w. kamau bell." please welcome w. kamau bell. ( cheers and applause ) >> trevor: welcome to the show, my friend. >> thank you for having me back, sir. >> trevor: great to have you. just for the few of you asking themselves, no, this is not "quest love." ( laughter ). >> nor is it "dr. cornell west." >> trevor: you get that. be honest. >> i have signed autographs. i've kissed baby as quest love. >> trevor: welcome back to the show. you're going around america >> you're doing great. >> trevor: you're doing a great job. your show on cnn is coming back, "united shades of america." you're going around america, you're meeting crazy people-- let's be honest. but this sunday was interesting, you had richard spencer on the show. >> yes. >> trevor: who is a nazi. >> yeah. >> trevor: who says he's not, but he is. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> trevor: and people came up to you and said, "hey, man. why did you have him on the show? why are you giving this guy a platform? why did you have him on the show? >> i'm not afraid of richard spen

w. kamau bell.nk you very much. >> thank you very much. >> sreenivasan: tonight, reflections from author brian castner, who offers his humble opinion on why he felt most at home overseas, fighting what he calls, "the forever war." >> it's a little odd to be a veteran of a war that doesn't end. i did three tours, got home from iraq a decade ago. you think you've moved on, put the war in its place. and then you see tomahawk cruise missile strikes on cable news, and you're reminded that your war isn't over, it's just gone on without you. some of us call it the "forever war." the invasions of afghanistan and iraq, bombing libya and yemen, raids all over africa. and now, army rangers and marine corps artillery and those tomahawks in syria. it's already the longest war in american history, and i've given up thinking peace is coming any time soon. our nation has an all-volunteer military, and people join for lots of reasons: education, sense of adventure, patriotism. but staying in the military, racking up

w. kamau bell finding many muslims who call it home. city council in america. here is what kamau discovered about life for those muslims. >> reporter: tell my why islam is weirder than christianity again? >> muslims do have to face northeast, towards mecca, a daily reminder that we're all one. the point of the prayers is to keep that connection going, to give you a sample this is what we will be reciting tonight. that's the translation of it. >> reporter: this is the translation. for a second i thought, oh, my gosh, i can read arabic. it is working already. >> reporter: before a formal prayer there's a traditional cleanse, and you can tell i was committed because i don't just wet my afro for anybody. >> w. kamau bell is joining me. i like the end of that clip there. it makes us all want more. before we talk about muslims in america, let's talk a little bit about the country that is home to mecca. president trump, his speech this morning in saudi arabia on islam, you said you would be watching closely. what did you make of the president'

w. kamau bell.s a comedian, i've made a living finding humor in the parts of america i don't understand, and now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience all the cultures and beliefs that add color to this crazy country. this is the "united shades of america." ♪ >> normally when i think about america's original sin, i'm thinking abo slavery. but if i'm honest, americans started screwing up before that. before america had a name, the cake was already being baked, christopher columbus landed in the caribbean and said, hello, indians. and the people said, nope, you're way west of india, pal. instead of columbus saying, what should i call you, he said, hello, west indians. the treatment of the indigenous people of this country is a story of massacres, sexual assault, serial lies and betrayals that were all wiped from the pages of american history books by two words. happy thanksgiving. but in the last year, a movement has emerged that began as a dispute between

w. kamau bell. as a comedian i've made a living finding humor in the parts of america i don't understand. and now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience all the cultures and beliefs that add color to this crazy country. this is the "united shades of america." ♪ america the statue of liberty, look at her. she's one of the most iconic and important images in america. she can only be more american if her torch burned pure coal. her full name is liberty enlightening the world. the french gave her to us after the civil war as a symbol of liberty and equality, and as a way to say, now that you went through that hell, it can only be up from here. ♪ to shining sea but it wasn't until emma lazarus's poem was added to lady liberty in 1903 that she took on the meaning she has today. since then the words "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" have been a fancy way to say there ain't no party like an american party because an amer

w. kamau bell, as a comedian, i've find humor living in parts of america i don't understand. now, i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience the cultures and beliefs that led to this great country. this is "the united shades of america." >>> it seems like every time you turn on the news, you can see conflict between communities of color and the police. and this is causing many people to wonder, what has happened? well, i'll tell you, nothing has happened, other than technology making it easier to document what has been going on for centuries. it started when the first puritan got off the mayflower. he told the first native american he saw to keep it moving or he was going to get a ticket for loitering. now communities of color are banding together to figure out ways to organize and let the cops know, we're not going to take it. because a white guy who kills nine people gets arrested like this. and a black guy who sells loose cigarettes gets arrested like this. so this week, i'm headed to one of the cities most often cited when the subje

w. kamau bell.s a comedian, i've made a living finding humor in the parts of america i don't understand. now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience all the cultures and beliefs that add color to this crazy country. this is the "united shades of america." to explore the vast topic that is latinos in america, i'm in los angeles. los angeles has a population of 3.8 million people, and nearly half of them are of latino descent, and the rest of them are kardashians or married to a kardashian or waiting for a kardashian to get divorced so they can marry them. i'm looking at you, khloe. formally normally when i go to l.a. i go to hollywood or beverly hills for my big-time show business meetings with my big-time show business agents who never return my calls. big-time. but this week i'm going east, east l.a. and boyle heights. those neighborhoods are just slightly more latino than the rest of l.a. by slightly, i mean they're both well over 90% latino. east l.a. an

w. kamau bell.'m on a mission to reach out and add expansion to the culture and beliefs that add color to this crazy country. this is the "united shades of america." the statue of libler at this, look at her. she's one of the most iconic and important images in america. she can only be more american if her torch burned pure coal. her full name is liberty enlightening the world. the french gave her to us after the civil war as a symbol of liberty and equality, and as a way to say, now that you went through that hell, it can only be up from here. but it wasn't until emma lazarus's poem was added to lady liberty in 1903 that she took on the meaning she has today. since then, give your your tire, your poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free. a fancy way to say there ain't no party like an american party because an american party don't stop. well just like they accidentally nt out the invite to the people, some hosts are trying to take the invitation back. >> w can't let these people come into our

w. kamau bell laugh? find out at www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: djibouti is a tiny country of 850,000 people near the horn of africa and the gateway to the suez canal, one of the world's busiest shipping routes. its strategic location has also made djibouti a prized spot for military bases. there are bases from its former colonial ruler, france, as well as the united states and now china. in tonight's signature segment, special correspondent martin seemungal reports on how djibouti came to roll out a welcome mat to the world. >> reporter: djibouti is one of the hottest, driest, places on earth. vast areas are semi-arid desert. there are no natural resources. the official unemployment rate is 50%. life for many is difficult. but djibouti does have one very valuable asset: its location, where the red sea meets the gulf of aden-- a crossroads to the suez canal, the persian gulf, the indian ocean and the east african coast-- strategic for countries from all over the world that have military outposts he

w. kamau bell.s a comedian, i've made a living finding humor in the parts of america i don't understand. and now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience all the cultures and beliefs that add color to thiscountry. this is the "united shades of america." >>> chicago, illinois, not only helps define america to americans but defines america to the rest of the world, which makes sense because chicago has been home to many of the most influential cult aural icons. people like oprah winfrey, michael jordan, kanye west, shonda rhimes. these two and even this cultural icon. hey. i spent my awkward teenage years on the south side. there's the restaurant that didn't hire me. and look at the two dorks with the cool guy in the middle. that's jason and rob. i'm the one in the middle. chicago isn't only famous, we're also infamous. like m.c. al capone. and chicago isn't ashamed of this history. you can literally go on a bus tour of al's greatest hits. that's where he sent

w. kamau bell. as a comedian i've made a living finding humor in the parts of america i don't understand. and now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and exence all the cultures and beliefs that add color to this crazy country. this is "the united shades of america." ♪ >>> learning aut america means sometimes reaching across the aisle. and this week i'm reaching way across the aisle to the ku klux klan. hopefully, when i'm done reaching, i still have my hand. my first stop in this what the hell am i thinking tour is to meet with an arkansas leader of the kkk. according to kkk rhetoric, there's a new klan in town. they're no longer anti-black. they're just pro-white. and nothing says new klan like hanging out with a black dude. for those of you tuning in to racism late, here's a quick refresher. the klan was initially founded after the civil war by a group of confederate soldiers who were all like, dang, but we wasn't finishing oppressing black folks yet. since then, w

w. kamau bell. as a comedian i made a living in parts of america i don't understand. now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience all the cultures and beliefs that add color to this crazy country. this is the "united shades of america." whether america as a whole wants to talk about it or not, america has always had heroes who were muslims. muhammad ali, kareem dul-bbar and malcolm x are examples of the best of us. they have been held up as quintessential americans. how quintessential? muhammad ali was a winner twice. a true american hero. when i was a kid i kind of wished i was a muslim, specifically the nation of islam. they looked cool, talked cool, and they were at the front lines of the civil rights movement. you may remember in the 90s a muslim louis farakan got a million men to march peacefully. maybe beyonce. >> i'm quoting here, an intentional act. >> but oh, how times have changed. >> a bangladeshy born taxi driver is recovering from knife wuchbds to his face, neck and hands all with the designation of hate crimes. >

w. kamau bell. >> what's up, man? >> good to see you. >> good to see you, too.than a tent that you buy like at a store. >> right. >> you can have a fire in there. you can't have a fire in a regular old tent. >> and why can't you have a fire in a regular tent? >> because it's made of plastic and it will burn up. >> oh, thank you. i don't camp a lot. >> ideally buffalo robes, you could hang buffalo robes in it and that could survive negative 40 degree weather. >> it's going to be cold like that shortly. >> yeah. >> you'll be able to survive in this? >> no. ideally you'd survive in it, but this is not the buffalo hide teepee i could survive in negative 40 degree weather. >> what are you going to do? >> there's a hotel up the road. >> i'm so focused on the old ways, i forget there are new ways. >> we live in both worlds. we walk two paths. [ laughter ] >> despite my painful ignorance, i've been invited into the teepee for a fire side chat with the guys and their friend tabitha. >> thank you for inviting me into the teepee. tabatha, nice to meet you. >> nice to meet

w. kamau bell travels to hear about some of the struggles native americans are grappling with. >> what doricans in this country? >> people don't realize how tough it is on the reservation. >> reporter: 97% of the people here live below the poverty line. >> we have all of these issues and there's no help. >> we need more resources. >> tribal nations have a history of being disempowered. we were ee mamasculated. it harms the youth to see this stereotype. can you imagine a team called the asians? >> they like us in the 1800s. >> they like us in the 1800s, too. >> i am benedict arnold, the infamous trader. get off the computer traitor! i won't. (cannon sound) i won't. nobody does underwater stunts, sylvia. except me, of course. this is my stop. adios! ♪ if you're a stuntman, you cheat death. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. número uno! tech: when your windshield needs to be fixed... trust safelite autoglass. for these parents, driving around was the only way to get their baby to sleep. so when their windshie

w. kamau bell. as a comedian, i've made a living finding humor in the parts of america i don't understand. and now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience all of the cultures and beliefs that add color to this crazy country. this is "the united shades of america." ♪ >>> ah, the san francisco bay area, my home. when the producers told me we were shooting our next episode in the bay, i couldn't wait. so many stories to be told here. the tech industry is pushing working class people out of san francisco. oakland is the birthplace of the black panthers. hell, bruce lee even lived here. well, the producers looked at me and said the four words no person ever wants to hear. you're going to prison. right across the bay, just 12 miles from san francisco, sits san quentin prison. one of america's most famous and infamous prisons. this place locked up the best of the worst, from serial killers to presidential assassins to maybe the worst husband of all time. but it ha

w. kamau bell.s a comedian i made a living in finding humor in parts of america i don't understand and now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience all the cultures and beliefs that add color to this crazy country. this is the "united shades of america." whether america as a whole wants to talk about it or not, america has always had heroes who were muslims. muhammad ali, kareem abdul-jabbar, and malcolm x are examples of the best of us. they have been held up as quintessential americans. how quintessential? muhammad ali was an olympic hero twice. malcolm x is on a stamp. and kareem abdul sxwrash was in the movie "airplane." a true american hero. when i was a kid i kind of wished i was a muslim, specifically the nation of islam. they looked cool, talked cool, and they were at the front lines of the civil rights movement. you may remember in the '90s, a muslim man named luis farrakhan mah pcefully in washington,to d. there are only a couple of people i can th