captioning sponsored by newshourroductions, llc >> nawaz: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the newshr tonight, congress and the white house reach a two-year budget deal, avoiding a shutdown, but growing the federal deficit. then, britain's new boss. controversial conservative bis johnson will be britain's new prime minister. what that means for the bitter debate ove brexit. and, when the school bus is the classroom. we ride along with a preschool on wheels, serving students in need of crucial early education. >> we're looking for communities that have a need. so it's going to be generally your lower income areas, or areas that do not have access to preschool. >> nawaz: l that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting.io and by contrib to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> nawaz: a changing of the guard at 10 downing street. brexit hardliner bornson has been chosen as the next prime minister of britain.rv his fellow conive party members overwhelmingly voted for him, in a result announced day. johnson has promised to deliver britain's departure from the european union-- with or without a deal-- by the end of october. we'll take a closelook at all of this, later in the program. in the day's other news: the head of the f.b.i. declined to discuss the special counsel's russia investigation on the eve of robert mueller's own testimony to congress. mueller is scheduled to appear tomorrow befe two house mmittees. today, at a senate hearing, f.b.i. director christher wray did offer general praise of mueller under questioning b h democrat mazono of hawaii.

>> do you consider mr. mueller to be a person of integrity, objectivity and professionalism in yourit experiencehim? >> in all my experiences with him over the years, i've considered him to be a consummate professional and a straight shooter. >> nawaz: wray also id there is no doubt that russia will try to interfere with the 2020 e presidentiction. that, despite u.s. sanctions and election security efrts. the justice department has opened an investigation ofig technology companies, and whether they illegally stifle competition. a department statement issued late today doesn't name names, ,ut it does reference "search social media and some retail services online." that could include alphabet, amazon, facebook, google and others. in puerto rico, trouble erupted overnight after monday's march of half a mi ion people in san juan. police fired tear gas as protesters set fires in the streets. the crowds vowed more

demonstrations until governor ricardo rossello steps down.el ro lost virtually all support after leaked messages showed the gernor and aides insulting women, gays, and hurricane victims.y, to judge issued search warrants for their cell phones. powes been restored in much of venezuela after a crippling blackout on monday. electricity returned to partof caracas in the early morning, and today traffic lights and subways were working for the morning commute. government officialsd an "electromagnetic attack" on the hydroelectric system. opponents cited mismanagement and corruption. it was the second blackout sinh. ma accused the u.s. stoking pro-democracy protests in hong kong. millions of peopleave filled the city's streets in recent weeks, and over the weekend, some of the protesters vandalized the local chinese government offe. today, beijing claimed, without evidence, that the u.s. is involved.

>> ( translated ): there arens very obvious shat foreign forces are manipulating, plotting and even organizing relevant actions. china will not tolerate any foreign interference in hong kong affairs, nor will it allow any foreign forces to disrupt hong kong.th we advisu.s. to take back the black hand that meddles in hong kong. >> nawaz: the u.s. has called on hong kong's governing body to respect freedom of speech and assembly. back in thisountry: the trump administration is expanding fast-track deportations for migrants who entered the u.s. illegally within the past two years. officials say the new rule could remove nearly 300,000 migrants without letting them go before an immigration judge first. the change took effect today, but civil liberty and migration groups said they would sue to block it. the senate has overwlmingly voted to permanently extend benefits for 9/11 first respondersth bill will ensure a fund for first responders to receive health care benefits for 9/11- related deaths and illness until 2092. jon stewart has become an

advocate for the bill and spoke after today's vote. >> i will always be so proud to have been associated wh it,r and you can nepay all that the 9/11 community has done fo our country, but we can stop penalizing them, and today is that day. nawaz: to date, more thn 40,000 people have applied for payments from the fund.an but it bunning low on money, and administrators had sharply cut benefits. for the first time in sevethn monthse is a permanent head at the pentagon. the senate today confirmed mark esper as secretary of defense by a vote of 90 to eight. esper had been army secretary and, before that, a defense industry lobbyist. general james mattis resigned as defense secretary back in february. esper's confirmation today ends the pentagon's longest run ever without a confirmed secretary. federal judge in north carolina approved a settlement today that ls transgender

people use bathrooms matching their gender identity. the agreement ends a lawsuit that challenged north carolina's om-called "bathroom bill" 2016. that bill linked bathroom use to a person's sext birth. a person's sex at birth.cr deic governor roy cooper approved the settlement over the objections of state republican leaders. ped, on wall street, upbeat earnings reports hpush stocks higher. the dow jones industrial average gained 177 points to close at 27,349. the nasdaq rose 47 points, and the s&p 500 added 20. still to comon the newshour: what's in and what's out. breaking down the newly announced budget deal. the united kingdom gets a new prime minister as the brexit deadline nears. what to expect from robert mueller's long-awaited congressional testimony. venezuela's former spymaster speaks from here in s. after defecting from the maduro regime. and much more.

>> nawaz: it is often easier to spend money than it is to save it. that seems to be at the heart of the new two-year budget deal crafted by the white house and top congression democrats. in a nutshell, spending on both domestic and military programs will go up, and debt ceiling limits are suspended until after the 2020 election. our own lisa desjardins, as always, is here to break it all down for u break it down for us. what's in the deal, and what's not? >> l numbers. with the big first of all, amna, this does raise the debt ceiling for two years. f that's ocal crisis averred for now. that's good. also, right now in the law there are ab bt 10%get cuts that were going to hit most of government, the military antad non-mi alike this. deal removes those budget cuts altogether. t me show youhat it does instead.

let's look at current spending right now broken down by defense and non-defense. defense, more spending now. here is what this budget deal does. it increases bh of those just a little bit. but that matters,be amna, use right now we are in a time of deficits some what this is ade l so that republicans get more money for defense. democrats get more money forno defense. but it does add a lot of red ink to the picture for everyone. it does mean a shutdown isen ember is less likely, but it is still possible. >> nawaz:o not totally averted but less likely. so a lot reof numbers in t remind us, why does all of this matter? >> i'm so exced to lk about. this because everyone thinks spending is s nerdy, but this is one of the main ways that government touches people and affects the contours of this nation. a few example, the military needs these two-year budget guidelines to have stability and plans. the same for most agencies. this could mean a pay raise for military and other members of government staff.

this is also one of the largest spending bills in the history of our country. on the other side, it could add about $1.7 trillionon with a" dollars to the debt which is now at a record 22 trillion some basically congress is making a very easy short-term decision,o addinga long-term problem. >> nawaz: lisa, you roared on these before. w itth noted budget battles have previously brought the government to a standstill. that doesn't happen. is this a sign of a new era of bipartisanship in washington? >> i would love to say yes. there is some hope, but i don'ta think thiss any compromise, because both parties just gave each other more money. you get $100 billion. you get $100 billion. it was more a claboration than compromise. there is some hope, however, in the fact that secretary of the treasury mnuchin and nancy pelosi, the democratic speaker, somehow quietly found a wawiy out drama to steer a major deal, not just through congress, but to get the presidn board without wavering, and that

has be elusive for everyone, including the white house. that's a big deal that mnuchin figured out how to get the president on this deal with no questions. llat's hope for the future. >> nawaz: we ake that as a sign of hope. that's the one big takeaway. lisaesjardins, thank you so much. >> my pleasure. >> nawaz: three years of tumult in the u.k. took yet another tumultuous turn today, as boris johnson was elected conservative leader to replace theresa may as prs.e minister. ay was a casualty of the chaos spard by britons vote to leave the e.u. from london, special correspondent ryan chilcote m gins our coverage. >> is this your job at a nightmare time, mr. johnson? >> reporter: he's e of britain's most eccentric and recognizable politicians, fromof his trademark blonde hair to his knack for turning mundane public events into comedy.ti the new conserve party leader, and thus, incoming

british prime minister, yeat out foreign secretar jeremy hunt, winning two-thirds of the vote from about 160,000 of his fellow conservatives. >> we are going to unite this amazing country and we are going to take oritrd. i will work flat out from now on with my team that i will build.e i hope, inext few days, to repay your confidence, but in the meantime, the campaign is over and the work begins.te >> repr: the 55-year-old johnson served as mayor of london, and preced hunt as foreign secretary under the woman heeplaces. he'll now inherit what some are calling the biggest british challenge since world war two: exiting the european union even so, he maintained his optimism today in london with his trademark bravado. >> i say to all the doubters, dude we are going to energize the country. we're going to get brexit done on october 31st. we are going to take advantage of all thepportunities that it will bring in a new spirit of can-do. >>eporter: outgoing prime minister theresa may's efforts

to secure a brexit deal wereun soy rejected by parliament three times, ultimately leading her to step down. she's pledged to give her full support to her successor. johnson was one of the country's most vocal advocates for leavinh e.u. during the country's 2016 referendumstriking a populist tone. critics, though, call him an opportunist: he reportedly prepared speeches suppng both potenti outcomes in that vote. johnson could attempt to amend the u.k.'s withdrawal agreement with the e.u. and push that through parliament, even though the e.u. has repeatedly sisted it's not open to renegotiating. failing that, he's threatening to pull out of the bloc .thout a deal even though the u.k.'s official economic watchdog has warned a no-deal brexit would plunge the british economy into a recession. ane most members of the hous commons, including many members of his own party, oppose leavinu witha deal.

at the same time, johnson faces a separate uphill battle to gain the public's trust and confidence after a string of gaffes and offensive comments. >> he's very much like trump, he says one thing one day and another thing the next. he really has no regard for politics or thpeople at all. >> reporter: back in the u.s., president trump tweeted s congratulations to johnson, and added "he will be great!" johnson will officially become prime minister tomorrow in a formal hand-over of power. >> nawaz: ryan, on the top of boris johnson's priority list , right?e brex theresa may tried and failed to negotiate a deal is. there any sign that boris johnson can succeed where theresa may failed? >> that's going to be tough. look, there are only two ways to do it. one is to go back to throe an union and renegotiate the deal that theresa ma reached with the e.u. so far they're saying that ey're not going to renegotiate

anything. in fact, their chief negotitoor y tweeted that he looks forward to facilitating the ratification of the deal,e meaning al that they already have. so it doesn't look like there's much of a window there. the other thing he culled do is on october 31st, in 100 days time, as he has pd,misee could take the u.k. out of the e.u. without a deal. that's the fault position. if he doesn't get it ratified in , the only proble there is many of the people in parliament are very against that idea. they think that it wo be economically very damaging for this country for that to happe and even within his own party, many of them say they will fight him if he tries to do that. so that leaves o more option. that's to call a general election and hope that next batch of parliamentarians that get voted in, asupport the conservative and b, support his plaxifor bt. both of those are not a given. >> nawaz: it's notable that president trump was first to congratulate boris johnson where.

do you see the relationship between the u.s. and the u.k. going from here? >> boris johnson will appreciate that. the u.k. needs a trade deal with the united states. president trump has said he wants to do a trade deal withk the . it's particularly important given the fact that the u.k. is anning to leave the european union. that said, i think boris johnson will be perhaps leery of getting too buddy-buddy with president trump. president trump is not particularly popular in the united kingdom. he was here about a month ago, and ifou'll remember, the polls then said only 1 in 5 people in the u.k. support h policies. and even in the conservative party that boris johnson leas, they lea little bit further to the left, maybe perhapsem closer to therats than the republican party. >> nawaz: that is ryan chilcote reporting for us in london.th ks, ryan. let's take a deeper look now at what boris johnson'sise to prime minister means for the future of the united kingdom. anand menon is professor of european politics and foreign affairs at king's college in london.

anand menon, welcome to the news hour. i want to ask you, yosaw ryan chilcote's report there. same question, just to get your ke, when it comes to brexit, is there any chance that boris johnson couldcc d and negotiate a deal? >> well,i very much green with ryan in the sense that the problem is we have a new prsm, but -- a new prime minister, but the structur constraints remain the same as we had with theresa may. the three option, we leava with al, without a deal or we stay in the europe europe. we have parliamt in which there are no majority for any of fhose outcomes some we wait with interest to see there is anything prime minister johnson can do to shift the dial. >> woodruff: when you look specifically at what johnson has said in the past, can you walk us through where he disagreed with the deal that theresa may had negotiated? >> well, the first thing that'ys worth is that ultimately, boris johnsonoted for theresa may's deal.

so one of the possibilities i suppose is that he comes back te parl with something that looks very much like the deal she negotiated, tries to claim that he's made some significant difference to it and tries to t it through again. in the campaign for the leadership, however, he changed his tune a little bit and he said that what he wants to do i get riof this infamous irish backstop. the irish backstop ests to prevent the need for a border on the island of irend between the north and the south. it does so by keeping the whole of the united kingdom within some e.u. rules and inside the e.u.'s customs union that limbs our ability after brexit to sign trade deals. he wants that scrapped. the problem is that the european union is showingel absolno willingness whatsoever to go heong with that. they're saying, only deal on the table is a t deal that theresa may negotiated, a that includes the backstop. >> nawaz: it's worth thnoting johnson doesn't have a conservative majority in parliament. he needs a coalition to move anything forward. how does thadynamic inform how

he's likely to t? >> well, since that election of 2017, one ofhe problems that the conservative party has faced is they are dependence for their majority inarliament on the democratic unionist party, and the democratic unionist party has specific interests when it comes to the politics of northern ireland. it looks very much as if prime minister johnson is going to turn to the d.u.p. again for their help, and of course new york so doing, what that means is that ankind of backstop that looks like northern ireland is a d slightlyferent status to the rest of the united kingdom will be unacceptable to them. as ryan said, one option face manage johnson is to have a general elecon and try and change the numbers in parliament. the problem there is that politics in the united kingdom at the moment is so unpredictable, so many m.p.s with what usually would have been considered safe majorities of 10,000, 15,0 now say they fear losing their seats that

that would be a real gamble. >> nawaz: johnson it's worth noting was also the foreign cretary for a while. from what he has said. from what he's done in the past, do you expect britain's foreign policy moving forward to be very different from the way it's been in the >> well, first thing, let me say, is worth stressing to the american audience just the degree to which d brexinates everything in this country, and breck yet dominated the leadership extensionhe excludes of virtually everything else. so we haven't heard much oncy foreign po what i would say is the new prime minister, as soon as he enters treat, which expect to be some time tomorrow afternoon, faces a foreign policy dilemma, which is iran. ha you know, the united states decided that iran is in breech of itser obligations u the nuclear deal. the european unions are saying they're not. to date the united kingdom has stuck with the european, saying they want to preserve ther nucleal. now, that presents mr. johnson with an immediate problem. on the one h as we heard

from ryan earlier, this a trade dealin with the united states is a necessary way forward once we leave the european union. on the other hanolicy to date has been to stick with thes europein opposition to the united states in policy on iran, and that is a dilema that mr. johnson is going the face from his first $1kr in office. what is he going to choos we don't know. >> nawaz: we only have 30 seconds left, but i do want to make something clear here are. you basically sayinbecause brexit is such an enormous deal, because he must deal with it, ng into he's step exactly the same conditions that theresa may left behind, could boris johnson have a similar fate to theresa m? >> well, the amazing thing at the moment is we simply do not how what is going tpen. it is quite possible that he will try and get a deal through and fail, absolutely, because the numbers aren't there in parliament. at that point we don't know. there is te possibility boris johnson ends up being the shortest servingolitician of

all time. he has to survive until november to avid that fate. >> nawaz: amna nawaz from kin's college in london, tha you very much for join us. j nawaz: it took two years, 448 pages, and thet a nine-minute speech. but tomorrow, former special counsel robert mueller will face questionfrom lawmakers. but members of congress are not the only ones with questions. lisa desjardins is back to run through what viewers like you have been asking. >> desjardins: this room is empty today. tomorrow, it will be full of ople, and questions for robert mueller. there are many. our viewers alone sent us nearly 2,000 examples of what they would ask. those questis came from every corner of the country. lar viewers wrote in from nearly every state, placee and small. a few came from other countries too: canada, the u.k., taiwan. what are the key issues for

mr. mueller? what matters mos let's start with one of the biggest issues over tomorr's hearing-- a question we heard again and again. >> if mr. mueller was not bound by the o.l.c. guidelines to not indict a sitting president, >> wou he have been indicted >> desjardins: "o.l.c." is an p breviation that may come lot. it's the office of legal counsel, in the department of stice, and it sets many of the ground rules for the agency. this key question surrounds maybe the most-quoted rom the report-- "while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerathim." >> if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. we did not, however, make a >> desjardins: why no conclusion? mueller did not say directly,

but pointed out an opinion from the o.l.c. "concludes that a sitting president may not be osecuted." this has been an overriding question for democrats since the day the report came out, when the house democratics leader joined judy woodruff. >> woodruff: so you're saying you don't accept his conclusion that he couldn't-- or, rather, you don't accept what id, that he couldn't reach a conclusion about whether or not there was obstruction of justice committed? >> to me, that's not the end. that's just the beginning of what needs to come next. >> desjardins: anotisr overarchine-- here's leslie smith of oakland, california. >> were you impeded in your investigation in any way? >> desjardins: this is fascinating because the most mning parts of mueller's report lay out evidence that the president tried to end or impede mueller's investigation itself. ( gavel ) >> desjardins: democrats, led new york's jerry nadler, have told us questions about the president impeding mueller wills be a major fincluding testimony from former white house counsel don mcgahn and former trump campaign manager corey lewandowski that the president tried to fire or limit special counsel mueller. be ready to hear about two other

people in the trump universe:af paul manort, who was trump's campaign chairman, and michael cohen, who was his longtime lawyer and fixer. both were part of mueller's investigation. both are now in prison. and, in his report, mueller laip out evidence tsident may have tried to tamper with their testimony by offering pardons. the time with mueller will be tsenly split between democ and republicans, and there we may see more questions about mueller himself. we go to hawaiand kevin doyle. >> following the firing of f.b.i.irector james comey, did you inquire about or seek to be named f.b.i. director? >> desjardins: the president and republicans have long said mueller and his team were biased, including this assertion. >> he wanted to be the f.b.i. director, and i said no. >> desjardins: the reports disputes targe, citing former white house advisor steve bannon as saying that mueller did not come in looking for the job. >> the corrupt cabal that we see, of strok, page, mccabe, comey, and others...

>> desjardins: republicans, led by georgia's doug collins on the judiciary committee, may ask about other charges of bias as well, and point to something other than obstruction. >> he also made it very clear there was no collusion. >> desjardins:ueller concluded there was no evidence of conspiracy by the trump campaignbut there will be number of questions about the specifics-- the contacts between the trump campaign and russians, including russian operatives. this raises another key set of questi did.bout what russia joan murdoch of pennsylvania put pu well: >> do you think thic debate over section 2, the obstruction section, has overshadowed the detail and importance of section 1, which is all about how the russians interfered in our election in 2016? >> desjardins: this is part one of the report, about the russians, but it will likelyth come umost in part two of the hearing, when the house intelligence committee takes over. >> thank you. we'll come to order.ja >> dins: expect many questions about what mueller learned about the russians actities in general, but als

expect that he may not be able to answer some questions puicly. this section of the report is the most highly redacted, because of investigations still underway. lawmers have just five minut each tomorrow, about as long as this story. they will have to chose between hundreds of choices and topics. some people want to ask about the presikident: >> i'dto ask mr. mueller why he didn't subpoena the president? >> desjardins: or attorney general: >> mr. barr said you and he had a disagreement regarding the law of the production of your report. what was the nate of that disagreement? >> desjardins: and some, about how mueller is doing. >> has the spotlight on you caused you any stress or health issues? >> desjardins: and still others about the point of this report. >> after the findings, do you feel this report is worth all the time and effort that's been s ent by our politicians? >> desjardins: scof questions for one man, who will be back in a very hot spotlight tomorr. i'm lisa desjardins, for the pbs newshour.

>> nawaz: let's examine how the white house is getting ready for mueller'testimony tomorrow with yamiche alcindor. yamiche, let's jump right in. there's been a lot of talk about the potential imlect of that mutestimony. what do we expect im to say? >> in his testimony before the house, robert mueller wants to stick to the confines of the 448-page report that he and his team compiled. a spokesperson for robert mueller told me he wants th stay within "the four walls of the report." he is also -- robert mueller is also going to be wanting to esenter into the cononal record the actual report to really underline and double down that point.at said, i'm told he will have a short opening statement. he's been preparing with people that worked for him at the special counsel's office to anally figure out and hone in on what he can can't talk about in this setting. he also wants to really be thinking about how to not go beyond the report. and as a result, what's going tt beesting is after that short opening statement, democrats and republicans are going to be posing questions. democrats are going to be trying

the puttsh him a bit past the report, they're going to be trying to figure out why he didn't subena the president also why he didn't make a decision on obstruction of justice. republicans will be having their own points. i'm told republicans are likely going to he in o his hiring process and why he may have hired people that didn't like the president or that donated to hillary clinton. democrats tell me there is not going to be any surpres that they expect, but that said, we got a really big surprise today, of course, the day before robert mueller is supposed t testify. that surprise was that robert mueller wanted to enter as a witness and have a sworn witnes xt to him, a long-time aid to robert mueller and is described as a deputy special counsel robe mueller. robert mueller wanted aaron to speak next to him because i'm told h wanted zebly to talk about personnel issues and the hiring process to take some obessure off oft mueller. the committee, of course, said, no, you cannot do that. as a result, aaron zebly will sit llalongside robert m as

his counsel, but he'll beab to talk to aaron, ask him questions, and confer if there is something he wts to ta about that may be outside the purview of the report. but the fact that we got thirps big se the day before the testimony says there could be fireworks we don't see coming. >> nawaz: some last-minute lopments behind the sce there. there is also the issue of this letter, yamiche, that the idea sent to muellerim offering some guidance on the testimony. how could what they laid out affect what he does or doesn't say? >> the department of justice has leaned in on robert mueller to stick to what's in the reporrtt. roueller agrees he wants to stick to what's in the report, but the department of justice sent a lette to make that crystal clear to robert mueller. here are some things they told him. they told robert mueller, "any testimony must main within the boundaries of your public report, because matters within the scope of yo investigation were covered by executiveeg priv" the letter also cautioned against discussing "redioacted po and testifying about information protected by law enforcement, deliberative process, attorney work product

and presidential communications privileges." and lastly, a key part for theem president,rats say, robert mueller should not talk about "unchargedividuals." now democrats will say the president is an uncharged individual, and even though robert mueller and the department of justice are on the same page, the department of justice sending this letter shows they're concerned. >> nawaz: finally, yamiche, what about the white house? the president has said he mighte watch art of the hearing. what is at stake for president trump tomorrow? >> this is going to be a big, levised event, largely focused on whether or not president trump directed people the lie or whether or not he was ying to turn down and close down the investigation as robert mueller was really caring out his duties. ee democrats have telling me over and over again, a lot of people don't read the book, butw thch the movie, so democrats say even if robert mueller says nothing new, they're hoping that millions of new ;)ñbe mueller talking about the president, what democrats say is bad behaviocoming out of the white house.

that said, i recently talked to the president and put the question to him. sident, are you concerned about robert mueller testifying? are you going to watch it? president trump says he's not planning to watch the entire robert mueller testimony. but he will watch a littleit it. he said he's not concerned and he thinks democrats are really wastintheir time here. and that it's really going to come down to him looking like a present that's being harasse by democrats or going too far. that said, the white house is still concerned. they will be focused in on this tomorrow. i s always of washington. >> nawaz: our own yamiche hatindor will be covering hearing tomorrow. thank you, yamiche. and join us tomorrow morning. our live coverage of te mueller hearing starts at 7:40 a.m. eastern online, onurebsite our live coverage of the mueller hearing starts at 7:45 a.m. eastern online on our website at www.pbs.org/newshour, and on our social media channels, like youtube. then, tune in right here at 8:30 a.m. on your local pbs station, when judy woodruff leads live coverage of the former special counsel stifying before two house committees.

check your local listings. >> nawaz: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: the new trump administration rules that may make millions ofn americanigible for food stamps. and, a preschool on wheels becomes a driving force in communities with no access to childcare. economically, venezuela has collapsed, with severe shortages of electricity, food, gas, and medicine. politically, the country's fate is unclear, with president nicolas maduro facing off against the us-backed, nationalt assembly presijuan guaido. maduro has clung to power,th largely througloyalty of key military and intelligence figures. but in april, some of those allies flipped, leading a failed attempt to oust him. one of them is now in the us, and he spoke with our own nick schifrin. s ifrin: for decades, general manuel ricardo

cristopher figuera was the loyal soldier to the venezuelan regime, and last year became the feared intelligence chief whose agents punished the 's opponents. but he says he saw the shortages of food, patients protesting and dying from a shortage medicine, and children playing in the dark because of a shortage of power. and now he blames the country's ills on the corruption ofco president s maduro and his family. >> ( translated ): having worked firsthand with nicolas maduro,te afteing him about all the corruption that i saw, i realized there was no will, too much evil, and too for power. nicolas maduro's son has a personal assistant who has sevel companies that contrac with the state. >> reporter: it seems that the family of nicolas maduro was benefiting economically from their power, and taking money away from the government. >> ( translated ): they use the platform of the state.

they use the central bank of venezuela to pull gold out of the country. i have called this system of government a criminal enterprise. why? because all contribute to corruption. they are all accomplices. i have also apologized because i have some responsibility. i was part of that regime, but once i realized the mess of the entire tragedy for the people of venezuela, i decided to step forward and oppose this criminal enterprise. >> schifrin: do you feel like you did enough to resist initially? >> ( translated ): i was part of a structure that is not in favor of the interests of the anople, i could have done more. >> schifrin: he did more on april 30, when juan guaido announced a revolt. seir plan required two senior officials to flireme court chief justice maikel moreno, and defense minister vladimir padrino lopez.hi why do you it failed? >> ( translated ): the excessive ambitions of maikel moreno. he wanted to be presiden but that was not in the plan. what was proposed was to oust maduro and appoint a new nationallectoral council, call

elections, and try to reorganize the state and free stateit inions. >> schifrin: today, figuera is in the u.s. he asked us not to disclose his location, for fear of regime retribution. after you fled, was your deputy kill? ( translated ): i placed him at the head of delicate and sensitive investigations. surely they discovered thahe had sensitive information and made it seem he broke into a motel and shot himself. that was a simulated suicide. >> schifrin: do yothink he was killed in order to send you a message? >> ( transl me.): not only just it sent a message to me and all who dare to go against nicolas semaduro's criminal enterp >> schifrin: but figuera admits he facilitated that enterprise. the u.n. recently detailed g thousands ernment human rights violations such as torture and kidnapping, including by the intelligenceit inion he led, the sebin. >> ( translated ): i carry the cross on my back because there nde many people who have suffered at the of people

of that institution. i do not like to address the issue of torture because i think it's very rotesque. we have seen films. we read books of what bad peoplv do people, when they have a prisoner. >> schifrin: did you mistreat people and do you think about that, and do you regret that? >> ( translated ): yes. let me repeat. i am sorry and i do have regrets. i've asked forgiveness from people because i was part of those structures that are uro, although i did not directly order torture, or torture anyone. >> schifrin: was there any debate within the maduro regime about how to treat some of tse prisoners, and how to treat their political opponents? >> ( translated ): no. the orders were nicolas maduro directly. t he giv order. >> schifrin: why should we believe you? why should we believe your story if you participatein some of these acts?at >> ( tran ): the majority of the people who say that are journalists or social media influencers, or they hme political agenda outside the country.

and it's difficult for them to believe me because i had no contact with anyone outside my country. in fact, i am the last military personnel th expected would turn against maduro. >> schifrin: you had sanctions on you imposed by the united states accusing you of tture. the unted states has lifted those sanctions now. >> i am announcing today thath united states of america is removing all sanctions on general manuel christopher figueroa. >> schifrin: do you thinthe u.s. should forgive any of the people who committed some of these acts so long as they wor oppose maduro? h>> ( translated ):e not committed any crime. i was punished for being part of a criminal structure. but i have not committ crime. people who have committed crimes must be brought to justice. i know there are accusations towards me in the hague. but i am willipp tor before the court. they have to prove that i did those things. >> schifrin: maduro remains in

power, largely thanks to military support and the support of allies russia, the iranian backed militant group hezbollah, and most importantly, cuba. did you have to go through a senior cuban official in caracas in order to go through maduro? >> ( translated ): i had relations with waa colonel wh on the first ring of security for nicolas maduro. safety equipment was provided by raul castro to maduro. at first there were few men, maybe 15. now they've informed me after the events of april 30 thatnu er expanded, and there are about 200 cubans dedicated to the safety of nicolas maduro. >> schifrin: secretary of statmi pompeo and the u.s. have led an international pressure campaign against maduro, including heavy sanctions.d anndreds of thousands of venezuelans have poured into the street to support guaido. it hasn't been enough to oust maduro. >> ( translated ): on the subject of protest, it has not been strong enough bec people go out to protest, but then they have to stop to

survive, because their salaries are not enough for food, they cannot afford to dress. >> schifrin: why do you think there have been no attempts since april 30 to try and oust maduro? >> ( translated ): because of fear. they are afraid. >> schifrin: maduro accuses u.s. intelligence of plotting a coup. figuera says they're not. but he is cooperatingem with ): by providing formation that they have about financial movements, they can corroborate some things i've said. with accurate formation, they can contribute to maduro's departure from power so he can be tried before international stices. >> schifrin: have the u.s. intelligence officials you spea to gone ep further, and supported a direct intervention against maduro in venezuela?

>> that's not the idea. it's a problem we venezuelans h ve to solve. however, maduro, ws attitude of contempt for the people of venezuela, he is legitimizing any action have to do to get out. >> schifrin: there are many stories that c.i.a. have considered sending guns into venezuela and contributing to the violent overthrow of maduro. >> ( translated ): i do notin that is more intense than the activity of cuban intelligence or intelligence of chinese or russian intligence. >> schifrin: later, he asked to provide a firmer denial of c.i.a. involvement inside venezuela. >> ( translated ): no. there is not. the united states has been very careful, because in their history there have been problems. he schifrin: despite venezuela's conditions todaytill defends his original mentor, former president hugo chavez. >> ( translated ): chavez played a pol role in a stellar moment in history, but that's now been left behind. maduro uses tricks and who has betrayed cvez, is maduro.

i am a venezuelan, bolivarian,ic fighter for juand a believer of democracy. es schifrin: so do you think democracy can bered in venezuela?at >> ( tran ): yes. that is why we are fighting. that's why i dared ty:leave my couno seek help, to restore democracy as written in our constitution. >> nawaz: the trump administration announced new rules today that would change the way some people can get food stamps, which are known as snap benefits. currently, about 36 million americans receive this help buying groceries. as william brangham reports, the administration argues this change will save billions of dollars, by removing millions of people from the food stamp roll >> brangham: that's right, amna. the administration argues it

needs to close a loophole in the food stamp program that allows some people with savand other assets to get benefits that the administration argues they don't deserve. in a call yesterday, agriculture secretary sonny perdue peatedly cited the case retired minnesota millionaire named rob undersander. this is him in a video produced by a conservative advocacy grp. undersander was able to enroll in the food stamp program and says he received benefr almost two years. he says he did it to provgae a point an the money to charity. the administration said closing this loophole would save two point five billion dolnd remove about three million people from eligibility. joining me now is elaine waxman, she's a senior fellow at the odban institute where she studies federal rograms like the snap program. >> thank you for having meo >> brangham:f these rules go forward, the administration says about three million people will be booted out of the food

stamp program. what do we know about who those three million people are? >> so what we know about those who are likely to be affected by the rules change should it go through is that they are typically working families. they have low earnings, because they can still qualify for snap benefits. but they are disproportionately working. they also disproportionately innd to have children som both cases these are groups of people that the administration tiply talkste about is of wanting to support and encourage work. unfortunately both of those groups are likely to be hurt. >> brangham: why does the administration hold up an example as this minnesota millionaire as someone who clearly has plenty of assets. he's retired, he didn't have a lot of income. why do they hold up that gentleman as an example of why they need to cutse other people off the program? >> i think it's a little bit of a distraction. because what we know from

u.s.d.a.m.'s own data is that less than 1% of snap benefits go to people who have incomes above the federal poverty line. so we're reaching exactly the audiences weant to reach. there is no evidence of widespread fraud. and it's allowed states to be responsive to families that are maybe earning a little bit more incomend at risk of losing benefits. if they get a 50 cent an hour increase in their wages. t t happens and they lose snap benefits, they may actually be worse off. ose are the kinds of things that states have been trying to avoid. >> brangham: one of the arguments that the administration seems to be making is that states need tdo a better job of checking people's assets. again, this emillionaire exam is seemingly someone who has banked a considerable amount of money. what is the argument for not making sure peoe have no assets before you grant them food stamp s >>o if you think about it, we want people to have some level

of assets, because that is their bxpfer against uted emergencies. for example, among seniors, we are very concern md that the be in a position of having to spend down their limited resources without any opportunity to replace that with earnings. we want people to be able to cover emergency room visits or r car rehat allows them to go back to work without going into debt. so this is a program that has allowed the relaxation of some fhose assets. and alsoit has reached exactly the population that we want hi help serve, is again those people who are really working hard to improve their outcomes. ism we should say for the record we asked thegriculture second second -- secretary to come on the program.he eclined that invitation. the administration is arguing that the economy is doing well. unemploy nt is low. so it's okay, it's appropriate

the make these types of cuts to this program. >> so here's where we are. even though the economy is improving, we still have 36 llion people who qualify for snap. we know that people are ge attig wohigher rates, but the kinds of work they're getting is t necessarily high paid and not stable hours. the 's what we'rcing. in the absence of a dramatic change in pple's circumstances, which we're not seeing in this current economy, if you terminate snap benefits, we can anticipate that more people will be food insecure and more peopl be wille in poverty, because we know from research that snap come bats those two things. we really worry about, that because food insecure families are more likely teo experie hospitalizations. children are less likely to do well in school, seniors who are food insecure are more likely te chronic health problems. so we might save some money ine rticular aspect of our

expenditure. it will fill up somewhere else. >> brangham: elaine waxman of the urban institute, thank you so much. >> tha you. >> nawaz: preschool can provide childr with a solid and lasting foundation for success later in life, but fewer tha half of all four-year-olds in the u.s., just 43%, have access to a public preschool, and that rate varies by state.ur some or low-income areas have no option at all. one community outside deer, colorado has found an innovative way to bring education to students-- with a classroom on wheels. we visited the mobile preschool at the end of the school year in may to see the impact it's having on the kids and families it serves. it's part of our education series, "making the grade." >> ready? >> nawaz: most weekdayngs for ashley parke and her son, clinton, begin the same way-- >> all right, i'll be back,

guys. with a short walk to the school bus. >> and then we got to go left. left. that's right >> nawaz: but this bus won't bring clinton to school. it is the school. retro-fitted into a classroom,n and parked iis thornton, colorado mobile home community, this shuttle-bus is the only viable childcare option for some young children like clinton. if the bus wasn't here, would he be in another school program? >> probably not, because it's expeive. i don't know that we could afford to send him to another program. >> nawaz: the school on wheels m sets up eaning beside this park. eight children, ages three to six, attend the morning session. most speak spanish at home. this community is noer 90% la. hrachers allie davis and christy feller lead themgh their day, with attendance... ...songs...

...and a weather report. >> nawaz: raise your hand if you're excited to come to school every day.ne ever excited? >> nawaz: while the students head to recess in the park, davis shows us how they fit an entire classroom into small space. >> we have little chairs that pull out. >> nawaz: so you have to stay organized. >> yes, everything has a space, >> nawaz: the bus was a labor of love for alexa garrido and rany elissa, a husband an team who first spent years building a s.toring busines they worked in over a dozen school districts across colorado, but often struggled to find space. >> the libraries were always full. the rec centerwere not spaces we could use. so, because we were doing that, we had decided, well, we'll make it mobile

>> nawaz: they saw a need, they say, to offer education early in a child's life, to addressps education hey were trying to close later, in middle or high school. >> we're looking forommunities that have a need. so it's going to be, generally, your lower-income areas, or areas that do not have access to presool. and also if cost or transportation is a barrier to them, this is where we work with the communities and sc we can identify those areas. >> nawaz: using their own moneyo an profits from their tutoring business, they bought the bus at auction, gutted it, and outfitted it with all theam enities of a modern classroom: a smartboard, bluetooth speakers, r conditioning, and a bathroom. but, they needed support from the city, and permits to park the bus. they found both with the help of daniel dick, the mayor of neighboring federal heights, colorado. >> it is a city with great difficulties,ited opportunity for employment, many o issues.ve language so we start with the difficult, and have to figure out ways to

raise that level. and the best way to do it is to provide for a better future for our children. will make the entire difference in whether they're successful or will fall through the cracks. >> nawaz: data actually showsam that, here in county, many communities live in so-calledar "childdeserts," where the number of preschool age children far exceeds the number of available child care slots. studies are mixed on whether preschool gives a lasting academic edge. but, reliable child care provides benefits that extend beyond tests and report cards. >> a lot of that traces back toe somethinall executive functioning. >> nawaz: katie hamm is the vice president for early childhood policy at the center for amican progress. >> children are learning really crital socio-emotional skill during this time, and that

includes things like self- regulation, learning what behaviors are approprie. >> nawaz: ashley parke says preschool has already made a difference in how clinton navigates the world. >> he's learning to use his voice-- "don't do that," "i don't like that," or, "can we play," just learning, "hey, what's your name, want to be my friend?" he'searning a lot of the social stuff here. >> nawaz: experts like hamm agree, the gold standard is a full day of preschool-- morane he half-day sessions kids attend on the bus. >> that doesn't mean that you shouldn't start somewher if you have communities that are isolated, that aren't receiving any type of preschool, starting a part-time program where you're it is certainly a value add. >> nawaz: in the afternoons, the bus parks a second

location, for another session with eight more children. the older kids will go on to kindergarten in the fall. the younger ones will return for another year of preschool wheels. meanwhile, rany elissa and alexa garrido have purchased a second bus, whi they hope to roll out in metro denver before the next school year.ot >> we'vearents that have conversations with us about how great it was, right, the experien, to have what they had here, and be able to go back to kinrgarten, but also to be able to come back to us for support for their kids if they still need it in, in the elementary schools. >> our hope is that we get an oppounity, rightin because we're their community and that we can see them as they grow, right? f for,or however long that they're here in the communities, that we're be able to be a part of their life, a they really want to come back. >> nawaz: for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz in adams county, colorado.

>> nawaz: join us tomorrow bright and early for special coverage of robert mueller's stimony before congress we begin by answering your qu,tions on facebook, youtu twitter and instagram at 7:40 a.m. stern. then at 8:30 a.m. eastern, judyoodruff anchors our live coverage of the hearings before two house committees. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us all day tomorrow, online and on-air. for all of us at the pbnewshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches a language program that teaches real-life conversatis in a new >> consumer cellular. >> financial services firm raymond james.

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♪ hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> i think bor johnson should be very much aware that the background to this ithe failure of the american administration to stay with the iranian deal. >> the former british prime minister gordon brown joins me for an exclusive interview as teions with iran escalate a day before a new leader is installed in downing street. also ahead -- >> when you see someone who votes wait you don't vote, before you say wha a rk, what a lazy person. they must have mental problems. >> crahris anadi tells our michelle washington why he quit wall street to do you mean the lives of back rowme