captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> greeks right now have a very difficult choice to make. >> woodruff: a referendum looms over a mountain of unpayable debt in greece-- a country divided over europe's bailout deal. >> this is a country of a history turning in on itself and the levels of pay trizzism on the start of the war. >> woodruff: good evening on this fourth of july weekend. i'm judy woodruff. also ahead, it's friday, mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news. plus, the u.s. faces off against japan. a preview to the final game of soccer's women's world cup on sunday with the americans hoping

to bring home a win. >> usa has been waiting for years to revenge the loss that was so heart breaking to them against japan. and so now they have this opportunity. >> woodruff: those are 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. ♪ >> supporting social

entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> 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 heaviest fighting in months raged in the northern syrian city of aleppo today as government forces tried to repel a coordinated attack by rebels. more than a dozen islamic militant groups-- including al- qaeda's affiliate in syria-- launched the assault on government positions overnight. president bashar al-assad's troops called in air strikes

that killed at least 35 rebel fighters. elsewhere, islamic state- affiliated fighters in egypt claimed they fired three rockets into southern israel. israeli officials acknowledged rocket remnants were found, but did not confirm their origins. no injuries were reported. aetna announced today it's buying rival health insurer humana for $37 billion. if approved, the deal would make aetna the second-largest health insurance company in the u.s., behind united health. that would give it more power to negotiate prices under president obama's health care overhaul. it would also mean aetna would own a larger chunk of the rapidly-growing medicare business. residents in maryville, tennessee were allowed home today, a day and a half after a freight train with toxic chemicals derailed and caught fire. some 5,000 people had been evacuated. the train burned throughout the day yesterday. it was carrying material used to

make plastic, that's dangerous if inhaled. authorities are examining the train's black box for clues as to what caused the accident. people around britain today honored the victims of the deadly terror attack at a tunisian beach. 30 of the 38 killed by an islamic extremist in last week's rampage were british. queen elizabeth and prime minister david cameron both participated in moments of silence in the u.k., while the british ambassador to tunisia laid a wreath at the site of the attack. >> i think we all live under the threat of terrorism now. and i think that the syndrome we've seen it elsewhere not just in tunisia. but of course that's how we are here trying to make sure we have the best security possible and a great commitment from the tunisians to make sure they have that security in place.

>> woodruff: the gunman in the tunisia rampage was ultimately killed by police. the islamic state claimed responsibility for the attack. a russian soyuz rocket bound for the international space station successfully lifted off from kazakhstan today. the unpiloted spacecraft is ferrying food, water, oxygen, and other supplies to the orbiting laboratory. the launch follows three unsuccessful re-supply missions, including the space-x rocket that exploded shortly after liftoff sunday. still to come on the newshour: a divided greece prepares to vote this weekend on its economic future, tension over security concerns over this holiday weekend, mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news in politics, the american women heading into the finals in the world cup, why a classic song hits a spiritual and emotional chord, a new look at four men who helped shape the nation and the father-son duo behind a very american tradition.

greece is bracing itself for an uncertain future as voters prepare to go to the polls this sunday to say yes or no to a bailout package with strict conditions. the latest surveys show the country is almost evenly divided. and today, greek prime minister alexis tsipras urged voters to say "no" to what he said amounted to blackmail from the european union and the international monetary fund. special correspondent malcolm brabant begins our coverage from athens. >> reporter: tonight's "no" rally began with clashes at the bottom of constitution square. it was instigated by black clad anarchists who are frequently involved in street battles with the police. tear gas rounds were fired by the police as they retreated. this was a minor confrontation in comparison to others that have happened in five years of austerity.

one old man berated the police as they backed away. the police made one arrest. in athens market district, the day began with a struggle to earn a living. greeks are caught between a rock and a hard place as they try to decide which way to vote in sunday's referendum. >> no. >> all greece should vote yes. >> my opinion is no. >> no, no. no. >> yes, yes! >> i vote no, because i want to be proud of myself. it's a difficult vote. and i think that now we give us hope for the future and for our children. >> big yes. yes. >> reporter: on either side of the divide, constantine alexander, the executive chairman of the balkan economic forum, an international business development project, and a butcher from the athens meat market.

>> i know that greeks right now have a difficult choice to make. they have a choice between an austerity program that will be very hard for them for several years, or actually going bankrupt and facing a situation that we haven't seen since the great depression. so the choices are not good but one of them is better than the other. i learned from nelson mandela of south africa that if you want to fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together. >> reporter: greek-american george gilson, a journalist who covered greece for years, is a victim of the crisis. his newspaper went under two years ago and he's been unemployed ever since. to make money, he scours junk shops looking for hidden treasures. >> i would not like with that yes vote to legitimate five years of inhuman, punitive, vindictive policy, that has nothing to do with europe, that has nothing to do with sound

economic policy, and has nothing to do with getting greece out of this crisis. >> reporter: the "no" or "oxi" campaign's banners are most prominent, especially at the athens polytechnic, which is a symbol of national resistance to oppression. but center right lawmaker harry theochari, greece's former chief tax evasion investigator, believes prime minister alexis tsipras is misleading the country. >> i believe that this is their plan a, to go against europe and take our banking system away from the euro system and change currency towards the drachma. but that's going to be very, very painful severance. it's going to be a very huge that main subway station, the crowds were jam packed chanting no. the same troops in the rally they held a gathering in a last

ditch attempt to sway voters. >> there are many greeks worried about the debts of division of america as a result of this referendum. this is a country where the history is turning in on itself and some people are afraid the levels of hatred may reach those that affected those at the start of the civil war 70 years ago. others are concerned there might possibly be social unrest and we've seen an example of that tonight. >> judy. >> woodruff: thanks, malcolm. let's look at what sunday's vote could trigger with two different views: jacob kirkegaard is with the peterson institute for international economics and mark weisbrot is co-director of the center for economic and policy research. we welcome you both. you just saw again just how divided the greek people are. jacob kirkegaard, to you first. what's better for greek's future a yes or no vote. >> in my opinion there's no doubt they should vote yes. i think we need to make clear this is not a vote about austerity or not. this is about really sending

what is now an accelerating national emergency in greece where you are starting to see food shortages you're starting to see medical supplies run low. and the banking system is teetering on the brink of slaps and which has now been closed for a week. if these no yes vote, then the banking system will in my opinion slide into a complete collapse. we will face significant deposit of bailing and other things. this is really about saving the greek economy and therefore the future for the greek people. >> woodruff: mark weisbrot what should the people of greece do. >> i would go for a no volt because you have to look at who is responsible for this mess, who is responsible for six years of depression. who is responsible for the banks closing right now. it's because the european central bank decided last sunday to limit the amount of emergency liquidity assistance so that the banks wouldn't have enough money to open. and they did this very deliberately i think to intimidate the voters into

voting yes. everything that comes out of the mouths of the european officials right now is trying to scare and intimidate people to make them feel this pain and tell them this is what you're going to get if you vote no. this is what you're going to get if your government is awe day must enough to insist and arouse the greek economy to recover and unemployment to come down. that's really all they've been asking for and the european authorities have been stub burn and pretty mean about it. >> woodruff: what about that the central bank and europeans are asking too much of the greek people. >> there's no doubt greece has been through a tremendous economic crises in the last five years. there's also no doubt that this has been associated directly with the imf troika program but we have to look at the starting point of this program.

in 2010 when the bailout was initially launched, greece had a primary deficit of more than 10% of gdp. if you didn't have a bailout there would be even greater amounts of austerity at this point. the other thing i would highlight is that from the perspective of the europeans, you cannot expect taxpayers to pour money into greece. that's not the way bailouts will work or the european bailout will work either. no matter what the greek voters choose on sunday we need to recognize that european voters elsewhere in the euro zone they have an equally legitimate democratly right to say no to continuing payments to greece. unfortunately i think that's what may well happen. >> woodruff: mark weisbrot, what about his earlier point that the rest of europe cannot be expected to continue to bail

out and support a greek economy that hasn't tightened its own belt. >> well they have tightened their belt. they had six years of repression they've got 26% of unemployment, they've got 60% europe ozone employment. they've cut their imports by 36%. one of the biggest adjustments in the world. last year they had the largest cyclical adjusted primary budget surplus in europe. so they've done the adjustment. they've gone through hell. and where is the light at the end of the tunnel. the european authorities are not offering anything. it's becoming more and more clear actually, and i've been writing about this for a while, that the real goal of these authorities is to really get rid of the greek government. that's what they're trying to do and that's why they won't allow the economy to recover so far. and they're the ones inflicting the damage, okay. it's not the greek people that are responsible the bank closure right now. or for the recession going on this long. you know, one way you can see

it -- >> woodruff: let me just get jacob kirkegaard to respond to what you just said. no light at the end of the tunnel. that the european union, the international monetary fund just keeps on asking more and more and more. >> the light tend of the tunnel, i mean the europeans have already restructured existing greek debt at least three times and it's very clear they will have to do so again. there's no doubt that everyone in europe including germany recognizes that the money length to greece will not be repaid as they are currently structured. restructuring will have to happen. the question is whether or not you want an unconditional restructuring whether you want a restructuring based on a greek economy that actually has a chance to grow afterwards. >> grow now. the european banks have pushed the recession back this year and they started doing that ten days after election.

they didn't have to do that. the country was going to grow by to.5% this year. you have people trying to blame the greek government and that's what the referendum is about. whose fault is it and what will they get out of the resettle most economists know these economies have failed. they failed in europe. europe has twice the unemployment that we do. why is that? because their central bank didn't do its job. that's the difference. >> woodruff: do you want to respond. >> i would just say it is certainly the case that greece was on track in late 2014. if you read the recent report that came out on friday, that's what it said. greece was on track to grow and then this government was elected, surrounded with significant political uncertainty and promised to blow up the program as it existed. greece was on track in 2014 and it wasn't the europeans. it's this government in greece that decided to take everything off track. >> woodruff: there's much more to discuss here but we're going to watch that vote on sunday and certainly be

reporting on the aftermath afterwards. we're going to thank you both for now. jacob kirkegaard, mark weisbrot. thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: as we head into the july 4th weekend, many law enforcement and security officials across the u.s. are on a heightened state of alert. hari sreenivasan has that story. >> sreenivasan: thanks, judy. so what's behind the increased state of readiness? for that we turn to daniel benjamin, former coordinator for counter terrorism at the state department during the first term of the obama administration. he's now a professor at dartmouth college and he joins us from new hampshire. we kind of get mixed signals here. the department of homeland security, fbi say to everyone be increasingly vigilant over this holiday weekend. yet they aren't saying there's a specific threat. >> that's correct. first they're not saying it to everyone, they're saying it to

law enforcement. if you wanted to compare this to the old days, this wouldn't be actually a change color in the color coded scheme that we used to have. it's sort of an alert to authorities to be vigilant, to be cautious to make sure they are well staffed and look into people of interest in case they're tracking anyone. they do say they do not have any credible intelligence on particular plotting and in fact to date there's been no announce to any credible intelligence on plotting by isis in particular against the united states. but because of the increased incidence of what have been called lone wolf attacks people who wish to act out want to tear up our own attack to show their common cause with isis, i think there's a greater concern this time around than most times. that is to say there's a greater chance someone will try to do something that has been the case

in the past. >> sreenivasan: right. speaking of probabilities, there's a chance somebody is killed in a drunking accident over the 4th of july weekend than killed by an isis fighter. >> technically speaking that's a greater chance. >> sreenivasan: is this circumstantial? is this the month of ramadan, a series of the attacks that happened in tunisia and other places they're trying to warn law enforcement interest. >> that's certainly part of it. it's important to recall that at the beginning of ramadan and isis spokesman called for people essentially to carry out independent acts, independent acts of jihad around the world. and we did see the attacks in kuwait in tunisia and in france just a few days ago. those likely were not coordinated. it's possible the one in kuwait was a real isis attack, perhaps an isis group in saudi arabia. the once in france seems to be completely independent without

any outside coordination. although it's of course early days in the investigation. >> sreenivasan: is the concern here about someone going overseas, being trained by isis and coming back or someone who is here sort of home grown in the united states and inspired by carry out an act of violence? >> both are concerned, but just as an empirical matter, people who are just here have never gone abroad have been the ones who have been most active in the united states, and in western europe. we've only had one case that i'm aware of where someone who had been in syria, had been involved in fighting came back and carried out an attack that was in brussels at a jewish museum. but most of the activity has been by people who are motivated to show that they too are part of the cause. >> sreenivasan: all right daniel benjamin from dartmouth college. thanks so much. >> my pleasure. >> woodruff: and as we do every

friday, we turn to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks who joins us today from aspen, colorado. so gentlemen, the supreme court i think you could say it went out with a bank this week david, issuing historic decisions on everything from same sex marriage to the president's healthcare law much more. and with some interesting divisions among the conservatives. what have we learned about the court, do you think from this session and howl of an issue is it going to be on the campaign trail? >> the interesting one to me is the same sex marriage decision which hit a lot of social conservatives extremely hard. a great sedges of fear they will be labeled as big it's, the culture they've been fighting is one they lost. i'm interested to see how they react. a lot of social conservatives have been fighting a social war

around contraception, gay marriage and other measures having to do with sexual activity. i do think that's not the fight they're going to win anymore. the country is moving pretty far to the left on that. i would like to see social conservatives do in public what they do in private which is to do a lot of work for the poor, heal the social fabric, tie to the poor, heal the lonely and really address some of the economic and social dislocations we're seeing in the country. that's part of the social conservative life-style but not a part of their public message and that's been a disaster for they i think the lions choice from the biblical moment of view is to emphasize to the public the key cultural revolution we need now is one to repair the social fabric and social revolution on the definition of marriage. no one's asking anybody to renounce them but should be second order of businesses given the actual problem we face today. >> woodruff: mark, do you think that what we saw on the court could somehow play out in this republican, in republican contest for president.

>> yes i think it already is judy, ted cruz, conservative senator from thee, candidate from president has already offered a constitutional amendment that the eight year terms on the supreme court that they vote up or down retention. interesting proposal. one body that was consistently and consciously designed to avoid politics to put it right into the political campaign. so we will be having two year long campaigns but to remove justices or to keep them on the supreme court. scott walker already said he's for constitutional amendment on same sex marriage to define marriage between one man and one woman. the "wall street journal" editorial page has given a green light by calling john roberts the chief justice copy editor for nancy elosi. i think david's point is very good one. what's most interesting to me is

the supreme court is the undemocratic supreme court where policies are actually being made, decisions are being made. the democratically elected congress and whitehouse, we see grid lock we see paralysis we see vetoes and little action. the supreme court is the one place where national policy is being decided. not as it was intended but it's actually happening. >> woodruff: david do you see this affecting what happens in congress? >> well, i take mark's point very well. first of all there used to be, i'm talking about the aca ruling the supreme court has. you pass it as solution would be unexpected. so you pass a follow up to fix it up. we no longer work in functional washington that does it so we rely on the supreme court which is what they did in this decision to go against the letter of the law and to fix it up. so it's the dysfunction in congress has created the need for them to essentially step in and perform that role.

as for the republican party as mark said it's interesting to see on issue after issue, some people like ted cups it's really very much a base mobilization campaign. and almost in defiance of any republican effort to reach out beyond the republican base. and others like jeb bush and marco rubio right now are just hanging back, not declaring war but eventually they'll say no we're going to outreach and that will cause some discomfort but we are going to do it because we want to win this thing. >> woodruff: i want to turn to somebody who jumped into the republican field this week, mark, and that is new jersey governor chris christy. some people had all but written him off that he's in, he's jumped in and he said he's going to go from door to door if he has to to win over republican voters. how does he change this republican field? i mean we've got 14, 15 16 people running now. >> well, it's part of the my

judgment, a natural talent campaign talent. he's got grade draw dukes and certain personality disorders. but he has great national talent. politics to be the most all human act with the possible exception of political journalism. he's following the john mccain play book from 2000 when mccain held 114 town meetings in new hampshire and by being the establishment choice jeb bush. the problem with chris christie is 65% of new jersey voters poll do not think he would be a good president. he's fallen from grace. two years ago he was at 73% approval in new jersey, he won a smashing re-election. he carried women and latino voters in a blue state. but judy, he's not worn well. the great streak of being a governor to run for president is you can say this is what i've done. i don't just make speeches and

press releases. the disadvantage running for president the gorchtion other people can say this is what you've done. there's more resourcing miracle for chris christie to talker about. >> woodruff: david what do you see christy brings to this contest. >> i would imitate mark. i think he's an under priced stock. just look at the political talents of the people of the candidates. he has a lot of political talent he's great at formulating issues. and mccain did the townhall thing and i think christy has the talent to just see a lot of voters in new hampshire. there's a lot of time. and i think if he perfect forms as well we'll see a rise. mark points out that he's the kind of dinner guest at the appetizer you're thrilled at having at your house but at dessert you wish he would get the heck out of there. there's the endurance problem. he's got time and if he can perform well over time people will not get exhausted by him. if i were picking stocks he would be one i would expect to run. >> woodruff: how much does it matter that he's not as viewed as favorably in his home state

as he used to be. >> to me it matters a little. mark's right, he doesn't have a great story to tell but frankly other governors have risen to power on the stories of fake economic miracles. i think it would hurt him eventually. but we're just now hoping he's expecting to get to the top rung of candidates. i don't think it will hurt him among new hampshire voters face to face. it will hurt him if he ever gets to be a big national contender then the new jersey story will get more coverage. >> he did mention chris christy and dessert was sort of a cheap shot at those of us who are challenged. >> woodruff: moving on. on the democratic side, mark, former virginia senator jim webb jumpedded in joining three others who are challenging hillary clinton. along with bernie sanders. and i want to ask you about bernie sardz.

but what does jim webb bring vietnam veteran someone who left the senate. >> jim webb, 2002 the war drums are beaten in washington by the bush administration in congress and the press to go to iraq. and jim webb stands up a sabbath vet -- combat veteran two bronze stars two purple hearts, carried shrapnel in from combat and won. he said leadership of this country, if you're sending troops into iraq, understand this. are you ready to occupy the middle east territory for the next 30 to 50 years. and pointed out prophetally occupying forces you have 50,000 friends and in iraq occupying it becomes 50,000 terrorist targets. this is a man who i think who might be opposed, barack obama and hillary clinton are going to

libya. one term in the senate he was not a particularly gifted politician and not a gripped guy, not very collegial but he passed the gi bill of rights. but he doesn't raise money and it's a long shot but i have to tell you on that debate stage, he can stand up and saying this is somebody who truly was right from the start. >> woodruff: how do you see the effect of jim webb in the democratic field david. >> i think he's probably the best novelist ever to run for president. thinking back on other novelists who has done well. he gets props for that. he's a juxta zonian and he goes back to the tradition of american politics. i don't think that's where the life of the democratic party is now. there's a sort ofman u de trition of the republican and -- i don't think those traditions are particularly vibrant. bernie sanders has the action drawing huge rounds around the country. i guess hillary clinton is

wondering about her feature threat going to come from the bernie sanders direction. frankly i think she's helping flame those debts by being such a provarious cater on the potential nuclear deal and other issues. it's bernie sanders is where the fire is right now. >> woodruff: tough language. i noticed today i think in new hampshire hillary clinton clinton says she takes a back seat to no one when it comes to fighting for progressive values. so clearly responding to bernie sanders. only a couple minutes. i want to ask you both about something else that's come up and that is comments that donald trump who announced a few days ago he's running for president has made about mexicans. here's a quote from donald trump. i love the mexican people but you have people coming through the border that are from all over and they are bad. i'm talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists. big reaction remark on the republican side to this. what does this mean for the

republican field, the other candidates, their comments appropriate given what donald trump is saying. >> i guess i disagree with your question. there has been a big reaction from the republican side. they want him to go away. and when the leadership of the republican party of the nation left in the hands of univision, nbc and macy's department store who objected and several relations with donald trump, this has been bad for the brand it's bad for business but it's worse for the republican party, it's worse for national debate. this man's going to be on the stage and he's a disaster for the republicans. in addition to being a message of division and hatred. >> woodruff: david just 20 seconds. >> it's an actual crucial moment for the republican party. this is a slur, completely incontract slur it's cultural politics of the worst sort.

if he conditioned stand up against this guy they make the obvious accurate case there will be a long term trouble with has panics because they'll polarize themselves. >> woodruff: do you think the other candidates will say anything about this. >> not ted cruz so far. it's eventual they say something. >> woodruff: david brooks and mark shields we thank you. on sunday night, the u.s. has a chance to win its first world cup since 1999, when the american women square off against japan. i sat down yesterday with christine brennan, sports columnist for "usa today" and abc commentator, and briana scurry, goalkeeper for the u.s. women's team who won the 1999 world cup. we talked about the u.s. team and the growing interest after the u.s. defeated germany.

briana, christine welcome to you both. so big game sunday night 7:00 the final. what are we looking for christine. >> it's going to be a fascinating rematch, really of the 2011 game. of course japan beat the u.s. at the last world cup. so the united states wawntsd nothing more judy than to have revenge and win this world cup. i think the u.s. is able to do it. the u.s. is playing an amazing brand of soccer what we saw the other day. japan is so tactical and so organized you can't counted them out. but i think the united states team is saying this is their year, they feel strongly this is the one they're going to win and finally after 16 years win that world cup back. >> briana what are you looking for. >> i'm looking for a fan it is particular game. i agree with christine the u.s. has been waiting four years to avenge the loss so heart breaking to them in japan in the 201 1 world cup. now they have this opportunity and basically a home field advantage essentially in canada

right now. thee been selling out in the stadiums the usa has been playing in predominantly usa fans. now is the time. i think japan is going to put up a really good fight they always do. they've done well to get to this point but i also agree with chris dean that the usa is ready and they're not going to take anything for granted and they're going to get the goals. >> woodruff: let's talk about what happened on the tuesday night finals, christine. the u.s. was playing germany and one of the german players in a very moment i think where everybody was holding their breath. her head hit the back of the head of a u.s. player. they both went to the ground to lay there for a while. then they got back up and within a few minutes they were back in the game. some people said that wasn't handled well. what were you thinking. >> it was not handled well. briana is an expert in this area and i'll did he ever to you except i'll just say they have to get with the plan here. the fact that the soccer community has not figured out what so many experts in the

united states have at least tried to start to figure out that you have to evaluate this longer than a couple minutes and consuggests are serious and you need to come out of the game. i anyway bri you have a great suggestion about the fourth sub so you will be able to do that so i will defer to you. >> woodruff: someone who has been through something like this your. >> my crew had a head injury in the game. i hit the side of my head so i understand what that means and how hard it can believe. i believe fifa has an opportunity to make some changes with regard to head injuries. christine said two minutes is not long enough i completely agree. but i also feel it's multi-faceted. what has to happen is i believe players should wear some sort of protective head gear. i really do feel that. shin guards at one point were not mandatory now they're mandatory. i think we can move ahead and i've heart nurd up with unhe can a company that makes protective head gear.

the same that alley kreiger is wearing throughout this entire world cup. i think it's better with something like that to help protect the players in situations like you saw against germany. >> woodruff: n the head gear, christine and briana, what needs to happen in terms of whether players are allowed to go back in or not. >> on twitter there was this idea that there are three subs. each team can put in three subs. once you put in someone you can't bring them back off the bench. so in this case if you had a fourth substitution so that those two players the german player could have been brought off the field, sweatd and replace them, they could come back in if they're healthy. if not, they stay on the bench, you would then be encouraging teams and these national federallations to be serious knowing they won't lose a player. >> woodruff: they're talking

about having an independent physician examine them which is not the case now. >> they. they have doctors qualified to make these decisions but there's a bias there. part of the process, they asked the player how they're doing. i understand you have to ask the patient how they are. but you can't allow that player to have to make the decision. i'm sorry i played at that level there's no way i would say i'm not of course. >> of course i want to be out there and do my best but you have to protect them and that's not happening. it's not happening on the men's side it's not happening on the women's side. they used to do a lot of things and a forced substitution would be one of seferlz of several things to do to help us. >> woodruff: one other quick thing. popularity of the sport is growing. you and i were talking christine, more than 8 million people in the u.s. were watching the semi final game tuesday night. >> this is wonderful news. for me this team has always been from 99 all the way through now about grating role models for girls and boys.

they have been almost to a woman just perfect role models. and all of these wonderful people that then go on and live their lives as bri has. so the fact that so many people are watching this, it is nationalism. it's about cheering for your country and i think we're going to see another example of that sunday in a huge way with great tv ratings that show us how much the country really cares about our national women's sports team. >> woodruff: do you think it changes the game. >> i think it adds to it. with the influx of social media you can actually know the names of the players pets. that's something you wouldn't have known before. so because you understand them personally and you know these things about them, you feel like you know them. and that's why i think there's been such a rise in activity and curiosity around the women's game right now. and i think people really truly do know these players as someone who is a friend, you know. so that makes a lot of difference and that helps them cheer them on. >> woodruff: i know what i'm

going to be doing sunday night at 7:00, watching the women's finals. but thank you both so much, briana scurry, christine brennan, thank you. >> woodruff: one week ago today, president obama gave the eulogy for the reverend clementa pinckney, one of nine people shot and killed at the emanuel a.m.e. church in charleston, south carolina. his remarks were heralded by many, it was what the president sang that caused much comment-- a surprise rendition of the spiritual, "amazing grace". special correspondent john larson has a look at the song's unique role in history. >> reporter: 34 minutes into a eulogy for one of the nine african americans slain in a hate crime, the first african american president turned to what he called the nation's "reservoir of goodness." >> if we can find that grace, anything is possible.

if we can tap into grace, everything can change. >> reporter: and then, a pause. and just two words. >> amazing grace. >> reporter: what came next was a long stretch of silence before he began. >> ♪ amazing grace how sweet the sound ♪ that saved a wretch like me. >> for me, i had never been as personally engaged by a political leader, as i was in that moment.

because it connected to me in ways that are, are really hard to, hard to put into words. >> ♪ amazing grace. >> reporter: the reverend william h. lamar iv of the metropolitan a.m.e church in washington, d.c., says that's because amazing grace is "thick," as he calls it, "with history." >> when my ancestors sang that song, it was their affirmation that they would not become like those who were oppressing them. and that they would not even exclude god's grace from those who were excluding grace from them. >> reporter: as portrayed in a new show on broadway, amazing grace was written by an englishman and published in 1779. but here's the important part: the englishman, john newton, was white and had been a trafficker of black slaves.

>> the song started as a sermon, by john newton, who you experienced a storm at sea vowed that if he lived through the storm, he would dedicate his life to god, and that is indeed what he did. >> reporter: sarah kaufman is a pulitzer prize winner and dance critic for "the washington post." she's about to release her new book "the art of grace." she says newton had a religious conversion, became a minister and then an abolitionist working >> the song is all about vulnerability. it expresses the sense that we are so wretched, we're so undeserving and yet, this love and forgiveness and grace pours out to us, from a higher power. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: whether it's the melody. or the message. it taps into something shared.

common, yet extraordinary. >> well, it's the song that is the most inclusive of any song i know from any place in the world. what he did was to draw us together. that's what that song does. it pulls us all together. >> reporter: judy collins sang it in the streets with fannie lou hamer during the civil rights movement. >> i was in, you know mississippi with fanny lou hammer in 1964, singing "amazing grace," trying to get people to come out of their houses. they were terrified to go out and vote, terrified, and she'd start singing amazing grace and people wouldn't come out of their homes. >> reporter: in 1970, collins recorded a simple version, and it became a world wide hit. she didn't know within few years the song would help save her-- first from addiction and then the suicide of her only child. >> i love in the verse itself, "we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun."

we've always been here. we've always been in the same dilemma. >> reporter: say the whole verse for me. how does it go? >> ♪ when we've been there, ten thousand years. ♪ bright shining as the sun we no less state to sing god's praise ♪ and where we first begun >> reporter: and so this was the song the president chose-- a song conceived in suffering which somehow has become a worldwide prayer for healing, and hope. i'm john larson, for the pbs newshour.

>> woodruff: now, the latest addition to the newshour bookshelf. as we know, the revolutionary war severed the colonial ties to england in 1776. but what happened next? historian joseph ellis takes up that story in his new book, "the quartet: orchestrating the second american revolution 1783-1789". he recently sat down with jeffrey brown. >> 1780 is kind of a dead zone a black hole. we went into independence come together and a few years later we come together and create this nation or this national government. in truth it all seems inevitable when in fact history's actually moving in the other direction in the 1780's. it's moving towards the europeanization of north america. >> reporter: everything about

the revolution in war was pulling away from the notion of a single united states. >> right. we had a common identity as members of the british empire. then we came together provisionally and temporarily to win the war. although about a third of the people were loyalists. and were indifferent. but once the war was over, history's headed authorize a dissolution of the united states as a co-hinter whole and the term united states is a plural now. the united states are not the united states is. >> reporter: so to get to is you have the quartet as the title, right. george washington, james madison alexander hamilton john jay lesser known. it's the top down. this is an elite group. >> it is an elite group. they would prefer it to be up from the bottom. there are no mobs forming here to a constitutional convention or a nation state. and there are reasons to be suspicious of any kind of central government because after

all that's what the parliament was. >> reporter: they got rid of that. >> it is but it's different. in the new government you actually do have representatives. you elect them okay. the parliament you didn't get to elect them. but does it really count if you say the congress you have 30,000 people represented by one person. some people don't feel that's really they're going to oppose this. in some sense i see those who oppose this as the real spiritual and political ancestors of the tea party. people that distrust the government. for them government is them rather than government is us. >> reporter: takes john jay what did he do. >> jay was the american delegate. he saw to it that in the peace negotiations we acquire the land between the alleghenies and the mississippi. it turns out we're going to get the british empire north america. the british wanted from the french, the indians or native americans are still there. a hundred thousand of them

living between the alleghenies and the mississippi. but the united states is going to acquire an empire as a consequence of the war and it's going to make it even more necessary that we move to some kind of coherent government that's capable of managing this huge land mass. >> reporter: if they were so heroic and triumph fund. there was still civil war. >> the deeper resolutions were as a result of slavery and the native american experience were strategies that the constitutional convention didn't resolve. it paid over and postponed. there was a silence on the slavery question on the constitutional convention. it was the ghost at the banquet. if you talked about it, it ran the risk of blowing the entire experiment a a up. if they had done it the constitutional convention would have barely succeeded and fallen back into a confederation. >> reporter: you're looking back of these arguments over

federalism on our program every night we're looking at supreme court cases that involve many of the same issues. when you look as an historian does it feel like all of these things have been resolved. >> no. >> reporter: no. >> no. it's a big bang theory of american history. this is the exposure and it keeps going out. it doesn't provide answers. the constitution only provides a frame work in which the argument can keep going on. but the deeper issue is state versus federal sovereignty is still with us. now you would think it was resolved by the civil war but it hasn't. and i think the genius of the constitution created by these guys, and it was in part accident because it was a set of compromises was to create a document that was a living document that didn't attempt to provide answers. the answers were arguments. people could continue to disagree. >> reporter: you've been writing about this period for a long time. >> i know. i need to get a new topic.

>> reporter: i'm wondering is it an endless fascination. >> it is and endless fascination that this is the mother load. this is the place where the values and institutions that we continue to live with are all created. >> reporter: all right. the book is the quartet, joseph ellis, thanks so much. >> pleasure. >> woodruff: one of the great independence day traditions is the celebration and fireworks right here in washington on the national mall, and tomorrow night, pbs will showcase it once again on "a capital fourth." it's the 35th anniversary of the program and we have a behind- the-scenes look at the father- son team who put it all together. >> john adams said on the night of the declaration of independence it should be celebrated every year with fireworks and bon fires and parties and sports. and that was 139 years ago.

we're continuing that tradition. i'm the executive producer of the capitol 4th for the last 235 years. >> michael kulberg the executive producer and son of jerry kulberg. >> this had begun a series of concerts here a i went to them and we wanted to do a television show for the country. it's one year at a time. i didn't plan it. i didn't have any idea it would go on this long. >> now the cameras and the equipment. we cover the whole mall and make it into like world's fair experience. >> the general public doesn't understand how much work it is. it's a year long process by the time you come up with the ideas, hooking with stars doing the publicity. but once we get to this point here at the capitol there's over

500 of us the symphony, washington, the military groups, the production groups, the staff, the events staff. it's a major undertaking. >> we've had several huge rain storms. we had one with the pointer sisters where we had one inch of rain in a little over an hour. i said to them ladies i said you've got to save the show. i said you think you can do it. they said don't you worry bit honey, we'll take care of it. they went out and put on a heck of a show. everybody was up singing and dancing totally drenched and it saved the day. >> everybody's an american left, right, center and they are all celebrating our country and i think that's wonderful by-product of this whole event. >> to be able to be here and forget our differences for 90 minutes on the 4th of july and

to celebrate who we are makes it pretty special. but after working so many hours we really do appreciate july, don't we. >> woodruff: that's "a capitol fourth" tomorrow night on pbs. check your local listings. and right here on the newshour on monday, we are taking a special visit to one legendary band's final, farewell performance. jeffrey brown in chicago has a preview. >> reporter: it's called fare thee well to the legendary rock band the grateful dead. we'll have a full report on the program on monday night. but starting tonight during the concert you can follow us on facebook and other social media. >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now, you may be planning to catch up on rest this holiday weekend, but a warning: there are health

consequences to changing your schedule and sleeping in late. as part of our work-life balance week, hear from scientists about the best way to recharge. all that and more is on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and stick around this evening here on pbs for washington week and a roundtable discussion of the week's news. gwen ifill has a preview: >> ifill: all three branches of government, the executive judicial and legislative lawmped up into the semester with a bang. and now the foul yacht for congress and the supreme court and for the ever growing presidential campaign field. we take stock tonight on washington weak. judy. >> woodruff: on pbs newshour weekend saturday, john larson reports from delano, california on how farmers are dealing with the drought now entering its fourth year. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great fourth of july. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> 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... friends of the newshour. >> 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

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