>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ >> bnsf railway. >> 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: the president and top democrats went the rounds today over whether to sit down together and talk about keeping the government operating. as they did, a republican tax reform bill moved another big step forward. lisa desjardins begins our coverage. >> desjardins: president trump criticized senate and house minority leaders chuck schumer and nancy pelosi for refusing to meet at the white house today. >> they decided not to show up. they've been all talk and they've been no action. and now it's even worse. >> desjardins: in a morning tweet, mr. trump preempted today's scheduled meeting with democratic leaders, writing, "i don't see a deal!" hours later, schumer and pelosi pulled out of that meeting, saying the president's tweet indicated it would be a waste of time. >> leader pelosi and i believe the best path forward is to continue negotiating with our republican counterparts in congress instead. >> desjardins: republicans need at least some democratic votes to pass a government funding bill ahead of next week's deadline. meantime, the g.o.p. also needs votes on tax reform-- with some eight to 10 key undecided members. >> we had a good day today. we had a phenomenal meeting with republican senators. it was somewhat of a love fest. >> desjardins: after the president's visit, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell stressed the complexities of tax reform. >> it's a challenging exercise. think of sitting there with a rubik's cube, trying to get to 50. and we do have a few members who have concerns and we're trying to address them. >> desjardins: a group of democratic senators said they're ready to work on a different tax deal if republicans can't get votes on their own. >> the way you get permanent tax reform is by getting more than 60 votes. and the way you do that is by working in a bipartisan way. what we show here today is that that is possible. it is not only possible, it is probable that that would occur if they would just work with us. >> desjardins: one final test for republicans? protesters interrupted the tax bill's final committee vote. it was hard to hear, but all republicans on the committee voted yes, sending the bill to the full senate next. >> woodruff: and lisa, that vote in the senate budget committee sent all of the major stock indexes to record highs. the dow jones industrial average gained more than 250 points-- about 1%-- to close at 23,836. the nasdaq rose nearly 34 and the s&p 500 added 25. now, we turn again to lisa desjardins for more on this day's developments. so lisa, we heard the senate majority leader call it a rubix cube. the fact is there is still a mad scramble going on behind the scenes to get this done. >> that's right. they want to vote on this, judy, in the next couple days. now we're down to old-fashioned horse trading. the truth is eight or nine republican senators are undecided. some were leaning no a few days ago. bob corker is man the look at. he's concerned about the deficit effects of this bill. well, enter the corker compromise. this is a new idea out today that senator corker says he likes. it would be the idea to try and prevent a deficit hike because of tax cuts by installing a trigger into the bill so that if the economy does not grow by as much as republicans hope, then the tax cuts would be frozen. now, of course, some people would say, well, that means taxes would go up, but bob corker says he likes it because it protects the deficit. another key player, judy, senator susan collins of maine. we talk about her and her vote a lot. she seems to be warming up to this bill because she feels she has some reason to hope they will include in this bill some protections to stabilize the healthcare markets, to pass a side bill that stabilizes the healthcare markets, and we heard the president say in the lunch today to her that he supports an increase or adding back some of those state and local tax deductions, specifically the house version, a $10,000 property tax. susan collins likes that. so a lot of add-ons at this moment, judy. >> woodruff: and you were telling us that if the changes are made, that could create problems getting other votes. >> here's where the rubix cube comes in. you might have red on one side, but the other side looks terrible. i talked to louisiana senator john kennedy. he said this corker compromise, the idea of a trig they're might lead to a tax change in the future automatically, he is a hard no on that. you gain corker's vote, you lose kennedy's vote and also ted cruz's vote maybe. how about susan collins' idea? you might get that through the senate, but that money she wants to spend to do that is a problem in the house. so all of this is very tricky calculus. >> woodruff: but are they still looking at a vote this week? >> they are. they're hoping for a vote on thursday. i'll tell you what, judy, the way we'll know a little bit more is tomorrow. if the senate moves to this bill, if they bring the bill up on the floor tomorrow, that will start 20 hours of debate that would lead the a potential thursday vote. if we don't see the bill come up tomorrow, it means maybe there's more going on behind the scenes and they don't quite have it ready yet. >> woodruff: so meantime, lisa, while all this work on the tax reform is happening, there accept -- separately is a problem with funding the government. they're ten days from shutting down if they don't come to an agreement. as we saw with leader pelosi and senator schumer, the white house isn't talking to them. >> that's right. they're not even in the same resume together to discuss how to keep government running. this is a december 8th deadline that congress itself set for when government funding will run out, the end of next week essentially. you know, judy. i talked to a lot of republican senators, the governing party in the senate, and i was surprised to hear many of them say, we're actually not worried about it. it's not even on our radar. we're not sure how we'll figure it out. the idea is that once they get past tax reform, if they do, then they'll figure it out next week. and normally that does work, but i think we have a very situation this year. many different pieces in play, which is spending deadline, including daca, children's health insurance, and also military spending that i think i walk away from my discussions with leaders today thinking that who knows if we'll have a shutdown, but it is possible because they're not seriously addressing it yet. >> woodruff: well, lee centennial park we are -- lisa, we are counting on you to straighten it all out. >> sreenivasan: good grief. i'll try. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins reporting from the capital. thank you. >> woodruff: and in the day's other news, north korea grabbed the world's attention again with its first missile test in ten weeks. the pentagon says it was likely an intercontinental ballistic missile. it launched from north of pyongyang, flew more than 600 miles, and splashed into japan's economic exclusion zone. president trump addressed the launch as he met with republican leaders, the defense secretary and other cabinet officials. >> i will only tell you that we will take care of it. we have general mattis in the room with us, and we've had a long discussion on it. it is a situation that we will handle. >> woodruff: the launch came a week after the president put north korea back on a list of states that sponsor terrorism. president trump has won the first round in the legal fight over who runs the consumer financial protection bureau. a u.s. district judge today ruled against leandra english, the deputy director. she wanted to bar white house budget chief mick mulvaney from taking over. this ruling leaves mulvaney in charge, pending appeals. a federal jury in washington today acquitted the main suspect in the benghazi, libya attacks of all murder charges. ahmed abu khattala was accused of organizing the 2012 attacks that led to the deaths of the u.s. ambassador and three other americans. he was convicted today of four lesser counts, and could get 60 years in prison. in kenya, uhuru kenyatta was sworn in for a second term as president after a protracted and sometimes violent struggle. kenyatta addressed an estimated crowd of more than 60,000 in nairobi. he said the turmoil had stretched kenya "almost to the breaking point," but he urged the country to put divisions aside. >> i believe that those who voted for me chose the better vision. this, however, does not invalidate the aspirations of those who did not vote for me. i undertake today to be the custodian of the dreams of all. >> woodruff: elsewhere in the city, opposition candidate raila odinga called the election illegitimate and rallied supporters. police fired rifles and tear gas to break up the gathering, and three people were killed. secretary of state rex tillerson today rejected growing reports state department.ing out the democratic lawmakers, former department staffers and others have blamed tillerson for an exodus of senior foreign service officers. today, in a washington speech, tillerson insisted the critics are doing a disservice to department employees. >> there is no hollowing out. these numbers people are throwing around are just false, they're wrong. i'm offended on their behalf when people say somehow we don't have a state department that functions, because i can tell you, it's functioning very well from my perspective. >> woodruff: tillerson said he believes the state department can cut spending by 30%-- and staffing by 8%-- even as the trump administration addresses various overseas conflicts. another woman is now accusing congressman john conyers of sexual harassment. deanna maher ran a michigan office for the detroit democrat from 1997 to 2005. she told the "detroit news" that he made multiple unwanted advances on her. conyers is already under investigation by the house ethics committee for earlier allegations. another congressional veteran, and a champion of immigration reform, says he will not seek re-election. illinois democrat luis gutierrez announced today he will leave the u.s. house after 13 terms. he says he wants to focus on immigration issues and on rebuilding hurricane-ravaged puerto rico. and, president trump's nominee to chair the federal reserve signaled today that another interest rate hike is coming in december. jerome powell had his senate confirmation hearing today, and he made clear the fed will maintain its policy of gradual rate increases. >> i think that the case for raising rates at our next meeting is coming together. the very low interest rates that were appropriate during the crisis and after to support economic activity are no longer appropriate. and that's why we're raising interest rates now on a gradual path and i expect that that will continue. >> woodruff: powell would succeed janet yellen as fed chair, if confirmed by the full senate. still to come on the newshour: how the tax battle could affect student debt. papal diplomacy-- the pope's visit to a country plagued by ethnic violence. hard pressed-- distrust in the media, and the impact on the electorate. and, much more. >> woodruff: we return to the republican efforts to overhaul the tax code. both the senate and house tax bills are large and complex pieces of legislation, and they could affect key sectors of the american economy and society that have not gotten as much attention. one of those is the potential impact on higher education, and that's our focus of our weekly "making the grade" segment. john yang has the story. >> yang: judy, the senate and the house bills could make higher education more expensive for some students, though in different ways. the biggest changes are in the house bill, which would end the deduction for interest paid on student loans. some 12 million people used that deduction in 2015, the last year reported by the i.r.s. danielle douglas-gabriel covers the economics of education for the "washington post" and she joins us now. danielle, thanks for joining us. now, the house bill does away with the deductibility of student loan interest. how does that work under current law? >> well, people who are paying down their student loans can deduct up to $2,500 worth of interest every year. so folks who have higher balances tend to benefit the most from this. on average people get about maybe $200 worth of a deduction from this particular credit, but it is fairly popular. about three in ten of the 44 million americans who have student loan debt take advantage of this particular benefit. >> yang: so a lot of people use it, so it sounds like the benefit is relatively small. >> fairly. still, for folks who are paying dunn their loans while paying for a house and taking care of their family, a lot of them say that every little bit helps, so they were pretty disappointed to see the house want the take aim at this. and i think those voices must have been heard in the senate, which decided not to take aim at this particular tax benefit. >> yang: but it will be on the table when they try to reconcile the two bills? >> yes. >> yang: and then taxing tuition waivers as income, tuition waivers are different from scholarships, right? >> yes. so tuition waivers are what universities tend to offer their teaching and research assistants in exchange for the work that they do. in addition to offering these students stipends to cover the cost of living and such, they also cover their tuition. now, what this would mean is someone who is attending a program that costs say $30,000, $40,000 in tuition and also being paid maybe $2,000 of -- $20,000 a year, would instead of being taxed on that $20,000 stipend, would now be taxed on the full $50,000 to $60,000 of tuition waiver as well as that stipend. so that could be a pretty substantial difference for a lot of graduate students that are barely getting by on the money they're earning so far. so very many of them are concerned and a lot of them start to mobilize and take their concerns to capitol hill, and i think that's another reason why we saw the waiver not make it into the senate plan? >> one thing that is in both bills is taxing some universities endowments. >> correct. so there is a proposal right now that would impose a 1.4% excise tax on the net of private universities whose endowments are equal to $250,000 per full-time student. this pretty much addresses maybe 60 to 70 schools. it was initially when the house proposed this particular tax, they had said $100,000 per full-time students, which would have affected double the amount of schools, but there has been a lot of lobbying around this issue, because it's not only the harvards and princetons and really big, brand-name schools affected by this but some small liberal arts colleges that are really concerned about how this is going to affect their bottom line and their ability to offer financial aid to their students. >> is there a policy goal there? >> that's what's unclear there. there was some discussion about taxing endowments a year ago. there were hearings in the house around the idea of perhaps getting universities to ensure that more of their endowments are used to help lower the cost of colleges some this was at that point an affordability issue. well, that piece is not a part of this legislation whatsoever. it's not like the money that they're taking from these endowments is going to be used to lower the cost of college by offering more grants and scholarships. it's just going to offset any other kind of corporate tax decreases that we might see as a result of these plans. and a lot of people are very concerned about that aspect. folks could wrap their heads around the idea that we should incentivize universities to spend more of their endowment money on financial aid, but they can't necessarily wrap their heads around the idea of imposing this tax for the sake of helping corporations. >> yang: danielle douglas-gabriel of the "washington post" on the tax plans and higher education. thank you very much. >> woodruff: next, pope francis continued his high-stakes visit to myanmar today, amid the ongoing campaign of ethnic violence against that nation's muslim rohinga population. william brangham has that story. >> brangham: the pope flew to myanmar's capital today, the second day of his visit to this majority buddhist majority nation. he met with myannmar's powerful military leaders yesterday. the pontifff had been warned by the local catholic cardinal not to mention the rohingya by name. more than 600,000 muslim rohingya's have fled from rakhine state in myanmar into neighboring bangladesh. they're fleeing what they describe as widespread attacks, murders, rapes and burning of entire villages by government forces. the u.s. and the united nations have called these attacks "ethnic cleansing." the u.n. human rights council will meet next week in a special session to examine the situation. pope francis met today with aung san sui ki, the nobel peace prize laureate, who is now the civilian leader of the country. in his comments, the pope didn't mention the rohingya by name, but it seemed clear who he was referring to when he spoke of the need to respect all ethnic groups in myanmar. >> ( translated ): the future of myanmar must be peace, a peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of each member of society, respect for each ethnic group and its identity, respect for the rule of law, and respect for a democratic order. >> brangham: sui kyi, who in past has downplayed the severity of the attacks on the rohingya, today mentioned only the world's "interest" in this crisis. >> of the many challenges that our government has been facing, the situation in the rakhine has most strongly captured the attention of the world. >> brangham: it's not clear if the pope pressed sui ki privately on the plight of the rohingya, but he will likely visit with some of those refugees in bangladesh later this week. today, the bangladeshi government approved a plan to develop a flood-prone island, barely above sea-level, in the bay of bengal. that's meant to temporarily house up to 100,000 rohingya by 2019. for more on the impact the pope's trip is likely to have on this conflict, we turn to priscilla clapp. she's a retired career diplomat who served as chief of mission at the u.s. embassy in myanmar from 1999 to 2002, and she just returned from a trip to that country. >> thank you very much. i'm delighted to be here. >> brangham: so could you tell me, what is your sense? is the pope's visit and the things that he said and the people he has spoken to, is that likely to stop the attacks on the ronhinga? is it going to help this crisis in any way? >> there's not magic bullet to this problem. it was a very deep-seated problem in myanmar society itself. and it will take a long time to resolve that. i think that his visit is very important for the country who brought a very important message to people about tolerance, about what is expected about democratic societies in the 21st century world. and i think that people will hear that message that he brought. >> woodruff: why is that? i'm curious. help us understand how the pope is seen in that community. it's a country that most of us are not familiar with. what do they think of a opinion like him and him coming and saying respect all ethnic minorities in your nation? how is that going to be heard? >> well, i think they have great respect for the pope. and i'm sure that they will take his message seriously. there are militants and let's say extremist ultra nationalists in different sectors of the society who may not hear his message, but the majority of the people will hear it. and the majority of the buddhists in myanmar are peace-loving people. they do not practice the form of back to buddhism that we hear from the militant monks. that's not the form of buddhism that they practice. they're very tolerant of other religions, and they tend to listen to these kinds of messages. i think they'll take it very seriously. >> brangham: one of the things that has been deeply disturbing to me people is aung san suu kyi's reaction to this. in the past she seemed to have downplayed the attacks on the ronhinga. she seemed even in her most recent comments to simply talk about the interest that the world had paid without really addressing it. i know you just met with her. does she understand the full extent of what's going on there? >> well, i don't think you heard your full message. what she said in her meeting with the pope is they're trying to create situation in the country where all minorities and ethnic groups and religions can live peacefully together on an equal footing, and with respect for rule of law and democratic interaction. people are hearing that message from her, but for some reason the outside world doesn't hear it. >> brangham: but she did downplay it in the past. she said, "i wouldn't use the term ethnic cleansing." she says the military is not attacking and raping people. for a woman who was a nobel laureate and held up by many as a champion of human right, it seems as if she, forgive me if i'm wrong, but she was downplaying the severity of that crisis. do you disagree with that? >> i don't disagree with that, but she has to deal with the military. she has to deal with her own population. and she needs to maintain her public persona on an even keel with all of the different groups in the country, including the military. the military are not going to go away. and this is a divided government. she is leading a civilian government under a military constitution that leaves the military in control of vital parts of the country and the government all the way down to the local level. and she cannot turn things around without bringing the military along. and,. in fact, they had been governing the country. it was taken over in a military coup in 1962, that's a very long time. they're sharing the government right now with civilians for the first time. but only sharing. during the years that the military was in total control, they pitted all of these ethnic minority groups against each other, both religious and ethnic minorities. and they didn't allow them to communicate with each other. they kept them apart. so it's only for the last five years that they have had any experience in interacting with each other, and they're learning very fast, but it's going to be a generation-listening task here. >> brangham: priscilla clapp, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: jailhouse talk. a podcast produced in prison. and, "america addicted." protecting police dogs from the drugs they sniff out. but first, in two weeks, alabama voters head to the polls to pick their next u.s. senator, in a campaign rocked by allegations of sex abuse and counter- accusations of a media witch hunt. now, a foiled sting operation is bringing the divide between journalism and political activism to the forefront. the story broke last night. the "washington post" says it was targeted by a conservative group. according to the "post," a woman came forward, claiming that alabama's republican senate candidate roy moore got her pregnant when she was a teenager. she identified herself as jaime phillips, seen on the right in this video recorded by the "post." >> i want you to know that you are being recorded. >> woodruff: but reporter stephanie mccrummen and others found inconsistencies in her claims. they also asked about an online comment of hers that suggested she's working with a group that oes after mainstream media, ort m.s.m. >> do you still have an interest in working in the conservative media movement to combat the lies and deceit of the liberal m.s.m? is that still your interest? >> no, no. not really. not at this point. >> woodruff: the "post" decided not to publish the story, and monday morning, reporters spotted phillips walking into the new york city offices of "project veritas." the group is run by long-time activist james o'keefe and has a history of targeting the news media and democratic organizations, using undercover video. meanwhile, roy moore himself took aim at the media last night. he faces multiple claims of approaching or molesting teenage girls, but he's denied any wrongdoing. >> they're trying to hide the true issues. it's no different than when the "washington post" brought out the russian investigation at a time when president trump is trying to get his agenda passed. >> woodruff: outside the venue, several moore campaign staffers scuffled with a fox news camera crew. meanwhile, on twitter yesterday, president trump called for a contest. he said it would decide "which of the networks, plus cnn and not including fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage." the winner, said mr. trump, will receive the "fake news trophy." for a closer look, we're joined by margaret sullivan, media columnist at the "washington post," and michelle holmes, vice president of content at the alabama media group which publishes the state's three largest newspapers. welcome to both of you. margaret sullivan, to you first. what tipped off the "post" reporters that what this woman, jamie phillips, was saying the them was not true? >> judy, the "post" was doing what good reporters always do, which, as you know, is to do a background check and to find out as much as possible about someone before going with their story. so they were doing fairly standard kind of background check, and one of the things that they turned up, and there were a number of red flags, but probably the most obvious one was that they found a go fund me page on the internet that seemed to suggest that jamie phillips had gone to work or was going to work for an organization that would set out to discredit establishment media. so this was something that certainly caught the "post's" eye. >> woodruff: and to you, michelle holmes, what has been the reaction there in alabama to the "post" exposing this attempt at a sting? >> certainly we at our newsroom are incredibly grateful and proud of the work that the "washington post" is doing. i think it certainly makes a mark for excellent journalism everywhere and lifts us all. i think across alabama i certainly hope this sends a message of the kind of dirty and underhanded tactics that people are doing and attempting to discredit the media. this really is a critical time. >> woodruff: margaret sullivan, when you couple this with what we've seen as president trump's repeated attempts to criticize, discredit the news media through the campaign, through his presidency, to make the press essentially look dishonest, what effect do you think that has on the american people? >> judy, for some people it only makes their resolve greater that they want to understand what is true and follow reputable news sources. but i think for a number of other people, it does cast doubt. you know, it creates confusion. who is telling the truth? should we really mistrust the news media as much as the president says or even half as much as he says? so it creates an atmosphere in which truth is muddied. you don't really know who to trust, and some people throw up their hands and say, well, i'm going to tune out. i don't know exactly who is right or who is wrong. it's all a big mess. i think that's very dangerous. >> woodruff: michelle holmes, all of this is obviously subjective. i'm asking the two of you to estimate, to give us your judgment of how the public is reacting, but what do you find in alabama about trust for the media. your own news organization editorialized against roy moore. are people still able to trust the reporting that your organization does, do you think? >> we've had really strong response thanking us for the work we've been doing. i do think people in alabama are intelligent and are able to distinguish an institutional editorial voice from the kind of day-to-day hard reporting that our staff is doing. look, our team of reporters are primarily people who were born and raised in alabama. they're the neighbors of all of our news consumers, and i think many people see through the tactics of fake news, certainly, you know, the president's push has played a really disturbing role, however, and we feel that ripple, too, but i think in alabama the work that we're doing is being seen for what it is, trying to call out truths in a really important time in alabama politics and american politics. >> woodruff: margaret sullivan, how do you measure this erosion of trust on the part of news consumers? >> well, of course, you can look at the public opinion polls, and the numbers are discouraging there. but we also know that trust in institutions in general is way down. i have been trying to get out and talk to ordinary voters for months now, and i actually don't find that kind of vir virulent dislike and mistrust that we see in the polls when i talk to regular people, including a lot of trump voters. so i think it's a question of is it the media, and who knows what that means, or is it the media that i follow, which i think most people feel pretty good about. >> woodruff: margaret sullivan, how do you see the role of the press in addressing this increasingly distrustful, at least in some quarters, increasingly distrustful and sometimes outright hostile attitude toward the media, the news media? >> judy, i think for the most part we have to do our jobs as best we can, and we also have to be as transparent as we can with our readers or viewers, news consumers about how we this our work. for example, in the "post's" original story about roy moore, there was a paragraph that was very clear about how the women had not approached the "post," the "post idea has found these women and encouraged them to come forward. i think that helps people understand how the sausage is made. the more we are transparent, the more trust we can engender. >> woodruff: certainly some remarkable reporting done by the "washington post" and commendable reporting certainly done by the alabama media group. i want the thank both of you. michelle holmes joining us from alabama, margaret sullivan at the "post," thank you both. >> thank you. >> woodruff: next, how a podcast is providing an intimate look at life behind bars in california's oldest prison. the audio series "ear hustle," the first podcast to be produced entirely inside a prison, has steadily grown in popularity by laying out in vivid detail the everyday experiences of the inmates at san quentin. jeffrey brown has our story. >> you are now tuned into san quentin's "ear hustle." >> what gives you hope in prison? >> damn, getting out. that's all i can hope for. >> brown: on the popular podcast, "ear hustle," they call this "yard talk." >> hey muhammed, i got a question for you, man. >> brown: and for the inmates at san quentin, it's a chance to be heard far beyond these prison walls. >> brown: "ear hustle's" stories, and the sketches by inmates that accompany them, offer a rare look at life inside a prison. the phrase is slang in here for "eavesdropping." >> how do you take your coffee? >> i don't usually drink coffee, because i like to sleep. >> brown: sitting just north of san francisco, san quentin is a california state facility that's home to some 4,000 men, most under medium security, but it includes more than 700 on death row. it's a place known for its education and work opportunities for prisoners, including a media lab, where we watched the show's co-hosts in action: inmate earlonne woods, and nigel poor, a san francisco-based artist, who's been volunteering in san quentin since 2011. >> the purpose of the podcast is to try to tell the everyday stories of life inside prison, and trying to find the commonalties between what happens inside, and what happens outside of prison. >> brown: "ear hustle" stories can be raw and intense-- about the realities of race relations, for example. >> you're one with your race. if something happens between two races everyone is supposed to go, whether it's fighting or whatever. >> brown: but there's also plenty of humor, and relatable problems such as sharing a tiny space, as in the episode calle"" p>> the rule is, don't touch my stuff, don't look through my mail, don't look at my pictures, do not put your hands on my shelf because if you do that's like the ultimate form of disrespect. >> brown: earlonne woods, who has served nearly 20 years on a 31-year-to-life sentence for attempted second degree robbery, says "ear hustle" is a reflection of his own coming to terms. >> as you go through time, you have to get real with yourself and you have to come to the conclusion, "well, i did do this." you know, and i am accountable for my actions, you know. and i think most people that are here, that have been locked up over a decade are on that path, to where they're trying to atone for whatever may have happened in the past. just trying to find some type of understanding, you know. >> brown: woods met co-host nigel poor while she was teaching a photography class at san quentin. the pair hit it off and quickly built an easy rapport that is the backbone of the show. >> one of the original intents was to show that inside and outside people can work together as colleagues with professionalism and mutual respect. and i also can be the voice of the person who doesn't have experience in prison. so i can ask the maybe embarrassing questions, or push earlonne a little bit. >> brown: last year, a pilot of the series won an international contest put on by prx's" radiotopia" that introduced "ear hustle" to a much larger audience. within a few months, it was at the top of the itunes podcast charts and today episodes have been downloaded more than six million times. >> we wasn't trying to send no messages, nothing like that. we were just like, let's tell some good stories. >> brown: nigel poor says finding good stories at san quentin has never been a problem. >> there's a lot of gossip inside prison, so it's not hard to get the word around that you're looking for something specific. so at this point, we can get people coming to us and saying, "i want to do this story," or, >> brown: for the podcast's sound designer, antwan williams, serving a 15-year sentence for armed robbery, the challenge is to capture the feel of daily life here, including what he calls the "sound of despair." what would despair feel like? what would it sound like? >> it can be just the sound of breathing by itself. with no interruptions, with no echoes or with no chimes, just the sound of a breath. >> brown: "ear hustle" follows the long tradition of inmate- produced content at san quentin. the prison's newspaper has been published since the 1920s. >> the first time i'm eligible for parole is 2044. >> brown: one episode, called" left behind," included the story of curtis roberts, in his 23rd year after being sentenced under california's three strikes law. >> the crime i committed was that i walked into a liquor store and snatched two $20 bills from the register, no weapon, and after i got caught, i plead guilty to robbery and they gave me 50 years to life. >> brown: roberts says he eventually felt safe enough with the "ear hustle" team to talk about something rarely spoken of-- he'd been raped inside san quentin. >> they really helped me feel comfortable and calm. i never felt threatened. it was a comfortable environment. >> brown: what do you think is the biggest misperception about people living their life in prison? >> i think the perception is that we're these monsters in here. i am not a monster. i'm a stupid idiot that did drugs and stole money. i'm still human. >> brown: every "ear hustle" story, no matter the topic, must be approved by lieutenant sam robinson, san quentin's public information officer. >> i think as a society, we're responsible. we pay for what takes place behind the walls of a prison. you're accountable for it, and so if you're accountable for it, you should be informed about what happens. >> brown: robinson says the only episode he nearly prevented was titled "the boom-boom room," about conjugal visits, both legal and illicit. >> at san quentin, the married guys that have them get to spend 48 hours with their family in a cottage on prison grounds. okay, that's the official, legitimate way. but people being who they are, they're going to find a way to do their thing. >> i've been here 21 years, so i've, you know, it's not the first time that i've heard it, it's not the first time that i've heard there were illegal sexual activities taking place inside the prison. >> brown: "ear hustle's" creators say they've been overwhelmed by the response to the series so far. but i asked woods what he'd tell those, including victims of crime, who might question his freedom to do this work. >> everybody has their truth, you know? the victims and the survivors that you're speaking of, they have their truth, whether we should have this or not. but i believe that the whole purpose of the department of corrections or prisons is for one to correct themselves. so if the underlying reasons is for us to correct ourselves, there should be some type of rehabilitative services. >> brown: woods and the rest of the team are now at work on season two of "ear hustle," set for next march. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in san quentin prison, california. >> woodruff: and we'll be back shortly with our series, "america addicted," a look at how police dogs are being protected from opioids. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your suppor >> woodruff: combating the opioid crisis frequently involves police officers, including their four-legged partners who have much more sensitive noses. in massachusetts, an effort is underway to protect trained canines from potential exposure to lethal drugs such as fentanyl. from pbs station wgbh in boston, tina martin reports. >> reporter: quincy police k-9 officer scott doherty and his partner mace go through a practice explosives search. >> mace will be five in october and i've had him for four years. >> reporter: they work the boston marathon and the 4th of july celebration on the esplanade every year. >> we do everything from large venues and events for explosives detection sweeps. as part of that he also detects guns. >> reporter: mace, like the department's other k-9 officers lexi and ronin, uses his nose to find suspects, missing people and guns, but he may also encounter opiods like herion or carfentanil, which can be lethal. >> with drugs typically comes guns, so mace may very well be involved in a search warrant or any kind of search for a gun as a result of a fellow drug investigation or drug search. >> reporter: to protect his partner, officer doherty carries narcan. >> i keep doses. we follow the trends in the country. there have been a lot of canines exposed to fentanyl and carfentanil, so we just want to stay up on the protection of the dogs. >> reporter: lieutenant bob gillan runs the k-9 unit of 12 officers and their dogs. a year ago he brought in the staff at new england animal medical center to do narcan trainings. diane whittaker is one of the veterinary technicians. >> we do probably three classes sometimes four classes a year for specific departments. >> reporter: jessica mckay- desant, a veterianian, says just like humans, it's important to know the signs. >> when an animal is exposed to an opioid, some signs that you're going to notice would be not responding to commands, staring off into space. >> reporter: and even if a handler is not sure, its better to act... >> narcan is relatively harmless it doesn't have many adverse effects, so if they get an unnecessary narcan injection they're not going to respond to it in a bad way. >> reporter: in quincy, first responders have used narcan more than 700 times on humans, but they haven't had to use it on k-9s. officer scott doherty says he's ready to protect his partner. >> if mace were to come in contact with an opioid, fentanyl, heroin, carfentanil, he would need my help and i would need to recognize the signs in him. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm tina martin in quincy, massachusetts. >> woodruff: canine partners matter. and on the newshour online, when victims of sexual harassment and assault share their stories, what legal standing do they have to pursue accusations in court? well, that depends in large part on state statutes of limitations. we explore how some states are rolling back those time limits on our website. that's at www.pbs.org/newshour. and that is the newshour for tonight. on wednesday, our series "america addicted" continues. the story of a father working to prevent additional opioid deaths by helping get more young people the help they need. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again right here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> 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 -♪ tuesday ♪ afternoon -...legendary rock band the moody blues celebrate the 50th anniversary of their groundbreaking album "days of future passed." ♪ accompanied onstage by a full orchestra, the band performs the complete recording. ♪ featuring special narration by jeremy irons. -bring the warmth the countryside needs! -join us for a rock 'n' roll spectacle, as they also perform their classic hits. -♪ ohhhh, ohhhh, yeah -take a musical journey back to the "days of future passed"... -♪ yeah -...with the moody blues -- live.