captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, how controversy and ceremony continue to define president trump's trip to the united kingdom. then, one day before the milestone anniversary, remembering the vasion that shaped the modern world with those who stormed the beaches. plus, the heartland under water. as the central u.s. recoversoo from historic ng, farmers dependent on dry soil for planting face a crop crisis. >> if you walk across mud, just lay to think about running a tractor or aer across it and see how far you get. itu just, you can't touch there's nothing you can do with it. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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mr. trump also had much to say about many topics in an miterview. our e alcindor is in england, and has been following it all. >> alcindor: a d-day commemoration with president trump and other world leaders. today in portsuth, england, they gathered to mark the legendary invasion, and the beginning of the liberation of europe. it was here that allied forces maarded landing crafts to storm the beaches of ny and fight the nazis. the president along with members the british royal family spent time greeting d-day veterans. mr. trump had this to say of queen elizabeth: >> great woman. great, great woman. >> alcindor: he then flew briefly to ireland to meet with irish prime minister leo varadkar. the president said he was optimistic that the u.k. could work out one of its biggest brexit chaenges. the question is whether varadkar's republic of ireland can work out a border deal with northern ireland, which is part of the u.k. neither country wants to reinstate a hard border. >> big thing is gonna be your border. i think it will work out a lot

>> alcindor: before he left london, mr. trump sat down with journalist piers morgan. morgan questioned the president about whether he wished he would have been able to serve in the vietnam war. the president received five waferments from the draft. onfor having bone spurs. the other four were for education. >> i thought it war,a terrible thought it was very far away, nobody ever, you know, you're talking about vietnam and at the time, nobody ever heard of the country. this wasn't against nazi germany. we're fighting against hitler >> would you have liked to have served, generally? >> i would have been honored. but i think i make up for it erght now. l >> alcindor: anoopic: transgender americans morgan pressed him on why he had banned transgender people from serving in the military.ea mr. trump gavens which are not based on facts. >> because they take massive amounts of drugs, they have , and also and you're not allowed to take drugs. you know, in the military, you're not allowed to take any drugs. you take an aspirin. and you would actually have to break rules and regulations in order to have that.

>> alcindor: some military leaders and members of congress have said that transgender service could affect troop cohesion and morale. but, contrary to mr. trump's ohibited.n drug use is not lling to sit down withe about president hassan rouhani. >> are y to it, to jaw-jaw with president rouhani of iran? >> you're talking about talk? yeah of urse, i'd much rather ralk. >> alcindor: theans have refused to talk for now. the united states is the only nation which has withdrawn from the agreement. iran recently threatened to resume high-level uranium enrichment if the u.s. does not lift its sanctions. president trump plans to photo island in one of his gulf resorts, judy. >> woodruff: yamiche, hi. e interview the president did with the british journalist piers morgan, werthe therer claims the president made that are being questioned? >> the president said a number t. things that were simply not based in f he would not say that climate

change is a clear and present day. >> that is the cn clus scientists all over the country as well as scientists working with the trump administration. he said he talked to prince charles for 90 minutes about this and prince charles stressed to him he was concerned about future generations and climate change but the president was not convinced. he said the former british prime minister winston churchill did not have to deal with nuclear weapons. that's not true. china was thinking of building a nuclear weapon in the time of churchoml. that was shing again not based in fact. >> woodruff: the president met with british officials this week. he's, of course, been with the royal famil is it thought that all this could have some bearing on the brect negotiations? >> the president's visit here gikely will not have a bi impact on the u.k.'s brexit negotiation. they do not like the idea of a u.s. presg ident medal

keenine politics. the american president was a supporteof the brexit potics eefore. so what we really the president coming here to say that the u.k. and the u.s. are very close allies and will remain that way. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor, following the president's visit from londo thanks, yamiche. >> thank you so much. >> woodruff:n the day's other news, the trump administration held talks with mexican officials at the whiteouse, as the u.s. considers a 5% tariff on all imports from mexico. president trump has demanded mexico do more to stop illeg immigration or else the tariffs will go into effect next week. in ireland today, mr. trump said s mexico wants to find a compromise. >> mexico can stop it, they ve to stop it otherwise we just won't be able to do business. it's a very simple thing. and i think they will stop it. i thk they want to make a deal, and they've sent their top

people to try and do it. >> woodruff: some republicans in the senate are already lining up against the president's tariff proposal, while others say they support his push to address immigration now. >> the direct and virtually immediate effect once they go into effect is higher prices for consumers from all kinds of products that we buy from mexico. the next order of risk is a risk of retaliation. me's hard for the mexican gove not to retaliate, so u'en we get a decline in sales. >> the pain going to suffer to fix the border is do it now or do it later. if mexico doest change their behavior they'll keep coming. if we don't change our laws, they'll keep coming. so what's the president supposed to do, just throw up his hands >>d give up? oodruff: house speaker nancy o losi warned new u.s. tariffs on mexuld be "punishing" for both countries. also today, the u.s. border hatrol reported its officers

apprehended more132,000 migrants at the mexican border last month. that's the highest level in over a decade. the trump administration is canceling englisclasses, legal aid, and other programs for eraccompanied children at some u.s. migrant she it was first reported in "the washington post," citing a strain on the department of health and human services' budget due to the rise in border ossings. more than 40,000 unaccompanied children have been placed into h.h.s. custody this year, a 57% increase over last year. the trump administration also said today it is ending medical research by government scientists using human fetal tissue. the move is a win for abortion opponents, but it was opposed by some scientists who said there no other way to study some mealth problems. gove-backed research at universities can continue, but will be subject to additional

scrutiny. licy change does not affect privately-funded research. in sudan, the death toll from a three-day crackdown te opposition pers surpassed 10people today. at least 40 bodies were pulled from the nile river in khartoum. the clashes began monday when security forces stormed a pro- democracy protest camp. today, the country's military rulers offered to resume talks on transitioning to civilian rule. >> ( translated ): we are sorry for what happened. we pray for the souls of the martyrs, and hope the quickest of recoveries for the wounded. the general prosecutor has been directed towards investigating these events. the necessary legal measures will be taken as soon as possible. >> woodruff: sudan's opposition leaders rejected the offer to resume talks, and vowed to keep protesting. a bipartisan group of u.s. senators announced 22 joint resolutions blocking weapons sales to saudi arabia anthe united arab emirates without

congressional approval. that's after the trump administration invoked emergency s wers to push through $8 billion in arms sast month. it's unclear whether the resolution support to overcome a likely presidential veto. viube announced today it will remove thousands oos and channels with white supremacist and neo-nazi content from its site. the video streaming company will also bar any videos denying well-documented events like the holocaust ever happened. the move comes amid growing criticism that online services allow, and sometimes fuel, hate speech. and, scks rallied for a second day on wall street. industrial average gained 207 points to close at 25,539. the nasdaq rose 48 point50 and the s&p added 23. still to come on the newshour: the veterans of d-day share their stories 75 years after the historic invasion.

wn with democratic presidential candidate, colorado senator michael bennet. how american farmers are coping with unprecedented flood waters and a trade war. an in-depth look at robert mueller's investigation into whether the president ructed justice, and much more. >> woodruff: utah, omaha, juno, gold. names that will live on in history, given to the beaches in errmandy, france, where an-led allied troops landed on june 6, 1944 to begin the liberation of europe. of the 16 million americans who served during world war ii, an estimated 500,000 remain alive. only a few have returned on this 75th anniversary of d-day and it

may be the last time a large group veterans of that epic battle will gather. special correspondent malcolm brabant spoke with a group of them in normdy. >> reporter: at a chateau in normandy, the soundtck of the greatest generation, here to remember the defining moment of their lives and of world war ii. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ artilleryman pete shaw landed at utah beach, thus began nearly 300 days of combat, which earned him four bronze stars. >> i wanted to come back for the 50th anniversary but my wife was diagnosed with cancer. so i didn't come.

but i wanted to come so bad. that's why i never turned down this opportunity to come for the orth. >> repr: this is what they came for-- the beaches where the allies gained their first foothold in german occupied eoance. staff sergeant ge mullins crash landed on utah beach in a glider. what's it like to be back? >> feels good. >> reporter: at the omaha beach memorial, german soldiers kirprised ranger roy huereque by th him for liberating them from hitler's nazi regime. >> well you don't want to hear my story of germany. >> i think it's a good story because you freed us. >> reporter: how far out was the tide when you came in on jun6? >> it was way out. >> reporter: jerry deitch was in the initial wave on utah beach.

, for six months, we had a job to do and we did it. tididn't have an to be afraid or anything. bl reporter: his mission was to up obstacles and anti tank mines while under fire. >> another of the decisive battles of world histo been joined. this is the day for which free people have long waited. this is d-day. >> reporter: french children paid tribute as the veterans saluted in front of the omaha beach memorial. a group of polish re-enactors were awestruck by at being in the presence of the real deal. deitch, o served in the forebearer of the navy seals, recalls men were dying all around him, before he was knocked unconscious. he woke up eight days later in english hospital.

>> the ones that went into omaha beach because of the cliffs that were there, the pirmans were dr everything on them. they had a 75% loss out of 50 people. utah beach we were fortunate, we had a 20% loss. >> reporter: such selflessness securing the beachhead eombled servicew like nurse leila morrison to come ashorlater on. ay>> every day is memorial all of them were injured and suffered. and i try not to remember that part. then i want to remember the courage that they showed; remember that they never complained, and they were there for a reason. and if all of them would say if i had to do it all over, i'd do it again. >> reporter: private brad ieeman was a member of easy company immortalizthe hbo tv series "band of brothers." >> well we knows what we come for. we was ready. we were all just kids. >> paratroopers landed in nsrmandy behind the coastal re.

>> we sed to it. i mean we practiced it. knew whenever we stepped out that plane, we didn't a way back. and we'd better do something if we wanted to lr:e. >> reporte at the american cemetery above omaha beach lie of freeman's brothers i arms. private earl williams from california. private donald macmillin from ne many were picked off by the germans after being dropped in the wronplace. george mullins is now 94 and has just written aook detailing how he fought across europe, was wounded, patched up, c on, and reached hitler's redoubt, eagles nest, in the germanlps. 01 i'm proud of the outfit i represent, airborne. they're special men to fight with. they, you know wt you have when you fight with them. ted i did the best i could. >> rep russell picket was carrying a flame thrower in the

first wave onto omaha beach. he was wounded a had to use life preservers from those killed to save himself from being pulled out to sea by the tide. >> depending on how you look at it, my eagerness to go and do, i was pr but what i got done i wasn't proud of it. w i could have burned out the pill boxithin the 30 minutes that i was supposed to have burned it out, there would have been hundreds of people saved. i criticize myself all the time even though i couldn't help it. i know i couldn't help it, i got sense enough to know that. but if i had my choice i would go oidefinitely knowing that was doing a suicide job. g reporter: but he's regarded asuine hero. y villages like colleville sur mer, te paying homage to the men who liberated them from four years of nazi occupation. at the moment it's like being on

tigiant film set in normandy. there's a really f atmosphere as tens of thousands of people celebrate the sacrifices and courage and sacrifices of those who participated in the longest day 75 years ago. certainly there's solemnity. but the overriding sentiments rsat will be the legacy of this anniy are gratitude and thspect. e's intense gratitude in st mere eglise, the first village to be fully liberated. mayor jean quetier studies t bell tower where wounded paratrooper john steele hung for hours, suspended by his chute. he only survived by pretenng to be dead. like many of his comrades, steele was mistakenly dropped in an area bristling with germans. >> m beniversary with veterans, cause they are old men. but it's necessary wer the story. oc's a very expensive price for fredom and dcy.

>> reporter: medic gene kleindl landed at utah beach. this time he had a different reception. >> they treat me like a rock starnd pictures and not realizing at all these many many years, i still can't believe it. >> reporter: today's american paratroopers are naturally drawn to st mere eglise. for those following in their footsteps the oneatest generaas a simple message. >> just don't let it happen again, that's the advice i've got for the world. don't let it happen again. >> reporter: at this moment 75 years ago, 150,000 men steeled themselves for the landing, and the assault, notnowing that by the end of the longest day, an estimated 10,000 would be killed, wounded, or listed as missing in action. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant at omaha beach.

>> woodruff: with the firs p democratsidential debate just three weeks from tonight, .e hear now from senator michael bennet of colora he's one of 23 candidates vying to be his party's pick to take on president trump in 2020. he's also the author of a new gok, "the land of flicker lights-- restoring america in the age broken politics." senator michael bennet, welcome to the "newshour". >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: maybe notthe most optimistic title for a book, but what i want to ask you is why michael bennet, out of all the other candidates who are running? >> by the way, it in the end, an optimistic book. its, i thin, a love letter to this democracy, and i think

we're in incredible jeopardy. i think the country reached a break point and during his last povernment shutdown i reached a breat and reised just how far away we were from the priorities of the families i used to work for when i was superintendent of the denver public schools who have real concerns for their kids and the world in they wii they will grow up, and we're not and haven't been addressing it for the last ten years, which is what "the land of the flickering lights" is about. i believe it's because the tyranny of the freedom caucus in the last decade d the way mitch mcconnell has used that to stop progress on anything he can from healthc guns to climate change. >> woodruff: and what i want to ask you about is, right now, about the democratic field because isat you haveoe biden has surged into the lead. we know a lot of thatam ise identification. >> right. >> woodruff: but unseating an incumbt president, taking the presidency away from another party usually is about the

ture, who represents the future. >> i agree. >> woodruff: does joe biden represent the future? >> no, i don't think so. i think it's time for a new generation of leadership, and i'm not surprised he's thleading polls because he has more name recognion, certainly than i do. but we are going to have a vigorous competition of ideas in this democratic primary, and i thinwe need to do thatbecause i don't think the country, especially the part of country i come from, you know, colorado, i don't think we have any idea what the national democratic party stands for, and that has to be understood by the voter ts t we can take on donald trump and beat him. donald trump is vulnerable. he has gotten into the white house by diding amecans. our job is to speak with an agenda to the broad swath ofs americat are out there and thercome not just him but also these other forcet have made it impossible for us to get our work done. biting him is essential buit's not enough. we have to govern the country again. ra woodruff: given what we see in this demc race, do you

have concerns that the left in your pty ma pull whoever is the nominee, whether joe biden, yo tor anybody else, too fa the left on issues whether it's healthcallege tuition, whatever? i> from my point of view, thought there was room to get in this race because i thought the american people needed somebody to tell them the trut. that's not a campaign book. caat's a book about what i believe about amer it's not a book about me either. and i think the succe candidate in the d. j. party, and i suspect that it will be me, will beomebody who levels with the american people through the primary thugh a general election. that may sound naive, but i think the american people are tired of this game of pandering at the beginning and finding your way later. i think they're going to nominate somebody who tells them how hard this is going to be and what we need too together to get there. tnd i'll finally say, having spent a f time in iowa and new hampshire and a little bit

th carolina, i don't think the base of the democratic party is anywhere near where the twitter base of the democratic party is and i think those are two different things. >> woodruff: let me ask you about a piece of that. i mentioned healthcare. you're not in agreement with many of you ever peers running for president on medicaid for all. you're for medicare x. why is that better? >> it isetter. i thk it's better because we all agree we want unirsals coverage, and i think it's absolutely shameful in thisun y we don't have universal coverage and shameful mitch mcconnell has prevented us from doing it a donald trump has taken insurance away from millions of people. i belie giving people an option so that if they want public insurce they can get ad, mine is called medicaid x nistered by medicare, and if they don't want to switch to a public option, they can keep their private insurance. i don't think it's plausible that we'll take insurance away

from 180 million people in america, some of whom who like their health insurance, and it's so important for mcconnell to demonize, here comes the democrats with their bull she vick plan. no, we need to be strategic about what we'e sproazing and i heink medicare and my climate plan and s meet the living room test which is when you're away from the cameras and the raziness in washington, is this something people eir living room would agree with. >> woo about the u.s. economy and foreign policy and that is the president's threat now to impose tariffs on mexico over their failure to rein in managers. u and others in the democratic and republican party may be against taritffs, but wo you say to those americans who feel they've lost their job, their livelihood is worse off because jobs that have gone to places like mexico? >> i don't think it's an either/or proposition.

i think you say to people whose jobs went to meo that we have to do a much better job ofti neing trade agreements to preserve the jobs that are here. we've let much too mu of our supply chain, manufacturing supply chain go overseas, and i think the president was right to nkll china out, i th he was totally wrong in the way that he did it, but the american peoplen need t that we are fighting on their behalf. so i think that's all likelyt. import i think the way he's tied the tariffs to the crisis at the rder, some of whiche faovoked, is really unfortunate. ers and rampers all over this country have been hammered as a result of the tarif that he's put on other countries. it is a tax on our farmers, it is a tax on our workers, a tax -- it is also an attack but it's a tax. >> woodruff: last question, esident trump's visit to great britain and ireland, assess this trip. doat would you ifferent as a

u.s. president? >> i think i wouldn't be cheering for brexit, which is what he's doing, and i think that european allianchas been so important to this country since the end of world war ii tomorrow mark the 75t 75th anniversary of d-day, that alliance has beetical to us, it is critical to us now from an economic and national security perspective, and any president -- i hopeit will be me -- but any president who replaces donald trump is going to have to rebuild those alliances is one of irst things he does. >> woodruff: senator michael ionnet running for the democratic nominfor president. thank you. >> thanks. thanks for having me. >> woodruff: it's been almost three months sinceassive flooding washed over parts of nebraska, iowa and missouri, but for many farmers, recove has been slow. the region is expected to get

more rain this week. ngngering high water has delayed planor many growers who can't afford to miss out on a good crop this season. as jack williams from pbs station nebraskaeret reports, s not much some farmers can do. >> reporter: for scott olson, who farms around 3000 acres of corn and soybeans near the small town of tekamah in northeast nebraska, getting a good look at mohis land these days take than just a pick-up truck. olson is a farmer, but he's also a pilot and uses his small plane ss check on areas he can't acecause of high water from the nearby missouri river. g down this road down here, the road that goes into this farm, you can't even get into the farm to get to it. the water's high enough now, it's coverg over the roads. the other entrance into this field to the north us also undhi water, so atpoint in time right now i can't even get into

farm ground down here. >> reporter: olson has been able to plant in some areas, but t 500 acres of his land still looks like a big, muddy lake. losing tt flooded land this season could cost him more than $150,000 dolla in income. this year's flooding has hit him harder than floods i2011. >> if you walk across mud, just try to think about running a tractor a planter across it and see how far you get. you can't tough it. there's nothing you can do with it. >> reporter: a story repeated all across the midwest. >> in a two-week period, the ground needs to dry otherwise e crop willing greatly depleted. it's so doggone wet, continue see gew we're going t it done. >> reporter: as farmers fight high water and taxes and a f strayed standom china, they're getting help from th trump administration which announced $16 billion in farm

aid last month. but he prefers tradee . >> i he government can help us out and get policies put putogether and trade deal together so we can get a decent price for our com>>odity. eporter: most growers who haven't been affected by flooding he already planted corn, soybeans and other crops, but for those who have faced crop land lost to high water and rain, planting hasn't ban option. the u.s. department of agriculture says that at this time la year % of the corn crop in the nation's 18 biggest corn producing states have been planted. this year just 67% of corn is in the ground. the planting rate for soybans this year is even force. >> when you look at some of this residue, theoil around it is wet but underneath it, it's n'raight mud. >> if farmers get into the ground soon, crop yields will likely fall off sharp limit most

farmers have crop insurance that covers losses arin bad growing season, but delayed planning also means drastically reduced insurance payouts. >> we reach a point in june wheryour expetations for your average yield have to go down because you don't have enough calendar year to get the crop mature. soybeans are diffent than corn in that you can plant soybeans into the 10th or 15th june be no yield penalty. dave has acres split between coy and soybeans. his land shirring and didn' flood in march but has been a challenge to plant because of the wet weather. the rain washed away parts of his filds. >> we'll have terraces that get potholesfall of water but mainly erosion is what we have problems with when we get heavy rain. >> reporter: nielsen has been nes.of the fortunate his corn and voib -- voib crops

will be okay but he would like to sell them tand thrade war with china is testing his patience. >> you have to rebuild the connections. the sellers and buyers he to reconnect. there's going to be long-term tfects. this isn't we dro tariffs and the next day we're shipping as many beans as a year ago, that's not going to happen. >> repter: back at sco olson's place in northeast nebraska across the river from an equally soaked iowa, a little good news and good weather would go a long way. corn and soybean price rebounded a bit, but it's still a tough way to make a living. kis is a challenging year. whps you going here? >> well, just like any other ybusiness, i guess have good years and you have some bad years, but it's something we've alwaysone, it's always been a way of life. i don't want to give it up. reporter: olson says farming is all about patience and perseverance, and he says h and a lot of other midwest growers have an abundance of both.

llr the "pbs newshour," i'm jack ms in tachamen, nebraska. >> woodruff: we continue our look n at what is in the mueller report. the last two nights we looked at ervolume i -- russian intece and outreach to the trump campaign. given that most americans don't have time to read the entire 448 page report, we're trying to help explain its key concepts. n night, we turn to volume ii on obstruct justice. lisa desjardins and william brangham are our guides. >> brangham: did president trump commit obstruction of justice? that's the question that takes al, roughly 200 pages of the mueller report. last week, mueller made headlines saying this about the president's actions. >> if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime we would have

said so. we did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime. >> desjardins: that conclusion, with no conclusion on whether the president is guilty or stnocent, is where mueller ts this part of the report. he explains his lack of action by invoking an overridin question: can a sitting president be indicted? on page one, his answer is no. deeller points to justice rtment policy that "the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting tyesident would... undermine the capaf the executive branch ns perform its constitutionally assigned funct he put this in more plain language when he spoke last week. >> under longstanding department policy, a president cannot be charged with a federme while he is in office. that is unconstitutional. even if the charge is kept under seal and hidden from public view, that, too, is prohibited. >> brangham: so then, why

investigate? the report states that a president can be indicted after leaving office. in his report, the special counsel is thinking of the future, writing: "we conducted a thorough factual investigation in order to preserve the evidence when memories were fresh and documentary materials were available." >> desjardins: mueller says the job of assessing whether a sitting president broke the law, and what to do about it, belongs to congress. >> brangham: so, as mueller does in this section of the report, let's move on to the case for and against obstruction. >> desjardins: the report sees the president's actions in two phases, before and after one key event: the firing of f.b.i. director james comey. >> brangham: so let's look at how the report examines comey's firing. mueller makes a case that the president repeatedly wanted assurance that comey was the president's ally, and he didn't get it. at a private dinner with comey, the f.b.i. director says the president asks for his loyalty. in february, the president wears out the oval office to be aloh comey, and asks

him to let go of the investigation intoheichael flynn,ormer national tecurity adviser. mueller's report scomey felt these were direct orders. >> desjardins: tension buis quickly. on mar 20, 2017, comey publicly tells congri.s that the f.s investigating russian attacks on the election, and any links to the trump campaign. the mueller report shows the president immediately starts contacting or relaying messages to the acting attorney general, intelligence officials, and orpeatedly, comey himself, askingublic declarations stat the president is not under ination. on may 3, comey testifies before congress and does not say what the president wants. >> brangham: the presidentires comey six days later. on page 70, mueller writes that, on the night of comey's firing, "the white house wanted to put out a statement saying it was acting attorney general rod rosenstein's idea to fire

comey." but rosenstein said "he would not participate in putting out a 'false story.'" >> desjardins: that same week, the president says this to lester holt of nbc news: >> and in fact, when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a >> desjardins: many held that n terview up as a clear admisse president fired comey investigation.russia st mueller's report says the full nbc interviwed the opposite: "the presidee stated thatderstood when he made the decision to fire comey that the action might prolong the investigation." >> brangham: mueller's report concludes that "the evidence does not eablish that the termination of comey was designed to cover up a conspiracy between the trump campaign and russia." mueller says there's¡ substantial evidence' that the catalyst, the thing that pushed the president to do it, was comey's unwillingness to tell

the public that the president was not under investigation. >> desjardins: but of course comey's firing led directly to the appointment of the special counsel, and an investigation of the president. tomorrow night, we'll look at more of that obstruction investigation. >> woodruff: and we'll be back shortly with a look at a but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. r's a chance to offer you prpport, which helps keep rams like ours on the air. ho >> woodruff: for stations staying with us, we have this

encore report from jeffrey brown. he visited a violinist and macarthur 'genius' award winner who's creating a new musical life to help others. >> brown: 31-year-old violinist vijay gupta, rehearsing onstage at walt disney concert hl as a member of the los angeles philharmonic. world-class orchestra. top-level musician. albut not far away, gupta makes a life as a musician here, an area that many in his usual audience rarely if ever see: los angeles' skid row. a downtown neighborhood, home to thousands of the homeless, the battered, the struggling, living in shelters or on the streets, often ignored, even forgotten. >> the fact that skid row is two miles away from walt disney concert hall is not, in my mind, a matter of two different

ctrlds, but a master-class in the way stal violence plays out. ging these two worlds and being a bridge is exactly thero of the artist today. >> brown: gupta grew up in new york state, the child of indian immigrants. pushed almost to a breaking point, he complied: he entered a pre-college program lliard at age seven, and performed with an orchestra at 11. by 17, he had an undergraduate degreen biology, then worked in a harvard neurological lab. >> those were incredibleut opportunities,hey weren't my choices. and it was sort of compounded into this feeling that i would never be enough, and that everything would always be my fault. >> brown: music was his choice, in the end. he was just 19 when accepted into the l.a. philharmonic as its youngest member.

two years later came a life- changing event-- meeting and then giving lessons to nathaniel muers, a juilliard-trained cian who suffered from schizophrenia and fell into homelessness. the subject of a book and 2009 film, "the soloist." >> so the question became, well, how many more nathaniels are out here, in a community of over 58,000 people, who are unhoused or at risk of homelessness in downto los geles? >> brown: gupta began to learn more about skid row's residents ckth the help of people like christopher ma, who once lived on these streetsfond now works a community improvement >>oup. elping people out of love, you know, not out of despair, is the key. because you don't make something of tir condition. >> brown: gupta gave his first

skid row concert, with a group of professional friends, at this shelter in 2010. ♪ ♪ >> the thing that blews away was the fact that these audiences were some of the most engaged, empathic, wise people we had ever met, and we had ever played for >> brown: at that point, were you thinking you're coming in to do something, and then leaving? >> we thought it was one-off. totally. and we were functioning from a place of outreach. we just thought, well, okay, we're not here to change, we're here to give you something... >> brown: but what happened? >> well, what haened is that aen people in the audience started , "who are you?" my colleagues started to share really vulnerable stories about their own histories of abuse, so their own histories of mental illness, in their families or in their lives. >> brown: in the years since, gupta's "street symphony" has performed a variety of music, monthly, in shelters, clinics, transitional housing and, more recently, in all five los angeles county jails.

an annual performance of handel's professional musicians, students and people from the community. ♪ ♪ and "street symphony" has changelives, like that of malek vussough, whom we met in a the 46-year-old vussough is a longtime musician who fell into addictioand homelessness, and has lived in skid row shelters and housing for four years. he's now back in sool and back to taking lessons and playing music, all after hearing gupta perform.g >> i was tryin reconnect with, my inspiration, the hope i have and that childlike qualityg of wano be happy. >> brown: at a time you were not. al at a time when i was, like, struggling with accepting a lot of dreary truths, and wondering if i would ever be

able to get back to that. >> brown: also now affiliated a with "street symphony:" j. who goes by the name "sir oliver." in puts on music shows, uding an annual reggae festival. >> i just wanted to enlighten the community and say, hey man, i'm not just a d.j., i'm here to make you feel good. >> brown: in a rehearsal room in disney hall, gupta said an artist, to him, is also a social justice advocate. s ething we add to the mix of the great art. again, i want to turn that narrative on its head. ♪ >> reporter: and for you personally? >> there's a point at which i

can never get used to seeing skid there's a partf my stomach that always turns, and i've acknowledged that as grief. there's fear and sadness there. so for me, art has become my lifeline. b wn: as the year came to an end, he performed his final concert with the l.a. philharmonic, to work full time on his street symphony and other activism. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in los angeles. >> woodruff: singer r. kele is ck in court tomorrow, facing more charges of sexual inuse. federastigators are g ighing charges as well. it's all a strikange in

fortune. yamiche alcindor is back with a conversation we recently recorded with a journalist who has long pursued this story. it's our latest installment of our "bookshelf." >> reporter: for years there have been allegations and rumors sbout r. kelly's behavior. there wa trial, acquittal and more accusations. en this winter concerns intensified. in january a six-hour documentary detailed allegations of r. kelly mistreating and sexually abused women, many minors, even as his career thrived. in february the star was charged with aggregateriminal sexual abuse involving four women, consentder the age of at the time of the abuse. he turned himself into chicago police and was eventually released on bail. his record company dropped him. kelly has been repeatedly denying committing any criminal behavior a new book, "souless: the case against r. kelly," chronicles the singer's history and the

lives of his accusers, ain cuion of two years of journalism by jim derogatis, a co-host of the public radio show sound opinions and with the "new york times." almost two decades ago you gotno anymous fact that changed the course of your career saying robert has a problem with young girls. tell me how you got intost inating r. kelly and what sources told you about his behavior. >> as a pop music critatic he chicago sun-times, i got a lot of hate mail andfficially tossed this on the pile of press releases and hate letters i was going to throw away, but it was a single-spaced page-long facts tha had a lot of names and details and dates and a certain tone, robert needelp, robert needs to stop, he has to stop hurting young girls. and i di't think that a random hater would show that kind of compassion.

yamiche, i had always been a reporter first and foremost, i spent five years at the jerse journal covering crooked politicians and mobsters. i threw myself to this story because young women were telling me they were being hurt, and i stayed on the story for 19 years ancause those calls never stopped comin as a journalist, and i think as a human being, if a young woman is calling you and saying i have been hurt, no one will listen to me, the courts, the cops are not taking me seriously, can i tell you my stothy, that'e job you and i do, isn't it. >> reporter: you write that the lives8 women were lyther damaged or destroyed by r. k you also write that you think thousands of people knew. how could r. kelly have goen away with these alleged crimes . r so long? >> well,lly was, you know, if he earned a quarter of a billion dollars as my sources say, jive records earned a full billion and cliveouter and

barry weiss were the execuveti runninrunning this label, they a very poor record of their artists being h treatribly or their problems ignored, and they know about r. kelly because young women name them as a party to the lawsuits. the music indust had no interest in shutting him down. he was making them way too much money. then the book is a unique chicago story. inhicago is churches failed, the schools failed, the journalists failed, the courts failed, later on the police failed, everyone failed these hyoung black womenpreyed on. you know, i have said no one matters less in society than young black girls, and when i say that, i'm saying it because eozens of young black women h said that to me, and i'm just trying to amplify what they're saying as a journalist. >> reporter: how did r. kelly being black and most of hiss victims being black women factor into the way these alleged crimes were viewed?

n i've always wrestled with that questcause, you know, people would throw at me and another white journalist i was working with you are trying to down a successful black man, and blt we have talked to so many younk women whose lives were hurt and ruined, i say, some attempted suicide, according to court documents, according to what they told us, according e to thscars on the wrists that i've seen. i've never unrstood why those black women mattered less than this black superstar. it's not a book i wanted to writ yamiche. it's a dark and horrible place to live, but i thought it was necessary because, above and beyond the case eding to be made that this is the worst predator in the history of popular music -- and i know that sounds hypelic. you know, men have been treating women badly in the music world way before sinatra and way after chris brown. nobody, i believe, has wrapped

up the body 8 count ofung women's lives ruined. and that't s h hyperbole. many dreamed of beinginers, their careers destroyed. >> r. kelly sat down with gayle king, he was angry and emotional. how does that square with what s you'n from sources? >> kelly is a master manipulator of the media he was delivering an oscar-worthy performance. i'm not the only one. there were people on set who told me the same thing in that piterview. he believes he can his way out of trouble. he's under indictment in illinois on very serious charges, ten charges originally, 11 more additional charges were added, but there was a federal investigation, three federal inveigations, the f.b.i., the department of homeland security and the i.r.s., that are looking at obstruction of juste, tax evasion, sex trafficking and transporting underage girls across state lines for immoral

purposes. >> reporter: do you think people are taking these alleged crimes more seriously this time? arou and if so, why? >> i think that people still dot realize the scope of these crimes, that they start in 1991 and they are cong even as you and i speak. that's why i thought this book was necessary. but when i sat with dominic gardner and tell her story the anrst time in the book,i asked her, you're a smart, beautiful young woman, a talented poet, why did you spend nine years with him? i loved him and he lovede and, yes, he beat me with an extension cord and choked and starved me but i loved him. i said,, b dominick, why? and she pulled up his mug shot on her cell phone and said, it was them eyes, jim, it was them eyes there's the power of the music, the celebrity, the fame, there are young girlsy who believe the will be the next aaliyah, and there's this other tng i think

we'll be trying to pars for years to come. >> reporter: thank you. e book is "souless: the case against r. kelly" by jim derogatis. ahank you. >> thank you,c >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now, officials from u.s. and mexico are woin earnest to come up with solutions on illegal immiation, in response to proposed tariffs by the trump adminiration on mexican pports. we examisible areas for common ground on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon.

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"amanpour & company." he's what's coming up. >> she is probably a better negotiator thaam. >> day two of president trump's statsit to britain. the politics after the pomp as protesters take to the streets and the president enters talks with the british prime minister, hr're joined by ruddy as well as vince cable, leader of the u.k.'s liberal democrats. then,he as climate crisis deepens, why is the white house trying to tamper with the science? award-winning climate scientist katheryn h hey hoe and bob englis. >>ke if you could re public education, how would you do it? >> wyatt cenac talks