captioning sponsoredury newshoroductions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, more controversy in theabinet. amid growing calls for his resignation, labor departmen head alex acosta breaks his silence about his role in the jeffrey epstein sex trafficking case. then, strain on the special relationship. s e united kingdom's ambassador to the u.s. resiter criticizing the trump administraon, and the favorite to be britain's next prime minister declines to defend him. plus, champions come home: as the u.s. women's soccer team celebrates victory in the world cup, what will their legacy be for american women's soccer? and, the science of smoking and

the potency of pot. how marijuana use affects adult and developing brains. >> we know that there are likely negative effects if cannabisbe mes a regular part of one's routine when we're neurodevelopmentally vulnerable. that is, we're just stillow g up, we're under construction or half-baked, better way to put it. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app thaifteaches realconversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minute lessons are available as an app, or online. more information on babbel.com.

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>> woodruff: for nearly an hour today, labor secretary alex acosta answered questions about a plea deal he brokered as a federal prosecutor in florid more than a decade ago. at the time, financier jeffrey epstein received a sentence that critics have called unusually lenient. earlier this week, federal prosecutors in new york brought new charges of sex trafficking against him. ac ota defended his handlingf the case. >> we believe that we proceeded appropriately.he based onvidence and not just my opinion but in the shared affidavit, based on the evidence there was value to getting a guilty plea and having him register. i understand what the victimshe say and i'm no to say i can stand in their shoes or that i can address their concerns.sa

i'm here twe did what we did because we wanted to seego epsteio jail. he needed to go to jail. >> woodruff: here with us to dig into secretary acosta's comments, and other developments in the jeffrey epstein case, are our own miche alcindor, who was at secretary acosta's news conference this afternoon, andss a roth. she was previously a federal prosecutor in the sohern district of new york, where epstein's case is being tried. she is now at the yeshiva university cardozo school of law. hello it to both of you, yam itch, i will turn to you first, you were in the the room today when sretary acosta was answering those questions, as we said, for about an hour. here is what he said. when you asked him about his message to victims of jeffrey epstein. >> the message to victims, the message is he needs to come

forward. i heard this morning that anotr victim came foward and made horrendous, horrendouson allega allegations that should never happen to any woman much less young girl. and as victims come forward, these cases cabr bought. and they can be brought by the federal governe nt. they canought by state attorneys. and they will be brought. >> woodruff: soia mitch, what more, yamitche, what did esad w add at we just heard. >> secretary acosta wanted to offer a defense of the handling of the controversial 2008 plea agreement with epstein. what he said is victims need to have the ry sponsibil come forward. my question to him was do you have anythinto say to these victims, do you have anything to say to the president who i am told encouraged to you hold this press conference, acosta said he wasn't trying to send a signal to the president.th bupresident wanted him out in front, talking to the

cameras, talking to rephoorterso sehe would handle the backlash and criticism he has been getting all week. it is also important to note acosta used some of the same reasoning the yesterday when he de fended the labor secretary. he said today this was a long time ago and tht this case, which might have been handled differently in 2019,e also said that victims are viewed differently. but he didn't say i regret what i did. oe didn't say he would d anything differently. he also did not offer an apology. instead what we have acosta really coming forward and saying i did the best that i could do. and essentially he did nod to the idea that the president wanted him to talk about this. but we're going to have to watch and see kd of how this moves forward. >> woodruff: before i get to me of the particulars of what he said, we know a numr of democrats, anti-trafficking groups have been calling on him to resign from oice. yamiche what did acosta said today about his ability to do a s job? >> secretary acoid he did the best that he could do and as a result, he can be trusted to

protect trafficking victims. he also handed out court documents where he was essentially making the case that the victims in 2008 were reluctant to come forward. he also made the case that. so vic tirms weren't told about the plea agreement because prosecutors were trying to get some sort of monetary compensation for them. but especially he didn't really say look, thises with a sweetheart deal, i would do things differently. there are a lot of ople that are very angry at this, jeffrey epstein was able to go in an out of prison, still go to work during this plea agreement, this time he spent prison. secretary acosta didn't really go forward and answer theti qu of how people should view that specific plea arreement. so i think ther still some questions on whether or not secretary acosta will be answering those questions. because we know that this balash is going to continue. >> woodruff: jessica roth, let may bring you into thi what did you make of his answers today that he snt an hour trying to-- or at least answering reporters' questions.

what did you make of that. and did he answer your own at pleans about th agreement back in 2008? >> so i thought he spent a lot of time at the press conference today shifting blame to other people. he seemed to be blaidming the fl state prosecutors for not having pursued serrgus enough c nses their own case. and certainlily asserted that but for his offices' involvement jeffrey epstein would not have pled guilty t a state felony and would not have been subject to prison time having register as a sex offender. so in a sense he was shiftinge bl the state prosecutors who initiated the case saying they weren't tough enough in the first instance. he also talked about even the florida state grand jury not having returned seus enough charges in the first instance. so shifting blame to the state prosecutor, to the grand jury and also it to the vicm. in talking as yamitche said about how some of them were not willing to come forward and he talked about how they were

inconsistence-- inconsistent in there was shifting of blame, also sharing of blame in the sense of tryg to make it clear that this was a group decision within his office including th prosecutor, for the ultimate deal that was reachedoo >>uff: you also had told us you had a question about the fact that he meto, acsta met privately when this plea deal was being worked out, with epstein's attorney. did he have an adequate explanation for that today? >> he did addss that today. he really downplayed the significance otithat mee. he acknowledged that the meeting happened one-oone at a hoel. he explains the reason he had it one-on-one at the hotel isbe use i believe acosta said he was at a conference and it it was 7 a.m. andou he saidon't open the u.s. attorney's office at 7 a.m. to have a breakfa meeting. you have it where you are. he said that the meeting happened after the deal had already been negotiated, so we reallyhouldn't attach any significants to the fact that it happened one-on-one. and he said we lied in aity

where people have breakfast meetings, sentially, all the time. but i didn't find it satis factory because as i underand the time line here, the deal may lave been negotiated but it wasn't, if you a done deal at the time that he had the meeting. epstein was continuing to appeal the decision with regard to that negotiation up the chain at the department of justice. and the plea in state court had not yet been entered as i understand it. so i think st a little bit disingenuous to say that there is no significants to that meeting haing occurred because assentially everything was already done, twas of significants at that time. >> quickly jessica roth, if you could ask secretary acosta a question yourself what is still outstanding in your mind about what happened? >> well, one thing he did nodte address adeq in my mind is why the nonprosecution agreement grand immunity to unnamed coconspirators of epsteins.

that is a very broad provision and it wasn't adequately explaiesd. he said innse to a question about that, well, we were focusing, if you will, on the most culpable person who was epstein who was the top of the conspiracy. stion thatis no que epstein was the most culpable person but by immunizing somed naople which occurred but also anyone who was a potential coconspirator, that really precluded the idea of cooperating other coconspirators against epstein which would htie been a crl thing to pursue a more serious case against epstein, so he didn't explain that provision and he didn't fully expln why thy pursued such a lenient deal. >> woodruff: finally quickly back to you, where does this go for secretary acosta what isthe white house saying now? >> this is really going to be an issue that secretary acosta is going to have to continue to al with. house democrats on the house oversight committee sayhey want to hold hearings and have

acosta testify. white house chief of staff mick mulvaney said acosta did aen excejob, he told reporters that on the hill. the white house has nod sai anything, president trump has not said anything. we have seen president trump come to the defense of cabinet secretaries and after seeing them not reallyfee themselves in the way he thinks is adequate, then fire them. so i think seretary acosta still is in a place where the president is still evaluating him. so we will have to watch closely what the president says and doeb t secretary acosta. right now his job is secure, i'm told by sources but thais just for right now. that could changes in the next hour or next minute. >> woodruff: yamiche and former prosecutor jessica roth, we thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the federal regave

the strongest signal yet that an interest rate cut is comg, likely, later this month. it would be the first since 2008. fed chair jerome powell testified today before the u house financial services committee. he suggested growing economic concerns make the case for a rate decrease. >> we think that uncertainty around trade policy and also global growth. that uncertainty is we think weighing on the domestic economy. >> woodruff: as powell gave his opening remarks, a screen behind him showed a running list of president trump's criticism of the fed and its rate increases. committee chair maxine waters and other democrats cited reports that the president has talked of firing powell, but he said he means to serve his full, u.s. customs and border protection agency reports a sharp drop in unaccompanied migrant children being held by the border patrol.th agency said today the number

hahfallen to 200, from as h as 2,700 last month. it credits an infusion of c funding frgress. lde report follows a storm of criticism over cn held in crowded, unsanitary conditions. california will be the first state to give medicaid benefits to young alts living in the u.s. illegally. democratic governor gavin newsom sied the bill tuesday. it makes all low-income residents under 25, eligible for medicaid, regardless of immigration status. california already covered everyone under the age of 18. communities along the gulf of mexico, from mississippi to texas, are bracing for days of downpours from a tropical weather system. new orleans was hit by flooding today from a storm that dropped up to eight inches of rain, and another foot could fal monday. louisiana's governor says the already swollen mississippi river could overflow levees guarding the city.

>> we don't know yet where this storm is going to land but we know its going to be a big storm, a significant rain and storm surge event. wind is possible however, not just with respect to possible tornadic activity which we've been advised about, but straight-line winds could potentially be strong as well. >> woodruff: forecasters say the opical system could grow into a hurr the united nations warned today that climate change is hurting .fforts to end extreme poverty and prevent hung in a new report, the u.n. blames world governments for not doing enough to address planetary heating.it ays leaders have not been "ambitious enough" to deal with rising temratures, ocean acidity and the loss of species. in puerto rico, the f.b.i. today arrested two former senior officials for allegedly steering federal funds to unqualified contractors.

they are a one-time education secretary of the u.s. territory, and a former head of its health insurance administration. just a month ago, congress approved new hurricane relief funds r puerto rico. a federal appeals court has dismissed a lawst that charged president trump is illegally h profiting fr washington, d.c. hotel. the city, and the state of maland, argued mr. trump i violating the constitution's ban on taking benets from foreign governments, because foreign officials pay to stay at his hotel. a three-judge panel ruled today they lacked legal standing to pursue the issue. the u.s. women team celebrated a world cup victory today with a parade in new york city. fans lined the route, confetti fell and air horns blared as the players' floats passed. both players and fans called for pay equity with men's soccer teams.

we'll look at the team and its potential legacy, latehe program. kson wall street today, st made modest gains on the news that the federal raderve appears to cut interest rates. the dow jones industrial average atgained 76 points to clos 26,860. the nasdaq rose 60 points, to a new record high. and the s&p 500 added 13. and, veteran tv, stage and movie actor rip torn has dter a seven-decade career. he gained his greatest fame in the 1990's winning an emmy as ab tic tv producer on "the larry sanders show." he also played "agent zed" in the first two "men in black" movies. rip torn was also an outspoken advocate for civil rights. he was 88 years old. still to come on the newshour: the forces within british politics that may have brought down a top diplomat.

he mind-- what neuroscience can tell us about pot's effect on brain activity, and much more. t >> woodruff:s unvarnished and direct diplomatic analysis from one halof what's known as "the special relationship." and it was never meant to bepu ic. in a series of leaked diplomatic cablesack to london, published over last weekend, sir kim darroch, britain's ambassador to the u.s., variously described president trump and his white house as "insecure," "inept" and "incompetent." a few days laterpresident trump said the feeling was mutual. >> the ambassador has not serv the u.k. well, i can tell you that. we are not big fans of that man and he has not served the u.k. well.

>> woodruff: just yesterday tuesident trump tweeted that darroch is a "veryd guy," and again, criticized british prime minister theresa may for her handling of brexit negotiations. but the final straw came last night, when boris johnson, the frontrunner in the race to replace theresa may, refused to say he would not fire darroch as ambassador. hours later, darroch, who has been britain's ambassador to the u.s. since 2016, resigned. in a letter, he wrote: "the rrent situation is making it oimpossible for me to car my role as i would like." seday british prime minister theresa may exprsupport for darroch. >> sir kim has given a lifetimeh of service tunited kingdom and we owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. good government depends on public servants being able to give full and frank advice. >> woodruff: and earlier today, johnson seemed to backtrack.

>> you weren't going to back him, you saiwelast night you n't going to back him. >> no, on the corary, my view is that it's wrong to drag civil servants into the political arena, that's wh i think. >> woodruff: now, the view of this diplomatic rift from sir peter westmacott, who among his postings as a british ambassor and diplomat served as kim darroch's predecessor here in washington from 2012 to 2016.ir >>etter westmacott, welcome back it to the program, did ambassador darroch have to accept down today. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: did thess amor have to. >> it seems to me that it was his chsce. it was hoice to do so. he was not recalled, he was not asked to resign. but i think that he had concluded that the pressures on hibfamily and his aility to do the job, because he was being frozen out ofccess to the white house for the time being, anyway, and perhaps the final straw as you put it, of noticing

be the nextritish prime minister wasn't going to back him on television last night made him feel, i think it's probably best if i stand assign-- aside and we resolve this by somebody else being appointed to take my place. so did he have to go, no. it wasis choice. personally, i regret it because i don't think an ambassador doing an excellent job should be drummed out of office for doing nothing wrnkg am but i thiit was his decision, as i say. >> woodruff: what does it say,re though, that s johnson who is seen as the frontrunner, the favorite to win, the race for prime minister did not vigorously stand by him. >> i think it takes a straight-- at domestiitics which are frankly a bit of a mess. we have had three years going in circles trying to work out how to make brexit happen and also now in the middle of the leadership contest to determine

who thnext prime minter is after theresa may. bore is johnson, frontrunner but needs the support of the right wing, hard line brexit ears within his party when the votes are cast in the coming days and i think part of this is that kim darroch has been accused being soft on brexit and proeuropean and so on. so i thinkore is johnson was not going to support the ambassador unequivly. and he thinks he has a close relationship with donald trump and thinks that will be important when he becomes prime minister, if he becomes prime minister. and that this may be the keyo making a success of brexit with nice new trade deals. i suspect it was partly that he wasn't going to get on the wrong side of thentresi this morning asked about t he seemed to be taking another view. there wasafter all, very strong support in parliament for kim darroch, for the position he had been left in, and i think for the principled way he

decided to resign and stand aside for the public good. >> woodruff: is it significant, though, that in terms of oveborall wharis johnson did that he seems to be deferring to the united states, to president trump wishes? >> i think you need to keep in mind what is this all about.s thisout a totally improper and probably illegal leak of some s-nsitive communications. th is the heart of it and then it is also, i would say in part, about a very sharp, programs overreaction from the president, one day's tweet is one thing but two and three days on t and very rude remarks about trump-- about kim darroch and the,resa may much ruder about things he said about other head of governments and representatis, that he id far, who have behaved far, fark orse. i that is part of it. that boris johnson part of it is, a sense, a sideline. but i think what we have seen is

an indication of the importance he attaches to getting everybody to suort him within the conservative party when they vote for the new leader of their party. that is what it is about. >> woodruff: is there informed guessing, speculation or sold reporting right now in london as to how these sensive secret cables were made public. >> yes, there is a imreat deal, judy t is pretty unprecedented. not totly. you ve had wikileaks dumping lots of cables in the united states. we have had people from time to time making public documents that should not be made public. and some of the were quite sensitive, but they were not earth-shattering. one member of the senate said to me yesterday, this seems to me to be reporting based on itca tybridge understatement so i think there was nothing there that was tremendously alive or

to cause offense. so i think that is what kim was doing. who did it, who caused the leak, there is an inquiry taking place at the moment. has been as though he quawt up in this battle for the future of the conservative party. and the btle about whether professionals should still be in charge of key negotiations, representing the british imoft. or whether there should be more political appointments because there is gossip, that one of the reasons why this was done was to get kim out of a job to stop any ordinary other diplomat, ssh like me getting a j in his place. and ensure that there was a protrump, probrexit politician installed in his place. but at the moment we honestly don't know. that is why the inquiry is so important. >> woouff: and finally jus quickly, as a diplomat, do you, is this episode going to ke it less likely that diplo the mats are going to be willing to speak candidly in their communeki ions back to their own

government? >> i think that is a real risk. to be hones we've sen this before, after wikileaks and after one or two other leaks which have been made over the last few years, i've noticed colleagues of mine feeling that they better be very wary of what they commit to print rather than what they say in person or sometimes over a seec ksh-- i'm hoping this inquiry will get to the bottom of it and sh this is a one off course by some political, political strategy or maneuver. and that it does not become a symptom of a different culture which means that officials can folt do their jobs, cannot tell truth to pokerith, cannot tell honestly what they think is going on in the country, where they are bas as diplomats. >> because if this is part of a new culture, and a notne-off, that it certainly will, as you suggest, make people less willing to goir jobs properly and they will be of much less value to the governments at they represent

abroad. er woodruff: sir pet westmacott, former british 578 bas dor to the united states, thank you. >> woodruff: stay th us, coming up on the newshour: the legacy of the u.s. women's soccer team for the futu of the sport in america. how major league baseball is reckoning with the brutal injuries caused by foul balls. and designing a house that produces more energy than it uses. all this week, we're looking at the impact of the wave of marijuana legalization. one of the key questions many e asking is whether marijuana is generally more potent now and whether that poses an increased health risk. it's alscoming amid debates around the larger benefits and risks of marijuana. for our "leading edge" segment, miles o'brien sifts through the

science around what's known, and not known, about these claims. it's part of a close look at "the green rush" around the country. >> reporter: for connoisseurs os cannabis, are heady times indeed. >> is pretty much like toys us for adults now. >> reporter: we caught up with levon at a jammed dispensary inh leicester, masetts. ed had just bought some cannabis oil and a pre rooint. >> no one really gets in trouble with this. being hassled and things like that just for smoking weed. >> reporter: the state is among 11 and the district ofavolumbia thatlegalized recreational use of marijuana for those 21 and older. >> so, can't complain there one bit. so, looking forward to enjoying this when i get home. >> reporter: massachusetts is among 47 states that have sanctioned cannabis for medical purposes as well. it's a stark contrast from the days of reefer madness, the war

on drugs and the vilifion of a plant that humans have used for more than 2500 years. precious little of it informed by research. >> what an insult it will be to what we are and whence we came if we do not rise upanogether in de against this cancer of drugs. >> it was much more motivated by, again, sociopolitical pressures if you will. not a ton of real scientific data, a lot of assumptions were made.te >> rep neuroscientist staci gruber is an associate professor of psychiatry at harvard medical school, and director of the marijuana investigations for neuroscientific discovery program at mclean hospital. sh cannabis affects the human brain for more than two decades. >> we're still playing catch-up in terms of trying to undetand, what we really nee to understand about cannabis and cannabinoids and how they work. >> reporter: she's doing her be to fill the gaps of understanding by imaging the

brains of teens and emerging adults; some heavy cannabis users who started very young, and others whore weed free. when they conduct cognitive tests, their brains ok very different. they use different regions to get the job done. >> these patterns of activations suggest there is really something different in the way they're processing the information. >> reporter: the data suggests that heavy recreational use of cannabis during adolescence and emerging adulthood inhibits the development of the prefrontal cortex, the decision making center of the brain. and gruber also reports evidence of changes in the white matter - which connects various regions of the brain. the white matter in pot users is less organized and coherent. these individuals also self report more impulsive behavior. >> we know some things, for sure.th we know there are likely negative effects if cannabis comes a regular part of one's routine, when we're

neurodevelopntally vulnerable. that is, we're just still growing up, we're under construction or half-baked, better way to put it. >> reporter: and the is much stronger than it was ago generation ahen it contained on average, about 5% t.h.c., the psychoactive main ingredient in marijuana. lvtoday, the plants themse have been bred to be much more erpotent, 12% t.h.c. on avage. strains over 20% are widely available. but that is stl not enough for dario and his friends. they frequently use ghly concentrated cannabis products known as shatter, oil and wax with average t.h.c. levels of more than 50%, up to 80% and even higher. they prefer the concentrates in part because they get more buzz for their buck. >> the high is a little different, i would say. and you definitely get higher off of the oil, which is

enjoyable, for sure. >> reporter: but what are the consequences of this hi-test high? the data is scant. >> do they simply use less of a more potent product to get the same effec some studies have actually reported that and some others have reported noso much. so, i think that's a type of investigation i very much like to see done. >> reporter: important, but right now, impossible.it despthe trend toward legalization by the states, marijuana is still classified by the federal government as a schedule one drug, meaning it supposedly has no currentlyic accepted m use and a high potential for abuse. this makes it very difficult for researchers to do their work legally. cannis used in scientific roudies must be acquired fa government sanctioned grow site at the university of mississippi. and it only produces flower, not the high concentrate products. there is an urgent nd to do this science.

dost ongur is chief of the psychotic disorders division at mclean hospital. >> research is showing that if you're smoking weed that is high in t.h.c., the odds of developing a psychotic disorde are higher than if you're smoking weed that's low in t.h.c. there is a lot of compelling evidence but it's not necessarily final. >> reporter: they're seeking clues by studying the way our nervous system interacts with cannabis. the internal wiring that regulates our perceptions and thoughts is not continuous, the nerve ends are called neurons, the gaps, synapses. the electrical current is transmitted across the synapses by chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. our bodies naturally produce cannabinoids to help regulate the flow of theseur ransmitters. >> when somebody smokes cannabis, you are actually introducing chemicals that can hijackhat system that's controlling brain chemistry. so, it appears that during some critical period in brain

development, cannabis has this effect on the brain actually disrupts normal functioning and predisposes people to a psychotic disorder whteas in your 30s, it does have the same effect. >> reporter: in all of this research, it's difficult if not impossible to tease apart cause and effect: does cannabis trigger these disorders, or do people with these problems gravitate towa the drug? and no one has taken a look at the implications of long tm recreational cannabis use on the fully formed adult brain. but recently staci gruber has taken a look at medical marijuana among adults. and she has some surprising conclusions. >> we're seeing improvement in cognitive performance, specifically on tasks requiring executive function. we're also seeing improvements in clinical state. so, significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms after only three months and really important, we've seen some very striking decreases in the use of conventional medications. >> reporter: benefits as opposed to the detriments she has

documented in young people using pot heavily to just get high. steve mandile is a regular medical marijuana user. >> much better. >> reporter: in 2004, while serving in the army in iraq, he got in an accident at left him with an excruciating back injury. and a long list of prescriptionr painki >> over a 10-year period, i had taken 57 different medications, nine different opioids. i believe in 2009, i was just getting on to fentanyl. did six years on fentany oxycodone, for my chronic painhr and breaktgh pain. >> reporter: it was a struggle, but he finally weaned himself off of ooids, and now relies mostly on medical marijuana, which unlike those prescription painkillers, has never caused an overdose death. but government studies show 9% of those who use marijna will become dependent on the drug, much better than alcohol, at

about 23%, or cocaine, 21%, but it is not risk free. steve mandile is well aware of all of this, but remains convinced cannabis has made nearly every aspect of his life better. >> every person suffering deserves a choice and let's stop looking at this as the initial idea back in the '30s where this is something that's terrible, it's going truin the world. let's get past all the stigma. let's focus on the facts. >> reporter: once vilified, but now moving into the mainstream, cannabis is neither totally bad nor completely benign. it turns out weed is as much about shades of gray, as it is green.pb for thnewshour, i'm miles o'brien in boston.

pi woodruff: the u.s. women's team, world cup chs once again, was feted with a party in new york today. as amna nawaz lls us, it's part of an ongoing celebration of their historic run and wider legacy, not just on the field, t by fighting for pay equity and for their outspoken role. >> nawaz: thousands of fans from around the country turned out to honor the women's team this morning as they paraded up new york's "canyon of heroes." mayor bill de blasio presented the players with symbolic keys to the city. team co-captain alex morgan thanked the crowd.nk >> tou all so much, i think that we have been known as america's favorite soccer team. (cheers) but from here on out, we'll just be known as america's team.

he had beat the netherlanders 2-0 with more than 16 million viewers in the u.s. alone. but even as the celebrations began, the victory led to cs in the stands for equal pay. >> equal pay! equal pay! equal pay! >> nawaz: in march, members of the team sued the u.s. soccer federation for gender and pay discrimination. the federation says the difference in pay is due to higher revenue from men's games. but financial statements from the federation show that between 2016 and 201 the women's games generated nearly $50.8 million inenue, while men's games brought in $49.9 million, a difference of just $900,000 one key reason for the pay g: team much larger bonuses for world cup play. the men could earn about five mes more for winning the cup, which translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars more per player. there's another gap in prize

money awarded by fifa: for their victory this year, fifa will pay the women's team $4 million.it aid $38 million to the men's french team for winning last year. throughout their run to the championship, members of the women's team have received some pushback and criticism, including from president trump. megan rapinoe, the team's top scorer and most outspoken leader, addressed the pay issue directly in front of the u.s. soccer federation's president today. >> there's been so much contention in these last years. i've been a victim of that. i've been a perpetrator of that. with our fight with the federation, sorry for some of the t ings i said. l things. this conversation is the nex step. we have to collaborate. it takes everybody. >> nawaz: let's go a little deeper on the pay equity issues, and the overall legacy of this team. christine brennan is back with

us. she's a sportswrit and columnist for "usaoday." welcome back. >> great to see you, thanks. >> so you wrote in your latest colume for "u.s.a. today," a bi of a prediction, you said the u.s. women's team will win equpl from the u.s. soccer federation, why, why is this the moment? >> certainly the prunami that is hitting the soccer federation and being in new york for the parade, as i was, and seeing the reaction and then seeing the poor president of u.s. soccer have to get up there, notl ony mispronounced megan rapinoe's name, probably not the name you want to mispronounce, but also the equal pay and the boos, but the notion that you will fight this tide, rapinoe is juslo d in this krirks the manifestation of title 9 signed by richard nixon, the way they owin, this incredible sof fearlessness and confidence, and they're going to be denied?'t i just do that-- see that whatting in 2019.

>> they have the influence and the leverage. you say they deserve to be paid more than the u.s. men but will sett for equality. so getting more people to watch, they are winning more, why settle for equality. should they be asking for more. >> i think it would be a startay anthey should be getting more than the men, based on, the all street journal" reporting now that game revenue, the women over the last three years have made more than the men's team, obviously success, soff the charts, the u. women winning their fowrtd world cup. the u.s. men not even making world cup last time. and just the tv ratings and the jersey, the women's jersey being now the most popular and the best sales of a jersey nike has ever had. all of these thing s but again, iould be more but i think they would take equal just because they have had such a longig and long slog to gret to this point. >> can what they accomplish here extends beyond soccer, will it impact how other female ad lets are paid >> i think so. we are at a tipping point. 20 years ago brandi cls tain,

women's world cup, thats with a revelation, this i an affirmation, 20 years later. these women are here to sairks i think its not a reach to set this against the back drop of a hundred women in congress and 125 women in the senate. and the metoo story, even though that is not what this is, but women speaking out and noei denied. so i see that. i see this, that equal pay chanh we heard in the stands the other day in france, can i heatr that wnba games, at tennis matche you can hear thaall around the country, and frankly the world over the next few years. >> you mentioned th meement when megan rapinoe participating in that political conversation along the way. she was one of the first athletes to take a knee in protest during thti naal anthem. she wrote an essay about why she did it. she said she hast perienced overpolicing, racial profiling or sight of family member body lying dead but i can't stand by when people have to deal with that heartache. her influence in particular,

compared to other people on the team has extended beyond soccer. >> she has an incredible-- what ever she wants to do, she can do it the battle with donald trump, i don't think we can make a point about how little this was. if it was huge. and the nact she is fighting with the president and then she's going out ad performing on the field the way she did. that was the stuff of llie jean king or muhammad ali it was really that amazing. and to seeeow th team say to the president we're not coming to the white house, which they have said, that is a rebuke that is unprecedented by a national team it is one thing nor a o notst particular team go to the white house but a national team, red white and blue denieding not o visit the american president, that is extraordinary. >> you mentionandsi chastain. all of us remember that moment in 1999. she hadhe last penalty kick gensz china. she wins the u.s., their world cup title back then, rips off her shirt. everyone celebrates. the whole crowd erupts too. did it take that moment to iet

to this moment today. >> it is a great point, absolutely, stepping stone, title nine being signed by nixon in 7 250e. bill jean king beating riggs.i serenaliams, venus williams, other things, now 450er we are with this tng. i think history books will report this as not just great moment in. >> it took 99y for that first found facial. >> absolutely, one generation to the next. >> thank you so much for being here. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: a second sports story tonight, but of a different nature. major league baseball is at its halfway point for the season, marked by the annual all-star game last night. even as players are smashing a record pace of home runs this season, john yang looks at lingering questions around the

ivegue about other line- hits that injure fans. >> yang: it was the annual showcase of baseball's best players. but amid the fanfare of last nihet's game in cleveland, t leaguefacingenewed questions about ballpark safety, sparked by a number of dangerou incidethis year. perhaps the most prominent was in may, when a two-year-old girl was struck in housamn. the ball ce off the bat of chicago cubs outfielder albert almora, who was visibly shaken >> i'm at a loss of words.being a father of two boys, obviously, i want to t a net around the whole stadm, but y'know man... i don't know, i'm sorry. >> yang: a lawyer r the girl's family said she suffered blding and swelling in her brain. a 2014 bloomberg news analysis estimated that more than 170 fans are hurt each year by foul balls, home runs and some broken bats during games and batting

practice. last august, a 79-year-old woman was killed by a foul ball at dodger stadium in los angeles. that was even after all major league tms extended protective netting to the far ends of their dugouts. as for future net extensions, m.l.b. commissioner rob manfred has said he doesn't expect teams to change their netting until at least the end of this season. in june, he said: "we do have fans that are vocal about the hat they don't want to s behind nets. i think that we have struck the balance in favor of fan safety so far." still, a number of tave announced plans to extend their netting, including the dodgers,t the wash nationals and the chicago white sox, who will have nets from foul pole to foul pole. the washington nationals are said to be the first team to extend the protective netting at their stadium this season. they plan to have it in place for their next home game later this month.

jeff passan covers baseball for espn and joins us now to talk about this. thanks so much. this incident in houston in may, this is no new phenomenon, as we say, the woman actually diede at dodstadium last year. why did this incident in how long tonbecome-- houston become the cat list for this the cat lust for this discussion. >> i think it wabecause its with a small child. i was on the field, i was about 20 feat away when he hit that ball. and could you see almost instantaneously he saw it going for the girl. and it is like his eyes laserred in on her and when he saw it hit her, he was crest fallen t was art brocken. the whole stadium went silent. and right after the game that day, chris brianti, chicago cubs star says to me we need netting around the whole stadium, albert stolethat

ksh-- the entire chi cli cubs team is saying this is a problen we 't want to be the people causing these sorts of injuries. and it is significant, i think, that you say t washington nationals are doing it, and the chicago whit sox, chicago cubs vnlt done it yet. houston astros haven't done it yet. those are the two teams involved that day. and the teams coming and saying we are going to make this a priority, really is staggering. >> i want to follow up on that point. u say the netting is going up only in a handful of ball parks. why are teams so reluctant to take this step? >> pi wish hi a good answer.ha asked clubs. i asked the commissioner of baseball rob manfort yesterday, that very question. why haven't you as the person who is the shepherd of this sport, as the person who is in charge of selling this game to fans and sayinwe want ball parks to be safe, we want your

experice to be great, why vnlt you-- why haven't you said to teams everyone is going to put up netting at some point. why don't we just get thae t out thight now. and i will be honest, there are no gooanswers. and that is the part of it that i really still don't understandg how uping of companies ingu major leabaseball that are worth about $40 billion when you put th tm allogether, can put themselves at risk for this badf ublic relations. and the fact that we are even talking about this still, a month plus after it it happens. >> manfort talked about fan resistance. but the most expensive seats in those ball parks are behind the plate covered by netting and the nhl has now had netting up behind the goals since the00 2002season and it it has had no effect. what do you make of that? >> it is a giant ocean of il

logic. the ea that ese remarkably expensive seats that go for,0 have a worse view because of some setting than seats that would be on the side t is just not true.ad your eyeust. anybody who has sat behind netting before knows that. what it is, is there are aew people out there still who want to catch foul balls. that is what this comes down to. bwhen you are ateball stadium, balls get hit into the stands. and it is some peoe's dream to catch a foul ball. and all of those people, i as the question, there is not a rhetorical yes, i ask the question, would you go and spend five or $10 for a stamped official major league baseball or watch a child get hurt that is the val proposition we're talking about right here. and i understand catching a foul ball say great experience and all.y but if i am ing to balance a kid or an cult or anyone potentially getting hurt with i don't a foul bal think that is a very difficult

choice to make. >> jeff passan of espn, thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. >> woodruff: to heat and cool buildings tas up an astonishing 40% of energy used across the world. it's a figure that grows only more troubling as climate change continues to threaten the planet. there is an architt who is trying to change not only how much energy a building conmes but how much it produces. from pbs station wgbh in bton, cristina quinn has this story, part of our ongoing verage of arts and culture, canvas. >> reporter: on a quiet residential street close to harvard, this pretty nondescript housis known as house zero. why is it called house zero? >> because there are a lot of zeros.

the house don't use almost any energy for heat and cooling. it has zero carbon. it doesn't have any electrical light during the day. >> reporter: no lights, no h-vac system and barely a utility bill. the goal of house zero is to produce more energy than it consumes, ultimately providing power to the grid. architect ali malkawi of harvard's center for greens buildid cities says it relies only on fresh air and natural light. and it's quiet. >> it is because we don't have any pumps. it's very much listening to the outside. windows open, clos it's very gentle. >> reporter: right, there's no im, no machines whirring. it is very quiet bs comfortably quiet. >> it's amazing, because we don't noti this unless we see. most of our environment has humming noises, and you get accustomed to it. >> reporte windows open automatically if it starts to get a little warm or stuffy. and they're framed by panels

that provide shade. outside, the solar chimney makes sure the inside stays ntilated. during extreme temperatures, geothermal pumps are used to cool or heat the house through the floors. but what is a solar chimney? >> it's a chimney that allows air to move freely without mechanical sysms. it allows air to be drawn from the outside, and people to beat vent, without mechanical systems in the lower parts, where you can't do cross ventilatio >> reporter: all of this, though, relies on really smart chnology. under the floors and throughout house zero, there are five miles of cables and hundreds of sensors capturing data like air flow, temperature and co2 levels.pu on a pair of augmented reality goggles, and you can actually see it. >> now all the information we are gett being pulled into a giant database. >> reporter: no one actually lives here. house zero is a lab designed to help the next generation of architects design and build houses thadon't rely on udgy. malkawi wants stts and researchers to think of

buildings as living, breathing structures that interact naturally with their environment. >> we're basically demonstrating in this building that justio natural ventilis such an easy thing to do. but can it be controllable? and at the same time we're saying okay, no, this is good. can we even goeyond that, can we scale it up? right, with very simple technologies. >> reporter: while the cost of incorporating this technoly to a new house would not significantly add to its price, malkawi and his team are still developing the software to make it ready for the mass housing market. as people become more concerned about their carbon footprint, many elements could become standard in architectural design. for the pbs newshour, i'm cristina quinn in cambridge, massachusetts. >> woodruff: and a late breaking development on ouread story tonight. a former palm beach state attorney strongly rejected

secretary of labor alex acosta's account today of his role in the jeffrey epstein investigation.te in a snt released this evening, former state attorney barry krisch said a federal dictment was abandoned aftergo "secret ations" between epstein's lawyers and acosta. this conflicts with acosta's e explanation thtein's sentence was less than he had hoped for. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. f >> majording for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> text night and daat >> it on replay. >> burning some fat. >> sharing the latest viral cat! >> you can do the things you w like to h a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv

a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new langua. >> 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 from viewers like you.k thu. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by tmedia access groupbh access.wgbh.org

. hello, everyone. and welcome to amanpour and company. today we're looking back at some of our favorite interviews from this year. so here's what's coming up. don't ignore the military on at clchange, mr. president, so say dozens of former security officials in a letter to the white house. hear fm onef the signatories, retired admiral. then -- ♪ if it gets m nowhere, tell you no. >> hollywood stars as the dating divorcies looking for love. >> plus, the second part o our interview with lenny kravitz. music to his fans ears.