ning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodru. on the newshour tonight: evaluating the wreckage. as hurricane dorian makes landfall in north carolina, rescue tean ms ithe bahamas deliver relief to those affected by the deadly stor then, it's friday. oks onhields and david b s e democrats' plans for climate change, republicans' canceling primaries, and funding the border wall. plus, a larger showcase for the an insiders tour of the kennedy center's first expansion in 50 years. >> as we look forward we know that people want to be more connected to the art and the artists, to be more immersed in it and to participate in it. >> woodruff: all that anmore on tonig's pbs newshour.

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banks on its list of victims still, it doled out surprising damage tod. john yang is in nassau, d ere he watchethe hurricane's progress. >> yang: dorian roared ashore at cape hatteras, its fir landfall in the u.s. after devastatindag the bahama before. sustained winds had dropped to 90 miles an hour, just half what they had once been. but governor roy cooper warn those in the hurricane's path to remain on high alert. >> t danger right now is the rising storm surge of fourveo feet and flash floods as the hurricane churns along the iccoast. >> yang: one area of greatest concern was ocracoke island, about 40 miles southwest of ca hatteras. the low-lying, 16-mile-long barrier island was quickly inundated, with rising water

trapping hundreds of people who chose not to evacuate. a search and rescue team is on thy. we estimate about 800 people remain on the island during the storm, and have heard reportsfr residents who say the flooding there was catastrophic. >> reportermore than 330,00 homes and businesses across across the carolinas and southeaste virginia had lost power. virginia beach saw strong winds and large crashing waves alo the shoreline. helsy rain atriggered flash flooding. farther uth, clean-up efforts were underway in charleston, south carolina. residents took down plywood from store windows as crews clearbr away downed ches under sunny skies today. but in the battered northern bahamas, mdeassive piles ois as far as the eye can see. hundreds of people on island gathered today at the damaged airport, desperately

hoping to espe to nassau. >> we have no power, no water, and it's bad. everything is damaged. >> it's chaos here and the plaa is uniitable, nobody can live here. so, we're trying to get out and they only haveimited ways of getting out here. >> yang: small planes were able to evacuate some of the elderly and the sick a few at a time. for thave unable to le aid groups were starting to arrive with much-needed food, water and supplies. tom cotter is director of emergency response and preparednebass for the g relief organization project hope. >> this is the real de. there is no searching for the disaster the disaster is very apparent. every street is affected, every person is affected. this is an incredibly dire and uation.sit >> yang: cotter described the extreme challenges that he and his team encountered. t>> it's really hard to gan island and it's really hard to get to an island with an airstrip that has been heavily

damaged and is limited in what kind of planes it can get. all we want to do is get supplies aesndnders on the island and we have to do a simll bit at a t instead of the large quand tities we woule if it was easier to get in and it's the access is limited. >> yang: the u.s. coast guard has also been helping. first reponders back from a mission today spoke of traumatic cases. >> injuries yi the head by debris, people were crushed by cars, by buildings, multiple fractures to legsany limbs. anything. it was bad. >> yang: and for all of the survivors,hemotional toll looms large. again, tom cotter. >> the mental trauma of this, it's as severe and it's as important to address as the physical trauma that people might have experienced. everybody knows somebody who's been rlly affected by this storm and again witha communions down, a lot of people don't know if their loved ones are alive or not alive." >> yang: and for some, dorian is ill a threatn the making. warnings and watches have now

been posted from delaware to nova scotia, canada, as the hurricane drives northeast. here on the edge of the nassau airport, these two big air conditioned tents being set up as a transition center for evacuees from grand bahama island and abaco. this is not a government operation. this is being done by private citizens, local charities, local civic groups and n.g.o.s. inside are clean clothes if people needoo them,and water if they need them, baby supplies if they nee tm, cushions to lie on, all the things, in short, that people we talkedt,o earlier today outside the government evacuation center in nassau sathey wish they had there. most importantly, according tota the people wed to outside the government center, inside are pleas for peop to help them find places to live in case they don't have friends and families here in nas saw.

estate agents who rent out vacation homes here, to who tells who have empty rooms, toav anyoneacho might have a to fer. >> woodruff: and, so, john, what about those people you spe with who had been in the government shelter? what did they say it's like there? how is it? >> reporter: it's a big sports arena. we weren't allowed to go in but talked to people amas they out. they say people are just lying on the floor of the arena. we spoke to one woman, divinia consultant who lost her home on abaco. shndwas actually able to s one night in nassau with some friends, but they could only host her for that one night, so she went to t shelter to look for help. there was no help to be found, she said. they said the social services people from the government told her she had to go to an office some distance away to try tofi housing. so there's a lot of frustration assistance.about the lack of

>> woodruff: and, john, you'v talking to people who have been literally trying to get on one of the other islands whereto their faily members, loved ones are. >> reporter: that's right. again, phevate efforts the government seems to be a little slow. most of these people, pecially here who are besng evacuated from abaco, especially, are just people who get flown off the island on private planes, eight-set, 18-seat planes. these are planes eitherth chartered by people at a cost of about $2,400 round trip oriv e plane pilots themselves fly over land and just say get on board, i'll take you to thasked if that's how divinia got out. i said, did you know the m or anybody on that plan, she sa no, but it was a seat

on a plane off of abaco, and, so, she took it. >> woodruff: john, in connection with that, you've told us earlier today you've really been struck by the closeness of this community in the bahamas. >> reporter: it's amazing. you walk around, and everybody knows somebody, has famil, has some connection, has friends on you know, i have been saying in relatively unaffected, and been that's largely true, the damage re is very little. there is some flooding. >> and just quickly, john, iar -- we heard the challenges that tom cotter, of project hope, is facing. we know there's some video that shows the sheer devastation people are dealing with. >> woodruff:. >> reporter: it's amazing to look at there pictu i've covered mostlyes tornadoi haven't covered a lot of hurricanes, and i'm used to seeinghe pictures we're seeing from abaco at tornadoes, houses

splintered, just flattened, big pieces of equipment, in this case big yachts, big boats picked uand moved, restin rg against buildings. but inornadoes, it's a relatively narrow area, the path of the tornado, which c be, pick and choose, you have a house devastated on one side ofe the s and left standing untouched on the other side. but these pictures from abaco, it is huge areas, fields leveled. as tom cotter said in the taped piece, he's seen a lot of disasters in his work, but this, he said he's seen nothing like this. >> woodruff: john yang reporting for us from nassau in the bahamas. john, thank you so much. >> woodruff: william brangham gets another report from the region. : let's find out some more about the relief effortt from governmficials in the region. elizabeth riley is the deputy executive director of the caribbean edisastrgency management agency, the agency coordinating response and hardssment teams to thes hit areas. she joins me from rbe island of

os. thank you very much for being here. i wonder if you could give us a sense of how things are now. >> based on the input fm reports from our team on the o ground, the relief effort commenced in the two northern islands of the bahamas that have been impacted. what we understand is that the royal caribbean cruise line is providings mer those persons who have been impacted on grand bahama at this time. >> reporter: the official eeath toll we know is still very low, but we'reg lots of reports that people traveling around the islands are see victims in many, many locations. still be a much more grave could disaster than we know thusno f? >> i think the indications from the government of the bahamas, specifically through the minist of health, have pointed in that direction, and i think,

as the recovery effort continues, we will get a better sense of how many persons, unfortunately, that have lost their life in this tragedy. >> reporter: we've also heard reports that people are trying toplet out to the island to try to check on missing family embers and some people chartering private planes to take them out there. is transportation still proving to be such a challenge for you? >> what has happened is that e's been significa congestion in the airspace around both grand bahama a abaco simply because perns are anxious to find out abo relatives, so they're chartering flights to go. whilthis is well-intentioned, what it does do is to create a high level of congestion in the airspace and, unless this iste regu it could potentially cause some constraints also in

the relief efforts.h >> reporter: at your sense of whyome n.g.o.s are reportedly alshaving a hard timeetting out to do their work? >> well, i think one of the questions that should be asked is whether the n.o.s are wirdinating their efforts the government of the bahamas because the government of the bahamas i in charge of the response effort, and it is very important for n.g.o.s or any other entity which comes in with the good intention of supporting or assisting to touch base with, plug into and, very importantly, coordinate with the national emergency operation center. so once they haveade that connection to the nationaler ncy operation center, then all of the logistics around sequence in support,g sequenc flights or vessels, et cetera, that can be coordinated. if actions are being undertak

on the side of the nationalor codination efforts, it is likely that it may g some challenges in access. >> reporter: lastly, what are the biggest challenge going forward from today on? >> well, i think the immediate issue would be really getting the immediate rf to those persons who require it. we know that there are a couple of areas which are still posing some challenges in terms of access, shelter of the population is incredibly important, especially in a situation wherees homave been destroyed and other areas ofee shelter have b destroyed in countries. so the persons who are now exposed are the priority. >> reporter: elizabeth riley, helping coordinate the relief effortin the bahas. ank you very much. >> you're welcome. thanks for having me.

>> woodruff: in the day's other news, u.s. businesses slowed their hiring in august amid global economic weakness and the tariff war with china. labor deprtment reports employers added a net of 130,000 jobs, fewer than expected. that total included 25,000 temporarworkers hired for the 2020 u.s. census. the unemployment rate held steady at3.7%, even as more people started looking for work. the chairman of the federal reserve, jerome powell, is playing down the risk of recession. spoke at a conference in switzerland today, and gave an despite some uncertainty.ahead, >> our main expectation is noter at all that ll be a recession. i did mention though that thereh are thes risks and we're monitoring them very carefully

and we're conducting policy in t way we'll address them. but no, i wouldn't see a recession as the most likely outcome for the united states or for the worleconomy for that matter. >> woodruff: the fed cut short- term interest rates in july, and is widely expected to do so again this month. the taliban staged another fatal assault in afghanistan today amid g awing questions about potential peace deal. the at killed two people in the western province of farah, and fighting continuho in the citys later. meanwhile, afghaafpresident ashani postponed a trip to washington next week. his governpoment says ntial u.s. agreement with the taliban could lead to all-out civil war. in hong kong, some 2,000 pro-democry protesters surrounded a police station and subway stop in new confrontations with police. rubbers answered wi bullets, tear gas and pepper spray, and the demonstrators used umbrellas to shield themselves. they also rejected promises to

kill a much-criticized extradition law. >> ( translated ): the government is one that doesn't listen to the voice of the people. it doesn't have a mandate from the people. all it lisns to is the central people's government.tr this is an issue that, during the lasttwo to three months, everyone has been able to see really clearly. our gvernment is not work for us. >> woodruff: t protesters are now caing for an investigation of alleged apolice brutality ad for directio ele of city leaders. the one-time strongman president of zimbabwe robert mugabe has died. he led the african nation's blk majority to power in 1980 and ruled fofor 37 years, being driven from office. john ray of vindependent teon news" looks back at mugabe's life. >> repeter: this is how ended his days. or resentful retirement in a hospital in sing 5,000 nales from the country he

liberated and thon he enslaved. robert mugabe was already a faded force wh we conducted what would be his lastw interviel , a virtuaprisoner at ues sprawling mansion, the infamous "bloof." but he was as defiant as ever. >> reporter: the jubilant crow that celebrated the end of his reign didn't agree. he had led them touin. long gone, the youful hero of the freedom struggle that ended white rule in rhodesia, and founded a new nation with a new name. but zimbabwe's new leader was ruthless from the start. he sen opponents.o slaughter at least 20,000 died. >> as long as dissidents comear from a pticular area we will send troops to that area. >> reporter: nor did racial reconciliation last. w he drovehite farmers fndm the land aanded it to political

cronies. but as the farms burned, zimbabwe starved. an era of anhyper-inflation d empty shelves. his opponents took a beating, but mugabe had a scapegoat. >> we are not a british colony, you must know that. we are not a british colony. >> reporter: but the grinding poverty saw his people flee in of thousands. the end he was ousted by his proté e and rivrson mnangagwa, who paid this tribu tonight. >> repter: but from the bloodshed in zimbabwe's first po-mugabe election to the crackdown on protesters made desperate by unemployment and soaring prices, this nation

still lives der the shadow of its founding father.>> oodruff: robert mugabe was 95 years old. migrants arriving at its border with the united states has fallen more than 50% in the last three months. the foreign minister announced today that se 64,000 people were stopped in august, down om more than 144,000 in may. mexi deployed thousands of troops and flow of migrants, after president trump threatened tariffs. the trump administration opened a legal assault today on california and four auto makers over emissions standards. the u.s. justice department notified ford, honda, volkswagen and b.m.w. that theyigre being inveted for possible anti- ationsviol in july, the companies adopted california's ems,sions standa which are tougher

than those the administration favors. and, on wall street, the dow jones industrial averagejoained 69 points to close at 26,797. the nasdaq fell 13 points, and the p-500 added two. still to come on the newshour: the psychological trauma of separating children at the border. mark shields and david brooks break down the week's news, funding decisions for the border wall and democrats' plans to address clinimate change. de the new wing of the kennedy center for the performing arts. >> woodruff: there have been a number of cots from medical professionals and advocates warning of the health risks of detaing migrant children and especially about separating them at the border from family members.de

this week, we received the first substantiated report from a government agency looking at the mental hea for migrant kids in u.s. facilities. as lisa dedisj tells us, the report by the inspector general of the u.s. health and hum services department included a look at tmhat happened last year when the preside implemented a ero tolerance" policy. >> desjardins: the report looks at all children in h.h.s. care. some arrived on their own, others were separated from their parents. for the latter especially, it points to a number of disturbing effects: accounts of inconsolablerying among children, heightened anxiety and feelings of abandonment. some showesymptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, even refusing to eat. and that comes after enduring extreme duress in the home countries they left behind.t the inspector general's office5 visited facilities between august and september 2018 and spoke wi clinicians and other professional staff.

ann maxwell is the assistant inspector general for evaluation and inspec tions who worked on this report and she joins me now. thank you. this report is not easy to read. i want to start by talking about the children who the u.s. separad from their parents, specifically among the many quotes here, an example, just one of a seven or eight-year-old boy, the report shes as under the delusion his father had been killed and believed that he also would be killed. can you talk specifically about how family separatio seem to affect these children? >> yeah, from what we heard from the staff we interviewed, who were the staff that worked directly with these children, is the children who were separated at the borderrom their parents experienced heightened fear, sense of abandonment and en posttraumatic stress disorder. we heard from a medical director,exfople, that separated children would often talk about physical symptoms as a manifestation of their doychological pain. >> reporter: wha that mean, for example?

>> meaning they would talk about their chest hurtinurting when ty were medically fine or they couldn't feel their heart or onery heart beat hurt them. >> reporter: youed in one report the children felt terrified and felt they couldn't distinguish between healthcare workers and the members of the immigreion teams who may h separated them. more broadly, there is a debate overall about whyhese children are coming to this country in general, and you spoke with the staffers who have perhaps the most firsthandxperience with those kids and what they are saying. there's one lin here who says some children witnessed the rape or murder of family members fleeing threats or threats lives. their own what kind of trauma is involved with these kids and were our t acilities rea handle that? >> the facility told us that they were unprepared to address the intense trauma that children suffered. as you mentioned, separated and were often fleeing from their home country

they often suffered threats to their safety on the journey. course, forsome children, they experienced the additional trauma of being unexpectedly separated from their parents as they came into this country. reporter: and children's witnessed family members murdered and rape, some of them being victims of rape as they were tellingtaffers. the trump administration would like to detain mierlgt d familis indefinitely. right now that is limited to days under court order out of concern for the kids. what did you lern about how length of stay in detention may be affecting children? >> right, so just to be clear we looked at h.h.s. facilities and how long they could be in immigration detention. but you're absolutely right to point out thatwhat the "frontline" staff told us is there is a negative consequence on children's mental health and

behavior t lger they are there. >> reporter: in seven days, they saw behavior starting to change.en >> even chilho came into care with pos tv outlook and good coping skills became disillusioned after they were in care for a long time and they saw increased hopelessness, increased activities likean self-harm suicidal ideation. >> reporter: it's significant because you also looked at the policy here and also the staffers told yothey saaw changes. can you talk specifically about how policy affected the number of children, howong they were there and how old the kids were last year?>> ure. so what we heard is that the challenges of providing mental health care for children was challenging in 2018 but duh to the policy changes, one the initution to have the zero tolerance policy which rapidly increased the number of separated children who were in care, and other chang to the sponsor assessment process which

lengthenedre the time chi were in care. >> reporter: in order to leave care, there w a new requirement that sponsors or fingerprinted, andid that to be affect the length of time? >> that's right, there's always aalce. the department wants to make sure that children are safe when they are released from o.r. care and, to do that, they instituted in 2008 policies which parts need to be fingerprinted, which is new, and all the adults in e howhold had to be fingerprinted as well, that resulted in an enormous amount of fingerprints going through which created a bottleneck which slowed down the process, and people also believe it made responses not willing to come forward. >> reporter:>> and the stay was expanded to months not days for the kids. what happens now? >> we're taking practical steps tossist the facilities in overcoming the challenges they laid out for us, and we believee

these are that can bee taken in conjunction with experts in the field to donate stlptegy to upport these facilities and change the outcome for these children. >> reporter: tt snds like that's going to take time. that's a lot of process. what about the kids now? >> well, some of the steps that we have recommended that the department take, they have, in fact, already instituted. le they detfor us a plan of action, including things like hiring a new mental health clinician to guide the oversight and help support the faceyities, lso are partnering with clinical experts to create more training nd trauma-informed care. so some of these things can be handled in a very immedia w. you're right, though, some of the challenges are more long-tm and the department is committed to addressing those over time. >> reporter: and ann maxwe with the inspector general's office of h.h.s., thank youorin g us and your work on this. >> thank you for an ginterest topic. i appreciate it.

>> woodruff: the feder government warned americans not to use e-cigarettes following several mysterious deaths linked to vaping. the centers for disease control also said althere are 450 casesf a lung illne in more than 30 ates tied to vaping. there are more questions than answers so far. william brangham is ba with more on this mystery. >> branghay.m: that's right, j health officials say they do not yet know the dinitive cause behind this lung illness, and no specific vaping device or >> at least four deaths have beeninked to vaping and a fifth is underalnvestigation. son aubrey of national public radio is covering this and joins me now. welcome. >> thank you. >> reporter: so what is the latest the investigators are saying. ay they basically came out and said we still do not know what is causing these illnesses,

very frustrating for them, but they do know more about who has gotten sick. let me paint a picture here. we are talking young men, average age 19, more than 80% the cases in illinois and wisconsin, men. so these are people who are vaping t.h.c. and nicotine, sometimes combinations. >> reportr: so the marijuana vape pen and the a nicotine? >> well, putting t.h.c. into the vape, right. so vaping t.h.c. or other cannabinoids, cbds. sometimes nicotine and cannabis, it's very, very tilt to hone in on one thing and, so far, they that is linked to all of the illnesses. >> reporter: i'm curiousca e new york state officials that somedicate vitamin e substance might be indicated. federal investigators are not echoing that? >> they're looking into a whole range of compounds. in new york, they say it is a n

focus. they found a lot of concentrated vitamin e in thc vaping cartridges. basically they're sing these are not cartridges coming from medical dispensaries in new york. these are black market products, stuff people are buying off the reets. who knows what's in them, but very high concentrations of vitamin some people may think, wow, vitamin e is a vitam. well, it's fine to take as a dietary supplement or a lotion, not fine to inhalend ingested in high levels when it makes it right into the lungse can c damage. >> reporter: so possibly five suspected deaths here but hundreds of illnesses. how do these illnesses present and what do they look like? >> sure. typically what they are seeing is people feel a little bit sick and then progressively have shortness of breath, chest pain. by day six or seven they presented to an emergency room

and, from there, it can get worse. oftentimes they're being breathing.or need help me have ended up in the u i.c.u., and they don't know what kind o long-term damage might be done to the lungs. they just don't know. >> reporter: you touched onth before that there are commercial vaping products like jule and blu that are e-cigarettes you can buy and in states where it isn legal you buy t.h.c. but there's also a black maet of home brew kits. do regulors know if it's the black market products? >> they don't know. things here.ing aa range of people have spoken up. keep in mind, these are 19-year-old men who were asked ask, you just got really sick, what are you putting in your vape cartridges? it's hard to get an h answer.

in some cases people handedver what's left in the vaping cartridges and that's how investigators are analyzg is, and they're finding people have used 12 or 13 different kinds of d.h.c., 12 or 13 different kinds of nicotine products, so it's difficult to find out there is there one combination or combinations ofbs nces leading to these illnesses. >> reporter: so the c.d.c. says now, u tntil we geto the bottom of this, don't smoke >> they are recommending people stay away from e-cigarettes. they say if you have been using cigarettes, off turn to something else, until ey know what's going on, until this investigation points to a substance or a product, they're recommending pple not vape. >> reporter: allison aubrey of npr, thank you so much. >> thank you o

>> woodruff: nowe analysis of shieldsnd brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields animd new york columnist david brooks. hello to.oth of y it's good to see you on this friday. there's so much to talk about. mark, i want to start you about this hurricane dorian, we have been watching it for well over a week, almost two weeks. you have scientists talking mor openly now about whether these hurricanes are connected to climate change,at to global warming, and you have got democratic candidates foe president, mf them coming out with pretty aggressive positions on climate. is this something that's realistic for democrats? does that mean they think they're more likely to win over voters if the talk aut climate? >> i'm n sure they see it as a great winning issue, i think they see it as an important issue. i uld say among democratic candidates, first of al they all agree that there is climate

change. all the deniers are on the oer side, they're not in the democratic field or the democratic party right n. two, that it's manmade, man contributeis to it. tnk those are two important differences that go undebated among democrats. democrats assume that.an you're right, they got into a competition, and the gravity p of tblem is real. i mean, you've got -- now you've got 72% of people saying storms are stronger, and half of em believe that contributing to that. i mean, so you've got, i think, a growing public awareness. the fear for the democrats on a very practical level is they get into a bidding war. ni. mean, be sanders now has a $16 billion -- >> trillion. -- excuse me, trillion-dollar tag on it, and you fear from a posptical ptive, judy, that you get into unrealtyic

like the republicans wanting tos have an outright repeal on abortion ae balancing th budget and that's the problem democrats have. >> woodruff: more than half talking about a tax on carbon dioxide pollution. >> that's the breakthrough. most economists think a carbo tax for carbon mechanism is the way to. go let the markets figure it out. no politician says that becausef taxing this s is politically or merately. weave five democrats, kamala harris, and elizabeth warren said, yeaht,i'm for t they didn't elaborate, but for me it's an important break through and political courage and extremely politicallyy. ri bernie sanders is not so much for carbon pricing but for

semi-nationalizing the utilities so that's a break. i give them a lot of credit. the debates this week, the solutions are at least equal to the size of the problems, but whether it can flyn the fall where donald trump runs ainst a carbon tax on you driving your car, that can be a political risk. >> woodruff: tonight, the white house, the president is tweeting out a video, a video tweet where he's doubling down, david, on his defense of his forecaing some date last weekend that alabama was in the eye of hurricane dorian. this has been a big subject for the press this week. but is this something you think we have made - that too muc has been made of? we haven't reported on it on the "newshour", but we certainly watched and it's a remarkable scene. >> i know. the storm is right over arizona right now. (laughter)

you know, on the one hand, we've made too much, but i's a line on a map and it's sort of an onion article. on the other hand, it is donald trump being donald trump. >> woodruff: right. a, refing to admit an error when he made an error. b, telling his staff to pretend anrror hadot been made and, c, spreading false information which he picked up on tv. the president is briefed. one weather man he saw on cnn said this, but itle is that was not the true story. the primary rponsibility to have the president is to protect the cour cy by saying i saw one weather report but turns out that's not right, it's going up the coast. so donald trump is being donald trump. the question is do we always react to his exaggerations and lies again and again and again? maybe that's the right thing to do just t preserve norms. it gets a little old, though. >> woodruff: mark, somebody in the white house drew the line we just showed.th >> somebody sharpie. and i don't know who in the

(laughter)e draws with sharpieh i'll say this, judy, it was zarre in this sense, alabama for some reason occupies an normsly important emotional a political and sentimental spot nt's galaxy of affections. it was there he had his llrst din mobile where jeff sessions endorhim in the summer of 2015. he returned after the ectione to thank him. heot a bigger percentage of the vote in alabama than anybody since richard nixon against george mcgovn in 1972. but in the process he ge short shrift a ignored the plight and the suffering, not simply the human tragedy from the bahamas, but constituen in important states in florida and north carolina, and h just seems absolutely absorbed with it, when h scould just, gee, you know, thank goodness, i'm happy to report, relieved to

report i was wrong, and alabama was spared, and thank you, god, and roll tide. >> woodruff: oneer o thing that the president did this week that's g ot an lotf attention and certainly made a lot of democrats unhappy, david, but even some reblicans, the president announced he is diverting money from more than 125 military projects to build a portion of the border wall, something he promised to do, he's talked about it now for two and a half years. is athis -in, is this something the president can help himselal with polit by doing this or has he stirred up rna 's nest by taking it into his own hands where money is spent >> he stirred up a nest of extremely weak butterflies becausi don't think publicans are really going to bu much, they're not going to sting. i think, on balance, it's probably politally beneficial to him. he said i'm goingd to bu

wall. to me it's a crack pot idea, but he's least going to get to go to the voters and say, we're buildi the wall. it wouldn't surprise me if they reapportioned money and piled a few more billion on to the national debt. so they may getheir money and trump will get his wall and we'll pass more money down to the next genation. >> i'm tired ofll public figures, including politicians, pay empty words about thank you for your service, how much we admire and respect. i mean, it isn't simply the military who serv, theirer familyved, okay. 1.1 million american children have a parent who are school children in the militar service, so they move an average of six to nine times in their life. i it's new schools, it's a new adjustment. the whole family is serving. and all this business about how grateful we are, it isn't short

shrift, it's just a total indifference, it's a callousness just to honor an empty promise that he said he's going to build 500 miles and at the most 165 miles of fence in the most optimum conditions of his plge. it is outrageous and indefensible. >> woodruff: we're talking about schools,en daycarers for military families. >> and repairing facilities that are in serious disrepair. you know, kids having lunch in buildings that weren't intended as lunch rooms. you know, just the whole thing. so let's not pretendhat we hono those who serve. >> woodruff: meanwhile, davidls, we're hearing just today in a report by politico thathe republican national committee, which, of course, is very closely tied to the white house, is seriously looking at having at least four states cancel their primary presidenal

primaries, their caucuses in 2020. we're talking about south carolina, kansas, a couple of other states. we don't know how many more states. >> mark could do it, another sign of democracy thriving in america. you know, this is not a sign of political self-confidence. no. that donald trump is unwilling to have any competition. it's a sign of fear of some sort of weakness, and shutting down the democratic process so you can get 100% is sometng we associate with north korea, so it's just -- it's just a shocking disruption. >> i didn't ayknow until tow much he really does admire kim jong un. judy, what it comes down to, under party rules, 15% of the vote, if you get 15% of thefvote in the primary, you get delegates. so whether bill wellsoe or walsh or anybody else who runs and gets20%, the idea of donald a non-donald trump

delegate at the republican national convention in 2020 is unthinkable, is inconceivable an unacceptable to him, so it' being saying no primary. >> woodruff: the republican national committee say this is commission republicans have done in t past, they've canceled primary voting. >> it's a disadvantage foris virginia. this is the one chance you have to update your list is a primary because there's no partyst retion, so you find out who your party members are, who's going to vote in the prary and so forth. it's a terrible disservice to your primary just in the service of the vanity of one manf: >> woodr just when washington is looking really attractive to all of us, we no w hat a minute left in the program, but, david, we've got, w, 13 republican house members including five from the state of texas who are sayinn'g they want to be in congress, they don't want to run again and serve. >> yeah, and i don't think this is because they fear losing.

it's no fun to be here, no fun to be in the m minority, no oneo fly home and dodonor calls. the people running for office actually want to make change. >> let's be honest, donald trump plays a part. if republicans criticize, they ow what awaits them andhere hasn't been a raise in eleven year people aren't happy, citizens aren't. when you can make more money tside than inside, and david's right about being a minority, on you have been a committee their in the house of representatives to be a back bench minority meaner you're powerless, you're a eunuch at a social occasion. (laughter) >> wdruff: in fairness, we should say a few democrats have

said they're not running either but there are many more democrats than republicans in the house. >> aittle piece of trivia, there are more democrats still left from '94 wherethe blicans swept the house tha there are republicans. democrats like being in the house floor. woodruf,f: mark shields david brooks, thank you. >> woodruff: the john f. kennedy center for the performing arts re in washington has expanded for the first time in its 50- year history. jeffrey brown takes us behind the scenes as the national arts institution launches weeks of free public even tomorrow. the reports ipart of our ongoing arts and culture serie "canvas." >> brown: a weekday rehearsal the national symphony orchestra, under the baton of music director gianandrea noseda. ♪ ♪

and, one floor dow dancers finalizing their choreography for an upcoming performance. nothing unusual, but here at the kennedy center, as at most oth major performing arts centers, all this is typically behind- the-scenes, off-limits to visitors. now, opportunities to watch artists at work, hear lectures, participate in workshops on a regular basis, are all part of what kennedy center president deborah rutter calls a "21st century arts campus." >> the kenne center was opened in 1971 when the world was different. the way in which the society and our culture was engaging withfe the arts was dnt. it was much more of a spectator sport. in this tianmeas we look forward, we know that people want to bcte mo con to the art and the artists, to be more immersed in it and to participate in i

" named in"the reac honor of president kennedy's aspirational vision of the arts and in capital letters to signal something big in the nation's capital: a new nearly five-acre expansion we visited as construction was being compted. three pavilions containing ten interior multi-use spaces abane below ground. and double the outdoor spaces for community and arts programs, including films on an immense video wall. also, gardenalkways and paths that lead to a pedestrian bridge campus to the potonedy center riverfront. the project cost $250 million from private philanthropy. it was designed by arctect stephen holl, known for his uset of land angled walls. >> we wanted them to be very porous and very open. and our architects were just in line with us. and so every single space has a window that allows you to peek and see what's going on.

one of the things that i loved about stevdeen holl'gn is how he changes the ceiling as well as thflr and the walls. so you're having a new experience-- >> brown: i can hear a little music in t >> no matter where you're walking or wroking, too. >>: that is the rehearsal? >> so you will know ings are >> brown: a big idea here: find new ys to welcome younger audiences and others who may have felt left out. the john f. kennedy center for the performingrts opened in 1971 as a living memorial to the slain president. ♪ ♪ it was and is imposing, with grand hallways and thetrers housing aditional high arts su as the washington opera and the national symphony. it regularly presents the world's greatest artists as well as special, nationally- recognized programs such as the kennedy center honors and the

mark twain awards. but it's also faced its share of criticism: when it opened, the ne york times architecte critic dubbed the building, designed by edward durrell stone, a pompous "embarrassmen"" and "national tragedy." ong struggled with a sense of isolation, a geographic and elite island, apart from the surrounding city. to counter that, the cente began its popular and free "millennium stage" performances and has widened its programming with the hmielp of pnt artists such as jazz pianist jason moraanrapper and producer qas tip, as well classical stalwares yo yo ma and e fleming. y "the reach" is intended as the next big lp forward. >> the reach has formal studio spaces, classroom spaces that invite a differe level of community interaction. so now we have a space that's more of an incubator, that's more of a laboratory

brown: mark bimuthi joseph is dadancer, poet and theater artist, and also a leading arts administrator. he recently ft the yerba buena center for the arts in san francisco to join the kennedy center. we talked in the so-called" moonshot" experimental art space aboutis hybrid role as vice president and "artistic director of social impact." >> that's the transition between a peorming arts center that shows art and a performing arts center that sees itself as an and so part of my gig is to design and administer programs that maximize cross-sector conversation and maximize this idea that we don't just watch culture, we make culture. so it becomes more a workshop space thance a por witness, although you can witness lots of great art here, too. indeed, "

"the reach" is opening with a 16 day free celebration of performance. but it's also offering new programs for the local community to allow students like rising high school senior anna irwin to work with ofessional dancers. so how's the new space? >> i love it. personally, it is the biggest thing i've ever seen. wow. >> brown: wna new "culture cau"" will bring in 15 area artists to brainstorm new art to shcase, and a "social practice residency" will create art in and for communities in the all ideas to address problems manyrts organizations are wrestling with today, as traditional audiences age and younger generatns spend more time alone on their screens. what's the central problem for performing arts institutions today in america and american culture? >> i think we need to underscore the joy of being together, to

that social infrastructure that is so important and that in some ways is missing in our lives. >> brown: inevitably, too, when it comes to the arts in the nation's cital: the political divisions that seep into everything today. i asked marc bamuthi joseph how that impacts his thinking abou"" the reach." >> truth anund memory are s resources tein the current cli and that does ke me sad. so in that vacuum where memory is a little more tenuous and history ishi more vulnerab, is a realm of ideas that somebody has to propagate. someone has to be responsible, not ly for the moral infrastructure of this country, but the infrastructure of imagination. and if it's not going to be an art center, then we're doomed. >> brown: to which one might say, in hope: let the festivities begin, which they

will this weeken for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the john f. kennedy center for the performing arts in washington ..c >> woodruff: we close with our >> woodruff: before we go, we want to take a moment to thank one of our own. jeff rattner is retiring after more than 30 years of working beatnd the camerhe newshour. we will miss you, jeff. but wish you welveon this next ure. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy oouff. have a great weekend. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: life well-planned. learn morees at raymondjam.com.

>> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problats-- skollfoun.org. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, g ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the tgoing suppor se institutions and friends of the newshour.

♪ hell everyone and welcome to "ayman four & s." here what's coming up. >> we're the only nation that has a major political par that denies climate science and says that it' not at problem. >> the climarisis m mes its emocratice top of the agenda. i speak toda presidential candidate core booker about his plan to tn america's economy green. >> order. order. >> then, theam british part rejects a no-deal breks-inch. speak to a rebel lawmaker who helped defeat the prime minister anthe political scientist yasha m ho nk explains what's ing to british democracy plus --