>> hello, you're watching live frfrom paris. turkey launches a two-pronged defense against the islamic state group, shelling oppositions in syria days after the deadly suicide bombing in nkara blamed on the i.s. arech dairy farmers lock -- testing against the plunging price of milk.

potentially forcing them out of business. dominoes -- a slew of high-profile sponsors abandon ryan lochte after he lied about the armed robbery in rio that never happened. ♪ anchor: a two-pronged offensive -- turkey has bombarded the islamic state group and kurdish groups in syria. artillery strikes were launched and the shelling comes days after a suicide bombing from a wedding in southern turkey which led to more than 50 people dead. turkey is cracking down on the i.s. and kurdish militias.

let's go to our correspondent in his temple. ankara says the islamic state should be completely cleansed from northern syria along the board of turkey. but the attacks against the i.s. are being used as an attack -- as an opportunity to go after the kurdish groups? >> that's right. they are being used as an -- accused the kurdish government of trying to take over the city itself. that, they have been accused of assassinating a kurdish commander and the position that the syrian kurds are putting forward is not so much that while ankara may say what they are doing, looking to get rid of and isis koren -- and isis presents.

by contrast, the turkish authorities here are telling us that is not the case. they are committed to fighting terrorism wherever they find it at that includes the islamic state but they also include parts of the syrian kurdish including the party that operates in turkey and dominates the kurdish forces in syria. we are hearing turkish media reports of the turkish military firing across the border into syria in retaliation for shillings on a border town. what more can you tell us? that's right. there has been another border scuffle further to the west. this is closer to -- and hear what happened was that there was shelling, some turkish authorities believe this came from -- authority. actually went across the border.

the military responded with shots of their own. more evidence of just how unstable this is becoming. the problem is that from the turkish perspective they have hostile forces that are partially being accused of being too lenient. but they've taken a much harder tone now. i have is that they have kurdish forces who are very hostile towards the government in ankara. and this is firing across the border now, it is evidence of how the civil war is affecting syria. bringing us up to date with that story -- that was tom stevenson reporting from the assembled. next, you have the power with a pen and a simple pen stroke to allow humanitarian aid to reach starving residents. -- has called for a 48 houour

ceasase-fire in the syrian cityo get relief to hundreds of thousands of siege people. they are caught in the crossfire. >> united nations says it is ready to deliver aid in syria to help nearly a quarter of a million people in the besieged city. they are urging all sides to stop fighting for two days per aid to getow the through. cracks i cannot stress strongly enough the need for a 48 hour force for fighting to be stopped on all sides so that access is opened to all of them there. i urge all parties in the conflict to heed the call for a cessation. >> last week, russia announced a

support that the u.s. state department said it was unsure whether the russians had stopped carrying out airstrikes on an iranian airbase. >> we have seen continuing airstrikes in and around aleppo. whether they are coming from russia's bases in syria itself or airbases they are using in iran or other places, it is still only making what is already a difficult situation much worse. are trapped in the eastern and western areas. emergency supplies are running low. many inside the besieged city are paying. up to 2 million people are without clean water. it has been estimated that at least 100,000 children are formidable. -- children are full herbal.

vulnerable.are anchor: john kerry says the country must a peace deal or b/with sanctions and an arms embargo. these comments come after me in nairobi. violence in the capital has escalated in recent weeks. brink of a new civil war to fight. now, they have set up a blockade burning tires and setting fire to pay. a great french farmers are protesting the dairy giant in the western town. they say plunging dairy prices are forcing them to sell their milk at a loss. these are the most high milk at higher than current market prices to keep french agriculture alive. largest dairy product

used in the world -- 20% of all the milk used in france. -- forsold all of his more than three decades. he keeps 80 dairy cows. these days he has been selling his milk at a loss. >> we are selling at a loss this month. june, july and august. 252 euros. >> for each ton of milky cells at this price, he loses 68 euros. >> farmers are being exploited. they are doing it openly with no scruples. --the farmers complain that has slashed the price it pays for milk and refuses to even discuss it. >> there are no negotiations. it is due as you told. in theory, we can't go against the contract we have signed. dairy giant says the price it

pays is governed by international competition. >> we are in an international market in which the price of milk is lower than france. ,e cannot, in an open market have milk prices that are higher in france compared to competitors. the farmers have little room to maneuver. france produces more milk than is required. soon if they refused the offer, the company can find the milk it needs elsewhere. france is the most visited destination in the world -- isris is the company's the country's poster child but it has been quieter than usual. a recent wave of terror attacks and strikes and floods have hit the country which forces

tourists to stay away. with 750left them million euros out of pocket. >> paris. -- tourists have given it's the cold shoulder. >>." weigh less evil. i asked my husband, what is going on? >> i am a tourist. it is beautiful like this. the steps are usually packed with people this time of year. but attacks have put off visitors. >> i was thinking about, as i was traveling, what if someone planted a bomb? >> the damage is being felt across all sectors. at the museum they have never seen a downturn like this. >> and 11% drop in tourists from frome and over 15% drop

overseas. this newspaper and souvenir vendor is feeling the absence. we work with h hotels and somoe of them are ordering fewer newspapers than before. the luxury sector is most feeling the pinch. >> we have had a drop in reservations. there were lots of cancellations after the tragic event. attacks not just scaring people away. brexit and strikes have left there's mark. anchor: two days after the rio games wrapped up, olympic athletes have touchdown in paris. seventh.finished they brought home 14 gold for a

total of 42. this evening they will retreat into a hero's welcome with the president inviting them to the palace. they will indulge after months of strict dieting and training. competing xpot the paralympic games in rio next month. that is as punishment for a state sponsored doping program. was confirmed after throwing out an appeal by the russian delegation. scandal threatened to overshadow the olympics which wrapped up on sunday with only two thirds of russian athletes cleared to compete. he may be a star swimmer but the sponsors have left him high and dry. lost a slew of lucrative sponsorship deals after the fallout from a fake

robbery scandal continues. he was left red-faced after admitting he lied. >> the cost of that night out keeps growing for ryan lochte. on monday, four sponsors ended their relationship with the 12 time olympic medal winner. speedo said, we cannot condone behavior that is counter to the values that this brand has long stood for. as well as studio -- as well as that -- andcompany ralph lauren have also decided to end their relationship with the swimmer. the lochte has been at center of criticism for the past week after brazilian authorities say he and his fellow swimmers fabricated a story about being robbed. the police claim the four swimmers were drunk and vandalized a petrol station. he has since issued an apology,

admitting he exaggerated the story that he does maintain there were guns involved. >> the guns were pointed out us. someone came from the gas station to help out. they said we had to make -- they said we had to pay money. you can call that robbery, extortion or say we had to pay the money for the damage of the poster. i can't say what it was. committee. olympic has said they are considering disciplinary action against the swimmers. right, business news now. stephen carroll is here. we are starting here in france where doubt has been cast on the results of a government investigation into carmakers? >> it's a free french government owned misses details of ault cars.in ren

different results in tests been under normal driving conditions. they say discrepancies should be reported. back in the spotlight over this in missions test. according to the financial times, a fan -- a france government report omitted significant detail about how cars were able to emit fewer deadly gases when subject to official in emissions testing. three of the 17 members say important information was left out. this is concerning the emissions of nitrogen oxide that can cause severe respiratory issues. a published report did not include the fact that it went into overdrive when the suv was

undergoing emissions testing but not during normal driving conditions. this discrepancy is not evidence of cheating software. it was the discovery of such software installed on volkswagen to trick american emissions tests that kicked off the scandal. the french government conducted its own tests. according to the government's illegal, the use of deceit devices has not been proven but the possibility cannot be ruled out. commission members say they had no evidence that they were using similar devices, arguing only that further investigation should be conducted into why the cars performed differently during testing. with a 20% stake in the carmaker, there are concerns the government may be too lenient. for its part, the company has always denied using software to cheat on tests and says the in theonforms to laws

market where they are sold. anchor: staying here in france -- good news for the economy. a activity in key sectors hit 10 month high in august. strong growth in services and an increase in factory output. that situation is being reflected across the eurozone. the pmi hit a seven month high. the french prime minister reiterated that they will meet the deficit target next year. be belows deficit will 3% of gdp in 2017 that is required by eu budget rules. doubt was cast on the target because of increased expenditure on things like defense in the past couple of months. anchor: how are the markets taking the news? >> the stock market is still are seeing gains

across a european markets so some optimism is being taken from the survey. shares in -- are down 1.5% in paris after the story in the financial times. we are keeping an eye on oil prices because we have seen a significant drop in oil prices on monday at that is continuing today. brent crude is down over 1%. oil prices are below the $50 barrel limit again. --e business headlines volkswagen says it has resolved a dispute with suppliers that has halted production. stopped providing parts to the carmaker after they canceled a major order. details have not been revealed but normal production is expected to resume shortly. the president of the ridesharing company lyft says they are not

seeking a buyer. he said recent reports has mischaracterize the situation. he declined to, it on any that said theys were in communication with general motors and uber. his handnt is turning to investing. he launched a $100 million capital venture fund project on monday. he will seek to invest in media, technology and data companies. we may have passed a peak in the popularity of pokemon go? >> not a fan? anchor: no. [laughter] >> it has been a phenomenon. they have helped nintendo share prices by adding more than $7 billion to the company's value. data analyzed has shown the

number of users playing the game and the time they are spending on the mobile app has passed the peak. the daily users is now hovering around 30 million, down from 45 million. one of those is my husband. i'm quite pleased. thank you very much for that. that was the business roundup. time now for the press review. ♪ anchor: i am joined in the studio now by florence. lots of focus on yesterday's ,eeting between angela merkel the eunt hollande and -- biggest countries are showing a united front in the wake of brexit. >> the meeting comes at a

symbolic time. almost exactly two months after the brexit vote. let's take a look at the front page of the wall street journal. -- a tested europe shows a united front. and that photo is on the front page of a lot of papers. this is a german paper which is angelag on the role that merkel is playing in this. she is leading the way, launching the europe initiative, calling for a change of course. the eu is facing serious uncharted waters without written and there is an interesting analysis piece in the guardian. they say european leaders are at a loss when it comes to what is next for the. they are struggling to connect vision and reality and are facing a lot of pressure because if they don't convince people, there could be a brexit situation in other countries. to the germango

press and an alarming article. >> that's right. the title says -- if you are chairman, start buying canned vegetables. on agot their hands document called "the concept for civil defense." in eight, the german government recommends citizens stockpile food and water in their homes in case of a terror attack or some sort of catastrophe. in this document, germans are encouraged to stock enough food for 10 days, water for five days. it is quite alarming and many people are wondering, what is the deal? set to be discussed in the cabinet meeting on wednesday and then presented to the public but a lot of papers are wondering what is going to happen. anchor: scary stuff. one man is in the spotlight. nicholas sarkozy has come back.

he is throwing his hat into the ring for the french presidency -- not really a surprise to many of us. wondering when it was going to happen. what is surprising by the way he did it. but he a book that is coming up you can read about it here where he explains exactly why he has decided to become a candidate again. anchor: he lays out the key points of his political program. focuses on national identity. >> that's right. a key point of the program. you can get all of the details -- you can see this glowing article. -- this comesect back on the proposals about national identity that might be shocking to people. jumping right into the whole burqa debate that we are having

in france. the idea that he wants to reinforce the ban on headscarves. economy, there also were some controversial proposals. hournts to end the 35 workweek. they have glowing words for him in the editorial. takes a lot to run again. especially after he admitted such a huge defeat. perhaps he is hoping to make a comeback? but they're not even sure if it is going to work. so it takes a lot of guts to do that. they applaud him for putting forward this courageous project. he has put all of the cards on the table. anchor: several papers areanchor: pointing out that

sarkozy is still in a lot of hot water with legal problems. and that could scuff or his plans. >> that's right. taking a closer look at the legal woes he is under for more investigation in two serious cases. one involving influence peddling -- ofe other of shem shady campaign financing. so it is him in a unique position. we have never seen a candidate with the legal problems following him but a lot of papers point out it might not stop him. the worstt page says " is he might actually win." they say if he keeps surfing on the program of fear that he is putting forward, exploiting the current tensions, he might win the election. one last word about the book, social media had a real

field day. let's point out the best bits. he decide to write with a red t at the end? there were all sorts of making fun of things. -- this is a way of talking about a dog in france. -- cups dog is snowy some people are hoping he will run for president. anchor: a dog for president? well, he is cute. thank you so much for that. get morent to permission, go to our website at

france 24.com. more news is coming up. ♪ >>qwueeewep@1@xxxxxx

announcer: this is a production of china central televisision america. lee: even though it's 2016, girls' education around the world is still a pressing problem. but some people are takiking matters i into their on hands. they're using social entrepreneurship, opening up access to technology, and providing connections with female role models. this week on "full frame," conversations with people who are committed to providing an education for girls and women no matter what their circumstance. i'm may lee in los angeles. let's take it "full frame."

born in tehran, shohreh aghdashloo began her career acting in iranian films in the 1970s. after leaving iran, shohreh moved to the uk, where she began a promising career as a journalist. eventually, she immigrated to the united states, moving to los angeles and returning to her first love, acting. and she made a very good choice. she has been nominated for an academy award and has won an emmy as well as several other awards. she starred in more than 25 films and currently plays the lead role in an american tv series on syfy network called "the expanse." shohreh: that's another thing. i want evevery martianan weapons fafacility undnder a microscope. man: they are. you know, your belter wilill like graravity ona betttter. shohreh: that's the only thing he'll like. i'm afraid for him.

man: heaven help your enemies, chrisjen. shohrereh: heaven help us alallf mamars and t b belt cidede to share a otothbrush. bobold move, i'll give him that. man: why? shohreh: the cold war is over. this is something new. lee: recently, shohr s starr alongside rgrgan femanan a clive enen in e fifilmlast ightht" and shshe haa starring rolinin thepcomomin feature filmththe prise,e," whicich buts thiyear. ww ofscreen, ohreh suorts mother miracle, a non-profit organization in india that works to improve theheuality of life for children and families by providing a chance at quality education. here to sharare her story about her amazing career and to tell us more about mother miracle is shohreh aghdashloo. welcome to the show. thank you so much for being here. shohreh: oh, you're so kind. thank you so much for having me.

lee: and, i mean, let's be straight here. you have had an amazing acting career so far. you've won an emmy award, nominated for an academy award, multiple other awards. you can stop here and be really good, but is it still fresh to you and new to you and exciting to you? shohreh: it is always fresh, new, and exciting. i'm learning like a good teacher. lee: yeah. shohreh: i used to tell my mother that--which one of my teachers was the best? and my mother would ask me, "why do you think this is the--that she is the best?" and i said, "because she keeps studying when she goes home." it's not like that she knows everything now and she's trying to teach it to us. lee: right. shohreh: every time she goes home, she studies herself to make sure what she is teaching us is... lee: and you appreciated that even then... shohreh: absolutely. lee: the idea of continuing education. shohreh: absolutely. especially in this business, in my business. lee: yeah. shohreh: it's like an ocean. the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know about this business. lee: wow. well, for you, though,

because you grew up in iran with traditional parents... shohreh: yes. lee: probably wanted you to do something much more traditional, conventional, right? like most parents want their kids to do. shohreh: modern thinking, yes. lee: something safe. shohreh: my mother would have loved for me to wear a--she said it, "why on earth don't you become a secretary, wear a nice st. laurent or cartier scarf, and a nice cartier--drive to your work every morning and come home early? why do you have to do this and work until 4 a.m.?" and i'm like, "ma, i love my profession." lee: right. so when did you know that you had this acting bug? shohreh: 16. lee: ok. so young. shohreh: i was already acting. lee: right. shohreh: for the members for the family. lee: oh, ok. shohreh: i started when i was 7. i would mock my family beautifully. the way that my uncle asked my mother--called my mother and said, "ask shohreh to stop it. i don't like it when shohreh..." lelee: oh, really? shohreh: and my mother told me and said, "why do you think is that? " i said, "'cause i do a

good job." lee: yes. shohreh: and--but i didn't know it was acting. lee: huh. shohreh: we were at the caspian sea with my cousins... lee: ok. shohreh: they used to live there. it's in my book, in my memoir. beautiful, beautiful part of my life. and one afternoon, we decided to go and watch--and see "gone with the wind." lee: oh. shohreh: what had--recently, came to the--to the theaters in the caspian sea. lee: you must have been blown away. shohreh: after the movie, i came out, i told my mother, "i am becoming an actress no matter what." and she said--she looked at me and she said, "none--not under our roof." lee: oh, no! shohreh: and she was right. lee: really? shohreh: they didn't allow me. lee: yeah, so you had to kind of--not really sneak around, but you did things that-- shohreh: no. but i really liked the man whom i married. lee: yeah. shohreh: he was an artist. he was a painter. he has studied in switzerland and france, very modern thinking. and i knew he was gonna let me do it. lee: yeah. shohreh: and i asked him, i didn't fool him. i didn't marry him first and then ask him. lee: right. and he was really

supportive, wasn't he? shohreh: he was. as soon as i said--i said, "do you mind if i become an actress after we get married?" and he goes, "hmm, i don't see why not." and, "when would you like to marry me?" lee: i have to--i have to stop for a second right here because--and just talk about your voice. you have the most amazing, exotic, like, unique voice. i thought i had a deep voice, but yours, it just puts mine to shame. shohreh: thank you. lee: has that been an advantage to you or has it-- shohreh: yes, especially in theater. lee: yeah. shohreh: my mother has the same voice but she's not... lee: does she? shohreh: she's not happy with it. lee: oh. shohreh: she was never happy with it because when people call home they were like, "hello mr. vaziri," she would say, "this is mrs." lee: oh, no! shohreh: she had to. but i don't like to correct people. i love it when they take me for a sir. lee: because when i was growing up, i had a low voice as a kid and my mom hated it, because it's--it wasn't feminine enough and she would always try to change my voice, say, "make--speak like this, a little more like this." i'm like "no." shohreh: use your head voice. i know. i've heard that. i've

heard that. lelee: oh, my god. shohreh: ok, here don't laugh too hard-- lee: yeah. shohreh: because, you know, when you have a thick voice--my mother when we're going to the parties, "oh, you don't look presentable. you don't look right. what is this hair? and by the way, please don't laugh loud." lee: oh, my god. shohreh: just--you know, "you have a thick voice," and i'm like, "yes, i do know. don't worry." lee: it sounds like you didn't really listen to your mom so much there. you kind of just did your own thing. shohreh: never. i did my own thing. lee: which is a--which is... shohreh: it's just the generation. lee: but the--that's why--it's a good decision that you did because you've been so successful. and what i love about the roles that you've taken over the years is that you've been very bold and courageous in the roles that you've taken, and they're very diverse. shohreh: i'm very choosy. lee: sometimes controversial though, right? shohreh: yes. lee: sometetimes you choose e se controversial-- shohreh: purposely. lee: yeah. shshohreh: eveven controversiai. lee:e: yeah.ne o of them beieing "24." shohrereh: "24." yes. lee: right. great series. huge hit-- shohreh: yes. lee: that series was, but you played a middle eastern terrorist. shohreh: yes. lee: and some people criticize you for doing that.

shohreh: they did. some did. lee: but you totally disagree with their take, right? they were different. shohreh: i did because my point was the fact that i'm an actor. lee: mm-hmm. shohreh: and i gave an arm and a leg for a complex character like her. lee: right. shohreh: she was a mother, a lover, a woman, a believer, a follower. i mean, layer after layer after layer, and the way the brilliant writers of the 24-- lee: yeah. shohreh: wrote these pieces she started revealing throughout the season. it wasn't like at the very beginning, or she makes the arc in the middle. it was very smooth. lee: mm-hmm. shohreh: they have amazing writers. lee: yeah. uh-huh. shohreh: and very smoothly, she was--she revealed herself throughout. and this is an amazing role-- lee: uh-hmm. yeah. shohreh: which every actor, again, would give an arm and a leg for. lee: sure. shohreh: that was my answer to them. that, and also the fact that there weren't any iranian names under terrorist lists. lee: right.

shohreh: and i said, "do you see any iranian names?" and i don't understand why every time i'm good for a role, to portray this role, i look better than my fellow american or, you know, fellow actor who's blonde. why does it--why, all of a sudden, it is considered as a stereotype? lee: mmm. shohreh: 'cause i truly believe that if i'm good in doing this, i should do it. lee: right. right. yeah. yeah. why not? shohreh: it's not a stereotype if i--if i'm good in doing this. lee: but i guess in a respectable way-- shohreh: it's not typecast anymore. lee: to a certain extent. yeah. what--i think it's... shohreh: it's about acting. it's about quality. lee: but boy, it must be so challenging though because of the politics and the issues and the cultural issues... shohreh: it is. lee: and social issues to be able to try and marry all of that into a role and do it well and have people believe you, right? t that's--welell, that's acting. that's a gogood actor.. shohreh: t the acting, you know, so the politics surround it. lee: right. right. shohreh: what you have to be careful of. lee: well this, again, also about you is that you're very

vocal about various issues, world issues, current events, politics, and i love it when i see high-profile people, celebrities, vips who use that--their platform, their fame to be able to talk about issues that are important and, you know, educate the public that way. that's really important to you, isn't it? shohreh: absolutely. the platform which you beautifully refer to is the essence of my work. i started it in the uk, london. hyde park. right after i migrated to london, drove to london, drove myself to london from tehran to london, having--i had to go through istanbul, yugoslavia, italy, south of france. lee: how long did that take you? shohreh: got--12 days. lee: wow. ok. shohreh: got myself to london and started studying--went to hyde park corner, speakers' corner-- lee: mm-hmm. shohreh: saw people standing on boxes, fruit boxes, giving

speeches, talking politics. and i said, "everybody can do that?" and my friend said, "yes, of course. whoever would like to talk, they--all they need to do to bring a box with them." as of then, i took a box with me for a couple of weeks, stood on the box. lee: did you? shohreh: and started... lee: wow. shohreh: it's in the book. started talking about iran and what was going on in iran and all the injustices, and the fact that thousands of people are now being displaced and... lee: yeah. shohreh: so it started with that platform. lee: and you continued that. shohreh: and it continued-- lee: yeah. shohreh: and every time it got bigger, they gave me an inch, i took a yard. lee: oh, good for you! shohreh: because--yeah. because i was in a hurry. lee: right. shohreh: and i wanted--and i really meant it. it wasn't like i was trying to make myself famous or--i wasn't trying to become rich. in fact, every time i give classes, free classes to underprivileged children only. the first thing i say, when i walk into the class i say, "if you're here for fame and fortune, you're in the wrong class."

i didn't start it that way. lee: right. right. right. yeah. shohreh: because you want to be useful to your people. lee: yes. exactly. and but in-- shohreh: that's why i need that platform. lee: with purpose, right? with genuine purpose. shohreh: genuine. lee: you know, speaking of another platform, and it's a current issue right now in hollywood, the whole controversy over lack of diversity, right? we're hearing a lot about that in films and television--more in films than on tv. i think tv is doing a little bit better job, but when it comes to minorities, when it comes to women--and you're dealing with both. you're both. you represent both. what are your thoughts on what the current situation is like in hollywood? shohreh: hollywood or the american film industry in general, all industries are about numbers. lee: yeah. shohreh: it's not about gender. lee: yeah. shohreh: it's not about you and me. it's not about the color of my skin. it's about how much you and i make. how many followers do we have? when we make films, how much

does it sell here in the united states, 20, 25 million? when it hits the far east, 370 million. lee: right. shohreh: let me pay you 20 million so i can take you to the far east and make 300 million. lee: but do--you really don't--you don't think that it has s to do o with gender and ethnicity at all? shohreh: not anymore. lee: really? shohreh: people don't have time for that. and all the luxury-- lee: but don't you think they're still--don't you think there's still a fear, a conservative mentality thinking that if we go this route with a minority or a female lead then, "oh, we're taking a risk." shohreh: no. no. lee: we're taking a risk. shohreh: no. then it's a--it would--it may sound like there's a conspiracy theory here. lee: hmm, you don't think so? shohreh: there isn't. this is the american film industry. mainstream. it's not about me. it's not about the immigrants. it involves me in beautiful ways. it talks about me and, i mean, people like me, but it's not about me. it's the american main film industry.

lee: yeah. yeah. shohreh: sometimes i'm in it, sometimes i'm not in it. sometimes i do a good job, so i'm nominated. sometimes, i'm--i haven't even done anything. i remember, i met with this gentleman at universal once. really nice man. he was--we were passing through the corridor. he looked at me from far away and he said, "woman, you know, how to choose your roles." i said, "sir, believe me, i do. i pick them up with a pair of tweezers." and he goes, "why don't you come around? we missed you once, we wanna give you the oscar." you know, and i said, "i don't have any materials to come around. i haven't done anything..." lee: right. but... shohreh: worthy of the academy." lee: right, but is that a part-- problem that there's not enough of those materials, there's not enough--the roles being created? shohreh: this is--no. . no, it's not even... lee: well, not for you right now 'cause you are busy! shohreh: not even--not even when i wasn't working for two years. lee: ok. shohreh: industry didn't have any job for me. lee: yeah. another passion of yours is mother miracle.

shohreh: i love mother miracle. lee: now, tell me a little bit about what they do and why you decided to become involved. shohreh: i am--i've sponsored kids since i first saw oprah's, uh, early afternoon show. lee: mm-hmm. shohreh: it was 27 or 28 years ago. lee: ok. shohreh: she was asking us to join world vision. and she was showing us these hungry kids and, you know, with deformed faces and stuff asking us to help them. and i started crying. lee: mmm. shohreh: i was pregnant. and i started crying, watching this program. and as though it was talking to me, she looked at me--she looked into the camera and she said, "don't cry. pick up the phone." lee: oh, she did? shohreh: pick up the phone-- lee: oh, she's...right. shohreh: and get one of these kids. sponsor one of these kids. lee: and you did. shohreh: i started then. lee: really? ok. shohreh: but then one of my best

friends, shahla--childhood friends--went to india, year 2000. she came back, she was, you know, rich. she had a beautiful house in san rafael, we called it shahla's castle. sold that one--sold a couple of properties, went back to india, started mother miracle. lee: oh, wow. shohreh: educate underprivileged, poor children-- lee: right. shohreh: who live in slum areas. she now has 257. lee: wow. shohreh: 8 of them are mine. lee: oh, my gosh! shohreh: yeah. lee: so what has that experience been like for you, sponsoring children? what has that done for yoyou? because, you know, they always say, you give-- shohreh: [coughs] i'm sorry. lee: when you give, you get more back than you ever thought you would, right? that idea of giving. you get so much out of that. shohreh: it's so true, tenfold. god will give you back tenfold. it's unbelievable. it's very rewarding. lee: mmm.

shohreh: it's very heartwarming, knowing that there are other people, you know, in another place of the world--in the other half who are depending on you. lee: right. shohreh: and you're helping them out to become somebody in this life. my eldest sponsored child, whose name is monta, is now a nurse. lee: wow. shohreh: she turned a nurse a couple of months ago. and thank god for that, because last month, her father, who was a bricklayer, fall off a scaffolding. lee: oh, no. shohreh: he cannot work now, and monta is paying for the whole family, 6 members of the family. she's a nurse and she makes-- lee: so that's got to--that's got to be so rewarding for you to see that. shohreh: that's... lee: yeah. shohreh: that brings me, you know, the smile that i wear every morning. people keep telling me--because i always smile, no matter what. i wake up and i'm like, "good morning." "what are you--my--especially my husband is like, "what are you so happy about?" i'm like, "i'm healthy, i have a job, and sun is out, it's beautiful. no bad news so far, so i'm happy." lee: well, you should be smilining for a lot t of reans

because yoarare a busy lady when it comes to working. shohreh: e exactly. lee: you know, you have a lot of jobs going on. right now, one of your roles is in "the expanse." shohreh: yes. i love this show. lee: which is the syfy tv series. shohreh: it's a strong female role. lee: i was just gonna say. shohreh: because people keep asking me. lee: yeah. so you play this strong political leader. this is, you know, obviously 200 years ahead in the future, right? when the solar system is colonized. so what is that like for you to play this hardcore, powerful w woman? shohohreh: this s is the ultimi. lee: is it? shohreh: i think--no, i think--i'm thinking, can any other, sort of, portrayals of other characters top this? no. lee: really? shohreh: she is--first off, 200 years from now, she is under deputy secretary of the united nations, but her knowledge exceeds her title. lee: ok. she knows everybody's names at the un. apparently, this is a--this is something--a gift that people have, that you remember everybody's names, you

know. she knows everybody's profile, psychological backgrounds, pay rates. she even knows who is sleeping with whom. i mean, she's amazing. she's a master manipulator. lee: oh... shohreh: and so powerful and amazing, she--and also, you know, she's a woman and she's from far, far, far east or never, neverland. and... lee: right. i can tell you love this role. shohreh: love it. lee: you're so excited just talking about it. shohreh: yeah, because the--i can create her from scratch. lee: right. boy, you have--you are one lucky lady. you have had some great projects going on. so what's next for you? shohreh: welell, next--rigight , i'm reading a book on tape, you know, i do--i do books as well. lee: yeah. shohreh: which i'm very, very proud. lee: well, with that voice of yours, you should. shohreh: thank you. i'm very proud and i would like to announce it. i'm reading a nobel peacprize winner's s book lee: o shreh: ms. shirin adadi fr iran. obvislsly, 's in

englh.h. 'also worki on two lms right now. unfortunately, you know, the kind of films i work on, i can't talk about the subject matter. lee: ok. shohreh: but i can tell you, one is light comedy. it's my first light comedy, which i loved, and i want to do it because i want to prove to my audience--not only m my audienc, but also the producers who are working with me, who would like to work with me, that i can do comedy for christ's sake. just don't give me tragedies-- lee: ha ha! ok. shohreh: and dramas. but the other one is again a very, sort of, political, pretty serious, and it's devastating. but it's a story that has to be told. lee: mmm. well, it sounds like you are just--action-packed days ahead for you and now and just going forward. and of course, the work with mother miracle. thank you so much for coming in. it was a pleasure talking to you. shohreh: thank you so much f for having m lee: all right. we' s see you again.

shohreh: likewise. really enjoyed this. lee: thank you. thank you. shohreh: thank you. it feels like home. lee: i know. well, we try to make it home for everyone. shohreh: love it. lee: but thank you so much. and we'll see you soon, i hope. shohreh: absolutely. lee: all right. shohreh: i would love to. lee: well, coming up, educating and empowering girls in afghanistan by teaching them to code. yeah, we're talking about computer coding. that story when we come back. in 2015, fereshte forough founded code to inspire, a nonprofit organization committed to educating female students in afghanistan by teaching them how to code. fereshte says she's on a mission to empower young women in afghanistan by improving their technical literacy. now, to achieve this, code to inspire provides a safe and secure place where women can learn, increase their confidence and self-esteem, and

gain marketable skills. fereshte also cofounded and served on the board of the women's annex foundation, an organization established to financially empower women and children in central asia. now, she hopes code to inspire will serve as a launching pad for afghan women to explore and excel in both entrepreneurship and technical innovation. joining us now from new york city is fereshte forough. welcome to the show. so glad to have you here. fereshte: thank you. pleasure to be here. lee: well, let's talk about education in afghanistan. you know, in the past, obviously, we've all known that it's been very tough especially for girls and women, but i know that things have improved. tell me about how things have changed for the better. fereshte: during the taliban, only 900,000 students were at schools with zero participation women-- lee: wow. fefereshte: in education and in workforce. but one decade after that, right now, we ha around 9 million ududentsn

afghanistan at 42% oththem, it's 4 mimiion of them arwowomen and girls. andhis is auguge acmplishshme. we dhave 4 misters, wen minister out of 2 28% of rliamenteat acally belg to wom. so we did lot of progress.o o i think we had auge e imovement in ce of not oy educatn, but al in heal sector, i econy, and eeciallwomen's participion in wkforce lee:nd that's aming, reshte, at yo're sing at this haened in e last decade rlly, but2% participatn of gir and wom in edudution is now-hat--th's anncredible statisti well, y have sothing too with tt, and u'rebviously tryinto push that forrd. let's talkbout code to spire. ts is trying--you're trying to bridge that education gap but you're also trying to get more girls into coding. which again, we said this at the beginning of the interview, that is not easy for anyone. so what's the

mission here on your part? fereshte: sure. so i founded code to inspire in january 2015 and the reason that i founded is that as a--as a woman who was really involved in technology, as a student, as a computer science student, and when i became a mentor in my faculty, and then when i went back after i mastered and i taught as a computer science professor for almost 3 years in computer science faculty, i saw a lot of challenges especially for women in tech. definitely in case of looking at the tech market in afghanistan, it's not a huge market for women. and if a women wants to find a job employment especially in technology, again, the culture issues, the social barriers the safety security, all these reasons make the women not to be able to travel from one city to another city. not a lot of family allow their daughter to travel from one place to another place because of the security. some, they can't--they can't afford the financial situation

to pay, for example, the tickets for their daughter to travel by plane because she can't get the road and it's unsafe. lee: right. fereshte: so, on november 2015, we--with code to inspire actually, we established the very first coding school for girls in afghanistan. so, we are going to build afghanistan 2.0 by teaching girls how to code. and we have right now 50 girls in our coding school from high school to computer science backgrounds, and we teach them different classes which is websitite designing, html, css, to more ad ones which is mobile application development. lee: fereshte, you know, you mentioned a little bit of the cultural differences and the traditions that i think probably get in the way sometimes with especially things like computer science and coding. probably traditionanalists are resistant to the idea of girls and women doing this, and they actually want to push back. have you

dealt with that and how do you continue to deal with that kind of resistance? fereshte: sure. so the most important thing for women's job employment and education in afghanistan is the security concerns and also the traditional issues. majority of the families, they prefer their daughter to become a teacher. why to become a teacher? because it's a well-respected job in the society, you get paid, and you only deal with women. but with code to inspire, what is really our mission to empower women with education and technology and to make them financially independent is that, right now in this world, the only thing you need is a computer and inteternet connectionsns. so, with that two things, you can do a lot of works online without even traveling. so once the family, which a lot of them actually, they have the approach of internet and looking at internet, "oh, internet? it's a devil," like, they think if you come online, it's just like you--you're not a good person. but once we tell them that, "no, actually with a

computer and an internet, your daughter can find a job online and can make money and not only support herself but also the family," then the people and the community become more willing to support your cause and send your daughter to a center. lee: i know though that your intention also with code to inspire and all the other organizations you're involved with, you want to be able to advance education and to allow these girls and women to move forward, but you also want them to hang onto traditions, too, right? so it's that bridging of culture, tradition, but also modernization. fereshte: yeah, because, again, coming from afghanistan, it's a country which is very--has a very male-dominated culture and sometimes the e families when--n a--in rural places like villages they don't like that their daughter even become educated. forget about it if they wanna learn computer and coding. so that--so it was a reason

that i established code to inspire as a place that it's a very safe, secure environment, so we provided only for women and girls so they come to our coding school and they have their mentors, so they feel more comfortable in this educational environment that there's only girls. and the family are going to be happy that they send their daughter to a place which is only for the girls. so we just try to have the support of local community as much as we can because our success is actually in the hand of the support and in the hand of the support of the local community for sure. lee: fereshte, i think what's really fascinating about what you also are doing is you're advocating the idea of digital currenency, right, and the use f digital currency. that's a very advanced kind of idea and that's not even being adopted really by the western world too much at this point. why did you decide to do this in afghanistan already?

fereshte: sure. so, majority of the people are unbanked in afghanistan which definitely a lot of women are unbanked. majority of the transactions are cash-based and because of the weak financial infrastructure that we have and also e-commerce, we don't have these culture of using credit cards. lee: right. fereshte: and also, on the other hand, a lot of people, they don'trtrust e babank so morority thehe pple, t ty put thr r monein c casby themlvlves. d ababouthe women, againbebecausif, , as woman, i wan g go ancashsh o some mon, , and st o of e time, lot of fililies,heyy want you to w with male cocompanion,o you can't sisily travel byoyourse. lee: rig.. fereshte: sohahat's a a litation for u. and a o of the isissu de me tohink about"ok, thk about men, thi about a loof peoplwho are splaced and th don't have documentto show thbanks and theyan'create bank account." , with bcoin, which is crypturrency or gital currcy whiche call

it ch over iernet. sthe only thi you need an emai addrs to cree your wlet anyou inantly can nd or receive ney. the'actually alst zero e that ty charge y for traactions. and e mostmportanthing that i tnk abo the bitco as a crypturrency that i's empowerg money that c empower pple in deloping couries. especiallyor wom, it' rely impornt that e wome finanally includ in the global ecomy. sos thinki al as thgirls who e in our codi schoo imaginef yowanna fi a job f them onne and mority ofhem, th don'have a bk accoun at woulde a go option th they ceive thr mittanceand salaes througbitcoin.o it's an poweringool for and i thinit'also aery gooday ofinancial include women into t economy. le what out the erall potentl for theswomen th you' traininthrougcode to inspe? i mea thesere

sklsets th reallcould take tm prettyar, not st in afghanistan but around the world. so, what's your vision there for what they could possibly do? fereshte: so definitely, there are two different aspects. one aspect is the educational aspects of code to inspire that we want to encourage the girls to become interested to computer science, so we try to eliminate the gender gap and increase the number of women in tech. the other aspect is entrepreneurship aspect. we try to help the girls to be an entrepreneur, to be creative, come out--come up with their own idea and develop any products they want and we help them to introduce it to the market. but also, one of our ultimate goals and important goal is that to find job employment for them. again, this is a very important issue that majority of the women in afghanistan, they have a lot of challenges, job opportunity. we want to create--give them these certain skills that they feel

comfortable to apply to any job online, and they can work as freelance online and get paid online. lee: that's fantastic. fereshte forough, thank you so much for sharing your story. it's incredible work you're doing over there. so keep up the great work. fereshte: thank you very much. thank you very much for having me. thank you. lee: you're welcome. well, coming up next, could the cell phone because the classroom of the future? you'll find out. stay right there. according to the united nations, as of 2013, 6 billion of the world's 7 billion people have access to cell phones. now, that's more than the number of people who have access to toilets around the world. mobile phones have not only revolutionized the way we communicate. in many classrooms around the globe, mobile

technologies are increasing the power of learning. scott himelstein and steve vosloo know firsthand how these technologies are impacting education and improving learning opportunities. scott is the director of the university of san diego center for education policy and law and mobile technology learning center. steve is an expert in mobile learning with the specialization and information and communication technologies in developing countries. now, in 2009, he launched the m4lit or mobiles for literacy project. it demonstrates the potential of mobile publishing to support teen reading and writiting in s south africa and kenya. steve currently serves as head of mobile at pearson, south africa where he's responsible for setting ththe companany's mobile learning strategy and delivering key projects. scott himelstein is here with us in the studio and joining us from cape town via satellite is steve vosloo. welcome to you both. thank you so much for being here. scott: thank you. steve: t thanks very much.

lee: now s steve, let me begin with you. the number i just shared, 6 billion people worldwide have access to cell phones. that is a staggering figure. you have been quoted as saying--i'm gonna read this-- "mobile e learning i is no longn innovation with an institutional learning but a reflection of the world in which institutional learning takes place." what do you mean by that? steve: well, absolutely, you know, the way that mobile technologies have been taken up is really staggering, as you said. it's unprecedented that the world is so connected and can so easily cocommunicate and socialize and do business and learn. and what's interesting with mobile learning is ththat because mobile technologies were taken up really by people outside of the 4 walls of the classroom, now, for the first time, the education system, which is usually quite resistant to change and quite slow to change is catching upp

and realizing g the potential of having learners and students and teachers connected and having access to information. and it's almost trying to retrofit how we teach and how we learn i in this new and connected world. lee: that's so interesting, scott, isn't it? the idea that we're trying to retrofit and try to piece together and schools are a little bit behind from what the rest of the world is doing with technology. scott: exactly. so we are working--our mobile technology center are working with many districts here in southern california and across the nation. and probably the most interesting thing we've found is that our students are entering the schoolhouse doors knowing how to learn through mobile technology-- lee: right. scott: whether it's through videogames, their mom or dad's phones, some kind of device-- they expect to learn this way. and it's our school systems that are now trying to catch up because many of those school systems contain teachers that are ststill there

from when you and i went to school. lee: right. we didn't have computers back then. scott: right. and some of them adapt to technology very well, some a little bit, and some don't want anything to do with it. lee: right. scott: so it's a herculean effort to try to get these systems to catch up. lee: that's so interesting to try to bridge that huge gap. you don't really think about it until you see a system that's so antiquated-- scott: yeah. lee: as the school system vevers the outside world. steve, you're obviously working in south africa a k kenya, as i i mentioned inin the intro. what are you seeing in those communities when it comes to mobile learning because here's a system where, really, they're sort of jumping over the gap, aren't they, in many ways? steve: in many ways, they are, and i think that what everybody is beginning t to see is the massive potential for technology to support education. so in many countries arouound the world and especicially in developing countries, we know that education systems are under immense pressure. there aren''t

enenough teachers. there often aren't access to textbooks. there are learners in large classes, 70 or 80 students in a class.s. and so how can n we strengthen the education system to help it develop and help it to serve and to operate most efficiently in thosese very constrained environments? lee: rightht. steve: so, we see it across the board, across assessment, across providing access to information and to content, and also really connecting people who otherwise have not been connected. so whether it's teachers who are in rural schools, who, for the first time, ininstead of being isolated, can now talk to other teachers, even v via facebook or via whatsapp and share resources and support each other. so we see it across--we've s seen the impact of mobile technologies across a wide range of, kind of--of points within the education system. lee: steve, whatat about somethg even more basic than that in terms of just being able to

reach kids in areas where normally they might not even be able to get to school because of geographic challenges? steve: well, absolutely, you know, obviously mobile technology, as you said earlier, especially in africa has totally leapfrogged traditional technologies of landlines. lee: right. steve: so for example, in nigeria, 27% of the population now owns s smartone,e, a therere are 15illion mththly aivee users on facebook. inigeria, 1% of housolds hav a--have a ndndlineelephone so they'veve--mole t tecologyy has kind of enened uneww conntition oortutunies thaha wer't ssibibleefore,e,nd so by being able to rea p peopl in a new w, , you n dedelir content and yocacan al intera with th.. lee: right. right. steve: i must just say, though, that it's not all--it doesn't-t--it doesn't mean that there's a level playing field now. there also are a lot of people that are disconnectct,

and much of the technology uptake has been in, um, urban centers. so, a lot of worork still nenees to take place to get rural communities connected, um, and to get good, sustainable, scalable, and robust, you know, internet connectivity to them. lee: scott, the--it's a veryry different story obviously here in the u.s. i mean, everyone's connected. every kid seem to have--seems to have a mobile phone or some sort of computer device, right? scott: right. lee: so, what are the challenges for you in terms of trying to push the mobile learning? we talked earlier about the fact that schools need to catch up. but i got to--i got to be honest, when i hear about stuff like this, i'm like, "it's a great idea but is this--could this be detrimental because kids are already so addicted to their gadgets, they might not use it for that purpose of educucation but rather just having fun?" scott: well, look, some of the time, they aren't gonna be using it for educational purpose. i mean, that's a good thing-- lee: yeah.

scott: right? i mean, there's a lot of fun with devices. there's a--we want kids to explore, create things. so that's not all bad. i'd say some of the challenges are, while districts are in the process of catching up, building their infrastructure, in a recent survey, about 80% of the superintendents across the countrtry were very concncerned about equity of access to the internet at home, away from school. lee: oh. scott: so, maybe not everydydy s the type of brdbdband access th we would like. me paparents, due to economic reasons, worry about the cost of data plans. lee: sure. scott: so there's some challenges there. how are we gonna make up for that gap? lee: i was actu--yeah. scott: out of school, right? lee: that's true. because i was gonna ask you about the issues of infrastructure. right? about broadband, about data plans, about costs. i mean, we still have those issues here in the united states, too. sometimes, the system doesn't work. we make fun of it. "can you hear me now? can you hear me now?" yeah. so with those types of

issues-- scott: right. so-- lee: you've got to address that. scott: right. absolutely. and look at, you know, our school systems across the country. we have many classrooms that are 40 and 50 years old that actually can't carry the kind of pipes that you need-- lee: oh. scott: to get the broadband access. lee: sure. makes sense. scott: so this is about financing school construction, building classrooms that can use mobile technology efficiently, and then asking ourselves the question, "if we expect this of our children, do we have a dutuy to provide that access 24/7 outside the classroom as well?" these are tough political-- lee: yeah. i was-- scott: and economic questions. lee: i was just gonna say, you knowow, that takes money. scott: it does. lee: that takes resources. so, where do you get that? and that also then takes agreement on the part of local, state, federal government. scott: absolutely. and that's where, you know, these policy discussions, uh... come in. we, as a nation, need to decide if that's

important. and if it is important, to what extent can we afford that? lee: that's right. that's right. steve, let me you ask you the same question. you know, when it comes to fundamentals, we are talking about infrastructure issues, too. i'm sure in africa, that's probably even a bigger issue in many ways. steve: it definitely is, yes. and, you know, there are--there are innovative ways to get around that. there's a great project in south africa a where we--we've implemented--not we, i mean, the project has implemented-d--with 26 schools n a deep, rural area, a tablet were allowed. those schools don't even have electricity, some of them. they certainly don't have internet connectivity. but they've put down local servers with local content and created local networks so o at those s schools can talk to each other and at least begin to create content and access that local content that's been produced there. we're also doing--pearson is doing a project with one of the departments of education at also very rural schools, but

there, we are working with an infrastructure partner to get connectivity to those e schools for their learning management system in those tablets. so, i think it's really--it's about partnerships. and as scott said, it's really about policy. lee: right. right. steve, can you give me an--a specific example of maybe a student or a school that has been positive--positivelympacacted by the use of mobile learning technology? steve: sure. you know, i'll give you a personal exaxample. the project that you mentioned earlier where there are the mobiles for literacy, we really wantnted to publish short storis and poems and even classic literature like "macbeth" and make those available on mobile phones, knowing that books are very rare and very expensive--printed books-- in many--in many countries including south africa. and i received an email from a teacher to say, you know, "thank goodness that you put 'macbeth' on these phones because our kids--our kids are

studying 'macbeth' this year and they don't have the textbooks." you know, they don't have enough to go around, and so they could access the, you know, those books in digital format. lee: that's great. steve: now, that was a good few years ago. you know, now we're working closely with the government. obviously, pearson has a strong publisher history. and so we're working with the government to get tablets out there, to o t e-books,s, you knknow, onto tablets, and to try and kind of complement the print and digital. and i think--you know, i don't think we alwlways need to haveve an either/or scenario. sometimes, print and paper is great, sometimes digital and mobile is grgreat. lee: all right. steve: and we--we can kind of leverage the best of both worlds in different scenarios. lee: totallyly agree with you, steve. well, scott, i know here, one of youour programs is s using minecraft, the videogame-- scott: yeah. lee: to teach students about coding. scott: uh-hmm. yes. lee: and, again, i have to be that cynic that's like, "wait a minute. well, you're talking about videogames with kids. are they gonna really focus on learning something?"

especially something as advanced as coding, but how is that working out? scott: so, it's great. this is a kind of a medium-sized district in san diego county and the district really has set up one particular campus called a coding campus. the kids come in during school, before school, after school, and through the use of minecraft, are learning to code computer language. lee: wow. scott: they're learning about spatial relationships on a commuter--computer. so, it's a way to attract these kids-- lee: yeah. scott: to learn coding, math, science--all of the things that we want to teach. the only difference here, may, is we're delivering content through a mobile device. lee: right. scott: where, as we said, sometimes, yes, print is good, but as we move further down this roroad, kids are devououring cot through a device. lee: that's all-- scott: and we have to realize that. lee: that's so commonplace.

i mean, that is what feels natural to them, which is pretty incredible. scott: right. lee: final question to you both, and we'll start with you, scott. scott: ok. lee: how do you see mobile technology developing in the next 10 years? i mean, what do you--if you look down the road 10 years ahead, what do you think we're gonna see? scott: well, i think we're already seeing it. so, across this country, school districts are passing policies that says, "we are no longer buying textbooks." lee: yeah. scott: "all of our content is gonna be delivered to our students through their devices." lee: device, yup. scott: right, it's just--it's--we're gonna continue on that road. i think teachers are gonna get much, much b bettr at teaching that way. so, whereas before, a teacher stood before a class, 25 students in rows-- lee: uh-hmm. with a chalkboard. scott: with a chalkboard. that's changing. they're putting students in groups. they're moving around. they're letting kids work as teams on projects. the kids use all sorts of sources for their information, not a textbook. lee: right.

scott: but can go anywhere, anytime, anyplace. lee: it's amazing, isn't it, how far we've come in just like a couple decades? and, steve, i'm gonna ask you the same thing. when you look down the road 10 years ahead, what are you gonna see, especially where you are in africa? steve: well, you know, i--i i he that we go the same route as--as scott just described. and i would really l like to see mobile learning becoming much more personalized and learning systems becoming much more adaptive. and i think that mobile i is so personal inin so many ways. it's so intimate because you take it around with you not just at school, but at home. that if you could get a truly personalized learning systems, an adaptive systems 10 years from now, your educational experience would be much more--much richer, and i think much more effective. lee: yeah. well, let's hope so. but i think we're on the right track. as long as kids are learning, that''s a gogood thin, right? so, gentlemen, thank you to you both for being here. it was a great conversation. scott: yeah. great. glad to be here. lee: all right. . ok. we'll be

right back with this week's "full frame" close-up. you stay right there. the state of maine historically is known as a majority white state. but the state's largest city, portland, is home to resettlement communities for families across the globe. as the city's demographics shift, one tiny non-profit arts group is reaching out to help immigrant and refugee teens feel part of their wider community. the telling room runs an after-school program that gives these new students a place to practice english and share their personal stories through writing. in this week's close-up, "full frame" takes a look at this unique educational program. boy: i heard heavy knocks on the

door that would wake a person from a coma. girl: nobody was home. the candle was out. boy: the rage, son, the rage. that's the rage. can you feel it? can you feel it? d damn it. girl: when approaching someone, we don't smile. we wondered whether we deserve any hellos. we started to question... girl: [indistinct] feelings is burning, but it's protected from the sun, but my mom working anand getting tirered is not. mom, i wonder what you felt when we were laughing. girl: a lovely 14-years-old bride, but in my eyes' reflection, all i saw was frightened, happy, worried, perplexed 14-years-old girl. boy: my whole family was under the threat of being killed. until this day, i could still feel the warmth of my grandparents' tears on my face when they kissed my forehead for the last time. those were my last moments in iraq, and that was the last time i everer got o

see my grandparentnts. [woman crying] salim: i was born in mosul, iraq, , and i was raised there r most of my life. in 2008, we seek refuge in t turkey, and we began as refugees for the united natitions there,e, then came to portland, maine, in 2010. a a lot of the challenges that, um, i faced when i moved here was adapting culturally, and that's--obvbviously, like, that soundsds really cliche, , but, u know, there is a lot that goes into it. when i was in 6th grade, i became labeled as a joke to my mainstream classmates due to my

lack of confidence, my limited english vocabulary, and my newness to the country. in 8th grade, i had heard a lot about telling room, and i actually went on a field trip and i came here to this building. people from different ethnic backgrounds, people from different races, um, religions, and, you know, i realizezed that i wasn't the only one that had a story.

woman: you've been working really hard for the last 8 weeks to get thehe storiesusust right, and you have one day, next thursday, to stand up in front of an audience of people you know and people you don't know to share that story with them. sonya: there will be tears or goose bumps from several audience membersrs, and i love that you're gonna get that feeling reciprocated back to you and know what that feels like to share that. i'm so excited. boy: i wanna thank molly and sonya to give us opportunity to tell the--our story to the people to give--to teach them our culture. uh, we are ready. we can do it. thank you. all: yeah! woman: so, once we get the kids excited about telling a story and we start getting it out onto paper, then the mentors are asking them to consider "how could you make this more vivid?" or "how can you slow this down and reallyly bring your reader into this moment?" "what

techniques do you have to use?" man: so, i do a lot of work with actors on how w to present themselves and how to speak well. the idea is to make it sound as real and as true to yourselflf as you cacan and reay speak from the heart, and it will--it will gogo well. girl: and this m moves right ovr here. boy: that's fine. it's double space. girl: so, that's gonna be the same page. boy: double space. salim: these stories have so much value, and giving the minorities a a voice in n the community, that's what the telling roroom is alall about. woman: oh! boy: how's it going? good to see you. molly: hi, everybody. this is an amazing crowd. thanknk you so much for coming today. i'm molly haley anand i'm so fortunate to be able to workrk with the 15 students in the young writers & leaders program and co-teach it with sonya here. sonya: hi. i'm sonya. i'm, like, forgetting my lines. this is so exciting to look out at you.

for those of you that this is your first time to the program, it is our yearlong writing program open exclusively to international students. molly: it means so much to us and the students that you came out to support their voices and their storytelling today. woman: one of the basic human needs is to be able to tell your story and to comome to a c couny where you may not speak the language because you speak 3 others before you learn english. to have a place where you can be heard is about the greatest gift that a place to be listened to and to tell their stories. please, welcome her, atani abdullahi. [applause] atani: i am a strong young lady who loves to be with people and who knows one day she will achieve her dreams. boy: but, , son, learn before 's too latete and rigight before yu make misistakes and acactually

prevent them from happening. girl: and i saw that she cared because i actually saw her smile.e. [applause] chris: thihimentor/mentetee relatitionship.... [laughter] is very tricky, you u know, like, it getets stood onon its head evevery time. i i mean, jut whwho is doingng the teachching? so--so, thank you for all that you've taught me. boy: buildings fall down. blood street is bleeding. i combat in my heaven. [indistinct] girl: i see my mother baking bread under the... salim: having a program like this can be very, very effective to teach others about, you know, where we come from, why are we here, why didn't we end up in other places, and what choices did d we have toto make endnd p here. i lived inside a category for years, but i wanted to be more than just a category. i did not

want to be known as the immigrant kid. i did not want to be known as the iraqi kid. i did not want to be known as that kid who doesn't know what's said to him half the time because english wasn't his primary language, because that kid has a name. his name is salim aman salim, so i took a risk. i took the risk of stepping out of my comfort zone and exploring what's outside e y circle. taking risks has brought me from mosul, iraq to portland, maine. it has brought me from being a joke in middle school to getting elected as school president. boy: salim! [boy talking indistinctly] ok, salim! salim: the advice i would give to a new immigrant that's living here is definitely don't be afraidid to explore. the opportunities won't come to you. you have to go looking for them and one thing will lead you to another. and eventually you'll start building your life here, but it takes time, and it takes a lot of effort at the

beginning. lee: and that's it for this week. join the conversation with us on social media. we are cctv_america on twitter, facecebook, and youtube. and now you can watch "full frame" on our new mobile app available worldwide on any smartphone for free. get the latest news headlines and connect to us on facebook, twitter, youtube, and weibo. search cctv america on your app store to download today. and, of course, all of our interviews can still be found online at cctv-america.com and let us know what you'd like us to take "full frame" next. simply email us at fullframe@cctv-america.com. until then, i'm may lee in los angeles. we'll see you next time.

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