captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff:in good ev i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: president trump defends his willingness to acceptfr informatio foreign governments in order to damage his political opponents. then, two oil tankers are damaged in suspected attacks in e 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 nse of the racial wealth gap. how investing financially in ould helpld at birth narrow the divide. >> what we're talking about is providing social security over the life course. t is is not a handout.

you have to use something that is asset-enhancing. >> woouff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: evin. >> kevin! >> kevin? >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com.c >>sumer cellular. >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> and byhe alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century.

>> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting invations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station fromiewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: we have two top stories tonight. first, new uptions at the white house. president trump is suggesting it is okay if other countris give him information to undermine his

opponents. top democrats say he is inviting attempts to influence u.s. elections. and,on new exploin troubled waters. attacks near the persian gulf have damed a pair of tankers. the united states is blaming iran. we will return to both stories right after the news summary. the white house today dismissed a call to fire presidential aide kellyanne conway. te u.s. office of special counsel, unrelatspecial counsel robert mueller's office, said that conway repeatedly violated the "hatch act," a law which limits political activity by government employees. the independent agency cited her criticism of democratic presidential candidate 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." parately, president trump announced that white house

press secretary sarah huckabee sands 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 arkad nsas to spre time with her family. >> this has been the, the opportunity of a lifetime. i couldn't be prouder to have had the opportunity to serve my country, and workfor this president. in the meantime, i'm going to continue to be one of the most outspoken and loyal supporters of the president anhis agenda. >> woodruff: sanders' tenure wad may the end of regular media briefings, and questions about her credibility. ts hong kong, there were smaller-scale prot today against extraditing criminal suspects to mainland china. monstrators sang protests against police use of tear gas and rubber bullets. the police, in turn, clear

rricades left by protesters after yesterday's violent ashes. turkey today denied reports of a cease-fire in northwestern syria. erstead, the turks charged that syrian forces deliely attacked a turkish outpost in idlib province. idlib is the last rebel-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 isecessary. nobody should doubt that. russia and iran, as guarantor countries, have to heap necessary pressure on syrian governmento stop these attacks. as guarantor countries, they need to fulfil their responsibilities. >> woodruff: more than three million syrians have fled to turkey during the rian civil war, and the turks fear that fighting in idlib will drive even more across t border. conservative party lawmakers in britain began voting today on candidates for prime minister,

and boris johnson emerged as the tories' favorite. the former foreign secretary easily led the ten-candidate field after the first elimination round. theresa may resigned as prime minister lt week, after failing to secure a deal for leaving the european union. back in this countrycials in memphis, tennessee appealed for calm afte shot and killed a black man last night. they said he was wanteipon mu felony warrants, and 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 officerswaand prompted a ing to the public. >> wend should all wait make sure we know exactly what happened before we spread misinformation or we jump to conclusions. but, you know, the memphis police department, we've been very supportive of protests, but we will not allow any acts of

violence. >> woodruff: the suspect's father said that his son was shot as many as 20 times. officials said that they could not confirm that number. the wife of california congressman duncan hunter pled guilty today to spendingai $250,000 in gn funds on a lavish lifestyle. margaret hunter entered the plea, to a single corr count, in federal court in san diego. it could set the stage for her to testify against r husband. the republican congressman has blamed his wife m fhandling the funds. michigan prosecutors have dropped all criminal charges against eight people in the tainted water scandal in flint. they n plan to restart their investigation, more than three years after tun probe began, er a different group of prosecutors, insisting, "all available evidence was t pursued."

the field is now set for the first democratic presidential debate, which is held later this month in miami. the democratic national committee says 20 of the candidates made the cut. those left are are montana cover steve bullock. massachusetts congressman sethon mouwayne mesham, the mayor of miramar, florida, and former laska senator mike gravel. on wall street, 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 ,106. the nasdaq rose 44 points, and the s&p 500 added 11. and, pro hockey's st. louis blues celebrated theifirst stanley cup today. the blues beat the boston bruins 4-to-1 in game seven of the finals last night. the victory came just five months after they were in last ace. it also gave their fans

something to cheer, after 52 years of waiting. e ngratulations. still to come on wshour: the president says he would accept information from fos ign governme american political opponents. tensions rise in the persian gulf after two oil tankers are damaged in suspectedttks. one-on-one with democratic presidential candidate beto o'rourke. and, much more. >> woodruff: robert mueller made clear in his only public appearance since his report, that russia's interference in u.s. elections is a concern for all americans. but as yamiche alcindor reports, president trump has now cast doubt on a key part of that premise. >> alcindor: aiotunning admin: >> it's not an interference.

they have information. i think i'd take it. >> alcindor: in an exclusive interview h abc news' george stephanopolous, president trump said he would accept information on political opponents from ago foreigvernment. >> i think you might want to listen. i don't, there's nothing wrong with listening. if somebody called from a country, norway, "we have information on your opponent."nk oh, i thi i'd want to hear it. >> alcindor: last month, the f.b.i. director said, if"d offed t" by foreigners, candidates should contact the f.b.i. >> i think my view is that if any public official or member of any campaign is contacted by any nation-state or anybody acting on behalf of a nation-state about influencing or interferin with our election, then that's something that the f.b.i. would want to know about. >> alcindor: today, the president defended himself. he compared his recent 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 call the f.b.i. about these calls and meetings?" n capitol hill was mixed. senator 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 aner. if a foreign government comes to you as a public official and offers to help your cayoaign, givinanything of value whether it be money or information on your opponent, the right answer is no.f tillisrth carolina backed the president. >> if the information is valid, it's a matter of corroborating it. >> alcindor: democrats said mr. trump's s.ance threatened rk warner, rank member on the senate intelligence committee. >> the fact that this president has so little moral compass or understanding of the need to protect our nation, th he says he would still welcome informarom russia, china, he any other potential adversary if it ed his political campaign is outrageo: . >> alcindnd house speaker

nancy pelosi said today the president is ignoring his oath of office. >> once again, over and over again, he does not know the difference between right and wrong, d now to invite further involvement of foreign governments int our election. there was an assault on our democracy. >> alcindor: but she added, this one would notlead to immediate impeachment proceedings. mr. trump has openly solicited information about his po opponents from foreign governments before. >> russia, if you're listening, i hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails. >> alcindor: in july 2016, then-candidate trumd reques that russia release the e-mails hillary clinton deleted from her personal server when she was secretary of state. nearly two years later, special counsel robert mueller charged 12 russian intelligence officers with hacking tdemocratic national committee and clinton's presidential campaign to help the trump campaign. meanwhile, the "new york times" is reporting the department ojuf ice is seeking to interview c.i.a. officers.

the effort is said to be part of probe intoation's the origins of the russia investigation. for the pbs newshour, i'm >> 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 gates in the eller investigation and prosecution. and, trevor . he served as general counsel to john mccain's 2000 and 2008 presidential 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 withgeou. before wto what the president is saying today about foreign information, what actly is opposition research? how does it work in a typical mpaign? >> in a typical campaign, a firm is hired or an individual, usually an outside consultant, to go online and google and pull

up whatever information they can find about their opponent. sometimes you do it actually on your own ndidate to know what's out there. but the point is it's basich research forich the campaign pays, and it gives them informati to use toattack their opponent. >> woodruff: so shan w this is something virtually every campaign does. they check out their opponents anthey check them out in great depth. what about when foreign actors or foreign governments get involved? how typical is that? >> well, that's not very typical, so under the campaign finance laws, what's illegal is accepofng a thingalue without declaring it. so in the allegations around the pres it's a little bit in the gray area, because it's not that they acally gave money to him or offered to give money, but rather infoheation. one ofed hairings that's emerging is you hear the president and other republicans talking about the steal dossier.

it's important to reain that instance, steal was actually working for a u.s. entity doing opposition research. so it was not a foreign agent or a foreign government involved.f: >> woodryou're saying that's a gray area? ma that part is not gray. that's nto do. >> woodruff: normal to do. i've got it. i want tget to that in just a minute, but before i do, trevor potter russia there examples of foreign -- i mean, we're h it's not typical. are there examples in american history of foreign governments providing information knowingly or not? wellstarting with the founders, who were greatly concerned abt foreign interference in u.s. elections, their -- there are examples going all the way back to the early days of the country where foreign governments tried to influence our governments. it was a scandal. e french envoy was thrown out of the united states for trying to do that. in terms of t scifics here, i think it's important to remember that the justice

department special counsel report ysecifically hat providing anything of value to a u.didate from a foreign country, a foreign ate, is illegal, and anything of value, the mueller report says, would orecifically include confidential inftion. and the mueller report says that's actually more central -- valuable than giving the candidate some money, because it's something they pbably couldn't otherwise get. so we already know that taking something or soliciting something from a foreign government is, in fact, legal. the mueller report went on to say they were not going e prosecute trump campaign or don trump, jr., who met with the russians, who had promised information, and mueller says that's because we can't prove that he knew it was ille the time. that's very different than where were now when we have the

statement in that report that says the standard here is the thi says you can't take a from a foreign government, anything of value. so i suspect the president in making his comments had notu coed his lawyers, had not been advisedded by them and he clearly would be i think making a legal mistake if he went forward with talking to a foreign government about this. >> woodruff: shan wu, do you agrehwith that? ifpresident did as he said in that interview with george stephanopoulos, as he said, sure, i would take information t om a foreign government, would tbe considered legal or not? >> textbo illegal. he would basically be admitting to having committed a crime. that's exactly the scenario that mueller faced with n,r., and if i were the prosecutor, i probably would have brought that case against don, but certainly the mueller team was facing a political hot potato.re it's theident'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 that information. >> woodruff: trevr potter, should there be clearer guidelines than there are right now about this? i mean,ou had the president, president trump as a candidate, we just heard it again, if you can find hillary clinton's e-mails for me, please do. >> well, it seems tme 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 on campaign matters to, give them specifically dirt on an opponent, then they should tell the f.b.i. whether it isecessary to write that into the law as some members of congress have proposed is i think day an open question. i would have thought after the mueller report that the standard was pretty clear here and

candidates would understanthey shouldn't do this. even if there was murkiness about what happened in 2016, there is no such murkiness i think today after that. but given the president's comments, maybe we do need to clarify the law and specifically say anything of value includes information about the campaign and the candidate and theirp ent that is offered or provided by a foreign government or a representative. >> woodruff: shan w about that? do you have an idea of what the law could be, should b, if they were to pass a law to make this clearer? >> i agree withh trevorat one would have thought that it was already clear, but in light of what happened, in light of what the president is saying, i would take it a step further. i think it's betteto have rule that simply says the campaigns must report any contact with a foreign agent, a >> woodruff: any contact? >> any contact, just as we do when i was federal emploee on our background checks. we have to disclose our foreign

contacts. that would remove the discretion from the person receiving the ioinform >> woodruff: very quick last quick, trevor potter, about this federal agency, independent agency today saying that kellyanne conway has violatedtc the hact and should leave the white house. explain quickly what violation she supposedly is guilty of and where do you snee that g >> well, it's important to remember the hatch act is there specifically to prevent executive lobranch eyees from politicing as part of their job. if they want to do tt, ey 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 filed by my organization, the campaign legal center recently, aying she is, in fact, aicaing on the public taxpayers' dime, and that's specificalrohibited by the

hatch act. the organization, t 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 sin at all that she's following the law, and she is not above the law. >> woodruff: and of course we know the white house is saying they don't agree and they're nor going to fire so we'll continue to watch that. trevor potter,hawu, thank you both. >> thank you, judy. druff: the united states has blamed iran for attacks on two fuel tankers in the gulf of oman.

>> schifr: about 25 miles off the coast of iran, the front tanker is on fire. an explosion scorched the tanker's side.li its fino, r >> schifrin: about 25 miles off the coast of iran, the "front altair" oil tanker is disabled, and on fire. ch explosion ripped a hole and sc the tanker's side. its filipino, russian, and georgian crew had to abandon ship and be reued. they ended up on an iranian boat. just 45 minutes earlier, d a few miles east, the tanker "kokuka courageous" was hit with two explosions, three hours apart. the crew also had to abandon ship, and ended up on an american destroyer. today at thetate department, secretary of state mike pompeo offered no evidence, but blamed iran. >> taken as a whole, these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation, and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension >> schifrin: a u.s. military official tells pbs newshour, the

u.s. discovered an unexploded mine, believed to be iranianon the side of the "kokuka courageous." iraitn anproxies use small boats 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 have the ability to have the mine, they would certainly have thaity to employ that mine. the reports are, it would be, the traditional method would be, you would send divers in port at tanker got underway, and they would affix to the tanker. >> schifrin: the "kokuka courageous" is japanese-owned, anhetoday, its owners showed press where their ship was attacked-- an attack that came exactly as japanese prim minister shinzo abe met with ayatollah ali khamenei, iran's supreme leader. abe was visiting tehran to try and reduce iran-u.s. tensions and appeal for peace, as he told tea press conference yay. >> ( translated ): nobody would like a war to happen, and japant hopes to be abmake any effort it can, and to do its utmost, toeduce tension.

this is the goal of my trip. >> schifrin: but today, khamenei rejected the olive branch and president trump's offer to sit down for talks. >> ( notranslated ): i hav response to trump's message. i tell you some words, but i'm not giving him any message, because i don't consider him worthy of even exchanging messages. >> i think the clear message here is that khamenei himself is disinterested in negotiations-- he has said that publicly-- and the revolutionary guarhas provided the firepower to back it up. frin: 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 tankers docked at an emirati port, today's attacks are an escalation, and a sign the iranian leadership is frustrated u.s.' economic pressure campaign. >> they've been under increascingly severe econo pressure that is having a real impact on the day-to-day lives anld livelihoods on individ iranians. that's producing an impact on the overall stability of the

islamic public, as well as its bottom line. >> schifrin: that bottom line is most ailffected byxports. the administration and experts say iran's actions have become more aggressive sincthe u.s. vowed to cut iran oil exports to zero. and oil analysts predict priceso crise with the threat to shippipanies operating in the world's most important oil route. >> any steps in the gu that increae the costs associated with moving that oil through the strait of hormuz have a net benefit-- both in terms of the economic impact, in te raising the price, but also in te,erms of the political pr and the message it sends to its neighbors and the trump administration, that these actions by the united states will have consequences f the global economy. >> s.chifrin: and those u.s actions are likely to include the u.s. to reinforcing its military presence in the waters near iran, says retired admiral smith, who once commander the u.s. destroyed that responded today. >> it's their responsibility to be able to anticipate the absoluteor case.

so they're going to have to increase the security on their own forchees, upeadiness, or certainly up the intelligence flow that's going out to the units that are deployed. >> schifrin: and that means the tension etween the u.s. and iran, will only increase. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: 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' rourke lost, but even in defeat, he was propelled onto the national stage-- and now, a n 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 on. i'm grateful. >> woodruff: so out of the 23 democrats seeking the nomination, why should voters choose you? >> you tkedbout texas in your introduction. i was extraordinarily lucky enough to be part of one of the greatest movement. s we've seen in that state, a state that ranks 50th in voter turnout came out in record numbers, notust democrats led by young people who turned out another a rate of 5400% over --r 500% hat they had in the last term, but independents and republicans, as well. i won more votes than any democrat has in the history of our state. we ensured the 38 electoral college votes that had not been won by a democrat since 1976 when jennycarter did, were now unlocked for this country. that way of helping to lead a grassroots movement, no pacs, all people is the way in which we're going to defeat donald trump 2020 and the waby which we will bring this deeply divided country together around our common challenges of imate

and of the economy and of ensuring that everyone has healthcare and is well enough te o their full potential. >> woodruff: you, i think a that raceople look at and said, beto o'rourke, he has some kind of magic. they looked at h you came closer than anyone expected. this race, thouhabeen tougher for you. you so far haven't broken into what they're calling the top er. is that magic gone? >> i'll tell you, at the outset of the senate race or for that matter the outset of any rac e thi've run, no poll would have predicted our performance. if you look at any president poll in june the year before the election takes place, that has rarelyf ever predicted the final outcome. so if we wait for polls to give us permission to do the right thing, we might not ever act. i think that we will win this nomination one community, one voter, caone us-goer at a time. so i'm showing up to listen to people about the things that are most important to them, to

those commitments and that movement, not just to secure the nominion and to defeat trump, but to make sure that we're up to the greatest challenges that we've ev faced in this country. so either as a candidate or as a president, i won't allow polls to dictate doing what is right for this country. >> woodruff: but thre were stories that were almost a year before the texas race that were saying, you know, you could win that one. this year it's tougher, isn't it? can you recreate whatreyou we able to do? what's different? >> i think we'll have to go far beyond anything that i've been a part of before, and we'll havet to do so ihe midst of an extraordinary field of candidates. as long as we show up everywhere, include everyone, then we cannot on 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 e fruner is joe biden. you have said he represents the past, that there wereblems during the obama administration.

other than the deportations, which we know you didn't like, what were the problems with the obama administration? >> let me begin by what i'm grateful for, which is the service of president obama. the greatest president of my lifetime in what he was able tot accomplish agasome of the longest odds and dealt the worst hand of aidny incoming prt. but we cannot be about wanting to go back to that. i understand the nostalgia antround the vice presi candidacy. we have to look boldly to the future of this country. we hatve ten years l within which to meet the existential reat of climate change. our plans calls for us to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, to be halfw there by 2030, and to require all of us to commit tohe work ahead in order to achieve that. when it comes to immigration, we've been talking about reform for 30 years. i want to forever free those dreamers from any fear of deportation by making them u.s. citizens., half stelf measures, or

only half the country will not get the job de. >> woodruff: are you saying that's what -- you're saying that's what characterized the obama administration, f measures? >> not at all, but i think some of the appeal of the vi president's candidacy is a return to an earlier era, d while we are grateful for that era and certainly for e service of president obama, i think we need to be focused on the future, because evendefore onald trump, we had challenges in this country. and whether those challenges were in immigratl>> woodruff: let me ask you sow specifics about a of those. you mentioned climate change. you have talked about harnessin the power ofthe market. people are asking, how do you do that? are you talking about putting some kind of tax on carbon? ean? exactly do you >> i think we need to set

defined levels for emissions i every single seconder of this economy. we need to invest in the technologies that allow us to meet those ambitious gls and the free ourselves from our dependence on fossil fuels some investments in the next generation of wind and solar and the battery storage technology that will allow us to distribute what we generate on to the gri that means putting farmers in the driver's seat through ulgenerative agrre and planting cover crops to capture more carbon out of the air. tn other words, everyone doing everything they can so that we can meet the challenge of this moment and also help to le the world, to stop us from warming another two degiurees ce >> woodruff: but including a tax on carbon. >> we might have to do that in order to meet those ablute caps on emission, which is what we have to do. ehe scientists say there's ten years left some th shot clock is running down. we cannot allow for any uncertainty. finee has to be de emissions limits in this

country, and much of that can be led e federal government. >> woodruff: your political philosophy erl, unlike bernie sanders, unlike elizabeth warren, they favor me all, a single-payer healthcare coverage. they favor version of a universal tuition-free or debt-free college. you are not in fsavor of much government support as they are. why not? >> i'm focused on the goals. and when i,comes to healthca it is universal, guaranteed, high-quality care. that means if you have no insurance today, we enroll you in medicare. if you're insufficiently insured and you can't afford your co-pays or your premiumyou can elect to enroll in medicare, but ca you're one of the tens of millions of amer who has employer-sponsored insurance, a member of a union who bargained for healthcare perhaps in lieu of wage increases, you have plan you like because it works for you and yo family, you should be able to keep it. that gets us there as quickly and as sure as possible, and when it comes to the affordability of higheed ation, many of these plans

n.r free college only cover tuit our plan for debt-free education covers tuition, room, board, and books, the full cost and also ensuring that we relieve the burden on those who are carrying that $1.5 trillion in outstanding stent loan debt right now by expanding the public service debt forgiveness program and refinancing outstanding student loan debt at far lower rates. >> woodruff: but not amuch government support, pure federal government support as their plans call for >> correct. because i want to make sure that we're also not paying thefull freight of wealthy americans at a time of historic wealth and income inequality. >> woodruff: a story in the news today is iran. the secretary of state pompeo is the u.s. assessment is iran is responsible for e attack on two oil tankers in the gulf of do lieve him, number one, oman. and second, if this is iran atat's behind this, should the u.s. do right now?

>> what i believe is that this is stan adminition that is gunning for war in iran. at i believe is that we can resolve our differences with that country, which are significant, peacefully without invading yet anothr country in the middle east. i want to make sure that we get to the bottom ofhe facts and find the evidence that the lkingtary of state is t abou i want to make sure that we convene the stakeholders in the region to address the instability that we see there. and i want to mtake sure t we rejoin our partner, our friends, thislliances th president has turned his back on so that we can achieve foreign policy goals in the middle east with iran and throughout the rest of the worlda >> woodruff:st question, both pete buttigieg and kamala harris and others have said they would pursue a prosecution of president tru after he leav office, would you do that? >> i will make sure those who are responble for th

undermining our democracy in 2016, the obstruction of justice, ty are held accountable and justice is serve. if we fail to this that, we will have set the precedent thasome people are above the law. i don't kn we need to wait until the next administration. impeachment proceedwill allow us to get to those facts and follow them as high up as they go. we can protect our democracy from future attacks and holtad accoe those responsible for the last one. >> woodruff: beto o'rourke running for the democratic nomination for president, thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: the problem of inequality have gotten much attention since the economy began recovering from the financial crisis. wages have grown slowly, and it took years for some to recover losses from the housing crash.

but many havnot. ansid incrly, there's concern about a racial wealth gap. that is the focus of our "making sense" report tonight from economics correspondent paul solman. >> reporter: 32-year-old katrina beasley works for the federal government in washington. good job; bright future. so she's taking the next step in growin--g rying to buy a few t oms of her own. d.c., she says: >> even for something on average 600 to 700 square feet, will run you about $400 grand. >> reporter: some sum for the grandchild of mississippi sharecroppers. >> tey didn't move into a ho with a bathroom until late '70s, early '80s. >> rorter: her parents weren that poor, but... >> we didn't go on vacations, really. we didn't go out to eat. >> reporter: not even a fast food place? >> we may have gotten a treat with certain things, junk food,

but it would be the llar store brand. so, it wasn't quite oreos. ( laughter ) it was like, o's. >> reporter: the family frutygaubbed off. beasley graduated from the university of texas debt-free, but it took her seven years, because she was also wking full-time at a spa. >> i would wrap people up like mummies. >> reporter: wrap them in what? >> in ace bandages soaked in a mineral solution. reduce cellulite, lose instant inches. ( laughter ) i'm going to sell you so you can get a body wrap, too. >> reporter: but beasley's economic lot is hardly atypical, says economist darrick hamilton. just look at the black/white asset abyss. >> the racial wealth gap is tremendous. the typical black household has about 10 cents for every dollar of a typical white household. the typical black household where the ad graduated from college has less wealth than a d ite household where the head dropt of high school. >> reporter: really? cc really.

income, education,ation, none of it explains the racial wealth gap. >> reporter: and sure enough, according to the federal reserve, the family's net worth is $171,000. the typical black family's? $17,600. and that ten-to-one disparity pales next to what hilton found in a study for the boston fed. >> we had the shocking result that the typical african american household had $8 in net wealth in boston. >> reporter: $8. that's the net worth if you take all the assets and match them against all the debts? >> that's right, and that's clusive of homeownership so if there's ever a shock or any emergency or shortfall in your income, you virtually have noesources to deal with yo emergency situation. >> many of the people i interviewed were highly educated. >> reporter: sociologist regine jackson worked with hamilton in

boston. >> they were in professional occupations. many were homeowners. >> reporter: but they'd had to borrow to learn, borrow to buy, use what they saved to service the ans. >> basically, when it comes to ecosenomirity, wealth is both the beginning and the end. >> reporter: now it so happens darrick hamilton has a policy diproposal for bu wealth proposal for blding wealth called baby bonds--details later-- that would provide a grubstake at birth for all americans, yetelp close the wealth gap. >> life comes at everyone and in every type of way. >> reporter: a many of us face nancial setbacks, says reese everson, but... >> the experiences that have systematically built up in the lives of african a these situations that much more insurmountable. >> reporter: everson, an author with a law degree, would seem to have the human capital it takes to build wealth.

and, she came from a family than saved ansted in real estate. >> my grandfather worked at chrysler for 40 years. he was one of the first people in his community to have a home built in the '70s from the ground up. paid it off before it was even done being built. >> reporter: she inhited that house. so, she's set, right? >> oneould think so. but if my grandparents were white and th had gone out to st bloomfield, michigan instead of in detroit, michigan, the value of their property would have probably been three or four times higher. my grandfather simply wasn't able to buy in those areas. >> reporter: liternnly, "no, you buy." >> absolutely. >> reporter w: meanwhilte flight hammered the value of everson's legacy real estate. it>> when people moved from the city into the suburbs, the property values dropped. >if> reporter: anhat weren't enough, after her grandfather died... a my grandmother took ou reverse mortgage in 2005. >> reporter: where did she learn about the reverse mortgage? >> at >> reporter: where wells fargo

as employees later confirmed was pushing the loans to parishions. >> these 60-year-old women didn't realize that, you know, if you do borrow $60,000, in just ten short years, the f interest and ts are going to be $140,000. and when you pass away and the bank does come to collect, they're generational wealth that you wanted to pass down to your children. and that's what happened to me orrsonally. >> rr: in detroit, and, sociologists regine jackson and adria welcher found, in boston d atlanta, too. >> both our research took place after the housing crisis in 2008. blmmunities and homeowners really felt and experienced that economic crisis. the stakes were much higher and the effects were much longer lasting. >> reporter: housing values plummeted, meaning less wealth, less investment, less opportunity. bl many of the suburbs that are now predominantlk, the values of the homes, and just the community resources, the

green spaces, the libraries, 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 thogh she will only be able buy if help from a non-profit comes through. the condo's sales agent, kevin ward: >> oftentimes, a white person will ve a lot more money to put down as a down payment. >> reporter: where's their money comi from? >> quite often, it's coming from their parents. and to be perfectly honest, it's the same way i bought my first house. my father helped me with the down payment. >> and the down payment help that the white people receive... >> reporter: realtor hector sepulveda: >> sometimes, maybe $100,000. versus the african american-- a few thousand here and there, but mostly none. >> so i'm going to make the case that the united government should create a trust account for every newborn... >> reporter: okay, time to explain baby bonds, an idea pushed earlyonomist

hamilton that's now part of democrat cory booker's presidential platform. >> everybody should have a fair shot at the american dream, and this is one piece of legislation that would virtually eliminate the wealth gap. >> reporter: and how would it work? >> the federal government would seed the accounts at birth. those born into the least affluent families would be seeded with an account upwards to $50,000 to $60,000. those born into the more affluent families, they would get a nominal account of somewhere to about $500. >> reporter: which then is invested how? >> well, they would be held in federal trusts, so basically, baby bonds is trust accounts for everyone. >> reporter: race-neutral accounts. race-conscious, in that poorer babies, being disproportionately black, would benefit most. the cost? enormous. $100 billion a year, hamilton estimates. in this political environment, isn't an idea like this somewhere between pie in the sky

and preposterous? >> i say no. what we're talking about is oviding social security over the life course. >> reporter: but social securit wy, recipients of social security, paid for at least in part-- in large part, ourselves. >> this is not a handout. you have to use it as something is asset-enhancing-- a business, a home, or debt-free college education. >> reporter: home down payment? debt-free college? sign me up, said katrina beasley. >> it would have been helpful for me and everybody that i know. >> reporter: to economist hamilton, the racial wealth gap will only widen if it isn't addressed. >> the source inequality is, some young adults have access to some capital that 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 fat of their own. for the pbs newshour, business and economics correspondenpaul lman, reporting from

wash, d.c. es>> woodruff: the pnian west bank is usually discussed around the world in regard to midd east peace talks. but for the past few years, the alganizers of a music fest there, have been trying to encoura people to open their minds, and ears. it is part of our ongoingeries n arts and culture, "canvas." ♪ >> yang: in a city surrounded by barriers, this music festival is breaking down walls. >> we are connecting palestine to the rest of the world using 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- founr of the three-year-old palestine music expo, 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, soldiers, checkpoints and all that. palestine is also music. palestine is also cinema. palestine is also other stuff. and people don't see that. you know what? we're not victims in here. we're not victimizing ourselves. he>> yang:sraeli network of fences, walls and checkpoints, which israel says keeps it safe, restricts the flow nle only of peop, but also of culture. ♪ ♪ ♪ ifall i need in this le is to be free, free ♪ free from this gate but i need a key, key ♪ >> yang: the rap group ettijah is made of four young women who grew up in a refugee c 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 enof the day. we decided to rap because it is a peaceful way to cope. we like rap because it is a way to express ourselves, and to

express ourselves and everhing at happened with us as freedom young women. as refugees, we experience occupation every day. >> yang: the group recently vreleased a museo for their song, "bala hdood," arabic for "without walls." >> ( translated ): we experience challenges especially becapoe of the chets when we try to leave palestine. these checkpoints make us feel like we are noliving with freedom. we don't have the freedom where we can leave frothe airport from palestine to other countries. c yang: their lyrics take cues fril rights movements around the world. ♪ it's 2018 still protesting free palestine ♪ still screaming "black lives matter" ♪ >> ( translated ): it's not the same problems that we experience, but rap did begin with the african american community, and they used it as a way to express and to share with people... ated ): ...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 somsupportive isaelis. the group hopes to build on their warm reception. the festival bris international music industry insiders to the west bank to expose them to palestinian artists. 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 m industry, real heavyweights, we als ask them to have worksh with us, and we learn from their, from the good stuff they've done, and from the mistakes they've done. we're not trying to copy their stuff. we're building our own thing based on their experience. >> yang: festival organizein take the vismusic industry insiders around the west bank to

them what palestinians' daily lives are like behind israel's separation barrier. leblanc has been going on those tours and attending the ivfe since the first p.m.x. >> one of the big problems in the middle east, period, or that mn-icians that are palestin based are either based in israel proper or one of the other areas, is of course getting out of the country and playing. ♪ ♪ >> yang: palestinians in gaza can't cross israel to the west bank witho a permit. like this band, x, seen skyping in to p.m.x. p.m.x. and the delegates who meet here have helped bring palestinian artists to the international stage. organizers say at least seven of its featured bands have alrformed in international fest like the all-female band kallemi. ♪ ♪ >> yang: klemi features two israel-born palestinian women,

and two swiss women of palestinian descent. they first worked together in ramallah as part of a kind of musical exchange program-- but as vocalist maysa daw notes, after their first collaboration, e band stuck. >> it was actually supposed to be a one-time show, but we fell in love and we dided to keep ing. ♪ ♪ >> yang: vocalist albash says the women of kallemi are not just sharing their music with the world-- they're shang more complete representation of what this isolated land and its pplhave to offer. >> the beautiful thing is, we are not comi here and go back and say, yeah, you know, it's so hard and everything is horrible. i go back and say, it was amazing! i met these amazing ladies, we had the best time ever and it was just beaut so i bring back beauty and it ings good beauty to me. that's the magic that i experience.

>> yang: ip.years to come, m.x. hopes to share that magic with even more music-lovers around the world. for the pbs wshour, i'm john ng in ramallah. w druff: we continue our "canvas" series now with tonight's "brief but spectacular." it features new york-based artist miguel colon. he is a member of an organization called fountain e, dedicated to supporti individuals with mental illness. >> i often wonder about how people see me. sometimes in a.a. meetings, i talk about that i'm diagnosis and that i also have mental illness. and i worry that i'm putting myself in a-- in aulnerable position. the first time i went to a therapist and a psychiatrist 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

definite diagnosis until my most recent hospitalization, which is schizo i had been hearing voices, and enwas also, i believe, expeng things that may not inhave been happ you know. and i felt that the whole world was out to get me. and i checked myseo the hospital. >> when i was in the psych ward, was drawing a lot. i was working on this graphic novel and it just sort of kept me doing something that was life-affirming and enriching. and then too, people would sort of see me g on it and come around and want to know what i was working on. so it s, there was a social component to it also. the fingrst time i started dra i s when i was four years old. s really, really shy. and i remember 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, the very thing, you know? because with mental illness and alsoith, with addiction and alcoholism, what we tend to do is isolate. usat fountain we can be supportive of each other, and there are y judgments. 're feeling symptomatic, hu're still a functioning member of fountase, and everybody cares about you and you'realid. traits 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 srce of goodness and is valid. my name is miguel cologne, and this is my "brief but spectacular" take on learning to see mysel >> woodruff: so uplifting. and you can find additional "brief but specta episodes on our website, pbs.org/newshour/brief. and at is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again here morrow evening, when mark shields and david brooks break down theeek'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 teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> consumer cellular.

>> financial services firm raymond james. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasng. 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

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