captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: as the senate plans to speed up confirmation of trump administration appointments, we look at how this president ia shaping the fejudiciary. then, caught in a political storm. puerto rico is again the target he president trump's criticism, assland continues to recover from hurricane maria. and, encouragingiteracy in young children outside of the classroom, by creating reading programs at an uneected place. >> folks are here for an hour and a half, reo hours. so t time to add those interactions. and there's also a recurring elemt. chances are, the folks that are here this saturday morning, will be here next saturday morning, and the saturday morning after. >> woodruff: all that and more,

on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin? >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> ordering takeout. >> finding the west route. >> talking for hours. >> planning for showers. >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you.al with text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> bnsf railway. >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian,

german, and more. >> and witthe ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thk you. >> woodruff: president trump appears to be pulling back from his threat to close the border with mexico. last week, he warned that could happen this week, unless mexico stops a surge of migrants from central america. today, as he met with the head of nato, he suggested conditions are channg. >> mexico, as you know, as of yesterday, has been starting to apprehend a lot of people at their southern border, coming ia from honand guatemala and el salvador. and they're really apprehending

thousands of people. and it's the first time really in decades that this has taken place. so, i'm totally prepared to do it. we're going to see what happens over the next few days. >> woodruff: the u.s. senate'sde majority l republican mitch mcconnell, said today that osing the border could have a catastrophic effect on the u.s. economy. the presidenalso says republicans will not offer a plan to replace obamacare until after the 2020 elections. heromised that today, provided, he said, he wins e.-election, and republicans win back the u.s. ho for now, his administration is asking federal courts to strike down the existing la democrats on the house oversight committee moved today to subpoena former white house security clearance chief, carl kline. that is after a career white house staffer, tricinewbold, claimed that at least 25 trump aides were grantedecurity clearances, after initially being denied. republicans and democrats over the severity of the

claims today. >> overturning the security clearances is a choice the commander in chief can make. he's the president of the united states it's not against the law, its not against policy. there have been no leaks of national security information. >> 25 people the professional staff recommended should not be d security clearances-- and this was overruled! this is a systemic crisis for all americans. not for democrats or republicans or liberals, conservatives-- wr all of us. druff: democrats want to know how the president's son-in- law jared kushner, among others, won clearance. in britain, prime minister theresa may asked today for a further delay in her c's departure from the european union. may said she would use the time to work with the oboosition party on a brexit deal that could pass in parliament. c britain rently set to leave the e.u. on april 12. algeria's state ws agency a ports that embattled president

abdel aziz bouteflsigned today, after weeks of protests. it came after the milita insisted that he step aside immediately. bouteflika is 82, and has ruled algeria for two decades, but demands for his ouster rocked the nation in recent weeks. u.s. tonight about resolving a dispute with nato ally tury. the pentagon had balked at providing turkey with parts for u.s. f-35 fighter jets, if anka defense system. air today, acting defense secretary patrick shanahan said he thinks .s. turks will buy the "patriot" missile system instead, and the f-35 shipments will resume. >> i am very confident in the "patriot" proposal that we've delivered to turkey-- its availability, its pricing and, very importantly, the industrial participation that comes along with the "patriot" system. i expect we'll solve the problem

so that they have the righteq defenspment both in terms of "patriots" and f-35s. >> woodruff: u.s. officials warn that if turkey installs the russian air-defense system, it could help moscow learn vital information about the f-35. sthe speaker of the house advising former vice president joe biden to change his behavior toward women. nancy losi said today that he ibould stick to handshakes, as he gears up a po presidential bid. at a washington event, pelosi said, "people's space is important to them, and what's important is how they receive it, not necessarilhow you intended it." two women have complained about unwanted touching by biden. he says he meant no disrespect, and will listen to the concerns. the chair of the north carolina state republican party has been indicted on federal bribery and wire fraud charges. robin hayes and three others, including a major campaign donor, were accused in an

indictment unsealed today. they allegedly tried to bribe the state's insurance commissioner to favor the donor's insurance companies. police in los angeles say the killing of rapr nipsey hussle stemmed from a personal dispute, and not gang violence. they say the suspect, named eric holder, gunned down thssle on sunday outside the rapper's cg store in south los angeles. holder is still at large, and the chief of police urged himhi today to givelf up. >> what i'm concerned about as chief and i knowour community leaders are as well is we've got to continue to go hat tis increased in shooting violence because it's not just a dispute over a psornal matter. and, on wall street,ow

jones industrial average lost 79 points to close at 26,179. the nasdaq rose 19 points, and the s&p 500 added a on. still to come on the newshour: president trump's picks to fill key judicial appointments. another reason they come-- the effect of climate change on honduran migrants. analyzing the esident's recent criticism of puerto rico. and, much more. >> woodruff: the u.s. senate could soon be changing, once again, the way it approves nominees for critical jobs in the administration, and in t federal judiciary. senate republicans are aiming to reduce the time for rs to consider these nominees, and speed up the nomination process. they set the today for a potential rule change this week. democrats are criticizing the move for what it could mean for

country's federal courts-- while republicans dismissed that talk as empty politics. >> this significant rule change will help donald trump and his republican enablers in the senate to more swiftly pack our district courts with ideologically-driven judges-- judges who wilmake biased delings in line with their personalogical beliefs, and not based on the law or the constitution. >> see, this is not about actually debing people, whether they're qualified or not qualified. this is about preventing president trp from getting nominees-- by locking up the floor, and making surehat he can't actually hire staff or can't actually put people on the courts >> woodruff: here with me to discuss, not just this potential rule change, but theederal judiciary more generally, are two former, long-time senate judiciary committee staffers with first-hand experience with nomination battles. kristine lucius was a senior aide to democratic senator patrick leahy, and is now at the

leadership conference on civil and human rights.pi and, tom j is now at the heritage foundation. he previously serva senior aide to former republican senator orrin hatch. we thank both of youor being here with us. kristine lucius, explain just in brief what this rule change thtt senate majority wants to push through, how would it work? >> wt they want to be able do is they want to break the senate rule to move faster onpr ident trump's district court nominees and some of his executive political appointments. what we're focused on hee today is talking about the effect it would have on the courts, is we're focused on that piece ofti the reso that would make it faster to get trump's presidential judicial appointments confirmed. the problem, though, that we're very worried about is why they're doing this. what has happened recently with

several district court nhainees is thee hidden their records and only at the last minute have things come out to show histories of bias and oer controversies, and that is the d ncern, that the reason they're trying to speeis up is to keep the records midden. >> woodruff: tom jipping, you agree this is about speeding this up, but whabout the concern ms. lucius has oken about? >> i don't know if it's about speeding it up. we have to be clear about what portion of the process this change in rules affects, and it's only the very last, very small rtion of the process, after the senate has already voted to end debate on a nomination. there are plenty of examples of nominees who no one opposed, whose nomination was in the eenate for almost a year, and this lasteny little piece is not going to, i don't think, speed up the process all that much. it is certainly not going to hide anything. there will be all of the rest of the process -- the hearings, all

of the rest of the investigations andrutiny -- to uncover the information kristine was taing about. >> woodruff: kristine lucius, you're saying it's not going to hide anything, there lluld have beenhis time beforehand. >> i can give you a concrete example where in the verylast moment in the post cloture time -- >> woodruff: which is a reference of what happens in the senate wn they take a vote and need a certain number. >> exactly, sorry. but in that last ment is w the senate decided to reject thomas barr to the urt in north carolina because new evidence had come out about his forts and his involvement in disenfranchising black voters in north carolina. >> i do not think that's an rate description of the process of evaluating tom pharr. he had been nominated in that same posion a dozen years earlier, and the information adkristine's talking about been in the public record and discussed for a year before the senate decided not to move forward with his nomination. it was not new information that

came out at the last minute. >> actually, there were news reports that came out after his hearing, senators booker and harris asked for a new hea based on news reports that came out after his hearing, but even more information came out when there was a civil rightats rney who got involved and was willing to come forward, talking about tom pharr's s volvement. it is exactly thpe of thing at the last meantment when talking about a lifetime appointment thate're worried about. >> woodruff: let's get to the point on whether we agree what happened to mr. pharr, tom jipping. why not take the time? >> there is plenty of tim what we're talking about here is how much time is available to debate a nominee after the senate has decided to finis debate. it is the last few hours of a very long process, and the effect of these kinds of delays and obstruction is, today, we have the highest sustained level

of district court vacancies in american history. we have 140 vacancies across the federal judiciary that have been in the triple digits fr more than two years, devastating to the jdiciary. >> woodruff: but don't you also have under president trump in his first two years morees juapproved for the district -- federal district positions than even under president obama? >> no. well, in fact, president tru made 159 nominations in his first two years. president obama made barely ove 100. so you can expect the number of nfirmations to be higher however, as a percentage of those nominees, the senate confirmed fewer for president trump than it did for >> i want to come back, come to the poistnt, kriine lucius, the basic question, doesn't every president have a right nominate whoever he or she wants at some point in the future to sit on these federal benches?

>> presidents absolutely have the right to nomate whomever they want, but the senate is what we're talking about today, and the senate has an dependent role under the constitution. the senate must decide andmust carefully vet the lifetime appointments before weighing in. what we're seeing today is an effort to have the senate go faster but we're also seeing a president nominating people with records bias, and that is giving civil rights advocates like myself concernbout speeding up the process. >> woodruff: what do you mean records of bias? >> like thomd bar , like mathew kaczmarek has, this is one of the pending districtho court nomineesould be up in short order who call ustransgender people delnal, as an example. how would he be ir to p from the lgbt community. >> but also democrats in the senate vote in record numbers against nominees about whom

there is no ontroversy at all. i looked at the appeals court nominees, for example, fro president trump who were unanimously rated well qualified by the american bar associationa they receiv average of 35 votes against them for confirmation. that is unheard of in the history of this process. so it's not just one or two district court no, ma'am kneels who have a little bit of controversy, this kind of rule change needs to be put in place so that ther nomal part of the process works efficiently. >> woodruff: it's a much bigger subject and only about a half minute left can each of you explain why this matters so much. what is at stake here?j t a few sentences? >> so what is at stake here is whether our civil rights laws or any law that you care about wilh be d. at the end of the day, courts are the place of last reswhorts, her you care about access to healthcare, you spoke earlier in your news mmary about the pending case in district in texas. that was a district court judgde who ruhat pre-existing conditions should no longer be

protected. so whether it's access tor healthcareting rights, the courts are the place where all of us get our rights. woodruff: in just a sentence, what's at stake? i there are conflicts over individual nominea few cases, but we need a process that works so that the seate, answer institution, does its job. we have record vacancies today. we have twice as many vacancies as kristine's organization once said was a vacancy crisis. so we need a process that works so that the judiciary can do its work. >>druff: thomas jipping, kristine lucius, thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: we return tour series on migration from central america. we have brought you stories of violence and insecurity driving people towards the u.s., but

there are economic reasons, too. in honduras, where agriculture sustains many people, long-term drought, caused in part by climate change, is forcing many to leave. the farm for the trail noh. in tonight's report, produced in partnership with the pulitzer center, specl correspondent marcia biggs and videographer julia galiano-rios traveled to lempira state, in far western honduras. >> reporter: it's a typical morning for catalina ayala, grinding corn to make the day's tortillas. it's the daily bread here in rul honduras, where famili live off the land, growing corn, beans, and coffee. her husband alfredo has been a corn farmer all his life. but, this is the last of the family's harvest. how much reserves of corn do you have before you run out? >> ( translated ): we have c enoughn for two months. 60 days. >> reporter: don alfredo's one of almost four million people struggling to survive in what's called central america's "dry

corridor," an area that stretcs from costa rica to the mexican border. historically known for its lar rainfall, it earned the nickname in 2009, after a n.ought killed over half the crops in the reg accelerated by climate change, rainfall in the westeruras state of limpira has fallen sharply the last five ars. it's all dead. don alfredo says ten years ago, he could harvest aund 4,000 pounds of corn each season. now, he says, he's lucky if he gets around 500. he says he's lost over 90% of his crop. what was left was not even enough to live on. okay, so he's saying that when there is rain, when there is no drought, that the corn crop is much bigger, much wider. the kernels are much bigger. and they had to forgo planting them because of the drought. you see what came because of the drought. so they started planting these maicillo, which is what they

used to feed the animals. don alfredo's like most farmers we spoke to, who have started planting a lower-quality corn relled maicillo, which is more stant to drought. emaditionally used as chicken feed, it may keep live, but no one will buy it. what is the maicillo like to eat? >> ( translated ): bring it ier. it's not the sams a arfferent flavor, the tortilla isr. >> reporter: is there any hope of recovering that land? recovering trops? >> ( translated ): there is nothing we can do about the drought. >> reporter: while wealthieral farmers can inirrigation systems, don alfredo says he doesn't have the cas and without a crop, soon be out of a home. he used to pay the rent on his land with a percentage of his crops. on good days, he's able to find work as a day laborer for around $4 per day. today was not one of those days. how desperate are you? how bad is it for ur family right now? >> ( translated ): i am

desperate. that is my personal situation, and that of many other families here. we are desperate. not ving food makes one desperate. not eating for just one day causes distres >> reporter: would you leave? >> ( translated ): we'll have to get out of here.te >> rep a dónde? where? >> ( translated ): to find aer place we can have a better life. >> reporter: according to the u.n.'s food and agriculture organization, there's been a surge of migration from rural areas in honduras, where farmers st an estimated 82% of corn ckd bean crops last year from f rain. m-d for coffee farmers, yet another problean epidemic of ntst fungus, "roya" in spanish, an insidious pisease they liken to cancer, which grows quickly in dry, warm climates, destrong entire coffee plantations. r.rman orellana is an agricultural engin u. did his post-graduate

research in the before returning to h tiny village in honduras to work on water sustainability projects. took us to see the effects of the roya. its signature, this yellowsc oration. >> ( translated ): when the temperature is lower, 25 degrees celsius, 77 fahrenheit, or lower, 15, 25, 30 maximum, thisw fungusl not spread. but when the temperature is really high, the climate hot and dry, it will bre on one leaf, to another leaf, and eventually to the entire plantation. >> reporter: honduras is the fifth-largest coffee producer in the world, and orellana says close to three million people depend directly the industry. but he says 20% of the people in his village alone have left. >> ( translated ): in the last four years, there have beens plantatike this one, left completely abandoned. here, one can fertilize, eliminate, prune, clean, but the farmers haven't done any of that, because they know this can't be saved. >> reporter: how catastrophic is this, the roya, for this regione

which s so much on coffee production?tr >> ( slated ): simply put, there are families that won't have anything to eat becauseen there arre communities n at depend totally and completelyffee. the kids need to study, families need to eat.n' if they casell this, the only option is to immigrate. l this continues, there w more violence, more poverty, re hunger, more illegal immigration. it's not a problem in honduras. it's a global problem. >> reporter: some farmers are m.icking it out, tryg to fight the proble when the roya hit crops in 2012, farmers like timoteo cruz alberto started planting a new type ocoffee, called lempira, thought to be resistant. it took three years for him to find out they wererong. >> ( translated ): we had hope that they would be the sution for coffee farmers, but we've seen that's going to be difficult.ee as you canthey are all affected. so we will pick the beans from

this plant, and then it will die. if the price of coffee was higher, we'd have the capacity to spread chemicals to combat the problem. if not, the alternative will be that we'll have to join the caravan. >> reporter: eas pensando de salir? ate you thinking of going? >> ( tran ): without this product, we don't have anything else to turn to. th this product is wonderful, because it's the most "socially conscious" we have iour country, because it employs so many people. here, you will see, we have 20 people here cutti without this product, these people would have no other work. >> reporter: for now, alberto's crop still yields results. coffee beans spill into buckets. families working for him bring their children, on a winter break from school, to pitch in. we asked the workers if they were worried about what roya could do to the future of coffee farming. >> ( translated ): roya means no work. no coffee, no work, no money. >> reporter: if this farm dies, what >> (otranslated ): we have to go. >> reporter: a donde? where?

>> ( translated ): i don't know. maybe the u.s. again. >> reporter: for don alfredo, the decision to leave is more urgent. he and his wife are eating the last of their crop. and catalina suffe from diabetes, which requires expensive medication. he's tried to leave fore. in 2001, don alfredo hired a coyote and made the perilousro journey mexico into arizona, surviving for over a week in the desert with no food before being deported. you are going to go through all of this again, witho guarantee that you are going to be able to stay? >> ( translated ): i am 49 years old, and i already feel old, but the situation forces me to go. >> reporter: have you heard anything about the president the united states, donald trump? >> ( translated ): he is tough, that's what we hear here. he is tough. but what can you do? >> reporter: do you not worry about arriving and then just be sent back, being deported again? >> ( translated ): yes, i worry,

but the hunger forces me to go.d >> reporter: t closes, again, without rain, and those who have lived off this land for cnerations face yet another day without food-- andser to the day when many will leave this way of life behind. for the pbs newshour, i'm marica biggs in lempira, western hondas. >> woodruff: stay with us. last night, the u.s.e failed to pass a wide-ranging disaster relief ll. now, nearly a year and a half since hurricane maria, it is stalled over disagreements about puerto rico recovery aid. john yang will have an updatefr the island, but first, lisa dejardins begins our coverage. >> desjardins: nature's forces have battered the united states inhe past half year: storm

winds, flood waters and deadly wildfire. to those natural disasters, now add a man-made one. >>otion is not agreed to. >> desjardins: seven months after some of those crises, congress still cannot agree on much-needed recovery funds, with a failed senate vote last night and blame today. >> i think he is politicizing of relief. >> i'm disappointed political games carried the day yesterdayd >> dess: waiting for relief-- aas in georgia and north carolina hit by hurricane florence in the fall. that includes billions in damage, not yet repaired, at the corps training base, ca lejeune. also waiting, large areas of califoia where wildfires hit last year, including the most costly in state histy, which kied more than 80 people. this march, almost unprecedented flooding hit the midwest, devastating both farand

crops in storage. and all of that is being held up mostly by disagreement over another disaster area: puerto rico. the territory is still recovering from 2017's hurricane maria, but republicans say the island must start handling more recovery costs on its own--at east 10%. >> so, in the case of puerto rico, what's the big deal? anybody that qualities for in fema... those laws have been the same for such a long period of time. >> desjardins: but democrats want the federal government to fully fund recovery, pointing out the island is grappling with financial and economic crisis. they also want money to rebuild infrastructure. >> we want to he and republicans, and trump, need to understand that in puerto rico, we are dealing americans who are still reelinge

>>don't know how to spend the money, and they're not spending it wisely. m >> desjardr. trump has repeatedly criticized aid intended for puerto rico, and has disputed theoneed for addi federal dollars. he has made some bold statements. >> puerto rico has been taken care of better by dold trump than by any living human being. i'm giving them more money than they've ever got. >> desjardins: let's look at the president's words, including on twitter today, that "puerto rico got $91 billion for the hurricane, me money than ever" for a hurricane. the actual aid received by puerto rico so far is rertedly a fraction of that. the "washington post" called, agency by agency, and found that about $11 billion has been sent. another $30 billion has been approved, but not yet releed or spent. now, it is possible that long- term costs, not yet approved, could head toward his number of 1 billion. but, the president is wrong that this is the most-ever spent on a

hurricane. federal relief from 2005's hurricane katrina was $120 billion. in that same tweet, the esident also said the island's politicians would only "take from the u.s.a." puerto ricans, of course, point out, their island is part of the u.s.a., and has been for 120 years, about as long as hawaii. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> yang: while that political fit goes on in congress, i puerto rico, residents are still fighting to return to normal, a year and a half after hurricane ria. associated press reporter danica coto joins us from san juan via skype, to talk about where things stand. danica, thanks so much for joining us. one of the things caught up in this fight in congress is mr food stamp money for puerto rico. what effect is that having on the ground on resints there? >> a lot, if you ask people here. it'sut abo.3 million people who are on the food stamp

program, and when congress authorized the 1.27 billion one-time funding after hurricane maria, that allowed the government to include about 279,000 additional people that were not covered by the program. so, right now, starting as of march 1, a lot of peopve seen their benefits cut. i've spoken to people who have seen them reduced from $400 down to $200, fheking many of tto cut back on much-needed medication, on food and on other items. >> what's the biggest challenge still remclaining tn up after hurricane maria? >> i think there's a lot of challenges. individually, you know, people are still awaiting, hopefully, you know, more fuding in terms of the food stamp progrt . a ve been struggling to make ends meet. not only that, infrastructure is still a concern. there are tens of thousands of people whoe have blutarps for roofs and, as hurricane season draws closer, this is a concern because homes are still flooding even with minor storms.

>> a big story after the storm was electricity. what's the status of that now? well, puerto rico's electric power has received the most money out of any government agency aer the hurricane. it's abt roughly $1.3 billion, but that represents only 71% of what's been obligated. so they used that money to help pair some of the work done after the hurricane. i recently spoke with officials at the power ompany and they noticed the strengthening of th system has not even started yet. so they're going back to sort of pair what theycull a patch of jobs that was done, you know, to bring back power pryetty quic to people who needed it, and now they have to go back and t restrength system and do it properly and use, you know, equipment that's of higher quality. >> are there some people who are without power 24ours? >> there are several outages that occur every week across the island. the system is still very muh fragile and a lot of people worry, given the atlantic hurricane season starts june 1,

so every week people across the island are grapplth this, it could last from 1 hour to 24 hours. >> another big story after the storm was the school system andu today, thetion secretary announced she was leaving. what's the situation there? >> the resignation took money by surprise. the education secretary was nominated in 2016, and theaw governmenther as the tirson, you know, needed to overhaul an edu department that has been plagued by bureaucracy, dwindling resources, and, so, she was credited with bringing back things to that department, creating new offices, as well as she oversaw the closure of more than 400 schools. many people have criticized her for that, so the department knows that about 42% enrollment drop in puerto co in the past three decades and an additional 23% drop is expected inhe

upcoming years. so many of the schools they closed were either halfway empty as well. you know, hurricane maria damaged several schools, and thoseemain to be repaired. >> danica, what's the reaction in purto rico to so of the president's tweets and statements about puerto rico? >> overall, i would say people are not surprised given the re'sious tweets, but the still a lot of underlying resentment. his tweets come at a twhen people are now experiencing a drop in benefits as a result of the food stamp funding running out and, in addition, they're bristling, you know, at the many comments that have been made th suggests th puerto rico is not part of the u.s. it is a u.s. territory and all its cizens are u.s. ctizens. so, overall, people are not rprised but are very upset. they feel they're sort of waving their hand, they're in a u.s territory and they're not getting the attention they feel they need, especially nearly two years after the categor4 storm

struck. >> danica coto of the associated press of san juan, thank you very munk. >> tou for having me. >> woodruff: the first five years of a child's life are critical time for exposing children to language, words and reading. but, studies have shown, children in lower-income families often don't get the same rich literary envonment that higher-income children do. now, some groups are trying to help close that gap in unusual places, including an effort in new york city where parents and children go every week: the laundromat. special correspondent lisa stark of our partner education week has our story, for our regular education segment, "ng the grade." >> reporter: it's the weekend rush at a neighborhood laundromat in the brownsville section of brooklyn. there's washing, and drying. folding, and... reading?! >> oh no pete stepped in a large pile of

blueberries. of>> reporter: for a coupl hours on this sunday afternoon, adults are sorting clothes, and slibrarian samantha owen scooped up their children for story time. >> where is she putting up t paint! up high. enreally want the kids to have fun and be reallged with story time. >> reporter: theltimate goal is to jumpstart the reading and language skills of children in this neighborhood, where a third of families with young chiren live in poverty. so why not try to reacthem here, where families congregate, says n.y.u.'s susan neuman, an expert in early literacy. >> these children are fundamentally ready to learn and excited about learning. but, if you look at their communities, in many cases, what we have designated as book deserts-- in other words, they don't have the access to materials and books that are absolutely essential for early reading and vocabulary development. >> reporter: but can this make a difference?

that's what neuman is trying to figure out.lo >> what is he? >> blue! >> very good! >> reporter: this program is not the only one bringing books to laundromats. there have been efforts in more than two dozen cities. but this is the first formal study to measure what happens when you turn a space like this... intoce like this. researchers are observing atre new york city laundromats story areas added last july, in arooklyn, the bronx, and queens. cog them to laundromats thatre... just laundromats. >> so what we noticed essentially, there is no literacy activity in control sites. none. i mean, virtually none. but in our literacy-related play center, over a period of six weeks, we saw 150 different literacy-related events. it was a dramatic change. >> reporter: this is part of a broader attempt to promote

literacy in ordinary locations. jane park woo is with the clinton foundation's too small to fail initiative. >> well, we want it to meet milies where they are, in the everyday places they go with their children. and we know that theity of their time is spent out of school, in many of these informal environments. so we know they're going to the grocery store, they're going to their local church, they're going to the laundromat. >> reporter: too small to fail is a partner in the new york endeavor. >> what's that? >> apple. >> reporter: so is the i laundromustry. >> number one, we've got the right audience. there are the families and caregivers, parents and the kids who need the most help when it comes to literacy and access to oks. >> reporter: brian wallace oversees the coin laundry association and its foundation, whose members own 5,000 y laundromats, one in eversix nationwide. >> you know, folks are here for an hour anlf, two hours. so there's time to add those interactions. and there'also a recurring element. hiances are, the folks that are heresaturday morning, will

be here next saturday morning, and the saturday morning after. >> rorter: wallace recruited owners such as jose almonte to sign on. >> it's good for the parents. they bringhe kids. instead of be running around, g.they'll be reading, play they spend good quality time. >> reporter: this effort in laundromats began with simple ing parents to read, sing and talk to the their children. then, it evolved into these more elaborate reading centers. >> i was like, oh my goodness, they put in a little play area, reading area, and the kids can ki entertained and they can build their socials. >> reporter: nory morales's six-year old son is a fan. >> that's definitely educational because he's picturing somethinh head, and he's bringing it out. ng's using his words and he's buil whole story. >> reporter: researcher mackenna alvarez has been observing and interviewing families at the laundromats. >> ultimately, we kind of saw

that children and families who d access to a literacy area recognize so many more books. they were a lot more enthusiastic about reading. >> reporter: one disappointing finding: having just the reading area alone draws in children, but not many parents.up so kids enlaying and reading by themselves. but with librarians added, about 30% of parents joined in at some timeg story hour. parent involvement is key, says allister chang, who ovwisaw librarieout borders, also part of the new york effort. >> we arlooking for behavioral shifts, because those are long- lasting, and thosee ill follow thrents and these kids way beyond the laundromat. >>eporter: children with access to books, and to adults who regularly read to them, are more likely to be pr for kindergarten and, like ryan molina, reading fluently in third grade. >> another day has started. i stretch and yawn and shout. >> reporter: how do you think you became sh a good reader?

>> read. >> reporter: you read? >> yeah. >> reporter: studies suggest students who read well by thehi end of grade are more likely to succeed in high school and in their careers. lillian pierce hunt, who encourages her grandson to read, welcomes efforts like this. >> this area, the percentage is low in reading and math, so anything to help bring those scores up. i >> what lettthat? >> a? >> it starts with stuff like this, where parents spend time and they're busy, and it's not that you don't want to read tour ids, you just don't have the time. >> reporter: the hope is to expand literacy areas to thousands of laundromats nationwide. but, thiprogram is not without its challenges. children may still find the washing machines more interesting, and parents may still be too busy to pay attention to story time by the dryer. there's also the cost-- about $2,300 for this test version. t >> what's behi snowman? >> reporter: and the ongoing

need for librarians, new books and supplies. but library manager corey rodriguez believes it is worth the effort. >> it's very hard sometimes ton explw great it is, and how we feel that it's definitely a positive experience. even if we read to a child f five minutes, ten minutes, 15 minutes, they walking away with something. >> wow! >> oh look, strawberries. >> reporter: one book at a time. for education week and the pbs newshour, i'm lisa stark in new york city. >> woodruff: it's the first week of major league baseball, and for many fans, there's the early season dream of their team stnning the world series. but there's anothey emerging off the field-- some of the top players are being signed for enormous salaries, tret will pay hu of millions of dollars. amna nawaz tries getting some answer >> nawaz: the latest deal: the

filanta braves announced it will pay star oder ronald acuna $100 million over eight years. this comes after a series of major deals, including the los angeles angels signing outfielder mike trout to a contract, making him the richest athlete in north america.'s 12-year deal worth more than $425 million.me another big the philadelphia phillies deal with bryce harp-- that for $330 lallion over 13 years. all told, just tenrs have gotten long-term deals over $2 billion since this winte let's try to understand what's going on, and what it means for the game. jeff passan is the author of the book, "the arm: inside the billion-dollar mystery of the most vuable commodity in sports," and a baseball columnist with espn. jeff passan, welcome to the "newshour". please help me understand what is behind all these enormous numbers. >> well, amna, major league baseball is a big business now,

making upwails of $10on a year, and when you have that ets of the in the pock owners, some of it needs to go back to the players. the quthestionugh, is is the right amount going back to the players, and the fact that 4-plus billion dollars has been spent in long-term guaranteed contracts since nov doesn't satisfy a large segment of players. now, that sounds counterintuitive becse it's a ridiculous amount of money because you have athletes who are getting upard of half a billion dollar guaranteed contracts, but major league seball is making such hand-over-fist money at this point that the perchentage tat's going to players is the important part, and when you have a system like major league baseball that does not have a salary cap lik n thef.l. or like the m.b.a., there is no limit on what teams can spend and what they give players, and the amount of money that has been going to the top end guys

has been huge, but the erasure of the middle class has been thn big story this season, veteran players not getting contracts nearly what they didin he past, andeth leading to a lot of animus beteween th m.b.a. players and the association. >> so the big slary for a small number of players, what about the other salaries? those aren't rising? creating an ultra rich thense everyone n baseball? >> that's right. you can call it stars and scrubs sport because that's what it's turning into. the way major league baseball salary structure works is this, every aam gets control of player for six years. the first three years of the contract, they can pay m whatever they want. usually it's around the major league minimum which is $545,000. in years 3 through 6, you go to the arbitration system where you ask for a number, the

team offers another , and you either settle somewhere between or a panel of three arbitrators decides which of those salaries is correct. then after s full years in the major leagues, you get to hit free agency, and free ancy for a long time was hall load for players. team would go out, teams bid actinst one another, contr prices get driven up. eeee agency in the last thr years has become something of a graveyard for players. it's weird saying that in a year where bryce harper got $330 million, where manny mo chado got $300 million, but it's the outliers, the lower-level players who aren't superstars who areot paid what they once worth. >> why is mike trout worth over $400 million? >> i apologize for getting a little nerdy with you here, but it's important to contextualize this. there's a metric in baseball

at has been devised called wins above replacement. if idea is if you use a random player that's aaa and put him in the major leagues, how much better is every otherplayer compared to him? a win above replacement is worth around $8 million or so on the free agent market. mike trout is anywhere between an 8-to-10-win player on an annual basis, so we're talking about value he's creating for fe los angeles angels worth anywhem, you know, 65 to 80, upwards some years of $100 million. so a $42esmillion ient is seen throughout the industry as a bargain for the angels, considering what trout brings on a daily basis. >> jeff, let me ask you this, is baseball diffent? because if you look at the n.f.l., the big money, the salaries are still centered around the quarterbacks, how is baseball different from what we see thereac >> it goesto the lack of a eslary cap, amna, and the salaaccordingly, should be

driven up significantly, but because they haven't been over the last few years, that's where the angefrom the players association is toward mlb. granted, i say the salaries haven't been driven up, we're still talking about millions of dollars, tens of millions, hundreds of millions in some cases. so the guys are getti paid, just not what they fl they should be getting paid. >> jeff passan of espson, thank youch for being with us. >> thanks. appreciate it. >>oodruff: food pantries a popping up more and more in a surprising new location: colleges and universities. from pbs station wttw in b chicagndis friedman reports on how city colleges and the greater chago food depository are providing for students there. r orter: on the basement level of harold washington city college, students find space to

study, catch up... and a grab a bite between classes or jobs. >> papers, late nights. i'm also involved, have toho balance work. >> reporter: andn the corner, mething most colleges don't have, but a surprising number might need: a food pany. student government association treasurer shebaka verna knows that many of his schoolmates struggle with balancing time-- but also, expenses. >> but with community college life, you're not away at dorms, you're maybe living with family or renting your own apartment, and you don't have a pror job yet. so you're working, on minimum wage, not much resources, not a salary, and you'retill lancing school. >> reporter: nationwide,ho research 25% of community college students experience food insecurity, compared to 20% of students at four-year schools. and the rates of food insecurity are higher for black and hispanic students-- at 57% and

40%, respectively. the greater chicago food depository noticed the problem. >> we saw students coming into the traditional food pantry served by the g.c.f.d. inudents who were going to class, who were to jobs, maybe picking up children from childcare-- doing all things they needed to do. and at the end of the day,ma having t a stop at a food pantry, to get the food they needed to live a healthy life.re >> reporter: ionse, it partnered with all seven city colleges to offer pop-up pantries. the demand was so great, the food depository opened five full-time pantries: th one at harold washington college, and four more at other campuses,or with plans for >> the fact that we need food pantries inside of cy colleges of chicago is actually a sobering reflection abouneed all across our community. we know the face of hunger is changing. >> reporter: on the afternoon we

visited, a class of students came to len about the pantry for the first time. before leaving, several used the time to go shopping. >> i got one of everything. >> i got two crackers, didn't see these, macaroni... >> reporter: first-year student jamesha lathan says it's all needed at home. >> i live with my grandmother, but she's my guardian. i'm not the only child she takes re of. food's kind of hard for us. >> reporter: this onntry is open mondays and thursdays. students have access to non- perishable food, but also fresh produce, eggs and milk. there's no limitw much a student can take, but they can e ly visit once a month. and ntry runs on the honor system-- don't take food if you tun't need it. >> ournts have so many worries. >> reporter: city colleges chancellor juan salgado says s ny city colleges students experience challenat can e ad to food insecurity. >>tract many students who

are first in their family to go to college, many stu come from low to moderate-income families. we attract students who are in poverty, extreme poverty. >> reporter: and o bag of food here isn't just for that student, but his or her family, too. >> i have five brothers and sisters. food runs out really quick. i was thinking, man, i could take some home and have extra food for the week. >> reporter: the food depository says the "healthy student markets" at city colleges served han 11,000 households in n scal year 2018, and distributed more t0,000 pounds of food, more than half of it fresh produce. the plan is to turn the pop-ups at the other five campuses into dedicated pantries like this one, as long as they're needed. for the pbs newshour, i'm brandis friedman, in chicago. uf

>> woo this week on "that moment when," the newshour series on facebook watch, political strategist mark mckinnon, the one-time democrat, turned republican, turned tv host >> i made a trailer film about a charter school and was interested and got him interested in the issue, went from that to hanging out docially. we'd run together he had girls, kind of just a little older than mine, so we had a lot in common, just nd of on the personal front, and that led to something professionally later when he decedo run for reelection for governor. in texas for a long time, it was a two-pty state, you were either a progressive or conservative democrat. thtye was no republican p really until george w. bush came to town and had a message about passionate conservatism whhc appeal people like me. i raised my hand when he came to

and i said, i like that. >> woodruff: thanks, mark. you can nd all episodes of our series on facebook at "that moment when show." tomorrow on the newshour, we ck off a four-part series from the bottom of the world. william brangham and his team have this preview of "warnings from antarctica." a arctica, a continent covered entirely in ice, is now seeing that ice threatened by climate change. >> the continent's warming from below and also from above. >> as this ice melts, sea levels all over the world will continue to rise. >> this can teach us something about life on the planet. >> with a warming environment, two species of penguins are seeing dramatic decline. can theyadapt? >> could be likely within our lifetime that we'lle animals sappear from the peninsula. >> what does it mean for the world?

>> antarctica is the world's last great wilderness, but the best thing we can do for humanity in terms of ant arca is keep it like it is. >> woodruff: can't wait to see this. "warnings from antarctica" airs every wednesday in april, starting tomorrow. and that is the newshour for tonight. m judy woodruff. join us online, and again right here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches coreal-lifersations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> consumer cellular. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> bnsf railway. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the tlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in

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

here's what's coming up. president trump muls closing the border with mexico and cuts off aid to three central american countries. i speak to david urban, one of the president's key advisors about this and about the mueller fall out. al preet bharara, the former u.s. attorney who ran the most powerful office in the country. his book doing justi is designed to put the focus back on the rule of law. plus -- re is a real opportunity to talk about the fact that there is a crisis in mental health access. >> the truth about trauma with one of america's top minds.