Wealth In America: What Is It? And Who’s Got It?

Here’s what you’ll find on today’s show:

— Millions of college students are heading to the stage this month to collect their diploma, or to move from community college to a full time university. But for many, that transition comes with a significant financial burden. 25-year-old Hannah Clark was feeling optimistic when she graduated from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. She had about $20,000 in student debt, far less than the nearly $39,400 in average student debt for graduates of the class of 2017. But she soon realized that even that much would have a big impact on her future.

— The city of Jerusalem, claimed as a holy site by three major religions, has stood at the nexus of religious and ethnic conflicts since biblical times. Caught amid the intersection of history, religion, and Middle East geopolitics, nearly 900,000 people claim Jerusalem as their home, with 30% to 40% of that population made up of ethnic Arabs. On Monday, the Trump administration fulfills a long-standing campaign promise as the newly-moved American embassy officially opens its doors in Jerusalem. The timing of the move from Tel Aviv coincides with the eve of ‘Nakba,’ a day when Arabs commemorate the loss of the land they see as their own.

— Iraqis went to the polls in parliamentary elections over the weekend, in the first elections since U.S.-backed Iraqi forces drove the Islamic State from the country. And Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is in the lead, with incumbent Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi all the way back in third. Sadr has led two uprisings against U.S. forces in Iraq, and now seems poised to get to choose the country’s next prime minister.