captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: "securing the vo." a u.s. senate report outlines russia's attempts to influence the 2016 election, a reviews threats that remain for 2020. then, reviing 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. courts and other polish institutions increasingly under threat from the nation's politicians. >> independent judiciary is one of the grounds of the democracy. if the courts are not hedependent and the judges are

not independent,we have a very serious problem with the democracy. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. okmark shields and david b examine the impact of robertst mueller's teony, the question of impeachment and all the we's politics news. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs pr newshour has beeided by: >> ordering takeout. >> finng the west route. >> talking for hours. >> planning for showers. >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data consumer cellular. learn more atar consumercellulv >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> financial services firm raymond james.

>> the ford foundation. working with visionarithe frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoinsupport of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was ma possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the u.s. economy is showing signs of losing some steam. the commerce department reportsa growth ran at ual rate of just 2.1% in the 2nd quarter of y is year. that was down sharom a

rate of 3.1% in the first quarter. at the white house, economic advisor larry kudlow blamehi interest rats by the federal reserve. >> we have faced, in the laste two years, sevnetary tightening. we've had seven rate hes. that's tough. in some sense, it's a miraclell we've done as s we've done. and that with the absence of inflation. >> woodruff: consumer spending actually surged in the 2nd quarter, but that was offset by a growing u.s. trade deficit and a drop in business spending. the u.s. house of representatives began a six wees reoday amid questions about whether democrats will try to impeach president trump. the issue arose again this week as former special counsel robert mueller stified on the russia investigation.se today, h speaker nancy pelosi said again the time is henot ripe, but she denieds trying to "run out the clock".

>>ee will proceed when we h what we need to proceed. not one day sooner. and everne has the liberty and 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 nadler announced the committee is going to court for access to grand t jury material mueller report. he said it is "in effect" part of an impeachment investigation. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins is here now to sll us in on tnificance of all this. so, lisa, explain what exactly are the democrats doing? how is it different 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 ae saying we are launching an impeachment investigation. they are formally declaring

impeachment. th's what nps was talking about. she has not made the decision yet.ma but they hav the decision to begin a formal investigation on the roado impeachment. >> woodruff: so why are they doing this and why now? >> it helps them in court to say we need to exercise a very prominent constitutional authority because we believe the present may have done something impeachable. that has made a difference in the past court hearings. we have known democrats for weeks have been in favor or not in favor of an impeachment inquiry, theemantics have been a problem for democrats. now they're trying to wash it away by sayening we have investigating and now we are investigating and formally saying this is an impeachment investigation. they'r separate vote on whether to open an investigation. they're simply doing it. >> woodruff: and they're doing , as you say, in the form of a court filing. it that's right, that's where they announcedut they also had a phone call with reporters.

some of us were confused at first over what this meant. they told us on the call firmly this is an impeachment investigation, now we are calling it that. we think it's been this way the whole time but we're now saying this is what it is. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins explaining it, thank you v y >> you're >> woodruff: north korea has declared that its test of a new missile this week was a "solemn warning" to south korea.ss the e from leader kim jong un was delivered today on north korean state tv. it called fothe south to stop buying new weapons and to end military drills with the u.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,ast sunday's gang attack on n.tivists at a subway stat they plan another march tomorrow in the area where that attack took place.

blistering heat began to ease across western europe today after racking up records yesterday, at well over 100 degrees. still, touriels in rome and where had to work to stay cool today, with water bottles and public fountains. others brought along urellas for shade. meanwhile, in geneva, united nations weather experts warned the super-heated air frica is heading for greenland, where an earlier heat wave alreadyft ts mark. >> there has been quite rapid melting of the greenland ice sheet in recent weeks. 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 way to severe storms in france. one storm dropped so much hail that it brought the "toude france" cycling race to a halt

for the day. back in this country, the u.s. justice department approved t-mobile's takver of rival sprint. the merger would cost $26 billion, and unite the nation's third and fourth largest wireless carrier consumer advocates argued that could lead to higher prices. but the companies agreed to sell assets to satellite-tv service dish netrk, making it a major wireless provider, too. and, on wall street, the dow jones industrialverage gained 51 points to close at 27,192. the nasdaq rose 91 points, to a w record close. and, the s&p 500 added 22, also fishing at a record, just under 3,02 still to come on the newshour: the russian threats to u.s. election systems, past and present. the immigration agenda: a review of the trump administration's policies.

democracy at risk. the courts in poland under political threat. >> woodruff: it has been 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. o how mua threat does russia pose to american elections and the american political system?ou john yang hareport. >> yang: judy, we saw on would speak at length about. but one of those few moments in your investigation, did you think that this was single effort by the russians to get

>> in your investigation, didyo think that this was a single attempt by the russians to get involved in our election? or did y find evidence to suggest that they'll try to do this again? >> oh, it wasn't a single attempt. 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 releas 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 sas able to "exploit" how the responsibility of protecting u.s.lections is divided between the federal and state officials.an the committee concluded, states "were not sufficiently warned or prepared" to respond.t here with 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 with fs. >> thank y having me. did anything in the senate intelligence committee report

eurprise you? >> i think one of ost important aspects of this report coming out sit confirms many the things we already knew that were going on, that there therea foreign nation state adversary bent on interrupting our electoral process in a variety of ways. it confirmed what we've read in the special counsel's report, what we've seen in public testimony and hearings in the last couple of years ago. te of the things that nk is likely critical about the report is that it shows us what esppened in 2016, it also lays out the great stre've made since that time and reminds us of what we need hto do toore up 2020. >> it says state officials weren't prepared in 2016. you say there have been great strides. are they prepared nowor 2020? >> i believe so. from what we know that we could potentially expect, and that's where we have challenges, is that these are sophisticated nation states that a attacking county web sites, municipalsi wes. so it's the case that we need to

really attack this in the same level of importance and shore up those defenses in appropriate y. a local elections office does not have thee t of cyber, you know, 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 resoues to be able to fund the efforts in order to make sure we're where we need to be next year. >> reporter: one of the bas safeguards that the report talks about and other election officials talk about is having a r trail, a paper backup even for an electronic voting machine. there are some states like new jersey who say they simply dot have the money for this. >> and that's correct. one of the cllenges for election administration and the funding of our elections equipment is that it's an infusion of funds usually every ten to 15 years, and then it

falls off the purview of state legislates, of county support supervisors of thinking what we need to do to maintain the technologyf the systems we're using to count and cast our votes. think of the telephone in yo pocket. if it was the same telephone you were using 15 years ago, imagine the difference in technology that you would be functioning at than wh we have today. so it's important that we areab to keep our voting systems at the same level of technology that wexpect from our cars and from our telephones and even the voice in the speaker that sits on our kitchen cabinet. >> last year congressat approp money to the states to help them build up their election systems, and this s repoys, while once that money is spent, maybe congress should consider anoth appropriation. is that enough? >> so the money that was spent

last!uko year, and much w of s done to help shore up the system, so we now have what they call sensors, some of the wonky, technical aspects that were done eo protect our elections wer done only because of that funding, but that funding was not enough to replate voting equipment in every jurisdiction in this coury and there are voting systems out there that people have been using for ten, 15 years or moe. 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 still have the paper to review that we can do pot election audits and make sure that the equipment is functioning properly, and not all of this older equipment has the same sort of capability, d that's why we need to have a steady ocationsf resource all to fund our elections properly and show that they are really ac cr part of our infrastructure and something that we value. >> how much of a problem is it that all states, all localities

don't have that paper backupke that you tabout? >> the paper backup is critical, and i will say that i don't know of an election official in any of the states that currently don't have a par backup that wouldn't like to have them, that haven't been asking their state shaiforts for the funding -- legislatures to replace their equipment and that's wy we need the funding to replace the older eqpment in case we have paper in case of post-election audits and heaven forbid a recount. o >> tammy patrithe "democracy fund," thank you very much. >> thank you so much for having me. >> woodruff: late this afternoon, president trump sign an agreement that requires migrants who travel asthrough guatemala to seeum there instead of in the united

states. the new agreement came after the trump administration threatened to ban all travel fr the guatemala d.h.s. officials expect the deal to go into effect next month.z as amna naports, this was just the latest development in a week of immigration news. >> nawaz: less than a month on the job, matthew albence, the acting director of immigrationd stoms enforcement, found himself in the hot seat thursday, facing questions from congress about recent widespread ice raids. >> ihink it's a disservice t classify them as raids. we were going after targeted individuals.in i 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 fr000 people in ten cities who have removal order immigration judges. but ice officials said the recent raids resulted in less an three dozen arrests, bringing the total to more than 900 since may.

>> everybody that came into the country very illegally will be brought out of the country. >> nawaz: president trump had touted the most rent planned surge of roundups for weeks. officials say that gave immigrant-rights advocates time to offer legal advice, andun cumented immigrants time to prepare, resulting in fewer arrests. earlier this week, the administraon also announced ans 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 answer that. he h his rights. >> nawaz: for families targeted by the raids, the fear of deportation is still very real. in kansas city, missouri, on monday, florencio millan-vasquer was forciboved 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 not to resist because i didn't want them to shoot him in front. of my ki >> nawazimmigration officials said millan-vasquez had misdemeanor offenses on his record and had re-entered thely u.s. illegfter being deported in 2011. missouri congressman emanuel cleaver called the video, which s been viewed more than 150,000 times, "very concerng," adding that it raises questions about the "traumatization of children andu the reasonabse of force." the same day in tennessee, a ocfferent outcome. ice agents and lal police stayed outside a home fo several hours as a man and his 12-year-old son locked themselves in a van outside their home. neighbors, who had known the family f years, delivered food and water to the vehefore 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 what amica is all

alout. >> nawaz: ice ofs 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 stoms and border protection as well as ice for nearly a month, raising new questions about how people are taken into custody. old francisco galicia was born in dallas. he was driving last month with his brother, who was born in mexico, when they were stopped a .b.p. checkpoint. he says he showed agents his u.s. birth certificate, but both men were detained heyway. his brwas deported days later. >> they thought they w superior. they looked at us with such distaste. think it was like a certain type of racism. >>eawaz: border agents say cause was a bureaucratic mixup from a visitor visa falsely g filed icia's mother years earlier.

>> nawaz: after being released, galicia rais new concerns about the conditions inside detention facilities, telling llas morning news: "it w inhumane how they treated us." he saithat during his 26 days in custody he lost 26 pounds because of lack of food. he wasn't able to shower, an had to sleep on the floor in a room with 60 other men. some of them, he said, were forced to sleep in the restroom. others were bitten by tick at one point, galicia said he considered self-deportation to mexico to get out of the detention facility. c.b.p. and ice officials defended the conditions for migrants in federal custody. once again, actingce director matthew albence: >> it is imperative hose individuals in our custody are kept in a safe and secure environment and are treated humanely and professionally andi th dignity the entire time they are in our custody. >> woodruff: but on the same day albence testified on capitol hill, ice officials also confirmed that a mexican man, pedro arriago-santoya, died in the agency's custody earlier this week after complaining of abdominal pain. he had been held at a for-profit

facility in georgia e april and was the seventh migrant toce die in i custody since last october.wh >> nawaz: meanile, a federal judge temporarily blocked the trump administration's planned overhaul of asylum rules. the decision came jurs after another judge gave the go- ahead.w the licy, announced earlier this month, would allow th security to deny asylum requests for migrants who first passed withrough another country out claiming asylum. another administration directive still remains in effect. under the so-called "remain in mexico" policy, asyleekers are required to wait outside the u.s. before their immiation court hearings. more than 20,000 migrants have been sent back across the border. under pressure from the u.s., mexico hasent nearly 21,000 national guard troops to the border to prevent migrants from

crossing north, leading to scenes like this, where a mothe begs the natioard to let her and her child pass. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newsh 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 witl a and a life. but first, european union leaders have watched with alarm as polanhas reduced the independence of judges and the press. the e.u. has threatenerack down on member states that fail to uphold modern democratic vaes. however, as special

correspondent malcolm braban reports from warsaw, poland's special relationship with the trump administration may encourage poland's resistance to its european neighbors. >> reporter: "free courts now" is the clarion cry. outside a courthouse in central warsaw, demonstrators 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 eempaign group called the courts initiative. >> independent judiciary is one of the grounds of the democracy. if the courts are noten independt, and the judges are not independent, then we have a

very serious problem with the democracy. >> we are old enough to remember how it was under the old soviet regime. and right now, it is incomprehensible to me that this is repeated now, even worse. >> the rest of the world should be worried about pand's democracy, because it's the model of turkey and hungary where judges are n dependent, which really means dictatorship. >> under the soviets, we normal people knew that the papers were lying, that the tv is lying. >> reporter: the liberal"g newspapeeta wyborcza" sprang from the venerated 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. >> reporter: vadim makarenko is a senior editor at "gazeta wyborcza." >> we have state-owned television, which is bringing propaganda to polish households. my newspaper appeals to the european union more or less regularly, asking it to preserve media freedom in poland as well as judiciary independe >> based on the distorting and distorted images of poland, consider this as the fake news of this century. >> reporter: zislaw krasnodebski is a meroer of the euan parliament, and anue inflntial member of poland's law and justice party. >> it is rubbish to say that here in poland we have any slide towards autocracy, or any profound danger 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 is nothing like it was behind the iron curta. 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 analystith the batory foundation, established by american philanthropist george soros to promote open democratic societies in poland and across central europe. >> i don't think they're offering enough space in the public discourse to dissenting voices. i think they're trying to build a monolithicolitical culture in poland. a culture that is based basically on catholic faith and a certain vision of poli history, a very heroic version of polish history, a simplistic

vision of polish history. >> reporter: such as the music of frederic chopin, poland'sr greatest compod this key monument, the warsaw rising memorial, honoring 6 in 1944 when patriots finght in vain a the nazis. behind is a modern battleground. the supreme co last year, the polish government forced 40% of e court's judges to retire early, in a move thess european comn condemned as illegal. there's just been a change in leadership at thtop of the european union in brussels, and that means that countries like poland should find it harder 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 annual review to ensure 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, it's now the sixth-largest economy in the e.u. the implicit warning from brussels is that unless poland behaves, the money will dry up, behaves, the money will dry up, d,t such sanctions have been threatened before ccording to some e.u. officials, have had no impact. i think poland is going to resist the pressure of the european mainstream.or >> reporter: fgn affairs analyst adam balcer believes the governing law and justice party will easily handsomely win this autumn's forthcoming general election and will be emboldened bolder as a result. >> they are ing to have more than 50% of the seats in parliament. and course, they count a lo on the support of the united states, which definitely in the case of th administration is very supportive of this type of governments in the european union. >> reporter: predent trump looks favorably on poland not least because it meets h requirement that nato members spend at least 2% of g.d.p. onal

natiefense >> the united states and poland continue to enhance our security cooperation. poland will still provide basing and inastructure to support 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. r >>orter: poland is planning to buy 32 american f-35 lightning stealth fighters.st total $2.5 billion. president andrzej duda was given a personal fly-over at the whit house last mond in what some critics label an act of ou intends to call the new american base on polish soil "fort trump."

>> ( translated ): one of the agreements i signed personally concerned the security and military cooperation. entioned, sir, there will be more american troops in poland. there's going to be an enhanced cooperatn. >> reporter: so could the alliance with the white house orwart the e.u.'s intention to force poland to co >> building fort trump on polish soil would have a propaganda effect in any confrontation with russia. but i do believe this is aimedat trengthening the polish position within the e.u., not as a serious alternative to a strong polish position within the e.u. >> reporter: this month, poland has been courting the leaders of lithuania and slovakia. it's trying to forge alliances within the e.u. to challenge the dominance of france and germany. if and when brexit happens, poland could become morerf po 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 onhe debate stage next wee lisa desjardins has more. >> desjardins: the fight this week is being waged over policy and plans. he the naacp convention in detroit wednesday,ocus was on key issues to blacks and minorities. >> andy police reform plan would create more acuntability and transparency by setting a national use of force standard. >> i invite yoto watch me talk about systemic racism, not only when i am speaking to mostly black audiences, but when i'm speaking to mostly white audiences. >> desjardins: new jersey senator cory booker said he wants broad-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. itto shift the focus from incarceration to rehabilitation by diverting drug users to treatment programs and drug courts, instead of priso it would eliminate the deathy, penalt as well as cash bail and mandatory minimum sentences. for his opponents, biden's new proposal stands in s contrast to the tough-on-crime bill he spear-headed in 1994as a senato advocates for reform now link that bill to mass incarcerationo er has been especially critical of biden's record. in a stement tuesday, he said "the proud architect of a failed system is not the person to fix it." biden hit back >> cory knows that's not true.

>> djardins: criticizing booker's record on policing as mayor of newark. >> his police department was stopping and fsking people, mostly african american men, we took action against them. >> desjardins: biden also took a shot this week at california senator kamala harris. without naming her, he dismissed 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 serious problems.an we need to make big structural change.ha >> w 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: ll weld. >> donald trump is a raging racist, okay? >> desjardins: the white house has called such accusations overt political attacks and untrue. next week, the fus remains on the democrats, and two nights of debates in detroit with bookerta and harrising on either side of biden onstage. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: and to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated comnist mark shields and new york times columnist david broo. and hello to both of you. we're going to talk about the 2020 candidates,ntut first i robertbo mueller. mark, he spent, what, almost five houor beftwo house committees this week. what's the main story that we should take away from what he had to say?

>> robert muellewas robert mueller. he's the rarest of publi figures in washington, d.c., a man with no detectable political agenda. he refused to be a political prop for the docrats who wanted him to read the report aloud, he refused to go after donald trump who has salvaged him personally and accused him of being unfair and prejudiced and fake news and running a hoax and a witch hunt, never respded in kind, and i thought he did the re thing in washington, which was to present his case he left us -- certainly we have, on thisr boadcast, david and i have agreed in the past that the russia thing seemed to be the akest link of any of the criticisms of tru and, if

anything, bob mueller made the case complingly and left the republicans very much in the defensive on that. >> woodrf: david, made the case compellingly? >> of russian interference, he certainly made that case vey compellingly. it was a calm performance but he had his hair on fire about the ongoing nature of the russian interferencen the american electoral system. no collusii. i it's less likely we move forward with impeachment process. there are people in the house angling in that direction and a lot of fantasy about the hidden hand to remove donald trump, bu loke that's going to be the work of the election. in retrospect, im here in colorado with i'm all over from thworld,nd one man from south africa said to me our democracy is 30 years old, yours

is really old, and one of the th lgs we'arned from yours and our experience is when people elect a leader to be head of a country, it should be hard for the people 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 seeldn dorump commit. they want to invest power in the people and there's some solace, i ink, in that. >> woodruff: yet, mark, yes, speaker pelosi is saying we're not there yet, it's not the moment to decide onmpeachment 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 from ane white hous the justice department. >> that's right, judy, and i think it's absolutely understandable they'd proceed. i couldn't disagree more with david about colsion. i don't think there's any question that what came through clear and louand repeatedly in bob mueller's presentation wasru

that the administration, trump himself, his campaign and thoswho worked for him cooper rated at every opportunity. we can get into ast qun about what's collusion and what isn't, but they were actively involved to the point of sharing polling figures and strategy and all the rest of it. so it's kind of fascinating that -- and then theó republicas in the senate led by mitch mcconnell refused to even address anyesponse, any meaningful response to election secuty as weiscussed earlier in this broadcast. i mean, republicans seemed boud termined to keep americans from participating in elections ey were reluctant to keep russians from participati w. >> woodruft about that, david? does the 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 allowingon elececurity legislation to move ahead. you have both parties pointing fingers at each other. >> i would invite republicans to take a look at the globe and see that there's a lot of countries that could get involin american election interference. right now it's russian.it i guess mcconnell thinks it's somehow good for the republicans. that to me the probably not true. it's probably just bad for democracy. but, you know, dond tru has been pretty tough on china. inppose china decides to get involved inerfering in our elections in a which that hurts donald trump. the fact is interfering in an election is an act of war on a coeatry and the i that act of war should be greeted by state and local responses is an absurdity, and the idea our elections aredl han on a state basis is not an argument i understand from an historical precedent and is not an argument

that's commensurate with what's happening. c> david is right. there's national urity. there's no more important act than a national act of choosing a president. say the good people of maricopa county, arizona, are responsible for running their elections, but this is our national security, our national interest, and anybody meddling, it's not a question of cyberresponse, or anything of the sort, it has to be a response, a niol security response. >> woodruff: quickly, to go back to the both of you on this question of impeachment. if these members of congress go home to their districts and the states in august on recess, is it your exec sayings that theyck will come nd say forget this or we'll still be -- will still be alive if september? >> yeah, you know, if the presidential candidates were ot on the trail every day with kingcratic voters, we're tal about the russia thing, then i would think about there is a chance that would harntion but they are not talking autot

and they don't want to talk about that, they want to talk about the issues onoters' minds. here are still people in some districts about 1use democrats who do want to proceed, but today what happened tinuing thethe c investigation is very much in line with what nancy pelosi has said alol alng, she doesn't want to go to the country unless there's an iron-clad case. y 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-ntence case, and there have been a lot of terrible things donald trump has done,p most out ilic, but there's never been that one sentence case that would impel a lot of people to suddenly start caring about impeachment now rather than just 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 er cory bookert after cory booker went after joe

biden, biden pointing out differences with kamala harris. are we seeing something materially different in this 2020 contest? >> cory booker back in the packa goinront runner joe biden gets you covered and gets 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 riwisk of th a little cold water, at this point four years ago, 75 to 1, hillary clinton led bernie sanders before losing new hampshire by 20 points, and donald trump was at 1% and ted cruz was at 4% leading the republican race was scott walker, second behind jeb bush, and just ahead of mike huckabee. really think that what we're seeing is a sorting out more than anything else at this point. >> woodruff: did you really have to remind us about those polls. >> well, i think something to bear in mind, a little perspectivp >> for some licans, those are the good old days.

>> woodruff: so, david, what do you see developing or not among these democratic candidates right now? >> the first thing is how -- becasoe everybody's ntensely involved, it doesn't feel like the kind going to be won by doing a lot of town halls in new hampshire or barbecues in iowa. it feels ke a national campaignhere social media, the tv polls matter and the new hampshe polls look like the national polls. that's one thing that's interesting to me. i am surprised by how tough the are on each other. i am especially surprise bid hoa strong the cans on the left have been toward biden ando franklmuch hostility there is in that part of the party to biden. to me, if he emerges as the nominee, i think he will 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 derate lane, i don't know who plan b is. there's been no oher clearly-defined moderate who has emerged, neither michael bennett nor maybe amy klobuchar is the 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 nomin is, short of turning out to be an abuser of small animals, he or she will have the unified sowcht democrats. >> woodruff: last thing i want to touch on you, lo and behold ne saw the two parties come

together, david agree on a budget for the coming year. it's anliut. it's a blueprint, but it happens to include a $1 trillion deficit. both parties, democrats and republicans, signing on to this. liat's happened to worry about? >> well, the repn party is no longer the party of balanced budgets and things like that.mp donald tegan to walk away and the party followed as a gallop. both parties love giving away free stuff and they're giving away a lot of free stuff. some may be good, some bad, but the winners are nancy pelosi who got a lot more discretionary spending morninger than on s pentagnding which had been the rule in the obama years, ep them 50/50, and trump to the extent that he has a lot of money, this stimulus money to throw around in an election year that might boost the economy. the lors i would say are generation z who will have to pay this off somehow, and, so,

thisioas been the dettion of our budget system for the past 20 years, i guess. w odruff: 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, the republicans would be doing hard time on a balanced budget amendcnt. they hav this to the point -- last time we had a 3% g economwth, barack obama was president, revenues went up by 7%, that ways collected the government. because of a tax cut donald trump imposed or pasecause of the congress, 3% growth resulted in a 1% diminution inat revenues, what david is talking about the next generations will have to deal with and the burden. >> woodruff: let that sink in, mark shields, david brooks, thank you both. dr

>> wf: finally tonight, a musician making her own sound and her own mark as an advocate for disability rights. jeffrey brown fod just that when we saw gaelynn lea perform in austin, texas in this report for "canvas," our ongoing arts and culture series. ♪ ♪ b wn: 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 imptantly, showing us what can be done with a life. >> i really want there to be an acknowledgement that life is both difficu and beautiful at the same time. >> brown: lea, now 35, was born with a congenital disability called osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittler one disease. nes broke more than 40 times while she was in thee womb, and 16 mve broken since. for her, that need be only one part of the stor >> i think, if i only focuseveon the negatii would not be a happy person. there usually tends to be an unrcurrent of hope. ♪ ♪ >> brown: we joined lea in .ustin recently, at the south by southwest festival fans lined up hours before the doors open. classically-trained, lea is now

best known for her haunting, original songs, and versions of traditional folk music passed down for hundreds of years. ♪ ♪ >> that's because 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 that you know now, the melody is just so infectious. it's 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.do i push it with my leg to gacord a segment that i want. then it plays back and again. you can build up layers, at you can do iaftily where you bring things in slowly.

♪ ♪ what i staed doing in 2013, 2014, is recording traditional fiddle tunes and reworking them with the looping pedal. >> brown: it obviously gives you a bigger sound right? >> yeah, iallowed me to explore a new genre almost. >> brown: lea grew up in duluth, minnesota with a supportive lymmunity, teachers and fa her parents ran a dinner theater. her three siblings incluind her hat she calls all of their "hijinks." was there a concyon or fear that wouldn't be able to play a violin? >> i realize thayou probably don't know unless you have a disability, that you spend every day modifying evything. i'm not concerned with doing it the way everyone does it,i becausn't really do anything the way other people do it. for me, finding a walay violin was just a matter of time. >> brown: even then, you just did it. you just figured out how to do it?

>> yeah, we tried the cello 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 on my shoulder. etguess it was divine inspiration or sng that one of us thought of playing i up and down like a tiny cello. i to adapted ballet and adapted gymnastics and i did some kayaking one summer.ar adaptive sporta thing, but i think adaptive music is maybes noommon, and i hope it becomes more common. >> brown: lea studied macalester college in st. paul anathe university of minnes in duluth, graduating with a potical science degree. one met her husband paul at an open mic night andd over their love of camping, gardening and cooking. she sings of him in hesong "moment of bliss" from her

latest album "learningo stay." ♪ ♪ another milestone came in 2016 when lea-- then 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 le 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, she makesime to speak with groups in her growing role 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 disabilities die without healthcare. i felt really left out of the discussion and frustrated by people who claim to value human rights not mentioning people with disabilities. that song bubbled . out of th"i

(♪ ait" ♪) >> by the time i wenchool, the school that i went to had an elevator. i've grown up feeling like i have rights. th's just part of my consciousness.e' i think tha shift away from seeing disability in any negative way and celebrating it and celebrating the people who are doing it, rather than something that you've t to fix or overcome or struggle with. ♪ ♪ >> 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 this evening said it will allow the trump administration to redirect $2.5 billion in military funding toward the constructiona of a borde. 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: >> kev. kevin! >> kevin? >> advice for life. fe well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com.

>> consumer cellular. >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> supporting social en epreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> t william and flora hewle 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. captioning sponsored by

. >> tonight on kqed newsroom rabbit mueller awlong ted testimony and -- also a major housing contract in san biunno was rejected despite lycog with city regulations sparking quesions about how to get approval process. facebook nominated chief privacy officer with a million dollar fine hello, and welcome to kqed. we begin our show with special council robert mueller's testimony tothe house judicialal and intelligence committees on wednesday. he spent hours in front of the congressional committees sounding the alarm of russian interference in our elections

and pushing