captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, by a narrow vote, the supreme court allows president trump's restrictions on transgender people serving in the military to take hold while the legal battle continues. then, on day 32 of the federal government shutdown, we take a look at national security ndncerns with the impacts felt by the coast guardhe f.b.i. plus, a conversation with barry jenkins, the oscar-winning writer and director behind the film "if beale street could talk." >> i want people to know not only what it's like to walk a mile in these characters' shoes, but to put their shoes on and really know what it feels like to go through these experiences. >> woodruff: all that and moreig onht's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> oa cruise with american cruise lines, you can experience historic destinations along the mississippi river, the columbia river and across the united states. american cruise lines fleet of small ships explore american landmarks, local cultures and calm waterways. american cruise lines, proud sponsor of pbs newshour. >> ordering takeout. >> finding the west route. >> talking for hours. >> planning for showers. >> you can do the things youa like to do witreless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewersike you. thank you. >> woodruff:ay 32 of the partial government shutdown has brought halting attempts to end e impasse. the senate today set competing votes for thursday. one is a democratic plan to fund the government, but not a border wall. the other is president trump's propos to re-open agencies, grant temporary protections for some migrants, and fd a wall. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell backs the trump an.

>> the opportunity to end all of this is staring us right in the face. that's why we'll vote on this legislation on the senate floor this week. all that needs to happen is for our democratic friends to agree that it's time to put the country ahead of politics, take yes for an answer and vote to put the standoff behind us. >> woodruff: house speaker nancy pelosi and other democra rejected the trump offer on so- called "dreamers" and others with temporary legal status. >> what the president proposed h is granting whalready had taken away. daca recipients had their protection. t.p.s. had their protection, the president took it away. and now he's sayg well i'll give you this back temporarily if you give me a wall permanently >> woodruff: meanwhile, some 800,000 federal workers are set to miss a second paycheck, come friday.

some lined up in washington today, for free groceries and a meal. lebrity chef jose andres organized the effort. and, the white house said presidt trump still plans to deliver the "state of the union" address, at the capitol, on january 29th speaker pelosi had asked to delay it. the u.s. supreme court agreed today to let the trump administration restrict litary service by transgender people, while legal challenges continue. by 5-to-4, the court set aside lower court injunctions against the policy. we'll explore this and the day's other preme court actions, right after the news summary. there's a tentative deal in the week-long teacher's strike in los angeles. the union and the school district reached agreement toda. on a new contr mayor eric garcetti said teachers will go back to work tomorrow, and he suggested something good came out of the strike. >> we have seen over the last few weeks the way that the city

has rallied around public education. quite frankly it's been breathtaking.it been inspiring to see. and for a city that embraced the idea that public education matters, that children matter, that teachers matter, today is u da of good news. >> woodruff: in broad terms, the new contract will boost wages,om reduce classizes, and add more librarians, nurses and counselors. another american service member sthas been killed in afgha. the u.s. military announced it today,ut gave no details. meanwhile, the confirmed death toll rose to5 after monday's taliban attack in maidan wardak province. a suicide bomber rammed ae military humto the main building at an intelligence base. that touched off an hours-long shootout. a russian court has ordered american ex-marine to stay in jail, for now, on suspicion of being a spy.

paul whelawas detained in december. he allegedly had a flash drive containing russian state secrets. whelan appealed his arrest today, from inside a glass cage in a moscow couroom. its lawyer said he had no idea he'd been given see material. the united states turned up the heat today ovenezuelan leader nicolas maduro. he faces growing opposition at home and abroad for retaining power after a disputed election. e an online message today, vice president mike penouraged nationwide protests, set for tomorrow in venezuela, and hge plsupport to anti-maduro forces. >> nicolas maduro is a dictatori with no lete claim to power. he's never won the presidency in a free andasair election. ou make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the aamerican people, we say the good people of venezuela: estamos con ustedes.

we are with you >> woodrf: in caracas today, canisters of tear gas andng smoldeebris lay scattered in the streets, after yesterday's failed uprising by national guard members. the u.s. justice department s informed canada that it still wants to extradite a chinese tech executive. meng wanzhou is chief financial officer of huawei. she was arrested in canada last month, on u.s. charges that she violated sanctions on iran. china today demanded that washington drop the extraditio request. a north carolina judge is refusing to declare republican mark harris the winner, in the nation's last undecided congressional race. harris has a narrow lead, but his campaign is under investigation for alleged absentee ballot fraud. the judge ruled today that the results will not be certified until that investi complete.

on wall street, stocks fwol on ies about global growth and trade with china.w the nes industrial average lost more than 300 points to40 close at 2 the nasdaq fell nearly 137 points, and the s&p 500 gave up 37. stl to come on the newshou the supreme court allows president trump's ban on transgender people in the militaryo begin. how the shutdown is impacting the work of the f.b.i., and much more. >> woodruff: from guns to immigration to who can serve our country. the supreme court day touched on some of the most politically charged issuesn the nation. as always, marcia coyle, chief washington correspondent for the "national law journal" is here

to help explain what happened. i,llo, marcia. so-- >>udy. >> woodruff: a lot going on. we haven't seen you for a while. but today the court did move on several fronts. let's talk, firth what they've done with respect to the pag's poly on transgender people. what did they do? >> first of all, the trump adnistration had asked the supreme court to do two things. first it wanted the court lift the injunctions that were block the transgendepolicy. and, second, at the present timed the supreme court to hear the meritz of whether the policy was constitutional before the lower federal appellate courts would consider that queson. so the court did agree to lift the injunctions against the policy, meaning the policy is in effect. that was a 5-4 decision, dissenting were jusnsces rg, breyer, kagan, and sotomayor. t the court refused to leapfrog over the lower federal appellate courts and said that the policy is going to remain in

effect until the supreme court gets a straightforward petition for review from whoever loses in the lower federal appella courts. >> woodruff: so you are contingent us, you're somewhat surprised that the judges chos to do this. >> i'm not surprised that they refused to leapfrog over the lower federal appellate courts. that is always disfavored. the courts wants the reasoning-- the benefit of the reasoning of lower fedteeral appelourts. to allow the policy to go into effect while the proces goe was a little surprising. certainly, there are transgend service members who will be tfected by this. >> woodruff: letk about some of the other rulings today, or nonrulings, on guns. the justices have now chosen to take up a significa tell us about that. >> all right. the new york state rifle and pistol association is challenging new york city's premises license. that's a license th restric the transport of a gun to

shoong ranges within the city's bound reas. if you want to go outside of the city, you have to get a carry license. the association claims it violates the secd amendment. the right to travel, and the commerce clause. and, judy, it's potentially significant because the court could rule on what is the constitutional test for gun regulations, as well as can there be public carry of guns, either open or concealed? >> woodruff: and you were telling us that's significant because you're going to see justices who have never ruled on gun case like this. >> that's right, that's right.uf >> woo and they'll have to weigh in. >> you have justices kagan,an gorsuckavanaugh facing their first major gun case. >> woodruff: and finally, iyo want to as, marcia, about the court taking no action on dmwhat the trumpinistration asked them to do, and that has recipients.the daca these are young people who came to the united states with their parents without documentatist. the admition wanted them to act on this.

they said they will not do it right now. >> well, e court rlly didn't say anything. it just has left untouched the government's petition to heaan appeal of a ruling by the u.s. court of appeals for theinth circuit, which found the way in which the trump administration was trying to end this program violated federal law. so no one really knows what the court's thinking is on this opinion will they consider it next term? will there be a special order at? point? we don't know. but right now, it loo as though it may be too late for the court to hear the case this term. this is usually the cutoff point r new cases. >> woodruff: and just very quickly, marcia, you werye ing it's unusual to see the court asked, in so many wos, fat track cases like the ones they have been asked to by this administration. >> that's right. this administration has done quite a few in the last few months, and the court hasn't been all that receptive. e latest one was just late this afternoon involving the

citizenship question on the u.s. census. the trump administration notified the court that it was going to seek review of a trial judge's order fiding that, that question violated multiple federal laws and wanted the court to hear it before the appellate court hears it. >> woodruff: marcia coyle, thank you. a busy day at the court. >> very.u thank , judy. >> woodruff: now to the story of a transgender sailor whose case the supreme court ruled on today.as ick schifrin reports, she says she is fighting not only for her job in the navy, but for future transgender service members. >> schifrin: what does the water mean to you? >> it's freedom. >> schifrin: for as long asga petty officer winters can remember, she's felt compelled to serve on the water and in the military >> i joined the e litary to se country. my father was in the service. he joined the army right out of high school.

i wanted to follow in his otsteps. >> schifrin: those footsteps w.ok her onto the george h bush aircraft carrier. she works in information technology. >> roughly 5,000 people coming together putting bombs on aircraft to getting i.a services to ship. it's a lot of cogs and a lot af people doiot of great work. >> schifrin: have you ever thought about your contribution to the military as different from any other sailor? >> not one bit. >> schifrin: and why not? >> again, i am that small cog. i do what i'm suppose to do, when i'm supposed to do it. and i do it well. i do it damn well. >> schifrin: in her 2017 evaluation report, her commander wrote she "embodies the qualities the navy seeks in its future leaders" and "strongly h recommende for promotion. last year her commander wrote she ranked in the top 1% of her peers. and in the category of military bearing and appearance, she "greatly exceeds standards."

for winters, that appearance has been hard fought. she was born male. >> i just never -- it was never me. r never saw myself. looking in the mirr so long, and not seeing oneself, in a way, your own body like completely betraying you. >> schifrin: what did you see when you looked in the mirror? o not me. it was scary forng, so many years oabjust not being to relate to the person looking back at me. >> schifrin: through her mid- 20's, she was self-destructive. she would ive fast and not re if she crashed, or even died. and then, this ment -- her first hormone therapy pill, paid for by the military. it allowed her to transition. over one year, megan winters, became megan winters. a new uniform. a new blouse. a new dress. and when you look in the mirror? toda >> i can't put it into words. it's me.

i'm starting to live my life authentically, and it's the best feeling in my entire -- my entire life. >> schifrin: winters' transition became possible in 2016 when secretary of defense ash carter lifted a ban on transgender service members. >> effective immediately, transgender americans may serve openly, and they can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military just for being transgender. >> now being allowed to be me, in the military, it rejuvenated my spirit in, not only myself,- tet my job, just my whole being was just e >> schifrin: she says her fellow service members asked a lot of questions. some were rude, most were cuous, and respectful. it all changed with a tweet. in july 2017, president trump

wrote, "the untied states government will not accept or allow transgender individuals ap serve in anyity in the u.s. military." seven months later mattis released formal guidance -- no future transgender service members. but active duty transgender service members woulbe allowed to stay, as would service members who might consider themselves transgender, but remain in their biological sex. the report said transgender service members could "undermine readiness, disrupt unit cohesion, and impose an unreasonable burden on the military." >> much higher medical costs, much higher utilization of the mental health system, and so forth, so in that sense there is a problem. they are probably not on average, going to be as available for deployment as other service members are. >> schifrin: peter sis a senior fellow at the family research council, which supports the transgender ban. >> these are essentially elective and cosmetic procedures, rather than -- i

don't accept the claim that this is medically necessary. the purpose of our military is to fight and win america's wars. it's not to provide specialized medical care at taxpayer expense. >> to treat transgender people, as megan has already hasif explained,rently when they can shoojust as well as their peers, they can meet every physical standard as their peers, they pass every mental test that'required of them. that's a form of discrimination, and that violates the constitution. >> schifrin: sasha buchert is winters' lawyer, and an attorney with lambda legal thatmeued the gove to reverse the transgender ban. multiple circuit court cases argue president trump's decision transgender service members don't reduce readiness. army chief of staff and incoming chairman of the joint chiefs gen. mark milley, agreed: >> have you said how they are harmg unit cohion. >> no, i have received precisely

zero reports of issues of cohesion, discipline, morale, and all those sorts of things. >> schifrin: as did chief of naval operations admiral john richardson. >> i'm not aware of any issues. >> schifrin: but marine commandant gen. robert neller acknowledged conrn about medical care. >> is, in some cases, because of the medial requirements because of some of these iatividuals, here is a burden on the commands to handle all their medical stuff. but discipline, cohesion of the force, no. >> they've had well over a year e this litigation began, year and a half, to bring forward evidence showing that there's been some effect on military readiness, and they have failed. they provided no eridence. >> sch winters felt compelled to serve. compelled to transition. d if compelled to leave -- >> i do what i'm supposed to do, when i'm supposed to do it, atever i'm asked. if it's a lawful order, you follow it. in that sense, if commander

in chief had asked me toeave the military, i would have had to. >> schifrin: throughout, she also struggled to explain toer father, the veteran. one of her brothers, cut off all contact. >> my parents and my two older brothers didn'quite understand.oi not only was i to transition, but my family it was kind of transition with me. >> schifrin: she was willing to walk away from her family, but first she asked for a favor:he name she would have been, had she been born a woman. >> i feel like my parents had to mourn the loss. but then to understand that they didn't actually lose anybody. they gained somebody. >> schifrin: that is what she hopes the courts decide as well, giving future transgender

service members the freedom of the water, the freedom to servee for the pbwshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: it has been 32 days and perhaps the first signs of a way out of the government shutdown. there will be two votes on thursday in the u.s. senate. our own lisa desjardin and yamiche alcindor join us wit the latest. hello to both ofteou. so, lisa us what do we know about what is in this agreement between leacoder ell and senator schumer for thursday? >> all right, it's important. this is not a final deal to end the shud. instead, this is a deal to hold two votes, which will be the first votes on fding that this senate and ts congress will hold. let me break down what the votes will be on thursday. number one: a vote on president trump's plan that would have $5.7 billion for a wall, plus temporary three-year status for

daca recipients. w then thel be a second vote, judy. that would be on essentially no wallunding, jus short-term bill to fund government throughr ry 8. remember, something like that is what the last congress, the last senate voted for i december. the short-term deal that was passed unanimously. the president said he was going to reject it at that time. and, judy, i just got off the phone with several different sources in the senat and i'm sorry to say that right now, the expectations are that neither pone of these willass. so why are they even doing this? well, one source jusmt told e the idea is, perhaps, to signal to both bases, which are l in farther and farther, that they are doing as much as they can to appease them. but there's no solution there. so they're trying to say, "we need to come to the middle." these votes may end up being symbolic but we wilwatch thm closely. they are signs of trying to get somewhere. >> woodruff: en if they're symbolic, tell us what is in each one of the measures. >> let's look at the deal the

president announced over the weekend quickly. $5.7 for a wl or fencing. it would also include money for border agents and detention beds as he's requesting. it would have the threeear status for daca recipients. here's one reason the democrats are outright rejecting this.ey ay it also includes provisions that would force those seeking asym fro central american countries to do so in country, and that includes so any child who is brought to the border would not be allowed to request asylum under that bill. inthey would have to do ithat country. democrats say this is a nonstarter. >> woodruff: now, yamiche, let me turn to you. how is the white house trying to silent arguments -- despite what lisa said they mott go anywhere-- what are they doing to silent argument? >> the argument is these are compromise bills. of course, he's saying he got the idea for alum and for basically telling children that they have to stay in their country to seek asylum. that he got that idea from meetings with democrats.

so the white house is bassaicaly ng why don't you thriek idea? you're the one who came up with it? they're also saying something that isn't really very interesting, or something that is kind of interesting is that they're basically saying this is best for the country. this is all about border security, and the democrats need to come somewhere. it's interesting, stephen miller, who is of course a very high-ranking white house official, his plan has been to change the asylum laws. even as the whe house says this is a democratic idea, it's really an idea that stephen miller backs. i should also add, larry kudlow, the director of the nationaec omic council, he was out at the white house today, and he said we understand there is b human sufferi at the end of the day, human security is at risk and we have to keep pushg for the president's plan. i just got off the phone with several source as well, they're not sure the president would pass aioemocratic veof this if it was topaz, even though it's a long shot, that it would pass. >> woodruff: not sure he would sign it if it would pass. thantime, there has been back-and-forth ove stu address which the president

would give towards the end of january. what's the latest on that? >> t state of the union negotiations is basically a game of chicken right now. the president is saying, "i'm ing the state o the union. i'm going full on. i'm preparing as over the weekend the white house sent an email to the sergeant at arms at the congress, as well as house officials they say, that we want to do a walk-through. we want to get ready and get this set. they also say the curity concerns that nancy pelosi has been talking about, all those have been resolved and everything is a go. it's now nancy pelosi's move whether or not she wants to say, e.u know what, you still can't come her or i accept what you're saying and you can actually come here. we're not sure oif the sta the union is going to happen, which is pretty remarkable to think about. markable.ff: r >> one week. >> woodruff: i don't remember anything like it. >> there has never baeen thing like it. >> woodruff: and never anything like the shud going on this long. >> that's right.

>> woodruff: for more on wha the government shutdown means in practical terms, an update now on the u.s. coast guard. more than 42,000 coast guard personnel missed a pcheck earlier this month, making it the only branch of the u.s. military to work without pay. that's because the coast guard is funded by the department of homeland security and its money is tied up in the shutdown. yet crews are still deploying on national security operations. just this weekend, the crew of the cutter bertholf departed alameda, california for a five h patrol to the western pacific ocean. the crew and their families are facing pressure. in a tweet, coast guard commandant karl schultz, wrote "our uscg members sail across the world to protect u.s. national interests while theire loved ones copwith financial challees and no pay at home." he also tweeted out this video produced by the coast guard.

it included this message from vice admiral linda fagan, a pafic area commander. >> during these uncertain timest lapse of appropriations of the government shutdown, i know it's hard for these crewsg to be leavhind their dependents and spouses. it's a thousand times re so when everybody's wondering when their next paycheck will be and how they can support tily they are leaving behind. there has been an incredible outpouring of support for the families here in the alameda area, but the tension and the anxiety for the crew is real. >> woodruff: without legislative action, or an end to the partias shutdown, coguard members will miss their second paycheck on january 30th and retirees will start missing out on benefits next month. virginia senator tim kaine, a democrat, spoke on the senate coast today about th guard. >> they're deploying for multiple months and they're saying goodbye to their families but their families in alameda's ot cheap will have to keep

paying rent bills and thingsas while is deployed and not being paid. ma woodruff: according to the coast guard, an esd 31% of active duty members do not have enough money in an emergency savings fundnto cover one s worth of expenses.po an alarming released today by the f.b.i. agents association warns thrnment shutdown impacts the f.b.i.'s cability to execute critical intelligence gathering and law enforcement tasks. it also compromises agents ability to maintain their security clearances. thomas o'connor is president of the association and he joins us now. mr. o'connor, thank you for being with us. so putting it al together, what has this shutdown meant for f.b.i. agents? and there are, what, 13,0ju-some-odd. >> about 13,000 agents. our membership is about 90% of

those 13,000. the shutdown has created a financial insecurity whin the agent population, and, frankly, within all of our professional employees throughout the f.b.i. that fancial insecurity to us equalaise national security in and of itself.t >> woodruff: wes that mean? i mean, is the country's securityt risk because agents can't do their jobs? ll, so, f.b.i. agents are going to continue to do their joe oblem is that the f.b.i., as an organization, has a budget, a fundeamount of mey which is final. and every day, the thousands of investigations that are being done throughout the united states and overseas, those cost money. as we spend money on thoseat investns, there's nothing eralg put back into the gen budget of the f.b.i. now, f.b.i. headquarters is trying very hard to try and move money around to make as little

impaas possible. but we're finding, from our voices in the field, that there is an impact already being felt. >> woodruff: you asked t bureaus around the country to send in their comments, how they're fielding this. and many of them wrote in and they talked out how their work is being affected, and it crosses the spectrum from counter-intelligence, as you just mention the, to crimesns agchildren-- sex trafficking, violent crimes. it is affecting f.b.i. does. >> the f.b.i. has a vast responsibility of investigativen programsthat does cover criminal, counter-terrosm, and counter-intelligence. the bureau is funded as an organization as a whole. and the lack of funding coming into the f.b.i. causes all of those programs to suffer in some way. >> woodruff: how is it fecting agents individually? you asked them to talk about-- to write about thaat, and number of them commented on the stresses it has meant for them, for thir families. >> people were very honest with

us. hundreds of agents wrote in to us and they wrote their storiesr about thspouses being ill, and the difficulty that-- they're now having to go to family to ask for help. personally, find that disgusting that an f.b.i. agent or an f.b.i. employee, who works for the federal go every day-- and the key is, these agents are working. they are on the street. they are not home. they are working. they are just not getting paid. and to have those people suffer through this financial hardship for over a month now, f.b.i. agencies and support employees, have gotten no money for the hiwork that they've done,ch means that all the things that we have to pay at the end of the month, we have to pull that out of our savings. and i don't care howna ncially secure are you, you can't go on forever with that. i most worry about our young agents with families and our support employees who may be at a lower pay scale. these are the people who are going to suffer and are suffering the soonest.

>> woodruff: and you were just telling me very quickly how this makes you think about how the federal government is making these decisions. >> well, i mean, the f.b.i. agents association is completely nonpolitical. we have no dog in any fight when o politics. our goal is to get the f.b.i. fully funded so we can do our jobs with alm the tools that are necessary to do our jobs to its fullest extent, and, also, to pay want f.b.i. employees for doing.k they're >> woodruff: thomas o'connor, the president of the f.b.i. agts association, thank you very much. >> and thank you very much for helping us get the word out that, you know, financial insecurity is national security. crime doesn't pay, and right now, neither does the federal government, and that's wrong. >> woodruff: there are more than one million children whose

parents are active military-duty in the u.s., most of whom attend public schools. military children often move six to nine times before ty finish high school. it's also common for a military kid to have a parent gone for long periods of time. many school don't know who these kids are or w to support them. but that's starting to change aecial correspondent kavi cardoza with our partner "education week" went to for our weekly segment, making the grade. >> reporter: children from shelton park elementary school ve been working with a nearby military installation on an oyster restoration project. many are military children. they've spent months measuring and graphing their results.'s >> looks like t 15. >> reporter: base commander joey frantzen says these educational partnerships are a win-win.lp oysters heilter the water his oops train in and... ys the kids get the opportunity to learn about oters and itly realelps the base. t, reporter: more importan he says, these interactions help school staff understand some of the challenges military children

face. >> at one point, my boys had been in five different schools in a two and half year period. so having that community and a school system that understands that dynamic, really allows those children to be ablto come in so they aren't lost. >> reporter: frantzen says knowing their kids are supported helps service members concentrate on their jobs and stay in the military. but because nationally, less than one percent of the s. population serves, these children's challenges often go unnoticed. teacher cynthia dufour says her military students bring different perspectives to class discussions. >> they just are so used to going new places, that curiosity is kind of ingrained in th. >> reporter: but for these children who are just ten,sn moving doe always feel positive. >> i started in italy and then i moved to new york then i moved to virginia. >> i always make friends and then i have to leave. >> military children, they move and move and move and that

doesn't really make me happy at all.ep >>ter: frequent transitions can also mean an" inconsistent and uneven"at edn. h eileenuck with the national iomilitary family associatsays that's because public schools vary so much. some have chny military dren. >> they set up welcome centers for families, garris commanders are members of the school board. t we also have school districts that have just a few military connected kids and it can be mortedifficult for hers and school personnel in those situatio to recognize the needs of those kids. >> reporter: a federal repore found there"no national public data on military dependent students' acemic progress, attendance, or long- term outcomes, such as college attendance or workplace readiness." advocates hope having a military identifier on enrollment forms will help track how well public schoolare meeting these students' needs. >> we're one of the largest oulitary-connected school divisions in thery. >> reporter: aaron spence is superintendent of the virginia beach city public school

district. almost a third of the approximately 70,000 students here are military children. educating them can be challenging. >> figurg out their transcripts, what are the classes they may have taken elsewhere that we don't offer here. we have a different curriculum in virginia than much of the country and so parents will want to know, if my child is in third grade math, are they learning the same thing that they were learning in third grade math i california? >> reporter: amanda yoder is a school counselor and a navy combat veteran. she's hired by the district specifically to support military students. ysyoder says it's tough al being the "new" kid. >> so the biggest thing we hear is who am i going to eat lunch with? is the sports team already full when they arrive? it's really important that we get those who haven't serviced and don't have a connection, involved and trained to unrstand terms and emotion >> reporter: so virginia beach schools ve several programs to celebrate these childr art displays, military partnerships,

outings to bases and a day when everyone wears purpl >> it's their life, it's what they experience. so we want to recognize at. >> reporter: principal tara brewer loves the diversity and experiences her military students bring. but as a school administrator, it also means frequent testi and re-teaching lessons because students arrive in the middle of the year. other times, it means getting creative. for example, one of her students was taking standardized tests when her father was deployed in the middle east. >> so every morning we've either set up a situation whecan skype her and wish her luck or when she comes in, or wh t she gets h teacher will text him and he will call. >> reporter: another challenge is having parents deploy, often to war zones. that can lead to children getting upset or acting out in school. s soools in virginia beach have after-school clubs where civilian children can support their classmates.>> y friend in the military move deployed so sometimes he would

cry. >> this is a ¡with you all the way' kit and this is ¡dealing with deployment'.. >> reporter: research shows when schools offer an understan ing environmencan have a protective effect. >> you need to have on a collared shirt with either a tie or bow tie. >> reporter: this year was especially difficult for 17- year-old jazmine jewell. she had toove from california to virginia for her senior year. >> this graduationsn't going to be super important to me because i'm happy to get my diploma, i'm finally don but i'm not graduating with my friends. >> reporter: both jazmine's parents served in the navy and she's moved seven times already. but she saysit's also taught her important life lessons. >> military kids are more appreciative of the things they have and the friends they make. every moment counts. you take a lot of things to heart. >> reporter: and despite the challenges of being a military child, after graduation, jazmine joined the navy and is lookingra

forward toling the world. >> jazmine kaitlyn jewell. >> i want to be able to experience all the things my mom got to experience! e so manyold different adventures that she's gotten to go on, all the beautiful cultures see.otten to and that's what i really want to do. newshour and "education week," i'm kavitha carda in virginia beach, virginia. >> woodruff: it's easy to lose sight of how dangerous and deadly working in a coal mine can be. nta new investigation by fne and npr that airs tonight -- call "coal's deadly dust" -- sheds fresh light on that. it turns o that for decades thousands of miners were exposed to a toxic dust at led to a deadly form of black lung disease. john yang tells us thait's a >> yang: judy, this is all d

to breathing in silica dust. while relations about monitoring mine dust tave been books since the mid-70s, this new investigation finds th federal regulators fail to pay close enough attention to their own data. since 2010, the government counted 115 cases of advanced black lung nationwide. but the npr/frontline investigation identified more than 2300 cases in just five appalachian states. frontline and npr visited a southwestern virginia clinic that has diagnosed the biggest cluster of these cases. the clinic's former director a talkut how his team found so many miners with the disease. >> we came back,nd we sarted doing a study. i mean, we actually had pulling x-rays back to 2014 to 2017, three yrs of x-rays. we quidcklyentified 416 during that three-year period.f

however, had went back to 2010, at a minim, we could have probably doubled that. >> breathe in and out deep and fast. ( huffing ) and out. stop. >> and i don't know what your tests will reveal today, but-- and i tell everybody this for almost 30 years-- don't g discouraged. >> reporter: but the count here at stone mountain is now nearly 800 wa dozen new cases a month. e. my buddy her god bless you. >> god bless you. >> i just think tha needs to know that these miners, they have paid a price. so many years these miners extract this coal so that you and i can-- i get ary-eyed.

i'm sorry. they paid a pri they have paid a price so that we can have luxury. and i just feel li h americaas just forgotten about them. >> yang: the narrators voice yojust heard belongs to npr correspondent howard berkes. he is the lead reporter on the investigation and he joins us now. howard thanks so much for being with us. this is not coal dust. whatos this? and are the miners exposed to it? >> it's silica dust. silica dust is generated whenni machines cut rock with coal, and they've been cutting a lot more rock witcoal in the last three decades because the big coal seam seams in appalachn

were played out, and what we're left with is thinner seams embedded in this rock. this rock crees quartz, so when you cut it, you create sig:ca dust. >> yand talk about the state of that, or what that silica dust does in the miners' lungs. >> when the mining machines cut up the silict,dushe part crelz very, very fine, so they're easily inhaled. and then thy're also very sharp. and they actually lodge in lungs forever. and then the lungs, of course, are trying to fight the presence of this foreign substance, the silica dust particles, so it builds up fibrotic tissue, and that fibrotic tissue continues to build and continues to build. and essentially what is a device that is there t facilitate breathing becomes hard and calcified and noonger can function as a lung and can no longer make breathing possible. >> yang: you quote a doctor

saying it's like suricating pile you're alive. >> aull monnologist we spoke with described it that way. and when you talk to the miners-- and we spoke with three dozeor so miners in the last year, all suffering from this disease, the they all have descriptions of struggling for breath, king up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. and, ultimately, this disease will kill them, andhey will b unable to breathe any more. >> yang: and you found many,ti many mores the number of these cases in your survey of just five clinics-- clinics in five states,n ather, thathe government tracked nationwide. why is that? and what are the implications o that? >> the government is looking at only working miners and is actually offering free lung x-rays to work miners, and then they count the occurrence of disease as they do those x-rays. the law limits them to only testing working miners. and the testing is voluntary. so-- and the participation rate is really low.

it's only 3 nationwide and ofly 17% in the coal fields eastern kentucky. so that's one subset of a larger group of people. n at the clinics are seeing are miners who have belaid off or are retired-- and there are tens of thousands more of those in the late eight years because of the downturn in mining. and those miners are going in to get tested because they're not working anymore. they're not getting paid. if they have disease, they cany apor black lung benefits. so that's the difference is the government isot looking at the great number of retired and laid off miners, and that's what we're seeing in the occurrence of disease now. >> yang: and this is also not a new discovery. you found docg uments datinck to the clinton administration that express concern over this. >> that's right. the feral mine safety d health administration back in the clinton administration had identified a cluster of advanced lung disease among coal miner in west virginia, and they were

so alasmed in these memos thafoi d that they actually sent out a warning to the mining industry saying, "we've got advance disea. silica is the cause. you have to do something about silica." there's really nohing that's occuing today that's surprising, except for the large kumber of miners who are sic and dying. >> yang: you've covered the mining industry for quite a bit. the trump administration is ying to revive mining. how is that going? and how does that it inwhat you found about aanced bla lung? >> well, there's really no connection between what the trump administration's promises are on restoring mining and what's happening tohese miners. what would really help these miners is an attempt by the trump administration and itngress to make sure that they get the benthey need when they become sick, and to change thebe regulationsause the regulations don't directly address silica exposure.

that's been recommended for decades. that hasn't happened forca s. and there's no proposal in the trump administration to address that. the oth ier things that mining has declined. there's little that a politician can do to restore it. this is all about the price of tural gas, and as long as natural gas is a lot cheaper, coal's not going to be able to e mpete. but asom that, the reality is that there are 1,000 min still operating today across the country, and 50,000 coal miners still working. and there will be tens of thousands of coal miners still work for years to come, and they meserve to be able to come ho from work every day healthy and whole and alare. >> yang: hberkes of npr, his investigation airs tonight on "frontline" on pbs stations. howard, thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me on.

>> woodruff: the nominations for the 91st academy awards were announced today. "the favorite," and "roma," got the most nominations. cthe film, "if beale streld talk," earned three nominations incling for best adapted screenplay for writer and director barry jenkins. jeffrey brn recently talked with jenkins about the process of turning the words of writer james baldwin into feature film >> i love you. do you know that? >> i do. and i understand what you are going through because i am with you. >> brown: two young people looking at each other through the glass of a prison visiting room." if beale street could talk" is the story of tish, played by kiki lane, and fonny-- stephen james. childhood best friends growing up in harlem in the 1960s and

'70s who become lovers as adults, only to see their dream crushed in a deeply racist society when fonny is falsely accused of a crime. >>o you want me to die in here? >> brown: based on the 1974 novel by the great james baldwin, it's been adapted byto writer-dirbarry jenkins. >> what mr. baldwin does so well is to crystallize these momentsw you hese moments in times, these feelings and describe thee to the reain a way that soey're both relatable, distinctive and pecific in a way that makes them un, ersal. you kn was a very observant person, a very wise pers and he spoke the truth. and i think that, unfortunately, the truth or the fact of america is so manyhings that have been issues going back 50, 60, 70 years, that are still issues today. >> bro: hewing closely to baldwin's words and storyline, jenkins has made a film that is itself both small and

large: the intimate lives of individuals captured amid the much larger burden of african- american history in this country. i spoke with jenkins recently at the eaton hotel in washington, d.c.. >> in this book those two voices were perfectly fused. and my job i felt like was tri at a certain level of parity in telling the story. it's one thing to read a book so i felt like the love story was the thing that was going to carry the day. it was the thing the audience was going to see themselves most e adily in. and thennd of slip in this other element. you know, there's less of it. but it's so much heavier that now you don't realize, oh, i'mnc actually experg something that's real and vital and important. >> brown: you' balancing these o very different registers >> yes, exactly.wn >> bone is a love story. one is rage and anger. >> and i think the power of o ldwin was and is that in balancing those ings you really show the relationship between the two. >> brown: when tish dis

she's pregnant, her family rallies to support her. regina king plays tish's mother. >> we are drinking to new life, tish going to have fonny's baby brown: so much of it is the interior life of the character. i sewhat you've done with th ery people look at each other, with the way the clooks at them, sometimes they look at us. very unusual. >> you read a book and everything is activated. you watch a movie and it's a very passive experience. in a book the author describes the smell of cinnamon, you intellecally smell this thing in your head. the author writes a lot of you hear it in your head, whereas in a move it's all outside you. and also the camera is always around the actors. even now, these camera are just outside of us. i'm looking at you so the camera can't know what it feels ln e to look youe eye. this is a very different intimacy than that intimacy. and so when making this film, because you're right, baldwin's stock in trade was the interior voice, the interior li, and like, how can i give that experience to the audience.

i want people to know not onlywh it's like to walk a mile in these characters shoes but to put their shoes on and really know what it feels lthe to go rough these experiences. beale street" is ju jenkin's third feature film, but it follows the remarkable" moonlight," winner of an oscar for best film in 201je few knew oins when that film came out. i asked about the enormous expectations and pressures on him with ""beale street." >> even beyond whether i won eight oscars or no oscars -- it's james damn baldwin, you know? it's james baldwin. that's pressure enough in and of itself because i wanted to honor his legacy and the way that thought it should be honored. and he had never been adapted into a feature film the english language before and so that was pressure enough. and i kind of like, it was a nice escape, to be able to slip into that i've got to be on a,

gameto this author justice and not worry about the expectations of the film. >> brown: you were talking a little earlier about the african-american experience in this country and how it comes out in this story. and it's something we talked about with moonlight as well. do you see that story being told more now in hollywood? >> absolutely! and i think the really beautiful thing about it is it's being told in so many different ways. you know you can loo literally just the last year of films that were released, so many that i'm going to forget some in rattling off the list, you have "sorry to bother you""" black klansman", "black panther" which made $8 billion"" the ha i mean there's so many of these films and they are nothing alike. i think it speaks to both theee m of expression, i think it speaks to the access to ttools, and i think, i mes as a compliment, it speaks to the diversity of the audience. i think people don't want the african-american pxperience to sented as a monolith.:

>> brod yet it's interesting to me, i'm coming from a news program, a news perspective. and you well know, w tre living ine where much of the news is about division. >> y. i think it's smoke and mirrors, man. i think that change has been ongoing for the last 15, 20, 30 years, but these things appear that make us believe that change is actually not what we believe to be. when i think about the crew or my film, we actually filmed in new york, los angeles and the dominican republic, a completely wide, wide spectrum of people from many different backgrounds, many different races coming together to tell the story of an american black family in the 1970s. so what do i see in that? you know i see a coming together, like a literal coming together to now foster my voice, and that inspires me to go out and help other people foster their voices about their own experiences. >> brown: "if beale street could talk" took home a golden arobe d for regina king's

performance. the film is playing in theaters nationwide for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: and that's theho ne for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. for all of uhoat the pbs ne, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs y:wshour has been provided >> babbel. 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 al changes of so worldwide. >> carnegie corpor.ion of new yo supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. pr >> thiram was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbhh. access.wg

hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour and here's what's coming up. unacceptable and a nonstarter. that's democrats on president trump's idea of a t compromiseo end the government shutdown. amid the president's controversial plan to with draw kroops from syria, former envoy brett mcg says trump's new policy will give isis a new lease on life. then on martin luther king day, the president of color for change, rashad robinson says how they can achieve racialal ey and justice. plus the journalist andriter raniqua allen tells us why the american dream is dead, at least for