captioning sponsored by newshour productions, c >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight:pr ident trump defends his willingness to accept information from foreign governments in order to damagcae aigns of his political opponents. then, two oil tankers arpe damaged in sed attacks in the persian gulf, increasing already heightened tensions between the u.s. and iran. plus, with less than two weeks until the first democratic presidential debate, i sit down with former texas congressman beto o'rourke. and, making sense of the racial wealth gap. how investing financially in every child at birth could help narrow the divide. >> what we're talking about is providing soal security over the life course.

this is not a handout. you have to use it as something that is asset-enhancing. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. or >> majunding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin? >> advice for life life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> consumer cellular. >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial

literacy in the 21st century. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, demratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security.at arnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was mpoade ible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: we have two top stories tonight. first, new eruptions at the white house. president trump suggesting it is okay if other countries give

him information to unders.ne his oppone top democrats say he is inviting attempts to influence u.s.ec ons. and, new explosions in troubled wate. attacks near the persian gulf have damaged a pair of tankers. the united states is blaming iran. we will return to both afstories righr the news summary. the white house today dismiss p a call to fisidential aide kellyanne conway. the u.s. office of special counsel, unrelated to special counsel robert mueller's office, said that conway repeatedly violated the "hatcact," a law which limits political activity government employees. the independent agency cited her criticism of democratic presidential candidates. it also quoted her as saying: "if you're trying to silence me through the hatch act, it's not going to work." the white house condemned the finding as "deeply flawed." separately, president trump

announitd that house press secretary sarahuckabee sanders is leaving at the end of the month. at a white house event, he called her "a warrior." sanders said she is going home to arkansas to spend more time with h family. >> this has been the honor, th a opportunity ifetime. i couldn't be prouder to have had the opportunity to serve my country, and work for this president. in the meantime, i'm going to continue to be one of thmost outspoken and loyal supporters of the president and his agenda. >> woodruff: sanders' tenure was marked by the end of regular media briefings, and questions about her credibility. in hong kong, there were smaller-scale protests today against extraditing criminal suspects to mainland china. demonstrators sang protests against police use of tear gas and rubber bullets.

e police, in turn, cleared barricades left by protesters after yesterday's violent clashes. turkey today denied reports of a cease-fire in northwestern syria. instead, the turks charged that syrian forces deliberately attacked a turkish outpost in idlib province. idlib is the last ebel-held province in syria, but the assad regime is pressing an offensive there, over turkey's objections. >> ( translated ): if the syrian regime continues its attacks, we will do whatever is necessary. nobody should doubt that. russia andran, as guarantor countries, have to heap necessary pressure on syrian government to stop these attacks. as guarantor countries, they need to fulfil their responbilities. >> woodruff: more than three million syrianhave fled to turkey during the syrian civil war, and the turks fear that fighting in idlib wildrive even more across the border. conservative party lawmakers in britain began voting today on

candidates for prime minister, d and boris johnson emer the tories' favorite. the former foreign secretary easily led the ten-candidate field after the first elimination round. theresa may resigned as prime minister last week, after failing to secure a deal for leaving the europe union. back in this country, officials in memphis, tennessee appealed for calm aftr u.s. marshals shot and killed a black man last night. they said he was wanted on multiple felony warrants, an that they opened fire when he rammed his vehicle into theirs and pulled a gun. the killing triggered angry clashes with police that injured 25 officers, and prompted a warning to the public. >> we should all wait and make sure we kw exactly what happen before we spread misinformation or we jump to conclusions. but, you know, the memphisli department, we've been very supportive of protests, but

we will not allow any acts of olence. >> woodruff: the suspect's father said that his son was shot as many as 20 times. officials said that they cothd not confir number. the wife of california congressman duncan hunter pled guilty today to spding $250,000 in campaign funds on ai sh lifestyle. margaret hunter entered the plea, to a single corruption count, in federal court in san diego. it could set the stage for her to testify against her husband. the republican congressman has blamed his wife for mishandling the funds. michigan prosecutors have dropped all criminal chargesag nst eight people in the tainted water scandal in flint. they now plan to restart their investigation, more than three years after the probe began, under a different group of prosecutors, insisting, "all available evidence was not pursued."

the field is now set for the first democratic presidential debate, which is held later this month in miami. nal democratic nat committee says 20 of the 25 candidates made the cut. those left are are mnaon cover steve bullock. massachusetts congressman seth moulton, wm,ayne meshe mayor of miramar, florida, and former aa lanator mike gravel. on walstreet, jitters over the attacks near the persian gulf pushed up oil prices, and stocks. the dow jones industrial average gained 102 points to close at 26,106. the nasdaq rose 44 points, and the s&p 500 added 1 and, prhockey's st. louis blues celebrated their first stanley cup today. the blues beat the boston bruins 4-to-1 in game seven of the finals last night. the victory came just fivemo hs after they were in last place.

it also gave their fans something to cheer, a 52 years of waiting. coratulations. still to come on the newshour: the president says he would accept iformation from foreign governments on american political opponents. tensions rise in the persian edlf after two oil tankers are damaged in suspect attacks. one-on-one with democratic presidential candidate beto o'rourke. and, mucmore. >> woodruff: robert mueller manl clear in hispublic appearance since his report, that rs ussiterference in u.s. elections is a ncern for all americans. but as yamiche alcindor reports, president trump has now oncast doub key part of that premise. >> aindor: a stunning admission: >> it's not an interference.

they have infk mation. i thd take it. >> alcindor: in an exclusive interview with abc news' george stephanopolous, presirump said he would accept information on political opponents from a foreign government. >> i think you might want to listen. i don't, therwre's nothing with listening. if somebody called from a country, norway, "we have y information r opponent." oh, i think i'd want to hear it. >> alcindor: last month, the f.b.i. director said, i offered "dirt" by foreigners, candidates contact the f.b.i. >> i think my view is that if any public official or memigr of any camis contacted by any nation-state or anybody acting onehalf of a nation-state about influencing or interfering with our eltion, then that's something that the f.b.i. would want to know about. im alcindor: today, the president defendedlf. he compared hices re meetings with the queen of england with receiving politically damaging information from foreign adversaries. mr. trump tweeted, "i meet and talk to "foreign governments" every day."

"should i immediately calel f.b.i. about these calls and meetings?" the reaction on capitol hill was mixed. nator lindsey graham of south carolina, a close ally of mr. trump, said the president's comments were a "mistake." >> well, that's not the right answer. if a foreign govercomes to you as a public official and offers to help your campaign, giving you anything of value whether it be money or information on your opponent, the right answer is no. tillis of north carolina backed the president. >> if the information is valid, it's a matter of corroborating item >> alcindor:rats said mr. trump's stance threatened rk warner, rank member on the senate intelligence committee. >> the fact that this prenes has so little moral compass ondr undersg of the need to protect our nation, that he says heould still welcome information from russia, china, or any other potential adersary if it helped his political campaign is orageous. >> alcindor: and house speaker

nancy pelosi said today the president is ioring his oath of office. >> once again, over and over again, he does not know the difference between right and wrong, and now to invit further involvement of foreign governments into our election. there was an assault on our democracy. >> alcindor: but she added, this alone would not lead t immediate impeachment proceedings. mr. trump has openly solicited information about his political opponents from foreign governments before. >> russia, if you're listening, i hope you're able to find 30,000 e-mails. >> alcindor: in july 2016, then-candidate trump requested that russia release the e-mails rohillary clinton deletedm her personal server when she was secretary of state. nearly two years later, special counsel robert mueller charged 12 russian intelligence officers with hacking the democratic national committee d clinton's presidential campaign to help the trump campaign. meanwhile, the "new yoreptimes" is rorting the department of justice is seeking to interview

c.i.a. officers.or the effis said to be part of the administraon's probe into the origins of the russia investigation. for the pbsewshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: to dig into all of this, i'm here with former federal prosecutor shan wu. we should note that he represented former trump campaign aide rick ga the mueller investigation and prosecution. and, trevor potter. he served as general counsel to john mccain's 2000 and 2008id prtial campaigns, and is founder and president of the campaign legal center. we welcome both of you to the newshour. trevor potter, i'm going to start with you. before we get to what the present is saying today about foreign information, what exactly is opposition reseaw rc? es it work in a typical campaign? >> in a typical campaign, a firm is hired or an individual, usually an outde consultant, to go online and google d pul

up whatever information they can find about tirponent. sometimes you do it actually on your own candidate to knowut what'shere. but the point is it's basic research for which the campaign pays, and it gives them information to use to attack their opponent. >> woodruff: so shan wu, this is something virtually every campaign does. they chepp out theirents and they check them out in great depth. what about when foreign actors or foreign governments get involved?ha how typical is >> well, that's not very typical, so under the campaign finance laws, what's illegal is accepting a thing of value without declaring it. so in theeg aions around the president, it's a little bit in the gray area, because it's not that they actually gave money to him or offered to give mobuney, rather information. one of the red hairings that's emerging is u hear the president and other republicans talking about the steal dossier.

it's important to realize in that instance, steal was actually working for a u.s. entity doing the opposition research. so it was not a foreign agent oe a n government involved. >> woodruff: you're saying that's a gray area? >> that part is not gray. that's normal to do. >> woodruff: normal to do. i've got it. i want to get to that in just a minute, but before i do, r trevr pottssia there examples of foreign -- i mean, we're hearing .t's not typical are there examples in american history of foreign governments providing information knowingly or not >> well, starting with the founders, who were greay concerned about foreign interference in u.s. elections, their -- there are examples going all the way bacto the early days of the country where foreign governmed nts trto influence our governments. it was a scandal. the french envoy was thrn out of the united states for trying to do that. in terms of the specifics here, i think it's important to remember that the justice

deoupartment specialel report specifically says that providing anything of value to a u.s. candidate from a foreign untry, a foreign state, is illegal, a anything of value, the mueller report says, would specifically include confidential information. and the mueller report says that's actually moreentral -- valuable than giving the becausete some money it's something they probably couldn't otherwise get. so we already know that taking something or soliciting something from a foreign government is, in fact, illegal. the mueller report went on to say they were not going to prosecute the trump campaign or don trump, jr w., who meth the russians, who hadomised information, and mueller says that's because we can't prove that he new was illegal at the time. that's very diffent than where

we are now when we have the statement in that report that says the standard here is the law says you can't take anything from a foreign government, anything of value. so i suspect the president in mahang his comments not consulted his lawyers, had not been advisedded bthem and he clearly would be i think making ata legal m if he went forward with talking to a fo.ign government about thi >> woodruff: shan wu, do you agree with that? if the president did as idhe in that interview with george ephanopoulos, as he said, sure, i would take information from a foreign government, would that be consideed legal or not? >> textbook illegal. mm would basically be admitting to having ted a crime. that's exactly the scenario that mueller faced wth don, jr., and if i were the prosecutor, i probably would have b that case against don, jr., but certainly the mueller team was facing a pital hot potato.

it's the president's son. they were concerned that most importantly i think he didn't actually receive the information that would have been of value, so it was more like an attempted crime. >> woodruff: it looked like he was trying to get mathat infion. >> woodruff: trevor potter, should there be clearer guidelines than there are ritht now about? i mean, you had the president, president trump as a candidate, we just heard it again, if you can fin'd hillary clints e-mails for me, please do. >> well, it seems to me that the f.b.i. director has been pretty clear in saying that if a u.s. campaign is contacted by representatives of a foreign government oncampaign matters to, give them specifically dirt on an opponent, then they should tell the f.b.i. whether t is necessary to write that into the law as some members of congress havese propis i think today an open question. i would have thought after the mueller report that the standard

was pretty clear here and cand uates woulderstand they shouldn't do this. even if there was murkiness about what happened in 2016, there is no such murkiness i thintoday after that. but given the president's awmments, maybe we do need to clarify thend specifically say anything of value includes formation about the campaign and the candidate and eir opponent that is offered or provided by aoreign government or a representative. >> woodruff: shan wu, what e out that? do you h idea of what the law could be, should be, if they were to pass a law to make this clea >> i agree with trevor that one would have thought that it was already clear, but n light of what's happened, in light of what the president is saying, i would take it a step further. i think it's better to have a rule that simply says the campaigns must report any contact with a foreign agent, a foreign government. >> woodruff: any contt? >> any contact, just as we do when i was federal employee on our background checks.

we have to disclose our foreig contacts. that would remove the discretion from the pers receiving the information. >> woodruff: very quick lastpo quick, trevoer, about this federal agency, independent agency today saying that kellyanne conw has violated the hatch act and should leave thehite house. explain quickly what violation she sposedly is guilty of and where do you see that going. >> well, it's important to remember the hatch act is there specifically to prevent executive branch employees from politicing as part of their if they want to do that, they can do it on their own time, but not at work and not in their official capacity. what happened here is there have been a series of complaints against kellyanne conway, some ofiled by anization, the campaign legal center recently, saying she is, in fact, campaigning on the public taxpayers' dime, and that's

specifically prohibited by the hatch act. the organization, the special counsel there agreed with that and reprimanded her and asked the white house to reprimand her before, and today has said, you know, she's done it again. there is no sign at all that ehe's following the law, and sh is not above the law. >> woodruff: and of course we know the white house is saying they don tt agree ay're not going to fire her. so we'll continue to watch that. trevor potter, shan wu, thank you both. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: the united states has blamed iran for attacks on two fuel i tankethe gulf of oman.

>> schifrin: about 25 miles off the coast of iran, the f fnt tanker is ire. an explosion scorched the tanker's side. its filipino, r >> schifrin: about 25 miles off the coast of iran, the "front altair" oil tanker is sabled, and on fire. an explosion ripped a hole and scorched the tanker's side. its filipino, russian, and georgian crew had to abandon ship and be rescued. they ended up on an iranian .o just 45 minutes earlier, and a es east, the tanker "kokuka courageous" was hit with two explosions, three hours tart. the crew also habandon ship, and ended up on an american destroyer. today at the state department, secretary of state mikeo offered no evidence, but blamed iran. >> taken as a whole, these unprovoked attacks prese t a clear threinternational peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation, and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by iran. >> schifrin: a u.s. mitary

official tells pbs newshour, the u.s. discovered an unexploded mine, believed to be iranian, on the side of the "kokuka courageous." boan and its proxies use small s in the persian gulf, and have the capacity to attack commercial shipping, says retired rear admiral mike smith, who commanded a destroyer squadron in the persian gulf. >> they the mine, they would certainly have that ability to employ that mine. the reports are,e t would be, aditional method would be, you would send divers in port before that tanker got underway, and thld affix to the tanker. >> schifrin: the "kokuka courageous" is japanese-owned, and today, its owners showed the press where thr ship was attacked-- an attack that came exactly as japanese prime minister shinzo abe met with ayatollah ali khamenei, iran's supreme leader. abe was visiting tehran to try and resduce iran-u.s. tensi and appeal for peace, as he told a press conference yesterday. >> ( translated ): nobody would like a war to happen, and japan hopes to be able to make any effort it can, and to do its utmost, to reduce tension.

f is is the goal trip. >> schifrin: but today, khamenei rejected the olive branch and president trump's offer to sit down for talks. >> ( translated ): i have no response to trump's message. i tell you some words, but i'm not giving him any message, e i don't consider h worthy of even exchanging messages. >> ile think the message here is that khamenei himself is disinterested in negotiations-- he has said that pubcly-- and the revolutionary guard has provided the firepower to back it up. >> schifrin: suzanne maloney is an iran expert at the brookings institution, and a former senior state department official. she says, compared to last month's attacks that blew holes in tanrs docked at an emirati port, today's attacks are an escalation, and a sign the iranian ldeadership is frustra by the u.s.' economic pressure campaign. >> they've sen under incringly severe economic pressure that is having a real impact oesn the day-to-day l and livelihoods on individual iranians. that's producing an impact on the overall stability of the

islamic republic, as well as its bottom line. >> schifrin: that bottom line is most affected by oil exports. the administration and experts say iran'sctions have become more aggressive since the u.s. vowed to cut iran oil exports to zero. and oil analysts predict prices could rise with the threat to oripping companies operating in the world's most int oil route. >> any steps in the gulf that increascoe ths associated with moving that oil through the strait of hormuefhave a net b-- both in terms of the economic impact, in terms ofra ing the price, but also in terms of the political price, and the mes neighbors and the trump administration, that these actions by the united states will have consequences for the global economy. >> schifrin: and those u.s. actions are likely to include the u.s. to reinfor png its militaesence in the waters near iran, says retired admiral smith, who once commander e u.s. destroyed that responded today. >> it's their responsibilitto be able to anticipate the

absolute worst case. so the ty're goihave to increase the security on their own forces, up the readiness, or certainly up the intelligencefl w that's going out to the units that are deployed. >> schifrin: and that means the tension between the u.s. and iran, will only increase. for the schifrin.ur, i'm nick >> wufoo could texas turn blue? it seemed a far-fetched question until beto o'rourke took on ted cruz for a hotly contested senate race. o'keroost, but even in defeat, he was propelled onto the national stage-- and now, a run for the white house. the former congressman joins me now. >> woodruff: the problem of inequality have gotten much

news hour. >> thank you for having me o i'm gratefu >> woodruff: so out of the 23 democrats seeking the nomination, why should voters choose you? in you talked about texas your introduction. i was extraordinarily lucky enough to be part of one of the greatest movemen s we've seen in that state, a state that ranks 50th in voter turnout came out in record numbers, not just docrats led by young people who turned out another a rate of 5400% over -- 500% over what theyead in th last term, but independents and republicans, as well. i won more votes than any democrat has in the history oouf state. we ensured the 38 electoral college votes that had not been won by ain democrat 1976 when jenny carter did, were now unlocked for this country. that way of helping to lead a grassroots movement, no pacs, all pewale is the in which we're going to defeat donald thump in 2020 and the way by which we will brins deeply divided country together around

our common challenges of climate and of the economy andf ensuring that everyone has healthcare and is well enough to live to their full potential. >> woodruff: you, i think a lot of people look at that race and said, beto o'rourke, he has d me kind of magic. they looat how you came closer than anyone expected r the, though, has been tougher for you. you so far haven't broken in what they're calling the top tier. is that magic gone? >> i'll tell you, at the tset the senate race or for that matter the outset of any race that i'veun, no poll would have predicted our performance. if you lookt any presidential poll in june the year before the election takes place, that has rarely if ever predicted the final outcome. so if we wait for polls to giv us permission to do the right thing, we might not ever act. i think that we will win this nomination one community, one voter, one caucus-goer at a time. so i'm showing up to listen to people about the things that are

most important to them, to build those commitments and that movement, not just to secure th nomination and to defeat trump, but to make sure that we're up to the greatest chalnges that we've ever faced in this country. so either as a candate or as a president, i won't allow polls to dictate doing what is right for this country. >> woodruff: but there we stories that were almost a year before the texas race that were saying, you kn, you could in that one. this year it's tougher, isn't it? can you recreate what you were able to do? what's different? >> i think we'll have too far beyond anything that i've been a pand of before, ae'll have to do so in the midst of an extraordinary field of candidates.h as long as we up everywhere, include everyone, then we cannot only win these election, but we can form the movement and the consensus to get the job done once in office. >> woodruff: front-runner in the polls. you said we don't look at polls, but right now the fruner is joe biden. you have said he represents the past, that there were problems during thebama administration.

other than the deportations, liwhich we know you didn'e, what were the problems with the obama administration? >> let me bwhin by i'm grateful for, which is the service of president obaa. the greatest president of my lifetime in what he was able to accomplish against some of thet longds and dealt the worst hand of any incoming president but we cannot be about wanting to go back to that. understand the nostalgia around the vice president's candidacyl we have toook boldly to the future of this countr we have ten years left within ich to meet the existential threat of climate change. our plans calls for us to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, to be halfway there by 2030, and to require all of us to commit to the workd ahead in to achieve that. when it comes to immigration, we've been talking ab for 30 years. i want to forever free those dreamers from any feaof deportation by making them u.s. citizens.

half steps, half morasures, only half the country will not get the job done. >> woodruff: are you saying rthat's what -- yoe saying that's what characterized the obama administration, hal measures >> not at all, but i think some of the appeal of the vice presidens candidacy is a return to an earlier era, and while we are ateful for that era and certainly for the service of presidentthbama, i k we need to be focused on the future, because even before donald trump, we h challenges in this country. and whether those challenges were in immigratl>> woodruff: let me ask you some specifics about a few of those. you mentioned climate change. you havtalked about harnessing the power of the market. people are asking, how do you do that? artalking about putting ctme kind of tax on carbon? what e do you mean?

>> i think we need to set defined levels fori emions in every single seconder of this economy. we nd to invest in the technologies that allow us to meet those ambitious goals and th ourselves from our dependence on fossil fuels some investments in the next generation of wind and solar and the battery storage technology hat will allow us to distribute what wegenerate on to the grid, that means putting farmers in the driver's seat thrgh regenerative agriculture and ofanting cover crops to capture more carbon ouhe air. in other words, everyone doing everything that they can sothat we can meet the challenge of this moment and also help to lead thworld, to stop us from warming another two degrees celsius. >> woodruff: but including a tax on carbon. >> we might have to do that in order to meet those absolute caps on emission, which is what we have to do. the sciertists say s ten years left some the shot clock is running down. we cannot allow for any uncertainty. there has to be defined emissiot limits in his

country, and much of that can be led by the federal government. >> woodruff: your politica philosophy overall, unlike bernie sanders, unlike elin,zabh warhey favor medicare for all, a single-payer healthcare coverage. th favor a version of a universal tuition-free or bt-free colleg you are not in favor of as much government support as they nare. whot? >> i'm focused on the goals. and when it comes to healthcare, is universal, guaranteed, high-quality care. that means if you have no insurance today, we enroll youdi in re. if you're insufficiently insured and you can't afford yo co-pays or your premium, you can elect to enroll in medicare, but if you're one ofhe tens of millions of americans who has employer-sponsored insurance, a membeof a union who bargained for healthcare perhaps in oflieu wage increases, you have plan you like because it works for you and your family, u should able to keep it. that gets us there as quickly and as surely as possible, and when it comes to the affordability of higher

education, many of these plans for free college onlcover tuition. our plan for debt-free educatios couition, room, board, and books, the full cost and also ensuring that we relieve the burden on those who arnge carr that $1.5 trillion in outstanding student loan debt right now by expanding the public service debt forgiveness program and refinancing outstanding student loan debt a. far lower rat >> woodruff: but not as much government support, pure federan gont support as their plans call for. >> correct. because i want to make sure that th're also not payin full freight of wealthy americans at a time of histori wealth and income inequality. >> woodruff: a story in the ntoewy is iran. the secretary of steoate pomp is the u.s. assessment is an is responsible for the attack on two oil tankers in the gulf oman. do you believe him, number one, and second, if thiis iran that's behind this, what should the u.s. do right? now

>> what i believe is that this is an administration that i gunning for war in iran. what i believe is that we can resolve our differences with that country, which are significant, peacefully without invading yet another country in the middle east. i want to make sure that we get to tttom of the facts and find the evidence that the secretary of state is talking about. i want to make sure that we convene the stakeholders in the region to addrs the instability that we see there. and i want to make sure that rwe ejoin our partner, our friends, and alliances that this president has turned his back on so that we can achieve our foreign policy goals in the middle east with iran and throughout the rest he world. >> woodruff: last question, both pete buttigieg and kamala harris and others have said they would pursue a prosecution of doesident trump after he leaves office, would yothat? >> i will make sure those who

are responsible for the undermining our democracy 2016, the obstruction of justice, they are held accountable and justice is serve. if we fail to this that,e will have set the precedent that some people are above the law. i don't know we need to wai until the next administration. impeachment proceedings will osallow us to get to facts and follow them as high up as they go. and we can protect our democracy fromuture attacks and hod accountable those responsible for the last one. >> woodruff: beto o'rourke running for the democratic nomination for president, hank >> thank you. >> woodruff: the problem of inequality have gotten much attention sbece the economy n recovering from the financial crisis. wages havet grown slowly, and took years for some to recover

lshosses from the housing c but many have not. and increasingly, there's concern about a racial wealth ga that is the focus of our "making frome" report tonigh economics correspondent paul solman. >> reporter: 32-year-old katrina beasley works for the federal brvernment in washington. good jobht future. so she's taking the next step in growing up-- trying to buy a few rooms of her own. but in d.c., she says: >>g even for someth average 600 to 700 square feet, will run you about $400 grand. >> reporter: some sum for the grandchild of mississippi sharecroppers. >> they didn't move into a house with a bathroom until late '70s, early '80s. >> reporter: her parents weren't acat poor, but... >> we didn't go onions, really. we didn't go out to eat. >> reporter: not even fast food place? >> we may have gotten a treat with certain things, junk food,

but it would be the dollar store brand. so, it wasn't quite oreos. ( laughter ) it was like, o's. >> reporfrr: the family gality rubbed off. begraduated from the university of texas debt-free, but it took her seven years, because she was also working ime at a spa. >> i would wrap people up like mummies. >> reporterwrap them in what? >> in ace bandages soaked in a mineral solutn. reteduce cellulose instant inches. ( laughter s) i'm going l you so you can get a body wrap, too. >> reporter: but beasley's ysonomic lot is hardly atypical, conomist darrick hamilton. just look at the black/white asset abyss. >> the racial wealth gap is tremendous. the typical black householhas about 10 cents for every dollar of a typical white househoth. typical black household where the head graduated from college has less wealth th a white household where the head dropped out of high school. reporter: really?

>> really. income, education, occupation, none of explains the racial wealth gap. >> reporter: ancosure enough, ing to the federal reserve, the typical white family's net worth is $171,000. the typical black family's? $17,600. and that ten-to-one disparity pales next to what hamilton founde in a study for ston fed. >> we had the shocking result that the typical african american household had $8 in net wealth in boston. >> reporter: $8. that's the n worth if you take all the assets and match them haainst all the debts? >>s right, and that's inclusive of homeownership. so s if there's everck or any emergency or shortfall in your income, you virtually have no resources to deal with your e gency situation. >> many of the peo interviewed were highly educated. >> reporter: sociologist regine jackson worked with hamilton in

boston. >> they were in professional paocons. many were homeowners. >> reporter: but the td had to borrlearn, borrow to buy, cee what they saved to ser the loans. >> basically, when it comes to economic security, wealth is both the beginning and the end. >> reporter: now it so happens k hamilton has a policy proposal for building wealth proposal for building wealth called baby bonds--details latethr- would provide a grubstake at birth for all americans, yet help close the wealth gap. >> life comes at everyone and in every type of way. >> reporter: and many of us face financial setbacks, says reese everson, but... >> the experiences that have systematically built up in the lives of african americans make e situations that much more insurmountable. >> reporter: everson, an author with a law degree, would seem to have the human capital it takes

to d,ild wealth. he came from a family that saved and invested in real estate. >> my grandfather worked at chrysler for 40 ars. he was one of the first people in his community to have a home built in tg '70s from the round up. paid it off before it was even done being built. >> reporter: she inherited that house. so, she's set, right? >> one would think so. but if my grandparents were white and they had gone out to west bloomfield, michigan instead of in detroit, michigan, the value of their property would have probably been three or four times higher. my grandther simply wasn't able to buy in those areas. >> reporter: literally, "no, you cannot buy." >> absolutely. >> reporter: meanwhile, white flight hammed the value of everson's legacy real estate. >> when white people moved from the city into the suburbs, the property values dropped. ra reporter: and if that weren't enough, after herfather died... >> my grandmother took out a reverse mortgage in 2005. >> reporter: where did she learn about the reverse mortgage? >> at her church.

>> reporter: where wells fargo as employees later confirmed was pusng the loans to arishioners. >> these 60-year-old women didn't realize that, you know, if you do rrow $60,000, in just ten short years, the interest and the fees are going to be $140,000. and when you pass away and the bank does come to collect, they're going to take all of the generational wealth that you wanted to pass down to your children. and that's what happened to me personally. >> reporter: in detroit, and, sociologists regine jackson and adria welcher found, in boston and atlanta, too. >> both our research took place after thing crisis in 2008. black communities and homeowners really felt and experienced that economic crisis. the stakes were much higher and the effects weretiuch longer l. >> reporter: housing values plummeted, meang less wealth, less investment, less opportunity. >> many of the suburbs that are now predominantly black, the values of the homes, and just

the community resources, the s,green spaces, the librar they are-- they're awful in comparison to white neighborhoods. >> reporter: small wonder katrina beasley is an anomaly in the d.c. condo market, even though she will only be able to buy if help froma non-profit es through. the condo's sales agent, kevin ward: >> oftentimes, a white person will have a lot more money to put down a down payment. >> reporter: where's their money coming from? >> quite often, it's coming from their parents. and toe perfectly honest, it's the same way i bought my first house. my father helped me with the down payment. >> and the down payment lp that the white people receive... >> reporter: realtor hector sepueseda: >> sometmaybe $100,000. versus the african american-- a few e,thousand here and ther but mostly none. >> so i'm going to make the case that the united states government should create a trust account forvery newborn... >> reporter: okay, time to explain baby bonds, an idea

pushed early by economist hamilton that's now part of democrat cory booker's presidential platform. a>> everybody should haair shot at the american dream, and this is one piece of legislation that would virtually eliminate the wealthap. >> reporter: and how would it work? >> the federal government would the accounts at birt those born into the least affluent families would be sepweded with an accountds to $50,000 to $60,000. ose born into the mo affluent families, they would get a nominal account of somewhere to about $500. >> reporter: which then is invelled how? >> they would be held in federal trusts, so basically, baby bonds is trust accounts for everyone. >> reporter: race-neutral accounts. but, race-conscious, in that poorer babies, being disproportionately black, would benefit most. the cost? enormous. $100 billion a year, hamilton estimates. in thi isn't an idea like this

somewhere between pie in the sky and preposterous? >> i say no. what we're talking about is providing social security over the life course. >> cireporter: but security, we, recipients of social security, paid for at least in part-- in large part, urselves. >> this is not a handout. you have to use it as something that is asset-enhancing-- a business, a home, co debt-free ege education. >> reporter: home down payment? debt-free college? sign, said katrina beasley. >> it woulhave been helpful for me and everybody that i know. >reporter: to economist hamilton, the racial wealth gap will only widen if it isn't address. >> the source of inequality is, some young adults have accesl to some capiat allows them to purchase an asset that will appreciate over their life. >> reporter: while so many others, like katrina beasley and reese everson, don't, through no fault of their own. for the pbs newshour, business and economics correspondent paul solman, reporting from

washington, d.c. >> woodruff: the palestinian west bank is usually discussed around t world in regard to middle east peace talks. but for the past few years, the organizers of a music festival there, have been trying to encourage people to open their minds, and ears. it is part of our ongoing series on arts and culture, "canvas." g: ♪ >> yn a city surrounded by barriers, this music festival is breaking down walls. >> we are connecting palestine to the rest of the worldsing music. that's exactly what we do. if you want to describe p.m.x. in one sentence, that's what we do. >> yang: rami younis is the co- founder of the three-year-oldc palestine mupo, or p.m.x.

it takes place in the palestinian west bank. it's as much about sharing stages as it is shattering stereotypes. >> this is us trying to tell the world that palestine isn't just gaza, occupation, soldie, checkpoints and all that. palestine is also music. palestine is also cinema. palestine is also other stuff. and people don't see that. and you know what? e wet victims in here. we're not victimizing ourselves. >> yang: the israeli network of fences, walls and checkpoints, which israel says keeps it safe, restricts the flow not only of people, but also of culture. ♪ ♪ ♪ all i need in this life is to be free, free ♪ free from this gate but i ed a key, key ♪ >> yang: the rap group ettijah is made of four young women who grew up in a refugee camp in bethlehem. diala shaheen says they're challenging the status quo of israeli control of the west bank. >> ( translated ): i mean, we suffer through the occupation, at the end of the day. we decided to rap becausit is a peaceful way to cope. we like rap because it is a way

to express ourselves, and to express ourselves and everything unat happened with us as freedom eemen. as ref we experience occupation every day. >> yang: the group recently released a music video for their song, "bala hdood," arabic for "wit >> (atranslated ): we experience challenges especially because of the checkpoints when we try to these checkpoints make us feel like we are not living with freedom. we don't have the frdom where we can leave from the airport from palestine to other countries. >> yang: their lyrics take cues from civil rights movements around the world. ♪ it's 2018 still protesting free palestine ♪ still screaming "black lives matter" ♪ >> ( translated ): it's not the samproblems that we experience, but rap did begin with the afmmcan american ity, and they used it as a way to express and to share with p

>> (etranslated ): ...the racism they face. >> ( translated ): right, and we're doing the same thing through rap. we're expressing our problems and everything we face. >> yang: p.m.x. was ettijah's biggest gig to date. about 700 people were there, including some supportive israelis. the group hopes to build on their warm reception. the festival brings international music industry insiders to the west bank to expose them to palestinian artist larry leblanc is a longtime music journalist. >> the music they're making here is extremely exportable, it's commercial, it would work in a number of different formats. a good artist is a good artist. >> when we bring the delegates from the worldwide music hindustry, revyweights, we also ask them to have workshopse with us, and wn from their, from the good stuff they've done, and from tve mistakes theone. we're not trying to copy their stuff. we're builng our own thing based on their experience. >> yang: festival organizers take the visiting music industry insiders around the west bank to

ikow them what palestinians' daily lives arebehind israel's separation barrier. lebnc has been going on those tours and attending the festival since the first p.m.x. >> one of the big problems in the middle musicians that are palestinian- based are either based in israel proper or one other areas, is of course getting out of the country and playing. ♪ ♪ >> yang: palestinians in gaza can'cross israel to the west bank without a permit. like this band, x, seen skyping in to p.m.x. p.m.x. and the degates who meet here have helped bring palestinian artists to the international stage. organizers say at least seveof its featured bands have performed in international festivals, like the all-female band kallemi. ♪ ♪

>> yang: kallemi features two isn rael-born palestinmen, and two swiss women of scpalestinian deent. they first worked together in pmallah as part of a kind of musical exchangram-- but as vocalist maysa daw notes, after their first collaboration, the band stuck. >> it was acally supposed to be a one-time show, but we fell in love and we decided to keep going. ♪ ♪ >> yang: vocalist jasmin albash says t women of kallemi are not just sharing their music with the world-- they're sharing a more complete representation and and this isolated l its people have to offer. >> the beautiful thing is, we are not coming here and go back and say, yeah, you know, it's so hard and everything is horrible, i go back and t was amazing! i met these amazing ladies, we had the best time ever and it was just beautiful. so i bring back beauty and it brings good beauty to me. that's the magic that i experience.

>> yang: in years to come, p.m.x. hopes to sharthat magic with even more music-lovers around the world. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang in ramallah. >> woodruff: we continue our "canvas" series now with tonighs "brief but spectacular." it features new york-based artist miguel colon. he is a member of an organization called fountain house, dedicated to supporting individuals with mental illness. >> i often wonder about how people see me. sometimes in a.a. meetings, i talk about that i'm dual- diagnosis and that i also have mental illness. and i worry thai'm putting myself in a-- in a vulnerable position. hie first time i went to a therapist and a psrist is probably when i was around 23 years old. i've been told that i seem like i'm high-functioning.

i really didn't receive a mostnite diagnosis until m recent hospitalization, which is schizoaffective, bipolar type. i had been hearing voice and i was also, i believe, experiencing things that may not have been happening, you know. and i felt that the whole world wasut to get me. and i checked myself into the hospital. >> when i the psych ward, i was drawing a lot. i was working on this graphic novel and it jus of kept me doing something that was life-affirming and eiching. and then too, people would sort ar see me working on it and come nd and want to know what i was working on. so it was, there was a social component to it also. the first time i started drawing was when i was fr years old. emwas really, really shy. and i rr when they dropped me off at "head start," and i was, you know, just like clinging to this wall. and i saw this poster of thor and i remember looking at it and

thinking, "i want to do that. i can do that." one of my main influences, which a lot of people actually see in my work, which i love, is diego rivera, the mexican muralist who worked in fresco. and he is a big influence of mine because of his social justice murals. while i was in the hospital, i found out about fountain house. it's a social club for people with mental illness. and i thought, wow, th, very thiu know? because with mental illness and al with, with addiction and alcoholism, what we tend to do is isolate. at fountain house, we can be supptive of each other, an there are no judgments. if you're feeling symptomatic, you're still a funct member of fountain house, and everybody cares about you an you're valid. self-portraits are hard, because i see things about myself that are kind of difficult to see. i tend to downplay myself a lot.

a lot of times my friends in recovery will tell me i'm a good person. that has, that is a source of gdns and is valid. my name is miguel cologne, and ty his isrief but spectacular" take on learning to see myself. >> woodruff: so uplifting. and you can find additional "brief but spectacular" episodes on our website, pbs.org/newshour/bri and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. oin us online, and again here tomorrow evening, when mark shields and david brooks break down the week's news. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that tehes real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> consumer cellular.

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

. hello, everyone, welcome to amanpour and company. here's what'soming up. poliir continue to tear gas and rubber bullets into the biggest protest in years i hong kong. >> that democra ocutlier in china. we ask a key law maker about a ilntroversial extradition that can threaten hong kong's one country,ys two stem principle. then. >> don't believe me? here's the evidence. >> could a group of independent citizens journalists be the best hope in the fake news? we talk to peopletanding up to official lies. and. >> why aren't more catholics enraged? protesting? >> the catholic church should aboll tish priesthood to save