captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff.r on the newshnight: "on the border." as democrats prepare to back an emergency border funding bill, the acting head of the border patrol resigns. then, 50 years after stonewall and the launch of the modern gay rights movement. what has been achieved, and what challenges remain? >> what needs to happen is a n movementds to happen. >> woodruff: and, how schools are experimenting making menstrual products available to students for free. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funng for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbo stfrom viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: new shock waves along the southern u.s. border are shaking the trumhowhite e. john sanders resigned today as acting head of customs and border protection. he quiamid heavy criticism of migrant children being held in filthy condions, and as the u.s. house of representatives moved to approve emergency funding. we will take a closer look, right after the news summary. in the day's other news, president trump and iran's president hassan rouhani traded insults and tough talk over new sanctions. the targets, announced monday, included ayatollah ali khamenei, iran's supreme leader. today, rouhani called the move "outrageous and idiotic." in a televised addresshis audience laughed as he mocked the white house and said it is "alicted by mental

retardation." >> ( translated ): this means the certain failure and defeat of the united states. i do not have any doubt about that from political viewpoint. no wise person would do what they are doing these days. i feel that there is a severe frustration and a big confusion among the u.s. leaders and in the white house. >> woodruff: president trump, in turn, called rouhani's remarks ignorant and insulting. in a tweet, he charged that rouhani does not understand reality, and he warned that any iranian attack would be met with "overwhelming force" and atbliteration." u.s. secretary of mike pompeo made an unannounced stop lkin afghanistan today to p ace talks. he met with president ashraf ghani in kabul. h latesaid he hopes for a peace deal with the taliban by september 1. the currenafghan war has raged

since the u.s. ousted the taliban from power after the 9/11 attacks. in bahrain today, the trump admistration urged support f a $50 billion economic plan to promote israeli-palestinian peace. it calls for health, education and public works projects, but does not deal with the israeli occupation of the west bank or the blockade of gaza. president trump's senior adviser and son-in-law jared kushner argued prosperity would lead to peace. >> my direct message to the palestinian people is that despite what those who have let you down in the past telyou, president trump and america have not given up on you. this work shop is for you, the vision we developed and released if executed correctly will lead to a better future for the palestinian people. >> woodruff: in the west bank,st paian protesters battled israeli troops, while their leaders boycotted the bahrain. conferen >> there can be no economic

solution as a substitute to our freedom. and second, how can we have economic development when we cannot control our borders, our import, our export, our free market, our freedom of movement, and even we do not control the. taxes we p it's aeceit that mr. kushner is spreading. >> woodruff: american officials say they could be ready to address the political aspes of a peace plan by fall. europe sweltered today as a potentially historic heat wave gripped much of the continent. in germany, zookeepers hosed down overheated elephants in berlin, where temperatures reached 93 degrees. and, authorities in france began taking stepso help the elderly cope. temperatures in some places could reach 104 to 105 degrees this week. flood damage along the mississippi river corridor will total at least $2 billion. an advocacy group for river

communities says that is the estimate through march, and it'n expected tease. heavy snow melt and repeated rain have led to record flooding from iowa to louisiana since early in the year. back at the white house, stephanie grisham was named today as white house press secretary and communications director. e is the longtime spokeswoman for first lady melania trump. the president said grisham will be a great fit in her new roles. >> she's here. she knows everybody. she actually gets along with the media very well, as you know. a lot of the folks in the mediae er very much and i think she's going to be fantastic. i think she's going to do a great job, so i offered her the job this morning and she accepted. >> woodruff: grisham succeeds sarah sanders, who is stepping down at the d of this month. the president today awarded the "medal of honor" ttaa former army sergeant from the iraq war era. david bellavia ithe first living veteran of that conflict to receive the nation's highes military award.

he risked his life repeatedly, to save his platoon lujah, in 2004. city supervisors in san francisco have voted to ban the sale and distribution-c ofarettes. today's decision makes it the first american city to take that step. enforcement would begin early next year. san francisco is home to juul labs, the biggest producer of e-cigarettes in the country. federal reserve chair jerome powell said today that the central bank is "insulated from short-term political pressures," despite the president's growing criticism. he also said the fed is grappling with whether to cut interest rates. and, on wall street, tech stocks led the market lower, partly on weak economic data. the dow jones industrial average lost 179 points to close at 26,548. the nasdaq fell nearly 121 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 28.

str:l to come on the newshou "on the southern border." funding u.s. border operations a as ting head of the border patrol resigns. "stonewall at 50." the legacy of the uprising, and what it means today. eliminating the stigma of unaffordable menstrual products. and, much more. >> woodruff: as we reported, the administration's top border enforcement official john sanders will leave his post, amidst scrutiny over treatment of migrant childre as capitol hill correspondent lisa desjardins reports, thene comes as lawmakers are scrambling to reach a deal to fund government border operations. desjardins: today, more turbulence for the men and women who patrol and monitor u.s. borders, as the acting head of u.s. customs and border r protectiigned, after roughly two months in the

position. this, as border patrol agents remain overwhelmed by a surge in argrants, especially children and families, whnow spending days in border patrol processing stations meant to hold them for just hours. and, the agency caring for the kids says it wilinrun out of fufor them in a few days. at t capitol, all of this is sparking a furious fight over an emergency nding bill. >> there is absolutely no doubt that the numbers of families and children w are arriving at our front door, those numbers have increased. >> desjardins: house dts, like el paso congresswoman veronica escobar want basic requirements, like bedding, toothbrushes and translators, to go along with the additional funds. >> putting small children and their families and individuals who are their most vulnerable state in their life as they cross our border seeking support and solace are greeted with

nothing but misery. >> desjardins: republicans agree on the scale of the problem. >> we have the capacity in our processing centers, our c.b.p. processing centers, a capacity of 4,000. we now have 20,000 people in those facilities. this has got to be addressed. >> desjardins: but adamantly e oppoorts to tie new funding to new requirements. they say the real issue is weak u.s. immigration law. >> our asylum laws are so broken that they've literally led to hundreds of thousands of people coming to cross illegally. d jardins: house and senate leaders agree on how much tobo fund-- $4.5 billion-- but the bill from house democrats would also: require new standards in basicnd healthafety for detainees, and it would block immigration agents from deporting people who want to sponsor a child in their ho, but are found to be undocumented themselves. in some ways, the two sides are not far apar but their differces have real-world and

philosophical impact. adding to the complicated dynamics is president trump, who weighed on conditions at the rnrder. >> i am very con. >> desjardins: he said he wantsa humanitari, but indicated he would like a larger deal with democrats to toughen u. asylum laws. >> what we would like to do is ask the democrats to give us help oasylum, the horrible loopholes that don't allow us to do what we need to. >> desjardins: even as trump lashed out at democrats, senate republicans told newshour that he has not yet gotten fully on board their border funding bill either.ou and ofe, the impact of any congressional deal would be felt far beyond the beltway. immigration repo heads the digital news organization "el paso matters" and joins us via skype from there. and i must give a warning to our

ciewers. this discussion des graphic images that many could find disturbing. bob, i want to first as you about some of the news we've gotten recently. we reported c.b., customs d border protection, moved hundreds of kids out of a facility just a few dozen miles from you in clbeintcause of conditions reported by attorneys, kids urinating on themselves, children who were sick and had to care forach other. now we learned they moved 100ac childreninto that facility. you can describe what the conditions are like in that kind of facility or in clint? >> i think it's important to understand that these facilities were never set up as detention facilities. they're either border patrol stations with small holding cells, or space that's been converted. so it's notet up to hold adults, let alone children. so based on the reports that came o last week, the conditions there are very, very rough, that children don't have access to basic sanitary care. d while this got a lot of attention, the truth is, this is

being replicated all along the border in holding facilities foo adults and children. the conditions are very unsanitary, in some cases very unsafe. >> bob, why is there such a backlog? are there not new facilities being opened? what's happening here? >> in part, we're paying forfi years of inaction on this issue that we knew was co with the change in migration from single men to lrgely families. and so we're not set up to hold them. and now you've got this congressional funding that's been sort of put on hold as the try gure out whether the democrats can trust the trump administration and vice versa. is and so there's a huge investment needed just for basgc emy care to house th ese people that have been coming across in large numbers. but it's all caught up in politics right. >> exactly. and while we're talking about the turbulenceyon washington, can talk us through what the resignation of the acting chief

of bordertous and border protection means out there? >> i think one of the things we've learned from the las several months that having a high-ranking pthition in department of homeland security is very similar to being ain drumme "spinal tap." you're not going to have a very long tenure. and your exit is going to be rather spectacular. so let's look at what happened today. we have the resignation of the acting commissioner of customs and border protection. he, who is apparently going to be repced by the acting head of immigration and customsen rcement, who early on in the trump administration, was fired as chief of the border patrol. we now have acting homeland security secretary. we have an acting head of customs and border protection.v we he a vacancy in acting head of immigration and cuft opposits enforcement. we have an acting head of u.s. and immigration services. so that sort of instability does not lead to good policy making. it's a reflection of the

disagreements within e trump administration on what our immigration and border policy should look like. and one more actg head an agency within homeland security is just going to add further to that uncertainty.tu >> i need t to another very serious subject. recently, we've seen ny alarming reports of migrant deaths crossing by land and by water. and notably, these include children. i want to show a very difficult-to-see photo. this is of a father with his toddler whose bodies were found along the rio grande this week. they washed ashor is this something new? are we seeing an uptick in death and danger to these migrants or me just something we're paying more attention to now? >> i think there's probably more atte nion being paid to itw. the truth is when you adopt a policy thaernd your borders and make it more difficult for people to cross in urban areas, make it more difficult for them to come to ports of entry and

seek asylum, that forces them to ma under dangerous crossings, and so we're hearing stories of children dying in the desert. we're seeing stories of people drowning in rivers. here in el paso, we've begun irrigation season. r ers and canals that normally don't hold much water are running hot and heavy. that makes it more dangerous for people to cross. the summertime is mlways a e when we see deaths spike. this has been something that's been going on for more than 20 years and hasn't gotten the attention it needs. and i think the arican public needs to understand that if we decide to make it more difficult to cross the border, if we decide to limit access to the asylum process, this forces miants into these more dangerous conditions. and we can't pretend to be shocked when people start to ie, including children. >> it's, obviousla critical story and a test for this nation and our government. thank you for helpinghed light on this. bob moore with el paso matters. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: friday marks the 50th anniversary of the uprisina at the sto in new york city, a milestone and catalyst for the gay rights movement. we are going to examine the progress since then and the considerable challenges today. but first, a look back at that moment a just some of the notable moments since. in the early morning hours of june 28, 1969, new york city police raided the stonewall inn, a popular gay bar in the greenwich village.ba ck then, with different laws, police raids on gay bars were ndmmon. but gay, lesbianrans residents fought back. streets erupted into violent protests and demonstrations that lasted days. ige riots began paving theay for the l.g.b.t. rs

movement. and by 1979, more than 100,000 people took part in the first m nationch for lesbian and gay rights. but the challenges he been immense throughout. by the 1980s, the aids epidec played a crucial role in the struggle for gay rights. as thousands died, patients protested for drugs and better treatment-- medication that would eventually turn aids into a chronic illness for many. even so, in the two decades after 1981, the epidemic killed more than 460,000 people in the u.s. during the '90s, there was greater recognition and acceptance for many individuals. but it was president bill clinton who signed "the defensec of marriage t" preventing government granted federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples. other important victories were

to come. notably, in 2003, in the case of lawrence v. texas, when the supreme court struck down the state's anti-sodomy law, effectively decriminalizing homosexual relations nationwide. it wasn't until 2012 that a sitting president publicly supported same-sex marriage. >> for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. >> woodruff: the supreme court eventually struck down state bans on same-sex marriage, making it legal across all 50 states. but even as l.g.b.t.q. communities have won aore acceptan recognition, there have been other setbacks. president trump is the first ntpublican president to formally recognize pride but, he is rolling back a number of protections for transgender americans, involving social

services, health coverage, and making it harder to serve in the military. the murders of transgender people-- particularly trans women of color-- continue at alarming rates today, with ten known black trans women killed this year. for its part, the new york city police department issued an apology this month for its actions at stonewall 50 years ago. >> i do know what happened should not have happened. the actions taken by the n.y.p.d. were wrong, plain and simple. the actions and the laws were discriminatory aan oppressive, for that i apologize. >> woodruff: this week, the stonewall anniversary is being commemorated across the country. and, to discuss the 50th anniversary, four perspectives. reverend emma chattin is ordained in the metropolitan community church, and serv i a parinorthern virginia. r e is also executive director for the transgenucation

association of greater washington. george johnson is an l.g.b.t.q. a h.i.v. activist. he is also a columnist for afropunk, and a guest editor for b.e.t. digital. beverly tillery is the execu director of the anti-violence project, an organization dedicated to ending violence against the l.g.b.t.q. community. and, mark segal was at stonewall the night it was raided by police, and participated in the riots. he is the founder of philadelphia gay news. and welcome all of you to the thank you for being here. mark segal, i want to start with you. you were there on the night ofne 8, 1969. you were 18 years old. what did you see? >> as an 18-year-old kid, i moved from philadelphia, a city of 1.6 million, to be with my people, in a sense, because were invisible. that night, like every other night, i was walking up and down crstreet and at the end of

the night, you would go into the stonewal s going into tnewall was a typical night until the lights flickered on and off, and then they came on full force, at which point, police barged in, slammed people up inst the wall, used every kind of profanity yo could imagine against us, roughed us up. then they went to people who looked successful, prosemrous, asked o take out their wallets and took money from their wallets and put it in their pkets. we had nothing to do because they were the police. what we we goingo do, call the police? one by one, they let us out of the bar. as we were let out of the bar, each time somebody would come out, we would applaud. eventually, they wanted to leave flrp only si poice officers in the bark plus the bar workers. e tside we were 50 to 75. eventually, whenuldn't leave, we started throwing stones. we started throwing cans--an hing we could find from the street for the first time in history, the police wer imprisoned, rather than us. >> woodruff: and that was a-- those demonstrations nt on for

days. mark segyoal, did have any idea at the time that that was the beginning, that you were part beginning of the gay rights movement? >> no not at all. when marty robinson came up to me with a piece of chalk that nighand said, "write on the walls and the streets tomorrowal night 'ston." i didn't realize that would create the second night. i didn't realize uslefletting the second and third nights, protestingpogainst thelice, that we could take back our neighborhood, protesting against "time,," "life," "village voice" and other media so we could becomevisible again i had no idea that would become history. >> woodruff: beverly tillery, as somebody who worked against violence, you have watched the efilization over the years. how have you sen any progress made since stonewall? >> well, you know,n a way, i

would say we're living a dual reality because, of course, we are benefiting from the arc of progress that has come from stonewall and before. we are more organized as a community. there are resources and organizations that, you know, we can speak of that have been around for years. my organization is going to be celebrating its 40th anniverry next year. so came just after stonewall.av so we e this infrastructure. we've definitely won mangains related to our legal rights and protections. so there's certainly progress. what many people will say, wever, is that many of us in the community, those who were always more marginalized, those information who hold mtiple identities that are already oppressed are still left behind and continue to be left behind.

>> woodruff: and george johnson, as someo who has-- living with h.i.v. manye been an activist for years now. from your perspective, how haveo seen either progress or lack of it in your tie? >> yeah. it's really tough. kind of what beverly says, it's kind of like we live at two different-- almost like twoo different snewalls for black queer people. when we think about stonewall we think about marcia p. johnson and mismajor, and all of the black trans and femme people who fought so hard through those nights, not knowing they were going to start a movement. but we 5so now, 0 years later, we're still burying more transgender ople. they're facing-- black trans women, in pfacing higher amountf iolence. h.i.v. is still an epidemic for black m..ms. so while, you know, rainbow

catalism has kind of steed in and everybody is throwing up rainbows and it's 50 years aloit oferous still grieving and we're still mourning we recently had nigel shelby, a 14-year-old black y, gay boy in alabama, who lost his life by suicide. and so, you know, our pride right now is kind of-- 's just two different pride celebrations kind of happening. >> woodruff: and reverd emma chattin, someone who has been active in the transgender education effos, who is the pastor of a church, what have you seen? i moan, how have you seen any progress? >> well, from my perspective, it's been dramatic because, particularly if you consider the abolishment or the nonenforcement of the presentation laws, where we could finally present our gender as we experienced it, and that began to happen in & ossom after stonewall. one of the other things that was really huge is juste advent ef the internet in the late 90s, as to how began to

communicate-- excuse me--ic commune, coalesce, and come togeth as a community. >> woodruff: and how has-- i mean, your-- much of your efforh is focused on transgender community. how has that intersected with the broader l.g.b.t.q. movement? >> well, education is necessary. there is tension between the trans and the gay, lesbian, and bi communities. so we can't just say that thes are our people. we have to educate everyone because we're very different. we're identity-based. whereas, when we're lookingt gay, lesbian, and bisexual, we're talking abou talking abou. >> woodruff: and picking up on that, mark segal, the challenges abound. i mean, people like to say that the country's come a long way. we referenced how someaws have

changed. certainly attitudes have changed.ti but there arell obstacles. there's still prejudice. it exists all around us. >> we're still second-class citizens. we can get marrd tod almost anywhere in this country, and later on that day, be fired because we are married. we're second-class citizens because we don't have the equality aci . anink because of that, we need to go back to that time right after stonewall. stonewall-- from stonewall came gay liberation front. gay liberation front was the first organization in america that believed in diversity. we had drag queens -- which today we cawoulll trans -- we had biskupics, we had women, we had radical people, and at that time we had young people like me. we need to learn to go back, get off twitter, getaur facebook, stock looking fortikes, ge into the streets, and let's get arrested again. >> woo what about that?lery, how do you see the obstacles that are out there today?

and how do you strategize, how do you think about how to get around them, beyond them, through them? >> well, 's really interesting, you know, hearing mark's story about stonewall. one of the things that strikes me is that, you know, we don't often talk about throot causes of that stonewall riot. it wasn't just, you know, a raid that just happened to happen that day. as emma said, you know, this was coming on the heefls people being oppressed for years under ws that were meant to criminalize the community. and those laws mandated how you could dress, whether or not yo could gather together as a community, what kinds of jobs you could have. you were banned from having a government job, you know, for some period of time. and so, those criminalization laws were the undation of what led toh te-- both oppression and

the uprising from folks.'r and what wseeing right now is an attempt to bring back those laws to criminalize our communities. look a little bit different, but, again, we're trying to not deny people access to education and jobs when you talk about a trans- military ban. the acce health care. and, you know, all of that is exasperating the climate of violence that's leading to the numbers of folks who are dying in our streets, who e subjected to all kinds of hate violence in our communities. that violence hasn't stopped. so what i would say is we have to really go tothe core here, go back to looking at the criminalization that's happening in our communities, talking about it, nng it and undoing all of that criminalization. >> woodruff: george johnson, do you, as we just heard be suggest, do you see this as a

moment where weba've stepped ck as a country on the things that are most important to you? >> yeah, again, it's interesting because when we discuss some of these issues, it's like it's based off of where your viewpoint is. you can see progress, where we-o sous may have not seen anything. and so wherearimare equality, like, i was happy that day, but i also remember, like, while a lot of more-- organizations were really fighting for marriage equality, you had black queer people who were just fighting to survive. so there was, like, this huge gap being missed and a divide between boan communities. we saw in 2016 when we tried to add a brown stripe, jut something simple, so we felt more included to the flag, it made, like, headlines because so many peple were against even us including ours in part of movement that we started.

and it also speaks to, like, how you have, like, the matthew sheppard act, right? but it's actually matthew sheppard and james byrd. and everybody often forgets that that act is a white gay man,but is also a black man, and that some of us sit at that intersection. so it's very important that you're coennecting issues that we face across community together. >> woodruff: what neebe done? we've heard, emma chattin, reverend chattin, we've been hearing about the attacks on trans women, especially trans women of color.e whatds to be done specifically about that? and, you know, why aree having this happen now >> well, what neeisds to be don about that is that there needs to be movement. if we're looking at-- matthew sheppard galvanized a community

and strengthened a movement. the trans communities have yet to have tht, and we've had 10 violent murders thus far this or,r of trans women of col 10, okay. and if we look at the years past, it's 26,t's 24 every year. and it is, by and ge, trans women of color. what needs to happen is a movement needs happe s people need nd up and say, "this is enough." and we need more education.e weed more connection among people intersectionally with different communities and it's a long, hard pull. s -- >> woodruff: what going to take? >> it's going to take a lot of people. and it's going to take a lo of hearts, and it's going to take a lot of people coming together. but it's movement, and has to happen. >> woodruff: we hear each one of you-- and we thank you so much for joining us today, emma chattin, georghnson, beverly tillery, mark segal. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: evaluating the impact of sexual assault allegations against president trump. "the death of politics," a new book by conservative author peter wehn. but first, there is growingnt atn about the costs of menstrual products, how they quickly add up and the subsequent impact on access, particularly for lower-income women. now, many school districts and universities, as well as a few cities and states, are providing free period products in schools for students who might need them or cannot afford them. for our weekly segment "making the grade," special correspondent kavitha cardoza with our partner "education week," reports on efforts to end what's been called "period poverty."el >>!

>> hi! >> reporter: young women all r over the countort remarkably similar experiences. >> everyone's just kind ofan grossed outhen embarrassed to talk about it. >> a lot of people say "thatti of month." people say "aunt flo has come to visit." people say "shark week." >> we shouldn't be made to keep it a secret. >> rorter: jorge elorza agrees. >> periods are a part of life, period. >> reporter: he's the mayor of aprovidence, rhode island he's on a mission to reduce the stigma around menstruation. >> we want all of us to feelmf table saying the word "period," saying the word "tampons," and "pads." that's a big part of what we're trying to overcome. >> reporter: were you awkwardt abing the words in public? >> probably! like, at first, it didn't flow as easily. now i wear a "p" for periods, pin on my lapel! >> reporter: you better clarify that, because people will really think that! >> okay, not really, it's for "providence!" he reporter: elorza says t shame surrounding menstruation has practical implications. a year ago, the cityegan

looking into why so many of their students were chronically absent, missing 10% of the school year. ellen cynar, the head of the city's health communities initiative, found, in many cases, it was because girls eire on their period. >> it's affecting attendance at school. it's affecting their participation in physical activities. and, it's affecting their participation in social activities. >> reporter: 16-year-old litzy feliz has friends who stay home when they're menstruating. some can't afford to buy pads. y >> some of them have to themselves because their parents doesn't buy it for them. i have a friend she buys it herself. she'll be like "oh, i have to buy it now, but i don't really have t money. i don't know whether it's going to be more or less." like, i see them worrybout it. >> reporter: cynar says this is not an uncommon scenario. the vastajority of students in providence schools are low- income. ou they're either finding proxy products-- so that be rolling up toilet paper, for example. or, they're not changing their product as often as they should. which very dangerous to their

health. >> reporter: there are usually pads available in the nurse's office, but advocates say many edstudents are too embarrao ask, and not all schools have a nurse. besides, says maggie di sanza from madisonwisconsin, they're not ill. >> people go to the nurse's office when they are sick and when something is wrong with their body, or when something is irregular. but having a period is not irregular. >> reporter: cordelia longo from mercer island, washington, forgot a pad one day and spent 20 minutes out of class looking for one. lots of her friends had the same experience. >> i just wanted kids to stepba and see it doesn't just happen in african countries orer in olaces. it happens at home. b >> reporteh teens raised money to buy period products for their schools.on fter they were able to convince administrators to provide them in most bathrooms for free. nadya okamoto founded the

organization period when she was 16. >> wn i heard about period poverty, my first reaction wasno "oh, that makes sense." it was "are you kidding me?" >> reporter: it's donad more than seven million free pads and tampons. tiey have 400 chapters in schools and univer in all 50 states. okamoto says this issue resonates with young people because the stigma around periods is not as ingrained. also, she says, they're more connected. >> in this age of social media, when social mea is an extension of our own self- expression and we can use it to connect with people and start conversations, we're able to break the stigma digitally, in more ways than could ever been imagined before. >> reporter: states including california, illinois, new york and tennessee have passed laws to provide students with free period products in certain school bathrooms. but some principals, who did not wish to be identified, complain these products are expensive and they aren't getting reimbursed. some say students take home pads

for family members, or even sell them, adding to the cost. but providence officials say they haven't had these challenges. and that the $75 thousand setfo asidthis initiative is a fraction of the $75 million city budget. last year, they installed free dispensers in a few school bathrooms. >> so, if someone were to wantme ing, so tell me, what would you like today? >> reporter: say i wanted a pads >> okaall you have to do ery easily is push a button and the product dispenses with a box. >> reporter: solight sou hea wellness programs for city schools. she says students n only take one pad or tampon at a time. >> these are set with a timer for about a minute aalf to avoid any exploitation or over- usage of the products. >> you need to be able to help them during the school hours. >> reporter: carina monge, who works with middle schoolers, says the dispensers are part of a broader push around health education. she says children often don't have access to basic information

at home. >> i have a student thatshe lives with her father, and the father never told her about th periods. so she learned about how to use a pad, how frequently she needs to change the pad, in school. >> reporter: sou says, anecdotally, they're already hearing positive feedback. >> our students did tells they were more ready to learn, they were able to engage in physical activity such as gym classes without the level of discomfort they had before. they also had increased confidence, and it became less taboo overall. >> let's make it to classes ont' time, make it on time. >> it's a sense of relief. you can see it in their faces, ct that a barrier has be removed. it's a sense of freedom. >> reporter: principal wobberson torchon's school had free dispensers this past year.n he's se difference in his students first hand. torchon says this issue is bier than education. >> this is an ethical issue. it's a moral issue for the principal. so whatever problem you have in education with a subgroup, with a section of the population, wet

need to addreso that everyone can be on an equal footing in that learning. anything thaenaffects my st becomes my responsibility. >> reporter: this fall whe schools reopen, there will be two dispensers stocked with free products in every middl and high sch the city. for the pbs newshour and "education week," i'm kavitha cardoza in providence, island. >> woodruff: last week, another woman stepped foard to credibly accuse president trump of a forcible, violent sexual >> woodruff: last week, another woman stepped forward to accuse president trump of a forcible, violent sexual assault-- one that meets the legal definition of rape. it allegedly happened back in the 1990s, but as william brangham reports, this latest, startling allegation has gotten far less attention than one would expect. >> brangham: on friday, longtime writer and columnist e. jean carroll accused president trump

attacking her back in t late 1990s, describing a rape she alleges occurred in a new york department store. carroll's allegation is detailed yo her upcoming book, and was excerpted in "ne magazine." she describes a violent counter with the then-real estate mogul inside the store'si dr room. >> he pulled down my tights. and it w a fight. i want women to know that i did not stand there. i did not freeze. i was not paralyzed, which reaction that i could have had because it was so shocking. , i fought. and it was over very quickly. it was against my will 100%. >> brangham: carroll confided in two friends soon after the event, and both have recently corroborated her account to multiple news organitions. president trump, however, has repeatedly denied the accusation. >> what she did is a terrible-- what's going on. so it's a total, false accusation.

and i don't know anything about her. >> brangham: and to the "hill" newspaper, he said of carroll," she's just not my type." the statute of limitations for rape has passed, going by carroll's timeline, which means the president can't be charged. e. jean carroll is now at least the 16th woman to credibly accuse president trump of some rm of physical sexual misconduct or assault, and the second woman to credibly accus him of what the law would consider rape. the president hadenied each and every one of these accusations.te lucia graves wfor the "guardian," and she detailed the story of one of the preaident's ier accusers-- and she's spoken with many more of them in the course of her reporting. welcome to the newshour. >> thanks for having me. >> brangham: so miss carroll's allegation, as vivid and graphic as it is, traction with what the prentsisaid he does in that notorus "access hollywood" tape where he says he grabs women by the genitals

without hesitation. it also dovetails with what many women have said the presidenttt has pted or done to them in the past. i mean, there is a-- a pattern has emerged. >> yeah, it actually tracks almost exactly with the story at jill harth, his former business associate told to me-- >> brangham: this is the woman you reported on. >> in july of 2016. yeah, she was the fir accuser to come forward with the story of sexual assault against the president. gh, she also filed it in a lawsuit in the 90s-- all of the details that are in the account and the sort of thiatng he described doing on tape as published in "the washington post" are almost remarkably consistent. >> brangham:when carroll's account came out on friday, "the new york times" didn't put it on thfront page. they put it in their book revi section. same with the "los angeles times," the "chicago trine," "the wall street journal." why do you think this accusation didn't get more attention? n> so that did surprise me, eve though i felt when my story came

out in 2016, itc didn't reeive anything approaching the coverage and pickup that it should have. but i wouit think that wh a sitting president and with 16 credible accusers and the charge of rape, that would have changed. >> brangham:itdo you think just that the press has become inured to it, that they've-- itls feeuke there are just so many of these accusations, they can't run them all down. "the new york times" editor sort of regretfully said we didn't give it the play we reallya shoulde. what do you think is going on there? >> i don't think that the "times" should necessarily be singled out here. i do think that this is very prevalent in political media culture. and i think it's part of why we've been-- and i do feel it's a "we"-- have been so slow to this story and these kinds of stories and why coverage of other men, harvey weinstein and bill cbyos didn't come until as late as they did.

>> brangham: you have spoken to not jutht one but many oe women who have accused president trump of this kind of behavior. and i'm just curious, at is your sense of how they do, both coming forward, coming with the courage to come forward and say this, the attacks that then follow, and then the aftermath, when there continues to be this ongoing echo of new accusers piling on? how do they hand that? >> i think it's exhausting and traumatic and i think that you-- we actually heard ths directly from e. jean caroll when she talked about why she didn't come one of sooner, which w the first things that was sort of leveraged at her, and she knew would be. sand she d, you know, i had no desire to joint ranks of those women facing death threats and troll and, you know, people calling th liars, or theli president ca them too ugly to sexually assault." >> brangham: and we should say again for the record enat the preshas 100% denied all of these accusations. but what does it say to yotu tha we still seem to have a very difficult time reckoning with

the seriousnessof these allegations, even today, in the "me too" era? >> i think it's incredible. just the notion that women get raped is because they're botractive and not because it's an insult and aut power is very wrong-headed. and i think that we like to think there's been so much growth. and, clearly, the media-- and i would-- and evesort political establishment, to some extent-- is evolving on this. but i think this shows that we're not anywhere close to wherwe thought we were an where we like to consider ourselves to. >> brangham: lucia graves of "the guardian," thank you very being here. >> thank you for having me. t >> woodruf next item on the "newshour bookshelf," "the death of politics."fr how to heal oued republic

after a period odeep divisiveness. author peter wehner served in three publican white houses, and writes about the tone and rhetoric of president trump and its effect on the polity. peter wehner, welcome back to the news tur. >> thanknks for having me. >> woodruff: so even though the title is "the death of politics," i think it's clear ality to this book because ink feel like politics is a w moment, and a lot that has to happen isn't happening and there is danger that this could be a death of some of the best of tho americanlitical tradition. but, ultimately, it's a book of hope. it's a book that argues against cynicism, corrosive cyicism; against fatalism; and a reminder that the public can change the nature of politics and make it better a higher andthat it can once again stand for things that the politics should, which is really justice. >> woodruff: so before we talk

about the prescriptions, talk about why you think politics has been so damaged in this country? what has gone wrong? >> yeah, that's a good question. i think there are a whole confluence of fato. there's been a tremendous amount of cultural and economic change this country, dislocation, which i think has caused people to be 2 become unsettled. i think there have been failures of the political class, which has left people couraged and frustrated. i think there are political cultures gotten angrier. social media has been introduced. that's a new phenomenon which has amplified the angriest voices. so i think a lot of things have happened. i thdek our political leahip has-- has not been up to the task. and the count s in a state of disrepair, a lot neliness, a lot of lack of connection. i argue in the book that our politics is angry and bron because nsome measure, our country is angry and broken. and politics is a stagon which that plays out. >> woodruff: and do you write

about, peter wehner, how this all started years ago. and, yet, you do spee,nd timot of time in the book, focusing on how president trump, in your view, has made it worse. >> i do, i do. i don't blame him for all of these situations because a lot of theda trends pre him, but i think he's made virtually all of them worse. you know, we've had divisive and polarizing presidents in the past. what's different with donald trump nmy estimation, is several things, one of which is i don't think we have ever had a president in american history who seems to take such delight in inflaming the body litic, a person who seems to get a kind of psychic satisfaction out of antip theerk creating antipathy, anger, and divisio. he seems thrive on that, and he keeps going ack to itgain and again and again. i don't know that anyone has ever cohtrolled te public conversation like trump has.

and the fact that heh uses tat bully pulpit to divide sus, in my estimation, a terrible thing that has toe corrected for politics to get better and for the country to get better. s woodruff: what alo comes across you, as a republican, and as a christian, that it's been very painful for you to watch this happen because you feel republicans have enabled it and the christian evangelical community. >> that's exactly right. i've been a republican myir ent adult life, and a christian for most of my adult life as witth my fis more important than my politics. they're both important to me. and it has been both a dispiriting and a painful time for evangelical christians, what's been most painful for me is i think , ey have-- mat all, but many of them in their leadership have discredited the christian witness. what i think they have done,

thich is shameful, is it tha they haven't spoken truth to power. they haven't held him they've not only gone silent with his moral anetd ical transgestions. they've defended him. and that i think is kind of intellectual and moral mtake of tremendous dimensions. >> woodruff: so when you look at christian leaders, how do you plain their enthusiastic support for the president? >> well, you know, i think part of it ki nd of political tribalism. i think they vidonald trump as the general of their army, the leader of their cs and he's under attack, and they have decided that they're going to defend him, r matat, because he needs their defense. i think, frankly, that forome of them, there's the seduction of political power, that the idea that if they are at all recritical of tusm, theoing to lose access to that power, and they don't want to do that. i'll tell you, judy, the other thing th's important forome evangelical christians -- not all-- is that precisely the

thing that ought to bother them the most, the uelty, the dehumanization that characterizes donald trump-- i think they not on are not troubled by it, i think for some of them they appreciate ith becaus feel like this guy will figuratively bring a gun to a knife fige. and 's a tremendous amount of anger and frustration andt grievances tristians have felt, and they look at donald trump as someone who is going to fight for them. i think it's a huge mistake. i think it's led them to very dark places, but i think that's part of what's going >> woodruff: so there's a lot of write here to desir over, in your view. but you also write that you think this country can come through it, hat the american people can come through it, but it's going to take effort by nop justople in the political realm but by citizen, by the press, thaa lot of pple have a role poplay. >> that's exactly right. this is a self-governing country, and we havit wihin ourselveseourselveses to write l new chapters in th american story.

but it does require will and persistence, and it requires reclaiming an appreciation for values and virtues that matter, that maybe over time we took for granted and t,rgot abou things like honor and integrity. and there is something, they argue in the book, of the mantle ve citizenship, that we h take control of our lives and politics. but we can do it, one person acting alone may not make a difference, but a lot of people act together can make a culture, and th culture can fix our pol and i cans make our country better and more decent.>> oodruff: peter wehner, the book is "the death of politics: how to heal our freyed republic after trump." thank you.s >> tha much for having me on. >> woodruff: and that is the newshour for tonight. on wednesday, countdown to the

first democratic presidential primary debate. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again here tomorrow night. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more.ll >> consumer ceular. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> t ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic entagement, and the advanc of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions

and individuals. >> this program was madele possy the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc d captio gmedia access group at wgbh access.wgbh. >> you're watching s.

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