captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: iraq's top shiite cleric, through a spokesman, ramped up pressure today on the country's beleaguered prime minister, calling for fractured political parties to unite to counter the swift advance of sunni militants. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. also ahead, the story of one of the tens of thousands of children who last year braved a treacherous trek. crossing the border into the u.s. from central america, alone. >> he made this dangerous journey because he says his hometown in honduras has been overrun by criminal gangs. for children trying to escape the violence, the journey can be deadly. >> woodruff: and it's friday, mark shields and david brooks are here, to analyze the week's

news. those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> i've been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. the ones getting involved, staying engaged. they are not afraid to question the path they're on. because the one question they never want to ask is, "how did i

end up here?" i started schwab with those people. people who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. >> united healthcare-- online at uhc.com. >> 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 of ukraine announced a one-week unilateral cease-fire today. petro poroshenko ordered government forces to put down their weapons against pro- russian separatists, but said if fired upon, troops could fire

back. rebel leaders immediately dismissed the cease-fire, and so did russia. meanwhile, the u.s. state department said it has information russia is accumulating tanks and artillery near the border with ukraine and has re-deployed forces there. >> woodruff: the number of people in the world who are living as refugees has passed 50 million, for the first time since world war two. a u.n. report found by the end of last year the number of refugees had jumped by six million over the previous year, to 51.2 million. the massive increase was driven largely by the civil war in syria. but the u.n. high commissioner for refugees says conflicts are multiplying around the world, with few solutions in sight. >> there is a general sense of impunity. conflicts emerge, dramatic violations of human rights appear and the international community has lost much of its

capacity to prevent conflict situations and to timely solve them. >> woodruff: afghanistan still accounts for the highest number of refugees in the world, and neighboring pakistan hosts more refugees than any other country. three u.s. troops were killed in a roadside bombing in afghanistan today. a u.s. defense official said the bomb went off in southern afghanistan, and the troops' military dog was also killed. in syria today, a truck loaded with about three tons of explosives killed at least 34 civilians. more than 50 others were wounded. the islamic front claimed responsibility. the rebel group posted a video online showing a ball of fire rising into the sky overnight near the city of hama. daylight revealed a large crater in the ground and damaged buildings. the latest round of nuclear talks with iran ended in vienna today, with uncertainty. the leader of the u.s.

negotiation team, wendy sherman, said there's a "working document" but it's "heavily bracketed" because of outstanding disagreements. iran's representative, foreign minister mohammad javad zarif, told reporters the demands were excessive. >> we have started putting everything on paper. not agreeing on anything, but at least having in black and white form what each side believes should be done. from our perspective, what we have put forward is a resolution not a repetition of our position. we believe that if other side does the same, we will reach a common position and hopefully resolve this issue by july 20. >> woodruff: july 20th is when an interim agreement with the six world powers expires. under that deal, iran scaled back parts of its nuclear program in exchange for fewer economic sanctions. heavy flooding and torrential rains paralyzed parts of bulgaria today. at least 12 people were killed

and an unknown number of others are still missing. in the black sea resort town of varna, cars sat on top of each other and the streets were blanketed with thick mud. the amount of rain that fell in the last 24 hours was roughly what they'd see in a month. the medical group "doctors without borders" warned today the ebola outbreak in west africa is now "totally out of control". the epidemic has already claimed more than 330 lives across guinea, sierra leone, and liberia. there is no cure for the deadly virus. medical officials say they're struggling to meet the high demand for treatment, especially now that the disease has spread to densely populated areas. 219 nigerian schoolgirls are still missing more than two months after being kidnapped by the islamist militant group "boko haram." the brigadier general who heads the nigerian government's investigation gave that update today. the girls were taken from their

secondary school in the village of chibok back in mid-april. 57 others who were taken, have been reunited with their families. in washington, a congressional hearing with i.r.s. commissioner john koskinen turned into a shouting match over the issue of thousands of lost emails. last week, the i.r.s. acknowledged an unknown number were permanently lost due to a series of hard drive crashes. some were from former i.r.s. executive lois lerner, who has been accused of holding up applications from tea party and other conservative groups for tax-exempt status. republican paul ryan of wisconsin accused koskinen of lying in the probe. >> hard drives crashed. you learned about this months ago and you just told us and we had to ask you on monday. this is not being forth coming. this is being misleading again. this is a pattern of abuse a pattern that is not giving us

any confidence that says this agency is being impartial. >> i have a long career that's the first time anybody has said they do not believe me. i am... >> i don't believe you. >> that's fine we can have a disagreement. i am willing to stand on our record. >> woodruff: democrats at the hearing repeatedly objected to republicans who interrupted the commissioner before he could answer. some of them gave up their own question time to give koskinen a chance to respond to the republicans' accusations. the obama administration expanded a range of federal marriage rights to same-sex couples today. the labor department announced a new rule that allows eligible employees to take off work to care for their spouses, even in states where their marriages are not recognized. it's the latest in a series of changes since the supreme court struck down part of the defense of marriage act last year. the centers for disease control and prevention today raised the number of workers who may have been exposed to anthrax. the agency now believes 84

scientists and staff members in atlanta could have come in contact with the live anthrax bacteria, after it was improperly handled. so far no illnesses have been reported, and more than 50 workers are taking precautionary antibiotics. there were more milestones for stocks on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average gained more than 25 points to close at 16,947. the nasdaq rose more than eight points to close at 4,368. the s-and-p 500 added 3 points to close above 1,962. for the week, the dow gained about a percent. the nasdaq and s-and-p rose more than a percent. still to come on the newshour: mounting pressure on iraq's beleaguered prime minister; children braving a dangerous journey to cross the border into the u.s.; a possible $40 million dollar settlement for a wrongful conviction 25 years ago; potential g.o.p. 2016 presidential hopefuls take to

the stage; plus, mark shields and david brooks on the week's news. >> woodruff: in iraq today, government troops were poised to take the fight north to sunni extremists while the spiritual leader of the country's shiite majority called for a new working government. >> woodruff: sectarian division has so far prevented the political party of prime minister nouri al-maliki from claiming it's seats in parliament. but grand ayatollah ali sistani, the country's most influential shiite cleric, urged the newly- elected body to convene quickly and choose a speaker and president. a representative read sistani's sermon in kerbala. >> ( translated ): it is also important that winning blocs open dialogue to help form an effective government largely acceptable to all, in order to

surmount past mistakes and open new horizons for a better future to all iraqis. >> woodruff: back in the united states, the pentagon said it expects iraq to agree to legal protections for the incoming group of u.s. military advisers. american forces left the country in 2011 after the iraqi government refused to grant u.s. service members legal immunity. >> woodruff: hundreds of miles north of baghdad in the isil controlled city of mosul, there are signs that once fearful residents are beginning to return home to try life under the militant group's rule. we have a report from jonathan rugman of independent television news, who is just outside the city. >> it is perched precariously and this is precarious in more ways than one. the monastery of st. matthew, 1600 years old, still echoing with aramaic, the language of christ himself, now shelters 50

christian families after their city mosul is conquered by islamic extremists last week. they tell us to trust us, this woman told me. they tell us they won't hurt us, but we're not going back because we don't trust them. her husband was killed by jihaddests in mosul two years ago. now i.s.i.s. is in charge. they fear they will be branded as her ra heratics and executed. so when you hear that, there are a lot of problem, we are destroyed, the family, especially the christian. >> this was as close to iraq's second city as we dared go. a checkpoint manned by kurdish fighters patrolling the border of a vast new self-declared islamic state. and to our surprise, a du a cueo

get in. iraq's government is apparently so hated by so many here that even some christians are giving the i.s.i.s. alternative a chance. >> we think worse happened to the church, our homes, letting you know, there's nothing. >> so you as a christian are not worried? >> no. we're not afraid, they're doing nothing to us, says this man. if you leave your car someone, it will be safe and nobody will steal it, said another. i.s.i.s. seems to be trying to win hearts and minds in mosul, and here just a few hundred meters from the i.s.i.s. front line. nobody knows how long the group's restraint will last given it has boasted about executing prisoners south of here. the scarred remains of the army

which made a rapid retreat from them last week. this dejected handful did not. they won't admit to us ther thee wasn't much hope of getting the city back. and that forces the 2 million people of mosul to choose whether to stay or to go. hundreds of thousands have fled from i.s.i.s. those without money or relatives living in camps in unbearable heat. the dwindling number of christians either clinging on in their ancient homeland or heading for the hills to pray. >> woodruff: now, to the future of iraq's government, it's leader, and the reaction on the ground to president obama's decision to send hundreds of military advisors to the country. the new york times' rod nordland has been reporting on all these fronts from baghdad. i spoke to him earlier this afternoon. rod nordland, welcome to the

program. a lot going on there, in particular this statement by the cleric, the grand ayatollah, calling on the country's political parties to quickly come together to form a government. >> i think people are reading more into that statement than actually there but that certainly is a sentiment among a lot of political leaders here, even people who were allies of mr. maliki say a year ago or even less, and there are quite a few other politicians who think there is actually a chance of putting together a coalition that can unseat him and they'll they feel embolden because they see particularly the americans and president obama with his remarks last night who were hardly supportive of the current prime minister. >> woodruff: how much support is there right now for making a change in government? >> well, maliki does have his supporters. he was the single biggest vote getter, something like 750,000 people voted for him, and he has

more seats than any other single block or party, but he doesn't have enough seats to make government on his own. and he has almost zero support from sunnies and from kurds, probably zero is a better figure. and without that, without some country from other groups in the country, he's not going to be able to effectively fight this insurgency. i think people are increasingly coming to that conclusion that either h he has to do something dramatic to showing he's willing to include sunnies and kurds in his government or he has to stand aside. >> reporter: has bleaky indicated any willingness to step aside? >> not at all. in fact, he's shown very little willingness to even recognize that he has a problem. we saw his reconciliation minister the other day who flatly said there can be no reconciliation during the war and, you know, that's the kind of remark that just, you know, convinces the sunnis who are, after all, the breeding ground

for these militants advancing toward baghdad that they just have no hope of working with this government. >> woodruff: so when will the process be for making changes forks making a change at the top? >> well, there'll be two weeks of deliberations among the parties, and if enough of them can get together to oppose maliki, you know, they could be the ones who ultimately choose the new prime minister . the first step is forming the parliament and then the parliament which is the president, prime minister, speaker of the house, other officials. but generally, it's a package deal and once parliament convenience, they have it all worked out, and the other parties, if enough get together and along them they have a pretty sound majority. on the other hand, maliki has a lot of the cards. he controls the government, has the biggest single block and he has a lot of support among his core constituency, the shia.

>> woodruff: rod nordland, how much of a factor is iran in all of this? what are they saying to maliki about what he should do? >> well, publicly, you know, the president even said he thinks malmaliki needs to do more. he's basically on the same page as the americans in that score and they've also said they would be willing to work tw with the americans. but it's also clearing that if insurgents got as far as baghdad and further south and threatened the shia holy cities of kabul and najaf, the iranians would probably feel compelled to step in and if they did that, that risks provoking other leaders in the nation and even leading to a much wider regional war which, at the end of the day, is what i.s.i.s. is all about. the bigger the war, the better. >> woodruff: rod, finally, what is the reaction you're hearing to president obama's announcement he's sending 300

american military advisors to iraq? >> generally speaking, i think most iraqis are pleased to hear that. they do think the united states does have to get involved again and, certainly, people on maliki's side have looked for it for a long time. i think the sunnis are more nervous about it. no one wants to see another big american involvement. i think they're a bit suspicious of that. then on the radical shia side, some people have actually said they would like to attack any american advisors who arrive, so it's kind of a mixed picture, as it always has been in this country when it comes to american involvement. >> woodruff: very tough situation. rod nordland with the "new york times." we thank you. >> pleasure. >> woodruff: vice president joe biden is in guatemala today meeting with central american leaders.

he's hoping to get their help in stopping the surge of unaccompanied minors arriving in the u.s. the flood of children has become a crisis for the government as it scrambles for solutions. newshour reporter p.j. tobia prepared this report on why these children are coming and what's happening to them once they arrive. >> reporter: last year, 11-year- old nodwin survived a journey that has killed many adults. he traveled from honduras to the u.s. border over land, almost entirely by himself. he nearly drowned crossing the rio grande river near texas in an inflatable raft. >> ( translated ): the boat suffered a puncture and i went under the water but i managed to grab onto a piece of wood and that's how i saved myself. >> reporter: he made this dangerous journey because he says his hometown in honduras has been overrun by criminal gangs. >> ( translated ): the big

people force the children to, sell bad things and if they don't do it they rape them or they kill them. >> reporter: nodwin once witnessed a boy his own age gang raped in a neighborhood park after the child refused to join a local drug gang. >> ( translated ): they were stripping a kid naked and i went to tell the kids mum and she went to check what was happening. later i went home but i didn't want to leave my house because they could have done the same thing to me as they did to the kid. >> reporter: he was living with his grandmother at the time and his parents, undocumented immigrants who live here in northern virginia, quickly hired a coyote, or human trafficker, to bring their son through mexico to the u.s. border. his story is not unique. the government says that by may of this year more than 47,000 unaccompanied children were caught crossing u.s. border. between 60,000 and 90,000 are expected to come in 2014, according to the white house. that's more than twice as many as last year, three times as many as in 2012.

they come alone, because many have parents here in the u.s. who are undocumented and can't easily leave and return to the country. the majority come from the central american countries of honduras, el salvador and guatemala. they enter through the rio grande valley section of the texas border. >> there have been an increase in gang activities in those countries and there isn't very strong rule of law in those places. >> reporter: jennifer podkul is senior program officer at the women's refugee commission. she's interviewed hundreds of children who've made the journey from central america. >> they're seeking children of this age and they're recruiting at schools, they're recruiting at youth centers, they're recruiting and going after children who are participating in youth groups and churches. so they're really targeting a particular age group. >> reporter: the government says that compared to previous years more of the children are under the age of 13. roger noriega is a former assistant secretary of state for the western hemisphere. he says the worsening violence in central american countries is drug related.

>> they sit in this corridor of cocaine trafficking northward to the us market. weak institutions in most of these countries, they don't have the capacity to resist the criminality and violence that's associated with drug trafficking. >> reporter: for children trying to escape the violence, the journey can be deadly. ny of them, particularity if they don't have a lot of money, they ride on top of a train. the train is called la bestia, the beast that travels through mexico. a lot of people fall off the train. there have been accidents. children have talked to me about seeing people fall asleep and then they fall off the train or limbs getting cut off when somebody falls off. >> reporter: after crossing the border, most children are caught by customs and border patrol. many just turn themselves in. so many are now coming, that temporary shelters are being used. these images are from a border patrol facility in brownsville texas and nogales arizona. >> these stations are designed

as short-term hold rooms. so they were designed as short term hold rooms. has no window to the outside, there's no bed. there might be a toilet but it's in a public area and the children are just sitting there. some are not given blankets, some are not given any hot meals, they're only given cookies or juice. and they're there for up to ten days, even two weeks. >> reporter: by law, seventy two hours is the longest children can be kept in c.p.b. custody. after, the children are turned over to the federal department of health and human services, which tries to reunite them with family. if they have no family, they remain in h.h.s. custody. >> our focus is moving the children out of the facilities and to a sponsor for this period. while they are with the sponsor, they are still fully subject to the removal proceedings. >> reporter: once these kids arrive in the u.s. and are reunited with a parent or guardian, they're supposed to end up in a juvenile immigration court like this one, to see if

they qualify for asylum or a visa. if they don't, they're supposed to be deported. last month nodwin sat right here, his attorney is preparing an asylum claim. but because of the number of children and adults coming everyday to the united states, getting a hearing can take years. meanwhile, republicans like senator john cornyn of texas say the obama administration has enticed children to make the journey. last week, department of homeland security secretary jeh johnson testified before congress about the surge of child migrants. >> there is this perception that the executive branch of the federal government is not enforcing the law because of talks about easing deportations. >> i'm not sure i agree that that is the motivator for people coming in, for the children coming into south texas. i think it is primarily the conditions in the countries that they are leaving from. >> reporter: conservatives argue that white house policies, like deferred action for childhood arrivals, which allows some

younger undocumented immigrants to stay in the country, have sent the message that now is the time to come to the u.s. illegally. mark krikorian is the executive director, of the center for immigration studies, which advocates for a tougher immigration policy. >> the administration doesn't really oppose illegal immigration. i mean, the people in charge of immigration policy-making in this administration don't really, in their heart of hearts, believe that we have a right to keep people out of the country who aren't murderers or drug dealers, in other words, sort of regular illegal aliens who just want a job. >> reporter: as a senior advisor to president obama for domestic policy, cecilia munoz is one of the people in the administration krikorian is talking about. she denies white house policy is encouraging kids to come. >> that argument would have you believe that these folks are leaving their countries, crossing all of mexico, alone, and entering into the united states in order to benefit from

programs that they're not even eligible for. >> reporter: she concedes there's a perception in central america partly responsible for pushing families to make risky decisions. >> there are false rumors that if you can get to the united states maybe you can stay. those are false and we're doing everything we can to make sure that people in those countries understand that there are no provisions in the law to provide for these children to stay, that the border is not open for children. >> reporter: in fact, according to a 2012 study from the non- partisan vera institute, many children are not granted relief from removal, despite having legitimate claims to a visa or asylum. immigration attorneys and experts say that most children are placed in removal proceedings within one year of arrival. some of those who have been released can be difficult to track down and physically deport. those with attorneys continue to fight. >> the borders of the united states are not open, not even for children who come on their own, and the deportation process starts when they get here, and we expect that it will continue

for the vast majority of these kids. >> reporter: back in northern virginia, nodwin is getting to know his parents, who left honduras when he was just five and a half months old. they didn't want their faces shown in this report. >> ( translated ): when i saw them i ran towards them and hugged them and they told me "welcome to your parents' home" >> reporter: he's allowed to stay in the u.s. while his asylum claim makes it's way through the courts. he's also just finished his first full year of american school. >> on my first day at school i made a lot of friends and from that day forth i made even more friends. >> reporter: his father told me he wants nodwin to one day play in the world cup, but not for honduras, for team u.s.a. >> woodruff: this afternoon, the white house announced tens of millions of dollars of additional funding for security, economic and repatriation programs in central america. meanwhile, house speaker john boehner urged the president in a letter to immediately send the

national guard to help deal with what he calls the "national security and humanitarian crisis along our southern border." you can read more about the challenges facing these young migrants, on our homepage. >> woodruff: new york city has reportedly agreed to its largest settlement ever in a civil rights case, a story that captured the country's attention in the late eighties following a heinous attack in central park, and one that inflamed racial tensions in the city and added to a perception of lawlessness. new york will make the payments to five men who were wrongly convicted and came to be known as the "central park five." jeffrey brown has the story, beginning with more background. >> brown: the $40 million settlement comes 25 years after one of the most sensationalized crimes in new york city's

history. in 1989, passersby found the nearly lifeless body of a white 28-year-old woman, much later identified as trisha meili, in a wooded area of central park. she had been raped, beaten, and left for dead while jogging. she was in a coma for 12 days. five black and latino defendants, all between 14 and 16, were arrested and portrayed by police and in the media as part a marauding and "wilding" pack of youths who rampaged through the park that night. the five were convicted on a series of charges related to the assault, and served sentences ranging from seven to 13 years. but lawyers argued there was a lack of physical evidence linking the five to the crime, and that the convictions were based almost entirely on coerced written and video taped confessions like this one. >> what happened when you charged her? >> we charged her. she was on the ground. everybody stomping and everything. >> brown: then, in 2002,

convicted murderer and serial rapist mathias reyes told police he had been the rapist. d.n.a. evidence confirmed his claim. >> the motion is granted, merry christmas >> brown: later that year, a new york state supreme court judge vacated the earlier convictions. today's agreement could close the book on the decade-long civil rights lawsuit brought against the police and prosecutors for wrongful arrest amid a racially-motivated conspiracy. the city, under mayor michael bloomberg, fought the suit for years. but new mayor bill deblasio pledged to quote, "right this injustice." in 2012, film maker ken burns - with his daughter sarah and her husband david mcmahon, released a documentary chronicling the crime and its aftermath. here's a short excerpt from it santana and richardson

described how police turned them against one another. >> i didn't do anything. they said, we just wanted you to help because we know you didn't do anything. you're a good kid. he said, you a good kid? i said no. he said the scratch under his eye came from the woman. we know he did it. he's going down. >> i didn't know the guys that did it so i'm just going to make up something and include these guys' names. >> okay, you know, if you're going to do it to me, then i'm going to do it to you. >> he was coaching me and i was writing it down. >> he just fed it to me. what did he do? what did andrew mccrane do? he gave me the names. i put them in. i couldn't tell you who they were, who they looked like. if he had given me # hundred names, i would have put 100 people at the crime scene. >> brown: we're joined by

craig steven wilder, a professor of urban american history at m.i.t. who followed the kids closely and was featured in the documentary. welcome. can you take us back, first, in time. how and why did this become such a huge event in the history of the city? >> i think there are multiple factors that informed why this became so important and in new york city nationally. new yorkers by the 1980s had come to fear that the police and prosecutors were unable to protect them. in a three-month period from 1984, there was a horrific police brutality cases, an elderly black woman was shot to death by the police department, and three months later bernie goetz, the vigilante subway shooter, emerged on the scene, and both of those events in that roughly three-month period actually capture the extent to which new yorkers feared both crime and also guided the

capacity of the police and prosecutors to protect them in that moment. >> brown: that was followed over many years of a long, legal battle, first of what happened that night in the park and that case was overturned, and then this long legal battle over what the do, the rest dyings protest. >> right. and we have, you know, a young, white woman, well-educated, investment banker, trisha miley, perfectly innocent, jogging in central park and was brutally assaulted. dozens of black and brown young men began to release the story that they had the culprit. from that point on they resisted the facts. they had created blinders to the facts and had presented to the public it is tremendous pressure for the police to actually be able to resolve this case.

there was tremendous pressure for the prosecutors to be able to bring it to closure and once they announced they had the culprit, it is difficult to backtrack from that point on. so we end up in a situation where basically a group of young men, children, were actually turned over to the prosecution, tried as adults, then eventually tossed into adult men's prisons. >> brown: after the case was overturned, was the second legal struggle which culminates today, the city resisted that as well for a long time as well, and i think the argument, and tell me, the argument was that, yes, it was a wrongful conviction, but, no, it wasn't done purposefully. >> right. i think the city's position has been that they couldn't find evidence of an intentional, willful violation of the rights of the five young men who were prosecuted at that time. you also have to remember that

when this case began to unravel in 2002, the police department was althroughout investigate itself at that point and to declare itself innocent. >> brown: what has happened to the five men? >> you know, i've met four of the five. i spent time with them and their families, and the one thing i'm really quite pleased with today is i hope this settlement actually starts to bring them and their families, their parents, their children, spouses some sense of resolution and vindication. i thinkist also an important moment in the history of new york city because we also need to look back at that moment, the central park case and its aftermath and hold ourselves accountable and our public institutions accountable and i hope this is the beginning of that process. >> one wonders does this end the case. in what ways are any of these issues still with us today? >> i don't think it ends the case that all. the reality is that in the aftermath of the central park

case, almost every state in the united states passed laws making it easier to try children as adults. we moved thousands and thousands of children into the adult criminal system. by the mid 1990s, we had reached a peak in the number of children being tried as adults and much of that was named by the fury over the central park case. that legacy is with us today. >> brown: that the city, at least, has resolved its part of it? >> the city's resolved its part with the five young men who were wrongfully convicted. but, in fact, there's a lot of work left to do. you know, i think the era of aggressive policing, extensive incarceration periods, et cetera, is not over. mass incarceration is actually continuing to destroy families and communities, and that actually still has to be addressed. we actually have a lot of work to do in our criminal justice

system. >> brown: all right, craig steven wilder, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: over the last two days, 2016 republican presidential hopefuls have courted religious conservatives here in washington, the faith and freedom coalition's "road to majority" conference brought together a key part of the g.o.p.'s base, and provided an opportunity for possible candidates to try out their messages. >> thank you for the warm welcome, i appreciate it. >> woodruff: new jersey governor chris christie, and a host of other republicans thinking about running for president in two years, made appeals to religious conservatives. it was christie's first major address at a conference of its kind. in fact, last year, he landed in controversy, when he passed up an invitation to speak, instead attending an event with former president bill clinton. but today, a day before he heads

to the first-in-the nation primary state of new hampshire-- he stirred the crowd. >> theirs is the party that is intolerant, theirs is the party that excludes other ideas. don't sit around and be punching bags. >> woodruff: former pennsylvania senator and presidential candidate rick santorum said the party needs to show it's for the working people: >> the majority of our supporters are folks who hold traditional values like you and they're not business people; they're workers. >> woodruff: others highlighted what they see as attacks on religious freedom. among them texas senator ted cruz. >> at no time in our nation's history have we seen threats to religious liberty, and every one of the bill of rights, more dire than they are right now. >> woodruff: florida senator marco rubio. >> we have an obligation to our country and to our fellow man to use our positions of influence to highlight those values.

>> woodruff: and, kentucky senator rand paul. >> america's not just experiencing growing pains. america is in a full blow spiritual crisis. >> woodruff: newly-minted house majority leader, california congressman kevin mccarthy laid out his vision. >> i know we're frustrated. i hear the message. we will unite, we will have the courage to lead, the wisdom to listen and we will turn this country back around. >> woodruff: this comes one day after replacing virginia's eric cantor as the number two ranking republican in the house. >> woodruff: and to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields and new york times columnist david brooks. welcome gentlemen. so the face and freedom coalition, mark, the fact they held this, heard from these potential candidates in 2016,

what should we think about the place of religious conservatives in the republican party today? >> well, it's somewhat diminished and certainly not represented by the turnout because candidates showed up wanting if not to be the first choice to be, as john weaver the republican strategist said, second or third choice, for example. chris christie is not going to be the firsice of religious conservatives but he wants to be on good terms with them in case he does run and is in the finals. i would say this, judy, the economic, fiscal conservatives, certainly represented by the tea party and its energy, has eclipsed them. and america has changed. and just think about it, ten years ago, george w. bush's campaign for reelection was based in large part in a strategic course by putting on the ballot same-sex, and that

changed america. and part of that religious faith and freedom group is kind of looking for its issue and its traction as well as its agenda. >> woodruff: eclipsed by the tea party? >> i think a little. clearly on some of the budget issues, the social issues have not been as prominent and clearly in the washington debate we've had over the last three or four years. nonetheless, first of all, out in the country and among the electorate and primary voters, i think the conservatives are as powerful, rick santorum won double digit states on the back of the voters. if you're a more plausible candidates, you can do really well. the donors of the party often say we should get off the abortion issue. politically, that would be insane for the republican party. they need to be a pro-life party. and there are issues still

salient they are the champions of. the first is family formation which they talk about well and comfortably and the second is religious issues. there's a lot of talk about it in the conference this year, the christian in sudan who is possibly going to be executed and then the religious groups at home some of which will be called hate groups because of their beliefs, so i think the religious issue is a sleeper which will power and repower this movement. >> i think rick santorum's message, i agree, with cultural conservative, staunch, but he was a blue-collar candidate. me's called his party to the task for being the party of the 1%. he says he wants to represent the americans who get up every morning and punch a time clock and pack a lunch and the republican party certainly did not speak to those people, only the entrepreneurs and people with family businesses. >> the religious conservative

moved in a more blue-collar direction and more to the right in other issues. the strong evangelical environmental nineshed. so they moved downmarket, if you want to put it that kay. >> woodruff: does that say the republican candidates in 2016 not only can't ignore this group of conservatives but they have to continue to cater to them to talk about the issues that they care about. >> to appeal to them. >> woodruff: to appeal to them. >> yes. they're important. they provide energy, passion, foot soldiers, they provide votes, and i would just say the evangelical conservatives on the environment and on immigration are still out there and still active and energized, they're just not as welcome in the republican coalition. >> woodruff: one we just heard from the house newly elected house majority leader kevin

mccarthy, have you seen enough how the house and congress will change? >> he's just a good guy and i don't think he represents anything particularly ideological one way or the other. his expertise is in knowing congressional districts. he's a political, campaign guy. he had moderate success and a very difficult job, but the thing about mccarthy is he's unpretentious, outgoing, just friendly. he just likes people and, so, that plays well in politics especially in the leadership race. >> woodruff: so what's going to change? >> it's what politicians used to be instead of ideological lightning rods. be engaging and be with the people. david described kevin mccarthy very well. he makes john boehner's office easier. kevieric cantor, looking over hs

shoulder, the ambition was there. and his fingerprints were with president obama's on the budget, eric cantor's. but kevin mccarthy is not that. he's very good, recruited the candidates in 2010, and being from california, bakersfield, perspective, he's on record saying there has to be a pathway of status for undocumented workers. he may have to reassure those on the right he isn't some sort sort of a wonder but -- >> woodruff: you sure you don't like him just because his irish status? (laughter) neither one of you sees things changing in terms of the house, the republicans. >> as mark said, a friendly and more unified leadership.

john boehner's life will be better. >> woodruff: what does that mean for the president. let's talk about the poll numbers who came out. over all the president's approval rating 41% on foreign policy. 37% of those polled, david, said they approved the way the president is handling foreign policy, in iraq, sir. i can't what can the president do? is he just in a box for the rest of his presidency? >> he might be. the clinton track where they go up at the end and then there's the george w. track where he goes down. maybe not as deep. i guess two things. at some point it's hard for him just because people are interested in other things. just fatigue. now a lot of people, you just hear from people around washington but certainly around the country, oh that guy wants to just get out. he's just done. i don't think they feel that,

but there's a sense of they're not doing much. they seem fatigued and so there's perception out there that obama is not, you know, charging the office every morning and wants to take charge of the country. i do think the reason the polls are sliding is a sense of energy in the white house that they're proposing we have big visions. if i was him, i'd say let's counteract this image. >> woodruff: but i understand you to say you don't think that's what the white house is thinking. >> if you ask them, you say are you guys just exhausted and checked out, they deny it fervently. >> peter heart the democratic pollster made the point that the president seems to be the captor of events rather than we like to think about presidents as dominating events. obviously, everyone cannot only dominate all events, but he's

been reacting to ukraine, syria, iraq, the v.a.'s administration and seems constantly on the defensive. the most devastating number was thinking about barack obama's term, he can lead the presidency and get things done, judy, this is apt, remember, since dwight eisenhower, only one person has won more than 51% of the vote in successive elections, that's barack obama and here he is with 54% just a year and half later saying nothing is over but we just don't think you're up to it. that's devastating and it's devastating for democrats. the poll is not good for republicans. >> right, and we have the numbers to show there. if you think the president's doing poorly, look at this. 41, democrats overall 38. the republican party 29 and the tea party 22.

but this sense, marx david, the point mark just made about this sense that the president is reacting, what did the president do historically in what do presidents do? >> sometimes they shake things up and fire people, sometimes that happens and creates a new beginning, and the second thing they do is have a burst of energy on an initiative. i think the president's vision on foreign policy has been what we won't do and i think that's had a slow corrosive effect on people's sense of energy. on the domestic policy, they've decided to be content with signing statements and things they can do administratively rather than legislation. and they've thought about putting down big proposals knowing they won't get passed but making life easy for the successor, just to throw them out there and get the debate started, at least that would be big movement and big things

coming out. >> woodruff: the president announced two days ago -- yesterday, i guess, 300 military advisors going to iraq. i mean, that the an active step, isn't it? >> not really. i mean, judy, for those of a certain age, that has echoes of seegon and american advisors, 300 advisors. you know, sent troops to protect the embassy, ten times larger than any american embassy. 300 there? we know why they're there. to provide -- >> woodruff: does that suggest you need to send the air force to bomb iraq for approval rating? >> i'm assuming and know and learned that the american special forces are being sent in

primarily to provide the information, the intelligence, the reconnaissance so that if drones attack, they will have enemy and civilian casualties all over the place but what is the objective and the exit strategy? how will we know when we've succeeded? what is the mission? are we back where we were 40 years ago? >> woodruff: you're saying the president hasn't provided that? >> no. there's no sense of reflection in the congress to it, i don't know what we're trying to cleave it and how will we know we achieve it. >> i agree with mark on the last point. the president said sending in 300, no combat. what exactly is the mission supposed to do? i think it's clear we will not allow an i.s.i.l. state in sunniland and get a coalition to

make sure there's a united co-sectarian government in baghdad. >> woodruff: leave it there. thank you gentlemen, david brooks, mark shields. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. the spokesman for the top shiite cleric in iraq called for a new, effective government. the obama administration announced plans to step up enforcement of the southwest border, to stem the flow of migrants coming from central america. and the president of ukraine announced a one-week unilateral cease-fire. rebel leaders immediately dismissed the it, and so did russia. on the newshour online right now, meet a young boy who is living as a refugee in nairobi. we mark world refugee day with a closer look at the latest u.n. report on the growing crisis around the world. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. and a reminder about some upcoming programs from our pbs colleagues. gwen ifill is preparing for

"washington week," which airs later this evening. here's a preview: >> ifill: all debates -- old debates with a new twist on military intervention in iraq and prosecuting benghazi. plus republicans pick new leaders as democrats try to figure out how to defend their old one. plenty to talk about and we will later tonight on "washington >> woodruff: tomorrow's edition of pbs newshour weekend looks at the growing national movement in favor of "right to try" laws. stephen fee reports from missouri on the push to allow terminally ill patients access to experimental drugs, without f.d.a. approval. and we'll be back, right here, on monday, with a look at the hotly contested republican primary runoff in mississippi, pitting incumbent senator thad cochran against tea party favorite chris mcdaniel that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff, have a nice weekend. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs

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this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie gharib. price for perfection, the dow and s&p at record levels again. the good news seems to be baked into the market but is that necessarily a good thing? >> boarder threat? this refinery may be the biggest hurdle to keeping iraq unified. why and what it might mean for oil, as well. and the eternal portfolio. our market monitor tonight has a list of stocks he says you need to own forever. all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for this friday, june the 20th. good evening, everybody. i'm bill griffeth in for tyler mathisen. >> i'm susie gharib. good evening from me, as well. two new record the on wall street ases