captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: "securing the vote." a u.s. senate report outlines russia's attempts to influence the 2016 election, and reviews threats that remain for 2020. then, reviewing the immigration agenda. illegal immigrant round-ups, harrowing conditions in migrant detention facilities and attempts to change u.s. asylum policy. plus, democracy at risk. inurts and other polish institutions increy under threat from the nation's politicians. >> independent judiciary is one of the grounds of the democracy.

if the courts are not independent and the judges are not independent, then we have a very serious problem with the democracy. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks examine the impact of robert mueller's testimony, the question of impeachment and all the week's politics news. all that andore on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> ordering takeout. >> finding the west route. >> talking for hours. >> planning for showers.th >> you can do things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more atll consumerar.tv >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more.

>> financial services firm raymond jas. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the oning support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. anbsby contributions to your station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: t showing signs of losing some steam. the coerce department reports growth ran at an annual rate of just 2.1% in the 2nd quart of

this year. that was down sharply from a rate of 3.1% in the first ecarter. at the white houseomic advisor larry kudlow blamed interest rate hikes by the federal reserve. >> whave faced, in the last two years, severe monetary tightening. we've had seven rate hikes. that's tough. in some sense, it's a miracle we've done as well as we've done. and that with the absence of inflation. >> woodruff: consumer spending actually surged in the 2nd quarter, but that s offset byra a growing u.s. deficit and a drop in business spending. the u.s. house of representatives began a six week recess today amid questions about whether democrats will try to impeach president trump. the issue arose again this week as former special counsel robert musiler testified on the rusa investigation. h todaouse speaker nancy pelosi said again the time is

not ripe, but she denied she is trying to "run out the clock". >> we will proceed when we have what we need to proceed. not one day sooner. and eryone has the liberty a the luxury to espouse their own position to criticize me for trying to go down the path in the most determined positive way. >> woodruff: meanwhile, house judiciary chair jerry naer announced the committee is going to court for access to grand jury material in the mueller report. he said it is "in effect" part of an impeachment inveion. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins is here now to fill us in significance of all this. so, lisa, explain what exactly t e the democrats doing? how is it differom what they've done before? >> this is different and significant because, now, house leadership jerry nadler and nancy pelosi are on board with this as well are saying we are launching an impeachment

investigation. they are formally declaring> woodruff: and they're doing it, as you say, in the form of a

court filing. >> that's right, that's whereed they annouit but they also had a phone call with reporters. some of us werconfused at first over what this meant. they told us on the call firmly wis is an impeachment investigation, nare calling it that. we think it's been this way the whole time but we're now saing this is what it is. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins veryining it, thank y much. >> you're >> woodruff: north korea has declared that its test of a new missile this week was a "solemn warning" to south korea.e ssage from leader kim jong un was delivered today on north korean state tv. it called for the south to stop buying new weapons and to end military drills with the.s. in hong kong, pro-democracy protesters flooded the city's airport, trying to focus international attention on their cause. more than a thousand people staged a sit-in to condemn police use of force, and last sunday's gang attack on activists at a subway station. they plan another march tomorrow in the area where thatk

took place. blistering heat began to ease across western europe today after racking up records yesterday, at well over 100 degrees. still, tourists in rome and elsewhere had to work to stay cool today, with water bottles and puic fountains. others brought along umbrellas foe,shade. meanwhn geneva, united edtions weather experts wa the super-heated air from africa is heading for greenland, where an earlier heat wave a left its mark. >> there haseen quite rapid melting of the greenland ice sheet in recent wes. in july alone, it lost 160 billion tons of ice through surface melting. that's roughly the equivalent of 64 million olympic-sized swimming pools, >> woodruff: the heat also gave

anway to severe storms in . one storm dropped so much hail that it brought the "tour de france" cycling race to a halt r the day. back in this country, the u.s. justice department approved t-mobile's takeover of rival sprint.e rger would cost $26 billion, and unite the nation's third and fourth largest wireless carriers. consumer advocates argued that could lead to higher prices. but the companies ago sell assets to satellite-tv service dish network, making it a major wireless provider, too. and, on wall street, the dow jones industal average gained 51 points to close at 27,192. the nasdaq rose 91 points, ta new record close. and, the s&p 500 added 22, als finishing at a record, just under 3,026. still to come on the newshour: the russian threats to u.s. election systems, past and present.gr

the imion agenda: a review of the trump administration's policies. democracy at risk. the courts in poland under political threat. ha >> woodruff: ibeen a central topic this week. first, in the nationally televised congressional hearings with former special counsel robert mueller, and now, with volume one of a much-anticipated report from the senate intelligence committee.w ch of a threat does russia pose to american elections and the american political system? john yang has our report. >> yang: judy, we saw on would speak at length about. but one of those few moments

in your investigation, did youw think that thi a single effort by the russians to get >> in your investition, did anu think that this was a single attempt by the rusto get involved in our election? id you find evidence to suggest that they'll try to do this again? >> oh, it wasn't a single attemp they're doing it as we sit here. and they expect to do it during the next campaign. >> yang: now, the senate intelligence committee has begun releasing its own report on russia's interference in 2016. the panel leased volume one late this week, and it says that russia targeted election systems in all 50 states. that goes beyond what was previously known russia, the report says, was able to "exploit" how the responsibility of protecting u.s. elections is divided between the federal and state officials. and, the committee concluded, states "were not sufficiently warned or prepared" to respond.t hereme to dig into the 67- page report is tammy patrick of the "democracy fund." also, a former elections official in maricopa county, arizona.

tammy, thank you very much for being yth us. >> tha for having me. did anything in the senate intelligence committee report surprise you?f >> i think onee most important aspects of this report ofming out sit confirms many the things we already knew that were going on, that there therea foreign nation state adversary bent on interrupting ourra elecprocess in a variety of ways. it confirmed what we've read in the special counsel's re what we've seen in public testimony and hearings in the last couple of years ago. one of the things th think is likely critical about the report is that it shows us wha happened in 2016, it also laysr out the great es we've made since that time and reminds us of what we need to do to shore up 2020. >> it says state officials reren't prepared in 2016. you say tave been great strides. are they prepared now for 2020? >> i believe so. from what we know that we could potentially expect, and that's where we have challenges, is aat these are sophisticated nation states th attacking

county web sites, municipal web sites. so it's the case that we need to meally attack this in the sa level of importance and shore up those defenses in appropriate way. a local elections office does not have the te of cyber, you endw, chops to be able to def itself and that's why the efforts that have been done in the last two years have been so critical. so the election we just saw in 2018 was i think the most secure election we've ever had, and we still have a ways to go, but we need resources to be able to fund the efforts in order to make sure we're where we need to be next year. ic reporter: one of the bas safeguards that the report talks about and other election officials talk about is having a paper trail, a paper backup even for an electronic voting machine. there are some states like new jersey who say they simply don't have the money for this. >> and that's correct. one of the challenges for election administration and thel funding of ourtions equipment is that it's an

infusion of funds usually evy ten to 15 years, and then it falls off thr puview of state legiatures, of county support supervisors of thinking whate need to doo maintain the technology of the systems we're using to count and cast our votes. urink of the telephone in yo pocket. if it was the same telephone you were using 15 years ago, imagine the differen in technology that you would be functioning at than what we have today. so it's important that we ar able to keep our voting systemse at the sameel of technology that we expect from our cars and from our telephones and even the voice in the speaker that sits on our kitchen cabinet. >> last year congresspr riated money to the states to help them build up their election systems, and thisre rt says, while once that money is spent, maybe congress

should consider another appropriation. is that enough? >> so the money at was spent last!uko year, and much of its done to help shore up the mestem, so we now have what they call sensors, of the wonky, technical aspects that were done to protectur elections were unne only because of that funding, but thatding was not enough to replate voting equipment inery jurisdiction in this country and there are voting systems out there thatop have been using for ten, 15 years or more. what's critical is to know that we have a paper backup for the balance, so should there be any sort of technical problem, we t still hae paper to review that we can do post election audits and make sure that the equipment is functioning properly, and not all of thisui older ent has the same sort of capability, and that's why we need to have a steady stream of resource allocations perlynd our elections pro and show that they are really a critical part of our infrastructure and something

that we value. >> how much a problem is it that all states, all localities dove that paper backup that you talked about? >> the paper backup is cri tica, and ll say that i don't know of an election official in any of the states that currently don't have a paper backup that wouldn't like to have them, that haven't been asking their state shaiforts for the funding -- legislatures replace their equipment and that's why we neet the fundio replace the older equipment in case we have paper in case of post-election audits and heaven forbid a recount.at >> tammyck of the "democracy fund," thank you very much. >> thank you so much for having me. >> woodruff: late this afternoon, president tru signed an agreement that

squires migrants who travel through guatemala k asylum there instead of in the united states. the new agreement came after the trump administration threatened to ban all tral from the guatemala d.h.s. officials expect the deal to go into effecnext month. as amna nawaz reports, this was just the latest development in a ek of immigration news. >> nawaz: less than a month on the job, matthew albence, the acting director of immigration and customs enforcement, found himself in the hot seat thursday, facing questions from congress about recent widespread ice raids. >> i think it's a disservice to classify them as raids. were going after target individuals. i think calling them that heightens the temperature with all these issues. >> nawaz: the enforcement actions carried out last week-- dubbed "operation border resolve"-- targeted more than 2,000 people in ten cities whoer have removal ofrom immigration judges. but ice officials sa recent raids resulted in less than three dozen arrests,

bringing theotal to more than 900 since may. body that came into the country very illegally will be brought out of the country. >> nawaz: president trump had touted the mosrecent planned surge of roundups for weeks. officials say that gave immigrant-rights advocates tim a to offer legice, and undocumented immigrants time to prepare, resulting in fewer arrests. earlier this week, the administration also announced plans to fast-track deportations for undocumented immigrants who have been in the united states less than two years. as many as 300,000 migrants could be deported without first seeing a judge. >> he does not have to awer that. he has his rights. >> nawaz: for families targeted by the raidsthe fear of deportation is still very real. in kansas city, missouri, on monday, florencio millan-vasquez was forcibly removed from his car as his girlfriend streamed video of the encounter on facebook and his two children watched from the back seat.

>> i told him not to refuse or 'tt to resist because i di want them to shoot him in front of my kids. >> nawaz: immigration officials said millan-vasquez hadfe misdemeanor es on his record and had re-entered the u.s. illegally after beingn deported11. missouri congressman emanuel cleaver called the video, which has been viewed more than 150,000 times, "very concerning," adding that it raises questions abo the "traumatization of children andb the rele use of force." the same day in tennessee, aom different outc ice agents and local police stayed outside a homfor several hours as a man and his 12-year-old son locked themselves in a van outsid their home. neighbors, who had known the ehly for years, delivered and water to theicle before linking arms to form a human chain to safely escort them into their house. >> we would've did it for a million other families. we would do it today.

we would do it tomorrow. that's whaamerica is all about.of >> nawaz: icficials left without making an arrest, saying in a statement they chose to leave to "deescalate the situation." the next day, immigration officials released a u.s. citizen who had been detained by customs and border protection as well as ice for nearly a month, raising new questions about how people are taken into custody. a-year-old francisco gali was born in dallas. he was driving last month with s brother, who was born mexico, when they were stopped at a c.b.p. checkpoint. he says he showed agents his u.s. birth certificate, but both men were detaibrd anyway. hiher was deported days wter. >> they thought the superior. they looked at us with such i think it was like a certain type of racism. y >> nawaz: border agents e cause was a bureaucratic mixup from a visitor visa falsely filed by galicia's mother years earlie

>> nawaz: after being released, galiciraised new concerns about the conditions inside detention facilities, telling itthe dallas morning news:as inhumane how they treated us." ay said that during his 26 in custody he lost 26 pounds because of lack of food. he wasn't able to show, and had to sleep on the floor in a room with 60 other men. some of them, said, were forced to sleep in the restroom. others were bitten by ticks. at one point, galia said he considered self-deportation to mexico to get out of the detention facility. c.b.p. and ice officls defended the conditions for migrants in federal custody. once again, ting ice director matthew albence:iv >> it is imperthat those individuals in our custody are kept in a safe and secure environment and are treated humanely and professionally and with dignity the entire time they are in our custody. >> woodruff: but on the same day albence testified on capitolfi hill, ice als also confirmed that a mexican man,sa pedro arriago-ntoya, died in the agency's custody earlier this week after complaining of

abdominal pain. he had been held at a for-profii facility in gesince april and was the seventh migrant to die in ice custody since last october.me >> nawazwhile, a federal judge temporarily blocked the trump administration's planned overhaul of asylum rules. the decision came just hours after another judge gave the go- ahead.th new policy, announced earlier this month, would allow the department of home security to deny asylum requests for migrants who first passed through another country without claiming asylum. another administration directive still remains in effect. asder the so-called "remain in mexico" policy, um seekers are required to wait outside the u.s. before their immigration court heings. more than 20,000 migrants have been sent back across the border. under pressure from the u.s., mexico has sent nearly 21,000 national guard troops to the

border to prevent migrants from crossing north, leading to scenes like this, where a motheo begs the nl guard to let her and her child pass. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. ew woodruff: stay with us. coming up on theour: the latest from the 2020 campaign trail as the candidates critique each others' platforms. mark shields and david brooks analyze the week in politics. and virtuoso gaelynn lea transforms what can be done with a violin and a life. but first, european union leaders have watched with alarm asoland has reduced the independence of judges and the teess. the e.u. has thrd to crack down on member states that fail

to uphold modern democratic values. however, as special correspondent malcolm abant reports from warsaw, poland's special relationship with the ump administration may encourage poland's resistance to its european nghbors. >> reporter: "free courts now" is the clarion cry. outside a courthouse in central warsaw, monstrators demand the removal of a judge appointed by the populist conservative government to replace one of a more independent spirit. they accuse the country's justice minister of being a judicial puppet master. >> we are still in a battle for the rule of law in poland, the rule of law that is dismantled during the last four years permanently. >> reporter: michal wawrykiewicz is a lawyer and founder of a campaign group called the freee. courts initiat >> independent judiciary is onen of the g of the democracy. if the courts are notpe hedeent, and the judges are

not independent,we have a very serious problem with the democracy. >> we are old enough to remember how it was under the old soviet regime.ri ant now, it is inismprehensible to me that is repeated now, even worse.of >> the reshe world should be worried about poland's democracy, because it'e model of turkey anhungary where judges are not independent, which really means dictatorsh. >> under the soviets, we normal people knew at the papers were lying, that the tv is lying. >> reporr: the liberal newspaper "gazeta wyborcza" sprang from the venerate solidarity labor movement of the 1980s, pivotal in the collapse of communism in poland and across the former soviet bloc. but the paper is feeling the squeeze. government entities have pulled advertising.

its reporters have been denied access. >> it's pretty similar to america, the media being demonized by the government. they're calling us fake news. v >> reporteim makarenko is a senior editor at "gazeta wyborcza." >> we have state-owned television, which is bringingop anda to polish households. my newspaper appeals to the european union more or less regularly, asking it to preserve dedia freedom in poland as well as judiciary indepe. >> based on the distorting and distted images of poland, i consider this as the fake news of this century. >> reporte zdzislaw krasnodebski is a member of the european parliament, and anin fluential member of poland's law and justice pay. >> it is rubbish to say that heren poland we have any sli towards autocracy, or any

profound dger to democracy. of course our democracy is not perfect, but i think british is not perfect, but german is not perfect. >> reporter: despite the concerns, poland of today nothing like it was behind the iron curtain. there are no troops on the streets, and the police did not disrupt the protest over the courts. nevertheless, alarm bells are ringing. >> i believe what government is doing can be potentially dangerous. >> reporter: pawel marczewski is an alyst with the batory foundation, established by american philanthropist george soros to promote open democratic societies in poland and acrosseu centrape. >> i don't think they're offe public discourse to dissenting voices. i think they're trying to build a monothic political culture in poland. a culture that is based basically on catholic faith and a certain vision of polish

history, a very heroic versionof olish history, a simplistic vision of polish history. us>> reporter: such as the of frederic chopin, poland'spo greatest cr and this key 6nument, the warsaw rising memorial, honoridays in 1944 when patrio a fought in vainst the nazis. behind is a modern battleground. the supreme court. last year, the polish vernment forced 40% of the court's judges to retire early, in a move the european commission condemned as illegal. there's just been a change in leadership at the top of the european union in brussels, and that means that countries like poland should find it hard to resist pan-european laws and values. the new head of the european commission is determined to stop what's been described as democratic backsliding. >> in the future, member states will be subject to an annualen review tre they abide by the rules. >> reporter: in the 15 years since brussels admitted nations

from the former soviet bloc, business in poland has boomed, boosted by $14 billion worth of european funds for state of the art first world infrastructure, 's now the sixth-largest economy in the e.u. the implicit warning fromth brussels i unless poland behaves, the money will dry up, behaves, the money will dry up, but such sanctions have beenor threatened band, according to some e.u. officials, have had no impact. >> i think poland is going to resist the pressure of the european mainstream. >> reporter: foreign affairs analyst adam balcer inlieves the gog law and justice party will easily handsomely win this autumn's forthcoming general w election aill be emboldened bolder as a result. >> they are going to have more than 50% of the seats in parliament. lod of course, they count on the support of the united states, which definitely in the case othis administration is very supportive of this type of governments in the european union. >> reporter:resident trump looks favorably on poland not least because it meets his requirement that nato members

spend at least 2% of g.d.p. onti al defense >> the united states and poland continue to enhance our security cooperation. poland will still provide basing aninfrastructure to suppor military presence of about 1,000 american troops. the polish government will build these projects at no cost to the united states. the polish government will pay for this. we thank president duda and the people of poland for their partnership in advancing our common security. >> reporter: poland is planning to buy 32 american f-35 lightning stealth fighters.l tost, $2.5 billion. president andrzej duda was giveo a personal flyver at the whiteon house last, and in what some critics label an act of outright sycophancy, duda l tends to call the new american base on polish sort trump."

>> ( translated ): one of the agreements i signed personally concerned the curity and military cooperation. as you mentioned, sir, there will be more american troops in poland. there's going to be an enhanced cooperation. >> reporter: so could the alliance with the white house thwart the e.u.'s intention to force poland to conform? >> building fort trump on polish soil would hava propaganda effect in any confrontation with russia. but i do believe thiis aimed at strengthening the polish position within the e.u., not as a serious alternative to apo strong polish tion within the e.u. >> reporter: this month, poland has been courting the leaders of lithuania and slovakia. iait's trying to forge alles within the e.u. to challenge the dominance of france and germany. if and when brexit happens, poland could become more powerful within the e.u. the loss of britain's moderating presence could make it harder to stop the poles from marching off the designated course.

for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in warsaw. >> woodruff: 2020 presidential candidates are turning up the heat, taking aim at their opponents before they face off eeon the debate stage next lisa desjardins has more. >> desjardins: the fight this week is being waged over policy and plans. at the naacp convention da detroit wedn the focus was on key issues to blacks and minorities. and my police reform pl would create me accountability and transparency by setting a national use of force standard. >> i inve you to watch me talk about systemic racism, not only when i am speaking to mostly black audiences, but when i'mmo speaking tly white audiences.

>> desjardins: new jersey senator cory booker said hes waoad-based criminal justice reform. we now have more african americans under criminal supervision than all the slaves in 1850. we have a system that is deeply biased along racial lines. >> desjardins: this after former vice president joe biden rolled out his own criminal justice plan. it aims to shift the focus from incarceration to rehabilitation by diverting drug users to treatment programs and drug courts, instead of p it would eliminate the death penalty, as well as cash bail and mandatory minimum sentences. for his opponents, biden's new proposal stands in stark contrast to the tough-on-crime bill he spear-headed in 1994, as a senator. inadvocates for reform now that bill to mass incarceration. booker has been especially crical of biden's record. in a statement tuesday, he said "the proud architect of a failed system is not the person to fix it." biden hit ck.

>> cory knows that's not true. >> desjardins: criticizing booker's record on policing as mayor of nark. >> his police department was stopping and frisking people, mostly african american men, we took action against th >> desjardins: biden also took a shot this week at california senator kamala harris. witht naming her, he dismiss her claim to pay for a medicare- for-all plan without taxing the middle class. >> desjardins: calling it a "fantasy." harris for her part, stayed focused on her message. >> we're not going back. in fact, i'll tell you where we're going. we're going to the white house. >> desjardins: as differences emerge, the field still is connected by their common adversary: president trump. >> a country that elects a man like donald trump has seris problems. and we need to make big structural change. w have a president who thinks that he can win reelection through fomenting

hatred and divisiveness, and our job is to do the opposite. >> desjardins: add to his staunch critics, the president's only republican challenger: bill weld. >> donald trump is a raging racist, okay? >> desjardins: the white house has called such accusations overt political attacks and untrue. next week, the focus remains on thofdemocrats, and two night debates in detroit with booker and harris standing on either side of biden onste. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins >> woodruff: and to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicatecolumnist mark shields and new york times columnist david ooks. and hello to both of you. we're going to talk about the 2020 candidates, but first i want to ask about robert mueller. mark, he spent, what, almost fi hours before two house committees this week. what's the main story that we

should take away from wht he had to say? >> robert eller was robert mueller. he's the rarest of public figures in washington, d.c., a man with no detectable political agenda. he refused to be a political prop for theemocrats who wanted him to read the report aloud, he refused to go after donald trump who has salvaged him personally and accus of being unfair and prejudiand fake news and running a hoax and a witch hunt, never responded in kind, and i thought he did trare thing in washington, which was to present hicase. he left us -- certainly we have, onhisroadcast, david and i have agreed in the past that the russia thing seemed to be the

weakest link of any of the criticisms of trump and, if anything, bob mueller made the case cmpellingly and left the republicans very much in the defensive on that. >> woodruff: david, made the case compellingly? >> of russiterference, he certainly made that case very itcompellingly. as a calm performance but he had his hair on fire about the ongoing nature of the russian interferce in the american electoral system. no coli sion. ink it's less likely we move forward with impeachment process. there are people the hou angling in that direction and a lot of fantasy about the hidden hand to remove donald trump, buo s like that's going to be the work of the election. in retrospect,'m here in colorado with i'm all over from the world, and one man from south africa said to me our

democracy is 30 years old, yours is really old, and one of the things we've learned from yours and our experience i when people elect a leader to be head of a country, it should be hard for the peple in the nation's capitol to take him or her out. that's not great for democracy, and our system did make it very hard to take a president out even for the corruptions and the sins we've seedold trump commit. they want to invest power in the people and there's some solace, ai think, in tht. >> woodruff: yet, mark, yes, speaker pelosi is saying we're not there yet, it's not theme to decide on impeachment and, yet, as lisa desjardins was reporting, tonight, the house judiciary committee is already using the term impeachment investigation as they go after more information fusm the white and the justice department. >> that's right, judy, and i think it's absolutelyh understandableey'd proceed. i couldn't disagree more with david about collusion. i don't think there's any question th what me through clear and loud and repdleain

bob mueller's presentation wase that rump administration, trump himself, his campaign and ose who worked for him cooper rated at every opportunity. we can get inta qustion about what's collusion and what isn't, but they were actively inv to the point of sharing polling figures and strategy and all the rest of it. so it's kind of fascinating that -- and then theçó republics in the senate led by mitch mcconnell refused to even address any response, any meaningful response to election curity as we discussed earlier in this broadcast. i mean, republicans seemed bound d determined to keep americans from participating in elections, but they were reluctant to keep russians from participating. >> woodruff: what about that, david? does t fact that you did get a clear sense from listening to robert mueller, as both of you have said, that the russianser are not only very active in 2016

but they're still active and we expect them to be going into this next election and, yet, republicans are not allowing election security legislation to you have both parties pointing fingers at each other. >> i would invite republica take a look at the globe and see that there's a lot of countries that could get involved in american eleinctioerference. right now it's russian. i guess mitch mcconnell thinks it's somehow good for the republicans. that to me the probably not true. it's probably just bador democracy. but, you know, donald trump has been pretty tough on china. suppose china decides to get involved in interfering in our huections in a which thats donald trump. the fact is interfering in an election is an act of war on a country and the idea that act o ould be greeted by state and local responses is an absurdity, and the idea our elections are handled on a state basis is nt an argument i understand from an historical

ecedent and ist an argument that's commensurate with what's happening. >> david is right. there's national security. there's no more important act than a national act of chosing a president. say the good people of ricopa county, arizona, are responsible for running their elections, buu this isr national security, our national interest, and anybodt meddling, it's no a question of cyberresponse, or anything of the sort,t has to be a response, a national security response. >> woodruff: quickly, to go back to the both of you on this question of impeachment. if these members of congress go home t their districts and the states in august on i reces it your exec sayings that they will come back and say forget this or we'll still be -- will ifill be alive if september? >> yeah, you know the presidential candidates were out on the trail every day with democratic voters, we're talking about the russia thing, then i would think about there is a

chance that would harntion but they are not talking about it and they don't want to talk about that, they want to talk about the issues on voters' plnds. there are still pein some districts about 100 house democrats who do want teeo pr but today what happened today with the continuing the investigation is very much in wne withat nancy pelosi has said all along, she doesn't want to go to the coury unless there's an iron-clad case. if you want to reduce it to one sentence, watergate, everybody understood what nixon did, a coverup of a break-in. there's never been a one-sentence case, and there have been a lot of trrible things donald trump has done, most out in public, but there's never been that e sentence case that would impel a lot of people to suddenly start caring about impeachment now rather thanust go to the election. >> woodruff: let's turn to the candidates, mark. as we heard in the report from lisa just before this, they are -- we're hearing sharper disagreements out there, joe biden going after cory booker

after cory booker went after joe biden, biden pointing out differences with kamala harris. are we seing something materially different in this 2020 conortest? >>booker back in the pack going affront runner joe biden gets you coered and ts you coverage. i'm not saying it was a synthetic dispute, but it's a proven tactic to do it, judy. there's going to be differences, there's going to be competition. at the risk of throwing a little cold water, at this point four years ago, 75 to 15, hillary clinton ledni b sanders before losing new hampshire by 20 points, and donald trumwas at 1% and ted cruz was at 4% leading the republican race was scott walker, second behind jeb bush, and just ahead of mik huckabee. so i really think that what we're seeing iti a sor out more than anything else at this point. >> woodruff: did you real have to remind us about those polls. >> well, i think somet, ng to

bear i little perspective. >> for some republicans, those are the good old days. >> woodruff: so, david, what do you see developing or not among these democraticat cand right now? >> the first thing is how -- because everybody's so intenseln lved, it doesn't feel like the kind of campaign that's going to be won by doing a lot of town halls in new hampshire or barbecues in iowa. it feels like a naonal campaign where social media, the tv polls matter and the new hampshire polls look like the national polls. that's one thing that's interesting to me. i am surprised by how tough they are on each other. i aespecially surprise bid how strong the candidates on the left have beenoward biden and frankly how much hostility there is in that part of the party t biden. to me, if he emerges as the h nominee, i thiwill have a lot more work than almost anybody except for maybe bernie sanders in the party to unify the party.

there is a lot of hostility that goes back to a lot of things and mostly the desire not to go back to the obama years. the final thing, if biden is not the moderate -- in the moderate lane, i don't know who plan is. there's been no other clearly-definemoderate who ha emerged, neither michael bennett nor maybe amy klobuchar ithe ones who comes closest but i don't really see a strong plan b on that side of the party. >> woodruff: do you think joe biden has the moderate lane locked up? >> i think he dominates the moderate lane but as far as party unity is concerned there is an absolute miraculous guaranteed party yiewn fire and his -- unifier and his name is donald trump. whoever the democratic nominee is, short ofni tur out to be an abuser of small animalshe or she will have the unified sowcht democrats. >> woodruff: last thing i want

to touch on you, lo and behold we saw the two parties comed together, dand agree on a budget for the coming year. it's an outline. it's a blueprint, but it happens to include a $1 trillion deficit. both parties, democrats an republicans, signing on to this. what's happened to worry about?p >> well, thelican party is no longer the party of balanced budgets and things like that. t donamp began to walk away and the party followed as a gallop. bo parties love giving away free stuff and they're giving away a lot of free stff. some may be good, some bad, but the winners are nancy pelosi who got a lot more discretionary spending morninger than onag pe spending which had been the rule in the obama years, keep them 50/50, andmp to the extent that he has a lot of money, this stimulus money to throw arouio in an eleyear that might boost the economy.

the losers i would say are generation z who will have to pay this off somehow, and, so, is has been the detioration of our budget system for the past 20 years, i guess woodruff: 30 seconds. judy, the democrats were roasted at the tax and spend party. the republicans turned out to be the tax cut and spend party make no mistake about it, this is a party that, if hypocrisy were a felony,he republicans would be doing hard time on a balanced budget amavndment. theycut this to the point -- last time we had a 3%om ec growth, barack obama was president, revenues went up by 7%, thaedwas colley the government. secause of a tax cut donald trump imposed or d because of the congress, 3% growth resulted in a 1% diminution in revenues, that's what david is talking abt the next generations will have to deal with and the burden. >> woodruff: let that sink in,

mark shields, david brooks, thank you both. >> oodruff: finally tonight, a musician making her own sound and her own mark as an advocate for disability rights. jeffrey brown und just that when we saw gaelynn leorm in austin, texas in this report for "canvas," our ongoing arts and culture series. ♪ ♪ >> brown: the church filled up with an eager audience, and then stilled when the first performance began, by an extraordinary musician.

♪ ♪ gaelynn lea is transforming what can be done with a violin, and, more importantly, showing us what can be done with a life. >> i really want there to be an acknowledgement that life is both dficult and beautiful at the same time. >> brown: lea, now 35, was born with a congenital disability called osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease. her bones broke more than 40 times while she was in the womb, and 16 more have broken since. for her, that need be onlystne part of thy. >> i think, if i only fogased on the netive, i would not be a happy person. there usually tends to be an undercurrent of hope. ♪ ♪>> rown: we joined lea in austin recently, at the south by southwest festival. fans lined up hours before the doors open.

classically-trained, lea is no best known for her haunting, original songs, anversions of traditional folk music passed down for hundreds of years. ♪ ♪ >> that's beuse they are good. are we going to still be singing britney spears in 200 years? maybe, but they have to be pretty good to last that long. every fiddle tune thatou know now, the melody is just so infectious.it just a really fun medium to work with. >> brown: she's a one-woman band, able to create soaring sounds. >> i use a memory looping pedal. there's two buttons. one is a record and one is a delete.sh i put down with my leg to record a segment that i want. then it plays back again and again. you can build up layers, and you can do it craftily where you

bring things in slowly. ♪ ♪ what i started doing in 2013,or 2014, is rng traditional fiddle tunes and reworking them with the looping pedal. >> brown: it obviously gives you a bigger sound right? >> yh, it allowed me to explore a new genre almost. >> brown: lea grew up in duluth, minnesota with a supportive community, teachers mily. her parents ran a dinner theater. her three siblings included her in what she calls all of their "hijinks." was there a concern or fear that you wouldn't be able to play a violin? >> i reali that you probably don't know unless you have a disability, that you spend every day modifyg everything.er i'm not concd with doing it the way everyone does it, because i can't really do anything the way other people do it.a for me, findiny to play violin was just a matter of time.

>> brown: even then, you just did it. you just figured out how to do it? >> y first and the cello was too big. then we tried the violin and we tried all the sizes. even the tiniest one was too long for my arm to reach up my shoulder. i guess it was divine s inspiration ething that one of us thought of playing i up and down like a tiny cello. i took adapted ballet and adapted gymnastics and i did some kayaking one summer.rt adaptive sare a thing, but i think adaptive music is maybeo as common, and i hope it d comes more common. >> brown: lea stud macalester college in st. paul esand the university of mia in duluth, graduating with a political science degree. she met her husband paul at an open mic night and bonded over their love of camping, gardening and cooking.

she sings of him in her song "moment of bliss" from her latest album "learning how to stay." ♪ ♪ another milestone came in 2016 t when lea--n working as a music teacher-- submitted her song "someday we'll linger in the sun" to npr's "tiny desk" contest.♪ ♪ she won, beating more than 6,000 other musicians. the video of her performance at npr's "tiny desk" has been viewed nearly 2.5 million times.

♪ ♪ >> brown: the contest, and the attention it brought, jump- started a touring career for lea, and she and paul, a janitor, quit their jobs, bought a van and hit the road for the last few years. she's performed in 43 states and seven countries. on every stop, sheakes time to speak with groups in her growine ro as an advocate for disability rights. her song, "i wait", is a call for maintaining the affordable care act, protecting those with preexisting conditions. ♪ ♪ >> people with disabs die without healthcare. i felt really left out of the discussion and frustrated by people who claim to value human rights notentioning people

with disabilities. that song bubbled up out of that. (♪ "i wait" ♪) >> by the time i went to school, the school that i went to had an elevator. i've grown up feeling like i have rights. that's just part of my consciousness. i think there's a shift away from seeing disability in any negative way and celebrating it and lebrating the people who are doing it, rather than something that you've got to fix or overcome or strugth. ♪ ♪ >> brown: gaelynn lea told us she's writing a memoir, and even thinking of running for political office. in the meantime, she's speaking out, and singing with her own, and what she calls her "second voice"-- her violin.

♪ ♪ ( applause ) for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in austin, texas. and a news update: the u.s. supreme court thist evening saidll allow the trump administration to redirect $2.5 billion in military nding toward the construction of a border wall. the court's five conservative justices voted for the move, even though lawmakers in congress refused to provide funding. i'm judy woodruff. that's the newshour for tonight. good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin? >> advice for li.

life well-planned. learn more at raymondjes.com. >> consumer cellular. >> babbel.gr a language p that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. le the william and flora h foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> the william and flora hewlett >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour.

♪ hello, everyone. and welcome to "ammaanpouran an co" here's what's coming up. fed up. the puerto rican people sweep their scandal plagued governor out of the office. i talk with the opposition caidate who wants to replace him. then -- i say to all the dodgers. >> a polished buffoon. can he unite a deeply divided histori historian. plus -- >> you hear the bullet impacts on t. ta you're trying to tell the tankers where to shoot.

when i grab that frontphone, i pull it to my ear.