amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight. a new york jury finds former president trump liable for sexual abuse against columnist e. jean carroll. amna: president biden meets with congressional leaders of both parties as the u.s. runs up against the deadline to raise the debt ceiling and avoid default. geoff: and. community colleges look to boost graduation rates by paying for students' expenses well beyond tuition. >> that return on investment will look like economic growth and upward mobility for this region. as students graduate that increases employability and changes the whole trajectory of their lives. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs

newshour has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. >> a proud supporter of public television. the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences, a world of entertainment and british style. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. our u.s.-based customer service

team can help find a plan that fits you.. ♪ >> the john s and james on knight foundation, fostering informed and engaged communities. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the newshour.

a new york jury has found former president donald trump liable for sexually abusing columnist e. jean carroll at a department store in the mid-1990's and later defaming her. but it stopped short of saying mr. trump raped her. amna: the nine jurors deliberated for only a few hours before delivering their verdict and awarding carol $5 million. carroll did not stop to talk as she left the courthouse, but said in a statement: "i filed this lawsuit against donald trump to clear my name and to get my life back. today, the world finally knows the truth." mr. trump responded on his truth social platform: "i have absolutely no idea who this woman is. this verdict is a disgrace - a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time!" trump's lawyers say they will appeal the verdict. andrea bernstein is a reporter with propublica who also covers trump legal matters for npr. she was at the courthouse and joins us again tonight. and laura beth nielsen, professor of sociology at northwestern university and an attorneynd researcher with the

american bar foundation. welcome to you both. thanks for joining us. andrea, described for us what the moment was like as the verdict was read and specifically if you saw any reaction from e. jean carroll herself. >> just after 3:00, the jury filed into the courtroom, the four woman stood up. the envelope was passed over to the judge. there had been a verdict sheet, the jury had to answer 10 questions. did the jury find that trump had raped e. jean carroll and the answer to that was no, but the question was does the jury find that he had sexually abused e. jean carroll and the answer was yes. then the questions went on from there. there were questions about damages, defamation.

did he defame her when he said it was a con job and a hoax and the jury said there was defamation and actual malice and said that trump had to pay $5 million. the judge had instructed everyone, no outbursts, don't stand up. there were a number of young law associates from the firm representing carol who began weeping as the verdict was said apparently in relief. amna: carol has long claimed mr. trump shoved her against a wall and raped her in the 1990's. the jury deciding she was sexually abused, but not raped. how should we look at that distinction? >> the distinction in law is about penetration. what we know that he has been found liable for his touching,

grabbing, groping for his own sexual pleasure against her will. in a way, it is a distinction without a difference. someone willing to do one over the objection of a victim is probably willing to do the other, but from a legal standpoint, it is a different charge. amna: in the defamation verdict, the jury finding that carol proved she was injured, what does it mean about the legal bar that was met in this trial? >> the defamation burden of proof is higher than the finding of liability for sexual battery. this was they found by clear and convincing evidence that donald trump had defamed her. it is a higher standard. it means they are more sure that actually happened versus preponderance of the evidence, but it goes to show that these

stories we tell about what rape victims would do if they had been really raped are not being believed anymore and you can't just assert those things about survivors of sexual assault. amna: many women have accused mr. trump of sexual misconduct. he has always denied those allegations. does this case being successfully pursued open him up to similar suits? >> it certainly is a landmark and i think it's worth remembering that trump has been accused since the 2016 campaign by many, many women, including many who have described a similar circumstance of him bantering and then all of a sudden pushing them against a wall, groping them, violating their personhood by proceeding and there were two other victims who described what had happened at this trial that the judge

said the jury could use to buttress her credibility. i think we are in a situation where we have always said there were accusations. he is still denying them, but a jury has found him liable. a jury has decided there was no con job, that this happened. that is significantly moving the needle. this case was filed under a new new york law which allows women from november 2022 to november 2023 to sue civilly when they are no longer allowed to prosecute criminally under the statute of limitations. adult victims have until next november. this was the first case that has gone to trial and it is hard to predict behavior, but certainly women or men who are considering filing cases now have an example of a positive outcome in the e. jean carroll case for their

claims. amna: we are talking about a former president in this case and e. jean carroll was just awarded $5 million by the jury. more broadly when you look at the case and how it unfolded, what does this say about how courts will look at similar cases when you have the word of one person pitted up against the word of another? >> i think both what we see in law and in the verdict of the jury, which was six men and three women, that there is an increasing awareness, understanding, and belief that powerful men can also be serial sexual offenders. there is an increased understanding and awareness that victims don't all report or follow one script for what legitimate rape victims do. with that understanding, there are going to be more claims both

civilly and criminally and i hope it emboldens survivors of sexual assault to hold their abusers accountable. amna: this is a former president two is also running again for the office of the president. in addition to the statement earlier, the campaign has put out a statement calling this a political endeavor. we have less than a minute left. what do you think we see from former president trump when it comes to the case? >> the jury certainly found otherwise in this is the first time he himself has been found liable. we are once again in unprecedented territory of having a candidate who wants to occupy the white house who has been found by jerry liable for a sexual assault. and we will be dealing with that for the duration, for as long as he is in the campaign, describing that behavior among these presidential aspirant. amna: thank you both.

stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with newshour west, here are the latest headlines. federal prosecutors reportedly filed criminal charges against freshman congressman george santos. the charges against him are currently under seal. the new york republican has been widely condemned for lying about his background and accomplishments. there have also been questions about his campaign finances. russia celebrated victory day, marking the defeat of nazi germany in world war two, but as nick schifrin reports, the events were downsized as the russian military struggles in ukraine. >> the pomp, pageantry, and patriotism of russia's secular holiday, victory day, commemorates an 80-year-old soviet victory. russian president vladimir putin claimed today's russia faces an

existential threat, and is fighting it in eastern ukraine. >> today the civilization is once again at a decisive turning point. a real war has been unleashed against our motherland, but we have rebuffed international terrorism, and we will protect residents of the donbas, and we will ensure our security. >> but there was a lot less security on display this year. the artillery and air defense were all apparently in use in ukraine, and the only tank that drove into red square was 80 years old. that's a far cry from last year's show of force. even the russian faithful, noticed. >> this is weak. there are no tanks. >> eliminated entirely, one of russia's most solemn processions, which we saw in 2017 commemorating those killed in world war ii, felt by every russian family. not like today, when the names and numbers of those killed in ukraine, are often kept secret.

and russia also marked victory day by firing more missiles at kyiv, which shot most of them down. but today is also europe day. and ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy hosted the european commission president, who offered no progress on ukraine's eu bid, but a vision of europe that includes ukraine, and excludes russia. >> they are afraid of the success you represent and the examplyou show and they are afraid of your path to the european union. >> our efforts for a united europe, for security and peace, need to be as strong as russia's desire to destroy our security, our freedom, our europe. >> and so, as russia observed the past to fight what it calls an existential war against the west, ukraine welcomed its future, integrated into the west. for the pbs newshour i'm nick schifrin. stephanie: also today. the u.s. announced a new $1.2

billion long-term aid plan to bolster ukraine's air defenses. u.s. justice department says it has disrupted a russian spyware campaign that lasted 20 years. federal prosecutors said today that russian software known as "snake" infected computers and stole secrets in dozens of countries. they say a new operation this week has effectively crippled the russian effort. in the middle east israeli air , strikes killed 3 senior commanders of islamic jihad gaza earlier today. palestinian officials said ten others also died, including children. the strikes lit up the night sky with explosions at an apartment building and two homes. at midday, hdreds of palestinians held a funeral procession, and armed groups vowed to respond. hours later, the israelis said another air strike killed 2 militants hauling missiles in gaza. violent protests erupted across pakistan today after authorities arrested former prime minister imran khan on corruption

charges. video from the scene showed troops in riot gear dragging the opposition leader into an armored car, in islamabad this morning. that touched off clashes between protesters and security forces, with at least one person killed and dozens hurt. his supporters insisted the charges are baseless. >> we were not expecting them to arrest him, who is such a dearly loved leader. we hadn't thought that even they would cross that line. we are calling our leadership, our youth to come out. stephanie: back in this country, minors seeking gender affirming care in washington state will now be protected from intervention from estranged parents. democratic governor jay inslee signed the law today. it aims to keep at-risk youth housed and allows licenced shelters to

contact the state child welfare agency rather than parents. still to come. new guidelines recommend earlier mammograms to combat a rise in breast cancer among younger women. a congressman discusses the change to immigration policy that's putting pressure on border towns. texas mourns the victims of a mass shooting as the gunman's extremist views come to light ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: the full faith and credit of the u.s. is on the line. the u.s. may be unable to pay the bills come june if both sides can't arrive at a deal to raise the debt limit.

democrats maintain any discussion of future spending must be separate from paying future debts. >> the house has raised the debt ceiling in a responsible manner, curbed the debt ceiling and i asked the president the simple question, does he not believe there is any place to find savings? >> the disagreements are wide and anybody who says my way or no way is not serving the country well and i'm afraid that is what speaker mccarthy is saying. geoff: laura, we start with you. it still sounds like a stalemate. >> there has been very little movement. right after the meeting ended, democratic leaders agreed with the white house that their staff

would start talking as early as this evening, but when it comes to the debt limit, there has been little change. the white house position is that they want a clean debt ceiling increase. they say the country needs to avoid a default and they are open to separate budget talks, but they are no on a short-term extension. speaker mccarthy added that the principles are likely to meet this coming friday, but the white house is not officially confirmed that. geoff: mitch mcconnell said elections have consequences and that the white house has no choice but to do a deal with the republican house speaker. give me a sense of what else republicans had to say. >> you can always tell when

kevin mccarthy is confident because he takes a lot of questions. the line from republicans that they are going to use again and again is that the house has passed an extension of the debt ceiling. that's part of the package of spending cuts the biden administration refuses to sign on to. mccarthy will say can the senate even pat a -- passé debt ceiling increase? meanwhile, this is how republicans answer what they want to go on. they say they do not want any clean debt ceiling increase. they instead believe that long-term debt is in crisis. they insist that budget talks be part of the negotiation. no short-term deal both sides

agree on. they are running out of time. geoff: if house republicans are dug in, what is the strategy? >> democrats can't pass a clean debt ceiling increase without republican votes in the senate. they are repeating that this has been done by bipartisan vote. they have done a clean increase to the debt limit, majority leader schumer speaking to leaders after the meeting saying that under former president trump that republicans -- the democrats joined republicans during those years to increase

the debt limit and that was also at a time and that was when they increased deficits arguing against this republican talking point that they are concerned about deficit spending. geoff: walk us through the potential math here. >> always fun to try this for tv , but to talk more about will laura was mentioning, let's look at where we are in terms of the needs. let's start with the house republicans. one that his entire republican conference can agree to. they wonder if they can't pick

off five votes. you need 60 votes for any debt ceiling increase. there is often more of a bipartisan mood in the senate. republicans are backing speaker mccarthy. i want to read to you what they set about this negotiation. they said they will not be voting for cloture without substantive spending cuts and budget reform. we have been through this before. leader mcconnell said he would not change anything. every negotiation is different.

republicans are quite united. geoff: president biden is headed to new york to deliver a message on the debt ceiling. >> the president is headed to hudson valley, new york, where republican mike lawler flipped a democratic district that the president won in 2020. that house republican will be joining president biden at that event. i asked the white house press secretary what the president's message would be in this is what she had to say. >> the president is going to be very clear about what is at stake. the impact of the current discussions we are having. the impact of this budget and default. this is going to hurt american families.

>> the president will be talking about the cuts to veteran benefits. geoff: what has to happen to break the stalemate? >> i think right now we are watching wall street. it doesn't seem like there is movement by politicians. something needs to happen to move politicians. geoff: great to see you both. amna: new guidelines out today say women should begin getting regular mammograms every two years starting at the age of 40 if they are at average risk of

breast cancer. that is a significant change from previous guidance by the u.s. preventive services task force that said women could start routine mammograms at the age of 50. stephanie sy focuses on what you need to know. stephanie: this change comes after an increase of diagnoses. in an alarming number of deaths among black women, 40% more likely to die of breast cancer. more than 43,000 women die of breast cancer in the u.s. each year. the new guidelines would cover 20 million women who might be at risk, but women with a family history of genetic risk are advised to get screened earlier. to spell out the details, i'm joined by the immediate past chair of the united states preventative task force. thank you so much for joining the newshour. among the reactions i'm hearing

to your taskforces new guidelines are finally other groups including the american cancer society have been recommending mammograms for women in their 40's for years. since two thousand nine, your taskforces said women with average risk should wait until 50. what drove this reversal? >> are task said we should use mammography selectively after a discussion with their doctor going over their own personal preferences and risk profile, but with new and inclusive science we are able to extend that recommendation to all women to get a mammogram every other year. if women are able to do this, it will cause a reduction in deaths from breast cancer of about 20%. importantly, you mentioned black women have a 40% higher chance of dying from breast cancer, so

this recommendation is very important for them. they actually will have the most benefit from starting screening at 40 and using screening every other year. this isn't going to totally take care that terrible inequality because anything about breast cancer care, it starts with screening, diagnosis, access to state-of-the-art care. we are going to have to improve before we release he is similar mortality for black women as what white women have. stephanie: is there new evidence that shows why women in their 40's in particular are seeing higher rates of breast cancer? >> there really isn't. we have an extremely urgent call for research in our recommendation to better understand what is driving this change. stephanie: should women still be

concerned about the consequences of over screening? experts were saying not so long ago that over screening was leading to unnecessary even harmful treatment. are you seeing now that the benefits outweigh the risks? clear that up for us. >> the task force always balances the benefits and the risks as we see it in the medical evidence. and using our modeling results and clinical trial results, we are certain that the benefits far outweigh the risks if you use mammography every other year. if you decide on annual testing, what that means is you will have twice as many false positives. some of those false positives could end up in a situation where a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, but she does not actually have it.

these are the harms that need to be balanced against finding more and earlier breast cancer that might help with surviving and being healthy longer. stephanie: there still seem to be a lot of unanswered questions. women over 74 don't know if they should keep doing mammograms. women like me with dense breast tissue, about 40% of women, they don't know if and mammogram is enough to detect cancer. should we know more about breast cancer, a disease that infects one in eight women? >> we absolutely should. women over the age of 74 have been excluded from the clinical trials on breast cancer screening, so we definitely need more research in that group to know if stopping at 74 is really the right number. for women with dense breasts,

which happens to be about half the women in the united states, we have an urgent call for more research on what is the best supplemental test to get, when to start getting that test, and how often to get it. whether you're are talking about ultrasound or mri, those questions are really unanswered at this point. stephanie: we all know someone touched by breast cancer. i made my appointment for my mammogram today. thank you. >> you're welcome. geoff: last night, police in brownsville, texas, charged george alvarez with eight counts of manslaughter after his suv slammed into a crowd of migrants killing eight people and injuring 10 others. similar shelters have been overwhelmed as more and more migrants are crossing the border

as the u.s. prepares to end title 42. here to talk about what ending title 42 means for his community as well as the impact of that fatal car collision, we are joined by democratic congressman vicente gonzalez, whose district includes brownsville. thank you for being with us. with title 42 set to be lifted, u.s. officials have said the daily crossings from mexico could acclimatize 13,000 and many of the migrants are coming through brownsville. his brownsville prepared, do you have the resources that you need? >> we have done a lot of work preparing border patrol. they have done all they can to get ready. the ngo's in the area have done a lot of work in preparation of

a massive surge coming to the border, but we could never be prepared enough. i wish we had another 30 days to build up more infrastructure and i think we need to work with countries like guatemala and mexico to do their share in slowing the migration and coming up with ideas where we can progress migrants far away from our southern border. migrants can ask for asylum at that juncture. if they are going to be led in, we should allow them to fly to their destination. it takes the pressure off the border and it eliminates a lot of the cartels out of the equation that are charging thousands for the migrants to come to the southern border.

geoff: why are you convinced that that will work? there are migrants who claim that process takes years and for those fleeing abject poverty and violence, they don't have two or three years to wait. >> they can go to a neighboring country or another country. the vast majority of people asking for asylum on our southern border is because of poverty. a lot of them have been consumed into the economy of mexico and other countries that they have tracking through. the goal is to get to the united states, but we need to do it in an orderly and humane way. forcing people to walk thousands of miles through mexico and struggle with cartels and get extorted is not really humane. i think we need to build infrastructure far away from our border. if we are going to allow

asylum-seekers into the country, we need to allow them from that juncture it is the most orderly and safe way to do it. geoff: what i hear you say is that the right to apply on u.s. soil sacrosanct is no longer applicable. >> ultimately, we have people from all over the world coming to our southern border asking for asylum and small communities like mcallen and brownsville and laredo and even el paso don't have the resources to act as the federal government would. we don't have massive centers for potentially hundreds of thousands showing up at once. i had a conversation with the president of guatemala a few days ago.

there are about 60,000 making their way here and there are about 200,000 coming through central america in columbia and panama. that's him a massive amount of that if they'll should about one time, i don't know that we have the resources and infrastructure in lace to deal with it properly. geoff: the brownsville community is still reeling from that in cident this past weekend. what more can you share with us about the findings nation as it comes together and how are folks in brownsville processing all this? >> our hearts and prayers have gone out to the families of the eight venezuelans in the 10 that have been injured who were casualties of the confusion and

overstressed area along the border right now. there is nothing to show that this was a hate crime or that it was anything other than an accident. apparently the driver might have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs. that is the information i'm getting. i don't believe it was intentional. we are still listening to law enforcement reports that are coming out, but that is the last report i received, that it looks like it was just a tragic accident. geoff: congressman, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. amna: we are learning new and disturbing details about the racist and dangerous beliefs of the shooter in allen, texas, who

took eight lives and wounded seven others. geoff: first, we want to focus on the victims. the 200th mass shooting of the year. two families lost multiple loved ones, including several children. the cho family lost three of four family members. 37-year-old kyu song cho, and cindy cho, 35, were killed, along with their 3-year-old son, james. the only surviving member of the family is 6-year-old william, who just celebrated his birthday. according to a family friend, cindy used her body to shield him from the danger of an evil monster. a six-year-old boy lost his entire family in split seconds in the most horrific way possible. 4th-grader daniela mendoza and 2nd-grader sofia mendoza were students at cox elementary. the school's principal described the sisters as rays of sunshine. their uncle wrote, the girls

have left a void that nothing in the world could ever fill. please pray for their mom, my sister, and her broken heart. their mother, ilda mendoza, remains hospitalized. christian lacour had worked as a security guard at the allen outlet mall. his grandmother posted to facebook saying, he was such a beautiful soul, 20 years old with goals for his future. i was so proud of him. 26-year-old aishwarya thatikonda was born in india, graduated from eastern michigan university in 2020, and was working as a civil engineer at the dallas-area firm perfect general contractors. the company's ceo told reporters she was always prepared to give her very best. she came to the united states with a dream to make a career. the texas department of public safety identified the eighth victim as 32-year-old elio cumana-rivas of dallas, whose details have not yet been confirmed. amna: on the day of the attack, the shooter wore an extremist insignia and left behind a social media trail of white

supremacist beliefs. today, authorities confirmed his neo-nazi affiliations . but they were cautious to say if he was targeting anyone specifically for their race, age or ethnicity when carrying out the attack in allen, texas. he joins a growing list of individuals with far-right extremist views, who commit acts of mass gun violence. heidi beirich is an expert on all this, including the white supremacist movement. she joins me now to discuss what she's uncovered about the gunman. welcome back to the newshour. you been doing your own investigating, what does the evidence show you about what kinds of groups he was linked with? what were his beliefs? >> well, he was actually deep into the world of white supremacy and neo-nazi is him. he was on websites like the daily stormer, he had read a race war novel that inspired the oklahoma city bombing and he

left about 10 years worth of diary entries that are absolutely filled with the were state you can imagine against jews, muslims, lgbtq people and others. amna: there was reporting he was wearing an rwds patch. what does that mean? >> it stands for right wing death squad, which is a reference to the chilean dictator pinochet's time in office which had death squads that killed communists. people in right wing movements like the white supremacist proud boys where these patches proudly and celebrate that era in chilean history. this idea has spread all throughout the internet as a meme you see. amna: do we have any idea when or how he began to be

radicalized? >> the diary entries go all the way back to when he was in high school or he refers to being in rtc and he talks about doing things like salutes to hitler's and been criticized by a teacher. he talks about his short stint in the army and becoming a white supremacist at that time. this has been a long process going back to at least 2008 or 2009. amna: authorities have identified him as a young man who is not white. it is confusing for many how person of color old white supremacist abuse. what should we understand about that? >> he writes in his diary about it period of self-loathing and that there was a time when he hated he was hispanic. the attraction of white

supremacy can cross race. people want to be identified with what they consider the most powerful entities in society and he is not the only one. the head of the oud boys, do is just convicted for seditious conspiracy related to january 6, is an afro-cuban and there are other examples. it is naïve to think that somebody and choose to have a different ethnicity or identify as white just because they were born of a different city -- ethnicity. amna: allen, texas is a very diverse area. the county is home to texas' largest and fastest growing population of minority groups. asian americans were among the majority killed. would someone who hold these kinds of use, would they target an area like this? >> we don't know exactly what

the motive of this individual was. but it is possible given this history of white supremacy and deep hatred for so many minority poputions that he may have chosen the mall for that reason. that is not evident in his writings, but he does scope out the mall and lay out the plans for his attack in those writings. amna: we report often about the connection between online hateful rhetoric and real-world violence. do we have any statistics about how frequently these mass shootings are carried out by people who hold these far right extremist views? >> we have had several major attacks, the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh, the el paso walmart shooting, last year the shooting at a buffalo supermarket that targeted black people, where the individuals involved were radicalized online and they all

believed something this shooter believes, that there are some kind of a great replacement going on. white people being displaced by people of color and immigrants. it is often viewed as something driven by jews or globalists. the online space is the biggest factor probably in causing people to be radicalized into violence. amna: we thank you for joining us. thank you for your time. ♪ geoff: community colleges can be a catapult to economic mobility, dramatically increasing earnings in almost all of them are open at ashen, but most of the student do not complete degree programs in time and many don't finish at all. the program spreading nationally to increase community college graduation rates, part of our series rethinking college. >> leslie henderson is about --

blessing henderson is about halfway through an associates degree in culinary arts and business at cincinnati state. >> when i'm in the kitchen, i'm in my zone, like i love it. >> the 28-year-old is on campus here three days a week. she - -- she takes a full-time course load and balances school, with a part-time job, and being a single mom to a 12 and 5 year old. >> i'm here from 9:00 in the morning until 6:00 p.m. sometimes. >> but you can't cook over zoom. >> i can't cook over zoom, so i have to be here, so it does get stressful. it's a lot of hours. >> but despite balancing all those commitments, henderson is on track to finish her degree on time in two years - a feat that less than 20 percent of community college students manage in the united states. she says a big reason is being in a program called c-state accelerate. >> i couldn't drive up here on a doughnut. >> timmy larkins is the program

director. >> we're able to mitigate some of those barriers and make the road just a little bit easier. >> the program is open to full time, pell grant eligible students - meaning they come from lower income households. and covers all tuition and fees not covered by financial aid. primarily funded with philanthropic donations, the program costs about $1,750 per student, per year. >> so when i graduate, i won't owe anything. it's like too good to be true. i couldn't believe it. that's one of the greatest, that's the selling point and then everything else is a bonus to the package. >> those bonuses include help with books and gas, and even the occasional emergency expense, which makes a huge difference for henderson who lives in dayton, ohio and commutes an hour each way. >> i have a flat tire, so i've been borrowing my mom's car to get here and c-state has offered to help me get my tire fixed. so with that, it's a load off my

back because i was wondering, what am i going to do? >> each student in the program also gets access to a counselor - called a triage coordinator. >> our triage coordinators are like your own personal life coach. whether it is who my supposed to be talking to now? what should i be doing? or could be i'm not doing so , well in this class and i just need a lift me up. more than an accountability partner, more than a coach. they are your person. >> for me, they are honestly second parents. they have been there for me when i was at my lowest and i don't know what i would do without them. >> micki harris is studying electrical engineering technology at c-state. and will finish an associates degree next may, after four years in the military and a couple failed attempts at college. >> college is always been really hard for me. i did well in high school, but high school and college are like two different things, like on two different spectrums and kind of just like controlling my own schedule and scheduling my own

classes and just kind of figuring out where things lie and what i wanted to do for the rest of my life is very intimidating. >> harris credits the c-state accelerate program with getting on track. >> they've helped me not only emotionally and financially, but they've just been such a big family to me. >> the accelerate program here at cincinnati state is not a new idea. in fact it was modeled on a program from new york city that showed so much progress, that we told you about it seven years ago. only 17% of cuny's full-time community college students get a degree in three years. for asap students, the rate is 57%. asap stands for accelerated study in associates programs. and since we visited in 2016, the program has only grown. christine brongniart runs asap for the city university of new york. >> we started with a small cohort of 1200 students in 2007

and now again we are at a pretty substantial level, serving 42% of the full time associate degree seeking population across cuny. >> as asap has expanded, those who are in the program graduate within three years at more than double the rate of those who are not. >> there's millions of community college students and about a thousand community colleges in the country. this program could be a game changer for students around the country. >> alex mayer is the director of postsecondary education at mdrc, a nonprofit research organization that has performed randomized control studies on the asap model to test its effectiveness. >> this approach really gives very high confidence that the program is working. even now we have just released findings after eight or send the students are continuing to graduate at higher rates than students in the control group. >> we wanted to continue to test the evidence.

we wanted to see if we could take this model and we wanted to see these findings hold in other implementation contexts. that is really where we started with our replication work. >> in 2015, versions of asap were rolled out at three ohio community colleges, including cincinnati state. while there was some adaptation allowed - gas cards instead of public transportation cards, for instance - the idea was to maintain the fidelity of the model. monica posey is the president of cincinnati state. >> we knew what we were doing was making a difference. we heard it from the students.// but to actually get the validated study was really awesome. >> like in new york, students in the demonstration programs in ohio graduated at nearly double the rate as those not in the program. but despite the success at cincinnati state, accelerate wound down in 2018 after the three year study was over.

>> we had to stop the program. we didn't have the funds in the institution to continue it. >> community colleges are doing a lot, but they're typically underfunded. the challenge is to implement what we know has been effective. >> the cost has not fully stop cincinnati state. the college restarted the program in the fall of 2021 after raising money from donors. >> that return on investment will look like economic growth. as we know as students graduate, that increases employability and changes the trajectory of their lives. >> that upward trajectory is in the data as well. last month, a new study showed that those who took part in the original ohio demonstration were earning 11 percent more compared to those in the control group.

it's a finding that cuny's christine brongniart says adds to the evidence that this model works, and should be rolled out beyond the seven states where versions are up and running. >> we're working now to work more with state systems at scale versus working more ad hoc with individualized colleges >> at the c-state accelerate office on campus, student blessing henderson says that in addition to the financial aid and counseling, the program creates a sense of community. >> it is happy. everybody's like family. >> so somebody that's kind of in your corner for you? >> yes. being in college has expanded my horizons and my mental just how i communicate, the way i think about things. so i don't know what i'm going to do after this. i just hope to keep going, though. >> for the pbs newshour, i'm hari sreenivasan in cincinnati, ohio.

amna: later this evening on pbs, frontline presents a documentary that traces clarence thomas's life, from childhood to college to the court. and it includes recent reporting on his relationship with conservative billionaire harlan crow. >> crow even helped fund a documentary promoting thomas as a humble man. >> one of clarence's biggest loves is when he can get away from washington, d.c., and be on the road in his motorhome. >> i don't have any problem with going to europe, but i prefer the united states, i prefer the rv parks, the walmart parking lots. i come from regular stock and i prefer that. i prefer being around that. >> but out of the public eye, he was living a different life. >> harlan crow has been taking

clarence thomas on luxury vacations around the world for more than 20 years. we are talking flights on his private jet, cruises on his very large yacht in places like indonesia and new zealand. stays at his resort in the adirondacks. compared to somebody that is a partner i a big d.c. law firm that might be making 2 million dollars or $3 million a year, the supreme court justices are poppers. thomas could not afford to take the kinds of vacations that crow is taking him on. >> "clarence and ginni thomas" premieres tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern on pbs and youtube. that's the newshour for tonight. geoff: thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the pbs

newshour has been provided by -- >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. yes, i'm legally blind and yes i'm responsible for the user interface. data visualization.if i can ,. it's exciting to be a part of a team driving the technology forward. people who know, know bdo. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymondjames financial advisor taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. ♪ >> carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic

engagement, and the invents meant of international peace and security at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> this is pbs newshour western weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> you are watching pbs.

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one giant leap for mankind. >> funding for this series has been provided in part by the following... >> up norway curates norwegian travel experiences in the footsteps of "new scandinavian cooking." >> ♪ no, take me home ♪ ♪ take me home where i belong ♪ >> vgan, the full taste of chocolate. ♪♪ ♪♪ >> [ singing indistinctly ] ♪♪ >> this is a story of adventure, understanding that every step of the journey is vital.