captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good wening. i'm judruff. or the newshour tonight: condemnation and of defense, as president trump's attacks on four women members og ss continue to roil. then, federal prosecutorse decline to chae new york city police officer involved in the death of eric garner-- a touchstone case r the black lives matter movement. and, a desperate journey. as political instability, poverty and starvation consume venezuela, thousands of its people flee to neighboring brazil in search of a safer life. >> ( translated ): there is no justice, and there is no food, no water. there's no gasoline.

the streets are empty and towns have turned into ghost towns. we had to abandon our home to co here. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. aj >> funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com.x >> tnight and day. >> catch it on replay.fa >> burning som >> sharing the latest viral cat! >> you can do the things you like to do designed for you.an with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.t >> babbel. a languagerogram that teaches spanis french, italian, germanand more.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbm station iewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the firestorm over president trump's racist rhetoric spread to capitol hill today, where a vote in the u.s. house of representatives is uniting democrats and testing republicans' willingness to criticize the commander in chief. lisa desjardins begins with how the day's events unfolded. >> desjardins: two days after the president's initial tweets, today, senate majority leader ded.h mcconnell resp >> i do not think the president is a racist. >> desjardins: yet the republican leader did not exonerate the president, he choose to blamhim and mocrats both. >> i think there's been a

consensus that political rhetoric has really gotten way, way overheated. from the president to speaker to freshmen members of the, all of us have a responsibility to elevate public diourse. our words do matter. we all know politics is a contact ort. >> desjains: from fellow republican and house minority leader kevin mccarthy, a different tact-- changing the subject to broader themes. >> i believe this is about ideology. this is about socialism versus freedom. i think this party has been very clear, we are the party of lincoln. this party believes in the content of the individual.rd >> dess: indeed, there was ideological divide, as democrats like pramily jayapal were happy to point out as well. >> dissent is patriotic. the thing that has always made america great is that people are willing to make it better. >> desjardins: all of this after president trump's tweet sunday, claiming that four democratic

congresswomen of color are from "other countries," are too critical of the u.s. and should consider "going back to where they came from." all are american citizens. three were born in the united states. the president echoed some of his words again today at the white house. >> they should love our country. they shouldn't hate our country. >> desjardins: meanwhile, senior visor kellyanne conway touched off a different debate, as she tried to turn the table on a reporter asking about the president's words. >> what's your ethnicity? >> why is that relevant? >> i'm asking you a question. my ancestors are from ireland and italy. >> desjardins: the reporter refused tonswer, and said he was offended. a few miles away, on capitol hill, one of the lawmakers in the centerref the storm, esentative alexandria ocasio-cortez of new york, said today the coo.p. needs to emn the president's words themselves. >> they have targeted n ur congresswo color who are american citizens with a classic linef white supremacy, and they are trying to pivot, and they are trying to excuse it. >> desjardins: and later, in an

unusual moment.. the house of representatives presidents words, in the middle of a debate on the president's words and whether the house ould condemn them. the question surrounded these words, very rare about a president's actions, from house speaker nancy pelosi, >> the comments from the white house are disgusting, and they are racist. >> desjardins: house republicans immediately pointed to rules against maligning the president, and invoked a rare form of objectn to those words. >> i move to take down the words. >> desjardins: the action is not finished for the day. house democrats expect to pass a resolution condemning the president's tweets as racist tonight. it may be a test for somebl reans. mr. trump has urged them to vote no. >> woodruff: and lisa joins me now. lisa, you have talked to a number of republic cans how are

they reactin >> publicly some of them will vote with democrats tonight. probably not many. most will stick with thepr ident on the resolution to condemn him. there is a divide among republicans. some are concerned the remarks may push the voters they think they need, suburban white americans who are uncomfortable with this language. others say no, the president is defending something. especially in rural areas, we think it'sinight. we tthere is too much talk of racism and we're glad he's pushing back. there is a divide opening upp with rublicans. >> woodruff: you said on the floor of the house as they debate the resolution how i complicated . >> yes. it's been a wild strange day. nancy pelosi made thear rem. they agreed with republicans she was out of line.m for those rarks to be on the

books the house had to vote d democrats had to support her. that happened. since then theere has bn an eruption of emotion on the floor. reading out what the presidentsa is offensive. it's an emotional and raubg us s yace the house floor. >> woodruff: lisu said underlying this you see a complicated reaction to what iin happ >> this is what i want to get to. we see ouncing ball, atmosphere of accusations now. it's important to get to the greater meaning.ne her side seems politically motivated to resolve this conversation about race. i am concerned, judy, they're not equipped. these two sides define racism differently. republicans use an earlier definition of race where the intention of the person is what is critical. democrats talk more and more

about the effect of racism are. people affected by, areheir lives changed. democrats have more people of cor. it's not an accident the definition is evolving. people of color harve moe power. i talked with a republican and asked him is there anything you feel comfortable calling racism. he had to pauu and coldn't say there was. democrats are not comfortable in how white americans are brought into the conversation about race. republicans are not comfortable talking about racism at all.e theyr apart on a important conversation. th>> woodruff: bringing sog with cultural dimension and so much else. so much more ask larger than politics. >> that's right. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, a white police o in new york who put a black man,

eric garner, in a fatal chokold, will not face feder charges. garner could be heard gasping "i can't breathe" p officer danitaleo gripped him, during an arrest. a state grand jury already declined to indict pantao, and today, federal prosecutors said they could not prove he willfully violat garner's civil rights. garner's mother, gwen carr, called the finding an ndtrage, and de that pantaleo be fired. >> five years ago, my son said "i can't breathe" 11 tim. and today, we can't breathe. because they have let us down. officer pantaleo, and all the officers who was involved in my son's death that day, need to be off the force. the streets of new york city it fe with them walking around. >> woodruff: a senior u.s.st e department official said attorney general william barr himself made the decision, overruling officials who wanted to charge pantaleo. we will delve into the decision- making, after the news summary. as of today, federally-funded family planning clinics had to

op referring women for abortions. federal courts allowed the trump administration to begin enforcing the referral ban, until legal challenges are decided. the move is seen as a blow to planned parenthood, but the group said it would forgo theue funds and conteferrals. the nominee for u.s. defense secretary today criticized turkey's purchase ofussian- made air defenses. the u.s. strongly opposed the move by the nato ally. mark esper, currently the secretary of t army, told his senate confirmation hearing that turkey's decision was "the wrong one." >> very disappointing. turkey has been a longstanding nato ally, a very capable one. i think they were one of the original allies, if i think back to when the alliance formed. and so it is very disheartening to see how they've drifted over

the past several years. woodruff: later, president trump confirmed that turkey's purchase from russia means the u.s. wl not sell advanced fighter jets to the turks. he claimed the obama administration created the problem, by failing to sell an american missile defense system to turkey in the first place. north korea suggested today it may lift a 20-month moratorium on nuclear and missile tests. h'at came as talks have stalled on ending the nonuclear program. but, president trump said again, there is no hurry about reaching an agreement. for the first time, the european commission will have a woman as president. the outgoing german defense minister, ursula von der leyen, nfirmed today. she won a bare majority of votes in the e an outcome that was met with applause after weeks of deadlock. the new leader promised to focus on climate change and gend equality. back in this country, the head of facebook's new digita currency, libra, faced criticism from senators ineyoth parties. randed the social media giant "dangerous" for failing to protect users' personal data.

in turn, facebook'david marcus said the company is g to earn back people's trust, and hg insistedal transactions will safeguard consumers. >> we will take the time to get thisight. we expect the review of libra to be among the most extensive ever. we are fully committed toeg working withators, here and around the world. and let me be clear and unambiguous. facebook will not offer the libra digital currency until we have fully addressed regulators' concerns and received appropriate approvals. >> woodruff: facebook is hoping to launch its libra crypto-currency in 2020. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average lost 23 points to close at 27,335. the nasdaq fell 35 points, and the s&p 500 slipped ten. and, nasa kicked offle ations today for the 50th anniversary of "apollo 11," when men first landeonon the

mi crew member chael collins, nowon 88, was and this morning at cape canaveral, for the exact moment when he, buzz aldrin and neil armstrong blasted off, on ly 16, 1969. five days later, armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon. he passed away in 2012. still toome on the newshour: what is behind the department of justice decision to not charge police in the killing of eric garner.un on the gin brazil, where refugees from venezuela search for a safer life. colombia's foreign minister, on how his country is grappling with those refugees and a fragile peace. plus, much more. >> woodruff: five years ago,

new york man, eric garner's dying words-- "i can't breathe"- -served as a rallying cry that led to national demonstrations and gave further momentum to the black lives matter movement. tomorrow will mark the piration of the statute of limitations to bring federal charges.he but,ase lingered through several u.s. attorneys general, and both the obama and trump ministrations. yamiche alcindor looks now atde why the justicrtment r.cided not to file charges against the offi ne alcindor: eric garner died after he was detfor selling what were suspected to be untax single cigarettes. garner, who was 43 years old and had severe asthma, said "i can't breathe" 11 times before he died. the cellphone deo seems to show garner in a chokehold, which is prohibited by the new yorkolice department. but, the officer, daniel pantaleo, has maintained he did not use a chokehold to bring him down. pantaleo has been on desk duty since then.

today, u.s. attorney for the eastern district of new york, richard donoghue, said his team decided they could not prove officer pantaleo willf intended to use excessive force that led to garner's death. >>e are committed to aggressively prosecuting excessive force cases whenever there is sufficient evidence to bring them. mr. garner's death was a terrible tragedy, but having thoroughly investigated the surrounding circumstances, the department has concluded that the available evidence would not support federal civil rights charges against any officer. >> alcindor: let's dig in a little deeper on this reasoning, and the larger issue as to why the federal government rarely brings charges against an officer in the line of duty. katie benner covers the justice department for the "new yorkan times,joins me now. >> thank you for being here, katie. this decision to not charge the officer in the death of eric garner came down to the attorney general, bill bar.

what more do we know about bill bar not bringing charges. >> i think we should take a step ck really quick. when the case opened after eric garn died. you saw they decided the as wouldn't be won, they struggled. some prosecutors i'm told based on those working on the case, they say some of the prosecutors didn't know they felt eric garner acted wrongfully. very soon after that the civil rights decision in washington decided there was a crime committed and could prsecute the case. setting off a long running, years long bathttle betwee two sides. they just did not agree. we saw the case languish. we saw the case get caught up in the session justice department where a lot was not hapening with russia and sessions firing. when billar gets to the justice department and becomes the attorney general now has s. clean up this mes

he held multiple meetings with constituents from both sides. he heard arguments from prosecutors in brookom, the civil rights division. he reviewed the tape multiple times and ultimately agreethwith prosecutors in brooklyn. they were worried this wasn't ae case tcould bring before a jury and win. >> the doj occasionally looks at the local issues with officers and fatal inter actions they fairly bring charges. why is it rre for there to be charges from the doj for officer involved encounters? >>nk i thihey feel the cases are extremely difficult to win a officer saying he had a credible fear during a altercation, as long as he is willing to say he felt he was in danger, jurors are sympathetic to the argument. it's a case they don't feel can win theyre ructant to bringing the case. what makes the eric garner case,

holner felt the evidence was strong and worth bringing the case. the videos shocked the natn, they galvanized the black lives matter movement. so, today's decision i think isf really viesinr many people. >> you mention the eric garner case was unique galvanizing people. llions of people watched the video of eric garner dying the rallying cry "i can't peathe"became a cry for many people protestilice brutality. that factor into how the case was handled? >> think the outrage over the video has made the case a loud the case to remain in thepubc interest even five years later. i also think that a lot of theu caseg on the video. the prosecutors studied the

video minute by minute, second by second. what they decided is the officer let go of eric ganer's neck before mr. garner said i "i condition breath" they didn't feel he purposely put him in a choke hold it was only after falling to the ground. they used the video, th prosecutors, to prove their case. ople may of expected prosecutors to prove the case otherwise. i think it raises estions as we ask police officers to wear body cameras and take cellphone footage of incidents. we have toisk how ths is used and the arguments to be made from that. >> eric garner's family isom reeling the decision there. is also the idea that officer may not eveface jail time now this has gone through. this is a disarciplreview going through the new york city police department. what aonsequences ift all may the officer face.

>> you know, it's interesting the officer could face consequences, stripped of his badge. we're awaiting to see the resus of that review. today we saw pressure being put on the mayor to actually fire the officer. we cw thaing not only from eric garner's mother and family. weraw the pessure from people like setor christian gillibrand saying i think it's your move to ta e care e situation. >> this is certainly a unique case, as you said. katie bener, thank you for joining us. >> woodruff: over the past five years, more than four million venezuelans have fled their country amid a deepening national crisis. this mass exodus is reshaping

all of south america in unexpected ways. the newshour's amna nawaz and producer mike fritz traveled to the border of venezuela and brazil to meet the families making this desperate journey. it's the first in a series of reports done in collaboration with the pulitzer center for crisis reporting. >> nawaz: a moment of relief,ed markith a thumbs up and a wave. that is how jesus, carolina, and their two children, 19-year-old kevin and five-year-old sara, first greeted us, as t crossed the border from venezuela, into brazil. the family, who only gave their first names, said they'd bhin walking anhhiking for more than two days. o they'd run owater, hadn't eaten for more than a day, and they carried everything they now owned. so this is all they've got. her shoes are worn, witholes in them. th are carrying a bible wi them as well, anjust a little bit of money, documents. and just two bags, shoes and

whatever clothes they could carry. i asked why they decided to leave venezuela. >> ( translated ): there is no d,stice, and there is no f no water, there's no gasoline. there's no employment. it's complete desolation. the streets are empty and towns have turneinto ghost towns. we had to abandon our home to come here. >> nawaz: jesus and carolina say, back home, their twin babies died, just days after birth. >> they were six days old. it was a girl and a boy. >> ( translated ): every day kids die in childbirth becauseal of medegligence. they don't care for them in time. and many women die too. >> nawaz: venezuela, once among south america's wealthiest nations, has descended into economic and political chaos. hyperinflation, skyrocketing bt, and crippling u.s. sanctions on its oil industry blasted the economy. d the streets and halls power have erupted as president nicolas duro grapples with opposition leader juan guaido,

backed by the u.s. and dozens of other countries, including brazil. but maduro clings to power, amid severe food, medicine and fuel shortages >> venezuela really is destabilizing the entire region. and erefore, whatever happen to venezuela is going to have big coequences across the region as a whole. >> nawaz: monica de bolle is a latin american expert at the peterson institute fec internationaomics. the cost of the crisis in the years ahead, sheays, could amount to tens of billions in international aid. since 2014, most venezuelan migrants have fled to colombia and peru. but over the last few years, they've been fanning out across all of south america. earlier this year, tensions flared along brazil's border with venezuela after it was shuttered for nearly three months by president maduro, in an attempt to block aid from reaching venezuela. today, more than 100,000 venezuelans are now estimated to have settled in brazil, as part of the largest migration between the two nations in history.

up ahead, where you see those two flags, that's the actual international boundary between venezuela and brazil. and officials say they00ee upwards ofr 550 people crossing every day now. entire families, some with tiny babies, newborn babies, in fact. igme folks they say have been walking as many as days before they get here. but brazil's government, ledriy fat president jair bolsonaro, has so far kept its border open to venezuelan migrants the president's son, congressman eduardo bolsonaro, often serves as a foreign envoy for his father, who is now considering nominating him to be brazil's next ambassador tohe united states. we spoke in brazil's capital of brasilia. can you commit right now that n azil is going to continue to welcome in venezuefugees as long as they're fleeing?r >> by w in brazil here, we have to accept all the refugees. because theydon't have an option. if they keep in venezuela, they

are going to die. we know that the best solution, it is take off maduro from the power in venezuela. >> nawaz: what is brazil prepared to do to try to get him to?eave, to force that chan >> we're trying to change, to do a twist with the militaries insidef venezuela. >> nawaz: is brazil prepared to use military force if necessary, if maduro doesn't leave? il if venezuela attacks br it changes, because we need to defend ourselves. but, in this first moment, we are not thinking to ustherc the military of brazilian forces against the military forces of maduro. >> nawaz: nearly all venezuelans entering brazil come through a port of entry in the northern azilian state of roraima. once they arrive, they're processed, given identity cards, and then wait for a spot in one two refugee camps in th small border town of pacaraima. brazil's army, a powerful stitution here, is running this camp, a sprawling tent city now housing about 500 men, women, and children from venezuela.

the man in charge: lieutenant colonel elton rodrigues. inside, you have entire families ossing, right now just adults, but little kids and babies too. >> ( translated ): many families thme in a situation of vulnerability and ids. the families normally are really numerous-- four, five, sometimes up to six children, and children and the army looks to support these families in the bestorm possible >> nawaz: inside the camp, there's luggage storage, dedicated spaces for children, and filtered water available for al officials tell us none of the troops here carry weapons, to reinforce the idea that this is a humanitarian mission, not a security one. families staying here come and go as they please, using their identity cards for re-entry. reynaldo lara just arrived with his family, and is filling out paperwork for those cards. he says he worked as a state police official in venezuela, and was targeted because h didn't support president maduro.

>> ( translated ): the day that i left my homeland of venezuela, which i love, i felt very emotional, because i'm leaving behind my land and my values t, i had to do it because i have to find a future for myly faand i didn't have a future in venezuela. >> n better future is what forced this family to leave venezuela ld well. their five-monthaughter, already severely malnourished. >> ( translated ): i want my daughter to feel safe er family, and hope she is never lacking food. wepent three days without eating, and what i would do is to beg, so she wouldn't starve to death. we didn't have any other way ofg sustaier. >> nawaz: but these soft-sided structures offer only a temporary haven. officials say most families stay anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. this once-sleepy border town, with an official populof just 12,000, is now dealing with some 14,000 venezuelans crossing here every month. senator chico rodriguez, who represents this ste, says that is unsustainable.

>> ( translated ): we have a population of approximately 500,000 people, and today there are almost 50,000 venezuelans living ior passing through our capital. ti there have been impacts on our health and edu systems, especially in the area of security. roraima does not have the financial conditions or the structural organization to absorb so many venezuelans >> nawaz: the brazilian army has already begun busing venezuelan migrants to boa vista, a much larger city to the south with more economic opportunities. so we're now 130 miles from the border, and the army has had to put up this shelter. they've got 900 to 1,000 peoplvi arring every day, they said. ey offer tents for people to sleep in at night, some food and a shower, but that's it.ll this is not a ime shelter. some, like caesar martinez-- who lives in a tent with his wife and son-- arrived here months ago. with no job, and no plan, he says his life today is just as unceain as the day he arrive

>> ( translated ): it's been a year since got here in brazil, chasing a dream, like most venezuelans who are here. we are trying to get a better ofe for our children, for family, but we still haven't reached it. >> nawaz: a dream millions of his fellow venezuelans are now chasing in a new nation, a world away from the country they once called home. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz, in boa vista, brazil. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: puerto rico is rocked by protests, as the island's governor faces calls to resign. and, pulitzer prize-winning novelist colson whitehead on his new book, "the nickel boys." but first, as we just saw, the slow-motion collapse ofa venezus sent shock waves through south america and beyond. no more so than in venezuela's

neighbor to the west: colombia. almost a million and a halfne elans have taken refuge in colombia, straining the country on top of that, colombia is still reckoning with the end of its own internal conflict. ce has now been three years almost since a peal ended over 50 years of war between the nsvernment and rebel "farc" fact that deal set out ambitious targets for land reform, political participation for ex-rebels,nd a crackdown on drug trafficking. but most of those problems remain. more than 200,000 colombians have been displaced as violence continues, and the drug trade is again exploding. in august, conservative deal- skeptic ivan duque tk office as colombia's new president, amid a turbulent economy, increased pressure as refugees continue to arrive daily from venezuela, as well as troubled prpects of lasting peace. his foreign minister is carlos

holmes trujillo, here in washington this week, and he joins me now. >> minister trujillo, thank you for being with us. colombia, a country of 49 million people. what does it men to have a million and a half ven there? >> thank you, judy, for the invitation. is is a regional issue with a global impact. to my country it's a real challenge because of the demande of resoand the needs we have to satisfy every day. that's why we're calling on the international community to support the efforts of c colomb. >> woodruff: we know when thll inithappened your country welcomed the venlaez. now we read there are cases of discrimination and violence. how long can the region absorb

the crisis nxt door in sr-pbz way la. why is it taking so long for thh support ofr countries, why is it taking so long to change the government? >> twongs. first of all, judy, this is a process. what we are doing is helping to createonditions that allow venezuelans to go back to freedom andra dem. we have made a lot of advances in looking for that aim. that is to say the change in venezuela. secondly, how many venezuelans can we accept in colombia, it's impossible to tell. how many can be received, it's impossible to teli the main p is getting more support doing what can and help the change in venezuela back to democracy and freedom.

>> woodruff: many say think president maduro can wait it out. wait itut after all he has the support of the cubans, russians, chinese. are these skeptics right. >> he doesn't have the support of the venezuelans. the point is a change in venezuela. the point is that thupe sport from the region. this is a regional issues not al glssue. this is regional issue to solve regionally as wel >> woodruff: it hasn't worked yet. >> not yet because of the supression. at the beginning of the year nobody talked abouthe interim president being recognized close to sixty countries. now he is. >> woodruff: let me ask you about something else. the president assessor of the president, president santos sied a pece agreement 2016

with the rebels. lear we a two and a half years later only a quarter of the provisions, the dehat was part of the deal signed have been implemented. we understand thousand ofs militave resumed fighting, little or no help for those living in the rebelld territories, hundreds of activists have been killed. why has the this been implemented? >> the implementation takes a long time of the movement. it's a complex one to imlement. the policy of the president is to implement the agreement with the chaorngeshe future through political consensusnd institutionals there. are advances in the implementation as registered by the mission of the united nations everthe months. i'm going to new york this week to receive the new reeport of

secretary general that makes guarantees on the advances made. >. woodruff: we see the president has called some terms too lenient on the farc rebels. in many places where the reb dips armed the government hasn't come to the aid of the communityo have these new para mili gangs operating in these places. it's seen any peace maybe farther away than ever. >> the implementation of the agreement is going on well. there is a lot of work to done still. the implementation of the reement is in the development plan as a horizontal base of th nation plan. there is a plan for ten years to lcome, 11.5 billion u.s. rs. there are many advances in every

field. as far as the violence is concerned, of course we have a problem and a concern. someregions of the country we v ey have resist the presence of violence that are fighting to get sources of illegal resources to exist there. i'm speaking about narcotic letrafficking, ill mining. the effort of the administration is great to facthose new challenges. >> woodruff: it's clearly taking nger than anybody expected. now you have a guella group that was not si signatory to the peace accord. the elf is growing stronger, operating in venezue. supporting the maduro regime, para mility. w concerned are you of this group?

>> that's why we denounce the presence of the eln in venezuela.ks they have lin the maduro reseem and terrorist organitions. beside that we are combating them with legitimate forces of the state internally in or country. >> woodruff: you feel, again you're making pgress here. >> we are making progress. we are making progress security wise, economically wise, te political and social situation as well. woodruff: very quickly, a aspect of this had to do with narco traffic skp-gt coco production. that is up in colombia, why. >> because of some bad decision taken during the negotiation of the agreement. -- has been fighting very strongly since the beginng of

the administration. showing very positive results. >> woodruff: what does colombia need to get it under control? >> colombia is under control and stable democracy.ie counare doing their best to solve the problems we. have. >> woodruff: foreign min trujillo, thank you very much. >> thank you for this opportunity. >>oodruff: pulitzer prize-winning author colson whitehead's newest book is out today. it's a work of fiction, but one based on a brutally real place in the jim crow south.ow jeffrey spoke with whitehead last week in new york, in this story for "canvas," our arts and culture series. >> brown: it was a grim finding: in 2013, a team of arcologists at the university of south florida dug up unmarked graves on the grounds of the former arthur. dozier school for boys

florida's panhandle. ( news report ) ews reports detailed how reform school, closed in 2011, had been notorious for the physical, sexual and mental abuse imposed on its young students. ine writer colson whitehead remembers first hethe stories. what was it about the story of the reform school th grabbed u? >> the fact that i'd never heard of it. and if there's one place like this, there's dozens and dozens. i hadn't read a story about black kids and jim crow and this particular kind of setting before. so, as an artist, there's material there.st and s a human being, living in america, trying to make sense of where we're going and where we came from. >> brown: three years ago, whitehead won both the pulitzer prize and national book award for his no railroad," set amid the horrors of the slave south, but imagining an alternativeun erse in which the "railroad"-- in reality, a

series of escape routes and saf- houss an actual subterranean train. his new novel, "the nickel boys," is a fictional account of the dozier school, a segregated institution that opened in 1900, touted itself as an enlightened center for wayward b avoid prison terms, but secretly erced labor and meted ou horrif punishments in its so- called "white house," allegedly leading to the deaths of dozens, whose disappearancacwas unted for. >> i first came across the news reports, that a lot of the survivors and the survivor groups had gotten together and re talking about what happened to them in the '50s and '60s were white. studentsajority of t were black. as i started doing more research, i thought, "what's eir story?" >> brown: how did you tackle it? because you have real facts, many things known about it. many things unknown, still. >> so i had a real place--

dozier school, theacts of the campus, how discipline worked. and then, i want to come up with my own characters. and obviously, historians have to stick to the facts, but as a fiction writer, i like making things up, and i like coming up with my own characters and seeing how they operate in these different worlds. >> brown: "the underground railro," your last book, which we talked about, also grounded in very harsh reality, but with a real twist, a bit of fantasy thrown in. this is much more direct.ic >> youthe right tool for the job, and sometimes fantasy is a way to open unva story and a universal truth. and sometimes, realism. and i grew up reading comic books and science fiction and systephen king, and so fanas always been part of my toowhit. >> browndid you choose realism, brutal realism, in this case? >> i wanted to be concise. i wanted to stay on the boys. i really wanted to focus on my two main characters, turner and elwood. i think they have a compelling dynamic.e

and oser i can stay to them, the closer i would stay to the trut it seemed. >> brown: the two main protagonists, very different personalities. part of what's going o they're having a kind of debate about how to survive. >> sure, we have elwood, who's a straight a student. it's '63. he's been raised reading about martin luther king, the great protests, and he thinks that we can affect change in the world. urrner is an orphan, and he's lived by his wits,ving any way he can. and when they get together at the nickel academy, my version of the dozier school, they start debating about how to live and how to survive in this world. >> brown: that makes for an interesting sort of novel of ideas. >> i was wrestling with my own ideas about where we are as a country. i started writing in the spring of 2017, after trump's election, and i found myself wondering how ch progress we're making as a country.

n i believe that the wor we're making is a better place for my kids? or are we regressing into division and hatred? and so elwood and turner speak to different parts of me. i mean, m having an argument with myself, through them. >> brown: in fact, whitehead's bos have long explored the world through a variy of voices and genres-- including satire, a more personal "coming of age" story, zombie horror, and a nonfiction romp about poker. >> if you do something once, you don't do it again. i love stanley kubrick-- >> brown: the director. >> yeah. he would do his raw picture, he would do science fiction, heme would do dark . my approach-- a zombie novel, historical fiction, my short book about the world series of poker-- how can these different

forms allow me to evolve as a storyteller, but also tack different parts of the world? >> brown: i don't know if youth started out ome kind of sense of purpose or mission. do y see a story that colson whitehead has been writing? >> it's about race in america.me ort of stepping back and trying to figure out how things work. anmaybe it's capitalism, a maybe it's race. and maybe it's just the weird places our heart tak us. >> brown: so with "underground railroad"-- the pulitzer, national book award, more than a million copies sold. that puts you in a different category of writer, right? >> well, i take now like one depressive nap a day as opposed to two... you know, definitely the year after all that great stuff happened, i was in a really good mood. i've been working for 20 years, and i've had books that did wece or were ed in a nice way, and books that were ignored. and i like to appreciate the "underground railroad" for what

it broughtt o me. i knows a once-in-a- lifetime kind of thing. lot of things coming together.it and then whe done, you start the next book. and there's the day to day, page by page. ti it working, is elwood a good character, is my w improving? am i doing things in a better way than iould have 20 years ago? so, all those doubts remain, and if they weren't there, you wouldn't be putting the work in. >> brown: all right. "the nickel boys."ls co whitehead, thank you very much. >> yeah, thanks for having me. woodruff: an explosive political and corruption scandal is rocking the island of puerto rico. and, as william brangham explains, it's endtugering the fu of the island's leader, governor ricardo rossello. ♪ ♪ >> brangham: it's been like this

for days. thousands protestors in the streets of san juan, demanding the resignation of their governor, ricardo rossello. at timesthey've been met with armed police and tear gas. ( protest chts ) the crisis engulfing the governor exploded this weekend after a 900-page trove of text messages was leaked and published by puerto rico's in another, the governor's chief center for investigative journalism. the texts between governorss lo and members of his inner circle were repeatedly laced with misogyny, homophobia and crude jokes. targets included political opponents and the island's financl oversight board. in one exchange, governor rosello called a former new york city councilwoman a "whore." in another, the governor's chief financial officer joked about dead bodies piling up after hurricane maria. the leak led to the resignation of two members of his

administration, but this scandal comes right on the heels of the indictment and arrest of two other members of the governor'sa cabine week on fraud charges. a justice department investigation into federal contracts led to charges against lesix peincluding education secretary julia keleher, who was arrested for allegedly steering millions to politically-connected consultants. and all of this comes as president trump and congressional republicans continue to hammer puerto rican offifals for their handling o the island's finances-- both before and after hurricane maria. the white house issued a satement saying, "the unfortunate events of the past w the president's concerns about mismanagement, politicization and corruption have been valid." puerto rico's finances have been controlled by an independent oversight board since 2016, and th restructure some of its enormous debts. rosello is asking congress to send billions of dollars in additional federal money to fund

the island's medicaid program, and to help support ongoing hurricane disaster relief. >> in the past few days they have called for rossello to resign. overseeing affairs in u.s territories joins us now. representative thank you for being on the newshour. you called on the governor to resign. he doesn't seem, according how he app ieared today, hesn't going to resign. do you still want him to go and >>why? s i said earlier my personal opinn that he should resign is just that. it's the people of puerto rico that elected him, that helped him make that decision. he has reached a very critical and delicate point right now as the committethat share looks

at the act and how to reform that, provide better support for the people of pueicrto ro. looking at the medicaid funding and making sure it arrives to provide relief for the people of puerto rico. to make sure the utilities company are running, as we look at the reforms that need to happen, you reach a poi you're feeding a narrative. the narrative from the trumpad nistration and others, we can't trust those people, they're not deserving of support. we saw that with the relief after the hurricane. how long a how much the people of puerto rico suffered. the list goes . him as governor if he stands in the way at this point, i believe he does, of his country and the citizens of the united states that li on that island if they are going to beith held in

terms of support that they need we don't want to jeopardize any mechanism to bring that relief to the people ofrt pueraoubg oh, right now i think the central government of puerto rico has to exavemine thems and the governor has to examine himself for the common good. the common good sometimes is the consideration of step ago side. >> ia praoerb what you say, it's for the voters of prto rico to decidell ross fate. >> exactly. >> it doesn't seem he wants to and does that stand in the way of granting the aid that all puerto ricans say they desperately need. >> it complicates it this way. it complicates you will see more demand forrs oveht. more controls on the part of the federal government, of the reliefnd aistance going to puerto rico. you will see more restrictions and more strings to support

going there. i think that will complicate it. if we deal with credibility here it will be hard to conrevince blicans and democrats that the central government of puerto rico isrepared. the agencies are prepared to effectively and accountable, ethical, and non corrupt wa deal with e relieve that the people need. >> the president's statement in effect, my criticism was rigoht. thrnment and puerto rico can't be trustedo t manage finances. does the president have a point? >> i don't think he does. it does feed his narrative and ads to people living in glass houses applies here.nt the poeing it feeds the narrative, it feeds the narrative aboucontrol. it feeds the narrative about people not being able to take care ofe thmselves. the responsibility giving volume

to the narrative and justification of trump unfortunately falls squarely ini the hands ofs governor. >> as yould know, i wlike to switch gears for a moment. much of washington is consumed with the president's racist a tact on fouof your colleagues. all women of color. what are you saying to your colleagues as how you as democrats need to respond? >> i think we need to respond a wievel of determination. i'm a first generationmecan. through whatever factors here i am, a memofbe congress. my family wouldn't of thought it my parents wouldn of dreamed of it. here i am. i respect. that i love that. but you know i think wha i'm telling people is about determination. i think that the -- what we have seen, what we have heard from this president at the highest level is to encourage division based on rae in this country. that is wrong.

it is anti-american we have to be determined. if we want to go in a differente ion we have to rid ourselves and cleanse ourselves of this division of our count based on race and hate. i'm talking about determination. i'm talking about the things getting worst before they get better. at the end of the day when we get ahance to vote as citizens, we have a opportunity to turn, rn this around and provide a whole differentr direction is country and take us out of the place we're in now that is painful to watch. certainly for me and many sons and daughters of immigrants in this country, y rinful to feel. >> alright. representative raul grijalva of arizona, thank you for your >> thank you.

>> woodruff: and, an update to our lead story tonight. this evening, the house of representatives voted 240 to 187 on a resolution condemning president trump's remarks about four democratic congresswomen or color ist. four rublicans and one independent joined the democrats in condemning the president's langge. the president had tweeted the women should "go back to the countries from which they came." all of theare american citizens, and three are american-born. mr. trump has insisted his comments were not racist. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. u joonline, and again here tomorrow evening. 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 pgram that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> consumer ceular. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these insutions and individuals. >> this program was madeco possible by thoration for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbhac ss.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs. rrrrates: there's a lot of talk

about borders these days. a the city of tijuts right on the border of the united states. the only thing that separates it from san diego is this wall. with over 10,000 people going both ways everyday, this is one of the busiest border crossings in the rld. people come from all over mexico and latin america in search of something new, something better. someross the border, t others find opportunity right here in tijuana. and when people move, they bring their food, and that's the beginning to my favorite kind of story. in my kitchen, the border experience is an inspiration. first i'm going to recreate one of mexico's most popular tortas,