captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc dr >> wf: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: as the senate plans toon speed uprmation of trump administration appointments, we look at how this president is shaping the federal judiciary. then storm. in a political certo rico is again the target of president trumpticism, as the island continues to h recover frricane maria. and, encouraging literacy in young children outside of the classroom, by creating reading programs at an unexpected place. >> fol are here for an hour and a half, two hoims. so there'se to add those interactions. and there's also a recurring element. 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 newour.

>> 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. do you can do the things you like tith a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, 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 with thongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made ssible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs yostation from viewers lik thank you. >> woodruff: president trump appears to be pulling back from his threat to close the border with mexico. last week, he warned that it 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 changi. >> mexico, as you know, as of yesterday, has been starting to apprehend a lot of people at their southern border, coming in from honduras and 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 soace. i'm totally prepared to do it. we're going to see what happens over the nexoofew days. >>uff: the u.s. senate'sr, majority leaepublican mitch mcconnell, said today that cling the border could have a catastrophic effect on the u.s. economy. the president so says republicans will not offer a plan to replace obamacare until after the 2020 elections. he pmised that today, provided, he said, he wins re-election, and republicans win back the u.s. house. now, his administration asking federal courts to strike down the existing law. democrats on the house oversight committee moved today to subpoena aormer white house security clearance chief, carl kline. that is after a career white house staffer, tricia wbold, claimed that at least 25 trump aides were granted surity clearances, after initially being denied. republicans and democrats sparred 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 rotional security information. >> 25 people thessional staff recommended should not be granted security clearances-- and this was overruled! this is a systemic crisis for all americans. not for democrats or republicans or liberals, conservatives-- oor all of us. >>uff: 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 ryfurther delay in her cou departure from the european union. may said she would useime to work with the opposition labour party on a brexit deal th could pass in parliamen britain is currently set to leave the e.u. on april 12. algeria's state ne agency reports that embattled president abdel aziz bouteflikgned

today, after weeks of protests. came after the military insisted that he step aside immediately. bouteflika is 82, and has ruled algeria for twdecades, but mands for his ouster rocked the nation in recenteeks. u.s. officials are talking tonight about resolving a dispute with nato ally turke the pentagon had balked at providing turkey with parts for u.s. f-35 fighter jets, if ankarauys a russian air defense system. today, acting defense cretary patrick shanahan said he thinks the turks will buy the u.s. "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 alonghe withpatriot" system. i expect we'll solve the problem so that they have the right

defense equipment both in terms "patriots" and f-35s. >> woodruff: u.s. officials warn syat if turkey installs the russian air-defensem, it could help moscow learn vitalat infon about the f-35. the speaker of the house isme advising fvice president joe biden to change his behavior toward women. nancy pelosi said today that he should stick to handshakes, as he gears up a possible 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 necessarily hoyou 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 rapper nipsey hussle stemmed from a personal dispute, and not gang violence. they say the suspect, nameder holder, gunned down g ssle on sunday outside the rapper's clothore in south los angeles. holder is still at large, and ele chief of police urged him today to give hiup. >> what i'm concerned about as chief and i know our community leaders are as well is we've t to continue to go at this increased in shooting violence because it's not just a dispute over a pnarmatter. owd, on wall street, the d jones industrial average lost 79 points to close at 26,179.

the nasdaq rose 19 points, and the s&p 500 added a fr. 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 present'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 the federal judiciary. senate republicans are aiming to reduce the time for senators to consider these nominees, and speed up the nomination process. they set the stage today for a potential rule change this week. democrats are criticizing the move for what it could mean for country's republicans dismissed that talk

as empty politics. >> this signt rule change will help donald trump and his repu senate to more swiftly pack our district courts with ideologically-drivens-- judges who will make biased ollings in line with their personal iical beliefs, and not based on the law or the constitution. >> see, this is not about actually debating people, whether they're qualified or not qualified. this is about preventing president trumfrom getting nominees-- by locking up the floor, and making sure tt 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 the feral judiciary more generally, are two former, long-time senate judiciary committestaffers 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.ng and, tom jips now at the heritage foundation. he previously servedsenior aide to former republican senator orrin hatch. we thank both of you for being here with us. kristine lucius, explain just in brief what this rule change that the senate majority wants to push through, how would it work? >> whathey want to be able to do is they want to break the senate rule to move faster ones ent trump's district court nominees and some of his executive political appointments. what we're focused on here today is talking about the effect it would have on the courts, is 're focused on that piece of the resolution 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 nomvees is they hidden their

records and only at the last oinute have things come out t show histories of bias and other controversies, and that is the concern, that the reason they're trying to speed this up is to keep the recdeords mid >> woodruff: tom jipping, you agree this is about speeding this up,t but whaabout the concern ms. lucius has spoken about? >> i don't know if it's about speeding it up. we have to be clear about what portion of the process this itange in rules affects, and only the very last, very small portion of the process,se after thte 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 senate for almost a year, and this last tny 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 threst of the process -- the hearings, all

of the res of the investigations and scrutiny -- to uncover the information kristine was talkng about. >> woodruff: kristine lucius, you're saying it's not going to hide anything, there wo td have been as time beforehand. >> i can give you a concrete example where in the very st moment in the post cloture time -- >> woodruff: which is a nsreference of what hapn the senate when they take a vote and need a certain number. >> exactly, sorry. but in that last moment is when the senate decided to reject thomas barr to the cort in north carolina because new evidence had come out about efhs rts and his involvement in disenfranchising black voters in north carolina. >> i do not think that's an te description of the process of evaluating tom pharr. he had been nominated in that same position a dozen years earlier, and the inormation kristine's talking about had been in the public record and discussed for a year before the senate decided not to move rward 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 informati came out when here was a civil rights attorney who got involved and was willing to come forward, talking about tom pharr's tyvolvement. it is exactly thi of thing at the last meantment when talking about a lifetime appointment that wre wored about. >> woodruff: let's get to the point on whether we agree what happened to mr. pharr, tom why not take the time? >> there is plenty of time. what we're talking about here is how much time is available to debate a nominee after the senate has decided to finh 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 ameristory. we have 140 vacancies across the federal judiciary that have been in the triple digits for more than two years, devastating to the juiciary. >> woodruff: but don't you also have under president trump in his first two years more judges approved for e district -- federal district positions than even under president obama? >> no. well, in fact, president trump made 159 nominations inis first two years. president obama made barely over 100. so you can expect the number of confmations to be higher. however, as a percentage of those nominees, theenate confirmed fewer for president trump than it did for president obama. >> i want to come back, come to the point, kristine lucius, the basic question, doesn't every president have a right tono nate whoever he or she wants at some point in the future to sit on these federal benches? >> presidents absolutely have

whomevert to nominat they want, but the senate is what we're talking about today, and the senate has ande ndent role under t the senate must decide and must 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 presidenwinominating peopl records of bias, and that is giving civil rights advocates eike myself concern about speeding up rocess. >> woodruff: what do you mean records of bias? >> like thomas bar had, like mathew kaczmarek has, this is one of e pending district court nominees who could be in short order who cal transgender people delusional, as an example. how would he be fair to people from the lgbt community. >> but also democrats in the senate vot in record numbers against nominees about whom there is no controversy at ali . oked at the appeals court

nominees, for example, from president trump who were unanimously rated well qualified by the american bar association, they received an 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 ofrule change needs to be put in place so that the normal part of the process works efficiently. >> woodruff: it's a much bigger subject and lybout a half minute left can each of you explain why this matters so much. what is at stake here? just a few sentences? >> so what is ake here is whether our civil rights laws or any law that you care about will be upheld.of at the endthe day, courts are the place of last resorts, whether you care about access t healthcare, you spoke earlier in your news summary about ths pending in district in texas. that was a district court judge who ruled that pre-existing conditions should no longer be protected. so whether it access to

healthcare or voting rights, the courts are the place where all of us get our rights. >> woodruff: in just sentence, what's at stake? >> there are conflicts over individual nominees in a few ses, but we need a process that works so that the senate, answer institution, does its job. we have record vacancies toy. we have twice as many vacancies as kristine's organization said was a vacancy crisis. so we needss a prothat works so that the judiciary can do its work. >> woodruff: thomas jipping, kristinean lucius, you both very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: we return to ourri on migration from central america. we have brought you sties 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 north.ht in ton report, produced in partnership with the pulitzer center, special correspondent marcia biggs and videographer julia galiano-rios traveled to lempira state, in far westernho uras. >> reporter: is a typical morning for cataliyala, y'inding corn to make the tortillas. it's the daily bread here in rural honduras, where families live off the land, growing corn, beans, and coffee. her husband alfredo has been a co farmer all his life. but, this is the last of the family's harvest. hooumuch reserves of corn do have before you run out? >> ( translated ): we have enough corn for two months. 60 days. >> reporter: don alfredo's one of almost four milli people struggling to survive in what's called central america's "dry corridor," an area that

stretches from costa rica to the mexican border. historically known for its irregular rainfall, it earned oe nickname in 2009, after a drought killr half the crops in the region. accelerated by climate change, rainfall in the western honduras state of limpira has fallen sharply the last five years. it's all dead. don alfredo says ten years ago, ds could harvest around 4,000 pof 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 t,ere is rain, when there is no drouhat the corn crop is much bigger, much wider. the kernels are much bigger.ey and ad 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 called maicillo, which is more resistant to drought. traditionally used as chken feed, it may keep them alive, but no one will buy it. what is the maicillo like to eat? >> ( translated ): bring it over. it's not the same, it's a different flavor, the tortilla is darker. >> reporter: is there any hope of recovering that land? recovering those crops? >> (s translated ): there nothing we can do about the drought. >> reporter: while wealthier farmers can install irrigation systems, don alfredo says he doesn't have the cash. and without a crop, he'll soon be out of a home. he used to pay the rent on his land with a percentage of hisop cr on good days, he's able to find wo as a day laborer for around $4 per day. today was not one of those daysr how dee are you? how bad is it for your family right now? >> ( translated ): i am desperate. that is my personal situation,

and that of many other familiese we are desperate. not having food makes one not eating for just one day ruses distress. orter: would you leave? >> ( translated ): we'll have to get out of here. >> reporter: a dónde? where? >> ( translated ): to find a place where we can have a better life. >> reporter: according to the u.n.'s food and agrilture organization, there's been a surge of migration from rural fareas in honduras, wheremers lost an estimated 82% of corn and bean crops last year from lack of rain. and for coffee farmers, yet another problem-- an epidemic of rust fungus, "roya" in spanish, an insidious plant disease they liketo cancer, which grows quickly in dry, warm clites, destroying entire coffee plantations. german orellana is an agricultural engineer. he did his post-graduate research in the u.s. before

returning to his tiny village in honduras to work on water sustainabilityrojects. he took us to see the efcts of the roya. its signature, this yellow discoloration. >> ( translated ): when the temperature is lower, 25 degrees celsius, 77 fahrenheit, or lower, 15, 25, 30 maximum, this fungus will not spread. but when the temperature is really high, the climate hot and dry, it will breed on one leaf,o nother leaf, and eventually to the entire plantation. >> reporter: honduras is the fifth-largest coffee producer in lie world, and orellana says close to three m people depend directly on the industry. hat he says 20% of the people in his village alon left. >> ( translated ): in the last four years, there have been plantations like this one, left completely abandoned. here, one can feilize, eliminate, prune, clean, but the farmers haven't done any of that, because they know this can't be saved. th reporter: how catasophic is this, the roya, fo region, which depends so much on coffee production?

>> ( translated ): simply mit, there are es that won't have anything to eat because there are entire communities that depend totally and completely on coffee. theskids need to study, fami need to eat. if they can't sell this, the only option is to ime. if this continues, there will be more violence, more poverty, more hunger, more illegal immigration. it's not a problem in honduras. it's a global problem. ar reporter: some farmers sticking it out, trying to fight the problem. when the roya hit crops in 2012, farmers like timoteo cruz alberto started planting a new type of coffee, called lempira, thought to be resistant. it took three years for him to find out they were wrong. >> ( translated ): we had hope that they would be the solutionf for farmers, but we've seen that's going to be difficult. as you can see, they are all affected. so we will pick the beans from this plant, and then it will

cedie. if the pf coffee was higher, we'd have the capacity to spread chemicals combat the problem. if not, the alternative will be that we'll have to join the cavan. >> reporter: estas pensando de salir? are you thinking of going? >> ( translated ): without this product, we don't have anything else to turn to. there's no other product. this product is nderful, because it's the most "socially conscious" we have in our couny, because it employs so many people. here, you will see, we have 20 people here cutting. without this product, thesele peould have no other work. >> reporter: for now, alberto's crop still yields results. coffee beans spill into buckets. families workiei for him bring r children, on a winter break from school, to pitch in. we asked the workers if they were worried about what roya could do tthe future of coffee farming. >> ( translated ): roya means no work. no coffee, no work, no money. >> reporter: if this farm dies what are you going to do? >> ( translated ): we have to go. r orter: 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 the last of their crop. etd catalina suffers from di, which requires expensive medication. he's tried to leave before. in 2001, don alfired a coyote and made the perilous journey across mexico into arizona, surviving for over ase week in the with no food before being deported. you are gointo go through all of this again, without any guarantee that you are going to be able totay? >> ( translated ): i am 49 years old, and i already feel old, but the siation forces me to go. >> reporter: have you heard anything about the president of the united states, donald trump? ): 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.

>> reporter: the day closes, again, without rain, and those fo have lived off this la generations face yet another day without food-- and closer to the day when many will leave this way of life behind. for the pbs newshour, i'm marica biggs in lempira, western honduras. >> woodruff: stay with us. last night, the u.s. senate failed to pass a wide-ranging disaster relief bill. 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 update from the island, but first, lisa dejardins begins our coverage. >> desrdins: nature's forces have battered the united states in the past half year: storm winds, flood waters and deadly

wildre. to those natural disasters, now add a man-ma one. >> the motion is not agreed to. >> desjardins: seven months after some of those crises, e congress still cannot ag 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 yesterday. >> desjardins: waiting for relief-- areas in georgia and north carolina hit by hurricane florence in the fall. that includes billions in, damat yet repaired, at the marine corps training base, camp lejeune. waiting, large areas of california where wildfires hit last year, including the most costly in state history, which killed more than 80 people. this march, almost unprecedented flooding hit the midwest, devastating both farmland and 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 thet island musart handling more recovery costs on its own-- f least 10%. >> so, in the caseertowh rico'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 appling with financial and economic crisis. they also want money to rebuild infrastructure. >> we want to help these people, and republicans, and trump, need to understand that in puerto rico, we are dealing with americans who are still reeling. >> they don't know how to spend

the money, and they're notse spending it . >> desjardins: mr. trump has repeatedly criticized aid intended for puerto rid has disputed the need for additional federal dollars. he has made some bold statements. >> puerto rico has been taken care of better by donald 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 r today, that "puerto rico got $91 billion for the hurricane, more money than ever" for a hurricane. the actual aid received by puerto rico so far is reportedly a fraction of that. the "washington post" called, agency by agency, and found that about $11 billion has been sent. another $30 billion ha approved, but not yet releasedpe or. now, it is possible that long-, term cost yet approved, could he toward his number of $91 billion. but, the president is wrong that this is the most-ev spent on a hurricane.

federal relief fro2005's hurricane katrina was $120 billion. t t same tweet, the president also said the island's politicians would only "take from the u.s.a." puerto ricans,f course, point out, their island is part of the ngs.a., and has been for 120 years, about as as hawaii. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> yang: while that politica fight goes on in congress, in puerto rico, residents are still fighting to return to normal, a year and a half after hurricane maria. 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 this fight in congress is more food stamp money for puerto rico. what effect is that having o the ground on residents there? >> a lot, if you ask people here. it about 1.3 million people who are on the food stamp ogram, and when congress

authorized the 1.27 billion one-time funding afte maria, that allowed the government to include about 279,000 additionalreeople that ot covered by the program. so, right now, stating as of march 1, a lot of people have seen their benefits cut. ve spoken to people who ve seen them reduced from $400 down to $200, forking many of them to cut back on much-needed medication, on food and on other items. >> what's the biggest challenge still remaining to clean up afr hurricane maria? >> i think there's a lot of challenges. individually, you know, people arstill awaiting, hopefully, you know, more funding in terms of the food stamp program. a lot have been struggling to make ends meet. not only that, infrastructure is there are tens of thousands of people who have blue tarps for roofs and, as hurricane season draws closer, this is a concern because homes are still floodint even h minor storms. >> a big story after the storm

itwas electr what's the status of that now? ctricll, puerto rico's ele power has received the most money out of any government agency after the hurricane. it's about roughly3 1.llion, but that represents only 71% of what's been obligated. so they used that money to help repair some of the work done after the hurricane. i recently spoke with officials yt the power company and the noticed the strengthening of the system has not even started yet. so the ore going back to sortf repair what they cull a patch of jobs that was done, you know, to bring back power pretty quickly tod eople who nee, and now they have to go back and restrengthen the system and do it properly and use, you know, equipment that's of higher quality. >> are there some people who are rathout power 24 hours? >> there are sel outages that occur every week across the island. the systeis still very much fragile and a lot of people worry, given the atlaic hurricane season starts june 1, so every week people across the

island are grappling with this, it could last from 1 hour to 24 hours. >> another big story after the storm was the sool system and, today, the education secretary announced she was leaving. what's the situation there? >> the resignation took money by surprise. the education secretary was nominated in 2016, and the government saw her as the rson, you know, needed to overhaul an education department that has been plagued by bureaucracy, dwindling resources, and, so,heas credited with bringing back things to that department, creati new offices, as well as she oversaw the closure of mores than 400chools. many people havzee critiher for that, so the department knows that about% enrollment drop in puerto rico in the past three decades and an addit23ionl drop is expected in the upcoming years. so many of the schools they

closed were either halfway empty as well. you know, hurricane maria adamaged several schools wose remain to be repaired. >> danict's the reaction in puerto rico to some of the president's tweets and statements about puerto rico? >> overall, i would say people are not surprised given the buprevious tweets, there's still a lot of underlying resentment. his tweets come at a time when people are now experiencing a drop inbeefits as a result of the food stamp funding running out and, in addition, they're bristling, you know, at the many comments that have bede that suggests that puerto rico is not part of the u.s. it is a u.s. territory and l its citizens are u.s. citizens. so, overall, peoplee ar not surprised but are very upset. they feel they're sort of waving their han they're in a u.s. territory and they're not iatting the attention they feel they need, esply nearly two years after the category 4 storm struck. >> danica coto of the associated

press ofou san juan, thank very much. >> thank you for having me. >> oodruff: the first five years of a child's life are ae critical tr exposing children to language, words and reading. but, studies have shown, children in lower-income families often don't get the same rich literary environment grat higher-income children do. now, somps are trying to help close that gap in unusual t places, including an eff new york city where parents and children go every week: the laundromat. special correspondent lisa stark of our partner education week has our ory, for our regular education segment, "making the grad" >> reporter: it's the weekend rush at a neighborhood laundromat in the brownsville section of brooklyn. there's washing, and drying.re folding, and..ing? >> oh no! pete stepped in a large pile of blueberries.

>> reporter: for a couple of hours on this sunday afternoon, adults are sortinglothes, and librarian samantha owen has scooped up their children for story time. >> where is she putting up the paint! up high. i really want the kids to have orn and be really engaged with time. >> reporter: the ultimate goal is to jumpstart the reading and language skills of children in this neighborhood, where a trd of families with young children live in poverty. so why not try to reach them here, where families congregate, says n.y.u.'s susan neuman, an expert in early literacy. >> these children arefu amentally 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 toma rials and books that are absolutely essential for early development.vocabulary >> reporter: but can this make a difference? hat neuman is trying to figure out. >> what color is he?

>> blue! >> very goodhi >> reporter:program is not the only one bringing books to laundromats. there have beeefforts in more than two dozen cities. but this is the first formal study to measure what ppens when you turn a space like this... into a space like this. researchers are observing at three new york city laundromats story areas added last july, in brooklyn, the bronx, and queens. comparing them to laundromat that are... just laundromats. >> so what we noticed is, 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

unclinton tion's too small to fail initiative. >> well, we want it to meet families where they aray in the everlaces they go with their children. and we know that the majority of their time is spent out of school, in many of these informal environments. we know they're going to the grocery store, they're going to etheir local church, they going to the laundromat. >> reporter: too small to fail i is a partnthe new york endeavor. >> what's that? >> apple. >> reporter: so is the laundromat industry.um >>r one, we've got the right audience. , ere are the families and caregiverents and the kids who need the most help when it comes to literacy and access to books. >> reporter: brian wallace oversees the coin laundr association and its foundation, whose members own 5,000 laundromats, one in every six nationwide. >> you know, fol are here for an hour and a half, two hours. so there's time to add those interactions. and there's also a recurring element. chances are, the folks that are here this saturday morning, will be here next saturday morning, and the saturday morni after.

>> reporter: wallace recruited owners such as jose almonte to sign on. >> it'good for the parents. they bring the kids. ndinstead of be running ar they'll be reading, playing. they spend good quality time. >> reporter: this effort inat laundrbegan with simple signs, urging 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 nbe entertained and they build their social skills. >> reporter: nory morales's s six-year o is a fan. >> that's definitely educational because he's picturing something in his head, and he's bringing it out. using his words and he' building a whole story. >> reporter: researcher mackenna alvarez has been observing and interviewing familoms at the launs. >> ultimately, we kind of saw that children and famiho

had access to a literacy area recognize so many more books. theyere a lot more a enthusiasticut reading. >> reporter: one disappointing finding: having just the reading area alone draws in children, but not many parents. so kids end up playing and reading by themselve but with librarians added,ab out 30% of parents joined in at some time during story hour. parent involvement is key, says allister chang, who oversaw libraries without borders, also part of the new york effort. >> we are looking for behavioral shifts, because those are long- lasting, and those will follow these parents and these kidsay beyond the laundromat. >> reporter: children with access to books, and to adults who regularly read to them, are more likely to be prepared for kindergarten and, like ryan molina, reading fluently in third grade. >> another day has started.h i stred yawn and shout. >> reporter: how do you think you became such a good reader? >> read. >> reporter: you read?

>> yea >> reporter: studies suggest studts who read well by the end of third grade are more likely to succeed in high school and in their careers lillian pierce hunt, who encourages herrandson to read, lcomes efforts like this. >> this area, the percentage is low in reading and math, so anyto help bring those scores up. >> what letter is that? >> a? it starts with stuff li this, where parents spend time tod they're busy, and it's not that you don't wanead to your kids, you just don't have the time. >> reporter:he hope is to expand literacy areas to thousands of laundromats nationwide. but, this program is not without its challenges. children may still find the washinmachines more interesting, and parents may stl be too busy to pay attention to story time by the dryer. there's also the cost-- about $2,300 for this test version. >> what's behind the snowman?or >> rr: 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 to explain how great it is, and how we feel that it's definitely a positive experience. even if we read to a child for 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 theho pbs ne, i'm lisa stark in new york city. >> woodruff: it's the first week of mor league baseball, and for many fans, there's the early season dream of their team winning the world seri but there's another story emerging off the field-- some of the top plers are being signed for enormous salaries, that will pay hundreds of millions of dollars. amna naz tries getting some answers. >> nawaz: the latest deal: the atlanta bres announced it will

pay star outfielder ronald acuna $100 million over eight years. ngis comes after a series of major deals, incluhe los angeles angels signing outfielder mike trout to a mentract, making him the richest athlete in northca. it's a 12-year deal worth more than $425 million. another big name: the philadelphia phillies deal with bryce harper-- that for $330 million over 1years. all told, just ten players have gotten long-term deals over $2 billion since this winter. let's try to understand what'sgo g on, and what it means for the game. jeff passan is the author of the n-ok, "the arm: inside the billllar mystery of the most valuable commodity in sports," and a baseball columnist with espn. jeff passan, welcome to the "newshour". please help meunderstand what behind all these enormous numbers. >> well, amna, major league baseball is a big busins now, making upwards of $10 billion a

year, and when you have that much money in t pockets of the owners, some of it needs to go back to the players. the question, though, is is the right ount going backto the players, and the fact that 4-plus billion dollars has been spent in long-term guaranteed contracts sinc november 1 still doesn't satisfy a large segment of players. now, that sounds ofunterintuitive because it's a ridiculous amounmoney because you have athletes who are getting upward of half a billion dollar guaranteed contracts, but major league baseball is making ch hand-over-fist money at this point that th percentage that's going to players ise the imrtant part, and when you have a system like major league baseball that does n have salary cap like the n.f.l. or like the m.b.a., there is no limit on what teams can spend and what they can give players, and the amount of money that has been going to the topsend guy has been huge, but thea ersure

of the middle class has been the big story line this season, veteran players not gettingra cos nearly what they did in the past, andeth leading to t of animus between the m.b.a. players and the association. >> so the big salary for a small number of players, what about the other salaries? those aren'tising? creating an ultra rich then everyone else inaseball? >> that's right. you can call it a stars and scrubs sport because thaas wht it's turning into. the way majoreague baseball salary structure works is this, every team gets control of a player for six years. the first three years of the contract, they can pay him whatever thewant. usually it's around the major league minimum which is $545,000. in years 3 through 6, you go into the arbitration system where you ask for a number, the team offers another number, and you either settle somewhere in

between or a panel of three arbitrators decid which of those salaries is correct. then after six full years in thy major league get to hit free agency, and free agency for a long time was hall load for players. team would go out , teabid against one another, contract prices get driven up. free agency in thest three years has become something of a graveyarfor players. 's weird saying that in a year where bryce harper g $330 million, where manny mo chado got $300 million, but it's the outlthierslower-level players who aren't superstars who are not paid what they once worth. >> why is mike trorth over $400 million? >> i apologize for getting aer little with you here, but it's important to contextualize this. there's aetric in baseball that has been devised caed wins above replacement.

if idea is if you use a ranm player that's aaa a put him in the major leagues, how much better is every other player compared to him?wi above replacement is worth around $8 million or so on the ee agent market. mike trout is anywhere between an 8-to-10-win player on an annual basis, so 're talki about value he's creating for the los angeles angels worth 80ywhere from, you know, 65 to upwards some years of $100 million. so a 5 million investment is seen throughout the industry as a bargain for the angels,co idering what trout brings on a daily basis. , jeff, let me ask you ths baseball different? because if you look at the .f.l., the big money, the salaries aill centered around the quarterbacks, how is baseball differentfrom what we see there? >> it goes back to the lack of a salary cap, amna, and the salaries, accordingly, should be driven up significantly, but

because they haven't been over the last few years, that's where the anger from the players association is toward mlb. granted, i say the salarien' habeen driven up, we're still talking about millions ofr do tens of millions, hundreds of millions in some cases. so the guys are getting paid,ju not what they feel they should be getting paid. >> jeff passan of espn, thank you so much for being with us. >> thanks. appreciate it. >> woodruff: food pantries are popping up more and more in a surprising new location: colleges and u pversities. fr station wttw in chicago, brandis friedman reports on how city es and the greater chicago food depository are proving for students there. >> reporter: on the baseme 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 to balance schoolwork. >> reporter: and in the corner, something most colleges don't have, but a surprising number might need: a food pantry. 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 amily or renting your own apartment, and you don't have a proper job yet. rc you're working, on minimum wage, not much res, not a salary, and you're still balancing school. >> reporter: nationwide, research shows 25% of community college students experience food inserity, compared to 20% of students at four-year schools. and the rates of food insecurity are higher forlack and hispanic students-- at 57% and %, respectively.

the greater chicago food depositoryoticed the problem. >> we saw students coming into the traditional food pantryy servede g.c.f.d. students who were gog to class, who were going to jobs, maybe picking up children from childcare-- doing all things they needed to do.at anhe end of the day, having to make a stop at a food pantry, to get the food they t needlive a healthy life. >> reporter: in response, it partnered with all seven city colleges to offer pop-up pantries. the demandas so great, the food depository opened five full-time pantries: this one at harold washington college, and four more at other campuses, with plans for more. >> the fact that we need food pantries inside of city colleges chicago is actually a sobering reflection about need all across our community. we know the face of hunger is anging. >> reporter: on the afternoon we visited, a class of students came to learn about the pantryti

for the firsme. before leaving, several used the time to go shopping. >> i got one of everything. >> i got two crackers, didn't ste these, macaroni... >> reporter: firear student jamesha lathan says it's all needed at me. >> i live with my grandmother, ct she's my guardian. i'm not the onlyld she takes care of. food's kd of hard for us. >> reporter: this pantry is open on mondays and thursdays. students have access to no perishable food, but also fresh produce, eggs and milk. there's no limit to how much a student can take, but they can only visit once a month. and the pantry runs on the honor system-- don't take food if you don't need it. >> our students have so many worries. >> reporter: city colleges chancellor juan salgado says many city colleges students experience challenges that can lead to food insecurity. >> we attract many students who are first in their family to go

to college, many students who come from low to moderate-income families. we attract students who are in poverty, extreme poverty. >> reporter: and one bag of food here isn't just for that student, but his or her family, too. >> i have fi brothers and sisters. food runs out really quick. i was thinking, man, i could me and have extra food for the week. >> reporter: the food depositorh says the "hestudent markets" at city colleges served more than 11,000 households in fiscal year 2018, and distributed more than 220,000 pounds of food, more than half it fresh produce. the plan is to turn the pop-upsf at the othe campuses into dedicated pantries like this one, as long as they're needed. for the pbs newshour, i'm brandis friedm, in chicago.

>> woodruff: this week on "that moment when," the newshour series on facebook watch, political strategist mark mckinnon, the one-time democrat, turned rublican, turned tv host.tr >> i made ler film about a charter school and was interested and got him interested in thiss, went from that to hanging out socially. de'd run together and he ha girls, kind of just a little older than mine, so we had a lot in common, just kind of on the personal front, and that led to something professionalllater when he decided to run for reelection for governor. in texas for a long time, it was a two-party state, but you were either a progressive or conservative democrat. there was no republican party really until george w. bush cam to town d a message aboutse passionate coatism which appealed to people like me. i raised my hand when heame to town and i said, i like that.

>> wdruff: thanks, mark. you can find all episodes of our series on facebook at "that moment when show." tomorrow on the newshour, we kick off a four-part seroms from the bof the world. william brangham and his team have this preview of "warnings from antarctica." >> antarctica, a continent covered entirely in ice, is now seeing that ice threatened by climate change.ne >> the con'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 somethingh about life on planet. >> with a warming environment, two species of penguins are seeing dramatic decli can they adapt? >> could be likely within our lifetime tha we'll see animals disappear from the peninsula. >> what does it mean for the world?ct >> antarica is the world's last , great wildernet the

best thing we can do for humanity in terms of a ant as 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 net.hour for toni i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again right here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you,u nd we'll see on. >> major funng for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a lauage app that teaches real-life conversations 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 vionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york.pp ting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement

of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. or and with the ongoing su 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 pt caioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

hi. i'm rick bayless, and i've been exploring cooking and eating in mexico for over 40 years. now i'm taking you to mexico city for a deedive into the classic dishes you've asked to learn. it's time to share my best recipes ever. [the music playing] announcer: "mexico--one plate at a time" is made possible by these funders...