the unorthodox country music of margo price. the success of college scholarships across the cotry can vary widely. one program in minnesota boasts a graduation rate one-and-a-half times better than the national

average and is especially helpful for first generation college students. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro looks at what's behind that success for our weekly education segment, making the grade. >> reporter: at 22, precious drew is a recent college grad and budding entrepreneur. she was recently awarded a fellowship to work on her business plan at a minneapolisba incur. her business is a sustainabledu anauty pro. in college, she a friend developed a face and body scrub made out of used coffee grounds. for now, she makes it in her mother's home. >> we're considering a manufacturer to scale up a b o, but we priselves on small batches, handmade withr:ove. >> reporhe pride that her mother feels is evident from the framed diploma a photos throughout the house. >> her name is preciou god knew it and i knew it, that

she had a gift. >> reporter: precious priscill drew is the second youngest of eight children, and the first in her family to go to college. she chose the college of st. benedict, a private and predomantly white school in rural minnesota because it offered the most generous financial aid. it was just over an hour, and a world, away from her minneapolis public high school. >> the transition was definitely hard. it was a culture shock being from the inner city. >> reporter: college was a struggle at first but drew says she was able to stick with it thanks to a program called wallin education partners. established 26 years ago, wallin has helped more than 4500 annnesota students attend complete college. kelly and john henry, parents o ung children, are among 65 wallin donor partners who give $4,000 a year to individual students.s although that'st a fraction

of what college costs, wallin allps students find additi aid so that only 40% have any debt when they graduate. >> i had been volunteering in mieapolis public schools helping lower income, first generation high school students get into colleon and realized they're in college, there's not a lot of support for them. so we thought we'll give them a scholarship and helpthe financial part of that. >> hello, hello! >> reporter: donors are encouraged, though not required, to give more than just money. they are also urged toevelop a friendship with the recipient. for the henry' that meant sending supportive text messages, introducing drew to business colleagues and inviting her over for home-cooked meals. >> i wasn't expecting to have this level of involvement but man, it brings a really special connection with the young person and we've been amazi tly happy wi results. >> no matter how much i had done, they would say, "okay, what's next? we're proud of you. i know you're going to do more awesome things, so what's next?

>> reporter: drew is not the exception but rather the norm. the wallin organization was started by a former c.e.o. of medical device giant medtronic, the first in his family to attend college, which he did through the g.i. bill. ol% of wallin scholars are first generationge students, 70% are students of color. and the average annual income i thuseholds is about $25,000 a year. a challenging demographic, says wallin c.e.o. susan ki >> if you are a student of color, firstn your family and you're low income, the likelihood of completing a four- year degree is about 12%. among all students that enter a 2%ur-year program, about 6 will complete a degr. >> reporter: but among wallin students, that graduion rate is one and a half times higher, at 92%. the main reason: a high level of support all along the way, from

donors and mostly from eight staff advisors, providing assistance colleges don't usually offer, says stephen lewis, a retired college president who chairs the wallin board. >> having in my experience at carleton and other places saying well, "she's an 18 year old, she's a 20 year old, she makes her own decisions." not our advisors our advisors say "fred, i wderstand you weren't in chemistry last weet's going on, do we need to talk?" so very intrusive if you like, k t very supportive. >> yesterday i ttest. it was a struggle. i honestly wonder if i should reevaluate my finance major. >> reporter: stephanie avalos is a junioress major at the university of minnesota. from the very beginning, she says, advisor, liz karlin helped her navigate the academic andso al challenges. >> i remember the first day, i had so much to talk about.sh like my hese classes are so different, these students are so smart and i feel so disadvantaged. >> i'm listening to where they

are and then when barriers pop up, i'm there to kind of help mediate some of the damage that's done and try to be encouraging. >> reporter: the wallin group also links its scholars with each other on campusesan invaluable network, says avalos, the daughter of two mexican immigrants who never finishe grade school. >> i feel like i'm not alone in this. i feel like i have people i can rely on, who can share similar experiences we've had. >> reporter: wallin works with 62 colleges in a five-state region. and going all the way to graduation, is critical, says board chair lewis. >> if you go graduate from high school and you have one or two or three years of college your littlelevel goes up bit. it's not until you get that degree that you get that big payoff. so the degree is the prize. >> reporter: precious drew hopes that big payoff will come soon, as she continues to build her business. she hopes also to attend

graduate school in the years ahead. for the pbs newshour, i'm fred de sam lazaro in minneapolis.>> oodruff: fred's reporting is a partnership with the undertold stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. >> woodruff: and now a medical milestone: the american cancer thsociety said today the d rate from cancer fell 27% between 1991 and 2016. the cancer societyays that translates to 2.6 million deaths prevented during that time but as john yang reports, not all the news is good. >> yang: judy, the study says the steady decline is largely due to fewer people smoking and advances in early detection and treatment. death rates from lung, colorectal, prostate and breast

cancers have all dropped. but obesity-related cancer deaths are on the rise and the disparity between deaths in rich and poor communities is getting wider. cancer remains the nation's second leading cause of death, behind heart disease, and experts project that more than 600,000 americans will die from it this year. dr. j. leonard lichtenfeld is here to walk us through the report. he's the american cancer society's acting chief medical officer. dr. lichtenfeld, thanks so much for being with us. let's sort of unpack some of these numbers. you talk about the study say lung cancer rates going down largely because smoking is going down, but it's going down twice as fast among men as ang women. why is that? erstand, we need to und that men have been smoking for a much longer time, and women began to take up the habit in the la '60s, '70s. i took a longer time for the

women to understand that smoking is not good for your health or men, and the death rate decline in men started more steeply and earlier than women. fortunately, we're seeing decreases in smoking and lung cancer death rates for both men and women aswe provide this report. >> yang: and t state also und that there are higher lung cancer rates among women born in the '60s compared to men of the same age. any idea why that is? >> that's correct. that was research recently reported by my colleagues here at the american cancer society, td the reality is we don't really know what's happening. it's not due to differences in smoking behaviors, so there are other factors that areng to that increase of lung cancer. hat'ng said that, i think s very, very important for all of us to understand thalung cancer happens in non-smokers, too. we have a tendency to overemasize the smoking

aspects, but non-smokers can get lung cancer, and it they be a somewhat different disease and may respond differently to treatments, and we're learning about that as well,thbute bottom line is we're starting to see that occur in younger people, particularly younger women, and we need to learn more about why that is happening. >> yang: the so tudy alsys obesity-lated cancer death rates are increasing. what types of cancers are we talking about there? >> well, there are a number of cancers linked to obesity, 13 in all, perhaps more, but we certainly know breast canceand particularly cancer of the uterus in women are related to obesity, liver cancer, colon cancer, there are a number of cancers at are impacted by being overweight. se also know that, in thi country, we have an obesity epidemic and that has not yet completely played out. so, again, we know this is a problem. we don't yet know how much of an impact it's going to have going

forward, but it will have an impact. t's something that we need to take into accoud we need to at least alert people that this is very serious problem. >> the study also said that the racial disparity is narrowing, the disparity between cancer deaths among african-americans and among white people is narrowin but that it's getting wider, the disparity between bad outcomes in rich communities and poor communities. at do you think is bind that? >> well, it's not only rich and poorcommunities, it's alsin rural communities and the cities, and there are a lot of explanations for it. the most obvious of which is that some of the lifestyle behaviorare different among those who are poor versus thoset who are bter educated. so smoking behaviors, alcohol consumption, other lifestyle issues, obesity might be a factor as well. so that's just one pt of the

explanation, but access to care is a very, very critical mattery and don't have funds, if you don't have insurance, you don't get the type of care that might be the best care for you if you he cancer. and access to care in ruralco unities is a very serious issue throughout our country. there are large parts of the united states where adequat medical care, particularly adequate cancer care requires atople to travel gre distances, or even getting screened for cancer. efule need to take a car look at all these issues. and i do think we need to make m national comt, we all need to make a commitment -- pena commitment, whether it be government or other norganizations, the ameri cancer society among them -- we need to take a careful look at this and figure out what we thede to do to make the outcomes ual. we knowe can do it. we've seen that happen, that equal care can produce equal outcomes. we just need to make certain that everyone has access to that equal care.

>> dr. j. leonard lichtenfeld of the americans cancer society, thank you very much. >> tha you. >> woodruff: a good book can be transformative in an age of social media and a growing popularity of book clubs, what we read can also help create communities. jeffrey brown explores all this with glory edim, who has created a space to celebrate voices that might not otherwise beeard. e "well-read black girl" is online community book club that focuses on black woen writers. we really focus ona buildin amplifying the voice of black women, especially baby writers, so we have al, festi book club and online presence, so you can participate in various ways. >> brown: was it an obvious idea? >> no, an unidxpectea. it was a gift from my parer, o made a shirt that said

"well-read black girl," and it t arked the idea thashould start something with this. what does it mean to be a well-read black girl. >> brown: and the conversation thaws they were seeing your shirt? >> they were seeing ee shirt on subway, grocery store, gym, where do i get the shirt. >> brown: it's a good shirt. right. and so it's like who a your favorite authors and who are you reading. maya angelou, we talked about the literary greats that really influenced the black canon, and it started what are the new writers your bookshelves. it was curiosity, and again quite selfish, i wanted to make new friends. and as it did t that, iew and i built a presence on instagramn that grew. >> brown: clearly tapped into a hunger, what? >> it was clearly a generalling.

sometimes women are iisible in spaces, and when it comes to publishing, there is noanonl avenue of women to become writers and to understand what a the dynamie, and it just became, like, a cheerleading plot for those who nt to do the writing and want the people to buy theiboo. it happened seamlessly. >> brown: so the antu logy, ked all these writers that kind of question sort of when did you see you first. >> yeah. >> brown: because that was the way into -->> ell, that was the origin for me. i have always been a person tond questiono look for myself in books. my favorite book is maya angelou's "y the caged bird sings" and that's the first time i saw myselff n the pages oa book. >> brown: meaning what? in terms of reflection, understanding the dialogue, having someone who felt and looked like me on the page. i had read a lot of "liwottle

n," i saw myself in joe march, i read weathering height but before that, i don't think i saw a reflection of a young black girl coming of age until i read maya angelou and tony morrison, a classic for so many black women.ur it was ang point for me. the story of black womanhood iso onsurvival and excellence as well. >> brown: it's an interesting thing and the one thing that books, we often say, those of us who are readers, say we find ourselves in other, i mean, we learn about ourselves, even if we are not represented in that story. >> oh, completely. just seeing yourselves in someone else's story and building a stronger perspective, and a lot of these stories, whether it's jacqueline woodson or jerry jkies, they are loo at their origin stories and what led them to become writers and what helped them really see

their own stories in the books that they read. and i think that's really important. t you net reflection for anyone. >> brown: so what surprised you when you started getting their responses? what excited you? >> well, we all tribute tony morrison. >> brown: how could we not. 's toni morrison. and barbara smh writes about james baldwin and how his words helped her become a writer. there's one writer, dby write about how reading the memoir "boy" wasund meant toll he experience, so it's not necessarily just about seeing ax t reflection, but to make sure that these symbols had meaning andhey build significance.

you can really expg lore. readels to me like an exploratory practice. you should be able to find characters and stories you can ll into. >> these are writers, women who became writers. how much did you see their origin story connecting to the writers that they became? >> oh, yeah, completely. i think justin waroud,now, at the end of her story, she said she read this one book and it wasn't unshe wrote her own that she was able to ally -- >> brown: that's right. it was such a profound statement, a powerful way to end, it compelled her want to bring write her own story, and i think that is the takeaway from lde anthology that we cou write our own stories and be persistent with that and not give up. >> brown: we have been talking so much about the writers. but as you said, started with readers, right. >> yes. there are so many readers. in the anthology, i have lists

of reang recommendations and i did that intentionally because i was thinking about my younger self and the things i wanted to read. i did aays want to read "to kill a mockingbird," i wanted other alts,ernatind this list is about black feminism, playwrights, black coming of age stories, poetry. l it is a fulisting of how to reimagine the literary canon, and there'so excuse to say, i don't know what, you know, person of color i can introduce to my syllabus or high school classroom. i think of it, hopefully, as a great tool for young people andr educ >> brown: you still have an actual book club. >> yes. >> brown: an old fas book club. >> yes. >> brown: you get together. it's great. you know, i think for me hav the book club is a great lesson in listening.

i really lovo listen to everyone tell their own story and how they relate to their own characters. it my favorite part. i love doing social media. but being able to sit next to a reader and look theme eye and persuade them to maybe like a character a little bit more. i love that back and forth. >> brown: the wel-read black girl book club and now the "well-read black girl" anthology. thank you. >> thank you so much. >> woodruff: and finally, another in our occasional series called "my music," where singers and musicians talk about their work, their influences and the art of their craft. if you haven't already heard of her, let's introduce you to margo price. she's up for a gmmy for best new artist next month. the 35-year-old country musician has been making waves with songs about the beauty and strugglesof ural america. and she sings about her own

issues with alcohol, loss, and trying to make it in nashville. she's also been outspoken on issues of gender equality, gun control d politics. she sat down with the newshour at a recent show at washington, d.c.'s 9:30 club. have a listen. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> when i first moved to nashville, i didn't have a lot of life experience. and the kind of country music i thike has been about the struggle and the darker sides of things-- divorce and drinking and the sad side of life. and eventually, that's what my life bame, for better or worse. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ my name is margo price and i'm a singer songwriter living in naville, tennessee.

♪ ♪ my first album, "midwest farmer's daughte" was kind of an honest glimpse of everything that had happened since i'd moveto nashville. just struggling in the music business and drinking too much and running around with the wrong type of people. ♪ ♪ ♪ i started singing in the bars ♪ ♪ and running with the men i just was pretty unafraid to talk about my struggles at that point, i wasn't afraid to be self-deprecating and honest about my hardships and i think people love an underdog. ♪ ♪ ♪ well all the midwest farms art turning into p homes ♪ we wrote the second album whenoa we were on thetouring

"midwest farmer's daughter." we were seeing a loterica. and i finitely had done a good amount of inospective writing about myself so we thought it was a good idea toook at what was going on in our country. ♪ ♪ ♪ and it's all american made we just wanted to show working class america-- the everay people who are making this country run and in many cases they're struggling. ♪ ♪om ♪hing in my bloodline or something in my gut ♪ oddly enough we wrote that song during the obama administration and we recorded prior to the election but they were campaigning at that time and i was already starting to see a lot of division.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ american made i think definitely the song had new meaning post election and i've changed some of the lyrics when we do it live. ♪ ♪ - ♪sleep at night ♪ if the folks down at the border are making it all right ♪ i hope that we can hreserve what e here and keep our country beautiful. ♪ ♪ ♪ -- stretc ♪ and it's all america made ♪ ♪ yeah, it's all -- all american made ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ (cheers and applause) >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for now. we'll be back here at 9:00 eastern for the presanent's addresthe democratic response. i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the tlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innatations in edn, democratic engagement, and the advancement

of international peace and security. at carnegie.or >> and with the ongoing support of the institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contribions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪ ♪ hello, everyone and welcomem to "pour & company." here is what isoming up. >> do you solemnly a swear -- ew year and a new congress in washington. and trump'shutdown enters the third week. the president now threatens to declare a national emergency and we hear from the trump strategist david urban. then america's global leadership at the start of the new year. backtracking on syria, and economically perilous trade war with china and even european allies. discuss all of this with foreign policy expert kori schake who worked on national security in the bush white house. plus -- ♪ >> rock icon lenny kravitz tells us how his new album came to him in a dream.