Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20161018

Their children in school. Sreenivasan all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. 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. Woodruff its three weeks to go till election day, just 24 hours until the last president ial debate, and charges of vote fraud and media bias are swirling. Today, the current occupant of the white house dismissed such talk, and rebuked the candidate behind it. It was a rose garden welcome for the italian prime minister, and president obama used it to call out donald trump on his claims of a rigged election. You start whining before the game is even over . If whenever things are going badly for you or you lose, you start blaming somebody else . Then you dont have what it takes to be in this job. Woodruff trump shot back this afternoon in Colorado Springs that they even want to try and rig the election at the polling booths, where so many cities are corrupt, and you see that, and voter fraud is all too common. And then they criticize us for saying that. Woodruff running mate mike pence joined in, visiting Republican Party offices in Rural North Carolina that were firebombed over the weekend, he insisted voter fraud is a reality, and called for voters to be on the lookout encouraging supporters to take the opportunity to be involved in a respectful way to provide accountability at polling places. Woodruff pence also complained of media bias and what he called scant coverage of negative news about clinton. The latest such news involved communications between the f. B. I. And a Senior State Department official who wanted one of clintons emails reclassified. It was not. But last night, in green bay, wisconsin, trump charged theres collusion in the Obama Administration to help clinton. The candidates wife, melania, was on cnn, claiming that the Sexual Assault allegations against her husband are not true. I believe my husband. I believe my husband. This was all organized from the opposition. Woodruff former People Magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff is one of the accusers she stated that trump forced himself on her in 2005, and today the publication reported that six of her colleagues and Close Friends corroborate her account. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton remained out of the public eye today, even as poll after poll offered her good news. The Washington Post reported she has a clear advantage in the latest survey of battleground states. And a usa today poll found 68 of young voters favor the democratic nominee, to 20 for trump. All of this sets the stage for tomorrow nights third and final encounter between the two nominees, this one, in las vegas. Sreenivasan in the days other news, iraqi forces slowed their advance on mosul, in its second day, as they reached larger towns on the outskirts. Humanitarian groups warned the citys one Million People could face a disaster. But president obama said plans are in place to avert a crisis. Well explore the situation in mosul, later in the program. Woodruff next door in syria, russian and syrian fighter jets halted strikes on aleppo today, ahead of their call for a short term stop to all fighting on thursday. Its meant to allow humanitarian aid into the ravaged city. But in moscow, the Russian Defense minister warned militant groups to evacuate, when the fighting stops. translated we call on the leadership of countries that have influence over armed groups in eastern aleppo to convince their leaders to stop military action and abandon the city. Everyone really interested in the fastest possible stabilization of the situation take genuine political steps and not continue shuffling political papers. Woodruff thursdays pause in the fighting is set to last eight hours. A United Nations spokesman complained today thats not nearly enough time to get humanitarian convoys in and out of aleppo. Sreenivasan a temporary halt to the fighting in yemen is also in the works. The countrys warring factions agreed today to a 72hour cease fire, beginning shortly before midnight wednesday. Its to allow muchneeded humanitarian aid to be delivered. Woodruff in iran, a court has sentenced an iranian american businessman and his father to 10 years in prison, each. Siamak namazi was detained a year ago. His 80yearold father was arrested in february. Todays announcement says they were sentenced for cooperating with the hostile government of america. Sreenivasan back in this country, for a fifth straight year, Social Security recipients and federal retirees will get just a tiny bump in benefits. The annual costofliving hike announced today is threetenths of a percent. The average monthly Social Security payment is 1,238 dollars. That means the increase for the coming year will be less than 4 a month. Woodruff stocks closed higher on wall street today, lifted by strong earnings in the the Dow Jones Industrial average gained 75 points to close at 18,161. The nasdaq rose 44 points, and the s p 500 added 13. Sreenivasan and, the original ruby slippers from the wizard of oz will get a makeover, if the smithsonian can raise 300,000. Its asking the public to help, on the crowdfunding website kickstarter. The ruby slippers are nearly 80 years old, and showing their age, at the National Museum of Natural History in washington. The institution wants to repair them and build a new display. Still to come on the newshour whats driving the idea that the media is rigging the election. A tight race in nevada as democrats try to take back the senate. The looming humanitarian crisis in iraq, and much more. Woodruff claims of news media bias in politics are certainly nothing new. But what of Donald Trumps accusations that the press is actually responsible for rigging the president ial election against him . To explore that notion, we are joined by Jim Rutenberg, media columnist for the New York Times, and bob lichter, director of the center for media and Public Affairs at george mason university. We welcome both of you to the program. Im going to start with you, bob lichter. Donald trump is saying that the media an im quoting, that the election is being rigged by what he calls the dishonest, distorted media pushing Hillary Clinton. Youve studied the American Media for, what, decades . Is there a grain of truth to what he says . Well, when people say the maida are biased, they usually mean somebody is getting too much attention, more than he deserves and his coverage is more favorable than he should get. Donald trump is a news magnet. He gets more attention than anybody else, but a lot of that attention compares him either with hitler or mussolini, so study shows what our eyes see that, trump gets a lot of coverage, that his coverage is very negative, he has managed the considerable feat of getting more negative coverage than Hillary Clinton, who has issues in her own right, so you could make a case there is bias. I think the question is whether the traditional definitions of bias apply to such a nontraditional candidate as donald trump. Woodruff Jim Rutenberg, how do you see this . You write about this stuff frequently for the times. I think i would agree with that assessment to a degree. One thing is that Donald Trumps candidacy has been so amazing and hazouri this it has this cantlookaway quality. He says things were not used to hearing. Some of the things are about appearances of women, what have you, what we heard on the access hollywood leaked tape of him discussing his behavior with women, the description of groping, the press is going to cover that and its going to be negative, but it is what it is, a pretty accurate description of what he said in that tape for instance. Woodruff take us a little bit further. What donald trump, bob lichter, what donald trump is saying is that the media is in collusion with the clinton campaign. What evidence is there that that could possibly be true . Well, theyve been so nice to her about her emails is a piece of evidence. Its perfectly obvious, and studies show that her coverage is more negative than positive. Woodruff there was one story about a member of the Clinton Organization passing along information ahead of a debate. Is that right . Yep. There was that one story. And then there is the issue of her not turning these over, which has been raised many, many times by donald trump and by journalists. So i think theyre just. There isnt a case that can be made that the media have gone soft of Hillary Clinton. Shes not getting great coverage either. Woodruff in fact, and bob lichter just referred to this, Jim Rutenberg, the media, especially television media, can be credited for giving donald trump a lot of air time, a lot of print space during the primary period. This drove his republican competitors for the nomination crazy. There was one analysis that my newspaper wrote about where the figure that was used in terms of free media, this was the value of the extra air time he got from the News Networks was some 2 billion. No candidate came close. So he draws the cameras. It can be a good thing for him. Sometimes its a bad thing for him. Right now its not going so well. Woodruff how do you put this in historical perspective, bob lichter . We know the role of the press has changed in this country. I mean, you have talked about how 17th, 18th centuries, we had a Partisan Press in the United States. Donald trump should go back a couple hundred years and see the nasty things that were said about adams and jefferson. Its only the 20th century that the press has taken on the role of being an objective arbiter, trying to be fair and balanced and objective. In a way it releases journalists from the responsibility of saying im presenting this from my point of view. Its nobodys point of view. Im being fair all around. Donald trump makes that really hard to do. This is man who insults members of his own party. He bullies his opponents. He says things that are demonstrably untrue. What do you do with that as a journalist to be objective without becoming negative in a way that opens you to charges of media bias . I think trump has done a good job of defaming the media to some degree. Woodruff Jim Rutenberg, you have also written about how donald trump has singled out the press at his Campaign Rallies to the point where members of the press have felt uncomfortable and worse. Well, two Major Networks are now using security at his rallies, and its a kind of hell direct the crowd at the assembled press. And i have covered many rallies in my career where that hasnt happened with the exception of maybe sarah palin toward the end of 08 and when she was flirting with her own president ial run. Other colleagues i have talked to who are much older than i am referred me back the George Wallace and some of his rallies were tense. The National Guard was there protecting the press. But this is insane territory to be in as a country where this is a conversation were having. Woodruff Jim Rutenberg, staying with you, i want to come back to something you quoted this week in one of your columns. A Senior Editor at the web site american conservative, rob drayer i think is how you say his name, he said, mainstream journalists are interested in every kind of diversity except the kind that would challenge their own prejudices, those include bigotry against conservative religion, bigotry against rural folks and bigotry against workingclass and poor white people. Thats pretty sweeping, isnt it . Its a sweeping generalization, but that said, were not perfect, and for what most of our conversations so far have been a defense of the press, but the press, lets face it, a big part of the country is primed to believe what donald trump is telling them about the press, and the press needs to definitely take a look at itself and look if there is something to it. There is a cultural mindset that i think even goes across the ideological divide of the mainstream news media. The wall street journal editorial page and the New York Times editorial page agree on certain things like free trade that this crowd feels is, you know, threatening their livelihoods and their country. Woodruff at the same time, we know that. You have talked, bob lichter, about the need for american, frankly for journalists to rethink the way we write about, not just donald trump, but the people who have been supporting donald trump. I think Jim Rutenberg was quite right. Journalists, National Media journalists are part of an elite, and they know government elites, they know business elites, and its these elites that donald trump is running against, and as a result, he stirs the populism of his supporters who also feel that the elites are running away with the country, although i think its overstated to say that these are kind of pez ntses with pitchforks. There is a kind of bice in that portrayal of his supporters. There are some of those people, but they obviously wouldnt be running in the 40 odd percent of the public if there were nobody like that. Woodruff no question about that. Bob lichter, Jim Rutenberg, thank you both very much. Woodruff from the press, we turn to nevada for the newshours latest ontheground report. A split amongst republicans, paired with sluggish growth in construction, means jobs are front and center, and a Key Senate Race is now in play. John yang reports, part of our continuing series on poverty and opportunity in america, chasing the dream. When news breaks, we talk about it. This is news talk 840 a. M. Yang the sun rises over t yang the sun rises over the nevada desert, one day closer to the election, and heidi harris is talking to the biggest audience of any las vegas morning radio talk show host. A hot topic the very tight Senate Contest between republican joe heck and democrat Catherine Cortez masto. I tried to watch the debate, i did. Therefore i cannot in good conscience continue to support donald trump. Yang heck shook up the race when he jumped off the donald trump bandwagon after the now infamous access Hollywood Tape surfaced. Now some Trump Supporters say theyre dumping heck like rob. Were trying to send a message. We put donald trump there for a reason, and thats how i feel. Ill be voting for donald and the ballot questions, but not for joe heck. Yang harris, a reluctant Trump Supporters, says she hears that a lot from listeners. I dont know how many of them are going to vote for her instead of him, Catherine Cortez masto, but i think theyre going to stay home and not vote for heck, which essentially gives her a free vote. Reporter with early voting about to begin, its become a big campaign issue. Heck was pressed on his about face last week in a televised debate. He said it was a personal decision. As an emergency room doctor, ive taken care of too many women whove been victims of Sexual Assault. My wife was a victim of Domestic Abuse in a previous relationship. Reporter cortes masto wasnt buying it. Lets call this for what it is congressman heck was worried about his political career. Yang it was hecks last public appearance before leaving for a weeklong army reserve assignment at the pentagon, where hes general heck. Nevadas desert and mountains can feel remote, but its politics are surprisingly typical since 1908, it has failed to vote for winner of the white house just once. And this year it may decide who controls the Senate Analysts say its republicans best shot at winning a democraticheld seat. Its attracting outsized interest and money. Who else has sunk millions in to elect joe heck . Nearly 49 million worth of ads, many in spanish in this state thats about 30 latino. Whoever wins the race will become only the fifth person to elected to the seat since 1933, replacing Senate Democratic leader harry reid whos retiring after 30 years in office. Heck served in the Nevada State Senate and was elected to the house in 2010. Cortes masto is a former federal prosecutor and twoterm Nevada Attorney general. Even before his unendorsement, heck said he disagreed with trumps remarks about women and minorities. This week, cnn published an audio tape of heck, authenticated by his campaign, at closed a las vegas fundraiser. I want to support him, i really do, but he has got to change his tone and hes got to be i dont want to make him into a politician or make him into the same thing he is running against. But he has got to realize he is not going to win this race by appealing to the 20 or 30 of the Republican Base yang gun storeowner bob irwin, a republican backing trump, said hes disappointed by hecks decision, which he blames on new campaign advisors. I think the new guys are trying to make a politician out of him. Hes not a politician. I thought he should just simply rise above the fray and talk about obamacare and creating jobs by changing the tax structure to bring businesses into the country and so forth yang while disappointed, he says hell still vote for heck. Iowa republican senator joni ernst, a trump supporter standing in for heck this weekend, seemed to open the door to ticketsplitting. We need to separate the president ial race from what is really important right now the United States senate race as well. Thats what joe is running for. Yang cortez masto welcomes Hillary Clintons embrace, appearing with her last week in las vegas. Theres going to be things that we disagree on, but thats part of the process, right . And then we Work Together and find compromise along the way. Thats how it should work. Yang president obama will visit to campaign for her this coming weekend. The onomy is a big issue in both the senate and president ial races, which polls show both very close. No state boomed like nevada until the recession, when it went bust like no other state. When the real estate bubble burst, the Carpenters Union went from 18 million manhours a year to two million. Frank hawk is the unions business manager. 2009 we had a record amount of suicides in out local here. We were losing about 15 a month to suicides. People were cashing in their retirement to save their houses only to lose them anyway. 2010, we had a record amount of cardiac arrests for people under 45 and that was due to stress. Yang the union backed heck when he ran for the house, but now theyre behind cortes masto, with members going doortodoor for her and the rest of the democratic ticket. David damore is a political scientist at the university of nevada las vegas. Whats missing from the return here of the economy is those construction jobs. Those were a real driver and as opposed to being, you know, 10 an hour jobs, theyre 30, 40 an hour jobs there and they have yang that bluecollar frustration is driving some of trumps support. Hes also, of course, mobilizing White Working Class whites and he did very, very you have a smaller share of collegeeducated people in nevada, so some of the sort of Cultural Movement away from the Republican Party isnt quite so strong in nevada. Trump is mobilizing latino voters in a way we havent seen. Sunday night on the west side of las vegas, friends and family gathered for dinner in the kitchen, and politics in the living room, watching a Spanish Language rebroadcast of the heckcortez masto debate. Since january, activist jose macias has helped dozens of latinos become citizens so they can vote next month. We have to go out there and really show the numbers, the power we do have. Because a lot of candidates think that we dont have power when theyre talking to rallies, attacking mexicans, attacking women, people of color. The reason that working for the vote, we have to make sure that we tell them that we do matter. Yang mobilizing to try to help decide who wins the white house and the senate. For the pbs newshour, im john yang in las vegas. Sreenivasan one subject thats sure to come up in the final president ial debate is the state of the american economy, and more specifically, the state of the american worker. During the primary season, in what now seems ages ago, we looked at americans attitudes toward the economy. We have an update tonight with our partners at marketplace and frontline, part of our series on how the deck is stacked. The Unemployment Rate may now stand at five percent officially and more than 10 million new jobs have been created during the Obama Administration. But a new survey done by marketplace and Edison Research found nearly a third of people are afraid of losing their jobs within the next six months, and almost 40 of people say they are losing sleep over their financial situation. Marketplace host kai ryssdal is with us again. Kai, when we first did this a year ago, we expected things to get better. Why are people more anxious now and less financially secure . The thing about the economy, hari, is that we measure it in numbers, things like the Unemployment Rate, but people experience it through how they feel. What theyre feeling now is anxiety, possibly because the election is drawing near, possibly because they sense that the headline numbers of unemployment at 5 and grow domestic product growing at a percent and a half, plus or minus, theyre not seeing that in their lives while food prices are going up and gas is bopping around, 2. 5, 3 a gallon, whatever it is. People dont feel that security theyd like to feel seven years into an economic expansion. Sreenivasan all the numbers you rattle off, whats interesting is your survey revealed a lack of trust in the data itself. To to me anyway was one most of interesting and disturbing things about this entire survey. We asked people whether they trust Government Economic data, consumer spending, the Unemployment Rate, all of that stuff. 25 of all americans completely distrust Government Economic data. Then you drill down and ask them to who theyre voting for and how they feel about government data, 48 of donald trump voters distrust government data. 5 of Hillary Clinton voters distrust the economic data. If you look at whats happening out there on the campaign trail and some the rhetoric from the trump camp and the candidate himself, it stands to reason his voters will distrust that data. Sreenivasan speaking of distrust there is this feeling your survey is picking up on is the system being rigged. 62 of americans say that the system, the economy is rigged, and when you break this down, 66 of Trump Supporters say its rigged for those who get government assistance. 52 of clinton supporters say its rigged for white americans. Regardless of who you ask, they still think the deck is stacked against them. Right. They think the desk is stacked against them. Its interesting who they think the deck is stacked for. In about 90 of all responses, people think its stacked for politicians, for corporations and the rich. What you see here is this divide were seeing now out in the economy at large between those who have asset, those who have income, those who have wealth and those, as weve been talking about for a long time now, who simply dont, and the income inequality gap in this country and how its playing out in this election. Sreenivasan kai, are you surprised by these results . Are the pollsters surprised . We had a whole lot of long conversations about this, partners at Edison Research. I think it breaks down along two lines. First is on the distrust in government, on the feeling that the economy is rigged, that plays directly from what we see happening out on the campaign trail. We know donald trump and his surrogates say all the time, the economy is rigged, the election is rigged, and this is sort of the fallout from that. But also were seeing a shift now from what happened in the primaries, where you had people like Bernie Sanders and like donald trump saying the economy is rigged, and those numbers now are coming home to roost. The other thing is that the numbers on income inequality and who they think it is rigged for cant come as a surprise, because what weve phone for years now is that the gains in this economy go to the top 1 3bg9, the rest of it, the other 99 just dont get the gains. And were seeing that play out both on the campaign trail and also in this survey. Christa all right, kai ryssdal of marketplace and our partners on frontline on how the deck is stacked. Thanks so much. You bet. Woodruff stay with us, coming up on the newshour a country where refugees have been welcomed with open arms. And teaching politics in an unusual and attimes crude election. But first, the fight over mosul, and taking back the last major stronghold in iraq for isis. We take two looks at it now, with a Jeffrey Brown conversation with the head of a humanitarian group, and to begin, this report from the front by john irvine of independent television news. [gunfire] reporter keeping enemy heads down. The gunfire gives kurdish soldiers the chance for a quick look over nomansland. They want a glimpse of home. These men are from what will be the next village liberated, having fled from there in june 2014. They can hardly wait to run. But while some people will soon be going back home, others are having to flee. They have just left mosul. There are a few more dangerous undertakings than escaping the clutches of isis and crossing over, but they managed it carrying a few belongings and a white flag. Regarding the battle, with the help of Coalition Air strikes still smoldering today, the kurds did make important gains. Under normal circumstances, the city of mosul would be just ten minutes drive away, however, for time being, the advance here has been halted because advances elsewhere have not gone so well. These iraqi forces want to wait for their colleagues to catch up before pressing ahead. In a house in a captured village, we saw rooms full of piles of earth. I. S. Go to Great Lengths to hide their tunnels from coalition drones. These networks amounted to extensive living quarters underground. We saw only a faction of one system in what is a small village. What must the defenses in mosul be like . Brown for a closer look at what faces civilians caught in the crossfire, im joined by David Milliband. Hes the former British Foreign secretary, now president and c. E. O. Of the International Rescue committee. Welcome to you. I assume that a lot of people right now face this immediate difficult choice of whether to flee the city if they can or remain behind and see what happens. Youre absolutely right. We have our own staff now northeast and south of the city. About 1,000 people have so far left since the fighting began. Weve been talking to them, and the perilous choice that they face is between staying put and waiting to see how the fighting develops, and on the other hand trying the find their way out of the city using all their savings for transport and taking the risk with landmines and other kinds of interference. It is a perilous choice and a terrifying one. Brown today president obama said, its not something i expect will be easy, but its perhaps not been publicized enough the degree of planning, assets and resources weve devoted to this important problem. I wonder as the fighting begins, how much can the interest in refugees and humanitarians play into the actual fighting strategy . What do you see . I think there are two things that are important. First of all, we have to say loud and clear for all those who are engaged in the fighting that attention to and respect for humanitarian needs is absolutely imperative. Anyone with any knowledge of iraq, never mind any concern about the future, knows that the way in which the war is prosecuted has a big impact on what comes afterward. Secondly, there has been a lot of planning. The United Nations coordinator for iraq is an outstanding public servant, the head of the High Commission on refugees is in baghdad at the moment, and the planning has been serious, but the truth is if the numbers rise to the kind of levels the u. N. Fears, anything about 500, 750, a Million People, on that sort of scale, even at a quarter of a million scale, that will overwhelm camps being set up. So were putting such emphasis on the need to support those who flee the city and dont find themselves in camps but instead are staying with friends, are staying overnight in mosques, are finding informal ways of surviving. And its very important that they get support, as well, in addition to those who make it to the camps that are being set up. Brown the u. N. Has already reported in spite of appeals, it had not received additional funding for emergency camps and all the aid it thinks it might need. How would you describe the shortfall at this point . I think that 60,000 tents have been put in place. If you think they could support a family, you can do the numbers yourself. At the time of the United Nations General Assembly last month, the u. N. Reported that the funding was only 30 to 40 of what was needed. Now, obviously we dont know the kind of exodus thats going the take place, but everything the president said today suggests that the fighting is not going to be over quickly, and therefore we have to prepare for a long struggle in which the humanitarian needs grow, both inside the city and outside who have their lives disruptedded for not just weeks but probably months. Brown we talked last night about the program, how long it will take. I see the same reports that you do today, longer than perhaps people even thought. So when you think about those longerterm needs from the humanitarian aspect of this, whats most important, whats crying out . I think three things need to be preeminent. First of all, all men and boys over the age of 14 are going to be screened when they leave the city. Screened for obvious security reasons. Its imperative given the lessons in fallujah and elsewhere that those independent monitoring of those screening arrangements. Otherwise the fear of persecution is going to lead to chaos and frankly to dangerous decisions being made by individuals. Secondly, we need to make sure that as the camps fill up, those outside camps get better support. The best means of support is to get them cash because its a market economy and these people will have used up their savings to get out of the city. The third element is obviously the situation of those still trapped inside. There are a lot of fear of landmines and other need for specialist help to help those civilians who are inside the city, even before you get to the New Buildings afterward. Brown briefly, if y could, to the extent there are many militaryorces involved in this, is it clear who isn charge . Is that a concern, as well . I think its a very dangerous situation for the stafff an n. G. O. Like ours. These are local iraqi people. Theyre local people who are working for us. Of course, its a sovereign government. The legitimate government of iraq is in charge. But youre right to point out the multitude of different factions and the danger of civilians being caught in the cross fire. Thats why at an absolute minimum, effective coordination across those supporting the Iraqi Government is absolutely imperative. Brown David Milliband of the International Rescue committee, thank you. Thank you very much. Woodruff next, in a world struggling to accommodate a Record Number of refugees, one country has been notably welcoming. Special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has a report from uganda, part of his agents for change series. Reporter nakhivale, in southern uganda, looks like any other dusty rural african town. Whats remarkable is that almost none of its 113,000 residents are ugandan. Ethiopia . All of these Grade School Children and their parents are refugees. Rwanda . Burundi . Congo . All told, 13 nations are represented in this crowded nakhivale school, their families fleeing conflicts across a wide swath of east africa and finding haven in one of the worlds most hospitable countries to refugees in uganda refugees are placed in settlements and not camps and the government says theres an important difference. Camps tend to confine people, whereas in uganda when refugees arrive, they are issued legal i. D. s that entitle them to go anywhere in the country to find a job, start a business, put their children in school. Refugees in rural areas are given a small plot of land to farm. Others migrate to the urban areas. Among the earlier arrivals in recent years are somalis their enclaves in the capital, kampala, are well established with Small Businesses and mosques, a predominantly Muslim Community in a mostly christian nation. Mohammed abdi runs this grocery story with his partner zahara hassan. translated we have very many ugandan customers and we are friends. I am one of the somali elders in the community and we interact with the elders of the Ugandan Community whether leaders in this distract or region and we are friends and they welcome us. Were very happy, were like one people. Reporter and one scholar whos studied refugees in uganda sys theres reason to be happy we showed in the capital city of uganda, kampala, 20 of refugees own businesses that employ someone else. And of those they employ, 40 are citizens of the host country. So refugees can contribute to the host societies that theyre part of. Reporter Oxford Universitys Alexander Betts says uganda is the exception in a world where refugees face widespread hostilityoften stoked by politicians. Its all too easy to have a race to the bottom in terms of political standards where provincial and municipal politicians, or national politicians, say, these people are a burden, we have to keep them out. reporter and while many politicians, especially in western democracies, must tread carefully on this issue, betts says its not a problem in uganda, where one man rules virtually unchallenged. President museveni has been able to adopt refugee policies that are a little different in part because there are lower standards of accountability to the public. Now, not having democratic standards is definitely not something to celebrate, but it highlights the difficulties for democracies to open up their economies to noncitizens. Reporter recent history might also account for ugandas hospitality to refugees. President Yoweri Museveni himself lived in exile for years during and after the bloody dictatorship of idi amin. Musevenis rebels took power 30 years ago theres been a history of violence, conflict that often has turned violent in this region. Reporter Zac Niringiye is a bishop in the Anglican Church of uganda. South sudan, rwanda, burundi even congo and even uganda. I think that that has created a sense of being hospitable because you never know, it may be your turn next. Reporter despite praise for its hospitality, life within that proverbial ugandan compound is far from perfect for refugees. Their number has doubled in the past five years to more than half a million, most recently from separate conflicts in burundi and south sudan. Many, like ababesh gebraslassie remain haunted by the ordeal that brought them here. translated my husband was killed, my son was killed and also my daughter. Reporter a son and daughter died in their escape from eritrea, part of the exodus of hundreds of thousands from a country notorious for human rights abuses. Her soninlaw made it to libya but died in the mediterranean. Gebreslassie survived the journey of thousands of miles on foot and on trucks with her then sixyearold twin son and daughter. But she made a wrenching decision to leave two older teenaged children behind. I feared if we all died, like my son who was shot, i left them so that our family can survive, can be represented. Reporter they are still there now . I dont know. I dont know. Reporter along the way, she also took custody of her orphaned granddaughter, sara, whos now four. translated i dont care if i die here but i want a Better Future for my children and thats not possible without a good education. Reporter thats not likely in the crowded school her children attend, crowded with 120 students in each classroom and perhaps because of that, teachers who arent very sympathetic. There are severe consequences for being late, for instance. They beat you . Yes. Reporter who does that . The teachers. They make you clean the toilet and pick up the rubbish. Reporter they dont understand, she said, that im late because ive gone to fetch water and helped my mother with the chores. In the end, ugandan and International Officials say it boils down to resources or a lack of them. Uganda may be hospitable but it has a Gross Domestic Product of just 600 a year per person. Nakhivales school is funded by the u. N. s refugee agency. It gives uganda some 200 million annually in refugee aid a fraction of whats needed, but not likely to increase amid the demands on donor governments for refugees out of syria, iraq, ukraine and elsewhere. Charles yaxler is the u. N agencys spokesman in uganda. Around the world humanitarian financing is arguably at breaking point. Currently humanitarian appeals for south sudanese and burundian refugees in uganda, both of those appeals are severely underfunded, weve received less than a quarter of the money we need for 2016 and that leaves real gaps in our humanitarian response, it means were not able to provide the Education Support for children such as better schools, more schools, more teachers. Reporter that does not bode well for the future of abebesh gebraslassies twins, who shared their dreams in halting, shy english. When i grow up i want to be a doctor and help my mother. Reporter how about you, david, what would you like to do . I wish to be a pilot. Reporter a pilot . Where would you like to go . Every place. America and everywhere. Reporter possible, but like their chance of a good education here, with lotterylike odds. America admitted 70,000 refugees last year. The u. N says there are 65 million displaced people in the world today. For the pbs newshour, this is fred de sam lazaro in nakhivale, uganda. Woodruff freds reporting is a partnership with the undertold stories project at the university of st. Thomas, in minnesota. Sreenivasan as we know, tomorrows the final president ial debate. Tens of millions of voters will be watching. But there are other audiences too, including middle and High School Students around the country, who are often watching and even tweeting as part of their civics or government classes. During this Campaign Season the nature of whats being discussed, particularly questions about Sexual Assault and other tough rhetoric, makes this a different year for teachers and students. Thats the focus of this weeks making the grade segment. We begin in an a. P. Government class at t. C. Williams high school in alexandria, virginia. I guess the first question i would pose to you is why . Why actually watch these things . Anybody have thoughts on why youre drawn to this . Sreenivasan Andrew Orzell is getting his seniors ready for tomorrow nights debate. Some of the students are not feeling enthused about what the candidates might want to focus on. I almost stopped watching the last one. It was getting so combative. It was hard to follow. I as a teacher honestly have been frustrated by this. Normally one of the things we get into is ideology of liberals believe this, conservatives believe this. President ial debates usually show that. Youre not getting to see the liberal arguments versus the conservative. Sreenivasan even, so orzell is assigning his students to watch again. He asked whether the debates might change anyones mind and their expectations if the tone was similar . I feel like trump has the most to gain because hes like. He was down 11 points. Now its 9 points. So he has a higher chance of winning. I would say the person who has the most to lose would be the American People because if we become engrained in the idea that this is the normal tone of our political rhetoric and discourse of the country, then were not going to expect more in the future. And its potentially damaging to democracy as an institution in america if more years to come. Sreenivasan orzell is expected to discuss it in class on thursday, and pierre laboy says he hopes the focus will be different than last time. Well hear arguing about locker room talk, and its just like instead of talking about what matters, were talking about each other and negative aspects. I dont think thats good. Sreenivasan thats an issue many teachers are grappling with. S sreenivasan well, thats an issue that many teachers are grappling with. Some 90 of High School Students take at least one civics class. So how are teachers dealing with this kind of campaign . We hear from Richard House. He teaches seventh grade civics at Gunston Middle School in arlington, virginia. And Chris Cavanaugh teaches government to junior and seniors at Plainfield High School in indiana. Richard, let me start with you. Youre talking to an audience thats just turning into teenagers. You had them watch debate one. You did not assign debate two. What were their impressions . I think a lot of them were entertained, but i also tried to bring it back to lets focus on the issues, that hateful rhetoric doesnt have a place in my classroom, and when were talking about the debate, when were discussing it, were going to focus on the issues. For the first debate, i had them pick two or three issues that were focused on the debate. What did each candidate say about them. Then we can have a classroom discussion. I do not want to take time to focus on some of the personal behavior the candidates have exhibited and some of the negative behavior. They know what i expect of them and the expectations i have when they walk into my classroom. This election should be about policy and it should be about the issues and focusing on them. Sreenivasan chris, your High School Students, what did they think so far . I think they have been turned off by the rhetoric. You try to get them to focus on the policies and not the politics. But as with having older students, you want to allow them the freedom to be able to discuss some of the issues and some of the rhetoric thats been used in the debates. So its been a tough road the hoe, so to speak. Sreenivasan chris, staying with you for a second, how do you navigate some of these topics, especially ones as teenagers, sexuality, sort of locker room talk, all of that that came up, all the sort of personal attacks that the candidates took on each other. How do you discuss it . I think i try to couch it in historical terms in the fact that, you know, i think mudslinging is nothing new in american politics, not new in politics period. You need to go back to the roman states of cicero. One of my favorites is to discuss the election of 1800 where jefferson accused adams of having hermaphrodite cal tendencies and adams said that jefferson had a malado father. So slinging mud is nothing new in american politics. Its tough to get the kids to sort through that and to get to those policies. And to be able to lay those policies side by side to get to see the see what the candidates are proposing. Sreenivasan did the students notice what was and what was not being talked about . I think there was definitely a notice of the issues they were focusing on, but at the same time, theyre middle schoolers. Theres a certain maturity level there. They notice what these candidates are saying and the hateful rhetoric coming out of their mouths. So you have to forewarn them. Were not going to focus on that. Were going the take the high road. Some of the things coming out of these candidates mouths, i dont want them coming out of yours. I want them to formulate their own opinions, but at the same time, they also have to know in my classroom bigotry and hate does not have a place. Sreenivasan richard, what about the administration or parents, knowing these conversations are happening in the classrooms of their children. Have they been supportive . I think so. My goal this year has been to bring certain Current Events to light in my classroom. We focus on Police Brutality. We talked about Colin Kaepernicks protest. And after that i got an email from a parent thanking me for bringing those issues to light. They were able to have a substantial conversation about Police Brutality and privilege, something they normally might not have had at the dinner table. I think parents are appreciative when teachers do bring to light certain issues that are currently going on in our country. Sreenivasan Chris Cavanaugh, how do you walk the line of teaching them how to think and not what to think . I think its important to listen to richard speak. I think its important to create that environment where its a safe environment, especially for my students, being a little bit older and maybe further along in the political socialization process. To have them have a safe environment to express those ideas and then to get them to examine themselves. I like the play devils advocate quite a bit with my students regardless of what they support and the challenge them on those views to get them to reexamine their own views and thankfully, you know, were well aware of Fact Checking organizations that exist so we can go back and fact check debates to see what the candidates have said and huh well it holds up under scrutiny. Sreenivasan richard, how do the facts play into it . Technically theyre coming into your classroom. Theyre expecting you to help them see what is true and what isnt. How do you get that across . I think a lot of times its my job to guide their thinking, but not tell them what to think. Give them the resources out there so they can go out and do the research and formulate an opinion on their own. For example, today we were talking about voting. We registered to vote for a mock election well have in with weeks. Then we focused on voter i. D. Laws. I presented information on these are how voter i. D. Laws impact people across this country. I posed the question do you think this is done because of voter fraud, or is it done to place an unnecessary burden on minority voters . I wanted them to be able to form late their own opinion. Its my job to present them with the information they need, but its their job to form their own opinion. Sreenivasan chris new york this day and age, your students can be fairly active during the debate. The next morning when you look through their twitter feeds or facebook comments, what are you looking for . Honestly, i try not to do that. I have only had a couple kids where ive had to go back and say, you know, what they posted perhaps is not encouraged debate. It doesnt push the debate or conversation forward. You know, you want to avoid the politics of the personal attacks. So there have only been a couple kids that ive had to admonish for that. So we try to. Its difficult because were trying to promote civic discourse, civil discourse, and unfortunately we dont see that in the adult world as much as. We dont see it modeled for them as much as it should be. Sreenivasan Chris Cavanaugh from plainfield high in indiana and Richard House from Gunston Middle School in arlington, virginia. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Woodruff tonight on frontline, a joint investigation with pro publica into efforts to combat isis on the european continent. Terror in europe looks at government attempts to counter extremism, revealing missteps and systemic breakdowns in the runup to the charlie hebdo, paris and brussels attacks. As recruits returned to europe, the authorities in france anne belgium were overwhelmed. translated every week people would come back from syria. There was nothing accept syria. It was all about syria. There were so many cases related to syria that people who should have been watched just could not be. Clearly we cant do everything, and we didnt have the means. We still dont to monitor all of this. translated that brings up the issue of having to make choices. That is among all the possibilities of targets to monitor, thousands of targets to monitor, its necessary to make choices. In june 2014, french spy chiefs made a fateful decision. For the last three years they had been monitoring al qaeda veterans. Meanwhile, another associate had just been released from prison. French Domestic Intelligence now decided to stop watching them and shift surveillance resources on to the growing threat from isis. Sreenivasan frontline terror in europe airs tonight on most pbs stations. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im hari sreenivasan. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Join us online, and again here tomorrow evening for a look ahead to our special live coverage of the president ial debate starting at 9 00 p. M. Eastern. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by the ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. Carnegie corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org this is bbc world news america. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation. Newmans own foundation, giving all profits from newmans own to charity and pursuing the common good. Kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. And aruba tourism authority. Planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. You can find it here in aruba. Families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm sunny days,