captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, l secretary or alex acosta resigns amid criticism over his handling of a sex crimes casena against bille jeffrey epstein. then, fearing a massood, the latest on a slow-mtoing tropical expected to drench louisiana, threatening leveesround new orleans. plus, as theegal marijuana industry expands, questions remain about racial diversity in the business and who will reap the economic benefits. >> we're hoping that we can correct that by keeping the money within the community, employing people from our community, and allowing the ney to circulate as many times as humanly possible. >> woodr mark shields and ramesh ponnuru

brwn the divide among democrats, the resignation of alex acosta, and more. all that and more, on tonight'sb newshour. >> major fding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> ordering takeout. >> finding the west route. >> talking for hours. >> planning for showers. ou>> you can do the things like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular.n learmore at consumercellular.tv >> babbel. program that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> financial services firm raymond james.

>> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social chang worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these instutions: 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 u.s. secretary of lab, alex acosta, is out. when president trump met with reporters at the white house today, hhad acosta by his side to announce his resignation,mr just befortrump left for a trip to wisconsin. acosta held a press conference of his own earlier this week, defending his involvement in a

2008 lawsuit involving alleged sex trafficker jeffrey epstein, who then received a jail sentence that critics have " callusually lenient." today, acosta criticized news coverage of the case, but said w he did nt to be a distraction to the administration's work. the president paid him a compliment. >> he's a tremendous talent. he's a hispanic man. he went to harvard, a great student. and ino many ways, i just hate what he's saying now because we're going to miss him. but please, alex. >> it would be selfish for me to stay in this position and continue talking about aase that's 12 years old, rather than about the amazing economy we have right now. and so, i submitted resignation to the president, effective seven daysrom today, effective one week from today ewrlier this morning. >> woodruff: theour's yamiche alcindor was at the m white house thning and joins me now here at the studio.

>> so yamiche, this ep steen story keeps growing. we know tcre was a rt filing in new york that accuses mr. epstein of witness tampering,aying potential witnesses against him $350,000. so we are watching that new development. but in the meantime, you were at the white house often the south lawn. how did this resignation come about? >> welis was an uncomfortable moment, uncomfortable week for secretary acosta. there is a thing call a perp walk, where a high profile suspect is going to be coming into the police station. this is what this felt like today. i.t. felt like alex acosta was being brought before the camera to explain is he t probleme straction against the great things that the trump administration is doing. it's important to remember how ot got here. how he here is the president essentially forced acosta to go

before the capital last, defending himself against the backlash, the president decided to take a coue of days and decided he couldn't basically do well enough. this was assembling acosta's idea butpr thesident decided he wasn't going to be able to stay on because he didn't look good for the ainistration. the president is trying to distance himself from effrey epstein. they used to party toque, have not necessarily underage women but young women at these fath ts,o not talk about what he might knoabout his possible human trafficing and abuse of children. this is not going to go away. even though pleax acosta is leaving the administration, effective july 19th, we see that the president might still have tdeal with this. >> woodruff: you see the president fugher distanc himself from jeffrey epstein.

yamiche, you know there has been a number of high departures, from the administration. >> the revolving door from the white house keeps spinning. cabinet officials being foced out or resigned at times. i want to put up a tblask, patrick shanahan, acting secretary of defense, he withdrew, the president withdrew his nomination to be permanent defense secretary, because ofst do violence. and jim mattis resigned because he was essentially upset because of the president's nooument he was going to beithdrawing are troops from syria. there have been a number of individuals withdrawing from the-m. ugoihave annal acting

labor secretary, acting defense secretary, acting u.n. could ambassador. in so many ways the have so manyn wil people in acting roams. the important things is that these people wilbe now preliminaried, not be able to have agendas, not make theth decision might be able to make if they had permanent jobsd within theinistration. it is important to note there are noti las, in the administration, alex acosta was the only latino member in the president's administration. >> woodruff: they haven't been confirmed by the senate, which is what one needs to do to be able to carry outs the job. what are boiling are what expected to bethis large scale raids on immigrants around the country by ice. what more was the president sahing about this s morning? >> he insisted that these raids would st st onday. my question i put to him, would

it be putrcting law enentic and polat risk? here is what he said to me. >> it starts on sunday and they're going to take people out and going to bring them back to their countries, take criminals out, put them in prison or put pem inrison in the countries they came from. we are focused on criminalscas much as wn. >> the president says they are focused on criminals but there is going to be this thing called collateral deportations, you may be swept upin these if youre in the wrong place in the wrong time. y're reporters that the worried about having to depart babies and having to deal with families. add to that the fact that there are all these groups that are now going to be setting up hot lines and rapid response networks to really try to give support to immigrants who are bracing for the worse. one immigrant today told a naonal network that they people a hurricane is coming.

there are people missing work scthat are really, reallared about this but the president says this must ha >> woodruff: a lot of uncertainty, we'll bewiol this all weekend and reporting on it on monday. ymp >> woodruff: as tropical storm barry closed in on the state of louisiana this evening, residents and local officials prepared for its arrival overnight as a hurricane-lev storm.oh asyang tells us, the greatest risks may not be the winds, but intense rain and a likelihood of significant flooding. >> yang: waves, wind and rain began hitting new orleans and louisiana's gulf coast today as barry neared hurricane strength. forecaers warn the storm could linger over the state through sunday and drop up to 20 tnches of raiggering serious flooding.

the mississippi river is already unusually high from a wet spring. earlier this week, new orleans' french quarter flooded aft heavy rain. sandbags were being filled and distributed. flooding could hit further north, including baton rouge. rachel young said her family is t taking any chances. >> so they're already preparing, like boarding up windows, got ac of sand. it typically doesn't flood in that area, but you never know, so we're taking every precaution necessary. >>ang: governor john bel edwards warned of the risks. >> nobodshould take this storm lightly just bause it's supposed to be a category one when it makes landfa. you just go back to 2016 when ww didn't have all the advanced warning that we have today. and we had 56 out of 74 parishes declare a major federal disastet because ofhose floods. >> yang: there were some

evacuations inow-lying areas, but new orleans mayor latoya cantrell told residents to shelter in place. >> stay dry as best as possible. again, high and heavy lls, this is what we're preparing for. make sure you, again, stay put. >> yang: in the city's lower ninth ward, devastated in 2005 by hurricane katrina and the collapse of levees, many residents are sticking it out. but they are watching the levees and potential storm sue. >> it's an eerie feeling. you don't ever get comfortable until you know it's over. >> we're not evacuating. we're just going to ride it out. we've kind of taken the attitude that this is what we've signed up for. ns live in new orleans. this is what happe >> yang: the margin of safety could be thin. in new orleans, the mississippi is expected to crest tomorrow at about 19 feet. the city's levees range from about 20 to 25 feet.

for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: state officials remained confidentoday that flood waters would not overtop the levees. to explore the concerns er rain, storm surge, and how long this stormight last, i'm joined by ken graham, director of the national hurricane center., ken grahlcome back to the news hour. so please giver us the latest information you have on the track of this storm. >> yes, the latest information that we have t justhis very large storm, somewhat disorganized, but atame time, strengthening through the afternoon. so 65 mile-an-hour winds and just an expansive sysm covering much of the gulf of mexico. a very similar track that we've been talking aboutor the last couple of days, slow movement. so just a lot of tropical stormc winds well outside the cone and a big rain event. whether it becomes a hurricanes or a stropicrm, that is just a few miles an hour. got to prepare for the rairchlt

and storm surge. >> woodruff: you mentioned several times the slowness of it. why does that add to your worry so much? >> slw is ou them sis. slow moving storms compound the issues. the slower the storm the more chance there is to dump a lot of that rainfall about the slower the rainfall, the more chance the storm to pushes rain into those bayou survetion. ou s. even the winds saturate the soil, put the winds on top of that, more trees down, more power lines down. you get more power outages in sa ation like this as well. >> woodruff: we know new orleans was already hit with a lot of rain in the middle of this week.w ch does that compound the concern? >> when you presaturate some of the soil it reallyesn't help things at all. because you look at this, we don't even issue a risk higher than this. this is a high risk of flashng floond in the areas of red that is a moderate risk.m

you saturate sof those soils, it compounds the issue. that's why we have this area here that we don't issue that very often. a high risk, 50% chance anybody in this area can see flaoosh ng with this system. >> woodruff: ken graham, what are you and youler colues telling people who live in that area right now? >> we are telling them the trop cam force winds are already making their way on land. it is tie to pare yourself, the time is running out. we are letng people know, be careful. don't be in the areas where the storm surge is, the rain and the low areas of the bayous, get out thereof. this is the forecast for the otorm surge, three to five feet on lakerscho pntchartrain. really tropical system has been from the inland rain, half of

those in automobiles. so we are telling people when the rain is th, ee flooding is there please stay off the roads. >> woodruff: peopl course remember katrina and the terrible devastation and loss of life. w do you compare something like this to that? >> usually the mess is we tellpe le we tell them never to compare storms. it's interesng because people's risk perception is based on their preeives experience with storms. everyone is so different. little wiggles matter. 20, 30 mimes in either dicoectin d spell a couple of feet of storm surge versus six or sen feet. you tell people, are careful comparing storms, ey are all different. we talk a lot about haards and impacts. we want people to listen for that, let's have those conversations. >> woodruff: finally quicklyma ho days, how long do you think we're going to be talking about this storm? >> through theke wee. it's interesting with this slow

movement. over the next 24 hours or so making landfall but with time, if you look at this mnday morning, monday afternoon we're still ing to be a tropical depreks into arkansas. well inland mississippi, trchlz, evening stretching up into missouri with time. we're going to be talking about that into next week, not just a coastal occasion. we'll be talking about it over the weekend and even to next week. >> woodruff: ken graham, director of the national hurricane center, we appreciate it. >> absolutely. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, congressional republicans and democrats clashed over poor conditions at detention sites along the u.s.-mexico border. a they spoa hearing of the u.s. house of representatives' oversight committee. ved, they traded arguments reports of crowded, unsanitary

facilities. >> we do have a crisis at our border. it is one of morality. as we have seen this current strategy unfold, int cruelly created by the trump administration, dead set on sending a hate-filled message that those seeking refuge are not welcome in america. >> our agents are justrw completely olmed. they are exhausted. not only are they exd out in the field, exhausted inside the stations processing, they are exhausted with all the rhetoric coming down through the media and this congress. our own congressional leaders are vilifying our agents. these are the people holding america's ont line. >> woodruff: border crossings from mexicwere down in june, but still exceeded 100,000 for the fourth straight month. meanwhile, there is word that two house committees may postpone hearing from former special counsel robertueller, on the russia investigation. he is scheduled to appear bere the intelligence and judiciary committees on july 17.

reports today said majority democrats are considering a one-week delay, to allow for a longer hearing, and give lawmakers more time for questioning.e the hoday approved a defense policy bill, including limits on president trump's authority to take militaryon acgainst iran. it also bars using pentagon funds to pay for a southern rder wall. progressive democrats tacked on other provisions, and the overall bill passed without a single republican vote. the president has promised to veto the measure, but first it has to be reconciled with the senate version. the first components of russian missile defense systems have arrived in turkey, or u.s. objections. the turks said russian military planes flew in parts for the 400 systems today. they were unloaded at an air base outside ankara.tu ey's foreign minister defended the move. >> ( translated ): as we've always said, s-400s are a done

deal, and the process ues in its course. our defense ministry has made the necessary statement. there is no problem and the delivery will continue in a healthy way. >> woodruff: the u.s. has threatened nato ally turkey with economic sanctions, ansays it will cancel plans to sell f-35 stealth fighters to the tus. but turkey says its defense minister told acting u.s. defense secretary mark esper today that ankara is not tilting toward moscow. in chicago, r&b singer r. kelly had his initial court appearance today, on federal charges of sex crimes and racketeering. indictments in chicago and new york say that he used his entourage to lure women and underage girls into illegal sexual activity. they also allege he paid out thousands of dollars in hush money. kelly was already facing state sex abuse charges in illinois. president trump fired back today

at paul ryan, former speaker of the u.s. house of representatives. ryan retired from congss in 2018. a new book, "american carnage," quotes him as saying he could not stand to work with mr. trump any longer. in a separate quote, ryan says, "i'm telling you, he didn't know anything about government."id the prt today called ryan bl terrible speaker" and a "baby," aned him for losing the g.o.p.'s house majority. the feral trade commission has approved a $5 billion fine for facebook for mishandling users' personal information. "the wall street journal" first reported the actio it said facebook would still be allowed to collect and sre data with third parties, but under stricter oversight. the deal still needs justice department approval. d, on wall street, the stock market climbed to new highs, led by tech and industrial shares. the dow jo gained nearly 244 points to

close at 27,332-- a record. the nasdaq rose 48 points, also reaching a record, and the s&p 500 added almost 14, to finish above 3,000 for the first time. still to come on the newshour: how race is a factor in theri legal ana boom. strong statements from liberal freshman members of congress cae rifts in the democrati party. mark shields and break down a packed week of political news. and, joan baez reflects on her art and activism as she embarks on her farewell tour. >> woodruff: now, the finalur installment ineries, "the green rush." in our previous pieces, we've seen how the marijuana industry is booming across the country. but, amid this growth, there are serious concerns that those most

affected by decades ofalarijuana crimation are being left out. yamiche alcindor is back p for this report of our occasional series "chasing the dream," on poverty and opportunity in america. >> these are all the amazing products we carry at simply pure. >> alcindor: in the marijuana industry, wanda james has made a name for herself. she opened her first dispensary in 2009. since then, her company, simplyo pure, has be one of the premier brands in denver. james is also a pioneer. >> we we african americans legally licensed in america to own a dispensary. >> alcindor: but as the industry grows, jamesow finds herself re of an outlier. when you look around thatnn is industry, as an african american woman, what do you see? >> white men. white men. white men. white men. >> alcindor: more anmore states are moving to legalize recreational marijuana. those efforts have led many to look into issues of diversity and question who ends up benefiting the most from the

industry. data is hard to come by, but a recent survey of nearly 400 marijuana businesses found that more than 80% were owned by white men. the numbers also show that african amerans and latinos bore the brunt of marijuana criminalization. the american civil liberties wion found between 2001 and 2010, black peope nearly four times more likely to be arrested for marijuanaha possessionwhites. that, despite roughly equal rates of use. >> the collateral consequences of even a petty drug offense is huge. >> alcindor: art way was the colorado state director fothe drug policy alliance for nearly a decade. >> you know, you're talking about consequences when it comes to employment, housing, education.ve and here we demographic who is already dealing with an uphill battle when it comes to broader structural inequity. >> alcindor: for james, those consequences were personal. >> my brother was caught up in ouat at age 18. he was caught withounces of cannabis, which is about

$160 worth of street value for cannabis. and that cost him ten years of his life. when he first went to a privatized prison system, for the first four years, my blackr tiotcked cotton every day >> alcindor: now, and states are trying to address this issue, with varying degrees of success. in colorado, diversity wasn't a part of the initial legalization effort. >> people didn't kno'twhat they dinow at the time. i think people were just trying to get this passed and get started, and then, you know, make sure we get this up and runng. >> alcindor: ashley kilroy is director of the office of marijuana policy for the city of denver. >> we were worried about what io d do for our city. we were worried about what it looked like, might look like, for crime in the city, what it might look like for our youth. i kn business owners, who i talked to, they were just worried about making sure they didn't go to jail. >> alcindor: last yeardenver started a program to seal records of people th low-level marijuana charges.gh

so far, thouonly a few hundred people have applied. and this year, the city plans to use about $11 million in marijuana tax revue for affordable housing projects. >> we've got a lot of these broad brush approaches, and we redon't think, you know, t one magic bullet. i think nothing is off the tabli and we are w to choose whatever we think is going to make the biggest impact for denver. >> alcindor: still, advocates say the city is simply not doing enough. instead, they want to the barriers to get into the marijuana industry.ie >> minorjust don't have a strong-enough footprint to outweigh the money issue. a indor: joshua littlejohn ahas been making marijuan products in colorado f years. he wants his own license toin expand his bess. but so far, he hasn't been able to get one. in 2008, he was convicted of a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge. >> the biggest thing is the opportunity to change my life.t ly my life, but my kids' life, and their kids. so that's wh attracted me off just out the gate. >> alcindor: but opening a site can cost mlions of dollars in real estate, legal fees, and

regulatory compliance. and, despite his experience in the industry, littlejohn says investors loen at him diffy. >> i think that it's a fear... it's just a fear thing. >> alcindor: a fear of what? >> fear that we're not going to do the right things. or fear that, "okay, yeah, you had this industry before, but you've only done it illegally. you don't know how to do it." or, i gues at the level that they feel-- and this is verbatim, i've had people tell us: "you guys cannot do how we can do it." >> alcindor: denver says the city needs to time to study to issue. it's now trying to col demographic data to build ael program to hp minorities get into the industry. >> alcindor: since colorado legalized, other states have tried to deal with this issue from day one. massachusetts was the first state to include language in itt legin specifically addressing the issue of social equity. >> i had worked on the campaign in colorado, and i think that none of us understood at the

time how important it was to include in the law from the beginning that it has to be ententional and deliberate that >> alcindor: shaitle is one of the commissioners on the state's cannabis control commission. it created a licensing program that prioritized apps cants from arsignated as disproportionately affected by marijuana prohibition. they ao plan to set up training and technical assistancerograms. but here too, progress has been teow. the state has grabout 150 licenses. only three have gone trity business owners, and none of the priority applicas have had their apications approved. chauncy spencer is one of those applicants. he wants to open a dispensary and grow operation in boston. much of the delay comes frommu thcipal approval process, and for him, the biggest barrier isn't financial. >> we don't have the political capital, we don't have the knowledge base to get things moving.

and it's extremely unfair when we have to go up against lobbyists who have millions of dollars at their disposal. >> alcindor: still, the costs are high. he says, while waiting to get approved, he's spent more than $80,000 on rent alone. >> i used to get pizza over there. >> alcindor: but for spencer-- who was arrested in 20 for growing four marijuana plants, something that would now be legal in massachusetts-- it's worth it to be a parhe industry. we're hoping that we ca correct that by me by keeping the money within the community,l ing people from our community, and allowing theto moneirculate as many times as humanly possible and provide >> alcindor: cannabis commisoner shaleen title acknowledges the flaws, and says more can be done. >> i think the major lesson for other states is, what massachusetts has dones the bare minimum.

so you have to require equity. you have to require accountability. on top of that, i would like to see loan funds. i'd like to see more reinvestment into harm communities. i'd like to see expungement and just, in general, more of a central focus >> alcindor: the state is now planning to offer certain licenses exclusively to social equity applicants fotwo years, pending public hearings. there's some cause for optimism. advocates in states like conneccut and new jersey-- which are interested in legalizing marijuana-- say social equity will be a top priority at every stage. still, as millions deal with scars from the war on drugs, there's deep skepticism any state can fully undo those h and get inclusion in the marijuana industry right. for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: stay with us. with two dozen democratic candidates vying for the party's presidential nomination, the debate over what the party should stand for is front and center.

as lisa desjardins reports, that battle is also playing out inside the democratic-controlled .house of representatives >> desjardins: for the house speaker, a difficult issue: >> i said what i'm going to say on thejaubject. >> dins: that was icsterday, when nancy pelosi was asked about the puiring of what had been mostly private frustrations in her caucus. those began months ago, as a group of new members, including new york's alexandria ocasio-sh cortez, openly for the party to move more to the left. at one point, she protested in pelosi's oeeice for her ng, progressive "green new deal." pelosi reached out, offering ocasio-cortea spot on a new climate change committee. but she told her no, pointin out that temporary committee had fewer powers than others. soon, ocasio-cortez and three other freshmen women of color emerged as a tight, vocal group of activist members. but they did not openly break with pelos.. until this month. >> this is bigger than a funding debate.

>> that's rit. >> desjardins: as congress heard more news of child deaths and poor treatment of migrants at the border, democrats initially rcpassed legislation to foe better conditions. >> desjardins: but that bill hit a wall in the senate, >> we already have our compromise. >> desjardins: so pelosi compromised,greeing to a more generic border funding bill that didn't require b>>ter treatment. esjardins: the only democrats voting no? those same four freshman, someti and ocasio-cortez's office went further. her chief of staff raised race in a tweet that attacked moderate democrats, writing," they certainly seem hell-bent to do to black and bwn people today what the old southern democrats did the '40s." he deleted those words, but a few days later, pelosi told the "ne york times" the group m themselves irrelevant, saying, "they're four people, and that'a ho votes they got." next, pelosi went behind closed doors with her caucus, making an

extraordinary plea for unity, and at one point saying members should come to her with complaints, not tweet about on another. but the squad of four felt they were being wrongly slded. and ocasio-cortez told the "washington post," "it was just outright disrespectful the explicit singling out of newly elected women of color." that comment resonated with another prominent democrat, progressive caucus leader pramila jayapal, who also said, "i don't think the speaker is used to having a group of members who have bigger twittere followings tha" which brings us back to pelosi's response. >> at the request of my members, an offensive tweet that came out of one of the memberices that referenced our "blue dogs" and our "new dems" essentially as segregationists.ff our members toense at that. i addressed that. we respect the value of every membour caucus. the diversity of it all is a wonderful thing.

unity is our power, and we have a big fight, and we're in the arena, and that's all i'm going to say on the subject. >> desjardins: this l goes eper than large personalities at odds. pelosi's democrats have realcy poivides between moderates-- many of whom are in vulnerable districts-- and progressives, who are not. it is a fight about not just who democrats are, but what they want to do. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: and tt brings us to our weekly politics analysis with shields and ponnuru. that is syndicated columnist mark shields, and ramesh ponnuru of the "naonal review." david brooks is away. >> hello to both of you. >> hello judy.>> n lisa's report, what's been going on, this series of agreements between speaker pelosi and newly elected women, democratic members of the house. they have been called the quad

squad. what do you make of this? how serious th? >> it's serious judy in that it represents a profound change in our politic there was a rule you didn't get to learn any freshman member's name until he or she had won a serk term because that was what their first term was about, nglearning the place, lear what they are supposed to do and then getting reelected. that is no longer the case. i mean, aoc comes in with 4.7 million at which timer followers. so she doesn' need the traditional means of communicating going to pres release or talking on television. she's just available. so it's a ream -- i mean it's not politics is the most imitated of human art foms, with the possible exception of adjournment. donald trump told you you could bypass traditional media. that is what these are doing.

i just wish the four members of the mod squad had known, thel sk nancy pelosi and people who worked with her to win bacjo the ty after eight years. >> woodruff: they are accusing her of not bing lieral enough. >> yes. >> wooesuff: with ramwhat do you make of this? >> nancy pelosi has remarked thh she and tese members are in deep blue, solidly democrati distrith the glass of water with a d after its name could win the election. but most of the swing diricts are in moderate districts. they can't take the same poations. and yo to that, in the senate, there is always going t be frus strayings. when legislate passes the house -- legislation passes the house and doesn't get anywher in the senate, a blame game where people can't just accepto

you have one half of one of ththree brarches of government. -- branches there's going to take some timeta youe some losses. >> woodruff: you are referring to moey for border, where speaker pelosi ended up going along with republicans. >> exactly. just picking up on ramesh's point. what is it, 12, 15 yearso, since barack obama electrified e e political world. and particularly mocratic party, at the convention in boston where he said, we don't -- we woirm an awesome god rica.ue ame we have gay friends in red america. there is no red -- there's only the united states of america not a blue united states. i mean i just woer if that kind of a speech and that kind of a spirit would be well received in this present climate of democrats, who are a fractious, divided and i thinkcr singly divisive group. >> woodruff: is this rameshrs

from your ctive is this the kind of split that lingers into next year's and infects ant spims overthe presidential race qums. >?>> i don't think many voters e going to sproat on the inside despite against democrats, especially since many are not going toe on the presidential ballot, the ones we're talking hout anyway, it's harder for the democrats toave a unified message where they're talking aboutheir shared agendd their prosecuting the case against trump about they are all pointing fingers at each other.a >> it very good point judy. the reality is that the idemocrats i think are rs reading the results of 2018. in 2010, you recall, the republicans won snning majority in the house and barack obama was reelected two years later. in 1994, bill clinton wa

crushed and yet, republicans swept into power, the first time in 40 years, and two years ago later he waselected. a congressional election mid term is entirely different from a presidential election. and i don't think that's quite understood by some of these fractious democrats right now. b theyter figure out 30 million people voted in the are primaries in 2006, 130 million voted in the general. that 13il mon what el was said will be remembered, the first tuesday after theirst monday, by what is said in new hampshire, what is said in iowa, and i think demos will be ll advised to remember that. >> woodruff: i want to turn to t presidenrump, ramesh and yesterday we were all waiting for the president to announce that he was going to sign an executive action or take executive action in order to add a citizenship question to the ceaus. as they wore on we learned that the white house, the president decided not to do that. complicated set of reasons, it was harder to do than th

ey thought it was going to be. instead they are ordering government atncies to put ou information to share it, with the commerce department, so we know more about who's in this country, without documents. what is this say about president trump's efforts to go after immigrants? does it know an end? i meanwhile what else do we look fore? >> well i think it says a couple of things about thisra adminion. one, this is the biggest legal defeat that it suffered. it had a mixed legal rult from the supreme court, but the ultimate end of it was that they didn't get their way in putting the citizenship question on the census they ran up against the clock and they ran up frankly againstn their incompetence. that's the take away number 2. the supreme court said i-you can add a citizenship question to the census but you have to dot the i's and cross the t's and provide us with you information, that is what the mirgs was incapable of doing.

that's why led them to that place where they can't followon throug >> woodruff: you ended up with the situation mark ordering the government to turn over health records, social security records of individuals who may are may not be citizens. is that more harmful thante ial reply asking them this question? >> potentially it may be but 's a stinging rebuke of the president. the president does not admit the president took a stinging defeat last november. learn today that it was paul rhine's fault that the republicans suffered the loss of the house in november 2018. the closing of the government, that wasn't a defeat for the presnent. so he c't accept that it is a defeat. i think all of this, quite frankly, to look at it in a verb unchar way, is nothing but a fear campaign. toid inte people from the census. and ther therefore, to lead to n

undercount. >> woodruff: a fair campaign? >> look, i think there's an open question about whether congressional districts can be drawn based on thoating eligible population or based onotal population. and obviously, what republicans want to do is draw the lines according to the voting eligible lopulation because that wil increase their representation in congress. but that's the real motive but they werent willing to say it and defend it openly in court. again i think that's why we ended up with this alternative which as you pointed out doespr have some ivacy implication which are troubling. >> the sprob the constitution, doesn't say anything about voting age population the constitution. >> we sallsee. >> talking about a number of people. at the same time, we have aer nuf social programs, the formula is based upon the people who need it in maneria. if you are living nextoor to people and your family qualifies

for and need for an you're denied it because somehow they're undercounted in your district that's unjust in the final analysis inhumane. >> that's right. there is a lal of fedoney that is tied to these sorts of numbers so the stakes are very high. >> woodruff: quickly circle back to the prmocrats, the idential race. we had some movement in the presidential race, eric swalwell got out, tom sti reservatione, mr. impeachment, who has won millions of ads for impeach many, he is now running. bernie sanders has issued his with ads. he doesn't want theiren endors how much different does money make in the politics? >> it is the mother's milk of

politics. there are two things that remember, in politician, money, and i can't remember the second one. obviously, number of people who contribute, $65,000, or $130,000 in september, enough to get on the stage in september. it is, to hire a campaign and all the rest of its. as far as banned he is just borrowing a page from groamp cleveland whose nominating speech at the 1884 convention is, we love him most for the enemies he's made. the bipmoney that is oposed to you and thereby give u a virtue. i think it's a totally with reasonable strategy on banned part. >> there are so many past candidates who have been big spenders and not gone all the way.

john connolly, jeb bush, if you are tom sti reservatione, it is not going to be the money that determines whether he wlz or not, what he has got to show is he has omessage at aakes off. maybe being an impeachment perspective, theowill rally t him but that i think is the question. >> woodruff: is wether impeachment mark is the cache this can get himt only into the degates. >> andlking about a suicide note judy. >> holman: ross perot died this week. rk he was remembered as somebody who talked about deficits, standing there with his charts. as people who covered his mcampaign, what does thin? >> he was sui generis.

he quite frankly in 1992, he ran a campaign judy that forced the two parties to confront the national debt. and if you will recall, from e founding of the country to 1980, nine war one depression, run up a total indebtedness of $1 trillion. in 12 years of supply sideic econunder reagan and bush we have quadrupled that. ross perot said you got odo something about that, it's unfair the your children an grand children. republicans didn't want to touch it, acknowledge that it happened sn their wap. that bill clinton forced basically by ross perot's persuasiveness to address it. the only balanced budgets in the past half century since world war ii was bill inton's as a consequence of that. >> wdruff: only 30 seconds. >> and i think the other thing that comes to mind is whatever

disagreements one had with ross perot, he wasn't running for himsel not for fame or fortune. he was running for serious better than his country and iin that is something to admire. >> woodruff: on that note we thank you both, ramesh ponnuru and mark shields. >> woodruff: finally tonight, joan baez has been a major voice in american folk music and politics since the 1960s. jeffrey brown visited baez at her northern california home recently, as she wraps up her careerith a farewell tour. it is part of our arts and culture series, "canvas," and our look at "american creators." ♪ ♪ >> brown: on her current tour,

joan baez sings "deportees," a song about migrant workers she's been performing for decades. ♪ ♪ a familiar theme, with new relevance. and a familiar voice, even as it's changed from her famous soprano voice, with its three octave range. t it's part reason, she told me, this will be her last tour. ♪ ♪ >> my first vocal coach, very smart man, i asked him when i was in my 30s, i said, "when will i know it's time to quit singing?" he said, "your voice will tell you." and it has. >> brown: baez has been making music in public since the late 1950s, renowned for reworkings of traditional ballads as folk music rose to popularity. her first album came out in 1960. from early on, political activism mixed with the music.

she sang at the 1963 march on washington, against the vietnam war, and on behalf of many other causes over the years. but when we met recently at her northern califnia home, as she prepared to go back out on tour, the 78-year-old had more down- as-earth concerns. >> i'm not as youn was yesterday. >> brown: aryou feeling it as you prepare to go? >> feeling my age? always. anuff hurts. you know what i me you're laughing.yo >> brown: but re still going to get out there on the bus? >> i'm going to get on that bus and hope it doesn't completely break my whole system. >> brown: last year, baez released an album titled"is whtle down the wind," ten sos by writers she admired

♪ ♪ >> brown: it was her first y recording in trs and, she says, also her last. >> conceptually, it was like an echo to the first album, even down to e song josh ritter wrote, a folk song, "silver blade." and the first album had "silver dagger." ♪ ♪ >> brown: the earlier song was a traditional folk ballad of a wronged woman. the new one, captured on this music video, has a new twist. ♪ ♪n >>e first song, "silver dagger," of the young maiden, her mother's threatening her, "don't get married. the guys are all like father."

and she caves, you know? and then the new one, not atsh all. rides off with the guy she falls in love with. t n turns obe a rotten guy, and he rapes hers castle. and instead of her crawling away to never again have an to do with a man, she stabs him in the back with a silver blade. and what i say to the public is, "ladies, doesn't mean you have to assassite the guy. you just don't have to let him treat you like that anymore." ♪ ♪ >> brown: baez says she's not a nostalrson, but she has been going back to listen to her younger self. >> i've been listening to that voice. it's hard to connect it with myself now. >> brown: you mean you've been listening to it, just-- >> just to listen to it now be'suse it's brilliant, and one of a kind. and i can say that, because my job is maintenance and divery. the rest is a gift. h brown: and when you look back at that person w that voice?

>> ballsy. >> brown: llsy, yeah? ambitious? >> no, not ambitious, really. not for myself. probably very ambitious about the politics, trying to get something done, and reading everything and being on top of it, and in that sense, you know, >> brown: do you feel like t moment shaped you? or were you and others shaping it? >> well, that was a special period of time, during which this enormous amount of talent just exploded. and one of the problems now, is that people will look back and they want that now. and you can't have it, i mean, you can't have a repeat. mething new has to emerge.rm but yes, it me and i'm happy to say i helped form it. >> brown: these days, baez stays active in political causes, but warns people against romanticizing the 60s. she calls herself a "realist." >> we're fing a massive defeat

if not the administration, and it's global warming. i don't know whether my grandchild is going to have a life, let alone a good life. my remedy for that is be in denial eighty percent of the time. >> brown: be in denial? that's how you feel? >> yes, just one foot in front of the other. then you take the 20% and you do your daily life. and part of that has twhat are you going to do for everybody else? what are you going to do for the human race? and for that everybody has to choose. but they have to choose. >> brown: she looks to young people to speak up and take action. >> i'm not the standard bearer. i'm not out in line.ont of the the kids are doing that. th really are. and i want to support them any way that i can because i thinkba the kids are py the only ones who really get it about climate change. i really do.k they l their future and they say, do we have one? >> brown: baez has a new

creative outlet now: painting: portraits that once again mix politics with art. she calls her subjects-- people like nelson mandela and gloria steinem-- "mischief makers." >> this the only "i know what i'm going to do when i retire" kind of thing. it's probably t going to be fixing my roses-- oh, that'll be part of it. >> brown: you just used the "r" word, to retire-- is that what you're doing? >> no-- i've never used it before! it's sort of like saying "80." when i realized i was going to be 80 in two years i was just mortified! and i walked around the house saying "80, 80, i'm going to be 80!" ( laughs ) until it lost its horror. ♪ ♪ joan baez is now performing in europe on the final leg of her final tour. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in northern california.

♪ ♪>> oodruff: on the newshour online right now, with a new documentary exploring the life and work of nobel prize-winning writer toni morrison, we share recommendations for seven authors who have followed in her footsteps. that and more is on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and coming up on "washington week," robert costa will have the latest on the trump administration's plans to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants this week, plus speaker nancy pelosi tamps down reports of tensions beeen

house leadership and a group of freshman lawmakers dubbed "the squad." that's later tonight on "washington week." tomorrow on pbs newshour weekend saturday: the latest from louisiana on tropical storm barry. and that is 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: >> advice for life. life well-planned. ararn more at raymondjames.com. >> consumer cell. >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more.

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> night , governor gavin newsom signed into law a wild fire insurance fund for the es statet utilities. also we will discuss the shifting political landscape in the 2020 presidential election and president trump's on-again off-again push to get citizenshipinformation as part of the 2020 census. c wi> plifornia is a step closer to allong student athletes to get paid. the fapay to play act. hello. welcome to the kqed news room. i am scott shafer. we begin with a wild fire update. governor gavin newsom signed a $21 billion wild fire insurance fund that would back the state's largest utilities.

assembly bill 1054 will allow