tv PBS News Hour PBS March 16, 2018 3:00pm-4:01pm PDT
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captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: gd evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: an exclusive interview with south korea's foreign minister, kang kyung-wha. we discuss president trump's trade threats and diplomacy with the north. >> we're cautiously optimistic that the talks will happen, and that this will be a breakthrough for a peaceful resolution of the north korean nuclear issue. >> woodruff: then, the trump accuses russia of an aggressive hacking campaign targeting u.s. power plants and water systems. and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks weigh in on the revolving door at the white house, and pennsylvania's stunning election upset. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour.
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to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> 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 rporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the death toll rose to six today in that pedestrian bridge collapse in south florida, and it could go higher.
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st the newly-installed span fell onto a highway yesterday at florida international university. toda the head of the miami- dade police said crews expect to find more bodies as they remove the crushed wreckage. they are also looking for clues. >> right now, we just want to find out what curred, what caused this collapse to occur and people to die. we want to get to the bottom of, the bottom line of what occurred so that we can bring closure to the families, bring closure to the investigation, and so that it doesn't happen again. >> woodruff: federal investigators from the nationala transpon safety board have also joined the investigation. the whithouse played down talk today of another impending shakeup-- namely, that president trump plans tocuire national ty adviser h.r. mcmaster. it was widely ported that the esident has complained of mcmasterecturing him, and that the two clashed over iran and north korea.
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but at today briefing, white house press secretary sarah sanders said it's much ado about nothing. >> the president's said that it was not accurate, and that he has no intention of channg, that they had a great working relationship and he looked forward to working with him. the chief of staff actually spoke to a number of staff this morning, reassuring them that were personnel changes-- no immediate personnel changes at this time, and that people shouldn't be concerned. >> woodruff: meanwhile, th "wall street journal" reported that mr. trump and his chief of staff john kelly have reached a truce of their own, after months of tensions. the lawyer for porn film star stephanie clifford says she has been threatened with bodily harm after claiming a sexual affair with president trump. he would not say who made the oreat against clifford, known as "stormy danielswhether
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it was anyone tied to mr. trump. the white house has denied there was any affair, but it saidat today he presidente condemns anyo threatens e y individual. the diplomatic divtween london and moscow deepened today, with british police saying a russian bus bessman may han murdered. nikolai glushkov was found dead monday in london, where he had 10won political asylum in investigators say they think he was strangled. his death foowed a nerve agent attack on a former russian spy, in salisbury, england. emma murphy, of independents, television neweports from moscow. >> reporter: the imagery couldn't have been lost on the president. in the middle of an international crisis about where a lethal chemical agent was produced, he appeared in a white coat in a ssia laboratory. ( speaking russian ) >> reporter: it seems imagery wasn't lost on the foreign secretary, either. boris johnson, appearing in a military bunker to point the finger of blame directly at the russian leader.
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>> our quarrel is with putin's kremlin, and with his decision, and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision to direct the a nerve agent on the street of the u.k., on the streets of europe for the first time since the second world war. >> reporter: the response from the kremlin was immediate. though what action will be taken against british interests hasn't yet been announced, the foreign secretary's accusations werebe descas shocking and unforgivable. the russian foreign minister wad me no or discussion. "i don't want to c on what's happening anymore," sergey lavrov said. "let it staysnn the conscis of those who started this shameless, unjustified, russia-phobic game." evgeny primakov is a foreign policy adviser to the russian parliament. he's also close associate of the president and part of his re-election team. >> i would describe it as something very close to the very darkest days the cold
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war. >> reporter: what do you think happened in salisbury? >> im pretty sure it was a very, very dirty game of some special security services,nd those services were not russian. >> reporter: and perhaps that is the only bit of common ground between the u.k. and moscow. there is indeed a ry dirty game being played. >> woodruff: that report, fromy emma mur independent television news. on the cusp of russia's presidential election, vladimir putin is urging his people to get out and vote. he is expected easily to win another six-year term in sunday's balloting, but as opposition candidates held fina- rallies toand some urged a boycott-- putin put out a recorded message to boost turnout. >> ( translated ): we, in russia, have always decided our fate ourselves. i'm sure that each and every one of us is worried about the fateo country, so i am addressing you to ask you to come to the polling stations. use your right to choose the future for the great and beloved russia.
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>> woodruff: putin's public approval ratings top 80%. russian and syrian air strikese rained math today outside damascus, as civilians ran for their lives. thousands were fleeing the rebte enclave of e ghouta, in syria, toward government lines. but war monitors say air attacks killed at least 70 people. to the northwest, turkisair assaults left 27 dead in kurdish-held afrin. the turks say the kurds are linked to rebels inside turkey. in western iraq, the u.s. military says seven american service meers were killed when their helicopter crashed. it happened thursday in anbar province, near the syrian brder. officials say there was no indication of enemy fire. as of last fall, about 9,000 t u.ops were stationed in iraq. former south african president jacob zuma will face corruption charges over an arms deal from the 1990s.
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the chief prosecutor announced it today. the 75-year-old zuma served as president for nearly nine years, t his tenure was marred by scandal. resigned under pressure last month. back in this country, thinoldest simember of congress, louise slaughter, died today at a washington hospitafa a week afteing at her home. the new york democrat represented the rochester ar30 for more thaears. she championed women's rights, and was the first woman to chair the house rules comm louise slaughter was 88 years old. and on wall reet, the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 73 points to close at 24,946 the nasdaq rose just a fraction, and the s&p 500 added four. for the week, all three indexes lost more than 1%. still to come on the newour: new reports beg the question, could russia shut down the u.s. power grid? mark shields and david brooks on
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the white house's revolving door. impressions of the southern border from arizona's first poet laureate. and, much more. >> woodruff: president trump spoke this morning with president moon jae-in of south korea, just one week after the surprise offer of a possible summit between mr. trump and north korean leader kim jong-un. ter, kangreign min kyung-wha, is here to continue consultation with the trump administration and congress-- a trip tmost did not happen, after tuesday's firing of her counterpart, secretary of state rex tillerson. minister kang and i spoke this b morning, andan by asking her about president trump's recent apparent threats to pull american troops from south korea if the korea-u.s. free trade
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agreement, or "korus f.t.a.," is not proved in america's favo l, i think the strength the korea-u.s. alliance is solid enough to not take comments related to trade as indicating something about the trip presence itself, and we are having a seson of renegotiating the korus phat. we hope it's mutually beneficial and takes the f.t.a. further. >> woodruff: are there concessions on trade? >> there have been to be concessions both ways. >> woodruff: the president said in remarks this week, our allies care about themselves, ey don't care about us. how do you read that? >> i think everysountry thi of their national interest in the first instance. we do, the u.s. doe all
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countries. ai think it has to be r in that context and not taken at face value. >> woodruff: well, let's turn to theo prposed talks between president trump and the leader of north korea, mr. kim. how confident are you that those talks are going to tae place? any question that they will happen? >> well, i think this is the result of ourpecial envoy's direct discussion with chairman kim. so i'm pretty confident. you know, i think we're cautiously optimistic that the talks will happen and that this will a breakthrough for a peaceful resolution of the north korean nuclear issue. >> woodruff: so what conditions have to be met, in your view, before these talks can take place, on both sides? >> i think very much the conditions that the u.s. has so
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far emphasized -- that is, the north korean leader has to indicate his commitment to denuclearization -- has been met. ntst was one of the key poi that came out of the specialet envoys' g and conveyed to president trump. the other was they need to stop the pros vocatid, again, clearly stated by the leader himself, no more provocation as long as the dialogue continues. so i think the basic condition g,that we have been flagghe u.s. has been flagging has basically been met.f: >> woodrcould there be new sanctions imposed on north korea before any tal take place? >> well, i think the international community toghe has been implementing the security council sanctions, and that certainly has bn one of the factors that has led mr. kim to come out and start engaging. the security council, so yes, if there are further provocations, there will be more
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sanctions. but mr. kim has -- chairman kim has stated there wilo further provocation as long as the dialogues continue. >> woodruff: does your government trust the leader of north korea? mean, the people who watch north korea closely say it has violated every agreement it's entered into in recent history >> it's not a matter of trusting. it's a matter of approaching the opportunity presented with god will, and we have -- we have -- my president has been om the very beginning consistent and persistent in his mesge about north korea, and that message has been north korea's missiles nuclear program will never be accepted, but we want to engage to find a peaceful resolution. this is a much better situation, i think we all agree, than we
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found ourselves mid last year or even at the end of last year. >> woodruff: you mentioned the sanctions imposeon the noth. why do you think their leader kim jong un wants this meeting? i mean, aft e all theffort, all the energy, resources theye poured into building up their nuclear weapons program that can strike the united states, certainly strike countries in the region, why does he wa this meeting? >> the sanctions and the solidarity to have the international community behind the sanctions are, by all accounts, having an effect. the chairman has promised two things to his people. one ishe nuclear program and one is economic development, improvement of lelihoods, and is was a part clearly stated in this newer message. and to make prs gr the second track, he needs -- he cannot do this -- deiver this
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with -- under the heavyti sas regime. so he would understand that he needs to work with intitnational commin the first instance, the united t stateease the sanctions regime, and that's not ing to happenless and until he -- unless he takes significant steps on t denuclearization track. >> woodruff: does your government he a goal in mind, should the u.s. have a goal in mind of what that denuclearization looks like? how far does it ha go for there to be an agreement? >> we are ry clear in our stated goal of complete denuclearization of north korea, and it will take a long while because the program is very advanced. so from a very well-advanced program to complete denuclearization, obviously, will take a lon atimnd we're prepared for the long haul, but
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we approach this with clear eyes and with nerves of steel but with a clear goal in mind. >> woodruff: what concession should south korea and the u.s. be prepared to make for there to be aagreement, and could it include removing or reducing the number ofu.s. troops in south korea? >> i think the issue of the u.s presenceuth korea is very much an issue that needs to be discussed, an issue for the alliance. and i don't think that, you know, you should e think about any concessions along. those lin it will not be an issue that we will ratdily discushe table with north korea. >> woodruff: your president i going to meet with leader ki next month, and this is an advance -- in advance of any
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meeting with president trump. there are those who look atll of this and say, south korea ant the states are conferring a level of credibility and respect on the north korean regime that it has not earned, that it doesn't deserve. how do you answer tht? >> it's a regime, still, that we need to deal h.wit it poses a grave security threat to korea, to the whole world, and you can only deawith this threat by engaging with it. we arut absy clear that a military solution is not an option. we are a country that have experienced the most desuctive war in a lifespan that my father's generations can remember, so there cannot be another war on the korean
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peninsula. is requires a peaful solution, and to have a peacefu solution you have to deal with them, you have to negotiate. >> woodruff: and how much ared you concerbout the fact that you are dealing with the u.s. administration that's undergoing a lot of change at the top. how much harder does that make it to work with the u.s. on this very sensitive issue? >> well, it's people, but it's also institutions, which is why, despite the fact of the change atethe top of the st department, i have still decided to come because it's -- certainly, with people, you develop ar cetain camaraderie after a while, but that comes with part of the job, and i think that's what professional diplomacy requires. >> woodruff: i asked you earlier if you or your government trusts kim jong un. do you trust president trump? >> i have confidence in his
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ability to deliver on his strong desire to come to grips with this issue of the north korean nuclear missile threat. >> woodruff: well, foreign minister kang, thank you very much for talking with us. >> thankou, judy. >> woodruff: now, the threat to the u.s. power grid and other vital infrastructure. john yang has more on newly- revealed hacking attacks by russia here at home. >> yang: judy, the trump administration has accused russia of a series o cyberattacks on american and european power plants, water facilities and electcical grids. ofs say the intrusions began in 2015, and continued through last year.ha while the ers had their fingers on the switches, so to idspeak, they apparently d not actually shut off power. the f.b.i. and other agencies tracked the hackers, and allege
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that russian intelligence is responble. for more on these attacks, and the wider cyr battlefield, i'm joined by david kennedy, the founder of trustedec, a tech security firm. david, thanks in much for jous. now, does this mean that they still have their fingers on those switches and can sort of wreak havoc at will? >> the energy gr in the facilities aren't like one interconnectedutystem. throughe united states there are a number of companies and it's a disjointed system. so the fb.i. is working with all these different companies trying to fiend out whalevel of access they had to boot them out.co there stild be access into the systems, we don't know how despread this was. the department of homeland security didn't give all the details. we don't know if they were still in the systems but we know theye were tang a large amount of our infrastructure so that possibly in the event there was a milnfitary ct they could shut us down a large percentage ofr infrastructure.
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>> yang: so this is in a way a threat or letting th states know that they can do a is if they wanted to? >> well, rus being extremely i aggressive in a lot of different areas now and thie is just o of them, especial on the cyber front. but what nations typically ty to do is have military preparedness that in the event there's some kind ofit mily conflict and russia obviously sees western allies as being a major threat so, you know, our european allies, the united states, all us being mjor threats towards russian dominance especially whe comes to its allies, syria, iran, et cetera. so when it comes to that, russia likes to have an upper hand when it comes to, you know, in the event there was a conflict between the united states and russia, could, you know, russia have a substantial amount of impact back here in t united states on causi major disruptions. could it have a financial impact where it could shut down ouia finasector, the lights and power, could it stop water fro
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flowing to our hopes and cause water outages? those are all things that could cause a substantial amount ofma and pain here in the united states without even firing a missile. so those are ings russia uses as capabilities to try to cause a lot of hurt on the unitedev states in tht that something happens. so those are, you know, capabilities that are now possible through cyber methods that all nation states are d looking elop, not just, you know, russia. iran is looking to develop themt korea, china, you know, obviously, you know, nation states aren't necessarily, you know, good to the untates when it comes to relations. those are all things that can happenhen it comes to cybercapabilities, not d cessarily the most, you know, military advanpabilities when it comes to the united states, when we have, you know, a lot of times the upper hand. >> yang: david, you say all nati states are trying to do this. is the united states developing er countries oth >> there was a big leak from the equation group traced back to
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the national security agency. a bunch of russian tors stle coal and published the code out and detailed a throughout of what tn.s.a. was doing and a a lot of operations they used infiltrate a lot of different countries abroad. showed a lot of how they tracked through the swift network, the financial backbone of how they track moy laundering towar terrorist okayizations and how tey're able to track terrorists throughout the world. so we use thepes of capabilities as well. so the united states absolutely has cyercapabilities for launching these and we did the exact sawe thing. e hacking into industrial control systems for manufacturing, for, you know, grids, water treatment facilities. we're doing the exact same things to other countries as military capabilities. it's kind of we're going to hack thc, they're going to k us. we're hoping we don't get discovered, they're hopinthey don't. >>'s a military fight for cyber
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warfare. o cyber warfare is going on? all the time, every day, ase weeaking and talking now, there are active hacks going on. we're hacking russia, russia'sg hack, iran's hacking into us, we're hacking into them, it's a massive battle now. t there's lk around what this means as far as ramifications. think about it. if an accident accidentally happens, right, a slipup occurs and shuts dolf our power grid by mistake, is that an act of war? does that constitute an act of war and we start launching missiles at russia? this is a very delicate situation. a lot of the systems, you talk about the electric tbrid, these systems haven't been updated in 30, 40rbgs 50 years in some cases, super, sewer sensiti, just by breathing on them in the wrong way can shut them down,i but the mstakes are going to happen. there's possibility for loss of life. tha lot of ramifications that can happen for these types of activities and we' jt seeing the tip of the iceberg
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happening right now. >> did kennedy onre cyberwarthanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. appreciate it. >> woodruff: the secretary of state is fired a democrat claims victory in a conservative stronghold. and, that was just on tuesday. thankfully, shields and brooks are here to help make sense of it all. that is syndicated columnisthi markds, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. and we are so glad to see both you have this friday. >> yes. >> woodruff: welcome. thank you. ase just mentioned, david, there ha been top people, the secretary of state, the chief economic aisor to the president, we could name many others, there is speculation a number of cabinet secretaes may tbovment we're showing a sicture of a few of the names, mcmaster, the prnt's
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national security advisor may be fired by the president. how do we process all this going on in this administration right now? >> trump is getting trumpier and the administration is getting hrumpier. he's decided in beginning he was on the learning curve of the presidency, he's got it mastered, so he doesn't need all the people telling him noall the time. it's a process of him feeling comfortae with himself and a process of him being anti-system. the white house worked through the systi. you have vast apparatus and normally it all works in some rm with deputy meetings and principal meetings and all that. trump sort of resists all that. all the process is sort of within here or maybe lower, i don't know. and -- >> this is a pbs station. sorry. and, so, he's decided -- i'm happy here and i'm going to get rid of the people who are ma meg feel uncomfortable. >> woodruff: mark, shoul we be wringing our hands over this
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or just say, as the white house does, he's just having people around him who make him comfortable? >> it's a new randard hiring people for jobs, does he or she make me comfortable, not whether they can contribute to the public wheel and make the country better org. anyth so i want to salute david for coining "trumpy," as one of sleepy and the other seven dwarfs. (laughter) but, judy, anytime you go through a wholesale firing, it's an indication of weakness in a president. it's political uncertainty. the twc most reent presidents who did it, gerald ford in 1975 gorough getting rid of jim schlesinger, secretary of defense dropping nelson rockefeller from the ticket, was a sign of political weakness, and jimmy carter in 1979 got rid of five cabinet members including schlesinger again and joe calafanto. and that's what you see withum
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donald tr but i think at a personal level, there are two things that have to be comupmentedon. first of all is that there isou this administration just fatiguing, draining aspect. r peoplly -- americans are ent consumed with politics and policy and gover they want somebody who's going to run things and run themn i orderly way. this ha has been disorderly from day one, an it's draining. it really is, of the nation's well being and peace of mind. donald trump promised he would bring thet besople, that he knew the best people, they would all coe. now we've reached the point, quite frank ri, where people won't even accept invitations to the white house to be interviewed or overtures.u he'snning out of, i think, of personnel and i think he's running out of time politically. >> woodruff: but, david, the president himself says hees
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belin being disruptive. he believes in sort of rearranging things, creating a little chaos in so manry wods. >> that's true. he's accurate about that. the problem is th staff never knows what's going to happen. it's hard to do your job if you never know what's going to happen or being undermined with the president.oo everyone smaller who comes out of there. tillerson looks smasller. h.r. mr is dangled, sterling reputation going in. he was compelled noto be totally honestly early in the administration about what the president to a bunch of russian diplomats who came, that hurt his reputation. it's a process of sucking up, gary cohthe economic advisor had comments he was unhappy wih the wayhe president responded to charlottesville. he fell out of favor and shows integrity on mr. cohn's part. they never had accesso thepu
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ican a-level staff but had the b-level. now we're going down to c and d. larry kudlow, new economic appointee. nice guy, i agree with him on a t of thngs. but phil tedlock is a scholar who studies disessionmakers and said kudlow is driven byide ideology. john bolton who is a fox news analyst is anything but new central on anything, and, so, what you just see is the worst personnel, more chaos. >> i agree with david. i just want to underline one point he paid, and that is, the way it's done, judy, it's plic humiliation, tillerson, in particular. ort everybody is demind denigrated in tweets afterwards. you know, again, i come back to ordinary americans just -- this
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is not -- is is bullying. this is mean. this is ugly. this is not what you want in a y,esident. finaust a personal note, and that is 50 years ago today robert kennedy announced candidacy for president. i was lucky enough work for him in the primaries in nebraska, oregon and californiao and got tally unearned status and credit because i worked for robeat kennedy, one of the gr men of the 20th century, intr pect. but unearned benefits. now, people of public service, of commitmt have gone to work for donald trump. they're diminished, they're deneend, they're smaller, they're in a caldron of resentment and revenge in the white house, and they have legal bills andfr they don't know m one day to the next whether their job is there and what their job is. i feel badly for them. i mean, because every one of them is going to carry that wit them the rest of their life. un one other thing about having
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been aroa lot of trump supporters in the last week, they've tuned it out. they suprt the administration, they like the big things -- the tax bill, deregulation, that kind of thing. i ask them about the things we talk about every week and it sort of drifts by unnoticed. if you want to kn why he' still got 9% 90 approval among publicans, that's why, it gets tuned out. t woodruff: something that's connected bu the political realm, mark, in pennsylvania, a congressional districtspecial election, donald trump won this district nearby pittsburgh by 20 points. the decrat won by 600, 700 votes, very close, but the democrat appears to have won. d whs that tell us? does it say something about the fall midterms? what do we read? >> it does tell us something about the falls. midte someone who's lived through
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enough mid-term elections.re when adent's job rating is below 50%, the president's party loses on average 43 house seats. when a president's below 40% you're in uncharted territory. what it tells us is the democrats consistently are far more enthusiastic abo 2018 than are the republicans. the democratic turnout was higher. it was 67% in allegheny county as opposed to 60%. the turnout was phenomenal. more people voted tuesday than in the general election in 20wh pennsylvania elected governor. but most of all, and david had a piece about this today, candidates matter. connor lam was a good candidat it's the house of representatives. in washington, democrats wat to apply an 18-point litmus test and unless somebody passes everyone, they can't support him. ronald reagan said someone who
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agrees was 80% of our time is our valued and cherishedlly and friend and we are committed to them. they are not our 20% enemy. connor lamb was a good candidates and didn't meet the litmus test and he can hold that district or any district around him. >> woodruf into it? you read >> obviously the tides are all in the democrats' favor.w i scat air graph of the races including state legislature races in the first eight months of the administration, and it was all over the place a democratic advantage but not universals. in the last four or five months, it's universals. the democrats have a big advantage built in and that looks baked in even despite the great economy. for me, what is the democratic party going look like this year? the only way they can blow it ik if they look lberkeley, california. if they indulge the inner passions, they couldblow this. but in pennsylvania with connor lamb, they didn't blow and they didn't blow it on two
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fronts, the most oious is havingman a political moerate. lamb said he won't vote for pelosi and is less than center. i think people alws vote against the style of the president they just had. i think because to have the exhaustion mark referred to ople want toot of go against the trump character style, and they want to go to people who put character first before policy. connor lamb former marine, comes from a good catholic school, talks about his faith, long, distinguished political family, just seems like agood guy. and when trump came in and violated the norms of normal campaigning in his own district, connor ld not answer. that's a siefn good character and will be in special demand this year. >> woodruff: it's 2018 an lightning there strike for me bringing up 2020, but i cansi because, this morning in
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new hampshire, one of the republicans senators not running foree rlection jeff flake of arizona talked to a group ande here's what said. jeff flake. >> it has not been my plans to run for president, be i've not ruled it out. i hope that someone does run in the replican primary, somebody to challenge the president. i think that the republicans want to be reminded what it means to be a traditional, decent republican. >> wooituff: so whethe jeff flake or somebody else, serious challenge, maybe, to donald trump? >> well, as of today, what david mentiod, the people had seen, there isn't that seemerringnt resent but when somebody does run, judy, as jean mccary did in 1968 and exposes the weakness or ronald reagan did with gerald
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ford or jimmy carter, it's because there is a weakness upon the part of then icumbent. to jeff flake's credit, he's an insurrectionist. >> a lot of people are making contingency plans. they're saying we can't wait till 2019 to begin plning in case we need somebody else.e theyilding how do we get on the ballot and build a donor infrastructure. they won't do something if there's a trump meltdown bu they suspect there may be and are planning for it. >> when it comes top coattails in 201a8, donald trumd i apologize for this visual, is wearing a tank top. there's nothing to cling to if you're a republican. he's not going to carry you across the finish line and i think that could have the greatest impact upon whether in fact there's a challenge. >> woodruff: well, gentlemen, let it b said that on march 16, 2018, we first talked about
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2020. >> mark shields, david brooks, thank you both >> thank you. f: >> woodrow, to life on the u.s.-mexico border. this week, the president went ta fornia to inspect models of what a new border wall could look like. as debates over the wall and smigration continue, arti and writers close to the border are trying to depict the realits on the ground. jeffrey brown recently traveled to arizona, where he spent time with a writer and poet whose work has been shaped by the region. >> the border is a line that birds cannot see. g e border is where flint first met steel, startcentury of fires.be >> brown: o rios's 2015 poem, "the border: a double sonn." 28 lines. each, he says, its own mini
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poem, and a "doubled" format that represents the two sides of a place often depicted in terms of conflict. but rios sees mo. >> i don't try to write a story about the border. to write a story about t 28 versions of the border. 28 things, and l them, in that fragmentatio try to work together, try to become somethin the border used to be an actual place, but now, it is the act of a thousand imaginations. >> brown: rios, a professor at arizona state university, and now arizona's first poet laureate, was born in nogales, the son of a mexican father and mitish mother. >> the border, f has very little to do with the wall or a fence. the border is everywhere and in everything, every step of the way in my life. my father was a very brown man. my mother was a very white woman. right aw, they were, they embodied a border.
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and that we lid in a place that had a geographical markerhe called torder added to that. >> brown: he's seen enormous changes throughout the border region, even as its culture and language have shaped him as a writer. >> the border smells like cars at noon and wood smoke in the evening. so many people are dictating b what tder ought to be, should do-- and have never visited. the border is many, many things. we w it's like the word for pen. if i hold this pen up and i know that it's a pen, but that's all i can call it, i own it. that's it. that's the end of the story. i can move on. but, if that p is also a pluma, and in another language, is also a plume. if it's got three names, it must have six. and if it has six, it may have a thousand. and suddenly, this thing is wild in my hand. >> brown: language does that? >> language does that, because i have to choose at any given
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moment how i'm going to think out this pen. how i'm going to think about the food i'm about to eat or the person i'm about to see. i have to choose. in a curious way, living on the border was the most an of experiences because it always gave me the coordinating conjunction "or," which is the great american word. ituggests choice. >> brown: you mean between two between two cultures. >> between twoultures, between two languages. and it also meant i had, every day of my life, i dot get to just presumptively say, "this is a pen." have to choose to say, "this is a pen," because i also know it's a pluma and it's other things.av so ito choose constantly. and i think people who gw up on the border are doing that all the time. the border is an equation in search of an equals si the border is the location of the factory where lightning and thunder are made.
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>> brown: rios now has a public platform as the state's laureate. he works with young people, andw writt he calls "poems of public purpose." >> something in me understands that i'm not always iting for myself. that sometimes i, curious as this might sound, need to lend myself out to others who also need to speak. i can tell people what to do or what they, what i think is happening. but taking the other tack of sharing stories, moments, thingo that havo with border solutions, works. wn: and now, alberto rio words directly reach many crossing between the two countries. s poem, "border lines," etched at the mariposa port of entrin nogales. it ends with these lines: >> we seemo live in a world of maps: but in truth we live in a world made not of paper and ink but of people.
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those lines are our lives. together, let us turn the map until we see clearly: the border is what joins us not what separates us.uf >> woo and we will be back shortly, with a look at why a high-end custom tailor is giving his suits away. but first, take a moment to hear from your cal pbs station. it's a chance to offer yourhi support, w helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: for those stations staying with us-- practitioners of the world's most endangered language are appealing for financial assistance to save it from extinction.ci as s correspondent malcolm brabant originally reported last fall, this highly unusual form
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se communication is mainly by an aging population on a greek island. here's a second look. >> rorter: you almost have t go to the edge of europe to find the whistling village of antia. take a fer from the greek mainland to the island of evia. pass giant wind farms and a hidden waterfall. then you encounter the uniqueic of kyriaki giannakari, trilling as clear as a bird, chating to her distant neighbors. ( whistling ) >> ( translated ): it's essential preserve this language. we have to keep it. this is the way we have grown up. fr reporter: and this is how
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they invite theinds to lunch, using a technique that distinctly transmits the message for miles between hill tops. eve the language dates back to ancient greek times. one theory is that it was created by persians 2,500 years ago, after they were defeated in the great naval battle of salamis. vors, washed up on the shores of evia, whistled to eaca other id detection from vengeful ancient greeks.na panagiotis tris is leading the battle to save what unesco considers to be the world's most endangered language. ( translated ): whistling was used widely, used until the day the telephone arrived. that was in 1965, around the same time most young people left the village study or find work. so, it meant there was no one aroundo pass the language onto the next generation. ( whistling ) >> reporter: it's time for the villagers to wet their whistles. and, glasses of aiery local
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liquor called tsipouro arrive. >> ( translat): if you drink too much tsipouro, you get a hell of a hedache. we had a festival at the church yesterday. i had far too much tsipouro, and i have got a major hangover. i just had a small one right now, and i'm slowing getting back on an even keel. >> reporter: the villagers are at pains to stress that this is a language, not a code. if you can speakt, you can whistle it. alnagiotis tzanavariz runs through the greeabet. >> ( translated ): alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon. >> reporter: today, there aretl ( whg ) >> reporter: today, there are only 18 people left who are proficient in this lguage. panagiotis bournousouzis is the youngest exponent. his iend, yannis apostolou, acknowledges the difficulty in
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sustaini it. ( whistling ) >> ( translated ): for someone who doesn't use the language on will finday basis, h that after a while his mouth and jaw are becoming numb. for someone who uses the language regularly, it becomes sier the more you use it. it's like exercise. >> reporter: given that most conversation takes pla short bursts, using just a handful of characters, what we're listening to here is effectively the earliest known form of twitter. so, what do they think of the world's most famous twitter user? panagiotis bornousouzis: ( whistling ) >> ( translated ): i like president trump. i think he's a stable influence, and i think he will take america forward. >> repter: farmer yannis tsipas:
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( whistling ) >> ( translated ): i think trump is very good for his own lduntry. i just wish he welp greece a bit. v i don't havey high opinion of greece's prime minister, because, instead of getting us out of t getting us deeper into it. trump could assist us ecomically if he would pay portion of greece's debt. >> reporter: ynis apostolou: ( whistling ) >> ( translated re what i would ly like to see president trump do is to put an end to all the wars that are going on at the moment across the world, and f en to try to get people back into a normal typeythm and develop the rest of the world. trump is outside the political system. because he's an outsider and technocrat, i think he will find a way to resolve the situation
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with north korea. >> reporter: panagiotis tzanavaris: ( whistling ) >> ( translated it's a bit early to tell, but it's my opinion that trump will caus fewer wars than obama, who came to greece and started praising democracy. >> reporter: the villagers acknowledge that the language is fading as fast as an evia sunset, and they areg to find a benefactor to fund lessons for young greeks intested in perpetuating th unique sound of the mountains. panagiotis tzanavaris is painfully aware that financially strapped greece has other priorities.
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>> ( translated ): we have got a a state which shows no interest whatsoever in preserving this piece of our so-important cultural heritage. ( whistling ) >> reporter: what said was, "for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in evia." >> woodruff: and finally, to our "newshour shares:" christopher shaf has made a living crafting high-end suits, but as the newshous rhana natr reports, he has found a way to use his talents to give back to the community. reporter: from his trendy studio in downtown baltimore, christopher schaefer designs custom-tailored suits. his itshop is filled patterned blazers, colorful tie
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and fabrported from london. and these one-of-a-kind designso customized dowhe button by schafer and his son seth, start at $3,000. >> everything's made from scratch. we take the pers a's personalit then infuse that into the garment. >> reporter: for a man who makes pricey suits, schafer has a surprising passion: he gives them away. " 2011, schafer started "arp dressed man." it gives donated suits to men recently out of prison or rehab and looking for work. ms there's a lot of progra that do a lot of things for jore adiness, but where sharp dressed man was kind of bornth from, was thaidea with what they were going to wear for the interview. they would do all this internal work, but what about the external part? and it was kind of an afterthought. >> reporter: in the past three years, sharp dressed man has helped nearly 5,000 men, giving away 2,000 suits in 2017 alone.w throughout thek, schafer collects donations from his clients and local residents.
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every wednesday, he hauls the donations here, a former woolworth department store. as the suit recipients wait to get fitted, they can get a free haircut and a hot meal. >> i really think that the biggest thing, though, is a new guy gets treated with respect. and some of these guys have not been. they have not treated themselves with respect, nor been treated with respect. >> reporter: 23-year old tarod stewart beamed as he tried on this suit-- his first ever. >> actually, i was in thes strenning around and catching charges and stuff like o at. really not nothing proud of me. now, i'm older. and m trying to make better life. >> reporter: shawnntones is six clean, and will soon graduate from a drug recovery program. >> when i put the suit, this suit on, it makes me feel like i've grown, i've matured. you know, i'm a productive member of society. i'm a man. you know, it made me just feel oud.
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>> reporter: christopher schafer knows about wanting a new lease on life. o he we desperate for it. >> i've been clean for3 years. so that's, that's kind of where the magic happens for me. is that i'm in a situation where i'm able to help, i'm able to help other people. >> reporter: a lot of people can't imagine-- they've never been in that situation, what it's like to rebuild your life from zero. i s the hardest thing i've ever done in my life. you've got to have a, a lot of courage. i needed the support. you need the support. >> reporter: schafer is now supporting those at the beginning of their own transformations, one sharp dressed man ats time. soon, n seth will carry on that mission in los angeles, where he plans to open a secondr sharsed man. for the pbs newshour, i'm rhana natour in baltimore, maryland. >> woouff: and on the newshour online right now: while russia's presidential
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belection isn't expected an upset, there's plenty to dig into when it comes to how russians are feeling and the challenges vladimir putin faces. you can find our analysis on our websit www.pbs.org/newshour.pb and tomorrow onewshour weekend, puerto rican students displaced by hurricane mariaol adjust to scn the mainland. and 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: >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation.
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for re than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made fossible by the corporatio public broadcasting. and by conibutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning
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elyse: we're the history detectives, and we're going to investigate some untold stories from america's past. this week: is this peculiar flag one that african-american soldiers marched under in the war to end all wars? t tukufu: iss painting an original depiction of native-american life from one of the premier painter? wa gwendolyn: and this building a safe haven for persecuted immigrants or a hub for organized crime? ♪ elvis costello: watchin' the detectives ♪ ♪ i get so anroy when the teardps start ♪ ♪ but he can't be wounded 'cause he's got noeart ♪
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