Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. The lemelson foundation. 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. Woodruff the fur kept flying today, in the raucous republican president ial race. Donald trump and his rivals were back on the road hours after their debate in detroit. So how many of yall watched the debate last night . We had some fireworks on stage. Im not here to attack anyone. We did plenty of that last night, i suppose. When im on a debate stage and i have all these people throwing things at me, youve got to fight back. Woodruff fallout from the g. O. P. sfullon civil war in detroit was still in the air at Todays Campaign events. Last nights rhetoric last night ranged from personal slights i have a policy question for you, sir. Lets see if he answers it. I will. Dont worry about it, marco. Dont worry about it. Dont worry about it little marco, i will. All right, well, lets hear it, big donald. Dont worry about it, little marco. Woodruff . To downright vulgarity look at those hands. Are they small hands . laughter and he referred to my hands, if they are small, Something Else must be small. I guarantee you there is no problem. I guarantee. laughter woodruff donald trump was the overwhelming focus. With rivals ted cruz and marco rubio on a Furious Mission to slow his march to the nomination. At times, they tagteamed, as on the Trump University real estate seminars now the subject of lawsuits claiming fraud. Hes trying to con people into giving him their vote just as he conned those people. If we nominate donald, were going to spend the fall and the summer with the republican nominee facing a fraud trial. Its a minor civil case. Woodruff fox news moderators Chris Wallace and megyn kelly also pushed trump on his frequent changes of position, and on the math behind his proposals. You say that medicare could save 300 billion a year, negotiating lower drug prices. But medicare total only spends 78 billion a year on drugs. Sir, thats the facts. You are talking about saving more money on medicare prescription drugs. Im saying saving through negotiation throughout the economy, you will save 300 billion a year. But that doesnt really cut the federal deficit. Woodruff and through it all, Ohio Governor john kasich strove again to stay above the fray. I have never tried to go and get into these scrums that were seeing here on the stage. And, people say everywhere i go, you seem to be the adult on the stage. Woodruff in the end, though, all four candidates pledged to support the g. O. P. Nominee whomever that turns out to be. Meanwhile, kasich and cruz addressed cpac, the annual meeting of conservative activists, outside washington today. Rubio is scheduled to speak there tomorrow. But trump announced hes skipping his appearance, to campaign in kansas, instead. Republicans have contests there on saturday, and in kentucky, louisiana and maine. As for the democrats, senator Bernie Sanders again slammed Hillary Clinton on trade policy, in edwardsville, illinois. Secretary clinton supported nafta and permanent normal trade relations. That has cost us millions of jobs as a nation. Woodruff . But in detroit today, clinton fired back when it comes to trade i wont support any agreement unless it helps create good jobs, higher wages for American Workers and protects national security. Woodruff the two democrats have their contests tomorrow in kansas, louisiana and nebraska. And, late today, republican president ial candidate dr. Ben carson made it official he suspended his campaign. Well return to the president ial race, with shields and brooks, later in the program. In the days other news, the u. S. Economy has turned in another strong month despite a Global Economic slowdown. The Labor Department reported that u. S. Employers added 242,000 jobs in february, led by the retail, restaurant and health care sectors. The Unemployment Rate held steady at 4. 9 , as more people started looking for work. At the white house, president obama met with his economic advisors and said the numbers prove his detractors wrong. There seems to be an alternative reality out there from some of the political folks, that america is down in the dumps. Its not. America is pretty darn great right now and making strides right now and Small Businesses and Large Businesses alike are hiring right now. Woodruff continued low unemployment may also open the door to the Federal Reserve raising Interest Rates again in june. Slowing growth in china is taking a bite out of military spending. Beijing announced today its Defense Budget will increase this year by 78 the slowest pace in six years. Since 2000, china has mostly hiked military spending by doubledigits. In syria, rebel groups charged today that Government Forces are still attacking just a day after the u. N. Voiced optimism about a weekold ceasefire. Activists reported warplanes hit a rebelheld town near the capital, damascus, for the First Time Since fighting was supposed to stop. Syrian peace talks are due to resume in geneva next wednesday. A court in turkey has sentenced two syrian smugglers to four years in prison, in the death of a threeyearold boy. The childs body washed up on a beach last september, and the images sparked international outrage. Today, the court in ankara convicted the two men on smuggling charges, but it found them not guilty of causing the boys death. The defense blamed his father, who has since returned to syria. Back in this country, a flurry in the o. J. Simpson murder case more than 20 years after he was acquitted. Los Angeles Police confirmed today theyre investigating a knife purportedly found at the site of simpsons former home. They say someone spotted the knife apparently when the home was torn down in the late 90s and gave it to a nowretired police officer. But he failed to turn it in until recently. I dont know what the circumstances are and why that didnt happen. Or if thats entirely accurate. Or if this whole story is possibly bogus from the get go, including a variety of people. So were looking into that. But i was quite shocked. Woodruff nbc news reported later that the knife is inconsistent with other evidence, and, it is likely that double jeopardy would bar another murder trial for simpson, regardless. He was acquitted in 1995 of stabbing to death his exwife nicole and her friend ron goldman. He is now serving prison time in nevada for Armed Robbery and kidnapping in a separate case. And, wall street finished out its week with modest gains. The Dow Jones Industrial average was up nearly 63 points to close back above 17,000. The nasdaq rose nine points, and the s p 500 added six. For the week, the dow was up 2 . The nasdaq and the s p increased well over 2. 5 . Still to come on the newshour brazil in dire straights the zika virus, corruption, and olympic woes; european leaders tough message for economic migrants; the cost of closing hospitals in rural america, and much more. Woodruff brazil was already reeling from economic woes and the onset of the zika virus. When this morning, a popular former president was detained in a wideranging corruption probe. We go to Hari Sreenivasan for more. Sreenivasan Luis Inacio Lula da silva was the wildly popular president of brazil from 2003 to 2010. But this morning, lula, as hes known, was brought to a Police Station in sao paulo for questioning by officials; a large crowd of his supporters formed outside. Lula was questioned as part of a major politicalcorruption scandal involving the countrys gigantic state oil company, petrobras. All this comes as the country faces the threat from the zika virus, a damaging recession and hosting duties for the summer olympics. Im joined from rio by simon romero of the New York Times. Just to get our audience up to speed, whats this investigation all about . Well, its a sprawling inquiry into the bribery and kickbacks that took place around petrobras which is company of incredible importance to the brazilian economy. It made huge offshore Oil Discoveries about a decade ago and really contributed to brazils rise as a developing world powerhouse but turns out politicians and huge Construction Companies and contractors were looting the company for years, creating this vast scheme of hundreds of millions of dollars of bribes and now its engulfing one of the countrys most towering political figures who is lula. Sreenivasan is it the quantity of money being pushed off the books . Because unfortunately, corruption is a reality p in lots of parts of the world. Brazil is not immune to it before. So why is this one such a big deal . In some cases, yes, it does have to do with the quantity of money. One executive at petrobras, a relatively obscure, midlevel manager managed to take almost 100 million in bribes himself and had to give back almost all of that money as part of a plea deal. So the amounts involved are just astonishing. So even in a country like brazil which had been hardened in a sense to stories of corruption throughout carious levels of government, the Petrobras Scandal has just been astonishing for many people. Sreenivasan put this in economic context for us. Whats happening to the economy now and why are people paying more attention to this scandal . Well, the memories of brazils incredible boom of the previous decade when, you know, the country really immerged on the global stage and won its bids to host the Olympic Games and world cup are really a thing of the past. The figures released just this week show that economy sh rank 3. 8 in 2015, the worst economic plunge in 25 years, and some economists are claiming that its going to be the worst and most severe recession in the country in nearly a century. So its a huge dilemma that the countrys leaders are now facing, and in part its one of their own making. You know, they put into motion these policies which are creating the crisis theyre experiencing today. Sreenivasan this is also happening at a time when everyone around the world is concerned for brazil because of the zika virus. Thats right, the epidemic around the virus is yet another blow to brazil at a very delicate time for the country. Its been spreading very quickly throughout northeast brazil at a povertystricken region and now youre finding in more and more cases birth defects linked to zika in the big cities, in the more industrialized part of the country in rio and saaao paulo. Sreenivasan thats having a Ripple Effect on the Olympic Games to start in a few months. There are olympic teams around the world wondering whether or not they should bring their athletes to brazil and ticket sales are down a lot more than projected. Its been yet another disappointment in brazils preparations for the games. Theyre already dealing with a polluted bay here in rio where the sailing competition will take place, and zika is presenting a dilemma to the athletes competing in rio and to the fans considering coming, the centers for Disease Control and the United States just issued a warning advising pregnant women about coming to rio at this time, so the risks are very clear to a lot of people. Sreenivasan simon romero from the New York Times joining us via skype, thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Woodruff we turn now to the refugee crisis overwhelming europe. New border restrictions have left more than 10,000 migrants stranded at the crossing between greece and macedonia. Food and supplies are running low, and conditions worsened with an overnight downpour. The backup also stretches south, to athens, where hundreds spent another night in an open square. European union and turkish leaders will discuss the crisis at a summit on monday. Im joined now by david osullivan, the e. U. s ambassador to the United States. Mr. Ambassador, welcome back to the newshour. Thank you very much. Woodruff from where we sit in the United States, this migrant crisis looks like its gone from a disaster to catastrophe. How do you see it . Well, this is the greatest refugee crisis weve faced since the Second World War and, of course, its a global crisis, not just a crisis facing europe, the neighboring countries of syria have suffered hugely, large numbers of migrants in lebanon, jordan and, of course, turkey and the European Union has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of refugees and asylum seekers, 1. 25 million last year, doubled from the previous year, and put our systems and structures under strain. There has been a huge outpouring of compassion by european systems but our systems are straining over the outflows and we have been struggling to find a comprehensive solution. The president of the European Council has been touring in the balkans and meeting with the turkish leaders and issued a letter ahead of the very important meeting taking place monday which is not only turkey uh but a further meeting of the European Council indicating he thinks there is a growing consensus as to finding a comprehensive solution to the humanitarian tragedy. Woodruff and how would that work . Well, its a solution which necessarily has many parts. First of all, we have to try to solve the problem in syria which is at the origin of this. Weve had the cessation of hostilities, were very grateful in what the United States is doing in trying to broker a political settlement in syria. We need to assist the neighboring countries, jordan, lebanon and turkey. Were the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to those countries and just reached agreement to give turkey an additional 3 billion euro to facilitate their management of refugees within turkey. In addition, were hoping that turkey will limit the countries countries from which they came in due course. Woodruff what proportion of these migrants were watching stranded at the border are people genuinely fleeing a war zone and how many or what percentage or as you describe them are looking for better Economic Opportunity and they come from difficult to have very precise numbers but i would say the majority are indeed people fleeing from conflict, whether in syria or other parts of the world, but there is also a substantial minority who clearly are trying to make their way to europe for understandable reasons of trying to make a better life but not necessarily fleeing from a conflict and they would probably not qualify under International Law for Refugee Status or asylum. Woodruff we heard president Francois Hollande of france say a couple of weeks that this crisis threatens to break up the European Union. Do you think its that close to dissolving this organization . I dont think the European Union is going to dissolve anytime soon. Its a very robust commitment of european people to the integration weve achieved, the single currency to economic interests and political values which bind us together, but it is true, this crisis is creating strains and stresses between our Member States and we have to absolutely find a way better to manage the crisis in order avoid that these strains become too severe. Thats what we hope will happen at the meeting monday. Its a tedious process. We have 28 sovereign Member States, we have he western balkans with turkey, trying to get a coordinated response through these different interests does take time and sometimes decisionmaking in europe can be slow but i believe we are slowly moving towards a new phase in the crisis where we will be able to much better able to manage it. Woodruff david osullivan, ambassador to the United States. Thank you. Thank you. Woodruff stay with us. Coming up on the newshour mark shields and david brooks on the fierce fight for the republican nomination; a New York Times film critic explains why criticism boosts creativity; and the man visiting all 59 National Parks in 59 weeks. But first, Rural Communities around the country have experienced a wave of hospital closures in the last five years, with hundreds more on shaky financial footing. For many small towns, it all adds up to hard times that may soon get harder. Sarah varney has our report from georgia. This story was produced in collaboration with our partner Kaiser Health news. Its just sad. And the hospital, oh my goodness. Reporter sybil ammons is a fixture in the town of lumpkin, georgia, population 1,500. For years, she was the director of nursing at the countys only hospital in nearby richland. Now, shes the county coroner. Our people built this hospital. Our ancestors my momma worked over there before i did. My sister was born over there. Reporter the hospital closed in 2013. Since then, ammons can count off the local residents she thinks have been harmed or died because they couldnt reach medical care quickly enough. Weve had a stroke, several heart attacks, several cardiac problems. Weve had traumas out on the fourlane; i would say at least 10 to 15 people have had bad outcomes from the closing. Reporter two hundred miles away in folkston, georgia, near the okefenokee swamp, pam renshaw had to bypass her towns closed hospital when she needed it most. After a day of yardwork, renshaw overturned her fourwheeler, spilling into a fire pit used to burn trash. Her thenboyfriend, billy chavis, pulled her from the fire and patted down the flames on her body with his bare hands. Whenever i got in the truck, everything right here just fell in my lap. And i just pulled it back up, and im like, oh my gosh. Its bad, isnt it . And i said, yeah, we got to get you to a doctor. And i seriously thought i was going to lose her. And the whole time im driving to town, the palms of my hands, where i burnt my hands, i said, where do i go . Where do i go . Reporter the hospital had closed just months before renshaws accident, leaving chavis scrambling. He first tried the e. M. T. Office. When he didnt find anyone, he ran to the Police Station and a dispatcher summoned an ambulance. Renshaw was airlifted to a hospital in gainesvile, florida, 100 miles away. It was an hour and a half before doctors tended to her. It burnt like 45 of my body. Which you can see my whole arm. All the way across my stomach, all the way down this leg. Reporter renshaw was in a medicallyinduced coma for three months and spent nearly eight months in the hospital. Her body remains terribly scarred. Dangerous industrial jobs drive the economy in folkston, and renshaws accident spooked this small town of 5,000. Local leaders are still trying to reopen the hospital. More than 50 rural hospitals across the country have closed since 2010, and hundreds more are in fragile financial condition. Its a trend hastened by declining revenues and a restructuring of the Health Care Industry that rewards scale and connectivity difficult goals for hospitals that are small and remote. As rural hospitals have closed here, in georgia, hundreds of people have lost their jobs. And many small towns have been left reeling. In glenwood, georgia, the hospital has been abandoned for more than a year. Inside, antiquated security cameras flicker between images of empty hallways and stillmade beds. In the hospital laboratory, its as if the workers simply got up one day and left. Unplugged refrigerators still hold vials of blood. There are signs of decay outside, too; after the hospital closed, the bank and the towns only restaurant quickly followed suit. Next may be the nursing home. We have a 50bed facility, and we have 35 residents. Thats a threat to us. Thats very detrimental. If we go any lower, we might have to close, because we cant meet the financial standards. We cant meet the financial obligations. Reporter the hospital was the towns largest employer, and the loss of more than 100 jobs was yet another blow to a Rural Community accustomed to hardship. This through the years has been a hair salon, styling type shop with tanning beds and that kind of stuff, and its vacant now. Reporter g. M. Joiner has been glenwoods mayor for three decades; his father was the mayor before him. Joiner says without the traffic from hospital workers and visitors, local businesses are barely hanging on. The owner of the local grocery store, d. K. Patel, says sales have plummeted. After the hospital closed, we dropped about 30 sales. Its been hurting a lot. All i can say is its been hurting a lot. Obviously, it was our lifeblood, mainstay. Its not overemphasizing or trying to be a doomsday prophet, but its devastating. Reporter across the country, rural hospitals have struggled to adapt to a steady decline in rural populations and to a new reality a series of budget control measures passed by Congress Cut Medicare payments. Further, 19 states have not expanded medicaid under the Affordable Care act, also known as obamacare. Thats left many rural hospitals with unpaid bills just as federal subsidies for the uninsured are scheduled to taper off. For many patients in these small towns, the price has been steep. Sue and joe connell of glenwood, age 75 and 77, now must drive two hours roundtrip to their doctors appointments. There are no physicians practicing anywhere in their county. Joe connell has a blood disorder and other medical problems that keep him and his wife on the road almost daily. Im seeing about four different doctors in dublin. Some trips, like this week, were making three trips. 90 of the miles put on our cars is going to the doctor in dublin, you know. It costs us. Costs a bunch of money to go back and to. Reporter the pace of the closures has only escalated in recent years, and the National RuralHealth Association says more than 280 hospitals with 700,000 patient visits are at risk of shutting down. Chuck adams travels the state meeting local health care leaders. Hes the executive Vice President of the georgia hospital association. Towns like glenwood have always had a hospital. When that hospital closed, then these residents immediately lost access without an opportunity to figure out what that next access model was. When you have time to figure it out, i think there are models out there that could work. Reporter while the closures have disrupted emergency care, reduced options for pregnant women and drained doctors from some Rural Communities, researchers have found on average that closing down a rural hospital doesnt increase the chances of death. Indeed, a separate investigation by the wall street journal found surgeries at many rural hospitals carried a greater risk of complications. And, for some emergencies, patients can receive better quality care at larger hospitals that treat more cases. Reporter alan kent is c. E. O. Of meadows Regional Medical center, a bustling, modern hospital in vidalia, georgia that has taken in patients from neighboring towns like glenwood. He says while rural residents need access to primary and urgent care, not every town can sustain a hospital with costly medical equipment and a roster of specialists. There has to be sort of a Critical Mass to be able to make any business viable, and especially a community hospital. We have to be more efficient in hospitals if we are going to be sustainable. And i think thats one of the things that youre seeing, thats driving the consolidation in the industry. Reporter back in glenwood, joe and sue connell sit on their front porch watching the traffic leave town. They worry that someday soon, they, too, may need to leave for good. I got where i cant drive. I dont know what were going to do when she gets where she cant drive. Reporter for the pbs newshour and Kaiser Health news, im sarah varney in glenwood, georgia. Woodruff in the coming days, well look at a hospital in rural texas that turned similar challenges into opportunity, and in the process, became one of the top hospitals in the nation. Woodruff tensions over g. O. P. Frontrunner, donald trump, are playing out at the conservative Political Action conference, cpac. Although his campaign canceled the scheduled appearance at the annual conservative gathering, hes top of mind for conference attendees. What im seeing so far is that people around the country are speaking. Theyre sending a message as an elected official i need to listen. Thats what i intend to do. That doesnt mean im not going to vote for trump. If hes our nominee, thats who ill vote for. Im thinking never trump. I want somebody whos conservative and that will get government out to the individual people and let us have our liberty. The opposition is no choice, you see, so it should not be never somebody, it should be somebody thats a conservative that runs on the conservative ticket. You will notice that he does very well in open primaries as opposed to closed primaries. Among republicans, hes not really that popular and loses when its just republicans, but among democrats who can come over and vote, he wins by a lot. I will not vote for donald trump if hes the nominee. This year i was excited. I was looking at scott walker and a number of different candidates. If donald trump wins, i dont believe he will be good at all. I disagree with his policies and has an often forced behavior. Woodruff and that brings us to the analysis of shields and brooks. Thats syndicated columnist mark shields, and New York Times columnist david brooks whos joining us today from santa barbara, california. And we welcome you both, gentlemen. So the cpac conference, that was going on today, it will continue through the weekend, ppened in detroit . Ke of whatght. Embarrassing, demoralizing. I have been in waco, texas, and out here this week, and ive never seen so many republicans depressed. Ive seen moderate republicans say they dont recognize their party, now the conservatives. First the tone of the debate, what donald trump decided to speak about, and then the nasty back and forth and shallow name calling. It was a demoralizing debate and for a lot of republicans the worst possible outcome with trump marching and others hanging around and worried about the future of the party if there is one. Woodruff demoralizing . Hat strikes me about the debate is the name Ronald Reagan is invoked by everybody and luke canon, Ronald Reagans biographer for more than a quarter of a century, said of Ronald Reagan, anybody in the crowd heard Ronald Reagan, they felt good about them and felt better about themselves. There is no way that anybody who is not a fierce partisan or blind partisan of one of the candidates could watch last night and feel better about themselves or their country. When the frontrunner for the republican nomination to succeed to the office that has been graced by washington and lincoln and f. D. R. Publicly boast about the dimensions of his private parts, he reached a new low. I mean, it is dispiriting, its beyond partisanship, its just discouraging as a citizen, and i dont know what we do other than tune out to this. I know we cant but i just dont think you should encourage it by listening to this stuff. Woodruff david, does this hurt donald trump, does it hurt all the candidates . Who is affected and damaged by this or is anybody . Well see. You know, i think well see whether i think ultimately the debate helped him because the candidates said theyd support him in the end. One of the things we noticed in this campaign, donald trump has more courage, whatever you may think of him, and i dont think much of him, he has more courage than his opponents, and for his opponents to say hes a scam artist and a liar and will hurt the country but i will support him and it was a lack of courage on their part to go there and mitt romney said he would support them. Thats not case. Normally you support your partys nominee, but with trump, you say ill go third party or not vote in the general election. So that third party hurts trump. Well see if a romney officialdom can launch an attack on him. Voters like hes i politically incorrect and a change agent, but go after him because the fact hes a narcissist and thinks of himself and betrayed all those around him. Theyre beginning to lay the case and may be too late but i think its the most effective against him. Woodruff what is the most damaging case, mark . Do you agree with david this doesnt necessarily hurt donald trump what happened . It hasnt up to now. At some point, it becomes cumulative, judy. I think where they failed to make the case, first of all, mitt romney who had to be an act of conscience on his part to make the statement, it was no political payoff for him, to no Real Advantage politically or personally for him to do it, to make that statement. The problem in mitt romneys statement first of all is he himself did not acknowledge he sought and accepted gratefully Donald Trumps endorsement in 2012, but at the same time his ledges is youre being bamboozled. Youre not quite bright enough to understand this. What they have to do is exactly what was done to mitt romney in 2012 and that was to show the people or at least to present the people. Who they had been hurt by his economic activities. Remember the company that bayne had taken over and closed the jobs and asked people to build the stage when they announced the jobs were going overseas. You have to show people woodruff whether Trump UniversityTrump University or the Small Companies hurt when he went into bankruptcy, put people out of business, people who lost their jobs and savings and put a human face on it and they havent done that. When you say anybody but trump, thats no endorsement for any other candidate. Woodruff what about the argument, david, mitt romney made yesterday in he called donald trump a con artist. He used just about every negative term one can think of. Is that going to make any difference . Well, you have to believe that at some point trump voters like any other rely on the information they have and a lot of the trump voters buy trumps version of events which is that hes a successful businessman and hes made a ton of money. But there is another version of events which is trump workage, Trump University, trump state, Trump Airline and the bankruptcies and that hes not a successful businessman, hes a marketing gene just and people got pushed into sub prime loans by trump porgts or got sucked into courses on Trump University and left high and dry when those Companies Went belly up. Thats a story that can be told. He is a mass and serial betrayer. I think thats the line that can be used. But i have to assume all voters are information voters and, as they get more information, they can change their minds. Woodruff but if its not trump, mark, who is it . Which one of these other candidates . Ted cruz has won four states, marco rubios won one state. I mean, is it mitt romney . If you want to know how weak the republican field is against trump at this point, Bernie Sanders has won more states than all the other republicans other than donald trump. One can talk about Bernie Sanders has made a marvelous ensurgent candidacy, but they havent been competitive. John kasich got very good reviews last night which encourages him to stay on the stage. Nobody outside of the kasich family sees any logical way that john kasich can win the nomination other than by some weirdly broken convention outside of erie, ohio, that somebody brokers. As long as the three of them none of them has the strength. Marco rubio, i think, is reduced in stature as a consequence of his going back and forth in this sort of Junior High School locker room language with donald trump, and cruz just doesnt show to have the kind of reach beyond a certain regional appeal. But david, wasnt it mitt romneys recommendation that voters support, i think he said, rubio in florida, kasich in ohio, cruz in i mean, hes encouraging everyone to stay in. Strategically, the idea is to prevent trump from getting a majority of delegates but, judy, i would say this is bigger than one nomination. This is about the future of the Republican Party and the country. For almost a century and a half the Republican Party has stood for a certain free market version of america thats about openness, markets, opportunity, and a definition of what this country is. Donald trump offers a very contrasting image. Its an image of closedness, an image of building walls, closing barriers, an authoritarian style of leadership. So the Republican Partys future is at stake. You know, i think preserving that future in some coherent form is the number one task of the party. A senator is advocating a temporary third party, a conservative to run for president , split the right wing conservative voted, lose the white house but at least preserve the integrity of the party and the house of representatives if you could get conservatives to show up for the polls. But thats the frame in which to think, its not just about one year, its about the long tradition of american politics which may be being replaced. Woodruff in the short run that could be good news for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders or whoever is the democratic nominee. It could be but, at the same time, i dont write off donald trump by any means. If youre one of the two candidates on the field woodruff you mean if there were three no, i mean if, in fact, he is the nominee running against Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, seems most plausibly Hillary Clinton right now, Hillary Clinton has tied herself, judy, to president obama. She has run as hillary obama. She has made an appeal to africanamerican voters, the most loyal of democrats at the she represents a continuation. So whatever happens, whatever the october surprise is of 2016 and how president obama handles it or doesnt handle it, her fate is tied to him and his performance and the performance of his administration over the next eight months. So, you know, its not a laydown hand as some democrats say, oh, theres no way donald trump donald trump has enlarged the electorate in a way that is impressive. I mean, yes, hes alienated a lot of the people davids described, hes brought in a lot of other people to vote in the republican primary. Woodruff and what about that . There are a lot of people who came out to vote in the primaries and caucuses who werent engaged at least in the last few election cycles, trump brought them out. Right, they have been displaced by the economic crisis, they feel they have been displaced by globalization and the political class. Its hard to see how that wakes up into a National Governing majority. Anybody could win. There could be a terrorist attack, recession, nobody knows and trump could somehow vault into the white house. But given the numbers now, its very hard to see how he could win, given the vast majority of americans who say they could not support the guy. I still find it hard to believe somebody as policy and knowledge then would very he might be able to wear well with the electorate we have in the republican primary. Its hard to see him wearing well with the general election. Woodruff quickly to Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders is not getting out of the race. Is he a factor at this point . Yes, hes a factor. I mean, have you heard Hillary Clinton today and the excerpt on trade . Hes moved her on trade. I mean, at least helped her to move, put it that way. On the pipeline, the canadian pipeline, hes moved her on that. You know, we had today news, judy, of job increases and wages actually going down, so we now have the top onetenth of 1 to qualify for that distinct group, you had to have your wages increased 5 mon since Ronald Reagan 500 since Ronald Reagan was president. Bernie sanders turned out more people in colorado than ever before. There is encouragement for him to keep going. Woodruff on that note, ventmen, a lot to chew over. Mark shields, david brooks, thank you both. Woodruff loving this. And hating that when everyones a critic on social media, whats a professional critic to do . Jeffrey brown has our newshour bookshelf conversation. Brown when the movie the avengers came out in 2012, with a cast of big stars, including samuel l. Jackson, New York Times film critic a. O. Scott wrote the secret of the avengers is that it is a snappy little dialogue comedy dressed up as Something Else, that Something Else being a giant a. T. M. For marvel and its new studio overlords, the walt disney company. So the day that review appeared, samuel l. Jackson sent out a tweet saying, avengers fans, we need to find a. O. Scott a new job, one he can actually do. Brown one he can actually do . One he can actually do, yeah. But i thought, well, what is this job and how do you actually do it . Brown scotts answer comes in the new book Better Living through criticism how to think about art, pleasure, beauty, and truth. Hes been reviewing films for the times since 2000. But his first love was literature. He never took a film class. And his book goes well beyond film, to all kinds of art forms, to how we see the world, how we make judgments. We talked about it at gorilla coffee near his home in brooklyn. One of the things you often hear about critics is that were failed artists, kind of taking revenge on, well brown you couldnt make it yourself, your art so i kind of wanted to think about, but what is this . I think it is criticism is a constructive and, something that helps to sustain and support creativity and art, and the appreciation of it. I wanted to kind of explain how that works and what the basis of it is. Brown but in making the case for criticism as a kind of way of thinking and judging, theres an implicit, actually explicit critique of our culture, right, that we dont do that enough. That we dont value looking hard or judging. Yeah, i mean, that was one of the impulses behind the book, was to make a case for that kind of thinking, that kind of discussion, that kind of discourse. Because i think there is so much premature certainty and over inflated argument. And i just also wanted to push back against, i think, the passivity that sometimes befalls us as consumers. Brown the other thing that you hit on, run up against all the time is the everyones a critic in the age of social media. That i dont have to go to you, obviously, i can go to a million other places, and i can damn well write my own review if i want. Right, and you can. But i think thats a good thing, and i think that what it means is that critics in positions like mine cant just sort of assume cant rest on our laurels, cant just figure, well, im the New York Times so im going to say what i say without challenge. Were going to say it, were going to be challenged, and were going to have to prove ourselves, or you know, out write the competition day in and day out. Brown so were in an age of sequels and reboots and packing of everything. Where do you see the world of film nowadays . Its a complicated question because, you know, its easy to complain generally and its correct to complain about the lack of originality, the sequels, the endless recycling of all these products. But i think that there is, even within that system, the possibility of some real creativity, and i think also brown you have to hope so, right, since youre going to be watching a lot of movies. I do hope so. I dont feel like there is any shortage of really interesting and novel stuff to watch. I think the challenge is finding it and helping it, in a way, helping those movies or tv shows or whatever they are, wherever they come from, find some kind of audience. Brown which is part of the job of the critic. Yeah, and its a very important job now. Because were in the state of kind of cultural super abundance, of glut. I mean, theres Something Like a million hours of Narrative Television produced every year. Brown its sort of wonderful and horrifying at the same time. Its wonderful and horrifying at the same time. Its paralyzing, and we need to figure out how to help ourselves and how to help each other navigate that. And its also true that no single critic in any discipline can kind of take it all in and then dole it out. So its sort of like you have to find someone, i think, who you can trust to kind of accompany you along that path and sorting through all that stuff. Brown find someone you trust, and get yourself to a screen, book or work of art. But first, have another coffee. From gorilla coffee in brooklyn, im Jeffrey Brown for the pbs newshour. Woodruff you can find more of our book conversations on our arts page, at www. Pbs. Org newshour. And finally tonight, our newshour shares something that caught our eye that might be of interest to you, too. Last year, 30yearold Darius Nabors decided to quit his job to go on a journey of a lifetime. His goal to visit all 59 National Parks in 59 weeks. The trip was inspired by his father a former park ranger and is timed to celebrate the Centennial Anniversary of the National Park service. We spoke to nabors by phone this week as he and his friend trevor kemp visited death valley, their 34th park so far. My name is Darius Nabors and i am visiting all 59 National Parks in 59 weeks to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park service. We started our trip in virginia, and then we drove to ohio, to cuyahoga valley National Park. And then we kind of went north to michigan, minnesota, montana and up to alaska. One of the great things that we saw in alaska in katmai National Park was the valley of 10,000 smokes. So, in 1912, there was the largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century. And the scale was just huge, and we hiked onto this valley that had 700 feet of ash and pumice. So you went from being in this verdant, green, alaskan forest to walking on the moon in just a matter of minutes. We came to washington and did one of my all Time Favorite hikes, where we hiked around mount ranier on the wonderland trail. While we were there, was also the supr blood moon eclipse. So one of the nights we hiked back out and saw the moon as it was coming out of the eclipse and kind of rising over mount ranier. We just came from sequoia National Park, where they have some of the largest trees in the world, and the scale and immensity of these trees is really indescribable. Youre standing at the base of it, looking up, and the trees as tall as a football field, and you just cant you cant get a sense of scale because it is so tall. And right now actually were in death valley. We lucked out, because once about every ten years, death valley has whats called a superbloom. And so, when they have really big rains in the fall, the wild flowers will bloom really well in the spring. So were going to go and visit fields of wild flowers in the hottest and driest place in the United States. A lot of my friends ask me for great photos of the parks, and they ask me what my favorite park is or whats the coolest experience, and i think thats the really special part about it. I cant explain to you, at least not in words, what its like to see denali, the Mountain Rise 7,000 feet above the surrounding mountains. Its one of those places where a photograph just doesnt do it justice. And thats the thing with a lot of these parks. We try and capture some great photographs, but if you want to truly see these parks, you have to get out there and visit them yourself. Woodruff great pictures thought. Darius nabors and kemp plan to finish their journey at acadia National Park in maine on august 25th, the National Park services 100th birthday. On the newshour online banksy, the elusive artist behind the milliondollar works of political graffiti, may have been tagged a new mathematical analysis claims to have identified the anonymous street artist. See why they think theyve uncovered one of the biggest mysteries in the art world, on our home page. All that and more is on our web site, www. Pbs. Org newshour. And a reminder about some upcoming programs from our pbs colleagues. Gwen ifill is preparing for washington week, which airs later this evening. Heres a preview ifill according to his foes, the republican frontrunner is a con man, a liar, and worst of all unelectable. Then why have all the remaining republican candidates promised to support him if becomes the nominee . Welcome to the world of rocks and hard places. We sort through the latest amazing twists and turns in the 2016 campaign, tonight on washington week. Judy . Woodruff on tomorrows edition of pbs newshour weekend, continuing coverage of the president ial election as voters in five more states head to the polls. And well be back, right here, on monday, as i join the atlantics James Fallows on his trek across the country to explain how america is putting itself back together. Thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Have a great weekend. Thank you, and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. Bnsf railway. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. And with the ongoing support of these institutions 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 this is bbc world news. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newmans own foundation, giving all profits from newmans own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs, and hong kong tourism board. Want to know hong kongs most romantic spots . I will show you. I love heading to repulse bay for an evening stroll. Its a perfect, stunning backdrop for making romantic moments utterly unforgettable