our jeff greenfield takes a closer look. and battleground pennsylvania-- will voters in coal country go for clinton or trump? next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust. supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thanks for joining us. as about 5,000 delegates are descending on philadelphia for the democratic national convention that starts tomorrow, the party is experiencing a change in leade

analysis of the kaine pick, i am joined from philadelphia by newshour weekend special correspondent jeff greenfield jeff, why tim kaine? how does he help hillary clinton? >> well, it's a choice that actually many people had predicted because it was-- if nothing else, it was a way of communicating that hillary clinton, as she said, has a reasonableness gene. mayor, lieutenant governor, governor, senator. the reverse of a donald trump with no experience. i think what maybe not many people expected was that the roll-out today showed a tim kaine that very few of us knew-- really good on his feet, very warm, very moving, very funny, speaking without notes fair great length of time. so i think after he appeared, there were more people who said, "oh, i see why she picked him." >> sreenivasan: and there was a different vibe in that roll-out speech as well. donald trump got a lot of criticism for the fact that he didn't even stay on stage very long with mike pence. >> yeah, i think-- i think part of what they were trying to communicate was this is a comfortable two-some. she's not upstaging him. she's perfe

jeff greenfield, thanks for joining us. >> pleasure. >> sreenivasan: climate change, particularly rising sea levels, is leading to a new category of people now being called "climate refugees." in one community, 60 miles southwest of new orleans, a tribe of native americans is seeing its homeland slowly disappear underwater. they now face an imminent decision to relocate, and the plan for them to do so may set the standard for other coastal communities who face the same challenge in the decades to come. driving the road to isle de jean charles feels like you're heading straight into the gulf of mexico-- until finally you reach a tiny sliver of land, land that's being swallowed by the sea. in the past 60 years, 98% of this island has disappeared. this is what it looked like in 1963, about 11 miles long and five miles wide. this is what it looks like today, about two miles long and a quarter of a mile wide. albert naquin is chief of a native american tribe that has called this island home since the 1800s. he first told us about these changes during our visit for pbs newshour four years ago.

and in the new daily beast article is jeff greenfield, a former political analyst, and multi award winneror cbs and nbc and you wrote that he is absolutely sure that there is nothing wrong with that kind of encounter, and so what would he make of the criticism? >> well, he'd make it what they generally make of the criticism, and these are people opposed to all of the good things that he wants to do, and they have a political agenda, and they are making a mountain out of the mole hill, and my point of this is that anybody else faced with the situation would have thought, wait a second, i can't go to have a private meeting with the attorney general, and she is in charge of the department that is looking into my wife's behavior with her serv server, and my belief that goes back decades is that the clintons behave the way they do in part because they know in their own minds that they are on the side of the angels, and therefore the people opposing them are on the side of the not angels, and what they do however sketchy it may seem to some is all in the purpose of the greater good, and that ex

jeff greenfield, any response to what i had to say?> i think you missed the essential. >> tell me. >> it's the character and temperament issue. not what he says about policies, which can change by the minute. for me, the line that most underlines trump is, "i alone can fix this." that is caesarism. what you like, no reference to reagan -- what i found, no reference to anybody. in that speech, no one else existed. not the founding fathers, not lincoln, not reagan. no one. and for anybody to look at this process that we have and say i alone can fix it, it's not just a narcissism or ego mania. it is so fundamental a break with how the united states is supposed to work that i find that the most important and consequential line, and it renders much of what you said, not inaccurate, but irrelevant. >> i came of age, you know, admiring and still do, ronald reagan. what i admired about trump, if that's the right word, he didn't feel the obligation to say ronald reagan was my hero, carl. >> doesn't matter. above all else, he's a capital d demag

what a nice combination, welcome. >> good to be here. >> rose: jeff greenfield, you went to work with him. >> absolutely. >> rose: you have been covering hillary clinton, been chief political correspondent covering with a broader perspective and at the white house. bill clinton speaks tonight. we're taping this at 9:00 before knowing exactly what his speech is. what do you suspect? >> we have been told this will be a very personal speech. bill clinton does personal pretty well. >> rose: yes. and he, of course, can make an argument for his wife that most people cannot. she probably doesn't want to talk about everything, but in the early part of this campaign, he was talking about the fact she's a very effective changemaker. that's a word he used often. talked about not only did she have big goals but saw them through is that that's essential for them because they're saying she's part of the establishment. donald trump is saying i am change, i have been around, she's been part of the problem. >> in a way, it's almost a contrast with president obama because basically what he's saying is

special correspondent jeff greenfield is in cleveland with a sampling of those views and a preview of the four-day gathering. >> reporter: there's a good reason why the rock 'in roll hal of fame is in cleveland. it was here, on wjw am radio in the early 1950s, that disc jockey alan freed began playing records that introduced a generation-- white as well as black-- to the music that has evolved and endured. but when rock music first hit mainstream america some six decades ago, in cleveland first, then across the country-- it was an intensely polarizing force. >> rock and roll has got to go! >> reporter: liberating, empowering to some, dangerous, malevolent to others. next week, another polarizing force arrives in cleveland. >> we are in a rigged, rigged system. >> reporter: a candidate whose past-- and path to the nomination-- is unlike any ever chosen by either major party. jo ann davidson is a national committeewoman from ohio, who attended her first convention as a delegate for gerald ford in 1976. >> i've always thought americans wanted kind of the gary cooper type, the john wayne

special correspondent jeff greenfield in cleveland has this a tale of two delegates who personify the gap between trump's most ardent supporters and detractors. >> reporter: carl paladino is a millionaire real estate and business entrepreneur from upstate new york. he was the republican candidate for governor in 2010 and an early trump supporter. >> he's bringing salvation. i think america right now is in a big transition, and no question, this is the second american revolution that we're witnessing today. >> reporter: new hampshire's gordon humphrey served two terms in the u.s. senate, where he was known as a staunch conservative. a kasich supporter, he was part of the failed "never trump" movement that tried to "unbind" pledged delegates from having to vote for trump on the convention's first ballot. >> i am utterly concerned and even frightened for our country. i think donald trump is burdened by a pretty sick psyche. he seems to me a man who operates without a conscience; he has no sense of guilt, shame, embarrassment, remorse, regret. this man should not be president, much less c

newshour special correspondent jeff greenfield takes a look at how this particular convention process has mattered in the past. >> mr. chairman, the garden state, proudly casts all its votes for the next president of the united states, mitt romney! >> reporter: these are the convention moments that take center stage, choosing a nominee, the speech to the nation, the circus-like celebrations. >> you'd like us to first vote to reconsider the amendment, then you'd like us to retract the amendment. >> reporter: and this is the stuff of which glazed eyes are made-the committee meetings that shape the party's platform, approve convention rules, and fight over credentials for the delegates. but the fact is that what happens in those meetings often plays a critical role in what happens in arenas like this one, which has seen four conventions in recent years, and can also decide the future direction of a party. take the question of rules. if the forces opposed to donald trump have any hope of derailing the presumptive nominee, it would be through changes in the convention rules-- rules that wo

our jeff greenfield takes a closer look. and battleground pennsylvania-- will voters in coal country go for clinton or trump? next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust. supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. corporate funding is provided by mutual o

>> it was a very different time. >> we are not, as jeff greenfield underscores, talking about just anfib. >> the "washington post" when it does its fact checks they found that roughly two-thirds of his statements are flatly, factually false. the dilemma is you can't in a newscast say, donald trump was serially lied his way through the last -- you can't do that. even if you thought that was true. >> even if you could stay something like that, media gate keepers have lost a lot of their impact. meet adam sharp. head of news, government and elections for twitter. >> donald trump has recognized that he can have a direct connection to millions of supporters, without having to rely on any third party infrastructure. it used to be a candidate would have to get booked on the evening news to reach millions of people with that sound byte they wanted to drive the agenda that day. donald trump picks up his phone, types a sentence, collision send. and now millions of people have that message delivered directly to them. >> what happens next is far from a foregone conclusion. a recent cbs news/"new

. ♪ continue this evening with jeff greenfield. a political analyst, author, and former cbs senior political correspondent. i am pleased to have him. i want to start about writing speeches. you wrote speeches for john lindsay, bobby kennedy, you are pretty good at it. jeff: many private citizens. charlie: the ceo here and there he echoed jeff: -- a ceo here and there? jeff: mostly politicians. charlie: what is the art? jeff: you have to understand the difference between the written word and the spoken word. most importantly, you've got to find the voice of the person for who you are writing. write the greatest , but if it does not fit, it is like a 38 regular on a guy who wears a 48 all stop people can sense it -- a 48. people can sense it. people are listening. they cannot see it. specifics. hd picture. don't use -- paint the picture. don't use extractions. charlie: how would you write bill clinton? heat is known as an explainer rather than inspirational. barack obama is a much more inspiring, broad -- jeff: absolutely. first of a

and the award winner covering so many of these, jeff greenfield, any response to what i had to say?> i think you missed the essential. >> tell me. >> it's the character and temperament issue, not what he says about policies which can change by the minute. for me, this line that most underlines trump is, i alone can fix this. that is caesarism. but you like no reference to reagan. no reference to anybody in that speech. no one else existed. not the founding fathers, not lincoln, not reagan, no one. and for anybody to look at this process that we have and say i alone can fix it, it's not just narcissism or egomania. it is so fundamental a break with how the united states is supposed to work that i find the most important and consequential law not inadequate but irrelevant. >> i admired ronald reagan. what i admire about trump is he didn't feel the obligation to say ronald reagan was my hero, karl. >> above all else, he's a capital deep demagogue. he's a demagogue in a way we have never had a candidate who has received the nomination of one of the major parties for president of the uni

jeff greenfield, his work is available online. politico.com and we will look for your work on the pbs news hour. thank you for being with us. live outside the wells fargo center with about one hour before the gavel comes down. miss the want to rollcall states. we will have that during underway at about 5:00 time. big speeches will be former president bill clinton talking on behalf of his wife who will formally accept the nomination on thursday and we're back on the floor with my colleague, susan swain. [chanting "hell no dnc, we won't go -- we won't vote for hillary "] >> bernie or bust. >> we want bernie sanders. we are not having our voices heard. >> we want bernie. >> look at these two walls. that is why we all left. hillary and trump are the exact same people and this is ridiculous. we are going to end up with a trump presidency and that is not on me, that is on the dnc. shame"] ing "shame, >> you cannot avoid us. >> spread out. hell no, dnc, we won't vote ] r hillary" "> chanting "bernie beats trump >> let me explain to you w

it was -- it was -- and jeff greenfield said, this is what conventions used to be like.. >> everybody aired their dirty laundry out there. >> but last night, whoa. ted cruz. and it seems, if he was trying to help himself in 2020, at least the feeling around this set is all he did was help donald trump in 2016 unite a frared party. >> he's betting on trump not just losing by a little, losing by a lot. i mean, you know, i have always thought that there's a bunch of people, even the ones that took forever to get on, who have always been -- if you're doing that, you're not just betting on trump losing. you're betting on him losing in a landslide. you're almost rooting for it at this point. a close loss, they won't ever forget. >> let's be clear. ted cruz is not almost rooting for donald trump. >> he's in. >> he's all in, rooting. >> he put his chips over there, and you're like, wow. because it's gutsy. >> in primetime. >> and you have to say, it's angered 45%, 50% of the party forever. >> there will be some -- and vice versa, though. look, it was risk that the trump folks de