Inspires. Sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support has been provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tisch wnet studios of Lincoln Center in new york, megan thompson. Thompson good evening, and thanks for joining us. The raging wildfire that has forced 90,000 people to evacuate their hometown in canada has now spread across 600 square miles and is still growing. The blaze began six days ago in Fort Mcmurray, in the canadian province of alberta, 200 miles north of edmonton. Albertas premier said today the fire is out of control, but no other community lies in its path. 500 firefighters are working to contain a fire fanned by high winds and feeding on dry forest. Many Fort Mcmurray residents worked in a nearby Tar Sands Oil extraction project. Their neighborhoods are charred ruins, 1,600 structures having burned down. Thousands of evacuees have been airlifted to shelters in edmonton, but most left in slow moving convoys of cars. For more on the Fort Mcmurray wildfire, New York Times reporter ian austen joins me by skype from edmonton, alberta. Ian, you have been talking to some of the families who have been evacuated to edmonton, can you tell me what has this disaster been like for them . Well, the fire came in very, very quickly on tuesday. And everyone, you hear the same story over and over. I was out walking my dog in the morning. It was beautiful in the dog park. And then i saw smoke and flames. So people just basically chucked maybe a photo album, a change of underwear in their car and fled into these huge traffic jams. Several thousand people got cut off to the south where ed mobton, kal gary the big cities are and went north where there is nowhere, beyond there is the north pole, eventually. At the dont know if they have a home. They dont know if they have a job. They dont know what there is to go back to. And you know, they have been told that they may be here for weeks and weeks before they are allowed to return to whatever awaits them there . And what is the plan, if there is any, to accommodate all of them both short and longterm. We havent moved to the longterm phase yet. I mean obviously a lot of people have gone to friends and fames. Fort mcmurray was disproportionately pop lated by people from Atlantic Canada which is an area much high unemployment. Some of those people are going back to nova scotia, newfoundland, wherever. Every hotel around me in downtown edmonton, when you go through the lobby, there are dozens ands do dozens of people who are evac youees. I was at the mosque last night who had a hundred people in the basement. Here am edmonton, a massive building on the exhibition grounds has about 4,500 cots. Insurance companies are there, temporary banks. They even have a veterinary facility for everyones dogs an cats. Alberta experienced an unusually dry and warm winter, were i sip precipitation half the norm, snow melted early. How did those conditions affect the fire . This place is no stranger to big fires but generally speaking big fires here are drifen by winds, you know, the obvious thing, fueling with oxygen. At this time it meant that the black spruce, the predominant tree up there in the forest, they just turned into the ideal fuel source for a fire. The fire is so hot and so intense it can throw flaming project aisles miles ahead of itself to get a loggerhead Going Forward it is even now creating its own lightning in the soot which is starting lightning fires which it joins up with. You spent time in Fort Mcmurray prorpting on report on the Economic Situation up there as a town built around oil production. Can you talk a little bit about what the Economic Situation has been and how this fire might affect it longterm. Fort mcmurray is the center of the very Controversial Oil sands project. But these projects are well north of the city. Increasingly the workers who worked on those projects lived in companyowned camps which is where people evacuated to this week. The people in the city, you know, theres obviously exceptions, they tended to work for companies that were suppliers to the industry. And when the Oil Price Collapse came in early last year, these were the first people to be laid off. So this creates an interesting dynamic. A city of 90,000 people now, or had a city of 90,000 people that grew rapidly in this decade. When you look at the projections for oil prices into the future, oil sands, a very expensive kind of oil, you wonder if there is going to be a need to rebuild the city that size Going Forward. Ian austen of the New York Times, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you very much. 7 thompson in syria, a fragile ceasefire in the divided city of aleppo has been extended for another three days. Russia, which backs the regime of syrian president Bashar Al Assad in his fight against rebel groups, announced the extension of the ceasefire that began wednesday. The syrian observatory for human rights says aleppo is relatively quiet. Separately, the u. S. Military said today it had carried out three air strikes on isis command and control centers inside syria. Neither isis nor al qaeda militants are subject to the ceasefire. North koreas Ruling Workers Party congress, its first such meeting in 36 years, entered its second day today. In a sign ruler kim jong un has consolidated his power, delegates are expected to confer on him the partys top title o general secretary, the same title held by his father and grandfather. Kim wasnt even born when the last congress was held in 1980. Kim received a standing ovation from 3,400 officials and delegates yesterday when he spoke about januarys Hydrogen Bomb test, the countrys Fourth Nuclear weapons test. Foreign journalists invited to cover the congress were not allowed inside the hall but were allowed to see the unveiling of pyongyangs new, fourcar subway train. State media said it was built with north korean technology. President obama today told graduates at howard university, a historically black college, they need to vote this year. He said in his 2012 reelection, twothirds of black voters turned out, but only 40 did in the 2014 midterms. You dont think that made a difference in terms of the congress ive got to deal with . And then people are wondering, why, how come obama hadnt gotten this done . How come he didnt get that done . What would have happened if you had turned out at 50 , 60 , 70 all across the country . Thomspon Presumptive Republican president ial nominee donald trump campaigned today in washington state, which holds its republican primary may 24. With all of his rivals out of the race, trump is within 170 delegates of the number needed to clinch the nomination. Washington state democrats allocated Bernie Sanders 31 more delegates than Hillary Clinton today, following caucuses he won there in march. Even so, clinton now has 94 of the delegates she needs to win the partys nomination. West virginia holds the next democratic primary this tuesday. Thompson a decade ago, when the Northern California city of richmond had the ninth worst murder rate in the united states, the city came up with a new approach to reduce gun violence. In addition to improving its outreach and mentoring, richmond decided to hand out Cash Payments to young men some with criminal records in order to persuade them to stay out of trouble. Now, other American Cities are looking to replicate the program, called operation peacemaker. For tonights signature segment, i went to richmond to see how the program works. This report is part of our ongoing series urban ideas, about how cities are using innovative methods to tackle problems. 30yearold Rohnell Robinson grew up in richmond, california, just northeast of san francisco. This Industrial City of 100,000 was once considered one of the most dangerous cities in the nation. A lot of the stuff that goes on around here drugs, killings. Thompson robinson was only 14 when Police Caught him selling marijuana, the first of many runins with the law for drugs and gun possession. He says more than ten friends have been killed by the gun violence thats plagued richmonds urban neighborhoods. And what was that like, seeing that around you . You kind of kind of get immune to it, because it happens so much. I mean, its not a good thing. Thompson despite it all, robinson graduated from high school and started college. But he says when one of his best friends was shot to death, he slid off his path, pled guilty to possession of a gun and spent two years in jail and threeand ahalf on probation for conspiring with a known gang member. What were you doing with the gun . You see so much stuff happen, and you dont want to be that person. So, its pick up a gun or just be around and probably get shot with no way to protect yourself. Thompson when he got out, at his mothers urging, robinson called richmonds office of neighborhood safety, a city program that works with young men like him who police consider highrisk for gun crimes. The goal is to keep them from getting into trouble again. Robinson committed to a program called operation peacemaker. He was required to create a life map, a set of personal goals. He went through drug treatment, and he held down a job as a janitor, which the program helped pay for. And by doing all of that, after six months, he qualified for the programs boldest element a cash payment, up to 1,000 a month for as long as nine months. Robinson got a monthly stipend for the maximum nine months sometimes 1,000, sometimes less, depending on how he was doing on his goals. What did you do with the money . I ended up getting my first apartment, car, just doing stuff that normal people would do. Bank accounts. It did a lot. It shows you that people care about you. The bottom line in this work is, no shooting. Thompson Devone Boggan is a mentor for atrisk youth who previously ran a Successful Program in oakland, 12 miles away. Nine years ago, the city of richmond, desperate to tackle crime, recruited boggan to launch the program, which began as street outreach, a tactic used with success in other cities. At the time, richmonds homicide rate was at a record high. Try to imagine growing up in a war zone, bullets flying. Thompson Richmond Police believed that most of the shootings could be blamed on just a couple dozen young men. If gun violence in this city was to decrease in any kind of way, that first would have to happen because these young men decided that it would decrease. Why not create a different kind of mechanism to come at these guys from a different angle . Thompson when you pay them this stipend, are you just, in a sense, rewarding bad behavior . Every bit of the stipend that they receive is tied to an accomplishment associated with their life map. Now, if the question is, do they deserve it . , thats debatable. Why should these young men get that . Thompson why should they . I mean, theres a lot of guys out there who havent committed crimes. Because they need it more than that guy. And the communities where these young men live in and shoot in need for him to get it. Thompson for Rohnell Robinson, the 1,000amonth stipend wasnt all. There were also educational trips abroad, chaperoned by office of neighborhood safety staff. Robinsons been to london and paris, and had to travel with someone from a rival neighborhood. Come to find out we like the same things. We kind of act alike. We just two dudes from different sides of town. That dont mean weve got to not like each other. Thompson while richmonds office of neighborhood safety is paid for with taxpayer dollars, the stipends are paid for by private foundations. Theres also intense street outreach. Every day, a team of six so called neighborhood change agents all from the community, and all with arrest records drive the streets, making contact with men identified as being atrisk. Were on our way to the North Richmond projects. Thompson joe mccoy grew up in these Public Housing projects. He spent four years in jail after pleading guilty to selling cocaine. Whats up with you . How you doing, man . Thompson mccoy checks in almost daily with grady hudson and his older brother, trovante. Both have been arrested for gun possession. Mccoy pesters grady about attending a life skills class. You got there on time yesterday like you was supposed to . Yeah, i got there on time. Thompson when grady was 17, he spent six months in juvenile detention for bringing a gun to school. Due to territorial issues, i was kind of scared around here, so i had to protect myself by arming. Thompson richmonds office of neighborhood safety helped grady, now 19, sign up for temp jobs and offered him a life skills class to deal with anger issues. But grady says hes got more to work on. My head is elsewhere. Its not focused on School Material right now. But, like, im trying to get. Im trying to get that together and get my diploma. Thompson if he does get it together, grady could be eligible for the monthly stipend that Rohnell Robinson received. The program aims to save lives in a really unconventional way. Thompson alwynn brown is richmonds new chief of police and has been with the department for 31 years. Acemakers conventionaltion methods. Some people look at the Fellowship Program and they sa couldnt we be doing Something Better with this money . Do you want to have, you know, young people whove been identified as being fairly lethal out doing what they usually do, or do you want to disrupt those kinds of life choices and have them do Something Else . Thompson brown acknowledges, for the neighborhood change agents, its all about Building Trust with the young men, which can be difficult for the police. Were talking about people who have grown up living outside the law. Well, were the law. I mean, thats not an easy connection to make. Thompson but neighborhood change agents have a strict rule they dont share information with police. Isnt that frustrating for you . I get it. We understand that they need to have credibility with the folks that theyre trying to reach. Thompson Richmond CityCouncil MemberGayle Mclaughlin became mayor in 2007 and helped create the office of neighborhood safety when crime was spiking. I was facing a council at that time that wanted to declare a state of emergency every time a spike of violence happened, and bring in the national guard. Thompson she says the city needed a new approach. Some Council Members were not ready to put some city funding into such a program. They were talking more about more police. Thompson now on the city council herself, she continues to fund the office and says its been a success. The vast majority of the young people have stayed out of trouble. Thompson 68 men have completed the operation peacemaker fellowship so far, and, according to the program, only about 20 have been arrested or charged for new gun crimes. 13 were convicted and got kicked out of the program. Richmonds crime problem has improved, too, although it still has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the bay area. The number of murders here in richmond has fallen by half in the last decade, from 42 in 2006 to 21 in 2015. Other cities are now replicating richmonds operation peacemaker program, including washington, d. C. ; toledo, ohio; and oakland, california. In washington, which, unlike richmond, would use taxpayer money to fund the stipends, the mayor has said she opposes the idea, saying resources should be spent instead on jobs programs. Oakland city officials came to meet with Devone Boggan about their launch of the program in the next few months. But mary theroux, Senior Vice President of the independent institute in oakland, a think tank focused on personal freedoms, says shes not sure the program can be credited with the drop in crime. For instance, richmonds Police Department has also overhauled its gun violence strategies. We had a decline in crime nationally in the same period. We certainly had lots of other factors. Economic factors can be huge, demographic factors. Thompson while the program demands that fellows make and achieve personal goals, theroux thinks it should go further and require them to hold down a job or finish a degree. So, i think its very important that we find out if this program is really helping them or if its just essentially freezing them in place, and if there are other things we could be doing that would be helping them much more, have much more opportunities. Thompson Devone Boggan says, in richmond, thats not the point. Success to us is not whether or not he becomes a model citizen. Success, to us, is about whether or not he uses a firearm to address conflict. Look at my life. Its not the greatest, but they put me. They put my mind frame in Something Better. Thompson Rohnell Robinson lef