captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: saying good-bye to the greatest. thousands gather to celebrate the life of boxing legend muhammad ali in his home town of louisville, kentucky. then... >> donald trump will take us in the wrong direction on so many issues we care about. >> hillary clinton's wall street agenda will crush working families. >> woodruff: in a new phase of the presidential race, hillary clinton and donald trump go head to head for the first time as the two likely nominees. and it's friday, mark shields and david brooks analyze a full week of news. also ahead, it's a big year for the stage, with the tonys around the corner, we look at standout stage productions including the record-setting musical 'hamilton.'

>> but it really is unlike anything that's come on broadway before and its drawing audiences that broadway hasn't really brought in en masse in many years. >> woodruff: all that and more 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.

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>> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> 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. >> woodruff: the white house confirmed today that the military now has approval to expand air strikes in afghanistan. they'll be in support of afghan troops against the taliban.

and, u.s. ground forces will be joining afghan units on more missions. at the same time, white house spokesman josh earnest stressed that the u.s. will not be taking on direct combat roles. >> we are actually giving our commanders on the ground the ability to decide to do more where it's appropriate. and that's why it is not a change in our mission but rather it gives them the ability to conduct this mission of advice and assistance in slightly more areas if our commanders have concluded that it's beneficial. >> woodruff: afghan leaders have been appealing for american air power to resume backing up their soldiers. u.s. air strikes on the taliban largely ended in 2014. in syria, food deliveries have reached a besieged rebel suburb of damascus, for the first time in four years. u.n. and red crescent officials entered the town of daraya overnight. it's been under siege by government forces. dozens of convoys brought in

basic food items and medical supplies. the u.n. estimates between four and 8,000 people are living in daraya. the european soccer championship, euro 2016, kicked off today in france, amid tight security. the country is still under a state of emergency after terror attacks in recent months. and, tensions surged last night in marseilles, when fights broke out. keme nzerem of independent television news reports. >> reporter: this is not what france needs. more violence in marseille, where england play russia tomorrow. and reports spreading of more trouble between rival fans. and local youths. like there was last night. the problem is people are twitchy for another reason.

france is under a state of emergency but last night tens of thousands danced the night away at the opening concert in paris. right now, nearly 100,000 more are flocking to the stad de france for the opening game. yards away, this anonymous side street. many fans will be oblivious to the secrets it holds. but not aca pavlovic. last november 13th, he nearly died when shrapnel from suicide bombs strafed this lamppost and his flesh. but aca will be back tonight, selling scarves to raise money for survivors like him. >> ( translated ): it is a stadium. the game goes on, and so does life. people need to celebrate and go see games. and that makes me happy. >> reporter: into this cauldron of hopes and dreams, fans from 24 european countries are pouring. but it is france, no doubt, with the most at stake. >> woodruff: the month-long tournament comes as france is struggling with strikes by garbage collectors and public transit workers.

a wave of religious murders surged again today in bangladesh. a hindu holy man was hacked to death by suspected islamist militants in the country's north. that follows the killing of a hindu priest, and a fatal attack on a christian grocery store owner earlier this week. police have launched a crackdown, and detained hundreds of suspects. back in this country, the man they called "mr. hockey," gordie howe, died today. he's considered one of the greatest players ever. john yang has more on his life. >> here's gordie howe in, he's going to score! >> reporter: he had some of the best skills, and sharpest elbows, in the game: second on the all time scoring list with 801 goals and winner of four stanley cups with the detroit red wings. gordie howe's 32-year career spanned five decades, as the "detroit free press" put it today, "from world war ii

through vietnam, truman to carter, sinatra to the sex pistols." canadian prime minister justin trudeau spoke of howe's legacy. >> his career inspired and gave rise to many dreams and to many canadians of what could be. >> howe is in the right place at the right time. >> reporter: howe was the league's most valuable player six times. a gentleman off the ice, he was a ferocious competitor on it. during his career, he had some 500 stitches to his face alone. >> in my early days, i'd yell, look out and i'd hit him. if i didn't like him, i'd yell look out when i hit him. >> reporter: he retired after the 1971 season, but came back two years later to play in the upstart world hockey association with his sons, mark and marty. >> howe over the line to his father, father to son, they score! >> reporter: they were the only father-son teammates in pro sports. howe called it the highlight of

his career. he was a 52-year-old grandfather when he left the game for good. howe was diagnosed with dementia in 2012 and suffered two strokes in 2014. he was 88 years old. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: a milestone of a decidedly different sort for the first family, today: president obama's oldest daughter, malia, graduated from high school. she attended the private sidwell friends school in washington, and plans to take a gap year before starting college at harvard. and, wall street had its second off day in a row, as stocks were hit by falling oil prices, and global growth concerns. the dow jones industrial average lost nearly 120 points to close at 17,865. the nasdaq fell 64, and the s&p 500 slipped 19. still to come on the newshour: a funeral fit for the greatest, muhammad ali.

donald trump and hillary clinton trade barbs. a day in the life of a middle class family struggling to make ends meet, and much more. >> woodruff: the famous and the anonymous alike paid tribute today to muhammed ali. their final farewell came in his home town of louisville, kentucky. it was a day-long tribute befitting the man known as "the greatest." muhammad ali began his final journey at a louisville funeral home. the casket, draped in an islamic shroud, was guided into a hearse by pallbearers who included actor will smith and former heavyweight champion mike tyson. a butterfly symbol, a nod to ali's signature phrase, "float

like a butterfly, sting like a bee," adorned the windshield. from there, the 17-car motorcade wound its way through louisville, with thousands lining the streets: ali! >> his impact transcends across the world, and you know, it's just a blessing and it makes us as louisvillians proud that he's from our city and our hometown. >> woodruff: some even touched the hearse, while others ran alongside it. and the procession paused at sites of significance, such as: the ali center in downtown louisville, and the boxing legend's childhood home. the 19-mile procession ended at cave hill cemetery on a road strewn with flower petals. muhammad ali chose the site a decade ago as his final resting place, with a headstone to be inscribed simply: "ali."

>> and he spoke to the people. he spoke to all people. all people came together regardless of race and gender and religion. everyone came together. >> woodruff: the burial service was private, but 15,000 people turned out for the public memorial service that followed, ali himself had requested the event be open to ordinary fans, and hundreds of celebrities, dignitaries and sports greats joined them. they ranged from jesse jackson to jim brown to utah senator orrin hatch, whom ali befriended in the 1980's, and who spoke at the service. the formal eulogies began with ali's widow, lonnie: >> on grandñr avenue in louisvie kentucky grew in wisdom from his journeys. he discovered something new, that the world really wasn't black and white at all. it was filled with many shades of rich colors, languages and religions.

andñr as he moved with ease arod the world, the rich and powerful were drawn to him, but he was drawn to the poor and the fo(/ >> woodruff: and there was comedian billy crystal, dubbed "little brother" by the three- time heavyweight champion. crystal's famous 1979 routine "15 rounds" was about ali. >> it's great to look at clips and it's amazing that we have them, but to live in his time, watching his fights, experiencing the genius of his talent absolutely extraordinary. every one of hisñi fights was an aura of a super bowl. he didxd things nobody would do. he predicted the round he would knock somebody out and then he would do it! he was funny. he was beautiful. he was the most perfect athlete you ever saw, and those were his own words. (laughter) >> woodruff: journalist bryant >> woodruff: journalist bryant gumbel met ali as a teenager, and, in 1991, interviewed him about the parkinson's disease that he battled for decades.

>> some of us like him took pride in being black, bold and brash, and because we were so unapologetic, we were in the eyes of many way too uppity, we were way too arrogant. yet we reveled in being like him, by stretching society's boundaries as he did, he gave us levels of strength and courage we didn't even know we had. >> woodruff: former president bill clinton >> woodruff: former president bill clinton presented ali with the citizens medal in 2001, and spoke at the dedication of the ali center four years later. he gave the day's final eulogy. >> i think he decided, before he could possibly have worked it all out, and before fate and time could work their will on

him, he decided that he would not be ever disempowered. he decided that not his race nor his place nor the expectations of others, positive, negative or otherwise, would strip from him the power to write his own story. >> >> woodruff: in the end, one man in the crowd summed up the day: >> woodruff: the two presumptive nominees for president were in washington today, each speaking to a friendly crowd and trying out attack lines aimed at the other.

political director lisa desjardins reports. >> reporter: it was an effort to reassure the religious right: donald trump speaking to an evangelical christian audience at the faith and freedom coalition's conference in washington. >> we want to uphold the sanctity and dignity of life. religious freedom, the right for people of faith to freely practice their faith, is so important. >> reporter: at the same time, he tried to address recent accusations of racism, including from some in his own party. >> freedom of any kind means no one should be judged by their race or their color and the color of their skin, should not be judged that way. and right now we have a very divided nation and we're going to bring our nation together. >> reporter: trump seemed to gain ground with the crowd, if not a full embrace. >> i came in a little skeptical,

but his speech was really what i wanted to here. i'm going to continue to be a little skeptical. but i am more excited about the outcome of what the president could offer christian voters. >> this is a room full of conservative voters, so i think they came into this ready to vote for him but the question now, but the question is will they fight for him. >> reporter: and how many as the republican presumptive nominee tries to shore up his argument with the religious right, hillary clinton she's pounding away with her base on the left. >> reporter: clinton was also in the nation's capital, at a planned parenthood event, giving her first speech as the democratic party's presumptive nominee. >> when donald trump says let's make america great again that is code for let's take america backward, back to a time when opportunity and dignity were reserved for some, not all.

back to the days when abortion was illegal, women had far fewer options and life for too many women and girls was limited. >> reporter: last night, following a day of endorsements from the president and vice president, clinton also received the backing of progressive champion, massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. >> i am ready to get in this fight and work my heart out for hillary clinton to become the next president of the united states and to make sure that donald trump never gets any place close to the white house. >> reporter: this morning, the senator and the candidate met at the clintons' washington home. clinton later declined to respond when asked if warren is a potential running mate. clinton hosts a fundraiser at her d.c. home tonight, while trump holds a rally in richmond, virginia. their job now: excite their respective bases enough to come out in november. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins.

>> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: mark shields and david brooks on this week's political news. and broadway's landmark year ahead of sunday's tony awards. but first, the financial pressures of the middle class. it's part of what you're hearing from voters and on the campaign trail this year. tonight, we zero in on the case of a california family feeling the squeeze. it's part of our joint project with american public media's "marketplace" and pbs' "frontline," called "how the deck is stacked," funded by the corporation for public broadcasting. the correspondent is the host of marketplace, kai ryssdal. >> don't i call my insurance first? to make a claim? >> yeah. do you think it's totaled? >> yeah. >> reporter: this has not been a good morning for aaron and mary murray and vandy, their five- year-old daughter. they came out to find aaron's

car had been hit overnight, one of those unexpected expenses hat can throw a lot of middle class families off-track. >> thank you for calling esurance my name is rebecca, how can i help? >> hello rebecca. i am calling because my car got sideswiped. i did not see them, they just left a note on my car. ah the note. they swerved to avoid a cat dashing across the street. >> got to brake for animals. >> reporter: things get back on track, though, with mary's car, and they head to the los angeles zoo to meet some friends. vandy's really looking forward to the dinosaurs. >> oh my gosh. >> it's okay, i'll protect you. >> reporter: over a standard zoo lunch of chicken fingers, talk turns back to the car accident. >> the check goes to pay off the car, it doesn't go to me. >> reporter: next up, groceries at target

>> fruit, chicken, taco kit, and george bedding. >> nice. high five. >> reporter: mary keeps a close eye on the family budget. money saving apps are key. >> bread any bread. unlocked. 25 cents. cha-ching. >> alright. >> reporter: the tricky thing when you're talking about the middle class is who exactly you're talking about. one definition, according to the pew research center, is a family of four, making between 48 and 145 thousand dollars a year, which is basically the murrays. they're both teachers. household income is right at $90,000. and they're the ones politicians talk about all the time. hey, how're you? >> this is vandy. >> reporter: how are you sweetie? you good? crazy day today. aaron you walked out to get your laptop and... >> yeah, i've been sideswiped this morning, the rear axel's broke, i mean this is...

>> reporter: is that part of the wheel? >> yeah, that's the wheel. >> the tow truck's here. >> reporter: how big of a pain is this? you're insured, but... >> that's exactly it. i'm insured but, even if they pay everything out, i now don't have a new car. do we get a new car? how do we find the money to get the down payment? like, that's really the big thing. >> reporter: what's that going to do to your monthly budget? >> this month is shot, next month is shot. i'm a teacher, i don't get paid over the summer. >> reporter: so as you try to get ahead, this is like two steps back. >> yeah. >> reporter: maybe more. >> they say they're going to cover everything, but covering everything is never everything. >> reporter: our family, the murray's, they make $90,000 a year, now granted they live in l.a., an expensive part of the country, housing is ridiculous, they're middle class, right? >> they would be, yeah, by definition. >> reporter: jennifer pate is an economist at loyola marymount university.

when we hear politicians and others say the middle class in america is being hollowed out. what does that mean? that means it's getting smaller? >> people are either going up, which is called upward mobility or more likely it's downward mobility, we're seeing a hollowing out of the middle. these are people who purchase goods and services across the year that leads to higher economic prosperity in our country. what do families do when they struggle? >> reporter: they don't spend, right? they retrench. >> they spend less. they sometimes have to take jobs that have better security but pay lower wages. wages have been stagnant in real terms roughly since the '70's. >> reporter: our family, the murray's, they're teachers, they're hustling to get by. getting wrecked was not in their budget. >> when you're living very close to your means, or just barely living within your means, when you have a catastrophic event, something like having your car totaled unexpectedly, that disproportionately weighs on you. >> i don't feel middle class. i'd like to feel middle class. i don't. i hardly feel like an adult.

>> reporter: we asked the murrays whether they expected things to turn out like this. >> in my best remembrance we actually had planned on having bought a house, even here in l.a. we were going to have somebody's loans paid off. >> yeah, and i would be done with my master's program, and i would be in a teaching job for l.a.u.s.d. >> reporter: okay so run me through that how'd we do? >> no loans are paid off. we do not have a house. >> i hate to say student loans are the only reason, but they are a large reason. i could have purchased a house for the amount of my student loans. >> reporter: are there months you choose not to pay bills? >> i have from time to time chosen not to pay something or to skip something. i never skipped the rent, the car payment, i never skip the insurance. >> reporter: when you guys look at this election, do you feel like the candidates are paying attention to your situation? hillary clinton talks about the middle class all the time. donald trump has a middle class

element in his platform. >> i don't think they see the reality of the middle class. i think there's an idea of what middle class is. i think middle-class is you don't live paycheck to paycheck. >> reporter: do you think your fortunes are going to change based on this election? >> i don't. >> reporter: maybe a better question is what about the fortunes of their daughter. are you two setting vandy up to be better off than you are right now? >> i hope so, i don't really know. >> when you say "save money. cut this out. don't do that," it doesn't always work that way because the one person i have the hardest time saying no to is my daughter. if she says can we go to pinkberry and we say no because we only have $50 left for the rest of the month, that's kind of hard >> she's loves going to gymnastics, that's not negotiable. that is something we pay every month for her, she loves it, and we did cut out a lot so that she

could do that. >> reporter: this isn't a story or a series about one family. it's about an economy that's changing, and what it means when something as simple as your car getting sideswiped can set you back on your heels. the middle class is what makes this economy go. the murrays and the millions of families like them being able to buy stuff. it's that basic. and if they're getting squeezed, if the deck is stacked, then everybody's going to feel it. for the pbs newshour, this is kai ryssdal from los angeles, california. >> woodruff: a historic week for hillary clinton. bernie sanders stays in the race but pledges his support. and donald trump's campaign tries to recover from a stumble. that brings us to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields and new york times columnist david brooks.

so let's talk a little bit about the history. it took, what, just 240 years, but we do now have a woman as the nominee for president of a major political party. did you feel the history, david, this week? >> weirdly not. maybe i'm a chauvinist or something, but, you know, obviously, the transformation of the role of women is the biggest event of our lifetime, the biggest pope francis formation after thousands of years of history to getting closer to equality on that front. but hillary clinton, it was so long in coming, it didn't, to me, feel like the big seismic shift the way barack obama felt in 2008 i think because she's so much a political figure and it was so long in coming that it didn't seem like such a break-through moment. it wasn't like a feminist tide. it was a tide of her grown grit, a lot of issues, the democratic establishment. if you poll sanders voters

versus clinton voters, sanders voters were more likely to think there was structural discrimination against women than clinton voters. she road on the tide of merit, issues, but not necessarily a feminist tide. this particularly event did not feel a seismic opening, at least to me, that, say, the obama thing did. >> woodruff: mark? i'm a feminist -- (laughter) no, golda maher is my icon. 31 years ago when geraldine ferrara was named by walter mondale, i was emotional and thought about my mother, wife, daughter. it was such a surprise. it was such a pioneer. this has been -- >> woodruff: this was less. and hillary clinton has been a formidable, significant

political figure and actor for 25 years, but there was genuine emotion in the hall. you could feel it if you watched it, when she accepted that nomination, and she obviously reciprocated it. it's not just a powerful campaign, it was a political campaign and an effective one. >> woodruff: let's bring it down to politics. quite a good week for the democrats whether history or not, david. you had hillary clinton finished, she won california by a pretty big margin, got the president's endorsement, she got the endorsement of the vice president, bender, bernie s is not getting out of the race but is signaling he's going to support her. democrats seemed to have pulled it together this week. what did you make of that?

>> california was a big one. if she had lost that, we would have a whole different feeling to the thing. winning california is a reminder of all we have been surprise bid sanders. she won this cleanly and in a big way over the whole course of the primary season and, so, she clearly deserves to be the nominee, and the democratic big chieftains are coming together now. the questions i would have for clinton are that people are coming together and they're uniting and strong, people like warren, but this is not a year where the establishment is doing particularly well with the voters, so i'm not sure how much it will help her in the campaign. while trump's poll numbers are taking a hit, hers are steady and not in a great place. i'm struck by the three-way races where she's at 39 or 40 opened trump is at 35 and then suddenly gary johnson, libertarian candidate is, at a 10. one can see there is so much

dissatisfaction with those two that if johnson could run a good campaign, he could stick around in the double digits and be a big story as we talk about the rest of the year. >> woodruff: how much do you think -- they said the white house orchestrated this, this week, in a way they gave bernie sanders gave the space to get out when helped to. >> democrats, historically, when they form a firing squad from the circle, this was a total exception. it was brilliantly corp choreographed. a man not noted for his self doubt to say she was the most qualified presidential candidate in his lifetime was quite an admission and statement. i thought the other part of it, judy, was the deference and respect and space they have given to bernie sanders, that he's paid homage, tribute, and i think deservedly so.

he lost the nomination, but won the future of the democratic party, and i think the awareness of this and the awareness of the need for him not to be a gene mccarthy as gene mccarthy was in 1968 when hubert humphrey lost the presidency to richard nixon by 511,000 votes and gene mccarthy waited the great anti-war candidate till six days before the election to endorse humphrey when, undoubtedly, that would have made a difference in the outcome and bernie sanders is not going to play this role. i think all of that was good and positive and encouraging, and the idea that the democrats are going to have a peaceful convention, they're on the love boat now. a week ago, it looked like a civil war, or two weeks ago, and the republicans who looked -- were going to have a boring convention, now there's a restlessness in the ranks. >> the two of you have been saying for some weeks that you don't think hillary clinton has

a single message for her campaign, and, david, you were just hinting at that still the case. where do you come down, mark? >> well, she doesn't. the reality is this is a change election year. as popular as barack obama, is he's at 51% favorable rating, four to five american voters want the country to head in a different direction. they're not satisfied with the economy. barack obama could not win a third term on a referendum. he could if he was running against donald trump. so there's a change -- you know, after two terms, there's a desire for change in the country, and hillary clinton is a candidate of continuity, and that's a problem, and her message as of now is the change of donald trump is so reckless and so dangerous that i am the safe and sensible alternative. >> woodruff: is that enough? oh, yeah, probably. i mean, i still sense people will be sick of donald trump and at least she'll be confident and

normal. but it's not sufficient for the country. it's enough politically. as sanders spoke this week, i was struck about how he opened the campaign well with a core message. but the message sat there. he had the same message from the beginning to end, the same few talking points from beginning to end. it would have been interesting if he had expanded that message and taken it the next step, a different kind of issues, he would have done better. but clinton has not had those issues and her incrementalism has not been a success. the country just want different and they're willing to grab from column a and b. trump is a flawed messenger but if clinton could grab some from column a and unpredictable things from the right column that appeals to the family -- we

just haven't seen imagination. we've seen determinism and industriousness. >> woodruff: trump has had a bad week as his campaign has gone. he has not backed down from the comments he made about the judge and hispanic, mexican heritage. you see the republican party struggling to try to figure out what to do about it. what shape is he in right now? >> he's in bad shape, and i say that, judy, because -- think about this if you're a republican, a week ago the democrats had a terrible, terrible week. the inspector general's reports and the state department came through on hillary clinton's private email. showed the clinton people had disassembled, not cooperated, that they actually made it more difficult for the investigation and had not been forthcoming. in addition to that, we had the worth job creation numbers we'd had in six years and yet donald

trump dominated the news the whole week and hillary clinton made the news and dominated it in a positive sense with her speech critical of him. so, you know, donald trump now is going to a teleprompter as we saw today and we saw on election night. donald trump on a teleprompter is about as electrifying as the recorded message you get calling the ai airlines and saying calls will be answered in the order they were received. he loses all of donald trump. >> woodruff: david, how much damage has been done? is he going to be able to pick himself up and keep going? >> he will pick up, there will be ebbs and flows. he's had so many bad weeks and no effect in the polls. this week he had effect in the polls. there was a chunk down. then the republicans, the ryans and even the mitch mcconnells, scott walker, the whole party is, like, oh, , no what are we

going to do? i understand why ryan is trying to hang in. he wants unity. his theory is if we get unified that's the only way we can win as a party. he has a policy if i hug trump maybe he'll take part of it but if i push him away he'll never embrace my agenda and i care about my agenda but i think that policy is unworkable because you can't share a stage with donald trump. he's not a sharing guy. he's a sole figure who does not do collaboration. he does not do reciprocity. he does not do teamwork, and you can't have unity with a guy like that. i wrote in my column today it's like trying to hug a tornado, it's not going to work because you will get what we say. it's amoral because you can't embrace somebody who says racist things because he agrees with your defense budget. the character is foundational and ryan is trying to paper over a moral chasm with policy.

it's not the right thing to do, in my view. >> woodruff: pretty tough. it was tough. it was good column and it was -- david said it well. donald trump, to quote david, which i'm always reluctant to do, but he has no horizontal relationships, and i think that's true. the wonderful congress canman from arizona said always be aware of any presidential candidate who does not have friends his own age who can tell him to go to hell when you're wrong, and i just don't see that in donald trump. i mean, i see a lot of relationships and a lot of vertical relationships and good lairptions with his family, but, i mean, i think, judy, the vote for president is a very personal one and people are going to make their decisions based on, as was said 25 centuries ago, character is destiny and it will be in 2012. >> woodruff: i guess next week he'll try to talk about hillary clinton's character. we'll see what he says.

mark shields, david brooks, thank you both. >> woodruff: broadway's 70th annual tony awards air sunday night with all eyes on the musical "hamilton." but as jeffrey brown reports, there are many more stage productions which may provide surprises. >> brown: no question about it: it was the year of 'hamilton'-- and the hip hop musical about america's first treasury secretary received a record 16 tony nominations. ♪ ♪ it's also took in over a billion dollars in ticket sales and helped make this a profitable, as well as buzzed about, year on broadway. ♪ ♪ another contender in the 'best musical' category, "shuffle along," with an all-star cast led by audra mcdonald and its

history, also got much buzz, even if it faces tough tony odds. in the "best play" category, "the humans." and "eclipsed" were among the standouts. the former presents a thanksgiving gathering where tensions reach a boiling point and, with humor, family fault lines are exposed. "eclipsed," starring lupita nyong'o, is a drama set amidst the liberian civil war. the 'best revival of a musical' category includes new takes on two well-known stories: "the color purple", based on alice walker's pulitzer prize- winning novel, centers on african american women in the 1930's south. and tevya and 'tradition' returned in "fiddler on the roof," first produced on broadway in 1964. and in the 'best revival of a play category', famed playwright

arthur miller faces off against himself as well as others. there's "the crucible," about the salem witch trials, and an allegory of mccarthyism in later years and "a view from the bridge," miller's 1956 drama of a brooklyn longshoreman. and as it happens, both miller revivals were directed by ivo van hove. and for a further look, joined by ben brantley chief theater critic for the "new york times." let's start with the "hamilton" phenomenon. there is no other way to refer to it. >> there is a song from "hamilton," "i want to be in the room when it happens" which is referring to the political ambitions of aaron burr, but became the mantra for everyone. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i want to be in the room ♪ >> i'd never received so many questions when people started

crawling out of the woodwork of my past asking if i could get them tickets. they're hard to come by. that kind of feeds the fuel. and this is one case, though, in which that kind of hype is justified. it really is unlike anything that's come on broadway before andeth drawing audiences that broadway hasn't really brought in en masse in many years. >> brown: one aspect noted "hamilton" and other plays is the diversity in theater. >> the oscars look especially pale by comparison to broadway this year. the point of "hamilton" or one of the many points of "hamilton" which is a multi-leveled production in so many ways is that this country was founded by immigrants, and one of the strokes of genius was casting all the dead white founding fathers with very vital young men and women of color. ♪ rise up, rise up

it fuses the language of hip-hop, the braggadocio, the energy and show-off aspect of it as the natural language for young people who would be revolting. >> brown: other plays aside from "hamilton." let's talk about the new play category. we hatched "the humans" and "eclipsed." what stood out for you? >> the humes is a portrait of family dysfunction but there's kind of a nimbus of the supernatural within it that suggests that the ghost, what really haunts us, the horror, the monsters, are us. "eclipsed" is its own creature. i don't think there is ever been a play like this on broadway

before. a woman playwright, all female cast, and it's about african brides, basically, who have been kidnapped by revolutionaries at a time of civil war, and it's their very limited existences and hopes of escaping it. it's sort of a conventional play in the way it's told, but i think it's really good, and the accents are thick, the lingo is thick, the historical or cop the context is so thick that you have to pay attention when you follow it and if you do, you're hooked. cynthia, in the musical "the color purple" which came to london and had been on broadway not long ago, she is extraordinary. it's based on alice waters novel and she plays a repressed young

girl intro into a sense of herself and watching cynthia grow in presence on stage is like watching a star being born before your eyes. it's thrilling. >> brown: let me ask you briefly to sum up the year. there is years where the talk about broadway is, oh, blockbuster musicals. nothing all that new and really exciting. where do you think we're at right now? >> this year, hamilton is so singular that it really does sort of put everything else in the shade, but it's good that something this original and it is truly original is what's casting that shadow. aside from that the fact we had ivo van hove, a radically experienced director, bringing into musicals to broad way the crucible and "a view from the bridge" and making them seem so new and startling and emotionally engaging, in a way. yeah, any show that includes the

humans and broadway and "the color purple," it's a season to give thanks for. >> brown: ben brantley from the "new york times," thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: we'll be back in a moment. but first, take this time to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your

>> woodruff: on the newshour online right now, what's the best way to ensure financial security for your family? think of your family as a business, says one of our making sense columnists. find eight principles to guide you in managing and growing your family's wealth. all that and more is on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and gwen ifill is preparing for "washington week" which airs tonight on pbs and has a

preview. gwen? >> ifill: thanks, judy. hillary clinton wins the week, making history by clinching the democratic nomination, then rolling out coordinated high profile endorsements. so where does that leave donald trump? still defending himself against his own comments, while bernie sanders works out his slow- motion surrender. all that, tonight on washington week. judy? >> woodruff: look forward. and we'll be back, right here, on monday with our regular political analysis from amy walters and tamara keith. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> you were born with two stories. one you write every day, and one you inherited that's written in your d.n.a. 23andme.com is a genetic service that provides personalized reports about traits, health and ancestry. learn more at www.23andme.com.

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steves: i'm meeting my florentine friend tommaso at i fratellini, a venerable hole in the wall much loved among locals for its tasty sandwiches and wine sold by the glass. -grazie. -tommaso: thank you. and when you're done, you leave it on the rack. steves: boy, it's intense in the city. tommaso: yes, it is. well, if you want to leave the tourists, let's cross the river, and let's go to where the real florentines live and work. -steves: what's that? -tommaso: the oltrarno area. steves: there's much more to this town than tourism, as you'll quickly find in the characteristic back lanes of the oltrarno district. artisans busy at work offer a rare opportunity to see traditional craftsmanship in action. you're welcome to just drop in to little shops,

but, remember, it's polite to greet the proprietor. your key phrase is, "can i take a look?" -posso guardare? -man: certo. steves: grazie. here in this great city of art, there's no shortage of treasures in need of a little tlc. this is beautiful. how old is this panting? woman: this is a 17th-century painting. steves: from florence? woman: we don't know. -maybe the area is genova. -steves: genova. each shop addresses a need with passion and expertise. fine instruments deserve the finest care. grand palaces sparkle with gold leaf, thanks to the delicate and exacting skills of craftspeople like this. a satisfying way to wrap up an oltrarno experience is to enjoy a florentine steakhouse, which any italian meat lover knows means chianina beef. the quality is proudly on display. steaks are sold by weight and generally shared.

the standard serving is about a kilo for two, meaning about a pound per person. so, both of those for four people? woman: yes. steves: the preparation is simple and well established. good luck if you want it well done. man: i am hungry, yeah. oh, look at this. ah! steves: oh, beautiful. [ laughs ] man: wow. steves: chianina beef. -woman: white beans. -steves: okay. perfect. man: and that one. steves: so, the meat is called chianina. tommaso: that's its name, because it comes from the chianti. steves: oh, from chianti. okay. and tell me about this concept of the good marriage of the food, you know? tommaso: well, when you have the chianina meat, you want to have some chianti wine, and they go together well. they marry together. we say, "si sposano bene." steves: si sposano bene. a good marriage. in other words, the wine is from tuscany, -and the meat is from tuscany. -tommaso: exactly. you don't want to have a wine from somewhere else. that's it.

this is "nightly business report." with tyler mathisen and sue herera. sharp slide. government bond yields