captioning sponsored by c newshour productions, >> this program was made thssible by viewers like you. ank you. ♪ >> good evening, i'm judwe woodruffome to our special pbs "news hour," live coverage f president trump's address to the nation, and the democratic response by house speaker nancy pelosi and senate minority leader chuck schumer. this comes on the 18th day of a shutdown of the federal government. after the two sides were unable to agree on a funding plan. president trump has said he won't go along wih a proposal until there is money to pay for a wall on

the u.s. southern boder. as of tonight, this is these nd longest-lasting shutdown in u.s. history, and the affects are being felt across the country. this will be enpres trump's first address from the oval office in the white house. we're waiting to see if the president will offer any new proposals or new ideas to break thi gridlock. yamiche alcindor is at theho white tonight. lisa desjardins will be joining us from capitol hill. amna nawaz joining me here at the table in our studio, along with amy walter of the cook political report. i'll be talking to all of them aer we hear fr the president, and then again after we hear from the democratic leade. again, president trump's first address from the oval office. here he is. >> my felw americans, tonight i'm speaking to you because there is a growing humanitarian and security crisis at o southern border. every day customs a border patrol ages

encounter thousands of illegal immigrants trying to enter our country. we are out of space to hold them. and we have no way to promptly return them back home to their country. america proudly welcomes millions of lawful immigrants who enrich our society and contribute to our nation. but all americans are hurt by uncontrolled illegal migration. it strains public resources andrives down jobs and wages. among those hardest hit are african-americans and spanic americans. our southern border is a pipeline for vast quantities of illegal drugs, including meth,, herocaine and fentanyl. every week 300 of ourre citizensilled by heroin alone. 90% of which floods across from our southern border. more americans will die from drugs this year than were killed in the entire

vietnam war. in the last two years, i.c.e. offics made 266,000 arrests of aliens with criminal recds, including those charged or convicted of 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 000 violent killings. over the years, thousands of amecans have been brutally killed by those who illegally entered our country and thousands more lives will be lost if don't act right now. this is a humanitarian crisis, a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul. last month 20,000 migrant children were illegal brought into the united states, a dratic increase. these children are used as human pawns by vicious coyotes and rutess gangs. one in three women are

sexually assaulted on the dangerous trek up through mexico. women and children are the biggest victims, by far, of our bken system. this is the tragic reality i egal immigration on our southern border. this is the cycle of human suffering that i am determined to e. my administration has presend congress with a detailed proposal to secure the border and stop the criminal gangs, drug smugglers, and human traffickers. it is a tremendous problem. our proposal was developed by law enforcement professionals and border agents at the department of homeland security. these are the resources they have requested to properly perform their mission and keep america safe. in fact, safer than ever before. the proposal from homeland

security includes cutting-edge tecctology for deg drugs, weapons, illegal contraband, and may other things. we have request more agents, immigration judges, and bed space to process the sharp rise in unlawful migration fueled by our very strong economy. our plan also contains an urgent request for humanitarian assistance and medical support. furthermor we have asked congress to close border security lhapholes so t illegal immigrant children can be safely and humanely returned back home. finally,s part of the overall approach to border security, law enforcement professionals have requested $5.7 billion for ba fiscarier. at the request of democrats, it will be a stl barrier rather than a concrete wall. this barrier is abolutely

critical to border security. it's also what our professionals at the border want and need. this is just common sense. the border wall would very ickly pay for itself. the cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a year. vastly more than the $5.7 billion we have requested from congress.e ll will also be paid for indirectly by thegr t new trade deal we have made with mexico. senator chuck schumer, who you will be hearing from later onight, has repeatedly supported a physicalarrier in the past, along with many other democrats. they changed their mind a oner i was elected president. democrats in congress have refused to acknowledge the crisis. and they hve refused to provide our brave borderit

agentsthe tools they desperately need to protect our families and our nation. the federal government remains shut down for one reason, and one reason only: because democrats will not fund border serity. my administration is doing everything in our power to help tose impacted by this situation. but the only solution is tfor democra pass a spending bill that defendsrd our s and reopens the government. this suation could be solved in a 45-minute meeting. i have invited congressional leadership to the white house tomorrow to get this done. hopefull we can rise above partisan politics in order to support national security. some have suggested a barrier is immoral.

then why do wealthyil politicians walls, fences, and gates around their homes? they don't bild walls because they hate the people on the outside but because they le the people on the inside. the only thing that is immoral is the politicians to do nothing and continue to allow more innocent people to be so horribly victimized. america's heart bke the day after christmas when a young police officer in california was savagely murdered in cold blood by an illegal alien. who just came across the border. the life of an america hero was stolen by someone who had no right to be in our country. day after day precious lives are cut short byo those whhave violated our borders. lifornia, an air force veteran was raped,

murdered, anbeaten t death with a hammer by an illegal alie with a long criminal history. in georgia, an illegal alien was recently charged with murder for killing, beheading, and dismembering his neighbor. in maryland, ms13 gang members who arrived in the united states as unaccompanied min minors were arrested and charged last year after viciously stabbing and battlin beating a 16-year-old gir er the last several years, i've met with lizens of fa who's loved ones were stolen bygr illegal imion. i've held the hands of the weeping mothers andbr ed the grief-stricken fathers. so sad. so terrble. i will never forget the pain in their eyes, the

tremble in their voices, and the sadness gripping their souls. how muchore american blood must we shed before congress does its job? for those who refuse to compromise in the name of border security, i would ask: imagine if it was ur child, your husband, or your wife who's life was so cruelly shattered and totally broken? e ry member of tongress, pass a bill tha ends this crisis. to every itizen, call congress and tell them to finally, after all of these decades, secure our border. this is a choice between right and wrong, justiced justice. this is about whether we fulfill our cred duty to

the american citizens we serve. when i took the oath of office, i swore to protecttr our co and that is what i will always do, so help me god. thank you. and good nigh t. >> that was president trump speaking from the oval office, making yet another appeal to the american people, to suppt his call tbuild a wall, a physical wall, uthern u.s. so border, or else he will not see the government open again. just a few of thoints he made: he said all americans are being hurt uncontrolled illegal migration. he spoke about drug smuggling, he spoke about crimes committed. s d by undocumented immigrants. and he spoke about chilien and women beng the greatest victims of undocumented immigration he spoke aut the democrats tha that he has now changed his request foa

wall, no longer concrete. he is talking about something made out of steel. and he made a very emotional appeal: how much more american blood must we shed before democrats come around and congress does its job. i'm going to quickly turn to my colags, amna nawaz and amy walter to talk about this. amonaaa, you have been keeping track of some of the statements the president has made. he made sweeping statements of how many immigrants are in this country and who have committed crimes. what do we know about that? >> the statistics don't back up that that i a serious enough problem to necessitate a presidential statement. all of the stories are hetbreaking stories. each one of those families suffered a devastating loss. but the facts show iegal immigrants in america commit crimes at a far, far lower rate than even native-born americans. >> and he referred to again, to women and children being used, being

the victims of these traffickers. we know that trafficking is a part of the problembu it not the entire problem. amy, i want to quickly come to you, in tef the political argument, the president is appealing no the american people. are we hearing argument from him that is likely to win over the people who don't agree with him? i is the same speech we've heard from the president since the time he came don that golden escalator. f it soundiliar to his speech when he won the ivmination at the convention, and the opinions about the president, mirror opinions 'reut the wall, if you not changing your opinion of the president, which he is not aiming to do, he is not making a differentun argument, it iikely it will move any other voters. we've seen over the course of the time that he has been mr. president, opinions about him, favorable or unfavorable, have barely budged. people are pretty well locked in, and youinr n as a voter about the wall, it is also closely tied to your eopinion about th

president. nothing new here. he seems to be making a similar argument he has been making for the last two and a half years. >> but he painted it as a moral question. he said at the end, thi s is a choice between right and wrong. again, appealing to people watching to call andnt t a member of congress. and right now we are going to hear from members of congress, the speaker ofs3 the house -- newly elected speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, will be speaking first. she is going to be followed by the democratic minority leader in th united states, chuck schumer. >> good evening. i appreciate the opportunity to speak directly to the american people tonight about how we can end this shutdown d meet the needs of the american people. sadly, much of what we heard from president trump lessughout his sen shutdown has been full of misinformation and even malaise.

let's start with the facts. the fact i on the ver first day of this congress, house democrats lissed senate repn legislation to reopen government, and from smart, effective, border security solutions. but the president is rejecting these bipartisan bills, that would reopen government, over his obsession of forcing american taxpayers on a wall that he always promised mexico would pay for. president trump has chosen to hold hostage critical services with the safety a of trican people, and withhold the paychecks of 800,000 innocent workers across the nation, many of them veterans. he promised to keep government shutdowns for month or years, no matter who it hurts. that's just plain wrong. the fact is we all agree we neeto secure our borders and honor or

values, and we can install new technology to scan cars and trucks for drugs coming into our nation. we can hire the prsonnel we need to per fas facilitate immigration at the border. the fact is women and children at the border are humanitarian challenges, a challenge that president trump's own core and counter-productive policies have only deepened. the fact is president trump must stop holding the amerin people hostage. let's stop manufacturing a crisis and must reopen the goyornment. than >> leader schumer. >> thank you, speaker pelosi. my fellow americans, we address you t >> thank you, speaker pelosi. my fellow americans, we address you toght for one reason only: the president of the united states; having failed to get mexico to pay for his ineffective, unnecessary border wall, and unable to convince the

congress or the american people to foot the bill, has shut down the governme d. americocracy doesn't work that way. we don't govern by temper tantrum. ge president should pound the table and demand h his way or else the government shuts trwn, hurting millions of americans who arted as leverage. tonigh and throughout this debate and h presidency, president trump has appealed to fear, not facts. division, not unity. make no mistake: democrats and the prident both want stronger y rder security. however, we sharsagree with the president about the most effective way to it. so, how do we untangle this mess? separate the shutdown from arguments over border security. there is biptisan legislation, supported by democrats and republicans, to reopen government,

while allowing debate over border security to continue. there is no excuse for hurting millions of americans over a poly difference. federal workers are about to miss a paycheck, some families can't get a mortgage to buy a new home, farmers and small businesses won get loans they desperately need. most presides have used oval office addresses for noble purses. this psident just used the backdrop of the ovala office to mnufacture a crisis, stoke fear, and divert aention from the turmoil in his administration my feow americans, there is no challenge so great that our nation cannot rise to meet it. we can reopethe government and continue to work through disagreements over policy. we can secure our border without an inaffective, expensive wall, and we can welcome legal immigrants y d refugees without

compromising safnd security. the symbol of america should be the statue of liberty, not a 30-foot wall. so our suggestion is a simple one: mr. president, reopen the government and we c work to resolve our differences over borderb security end this shutdown now. thank you. >> we've just heard from the senate minority leader, chuck schumer. he was preceded by the house speaker, nancy pelosi. you heard the democrats saying, we, too, want border securthy. we believeborder can be made safe, but it needs to be a conversation the country has with th government open and runninhi which is som the president has clearly disagreed with because he has said from day one, unless there is agreement to fund the border wal he would not agree to fund the government. i want to turn turn to my

colleague, lisa desjardins, who is standing by at the capitol hill, and amna nawaz and amy walter of thek coo political report. lisa, to you first because you've been fog this from the capitol. are we hearing from the presidt, and now from the democratic congressional leaders, the kind of argument that mayus brinloser to resolving this? >> i don't think so. but, clearly they needed h each othert on the philosophy that is behind this. we saw a little bit of this tonight. i can alsay that while the president was speaking, among the things that he said was something i asked democrats about directes. the ent said that at democrats' request, he is channg his demand for a wall, and it will now be steel at the democrats' request. i immediately reached out to speaker pelosi's office, and her spokesman, ew hammel, told me right away, you can say i said that's false. so democrats are sayg it is not at their request,

that any structure be steel. if anything, democrats aren't changing their aosition here. it sounds like the saying that the president is operating on fear. they sll believe a wall is immoral. however, notice, we didn't hear that word as much asfe two dnt words as "ineffective" and "costly." they were speaking just ay hallay from me, and we'll see if we see them returning from their remarks soon.l >> and wesk you to keep an eye out for them because we know you are there close by. i want ton to yamiche alcindor. we wanted to hear a different or new argument from the president. why is the president essentially sticking to his guns on this? >> this is thesi prent's best pitch to america. he wanted to take his g ssage, that he really has been deliveror years, every since he opened up his campaign

talkg about a wall and immigrants as criminals. he wanted to sympathize that into this speech. he told americans that immigrants are criminals, essentially. he talked about this is a crisis of the soul, this is common sense, and he was talking about the fact that he really feels as though this the best thing he could do for america, and this is worth shutting down thego rnment over. one thing that is really important, he did not say "wall" oveand over and over again. i've listened to president trump thousands of times, or hundreds of times, andes the ent has always said this is a wall. we need a wall. in this case, he said physical barrier. that's a big shift, at least for now. i think it is an important note we need to make. you're probably hearing a little bit about thepr estors or hearing the noise by the protestors, there are people protesting with signs that say "fake crisis," and others saying he is a

thbitual liar. e are people who are saying that the president is misleading america because some o the things the president said were misleading, including the fact thatmmigrants are coming bringing drugs across the border. we know most of th drugs coming into america are coming in through legalen ports of y and hidden in tractor-trailers. and a large majority of them are being arrested for non-violent crimes. >> y raise a very good point. one of the reasons this is such a ctroversy, and i'm going to come now to the stuamo to nawaz and lisa desjardins. there is a dispute about so many arguments that the president an president have been making. yamache mentioned drugs. you were just indicating to me, when the president talks aut ncontrolled illegal migration, what is the evidence in terms of the numbers of people coming across the border? >> i'm not sure there is any expert consensus there it is uncontrolled in any way. if you look a

ristorically what has been happening at our der, we have a graphic that clearly shows over the la 20 years, those people illegally trying to enter the country atur southern border has been dramatically dropping. that is an 81% drop. we have bandling in our past many hundreds of thousands more people a lynth than we're curre handling. the president and speaker pelosi talked about a humanitarian crisis, and that exists because the demographics have been shifting. we have more families and children appearing at our border than ever before. and that is taxing ourem syn unprecedented ways. it is worth pointing out, judy, that is largely a isis of our own making. we have not added resources o the kinds of places that would make a difference, in our detention facilities or in r legal framework. >> the mention of the need for more judges, how doe at impact what is going on? >> it has a huge impact. we saw the president say ght there we don't have a way to promptly return people to their home

iuntries. thats absolutely true. we have an unprecedented backlog in our immigration courts right now. it is somewhere between 800,000 and a million immigration courts -- cases, rather, that are waitg to be adjudicated. and we know the people coming to our border now are not largely economic migrants. they're largely seekingot tion, some kind of legal safe haven from violence from back home. st so important to get these frankly stas of what information we do know for a fact is going on when all of these arguments are being thrown around. amy, i asked you a mine ago whether the president was saying anything new tonight, likelyo win anybody over, and yamache pointed out he didn't useth word "wall," but he is still talking about a b physicrrier and a huge in investment in that barrier. >> and still making the case that the issue is about imigrants coming over illegally and doing

terrible things once they me over the border, as opposed to, as amna pointed out, the real crisis on the border with families seeking a asylu there was no discussion about what to do with these folks. amg is exactly ht, the real crisis is the fact that there is not a way, and president obama had the same challenge, of dealing with these families, wh these children, especially once they come into the united states as asylum-seekers. so there is a real challenge to our immigration system, but the wall itself is separate from the issue of the a asylum-seekers. the asylum-seekers are going to a gate in a wall. they're not trying to get over a wall. >> don't think disputes this is a complex problem, one the united states has been wrestling for sme time. congress has tried again and again to pass legislatio and has not been able to reacht agreem comprehensive

immigration. >> there is a slight falling away amng republican ranks over the president's decision to hold firm on the wall or physical barrier, whatever you want to call it. >> that's right. three senate republicans have openly said they're ready to reopen most o the government. senator cory gardener, senator susan collins, and senator lisa murkowski. and in the case of the two women, they're opposing the president on big roads. they're the first ones to say so publicly, but privately i know there is a evel of discomfort among senate republican staff over this shutdown. many of these senators have been through this before, and they know generally it is the side which is refusing to pass regular appropriationbi s that gets blamed for this. you talk a lot about the president, but the democrats, also in the

past, have supported a border fence. chuck schumer himself -- ie think we hava graphic -- support the 2006 secure fence act. and i asked the number two democrat in the house, u used to be for a fence, and why aren't you anymore. how do you explain that? ind he paused and said don't have a good answer for that. and he said, t i do think what the president wants, a e entire wall border, is wrong. they think the emphasis is on the president now to set the agenda. >> lisa, you're right, that the president pointedt at the democrats in the past have been for a physical wall. ine democratic argument has been, we're to talk about border security, but first let's get the government open. lisa, quickly, we expect there to ba meeti tomorrow between the president and congressional leaders. anything different, other w tht we hear tonight, to set the table for that?

>> we'll see. from the capitol, it doesn't feel like any hearts or minds have changed at this hour yet >> yamache, what about that? you're still with us at the whitfohouse? >> a now, the president is really digging in. that speech was hiinm sein stone his argument for why his side should win. one of the things i want to point out is that the president was making an argument a little different than he di the past, about criminals and drugs, and he isum making an art about class. he says fancy politicians put up walls around thei homes, and why can't we have a wall. and he made a point tha the opioid crisis is connected to the southern border, and that's true, but they're coming through legal ports of entry and not illegal ports of entry. but the president isho saying, you d be concerned about this, and washington should give you an answer, and that answer should be a physical

border. >> i have not heard the president before speak about a wall -- wealthy ople having walls around their homes, that they have the right to wall themselves in, if you will, and to keep out bad elements, and he is saying that's what the country should be able to do as we we want to thank allof you . yamiche alcindor and lisa desjardins, and amy walter. thank you all. for now, shat conclu or special coverage of our president's address to the nationemnd theocratic response. for some viewers, your enmember pbs prime time programming willew. and we'll continue the program in just a moment. >> this program was made possible by viewers like you. thank you. >> >> woodruff: in the days other

news, a new court filing in the russia probe said prosecut believe former trump campaign chair paul manafort gave campaign polling data to a russian associat he allegedly had ties to russian intelligence. the di could have used the information in its election-meddling effort. the trump administration's ifting statements on withdrawing from syria, struck sparks with nato ally turkey. national security adviser john bolton had insisd that turkey promise not to attack u.s.- cked 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 that bolton had made a "very serious mistake." >> ( translated ): despite reaching a clear understanding with mr. trump, different voices have started emerging from different segments of the administration. we are determined to take steps against terrorist organizations

such as the kurdish fighters along with the islamic state. we will mobilize to neutralize these terrorist organizations in syrian lands very soon >> woodruff: the turks says the syrian kurds are allied with kurdish separatists inside. turk meanwhile, secretary of state mike pompeo trained his focus on iran, as he began a middle east trip. pompeo arrived in jordan and met with the foreign minister. said the u.s. will be "re- lsubling" pressure on iran. the secretary istrying to reassure allies in the regionab t u.s. plans to leave syria. north korean leader kim jong uni arrived in b today, and met with chinese president xi jinping. kim traveled bspecial train from pyongyang, then went by htorcade to his meeting w xi. he's expected to stay until thursday. there've been reports second summit between kim and president trump is also in the works. a severe winter storm blasted

much of europe again, dumping snow from the alps to athens. at least 13 have diehe past week mostly due to avalanches. in athens, beach umbrellas were topped with snow today. and in southern germany, snowfall closed roads and trains and trapped hundreds in their homes. >> ( translated ): it is nice when you can sit at home and look out of the window, but i work a lot on the road and now, for instance, i can'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 in this country, there's word that carbon dioxide emissions surged last year despite a decline in coal use. the research firm rhodium group reports emissions rose 3.4%, the most in eight years. much of it was fueled byh. economic gro up to 1.4 millfen convicted ns in florida regained their

right to vote today. voters approved the move, in november. newly inaugurated republican governor ron desantis wants enabling legislation before the change takes efft. civil rights groups say that's a needless delay. on wall street, the market rallied again, on rising tech stocks and oil prices. the w jones industrial avera gained 256 points to close at 23,787. the nasdaq rose 73 points, and the s&p 0 added 24. and, clemson is college football's national champion, for the second time in three years. the tigers routed alabama 44 to 16 last night, in santa clara, california. back in south carolina, clemson students and fans celebrated into the night.

>> woodruff: the success of college scholarships across the country can vary widely. one program in minnesota boastsr uation rate one-and-a-half times better than the national average and is especially helpful for first generation coege students. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro looks at what's behind that success our weekly education segment, making the grade. >>eporter: at 22, precious drew is a recent college grad and buddinentrepreneur. fellowship to work on hera business plan at a minneapolis incubator. her business is a sustainable beauty product. in college, she and a friend debloped a face and body sc made out of used coffee grounds. for now, she makes it in her mother's home. >> we're considering

manufacturer to scale up a bit, but we pride ourselves on all batches, handmade with love. >> reporter: the pri that her mother feels is evident from the framed diploma and photos throughout the house. >> her name is precious. god knew it and i knew it, that she had a gift. >> reporter: precious priscilla 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 predominantly white school in rural minnesota because it fered the most generous financial aid. it was just over an hour, and al away from her minneapolis public high school. >> the transition s 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 itth ks to a program called wallin education partners. waestablished 26 years agoin has helped more than 4500ud minnesota stts attend and

complete college. kelly and john henry, parents of two young childr, are among 65 wallin donor partners who give $400 a year to individual students. although that's just a fraction of what college costs, wallin helps students find additionalon aid so tha 40% have any debt when they graduate. >> i had been volunteering in minneapolis public schools helping lower income, firstra geon high school students get into college and realized once they're in college, there's not a lot of support for them. so we thought we'll give them a scholarship and help with the financial part of that. >> hello, hello! >> reporter: donors are encouraged, though not required, to give more than just mey. they are also urged to develop a friendship with the recipient. for the henry's, 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 amazingly happy with the results. >> no matter how much i had done, they would say, "okay, 'rwhat's next? 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 a started by former c.e.o. of medil device giant medtronic the first in his family to attend college, which he did rough the g.i. bill. 60% of wallin scholars are first generation college students, 70% are students of color.an and the averagal income in their households is about $25,000 a year. a challenging demographic, says wallin c.e.o. sun king. >> if you are a student of color, first in your fily and you're low income, the likelihood of completing a four- yearegree is about 12%. among all students that enter a

four-year program, about 62% will complete a degree. >> reporter: but among wallin students, that graduation ratene isnd 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."so not our ad. our advisors say "fred, i understand you weren't in chemistry last week, what's going on, do we need to talk?" so very intrusive if you like, but very supportive. >> yesterday i took a test.ug it was a se. i honestly wonder if i should reevaluate my finance majote >> reporter:anie avalos is a junior business major at the unersity of minnesota.

from the very beginning, she says, advisor, liz karlin helped her navigate the academic and social challenges. >> i remember the first day, had so much to talk about. like my gosh these classes are so different, the 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 campuses, an vainvaluable network, sayss, the daughter of two mexican immigrants who never finished 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. wi>> reporter: wallin work 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 income level goes up a little

bit. it's not until you get that degree that you get that big payoff. so the degree is theze.or >> rr: precious drew hopes that big payoff will come soon, as she continues to builher business she hopes also to attend graduate school in the years ahead. for the pbs newshour, i'm fred de sam lazaro in minis. >> woodruff: fred's reporting is a paldnership with the underto stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. >> woodruff: and now a medical milestone: the american canc society said today the death rate from cancer fell 27% between 1991 and 2016. the cancer society says 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 g due to fewer people smokd 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 iing 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 ehere to walk us through report. he's the american cancer society's acting chief medic officer. dr. lichtenfeld, thanks so much for being with us. let's sort of unpackof these numbers. su talk about the study s lung cancer rates going down largely because smoking going down, but it's going down twice as fast amonmen as among

women. why is that? >> john, we need to understand that men have been smoking for a much longer time, and women began to take up the habit in the late '60s, '70s. so it took a longer time for the women to understand that smoki 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 decreasein smoking and lung cancer death rates for both men and women as we provide this report. t >> yang: a state also found that there are higher lung cancer rates among women born in the '60s compared to men of the same age.an idea why that is? >> that's correct. that was research recently b reportmy colleagues here at the american cancer society, and the reality is we don't really know why that's happening. it's not due to differences inok g behaviors, so there are

other factors that are leadingea to that in of lung cancer. having said that, i think it's veryvery important for all o us to understand that lung cancer happens in non-smokers, o. we have a tendency to eremphasize 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, but the bottom line is we're starting to see that occur in younger people, particularly younger women, and we need to learn re about why that is happening. >> yang: the study also says obesity-related 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 cancer and particularly cancer of the uterus in women are related to obesity, liver cancer, colon

cancer, there are a number of cancers that are impacted by being overweight. we also know that, in this country, we have an obesity epidemic and that has not yet completely played out.ai so, 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. it's something that we need to take into account and we need to at least alert people that thisv isy serious problem. >> the study alsrasaid that the al disparity is narrowing, the dispity between cancer deaths among african-americans and among white people narrowing, but that it's getting wider, the disparityetween bad outcomes in rich communities and poor comnities. what do you think is behind that? >> well, it's not only rich and poor cmunities, it's also in rural communities and the cities, and there are a lot of f explanatio it. the most obvious of which is

that some of the lifestyle behaviors are different among those who are poor verose who are better educated. so smoking behaviorsalcohol consumption, other lifestyle issues, obesity might be a factor as well. so that's just one part of the explanation, but access to care is a very, very critical matter, urd if you don't have funds, if you don't have ice, you don't get the type of care that might be the best care for you if you have cancer. and access to care in rural communities a very serious issue throughout our country. there are large parts of the united states where adequate medical care, particularly adequate cancer care rs people to travel great distances, or even getting screened for cancer. so we need to take a carefullo at all these issues. and i do think we need to make a national commitment, we all need to make a commitment -- personal commitment, whether it be government or other ganizations, the america cancer society among them -- we need to take a careful look at

this and fure out what we need to equal.ke the outcomes we know we can do it. we've seen that happen, that equal care can produce equal outcom. 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. >> thank you. >> woodruff: a good book can be transformative. in an agof social media and a growing popularity of book clubs, what we read can also help create communities. jeffrey brown explores all thi with glory edim, who has created a space to celebrate voices at might not otherwise be heard. ithe "well-read black gir online community book club that focuses on black women writers. we really focus on building and amplifying the voice of blackwo

n, especially baby writers, en we have a festival, a book club and online pr, so you can participate in various ways. >> brown: was it an obvious idea? >> no, an unexpected idea. it was a gift from my partner, who made a shirt that said "well-read black girl," and it ousparked the idea that i start something with this. m what does n to be a well-read black girl. >> brown: and the conversation thaws they were seeing your shirt?in >> they were sthe shirt on the subway, grocery store, gym, where do iet the shirt. >> brown: it's a good shirt. righ and so it's like who are 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 on your bookshelves. c it wiosity, and again quite selfish, i wanted to make

new friends.di and as ithat, it grew and i built a presence on instagram and that grew. >> brown: clearly tapped into a hunger, what? >> it was clearly a generalling. sometimes women are invisible in spaces, and when it comes to publishing, there is not only an avenue of women to becomewr ers and to understand what the dynamics are, and it just became, like, a cheerleading plot for those who want to do the writing and want the people to buy their books. it happened seamlessly.>> rown: so the anthology, you asked all these writers that kind of question sort n did you see your first. >> yeah.ca >> brown: e that was the way into -- >> well, that wamethe origin for i have always been a p ason to questi to look for myself in books. my favorite book is maya

irgelou's "why the caged b sings" and that's the first time i saw mylf on the pages of a 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 "little women," i saw myself in joe march, i read weathering ights, but before that, don't think i saw a reflection of a young black girl coming of age unread maya angelou and tony morrison, a classic for so many black women. it was a turning point for me. the story of black womanhood is one of survival and excellence as well. >> brown: it's an interesting thing and the one thing that books, we often say, those of us o 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 into

someone else's and building a stronger perspective, and a lot of these stories, whether it's jacquelodson or jerry jones, they are lookini at theirn stories and what led them to become writers and r what helped thlly see their own stories in the books that they re. and i think that's really important. you need that reflection for anyo w. >> brown: t surprised you when you started getting their responses? what excited you? >> well, we all tribute tony morrison. >> brown: how could we not. >> it's toni morrison. and barbara smith writes about james baldwin and how his words helped her become a writer. there's one writer, debby writes about how reading the memoir

"boy" was fund meant toll her experience, so it's not necessarily just about seeing an exact reflection, but to make sure that these symbols had meaning and they build significance. you can really explore. reading feels to me like an exploratory practice. you should be able to find characters and stories you can , ll into. >> these are writemen who became writers. >> yes.ou how much didee their beigin story connecting to the writers that theme? >> oh, yeah, completely. i think at the end of her story, she said she read this one book and it wasn't until she wrote herow that she was able to really -- >> brown: that's right. >> it was su a profound statement, a powerful way to end, it compelled her to want to bring write her own story, and i think that is the takeaway from the anthology that we could 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 reading recommendations and i did that intentionally because i was thinking about my younger self and the things i wanted to read. i did always want to read "to kill a mockingbird," i wanted other alternatives, and this list is about black feminism, playwrights, black coming of age stories, poetry. it is a full listing of how to reimagine the literary canon, and there's no 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 and. educat

>> brown: you still have an actual book club. >> yes. >> brown: an old fashioned book club. >> yes. >> brown: you get together. it's great. you know, i thk for me having the book club is a great lesson in listening. i really love to listeto everyone tell their own story and how they relate to their own characters. m itfavorite part. i love doing social media. but being able to sit next to a reader and look them in the eye and persuade them maybe like a character a little bit more. love that back and forth >> brown: the well-read black girl book club and now the "well-read black girl" anthology. thank you. >> thank you so much. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs

newshour, ank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has beeprovided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> the fwod foundation. ing with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwe. >> carnegie corporation of new york. pporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.g. >> and with the ongoing support of thesenstitutions and individuals.

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♪ ♪ - this week on milk street, we're baking bread. we start with a ip to austria to find a recipe for pumpkin seed bread. we then transform that into a light dinner roll. then we go to portugal to make broa. we then transform that into a light dinner roll. this is a classic european loaf married to an american cornbread. and, finally, inspired by the cooking of macau, we do a sweet potato cake with a sweet lime glaze. stay tuned for "milk street does bread," right here on milk street television.