captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> wdruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight:n a decisive daynezuela. opposition leader juan guaido claims to have military suort, as he declares the "final phase" of his push to oust president nicolas maduro. then, ter a spate of attacks on houses of worship, we speak with faith leaders on how they are ensuring the safety of their congregations. plus, for children with dyslexia, traditional reading instruction often falls short. now, a new approach to teaching literacy is changing the lives of all students, with and without dylexia. >> i know that we're sending better readers to first grade now than we did, and first grade's going to send better readers to second grade. and i feel that there's not going to be as many students

that fall through the cracks. >> 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. eslearn more at raymondjamom. >> ordering takeout. >> finding the wesngroute. >> talor hours. >> planning for showers. >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consum cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> bnsf railway. >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian,

german, and more. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: rp this program was made possible by the ation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the power struggle in venezuela has taken a sudden, violent turn. the country's opposition leader appealed to the military today to turn against the regime. thousands of protesters responded, but it was not clear whether the armed forces are indeed ready to shift allegiance. william brangham begins our coverage. >> brangham: the call for a military uprising came at dawn.i oppo leader juan guaido, flanked by members of the venezuelan military near a base apital, caracas.

>> ( translated ): it is the moment.no the moment is w. >> brangham: guiado was also joined by venezuela's most prominent opposition figure, l leopolez, who had been detained since 2014. lopez said security forces re.ased him from house arre >> ( translated ): the majority of men and women in uniform are aware that there has to be a e change in venezuela, ande appealing to all of them to join in thiprocess of unification of armed forces with the people of venezuela. >> brangham: soon, hundreds of supporters heeded the calls, waving flags and signs and chanting solidary. as the day wore on, the crowds t swelled in thousands. >> ( translated ): defend freedom! out with tyranny. yes, the people can! down with tyranny. everyone out to the street! >> brangm: guaido insisted that this was not a military coup, but an effort to protect the country from president nicolas maduro, who is widely accused of stealing last year's election, and whom the u.s. and dozens of other nations have

called upon to step down. >> ( translated ): we know that all venezuelans, including the onmed forces, are in favor of the constitu what the soldiers are doingto y, not only in caracas, but in the entire nation, is to be ide of the constitution. >> brangham: maduro, in turn, theeted that this was a coup and that he still hasupport of the country's military. on state television, his defense minister claimed only a "small" group of soldiers had joined tha uprising they were incited by the united states. >> ( translated ): we vehemently reject this new aggression, led by elements the north american imperialism and those who are here showing their faces, those bind this, and their lackeys: the master and their slaves, here in venezuela. >> brangham: in sht order, troops loyal to maduro fired tear gas to break up the crowds. ( gunfire ) the sound of gunfire echoed through the streets throughout

the afternoon, and a venezuelan national guard vehicle was seen strunning over several pros who were throwing stones. today, president trump tweeted, "the united states stands with the people of venezuela and their freedom!" and, secretary of state mike pompeo insisted, "democracy cannot be defeated." national security adviser john bolton j>>ned in later. t's a very delicate moment. i want to stress again, the president wants to see a peaceful transfer of power from maduro to guaido that possibility still exists,no if eugh figures depart from the regime and support the opposition. >> brangham: elsewhere in the region, colombia's president, ivan duque, urged veans to back guaido and reject what he called dictatorship. his brazilian counterpart, jair bolsinaro, also tweeted support for the opposition. but two of maduro's key allies,b cuba aivia, denounced today's rebellion,nd blamed the u.s. for "provoking violence and death."

the last major confrontation in venezuela came in february, when topposition activists tri deliver humanitarian aid into the country. at least four people died, and scores more were wounded. all of this in a country that was once wealthy, but has descended into econoc turmoil in recent years, withpe rinflation, and skyrocketing debt. the country is also under crippling u.s. sanctions on its oil industry. >> woodruff: this evening president trump threatened a full trade embargo on cuba if its forces do not halt aller ions in venezuela. we'll talk to the venezuelan a oppositionassador in washington after the news summary. in the day's other ns, president trump has proposed charging a fee to process asylum applications to the u.s. a residential memorandum signed monday, he said the e.ylum system is plagued by "random ab he also gave officials 90 days

to come up with new regulations. but the office of the u.n. gh commissioner for refugees criticized the proposal. a spokesman said that seeking asylum is a fundamental human right. meanwhile, the departmen sof homelaurity is appealing for more money to handle the surge of migrants. at a congressional hearing today, acting secretary of kevin mcalnan said his agency need more and better facilities. >> while our 2020 budgetill help address this crisis, we will need additional funding even sooner. given the scale of what 're facing, we will exhat our resources before the end of this fiscal year. as i'm sure you're only too awar d.h.s. is not the only agency involved in the humanitarian crisis unfolding daily at our southern border. our partners at the department of health and human services are also on the brink of running out of resources. ro woodruff: in all, nearly 100,000 migrantsed the u.s. southern border in march,

that is the most in 12 years. the man accused of opening fire in a southern california synagogue pleaded not guilty today to murder anattempted murder. 19-year-old john earnested appen court in san diego county for the first time since the saturday attack that left one person dead and wounded three. prosecutors said he had 60 rounds, bufired only eight to ten before his gun jammed. in northern mozambique, the misery keeps getting worse. widespread flooding has engulfed the region since tropicale cyclnneth struck last thursday, and the rain is still falling-- more than 22s so far. the death toll rose today to 41, and united nations officials said that conditions are holding back humanarian efforts. >> despair is evident. as bad weather contions still persist, access to the most remote places remains difficult. there are reports of peoe who are completely isolated and in need of rescue. oz woodruff: the cyclone was the second to strikebique in

just six weeks. japan's emperor akihito officially abdicated today, after a 30-year reign. he was the first japanese monarch to step down in two centuries. crowds gathered in tokyo today to thank the popular akihito, who sought to bring the monarchy closer to the people, and to heal the wounds of world war ii. at midnight in japan, prince naruhito succeeded his father and became the new emperor. and, on wall street, the dow jones industrial average gained 38 points to close near 26,593. the nasdaq fell 66 points, andth e s&p 500 added two. still to come on the newshour:a ssible turning point in the political battle over venezuela. president trump meets withde congressionacrats about infrastructure, amid a brewing fight over subpoenas. . revolution in the way that students learn to and, much more.

>> woodruff: we turn now to the anti-maduro protests which exploded on the streets of caracas, venezuela tod. as night fell, it still was notf cleahe venezuelan military had heeded opposition leader juan guiado's call to abandon presidenmaduro. william brangham is back, and he talks with the u.s. spresentative of venezuel opposition. f brangham: thanks, judy. to understand moreat's going on in venezuela tonight, and how the opposition plans to proceed, i'm joined now by carlos vecchio. he is juan guaido's representative in washington d.c., and is recognized by the united states as the official venezuelan ambassador. mr. vecchi thanks for being here again on the newshour. this morning juan guaido in that video stood wit members ofe

venezuelan military and said, "now is the time." why did he believe that today s the day? >> because today he announced the activation of the operation in order to put an end of the usurping of power of ni maduro. as interim president, he's calling for ezuelans to demonstrate peacefully and also requesting military forces tot suppor venezuelans in order to recover our democracy. so that's where weghare ri now. we will continue on the streets peacefully until we achie democracy again. this is not a single event. this is a process. so you have seen in the last month how the determination of the people of venezuela is. re.are t we will continue on the streets. an we are fully committed to conquer freedom again. >> brangham: here we are 12 hours since he issued that video

saying i have the support of the military, and yet tonight we still don't know that the military is truly onaido's side. is there any concern that this was a preture move on his part? >> not at all. glei said, this is not a sin even this is a process. we will continue on the streets. and we wile l contiquesting the support of the military. the reality is that juan guaido is fre he's on the streets. leopoldo lopez, who was under house arrest, is free. the reality is nat the miister of defense of maduro, the chief of the supreme court of maduro, and the commander of the presidential guard were nego ating the exitof maduro. so you will see the reality there. so the majority of the people of venezuela and the majormiy of thtary force, they are with us. they are expecting a change. and we will continue to tat until we conquer our freedom. >> brangham: as you well know, the venezuelan military is obviously crucial in all of nois. but as you also the maduro

regime has been funneling a lot of money, sta industries toward the military to keep their supporit what wilinally take to get them to change their loyalty? >> well, aain, we need unilateral detmination. we have been putting pressure on three different levels, on the streets with the people. we will continue to do that.e tomorrowe calling for massive demonstration across the country. analso we will continue putting pressure through the national assembly, the only democratically elected institution in our country. and again, the international community will be an important actor to increase that pressure. and in that way we can force a peaceful transition in our country. >> brangham:he trump ministration again today, several officials called for that peaceful transition to ocr. we also ha one u.s. senator, rick scott of florida, call for the u.s. to deploy its own military to the venezuelan harder. would you support idea? >> we have a clear instruction

from our interim president, juan guaido. justove the people, get the support of our military force, and the pressure from the international community. that's where we are. i don't have any doubt that we all achieve democracy again. >> brangham: the several other nations that are supporting maduro and trying the keepim up. the cubans, we know, have something of a paramilitary force. we saw them on the streets today of caracas. they're supporting him.ia the russ are also. there how do you surmount those >>tions' influence in this whole process? if you have seen, this is not a fight between the maduro regime and the nited states. juan guaido has been recognized for more tn 4 countries. the free world is with us. it is supporting the venezuelan cause, and also the region. the latin american countries who are within the lima group, they are suprting our cause, as

well. so we have the majority of the international community supporting our movient, an don't have any doubt that this combination with a domestic fofre and with pressure the international community will cofruer ouredom. >> brangham: tomorrow is may day. as you said, there are going to be eno protests across the country. hell juan guaido attend those protests, and ise anf. concern that if he does show up on the streets and is rallying people that he might b arrested? >> he will do it. i mean, he is going to be there tomorrow. he's going to call for these massive demnstrations, not only in caracas but across the country, as i said, and i mean,h haven't done it in the last three months. juan guaido has been nlking the street, you know, getting in contact with our people, and if they try to arrest juan guaido, in my view, that will validate the process of change in venezuela. >> brangham: all right. carlos vecchio recognized by the u.s. as the venezuelan ambassador. thank you so much for your time.

>> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: there were hints, actually, of bridging the political divides between house democrats and the white house today. but, as lisa desjardins reports, tensions over the balance of power remain. >> stahl: amid a mounting legal showdown between congressionmo ats and president trump over oversight... re we just had a very productive meeting with thedent of the united states. >> desjardins: ...a rare, bipartisan $2 trillion general agreement between president trump and democratic leaders, on a historically elusive, desperatelneeded plan to rebuild america's aging infrastructure.>> there was good will in this meeting. and that was different than some of the other meetings we've had, and thats a very good thing. >> desjardins: house speaker nancy pelosi, and minority leader chuck schumer praised

mr. trump's commitment to the issue. the white house, tooed the meeting, in a statement as "excellent and productive," adding, "the president looks to working together in a bipartisan way." but there was quite an elephant in t room-- a series of investigations by house democrats into president trump, tion, and the findings of special counsel albert mueller's russia probe. >> we're fightinthe subpeonas. >> desjardins: last week, mr. trump pledged to block those efforts. today, pelosi and schumer insisted that democrats can do-- boroker policy deals with the president, and investigate him. >> i believe we can do both at once. we can come up with some good ideas on infraructure. and, the house and the senate can proceed in its oveight responsibilities. the two are not mutually exclusive, and we are glad heak didn't mit that way. >> desjardins: so far, t administration mostly has stonewalled house democrats'

probes. subpoenaed officials have refused to testify or produce documents on issues ranging from the president's tax returns to mr. trump's attempts to limit the mueller investigation. attorney general bill barr has threatened to not testifysd thur about the muellerrt repobecause house democrats would like their attorneys to ask some of the questions. this as mr. trump and three of his children have filed a lawsuit against two banks in an attempt to block those banks from complying with house suoenas demanding trump financial information. the lawsuit says democrats are using the subpoenas to "hass" mr. trum but house democrats, like house financial seices committee chairwoman maxine waters, are digging in. >>e may file a lawsuit, bu that's not the end of this game. d desjardins: as democrats pursue lawsuits bpoenas against the president in court, they'll keep meeting with him in person to talk infrastructure. the next sit-down is planned to

happen in three weeks. >> woodruff: and lisa desjardins joins me now, along with our white house correspondent, yamiche alcindor. hello to both of you. yamiche, i'll start with you. it sounded like the two sides are ready to work we heard them in lisa's piece. but what are they saying at the white house about what tis looks like? >> welk we've definitely been here before, judy.pr thident has said that it's infrastructure week on several different occasions without an infrastructure bill actually being passed. what we doknow is that this meeting went a lot different than past meetings between the pr leadership.emocratic in the past the president has stormed out when talking about e migration. this meeting tite house said was productive and it was actually excellent. the two sides came together on that figure, $2 trillion for infrastructure. the issue, of courseis that both sides have different ideas on how to come up with that $2 trillion. the white house is interested in private and public partnership. the democrats have other ideas. the president i'm told and he

told reporters that the president didn'tbring up oversight and the idea that he feels harassed by the ideof the democrats looking into his finances and the mueller report some this means the pr willing to go forward on infrastructure. the big thing is there were notc repus at this meeting. i put the question the president schumer, are republicans going to be at the next meeting? he said no. the president said, "i'll lead on this." t so essential president's party is letting the president go forward with infrastructure. they will come in at a later date. so things are looking better than in the past. >> woodruff: so lisa, you hav been talking to democrats. what are they saying about the meeting and what the prospects look like? >> democrats l they gained a little bit of important ground here in that the president said he want infrastructure money not to go just for bridges and roads, traditional concept, but something democratsant very badly, which is rural broadband. that's also something a lot ofs rural republiced very much, as well. they feel like that was a win. also they say the presie nt agreed to ome of this money to make the grid more efficientt that's somethit democrats

say is related to climate change, for example. as for republicans, yamiche has na exactly right. when you talk to s and house republicans, they're waiting this out. they are used to this president putting a claim in the ground and ving his position. they are going to wait to see what his final posion is. one open question is whether the president would support a goldman sachs to fund this. -- a gas tax to fund this. he's admitted he's open it to. that's something congressional republans generally do not like. >> >> woodruff: you negligenced, yamie, the investigation democrats are conducting in the wake of the mueller report. what is the white house thinking at this point about how it's going to respond? >> well, there are a number, of course, of investigations that democrats are pursuing, but thed prt essentially is saying, i don't want to work with congress, because i see them as biaseorganization, and the idea is that he thinks that because he allowed his aides to talk tero muell team, he doesn't want them to go up and be testifying at congrea . i talked turce today at the white house that said there isn't a blanket direct e to

say, donrk with congress at all. they say they want to work with legitimate claims. ngat's a key thing, because the white house is saythey don't see as legitimate inquiries into how jared kushner got his security clearance, per se. woodruff: lisa, what are democrats thinking as they pursue these investigations? >> democrats say that they think there is an advantage either way to whether the president cooperates or not. overall they say, we want more information on more investigations as much as we can get, including the mueller report but they say if the president refuses to allow sohi ofs executives to testify or if heo refuses nover document, democrats say that helps theal build up a lase in court for saying there is a constitutional concern, that he must cooperate. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins, tyamiche alcindonk you. >> thanks.

>> woodruff: stay with us. y ming up on the newshour: securing the saf religious congregations after attacks on religious houses of worship. and, speaking with emily chang, author of the newshour-"new york times" book club pick, "brotopia. but first, the reading gap among school children in this country is disturbing. fewer than 40% of 4th and 8th graders are considered proficient readers. there is a push to change how students are taught to read, and it is being led by parents whose children have dyslexia. special correspondent lisa stark, of our partner "education week," reports from arkansas for our education segment, "making the grade." >> reporter: meet the families who changed how every child in arkansas will learn to read.

because they know what it's like. >> reporter: leading the charge, audie alumbaugh: >> reporter: here's amber jones. >> our youngest daughter, she could not figure out reading from the get-go. >> got to second grade and ae kind of fert. >> my kid is crawling under the table, stomach-aches, doesn't wa to go to school. we're in tears. >> reporter: they all discovered what the sools could not seem to-- that they had children or family members with dyslexia,. says dixie eva >> not being able to get help from the sools, the people that are supposed to know, that are supposed to have the answers...

i saw how it impacts every fiber of the family, which is wat everybody here says, and there's just no need.sy we have a stem in place to fix this. >>t system includes explicit instruion in phonics, teaching students howletters and sounds go together to help the bra process the written word. >> if we have the word "brush," b-r-ush. an we want to take away the b, were left with... >> rush. >> very good. we absolutely know this is the best way the teach children to read. >> the national center o immoving literacy says this approach works well with all students, t just those wit dyslexia. >> we know without a doubts that reading is not a natural process. reading hato be taught.

and it needs to be taught systematically. >> here's what that looks like at spring hill elementary in greenbrier, arkansas. for students wh characteristics of diselectionback they get intensive reading instruction. >> rain. >> i tried to trick y'all on that one. very good. >> why are you in that group? what's that fo? didn't danny, do you want to say something like that? >> to help eus sp better. >> read better. >> wre tter. >> ace, cord, and danny are taught the use tir senses of touch, feel, and improvement, to help imprint words into their brains. >> it helps me write it. >> so it helps to pound the word out and tap the word out? >> ye. >> why is that, do you think? >> because you're soundg out each letter. >> reporter: and letters

become words. words become storie reading is no longer something to avoid. >> now ia knolot about reading and like when i go to attack a book, i won't get stuck on a big word. >> i would like to see words and just see them in in a order and keep on reading. >> are you able to do that at all yet? >> somewhat. >> for those who can't read well by the end of thi grade, there are lifelong consequence, including higher school drop-out and poverty rates. arkaas ranks in the bottom third of states when it comes to reading, and this group inis dete to change that. they have fought for laws to transform reading instruction, often battling an educationt establishmsistant to change says dallas green. >> they didn't want us around. they would see us at educational things, and it would be like, oh, lord, here they . >> but perseverance paid off.

seven years and at lst eight bills later, arkansas is revamping everytiang from dyslcreening to reading instruction to teacher take and licensing, costing the statlle 6 n a year. >> statewide we've embraced it. it's not been easy. >> not easy but a watershed moment says stacy smith, who andrsees curriculum instruction in arkansas. >> when we saw schools who started implementing dyslexia programs kind of more school-wide and all of a sudden their reading literacy resultsvi were imp, it was kind of that moment of, wait a second, not all these kds are dyslexic.o >>d. >> this type of reading lystruction is the most beneficial for eeaders. that was the conclusion of the federally appointed national reading panel nearly two decades o. >> there i actual scientific evidence about how students learn to read. 's largely been ignored.

>> ignored largely because of years of ideological fights over how to best teach reading. should lessons be heavyin phonics and steeped in good literature? liz says sure kids need time with good books, but their first step is comprehensive phonics that's why te state is moving to teach every student this way. >> what have we done to generations of kids that we didn't really teach to read? >> arkansas is now retraining thousands s educators who were never taught this method of teaching. >> when iirst started teaching, i honestly didn't know how to teach kids to read. i didn't. i taught them some sight words. i taught them the letters and what sounds they make. and i hope that thet y pu all together. sh. >> teacher miranda heyham no

longer has to hope.e ows kids are learning to read. >> we're sending better readers to first grade than we did. betterreat will send readers to second grade. i feel like not as many students will fall through the cracks. >> this is happening around the country with pares leading the way. over 40 states have laws, pilot programs, ora bills redy to be signed around reading and dyslexia. but the requirements and ndates vary widely. in arkansas, by the school year 2021, all elementary and special ed. teachs must show at they know how to teach reading based on the scnce. at spring hill, they will beat that deadline. for prial stephanie worthy, this is personal. rember that student, ace newland, that's her son. >> i was an educator and i struggled with my own childand had this not come out and i was able to learn about diselectionback i wouldn't -- list alexa, i wouldn't have been

ableo help my own child, never mind other children. >> so apis this proach working? >> reading is kind of fun for me now that i know how and stuff.tx they haven't yet proved the ieedle on state tests. for those pu for the changes, there is little doubt they will. >> would you sayyo teachingr children a different way has made a difference for your ild. >> ye >> oh, definitely. >> how much of a difference? >> life changing. >> completely. >> fe changing en children are truly learning to read. >> now add boo. >> boo. >> good job. >> reporter: for "education week" and the pbs newshour, i'm lisa stark, in greenbrr, arkansas. >> woodruff: the shooting at a synagogue in california is justh latest in a series of attacks at houses of worship, here and abroad.

these assaults have increased in recent years, and are often tied to racism, bigotry and outright hate crimes. like school shootings, these incidents are raising profound questions about how to protect sacred spaces. >> this is our response. a full shul. packed. >> woodruff: a rabbi's words of healing, in the same synagogue where, two days earlier, gunshots rang out.e tack weighed heavy on the congregation's mind at a memorial service last night for lori kaye, the woman who died. >> we're at ground zero, the very place where an anti-semitic terrorist came to tear us down. >> woodruff: attacks at houses of worship are not limited to or focused on just one religion. bombings at churches and hotels in sri lan on easter left more than 250 people dead. a month before that, a gunman slaughtered 50 people at two

mosques in christchurch, new zealand. >> there is no place in suw zealand fo acts of extreme and unprecedented violence. >> woodruff: tragically, the i are the latea spate of assaults that have increased in recent years. in october, 11 people were gunned down by a white supremacist in a pittsburgh synagogue. 25 people died in a shooting at a church in sutherland springs, texas, in 2017. in 2012, a gunman killed six at a sikh temple in oak creek, wisconsin, rattling faith leaders nationally. >> we've always had this, youha know, fearthere is some incident might happen, but we did not expect that this would be at this scale. >> woodruff: black churches in the u.s. have been frequentta ets of racist attacks historically, particularly the jim crow and civil rights eras.

that included the 1963 bombing of the 16th street baprmst church in gham, alabama. four african american girls were vikilled during church serces. 2015, a white supremaci murdered nine parishioners at a hiorically black church in charleston, soh carolina. just a few weeks ago, three churches were set on fire in a single louisiana parish, in separate incidents. and we should note, the governor of wisconsin visited that sikh temple today as part of a special appreciation. this all comes amid a rise in ha crimes. let's look at a range of voices about the targeting of religiouu saies. ours is a small sampling of leaders of faith around the country. shakila ahmad, the first female president of the islamic center of greater cincinnati. she is a founding member of the "muslim-jewish advisory council," a national group of

business, political and ligious leaders. rabbi devorah marcus is with temple emanuel in san diego, not far from the attack in poway earlier this week. ted elmore is a pastor with the southern baptists of texas. conventi and, bishop eugene sutton is thd f the episcopal diocese of maryland.f we welcome allud to newshour. some of us can hardly belief we're even having this conversation. we really appreciate your joining us. i want to ask each one of you how all this is affecting you and your congregation. i want thstart with you, rabbib marcusause you are located not far from where the attack took place just a few days ago. >> thank you. obviously the events of saturday have had a profound impact on

the entire jewish community globally and especially in san diego. our jewish community isan diego is a close-knit one. glean't think of a sin congregation where someone in the congregation didn't know lori kaye because of her profound involvement in acts of repairing the world. she s a very active member of our jewish community, really a tremendous representative of m whes our community wonderful and everything that we take pride in. so our congregants are bothec personally ad by the loss of a dear friend and our communally affected because our synagogues, our ururches, mosques, our places of worship, these should be a safe space, and right now it does not feel safe at all.uf >> woo ted elmore, pastor elmore, what about you and what about your congregation there? >> judy, we look at this with a great deal of sadness. in fact, we have prayed for the

congregation in california as well as in pittsburgh and other places. i myself worked wih sutherland springs, and there were actually 26 that were slain in thi shooting. it is a profound evil that has come upon us. and it is evidence of a br world and certainly broken lives that perpetrate these crimes >> woodruff: shakila ahmad in cincinnati, of course the muslim faith has been aected in its own way. how are you? how is your community cting right now? >> you know, i think people are trying to be very strong. there should be really focusing on, you know, spiritually getting ready for the month of ramadan, which begins next week, but horrific incidents that hav taken pl san diego, in sri lanka, obviously christchurch, new zealand, have, you know, really been heavy on people's

hearts. at the same time, weeally have had to step back and reassess as to how it is thatwe can provide wesafe community and then how it is tha can, you know, be in prayer and in spirit with others who are hurting because of this profound and deep hatred which is being manifested in outright acts of violence ns innocent people >> woodruff: i want to talk to all of you in just a moment out how you're responding to this, but bishop sutton, what about you? we are reminded that even when these incidents happens far away, thousands of miles, not even in this country, we still feel them. >> yes, and the largest city in my diocese, the diocese of maryland is baltimore. baltimore, maryland, is no stranger to violence, a unfortunately we have witnessed violence in our churches for some time, even had the sidhootg of ae east in -- of aie by a church secretary

leader some we do respond with prayers and outpouring of compassion to our lady of the rlake brothers and sists, our jewish brothers and sisters. our muslim brothers d sisters. one thing we will not do isour mouths. we believe that god is also calling us to act, and our actions are how can we prevent this and how can we be a even more effective witness to peace and justice. >> woodruff: let's talk about that. rabbi marcus, what steps are you taking your synagogue in southern california? are you actively taking steps to secure, to make it a saf place? >> yes. we've worked for years the make our congregation as safe ast possible wthe recognition that when evil people seek to do harm, they often will figureut a way. so for us in the jewish

community, this profound rise of anti-semitism that we have witnessed, because it has been a profound rise, has been going on for several years now. before that there was always fear. e had been attacks at jewish community centers and at synagogues, anti-semitic cidents throughout the centuries. typically and historically america has been a safe place, but especially in the last few years as we've seen this profound uptick in anti-semitici nts nationally and internationally. we have worked very proactively. we have a robust security oummittee that works wit local law enforcement and f.b.i. office to ense that we are creating as comprehensiv security plan as possible to be as proacte as possible. we don't want to wait until something bad happens. we want to preve something bad from happening if we can. >> woodruff: ted elmore, whatin abouour community in texas. are you going so far as the make

sure to there are armed guards around the church? >> that is a local church decision, but many churches do have armed guards. now, the church where i pastor first baptist franklin texas, we do have a security team that is made of ex-law enforcement. some are now l enfoement, and so our security begins on the parking lot.m we have caeras, we have monitor, and our men walk around. doors are locked after, for example, in baptist life, we have sunday school. so we always have security in the children's ar but when a certain room is used band that segment of thilding is used, we lock those doors. so we watch for the strange and for the unknown. i have just written a piece calledan "inpreparation and recovery" we sent to 2,600 churches to lp them make prior -- prayer as a first reonse in seeking protection of god and yet being priewntd --

prudent and wise in looking at how we can safely prepare in case one of thesevents were to occur. >> woodruff: shakila ahmad,in what about cincinnati at the mosques you are involved with? what sort of security precautions have you had to take? >> well, you know, i think sadly even though we were always ver cognizant, we have really had to step up a number of ways to secure and help people feel comfortable when they come in to really connect with their eator. and so one thing we've had to do is reay increase actually hiring off-duty police officers in order to be on siteh wit police cruisers. we have had to beef up the security team as one of my other colleagues metioned, and provide them training in order to be vigilant d to be able

to, you know, be eyes and ears when a thousand other people are focused on their worship, we've enhanced our cameras across the campus, put in ar peimeter fence. but i will tell you, we areco tantly seeking ways in order to be able twho her it's potential security grants or llaboration with the jewish community and our other faith leaders to know how it is that we can really allow people to come to these holy places of worship andbe safe and feel secure. >> woodruff: bhop sutn, what about you? what about in baltimore and maryland? how are churches staying safe? >> well, our churches are goi to take all reasonable precautions and safety measures as reasonable and as spiritually helpful. here's what i mean: we' not going to become armed camps. we're notbe going t fortresses. we're not going to meet violence

with violence. this is soething that goes to the core of our faith. in this nation of ours, one of the things sadly that we export are our values of being wedded to violence and our attachments to guns and bombs and implements of violence as a way to stopen vi. we have to end that cycle. the one that we holto in our faith is jesus of nazareth. and he escwed violence, and he did with his followers, as well. martin luther king took up those ethics of his and al such people as gandhi and the dalai ma. in each of those cases, they have really shown that it is non-violence and non-violent responses that are most helpf in tng run. >> woodruff: rabbi marcus, this ssage of not resorting to guns, toools of violnce, weapons of violence, even in

self-defense is i'e a conversation you had, you know your own community. how did you resolve that? w had a long conversation amont our leadership about whether or not to move to a level of security thtcludes now armed guards. in the end we made that choice to move to armed guards for a number of different reasons. one, as was demonstrated at chabad, first of all, it decreases the appearance of being a soft taget, and people who come in to do these attacksm often fleediately when they are confronted with other people who are armed and trained. o we didn't do this because we glorify violenwe celebrate guns. we're very much not in favor of violent culture. m e the transition to switch st armed guards because we felt that it was the ay to keep everyone in our community safe. >> woodruff: a in just th few minutes we have left, i want

to ask ted elmore about this. >> well, i do agree with the bishop that we woripjesus of nazareth, but i also agree with thrabbi. it is my responsibility and our responsibility as leaders in the faith community to protect our flock from nthe wolves,there is no greater wolf than an. assass and so we take priewntd measures to protect our children and to protect our elderly, praying every moment that those measures of neutralizing a shooter never have to happen. but when you have looked into the faces of people who have lost 26 -- 26 -- almost half of e room that particular day, and you hug them and you walk with them for a year, you realize that we hae to take appropriate measure >> woodruff: do you want to comment? >> especially for my brothers ewand sisters in the jh faith and the muslim faith, yes, armed

guards i understand that, not arm worshipers. we can't have our places of sacred holy spaces be armed camps.ag that goenst everything that our values are about. because we firmly believe that when we put our trust in god, that is best in the long run, and again, that's the geus of the civil rights movement, as well. >> woodruff: well, i know this is somethi every congregation is wrestling with on its own. finally, shakila ahmad, the muslim center, islamic center of cincinnati, how did you come down on this question? >> well, as i said, you know, i think our vehicle has been to really leverage people who are experienced and have tbihety to act and act very quickly. that is not a burden thaa congregation should have to bear. so for that reason think the off-duty police officers, even ough it's incredible added

expense on our community as well as hiring app sropriaurity individuals and then trainingto our worshipere, you know, eyes and ear, but not be the ones that have the burden of caring firdrrms. >> wf: such a difficult conversation. thank you all for joining us. shakila ahmad, rabbi devorah marcus, ted elmore, and bis eugene sutton, thank you >> thank you. >> thank you for the opportunity. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: finally tonight, one author's not-so-pretty picture of silicon valley. jeffrey brown has our conversation for "now read this," our book club partnneship with thew york times." it's part of the ongoing "canvas" series on the arts and culture. >> brown: silicon valley has

often been portrayed as a very positive "revenge of the nerds," socially inept awkward young mei using brains and computer skills to change the world and enrich themselv, but lawsuits and news reports in recent years have offered a darker side of that story, one of overt sexism in the industry. r april book club pick shines a spotlight on that culture wit itn vengeance. it's titled "brotopia: breaking up the boys' club of silicon valley." journalist and author emily chang is host ofhe show "bloomberg technology" she joins us to answereaders' questions. welcome. thanks for being part of this. si thanks for having me and thank you for ch the book this month. >> brown: start off by explaining "brotopia." what do you mean by that? what were you after here? e> in my mind "brotopia" encapsulates this of silicone valley as a modern utopia where anyone can change the world, anne can make their own rules. >> brown: that is the pitt. >> that is the myth. if you're man, you can do that, but if you're a woman, it'

incomparably harder. it shows in the number. women hold 20% to 25% of jobs. they account for 9% of investors. women-led companies get just 2% of venture capital funding. in a place that is changing the world, changing all of our lievs y day, we think of tech founders and vision nairs as people who look like steve jobs and look like mark zuckerberg and there is a lot of people, at least 50% of the population who don't fit that profile. >> brown: okay. let's go to one of our videofr question one of the readers. >> youh r reseallows a particular industry and its culture in the ways in which its exclomen. if you were to research otherri indu, perhaps the automotive or industrial manufacturing, would you expect to find a similar bro culture elsewhere? >> i think bro open "brotopia" s everywhere in most industries new york most corporations, what i think that silicon valley, what sets it apart is the sense of arrogance and mral

exceptionalism that i believe aakes silicon valley and the people running iit more blind. the reality is women are not part of the decisions being made in these industries. >> brown: next ques >> could women help themselves professionally by not following the rules so titly and so often? >> i think women have a huge role to play in speaking up. that's why were here over the last year or two years. we've seen women speaking out, women having the courage to come forward and telling their stories, and that is making change. but this is not just on women. both women and men can be vocates for each other, can be advocates for those who are in the minority. so that women and minorities don'just have a seat at the table, but they have a voice at that table. and that voice is heandrd a incorporated into the decisions that are being made. >> you weninto lurid detail in some of this. a lot ofdetail of parties that this next question refers to. >> i have come across several different accounts of the sex parties you describe in your book. i am curious as to what

journalistic standards you used in describing these events. >> i spoke to dozens and dozens of people to write that chapter. women and men who were part of this scene. san francisco and the bay area has long been a place of sexual exploration, exploring sexual theedom, but women can't participate withsame level of respect and credibility that men could some if women participated ialthis so scene, they were sort of disrespected and discrediteder s men gained sort of more eespect, more credibility, m power as a result of it. and to me it was evidence of yet another double standard. >> brown: let's go to our next video question. >> how do you research tech centers, others in silicon valley to, see if bias in tech exists there, too. if so where and what did you find? >> what i heard over and over again when i was writing this book was, well, silicon valley can't possibly e worsethan

finance. actually, it is if you look at the top banks, they're actually about 50/50 when it comes to me and women. they have a lot of work to do when it comes to women in le wership position, buthat makes wall street different than silicon valley is you have a lot mo mature companies with built-in infrastructure, human resources operations than'you have in silicon valley. there aren't necessarily rules in place. that is where things fall through. >> >> brown: are there signs ofpe rom when you first started reporting on this? >> there are signs of hop first of all, if you look at the numbers, the latest diversity report that facebook and google hah,n't changed mut what we have seen is a huge aim of ployee activism advoc we saw 20,000 employees walk out of google offices around the world because they were uet about how the company handled sexual misconduct. men and women. and as a result, google has changed some of its policies. we've seen shareholders push

amazon to diversify their board and now amazon's board is almost half women. but it isoing to take a long time to change the numbers. it doesn't have to take forever. i believe if therea will will there is a way. this can happen much more quickly. that's the reason we need to keep the pressure on. >> brown: all right. the book is "brotopia: breaking up the boys' club of silicon k lley." emily chang, thu very much. >> thank you so much for having me. >> brown: and let me thank all of my viewers whoent in questions. for may we're turning to a very different kind of book, one about the man of many turns, that would be homer's odysseus and his epic "the odyssey," buti thtold in a contemporary and personal mode of a classics professor, a son who invites hi aging father tin his class and learn together. it's called o "yssey" by - daniel mepmend lson. as always we hope you'll read epghts fromet insi the author himself. p's all part of our "now read

this" book club tnership with "the new york times." >> woodruff: with that, that's the newshouror tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again heremo ow 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 program that teaches spanish, french, itaan, german, and more. >> consumer cellular. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> bf railway. >> the forfoundation. esrking with visionaries on the frontlin of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations i education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by e corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station fromiewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

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