captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc g >> woodrufd evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: out before he's in president trump's much- criticized pick to be director of national intelligence withdraws from consideration less than a week after he was named. then, an island in crisis. the embattled governor of puerto rico steps down, a new one sworn in, but legal challenges to come. warnings from greenland-- billions of tons of ice lt into the ocean, sparking fears of how it will exacerbe the global climate crisis. plus, after president trums attacks on members of congress

who are racial minorities, how are his words heard in the rust belt communities he needs to win? i >> construed as a racist, bigot, homophobe, you name it, but if you knew me that's not who i am at all. woodruff: and it's friday. mark shields and david brookshe ar to consider a full week of news and the democratic primary field after the second round of debates. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour haseen provided by: >> text night and t y. >> catch replay. >> burning some fat. >> sharing the latest viral cat! >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text d data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> babbel. a language program that teaches

spanish, french, italian, german, and more. test newshour ingest only >> financial services firm raymond james.or >> thefoundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institution and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. oo woodruff: the revolving keeps spinning.

republican congressman john ratclie of texas is out-- not longer in consideration to be the director of national intelligence. that, just five days after president trump nominated him to the position.s opponeid ratcliffe had too little experience for the top i u.elligence post and he had been accused of misrepresenting his experice as a federal prosecutor. before leaving the white house ubfor his new jersey golf mr. trump blamed the med for ratcliffe's withdrawing but also praised reporters for their vetting of his nominee. >> i could see that the press was treating him, i thought very unfairly. no you vet for me, i like when you vet. no, no, you vet. i think the white house has a great vetting process. you vet for me. when i give a name i give it out to the press and you vet for me. >> woodruff: we take a deeper look at this latest about-face with greg miller, national security correspondent at the "washington post."

hello again, greg. so what happened here? >> what happened here is something actually we've seenen haime and time again with this white house and even back into th trump campaign. i mean, trump has along record now of selecting people or putting them foward for jobs that they either aren't qualified for or have blemishes on their background that will inevitabley serve or disqualify them for oroth and that's what happened here. >> woodruff: the presidentea tweeteier about slander and libel tclt john ratfe was facing. what was that a reference to?ha >> well,t's a reference to a lieutenant of critical stories that have surfaced over the past several days showi that ratcliffe had embellished or exaggerated key, important parts of hisume, including

claiming to have prosecuted terrorists as a federalec pror in texas, where there had been no prosecutions of any sort along those lines during his tenure there. ways reportedk,his weee was also regarded as kind of a light weight on the house intelligence committee, not very active, skipping foreign trips that areo ant to oversight and not highly regarded. and that was one of th most important credentials, one of the few, frankly, credentials ha to become director of national intelligence. so it all just sort of snowballed and they ended his nomination today. >> woodruff: and saw that a number of republican senators who, of course, would have been vong on his confirmation, a few of them said good things about him but there were a number who were withholding judgment. >> right, and that again speaks to lack of preparation or care taken by this white house, right. i mean, we're accustomed to seeing white houses and presidents of both parties do af

seriesteps before they put forward somebody for such al consequentb, including checking to see what kind of support that person would have in congress for confirmation hearings, and that's anotr thing that this white house appears not to have done in this case because the support for ratcliffe was lukewarm at best and deteriorating amid all ofrt the reg on his report. >> woodruff: so the director of national intelligence oversees, what is it, 17 different agencies both military and civilian. who is under consideration? what dabwe knoout that? the president said three names?t o we know. >> yeah, well those three names are anybody's guess and it's unclear whether he has three names. he likes to assert things that aren't always true and we don't know at this poiant wht their backup plans are. the are a lot of questions now about trump's comfort level with the person who would be the acting director untail new

person can be named. the job iso now fr the time being held by dan coats, although he's leaving in a couple of weeks. sue gordon is deputy in line to be in the acting capacity for some time thereafter, but the white house doesn't lie her or trump has indicated through his staff that he would like to fid somebody else even if an acting capacity. it's a huge, impornt job. it's important for the public to understand that ovthersee cai, the nsa, the fbi, the entire intelligence community, and we're at a moment whre this white house doesn't have much of a clue about who should lead it. >> woodruff: grig mller with "the washington post." thank you very much. >> thanks. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the u.s.conomy turned in another solid month of job creation despite rising trade tensions. the labor dertment reported today that employers added a net

164,000 jobs in july. the unemployment rate remained at 3.7%, unchanged from june and near a 50-ar low. and average hourly wages rose 3.2% from one year earlier. china and the u.s. traded hard- line jabs today over tariffs.ij g warned it will retaliate if president trump imposes 10% levies on all of china'sg remainade with the u.s. that comes to about $300 billion worth of goods. but mr. trump said china holds the key to wther the tariffs take effect on september 1, as planned. >> china has to do a lot of things to turn it around but ll be seeing. they've got to do a lot of things.oe iton september 1 and frankly, if they don't do them, i can always increase it very substantially. >> woodruff: white house l economic advisry kudlow argued today that the new tariffs will have only mimal

effects on american consumers. president trump is offering fresh praise of north korean leader kim jong un, despite a string of short-range missile tests. in a series of tweets today, the present said, "chairman kim does not want to disappoint meti with a vio of trust." north korea's latest launch came early today. but mr. trump said short-range weapons were not part of kim's commitnt to him, at their singapore summit last year. the united states and russia formally quit a landmark col war deal today: the "intermediate range nuclear forces" treaty. it was signed by president reagan and soviet leader mikhail gorbachev in 1987, and it banned mid-range, land-based missiles, both nuclear and conventional. washington blamed moscow for iolating the agreement, a brussels today, the nato secretary general backed up that claim.

>> the new russian missiles are nuclear capable, mobile and hard to detect. they can reach european cities with only minutes of warng time.is this decisioupported by all nato allies because no international agreement is effective if it's only respected one side. >> woodruff: russia denied any violations, and warned the demise of the treaty is dismantling the existing arm control system. in syria, the government agreed to a cease-fire in idlib province, after three months of intensive bombardment. idlib is the last rebel stronghold in syria, and the government offensive there had killed than 400 civilians. one al-qaeda-linked group said the regime called the truce because its military drive had stalled. saudi arabia loosened a rae of retrictions on women today. the reforms will allow women to

apply to travel freely, without a male guardian's permission. the royal decrees also grant women the right to register a childbirth, marriage or divorce, among other things. the changes take effect at the end of august. i bathis country, a new york city police judge recommended firing the officer accused of fatally choking ericr in 2014. daniel pantaleo denied using a banned chokehold, but garner's pleas of "i can't breathe" became a rallying cry at protests around the country. his daughter spoke today after hearing the judge's recommendation. >> i think i'm feeling the same way my entire family is feeling, which is that it's been too long. we've been waiting for five years for someone toay that he did something wrong. and they finally made that decision today. >> woodruff: a state grand jury declined to indict pantaleo in december 2014. and last month, federalut pross chose not to bring

civil rights charges. police commissioner james o'neill has the final say on whether he is terminated. r r&b singkelly pleaded not guilty today to sexual abuse charges in new yk. the 52-year-old was denied bail at a federal court hearing. he is accused of luring young women and girls into illegal sexual activity. kelly also faces child pornography charges in a separate case in chicago. more than half the democrats in the u.s. house of representatives now favor starting the process of impeaching president trump. the associated press and others reported today that the count has reached 118 out of 235 democrats overall. house speaker nancy pelosi has said impeachment should wait until various investigations are finished. the only black republican in the house, will hurd of texas, will not seek re-election next year.

he is the sixth g.o.p. congressn to call it quits in just over a week, and the 9th overall. last month, hurd was one of just four republicans w voted to condemn some of president trump's recent remarks as racist. and, on wall street, stocks finished their worst week of thi year, amid w about the trade war with china. ose dow jones industrial average lost 98 points to at 26,485. the nasdaq fell 107 points, and, the s&p-500 slipped 21. for the week: d e dow lost 2.5%. the s&p-500 drop3%. and, the nasdaq fell nearly 4%. still to come on the newshour: puerto co's deepening political crisis. greenland's melting ice sheet and the deadly risks of sea level rise. plus much more.

after weeks of unrest, the leadership in puerto rico totk the firstp toward a transition this evening. amna nawaz reports on the fallout after the resignation of embattled governorc riardo rough rosselloó. >> on wednesday, he ninated pedro to be secretary of state, putting him in a position to beme governor under the u.s. territories constitution. today, the island house of representatives voted to advance his no, nomination and just afro seio's departure, pedro tookfi to replace him as governor. law mairksz in the house of representatives challenged his legal work for the island's highly unpopular financial

control board. >> it's not every day theha countrbefore them a lawyer who has advised the fiscal board ating nom for secretary secretaf state with the possibity of becoming governor. that is why the country is demanding transparency. >> he depended hisde indepe as well as legal work. >> my capacity as member of the legal office and services i extended to the group dring years is in a legal capacity.t you will no find a pubselic ant who are more committed, judiciary or willing to work than myself and as i have always heard and answered tour people, here i am to hear your worries and answer your questions. >> but some lawmakers argue his hold of the governorship may hinge onp aproval from the president senate where he's opposed. >> i tonight hve confidence in him to govern under theseci umstances because the lawyer can't be inharge of pre-k. >> he planned to run for governor next year.u

hehed a senate confirmation hearing for monday casting further doubt who will lad the slarntiond without a confirmation from the senate justice docto is juan devasquez could be next in line to be governor. she is brolynpopular and initially said she didn't want the job but now says will accept it. rosselloó announced his resignation after chat messagesd with top aes, puerto ricans flooded the streets and celebrated h resignation. now the island faces a potensionle crisis over filling the governor's mansion with some lawmakers threatening to take the matter to court. we explore what's nt in puerto rico with jenniffer gonzaález-coloón, puerto ries's retative in congress and was herself for a while reported to be a potential successor to the governor. congresswoman, welcome to the "newshour". >> thank you. so pedro has been sworn in as the new governor. does this end all the political

turmoil in puerto rico? >> i don't think so. at least not immediately. i think there's going to be many challenges about if he was confirmed or not by the senate side. our constitution stablishes that you need be confirmed in both sides, the house and the senateh bu most important thing is th do have a governor at this time. should be put to rest and focus on what's next for the island. in that sense, he wa just sworn in, in a few minutes ago, before we bein here, and we need to work out to restore the credibility not just here in the financial markets. >> but how do you do that. you mention the nomination and confirmation. he was approved by the house, on wasn'te confirma set till next week, there was a potension powell we are vacuum and still potential stability if he was going to be challenged. where is the stand? >> the constitution established,

etorney general was the o assume in case of the vacancy for the governorshipf the island. he was sworn in already, so you already have a governor and this process continues tope hap monday the senate will have they are hearing, wednesday they're gog to vote on that. let's see what's going to happen. i think the most important thing, today is friday is weekend we'll see what's going ahead and how we can reestablish the needs of the island and the credibility as well. >> the next vote will be on wednesday. is there a possibility the senate doesn't vote to confirm him, then t?a >> i'm not going to speculate. the d.a. was not involved in an step of this process. i will tell you that i know how important it is to reestablish the communicatn and y reestablish the credibil the island. there are a lot of things that

are important like the reconstruction of the island, the recovery phones thaet ar in many of the federal agencies. at the same time we are fighting to get more resources for healthcare. so we do have a very complex agenda for puerto rico that can wait until next week. >> you certainly do. i want to be clear, there is a very powerful leader in the senate, thomas rivera, he wanteg to be a ernor and could lead a movement that doesn't confirm pedro and could we be back where he started? go i think the last thing i heard is there'g to be a constitutional process. the senate is going to do their aring. they're going to see if they approve or not theomination wednesday. so i think we should wait until that process. k we don'tnow. he could be or may not be confirmed. i don't want to jump a conclusion. nobody expected in the last three weeks that something like

this could happen in puerto rico. >> the effects have been severe d they will be long-lasting. i want to ask you about something that came out of the trump administeytion today. re using the political onrest as a pre-text to delay more than $8 biln funds, that would be used to prepare for the net naural disaster. what do you say to that? >> i was the one in appval of those funds. we approved more than $43 billion for puerto rico in different areas, and i'mti fi for the funds to be released. we've got a lot of breaucracy. many of the federal agencies are working with that. ruption onses of cor the island, many of the areas that actually managed thorese funds put on the -- the last two weeks. so the federal government have a coordinator or monitor for the s,nds to puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islao i do believe we need to have those we needed.h i'm working now with the new governor and the administration

in terms of how we can get tho moneys to be released, to be outlaid immediately in the nexta availabl the day it is going to be happening is september 4.hi >> all thes that brought all the people out into the streets, a weak economy, failure to respond adequately to hurricane maria, corruption scandals, none have been made better. they have been on hold the last few weeks of protest. >> it's more than that. the financial cry sis, and then this. so we have been under the eye of the storm for at least t years. how swishing passed tha and recall it from that, i think that's the imp oortancef a new leadership on that. >> do you see the steps that were taken tonight as the first steps toward the stability? will they support this nomination and this new governor? >> i won't talk about th protesters. >> but the protesters are the reason we're having this

conversation. >> i don't think so. the fit oneho asked for the resignation of the governor, there were many people who were not supportive of the actions of the governor in the last three weeks. sos going to be the plan or the agenda, what's going to be the priorities for the renstruction and the recovery over the island and that means, also, the credibility about who is the person who's going to be leading the government of puerto rico. when you resolve that, the senate approves him, there's going to be issues about how legitimate the governor is, and i think that's important in order to give that stability until the next election. >> we hope better days ahead. pray for that as well. on the isld. congresswoman jenniffer gonzaález-coloón, commissioo.r f puerto r thank you for being here. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: now, melting away before our eyes. as the scorching heat wave that stifled europe last week moves north, william brangports on how it is setting records in new and alarming ways. >> brangham: that's right, judy, the same weather pattern that set records in europow over greenland, where temperatures are running as much as 15-to-20 deees fahrenheit oove average. greenland is home of the biggest ice sheets on earth, second only in size to antarctica-- and researchers say some 60% of it now showing signs of surface melting of at least one millimeter. doesn't sound like a lot, but that means 10 billion tons of ice is being melted in a single day, sending a torrent of melt water into the oceans. to help us understand what's going on here, i'm joined by ted scambos. he's the senior research scientist at the cooperative institute for research in environmental sciences at the university of colorado boulder.

ted scambos, thank you verhemuch for bein. can you just give is a sense of how significant this melting is in greenland right now? >> we haven't seen melting lke this in 150 years except pore the year 2012. looks like 2019s actually going to break the record in terms to have the amount of pelg melting coff of greenland. we're seeing a lot of runoff from the sides of the ice sheet and that, of cours adds to this river flow that goes into the ocean eventually. r itally quite dramatic and the biggest in about seven years, but prior to that, it's been over 150 years since the very top ofreenland has melted. >> this llis reasea level rise happening before our eyes. we know there are two ways the ocean warms up. the warm climate warms ocean water, that expands and rises. but the other is what we're seeing in the greenland, right? >> absolutely. and this is going to add severbi ion tons to the ocean. melt water from greenland is

going to contribute probably closely to ame milr of sea level rise in just this summer alone. 20 years ago, i would have said it's probably not contributing anything to the ocean, so we've really changed things up there. what happens 20 years from now, 50 years fronow is big question mark. >> if someone is out there hearing you say is and they think, well, a millimeter to the ocean, how much is that reakell? an you help us understand that in the scale of the things that we worry about for sea level rise globally? >> so a millimeter perearust for green greenland, and you mentioned the oceans are warmer so they're expanding. antarctica is contributing another fraction of a millimeter. all of these things are faster now than just a few decades ago and the concern is that the rate r going to keep going up and at a faster and fastte that etll actually accelerate. a mill may not sound like

much. small amounts of sea level rise have a big impact on low-leaving areas. miami, new orleans, house, are concerned about an inch o two of sea level rise and it means storm surges and floodingdn changes in groundwater right now. so it is a big deal, and the most important point is that it wasn't there 20 or 30 years ago, and we know that the forecasters are showing we're going to see a lot more of this in theuture. >> andeth just so happens we've built billions and trillions off dollar infrastructure along the coast. >> tremendous amount of infrastructure, and at requires ensuring and investment. all of these things are in a wy at risk, if we continue to allow the earth to warm up i an unbridled way and change the coastline, basically. >> all the climate models have really predicted what we are n seeiw, these increased storms, increased droughts,at increased aves. oe are seeing this over the past

year and a half,any of these different signals. do you think we're getting to the point whe this is building a genuine consensus that action is required? >> you know, i think there's nothing like reality to convince people. you can talk all you want about models and future forecasts that things are going to happen pong distance away. having things pen vividly on tv shows, on the news, in the newspapers, all of that helps bring people to the point that thin are really changing and although we thought we were able to wait a while, we're probably son the cusp ofeeing real changes to bring these things home to roost, basically, terms of weather changes. as i said, coastline changes, changes in the amount of drought or heavy rains, all those things have a major and costly impact. so people, i think, will begin d ide that long-term commitment to action is what's needed.

>> as i'm sure you have ben hearing, the concern over climate change and the urgency for action is bl teeding in presidential race and there's been talk that we need to act by n years, twelve years. for people who might notrs unnd what people mean about we have to act in a decade or twelve or 15 years, put tht in perspective. what does that mean? >> it means we need to start chges how we produce energy and trying to get there to carbon new central within the space of a decade probably too much to ask, but the tools and the technology is there inerms of solar panels and wind farms, in terms of conservation, electric cars, we can explore things like biofuels, we need to explore nuclear in terms of a power source. it's all in the mix. we know how to do it. what's more, people are going to make money brinng us this future of energy generation. it's actually going to be quite easy as soon as we say as a

nation collectively, individual, city by city, state by state, that we're going to commit to doing these thingsp and i'eased to see how many states and cities have set a goal for themsels in the future. i'm actually really confident that in fact the u.s. is going to lead the way on all of this because we have such a strong entrepreneurial spirit about solve problems once we're convince that's what the future holds for us. >> ted scambos, university of colorado boulder, thank yo >> oodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour markan shielddavid brooks break down another jam-packed week ofn political ac ger much of the past week, president trump harated controversy with his comments directed at maryland congressman elijah cummings and the city he

represents-- baltimore. the president continued his attacks on cities represented by democrats during a rally last night in ohio. >> for decades, these communities have been run exclusively by democrat politicians, and it's been total one-party control of the inner. citi for a hundred years it's been one-party control, and look at them. we can name one after another, but i won't do that becauso i don't want controversial. the democrat record one of neglect and corruption and decay, total decay. >> woodruff: the president did go on to call out specific cities durinthat rally last ght. to find out how the language president trump uses to describe politicians of color and diverse urban communities is resonating, white house correspondent yamiche alcindor talked to voters in southwest ohio, ahead

of the president's rally there. >> i'm construed as a racist, bigot, homophobe, you name it.if buou knew me, that's not who i am at all. >> alcindor: jennifer casson supports president trump but is wrestling with his rhetoric. she's 47, catholic and grew up here in the suburbs of dayton, ohio. in 2016, voters like her helped president trump become the first republican since 1988 to win montgomery county. now, the president's language-- which some see as racist-- is testing their loyalty. it's also pitting voters in largely ite, conservative suburbs against other residents in the more diverse city of dayton. >> we have too many problems ourselves that we needo fix first before we give the money to someone who isn't from our community. >> alcindor: for years, the city has embraced pro-immigration policies. it provides english classes, legal aid and other resources to immigrants. some like casson resent those efforts.

>> well i think illegal takes away some of our res for the people that really need it and deserve it. and we have a lot of people thng are still st i mean, i have two jobs myself. let's help our neighbors first, that's been my plosophy. >> alcindor: ahead of 2020, president trump is hoping many voters share that sentiment. >> ohio! oh, i love ohio! i love ohio. >> alcindor: in 2016, longtime republicans, along with a surge of new g.o.p. voters helped president trump win the state of ohio by a solid 8%.he but arrowly won montgomery county by just 1%. the dayton area has long been considered a microcosm of america. amid decades o deindustrialization and a growing immigrant population, white residents increasingly fled the city. casson lives 15 minutes fromto downtown din kettering, ohio which is 91% white. she says she's awaref racial divisions in the area. but she doesn't believe that the

president is stoking them. what do you thk of the president telling four congresswoman, who are all american citizens to go back to their countries? i e said it all along. you don't like it, we're a revolving door-- you don't have to stay. and not just with them, with anyone.t' do i thinkracist what he says? no. i don't. because he didn't say-- he said you can leave. >> alcindor: you said racism isn't about telling people to go back to their country. at do you think racism is then, if it's not that? >> to me, it's how you treat other people of a different race. it's if you're a bully to them. i think it's also getting in someone's face and denying them service. denying them the right to live where they want to live. denying them the right to religious freedom. denying them the right to rent a house because of a certain race. >> alcindor: down the road from casson in miamisburg, republican state representative niraj antani is pushing legislation t -called sanctuary cities and school districts in the

state. antani says many voters in his district share the president's attitude toward immigrants. would you be offended if someone told you to go back to country because they didn't agree with your politics? s no, i think that i would think that they weing that i should go back to india, which is where my family came from. but i'm also proud of my country. right. so if someone is not proud of this country, they should feel free to leave. >> alcindor: immigrants in dayton though fear the president's rhetoric puts them in danger. >> i worry about somebody who is not very stable taking his comments to heart. >> alcindor: audria ali ki owns a coffee shop in downtown dayton. her husband ebi emigrated fromn iran w was 17. together they are raising three young boys who are biracial and muslim. >> as someone who does not speak the language, the culture was absolutely foreign. it was really, really hard. so y have to find ways to belong again to that group orat

lace. >> alcindor: businesses like audria and ebi's are continuing to open across dayton. city officials say immigrants have helped boost the economg and are helpbuild the city. but, president trump'stt insistence on g race at the center of his campaign is complicating progress here. >> a car goes by and screams at them, "you need to go home." >> alcindor: nan whaley-- dayton's democratic mayor-- says recently some people used the president's rhetoric to oltimidate an immigrant family. >> people feel ened to do that now because the president's actions, which is really heartb aking for me for a community that's working so hard on these issues. >> alcindor: she says people don't understand just how much immigrants have helped dayton. >> they are misunderstanding what immigrants and refugees do for oucommunity. this place that we're sitting in is a great example. the story of immighrnts that runsgh this place. it was an empty shell before they got here. and now it's a beautiful space for people to congregate of all folks here in dayton.

>> alcindor: but in the more ral, republican counties surrounding dayton-- some residents believe the opposite. greene county, just east of dayton, is holding its annual county fair. here at the fair, some voters find president trump's controversial rhetoric appealing. and it's crowds like these that the president hopes will turnout next year to re-elect him. >> his style excites people. i believe that the republican party needed a fighter.hi >> alcindor:county is 86% white. in 2016, president trump won here by 25%. >> they're always only talking about racist. "this is racist, that is racist." >> alcindor: dan rader grew up here. he says democrats are blowing the president's language way out of proportion. >> he's defending us as americans. 's defending our freedoms, defending our right to freech spdefending our right to, you know, be able to speak our mind and not get backlash about it.r: >> alcinfter supporting president obama in 2008 and 2012, rader voted for president

trump in 2016. >> because of obama, that's why we have a trump. you know, people were really turned off by the whole thing. ou alcindor: the father of works in i.t. for retail stores and says life has improved since the 2016 election. he credits the president. w i've got a good paying job. i was laid off forle. i was laid off for a pretty long time. when i got the job i got a good ntcrease. >> alcindor: presirump says he plans to continue his unfiltered style of politics. and here in ohio he's banking ot trategy carrying him to victory one more time. for the pbs newshour, i' yamiche alcindor in greene county, ohio. >> woodruff: that brings us to e analysis of shields an brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields an"new york times" columnist david brooks.to helloth of you. so let's pick up on yamiche's reporting, david. all this comes after president trump has been going

after conessman eligah cummings, going after baltimore, calling it rat infested. this just a few days afteer h went after four congresswomen of color, "the squad." some people are saying thees ent's being racist. he says i'm the least racist person in the world. how do you see it and what are the consequences? >> i think i disage with the president on that one. you look at who he's attacking. it's one african-american or one person of a color after another. it's not dog whistle anymore, it's straight up human whistle. so it is just pulling at this racial thing over and over and over again, and i don't know how it -- how much it affects people. i know people don't likeli cal correctness and when he does that i think people really get a charge out of that. but going to clearly racist tropes goes well beyond it. we're walking into george llace territory, we're walking into very ugly territory, and if this is what this election is iting to become about, the

becomes, i would think, hard for people of conscience, whether l the trump's economic polls yore not, to wind up with them in however many months it is. >> ugly territory. , judy. it reaches the point where it was reported congressman cummings house had been broken into, the president tweeted too bad, eligah cummings, the crime in baltimore. this was too mch for nikki haley, the former soaruthina governor, the former u.n. ambassador who said she took the president to task. >> woodruff: republican. republican, as did congressman add. kin singer of illinois. no, the president, you think of the republican party, wor of lincoln, charir all, let's bind up the nation's wound, the sk we're about. this is just the opposite.

this is salting salting the wous is sowing the vision, and all r very narrow political purpose. i do think that it reach as point of diminishing returns because at some point you're just not proud to say you're donald trump. you can say, oh, he's my guy or he fights my fights, here's on my side. irt americans want the president to be a comforter and consoler in chief as wronald reag and the challenger in crisiss barack obama was aer the charleston church shooting. a president is to unit, comfort and bring out, he's the only voice that can speak to us and for all of us, and h obviously doesn't want to speak to all of us or for all of us.av >> woodruff:, as you heard in yamiche's reporting irom ohio, people are saying they don't thin's racist, that they like the fact, as you suggested, that hepeaks ou.

>> they do like that fact. i was at two conservative conferences over the past month and they were etty mpy, i guess, and they were 95 and 99 and maybe 100% white. so if you're in conservative worlds, you're not around minorities or people of color anymore. then you say, well, shouldn't you get people on color on stage just to hear the viewpoints? they say i don't see color. and when you're living in the country and the history of this country, you've got to see col and affirmatively try to get different people in the same room and it'just become a habit on the right to not care about that, and this was not always the case, and this is how trump is influencing the partyo and franklythe party sin fluencing trump. in the age of theshes, in the age of jack kemp, there was really aggressive efforts to try to diversify the party with some success, and now that's not even tried and it's not only trump, it's up and down the whole

apparatus. >> woodruff: and last , mark, as we have reported, will hurd, the only black republican in the house of representatives, announced he's not running again, from texas. >> he did, judy. i think it's the seventh this i ek, sixth this week, ninth overall. ink there are a couple of factor at work. david mentions as one of them the republicans havme increasingly a white party and will hurd s forr c.i.a. professional, a highly qualified person. but prior to his retirent or announced he wasn't going to seek reelection. susan brooks of indiana wh has been tasked of seeking women candidates for the republican party and martha roby of alabama announced their retirement. and, you know, i think what's significant about it is this, ronald reagan's last term, half the members of congress in women were rpublicans, 12 out of 25.

now there are02 women in the house of representativ, 89 are democrats, 13 are republicans, two of those 13 just announced their retirement. so, you know, it's a white male party, and that's a ite demographic. >> woodruff: what are the consequences of this? >> of course -- there's a book called at the merging democratic majority, 20 yea ago, th took a look at the demographics that were republican and they were all faing, and they were predicting democratic reign by now ant d thasn't happened, and that's because a lot of latinos whe they simulate become white and they're voting republican. it's a boon, country is 76% white,ut it's a long-term catastrophe and that's talking

politics. it's a short-term worldfo catastroph the party. >> but in the short term this could bit good pos for donald trump. >> it's hard and they're maximizing a a minimum. that's what they're doing. there's not an expanse of ceiling on the trump coalition. means getting every possible trump voter out. there's no persuasion. it's all an organization effort. they're not reaching across the aisle saying we want to get you, co a join us, wegree on 80%. i mean, this is just mining down is what it is. >> woodruff: well, there was some diversity among the mocrats, the democrats are running for president this week, they debated on two nigs. there s diversity but there's also some division, david. we saw, i think, clearly, ideological divide between the so-called moerates, the so-called progressives, liberals in h the party, and in the eyes of some, a more critical,

personally cribtical ate than they would have liked to have seen. >> you want to get your moment on tv, you've to attack somebody in your own party pretty rughly, and that's wt happened. my main takeaway is the democrats don't understandelhat thtion is about. we talked about donald trump and the racism, that's what the election is about. this is about donald trump and what kind of country this is going to be, what the values of the country is gointo bend what atmosphere we're going to raise our kids. trump will make this election about him every day with his tweets and whatever and he has a values campaign. he says he wants a crtain sort of masculinity and country, and to me, you can't bait a values revolution with a policy proposal. so they need to talk about values. they need to ta pk abolicies but say i'm for kindness, diversity, honesty, and e only person who seems to get that is marianne williamso she's not just trying to run a purely economic campaign.

she has wacky doodle ias on other things, but i think what she says about that and the debates is exactly right. >> woodruff: mark? marianne williamson. >> woodruff:arianne lliamson. >> i finally knew david would come totime dk side and dn't realize marianne williamson would be the catalyst to bring him. judy, i would say the debates contributed to the destruction of overconfidence on the part o democr 2020. they were sobering, they were unsettling. they took -- since franklin roosevelt was elcted somare 76 s ago or more -- >> i didn't cover that one.. ithere's been one democrat who won a popular majority of the vote and tw successive presidential elections, 50 plus one. his name isbarack obama and, you know, he sees these

candidates, especially those on the liberal side, distancing themselves from obma and highlighting obama's imperfections. obama was not perfect, he was a public, not a perfect sntr he achieved great things for the democrats in terms cof democra objectives and the democratic vision.de you know, thea that, david's right, they're running against donald trump. i think part of the problem that joe biden has is that joe biden is remembering two debate performances, and rightly so by mo democrats. in 2008, he crushed, not surprise rig, governor sarah palin, the vice presidential nominee chose bin john mccain. in 2012, he took on the cover boyf the "wall street journal" editorial page prine, and vanquished him. unfortunatel for biden, he's been compared in some democrats' minds to tho two sterling

performances which are 12 and eight year: ago. >> woodr's sphoaksed on that? >> i think this is a sense of is this the same guy who was so good in 2012 and 2008 and he was in both of those. woodruff: where do you see the race now? >> i think biden is the frontrunner. if you're the frontrunner, people will take a lot of shots at you. people took a lot ofhots at him and this time he was fine. if you're the frontrunner and survive hithout any cange in the race, that's good for you. so this was good for biden. there are some peoplemo whoed up and down, cory booker probably moved up, kamala harris probably moved down a little, warren probably moved up. u so litt and downs but i wouldn't say the race has been transformed by these debates and biden has ay prelid majority even though twitter hates him but he's still in the lead, and it's a fragile lead but it's made stronger by the atfact th no alternative moderate has immerged. >> alternative to biden. none of those have yet taken

that role.pe and so iple want to be not elizabeth warren and bernie sanders, where do you go? >> what do these candidates need to do more? david said they need to talk about values. they need to talabo what donald trump represents. >> you identify where you want to go by how you want to view wheramerica is and how w got here, and i think the democrats can claim the american narrative. i mean, we are a people who came from all corners of the earth, and overcame enormous obstacles, and we have foged in one people. lord knows, i mean, it's taken the brood, sweat and tears -- blood, sweat and tears of all generations of people. i guess where i would pehaps -- i do differ from david is i think there is a strong spiritual, almost religious chord to t democratic story. there is no abolition n.i.s. movement in this country without religion, anti-war movement

wet religion and no civil rights movement, and the democrats can claim in all three of tho >> woodruff: you think they're talking about that? >> they're saying this is who we are, what we've done and want tw achieve, whewant to go from here, rather than get into section a of your 2 point program which takes all the music and romance and spi of politics. >> woodruff: in 30 seconds, they're mainly talking about healthcare. >> the twoidea gerators are sanders and warren and they aren't particurly spiritual and some people in the party, of course they detest trump, but get the impression their main industry is the obama mainstream and they want to have that fight and the fight as a y to get the nomination and that's why it's gotten so nasty s quick. >> ezabeth warren's speech was on matthew 23 and quite

spiritual. >> woodruff: last words, mark shields, david brooks, thank you. >> woodruff: every child should be made to feel special on his or her birthday. at's the philosophy behi sweet blessings, a lexington, kentuckyased organization that bakes and decorates extraordinary birthday cakes for children who might need a special treat, made with love, just for them. from kentucky educational television, chelsea gorham has the story. >> it seems so odd to say that we're changing lives with at cake, buit happens! >> reporter: ashley gann founded sweet blessings in 2011 after becoming inspired during a church service focused on inner- city outreach in lexington,uc ke. gann decided to use her baking skills for a more meaningful purpose.ua >> i was ay working at a

professional bakery and god just put it on my heart to spend more ivme making a difference and onss time making ag. >> reporter: the nprofit's mission is to create unique, elaborate, professional-standard birthday cakes for children living in poverty, with terminal illnesses, or with special needs in central kentucky.th >> a lot oe kids, there is nothing perfect in their lives. this needs to be. >> reporter: linda johnson has spent her tuesdays perfecting cakes for three yeare the special cake emily and michael banks received. >> for his birthday cake, he got >> grass, a fence, flowers, and that's it. >> and a horse and the brown on the horse-- where you sit on it >>eah! r every tuesday, volunteers t arrivebake, ice, assemble, and decorate cakes for children who have been referred to sweet blessings by school counselors or social workers.co >> they be like family, they know what's going on in each other's lives.

and they're there to support one another, so there's alsorts of layers to what we do. >> reporter: alex nguyen is an engineering student at the university of kentucky and volunteershrough a service fraternity. f he'snd decorating cakes a welcome respite from his classwork. >> something like this is a way to kind of relax but also be doing something for the community, so i really enjoy that aspect of it. >> we call!t "cake therapy" ( laughter ) >> reporter: the cakes are designed specifically for each child depending on their interests and are delivered by the person who referred them. fthe operation has expandm making 163 cakes eight years ago to over 2,600 in 2018. the efforts of these volunteers have brought joy into the lives of kids like cheyanne kiskaden, a student at a local elementary. >> i feel really special and i'm glad that y'all got this for me and i just love it. >> reporter: connie malone has been wh sweet blessings serving as a volunteer and on the board since 2011.ov she died sweet blessings shortly after retiring and

understands the value of giving a child a special moment. >> the stories that we hear will just break you wheart. kids we ten or twelve years old and that this was catheir very first birthda. and then very early on, we made a birthday cake r a little girl who was in hospice and it was her last birthday cake. the purpose is to make that kid feel special and know that somebody loves them >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm chelsea gorham in lexington, kentucky. >> woodruff: tune in later tonight for washington week. eobert costa will discuss escalating trade war with china, and how some moderate democratic presidential candidates are trying to reigsuin the party's e to the left. that's later tonight on "washington week."

>> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank u and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin? >> advice for life. li well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> consumer cellular. >> babbel.ng a ge app that teaches a language program that teaches language, like spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their ossolutions to the world's pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. > the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support

of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

when a judge said punishable by death, i lost it. >> they're moving, funny, and surprising. inmates perform their own stories. when you're in prison for so long, you're used to one um co and it's blue. we all look like smurfs in here. >> hello and welcome. i'm thuy vu. tonight we bring you a kqed newsroom special. "stand up san quentin." inmates here are doing time for crimes like murder and assault. once known for violence, today san quentin has one of the most

rehabilitative programs in the prison system. at